BACKGROUND:Indian hedgehog homolog (Ihh) protein and its signal protein Gli1, as wel as Runt related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) are closely related to the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis. The increased expression of these factors is one of the major causes of degenerative joint changes.
OBJECTIVE:To explore the roles of Ihh, Gli1 and Runx2 in the development of osteoarthritis.
METHODS:Thirty Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into two groups:control group (n=10) and model group (n=20). In the model group, rats received unilateral anterior cruciate ligament transection, to establish osteoarthritis model. Ten experimental rats were kil ed at 4 and 12 weeks after surgery respectively. Another 10 rats received unilateral knee arthrotomy as pseudo-operation controls and 10 pseudo-operation rats were kil ed at 12 weeks after surgery.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:In the model group, cartilage degeneration was obvious at 4 weeks and became severer at 12 weeks after anterior cruciate ligament transection operation. Expression levels of Ihh, Gli1 and Runx2 in the cartilage were increased significantly at 4 weeks after operation, but decreased at 12 weeks after operation. Experimental findings indicate that Ihh, Gli1 and Runx2 play important roles in the development of osteoarthritis, and their expression levels are significantly increased at early stage of osteoarthritis, which can be regarded as the indicators in the prophylaxis and treatment research of osteoarthritis.

Objective To investigate clinical significance and application of modified pelvic floor reconstruction developed by Peking Union Medical College Hospital ( MPFR ) in treatment of severe pelvic organ prolapse (POP) by comparing the effectiveness, quality of postoperative sexual life, life satisfaction and risk factors for POP recurrence with the following two surgical procedures: traditional total vaginal hysterectomy with anterior-posterior colporrhaphy (TVH-APC) and total vaginal hysterectomy with lateral colporrhaphy and sacrospinous ligament fixation and vaginal bridge repair and episiotomy (TVH-LC-SSLFVBR-EP). Methods Totally 173 patients with severe POP and at least two compartments defects of pelvic floor underwent surgeries in the study, 86 patients (group A) were treated by MPFR with polypropylene mesh application, 58 (group B) were treated by TVH-APC, and 29 patients (group C) were treated by TVH-LC-SSLF-VBR-EP. Peri-operative data and outcomes of postoperative courses at 6, 12, 18 months were collected and analyzed, in the meantime, the risk factors of recurrence were studied. Results (1) No statistical difference was observed among the above 3 groups in terms of length of operation, amount of blood loss, length of hospital stay, and morbidity after surgery ( P ＞ 0.05). ( 2 ) Cost hospitalization was ( 11 448 ±3049) Yuan in group A, which was significantly higher than (7262 ± 1607) Yuan in group B and (7140 ± 1817 ) Yuan in group C (P ＜ 0.05 ). (3) The length of vaginal cuff of (7.5 ± 1.4) cm in group A and ( 5.6 ± 1.1 ) cm in group C were significantly longer than (7.1±0.6) cm in group B ( P＜0.05). The width of vaginal cuff of (4.3±0.3) cm in group A was larger than (3.4±0.3) cm in group B and (3.3±0.4) cm in group C (P＜0.05). (4) The recurrence rate at 12 months after surgery was 12.8% (11/86)in group A, which was similar with 17.2%(5/29) in group C (P＞0.05) and significantly less than 36.2% (21/58) in group B (P＜0.05). The rate of active sexual life of 16.3% (14/86) in group A was significantly higher than 1.7% (1/58) in group B and 0 in group C ( P ＜ 0. 05 ). The index of life quality improvement at 12 months after surgery was 48±12 in group A, which was no less than 53±16 in group C ( P＞0.05) and higher than 27 ± 9 in group B ( P＜0.05). (5 ) Mesh rejection was observed in 6 patients in group A within 3 months after surgery, while the posterior vaginal wall was exclusively involved. No difference was found in urinary retention or urinary incontinence among three groups (P ＞0. 05 ). (6) The severe degree of POP, type of surgical procedure ( TVT-APC), anterior compartment defect of pelvic floor,and early days of performing pelvic floor reconstruction surgeries were high risk factors for POP recurrence (P＜ 0.05). Conclusions MPFR has a better curative effect and lower recurrence rate on patients with POP. It can help patients regain integrity of anatomical structure and functions of pelvic floor. TVH-LCSSLF-VBR-EP is also effective.

Objective: To explore the current status and influencing factors of eating behaviors in adolescents, so as to provide a theoretical foundation for health promotion education among adolescents. Methods: Based on the database from Survey of Chinese Family Health Index (2021), by a random number table method, 1 065 teenagers were selected from the provincial capitals of 22 provinces and 5 autonomous regions in China, as well as 4 municipalities directly under the central government. A general characteristic questionnaire, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Short Form of the Family Health Scale (FHS-SF), 10-item Short Version of the Big Five Personality(BFP-10), Content-based Media Exposure Scale (CM-E) and Sakata Eating Behavior Scale Short Form(EBS-SF) were used to collect information. Multivariate stepwise linear regression analysis was employed to identify and analyze related factors of eating behaviors among adolescents. Receiver operating characteristic was used to validate the predictive ability of the EBS-SF score for overweight and obesity among adolescents. Results: The average scores of BFI-10,C-ME, FHS-SF, PHQ-9 and EBS-SF were (33.08±4.64)(19.20±4.55)(38.48±6.65)(6.09±5.63)(16.75±4.36), respectively. Multivariate linear regression showed that family type (other types), agreeableness, conscientiousness, family health and depression were the main related factors of EBS-SF scores among adolescents( B =2.61,-0.42,0.20,-0.11,0.23, P <0.05).The analysis of receiver operating characteristic curve showed that the EBS-SF scores had a good ability in predicting obesity among male adolescents ( AUC= 0.73, P <0.01). Conclusions Family type, big five personality, family health,depression are the related factors of eating behaviors among adolescents. EBS-SF scores are predictive of obesity in adolescents, which would provide a new perspective for promoting healthy eating habits among adolescents.

Objective:To analyze the risk factors affecting regional lymph node metastasis in salivary gland mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) and to establish a nomogram model for individually predicting lymph node metastasis in salivary gland MEC.Methods:The clinical data of 2 152 patients with salivary gland MEC from 1975 to 2020 were collected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database of the National Cancer Institute. The collected data were divided into training cohort (1 506 cases) and validation cohort (646 cases) according to the ratio of 7∶3. Single-factor regression and multi-factor logistic regression were used to screen factors related to local lymph node metastasis in salivary gland MEC, with constructing of a nomogram. Calibration curve, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, area under the ROC curve (AUC) and decision curve analysis were used to evaluate model performance in the validation cohort and the total cohort. Statistical tests were performed using SPSS (26.0) and R (4.3.0) software.Results:Multivariate logistic regression results showed that M stage [ OR(95% CI):12.360(3.295-46.365), P=0.014], pathological grade Ⅱ、Ⅲ、Ⅳ[ OR(95% CI): 1.956(1.329-2.879), 9.654(6.309-14.772), 9.298(6.072-14.238), P<0.001], T staging T2, T3, T4[ OR(95% CI): 1.706(0.932-3.124), 3.021(1.790-5.096), 3.311(1.925-5.695), P<0.001], and gender [ OR(95% CI):0.759(0.593-0.972), P=0.029] were independent factors affecting local lymph node metastasis in salivary gland MEC. Through verification in the validation cohort and the total cohort, the AUC values were greater than 0.8, and the calibration curve was close to the perfect reference line, proving that the constructed nomogram model had good specificity and sensitivity for predicting local lymph node metastasis in salivary gland MEC. Conclusion:M stage, pathological grade, T stage, and gender are risk factors for predicting regional lymph node metastasis and the established-nomogram has good predictive performance for local lymph node metastasis in salivary gland MEC.

[ABSTRACT]OBJECTIVE To analyze the risk factors for relapse in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps(CRSwNP)combined with asthm and provide favorable information for precise treatment and healthy prognosis of patients with CRSwNP combined with asthma.METHODS The clinical data of 161 patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps(CRSwNP)combined with asthm who underwent endoscopic surgery at the Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery,Yantai Yuhuanding Hospital,affiliated to Qingdao University,from January 2016 to June 2021 were selected.Based on Lasso's Cox regression analysis and multifactorial Cox regression analysis,the associated risk factors were investigated,and the area under curve(AUC)was calculated to determine the performance of the model.Finally,the Kaplan-Meier(K-M)curves were plotted for the relevant influencing factors.RESULTS The Age[HR(95%CI):0.96(0.948-0.98),P<0.001],gender[HR(95%CI):1.94(1.21-3.14),P=0.006],tissue eosinophil percentage[HR(95%CI):1.01(1.01-1.02),P=0.004],and endoscopic nasal polyp score[HR(95%CI):0.86(0.78-0.96),P=0.005]were highly correlated with recurrence in patients with CRSwNP combined with asthma.Patients with CRSwNP combined with asthma had a higher likelihood of relapse after treatment when the tissue Eos%was>21.28%and the endoscopic nasal polyp score was>4.CONCLUSION The age,gender,tissue eosinophil percentage and endoscopic nasal polyp score are independent risk factors for disease recurrence in patients with CRSwNP combined with asthma.

Gelsemium elegans is a traditional Chinese herb of medicinal importance, with indole terpene alkaloids as its main active components. To study the expression of the most suitable housekeeping reference genes in G. elegans, the root bark, stem segments, leaves and inflorescences of four different parts of G. elegans were used as materials in this study. The expression stability of 10 candidate housekeeping reference genes (18S, GAPDH, Actin, TUA, TUB, SAND, EF-1α, UBC, UBQ, and cdc25) was assessed through real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR, GeNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper, ΔCT, and RefFinder. The results showed that EF-1α was stably expressed in all four parts of G. elegans and was the most suitable housekeeping gene. Based on the coexpression pattern of genome, full-length transcriptome and metabolome, the key candidate targets of 18 related genes (AS, AnPRT, PRAI, IGPS, TSA, TSB, TDC, GES, G8H, 8-HGO, IS, 7-DLS, 7-DLGT, 7-DLH, LAMT, SLS, STR, and SGD) involved in the Gelsemium alkaloid biosynthesis were obtained. The expression of 18 related enzyme genes were analyzed by qRT-PCR using the housekeeping gene EF-1α as a reference. The results showed that these genes' expression and gelsenicine content trends were correlated and were likely to be involved in the biosynthesis of the Gelsemium alkaloid, gelsenicine.
Genes, Essential ; Gelsemium/genetics* ; Peptide Elongation Factor 1/genetics* ; Transcriptome ; Gene Expression Profiling/methods* ; Alkaloids ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods* ; Reference Standards