SARS-CoV-2 and its emerging variants continue to pose a significant global public health threat. The SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M^pro) is a critical target for the development of antiviral agents that can inhibit viral replication and transcription. In this study, we identified chebulagic acid (CHLA), isolated from Terminalia chebula Retz., as a potent non-peptidomimetic and non-covalent M^pro inhibitor. CHLA exhibited intermolecular interactions and provided significant protection to Vero E6 cells against a range of SARS-CoV-2 variants, including the wild-type, Delta, Omicron BA.1.1, BA.2.3, BA.4, and BA.5, with EC₅₀ values below 2 μmol/L. Moreover, in vivo studies confirmed the antiviral efficacy of CHLA in K18-hACE2 mice. Notably, CHLA bound to a unique groove at the interface between M^pro domains I and II, which was revealed by the high-resolution crystal structure (1.4 Å) of the M^pro-CHLA complex, shrinking the substrate binding pocket of M^pro and inducing M^pro aggregation. CHLA was proposed to act as an allosteric inhibitor. Pharmacokinetic profiling and safety assessments underscore CHLA's potential as a promising broad-spectrum antiviral candidate. These findings report a novel binding site on M^pro and identify antiviral activity of CHLA, providing a robust framework for lead compounds discovery and elucidating the underlying molecular mechanisms of inhibition.

BACKGROUND:Chondrocyte apoptosis is an important factor in the development of osteoarthritis,and Complanatoside A has a flavonoid effect,which can inhibit apoptosis of various cells,but its effect on chondrocyte apoptosis and the mechanism of action are not clear. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the intrinsic association and mechanism of Complanatoside A in chondrocyte apoptosis based on the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. METHODS:(1)The cartilage tissues of the femur and tibia transected during knee arthroplasty were collected,and chondrocytes were isolated,cultured in vitro,and identified.(2)Cell counting kit-8 was used to detect the optimal intervention concentration of Complanatoside A in the concentration range of 0-160 μmol/L.(3)Chondrocytes were divided into blank group,sodium nitroprusside(1.5 mmol/L)-induced group,and sodium nitroprusside(1.5 mmol/L)+Complanatoside A(5 μmol/L)group.The viability and apoptosis rate of the cells in each group were detected by cell counting kit-8 and flow cytometry.The expression of type Ⅱ collagen and SOX9 was detected by immunofluorescence staining.The expression of apoptosis-related proteins and Wnt/β-catenin pathway proteins was detected by western blot assay. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The cells extracted in vitro were cultured and stained,and were clearly identified as chondrocytes.Complanatoside A had no obvious cytotoxicity to chondrocytes in the concentration range of 0-80 μmol/L,and significantly improved the chondrocyte viability in the concentration range of 2.5-10 μmol/L,especially when the concentration was 5 μmol/L.The apoptotic rate of chondrocytes was higher in the sodium nitroprusside-induced group than the blank control group,while the apoptotic rate was lower in the sodium nitroprusside+Complanatoside A group than the sodium nitroprusside-induced group.The fluorescence intensity of type Ⅱ collagen and SOX9 in chondrocytes was weaker in the sodium nitroprusside-induced group than the blank control group,while the fluorescence intensity of type Ⅱ collagen and SOX9 in the sodium nitroprusside+Complanatoside A group was higher than that of the sodium nitroprusside-induced group.In the sodium nitroprusside-induced group,the protein expression of Bax,Caspase-3,matrix metalloproteinase 13,Wnt3a,Wnt5a and β-catenin was higher than that of the blank control group,while the protein expression of Bcl-2 was lower than that of the blank control group.In the sodium nitroprusside+Complanatoside A group,except for the protein expression of Bcl-2 which was higher than that of the sodium nitroprusside-induced group,the expression of the other aforementioned proteins was lower than that of the sodium nitroprusside-induced group.To conclude,Complanatoside A has a certain inhibitory effect on chondrocyte apoptosis,which could regulate apoptosis-related proteins and promote the expression of chondrocyte regulatory factors,and presumably might play a role through inhibiting the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.

Objective:To investigate the predictive value of preoperative coagulation function and inflammation response biomarkers for postoperative recurrence of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) patients.Methods:The clinical data of 390 NMIBC patients underwent surgical treatment from May 2014 to May 2021 in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi′an Jiaotong University were retrospectively analyzed. The baseline characteristics coagulation function, inflammation response indexes and tumor characteristics were recorded. The baseline characteristics included gender, age and smoking history; the coagulation function included prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), fibrinogen (FIB) and D-dimer; the inflammation response indexes included neutrophil count, lymphocyte count, platelet count and monocyte count, and the systemic inflammatory response index (SIRI) and systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) were calculated; tumor characteristics included TNM stage, pathological grade, tumor length, tumor amount and postoperative instillation drugs. The patients were followed up until May 2022, with recurrence records and grouping. The "pROC" package was used to draw the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and calculate the optimal cutoff values of biomarkers. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to analyze the independent risk factors of recurrence in patients with NMIBC (variables were selected with P<0.1). The nomogram and its calibration curve were drawn by the "survival" and "rms" packages, and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated with the "pROC" package for assessing the predictive ability of the model. The "caret" package was used for ten-fold cross-validation to evaluate the external applicability of the nomogram. Results:The ROC curve analysis result showed that the optimal cutoff values of PT, APTT, FIB, D-dimer, SIRI and SII were 11.95 s, 17.65 s, 0.233 mg/L, 565 ng/L, 0.62 and 291.5, respectively. The 390 patients with NMIBC were followed up 29 to 71 months, with a median follow-up time of 49 months. Among them, 113 patients experienced postoperative recurrence (recurrence group), and the recurrence rate was 29.0%; while 277 patients did not experience recurrence (non-recurrence group). The rate of FIB≥0.233 mg/L, D-dimmer ≥565 ng/L, SIRI≥0.62 and SII≥291.5, T 1 stage, high-grade tumor, tumor length ≥2.3 cm and multiple tumor in recurrence group were significantly higher than those in non-recurrence group: 90.3% (102/113) vs. 71.5% (198/277), 33.6% (38/113) vs. 23.5% (65/277), 74.3% (84/113) vs. 56.7% (157/277), 84.1% (95/113) vs. 60.6% (168/277), 77.9% (88/113) vs. 38.6% (107/277), 25.7% (29/113) vs. 8.3% (23/277), 49.6% (56/113) vs. 32.1% (89/277) and 41.6% (47/113) vs. 19.9% (55/277), and there were statistical differences ( P<0.01 or <0.05); there were no statistical differences in gender ratio, age, smoking history, PT, APTT and postoperative instillation drugs between the two groups ( P>0.05). Multivariate Cox regression analysis result showed that FIB≥0.233 mg/L, SII≥291.5, T 1 stage, high pathological grade, tumor length≥2.3 cm and multiple tumor were independent risk factors of postoperative recurrence in patients with NMIBC ( HR = 2.186, 1.627, 3.182, 1.675, 1.775 and 2.052; 95% CI 1.149 to 4.159, 0.913 to 2.902, 1.988 to 5.095, 1.067 to 2.630, 1.208 to 2.608 and 1.388 to 3.033; P<0.1). A nomogram model was constructed to predict postoperative 1-, 3- and 5-year non-recurrence based on FIB, SII, T stage, tumor length, pathological grade and tumor amount. The calibration curve analysis result showed that the nomogram model predicted good consistency between the postoperative 1-, 3-, 5-year non-recurrence rates and the actual incidence rate in patients with NMIBC. ROC curve analysis result showed that the AUC of the nomogram model for predicting postoperative 1-, 3- and 5-year non-recurrence in patients with NMIBC were 0.746, 0.789 and 0.835 (95% CI 0.695 to 0.832, 0.703 to 0.875 and 0.756 to 0.915). The ten-fold cross-validation result showed that the nomogram model had good external applicability for predicting postoperative 1-, 3- and 5-year non-recurrence in patients with NMIBC, with AUC of 0.754, 0.781 and 0.832 (95% CI 0.689 to 0.817, 0.724 to 0.832 and 0.778 to 0.879). Conclusions:The nomogram model based on FIB, SII, T stage, tumor length, pathological grade and tumor amount can accurately predict the postoperative 1-, 3- and 5-year recurrence risks in patients with NMIBC. The model helps clinical doctors early identify high-risk recurrent NMIBC patients, and provides reference for the development of individualized treatment plans.

Objective:To investigate the predictive value of preoperative coagulation function and inflammation response biomarkers for postoperative recurrence of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) patients.Methods:The clinical data of 390 NMIBC patients underwent surgical treatment from May 2014 to May 2021 in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi′an Jiaotong University were retrospectively analyzed. The baseline characteristics coagulation function, inflammation response indexes and tumor characteristics were recorded. The baseline characteristics included gender, age and smoking history; the coagulation function included prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), fibrinogen (FIB) and D-dimer; the inflammation response indexes included neutrophil count, lymphocyte count, platelet count and monocyte count, and the systemic inflammatory response index (SIRI) and systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) were calculated; tumor characteristics included TNM stage, pathological grade, tumor length, tumor amount and postoperative instillation drugs. The patients were followed up until May 2022, with recurrence records and grouping. The "pROC" package was used to draw the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and calculate the optimal cutoff values of biomarkers. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to analyze the independent risk factors of recurrence in patients with NMIBC (variables were selected with P<0.1). The nomogram and its calibration curve were drawn by the "survival" and "rms" packages, and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated with the "pROC" package for assessing the predictive ability of the model. The "caret" package was used for ten-fold cross-validation to evaluate the external applicability of the nomogram. Results:The ROC curve analysis result showed that the optimal cutoff values of PT, APTT, FIB, D-dimer, SIRI and SII were 11.95 s, 17.65 s, 0.233 mg/L, 565 ng/L, 0.62 and 291.5, respectively. The 390 patients with NMIBC were followed up 29 to 71 months, with a median follow-up time of 49 months. Among them, 113 patients experienced postoperative recurrence (recurrence group), and the recurrence rate was 29.0%; while 277 patients did not experience recurrence (non-recurrence group). The rate of FIB≥0.233 mg/L, D-dimmer ≥565 ng/L, SIRI≥0.62 and SII≥291.5, T 1 stage, high-grade tumor, tumor length ≥2.3 cm and multiple tumor in recurrence group were significantly higher than those in non-recurrence group: 90.3% (102/113) vs. 71.5% (198/277), 33.6% (38/113) vs. 23.5% (65/277), 74.3% (84/113) vs. 56.7% (157/277), 84.1% (95/113) vs. 60.6% (168/277), 77.9% (88/113) vs. 38.6% (107/277), 25.7% (29/113) vs. 8.3% (23/277), 49.6% (56/113) vs. 32.1% (89/277) and 41.6% (47/113) vs. 19.9% (55/277), and there were statistical differences ( P<0.01 or <0.05); there were no statistical differences in gender ratio, age, smoking history, PT, APTT and postoperative instillation drugs between the two groups ( P>0.05). Multivariate Cox regression analysis result showed that FIB≥0.233 mg/L, SII≥291.5, T 1 stage, high pathological grade, tumor length≥2.3 cm and multiple tumor were independent risk factors of postoperative recurrence in patients with NMIBC ( HR = 2.186, 1.627, 3.182, 1.675, 1.775 and 2.052; 95% CI 1.149 to 4.159, 0.913 to 2.902, 1.988 to 5.095, 1.067 to 2.630, 1.208 to 2.608 and 1.388 to 3.033; P<0.1). A nomogram model was constructed to predict postoperative 1-, 3- and 5-year non-recurrence based on FIB, SII, T stage, tumor length, pathological grade and tumor amount. The calibration curve analysis result showed that the nomogram model predicted good consistency between the postoperative 1-, 3-, 5-year non-recurrence rates and the actual incidence rate in patients with NMIBC. ROC curve analysis result showed that the AUC of the nomogram model for predicting postoperative 1-, 3- and 5-year non-recurrence in patients with NMIBC were 0.746, 0.789 and 0.835 (95% CI 0.695 to 0.832, 0.703 to 0.875 and 0.756 to 0.915). The ten-fold cross-validation result showed that the nomogram model had good external applicability for predicting postoperative 1-, 3- and 5-year non-recurrence in patients with NMIBC, with AUC of 0.754, 0.781 and 0.832 (95% CI 0.689 to 0.817, 0.724 to 0.832 and 0.778 to 0.879). Conclusions:The nomogram model based on FIB, SII, T stage, tumor length, pathological grade and tumor amount can accurately predict the postoperative 1-, 3- and 5-year recurrence risks in patients with NMIBC. The model helps clinical doctors early identify high-risk recurrent NMIBC patients, and provides reference for the development of individualized treatment plans.

Objective:To examine the clinical outcomes of patients undergoing total thoracoscopic aortic-mitral double-valve replacement.Methods:This is a retrospective case series study. The clinical data of 50 patients who underwent double-valve replacement under a total thoracoscopic two-port approach from November 2021 to August 2022 in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. There were 32 males and 18 females, with an age of (55.3±8.8) years (range: 21 to 62 years). Among them, 36 cases had rheumatic heart disease and 14 cases had infective endocarditis. The 3 rd intercostal space between the right anterior axillary line and the midclavicular line was selected as the main operating hole, the total thoracoscopic double-valve replacement were successfully carried out. Baseline data, intraoperative information, surgical outcomes, and postoperative complications were collected for all patients. Results:The cardiopulmonary bypass time was (168.2±30.9) minutes (range: 125 to 187 minutes), the aortic cross-clamping time was (118.8±16.5) minutes (range: 96 to 147 minutes). Five patients received bioprosthetic valves, and 45 received mechanical prosthetic valves. Postoperative mechanical ventilation lasted (9.6±3.4) hours (range: 5.1 to 14.2 hours), the ICU stay was (24.8±7.3) hours (range: 16.3 to 30.1 hours), and the postoperative hospital stay was (6.5±1.2) days (range: 5.0 to 8.0 days). Four patients received red blood cell transfusions of (2.7±0.9) units (range: 2 to 4 units), and the postoperative chest drainage volume was (222.1±56.3) ml (range: 175 to 289 ml). No deaths occurred intraoperatively or in the early postoperative period. One patient required reoperation due to bleeding in the aortic incision. Three patients had mild to moderate paravalvular leakage around the prosthetic aortic valve, with no cases of third-degree atrioventricular block or conversions to median sternotomy.Conclusions:The early outcomes of total thoracoscopic double valve replacement surgery are satisfactory, demonstrating safety and efficacy. This surgical approach expands the scope of total thoracoscopic cardiac surgery, which warrants further investigation and research.

OBJECTIVE To set up normal ranges for indexes in embryo-fetal development toxicity studies in Sprague-Dawley(SD)rats and to establish a background database to provide reference for the embryo-fetal development toxicity evaluation of drugs.METHODS The data on embryonic develop-ment and fetal growth from embryo-fetal development toxicity studies(11 items)conducted by our center between 2013 and 2022 was statistically analyzed,involving 205 pregnant rats and 3037 fetuses in total,with the mean and standard deviation,coefficient of variation and 95%confidence interval calculated.The indexes included body mass,body mass gain and food consumption during pregnancy,pregnancy outcomes(pregnancy rate,average corpora lutea,average Implant sites,average live conceptuses,live conceptuse rate,resorption rate and dead conceptuse rate),fetal growth and development(fetal mass,placental mass and sex ratio),appearance abnormality rate,visceral abnormality rate,and skeletal abnormality rate.RESULTS The mass of pregnant rats trended up during gestation,with significant increases in the late period.Food consumption increased along with gestation.Caesarean section was conducted on gestation day 20,and the pregnancy rate was 93.2%.The average corpora lutea,Implant sites and live conceptuses were 18.0±3.2,15.9±2.8 and 14.8±3.0,respectively.The live conceptuse rate was 93.4%while the total dead embryo rate was 6.6%.The average mass of fetuses and placenta were respectively 3.6±0.3 and(0.6±0.3)g,and the fetal sex ratio(male/female)was 0.94.The incidence of fetal appearance abnormalities was about 0.2%,and that of soft tissue abnormalities was approximately 0.8%.The rate of skeletal abnormalities was about 1.2%,with higher incidence of non-ossification and incomplete ossification mostly identified on sternum and hyoid bone.The numbers of ossifications of metacarpal bones,metatarsal bones and sacrococcygeal vertebrae were 7.0±0.7,8.0±0.1 and 7.4±0.5,respectively.The rate of ossification of sternumⅠtoⅣwas higher,with an average of about 98.6%-99.9%.The ossification rates of sternum Ⅴ and Ⅵ were(68.0±28.4)%and(82.8±23.9)%.CONCLUSION The background database of indexes in the embryo-fetal development toxicity study on SD rats is established for our GLP laboratory,which provides reference for reproductive toxicity studies.

Objective:To examine the clinical outcomes of patients undergoing total thoracoscopic aortic-mitral double-valve replacement.Methods:This is a retrospective case series study. The clinical data of 50 patients who underwent double-valve replacement under a total thoracoscopic two-port approach from November 2021 to August 2022 in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. There were 32 males and 18 females, with an age of (55.3±8.8) years (range: 21 to 62 years). Among them, 36 cases had rheumatic heart disease and 14 cases had infective endocarditis. The 3 rd intercostal space between the right anterior axillary line and the midclavicular line was selected as the main operating hole, the total thoracoscopic double-valve replacement were successfully carried out. Baseline data, intraoperative information, surgical outcomes, and postoperative complications were collected for all patients. Results:The cardiopulmonary bypass time was (168.2±30.9) minutes (range: 125 to 187 minutes), the aortic cross-clamping time was (118.8±16.5) minutes (range: 96 to 147 minutes). Five patients received bioprosthetic valves, and 45 received mechanical prosthetic valves. Postoperative mechanical ventilation lasted (9.6±3.4) hours (range: 5.1 to 14.2 hours), the ICU stay was (24.8±7.3) hours (range: 16.3 to 30.1 hours), and the postoperative hospital stay was (6.5±1.2) days (range: 5.0 to 8.0 days). Four patients received red blood cell transfusions of (2.7±0.9) units (range: 2 to 4 units), and the postoperative chest drainage volume was (222.1±56.3) ml (range: 175 to 289 ml). No deaths occurred intraoperatively or in the early postoperative period. One patient required reoperation due to bleeding in the aortic incision. Three patients had mild to moderate paravalvular leakage around the prosthetic aortic valve, with no cases of third-degree atrioventricular block or conversions to median sternotomy.Conclusions:The early outcomes of total thoracoscopic double valve replacement surgery are satisfactory, demonstrating safety and efficacy. This surgical approach expands the scope of total thoracoscopic cardiac surgery, which warrants further investigation and research.

[Objective] To analyze factors influencing the postoperative progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC), construct a nomogram model for predicting PFS, and compare it with other predictive models. [Methods] A retrospective analysis was conducted on the general and clinical data of 263 RCC patients who underwent surgery at the Department of Urology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, during Apr.2014 and Nov.2021.Patients were divided into the progression group (n=34) and non-progression group (n=229). The data of the two groups were analyzed to identify prognostic variables associated with PFS, and a nomogram model was constructed.The performance of this model was compared with that of the University of California, Los Angeles Integrated Staging System (UISS) score, tumor staging, tumor size, tumor pathological grade, and tumor necrosis scoring system (SSIGN score), and Leibovich score by plotting receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and calculating the area under the curve (AUC). Calibration curve of the nomogram was used to validate the model's performance, and K-fold cross-validation was employed to assess its external validity. [Results] Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that age (HR=2.255, 95%CI: 1.032-4.926), T stage (HR=5.766, 95%CI: 2.351-14.142), pathological grade (HR=3.100, 95%CI: 1.445-6.651), and pathological necrosis (HR=2.656, 95%CI: 1.253-5.629) were independent risk factors of PFS (P<0.05). The nomogram model based on these four independent variables had AUCs (95%CI) of 0.750 (0.630-0.870), 0.803 (0.705-0.902), and 0.847 (0.757-0.937) for 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively, which were higher than those of UISS score, SSIGN score, and Leibovich score.The calibration curve of the nomogram showed good consistency between predicted and actual probabilities.In K-fold cross-validation, the average AUCs of the nomogram at 1, 3, and 5 years were 0.761, 0.808, and 0.842, indicating good external validity of the nomogram. [Conclusion] The nomogram based on age, T stage, pathological grade and pathological necrosis can accurately predict the risk of postoperative PFS in RCC patients at 1, 3, and 5 years, which can aid clinicians in the early identification of high-risk progression.

Objective To investigate the correlation between the expression level of glypican-3(GPC3)and the immune therapy response in clinical liver cancer patients.Methods Clinical data of 232 liver cancer immunotherapy response/tolerance group patients from January 2019 to May 2023 at the General Hospital of the People's Liberation Army were collected,and the correlation between GPC3 expression levels and the efficacy of immunotherapy in liver cancer patients was statistically analyzed;TCGA database validation of immune cell infiltration in GPC3 high and low expression groups of liver cancer patients;Further,real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR(qPCR)and immunohistochemical staining methods were used to detect the expression of GPC3 and immune cell infiltration in paired tissues of liver cancer immunotherapy response/tolerance group patients,and multi-color immunofluorescence was applied to detect the expression of GPC3 and related molecules.Results Clinical evidence shows that the GPC3 positive group of liver cancer patients has a low response rate to immunotherapy.Univariate/multivariate analysis results indicate that GPC3 is an independent risk factor for tumor recurrence after liver cancer immunotherapy;The analysis of the TCGA database revealed that high expression of GPC3 in liver cancer tissue leads to increased infiltration of regulatory T cells(Tregs);Paired tissue testing of liver cancer patients and adjacent tissues revealed that the immunotherapy effect was worse in the GPC3 high expression group,and Tregs cell infiltration increased,consistent with the results of database analysis.The TCGA database analysis results showed that GPC3 was positively correlated with CCL20 and its ligand CCR6,and the multi-color immunohistochemistry results were consistent with the database analysis results.Conclusion GPC3 is highly expressed in tumor tissues of liver cancer patients and is positively correlated with immune therapy tolerance in liver cancer.GPC3 regulates Tregs cell infiltration through the CCL20-CCR6 signaling axis and is expected to serve as a biomarker for predicting the efficacy of immune therapy in clinical liver cancer patients.

Endovascular Aneurysm Repair (EVAR) has become an important treatment method for abdominal aortic aneurysms due to its advantages of shorter operative time,faster postoperative recovery,and lower early postoperative mortality. However,the incidence of complications and the postoperative reintervention rates are higher than those of open surgery. The main complications after EVAR include access vessel injury,post-implantation syndrome,stent migration,endoleaks,visceral branch artery occlusion,lower limb ischemia,and stent infection,which are also the primary causes of reintervention. In recent years,the causes and associated risk factors of various postoperative complications of EVAR have attracted widespread attention and discussion,which are of great significance for improving surgical techniques,enhancing postoperative monitoring,and improving patient outcomes. This paper provides a review of the current complications,associated risk factors,and management strategies after EVAR.