Background/Aims: Metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a chronic liver disease characterized by hepatic steatosis. Ubiquitin-specific protease 29 (USP29) plays pivotal roles in hepatic ischemiareperfusion injury and hepatocellular carcinoma, but its role in MASLD remains unexplored. Therefore, the aim of this study was to reveal the effects and underlying mechanisms of USP29 in MASLD progression. Methods: USP29 expression was assessed in liver samples from MASLD patients and mice. The role and molecular mechanism of USP29 in MASLD were assessed in high-fat diet-fed and high-fat/high-cholesterol diet-fed mice and palmitic acid and oleic acid treated hepatocytes. Results: USP29 protein levels were significantly reduced in mice and humans with MASLD. Hepatic steatosis, inflammation and fibrosis were significantly exacerbated by USP29 deletion and relieved by USP29 overexpression. Mechanistically, USP29 significantly activated the expression of genes related to fatty acid β-oxidation (FAO) under metabolic stimulation, directly interacted with long-chain acyl-CoA synthase 5 (ACSL5) and repressed ACSL5 degradation by increasing ACSL5 K48-linked deubiquitination. Moreover, the effect of USP29 on hepatocyte lipid accumulation and MASLD was dependent on ACSL5. Conclusions USP29 functions as a novel negative regulator of MASLD by stabilizing ACSL5 to promote FAO. The activation of the USP29-ACSL5 axis may represent a potential therapeutic strategy for MASLD.

Background/Aims: Metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a chronic liver disease characterized by hepatic steatosis. Ubiquitin-specific protease 29 (USP29) plays pivotal roles in hepatic ischemiareperfusion injury and hepatocellular carcinoma, but its role in MASLD remains unexplored. Therefore, the aim of this study was to reveal the effects and underlying mechanisms of USP29 in MASLD progression. Methods: USP29 expression was assessed in liver samples from MASLD patients and mice. The role and molecular mechanism of USP29 in MASLD were assessed in high-fat diet-fed and high-fat/high-cholesterol diet-fed mice and palmitic acid and oleic acid treated hepatocytes. Results: USP29 protein levels were significantly reduced in mice and humans with MASLD. Hepatic steatosis, inflammation and fibrosis were significantly exacerbated by USP29 deletion and relieved by USP29 overexpression. Mechanistically, USP29 significantly activated the expression of genes related to fatty acid β-oxidation (FAO) under metabolic stimulation, directly interacted with long-chain acyl-CoA synthase 5 (ACSL5) and repressed ACSL5 degradation by increasing ACSL5 K48-linked deubiquitination. Moreover, the effect of USP29 on hepatocyte lipid accumulation and MASLD was dependent on ACSL5. Conclusions USP29 functions as a novel negative regulator of MASLD by stabilizing ACSL5 to promote FAO. The activation of the USP29-ACSL5 axis may represent a potential therapeutic strategy for MASLD.

Background/Aims: Metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a chronic liver disease characterized by hepatic steatosis. Ubiquitin-specific protease 29 (USP29) plays pivotal roles in hepatic ischemiareperfusion injury and hepatocellular carcinoma, but its role in MASLD remains unexplored. Therefore, the aim of this study was to reveal the effects and underlying mechanisms of USP29 in MASLD progression. Methods: USP29 expression was assessed in liver samples from MASLD patients and mice. The role and molecular mechanism of USP29 in MASLD were assessed in high-fat diet-fed and high-fat/high-cholesterol diet-fed mice and palmitic acid and oleic acid treated hepatocytes. Results: USP29 protein levels were significantly reduced in mice and humans with MASLD. Hepatic steatosis, inflammation and fibrosis were significantly exacerbated by USP29 deletion and relieved by USP29 overexpression. Mechanistically, USP29 significantly activated the expression of genes related to fatty acid β-oxidation (FAO) under metabolic stimulation, directly interacted with long-chain acyl-CoA synthase 5 (ACSL5) and repressed ACSL5 degradation by increasing ACSL5 K48-linked deubiquitination. Moreover, the effect of USP29 on hepatocyte lipid accumulation and MASLD was dependent on ACSL5. Conclusions USP29 functions as a novel negative regulator of MASLD by stabilizing ACSL5 to promote FAO. The activation of the USP29-ACSL5 axis may represent a potential therapeutic strategy for MASLD.

Objective To investigate the intervention mechanism of Shenqi Yiliu Prescription in a rat model of precancerous lesions of gastric carcinoma(PLGC)based on transcriptomics.Methods A PLGC rat model was constructed using composite factor modeling method.Rats were randomly divided into blank group,model group,folic acid group(0.002 g/kg),and Shenqi Yiliu Prescription high-,medium-and low-dosage groups(39.6,19.8 and 9.9 g/kg),with 10 rats in each group.They were given corresponding solutions for gavage for 90 consecutive days.The general condition of rats was observed,HE staining was used to observe the morphology gastric mucosa,immunofluorescence staining was used to detect the expression of PCNA protein in gastric tissue,transcriptomics obtains differentially expressed mRNA in gastric tissue and enriches differentially expressed pathways,ELISA was used to detect the contents of Bcl-xL,C-myc and Cyclin D1 in gastric tissue,RT-qPCR was used to detect the expression of Bcl-xL,C-myc and Cyclin D1 mRNA in gastric tissue,Western blot was used to detect the expressions of IL-6,JAK2,STAT3,p-JAK2 and p-STAT3 protein in gastric tissue.Results Compared with the blank group,rats in the model group showed decreased body mass(P<0.05),with structural disorders of the gastric mucosa,the expression of PCNA protein in gastric tissue increased(P<0.05),the contents and mRNA expression Bcl-xL,C-myc and Cyclin D1 in gastric tissue significantly increased(P<0.05),the expression of IL-6,JAK2,STAT3,p-JAK2,p-STAT3 protein significantly increased(P<0.05).Compared with the model group,the body mass of rats in Shenqi Yiliu Prescription high-and medium-dosage groups increased to varying degrees(P<0.05),the abnormal morphology of the gastric mucosa were improved to different degrees,and the expression of PCNA protein in Shenqi Yiliu Prescription high-,medium-and low-dosage groups significantly decreased(P<0.05).The results of transcriptomics experiments confirmed that the JAK-STAT signalling pathway showed significant differences between the blank group and model group,as well as the model group and Shenqi Yiliu Prescription high-dosage group.The content and mRNA expression of Bcl-xL,C-myc and Cyclin D1 in gastric tissue of Shenqi Yiliu Prescription high-and medium-dosage groups significantly decreased(P<0.05),and the protein expression of IL-6,JAK2,STAT3,p-JAK2 and p-STAT3 significantly decreased(P<0.05).Conclusion Shenqi Yiliu Prescription can improve the abnormal morphology of gastric mucosa in PLGC model rats,and its mechanism is related to regulating the IL-6/JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway,thereby inhibiting cell proliferation.

Objective:To compare the value of NoSAS score, STOP-BANG questionnaire (SBQ) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) in assessing the risk of obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) in patients with respiratory disease (RD).Methods:The clinical data, NoSAS, SBQ and ESS scores of 190 patients who underwent overnight polysomnography (PSG) were collected. According to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, with different apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) as the judgment cutoff, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) and accuracy of the three scales were compared.Results:With AHI ≥5 times/h as the cutoff, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of NoSAS and SBQ were 0.833 and 0.729, respectively, indicating that both have predictive value for mild OSAHS. Among them, NoSAS had a larger DOR value (16.150), indicating that NoSAS had the higher accuracy in assessing the risk of mild OSAHS. When AHI>15 times/h was used as the cutoff, the AUC value of NoSAS was 0.704, indicating that it has predictive value for moderate OSAHS. When AHI>30 times/h was used as the cutoff, the AUC value (0.706) and DOR value (6.527) of SBQ were high, indicating that it has predictive value and good accuracy for severe OSAHS. The SBQ is more sensitive than NoSAS and ESS when evaluating patients at high risk for OSAHS ( SBQ≥3). Conclusions:When evaluating the risk of mild and moderate OSAHS in RD patients, NoSAS is better than SBQ and ESS, and when evaluating severe OSAHS, SBQ is better than NoSAS and ESS. In clinical work, appropriate predictive tools should be selected according to the actual situation to assess the risk of OSAHS, so as to formulate and implement early intervention plans based on the assessment results.

Objective:To investigate the clinicopathological features of gonadal neoplastic related lesions in children with disorders of sexual development (DsD).Methods:The clinical manifestations, chromosomal karyotype, histology and immunophenotype of 12 cases of neoplastic related lesions from Guangzhou Women and Children′s Medical Center, Guangzhou were analyzed during Jan 2015 to May 2020.Results:Twelve cases of neoplastic related lesions were screened in 205 cases of DsD, and 6 patients with gonadal germ cell neoplasia aged 3-13 years with an average age of 8.3 years. There were 2 males and 4 females. Clinical features showed malformation of external genitalia in 2 cases, short stature in 2 cases, clitoral enlargement in 1 case, lower abdominal pain and a huge pelvic mass in 1 case. Chromosomal karyotyping of peripheral blood showed 2 cases of 46XY and 4 cases of 45X/46XY. Fourteen gonadal specimens were examined. Microscopically, 1 case showed dysgerminoma in left ovary, and malignant mixed germ cell tumors in right ovary, as well as gonadoblastoma (GB) and undifferentiated gonadal tissue (UGT). The remaining 5 cases were all precursor lesions of germ cell tumor. Six specimens showed GB, 3 of UGT, and 3 specimens showed germ cell neoplasia in situ (GCNIS), one of which was accompanied by intratubular seminoma and 1 was GB with GCNIS. The other 6 patients with DsD were aged from 8 months to 2 years and 5 months, including 5 males and 1 females. Clinical manifestations showed 5 cases of hypospadias and 1 case of bilateral indirect inguinal hernia. Microscopically, 6 cases showed maturation delay of gonocytes in seminiferous tubules. Immunohistochemically, the primordial germ cells/gonocytes expressed OCT3/4, PLAP and c-KIT in the 12 cases.Conclusion:Gonadal neoplasia in children with DsD is mainly precursor lesions of germ cell tumor and improved understanding of these lesions is of great significance.

OBJECTIVE：To optimize the p reparation technology of citronellol submicroemulsion. METHODS ：The content of citronellol in Citronellol submicroemulsion was determined by HPLC. Citronellol submicroemulsion by high-speed shearing dispersion-high pressure homogenization method ，with centrifugation stability constant （ke） and particle size were used as evaluation indexes. Its formulation and preparation technology were optimized and validated. Drug-loading amount and encapsulation rate of the preparation were detected. RESULTS ：The linear range of citronellol were 4-64 μg/mL（R 2＝0.999 9）. RSDs of precision ，stability（24 h）and reproducibility tests were all lower than 3％. The recoveries were 97.64％-101.97％（RSD＝ 2.28％，n＝3），97.71％-99.50％（RSD＝1.29％，n＝3），96.87％-101.48％（RSD＝2.86％，n＝3）. The optimal formulation included that total weight of soybean oil and medium chain triglycerides （1 ∶ 1，g/g）was 3.75 g，1.2％ soybean phospholipid was 0.6 g， cholesterol was 0.06 g，citronellol was 1.25 g，0.6 ％ sodium oleate was 0.3 g，15-hydroxystearic acid polyethylene glycol ester was 0.75 g，poloxamer 188 was 0.75 g，water added to 50 mL. After prepared by optimal technology at 4 ℃ which contained shearing speed of 13 000 r/min，lasting for 5 min， primary emulsion was adjusted to pH 7 with dilute hydro- chloric acid ，and homogenized with 600 Bar high pressure for 1434412440@qq.com 5 min. The parameters of Citronellol submicroemulsion accor- ding to optimal formulation and technology contained mean particle size of （91.05±0.26）nm，PDI of （0.20±0.01）， Zeta-potential of （－30.86±0.39）mV，average content of 649511230@qq.com citronellol（100.21±0.01）％，the drug-loading amount was （2.481 7 ± 0.000 7） mg/mL，the encapsulation rate was （99.27 ± 0.03）％ . CONCLUSIONS ：The optimal formulation and technology is stable and feasible.

Objective To investigate the health status of centenarian hospitalized patients and analyze the risk factors for in-hospital death in Nanjing district.Methods All centenarians hospitalized patients who were discharged from wards of 10 upper first-class general hospitals in Nanjing district during the past five years were retrieved from their hospital information systems.Then,a retrospective study was performed on centenarians' data of general information,laboratory test results,Charlson comorbidity index (CCI),neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and shock index(SI),etc.were calculated and collected.Relevant risk factors for in-hospital death were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression analysis.Results A total of 156 patients aged 100 years and over,with an average age of (101.0±2.1)years,were enrolled during the past 5 years.The top 3 admitting diagnosis for the patients were pulmonary infection(30.1％,47/156 cases),coronary heart disease(10.9％,17/156 cases)and cerebrovascular disease(7.1％,11/156 cases).Fifty patients died during hospitalization,with a mortality of 32.1％ (50/156).Pneumonia was the most common admitting diagnosis(40.0％,20/50 case).Among causes of death,the combined admitting diagnosis with dementia,chronic renal insufficiency,one or more basic disease were significantly associated with death.There were statistically significant differences between bad vs.good vs.indifferent prognosis in heart rate,shock index,leukocyte count,neutrophil count,NLR,hemoglobin,albumin,albumin/globulin,fasting blood glucose,blood urea nitrogen,serum creatinine,C-reactive protein(CRP)and CCI levels.Multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that NLR≥13.18,fasting blood glucose ≥7.56 mmol/L,blood urea nitrogen ≥20.74 mmol/L,CRP≥65 mg/L and CCI≥3 might be predictors for in-hospital death in the cohort(OR =48.91、3.43、1.22、6.55、1.55,all P＜0.05).Conclusions Pulmonary infection is the most common reason for admission and the cause of death in centenarian inpatients.Comorbidities increase the risk of death.To lower in-hospital mortality,CCI and other assessment indicators should be used to strengthen the comprehensive assessment and chronic disease management of hospitalized centenarians.Infectious diseases should be prevented beforehand.

Objective: To investigate the pathologic features of gonadal tissues of disorders of sexual development (DSD) in children. Methods: Fifty-three cases of gonadal developmental disorders were collected from July 2015 to August 2017 at Guangzhou Women and Children′s Medical Center. Clinical manifestations, karyotypes, sex hormone levels, ultrasound imaging, histology and immunophenotype of gonadal tissues were analyzed. Results: The age of patients ranged from 7 months to 17 years with an average of (50.7 ± 47.1) months. Social genders of the patients included 32 males and 21 females. Forty-eight patients had abnormal sex hormone levels. Clinical presentations included: toward female genitalia in 25 cases, male genitalia tendency in 17 cases and ambiguous external genitalia in 11 cases. Hypospadias was seen in 31 cases and short stature was seen in 8 cases. Chromosomal karyotyping of peripheral blood revealed 23 cases of sex chromosome disorders, 22 cases of 46 XY disorders, of which 3 cases were 5α-reductase deficiency and 8 cases of 46 XX disorders. Ultrasound examination showed cryptorchidism in 30 cases, including 16 cases of unilateral, 14 cases of bilateral and 1 case presenting a huge pelvic tumor. A total of 97 gonadal tissues from 53 cases of DSD were examined, including 9 cases of unilateral and 44 cases of bilateral gonads. Microscopically, 55 gonads (56.7%) showed dysplastic testes including 17 unilateral and 19 bilateral gonads. Fourteen were streak gonads (14.4%) including 8 unilateral and 3 bilateral gonadal tissues. Nine streak gonad with epithelial cord-like structures (9.3%) were found, of which 5 were unilateral and 2 were bilateral lesions. Seven gonads were ovotestis (7.2%), unilateral in 5 cases (the other side of the gonads of ovary in 4 cases, 1 case of dysplastic testes) and bilateral in 1 case. Seven gonads showed follicular-rich ovarian tissue (7.2%). One case showed bilateral dysplastic testes with gonadoblastoma and ectopic adrenal cortex. One case of streak gonad showed epithelial cord-like structures and undifferentiated glandular tissue embedded in malignant mixed germ cell tumors (mixed gonadoblastoma, dysgerminoma, mature teratoma and yolk sac tumor). One case had testicular microlithiasis. Uterus and fallopian tube structures were found in 11 cases. Immunohistochemical stains were performed in 15 cases. D2-40, PLAP and CKIT were expressed in germ cells and Calretinin, WT1 and inhibin were positive in Setoli cells. SALL4 and OCT3/4 were positive in 3 cases. Inhibin highlighted interstitial Leydig cells in 2 cases. GPC3 was positive in yolk sac tumor component. Conclusions Gonadal dysgenesis presents a broad spectrum of gonadal phenotypes with variable degrees of differentiation. The development of bilateral gonadal tissues has certain variability. Chromosomal karyotypes have no correlation with gonadal phenotypes. Accurate histopathologic diagnosis of gonadal dysgenesis plays an important role in the treatment and prognosis of the patient.

Objective Detecting plasma level of circular RNA(circRNA)hsa_circ_0009024 in pulmonary tuberculosis(TB)patients,and evaluating its diagnostic value for TB.Methods From January 2016 to December 2016, a hosptial-based, case-control study was performed, which include 90 untreated active pulmonary tuberculosis patients(TB group),75 healthy people(healthy control)and 84 patient with other diseases(other disease group).Plasma level of circRNA hsa_circ_0009024 was detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction.Furthermore, the 90 patients with TB were divided into different subgroups according to cavity formation and the lung fields involvement: patients without lung cavity(55 cases)vs those with lung cavity(35 cases),patients with involvement of <2 lung fields(49 cases)vs≥2 lung fields(41 cases).Plasma levels of hsa _circ_0009024 of 41 TB patientswere monitored andcomparedbefore and after 3 months anti-TB therapy.The sensitivity and specificity of plasma hsa_circ_0009024 were analyzed by using the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve.The comparison between two groups was performed with Mann-Whitney U test and the comparison among multigroupswas conducted with Kruskal-Wallis H test.Results Plasma levels of hsa_circ_0009024 in TB patients[1.98(1.42, 2.71)]were significantly higher than healthy controls[1.03(0.78,1.33)]and other disease groups[1. 13(0.77,1.51)](H=76.58,P<0.0001).Plasma levels of hsa_circ_0009024 in cavity pulmonary TB patients were higher than pulmonary TB patients without cavity(U=392.50,P<0.0001).Plasma levels of hsa_circ_0009024 in TB patients with involvement of ≥2 lung fields were higher than <2 lung fields(U=590.50,P=0.0008).As compared to pre -treatment[2.01(1.41, 2.71)], the plasma hsa_circ_0009024 levels decreased significantly in 3 months[1.22(0.85,1.47)](U=292.50,P<0.0001)after anti-TB therapy.The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve(AUC)of plasma hsa_circ_0009024 in discriminating the patients with TB from normal controls, pneumonia patients and lung cancer patients were 0.841 and 0.811, respectively.Conclusion The hsa_circ_0009024 can be used as a potential biomarker in TB diagnosis and monitoring.