OBJECTIVES: To study new biomarkers for the early diagnosis of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) by analyzing the differences in blood metabolites based on liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and metabolomics. METHODS: Dried blood spots were collected from 21 infants with ROP (ROP group) and 21 infants without ROP (non-ROP group) who were hospitalized in the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from January 2013 to December 2016. LC-MS/MS was used to measure the metabolites, and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis was used to search for differentially expressed metabolites and biomarkers. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in blood metabolic profiles between the ROP and non-ROP groups. The pattern recognition analysis, Score-plot, and weight analysis obtained 10 amino acids with a relatively large difference. Further statistical analysis showed that the ROP group had significant increases in blood levels of glutamic acid, leucine, aspartic acid, ornithine, and glycine compared with the non-ROP group (P<0.05). The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that glutamic acid and ornithine had the highest value in diagnosing ROP. CONCLUSIONS Blood metabolites in preterm infants with ROP are different from those without ROP. Glutamic acid and ornithine are the metabolic markers for diagnosing ROP. LC-MS/MS combined with metabolomics analysis has a potential application value in the early identification and diagnosis of ROP.
Infant, Newborn ; Infant ; Humans ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry ; Infant, Premature ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Retinopathy of Prematurity/diagnosis* ; Glutamic Acid ; Ornithine

Up to 70% of patients with late-stage breast cancer have bone metastasis. Current treatment regimens for breast cancer bone metastasis are palliative with no therapeutic cure. Disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) colonize inside the osteogenic niches in the early stage of bone metastasis. Drug delivery into osteogenic niches to inhibit DTC colonization can prevent bone metastasis from entering its late stage and therefore cure bone metastasis. Here, we constructed a 50% DSS6 peptide conjugated nanoparticle to target the osteogenic niche. The osteogenic niche was always located at the endosteum with immature hydroxyapatite. Arsenic-manganese nanocrystals (around 14 nm) were loaded in osteogenic niche-targeted PEG-PLGA nanoparticles with an acidic environment-triggered arsenic release. Arsenic formulations greatly reduced 4T1 cell adhesion to mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)/preosteoblasts (pre-OBs) and osteogenic differentiation of osteoblastic cells. Arsenic formulations also prevented tumor cell colonization and dormancy via altering the direct interaction between 4T1 cells and MSCs/pre-OBs. The chemotactic migration of 4T1 cells toward osteogenic cells was blocked by arsenic in mimic 3D osteogenic niche. Systemic administration of osteogenic niche-targeted arsenic nanoparticles significantly extended the survival of mice with 4T1 syngeneic bone metastasis. Our findings provide an effective approach for osteogenic niche-specific drug delivery and suggest that bone metastasis can be effectively inhibited by blockage of tumor cell colonization in the bone microenvironment.

The nucleocapsid (N) protein of SARS-CoV-2 has been reported to have a high ability of liquid-liquid phase separation, which enables its incorporation into stress granules (SGs) of host cells. However, whether SG invasion by N protein occurs in the scenario of SARS-CoV-2 infection is unknow, neither do we know its consequence. Here, we used SARS-CoV-2 to infect mammalian cells and observed the incorporation of N protein into SGs, which resulted in markedly impaired self-disassembly but stimulated cell cellular clearance of SGs. NMR experiments further showed that N protein binds to the SG-related amyloid proteins via non-specific transient interactions, which not only expedites the phase transition of these proteins to aberrant amyloid aggregation in vitro, but also promotes the aggregation of FUS with ALS-associated P525L mutation in cells. In addition, we found that ACE2 is not necessary for the infection of SARS-CoV-2 to mammalian cells. Our work indicates that SARS-CoV-2 infection can impair the disassembly of host SGs and promote the aggregation of SG-related amyloid proteins, which may lead to an increased risk of neurodegeneration.
Amyloidogenic Proteins/metabolism* ; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/genetics* ; Animals ; COVID-19 ; Cytoplasmic Granules/metabolism* ; Mammals ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Stress Granules

Objective: Transanal total mesorectal excision (taTME) was a very hot topic in the first few years since its appearance, but now more introspections and controversies on this procedure have emerged. One of the reasons why the Norwegian Ministry of Health stopped taTME was the high incidence of postoperative anastomotic leak. In current study, the incidence and risk factors of anastomotic leak after taTME were analyzed based on the data registered in the Chinese taTME Registry Collaborative (CTRC). Methods: A case-control study was carried out. Between November 15, 2017 and December 31, 2020, clinical data of 1668 patients undergoing taTME procedure registered in the CTRC database from 43 domestic centers were collected retrospectively. After excluding 98 cases without anastomosis and 109 cases without complete postoperative complication data, 1461 patients were finally enrolled for analysis. There were 1036 males (70.9%) and 425 females (29.1%) with mean age of (58.2±15.6) years and mean body mass index of (23.6±3.8) kg/m(2). Anastomotic leak was diagnosed and classified according to the International Study Group of Rectal Cancer (ISREC) criteria. The risk factors associated with postoperative anastomotic leak cases were analyzed. The impact of the cumulative number of taTME surgeries in a single center on the incidence of anastomotic leak was evaluated. As for those centers with the number of taTME surgery ≥ 40 cases, incidence of anastomic leak between 20 cases of taTME surgery in the early and later phases was compared. Results: Of 1461 patients undergoing taTME, 103(7.0%) developed anastomotic leak, including 71 (68.9%) males and 32 (31.1%) females with mean age of (59.0±13.9) years and mean body mass index of (24.5±5.7) kg/m(2). The mean distance between anastomosis site and anal verge was (2.6±1.4) cm. Thirty-nine cases (37.9%) were classified as ISREC grade A, 30 cases (29.1%) as grade B and 34 cases (33.0%) as grade C. Anastomotic leak occurred in 89 cases (7.0%,89/1263) in the laparoscopic taTME group and 14 cases (7.1%, 14/198) in the pure taTME group. Multivariate analysis showed that hand-sewn anastomosis (P=0.004) and the absence of defunctioning stoma (P=0.013) were independently associated with anastomotic leak after taTME. In the 16 centers (37.2%) which performed ≥ 30 taTME surgeries with cumulative number of 1317 taTME surgeries, 86 cases developed anastomotic leak (6.5%, 86/1317). And in the 27 centers which performed less than 30 taTME surgeries with cumulative number of 144 taTME surgeries, 17 cases developed anastomotic leak (11.8%, 17/144). There was significant difference between two kinds of center (χ(2)=5.513, P=0.019). Thirteen centers performed ≥ 40 taTME surgeries. In the early phase (the first 20 cases in each center), 29 cases (11.2%, 29/260) developed anastomotic leak, and in the later phase, 12 cases (4.6%, 12/260) developed anastomotic leak. The difference between the early phase and the later phase was statistically significant (χ(2)=7.652, P=0.006). Conclusion: The incidence of anastomotic leak after taTME may be reduced by using stapler and defunctioning stoma, or by accumulating experience.
Adult ; Aged ; Anastomotic Leak/etiology* ; Case-Control Studies ; China/epidemiology* ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Laparoscopy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Complications/epidemiology* ; Rectal Neoplasms/surgery* ; Rectum/surgery* ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors

To evaluate the value of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography(ERCP)and SpyGlass in the diagnosis of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm of the bile duct (IPMN-B). Data of patients who underwent ERCP and SpyGlass in Hangzhou First People′s Hospital from January 2016 to December 2019 were analyzed. ERCP and SpyGlass features, complications, clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis were retrospectively analyzed.A total of 9 patients (5 benign lesions and 4 malignant lesions) were included.ERCP was successfully performed in 9 cases, while SpyGlass was technically successful in 8 cases. Endoscopy showed mucus outflow from the papilla in 5 cases, and the mucus was removed by the balloon of ERCP in 8 cases.ERCP showed bile duct diffuse dilatation and filling defects in all patients. SpyGlass found the mucus in the bile duct in all patients. SpyGlass showed lesion mucosa were fish-egg like without vascular images (Ⅱtype, 3 cases), fish-egg like with vascular images (Ⅲ type, 1 case), villous (Ⅳtype, 4 cases). SpyGlass defined extent of the lesion in 8 cases. SpyGlass found that the lesion involved the intra and extrahepatic bile ducts in one case. Therefore, liver transplantation was recommended to avoid surgical exploration. One type Ⅲ lesion underwent a direct biopsy. The pathology showed moderate dysplasia, which was consistent with the postoperative pathology. No complication occurred. ERCP combined with SpyGlass could clarify the scope of IPMN-B and provide basis for surgical options, which is safe and effective in IPMN-B diagnosis.

We use a dense and fully connected convolutional network with good feature learning in small samples, to automatically pre-deline CTV of cervical cancer patients based on CT images and evaluate the effect. The CT data of stage IB and IIA postoperative cervical cancer with similar delineation scope were selected to be used to evaluate the pre-sketching accuracy from three aspects:sketching similarity, sketching offset and sketching volume difference. It has been proved that the 8 most representative parameters are superior to those with single network and reported internationally before. Dense V-Net can accurately predict CTV pre-delineation of cervical cancer patients, which can be used clinically after simple modification by doctors.
Automation ; Female ; Humans ; Machine Learning ; Patients ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging*

【Objective】To explore the relationship between the miR- 132 expression in serum and cognitive deficits of OSA. 【Methods】 66 Chinese adults age 30 to 60 years old were enrolled and categorized into two groups based on Montreal Cognitive Assessment（MoCA）scores： OSA patients with cognitive impairment（OSAI，n=36），OSA patients without cognitive impairment（OSAN，n=30），and thirty adults without OSA as healthy control group（HC，n=30）. Out- of- center cardiopulmonary sleep testing （OCST） and MoCA assessment were performed and the relative expression of miR-132 in serum was detected by PCR.【Results】No significant difference was observed in age，education，gender and hypertension（P>0.05）. The relative expression level of miR-132 was significantly up-regulated in OSAI patient′s serum compared to the OSAN and HC patients （P<0.001），and had a positive correlation with MoCA score （r=- 0.726，P<0.001）. ROC analyses showed that the areas under the curve（AUC）were statistically significant from the line of identity in OSA with cognitive impairment（AUC=0.935，95% CI：0.890- 0.981，P<0.001）and in OSA（AUC=0.787，95% CI：0.695-0.879，P<0.001）.【Conclusions】Elevated serum miR-132 expression levels are closely related to the diagnosis of OSA and its cognitive dysfunction. Detection of serum miR- 132 may be a potential indicator of cognitive dysfunction and diagnosis in OSA patients.

Objective To investigate the effect of fluoxetine on the depression-like behavior and the expression of mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP-1),phosphorylated p38 and p38 in hippocampus of rats with depression,in order to provide clues for the molecular pathological mechanism of depression.Methods Forty Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into normal group,depression group,normal saline group and fluoxetine group,with ten rats in each group.The rats in the depression group,normal saline group and fluoxetine group were treated with chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) for eight weeks to prepare the depression models.The rats in the normal saline group and fluoxetine group were treated with normal saline and fluoxetine by intragastric administration respectively from the fifth to eighth week,but the rats in the normal group did not give CUMS and any intervention.The behavior changes of rats in the four groups were evaluated at the time points of before modeling,after modeling and postintervention.The hippocampal tissues of rats were taken after the last the last behavioral evaluations.The expression of MKP-1,p-p38 and p38 protein in hippocampus was detected by Western blot;and the ratio of the expression of p-p38 to p38 protein (p-p38/p38) was calculated.Results There was no significant difference in the behavioral indexes of rats among the four groups (P ＞ 0.05).Compared with pre-modeling,the sucrose preference index decreased,the horizontal movement distance and vertical frequency decreased in the open field test,and the inactivity time of rats in forced swimming test increased in the depression group,normal saline group and fluoxetine group,the differences were statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference in the behavioral indexes of rats among the depression group,normal saline group and fluoxetine group (P ＞ 0.05).Compared with the normal group,the sucrose preference index decreased,the horizontal movement distance and vertical frequency of rats in open field test decreased,and the inactivity time of rats in forced swimming test increased in the depression group,normal saline group and fluoxetine group after modeling,the differences were statistically significant(P ＜0.05).Compared with the depression group and normal saline group,the sucrose preference index of rats increased,the horizontal movement distance and vertical frequency of rats in open field test increased,and the inactivity time of rats in forced swimming test shortened in fluoxetine group,the differences were statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05).The expression of MKP-1 in the hippocampus of rats in the depression group and the normal saline group was significantly higher than that in the normal group (P ＜ 0.05).The expression of MKP-1 in the hippocampus of rats in the fluoxetine group was significantly lower than that in the depression group and normal saline group (P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference in the expression of MKP-1 in the hippocampus of rats between the depression group and the normal saline group (P ＞ 0.05).There was no significant difference in the expression of MKP-1 in the hippocampus of rats between the fluoxetine group and normal group(P ＞ 0.05).There was no significant difference in the expression of p-p38 and p38 protein and p-p38/p38 in the hippocampus of rats among the four groups (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions MKP-1 may be associated with the pathogenesis of depression,and p38 may not be the signaling pathway for MKP-1 to take part in the pathogenesis of depression.Fluoxetine may play a role in the treatment of depression by down-regulating MKP-1 expression.MKP-1 may play a key role in the pathogenesis of depression.Fluoxetine may play a role in the treatment of depression by down-regulating.

Objective: To evaluate left atrial (LA) function and synchrony in lone atrial fibrillation (LAF) patients by two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) and to explore the predictive value of 2D-STE parameters for AF recurrence after ablation procedure. Methods: Our research included in 2 groups: LAF group,n=50 patients diagnosed in our hospital from 2013-06 to 2015-05; it was further divided into 2 subgroups as Non-LA enlargement subgroup,n=34 and LA enlargement subgroup,n=16 and Control group,n=35 healthy subjects. With sinus rhythm, 2D-STE was conducted to obtain LA peak ventricular systolic longitudinal strain (PALS), strain rate (SRs) and atrial contraction longitudinal strain (ACLS), strain rate (SRa). Standard deviation for the time to peak (TPSD) of regional strain was calculated. TPSD during ventricular systole was named as SDs and TPSD during ventriculardiastole was named asSDa. Results: Compared with Control group, LAF group had reduced PALS (28.34±8.57) vs (38.73±6.13), SRs (1.17±0.31) vs (1.57±0.25), ACLS (14.11±4.91) vs (18.86±3.57 ) and SRa (-1.41±0.58) vs (-1.90±0.30), allP<0.05; while elevated SDs (8.11±3.00) % vs (4.67±1.48) % and SDa (5.57±2.26) % vs (3.11±1.13) %, bothP<0.05. Furthermore, Compared with Control group, Non-LA enlargement subgroup had decreased PALS, SRs, ACLS and SRa, allP<0.05; while increased SDs and SDa, bothP<0.05. Logistic regression analysis indicated that compared with traditional parameters, SDs and SDa could more effectively distinguish LAF patients from normal subjects (SDs with the sensitivity 83%, speciifcity 72% and SDa with the sensitivity 81%, speciifcity 76%). Elevated SDa and SDs were the best predictors for post-operative AF recurrence (SDs with the sensitivity 80%, speciifcity 71% and SDa with the sensitivity 86%, speciifcity 79%). Conclusion: 2D-STE may detect LA dysfunction and dyssynchrony in LAF patients, abnormal parameters could be found in LAF patients without LA enlargement. SDs and SDa were the best predictors for post-operative AF recurrence.

Objective To explore the diagnosis and management of functional pancreatic endocrine tumor.Methods Clinical data of 19 cases of functional pancreatic endocrine tumor were retrospectively analyzed.Results 15 cases of insulinoma,2 cases of gastrinoma and 2 cases of glucagonoma were qualitatively diagnosed.The positive rate of preoperative diagosis for type B ultrasonic inspection,CT,MRI,EUS,selective portovenous sampling and intraoperative type B ultrasonic inspection was 15.8％ (3/19),67.5％ (10/16),71.4％ (5/7),87.5％ (7/8),100％(2/2) and 85.7％(6/7) respectively.Of the total 19 cases,7 cases underwent open surgery,11 cases unde rwent laparoscopic surgery,and one case didn't undergo any surgery as liver metastasis had occurred when glucagonoma was diagnosed.The operation methods included tumor enucleation (n=13),distal pancreatic resection (n=3),distal pancreatic resection plus splenectomy (n=1),and pancreatic head resection with duodenum preserved (n=1).Conclusions The measurement of serum insulin,gastrin and glucagon is the main basis for qualitative diagonosis of pancreatic endocrine tumor.Two stage spinal CT thin scanning is the main method for tumor location.Intraoperative type B ultrasonic inspection is the supplement to preoperative location.Tumor enucleation is the main choice of treatment.