Lumbar disc (LD) herniation and aging are prevalent conditions that can result in substantial morbidity. This study aimed to clarify the mechanisms connecting the LD aging and herniation, particularly focusing on cellular senescence and molecular alterations in the nucleus pulposus (NP). We performed a detailed analysis of NP samples from a diverse cohort, including individuals of varying ages and those with diagnosed LD herniation. Our methodology combined histological assessments with single-nucleus RNA sequencing to identify phenotypic and molecular changes related to NP aging and herniation. We discovered that cellular senescence and a decrease in nucleus pulposus progenitor cells (NPPCs) are central to both processes. Additionally, we found an age-related increase in NFAT1 expression that promotes NPPC senescence and contributes to both aging and herniation of LD. This research offers fresh insights into LD aging and its associated pathologies, potentially guiding the development of new therapeutic strategies to target the root causes of LD herniation and aging.
Intervertebral Disc Displacement/metabolism* ; Humans ; Aging/pathology* ; Nucleus Pulposus/pathology* ; Male ; Female ; Transcriptome ; Middle Aged ; Lumbar Vertebrae/pathology* ; Adult ; Cellular Senescence ; Stem Cells/pathology* ; Aged ; Intervertebral Disc Degeneration/metabolism*

【Objective】 To explore the the potential risks of antiretroviral therapy(ART) drugs on blood safety among blood donors in Shenzhen. 【Methods】 High pressure liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) was used to measure ART drugs concentrations in the plasma of regular blood donors (negative control group, n=86) and anti-HIV positive individuals (experimental group, n=98, detected from approximately 440 000 blood donors during 2019—2023). The baseline plasma concentrations of ART drugs in the negative control group were clarified, and the impact of ART drugs on blood safety was analyzed. 【Results】 The baseline concentrations of ART drugs were not detected in 86 samples of negative control group. Four positive ART drugs samples were detected in 1∶2 pooled plasma samples of 98 anti-HIV positive blood donors plasma in the resolution test. The ART positive rate of anti-HIV positive donors was 4.08%, with tenofovir, lamivudine and efavirenz detected in three blood donors and lamivudine, lopinavir, ritonavir and zidovudine detected in one blood donor. 【Conclusion】 ART drugs were found among anti-HIV positive blood donors in Shenzhen. Additional research is needed to investigate the motivation of these specific donors, so as to ascertain the groups most susceptible to potential risks, and guarantee blood safety.

The medical metaverse is a combination of medicine and other cutting-edge technologies such as computer and information ones. In the medical metaverse, medical knowledge in the real world will be transformed into a digital form, so that activities concerning diagnosis, treatment, education and clinical practice can be carried out in a virtual environment. Based on the latest research advances at home and abroad, this review expounds on the medical metaverse from the aspects of supporting technologies, applications in clinic and medical education, current deficiencies and future development.

OBJECTIVE To compare the effects of roxadustat and recombination human erythropoietin （rHuEPO） on coronary artery calcification in maintenance hemodialysis （MHD） patients. METHODS In retrospective analysis， MHD patients prescribed roxadustat in the Blood Purification Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from April 2019 to June 2021 were selected as the ROX group （56 patients）， and MHD patients prescribed rHuEPO during the same period were selected as the EPO group （60 patients）， and follow-up observation was conducted for 12 months. The differences in laboratory index， coronary artery calcification score （CACS）， and cardiac ultrasound parameters before and after treatment as well as the occurrence of cardiac and cerebrovascular adverse events during follow-up period were compared between the two groups. RESULTS There was no statistical difference in CACS between the two groups before and after treatment （P＞0.05）； but the difference of CACS in the ROX group was significantly lower than the EPO group （P＜0.05）. There was no statistically significant difference in cardiac ultrasound parameters and laboratory indexes between the two groups before and after treatment （P＜0.05）. The incidence of apoplexy and myocardial infarction in the ROX group was lower than that in the EPO group （P＜0.05）， and there was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of hospitalization due to heart failure between the two groups （P＞0.05）. CONCLUSIONS Compared with rHuEPO， roxadustat may have a positive effect on delaying coronary artery calcification in MHD patients and may be beneficial in reducing the incidence of myocardial infarction and apoplexy in MHD patients.

Objective To observe the effects of electroacupuncture on the learning and memory abilities of Alzheimer disease(AD)rats;To explore its potential mechanism based on proteomics.Methods Totally 36 SD male rats were randomly divided into sham-operation group,model group and heart meridian acupoints group,with 12 rats in each group.Aβ1-42 were injected into the bilateral hippocampus to establish AD rat model,the sham-operation group was injected with an equal volume of normal saline.The heart meridian acupoints group received electroacupuncture treatment,accompanied by a stimulation time of 20 minutes,rest for 1 day after 6 days of electroacupuncture for 7 consecutive weeks.The Morris water maze experiment was used to evaluate the learning and memory abilities of AD rats,tandem mass tag(TMT)labeling technology and bioinformatics analysis were used to screen core differentially expressed proteins in important typical pathways,and key differentially expressed protein was verified by parallel reaction monitoring(PRM).Results There was no statistically significant difference in swimming speed between each group of rats(P>0.05).Compared with the sham-operation group,the escape latency of Morris water maze experiment in the model group increased significantly(P<0.01);compared with the model group,the escape latency of heart meridian acupoints group was significantly shortened on the 2-4th day(P<0.01).A total of 209 differentially expressed proteins were identified in different groups using TMT labeling quantification,among which 12 proteins showed significant changes among the 3 groups.GO annotation involved biological processes such as metal ion transport,sodium ion transport,and sodium ion transmembrane transport,as well as cellular components such as synapses,presynapse,and synaptic vesicle,involving solute:sodium symporter activity,organic acid:sodium symporter activity,amino acid:cation symporter activity,amino acid:sodium symporter activity,and other molecular functions;KEGG analysis significantly enriched the synaptic vesicle pathway.The PRM validation results indicated that electroacupuncture at the heart meridian acupoints could reduce the expressions of sodium and chloride dependent GABA transporter protein 3(GAT3),which was consistent with the quantitative detection results of TMT labeling quantification.Conclusion Electroacupuncture at the heart meridian acupoints can improve the learning and memory abilities of AD rats,possibly by regulating the expression of synaptic transporter GAT3 on the synaptic vesicle pathway to exert neuroprotective effects.

Objective To assess the effectiveness and safety of CYP2C19 genotype test to guide clopi-dogrel individualized therapy in treating ischemic stroke.Methods The databases of PubMed,Embase,Co-chrane Library,Web of Science,Clinical Trail,CBM,CNKI,Wanfang database and VIP database were compre-hensively retrieved.The retrieval time was from the database establishment to August 2023.The randomized controlled trials (RCT) of CYP2C19 gene guiding clopidogrel anti-platelet therapy in the patients with ische-mic stroke were collected.The meta analysis was conducted by adopting the RevMan 5.3 software.Results A total of eleven RCT and 8729 patients with ischemic stroke were included.The meta analysis results showed that there was statistically significant difference in the recurrence rate risk of stroke (OR=0.48,95％CI:0.28-0.83,P=0.008),cardiovascular events incidence rate (OR=0.52,95％CI:0.33-0.82,P=0.005) and incidence rate of all-cause death (OR=0.57,95％CI:0.31-1.06,P=0.070) between clopidogrel individ-ualized anti-platelet treatment based on CYP2C19 genotype detection guidance and conventional anti-platelet treatment.In terms of safety,there were no statistically significant difference in the incidence rate of bleeding between the two groups (OR=1.16,95％CI:0.53-2.50,P=0.710).Conclusion CYP2C19 genotype detec-tion guided clopidogrel personalized anti-platelet therapy could significantly reduce the recurrent rate of stroke and incidence rate of vascular events compared with conventional anti-platelet treatment based on the existing evidence,moreover without increasing the risk of bleeding event occurrence

Periarticular fracture of the shoulder is a common type of fractures in the elderly. Postoperative adverse events such as internal fixation failure, humeral head ischemic necrosis and upper limb dysfunction occur frequently, which seriously endangers the exercise and health of the elderly. Compared with the fracture with normal bone mass, the osteoporotic periarticular fracture of the shoulder is complicated with slow healing and poor rehabilitation, so the clinical management becomes more difficult. At present, there is no targeted guideline or consensus for this type of fracture in China. In such context, experts from Youth Osteoporosis Group of Chinese Orthopedic Association, Orthopedic Expert Committee of Geriatrics Branch of Chinese Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Osteoporosis Group of Youth Committee of Chinese Association of Orthopedic Surgeons and Osteoporosis Committee of Shanghai Association of Chinese Integrative Medicine developed the Chinese expert consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporotic periarticular fracture of the shoulder in the elderly ( version 2023). Nine recommendations were put forward from the aspects of diagnosis, treatment strategies and rehabilitation of osteoporotic periarticular fracture of the shoulder, hoping to promote the standardized, systematic and personalized diagnosis and treatment concept and improve functional outcomes and quality of life in elderly patients with osteoporotic periarticular fracture of the shoulder.

Age-dependent loss of skeletal muscle mass and function is a feature of sarcopenia, and increases the risk of many aging-related metabolic diseases. Here, we report phenotypic and single-nucleus transcriptomic analyses of non-human primate skeletal muscle aging. A higher transcriptional fluctuation was observed in myonuclei relative to other interstitial cell types, indicating a higher susceptibility of skeletal muscle fiber to aging. We found a downregulation of FOXO3 in aged primate skeletal muscle, and identified FOXO3 as a hub transcription factor maintaining skeletal muscle homeostasis. Through the establishment of a complementary experimental pipeline based on a human pluripotent stem cell-derived myotube model, we revealed that silence of FOXO3 accelerates human myotube senescence, whereas genetic activation of endogenous FOXO3 alleviates human myotube aging. Altogether, based on a combination of monkey skeletal muscle and human myotube aging research models, we unraveled the pivotal role of the FOXO3 in safeguarding primate skeletal muscle from aging, providing a comprehensive resource for the development of clinical diagnosis and targeted therapeutic interventions against human skeletal muscle aging and the onset of sarcopenia along with aging-related disorders.
Animals ; Humans ; Sarcopenia/metabolism* ; Forkhead Box Protein O3/metabolism* ; Muscle, Skeletal/metabolism* ; Aging/metabolism* ; Primates/metabolism*

Objective:To investigate the clinical features and influencing factors of long-term prognosis of tuberculous meningitis(TBM), and to provide a recommendation for treatment and early intervention of TBM.Methods:Clinical data of TBM patients were retrospectively collected at Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 2014 to December 2021. Patients who were followed-up more than one year were divided into two groups according to modified Rankin Scale (mRS). Risk factors associated with long-term prognosis were analyze by conditional logistic stepwise regression.Results:A total of 60 subjects were enrolled including 33 (55%) males and 27 (45%) females with age 15-79 (44.5±19.8) years. There were 30 cases (50%) complicated with encephalitis, 21 cases (35%) with miliary tuberculosis. The diagnosis was microbiologically confirmed in 22 patients (36.7%), including 5 cases (22.7%, 5/22) by acid-fast staining, 8 cases (36.4%, 8/22) by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) culture, and 20 cases (90.9%, 20/22) by molecular biology. The median follow-up period was 52(43, 66 ) months in 55 cases surviving more than one year. Among them, 40 cases (72.7%) were in favorable group (mRS 0-2) and 15 cases (27.3%) were in unfavorable group (mRS 3-6) with poor prognosis. The mortality rate was 20% (11/55). Elderly ( OR=1.06, P=0.048 ) , hyponatremia( OR=0.81, P=0.020), high protein level in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) ( OR=3.32, P=0.033), cerebral infarction( OR=10.50, P=0.040) and hydrocephalus( OR=8.51, P=0.049) were associated with poor prognosis in TBM patients. Conclusions:The mortality rate is high in patients with TBM. Molecular biology tests improves the sensitivity and shorten the diagnosis time of TBM. Elderly, hyponatremia, high protein level in CSF, cerebral infarction and hydrocephalus are independent risk factors of long-term survival in TBM patients.

Maili moxibustion can alleviate cancer pain, reduce bone marrow suppression, alleviate gastrointestinal reaction of chemotherapeutic drugs, alleviate cancer-related fatigue, inhibit neurotoxic reaction, improve quality of life and prolong patients' survival. It plays therapeutic effects by regulating immunity, inhibiting tumor cell proliferation and regulating tumor microenvironment. The researches of Maili moxibustion for tumor focus on reducing the toxic or side effects of radiotherapy or chemotherapy. In the future, we should continue to study the combination of Maili moxibustion and other therapies on the treatment of tumor.