Immunohistochemical analysis of von Willebrand factor expression in myocardial tissues from autopsies of patients with ischemic heart disease

von Willebrand factor (VWF) plays a crucial role in hemostasis and thrombosis. VWF is involved in platelet attachment to the subendothelium, serving as a carrier protein for coagulation factor VIII. In this study, myocardial tissues from deceased patients with ischemic heart disease and a mouse model of acute myocardial infarction were subjected to immunohistochemistry to determine VWF expression. We examined 28 neutral formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded myocardial tissue samples obtained from the autopsies of patients who were diagnosed with ischemic heart disease within 48 h postmortem. Most myocardial cells were negative for VWF, although some cells showed nonspecific positivity. Elevated VWF expression was observed around myocardial cells undergoing remodeling, suggesting that endothelial proliferation occurred at these sites. In contrast, completely fibrotic myocardial foci did not show upregulated VWF expression. Positivity in fibrin deposition and hemorrhagic sites was observed. The same VWF expression characteristics as those observed in the human samples were observed in the mouse model. VWF immunostaining as an endothelial marker may be a useful supplementation to conventional staining techniques that are currently used in the diagnosis of ischemic heart disease in terms of examining the timing of myocardial remodeling in detail and highlighting the remodeling process.     

下一代诊断病理学

随着人类基因组测序、生物大数据信息分析、分子病理检测和人工智能辅助病理诊断等技术进步及其应用, 临床医学发展迈向精准诊疗时代。这一时代背景下, 传统诊断病理学迎来前所未有的历史机遇, 正在向"下一代诊断病理学(next-generation diagnostic pathology)"迈进。下一代诊断病理学以病理形态和临床信息为诊断基础, 以分子检测与生物信息分析、智慧制样与流程质控、智能诊断与远程会诊、病灶活体可视化与"无创"病理诊断等创新前沿交叉技术为主要特征, 以多组学和跨尺度整合诊断为病理报告内容, 实现对疾病的"最后诊断", 并预测疾病演进和结局、建议治疗方案和评估治疗反应, 形成新的疾病诊断"金标准"。未来, 需要激发病理学科创新活力, 加快下一代诊断病理学成熟和应用, 重塑病理学科理论和技术体系, 发挥诊断病理学在疾病"防、诊、治、养"等过程中的重要作用, 促进临床医学进一步发展, 服务健康中国战略。     

The 2021 WHO Classification of Lung Tumors: Impact of Advances Since 2015

The 2021 WHO Classification of Thoracic Tumours was published earlier this year, with classification of lung tumors being one of the chapters. The principles remain those of using morphology first, supported by immunohistochemistry, and then molecular techniques. In 2015, there was particular emphasis on using immunohistochemistry to make classification more accurate. In 2021, there is greater emphasis throughout the book on advances in molecular pathology across all tumor types. Major features within this edition are (1) broader emphasis on genetic testing than in the 2015 WHO Classification; (2) a section entirely dedicated to the classification of small diagnostic samples; (3) continued recommendation to document percentages of histologic patterns in invasive nonmucinous adenocarcinomas, with utilization of these features to apply a formal grading system, and using only invasive size for T-factor size determination in part lepidic nonmucinous lung adenocarcinomas as recommended by the eighth edition TNM classification; (4) recognition of spread through airspaces as a histologic feature with prognostic significance; (5) moving lymphoepithelial carcinoma to squamous cell carcinomas; (6) update on evolving concepts in lung neuroendocrine neoplasm classification; (7) recognition of bronchiolar adenoma/ciliated muconodular papillary tumor as a new entity within the adenoma subgroup; (8) recognition of thoracic SMARCA4-deficient undifferentiated tumor; and (9) inclusion of essential and desirable diagnostic criteria for each tumor.     

乙肝肝硬化肝胆湿热及肝肾阴虚证物质基础研究＊

目的 运用代谢组学技术分析乙肝肝硬化患者肝肾阴虚及肝胆湿热两种典型证候（同病异证）的血清差异代谢产物及其代谢通路，探寻虚、实两种典型证候的内在物质基础，以期从代谢水平上为中医证候分类提供客观依据。方法 对符合纳入标准的111例不同证候的乙肝肝硬化患者（肝胆湿热证40例，肝肾阴虚证41例，隐证(无证可辨）者30例）中医症状及体征进行描述性分析，发现两种不同证型的临床信息分布规律及证候特征；采用气相色谱-飞行时间质谱联用（GC-TOF/MS）技术对乙肝肝硬化患者，以及与之相匹配的60例健康人的血清样本进行检测，经非监督的主成分分析（Principal Components Analysis，PCA）、有监督的偏最小二乘判别分析（Partial Least Square Discriminant Analysis，PLS-DA）及监督的正交偏最小二乘法（Orthogonal Partial Least SquareDiscriminant Analysis，OPLS-DA）分析，找出与乙肝肝硬化疾病本身及其两种典型证候相关的差异性物质；运用MetaboAnalyst 3.0数据库，寻找并解析肝胆湿热及肝肾阴虚虚实两种证候间差异性物质的相关代谢通路。结果 （1）肝胆湿热证中出现频率较高（50%以上）的症状为小便色黄，口干，口苦，口臭或有异味等。肝肾阴虚证中出现频率较高的症状为口干、腰酸、乏力、腿软等。两证共见症/征为口干、尿黄、易怒、舌红。（2）各组间丙氨酸氨基转移酶（Alanine Aminotransferase,ALT）数值无统计学差异（P > 0.05）；与健康组比较，隐证组中白蛋白（Albumin，ALB），肝胆湿热证中总胆红素（Total Bilirubin，TBil）、直接胆红素（Direct Bilirubin，DBil）、谷草转氨酶（Aspartate Transaminase，AST）、碱性磷酸酶（Alkaline Phosphatase，ALP）、谷氨酰转肽酶（Gamma-Glutamyl Transpeptidase，GGT）、总胆汁酸（Total Biliary Acid，TBA）及ALB，肝肾阴虚证TBil、ALP、GGT、TBA、ALB值差异均有统计学意义（P < 0.05）；与隐证比较，肝胆湿热证TBil、DBil、AST、ALP、TBA、ALB，肝肾阴虚证TBA、ALB差异有统计学意义（P < 0.05）；肝胆湿热证与肝肾阴虚证相比，TBil、DBil差异有统计学意义（P < 0.05）。（3）代谢组学检测及代谢通路分析，发现各组之间代谢谱均有良好的区分，并获得各组间的差异性物质。发现肝胆湿热及肝肾阴虚两典型证的共同物质10个，去除疾病（隐证）的信息，则得到两证共同物质6个，涉及的代谢通路为甘氨酸、丝氨酸及苏氨酸代谢和苯丙氨酸代谢；同时，分别获得两证各自特异性的代谢物质各8个，分别涉及亚油酸代谢和甘氨酸、苏氨酸及丝氨酸代谢。结论 运用代谢组学技术，发现肝胆湿热及肝肾阴虚不同证之间既存在病的共同物质（同病），也存在证的差异物质（异证），从而在代谢层面上为中医证候分类的科学性提供科学依据。     

Genome-wide association analysis of dementia and its clinical endophenotypes reveal novel loci associated with Alzheimer's disease and three causality networks: The GR@ACE project

IntroductionLarge variability among Alzheimer's disease (AD) cases might impact genetic discoveries and complicate dissection of underlying biological pathways.MethodsGenome Research at Fundacio ACE ([email protected]) is a genome-wide study of dementia and its clinical endophenotypes, defined based on AD's clinical certainty and vascular burden. We assessed the impact of known AD loci across endophenotypes to generate loci categories. We incorporated gene coexpression data and conducted pathway analysis per category. Finally, to evaluate the effect of heterogeneity in genetic studies, [email protected] series were meta-analyzed with additional genome-wide association study data sets.ResultsWe classified known AD loci into three categories, which might reflect the disease clinical heterogeneity. Vascular processes were only detected as a causal mechanism in probable AD. The meta-analysis strategy revealed the ANKRD31-rs4704171 and NDUFAF6-rs10098778 and confirmed SCIMP-rs7225151 and CD33-rs3865444.DiscussionThe regulation of vasculature is a prominent causal component of probable AD. [email protected] meta-analysis revealed novel AD genetic signals, strongly driven by the presence of clinical heterogeneity in the AD series.     

Subtyping of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms – pitfalls of MUC1 immunohistochemistry

Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) are precursor lesions of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Current edition of WHO Classification of Tumors of the Digestive System recognizes four different subtypes (gastric, intestinal, pancreatobiliary, and oncocytic) and recommends analysis of mucin expression (MUC1, MUC2, MUC5AC, MUC6) as well as evaluation of architectural and cell differentiation patterns for correct classification. However, there is no consensus on MUC1 expression of IPMN‐lesions in the literature. Current recommendations are based on studies where antibodies against the core MUC1 protein or sialylated MUC1 (tumor associated MUC1), not the fully glycosylated MUC1 were used. We have recently reported that MUC1 is strongly expressed in both gastric and intestinal types IPMN specimens from the cystic wall, obtained by endoscopic ultrasound guided microbiopsy procedure. We have used a commercial MUC1 antibody, validated and recommended for diagnostic use, which recognizes fully glycosylated MUC1. Based on the above, we propose a revision of the WHO Classification, specifying that antibodies against tumor associated MUC1 should be used for IPMN subtyping.