Objective To establish a human luminal breast cancer stem cell(BCSC)model and investigate the inhibitory effects of astragaloside Ⅳ(AS-Ⅳ)on BCSC growth.Methods MCF-7 breast cancer cells were cultured in stem cell-specific medium to induce BCSC formation.The BCSCs were then divided into a blank control group and an AS-Ⅳ treatment group,both groups were given PBS or AS-Ⅳ treatment.Morphological changes were observed after intervention.The therapeutic efficacy of AS-Ⅳ was evaluated using 3D spheroid formation and cell viability assays.Transcriptomic profiling and gene expression analysis were performed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms.Results Compared with the MCF7 breast cancer cells,MCF7 breast cancer stem cell mammospheres exhibited accelerated growth(P＜0.01)and significantly increased expression of the stemness marker ALDH1A1(P＜0.01).Further comparison with the blank control group revealed that astragaloside Ⅳ(AS-Ⅳ)treatment significantly inhibited MCF7 breast cancer stem cell proliferation(P＜0.001)and slowed mammosphere growth(P＜0.01).Transcriptomic analysis demonstrated that differentially expressed genes(DEGs)induced by stem cell modeling and AS-Ⅳ intervention were enriched in the cellular senescence signaling pathway.AS-Ⅳ intervention substantially increased the number of SA-β-gal-positive cells(P＜0.01).RT-PCR analysis confirmed that AS-Ⅳsignificantly upregulated mRNA expression of IL-1α(P＜0.01),P21(P＜0.001),and P53(P＜0.05)in MCF7 breast cancer stem cells.Conclusion Astragaloside Ⅳ suppresses the growth of human luminal breast cancer stem cells by inducing cellular senescence.

Objective:To investigate the expression of serum galectin-3 in elderly patients with or without atrial fibrillation and to explore its impact on the prognosis of patients with atrial fibrillation.Methods:In this retrospective study, 100 patients aged 60 years or older treated at the Department of Geriatric Cardiovascular Medicine, Second Xiangyang Hospital, Central South University between March 2018 and September 2018 were enrolled.Based on electrocardiogram and previous history of atrial fibrillation, 73 participants were assigned to the atrial fibrillation group and 27 patients with sinus rhythm and no history of atrial fibrillation during the same period served as the control group.Elisa kits were used to measure the expression of galectin-3 in both groups, and echocardiography was used to measure the size of each cardiac chamber in patients.The Mann-Whitney test was used to compare galectin-3 levels between the two groups, and binary logistic regression analysis was used to determine risk factors for atrial fibrillation in the elderly.Kaplan-Meier survival curves and Cox proportional risk regression were used to analyze survival and the relationship between galectin-3 and prognosis.Results:Serum galectin-3 levels of patients in the atrial fibrillation group were higher than in the control group[(395.13±113.24)ng/L vs.(328.53±89.11)ng/L, t=2.626, P<0.01]. The level of galectin 3 in participants aged ≥ 65 years(n=48)was higher than in those aged<65 years(n=52), (414.01±105.03)ng/L vs.(343.11±106.01)ng/L( t=2.626, P<0.01). The galectin-3 level had a positive correlation with age( r=0.40, P<0.01), duration of atrial fibrillation( r=0.224, P<0.05)and C-reactive protein( r=0.305, P<0.01), but no correlation with N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide, atrial or ventricular size and the score of CHA2DS2-VASc in patients with atrial fibrillation, .Galectin-3 was a risk factor in patients with atrial fibrillation( P<0.01). Galectin-3 levels did not affect survival(log-rank=0.990)or prognosis( P>0.05)in patients with atrial fibrillation. Conclusions:Galectin-3 levels in elderly atrial fibrillation patients are higher than in people without atrial fibrillation and are positively correlated with age, duration of atrial fibrillation, and C-reactive protein.Galectin-3 is a risk factor for atrial fibrillation in elderly patients.

Objective:To construct a scientific and practical ovarian tumor nursing quality sensitive indicator system so as to provide a reference for evaluating the quality of nursing care for patients with ovarian tumors.Methods:Based on Donabedian's three-dimensional theoretical model of structure-process-outcome quality management, we used literature review and Delphi expert correspondence consultation to construct a nursing quality sensitive indicator system for ovarian tumor patients. From February to April 2019, we selected 20 experts from 16 ClassⅢ Grade A general hospitals and 2 higher nursing institutions from 7 provinces/municipalities in Shandong Province, Jiangsu Province, Beijing, Jilin Province, Shanghai, Guangdong Province and Sichuan Province for consultation.Results:Among two rounds of consultation, valid recovery rates were 90.00% and 94.44% respectively; authority coefficients were all 0.92; familiarity coefficients were 0.89 and 0.91 respectively; judgment coefficients were 0.94 and 0.92 respectively; Kendall harmony coefficients were 0.204 and 0.426 respectively; the differences were all statistically significant ( P<0.05) . The final nursing quality sensitive indicator system for ovarian tumor patients included 3 first-level indicators, 12 second-level indicators and 23 third-level indicators. Conclusions:The nursing quality sensitive indicator system for ovarian tumor patients is highly scientific and practical which can be used to standardize clinical nursing care for patients with ovarian tumors by gynecological nurses and improve the nursing quality.