Autophagy is a conservative lysosome-dependent material catabolic pathway, and exists in all eukaryotic cells. Autophagy controls cell quality and survival by eliminating intracellular dysfunction substances, and plays an important role in various pathophysiology processes. Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common male disease. It is resulted from a variety of causes and pathologies, such as diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, aging, spinal cord injury, or cavernous nerve injury caused by radical prostatectomy, and others. In the past decade, autophagy has begun to be investigated in ED. Subsequently, an increasing number of studies have revealed the regulation of autophagy contributes to the recovery of ED, and which is mainly involved in improving endothelial function, smooth muscle cell apoptosis, penile fibrosis, and corpus cavernosum nerve injury. Therefore, in this review, we aim to summarize the possible role of autophagy in ED from a cellular perspective, and we look forward to providing a new idea for the pathogenesis investigation and clinical treatment of ED in the future.

Autophagy is a conservative lysosome-dependent material catabolic pathway, and exists in all eukaryotic cells. Autophagy controls cell quality and survival by eliminating intracellular dysfunction substances, and plays an important role in various pathophysiology processes. Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common male disease. It is resulted from a variety of causes and pathologies, such as diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, aging, spinal cord injury, or cavernous nerve injury caused by radical prostatectomy, and others. In the past decade, autophagy has begun to be investigated in ED. Subsequently, an increasing number of studies have revealed the regulation of autophagy contributes to the recovery of ED, and which is mainly involved in improving endothelial function, smooth muscle cell apoptosis, penile fibrosis, and corpus cavernosum nerve injury. Therefore, in this review, we aim to summarize the possible role of autophagy in ED from a cellular perspective, and we look forward to providing a new idea for the pathogenesis investigation and clinical treatment of ED in the future.

Autophagy is a conservative lysosome-dependent material catabolic pathway, and exists in all eukaryotic cells. Autophagy controls cell quality and survival by eliminating intracellular dysfunction substances, and plays an important role in various pathophysiology processes. Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common male disease. It is resulted from a variety of causes and pathologies, such as diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, aging, spinal cord injury, or cavernous nerve injury caused by radical prostatectomy, and others. In the past decade, autophagy has begun to be investigated in ED. Subsequently, an increasing number of studies have revealed the regulation of autophagy contributes to the recovery of ED, and which is mainly involved in improving endothelial function, smooth muscle cell apoptosis, penile fibrosis, and corpus cavernosum nerve injury. Therefore, in this review, we aim to summarize the possible role of autophagy in ED from a cellular perspective, and we look forward to providing a new idea for the pathogenesis investigation and clinical treatment of ED in the future.

Autophagy is a conservative lysosome-dependent material catabolic pathway, and exists in all eukaryotic cells. Autophagy controls cell quality and survival by eliminating intracellular dysfunction substances, and plays an important role in various pathophysiology processes. Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common male disease. It is resulted from a variety of causes and pathologies, such as diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, aging, spinal cord injury, or cavernous nerve injury caused by radical prostatectomy, and others. In the past decade, autophagy has begun to be investigated in ED. Subsequently, an increasing number of studies have revealed the regulation of autophagy contributes to the recovery of ED, and which is mainly involved in improving endothelial function, smooth muscle cell apoptosis, penile fibrosis, and corpus cavernosum nerve injury. Therefore, in this review, we aim to summarize the possible role of autophagy in ED from a cellular perspective, and we look forward to providing a new idea for the pathogenesis investigation and clinical treatment of ED in the future.

Autophagy is a conservative lysosome-dependent material catabolic pathway, and exists in all eukaryotic cells. Autophagy controls cell quality and survival by eliminating intracellular dysfunction substances, and plays an important role in various pathophysiology processes. Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common male disease. It is resulted from a variety of causes and pathologies, such as diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, aging, spinal cord injury, or cavernous nerve injury caused by radical prostatectomy, and others. In the past decade, autophagy has begun to be investigated in ED. Subsequently, an increasing number of studies have revealed the regulation of autophagy contributes to the recovery of ED, and which is mainly involved in improving endothelial function, smooth muscle cell apoptosis, penile fibrosis, and corpus cavernosum nerve injury. Therefore, in this review, we aim to summarize the possible role of autophagy in ED from a cellular perspective, and we look forward to providing a new idea for the pathogenesis investigation and clinical treatment of ED in the future.

ObjectiveTo explore the clinical efficacy of Gouteng prescription in treating the patients with primary hypertension with anxiety disorder due to yang hyperactivity and heat toxin and the impact of the formula on the balance of inflammatory cytokines. MethodA total of 98 patients diagnosed with primary hypertension and anxiety disorder were randomized into control and observation groups. On the basis of conventional western medicine treatment for hypertension， the control group （47 patients） was treated with Shugan Jieyu capsules for 8 weeks， while the treatment group （51 patients） with Gouteng prescription for 8 weeks. The two groups were compared in terms of the blood pressure level， 24-hour blood pressure variability， Hamilton anxiety scale （HAMA） score， Pittsburgh sleep quality index （PSQI） score， quality of life （SF-36 scale） score， traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndrome score and efficacy， incidence of adverse reactions， and the levels of interleukin （IL）-1β， IL-6， IL-10， and IL-4 in the serum of peripheral blood. ResultThe final trial was completed with 95 patients， including 46 in the control group and 49 in the observation group. The treatment in both groups lowered the blood pressure and blood pressure variability （P<0.05， P<0.01）. The observation group outperformed the control group in recovering the systolic blood pressure （SBP）， 24-hour mean systolic blood pressure （24 h SBP）， 24-hour systolic blood pressure variability （24 h SBPV）， and 24-hour diastolic blood pressure variability （24 h DBPV） （P<0.05）. After treatment， the HAMA and PSQI scores in both groups decreased （P<0.05， P<0.01）， and the observation group had lower HAMA and PSQI scores than the control group （P<0.05）. Compared with those before treatment， the SF-36 scores in both groups increased （P<0.05， P<0.01）. After treatment， the observation group had higher scores of physiological function （PF）， bodily pain （BP）， social function （SF）， role-emotional （RE）， and mental health （MH） indicators than the control group （P<0.05）. After treatment， the TCM syndrome scores in both groups decreased （P<0.05， P<0.01）， and the observation group had lower score than the control group （P<0.05）. The total response rate regarding TCM syndrome in the observation group was 85.71% （42/49）， which was higher than that （63.04%， 29/46） in the control group （χ²=6.621， P<0.05）. The treatment in both groups lowered the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines （IL-1β， IL-6） and elevated the levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines （IL-10， IL-4） （P<0.05， P<0.01）， and the changes were more obvious in the observation group than in the control group （P<0.05）. There were no adverse events during the research process. ConclusionGouteng prescription can recover the blood pressure level， reduce blood pressure variability， suppress anxiety state， improve sleep and quality of life， decrease TCM syndrome score， increase total response rate， lower serum IL-1β and IL-6 levels， and elevate serum IL-10 and IL-4 levels in the patients with primary hypertension complicated with anxiety disorder due to yang hyperactivity and heat toxin. It may exert the effects by regulating the balance of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines.

Objective:To explore the predictive value of 18F-FDG PET/CT metabolic parameters combined with inflammatory markers for the medium-term efficacy of chemotherapy in patients with primary gastrointestinal diffuse large B cell lymphoma (PGI-DLBCL). Methods:From April 2011 to May 2020, 67 patients (37 males, 30 females, age: 28-85 years) with PGI-DLBCL examined by 18F-FDG PET/CT before chemotherapy in Changhai Hospital, Navy Medical University were retrospectively analyzed. All patients were treated with cyclophosphamide+ doxorubicin+ vincristine+ prednisone (CHOP) or rituximab+ CHOP (R-CHOP) regimens, and the medium-term efficacy was evaluated after 2-4 cycles of chemotherapy. The effect outcome was divided into complete remission (CR) group and non-CR (NCR) group based on the Lugano lymphoma response evaluation criteria. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the differences of SUV max, peak of SUV (SUV peak), metabolic tumor volume (MTV), total lesion glycolysis (TLG), platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) between two groups. The independent risk factors of NCR were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression and the binary logistic regression model was established according to the results. The model was tested with external validation data ( n=15). Results:Of 67 PGI-DLBCL patients, 28(41.8%) were CR and 39(58.2%) were NCR. SUV peak, MTV, TLG, PLR and NLR in NCR group (17.3(12.3, 28.1), 73.8(42.9, 141.7) cm 3, 887.5(300.9, 2 075.3) g, 203.9(155.7, 297.1), 3.9(3.0, 4.9)) were significantly higher than those in CR group (9.5(6.2, 15.2), 11.3(4.7, 23.2) cm 3, 85.2(35.5, 214.6) g, 149.3(102.8, 173.1), 2.2(1.8, 4.6); z values: from -6.41 to -2.33, all P<0.05). The logistic regression model was as follows: P=1/(1+ e - x), x=0.100×MTV+ 0.024×PLR-8.064. The prediction accuracy for NCR risk was 86.57%(58/67), with the accuracy of 13/15 tested by external validation data. Conclusion:MTV combined with PLR has a good predictive value for medium-term efficacy of CHOP/R-CHOP chemotherapy in patients with PGI-DLBCL.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has rapidly ravaged the world and infected hundreds of millions of people since its outbreak. Early diagnosis of COVID-19 is conducive to the control of virus transmission and the timely treatment of patients. Among the imaging techniques, chest CT is an important basis for the diagnosis and evaluation of COVID-19. 18F-FDG PET is not generally recommended as a routine diagnostic tool for COVID-19, but it plays an important role in the assessment of SARS-CoV-2-related events based on the characteristic of whole-body multi-systemic scan and functional imaging diagnosis. In this paper, the application of 18F-FDG PET in COVID-19 diagnosis, prognostic evaluation and long-term sequelae evaluation, and clinical performance of 18F-FDG PET after COVID-19 vaccine are summarized on the basis of literature research and clinical reports analysis. Furthermore, the application and development direction of other new molecular probes for nuclear medicine in COVID-19 are prospected.

Autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) is a unique subtype of chronic pancreatitis, which shares many clinical presentations with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA). The misdiagnosis of AIP often leads to unnecessary pancreatic resection. F-FDG positron emission tomography/ computed tomography (PET/CT) could provide comprehensive information on the morphology, density, and functional metabolism of the pancreas at the same time. It has been proved to be a promising modality for noninvasive differentiation between AIP and PDA. However, there is a lack of clinical analysis of PET/CT image texture features. Difficulty still remains in differentiating AIP and PDA based on commonly used diagnostic methods. Therefore, this paper studied the differentiation of AIP and PDA based on multi-modality texture features. We utilized multiple feature extraction algorithms to extract the texture features from CT and PET images at first. Then, the Fisher criterion and sequence forward floating selection algorithm (SFFS) combined with support vector machine (SVM) was employed to select the optimal multi-modality feature subset. Finally, the SVM classifier was used to differentiate AIP from PDA. The results prove that texture analysis of lesions helps to achieve accurate differentiation of AIP and PDA.
Adenocarcinoma ; diagnostic imaging ; Algorithms ; Autoimmune Diseases ; diagnostic imaging ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Humans ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; Pancreatitis ; diagnostic imaging ; Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography ; Support Vector Machine

Objective To investigate the clinical value of Fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (18 F-FDG)positron-emission temography/computed tomography (PET/CT) examination to predict microvascular invasion (MVI) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Methods The retrospective cohort study was conducted.The clinicopathological data of 51 HCC patients who were admitted to Changhai Hospital of the Second Military Medical University (32 patients) and Universal Medical Imaging Diagnostic Center (19 patients) from January 2013 to October 2017 were collected.Of 51 patients receiving postoperative pathological examination,21 diagnosed with positive MVI and 30 diagnosed with negative MVI were respectively allocated into the positive and negative MVI groups.All the patients received preoperative 1s F-FDG PET/CT examination and underwent surgery after related examinations.Two imaging doctors independently read films and made a semi-quantitative analysis.Observation indicators:(1) results of 18F-FDG PET/CT examination;(2) multivariate analysis and diagnostic value affecting MVI of HCC;(3) treatment and follow-up.Follow-up using outpatient examination and telephone interview was performed to detect the postoperative patients' survival up to November 2017.Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as (x)±s,and comparisons between groups were evaluated with the independent-sample t test.Measurement data with skewed distribution were described as M (Qn),and comparisons between groups were analyzed using the independent-sample rank sum test.Comparisons of count data were analyzed using the chisquare test.Logistic regression analysis was performed in variables with statistical significance.The inclusion criteria was 0.05 and exclusion criteria was 0.10 according to Backward (LR) method for screening variables.Receiver Operating Characeristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the diagnostic value using MVI as a diagnostic standard.Results (1) Results of 18F-FDG PET/CT examination:of 51 HCC patients,tumors located in the right lobe,left lobe and caudate lobe of the liver were respectively detected in 37,12 and 2 patients.CT examinations of 51 HCC patients:HCCs showed the hypodense shadow or slightly hypodense shadow in liver and were round-like,and some of the larger lesions were irregularly conglomerate,with a relatively clear tumor-liver boundary;tumor necrosis area showed patchy and irregular lower density,with small lesions around the port of tumors.Of 51 patients,34 were positive on PET and 17 were negative on PET,and some necrotic areas showed no uptake and located in the center of tumors.There was no abnormal 18 F-FDG uptake in other parts of the whole body.The maximum diameter of tumor was (6± 3)cm.The maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax),and ratio of SUVmax of tumor to SUVmax of liver (SUVmax T/L) in all the lesions were 6.38±4.91 and 2.42±1.93,respectively.The mean standardized uptake value (SUVmean),metabolism of volume (MTV),total lesion of glycolysis (TLG) of 40 patients were 4.30± 2.46,43.82 cm3 (8.97 cm3,219.13 cm3) and 165.73 (28.26,794.50),respectively,and software could not automatically delineate lesions in other 11 patients due to low metabolism.Delayed imaging was found in 21 patients,and the delayed SUVmax and retention index (RI) were 7.22±6.26,19.66％ (-7.10％,50.84％),respectively.The cases with positive and negative on PET were 18,3 in the positive MVI group and 16,14 in the negative MVI group,respectively,with a statistically significant difference between groups (x2=5.829,P＜0.05).The maximum diameter of tumor in the positive MVI group and negative MVI group was respectively (7.7±2.9)cm and (5.2±3.1)cm,with a statistically significant difference between groups (t=-2.930,P＜0.05).(2) Multivariate analysis and diagnostic value affecting MVI of HCC:the results of multivariate analysis showed that maximum diameter of tumor was an independent factor affecting MVI of HCC (OR=1.276,95％ confidence interval:1.028-1.585,P＜0.05).The area under the ROC curve of the maximum diameter of tumor was 0.723 using MVI as a diagnostic standard.The sensitivity,specificity and Youden index were respectively 90.5％,50.0％ and 0.405,with 4.55 cm as the critical value.(3) Treatment and followup:all 51 patients underwent tumor resection.Twenty-two patients were followed up for 25 months (range,12-46 months).The 1-and 2-year overall survival rates were 81.8％ (18/22) and 63.6％ (14/22),respectively.The 1-and 2-year tumor-free survival rates were 59.1％ (13/22) and 45.5％ (10/22),respectively.Conclusion The positive rate on PET of 18F-FDG PET/CT examination in HCC patients with positive MVI is higher than that in HCC patients with negative MVI,and the maximum diameter of tumor is an independent factor predicting MVI of HCC,with a certainly reference value.