OBJECTIVE To investigate the ameliorative effect and potential mechanism of imperatorin （IMP） on doxorubicin （DOX） resistance in breast cancer. METHODS The effects of maximum non-toxic concentration （100 μg/mL） of IMP combined with different concentrations of DOX （12.5， 25， 50， 75， 100 μg/mL） on the proliferation of MCF-7/DOX cells were determined by MTT method. MCF-7/DOX cells were divided into blank control group （1‰ dimethyl sulfoxide）， DOX group （50 μg/mL）， IMP+DOX group （100 μg/mL IMP+50 μg/mL DOX） and IMP group （100 μg/mL）. mRNA and protein expressions of multidrug resistance protein 1 （MDR1） and multidrug resistance-associated protein 1 in each group were measured. The relevant pathways and targets involved in the improvement of DOX resistance in breast cancer cells by IMP were screened and validated by using transcriptome sequencing technology， along with gene ontology （GO） enrichment analyses and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes （KEGG） pathway enrichment analyses. RESULTS Compared with DOX alone， the combination of IMP and DOX reduced the half inhibitory concentration of DOX on MCF-7/DOX cells from 81.965 μg/mL to 43.170 μg/mL， the reverse fold was 1.90， and the mRNA expression of MDR1 was significantly down-regulated （P＜0.05）. The results of GO enrichment analyses and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses indicated that the reversal of DOX resistance in breast cancer by IMP was mainly associated with the regulation of biological processes such as detoxification， multiple biological processes， and cell killing. The main pathway involved was the p53 signaling pathway， and the key targets mainly included constitutively photomorphogenic protein 1 （COP1）， cyclin E1 （CCNE1）， growth arrest and DNA damage-inducible protein 45A E-mail：tangxilan1983@163.com （GADD45A） and GADD45B. The results of the verification experiments showed that compared with DOX group， there was a trend of up-regulation of COP1 mRNA， and significant down- regulation of CCNE1， GADD45A， and GADD45B mRNA expression in IMP+DOX group （P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS The effect of IMP in ameliorating DOX resistance in breast cancer is related to its regulation of COP1， CCNE1， GADD45A and GADD45B targets in the p53 signaling pathway.

Objective:To investigate the expression of retinoic acid receptor responsive gene 2 (RARRES2), microtubule microfilament cross-linking factor 1 (MACF1), and core protein polysaccharide (DCN) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with neurosyphilis, and their diagnostic value for neurosyphilis.Methods:A total of 64 non neurosyphilis syphilis patients (syphilis group) and 78 neurosyphilis patients (neurosyphilis group) admitted to the Second Hospital of Nanjing between June 2020 and September 2022 were included. Among neurosyphilis patients, there were 48 early neurosyphilis patients (early group) and 30 late neurosyphilis patients (late group). Patients with neurosyphilis are treated with routine symptomatic therapy and antibiotic therapy to expel syphilis. The mRNA levels of RARRES2, MACF1, and DCN in CSF of patients with neurosyphilis before and after treatment were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) was used to evaluate the neurological function of patients with neurosyphilis before and after treatment. The diagnostic value of various indicators for neurosyphilis was analyzed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.Results:The mRNA levels of RARRES2, MACF1, and DCN in CSF of patients with neurosyphilis were higher than those in the syphilis group (all P<0.001). The mRNA levels of RARRES2, MACF1, and DCN in the CSF of patients with advanced neurosyphilis were higher than those in the early group (all P<0.001). Compared with before treatment, the NIHSS score and RARRES2, MACF1, and DCN mRNA levels of neurosyphilis patients decreased after treatment (all P<0.001). The area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity of the combined diagnosis of RARRES2, MACF1, and DCN mRNA in CSF for neurosyphilis were 0.995%, 100.00%, and 93.75%, respectively. The AUC and sensitivity were higher than those of individual diagnosis. Conclusions:The expression of RARRES2, MACF1, and DCN is elevated in CSF of patients with neurosyphilis, and is associated with disease severity and treatment response. These three genes may be candidate biomarkers for diagnosing neurosyphilis.

Objective:To investigate the application value of intraoperative motor nerve monitoring in cervical neurogenic tumor surgery.Methods:The efficacy of intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) was analyzed retrospectively in 18 patients, including 6 males and 12 females, aged from 15 to 74 years, treated in Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University from June 2019 to September 2022 who underwent total cystectomy of cervical neurogenic tumors under intraoperative nerve monitoring.Results:All 18 patients had complete tumor removal, including 8 patients with tumors from the vagus nerve and 10 patients with tumors from the brachial plexus nerve. Postoperative nerve functions were normal in patients with tumors from brachial plexus nerve, and incomplete vocal cord paralysis occurred in 2 patients with tumors from vagus vagus nerve. The total incidence of motor nerve injury was 11.1% (2/18). All patients were followed up for 6 to 45 months, with no tumor recurrence.Conclusion:Intraoperative neuromonitoring has significant values in surgery of cervical neurogenic tumors, which is helpful to remove completely the tumors on the basis of protecting the nerve functions to the maximum extent.

Objective To explore the effectiveness of high-definition diffusion weighted imaging(DWI)sequence combined with T1 WI-fat suppression(FS)dynamic contrast enhancement(DCE)sequence for preoperative T-stage of rectal cancer by using 3.0T MRI standardized scanning.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on MRI images of 57 patients with rectal cancer confirmed by pathology.Before surgery,the patients underwent 3.0T MRI standardized rectal cancer scan methods,including routine sequence,high-definition DWI sequence,and T1 WI-FS DCE sequence,etc.Then two experienced physicians evaluated the T-stage of preoperative rectal cancer through high-definition DWI(transverse and sagittal sections)and T1 WI-FS DCE sequences in the double-blind method.Using the postoperative pathological results of rectal cancer as the"gold standard",two sequences were combined to evaluate the accuracy,sensitivity,and specificity of rectal cancer T-stage.Results Among the 57 cases,there were 9 cases of upper rectal cancer,39 cases of middle rectal cancer,and 9 cases of lower rectal cancer.The accuracy rates of preoperative T-stage diagnosis for rectal cancer by two evaluator were both 85.7％(6/7)in T1 stage,88.2％(15/17)and 94.1％(16/17)in T2 stage,96.9％(31/32)and 93.8％(30/32)in T3 stage,and both 100.0％(1/1)in T4 stage.For evaluator 1,the sensitivity and specificity of the rectal cancer T-stage diagnosis were 96.1％and 83.3％,and for evaluator 2 were 94.1％and 83.3％,respectively.For rectal cancer MRI diagnosis,the accuracy rates and sensitivity were higher when combining the high-definition DWI sequence and T1 WI-FS DCE sequence,compared with a single high-definition DWI sequence or T1 WI-FS DCE sequence,and the difference was statistically significant.The average preoperative apparent diffusion coefficient(ADC)value of rectal cancer was compared between the corresponding postoperative pathological T1 to T4 stage groups,and the difference was statistically significant.Conclusion The combination of high-definition DWI sequence and T1 WI-FS DCE sequence improves the accuracy of rectal cancer T-stage,providing assistance for personalized clinical treatment.

Objective:To explore the efficacy of subcutaneous injection of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in preventing invasive fungal disease (IFD) in patients with multiple myeloma (MM).Methods:The clinical data of 222 patients who were admitted to the Second Hospital of Harbin Medical University from January 2015 to June 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients was given GM-CSF (3-5 μg·kg -1·d -1, GM-CSF group) or granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF, 2-5 μg·kg -1·d -1, G-CSF group) when neutrophils (ANC) ≤1.5×10 9/L after induction chemotherapy. Patients were discontinued when white blood cell count (WBC) ≥10.0×10 9/L. The incidence of IFD (including confirmed, clinical and proposed diagnosis) and breakthrough invasive fungal infections was compared between the two groups. Results:The incidence of IFD was 8.1% (18/222) in all patients. The incidence of IFD was 3.5% (3/85) and 10.9% (15/137) in the GM-CSF and G-CSF groups, respectively, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant ( χ2 = 3.88, P = 0.049). In 9 patients of GM-CSF group receiving fungal infection prophylaxis and in 15 patients of G-CSF group receiving fungal infection prophylaxis, the incidence of breakthrough invasive fungal infections was 0 and 7 cases, respectively, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant ( P = 0.022). Conclusions:GM-CSF application in MM patients can reduce the incidence of IFD and breakthrough invasive fungal infections.

Animals ; Monkeypox/drug therapy* ; Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use* ; Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases/therapeutic use* ; Macaca fascicularis

This study aimed to observe the protective effect of momordicine I, a triterpenoid compound extracted from momordica charantia L., on isoproterenol (ISO)-induced hypertrophy in rat H9c2 cardiomyocytes and investigate its potential mechanism. Treatment with 10 μM ISO induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy as evidenced by increased cell surface area and protein content as well as pronounced upregulation of fetal genes including atrial natriuretic peptide, β-myosin heavy chain, and α-skeletal actin; however, those responses were markedly attenuated by treatment with 12.5 μg/ml momordicine I. Transcriptome experiment results showed that there were 381 and 447 differentially expressed genes expressed in comparisons of model/control and momordicine I intervention/model, respectively. GO enrichment analysis suggested that the anti-cardiomyocyte hypertrophic effect of momordicine I may be mainly associated with the regulation of metabolic processes. Based on our transcriptome experiment results as well as literature reports, we selected glycerophospholipid metabolizing enzymes group VI phospholipase A 2 (PLA2G6) and diacylglycerol kinase ζ (DGK-ζ) as targets to further explore the potential mechanism through which momordicine I inhibited ISO-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy.Our results demonstrated that momordicine I inhibited ISO-induced upregulations of mRNA levels and protein expressions of PLA2G6 and DGK-ζ. Collectively, momordicine I alleviated ISO-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, which may be related to its inhibition of the expression of glycerophospholipid metabolizing enzymes PLA2G6 and DGK-ζ.

We conducted a prospective study to assess the non-inferiority of adjuvant chemotherapy alone versus adjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) as an alternative strategy for patients with early-stage (FIGO 2009 stage IB-IIA) cervical cancer having risk factors after surgery. The condition was assessed in terms of prognosis, adverse effects, and quality of life. This randomized trial involved nine centers across China. Eligible patients were randomized to receive adjuvant chemotherapy or CCRT after surgery. The primary end-point was progression-free survival (PFS). From December 2012 to December 2014, 337 patients were subjected to randomization. Final analysis included 329 patients, including 165 in the adjuvant chemotherapy group and 164 in the adjuvant CCRT group. The median follow-up was 72.1 months. The three-year PFS rates were both 91.9%, and the five-year OS was 90.6% versus 90.0% in adjuvant chemotherapy and CCRT groups, respectively. No significant differences were observed in the PFS or OS between groups. The adjusted HR for PFS was 0.854 (95% confidence interval 0.415-1.757; P = 0.667) favoring adjuvant chemotherapy, excluding the predefined non-inferiority boundary of 1.9. The chemotherapy group showed a tendency toward good quality of life. In comparison with post-operative adjuvant CCRT, adjuvant chemotherapy treatment showed non-inferior efficacy in patients with early-stage cervical cancer having pathological risk factors. Adjuvant chemotherapy alone is a favorable alternative post-operative treatment.
Female ; Humans ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/drug therapy* ; Prospective Studies ; Quality of Life ; Neoplasm Staging ; Chemoradiotherapy ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant/adverse effects* ; Adjuvants, Immunologic ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use* ; Retrospective Studies

Sex difference has shown in the arthritis diseases in human population and animal models. We investigate how the sex and symmetry vary among mouse models with different genomic backgrounds. Disease data of sex and limbs accumulated in the past more than two decades from four unique populations of murine arthritis models were analyzed. They are (1) interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) deficient mice under Balb/c background (Balb/c KO); (2) Mice with collagen II induced arthritis under DBA/1 background; (3) Mice with collagen II induced arthritis under C57BL/6 (B6) background and (4) A F2 generation population created by Balb/c KO X DBA/1 KO.Our data shows that there is a great variation in sexual dimorphism for arthritis incidence and severity of arthritis in mice harboring specific genetic modifications. For a F2 population, the incidence of arthritis was 57.1% in female mice and 75.6% in male mice. There was a difference in severity related to sex in two populations: B6.DR1/ B6.DR4 (P < 0.001) and F2 (P = 0.023) There was no difference Balb/c parental strain or in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in DBA/1 mice. Among these populations, the right hindlimbs are significantly higher than the scores for the left hindlimbs in males (P < 0.05). However, when examining disease expression using the collagen induced arthritis model with DBA/1 mice, sex-dimorphism did not reach statistical significance, while left hindlimbs showed a tendency toward greater disease expression over the right. Sexual dimorphism in disease expression in mouse models is strain and genomic background dependent. It sets an alarm that potential variation in sexual dimorphism among different racial and ethnic groups in human populations may exist. It is important to not only include both sexes and but also pay attention to possible variations caused by disease expression and response to treatment in all the studies of arthritis in animal models and human populations.

Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics and differences of inpatients who have been diagnosed with both cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.The findings from this study will help medical professionals make informed decisions regarding diagnosis and treatment strategies for patients with coexisting cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.Methods:This study included a total of 275 patients who were hospitalized in both the Neurology and Cardiology Departments of our hospital between January 2012 and December 2019.The study compared the treatment, hospitalization, and prognosis of the two departments using retrospective stratified analysis.Results:The majority of patients hospitalized in the Cardiology Department were diagnosed with circulatory system diseases(I00-I99), accounting for 92.0%(253 cases). In the Neurology Department, the main diagnoses were circulatory system diseases(I00-I99), nervous system diseases(G00-G99), symptoms and signs involving circulatory and respiratory systems, cognition, perception, emotional state and behavior(R00-R09, R40-R46), accounting for 69.8%(192 cases), 16.7%(46 cases)and 13.1%(36 cases), respectively.There was a significant difference in the distribution of diagnoses between the Cardiology and Neurology Departments( χ2=67.8, P<0.001). The Cardiology Department had a higher proportion of patients with 5 or more other diagnoses[153(55.6%) vs.59(21.5%)], while Neurology Department had a higher proportion of patients with 2-4 other diagnoses(64.0% vs.36.4%). When comparing the distribution of other diagnoses during hospitalization in the Cardiology Department, the proportion of patients with only one other diagnosis was higher in the first visit group of Neurology Department compared to those with two or more diagnoses, which was statistically significant( χ2=9.3, P=0.03). There was no statistical difference in hospitalization days between the two departments( χ2=2.2, P=0.14). Although there was a significant difference in patient outcomes, with a lower proportion of patients not recovering or dying in the Neurology Department( χ2=4.6, P=0.03), there was no significant difference in the interval between hospitalizations for the two groups(180 d, χ2=0.1, P=0.72; 90 d, χ2=1.8, P=0.18). Conclusions:The need for early prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of patients with both cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases is still a pressing concern.Exploring a combined diagnosis and treatment model for multiple diseases may prove useful in overcoming the limitations of the current single disease diagnosis and treatment approach.