OBJECTIVES: To investigate the protective effect and underlying mechanism of Chinese herb medicine Gandou Bushen decoction (GBD) on ovarian injury in murine hepatolenticular degeneration (HLD) model. METHODS: The chemical constituents of GBD were analyzed using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Forty female C3He-Atp7b^tx-J mice (6-week-old) were randomly divided into model, penicillamine (positive control), low-dose GBD, and high-dose GBD groups. Ten DL syngeneic female mice served as the normal control group. Body and ovarian weights were measured to calculate the ovarian coefficient. Ovarian copper content was detected by complexometric colorimetry. Histopathological and ultrastructural changes were observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. Serum levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), estradiol, and progesterone were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RNA sequencing was performed to identify differentially expressed genes, followed by Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses. A copper overload cell model was established in ovarian granulosa cells(iCell-0114a)by inducing them with copper sulfate. Cells were divided into normal control, model control, and low-, medium-, and high-dose GBD groups. The mRNA expression of FSH receptor (FSHR), steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE), and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) was detected by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 were measured by ELISA. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was measured using a WST-1 assay. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were measured using DCFH-DA fluorescence, and mitochondrial membrane potential was assessed using JC-1 staining coupled with flow cytometry. Protein expression of B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax), caspase-3, advanced glycation end products (AGE), RAGE, and NF-κB was determined by Western blotting. RESULTS: A total of 1465 chemical components were identified in GBD. Compared with the normal control group, the model group showed decreased body weight, ovarian weight, and ovarian coefficient (all P<0.01). GBD treatment alleviated tissue copper deposition (P<0.01), improved ovarian histomorphology and ultrastructure, and increased serum levels of FSH, LH, estradiol, and progesterone (all P<0.01). RNA sequencing identified 507 differentially expressed genes. KEGG enrichment analysis indicated that the mechanism underlying GBD's protective effects primarily involved the AGE/RAGE/NF-κB signaling pathway. In copper-overloaded granulosa cells, GBD dose-dependently increased the mRNA expression of FSHR, StAR, and IGF-1, reduced the levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6, increased SOD activity, and decreased ROS levels (all P<0.01). The medium- and high-dose GBD groups showed a lower percentage of cells with mitochondrial depolarization (both P<0.01). All GBD dose groups showed decreased expression of Bax and caspase-3 (all P<0.05), while the medium- and high-dose groups showed increased Bcl-2 expression. Furthermore, medium and high doses of GBD reduced the protein expression of AGE, RAGE, and NF-κB, and all doses downregulated the mRNA expression of RAGE and NF-κB (P<0.05 or P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS GBD ameliorates ovarian injury in HLD, and its mechanism of action is associated with the suppression of the AGE/RAGE/NF-κB signaling pathway.

Objective To explore the protective effect in a model of nicotinamide riboside(NR)against carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone(CCCP)-induced oxidative stress in R28 cells.Methods 4 μmol/L CCCP was used to induce oxidative stress in R28 cells,and 400 nmol/L NR was used to intervene.The cell viability was quantified by CCK-8 assay.The apoptosis was detected by Annexin-V/PI double staining and flow cytometry.Western blotting was used to examine the levels of Cytochrome C,Caspase-3,and Caspase-9 to evaluate the apoptosis.Tetramethylrhodamine ethyl ester was used to detect the mitochondrial membrane potential(MMP),MitoSOX was used to detect the mitochondrial reactive oxygen species(mtROS)levels,and adenosine triphosphate(ATP)assay kit was used to assess ATP generation ability to evaluate mitochondrial function.Results After CCCP treatment of R28 cells,the cell viability decreased,the apoptotic protein levels and apoptosis rates increased,the MMP decreased,and the mtROS generation increased(P＜0.05).After NR pretreatment,the cell viability increased,the apoptotic protein levels and apoptosis rates decreased,the MMP increased,and the mtROS generation decreased(P＜0.05).Conclusion:NR enhances the cell viability,reduces the expression of apoptotic proteins,and ultimately reduces the apoptosis of retinal ganglion cell by inhibiting oxidative stress response and protecting mitochondrial function.

Objective To investigate the therapeutic mechanism of Gandou Bushen Decoction(GDBSD)for improving reproductive disorders in male mouse models of Wilson disease(WD).Methods Sixty male homozygous TX mice were randomized equally into 4 groups and treated with daily gavage of saline(WD model group),penicillamine(0.09 g/kg),or GDBSD(0.2 mL/10 g),or with intraperitoneal injection of U0126(20 mg/kg)in addition to GDBSD gavage,with 15 male DL mice as control.After 4 weeks of treatment,copper content in testicular tissue of the mice was detected,and histopathology of the testes and epididymis was examined using HE staining and electron microscopy.TUNEL staining was used to identify apoptotic cells in the testes.The protein expressions of Bcl-2,Cytc,caspase-3,ERK,and p-ERK in the testicular tissue were evaluated with Western blotting,and BrdU-positive cells were detected with immunohistochemical labeling.Sperm density,viability,malformation rate and fertility levels of male mice were studied.Results Treatment with penicillamine and GDBSD obviously improved pathological changes of the testis,increased sperm density and motility,lowered sperm abnormality rate,fertility levels and increased testicular JOHNSEN score of TK mice,but the therapeutic effect of GDBSD was blocked by U0126.GDBSD treatment significantly lowered Cytc and caspase-3 expressions and increased Bcl-2 expression in the testicular tissue of TX mice(P<0.05),while U0126 treatment significantly lowered testicular Bcl-2 expression level.No significant differences were found in total protein expression levels of ERK1/2 among the 5 groups,but p-ERK protein expression was significantly reduced in WD and U0126 groups and increased in penicillamine and GDBSD groups.Conclusion GDBSD can improve spermatogenesis and enhance fertility of male TX mice with WD possibly by activating the ERK signaling pathway to enhance proliferation and reduce apoptosis of the spermatogenic cells.

Objective To investigate the therapeutic mechanism of Gandou Bushen Decoction(GDBSD)for improving reproductive disorders in male mouse models of Wilson disease(WD).Methods Sixty male homozygous TX mice were randomized equally into 4 groups and treated with daily gavage of saline(WD model group),penicillamine(0.09 g/kg),or GDBSD(0.2 mL/10 g),or with intraperitoneal injection of U0126(20 mg/kg)in addition to GDBSD gavage,with 15 male DL mice as control.After 4 weeks of treatment,copper content in testicular tissue of the mice was detected,and histopathology of the testes and epididymis was examined using HE staining and electron microscopy.TUNEL staining was used to identify apoptotic cells in the testes.The protein expressions of Bcl-2,Cytc,caspase-3,ERK,and p-ERK in the testicular tissue were evaluated with Western blotting,and BrdU-positive cells were detected with immunohistochemical labeling.Sperm density,viability,malformation rate and fertility levels of male mice were studied.Results Treatment with penicillamine and GDBSD obviously improved pathological changes of the testis,increased sperm density and motility,lowered sperm abnormality rate,fertility levels and increased testicular JOHNSEN score of TK mice,but the therapeutic effect of GDBSD was blocked by U0126.GDBSD treatment significantly lowered Cytc and caspase-3 expressions and increased Bcl-2 expression in the testicular tissue of TX mice(P<0.05),while U0126 treatment significantly lowered testicular Bcl-2 expression level.No significant differences were found in total protein expression levels of ERK1/2 among the 5 groups,but p-ERK protein expression was significantly reduced in WD and U0126 groups and increased in penicillamine and GDBSD groups.Conclusion GDBSD can improve spermatogenesis and enhance fertility of male TX mice with WD possibly by activating the ERK signaling pathway to enhance proliferation and reduce apoptosis of the spermatogenic cells.

Objective To investigate the pathological damage to and inflammation of different intestinal segments in a rat model of severe hemorrhage,and to explore the effect of polarization of intestinal macrophage on the pathophysiology of intestinal inflammation.Methods Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups:the sham operation group and hemorrhage group.In the hemorrhage group,40％of the total blood volume was lost in 25-30 minutes,while in the sham operation group,only the femoral artery and vein were intubated without bleeding.The rats were killed at 0,3,6,12 and 24 hours.The entire intestine was isolated quickly,and sections of the intestine were cut at the duodenum,jejunum,ileocecal junction,colon and rectum for histopathological evaluation.ELISA was adopted to determine related inflammation factors while multi-color immunohistochemistry was used to calculate macrophage surface markers.The data was statistically analyzed.Results(1)Compared with the sham group,there was no significant difference in colon histology at 3 h and 6 h,but significant difference was detected in rectum scores only at 24 h.The scores of other intestinal segments were significantly different at each time point.The severity of ileocecal and colonic lesions after bleeding increased with time.The duodenum,jejunum and ileocecum were more critically injured at 3 h than the rectum at 6 h.The injury to the duodenum,jejunum,ileum and colon was much more pronounced than to the rectum at 12 h.(2)The expressions of TNF-α and IL-1β in the rectum were increased significantly at 12 h post operation.The expressions of IL-1β,TNF-α in the jejunum increased obviously at 3 h and 6 h,respectively.(3)Three hours after severe bleeding,the level of macrophages in the jejunum and ileocececal area increased significantly,and the percentage of M1 macrophages was higher.After 6 hours,the proportion of M2 macrophages in the jejunum and M1 macrophages decreased significantly.After 3 hours,the percentage of M1 macrophages in the colon decreased,but that of M2 macrophages increased.The proportion of M2 polarized macrophages in the duodenum and rectum increased at 3 h after severe bleeding but decreased at 6 h.Conclusion Pathological damage to intestinal sections after bleeding varies depending on the time,and is correlated with the inflammatory level of macrophages.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the distribution and regulation of G-quadruplex(G4)in enzymes related to glycolysis.METHODS The sequences of the transcription start site(TSS)region upstream of 1500 bp to the 5'-Untranslated region in 200 enzymes and their subtypes in glycolysis were selected for bioinformatics analysis.Related enzymes in glycolysis containing putative G-quadru-plex-forming sequences(PQSs)were identified.Circular Dichroism and Native polyacrylamide gel elec-trophoresis were used to verify the formation of G4.The ExonucleaseⅠhydrolysis assay was used to validate the stability of the formed G4 under 0,0.5,2,8,16,and 32 min.A reporter gene plasmid was constructed by inserting specific fragments of the related enzymes before the luciferase expression sequence.The dual-luciferase reporter assay system validate the expression level of luciferase to assess the impact of G4 on promoter activity.Real-time quantitative PCR was performed to validate the transcriptional regulatory role of G4 by detecting the mRNA levels of luciferase.RESULTS ①Bioin-formatics analysis showed that out of the 200 glycolysis-related enzymes,12 contained PQSs.Based on the analysis of the length and structure of PQSs,aldolase A(ALDOA)and phosphoglycerate mutase 2(PGAM2)proved to be able to form stable G4.② ALDOA and PGAM2 had the maximum positive absorption peak at 260 nm and maximum negative absorption peak at 240 nm.Both of them could form a G4 at the same time.③After digestion with ExonucleaseⅠ,ALDOA and PGAM2 showed no significant hydrolysis and demonstrated the stability of G4 structures.However,both of them could be gradually hydrolyzed after mutations in their PQSs.④ After PQS mutation of ALDOA and PGAM2,the mRNA levels and expression of downstream luciferase of ALDOA were significantly increased(P<0.05,P<0.01),while PGAM2 was significantly decreased(P<0.05,P<0.01).CONCLUSION The gene sequences of glycolysis-related enzymes and their subtypes contain a large number of PQSs.ALDOA and PGAM2 can form stable G4 and perform transcriptional regulatory functions.

The incidence of osteoporotic thoracolumbar vertebral fracture (OTLVF) in the elderly is gradually increasing. The kyphotic deformity caused by various factors has become an important characteristic of OTLVF and has received increasing attention. Its clinical manifestations include pain, delayed nerve damage, sagittal imbalance, etc. Currently, the definition and diagnosis of OTLVF with kyphotic deformity in the elderly are still unclear. Although there are many treatment options, they are controversial. Existing guidelines or consensuses pay little attention to this type of fracture with kyphotic deformity. To this end, the Lumbar Education Working Group of the Spine Branch of the Chinese Medicine Education Association and Editorial Committee of Chinese Journal of Trauma organized the experts in the relevant fields to jointly develop Clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporotic thoracolumbar vertebral fractures with kyphotic deformity in the elderly ( version 2024), based on evidence-based medical advancements and the principles of scientificity, practicality, and advanced nature, which provided 18 recommendations to standardize the clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Objective Based on the gene expression omnibus(GEO)database,bioinformatics methods were employed to analyze the expression characteristics of hypoxia-related differentially expressed genes(HRDEGs)in ischemic stroke,and key genes were screened,to provide important support for a deeper understanding of ischemic stroke.Methods The GSE16561 and GSE58294 datasets were downloaded from the GEO database,and Python software was used for data integration.The Combat method was employed to eliminate batch effects while retaining disease grouping characteristics.Principal component analysis was conducted to reduce dimensionality of the data before and after batch effect removal,and intraclass correlation coefficient(ICC)testing was performed on the ischemic stroke and normal control groups.Gene set enrichment analysis(GSEA)and single-sample GSEA were conducted on the merged and batch effects eliminated dataset,with a nominal P-value(NOM P-val)＜0.05 and false discovery rate P-value(FDR P-val)＜0.25 used as criteria to select significantly different gene sets.Differential expression genes between the ischemic stroke samples and normal control samples after merging and eliminating batch effects of the GSE16561 and GSE58294 datasets were identified using R software,with an absolute value of log2 gene expression fold change(FC)≥0.58 and adjusted P-value(Padj)＜0.05 as selection criteria.Intersection with hypoxia-related genes obtained from the National Center for Biotechnology Information(NCBI)in the United States yielded the HRDEGs.Gene ontology(GO)and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes(KEGG)enrichment analyses were performed on the HRDEGs,and the STRING database was used to construct a protein-protein interaction network of differentially expressed genes.The top 10 key genes were filtered using Cytoscape 3.8 software.Results The ICC analysis results showed excellent consistency in the ischemic stroke and normal control samples after batch effect removal,with ICC values of 0.94 and 0.98 for the GSE16561 and GSE58294datasets,respectively.GSEA results demonstrated significant enrichment of 34 gene sets in the stroke samples in the newly merged and batch effects removed dataset from GSE16561 and GSE58294,leading to the identification of 404 differentially expressed genes(all with Padj＜0.05),including 354 upregulated genes and 50 downregulated genes.Intersection with hypoxia-related genes yielded 64 HRDEGs.GO enrichment analysis indicated significant enrichment of HRDEGs in vesicle lumen,cytoplasmic vesicle lumen,secretory granule lumen,with molecular functions such as amide binding,peptide binding,phospholipid binding,and enzyme inhibitor activity.These genes are primarily involved in the positive regulation of cytokine production,regulation of immune response,response to bacterium-derived molecules,and response to lipopolysaccharide,among other biological processes.KEGG enrichment analysis revealed enrichment of HRDEGs in pathways related to lipid and atherosclerosis,Salmonella infection,neutrophil extracellular trap formation,nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor signaling pathway,protein glycosylation in cancer,tuberculosis,and necroptosis.Based on the protein-protein interaction network,10 key genes were identified,including arginase1(ARG1),caspase1(CASP1),interleukin1 receptor type 1(IL-1R1),integrin subunit alpha M(ITGAM),matrix metalloproteinase9(MMP9),prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2(PTGS2),signal transducer and activator of transcription 3(STAT3),Toll-like receptor2(TLR2),TLR4,and TLR8.Conclusion This study has identified 10 key genes associated with ischemic stroke and hypoxia through bioinformatics mining,which maybe provid potential targets for subsequent research and diagnostic and therapeutic interventions.

Taking the graduation ceremony of Peking University Health Science Center in 2020 as the observation object, this paper used Collins’ Interactive Ritual Chains Theory to analyze the form, theme and featured part of this ceremony from the dimensions of physical co-presence, barrier to outsiders, joint focus of attention and shared mood. It was found that the ceremony in medical colleges had an impact on the cognition, behavior and spirit of junior medical students in terms of group identity, emotional energy, group symbols and moral sense, which played a good role in professionalism education. Some enlightenment and thinking were obtained on this basis to provide some references for medical colleges to give full play to the educational function of the professionalism in the post-epidemic era.

Abstract: This research aimed to explore the application of the combination of region growth and U-Net in the retinal vessel segmentation system, retinal vessels were automatically segmented through the developed system. This research provides doctors with accurate information on changes in the retinal blood vessel structure, which will improve the efficiency of diagnosis and treatment. Methods: Combined with U-Net network and region growth, the pre-processed retinal blood vessels were automatically segmented, and the algorithms were integrated into the retinal blood vessel segmentation system through the design of controls. Results: The average values of blood vessel segmentation performance indexes— accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were 0.977 7, 0.768 4, and 0.982 1, respectively, and regional iterative growth could improve the segmentation effect of fine retinal blood vessels. Conclusion The system has the characteristics of simple interface and convenient operation.It realizes automatic retinal blood vessel segmentation with high precision and visualization, provides an effective application platform for doctors to observe the changes of retinal vascular structure, and also provides a thinking direction for doctors to judge the nature of lesions.