Objective This study aimed to comprehensively analyze and compare the clinicopathological features and prognosis of Chinese patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2(HER2)-low early breast cancer(BC)and HER2-IHC0 BC. Methods Patients diagnosed with HER2-negative BC(N=999)at our institution between January 2011 and December 2015 formed our study population.Clinicopathological characteristics,association between estrogen receptor(ER)expression and HER2-low,and evolution of HER2 immunohistochemical(IHC)score were assessed.Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test were used to compare the long-term survival outcomes(5-year follow-up)between the HER2-IHC0 and HER2-low groups. Results HER2-low BC group tended to demonstrate high expression of ER and more progesterone receptor(PgR)positivity than HER2-IHC0 BC group(P<0.001).The rate of HER2-low status increased with increasing ER expression levels(Mantel-Haenszel χ2 test,P<0.001,Pearson's R=0.159,P<0.001).Survival analysis revealed a significantly longer overall survival(OS)in HER2-low BC group than in HER2-IHC0 group(P=0.007)in the whole cohort and the hormone receptor(HR)-negative group.There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of disease-free survival(DFS).The discordance rate of HER2 IHC scores between primary and metastatic sites was 36.84%. Conclusion HER2-low BC may not be regarded as a unique BC group in this population-based study due to similar clinicopathological features and prognostic roles.

This study analyzed the anemia status and change trend of 219 835 pregnant women in eight provinces from 2016 to 2020 in the Maternal and Newborn Health Monitoring Program(MNHMP). The results showed that from 2016 to 2020, the anemia rate of pregnant women in eight provinces was 41.27%, and the rates of mild, moderate and severe anemia were 28.56%, 12.59% and 0.12% respectively; the anemia rates in eastern, central and western regions were 41.87%, 36.09% and 44.63% respectively, and the anemia rates in urban and rural areas were 39.87% and 42.23%. From 2016 to 2020, the anemia rate of pregnant women decreased from 44.93% to 38.22%, with an average annual decline of 3.86% (95%CI:-5.84%, -1.85%). The anemia rate among pregnant women of the eastern region (AAPC=-6.16%, 95%CI:-9.79%, -2.38%) fell faster than that among pregnant women of the central region (AAPC=0.71%, 95%CI:-6.59%, 8.57%) and western region (AAPC=-1.53%, 95%CI:-5.19%, 2.28%). From 2016 to 2020, the moderate anemia rate in pregnant women decreased from 14.98% to 10.74%, with an average annual decline of 8.72% (95%CI:-12.90%, -4.34%), with a statistically significant difference (P<0.05); AAPC for mild and severe anemia in pregnant women was 1.56% (95%CI: 3.44%, 0.36%) and 18.86% (95%CI: 39.88%, 9.52%), respectively, without statistically significant difference (P>0.05).
Infant, Newborn ; Female ; Humans ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women ; Prevalence ; Anemia/epidemiology* ; China/epidemiology* ; Family ; Rural Population

The present study analyzed the predictive value of combined analysis of collapsin response mediator protein 4 (CRMP4) methylation levels and the Cancer of the Prostate Risk Assessment (CAPRA-S) Postsurgical score of patients who required adjuvant hormone therapy (AHT) after radical prostatectomy (RP). We retrospectively analyzed 305 patients with prostate cancer (PCa) who received RP and subsequent androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). Two hundred and thirty patients with clinically high-risk PCa underwent immediate ADT, and 75 patients with intermediate risk PCa underwent deferred ADT. CRMP4 methylation levels in biopsies were determined, and CAPRA-S scores were calculated. In the deferred ADT group, the values of the hazard ratios for tumor progression and cancer-specific mortality (CSM) in patients with ≥15% CRMP4 methylation were 6.81 (95% CI: 2.34-19.80) and 12.83 (95% CI: 2.16-26.10), respectively. Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis indicated that CRMP4 methylation levels ≥15% served as a significant prognostic marker of tumor progression and CSM. In the immediate ADT group, CAPRA-S scores ≥6 and CRMP4 methylation levels ≥15% were independent predictors of these outcomes (uni- and multi-variable Cox regression analyses). The differences in the 5-year progression-free survival between each combination were statistically significant. Combining CAPRA-S score and CRMP4 methylation levels improved the area under the curve compared with the CRMP4 or CAPRA-S model. Therefore, CRMP4 methylation levels ≥15% were significantly associated with a poor prognosis and their combination with CAPRA-S score accurately predicted tumor progression and metastasis for patients requiring AHT after RP.
Aged ; Androgen Antagonists/therapeutic use* ; Biomarkers, Tumor/blood* ; Female ; Hormone Replacement Therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Methylation ; Middle Aged ; Muscle Proteins/metabolism* ; Neoplasm Grading ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Progression-Free Survival ; Prostatectomy ; Prostatic Neoplasms/metabolism* ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Assessment ; Treatment Outcome

As a kind of famous ornamental flowers, Moutan, known as "the king of flower", mainly originates from various cultivars of Paeonia suffruticosa. Moutan Cortex, a common traditional Chinese medicine, has a long medicinal history for more than 2 000 years. At present, "Fengdanpi", which is the root bark of P. ostii mainly growing in Tongling, Anhui, is a sort of Dao-di herbs in traditional Chinese medicine. However,various editions of Chinese pharmacopoeia has been stipulating that Moutan Cortex originates from the bark root of P. suffruticosa. Textual researches on germplasm of ornamental and medicinal Moutan provided that, Xi'an, Luoyang, Pengcheng, Bozhou, Heze and some other famous cultivation centers had been formed throughout the history. In addition, medicinal practitioners in Song Dynasty had been fully aware of the medicinal differences between ornamental and wild Moutan, and preferred wild single flowers as medicinal Moutan. Moreover, none of cultivation centers of ornamental Moutan were recorded in producing areas of medicinal Moutan. So far, Fengdan and Dianjiang Moutan in Chongqing are single flowers, which is consistent with the ancient herbal books. Therefore, this paper believes that the medicinal and ornamental Moutan are two different germplasm since ancient times. And we proposethat Chinese pharmacopoeia should record P. ostii and the single-flower varieties of P. suffruticosa as the original plants of Moutan Cortex.

The effects of four different stocking densities and five different diets on the growth of Bufo gargarizans tadpoles were studied to determine the optimum stocking density and diet. For stocking density experiment, the tadpoles were fed respectively at different density of 200, 500, 1 000 and 2 000 tadpoles per square meter. For diet experiment, the tadpoles were divided into five groups fed respectively with five different diets. The body weight, snout-vent length and tail length were measured every seven days, and mortality was recorded. The results showed that: the survival rates of tadpole before metamorphosis and after metamorphosis were from 68.7% to 96.3% and from 5.7% to 36.0%, respectively; the optimum stocking density is 1 000 tadpoles per square meter for the stocking density had no effect on the survival rate of tadpole before metamorphosis, and the tadpoles had the relative large body weight and survival numbers in 1000 tadpoles per square meter; the diet Ⅱ(37.9% crude protein and 5.7% crude fat), Ⅳ (25.1% crude protein and 4.0% crude fat), and Ⅴ (egg yolk) were all the optimum diets for the diet had no effect on the survival rate of tadpole before metamorphosis and the tadpoles fed with three kinds of diet above had relatively large body weight, and one of these three diets based on their availability and cost should be adopted during breeding period.

OBJECTIVETo explore the abnormal expressions of testicular reproduction-related genes induced by glycosides of Tripterygium wilfordii (GTW) and the intervention with kidney-tonifying Chinese herbs.

METHODSAdult Balb/C male mice were fed on GTW at 30 mg per kg per d for 3 weeks to establish a model of reproductive dysfunction. The model mice were divided into different groups to receive intragastrical administration of saline (0.25 ml/d), GTW (30 mg per kg per d), Cistanche (10 g per kg per d), Rehmannia (10 g per kg per d), and Rehmannia + Cistanche (20 g per kg per d), respectively, once a day for 3 weeks. And a Cistanches pretreatment group was treated with GTW (30 mg per kg per d) and Cistanche (10 g per kg per d) for the same length of time. Then we detected the changed expressions of testicular reproduction-related genes Dzip1, Fas, c-jun and Wnt4 in each group.

RESULTSThe model mice showed an obviously down-regulated expression of the Y chromosome microdeletion-related gene Dzip1, and up-regulated expressions of the germ cell apoptosis-related gene Fas, proto-oncogene c-jun, and signal transduction-related gene Wnt4. Intervention with Chinese herbs achieved different degrees of improvement of the mice's reproductivity, and the most obvious efficacy was observed with the combined use of kidney-yang tonifying Cistanche and kidney-yin nourishing Rehmannia.

CONCLUSIONGTW exerts significant impact on reproduction-related genes. Both the kidney-yang tonifying drug Cistanche and kidney-yin nourishing drug Rehmannia can counteract some of the reproductive toxicity of GTW, while the combination of the two can further enhance the effect.

Animals ; Cistanche ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Glycosides ; pharmacology ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Testis ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Tripterygium ; chemistry

This study was to investigate the antiviral effects of a hot water soluble extract S-03 isolated from Isatis indigotica root on different subtypes of influenza A and B viruses in MDCK cell cultures, using plaque reduction, immunofluorescence and hemo-agglutination inhibition (HAD) assays. Chemical analysis of the extract S-03 showed that it contained high proportion of polysaccharides. The antiviral effects in vitro showed that the S-03 had no effect on different influenza viruses if the drug was used before virus adsorption, but S-03 showed obvious activities against influenza viruses if treatment after virus adsorption or direct reaction of drug and virus before virus adsorption. Hemagglutination inhibition assay showed that S-03 inhibited HA activities of different human influenza viruses (inhibition concentration ranged from 3.12 to 25 mg/mL), avain influenza viruses (inhibition concentration ranged from 25 to 50 mg/mL). The antiviral effects of S-03 on different influenza A and B viruses in vitro might be through the inhibition of the HA to prevent infection.
Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Dogs ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique ; Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests ; Influenza A virus ; drug effects ; Influenza B virus ; drug effects ; Isatis ; chemistry ; Plant Extracts ; pharmacology ; Plant Roots

OBJECTIVETo investigate a non-syndromic deafness family in which potential interaction between the GJB2 gene and a mitochondrial gene appeared to be the cause of hearing impairment.

METHODSAudiological examination was performed by pure-tone audiometry (PTA). Blood samples from 8 members of the pedigree were obtained. DNA was extracted from the leukocytes. The coding region of the GJB2 gene and mitochondrial DNA target fragments were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The PCR products were analyzed by sequencing.

RESULTSDirect sequencing showed that the proband had both a heterozygous mutation of 235delC in the GJB2 gene and a mitochondrial 1555 A to G mutation. The proband had profound hearing loss. The maternal relatives had sensorineural hearing loss in the higher frequencies or no hearing loss.

CONCLUSIONThe GJB2 mutations may be an aggravating factor in the phenotypic expression of the non-syndromic hearing loss associated with the A1555G mitochondrial mutation.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Alleles ; Base Sequence ; Child ; Connexin 26 ; Connexins ; genetics ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; DNA, Mitochondrial ; genetics ; Female ; Genotype ; Hearing Loss ; genetics ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Mutation ; Pedigree ; Phenotype ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide

OBJECTIVETo study the impact of glycosides of tripterygium wilfordii (GTW) on fertility, and the reversibility of this impact following intervention with cistanche deserticola (CD) and after withdrawal of GTW.

METHODSNinety adult male KM mice were equally and randomly divided into 9 groups: 5 GTW groups, treated with GTW at 45.0, 30.0, 22.5, 15 and 7.5 mg/kg x d, respectively, 2 CD groups, administered GTW at 30.0 and 7.5 mg/kg x d, respectively, a drug withdrawal group, given GTW at 30.0 mg/ kg x d, and a control group, given 1% CMC solution, all intragastrically for 20 days. Then they were mated with female mice at the ratio of 1:2 for 7 days, followed by another 20 days of medication, the GTW groups at the same doses, the CD groups given CD additionally at 10.0 g/kg x d and 2.5 g/kg x d respectively, and the withdrawal group given 1% CMC solution only. Again they were mated with the same females, and the pregnancy rate was observed after each mating.

RESULTSThe pregnancy rate dropped with the increase of the dose and medication time of GTW, which was 0% at 40 d in the 45.0 mg/kg x d GTW group (P < 0.01), but rose from 25% at 20 d to 55% at 40 d in the 10.0 g/kg x d CD group, and from 25% at 20 d to 56 % at 40 d in the withdrawal group.

CONCLUSIONThe reproductive toxicity of GTW acts on male mice in a time- and dose-dependent manner, which can be reduced by Cistanche deserticola. The fertility of the male mice can be restored to normal 20 days after the cessation of GTW.

Animals ; Cistanche ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Female ; Glycosides ; pharmacology ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred Strains ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Rate ; Sperm Motility ; drug effects ; Tripterygium ; chemistry

Animals ; Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine ; metabolism ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Carcinoma, Small Cell ; metabolism ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Cell Differentiation ; Chromogranin A ; metabolism ; Humans ; Male ; Neuroendocrine Cells ; metabolism ; pathology ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; physiopathology