Objective To investigate the effect of asperuloside(ASP)on the malignant progression and chemotherapy resistance of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)cells by regulating the supersonic hedgehog(SHH)/glioma-associated oncogene homolog 1(GLI1)signaling pathway.Methods The expression of SHH and GLI1 protein in human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line(SMMC-7721)/adriamycin(ADM)and SMMC-7721 cell line were detected by Western blot(WB).The HCC drug-resistant cell line SMMC-7721/ADM were divided into Control group,ADM group,L-ASP group(1 mmol/L ASP),M-ASP group(2 mmol/L ASP),H-ASP group(3 mmol/L ASP),ASP+PM group(1 μmol/L SHH/GLI1 signaling pathway activator PM).Ex-cept for Control group,5 μg/mL ADM was added to each group.The effect of ASP on the proliferation of SMMC-7721/ADM cells was detected by cell counting kit-8(CCK8)assay and plate cloning assay.The effect of ASP on the invasion and migration of SMMC-7721/ADM cells were detected by Transwell assay.The effect of ASP on the apoptosis of SMMC-7721/ADM cells was detected by flow cytometry.The expression of SHH,GLI1,proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA),matrix metalloproteinase-9(MMP-9)and B cell lymphoma-2 associated X protein(Bax)in SMMC-7721/ADM cells were detected by WB.Animal experiments verified the effect of ASP on the growth of HCC xenografts and the expression of SHH/GLI1 signaling pathway proteins.Results The expression of SHH and GLI1 in SMMC-7721/ADM cells were higher than those in SMMC-7721 cells(P＜0.05).L-ASP group,M-ASP group and H-ASP group decreased the proliferation,migration and in-vasion of SMMC-7721/ADM cells in a dose-dependent manner,decreased the expression of SHH,GLI1,PCNA and MMP-9,and promoted cell apoptosis and Bax expression(P＜0.05).SHH/GLI1 signaling pathway acti-vator PM could reverse the inhibitory effect of H-ASP treatment on malignant progression and chemotherapy resistance of SMMC-7721/ADM cells(P＜0.05).ASP could inhibit the growth of HCC transplanted tumor and the expression of SHH and GLI1(P＜0.05).Conclusion ASP can inhibit the malignant progression of HCC cells and enhance the sensitivity of chemotherapy,which may be achieved by inhibiting the SHH/GLI1 signaling pathway.

ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical features and traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndrome distribution of treatment-naïve patients with hepatitis B virus-related primary liver cancer （HBV-PLC）， and to provide a basis for integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine in the prevention and treatment of HBV-PLC. MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of 99 treatment-naïve HBV-PLC patients who were admitted to Department of Hepatology and Infectious Diseases in The First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine from January 2019 to December 2024. According to whether the patient received standardized antiviral therapy （for ≥3 years）， they were divided into antiviral group and non-antiviral group， and according to the status of HBeAg， they were divided into HBeAg-positive group and HBeAg-negative group. Demographic features， laboratory test results， imaging data， and TCM syndrome data were collected， and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio （NLR）， Child-Pugh score， and CNLC stage were calculated. The independent samples t-test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups， and the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. ResultsThe 99 treatment-naïve HBV-PLC patients had a mean age of 57.12±11.60 years， and the patients aged 50 — 75 years accounted for the highest proportion of 72.7%， with a male/female ratio of 5.2∶1. The patients with liver cirrhosis accounted for 81.8%， and 67.7% of the patients did not receive antiviral therapy in the past. The positive rates of HBV DNA， HBeAg， and alpha-fetoprotein were 80.8%， 18.2%， and 69.7%， respectively， and the patients with Child-Pugh class A/B disease accounted for 89.9%. Compared with the non-antiviral group， the antiviral group had a significantly smaller maximum tumor diameter （t=2.310， P=0.024）， a significantly lower HBV DNA positive rate （χ²=14.006， P<0.001）， and a significantly lower number of tumor thrombi （χ²=7.347， P=0.007）. In addition， there were significant differences between the HBeAg-negative group and the HBeAg-positive group in Child-Pugh class （χ²=6.780， P=0.034） and CNLC stage （χ²=8.746， P=0.033）. Among the 99 treatment-naïve HBV-PLC patients， 41.4% had liver depression and spleen deficiency with blood stasis， 22.2% had Qi deficiency and blood stasis syndrome， and 19.2% had damp-heat accumulation with blood stasis. ConclusionTreatment-naïve HBV-PLC patients are mainly middle-aged and elderly male individuals， and most of the patients are comorbid with liver cirrhosis. Standardized antiviral therapy can significantly reduce tumor burden and improve virologic response， with better hepatic compensation in HBeAg-negative patients， and hypoproteinemia is more common in patients with Qi deficiency and blood stasis syndrome.

Objective:To analyze the patterns of change of brain function among civil pilots in prospective memory tasks by using task-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and a cue-based repetitive search task.Methods:A total of 85 subjects were enrolled, including 47 civil pilots (pilot group) and 38 ordinary workers (control group). The task-state fMRI data during the execution of the prospective memory task was analyzed using a general linear model to find out about the activation patterns of brain functions in the 2 groups in the 3 phases of encoding, maintenance, and retrieval of the prospective memory task. The differences in activation patterns between the 2 groups and correlations between regions of interest and the rate of accuracy, reaction time and flying hours were analyzed.Results:The repeated measurement analysis of variance showed that there were no interactions of reaction time or of the rate of accuracy between the task and grouping ( P>0.05), and that the difference in the main effect of grouping was significant ( F=5.67, 15.46, P=0.020, <0.001). The difference in the main effect of grouping on the rate of accuracy was significant ( F=5.42, P=0.022), and the rate of accuracy in the pilot group was higher than in the control group ( P=0.048). In the phase of encoding, the activation in the bilateral cerebellum, bilateral superior frontal gyrus, bilateral fusiform gyrus, and temporal lobe regions decreased in the pilot group compared with the control group ( t=2.68-4.13, all P<0.05), while the activation in the fusiform gyrus and the right parietal superior gyrus increased, and the differences were statistically significant ( t=3.28, 3.35, 3.02, P=0.038, 0.024, 0.042). During the phase of maintenance, the pilot group showed significantly reduced activation in the bilateral cerebellum, bilateral medial superior frontal gyrus, bilateral middle occipital gyri, and the right middle temporal gyrus compared with the control group ( t=2.24-3.36, P<0.05 or 0.01). In the retrieval phase, activation in the right peri-calcarine cortex, bilateral caudate nuclei, and bilateral precentral and postcentral gyri was enhanced in the pilot group compared with the control group ( t=2.57-3.35, all P<0.05), especially in the right middle frontal gyrus ( t=3.12, P=0.007). In the encoding phase, activation was increased in the left fusiform gyrus and right parietal superior gyrus of the pilot group, which was positively correlated with flying hours in the last 3 months ( r=0.347, 0.418, P=0.020, 0.005). Conclusions:Due to long-term flights, the way in which such regions as the frontal lobe, cerebellum, and default mode network are activated in civil pilots is likely to undergo some changes during prospective memory activities, which is why they have higher processing efficiency when performing prospective memory tasks.

Objective:To analyze the patterns of change of brain function among civil pilots in prospective memory tasks by using task-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and a cue-based repetitive search task.Methods:A total of 85 subjects were enrolled, including 47 civil pilots (pilot group) and 38 ordinary workers (control group). The task-state fMRI data during the execution of the prospective memory task was analyzed using a general linear model to find out about the activation patterns of brain functions in the 2 groups in the 3 phases of encoding, maintenance, and retrieval of the prospective memory task. The differences in activation patterns between the 2 groups and correlations between regions of interest and the rate of accuracy, reaction time and flying hours were analyzed.Results:The repeated measurement analysis of variance showed that there were no interactions of reaction time or of the rate of accuracy between the task and grouping ( P>0.05), and that the difference in the main effect of grouping was significant ( F=5.67, 15.46, P=0.020, <0.001). The difference in the main effect of grouping on the rate of accuracy was significant ( F=5.42, P=0.022), and the rate of accuracy in the pilot group was higher than in the control group ( P=0.048). In the phase of encoding, the activation in the bilateral cerebellum, bilateral superior frontal gyrus, bilateral fusiform gyrus, and temporal lobe regions decreased in the pilot group compared with the control group ( t=2.68-4.13, all P<0.05), while the activation in the fusiform gyrus and the right parietal superior gyrus increased, and the differences were statistically significant ( t=3.28, 3.35, 3.02, P=0.038, 0.024, 0.042). During the phase of maintenance, the pilot group showed significantly reduced activation in the bilateral cerebellum, bilateral medial superior frontal gyrus, bilateral middle occipital gyri, and the right middle temporal gyrus compared with the control group ( t=2.24-3.36, P<0.05 or 0.01). In the retrieval phase, activation in the right peri-calcarine cortex, bilateral caudate nuclei, and bilateral precentral and postcentral gyri was enhanced in the pilot group compared with the control group ( t=2.57-3.35, all P<0.05), especially in the right middle frontal gyrus ( t=3.12, P=0.007). In the encoding phase, activation was increased in the left fusiform gyrus and right parietal superior gyrus of the pilot group, which was positively correlated with flying hours in the last 3 months ( r=0.347, 0.418, P=0.020, 0.005). Conclusions:Due to long-term flights, the way in which such regions as the frontal lobe, cerebellum, and default mode network are activated in civil pilots is likely to undergo some changes during prospective memory activities, which is why they have higher processing efficiency when performing prospective memory tasks.

Objective To investigate the predictive effect of antithrombin Ⅲ(AT-Ⅲ)combined with procalcitonin(PCT)on sepsis-associated acute kidney injury(SA-AKI).Methods A total of 96 patients with sepsis who met the inclusion criteria were in-cluded,all patients were divided into the AKI group(n=42)and non-AKI group(n=54),and the data between the two groups were compared.We used the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves to evaluate the predictive effect of antithrombin Ⅲ level,procalCI tonin level,and combination on SA-AKI.Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to study the influencing factors of SA-AKI.Results The proportion of PCT,CRP,fibrinogen,SOFA score,APACHE Ⅱ score,vasoactive drug use,and blood purification applica-tion in the AKI group was higher than that in the non-AKI group(P＜0.05),as well as the AT-Ⅲ,and platelet count were lower than those in the non-AKI group(P＜0.05).The area under the ROC curve for predicting SA-AKI in patients with sepsis was 0.876(95％CI:0.793-0.935,P＜0.01),the sensitivity was 78.6％,and the specificity was 88.9％.Multivariate Logistic regression anal-ysis showed that AT-Ⅲ(OR=0.907,95％CI:0.860-0.956)and PCT(OR=1.037,95％CI:1.002-1.074)were independent influencing factors for SA-AKI.Conclusion AT-Ⅲ combined with PCT could be used to predict SA-AKI and has good predictive ef-ficacy.

Objective    To investigate the feasibility and safety of DynaCT microwave ablation (MWA) guided by 3D iGuide puncture technology for lung cancer. Methods    The clinical data of 19 patients with primary or metastatic lung cancer who underwent DynaCT MWA from June 2019 to December 2020 in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed, including 15 males and 4 females with an average age of 64.9±11.7 years. The technical success rates, adverse reactions and complications, postoperative hospital stay, and local therapeutic efficacy were recorded. Results    Technical success rate was 100.0%. The mean time required to target and place the needle was 15.7±3.7 min and the mean ablation time was 5.7±1.6 min. Thirteen patients underwent biopsy synchronously before the ablation, and 10 (76.9%) patients had positive pathological results. The main adverse reactions were pain (7/19, 36.8%), post-ablation syndrome (4/19, 21.1%) and cough (2/19, 10.5%). The minor complications were pneumothorax (6/19, 31.6%), hemorrhage (5/19, 26.3%), pleural effusion (2/19, 10.5%) and cavity (1/19, 5.3%). Three patients had moderate pneumothorax and received closed thoracic drainage. The median hospitalization time after ablation was 2.0 (2.0, 3.0) d, and no patient died during the perioperative period. The initial complete ablation rate was 89.5% (17 patients) and the incomplete ablation rate was 10.5% (2 patients) at 1-month follow-up, and no local progression was observed. Conclusion    DynaCT MWA of lung cancer under the guidance of 3D iGuide system is safe and feasible with a high short-term local control rate, but the long-term efficacy remains to be further observed.

Objective    To evaluate the safety and efficacy of microwave ablation (MWA) in the treatment of lung tumors. Methods    The clinical data of 31 patients with lung neoplasms treated with MWA from January 2019 to August 2020 in a single center were retrospectively analyzed. There were 17 males and 14 females at an age of 63.4±10.4 years. The characteristics of the lesions, technical success rate, technical efficiency, local progression rate, adverse reactions and complications were recorded in detail. Results    There were 39 target lesions with an average diameter of 20.2±10.6 mm. A total of 36 MWA procedures were completed. The initial technical success rate was 84.6% (33/39), and the technical efficiency was 92.3% (36/39). The median postprocedure hospital stay was 2.0 (2.0, 3.0) d. A total of 12.9% (4/31) of the patients had local progression, and the local control rate was 87.1%. The main adverse reactions were pain (12/36, 33.3%), cough (6/36, 16.7%), post-ablation syndrome (6/36, 16.7%) and pleural effusion (3/36, 8.3%). The main complications were pneumothorax (11/36, 30.6%), hemorrhage (8/36, 22.2%), cavitation (2/36, 5.6%) and pulmonary infection (1/36, 2.8%). The median follow-up time was 13.0 (8.0, 18.0) months. No patient died during the follow-up. Conclusion    MWA is safe and effective in the treatment of lung tumors with controllable complications. Successive researches with large sample, and medium and long-term follow-ups are needed to explore the significance of combined therapies.

Background: /Aim: It is known that an imbalance in the intestinal f lora plays a crucial role in colorectal cancer (CRC), but the effect of food consumption patterns on the types of intestinal flora remains to be clarified. We aimed to analyze the associations between food intake and intestinal flora in healthy and CRC individuals. Methods: Food intake data were recorded using the Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). The composition and diversity of the intestinal flora detected by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and the data were analyzed by R version 3.1.1 software. Results: Higher intake of red meat or pickled foods, and lower intake of white meat, fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts were found in the CRC group compared with the healthy group. Higher levels of Fusobacteria and Proteobacteria, and lower levels of Firmicutes were observed in the CRC group. Partial correlation analysis revealed that the intake of fruits, beans, and nuts was negatively correlated with Proteobacteria and Fusobacteria, but pickled food was positively correlated with Fusobacteria (p < 0.05). Fish, beans, and nuts intake was negatively correlated with Escherichia (p = 0.01). Multiple regression analysis revealed that vegetable oil (odds ratio [OR], 0.26; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.13 to 0.82), vegetables (OR, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.10 to 0.64), eggs (OR, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.10 to 0.69), pickled foods (OR, 21.02; 95% CI, 6.02 to 73.45), and red meat (OR, 4.23; 95% CI, 1.68 to 10.60) had an impact on CRC risk. Conclusions The species and abundance of intestinal flora varies between CRC and healthy individuals and may be affected by their food preference.

Background: /Aim: It is known that an imbalance in the intestinal f lora plays a crucial role in colorectal cancer (CRC), but the effect of food consumption patterns on the types of intestinal flora remains to be clarified. We aimed to analyze the associations between food intake and intestinal flora in healthy and CRC individuals. Methods: Food intake data were recorded using the Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). The composition and diversity of the intestinal flora detected by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and the data were analyzed by R version 3.1.1 software. Results: Higher intake of red meat or pickled foods, and lower intake of white meat, fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts were found in the CRC group compared with the healthy group. Higher levels of Fusobacteria and Proteobacteria, and lower levels of Firmicutes were observed in the CRC group. Partial correlation analysis revealed that the intake of fruits, beans, and nuts was negatively correlated with Proteobacteria and Fusobacteria, but pickled food was positively correlated with Fusobacteria (p < 0.05). Fish, beans, and nuts intake was negatively correlated with Escherichia (p = 0.01). Multiple regression analysis revealed that vegetable oil (odds ratio [OR], 0.26; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.13 to 0.82), vegetables (OR, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.10 to 0.64), eggs (OR, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.10 to 0.69), pickled foods (OR, 21.02; 95% CI, 6.02 to 73.45), and red meat (OR, 4.23; 95% CI, 1.68 to 10.60) had an impact on CRC risk. Conclusions The species and abundance of intestinal flora varies between CRC and healthy individuals and may be affected by their food preference.

The fcl gene encodes GDP-fucose synthase, which catalyzes two-step differential isomerase and reductase reactions in the synthesis of GDP-L-fucose from GDP-D-mannose. It also participates in the biosynthesis of amino sugar and ribose sugar, and is one of the key enzymes to regulate the metabolism of sugar and nucleotides in organisms. The presence of fcl gene in Saccharopolyspora pogona was found through sequencing result of genome. The mutant S. pogona-fcl and S. pogona-Δfcl were constructed by gene engineering technology. The results showed that the gene had an effects on growth and development, protein expression and transcriptional level, insecticidal activity, and biosynthesis of butenyl-spinosyn of Saccharopolyspora pogona. The results of HPLC analysis showed that the yield of butenyl-spinosyn in S. pogona-Δfcl was 130% compared with that in S. pogona, which reduced by 25% in S. pogona-fcl. The results of determination of insecticidal activity showed that S. pogona-Δfcl had a stronger insecticidal activity against Helicoverpa armigera than that of S. pogona, while the S. pogona-fcl had a lower insecticidal activity against Helicoverpa armigera compared with S. pogona. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to observe the morphology of the mycelia. It was found that the surface of the S. pogona-Δfcl was wrinkled, and the mycelium showed a short rod shape. There was no significant difference in mycelial morphology between S. pogona-fcl and S. pogona. Aboved all showed that deletion of fcl gene in S. pogona hindered the growth and development of mycelia, but was beneficial to increase the biosynthesis of butenyl-spinosyn and improve insecticidal activity. Whereas the fcl gene over-expression was not conducive to the biosynthesis of butenyl-spinosyn and reduced their insecticidal activity. SDS-PAGE results showed that the difference of protein expression among the three strains was most obvious at 96 hours, which was identified by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction, the results showed that there were significant differences of related genes in transcriptional levels among the three strains. Based on the results of the study, a network metabolic control map was constructed to analyze the effect of fcl gene on growth and the regulation pathway of butenyl-spinosyn biosynthesis, which provided an experimental basis for revealing the regulation mechanism of butenyl-spinosyn biosynthesis and related follow-up studies.
Bacterial Proteins ; Genetic Engineering ; Insecticides ; Macrolides ; Saccharopolyspora