Objective:To explore the diagnostic value of preoperative diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) histogram parameters in the depth of invasion of early rectal cancer.Methods:A total of 180 patients with early rectal cancer admitted to 904th Hospital of Joint Logistics Support Force of Chinese People's Liberation Army from August 2020 to August 2024 were selected as the study objects. Patients were divided into intramucosal cancer group ( n=102) and submucosal cancer group ( n=78) according to the depth of tumor invasion. The general data of the two groups were compared. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to analyze the consistency of DWI histogram parameters extracted by the two radiologists, and the differences between the two groups were compared. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the predictive value of each parameter to the depth of tumor invasion. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the independent influencing factors of invasion depth, and a predictive model was constructed. The ROC curve was drawn to analyze the predictive value of the model for tumor invasion depth, and the Hosmer-Lemeshow test was used to analyze the goodness of fit of the model. Results:There were statistically significant differences in age ( t=8.15, P<0.001), maximum tumor diameter ( χ2=29.29, P<0.001), endoscopic type ( χ2=20.96, P<0.001), histological type ( χ2=24.93, P<0.001) and differentiation degree ( χ2=73.35, P<0.001) between intramucosal cancer group and submucosal cancer group. The mean, variance, skewness, kurtosis, the 1 st, 10 th, 50 th, 90 th, and 99 th percentiles of the histogram parameters of DWI had good consistency (all ICC>0.75). There were statistically significant differences in the mean ( t=5.69, P<0.001), variance ( t=9.75, P<0.001), skewness ( t=10.88, P<0.001), kurtosis ( t=10.06, P<0.001), the 1 st percentile ( t=3.43, P<0.001), 10 th percentile ( t=3.59, P<0.001), 50 th percentile ( t=9.97, P<0.001), 90 th percentile ( t=4.63, P<0.001), and 99 th percentile ( t=2.44, P=0.016) of the DWI histogram parameters between the intramucosal cancer group and the submucosal cancer group. ROC curve analysis results showed that mean [area under the curve (AUC) =0.77], variance (AUC=0.88), skewness (AUC=0.88), kurtosis (AUC=0.78), 50 th percentile (AUC=0.86) and 90 th percentile (AUC=0.82) had certain diagnostic value for submucous cancer. Multivariate analysis showed that age ( OR=9.98, 95% CI: 1.10-90.70, P=0.041), maximum tumor diameter ( OR=7.36, 95% CI: 1.08-50.23, P=0.042), and differentiation degree ( OR=19.88, 95% CI: 1.21-327.92, P=0.037), variance ( OR=16.24, 95% CI: 2.26-116.68, P=0.006), skewness ( OR=21.13, 95% CI: 2.80-59.61, P=0.003), 1 st percentile ( OR=9.78, 95% CI: 1.17-81.76, P=0.035) were independent factors in predicting tumor invasion depth in patients with early rectal cancer. The predictive model based on the above indicators was logit ( P) =1.51+2.30×age+2.00×maximum tumor diameter+2.99×differentiation degree+2.79×variance+3.05×skewness+ 2.28×the 1 st percentile. ROC curve analysis showed that the predictive model had an AUC of 0.97 (95% CI: 0.95-0.99) for judging the occurrence of submucosal cancer in patients with early rectal cancer, the sensitivity was 0.95, and the specificity was 0.88. The Hosmer-Lemeshow test results showed that the goodness of fit of the model was ideal ( P=0.823) . Conclusions:Age, maximum tumor diameter, differentiation degree, variance, skewness, and the 1 st percentile are independent factors in predicting tumor invasion depth in patients with early rectal cancer. The predictive model constructed based on these factors can effectively predict the risk of submucosal cancer in patients with early rectal cancer.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)is a chronic liver disease caused by excessive lipid accumulation in the liver.Its incidence rate is increasing year by year and has become an increasingly serious public healthy problem.The pathogenesis of NAFLD is complex and has not been fully clarified at present.It is mainly related to multiple factors such as genetics,metabolism,intestinal flora and immune response.In order to explore the medication rules and mechanism of action of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)in the treatment of NAFLD,and to provide references for the treatment of NAFLD with TCM and the research and development of new drugs,this article summarizes the TCM pathogenesis of NAFLD(such as"phlegm and blood stasis interlacing","liver depression and spleen deficiency",etc.)and modern etiology and pathogenesis(such as insulin resistance,lipid disorder,mitochondrial dysfunction,oxidative stress,etc.).The clinical research and experimental data at home and abroad in recent years were integrated to analyze the pathological process of NAFLD intervention by TCM through multiple targets,including improving insulin resistance and lipid metabolism disorders,inhibiting oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction,etc.TCM has shown unique advantages in the prevention and treatment of NAFLD.However,the depth of its mechanism analysis and the level of clinical research still need to be improved.In the future,it is necessary to deepen the mechanism research by combining multi-omics technology to accelerate the modernization development of TCM.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)is a chronic liver disease caused by excessive lipid accumulation in the liver.Its incidence rate is increasing year by year and has become an increasingly serious public healthy problem.The pathogenesis of NAFLD is complex and has not been fully clarified at present.It is mainly related to multiple factors such as genetics,metabolism,intestinal flora and immune response.In order to explore the medication rules and mechanism of action of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)in the treatment of NAFLD,and to provide references for the treatment of NAFLD with TCM and the research and development of new drugs,this article summarizes the TCM pathogenesis of NAFLD(such as"phlegm and blood stasis interlacing","liver depression and spleen deficiency",etc.)and modern etiology and pathogenesis(such as insulin resistance,lipid disorder,mitochondrial dysfunction,oxidative stress,etc.).The clinical research and experimental data at home and abroad in recent years were integrated to analyze the pathological process of NAFLD intervention by TCM through multiple targets,including improving insulin resistance and lipid metabolism disorders,inhibiting oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction,etc.TCM has shown unique advantages in the prevention and treatment of NAFLD.However,the depth of its mechanism analysis and the level of clinical research still need to be improved.In the future,it is necessary to deepen the mechanism research by combining multi-omics technology to accelerate the modernization development of TCM.

Objective:To investigate the immunophenotypic and molecular biological characteristics of patients with elevated serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and enteroblastic differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma (GAED).Methods:The clinicopathological data of 13 patients with elevated serum AFP and GAED admitted to Shanxi Cancer Hospital from 2018 to 2020 were collected. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and next-generation sequencing (NGS) were used to analyze the immune markers and molecular biological characteristics of the pathological tissues of the patients. Kaplan-Meier method and log rank test were used for survival analysis.Results:Among the 13 patients with GAED, 12 were male and 1 was female, aged 41-70 years, with a median age of 64 years. The lesions were mainly located in the gastric antrum (5 cases) and gastric body (4 cases). IHC results showed that the tumor embryonic protein (AFP, SALL4, GPC3), intestinal epithelial differentiation protein (CDX-2, CD10), and some original intestinal epithelial phenotype markers (OCT3/4, Claudin6) were expressed in the tumor tissues. Combined application of multiple markers can reduce the rate of missed diagnosis. Among the 13 patients, 12 had at least one mutation (1 mutation: 1 case, 2-5 mutations: 3 cases, 6-15 mutations: 8 cases), and 1 case was not detected. The gene with the highest mutation frequency was TP53 (10 cases), and other mutant genes included EPHB1 (3 cases), ATRX (2 cases), EPHA5 (2 cases), GATA3 (2 cases), LRP1B (2 cases) and MAP2K4 (2 cases) were also detected. Three of the 13 patients had structural variations, which were C14orf177- GNAS, AIM1- FGFR3, and EPHA6- ROS1 gene rearrangements. All 13 patients had copy number variation, and 11 patients had copy number variation of more than 2 genes. The common amplification genes were IRS2 (5 cases), PTEN (5 cases), GNAS (4 cases), CCNE1 (3 cases), CEBPA (3 cases), PCK1 (3 cases) and ERBB2 (2 cases). The common deletion genes were SOX2 (5 cases) and MYC (5 cases). Among the 13 patients, 4 died, and 2 of the dead patients had liver metastasis. There were 4 patients with disease-free survival and 5 patients with disease progression, including 3 cases of abdominal metastasis and 2 cases of liver metastasis. The 3-year survival rate of patients was 65.9 %, and the 3-year progression-free survival rate was 30.7 %. Gene LRP1B point mutation was associated with poor prognosis ( P＜0.001). There was no significant improvement in the prognosis of patients treated with immunotherapy compared with those treated with chemotherapy alone ( P=0.595), but the prognosis of patients treated with postoperative chemotherapy or postoperative chemotherapy plus immunotherapy was better than that of patients treated with surgery alone ( P＜0.05). Conclusions:Elevated serum AFP with GAED is a highly invasive tumor with unique molecular characteristics, often accompanied by multiple molecular events. TP53 mutation is the most common type of gene mutation. In addition, some cases are accompanied by HER2 amplification and gene rearrangement.

Objective:To investigate the immunophenotypic and molecular biological characteristics of patients with elevated serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and enteroblastic differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma (GAED).Methods:The clinicopathological data of 13 patients with elevated serum AFP and GAED admitted to Shanxi Cancer Hospital from 2018 to 2020 were collected. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and next-generation sequencing (NGS) were used to analyze the immune markers and molecular biological characteristics of the pathological tissues of the patients. Kaplan-Meier method and log rank test were used for survival analysis.Results:Among the 13 patients with GAED, 12 were male and 1 was female, aged 41-70 years, with a median age of 64 years. The lesions were mainly located in the gastric antrum (5 cases) and gastric body (4 cases). IHC results showed that the tumor embryonic protein (AFP, SALL4, GPC3), intestinal epithelial differentiation protein (CDX-2, CD10), and some original intestinal epithelial phenotype markers (OCT3/4, Claudin6) were expressed in the tumor tissues. Combined application of multiple markers can reduce the rate of missed diagnosis. Among the 13 patients, 12 had at least one mutation (1 mutation: 1 case, 2-5 mutations: 3 cases, 6-15 mutations: 8 cases), and 1 case was not detected. The gene with the highest mutation frequency was TP53 (10 cases), and other mutant genes included EPHB1 (3 cases), ATRX (2 cases), EPHA5 (2 cases), GATA3 (2 cases), LRP1B (2 cases) and MAP2K4 (2 cases) were also detected. Three of the 13 patients had structural variations, which were C14orf177- GNAS, AIM1- FGFR3, and EPHA6- ROS1 gene rearrangements. All 13 patients had copy number variation, and 11 patients had copy number variation of more than 2 genes. The common amplification genes were IRS2 (5 cases), PTEN (5 cases), GNAS (4 cases), CCNE1 (3 cases), CEBPA (3 cases), PCK1 (3 cases) and ERBB2 (2 cases). The common deletion genes were SOX2 (5 cases) and MYC (5 cases). Among the 13 patients, 4 died, and 2 of the dead patients had liver metastasis. There were 4 patients with disease-free survival and 5 patients with disease progression, including 3 cases of abdominal metastasis and 2 cases of liver metastasis. The 3-year survival rate of patients was 65.9 %, and the 3-year progression-free survival rate was 30.7 %. Gene LRP1B point mutation was associated with poor prognosis ( P＜0.001). There was no significant improvement in the prognosis of patients treated with immunotherapy compared with those treated with chemotherapy alone ( P=0.595), but the prognosis of patients treated with postoperative chemotherapy or postoperative chemotherapy plus immunotherapy was better than that of patients treated with surgery alone ( P＜0.05). Conclusions:Elevated serum AFP with GAED is a highly invasive tumor with unique molecular characteristics, often accompanied by multiple molecular events. TP53 mutation is the most common type of gene mutation. In addition, some cases are accompanied by HER2 amplification and gene rearrangement.

Objective:To investigate the effect of insular involvement on the outcomes of patients with acute anterior circulation ischemic stroke.Methods:Patients with acute anterior circulation ischemic stroke admitted to the Department of Neurology, Nanjing Jinling Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University from January 2015 to December 2020 were retrospectively included. Demographic data, vascular risk factors, clinical and laboratory data, as well as treatment and outcomes were collected. Firstly, the correlation between the insular involvement and the outcomes was investigated, and then the bootstrap method was used to clarify the mediating role of infarct volume between the insular involvement and the poor outcomes.Results:A total of 450 patients with acute anterior circulation ischemic stroke were enrolled, among whom 79 cases (17.6%) had insular involvement and 41 (9.1%) had left insular involvement. There were 111 (24.7%) with poor outcomes, including 5 (1.1%) died. Compared to the non-insular involvement group, the insular involvement group had a higher proportion of patients with atrial fibrillation, shorter onset to door time, higher neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), higher National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score at admission, larger infarct volume, and higher proportion of patients with poor outcomes (all P<0.05). In addition, patients with left insular involvement were younger than those with right insular involvement, had a higher baseline NIHSS score, a lower proportion of patients with minor stroke (NIHSS score ≤8), and had a longer onset to door time (all P<0.05). Compared to the good outcome group, the poor outcome group was older, with a higher proportion of female patients, higher systolic blood pressure, blood glucose, NLR, and NIHSS scores at admission, larger infarct volume, and a higher proportion of patients with insular involvement (all P<0.05). Mediation analysis suggested that the mediating effect of infarct volume between the insular involvement and the poor outcomes was significant (95% confidence interval 0.033-0.230; P=0.008). Conclusions:insular involvement in patients with acute anterior circulation ischemic stroke is associated with the poor outcomes, and this association may be mediated by infarct volume. Patients with left insular involvement may have more severe symptoms than those with right insular involvement, but there is no significant difference in the outcomes.

Peptides that are composed of dextrorotary (d)-amino acids have gained increasing attention as a potential therapeutic class. However, our understanding of the in vivo fate of d-peptides is limited. This highlights the need for whole-body, quantitative tracking of d-peptides to better understand how they interact with the living body. Here, we used mouse models to track the movement of a programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1)-targeting d-dodecapeptide antagonist (DPA) using positron emission tomography (PET). More specifically, we profiled the metabolic routes of [⁶⁴Cu]DPA and investigated the tumor engagement of [⁶⁴Cu/⁶⁸Ga]DPA in mouse models. Our results revealed that intact [⁶⁴Cu/⁶⁸Ga]DPA was primarily eliminated by the kidneys and had a notable accumulation in tumors. Moreover, a single dose of [⁶⁴Cu]DPA effectively delayed tumor growth and improved the survival of mice. Collectively, these results not only deepen our knowledge of the in vivo fate of d-peptides, but also underscore the utility of d-peptides as radiopharmaceuticals.

Objective:To investigate the changes of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), circulating B cell-specific Moloney leukemia virus insertion site 1 mRNA (Bmi-1 mRNA) and microRNA-21 (miR-21) before and after treatment with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) monoclonal antibody in advanced colorectal cancer, and analyze their association with treatment response.Methods:The clinical data of 98 patients with advanced colorectal cancer from March 2019 to March 2021 in Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. After treatment with cetuximab, complete remission was in 4 cases, partial remission in 26 cases, stable disease in 39 cases, and progressive disease in 29 cases. The patients with complete remission and partial remission were classified as remission group (30 cases), the stable disease and progressive disease were classified as non-remission group (68 cases). Before treatment and after 2 cycles of treatment, the plasma level of ctDNA was detected by high-throughput sequencing; the levels of Bmi-1mRNA and miR-21 were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Spearman correlation was used to analyze the relationship between ctDNA, Bmi-1mRNA, miR-21 and treatment responsiveness after 2 cycles of treatment; multivariate Logistic regression was used to analyze the independent risk factors affecting treatment responsiveness; receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to evaluate the value of ctDNA, Bmi-1mRNA and miR-21 in predicting remission after 2 cycles of treatment.Results:There were no significant differences in ctDNA, Bmi-1mRNA and miR-21 before treatment between 2 groups ( P>0.05); the ctDNA, Bmi-1mRNA and miR-21 after 2 cycles of treatment in remission group were significantly lower than those in non-remission group: (10.03 ± 3.32) μg/L vs. (15.33 ± 5.14) μg/L, 0.13 ± 0.04 vs. 0.19 ± 0.05 and 0.81 ± 0.26 vs. 1.08 ± 0.24, and there were statistical differences ( P<0.01). Spearman correlation analysis result showed that ctDNA, Bmi-1mRNA and miR-21 were negatively correlated with treatment response ( r = -0.500, -0.506 and -0.531; P<0.01). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis result showed that, after controlling for the number of distant metastatic organs and clinical stage, ctDNA, Bmi-1mRNA and miR-21 were still independent risk factors for treatment response in patients with advanced colorectal cancer ( OR = 3.342, 2.725 and 1.838; 95% CI 3.116 to 3.584, 2.647 to 2.805 and 1.768 to 1.911; P<0.01). ROC curve analysis result showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of ctDNA, Bmi-1mRNA combined with miR-21 after 2 cycles of treatment to predict the treatment response was the largest with 0.922. Conclusions:The changes of ctDNA, Bmi-1mRNA and miR-21 in patients with advanced colorectal cancer before and after treatment with EGFR monoclonal antibody are related to the treatment response. Combined detection is helpful for screening patients sensitive to EGFR-targeted therapy, and can provide reference for new targets of molecular intervention.

Objective:To evaluate the relationship between menopausal symptoms and everyday cognition in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women.Methods:A cross-sectional study was used to analyze the clinical data of 314 women who first visited the menopausal clinic of Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics of Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital from October 2018 to October 2020. The modified Kupperman menopausal index (KMI) scale was used to assess the prevalence and severity of menopausal symptoms, and a short version of everyday cognition (ECog) scale was used to evaluate everyday cognition. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the relationship between menopausal symptoms and everyday cognition in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women.Results:The ECog score of 314 patients was 1.50±0.49. The score of KMI was 12.67±7.88, 74.8% (235/314) of the patients had menopausal symptoms, and 34.7% (109/314) had moderate to severe menopausal symptoms. Compared with asymptomatic patients (ECog scores: 1.27±0.29), symptomatic patients had higher ECog scores (mild symptoms group: 1.48±0.47, P=0.005; moderate to severe symptoms group: 1.69±0.55, P<0.001) . Correlation analysis showed that the five symptoms of KMI (hot flashes/sweating, insomnia, irritability, melancholia and fatigue) were associated with the decline of everyday cognition ( P<0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the symptoms of hot flashes/sweating [ β=0.060, 95% confidence interval ( CI) =0.002-0.117, P=0.043], melancholia ( β=0.163, 95% CI=0.073-0.253, P<0.001 ) and fatigue ( β=0.138, 95% CI=0.071-0.205, P<0.001) were still associated with the decline of everyday cognition. Conclusion:The symptoms of hot flashes/sweating, melancholia and fatigue are independent risk factors for the decline of everyday cognition in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women.

Objective:To evaluate the relationship between menopausal symptoms and everyday cognition in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women.Methods:A cross-sectional study was used to analyze the clinical data of 314 women who first visited the menopausal clinic of Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics of Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital from October 2018 to October 2020. The modified Kupperman menopausal index (KMI) scale was used to assess the prevalence and severity of menopausal symptoms, and a short version of everyday cognition (ECog) scale was used to evaluate everyday cognition. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the relationship between menopausal symptoms and everyday cognition in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women.Results:The ECog score of 314 patients was 1.50±0.49. The score of KMI was 12.67±7.88, 74.8% (235/314) of the patients had menopausal symptoms, and 34.7% (109/314) had moderate to severe menopausal symptoms. Compared with asymptomatic patients (ECog scores: 1.27±0.29), symptomatic patients had higher ECog scores (mild symptoms group: 1.48±0.47, P=0.005; moderate to severe symptoms group: 1.69±0.55, P<0.001) . Correlation analysis showed that the five symptoms of KMI (hot flashes/sweating, insomnia, irritability, melancholia and fatigue) were associated with the decline of everyday cognition ( P<0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the symptoms of hot flashes/sweating [ β=0.060, 95% confidence interval ( CI) =0.002-0.117, P=0.043], melancholia ( β=0.163, 95% CI=0.073-0.253, P<0.001 ) and fatigue ( β=0.138, 95% CI=0.071-0.205, P<0.001) were still associated with the decline of everyday cognition. Conclusion:The symptoms of hot flashes/sweating, melancholia and fatigue are independent risk factors for the decline of everyday cognition in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women.