AIM: To investigate the current status of retinopathy of prematurity(ROP)in premature infants in Xiamen and analyze its influencing factors, aiming to provide a scientific basis for clinical treatment and preventive strategies.METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on the case data of 363 preterm infants with a gestational age of <32 wk who underwent fundus examination at Xiang'an Hospital of Xiamen University from February 11, 2020 to February 25, 2023. The incidence of ROP was statistically analyzed based on the screening results. All premature infants were divided into ROP group(37 cases, 64 eyes)and non-ROP group(326 cases, 652 eyes). General clinical data and perinatal-related information of the two groups were compared, and multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors influencing the occurrence of ROP in premature infants.RESULTS: A total of 363 premature infants were included in this study. The fundus screening results showed that a total of 37 cases(64 eyes)of premature infants were detected with ROP, including 10 cases(10 eyes)monocular and 27 cases(54 eyes)binocular, with an overall incidence of 10.2%(37/363). The severity was determined according to the ROP international classification standard(ROP is divided into 5 stages, with stage I being the least severe and stage V the most severe). Among the 64 eyes, 30 eyes(46.9%)were in stage I, 20 eyes(31.3%)were in stage II, 10 eyes(15.6%)were in stage III, 4 eyes(6.3%)were in stage IV, and there were no cases in stage V. By comparing the clinical data of the two groups, no significant differences were found in gender, mode of delivery, singleton or multiple births, premature rupture of membranes, history of asphyxia, patent ductus arteriosus(PDA), or neonatal respiratory distress syndrome(NRDS)between the two groups(all P>0.05). However, premature infants in the ROP group had significantly younger gestational age and lower birth weight compared to those in the non-ROP group(all P<0.05). Additionally, the ROP group had higher proportions of longer hospital stays, bronchopulmonary dysplasia(BPD), neonatal sepsis, anemia, oxygen therapy for more than 1 wk, oxygen concentration above 40%, and blood transfusion treatment(all P<0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis revealed that combined neonatal sepsis(OR=166.985, 95% CI: 35.239-791.277, P<0.001), anemia(OR=8.111, 95% CI: 2.064-31.871, P=0.003), oxygen use time >1 wk(OR=10.216, 95% CI: 2.543-41.039, P=0.001), oxygen therapy concentration >40%(OR=7.647, 95% CI: 1.913-30.566, P=0.004), and receiving blood transfusion therapy(OR=5.879, 95% CI: 1.412-24.470, P=0.015)were the main risk factors affecting the occurrence of ROP in preterm infants, and the higher birth weight of preterm infants was a protective factor for ROP(OR=0.093, 95% CI: 0.022-0.394, P=0.001).CONCLUSION: The incidence of ROP in premature infants is relatively high, and there are multiple influencing factors. Low birth weight, neonatal sepsis, anemia, oxygen therapy, and blood transfusion treatment are high-risk factors for ROP in premature infants. Clinical attention should be given to such infants, and fundus screening should be conducted in a standardized manner to provide early treatment, thereby further reducing the risk of ROP in premature infants.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is the most prevalent cause of chronic liver disease worldwide, and its intricate pathogenesis presents challenges in the development of new drugs. As a common way of post-translational modification, acetylation regulates protein stability, enzyme activity, and subcellular localization, occurring extensively in MASLD-associated processes such as lipid metabolism, inflammatory response, and oxidative stress. In this paper, we comprehensively review the mechanism of acetylation in MASLD, analyze the expression levels of acetylases in liver tissues of MASLD patients from the gene expression omnibus (GEO), discuss the changes in relevant enzyme expression and mechanisms in animal models, and further explore the feasibility of targeting acetylation for MASLD treatment, in the hope of offering a new perspective for advancing drug discovery in the field of MASLD.

Objective:The evidence on the use of bedside ultrasound to assess muscle mass in critically ill adults was retrieved and screened, and the best evidence was summarized.Methods:A computer search was conducted for relevant literature on ultrasound measurement of muscle mass in critically ill adults in domestic and foreign databases such as BMJ Best Clinical Practice, UpToDate, PubMed, CNKI, and guide website and professional association website. The search time limit was from the establishment of the database to August 30, 2023. Literature quality was evaluated by four researchers trained in systematic evidence-based courses according to literature type.Results:A total of 15 literatures were included, including 2 guideline, 4 expert consensus, 5 systematic reviews and 4 randomized controlled studies. A total of 22 pieces of evidence were summarized, including 6 aspects: position and patient preparation, feasibility of implementation by nursing staff, selection of probe and matters needing attention, muscle positioning, evaluation of muscle structure by ultrasound and the guiding significance of ultrasound evaluation of muscle mass.Conclusions:The best evidence summary of bedside ultrasound assessment of muscle mass in critically ill adults summarized in this study is scientific and systematic, and provides evidence-based basis for establishing standardized ultrasound assessment procedures in clinic.

Objective:To develop a prediction tool for 6-year incident risk of frailty among Chinese older adults aged 65 years or above.Methods:Data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey from 2002 to 2018 was used, including 13 676 older adults aged 65 years or above who were free of frailty at baseline. Key predictors of frailty were identified via the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method, and were thereafter used to predict the incident frailty based on the Cox proportional hazards regression model. The model was internally validated by 2 000 Bootstrap resamples and evaluated for the performance of discrimination and calibration using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and calibration curve, respectively. The net benefit of the developed prediction tool was evaluated by decision-curve analysis.Results:The M( Q1, Q3) age and follow-up time of the participants were 81.0 (71.0, 90.0) years and 6.0 (4.1, 9.2) years, respectively. A total of 4 126 older persons (30.2%) were recorded with frailty incidents during the follow-up, with the corresponding incidence density of 41.8/1 000 person-years. A total of 15 key predictors of frailty were selected by LASSO, namely, age, sex, race, education years, meat consumption, tea drinking, performing housework, raising domestic animals, playing cards or mahjong, and baseline status of visual function, activities of the daily living score, instrumental activities of the daily living score, hypertension, heart disease, and self-rated health. The prediction model was internally validated with an AUC of 0.802, with the max Youden's index of 0.467 at a risk threshold of 19.0%. The calibration curve showed high consistency between predicted probabilities and observed proportions of frailty events. The decision curve indicated that higher net benefits could be obtained via the prediction model than did strategies based on intervention in all or none participants for any risk threshold less than 59%, and the model-based net benefit was estimated to be 0.10 at a risk threshold of 19.0%. Conclusions:The herein developed 6-year incident risk prediction model of frailty, based on easily accessible questionnaires and physical examination variables, has good predictive performance. It has application potential in identifying populations at high risk of incident frailty.

Objective:To systematically review the medical decision-making for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from the perspective of caregivers.Methods:It was a systematic review. Using search terms as “Autism”“loneliness disorder”“autism spectrum disorder”“parents”“caregiver”“medical decision making”, etc., qualitative studies on medical decision-making of ASD caregivers in the databases of PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, Scopus, CNKI.com, Wanfang Database, VIP database, and Chinese Biomedical Literature database were searched. The search was conducted from the inception of the databases to July 31, 2022, and the data was organized from August 1 to September 1, 2022. The literature quality was evaluated by two researchers according to the quality evaluation criteria for qualitative research at the Centre for Evidence-based Health Care, Joanna Briggs Institute, Australia. Pooled integration method was used to integrate the study results and evaluate the medical decision-making of children with ASD from the perspective of caregivers.Results:Seventeen studies were included, with two studies rated as quality grade A and fifteen studies rated as quality grade B. A total of 36 research findings were extracted. These findings were grouped into ten new categories based on similarities, which were further synthesized into three overarching results: the symptom-driven medical decision-making process, delays in medical decision-making due to individual, family, and societal factors, and the influence of personal experiences and multiple external pressures on medical decision-making.Conclusion:The factors that lead to the delay or promotion of medical decision of caregivers of children with ASD are complicated, and comprehensive intervention measures should be taken at individual, family and social levels to promote early medical diagnosis and intervention of the children with ASD.

Objective To investigate the values of nucleoprotein transformation in sperm for predicting recurrent abortion.Methods A total of 521 infertile couples with complete test indicators on fertility were selected from the reproductive medical clinic of our hospital from 2019 to 2022,among which the ages of the male were from 23 to 56 years old.The following factors causing recurrent abortion were excluded,including the age of woman,body mass index,metabolic disease,antiphospholipid syndrome,uterine and accessory abnormalities,history of caesarean section and intrauterine myoma/cervical conectomy,peripheral blood chromosome abnormalities of both the couple,and adverse life history,such as smoking/alcohol abuse.According to the abortion situation,they were divided into the recurrent abortion group(≥two spontaneous abortions),one spontaneous abortion group and no abortion group.Tukey's multiple comparison was performed to compare the differences of nucleoprotein transformation of sperm in each group by using GraphPad6.0 sta-tistical software.The Pearson method was used to analyze the correlation between nucleoprotein transformation and recurrent abortion.The predictive values of nucleoprotein transformation in recurrent abortion were analyzed by the parameters of sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value,negative predictive value,Youden index and odd ratio.Results The percentages of abnormal nucleoprotein transformation in recurrent abortion group[(33.31±13.83)％]were significantly higher than those in non-abortion group[(26.85± 15.38)％]and the one abortion group[(28.20±12.50)％,P＜0.05].Pearson correlation analysis showed that there was a significant positive correlation between abnormal nucleoprotein transformation and recurrent abortion.The sensitivity and specificity of nucleoprote-in transformation for predicting recurrent abortion were 45.24％and 73.64％,respectively.All of the data of positive predictive value(15.70％),negative predictive value(92.53％),Youden index(18.88％)and odd ratio(2.31)of nucleoprotein transformation in predicting recurrent abortion were higher than those of high DNA stainability(10.64％,90.31％,1.05％and 1.11).Conclusion In the spouses of patients with recurrent abortion,the immaturity of sperm nuclear protein is significantly increased and significantly posi-tively correlated with recurrent abortion.The abnormal nucleoprotein transformation of sperm may be the important factor of recurrent a-bortion in males,and it has high predictive value for recurrent spontaneous abortion in clinical practice.

In the context of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), characterized by dysregulated lipid metabolism in hepatocytes, the quest for safe and effective therapeutics targeting lipid metabolism has gained paramount importance. Sanhuang Xiexin Tang (SXT) and Baihu Tang (BHT) have emerged as prominent candidates for treating metabolic disorders. SXT combined with BHT plus Cangzhu (SBC) has been used clinically for Weihuochisheng obese patients. This retrospective analysis focused on assessing the anti-obesity effects of SBC in Weihuochisheng obese patients. We observed significant reductions in body weight and hepatic lipid content among obese patients following SBC treatment. To gain further insights, we investigated the effects and underlying mechanisms of SBC in HFD-fed mice. The results demonstrated that SBC treatment mitigated body weight gain and hepatic lipid accumulation in HFD-fed mice. Pharmacological network analysis suggested that SBC may affect lipid metabolism, mitochondria, inflammation, and apoptosis-a hypothesis supported by the hepatic transcriptomic analysis in HFD-fed mice treated with SBC. Notably, SBC treatment was associated with enhanced hepatic mitochondrial biogenesis and the inhibition of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)/nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)/NF-κB pathways. In conclusion, SBC treatment alleviates NAFLD in both obese patients and mouse models by improving lipid metabolism, potentially through enhancing mitochondrial biogenesis. These effects, in turn, ameliorate inflammation in hepatocytes.
Humans ; Mice ; Animals ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease/metabolism* ; NF-kappa B/metabolism* ; Organelle Biogenesis ; Retrospective Studies ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Obesity/metabolism* ; Liver ; Inflammation/metabolism* ; Body Weight ; Lipid Metabolism ; Lipids ; Diet, High-Fat/adverse effects*

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become a major public health hazard threatening human health worldwide.Yet, due to its complex pathogenesis, new drug development is difficult, with still insufficient clinical medication.Palmitoylation is a universal posttranslational modification of proteins catalyzed by palmitoyltransferase, affecting their stability, membrane localization and function.Recent studies have shown that palmitoylation is closely associated with NAFLD.This review summarizes the mechanisms of palmitoylation in NAFLD and analyzes the expression levels of the palmitoyltransferase family in liver tissues of NAFLD patients from GEO database, aiming to provide important clues to explore new mechanisms for NAFLD.

Liver diseases constitute a major healthcare burden globally, including acute hepatic injury resulted from acetaminophen overdose, ischemia-reperfusion or hepatotropic viral infection and chronic hepatitis, alcoholic liver disease (ALD), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Attainable treatment strategies for most liver diseases remain inadequate, highlighting the importance of substantial pathogenesis. The transient receptor potential (TRP) channels represent a versatile signalling mechanism regulating fundamental physiological processes in the liver. It is not surprising that liver diseases become a newly explored field to enrich our knowledge of TRP channels. Here, we discuss recent findings revealing TRP functions across the fundamental pathological course from early hepatocellular injury caused by various insults, to inflammation, subsequent fibrosis and hepatoma. We also explore expression levels of TRPs in liver tissues of ALD, NAFLD and HCC patients from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) or The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and survival analysis estimated by Kaplan-Meier Plotter. At last, we address the therapeutical potential and challenges by pharmacologically targeting TRPs to treat liver diseases. The aim is to provide a better understanding of the implications of TRP channels in liver diseases, contributing to the discovery of novel therapeutic targets and efficient drugs.

OBJECTIVE: To screen for small molecular compounds with selective inhibitory activity against cutaneous melanoma cells with BAP1 deletion. METHODS: Cutaneous melanoma cells expressing wild-type BAP1 were selected to construct a BAP1 knockout cell model using CRISPR-Cas9 system, and small molecules with selective inhibitory activity against BAP1 knockout cells were screened from a compound library using MTT assay. Rescue experiment was carried out to determine whether the sensitivity of BAP1 knockout cells to the candidate compounds was directly related to BAP1 deletion. The effects of the candidate compounds on cell cycle and apoptosis were detected with flow cytometry, and the protein expressions in the cells were analyzed with Western blotting. RESULTS: The p53 activator RITA from the compound library was shown to selectively inhibit the viability of BAP1 knockout cells. Overexpression of wild-type BAP1 reversed the sensitivity of BAP1 knockout cells to RITA, while overexpression of the mutant BAP1 (C91S) with inactivated ubiquitinase did not produce any rescue effect. Compared with the control cells expressing wild-type BAP1, BAP1 knockout cells were more sensitive to RITA-induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis (P < 0.0001) and showed an increased expression of p53 protein, which was further increased by RITA treatment (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION Loss of BAP1 results in the sensitivity of cutaneous melanoma cells to p53 activator RITA. In melanoma cells, the activity of ubiquitinase in BAP1 is directly related to their sensitivity to RITA. An increased expression of p53 protein induced by BAP1 knockout is probably a key reason for RITA sensitivity of melanoma cells, suggesting the potential of RITA as a targeted therapeutic agent for cutaneous melanoma carrying BAP1-inactivating mutations.
Humans ; Melanoma ; Skin Neoplasms ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 ; Apoptosis ; Cell Division ; Tumor Suppressor Proteins/genetics* ; Ubiquitin Thiolesterase/genetics*