Objective To investigate the changes in eosinophil counts and the activation of microglial cells in the brain tissues of mice at different stages of Angiostrongylus cantonensis infection, and to examine the role of microglia in regulating the progression of angiostrongyliasis and unravel the possible molecular mechanisms. Methods Fifty BALB/c mice were randomly divided into the control group and the 7-d, 14-d, 21-day and 25-d infection groups, of 10 mice in each group. All mice in infection groups were infected with 30 stage III A. cantonensis larvae by gavage, and animals in the control group was given an equal amount of physiological saline. Five mice were collected from each of infection groups on days 7, 14, 21 d and 25 d post-infection, and 5 mice were collected from the control group on the day of oral gavage. The general and focal functional impairment was scored using the Clark scoring method to assess the degree of mouse neurological impairment. Five mice from each of infection groups were sacrificed on days 7, 14, 21 d and 25 d post-infection, and 5 mice from the control group were sacrificed on the day of oral gavage. Mouse brain tissues were sampled, and the pathological changes of brain tissues were dynamically observed using hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining. Immunofluorescence staining with eosinophilic cationic protein (ECP) and ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule 1 (Iba1) was used to assess the degree of eosinophil infiltration and the counts of microglial cells in mouse brain tissues in each group, and the morphological parameters of microglial cells (skeleton analysis and fractal analysis) were quantified by using Image J software to determine the morphological changes of microglial cells. In addition, the expression of M1 microglia markers Fcγ receptor III (Fcgr3), Fcγ receptor IIb (Fcgr2b) and CD86 antigen (Cd86), M2 microglia markers Arginase 1 (Arg1), macrophage mannose receptor C-type 1 (Mrc1), chitinase-like 3 (Chil3), and phagocytosis genes myeloid cell triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (Trem2), CD68 antigen (Cd68), and apolipoprotein E (Apoe) was quantified using real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) assay in the mouse cerebral cortex of mice post-infection. Results A large number of A. cantonensis larvae were seen on the mouse meninges surface post-infection, and many neuronal nuclei were crumpled and deeply stained, with a large number of bleeding points in the meninges. The median Clark scores of mouse general functional impairment were 0 (interquartile range, 0), 0 (interquartile range, 0.5), 6 (interquartile range, 1.0), 14 (interquartile range, 8.5) points and 20 (interquartile range, 9.0) points in the control group and the 7-d, 14-d, 21-d and 25-d groups, respectively (H = 22.45, P < 0.01), and the median Clark scores of mouse focal functional impairment were 0 (interquartile range, 0), 2 (interquartile range, 2.5), 7 (interquartile range, 3.0), 18 (interquartile range, 5.0) points and 25 (interquartile range, 6.5) points in the control group and the 7-d, 14-d, 21-d and 25-d groups, respectively (H = 22.72, P < 0.01). The mean scores of mice general and focal functional impairment were all higher in the infection groups than in the control group (all P values < 0.05). Immunofluorescence staining showed a significant difference in the eosinophil counts in mouse brain tissues among the five groups (F = 40.05, P < 0.000 1), and the eosinophil counts were significantly higher in mouse brain tissues in the 14-d (3.08 ± 0.78) and 21-d infection groups (5.97 ± 1.37) than in the control group (1.00 ± 0.28) (both P values < 0.05). Semi-quantitative analysis of microglia immunofluorescence showed a significant difference in the counts of microglial cells among the five groups (F = 17.66, P < 0.000 1), and higher Iba1 levels were detected in mouse brain tissues in 14-d (5.75 ± 1.28), 21-d (6.23 ± 1.89) and 25-d infection groups (3.70 ± 1.30) than in the control group (1.00 ± 0.30) (all P values < 0.05). Skeleton and fractal analyses showed that the branch length [(162.04 ± 34.10) μm vs. (395.37 ± 64.11) μm; t = 5.566, P < 0.05] and fractal dimension of microglial cells (1.30 ± 0.01 vs. 1.41 ± 0.03; t = 5.266, P < 0.05) were reduced in mouse brain tissues in the 21-d infection group relative to the control group. In addition, there were significant differences among the 5 groups in terms of M1 and M2 microglia markers Fcgr3 (F = 48.34, P < 0.05), Fcgr2b (F = 55.46, P < 0.05), Cd86 (F = 24.44, P < 0.05), Arg1 (F = 31.18, P < 0.05), Mrc1 (F = 15.42, P < 0.05) and Chil3 (F = 24.41, P < 0.05), as well as phagocytosis markers Trem2 (F = 21.19, P < 0.05), Cd68 (F = 43.95, P < 0.05) and Apoe (F = 7.12, P < 0.05) in mice brain tissues. Conclusions A. cantonensis infections may induce severe pathological injuries in mouse brain tissues that are characterized by massive eosinophil infiltration and persistent activation of microglia cells, thereby resulting in progressive deterioration of neurological functions.

Objective:To explore the predictive value of early serum tumor markers (STM) , neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) , platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) combination score on the efficacy of gastric cancer immunotherapy.Methods:A total of 76 patients with gastric cancer who received immunotherapy at Second Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University from January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2022 were selected. Patients' leading STM, NLR, PLR were collected. Optimal cut-off value of NLR and PLR were determined by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The clinical efficacy and prognosis of different leading STM, NLR, PLR and combined scores in gastric cancer patients received immunotherapy were analyzed. ROC curve was used to evaluate the predictive efficiency of each index and the combined score. Cox regression model was used to analyze the factors affecting patients' survival.Results:The best truncation value for NLR was 2.75, and the best truncation value for PLR was 175.9. All patients completed at least 2 cycles of immunotherapy, the objective response rate (ORR) was 23.7% (18/76) , and the disease control rate (DCR) was 88.2% (67/76) . There were no significant differences in ORR [ (20.9% (9/43) vs. 27.3% (9/33) ], DCR [83.7% (36/43) vs. 93.9% (31/33) ] between the high NLR group ( n=43) and low NLR group ( n=33) ( χ2=0.42, P=0.519; χ2=1.02, P=0.313) . There were no significant differences in ORR [27.3% (12/44) vs. 18.8% (6/32) ], DCR [81.8% (36/44) vs. 96.9% (31/32) ] between the high PLR group ( n=44) and low PLR group ( n=32) ( χ2=0.75, P=0.388; χ2=2.71, P=0.555) . The ORR for the high combined score group ( n=39) and low combined score group ( n=37) was 17.9% (7/39) and 29.7% (11/37) , respectively, with no statistically significant difference ( χ2=1.46, P=0.230) ; the DCR was 79.5% (31/39) and 97.3% (36/37) , respectively, with a statistically significant difference ( χ2=4.19, P=0.041) . The median progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of 76 patients were 8.0 and 12.0 months. The median PFS in the high NLR group and low NLR group was 7.0 and 10.0 months, respectively, with a statistically significant difference ( χ2=7.95, P=0.005) ; the median OS was 12.0 and 14.0 months, respectively, with no statistically significant difference ( χ2=1.04, P=0.307) . The median PFS in the high PLR group and low PLR group was 8.0 and 10.0 months, respectively, with a statistically significant difference ( χ2=3.90, P=0.048) ; the median OS was 13.0 and 13.0 months, respectively, with no significant difference ( χ2=0.02, P=0.896) . The median PFS in the high combined score group and low combined score group was 7.0 and 10.0 months, respectively, with a statistically significant difference ( χ2=13.52, P<0.001) ; the median OS was 12.0 and 14.0 months, respectively, with a statistically significant difference ( χ2=5.02, P=0.025) . ROC curve analysis showed that the area under curve (AUC) of leading STM, NLR, PLR and combined score to predict the efficacy of gastric cancer immunotherapy was 0.662, 0.697, 0.601 and 0.773. Univariate analysis showed that, surgery ( HR=0.59, 95% CI: 0.36-0.95, P=0.031) , leading STM ( HR=0.57, 95% CI: 0.34-0.93, P=0.026) , NLR ( HR=0.54, 95% CI: 0.34-0.87, P=0.011) , combined score ( HR=0.42, 95% CI: 0.26-0.68, P<0.001) were all influencing factors for PFS in gastric cancer patients received immunotherapy; tumor stage ( HR=0.30, 95% CI: 0.12-0.75, P=0.011) , leading STM ( HR=0.28, 95% CI: 0.15-0.50, P<0.001) , combined score ( HR=0.55, 95% CI: 0.31-0.96, P=0.036) were all influencing factors for OS in gastric cancer patients received immunotherapy. Multivariate analysis showed that, leading STM ( HR=0.56, 95% CI: 0.33-0.98, P=0.041) was an independent influencing factor for PFS in gastric cancer patients received immunotherapy; tumor stage ( HR=0.29, 95% CI: 0.11-0.76, P=0.012) , leading STM ( HR=0.32, 95% CI: 0.17-0.58, P<0.001) , combined score ( HR=0.46, 95% CI: 0.25-0.82, P=0.009) were all independent influencing factors for OS in gastric cancer patients received immunotherapy. Conclusion:The combined score of leading STM, NLR and PLR is an independent factor influencing OS in patients receiving immunotherapy for gastric cancer, and can predict the efficacy of immunotherapy for gastric cancer.

Objective:To assess a value of dual energy index(DEI)and effective atomic number(Zeff)of dual-energy computed tomography(DECT)combined with slope of energy spectrum curve in identifying the component of urinary tract stones.Methods:The clinical and DECT imaging data of 111 patients with urinary tract stones who admitted to Nantong Haimen People's Hospital from October 2019 to October 2022 were selected,and the diameters of the urinary tract stones of all patients were<5 mm.The components of outside body stones of all patients were analyzed by infrared spectrum.The accuracy,sensitivity and specificity of the DEI,Zeff,slope of energy spectrum curve and the combination of the them were respectively calculated in identifying the components of urinary tract stones.Results:In 111 patients,the patients with calcium oxalate stones were 75(67.57%),and ones with hydroxyapatite were 15 cases(13.51%),and ones with uric acid stones were 21 cases(18.92%),and there were no other type of stone included cysteine.The differences of CT values(F=487.691,P<0.001),DEI values(F=395.553,P<0.001),Zeff values(F=818.689,P<0.001)and the slopes of energy spectrum curves(H=19.615,P<0.001)were statistically significant among the three types of stones.The overall accuracies of DEI,Zeff and slope of energy spectrum curve were 87.39%(97/111),84.68%%(94/111)and 81.98%(91/111)in identifying the components of urinary tract stone.The range of diagnostic accuracies of DEI,Zeff and the slope of energy spectrum curve was between 80%and 100%for calcium oxalate stones,hydroxyapatite and uric acid stones.The overall accuracy of DEI,Zeff combined with slope of energy spectrum curve was 94.59%(105/111)in identifying the components of urinary tract stones.The diagnostic accuracies of DEI,Zeff combined with slope of energy spectrum curve were respectively 94.59%,94.59 and 100%for calcium oxalate stones,hydroxyapatite and uric acid stones.Conclusion:Compared with the single indicator of DECT,the DEI and Zeff combined with the slope of the energy spectrum curve showed better diagnostic accuracy in identifying the components urinary track stones.

Developing new therapeutic agents for cancer immunotherapy is highly demanding due to the low response ratio of PD-1/PD-L1 blockade in cancer patients. Here, we discovered that the novel immune checkpoint VISTA is highly expressed on a variety of tumor-infiltrating immune cells, especially myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and CD8⁺ T cells. Then, peptide C1 with binding affinity to VISTA was developed by phage displayed bio-panning technique, and its mutant peptide VS3 was obtained by molecular docking based mutation. Peptide VS3 could bind VISTA with high affinity and block its interaction with ligand PSGL-1 under acidic condition, and elicit anti-tumor activity in vivo. The peptide DVS3-Pal was further designed by d-amino acid substitution and fatty acid modification, which exhibited strong proteolytic stability and significant anti-tumor activity through enhancing CD8⁺ T cell function and decreasing MDSCs infiltration. This is the first study to develop peptides to block VISTA/PSGL-1 interaction, which could act as promising candidates for cancer immunotherapy.

Objective:To analyze the effects of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) combined with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) on hypercapnia and its related factors.Methods:In this cross-sectional study, patients with stable COPD were continuously recruited from July 2016 to December 2018 in the Respiratory Department of Peking University Third Hospital. General clinical data of patients were collected, and lung function test, arterial blood gas analysis and portable sleep monitoring were also conducted. Patients with COPD complicated with apnea hypopnea index (AHI)≥10 times/h and apnea events being mainly blockage-type events, accompanied by snoring, sleep apnea, daytime sleepiness and other symptoms were defined as overlapping group, patients with COPD complicated with AHI<10 times/h were defined as simple COPD group. Correlation analysis and logistic regression model were used to explore the determinants of daytime hypercapnia in patients with COPD.Results:Compared with simple COPD group, the median arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO 2) was significantly higher in the overlapping group (42.00 vs 38.95 mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa), P<0.001), and the rate of daytime hypercapnia was significantly higher (23.3% vs 3.3%, P=0.002). PaCO 2 was correlated with forced vital capacity (FVC), percent predicted forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV 1%pred), the ratio of residual volume (RV) to total lung capacity (TLC), AHI, nocturnal average transcutaneous oxygen saturation (SpO 2), nocturnal minimum SpO 2 and the total sleep time spent with SpO 2≤90% (T90) (all P<0.05). In logistic regression analysis, after adjusting for age, sex, and body mass index (BMI), only severe OSAHS, GOLD Ⅲ-Ⅳ grade (FEV 1%pred<50%), and T90>1% were independent risk factors for hypercapnia. Conclusions:OSAHS can increase the risk of hypercapnia in patients with COPD. AHI, lung function injury and T90 are closely related to hypercapnia.

Objective To investigate the safety and efficacy of endoscopic thyroid surgery through axillary approach in the treatment of unilateral papillary thyroid carcinoma.Methods A total of 135 patients admitted to Yunnan Cancer Hospital from April 2022 to November 2022 were selected.According to the surgical method,69 patients were in the endoscopic group and 66 patients were in the open surgery group.The clinical data,operation time,intraoperative blood loss,postoperative drainage volume,postoperative hospitalization stay,complications,cosmetic satisfaction,scar evaluation,postoperative swallowing pain and blood calcium,blood phosphorus,PTH levels of the two groups were observed.Results There were no significant differences in general data,pathological features,number of lymph node dissection,and perioperative complications between the two groups(P>0.05).The operation time and postoperative drainage volume in the endoscopic group were significantly higher than those in the open surgery group.The intraoperative blood loss,postoperative hospital stay,pain score,serum calcium,serum phosphorus,PTH levels and cosmetic satisfaction in the endoscopic group were significantly better than those in the open group(P<0.05).Conclusion Transaxillary approach endoscopic thyroid surgery for the treatment of single-sided papillary thyroid carcinoma is safe,feasible,and provides better protection of the parathyroid glands,postoperative swallowing pain,and cosmetic satisfaction.

Objective:To construct a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) assessment test (CAT) score prediction model based on a deep network fused with air data, and to explore its significance.Methods:From February 2015 to December 2017, the outdoor environmental monitoring air data near the residential area of the patients with COPD from the Respiratory Outpatient Clinics of Peking University Third Hospital, Peking University People′s Hospital and Beijing Jishuitan Hospital were collected and the daily air pollution exposure of patients was calculated. The daily CAT scores were recorded continuously. The CAT score of the patients in the next week was predicted by fusing the time series algorithm and neural network to establish a model, and the prediction accuracy of the model was compared with that of the long short-term memory model (LSTM), the LSTM-attention model and the autoregressive integrated moving average model (ARIMA).Results:A total of 47 patients with COPD were enrolled and followed up for an average of 381.60 days. The LSTM-convolutional neural networks (CNN)-autoregression (AR) model was constructed by using the collected air data and CAT score, and the root mean square error of the model was 0.85, and the mean absolute error was 0.71. Compared with LSTM, LSTM-attention and ARIMA, the average prediction accuracy was improved by 21.69%.Conclusion:Based on the air data in the environment of COPD patients, the fusion deep network model can predict the CAT score of COPD patients more accurately.

Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics and short-term prognosis of patients with acute asthmatic attack and comorbid bronchiectasis.Methods:The data of patients hospitalized for acute asthmatic attack in the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine of Peking University Third Hospital from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2021 were retrospectively collected and analyzed. According to whether or not co-existing with bronchiectasis, all the patients were divided into asthmatic with bronchiectasis group and asthmatic without bronchiectasis group. Then the general conditions, comorbidities, pulmonary function test, grades of asthma severity, laboratory examination and in-hospital short-term prognosis of two groups were analyzed.Results:A total of 580 hospitalized patients with acute asthma attack were included, of which 132 cases (22.76%) were classified into asthmatic with bronchiectasis group and 448 cases (77.24%) were classified into asthmatic without bronchiectasis group. Co-existing with obsolete pulmonary tuberculosis and anxiety/depression in asthmatic with bronchiectasis group were more common than that in asthmatic without bronchiectasis group (13.64% vs 5.36%; 7.58% vs 2.68%) (both P<0.05). The pre-bronchodilator forced vital capacity (FVC) and its percentage to the predicted value (FVC%pred), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV 1) and its percentage to the predicted value (FEV 1%pred), FEV 1/FVC and post-bronchodilator FEV 1 in asthmatic with bronchiectasis group were lower than those in the asthmatic without bronchiectasis group [2.44 (1.90, 3.01) vs 2.69 (2.10, 3.68) L, 1.55 (1.13, 2.00) vs 1.78 (1.25, 2.52) L, 70.14% (67.39%, 85.92%) vs 79.63% (70.00%, 89.52%), 70.00% (54.38%, 78.11%) vs 70.00% (61.47%, 85.00%), 61.57% (56.29%, 73.03%) vs 66.67% (60.00%, 75.00%), 1.72 (1.21, 2.18) vs 1.89 (1.37, 2.55) L] (all P<0.05). In previous year, the proportion of patients receiving hospitalization due to acute asthmatic attack in asthmatic with bronchiectasis group was higher than that in asthmatic without bronchiectasis group (15.15% vs 8.93%) ( P<0.05). The peak months of hospitalization due to acute asthmatic attack in asthmatic with bronchiectasis group were April, July and October, and the peak months in asthmatic without bronchiectasis group were April and September. The length of hospital stay was longer and the proportion of patients receiving invasive ventilation was higher in asthmatic with bronchiectasis group than those in asthmatic without bronchiectasis group [10.06 (7.62, 13.94) vs 9.95 (7.15, 13.76) d; 5.30% vs 2.01%] (both P<0.05). The risk factors for invasive mechanical ventilation in asthmatic patients with acute attack during hospitalization were co-existing with bronchiectasis, smoking, high level of partial pressure of carbon dioxide in arterial blood, serum creatinine and creatine kinase. Conclusion:Asthma patients with comorbid bronchiectasis have more frequent acute attack, a longer hospitalization due to acute asthmatic attack and a higher probability of invasive ventilation during hospitalization.

ObjectiveTo explore the mechanism of Jianpi Yishen Huazhuo prescription in the improvement of ovarian function in polycystic ovary syndrome （PCOS）. MethodSeventy female SD rats in SPF grade were randomly divided into 6 groups， 15 in the blank group and 15 in the model group， 10 in the metformin group （0.1 g·kg^-1·d^-1）， and 10 in the low （1.275 g·kg^-1·d^-1）， medium （2.55 g·kg^-1·d^-1）， and high-dose （5.10 g·kg^-1·d^-1） Jianpi Yishen Huazhuo prescription groups. The blank group was given normal saline （10 mL·kg^-1·d^-1） by gavage and ordinary feed， and the other groups were given letrozole （1 mg·kg^-1·d^-1） by gavage combined with high-fat feed for 21 days to induce the model of PCOS. After modeling， the blank group and model group were given equal volume normal saline by gavage， and each drug group was given the corresponding dose of the drug by gavage for 30 days. The changes in body mass and fasting blood glucose （FPG） of rats before and after modeling were compared. Hematoxylin eosin （HE） staining was used to observe the morphological change in the ovaries of rats in each group. The serum levels of follicle stimulating hormone （FSH）， luteinizing hormone （LH）， testosterone （T）， anti-Mullerian hormone （AMH）， and estradiol （E₂） were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）， and the LH/FSH ratio was calculated. Immunohistochemical staining （IHC） and Western blot were used to detect the protein expression levels of nucleoside binding oligomerization domain protein like receptor 3 （NALP3）， apoptosis-associated speck-like protein （ASC）， cysteine protease-1 （Caspase-1）， nuclear transcription factor-κB （NF-κB）， interleukin-1β （IL-1β）， interleukin-18 （IL-18）， and interleukin-6 （IL-6） in the rat ovaries. ResultAs compared with the blank group， large follicles with polycystic expansion were found in the ovaries of the model group， no dominant follicles were found， the granular layer of follicles decreased and arranged loosely， and the number of corpus luteum decreased significantly. Serum T， LH， AMH and LH/FSH increased in the model group （P<0.05， P<0.01）， while FSH and E₂ decreased （P<0.05， P<0.01）. The relative protein expression levels of NALP3， ASC， Caspase-1， NF-κB， IL-1β， IL-18， and IL-6 increased （P<0.05， P<0.01） in the ovaries of the model group. Compared with the model group， the low， medium， and high-dose Jianpi Yishen Huazhuo prescription groups and the metformin group showed growing follicles and corpus luteum at all levels， the number of cystic expanding follicles decreased， the thickness of follicular granular layer increased， the number of follicular fluid increased， mature follicles were visible， and the local morphology of oocytes was complete. Serum T， LH， AMH， and LH/FSH in these groups decreased （P<0.05， P<0.01）， while E₂ and FSH increased （P<0.05）. The relative protein expressions of NALP3， ASC， Caspase-1， NF-κB， IL-1β， IL-18， and IL-6 in the ovaries of these groups decreased （P<0.05， P<0.01）. There was no significant difference among the treatment groups. ConclusionBy inhibiting the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome， Jianpi Yishen Huazhuo prescription reduces the release of NALP3， ASC， Caspase-1， NF-κB， IL-18， IL-1β， and IL-6 inflammatory factors in ovarian tissues， regulates endocrine level， and effectively reduces PCOS inflammatory statu， so as to play a role in improving ovarian function.

Humans ; Air Pollutants ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive ; Polysomnography ; Sleep ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive