Objective·To identify and evaluate novel and reliable non-invasive serological biomarkers for detecting pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma(PDAC).Methods·Sixty-seven PDAC patients(Ruijin cohort Ⅰ)were recruited at Pancreatic Center,Ruijin Hospital,Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine,from May 2018 to December 2019.Global proteome profiling of 67 PDAC tumor tissues and 67 matched adjacent normal tissues was performed using mass spectrum.Bioinformatics analysis on the proteomics data was conducted to identify new biomarkers,and receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves and the area under the curve(AUC)were used to evaluate their value of detecting PDAC.The proteomic and mRNA sequencing data were further downloaded and analysed from the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium(CPTAC)cohort for validation.In addition,the Ruijin Cohort Ⅱ,consisting of 47 PDAC patients and 75 healthy individuals,was recruited for a case-control study from June 2021 to June 2022.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)was used to detect the expression level of new biomarkers in the serum of patients and healthy individuals to evaluate the serological diagnostic values of them.Results·Collagen type Ⅻ α1 chain(COL12A1)was identified as a candidate biomarker for PDAC diagnosis based on differential expression analysis on the proteomic data and was validated to be higher in tumor tissues than in adjacent normal tissues in the CPTAC cohort.In addition,COL12A1 protein levels were significantly higher in the sera of PDAC patients than in those of healthy controls,showing good diagnostic performance with an AUC of 0.82,a sensitivity of 81%,and a specificity of 83%.ROC analysis revealed that COL12A1 improved the performance of carbohydrate antigen 199(CA199)in distinguishing PDAC patients from healthy individuals(AUCCA199=0.91 vs AUCCA199+COL12A1=0.95,P<0.05).Furthermore,COL12A1 also showed excellent ability to distinguish early-stage PDAC patients(stage Ⅰ?Ⅱ)from healthy individuals(AUCCOL12A1=0.83),and significantly improved the AUC of CA199 in early-stage PDAC patients(AUCCA199=0.92 vs AUCCA199+COL12A1=0.97,P<0.05).Conclusion·COL12A1 is a potential serological diagnostic marker that complements CA199 in detecting early-stage PDAC.

Objective·To identify and evaluate novel and reliable non-invasive serological biomarkers for detecting pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma(PDAC).Methods·Sixty-seven PDAC patients(Ruijin cohort Ⅰ)were recruited at Pancreatic Center,Ruijin Hospital,Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine,from May 2018 to December 2019.Global proteome profiling of 67 PDAC tumor tissues and 67 matched adjacent normal tissues was performed using mass spectrum.Bioinformatics analysis on the proteomics data was conducted to identify new biomarkers,and receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves and the area under the curve(AUC)were used to evaluate their value of detecting PDAC.The proteomic and mRNA sequencing data were further downloaded and analysed from the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium(CPTAC)cohort for validation.In addition,the Ruijin Cohort Ⅱ,consisting of 47 PDAC patients and 75 healthy individuals,was recruited for a case-control study from June 2021 to June 2022.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)was used to detect the expression level of new biomarkers in the serum of patients and healthy individuals to evaluate the serological diagnostic values of them.Results·Collagen type Ⅻ α1 chain(COL12A1)was identified as a candidate biomarker for PDAC diagnosis based on differential expression analysis on the proteomic data and was validated to be higher in tumor tissues than in adjacent normal tissues in the CPTAC cohort.In addition,COL12A1 protein levels were significantly higher in the sera of PDAC patients than in those of healthy controls,showing good diagnostic performance with an AUC of 0.82,a sensitivity of 81%,and a specificity of 83%.ROC analysis revealed that COL12A1 improved the performance of carbohydrate antigen 199(CA199)in distinguishing PDAC patients from healthy individuals(AUCCA199=0.91 vs AUCCA199+COL12A1=0.95,P<0.05).Furthermore,COL12A1 also showed excellent ability to distinguish early-stage PDAC patients(stage Ⅰ?Ⅱ)from healthy individuals(AUCCOL12A1=0.83),and significantly improved the AUC of CA199 in early-stage PDAC patients(AUCCA199=0.92 vs AUCCA199+COL12A1=0.97,P<0.05).Conclusion·COL12A1 is a potential serological diagnostic marker that complements CA199 in detecting early-stage PDAC.

BACKGROUND: It is inaccurate to reflect the level of dust exposure through working years. Furthermore, identifying a predictive indicator for lung function decline is significant for coal miners. The study aimed to explored whether club cell secretory protein (CC16) levels can reflect early lung function changes. METHODS: The cumulative respiratory dust exposure (CDE) levels of 1,461 coal miners were retrospectively assessed by constructed a job-exposure matrix to replace working years. Important factors affecting lung function and CC16 were selected by establishing random forest models. Subsequently, the potential of CC16 to reflect lung injury was explored from multiple perspectives. First, restricted cubic spline (RCS) models were used to compare the trends of changes in lung function indicators and plasma CC16 levels after dust exposure. Then mediating analysis was performed to investigate the role of CC16 in the association between dust exposure and lung function decline. Finally, the association between baseline CC16 levels and follow-up lung function was explored. RESULTS: The median CDE were 35.13 mg/m³-years. RCS models revealed a rapid decline in forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV₁), and their percentages of predicted values when CDE exceeded 25 mg/m³-years. The dust exposure level (<5 mg/m³-years) causing significant changes in CC16 was much lower than the level (25 mg/m³-years) that caused changes in lung function indicators. CC16 mediated 11.1% to 26.0% of dust-related lung function decline. Additionally, workers with low baseline CC16 levels experienced greater reductions in lung function in the future. CONCLUSIONS CC16 levels are more sensitive than lung indicators in reflecting early lung function injury and plays mediating role in lung function decline induced by dust exposure. Low baseline CC16 levels predict poor future lung function.
Uteroglobin/blood* ; Humans ; Dust/analysis* ; Occupational Exposure/analysis* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Retrospective Studies ; Lung Injury/chemically induced* ; Coal Mining ; Biomarkers/blood* ; China/epidemiology* ; Air Pollutants, Occupational ; Female

Objective:To investigate the effects of fibroblast growth factor receptor 1(FGFR1)on the resistance of colorectal cancer(CRC)cells to oxaliplatin(OXA).Methods:An OXA-resistant cell line(HCT8/OXA)was established by treating HCT8 CRC cells with low-dose OXA for a long period in vitro.The CCK-8 assay was used to compare the viability of the HCT8 and HCT8/OXA cells after OXA treatment and to exam-ine their resistance to the anticancer drug.Second-generation high-throughput sequencing technology was used to identify differentially ex-pressed genes between the parental and drug-resistant cells.The expression of FGFR1 in the HCT8 and HCT8/OXA cells was detected by Western blot assay.Colony formation and flow cytometric assays were used to determine cell proliferation and apoptosis,respectively.The expression of PI3K/AKT signaling pathway-related proteins was detected using Western blot assay.Results:Compared with the levels in the HCT8 cells,the FGFR1 levels were significantly increased in the HCT8/OXA cells(P<0.01).FGFR1 overexpression in the HCT8 cells increased their drug resistance(P<0.01)and proliferation(NC+OXA:236.67±6.24;FGFR1+OXA:568.33±6.24)and decreased their apoptotic rate after OXA treatment(NC+OXA:27.83±0.85;FGFR1+OXA:17.47±1.25).FGFR1 knockdown in the HCT8/OXA cells reduced their drug resistance(P<0.01)and proliferative ability(Si-NC+OXA:411±8.29;Si-FGFR1+OXA:233.33±20.55)and increased their apoptotic rate(Si-NC+OXA:2.85±0.17;Si-FGFR1+OXA:14.42±0.77).FGFR1 inhibited the activity of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and cell apoptosis and improved the proliferation and drug resistance of the CRC cells.By contrast,an activator of the PI3K/AKT pathway blocked the effects of FGFR1 on this sig-naling pathway and drug resistance in the CRC cells.Conclusions:FGFR1 can inhibit the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and thereby reduce the sensitivity of CRC cells to OXA.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of nebulized inhalation of recombinant human interferon (IFN) α1b injection in the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) associated lower respiratory tract infections (pneumonia and bronchiolitis) in children.Methods:A randomized, double-blind, parallel, placebo-controlled add-on design was used.Children with pneumonia or bronchiolitis aged 2 months to 5 years who tested positive for RSV antigen within 72 hours of onset from 30 clinical trial sites including Beijing Children′s Hospital, Capital Medical University between February 2021 and December 2022 were included in this study and randomly divided into 2 groups at a ratio of 1∶1 based on a stratified-block method.Both groups received basic treatments such as cough control, asthma relieving, expectorant treatment, fever reduction, oxygen therapy, etc.The experimental group received additional nebulized inhalation of IFN α1b injection at a dose of 2.0 μg/(kg·time), twice a day.The control group received nebulized inhalation of placebo twice a day.Clinical efficacy was evaluated based on indicators such as the duration of clinical symptoms and signs, and the Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate the median and 95% CI of the duration of clinical symptoms and signs.The Log-rank test was used to compared data between groups.Safety was assessed through the incidence of adverse reactions and laboratory tests, and the Chi-square test was used to analyze the difference between groups. Results:There were 123 children in the experimental group and 122 children in the control group.The median durations of all the 5 clinical symptoms and signs [including shortness of breath, wheezing, dyspnea (visible retractions), decreased transcutaneous oxygen saturation, and abnormal mental state] in the experimental group after treatment were slightly shortened than those in the control group [2.7 d(95% CI: 1.9-3.0 d)] vs.[2.9 d(95% CI: 2.6-3.6 d), P=0.027].The improvement in dyspnea (retractions) was especially pronounced in the experimental group, with a relief rate of 50.0% (0, 100%) on the first day of administration[compared with 0 (0, 50.0%) in the control group ( Z=2.002, P=0.025)].The median duration of dyspnea in the experimental group was nearly 1 day shorter than that in the control group [1.0 d(95% CI: 0.7-1.7 d) vs.1.8 d(95% CI: 1.0-2.5 d), P=0.046].There were no significant difference in hospital stay [6.0(5.0, 8.0) d vs.6.5(5.0, 8.0) d, Z=0.675, P=0.500], oxygen therapy duration [32.0(14.0, 96.3) h vs.39.0 (24.0, 83.2) h, Z=0.094, P=0.925], the recovery rate from clinical symptoms during treatment [(105/106, 99.1%) vs.(96/101, 95.0%)], and recurrence rate [(0/106, 0) vs.(2/101, 2.0%)] between the 2 groups (all P>0.05).However, the above-mentioned four indicators in the experimental group showed a trend of clinical benefits.The quantitative virus detection results showed that the RSV viral load in both groups decreased after treatment compared to before treatment.After 2 days of treatment, the decline rate of RSV viral load from the baseline was 0.90 lg copies/(mL·d) in the experimental group and 0.25 lg copies/(mL·d)in the control group, with a statistically significant difference ( P<0.05).Furthermore, there was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the 2 groups ( P>0.05).Importantly, no drug-related serious adverse reactions occurred in both groups. Conclusions:The nebulized inhalation therapy of IFN α1b demonstrates efficacy and safety in treating pediatric RSV associated lower respiratory tract infections.It particularly offers outstanding clinical therapeutic value for severe children.

Objective:To investigate the effects of fibroblast growth factor receptor 1(FGFR1)on the resistance of colorectal cancer(CRC)cells to oxaliplatin(OXA).Methods:An OXA-resistant cell line(HCT8/OXA)was established by treating HCT8 CRC cells with low-dose OXA for a long period in vitro.The CCK-8 assay was used to compare the viability of the HCT8 and HCT8/OXA cells after OXA treatment and to exam-ine their resistance to the anticancer drug.Second-generation high-throughput sequencing technology was used to identify differentially ex-pressed genes between the parental and drug-resistant cells.The expression of FGFR1 in the HCT8 and HCT8/OXA cells was detected by Western blot assay.Colony formation and flow cytometric assays were used to determine cell proliferation and apoptosis,respectively.The expression of PI3K/AKT signaling pathway-related proteins was detected using Western blot assay.Results:Compared with the levels in the HCT8 cells,the FGFR1 levels were significantly increased in the HCT8/OXA cells(P<0.01).FGFR1 overexpression in the HCT8 cells increased their drug resistance(P<0.01)and proliferation(NC+OXA:236.67±6.24;FGFR1+OXA:568.33±6.24)and decreased their apoptotic rate after OXA treatment(NC+OXA:27.83±0.85;FGFR1+OXA:17.47±1.25).FGFR1 knockdown in the HCT8/OXA cells reduced their drug resistance(P<0.01)and proliferative ability(Si-NC+OXA:411±8.29;Si-FGFR1+OXA:233.33±20.55)and increased their apoptotic rate(Si-NC+OXA:2.85±0.17;Si-FGFR1+OXA:14.42±0.77).FGFR1 inhibited the activity of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and cell apoptosis and improved the proliferation and drug resistance of the CRC cells.By contrast,an activator of the PI3K/AKT pathway blocked the effects of FGFR1 on this sig-naling pathway and drug resistance in the CRC cells.Conclusions:FGFR1 can inhibit the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and thereby reduce the sensitivity of CRC cells to OXA.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of nebulized inhalation of recombinant human interferon (IFN) α1b injection in the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) associated lower respiratory tract infections (pneumonia and bronchiolitis) in children.Methods:A randomized, double-blind, parallel, placebo-controlled add-on design was used.Children with pneumonia or bronchiolitis aged 2 months to 5 years who tested positive for RSV antigen within 72 hours of onset from 30 clinical trial sites including Beijing Children′s Hospital, Capital Medical University between February 2021 and December 2022 were included in this study and randomly divided into 2 groups at a ratio of 1∶1 based on a stratified-block method.Both groups received basic treatments such as cough control, asthma relieving, expectorant treatment, fever reduction, oxygen therapy, etc.The experimental group received additional nebulized inhalation of IFN α1b injection at a dose of 2.0 μg/(kg·time), twice a day.The control group received nebulized inhalation of placebo twice a day.Clinical efficacy was evaluated based on indicators such as the duration of clinical symptoms and signs, and the Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate the median and 95% CI of the duration of clinical symptoms and signs.The Log-rank test was used to compared data between groups.Safety was assessed through the incidence of adverse reactions and laboratory tests, and the Chi-square test was used to analyze the difference between groups. Results:There were 123 children in the experimental group and 122 children in the control group.The median durations of all the 5 clinical symptoms and signs [including shortness of breath, wheezing, dyspnea (visible retractions), decreased transcutaneous oxygen saturation, and abnormal mental state] in the experimental group after treatment were slightly shortened than those in the control group [2.7 d(95% CI: 1.9-3.0 d)] vs.[2.9 d(95% CI: 2.6-3.6 d), P=0.027].The improvement in dyspnea (retractions) was especially pronounced in the experimental group, with a relief rate of 50.0% (0, 100%) on the first day of administration[compared with 0 (0, 50.0%) in the control group ( Z=2.002, P=0.025)].The median duration of dyspnea in the experimental group was nearly 1 day shorter than that in the control group [1.0 d(95% CI: 0.7-1.7 d) vs.1.8 d(95% CI: 1.0-2.5 d), P=0.046].There were no significant difference in hospital stay [6.0(5.0, 8.0) d vs.6.5(5.0, 8.0) d, Z=0.675, P=0.500], oxygen therapy duration [32.0(14.0, 96.3) h vs.39.0 (24.0, 83.2) h, Z=0.094, P=0.925], the recovery rate from clinical symptoms during treatment [(105/106, 99.1%) vs.(96/101, 95.0%)], and recurrence rate [(0/106, 0) vs.(2/101, 2.0%)] between the 2 groups (all P>0.05).However, the above-mentioned four indicators in the experimental group showed a trend of clinical benefits.The quantitative virus detection results showed that the RSV viral load in both groups decreased after treatment compared to before treatment.After 2 days of treatment, the decline rate of RSV viral load from the baseline was 0.90 lg copies/(mL·d) in the experimental group and 0.25 lg copies/(mL·d)in the control group, with a statistically significant difference ( P<0.05).Furthermore, there was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the 2 groups ( P>0.05).Importantly, no drug-related serious adverse reactions occurred in both groups. Conclusions:The nebulized inhalation therapy of IFN α1b demonstrates efficacy and safety in treating pediatric RSV associated lower respiratory tract infections.It particularly offers outstanding clinical therapeutic value for severe children.

AIM:To investigate whether the expression of perilipin 2(PLIN2)in renal tubular cells could predict a decline in renal function in diabetic kidney disease(DKD)patients,and to explore the potential mechanisms in-volved in renal tubular cell injury induced by PLIN2 during the progression of DKD.METHODS:Control individuals(n=12)and DKD patients(n=51)were enrolled in this retrospective cohort study.Demographic and laboratory data were col-lected.A simplified linear mixed-effects model was applied to assess the estimated glomerular filtration rate(eGFR)slope.The relationship between PLIN2 and renal function decline in DKD patients was predicted by Spearman correlation analysis and a generalized linear model.BKS-db/db diabetic mice and streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice were used.Primary renal tubular cells were treated with glucose and transfected with small interfering RNA or plasmid.Western blot-ting and immunofluorescence staining were used to detect PLIN2 expression.Lipid droplets were stained with oil red O.The oxygen consumption rate(OCR)of mitochondria was measured using an extracellular flux analyser.RESULTS:The expression of PLIN2 was markedly higher in the tubules of DKD patients than in those of control subjects.After 24(12,39)months of follow-up,the eGFR slope of DKD patients was-7.42(-19.77,-2.09)mL/(min·1.73 m2·year).An in-crease in the baseline percentage of PLIN2-positive tubules was significantly associated with the eGFR slope during the fol-low-up period[hazard ratio(HR)=1.90,95%confidence interval(CI):1.00～3.58],indicating that tubular PLIN2 could predict a decrease in renal function in DKD patients.Both the accumulation of lipid droplets and the expression of PLIN2 were markedly greater in the tubules of diabetic mice than in those of control mice.Glucose treatment induced lipid droplet accumulation and PLIN2 expression in renal tubular cells.Knockdown of PLIN2 significantly alleviated glucose-in-duced lipid droplet accumulation,whereas PLIN2 overexpression aggravated glucose-induced lipid droplet accumulation.The decrease in mitochondrial OCR in renal tubular cells induced by glucose treatment was alleviated after PLIN2 knock-down.However,overexpression of PLIN2 directly decreased the mitochondrial OCR.CONCLUSION:The PLIN2 ex-pression in tubules predicts a decline in renal function in patients with DKD.The PLIN2 suppresses mitochondrial aerobic respiration and contributes to the accumulation of lipid droplets in renal tubular cells to promote the progression of DKD.

Purpose To establish a nomogram based on conventional ultrasound combined with contrast-enhanced ultrasound(CEUS)for predicting the probability of cervical central lymph node metastasis(CLNM)in clinical lymph node-negative(CN0)papillary thyroid carcinoma(PTC)patients.Materials and Methods A retrospective study was performed on 359 patients with single CN0 PTC,all of whom underwent thyroid surgery and prophylactic central compartment neck dissection in the First Affiliated Hospital of Shihezi University from September 2015 to March 2022.According to the postoperative pathological results,there were 116 cases with CLNM(+)and other 243 cases with CLNM(-).The indicators of gender,age,conventional ultrasound and CEUS were recorded,and multivariate stepwise Logistic regression was performed to screen out risk predictors to construct prediction models for CLNM in CN0 PTC.The receiver operating characteristic curves of prediction models were drawn,and the area under the curve(AUC)was further compared.The preferable prediction model was selected to establish the risk probability nomogram,and the prediction performance and clinical applicability of the nomogram model were assessed.Results Multivariate analysis showed that gender,age,the maximum diameter of nodule,capsule invasion and enhancement pattern on CEUS were risk factors for CLNM in CN0 PTC(all P<0.05).The AUC of prediction model 1 including the above five indicators was 0.753,and the AUC of prediction model 2 excluding CEUS indicator was 0.704.There were statistically significant difference in AUCs between the two models(Z=2.473,P=0.013).Prediction model 1 was selected to construct a risk probability nomogram for predicting CLNM in CN0 PTC.The nomogram had a C-index of 0.753 and showed well consistency on the calibration curve.Clinical decision curve analysis indicated that the nomogram could achieve ideal net benefit when the threshold probability was between 10.7%to 81.5%.Conclusion Gender,age,the maximum diameter of nodule,capsule invasion and enhancement pattern on CEUS may be the risk predictors for CLNM in CN0 PTC.The nomogram model based on the above indicators can predict the probability of CLNM effectively,and the CEUS indicators can substantially improve the prediction performance of the model.

Objective:To investigate the expression level and application value of anti-carbamylated protein(CarP)antibody in rheumatoid arthritis(RA).Methods:Demographic data and laboratory test results of RA patients,non-RA patients and healthy controls in the physical examination center were re-viewed from December 2018 to June 2019 in the Rheumatology and Immunology Department of the Peo-ple's Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.The serum concentrations of anti-CarP antibodies in all the subjects were measured by ELISA and statistically analyzed.Results:A total of 259 subjects were included in this study,including 158 in the RA group(45 serum-negative RA patients),59 in the non-RA group and 42 in the healthy control group.The concentration of anti-CarP antibody in RA group[8.31(5.22,15.26)U/mL]was higher than that in non-RA group[4.50(3.35,5.89)U/mL]and healthy control group[3.46(2.76,4.92)U/mL].The concentration of anti-CarP antibody in non-RA group was not significantly different from that in healthy control group(P=0.10).Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve analysis showed that the sensitivity of anti-CarP antibody in the diagnosis of RA was 58.2％,and the specificity was 93.1％.The sensitivity of the combined detection of anti-CarP antibody,anti-cyclic peptide containing citrulline(CCP)antibody and rheumatoid factor(RF)was 82.3％,and the specificity was 96.5％.The positive rate of anti-CarP antibody in serum-negative RA patients was 44.4％(20/45).Univariate Logisitic regression analysis showed that age,C-reactive pro-tein(CRP),erythrocyte sedimentation rate(ESR),RF,glucose-6-phosphate isomerase(GPI),anti-CCP antibody and anti-CarP antibody were risk factors for RA.Multivariate Logisitic regression analysis showed that anti-CCP antibody and anti-CarP antibody were independent risk factors for RA.Spearman correlation analysis showed that there was no significant correlation between anti-CarP antibody and swol-len joint count(SJC),tenderness joints count(TJC),ESR,disease activity score for 28 joints(DAS28),clinical disease activity index(CDAI),simplified disease activity index(SDAI).The concentration of anti-CarP antibody in RA with bone erosion(n=88)was higher than that in RA without bone erosion(n=70),and there was significant difference between the two groups(P＜0.05).Conclusion:Anti-CarP antibody is an effective serological marker for the diagnosis of RA.The combined detection of RF,anti-CCP antibody and anti-CarP antibody can improve its diagnostic value,and anti-CarP antibody may be an effective assistant diagnostic tool for serum negative RA.The high serum concentration of anti-CarP antibody in patients with RA may indicate an increased risk of bone erosion and should be treated early,but further cohort studies are needed for follow-up observation.