Objective:To investigate the incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with esophageal cancer (EC).Methods:The retrospective cohort study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 8 458 EC patients who were admitted to Sichuan Cancer Hospital from January 2017 to December 2021 were collected. There were 6 923 males and 1 535 females, aged (64±9)years. There were 3 187 patients undergoing surgical treatment, and 5 271 cases undergoing non-surgical treatment. Observation indicators: (1) incidence of VTE in EC patients; (2) treatment and outcomes of patients with VTE. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD, and comparison between groups was analyzed using the t test. Measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M(range), and comparison between groups was analyzed using the nonparameter rank sum test. Count data were expressed as absolute numbers or percentages, and comparison between groups was analyzed using the chi-square test or Fisher exact probability. Comparison of ordinal data was analyzed using the nonparameter rank sum test. Results:(1) Incidence of VTE in EC patients. Of 8 458 EC patients, 175 cases developed VTE, with an incidence rate of 2.069%(175/8 458). Among 175 VTE patients, there were 164 cases of deep venous thrombosis (DVT), 4 cases of pulmonary embolism (PE), 7 cases of DVT and PE. There were 59 surgical patients and 116 non-surgical patients. There was no significant difference in thrombus type between surgical and non-surgical EC patients with VTE ( χ2=1.95, P>0.05). Of 3 187 surgical patients, the incidence of VTE was 1.851%(59/3 187), including an incidence of 0.157%(5/3 187) of PE. PE accounted for 8.475%(5/59) of surgical patients with VTE. Of 5 271 non-surgical patients, the incidence of VTE was 2.201%(116/5 271), including an incidence of 0.114%(6/5 271) of PE. PE accounted for 5.172%(6/116) of non-surgical patients with VTE. There was no significant difference in the incidence of VTE or PE between surgical patients and non-surgical patients ( χ2=1.20, 0.05, P>0.05). (2) Treatment and outcomes of patients with VTE. Among 175 EC patients with VTE, 163 cases underwent drug treatment, and 12 cases did not receive treatment. Among 163 cases with drug therapy, 158 cases underwent anticoagulant therapy, 5 cases were treated with thrombolysis. All the 163 patients were improved and discharged from hospital. Conclusions:The incidence of VTE in patients with EC is relatively low, as 2.069%. There is no significant difference in the incidence of VTE or thrombus type between surgical EC patients and non-surgical EC patients.

Background::Bladder cancer, characterized by a high potential of tumor recurrence, has high lifelong monitoring and treatment costs. To date, tumor cells with intrinsic softness have been identified to function as cancer stem cells in several cancer types. Nonetheless, the existence of soft tumor cells in bladder tumors remains elusive. Thus, our study aimed to develop a microbarrier microfluidic chip to efficiently isolate deformable tumor cells from distinct types of bladder cancer cells.Methods::The stiffness of bladder cancer cells was determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The modified microfluidic chip was utilized to separate soft cells, and the 3D Matrigel culture system was to maintain the softness of tumor cells. Expression patterns of integrin β8 (ITGB8), protein kinase B (AKT), and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) were determined by Western blotting. Double immunostaining was conducted to examine the interaction between F-actin and tripartite motif containing 59 (TRIM59). The stem-cell-like characteristics of soft cells were explored by colony formation assay and in vivo studies upon xenografted tumor models. Results::Using our newly designed microfluidic approach, we identified a small fraction of soft tumor cells in bladder cancer cells. More importantly, the existence of soft tumor cells was confirmed in clinical human bladder cancer specimens, in which the number of soft tumor cells was associated with tumor relapse. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the biomechanical stimuli arising from 3D Matrigel activated the F-actin/ITGB8/TRIM59/AKT/mTOR/glycolysis pathways to enhance the softness and tumorigenic capacity of tumor cells. Simultaneously, we detected a remarkable up-regulation in ITGB8, TRIM59, and phospho-AKT in clinical bladder recurrent tumors compared with their non-recurrent counterparts.Conclusions::The ITGB8/TRIM59/AKT/mTOR/glycolysis axis plays a crucial role in modulating tumor softness and stemness. Meanwhile, the soft tumor cells become more sensitive to chemotherapy after stiffening, that offers new insights for hampering tumor progression and recurrence.

Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) are major outer membrane components of Gram-negative bacteria. Unlike most Gram-negative bacteria, Acinetobacter baumannii can still survive and acquire polymyxin resistance after complete loss of LPS. Previous studies of LPS-deficient Acinetobacter baumannii mostly focused on LPS-deficient strains induced by polymyxin, whose background was complex and unstable. To investigate LPS loss-mediated polymyxin resistant-Acinetobacter baumannii, this study constructed a stable and clear background LPS-deficient strain by knocking out lpxC gene in Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC 19606 with CIRSPR/Cas9, and then studied the phenotypic changes of the lpxC-deficient strain including morphology, growth rate, antibiotic susceptibility, virulence, membrane permeability, and membrane potential. Animal experiments were approved by the Animal Care and Welfare Committee Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, CAMS and PUMC (approval number: IMB-20240119D₉). The results indicated that the lpxC gene of Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC 19606 was successfully knocked out. After losing the lpxC, the strain underwent the morphological change from rod-shaped to spherical. Furthermore, it leads to reduced growth rate, enhanced membrane permeability, decreased membrane potential, lower virulence, and increased antibiotic susceptibility to β-lactams, quinolones, aminoglycosides, macrolides, glycopeptides. The lpxC deletion results in significant changes in membrane homeostasis and adaptability of Acinetobacter baumannii. Understanding the phenotypic changes of colistin-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii mediated by LPS loss is useful for exploring the resistance mechanism of Acinetobacter baumannii and developing new therapeutic strategies.

Objective:To investigate the potential value of saccade and antisaccade parameters in early identification of Parkinson′s disease (PD) and its motor subtypes.Methods:A total of 111 PD patients [tremor dominant (TD) type in 45, postural instability/gait difficulty (PIGD) type in 54 and indeterminate type in 12)] and 54 healthy controls were recruited from Department of Neurology, Guangdong Provincial People′s Hospital from July 2022 to July 2023. All subjects underwent oculomotor test including visually guided saccades and volitional antisaccades by the Eyeknow-M10-B Eye tracker. For PD patients, TD and PIGD scores were measured using the Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson′s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) Part Ⅱ and Part Ⅲ. Oculomotor parameters among TD, PIGD patients and healthy controls were firstly compared. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to assess the relationship between ocular parameters with differences and TD/PIGD score. Then receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was made between PD patients and healthy controls, as well as between PIGD and TD subtypes.Results:Compared to healthy controls, PD patients showed significantly decreased saccadic accuracy [100.0%(90.0%, 100.0%) vs 100.0%(100.0%, 100.0%), U=1 732.500, P<0.001], prolonged latency [252.2(228.5, 300.1) ms vs 227.7(214.2, 241.8) ms, U=1 401.000, P<0.001], minimum duration [233.6(211.2, 278.8) ms vs 211.0(200.0, 222.5) ms, U=1 534.500, P<0.001], average duration [356.6(313.8, 427.8) ms vs 279.4(267.4, 312.9) ms, U=881.000, P<0.001],as well as decreased peak [444.4(335.0, 593.7) °/s vs 526.7(412.6, 696.2) °/s, U=1 971.000, P=0.007] and average velocity [196.3(144.4, 240.5) °/s vs 256.7(226.7, 312.0) °/s, U=1 330.000, P<0.001] in saccades. And in antisaccades, PD patients also showed prolonged latency [432.0(362.9, 599.8) ms vs 352.9(309.8, 407.6) ms, U=1 553.000, P<0.001], minimum duration [333.4(299.8, 377.6) ms vs 290.1(263.9, 332.9) ms, U=1 608.000, P<0.001], average duration [518.2(462.7, 603.5) ms vs 424.2(377.1, 473.5) ms, U=1 181.000, P<0.001], decreased peak [458.5(327.9, 604.3) °/s vs 560.4(440.3, 698.5) °/s, U=1 838.500, P=0.001] and average velocity [186.6(143.1, 228.1) °/s vs 263.2(217.2, 301.5) °/s, U=1 131.000, P<0.001]. There was no statistically significant difference in antisaccadic accuracy [55.0%(15.0%, 80.0%) vs 66.7%(39.4%, 86.9%), U=2 167.500, P=0.053]. Compared with TD subtype, PIGD patients showed significantly decreased antisaccadic peak velocity [416.2(300.3, 534.3) °/s vs 527.1(402.3, 636.4) °/s, U=-26.474, P=0.009]. After adjusting for age, gender and education, antisaccadic peak velocity was negatively correlated with PIGD score in PD patients (β=-0.296, P=0.001), and no correlation with TD score was found. The ROC analysis was performed on combined saccadic and antisaccade metrics between PD patients and healthy controls, with area under the curve (AUC) as 0.918. For antisaccadic peak velocity between PIGD and TD subtypes, the AUC was 0.690. Conclusions:Eye movement metrics have potential value in distinguishing PD patients from healthy controls. The antisaccadic peak velocity is related to the severity of motor symptoms in PIGD patients, which is helpful for distinguishing the motor subtypes of PD patients.

Objective Through the combined detection method,we tried to find more sensitive biomarkers for the diagnosis of acute TBI,which might provide the exact diagnosis,treatment and monitoring indicators for the clinic.Methods A total of 156 patients with acute TBI admitted to the Emergency Traumatic Center of Yan'an Hospital of Kunming from October 2022 to June 2023 were collected and included the normal and fracture control groups.Peripheral blood samples of the enrolled patients were collected and monitored,S100β and IL-6 were tested and clinical data such as hs-CRP was collected immediately upon admission,then statistical analysisanalysis was conducted.Results Peripheral blood in patients with acute TBI,The levels of S100β,IL-6 and hs-CRP significantly increased,and the area under the ROC curve for diagnosing acute TBI was 0.944,0.915,and 0.897.The combined detection of the three indicators showed an area under the ROC curve of up to 0.975.Person correlation analysis found a positive correlation between the three indicators,especially S100β with IL-6,The correlation coefficient between them is 0.715.Binary logistic regression analysis found that S100β,IL-6 and hs-CRP are independent risk factors for acute TBI.Conclusions The combined detection of S100β,IL-6 and hs-CRP can effectively improve the sensitivity of acute TBI diagnosis.The mutual promotion of S100β and IL-6 may aggravate the secondary craniocerebral injury caused by inflammatory mechanism,and early targeted treatment may improve the prognosis.

BACKGROUND: The prognostic benefit of complete revascularization in elderly patients (aged over 75 years) with multi-vessel disease and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is currently unclear. This study aimed to determine the long-term prognostic impact of complete revascularization in this population. METHODS: We conducted this study using data obtained from the BleeMACS (Bleeding complications in a Multicenter registry of patients discharged after an Acute Coronary Syndrome) registry, which was carried out from 2003 to 2014. The objective was to categorize older patients diagnosed with ACS into two groups: those who underwent complete revascularization and those who did not. Propensity score matching and the Kaplan-Meier analysis were employed to examine differences in one-year clinical outcomes. The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE), which encompassed a combination of all-cause mortality and myocardial infarction. RESULTS: Out of 1263 patients evaluated, 445 patients (35.2%) received complete revascularization. Patients who underwent complete revascularization had a higher prevalence of hypertension and prior percutaneous coronary intervention compared to those who did not. During the one-year follow-up period, complete revascularization was associated with a significantly decreased risk of MACE [13.7% vs. 20.5%, hazard ratio (HR) = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.45-0.88, P = 0.007] and a lower risk of myocardial infarction (5.9% vs. 9.9%, HR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.33-0.92, P = 0.02). However, it was not linked to a lower risk of all-cause death (9.5% vs. 13.5%, HR = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.45-1.02, P = 0.06). Similar results were observed in the subgroup analysis. CONCLUSIONS Long-term clinical improvements were observed in ACS patients aged over 75 years with multi-vessel disease who achieved complete revascularization. Therefore, adhering to guidelines for complete revascularization should be recommended for elderly patients.

BACKGROUND: Abnormal type I collagen (COL1) expression is associated with the development of many cardiovascular diseases. The TGF-beta/Smad signaling pathway and circRNAs have been shown to regulate COL1 gene expression, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are still not fully understood. METHODS: Gain- and loss-of-function experiments were prformed to study the effect of circZBTB46 on the expression of alpha 2 chain of type I collagen (COL1A2). Co-immunoprecipitation assay was performed to observe the interaction between two proteins. RNA immunoprecipitation assay and biotin pull-down assay were performed to observe the interaction of circZBTB46 with PDLIM5. RESULTS: In this study, we investigated the role of circZBTB46 in regulating COL1A2 expression in human vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). We found that circZBTB46 is expressed in VSMCs and that TGF-beta inhibits circZBTB46 formation by downregulating KLF4 expression through activation of the Smad signaling pathway. CircZBTB46 inhibits the expression of COL1A2 induced by TGF-beta. Mechanistically, circZBTB46 mediates the interaction between Smad2 and PDLIM5, resulting in the inhibition of Smad signaling and the subsequent downregulation of COL1A2 expression. Furthermore, we found that the expression of TGF-beta and COL1A2 is decreased, while circZBTB46 expression is increased in human abdominal aortic aneurysm tissues, indicating that circZBTB46-mediated regulation of TGF-beta/Smad signaling and COL1A2 synthesis in VSMCs plays a crucial role in vascular homeostasis and aneurysm development. CONCLUSIONS CircZBTB46 was identified as a novel inhibitor of COL1 synthesis in VSMCs, highlighting the importance of circZBTB46 and PDLIM5 in regulating TGF-beta/Smad signaling and COL1A2 expression.

Parkinson′s disease (PD) is the most common age-related neurodegenerative disease, which has the effects on the patients′ quality of life and brings a huge burden to the society and family. The pathological feature of PD is the abnormal accumulation of alpha-synuclein (α-syn) in the brain of substantia nigra-striatum, mediating the death of dopaminergic neurons. However, further studies have found that α-syn mediates the abnormal function of astrocytes leading to the destruction of the blood-brain barrier and the release of inflammatory factors caused by microglia, which are related to the pathogenesis of PD. Therefore, neurons, glial cells, and blood vessels as a whole named neurovascular unit can better reflect the pathophysiological environment of PD and reveal the PD pathogenesis. Studies have detected the ways of α-syn transmission, such as prion-like, tunneling nanotubes, exosomes, are connected with the pathogenesis and progression of PD. The Braak stage and the prospective cohort of early PD provide a view that the peripheral α-syn to the central nervous system may be an another important way to mediate the pathogenesis and progression of PD. The research about the abnormal aggregation and spread of α-syn can provide the new theory for the pathogenesis of PD and the new disease modifying therapy of PD. This article reviews the role of abnormal aggregation and transmission of α-syn in the pathogenesis of PD.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the regulatory effect and mechanism of DNA methyltransferase 3A (DNMT3a) in hydroquinone-induced hematopoietic stem cell toxicity. METHODS: Cells (HSPC-1) were divided into 4 groups, that is A: normal HSPC-1; B: HQ-intervented HSPC-1; C: group B + pcDNA3 empty vector; D: group B + pcDNA3- DNMT3a. RT-qPCR and Western blot were used to detect the expression levels of DNMT3a and PARP-1 mRNA and protein, respectively. Cell morphology was observe; Cell viability and apoptosis rate of HSPC-1 were detected by MTT and flow cytometry, respectively. RESULTS: Compared with group A, the expression levels of DNMT3a mRNA and protein in HSPC-1 of group B were decreased, while PARP-1 mRNA and protein were increased (P<0.05); there was no significant difference in the above indexes between group C and group B; compared with group B, the expression levels of DNMT3a mRNA and protein showed increased, while PARP-1 mRNA and protein were decreased significantly in cells of group D transfected with DNMT3a (P<0.05). Cells in each group were transfected with DNMT3a and cultured for 24 h, HSPC-1 in group A showed high density growth and mononuclear fusion growth, while the number of HSPC-1 in group B and C decreased and grew slowly. Compared with group B and C, the cell growth rate of group D was accelerated. The MTT analysis showed that cell viability of HSPC-1 in group B were lower than that of group A at 24 h, 48 h and 72 h (P<0.05); after transfected with DNMT3a, the cell viability of HSPC-1 in group D were higher than that of group B at 24 h, 48 h and 72 h (P<0.05). The apoptosis rate of cells in group B was significantly higher than that of group A (P<0.001), while the apoptosis rate in group D was lower than that of group B (P<0.001). CONCLUSION DNMT3a may be involved in the damage of hematopoietic stem cells induced by hydroquinone, which may be related to the regulation of PARP-1 activity by hydroquinone-inhibited DNMT3a.
Apoptosis ; Cell Proliferation ; DNA Methyltransferase 3A ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells/drug effects* ; Humans ; Hydroquinones/toxicity* ; Poly (ADP-Ribose) Polymerase-1 ; RNA, Messenger/metabolism*

China ; Cognition ; Digestive System Surgical Procedures ; Enhanced Recovery After Surgery ; Humans ; Length of Stay