ObjectiveTo evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of Ganjie Bingmei Tablet （甘桔冰梅片， GBT） in treating acute pharyngitis with wind-heat invading the lung syndrome. MethodsUsing multi-center， rando-mized， double-blind， double-dummy， positive and parallel controlled clinical trial design， 144 acute pharyngitis patients with wind-heat invading the lung syndrome from October 8th， 2022 to March 31st， 2023 were collected and randomly assigned to the treatment group and the control group， with 72 cases in each group. The treatment group was treated by GBT （0.4 g each time， 4 times a day） combined with Ganjie Qingyan Granules （甘桔清咽颗粒， GQG） placebo （10 g each time， 3 times a day）， while the control group was treated by GQG （10 g each time， 3 times a day） combined with GBT placebo （0.4 g each time， 4 times a day）， both for 5 days. The clinical efficacy of the two groups was observed， and the disappearance rate of pharyngalgia and the efficacy regarding TCM syndromes were compared between groups after treatment. The visual analog scale （VAS） score before and after treatment was assessed， and the safety was evaluated. ResultsThe disappearance rate of pharyngalgia in the treatment group was 98.61%（71/72）， significantly higher than 80.56%（58/72） in the control group （P＜0.01）. The VAS scores in both groups significantly decreased after treatment （P＜0.05）， and lower score was found in the treatment group than the control group （P＜0.05）. The total effective rate regarding TCM syndromes was 100% in both groups， but the curative rate was significantly higher in the treatment group（73.61%， 53/72） than the control group （62.50%， 45/72， P＜0.05）. There were no obvious adverse reactions in the both groups. ConclusionGBT is effective and safe in treating acute pharyngitis with wind-heat affecting the lung syndrome.

Rheumatoid arthritis(RA)is an autoimmune disease with an early clinical manifestation of symmetric small joint pain,which gradually worsens and often involves multiple joints,ultimately result ing in arthritic deformities and loss of labor capacity.Molecular signaling pathways have been a focus of research regarding the prevention and treatment of RA,and the progression of RA has been shown to be closely related to various signaling pathways,including the Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription,mitogen-activated protein kinase,NOD-like receptor protein 3,Toll-like receptor,Wnt,Notch,hypoxia-inducible factor 1-α and vascular endothelial growth factor,programmed death factor 1 and ligand 1,and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B/mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathways.Increasing recent studies have investigated the external treatment of RA using traditional Chinese medicines based on the above signaling pathways.In this paper,we review the relevant data and reports to explain the relationship between the above pathways and the pathogenesis and prevention of RA.We also summarize the research result regarding the modulation of these signaling pathways by external treatment with traditional Chinese medicines aimed at preventing and treating rheumatoid joints,with a view to providing a scientific basis for the clinical selection of these treatments.

Objective:To explore the mediating effect of appearance functional internalization between social comparison tendency and body image distress of college students.Methods:From June to September 2023, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among 308 college students with the social comparison tendency scale, the functional internalization questionnaire of college students' appearance and the body image anxiety scale for adolescent students.SPSS 22.0 software was used for common method bias test, descriptive statistics and correlation analysis, Mplus 8.0 was used for structural equation construction, and Bootstrap method was used for intermediary effect analysis.Results:Body image distress (43.86±8.78) was positively correlated with social comparison tendency (35.20±6.04) and appearance functional internalization (38.35±9.68) ( r=0.35, 0.33, both P<0.01).There was also a positive correlation between social comparison tendency and appearance functional internalization ( r=0.51, P<0.01). The effect of social comparison tendency on body image distress was mediated by appearance functional internalization, and the mediating effect value was 0.137, accounted for 35.13%(0.137/0.390) of the total effect. Conclusion:The appearance functional internalization mediates the relationship between social comparison tendency and body image distress.Social comparison tendency can not only directly predict body image distress, but also can predict body image distress, indirectly through appearance functional internalization.

Purpose: Loss-of-function mutations in the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene are common in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). However, the characteristic of APC specific mutations in mCRC is poorly understood. Here, we explored the clinical and molecular characteristics of N-terminal and C-terminal side APC mutations in Chinese patients with mCRC. Materials and Methods: Hybrid capture-based next-generation sequencing was performed on tumor tissues from 275 mCRC pati-ents to detect mutations in 639 tumor-associated genes. The prognostic value and gene-pathway difference between APC specific mutations in mCRC patients were analyzed. Results: APC mutations were highly clustered, accounting for 73% of all mCRC patients, and most of them were truncating mutations. The tumor mutation burden of the N-terminal side APC mutations group (n=76) was significantly lower than that of the C-terminal side group (n=123) (p < 0.001), further confirmed by the public database. Survival analysis showed that mCRC patients with N-terminus side APC mutations had longer overall survival than C-terminus side. Tumor gene pathway analysis showed that gene mutations in the RTK/RAS, Wnt and transforming growth factor β signaling pathways of the C-terminal group were significantly higher than those of the N-terminal group (p < 0.05). Additionally, KRAS, AMER1, TGFBR2, and ARID1A driver mutations were more common in patients with C-terminal side APC mutations. Conclusion APC specific mutations have potential function as mCRC prognostic biomarkers. There are obvious differences in the gene mutation patterns between the C-terminus and N-terminus APC mutations group, which may have certain guiding significance for the subsequent precise treatment of mCRC.

Objective:To compare outcomes between standardized and misdiagnosis and mistreatment of osteosarcoma.Methods:A retrospective analysis of patients with high-grade osteosarcoma who received appropriate surgical treatment and chemotherapy (299 cases, control group) and those who were misdiagnosed (benign or infective) and received mistreatment (23 cases, study group) between January 2009 and December 2021. Gender, age, first operation mode, recurrence time, recurrence interval, metastasis time, metastasis interval, total survival time (months), survival status in the two group and tumor site reoperation mode in the study group were statistically analyzed. Further, chi-square test was performed for comparison of the clinical between two groups. The survival analysis was performed using Kaplan-Meier test and Log-rank test.Results:All the 322 patients were followed up. In the control group, the average follow-up time was 42 months (1-137 months), the average age was 24 years (3-80 years), male 184 cases, female 115 cases, and limb salvage rate was 85.3% (255/299). Seven patients underwent amputation, and the amputation rate was 17.7% (44/299). The recurrence rate was 8.4% (25/299), the average recurrence interval was 22.8 months (7-36 months), and the metastasis rate was 28.1% (85/299), the average metastasis time was 32.7 months (0-58 months). In the study group, the average of follow-up time was 30 months (9-117 months), the average age was 36 years (5-67 years), 17 males and 6 females. Among them, eleven patients were treated with limb salvage in the second stage, and the limb salvage rate was 47.8% (11/23). Seven patients underwent amputation, and the amputation rate was 30.4% (7/23). The recurrence rate was 26.1% (6/23), the average recurrence interval was 11 months (1-42 months), and the metastasis rate was 43.4% (10/23), the average metastasis time was 20.3 months (1-44 months). The 5-year survival rate was 50.7% in the study group and 56.1% in the control group. There was no significant difference between the two groups (χ 2=0.09, P=0.760). Conclusion:The overall prognosis of patients with high-grade osteosarcoma who receive active treatment after mistreatment is similar to that of patients with standardized treatment, but the recurrence and metastasis rate is higher, the recurrence time is earlier, and the amputation rate is higher.

Objective:To explore the alteration of JAK2/STAT3 pathway after carbon ion ( 12C 6+) irradiation and the difference in the infiltration of CD8 + T cells in lung cancer regulated by downstream protein FOXP3. Methods:Significantly altered JAK2/STAT3 pathway and related differentially-expressed genes and proteins such as FOXP3 in lung cancer after carbon ion irradiation were screened based on RNA sequencing analysis in the Lewis tumor model of C57BL/6 mice. The correlation between FOXP3 and major immune cell infiltration in the immune microenvironment of lung cancer was analyzed using the ssGSEA immune infiltration algorithm in the R software "GSVA" and CD8 + T cell infiltration in the immune microenvironment of lung cancer was evaluated based on the carbon ion combined with STAT3 inhibition pathway (niclosamide). Results:The JAK2/STAT3 pathway was inhibited and the expression of related genes and proteins was downregulated in lung cancer after carbon ion irradiation. Immune scoring based on the ssGSEA algorithm showed that FOXP3 expression was significantly negatively correlated with CD8 + T cell infiltration in the immune microenvironment of lung cancer. The role of targeting the JAK2/STAT3 pathway in increasing CD8 + T cell infiltration in lung cancer was further clarified by carbon ion irradiation combined with STAT3 inhibition (niclosamide). Conclusion:Carbon ion irradiation ( 12C 6+) can play a synergistic role with immunotherapy by targeting the JAK2/STAT3 pathway.

INTRODUCTION: Melanomas in Asians have different clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis from melanomas in Caucasians. This study reviewed the epidemiology and treatment outcomes of cutaneous melanoma diagnosed at a tertiary referral dermatology centre in Singapore, which has a multiracial population. The study also determined whether Asians had comparable relapse-free and overall survival periods to Caucasians in Singapore. METHOD: This is a retrospective review of cutaneous melanoma cases in our centre between 1996 and 2015. RESULTS: Sixty-two cases of melanoma were diagnosed in 61 patients: 72.6% occurred in Chinese, 19.4% in Caucasians and 3.2% in Indians, with an over-representation of Caucasians. Superficial spreading melanoma, acral lentiginous melanoma and nodular melanoma comprised 37.1%, 35.5% and 22.6% of the cases, respectively. The median time interval to diagnosis was longer in Asians than Caucasians; median Breslow's thickness in Asians were significantly thicker than in Caucasians (2.6mm versus 0.9mm, CONCLUSION More physician and patient education on skin cancer awareness is needed in our Asian-predominant population for better outcomes.
Humans ; Melanoma/therapy* ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Singapore/epidemiology* ; Skin Neoplasms/therapy* ; Treatment Outcome

Objective: In this study, we used HepG2 human hepatocellular carcinoma cells to study the effects of Compound Xishu Granule (CXG) on cell proliferation, apoptosis, and the cell cycle in vitro. We also used a xenograft tumor model to study the anti-tumor effects of CXG and related mechanisms in vivo.Methods: The effect of CXG on cell viability was measured using Cell Counting Kit-8 and a colony for-mation assay. The effect of CXG on apoptosis and the cell cycle was analyzed using flow cytometry. The in vivo anti-tumor effect of CXG was assessed by measuring the volume change in xenograft tumors after drug administration. The CXG anti-tumor mechanism was studied using western blotting assay to detect cell cycle and apoptotic associated proteins. Results: CXG suppressed HepG2 cell proliferation in a time-and dose-dependent manner in vitro. Colony formation experiments showed that CXG administration for 24 h significantly reduced HepG2 cell for-mations (P<.01). Flow cytometric analysis showed that CXG treatment for 48 h promoted apoptosis and blocked HepG2 cells in the G2/M phase. Western blotting results showed that Bax was significantly up-regulated and Bcl-2 was down-regulated in graft tumor tissues and HepG2 cells after CXG administra-tion, which increased the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. PLK1, CDC25C, CDK1, and Cyclin B1 expression were up-regulated. CXG had a good inhibitory effect on graft tumor growth in vivo. Conclusion: CXG has good anti-tumor effects in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, CXG promoted HepG2 cell apoptosis and induced G2/M phase arrest. In vivo, CXG significantly inhibited graft tumor growth. The CXG mechanism in treating hepatocellular carcinoma may be that CXG can induce abnormal apoptotic and cell cycle associated protein expression, leading to mitotic catastrophe and apoptosis.

Objective: To investigate the inhibitory effect of AKR1B10 inhibitor combined with sorafenib on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) xenograft growth. Methods: HepG2 xenograft model was established in nude mice. The mice were then randomly divided into four groups: control group, epalrestat monotherapy group, sorafenib monotherapy group and combination treatment group. Tumor volume, tumor weight, T/C ratio and the change in body weight of nude mice in each group were compared to evaluate the curative effect. Immunohistochemistry staining was used to detect the expression of Ki-67 in tumor tissues to evaluate the proliferation status of tumor cells. One-way analysis of variance was used to compare the differences between the groups. Student’s t-test was used to test means of two groups and chi-square test was used for multiple samples. Results: The differences of the grafted tumor volume before and after treatment between the control group, epalrestat group, sorafenib group and combined therapy group was 238.940 ± 39.813, 124.991 ± 84.670, -26.111 ± 11.518, and -54.072 ± 17.673(mm³), respectively, (F = 37.048, P < 0.001). The tumor mass were 0.273 ± 0.140, 0.158 ± 0.078, 0.079 ± 0.054, 0.045 ± 0.024 (g), (F = 16.594, P < 0.001); T/C ratio were 100%, 57.9%, 28.9%, 16.5%, and Ki-67 positive rate were 23.295 ± 6.218, 13.503 ± 3.392, 7.325 ± 2.257, 4.664 ± 1.189 (%), (χ² = 822.203, P < 0.001) . The tumor volume (t = -3.579, P = 0.002) and Ki-67 positive rate (t = -10.003, P < 0.001) in epalrestat monotherapy group were significantly lower than control group. The tumor volume (t = 2.056, P = 0.025), tumor mass (t = 2.101, P = 0.043), and Ki-67 positive rate (t = -2.850, P = 0.005) in combination treatment group were significantly lower than sorafenib monotherapy group. Compared with the control group, the body weight of nude mice in the treatment group decreased to a certain extent, but there was no statistically significant difference between epalrestat monotherapy group and control group (t = -1.599, P = 0.262), and combined therapy and sorafenib monotherapy group (t = -0.051, P = 0.96). Conclusion AKR1B10 inhibitor enhanced the inhibitory effect of sorafenib on hepatocellular carcinoma xenograft.

Objective: To investigate the diagnostic value of ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) and fine-needle aspiration washout fluid thyroglobulin (FNA-Tg) detection for neck lymph nodes metastasis in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Methods: A total of 214 PTC patients confirmed by pathology biopsy in Baoji Central Hospital from August 2015 to October 2018 were collected, and they all underwent ultrasound-guided FNAC, and FNA-Tg was measured by using electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. The histopathologic detection was performed for all suspicious lymph nodes after lymphadenectomy, and the results were analyzed by using statistics. Results: There were 282 suspicious enlarged lymph nodes detected from 214 PTC patients. Histopathological examination showed 220 lymph node metastases were positive, 62 were negative. FNAC examination showed 193 lymph nodes were positive and 89 were negative. The sensitivity, specificity, Youden index, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, accuracy of FNAC for diagnosing the lymph nodes of metastasis PTC was 84.55%, 88.71%, 73.26%, 96.37%, 61.80%, 85.46%, respectively. FNA-Tg test showed that 198 lymph nodes were diagnosed as positive metastasis and 84 were negative metastasis. The sensitivity, specificity, Youden index, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, accuracy of FNA-Tg for diagnosing the lymph nodes of metastasis PTC was 88.64%, 95.16%, 83.80%, 98.48%, 70.24%, 90.07%, respectively. Both FNAC and FNA-Tg test showed 215 lymph nodes were diagnosed as positive metastasis and 76 were negative metastasis. The sensitivity, specificity, Youden index, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, accuracy of combined treatments were 97.63%, 87.32%, 84.95%, 95.81%, 92.54%, 96.81%, respectively. The sensitivity and accuracy of combined detection were higher than those of single detection, and there were statistically significant differences (all P < 0.05). Conclusions FNAC and FNA-Tg detection are simple, safe and accurate. The combined detection of FNAC and FNA-Tg can improve the sensitivity and accuracy for the diagnosis of PTC lymph node metastasis.