Objective To explore the value of proton density fat fraction(PDFF)and R2* based on iterative decomposition of water and fat with echo asymmetry and least squares estimation quantification(IDEAL-IQ)sequence in the assessment of vertebral fat and trabecular structure in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.Methods A total of 85 postmenopausal women who underwent abdominal CT scans were selected and divided into three groups using quantitative computed tomography(QCT):osteoporosis group(30 cases),osteopenia group(29 cases),and normal bone mass group(26 cases).MRI examinations were performed within 2 weeks,the sequences including lumbar sagittal IDEAL-IQ and T2* mapping.The images were uploaded to the post-processing workstation,and the mean PDFF,IDEAL-R2* and gradient echo(GRE)-R2* were calculated for the L1-L5 vertebral body.One-way ANOVA was used to analyze the differences between the parameters among the three groups,and Spearman was used to compare the correlations between PDFF and bone mineral density(BMD),R2* value,as well as BMD and R2* value.The Bland-Altman plot was drawn to evaluate the consistency of IDEAL-R2* and GRE-R2*,and the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to further evaluate the diagnostic performance of PDFF and R2* values for osteoporosis and osteopenia.Results There were significant differences in PDFF and BMD values among normal bone mass group,osteopenia group and osteoporosis group(P＜0.05),and R2* values were reduced in the osteoporosis group compared to the normal bone mass group(P＜0.05).Correlation analysis showed that PDFF was negatively correlated with BMD(r=-0.558,P＜0.05),negatively correlated with R2*[r=-0.250(IDEAL),-0.354(GRE),both P＜0.05],and positively correlated with BMD and R2*[r=0.351(IDEAL),0.457(GRE),both P＜0.05].The Bland-Altman plots showed that the mean value of the difference between IDEAL-R2* and GRE-R2* was-4.5 Hz,and the results were highly consistent.ROC curves showed no significant difference in the diagnostic efficacy of IDEAL-R2* and GRE-R2* in the assessment of osteoporosis and osteopenia(Z=0.526,1.327,P=0.599,0.185),but the diagnostic efficacy of both was lower than PDFF[area under the curve(AUC)=0.846(osteoporosis),0.684(oseopenia)].Conclusion IDEAL-IQ sequence-derived PDFF and R2* values are effective biological indicators for one-stop assessment of vertebral fat and microscopic trabecular structure in osteoporosis,which have certain clinical value.

Objective To explore the value of proton density fat fraction(PDFF)and R2* based on iterative decomposition of water and fat with echo asymmetry and least squares estimation quantification(IDEAL-IQ)sequence in the assessment of vertebral fat and trabecular structure in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.Methods A total of 85 postmenopausal women who underwent abdominal CT scans were selected and divided into three groups using quantitative computed tomography(QCT):osteoporosis group(30 cases),osteopenia group(29 cases),and normal bone mass group(26 cases).MRI examinations were performed within 2 weeks,the sequences including lumbar sagittal IDEAL-IQ and T2* mapping.The images were uploaded to the post-processing workstation,and the mean PDFF,IDEAL-R2* and gradient echo(GRE)-R2* were calculated for the L1-L5 vertebral body.One-way ANOVA was used to analyze the differences between the parameters among the three groups,and Spearman was used to compare the correlations between PDFF and bone mineral density(BMD),R2* value,as well as BMD and R2* value.The Bland-Altman plot was drawn to evaluate the consistency of IDEAL-R2* and GRE-R2*,and the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to further evaluate the diagnostic performance of PDFF and R2* values for osteoporosis and osteopenia.Results There were significant differences in PDFF and BMD values among normal bone mass group,osteopenia group and osteoporosis group(P＜0.05),and R2* values were reduced in the osteoporosis group compared to the normal bone mass group(P＜0.05).Correlation analysis showed that PDFF was negatively correlated with BMD(r=-0.558,P＜0.05),negatively correlated with R2*[r=-0.250(IDEAL),-0.354(GRE),both P＜0.05],and positively correlated with BMD and R2*[r=0.351(IDEAL),0.457(GRE),both P＜0.05].The Bland-Altman plots showed that the mean value of the difference between IDEAL-R2* and GRE-R2* was-4.5 Hz,and the results were highly consistent.ROC curves showed no significant difference in the diagnostic efficacy of IDEAL-R2* and GRE-R2* in the assessment of osteoporosis and osteopenia(Z=0.526,1.327,P=0.599,0.185),but the diagnostic efficacy of both was lower than PDFF[area under the curve(AUC)=0.846(osteoporosis),0.684(oseopenia)].Conclusion IDEAL-IQ sequence-derived PDFF and R2* values are effective biological indicators for one-stop assessment of vertebral fat and microscopic trabecular structure in osteoporosis,which have certain clinical value.

Literature related to children's adenoid hypertrophy was retrieved to form an expert questionnaire.According to the group standard writing rules of the China Association of Chinese Medicine,the peer consultation,quality evaluation and suitability eval-uation were completed through three rounds of Delphi expert questionnaire surveys and expert discussion meetings,and the Clinical Practice Guidelines for TCM in Children with Adenoidal Hypertrophy was finally formed.The guidelines have been formulated to clarify the scope of application of the guidelines,normative reference documents,terms and definitions,diagnosis,syndrome differentiation,treatment,prevention and care,and to provide an important reference for the clinical practice and diagnosis and treatment norms of tra-ditional Chinese medicine for children with adenoid hypertrophy.

BACKGROUND:Increased homocysteine level induces apoptosis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells,but the mechanism remains unclear. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the role of hsa-circ-0001360 in human umbilical vein endothelial cell apoptosis induced by homocysteine. METHODS:In vitro cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells were divided into control group,homocysteine group,interference control group,interference control + homocysteine group,hsa-circ-0001360 interference group,hsa-circ-0001360 + homocysteine interference group,overexpression control group,overexpression control + homocysteine group,hsa-circ-0001360 overexpression group and hsa-circ-0001360 + homocysteine overexpression group.All groups were treated with 100 μmol/L homocysteine.After 72 hours of intervention,the expressions of apoptosis-related proteins Bax,Bcl-2,and Caspase-3 were detected by western blot assay.The apoptotic rate was detected by flow cytometry.Quantitative real-time PCR was used to detect the expression of hsa-circ-0001360. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Compared with the control group,the expression of Caspase-3 and Bax was significantly increased(P<0.01),and the expression of Bcl-2 was significantly decreased(P<0.01),and the apoptotic rate was significantly increased(P<0.01)in the homocysteine group.(2)Compared with control group,the expression of hsa-circ-0001360 was significantly increased in the homocysteine group(P<0.01).(3)The expression of hsa-circ-0001360 was significantly higher in the cytoplasm than that in the nucleus(P<0.01).(4)Compared with the interference control C group and interference control + homocysteine group,the expressions of Caspase-3 and Bax were significantly decreased(P<0.01),while the expression of Bcl-2 was significantly increased(P<0.01);the apoptotic rate was significantly decreased(P<0.01)in sh-hsa-circ-0001360 interference group and sh-hsa-circ-0001360 + homocysteine interference group.(5)Compared with overexpression control group and overexpression control + homocysteine group,the expressions of Caspase-3 and Bax were significantly increased(P<0.01),while the expression of Bcl-2 was significantly decreased(P<0.01);the apoptotic rate was significantly increased(P<0.01)in the hsa-circ-0001360 overexpression group and the hsa-circ-0001360 + homocysteine overexpression group.(6)In conclusion,hsa-circ-0001360 can promote the apoptosis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells induced by homocysteine.

Objective Investigating the impact of miR-15a-5p on autophagy in trophoblast cells of pre-eclamptic placenta.Methods Collect 20 cases of normal placental tissue and 20 cases of preeclamptic placental tissue from December 2020 to December 2022.Use fluorescence quantitative PCR to detect the expression of miR-15a-5p in placental tissue and trophoblast cells,and study its correlation with patient blood pressure.The HTR8-S/Vneo cells are divided into normal group(control)and hypoxia group,and the effect of hypoxia on the expression of miR-15a-5p is observed.Additionally,mimic-NC group,mimic-NC+hypoxia group,miR-15a-5p mimic group,miR-15a-5p mimic+hypoxia group,inhibitor-NC group,inhibitor-NC+hypoxia group,miR-15a-5p inhibitor group,and miR-15a-5p inhibitor+hypoxia groups are set up to observe the effect of miR-15a-5p on hypoxia-induced autophagy-related proteins LC3B and p62 protein in trophoblast cells.Western blot is used to detect the expression levels of autophagy-related proteins LC3B and p62 protein in each group;TargetScan website predicts the target genes of miR-15a-5p,and detects their expression levels in placental tissue and trophoblast cells.Results Compared with the control group,the expression levels of miR-15a-5p were significantly increased in the placentas and hypoxic trophoblasts of preeclampsia,and they were positively correlated with the blood pressure of the patients.Under hypoxic conditions,the overexpressed miR-15a-5p promoted the protein expression of LC3BII/I,while the relative expression of P62 was decreased.But after interference with miR-15a-5p,LC3BII/I expression was down-regulated and P62 expression was up-regulated.The results of quantitative PCR and Western blot showed that the expression levels of YAP1 in the preeclampsia placental tissues and hypoxic trophoblasts were significantly reduced.Conclusion The upregulation of miR-15a-5p in trophoblast cells of the placenta in individuals with preeclampsia could enhance autophagy in preeclampsia by forming a complex with YAP1.

Purpose To evaluate the value of shear wave elastic imaging of liver and spleen in predicting high risk esophageal and gastric varices in cirrhosis.Materials and Methods Sixty-four patients with cirrhosis in the First Hospital of Lanzhou University from November 2019 to April 2022 were enrolled prospectively,and underwent gastroscopy,elastography and serological examination.According to gastroscopy,patients were divided into high-risk varices(HRV,30 cases)and non-HRV group(34 cases),the differences of each clinical index and shear wave elastic imaging parameter between the groups were compared.The diagnostic efficacy of liver and spleen stiffness measurement for HRV was analyzed.And the diagnostic models were established for exploring the diagnostic effectiveness of different models with respect to excluding HRV in compensated liver cirrhosis.Results There were significant differences in platelet[(74±24)×109/L vs.(124±50)×109/L],liver stiffness[(16.1±5.6)kPa vs.(13.6±5.5)kPa]and spleen stiffness[(41.7±8.9)kPa vs.(28.1±8.6)kPa]between HRV and non-HRV groups(t/Z/χ2=5.136,-1.832,-6.206,all P<0.05).The areas under the curve of liver stiffness and spleen stiffness for predicting HRV were 0.660 and 0.858,respectively.The Baveno Ⅵ combined with the spleen stiffness model had the best performance(30.0％)for excluding HRV.Conclusion The measurement of liver and spleen stiffness by shear wave elastography has great diagnostic value for predicting HRV in cirrhosis,and spleen stiffness is better than liver stiffness.

BACKGROUND: Syringomyelia is a progressive chronic disease that leads to nerve pain, sensory dissociation, and dyskinesia. Symptoms often do not improve after surgery. Stem cells have been widely explored for the treatment of nervous system diseases due to their immunoregulatory and neural replacement abilities. METHODS: In this study, we used a rat model of syringomyelia characterized by focal dilatation of the central canal to explore an effective transplantation scheme and evaluate the effect of mesenchymal stem cells and induced neural stem cells for the treatment of syringomyelia. RESULTS: The results showed that cell transplantation could not only promote syrinx shrinkage but also stimulate the proliferation of ependymal cells, and the effect of this result was related to the transplantation location. These reactions appeared only when the cells were transplanted into the cavity. Additionally, we discovered that cell transplantation transformed activated microglia into the M2 phenotype. IGF1-expressing M2 microglia may play a significant role in the repair of nerve pain. CONCLUSION Cell transplantation can promote cavity shrinkage and regulate the local inflammatory environment.Moreover, the proliferation of ependymal cells may indicate the activation of endogenous stem cells, which is important for the regeneration and repair of spinal cord injury.

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics and structural and functional cardiac changes in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction(HFpEF)complicated with atrial fibrillation(AF)in elderly patients.Methods:As a cross-sectional study, 835 patients with HFpEF aged ≥60 years admitted to the Department of Geriatric Cardiovascular Medicine of the First Hospital of Lanzhou University between April 2009 and December 2020 were divided into an HFpEF+ AF group(267 cases)and an HFpEF group(568 cases)according to whether they had AF in addition to HFpEF, and their cardiac structure and function were evaluated.The optimal cutoff point of the ratio of the peak early diastolic velocity(E)to the maximum early diastolic velocity(e')of the mitral annulus(E/e')was analysed using the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve.The HFpEF+ AF group was divided into two subgroups, E/e'>11 and E/e'≤11, and differences in their clinical presentation, cardiac structural and function, and the relationship between the left and right heart were compared.Results:Compared with the HFpEF group, the left atrial volume index(LAVi)was larger[(60.0±23.3)ml/m 2vs.(43.9±19.0)ml/m 2, t=10.130, P<0.01]and the left ventricular ejection fraction(EF), mitral annular septal systolic velocity(s' S)and E/e' were smaller than in the HFpEF+ AF group(all P<0.01), whereas the right ventricular diameter(RVD), right atrial diameter(RAD)and area(RAA), tricuspid regurgitation velocity(TRv), and pulmonary arterial systolic pressure(PASP)in the HFpEF+ AF group were all greater than those in the HFpEF group(all P<0.05).In the E/e'>11 subgroup of HFpEF+ AF, the prevalence of hypertension, coronary heart disease and diabetes were higher, AF courses were shorter, and the decline of s' was more severe(all P<0.05).Furthermore, E/e' was independently correlated with LAVi, as was LAVi with PASP( t=2.114, 1.963, P=0.034, 0.042).The above-mentioned features were similar to those in the HFpEF group.The E/e'≤11 subgroup had a higher proportion of women, longer duration of AF than the E/e'>11 subgroup(median: 5 years vs.1 year, P=0.003), more noticeable enlargement of the right ventricle and right atrium, higher TRv and PASP( P<0.05). Conclusions:In elderly patients with HFpEF complicated with AF, the left atrial volume is increased further, and left ventricular systolic function and right heart morphology show serious deterioration, suggesting there might be two phenotypes of HFpEF+ AF with different pathophysiological mechanisms.

Objective:To explore the value of liver stiffness and spleen stiffness measured by two-dimensional shear wave elastography (2D-SWE) in predicting high-risk varices (HRV) with compensated cirrhosis patients.Methods:Seventy patients with compensated cirrhosis who attended the First Hospital of Lanzhou University from November 2019 to April 2022 were recruited. All patients underwent examinations of liver stiffness measurement (LSM) and spleen stiffness measurement (SSM) by 2D-SWE. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors affecting the occurrence of HRV. The diagnostic performances of LSM, liver stiffness (by 2D-SWE)-spleen length-to-platelet (LSPS) score, and SSM in predicting HRV were compared.Results:SSM was not technically feasible in 6/70 (8.6%) patients due to small volume of spleen.Among 64 patients with compensated cirrhosis, 30/64 (46.9%) were HRV. Binary multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that SSM and platelet counts were independent influencing factors for predicting HRV, with OR values of 1.126 ( P=0.006) and 0.971 ( P=0.039), respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of LSM, LSPS score, and SSM were 0.660, 0.828 and 0.858, respectively. The AUCs of SSM and LSPS score were significantly higher than that of LSM ( P<0.05), but there was no statistical difference between SSM and LSPS score ( P=0.608). Conclusions:LSM and SSM measured by 2D-SWE have high success rate. SSM and LSPS score have high value in predicting HRV in patients with compensated cirrhosis, and the diagnostic performances of the above two methods are significantly higher than that of LSM.

Objective To assess the association between early adiposity rebound (AR) and indices of obesity and metabolic risk in 5-year-old children. Methods Based on Ma’anshan Birth Cohort Study (MABC), single live births born in Ma'anshan of Anhui province from October 2013 to April 2015 were followed for up to 5 years consecutively. As of August 2019, 720 children with continuous measurements (≥8 times) and metabolic indicators were obtained. Physical examination and laboratory tests were used to obtain information on the birth status, length/height, weight, waist circumference, body composition and metabolic indicators of children. The 2 test, F test, t-test, non-parametric test, general linear model and logistic regression model were used for statistical analysis. Results 43.5% of the children had AR≤4 years. After controlling for gender, it was found that earlier AR was associated with overweight/obesity (OR=2.71, 95%CI: 1.81~4.05), larger waist circumference (OR=1.88, 95%CI: 1.25~2.82), and body fat percentage ≥90th percentile (OR=2.09, 95%CI: 1.26~3.48). In the earlier AR group, the insulin resistance and metabolic score were higher, but the difference was not statistically significant. At 5 years of age, the prevalence of obesity and overweight was 6.0% and 12.8%, respectively. Children with overweight/obesity, larger waist circumference, higher waist-to-weight ratio and body fat percentage ≥ 90th percentile were associated with higher insulin resistance and metabolic score, and all the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.001). Conclusion Earlier AR increased the risk of overweight/obesity, larger waist circumference, and body fat percentage ≥90th percentile at age of 5 years. Each index of the commonly used measures of childhood obesity was closely related with insulin resistance and metabolic risk factors at 5 years old.