Objective To evaluate the morphological changes of sural nerve in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus by hyperfrequency ultrasound.Methods Fifty-six sural nerves of symptomatic group,64 sural nerves of asymptomatic group,and 60 sural nerves of control group were identified by 22 MHz Ultrasound.The thickness/width (T/W) ratio,cross-sectional areas (CSA) and the maximum thickness of neuronal fascicles (MT) of the sural nerve were calculated in transverse sonograms.Results ①Ultrasound can clearly show these structures of sural nerve such as epineurium,perineurium and nerve bundles and so on.②In symptomatic group,asymptomatic group and control group,T/W ratio and MT were gradually increased,and the differences among the three groups were statistically significant (P＜0.05).Whereas,there were no statistically significant differences in CSA among the three groups (P=0.257).Conclusions22 MHz ultrasound may be a valuable tool in evaluating the diabetic cutaneous nerve neuropathy

OBJECTIVE: To determine the role of miR-155 in the pathogenesis of generalized myasthenia gravis (GMG) and the effect of dexamethasone (DXM) on miR-155. METHODS: The expression of miR-155 in B cells from the GMG patients and healthy controls was analyzed by qPCR. The B cells were cultured with DXM and PBS. The B cell proliferation was examined by MTT; CD80 and CD86 frequencies were detected by flow cytometry; and anti-AChRIgG and isotypes anti-AChR-IgG1, 2, 3 in the supernatant were detected by ELISA. RESULTS: qPCR revealed that the expression of miR-155 in the B cells was much higher than that in the controls, and the miR155 expression decreased after DXM treatment. flow cytometry showed that there was no significant difference in the proliferation and the expressions of CD80 and CD86 in the B cells between the DXM group and the PBS group. The concentration of anti-AChR-IgG1 was obviously lower in the DXM group than in the PBS group, but the concentration of anti-AChRIgG, anti-AChR-IgG2, and anti-AchR-IgG3 was similar. CONCLUSION high expression of miR-155 may be associated with myasthenia gravis progression. DXM may disturb the antibody class switch of B cells by suppressing the expression of miR-155 and improve the symptom of MG patients.
Adult ; B-Lymphocytes ; cytology ; immunology ; metabolism ; B7-1 Antigen ; metabolism ; Cell Proliferation ; Cells, Cultured ; Dexamethasone ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; immunology ; Male ; MicroRNAs ; genetics ; metabolism ; Middle Aged ; Myasthenia Gravis ; drug therapy ; genetics ; immunology ; Receptors, Cholinergic ; immunology ; Tetraspanin 28 ; metabolism ; Young Adult

Objective:To investigate effects of bone-resorptive lesion on stress distribution of femoral head and on progression in patients with osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH).Methods:From April 2014 to September 2018, a total of 155 femoral heads from 94 patients diagnosed with ARCO stage II and III ONFH were retrospectively reviewed, including 77 males and 17 females with aged 39.90±10.45 years old (ranged from 18-64 years). The hips were divided into two groups according to whether there were bone-resorptive lesions. Further, we compared whether there was statistical difference between the two groups in staging. Then, a case of ARCO II hip joint without bone-resorptive lesion was selected from the included patients. Six femoral head with different diameters of spherical bone-resorptive lesion of 5 mm, 7 mm, 10 mm, 14 mm, 18 mm, and 23 mm were simulated. The influence of bone-resorptive lesion on the stress distribution of necrotic area and a spherical shell extending 1 mm radially around the bone-resorptive lesion was investigated by finite element method in slow walking conditions.Results:Of the 155 ONFH hips, 67 hips are complicated by bone-resorptive lesions, of which 17 were ARCO II, 50 were ARCO III. A total of 88 hips did not contain bone-resorptive lesions, of which 58 were ARCO II, ARCO III 30 cases. The proportion of ARCO stage II in the group with bone-resorptive lesions was significantly higher than that in the group without bone-resorptive lesions (χ 2=25.03, P=0.000). The finite element stress distribution cloud diagram showed that there was a stress concentration area around the bone-resorptive lesions. The maximum von Mises stress around bone-resorptive lesions in the models that contained a synthetic bone-resorptive lesions were significantly higher than those reported in the matched, non-synthetic bone-resorptive lesions finite element models ( t=3.139, P=0.026). The values for maximum von Mises stress around bone-resorptive lesions were 6.94±1.78 MPa and 5.01±0.35 MPa for the group with synthetic bone-resorptive lesions and the group non-synthetic bone-resorptive lesions, respectively. There was a positive correlation between the diameter of bone-resorptive lesions and the maximum and mean von Mises stress of necrotic areas as well as the maximum von Mises stress around bone-resorptive lesions. Conclusion:Bone-resorptive lesions can increase the maximum stress and average stress in the necrotic area. The larger the bone-resorptive lesion, the more the stress increases. There is a stress concentration area around the bone-resorptive lesions, which may accelerate the collapse of the femoral head.

Objective To investigate the pathogenesis of type-B aortic dissection by using morphological analysis and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method, so as to provide evidence for the effective prediction of type-B aortic dissection. Methods Six primary type-B dissection cases scanned by CT (dissection group) and six normal cases applied to black-blood MRI (control group) were included in this study and patient-specific three-dimensional (3D) models of aorta were established through image segmentation and 3D reconstruction. The pre-type-B dissection aortas were constructed by applying the scaling algorithm to shrink the dissection and then compared with subjects in control group. The differences between morphological parameters and hemodynamic parameters of the two groups were compared. Results Compared with the normal cases, the area of the descending aorta increased dramatically in dissection group ［(892.03±263.78) mm2 vs (523.67±64.10) mm2, P=0.036］. A significant decrease in angle of the left subclavian artery occurred (66.62°±20.11° vs 100.40°±15.35°, P=0.036). The tortuosity of the aorta also had an obvious increase (0.37°±0.07° vs 0.21°±0.51°, P=0.011). The time-averaged wall shear stress (TAWSS) in dissection group was obviously higher than that in control group; the flow in the dissection region was vortex flow at low speed and the oscillating shear index (OSI) was higher. Conclusions The results of this study can be used to provide guidance for the early diagnosis and treatment of type-B aortic dissection.

Light adaptation enables the vertebrate visual system to operate over a wide range of ambient illumination. Regulation of phototransduction in photoreceptors is considered a major mechanism underlying light adaptation. However, various types of neurons and glial cells exist in the retina, and whether and how all retinal cells interact to adapt to light/dark conditions at the cellular and molecular levels requires systematic investigation. Therefore, we utilized single-cell RNA sequencing to dissect retinal cell-type-specific transcriptomes during light/dark adaptation in mice. The results demonstrated that, in addition to photoreceptors, other retinal cell types also showed dynamic molecular changes and specifically enriched signaling pathways under light/dark adaptation. Importantly, Müller glial cells (MGs) were identified as hub cells for intercellular interactions, displaying complex cell‒cell communication with other retinal cells. Furthermore, light increased the transcription of the deiodinase Dio2 in MGs, which converted thyroxine (T4) to active triiodothyronine (T3). Subsequently, light increased T3 levels and regulated mitochondrial respiration in retinal cells in response to light conditions. As cones specifically express the thyroid hormone receptor Thrb, they responded to the increase in T3 by adjusting light responsiveness. Loss of the expression of Dio2 specifically in MGs decreased the light responsive ability of cones. These results suggest that retinal cells display global transcriptional changes under light/dark adaptation and that MGs coordinate intercellular communication during light/dark adaptation via thyroid hormone signaling.
Animals ; Mice ; Dark Adaptation ; Light ; Retina ; Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells/metabolism* ; Adaptation, Ocular ; Neuroglia/physiology* ; Cell Communication ; Thyroid Hormones