OBJECTIVE: To characterize a glycosyltransferase (RpUGT1) from Rheum palmatum and investigate its specificity toward flavonoid compounds. METHODS: The RpUGT1 was expressed in Escherichia coli and screened for catalytic activity against a range of flavonoid substrates using a high-throughput HPLC assay method. Mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) were used to determine the structure of the product. Homology modeling, molecular docking analyses and site-directed mutagenesis studies were conducted to identify key residues responsible for its function. RESULTS: The recombinant RpUGT1 protein exhibited catalytic activity towards various flavonoids. Notably, RpUGT1 catalyzed the glycosylation of isorhamnetin to form 3-O-glucoside and kaempferol to form 7-O-glucoside, utilizing uridine diphosphate (UDP) glucose as the sugar donor. The homology modeling and molecular docking analyses identified key residues responsible for its activity. Subsequent site-directed mutagenesis studies highlighted the crucial role of K307 in catalysis. CONCLUSION These discoveries offer valuable perspectives on the role of the UGT family and establish a groundwork for forthcoming research on the synthesis of flavonoids in plants.

Objective To explore the influencing factors for long-term poor prognosis of patients with acute ischemic stroke with large vessel occlusion(LVO-AIS)in the course of intravascular treatment.Methods A total of 123 LVO-AIS patients undergoing vascular recanalization in Department of Neurology of Tianmen First People's Hospital from January 2021 to December 2022 were consecutively recruited,and according to their modified Rankin Scale(mRS)score at 90 d after surgery,they were divided into good prognosis group(mRS≤2,n=58)and poor prognosis group(mRS＞2,n=65).Their general clinical data were compared between the two groups.Multi-variate logistic regression analysis was applied to identify the risk factors of poor prognosis in LVO-AIS patients.Results The good ratio of collateral circulation in good prognosis group was higher than that in poor prognosis group(94.83％vs 47.69％,P＜0.01).Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age(OR=1.092,95％CI:0.989-1.205,P=0.046),diabetes(OR=0.122,95％CI:0.026-0.561,P=0.007),symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage(OR=0.038,95％C I:0.002-0.656,P=0.024),and poor collateral circulation(OR=0.037,95％CI:0.007-0.196,P=0.000)were independent risk factors for poor prognosis in LVO-AIS patients after intravascular treatment.Conclusion For the LVO-AIS patients,those with advanced age,di-abetes,symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage and poor collateral circulation are prone to poor prognosis after intravascular treatment.

BACKGROUND:Interspinous distraction fusion device BacFuse was used for the management of lumbar degenerative disease and obtained good clinical efficacy in recent years.However,the related biomechanical study was lacking. OBJECTIVE:To explore the related biomechanical characteristics of BacFuse,a novel interspinous distraction fusion device,which was used in lumbar degenerative disease. METHODS:After constructing the goat spinal models(L1-L6),they were grouped into four groups based on different simulated surgeries:the control group,the BacFuse group(L3/4),the screw-rod fixation group(L3/4)and the Topping-off group(L3/4 screw-rod fixation + L2/3 BacFuse fixation).The goat lumbar spine surgical model was assembled into a biomechanical testing system.A biomechanical machine was used for mechanical loading,simulating lumbar spine movement of flexion,extension,lateral flexion and rotation with a 4 Nm moment.A visual tracking system was used for positioning and capturing.Finally,mechanical and optical calibration was completed to calculate the range of motion of the L2/3,L3/4 and L4/5 segments. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Compared with the control group,the range of motion of the L3/4 segment in the BacFuse group decreased 27.27%,70%,38.1%and 23.08%in the flexion,extension,lateral bending and rotation directions,respectively(P<0.05).The range of motion of L3/4 segment in the screw-rod fixation group decreased 72.73%,80%,71.43%and 73.08%in the flexion,extension,lateral bending and rotation directions,respectively(P<0.05).(2)Compared with the control group,the range of motion of the adjacent segment L2/3 increased by 33.33%,25%and 23.81%in the extension,lateral bending and rotation directions,respectively in the BacFuse group(P<0.05),with no significant change in flexion.In the screw-rod fixation group,there was a 50%,44.44%,50%and 58.96%increase in the adjacent segment L2/3 in the flexion,extension,lateral calibration and rotation directions,respectively(P<0.05).(3)Compared with the control group,the BacFuse group showed an increase in range of motion in proximal segment L4/5 in the extension and rotation directions by 27.3%and 17.39%(P<0.05)respectively,with no significant change in flexion or lateral bending.In the screw-rob fixation group,the proximal segment L4/5 demonstrated 38.89%,22.73%and 26.09%(P<0.05)increases in range of motion in the flexion,extension and rotation directions,respectively,with no significant change in lateral bending.(4)In the Topping-off group,the range of motion of L2/3 was reduced by 37.04%,73.08%,56.67%and 38.46%in flexion,extension,lateral flexion and rotation,respectively,compared to the screw-rob fixation group(P<0.05).Compared with the screw-rob fixation group,the Topping-off group showed a 20%reduction in the range of motion of the L4/5 in the flexion direction(P<0.05),with no significant differences seen in extension,lateral bending and rotation.(5)It is concluded that the interspinous distraction fusion device BacFuse significantly reduces the range of motion of the implanted segment and provides some stability.It still retains more mobility and reduces the impact on the adjacent segment compared to screw-rob fixation,while the Topping-off tip,which can be used for intervertebral fusion fixation,significantly reduces the range of motion of the adjacent segment and reduces the risk of adjacent segment degeneration.

Polycystic ovary syndrome(PCOS)is characterized by high heterogeneity and heredity,and its exact pathogenesis is still not clear.Some studies have shown that epigenetic disorders,such as hyperandrogen-induced methyla-tion or acetylation of lysine at different sites(K4,K9,and K27)in histone H3,methylation and demethylation modifica-tion of genes related to steroids,hormone receptors and follicular development,and transcriptional control of microRNA or long noncoding RNA,play a central role in the occurrence and development of PCOS.This article reviews the research ad-vances in epigenetic mechanisms(histone modifications,DNA methylation,and noncoding RNA)of PCOS,in order to provide a reference for the prediction and early prevention of PCOS.

Objective:To compare the safety and efficacy of two different minimally invasive approaches to implant pedicle screw for the treatment of single-segment thoracolumbar spine fractures without nerve injury.Methods:This was a retrospective study. Eighty patients with mono-segmental thoracolumbar fractures treated with minimally invasive pedicle screw fixation at Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University from January 2020 to June 2022 were included. There were 46 males and 36 females, the age was (45.93±7.91) years old, and ranged from 27 to 60 years old. They were divided into two groups according to different surgical techniques: percutaneous pedicle screw fixation group ( n=44) and Wiltse approach group ( n=36). The operative time, operative visible blood loss, hidden blood loss, total blood loss, fluoroscopy times, incision length, hospital time after surgery and ambulation time were compared. Visual analogue scale (VAS), Oswestry disability index (ODI), ratio of the vertebral anterior height, angle of injured vertebral endplate were recorded and compared between two groups before surgery and at 3 days, 6 months and 1 year after surgery. The accuracy of pedicle screw position and the facet joint violation rate were evaluated by using the postoperative CT scan. Perioperative related complications were investigated. Normally distributed numerical data were presented as mean ± standard deviation, and differences between the groups were compared using t-test. The counting data were expressed as percentages or rates and compared using χ2 test. Results:All patients were followed for a minimum of 12 months. There is no significant difference between the two groups in intraoperative visible blood loss, hospital time after surgery, ambulation time, postoperative VAS and ODI, ratio of vertebral anterior height and angle of injured vertebral endplate at 3 days after surgery, pedicle screw position accuracy and perioperative complications ( P>0.05). The operative time, hidden blood loss, total blood loss, intraoperative fluoroscopy times, facet joint violation rate in the percutaneous pedicle screw fixation group were remarkably higher than in the Wiltse approach group ( P<0.05). The ratio of vertebral anterior height in the percutaneous pedicle screw fixation group was dramatically lower than in the Wiltse approach group at 6 months and 1 year after surgery ( P<0.05). The postoperative injured vertebral endplate angle was higher in the percutaneous pedicle screw fixation group than that in the Wiltse approach group at 6 months and 1 year ( P<0.05). Conclusions:Both percutaneous pedicle screw fixation and Wiltse approach were safe and effective minimally invasive surgical procedures for the treatment of thoracolumbar fractures without neurological injury. The Wiltse approach can reduce fluoroscopy times and perioperative hidden blood loss, reduce the risk of facet joint violation, and maintain a better reduction than percutaneous pedicle screw fixation.

Objective:To explore interspinous fusion capacity after interspinous distraction fusion (ISDF) device implantation, a preliminary biomechanical analysis and histological evaluation were performed.Methods:The experimental animals were procured from the Science and Research Laboratory Animal Center of Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University. The animals were 8-9 weeks old and with an average weight of 25 kg. 15 mini-pigs were randomly divided into three groups, the sham operation group, the decompression group and the ISDF fixed decompression group, 5 animals per group. The sham operation group was treated with simple incision and exposed lamina suture. The decompression group received unilateral decompression and the ISDF fixed decompression group experienced unilateral hemilaminectomy decompression and ISDF fixation. The graft-bed site was filled with purified bone graft material without any autograft bone. After 6 months feeding, all experimental animals were sacrificed and the corresponding lumbar vertebrae was obtained. The samples were fixed on the spinal test system and the range of motion of flexion-extension, lateral bending and rotation were tested through a multiaxial robotic system. The ISDF device samples were embedded for hard tissue sections and stained with hematoxylin-eosin and toluidine blue to assess new bone formation. Normally distributed measurement data were expressed as mean±standard deviation( ± s), and independent samples t-test were used for comparisons between groups. Results:In comparison to the sham operation group, the decompression group exhibited a statistically significant increase in intervertebral mobility, with an average of 61.6% in anterior flexion, 44.7% in posterior extension, 65.0% in left lateral flexion, 49.6% in right lateral flexion, 83.8% in left rotation, and 64.2% in right rotation ( P<0.05). In comparison to the decompression group, the ISDF fixed decompression group exhibited a statistically significant decrease in intervertebral mobility, with an average of 40.0% in anterior flexion, 21.3% in posterior extension, 31.7% in left lateral flexion, 22.3% in right lateral flexion, 28.7% in left rotation, and 35.3% in right rotation ( P<0.05). Well-defined bone tissue can be observed in the histological images of ISDF fixed decompression group samples after 6 months. In the histological part, toluidine blue staining showed extensive new bone formation. The hyperchromatic osteoblasts cells and density bone tissue can be observed in hematoxylin-eosin staining slides. Conclusions:The implantation of ISDF provide the necessary stabilization for promoting fusion. The osteogenesis that occurs within graft-bed site of the ISDF device offers the possibility of interspinous fusion.

Hepatic stellate cell(HSC)activation is a key link in the development of liver fibrosis.The metabolic reprogramming of activated HSC has become a hot topic in current research,especially the change of glycolysis is an important factor in regulating HSC activation.Based on the metabolic reprogramming in the process of HSC activation,this paper expounds the mechanism of regulating HSC activation and liver fibrosis through glycolysis,and reviews the research progress of traditional Chinese medicine and its active ingredients in regulating HSC glycolysis to prevent and treat liver fibrosis.Liver fibrosis is a complex pathological process involving multiple factors and pathways.From the perspective of regulating the glycolysis of activated HSC,it can provide a new idea for the development of anti-liver fibrosis drugs.

Objective:To construct radiomics models of micro-calcification in carotid plaques, and compare their diagnostic values.Methods:Fifty-two patients with large atherosclerotic cerebral infarction admitted to Department of Neurology, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from May 2017 to November 2019 were enrolled. All patients underwent conventional carotid artery Doppler ultrasound to detect carotid plaques and Micropure? ultrasound to detect micro-calcifications in the plaques. A cross-section image with maximum numbers of micro-calcifications was chosen when there were micro-calcifications in carotid plaques; otherwise, a cross-section image with the largest area of the plaque was chosen. After all images were normalized by Photoshop software, the plaques were delineated as regions of interest using MaZda 4.6 software and 283 texture features of the plaques were automatically extracted. The texture features with the strongest predictive value were selected through consistency analysis (intrclass correlation coefficient [ICC]>0.75), two-sample t-test, Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) regression. The predictive models were constructed by RandomForest (RF) and Support vector machine (SVM) classifiers. The training set and test set were divided by 7: 3 to analyze the classification accuracy. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to calculate the area under the curve (AUC) to evaluate the diagnostic values of the models. Delong test was used to compare the difference between the diagnostic values of the 2 classifiers in test set. Results:A total of 148 plaque images from 52 patients were enrolled, including 104 plaques with micro-calcification and 44 plaques without micro-calcification. Nine texture features were finally selected after ICC analysis, T test and Lasso regression: 5 image gray histogram features were mean, variance, skewness, kurtosis and 99 th percentile (Perc. 99%); 1 autoregressive model feature was Teta3, and 3 wavelet transform features were WavEnLH_s-3, WavEnLH_s-4, and WavEnLH_s-6. With RF classifier, accuracy of the diagnostic model was 0.93, enjoying AUC of 0.92; with SVM classifier, that was 0.91, enjoying AUC of 0.90; Delong test showed that the diagnostic values of the 2 classifiers in test set were significantly different ( Z=1.000, P=0.320). Conclusion:Radiomic models constructed by RF and SVM classifiers can identify micro-calcification in carotid plaques, and the 2 classifiers share equivalent diagnostic values.

【Objective】 To investigate the risk factors of transfusion-related circulating overload (TACO) in hospitalized patients and to analyze its impact on clinical outcome. 【Methods】 The clinical data of 295 patients with blood transfusion admitted to our hospital from June 2020 to June 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into TACO group (n=23) and control group (n=272) according to the incidence of TACO. The risk factors of TACO were analyzed by Logistic regression, and the differences of hospital stay and mortality between the TACO group and the control group were compared. 【Results】 TACO occurred in 23 of 295 patients, accounting for 7.80% of all transfusion reactions. The incidence of TACO in different transfusion components was different. Elder age, history of heart failure, history of chronic kidney disease, large mean blood transfusion volume, positive fluid balance [OR(95%CI)): 2.022 (1.212-3.372), 1.917(1.258-2.922), 1.719 (1.155-2.560), 2.252 (1.256- 4.039), 2.221 (1.358-3.633)] were the main risk factors for TACO (P<0.05). 【Conclusion】 Elder age, history of heart failure, history of chronic kidney disease, large blood transfusion volume and positive fluid balance were risk factors for TACO, and TACO was associated with increased length of stay and mortality during hospitalization.

OBJECTIVE: To carry out genetic analysis for a fetus with confined placental mosaicism (CPM) for trisomy 2 (T2) in conjunct with fetal uniparental disomy (UPD). METHODS: Amniocentesis and chromosomal karyotyping was carried out for a pregnant woman with a high risk for chromosome 2 anomalies indicated by non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT). Single nucleotide polymorphism array (SNP-array) and trio-whole exome sequencing (Trio-WES) were carried out. Ultrasonography was used to closely monitor the fetal growth. Multifocal sampling of the placenta was performed after delivery for copy number variation sequencing (CNV-seq). RESULTS: The fetus was found to have a normal chromosomal karyotype. SNP-array has revealed multiple regions with loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on chromosome 2. Trio-WES confirmed the presence of maternal UPD for chromosome 2. Ultrasonography has revealed intrauterine growth restriction and oligohydramnios. Intrauterine fetal demise had occurred at 23⁺⁴ weeks of gestation. Pathological examination had failed to find salient visceral abnormality. The placenta was proved to contain complete T2 by CNV-seq. CONCLUSION T2 CPM can cause false positive result for NIPT and may be complicated with fetal UPD, leading to adverse obstetric outcomes such as intrauterine growth restriction, oligohydramnios and intrauterine fetal demise.
Female ; Humans ; Pregnancy ; Amniocentesis ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 2/genetics* ; DNA Copy Number Variations ; Fetal Death ; Fetal Growth Retardation/genetics* ; Fetus ; Mosaicism ; Oligohydramnios ; Placenta ; Trisomy/genetics* ; Uniparental Disomy/genetics*