As a common neurological disease in China, stroke has an extremely high rate of death and disability, of which 80% is ischemic stroke (IS), causing a serious burden to individuals and society. Neuronal death is an important factor in the pathogenesis of stroke. Studies have shown that mitochondrial dynamics, as a key mechanism regulating intracellular energy metabolism and cell death, plays an important role in the pathogenesis of IS. In recent years, targeting mitochondrial dynamics has become an emerging therapeutic tool to improve neurological impairment after stroke. This paper reviews the research advance in recent years in IS mitochondrial dynamics, summarizing and discussing the overview of mitochondrial dynamics, the role of mitochondrial dynamics in IS, and the studies on mitochondrial dynamics-based treatment of IS. This paper helps to explore the mechanism of the role of mitochondrial dynamics in IS and effective interventions, and provides a theoretical strategy for targeting mitochondrial dynamics to treat IS in the clinic.
Humans ; Mitochondrial Dynamics/physiology* ; Ischemic Stroke/metabolism* ; Mitochondria/physiology* ; Animals ; Brain Ischemia/physiopathology* ; Energy Metabolism

This study aims to explore the effects and mechanisms of the traditional Chinese medicine Cordyceps sinensis(CS) in ameliorating heart aging and injury in mice based on animal experiments and network pharmacology. A mouse model of heart aging was established by continuously subcutaneous injection of D-galactose(D-gal). Thirty mice were randomly assigned into a normal group, a model group, a low-dose CS(CS-L) group, a high-dose CS(CS-H) group, and a vitamin E(VE) group. Mice in these groups were administrated with normal saline, different doses of CS suspension, or VE suspension via gavage daily. After 60 days of treatment with D-gal and various drugs, all mice were euthanized, and blood and heart tissue samples were collected for determination of the indicators related to heart aging and injury in mice. Experimental results showed that both high and low doses of CS and VE ameliorated the aging phenotype, improved the heart index and myocardial enzyme spectrum, restored the expression levels of proteins associated with cell cycle arrest and senescence-associated secretory phenotypes(SASP), and alleviated the fibrosis and histopathological changes of the heart tissue in model mice. From the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform(TCMSP),259 active ingredients of CS were retrieved. From Gene Cards and OMIM, 2 568 targets related to heart aging were identified, and 133common targets shared by CS and heart aging were obtained. The Gene Ontology(GO) functional annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes( KEGG) pathway enrichment revealed that the pathways related to heart aging involved oxidative stress,apoptosis, inflammation-related signaling pathways, etc. The animal experiment results showed that both high and low doses of CS and VE ameliorated oxidative stress and apoptosis in the heart tissue to varying degrees in model mice. Additionally, CS-H and VE activated the nuclear factor E2-related factor 2(Nrf2)/heme oxygenase-1(HO-1) pathway and inhibited the expression of key proteins in the nuclear factor-κB(NF-κB) pathway in the heart tissue of model mice. In conclusion, this study demonstrated based on network pharmacology and animal experiments that CS may alleviate heart aging and injury in aging mice by reducing oxidative stress,apoptosis, and inflammation in the heart via the Nrf2/HO-1/NF-κB pathway.
Animals ; Cordyceps/chemistry* ; Mice ; NF-E2-Related Factor 2/genetics* ; NF-kappa B/genetics* ; Aging/genetics* ; Male ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Network Pharmacology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Heme Oxygenase-1/genetics* ; Heart/drug effects* ; Humans ; Myocardium/metabolism* ; Membrane Proteins/genetics*

This study aimed to investigate the effect of Dahuang Zhechong Pills(DHZCP) in delaying heart aging(HA) and explore the potential mechanism. Network pharmacology and molecular docking were employed to explore the targets and potential mechanisms of DHZCP in delaying HA. Furthermore, in vitro experiments were conducted with the DHZCP-containing serum to verify key targets and pathways in D-galactose(D-gal)-induced aging of cardiomyocytes. Active components of DHZCP were searched against the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform(TCSMP), and relevant targets were predicted. HA-related targets were screened from the GeneCards, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man(OMIM), and DisGeNET. The common targets shared by the active components of DHZCP and HA were used to construct a protein-protein interaction network in STRING 12.0, and core targets were screened based on degree in Cytoscape 3.9.1. Metaspace was used for Gene Ontology(GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) enrichment analyses of the core targets to predict the mechanisms. Molecular docking was performed in AutoDock Vina. The results indicated that a total of 774 targets of the active components of DHZCP and 4 520 targets related to HA were screened out, including 510 common targets. Core targets included B-cell lymphoma 2(BCL-2), serine/threonine kinase 1(AKT1), and hypoxia-inducible factor 1 subunit A(HIF1A). The GO and KEGG enrichment analyses suggested that DHZCP mainly exerted its effects via the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase(PI3K)/AKT signaling pathway, HIF-1α signaling pathway, longevity signaling pathway, and apoptosis signaling pathway. Among the pathways predicted by GO and KEGG enrichment analyses, the PI3K/AKT/HIF-1α signaling pathway was selected for verification. The cell-counting kit 8(CCK-8) assay showed that D-gal significantly inhibited the proliferation of H9c2 cells, while DHZCP-containing serum increased the viability of H9c2 cells. SA-β-gal staining revealed a significant increase in the number of blue-green positive cells in the D-gal group, which was reduced by DHZCP-containing serum. TUNEL staining showed that DHZCP-containing serum decreased the number of apoptotic cells. After treatment with DHZCP-containing serum, the protein levels of Klotho, BCL-2, p-PI3K/PI3K, p-AKT1/AKT1, and HIF-1α were up-regulated, while those of P21, P16, BCL-2 associated X protein(Bax), and cleaved caspase-3 were down-regulated. The results indicated that DHZCP delayed HA via multiple components, targets, and pathways. Specifically, DHZCP may delay HA by reducing apoptosis via activating the PI3K/AKT/HIF-1α signaling pathway.
Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/genetics* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Apoptosis/drug effects* ; Myocytes, Cardiac/cytology* ; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit/genetics* ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/genetics* ; Animals ; Rats ; Humans ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Aging/metabolism* ; Protein Interaction Maps/drug effects* ; Heart/drug effects* ; Network Pharmacology

Objective To explore the abnormal expression of the MT-ND family in pan-cancers and its prognostic value.Methods Transcriptome expression and clinical data of 33 cancers were downloaded from the TCGA database,thereby analyzing the expression differences of the MT-ND family in tissuesof different types of cancers and normal tissues.The prognostic role of the MT-ND family in pan-cancers was explored by univariate Cox regression analysis and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis.Results The expression of the MT-ND family was upregulated in the kidney chromophobe,acute myeloid leukemia and thymoma,and downregulated in the remaining tumors.The expression of the MT-ND family was associated with the overall survival rate of different types of cancers.In addition,the MT-ND family were significantly correlated with the immune invasion subtypes,and were correlated with stromal cell invasion and tumor cell stemness to varying degrees.The expression of MT-ND4 was downregulated in brain lower grade glioma,which was a protective factor for prognosis;while the expression of MT-ND4 in thymoma was upregulated,which was a risk factor for prognosis.Conclusion Pan-cancer analysis has confirmed that the MT-ND family can predict the tumor prognosis,which provides new ideas and strategies for the precision treatment and prognostic management of cancer.

Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics of patients with pregnancy-related chronic pain visiting the pain clinic.Methods:The number of pregnant patients who completed a pregnancy registration at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University from 2022 to 2024 was collected. The medical records were reviewed to identify the patients who visited the department of pain of our hospital due to chronic pain related to pregnancy. The clinical characteristics such as the visiting situation, gestational weeks, age and types of pain were analyzed.Results:From 2022 to 2024, the total number of registered pregnant patients was 64, 818, of which, 2, 224 cases visited the pain clinic, and the annual proportions of pregnancy-related chronic pain visits were 2.540%, 3.836% and 3.889% respectively. Among the patients who attended the clinic, 77.97% were pregnant (5.82% in early pregnancy, 41.93% in mid-pregnancy, and 52.25% in late pregnancy), and 21.03% were postpartum patients. A total of 83.72% were aged 20-34 yr. The types of pain were pelvic girdle pain (40.96%), limb joint pain (28.82%), low back pain (14.16%), cervical spondylosis (3.64%), peripheral nerve entrapment syndrome (3.42%), headache (2.97%), chest and back pain (2.79%), pelvic and perineal pain (1.66%), neuralgia (0.94%) and other pains (0.63%).Conclusions:From 2022 to 2024, the proportion of registered pregnant women at our hospital who visited to the pain clinic due to pregnancy-related chronic pain increases year by year. The common types of pain are pelvic girdle pain, limb joint pain and low back pain.

Aim To investigate the effect of Zhenwu decoction on inflammation,oxidative stress and apopto-sis of human glomerular epithelial cells(HGEC)in-duced by lipopolysaccharide(LPS)based on Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway,and to explore the underlying mechanism.Methods HGEC were treated with LPS(1.0 mg·L-1)for 24 h to construct an oxidative damage model.On this basis,2.5％,5％and 10％Zhenwu decoction-containing serum were added to the low,medium and high dose groups of Zhenwu decoc-tion,and a normal group was set up.The changes of cell activity were assessed by MTT method and LDH method.The contents of TNF-α,IL-6,IL-10,SOD,CAT,GSH-Px,ROS and MDA in each group were de-tected by ELISA.The apoptosis of each group was de-tected by flow cytometry.The mRNA and protein ex-pressions of Bax,Bcl-2,caspase-3,caspase-9 and Nrf2/HO-1 pathway were detected by RT-qPCR and Western blot,respectively.Results Compared to the normal group,the model group of HGEC exhibited increased levels of inflammatory cytokines,enhanced oxidative stress response and aggravated apoptosis;after inter-vention with various doses of Zhenwu decoction,the in-flammatory levels in HGEC were reduced,oxidative damage and apoptosis were effectively ameliorated,and the mRNA and protein expression levels of the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway were upregulated.Conclu-sions Zhenwu decoction can protect HGEC from LPS-induced inflammation and oxidative damage and im-prove apoptosis.The mechanism may be related to the activation of Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway.

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of black blood computed tomography(BBCT)in vulnerable plaques at the carotid bifurcation.Methods The imaging data of 73 patients with suspected carotid atherosclerosis were retrospectively analyzed.The signal-to-noise ratio(SNR)and contrast-to-noise ratio(CNR)of conventional computed tomography angiography(CTA)ima-ges and BBCT images were compared by paired sample t-test.The 5-level scoring method was applied to evaluate the image quality subjectively,and the Friedman test was used to compare the differences in the subjective evaluation of image quality among the groups.Taking high-resolution magnetic resonance vessel wall imaging(HRMR-VWI)as the gold standard,the diagnostic value between BBCT and conventional CTA was compared,and the consistency of BBCT and HRMR-VWI in the evaluation of vulnerable plaques was calculated.Results The standard deviation(SD)value of BBCT images was lower than that of conventional three-phase CTA images,indicating better quality of BBCT images(P＜0.001).The mean CT value and CNRplaque-lumen of non-calcified plaques were higher in BBCT images than those in conventional three-phase CTA images,suggesting that BBCT had a higher contrast with sur-rounding tissues and could better display the fine structure of non-calcified plaques(P＜0.001).BBCT images achieved the highest scores in the subjective evaluation of image quality(P＜0.001).Compared with conventional CTA images,BBCT had higher sensi-tivity(88.2％vs 29.4％)and accuracy(90.9％vs 54.5％)in identifying vulnerable plaques(P＜0.001).The Kappa value between BBCT and HRMR-VWI was 0.813,showed good consistency.Conclusion The image quality of neck BBCT is superior to that of conventional CTA.BBCT has a better effect than conventional CTA in identifying vulnerable plaques at the carotid bifurcation,which is comparable to HRMR-VWI.

Objective To observe the value of conventional MRI and diffusion weighted imaging(DWI)for differentiating soft tissue lymphoma(STL)and soft tissue sarcoma(STS).Methods Conventional MRI and DWI data of 25 cases of STL(STL group)and 38 cases of STS(STS group)were retrospectively analyzed.MRI features being statistically different between groups were included in logistic regression analysis to screen the independent risk factors of STL and to evaluate the sensitivity,specificity and accuracy of their combination for predicting STL.Receiver operating characteristic curve was generated,the area under the curve(AUC)was calculated to assess the diagnostic efficacy of the mean apparent diffusion coefficient(ADCmean),the minimum apparent diffusion coefficient(ADCmin),the maximum apparent diffusion coefficient(ADCmax)values for distinguishing STL from STS.Results Slightly hyperintensity on T1WI,non-necrosis,involvement of multiple muscle groups and homogeneous enhancement were all independent risk factors of STL(all P＜0.05).The sensitivity,specificity and accuracy of their combination for predicting STL was 72.00％(18/25),89.47％(34/38)and 82.54％(52/63),respectively.ADCmean,ADCmin and ADCmax values of STL was(1.06±0.18)× 10-3,(0.77±0.14)×10-3 and(1.47±0.31)× 10-3mm2/s,respectively,all lower than those of STS([1.31±0.17]× 10-3,[1.02±0.23]× 10-3 and[1.64±0.16]× 10-3 mm2/s;t=-4.829--2.498,all P＜0.05).The AUC of ADCmean,ADCmin and ADCmax values and their combination for differential diagnosis of STL and STS was 0.845,0.844,0.683 and 0.877,respectively.Conclusion Conventional MRI features,including T1WI signal intensity,necrosis,involvement of multiple muscle groups and enhancement pattern,along with ADCmean and ADCmin values derived from DWI contributed to differentiating STL and STS.

The left maxilla of a patient was resected because of tumor,and the defect was reconstruted with fibular transplantation.The autonomous dental implant robot technology was used to achieve precise implantation of multiple implants and immediate denture restoration within the limited left maxilla.The surgery was minimally invasive and efficient,and significantly reducing patient post-operative discomfort.The final restoration was completed 6 months after surgery.

Oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma(OPSCC)is a malignant tumor originating from the squamous epithelium of the oro-pharyngeal mucosa,accounting for more than 90％of oropharyngeal malignancies.In recent years,human papillomavirus(HPV)infec-tion has become one of the primary etiological factors of oropharyngeal squamous carcinoma.The incidence of HPV-associated oropharyn-geal squamous carcinoma has been rising annually,with a noticeable trend toward younger populations,posing a significant threat to hu-man health.Due to the distinct biological behavior and clinical characteristics of HPV-associated oropharyngeal squamous carcinoma com-pared to its non-HPV-related counterpart,the diagnostic and treatment strategies for oropharyngeal squamous carcinoma have undergone substantial changes.Prevention and screening for oropharyngeal squamous carcinoma are of critical importance.The diagnostic and treat-ment process involves multi-disciplinary collaboration,including oral and maxillofacial surgery,otolaryngology,head and neck surgery,oncology,radiology and pathology.Based on evidence from clinical practice,a comprehensive,integrated diagnostic and therapeutic ap-proach has been established,centered around the concept of"prevention,screening,diagnosis,treatment,and rehabilitation",covering the entire patient lifecycle and providing a valuable reference for clinical practice.