Objective To investigate the relationship between the expression of Klotho,apoptosis-related factors and oxidative stress injury of the trabecular meshwork in patients with glaucoma.Methods Totally 86 patients(86 eyes)with glaucoma admitted to our hospital from October 2021 to October 2023 were selected as the study group.Tissue sam-ples of trabecular meshwork were obtained during the operation.Trabecular meshwork donor tissues(45 cases)from pa-tients with non-eye diseases were taken as the control group.Hematoxylin-Eosin(HE)staining was used to examine the histopathological characteristics,and the expression levels of Klotho,apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD(ASC),cysteine-aspartic proteases-1(Caspase-1),superoxide dismutase(SOD)and peroxidase(POD)in trabecu-lar meshwork tissues were detected.The expression levels of Klotho,ASC,Caspase-1,SOD and POD of patients in the two groups and those expression levels in glaucoma patients with different average visual field defects were compared.The cor-relation between expression levels of Klotho,apoptosis-related proteins and oxidative stress injury of the trabecular mesh-work in glaucoma patients was analyzed by the Pearson method.Results HE staining results showed that the trabecular meshwork structure of patients in the study group was disorganized,with interlaced layers,thickened trabecular bundles and cell nucleus shrinkage,while the lamellas of trabecular meshwork tissues and trabecular cell bundles in the control group were orderly arranged,with normal forms of trabecular cells.In the study group,the expression level of Klotho in trabecular meshwork tissues was lower and the expression levels of ASC and Caspase-1 were higher than those of the con-trol group(all P＜0.05).There were statistically significant differences in the expression levels of Klotho,ASC,Caspase-1,SOD and POD in patients with different average visual field defects(all P＜0.05).With the increase in disease severity,the expressions of Klotho and SOD showed a significant decrease,while the expressions of ASC,Caspase-1 and POD showed a significant increase(all P＜0.05).Pearson correlation analysis showed that Klotho in the trabecular mesh work was negatively correlated with POD and positively correlated with SOD,while ASC and Caspase-1 were positively correlated with POD and negatively correlated with SOD(all P＜0.05).Conclusion The expression of Klotho is low in the trabec-ular meshwork tissues of patients with glaucoma,while the expressions of ASC and Caspase-1 are high.These expressions are correlated with the average visual field defect,reflecting the stress injury degree of trabecular meshwork tissues.

AIM:This study aimed to investigate the effects of sinomenine hydrochloride(SIN)on the ultra-structure of renal tissue and the expression of interferon gene-stimulating factor in db/db mice.METHODS:Sixteen 12-week-old male db/db mice were randomly divided into two groups:a model group and a sinomenine hydrochloride(SIN)group,each consisting of 8 mice.An additional 8 wild-type(WT)mice served as the normal control group.The sinome-nine hydrochloride group was administered the treatment for 8 weeks,followed by a 20-week observation period,while the normal and model groups received an equal volume of saline via gavage.Weekly measurements were taken for body weight and fasting blood glucose.Serum creatinine(SCr)and blood urea nitrogen(BUN)levels were assessed,and 24-hour uri-nary microalbumin(ALB)levels,as well as serum inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1β(IL-1β),IL-6 and tumor necro-sis factor-α(TNF-α),were determined using ELISA.Pathological changes in renal tissue were evaluated through hema-toxylin-eosin(HE)staining,while ultrastructural alterations were examined using transmission electron microscopy.Im-munohistochemistry and Western blotting were employed to assess STING protein expression in renal tissue,and STING mRNA expression was quantified via RT-qPCR.RESULTS:Compared to the normal group,the model group exhibited significant increases in BUN,ALB,and SCr levels(P<0.01),alongside elevated inflammatory markers IL-1β,IL-6,and TNF-α(P<0.01).Notable pathological changes included leukocyte wall thickening in capillaries,inflammatory cell infiltration,increased mesangial matrix,disorganized and linear alignment of podocytes,and thickening of the basement membrane.Moreover,STING protein and mRNA expression levels were significantly elevated(P<0.01).In contrast,the sinomenine hydrochloride group demonstrated significantly reduced levels of renal function markers(BUN,ALB and SCr)compared to the model group(P<0.01),as well as decreased concentrations of inflammatory factors IL-1β,IL-6,and TNF-α(P<0.01).Improvements in renal histopathology included decreased leukocyte wall thickening,reduced inflam-matory cell presence,diminished mesangial matrix,and a significant reduction in foot process fusion,alongside thinner basement membranes.Both STING protein and mRNA expression levels were also significantly lower(P<0.01).CON-CLUSION:Sinomenine hydrochloride effectively mitigates renal tissue injury,improves ultrastructural alterations,and inhibits inflammatory responses in db/db mice.Its mechanism of action appears closely linked to the downregulation of STING protein and mRNA expression.

With the widespread application of diving technology, the safety of long-term diving has become a research focus. Research on the chronic health effects of long-term diving on divers mainly focuses on the respiratory system, circulatory system, nervous system, skeletal system, urinary system, as well as psychological health and sleep. Long-term diving can lead to increased lung capacity, thickening of nasal mucosa, myocardial hypertrophy, changes in heart rhythm, and hearing loss in divers. The impact of long-term diving on health is influenced by diving exposure index such as diving mode, maximum diving depth, underwater stay time, diving frequency, and number of dives, as well as individual factors such as years of diving experience, age, and medical history of divers. However, research on the effects of diving on health are inconsistent, and the potential mechanisms of health damage are unclear. Future large-scale research should be conducted under strict experimental conditions and with standardized inclusion criteria for subjects. Establishing a scientific and systematic assessment method for decompression is crucial for studying the chronic health effects of divers and enhancing understanding of relevant mechanisms to promote the development of diving industry and sport.

Objective To explore the application value of rehabilitation strategies guided by cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) in patients after interventional therapy for myocardial infarction. Methods A total of 96 patients after interventional therapy for myocardial infarction were selected as study subjects and divided into control group (n=48) and observation group (n=48) according to the order of admission. The control group received traditional cardiac rehabilitation strategies, while the observation group received rehabilitation strategies guided by dynamic CPET. The medication compliance rate and the incidence of adverse events were compared between the two groups. Peak oxygen uptake, anaerobic threshold, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), 6-minute walk test (6MWT) distance, scores of the Self-Efficacy for Exercise (SEE) and the Chinese Quality of Life Questionnaire for Cardiovascular Patients (CQQC) were compared between the two groups before and after surgery. Results Three months after surgery, the medication compliance rate in the observation group was 87.50%, which was significantly higher than 68.75% in the control group (P < 0.05). At 1 month and 3 months after surgery, the LVEF, peak oxygen uptake, anaerobic threshold, SEE score and 6MWT distance in the observation group were significantly higher or larger than those in the control group (P < 0.05). Three months after surgery, the scores of the CQQC in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). Three months after surgery, the incidence of adverse events in the observation group was 4.17%, which was significantly lower than 18.75% in the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion The rehabilitation strategies guided by dynamic CPET have high application value in patients after interventional therapy for myocardial infarction, helping them establish medication compliance behavior, improve cardiopulmonary function and quality of life, and reduce the incidence of adverse events.

Prostate cancer is currently one of the most common malignancies that endanger the lives and health of elderly men. In recent years, immunotherapy, which exploits the activation of anti-cancer host immune cells to accomplish tumor-killing effects, has emerged as a new study avenue in the treatment of prostate cancer. As an important component of immunotherapy, cancer vaccines have a unique position in the precision treatment of malignant tumors. Monocyte cell vaccines, dendritic cell vaccines, viral vaccines, peptide vaccines, and DNA/mRNA vaccines are the most often used prostate cancer vaccines. Among them, Sipuleucel-T, as a monocyte cell-based cancer vaccine, is the only FDA-approved therapeutic vaccine for prostate cancer, and has a unique position and role in advancing the development of immunotherapy for prostate cancer. However, due to its own limitations, Sipuleucel-T has not been widely adopted. Meanwhile, owing to the complexity of immunotherapy and the specificity of prostate cancer, the remaining prostate cancer vaccines have not shown good clinical benefit in large randomized phase II and phase III trials, and further in-depth studies are still needed.
Aged ; Humans ; Male ; Cancer Vaccines/therapeutic use* ; Immunotherapy ; Prostate/pathology* ; Prostatic Neoplasms/pathology* ; Tissue Extracts/therapeutic use*

Objective:To investigate the diagnosis, treatment, clinical characteristics and potential high-risk factors of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) during the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with pegaspargase.Methods:The medical history, diagnosis and treatment process, laboratory examination and imaging examination results of 3 ALL patients with CVST during pegaspargase treatment in the First Affiliated Hospital of Suzhou University in March and November 2021 and September 2022 were retrospectively analyzed, and the relevant literature was reviewed.Results:Three patients were all female, with the aged between 15 and 35 years old, including 2 cases of B-ALL and 1 case of T-ALL. All patients developed nervous system symptoms after pegaspargase chemotherapy, and were diagnosed as CVST by imaging examination. During the pegaspargase treatment, 2 patients took norethisterone, and 1 patient underwent induced labor and curettage. The levels of sexual hormones in the 3 patients had non-physiological changes. The main CVST lesions were located in the superior sagittal sinus, transverse sinus and sigmoid sinus. One patient had cerebral hemorrhage at the same time. When thrombus occurred, the fibrinogen (Fib), antithrombin Ⅲ (AT Ⅲ) activity, protein C activity and protein S activity of the patients were significantly lower than those before, D-dimer was significantly higher, and lupus anticoagulant and anticardiolipin antibody were negative. The thrombosis treatment was mainly anticoagulation, and 1 patient underwent thrombolysis. Two patients had no sequelae of nervous system, and 1 patient had the sequelae of muscle weakness.Conclusions:Patients with ALL should be alert to the occurrence of CVST when they have nervous system symptoms during pegaspargase chemotherapy. The diagnosis of CVST mainly depends on cranial imaging. Anticoagulation is the main thrombosis treatment, thrombolysis and interventional thrombectomy are feasible for some patients, with few neurological sequelae. The use of second-generation progesterone drugs and the non-physiological fluctuation of sex hormones may be the potential risk factors of CVST.

Background/Aims: Existing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) prediction models are derived mainly from pretreatment or early on-treatment parameters. We reassessed the dynamic changes in the performance of 17 HCC models in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) during long-term antiviral therapy (AVT). Methods: Among 987 CHB patients administered long-term entecavir therapy, 660 patients had 8 years of follow-up data. Model scores were calculated using on-treatment values at 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, and 5 years of AVT to predict threeyear HCC occurrence. Model performance was assessed with the area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC). The original model cutoffs to distinguish different levels of HCC risk were evaluated by the log-rank test. Results: The AUROCs of the 17 HCC models varied from 0.51 to 0.78 when using on-treatment scores from years 2.5 to 5. Models with a cirrhosis variable showed numerically higher AUROCs (pooled at 0.65–0.73 for treated, untreated, or mixed treatment models) than models without (treated or mixed models: 0.61–0.68; untreated models: 0.51–0.59). Stratification into low, intermediate, and high-risk levels using the original cutoff values could no longer reflect the true HCC incidence using scores after 3.5 years of AVT for models without cirrhosis and after 4 years of AVT for models with cirrhosis. Conclusions The performance of existing HCC prediction models, especially models without the cirrhosis variable, decreased in CHB patients on long-term AVT. The optimization of existing models or the development of novel models for better HCC prediction during long-term AVT is warranted.

Objective:Our study aims to determine histological regression and clinical improvement after long-term antiviral therapy in hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis patients.Methods:Treatment-na?ve chronic hepatitis B patients with histologically or clinically diagnosed liver cirrhosis were enrolled. Liver biopsies were performed after 5 years entecavir-based antiviral treatment. Patients were followed up every 6 months. Cirrhosis regression was evaluated based on Metavir system and P-I-R score. Clinical improvement was evaluated before and after the long-term treatment. Kruskal Wallis test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used for continuous variables, Fisher's exact test was used for categorical variables and multivariate analysis was performed using logistic regression analysis.Results:Totals of 73 patients with HBV-related liver cirrhosis were enrolled. Among them, 30 (41.1%) patients were biopsy proved liver cirrhosis and the remaining 43 (58.9%) cirrhotic patients were diagnosed by clinical features. Based on Metavir system and P-I-R score, 72.6% (53/73) patients attained histological regression. Furthermore, 30.1% (22/73) were defined as significant regression (Metavir decrease ≥2 stage), 42.5% (31/73) were mild regression (Metavir decrease 1 stage or predominantly regressive by P-I-R system if still cirrhosis after treatment) and 27.4% (20/73) were the non-regression. Compared to levels of clinical characteristics at baseline, HBV DNA, ALT, AST, liver stiffness(decreased from 12.7 to 6.4 kPa in significant regression, from 18.1 to 7.3 kPa in mild regression and from 21.4 to 11.2 kPa in non-regression)and Ishak-HAI score significantly decreased after 5 years of anti-HBV treatment, while serum levels of platelets and albumin improved remarkably ( P<0.05). In multivariate analysis, only the pre-treatment liver stiffness level was associated with significant regression ( OR=0.887, 95% CI: 0.802-0.981, P=0.020). Conclusions:After long-term antiviral therapy, patients with HBV-related cirrhosis are easily to attain improvements in clinical parameters, while a certain percentage of these patients still cannot achieve histological reversal.

Objective:To clarify the effect and related factors of antiviral therapy on the change of esophageal varices in patients with hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis.Methods:Fifty-two cases with hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis who underwent endoscopy before and after antiviral therapy were selected from prospective cohorts. Patients were divided into three groups: no, mild, and moderate-severe based on the degree of esophageal varices. The changes in the severity of esophageal varices in each group were compared after antiviral therapy. Clinical characteristics (platelet, liver and kidney function, liver stiffness, and virological response) of patients with different regressions were analyzed. Measurement data were analyzed by independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis H test, and Chi-Square test was used for count data.Results:All patients received entecavir-based antiviral therapy. The median treatment time was 3.1 (2.5-4.4) years. The proportion of patients without esophageal varices increased from 30.8% to 51.9%, the proportion of mild esophageal varices decreased from 40.4% to 30.8%, and the proportion of patients with moderate-to-severe esophageal varices decreased from 28.8% to 17.3% ( χ2=14.067, P=0.001). A total of 40.4% of patients had esophageal varices regression, and 13.5% had esophageal varices progression. The progression rate was significantly higher in patients with moderate-severe esophageal varices than patients with mild and no esophageal varices ( χ2=28.126, P<0.001), and 60.0% of patients with moderate-severe esophageal varices still remained in moderate-severe state after antiviral treatment. Baseline platelet count and 5-year mean change rates were significantly lower in patients with progressive moderate-to-severe esophageal varices than in those without progression (+3.3% vs. +34.1%, Z=7.00, P=0.027). Conclusion:After effective antiviral treatment, 40.4% of patients with hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis combined with esophageal varices has obtained esophageal varices regression, but those with moderate to severe esophageal varices still have a considerable risk of progression while receiving mono antiviral treatment only. Thrombocytopenia and without significant improving are the clinical signs of progression risk after receiving antiviral treatment.

Background::Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) can detect lesions hidden in inflammatory regions and find necrosis or areas of severe fibrosis within the lesion. This retrospective study aimed to compare the diagnostic accuracy of solid pancreatic lesions using percutaneous ultrasound (US)-guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) with or without CEUS assessment.Methods::Clinical, imaging, and pathologic data of 181 patients from January 2014 to December 2018 in Pecking Union Medical College Hospital, with solid pancreatic masses who underwent percutaneous US-FNA and ThinPrep cytologic test were retrospectively evaluated. Patients were divided into CEUS and US groups according to whether CEUS was performed before the biopsy. According to FNA cytology diagnoses, we combined non-diagnostic, neoplastic, and negative cases into a negative category. The positive category included malignant, suspicious, and atypical cases. The final diagnosis was confirmed by pathology or clinical and radiological follow-up for at least 12 months. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy of US-FNA were evaluated between the two groups.Results::This study enrolled 107 male and 74 female patients (average age: 60 years). There were 58 cases in the US group and 123 cases in the CEUS group. No statistically significant differences in age, gender, or lesion size were found between the two groups. The diagnostic accuracy of the CEUS group was 95.1% (117/123), which was higher than the 86.2% (50/58) observed in the US group ( P = 0.036). The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of the CEUS group were increased by 7.5%, 16.7%, 3.4%, and 18.8%, respectively, compared with the US group. However, the differences of the two groups were not statistically significant. Conclusions::Compared with the conventional US, the use of CEUS could improve the biopsy accuracy and avoid the need for a repeat biopsy, especially for some complicated FNA cases.