Objective:To analyze the clinical phenotypes and pathogenic gene of a Han Chinese family with enhanced S-cone syndrome (ESCS).Methods:The method of pedigree investigation was adopted.A suspected ESCS Han Chinese family including 8 members of 3 generations was recruited in Henan Eye Hospital from June to September 2021.There was one patient in the family.A thorough ophthalmic examination of the proband was carried out to evaluate the phenotypes, including visual acuity, degree of strabismus, anterior segment and fundus, autofluorescence imaging, fluorescein fundus angiography, full-field electroretinogram (ERG), multifocal ERG, optical coherence tomography.DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples from the proband and family members.The pathogenic gene and variation were screened by whole exome sequencing (WES).The variation and co-segregation were verified by Sanger sequencing.The deleteriousness of the variation was analyzed by SIFT, Polyphen2 and MutationTaster.The pathogenicity of the variation was evaluated in accordance with the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) Standards and Guidelines.The analysis of amino acid sequence conservation was performed by SIFT.This study adhered to the Declaration of Helsinki.The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Henan Eye Hospital (No.HNEECKY-2017[6]).Written informed consent was obtained from each subject.Results:This pedigree was consistent with autosomal recessive inheritance.The proband had clinical features such as night blindness, hyperopia, accommodative esotropia, peripheral retinal pigmentation, retinoschisis, and photopic ERG responses dominated by large-amplitude waves.Variations including a compound heterozygous variation, c.671C>T: p.S224L on exon 5 and c. 955G>A: p.E319K on exon 6 of NR2E3 were identified by WES.The variations were confirmed to be consistent with co-segregation.The both loci were missense variations, the variation frequency of which was 0 in the East Asian population via the gnomAD database.The variations were predicted to be deleterious by SIFT, Polyphen2 and MutationTaster.The c.671C>T variation was recorded with unknown significance in ClinVar database, and the c.955G>A variation was an unreported new locus.According to the ACMG Standards and Guidelines, the both variations were labeled as with uncertain clinical significance, and the corresponding amino acid sequences were highly conservative across multiple species. Conclusions:This family has the clinical characteristics of ESCS and meets the genetic diagnosis criteria.Two novel variations in NR2E3 gene, c.671C>T: p.S224L and 955G>A: p.E319K, are found.

Objective:To analyze the clinic-pathological features and surgical outcomes of adult patients with hypothalamic gliomas.Methods:The adult cases pathologically confirmed as hypothalamic gliomas were analyzed from October, 2011 to January, 2022 in Beijing Tiantan Hospital.Results:There were 32 adult cases with hypothalamic gliomas, including 16 males and 16 females. Tumor was located in the hypothalamus in 6 cases, in the hypothalamus plus optic chiasma/nerve in 6 cases, in the hypothalamus plus thalamus in 9 cases, and in the hypothalamus plus the third ventricle in 11 cases. Pre-operative hydrocephalus was found in 20 cases. Five patents underwent stereotactic biopsy, 27 patients underwent craniotomy, and 11 patients underwent shunt surgery for hydrocephalus. Of 27 patients with craniotomy, trans-callosal approach was chosen for 9 patients, trans-cortical for 8 patients, via pterion approach for 4 patients, via lateral sub-frontal approach for 4 patients, via fissurae interhemisphaerica for 1 patient, and trans-sphenoidal approach for 1 patient. Twenty-two patients received gross-total or subtotal resection, 5 patients received partial resection. All the patients were pathologically confirmed, including 9 patients with high-grade and 23 patients with low-grade gliomas. Six patients died within 3 months after craniotomy, 8 patients suffered from endocrine dysfunction, 7 patients suffered from electrolyte disturbance, and 5 patients suffered from hydrocephalus. They were followed for 0.7-110.0 months, with 5-year progression-free survival rate of 63.8% and 5-year overall survival rate of 53.9% for all patients. The 5-year progression-free survival rate was 83.3% and the 5-year overall survival rate was 72.8% for low-grade gliomas.Conclusions:The peri-operative mortality is high for adult patients with hypothalamic gliomas, and protection of the hypothalamic function is important. Patients with low-grade hypothalamic gliomas have good prognoses.

Objective To investigate the mechanism of 2,6-dimethoxy-1,4-benzoquinone(DMQ),an active ingredients in fermented wheat germ extract,for inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome activation and alleviating septic shock in mice.Methods Cultured murine bone marrow-derived macrophages(BMDM)stimulated with lipopolysaccharide(LPS)were treated with DMQ,followed by treatment with Nigericin,ATP,and MSU for activating the canonical NLRP3 inflammasome;the non-canonical NLRP3 inflammasome was activated by intracellular transfection of LPS,and AIM2 inflammasome was activated using Poly A:T.In human monocytic THP-1 cells,the effect of Nigericin on inflammasome activation products was examined using Western blotting and ELISA.Co-immunoprecipitation was performed to explore the mechanism of DMQ-induced blocking of NLRP3 inflammasome activation.In a male C57BL/6J mouse model of LPS-induced septic shock treated with 20 and 40 mg/kg DMQ,the levels of IL-1β and TNF-α in the serum and peritoneal lavage fluid were determined using ELISA,and the survival time of the mice within 36 h was observed.Results Treatment with DMQ effectively inhibited LPS-induced activation of canonical NLRP3 inflammasome in mouse BMDM and human THP-1 cells and also inhibited non-canonical NLRP3 inflammasome activation in mouse BMDM,but produced no significant effect on AIM2 inflammasome activation.DMQ significantly blocked the binding between ASC and NLRP3.In the mouse models of septic shock,DMQ treatment significantly reduced the levels of IL-1β in the serum and peritoneal fluid and obviously prolonged survival time of the mice.Conclusion DMQ can effectively block ASC-NLRP3 interaction to inhibit NLRP3 inflammasome activation and alleviate LPS-induced septic shock in mice.