OBJECTIVE: To summarize the clinical features and management of two brothers affected with X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) deficiency. METHODS: This study retrospectively analyzed the clinical presentations, treatment, and follow-up of two brothers with XIAP deficiency diagnosed at Shanghai Children's Hospital in 2020, and summarized similar cases recorded in databases such as PubMed, Wanfang, Chinese Medical Association Journals, and WIP from January 2006 to November 2024. This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of our hospital (Ethics No.: 2025R128-E01). RESULTS: Patient 1 was the younger brother, who presented at 8 years of age with growth retardation, folliculitis, erythema nodosum, and perineal abscess. Sequencing revealed that he has carried a hemizygous c.566T>C (p.Leu189Pro) variant of the XIAP gene, which was inherited from his mother. He was allergic to infliximab treatment and underwent allogeneic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in January 2021. During a follow-up of 3 years and 10 months post-transplantation, he showed no gastrointestinal symptoms and had a good outcome. Patient 2 was the elder brother, who presented at 10 years and 6 months of age with growth retardation, rash, and anal fistula. Genetic testing revealed the same variant. He was treated with oral azathioprine but did not have regular follow-ups. At 14-years-and-6-months of age, he had developed severe gastrointestinal infection and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, which was alleviated after treatment with antibiotics, glucocorticoids, immunoglobulin, and rituximab. He is currently being prepared for HSCT. A total of 13 publications were retrieved, which involved 64 patients from 23 families, with 23 different variants identified. The main clinical manifestations included splenomegaly (34 cases, 53.1%), hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (27 cases, 42.2%), and inflammatory bowel disease or colitis (20 cases, 31.8%). There were significant phenotypic differences among patients from the same family. Thirteen patients (20.3%) underwent HSCT, with a survival rate of 61.5%. CONCLUSION For male children with early onset, poor treatment response, especially those with unexplained splenomegaly and IBD-like symptoms, early genetic testing is recommended. HSCT is a safe and effective treatment for XIAP deficiency. For patients with developmental delay, early onset, and severe IBD phenotype, early transplantation is recommended.
Humans ; Male ; X-Linked Inhibitor of Apoptosis Protein/deficiency* ; Child ; Genetic Diseases, X-Linked/therapy* ; Phenotype ; Siblings ; Retrospective Studies ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Objective To investigate the status and influencing factors of psychological distress associated with weight loss among young and middle-aged adults with obesity,so as to provide a theoretical basis for developing personalized interventions and improving psychological well-being.Methods A convenience sampling method was used to select young and middle-aged obese patients who visited the weight management clinic of a Grade A tertiary hospital in Jiangxi Province from October 2024 to May 2025.Data were collected using a general information questionnaire,the distress thermometer,the perceived social support scale,the brief illness perception questionnaire,and the simplified coping style questionnaire.Binary logistic regression was applied to identify factors influencing psychological distress.Results A total of 204 valid questionnaires were collected.The detection rate of significant psychological distress was 58.82%(120 cases).Regarding weight loss methods,32.84%of participants opted for medication.The top five issues reported on the psychological distress problem list were:appearance/body image,work/studies,lack of time/energy to care for elderly parents or children,bathing/dressing,and relationship with a partner.Binary logistic regression indicated that age,body mass index,waist circumference,history of chronic disease,perceived social support,illness perception,and negative coping style were significant influencing factors of psychological distress(P﹤0.05).Conclusions The rate of significant psychological distress is relatively high among young and middle-aged obese patients and is influenced by multiple factors.Medical staff may develop personalized interventions based on these factors to reduce the incidence of psychological distress.

Objective To investigate the status and influencing factors of psychological distress associated with weight loss among young and middle-aged adults with obesity,so as to provide a theoretical basis for developing personalized interventions and improving psychological well-being.Methods A convenience sampling method was used to select young and middle-aged obese patients who visited the weight management clinic of a Grade A tertiary hospital in Jiangxi Province from October 2024 to May 2025.Data were collected using a general information questionnaire,the distress thermometer,the perceived social support scale,the brief illness perception questionnaire,and the simplified coping style questionnaire.Binary logistic regression was applied to identify factors influencing psychological distress.Results A total of 204 valid questionnaires were collected.The detection rate of significant psychological distress was 58.82%(120 cases).Regarding weight loss methods,32.84%of participants opted for medication.The top five issues reported on the psychological distress problem list were:appearance/body image,work/studies,lack of time/energy to care for elderly parents or children,bathing/dressing,and relationship with a partner.Binary logistic regression indicated that age,body mass index,waist circumference,history of chronic disease,perceived social support,illness perception,and negative coping style were significant influencing factors of psychological distress(P﹤0.05).Conclusions The rate of significant psychological distress is relatively high among young and middle-aged obese patients and is influenced by multiple factors.Medical staff may develop personalized interventions based on these factors to reduce the incidence of psychological distress.

Atherosclerosis(AS) is an important pathological feature of cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction,stroke and other highly fatal diseases. Phlegm and dampness are considered to be an important pathogenesis of AS,which is difficult to heal and can cause complications. The establishment of an animal model with AS and phlegm-dampness syndrome,which could reflect the features of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM),and objective evaluation system are an important element of modern integrated TCM and western medicine research on cardiovascular diseases. It is of great significance for TCM to prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases. This article summarizes the scientific connotations of traditional Chinese and western medicine for AS and phlegm-dampness syndrome,comprehensively summarizes the current status of construction and evaluation in experimental animal model,analyzes the problems of current model,and discusses the factors of model construction and evaluation. Our aim is to establish normalized and standardized animal model with AS of phlegm-dampness syndrome.

Objective To establish an animal model of dampness-syndrome in mice (single model) and evaluate its characteristics of dampness-syndrome. The above-mentioned mice with dampness syndrome were used to construct mice model of ischemic stroke (double model) and observe the effect of dampness-pathogenic on the outcome of stroke. Methods Healthy C57BL/6J male mice were randomly divided into dampness-syndrome (including sham-surgery group and ischemic stroke group,with 10 mice in each group) and non dampness-syndrome groups (including sham-surgery group and ischemic stroke group,with 10 mice in each group). The dampness-syndrome group was fed with high-fat diet and the non dampness-syndrome group was fed with normal diet for 12 weeks. After the mice model of dampness-syndrome was successfully established,transient middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (tMCAO/R) surgery was used to replicate an ischemic stroke mice model. Evaluation indicators for dampness-syndrome mice model:the general status including body weight,morphology,posture,activity status,and physical characteristics,the histopathological observation of the aorta (oil red O staining,Masson-trichrome staining) and liver (HE staining,oil red O staining),electron microscopic observation of the tongue tissue (scanning electron microscopy,electron microscopy),blood lipid levels[total cholesterol(TC),triglycerides(TG)]and liver coefficient. Evaluation indicators for ischemic stroke mice model:neurological function score and the cerebral infarction volume ratio. Results Compared with the non dampness-syndrome group,the mice in the dampness-syndrome group showed an increased in body weight,poor hair color,sparse hair,fatigue and laziness,mental atrophy,anorexia and lethargy. It was observed that the aortic lumen was narrowed,the intima was significantly thickened,lipid plaque deposition was increased,and foam cells were visible. A large amount of red lipid droplets appeared in liver cells. There were obvious lipid infiltration and diffuse steatosis. Increased keratosis of the mucosal layer of tongue tissue,the thicker stratum corneum,lipofuscin,and bacteria on the tongue surface were found. Serum TG and TC levels significantly increased(P<0.01),and the liver coefficient significantly decreased (P<0.001). Compared with non dampness-syndrome group (sham-surgery group),neurological function score and the cerebral infarction volume ratio in dampness-syndrome ischemic stroke group obviously increased (P<0.001). Conclusion High-fat feeding for 12 weeks combined with tMCAO/R modeling can successfully establish a mice model with dampness-syndrome ischemic stroke,and the neurological function score and cerebral infarction volume in the dampness-syndrome ischemic stroke group was more severe than that in the non dampness-syndrome ischemic stroke group.

[Objective]To investigate the protective effect of Zhuangtongyin on the Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion(MCAO)model by modulating ferroptosis through the Nrf2-SCL7A11/xCT-Gpx4 pathway and its underlying mechanism.[Methods]C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into Sham operation group(Sham),model group(MCAO),low-dose Zhuangtongyin group(ZTY-L),high-dose Zhuangtongyin group(ZTY-H),with 5 mice in each group.The MCAO group was modelled by silica gel embolization,the middle cerebral artery of mice was embolized for 1h,then the silica gel was pulled out and reperfusion was performed after 72 h;and the other operations in the Sham group were the same as those in the MCAO group except that the thread plug was not inserted.The neural function of mice was evaluated by Zea-Longa method.TTC staining was used to evaluate the volume of cerebral infarction.The level of brain injury was evaluated by HE staining and Nissl staining.Prussian blue staining and the expression of iron transport-related carrier receptors TfR1 and DMT1 on mRNA level was detected by qPCR to evaluate the iron ion deposition level in mice brain.The expression of lipid peroxidation-related gene ACSL4 on mRNA level was detected by qPCR,and the content of 4-HNE was detected by ELISA kit to evaluate the lipid peroxidation level of mice brain.The expressions of ferroptosis marker PTGS2 mRNA level was detected by qPCR.The expressions of Nrf2,SCL7A11/xCT,Gpx4 in mice brain tissue were detected by Western-blot and immunofluorescence.[Results]Zhuangtongyin improved the nerve function of mice after MCAO(P＜0.05)and the cerebral infarction volume of mice(P＜0.05)and alleviate the pathological injury of cerebral cortex cells after MCAO operation.Zhuangtongyin attenuated the accumulation of trivalent iron ions in the brain tissue of mice following MCAO.Additionally,Zhuangtongyin downregulated the expression of TfR1 and DMT1 mRNA(P＜0.001),a transporter associated with cellular iron ion uptake,in the brains of post-MCAO mice.Furthermore,Zhuangtongyin reduced levels of lipid peroxidation product 4-HNE(P＜0.001)and suppressed ACSL4 mRNA expression in brain tissue post-MCAO(P＜0.001).Besides,Zhuangtongyin downregulated the expression of PTGS2 mRNA(P＜0.001),in the brains of post-MCAO mice.Zhuangtongyin increased the expression of nrf2 into the nucleus(P＜0.001),and increased the expression of xCT and Gpx4 in neurons after MCAO(P＜0.001).[Conclusion]Zhuangtongyin can enhance the nerve function and reduce cerebral infarction volume in MCAO/R mice,alleviate the pathological damage of cerebral cortex cells,and modulate the expression of key signaling molecules in the Nrf2-SCL7A11/xCT-Gpx4 pathway.Therefore,it is suggested that the mechanism by which Zhuangtongyin improves MCAO/R injury in mice may involve regulating ferroptosis through the Nrf2-SCL7A11/xCT-GPX4 pathway.

Purpose To investigate the correlation and prognostic value of tumor-stroma ratio(TSR)combined with fi-brotic focus(FF)and stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes(sTILs)with pathological complete response(pCR)after neoad-juvant therapy in triple-negative breast cancer(TNBC).Meth-ods The clinical data of 170 cases of TNBC were collected.Af-ter double-blind reading of the sections by two senior patholo-gists,the pathological examination results of all cases were re-viewed,and the results of TSR,FF,sTILs and the expression of CD4 and CD8 were evaluated.Then the relationship between the above information and PCR and prognosis was analyzed.Results 170 cases of TNBC after neoadjuvant therapy,57 patients a-chieved pCR,while 113 patients did not achieve pCR.Statistical analysis revealed the following findings:TSR,FF,sTILs,CD4,CD8,Ki67,vascular invasion,and lymph node metastasis exhib-ited significant differences between the pCR and non-pCR groups.There were also significant differences in TSR,FF and sTILs between different Miller-Payne(MP)grades.TSR,sTILs,TSR combined with FF,sTILs and Ki67 were positively correlated with PCR.Meanwhile,TSR,sTILs,TSR combined with FF and sTILs were also positively correlated with MP grade,while FF,intravascular tumor thrombus and lymph node metasta-sis were negatively correlated with PCR.At the same time,TSR and sTILs were also positively correlated with MP grade,and FF was also negatively correlated with MP grade.The prognosis of patients was optimal with TSR＞1,G0 FF and sTILs＞50％.When TSR combined with FF and sTILs,the prognosis of PCR group was better than that of non-PCR group.Conclusion TSR,FF,and sTILs are anticipated to serve as predictive bio-markers for assessing the efficacy and prognosis of neoadjuvant therapy in TNBC patients.These findings offer novel insights into the treatment and research strategies for TNBC.

Purpose To investigate the correlation and prognostic value of tumor-stroma ratio(TSR)combined with fi-brotic focus(FF)and stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes(sTILs)with pathological complete response(pCR)after neoad-juvant therapy in triple-negative breast cancer(TNBC).Meth-ods The clinical data of 170 cases of TNBC were collected.Af-ter double-blind reading of the sections by two senior patholo-gists,the pathological examination results of all cases were re-viewed,and the results of TSR,FF,sTILs and the expression of CD4 and CD8 were evaluated.Then the relationship between the above information and PCR and prognosis was analyzed.Results 170 cases of TNBC after neoadjuvant therapy,57 patients a-chieved pCR,while 113 patients did not achieve pCR.Statistical analysis revealed the following findings:TSR,FF,sTILs,CD4,CD8,Ki67,vascular invasion,and lymph node metastasis exhib-ited significant differences between the pCR and non-pCR groups.There were also significant differences in TSR,FF and sTILs between different Miller-Payne(MP)grades.TSR,sTILs,TSR combined with FF,sTILs and Ki67 were positively correlated with PCR.Meanwhile,TSR,sTILs,TSR combined with FF and sTILs were also positively correlated with MP grade,while FF,intravascular tumor thrombus and lymph node metasta-sis were negatively correlated with PCR.At the same time,TSR and sTILs were also positively correlated with MP grade,and FF was also negatively correlated with MP grade.The prognosis of patients was optimal with TSR＞1,G0 FF and sTILs＞50％.When TSR combined with FF and sTILs,the prognosis of PCR group was better than that of non-PCR group.Conclusion TSR,FF,and sTILs are anticipated to serve as predictive bio-markers for assessing the efficacy and prognosis of neoadjuvant therapy in TNBC patients.These findings offer novel insights into the treatment and research strategies for TNBC.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of hippocampal avoidance whole-brain irradiation with simultaneous integrated boost in the treatment of brain metastases of lung cancer.Methods:Forty lung cancer patients with brain metastases who received whole-brain radiotherapy with simultaneous integrated boost and hippocampal avoidance in Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from 2014 to 2020 were enrolled in this study. Brain MRI, survival follow-up and evaluation of side effects were performed before radiotherapy and at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after radiotherapy, respectively. Overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and changes in cognitive function were analyzed. Continuous data were described as Mean ± SD. Categorical data were described by frequency and composition ratio or percentage. Survival analysis was conducted by Kaplan-Meier method. Influencing factors of survival were identified by univariate and multivariate Cox's regression analyses.Results:A total of 40 patients were enrolled in the study. The median follow-up time was 14.2 months and the median OS, PFS and intracranial PFS of all patients were 14.8 months, 6.7 months and 14.8 months, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that male gender and newly diagnosed stage Ⅳ disease were associated with worse OS and PFS, respectively. The Hopkins verbal learning test-revised (HVLT-R) scores at baseline and 1, 3 and 6 months after radiotherapy were 21.94±2.99, 20.88±3.12, 20.03±3.14, and 19.78±2.98, respectively. The HVLT-R score at 6 months after radiotherapy was decreased by approximately 9.8% compared with the baseline. No grade 3 or above toxic and side effect occurred in the entire cohort.Conclusion:Hippocampal avoidance whole-brain irradiation with simultaneous integrated boost is a safe and effective treatment for brain metastases of lung cancer, which is expected to reduce the impact of radiotherapy on cognitive function.

Objective:To evaluate the prognostic value of pretreatment systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in non-metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).Methods:We retrospectively collected the data of 839 patients with non-metastatic NPC from National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital and Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center between January 2007 and October 2015. All patients received intensity modulated radiation based treatment. Optimal cutoff value of SII and LDH were determined by X-title software. The association between SII, LDH and clinical prognosis of non-metastatic NPC patients were analyzed. Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis, and Log rank test was used for comparison of survival rates between groups. Propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was carried out to minimize the effects of confounding factors. The risk stratification model of prognosis by combining N stage, SII and LDH was constructed to compare the prognosis of patients in high risk group, middle risk group and low risk group, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate its prognostic value.Results:The optimal cutoff value of SII is 447.2×10 9/L for predicting the 5-year overall survival (OS) of NPC patients, and the best cutoff value of LDH is 198.9 U/L. The proportion of patients with stage T3-4 and stage III-IVB in high SII group was higher than that in low SII group ( P<0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that N stage, SII and LDH were independent factors of OS, progression-free survival (PFS) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) of NPC patients (N stage, HR=1.705, 95% CI: 1.247-2.332; HR=1.755, 95% CI: 1.342-2.295; HR=2.161, 95% CI: 1.515-3.082. SII, HR=1.525, 95% CI: 1.097-2.119; HR=1.518, 95% CI: 1.150-2.004; HR=1.837, 95% CI: 1.272-2.653. LDH, HR=2.041, 95% CI: 1.403-2.968; HR=1.725, 95% CI: 1.233-2.414; HR=2.492, 95% CI: 1.690-3.672, respectively). After PSM, SII was still an independent prognostic factor of OS, PFS and DMFS in NPC patients ( HR=1.52, 95% CI: 1.09-2.12; HR=1.52, 95% CI: 1.15-2.00; HR=1.82, 95% CI: 1.26-2.63, respectively). Combined with N 2-3 stage, SII (>447.2×10 9/L), and LDH (>198.9 U/L), patients were divided into high-(3 risk factors), intermediate- (2 risk factors) and low-risk (0-1 risk factors) groups. The 5-year OS rates of patients in low-, intermediate- and high-risk groups were 86.1%, 79.8% and 41.2% respectively, the 5-year PFS rates were 80.7%, 70.2% and 33.9% respectively, and the 5-year DMFS rates were 88.9%, 79.2% and 47.5% respectively. There were significant differences in OS, PFS and DMFS among these three groups ( P<0.001). Distant metastasis was the main failure pattern in low-, intermediate- and high-risk groups, and the highest rate of distant metastasis was 83.3% (15/31) in high-risk group. ROC curve of the risk stratification model for predicting 5-year OS of NPC patients is 0.610, which is higher than TNM stage (0.609), SII (0.574) and LDH (0.558). Conclusions:Pretreatment SII and LDH are significantly correlated with the prognosis of patients with non-metastatic NPC. The combination of SII, LDH and N stage can stratify the prognostic risk of NPC patients. The risk stratification model can enhance the accuracy of prognosis.