Effects of vitrectomy combined with internal limiting membrane peeling in patients with diabetic macular edema

BACKGROUND Diabetic macular edema(DME),a chronic microvascular complication of diabetes,is a leading cause of visual impairment and blindness.Pars plana vitrectomy(PPV)can restore the normal macular structure and reduce macular edema,whereas internal limiting membrane(ILM)peeling is used to treat tractional macular diseases.Despite the advantages,there is limited research on the combined effects of PPV with ILM peeling.AIM To observe the effects of PPV combined with ILM peeling on postoperative central macular thickness(CMT),best-corrected visual acuity(BCVA),cystoid macular edema(CME)volume,and complications in patients with DME.METHODS Eighty-one patients(92 eyes)diagnosed with DME at the Beijing Shanqu Liangxiang Hospital between January and December 2022 were randomly divided to undergo PPV alone(control group:41 patients,47 eyes)or PPV+ILM peeling(stripping group:40 patients,45 eyes);a single surgeon performed all surgeries.The two groups were compared preoperatively and 1 and 3 months postoperatively.RESULTS Preoperatively,both groups had comparable values of CMT,BCVA,and CME volume(P>0.05).After surgery(both 1 and 3 months),both groups showed significant reductions in CMT,BCVA,and CME volume compared to preoperative levels,with the stripping group showing more significant reductions compared to the control group(P<0.05).Further repeated-measures ANOVA analysis for within-group differences revealed significant effects of group and time,and interaction effects for CMT,BCVA,and CME volume(P<0.05).There were no significant differences in the incidence of complications between the groups(retinal detachment:control=2,stripping=1;endophthalmitis:Control=4,stripping=1;no cases of secondary glaucoma or macular holes;χ^(2)=0.296,P=0.587).CONCLUSION PPV with ILM peeling can significantly improve the visual acuity of patients with DME,reduce CMT,and improve CME with fewer complications.

Attenuation coefficients of gamma and X-rays passing through six materials

The aim of this study was to determine the attenuation of gamma and X-rays with different energies caused by passage through different materials.To this end,different materials with a range of atomic numbers were chosen to measure gamma and X-ray attenuation coefficients and to explore the mechanisms of interaction of gamma and X-rays with matter of various kinds.It is shown that the attenuation coefficients first decrease and then increase with increase in the radiation(photon)energy.The attenuation of gamma and X-rays passing through materials with high atomic number is greater than that in materials with low atomic number.The attenuation minimum is related to the atomic number of the irradiated materials.The larger the atomic number is,the lower the energy corresponding to attenuation minimum is.Photoelectric and Compton effects are the main processes when gamma rays pass through individual materials with high and low atomic numbers,respectively.Therefore,for radiotherapy and radiation protection,different methods should be considered and selected for the use of gamma and X-rays of different energies for use in different materials.

Interferon-alpha-2b induces autophagy in hepatocellular carcinoma cells through Beclin1 pathway

Objeαive： To determine whether Interferon-alpha-2b （IFN-α2b） can modulate the autophagic response in hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Methods： Hepatocellular carcinoma cells were treated with IFN-α2b. Autophagy was assessed by acridine orange staining, GFP-LC3 dotted assay, transmission eleαron microscopy and immunoblotting. Results： Acridine orange staining showed that IFN-α2b triggered the accumulation of acidic vesicular and autolysosomes in HepG2 cells. The acridine orange HepG2 cell ratios were （4.3±1.0）%, （6.9±1.4）%, and （13.1±2.3）%, respeαively, after treatment with 100, 1,000, and 10,000 IU/mL IFN-α2b for 48 h. A markedly punαate pattern was observed in HepG2 cells treated with 10,000 IU/mL [FN-α2b for 48 h, but only diffuse and weakly fluorescent GFP-LC3 punαa was observed in control cells. HepG2 cells treated with 10,000 IU/mL IFN-α2b for 48 h developed autophagosome-like charaαeristics, including single- or double-membrane vacuoles containing intaα and degraded cellular debris. The Beclinl and LC3-II protein expression was up-regulated by IFN-α2b treatment. Conclusion： Autophagy can be induced in a dose-dependent manner by treatment with IFN-α2b in HepG2 cells, and the Beclinl signaling pathway was stimulated by IFN-α2b.

MiR-503 promotes wound healing of diabetic foot ulcer by targeting FBN1

Objective: To highlight the relationship between miR-503 and wound healing of diabetic foot ulcer(DFU). Methods: Microarray analysis was used to detect the dysregulated miRNAs between the DFU tissues and normal tissues. The expression of miR-503 in tissues and serum of patients with DFU was detected by qRT-PCR technique. Then, CCK-8 assay was applied to determine the cell proliferation. TUNEL assay was used for assessing the apoptosis of cells after treatment with miR-503. Possible correlation between miR-503 and fibillinl(FBN1)was predicted according to data accessed on RNA22 website online, and was detected for confirmation by luciferase reporter assay. Results: Microarray analysis showed that miR-503 was significantly decreased in the DFU tissues compared with normal tissues. While marked increase in the expression of miR-503 in tissues and scrum of patients with DFU was confirmed by qRT-PCR technique. Then, CCK-8 assay indicated that transfection of miR-503 mimic obviously accelerated the cell proliferation. However, TUNEL assays suggested that miR-503 mimic inhibited the apoptosis of cells to improve the survival of fibroblasts.Besides. miR-503 AMO played a role in fibroblasts of DFU tissues exactly countering to miR-503 mimic treatment. It was predicted that MiR-503 is a complementary to the FBN1 by RNA22. Besides, SiRNA-FBN1 promoted the proliferation, but brought down the apoptosis of fibroblasts. Conclusions: MiR-503 regulates the function of fibroblasts and wound healing of patients with DFU by targeting FBN I directly which provids a novel and critical target for diagnosis and treatment of DFU.

Spontaneous conus infarction with"snake-eye appearance"on magnetic resonance imaging:A case report and literature review

BACKGROUND Infarction of the conus medullaris is a rare form of spinal cord infarction.The first symptom is usually acute non-characteristic lumbar pain,followed by lower limb pain,saddle numbness,fecal incontinence,and sexual dysfunction.Spontaneous conus infarction with"snake-eye appearance"on magnetic resonance imaging has rarely been reported.CASE SUMMARY We report a 79-year-old male patient with spontaneous conus infarction who had acute lower extremity pain and dysuria as the first symptoms.He did not have any recent history of aortic surgery and trauma.Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a rare"snake-eye appearance."In addition,we reviewed the literature on 23 similar cases and summarized the clinical features and magnetic resonance manifestations of common diseases related to the"snake-eye sign"to explore the etiology,imaging findings,and prognosis of spontaneous conus infarction.CONCLUSION We conclude that acute onset of conus medullaris syndrome combined with"snake-eye appearance"should be strongly suspected as conus medullaris infarction caused by anterior spinal artery ischemia.This special imaging manifestation is helpful in the early diagnosis and treatment of conus infarction.

Effect of arterial interventional chemotherapy before radical operation for gastric cancer on serum tumor markers and cell growth in the lesion

Objective:To investigate the effect of arterial interventional chemotherapy before radical operation for gastric cancer on serum tumor markers and cell growth in the lesion.Methods:90 patients with primary gastric cancer who underwent radical operation for gastric cancer in our hospital were chosen as the research subjects and divided into the control group (n=48) (did not receive preoperative arterial interventional chemotherapy) and the arterial interventional chemotherapy group (n=42) (received preoperative arterial interventional chemotherapy). The differences in tumor markers in serum as well as proliferation and apoptosis gene expression in gastric cancer tissues were compared.Results: Before surgery started, serum CA199, CA153, CA724 and AFP levels of arterial interventional chemotherapy group were significantly lower than those immediately after admission whereas serum CA199, CA153, CA724 and AFP levels of control group were not significantly different from those immediately after admission. After surgery, proliferation genes CUL4A and NTSR1 mRNA expression in gastric cancer tissues of arterial interventional chemotherapy group were lower than those of control group whereas DADS and FAM96B mRNA expression were higher than those of control group;apoptosis genes Livin and Bcl-2 mRNA expression were lower than those of control group whereas p53, p21 and Bax mRNA expression were higher than those of control group.Conclusion:Preoperative arterial interventional chemotherapy combined with radical operation for gastric cancer can more effectively inhibit the malignant degree of tumor and delay the growth of cancer cells.

Low-lying states of 92,93Nb excited in the reactions induced by the weakly-bound nucleus 6Li near the Coulomb barrier

Excited states of odd-odd nucleus 92Nb and odd-A nucleus 93Nb were populated in the 6 Li+ 89 Y reaction with an incident energy of 34 MeV. The processes that produce 92,93Nb and can be measured by a combination of light charged particle and gamma ray measurements are discussed. Twenty new transitions are observed and eight new levels are constructed in 92Nb, and in addition two new transitions are added to the level scheme of 93Nb. Using shell2 model calculations, the low-lying structure of 9 Nb is investigated and compared with the experimental results.