Objective To explore common target genes related to aging and osteoporosis using data from public databases and to screen for small molecule compounds with potential therapeutic effects.Methods Osteoporosis datasets GSE56814 and GSE56815 were downloaded and merged from the public gene expression database(Gene Expression Omnibus(GEO)).Senescent genes were selected and merged from the genecard database and the cell age database.Data cleaning and differential gene selection were performed using R software,and a volcano plot was created.Weighted gene co-expression network analysis was performed to screen out key modules and genes,and the machine learning methods were employed to screen target genes.A Venn diagram was drawn using the the Microbioinformatics platform,and cytoscape software was used to visualise protein interactions results.Interaction analysis of differentially encoded proteins was carried out using the STRING database,and prediction of small molecule compounds was carried out using Cmap database.Finally,Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves were plotted to find out the most meaningful target genes,followed by the establishment of a logistic regression model and the creation of a nomogram.Results A total of 127 differential genes were screened using the limma package.Weighted gene co-expression network analysis was performed on the differential genes and 103 highly expressed genes were screened.Three machine learning methods,lasso regression,support vector machine and random forest model,were used to finally obtain four target genes:FOXO3,HIRA,CBX5 and RAD1.The nomogram and calibration curves showed good predictive results.Five small molecule compounds with potential therapeutic effects were identified using the Cmap database:sakuraflavin(O-methylated isoflavone),XMD-885,kangaroo hyoscyamine,everolimus and XMD-1150.Conclusion FOXO3 and HIRA genes have now been confirmed to be the common target genes for aging and osteoporosis,and sakuraflavin has potential therapeutic effects on both conditions.

Objective To evaluate the prognostic value of endosomal sorting complex required for transport(ESCRT)-related genes in osteosarcoma(OS)based on bioinformatics.Methods Preprocessing was performed on 88 OS sequencing samples(with 29 death outcomes)downloaded from the TARGET database and 257 patient clinical information.The Cox proportional hazards model was constructed using the survival package to screen ESCRT genes related to the survival.The STRING database was used to construct a protein-protein interaction(PPI)network,and core genes were selected based on PPI.KEGG enrichment analysis was performed on the selected core genes with more than 5 nodes.Lasso regression analysis was applied to identify ESCRT-related genes more closely related to the prognosis of OS patients.Results A total of 1 486 ESCRT-related genes were identified,of which 164 were associated with the survival.CLTC,MYC,INSR,PTPN1,and TNFRSF1A were identified as core genes related to the prognosis of OS patients.OS patients were randomly divided into a training set(n=44)and a validation set(n=44).In the training set,OS patients in the high-risk group had the significantly shorter overall survival than those in the low-risk group(P<0.05),and the similar results were obtained in the validation set(P<0.01).The ROC(receiver operating characteristic)curve showed an AUC of 0.846 in the training set and 0.877 in the validation set.Prognostic survival analysis and differential analysis of core genes revealed no difference in MYC between high-and low-risk groups in the validation set,and no difference in INSR in the training set.In the overall dataset,all prognostic core genes showed significant differences(P<0.05).Survival analysis of core genes using the R package Survival showed significant differences in survival rates for four genes(CLTC,INSR,PTPN1,TNFRSF1A)except MYC(P>0.05).Univariate independent prognostic analysis identified three genes(TNFRSF1A,PTPN1,MYC)associated with OS survival.Multivariate independent prognostic analysis ultimately identified two key genes(TNFRSF1A,PTPN1)as independent factors influencing OS survival prognosis and closely related to OS patient survival.Conclusion A risk scoring model for OS survival prognosis based on the expression of two key genes,TNFRSF1A and PTPN1,was been successfully constructed using bioinformatics and it can provide more options for clinical treatment and survival prognosis assessment of OS.

Acute lung injury (ALI) has been a kind of acute and severe disease that is mainly characterized by systemic uncontrolled inflammatory response to the production of huge amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the lung tissue. Given the critical role of ROS in ALI, a Fe₃O₄ loaded bovine serum albumin (BSA) nanocluster (BF) was developed to act as a nanomedicine for the treatment of ALI. Combining with NIR irradiation, it exhibited excellent ROS scavenging capacity. Significantly, it also displayed the excellent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory functions for lipopolysaccharides (LPS) induced macrophages (RAW264.7), and Sprague Dawley rats via lowering intracellular ROS levels, reducing inflammatory factors expression levels, inducing macrophage M2 polarization, inhibiting NF-κB signaling pathway, increasing CD4⁺/CD8⁺ T cell ratios, as well as upregulating HSP70 and CD31 expression levels to reprogram redox homeostasis, reduce systemic inflammation, activate immunoregulation, and accelerate lung tissue repair, finally achieving the synergistic enhancement of ALI immunotherapy. It finally provides an effective therapeutic strategy of BF + NIR for the management of inflammation related diseases.

Working memory is an executive memory process that includes encoding, maintenance, and retrieval. These processes can be modulated by transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) with sinusoidal waves. However, little is known about the impact of the rate of current change on working memory. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of two types of tACS with different rates of current change on working memory performance and brain activity. We applied a randomized, single-blind design and divided 81 young participants who received triangular wave tACS, sinusoidal wave tACS, or sham stimulation into three groups. Participants performed n-back tasks, and electroencephalograms were recorded before, during, and after active or sham stimulation. Compared to the baseline, working memory performance (accuracy and response time) improved after stimulation under all stimulation conditions. According to drift-diffusion model analysis, triangular wave tACS significantly increased the efficiency of non-target information processing. In addition, compared with sham conditions, triangular wave tACS reduced alpha power oscillations in the occipital lobe throughout the encoding period, while sinusoidal wave tACS increased theta power in the central frontal region only during the later encoding period. The brain network connectivity results showed that triangular wave tACS improved the clustering coefficient, local efficiency, and node degree intensity in the early encoding stage, and these parameters were positively correlated with the non-target drift rate and decision starting point. Our findings on how tACS modulates working memory indicate that triangular wave tACS significantly enhances brain network connectivity during the early encoding stage, demonstrating an improvement in the efficiency of working memory processing. In contrast, sinusoidal wave tACS increased the theta power during the later encoding stage, suggesting its potential critical role in late-stage information processing. These findings provide valuable insights into the potential mechanisms by which tACS modulates working memory.
Humans ; Memory, Short-Term/physiology* ; Male ; Female ; Young Adult ; Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation/methods* ; Brain/physiology* ; Adult ; Electroencephalography ; Single-Blind Method

Objective To analyze the health economics of ultra-short wave therapy adjuvant to drug therapy for acute pharyngitis,and to provide a more cost-effective treatment option for clinical management.Methods Seventy patients with acute pharyngitis were randomly divided into a control group(35 cases)and an ultra-short wave group(35 cases).The control group received conventional drug therapy,while the ultra-short wave group received ultra-short wave therapy in addition to conventional drug therapy.The cure rate,treatment duration,direct costs,indirect costs,and total costs were compared between the two groups for clinical efficacy and health economics analysis.Results The cure rate in the ultra-short wave group was significantly higher than that in the control group(P=0.008),while the total treatment cost and treatment duration were significantly re-duced.To achieve the same therapeutic effect,the ultra-short wave group required 129.73 yuan less than the control group.Conclusion Ultra-short wave therapy adjuvant to conventional drug treatment for acute pharyngitis can more rapidly alleviate symptoms,reduce indirect costs due to work absence,without significantly increasing treatment expenses.It is a safe,effective,and economical therapy with higher therapeutic value compared to drug therapy alone,and is worthy of widespread promotion.

Objectives:To explore the morphological changes of the superficial and deep thoraolumbar paraspinal muscles on both convex and concave sides during rest and contraction states in patients with mod-erate adolescent idiopathic scoliosis(AIS),and their effects on scoliosis angle,to analyze the relations between scoliosis angle and the morphological changes of paraspinal muscles.Methods:21 AIS patients(thoracic Cobb angle 20°-45°,S-shaped with the main curve in thoracic segment,4 males and 17 females,aged 13.9±1.6 years old)treated in our hospital from July 2020 to December 2023 and 21 healthy subjects(7 males and 14 females,aged 14.6±1.4 years old)were prospectively enrolled.The morphological data of thoracolumbar paraspinal muscles were collected with musculoskeletal ultrasound,including the resting thickness and thick-ness during maximum voluntary isometric contraction(MVIC)of superficial erector spinae(ES)and multifidus(MF)muscles of AIS patients on both convex and concave sides(left and right sides of healthy controls).The differences in resting thickness,contraction thickness,change rate of contraction thickness,and total resting thickness and total contraction thickness(ES+MF)of superficial and deep thoracolumbar paravertebral muscles between the two groups were analyzed,and the structural characteristics of the thoracolumbar paravertebral muscles on the convex and concave sides of AIS were analyzed.The correlation between Cobb angle in tho-racolumbar segment and morphological indexes(resting thickness,contraction thickness change rates)of ES and MF muscles was analyzed,and the influence of scoliosis severity on the morphology of superficial and deep paravertebral muscle was further analyzed.Results:In AIS patients,the mean thoracic Cobb angle were 31.62°±7.68°,and mean lumbar Cobb angle were 19.52°±6.48°.Comparing with healthy controls,patients with AIS were significantly different in resting thickness,contraction thickness and thickness change rates of tho-racic paraspinal muscles on both convex and concave sides,and the resting thickness of ES in thoracic seg-ment on concave side was less than that on the convex side,which of MF was less on the convex side than on the concave side(P＜0.01).The contraction thickness of thoracic MF muscles on the convex and concave sides in S-type AIS patients was smaller than that in healthy controls(P＜0.05),while the contraction thickness of thoracic ES muscles on the convex and concave side wasn't statistically different from that of healthy con-trols,and the contraction thickness change rate of ES muscles on the convex and MF on the concave side of thoracic segment in AIS patients was significantly decreased(P＜0.05).There was no significant difference in the total resting thickness of thoracic(convex and concave)paravertebral muscles(ES+MF)between AIS patients and the corresponding segments(left and right)of control group(P＞0.05),and there was no statistically signifi-cant difference in the total resting thickness of thoracic paravertebral muscle between the convex and concave sides of AIS patients(P＞0.05).The total contraction thickness of thoracic paravertebral muscle(ES+MF)in AIS patients was lower than that in control group(P＜0.05).Compared with the control group,the resting thickness,contraction thickness and thickness change rate of lumbar MF muscle on the convex and concave sides in AIS patients were significantly reduced(P＜0.05),and the contraction thickness change rate of the lumbar ES muscle on the concave side was less than that of the control group(P＜0.05).There were no significant differ-ences in resting thickness and contraction thickness between the convex and concave paravertebral muscles in AIS patients(P＞0.05).The total resting thickness(ES+MF)and total contraction thickness(ES+MF)of lumbar(convex and concave)paraspinal muscles in AIS patients were lower than those in control group(P＜0.05).There was a significant negative correlation between the Cobb angle of the main thoracic curve and the rest-ing thickness of the thoracic MF muscle on the concave and the change rate of the contraction thickness of the thoracic ES muscle on the convex in S-type AIS patients(r=-0.53/-0.45,P＜0.05).There was no signifi-cant correlation between the Cobb angle of lumbar segment and the change rates of the resting thickness and contraction thickness of ES and MF muscles on both convex and concave sides(P＞0.05).Conclusions:In pa-tients with moderate S-type AIS,there are different muscle morphological changes in the paraspinal muscles on both convex and concave sides of the main thoracic curve,and the concave paravertebral muscle is more affected by scoliosis;The contraction function of the bilateral deep core stabilizing muscles in the lumbar re-gion is markedly decreased.Different patterns of superficial and deep muscle atrophy and contractility decline may be a key cause of spinal movement disorder and scoliosis progression in AIS patients.

Objective To investigate the expression and mechanistic role of the M2-type pyruvate kinase(PKM2)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3(STAT3)signaling pathway in the development of experimental autoim-mune uveitis(EAU).Methods Eighteen 4-to 5-week-old C57BL/6J mice were selected and randomly divided into a control group(normal breeding,set as the 0-day state post-modeling),Experimental Group A,and Experimental Group B(both established as stable EAU mouse models using the interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein peptide 651-670,com-plete Freund's adjuvant,and pertussis toxin,designated as the 14-day and 21-day states post-modeling,respectively),with 6 mice in each group.The anterior segment of the mice was observed using a slit-lamp microscope,fundus findings were collected using a fundus camera,and clinical and histopathological scores were evaluated after hematoxylin-eosin stai-ning.The protein expression level of serum interleukin(IL)-17A was detected by ELISA.The expression level of PKM2 protein in retinal tissue was detected by immunohistochemistry.The protein expression levels of PKM2,phosphorylated STAT3(p-STAT3),and STAT3 in mouse retinal tissue were detected by Western blot.Results The clinical scores of the anterior segment and fundus,as well as the retinal histopathological scores in Experimental Group A and Experimental Group B,were all significantly higher than those in the control group(all P＜0.05).The serum IL-17A protein expression levels in the control group,Experimental Group A,and Experimental Group B were(69.05±0.45)ng·L-1,(75.06±0.46)ng·L-1,and(72.04±0.82)ng·L-1,respectively.The optical density values of PKM2 protein expression in retinal tissue were(18.51±2.59)％,(37.35±4.67)％,and(29.75±2.17)％,respectively.The expression levels of serum IL-17A protein,retinal PKM2 protein,and retinal STAT3 and p-STAT3 proteins in Experimental Group A and Experimental Group B were all significantly higher than those in the control group(all P＜0.05).Conclusion The expression levels of key factors in the PKM2/STAT3 signaling pathway are positively correlated with the severity of EAU,indicating that this sig-naling pathway,as a positive regulator of the immune response,is involved in the pathological process of EAU.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of digital three-dimensional (3D) printing osteotomy guide plate assisted total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in treatment of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) patients with femoral internal implants. METHODS: The clinical data of 55 KOA patients who met the selection criteria between July 2021 and October 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 26 cases combined with femoral implants were treated with digital 3D printing osteotomy guide plate assisted TKA (guide plate group), and 29 cases were treated with conventional TKA (control group). There was no significant difference in gender, age, body mass index, side, Kellgren-Lawrence classification, preoperative visual analogue scale (VAS) score, Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) knee score, knee range of motion, and other baseline data between the two groups ( P>0.05). The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, incision length, postoperative first ambulation time, surgical complications; VAS score, knee HSS score, knee range of motion before operation, at 1 week and 3 months after operation, and at last follow-up; distal femoral lateral angle, proximal tibial medial angle, hip-knee-ankle angle and other imaging indicators at last follow-up were recorded and compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The operation time, incision length, intraoperative blood loss, and postoperative first ambulation time in the guide plate group were significantly lower than those in the control group ( P<0.05). In the control group, there were 1 case of incision rupture and bleeding and 1 case of lower limb intermuscular venous thrombosis, which was cured after symptomatic treatment. There was no complication such as neurovascular injury, incision infection, or knee prosthesis loosening in both groups. Patients in both groups were followed up 12-26 months, with an average of 16.25 months. The VAS score, HSS score, and knee range of motion improved at each time point after operation in both groups, and further improved with time after operation, the differences were significant ( P<0.05). The above indicators in the guide plate group were significantly better than those in the control group at 1 week and 3 months after operation ( P<0.05), and there was no significant difference between the two groups at last follow-up ( P>0.05). At last follow-up, the distal femoral lateral angle, the proximal tibial medial angle, and the hip-knee-ankle angle in the guide plate group were significantly better than those in the control group ( P<0.05). CONCLUSION The application of digital 3D printing osteotomy guide plate assisted TKA in the treatment of KOA patients with femoral implants can simplify the surgical procedures, overcome limitations of conventional osteotomy guides, reduce surgical trauma, achieve individualized and precise osteotomy, and effectively restore lower limb alignment and knee joint function.
Humans ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee/instrumentation* ; Osteoarthritis, Knee/surgery* ; Osteotomy/instrumentation* ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Female ; Printing, Three-Dimensional ; Femur/surgery* ; Middle Aged ; Bone Plates ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Aged ; Treatment Outcome ; Surgery, Computer-Assisted/methods* ; Knee Prosthesis ; Knee Joint/surgery* ; Operative Time

Objective To analyze the health economics of ultra-short wave therapy adjuvant to drug therapy for acute pharyngitis,and to provide a more cost-effective treatment option for clinical management.Methods Seventy patients with acute pharyngitis were randomly divided into a control group(35 cases)and an ultra-short wave group(35 cases).The control group received conventional drug therapy,while the ultra-short wave group received ultra-short wave therapy in addition to conventional drug therapy.The cure rate,treatment duration,direct costs,indirect costs,and total costs were compared between the two groups for clinical efficacy and health economics analysis.Results The cure rate in the ultra-short wave group was significantly higher than that in the control group(P=0.008),while the total treatment cost and treatment duration were significantly re-duced.To achieve the same therapeutic effect,the ultra-short wave group required 129.73 yuan less than the control group.Conclusion Ultra-short wave therapy adjuvant to conventional drug treatment for acute pharyngitis can more rapidly alleviate symptoms,reduce indirect costs due to work absence,without significantly increasing treatment expenses.It is a safe,effective,and economical therapy with higher therapeutic value compared to drug therapy alone,and is worthy of widespread promotion.

Background: The genus Atractylodes, native to East Asia, encompasses several species that serve as sources for the widely used traditional Chinese medicines Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma and Atractylodis Rhizoma. However, the international trade arouses concern regarding potential confusion and misidentification of Atractylodes species. Objective: A comprehensive understanding of the chemical diversity is crucial for ensuring the quality and exploring the potential variations in medicinal efficacy of Atractylodes. Methods: The GC-MS/MS-based metabolomics and multivariate statistical analysis identified 589 differentially accumulated metabolites across 5 Atractylodes species. Results: A total of 150 metabolites were predicted as potential chemical markers for species differentiation and quality assessment of Atractylodes. According to the metabolic profiles, the species of Atractylodes can be roughly classified into three categories: A. lancea and A. coreana with the volatile oil components being mainly atractylodin and β-eudesmol; A. macrocephala with the biomarker being atractylon; and A. japonica and A. carlinoides lying between the two categories above. Conclusions: Metabolomic results indicated that the metabolic profiles of A. carlinoides and A. macrocephala were similar and distinct from those of the other three species. Sesquiterpenoids were the main chemical components in the rhizome of A. carlinoides, which indicated the potential medicinal value of this plant.