OBJECTIVE: To investigate the technical key points and effectiveness of ultrasonic bone scalpel-assisted anterior controllable antedisplacement and fusion (ACAF) for treating cervical ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL). METHODS: Between June 2022 and December 2024, 11 OPLL patients underwent ultrasonic bone scalpel-assisted ACAF. The cohort included 8 males and 3 females, aged 49-74 years (mean, 56.7 years). The OPLL classification included 5 cases of mixed-type, 4 cases of segmental-type, and 2 cases of continuous-type cases. Ossification involved 2-5 spinal segments (mean, 3.2). Disease duration ranged from 2 to 18 months (mean, 6.2 months). The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, and complications were recorded. Pain improvement was assessed using the visual analogue scale (VAS) score, and neurological function was evaluated using Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score. Postoperative cervical CT and MRI were performed to measure spinal canal encroachment rate, spinal canal area, and spinal cord sagittal diameter. RESULTS: All operations were successfully completed. The operation time ranged from 174 to 360 minutes (mean, 255.9 minutes). The intraoperative blood loss ranged from 170 to 530 mL (mean, 345.9 mL). The C ₅ nerve root palsy occurred in 1 patient. No cerebrospinal fluid leakage, aggravated spinal cord injury, or recurrent/superior laryngeal nerve injuries occurred. All patients were followed 3-12 months (mean, 7.2 months). At last follow-up, VAS scores significantly decreased and JOA scores significantly increased compared to preoperative values ( P<0.05). According to the JOA improvement rate, the effectiveness was rated as excellent in 2 cases, good in 8, and fair in 1, with an excellent and good rate of 90.9%. Radiological re-examination revealed no implant loosening, screw breakage, or aggravated spinal stenosis. Postoperative spinal canal encroachment rate significantly decreased, while spinal canal area and spinal cord sagittal diameter significantly increased compared to preoperative measurements ( P<0.05). CONCLUSION For the treatment of cervical OPLL via ACAF, the intraoperative application of ultrasonic bone scalpel-assisted osteotomy enables precise vertebral groove creation and mobilization of the vertebra-ossification complex, thereby enhancing surgical safety and achieving satisfactory short-term effectiveness.
Humans ; Middle Aged ; Male ; Female ; Ossification of Posterior Longitudinal Ligament/diagnostic imaging* ; Aged ; Cervical Vertebrae/diagnostic imaging* ; Spinal Fusion/instrumentation* ; Treatment Outcome ; Ultrasonic Surgical Procedures/instrumentation* ; Operative Time

Objective:To investigate the regulatory role and mechanism of synaptic vesicle protein 2A (SV2A) in apoptosis of drug-resistant epilepsy neurons.Methods:One hundred and fifty specific pathogen-free (SPF) Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly numbered; 20 rats were selected as a normal control group (NC group), and the remaining 130 rats were subjected to chronic epilepsy models of lithium-pilocarpine. Phenobarbital and phenytoin sodium for 2 weeks were given to these rats after modeling; fanally, 94 rats with chronic epilepsy were divided into a drug-resistant group (phenobarbital and phenytoin sodium-resistant epilepsy [PRE] group, reduction in episodes<50%, n= 55) and a drug-sensitive group (phenobarbital and phenytoin sodium-sensitive epilepsy [PSE] group, reduction in episodes by≥50%, n=38). Rats in the PRE group were further randomly divided into 5 groups, namely a up-regulated-SV2A PRE group (UPRE group), a down-regulated-SV2A PRE group (DPRE group), a up-regulated-SV2A control group (UPRC group), a down-regulated-SV2A control group (DPRC group), and a non-transfected PRE group; different types of lentivirus were given to the first 4 groups via stereotactic brain injection. Ten days after lentiviral transfection, virus detection was performed; and 2 weeks after lentiviral transfection, occurrence of epileptic seizures was observed, and after that, rats were sacrificed and the hippocampal tissues were collected for subsequent experiments. Western blotting was used to detect the expressions of SV2A, cyclophilin A (CyPA), apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF), and superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) in the cell nucleus or mitochondria; coimmunoprecipitation experiment was performed to observe the interaction among SV2A, CyPA and AIF proteins; immunofluorescent co-staining was used to observe the CyPA/AIF localization; mitochondrial damage was detected by electron microscopy; ATP content in the hippocampal tissues was detected by luciferase method, 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHDG) expression was detected by immunofluorescent staining, and neuronal apoptosis rate was calculated by double staining with neuron-specific nuclear protein (NeuN) and TUNEL. Results:(1) Confocal microscopy revealed that the hippocampal tissues in the 4 transfected groups showed green fluorescence inherent to the lentivirus, indicating successful viral infection. Compared with the UPRC group, the UPRE group had significantly reduced frequency of epileptic seizures and seizure duration ( P<0.05). (2) Western blotting showed that, in mitochondria, the UPRE group had significantly higher expressions of SV2A (0.475± 0.105 vs. 0.136±0.043), CyPA (0.473±0.041 vs. 0.175±0.047), AIF (0.443±0.058 vs. 0.131±0.037), and SOD2 (0.457±0.037 vs. 0.152±0.038) compared with the UPRC group ( P<0.05); the DPRE group had significantly decreased expressions of SV2A (0.038±0.013 vs. 0.184±0.047), CyPA (0.041±0.010 vs. 0.214±0.040), AIF (0.040±0.019 vs. 0.175±0.046), and SOD2 (0.043±0.017 vs. 0.187±0.039) compared with the DPRC group ( P<0.05). In the cell nucleus, the UPRE group had significantly lower expressions of AIF (0.336±0.084 vs. 0.649±0.209) and CyPA (0.331±0.086 vs. 0.620±0.162) compared with the UPRC group ( P<0.05); the DPRE group had statistically higher expressions of AIF (0.771± 0.180 vs. 0.519±0.144) and CyPA (0.738±0.223 vs. 0.488±0.091) compared with the DPRC group ( P< 0.05). (3) Co-immunoprecipitation experiment results showed that the bidirectional precipitation results of SV2A and AIF, SV2A and CyPA, and AIF and CyPA were all positive, suggesting existence of interactions. (4) Immunofluorescent co-staining showed that the fluorescence changes of CyPA and AIF were consistent. (5) Electron microscopy showed that mitochondria in the NC group had intact structure; mitochondria in the UPRE group, UPRC group, DPRC group and DPRE group showed swelling and cristae fragmentation; among them, injury in the UPRE group was relatively less severe than that in the UPRC group, while that in the DPRC group was more severe than that in the DPRE group. (6) Compared with the UPRC group, the UPRE group had statistically higher ATP content ( P<0.05); compared with the DPRC group, the DPRE group had significantly lower ATP content ( P<0.05).(7) Immunofluorescent staining results showed that the UPRE group had significantly lower 8-OHDG expression than the UPRC group ( P<0.05); compared with the DPRC group, the DPRE group had statistically higher 8-OHDG expression ( P<0.05). (8) The UPRE group had significantly lower NeuN-TUNEL double staining positive rate than the UPRC group ( P<0.05); compared with the DPRC group, the DPRE group had significantly higher NeuN-TUNEL double staining positive rate ( P<0.05). Conclusion:SV2A can play a role in the apoptosis of hippocampal neurons in rats with drug-resistant epilepsy by regulating the nuclear translocation of AIF/CyPA and mitochondrial damage.

ObjectiveTo observe the clinical efficacy and safety of Dizhuo Huayu prescription combined with catgut embedding therapy in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis （NASH） and dyslipidemia and explore the effect of the combined therapy on inflammatory cytokines interleukin （IL）-18 and IL-1β. MethodsA total of 82 patients with NASH and dyslipidemia from the Gastroenterology Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine were randomly divided into a control group and a treatment group， with 41 patients in each group. The control group received Polyene Polyenylphosphatidylcholine Capsules， while the treatment group received Dizhuo Huayu prescription granules combined with catgut embedding. The treatment duration was 24 weeks for both groups. At weeks 0， 12， and 24， the traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndrome score， body mass index （BMI）， liver fat content assessed by Fibroscan （CAP value）， the level of alanine transaminase （ALT）， aspartate aminotransferase （AST）， gamma-glutamyl transferase （GGT）， total cholesterol （TC）， triglyceride （TG）， high-density lipoprotein cholesterol （HDL-C）， low-density lipoprotein cholesterol （LDL-C）， and free fatty acid （FFA）， and the expression of inflammatory cytokines IL-18 and IL-1β in serum were observed. Adverse reactions in both groups were recorded. ResultsA comparison of the comprehensive therapeutic effects between the two groups after 24 weeks of treatment revealed that the total effective rate was 62.16% （23/37） in the control group and 85.71% （30/35） in the treatment group， with a statistically significant difference （χ² = 5.14， P<0.05）. At weeks 12 and 24 after treatment， the TCM syndrome score， BMI， CAP value， TC， TG， LDL-C， and FFA were all significantly lower in both groups compared to pre-treatment levels， while the HDL-C level significantly increased （P<0.05）. The effect was better at week 24 （P<0.05） than at week 12 （P<0.05）， and the treatment group showed better outcomes than the control group at weeks 12 and 24 after treatment （P<0.05）. After 24 weeks of treatment， both groups exhibited significant reductions in IL-18 and IL-1β levels （P<0.05）. The treatment group demonstrated superior efficacy compared to the control group after treatment （P<0.05）. Both groups experienced decreases in ALT， AST， and GGT levels after treatment （P<0.05）. However， there were no statistically significant differences between the 12-week and 24-week post-treatment values within each group， nor were there significant differences between the two groups. No significant adverse reactions were observed in both groups. ConclusionThe Dizhuo Huayu prescription combined with catgut embedding therapy is safe and effective in treating patients with NASH and dyslipidemia， exhibiting hepatoprotective， anti-inflammatory， lipid-regulating， and weight-reducing effects.

Objective To profile ubiquitination in cysteinyl aspartate-specific proteinase-2(CASP2)deficient cells under heat shock and investigate the role of CASP2 in stress response.Methods Ubiquitination levels in subcellular fractions of control and C ASP2 knockout(KO)cells were detected via Western blotting.After 2 hours of heat shock treatment,Soluble Ⅱ and Pellet fractions were collected from both control and CASP2 KO cells for ubiquitinome analysis.Anti-di-glycine remnant(K-ε-GG)antibody-based proteomic analysis was performed to identify differentially ubiquitinated proteins and associated key signaling pathways.Proteins that displayed significantly upregulated ubiquitination in CASP2 KO cells under heat shock were subjected to His-tag pull-down assays to find out whether CASP2 regulated the ubiquitination of these proteins.Results Under heat shock,CASP2 KO cells displayed significantly higher accumulation of overloaded ubiquitinated conjugates in the Pellet fraction compared to controls.Ubiquitinomics analysis revealed substantial alterations in protein ubiquitination patterns following CASP2 KO.One hundred proteins exhibited significantly elevated ubiquitination levels while 36 proteins had their ubiquitination reduced relative to controls.Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)pathway enrichment analysis indicated that hyper-ubiquitinated proteins were primarily associated with Huntington disease,Alzheimer disease,bile secretion,carbon metabolism and autophagy.His-tag pull-down assays combined with Western blotting revealed increased ubiquitination of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide reduced-ubiquinone oxidoreductase 1 beta subcomplex subunit 3(NDUFB3)and autophagy-related protein 9A(ATG9A)in CASP2 KO cells under heat shock.Conclusion Overloaded ubiquitinated conjugates are accumulated due to CASP2 deficiency during heat shock.CASP2 modulates ubiquitination levels through multiple signaling pathways.

Stresses induced by the deficiency or excess of trace mineral elements, such as manganese (Mn), represent a common limiting factor for the production of crops like Brassica napus. To identify key genes involved in Mn allocation in B. napus and elucidate the underlying mechanisms, a member of the metal tolerance protein (MTP) family obtained in the previous screening of cDNA library of B. napus under Mn stress was selected as the research subject. Based on the sequence information and phylogenetic analysis, it was named as BnMTP10. It belongs to the Mn-cation diffusion facilitator (CDF) subfamily. Expression of BnMTP10 in yeast significantly improved the tolerance of transformants to excessive Mn and iron (Fe) and reduced the accumulation of Mn and Fe. However, the yeast transformants exhibited no significant changes in tolerance to excess cadmium, boron, aluminum, zinc, or copper. The qRT-PCR results demonstrated that the flowers of B. napus had the highest expression of BnMTP10, followed by roots and leaves. Subcellular localization studies revealed that BnMTP10 was localized in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Compared with wild-type plants, transgenic Arabidopsis overexpressing BnMTP10 exhibited enhanced tolerance to excessive Mn stress but showed no significant difference under Fe stress. Correspondingly, under excessive Mn stress, the Mn content in the roots of transgenic Arabidopsis increased significantly. However, under excessive Fe stress, the Fe content in transgenic Arabidopsis did not alter significantly. According to the results, we hypothesize that BnMTP10 may alleviate excessive Mn stress in plants by mediating Mn transport to the ER. This study facilitated our understanding of efficient mineral nutrients, and provided theoretical foundations and gene resources for breeding B. napus.
Brassica napus/genetics* ; Manganese/metabolism* ; Plants, Genetically Modified/genetics* ; Plant Proteins/physiology* ; Arabidopsis/metabolism* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Phylogeny ; Cation Transport Proteins/metabolism* ; Stress, Physiological

Objective:To analyze the clinical and prognostic characteristics of patients with immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) -related colitis.Methods:A retrospective observational research method was conducted. Clinical data from patients diagnosed with ICI-related colitis at Beijing Friendship Hospital between January 2016 and May 2024 were collected. Clinical severity was assessed using the common terminology criteria for adverse event (CTCAE) grading, Mayo Score, Truelove & Witts Score, and endoscopic severity was assessed using Mayo endoscopic score (MES), ulcerative colitis endoscopic index of severity (UCEIS), and MD Anderson Cancer Center endoscopic inflammation grading (MD grading). Spearman rank correlation analysis was performed to evaluate the correlation between different scoring systems.Results:A total of 15 patients were included, with 10 males and 5 females, and the median age was 64.0 (55.5, 71.0) years. Thirteen patients were treated with programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) monoclonal antibodies, and 2 patients were treated with programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) monoclonal antibodies. The median onset time of the 15 patients was 66.5 (41.0, 168.0) days after ICI treatment. All patients had diarrhea, only 25% patients presented with abdominal pain, and 20%-33% patients had fever, abdominal distension, nausea, and vomiting. Most of the inflammatory indicators were non-specific. Among the 14 patients who underwent CT examinations, 2 patients had no abnormal manifestations, 10 patients had left colon involvement, mainly manifested as thickening of the colon wall, and 6 of these patients had full-thickness involvement. Among the 12 patients who underwent colonoscopy examination, except for one patient with no abnormalities, 11 patients had rectal and sigmoid colon involvement, the proportions of the descending colon, ascending colon, and terminal ileum involvement decreased successively, and the involved mucosa was mainly manifested as disappearance of vascular texture, mucosal congestion and edema, erosion to shallow ulcers, and lumen stenosis. The lesions in 5 patients were distributed continuously similar to ulcerative colitis, and the lesions in 6 patients were distributed segmentally, 1 of them had an isolated deep ulcer in the rectum under endoscopy. Correlation analysis revealed significant correlations between endoscopic scores (MES, UCEIS, and MD grading; all P < 0.001). Truelove & Witts score strongly correlated with the Mayo score ( ρ = 0.88, P < 0.001). Among clinical-endoscopic comparisons, the Mayo score exhibited the strong positive correlation with endoscopic scores (all P < 0.05), followed by the Truelove & Witts score (all P < 0.05), and CTCAE diarrhea grading only had positive correlation with MD grading ( P = 0.034). However, CTCAE colitis grading showed no significant correlation with endoscopic scores (all P > 0.05). During a mean follow-up of 13.5 months, 10 patients received corticosteroid therapy, and 5 received alternative treatments. Corticosteroid-treated patients showed favorable clinical responses, and rapid tapering feasible occurred in parts of mild-to-moderate patients without relapse. However, perforation occurred in 2 patients with small bowel involvement. Conclusions:The main clinical manifestations of patients with ICI-related colitis are diarrhea. Imaging studies suggest thickening of the colonic wall. Endoscopic findings show the highest involvement in the left colon. Truelove&Witts score and Mayo score is strongly correlated. Corticosteroid therapy exhibits a rapid response, and the prognosis of patients with small intestine involvement is poor.

Objective:To apply artificial intelligence（AI）in classifying ovarian tumors on ultrasound images，and compare the diagnostic results of several sonographers with varying seniority levels.Methods:A total of 645 patients diagnosed with adnexal masses via gynecological ultrasound examination at Qilu Hospital of Shandong University from January 2021 to December 2024 were enrolled. Three deep learning architectures，i.e.，Alexnet，Densenet121，and Resnet50 were developed and used to internally test the classification effectiveness of ovarian tumors，while the optimal model was selected for external testing. Two junior sonographers and two senior sonographers were recruited to independently diagnose ovarian tumors in the external test dataset. Subsequently，the benign and malignant results of the model's predictions were disclosed to each sonographer，and their revised diagnoses on the same external test data in combination with the best AI model were recorded.Results:The optimal model achieved an accuracy of 0.941，sensitivity of 0.936，and specificity of 0.944 on the internal test dataset，and maintained robust performance on the external test dataset with accuracy of 0.891，sensitivity of 0.880，and specificity of 0.907. Compared to junior sonographers，the optimal model demonstrated significantly higher sensitivity in discriminating benign from malignant ovarian tumors（0.880 vs. 0.723，0.602；all P<0.05）. No statistically significant difference was observed in diagnostic accuracy between the optimal model and senior sonographer 1（ P=0.05）. With assistance from the optimal model，junior sonographers achieved significant improvements in both sensitivity and specificity（sensitivity：0.723 vs. 0.843，0.602 vs. 0.819；specificity：0.778 vs. 0.833，0.685 vs. 0.741；all P<0.05）. Conclusions:The optimal model achieves comparable performance to that of senior sonographers in ovarian tumor classification. With model assistance，the diagnostic performance of junior sonographers is significantly improved.

Stiff person syndrome (SPS) is a rare neuro-immune disorder characterized by exaggerated startle responses and muscle spasms in response to minor stimuli. SPS is often misdiagnosed as panic disorder or agoraphobia. This paper reported a case of a patient with SPS presenting symptoms similar to panic attack. The patient had been misdiagnosed as dystonia, anxiety disorder and panic attack. The patient was finally correctly diagnosed through multiple disciplinary team discussions. This study integrates a comprehensive understanding of symptomatology and patient-reported experiences with targeted neurological evaluations and supplementary diagnostic tools to improve the accuracy of etiological diagnoses. This study aims to enhance the ability of psychiatrists to recognize somatic diseases presenting with psychiatric symptoms and to improve clinical diagnostic and treatment levels.

Objective:To analyze the clinical and prognostic characteristics of patients with immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) -related colitis.Methods:A retrospective observational research method was conducted. Clinical data from patients diagnosed with ICI-related colitis at Beijing Friendship Hospital between January 2016 and May 2024 were collected. Clinical severity was assessed using the common terminology criteria for adverse event (CTCAE) grading, Mayo Score, Truelove & Witts Score, and endoscopic severity was assessed using Mayo endoscopic score (MES), ulcerative colitis endoscopic index of severity (UCEIS), and MD Anderson Cancer Center endoscopic inflammation grading (MD grading). Spearman rank correlation analysis was performed to evaluate the correlation between different scoring systems.Results:A total of 15 patients were included, with 10 males and 5 females, and the median age was 64.0 (55.5, 71.0) years. Thirteen patients were treated with programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) monoclonal antibodies, and 2 patients were treated with programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) monoclonal antibodies. The median onset time of the 15 patients was 66.5 (41.0, 168.0) days after ICI treatment. All patients had diarrhea, only 25% patients presented with abdominal pain, and 20%-33% patients had fever, abdominal distension, nausea, and vomiting. Most of the inflammatory indicators were non-specific. Among the 14 patients who underwent CT examinations, 2 patients had no abnormal manifestations, 10 patients had left colon involvement, mainly manifested as thickening of the colon wall, and 6 of these patients had full-thickness involvement. Among the 12 patients who underwent colonoscopy examination, except for one patient with no abnormalities, 11 patients had rectal and sigmoid colon involvement, the proportions of the descending colon, ascending colon, and terminal ileum involvement decreased successively, and the involved mucosa was mainly manifested as disappearance of vascular texture, mucosal congestion and edema, erosion to shallow ulcers, and lumen stenosis. The lesions in 5 patients were distributed continuously similar to ulcerative colitis, and the lesions in 6 patients were distributed segmentally, 1 of them had an isolated deep ulcer in the rectum under endoscopy. Correlation analysis revealed significant correlations between endoscopic scores (MES, UCEIS, and MD grading; all P < 0.001). Truelove & Witts score strongly correlated with the Mayo score ( ρ = 0.88, P < 0.001). Among clinical-endoscopic comparisons, the Mayo score exhibited the strong positive correlation with endoscopic scores (all P < 0.05), followed by the Truelove & Witts score (all P < 0.05), and CTCAE diarrhea grading only had positive correlation with MD grading ( P = 0.034). However, CTCAE colitis grading showed no significant correlation with endoscopic scores (all P > 0.05). During a mean follow-up of 13.5 months, 10 patients received corticosteroid therapy, and 5 received alternative treatments. Corticosteroid-treated patients showed favorable clinical responses, and rapid tapering feasible occurred in parts of mild-to-moderate patients without relapse. However, perforation occurred in 2 patients with small bowel involvement. Conclusions:The main clinical manifestations of patients with ICI-related colitis are diarrhea. Imaging studies suggest thickening of the colonic wall. Endoscopic findings show the highest involvement in the left colon. Truelove&Witts score and Mayo score is strongly correlated. Corticosteroid therapy exhibits a rapid response, and the prognosis of patients with small intestine involvement is poor.

Objective To explore the feasibility of prototype of flexible ultrasound array transducer for measuring intravascular diameter and blood flow velocity.Methods A prototype of flexible ultrasonic array transducer composed of a surface mount flexible ultrasonic array transducer(referred to as the transducer)and acquisition system was designed and fabricated.Doppler body model and vascular simulation control system was used to simulate human blood.Mindray M7 color multi-functional ultrasound diagnostic instrument(abbreviated as M7)and the prototype were adopted to detect pulse wave excitation mode,spectral morphology,echo signal time interval,blood flow velocity,etc.Taken the results of M7 as standards,the effectiveness of the prototype was evaluated.Then the inner diameter and flow velocity of left common carotid artery,left brachial artery and left radial artery of 20 healthy controls(HC)were measured respectively using M7 and the prototype,and the consistency of measurement results were analyzed to evaluate the accuracy of the prototype.The safety of the prototype was evaluated according to subjectively scoring the comfort level of HC applying the transducer and whether there was skin discomfort,injury,etc.after removing the transducer.Results The collected blood flow spectrum of the above vascular simulation control system acquire with the prototype were clear,and the spectral morphology,flow velocity,as well as echo signal time interval were basically consistent with those of M7.The consistency of the inner diameter of left common carotid artery,left brachial artery and left radial artery measured by the prototype and M7 in 20 HC were all very strong(ICC=0.919-0.992),while of flow velocities were moderate or very strong(ICC=0.524-0.831).The subjective score of comfort level of application of transducer was 3(2,3),and no skin discomfort occurred.Conclusion Flexible ultrasound array transducer technology could be used to measure intravascular diameter and blood flow velocity.