Clonal haematopoiesis of indeterminate potential and mortality in coronary artery disease.

Background And Aims: Clonal haematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) has been associated with cardiovascular risk, but its prognostic relevance and mechanistic role in coronary artery disease (CAD) remains incompletely understood. This study investigated the association between CHIP and all-cause mortality in CAD and explored the cellular and molecular mechanisms, focusing on TET2 mutations.

Methods: Targeted deep sequencing of 13 CHIP driver genes in 8612 patients with angiographically confirmed CAD was performed.

An interplay of non-coding RNAs regulates CDH13 expression and affects endothelial function and coronary artery disease risk.

Many common diseases have a polygenic architecture. The responsible alleles are thought to mediate risk by disturbing gene regulation in most cases, however, the precise mechanisms have been elucidated only for a few. Here, we investigated the genomic locus, which genome-wide significantly associates with coronary artery disease, a globally leading cause of death caused by accumulation of lipid-rich inflammatory plaques in the arterial wall.

Development and validation of a histological calculator for anastomotic margins to predict anastomotic failure among rectal cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.

Purpose: To identify histological features of anastomotic margins and develop a prediction model for anastomotic failure (AF) in rectal cancer (RC) patients with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT).

Methods: A total of 350 pairs anastomotic "doughnuts" from RC with nCRT were randomly divided into the primary and validation cohorts at a ratio of 7:3. The histological features were identified and constructed using LASSO (Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) regression to develop the radiation-induced colorectal injury (RCI) score.

Super-resolution upgrade for deep tissue imaging featuring simple implementation.

Deep tissue imaging with high contrast close to or even below the optical resolution limit is still challenging due to optical aberrations and scattering introduced by dense biological samples. This results in high complexity and cost of microscopes that can facilitate such challenges. Here, we demonstrate a cost-effective and simple to implement method to turn most two-photon laser-scanning microscopes into a super-resolution microscope for deep tissue imaging.

Risk factors for organ-space surgical site infections after minimally invasive rectal cancer surgery: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: The study focused on identifying risk factors for organ-space surgical site infections (SSIs) in patients undergoing minimally invasive rectal cancer surgery and examining the impact of these infections on oncological outcomes.

Methods: This retrospective study included 1304 patients who underwent either robotic surgery or laparoscopic surgery for rectal cancer. Patients were divided into two groups: those with organ-space SSIs (9.

Proficient surgeons enhance conversion rates and sphincter preservation in robotic rectal cancer surgery with comparable long-term outcomes: a comparative study with laparoscopy in a large-volume center in China.

Background: Despite theoretical advantages, skepticism persists about robotic rectal cancer surgery due to the lack of evidence of benefit. This study aims to compare oncological and functional results of robotic-assisted surgery to laparoscopy, focusing on proficient surgeons with expertise in both techniques.

Methods: This retrospective study reviewed and compared 1304 patients who underwent either robotic surgery (n = 295) or laparoscopic surgery (n = 1009) for rectal cancer.

Cell type-specific epigenetic regulatory circuitry of coronary artery disease loci.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. Recently, hundreds of genomic loci have been shown to increase CAD risk, however, the molecular mechanisms underlying signals from CAD risk loci remain largely unclear. We sought to pinpoint the candidate causal coding and non-coding genes of CAD risk loci in a cell type-specific fashion.

Ticagrelor vs Prasugrel for Acute Coronary Syndrome in Routine Care.

Importance: In patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) undergoing invasive treatment, ticagrelor and prasugrel are guideline-recommended P2Y12 receptor inhibitors. The ISAR-REACT5 randomized clinical trial demonstrated superiority for prasugrel, although concerns were raised about the generalizability of some underpowered subgroup analyses.

Objectives: To emulate a randomized clinical trial evaluating the safety and effectiveness of ticagrelor vs prasugrel under the conditions of routine care in individuals with ACS planned to undergo an invasive treatment strategy.

Nanoparticle-Directed Antioxidant Therapy Can Ameliorate Disease Progression in a Novel, Diet-Inducible Model of Coronary Artery Disease.

Background: Oxidative stress plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease. In cardiovascular research using murine models, the generation and maintenance of models with robust coronary arterial atherosclerosis has been challenging.

Methods: We characterized a new mouse model in which the last 3 amino acids of the carboxyl terminus of the HDL (high-density lipoprotein) receptor (SR-B1 [scavenger receptor, class B, type 1]) were deleted in a low-density lipoprotein receptor knockout (LDLR) mouse model (SR-B1ΔCT/LDLR) fed an atherogenic diet.

Integration of variant annotations using deep set networks boosts rare variant association testing.

Rare genetic variants can have strong effects on phenotypes, yet accounting for rare variants in genetic analyses is statistically challenging due to the limited number of allele carriers and the burden of multiple testing. While rich variant annotations promise to enable well-powered rare variant association tests, methods integrating variant annotations in a data-driven manner are lacking. Here we propose deep rare variant association testing (DeepRVAT), a model based on set neural networks that learns a trait-agnostic gene impairment score from rare variant annotations and phenotypes, enabling both gene discovery and trait prediction.

Safety and efficacy of indocyanine green fluorescence imaging-guided laparoscopic para-aortic lymphadenectomy for left-sided colorectal cancer: Preliminary results of a case-matched study.

Aim: This study is aimed to explore the safety and feasibility of indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence imaging guidance in laparoscopic para-aortic lymph node (PALN) dissection for left-sided colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with clinically suspected PALN metastasis.

Method: A total of 151 patients who underwent primary tumor resection and laparoscopic PALN dissection for left-sided CRC were included, with 20 patients in the ICG group and 131 patients in the non-ICG group. The surgical outcomes, postoperative complications, and pathological results, such as the number of harvested and metastatic lymph nodes were compared between groups after propensity score matching.

Fibrosis signature of anastomotic margins for predicting anastomotic stenosis in rectal cancer with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and sphincter-preserving surgery.

Background: Radiation-induced colorectal fibrosis (RICF) is a common pathological alteration among patients with rectal cancer undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT). Anastomotic stenosis (AS) causes symptoms and negatively impacts patients' quality of life and long-term survival. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the fibrosis signature of RICF and develop a nomogram to predict the risk of AS in patients with rectal cancer undergoing nCRT.

Dysbiosis of gut microbiota and metabolites is associated with radiation-induced colorectal fibrosis and is restored by adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cell therapy.

Aims: This study aimed to investigate the effects of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) on radiation-induced colorectal fibrosis (RICF) along with the associated dysbiosis of gut microbiota and metabolites.

Main Methods: Fecal microbiota were assessed through 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and the fecal metabolome was characterized using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The correlation between microbiota and metabolome data was explored.

Construction and validation of stemness-related lncRNA pair signature for predicting prognosis in colorectal cancer.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify a prognostic signature based on stemness-related differentially expressed lncRNAs in colorectal cancer (CRC) and to investigate their potential as biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic targets.

Methods: Stemness-related genes were collected from the TCGA cohort, and 13 differently expressed stemness-related lncRNAs were identified as prognostic factors for CRC using Kaplan-Meier analysis. A risk model was constructed based on the calculated risk score as a novel independent prognostic factor for CRC patients.

MRI diagnose post-operative anastomotic leak in patients with rectal cancer: preliminary experience.

Background: Anastomotic leakage (AL) is one of the most serious postoperative complications after colorectal anastomosis. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and diagnostic accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the early detection of AL in patients with clinically suspected AL after rectal anterior resection.

Methods: This was a prospective study including patients who underwent anterior resection and postoperative MRI examination.

Genome Editing in Dyslipidemia and Atherosclerosis.

Despite successive advancement of genome editing technology with zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs) and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), the recent breakthrough in the field has been related to clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/associated proteins (CRISPR/Cas). The high efficiency and convenience of CRIPSR/Cas systems dramatically accelerate pre- and clinical experimentations of dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis. In this chapter, we review the latest state of genome editing in translational research of dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis.