The Importance of M1-and M2-Polarized Macrophages in Glioma and as Potential Treatment Targets

Glioma is the most common and malignant tumor of the central nervous system. Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive glioma, with a poor prognosis and no effective treatment because of its high invasiveness, metabolic rate, and heterogeneity. The tumor microenvironment (TME) contains many tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), which play a critical role in tumor proliferation, invasion, metastasis, and angiogenesis and indirectly promote an immunosuppressive microenvironment. TAM is divided into tumor-suppressive M1-like (classic activation of macrophages) and tumor-supportive M2-like (alternatively activated macrophages) polarized cells. TAMs exhibit an M1-like phenotype in the initial stages of tumor progression, and along with the promotion of lysing tumors and the functions of T cells and NK cells, tumor growth is suppressed, and they rapidly transform into M2-like polarized macrophages, which promote tumor progression. In this review, we discuss the mechanism by which M1- and M2-polarized macrophages promote or inhibit the growth of glioblastoma and indicate the future directions for treatment

Analysis for discharge within 2 days after thoracoscopic anatomic lung cancer surgery

Abstract Objectives The risk and beneficial factors of early discharge after thoracoscopic anatomic lung cancer surgery are unknown, and this study aims to investigate predictors and associated 30‐day readmission for early discharge. Methods We performed a single‐center retrospective analysis of 10,834 consecutive patients who underwent thoracoscopic anatomic lung cancer surgery. Two groups were determined based on discharge date: “discharged by postoperative Day 2” and “discharged after postoperative Day 2.” Univariable and multivariable analysis were conducted to identify predictors for discharge. Using propensity score matching (PSM) to compare 30‐day readmission rate between two cohorts. Results A total of 1911 patients were discharged by postoperative Day 2. Multivariable analysis identified older age (odds ratio (OR) = 1.014, p < 0.001), male sex (OR = 1.183, p = 0.003), larger tumor size (OR = 1.248, p < 0.001), pleural adhesions (OR = 1.638, p = 0.043), lymph nodes calcification (OR = 1.443, p = 0.009), advanced clinical T stage (vs. T < 2, OR = 1.470, p = 0.010), lobectomy resection (vs. segmentectomy resection, OR = 2.145, p < 0.001) and prolonged operative time (OR = 1.011, p < 0.001) as independent risk factors for discharge after postoperative Day 2. Three adjustable variables including higher FEV1/FVC (OR = 0.989, p = 0.001), general anesthesia (GA) plus thoracic paravertebral blockade (vs. GA alone, OR = 0.823, p = 0.006) and uni‐portal thoracoscopic surgery (vs. multi‐portal, OR = 0.349, p < 0.001) were associated with a decreased likelihood of discharge after postoperative Day 2. Before and after a 1:1 PSM, discharged by postoperative Day 2 did not increase the risk of 30‐day readmission compared to counterparts. Conclusions Carefully selected patients can be safely discharged within 2 days after thoracoscopic anatomic lung cancer surgery. Three modifiable variables may be favorable for promoting discharge by postoperative Day 2

Effect of different resumption strategies to flatten the potential COVID-19 outbreaks amid society reopens: a modeling study in China

Background: the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak has led policymakers around the world to attempt transmission control. However, lockdown and shutdown interventions have caused new social problems and designating policy resumption for infection control when reopening society remains a crucial issue. We investigated the effects of different resumption strategies on COVID-19 transmission using a modeling study setting.Methods: we employed a susceptible-exposed-infectious-removed model to simulate COVID-19 outbreaks under five reopening strategies based on China’s business resumption progress. The effect of each strategy was evaluated using the peak values of the epidemic curves vis-à-vis confirmed active cases and cumulative cases. Two-sample t-test was performed in order to affirm that the pick values in different scenarios are different.Results: we found that a hierarchy-based reopen strategy performed best when current epidemic prevention measures were maintained save for lockdown, reducing the peak number of active cases and cumulative cases by 50 and 44%, respectively. However, the modeled effect of each strategy decreased when the current intervention was lifted somewhat. Additional attention should be given to regions with significant numbers of migrants, as the potential risk of COVID-19 outbreaks amid society reopening is intrinsically high.Conclusions: business resumption strategies have the potential to eliminate COVID-19 outbreaks amid society reopening without special control measures. The proposed resumption strategies focused mainly on decreasing the number of imported exposure cases, guaranteeing medical support for epidemic control, or decreasing active cases

Exploring the mechanism of Artemisia argyi chemical composition for ulcerative colitis based on network pharmacology

A persistent digestive disorder known as ulcerative colitis (UC) is characterized by a high rate of recurrence and a difficult road to full recovery. An herbal treatment with a long history of use in conventional Chinese medicine, Artemisia argyi, has shown encouraging results in preventing the return of clinical UC. We carried out an experiment to isolate and identify the small molecules in Artemisia argyi to investigate the chemical makeup of the therapeutic UC in this plant. Following an activity screen, we discovered that 3β-ethoxytanapartholide (ETP) had significantly greater anti-inflammatory action than the medicine we had chosen as a positive control, dexamethasone, and this is the first report of ETP in terms of biological activity. Systematic network pharmacological analysis confirmed that ETP acted on multiple targets during the pathogenesis of UC. These targets regulate a variety of UC-related signaling pathways, including but not limited to TNF, IL-17, and Ca2+ signaling. Molecular dynamics simulations and MM-PBSA results showed that ETP was able to form stable complexes with five targets, MMP1, MMP9, MUC1, S1PR1 and MMP12. The current work has previously shown the unknown anti-inflammatory ability of ETP and discovered that ETP can modulate various pathways throughout the development of UC to produce therapeutic advantages. These ground-breaking results highlight the urgent need for more analysis and development of ETP as a potential treatment plan for UC

Effects of public-health measures for zeroing out different SARS-CoV-2 variants

Targeted public health interventions for an emerging epidemic are essential for preventing pandemics. During 2020-2022, China invested significant efforts in strict zero-COVID measures to contain outbreaks of varying scales caused by different SARS-CoV-2 variants. Based on a multi-year empirical dataset containing 131 outbreaks observed in China from April 2020 to May 2022 and simulated scenarios, we ranked the relative intervention effectiveness by their reduction in instantaneous reproduction number. We found that, overall, social distancing measures (38% reduction, 95% prediction interval 31-45%), face masks (30%, 17-42%) and close contact tracing (28%, 24-31%) were most effective. Contact tracing was crucial in containing outbreaks during the initial phases, while social distancing measures became increasingly prominent as the spread persisted. In addition, infections with higher transmissibility and a shorter latent period posed more challenges for these measures. Our findings provide quantitative evidence on the effects of public-health measures for zeroing out emerging contagions in different contexts.</p