OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of acupuncture on chondrocyte autophagy in rats of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and explore its underlying mechanisms. METHODS: Forty male SPF-grade SD rats were randomized into a blank group, a model group, a suspension group, an acupuncture group, and a combined therapy group, 8 rats in each one. Except the blank group, KOA model was prepared by the injection with papain. The suspension exercise therapy (10 min each time, three times daily), acupuncture (at "Yanglingquan" [GB34], "Zusanli" [ST36], and "Dubi" [ST35] on the right side, 30 min each intervention, once daily) and the combined therapy (the suspension exercise therapy combined with acupuncture) were delivered in the suspension group, the acupuncture group and the combined therapy group, respectively. The intervention of each group was performed continuously for 6 days, and 4 consecutive weeks, at the interval of 1 day. Before and after intervention, Lequesne MG score was assessed in the rats. After intervention, HE staining was adopted to observe the cartilaginous tissue morphology of the right knee joints, and Mankin score was evaluated; the serum levels of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and tumor neurosis factor-α (TNF-α) were measured using ELISA; the real-time PCR was provided to determine the mRNA expression of collagen protein type Ⅱ(COL2), collagen protein type Ⅹ (COL10), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (Akt), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), and autophagy-regulated protein (Beclin-1) in the cartilaginous tissue of the right knee joint; Western blot was employed to detect the protein expression of PI3K, phosphorylated PI3K (p-PI3K), Akt, phosphorylated Akt (p-Akt), mTOR, phosphorylated mTOR (p-mTOR) and Beclin-1 in the cartilaginous tissue of the right knee joint. RESULTS: Compared with the blank group, the rats in the model group showed the higher Lequesne MG score (P<0.01), thinner cartilage of the right knee, reduced chondrocytes and disordered arrangement, and higher Mankin score (P<0.01). Besides, in the model group, the serum levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α were elevated (P<0.01), the mRNA expression of COL2 and Beclin-1 and the protein expression of Beclin-1 decreased (P<0.01), the mRNA expression of COL10, PI3K, Akt and mTOR, and the protein expression of p-PI3K, p-Akt and p-mTOR increased (P<0.01) in the cartilaginous tissue of the right knee joint. Compared with the model group, in the suspension group, the acupuncture group and the combined therapy group, the Lequesne MG scores were reduced (P<0.01), the cartilage of the right knee was thickened, the arrangement of chondrocytes was improved, and the Mankin scores were lower (P<0.01). Besides, in these intervention groups, the serum levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α were reduced (P<0.01), the mRNA expression of COL2 and Beclin-1 and the protein expression of Beclin-1 increased (P<0.05, P<0.01), the mRNA expression of COL10, PI3K, Akt and mTOR, and the protein expression of p-PI3K, p-Akt and p-mTOR decreased (P<0.05, P<0.01) in the cartilaginous tissue of the right knee joint. When compared with the suspension group and the acupuncture group, in the combined therapy group, the Lequesne MG score was reduced (P<0.01), and the Mankin score was reduced (P<0.05, P<0.01). Besides, the serum levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α were reduced (P<0.05), the mRNA expression of COL2 and Beclin-1 and the protein expression of Beclin-1 increased (P<0.05), the mRNA expression of COL10, PI3K, Akt and mTOR, and the protein expression of p-PI3K, p-Akt and p-mTOR decreased (P<0.05, P<0.01) in the cartilaginous tissue of the right knee joint. CONCLUSION Acupuncture can promote cartilage regeneration of knee joint and autophagy in KOA rats, alleviate inflammation, so as to retard cartilage degeneration, which may be possibly associated with the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.
Animals ; Male ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/genetics* ; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases/genetics* ; Osteoarthritis, Knee/physiopathology* ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/genetics* ; Rats ; Signal Transduction ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Chondrocytes/metabolism* ; Humans ; Autophagy ; Acupuncture Points

Objective:To assess the effectiveness of the combined biological therapy and endoscopic balloon dilation (EBD) for preventing intestinal stricture recurrence in patients with Crohn disease, and to identify the risk factors for post-EBD stricture recurrence.Methods:This retrospective cohort study enrolled Crohn disease patients who underwent EBD with or without biological therapy at the Department of Gastroenterology, the First People's Hospital of Changzhou, from January 2016 to December 2023. The patients were divided into the biologics-EBD group and the EBD monotherapy group, and recurrence rates of intestinal stenosis between the groups were compared. The Kaplan-Meier method was employed to estimate the stricture-free survival, with intergroup differences assessed via log-rank test. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was utilized to perform a multivariate analysis of the survival data of the included cases for the independent risk factors for the recurrence of intestinal strictures after EBD in Crohn disease.Results:In accordance with the inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 47 cases were ultimately included in the study, with 29 cases in the biologics-EBD group and 18 cases in the EBD monotherapy group. The baseline data of the two groups were comparable. Stricture recurrence occurred in 6/29 (20.7%) biologics-EBD patients versus 10/18 (55.6%) EBD monotherapy patients. Kaplan-Meier curves demonstrated superior cumulative stricture-free survival in the biologics-EBD cohort ( P=0.014). Cox proportional hazards regression model confirmed elevated recurrence risk with EBD monotherapy ( HR=5.360, 95% CI: 1.340-21.449, P=0.018) and small intestinal strictures ( HR=7.746, 95% CI: 1.908-31.446, P=0.004). Conclusion:The combination of biologics with EBD for the treatment of intestinal strictures in Crohn disease can effectively prevent the recurrence of intestinal strictures. Regarding small intestinal strictures in Crohn disease, it is suggested to combine biologics for treatment to prevent the high recurrence rate of strictures.

Objective To analyze the research hotspots and frontier trends in the field of physical therapy for Parkinson's disease(PD)from 2014 to 2023.Methods Relevant literatures published from January,2014 to December,2023 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection.CiteSpace 6.3.R1 was used to conduct bibliometric analysis,generating visual maps of coun-tries,institutions,keyword co-occurrence,burst terms,timelines and clustering,and they were summarized based on both visual results and literature content.Results A total of 400 articles were included.The United States had the highest publication volume,followed by China,Italy and Brazil,and the international collaboration was relatively active.Major contributing institutions included Northwestern University,Rush University,Karolinska Institutet and Universidade de S?o Paulo.Keyword co-oc-currence analysis showed that researches mainly focused on interventions such as exercise,postural control,aero-bic exercise and transcranial direct current stimulation.Burst detection analysis showed that keywords with high attention in recent years included motor symptoms,executive function,resistance training and noninvasive brain stimulation.The timeline map indicated a shift in research themes from early focus on electrical stimulation to in-tegrated interventions involving both motor and cognitive functions.Conclusion Over the past decade,researches on physical therapy for PD has shown steady growth,with increasing diver-sity in intervention strategies.There is a clear trend toward multidimensional integration and interdisciplinary col-laboration.Future studies should strengthen interventions targeting non-motor symptoms and promote the clinical application of new rehabilitation technologies.

Real-time, noninvasive programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) testing using molecular imaging has enhanced our understanding of the immune environments of neoplasms and has served as a guide for immunotherapy. However, the utilization of radiotracers in the imaging of human brain tumors using positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) remains limited. This investigation involved the synthesis of [¹⁸F]AlF-NOTA-PCP2, which is a novel peptide-based radiolabeled tracer that targets PD-L1, and evaluated its imaging capabilities in orthotopic glioblastoma (GBM) models. Using this tracer, we could noninvasively monitor radiation-induced PD-L1 changes in GBM. [¹⁸F]AlF-NOTA-PCP2 exhibited high radiochemical purity (>95%) and stability up to 4 h after synthesis. It demonstrated specific, high-affinity binding to PD-L1 in vitro and in vivo, with a dissociation constant of 0.24 nM. PET/CT imaging, integrated with contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging, revealed significant accumulation of [¹⁸F]AlF-NOTA-PCP2 in orthotopic tumors, correlating with blood-brain barrier disruption. After radiotherapy (15 Gy), [¹⁸F]AlF-NOTA-PCP2 uptake in tumors increased from 9.51% ± 0.73% to 12.04% ± 1.43%, indicating enhanced PD-L1 expression consistent with immunohistochemistry findings. Fractionated radiation (5 Gy × 3) further amplified PD-L1 upregulation (13.9% ± 1.54% ID/cc) compared with a single dose (11.48% ± 1.05% ID/cc). Taken together, [¹⁸F]AlF-NOTA-PCP2 may be a valuable tool for noninvasively monitoring PD-L1 expression in brain tumors after radiotherapy.

Real-time,noninvasive programmed death-ligand 1(PD-L1)testing using molecular imaging has enhanced our understanding of the immune environments of neoplasms and has served as a guide for immunotherapy.However,the utilization of radiotracers in the imaging of human brain tumors using positron emission tomography/computed tomography(PET/CT)remains limited.This investigation involved the synthesis of[18F]AlF-NOTA-PCP2,which is a novel peptide-based radiolabeled tracer that targets PD-L1,and evaluated its imaging capabilities in orthotopic glioblastoma(GBM)models.Using this tracer,we could noninvasively monitor radiation-induced PD-L1 changes in GBM.[18F]AlF-NOTA-PCP2 exhibited high radiochemical purity(＞95％)and stability up to 4 h after synthesis.It demonstrated specific,high-affinity binding to PD-L1 in vitro and in vivo,with a dissociation constant of 0.24 nM.PET/CT imaging,integrated with contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging,revealed significant accumulation of[18F]AlF-NOTA-PCP2 in orthotopic tumors,correlating with blood-brain barrier disruption.After radiotherapy(15 Gy),[18F]AlF-NOTA-PCP2 uptake in tumors increased from 9.51％±0.73％to 12.04％±1.43％,indicating enhanced PD-L1 expression consistent with immunohisto-chemistry findings.Fractionated radiation(5 Gy × 3)further amplified PD-L1 upregulation(13.9％±1.54％ID/cc)compared with a single dose(11.48％±1.05％ID/cc).Taken together,[18F]AlF-NOTA-PCP2 may be a valuable tool for noninvasively monitoring PD-L1 expression in brain tumors after radiotherapy.

MiRNA,as a class of short non-coding RNA molecules,plays an important role in the post-transcriptional regula-tion of gene expression.miRNAs regulate gene expression by targeting specific mRNA sequences,thereby affecting various cellular bio-logical behaviors,including proliferation,apoptosis,migration,and invasion.In recent years,it has been found that miRNA may play an important role in the occurrence and development of hepatocellular carcinoma.This article provides a review of the research progress on the association between miRNA and the occurrence and development of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective To explore the feasibility and efficacy of single-balloon enteroscope in the diagnosis and treatment of calculous small intestinal obstruction.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 16 patients who underwent endoscopic enterolith removal for small intestinal obstruction from July 2013 to December 2023.The outcomes of stone removal and therapeutic efficacy were evaluated.Results All the 16 patients successfully underwent single-balloon enteroscope.Among them,15 cases achieved successful stone extraction,while 1 case failed due to an oversized stone that could not pass through the pharyngoesophageal junction.The stone was subsequently pushed to the stomach and removed through surgical operation finally.Conclusion Single-balloon enteroscope has excellent efficacy in enterolith removal,with rapid postoperative recovery and less complications.It is worthy of widespread clinical application.

Objective To explore the feasibility and efficacy of single-balloon enteroscope in the diagnosis and treatment of calculous small intestinal obstruction.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 16 patients who underwent endoscopic enterolith removal for small intestinal obstruction from July 2013 to December 2023.The outcomes of stone removal and therapeutic efficacy were evaluated.Results All the 16 patients successfully underwent single-balloon enteroscope.Among them,15 cases achieved successful stone extraction,while 1 case failed due to an oversized stone that could not pass through the pharyngoesophageal junction.The stone was subsequently pushed to the stomach and removed through surgical operation finally.Conclusion Single-balloon enteroscope has excellent efficacy in enterolith removal,with rapid postoperative recovery and less complications.It is worthy of widespread clinical application.

MiRNA,as a class of short non-coding RNA molecules,plays an important role in the post-transcriptional regula-tion of gene expression.miRNAs regulate gene expression by targeting specific mRNA sequences,thereby affecting various cellular bio-logical behaviors,including proliferation,apoptosis,migration,and invasion.In recent years,it has been found that miRNA may play an important role in the occurrence and development of hepatocellular carcinoma.This article provides a review of the research progress on the association between miRNA and the occurrence and development of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective To analyze the research hotspots and frontier trends in the field of physical therapy for Parkinson's disease(PD)from 2014 to 2023.Methods Relevant literatures published from January,2014 to December,2023 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection.CiteSpace 6.3.R1 was used to conduct bibliometric analysis,generating visual maps of coun-tries,institutions,keyword co-occurrence,burst terms,timelines and clustering,and they were summarized based on both visual results and literature content.Results A total of 400 articles were included.The United States had the highest publication volume,followed by China,Italy and Brazil,and the international collaboration was relatively active.Major contributing institutions included Northwestern University,Rush University,Karolinska Institutet and Universidade de S?o Paulo.Keyword co-oc-currence analysis showed that researches mainly focused on interventions such as exercise,postural control,aero-bic exercise and transcranial direct current stimulation.Burst detection analysis showed that keywords with high attention in recent years included motor symptoms,executive function,resistance training and noninvasive brain stimulation.The timeline map indicated a shift in research themes from early focus on electrical stimulation to in-tegrated interventions involving both motor and cognitive functions.Conclusion Over the past decade,researches on physical therapy for PD has shown steady growth,with increasing diver-sity in intervention strategies.There is a clear trend toward multidimensional integration and interdisciplinary col-laboration.Future studies should strengthen interventions targeting non-motor symptoms and promote the clinical application of new rehabilitation technologies.