ObjectiveTo analyse the efficacy and mechanism of Guizhi Fulingwan in regulating sex hormone disorders in rats with benign prostatic hyperplasia （BPH）. MethodsThirty male SD rats were randomly divided into a sham group， a model group， a finasteride group （0.45 mg·kg^-1·d^-1）， and low-dose and high-dose groups of Guizhi Fulingwan （0.135， 0.337 5 g∙kg^-1∙d^-1）， with six in each group. The BPH model was prepared by subcutaneous injection of 3.5 mg∙kg^-1∙d^-1 testosterone propionate after debridement surgery in all groups except the sham group. The rats in the sham group and the model group were administered with an equal volume of saline by gavage， and the rest of the groups were administered with the corresponding medicinal solution by gavage for 35 days. Histopathology in rats was evaluated by prostate wet weight， volume， index， and hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining. The serum sex hormone levels of testosterone （T）， dihydrotestosterone （DHT）， and estradiol （E₂） were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The protein expression of the androgen receptor （AR） was detected by immunohistochemistry. The serum metabolism profiles of rats in the sham group， the model group， and the high-dose group of Guizhi Fulingwan were compared by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem Fourier transform mass spectrometry （UHPLCQ Exactive） to screen for metabolic markers and to obtain relevant metabolic pathways. ResultsCompared with those in the sham group， the wet weight， volume， index， serum sex hormone level， and AR protein expression of the prostate in the model group were all elevated （P<0.05， P<0.01）， and the histomorphology showed pathological changes. Compared with those in the model group， the wet weight， volume， index， serum sex hormone level， and AR protein expression of the prostate in the intervention groups showed a decreasing trend （P<0.05， P<0.01）， and histopathology was improved. Serum metabolomics analysis obtained a total of 40 metabolic markers related to the intervention effect of Guizhi Fulingwan， such as dehydrosafynol， hyoscyamine， and lumichrome， which were involved in the pathways of autophagy， riboflavin metabolism， and retrograde endocannabinoid signaling. ConclusionGuizhi Fulingwan can effectively regulate sex hormone disorders in BPH rats， and its mechanism may be related to autophagy， riboflavin metabolism， and retrograde endocannabinoid signaling.

AIM: To explore the clinicopathological and immunohistochemistry(IHC)characteristics of meibomian gland carcinoma(MGC).METHODS: Patients who were pathologically diagnosed as MGC from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2020 in our hospital were enrolled, and their clinicopathological information was retrospectively analyzed. Cancer tissues from all the cases were IHC stained. En Vision two-step method, DAB staining, as well as hematoxylin re-staining were applied in the IHC assay.RESULTS: A total of 50 patients with 21 males and 29 females(1:1.38)were enrolled in the study, ranging from 26 to 80 years old, with a median age of 60 years. The upper eyelid, which was the predilection site, accounting for 66%(33/50). Histopathologically, moderately or poorly differentiated was in the majority(35/50, 70%). The expression rates of IHC parameters of MGC patients were as follows: GATA-3(49/50, 98%), EMA(49/50, 98%), CAM5.2(42/50, 84%), AR(41/50, 82%), MSH2(50/50, 100%), MSH6(50/50, 100%), MLH1(50/50, 100%), PMS2(50/50, 100%), Ki67(positive, 50%-90%). All the patients were followed up for 12 to 72 mo, with 5 cases of recurrence and 0 deaths.CONCLUSION: Pathological diagnosis of MGC should focus on observing cancer cells' cytoplasm to find relevant clues for cortical gland differentiation. Comprehensive analysis of multiple indicators is required when using IHC to assist diagnosis. For most MGC cancer cells, positive expressions of GATA-3, EMA, AR, CAM5.2 and a high Ki67 proliferation index could be always found. In addition, screening for Muir-Torre syndrome related IHC indicators could be also performed in diagnosing MGC simultaneously.

Objective:To investigate the expression of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmission-related receptors angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2) in human conjunctival tissue and its clinical significance.Methods:Fifty human conjunctival tissue specimens from 50 patients including 10 normal conjunctival tissues, 15 conjunctival papilloma tissues, 15 conjunctival nevus tissues and 10 conjunctival cyst tissues were collected from June 2019 to June 2020 at Xi'an People's Hospital.Ten corneal tissue samples from 10 patients with eyes removed due to trauma were collected as control.The distribution of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 in different corneal tissues was detected by the immunohistochemistry.The expression of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 was scored and compared.Reuse of the human samples and the research protocol was approved by an Ethics Committee of Xi'an People's Hospital (No.20190022). Written informed consent was obtained from each patient.Results:ACE2 and TMPRSS2 were both expressed in normal conjunctival epithelium, epithelial cells in conjunctiva papilloma and conjunctival nevus, and cells in conjunctiva cyst wall.ACE2 was mainly distributed in the superficial and intermediate cells of conjunctival epithelium, but not in the basal cells and goblet cells.TMPRSS2 was found in different layers of cells.The positive expression rates of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 in conjunctiva were both 100%.There was no significant difference in the expression intensity of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 among normal conjunctival tissue, conjunctival papilloma, conjunctival nevus and conjunctival cyst (all at P>0.05). Weakly expressed in corneal tissues, ACE2 and TMPRSS2 were more moderately and strongly expressed in conjunctival tissues.There were significant differences in the number of differently graded ACE2 and TMPRSS2 expression between normal conjunctival tissues, conjunctival papilloma, conjunctival nevus, conjunctival cyst and corneal tissues (ACE2: Z=-3.473, -4.183, -3.970, -3.873, all at P<0.01; TMPRSS2: Z=-4.119, -4.472, -4.443, -4.147, all at P<0.001). Conclusions:COVID-19 transmission-related receptors ACE2 and TMPRSS2 are expressed in human conjunctival tissue, which provides organological evidence for ocular surface transmission of COVID-19.

Objective:To investigate the role of microRNA-187-5p (miR-187-5p) on osteoporosis (OP) as well as the related molecular mechanism.Methods:The level of miR-187-5p and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP, the osteoclast marker) was quantitatively detected in TRANKL-induced OP group and control (con) group by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) ; Cell counting kit 8 (CCK8) was used to measure the viability of murine macrophage cell line (RAW264.7) ; Western blot was used to detect the expression of p65 and TNFα. Moreover, the dual luciferase reporter assays was applied to detect the interaction between miR-187-5p and p65.Results:The osteoclast proliferation determined by CCK8 and the mRNA level of TRAP detected by RT-qPCR demonstrated that the growth of osteoclast was inhibited in OP group compared with that in con group ( P=0.008; P=0.017) , which reversed by miR-187-5p mimic stimulation ( P=0.023; P=0.037) . The miR-187-5p was lowly expressed in OP group compared with that in con group ( P=0.031) ,which was increased by miR-187-5p mimic treatment compared with miR-187-5p NC treatment ( P=0.041) . Moreover, western blot indicated that the protein level of p65 and TNFα in OP group were up-regulated compared with that in con group ( P=0.034; P=0.024) , which restored by the miR-187-5p mimic co-incubation ( P=0.028; P=0.036) . Moreover, the RT-qPCR indicated that the mRNA level of p65 in OP group was also increased compared with that in con group ( P=0.039) , and the miR-187-5p mimic co-incubation decreased the mRNA level of p65, compared with miR-187-5p NC group ( P=0.025) . The dual luciferase reporter assays indicated that there was an interaction between miR-187-5p and p65. Conclusion:miR-187-5p alleviates OP through inhibiting the activity of osteoclast via RANKL/NFκB signaling

Objective:To discuss the quantitative evaluation of left ventricular systolic function in patients with light-chain amyloidosis (AL) by pressure-strain loop (PSL).Methods:Forty-six patients with clinically diagnosed as AL in the Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2018 to December 2020 were selected as case group, and they were divided into 2 groups according to whether the thickness of interventricular septum and posterior wall at end-diastole was >12 mm; ①cardiac amyloidosis (CA) group (21 cases, the thickness>12mm); ②non cardiac amyloidosis (NCA) group (25 cases, the thickness≤12 mm). Twenty five healthy volunteers were selected as control group at the same time. Routine echocardiography was performed in all subjects.Two-dimensional dynamic images of the left ventricular apical two-chamber, three-chamber, and four-chamber views were collected for three consecutive cardiac cycles using two-dimensional speckle-tracking. A tracing analysis was conducted and blood pressure was entered on the off-line Echo PAC 203 software, and the left ventricular global longitudinal strain (GLS), peak strain time dispersion(PSD), global myocardial work index (GWI), global constructive work (GCW), global wasted work (GWW) and global work efficiency (GWE) were obtained. The differences of GLS, PSD and myocardial work (GWI, GCW, GWW, GWE) parameters were compared between groups, and Pearson correlation was used to analyze the correlations.Results:①Routine echocardiography: Compared with the control group and NCA group, inter-ventricular septum thickness (IVST), left ventricle posterior wall thickness (LVPWT), left ventricular mass index (LVMI), left atrial diameter (LAD), and E/e′ in CA group were increased, while left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was decreased; ②Compared with the control group, GLS, GWI, and GCW in NCA group were decreased, while there were no statistically differences in GWE, PSD, and GWW between the two groups (all P>0.05); Compared with the control group and NCA group, GLS, GWI, GCW, and GWE were obviously decreased, while PSD and GWW were obviously increased in CA group.③ Correlation analysis showed that: the absolute value of GLS was positively correlated with GWI, GCW and GWE ( r=0.654, 0.695, 0.788; all P<0.001), and negatively correlated with GWW, and PSD ( r=-0.710, -0.625; all P<0.001). Besides, PSD had negative correlation with GWI, GCW and GWE ( r=-0.754, -0.653, -0.702; all P<0.001), and positive correlation with GWW ( r=0.676, P<0.001). Conclusions:PSL can quantitatively evaluate the left ventricular systolic function of AL patients, while the myocardial work parameters are conducive to evaluate the degree of cardiac involvement in the course of AL patients.

COVID-19 ; Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Proteins ; Humans ; Nucleocapsid Proteins ; Phosphoproteins ; SARS-CoV-2

COVID-19 is caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus, which is characterized by hidden onset, long incubation period, and high contagion. The study found that the COVID-19 not only attacks the respiratory system, but also affects other systems such as the heart, kidney, and digestive tract, and could be combined with multiple system diseases such as acute cerebrovascular disease. If doctors, especially non-infective or respiratory doctors, do not pay great attention to the patient when they are receiving patients, and take good care of them, they may easily cause their own infection. This article summarizes the case of a concealed onset COVID-19 patient with cerebral infarction, which caused a medical staff infection after intravenous thrombolytic therapy, explores its clinical characteristics, treatment process and analyzes its prevention and control links to help the epidemic situation. In the prevention and control, the first-time doctor should pay attention to identification, reduce missed diagnosis, and scientific investigation to reduce occupational infection.

Objective:To study the relationship between compartmental kneeosteoarthritis (KOA) and osteoporosis (OP).Methods:A total of 118 KOA patients with 50~80 years old and 16.5~38 of body mass index (BMI) were selected as the KOA group, in which the patient with OP caused by secondary factors were excluded. 42 patients who did not suffer from KOA who matched the age of patients in the KOA group were selected. The age, BMI, bone mineral density (BMD) and other data of the two groups of patients were collected. The correlation analysis between KOA and OP was conducted to determine the degree of correlation, so as to reveal the relationship between the incidence, progression, prognosis of KOA and OP.Results:BMD was correlated with BMI. BMD was negatively correlated with age. The incidence of KOA and OP was correlated with age. There is a large correlation between KOA and OP, and the probability of KOA associated with OP is high. For KOA patients, OP is less likely to be accompanied by a higher BMI, while OP is more likely to be accompanied by a lower BMI.Conclusions:OP is one of the pathogenic factors of KOA. KOA patients should be treated with anti-OP before and after surgery.

Objective: To explore the effects of intervention programs during primipara, using the Information-motivation-behavioral skills model (IMB) intervention model on initial exclusive breastfeeding. Method: 206 women of primiparas who were registered to the top three hospitals were selected in Shandong province, 2018. These women were hospitalized in the obstetrics/gynaecology wards during the later periods. IMB model was used to support the intervention programs at the following stages: antenatal period, 1 day postpartum, 3-4 days postpartum and 42 days postpartum. Questionnaire regarding self-efficacy energy meter, knowledge and behavior related to breastfeeding, were used before and after the intervention programs. Results: Through intervention programs, statistically significant differences in breastfeeding self-efficacy scores between the four stages (F=150.680, P=0.000) were recorded. Significant differences were also noticed in scores on knowledge of breastfeeding (F=176.556, P=0.000). Conclusion The application of IMB intervention model in women at childbearing age seemed to be helpful in improving the effect of primary breastfeeding in women at childbearing age.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a fiber Raman endoscopic probe that can be integrated in a gastroscope and evaluate its value in the diagnosis of gastric cancer. METHODS: The Raman spectra of gastric cancer tissues and normal tissues were obtained using the fiber Raman endoscopic probe and confocal microRaman spectroscopy. After preprocessing with smoothing, baseline elimination and normalization, the spectroscopic data were analyzed by the principle component analyses combined with stechiometry. Based on the pathological results, the diagnostic accuracy, sensitiveness and specificity of Raman spectroscopy combined with stechiometry were evaluated. RESULTS: The fiber Raman endoscopic probe and microRaman spectroscopy revealed significantly different Raman spectra between gastric cancer tissues and normal tissues. The diagnostic accuracy, sensitiveness and specificity of the fiber Raman endoscopic probe was 80.56%, 88.89%, and 84.72% for gastric cancer, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The fiber Raman endoscopic probe combined with stechiometry provides an effective modality for the diagnosis of gastric cancer and can well distinguish gastric cancer tissue from normal gastric tissues.
Endoscopy ; Fiber Optic Technology ; Humans ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Spectrum Analysis, Raman ; Stomach Neoplasms