Abstract This systematic review was performed to compare the current understanding of the relative efficacies and complications associated with transperineal (TP) vs. transrectal (TR) prostate biopsy. All clinical controlled trials reporting prostate cancer (PCa) detection rates and complications associated with TP and TR biopsies were systematically identified, including extensive biopsy procedures. A subgroup analysis was performed to assess the impact of certain clinical factors, e.g., prostate-specific antigen (PSA). The pooled analysis for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) combined with comparative case studies (CCSs) showed no difference in the cancer detection rate between TR and TP (risk difference (RD)=-0.01; 95% confidence interval (CI): -0.04–0.02; P = 0.37). There was no significant difference in the cancer detection rate for RCTs (RD=-0.001; 95%CI: -0.006-0.003; P = 0.55) or CCSs (RD=-0.01; 95%CI: -0.05-0.03; P = 0.59). However, more PCa was detected in the subgroup with PSA ≥ 10 ng/ml (RD = 0.07; 95%CI: 0.01–0.13; P = 0.09) and the subgroup with PSA ≥ 20 ng/ml (RD = 0.13; 95%CI: 0.05–0.20; P = 0.001) using TR biopsy across all studies, while this advantage of TR was not found in RCTs alone (RD = 0.13; 95%CI: -0.09-0.35; P = 0.24). And TP detected more PCa in patients with positive mpMRI in MRI-targeted biopsy, with an accuracy rate of 48.5% (205/423) compared to 34.2% (146/427) for the TR route (RD = 0.51; 95%CI: 0.38–0.68; P < 0.01). There was a significantly lower risk of fever (RD = 0.03; 95%CI: 0.01–0.05; P = 0.003) and rectal bleeding (RD = 0.08; 95%CI: 0.01–0.14; P = 0.02) with TP. In conclusion, there was no significant difference in the cancer detection rate between TR and TP, however, TP had advantage over TR in MRI-targeted biopsy; while TP was safer than TR, due to lower risks of fever and rectal bleeding.
Antifungal bioassays led to the isolation of actinomycins D and A1 from Streptomyces luteus TRM45540 collected from Norpo in Xinjiang, and these compounds were identified by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The antifungal activity of actinomycin D was higher than that of actinomycin A1. Actinomycin D clearly inhibited the spore germination, hyphal growth and biomass accumulation of Verticillium dahliae in a dose-dependent manner. Flow cytometric analysis with propidium iodide, total ergosterol measurement, cell leakage and scanning electron microscopy experiments demonstrated that the plasma membrane of this fungus was damaged by actinomycin D, resulting in swollen cells and cellular content leakage. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that parts of the plasma membrane infolded after being treated with actinomycin D. The antifungal activity of actinomycin D damaged the fungal plasma membrane of V. dahliae via a membrane-splitting mechanism, which provided new insights into the functional mechanism of actinomycin D.
This work reports a high-performance InGaN-based red-emitting LED with a strain-release interlayer (SRI) consisting of an InGaN stress-release layer (SRL) and an AlN dislocation confinement layer (DCL) in unintentionally doped GaN (u-GaN). The SRL introduces a tensile strain which could decrease the in-plane compressive stress of the u-GaN layer, while the DCL could reduce the dislocation density and thus improve the crystal quality of the u-GaN layer. Consequently, a high-efficiency InGaN-based red-emitting LED with a peak wavelength of 651 nm and an external quantum efficiency of 6.04% is realized. In addition, the room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) mapping emission wavelength is uniform across a 4-inch wafer with a standard deviation of 3.3 nm. Therefore, the proposed SRI offers good potential for mass-producing high-performance and long-wavelength InGaN-based red-emitting LEDs.
Poor endometrial receptivity is a major factor that leads to recurrent implantation failure. However, the traditional method cannot accurately evaluate endometrial receptivity. Various studies have indicated that microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in multiple processes of embryo implantation, but the role of miRNAs in endometrial receptivity in patients with recurrent implantation failure (RIF) remains elusive. In the present study, we investigated the presence of pinopodes and the roles of miR-30d-5p, suppressor of cytokine signalling 1 (SOCS1) and the leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF) pathway in women with a history of RIF during the implantation window.Endometrial tissue samples were collected between January 2018 to June 2019 from two groups of women who underwent in vitro fertilisation and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) or frozen ET. The RIF group included 20 women who underwent ≥ 3 ETs, including a total of ≥ 4 good-quality embryos, without pregnancy, whereas the control group included 10 women who had given birth at least once in the past year. An endometrial biopsy was performed during the implantation window (LH + 7). The development of pinopodes in the endometrial biopsy samples from all groups was evaluated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and western blotting were used to investigate the expression levels of miR-30d-5p, SOCS1, and the LIF pathway.The presence of developed pinopodes decreased in patients with RIF on LH + 7. The expression level of miR-30d-5p decreased in the endometria during the implantation window of patients with RIF, whereas the mRNA and protein levels of SOCS1 were significantly higher in the RIF group than in the control group. Furthermore, a negative correlation was observed between the expression of miR-30d-5p and SOCS1 (r2 = 0.8362). In addition, a significant decrease in LIF and p-STAT3 expression was observed during the implantation window in patients with RIF.MiR-30d-5p and SOCS1 may be potential biomarkers for endometrial receptivity. Changes in pinopode development and abnormal expression of miR-30d-5p, SOCS1 and LIF pathway in the endometrium could be the reasons for implantation failure.
Southeast Asia is a region with high incidence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Paclitaxel is the mainstay for the treatment of advanced nasopharyngeal cancer. The present study investigated the effect of proteasome inhibitors on the therapeutic effect of paclitaxel and its related mechanism. The present data from Cell Counting Kit‑8 and flow cytometry assays demonstrated that appropriate concentrations of proteasome inhibitors (30 nM PS341 or 700 nM MG132) reduced the lethal effect of paclitaxel on the nasopharyngeal cancer cells. While 400 nM paclitaxel effectively inhibited cell division and induced cell death, proteasome inhibitors (PS341 30 nM or MG132 700 nM) could reverse these effects. Additionally, the western blotting results demonstrated accumulation of cell cycle regulation protein CDK1 and cyclin B1 in proteasome inhibitor‑treated cells. In addition, proteasome inhibitors combined with paclitaxel led to decreased MCL1 apoptosis regulator, BCL2 family member/Caspase‑9/poly (ADP‑ribose) polymerase apoptosis signaling triggered by CDK1/cyclin B1. Therefore, dysfunction of CDK1/cyclin B1 could be defining the loss of paclitaxel lethality against cancer cells, a phenomenon affirmed by the CDK1 inhibitor Ro3306. Overall, the present results demonstrated that a combination of paclitaxel with proteasome inhibitors or CDK1 inhibitors is antagonistic to effective clinical management of NPC.
The combination of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor with CTLA-4 inhibitor for advanced non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC) is presently a significant area of research, however its clinical application remains contentious. This meta-analysis aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of first-line PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor in combination with CTLA-4 inhibitor (CP) in the treatment of patients with advanced NSCLC. A systemic search was conducted in four databases (PubMed, Cochrane library, Embase, and Web of Science) from their establishment until January 17, 2024, for randomized controlled trials that investigated the use of the first-line PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor plus CTLA-4 inhibitor in patients with advanced NSCLC. Progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and adverse events (AEs) were subjected to meta-analyses. Totally 7 eligible randomized controlled trials including 4682 people were included. Two comparative analyses were performed: CP versus chemotherapy, CP versus PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor (P). Compared with the chemotherapy group, CP improved OS (HR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.75-0.94, p<0.05) but not PFS (HR: 0.94, 95%CI: 0.73-1.20, p = 0.63) or ORR (OR: 1.16, 95% CI: 0.79-1.71, p = 0.45). In terms of toxicity, CP had slightly fewer any AEs compared to chemotherapy (RR: 0.94, 95% CI: 0.91-0.97; p<0.05). Compared to the P group, there was no significant difference in OS (MD: -0,25, 95% CI: -2.47-1.98, p = 0.83), PFS (MD: -0.91, 95% CI: -3.19-1.36, p = 0.43), and ORR (OR:1.05, 95% CI. 0.80-1.36, p = 0.73). Subgroup analysis revealed that CP provided superior OS compared with P in patients with PD-L1 expression < 1%. CP was a feasible and safe first-line therapy for patients with advanced NSCLC. Specifically, CP may function as a therapeutic alternative for individuals with low or negative PD-L1 expression, resulting in enhanced long-term outcomes compared to chemotherapy or P. Further randomized controlled trials with prolonged follow-up periods are necessary to validate these results, particularly focusing on efficacy in patients with differing PD-L1 expression levels, to improve the stratified implementation of immunotherapy. https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42024621116, identifier CRD42024621116.