Root caries is a prevalent chronic oral disease with an average global prevalence of 41.5%, characterized by high incidence, low rate of treatment, and high rate of retreatment. Root caries is primarily caused by core microbiome-induced dysbiosis and has multiple risk factors, including gingival recession, root surface exposure, and salivary dysfunction. The traditional preventive measures and treatments such as fluoride, mineralizing agents, and restorative materials, are unable to restore or maintain oral microecological homeostasis. Recent studies have demonstrated that probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, and antimicrobial peptides may prevent and treat root caries by reversing dysbiosis. In addition, these biotherapeutics can reduce acid production by acidiferous bacteria, promote alkali production (hydrogen peroxide and ammonia) by alkali-producing bacteria, inhibit biofilm formation, decrease extracellular polysaccharide production, and suppress microbial adhesion and aggregation. It is expected to play an important role in the prevention and control of root caries. This article aims to review oral probiotics (Streptococcus oligofermentans, Streptococcus oralis subsp. dentisani, and Streptococcus salivarius), prebiotics (arginine, nitrates, and synthetic compounds), synbiotics, and antimicrobial peptides (gallic acid-polyphemusin I and LH12) to provide evidence and guidance for root caries management through microecological modulation.

T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a highly aggressive hematologic malignancy with a poor prognosis, despite advancements in treatment. Many patients struggle with relapse or refractory disease. Investigating the role of the super-enhancer (SE) regulated gene ubiquitin-specific protease 20 (USP20) in T-ALL could enhance targeted therapies and improve clinical outcomes. Analysis of histone H3 lysine 27 acetylation (H3K27ac) chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) data from six T-ALL cell lines and seven pediatric samples identified USP20 as an SE-regulated driver gene. Utilizing the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) and BloodSpot databases, it was found that USP20 is specifically highly expressed in T-ALL. Knocking down USP20 with short hairpin RNA (shRNA) increased apoptosis and inhibited proliferation in T-ALL cells. In vivo studies showed that USP20 knockdown reduced tumor growth and improved survival. The USP20 inhibitor GSK2643943A demonstrated similar anti-tumor effects. Mass spectrometry, RNA-Seq, and immunoprecipitation revealed that USP20 interacted with hypoxia-inducible factor 1 subunit alpha (HIF1A) and stabilized it by deubiquitination. Cleavage under targets and tagmentation (CUT&Tag) results indicated that USP20 co-localized with HIF1A, jointly modulating target genes in T-ALL. This study identifies USP20 as a therapeutic target in T-ALL and suggests GSK2643943A as a potential treatment strategy.

AIM:To investigate whether crocin alleviates right ventricular injury induced by monocrotaline(MCT)in rats with pulmonary arterial hypertension(PAH),and to explore the underlying mechanisms.METHODS:Forty male SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups:normal group,PAH group,crocin group and sildenafil group,with 10 rats in each group.The rats in PAH,crocin and sildenafil groups received subcutaneous injection of MCT(50 mg/kg)to establish the PAH model.Starting from the day of MCT injection,the rats in crocin group received crocin(200 mg/kg),the rats in sildenafil group received sildenafil(30 mg/kg),and those in PAH and normal groups were orally gavaged with an equal volume of saline once daily.After 4 weeks,measurements of right ventricular systolic pressure(RVSP),mean pulmonary artery pressure(mPAP),right ventricular hypertrophy index(RVHI)and right ventricular mass index(RVMI)were taken for the rats in each group.Tissue staining was conducted to observe pathological changes in the right ventricle,and the expression levels of inflammatory factors(IL-1β,IL-6 and TNF-α),the p38 MAPK/NF-κB inflammato-ry pathway,CCL2,CCR2,and the macrophage marker CD68 were assessed.RESULTS:Compared with PAH group,the rats in crocin and sildenafil groups exhibited significant reductions in RVSP,mPAP,RVHI and RVMI(P＜0.05).Right ventricular tissue displayed no evident infiltration of inflammatory cells or proliferation of collagen fibers.The down-regulation of the p38 MAPK/NF-κB pathway and inflammatory factors(IL-1β,IL-6 and TNF-α)was significant(P＜0.05).Additionally,the CCL2/CCR2 pathway and the infiltration of CD68+ macrophages were markedly decreased(P＜0.05).CONCLUSION:Crocin effectively mitigates right ventricular damage in MCT-induced PAH rats,with its effica-cy comparable to that of sildenafil at the dosage utilized in this experiment.Some protective mechanisms of crocin may be attributed to its regulatory effects on inflammation.

AIM: To investigate the efficacy and safety of ZKY001 eye drops with different concentrations in the treatment of corneal epithelial defects(CED)after primary pterygium excision.METHODS: This was a multicenter, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled phase II clinical trial. From March 15, 2022 to November 14, 2022, patients with primary pterygium who had undergone surgery were recruited from 12 tertiary hospitals across China. Using block randomization, 178 patients(178 eyes)were randomly assigned to 3 groups in a 1:1:1 ratio: 0.002% ZKY001 group(n=59), 0.004% ZKY001 group(n=59), and placebo group(n=60, receiving ZKY001 sham eye drops). Subjects in each group received 1 drop of the study drug 4 times per day for 4 d. The percentage of CED area recovery from baseline, the first complete healing time of CED area, the number of first complete healing cases of CED, and changes in visual analogue scale(VAS)scores for eye discomfort including eye pain, foreign body sensation, tearing and photophobia were observed.RESULTS: In terms of improvement in CED, there were no statistically significant differences among the three groups including the first healing time of CED, the percentage improvement in CED area compared to baseline, and the percentage of first healing cases at different follow-up visits(all P>0.05). Numerically, the first healing time of CED was shorter in the test groups compared to the placebo group(67.87±21.688 h for the 0.002% ZKY001 group, 61.48±22.091 h for the 0.004% ZKY001 group, and 68.85±20.851 h for the placebo group). On D1 morning, the percentage improvement in CED area compared to baseline was maximally different from the placebo group, and the numerical difference advantage was maintained at subsequent follow-up visits. The number of first healing cases in the CED area at different follow-up visits was higher in the test groups than the placebo group. In terms of improvement in ocular discomfort, the total VAS scores were lower in the test groups compared to the placebo group, mainly due to reductions in foreign body sensation and pain scores. At D3, the 0.004% ZKY001 group showed statistically significant improvement in foreign body sensation(P<0.017). In terms of safety, the overall incidence of adverse events was low(9.0%)and similar among groups.CONCLUSION: The use of ZKY001 eyedrops after primary pterygium surgery can safely improve the CED repair, and alleviate postoperative symptoms caused by CED.

In the context of modern medicine,it's difficult for doctors lacking narrative thinking to get into the hearts of patients and offer high-quality medical service.Precise classification terms and decontextualized abstract language have become communication barriers between doctors and patients,creating an atmosphere of unusual indifference and fear during the medical process.William Osler,the father of modern medicine,emphasized that doctors should respect the individuality of patients,and advocated that doctors should use life-oriented language to provide humanistic care to patients.This echoes the concept of the"doctor-patient narrative community"in the construction of the Chinese narrative medicine system.As a brand new clinical humanistic practice path,narrative medicine focuses on the keyword"narrative"and revolves around the theme of"inter-subjective relationship"in the medical context,advocates that doctors switch flexibly in the two references of science and life,achieve visual fusion with patients and their families,pay attention to patients'life experiences,and establish narrative connections with them.On this basis,it can achieve two-way narrative interaction,build a harmonious doctor-patient narrative community,and thus enhance the patient's medical experience.

The maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) is a complex process involving numerous cell-extrinsic and -intrinsic regulators. The first member of the cyclin-dependent kinase family of inhibitors to be identified, p21, has been reported to perform a wide range of critical biological functions, including cell cycle regulation, transcription, differentiation, and so on. Given the previous inconsistent results regarding the functions of p21 in HSCs in a p21-knockout mouse model, we employed p21-tdTomato (tdT) mice to further elucidate its role in HSCs during homeostasis. The results showed that p21-tdT+ HSCs exhibited increased self-renewal capacity compared to p21-tdT- HSCs. Zbtb18, a transcriptional repressor, was upregulated in p21-tdT+ HSCs, and its knockdown significantly impaired the reconstitution capability of HSCs. Furthermore, p21 interacted with ZBTB18 to co-repress the expression of cKit in HSCs and thus regulated the self-renewal of HSCs. Our data provide novel insights into the physiological role and mechanisms of p21 in HSCs during homeostasis independent of its conventional role as a cell cycle inhibitor.
Animals ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells/cytology* ; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21/genetics* ; Mice ; Cell Self Renewal ; Repressor Proteins/genetics* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Mice, Knockout ; Humans ; Gene Expression Regulation

Objective:To analyze the risk factors of hearing loss caused by neonatal cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, to construct a nomogram prediction model, and to evaluate its discrimination and consistency.Methods:Data of a total of 250 neonates with congenital and perinatal CMV infection who were treated in our hospital from June 2018 to March 2021 were collected, and grouped into hearing-impaired group of 50 cases and hearing-unimpaired group of 200 cases according to whether the hearing was impaired or not. Logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the risk factors affecting hearing loss caused by CMV infection in neonates. R software was applied to construct a nomogram model for predicting the risk of hearing loss caused by CMV infection in neonates, and the ROC curve and calibration curve were analyzed to verify the discrimination and consistency of the nomogram model.Results:Among 250 CMV-infected neonates in the modeling group, the incidence of hearing impairment was 20.00%. The proportion of primary maternal infection before 14 weeks of gestation, the proportion of urine CMV viral load >5×10 4 copies/ml, the proportion of symptomatic CMV infection and the proportion of abnormal head MRI in the hearing-impaired group were significantly higher than those in the hearing-unimpaired group ( χ2=12.545, 11.812, 11.801, and 9.025, P=0.000, 0.001, 0.001, and 0.003). That urine CMV viral load>5×10 4 copies/ml, symptomatic CMV infection and abnormal head MRI were the risk factors affecting hearing loss caused by CMV infection in neonates ( OR=2.388, 6.765, and 4.993, P=0.022, 0.000, and 0.001), the prediction model of the line graph was constructed using Bootstrap internal verification, Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit test =6.055, P=0.301, area under ROC curve was 0.817, 95% CI=0.754~0.880, and external verification result showed that the predicted probability of the calibration curve was close to the actual probability and has a good agreement, with an AUC of 0.791 (95% CI=0.716~0.866). Conclusions:The nomogram model constructed in this study to predict the risk of hearing loss caused by CMV infection in neonates can be used for the prediction of hearing loss in neonates after CMV infection.

Objective:To analyze the clinical features, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of nodular fasciitis (NF) in the head and neck.Methods:Seven cases of primary NF in the head and neck admitted to Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology from 1990 to 2022 were retrospectively analyzed, including 3 males and 4 females, aged from 2 to 67 years, and the location, course of disease, clinical manifestations, imaging findings, and treatment results of the disease were summarized.Results:Of the 7 patients, the primary sites were respectively nasal vestibule, paranasal sinus, nasal dorsum, sella turcica and clivus, neck, subglottis, and tonsil. Three cases presented with rapidly growing subcutaneous painless masses within 2 months, 1 case presented with hemoptysis, hoarseness and asthma for 28 days, 1 case presented with blood in the nasal discharge for 2 months, 1 case presented with headache for 1 month, and 1 case was found to have tonsillar neoplasms on physical examination for 3 days. CT was performed in 5 patients and the lesions showed soft tissue density shadows, and MRI was also performed in 2 of them, which showed T1 isointensity or T2 slightly long abnormal signal shadows. All patients underwent simple surgical resection of the mass. The patients were followed up for 13 months to 10 years, and none had recurrence.Conclusion:Primary NF in the head and neck is rare, with atypical clinical symptoms and imaging findings. Surgery is the mainstay of treatment for NF with good results.

Objective:To investigate the efficacy and safety of ixazomib-based therapy for multiple myeloma.Methods:The data of 32 patients with multiple myeloma treated with isazomib-based regimen in the Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University from December 2020 to December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. Among 32 patients, 17 cases were relapsed/refractory, and the remaining 15 cases had initial treatment. The treatment regimens included ID (isazomib + dexamethasone), IRD (isazomib + lenalidomide + dexamethasone) and ICD (isazomib + cyclophosphamide + dexamethasone). The short-term curative effect and adverse reactions of relapsed/refractory patients and patients at initial onset were analyzed.Results:The overall response rate (ORR) of relapsed/refractory patients was 52.9% (9/17), of which 6 cases achieved complete remission (CR), 2 cases achieved very good partial remission (VGPR) and 1 case achieved partial remission (PR). The ORR of refractory patients receiving bortezomib therapy was 40.0% (4/10). The ORR of patients at initial onset who could be evaluated the curative effect was 100.0% (14/14), including 9 cases of CR, 2 cases of VGPR and 3 cases of PR. After treatment, 2 patients (6.2%) had grade Ⅲ-Ⅳ adverse events (1 case of herpes zoster and 1 case of thrombocytopenia), and none of the patients had grade Ⅲ-Ⅳ peripheral neuropathy.Conclusion:Isazomib is effective and safe in the treatment of initially treated and relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.