China special issue on gastrointestinal tumors-Radiological features of pathological complete response in mismatch repair deficient colorectal cancer after neoadjuvant PD-1 blockade: A post hoc analysis of the PICC phase II trial

Neoadjuvant programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) blockade exhibits promising efficacy in patients with mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) colorectal cancer (CRC). However, discrepancies between radiological and histological findings have been reported in the PICC phase II trial (NCT 03926338). Therefore, we strived to discern radiological features associated with pathological complete response (pCR) based on computed tomography (CT) images. Data were obtained from the PICC trial that included 36 tumors from 34 locally advanced dMMR CRC patients, who received neoadjuvant PD-1 blockade for 3 months. Among the 36 tumors, 28 (77.8%) tumors achieved pCR. There were no statistically significant differences in tumor longitudinal diameter, the percentage change in tumor longitudinal diameter from baseline, primary tumor sidedness, clinical stage, extramural venous invasion status, intratumoral calcification, peritumoral fat infiltration, intestinal fistula and tumor necrosis between the pCR and non-pCR tumors. Otherwise, tumors with pCR had smaller posttreatment tumor maximum thickness (median: 10 mm vs 13 mm, P = .004) and higher percentage decrease in tumor maximum thickness from baseline (52.9% vs 21.6%, P = .005) compared to non-pCR tumors. Additionally, a higher proportion of the absence of vascular sign (P = .003, odds ratio [OR] = 25.870 [95% CI, 1.357-493.110]), nodular sign (P < .001, OR = 189.000 [95% CI, 10.464-3413.803]) and extramural enhancement sign (P = .003, OR = 21.667 [2.848-164.830]) was observed in tumors with pCR. In conclusion, these CT-defined radiological features may have the potential to serve as valuable tools for clinicians in identifying patients who have achieved pCR after neoadjuvant PD-1 blockade, particularly in individuals who are willing to adopt a watch-and-wait strategy.     

信息化技术应用于静脉血栓栓塞症护理的研究进展

综述信息化技术在静脉血栓栓塞症护理领域中风险预测、警报接收与上报、抗凝防治管理、医护人员相关继续医学教育、患者疾病预后管理的应用现状，总结其应用阻碍因素，旨在为我国静脉血栓栓塞症护理信息化建设提供参考。     

北京市三级甲等医院结直肠癌患者就医流向规律分析

目的 分析不同特征的结直肠癌患者就医行为选择在中医院（含中西医结合医院）、西医院及肿瘤专科医院间的差异，为合理引导结直肠癌患者适宜就医及制订相关政策提供依据。方法 收集北京地区2018年1月-2019年12月17家三级甲等医院21894例首诊结直肠癌成年住院患者的病案首页数据，采用EmpowerStats 2.0对数据进行描述性分析。结果 21894例结直肠癌患者中就诊于中医院的有862例（3.93%），西医院的有8723例（39.85%），肿瘤专科医院的有12309例（56.22%）。对于不同医疗机构，男性占比均大于女性，58-68岁患者占比最大。且结直肠癌患者年龄、医疗付款方式及肿瘤分期在不同医疗机构间的分布存在差异（P<0.001）。西医院及肿瘤专科医院结直肠癌Ⅲ期患者占比最大，而就诊于中医院患者中结直肠癌Ⅳ期最多。从地域分布来看，异地就诊比例（57.32%）大于本地，且就诊于肿瘤专科医院的患者中73.66%来自外地。患者来源前三名分别是北京市、河北省及内蒙古自治区。而在北京市内，西医院患者主要来源于朝阳区、海淀区及西城区，中医院患者主要来源于海淀区、朝阳区及丰台区，肿瘤专科医院则主要来源于朝阳区、海淀区及丰台区。结论 应大力倡导年轻以及早期结直肠癌患者向中医院分流，充分施展中医药在结直肠癌患者中的治疗优势；发挥三级医院带动作用，建立对口帮扶医院，减少不必要的跨省流动及提倡结直肠癌的早筛早治，以降低结直肠癌死亡率。     

The exercise pressor reflex: An update

The exercise pressor reflex is a feedback mechanism engaged upon stimulation of mechano- and metabosensitive skeletal muscle afferents. Activation of these afferents elicits a reflex increase in heart rate, blood pressure, and ventilation in an intensity-dependent manner. Consequently, the exercise pressor reflex has been postulated to be one of the principal mediators of the cardiorespiratory responses to exercise. In this updated review, we will discuss classical and recent advancements in our understating of the exercise pressor reflex function in both human and animal models. Particular attention will be paid to the afferent mechanisms and pathways involved during its activation, its effects on different target organs, its potential role in the abnormal cardiovascular response to exercise in diseased states, and the impact of age and biological sex on these responses. Finally, we will highlight some unanswered questions in the literature that may inspire future investigations in the field.

     

Analysis on internal mechanism of zedoary turmeric in treatment of liver cancer based on pharmacodynamic substances and pharmacodynamic groups

Zedoary tumeric (Curcumae Rhizoma, Ezhu in Chinese) has a long history of application and has great potential in the treatment of liver cancer. The anti liver cancer effect of zedoary tumeric depends on the combined action of multiple pharmacodynamic substances. In order to clarify the specific mechanism of zedoary tumeric against liver cancer, this paper first analyzes the mechanism of its single pharmacodynamic substance against liver cancer, and then verifies the joint anti liver cancer mechanism of its "pharmacodynamic group". By searching the research on the anti hepatoma effect of active components of zedoary tumeric in recent years, we found that pharmacodynamic substances, including curcumol, zedoarondiol, curcumenol, curzerenone, curdione, curcumin, germacrone, β-elemene, can act on multi-target and multi-channel to play an anti hepatoma role. For example, curcumin can regulate miR, GLO1, CD133, VEGF, YAP, LIN28B, GPR81, HCAR-1, P53 and PI3K/Akt/mTOR, HSP70/TLR4 and NF-κB. Wnt/TGF/EMT, Nrf2/Keap1, JAK/STAT and other pathways play an anti hepatoma role. Network pharmacological analysis showed that the core targets of the "pharmacodynamic group" for anti-life cancer are AKT1, EGFR, MAPK8, etc, and the core pathways are neuroactive live receiver interaction, nitrogen metabolism, HIF-1 signaling pathway, etc. At the same time, by comparing and analyzing the relationship between the specific mechanisms of pharmacodynamic substance and "pharmacodynamic group", it is found that they have great reference significance in target, pathway, biological function, determination of core pharmacodynamic components, formation of core target protein interaction, in-depth research of single pharmacodynamic substance, increasing curative effect and so on. By analyzing the internal mechanism of zedoary tumeric pharmacodynamic substance and "pharmacodynamic group" in the treatment of liver cancer, this paper intends to provide some ideas and references for the deeper pharmacological research of zedoary tumeric and the relationship between pharmacodynamic substance and "pharmacodynamic group".     

Quantification of myocardial fibrosis using noninvasive T2-mapping magnetic resonance imaging: Preclinical models of aging and pressure overload

Noninvasive imaging of cardiac fibrosis is important for early diagnosis and intervention in chronic heart diseases. Here, we investigated whether noninvasive, contrast agent-free MRI T₂-mapping can quantify myocardial fibrosis in preclinical models of aging and pressure overload. Myocardial fibrosis and remodeling were analyzed in two animal models: (i) aging (15-month-old male CF-1 mice vs. young 6- to 8-week-old mice), and (ii) pressure overload (PO; by transverse aortic constriction in 4- to 5-month-old male C57BL/6 mice vs. sham-operated for 14 days). In vivo T₂-mapping was performed by acquiring data during the isovolumic and early diastolic phases, with a modified respiratory and ECG-triggered multiecho TurboRARE sequence on a 7-T MRI. Cine MRI provided cardiac morphology and function. A quantitative segmentation method was developed to analyze the in vivo T₂-maps of hearts at midventricle, apex, and basal regions. The cardiac fibrosis area was analyzed ex vivo by picro sirius red (PSR) staining. Both aged and pressure-overloaded hearts developed significant myocardial contractile dysfunction, cardiac hypertrophy, and interstitial fibrosis. The aged mice had two phenotypes, fibrotic and mild-fibrotic. Notably, the aged fibrotic subgroup and the PO mice showed a marked decrease in T₂ relaxation times (25.3 ± 0.6 in aged vs. 29.9 ± 0.7 ms in young mice, p = 0.002; and 24.3 ± 1.7 in PO vs. 28.7 ± 0.7 ms in shams, p = 0.05). However, no significant difference in T₂ was detected between the aged mild-fibrotic subgroup and the young mice. Accordingly, an inverse correlation between myocardial fibrosis percentage (FP) and T₂ relaxation time was derived (R² = 0.98): T₂ (ms) = 30.45 – 1.05 × FP. Thus, these results demonstrate a statistical agreement between T₂-map–quantified fibrosis and PSR staining in two different clinically relevant animal models. In conclusion, T₂-mapping MRI is a promising noninvasive contrast agent-free quantitative technique to characterize myocardial fibrosis.