Objective:To investigate the discomfort of chest wall approach area in patients undergoing endoscopic thyroidectomy by a gasless unilateral axillary approach (GUA), and to analyze its influencing factors. To provide a basis for the development of targeted improvement measures.Methods:A total of 153 patients with GUA from May. 2023 to Aug. 2023 in the Department of Thyroid Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University were selected as the study subjects. The general information questionnaire was collected one day before operation, the pain scales were assessed one day and three days after operation, and the pain and numbness scales were assessed one month after operation. The t test or χ2 test was used for comparison of baseline data between groups according to different types of variables. The patients were divided into two groups: less than moderate pain group (two postoperative average VAS scores<4) and more than moderate pain group (two postoperative average VAS scores ≥4). Mild numbness group (postoperative VAS score<4) ; Moderate and severe numbness group (postoperative VAS score ≥4). Multivariate binary Logistic regression was performed with pain discomfort and numbness discomfort as dependent variables to find possible influencing factors. Results:A total of 153 valid questionnaires were collected. There were 125 patients in the moderate pain group; There were 28 patients in the moderate and above pain group. There were 94 patients in the mild numbness group. There were 59 patients in the moderate to severe numbness group. Multivariate binary Logistic regression results showed that, exercise habits ( OR=0.07 95% CI=0.006, 0.409), operation duration ( OR=1.026 95% CI=1.001, 1.054), total drainage volume ( OR=1.122 95% CI=1.07, P<0.05), 1.198), and drainage tube indwelling time ( OR=0.012 95% CI=0.0, 0.187) had an impact on the discomfort of the chest wall approach area, and the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.05). Gender, BMI, marital status, education, occupation, handed-side surgery, handed-side axillary surgery, smokess and alcohol history, intraoperative blood loss, and length of hospital stay had no effect on the discomfort of chest wall approach area, and the difference was not statistically significant ( P>0.05) . Conclusion:Exercise habits, operation duration, total drainage volume, and drainage duration are independent predictors of discomfort in GUA patients.

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome is an infectious disease with high mortality caused by human immunodefi-ciency virus(HIV).Even after antiretroviral therapy,the virus reservoir formed by the provirus integrated in the host genome can evade host immune surveillance and clearance.The existing methods of HIV reservoir detection mainly include cell culture induced virus growth assay in vitro and direct detection of the provirus genome based on PCR technology.Understanding and measuring accurately of HIV reservoir can provide reliable technical basis for HIV treatment research.This article summarizes and analyzes various detection methods of HIV reservoirs in recent years and their advantages and disadvantages,in order to select the suitable method for different detection objects of HIV reservior,and give appropriate suggestions,to provide technical support and theoretical guidance for further research on acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the expression of microRNA-106a(miR-106a) in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and its correlation with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients. METHODS: Serum samples of 64 patients with newly diagnosed RCC were collected as the study group, and serum samples of 40 healthy individuals were used as the control group. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR was used to determine the expression level of miR-106a in each group. The correlation between miR-106a expression and clinicopathological characteristics of the patients was studied with single factor analysis and multiple Logistic regression model. Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to analyze its correlation with the prognosis of patients. RESULTS: Before surgery, compared with the control group (1.17± 0.58), RCC patients with high- (9.15± 0.96) and low-expression(3.45± 0.37) had increased expression of miR-106a. Postoperatively, the expression level of miR-106a in both groups of patients decreased to 1.53± 0.18 and 1.75± 0.21, respectively. The area under the curve (AUC) of the diagnostic value of serum miR-106a for RCC was 0.782 (95% CI: 0.661-0.902). With an optimal cutoff value of 0.531, the sensitivity was 78.10% and the specificity was 75.00%. Serum miR-106a level of RCC patients with TNM stage T3 or T4, clinical stage II or III, lymph node metastasis, and recurrence were significantly increased. The high expression of serum miR-106a in RCC patients has an independent relationship with the tumor TNM stage and lymph node metastasis. Of the 64 follow-up patients, 4 were lost and 30 had died. Among them, the median survival time of patients in the miR-106a high expression group was 30 months, which was significantly shorter than that of the low expression group (52 months). CONCLUSION The serum level of miR-106a is elevated in RCC patients, and may be used as a molecular marker for the diagnosis of RCC. High serum expression of miR-106a is an independent predictor for tumor TNM stage and lymph node metastasis, as well as an independent predictor for poor prognosis of RCC patients.
Biomarkers, Tumor/genetics* ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell/genetics* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms/genetics* ; MicroRNAs/genetics* ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Prognosis

Objective:To study the effect of psoralen on the proliferation, invasion and migration of HTB-47 and CRL-1932 renal cancer cells cultured in vitro, and to further explore the internal mechanism of psoralen inhibiting renal cancer.Methods:The experimental group was HTB-47 and CRL-1932 renal cancer cells treated with dimethyl sulfoxide solution containing 30 μg/ml psoralen, and the control group was renal cancer cells treated with dimethyl sulfoxide. Scratch test, CCK8, Transwell, and Western blot were used to detect the effect of psoralen on renal cancer cells.Results:Compared with the control group, the proliferation, invasion and migration of renal cancer cells treated with psoralen in the experimental group were significantly inhibited. In the renal cancer cells treated with psoralen, the protein expression levels of MKI67, PCNA, MMP2 and MMP9 were significantly decreased (all P<0.05). Conclusions:Psoralen can significantly inhibit the proliferation, invasion and migration of HTB-47 and CRL-1932 renal cancer cells in vitro. The mechanism may be to inhibit the progression of renal cancer by regulating MKI67, PCNA, MMP2 and MMP9.

Objective:To assess the prognostic value of modified Charlson comorbidity index (mCCI) combined with serum albumin for long-term prognosis in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients.Methods:From January 1, 2007 to June 30, 2015, patients who started PD in Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital were enrolled in this retrospective cohort study. Clinical data including gender, age, underlying diseases, laboratory examination and prognosis were collected. The mCCI at the beginning of PD was calculated. Whether the duration of PD exceeded 5 years was used as an indicator to evaluate the prognosis. The patients were divided into≥5 years group and<5 years group according to the duration of PD, and the data were compared between the two groups. Cox regression model was constructed to analyze the influencing factors of all-cause death in PD patients. Multivariate logistic regression model and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were used to analyze the predictive value of mCCI and serum albumin levels on whether patients could maintain long-term PD.Results:Of the 183 patients included [males 106(57.9%), females 77(42.1%); (53.35±16.50) years old; 162 cases (88.5%) with hypertension, 55 cases (30.1%) with diabetes], 97 cases had PD duration for ≥5 years and 86 cases less than 5 years. The overall 5-year technical survival rate was 65.1%. At the beginning of PD, compared with the dialysis age≥5 years group, the patients in the dialysis age less than 5 years group had older age, higher mCCI, lower serum albumin level, and higher C-reactive protein (CRP) level (all P<0.05), but there were no significant differences in gender, education level, electrolyte, mean arterial pressure, high densitv lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and PD adequacy index between the two groups (all P>0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that increased age ( OR=1.022, 95% CI 1.000-1.043, P=0.046), increased mCCI ( OR=1.620, 95% CI 1.300-2.018, P<0.001) and decreased serum albumin ( OR=0.807, 95% CI 0.730-0.893, P<0.001) were independent predictors for the duration of PD<5 years. ROC curve analysis showed that the area under ROC curves ( AUC) of mCCI, serum albumin level and combined prediction probability of the two for the duration of PD<5 years were 0.647(95% CI 0.568-0.727), 0.655(95% CI 0.577-0.734), and 0.767(95% CI 0.700-0.835), respectively, indicating that the accuracy of combined parameters to predict survival outcome was higher than that of any single parameter. Multivariate Cox analysis showed that increased age ( HR=1.073, 95% CI 1.046-1.100, P<0.001), increased mCCI ( HR=1.198, 95% CI 1.044-1.375, P=0.010) and decreased serum albumin ( HR=0.904, 95% CI 0.843-0.969, P=0.004) were independent influencing factors for all-cause death in PD patients. Conclusions:Old age, high mCCI and low serum albumin level are influencing factors for dialysis age<5 years and all-cause death in PD patients. mCCI combined with serum albumin level can improve the accuracy of predicting the long-term dialysis in PD patients.

Pichia pastoris is one of the most widely used recombinant protein expression systems. In this study, a novel method for rapid screening of P. pastoris strains capable of efficiently expressing recombinant proteins was developed. Firstly, the ability to express recombinant proteins of the modified strain GS115-E in which a functional Sec63-EGFP (Enhanced green fluorescent protein) fusion protein replaced the endogenous endoplasmic reticulum transmembrane protein Sec63 was tested. Next, the plasmids carrying different copy numbers of phytase (phy) gene or xylanase (xyn) gene were transformed into GS115-E to obtain recombinant strains with different expression levels of phytase or xylanase, and the expression levels of EGFP and recombinant proteins in different strains were tested. Finally, a flow cytometer sorter was used to separate a mixture of cells with different phytase expression levels into sub-populations according to green fluorescence intensity. A good linear correlation was found between the fluorescence intensities of EGFP and the expression levels of the recombinant proteins in the recombinant strains (0.8<|R|<1). By using the flow cytometer, high-yielding P. pastoris cells were efficiently screened from a mixture of cells. The expression level of phytase of the selected high-fluorescence strains was 4.09 times higher than that of the low-fluorescence strains after 120 h of methanol induction. By detecting the EGFP fluorescence intensity instead of detecting the expression level and activity of the recombinant proteins in the recombinant strains, the method developed by the present study possesses the greatly improved performance of convenience and versatility in screening high-yielding P. pastoris strains. Combining the method with high-throughput screening instruments and technologies, such as flow cytometer and droplet microfluidics, the speed and throughput of this method will be further increased. This method will provide a simple and rapid approach for screening and obtaining P. pastoris with high abilities to express recombinant proteins.
6-Phytase/genetics* ; Pichia/genetics* ; Plasmids ; Recombinant Proteins/genetics* ; Saccharomycetales

Objective:To investigate the recovery of patients with acute thallium poisoning after 9 years.Methods:A group of 14 patients with familial thallium poisoning who were admitted to our hospital in 2010 were followed up for 9 years.Results:Among the 14 patients with acute thallium poisoning, one patient died on the 14th day after poisoning, and all the other survivors were followed up 9 years later. The general condition of all the patients was significantly better than that of poisoning 9 years ago. The alopecia of all cases disappeared, the newborn hair grew normally, without gastrointestinal symptoms, numbness, pain in the limbs and mental symptoms. All the patients returned to normal intelligence and physical strength and had a normal life. One patient (No. 5) gave birth to 2 children successively after discharge. The first child was 6 years old and the second child was 2 years old. Both growth and intelligence were not different from those of the same age. Currently, the third pregnancy was more than 7 months. No.6 and No.10 patients were poisoned in their teenage and were currently all studying in university. No.6 patient suffered from Hashimoto's thyroiditis 7 years after poisoning, and he has been taking thiamazole tablets for two years. Poisoned infants, No.7, 8 ,11 and 12, were school-age children with normal growth, mental development and excellent academic performance. Among the 13 surviving patients, blood and urine samples from No. 1, No. 3, and No. 4 patients were collected, and no thallium concentration was detected, and biochemical examina-tion and neurological examination were all normal.Conclusions:Patients with acute thallium poisoning have a favorable prognosis according to the follow-up after 9 years. All patients have no obvious sequelae and have normal labor ability. Young women have normal fertility, and children have normal growth and mental development.

Objective To investigate the effect of 1α, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1α,25-(OH)2 D3] on tumor necrosis factor-α ( TNF-α) induced activation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells ( HUVECs ) . The mechanism involved in this process was also studied. Methods HUVECs were cultured and treated with TNF-α( 40 ng/ml), 1α,25-(OH)2D3(10-8 mol/L), and SN50 as indicated. Vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM) and E-selectin were used as markers of endothelial activation, which were detected by Western blotting and realtime PCR (RT-PCR). NF-κB signaling pathway was investigated to study the mechanism. Western blotting, RT-PCR, immunofluorescence assay, and chromatin immunoprecipitation ( ChIP ) method were used to evaluate the effects of 1α,25-( OH) 2 D3 on its early activation, nuclear transport, and binding to VCAM and E-selectin promoters. Results (1) Western blotting and RT-PCR showed that TNF-α could significantly up-regulate the expression of VCAM and E-selectin in HUVECs, which can be inhibited by specific NF-κB blocker SN50. 1α,25-( OH) 2 D3 down-regulated the expression of VCAM and E-selectin induced by TNF-α. ( 2 ) Western blotting showed that TNF-α induces I-κBαphosphorylation, thereby activating NF-κB p65 subunit. Immunofluorescence showed that 1α, 25-( OH ) 2 D3 significantly inhibited the nuclear translocation of NF-κB p65 subunit. ChIP analysis revealed that 1α,25-( OH) 2 D3 inhibited the binding of NF-κB p65 to VCAM and E-selectin promoters and thus affected gene expression. Conclusions TNF-αenhanced the expression of E-selectin and VCAM in HUVECs via NF-κB signaling pathway. 1α,25-( OH) 2 D3 may inhibit NF-κB early activation, nuclear transport and the binding of NF-κB p65 to VCAM and E-selectin promoters, thereby inhibiting TNF-α-induced endothelial cell activation.

Objective To evaluate the feasibility and clinical efficacy of retroperitoneal laparoscopic adrenalectomy for the treatment of Cushing disease.Methods Clinical data collected from 38 cases retroperitonel laparoscopic adrenalectomy for Cushing disease,from February 2006 to February 2017 were analyzed retrospectively.Among them,there were 6 males and 32 females aged from 13 to 66 years old,with an average age of 38 years old.The disease history ranged from 2 to 96 months,with an average of 28.3 months.Besides,there were 32 cases that had previous history of transsphenoidal pituitary tumor surgery and or radiotherapy.All 38 cases underwent retroperitoneal laparoscopic adrenalectomy therapy.There were 8 cases accepted right adrenalectomy and left subtotal adrenalectomy at the same time,24 cases accepted unilateral adrenalectomy,another 6 cases of pituitary tumors without lesions in medical imaging underwent unilateral adrenalectomy.Results All operations were completed sucessfully without conversion to open surgery and mortality.There was no blood transfusion during the period of operation.The operation time ranged from 30 min to 270 min (mean 88.3 min),the amount of bleeding was among the range of 10 ml to 200 ml (mean 38.33 ml).During 2 to 13 years of the follow up (mean 7 years),the 24 h urine cortisol concentration in the first day after surgery of piatients with subtotal resection was 90.35-220.84 μg/24h (mean 102.83 μg/24h),and 6 cases were in the normal range.After surgery 6-11 months,the clinical symptoms completely disappeared.The hormone replacement therapy was discontinued 1-3 months after surgery.However,There were 3 cases treated with residual adrenalectomy because of the recurrence after 1,3.5,5.0 years respectively.30 cases underwent unilateral adrenalectomy,whose 24 h urine cortisol concentration in the first day after surgery was 99.80-550.84 μg/24h (mean 372.83 μg/24h),among which 24 cases were beyond normal range,and another 6 cases were within the normal range.Reviewing 24 h urine cortisol concentration one month later after operation,it was 382.16-520.34 μg/24h (mean 461.62 μg/24h),with the results of all cases being higher than the normal range,the clinical symptoms were not relieved satisfactorily.During 2 to 7 months after surgery,there were 22 cases further underwent contralateral subtotal adrenalectomy (80％),the remaining 8 cases underwent contralateral adrenalectomy and autologous transplantation of adrenal tissue.Immediately one day after surgery,the 24 h urine cortisol concentration level of patients was ranged from 62.58 to 182.34 μg/24h (mean 92.83 μg/24h),and all 22 cases were within the normal range.The clinical symptoms completely disappeared during next 6 to 9 months after surgery,and hormone replacement therapy was discontinued 3 months after surgery.There were 2 cases received residual adrenalectomy because of the recurrence.Lifelong hormone replacement therapy after surgery occurred in 13 cases and 5 cases developed Nelson syndrome.Conclusions Retroperitoneal laparoscopic of unilateral adrenalectomy and contralateral subtotal adrenalectomy for the treatment of Cushing disease was safe and effective.The contralateral adrenal subtotal resection could be performed at an appropriate time in the case of that the clinical symptoms not obvious.By doing so,it could significantly alleviate the clinical symptoms as well as avoiding lifelong hormone replacement therapy.Once recurrence,residual adrenalectomy can be considered.

Objective To detect the red blood cell lifespan in patients with polycythemia vera (PV), and explore the influencing factors. Methods From February 2017 to December 2018, 27 patients with PV at Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and 18 normal controls were recruited. Red blood cell lifespan was detected by endogenous carbon monoxide (CO) breath test. The related factors were analyzed. Results The average red blood cell lifespan of 27 PV patients was 80 (range, 35-120) days (d), which was significantly shorter than that of the normal controls [110.5(69-166) d, P<0.05], namely 35.3 d shorter. The red blood cell lifespan of ten newly diagnosed patients and 17 patients who were treated with hydroxyurea and/or interferon were 98 (35-117) d and 69 (45-120) d, respectively, which were both shorter than that of the normal control (P=0.010, 0.000). Correlation analysis showed that red blood cell lifespan of patients with newly diagnosed PV was associated with JAK2 mutation allele burden (r=0.900, P=0.037), peripheral blood lymphocyte count (r=-0.742, P=0.014) and the level of serum vitamin B12 (r=-0.821, P=0.023). Conclusion The lifespan of red blood cells in patients with PV is about one?third shorter than normal, and is related to JAK2 mutation allele burden, absolute lymphocyte count, and serum vitamin B12 level.