OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) on improving motor function and regulating microglial activation based on Notch receptor 1 (Notch1)/Hes family bHLH transcription factor 1 (Hes1) pathway in mice with Parkinson's disease (PD). METHODS: Thirty-six male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into a control group, a model group and an EA group, 12 mice in each group. PD model was established by intraperitoneal injection of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) for 7 consecutive days in the model group and the EA group. From the 1st day of modeling, EA was applied at "Baihui" (GV20) and bilateral "Shenshu" (BL23) in the EA group, with continuous wave, in frequency of 2 Hz and current of 2 mA, 15 min a time, once a day for 14 days continuously. The behavioral performance was evaluated by gait test, pole climbing test and hanging test, the number of positive cells of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and the co-expression positive cells of Notch1/ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule 1 (Iba-1) in the substantia nigra of midbrain was assessed by immunofluorescence, the protein expression of TH, α-synuclein (α-syn), Notch1, Hes1, Iba-1, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), Arginase-1 (ARG1), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6 and IL-10 was detected by Western blot, the mRNA expression of Notch1 and Hes1 was detected by real-time PCR. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, in the model group, the stride frequency was accelerated (P<0.001) and the stride length was shortened (P<0.001) for the four limbs, the pole climbing test time was prolonged (P<0.01) and the grip level was reduced (P<0.01); in the substantia nigra of midbrain, the number of positive cells of TH was decreased (P<0.001), the number of co-expression positive cells of Notch1/Iba-1 was increased (P<0.001), the protein expression of α-syn, Notch1, Hes1, Iba-1, iNOS, TNF-α, IL-1βand IL-6 was increased (P<0.01, P<0.05, P<0.001), the protein expression of TH, ARG1 and IL-10 was decreased (P<0.01, P<0.001), the mRNA expression of Notch1 and Hes1 was increased (P<0.01). Compared with the model group, in the EA group, the stride frequency was decelerated (P<0.001) and the stride length was increased (P<0.05, P<0.01, P<0.001) for the four limbs, the pole climbing test time was shortened (P<0.05) and the grip level was increased (P<0.05); in the substantia nigra of midbrain, the number of positive cells of TH was increased (P<0.01), the number of co-expression positive cells of Notch1/Iba-1 was decreased (P<0.001), the protein expression of α-syn, Notch1, Hes1, Iba-1, iNOS, TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β was decreased (P<0.05, P<0.01), the protein expression of TH, ARG1 and IL-10 was increased (P<0.05, P<0.001, P<0.01), the mRNA expression of Notch1 and Hes1 was decreased (P<0.05). CONCLUSION EA can improve the behavioral performance and protect the dopaminergic neurons in PD mice, its mechanism may relate to the inhibition of Notch1/Hes1-mediated neuroinflammation, thus inhibiting the microglial activation.
Animals ; Electroacupuncture ; Microglia/metabolism* ; Male ; Receptor, Notch1/metabolism* ; Parkinson Disease/physiopathology* ; Transcription Factor HES-1/metabolism* ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Humans ; Signal Transduction

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of aucubin （Auc） on the malignant biological behavior of breast cancer cells by regulating cyclin-dependent kinase 1（CDK1）/cyclin B1（CCNB1）/Polo-like kinase 1 （PLK1） signaling pathway. METHODS Human breast cancer cells MCF-7 were divided into control group， Auc low-， medium- and high-concentration groups （AUC-L， AUC-M， AUC-H groups， 20， 40 and 80 μmol/L Auc）， Auc-H+pcDNA-NC group （80 μmol/L Auc+transfected pcDNA- NC plasmid）， and Auc-H+pcDNA-CDK1 group （80 μmol/L Auc+transfected pcDNA-CDK1 plasmid）. Cell proliferation， clonal formation， invasion and migration abilities， apoptosis and cycle distribution， and the expressions of related proteins of apoptosis， epithelial-mesenchymal transformation （EMT） and CDK1/CCNB1/PLK1 signaling pathway were detected in each group. The transplanted tumor model of BALB/c nude mice was established by subcutaneous inoculation of MCF-7 cell suspension， and the mice were divided into control group and Auc group （12 mice in each group）. The tumor volume， mass and the expressions of related proteins of CDK1/CCNB1/PLK1 signaling pathway in tumor tissues were detected. RESULTS Compared with control group， the number of clonal formation， proliferation rate， cell invasion number， scar healing rate， G1/G0 phase and S phase cell proportions， and the expressions of B cell lymphoma-2 （Bcl-2）， N-cadherin， fibronectin， CDK1， CCNB1 and PLK1 were decreased significantly （P＜0.05）. The apoptotic rate， G2/M phase cell proportion and the expressions of Bcl-2 associated X protein and E-cadherin were significantly increased， in a dose-dependent manner （P＜0.05）. Compared with the Auc-H+pcDNA-NC group， there was no statistical significance in the above indexes in the Auc-H group （P＞0.05）， while the above indexes in the Auc-H+ pcDNA-CDK1 group were significantly reversed （P＜0.05）. Compared with the control group， the tumor volume and mass， and the expressions of CDK1， CCNB1 and PLK1 in tumor tissue of Auc group were significantly decreased （P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS Auc can inhibit the proliferation， invasion and migration of breast cancer cells， induce cell cycle arrest， and inhibit the progression of EMT， which may be related to inhibiting the activation of the CDK1/CCNB1/PLK1 signaling pathway.

Objective:To explore the value of radiomics and deep learning in predicting the efficacy of initial transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Methods:This was a cohort study. The imaging and clinical information of HCC patients treated with TACE in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University from January 2015 to January 2021 were collected retrospectively. A total of 265 patients were divided into response group (175 cases) and non-response group (90 cases) according to the modified solid tumor efficacy evaluation criteria (mRECIST) 1 to 2 months after initial TACE. According to the proportion of 8∶2, the patients were randomly divided into training group (212 cases, 140 responders and 72 non-responders) and test set (53 cases, 35 responders and 18 non-responders). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to screen clinical variables and construct a clinical model. The radiomics features were extracted from the preoperative CT images, and radiomics model was constructed after feature dimensionality reduction. Using the deep learning method, three residual network (ResNet) models (ResNet18, ResNet50 and ResNet101) were established, and their effectiveness was compared and integrated to build a deep learning model with best performance. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to combine pairwise three models to establish the combined model. The receiver operating characteristic curve was used to evaluate the performance of the model to distinguish between TACE response and non-response groups.Results:In the test set, the area under the curve (AUC) of the clinical model and the radiomics model in the differentiation between response and non-response after TACE were 0.730 (95% CI 0.569-0.891) and 0.775 (95% CI 0.642-0.907). The AUC of ResNet18, ResNet50 and ResNet101 were 0.719, 0.748 and 0.533, respectively. The AUC for deep learning model obtained by integrating ResNet18 and ResNet50 was 0.806 (95% CI 0.665-0.946). After pairwise fusion, the combined deep learning-radiomics model showed the highest performance, with an AUC of 0.843 (95% CI 0.730-0.956), which was better than those of the deep learning-clinical model (AUC of 0.838, 95% CI 0.719-0.957) and the radiomics-clinical model (AUC of 0.786, 95% CI 0.648-0.898). Conclusions:The combined model of radiomics and deep learning has high performance in predicting the curative effect of TACE in patients with HCC before operation.

Background::While type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is considered a putative causal risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD), the intrinsic link underlying T2DM and CAD is not fully understood. We aimed to highlight the importance of integrated care targeting both diseases by investigating the phenotypic and genetic relationships between T2DM and CAD.Methods::We evaluated phenotypic associations using data from the United Kingdom Biobank ( N = 472,050). We investigated genetic relationships by leveraging genomic data conducted in European ancestry for T2DM, with and without adjustment for body mass index (BMI) (T2DM: Ncase/ Ncontrol = 74,124/824,006; T2DM adjusted for BMI [T2DM adjBMI]: Ncase/ Ncontrol = 50,409/523,897) and for CAD ( Ncase/ Ncontrol = 181,522/984,168). We performed additional analyses using genomic data conducted in multiancestry individuals for T2DM ( Ncase/ Ncontrol = 180,834/1,159,055). Results::Observational analysis suggested a bidirectional relationship between T2DM and CAD (T2DM→CAD: hazard ratio [HR] = 2.12, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.01–2.24; CAD→T2DM: HR = 1.72, 95% CI: 1.63–1.81). A positive overall genetic correlation between T2DM and CAD was observed ( rg = 0.39, P = 1.43 × 10 -75), which was largely independent of BMI (T2DM adjBMI–CAD: rg = 0.31, P = 1.20 × 10 –36). This was corroborated by six local signals, among which 9p21.3 showed the strongest genetic correlation. Cross-trait meta-analysis replicated 101 previously reported loci and discovered six novel pleiotropic loci. Mendelian randomization analysis supported a bidirectional causal relationship (T2DM→CAD: odds ratio [OR] = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.11-1.16; CAD→T2DM: OR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.07-1.18), which was confirmed in multiancestry individuals (T2DM→CAD: OR = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.10-1.16; CAD→T2DM: OR = 1.08, 95% CI: 1.04-1.13). This bidirectional relationship was significantly mediated by systolic blood pressure and intake of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors, with mediation proportions of 54.1% (95% CI: 24.9-83.4%) and 90.4% (95% CI: 29.3-151.5%), respectively. Conclusion::Our observational and genetic analyses demonstrated an intrinsic bidirectional relationship between T2DM and CAD and clarified the biological mechanisms underlying this relationship.

Objective:To construct a multi-sequence MRI radiomics combined with KRAS mutation nomogram model to predict the efficacy of pathological complete response (pCR) in patients with rectal cancer after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.Methods:This study was a case-control study. A total of 126 patients with rectal cancer who were treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University from June 2020 to December 2023 were retrospectively collected. The pathological response of the postoperative specimens was graded, with 64 cases of pCR and 62 cases of non-pCR. KRAS gene detection was performed on the pathological tissues before neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Among the patients, 34 cases had KRAS mutants and 92 cases had KRAS wild-types. The 126 patients were randomly divided into a training set and a validation set at a ratio of 8∶2 by the random number method, with 101 and 25 cases, respectively. The difference in KRAS mutation status between the pCR group and the non-pCR group was compared by the χ2 test. The radiomic features were extracted from the baseline T 2WI, diffusion-weighted imaging, and apparent diffusion coefficient images of the patients. The optimal radiomic features were screened out to establish the radiomics model. The radiomics-KRAS joint model was constructed by logistic regression, and a nomogram was drawn. The application efficiency of the model was evaluated by the receiver operating characteristic curve and calibration curve. Results:There was a statistically significant difference in KRAS mutation between the pCR group and the non-pCR group in the training set ( χ2=4.69, P=0.032). Ten radiomics features were screened out in MRI images to establish the radiomics model. In the training set and validation set, the areas under the curve (AUC) of KRAS mutation, radiomics model and radiomics-KRAS nomogram model for evaluating pCR after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy were 0.665 (95% CI 0.592-0.757), 0.746 (95% CI 0.651-0.895) and 0.818 (95% CI 0.742-0.934), respectively, and the AUCs of the validation set were 0.613 (95% CI 0.582-0.755), 0.738 (95% CI 0.627-0.839) and 0.833 (95% CI 0.768-0.961), respectively. The results of DeLong test showed that the AUC of radiomics-KRAS nomogram model was higher than that of KRAS mutation and radiomics model, and the difference was statistically significant ( Z=0.58, 0.63, P=0.024, 0.022 in the training set; Z=0.54, 0.61, P=0.018, 0.035 in the validation set). The calibration curve showed that the predicted probability of the radiomics-KRAS nomogram model was consistent with the actual probability. Conclusions:The multi-sequence MRI radiomics combined with the KRAS mutation nomogram model has the best efficacy in predicting pCR in patients with rectal cancer after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, and has good practical application value.

Abstract OBJECTIVE To determine the index weight, optimize the extraction process of gastropathy oral thick paste 1. METHODS Taking the amount of water added, extraction time and extraction times as factors, depend on the single factor experiment, L9(34) orthogonal table was selected to design the experiment. The content of chlorogenic acid was determined by HPLC and the content of total flavonoids content was determined by ultraviolet spectrophotometry. With the above two contents plus the yield of dry extractum as the evaluation index, the weights were assigned based on the analytic hierarchy process, entropy weight method and independence weight method, and the extraction process was optimized by orthogonal experimental design. RESULTS Multi-index scoring was more scientific and reasonable, and the final optimal extraction conditions for gastropathy oral thick paste 1 were as follows: add 8 times the amount of water, extract twice and 0.5 h for each time. CONCLUSION The optimized extraction process using analytic hierarchy process, entropy weight method and independence weight method is reasonable, feasible, stable, and reproducible, which is suitable for the preparation of gastropathy oral thick paste 1, providing reference for subsequent research and development.

Glioblastoma(GBM)is a lethal cancer with limited therapeutic options.Dendritic cell(DC)-based cancer vaccines provide a promising approach for GBM treatment.Clinical studies suggest that other immu-notherapeutic agents may be combined with DC vaccines to further enhance antitumor activity.Here,we report a GBM case with combination immunotherapy consisting of DC vaccines,anti-programmed death-1(anti-PD-1)and poly I:C as well as the chemotherapeutic agent cyclophosphamide that was integrated with standard chemoradiation therapy,and the patient remained disease-free for 69 months.The patient received DC vaccines loaded with multiple forms of tumor antigens,including mRNA-tumor associated antigens(TAA),mRNA-neoantigens,and hypochlorous acid(HOCl)-oxidized tumor lysates.Furthermore,mRNA-TAAAs were modified with a novel TriVac technology that fuses TAAs with a destabilization domain and inserts TAAs into full-length lysosomal associated membrane protein-1 to enhance major histo-compatibility complex(MHC)class Ⅰ and Ⅱ antigen presentation.The treatment consisted of 42 DC cancer vaccine infusions,26 anti-PD-1 antibody nivolumab administrations and 126 poly I:C injections for DC infusions.The patient also received 28 doses of cyclophosphamide for depletion of regulatory T cells.No immunotherapy-related adverse events were observed during the treatment.Robust antitumor CD4+and CD8+T-cell responses were detected.The patient remains free of disease progression.This is the first case report on the combination of the above three agents to treat glioblastoma patients.Our results suggest that integrated combination immunotherapy is safe and feasible for long-term treatment in this patient.A large-scale trial to validate these findings is warranted.

Objective:To evaluate the relationship between hippocampal miR-3065-5p and insulin-like growth factor-1/phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B(IGF-1/PI3K/Akt)signaling pathway in a mouse model of perioperative neurocognitive disorder (PND).Methods:Eighty clean-grade healthy male C75BL/6 mice, aged 12-14 weeks, weighing 20-30 g, were divided them into 4 groups ( n=20 each) using the random number table method: control group (C group), PND group, miR-3065-5p agonist group (Ag group) and miR-3065-5p agonist negative control group (Ag-NC group). PND model was prepared by internal fixation of tibial fracture under anesthesia with 1.5% isoflurane. Two days before developing the model, miR-3065-5p agomir 2 μl was injected into the lateral ventricle in Ag group, miR-3065-5p agomir negative control 2 μl was injected into the lateral ventricle in Ag-NC group. Morris water maze test and open field test were performed at 7 days after surgery. The mice were sacrificed after the end of test, and hippocampal tissues were obtained for determination of the expression of miR-3065-5p, IGF-1 mRNA and Bcl-2 mRNA (by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction) and expression of IGF-1, phosphorylated Akt (p-Akt), phosphorylated glycogen synthase kinase-3β (p-GSK3β) and Bcl-2 (by Western blot). Results:There was no significant difference in each parameter in the open field test among the four groups ( P>0.05). Compared with group C, the postoperative escape latency was significantly prolonged, the percentage of time of stay at the target quadrant was decreased, the number of crossing the original platform was reduced, the expression of miR-3065-5p was up-regulated, and the expression of IGF-1 mRNA, Bcl-2 mRNA, IGF-1, p-Akt, p-GSK3β and Bcl-2 was down-regulated in the other three groups ( P<0.05). Compared with PND group and Ag-NC group, the postoperative escape latency was significantly prolonged, the percentage of time of stay at the target quadrant was decreased, the number of crossing the original platform was reduced, the expression of miR-3065-5p was up-regulated, and the expression of IGF-1 mRNA, Bcl-2 mRNA, IGF-1, p-Akt, p-GSK3β and Bcl-2 was down-regulated in Ag group ( P<0.05). Conclusions:Up-regulation of miR-3065-5p can inhibit the activation of IGF-1/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, which might be one of the mechanisms of PND developed in mice.

Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the common malignant tumors, and most patients with hepatocellular carcinoma are already in the middle stage at the time of clinical detection, transarterial chemoembolization is the treatment of choice for mid-stage hepatocellular carcinoma.Due to the high degree of tumor heterogeneity, accurately predicting the outcome of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after transarterial chemoembolization remains one of the difficulties in clinical practice.As an emerging technology, radiomics can not only reflect tumor heterogeneity non-invasively, but also monitor, evaluate and predict tumor progression by analyzing changes in the tumor microenvironment to guide patients′ personalized treatment and prolong their survival time.This article reviews the progress of the application of radiomics in predicting the efficacy of transarterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective:To explore the application of energy spectrum CT single energy combined with adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction-Veo (ASIR-V) for optimizing inferior vena cava imaging.Methods:Thirty patients with negative diagnosis or minimal inferior vena cava lesions who underwent CT venography (CTV) of inferior vena cava in the Second Hospital of Harbin Medical University from August 2021 to April 2022 were enrolled in the study, including 11 males and 19 females with the age of (55.4±8.8) years and the body mass index of (23.2±2.8) kg/m2. The mixed energy group images and 5 single energy groups of 50, 55, 60, 65 and 70 keV images were reconstructed from the images in the inferior vena cava phase. The subcutaneous fat noise, CT values, signal to noise ratio (SNR) and contrast to noise ratio (CNR) for each segment of the inferior vena cava in 5 sets of single-energy images were measured and evaluated subjectively to determine the best single energy level. The images were reconstructed by combining different weight ASIR-V (20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70% and 80%) algorithms, and images from different weight groups and mixed energy groups were evaluated objectively to determine the best ASIR-V weights which was matched with the best single energy level. All images were scored subjectively by 2 senior radiologists based on image noise, uniformity of vessel filling, sharpness of vessel margins and diagnostic confidence.Results:There were significant differences in subcutaneous fat noise and objective evaluation indexes of each segment of inferior vena cava among the monoenergetic groups (all P<0.05), each objective evaluation index increased with the decrease of energy level, the maximum value was obtained in the 50 keV group. The subjective scores of the 5 groups were consistent by the 2 radiologists(all κ≥0.75). The highest subjective scores were obtained in the 60 keV group, the best single energy level is 60 keV in a comprehensive analysis. The differences in objective evaluation indicators among the 7 groups of best single energy combined with different weights ASIR-V image group and the mixed energy group were all statistically significant (all P<0.01). Image noise decreased with increasing ASIR-V weights for different weight groups, all differences among groups were statistically significant (all P<0.01), and the minimum noise was minimal in 80% weight group. There was no significant change in CT value of each segment of inferior vena cava (all P>0.05). The SNR and CNR of each segment of inferior vena cava increased, all differences among groups were statistically significant (all P<0.01), and the SNR and CNR of 80% weight group was the highest. The subjective scores of the 8 groups were consistent evaluated by the 2 radiologists (all κ≥0.75), and the subjective score of 60% weight group was the highest, 60% was the best ASIR-V weight for matching 60 keV in a comprehensive analysis. Conclusions:The study indicates that the best energy level for optimizing energy spectrum CT single energy imaging of the inferior vena cava is 60 keV, on the basis of which the best weighting for combined ASIR-V is 60%.