Objective This study is to investigate the changes in the NFATc 4/3 signaling pathway in rat hippocampus after whole brain radiation. Methods A total of 120 one?month?old male Sprague?Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups to receive whole brain radiation using 4?MeV electron beams with doses of 0( control) ,2,10,and 20 Gy,respectively,in a single fraction. At 6 hours,12 hours,1 day,3 days,1 week,and 2 weeks after radiation,Western blot and real?time PCR were used to evaluate the changes in expression levels of CaN, NFATc 4/3, p?NFATc 4/3, and GSK?3β. Results There were no significant changes in the expression of NFATc 4/3 or p?NFATc 4/3 at 6 and 12 hours after whole brain radiation. At 1 day after radiation,compared with the control group,the expression of p?NFATc 4/3 in the radiation groups was significantly increased in a dose?dependent manner ( 2 Gy:P= 0. 014;10 Gy:P=0. 011;20 Gy:P=0. 000 );however, there was no significant difference in the expression of NFATc 4/3 between the radiation group and the control group. The expression of NFATc 4/3 was significantly decreased in the radiation groups than in the control group at day 3 ( 2 Gy:P=0. 040;10 Gy:P=0. 000;20 Gy:P=0. 000),1 week (2 Gy:P=0. 692;10 Gy:P=0. 032;20 Gy:P=0. 021),and 2 weeks (2 Gy:P=0. 001;10 Gy:P=0. 000;20 Gy:P=0. 000) after radiation,while there was no significant difference in the expression of p?NFATc 4/3 between any two groups. There were no time?or dose?dependent changes in expression of CaN or GSK?3β. Conclusions Ionization radiation has an inhibitory effect on the NFATc 4/3 signaling pathway in rat hippocampus. Combined with our previous results,this study suggests that radiation?induced cognitive dysfunction is associated with the NFATc 4/3 signaling pathway.

Objective To observe the incidence and clinical feature of sleep-related breathing disorder in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Methods Thirty-four IPF patients who were measured by polysomnography (PSG) were collected in the Department of Respiration of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital. According to the results of apnea hypoventilation index (AHI), patients were divided into pure IPF group (AHI<5 events/h, n=7) and IPF combined with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (IPF+OSAHS) group (AHI≥5 events/h, n=27). The PSG reports of two groups were analyzed, and the correlation between AHI and pulmonary function and oxygen saturation in sleep and at wake were analyzed. Results (1)Thirty-four IPF patients were all demonstrated sleep disorders, low sleep efficiency, increased proportion of stageⅠand stageⅡand decreased proportion of stageⅢand rapid eye movement (REM). The arousal index and the proportion of stageⅠand stageⅡwere higher in IPF+OSAHS group than those of pure IPF group (P<0.01), while the proportion of stageⅢwas lower in IPF+OSAHS group than that of pure IPF group (P<0.01). There was no significant difference in stage REM between two groups. (2)Twenty-seven patients (79%) combined with OSAHS, among which five subjects (15%) were mild OSAHS with 5 events/h≤AHI<15 events/h, and 22 subjects (65%) were moderate-severe with AHI≥15 events/h. The main type of sleep-disorder breathing was hypoventilation, which mainly happened in stage REM. (3) Thirty-four IPF patients showed sleep hypoxemia, and the oxygen desaturation index (ODI) was higher in IPF-OSAHS group than those of pure IPF group (P<0.05). (4)The AHI was positively correlated with body mass index (r=0.791, P<0.05), and was negatively correlated with forced vital capacity (FVC%pred) (r=-0.574, P<0.05) and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1%pred) in IPF patients (r=-0.664, P<0.05). The lowest oxygen saturation (LSO2) and mean oxygen saturation (MSO2) in sleep were positively related with oxygen saturation at wake (r=0.421 and r=0.464, P<0.05 respectively). Conclusion The IPF patients show severe sleep disorder and hypoxemia, which can be worsen by OSAHS and produce negative effect on daily life. We should initiate active treatment in patients with sleep-related breathing disorders.

This study was aimed to observe the effects ofTian-ShuDripping Pills (TSDP) on cerebral hemodynamics among anesthetized dogs, in order to demonstrate its clinical treatment functional correlation on angioneurotic headache. A total of 25 hybrid dogs were randomly divided into the normal saline (NS) group, TS capsule (positive control: 0.4 g·kg-1 crude medicine) group, low-dose TSDP (0.2 g·kg-1 crude medicine) group, middle-dose TSDP (0.4 g·kg-1 crude medicine) group, and high-dose TSDP (0.8 g·kg-1 crude medicine) group.Intraduodenal administration was given once under anesthesia. Changes of mean arterial blood pressure, blood flow of vertebral artery and internal carotid artery blood flow were detected and the cerebral blood flow and cerebral vascular resistance were calculated. The results showed that TSDP of low-dose, middle-dose and high-dose group can significantly reduce the cerebral vascular resistance and increase the cerebral blood flow within 180 min after medication. It was concluded that TSDP can improve the cerebral blood circulation of anesthetized dogs. Its mechanism may be through the reduction on cerebral vascular resistance and increasing of cerebral blood flow.

Objective To detect the expression of translationally-controlled tumor protein 1(TPT1)in renal cell carcinoma(RCC)and to explore its role in RCC.Methods Microarray dataset GSE15641(including 23 normal kidney tissue samples and 32 RCC tissue samples)was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus,and differentially expressed genes between RCC tissue and normal kidney tissue were screened using R 4.3.0 software.The TPT1 expression in RCC tissue and adjacent non-tumor tissue of 90 patients diagnosed and treated at Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University,as well as in human RCC cells(769-P,786-O,ACHN,and Caki-1)and human embryonic kidney 293 cell(HEK293)was detected by quantitative polymerase chain reaction(qPCR)and Western blotting.The relationship between TPT1 expression and clinical pathological characteristics of RCC patients was analyzed by χ2 test.The clinical data of 522 RCC patients were derived from The Cancer Genome Atlas,and the correlation between TPT1 expression and prognosis of RCC patients was analyzed by receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve and Kaplan-Meier survival curve.After in vitro transfection of TPT1 small interfering RNA(siRNA)and its negative control(NC)into 786-O and Caki-1 cells,the TPT1 expression was detected by qPCR and Western blotting;the proliferation,migration,and invasion were detected by cell counting kit 8 assay,scratch assay,and Transwell assay,respectively;and the expression of apoptosis-related proteins was detected by Western blotting.Results TPT1 expression was significantly upregulated in the RCC tissue and cells compared with the normal kidney tissue and HEK293 cells(all P＜0.05).The RCC patients with low TPT1 expression levels had significantly smaller tumor size and lower metastasis rate than those with high TPT1 expression levels(both P＜0.05).The ROC curve analysis results indicated that TPT1 had high diagnostic value for RCC(area under curve was 0.856 9,95%confidence interval was 0.804 5-0.909 3,P＜0.001).The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis results showed that the overall survival of RCC patients in the low TPT1 expression group was significantly longer than that in the high TPT1 expression group(P=0.018 4).In the cell experiment,compared with the siRNA NC group,the proliferation activity,scratch healing rate,and invading transmembrane cell number of 786-O and Caki-1 cells were significantly decreased after transfection with TPT1 siRNA(all P＜0.01);the expression levels of B-lymphoma gene 2(Bcl-2)and matrix metalloproteinase-9 were significantly decreased,while the expression of Bcl-2 associated X protein was significantly increased(all P＜0.05).Conclusion TPT1 is involved in the progression of RCC and may be a potential therapeutic target for RCC.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a serious nervous system disease that usually leads to the impairment of the motor, sensory, and autonomic nervous functions of the spinal cord, and it places a heavy burden on families and healthcare systems every year. Due to the complex pathophysiological mechanism of SCI and the poor ability of neurons to regenerate, the current treatment scheme has very limited effects on the recovery of spinal cord function. In addition, due to their unique advantages, exosomes can be used as carriers for cargo transport. In recent years, some studies have confirmed that treatment with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can promote the recovery of SCI nerve function. The therapeutic effect of MSCs is mainly related to exosomes secreted by MSCs, and exosomes may have great potential in SCI therapy. In this review, we summarized the repair mechanism of mesenchymal stem cells-derived exosomes (MSCs-Exos) in SCI treatment and discussed the microRNAs related to SCI treatment based on MSCs-Exos and their mechanism of action, which is helpful to further understand the role of exosomes in SCI.

Objective:To investigate the clinical outcomes of using the levofloxacin combined with intrauterine infusion of metronidazole for the treatment of the infertility patients with chronic endometritis (CE).Methods:Using a case-control study method. 82 infertility patients with CE admitted to Xuzhou Central Hospital from March 2018 to March 2021 were selected and randomly divided into an observation group and a control group using a random number table method, with 41 cases in each group. The control group was treated with oral levofloxacin hydrochloride, while the observation group was treated with metronidazole sodium chloride injection intrauterine infusion on the basis of the control group. Both groups were treated for 14 days. Compare the serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and tumor necrosis factor between two groups before and after treatment α(tumor necrosis factor-α, TNF-α) The levels of monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1), natural pregnancy rate within six months, total effective rate, and incidence of adverse reactions during treatment were measured. The measurement data with normal distribution is expressed as: independent sample t-test is used for comparison between the two groups, and paired t-test is used for comparison before and after treatment within the group; The measurement data of non normal distribution is represented by M( Q1, Q3), and the comparison between groups is made by Wilcoxon Rank sum test. The counting data is represented by examples (%), and the comparison between groups is conducted using the χ 2 test. Results:Before treatment, two groups of serum CRP and TNF-α There was no statistically significant difference compared to the levels of MCP-1 (all P>0.05); After 14 days of treatment, both groups had serum CRP and TNF-α、MCP-1 were all lower than before treatment, and the observation group was lower than the control group [(4.12±1.9) ng/L vs (6.36±1.63) ng/L, (47.28±9.10) ng/L vs (62.79±9.34) ng/L, (212.04±24.82) ng/L vs (326.15±27.38) ng/L], with statistically significant differences ( t-values of 5.61, 7.62, and 19.77, all P<0.001). After 14 days of treatment, the total effective rate of the observation group was higher than that of the control group [95.12% (39/41) vs 78.05% (32/41)], with a statistically significant difference (χ 2=5.14, P=0.023). After 6 months of treatment, the natural pregnancy rate in the observation group was higher than that in the control group [53.66% (22/41) vs 31.71% (13/41)], with a statistically significant difference (χ 2=5.96, P=0.044). There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups during the treatment period (χ 2=0.55, P=0.457). Conclusions:The combination of levofloxacin and intrauterine infusion of metronidazole has a good clinical effect in treating infertility patients with CE. It can significantly improve the inflammatory state of the body, reduce serum inflammatory factor levels, increase the natural pregnancy rate within 6 months, and do not increase the incidence of adverse reactions.

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a zoonotic infection caused by Echinococcus granulosus larvae. It seriously affects the development of animal husbandry and endangers human health. Due to a poor understanding of the cystic fluid formation pathway, there is currently a lack of innovative methods for the prevention and treatment of CE. In this study, the protoscoleces (PSCs) in the encystation process were analyzed by high-throughput RNA sequencing. A total of 32,401 transcripts and 14,903 cDNAs revealed numbers of new genes and transcripts, stage-specific genes, and differently expressed genes. Genes encoding proteins involved in signaling pathways, such as putative G-protein coupled receptor, tyrosine kinases, and serine/threonine protein kinase, were predominantly up-regulated during the encystation process. Antioxidant enzymes included cytochrome c oxidase, thioredoxin glutathione, and glutathione peroxidase were a high expression level. Intriguingly, KEGG enrichment suggested that differentially up-regulated genes involved in the vasopressin-regulated water reabsorption metabolic pathway may play important roles in the transport of proteins, carbohydrates, and other substances. These results provide valuable information on the mechanism of cystic fluid production during the encystation process, and provide a basis for further studies on the molecular mechanisms of growth and development of PSCs.

Background: and Purpose Patients with aortic disease might have an increased risk of intracranial aneurysm (IA). We conducted this research to assess the prevalence of IA in patients with aortopathy, considering the impact of gender, age, and cardiovascular risk factors. Methods: We searched PubMed and Scopus from inception to August 2019 for epidemiological studies reporting the prevalence of IA in patients with aortopathy. Random-effect meta-analyses were performed to calculate the overall prevalence, and the effect of risk factors on the prevalence was also evaluated. Anatomical location of IAs in patients suffered from distinct aortic disease was extracted and further analyzed. Results: Thirteen cross-sectional studies involving 4,041 participants were included in this systematic review. We reported an estimated prevalence of 12% (95% confidence interval [CI], 9% to 14%) of IA in patients with aortopathy. The pooled prevalence of IA in patients with bicuspid aortic valve, coarctation of the aorta, aortic aneurysm, and aortic dissection was 8% (95% CI, 6% to 10%), 10% (95% CI, 7% to 14%), 12% (95% CI, 9% to 15%), and 23% (95% CI, 12% to 34%), respectively. Gender (female) and smoking are risk factors related to an increased risk of IA. The anatomical distribution of IAs was heterogeneously between participants with different aortic disease. Conclusions According to current epidemiological evidence, the prevalence of IA in patients with aortic disease is quadrupled compared to that in the general population, which suggests that an early IA screening should be considered among patients with aortic disease for timely diagnosis and treatment of IA.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a serious nervous system disease that usually leads to the impairment of the motor, sensory, and autonomic nervous functions of the spinal cord, and it places a heavy burden on families and healthcare systems every year. Due to the complex pathophysiological mechanism of SCI and the poor ability of neurons to regenerate, the current treatment scheme has very limited effects on the recovery of spinal cord function. In addition, due to their unique advantages, exosomes can be used as carriers for cargo transport. In recent years, some studies have confirmed that treatment with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can promote the recovery of SCI nerve function. The therapeutic effect of MSCs is mainly related to exosomes secreted by MSCs, and exosomes may have great potential in SCI therapy. In this review, we summarized the repair mechanism of mesenchymal stem cells-derived exosomes (MSCs-Exos) in SCI treatment and discussed the microRNAs related to SCI treatment based on MSCs-Exos and their mechanism of action, which is helpful to further understand the role of exosomes in SCI.

Objective To investigate the distribution features of TCM patterns and differentiation method of thyroid cancer through cluster analysis on data of TCM four examinations after surgery.Methods The data of TCM four examinations were collected from 304 patients by applying cross-section epidemiological survey,and then given quantitative classification and a database was established.The quantitative scores of each patient were given cluster analysis by using sample clustering analysis method (Q clustering) for getting the proportion of each category of four examination information.The preliminary criterion for patterns of thyroid cancer was made according to the proportion of four examinations information and expert survey of Delphi method at earlier stage,which was combined with clinical practice to determine the patterns.Results All 304 patients were clustered into 9 categories indicated by from A1 to A9.The frequency of A1 was 77 cases;A2,7;A3,1;A4,7;A5,105;A6,7;A7,87;A8,11 and A9,2.Based on clinical practice and experts' experiences,A1 and A7,A5 and A6,and A3 and A4 were merged and evaluated respectively as pattern of dual deficiency of qi and yin (164 cases,53.9％),pattern of liver depression and qi stagnation (112 cases,36.8％) and spleen-kidney yang deficiency pattern (8 cases,2.6％).A2 was evaluated as pattern of yin damaged by stasis heat (7 cases,2.3％).The proportions of four examination information of A8 and A9 were disperse and evaluated as other patterns (13 cases,4.4％).Conclusion The distribution of TCM patterns in the patients with thyroid cancer after surgery has its regularity.It is feasible to evaluate TCM patterns with cluster analysis combining with experts' experiences.