Objective We tried to investigate the effects of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell exosomes(hUCMSC-Exos)on the proliferation of human dermal papilla cells(HDPCs)and the mechanism of hUCMSC-Exos promoting hair growth.Methods HDPCs were isolated using two-step enzymatic method and cul-tured in vitro.Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells(hUC-MSCs)were cultured.Cell culture supernatant was collected,and exosomes were isolated and extracted using high-speed centrifugation.Electron microscopy,particle size,and surface marker identification were performed on them.Dihydrotestosterone(DHT)induces HDPCs and establishment of an androgenic alopecia cell model.Co-culture hUCMSC-Exos with HDPCs,cell proliferation experiment(EdU)was used to detect the relative activity of induced HDPCs.Real-time qPCR was used to detect the expression level of alkaline phosphatase(ALP),and Western blot was used to detect β-catenin,Wnt10b,GSK-3β expression at the protein level.Results The obtained primary HDPCs,hUC-MSCs,and hUCMSC-Exos were all conformed to the characteristics of dermal papilla cells,mesenchymal stem cells,and exosomes.The num-ber of EdU positive cells significantly increased,and exosomes could effectively promote the proliferation of HDPCs(P<0.05),enhance the vitality of HDPCs and alleviate the damage caused by DHT(P<0.05).Real-time qPCR showed that exosomes could enhance the expression level of ALP gene(P<0.05)and hair follicle induction ability.Western Blot confirmation β-catenin,Wnt10b,GSK-3β were differences in expression at the protein level(P<0.05).Conclusions HUCMSC-Exos could promote DHT induced proliferation of HDPCs,enhance their hair follicle regeneration and repair ability,and its mechanism may be related to the activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.

Objective:To access the therapeutic efficacy of newly-designed digital cholangioscope-assisted bedside one-stage lithotomy and biliary drainage for severe acute cholangitis caused by choledocholithiasis.Methods:Data of 26 patients were retrospectively analyzed, who were admitted into the intensive care unit (ICU), Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, due to choledocholithiasis induced by severe acute cholangitis and underwent cholangioscope-assisted bedside one-stage lithotomy and biliary drainage from June 2020 to February 2022. Clinical outcomes were analyzed.Results:The time interval from disease onset to endoscopic intervention was 36.2±15.5 hours, with 7.2±4.9 hours from ICU admission to endoscopic intervention. Technical success rate was 100.0% in one-stage stone removal and biliary drainage. Except for one mild pancreatitis, no other complication occurred. Acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE)Ⅱ and sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) scores prior to endoscopic intervention were 25.2±6.6 and 11.9±3.5, respectively. APACHE Ⅱ scores at day 1, 3, and 7 after endoscopic intervention were 21.7±6.5, 17.2±6.8 and 12.7±7.7, respectively, and SOFA scores were 10.6±2.9, 8.4±3.0 and 5.4±3.7, respectively, all of them were lower than those before operation ( P<0.001). The lengths of ICU stay and total hospitalization were 9.7±5.0 days and 12.8±4.5 days, respectively. In-hospital mortality occurred in 3 (11.5%) patients. According to a 6-month follow-up, one patient died of pneumonia, and another died of acute myocardial infarction. No acute cholangitis re-occurred in those survivors. Conclusion:Newly-designed digital cholangioscope-assisted bedside one-stage lithotomy and biliary drainage demonstrate significant improvements in prognosis, highlighting its safety in managing severe acute cholangitis.

Objective:To compare the effects of citrate and heparin anticoagulation on coagulation function and efficacy in children with septic shock undergoing continuous blood purification (CBP), and to provide guidance for CBP anticoagulation in children with septic shock.Methods:A case control study was conducted. Thirty-seven children with septic shock admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of the First Affiliated Hospital of Gannan Medical University from July 2019 to September 2022 were enrolled as the research subjects. The patients were divided into citrate local anticoagulation group and heparin systemic anticoagulation group according to different anticoagulation methods. The baseline data, the level of coagulation indicators [prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), thrombin time (TT), fibrinogen (Fib), D-dimer] before treatment and 1 day after weaning from CBP, serum inflammatory mediators [interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), hypersensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), procalcitonin (PCT)], bleeding complications during CBP and 7-day mortality were collected.Results:A total of 37 cases were enrolled finally, including 17 cases with citric acid local anticoagulation and 20 cases with heparin systemic anticoagulation. There was no statistically significant difference in general data such as gender, age, and body weight of children between the two groups. There were no statistically significant differences in baseline levels of coagulation indicators and inflammatory mediators before treatment of children between the two groups. One day after weaning from CBP, both groups showed varying degrees of improvement in coagulation indicators compared with those before treatment. Compared with before treatment, the PT of the heparin systemic anticoagulation group was significantly shortened after 1 day of weaning (s: 11.82±2.05 vs. 13.64±2.54), APTT and TT were significantly prolonged [APTT (s): 51.54±12.69 vs. 35.53±10.79, TT (s): 21.95±4.74 vs. 19.30±3.33], D-dimer level was significantly reduced (mg/L: 1.92±1.58 vs. 4.94±3.94), with statistically significant differences (all P < 0.05). While in the citrate local anticoagulation group, only APTT was significantly prolonged after treatment compared with that before treatment (s: 49.28±10.32 vs. 34.34±10.32, P < 0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in other coagulation indicators compared with before treatment. Compared with the citric acid local anticoagulation group, the PT of the heparin systemic anticoagulation group was significantly shortened after treatment (s: 11.82±2.05 vs. 13.61±3.05, P < 0.05), and the D-dimer level was significantly reduced (mg/L: 1.92±1.58 vs. 3.77±2.38, P < 0.01). The levels of inflammatory mediators in both groups were significantly reduced 1 day after CBP weaning compared with those before treatment [citric acid local anticoagulation group: hs-CRP (mg/L) was 12.53±5.44 vs. 22.65±7.27, PCT (μg/L) was 1.86±1.20 vs. 3.30±2.34, IL-6 (ng/L) was 148.48±34.83 vs. 202.32±48.62, TNF-α (ng/L) was 21.38±7.71 vs. 55.14±15.07; heparin systemic anticoagulation group: hs-CRP (mg/L) was 11.82±4.93 vs. 21.62±8.35, PCT (μg/L) was 1.90±1.08 vs. 3.18±1.97, IL-6 (ng/L) was 143.81±33.41 vs. 194.02±46.89, TNF-α (ng/L) was 22.44±8.17 vs. 56.17±16.92, all P < 0.05]. However, there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (all P > 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in bleeding complication during CBP and 7-day mortality in children between the citrate local anticoagulation group and the heparin systemic anticoagulation group (5.9% vs. 30.0%, 17.6% vs. 20.0%, both P > 0.05). Conclusions:Heparin for systemic anticoagulation and regional citrate anticoagulation can significantly reduce the levels of IL-6, TNF-α, hs-CRP and PCT in children with septic shock, and relieve inflammatory storm. Compared with citric acid local anticoagulation, heparin systemic anticoagulation can shorten the PT and reduce the level of D-dimer in children with septic shock, which may benefit in the prevention and treatment of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC).

Objective:To characterize the histopathological subtypes and their clinicopathological parameters of gender and onset age by common, rare and sparse primary esophageal malignant tumors (PEMT).Methods:A total of 272 437 patients with PEMT were enrolled in this study, and all of the patients were received radical surgery. The clinicopathological information of the patients was obtained from the database established by the State Key Laboratory of Esophageal Cancer Prevention & Treatment from September 1973 to December 2020, which included the clinical treatment, pathological diagnosis and follow-up information of esophagus and gastric cardia cancers. All patients were diagnosed and classified by the criteria of esophageal tumor histopathological diagnosis and classification (2019) of the World Health Organization (WHO). The esophageal tumors, which were not included in the WHO classification, were analyzed separately according to the postoperative pathological diagnosis. The χ 2 test was performed by the SPSS 25.0 software on count data, and the test standard α=0.05. Results:A total of 32 histopathological types were identified in the enrolled PEMT patients, of which 10 subtypes were not included in the WHO classification. According to the frequency, PEMT were divided into common (esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, ESCC, accounting for 97.1%), rare (esophageal adenocarcinoma, EAC, accounting for 2.3%) and sparse (mainly esophageal small cell carcinoma, malignant melanoma, etc., accounting for 0.6%). All the common, rare, and sparse types occurred predominantly in male patients, and the gender difference of rare type was most significant (EAC, male∶ female, 2.67∶1), followed with common type (ESCC, male∶ female, 1.78∶1) and sparse type (male∶ female, 1.71∶1). The common type (ESCC) mainly occurred in the middle thoracic segment (65.2%), while the rare type (EAC) mainly occurred in the lower thoracic segment (56.8%). Among the sparse type, malignant melanoma and malignant fibrous histiocytoma were both predominantly located in the lower thoracic segment (51.7%, 66.7%), and the others were mainly in the middle thoracic segment.Conclusion:ESCC is the most common type among the 32 histopathological types of PEMT, followed by EAC as the rare type, and esophageal small cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma as the major sparse type, and all of which are mainly occur in male patients. The common type of ESCC mainly occur in the middle thoracic segment, while the rare type of EAC mainly in the lower thoracic segment. The mainly sparse type of malignant melanoma and malignant fibrous histiocytoma predominately occur in the lower thoracic segment, and the remaining sparse types mainly occur in the middle thoracic segment.

Objective:To investigate the efficacy of additional treatment (chemoradiotherapy or esophagectomy) after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for superficial esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.Methods:Clinicopathological data of 97 patients of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma with infiltration depth of M3-SM3 who underwent ESD in Zhongda Hospital from July 2014 to April 2019 were reviewed. There were 57 patients in the additional treatment group and 40 patients in the observation group. The rate of relapse-free survival (RFS) was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier method (used log-rank test).Results:In the additional treatment group, 15 underwent esophagectomy after ESD, and no tumor metastases were found, but 1 patient died of upper gastrointestinal bleeding after surgery; 42 underwent chemoradiotherapy, and all patients were alive, but 3 patients experienced distant metastases. In the observation group, 13 patients experienced local recurrence, 2 patients died of tumor recurrence and 1 patient died of cerebrovascular disorder. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the RFS rate of the additional treatment group was higher than that of the observation group ( P=0.001). Conclusion:ESD followed by additional chemoradiotherapy or esophagectomy has good clinical efficacy and can improve prognosis for superficial esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (M3-SM3) patients.

Objective:To analyze the risk factors of bronchopulmonary dysplasia(BPD)in very preterm infants(VPI), and to provide scientific basis for the prevention and treatment of BPD in VPI.Methods:A prospective multicenter study was designed to collect the clinical data of VPI in department of neonatology of 28 hospitals in 7 regions from September 2019 to December 2020.According to the continuous oxygen dependence at 28 days after birth, VPI were divided into non BPD group and BPD group, and the risk factors of BPD in VPI were analyzed.Results:A total of 2 514 cases of VPI including 1 364 cases without BPD and 1 150 cases with BPD were enrolled.The incidence of BPD was 45.7%.The smaller the gestational age and weight, the higher the incidence of BPD( P<0.001). Compared with non BPD group, the average birth age, weight and cesarean section rate in BPD group were lower, and the incidence of male infants, small for gestational age and 5-minute apgar score≤7 were higher( P<0.01). In BPD group, the incidences of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome(NRDS), hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus, retinopathy of prematurity, feeding intolerance, extrauterine growth restriction, grade Ⅲ~Ⅳ intracranial hemorrhage, anemia, early-onset and late-onset sepsis, nosocomial infection, parenteral nutrition-associated cholestasis were higher( P<0.05), the use of pulmonary surfactant(PS), postnatal hormone exposure, anemia and blood transfusion were also higher, and the time of invasive and non-invasive mechanical ventilation, oxygen use and total hospital stay were longer( P<0.001). The time of starting enteral nutrition, cumulative fasting days, days of reaching total enteral nutrition, days of continuous parenteral nutrition, days of reaching 110 kcal/(kg·d) total calorie, days of reaching 110 kcal/(kg·d) oral calorie were longer and the breastfeeding rate was lower in BPD group than those in non BPD group( P<0.001). The cumulative doses of amino acid and fat emulsion during the first week of hospitalization were higher in BPD group( P<0.001). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that NRDS, invasive mechanical ventilation, age of reaching total enteral nutrition, anemia and blood transfusion were the independent risk factors for BPD in VPI, and older gestational age was the protective factor for BPD. Conclusion:Strengthening perinatal management, avoiding premature delivery and severe NRDS, shortening the time of invasive mechanical ventilation, paying attention to enteral nutrition management, reaching whole intestinal feeding as soon as possible, and strictly mastering the indications of blood transfusion are very important to reduce the incidence of BPD in VPI.

Objective:To investigate the medium- and long-term efficacy of peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) for esophageal diverticulum and the risk factors for postoperative recurrence.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted on 31 cases of esophageal diverticulum who were treated by POEM in Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University from May 1st 2016 to August 1st 2019. The Eckardt score, the operative success rate, and the recurrence rate after the operation were observed and recorded. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the risk factors for postoperative recurrence.Results:POEM was successfully completed in all 31 patients, who were followed up for 30.6±11.1 months (20-63 months). The Eckardt score before the operation was 8.2±2.4, and was 1.4±0.7, 1.4±1.1, 1.3±1.1, and 1.3±0.9 at 1, 6, 12 and 24 months, respectively after the operation, which significantly decreased at all follow-up time points ( P<0.001). The success rates at 1, 6, 12, and 24 months after the operation were 96.8% (30/31), 90.3% (28/31), 90.3% (28/31) and 90.3% (28/31), respectively. Three patients suffered symptom relapse, with an overall recurrence rate of 9.7% (3/31). Logistic regression analysis showed that the disease duration ( P=0.038, OR=1.041, 95% CI: 1.002-1.080) and preoperative Eckardt score ( P=0.024, OR=2.299, 95% CI: 1.117-4.728) were risk factors for postoperative recurrence of POEM. Conclusion:POEM is safe and effective for esophageal diverticulum. Patients with long disease duration and high preoperative Eckardt score are associated with recurrence.

Objective To establish a neural network model based on enhanced CT for distinguishing ISUP grade of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Methods We collected 131 cases of ccRCC, with 92 cases of low ISUP grade and 39 cases of high ISUP grade. Patients were divided into training set and validation set according to 5:5 stratified sampling. The enhanced CT images of each ccRCC patient were evaluated by the radiologist. Recursive feature elimination (RFE) was used to reduce the dimension of patients' general features and enhanced CT features, which was used for neural network modeling and validation. Results Patients' general features and enhanced CT features were verified by RFE method and then reduced to 14 features. The top 5 features were growth pattern, necrosis, enlargement of lymph nodes, tumor size and capsule. The AUC of the neural network model based on these 5 features in training set was 0.8844 (95%CI: 0.8062-0.9626), sensitivity was 89.47% and specificity was 82.61%; and those in validation set were 0.7924 (95%CI: 0.6567-0.9280), 75.00% and 86.96%, respectively. Conclusion The neural network model of ccRCC ISUP grade based on enhanced CT has relatively high diagnostic efficiency.

Objective To detect the down-regulation ofmiRNA-99b expression in cell invasion and its mechanism in human glioma cell line U251.Methods Glioma cell line U251 were routinely cultured in vitro.(1) U251 cells were divided into blank control group,negative control group and miRNA-99b inhibitor group;cells in the latter two groups were transfected with negative control sequences and miRNA-99b inhibitors,respectively;and cells in the blank control group did not give any treatment;mRNA expressions of miRNA-99b and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) in U251 cells were measured by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR;the changes of mTOR,eIF4E-binding protein 1 (4E-BP1) andphosphorylated (p)-4E-BPl protein expressions in U251 cells were detected by Westem blotting;cell invasion was evaluated by Transwell assay.(2) U251 cells were divided into negative control group Ⅰ and mTOR siRNA group,and cells in the two groups were transfected with negative control sequences and mTOR siRNA,respectively;the miRNA-99b and mTOR mRNA expressions in U251 cells were measured by RT-PCR;the mTOR and p-4E-BP1 protein expressions in U251 cells were measured by Western blotting.(3) U251 cells were divided into miRNA-99b inhibitor+negative control group and miRNA-99b inhibitor+mTOR siRNA group,and cells in the two groups were transfected with miRNA-99b inhibitor+negative control sequences and miRNA-99b inhibitor+mTOR siRNA,respectively;the p-4E-BP1 protein expression in U251 cells was measured by Western blotting;cell invasion was evaluated by Transwell assay.Results (1) As compared with those in the blank control group and negative control group,the miRNA-99b rnRNA expression was significantly decreased,the mTOR mRNA and protein expressions and p-4E-BP1 protein expression were significantly increased,and the number of transmembrane cells was significantly larger in U251 cells of miRNA-99b inhibitor group (P＜0.05);there were no significant differences in 4E-BP1 protein expression among the three groups (P＞0.05).(2) As compared with those in the negative control group Ⅰ,the mTOR mRNA and protein expressions and p-4E-BP1 protein expression were significantly decreased in U251 cells of mTOR siRNA group (P＜0.05);there was no significant difference in miRNA-99b mRNA expression between the two groups (P＞0.05).(3) As compared with those in the miRNA-99b inhibitor+negative control group,the p-4E-BP1 protein expression and number of transmembrane cells were significantly decreased/smaller in U251 cells ofmiRNA-99b inhibitor+mTOR siRNA group (P＜0.05).Conclusions Down-regulation ofmiRNA-99b expression promotes glioma cell invasion,and its mechanism is related to the regulation of mTOR/4E-BP1 signaling pathway.