ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore the correlation between the quality of life （QOL） and different traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndromes in patients with myasthenia gravis （MG）， identifying potential influencing factors to provide new insights for clinical interventions and improving the QOL of patients with MG. MethodsA questionnaire survey was conducted on 93 adults with MG who visited the Department of Neurology at the Affiliated Hospital of Changchun University of Chinese Medicine from March 2023 to January 2024. Statistical analysis was performed on the clinical data collected using SPSS 24.0 software. ResultsAmong the 93 patients with MG， the average score for myasthenia gravis quality of life-15 （MGQOL-15） was 17.65±6.27， and that for the 36-item short form health survey （SF-36） was （106.13±11.83） scores. The QOL was rated as good for 16 patients and moderate for 77 patients. There were no statistically significant differences in the scores of MGQOL-15， SF-36， and their individual scales by gender or education level. Age showed statistically significant differences in MGQOL-15 and the role physical （RP） scale （P<0.05）， and occupational type showed significant differences in the vitality （VT） scale （P<0.01）. The Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America （MGFA） classification had statistical significance on the total SF-36 score （P<0.01）， VT scale （P<0.01）， role emotional （RE） scale （P<0.05）， social functioning （SF） scale （P<0.05）， and physical functioning （PF） scale （P<0.01）. Among patients with different TCM syndromes， there were significant differences in MGQOL-15 scores （F=4.919， P<0.01）. Moreover， significant differences were observed in SF-36 scores （P<0.01）， VT scale （P<0.01）， RE scale （P<0.05）， mental health （MH） scale （P<0.01）， and SF scale （P<0.05）. ConclusionFactors affecting the QOL of patients with MG include age， occupational type， and clinical classification of MG. Specifically， a greater impact on the QOL of older patients is observed， while physical laborers have a poorer QOL compared to non-physical laborers. Patients classified as MGFA type Ⅱ and higher have a poorer QOL. Additionally， there is a potential correlation between the QOL and TCM syndromes， with patients presenting with spleen and kidney Qi deficiency having a lower QOL than those with spleen and stomach Qi deficiency or Qi and Yin deficiency， which is particularly evident in the VT， RE， MH， and SF scales.

Sarcopenia obesity (SO), a specific disease with co-occurrence of obesity and sarcopenia, is shown clinically as abnormal accumulation of fat, decreased mass and strength of muscle, and increased risk of incidence and mortality of other chronic diseases. Currently, there exist various definitions and diagnoses about SO in the various regions of the world. Its prevalence in populations elevates in an age-dependent manner. This article summarized the possible pathogenesis of SO from the view of chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, insulin resistance, and Hippo pathway, subsequently listed and analyzed potential pharmacological targets (fibroblast growth factor, CD44, adiponectin, etc) involved in treating SO, in order to provide new ideas for clinical diagnosis, treatment of SO patients and research and development of innovative drugs.

Ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) of organs is a major challenge for clinicians, but the mechanism is still not elucidated, and the clinical treatment effect is still unsatisfactory. PARP-1-dependent cell death (parthanatos) is a non-apototic programmed cell death pathway involved in the development of the occurrence of IRI of organs. At the same time, parthanatos is also a multi-step pathway. There are many molecules in the parthanatos cascade that can be exploited to create therapeutic interventions for IRI, including PARP1, apoptosis inducing factor (AIF), and macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF). These critical molecules are involved in DNA damage, energy depletion and homeostasis imbalance. Therefore, these molecular signals in the parthanatos cascade represent promising therapeutic targets for the treatment of IRI. In the following, we will elaborate on the mechanisms and molecular characteristics of the parthanatos pathway and the relation between parthanatos pathway and IRI of vital organs. It aims to explore the posibility of IRI mechanism research and clinical treatment and to provide new ideas for clinicians and researchers.

Sarcopenia, characterized as the progressive decrease in skeletal muscle mass, strength, and function, has been becoming one of chronic musculoskeletal diseases in aging people. In basic research studies, a reliable experimental model would be vital significance for deeply understanding pathophysiological mechanism of sarcopenia and developing novel drugs. This review provided a preliminary summary on the potential mechanisms involved in senescence-induced sarcopenia, followed by a discussion on research progress on pharmacology models based on molecular mechanism of senescence, especially from in vitro cell models and in vivo animal models.

OBJECTIVES: Postoperative delirium (POD) and postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) are common operative neurocognitive disorders, which places a heavy burden on patients, families and society. Therefore, it is very important to search for preventive drugs. Previous studies have demonstrated that perioperative use of dexmedetomidine resulted in a decrease the incidence of POD and POCD. But the specific effect of dexmedetomidine on elderly patients undergoing hepatic lobectomy and its potential mechanism are not clear. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of intraoperative use of dexmedetomidine on preventing POD and POCD in elderly patients undergoing hepatic lobectomy and the influence on the balance between proinflammation and anti-inflammation. METHODS: This trial was designed as a single-center, prospective, randomized, controlled study. One hundred and twenty hospitalized patients from January 2019 to December 2020, aged 60-80 years old with American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) II-III and scheduled for hepatic lobectomy, were randomly allocated into 3 groups (n=40) using a random number table: A C group, a Dex1 group, and a Dex2 group. After anesthesia induction, saline in the C group, dexmedetomidine [0.3 μg/(kg·h)] in the Dex1 group, and dexmedetomidine [0.6 μg/(kg·h)] in the Dex2 group were infused until the end of operation. The incidences of hypotension and bradycardia were compared among the 3 groups. Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) for assessing POD and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) for evaluating POCD were recorded and venous blood samples were obtained for the determination of neuron specific enolase (NSE), TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-10 at the different time below: the time before anesthesia (T0), and the first day (T1), the third day (T2), the fifth day (T3), and the seventh day (T4) after operation. RESULTS: Compared with the C group, the incidences of bradycardia in the Dex1 group or the Dex2 group increased (both P<0.05) and there was no difference in hypotension in the Dex1 group or the Dex2 group (both P>0.05). The incidences of POD in the C group, the Dex1 group, and the Dex2 group were 22.5%, 5.0%, and 7.5%, respectively. The incidences of POD in the Dex1 group or the Dex2 group declined significantly as compared to the C group (both P<0.05). However, there is no difference in the incidence of POD between the Dex1 group and the Dex2 group (P>0.05). The incidences of POCD in the C group, the Dex1 group, and the Dex2 group were 30.0%, 12.5%, and 10.0%, respectively. The incidences of POCD in the Dex1 group and the Dex2 group declined significantly as compared to the C group (both P<0.05). And no obvious difference was seen in the incidence of POCD in the Dex1 group and the Dex2 group (P>0.05). Compared with the C group, the level of TNF-α and IL-1β decreased and the level of IL-10 increased at each time points (from T1 to T4) in the Dex1 group and the Dex2 group (all P<0.05). Compared with the Dex1 group, the level of IL-1β at T2 and IL-10 from T1 to T3 elevated in the Dex2 group (all P<0.05). Compared with the T0, the concentrations of NSE in C group at each time points (from T1 to T4) and in the Dex1 group and the Dex2 group from T1 to T3 increased (all P<0.05). Compared with the C group, the level of NSE decreased from T1 to T4 in the Dex1 group and the Dex2 group (all P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Intraoperative dexmedetomidine infusion can reduce the incidence of POCD and POD in elderly patients undergoing hepatic lobectomy, and the protective mechanism appears to involve the down-regulation of TNF-α and IL-1β and upregulation of IL-10 expression, which lead to rebalance between proinflammation and anti-inflammation.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Bradycardia ; Cognitive Dysfunction/prevention & control* ; Delirium/prevention & control* ; Dexmedetomidine/therapeutic use* ; Humans ; Hypotension/drug therapy* ; Interleukin-10 ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Cognitive Complications/prevention & control* ; Postoperative Complications/epidemiology* ; Prospective Studies ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

Objective:To investigate the significance of changes of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in neoadjuvant therapy for rectal cancer.Methods:The data of 86 patients with rectal cancer who received neoadjuvant therapy from November 2013 to January 2015 in Shanxi Provincial Cancer Hospital were retrospectively analyzed, and the correlations of NLR and PLR changes with the patients' clinicopathological characteristics and therapeutic effects were also analyzed.Results:There were 43 cases of increased NLR and 43 cases of increased PLR after treatment. NLR and PLR changes before and after neoadjuvant therapy in patients with rectal cancer were not associated with age, gender, TNM stage, lymph node metastasis, number of cancer nodules, and tumor diameter (all P > 0.05). The increasing proportion of NLR and PLR after treatment in patients with the distance from the tumor to anus < 6 cm was higher than that in those with the distance≥6 cm [60.00% (30/50) vs. 36. 11% (13/36), χ2 = 4.778, P = 0.029; 64.00% (32/50) vs. 30.56% (11/36), χ2 = 9.364, P = 0.002]. The increasing proportion of NLR and PLR after treatment in patients with the body mass index (BMI) ≥28 kg/m 2 was higher than that in those with BMI < 28 kg/m 2 [81.82% (9/11) vs. 45.33% (34/75), χ2 = 5.108, P = 0.024; 90.91% (10/11) vs. 44.00% (33/75), χ2 = 8.444, P = 0.004]. The remission rate of patients in NLR reduction group after treatment was higher than that in NLR increase group [72.09% (31/43) vs. 51.16% (31/43), χ2 = 3.983, P = 0.046]. PLR changes were not associated with the therapeutic effects of neoadjuvant therapy before and after treatment ( P > 0.05). Conclusion:NLR changes are associated with therapeutic efficacy before and after neoadjuvant therapy for patients with rectal cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the prognostic value of TNM staging systems in the 7th edition and the 8th edition AJCC in Siewert III adenocarcinoma of esophagogastric junction (AEG). METHODS: Data of 160 patients with Siewert III AEG who underwent radical surgery (R0) from January 2009 to January 2013 in PLA General Hospital were collected retrospectively. Exclusion standards:(1)preoperative neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy;(2)with distant metastasis before or during operation;(3)palliative operation or R1/R2 resection;(4)pathological type as non-adenocarcinoma;(5)number of retrieved lymph nodes less than 16;(6)diagnosed with other malignant tumors concurrently or within 5 years after operation;(7)incomplete clinical or follow-up data. According to the above criteria, 160 patients were included in this study finally. All the patients underwent radical total or proximal gastrectomy by abdominal approach. D1 or D1+ lymph node dissection was performed in early patients and D2 in advanced patients. All the patients were re-staged by the gastric cancer TNM7 (G7), the gastric cancer TNM8 (G8) and the esophageal cancer TNM7(E7). Univariate analysis and Cox regression analysis were performed. Kappa value and Akaike's information criterion (AIC, the less AIC, the better prognosis) value were compared between different staging systems in agreement and predicting prognosis. RESULTS: There were 128 males and 32 females(sex ratio 4:1), and the average age was (60.2±11.6) years and 17 patients with basic disease. Of all the patients, 133 cases (83.1%) underwent radical total gastrectomy and 27 cases (16.9%) underwent proximal gastrectomy. The median number of dissected lymph nodes were 31 and the median number of positive lymph nodes were 4. Multivariate analysis showed that the G7, G8, E7 staging systems were independent prognostic factors (HR=1.374, 1.407 and 1.305 respectively,all P<0.001). Stage migration between G7 and G8 were only observed in IIIA, IIIB and IIIC, and stage migration rate was 8.1% (13/160), and the agreement was very good (weighted Kappa 0.904, P<0.001). However, the difference between G8 and E7 was quite obvious, stage migration rate was 40.6%(65/160), and the agreement between G8 and E7 was not satisfied (weighted Kappa 0.536, P<0.001). AIC value was 811.4 in G8, 812.8 in G7 and 815.9 in E7, respectively. CONCLUSION Compared with G7 and E7 staging systems, the G8 staging system is superior in predicting the prognosis of patients with Siewert III AEG.
Adenocarcinoma ; classification ; pathology ; surgery ; Aged ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; classification ; pathology ; surgery ; Esophagogastric Junction ; pathology ; surgery ; Female ; Gastrectomy ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; methods ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms ; classification ; pathology ; surgery

Objective: To explore the clinical efficacy of ladder neoadjuvant therapy in treatment of advanced mid-low rectal cancer. Methods: We performed a retrospective study of one hundred and eighty mid and low rectal cancer patients who underwent ladder neoadjuvant therapy(neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery if neoadjuvant chemotherapy was effective; neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy if neoadjuvant chemotherapy was ineffective)(n=90) or neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (n=90). Results: In the ladder neoadjuvant therapy group, the descent stage rate was 85.6% (77/90), the anastomosis rate was 50.0% (45/90), the pre-sacral infection rate was 4.4% (4/90), the pathological complete remission (pCR) was 13.3%(12/90), R0 resection rate was 85.6% (77/90), the 2-year disease control rate was 76.7% (69/90), and the 2-year survival rate was 90.0% (81/90). In the control group, the descent stage rate was 88.9% (80/90), The anastomosis rate was 45.6% (41/90), the rate of pre-sacral infection was 11.1% (10/90), pCR was 16.7% 15/90), R0 resection rate was 88.9% (80/90), the 2-year disease control rate was 78.9% (71/90), and the 2-year survival rate was 87.8% (79/90). The difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The ladder neoadjuvant therapy group had lower prophylactic transverse colostomyrate(10.0% vs 34.4%), lower radiation injury rate (6.7% vs 27.8%), and lower sexual dysfunction rate (38.9% vs 87.8)compared to the control group. Conclusions The ladder neoadjuvant therapy might reduce side injury caused by radiotherapy, improve compliance of patients, and reduce treatment costs. Moreover, the RO resection rate, 2-year local control rate and 2-year survival rate of ladder neoadjuvant therapy group was comparable with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.

Nine cases of colorectal lipoma who were admitted from January 2005 to December 2016 were reported.The pathological diagnosis was confirmed after surgery,and all 9 cases were cured and discharged.All patients were followed up and were alive by January 2017.

Objective To observe the effects of glucagon like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogues liraglutide on expressions of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and cyclo-oxygen-ase (COX)2 in renal medulla of type 2 diabetes rats, and the mechanism of its lowering blood pressure and promoting excretion of water and salt in kidney. Methods Type 2 diabetes model rats were generated by high-fat and high-sugar feeding for 8 weeks followed by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ). Subse?quently, eighteen type 2 diabetes rats were divided into two groups: liraglutide treatment group (DMT) and diabetes group (DM). Twelve normal rats were divided into two groups: liraglutide treatment wild type group (WTT) and wild type group (WT). DMT and WTT groups were given liraglutide (200μg/kg) by subcutaneous injection, DM and WT groups were given equivalent normal saline by the same way. The levels of blood glucose and blood pressure were detected at 0, 2, 4 and 6 weeks after treatment in groups of rats. Samples of urine were collected for detecting ion concentrations (K+, Na+and Cl-) af?ter treatment for six weeks. Rats were sacrificed and blood samples were collected for detecting ion concentrations (K+, Na+and Cl-). The expression levels of NOS and COX2 mRNA and protein in renal medulla were detected by real-time PCR and Western blot assay. Results After treating with liraglutide, the values of blood glucose (F=5.933, P<0.05) and blood pres?
sure (F=22.070, P<0.05) were gradually decreased in DMT group. After treatment with liraglutide for 6 weeks, the values of blood glucose (mmol/L:12.78 ± 3.82 vs. 18.75 ± 1.68) and blood pressure (mmHg:119.98 ± 4.43 vs. 136.42 ± 4.48) were signifi?cantly decreased (P<0.05) in DMT group than those of DM group (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in the concentrations of K+, Na+and Cl-between the two groups. There were higher levels of K+(mmol/L:46.55 ± 6.43 vs. 33.13 ± 9.71), Na+(mmol/L:56.33±8.83 vs. 41.20±7.25) and Cl-(mmol/L:159.81±25.06 vs. 71.44±12.99) in urine in DMT group than those of DM group (P<0.05). The mRNA levels and protein expressions of NOS and COX2 in renal medulla were significant?ly increased in DMT group than those of DM group (P<0.05). Conclusion GLP-1 analogues liraglutide may enhance the expression of COX2 by increasing the expression of NOS to excrete water and salt, and decrease blood pressure.