Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a multi-system disease that can lead to various severe complications. Acute limb ischemia (ALI) has been increasingly recognized as a COVID-19-associated complication that often predicts a poor prognosis. However, the pathophysiology and molecular mechanisms underlying COVID-19-associated ALI remain poorly understood. Hypercoagulability and thrombosis are considered important mechanisms, but we also emphasize the roles of vasospasm, hypoxia, and acidosis in the pathogenesis of the disease. The angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) pathway, inflammation, and platelet activation may be important molecular mechanisms underlying these pathological changes induced by COVID-19. Furthermore, we discuss the hypotheses of risk factors for COVID-19-associated ALI from genetic, age, and gender perspectives based on our analysis of molecular mechanisms. Additionally, we summarize therapeutic approaches such as use of the interleukin-6 (IL-6) blocker tocilizumab, calcium channel blockers, and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, providing insights for the future treatment of coronavirus-associated limb ischemic diseases.
Humans ; COVID-19/physiopathology* ; Ischemia/etiology* ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Extremities/blood supply* ; Risk Factors ; Interleukin-6/antagonists & inhibitors* ; Acute Disease ; Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2

Objective To analyze the literature of leech in medicine using CiteSpace knowledge map,comprehensively understand the research status,hotspots and development trends of component analysis and pharmacological effects of leech,and provide reference for researchers in the field of leech.Methods CiteSpace 6.1 R3 software was used to analyze the relevant literature of leech in the field of medical research in CNKI and Web of Science databases from 1996 to 2022.The bibliometric and visual analysis of the number of articles,authors,research institutions,keyword co-occurrence,clustering and emergence were carried out.Results A total of 1 115 Chinese articles in CNKI database and 237 English articles in Web of Science database were included.The analysis of Chinese and English literature showed that the author Shi Hongzhuan had the largest number of Chinese articles,and the German author Hildebrandt had the largest number of English articles.Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Chinese Academy of Sciences were the institutions with the largest number of articles in Chinese and English respectively.The country with the most published English literature is the United States.Chinese and English keyword co-occurrence and cluster analysis showed that Chinese literature focused on the study of its active ingredient hirudin,including molecular structure,pharmacological efficacy,mechanism of treating thrombosis,coronary heart disease,kidney disease and other diseases,and paid attention to the differences in the active ingredients of different types of leeches.In addition,English literature focused on the clinical external use of living leeches.The emergence of keywords suggested that the mechanism of action,the search and synthesis of hirudin analogues,and the pharmacodynamic mechanism of compatibility application were not only the current research hotspots,but also the future hot spots.Conclusion The analysis of leech components,the pharmacological mechanism of leech in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases,chronic kidney diseases and other diseases have always been the research hotspots.Hirudin analogues,the pharmacodynamic mechanism of compatibility application,network pharmacology,molecular docking and so on may be the future research hotspots and trends of leeches.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of sodium hyaluronate gel in preventing adhesion after prophylactic enterostomy.Methods:One hundred and twenty four patients from 6 hospitals were enrolled in this prospective multi-center randomized controlled trial. Patients were randomized into the study group ( n=59) or the control group ( n=65).All patients underwent prophylactic enterostomy. Patients of study group received odium hyaluronate gel for adhesion-prevention,while those in control group did not receive any adhesion-prevention treatment. The incidence of moderate to severe adhesion around the incision in the stoma area were evalutated during stoma reduction surgery. Results:The incidence of moderate to severe adhesion around the incision in the stoma area was 6.3% in the study group, the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.05) compared to that of the control group (32.6%). Conclusion:Sodium hyaluronate gel can safely and effectively reduce the incidence of moderate and severe adhesions after abdominal surgery.

Objective:To explore the effect of combining motor imagery therapy (MIT) with kinesio taping in rehabilitating the upper limb motor function of stroke survivors.Methods:Ninety-two stroke survivors were randomized into a control group ( n=31), an MIT group ( n=31), and a combination group ( n=30). All were given 40 minutes of basic rehabilitation therapy daily, while the MIT group received additional MIT therapy, and the combination group received kinesio taping with the MIT therapy. The taping was applied according to a patient′s condition and changed every other day. The MIT was conducted twice a day. The experiment lasted 8 weeks, six days a week. Before and after the 8 weeks, the upper limb functioning, ability in the activities of daily living and muscle tension of each subject were assessed using the Fugl-Meyer assessment for the upper extremities (FMA-UE), the Hong Kong version of the functional test for a hemiplegic upper extremity (FTHUE-HK), the modified Barthel index (MBI) and the modified Ashworth scale (MAS). Results:The average post-treatment FMA-UE and MBI scores of the combination group were significantly higher than those of the MIT group, and both were significantly higher than the control group′s averages. The average FTHUE-HK grading of the combination group and MIT group after the treatment was significantly higher than in the control group, with that of the combination group significantly superior to the MIT group′s average. After the intervention the average MAS rating of the combination group was significantly lower than that of the control group.Conclusion:MIT combined with Kinesio taping can significantly improve the upper limb motor functioning of stroke survivors, and significantly reduce their abnormal muscle tone compared to traditional treatments.

Surgery is still the first choice for the curation of early gallbladder cancer, and the surgical strategy is selected based on anatomic position of primary tumor, accurate preoperative stage, and strict indication assessment in order to achieve the optimal curative effect. However, most patients are in advanced stage or with distant metastasis at the first diagnosis, and the recurrence rate and 5-year survival rate are not satisfied even if they receive curative resection. Subsequently, it is urgent for the employment of more treatment strategies in the process management of gallbladder cancer patients, such as neoadjuvant therapy, postoperative therapy and first-line or second-line treatment of local advanced and metastatic patients. In recent years, application of molecular targeted agents and immunotherapy have brought greater hope and laid a vaster prospect for the treatment of gallbladder cancer. However, there is still lack of evidence-based medicine data on the prognostic results, and further researches are needed. By integrating the domestic and abroad new research achievements, the authors systematically summarize the current status and future trend on the management of gallbladder cancer, and hope to provide a macroscopic and systemic treatment chart, including necessary details.

Objective:To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic factors of patients with esophageal cancer.Methods:The retrospective case-control study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 447 patients with esophageal cancer who were admitted to the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2020 were collected. There were 312 males and 135 females, aged 60(range, 37?82)years. Observation indica-tors: (1) clinicopathological characteristics; (2) treatment; (3) follow-up; (4) analysis of prognostic factors for esophageal cancer. Follow-up using telephone interview or outpatient examination was conducted to detect survival of patients up to December 2021. The total survival time was from the surgery date to death or the last follow-up. Patients with duration of follow-up more than 2 years were included for survival and prognostic analysis. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD, and measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M(range). Count data were represented as absolute numbers. Kaplan-Meier method was used to draw survival curves and calculate survival rates. Log-Rank test was used for survival analysis. Univariate analysis was conducted using the Log-rank test. Multivariate analysis was conducted using the COX hazard regression model. Results:(1) Clinicopathological characteristics. Of the 447 patients, 69.80%(312/447) were males and 30.20%(135/447) were females, and there were 3, 18, 101, 229, 93, 3 cases aged 30?39 years, 40?49 years, 50?59 years, 60?69 years, 70?79 years, 80?89 years, respectively. About the pathological type, there were 424 cases with squamous carcinoma, 11 cases with small cell carcinoma, 4 cases with adenosquamous carcinoma, 3 cases with sarco-matoid carcinoma, 2 cases with adenocarcinoma, 1 case with neuroendocrine carcinoma, 1 case with undifferentiated carcinoma, and 1 case with adenoid cystic carcinoma. There were 2 cases with tumor located at cervicothoracic segment, 49 cases with tumor located at upper thoracic segment, 273 cases with tumor located at mid-thoracic segment, and 123 cases with tumor located at lower thoracic segment. There were 6, 24, 74, 59, 192, 80, 12 cases in stage pT0, pT1a, pT1b, pT2, pT3, pT4a, pT4b of pathological T staging, respectively. There were 207, 63, 142, 28, 7 cases in stage pN0, pN1, pN2, pN3, pN4 of pathological N staging by Japan Esophagus Society (JES), respectively. There were 207, 128, 76, 36 cases in stage pN0, pN1, pN2, pN3 of pathological N staging by Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), respectively. About TNM staging, there were 25, 53, 127, 174, 68 cases in stage 0, Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ, Ⅳa of JES staging, and 16, 9, 53, 35, 108, 96, 45, 85 cases in stage 0, Ⅰa, Ⅰb,Ⅱa, Ⅱb, Ⅲa, Ⅲb, Ⅲc of UICC staging, respectively. (2) Treatment. Of the 447 patients, 63 cases underwent neoadjuvant therapy(12 cases combined with immunotherapy), 384 cases underwent no neoadjuvant therapy. There were 347, 97, 2, 1 cases with surgical approach as right thoracic approach, left thoracotomy approach, cervical abdominal approach, left thoracoabdominal approach, respectively. There were 316, 5, 126 cases with surgical platform as totally endoscopic esophagec-tomy, Hybrid surgery, open surgery, respectively. There were 350 and 97 cases with digestive recons-truction as posterior mediastinal approach and intrathoracic approach, respectively. Surgical margin as R 0, R 1, R 2 resection was detected in 323, 116, 8 cases, respectively. Six of 447 patients died during the hospital stay. (3) Follow-up. All the 447 patients were followed up for 25(range, 2?48)months, including 233 cases with the follow-up more than 2 years. The median survival time of 233 patients was unreached, and the postoperative 2-year survival rate was 76.8%. (4) Analysis of prognostic factors for esophageal cancer. Results of univariate analysis showed that gender, neoadjuvant therapy, surgical margin, pT staging, pN staging by JES, pN staging by UICC, TNM staging by JES, TNM staging by UICC were related factors influencing prognosis of 233 patients with esophageal cancer ( χ2=6.62, 17.81, 32.95, 37.93, 27.06, 35.56, 45.24, 37.84, P<0.05). Results of multivariate analysis showed that gender, surgical margin, TNM staging by JES were independent factors influencing prognosis of 233 patients with esophageal cancer ( hazard ratio=0.48, 1.94, 1.46, 95% confidence intervals as 0.25?0.91, 1.07?3.52, 1.16?1.84, P<0.05). Conclusions:The incidence of esophageal cancer is relatively high in males, with the onset age mainly distribute in 60?69 years and the mainly pathological type as squamous carcinoma. Patients with esophageal cancer have advanced tumor staging, low proportion of neoadjuvant therapy, high R 0 resection rate of surgical treatment. Gender, surgical margin, TNM staging by JES are independent factors influencing prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer.

Objective:To establish a model C-GALAD for detecting hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from the chronic liver disease and healthy people based on the serum markers.Methods:A clinical cohort including 229 hepatocellular carcinoma patients, 2 317 patients with chronic liver disease and 982 healthy people, was retrospectively collected from eight hospitals or physical examination institutions from April 2018 to October 2020. The data were divided into a training set and a testing set by stratified sampling with a 6∶4 ratio. A predictive model was established on the training set using a logistic backward regression method and validated on the testing set. In addition, clinical data from March to July 2021 in Beijing You′ an Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University, including 84 patients with liver cancer and 204 patients with chronic liver disease collected were used for external independent validation of the model. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) area under curve (AUC), the sensitivity and the specificity were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the model.Results:Through the logistic backward regression method, the seven signatures including age, gender, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), alpha-fetoprotein alloplasm-3 ratio (AFP-L3%), des-gamma-carboxyprothrombin(DCP), platelet (PLT) and total bilirubin (TBIL) were selected as risk factors in the detection model. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the model on the testing set was 0.954, with an 88.04% sensitivity and a 94.85% specificity, and the AUC of model on the external independent validation set was 0.943, with an 89.29% sensitivity and a 90.2% specificity, which were better than other published models.Conclusion:The C-GALAD Ⅱ model can accurately predict the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma occurrence, and thus provide a trustworthy diagnosis method of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective:To evaluate the deformity changes in the treatment of congenital clubfoot in infants by ultrasound, and to explore its clinical application value.Methods:Seventeen infants with congenital clubfoot treated in the Department of Pediatric Orthopaedics of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from March 2020 to June 2021 and 27 normal infants in the same period were selected. The distance between medial malleolus and scaphoids (MM-N distance) of all feet was measured by ultrasound. The distance from the tangent line of the lateral edge of calcaneus to the midpoint of the lateral edge of the chondroid bone (C-C distance), medial soft tissue thickness and tibial calcaneal angle were measured by ultrasound. The data before, after treatment and during follow-up were statistically analyzed.Results:A total of 88 feet of 44 infants were evaluated. The mean number of cast was 4.7±1.1, the follow-up time was (96.9±59.3)days. The MM-N distance, C-C distance and posterior tibial calcaneal angle in the clubfoot group were improved after treatment and at the last follow-up, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.01). During the treatment, 1 case had false correction, and 2 cases recurred in the last follow-up. Conclusions:Ultrasound can clearly display the medial, dorsal, lateral and posterior articular structures of normal and clubfoot, and can observe the deformity changes of clubfoot during the correction process, which can provide guidance for the clinical treatment of clubfoot.

OBJECTIVE：To study the regulatory effects of stilbene glucosid e（TSG）on c-Jun N-terminal kinase （JNK）and protein phosphortase 2B（PP2B）in APP/PS1/Tau transgenic dementia （3×Tg-AD）mice，and to explore its potential mechanism of anti-Alzheimer’s disease （AD）. METHODS ：Totally 45 male 3×Tg-AD mice were randomly divided into model group ，positive control group （huperzine A ，0.15 mg/kg），TSG low-dose ，medium-dose and high-dose groups （0.033，0.1，0.3 g/kg），with 9 mice in each group. Another 9 normal male C 57BL/6J mice were included into normal control group. Administration groups were given relevant medicine intragastrically ，once a day ，for consecutive 60 d. Normal control group and model group were given constant volume of normal saline intragastrically. After medication ，Morris water maze experiment was used to test the spatial learning and memory ability of mice in each group ；Nissl staining was used to observe the changes of Nissl bodies in cerebral cortex and hippocampus ；mRNA and protein expressions of JNK and PP 2B were detected by qRT-PCR and Western blotting assay. RESULTS：Compared with normal control group ，the escape latency was significantly prolonged （P＜0.01），the retention time of the original platform quadrant was significantly shortened （P＜ and the times of crossing the platform was significantly reduced in model group （P＜0.01）；the number of Nissl bodies in cerebral cortex and hippocampus was significantly 729011126@qq.com reduced，the staining was slight ；the relative expressions of JNK mRNA and protein were significantly increased （P＜ 0.01），and the relative expressi ons of PP 2B mRNA and protein were significantly decreased （P＜0.01）. Compared with model group ，the escape latency was significantly shortened in positive control group and TSG groups （P＜0.01）；the retention time of the original platform quadrant was significantly prolonged （P＜0.01）；the times of crossing the platform was significantly increased （P＜0.01）；the number of Nissl bodies in cerebral cortex and hippocampus was increased significantly ，the staining was heavy ；the relative expression of JNK protein was significantly decreased（P＜0.05 or P＜0.01），the relative expressions of PP 2B mRNA and protein were significantly increased （P＜0.01）， while the relative expression of JNK mRNA was significantly decreased in TSG high-dose group （P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS ：TSG can improve the learning and memory ability and neuronal damage of 3 × Tg-AD mice. The mechanism may be related to down-regulating the transcription and expression of protein kinase JNK ，up-regulating the transcription and expression of protein phosphatase PP 2B.

OBJECTIVE：To study the e ffects of stilbene glycoside c（TSG）on phosphorylation of Thr 205，Ser404 sites of Tau protein in Aizheimer ’s disease （AD）model mice ，and to investigate the potential anti-AD mechanism of TSG. METHODS ：APP/ PS1/Tau three transgenes （3×Tg-AD）mice were randomly divided into model group ，positive control group （huperzine，0.15 mg/kg），TSG low-dose ，medium-dose and high-dose groups （0.033，0.1，0.3 g/kg），with 6 mice in each group. In addition ，6 C57BL/6J mice were chosen as normal control group. Administration groups were given relevant medicine intragastrically. Model group and normal control group were given equal volume of normal saline intragastrically ，once a day ，for consecutive 60 days. After last medication ，immunofluorescence staining was used to detect Tau protein and phosphorylated Tau protein （Thr205， Ser404 sites） distribution and expression in brain tissue of mice in each group. Western blotting assay was used to detect phosphorylated Tau protein （Thr205，Ser404 sites）expression level in brain tissue of mice in each group. RESULTS ：Compared with normal control group ，the expression of Tau protein，phosphorylated Tau protein （Thr205，Ser404 sites）in 729011126@qq.com the brain tissue of mice were increased in model group ，which were easy to aggregate and distributed more widely ；theirrelative expression were increased significantly （P＜0.01）. Results of Western blotting assay showed that the expression levels of phosphorylat ed Tau protein （Thr205，Ser404 sites）were increased significantly （P＜0.01）. Compared with model group ，the expression of Tau protein ，phosphorylated Tau protein （Thr205，Ser404 sites） in the brain tissue of mice were decreased in positive control group and TSG groups ；aggregation decreased，distribution narrowed and their relative expression were decreased significantly （P＜0.01）. Results of Western blotting assay showed that the expression levels of phosphorylated Tau protein （Thr205，Ser404 sites）were decreased significantly （P＜ 0.01）. Compared with positive control group ，There was no significant difference in the distribution of Tau protein ，phosphorylated Tau protein （Thr205，Ser404 sites）in the brain tissue of mice in TSG groups ；the relative expression were not statistically significant（P＞0.05）；but Western blotting assay showed the expression levels of phosphorylated Tau protein （Thr205 site）in TSG medium-dose and high-dose groups as well as the expression levels of phosphorylated Tau protein （Ser404 site）in TSG groups were decreased significantly （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. CONCLUSIONS ：TSG can play an anti-AD effect on AD model mice by down-regulating the expression of phosphorylated Tau protein （Thr205，Ser404 sites）in brain tissue.