Background::Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and diameter, stiffness, and wave reflections, are independent and important clinical biomarkers and risk predictors for cardiovascular diseases. The purpose of the present study was to establish nationwide reference values of carotid properties for healthy Chinese adults and to explore potential clinical determinants.Methods::A total of 3053 healthy Han Chinese adults (1922 women) aged 18-79 years were enrolled at 28 collaborating tertiary centers throughout China between April 2021 and July 2022. The real-time tracking of common carotid artery walls was achieved by the radio frequency (RF) ultrasound system. The IMT, diameter, compliance coefficient, β stiffness, local pulse wave velocity (PWV), local systolic blood pressure, augmented pressure (AP), and augmentation index (AIx) were then automatically measured and reported. Data were stratified by age groups and sex. The relationships between age and carotid property parameters were analyzed by Jonckheere-Terpstra test and simple linear regressions. The major clinical determinants of carotid properties were identified by Pearson’s correlation, multiple linear regression, and analyses of covariance.Results::All the parameters of carotid properties demonstrated significantly age-related trajectories. Women showed thinner IMT, smaller carotid diameter, larger AP, and AIx than men. The β stiffness and PWV were significantly higher in men than women before forties, but the differences reversed after that. The increase rate of carotid IMT (5.5 μm/year in women and 5.8 μm/year in men) and diameter (0.03 mm/year in both men and women) were similar between men and women. For the stiffness and wave reflections, women showed significantly larger age-related variations than men as demonstrated by steeper regression slopes (all P for age by sex interaction <0.05). The blood pressures, body mass index (BMI), and triglyceride levels were identified as major clinical determinants of carotid properties with adjustment of age and sex. Conclusions::The age- and sex-specific reference values of carotid properties measured by RF ultrasound for healthy Chinese adults were established. The blood pressures, BMI, and triglyceride levels should be considered for clinical application of corresponding reference values.

It is difficult to accurately distinguish pharyngitis caused by Group A Streptococcus(GAS) from other pathogens according to the clinical presentation alone, which cannot effectively guide the rational use of antimicrobials.The pharyngeal swab culture, rapid antigen detection test, nucleic acid test, and blood test can help definitively diagnose GAS pharyngitis.However, there are differences in different guidelines on who the laboratory test methods are intended for, interpretation of laboratory test results and so on.This article summarizes and analyses the laboratory diagnostic modalities and their characteristics, as well as recommendations for GAS pharyngitis in different guidelines to provide references for the clinical diagnosis, antimicrobial treatment, and further study of GAS pharyngitis.

Endocrine-resistance remains a major challenge in estrogen receptor α positive (ERα⁺) breast cancer (BC) treatment and constitutively active somatic mutations in ERα are a common mechanism. There is an urgent need to develop novel drugs with new mode of mechanism to fight endocrine-resistance. Given aberrant ERα activity, we herein report the identification of novel covalent selective estrogen receptor degraders (cSERDs) possessing the advantages of both covalent and degradation strategies. A highly potent cSERD 29c was identified with superior anti-proliferative activity than fulvestrant against a panel of ERα⁺ breast cancer cell lines including mutant ERα. Crystal structure of ERα‒ 29c complex alongside intact mass spectrometry revealed that 29c disrupted ERα protein homeostasis through covalent targeting C530 and strong hydrophobic interaction collied on H11, thus enforcing a unique antagonist conformation and driving the ERα degradation. These significant effects of the cSERD on ERα homeostasis, unlike typical ERα degraders that occur directly via long side chains perturbing the morphology of H12, demonstrating a distinct mechanism of action (MoA). In vivo, 29c showed potent antitumor activity in MCF-7 tumor xenograft models and low toxicity. This proof-of-principle study verifies that novel cSERDs offering new opportunities for the development of innovative therapies for endocrine-resistant BC.

Middle-aged women experienced foreign body sensation in both eyes without obvious causes for many days. The clinician tried to diagnose the patient according to her physical and laboratory examinations. After detecting worm bodies in the patient′s eye, and examining the worms with a microscope, the diagnosis of conjunctival sucking nematodes was confirmed. After targeted treatment, the patient′s symptoms improved significantly.

To explore the pharmacogenomic markers that affect the platinum-based chemotherapy response in non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), we performed a two-cohort of genome-wide association studies (GWAS), including 34 for WES-based and 433 for microarray-based analyses, as well as two independent validation cohorts. After integrating the results of two studies, the genetic variations related to the platinum-based chemotherapy response were further determined by fine-mapping in 838 samples, and their potential functional impact were investigated by eQTL analysis and in vitro cell experiments. We found that a total of 68 variations were significant at P < 1 × 10^-3 in cohort 1 discovery stage, of which 3 SNPs were verified in 262 independent samples. A total of 541 SNPs were significant at P < 1 × 10^-4 in cohort 2 discovery stage, of which 8 SNPs were verified in 347 independent samples. Comparing the validated SNPs in two GWAS, ADCY1 gene was verified in both independent studies. The results of fine-mapping showed that the G allele carriers of ADCY1 rs2280496 and C allele carriers of rs189178649 were more likely to be resistant to platinum-based chemotherapy. In conclusion, our study found that rs2280496 and rs189178649 in ADCY1 gene were associated the sensitivity of platinum-based chemotherapy in NSCLC patients.

Objective:To study the effect of duodenal papillary morphology on selective biliary cannulation (SBC).Methods:Data of 912 patients with biliopancreatic diseases treated with endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) at the Department of Gastroenterology, Affiliated Hospital of Northwest Minzu University from January 2018 to January 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Duodenal papillary morphology of patients was classified into 4 types by using Haraldsson's endoscopic classification. The success rate of SBC, the pre-incision rate, the difficult intubation rate and the incidence of post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP) of different papillary types were analyzed.Results:A total of 912 patients were enrolled in this study, and 86.95% (793/912) duodenal papilla conformed to one type of the classification, of which 77.18% (612/793) were regular type (type Ⅰ), 10.21% (81/793) small nipple type (type Ⅱ), 8.58% (68/793) protruding or drooping type (type Ⅲ), and 4.04% (32/793) wrinkled or ridged type (type Ⅳ). The success rates of SBC in four types of duodenal papilla were 98.86% (605/612), 90.12% (73/81), 88.24% (60/68) and 96.60% (28/32) respectively. The success rate of SBC of type Ⅰ was higher than those of type Ⅱ-Ⅳ (all P<0.008) and there was no significant difference between those of type Ⅱ and type Ⅲ ( P> 0.008). The pre-incision rate in the four types of duodenal papilla were 7.84% (48/612), 32.10% (26/81), 50.00% (34/68) and 25.00% (8/32) respectively. The pre-incision rate of type Ⅰ was lower than those of type Ⅱ-Ⅳ (all P<0.008), and there was no significant difference between those of type Ⅱ and type Ⅲ ( P>0.008). The difficult intubation rate in the four types of duodenal papilla were 12.42% (76/612), 39.51% (32/81), 58.82% (40/68) and 28.12% (9/32) respectively .The difficult intubation rate of type Ⅰ was lower than those of type Ⅱ and type Ⅲ (both P<0.001), and that of type Ⅲ was higher than that of type Ⅳ ( P=0.004) . There was no significant difference between those of type Ⅰ and type Ⅳ or type Ⅱ and type Ⅲ (both P>0.008). The incidences of PEP of the four types were 2.61% (16/612), 12.35% (10/81), 5.88% (4/68) and 6.25% (2/32) respectively. The incidences of PEP of type Ⅱ was higher than that of type Ⅰ ( P<0.001) , and there was no significant difference between those of type Ⅰ and type Ⅳ or type Ⅱ and type Ⅲ (both P>0.008). Conclusion:SBC is affected by duodenal papilla morphology, easiest for type Ⅰ and hard for type Ⅱ and Ⅲ. Attention should be paid to risk of PEP in SBC of type Ⅱ.

Objective:To explore the current status and influencing factors of benefit findings in patients with lymphoma, so as to provide a reference for formulating intervention measures.Methods:Convenience sampling was used to select 110 lymphoma patients admitted to Shanxi Provincial Cancer Hospital from August 2021 to December 2021. The General Information Questionnaire, Benefit Finding Scale (BFS) , Social Support Rate Scale (SSRS) and Herth Hope Index were used to investigate them. Univariate analysis was performed using independent samples t-test and analysis of variance, and multivariate analysis was performed using multiple linear regression analysis. Results:The scores of benefit finding, social support and hope of lymphoma patients were (49.02±7.18) , (33.92±6.88) and (32.83±6.44) , respectively. The results of Pearson correlation showed that the benefit finding of lymphoma patients was positively correlated with the hope and social support ( P<0.001) , and the hope was positively correlated with social support ( P<0.001) . The results of multiple linear regression analysis showed that age, education, per capita monthly household income, hope and social support were the influencing factors of the benefit finding of lymphoma patients ( P<0.05) . Conclusions:The level of disease benefit finding in lymphoma patients is not high. Corresponding intervention should be taken according to the influencing factors of benefit finding to improve the benefit finding and quality of life of patients.

Background::Weight gain during chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer contributes to their poor prognosis. However, a growing number of studies have found that metabolic disorders seem to play a more important role in breast cancer prognosis than weight gain. This study aimed to explore the prognostic effects of body mass index (BMI), weight gain, and metabolic disorders on the overall survival (OS) and prognosis of patients with breast cancer who underwent chemotherapy.Methods::Data from the inpatient medical records of patients with breast cancer who underwent chemotherapy at the Beijing Cancer Hospital Breast Cancer Center from January to December 2010 were retrospectively collected, and the patients were followed up until August 2020.Results::A total of 438 patients with stages I to III breast cancer met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Forty-nine (11.19%) patients died, while 82 (18.72%) patients had tumor recurrence and metastasis at the last follow-up (August 2020). From the time of diagnosis until after chemotherapy, no significant differences were observed in the body weight ( t = 4.694, P < 0.001), BMI categories ( χ2 = 19.215, P = 0.001), and incidence of metabolic disorders ( χ2 = 24.841, P < 0.001); the BMI categories and weight change had no effect on the OS. Both univariate ( χ2 = 6.771, P = 0.009) and multivariate survival analyses (hazard ratio = 2.775, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.326-5.807, P = 0.007) showed that low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels at diagnosis had a negative impact on the OS. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the HDL-C level at diagnosis (odds ratio [OR] = 2.200, 95% CI: 0.996-4.859, P = 0.051) and metabolic disorders after chemotherapy (OR= 1.514, 95% CI: 1.047-2.189, P = 0.028) are risk factors for poor prognosis in patients with breast cancer. Conclusions::Chemotherapy led to weight gain and aggravated the metabolic disorders in patients with breast cancer. Low HDL-C levels at diagnosis and metabolic disorders after chemotherapy may have negative effects on the OS and prognosis of patients with breast cancer.

Objective:This study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of cladribine, smustine, etoposide, cyclophosphamide, and cytarabine (C+SCAV) and smustine, etoposide, cytarabine, and melphalan (SEAM) conditioning regimens in autologous stem cell transplantation (auto-HSCT) for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) .Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on 61 NHL patients who received auto-HSCT in the Department of Hematology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Suzhou University, from March 2018 to May 2021. The C + SCAV group and SEAM group had 19 and 42 patients, respectively.Results:① Among the 61 patients with NHL, 37 were male and 24 were female. The median age was 48 (21-66) years old. There were 19 cases in the C+SCAV group and 42 cases in the SEAM group. There was no significant difference in the baseline characteristics between the two groups ( P>0.05) . ② The median time to neutrophil and platelet engraftment in the C+SCAV cohort were 10 (8-15) days and 13 (9-22) days, respectively, which does not differ from the SEAM group ( P=0.103, P=0.403) . ③ No differences existed between the two groups in terms of survival. The 1-year progression-free survival (PFS) was (76.5±10.3) % for patients receiving C+SCAV and (78.4±6.8) % for those who received SEAM ( P=0.841) . The 1-year overall survival was 100.0% for the C+SCAV group and 95.2±3.3% for the SEAM group ( P=0.339) . ④The 1-year PFS of patients with complete remission in the C+SCAV group was similar to those who in the SEAM group [ (92.3±7.4) % vs (82.5±7.2) %, P=0.406]. ⑤ The incidence of non-hematological serious adverse events (≥ grade 3) in the C+SCAV group and SEAM group were 10.5% (2/19) and 40.5% (17/42) ( P=0.013) , the incidence of severe mucositis was 5.3% (1/19) and 31.0% (13/42) ( P=0.015) , and the incidence of severe infection (≥ grade 3) was 10.5% (2/19) and 19.0% (8/42) ( P=0.389) , respectively. Conclusion:C + SCAV conditioning regimen appeared to be no different from the SEAM regimen in terms of survival. It can lower the incidence of SAE and does not increase the risk of severe infection. As a result, it can be used as an alternative conditioning regimen for lymphoma patients undergoing auto-HSCT.

Objective:To investigate the value of peripheral blood eosinophils (EOS) in predicting the therapeutic effect of sublingual specific immunotherapy (SLIT) in patients with allergic rhinitis (AR).Methods:From January 2018 to June 2020, 200 patients with AR who received SLIT in Dongguan Kanghua Hospital were evaluated for their symptoms before treatment and 6 months after treatment. The curative effect was evaluated according to the improvement of the total symptom score. The number of eosinophils, percentage of eosinophils in peripheral blood were measured before treatment. The correlation between curative effect and EOS count and EOS percentage was analyzed and the value of these two indicators in predicting the efficacy of SLIT was evaluated.Results:Of the 200 AR patients, 178 patients were confirmed to have completed the treatment course of 6months. 126 effective and 52 ineffective, the effective rates were 70.8%. There was a weak correlation between the number of EOS in peripheral blood and the percentage of EOS in peripheral blood before treatment and the efficacy of SLIT ( r=0.168, P=0.048; r=0.250, P=0.001). The area under the curve of peripheral blood EOS count was 0.380, and the percentage of peripheral blood EOS was 0.355, which were all less than 0.5. Conclusions:There was no significant correlation between the number of peripheral blood EOS count and peripheral blood EOS percentage and the efficacy of SLIT , therefore, both of blood EOS count and blood EOS percentage have no value in predicting the efficacy of SLIT.