ObjectiveTo detect the expression of Krüppel like factor 8 (KLF8) in breast cancer tissues and cells and to explore the clinical significance of KLF8.Methods① The Oncomine database was used to analyze the differential expression of KLF8 mRNA in the breast cancer tissues. The Kaplan-Meier Plotter database was used to analyze the relationship between KLF8 mRNA expression and prognosis (relapse free survival, overall survival, post-progression survival, and distant metastasis-free survival) of patients with breast cancer. ② The quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blot were used to detect the KLF8 expression levels in the 16 clinical patients with breast cancer and 7 breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231, MCF-12A, Hs-578T, MCF-7, BT-474, MDA-MB-453, ZR-75-30) and normal breast epithelial cell lines MCF-10A, and the immunofluorescence was used to further detect the localization of KLF8 expression in the 2 breast cancer cell lines with higher KLF8 expression level. ③ The immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of KLF8 protein in 135 cases of breast cancer tissue microarrays, and the relationships between KLF8 protein expression and clinicopathologic characteristics or overall survival were analyzed.Results① The Oncomine database showed that KLF8 mRNA expression in the breast cancer tissues was higher than that in the normal breast tissues (P<0.001). The median KLF8 mRNA expression level was taken as the cut-off point for high or low KLF8 expression. The results of Kaplan-Meier Plotter data analysis showed that the prognosis (relapse free survival, overall survival, postprogression survival, and distant metastasis-free survival) of patients with low KLF8 mRNA expression were better than those of patients with high KLF8 mRNA expression (P<0.05). ② The results of qRT-PCR and Western blot all showed that the KLF8 mRNA and protein expression levels in the breast cancer tissues were higher than those in the adjacent normal tissues (P=0.002, P<0.001). In addition, the Western blot results showed that the expression of KLF8 protein in the 7 breast cancer cell lines was higher than that in the normal breast epithelial cell lines MCF-10A respectively, and KLF8 protein mainly expressed in the cytoplasm of breast cancer cells and highly expressed in the nuclear of a few cells. ③ There were 63 cases of high KLF8 expression and 72 cases of low KLF8 expression by the immunohistochemical analysis of 135 patients with breast cancer tissue microarray (the H-score of the immunohistochemical test results was 75 as the cut-off point, H-score >75 was the high KLF8 expression and H-score ≤75 was the low KLF8 expression), the differences of statuses of estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) between the patient with high KLF8 expression and low KLF8 expression were significant (P<0.05). The Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis showed that the prognosis of patients with high KLF8 expression was worse than that of patients with low KLF8 expression (P=0.002). The univariate analysis showed that the TNM stage, statuses of ER and PR, and KLF8 expression were related to the prognosis of patients with breast cancer (P<0.05), further multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis indicated that the later stage of TNM and high KLF8 expression were the independent risk factors (P<0.05).ConclusionsThe results of this study suggest that KLF8 highly expresses in both breast cancer tissues and breast cancer cells, which is related to the statuses of ER and PR and prognosis of patients with breast cancer. KLF8 might be involved in the progression of breast cancer as an oncogenic gene, or it might provide a new direction for prognosis judgment and molecular targeted therapy of breast cancer.
Objective To evaluate the effect of early clinical interference strategies on preventing the conversion of acute pancreatitis to the severe form and aggravation of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). Methods The patients with acute pancreatitis admitted to this hospital were divided into two therapeutic phases by different therapeutic methods from January 2001 to December 2008. Patients in the first phase (from January 2001 to December 2004) were treated by the routine management, and the second phase (from January 2005 to December 2008) by the routine management combined with early clinical interference strategies. Then, the ratio of conversion from acute pancreatitis to SAP and prognosis of SAP between two phases were compared. Results Compared with the first phase, the rate of aggravation of acute pancreatitis was significantly decreased in the second phase (4.48% vs. 21.18%), the average healing time of SAP, the incidences of systemic and local complications and the mortality of pancreatitis were reduced (P＜0.05). When early clinical interference strategies were performed, some adverse reaction and complications occurred in 35 cases, but without severe consequence. Conclusion Early clinical interference strategies may serve as a beneficial strategy on preventing the progression of mild acute pancreatitis to the severe form or halting the aggravation of acute pancreatitis.
Couinaud first proposed the naming of S9 segment of liver in 1994, and Liu Yunyi further promoted this naming in his work “Applied Anatomy of Hepatectomy and Liver Transplantation” in 2016. However, it has not been widely recognized and supported in the field of liver surgery for a long time. In recent years, due to the promotion and gradual maturity of endoscopic technology, there has been a more detailed understanding and demand for anatomy of liver and bile duct. Therefore, this article further explores the clinical value and significance of S9 segment of liver.
Objective To explore the clinical and inflammatory characteristics and risk factors of severe asthma to improve clinicians' awareness of the disease. Methods The general information of patients with asthma who visited the Department of Respiratory Medicine, the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from May 2018 to May 2021, as well as the diagnosis and treatment of asthma, personal history, comorbidities, auxiliary examination, asthma control test (ACT) score were collected. A total of 127 patients were included, including 40 in the severe asthma group and 87 in the mild-to-moderate asthma group. Chi-square test, independent sample t test and logistic regression were used to analyze the clinical characteristics, inflammatory markers and risk factors of severe asthma. Results Compared with the patients with mild to moderate asthma, the patients with severe asthma were more older (51.0±12.0 years vs 40.7±12.8 years, P<0.05), had more smokers (32.5% vs. 14.9%, P<0.05), and more males (67.5% vs. 40.2%, P<0.05). The patients with severe asthma got poor FEV1%pred [(56.1±23.8)% vs. (93.2±18.0)%, P<0.05] and FEV1/FVC [(56.7±13.2)% vs. (75.8±9.0)%, P<0.05)], and more exacerbations in the previous year (2.7±3.1 vs. 0.1±0.4, P<0.05), lower ACT score (14.4±3.7 vs. 18.0±5.0, P<0.05), and higher blood and induced sputum eosinophil counts [(0.54±0.44)×109/L vs. (0.27±0.32)×109/L, P<0.05; (25.9±24.2)% vs. (9.8±17.5)%, P<0.05]. There was no significant difference in the proportion of neutrophils in the induced sputum or FeNO between the two groups (P>0.05). Analysis of related risk factors showed that smoking (OR=2.740, 95%CI 1.053 - 7.130), combined with allergic rhinitis (OR=14.388, 95%CI 1.486 - 139.296) and gastroesophageal reflux (OR=2.514, 95%CI 1.105 - 5.724) were risk factors for severe asthma. Conclusions Compared with patients with mild to moderate asthma, patients with severe asthma are characterized by poor lung function, more exacerbations, and a dominant eosinophil inflammatory phenotype, which is still poorly controlled even with higher level of treatment. Risk factors include smoking, allergic rhinitis, and gastroesophageal reflux, etc.
ObjectiveTo explore the association of pretreatment hyponatremia with clinicopathological and prognostic characteristics of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. MethodsThe PubMed, EMbase, Web of Science, VIP, CNKI and WanFang databases were searched from the inception to July 12, 2021 for relevant literatures. The quality of included studies was assessed by the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) score. The relative risk (RR) and hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were combined to assess the relationship between pretreatment hyponatremia and clinicopathological and prognostic characteristics. The prognostic indicators included the overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). All statistical analysis was conducted by the STATA 15.0 software. ResultsA total of 10 high-quality studies (NOS score≥6 points) involving 10 045 patients were enrolled and all participants were from Asian or European regions. The pooled results demonstrated that male [RR=1.18, 95%CI (1.02, 1.36), P=0.026], non-adenocarcinoma [RR=0.86, 95%CI (0.81, 0.91), P＜0.001] and TNM Ⅲ-Ⅳ stage [RR=1.17, 95%CI (1.12, 1.21), P＜0.001] patients were more likely to experience hyponatremia. Besides, pretreatment hyponatremia was significantly related to worse OS [HR=1.83, 95%CI (1.53, 2.19), P＜0.001] and PFS [HR=1.54, 95%CI (1.02, 2.34), P=0.040]. Pretreatment hyponatremia was a risk factor for poor prognosis of NSCLC patients. ConclusionMale, non-adenocarcinoma and advance stage NSCLC patients are more likely to experience hyponatremia. Meanwhile, the pretreatment sodium level can be applied as one of the prognostic evaluation indicators in NSCLC and patients with hyponatremia are more likely to have poor survival. However, more researches are still needed to verify above findings.
The teaching team of the Department of Laboratory Medicine, West China School of Medicine, Sichuan University takes scientific spirit, craftsmanship spirit, and medical humanities spirit as the goal, combines the core knowledge of clinical microbiology laboratory technology course with cases of coronavirus disease 2019 prevention and control, drug resistance monitoring, and scientists’ deeds, and adopts strategies such as hot debate and special report to achieve the integration of knowledge and value. The actual effectiveness of this model has been verified through the assessment of students’ abilities and values. This article introduces the course-based ideological and political education construction mentioned above, aiming to explore the integration path of course-based ideological and political education in the clinical microbiology laboratory technology, and construct a new teaching model that combines professional competence and value guidance.
ObjectiveTo compare the clinicopathological characteristics of breast invasive micropapillary carcinoma (IMPC) with different composition ratios, and analyze the relationship between proportion of micropapillary carcinoma components and the prognosis of IMPC. Methods The related data of 121 patients with invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) complicated with IMPC who were treated in the Department of Breast Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University from August 2016 to August 2020 were collected. With micropapillary carcinoma accounting for 50%, the patients were divided into IMPC <50% group and IMPC ≥50% group. The correlation between related clinicopathological features and prognosis of patients was analyzed. Results There were 85 patients in the IMPC <50% group and 36 patients in the IMPC ≥50% group. The analysis results showed that there was no significant differences between the two groups in menstrual status, histological grade, molecular typing, TNM stage, age, immunohistochemical expression, neoadjuvant therapy, nerve invasion, nipple invasion, and skin invasion (P>0.05). The rate of lymphatic vessel invasion (LVI) in the IMPC ≥50% group was 83.33% (30/36), which was significantly higher than 61.18% (52/85) in the IMPC <50% group, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (χ2=5.684, P=0.017). Kaplan-Meier survival curve was drawn, and the analysis results showed that the 3-year cumulative disease-free survival (DFS) of IMPC patients was correlated with the number of lymph node metastasis and LVI (P<0.05). And with the estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, Ki-67, molecular typing, proportion of micropapillary carcinoma components and histological grade were unrelated (P>0.05). The results of multivariate Cox risk regression analysis showed that the number of lymph node metastases and LVI were independent prognostic factors affecting DFS in patients. Conclusions When the proportion of IMPC component is ≥50%, the LVI rate of tumor is higher than that of IMPC component <50%. The number of lymph node metastasis and LVI are independent prognostic factors affecting DFS in IMPC patients.
Objective To investigate the effects of component blood transfusion combined with heparin therapy on coagulation function and clinical outcomes in pregnant women with acute disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 65 pregnant women with acute DIC who were treated in Obstetrics Department of Luzhou People’ s Hospital between March 2020 and March 2022. Pregnant women treated with component blood transfusion were included in the control group, while those treated with component blood transfusion combined with heparin were included in the observation group. Before and after treatment, the DIC scoring system was used for score evaluation. Coagulation function indicators and routine blood indicators were compared between the two groups of pregnant women. Adverse clinical outcomes and adverse reactions were observed in both groups of pregnant women. Results The study enrolled 65 pregnant women, comprising 30 in the observation group and 35 in the control group. Before treatment, there was no statistical difference in DIC score, coagulation function indicators, or routine blood indicators between the two groups (P>0.05). After treatment, the DIC score, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, thrombin time, and D-dimer significantly decreased in both groups (P<0.05), and the above indicators in the observation group [3.39±0.48, (13.28±2.28) s, (24.68±2.06) s, (14.27±1.82) s, and (2.23±0.88) mg/L, respectively] were lower than those in the control group [4.11±1.56, (15.02±2.45) s, (26.79±3.18) s, (15.61±1.91) s, and (2.87±0.74) mg/L, respectively] (P<0.05). The levels of fibrinogen, platelet count, hemoglobin, and hematocrit significantly increased in both groups (P<0.05), and the levels in the observation group [(4.29±1.05) g/L, (175.36±20.46)×109/L, (84.09±7.27) g/L, and (25.49±3.13)%, respectively] were higher than those in the control group [(3.44±1.27) g/L, (145.77±21.12)×109/L, (76.58±7.13) g/L, and (23.03±3.05)%, respectively] (P<0.05). The observation group had a lower incidence rate of adverse clinical outcomes compared to the control group (33.3% vs. 74.3%, P<0.05). The incidence rates of adverse reactions were not statistically different between the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusions Component blood transfusion combined with heparin therapy for pregnant women with acute DIC can effectively improve their coagulation function, reduce the risk of bleeding, and further improve adverse clinical outcomes such as postpartum hemorrhage and hysterectomy. Additionally, this treatment approach demonstrates a high safety profile.
Objective To investigate the etiology, symptoms, diagnosis, surgical treatment, and outcomes of acute necrotizing mediastinitis (ANM) in order to guide future diagnosis and treatment of ANM. Methods The clinical data of patients with ANM referred to West China Hospital, Sichuan University from March 2012 to April 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. The etiology, clinical manifestations, demographic characteristics, bacterial culture results, surgical approach and prognostic factors of these patients were summarized. ResultsA total of 176 patients were enrolled in this study. The median age was 60 ( 0-84) years. There were 124 (70.5%) males and 52 (29.5%) females. The most common origin of infection was neck (n=66, 37.5%). The most common symptom was fever (n=85, 48.3%). Streptococcus constellatus represented the most common pathogens in secretion culture. Surgical treatment was administered to 119 (67.6%) patients through different approaches, including 54 (30.7%) patients of cervical approach, 9 (5.1%) patients of thoracotomy, 18 (10.2%) patients of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), 7 (4.0%) patients of cervical combined with thoracotomy, 30 (17.0%) patients of cervical combined with VATS, and 1 (0.6%) patient of subxiphoid approach. Among this cohort, 144 (81.8%) patients were cured, while 32 (18.1%) patients died. Age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index (OR=2.95, P=0.022), perioperative sepsis (OR=2.84, P=0.024), and non-surgical treatment (OR=2.41, P=0.043) were identified as independent predictors of poor outcomes. Conclusion For patients with corresponding history and manifestations of ANM, it is crucial to go through imaging examination to confirm the presence of an abscess and guide the selection of surgical approach. Once the diagnosis of ANM is made, it is imperative to promptly perform surgical intervention for effective drainage. Our study highlights the significance of age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index, perioperative sepsis and surgical treatment in predicting patients’ outcomes.