OBJECTIVE: To investigate the genetic causal relationship of leukocyte telomere length (LTL) with prostatitis, orchitis and epididymitis by two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR). METHODS: Using LTL as the exposure factor and prostatitis, orchitis and epididymitis as outcome factors, we mined the Database of Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS). Then, we analyzed the causal relationship of LTL with prostatitis, orchitis and epididymitis by Mendelian randomization using inverse variance weighting (IVW) as the main method and weighted median and MR-Egger regression as auxiliary methods, determined the horizontal multiplicity by MR-Egger intercept test, and conducted sensitivity analysis using the leaving-one-out method. RESULTS: A total of 121 related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified in this study. IVW showed LTL to be a risk factor for prostatitis (OR = 1.383, 95% CI: 1.044－1.832, P = 0.024), and for orchitis and epididymitis as well (OR = 1.770, 95% CI: 1.275－2.456, P = 0.000 6). CONCLUSION Genetic evidence from Mendelian randomized analysis indicates that shortening of LTL reduces the risk of prostatitis, orchitis and epididymitis.
Humans ; Male ; Mendelian Randomization Analysis ; Epididymitis/genetics* ; Prostatitis/genetics* ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Leukocytes ; Orchitis/genetics* ; Genome-Wide Association Study ; Telomere ; Risk Factors

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a life-threatening gastrointestinal disorder for which no effective pharmacological treatments are currently available. One of the pharmacological targets that merits further research is the neurokinin 1 receptor (NK1R), which is found on pancreatic acinar cells and responds to the neuropeptide substance P (SP) that participates in AP. Although a few studies have stated the involvement of SP/NK1R in neurogenic inflammation in AP development, the regulatory mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we found that following activation of NK1R by SP, β-arrestin1, a scaffold protein of NK1R, down-regulated transcription of Adss, Adsl, and Ampd in the purine nucleotide cycle, thereby inhibiting mitochondrial function through fumarate depletion. Interestingly, we identified magnolol as a new and natural NK1R inhibitor with a non-nitrogenous biphenyl core structure. It exhibited a beneficial effect on AP by restoring purine nucleotide cycle metabolic enzymes and fumarate levels. Our study not only provides new therapeutic strategies, leading compounds, and drug translation possibilities for AP, but also provides important clues for the study of downstream mechanisms driven by SP in other diseases.

ObjectiveTo improve the quality standard of Yuanhu Zhitong oral liquid in order to strengthen the quality control of this oral liquid. MethodThin layer chromatography（TLC） was used for the qualitative identification of Corydalis Rhizoma and Angelicae Dahuricae Radix in Yuanhu Zhitong oral liquid by taking tetrahydropalmatine， corydaline reference substances and Corydalis Rhizoma reference medicinal materials as reference， and cyclohexane-trichloromethane-methanol（5∶3∶0.5） as developing solvent， Corydalis Rhizoma was identified using GF254 glass thin layer plate under ultraviolet light（365 nm）. And taking petroleum ether（60-90 ℃） -ether-formic acid（10∶10∶1） as developing solvent， Angelicae Dahuricae Radix was identified using a silica gel G TLC plate under ultraviolet light（305 nm）. High performance liquid chromatography（HPLC） was performed on a Waters XSelect HSS T3 column（4.6 mm×250 mm， 5 μm） with acetonitrile（A）-0.1% glacial acetic acid solution（adjusted pH to 6.1 by triethylamine）（B） as the mobile phase for gradient elution（0-10 min， 20%-30%A； 10-25 min， 30%-40%A； 25-40 min， 40%-50%A； 40-60 min， 50%-60%A）， the detection wavelength was set at 280 nm， then the fingerprint of Yuanhu Zhitong oral liquid was established， and the contents of tetrahydropalmatine and corydaline were determined. ResultIn the thin layer chromatograms， the corresponding spots of Yuanhu Zhitong oral liquid， the reference substances and reference medicinal materials were clear， with good separation and strong specificity. A total of 12 common peaks were identified in 10 batches of Yuanhu Zhitong oral liquid samples， and the peaks of berberine hydrochloride， dehydrocorydaline， glaucine， tetrahydropalmatine and corydaline. The similarities between the 10 batches of samples and the control fingerprint were all >0.90. The results of determination showed that the concentrations of corydaline and tetrahydropalmatine had good linearity with paek area in the range of 0.038 6-0.193 0， 0.034 0-0.170 0 g·L^-1， respectively. The methodological investigation was qualified， and the contents of corydaline and tetrahydropalmatine in 10 batches of Yuanhu Zhitong oral liquid samples were 0.077 5-0.142 9、0.126 1-0.178 2 g·L^-1， respectively. ConclusionThe established TLC， fingerprint and determination are simple， specific and reproducible， which can be used to improve the quality control standard of Yuanhu Zhitong oral liquid.

ObjectiveTo elucidate the underlying mechanism of the efficacy of Levo-tetrahydropalmatine （l-THP） in alleviating chronic pain and identify the key metabolites and metabolic pathways for l-THP regulation. MethodA classical chronic constrictive injury （CCI） model was built in rats’ bodies， and the pain intensity was evaluated by detecting the mechanical withdrawal threshold. On the sixth day after surgery， oral administration of l-THP （64 mg·kg^-1） and positive control drug pregabalin （Pre， 30 mg·kg^-1） was performed on rats. After the last administration following consecutive five times of administration， ipsilateral spinal cord tissues were collected for widely-targeted metabonomics， with eight rats in each group. Differential metabolites （DEMs） were identified according to the standard of VIP>1.0 and P<0.05， and functional enrichment and interaction analyses of the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes （KEGG） were performed to obtain the key metabolites and metabolic pathways associated with the analgesic effects of l-THP. ResultIn behavioral science， administration of both l-THP and Pre significantly improved mechanical hyperalgesia in CCI rats （P<0.01）， thus mitigating pain. Metabonomic analysis results revealed that l-THP administration corrected the aberrant metabolic profile in the spinal cord of CCI rats. Meanwhile， 53 DEMs were called back， including several classical pain biomarkers such as sphingosine-1-phosphate （S1P）， cyclic adenosine monophosphate （cAMP）， acetylcholine， and glutamate. Functional enrichment analysis of the DEMs indicated the involvement of metabolic pathways such as ferroptosis， autophagy， neuroactive ligand-receptor interactions， phospholipase D and cAMP-related signaling pathways， glutathione metabolism， and cofactor biosynthesis in mediating the effects of l-THP on the metabolic profile of the spinal cord. Further analyses on the relative metabolite abundance and metabolic pathways indicated that by significantly decreasing the relative levels of glutamate （P<0.01） and glycine （P<0.01） in the spinal cord， l-THP can promote the synthesis of reduced glutathione （GSH） and increase the ratio of reduced/oxidized GSH （P<0.05）. Additionally， it can relieve oxidative stress in the spinal cord of CCI rats and significantly reduce the acetyl-CoA level （P<0.01） to finally inhibit ferroptosis occurrence. Conclusionl-THP may exert analgesic effects by regulating multiple metabolic pathways including GSH metabolism， ferroptosis， cofactor biosynthesis， and amino acid synthesis to correct the aberrant metabolic profile in the spinal cord of CCI rats. Ferroptosis and GSH metabolism may be the key pathways for l-THP regulation， with glutamate， glycine， glutathione， and acetyl-CoA as the key metabolites.

Patients with severe trauma require an extremely timely treatment and transfusion plays an irreplaceable role in the emergency treatment of such patients. An increasing number of evidence-based medicinal evidences and clinical practices suggest that patients with severe traumatic bleeding benefit from early transfusion of low-titer group O whole blood or hemostatic resuscitation with red blood cells, plasma and platelet of a balanced ratio. However, the current domestic mode of blood supply cannot fully meet the requirements of timely and effective blood transfusion for emergency treatment of patients with severe trauma in clinical practice. In order to solve the key problems in blood supply and blood transfusion strategies for emergency treatment of severe trauma, Branch of Clinical Transfusion Medicine of Chinese Medical Association, Group for Trauma Emergency Care and Multiple Injuries of Trauma Branch of Chinese Medical Association, Young Scholar Group of Disaster Medicine Branch of Chinese Medical Association organized domestic experts of blood transfusion medicine and trauma treatment to jointly formulate Chinese expert consensus on blood support mode and blood transfusion strategies for emergency treatment of severe trauma patients ( version 2024). Based on the evidence-based medical evidence and Delphi method of expert consultation and voting, 10 recommendations were put forward from two aspects of blood support mode and transfusion strategies, aiming to provide a reference for transfusion resuscitation in the emergency treatment of severe trauma and further improve the success rate of treatment of patients with severe trauma.

Objective:To perform harmonization based on the ComBat method for PET brain imaging scanned by different types of scanners from the same manufacturer and explored its effect on center effect.Methods:The three-dimensional (3D) Hoffman brain model was scanned by two different PET/CT instruments (Siemens Biograph64 TruePoint and Biograph128 mCT). Fourteen healthy subjects (8 males, 6 females, age: (57.7±9.5) years) underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT on Siemens Biograph64 TruePoint and 12 healthy subjects (9 males, 3 females, age: (55.8±10.5) years) underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT on Siemens Biograph128 mCT (all from Huashan Hospital, Fudan University; from November 2020 to March 2023). The whole brain was divided into 116 brain regions based on the anatomical automatic labeling (AAL) brain template. The ComBat method was applied to harmonized the PET data from brain model and healthy subjects. Mann-Whitney U test was performed on the radioactive counts and SUV ratios (SUVR) before and after homogenization acquired by both PET/CT instruments. Voxel-based statistical parametric mapping (SPM) independent-sample t test was also performed on data of healthy subjects. Results:In 3D Hoffman brain model, radioactivity counts (5 590.33(4 961.67, 6 102.95) vs 6 116.03(5 420.97, 6 660.66); z=-9.35, P<0.001) and SUVR (1.35(1.19, 1.47) vs 1.37(1.21, 1.49); z=-3.63, P<0.001) were significantly different between the two PET/CT scanners before harmonization and not after harmonization (radioactivity counts: 5 845.95(5 192.68, 6 378.63) vs 5 859.17(5 193.84, 6 380.52); SUVR: 1.35(1.20, 1.48) vs 1.36(1.20, 1.49); both z=-0.68, both P=0.498). In the healthy subjects, radioactive counts in 19 brain regions (12 422.78(11 181.60, 13 424.28)-18 166.40(15 882.80, 18 666.27); z values: from -3.24 to -2.06, all P<0.05) and SUVR in 40 brain regions (1.46(1.41, 1.52)-2.28(2.16, 2.36); z values: from -3.65 to -1.70, all P<0.05) were significantly different between the two scanners before harmonization, while after homogenization there were no statistical differences for all 116 brain regions (radioactivity counts: 9 243.55(8 502.38, 9 854.87)-20 419.60(19 931.51, 21 179.43); z values: from -0.72 to 0, all P>0.05; SUVR: 1.04(1.01, 1.09)-2.32(2.24, 2.40); z values: from -0.82 to 0, all P>0.05). SPM showed that significant differences of glucose metabolism in the cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, midbrain and cerebellum were found in healthy subjects between the two PET/CT scanners before homogenization, and brain regions with obvious differences reduced after homogenization. Conclusion:ComBat harmonization method is efficient at removing the center effect among different types of PET/CT scanners from the same manufacturer and may provide a simple and easy-to-implement homogenization for multicenter brain imaging studies.

Humans ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Ketosis ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Humans ; Sjogren's Syndrome/diagnosis* ; Castleman Disease/diagnosis* ; Case-Control Studies

ObjectiveTo investigate the Alzheimer-associated neurofilament protein （AD7c-NTP） in urine of middle-aged and elderly people and its correlation between common metabolites. MethodsA total of 1 150 middle-aged and elderly people who did their physical exmanination in the health examination center of the Sichuan Science City Hospital and the Third Hopital of Mianyang were recruited from March 2017 to March 2020. The level of urine AD7c-NTP were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）， and common metabolites in blood were measured by biochemical analyzer. Based on urine AD7c-NTP level ≤1.5 ng/mL， the objects was divided into normal group （n=956） and elevated group （n=194）. Thier demographic data and blood biochemical indicators were collected. ResultsThe urine AD7c-NTP level in middle-aged and elderly people was 0.60（0.30~1.20） ng/mL. The urine AD7c-NTP level was higher in women than that in men ［1.04（0.40~1.30） ng/mL vs. 0.84（0.30~1.00） ng/mL， Z=4.202， P˂0.01］. And the urine AD7c-NTP level was lower in the normal group than that in the elevated group ［0.50（0.30~0.90） ng/mL vs. 2.10（1.70~2.10） ng/mL， Z=22.035， P˂0.01］. The results of the univariate comparison showed that， the differences between the two groups in age （Z=6.545）， fasting glucose （Z=3.506）， blood uric acid （Z=2.574）， urea nitrogen （Z=2.891）， creatinine （Z=2.243）， total bilirubin （Z=3.936）， glutathione （Z=0.969）， total cholesterol （t=3.956） and low density lipoprotein （Z=-5.678） were were statistically significant （P˂0.05 or 0.01）. Spearman correlation analysis showed that， the urine AD7c-NTP level was positively correlated with age and the levels of urea nitrogen， glucose， total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein （r=0.177， 0.178， 0.171， 0.109， 0.149， P˂0.01）， and negatively correlated with the level of total bilirubin （r=-0.172， P˂0.01）. Conclusionthe urine AD7c-NTP level in middle-aged and elderly females was signifitcantly higher than in middle-aged and elderly males.The urine AD7c-NTP level of middle-aged and elderly people was positively correlated with age， urea nitrogen， glucose， total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein， and negatively correlated with total bilirubin.

AIM: To compare the changes of optic disc parameters, peripapillary retinal nerve fibers layer(pRNFL)thickness and macular ganglion cell layer(mGCL)thickness among patients with early diabetes retinopathy and healthy controls by Cirrus HD-optical coherence tomography(OCT).METHODS: In this cross-sectional comparative study, 45 non-diabetic retinopathy(NDR), 52 mild nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy(NPDR), 55 moderate NPDR with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM)and 64 age-matched healthy controls were included. The fasting blood glucose(FBG), duration of diabetes, glycosylated hemoglobin(HbA1c)and past history of the patients were collected in detail. Optic disc parameters(i.e., binocular RNFL thickness symmetry percentage, rim area, optic disc area, cup-to-disc ratio, cup volume), pRNFL thickness and mGCL thickness were measured by Cirrus HD-OCT. The comparison of different groups was performed by one-way analysis of variance.RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the binocular RNFL thickness symmetry percentage and rim area were significantly decreased, while the average C/D and vertical C/D were significantly increased in the NDR group, mild NPDR group and moderate NPDR group(all P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the peripapillary RNFL thicknesses(superior, temporal, inferior, nasal)and macular GCL thickness(average, minimum, superior, supero-temporal, infero-temporal, inferior, supero-nasal, and infero-nasal)became thinner in the NDR group, mild NPDR group, and moderate NPDR group(all P<0.05).CONCLUSION: Patients with early DR have significantly decreased binocular RNFL thickness asymmetry, rim area, pRNFL and mGCL thickness, while they have significantly increased cup-to-disc ratio when compared to healthy controls. The results support the statement that DM causes inner retinal neurodegenerative changes even in T2DM patients without overt microangiopathy.