Objective:The aim of this study is to explain the key role of chondrocyte ferroptosis in TMJ OA and demonstrate that abnormal occlusion stimulation is an important causative factor of ferroptosis.Methods:We observed the morphological changes of mouse condylar cartilage in unilateral anterior crossbite(UAC,an abnormal occlusion stimulation)and bilateral anterior elevation(BAE,a proliferation occlusion stimulation)mice by HE and SO staining,and analyzed the expression of intracellular GPX4 by im-munofluorescence staining,and analyzed the changes in the content of mitochondria and reactive oxygen species by JC-1 and ROS staining.Results:The UAC caused degeneration of condylar cartilage and ferroptosis of chondrocytes in mice.The accumulation of iron ions and the dysfunction of mitochondria in chondrocytes significantly upregulated.The expression of GPX4,which is a key reg-ulator in the regulation of ferroptosis was lowered in UAC mice condyle cartilage.Moreover,in BAE model the condylar cartilage hy-perplasia was observed,but not the ferroptosis of chondrocytes.Conclusion:This study revealed that the abnormal biological force caused by abnormal occlusion could induce ferroptosis of chondrocytes,and ferroptosis is one of the main factors leading to the de-generation and thinning of condylar cartilage.GPX4 could regulate the ferroptosis of chondrocytes.

Objective:The aim of this study is to explain the key role of chondrocyte ferroptosis in TMJ OA and demonstrate that abnormal occlusion stimulation is an important causative factor of ferroptosis.Methods:We observed the morphological changes of mouse condylar cartilage in unilateral anterior crossbite(UAC,an abnormal occlusion stimulation)and bilateral anterior elevation(BAE,a proliferation occlusion stimulation)mice by HE and SO staining,and analyzed the expression of intracellular GPX4 by im-munofluorescence staining,and analyzed the changes in the content of mitochondria and reactive oxygen species by JC-1 and ROS staining.Results:The UAC caused degeneration of condylar cartilage and ferroptosis of chondrocytes in mice.The accumulation of iron ions and the dysfunction of mitochondria in chondrocytes significantly upregulated.The expression of GPX4,which is a key reg-ulator in the regulation of ferroptosis was lowered in UAC mice condyle cartilage.Moreover,in BAE model the condylar cartilage hy-perplasia was observed,but not the ferroptosis of chondrocytes.Conclusion:This study revealed that the abnormal biological force caused by abnormal occlusion could induce ferroptosis of chondrocytes,and ferroptosis is one of the main factors leading to the de-generation and thinning of condylar cartilage.GPX4 could regulate the ferroptosis of chondrocytes.

Objective:To characterize the histopathological subtypes and their clinicopathological parameters of gender and onset age by common, rare and sparse primary esophageal malignant tumors (PEMT).Methods:A total of 272 437 patients with PEMT were enrolled in this study, and all of the patients were received radical surgery. The clinicopathological information of the patients was obtained from the database established by the State Key Laboratory of Esophageal Cancer Prevention & Treatment from September 1973 to December 2020, which included the clinical treatment, pathological diagnosis and follow-up information of esophagus and gastric cardia cancers. All patients were diagnosed and classified by the criteria of esophageal tumor histopathological diagnosis and classification (2019) of the World Health Organization (WHO). The esophageal tumors, which were not included in the WHO classification, were analyzed separately according to the postoperative pathological diagnosis. The χ 2 test was performed by the SPSS 25.0 software on count data, and the test standard α=0.05. Results:A total of 32 histopathological types were identified in the enrolled PEMT patients, of which 10 subtypes were not included in the WHO classification. According to the frequency, PEMT were divided into common (esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, ESCC, accounting for 97.1%), rare (esophageal adenocarcinoma, EAC, accounting for 2.3%) and sparse (mainly esophageal small cell carcinoma, malignant melanoma, etc., accounting for 0.6%). All the common, rare, and sparse types occurred predominantly in male patients, and the gender difference of rare type was most significant (EAC, male∶ female, 2.67∶1), followed with common type (ESCC, male∶ female, 1.78∶1) and sparse type (male∶ female, 1.71∶1). The common type (ESCC) mainly occurred in the middle thoracic segment (65.2%), while the rare type (EAC) mainly occurred in the lower thoracic segment (56.8%). Among the sparse type, malignant melanoma and malignant fibrous histiocytoma were both predominantly located in the lower thoracic segment (51.7%, 66.7%), and the others were mainly in the middle thoracic segment.Conclusion:ESCC is the most common type among the 32 histopathological types of PEMT, followed by EAC as the rare type, and esophageal small cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma as the major sparse type, and all of which are mainly occur in male patients. The common type of ESCC mainly occur in the middle thoracic segment, while the rare type of EAC mainly in the lower thoracic segment. The mainly sparse type of malignant melanoma and malignant fibrous histiocytoma predominately occur in the lower thoracic segment, and the remaining sparse types mainly occur in the middle thoracic segment.

Objective:To verify the feasibility of a self-designed laparoscopic magnetic anchoring device for assisting thoracoscopic wedge resection.Methods:Six healthy Beagle dogs were selected as animal models, and underwent thoracoscopic wedge resection after general anesthesia. We replaced the pulmonary forceps with a magnetic anchoring device to complete the traction exposure of the lobes, and recorded the operation time of the operation, the amount of intraoperative blood loss, and the safety and feasibility of the magnetic anchoring device.Results:Six Beagle dogs successfully completed a thoracoscopic wedge resection with the aid of a magnetic anchoring device. During the operation, the magnetic anchoring device can completely replaced the exposure function of the pulmonary forceps, effectively eliminating the " chopstick effect" between the instruments during the uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic operation. The magnetic anchoring device provided sufficient traction for the surgery to achieve a clear exposure of the field. Tissue damage and magnetic anchoring pliers slip did not occur during the operation. The operation time was(22.67±3.25)min(range 18-26 min), and the intraoperative blood loss was less than 10 ml. The experimental animals survived well after surgery.Conclusion:Magnetic anchoring device is safe and effective for thoracoscopic wedge resection, which can eliminate mutual interference between operating instruments and has potential for clinical application.

Objective:To elucidate the factors influencing the differences in the survival rates of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients between the rural and urban regions in China. Methods:A total of 36,723 ESCC patients derived from the clinical data-bases containing 500,000 esophageal and gastric cardia carcinoma cases (1973-2015) of the Henan Key Laboratory for Esophageal Can-cer Research of the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhengzhou University, were analyzed. Of these patients, 33,625 were from the rural re-gions (91.6%), comprising 20,906 male patients with an average age of 58.98 ± 8.71 years and 12,719 females with an average age of 59.59 ± 8.53 years. The remaining 3,098 were from the urban regions and composed of 2,089 male patients with an average age of 60.84±9.10 years and 1,009 females with an average age of 62.46 ± 9.14 years. All the patients underwent radical esophagectomy, de-tailed histopathological diagnosis, and TNM staging. Chi square test, Kaplan-Meier, Log-rank, and Cox proportional hazards regression model were used to analyze the differences between ESCC patients from rural regions and those from urban regions and among the risk factors in prognosis. Results:Kaplan-Meier and Log-rank analysis results showed that the ESCC patients from the rural regions had significantly higher overall survival than the urban patients (χ2=12.971, P=0.000). Further analysis showed that rural patients≥50 years old and diagnosed with stage IIa and IIb (middle stage) ESCC had higher survival rates than urban patients in males and females (male:χ2=16.188, P<0.001;female:χ2=5.019, P=0.025). However, the survival rates of rural and urban patients with stage 0,Ⅰa,Ⅰb (early stage) and Ⅲa, Ⅲc, and Ⅳ (late stage) were similar (P>0.05). The results of Cox proportional hazards regression model analysis showed that age, gender, and TNM stages were independent risk factors for rural and urban ESCC patients. When the rural and urban ESCC patients were both considered, the Cox proportional hazards regression model analysis results showed that male ESCC patients≥50 years old, urban residence, and TNM stages were independent risk factors. Conclusion:Rural ESCC patients have significantly high-er overall survival than urban patients. Male, age of≥50 years old, urban residence, and TNM stages were independent risk factors for ESCC patient survival.

Objective:To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics, treatments, and survival of patients with esophageal adeno-squamous carcinoma (EASC). Methods:A total of 494 patients with EASC were selected from the clinical information databases of 500, 000 cases with esophageal and gastric cardiac carcinomas in the Henan Key Laboratory for Esophageal Cancer Research. Among the 494 EASC cases, 361 were males with an average age of 61.47 ± 8.32 years, and 133 were females with an average age of 65.56 ± 8.06 years. SPSS 21.0 software was applied to determine the statistical differences among the different groups. A life-table method was also used to calculate the five-year survival rate. A linear regression model was used to analyze the correlation of changes at different peri-ods. Results:The incidence of EASC in our database was 0.196%(494/251707). EASC occurred predominantly in male patients (male:female=2.71:1.00). The peak age was within 60-69 years in both males and females (39.6%vs. 40.6%). Notably, the incidence of male patients showed a downward trend (R2=0.063), whereas that of female patients showed an upward trend (R2=0.004). The prevalence of EASC was obviously higher in low-incidence areas for esophageal cancer than in high-incidence areas (53.1%vs. 46.9%, P<0.001). Ac-cording to the TNM staging criteria for esophageal cancer, phases II and III patients comprised the majority of cases, which accounted for 40.8%(173/424). The positive lymph node metastasis rate was 47.0%(206/438), and the number of positive lymph node metasta-ses ranged within 1-2 (48.5%, 100/206). In addition, preoperative biopsy was performed in 467 cases, and more than half of the pa-tients (53.96%, 252/467) were diagnosed before the operation. Surgical resection was the predominant treatment method for EASC (88.8%, 419/472). Only 1.9%patients (9/472) underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The five-year survival rate of male patients who were neither smoking nor drinking of alcohol was higher than that of male smokers (26.5%vs. 12.1%). In patients with stagesⅠ,Ⅱ, andⅢ+Ⅳcarcinomas with surgery as lone treatment, the three-year survival rates were 64.7%, 50.9%, and 48.5%, respectively. Correspondingly, these rates were 51.7%, 47.8%, and 33.1%after adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Conclusion:EASC is a rare type of esophageal malignant tumor. The preoperative biopsy pathological diagnosis has high misdiagnosis rate. Smoking and drinking of alcohol can influence the prognosis of patients. In EASC patients, lymph node metastasis easily occurs, and a simple surgery is bet-ter than other cancer treatments.