OBJECTIVE To explore the mechanism of limonin treating in hepatic fibrosis through network pharmacology, and validate its mechanism by molecular docking and animal experiments. METHODS Firstly, the targets of limonin and hepatic fibrosis were screened from the SwissTargetPrediction, GeneCards and DisGeNet database, etc. Meanwhile, the common targets of limonin and hepatic fibrosis were obtained from the bioinformatics website. The protein protein interaction network of common target was constructed by using STRING database and Cytoscape software, and the CytoNCA plug-in was used to screen core targets. And then the enrichment analysis of GO and KEGG on the common target was performed by Metascape database. Thereby, the possible mechanism of limonin against hepatic fibrosis were predicted. Finally, the AutoDock Vina was used for molecular docking verification, and the prediction results of network pharmacology were verified by animal experiments. RESULTS The prediction results indicated that limonin might acted on 86 targets including AKT1, VEGFA and HIF1A, and participated in biological processes including hormone response, protein phosphorylation, angiogenesis, and PI3K-Akt pathway, HIF-1 pathway, VEGF pathway and other signaling pathways related to hepatic fibrosis. The results of protein protein interaction network topology analysis showed that the 11 core targets including AKT1, VEGFA, HIF1A and PIK3CA, etc. Molecular docking results showed that limonin had strong affinity and relatively stable binding conformation with the core targets. In the animal experiments, compared with the model group, hyaluronidase(HA) and laminin(LN) in rat serume in high-dose group of limonin(LH) and low-dose group of limonin(LL)(except for LN in LL group) were declined(P<0.01 or P<0.05), and the degree of inflammation and hepatic fibrosis were relieved to different degrees in liver tissue of the LH group and LL group; Western blotting and qPCR detection showed that protein and mRNA expression levels of AKT, HIF-1α and VEGF(except for VEGF in LL group) was down-regulated in the LH group and LL group(P<0.01 or P<0.05). CONCLUSION Limonin may acts on AKT1, VEGFA, HIF1A and other core targets to treat hepatic fibrosis angiogenesis, which may be related to the inhibition of AKT/HIF-1α/VEGF signaling pathway.

Background and purpose:For patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2(HER2)-positive metastatic breast cancer,trastuzumab treatment can prolong the overall survival and significantly improve the prognosis of patients.However,the reference original research trastuzumab(Herceptin?)is more expensive.Biosimilars have comparable efficacy and safety profiles while increasing patient access to treatment.This clinical trial aimed to evaluate the efficacy,pharmacokinetics,safety and immunogenicity of the trastuzumab biosimilar AK-HER2 compared to trastuzumab(Herceptin?)in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.Methods:This multi-center,randomised,double-blind phase Ⅲ clinical trial was conducted in 43 subcenters in China.This study complied with the research protocol,the ethical principles stated in the Declaration of Helsinki and the quality management standards for drug clinical trials.It was approved by the hospital's medical ethics committee.The clinical trial registration agency is the State Food and Drug Administration(clinical trial approval number:2015L04224;clinical trial registration number:CTR20170516).Written informed consent was obtained from subjects before enrollment.Enrolled patients were randomly assigned to the AK-HER2 group and the control group,respectively receiving AK-HER2 or trastuzumab(initial loading dose 8 mg/kg,maintenance dose 6 mg/kg,every 3 weeks as a treatment cycle,total treatment time is 16 cycles)in combination with docetaxel(75 mg/m2,treatment duration is at least 9 cycles).The primary endpoint of this clinical trial was the objective response rate(ORR9)between the AK-HER2 group and the control group in the 9th cycle.Secondary efficacy endpoints included ORR16,disease control rate(DCR),clinical benefit rate(CBR),progression-free survival(PFS)and 1-year survival rate.In this study,100 subjects(AK-HER2 group to control group=1:1)were randomly selected for blood sample collection after the 6th cycle of medication,The collection time points were 45 minutes after infusion(the end of administration),4,8,24,72,120,168,336,and 504 hours after the end of administration.After collection,blood samples were analyzed by PK parameter set(PKPS).Other evaluation parameters included safety and immunogenicity assessment.Results:A total of 550 patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer were enrolled in this clinical trial between Sep.2017 and Mar.2021.In the AK-HER2 group(n=237),129 subjects in the experimental group achieved complete response(CR)or partial response(PR),and the ORR9 was 54.4%.There were 134 subjects in the control group(n=241)who achieved CR or PR,and the ORR9 was 55.6%.The ORR9 ratio between the AK-HER2 group and the control group was 97.9%[90%confidence interval(CI):85.4%-112.2%,P=0.784],which was not statistically significant.In all secondary efficacy endpoints,no statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups.We conducted a mean ratio analysis of pharmacokinetics(PK)parameters between the AK-HER2 group and the control group,and the results suggested that the pharmacokinetic characteristics of the two drugs are similar.The incidence of treatment emergent adverse event(TEAE)leading to drug reduction or suspension during trastuzumab treatment was 3.6%(10 cases)in the AK-HER2 group and 8.1%(22 cases)in the control group.There was statistically significant difference between the two groups(P=0.027).The incidence rate was significantly lower in the AK-HER2 group than in the control group,and there was no statistically significant difference among the other groups.The differences in the positive rates of anti-drug antibodies(ADA)and neutralizing antibodies(NAB)between groups were of no statistical significance(P=0.385 and P=0.752).Conclusion:In patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer,AK-HER2 was comparable to the trastuzumab(Herceptin?)in terms of drug efficacy,pharmacokinetics,safety and immunogenicity.

Objective To assess the effect of ultrasonic thyroid artificial intelligence(AI)-assisted diagnostic system(AI-assisted diagnostic system)for diagnosing medullary thyroid carcinoma(MTC)compared with different physicians and taken papillary thyroid carcinoma(PTC)as the controls.Methods Totally 63 MTC,70 PTC and 62 benign thyroid nodules confirmed by pathology were enrolled.AI-assisted diagnostic system was utilized to analyze thyroid nodules and identify the likelihood of malignancy,and the probability value threshold was set at ≥0.40.All thyroid nodules were retrospectively reviewed and categorized by 3 physicians(1 senior physician,1 attending physician and 1 junior physician)according to Chinese thyroid imaging reporting and data system(C-TIRADS).The efficacy of AI-assisted diagnostic system and physicians for diagnosing MTC and PTC were evaluated.Results AI-assisted diagnostic system showed lower sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value,negative predictive value,accuracy,and area under the curve(AUC)for diagnosing MTC and PTC compared with physicians.Significant differences of AUC were found between senior physician and AI-assisted diagnostic system,as well as between attending physician and AI-assisted diagnostic system for diagnosing MTC and PTC(all P＜0.01),while no significant difference of AUC was between junior physicians and AI-assisted diagnostic system(both P＞0.05).The sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value,negative predictive value,accuracy and AUC for AI-assisted diagnostic system for diagnosing MTC were all lower than those for diagnosing PTC,but the AUC was not significantly different(P＞0.05).Conclusion Ultrasonic thyroid AI-assisted diagnostic system had relatively high value for diagnosing MTC.

Objective:To investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of ferric derisomaltose injection versus iron sucrose injection in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) .Methods:A total of 120 patients with iron deficiency anemia admitted from June 2021 to March 2023 were given intravenous iron supplementation with ferric derisomaltose to assess the efficacy and safety of hemoglobin (HGB) elevation before and after treatment. Simultaneously, the clinical effects of iron supplementation with iron sucrose were compared to those of inpatient patients during the same period.Results:Baseline values were comparable in both groups. Within 12 weeks of treatment, the elevated HGB level in the ferric derisomaltose group was higher than that of the iron sucrose group, with a statistical difference at all time points, and the proportion of HGB increased over 20 g/L in the patients treated for 4 weeks was higher (98.7%, 75.9% ). During the treatment with ferric derisomaltose and iron sucrose, the proportion of mild adverse reactions in the ferric derisomaltose group was slightly lower than that of the iron sucrose group, and neither group experienced any serious adverse reactions. The patients responded well to the infusion treatment, with no reports of pain or pigmentation at the injection site.Conclusion:The treatment of IDA patients with ferric derisomaltose has a satisfactory curative effect, with the advantages of rapidity, accuracy, and safety. Therefore, it is worthy of widespread clinical use.

Objective:This study aimed at investigating the efficacy and safety of eltrombopag in the treatment of adult primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) and evaluated the factors influencing its efficacy and side effects.Methods:A total of 198 patients with adult ITP who were admitted to Tianjin Medical University General Hospital between January 2018 and March 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. The efficacy of each starting dose of eltrombopag was evaluated, and adverse events were analyzed. The factors influencing efficacy were investigated, including sex, age, adult ITP type, platelet antibodies, and combined drug treatments.Results:Of the 198 patients, 70 males and 128 females with a median age of 45 years (18-88 years) were included; 130 (65.7%) had newly diagnosed adult ITP, 25 (12.6%) had persistent adult ITP, and 43 (21.7%) had chronic adult ITP. The bleeding event scores at baseline were assessed; 84.3% had scores of<4 and 15.7% had scores of ≥4. The eltrombopag response rate (initial response) at 6 weeks was 78.8% (complete response [CR]: 49.0%; CR1: 14.6%; CR2: 15.2%). The median response time to eltrombopag was 7 (7, 14) days. The initial response rates to 25, 50, and 75 mg eltrombopag were 74.1%, 85.9%, and 60.0%, respectively ( P=0.031). The initial response rate to the 50 mg dose was significantly higher than that of the 25-mg and 75-mg doses. Two patients received 100 mg as the starting dose, and their initial response was 0. Regarding dose adjustment, 70.7% of the patients remained on the starting dose, 8.6% underwent dose adjustment to 50 mg, and 6.1% underwent dose adjustment to 75 mg. Another two patients underwent dose adjustment to 100 mg. After dose adjustment, the persistent response rates were 83.6%, 85.3%, and 85.7% for the 25-, 50-, and 75-mg doses, respectively, with no significant difference. After dose adjustment, the sustained efficacy rate for the 100-mg dose (4 patients) was 100.0%. After 6 weeks of treatment with eltrombopag, the overall bleeding score of patients with ITP decreased. The number of patients with a score of ≥4 decreased to 0, the number of patients with a score of<4 decreased, and there was no significant change in the number of patients with a score of 1-2. The most common adverse event associated with eltrombopag was impaired liver function (7.7%). No thrombosis events or other adverse events were observed. ITP type and number of megakaryocytes significantly affected the initial response to eltrombopag. The initial response rates to eltrombopag for newly diagnosed adult ITP, persistent adult ITP, and chronic adult ITP were 85.3%, 56.0%, and 76.2%, respectively ( P=0.003). For megakaryocytes, the initial response rates were 61.8%, 87.1%, and 84.3% ( P=0.009) for the decreased, normal, and increased megakaryocyte groups, respectively. Conclusion:Eltrombopag, as a second-line or higher treatment for adult ITP, has a rapid onset of action and good safety. The initial response rate is significantly higher with a dose of 50 mg than with a dose of 25 mg. Patients with newly diagnosed ITP and those with normal or increased megakaryocyte numbers have a higher initial response rate to eltrombopag.

Objective:To analyze the distribution and drug resistance of pathogens of bacterial bloodstream infection in patients with hematological diseases in the Department of Hematology of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, and to provide etiological data for clinical empirical anti-infection treatment.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the general clinical information, pathogenic bacteria and drug susceptibility test results of patients with hematological diseases diagnosed with bacterial bloodstream infection by menstrual blood culture in our center from January 2016 to December 2022.Results:Patients included 498 inpatients, with a total of 639 bacterial strains. Among the patients, 86.9% patients had malignancies, and 76.7% had agranulocytosis. Symptoms of concurrent infections, including those of the respiratory tract, oral mucosa, skin and soft tissues, and abdominal sources were observed in 68.3% patients. Gram-negative bacteria (G -) accounted for 79.0% of the isolated bacteria, and gram-positive bacteria (G +) accounted for 21.0%. The top five isolated pathogens were Klebsiella pneumoniae (22.5%), Escherichia coli (20.8%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (15.0%), Enterococcus faecium (5.5%), and Stenotrophomonas maltophilum (5.0%). Escherichia coli exhibited a decreasing trend of resistance to quinolones, cephalosporins, and carbapenems. Klebsiella pneumoniae exhibited increasing rates of resistance to quinolones and cephalosporins between 2016 and 2018, but the rated decreased after 2019. The resistance rate to carbapenems exhibited by Pseudomonas aeruginosa was approximately 20%. Carbapenem-resistant strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains were first detected in 2017, with a peak resistance rate of 35.7%, detected in 2019. A 60.0% resistance rate to methicillin was observed in methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci (MRCNS), and one case of linezolid-resistant MRCNS was detected. Conclusions:Pathogenic bacteria of bacterial bloodstream infections were widely distributed in our center, and precautions are warranted against carbapenem resistant P. aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Objective     To analyze the effects of systematic lymph node dissection (SLND) and lobe-specific lymph node dissection (L-SND) on perioperative and long-term outcomes of patients with clinicalⅠA (cⅠA) stage lung adenocarcinoma. Methods     A retrospective analysis was done on the patients with cⅠA stage lung adenocarcinoma who received thoracoscopic radical resection admitted to the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from January 2013 to August 2016. Propensity score matching was conducted to eliminate the biases. The recurrence-free survival was compared between the two groups after matching. Perioperative parameters and postoperative complications were also analyzed. Results     A total of 725 patients were enrolled, including 252 males and 473 females, with a median age of 62.0 (31.0-69.0) years. There were 228 patients in the L-SND group and 497 patients in the SLND group. After matching, there were 211 patients in each group and no statistical difference in the incidence of postoperative complications (10.9% vs. 13.7%, P=0.374), identification of metastatic positive lymph nodes (12.3% vs. 9.0%, P=0.270), or recurrence-free survival (P=0.492) were found between two groups, whereas the operation time (163.9±39.4 min vs. 135.4±32.4 min, P<0.001), intraoperative blood loss [100.0 (20.0-800.0) mL vs. 100.0 (10.0-400.0) mL, P<0.001], intubation time [4.0 (1.0-18.0) d vs. 4.0 (1.0-9.0) d, P<0.001] and hospital stay (12.3±3.3 d vs. 10.8±2.4 d, P=0.003) in the SLND group were found to be significantly higher or longer than those in the L-SND group. Conclusion     L-SND has a similar efficiency to SLND in terms of postoperative complications, pathological lymph node metastasis, and recurrence-free survival, as well as significant advantages in reducing intraoperative blood loss, and shortening operation time, intubation time and length of hospital stay. Therefore, L-SND can be recommended to replace SLND as a method for lymph node resection in patients with cⅠA stage lung adenocarcinoma.

IgA vasculitis(IgAV)is a systemic vasculitis characterized mainly by deposits of IgA, which can involve multiple systems such as skin, joints, digestive tract and kidney.When the kidney is damaged, it is often called Henoch-Sch?nlein purpura nephritis, which is a common secondary glomerulonephritis in children.The specific etiology and pathogenesis of IgAV have not been very clear so far, and further studies are needed.With the development of genomics, the researchers continue to study IgAV from the gene level, and realize that HLA is the most important genetic factor in its pathogenesis.In recent years, related genetic research methods have been extended to genome-wide association studies, and the occurrence and development process of IgAV has been analyzed from the epigenetic aspect.This article reviews advances in genetics of IgAV, which will provide important information for understanding the pathogenesis of IgAV and predicting the occurrence of high-risk individuals, disease severity and kidney damage.

Objective:This study aimed to investigate the role and clinical significance of MUC4 gene mutations in thrombotic events in patients with classic paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) patients.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data and gene sequencing results of 45 patients with classic PNH admitted to the Department of Hematology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, from June 2018 to February 2022. MUC4 gene mutations in patients with classic PNH were summarized, and the risk factors for thrombotic events in these patients were analyzed. Additionally, the effects of MUC4 gene mutations on the cumulative incidence and survival of thrombotic events in patients with classic PNH were determined.Results:The detection rate of MUC4 gene mutations in patients with classic PNH who experienced thrombotic events (thrombotic group) was 68.8% (11/16), which was significantly higher than that in the non-thrombotic group [10.3% (3/29) ] ( P<0.001). All mutations occurred in exon 2. MUC4 mutation ( OR=20.815, P=0.010) was identified as an independent risk factor for thrombotic events in patients with classic PNH. The cumulative incidence of thrombotic events was 78.6% (11/14) in the MUC4 gene mutation group (mutation group) and 16.1% (5/31) in the non-mutation group, showing a statistically significant difference between the two groups ( P<0.001). Survival analysis showed a lower overall survival (OS) rate in the thrombotic group compared with that in the non-thrombotic group [ (34.4±25.2) % vs. (62.7±19.3) % ] ( P=0.045). The OS rate of patients was (41.7±29.9) % in the mutation group and (59.1±18.3) % in the non-mutation group ( P=0.487) . Conclusion:MUC4 gene mutations are associated with an increased incidence of thrombotic events in classic PNH patients, highlighting their role as independent risk factors for thrombosis in this population. These mutations can be considered a novel predictive factor that aids in evaluating the risk of thrombosis in patients with classic PNH.

Objective:To analyze the clinicopathological features, gene mutation characteristics, and prognostic related factors of patients with primary gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) of small intestine.Methods:From January 1, 2011 to December 30, 2019, surgical resected and pathological diagnosed small intestinal GIST without preoperative adjuvant therapy, at Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital were retrospectively collected. The mutational status of KIT exons 9, 11, 13, and 17 and platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha ( PDGFRA) exons 12 and 18 were detected by polymerase chain reaction and Sanger direct sequencing. Clinicopathological features and gene mutation characteristics were analyzed. Pearson chi-square test and Bonferroni continuous correction test were used to compare the categorical variables among groups. Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test were used for univariate survival analysis. The multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model was used for multivariate survival analysis. Results:The proportions of patients with maximum tumor diameter> 10.0 cm and high-risk GIST located in the jejunum and ileum were higher than those of patients with primary GIST located in the duodenum (18.7%, 28/150 vs. 6.4%, 5/78; 56.7%, 85/150 vs. 43.6%, 34/78), and the differences were statistically significant ( χ2=14.67 and 12.46, P=0.002 and 0.006). The results of gene detection of 58 cases of small intestinal GIST indicated that the percentage of KIT gene mutant and wild type accounted for 84.5% (49/58) and 15.5% (9/58), among which 34 cases (69.4%), 12 cases (24.5%), 2 cases (4.1%) and 1 case (2.0%) were KIT gene exons 11, 9, 13 and 17 mutations, respectively, and none of the case with PDGFRA mutation. The 3-, 5-, and 10-year progression-free survival rates of the patients with small intestinal GIST were 88.1%, 85.0%, and 68.3%, respectively, and the 3-, 5-, and 10-year overall survival rates were 96.6%, 94.5%, and 86.1%, respectively. The results of univariate survival analysis showed that the progression-free survival rate and overall survival rate of patients with very low-risk and low-risk GIST were higher than those of patients with intermediate-risk and high-risk GIST (100.0%, 49/49 vs. 72.3%, 81/112; 100.0%, 49/49 vs. 89.3%, 100/112, respectively), and the differences were statistically significant ( χ2=14.07 and 4.92, P<0.001、=0.027). The results of univariate survival analysis of patients with intermediate-risk and high-risk GIST showed that the epithelioid cell type, mitotic index >5/5 mm 2, Ki-67 proliferation index >5%, and without postoperative adjuvant therapy were all related with progression-free survival time, and the differences were statistically significant ( χ2=8.39, 5.53, 13.73 and 15.44, P=0.004、0.019、<0.001、<0.001). Without postoperative adjuvant therapy was related with poor overall survival time ( χ2=7.06, P=0.008). The results of univariate analysis in patients with intermediate-risk and high-risk GIST and without postoperative adjuvant therapy showed that the epithelioid cell type, high-risk, mitotic index >5/5 mm 2 and Ki-67 proliferation index >10% were all related with progression-free survival time, and the differences were statistically significant ( χ2=10.08, 6.51, 10.37 and 15.72, P=0.001、0.011、0.001、<0.001). The results of multivariate analysis indicated that Ki-67 proliferation index >5% ( HR=5.018, 95% confidence interval(95% CI) 1.745 to 14.430, P=0.003) and without postoperative adjuvant treatment ( HR=0.145, 95% CI 0.051 to 0.414, P<0.001) were independent risk factors of postoperative tumor progression in patients with small intestinal intermediate-risk and high-risk GIST. Ki-67 proliferation index>10% ( HR=8.381, 95% CI 1.364 to 51.487, P=0.022) was an independent risk factor of postoperative tumor progression in patients with small intestinal intermediate-risk and high-risk GIST and without postoperative adjuvant treatment. Conclusions:The most common mutation in small intestinal primary GIST is KIT mutation, followed by wild type, no case of PDGFRA gene mutation has been found. High Ki-67 proliferation index can predict poor prognosis of patients with moderate-risk and high-risk small intestinal primary GIST. Postoperative adjuvant therapy can significantly improve the prognosis of patients with small intestinal intermediate-risk and high-risk primary GIST.