Mulberry (Morus alba L.) leaf is a well-established traditional Chinese botanical and culinary resource. It has found widespread application in the management of diabetes. The bioactive constituents of mulberry leaf, specifically mulberry leaf flavonoids (MLFs), exhibit pronounced potential in the amelioration of type 2 diabetes (T2D). This potential is attributed to their ability to safeguard pancreatic β cells, enhance insulin resistance, and inhibit α-glucosidase activity. Our antecedent research findings underscore the substantial therapeutic efficacy of MLFs in treating T2D. However, the precise mechanistic underpinnings of MLF's anti-T2D effects remain the subject of inquiry. Activation of brown/beige adipocytes is a novel and promising strategy for T2D treatment. In the present study, our primary objective was to elucidate the impact of MLFs on adipose tissue browning in db/db mice and 3T3-L1 cells and elucidate its underlying mechanism. The results manifested that MLFs reduced body weight and food intake, alleviated hepatic steatosis, improved insulin sensitivity, and increased lipolysis and thermogenesis in db/db mice. Moreover, MLFs activated brown adipose tissue (BAT) and induced the browning of inguinal white adipose tissue (IWAT) and 3T3-L1 adipocytes by increasing the expressions of brown adipocyte marker genes and proteins such as uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) and beige adipocyte marker genes such as transmembrane protein 26 (Tmem26), thereby promoting mitochondrial biogenesis. Mechanistically, MLFs facilitated the activation of BAT and the induction of WAT browning to ameliorate T2D primarily through the activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)/sirtuin 1 (SIRT1)/peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) signaling pathway. These findings highlight the unique capacity of MLF to counteract T2D by enhancing BAT activation and inducing browning of IWAT, thereby ameliorating glucose and lipid metabolism disorders. As such, MLFs emerge as a prospective and innovative browning agent for the treatment of T2D.
Mice ; Animals ; Adipose Tissue, Brown ; Sirtuin 1/pharmacology* ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/metabolism* ; AMP-Activated Protein Kinases/metabolism* ; Morus/metabolism* ; Flavonoids/metabolism* ; Prospective Studies ; Signal Transduction ; Adipose Tissue, White ; Plant Leaves ; Uncoupling Protein 1/metabolism* ; Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma Coactivator 1-alpha/metabolism*

Objective    To summarize the experience of surgical treatment of asphyxiating thoracic dysplasia (Jeune syndrome). Methods    A total of 15 patients with asphyxiating thoracic dysplasia from August 2018 to April 2020 in our hospital were retrospectively included. There were 7 males and 8 females, aged 1-25 (8.87±6.71) years. Special steel bars were used to correct the growth direction of the rib and costal cartilage. Meanwhile, the concave and convex deformities of the chest wall on both sides were corrected to increase the chest volume and correct the thoracic deformity. Results    The contour appearance of the chest wall of all patients changed after the operation. The shape was close to normal, and the symptoms of hypoxia were improved. The operation time was 147.73±59.78 min, intraoperative bleeding volume was 105.67±91.90 mL, ICU stay time was 14.20±13.54 d and hospital stay time was 26.00±17.87 d. Eleven patients were directly extubated after the operation, 4 patients underwent tracheotomy and received assisted respiration, and the assisted respiration time was 19, 13, 22 and 12 days, respectively. The postoperative chest circumference was significantly increased, and the blood oxygen saturation was significantly improved. There were 5 patients with cardiac insufficiency, and 3 of them were improved by cardiotonic therapy, 2 of them died of heart failure on the 2nd and 31st day after the operation, respectively. Abdominal distention occurred in 10 patients after operation, and 5 of them were obstinate and eliminated by comprehensive treatment. All patients were followed up. The appearance of thorax was improved obviously and there was no sign of compression in lungs. One 13-year-old patient developed respiratory discomfort 3 months after the operation, and the symptoms were relieved after self-administration of oxygen. A 25-year-old patient developed cardiac insufficiency half a month after the discharge, and the symptoms disappeared after cardiotonic treatment. Four patients took out the steel bars in 13, 13, 15 and 17 months after the operation, respectively. The appearance of thorax remained well after the operation. The imaging examination showed that the position of bone structure was normal, the lung field was clear, and there was no sign of chronic inflammation. Conclusion    This technique is a safe and simple operation method. It can not only eliminate the deformity of chest wall, but also increase the volume of chest obviously. However, the long-term effect needs to be further evaluated.

OBJECTIVE: To review the experience with Wang procedure for treatment of pectus excavatum in young children. METHODS: The clinical data of 21 children with a mean age of 3.3 ± 1.1 years (ranging from 1.5-6 years) undergoing Wang procedure for pectus excavatum were analyzed. A longitudinal incision (1 to 2 cm) was made in the front of the xiphoid, and two tunnels were created using steel bars beneath the muscles on two sides of the chest wall. The fibrous tissue between the diaphragm and the sternum was dissociated, and the steel wires were sutured through the deformed chest wall. After the steel bar was placed in the tunnels, the wires were pulled and fixed in the middle of the bar, and the incision was sutured. RESULTS: All the operations were performed using 3 wires and 1 steel bar. The operation time was 25 to 51 (38.1 ± 9.6) min with an intraoperative bleeding volume of 5 to 10 (7.1±1.5) mL. The time of hospitalization of the patients ranged from 6 to 10 days (mean 8.1±1.3 days). In all the patients, the incision healed smoothly without serious pain or obvious complications. All the patients were followed up for 1 to 13 months after the operation. During the follow- up, no recess recurred and no such complications as bar displacement or transposition occurred. According to the evaluation criteria after pectus excavatum operation, 13 cases had a total score of 9, and 8 had a total score of 8. The overall effect was satisfactory, and there were no cases rated as basically satisfactory or unsatisfactory. CONCLUSIONS Wang procedure is a good option for treatment of pectus excavatum in young children.
Bone Wires ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Diaphragm ; Funnel Chest ; surgery ; Humans ; Internal Fixators ; Operative Time ; Orthopedic Procedures ; instrumentation ; methods ; Retrospective Studies ; Thoracic Wall ; Treatment Outcome ; Xiphoid Bone ; surgery

Objective To introduce an integral classification method of thoracic deformity. Methods From March 2015 to March 2017, 869 patients with thoracic deformity were observed. The patients were classified according to the traditional classification method at first, and then were classified according to the integral classification method. According to the standard plane of the normal chest wall, the chest deformities were classified into types Ⅰ and Ⅱ: those below the plane belonged to type Ⅰ, and those above the plane belonged to type Ⅱ. Then two types were divided into subtypes Ⅰ-a, Ⅰ-b, Ⅰ-c, Ⅰ-d, Ⅰ-e, Ⅰ-f, Ⅰ-g and Ⅱ-a, Ⅱ-b, Ⅱ-c, Ⅱ-d according to the specific characteristics of malformation. Results There were 840 patients included in the classification system, accounting for 96.7% of the total patients, and the remaining 29 (3.3%) were complicated malformations, which could not be accurately described by using a single classification type. Compared with the traditional classification methods, patients with pectus excavatum and pectus carinatum were divided into different subtypes. Poland syndrome did not exist any longer, and Dove chest alone became the type Ⅱ-c. Conclusion Integral classification method is a simple and practical classification method. Since the method directly depends on the characteristics of malformation which is related to the operation, it plays a guiding role in the operation. But its superiority needs to be further confirmed.

Objective To introduce a novel classification method for pectus excavatum. Methods A retrospective review of 569 operative patients with pectus excavatum between January 2015 and September 2017 in our hospital was performed. The malformations were described and classified from three dimensions: symmetry (abbreviated as S), depth (abbreviated as D) and position (abbreviated as P). The final integral was calculated according to the deformity index, so that the severity of the deformity could be evaluated. All patients underwent Nuss or modified Nuss surgery. Results All pectus excavatum deformities were classified into 24 types. The most common type was S1D2P1, accounting for 27.2% of the total patients followed by S1D2P2, S1D1P2 and S2D2P2, accounting for 12.0%, 11.6% and 11.4% of all patients respectively. S1D3P3, S1D3P4 and S2D3P3 were not found in our patients. According to the integral, 321 patients were mild, 23 severe, and the rest were moderate. The appearance of all patients improved after the operation. Among them, 405 patients were implanted with a plate, 159 with two plates and 5 with three plates. The length of hospital stay was 5-12 d, with an average of 7.3±1.5 d. Conclusion This classification method is a more comprehensive classification, but its scientific and practical characteristics need to be further confirmed.

Objective Aiming at detecting Staphylococcus aureus、Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae in laboratory animals,the paper provides a rapid,sensitive and simple test method.Methods According to Staphylococcus aureus nuc gene,Pseudomonas aeruginosa LasI gene,Klebsiella pneumonia PhoE gene and general 16S rRNA gene, designed specific primers;Through the optimization of multiplex PCR primer concentrations and annealing temperature, the specificity and sensitivity of detection, establishing multiplex PCR system.Application of the PCR system test specimens of artificial infections and experiment animal feces is compared with traditional test method.Results Multiplex PCR amplification of Staphylococcus aureus (153 bp), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (600 bp) with Klebsiella pneumoniae (368 bp) and general (520 bp).The multiplex sensitivity for the purpose of 10pg, specificity of detection was not detected from other pathogens.Application of establishing multiplex PCR system to detect the artificial positive samples, and detect 1 Pseudomonas aeruginosa positive case in 76 fecals.Conclusions This paper established the multiplex PCR method which has the advantages of specific,sensitive,simple and rapid, and provides a reliable way for rapid test in laboratory animals microbiology.

Objective: To explore the anatomical characteristics of the mesopancreas, to define the range of the total mesopancreas excision and to evaluate the feasibility, safety and effectiveness in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Methods: A regional anatomical and pathological study was performed on 14 cadavers with large slices and paraffin sections. The clinical and pathological data of 58 consecutive patients underwent total mesopancreas excision for pancreatic head carcinoma from January 2013 to December 2015 were prospectively collected and analysed. The perioperative morbidity, mortality and clinical outcomes of patients underwent total mesopancreas excision were compared with the patients underwent conventional pancreaticoduodenectomy from January 2010 to December 2012. Results: The mesopancreas located in the retropancreatic area, extending from the head, neck, and uncinated process of pancreas to the aorto-caval groove, in which there were loose areolar tissue, adipose tissue, nerve plexus, lymphatic and capillaries. Although no fibrous sheath or fascia like mesocolorectum was found around the structures, a relatively fixed extent could be defined according to its embryologic and anatomic characters. In clinical practice, total mesopancreas excision was classified into two levels according to the extent of resection in this series: level Ⅰ was a"standard total mesopancreas excision" or"total mesopancreas excision in a narrow sense" , which was similar to the extent of standard resection from consensus statement of ISGPS. Level Ⅱ was defined as any procedure extending the range of level Ⅰ, called the"extended total mesopancreas excision" or"total mesopancreas excision in a broad sense". In TMpE group, the intraoperative blood loss( (461.4±184.5)ml vs. (532.2±319.8)ml, P=0.301), operation time( (368.6±92.5)minutes vs. (397.1±112.7)minutes, P=0.559), total complication rate (39.7% vs. 51.2%, P=0.250), fistula mortality (25.9% vs. 30.2%, P=0.628) were all reduced. There were significantly higher R0 rate (91.4% vs.76.7%, P=0.041) and more harvested lymph nodes (16.2 vs. 11.4, P=0.000) and lower total and local recurrence: rate (half-year local recurrence rate: 7.8% vs. 23.7%, P=0.036; one-year local recurrence rate: 18.2% vs. 39.5%, P=0.018) and longer disease-free survival (16.9 months vs. 13.4 months, P=0.044) and overall survival(22.5 months vs. 19.9 months, P>0.05) were also found in the study group. Conclusions Mesopancreas is different from mesorectum since it has no fascial envelop, which should be regarded as a surgical concept, rather than an anatomical structure. Total mesopancreas excision is safe and feasible for pancreatic head cancer and probably helps to increase the R0 resection rate and improve the clinical outcomes.

Objective To investigate the difficulty, safety and clinical efficacy of the pterional approach from the side of open A2 plane vs the approach from the side of closed A2 plane for anterosuperior-pointing anterior communicat?ing artery aneurysms (ACoAA). Methods Forty-two patients with anterosuperior-pointing ACoAA treated by microsurgi?cal clipping were divided into two groups of the approach from the side of open A2 plane (n=22) and the approach from the side of closed A2 plane (n=20). Primary objective endpoints were rates of gyrus rectus aspiration, displacement of the ipsilateral A2 and surgical-related complications, clipping results, incidence of cognitive function impairment and Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) at 6 months after treatment. Results The incidence of gyrus rectus aspiration and dis?placement of the ipsilateral A2, cognitive impairment at 6 months after treatment and the surgical-related complications was also significant lower in the approach from the side of open A2 plane than in the approach from the side of closed A2 plane [4(18.2%) cases vs. 11(55.0%) cases, χ2=6.185, P<0.05;4(18.2%) cases vs. 10(50.0%) cases, χ2=4.773, P<0.05;1 (4.5%) case vs. 7(35.0%) cases, χ2=4.481 P<0.05]. There were no significant differences in postoperative clipping results and GOS at 6 months after treatment between two approaches (P>0.05). Conclusions The pterional approach from the side of open A2 plane in patients with anterosuperior-pointing ACoAA allows the aneurysmal necks to be secured safely, decreases operation difficulty and prevents surgical-related complications.

AIM: To investigate the association of osteoprotegerin ( OPG) gene single nucleotide polymor-phisms (SNPs), 163A/G (rs3102735) and 245T/G (rs3134069), with susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Chinese Han population .METHODS:A total of 205 patients with RA and 171 healthy control subjects were enrolled into this study.Genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction-based restriction fragment length polymorphism and subsequently confirmed by DNA sequencing .Odds ratio ( OR) and 95%confidence intervals ( CI) were calculated for the risk genotypes and alleles .RESULTS: OPG gene polymorphisms 163A/G and 245T/G were conformed to the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium .The statistical differences in the genotypes of AA , AG and GG at 163A/G locus were found in RA and controls.The G allele was associated with an increased risk of RA , with OR of 1.219 (95%CI:1.066~2.339).No significant difference was observed between RA group and control group with respect to genotypic and allelic frequencies of OPG gene 245T/G (P>0.05).CONCLUSION:The OPG gene 163A/G SNP may be associated with RA susceptibility , and G allele may be the risk factor for developing RA .

OBJECTIVETo investigate the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in the arachnoid membrane around posterior communicating artery aneurysms.

METHODSTwelve patients with posterior communicating artery aneurysms undergoing surgical intervention in our hospital between November, 2010 and November, 2011 were enrolled as the case group along with 6 concurrent patients with severely head trauma or epilepsy as controls. The expression of MMP-9 in the aneurysmal walls and the arachnoid membrane was examined in immunohistochemistry, and HE staining and Sirus red staining were performed to examine the pathological changes.

RESULTSThe perianeurysmal arachnoid membrane showed tissue destruction and disruption of the connections between the membrane and the artery wall with local detachment. Compared with that in the control group, the level of MMP-9 in the arachnoid membrane was significantly higher in the case group (P<0.05), but significantly lower than that in the aneurysm wall within the same sample (P<0.05). No differences were found in the levels of MMP-9 in the aneurysm patients with different ages or Hunt-Hess scale scores.

CONCLUSIONMMP-9 is closely related with the formation of posterior communicating artery aneurysms by causing degradation of extracellular matrix of the vascular wall and the arachnoid membrane.

Adult ; Arachnoid ; metabolism ; pathology ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 ; metabolism ; Middle Aged