Human NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) is a flavoenzyme expressed at high levels in multiple solid tumors, making it an attractive target for anticancer drugs. Bioactivatable drugs targeting NQO1, such as β-lapachone (β-lap), are currently in clinical trials for the treatment of cancer. β-Lap selectively kills NQO1-positive (NQO1⁺) cancer cells by inducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) via catalytic activation of NQO1. In this study, we demonstrated that cryptotanshinone (CTS), a naturally occurring compound, induces NQO1-dependent necrosis without affecting NQO1 activity. CTS selectively kills NQO1⁺ cancer cells by inducing NQO1-dependent necrosis. Interestingly, CTS directly binds to NQO1 but does not activate its catalytic activity. In addition, CTS enables activation of JNK1/2 and PARP, accumulation of iron and Ca²⁺, and depletion of ATP and NAD⁺. Furthermore, CTS selectively suppressed tumor growth in the NQO1⁺ xenograft models, which was reversed by NQO1 inhibitor and NQO1 shRNA. In conclusion, CTS induces NQO1-dependent necrosis via the JNK1/2/iron/PARP/NAD⁺/Ca²⁺ signaling pathway. This study demonstrates the non-enzymatic function of NQO1 in inducing cell death and provides new avenues for the design and development of NQO1-targeted anticancer drugs.

Liver metastases (LMs) are common in lung cancer. Despite substantial advances in diagnosis and treatment, the survival rate of patients with LM remains low as the immune-suppressive microenvironment of the liver allows tumor cells to evade the immune system. The impact of LMs on the outcomes of immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with solid tumors has been the main focus of recent translational and clinical research. Growing evidence indicates that the hepatic microenvironment delivers paracrine and autocrine signals from non-parenchymal and parenchymal cells. Overall, these microenvironments create pre- and post-metastatic conditions for the progression of LMs. Herein, we reviewed the epidemiology, physiology, pathology and immunology, of LMs associated with non-small cell lung cancer and the role and potential targets of the liver microenvironment in LM in each phase of metastasis. Additionally, we reviewed the current treatment strategies and challenges that should be overcome in preclinical and clinical investigations. These approaches target liver elements as the basis for future clinical trials, including combinatorial interventions reported to resolve hepatic immune suppression, such as immunotherapy plus chemotherapy, immunotherapy plus radiotherapy, immunotherapy plus anti-angiogenesis therapy, and surgical resection.

Objective To analyze the factors related to early allograft dysfunction(EAD)after liver transplantation and to construct a predictive model.Methods A total of 375 patients who underwent liver transplantation in our hospital from December 2008 to December 2021 were collected,including 90 patients with EAD and 266 patients without EAD.Thirty items of baseline data for the 2 groups were compared and analyzed.Aftergrouping in a ratio of 7∶3,univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used in the training set to evaluate the factors related to EAD and construct a nomogram.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve,decision curve analysis(DCA),sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value,negative predictive value,Kappa value and other indicators were used to evaluate the model performance.Results The incidence of EAD after liver transplantation was 24%.Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that preoperative tumor recurrence history(OR=3.15,95%CI:1.28～7.77,P=0.013)and operation time(OR=1.22,95%CI:1.04～1.42,P=0.015)were related to the occurrence of EAD after surgery.After predicting the outcome according to the cut-off point of 0.519 identified by the Youden index,the model performance in the both training set and validation set was acceptable.DCA suggested the model has good clinical applicability.Conclusion The risk factors for EAD after liver transplantation are preoperative tumor recurrence history and operation time,and the established model has predictive effect on prognosis.

Femoral neck fracture (FNF) in the elderly patients is currently a major health challenge worldwide, with excessive consumption of medical resources, high incidence of complications as well as suboptimal outcome and prognosis. Hip joint arthroplasty (HJA) has been the mainstream treatment for FNF in the elderly, but the conventional surgical approaches and techniques are still confronted with a series of bottlenecks such as dislocation, limp and limb length discrepancy. In recent years, direct anterior approach (DAA) for HJA (DAA-HJA) has been a major new choice in the field of joint replacement, which achieves improved clinical effectiveness of HJA in the treatment of elderly FNF, due to the fact that DAA approach involves the neuromuscular interface and accords with the idea of soft tissue retention and enhanced recovery after surgery. However, there is still a lack of unified understanding of standard technique and procedure of DAA-HJA in the treatment of elderly FNF. Therefore, relevant experts from the Hip Joint Group of Chinese Orthopedics Association of Chinese Medical Association, Youth Arthrology Group of Orthopedic Committee of PLA, Orthopedic Committee of Chongqing Medical Association, Branch of Orthopedic Surgeons of Chongqing Medical Doctor Association and Sport Medicine Committee of Chongqing Medical Association were organized to formulate the " Chinese expert consensus on the technical standard of direct anterior hip arthroplasty for elderly femoral neck fracture ( version 2023)" based on evidence-based medicine. This consensus mainly proposed 13 recommendations covering indications, surgical plans, prosthesis selections, surgical techniques and processes, and postoperative management of DAA-HJA in elderly patients with FNF, aiming to promote standardized, systematic and patient-specific diagnosis and treatment to improve the functional prognosis of the patients.

OBJECTIVE： To prepare Zingiber officinale oil microcapsules and to evaluate its quality. METHODS： Z. officinale oil microcapsules were prepared by spray drying method with sodium starch octenyl succinate as capsule material. The preparation technology was optimized by orthogonal test with mixing temperature of capsule material and capsule core， mass ratio of capsule material and capsule core， stirring speed as factors， using encapsulation efficiency as index. The drug loading， encapsulation efficiency， appearance， particle size distribution and stability of light， heat and humidity （using iodine value and peroxide value as indexes） were evaluated. RESULTS： The optimal preparation technology of Z. officinale oil microcapsules was that the mixing temperature of capsule material and core was 60 ℃； mass ratio of capsule material and capsule core was 10 ∶ 1； stirring speed was 12 000 r/min. Average drug-loading amount and encapsulation efficiency of Z. officinale oil microcapsules prepared by optimal technology were 17.97％ and 73.57％ （n＝3）. The morphology of Z. officinale oil microcapsules was round， smooth， non-sticky and uniform in size distribution. The average diameter of microcapsules was （6.30±0.27） μm. Under light， heat and humidity conditions， the iodine value and peroxide value of Z. officinale oil microcapsules changed slightly. CONCLUSIONS： The optimal preparation technology of Z. officinale oil microcapsules is simple and reproducible. The prepared microcapsules have good encapsulation efficiency， high drug loading amount and good stability.

Objective To analyze the expression of Kruppel-like factor 4 (KLF4 ) and CD44 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) tissues and adjacent non-cancerous tissues ,and to investigate their effects on the prognosis .Methods From June 2012 to September 2016 ,in The Second People′s Hospital of Nanyang ,a total of 100 patients with ESCC who receiving operation were selected .The ESCC tissues and the adjacent non-cancerous tissues (control) of the patients were collected .The expression levels of KLF4 and CD44 protein were detected by immunohistochemistry .The expressions of KLF4 and CD44 at mRNA and protein level of 50 paired fresh tissues were examined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting ,respectively . T-test ,chi-square ,Kaplan-Meier method and Pearson correlation analysis were performed for statistical analysis .Results The positive expression rate of KLF4 protein in ESCC tissues was 55％ (55/100) ,which was lower than that in adjacent non-cancerous tissues (77％ ,77/100) ,and the difference was statistically significant (χ2 =10 .778 ,P=0 .001) .The positive expression rate of CD44 protein in ESCC tissues was 81％ (81/100) ,which was higher than that in adjacent non-cancerous tissues (11％ ,11/100) ,and the difference was statistically significant (χ2=112 .600 ,P<0 .01) .The expression level of KLF4 mRNA in 43 cases was lower than that in adjacent non-cancerous tissues ,the expression level of CD44 mRNA in 46 cases was much higher than that of adjacent non-cancerous tissues ,and the differences were statistically significant (χ2 =51 .837 and 70 .563 ,both P< 0 .01) .There were statistically significant differences in positive expression rates of KLF4 in cancer tissues between different gender , differentiation degree , invasion depth ,TNM stage and lymph node metastasis (all P<0 .05) .Similarly there were statistically significant differences in positive expression rates of CD 44 in cancer tissues between different differentiation degree ,invasion depth ,TNM stage and lymph node metastasis (all P< 0 .05) .The expression of KLF4 was negatively correlated with CD44 expression ,either at protein level or mRNA level (r= -0 .284、-0 .518 ,both P< 0 .01) .The median survival time of patients with positive KLF4 expression in cancer tissues was 33 months ,which was longer than that of patients with negative KLF4 expression (20 months) ,and the difference was statistically significant (χ2 =4 .021 , P= 0 .019) .The median survival time of patients with positive CD44 expression in cancer tissues was 24 months ,which was shorter than that of patients with negative CD44 expression (37 months) , and the difference was statistically significant (χ2 = 4 .379 , P= 0 .016) .The results of univariate analysis showed that TNM stage ,KLF4 expression and CD44 expression were correlated with overall survival time (all P<0 .05) . The results of multivariate analysis indicated that TNM stage ,lower KLF4 expression and higher CD44 expression were the independent risk factors for survival (all P<0 .05) .Conclusion Lower expression of KLF4 and higher expression of CD44 in ESCC may be closely correlated with its occurrence ,development and prognosis .

Aim Toinvestigatewhetherexposureto Sanguinarine (SAN ) can inhibit cell proliferation in human mammary adenocarcinoma cells (MCF-7 ) and thepossiblemechanism.Methods WeexposedMCF-7 to anticancer compound SAN,cell viability was as-sessed by using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT ) reduction assay. ROS was measured using confocal microscopy,expres-sion of caspase-3 ,caspase-8 and caspase-9 were calcu-latedusingchemiluminescencemethod.Results SAN remarkably inhibited growth of human mammary adeno-carcinoma MCF-7 cells by decreasing cell proliferation. ROS release and caspase-3,caspase-8,caspase-9 ex-pression were stimulated by SAN in MCF-7 ,and these changes were abolished by the antioxidant,N-acetyl-cysteine(NAC).Conclusion Regulationofcaspases expression and release from MCF-7 cells are possibly e-voked by SAN through reactive oxygen species.

Recent studies have showed that RNAs regulate each other with microRNA ( miRNA ) response elements ( MREs ) , and this mechanism is known as “competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA)” hypothesis. Long noncoding RNAs(lncRNAs) are non-protein coding transcripts longer than 200 nucleotides. Ab-errant expression of lncRNAs has been found associated with gastric cancer, one of the most malignant tumors. Compelling evidence suggests that lncRNAs can interact with miRNAs and regulate the expression of miRNAs as ceRNAs. Several lncRNAs such as GAPLINC, BC032469, H19, HOTAIR, FER1L4 and MEG3 have been found to be associated with miRNAs in gastric cancer( GC) . It is tempting to speculate that a multitude of ln-cRNAs may interrupt definitive steps in GC suppressive and on-cogenic pathways. The uncovering of the underlying mechanisms of lncRNAs may benefit our understanding of gastric cancer′s pathogenesis.

Objective To evaluate the clinical outcome associated with the core decompression in combination with the nano-hydroxyapatite/collagen composite rod combined with decalcified bone matrix in a consecutive series of patients with osteonecrosis of femoral head,especially the prevention of collapse of femoral head and its predisposing factors.Methods From August,2012 to May,2013,46 pationts (50 hips) who had undergone core decompression in combination with nano-hydroxyapatite/collagen composite rod insertion in corporated with decalcified bone matrix in our hospital were involved in this study.Postoperative care consisted of prophylactic intravenous antibiotic and anticoagulation therapy.Patients were instructed to be non-weight-bearing for 3 weeks,to partial weight-bear for the next 3 weeks,and to weight bear as tolerated thereafter.All patients were evaluated both clinically and radiographically.The primary clinical outcome of this study was functional improvement assessed with the Harris hip score.Serial radiograms of the pelvis were taken at 1,3,6,12 months post-operatively to analyze the process of osteonecrosis.Results All patients followed up for 12 months,no one suffer complications.The mean Harris score pre-operation was 65.6 ± 10.6,post-operation score was 87.5 ± 15.3,with a mean improvement of 21.8 ± 13.2 (P ＜ 0.05).According to Harris hip score system,excellent for 30 hips,good for 14 hips,fair for 2 hip and poor for 4 hips.Refer to the Kaplan-Meier survivorship curve,the success rate at 12 months post-operatively was 92％.Radiological changes coincided with clinical changes.Conclusion Core decompressionin combination with nano-hydroxyapatite/ collagen composite rod insertion in corporated with decalcified bone matrix provided a minimally invasive surgical treatment option to treat early stage osteonecrotic hips(stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ) and to prevent femoral heads from collapsing,with clinical outcomes and success rates priorto other commonly used surgical procedures.

It has been confirmed that genetic factor plays an im-portant role in the pathogenesis of depression. MTHFR is one of the key enzymes in folate and homocysteine ( Hcy ) metabolism which participates in Alzheimer’ s disease, depression and other mental illnesses. MTHFR-677C/T polymorphism causes the de-crease of enzyme activity and heat resistance, which will lead to lower folate and elevated plasmal Hcy concentration. All of these results put together will cause the central neuronal damage and microvascular damage and affect the synthesis of central neuro-transmitter and methylation of biogenic amines and phospholipids in the central nervous system, which will eventually induce vari-ous mental illnesses like depression, etc. This article reviews the research advancement in the relationship between MTHFR-677C/T polymorphism and depression in recent years on the basis of MTHFR gene mutation and function, lack of folic acid, elevated plasma homocysteine levels and the MTHFR-C677T polymor-phism. Based on which we hope to bring new ideas about treat-ment of depression.