BACKGROUND:Eucommia ulmoides has a certain osteogenic effect,which can promote the proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts.However,it is unclear whether Eucommia ulmoides has effects on alveolar bone formation and Wnt/β-Catenin signaling pathway. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the mechanism by which Eucommia ulmoides promotes alveolar bone formation in ovariectomized rats based on the Wnt/β-Catenin signaling pathway. METHODS:Sixty female Sprague-Dawley rats were selected and randomly divided into five groups:blank control group,sham-operation group,model group,low-dose group Eucommia ulmoides group,and high-dose Eucommia ulmoides group,with twelve rats in each group.Osteoporosis animal models were constructed by bilateral oophorectomy in the model group and the low-dose and high-dose Eucommia ulmoides groups.The sham-operation group underwent the same method to remove adipose tissue of equal mass around the bilateral ovaries.Three months after surgery,the low-and high-dose Eucommia ulmoides groups were given 2.1 g/kg/d and 4.2 g/kg/d Eucommia ulmoides by gavage,respectively.The sham-operation group and model group were given the same amount of physiological saline by gavage.After 12 weeks of drug intervention,the changes in alveolar bone mass of rats in each group were observed through Micro-CT;hematoxylin-eosin staining was used to observe the pathological structural changes of alveolar bone in rats;enzyme linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the expression levels of alkaline phosphatase and osteocalcin in the serum of rats;western blot was used to detect the expression levels of β-Catenin and Frizzled9 receptor proteins in the alveolar bone of rats;and real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR was used to detect the expression of osteocalcin,Runt-related transcription factor 2(Runx2),alkaline phosphatase,β-catenin,and frizzled9 mRNAs in alveolar bone tissues of rats. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the blank control group,bone volume fraction,trabecular number,trabecular thickness,and bone mineral density were reduced in the model group(P＜0.05),and trabecular separation was elevated(P＜0.05).Pathological observation showed that the arrangement of trabeculae was disordered and irregular,the trabeculae were thinned or broken,and the marrow cavity was enlarged in the model group,with a significant reduction in bone volume;the level of alkaline phosphatase in the serum was increased(P＜0.05),and the level of osteocalcin was decreased(P＜0.05);mRNA expression of alkaline phosphatase,osteocalcin,Runx2,β-catenin,and frizzled9 were decreased(P＜0.05);protein expression of β-Catenin and Frizzled9 was decreased(P＜0.05).Compared with the model group,the low-and high-dose Eucommia ulmoides groups showed an increase in bone volume fraction,trabecular number,trabecular thickness,and bone mineral density(P＜0.05)and a decrease in trabecular separation(P＜0.05).In the low-and high-dose Eucommia ulmoides groups,bone trabeculae were slightly aligned and thickened,with a significant increase in bone mass.Compared with the model group,the serum level of alkaline phosphatase was reduced(P＜0.05)and the serum level of osteocalcin was elevated(P＜0.05)in the low-and high-dose Eucommia ulmoides groups.Compared with the model group,the mRNA expression of alkaline phosphatase,osteocalcin,Runx2,β-catenin,and frizzled9 were increased in the low-and high-dose Eucommia ulmoides groups(P＜0.05).Compared with the model group,the protein expression of Frizzled9 was increased in the low-dose Eucommia ulmoides group(P＜0.05),while the protein expression of β-Catenin and Frizzled9 was increased in the high-dose Eucommia ulmoides group(P＜0.05).Compared with the low-dose Eucommia ulmoides group,the high-dose Eucommia ulmoides group had a more significant improvement in the above indexes.To conclude,Eucommia ulmoides can effectively promote the alveolar bone formation,and its mechanism of action might be related to the activation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.

Objective: To explore the association between mediterranean diet (MD) patterns and dental caries among children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD), so as to provide a basis for developing scientific anti caries strategies related to diet. Methods: From December 2021 to June 2024, a questionnaire survey, a three day 24 hour dietary review survey, oral health examination, physical development measurement and Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) evaluation were conducted involving 147 children and adolescents aged 2-22 years with NDD from nine special education schools and rehabilitation institutions in Tianjin. Group comparisons were carried out using the Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-square test, or Fisher s exact probability method. The correlation between dietary quality and dental caries was analyzed by adopting multiple linear regression analysis and restricted cubic spline. Results: There were 46 children and adolescents (31.3%) in the non dental caries group and 101 children and adolescents (68.7%) in the dental caries group. The number of decayed missing and filled teeth (dmft) was 2.0 (4.0), and the MD score was 4.0 (2.0) points. There were 62 children and adolescents (42.2%) in the low MD scores group and 85 children and adolescents (57.8%) in the high MD scores group. There was no significant difference in MD scores between NDD children in the non dental caries group and those in the dental caries group [nondental caries group:4.0(2.0), dental caries group:4.0(2.0), Z= -0.14, P >0.05]. The MD scores and dmft exhibited increasing and then decreasing trend ( P total =0.02, P non lineary = 0.04 ). Children and adolescents with NDD in the MD high scores group had a lower number of dmft than those in the MD low scores group ( β= -2.00 , 95%CI =-3.39 to -0.62, P <0.05). However, in children and adolescents with NDD and CARS scores ≥30, the above association was insignificant ( β=-0.63, 95%CI=-0.29-0.15, P >0.05). Conclusion Children and adolescents with NDD who have dietary patterns similar to the Mediterranean diet, are found to have fewer dental caries, and this is observed among those with no or mild symptoms of autism spectrum disorder.

Objective To analyze the cognitive function and sleep quality of the elderly in Shanghai community, and explore the related influencing factors. Methods A stratified cluster random sampling method was used to select 8 community health centers in Shanghai for a questionnaire survey, including 3 677 elderly individuals who completed the “Comprehensive Health Status Survey of Elderly Residents in Shanghai” from September 2023 to November 2023. Basic information of the elderly was collected, including age, gender, education level, smoking, drinking, mahjong playing behavior, and exercise habits. The Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) was used to assess the sleep quality of the elderly, subjective cognitive decline (SCD) self-assessment questionnaire and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) were used to evaluate cognitive function, while the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) and patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) were used to assess anxiety and depression levels, and the mini nutritional assessment (MNA) was used to evaluate nutritional status. According to the MMSE scores, the elderly were divided into three groups: no cognitive impairment (MMSE ≥ 27), mild cognitive impairment (MMSE 21-26), and moderate to severe cognitive impairment (MMSE ≤ 20). The general data, lifestyle habits, and scale scores of the three groups were compared. Ordered logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of sleep quality. Results There were statistically significant differences in age, gender, waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), education level, pet ownership, smoking, drinking, mahjong playing behavior, exercise habits, and scale scores among the three groups (P＜0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that age, waist circumference, gender, drinking habits, mahjong playing behavior, and chronic comorbidities are influencing factors for the PSQI grading in the elderly (P＜0.05). The MMSE score (OR＝1.037, P＝0.001), SCD score (OR＝1.123, P＜0.001), HAMA score (OR＝1.183, P＜0.001), PHQ-9 score (OR＝1.249, P＜0.001) are positive influencing factors for PSQI grading, while the MNA score is a negative influencing factor (OR＝0.960, P＝0.037). Conclusions Advanced age, female gender, low education level, no pet ownership, no mahjong playing behavior, no exercise habits, and poor sleep quality are risk factors for cognitive impairment in the elderly. Advanced age, female gender, no mahjong playing behavior and poor nutritional status are influencing factors for poor sleep quality in the elderly, and severe comorbidities, anxiety, depression, and subjective decline in cognitive function all affect sleep quality.

ObjectiveTo explore the regulatory effects and mechanisms of Astragali Radix polysaccharide （APS） on inhibitor of differentiation1 （ID1） and protein kinase B （Akt） in gastric cancer. MethodsImmunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expression of ID1 and Akt in 61 gastric cancer tissue samples and 20 adjacent normal gastric tissue samples. Immunofluorescence was used to detect the localization of ID1 and Akt. The effects of APS at the concentrations of 0.625， 1.25， 2.5， 5， 10， 20 mg·L^-1 on the proliferation of gastric cancer MGC-803 cells were examined by the cell counting kit-8（CCK-8） method and the colony formation assay. The target information of APS was retrieved from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology and Analysis Platform and Swiss Target Prediction. Keywords such as gastric cancer， gastric tumor， and stomach cancer were searched against GeneCards， UniProt， DisGeNET， and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man （OMIM） for the screening of gastric cancer-related targets. The online tool jvenn was used to create the Venn diagram to identify the common targets， and STRING and Cytoscape were used to construct the protein-protein interaction network. Gene Ontology （GO） and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes （KEGG） pathway enrichment analyses were conducted via R 4.2.2 to predict the potential roles of APS in the development of gastric cancer. The cell scratch assay was employed to assess the effect of APS on the migration of MGC-803 cells. The protein and mRNA levels of ID1 and Akt in the cells treated with APS were determined by Western blot and Real-time PCR， respectively. ResultsCompared with the adjacent normal gastric tissue， the gastric adenocarcinoma tissue showed increased positive expression of ID1 （χ² =81.00， P<0.01）. Immunofluorescence detection showed that ID1 and Akt were mainly located in the cytoplasm of gastric adenocarcinoma cells. Bioinformatics analysis identified 14 common genes shared between APS and gastric cancer. The average degree of protein-protein interaction network nodes was 14.29. GO and KEGG pathway enrichment results showed that ID1 and Akt were significantly enriched in the Rap1 and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase （PI3K） /Akt signaling pathways. Cell experiments demonstrated that 5-fluorouracil （0.1 mg·L^-1） and APS （10， 20 mg·L^-1） groups showed decreased cell proliferation， migration， and colony formation. Compared with the control group， 10， 20 mg·L^-1 APS inhibited the proliferation of MGC-803 cells （P<0.01）， with 10 mg·L^-1 APS demonstrating stronger inhibitory effect. In addition， APS at 10， 20 mg·L^-1 inhibited the migration （P<0.01） and colony formation （P<0.05， P<0.01） of MGC-803 cells. Compared with the control group， APS at 10， 20 mg·L^-1 down-regulated the protein levels of ID1 （P<0.01） and Akt （P<0.05） and the mRNA levels of ID1 （P<0.05， P<0.01） and Akt （P<0.05， P<0.01） in MGC-803 cells. ConclusionID1 and Akt are highly expressed in the gastric adenocarcinoma tissue， which may be related to the development of gastric cancer. APS can down-regulate the protein and mRNA levels of ID1 and Akt to exert anti-tumor effects， which is expected to provide new therapeutic targets for gastric cancer treatment.

Objective: To investigate the clinical efficacy of oral microscope-assisted microflap periodontal bone grafting in treating class Ⅱ furcation involvement in mandibular molars, and to provide clinical evidence for its treatment in furcation involvement. Methods: This study was reviewed and approved by the institutional ethics committee, and informed consent was obtained from all patients. Sixty mandibular molars with class II furcation involvement caused by periodontitis were enrolled in a randomized controlled clinical study, utilizing a random number table method. Patients were categorized into a control group (n=30) and an experimental group (n=30) based on the surgical procedure employed. The control group underwent periodontal flap surgery with an internal oblique incision and vertical incision; this procedure was performed without the aid of a microscope. Conversely, the experimental group underwent micro flap periodontal bone grafting surgery without vertical incision; an oral microscope was used for this procedure. Both groups were analyzed 6 months after surgery, and postoperative gingival recession (GR), probing depth (PD), bleeding index (BI), vertical bone height increase (VBHI), pain level, and complications were recorded. Results: Both groups showed improvement in PD and BI after 6 months compared to preoperative levels: the control group had a preoperative PD of (7.33 ± 1.72 mm) and a 6-month postoperative PD of (3.37 ± 0.96 mm), with statistically significant differences (P<0.001). The preoperative PD of the experimental group was (7.27 ± 1.57 mm), and the 6-month postoperative PD was (3.00 ± 0.69 mm), with statistically significant differences (P<0.001). The BI of the control group decreased from 3.03 ± 1.03 before surgery to 0.77 ± 0.82 at 6 months after surgery (P<0.001), while the BI of the experimental group decreased from 3.20 ± 1.09 before surgery to 0.73 ± 0.64 at 6 months after surgery (P<0.001), and the differences were statistically significant. The experimental group showed a significant improvement in GR (0.70 ± 0.59 mm) compared to preoperative GR (1.26 ± 0.94 mm) at 6 months after surgery (P=0.007), while the control group showed an increase in GR (1.37 ± 0.89 mm) at 6 months after surgery compared to preoperative GR (1.13 ± 0.97 mm), but the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.337). The inter group comparison results showed that there were no statistically significant differences in PD and BI between the two groups at 6 months after surgery (PD: P=0.096, BI: P=0.861); The GR of the experimental group was lower than that of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in postoperative VBHI between the two groups (P=0.128). The pain level scores of the experimental group were lower than those of the control group at 4 and 24 hours after surgery (P<0.001). None of the patients experienced complications. Conclusion Microflap periodontal bone grafting assisted by an oral microscope effectively improves the periodontal condition of patients with grade Ⅱ root bifurcation lesions of mandibular molars, and the bone grafting effect is good, with mild pain and good safety.

OBJECTIVE To develop a prediction model for durable clinical benefit （DCB） in patients with advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma （ESCC） receiving programmed death-1 （PD-1） inhibitor. METHODS The clinical data of patients with advanced ESCC who received PD-1 inhibitor in Jieyang People’s Hospital were retrospectively collected between January 2020 to December 2023. Predictors were screened by least absolute shrinkage and selection operator （Lasso） regression， and a multivariable Logistic regression model was developed to predict DCB. A nomogram was constructed based on the model. Internal validation of the prediction model was performed by using the Bootstrap method， and the model was evaluated by the receiver operating characteristic （ROC） curve， calibration curve， and decision curve analysis. RESULTS A total of 91 patients with advanced ESCC were included. The results of Lasso regression combined with Logistic regression analysis indicated that the baseline lymphocyte monocyte ratio （LMR） [odds ratio （OR）＝1.97， 95% confidence interval （CI）： 1.15-3.36， P＝0.013]， albumin （ALB） content （OR＝1.35， 95%CI： 1.13-1.60， P＜0.001）， body mass index （BMI） category 1 [normal vs. low： OR＝ 0.28， 95%CI （0.09-0.96）， P＝0.042]， BMI category 2 [overweight-obesity vs. low： OR＝0.08， 95%CI （0.01-0.59）， P＝0.013]， and treatment regimen [monotherapy vs. monotherapy combination therapy： OR＝0.07， 95%CI （0.01-0.50）， P＝0.008] were predictive factors for patients with advanced ESCC to achieve DCB when treated with PD-1 inhibitor. A prediction model was constructed based on the above indicators. Internal validation of the model using the Bootstrap method showed an area under the curve of 0.831 （95%CI： 0.746-0.904）， with specificity of 74.4% and sensitivity of 75.0%. The Hosmer-Lemeshow test yielded χ2＝ 9.930， P＝0.270， and the calibration curve slope was close to 1. The decision curve analysis demonstrated that the model exhibited good clinical utility within a threshold range of 0.1 to 1.0. CONCLUSIONS The prediction model based on baseline LMR， ALB content， BMI， and treatment regimen demonstrates robust predictive performance and clinical utility for assessing therapeutic efficacy of PD-1 inhibitor in the treatment of advanced ESCC.

Objective: To analyze the mediating effect of social support between family resilience and quality of life among elderly patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), so as to provide the basis for improving the quality of life among elderly patients with AD. Methods: Elderly patients with AD who aged >60 years admitted to Wenzhou Seventh People's Hospital from August 2017 to June 2021 were selected. Data on demographic information, the severity of AD, and the profile of the primary caregivers were collected through questionnaire surveys. Social support, family resilience, and quality of life were assessed using the Social Support Rating Scale, the Shortened Chinese Version of the Family Resilience Assessment Scale, and the Chinese Version of the Quality of Life in Alzheimer's Disease Scale, respectively. The Process macro program was used to analyze the mediating effect of social support between family resilience and quality of life. Results: A total of 137 elderly patients with AD were surveyed. The mean age of the participants was (69.26±10.93) years. Among them, there were 63 males (45.99%) and 74 females (54.01%). The mean scores for social support, family resilience, and quality of life were (27.93±4.28), (97.34±10.06), and (27.82±7.27) points, respectively. The results of the mediating effect analysis indicated that family resilience could directly and positively affect the quality of life, with an effect value of 0.319 (95%CI: 0.122-0.491). It could also indirectly and positively affect the quality of life through social support, with an effect value of 0.118 (95%CI: 0.030-0.248). The mediating effect accounted for 26.42% of the total effect. Conclusion Social support plays a positive mediating role between family resilience and quality of life among elderly patients with AD.

BACKGROUND: The benefits of ideal cardiovascular-health metrics (ICVHMs) in patients with renal insufficiency remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the associations between ICVHM and prognosis in a renal insufficiency population. METHODS: The trial enrolled 29,682 participants from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2007-2018, with mortality follow-up through December 31, 2019. Participants were divided into three groups based on estimated glomerular filtration rates. Cardiovascular health was assessed using new "Life's Essential 8" metrics. Cox regression analyses based on NHANES data were used to determine the associations between ICVHMs and cardiovascular mortality in patients with renal insufficiency. RESULTS: During a mean follow-up of 6.58 years, ideal cardiovascular health (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.42; 95% confidence interval [CI]; 0.25-0.70) and ideal health behavior (HR = 0.53; 95% CI; 0.39-0.73) reduced cardiovascular mortality in participants with renal insufficiency. For each one ICVHM increment, a 25% reduction in cardiovascular mortality was recorded (95% CI; 0.69-0.82). When compared with participants with normal renal function, for those with mild renal insufficiency, the HR for cardiovascular mortality gradually decreased from 1.47 (95% CI; 0.85-2.52) in those who had ≤1 ICVHMs to 0.30 (95% CI; 0.12-0.77) in participants who had >6 ICVHMs. CONCLUSIONS From an ICVHM perspective, enhanced cardiovascular benefits were observed in individuals with renal insufficiency, coupled with a reduced risk of all-cause mortality. Furthermore, when compared with individuals with normal renal function, increased ICVHMs can mitigate adverse risks associated with renal impairment.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Nutrition Surveys ; Middle Aged ; Renal Insufficiency/physiopathology* ; Aged ; Prognosis ; Adult ; Cardiovascular Diseases/mortality* ; Glomerular Filtration Rate/physiology* ; Proportional Hazards Models