[Clinical efficacy of induction chemoimmunotherapy for locally advanced hypopharyngeal carcinoma: a prospective phase Ⅱ study]

Objective: To evaluate the objective response rate (ORR) of induction chemoimmunotherapy with camrelizumab plus TPF (docetaxel, cisplatin, and capecitabine) for locally advanced hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LA HSCC) and potential predictive factors for ORR. Methods: A single-center, prospective, phase 2 and single-arm trial was conducted for evaluating antitumor activity of camrelizumab+TPF(docetaxel+cisplatin+capecitabine) for LA HSCC between May 21, 2021 and April 15, 2023, patients admitted to the Eye & ENT Hospital affiliated with Fudan University. The primary endpoint was ORR, and enrolled patients with LA HSCC at T3-4N0-3M0 received induction chemoimmunotherapy for three cycles: camrelizumab 200 mg day 1, docetaxel 75 mg/m2 day 1, cisplatin 25 mg/m2 days 1-3, and capecitabine 800 mg/m2 days 1-14. Patients were assigned to radioimmunotherapy when they had complete response or partial response (PR)>70% (Group A), or assigned to surgery plus adjuvant radiotherapy/chemoradiotherapy when they had PR≤70% (Group B), and the responses were defined by using tumor volume evaluation system. Tumor diameter was also used to assess the treatment responses by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) version 1.1. Use SPSS 23.0 software was used to analyze the data. Results: A total of 51 patients were enrolled who underwent the induced chemoimmunotherapy for three cycles, and all were males, aged 35-69 years old. After three cycles of induction immunochemotherapy, 42 (82.4%) patients existed in Group A (complete response or PR>70%) and 9 patients (17.6%) in Group B (PR≤70%), the ORR was 82.4%. The primary endpoint achieved expected main research objectives. Compared to the patients of Group A, the patients of Group B showed the higher T stage and the larger volume of primary tumor before induced immunochemotherapy, and also had the less regression of tumor volume after induced immunochemotherapy (all P<0.05). The optimal cutoff value of pre-treatment tumor volume for predicting ORR was 39 cm3. The T stage (OR=12.71, 95%CI: 1.4-112.5, P=0.022) and the volume (OR=7.1, 95%CI: 1.4-36.8, P=0.018) of primary tumor were the two main factors affecting ORR rate of induction chemoimmunotherapy. Conclusion: The induction chemoimmunotherapy with camrelizumab plus TPF shows an encouraging antitumor efficacy in LA HSCC.

China Alzheimer's Disease and Neurodegenerative Disorder Research (CANDOR) -A Prospective Cohort Study for Alzheimer's Disease and Vascular Cognitive Impairment

BACKGROUND

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) are the two main causes of dementia. AD and VCI share similar symptoms of cognitive decline and may be attributable to similar risk factors. Establishing a prospective cohort to compare VCI and AD would help to understand vascular risk factors related to dementia.

OBJECTIVES

China Alzheimer's disease and Neurodegenerative Disorder Research (CANDOR) study is a prospective multicenter cohort study. It aims to study the similarities and differences between AD and post stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) in neuroimaging changes, disease progression, and multiple omics studies.

DESIGN

This is an ongoing study. From July 31, 2019, to August 1, 2022, we recruited 1449 participants with ages between 40 and 100 years. The cohort included three groups: AD group, PSCI group, and normal cognitive (NC) group. Data were collected in face-to-face interviews at baseline, and will be followed up every year for 4 years. The PSCI group had additional follow-ups at 3-month and 6-month after enrollment. Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) included high-resolution sequences for intracranial arteries. Cognitive assessments and follow-up information will be prospectively collected. Biological specimens including blood and urine at baseline were collected and tested.

PARTICIPANTS

The targeted sample size of PSCI group was 500, AD group with 600 and NC group with 2000. There were 1449 participants enrolled. Include 508 participants were in NC group, 387 in AD group and 554 in PSCI group.

MEASUREMENTS

Demographics, clinical parameters, and medical examinations were collected and performed. Cognitive assessment was performed to assess all cognitive domains including memory, language, executive function, and orientation function.

CONCLUSIONS

The CANDOR study is a prospective cohort study. Data from this cohort provide us an opportunity to investigate the contribution of vascular factors to dementia pathogenesis.

A Multicenter Study on Deep Learning for Glioblastoma Auto-Segmentation with Prior Knowledge in Multimodal Imaging

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

A precise radiotherapy plan is required to ensure accurate delineation of gross tumor volumes (GTV) and clinical target volumes (CTV1 and CTV2) of glioblastomas (GBMs). However, traditional manual delineation is labor intensive and highly dependent on oncologists' experience. To construct and evaluate a deep learning-based automatic delineation method using prior knowledge in multimodal medical imaging to automate precise GTV, CTV1 and CTV2 contouring in GBM patients.

MATERIALS/METHODS

We retrospectively collected the CT and MRI scans of 55 eligible patients with histologically proven high-grade glioma (HGG) from an institute, these scans were performed with non-enhanced CT (CT), contrast-enhanced T1-weighted (T1C) and T2-FLAIR (T2F) sequences. We proposed a two-stage automatic segmentation framework (PKMI-Net) for GTV, CTV1 and CTV2 based on deep learning using prior knowledge in multimodal medical imaging, and its segmentation performance was evaluated with dice similarity coefficient (DSC), 95% Harsdorff distance (HD95), average surface distance (ASD) and relative volume difference (RVD). To further investigate the generalizability of our method, we designed and conducted two evaluation strategies (Mix and Cross) on four multicenter datasets (including 55 patients, 37 patients, 21 patients and 35 patients).

RESULTS

The evaluation results with an 11-patient test set from the single institute were summarized in Table 1, the proposed method demonstrated the best accuracy in segmenting, respectively, GTV, CTV1 and CTV, achieving a DSC of 0.94, 0.95 and 0.92; HD95 of 2.07 mm, 1.18 mm and 3.80 mm; ASD of 0.69 mm, 0.39 mm and 1.13 mm and RVE of 5.50%, 3.97% and 9.68%. In the multicenter evaluation, the segmentation performance of our method implemented with the Cross strategy was comparable to that with the Mix strategy, demonstrating that our method had high and stable generalizability across multicenter datasets in automatically segmenting GTV, CTV1 and CTV2.

CONCLUSION

Our proposed method achieved promising results in automatically segmenting gliomas across various datasets, which could improve the quality and efficiency of glioblastoma radiotherapy.

Treatment of Thymoma and Thymic Carcinoma with Proton Beam Therapy: Outcomes from the Proton Collaborative Group Prospective Registry

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

Given the generally long natural history of thymic malignancies, proton beam therapy (PBT) is advocated to minimize the risk of long-term toxicities to mediastinal organs. Adverse events (AE) and long-term clinical outcomes for this population have not been well-characterized.

MATERIALS/METHODS

The Proton Collaborative Group registry (NCT01255748), a multi-institutional prospective database of academic and community proton centers in the US, was queried for patients with thymomas and thymic carcinomas treated with PBT. Patients with recurrent/metastatic disease, non-thymic histology, received either prior or palliative radiotherapy (dose < 40 Gy RBE) were excluded. Overall survival (OS) and local control (LC) were estimated using Kaplan-Meier methods.

RESULTS

A total of 97 patients were identified in the PCG registry. After applying relevant exclusion criteria, 70 patients from 12 proton centers treated from 2011-2021 were included for analysis. Median follow-up length was 16 months. Median age was 58.5 years (IQR 46-63), and 60% were female. 81.4% had a diagnosis of thymoma, and 18.6% thymic carcinoma. 59 patients underwent surgical resection. 11 were treated with definitive PBT, of which 5 received concurrent chemotherapy. Median dose was 54 Gy RBE (range 41.4 - 70 Gy RBE), median number of fractions was 30 (range 21 - 38). 73.4% received pencil beam scanning and 23% uniform scanning PBT. Treatment was overall well-tolerated: a single patient developed grade 4 pneumonitis. Grade 3 AEs were seen in 3 patients - dyspnea, anorexia, and heart failure. Highest grade toxicity experienced was grade 2 for 47.1% and grade 1 for 42.9% of patients. 3-year overall survival (OS) was 82.6% for the entire cohort. 3-year OS was 94% for resected/adjuvant cohort and 35.6% in the non-surgical/definitive cohort. 3-year local control (LC) was 91.7% for the entire cohort. By surgery/margin status, 3-year LC was 96.8% in patients with close or negative margins (a single failure in a patient with close margins), whereas 3-year LC was 55.1% for patients with positive margins/unresectable disease.

CONCLUSION

Thymic malignancies treated with PBT appear to have favorable outcomes, especially in the adjuvant setting, in this cohort representing the largest series of such patients.

Combined Analysis of a Phase III Randomized Trial and Phase II Prospective Trial with Blind Control Matching of Patients Receiving Whole-Lung, Low-Dose Radiation for COVID-19: Full Results and Immunologic Correlates of the RESCUE 1-19 Trial

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

Whole-lung, low-dose radiation (LD-RT) for COVID-19 requires randomization and biologic correlates to determine causality and mechanism.

MATERIALS/METHODS

A phase III trial randomized COVID-19 patients to physician's choice of drug therapy with or without LD-RT. Primary endpoint was intubation-free survival (IFS). The trial was designed with 80% power (two-sided log rank, alpha 0.05) to detect a hazard ratio of 0.3 after 12 intubation events. Estimating a 25% event rate, the planned sample size was 84 patients plus 25 to account for declining intubation rates and screen failures. Due to hospitalization declines and other barriers, the trial closed prematurely. Available randomized data were analyzed by intention-to-treat and combined with phase II results and immunologic correlates, using one-sided significance and an alpha of 0.1 to inform future trial design.

RESULTS

From Jun 2020-Jun 2022, 14 patients were randomized on a phase III trial. From Apr 2020-Dec 2020, 42 patients were enrolled on a phase II trial and blindly matched to 40 controls from contemporaneous trials. 96 total patients and 193 blood samples were available for analysis. Mean hospital duration with LD-RT was 12.9 vs 15.4 days in controls (p = 0.12). Oxygen flow rate >15 L/min (26% vs 38%, p = .27), high-flow oxygen >30 L/min (24% vs 38%, p = 0.18), non-invasive positive-pressure >60 L/min (9% vs 27%, p = 0.03), and mechanical ventilation (9% vs 24%, p = 0.05) reduced with LD-RT. Mean supplemented oxygen volume was 171,759 vs 547,626 liters in controls, with daily means of 10 vs 23 L/min (p = 0.03). Radiographs worsened in 43% vs 71% of controls (p = 0.03). Arterial blood gas mean P/F ratios improved 22% after LD-RT vs declined 8% in controls (p = 0.12). Mean days febrile were 1.8 vs 2.9 in controls (p = 0.10). Rate of myocardial injury was 47% vs 40% in controls (p = 0.77). Flow cytometry revealed 4-fold and 30-fold larger expansions, respectively, in CD8- and CD4-positive CD3+PD1+Ki67-high proliferating cytotoxic T-cells (300% vs 75% expansion, p = 0.07) and helper T-cells (200% expansion vs 6% contraction, p = 0.03) at day 7. In the randomized cohort, mean oxygen volume fell 75% with LD-RT to 78,336 vs 316,786 liters in controls (p = 0.13), mean flow rates were 5.1 vs 18.4 L/min (p = 0.13), radiographs worsened in 50% vs 100% (p = .17), P/F ratios improved 31% vs declined 68% in controls (p = 0.03), hospital duration was 8.9 vs 11.5 days (p = 0.22), and zero LD-RT patients vs one control intubated.

CONCLUSION

Combined analysis of a phase II/III randomized trial suggests that LD-RT prevents ventilation, reduces supplemental oxygen need, improves clinical course, and enhances immune response. LD-RT may have both immediate direct effects and delayed enhanced immunity in COVID-19. Larger multi-institutional trials are justified.

[Effects of rapid drug sensitivity testing for multidrug-resistant bacteria on the prognosis of patients with severe intra-abdominal infection]

Objective: To examine the clinical value of rapid detection of drug-resistant bacteria by immunochromatography and the effects of rapid detection on the prognosis of patients with severe intra-abdominal infection complicated by carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) bloodstream infection. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study. We analyzed clinical data of 73 patients with severe abdominal infections with sepsis or septic shock complicated by CRE bloodstream infection admitted to the general surgery department of Jinling Hospital between February 2022 and February 2023. Patients were divided into a colloidal gold immunochromatographic assay (GICA) group (17 patients) and conventional testing group (56 patients) based on whether a GICA for CRE had been performed on the patients' first blood culture sample during the diagnosis and treatment process. There were no statistically significant differences between the GICA and conventional testing groups in age ([55.9±17.3] vs. [47.6±16.4] years), sex ([16 men vs. one woman ] vs. [41 men vs. 15 women]), median Charlson comorbidity index (3.0[2.0,4.0] vs. 3.0[2.0, 4.8]), septic shock (10 vs. 39), or acute kidney injury (8 vs. 40) (all P>0.05). Both groups routinely underwent traditional bacterial identification and drug susceptibility testing. Additionally, patients in the GICA group were tested directly for positive blood cultures using a GICA carbapenemase test kit. The main outcomes were mortality rates on Days 28 and 90 after the first identification of CRE bloodstream infection in both groups. We also compared the microbial clearance rate, duration of hospitalization and intensive care unit stay, and time from onset of CRE bloodstream infection to initiation of targeted and appropriate antibiotics between the two groups. Results: The rate of microbial clearance of bloodstream infection was significantly greater in the GICA group than in the conventional testing group (15/17 vs. 34/56 [60.7%], χ2=4.476, P=0.034), whereas the 28-day mortality tended to be lower in the GICA than conventional testing group [5/17 vs. 44.6% [25/56], χ2=1.250, P=0.264). The 90-day mortality (8/17 vs. 53.6% [30/56], χ2=0.222, P=0.638), median duration of hospitalization (37.0 [18.0, 46.5] days vs. 45.5 [32.2, 64.8] days, Z=-1.867, P=0.062), and median duration of intensive care unit stay (18.0 [6.5, 35.0] days vs. 32.0 [5.0, 51.8] days, Z=-1.251, P=0.209). The median time between the onset of bloodstream infection and administration of antibiotics was 49.0 (38.0, 69.0) hours in the GICA group, which is significantly shorter than the 163.0 (111.8, 190.0) hours in the conventional testing group (Z=-5.731, P<0.001). The median time between the onset of bloodstream infection and administration of appropriate antibiotics was 40.0 (34.0, 80.0) hours in the GICA group, which is shorter than in the conventional testing group (68.0 [38.2, 118.8]) hours; however, this difference is not statistically significant (Z=-1.686, P=0.093). Conclusions: GICA can provide information on carbapenemase- producing pathogens faster than traditional drug sensitivity testing, enabling early administration of the optimal antibiotics. The strategy of 'carbapenemase detection first' for managing bacterial infection has the potential to improve prognosis of patients and reduce mortality rate.

Risk prediction of second primary malignancies in primary colorectal neuroendocrine neoplasms patients: a population-based study

PURPOSE

In this study, we aimed to identify risk factors for developing second primary malignancies (SPMs) in colorectal neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) patients and develop a competing-risk nomogram to predict SPMs' probabilities quantitatively.

METHODS

Patients with colorectal NENs were retrospectively collected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database during 2000-2013. Potential risk factors for SPMs' occurrence in colorectal NENs' patients were identified by the Fine and Gray's proportional sub-distribution hazards model. Then, a competing-risk nomogram was constructed to quantify SPMs' probabilities. The discriminative abilities and calibrations of this competing-risk nomogram were assessed by the area under the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves (AUC) and calibration curves.

RESULTS

We identified 11,017 colorectal NENs' patients, and randomly divided them into training (n = 7711 patients) and validation (n = 3306 patients) cohorts. In the whole cohort, 12.4% patients (n = 1369) had developed SPMs during the maximum follow-up of approximately 19 years (median 8.9 years). Sex, age, race, primary tumor location, and chemotherapy were identified as risk factors for SPMs' occurrence in colorectal NENs' patients. Such factors were selected to develop a competing-risk nomogram and showed excellent predictive ability for SPMs' occurrence (the 3-, 5-, and 10-year AUC values were 0.631, 0.632, and 0.629 in the training cohort and 0.665, 0.639, 0.624 in the validation cohort, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

This research identified risk factors for SPMs' occurrence in colorectal NENs' patients. Competing-risk nomogram was constructed and proved to have good performance.

Application of NGS molecular classification in the diagnosis of endometrial carcinoma: A supplement to traditional pathological diagnosis

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to demonstrate the advantages of NGS molecular classification in EC diagnosis and to assess whether molecular classification could be performed on curettage specimens and its concordance with subsequent hysterectomy specimens.

METHODS

80 patients with hysterectomy specimens and 35/80 patients with paired curettage specimens were stratified as POLE mut, MSI-H, TP53 wt, or TP53 abn group by NGS panel. Histotype, tumor grade, IHC results, and other pathological details were taken from original pathological reports.

RESULTS

The correlation analysis of 80 patients with hysterectomy specimens between NGS molecular classification and clinicopathological characters displayed that the POLE mut group was associated with EEC (87.5%) and TP53 abn subtype was correlated to a later stage (Stage II-IV, 47.6%), G3 (76.2%), serous histology (61.9%) and myometrial invasion ≥50% (47.6%). A favorable concordance (31/32, 96.9%) was shown in MSI analysis and MMR IHC results, and the agreement rate of p53 IHC and TP53 mutation was 81.5% (53/65). Compared with the p53 IHC abnormal group, the TP53 mutation group had a higher correlation with high-risk factors. A high level of concordance (31/35, 88.0%) of NGS molecular classification was achieved between curettage specimens and hysterectomy specimens while grade and histotype (including unclassified group) from curettage specimens and hysterectomy specimens showed only moderate levels of agreement, 54.3% (19/35) and 68.6% (24/35), respectively.

CONCLUSION

NGS molecular classification achieved on curettage samples showed high concordance with the final hysterectomy specimens, demonstrating superior to the conventional pathological assessment of grade and histotype and potential utilization in clinical practice.

Proteome Analysis of Temporomandibular Joint with Disc Displacement

Disc displacement without reduction is a common disorder of the temporomandibular joint, causing clinical symptoms and sometimes condylar degeneration. In some cases, bone regeneration is detected following disc-repositioning procedures. Until now, however, systems-wide knowledge of the protein levels for condylar outcome with disc position is still lacking. Here, we performed comprehensive expression profiling of synovial fluid from 109 patients with disc displacement without reduction using high-resolution data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry and characterized differences in 1,714 proteins. Based on magnetic resonance imaging, samples were divided into groups with versus without condylar absorption and subgroups with versus without new bone. For the proteomic analysis, 32 proteins in groups presented with statistical significance (>2-fold, P < 0.05). Pathways such as response to inorganic substances, blood coagulation, and estrogen signaling were significantly expressed in the group with bone absorption as compared with pathways such as regulation of body fluid levels, vesicle-mediated transport, and focal adhesion, which were enriched in the group without bone absorption. In subgroup analysis, 45 proteins of significant importance (>2-fold, P < 0.05) were associated with pathways including would healing, glycolysis and gluconeogenesis, and amino acid metabolism. Combined with clinical examination, molecules such as acetyl-CoA carboxylase beta (ACACB) and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFB1) were related to features such as visual analog scale and maximum interincisal opening (P < 0.05). In addition, 7 proteins were examined by Western blotting, including progesterone immunomodulatory binding factor 1 (PIBF1), histidine-rich glycoprotein (HRG), and protein kinase C and casein kinase substrate in neurons 2 (PACSIN2). In conclusion, this study provides the first proteome analysis of condylar absorption at disc displacement without reduction and postoperative new bone formation after disc reposition. Integrated with clinical data, this analysis provides an important insight into the proteomics of condylar modification at disc position.

[Nur77 promotes invasion and migration of gastric cancer cells through the NF-κB/IL-6 pathway]

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the association of Nur77 with overall survival of gastric cancer patients and investigate the role of Nur77 in invasion and migration of gastric cancer cells.

METHODS

Oncomine database was used to analyze the expression of Nur77 in gastric cancer and gastric mucosa tissues, and the distribution characteristics of Nur77 protein between gastric cancer and normal tissues were compared using Human Protein Atlas. GEPIA2 was used to analyze the relationship of Nur77 expression and the patients' survival. The expression of Nur77 in gastric cancer cell lines GES-1, AGS and MKN-45 were detected by Western blotting. The regulatory interactions between IL-6 and Nur77 were verified by transfecting the cells with specific Nur-77 siRNA and Nur-77-overexpressing plasmid. The changes in migration ability of the cells following Nur-77 knockdown were assessed with scratch assay. The effect of Nur-77 overexpression or IL-6 knockdown, or their combination, on migration and invasion of the gastric cancer cells were examined using Transwell assay. The effect of Nur77 expression level on NF-κB/IL-6 pathway activation was analyzed using Western blotting.

RESULTS

Oncomine database showed that gastric cancer tissues expressed a significantly higher level of Nur77 mRNA than normal tissues (P < 0.05). Nur77 expression was detected mostly in the nucleus, and a high Nur77 expression was associated with a poor survival outcome of the patients (P < 0.05). In gastric cancer cells, the high expression of Nur77 participated in the regulation of IL-6. Nur77 silencing significantly lowered the migration ability of the cells (P < 0.05), and IL-6 silencing significantly attenuated the enhanced migration caused by Nur77 overexpression (P < 0.05). Nur77 participates in the activation of NF-κB/IL-6 signaling pathway by regulating the expression of p-p65, p65, p-Stat3 and Stat3.

CONCLUSION

A high Nur77 expression is strongly correlated with a poor prognosis of gastric cancer patients. Nur77 promotes the invasion and migration of gastric cancer cells possibly by regulating the NF-κB/IL-6 signaling pathway.

De Novo mutation in Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-D761Y responding to third generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor Osimertinib: A case report

INTRODUCTION

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations are the most common accurate gene targets. However, the lack of case reports or cohort studies on the exceptionally rare mutations limit the acquisition of deeper insights.

PATIENT CONCERNS

A 76-year-old female nonsmoker presented to our hospital with a one-week disease history of cough accompanied by shortness of breath.

DIAGNOSIS

Contrast-enhanced CT scan showed right pleural effusion with scattered inflammation and consolidation in the right upper lung. Tumor marker display showed obvious increased. Histopathology of the pulmonary mass combined with Immunohistochemical staining indicated lung adenocarcinoma. Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging suggested brain metastases. ECT scan showed bone metastasis. The patient was thus diagnosed as right lung adenocarcinoma of stage IV (cT3N3M1c). Next generation sequencing was performed to profile the mutation status of known oncogenic driver mutations, and only EGFR-D761Y in exon 19 (allelic frequency, AF: 0.53%) mutation was found.

INTERVENTIONS

The patient was accordingly treated with the third generation EGFR-Epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) Osimertinib (80 mg, qd). Accompanied with whole brain radiotherapy (DT3000c Gy/10f) for brain metastases, technetium methylene diphosphonate injection was performed for bone metastases.

OUTCOMES

The efficacy of the first-line Osimertinib treatment for 1 month was assessed as PR per RECIST version 1.1. The NSCLC patient harboring EGFR-D761Y mutation detected prior to the EGFR L858R mutation was benefited from the third-generation EGFR-TKI Osimertinib and had a worse prognosis than with other EGFR mutations according to data from previous case reports.

CONCLUSIONS

This case reported a NSCLC patient with de novo mutation of EGFR-D761Y responding to third generation TKI Osimertinib.

Production and purification of 2-phenylethanol by Saccharomyces cerevisiae using tobacco waste extract as a substrate

2-phenylethanol (2-PE), which is extracted naturally from plant or biotechnology processing, is widely used in the food and cosmetics industries. Due to the high cost of 2-PE production, the valorization of waste carbon to produce 2-PE has gained increasing attention. Here, 2-PE was produced by Saccharomyces cerevisiae using tobacco waste extract (TWE) as the substrate. Considering the toxicity of nicotine and its inhibition of 2-PE, the tolerance of S. cerevisiae was first evaluated. The results suggested that the production of 2-PE by S. cerevisiae in TWEs could be carried out at 2·0 mg ml-1 nicotine concentrations and may be inhibited by 1·0 mg ml-1 2-PE. Thus, the compounds in the TWEs prepared at different temperatures were detected, and the results revealed that the TWEs prepared at 140°C contained 2·18 mg ml-1 of nicotine, had total sugar concentrations of 26·8 mg ml-1 and were suitable for 2-PE production. Due to feedback regulation, the 2-PE production was only 1·11 mg ml-1 , and the remaining glucose concentration remained at 13·78 mg ml-1 , which indicated insufficient glucose utilization. Then, in situ product recovery was further implemented to remove this inhibition; the glucose utilization (the remaining concentration decreased to 3·64 mg ml-1 ) increased, and the 2-PE production increased to 1·65 mg ml-1 . The 2-PE produced in the fermentation broth was first isolated by elution from the resin with 75% ethanol and then by removing the impurities with 2·5% activated charcoal, and pure 2-PE was identified by gas chromatography mass spectrometry. The results of this study suggest that TWE could be an alternative carbon source for 2-PE production. This could provide an outlet tobacco waste as well as reducing the price of natural 2-PE, although more strategies need to be explored to improve the production yield of 2-PE by using TWE.

High-solid digestion from cellulosic ethanol stillage with activated sludge of simultaneous propionate degradation and methanogenesis

High solid anaerobic digestion (HSAD) was an emerging bioconversion technology which had the advantages of small digester, less digestate and low heating energy. A one-stage anaerobic system in CSTR by inoculating activated sludge of simultaneous propionate degradation and methanogenesis was proposed to improve the high-solid digestion performance and to stabilize the reaction process. Semi-continuous mode was successfully used to perform HSAD from cellulosic ethanol whole stillage at an initial substrate loading of 15.4% (w/w) dry matter content with different OLRs from 1.5 to 5.0 gVS·L^-1 d^-1 at an HRT of 30 days. The average methane yield during whole digestion reached 349.9 mL⋅gVS^-1 with a total VS removal rate of 61.3%. The acclimation mechanism of multifunctional activated sludge was also explored by analyzing the functional property, physiological activity and microbial community structure. The results indicated the feasibility and efficiency of multifunctional activated sludge in a semi-continuous high-solid stirred tank reactor system.

Diffusion-tensor imaging for differentiating uterine sarcoma from degenerative uterine fibroids

AIM

To explore the applicability of diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) sequence quantitative parameters in differentiating uterine sarcoma (USr) from degenerative uterine fibroids (DUF).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Fourteen cases of USr and 30 cases of DUF were analysed retrospectively. The diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and DTI images were analysed by two observers using Functool software on a ADW4.6 workstation. The images were post-processed to generate an apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) map of DWI, ADC map of DTI (ADC^T map), and fractional anisotropy (FA) map. Three regions of interest (ROI) were selected from the ADC, ADC^T, and FA maps to obtain the ADC, ADC^T, and FA values. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of all parameters were used to analyse and compare the diagnostic value of USr and DUF.

RESULTS

The ADC value, ADC^T value, and FA value of USr (1.190 ± 0.262 × 10^-3mm²/s, 1.165 ± 0.270 × 10^-9mm²/s, 0.168 ± 0.063) were significantly lower compared to the values for DUF (1.525 ± 0.314 × 10^-3mm²/s, 1.650 ± 0.332 × 10^-9mm²/s, 0.254 ± 0.111; all p<0.001). The diagnostic threshold values for USr were: ADC ≤1.290 × 10^-3mm²/s, ADC^T ≤1.322 × 10^-9mm²/s and FA ≤0.192. The corresponding sensitivities and specificities were 78.6%/90%, 96.7%/92.9%, and 86.7%/85.7%, respectively. The areas under the curve (AUC) were 0.875, 0.974, and 0.831, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

DTI quantitative parameters can be used to differentiate USr from DUF. The ADC^T value had the highest diagnostic efficacy.

Lower plasma melatonin levels predict worse long-term survival in pulmonary arterial hypertension

Background

Exogenous melatonin has been reported to be beneficial in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension (PH) in animal models. Multiple mechanisms may be involved, with melatonin exerting anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, as well as inducing vasodilation and cardio-protection. However, endogenous levels of melatonin in treatment-naïve pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) patients and their clinical significance are still unknown.

Methods and results

Plasma levels of endogenous melatonin were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in treatment-naïve PAH patients (n=43) and healthy controls (n=111). Melatonin levels were higher in PAH patients when compared with controls (Median 118.9 [IQR 109.3–147.7] versus 108.0 [102.3–115.2] pM, P&lt;0.001) (Figure 1A). The overall mortality was 26% (11/43) during a median long-term follow-up of 42 [IQR: 32–58] months. When PAH patients were stratified into 4 groups according to the quartiles of melatonin levels, the mortality from below 1st quartile to above 4th quartile was 55% (6/11), 10% (1/10), 0% (0/12), and 40% (4/10), respectively (Figure 1B). Kaplan-Meier analysis further showed that patients with melatonin levels below the 1st quartile (&lt;109.3 pM) had a worse long-term survival than patients with melatonin levels above the 1st quartile (Mean survival times were 46 [95% CI: 30–65] versus 68 [58–77] months, Log-rank, p=0.026) (Figure 1C).

Conclusion

Endogenous melatonin levels were increased in treatment-naïve PAH patients, and lower levels of melatonin were associated with worse long-term survival in patient with PAH, however, whether exogenous melatonin supplements may be effective as a therapeutic strategy in human PAH remains to be established.

Figure 1

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding source: Foundation. Main funding source(s): This work was supported by the China Scholarship Council (201606230252) as well as the Netherlands CardioVascular Research Initiative: an initiative with support of the Dutch Heart Foundation (CVON2014-11, RECONNECT), and German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK81Z0600207). Instrumentation support was received from AB Sciex, ltd. for LC-MS/MS analyses performed in this study.

Different tryptophan-kynurenine metabolism profiles in human pulmonary arterial hypertension and animal models of pulmonary hypertension

Background

De novo NAD+ synthesis through the tryptophan-kynurenine (TK) metabolism was recognized as an important pathway in improving mitochondrial function and survival of injury or apoptotic cells, which are key processes involved in the pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Although abnormal TK metabolism has been reported in human PAH, the difference between human and animal models of pulmonary hypertension (PH) are currently unknown.

Objective

Determine and compare TK metabolism profiles in plasma from human PAH and 3 animal models of PH.

Methods

Human plasma was collected from treatment naïve patients with PAH (n=43) and healthy controls (n=111). Animal plasma was collected from 3 animal models of PH and corresponding controls, including monocrotaline (MCT) induced PH in rat (n=7, control n=6), Sugen + hypoxia (SuHx) induced PH in rat (n=5, control n=6), and pulmonary vein banding (PVB) induced PH in swine (n=7, control n=6). TK metabolites were determined using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).

Results

TK metabolism was altered in the plasma from of PAH compared to healthy controls (Figure 1A). Lower tryptophan (0.8 fold vs Control, p&lt;0.0001), maintained 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid, and higher kynurenine, 3-hydroxykynurenine, anthranilic acid, and quinolinic acid (1.5, 2.6, 2.0, 2.6 fold vs Control, respectively, p all&lt;0.0001) were seen in the plasma from human PAH. In the rat SuHx-PH model, kynurenine (0.7 fold, p&lt;0.01) and quinolinic acid (0.5 fold, p&lt;0.001) were lower, while 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid (4.3 fold, p&lt;0.001) was higher in PH compared to control (Figure 1B). However, the TK metabolism was unaltered in MCT-PH model in rat (Figure 1C), and PVB-PH model in swine (Figure 1D).

Conclusions

TK metabolism was altered in the plasma from human PAH. The TK metabolism profiles were different among 3 animal models of PH, but did not mimic the profile in human PAH. Further research is required to determine the mechanism(s) behind the abnormal TK metabolism in human PAH as well as whether these mechanisms relate to disease onset or progression.

Figure 1

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding source: Foundation. Main funding source(s): This work was supported by the China Scholarship Council (201606230252) as well as the Netherlands CardioVascular Research Initiative: an initiative with support of the Dutch Heart Foundation (CVON2014-11, RECONNECT), and German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK81Z0600207). Instrumentation support was received from AB Sciex, ltd. for LC-MS/MS analyses performed in this study.

Pseudo CT Estimation using Patch-based Joint Dictionary Learning

Magnetic resonance (MR) simulators have recently gained popularity; it avoids the unnecessary radiation exposure associated with Computed Tomography (CT) when used for radiation therapy planning. We propose a method for pseudo CT estimation from MR images based on joint dictionary learning. Patient-specific anatomical features were extracted from the aligned training images and adopted as signatures for each voxel. The most relevant and informative features were identified to train the joint dictionary learning-based model. The well-trained dictionary was used to predict the pseudo CT of a new patient. This prediction technique was validated with a clinical study of 12 patients with MR and CT images of the brain. The mean absolute error (MAE), peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), normalized cross correlation (NCC) indexes were used to quantify the prediction accuracy. We compared our proposed method with a state-of-the-art dictionary learning method. Overall our proposed method significantly improves the prediction accuracy over the state-of-the-art dictionary learning method. We have investigated a novel joint dictionary Iearning- based approach to predict CT images from routine MRIs and demonstrated its reliability. This CT prediction technique could be a useful tool for MRI-based radiation treatment planning or attenuation correction for quantifying PET images for PET/MR imaging.

Glycine cleavage system determines the fate of pluripotent stem cells via the regulation of senescence and epigenetic modifications

The glycine cleavage system (GCS) is highly activated to promote stem cell pluripotency. The GCS catabolizes glycine to prevent methylglyoxal accumulation and to fuel H3K4me3 modification, promoting the expression of pluripotency genes.

Metabolic remodelling has emerged as critical for stem cell pluripotency; however, the underlying mechanisms have yet to be fully elucidated. Here, we found that the glycine cleavage system (GCS) is highly activated to promote stem cell pluripotency and during somatic cell reprogramming. Mechanistically, we revealed that the expression of Gldc, a rate-limiting GCS enzyme regulated by Sox2 and Lin28A, facilitates this activation. We further found that the activated GCS catabolizes glycine to fuel H3K4me3 modification, thus promoting the expression of pluripotency genes. Moreover, the activated GCS helps to cleave excess glycine and prevents methylglyoxal accumulation, which stimulates senescence in stem cells and during reprogramming. Collectively, our results demonstrate a novel mechanism whereby GCS activation controls stem cell pluripotency by promoting H3K4me3 modification and preventing cellular senescence.