AIM:To observe the effect and mech-anism of cuttlebone extract regulating vascular en-dothelial growth factor(VEGF)/phosphatidylinosi-tol 3-kinase(PI3K)/protein kinase B(AKT)pathway on refractory wounds in rats.METHODS:Cuttle-bone extract(CE)was obtained by water extraction of cuttlebone.Fifty SD rats were randomly divided into negative Control group,Model group,Cuttle-bone extract low-dose(CE(L))group,Cuttlebone extract high-dose(CE(H))group,and cuttlebone ex-tract high-dose+inhibitor(CE(H)+LY294002)group.After the refractory wound model was successfully established,0.02％furacillin solution or cuttlebone extract solution were applied to the wound area of rats in each group,and the treatment was adminis-tered once a day.After 14 days of treatment for re-fractory wounds,the changes in wound healing,angiogenesis,inflammation and expression of relat-ed regulatory proteins were quantitatively ana-lyzed by measuring skin ulcer wound area,patho-logical sections,immunofluorescence staining,Eli-sa,Western blot,RT-qPCR and other methods.RE-SULTS:Compared with Model group,CE(L)and CE(H)groups can increase the number of epithelial cells and collagen,and promote the healing of re-fractory wound in rats.Serum VEGF,skin tissue mi-crovascular density,P-PI3K,P-AKT,VEGF protein ex-pression and mRNA expression levels of PI3K,Akt,VEGF and eNOS were increased(P＜0.05),while se-rum TNF-α and IL-6 levels were decreased(P＜0.05).LY294002 could partially reverse the repair-ing effect of high dose cuttlebone extract on refrac-tory wound(P＜0.05).CONCLUSION:Cuttlebone ex-tract can regulate the VEGF/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway,inhibit the inflammatory response of re-fractory wounds in rats,induce angiogenesis and promote wound healing.

Objective:To investigate the correlation of multi-slice spiral CT(MSCT)blood flow parameters including blood volume(BV),blood flow(BF),permeability surface(PS),mean transit time(MTT)and serum carbohydrate antigen 199(CA199)level with clinical pathological features of gastric cancer patients,and the diagnostic efficiency of their combined detection.Methods:A total of 58 patients with gastric cancer confirmed by pathological biopsy admitted to Suixian People's Hospital from Jun 2022 to Dec 2023 were collected as the gastric cancer group,and 58 patients with gastric benign lesions during the same period were collected as the benign control group.The MSCT blood flow parameters BV,BF,PS,MTT values,and serum CA199 levels were compared between the two groups and among different clinical pathological features.The correlation of BF,PS,and serum CA199 level with different clinical pathological features was analyzed.The diagnostic efficiency of the combined detection of BF,PS,and serum CA199 level for gastric cancer was analyzed.Results:The proportion of mass diameter≥5 cm,marginal obscurity,malignant niche,mucosal invasion and muscle invasion in the gastric cancer group were higher than those in the benign control group(P＜0.05).The BF,PS,and serum CA199 level in the gastric cancer group were higher than those in the benign control group(P＜0.05).No significant differences were found in BV and MTT between the two groups(P＞0.05).The BF,PS,and serum CA199 level in patients with stage Ⅰ-Ⅱ,middle and high differentiation,and no lymph node metastasis were lower than those in patients with stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ,low differentiation,and lymph node metastasis(P＜0.05).There were no significant differences in BV and MTT among different clinical pathological features(P＞0.05).Spearman correlation analysis showed that BF,PS and serum CA199 level were positively correlated with clinical stage and lymph node metastasis,and negatively correlated with differentiation degree(P＜0.05).The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve results showed that the AUC of combined detection of BF,PS,and serum CA199 level for diagnosing gastric cancer was 0.928,which was significantly higher than the AUCs of individual detection:BF(0.787),PS(0.829),and CA199(0.816).Conclusion:The MSCT blood flow parameters BF,PS,and serum CA199 level are all correlated with clinical pathological features of gastric cancer patients,and combined detection of these three indicators has high diagnostic efficiency for early diagnosis of gastric cancer.

Objective:To investigate the correlation of multi-slice spiral CT(MSCT)blood flow parameters including blood volume(BV),blood flow(BF),permeability surface(PS),mean transit time(MTT)and serum carbohydrate antigen 199(CA199)level with clinical pathological features of gastric cancer patients,and the diagnostic efficiency of their combined detection.Methods:A total of 58 patients with gastric cancer confirmed by pathological biopsy admitted to Suixian People's Hospital from Jun 2022 to Dec 2023 were collected as the gastric cancer group,and 58 patients with gastric benign lesions during the same period were collected as the benign control group.The MSCT blood flow parameters BV,BF,PS,MTT values,and serum CA199 levels were compared between the two groups and among different clinical pathological features.The correlation of BF,PS,and serum CA199 level with different clinical pathological features was analyzed.The diagnostic efficiency of the combined detection of BF,PS,and serum CA199 level for gastric cancer was analyzed.Results:The proportion of mass diameter≥5 cm,marginal obscurity,malignant niche,mucosal invasion and muscle invasion in the gastric cancer group were higher than those in the benign control group(P＜0.05).The BF,PS,and serum CA199 level in the gastric cancer group were higher than those in the benign control group(P＜0.05).No significant differences were found in BV and MTT between the two groups(P＞0.05).The BF,PS,and serum CA199 level in patients with stage Ⅰ-Ⅱ,middle and high differentiation,and no lymph node metastasis were lower than those in patients with stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ,low differentiation,and lymph node metastasis(P＜0.05).There were no significant differences in BV and MTT among different clinical pathological features(P＞0.05).Spearman correlation analysis showed that BF,PS and serum CA199 level were positively correlated with clinical stage and lymph node metastasis,and negatively correlated with differentiation degree(P＜0.05).The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve results showed that the AUC of combined detection of BF,PS,and serum CA199 level for diagnosing gastric cancer was 0.928,which was significantly higher than the AUCs of individual detection:BF(0.787),PS(0.829),and CA199(0.816).Conclusion:The MSCT blood flow parameters BF,PS,and serum CA199 level are all correlated with clinical pathological features of gastric cancer patients,and combined detection of these three indicators has high diagnostic efficiency for early diagnosis of gastric cancer.

AIM:To observe the effect and mech-anism of cuttlebone extract regulating vascular en-dothelial growth factor(VEGF)/phosphatidylinosi-tol 3-kinase(PI3K)/protein kinase B(AKT)pathway on refractory wounds in rats.METHODS:Cuttle-bone extract(CE)was obtained by water extraction of cuttlebone.Fifty SD rats were randomly divided into negative Control group,Model group,Cuttle-bone extract low-dose(CE(L))group,Cuttlebone extract high-dose(CE(H))group,and cuttlebone ex-tract high-dose+inhibitor(CE(H)+LY294002)group.After the refractory wound model was successfully established,0.02％furacillin solution or cuttlebone extract solution were applied to the wound area of rats in each group,and the treatment was adminis-tered once a day.After 14 days of treatment for re-fractory wounds,the changes in wound healing,angiogenesis,inflammation and expression of relat-ed regulatory proteins were quantitatively ana-lyzed by measuring skin ulcer wound area,patho-logical sections,immunofluorescence staining,Eli-sa,Western blot,RT-qPCR and other methods.RE-SULTS:Compared with Model group,CE(L)and CE(H)groups can increase the number of epithelial cells and collagen,and promote the healing of re-fractory wound in rats.Serum VEGF,skin tissue mi-crovascular density,P-PI3K,P-AKT,VEGF protein ex-pression and mRNA expression levels of PI3K,Akt,VEGF and eNOS were increased(P＜0.05),while se-rum TNF-α and IL-6 levels were decreased(P＜0.05).LY294002 could partially reverse the repair-ing effect of high dose cuttlebone extract on refrac-tory wound(P＜0.05).CONCLUSION:Cuttlebone ex-tract can regulate the VEGF/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway,inhibit the inflammatory response of re-fractory wounds in rats,induce angiogenesis and promote wound healing.

Herein, we define the role of ferroptosis in the pathogenesis of diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) by examining the expression of key regulators of ferroptosis in mice with DCM and a new ex vivo DCM model. Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), an important pathogenic factor of DCM, were found to induce ferroptosis in engineered cardiac tissues (ECTs), as reflected through increased levels of Ptgs2 and lipid peroxides and decreased ferritin and SLC7A11 levels. Typical morphological changes of ferroptosis in cardiomyocytes were observed using transmission electron microscopy. Inhibition of ferroptosis with ferrostatin-1 and deferoxamine prevented AGE-induced ECT remodeling and dysfunction. Ferroptosis was also evidenced in the heart of type 2 diabetic mice with DCM. Inhibition of ferroptosis by liproxstatin-1 prevented the development of diastolic dysfunction at 3 months after the onset of diabetes. Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2) activated by sulforaphane inhibited cardiac cell ferroptosis in both AGE-treated ECTs and hearts of DCM mice by upregulating ferritin and SLC7A11 levels. The protective effect of sulforaphane on ferroptosis was AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-dependent. These findings suggest that ferroptosis plays an essential role in the pathogenesis of DCM; sulforaphane prevents ferroptosis and associated pathogenesis via AMPK-mediated NRF2 activation. This suggests a feasible therapeutic approach with sulforaphane to clinically prevent ferroptosis and DCM.

BACKGROUND: The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has had a massive impact on public health, resulting in sudden dietary and behavioral habit changes. Frontline epidemic prevention workers play a pivotal role against COVID-19. They must face high-risk infection conditions, insufficient anti-epidemic material supplies, mental pressure, and so on. COVID-19 seriously affects their dietary and behavioral habits, and poor habits make them more susceptible to COVID-19. However, their baseline dietary and behavioral habits before COVID-19 and their willingness to change these habits after the outbreak of COVID-19 remain unclear for these workers in China. This study aimed to explore the baseline dietary and behavioral habits of frontline workers and their willingness to change these habits after the outbreak of the epidemic; in addition, susceptible subgroups were identified by stratified analyses as targets of protective measures to keep them from being infected with COVID-19. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted through an online questionnaire using a sample of 22,459 valid individuals living in China, including 9402 frontline epidemic prevention workers. RESULTS: Before COVID-19, 23.9% of the frontline epidemic prevention workers reported a high-salt diet, 46.9% of them reported a high frequency of fried foods intake, and 50.9% of them smoked cigarettes. After the outbreak of COVID-19, 34.6% of them expressed a willingness to reduce salt intake, and 43.7% of them wanted to reduce the frequency of pickled vegetables intake. A total of 37.9% of them expressed a willingness to decrease or quit smoking, and 44.5% of them wanted to increase sleep duration. Significant differences in the baseline dietary and behavioral habits and the willingness to change their habits were observed between frontline epidemic prevention workers and other participants. Among the frontline epidemic prevention workers with poor dietary and behavioral habits before COVID-19, frontline epidemic prevention experience was a promoting factor for adopting worse dietary and behavioral habits, including those in the high-salt intake subgroup (OR, 2.824; 95% CI, 2.341-3.405) and the 11-20 cigarettes/day subgroup (OR, 2.067; 95% CI, 1.359-3.143). CONCLUSIONS The dietary and behavioral habits of frontline epidemic prevention workers were worse than that those of other participants before COVID-19. They had a greater willingness to adopt healthy dietary and behavioral habits after experiencing the outbreak of COVID-19. However, frontline epidemic prevention workers with poor dietary and behavioral habits before COVID-19 continued in engage in these poor habits. Dietary and behavioral intervention policies should be drafted to protect their health, especially frontline epidemic prevention workers with poor habits at baseline.
Adult ; COVID-19/psychology* ; China/epidemiology* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Diet/standards* ; Female ; Health Behavior ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Health Personnel/psychology* ; Humans ; Male ; Risk Reduction Behavior ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Objective:To observe the relationship between the occurrence of symptomatic hypocalcemia (SH) and various potential influencing factors in patients after thyroidectomy, stratify according to the scope of thyroidectomy, and explore the predictive value of intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) for postoperative SH.Methods:Among 3 379 patients with thyroidectomy who admitted into the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2020 to February 2021, 122 patients with SH after thyroidectomy were collected retrospectively and set as SH group. 100 patients of the remaining 3 200 patients who did not suffer from SH in the same year were selected by systematic sampling method and set as control group. Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the potential influencing factors such as age, preoperative calcium, postoperative calcium, preoperative iPTH, postoperative iPTH, central lymph node number, blood loss, operation duration, gender, lymph node dissection method, thyroidectomy range, postoperative pathological type and other. Among them, the measurement data of normal distribution were expressed by mean±standard deviation( Mean± SD), t-test was used for the comparison between the two groups, and Chi-square test was used for count data. By drawing the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), the iPTH levels in patients with and without SH before/after operation (different surgical methods) were studied, and the diagnostic threshold, sensitivity and specificity of iPTH were predicted. Results:Among 3 379 patients, 122 patients suffered from SH after thyroidectomy, with the incidence rate of 3.6%. There were significant differences in gender (8 males and 114 females in SH group; 27 males and 73 females in control group), whether lateral area dissection was performed (58 cases with dissection and 64 cases without dissection in SH group; 7 cases with dissection and 93 cases without dissection in control group), thyroidectomy range (14 cases with one side and 108 cases with both sides in SH group; 73 cases with one side and 27 cases with both sides in control group), age (40.1 years old vs 43.2 years old), dissection number of central lymph nodes (8.6 vs 4.6), dissection number of cervical lymph nodes (12.3 vs 0.7), blood loss (22.8 mL vs 11.0 mL), operation duration (1.7 h vs 0.8 h), postoperative iPTH (16.4 pg/mL vs 41.9 pg/mL), preoperative iPTH (39.4 pg/mL vs 47.8 pg/mL) in SH group; and postoperative calcium level (1.9 mmol/L vs 2.2 mmol/L). There was significant differences between the two groups ( P<0.05). However, there was no significant differences between them with postoperative pathological type (4 cases with toxic goiter, 3 cases with medullary thyroid carcinoma, 1 case with thyroid follicular carcinoma, 114 cases with papillary thyroid carcinoma in SH group; 1 case with medullary thyroid carcinoma, 1 case of thyroid follicular carcinoma, 98 cases with papillary thyroid carcinoma in control group, P=0.25) and preoperative calcium (2.3 mmol/L vs 2.3 mmol/L, P=0.10). For patients with bilateral thyroidectomy, SH was easy to occur when postoperative iPTH < 20.08 pg/mL, and its sensitivity and specificity were 74.07% and 96.30%; however, for patients with unilateral thyroidectomy, SH was easy to occur when iPTH < 24.00 pg/mL after operation. Conclusions:Gender, age, postoperative calcium, preoperative iPTH, postoperative iPTH, central lymph node number, blood loss, operation duration, lymph node dissection method and thyroidectomy range are important factors affecting the occurrence of SH after thyroidectomy. With the expansion of surgical range, the postoperative iPTH level gradually decreases, which predicts the occurrence of symptomatic hypocalcemia. In order to avoid the occurrence of symptomatic hypocalcemia after operation, it is necessary to supplement calcium in time according to the range of operation and postoperative iPTH level.

Bioremediation is considered as a cost-effective, efficient and free-of-secondary-pollution technology for petroleum pollution remediation. Due to the limitation of soil environmental conditions and the nature of petroleum pollutants, the insufficient number and the low growth rate of indigenous petroleum-degrading microorganisms in soil lead to long remediation cycle and poor remediation efficiency. Bioaugmentation can effectively improve the biodegradation efficiency. By supplying functional microbes or microbial consortia, immobilized microbes, surfactants and growth substrates, the remediation effect of indigenous microorganisms on petroleum pollutants in soil can be boosted. This article summarizes the reported petroleum-degrading microbes and the main factors influencing microbial remediation of petroleum contaminated soil. Moreover, this article discusses a variety of effective strategies to enhance the bioremediation efficiency, as well as future directions of bioaugmentation strategies.
Biodegradation, Environmental ; Petroleum ; Soil ; Soil Microbiology ; Soil Pollutants