Targeted gene sequencing and bioinformatics analysis of patients with gallbladder neuroendocrine carcinoma: A case report.

Background: Gallbladder neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) represents a subtype of gallbladder malignancies characterized by a low incidence, aggressive nature, and poor prognosis. Despite its clinical severity, the genetic alterations, mechanisms, and signaling pathways underlying gallbladder NEC remain unclear.

Case Summary: This case study presents a rare instance of primary gallbladder NEC in a 73-year-old female patient, who underwent a radical cholecystectomy with hepatic hilar lymphadenectomy and resection of liver segments IV-B and V.

Causal roles of gut microbiota in cholangiocarcinoma etiology suggested by genetic study.

Background: Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a highly malignant biliary tract cancer with poor prognosis. Previous studies have implicated the gut microbiota in CCA, but evidence for causal mechanisms is lacking.

Aim: To investigate the causal relationship between gut microbiota and CCA risk.

Mirizzi syndrome: Problems and strategies.

Mirizzi syndrome is a serious complication of gallstone disease. It is caused by the impacted stones in the gallbladder neck or cystic duct. One of the features of Mirizzi syndrome is severe inflammation or dense fibrosis at the Calot's triangle.

Three-dimensional versus two-dimensional laparoscopic surgery for rectal cancer: better promote postoperative sexual and urinary function of a propensity-matched study.

Laparoscopic total mesorectal excision (TME) with autonomic nerve preservation (ANP) is a common procedure for rectal cancer (RC), associated with a high prevalence of postoperative urogenital and anorectal dysfunctions. Compared to 2D laparoscopy, 3D laparoscopy provides better depth perception of the surgical field and hand-eye coordination to achieve better outcomes. We compared the performance of 2D and 3D laparoscopy on preserving urogenital and anorectal function in TME+ANP surgery for rectal cancer using propensity-score matching.

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor of the pancreatic neck: A case report and review of literature.

Background: Pancreatic inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a relatively rare disease that is often confused with pancreatic cancer or pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. The histological features of IMTs show that tissue from this type of tumor contains an intermingling of fibroblast and myofibroblast proliferation, accompanied by a varying degree of inflammatory cell infiltration.

Case Summary: The management of an IMT occurring at the neck of the pancreas is presented in this paper.

The psychological impact of COVID-19 outbreak on medical staff and the general public.

To assess the psychological effects of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on medical staff and the general public. During the outbreak of COVID-19, an internet-based questionnaire included The Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), and Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) was used to assess the impact of the pandemic situation on the mental health of medical staff and general population in Wuhan and its surrounding areas. Among the 1493 questionnaires completed, 827 (55.

Small bowel perforation caused by pancreaticojejunal anastomotic stent migration after pancreaticoduodenectomy: A case report.

Introduction: Pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) has been widely applied as a standard surgical procedure to treat periampullary diseases. The placement of a pancreaticojejunal anastomotic stent is considered an effective and safe method for preventing pancreatic fistula after PD. Recently, the role of pancreaticojejunal anastomotic stents has been challenged, as gradually increasing complications have been observed.

Long Non-Coding RNA STARD13-AS Suppresses Cell Proliferation And Metastasis In Colorectal Cancer.

Background: Dysregulation of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) is closely related with the progression of cancer in humans. The functional and regulatory roles of lncRNAs in colorectal cancer (CRC) are still largely unclear. The purpose of this study is to explore the function of lncRNA STARD13-AS in CRC.

Circulating miR-125a but not miR-125b is decreased in active disease status and negatively correlates with disease severity as well as inflammatory cytokines in patients with Crohn's disease.

Aim: To determine the association of circulating miR-125a/b expression with the risk and disease severity of Crohn's disease (CD), and with inflammatory cytokines.

Methods: Plasma samples were collected from patients with active CD (A-CD), or CD in remission (R-CD) and from healthy controls (HCs). The levels of the inflammatory cytokines interleukin-17 (IL-17), tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Formal total synthesis of the akuammiline alkaloid (+)-strictamine.

An asymmetric formal total synthesis of the akuammiline alkaloid (+)-strictamine is reported. The key features of the synthesis include a Friedel-Crafts cyclization to form the D-ring and the critical C7 all-carbon quaternary carbon centre, as well as an aza-1,6-conjugate addition to assemble the 2-azabicyclo[3.3.

Expression and clinical significance of IL-17 and IL-17 receptor in ulcerative colitis.

The purpose of this study was to determine the expression levels of IL-17 in serum and IL-17 receptor (IL-17R) in intestinal mucosa tissue in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and controls, and evaluate their relationship with disease activity and explore the role of IL-17 in the patho-genesis of UC. A total of 36 Chinese UC patients and 60 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Serum IL-17 and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were determined by ELISA and immunonephelometry, respectively.

Clinical pathology and recent follow-up study on gastric intraepithelial neoplasia and gastric mucosal lesions.

Background/aims: To explore the correlations between endoscopic gastric mucosal lesions and pathological gastric intraepithelial neoplasia (GIN), and to investigate outcomes of gastric intraepithelial neoplasia after treatments.

Methodology: Biopsies of 18,566 Chinese patients undergoing diagnostic gastroscopy were included. Among them, 130 patients were given various treatments, including medication, endoscopic treatment and surgery.

Glutathione-functionalized graphene quantum dots as selective fluorescent probes for phosphate-containing metabolites.

Bright blue fluorescent glutathione-functionalized graphene quantum dots (GQDs@GSH) were prepared by a one-step pyrolysis method with a fluorescence quantum yield as high as 33.6%. Futhermore, the obtained GQDs@GSH can be used as a probe to estimate the ATP level in cell lysates and human blood serum.

Overexpression of metastasis-associated protein 1 is significantly correlated with tumor angiogenesis and poor survival in patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: The aims of this work are to detect the expression levels of metastasis-associated protein 1 (MTA1) in patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and to investigate the relationship of MTA1 protein with clinicopathologic factors, tumor angiogenesis, and prognosis.

Methods: One hundred and two patients with pathologic stage I NSCLC who successfully underwent curative surgical resection were enrolled in this study. Immunohistochemical staining for MTA1 and CD34 was performed using the streptavidin-peroxidase method, and intratumoral microvessel density (MVD) was recorded by counting CD34-positive immunostained endothelial cells.

[CTLA-4 gene polymorphism regulates CTLA-4 mRNA stability and protein level in patients with ulcerative colitis].

Objective: To investigate the effect of (AT)n repeat polymorphism of the 3'untranslated region in cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) gene on CTLA-4 mRNA stability and full length (flCTLA-4) and soluble CTLA4 (sCTLA-4) expression in ulcerative colitis (UC).

Methods: flCTLA-4 mRNA in colonic biopsies and sCTLA-4 mRNA stability in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of UC patients were measured by quantitative PCR and half-life, respectively. The protein expression of flCTLA-4 in colonic biopsies and sCTLA-4 in sera of UC patients were determined by immunohistochemistry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively.

Upregulated mRNA expression of major histocompatibility complex class I chain-related gene A in colon and activated natural killer cells of Chinese patients with ulcerative colitis.

Objective: To explore the expression of major histocompatibility complex class I chain-related gene A (MICA) and its ligand in colonic mucosa and the role of MICA-natural killer (NK) group 2D (NKG2D) interaction in activating NK cells in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients.

Methods: Intestinal mucosal biopsies were obtained from patients with UC and the controls. The expression of major histocompatibility complex class I-related gene (MIC) genes was determined by a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and the imaging of MICA expressed on colonic mucosa was measured by confocal microscopy resonance scanning.

Effect of cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated molecule 4 1661 gene polymorphism on its expression and transcription in ulcerative colitis.

Objective: Our aim was to investigate the expression of cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated molecule 4 (CTLA-4) in ulcerative colitis (UC) and to evaluate the effect of CTLA-4 gene -1661A/G polymorphism on CTLA-4 expression and transcription.

Methods: A total of 20 UC patients and 22 healthy controls matched by age and sex were enrolled at Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University in central China. The CTLA-4 -1661A/G polymorphism was genotyped by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method.

[Association of cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 promoter C-658T polymorphism with ulcerative colitis in Chinese].

Objective: To investigate the association of gene polymorphism of cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) with ulcerative colitis (UC) in Chinese.

Methods: One hundred and seventeen patients with UC and 246 healthy controls were genotyped for the polymorphisms of C-658T in the promoter and C61T at the 3' untranslated region of the CTLA-4 gene using polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP), respectively. The genotype and allele frequencies of the two groups were calculated and compared by chi square test.

[A novel microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography for measuring lipid-water partition coefficients of pharmaceuticals].

Aims: To establish a novel microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography (MEEKC) method for measuring lipid-water partition coefficients ( logP(ow)) of pharmaceuticals without using microemulsion phase marker in order to avoid the error from tracing the migration time of microemulsion phase.

Methods: The migration time of microemulsion phase (t(me)) was obtained by non-linearity fitting with logP(ow) values from literature and measured migration time (t(m)) of a series of organic compounds, a calibration curve for estimating logP(ow) of pharmaceuticals was thus obtained. In addition, the accuracy of the values measured by MEEKC was evaluated.