BACKGROUND:Intervertebral disc degeneration is the basis of spinal degenerative diseases;however,there is no effective treatment. OBJECTIVE:To investigate whether sinomenine can inhibit interleukin-1β-induced apoptosis in nucleus pulposus cells and its molecular mechanism. METHODS:Rat nucleus pulposus cells were cultured in vitro by trypsin combined with type II collagenase digestion,and the cell growth curve was plotted.An appropriate sinomenine concentration was determined using the cell counting kit-8 kit.Nucleus pulposus cells were divided into control group,sinomenine group,interleukin-1β group,sinomenine+interleukin-1β group,zinc protoporphyrin group,zinc protoporphyrin+sinomenine group,zinc protoporphyrin+interleukin-1β group,and sinomenine+zinc protoporphyrin+interleukin-1β group.Proliferative activity,reactive oxygen species content,apoptosis rate,and heme oxygenase-1 expression in nucleus pulposus cells were detected. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The rat nucleus pulposus cells cultured in vitro were polygonal,triangular,and short wedge-shaped,and the cell growth showed an"S"curve.The cells grew slowly in the first 3 days of culture,rapidly in 4-6 days,and slowly again in 7-8 days.The cells then entered the"platform stage"where the number of cells no longer increased.The proliferative activity of myeloid cells showed no significant changes when the concentration of sinomenine was≤80 μmol/L(P>0.05).Interleukin-1β significantly reduced the proliferative activity of nucleus pulposus cells,increased the content of reactive oxygen species and led to apoptosis(P<0.01).Sinomenine intervention not only promoted heme oxygenase-1 expression(P<0.05)but also inhibited interleukin-1β-induced decrease in proliferative activity and increase in reactive oxygen species content and apoptosis rate in nucleus pulposus cells(P<0.05).These effects could be reversed by zinc protoporphyrin(P<0.01).

Objective:To investigate the effect of folding and filling the orbicularis muscle flap of the inferiorcentral pedicle in correction of sunken upper eyelids.Methods:From August 2020 to April 2022, 39 female patients aged 36-63 (47.1±6.3) years with dermatochalasis and sunken upper eyelid were admitted to the Plastic Surgery Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Medical University. During the surgery, the orbicularis oculi muscle in the skin resection area was preserved and a muscle flap was formed with the central part of the lower margin of the incision as the pedicle, which was folded deep and filled in the anterior orbital septal space. 6 months after surgery, the Park method was used to compare the effects before and after surgery, and the doctors and patients were scored on the Global Aesthetic Improvement Scale, respectively.Results:Unilateral upper eyelid hematoma appeared in 1 patient and healed after local acupuncture and aspiration, unilateral incision induration appeared in 2 patients, and gradually disappeared after 6 months of follow-up. The wounds of other patients healed in one stage. All the 39 patients were followed up for 6-12 months. The scores of the Global Aesthetic Improvement Scale at 6 months after surgery were (4.12±0.95) for doctors and (3.82±1.27) for patients. Park method showed that the degree of sunken upper eyelid after surgery was significantly better than that before surgery, and the difference was statistically significant ( Z=-7.721, P=0.000). Conclusions:The folding and filling of the orbicularis muscle flap of the eye with the inferior central pedicle can correct the laxity of the upper eyelid and improve the sunken upper eyelid. This operation can make full use of local tissue, and the effect is simple and lasting.

Objective To explore the best neoadjuvant treatment strategy for esophageal cancer and provide a theoretical basis for clinical formulation of neoadjuvant treatment plan. Methods PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP were searched from inception to May 2022. Two researchers independently performed literature screening and data extraction. The quality of the studies was evaluated by the Cochrane risk of bias tool, and data analysis was performed in RStudio environment using R3.6.3 software. Results A total of 24 studies were included, covering 5 286 patients treated with surgery alone, neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT), neoadjuvant radiotherapy (NRT), or neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) followed by combined surgical treatment. The risk of bias of the studies was low. The results of the network meta-analysis showed that combined surgical treatments after NCRT [HR=0.77, 95%CI (0.70, 0.85)] and NCT [HR=0.89, 95%CI (0.81, 0.98)] were effective methods to improve patients' overall survival (OS) compared with surgery alone. In addition, NCRT could significantly reduce the incidence of local recurrence [OR=0.43, 95%CI (0.30, 0.58)] and distant metastasis [OR=0.71, 95%CI (0.52, 0.93)] in patients with esophageal cancer. However, NCRT [RR=1.30, 95%CI (0.77, 2.20)] increased the mortality rate of patients at 30 d after surgery. Conclusion The available evidence suggests that NCRT combined with surgery is the best option for treating patients with resectable esophageal cancer, but this treatment carries the risk of increased 30 d postoperative mortality. Future studies should focus on optimizing the NCRT regimen with the aim of improving patients’ OS while effectively reducing postoperative mortality. In addition, more high-quality randomized controlled trials are needed to support the results of the study.

Objective:To compare the aortic remodeling of the Fabulous stent system and standard thoracic aortic endovascular repair (TEVAR) on distal aorta type B aortic dissection (TBAD). Methods:The prospective data collected between Dec 2017 and Oct 2019 from 134 patients with type B aortic dissection (TBAD) who underwent treatment with the "Fabulous" stent system, and retrospective data from 159 TBAD patients receiving standard TEVAR from corresponding multicenter. By using propensity score matching analysis, we compared the prognosis and aortic remodeling outcomes in patients undergoing Fabulous and standard TEVAR treatments during a 1-year postoperative follow-up.Results:In this study, 62 patients in Fabulous group and 62 patients in standard TEVAR were included.There were no significant statistical differences in baseline characteristics between the two groups. In terms of aortic remodeling in bare stent region, Fabulous group had better change trends of diameter of true lumen [10.6 (4.4, 14.5) mm vs. 4.7 (0.9, 10.7) mm, P=0.001] and false lumen [-24.2 (-30.5, -4.9) mm vs. 0.7 (-11.8, 2.3) mm, P<0.001] than those in the standard TEVAR group. The rate of complete false lumen thrombosis was also higher in the Fabulous group (62.9% vs. 37.1%, P=0.042). Conclusion:The Fabulous stent system, when compared to standard TEVAR surgery, demonstrates good aortic remodeling outcomes in the distal aorta.

Objective:To test the feasibility, efficacy and safety of percutaneous patent foramen ovale(PFO) closure utilizing the Pansy biodegradable occluder(PBO) at 1-, 3-, 6-, 12-, 24-, and 36-month follow-up.Methods:In this single-center prospective clinical study, we enrolled 15 patients with PFO eligible for closure, all treated with the PBO, with device sizes ranging 24-34 mm. All clinical data were recorded in a 36-month follow-up period. Patients were summoned to the hospital in the 1, 3, 6, 12, 24, and 36 months after closure for transthoracic echocardiography(TTE), or transesophageal echocardiography(TEE), contrast transcranial doppler(cTCD) or contrast transthoracic echocardiography(cTTE), and a routine fasting blood sample.Results:The mean age was 27-68(44.0±16.4) years old. Indications for closure were cryptogenic stroke in 6 patients and migraine in 9 patients. Procedures were technically successful in 100%(15/15), in which course TTE showed that the position and shape of occluders were satisfactory. Small residual shunt was found by TTE in 2 patients with ASA in 1 month and 6 months after closure, respectively. 1 patient with cryptogenic stroke had another recurrent stroke 8 months after closure. At 12-month follow-up, 11 cases were closure. At 36-month follow-up, 13 cases were closure. 12 patients without atrial septal aneurysm(ASA) were closure. 1 patients with ASA was complete closure. No device-related complications occurred during the follow-up.Conclusion:PBO has good biocompatibility and suitable degradation time. A high technical success rate and closure rate can be achieved in those patients without ASA. Percutaneous closure of PFO using PBO is feasible, effective, and safe.

The serious decrease in the number of functional β cells is one of the main features in the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus. CDKN1B is a new kind of regulatory protein, which can bind and inactivate cyclin and cyclin-dependent kinase complex to control the process of cell cycle. It was suggested that down-regulation or deletion of CDKN1B in islet β cells could accelerate the proliferation of islet β cells, thus increasing the number of islet β cells, which is of great significance for treatments of diabetes.

Objective:To investigate the value of generative adversarial networks-based PET image reconstruction in improving the quality of low-dose 18F-FDG PET images and lesion detection in pediatric patients. Methods:Retrospective analysis of 61 PET images of children (38 males, 23 females, age (4.0±3.5) years) who underwent 18F-FDG total-body PET/CT imaging in Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University from August 2021 to December 2021 was performed. The low-dose images (30 s, 20 s, 10 s) of all children extracted by list mode were input into the generative adversarial networks for deep learning (DL) reconstruction to obtain the corresponding simulated standard full-dose images (DL-30 s, DL-20 s, DL-10 s). The semi-quantitative parameters of the liver blood pool and primary lesion of standard full-dose 120 s, 30 s, 20 s, 10 s, DL-30 s, DL-20 s, and DL-10 s images were measured. The target-to-background ratio (TBR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and CV were calculated. The 5-point Likert scale was used for subjective scoring of image quality, and the detective abilities for positive lesions of each groups were compared. The sensitivities and positive predictive values of positive lesions detection were calculated. Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test and χ2 test were used for data analyses. Results:CNR of the 30 s, 20 s, and 10 s groups were lower than those of DL-30 s, DL-20 s, and DL-10 s groups, respectively ( z values: -3.58, -3.20, -3.65, all P<0.05). Score of DL-10 s group was significantly lower than those of 120 s, DL-30 s and DL-20 s groups (4(3, 4), 5(4, 5), 4(4, 5), 4(4, 5); H=97.70, P<0.001). There were no significant differences in TBR, CNR, CV, SUV max and SUV mean of lesions and liver blood pool in 120 s, DL-30 s, DL-20 s, and DL-10 s groups ( H values: 0.00-6.76, all P>0.05). The sensitivities of positive lesion detection in DL-30 s, DL-20 s, and DL-10 s groups were 97.83%(225/230), 96.96%(223/230), 95.65%(220/230), respectively, and the positive predictive values were 96.57%(225/233), 93.70%(223/238), 84.94%(220/259), respectively. The positive predictive value in DL-10 s group was lower than those in DL-30 s and DL-20 s groups ( χ2=23.51, P<0.001). There were more false-positive and false-negative lesions detected by DL-10 s group than those of DL-30 s and DL-20 s groups in different sites. Conclusion:Based on the generative adversarial networks, the image quality of DL-20 s group is high and can meet the clinical diagnostic requirements.

BACKGROUND: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related non-Hodgkin lymphoma (AR-NHL) is a high-risk factor for morbidity and mortality in patients with AIDS. This study aimed to determine the prognostic factors associated with overall survival (OS) and to develop a prognostic nomogram incorporating computed tomography imaging features in patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome-related non-Hodgkin lymphoma (AR-NHL). METHODS: A total of 121 AR-NHL patients between July 2012 and November 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. Clinical and radiological independent predictors of OS were confirmed using multivariable Cox analysis. A prognostic nomogram was constructed based on the above clinical and radiological factors and then provided optimum accuracy in predicting OS. The predictive accuracy of the nomogram was determined by Harrell C-statistic. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to determine median OS. The prognostic value of adjuvant therapy was evaluated in different subgroups. RESULTS: In the multivariate Cox regression analysis, involvement of mediastinal or hilar lymph nodes, liver, necrosis in the lesions, the treatment with chemotherapy, and the CD4 ≤100 cells/μL were independent risk factors for poor OS (all P < 0.050). The predictive nomogram based on Cox regression has good discrimination (Harrell C-index = 0.716) and good calibration (Hosmer-Lemeshow test, P = 0.620) in high- and low-risk groups. Only patients in the high-risk group who received adjuvant chemotherapy had a significantly better survival outcome. CONCLUSION A survival-predicting nomogram was developed in this study, which was effective in assessing the survival outcomes of patients with AR-NHL. Notably, decision-making of chemotherapy regimens and more frequent follow-up should be considered in the high-risk group determined by this model.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; Humans ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin ; Neoplasm Staging ; Nomograms ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies

Objective:To study the effects of rolling blood pump parameters and blood concentration on hemolysis during extracorporeal circulation.Methods:According to the extracorporeal hemolysis experiment standard, an extracorporeal circulation experimental device was built to analyze the influences of circulation time (0 ~ 90 min), blood flow rate (1~4 L/min), and blood volume fraction (60%, 70%) on the hemolysis of blood samples in the circulatory system. The results of hemolysis were analyzed using first-order linear regression.Results:The longer the blood pump circulation time, the greater the hemolysis rate; the higher the blood flow rate, the greater the hemolysis rate. When the flow rate is 1 and 2 L/min, the hemolysis rate curve has an inflection point that changes with time, i.e. when the circulation time exceeds 30 min, the slope of the hemolysis rate curve suddenly increases. However, when the flow rate is 3 and 4 L/min, the hemolysis mutation phenomenon is not obvious. Compared to the blood sample with blood volume fraction of 70%, a blood sample with a blood volume fraction of 60% is less prone to hemolysis.Conclusions:The longer the blood pump circulation time and the higher the blood flow rate, the more easily the red blood cells are destroyed, i.e. the hemolysis rate is directly proportional to the circulation time and blood flow rate. When the circulation time increases to a certain degree, an inflection point appears in the hemolysis rate curve, and the hemolysis trend will be significantly enhanced.

Objective To observe the damage of high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) on human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) barrier permeability and the protective effect of unfractionated heparin (UFH), and to explore the down-regulated protection effect mechanism of UFH on HMGB1-mediated vascular endothelial cadherin (VE-cadherin) expression. Methods The trypsin-digested HUVEC were subcultured in culture flasks. When the cells were grown to 80%, they were randomly divided into four groups: phosphate buffer (PBS) control group (200 μL PBS), recombinant human high mobility group box 1 (rhHMGB1) treatment group (100 μg/L rhHMGB1), UFH control group (10 kU/L UFH), and UFH pretreatment group (10 kU/L UFH+100 μg/L rhHMGB1). The cells in each group were challenged with different reagent for 24 hours, and the activity of endothelial cells was determined by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) colorimetric assay. The permeability of endothelial cells was measured by Transwell method, and the expression and distribution of VE-cadherin was observed by immunofluorescence. The protein expressions of VE-cadherin and phosphorylated p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p-p38MAPK) were determined by Western Blot. Results After treatment with 100 μg/L rhHMGB1 for 24 hours, the activity of endothelial cells was not significantly different from that of the PBS control group (A value: 0.230±0.004 vs. 0.255±0.006, P > 0.05), but the permeability was significantly increased (glucan FD40 fluorescence intensity: 11.05±0.12 vs. 6.34±0.39, P < 0.05). Compared with PBS control group, the fluorescence microscopy showed that the VE-cadherin membrane localization was reduced, the distribution was loose, and there were obvious fissures between cells in rhHMGB1 treatment group, and quantitative analysis showed the protein expression of VE-cadherin was decreased significantly (VE-cadherin/β-actin: 0.16±0.04 vs. 0.31±0.03, P < 0.05), and the expression of p-p38MAPK protein was significantly increased (p-p38MAPK/β-actin: 0.79±0.03 vs. 0.26±0.05, P < 0.05). UFH pretreatment could protect HMGB1-mediated endothelial cell injury, cell permeability was significantly reduced (glucan FD40 fluorescence intensity: 9.11±0.23 vs. 11.05±0.12), fluorescence expression of VE-cadherin was enhanced, membrane localization was significantly increased, quantitative analysis showed that VE-cadherin protein expression was significantly up-regulated (VE-cadherin/β-actin: 0.24±0.02 vs. 0.16±0.04), and p38MAPK phosphorylation level was significantly decreased (p-p38MAPK/β-actin: 0.54±0.05 vs. 0.79±0.03), the difference was statistically significant as compared with rhHMGB1 treatment group (all P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in all parameters between PBS control group and UFH control group. Conclusions UFH can protect the endothelial cell barrier from the HMGB1 by regulating the expression and distribution of VE-cadherin. The mechanism may be related to the inhibition of p38MAPK phosphorylation by UFH.