AIM: To summarize 10 surgical pearls for managing proliferative diabetic retinopathy(PDR)adapted from the ancient Chinese allusions and analyze the application of these pearls in a real-world fashion.METHODS: Retrospective, noncomparative, interventional study. Ten surgical pearls were summarized and adapted from the ancient Chinese philosophy. Totally 346 cases(443 eyes)that underwent pars plana vitrectomy(PPV)at our hospial from January 2016 to February 2024 were selected. Flexible combinations of these pearls were applied according to the specific condition of each patient during surgeries. The efficacy and safety were analyzed, as well as the application frequencies according to the existence of tractional retinal detachment or not.RESULTS: A total of 473 times of surgeries were performed on all the patients. According to ancient Chinese allusions, ten surgical pearls were summarized from these surgeries. All PPVs went smoothly with the application of different combinations. Finally, almost all proliferative membranes were successfully peeled except for 10 patients(11 eyes), who went through strategy No.10(minimal membranectomy)that, only necessary relaxation incisions were made with most of the proliferative membranes left on purpose. The final visual acuities were mostly improved or stable(1.92±0.83 LogMAR preoperatively vs 1.16±0.85 LogMAR postoperatively, P<0.01). Postoperative complications mainly included early inflammatory responses in the anterior chamber and nuclear sclerosis. Recurrent vitreous hemorrhage, retinal detachment, and hyphema or neovascular glaucoma occurred in 1.9%(9/473), 3.2%(15/473), 0.4%(2/473)and 0.4%(2/473)times of PPVs, respectively. After 12/473(2.5%)times of PPVs, retinal detachment at the macular area still existed, and multiple times of subsequent PPVs were conducted. Final retinal attachment at the macular area was realized in 98.9% eyes. Those 5 unattached eyes were with heavily reproliferated membranes and subsequent tractional retinal detachment recurrence under the oil, and three of them were scleral buckled additionally.CONCLUSION:These 10 surgical strategies and technique pearls were mostly effective and safe in the management of severe PDR patients. They were relatively easy to be memorized and applicated once the meaning of each Chinese idiom was understood. One can use different combinations flexibly according to a patient's specific condition.

ObjectiveTo analyze the expression level of triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 （TREM-1） in serum and ascites of patients with cirrhotic ascites， and to investigate its correlation with clinical features and inflammatory markers and its role in the diagnosis of infection and prognostic evaluation. MethodsA total of 110 patients with cirrhotic ascites who were hospitalized in The Fifth Hospital of Shijiazhuang from January 2019 to December 2020 were enrolled， and according to the presence or absence of intra-abdominal infection， they were divided into infection group with 72 patients and non-infection group with 38 patients. The patients with infection were further divided into improvement group with 38 patients and non-improvement group with 34 patients. Clinical data and laboratory markers were collected from all patients. Serum and ascites samples were collected， and ELISA was used to measure the level of TREM-1. The independent-samples t test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups； the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two groups， and the Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison between multiple groups； the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups. A Spearman correlation analysis was used to investigate the correlation between indicators. A multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to identify the influencing factors for the prognosis of patients with cirrhotic ascites and infection. The receiver operating characteristic （ROC） curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic efficacy of each indicator， and the Delong test was used for comparison of the area under the ROC curve （AUC）. ResultsThe level of TREM-1 in ascites was significantly positively correlated with that in serum （r=0.50， P<0.001）. Compared with the improvement group， the non-improvement group had a significantly higher level of TREM-1 in ascites （Z=-2.391， P=0.017） and serum （Z=-2.544， P=0.011）， and compared with the non-infection group， the infection group had a significantly higher level of TREM-1 in ascites （Z=-3.420， P<0.001）， while there was no significant difference in the level of TREM-1 in serum between the two groups （P>0.05）. The level of TREM-1 in serum and ascites were significantly positively correlated with C-reactive protein （CRP）， procalcitonin （PCT）， white blood cell count， and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio （r=0.288， 0.344， 0.530， 0.510， 0.534， 0.454， 0.330， and 0.404， all P<0.05）. The ROC curve analysis showed that when PCT， CRP， and serum or ascitic TREM-1 were used in combination for the diagnosis of cirrhotic ascites with infection， the AUCs were 0.715 and 0.740， respectively. The multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that CRP （odds ratio ［OR］=1.019， 95% confidence interval ［CI］： 1.001‍ ‍—‍ ‍1.038， P=0.043） and serum TREM-1 （OR=1.002， 95%CI： 1.000‍ ‍—‍ ‍1.003， P=0.016） were independent risk factors for the prognosis of patients with cirrhotic ascites and infection， and the combination of these two indicators had an AUC of 0.728 in predicting poor prognosis. ConclusionThe level of TREM-1 is closely associated with the severity of infection and prognosis in patients with cirrhotic ascites， and combined measurement of TREM-1 and CRP/PCT can improve the diagnostic accuracy of infection and provide support for prognostic evaluation.

Brain metastases are the most common intracranial tumors, and their incidence is increasing with the improvement of systemic treatments and survival rates. Optimal treatment usually requires a multidisciplinary approach, including radiotherapy, surgical resection, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy. Stereotactic radiotherapy, compared to whole-brain radiotherapy, offers improved local control rates and reduced risk of neurocognitive impairment, and has become a new standard option for the treatment of brain metastases. Additionally, the widespread use of targeted and immune therapies in brain metastases has significantly improved the survival of some patients. This article reviews and integrates recent literature on the treatment of brain metastases and analyzes the role of stereotactic radiotherapy in comprehensive treatment, aiming to provide a reference for the selection of clinical treatment plans.

The chemical constituents of the petroleum ether extract derived from the 90% ethanol extract of Elephantopus scaber were investigated. By silica gel column chromatography, C_(18), MCI column chromatography and semi-preparative high performance liquid chromatography, ten compounds were isolated. Their structures were identified as 3β-hydroxy-6β,7β-epoxytaraxeran-14-ene(1), 3β-hydroxyolean-12-en-28-oic acid(2), D-friedoolean-14-ene-3β,7α-diol(3), 3β-hydroxy-11α-methoxyolean-12-ene(4), 3β-hydroxyolean-11,13(18)-diene(5), 11α-hydroxy-β-amyrin(6), betulinic acid(7), 3β-hydroxy-30-norlupan-20-one(8), 6-acetonylchelerythrine(9), and 4',5'-dehydrodiodictyonema A(10) by analysis of the 1D NMR, 2D NMR, MS, and IR spectral data. Among them, compound 1 was a new triterpene and other compounds except compounds 2 and 7 were isolated from this plant for the first time.
Triterpenes/isolation & purification* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/isolation & purification* ; Molecular Structure ; Asteraceae/chemistry* ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Schizophrenia (SZ) stands as a severe psychiatric disorder. This study applied diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data in conjunction with graph neural networks to distinguish SZ patients from normal controls (NCs) and showcases the superior performance of a graph neural network integrating combined fractional anisotropy and fiber number brain network features, achieving an accuracy of 73.79% in distinguishing SZ patients from NCs. Beyond mere discrimination, our study delved deeper into the advantages of utilizing white matter brain network features for identifying SZ patients through interpretable model analysis and gene expression analysis. These analyses uncovered intricate interrelationships between brain imaging markers and genetic biomarkers, providing novel insights into the neuropathological basis of SZ. In summary, our findings underscore the potential of graph neural networks applied to multimodal DTI data for enhancing SZ detection through an integrated analysis of neuroimaging and genetic features.
Humans ; Schizophrenia/pathology* ; Diffusion Tensor Imaging/methods* ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Brain/metabolism* ; Young Adult ; Middle Aged ; White Matter/pathology* ; Gene Expression ; Nerve Net/diagnostic imaging* ; Graph Neural Networks

Glutamine provides carbon and nitrogen to support the proliferation of cancer cells. However, the precise reason why cancer cells are particularly dependent on glutamine remains unclear. In this study, we report that glutamine modulates the tumor suppressor F-box and WD repeat domain-containing 7 (FBW7) to promote cancer cell proliferation and survival. Specifically, lysine 604 (K604) in the sixth of the 7 substrate-recruiting WD repeats of FBW7 undergoes glutaminylation (Gln-K604) by glutaminyl tRNA synthetase. Gln-K604 inhibits SCFFBW7-mediated degradation of c-Myc and Mcl-1, enhances glutamine utilization, and stimulates nucleotide and DNA biosynthesis through the activation of c-Myc. Additionally, Gln-K604 promotes resistance to apoptosis by activating Mcl-1. In contrast, SIRT1 deglutaminylates Gln-K604, thereby reversing its effects. Cancer cells lacking Gln-K604 exhibit overexpression of c-Myc and Mcl-1 and display resistance to chemotherapy-induced apoptosis. Silencing both c-MYC and MCL-1 in these cells sensitizes them to chemotherapy. These findings indicate that the glutamine-mediated signal via Gln-K604 is a key driver of cancer progression and suggest potential strategies for targeted cancer therapies based on varying Gln-K604 status.
Glutamine/metabolism* ; Myeloid Cell Leukemia Sequence 1 Protein/genetics* ; Humans ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc/genetics* ; Cell Proliferation ; Signal Transduction ; Neoplasms/pathology* ; F-Box-WD Repeat-Containing Protein 7/genetics* ; Cell Survival ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Apoptosis

OBJECTIVE: To explore and quantify the association of hot night exposure during the sperm development period (0-90 lag days) with semen quality. METHODS: A total of 6,640 male sperm donors from 6 human sperm banks in China during 2014-2020 were recruited in this multicenter study. Two indices (i.e., hot night excess [HNE] and hot night duration [HND]) were used to estimate the heat intensity and duration during nighttime. Linear mixed models were used to examine the association between hot nights and semen quality parameters. RESULTS: The exposure-response relationship revealed that HNE and HND during 0-90 days before semen collection had a significantly inverse association with sperm motility. Specifically, a 1 °C increase in HNE was associated with decreased sperm progressive motility of 0.0090 (95% confidence interval [ CI]: -0.0147, -0.0033) and decreased total motility of 0.0094 (95% CI: -0.0160, -0.0029). HND was significantly associated with reduced sperm progressive motility and total motility of 0.0021 (95% CI: -0.0040, -0.0003) and 0.0023 (95% CI: -0.0043, -0.0002), respectively. Consistent results were observed at different temperature thresholds on hot nights. CONCLUSION Our findings highlight the need to mitigate nocturnal heat exposure during spermatogenesis to maintain optimal semen quality.
Humans ; Male ; Semen Analysis ; Adult ; Sperm Motility ; Hot Temperature/adverse effects* ; China ; Middle Aged ; Spermatozoa/physiology* ; Young Adult

177Lu-prostate specific membrane antigen(PSMA)radio-ligand therapy has been approved abroad for advanced prostate cancer and has been in several clinical trials in China.Based on domestic clinical practice and experimental data and referred to international experience and viewpoints,the expert group forms a consensus on the clinical application of 177Lu-PSMA radio-ligand therapy in prostate cancer to guide clinical practice.

Objective To explore the effect and mechanism of hawthorn leaves flavonoids(HLF)on angiotensin Ⅱ(Ang Ⅱ)-induced myocardial hypertrophy.Methods The H9c2 cells were divided into control group(normal culture),model group(100 nmol·L-1 Ang Ⅱ for 24 h),experimental-L,-M,-H groups(received 100 nmol·L-1 Ang Ⅱ for 24 h,then treated with 25,50 and 100 mg·L-1 HLF for 24 h,respectively),anti-miR-NC and anti-miR-21a-5p groups(transfected with anti-miR-NC and anti-miR-21a-5p,then treated with 100 nmol·L-1 Ang Ⅱ for 24 h),miR-NC+high-dose and miR-21a-5p+high-dose group(transfected with miR-NC and miR-21a-5p mimics,then treated with 100 nmol·L-1 Ang Ⅱ for 24 h+100 mg·L-1 HLF for 24 h).The cell viability was detected by cell counting kit-8.The cell apoptosis was measured by flow cytometry.The expression levels of miR-21a-5p was assessed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.The expression levels of cyclooxygenase-2(COX2)and prostaglandin E2(PGE2)was measured by Western blot.Results The cell viabilities of control,model group experimental-H groups were 1.03±0.09,0.51±0.05 and 0.93±0.08;cell apoptosis rates were(7.69±0.61)％,(23.04±1.82)％and(9.43±0.71)％;the expression levels of miR-21a-5p were 1.00±0.09,2.43±0.18 and 1.09±0.08;the relative expression levels of COX2 protein were 0.42±0.03,0.85±0.08 and 0.40±0.04;the relative expression levels of PGE2 protein were 0.34±0.03,0.75±0.07 and 0.35±0.03;the differences of above indexes were statistically significant between the model group and the control and experimental-H groups(all P＜0.05).The cell viabilities of anti-miR-NC,anti-miR-21a-5p,miR-NC+high dose and miR-21a-5p+high dose groups were 0.52±0.04,1.12±0.08,0.94±0.09 and 0.57±0.04;the cell apoptosis rates were(23.04±1.82)％,(9.86±0.73)％,(9.47±0.64)％and(24.96±1.94)％;the expression levels of miR-21a-5p were 1.00±0.10,0.43±0.04,1.00±0.09 and 2.12±0.18;the relative expression levels of COX2 protein were 0.86±0.05,0.39±0.04,0.41±0.03 and 0.78±0.07;the relative expression levels of PGE2 protein were 0.74±0.06,0.38±0.07,0.36±0.02 and 0.71±0.05.Compared the anti-miR-21a-5p group with the anti-miR-NC group,compared the miR-21a-5p+high-dose group with the miR-NC+high-dose group,the differences of above indexes were statistically significant(all P＜0.05).Conclusion HLF can inhibit Ang Ⅱ-induced myocardial hypertrophy by regulating the expression of miR-21a-5p and COX2/PGE2 pathway.

Objective:To explore the correlation between periodontitis (PD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) in adults, as well as the potential mechanisms involved.Methods:Data on PD and CKD from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database between 1999 and 2014 were downloaded. Weighted univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to investigate the risk factors associated with PD and CKD, considering demographic and clinical indicators. Using publicly available genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary datasets for CKD and PD as outcome variables, as well as 731 immune cell phenotypes and 91 inflammatory proteins as exposure factors from the OPEN GWAS database, a two-sample Mendelian randomization (TSMR) analysis was performed using the inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method.Results:Seven demographic indicators including gender, age, race, education level, marital status, income, and health are related to the incidence of CKD and PD. Among them, the elderly (≥60 years old), poverty (poverty-income ratio <1.3), divorce or widowhood, and male ratio in the comorbidity group of CKD and PD [67.12% (833/1 241), 36.83% (457/1 241), 34.41% (427/1 241), and 57.78% (717/1 241) respectively] were significantly higher than those in the control group [23.71% (4 179/17 623), 29.17% (5 141/17 623), 18.16% (3 200/17 623), and 48.73% (8 587/17 623) respectively] (all P<0.001). Those with high educational level (university and above) and self-rated excellent health accounted for a relatively small proportion in the comorbidity group [14.10% (175/1 241) and 8.22% (102/1 241) respectively]. The prevalence of PD increased among individuals with abnormal renal function indices, including glomerular filtration rate, urine protein/creatinine ratio, serum creatinine, serum uric acid, and blood urea nitrogen. Univariate logistic regression analysis showed a positive correlation between the incidence of PD and CKD ( OR=2.14, 95 %CI: 1.90-2.42, P<0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis also indicated that PD and CKD were potential risk factors for each other (PD for CKD: OR=1.22, 95 %CI: 1.07-1.40, P=0.004; CKD for PD: OR=1.19, 95 %CI: 1.04-1.37, P=0.012). Furthermore, after adjusting the model based on demographic indicators, there was still a significant correlation between PD and CKD ( P=0.010). Mechanistically, the results of the TSMR analysis support the existence of a common risk factor mediated by immune cells between CKD and PD, namely the expression of CD64 on multiple innate immune cells mediates the occurrence of CKD and PD. The absolute count of CD64 + monocytes is associated with an increased risk for both CKD ( HR=1.11) and PD ( HR=1.07), while same tendency showed in the absolute count of CD64 + neutrophils for CKD ( HR=1.22) and PD ( HR=1.23). Conclusions:There is a positive correlation between CKD and PD, particularly moderate to severe PD, and the shared pathogenesis involves CD64 + monocytes in the circulatory system. Targeted interventions focusing on CD64 molecules or monocyte subsets may be beneficial.