BACKGROUND: Concurrent chemo-radiotherapy (CCRT) is the standard treatment for locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC), but there are still many patients who suffer tumor recurrence. However, valuable predictors of treatment outcomes remain limited. This study aimed to assess the value of the serum immune biomarkers to predict the prognosis. METHODS: We reviewed cervical cancer patients treated with CCRT between January 2014 and May 2018 at Peking Union Medical College Hospital. The systemic immune inflammation index (SII), systemic inflammation response index (SIRI), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were calculated using blood samples. The relationship between immune markers and the treatment outcome was analyzed. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the predictive efficiency. The Cox proportional hazards model and log-rank were used to predict overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). RESULTS: This study included 667 patients. Among them, 195 (29.2%) patients were defined as treatment failure, including 127 (19.0%) patients with pelvic failure, 94 (14.1%) distant failure, and 25 (3.7%) concurrent pelvic and distant failure. It revealed that the tumor stage, size, metastatic lymph nodes (MLNs), and serum immune biomarkers, such as SII, SIRI, and LDH, were significantly related to treatment outcomes. We demonstrated that the optimal cut-off of the SII, SIRI, and LDH were 970.4 × 10 9 /L, 1.3 × 10 9 /L, and 207.52 U/L, respectively. Importantly, this study presented that LDH level had the highest OR (OR = 4.2; 95% CI [2.3-10.8]). Furthermore, the OS and DFS for patients with pre-SII ≥970.5 × 10 9 /L were significantly worse than those with pre-SII <970.5 × 10 9 /L. Similarly, pre-SIRI ≥1.25 × 10 9 /L and pre-LDH ≥207.5 U/L were related to poor survival outcomes. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated that the baseline SII, SIRI, and LDH levels can be used to accurately and effectively predict the treatment outcomes after CCRT and long-term prognosis. Our results may offer additional prognostic information in clinical, which helps to detect the potential recurrent metastasis in time.
Humans ; Female ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/drug therapy* ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Aged ; Chemoradiotherapy/methods* ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase/blood* ; Treatment Outcome ; Disease-Free Survival ; Prognosis ; ROC Curve ; Biomarkers, Tumor/blood* ; Proportional Hazards Models

Objective To investigate the effect of dapagliflozin on myocardial work and energy metabolism in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction(HFrEF)without type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM).Methods Patients with HFrEF without T2DM who visited Wuzhou People's Hospital from January 2021 to January 2022 were randomly divided into conventional group and dapagliflozin group(conventional treatment+dapagliflozin).After treatment(12 months),myocardial work[global work index(GWI),global constructed work(GCW),global wasted work(GW),and global work efficiency(GWE)],energy metabolism[(free fatty acids(FFA)and β-hydroxybutyric acid(β-HB)],traditional cardiac function[left ventricular end-diastolic diameter(LVEDD),left ventricular end-systolic diameter(LVESD),and left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF)],clinical efficacy,prognosis[mortality,rehospitalization,and incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events(MACE)]and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups.Results A total of 128 patients with HFrEF without T2DM were enrolled,including 63 patients in the dapagliflozin group and 65 patients in the conventional group.After treatment,the LVEDD,LVESD,GWW,NT-pro BNP in the dapagliflozin group was significantly lower than that in the conventional group(P＜0.05),while the LVEF,GWI,GCW,GWE,β-HB acid and FFA were significantly higher than those in the conventional group(P＜0.05).The total effective rate and hypoglycemia rates in the dapagliflozin group were significantly higher than those in the conventional group(P＜0.05),and the rehospitalization rate and MACE rate were significantly lower than those in the conventional group(P＜0.05).There were no significant differences in mortality,renal adverse events,urinary tract infections and gastrointestinal symptoms between the two groups(P＞0.05).Conclusion Dapagliflozin has significant clinical efficacy in patients with HFrEF without T2DM,which can increase the serum levels of FFA and ketones,improve effective work,and reduce ineffective work,but it is necessary to be vigilant against hypoglycemia.

Microglia, the innate immune cells of the retina, can actively monitor changes in the surrounding microenvironment.Photoreceptors, as the primary neurons of the retina, can convert light signals into electrical signals.Microglia play an important role in the function or survival of photoreceptors in various physiological and pathological conditions of the retina.During the development of the retina, microglia phagocytize cell debris and promote neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity.In a healthy retinal environment, microglia can maintain retinal homeostasis, maintain synaptic structure and function of neurons, and secrete neurotrophic factors.In the past, more attention has been paid to the damage of microglia in retinal diseases.In acute retinal injury and stress (retinal detachment, prion-induced damage, light-induced damage), the protective effect of microglial cells on photoreceptors is greater than damage.In retinal chronic inflammatory diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, the immune microenvironment is imbalanced, microglia are over-activated, release a large number of inflammatory factors, phagocytize non-apoptotic photoreceptors, the damage is greater than protective effect.How to utilize the protective effect of microglia and inhibit their damage is of great significance for the treatment of retinal diseases, especially chronic inflammatory diseases.This article reviews the effects of microglia on photoreceptor cells under different retinal conditions.

Objective:To identify the phosphodiesterase (PDE) activity of the gene product encoded by LA_RS06960 of Leptospira interrogans ( L. interrogans), and analyze whether dinucleotides that can be degraded by PDE can activate macrophages to express innate immune factors. Methods:The LA_RS06960 gene in L. interrogans strain 56601 was amplified by PCR, and the prokaryotic expression system was constructed for the protein expression. The expressed rPDE was purified by Ni-NTA affinity chromatography. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to measure the degration of c-di-AMP or 5′-pApA to AMP by rPDE. Real-time fluorescent quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the changes in the expression of target genes in Leptospira or THP-1 cells associated with innate immune factors during infection. qRT-PCR and ELISA were used to detect the changes in the expression and secretion level of the innate immune factors in macrophages treated with bacterial dinucleotide. Results:The prokaryotic expression system for LA_RS06960 gene of L. interrogans was constracted successfully, and the purified rPDE could degrate 5′-pApA and c-di-AMP into AMP in vitro. The mRNA level of leptospiral LA_RS06960 gene was significantly down-regulated, while IFN-β, TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β encoding genes of macrophages were significantly up-regulated during infection. The mRNA level or the secretion level of IFN-β and IL-6 of macrophages were increased after treated with the bacterial dinucleotide substrate of PDE. Conclusions:PDE encoded by LA_RS06960 gene has phosphodiesterase activity, and the bacterial dinucleotide substrate of the PDE could activate the innate immune response of macrophages.

The traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） in pediatric care has a long history，proven efficacy，and distinctive characteristics.The China Association of Chinese Medicine has organized a series of youth salons to discuss the clinical advantages of treating diseases.Experts at this seminar proposed that the superior disease categories in pediatric TCM are significant for showcasing the unique strengths and advantages of TCM in the treatment of pediatric diseases，enhancing diagnostic and treatment levels，inheriting TCM knowledge，promoting the integration of TCM and Western medicine，and meeting patients' needs.The strengths of pediatric TCM are summed up as "having what others do not，excelling at what others have，being special in what others excel at，and ensuring safety in what others specialize in." The scope of superiority in pediatric TCM covers multiple systems，including respiratory，digestive，endocrine，psychological，and dermatological systems.This article summarized the advantages of TCM in treating 13 diseases discussed in the salon，such as upper respiratory tract infections，coughs，pneumonia，allergic rhinitis，bronchial asthma，atopic dermatitis，functional dyspepsia，functional constipation，enuresis，marginal short stature，simple obesity，attention deficit hyperactivity disorder，and tic disorders.The overall advantages were reflected in three aspects：First，the holistic concept and treatment based on syndrome differentiation in TCM highlight the advantage of treating the root causes of diseases，making the treatment methodical and precise.Second，most traditional Chinese herbs are natural and have strong safety profiles.Third，TCM treatment methods are abundant，especially the external treatment methods，which are widely used in pediatrics，highly accepted by parents，and have definite efficacy，as well as good safety and compliance.

Purpose: To intelligently diagnose whether there is bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) in female with decent detrusor contraction ability by focusing on urodynamic study (UDS) data. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the UDS data of female patients during urination. Eleven easily accessible urinary flow indicators were calculated according to the UDS data of each patient during voiding period. Eight diagnosis models based on back propagation neural network with different input feature combination were constructed by analyzing the correlations between indicators and lower urinary tract dysfunction labels. Subsequently, the stability of diagnostic models was evaluated by five-fold cross-validation based on training data, while the performance was compared on test dataset. Results: UDS data from 134 female patients with a median age of 51 years (range, 27–78 years) were selected for our study.Among them, 66 patients suffered BOO and the remaining were normal. Applying the 5-fold cross-validation method, the model with the best performance achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) value of 0.949±0.060 using 9 UDS input features. The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity for BOO diagnosis model in the testing process are 94.4%, 100%, and 89.3%, respectively. Conclusions The 9 significant indicators in UDS were employed to construct a diagnostic model of female BOO based on machine learning algorithm, which performs preferable classification accuracy and stability.

Acute ischemic stroke is a cerebrovascular disease with high incidence， high mortality and disability， and high recurrence rate， which seriously endangers patients’ health. Thrombolytic drugs play a key role in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke by activating plasminogen， rapidly dissolving thrombi， reducing platelet aggregation， and achieving successful recanalization. In this study， we reviewed the principle of action of thrombolytic drugs， their classification and use on the basis of current research progress at home and abroad. The results show that the safety and efficacy of thrombolytic drugs have improved significantly from the first generation of thrombolytic drugs， streptokinase， which is not fibrin-specific， to the third generation of thrombolytic drugs， tenecteplase， which not only retain the characteristics of directly activating plasminogen， but also enhance the specificity of fibrin and prolong the half-life. With the development of research， small-molecular compounds with the inhibition of plasminogen activator， or the modification of thrombolytic drugs with strong anti-plasminogen activator inhibition activity in vivo， or the search for new small-molecular substances with thrombolytic effect from microorganisms and natural plants， have become the focus of research on new thrombolytic drugs. The new thrombolytic drugs are likely to replace the current thrombolytic drugs because of greater thrombolytic efficacy and fewer side effects.

Objective:To evaluate the clinical effects of anatomical reconstruction of the deltoid ligament and medial migration calcaneal osteotomy in the treatment of chronic ankle instability after trauma.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted to analyze of the clinical data of 16 patients with chronic post-traumatic instability of the medial malleolus who had been treated at The Eighth Department of Orthopedics, Foshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from December 2015 to February 2017. There were 14 males and 2 females with an age of (28.1±4.2) years. Seven left sides and 9 right sides were affected; the time from injury to operation was (8.9±2.4) months. Before operation, X-rays (anteroposterior, lateral and Saltzman views) and MRI of weight-bearing ankle were taken. All patients were treated by anatomical reconstruction of the deltoid ligament using the autologous semitendinosus and medial migration osteotomy of the calcaneus. The time for injury healing and occurrence of complications were recorded. The talus tilt angle, Meary angle, hindfoot valgus angle, visual analogue scale (VAS), and the American Orthopedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot function score were compared between the preoperation and the last follow-up. The Sefton evaluation for efficacy in ankle ligament reconstruction was used to assess stability of the ankle joint.Results:Of this cohort, 14 patients were followed up for (16.4±4.9) months after operation and 2 patients lost to follow-up. The 14 patients all returned to normal physical activities 3 months after operation. All incisions healed at the first stage with no infection. One patient experienced pain at the site for harvest of the semitendinosus but the symptoms were relieved after rehabilitation treatment like massage and physical therapy. At the last follow-up, the talus tilt angle [1.0 (0.0, 2.0)°], Meary angle (1.4°±4.2°), hindfoot valgus angle (3.2°±2.4°), VAS score [0.5 (0.0, 1.0) points], and AOFAS ankle-hindfoot score [(89.2±6.1) points] were all significantly improved compared with the preoperative values [8.3°±1.8°, 0.8°±3.8°, 9.9°±3.4°, (5.7±2.5) points, and (49.6±9.8) points] (all P<0.05). According to the Sefton evaluation, the stability of the ankle joint was excellent in 9 cases, good in 4 cases, and fair in 1 case. Conclusion:In the treatment of chronic ankle instability after trauma, anatomical reconstruction of the deltoid ligament and medial migration calcaneal osteotomy is safe and effective, resulting in limited complications.

Objective:To study the risk factors of adverse pregnancy outcomes for the diagnosis and treatment of pregnancy after cesarean section complicated with placenta previa.Methods:A national multicenter retrospective study was conducted to select a total of 747 pregnant women with the third trimester singleton pregnancy after cesarean section complicated with placenta previa from 12 tertiary hospitals in January 1st to December 31st, 2018. The risk factors of severe adverse outcomes [hysterectomy, intraoperative blood loss ≥1 000 ml, intraoperative diagnosis of placenta accreta spectrum disorders (PAS)] in pregnant women with second pregnancy complicated with placenta previa after cesarean section were investigated by logistic regression analysis. The roles of prenatal ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the prediction of PAS and severe adverse outcomes were observed. According to whether vascular intervention was performed (uterine artery embolization or abdominal aortic balloon occlusion), the pregnant women were divided into the blocked group and the unblocked group, and the maternal and infant perinatal outcomes between the two groups were compared.Results:(1) General information: the hysterectomy rate of 747 pregnant women with second pregnancy complicated with placenta previa after cesarean section was 10.4% (78/747), the intraoperative blood loss ≥1 000 ml in 55.8% (417/747), and PAS was confirmed in 47.5% (355/747). The incidence of uterine rupture was 0.8% (6/747). (2) Analysis of risk factors for severe adverse outcomes: based on binary unconditioned logistic regression univariate and multivariate analysis, the risk factors for hysterectomy were the mode of vascular embolization and intraoperative blood loss. The probability of hysterectomy with uterine artery embolization was 5.319 times higher than that with abdominal aortic balloon occlusion (95% CI: 1.346-21.018). The risk factors of intraoperative blood loss ≥1 000 ml were the number of cesarean section delivery, ultrasonography indicated PAS and suspected PAS, intraoperative PAS and complete placenta previa. The risk factors for intraoperative PAS were uterine scar thickness, ultrasonography indicated PAS and suspected PAS, MRI indicated PAS and suspected PAS, and complete placenta previa. (3) The roles of ultrasonography and MRI in predicting PAS: the sensitivity and specificity of ultrasonography in predicting PAS were 47.5% and 88.4%; the kappa value was 0.279 ( P<0.001), with fair agreement. The sensitivity and specificity of MRI to predict PAS were 79.2% and 97.8%, respectively. The kappa value was 0.702 ( P<0.001), indicating a good agreement. The intraoperative blood loss and hysterectomy rate of pregnant women with PAS indicated by ultrasonography and MRI were significantly higher than those with PAS only by ultrasonography or MRI. (4) Influence of vascular occlusion on pregnancy outcome: there were no significant differences in intraoperative blood loss and incidence of intraoperative bleeding ≥1 000 ml between the blocked group and the unblocked group (all P>0.05). There was no significant difference in intraoperative blood loss between the pregnant women with abdominal aortic balloon occlusion, uterine artery embolization and those without occlusion ( P=0.409). The hysterectomy rate of pregnant women with uterine artery embolization was significantly higher than those with abdominal aortic balloon occlusion [39.3% (22/56) vs 10.0% (5/50), P=0.001]. Conclusions:In the third trimester of pregnancy with placenta previa after cesarean section, MRI examination has better consistency in predicting PAS than ultrasonography examination. Ultrasonography examination combined with MRI examination could effectively predict the hysterectomy rate and intraoperative blood loss. Vascular occlusion could not reduce the amount of intraoperative blood loss. The hysterectomy rate of pregnant women with uterine artery embolization is higher than those with abdominal aortic balloon occlusion.

Objective To observe the effect of electroacupuncture at Baihui (DU20) and Shenting (DU24) on brain functional activity and working memory of rats with vascular cognitive impairment (VCI). Methods Eighteen Sprague-Dawley rats were included, in which twelve rats were ligated bilateral common carotid arteries and six rats were not ligated (sham group). The modeled rats were randomly divided into model group (n = 6) and electroacupuncture group (n = 6). The electroacupuncture group received electroacupuncture at Baihui and Shenting for four weeks. They were assessed with Y maze and Morris water maze before and after intervention, and scaned with resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging after intervention to calculate regional homogeneity (ReHo). Results Compared with the sham group, alternation rate of Y maze decreased (P < 0.001), and escape latency of Morris water maze increased (P < 0.05) in the model group and the electroacupuncture group before intervention. Compared with the model group, alternation rate of Y maze increased (P < 0.05), and escape latency of Morris water maze decreased (P < 0.05) after intervention in the electroacupuncture group. Compared with the sham group, ReHo of bilateral hippocampus, olfactory cortex, sensory cortex and auditory cortex, and left striatum decreased in the model group; compared with the model group, ReHo of bilateral prefrontal lobe, hippocampus and olfactory cortex, and left amygdala increased in the electroacupuncture group. Conclusion Electroacupuncture at Baihui and Shenting can improve the memory function of VCI rats, which may be related to the functional activities of prefrontal lobes, hippocampus and amygdala.