Animal experiments are an essential component of life sciences and medical research. However, the external validity and reliability of individual animal studies are frequently challenged by inherent limitations such as small sample sizes, high design heterogeneity, and poor reproducibility, which impede the effective translation of research findings into clinical practice. Systematic reviews and meta-analysis represent a key methodology for integrating existing evidence and enhancing the robustness of conclusions. Currently, however, the application of systematic reviews and meta-analysis in the field of animal experiments lacks standardized guidelines for their conduct and reporting, resulting in inconsistent quality and, to some extent, diminishing their evidence value. To address this issue, this paper aims to systematically delineate the reporting process for systematic reviews and meta-analysis of animal experiments and to propose a set of standardized recommendations that are both scientific and practical. The article's scope encompasses the entire process, from the preliminary preparatory phase [including formulating the population， intervention， comparison and outcome （PICO） question, assessing feasibility, and protocol pre-registration] to the key writing points for each section of the main report. In the core methods section, the paper elaborates on how to implement literature searches, establish eligibility criteria, perform data extraction, and assess the risk of bias, based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis （PRISMA) statement, in conjunction with relevant guidelines and tools such as Animal Research： Reporting of in Vivo Experiments （ARRIVE) and a risk of bias assessment tool developed by the Systematic Review Centre for Laboratory Animal Experimentation (SYRCLE). For the presentation of results, strategies are proposed for clear and transparent display using flow diagrams and tables of characteristics. The discussion section places particular emphasis on how to scientifically interpret pooled effects, thoroughly analyze sources of heterogeneity, evaluate the impact of publication bias, and cautiously discuss the validity and limitations of extrapolating findings from animal studies to clinical settings. Furthermore, this paper recommends adopting the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology to comprehensively grade the quality of evidence. Through a modular analysis of the entire reporting process, this paper aims to provide researchers in the field with a clear and practical guide, thereby promoting the standardized development of systematic reviews and meta-analysis of animal experiments and enhancing their application value in scientific decision-making and translational medicine.

BACKGROUND: Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by radical surgery has been a common practice for patients with locally advanced rectal cancer, but the response rate varies among patients. This study aimed to develop a ResNet-Vision Transformer based magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-endoscopy fusion model to precisely predict treatment response and provide personalized treatment. METHODS: In this multicenter study, 366 eligible patients who had undergone neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by radical surgery at eight Chinese tertiary hospitals between January 2017 and June 2024 were recruited, with 2928 pretreatment colonic endoscopic images and 366 pelvic MRI images. An MRI-endoscopy fusion model was constructed based on the ResNet backbone and Transformer network using pretreatment MRI and endoscopic images. Treatment response was defined as good response or non-good response based on the tumor regression grade. The Delong test and the Hanley-McNeil test were utilized to compare prediction performance among different models and different subgroups, respectively. The predictive performance of the MRI-endoscopy fusion model was comprehensively validated in the test sets and was further compared to that of the single-modal MRI model and single-modal endoscopy model. RESULTS: The MRI-endoscopy fusion model demonstrated favorable prediction performance. In the internal validation set, the area under the curve (AUC) and accuracy were 0.852 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.744-0.940) and 0.737 (95% CI: 0.712-0.844), respectively. Moreover, the AUC and accuracy reached 0.769 (95% CI: 0.678-0.861) and 0.729 (95% CI: 0.628-0.821), respectively, in the external test set. In addition, the MRI-endoscopy fusion model outperformed the single-modal MRI model (AUC: 0.692 [95% CI: 0.609-0.783], accuracy: 0.659 [95% CI: 0.565-0.775]) and the single-modal endoscopy model (AUC: 0.720 [95% CI: 0.617-0.823], accuracy: 0.713 [95% CI: 0.612-0.809]) in the external test set. CONCLUSION The MRI-endoscopy fusion model based on ResNet-Vision Transformer achieved favorable performance in predicting treatment response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and holds tremendous potential for enabling personalized treatment regimens for locally advanced rectal cancer patients.
Humans ; Rectal Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods* ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Neoadjuvant Therapy/methods* ; Aged ; Adult ; Chemoradiotherapy/methods* ; Endoscopy/methods* ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To explore the expression and prognostic value of Smad ubiquitination regulator 2(SMURF2)and protein kinase C receptor 1(RACK1)in epithelial ovarian cancer(EOC)tissues.Methods Cancer tissue specimens of 112 patients with EOC(EOC group)admitted to the hospital from January 2019 to Janu-ary 2021,as well as normal ovarian tissue specimens of 60 patients with other ovarian diseases(control group)who underwent ovarian surgery in the same hospital during the same period were selected.The expressions of SMURF2 and RACK1 in EOC cancer tissues and normal ovarian tissues were detected by real-time fluores-cence quantitative PCR and immunohistochemistry.Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the rela-tionship between the expressions of SMURF2 mRNA and RACK1 mRNA in EOC cancer tissues.The Kaplan-Meier survival curve and Log-rank test were used to analyze the differences in survival prognosis among pa-tients with different expressions of SMURF2 and RACK1.Multivariate COX regression analysis was conduc-ted to analyze the influencing factors of survival prognosis in EOC.Results The expression level of SMURF2 mRNA in EOC cancer tissues was lower than that in normal ovarian tissues,and the expression level of RACK1 mRNA was higher than that in normal ovarian tissues,and the differences were statistically signifi-cant(P＜0.05).The expression levels of SMURF2 mRNA and RACK1 mRNA in EOC cancer tissues were negatively correlated(r=-0.764,P＜0.001).The positive rate of SMURF2 in EOC cancer tissues was lower than that in normal ovarian tissues,and the positive rate of RACK1 was higher than that in normal ovarian tis-sues.The difference was statistically significant(P＜0.001).Compared with the cancer tissues of EOC pa-tients with International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology(FIGO)stage Ⅰ-Ⅱ and no lymph node metastasis,the positive rate of SMURF2 was lower and the positive rate of RACK1 was higher in the cancer tissues of EOC patients with FIGO stage Ⅲ and lymph node metastasis,and the differences were statistically significant(P＜0.05).The 3-year overall survival rate of EOC patients in the SMURF2 positive group was higher than that in the negative group,and the 3-year overall survival rate of EOC patients in the RACK1 pos-itive group was lower than that in the negative group,and the differences were statistically significant(Log-Rank x2=4.938,5.251;P=0.028,0.018).FIGO stage Ⅲ,lymph node metastasis and positive RACK1 were risk factors affecting the survival prognosis of EOC(P＜0.001),while positive SMURF2 was a protective fac-tor(P＜0.001).Conclusion The expression level of SMURF2 is decreased and the expression level of RACK1 is increased in EOC cancer tissues.Both are related to FIGO stage and lymph node metastasis,and are markers for evaluating the survival prognosis of EOC patients.

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of Gushang External Wash Granules combined with extracorporeal shockwave therapy(ESWT)in treating early-to-middle-stage knee osteoarthritis(KOA)with cold-damp obstruction syndrome.Methods A total of 84 patients diagnosed as early-to-middle-stage KOA(cold-damp obstruction syndrome)at the Orthopedic Outpatient Clinic of Dongguan Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine(Dongguan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital)from July 2022 to July 2023 were enrolled.Patients were randomly assigned to either the observation group or control group using a random number table,with 42 cases in each group.Both groups received ESWT,while the observation group additionally underwent topical washing with Gushang External Wash Granules.The treatment course lasted 4 weeks for both groups.The changes in traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)syndrome scores,Visual Analogue Scale(VAS)scores for pain,and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index(WOMAC)scores in the two groups were measured before and after treatment,and the clinical efficacy was evaluated after treatment.Results(1)After 4 weeks of treatment,the total effective rate was 95.24%(40/42)in the observation group versus 76.19%(32/42)in the control group.Intergroup comparison(tested by chi-square test)showed significantly superior efficacy in the observation group(P＜0.05).(2)After treatment,both groups demonstrated significant reductions in VAS pain scores compared to those before treatment(P＜0.01),while no statistically significant difference was found between groups(P＞0.05).(3)WOMAC scores were decreased significantly in both groups after treatment(P＜0.01),and the observation group showed significantly greater reduction than the control group(P＜0.01),with statistically significance.(4)After treatment,the scores for the TCM symptoms of intolerance of cold and limb chilling,restricted flexion-extension,and stiffness and numbness in the extremities were significantly reduced in both groups(P＜0.01),and the observation group demonstrated significantly greater improvements in all TCM syndrome scores than the control group(P＜0.01).Conclusion The combination of Gushang External Wash Granules and ESWT demonstrates significant efficacy for the patients with early-to-middle-stage KOA of cold-damp obstruction type,and is effective on alleviating clinical symptoms and improving knee function and quality of life of the patients.

With the development of modern medical standards,autoimmune diseases and their associ-ated successive osteoporosis have received increasing attention in recent years.Patients with autoimmune diseases,due to the characteristics of the disease and the prolonged use of glucocorticoid hormone thera-py,may affect the bone formation and bone absorption of the patient,followed by severe successive osteo-porosis,thereby increasing the risk of osteoporotic vertebral fractures.Vertebral compression fractures of the spine are common fracture types in patients with osteoporotic fractures.Osteoporosis is a common complication after glucocorticoid therapy in patients with autoimmune diseases.Percutaneous vertebro-plasty(PVP)and percutaneous kyphoplasty(PKP)are minimally invasive operation and are commonly used surgical methods for the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures.However,due to the operation of spinal puncture during the operation,there are serious surgical risks such as bone cement leakage,spinal epidural hemorrhage,subdural hemorrhage,and subarachnoid hemorrhage in both PVP and PKP.As a result,it is necessary to evaluate the patient's body before surgery carefully,especially in the case of blood coagulation.This article reports a case of autoimmune disease patient admitted to Peking University People's Hospital due to lumbar 4 vertebral compression fracture combined with Sj?gren's syn-drome.The patient's preoperative examination showed that the activated partial thromboplastin time(APTT)was significantly prolonged.After completing the APTT extended screening experiment and lu-pus anticoagulant factor testing,the multi-disciplinary team(MDT)of Peking University People's Hospi-tal jointly discussed the conclusion that the patient's test results were caused by an abnormal self-immuni-ty anti-copulant lupus(LAC).Based on the results of the laboratory examination,the patient was con-sidered to be diagnosed with combined antiphospholipid syndrome(APS).For such patients,compared with the patient's tendency to bleed,we should pay more attention to the risk of high blood clotting in the lower limbs of the patient,pulmonary clots and so on.With timely anti-coagulation treatment,the patient safely passed the peripheral period and was successfully discharged from the hospital.Therefore,for pa-tients with autoimmune diseases with prolonged APTT in the perioperative period,doctors need to careful-ly identify the actual cause and carry out targeted treatment in order to minimize the risk of surgical and perioperative complications and bring satisfactory treatment results to the patients.

To systematically construct a guideline to provide a methodological guide for researchers to develop patient decision aids.

To systematically construct a guideline to provide a methodological guide for researchers to develop patient decision aids.

Objective To explore the relationship between serum long non-coding RNA hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha antisense RNA 1(lncRNA HIFA1-AS1),CXC chemokine ligand 9(CXCL9)and disease severity,adverse pregnancy outcome in patients with preeclampsia.Methods A total of 83 patients with preeclampsia admitted to Xi'an Gaoxin Hospital January 2021 to December 2022 were taken as preeclampsia group,According to the time of diagnosis,patients with preeclampsia were divided into early onset preeclampsia group(n=39)and late onset preeclampsia group(n=44).According to the severity of the condition,patients with preeclampsia were divided into two groups:mild preeclampsia group(n=51)and severe preeclampsia group(n=32).According to pregnancy outcomes,they were divided into a normal pregnancy outcome group(n=56)and an adverse pregnancy outcome group(n=27).At the same time,60 healthy pregnant women with pregnancy were collected as control group.Real-time fluorescence quantitative PC(qRT-PCR)was used to detect serum lncRNA HIF1A-AS1,and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)was used to detect serum CXCL9.Spearman rank correlation analysis was used to analyze the association between serum lncRNA HIF1A-AS1,CXCL9 and severity of disease.Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the factors influencing the adverse pregnancy outcome in patients with preeclampsia.ROC curve was drawn to assess the predictive value of serum lncRNA HIF1A-AS1,CXCL9 for adverse pregnancy outcome.Results The relative expression of serum lncRNA HIF1A-AS1(0.73±0.26)in preeclampsia group was lower than that(1.15±0.34)in control group,and CXCL9 level(209.34±45.34 pg/ml)higher than that(116.80±37.76 pg/ml)in control group,the differences were statistically significant(t=8.379,12.903,all P<0.05).The relative expression of serum lncRNA HIF1A-AS1(0.58±0.21)in early-onset preeclampsia group was lower than that in late-onset preeclampsia group(0.86±0.27),and CXCL9 level(236.60±31.02 pg/ml)higher than that in late-onset preeclampsia group(185.18±23.63 pg/ml),the differences were statistically significant(t=5.226,8.551,all P<0.05).The relative expression of serum lncRNA HIF1A-AS1(0.52±0.21)in severe preeclampsia group was lower than that in late-onset preeclampsia group(0.97±0.34),and CXCL9 level(253.38±41.20 pg/ml)higher than that in late-onset preeclampsia group(159.65±40.79 pg/ml),the differences were statistically significant(t=6.409,10.152,all P<0.05).Serum lncRNA HIF1A-AS1 and CXCL9 were associated with condition of preeclampsia(r=-0.627,0.651,all P<0.05).CXCL9[OR(95%CI):1.581(1.098～2.276)]was independent risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcome in patients with preeclampsia(P<0.05).LncRNA HIF1A-AS1[OR(95%CI):0.806(0.673～0.965)]was a protective factor(P<0.05),and early-onset preeclampsia[OR(95%CI):1.390(1.088～1.775)]and severe preeclampsia[OR(95%CI):1.589(1.222～2.066)]were risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcome(all P<0.05).Serum lncRNA HIF1A-AS1,CXCL9 and indicators combined had predictive value for adverse pregnancy outcome in patients with preeclampsia,with AUC of 0.770,0.767 and 0.876,respectively.And the combined prediction AUC was better than single indicator,and differences were statistically significant(Z=2.455,2.398,all P<0.05).Conclusion Serum lncRNA HIF1A-AS1 expression is down-regulated and CXCL9 expression is up-regulated in patients with preeclampsia,both indicators are associated with severity of disease and adverse pregnancy outcome.Early detection of two indicators are expected to be markers for predicting adverse pregnancy outcome in patients with preeclampsia.

BACKGROUND: Extreme temperature events, including extreme cold, are becoming more frequent worldwide, which might be harmful to pregnant women and cause adverse birth outcomes. We aimed to investigate the association between exposure to low ambient temperature in pregnant women and adverse birth outcomes, such as preterm birth, low birth weight, and stillbirth, and to summarize the evidence herein. METHODS: Relevant studies were searched in PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase electronic databases until November 2021. Studies involving low ambient temperature, preterm birth, birth weight, and stillbirth were included. The guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses were followed to conduct this study risk of bias and methods for data synthesis. RESULTS: A total of 34 studies were included. First, pregnant women exposed to low ambient temperature had an increased risk of preterm birth (risk ratio [RR] 1.08; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.04-1.13). Subgroup analyses revealed that exposure during late pregnancy was more likely to induce preterm birth. In addition, only pregnant women exposed to <1st percentile of the mean temperature suffered increased risk of preterm birth. Moreover, pregnant women living in medium or hot areas were more prone to have preterm births than those in cold areas when exposed to low ambient temperatures. Asians and Blacks were more susceptible to low ambient temperatures than Caucasians. Second, pregnant women exposed to low ambient temperature had an increased risk of low birth weight (RR 1.07; 95% CI 1.03-1.12). Third, pregnant women had an increased risk of stillbirth while exposed to low ambient temperature during the entire pregnancy (RR 4.63; 95% CI 3.99-5.38). CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to low ambient temperature during pregnancy increases the risk of adverse birth outcomes. Pregnant women should avoid exposure to extremely low ambient temperature (<1st percentile of the mean temperature), especially in their late pregnancy. This study could provide clues for preventing adverse outcomes from meteorological factors. REGISTRATION No. CRD42021259776 at PROSPERO ( https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/ ).
Pregnancy ; Infant, Newborn ; Female ; Humans ; Pregnancy Outcome ; Premature Birth/epidemiology* ; Stillbirth/epidemiology* ; Temperature ; Pregnancy Complications

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical and genetic characteristics of a Chinese pedigree affected with Multiple synostoses syndrome type 1 (SYNS1). METHODS: Clinical data of the proband and her family members were collected. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) were carried out for the proband and her parents. RESULTS: The pedigree has comprised of 14 members from three generations, of whom six had manifested hearing loss, with other symptoms including proximal symphalangism, hemicylindrical nose, amblyopia, strabismus, brachydactyly, incomplete syndactyly, which fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for SYNS1. WES had detected no pathogenic single nucleotide variants and insertion-deletion (InDel) in the coding region of the NOG gene, whilst copy number variation (CNV) analysis indicated that there was a heterozygous deletion involving the NOG gene. WGS revealed a heterozygous deletion (54171786_55143998) in 17q22 of the proband. The CNV was classified as pathogenic based on the guidelines from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG). CONCLUSION The heterozygous deletion in 17p22 involving the NOG gene probably underlay the pathogenesis of SYNS1 in this pedigree. Above finding has enriched the mutational spectrum of NOG. CNV should be considered when conventional sequencing has failed to detect any pathogenic variants in such patients.
Female ; Humans ; DNA Copy Number Variations ; East Asian People ; Pedigree ; Synostosis ; Phenotype