Affiliated Hospital of Guilin Medical College

Although [¹⁸F]PSMA-1007 enables sensitive detection in prostate cancer, heterogeneity in PSMA expression and variable physiologic uptake can limit performance, whereas [¹⁸F]FAPI-42, targeting fibroblast activation protein in tumor stroma and typically exhibiting low background, may improve conspicuity in regions affected by physiologic PSMA activity and in phenotypes with reduced PSMA expression. This study aimed to compare [¹⁸F]FAPI-42 and [¹⁸F]PSMA-1007 PET/CT in patients with prostate cancer, and assess lesion detection rates and uptake on [¹⁸F]FAPI-42 PET/CT across various disease stages. Of 759 lesions from 55 patients, 187 were PSMA-positive only, 72 were FAPI-positive only, and 500 were positive on both tracers. [¹⁸F]PSMA-1007 detected more lesions in newly diagnosed (233 vs. 181, P = 0.0001), biochemical recurrence (BCR) (67 vs. 56, P = 0.04), and castration-resistant prostate cancer(CRPC) (385 vs. 333, P < 0.0001) groups. [¹⁸F]PSMA-1007 also demonstrated higher SUVmax and TBRblood than [¹⁸F]FAPI-42 PET/CT for primary/recurrent tumors (SUVmax 15.5 ± 16.8 vs. 4.2 ± 2.2; TBRblood 13.5 ± 14.0 vs. 3.5 ± 2.9), lymph node (SUVmax 14.9 ± 15.3 vs. 3.8 ± 2.7; TBRblood 12.8 ± 12.1 vs. 3.5 ± 2.9), bone (SUVmax 11.9 ± 9.4 vs. 6.8 ± 3.5; TBRblood 13.1 ± 12.1 vs. 6.3 ± 3.5), and visceral metastases (SUVmax 14.6 ± 9.4 vs. 7.8 ± 4.6; TBRblood 22.8 ± 12.3 vs. 6.9 ± 6.2). Among disease stages, lesion detection rates on [¹⁸F]FAPI-42 were higher in CRPC (84.5%) and BCR (75.7%) than in newly diagnosed cases (62.6%; P < 0.0001 and P = 0.04, respectively). SUVmax of lesion on [¹⁸F]FAPI-42 PET/CT were highest in CRPC (6.6 ± 3.9), followed by BCR (5.9 ± 3.7), and newly diagnosed disease (4.3 ± 2.5; P < 0.005). In 3 of 5 patients with discordant findings favoring [¹⁸F]FAPI-42, clinical management was altered. While [¹⁸F]PSMA 1007 PET/CT remains superior for overall lesion detection, [¹⁸F]FAPI 42 PET/CT may provide complementary value in selected scenarios, particularly in subsets with reduced PSMA expression. Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR2200063441. Registered 06 September 2022, https//www.chictr.org.cn/bin/project/edit? pid=149,714.

Objective This study aimed to explore the influences of warm acupuncture in combination with cervical and lumbar chiropractic manipulation on serum inflammatory factors, lumbar function, and pain severity in patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH). Methods We selected and divided 108 LDH patients who were admitted to our hospital from October 2023 to October 2025 randomly by applying the random number table method into a control group ( n = 54, receiving cervical and lumbar chiropractic manipulation) and a combined group ( n = 54, receiving warm acupuncture in addition to the control treatment). Both groups received continuous treatment for 30 days. Between the two groups, we compared the clinical efficacy after treatment, lumbar function [Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score, Oswestry Disability Index (Oswestry) score, and Fairbank JC score], and inflammatory factors [interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α] before and after treatment. Results After treating for 30 days, in the combined group, the total effective rate was 96.30%, which is higher than that of 83.33% of the control group ( P &lt; 0.05). After treatment, compared with those in the control group, the Oswestry score, Fairbank JC score, and IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α levels were lower in the combined group ( P &lt; 0.05), while the JOA score was higher ( P &lt; 0.05). Conclusion Warm acupuncture combined with cervical and lumbar chiropractic manipulation can reduce inflammatory factor attacks, improve lumbar function in LDH patients, and relieve lumbar muscle fatigue and has certain clinical value.

Osthole (OST) is a natural component of the traditional Chinese medicinal herb, Cnidium monnieri, that exhibits antipruritic properties and may exert effects on dermatitis. Numerous previous studies have focused on the effects of OST in tumors; however, the potential impact on cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) remains to be fully elucidated. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate CSCC cell proliferation following treatment with OST, and further analyzed the underlying mechanisms using multi-omics analyses. Due to their cancerous characteristics, both A431 and SCL-1 cells are used in drug screening and testing for CSCC, particularly for therapies targeting growth pathways and markers associated with SCC. Results of the flow cytometry analysis demonstrated that OST impacted the CSCC cell cycle, causing arrest in the G2 phase. Notably, OST exerted a slight growth-promoting effect on healthy skin HaCaT cells. In addition, our omics results revealed that there were 1,720 differentially expressed genes and 227 differentially expressed proteins in the OST-treated group. Transcriptomics combined with proteomics analyses revealed that 5 of the top 20 screened pathways were associated with the cell cycle, and ATR, CENPJ, and RAD54B were highlighted as specific targets for OST-mediated regulation. Collectively, these results suggested that OST has a potential inhibition on human CSCC cells, and ATR, CENPJ, and RAD54B may be the key factors regulated by OST in A431's cell cycle progression inhibition.

To correlate the Osteoporosis Self-assessment Tool for Asians (OSTA) index with lumbar QCT-measured bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC), and assess its utility in evaluating lumbar spine BMD/BMC. From Jan 2023 to Jun 2024, 366 patients scheduled for lumbar spine surgery were enrolled. All underwent lumbar CT, QCT, and DXA. Spearman correlation analyzed OSTA vs. QCT-BMD and QCT-BMC. Patients were categorized by DXA T-scores into osteoporotic or non-osteoporotic groups. ROC curves were plotted to determine AUC, optimal cutoff, sensitivity, and specificity. The OSTA index showed a moderate, statistically significant correlation with QCT-BMD and QCT-BMC (P < 0.01). Based on DXA diagnosis, QCT-BMC yielded AUCs of 0.712 (men) and 0.745 (women) for osteoporosis, indicating moderate diagnostic value. The optimal cutoffs were 663.86 mg for men and 521.65 mg for women, with sensitivities of 57.6% and 59.5%, respectively. As a screening tool, the OSTA index can help identify high-risk individuals undergoing spinal surgery who are likely to have low lumbar trabecular BMD and BMC as measured by QCT. Diagnostic thresholds for osteoporosis may be set at lumbar QCT-BMC <663.86 mg in men or <521.65 mg in women.

The post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pulmonary sequelae have garnered public concern. We conducted a multicenter cross-sectional study in outpatient and health exam populations from 23 clinical centers (including university-affiliated/provincial general hospitals, municipal general hospitals, county hospitals, and specialized hospitals) in China (2019-2023), to assess temporal trends and potential influencing factors in the detection of CT-diagnosed pulmonary nodules, pleural effusion, pneumonia, and suspected lung tumors, cancer and viral pneumonia, clarifying pandemic impacts on lung health. Dynamic comparisons across key phases including initial outbreak, vaccine rollout, population-wide vaccination, and major adjustment of pandemic control policies, were performed. This study analyzed 1,616,750 clinical samples (1,102,605 outpatient, 514,145 health examination; 885,945 males, 730,805 females). Pulmonary nodule detection rose progressively, with surges in 2020-2021 and 2023, plateauing in 2021-2022. Outpatients and males showed steeper increases. University-affiliated/provincial hospitals had sharpest increases vs. municipal and county tiers. Specialized hospitals matched general hospital rates. AI boosted detection rates. CT-suspected lung tumors/cancer remained low and stable, unrelated to nodule trends. These results underscore 2019-2023 pulmonary nodule detection surges linked to SARS-CoV-2 infections and AI adoption. COVID-19 vaccination did not accelerate detection but may have slowed it short-term. Long-term studies on infection, vaccine impacts and pandemic-detected nodules' outcomes are urgently needed.

Cervical cancer (CC) ranks as the fourth most prevalent malignancy and the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality in women. Central to its pathology are long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs), a class of transcripts exceeding 200 nucleotides that do not encode proteins. Instead, they function as critical regulators of gene transcription, chromatin remodeling, and cell cycle progression by interacting with DNA, RNA, or proteins, thereby influencing a range of physiological and pathological processes. As research on LncRNA function deepens, its critical role in tumor biology has become increasingly apparent. LncRNAs have attracted considerable attention in recent years regarding their role in the development and progression of CC. LncRNAs are involved in the proliferation, migration, and invasion of CC cells, and also regulate multiple signaling pathways by interacting with other molecules to influence tumor progression. Although several LncRNAs have been identified as biomarkers of CC, and research on their potential as therapeutic targets is advancing, their specific mechanisms of action and clinical application remain poorly understood. This review aims to comprehensively analyze the biological functions and mechanisms of LncRNAs in CC and explore their clinical application potential, providing new insights and directions for the early diagnosis and treatment of CC.

This study aimed to assess the feasibility, safety, and perioperative outcomes of the retroperitoneal vaginal natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (vNOTES) approach for surgical staging in patients with early-stage endometrial cancer. A secondary objective was to compare perioperative and short-term results with those achieved using conventional laparoscopy performed by the same surgical team. Between June 2023 and June 2024, a retrospective study was conducted on 98 patients who underwent surgical staging for early-stage endometrial cancer. Patients were allocated to one of two groups: the vNOTES group (n = 49), who underwent retroperitoneal sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy, hysterectomy, and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO); and the laparoscopic group (n = 49), who underwent the same procedures via a conventional laparoscopic approach. Demographic, surgical, and pathological parameters, as well as short-term follow-up outcomes, were compared between the two groups. The median operative time was significantly shorter in the vNOTES group than in the laparoscopic group (102 vs. 115min, p < 0.001). SLN detection rates were identical between the groups (97.9% each). Postoperative pain scores on the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) were significantly lower in the vNOTES group at both 6h (median 3 vs. 5) and 24h (median 1 vs. 3) (p < 0.001 for both). Patients in the vNOTES group achieved earlier mobilization (median 5 vs. 6h, p < 0.001) and had a shorter hospital stay (median 2 vs. 3 days, p < 0.001). The incidence of major complications did not differ significantly between the groups, and no recurrences were observed during a median follow-up period of 12 months. The retroperitoneal vNOTES approach appears to be a feasible and safe technique for the surgical staging of early-stage endometrial cancer, providing perioperative benefits including shorter operative time, reduced postoperative pain, and faster recovery. The comparative findings with conventional laparoscopy should be interpreted as exploratory and require validation in larger prospective studies. Oncologic outcomes remain short-term and should be confirmed through long-term follow-up.

Background:This study evaluates the effectiveness of radiomics based on 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) in distinguishing lung adenocarcinoma from squamous cell carcinoma, the 2 major subtypes of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).Methods:We extracted radiomic features from both the intratumoral and peritumoral areas in NSCLC patients’ PET/CT scans. The intratumoral volume of interest (VOI_I) was manually outlined on PET/CT images. Additionally, 4 peritumoral VOIs (VOI_P) were automatically generated by expanding VOI_I by 1, 2, 3, and 4 mm. A total of 107 radiomic features were extracted from each VOI. Feature selection was conducted using the t test, Spearman correlation analysis, and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator. Subsequently, radiomics models (VOI_I model, VOI_P model, and a combined model) were constructed. The models’ performance was assessed by the area under the curve (AUC).Results:In the training set, the intratumoral (VOI_PET_I) model achieved the highest AUC (0.973), followed by the peritumoral 1 mm (VOI_PET_P1) model (AUC = 0.952). However, in the independent testing set, the VOI_PET_P1 model outperformed the VOI_PET_I model, achieving the highest AUC of 0.931 versus 0.920, respectively. This suggests that the peritumoral 1 mm region may provide superior generalizability for subtype classification in unseen data.Conclusion:In this study, radiomics features extracted from both intratumoral and peritumoral regions on 18F-FDG PET/CT demonstrated high predictive value for classifying NSCLC pathological subtypes. Notably, the 1 mm peritumoral region exhibited the best performance for differentiating lung adenocarcinomas, especially in the independent testing cohort. However, these findings are based on a single-center cohort with a limited sample size and require further validation in larger, multicenter studies to confirm their clinical utility and generalizability.

Coronary microembolization (CME) is a serious cardiovascular complication that causes severe cardiac dysfunction and arrhythmias. Glutathione (GSH) exhaustion-induced oxidative stress is a key contributor to CME. Here, we explore the molecular mechanisms underlying GSH imbalance during CME. We show that CME induces myocardial injury by disturbing GSH homeostasis, which is ameliorated by glutamate-cysteine ligase modifier subunit (GCLM) or glutaminase (GLS) overexpression. Lysine-specific histone demethylase 1A (KDM1A) removes H3K9me1/2 from the promoter regions of GCLM and GLS to promote their epigenetic expression, thereby maintaining GSH homeostasis in CME. KDM1A is ubiquitinated at the K355 site during CME via inhibiting ubiquitin-specific peptidase 16 (USP16)-mediated deubiquitination. Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) facilitates S-nitrosylation (SNO) of USP16 at the C731 site, contributing to KDM1A ubiquitination and causing GSH imbalance during CME. Altogether, SNO-USP16 inhibition stabilizes the KDM1A protein to epigenetically activate GCLM and GLS, thus maintaining GSH homeostasis and relieving CME-induced myocardial injury.

BackgroundDopamine is known to play a role in the development of myopia. In this study, we investigated the effect of dopamine (DA) on the secretion of transforming growth factor-β2 (TGF-β2) in human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. Additionally, we examined the effects of SCH23390 (D1 receptor antagonist) and sulpiride (D2 receptor antagonist) on TGF-β2 levels in ARPE-19 cells to elucidate the underlying mechanism of DA in myopia development.MethodsHuman RPE cells were cultured with or without different concentrations of DA, SCH23390, or sulpiride. Cell proliferation was examined using the CCK-8 assay. Cell migration was assessed by performing a cell scratch (wound healing) assay. The expression of TGF-β2 was evaluated at the mRNA and protein levels by real-time PCR and western blotting, respectively. Furthermore, the secretion of TGF-β2 into the ARPE-19 cell supernatant was quantified using ELISA.ResultsTreatment with 20 μg/mL of DA significantly increased (P < 0.05) the mRNA and protein expression levels of DRD1, DRD2, YAP, and TEAD and decreased TGF-β2 levels compared with that in control group. However, treatment with 24 μg/mL of SCH23390 for 24 h significantly decreased (P < 0.05) DRD1 and TGF-β2 mRNA expression and increased DRD2, YAP, and TEAD mRNA expression in ARPE-19 cells compared with that in the control group. Additionally, the protein expression levels of TGF-β2, YAP, TEAD, and SMAD7 were consistent with the mRNA levels. Notably, treatment with sulpiride (14 μg/mL) increased (P < 0.05) DRD1 and TGF-β2 expression and decreased DRD2, YAP, and TEAD expression in the cells at both the mRNA and protein levels compared with that in the control group.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that dopamine suppresses TGF-β2 secretion in human retinal pigment epithelial cells primarily through activation of D2 receptors, which appears to involve the YAP-TGF-β-Smad signaling pathway. This regulatory mechanism may contribute to the control of scleral remodeling and thus influence the development of myopia.