Objective To investigate the correlation between the expressions of TGFβR2 and microsatellite instability (MSI) in colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues, and the relationship between the two protein molecules and clinicopathological parameters. Methods The CRC and adjacent tissues of 184 patients with CRC pathologically diagnosed in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University from January 1, 2019 to September 30, 2019 were collected, the expression of MSI was detected by capillary electrophoresis (CE), and the expressions of MMR and TGFβR2 proteins were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Kappa consistency test was used to analyze the consistency of IHC and CE MSI results. The relative TGFβR2 mRNA expression was detected by quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Rank sum test was used to analyze the correlation between TGFβR2 gene mutation and MSI, and the relationship between TGFβR2 mRNA relative expression level and clinicopathological parameters. Results Among 184 CRC tissue samples, 152 cases (82.6%,152/184) were microsatellite instability low-frequency (MSI-L)/microsatellite stability (MSS) and 32 cases (17.4%, 32/184) were microsatellite instability high-frequency (MSI-H). The main results of MSI detected by CE and IHC were highly consistent, and the Kappa consistency coefficient was 0.922 (P<0.001). Compared with MSI-L/MSS, MSI-H mostly occurred in patients with stagesⅠ-Ⅱ colon cancer without lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). The protein and mRNA expression levels of TGFβR2 in CRC tissues were higher than those in the adjacent tissues (P<0.01). The mutation rate of TGFβR2 gene in MSI-H CRC was higher than that in MSI-L/MSS CRC [93.3%(28/30) vs. 14.9%(23/154), P<0.01]. The relative expression of TGFβR2 mRNA in MSI-H group was higher than that in MSI-L/MSS group (7.93±0.36 vs. 4.47±1.31, P<0.01), was higher in para-cancer tissues than in CRC tissues(9.38±0.82 vs. 4.76±1.63, P<0.01). The relative expressions of TGFβR2 mRNA in colon, tumors without metastasis, lymph node without metastasis and TNM Ⅰ-Ⅱ stages CRC tissues were higher (P<0.05). Conclusion The expressions of MSI and TGFβR2 are consistent and synergistic in tumor site, lymph node metastasis, and TNM stage.

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics, short-term and long-term prognosis and influencing factors of patients with Stanford type A aortic dissection (TAAD) complicated with postoperative hypoxemia. Methods Seventy-three patients with TAAD confirmed by chest CT and (or) aortic CT angiography in the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from January 2017 to March 2021 were enrolled. According to whether the postoperative hypoxemia was complicated with, patients were divided into two groups: with hypoxemia group (n=36) and without hypoxemia group (n=37). The clinical characteristics of TAAD patients with hypoxemia were analyzed. Logistic regression model and Cox proportional risk model were used to analyze the effect of hypoxemia on the short-term and long-term all cause death of TAAD patients. Results The average age and BMI level were significantly higher in TAAD patients with hypoxemia group than those in without hypoxemia group, and the preoperative levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), albumin (ALB), serum creatinine(Scr), urinary microalbumin (mALB) and TNF-α, IL-6 and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were also significantly higher in with hypoxemia group than those in without hypoxemia group (P<0.05). The short-term mortality was significantly higher in with hypoxemia group than that in without hypoxemia group [22.2% (8/36) vs. 5.4% (2/37); χ²=4.365, P=0.037], but no significant difference between the two groups of patients in the long-term mortality after discharge [13.9% (5/36) vs. 8.1% (3/7);χ²=0.625, P=0.429]. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that complication with hypoxemia, age and TNF-α level were the independent risk factors for postoperative short-term hospitalization death in TAAD patients (P<0.05). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that age and hs-CRP level were the independent risk factors for death of TAAD patients during follow-up after discharge (P<0.05). While complication with hypoxemia was not an independent risk factor for death of TAAD patients during follow-up after discharge (P>0.05). Conclusion TAAD patients with postoperative hypoxemia have the clinical characteristics of old age, high BMI, high liver and kidney function index and high levels of inflammatory factors, and short-term postoperative death may increase.

Healthy skeletal muscle has a certain capacity for regeneration. Muscle regenerative response mainly rely on the action of myogenic stem cells, other structures of muscle tissue are reconstructed with the support of vascular and neural networks.However, endogenous self-regeneration is severely impaired in large muscle injuries or under pathological condition. Consequently,tissue engineering approaches are a promising means to regenerate skeletal muscle. The latest domestic and international research progress of tissue engineering technology in repairing skeletal muscle injury has been reviewed in present paper.

Objective To investigate the effect of intravenous omega-3 fish oil on the prognosis of patients with sepsis. Methods 1733 patients with sepsis were selected from the Department of Critical Care Medicine of Shenzhen People's Hospital from December 1, 2016 to June 30, 2019. According to the survival situation, these patients were divided into survival group(n=1351) and death group (n=382). The general information, infection site, complications, organ support measures and clinical outcomes were analyzed and compared between the two groups. Multivariate logistic regression and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis were performed to evaluate the effect of intravenous supplementation of omega-3 fish oil on the prognosis of patients with sepsis. Results There were significant differences in gender, age, pulmonary infection, abdominal infection, blood infection,complication, mechanical ventilation, renal replacement therapy and omega-3 fish oil intervention between survival group and death group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the proportion of biliary tract infection, urinary tract infection and other site infections between the two groups (P>0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that men, old age, bloodstream infection,mechanical ventilation support, and renal replacement therapy were risk factors for the survival status of patients with sepsis within 90 days, and intravenous omega-3 fish oil supplementation was a protective factor for sepsis. Survival analysis results show that intravenous supplementation of omega-3 fish oil can improve the 90-day survival rate of patients with sepsis. Conclusion Omega-3 fish oil intervention can improve the prognosis of patients with sepsis, and the clinical application feasibility is high.

Neutrophil extracellular trap (NETs) is a kind of DNA-based skeleton released by neutrophils to the outside of the cell, in which a variety of granular proteins, proteolytic enzymes, antibacterial peptides, and other network structures are embedded.In recent years, studies have confirmed that NETs are highly expressed in a variety of tumors, and tumor microenvironment (TME)is a special environment for tumor cell survival and development, including cellular and non-cellular components. This article mainly explains that TME can stimulate the formation of NETs, and NETs can also promote tumor proliferation, invasion and metastasis by affecting tumor cells, immune cells, endothelial cells, epithelial cells, fibroblasts and extracellular matrix in TME. Finally, the clinical application prospects of NETs as tumor markers and potential therapeutic targets are discussed.

Objective To explore the clinical characteristics and prognosis of patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD)in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) and complicated with pathogen-positive and -negative pulmonary tuberculosis. Methods A total of 98 ESRD patients complicated with pulmonary tuberculosis, admitted in the Tuberculosis Department and undergone MHD at the Blood Purification Center of the 8th Medical Center of PLA General Hospital from July 2012 to February 2022, were collected,and divided into pathogen-positive group (n=34) and pathogen-negative group (n=64) according to the results of sputum smear, sputum culture of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and molecular biological diagnosis. The clinical characteristics, therapeutic effect and prognosis of the two groups were compared and analyzed. Results Both the pathogen-positive and -negative pulmonary tuberculosis groups were mainly the males (85.3% and 76.6%, respectively) and middle-aged and elderly people [(56.4±15.6) years old and (55.8±15.0) years old, respectively]. The proportion of patients with non-primary glomerulonephritis as main underlying kidney disease, and with cough and sputum as the first manifested symptom, were both higher in pathogen-positive group than in pathogen-negative group (38.2% vs. 17.2% and 91.2% vs. 50.0%, respectively) (P<0.05). The laboratory results showed that the leukocyte, neutrophil, monocyte count,neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), monocyte/lymphocyte ratio (MLR) and C-reactive protein level were higher, while the lymphocyte count was lower in pathogen-positive group than in pathogen-negative group (P<0.05). The chest CT found that the proportion of pleural thickened and cavity formation was higher (P<0.05), while of strip shadow was lower (P<0.05) in pathogen-positive group than in pathogen-negative group. The efficacy of anti-tuberculosis treatment was better in the both groups (94.1% vs. 95.3%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis found that cough and sputum (OR=12.572, 95%CI 2.609-60.581), MLR (OR=8.226, 95%CI 2.479-27.298),pleural thickening (OR=4.740, 95%CI 1.043-21.541) and cavitation (OR=8.462, 95%CI 2.423-29.555) were the risk factors for patients complicated with pathogen-positive pulmonary tuberculosis. Conclusions Significant differences of clinical characteristics existed between the pathogen-positive and -negative tuberculosis patients with ESRD on MHD. Cough and sputum as the first symptom, MLR,pleural thickening and cavitation are the risk factors for the pathogen-positive tuberculosis.

To strengthen the management of dyslipidaemias in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD)is regarded as an important measure to delay the disease progression and improve the long-term prognosis. However, there are still a high proportion of domestic patients, whose lipids levels are not up to the standard after receiving conventional lipid lowering therapy, causing an unoptimistic form of lipids management of ASCVD patients in China. As researchers found the role of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) in lipid metabolism, targeted PCSK9 inhibitors have been put into clinical researches gradually and accumulated series evidence on efficacy and safety. Main literature referred to the clinical research and application progress of PCSK9 inhibitors were reviewed in present paper, to provide a reference for future clinical practice.

Objective To investigate the spectrum and clinical characteristics of growth hormone(GH)-secreting pituitary tumor combined with thyroid diseases and to analyze its risk factors. Methods A retrospective study was used to analyze 133 patients with GH-secreting pituitary tumor who underwent thyroid ultrasound examination in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University. The patients with GH-secreting pituitary tumor were divided into thyroid abnormal group and normal thyroid group. The clinical data of the two groups were compared. The correlation between variables was analyzed by multiple linear regression, and the risk of GH-secreting pituitary tumor with thyroid disease was analyzed by binary logistic regression. Results Among the 133 GH-secreting pituitary tumor patients, 108 cases (81.2%) had thyroid diseases. (1) Classified by thyroid ultrasonography, 51 (38.3%) with nodular goiters, 44 cases (33.1%) with simple thyroid nodules, 5 cases (3.8%) with goiters,33 cases (24.8%) without thyroid ultrasound abnormalities. (2) Classified by thyroid function, 34 cases (25.6%) with thyroid dysfunction, 99 cases (74.4%) with normal thyroid function. (3) Classified by pathology of thyroid, 10 cases accomplished thyroid pathological examination, 2 cases (1.5%) with thyroid cancers, 8 cases (6.0%) with benign thyroid nodules, 123 cases (92.5%)without pathological examination. (4) Classified by nosology, 22 cases (16.5%) with thyroiditis, 111 patients (83.5%) with normal thyroid immunological indicators. Univariate analysis showed that the nadir GH levels in patients with GH-secreting pituitary tumor was higher in the thyroid abnormality group than in the normal thyroid group (P<0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that thyroid volume was positively correlated with insulin-like growth fator-1 (IGF-1), age, body mass index (BMI), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), thyroxine (T₄) and thyroglobulin (Tg), [partial regression coefficient (B)=0.000, 0.006,0.019, 0.001, –0.144, –0.002 respectively, P<0.05]. The diameter of thyroid nodule was only positively correlated with Tg and age(B=0.004 and 0.017, P<0.05). The diameter of thyroid nodule was only positively correlated with Tg and age (P<0.05). The binary logistic regression analysis showed that the patients with the higher of the nadir GH levels, BMI of 24-26 kg/m² and the sphenoid sinus invasion score >2, the higher the risk of combined thyroid diseases was, the odds ratio (OR) was 11.450, 5.022 and 6.576, respectively. Conclusion The incidence of various thyroid diseases in patients with GH-secreting pituitary tumor was significantly high, particularly nodular goiters and simple thyroid nodules, nadir GH levels of GH-secreting pituitary tumor is an independent risk factor of thyroid diseases, sphenoid sinus invasion score may be a potential predictor.

Chronic airway inflammatory diseases are kinds of respiratory diseases caused by infection or allergy, which are involved in airway structural cells and multiple inflammatory cells and cytokines. Their etiology and specific pathogenesis are complex and changeable, and remain unclear. The nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor family, pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, is an important component of innate immunity and closely correlates with the development and progression of many chronic inflammatory diseases. This article mainly expounds the activation mechanism and pulmonary expression of NLRP3 inflammasome and it's expression in the lung, and also summarizes its activity change and role during the progression of chronic inflammatory diseases using chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma as the examples, to provide a basis for targeting NLRP3 inflammasome to treat chronic airway inflammatory diseases.

Objective To investigate the effects of cathepsin B (CTSB) down-regulation on pyroptosis of lung tissue in mice with sepsis-induced acute lung injury. Methods Thirty SPF healthy male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into three groups: sham group (n=6), sepsis group (n=15), and sepsis plus CTSB inhibitor CA-074 group (sepsis+CA-074 group, n=9).Sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). Except for cecal ligation and perforation, other operations in the sham group were the same as those in sepsis group. 10 mg/kg CA-074 was intraperitoneally injected in sepsis+CA-074 group at 15 min after CLP. The mice were sacrificed 24 h after CLP. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was collected for measurement of the white blood cell count and IL-18 and IL-1β concentrations with ELISA. Lung tissues were obtained for the determination of lung injury score, wet/dry lung weight ratio, the expressions of caveolin-1, MCPIP1, CTSB, caspase-1, and GSDMD mRNA (by RT-PCR), as well as the protein expressions of CTSB, caspase-1, and GSDMD (by Western blotting). Results The mice in sham group were normal throughout the observation period, and the 24 h survival rate after the operation was 100.0%. The sepsis mice showed obvious symptoms such as piloerection, dilatory, anorexia, and apathy, and these symptoms were improved in sepsis+CA-074 group.The 24 h survival rate after surgery in the two groups was 40.0% and 66.7%, respectively. Compared with sham group, the count of leukocytes and the expression of IL-18 and IL-1β in BALF were significantly increased, the wet/dry lung weight ratio and lung injury score were increased, the expression of caveolin-1 mRNA was up-regulated, the expression of MCPIP1 mRNA was down-regulated, and the expressions of CTSB, caspase-1, and GSDMD were up-regulated in the sepsis group (P<0.05). Compared with sepsis group, the count of leukocytes and the expressions of inflammatory factors were decreased, the wet/dry lung weight ratio and lung injury score were decreased, the expression of caveolin-1 mRNA was down-regulated, the expression of MCPIP1 mRNA was up-regulated, proteins associated with pyroptosis were significantly decreased, and the protein expression of CTSB was decreased in sepsis+CA-074 group (P<0.05). However, there was no significant change in the parameter of CTSB mRNA between the sepsis and sepsis+CA-074 groups (P=0.973). Conclusion Increased CTSB expression occurs in lung tissue with sepsis-induced acute lung injury, and inhibition of CTSB may alleviate sepsis-induced acute lung injury by suppressing pyroptosis.