Lung cancer remains the disease with the highest incidence and mortality rates globally,po-sing a severe threat to human health.HOX genes constitute an evolutionarily conserved family of transcription factors that play critical roles in embryonic development,tissue patterning,and cell differentiation.Dysregula-tion of HOX gene expression has been observed in many malignant tumors,affecting tumorigenesis,progres-sion,and treatment response.This article reviewed systematically summarized the expression,functions,and diagnostic significance of HOX genes in lung cancer.

Insulin is an important protein hormone that participates in multiple metabolic pathways.Biosynthetic insulin has been widely used in the treatment of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.Currently,the number of reported cases of insulin overdose both at home and abroad is gradually increasing,and insulin homicide is no longer a means of"committing murder without leaving a trace".At present,there are no systematic protocols for the identification of insulin overdose in the field of forensic medi-cine in China.This article introduces the causes,toxicological characteristics,forensic examination,labo-ratory testing methods and indicator reference of insulin overdose.Based on the identification practice and research results and referring to relevant studies on insulin overdose at home and abroad,this pa-per aims to provide recommendations and references for the formulation of forensic identification guide-lines for insulin overdose cases.

Objective:To analyze the respiratory virus infection status and epidemiological characteristics of influenza-like illness (ILI) cases in Shandong Province during the 2020 -2021 influenza surveillance year. Methods:According to the National Influenza Surveillance Plan (2017 version), throat swab samples of ILI cases were collected from 14 surveillance sentinel hospitals in Shandong Province. Nucleic acid was extracted from all samples. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (RT-PCR) was utilized to detect six common viruses, including human metapneumovirus (HMPV), human parainfluenza virus (HPIV) types 1, 2 and 3, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and adenovirus (ADV). Subsequently, the obtained detection results were analyzed.Results:A total of 2 386 specimens were collected, with a detection rate of 24.22% (578). Six viruses were detected, with detection rates of 6.75% (162 cases) for HMPV, 5.87% (140 cases) for RSV, 3.56% (85 cases) for HPIV3, 3.14% (75 cases) for HPIV2, 2.98% (71 cases) for HPIV1, and 2.77% (66 cases) for ADV. There was no significant difference in detection rates between genders, but a notable variation among different age groups ( P<0.001). The highest detection rate was observed in individuals aged 0-4 years (31.94%), followed by those aged≥60 years (26.06%). The prevalence of six viruses showed a monthly variation, with the detection rate of HMPV being higher in December and HPIV1 being higher in February. HPIV2, HPIV3, RSV, and ADV had higher detection rates in November. The co-detection rate of multiple viruses was 0.80%, with RSV being the most common pathogen involved in co-detection, primarily in individuals aged 0-4 years. Conclusion:The detection of six multiple pathogens in ILI cases in Shandong Province is dominated by HMPV, RSV and HPIV3. The prevalence of respiratory viruses varies by age and time.

Vertebral refracture following percutaneous vertebral augmentation (PVA) is commonly seen in elderly patients with osteoporotic thoracolumbar compression fractures (OTLCF). It can lead to recurrent pain, loss of vertebral height, progression of kyphosis, and even neurological dysfunction, significantly impairing patients′ quality of life. Current diagnosis and treatment face multiple challenges, including high misdiagnosis rate, difficulty in choosing between surgical and non-surgical treatment options, lack of standardized surgical protocols, interference from intralesional bone cement during procedures, inadequate stability of internal fixation in osteoporotic bone, and suboptimal compliance of anti-osteoporotic therapy. Establishing a standardized diagnostic and therapeutic framework is urgently needed. To standardize the management process and improve outcomes for vertebral refractures after PVA in elderly OTLCF patients, Spinal Trauma Group of the Orthopedic Branch of Chinese Medical Doctor Association organized experts in the field to develop Guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of vertebral refracture after percutaneous vertebral augmentation in elderly patients with osteoporotic thoracolumbar compression fractures ( version 2025), based on current literature and clinical experience, and adhering to principles of scientific rigor and clinical applicability. A total of 11 recommendations were proposed, encompassing diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of vertebral refracture after PVA in elderly patients with OTLCF, aiming to provide a foundation for a standardized management.

Objective:To analyze the epidemiological, etiological and genetic characteristics of influenza virus in Shandong Province during 2023-2024.Methods:The surveillance data of influenza-like illness (ILI) in sentinel hospitals in Shandong from 2023 to 2024 were collected and analyzed. The isolated influenza strains with hemagglutination titers ≥8 were selected for antigenicity analysis, drug susceptibility test, gene sequencing and evolutionary analysis.Results:From 2023 to 2024, the positive rate of influenza virus in Shandong was 8.51% (23 663/277 995), the highest positive rate was in the age group of 5-14 years (15.78%, 6 073/38 478), and the highest positive rate was in the 49 th week (35.86%, 2 264/6 313). Both antigenicity analysis and evolutionary analysis showed that the A(H1N1)pdm09 subtype and B(Victoria) strain had good matching effect and close evolutionary distance with the 2023-2024 surveillance year vaccine strain. The A(H3N2) subtype strain did not have a high matching effect with the 2023-2024 vaccine strain and had a long evolutionary distance, but had a close evolutionary distance with the 2024-2025 vaccine strain. Drug susceptibility test showed that oseltamivir sensitivity of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 strain decreased greatly, and the amino acid site mutation of neuraminidase was H275Y. Conclusions:In the 2023-2024 surveillance year, the peak of influenza virus epidemic in Shandong was mainly occurred in winter and spring, and the age group of 5-14 years was the focus of prevention and control. The dominant strain was subtype A(H3N2), which had poor matching effect with the vaccine strain in the 2023-2024 surveillance year. One A(H1N1)pdm09 resistant strain was found in the drug resistance monitoring work. Follow-up prevention and control work should be strengthen the surveillance for the epidemiological characteristics, genetic variation and drug resistance of influenza viruses, timely understand the epidemic trend and mutation of influenza viruses, timely discover drug-resistant strains of influenza viruses, promote influenza vaccination, and improve of influenza prevention and control.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the antioxidative mechanism of snake venom-derived protein C activator (PCA) in mitigating vascular endothelial cell injury. METHODS: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were cultured in DMEM containing 1.0 g/L D-glucose and exposed to hypoxia (1% O₂) for 6 h followed by reoxygenation for 2 h to establish a cell model of oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R). The cell model was treated with 2 μg/mL PCA alone or in combination with 2-ME2 (a HIF-1α inhibitor) or DMOG (a HIF-1α stabilizer), and intracellular production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and protein expression levels of HIF-1α, BNIP3, and Beclin-1 were detected using DCFH-DA fluorescence probe, flow cytometry, and Western blotting. The OGD/R cell model was transfected with a BNIP3-specific siRNA or a scrambled control sequence prior to PCA treatment, and the changes in protein expressions of HIF-1α, BNIP3 and Beclin-1 and intracellular ROS production were examined. RESULTS: In the OGD/R cell model, PCA treatment significantly upregulated HIF-1α, BNIP3 and Beclin-1 expressions and reduced ROS production. The effects of PCA were obviously attenuated by co-treatment with 2-ME2 but augmented by treatment with DMOG (a HIF-1α stabilizer). In the cell model with BNIP3 knockdown, PCA treatment increased BNIP3 expression and decreased ROS production without causing significant changes in HIF-1α expression. Compared with HUVECs with PCA treatment only, the cells with BNIP3 knockdown prior to PCA treatment showed significantly lower Beclin-1 expression and higher ROS levels. CONCLUSIONS Snake venom PCA alleviates OGD/R-induced endothelial cell injury by upregulating HIF-1α/BNIP3 signaling to suppress ROS generation, suggesting its potential as a therapeutic agent against oxidative stress in vascular pathologies.
Humans ; Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism* ; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit/metabolism* ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells/drug effects* ; Membrane Proteins/metabolism* ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins/metabolism* ; Up-Regulation ; Cell Hypoxia ; Cells, Cultured ; Snake Venoms/chemistry* ; Beclin-1

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical efficacy of thoracoscopic minimally invasive surgery with nickel-titanium shape memory alloy wrap bone plate versus rib periosteal internal fixation in patients with multiple rib fractures (MRF) and flail chest. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on 100 patients with MRF and flail chest treated with thoracoscopic minimally invasive surgery and internal fixation with rib fracture preservation between January 2019 and December 2022, including 54 males and 46 females, aged from 20 to 65 years old, with an average age of (38.0±18.0)years old. The duration of the disease ranged from 8 to 21 days. According to the different surgical methods, the patients were divided into control group and study group, with 50 patients in each group. The control group consisted of 23 males and 27 females, with an average age of (38.35±18.05) years old, who underwent rib preservation periosteal internal fixation. In the study group, there were 31 males and 19 females, with an average age of (38.15±17.99) years old, treated with thoracoscopic nickel-titanium shape memory alloy circumferential bone plate. The pulmonary function indices, electrocardiographic monitoring indices, pain severity, levels of inflammatory factors, complications, rehabilitation indices, and therapeutic efficacy were compared between the two groups before and after treatment. RESULTS: All patients were followed up for 6 months. After 3 days of treatment, the heart rate of both groups was (102.43±13.74) beats per minute vs (86.26±8.06) beats per minute, respiratory rate (28.45±3.40) breaths per minute vs (22.05±2.85) breaths per minute, blood oxygen saturation (89.68±3.66)% vs (98.46±4.84)%, rest pain (3.5±0.5) points vs (2.6±0.6) points, movement pain (3.6±0.5) points vs (2.5±0.5) points, and these differences were statistically significant(P<0.05). The levels of Interleukin-6 (IL-6) (102.30±17.00) pg·ml^-1 vs (85.68±21.20) pg·ml^-1 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α)(33.44±4.85) pg·ml^-1 vs (18.14±4.28) pg·ml^-1 in both groups exhibited an increase post-treatment, while the C-reactive protein (CRP) (75.51±10.54) mg·L^-1 vs (60.75±9.84) mg·L^-1 demonstrated a decrease compared to pre-treatment levels. Furthermore, the study group displayed significantly lower levels than the control group (P<0.05). After 10 days of treatment, the peak expiratory flow rate (3.31±0.52) L·s^-1 vs (5.69±0.74) L·s^-1, forced expiratory volume (1.46±0.29) L vs (2.06±0.38) L, and forced vital capacity (2.68±0.95) L vs (4.26±1.05) L of both groups exhibited significant improvements compared to pre-treatment levels. Moreover, the study group demonstrated significantly higher values than the control group (P<0.05). The incidence of postoperative complications in the study group was significantly lower compared to the control group (6 cases vs 14 cases, P<0.05). Additionally, the duration of bone callus formation(9.50±1.40) days and fracture healing (72.20±8.32) days in the study group was significantly shorter compared to the control group(11.35±2.15) days, (93.70±9.90) days (P<0.001). CONCLUSION Compared with traditional rib-preserving internal fixation, patients with MRF and flail chest treated with minimally invasive internal fixation with thoracoscopic nickel-titanium shape memory alloy surround bone plate have better therapeutic effect, because of less surgical trauma, less pain and inflammatory reaction, fewer postoperative pulmonary complications, faster and better recovery of lung function, and thus promote the recovery of patients.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Retrospective Studies ; Rib Fractures/surgery* ; Aged ; Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures/methods* ; Flail Chest/surgery* ; Thoracoscopy/methods* ; Fracture Fixation, Internal/methods*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical characteristics, treatment and prognosis of adult AML patients with NUP98::HOXA9 fusion gene. METHODS: From May 2017 to October 2023， among 2 113 AML patients who visited the Hematology Department of our hospital, patients with NUP98 rearrangements were screened. The clinical characteristics, chromosome karyotypes, immunophenotypes, gene mutations, treatment efficacy and prognosis of the patients with NUP98::HOXA9 positive were analyzed. RESULTS: Among the 2 113 AML patients, there were 18 cases with NUP98 rearrangement, including 14 NUP98::HOXA9 positive cases, with a detection rate of 0.66% (14/2 113). The median age of the NUP98::HOXA9 positive patients was 42.5 (23-64) years old. The most common chromosome karyotype was t(7; 11)(p15; p15). The immunophenotypes of all patients expressed CD13, CD33, CD117 and CD38, and most patients expressed CD34 and cMPO, while only a few expressed HLA-DR. Second-generation sequencing (NGS) was performed to detect genetic mutations associated with leukemia in all 14 patients, and the genes exhibiting a high frequency of mutation were WT1 (10/14), TET2 (7/14), and FLT3-ITD (6/14). Additionally, mutations were also observed in KRAS/NRAS, IDH1, and KIT. Of the 13 patients who received treatment, 9 achieved complete remission (CR), and all 3 patients who received azacytidine(AZA)+ venetoclax (VEN) regimen achieved CR after the first course of treatment. Within this cohort, 6 patients were classified as relapsed/refractory (6/13). 4 patients underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), of which two achieved long-term survival. The median follow-up time was 12 (2.1-65.0) months, while the median overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) were recorded as 11.4 months and 9.6 months, respectively. CONCLUSION The most common type of NUP98 rearrangement in adults AML patients is NUP98::HOXA9 , which is often accompanied by somatic mutations in WT1, TET2, and FLT3-ITD. These patients are prone to relapse, have short survival time, and generally face poor prognoses. Hopefully, utilization of the AZA+VEN regimen is anticipated to enhance the rate of induced remission in the patients, and some patients may prolong their survival through allo-HSCT. However, more effective treatment methods are still needed to improve the overall prognosis of these patients.
Humans ; Adult ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/genetics* ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Nuclear Pore Complex Proteins/genetics* ; Oncogene Proteins, Fusion/genetics* ; Mutation ; Male ; Female ; Young Adult ; Homeodomain Proteins/genetics*

This study investigated the epidemic status of H3N2 influenza virus and the genetic evolution characteristics of hemagglutinin(HA)and neuraminidase(NA)of H3N2 subtype influenza viruses isolated in Shandong Province during 2023-2024,to understand their compatibility with vaccine strains and drug resistance status.A total of 25 H3N2 subtype influenza virus strains were randomly selected from the strains isolated by the influenza surveillance network laboratory.The HA and NA genes were sequenced with the vaccine strains recommended by the WHO as a reference.Monitoring of sensitivity to oseltamivir and zanamivir was conducted through neuraminidase inhibition experiments.The H3N2 influenza viruses in Shandong Province belonged to the 3C.2a1b.2a.2a.3a.1 clade.Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed that the HA1 and NA genes were closely related to the WHO-recommended vaccine strain A/Darwin/9/2021 for the current season,with homology rates of 97.8%-98.2%and 98.9%-99.3%,respectively.Amino acid sequence analysis indicated 22 amino acid sequence variations in the HA1 protein,and antigenic drift was detected in 8 strains.A glycosylation site was added at position 94 of the HA protein in all 25 strains.Variations occurred in the NA antigenic determinants of some strains.Neuraminidase inhibition experiments indicated that all tested influenza viruses were sensitive to oseltamivir and zanamivir.Some differences in HA and NA proteins were observed between the monitored strains and vaccine strains.Continued monitoring of the molecular evolution characteristics of influenza viruses is necessary to understand the risk of influenza outbreaks,and their effects on the effectiveness of influenza vaccines and therapeutic drugs.

Objective:To analyze the epidemiological, etiological and genetic characteristics of influenza virus in Shandong Province during 2023-2024.Methods:The surveillance data of influenza-like illness (ILI) in sentinel hospitals in Shandong from 2023 to 2024 were collected and analyzed. The isolated influenza strains with hemagglutination titers ≥8 were selected for antigenicity analysis, drug susceptibility test, gene sequencing and evolutionary analysis.Results:From 2023 to 2024, the positive rate of influenza virus in Shandong was 8.51% (23 663/277 995), the highest positive rate was in the age group of 5-14 years (15.78%, 6 073/38 478), and the highest positive rate was in the 49 th week (35.86%, 2 264/6 313). Both antigenicity analysis and evolutionary analysis showed that the A(H1N1)pdm09 subtype and B(Victoria) strain had good matching effect and close evolutionary distance with the 2023-2024 surveillance year vaccine strain. The A(H3N2) subtype strain did not have a high matching effect with the 2023-2024 vaccine strain and had a long evolutionary distance, but had a close evolutionary distance with the 2024-2025 vaccine strain. Drug susceptibility test showed that oseltamivir sensitivity of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 strain decreased greatly, and the amino acid site mutation of neuraminidase was H275Y. Conclusions:In the 2023-2024 surveillance year, the peak of influenza virus epidemic in Shandong was mainly occurred in winter and spring, and the age group of 5-14 years was the focus of prevention and control. The dominant strain was subtype A(H3N2), which had poor matching effect with the vaccine strain in the 2023-2024 surveillance year. One A(H1N1)pdm09 resistant strain was found in the drug resistance monitoring work. Follow-up prevention and control work should be strengthen the surveillance for the epidemiological characteristics, genetic variation and drug resistance of influenza viruses, timely understand the epidemic trend and mutation of influenza viruses, timely discover drug-resistant strains of influenza viruses, promote influenza vaccination, and improve of influenza prevention and control.