Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a common microvascular complication of diabetes. "Internal heat leading to zheng" is the core pathogenesis of DKD, while "glucose toxicity" is transformed from subtle substances through "internal heat" and the cementation of various pathological products, which is pivotal to the transformation of diabetes to DKD. "Glucose toxicity" is characterized by deep and widespread heat, caused by various pathological factors, and its sticky nature makes it difficult to resolve, which can cause severe damage to the kidney collaterals. In the early stage of "glucose toxicity", it is yang pathogen, which can be transformed into yin pathogen in the later stage with disease progression. In clinical practice, treatment should be based on disease staging, with attention on grasping the pathogenesis of "internal heat leading to zheng" and identifying the nature of "glucose toxicity". During the diabetic period, clearing heat is the primary method, often using modified Yueju Pill and Dachaihu Decoction. In the early stage of DKD, treatment primarily focuses on clearing and penetrating latent heat to treat DKD, aiming to prevent toxic heat from transitioning from qi to blood. The approach emphasizes clearing heat and re-penetrating, detoxification, and re-clearing, often using a self-made modified Qingre Xiaozheng Decoction. In the middle and late stages of DKD, the focus shifts to clearing heat, eliminating zheng, strengthening vital qi, and dispelling turbidity, with commonly used treatments including the self-made modified Xiezhuo Xiaozheng Formula, Jingui Shenqi Pill, and Zhenwu Decoction.

Objective:To screen key genes of renal clear cell carcinoma based on bioinformatics methods, identify possible microRNA (miRNA)-mRNA action axis, and explore the expression of related genes in clear cell renal cell carcinoma tissues and cells.Methods:Gene expression profiles of GSE40435 and GSE71302 datasets were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. TCGA-KIRC datasets were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. R software was used to identify the differentially expressed mRNA and miRNA, and the functional enrichment analysis was performed. STRING database and Cytoscape software were used to perform the protein interaction analysis. The prognosis-related differentially expressed miRNA was evaluated by the Oncomir database. The potential targeted genes regulated by miRNA were determined by using TargetScan and miRDB targeted gene prediction tools. The tissue samples and clinicopathological features of 34 patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma in the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from June to December 2021 were collected, and normal renal cell line 293T and clear cell renal cell carcinoma cell line 786O were selected. The real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), was used to detect the relative expression of genes; Western blotting and immunohistochemical staining were used to detect the expression levels of the targeted proteins. The dual luciferase reporter gene assay was carried out to verify the targeting relationship between genes.Results:A total of 1 351 differentially expressed mRNA and 50 differentially expressed miRNA were screened and identified. The result of functional enrichment analysis suggested that the fatty acid metabolism pathway and xenobiotic metabolism pathway were suppressed in clear cell renal cell carcinoma, while the apoptosis and immune response pathways were activated. Protein interaction analysis suggested that the signal transduction and protein ubiquitination pathways might play a key role in clear cell renal cell carcinoma. The screening results showed that miRNA-224-5p (miR-224-5p) was most closely associated with clear cell renal cell carcinoma progression and was highly expressed in tumor tissues, and its prognosis-related target gene was NEDD4L. The relative expression of NEDD4L mRNA in clear cell renal cell carcinoma tissues and paraneoplastic tissues were 0.138±0.103 and 1.000±0.026 ( t = 46.23, P < 0.05), and the relative expression of miR-224-5p was 1.000±0.043 and 0.129±0.108 ( t = 45.28, P < 0.05). The differences of NEDD4L mRNA and miR-224-5p expressions in different grades and stages of clear cell renal cell carcinoma tissues were statistically significant (all P < 0.05). The expression of NEDD4L protein was decreased in clear cell renal cell carcinoma. The relative expression of NEDD4L gene in 293T and 786O cells were 1.000±0.125 and 0.210±0.044 ( t = 17.52, P < 0.05); the relative expressions of miR-224-5p gene were 0.209±0.049 and 1.000±0.234 ( t = 10.61, P < 0.05). The relative expressions of NEDD4L mRNA in miRNA mimic group and negative control group were 0.236±0.062 and 1.000±0.024, and the difference was statistically significant ( t = 43.56, P < 0.05). NEDD4L protein expression was reduced in the miRNA mimic group. Dual luciferase reporter gene assay suggested that NEDD4L was a direct target gene of miR-224-5p. Conclusions:In clear cell renal cell carcinoma, miR-224-5p targets and regulates NEDD4L expression, and this mechanism may be related to carcinogenesis and progression of clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

Renal cell carcinoma is one of the common tumors in the urinary system. Despite the high incidence of renal cell carcinoma worldwide, progress has been made in cancer control and patients' survival profits from advances in laparoscopic technology and the application of targeted drugs. Recent studies have confirmed that the progression of renal cell carcinoma is related to cellular metabolism in the tumor microenvironment. Therefore, based on the existing surgical treatment and immunotherapy, exploring new metabolic therapies that target the metabolic pathway of tumor cells and interfere with the microenvironment of tumor cells will provide a unique treatment for renal cell carcinoma.

Objective:To investigate the value of a cuproptosis-related differential long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) scoring formula related to the prognosis of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) patients in the clinical diagnosis, prognosis prediction and treatment options based on bioinformatics.Methods:Gene matrix and clinical data of ccRCC patients were obtained from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database (update to 29 March, 2022). The expression data of 539 ccRCC tissues and 72 paracancerous normal tissues were collected from gene matrix; the data of 530 ccRCC were collected from clinical data. Pearson correlation analysis, Wilcoxon signed rank test and univariate Cox proportional risk model were used to analyze the screened cuproptosis-related differential lncRNA related to the prognosis. R software was used to randomly divide 530 ccRCC patients with survival data into training set (266 cases) and validation set (264 cases) according to approximate 1∶1 ratio. LASSO regression analysis was used to construct a cuproptosis-related differential lncRNA scoring formula and cross-validation was performed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the specificity and sensitivity of cuproptosis-related differential lncRNA scoring formula, and the area of the curve (AUC) was calculated. According to the median risk value, all patients were divided into the low-risk group and high-risk group; Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the difference in the overall survival (OS) of patients in the low-risk group and high-risk group. T test was used to detect the differences in the risk value of patients with different clinicopathological characteristics. R package rms was used to construct the nomogram for predicting 1-year, 3-year, 5-year OS rates of ccRCC patients, R package pRRophetic was used to predict the half-inhibitory concentration ( IC50) of common targeted drugs such as sorafenib and sunitinib in clinical treatment of ccRCC patients, and IC50 value of patients in low-risk group and high-risk group was compared by using Wilcoxon signed rank test. Tissue samples of 20 ccRCC patients who underwent radical nephrectomy and were diagnosed with pathology and the matched paracancerous normal tissues were collected from the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University between June 2021 and December 2021. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of key lncRNA in ccRCC tissues. Results:Based on the expression matrix of 10 cuproptosis genes (FDX1, LIAS, LIPT1, DLD, DLAT, PDHA1, PDHB, MTF1, GLS, CDKN2A) of ccRCC patients in TCGA database, 153 cuproptosis-related differential lncRNA related to the prognosis were identified. According to LASSO regression analysis, a scoring formula of 4 cuproptosis-related differential lncRNA related to the prognosis was obtained, risk value was calculated as 0.020×AC015912.3+0.011×AC026401.3+0.063×AC103706.1+(-0.076)×EPB41L4A-DT. All patients were divided into high-risk group (≥0.76) and low-risk group (<0.76) based on the median value (0.76). ROC curve analysis showed that the scoring formula had good prediction accuracy in 1-year, 3-year, 5-year OS rates. In training set, validation set, the total cohort, the OS of patients in the high-risk group was worse than that in the low-risk group (all P < 0.001). The age, pathological degree, tumor staging, risk value calculated by cuproptosis-related differential lncRNA were independent influencing factors of OS (all P < 0.001). There were statistically significant differences in the risk value calculated by cuproptosis-related differential lncRNA scoring formula among patients with different pathological degree, tumor staging, T staging, N staging, M staging (all P < 0.01), while there were no statistically significant differences among patients with different gender and age (all P > 0.05). The established nomogram had good prediction accuracy in the 1-year, 3-year, 5-year OS rates. Sunitinib and sirolimus showed higher sensitivity in the high-risk group; axitinib, sorafenib and pazopanib showed higher sensitivity in the low-risk group. qRT-PCR results showed that relative expression level of AC015912.3 in ccRCC tissues was up-regulated compared with paracancerous tissues (1.00±0.04 vs. 0.68±0.24, t = 6.37, P < 0.01); the relative expression level of AC026401.3 in ccRCC tissues was up-regulated compared with paracancerous tissues (1.00±0.05 vs. 0.64±0.22, t = 7.29, P < 0.01); the relative expression level of AC103706.1 in ccRCC tissues was up-regulated compared with paracancerous tissues (1.00±0.04 vs. 0.64±0.21, t = 7.49, P < 0.01); the relative expression level of EPB41L4A-DT in ccRCC tissues was up-regulated compared with paracancerous tissues (1.00±0.06 vs. 0.73±0.10, t = 10.68, P < 0.01). Conclusions:Cuproptosis-related differential lncRNA scoring formula based on TCGA database can be used as a new marker for clinical diagnosis and prognosis prediction of ccRCC patients, which can help guide the clinical drug treatment of patients and facilitate accurate diagnosis and treatment.

Objective:To evaluate postoperative calcitonin level as a prognostic marker in long-term follow-up of medullary thyroid carcinoma(MTC).Methods:Clinical data of 146 MTC cases treated at Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital from Jan 2011 to Dec 2019 were reviewed retrospectively. The relationship between postoperative calcitonin and disease-free survival was analyzed. According to the level of calcitonin six months after operation, patients were divided into normal level group and elevated group.Results:The median tumor size in those 146 cases was (1.78±1.22)cm, and 81 cases had lymph node metastasis. After 6 months of follow-up, 89 cases had normal calcitonin, with median tumor size of (1.63±1.20)cm, and 35 cases had lymph node metastasis . After a median follow-up of 56 months, 78 patients had normal calcitonin, 11 patients had biochemical relapse, 3 patients had structural relapse, and no patients died. 57 cases had a higher calcitonin ,median tumor size (1.97±1.22)cm, 46 cases had lymph node metastasis, 5 cases had distant metastasis, 18 cases had structural recurrence, and 7 patients died. Univariate analysis showed that lymph node metastasis, TNM stage, preoperative calcitonin, lymph node dissection and postoperative calcitonin were correlated with long-term disease-free survival (all P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that postoperative calcitonin and TNM stage were an independent prognosis factor for disease-free survival in MTC patients (all P < 0.05). Conclusion:Postoperative calcitonin is a independent prognostic marker for long-term disease-free survival in MTC patients.

Objective:To evaluate the effects of different doses of dexmedetomidine infused at nighttime on early postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) in elderly patients undergoing radical resection of malignant gastrointestinal tumors.Methods:Eighty American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status Ⅱ or Ⅲ patients of either sex, aged 65-75 yr, with body mass index of 18-24 kg/m 2, scheduled for elective radical resection of malignant gastrointestinal tumors, were divided into 4 groups ( n=20 each) using a random number table method: control group (group C) and different doses of dexmedetomidine groups (D 1-3 groups). Dexmedetomidine 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 μg·kg -1·h -1 (infusion rate 4 ml/h) were intravenously infused from 21: 00 on the day of surgery and the first day after surgery until 6: 00 in the next morning.Normal saline was given instead of dexmedetomidine in group C. The period of sleep and the number of awakening at night were recorded before surgery and at 2 and 7 days after surgery.Cognitive function was assessed at 1 day before surgery and 7 days after surgery.The concentrations of plasma cortisol were measured at 16: 00 before surgery and 2 and 7 days after surgery and at 8: 00 in the corresponding morning of the next day.The difference in the plasma cortisol concentration measured at 8: 00 every day and at 16: 00 of the previous day were calculated. Results:The incidence of POCD was significantly lower in D 2, 3 groups than in group C ( P<0.05). The number of awakening at night was significantly decreased at 2 days after surgery in group D 3 as compared with the other three groups ( P<0.05). The difference in the plasma cortisol concentration was significantly decreased at 2 and 7 days after surgery in D 2, 3 groups when compared with group C and group D 1 ( P<0.05). Compared with group D 2, no significant change was found in the difference in the plasma cortisol concentration at each time point in group D 3 ( P>0.05). There were no significant differences in the incidence of hypotension, hypertension, bradycardia, and tachycardia among the four groups ( P>0.05). Conclusion:Infusing dexmedetomidine 0.2 or 0.3 μg·kg -1·h -1 at the nighttime can reduce the development of POCD in the elderly patients undergoing radical resection of malignant gastrointestinal tumors.

Objective To evaluate the clinical outcomes of hemodialysis patients after superficial femoral artery - superficial femoral vein arteriovenous graft (AVG). Methods Hemodialysis patients with mid - thigh superficial femoral artery - superficial femoral vein AVG from August 2015 to March 2018 in department of vascular surgery, Longhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine were enrolled. Their clinical outcomes and complications after operation were analyzed retrospectively. Patency rates were measured by Kaplan - Meier survival curve. Results A total of 18 cases were enrolled. The success rate of the operation was 100％without complication. Follow - up time was (22.00 ± 11.77) months with 100％ follow - up rate. The 6 months -, 12 months -, 24 months - primary patency rates were 83.3％±8.8％, 48.5％±12.1％, 24.2％± 13.5％, respectively; secondly patency rates were 100.0％, 100.0％, 87.5％±11.7％. There were 1 case of seroma, 1 case of puncture site infection, 11 cases of stenosis and 5 cases thrombosis during follow-up, while no heart failure, ischemia or pseudoaneurysm. Conclusion Mid - thigh AVG has low infection rate and high patency rate, so it can be as the first choice for the lower extremity AVG in hemodialysis patients.

Objective To summarize the experiences of aneurysmorrhaphy for arteriovenous fistula aneurysms with acute thrombosis in hemodialysis patients.Methods There were 7 cases of arteriovenous fistula with acute thrombosis from Nov 2015 to Feb 2017 at our department of vascular surgery,Longhua Hospital.Results In all cases thrombosis was secondary to proximal stenosis or occlusion.The stenosis and occlusion were corrected with embolectomy and aneurysmorrhaphy.The proximal part of the cephalic vein was translocated to the basilic vein in 1 case,axillary vein in 2 cases;autologous vein graft in 1 case;resection of the occlusion,end-to-end anastomosis in 1 case;autogenous patch in 1 case.No perioperative complications occurred.The operation site was cannulated within one month after operation in all cases.Patients were followed up for 7 months to 23 months,all cases were patent.Conclusions Aneurysmorrhaphy is effective,reliable and safe for arteriovenous fistula aneurysms with acute thrombosis in hemodialysis patients.

In recent years , there are increasing articles concerning Epstein-Barr virus associated lymphoproliferative disorder (EBV+LPD), and the name of EBV +LPD is used widely.However,the meaning of EBV+LPD used is not the same , which triggered confusion of the understanding and obstacles of the communication.In order to solve this problem.Literature was reviewed with combination of our cases to clarify the concept of EBV +LPD and to expound our understanding about it .In general, it is currently accepted that EBV +LPD refers to a spectrum of lymphoid tissue diseases with EBV infection , including hyperplasia , borderline lesions , and neoplastic diseases .According to this concept , EBV+LPD should not include infectious mononucleosis ( IM ) and severe acute EBV infection ( EBV +hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, fatal IM, fulminant IM, fulminant T-cell LPD), and should not include the explicitly named EBV+lymphomas ( such as extranodal NK/T cell lymphoma , aggressive NK cell leukemia , Burkitt lymphoma, and Hodgkin lymphoma , etc.) either.EBV +LPD should currently include: ( 1 ) EBV +B cell-LPD:lymphomatoid granulomatosis , EBV +immunodeficiency related LPD , chronic active EBV infection-B cell type, senile EBV +LPD, etc.(2) EBV +T/NK cell-LPD:CAEBV-T/NK cell type, hydroa vacciniforme, hypersensitivity of mosquito bite, etc.In addition, EBV+LPD is classified, based on the disease process , pathological and molecular data , as 3 grades:grade1, hyperplasia ( polymorphic lesions with polyclonal cells ); grade 2, borderline ( polymorphic lesions with clonality ); grade 3, neoplasm (monomorphic lesions with clonality).There are overlaps between EBV +LPD and typical hyperplasia, as well as EBV+LPD and typical lymphomas .However , the most important tasks are clinical vigilance , early identification of potential severe complications , and treating the patients in a timely manner to avoid serious complications , as well as the active treatment to save lives when the complications happened .

OBJECTIVETo explore the molecular etiology of two pedigrees affected with type II Waardenburg syndrome (WS2) and to provide genetic diagnosis and counseling.

METHODSBlood samples were collected from the proband and his family members. Following extraction of genomic DNA, the coding sequences of PAX3, MITF, SOX10 and SNAI2 genes were amplified with PCR and subjected to DNA sequencing to detect potential mutations.

RESULTSA heterozygous deletional mutation c.649_651delAGA in exon 7 of the MITF gene has been identified in all patients from the first family, while no mutation was found in the other WS2 related genes including PAX3, MITF, SOX10 and SNAI2.

CONCLUSIONThe heterozygous deletion mutation c.649_651delAGA in exon 7 of the MITF gene probably underlies the disease in the first family. It is expected that other genes may also underlie WS2.

Base Sequence ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; Exons ; genetics ; Family Health ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; genetics ; Heterozygote ; Humans ; Male ; Microphthalmia-Associated Transcription Factor ; genetics ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Mutation ; PAX3 Transcription Factor ; Paired Box Transcription Factors ; genetics ; Pedigree ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; SOXE Transcription Factors ; genetics ; Sequence Deletion ; Snail Family Transcription Factors ; Transcription Factors ; genetics ; Waardenburg Syndrome ; classification ; diagnosis ; genetics