The accumulation of uremic toxins such as urea nitrogen, blood creatinine, and uric acid of patients with renal failure in vivo would lead to aggravated kidney damage. In this study, coated aldehyde oxy-starch (CAO) was used as an adsorbent to investigate its in vitro adsorption performance on renal failure indexes for urea, indoxyl sulfate (INS), monomethylamine (MMA), dimethylamine (DMA), uric acid (UA), and creatinine (Cr). The effects of variables such as pH, temperature, concentration, dosage, and time on the adsorption capacity of CAO were systematically investigated, employing analytical techniques of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography (GC). The results revealed that CAO exhibited a strong adsorption capacity for urea, INS, and MMA, alongside a moderate adsorption capacity for DMA, UA, and Cr. The adsorption kinetics and thermodynamic studies indicated that the adsorption of urea and UA by CAO were fitted in pseudo-first-order kinetics, and the adsorption isotherm aligned with the Freundlich adsorption model. The enthalpy change ΔH of urea in adsorption was in the range of 40 to 60 kJ·mol^-1, which demonstrated the presence of strong adsorption force due to the interactions of coordinating groups. The ΔH of UA was greater than 80 kJ·mol^-1, indicating the generation of chemical bonds during the adsorption. Both of them, Gibbs free energy ΔG was less than 0, within the range of -20 to 0 kJ·mol^-1, suggested that the adsorption of urea and UA by CAO occurred spontaneously as physical adsorption process. The adsorption entropy ΔS of urea and UA was > 0, which indicated an increase in entropy throughout the adsorption. The infrared spectroscopygram showed the formation of a chemical bond, specifically the imine bond, following the adsorption of urea by CAO, thereby indicating a chemical reaction during the adsorption. This study elucidates the adsorption mechanism of CAO on various indexes of renal failure, providing a scientific basis for its clinical usage.

BACKGROUND:As a degradable scaffold material for bone tissue engineering,lactic acid is widely used in tissue regeneration and repair research,and plays an important role in promoting tissue healing,new bone formation and angiogenesis. OBJECTIVE:To observe the effect of lactic acid degradation products on osteoclasts and to investigate the effects of lactic-interfered osteoclast conditioned medium on the proliferation,migration and tube-forming capacity of human umbilical vein endothelial cells. METHODS:(1)The mouse monocyte macrophage cell line RAW264.7 at logarithmic growth period was selected,and adherent cells were cultured in the osteoclast induction medium(DMEM medium with nuclear factor-κB receptor-activating factor ligand and 10%fetal bovine serum)containing different concentrations of lactic acid(0,5,10,20 mmol/L).After 5 days of culture,tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase staining and cytoskeletal fibrillar actin staining were conducted.After 24 hours of culture,RT-PCR was used to detect the mRNA expression of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5.(2)RAW264.7 cells at logarithmic growth period were selected and adherent cells were divided into two groups.Control group was cultured in the osteoclast induction medium,while experimental group was cultured in the osteoclast induction medium containing 10 mmol/L lactic acid.After 5 days of culture,the medium in each group was removed and the cells in the two groups were cultured in the serum-free DMEM medium for another 24 hours.Cell supernatant was then collected and used as the conditioned medium after mixed with an equal volume of DMEM medium containing 10%fetal bovine serum.Human umbilical vein endothelial cells at the logarithmic growth phase were taken and separately co-cultured with the conditioned medium of the control and experimental groups.The proliferation,migration and tube-forming ability of human umbilical vein endothelial cells were observed by cell counting kit-8 assay,migration assay,scratch assay and tube-forming assay.The mRNA and protein expression of angiogenesis-related genes and proteins were observed by RT-PCR and western blot. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase staining and cytoskeletal fibrillar actin staining showed that 5 and 10 mmol/L lactic acid promoted osteoclastic differentiation of RAW264.7 cells and the promoting effect of 10 mmol/L lactate was more significant.RT-PCR results showed that the expression of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase-5 mRNA of osteoclast-related genes was the highest when the lactic acid concentration was 5,10,and 20 mmol/L(P<0.05),especially 10 mmol/L.Compared with the control group,the proliferation,migration and tube-forming abilities of human umbilical vein endothelial cells were significantly increased in the experimental group(P<0.05).Compared with the control group,the expression levels of vascular endothelial growth factor and angiogenin 1 mRNA and protein were increased in the experimental group(P<0.05).To conclude,lactate-induced osteoclast conditioned medium could promote the angiogenesis of endothelial cells,and the mechanism may be related to the promotion of the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and angiogenin 1.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of lenvatinib combined with camrelizumab as the second-line treatment for advanced intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC).Methods:The clinical data of patients with advanced ICC undergoing the second-line treatment of lenvatinib combined with camrelizumab in the Affiliated Changzhou No. 2 People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from June 2021 to June 2022 were screened and analyzed. A total of 12 patients were enrolled, including seven males and five females, aged (67.5±8.6) years. Response evaluation criteria in solid tumor 1.1 was used to evaluate the efficacy of treatment. The safety assessment adopts the Adverse Event Evaluation Standard 5.0. Kaplan-Meier method was conducted to plot survival curves.Results:Among the 12 patients (after 1-7 cycles of immune and targeted therapy), three achieved partial response, four achieved stable disease, and five were defined as progression disease. Adverse events of different degrees occurred in seven cases, among which three patients had adverse events of grade ≥ 3: one with hypertension, which was managed after antihypertensive and symptomatic treatment; one with elevated serum total bilirubin, which was improved after reducing the dose of lenvatinib; one with liver dysfunction, which was considered as immune-related liver toxicity and alleviated after discontinuing camrelizumab. The 1-month, 3-month, and 6-month survival rates and progression-free survival rates of the patients were 100.0%, 91.7%, 66.7%, and 83.3%, 41.7%, and 25.0%, respectively. The median overall survival of patients was 14.7 months (95% CI: 9.2-21.2) and the median time to progression was 8.0 months (95% CI: 4.1-11.9). Conclusion:Combination of lenvatinib and camrelizumab could bring survival benefits with controllable adverse events as the second-line treatment of patients with advanced ICC.

Objective:To construct an evaluation system for clinical thinking ability of general practitioners in the treatment of multimorbidity.Methods:This was a cross-sectional study. The draft of evaluation indexes for clinical thinking ability of general practitioners in treatment of multimorbidity was preliminary developed through literature review, collation, analysis and discussion. Nineteen clinical and teaching experts of general practice were selected for consultation via anonymous convenient sampling. From January to June 2022, 2 rounds of expert consultation were conducted using the Delphi method. During the first round of consultation, according to the survey feedback, we modified and improved the evaluation system of general practitioners′ clinical thinking ability for multi-disease co-treatment. During the second round, experts were asked to assess the importance of each index, and to calculate the weight of each index accordingly. Questionnaires were sent to experts via letters. The content of the questionnaires encompasses the basic information of experts, evaluation for various indexes and relevant opinions. The mean value of importance assignment ≥3.5, coefficient of variation ≤0.25 and the full score frequency ≥30% were taken as the criteria. Indexes unsatisfying the criteria were removed, so that the final index system could be constructed.Results:The average age of 19 experts was 50.2 years old, 9 of them were male. A total of 2 rounds of expert consultation were conducted, 19 questionnaires were issued in each round, and 19 effective questionnaires were received afterwards. In the first round of consultation, 10 experts put forward revised opinions, and some indexes were adjusted according to the definition criteria and the discussion of the research group. In the second round of consultation, 3 experts put forward suggestions for modification. According to the definition criteria, no need to delete the indexes. After discussion by the research group, some indexes were adjusted, and finally an evaluation system of clinical thinking ability for multi-disease co-treatment of general practitioners was established, including 4 first-level indexes and 30 second-level indexes. The weights of the 4 first-level indexes in descending order were "overall thinking ability" (38.01%), "diagnostic thinking ability" (33.96%), "evidence-based thinking ability" (14.75%), and "critical thinking ability" (13.28%). Among the 30 secondary indexes, the top 5 were "ability to identify and handle priority emergency incidents" (5.04%), "risk assessment and critical illness identification ability" (4.63%), "emergency referral ability" (4.61%), "communication and expression ability" (4.57%), and "standardized diagnosis and treatment ability" (4.23%).Conclusion:This study successfully constructed an evaluation system for clinical thinking ability of general practitioners in the treatment of multimorbidity.

Objective:To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics of early gastric cancer with mixed histological staging, and to analyze the prognostic effect of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for early gastric cancer.Methods:Clinical data of early gastric cancer patients treated with ESD in Gansu Wuwei Cancer Hospital from January 2011 to March 2020 were collected, and clinicopathological characteristics of patients with mixed-type early gastric cancer were analyzed by descriptive statistical methods. The clinical effects and influencing factors of ESD on early gastric cancer were analyzed by logistic regression. Kaplan-Meier was used to estimate the survival rate, and log-rank test was used to compare the survival rate.Results:A total of 269 patients (280 lesions) were included in this study, including 216 males (80.30%) and 53 females (19.70%), with age of 60.43±8.01 years. There were 25 lesions (8.93%) of mixed early gastric cancer, 248 lesions (88.57%) of differentiated early gastric cancer, and 7 lesions (2.50%) of undifferentiated early gastric cancer. Compared with differentiated and undifferentiated early gastric cancer, the lesion site of mixed early gastric cancer was mainly located in the upper 1/3 of the stomach [64.00% (16/25), 40.73% (101/248) VS 0.00% (0/7), χ2=10.211, P=0.006], the proportion of the lesion size ≤2 cm was relatively small [52.00% (13/25), 80.65% (200/248) VS 85.71% (6/7), χ2=11.173, P=0.004], and the proportion of infiltration depth in the mucosa was lower [52.00% (13/25), 85.48% (212/248) VS 57.14% (4/7), χ2=20.019, P<0.001], the proportion of positive vertical resection margin was relatively high [20.00% (5/25), 2.82% (7/248) VS 0.00% (0/7), χ2=16.657, P<0.001], the proportion of vascular invasion was higher than that of differentiated carcinoma but lower than that of undifferentiated carcinoma [36.00% (9/25), 2.42% (6/248) VS 42.86% (3/7), χ2=58.413, P<0.001], the complete resection rate was lower [76.00% (19/25), 93.15% (231/248) VS 100.00% (7/7), χ2=9.497, P=0.009], the curative resection rate was lower than that of differentiated early gastric cancer, but higher than that of undifferentiated early gastric cancer [48.00% (12/25), 89.52% (222/248) VS 42.86% (3/7), χ2=39.757, P<0.001], and the proportion of eCura grade C2 was higher than that of differentiated cancer, but lower than that of undifferentiated cancer [48.00% (12/25), 5.65% (14/248) VS 57.14% (4/7), χ2=58.766, P<0.001]. The results of multivariate analysis showed that the larger lesions ( P=0.004, OR=0.539, 95% CI: 0.354-0.822) was the risk factor for curative resection. In terms of infiltration depth, mucosal ( P=0.001, OR=51.799, 95% CI: 5.535-84.768) and submucosal 1 ( P<0.001, OR=29.301, 95% CI: 24.694-73.972) were protective factors for curative resection compared with submucosal 2. In terms of differentiation degree, compared with mixed type, differentiated type ( P=0.024, OR=3.947, 95% CI: 1.195-13.032) was the protective factor for curative resection, while undifferentiated type ( P=0.443, OR=0.424, 95% CI: 0.048-3.788) showed no difference between curative resection and mixed type. During the follow-up, 7 patients died. The overall survival time was 114.42±0.97 months, and the 5-year survival rate was 97.10%. There was no significant difference in the survival rate of early gastric cancer patients with different degrees of differentiation ( χ2=0.434, P=0.805). The survival rate of early gastric cancer patients with or without curative resection was significantly different ( χ2=4.081, P=0.043). Conclusion:Mixed early gastric cancer patients show high margin positive rate, vascular infiltration, and less curative resection than differentiated early gastric cancer. Therefore, the process of treating mixed early gastric cancer should be more rigorous. The long-term survival prognosis of early gastric cancer after ESD treatment is promising.

Objective:To investigate the safety and effectiveness of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) for the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric pancreaticobiliary maljunction (PBM).Methods:Data of 40 pediatric patients under 14 with PBM diagnosed and treated by ERCP at Department of Gastroenterology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, the Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School from November 2012 to September 2022 were collected. PBM types, ERCP-related diagnosis and treatment, adverse events and prognosis were retrospectively analyzed.Results:Nineteen cases were P-B type (joining of common bile duct with pancreatic duct), 17 were B-P type (joining of pancreatic duct with common bile duct), and 4 were complex type. Forty children with PBM underwent 50 ERCP-related operations, among which 48 procedures succeeded. One case failed during cannulation of ERCP, replaced by rendezvous-assisted endoscopic retrograde pancreatography (RV-ERP) afterwards. There were no serious postoperative adverse events such as bleeding, perforation or death. Thirty-four patients (85%) were followed up successfully, among which 14 underwent further surgery and 20 continued conservative treatment.Conclusion:ERCP is the golden standard to diagnose pediatric PBM, and it is also safe and effective treatment for PBM.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly malignant solid tumor of the digestive system, characterized by rapid progression and difficulties of early diagnosis. Five-year survival rate of the patients is less than 9%. With the acceleration of global population aging and lifestyle change, the incidence of PDAC has been increasing annually. Currently, surgical treatment and chemotherapy remain the standard treatment options for PDAC patients. Early symptoms of PDAC are so undetectable that most patients miss the optimal opportunity for radical surgical resection. Even among those who undergo surgery, the high recurrence rate remains a major problem. PDAC is known for its unique tumor microenvironment. The cellular and non-cellular components in the tumor microenvironment account for as much as 90% of the tumor stroma, presenting many potential targets for PDAC therapy. Activated pancreatic stellate cells within PDAC tissue express specific proteins and secrete various cytokines and metabolites, which directly contribute to the proliferation, invasion, and metastasis of PDAC cells. These elements are critical in extracellular matrix production, connective tissue hyperplasia, immune tolerance, and drug resistance. Immune cells, such as macrophages and neutrophils, exert immunosuppressive and tumor-promoting roles in PDAC progression. The extracellular matrix, which serve as a natural physical barrier, induces interstitial hypertension and reduces blood supply, thereby hindering the delivery of drugs to the tumor. Additionally, it helps the metastasis and differentiation of PDAC cells, reducing the efficacy of clinical chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Although chemotherapeutic agents like gemcitabine have been used in the clinical treatment of PDAC for more than 20 years, the curative effect is obstructed by their poor stability in the bloodstream, low cellular uptake, and poor targeting. While small-molecule inhibitors targeting mutations such as KRAS^G12C, BRCA, and NTRK fusion have shown great potential for molecular targeted treatments and gene therapies of PDAC, their broader application is limited by side effects and restricted scope of patients. The advancement of nanotechnology brings new strategies for PDAC treatment. By virtue of unique size characteristics and actual versatility, different drug-delivery nanosystems contribute to overcome the dense stromal barrier, prolong the circulation time of therapeutics and realize precise PDAC treatment by targeted drug delivery. Clinical nanodrugs such as albumin-bound paclitaxel (nab-paclitaxel) and irinotecan liposome greatly improve the pharmacokinetics of conventional chemotherapeutics and promote drug accumulation inside the tumor, thereby are applying to the first-line treatment of PDAC. It is noteworthy that none nanodrugs with active targeting design have been approved for clinical treatment yet, though many are in clinical trials. In this review, we discuss promising targeting strategies based on different nanodrug delivery systems for treatment of PDAC. One major nanostrategy focuses on the tumor cell targeting and its applications in chemotherapy, molecular targeting therapy, gene therapy, and immunotherapy of PDAC. Another nanostrategy targets the tumor microenvironment, which highlights the nanosystems specifically regulating pancreatic stellate cells, immune cells and the extracellular matrix. Recent progress of developing new nanotheraputics for breakthrough in the fight of PDAC are elaborated in this review. We also provide our perspectives on the challenges and opportunities in the field.

Objective:To analyze the status quo and influencing factors of the equity,accessibility and sustainability of the development of medical insurance for urban and rural residents in 2021,and provide a reference for improving the management and service level of medical insurance.Methods:Firstly,the"evaluation index system of medical insurance for urban and rural residents"was constructed,and the total index of the development level of medical insurance and its three subsystem indexes of equity,accessibility and sustainability were calculated.Secondly,the Theil index was used to measure the level differences of the three major regions in the east,central and west,and the spatial auto-correlation was used to analyze the spatial agglomeration and heterogeneity distribution pattern of the total index.Finally,a geographic weighted regression model was constructed to analyze the main influencing factors.Results:There were provincial differences in the development level of medical insurance,which showed a decreasing trend from east to west in geography and a random distribution pattern in space.Policy factors,economic factors,population structure,medical resource allocation and education level had a significant impact on the development level of medical insurance.Conclusions:It is proposed to promote the fairness at multiple levels,enhance the accessibility in all directions and dynamically improve the sustainability,and further explore the policy suggestions to improve the management and service level and enhance the residents'sense of experience,sense of gain and sense of happiness.

Objective:To analyze the status quo and influencing factors of the equity,accessibility and sustainability of the development of medical insurance for urban and rural residents in 2021,and provide a reference for improving the management and service level of medical insurance.Methods:Firstly,the"evaluation index system of medical insurance for urban and rural residents"was constructed,and the total index of the development level of medical insurance and its three subsystem indexes of equity,accessibility and sustainability were calculated.Secondly,the Theil index was used to measure the level differences of the three major regions in the east,central and west,and the spatial auto-correlation was used to analyze the spatial agglomeration and heterogeneity distribution pattern of the total index.Finally,a geographic weighted regression model was constructed to analyze the main influencing factors.Results:There were provincial differences in the development level of medical insurance,which showed a decreasing trend from east to west in geography and a random distribution pattern in space.Policy factors,economic factors,population structure,medical resource allocation and education level had a significant impact on the development level of medical insurance.Conclusions:It is proposed to promote the fairness at multiple levels,enhance the accessibility in all directions and dynamically improve the sustainability,and further explore the policy suggestions to improve the management and service level and enhance the residents'sense of experience,sense of gain and sense of happiness.

Objective:To analyze the status quo and influencing factors of the equity,accessibility and sustainability of the development of medical insurance for urban and rural residents in 2021,and provide a reference for improving the management and service level of medical insurance.Methods:Firstly,the"evaluation index system of medical insurance for urban and rural residents"was constructed,and the total index of the development level of medical insurance and its three subsystem indexes of equity,accessibility and sustainability were calculated.Secondly,the Theil index was used to measure the level differences of the three major regions in the east,central and west,and the spatial auto-correlation was used to analyze the spatial agglomeration and heterogeneity distribution pattern of the total index.Finally,a geographic weighted regression model was constructed to analyze the main influencing factors.Results:There were provincial differences in the development level of medical insurance,which showed a decreasing trend from east to west in geography and a random distribution pattern in space.Policy factors,economic factors,population structure,medical resource allocation and education level had a significant impact on the development level of medical insurance.Conclusions:It is proposed to promote the fairness at multiple levels,enhance the accessibility in all directions and dynamically improve the sustainability,and further explore the policy suggestions to improve the management and service level and enhance the residents'sense of experience,sense of gain and sense of happiness.