Objective To develop and assess the performance of a predictive model for the infiltration degree of solitary pulmonary pure ground-glass nodules (pGGN) using CT, blood cell parameters, and tumor markers. Methods The clinical data of patients with solitary pulmonary pGGN, collected from Tangshan Gongren Hospital between June 2021 and April 2024, were analyzed. They were divided into a training set and a test set in a 7∶3 ratio. Lasso-logistic regression was used to identify risk factors for invasive adenocarcinoma and construct the model. The model's performance was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, calibration curves, mean absolute error (MAE), mean squared error (MSE), and accuracy. Results The study included 528 patients (265 males, 263 females) with a median age of 54 years (interquartile range: 45-59). Lasso-logistic regression identified increased diameter, vascular convergence sign, pleural indentation sign, elevated mean CT value, and elevated carcinoembryonic antigen levels as independent risk factors for solitary pulmonary pGGN infiltration. In contrast, a rounded or similarly rounded shape and an elevated platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio were independent protective factors (P<0.05). In the training set, the area under the ROC curve of model Z (comprising diameter, vascular convergence sign, pleural indentation sign, rounded or similarly rounded, mean CT value, carcinoembryonic antigen, and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio) was 0.875, which was greater than that of model C (comprising diameter, vascular convergence sign, pleural indentation sign, rounded or similarly rounded, and mean CT value; 0.852) and model S (comprising carcinoembryonic antigen and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio; 0.753). The MAE, MSE, and accuracy of model Z were 0.035, 0.003, and 0.808, respectively, which were lower than those of model C (0.058, 0.006, and 0.827) and higher than those of model S (0.031, 0.001, and 0.648). In the test set, the area under the ROC curve, MAE, MSE, and accuracy of model Z were 0.829, 0.051, 0.004, and 0.755, respectively, which were higher than those of model C (0.780, 0.038, 0.002, and 0.730) and model S (0.740, 0.042, 0.002, and 0.692). Conclusion The model constructed from diameter, vascular convergence sign, pleural indentation sign, rounded or similarly rounded shapes, mean CT value, carcinoembryonic antigen, and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio aids in assessing the infiltration degree of pulmonary pGGN, with superior performance compared to models based solely on CT or those based on tumor markers combined with blood cell parameters.
Objective To prepare the silk fibroin microcarrier loaded with clematis total saponins (CTS) (CTS-silk fibroin microcarrier), and to investigate the effect of microcarrier combined with chondrocytes on promoting rabbit knee articular cartilage defects repair. Methods CTS-silk fibroin microcarrier was prepared by high voltage electrostatic combined with freeze drying method using the mixture of 5% silk fibroin solution, 10 mg/mL CTS solution, and glycerin. The samples were characterized by scanning electron microscope and the cumulative release amount of CTS was detected. Meanwhile, unloaded silk fibroin microcarrier was also prepared. Chondrocytes were isolated from knee cartilage of 4-week-old New Zealand rabbits and cultured. The 3rd generation of chondrocytes were co-cultured with the two microcarriers respectively for 7 days in microgravity environment. During this period, the adhesion of chondrocytes to microcarriers was observed by inverted phase contrast microscope and scanning electron microscope, and the proliferation activity of cells was detected by cell counting kit 8 (CCK-8), and compared with normal cells. Thirty 3-month-old New Zealand rabbits were selected to make bilateral knee cartilage defects models and randomly divided into 3 groups (n=20). Knee cartilage defects in group A were not treated, and in groups B and C were filled with the unloaded silk fibroin microcarrier-chondrocyte complexes and CTS-silk fibroin microcarrier-chondrocyte complexes, respectively. At 12 weeks after operation, the levels of matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9), MMP-13, and tissue inhibitor of MMP 1 (TIMP-1) in articular fluid were detected by ELISA. The cartilage defects were collected for gross observation and histological observation (HE staining and toluidine blue staining). Western blot was used to detect the expressions of collagen type Ⅱ and proteoglycan. The inflammatory of joint synovium was observed by histological staining and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) immunohistochemical staining. Results The CTS-silk fibroin microcarrier was spherical, with a diameter between 300 and 500 μm, a porous surface, and a porosity of 35.63%±3.51%. CTS could be released slowly in microcarrier for a long time. Under microgravity, the chondrocytes attached to the surface of the two microcarriers increased gradually with the extension of culture time, and the proliferation activity of chondrocytes at 24 hours after co-culture was significantly higher than that of normal chondrocytes (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in proliferation activity of chondrocytes between the two microcarriers (P>0.05). In vivo experiment in animals showed that the levels of MMP-9 and MMP-13 in group C were significantly lower than those in groups A and B (P<0.05), and the level of TIMP-1 in group C was significantly higher (P<0.05). Compared with group A, the cartilage defects in groups B and C were filled with repaired tissue, and the repaired surface of group C was more complete and better combined with the surrounding cartilage. Histological observation and Western blot analysis showed that the International Cartilage Repair Scoring (ICRS) and the relative expression levels of collagen type Ⅱ and proteoglycan in groups B and C were significantly better than those in group A, and group C was significantly better than group B (P<0.05). The histological observation showed that the infiltration of synovial inflammatory cells and hyperplasia of small vessels significantly reduced in group C compared with groups A and B. iNOS immunohistochemical staining showed that the expression of iNOS in group C was significantly lower than that in groups A and B (P<0.05).Conclusion CTS-silk fibroin microcarrier has good CTS sustained release effect and biocompatibility, and can promote the repair of rabbit cartilage defect by carrying chondrocyte proliferation in microgravity environment.