Background::Adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma (ACP) is the commonest pediatric sellar tumor. No effective drug is available and interpatient heterogeneity is prominent. This study aimed to identify distinct molecular subgroups of ACP based on the multi-omics profiles, imaging findings, and histological features, in order to predict the response to anti-inflammatory treatment and immunotherapies.Methods::Totally 142 Chinese cases diagnosed with craniopharyngiomas were profiled, including 119 ACPs and 23 papillary craniopharyngiomas. Whole-exome sequencing (151 tumors, including recurrent ones), RNA sequencing (84 tumors), and DNA methylome profiling (95 tumors) were performed. Consensus clustering and non-negative matrix factorization were used for subgrouping, and Cox regression were utilized for prognostic evaluation, respectively.Results::Three distinct molecular subgroups were identified: WNT, ImA, and ImB. The WNT subgroup showed higher Wnt/β-catenin pathway activity, with a greater number of epithelial cells and more predominantly solid tumors. The ImA and ImB subgroups had activated inflammatory and interferon response pathways, with enhanced immune cell infiltration and more predominantly cystic tumors. Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MEK/MAPK) signaling was activated only in ImA samples, while IL-6 and epithelial-mesenchymal transition biomarkers were highly expressed in the ImB group, mostly consisting of children. The degree of astrogliosis was significantly elevated in the ImA group, with severe finger-like protrusions at the invasive front of the tumor. The molecular subgrouping was an independent prognostic factor, with the WNT group having longer event-free survival than ImB (Cox, P = 0.04). ImA/ImB cases were more likely to respond to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy than the WNT group ( P <0.01). In the preliminary screening of subtyping markers, CD38 was significantly downregulated in WNT compared with ImA and ImB ( P = 0.01). Conclusions::ACP comprises three molecular subtypes with distinct imaging and histological features. The prognosis of the WNT type is better than that of the ImB group, which is more likely to benefit from the ICB treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To confirm the therapeutic effect of recombinant human thrombopoietin (rhTPO) on rhesus monkeys irradiated with 5.0 Gy ⁶⁰Co γ-ray, and provide experimental basis for clinical treatment of similar patients. METHODS: Fourteen adult rhesus monkeys were irradiated with ⁶⁰Co γ-ray on both sides at the dose of 5.0 Gy (dose rate 69.2 cGy/min) to establish the acute radiation sickness model. The monkeys were divided into irradiation group (n=5), rhTPO 5 μg/kg group (n=4) and rhTPO 10 μg/kg group (n=5). Two hours after irradiation, the three groups of monkeys were injected with saline 0.1 ml/kg, rhTPO 5 μg/kg（0.1 ml/kg） and rhTPO 10 μg/kg(0.2 ml/kg), respectively. The general signs, survival, peripheral hemogram and serum biochemistry of rhesus monkeys were observed before and after irradiation, and the differences between rhTPO group and irradiation control group were compared. RESULTS: After total body irradiation with 5.0 Gy⁶⁰Co γ-ray, rhesus monkeys successively showed fever, hemorrhage, sharp decrease of whole blood cell counts in peripheral blood and disorder of serum biochemical indexes. Compared with the irradiated control group, a single intramuscular injection of rhTPO 5 μg/kg or 10 μg/kg 2 hours after irradiation could improve the symptoms of fever and bleeding, increase the nadir of peripheral red blood cells and platelets counts, shorten the duration of hemocytopenia, and advance the time for blood cells to return to the pre-irradiation level. The serum biochemical results showed that rhTPO could improve the abnormality of serum biochemical indexes in rhesus monkeys induced by 5.0 Gy total body irradiation to some extent. Compared with the two administration groups, the therapeutic effect of rhTPO 10 μg/ kg was better. CONCLUSION A single injection of rhTPO 5 μg/ kg or 10 μg/ kg 2 hours after irradiation can alleviate the injury of multilineage hematopoiesis and promote the recovery in monkeys irradiated by 5.0 Gy γ-ray. It also improves animal signs and has obvious therapeutic effect on acute radiation sickness.
Humans ; Animals ; Macaca mulatta ; Radiation Injuries

Objective:To investigate the possible mechanism of Xieheyin in alleviating obese polycystic ovary syndrome with insulin resistance（PCOS-IR）and reducing inflammatory response. Method:Ten of sixty SPF femlae C57BL/6J mice were randomly selected as the normal group，and the rest mice were given letrozole 0.002 g·kg^-1 combined with fecal suspension 2 g·kg^-1 for 28 consecutive days to establish model of PCOS-IR.The mice that were successfully modeled were randomized into the model group，metformin group（0.25 g·kg^-1），and low（10 g·kg^-1），medium（20 g·kg^-1），and high-dose（40 g·kg^-1）Xieheyin groups，and administered with the corresponding drugs by gavage，once a day，for four consecutive weeks. Except the normal control group， the mice in the other groups were continuously given fecal suspension combined with letrozole solution to maintain the model during the treatment. The mice were weighed once a week.Levels of fasting blood glucose （FBG） were detected by blood glucose test strips.And enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） method was used to detect serum testosterone（T），follicle stimulating hormone（FSH），luteinizing hormone（LH），fasting insulin（FINS）level，and LH/FSH and Homeostasis model assesment of insulin resistance （HOMA-IR） were calculated．The uterus and ovaries were weighed and fixed.Hematoxylin-eosin（HE）staining was used to observe ovarian tissue pathology morphology. Western blot was used to detect the expression levels of tight junction key molecular zonula occludens 1（ZO-1），occludin in colon tissues，and the expression levels of Toll-like receptor 4/nuclear factor kappa B/Nod-like receptor protein 3（TLR4/NF-κB/NLRP3）signaling pathway and inflammation associated proteins cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase-1（Caspase-1） and interleukin-1β（IL-1β） in colon tissues. Result:Compared with normal control group，the body weight of mice in the model control group increased significantly（P<0.01）. Serum FINS，FBG，HOMA-IR，T，LH/FSH were significantly increased（P<0.05，P<0.01）. The uterine organ ratio were decreased significantly（P<0.01），while the ovarian organ ratio were significantly increased（P<0.01）. The number of atresia follicles and cystic dilatation follicles increased significantly，and the number of corpus luteum significantly decreased，the thickness of follicular granulosa cells also decreased，while the white membrane thickness of the ovary increased. Tight junction related ZO-1，occludin proteins in colon tissues were all decreased（P<0.01）.The relative expression levels of inflammation-related protein IL-1β，Caspase-1 and TLR4/NF-κB/NLRP3 target protein signaling pathway were significantly increased（P<0.05）.Compared with model control group， the body weight of mice in the low，middle and high dose Xieheyin group decreased significantly（P<0.01）. The serum T，LH/FSH，FINS，FBG，HOMA-IR were significantly decreased（P<0.05，P<0.01）. The uterine organ ratio were increased（P<0.05），while the ovarian organ ratio were decreased（P<0.05）. The number of cystic follicles decreased and corpus luteum increased，the thickness of follicular granulosa cells increased and be arranged normally，while the white membrane thickness of the ovary increased slightly. The expressions of ZO-1，occludin proteins were increased（P<0.01）. The expression levels of IL-1β，Caspase-1 and TLR4/NF-κB/NLRP3 target protein in the high dose group were significantly decreased（P<0.01）. Conclusion:Xieheyin could activate intestinal TLR4/NF-κB/NLRP3 signaling pathway，inhibit pro-inflammatory factor secretion，improve obesity and IR，which was correlated with rebuilding intestinal mucosal barrier and inhibiting intestinal inflammation．

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the univariate heritability of resting heart rate and common chronic disease such as hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia based on extended pedigrees in Fujian Tulou area and to explore bivariate heritability to test for the genetic correlation between resting heart rate and other relative phenotypes. METHODS: The study was conducted in Tulou area of Nanjing County, Fujian Province from August 2015 to December 2017. The participants were residents with Zhang surname and their relatives from Taxia Village, Qujiang Village, and Nanou Village or residents with Chen surname and their relatives from Caoban Village, Tumei Village, and Beiling Village. The baseline survey recruited 1 563 family members from 452 extended pedigrees. The pedigree reconstruction was based on the family information registration and the genealogy booklet. Univariate and bivariate heritability was estimated using variance component models for continuous variables, and susceptibility-threshold model for binary variables. RESULTS: The pedigree reconstruction identified 1 seven-generation pedigree, 2 five-generation pedigrees, 23 four-generation pedigrees, 186 three-generation pedigrees, and 240 two-generation pedigrees. The mean age of the participants was 57.2 years and the males accounted for 39.4%. The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia in this population was 49.2%, 10.0%, and 45.2%, respectively. The univariate heritability estimation of resting heart rate, hypertension, and dyslipidemia was 0.263 (95%CI: 0.120－0.407), 0.404 (95%CI: 0.135－0.673), and 0.799 (95%CI: 0.590－1), respectively. The heritability of systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was 0.379, 0.306, 0.393, 0.452, 0.568, 0.852, and 0.387, respectively. In bivariate analysis, there were phenotypic correlations between resting heart rate with hypertension, diabetes, diastolic blood pressure, fasting glucose, and triglyceride. After taking resting heart rate into account, there were strong genetic correlations between resting heart rate with fasting glucose (genetic correlation 0.485, 95%CI: 0.120－1, P<0.05) and diabetes (genetic correlation 0.795, 95%CI: 0.181－0.788, P<0.05). CONCLUSION Resting heart rate was a heritable trait and correlated with several common chronic diseases and related traits. There was strong genetic correlation between resting heart rate with fasting glucose and diabetes, suggesting that they may share common genetic risk factors.
Blood Pressure ; Chronic Disease ; Female ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pedigree

Objective: To examine sleep quality and related factors among middle school students,and to provide a scientific reference for making the relevart interventional measures. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire anonymous survey was conducted among 9 560 students randomly selected from Shanxi province using multi-stage stratified cluster sampling. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to collect information on sleep quality. Results: Among all the participants, 2 255 (23.6%) middle school students were reported poor sleep quality. The prevalence of poor sleep quality was significantly higher in girls (24.5%) than in boys (22.4%)(χ2=5.93, P<0.05). Significant differences were observed in the prevalence of poor sleep quality between junior middle school (12.9%), senior middle school (36.6%) and vocational school students (24.6%) (χ2=636.07, P<0.01). The global PSQI, sleep duration and sleep disturbance scores were higher in girls than in boys (t=3.76，8.38，3.47，P<0.01). There were significant differences between students with different school stages in global PSQI, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbance, use of sleeping medication, and daytime dysfunction scores (F=727.43,83.69,1 670.07,8.24,26.19,4.20,609.80,P<0.05). Multivariable Logistic regression analysis showed that gender, school stage, academic pressure, parental marital state, relationship with teachers, physical activity, smoking and drinking were associated with poor sleep quality among middle school students in Shanxi. Conclusion Sleep problems are common among middle school students, and appropriate intervention should be taken to improve sleep quality of students from individual, school-and family level.

Autoimmune diseases (ADs) increase the risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and contribute to poor prognosis of patients. However, the association between immunologic markers and clinical outcome has rarely been investigated. This study aims to analyze the prognostic value of pretreatment immunologic markers in newly diagnosed patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We retrospectively reviewed the data on 502 patients with DLBCL treated in our institution from January 2013 to March 2018. Survival functions were estimated using Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression model. The 3-year progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were 70.2% and 80.9%, respectively, and the complete remission (CR) rate was 78.1%. Among the patients, those with multiple ( ⩾ 3) abnormal immunologic markers had significantly shorter 3-year PFS (52.7% vs. 77.3%, P < 0.001) and OS (68.5% vs. 85.8%, P = 0.001) than those without multiple abnormal immunologic markers. Multivariate analysis revealed that the presence of multiple abnormal immunologic markers and the elevated serum levels of lactate dehydrogenase were the independent adverse prognostic factors for PFS (P = 0.008, P < 0.001) and OS (P = 0.003, P < 0.001). Meanwhile, advanced Ann Arbor stage was an independent adverse prognostic factor for PFS (P = 0.001) and age > 60 years for OS (P = 0.014). In conclusion, the immunologic status was closely related to lymphoma progression, and this study provides new insights into the risk stratification of patients with DLBCL.
Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Biomarkers ; China ; Disease Progression ; Female ; Humans ; Immunotherapy ; methods ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse ; mortality ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Analysis ; Survival Rate ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of thrombopoietin (TPO) on chemical hypoxia-induced apoptosis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), and to explore its potential mechanism.

METHODSThe experiment was divided into 4 groups. The untreated HUVECs were used as normal control group. HUVECs treated with CoCl was CoCl group, and TPO was added into the culture medium 48 h before CoCl treatment as TPO + CoCl group. The cells was treated with TPO alone as TPO group. The cell viability and apoptosis of each groups were tested by Cell Counter Kit 8 (CCK-8) assay and flow cytometry. The expression of Caspase-3 and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) were then determined by flow cytometry with Caspase-3-PE and JC-1. The effect of TPO in PI3K/AKT pathway was detected by using Western blot.

RESULTSCoCl significantly inhibited the growth of HUVECs. The cell viability of HUVECs decreased gradually with enhancement of CoCl at a gradient of chemical concentrations (r= -0.997). CoCl dramatically increased apoptosis of HUVECs, whereas pre-treatment with TPO rescued cell apoptosis induced by CoCl (P<0.001). Further investigation found that TPO decreased the expression of Caspase-3 and inhibited the reduction of MMP induced by CoCl (P<0.05). TPO could increased the activation of PI3K/AKT pathway in HUVECs.

CONCLUSIONTPO has a protective effect against CoCl-induced apoptosis of HUVECs through activating the PI3K/AKT pathway, thus decreasing the expression of apoptosis protease Caspase-3 and inhibiting the reduction of MMP.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Cobalt ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells ; Humans ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ; Signal Transduction ; Thrombopoietin

Our study reports a case of acarodermatitis caused by Haemolaelaps casalis. By morphological observations, the mites seized were identified as Haemolaelaps casalis (deutonymph) which could attack humans resulting in acarodermatitis characterized with the symptoms of papules and blisters in different degrees. The patient was treated with 15% calamine lotion and anti-inflammatory and antipruritic drugs. Meanwhile, the mites were eliminated in the bedroom. After the treatment for one week, the patient was cured. Haemolaelaps casalis, which had been found in the indoor mattress, could attack humans and cause acarodermatitis. We should strengthen the work of anti-mite in domestic environment.

Objective To analyze the clinical and magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)findings of solid pseudopapillary tumor(SPT)of the pancreas in male patients. Methods Clinical and MRI features of 51 patients with pathologically-proved SPT were retrospectively analyzed.The following MRI features of the lesions were analyzed:location,maximal diameter,shape,margin,capsule,solid and cystic components,signal intensity characteristics,and enhancement patterns.Results The average maximal diameter of the SPT in male patients was significantly smaller [(3.9±1.6)cm vs.(6.3±3.9)cm,P=0.035]than that of SPT in female patients.Pure solid tumors were signiciantly more common in male patients(8/14)than in female patients(9/37)(P=0.037).T-weighted images of SPT showed mainly homogenous hypo-intensity in male patients(11/14)and heterogeneous hypo-intensity in female patients(23/37)(P=0.001).Hemorrhage was more prevalent in female patients(22/37)than in male patients(2/14)(P=0.005).There were no significant differences between male and female patients regarding clinical features and other magnetic resonance features(P>0.05).Conclusions On MRI,SPT in male patients is small and shows mainly pure solid component with rare hemorrhage.The clinical and other MRI features of SPT are not different between males and females.

OBJECTIVEIn order to get the method for improving the salt resistance of Lycium ruthenium seeds and seedlings under NaCl stress, the seed germination and physiological characteristics of L. ruthenium seedlings was studied.

METHODSeveral physiological indexes of L. ruthenium seeds under NaCl stress, such as the germination rate (Gr), germination vigor (Gv), germination index (Gi), vigor index (Vi), and relative salt damage rate were measured. Other indexes of the seedlings like relative water contents (RWC) , chlorophyll contents, soluble protein contents, electrolyte leakage, the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA), and peroxidase (POD) were also measured.

RESULTNaCl at lower concentration could promote the seed germination but inhibit the seed germination at higher concentration. After the treatment by CaCl2 at the different concentrations, all germination indexes were increased. With the increase of salt concentration, the relative water contents and the contents of chlorophyll were decreased, the content of MDA and electrolyte leakage were increased. The change trend of POD activity showed the first increase and then decrease with the increase of salt concentration, which was similar to that of the soluble protein. After the treatment by CaCl2, relative water contents, chlorophyll and POD activities were decreased more slowly, and also electrolyte leakage and MDA contents increased slowly.

CONCLUSIONThe CaCl2 could significantly alleviate the damages to the seeds and seedlings of L. ruthenium under NaCl stress, and promote the salt resistance to the seeds and seedlings of L. ruthenium.

Calcium ; pharmacology ; Germination ; drug effects ; Lycium ; drug effects ; metabolism ; physiology ; Seedlings ; drug effects ; metabolism ; physiology ; Seeds ; drug effects ; metabolism ; physiology ; Sodium Chloride ; metabolism