Objective The study aimed to explore the factors influencing individual variations in the therapeutic efficacy of botulinum toxin type A(BoNT-A)in the treatment of benign essential blepharospasm(BEB).Methods A retrospectively analysis was performed on the general information of 40 BEB patients who received BoNT-A injections at our center between 2018 and 2023.The information included gender,age,education level,disease duration,number of injections,injection dose,severity of clinical symptoms,injection methods,and other relevant factors.All patients received both the pretarsal(PT)injection and the PT combining with preseptal(PS)injection(PT-PS).A multivariate linear regression analysis was used to statistically analyze the factors affecting the duration of therapeutic effect(DOT).Results Multiple regression analysis showed that gender,age,education level,clinical symptoms and injection method were closely related to the DOT[F(8,71)=4.372,P<0.001],with the injection method being the strongest predictor.Specifically,the mean DOT for the two injection methods was 136.00(123.00,156.50)days,with the PT-PS method significantly longer than the PT method[144.50(132.25,161.75)vs.125.00(114.00,145.25),P<0.001].Conclusion Gender,age,educational level,clinical symptoms,and injection method are predictive indicators for the DOT of BoNT-A in BEB patients.Specifically,DOT is positively correlated with age but negatively correlated with educational level and severity of clinical symptom.Additionally,the DOT is longer in male patients compared to female patients and in those treated with the PT-PS injection method compared to the PT injection method.

Objective The study aimed to explore the factors influencing individual variations in the therapeutic efficacy of botulinum toxin type A(BoNT-A)in the treatment of benign essential blepharospasm(BEB).Methods A retrospectively analysis was performed on the general information of 40 BEB patients who received BoNT-A injections at our center between 2018 and 2023.The information included gender,age,education level,disease duration,number of injections,injection dose,severity of clinical symptoms,injection methods,and other relevant factors.All patients received both the pretarsal(PT)injection and the PT combining with preseptal(PS)injection(PT-PS).A multivariate linear regression analysis was used to statistically analyze the factors affecting the duration of therapeutic effect(DOT).Results Multiple regression analysis showed that gender,age,education level,clinical symptoms and injection method were closely related to the DOT[F(8,71)=4.372,P<0.001],with the injection method being the strongest predictor.Specifically,the mean DOT for the two injection methods was 136.00(123.00,156.50)days,with the PT-PS method significantly longer than the PT method[144.50(132.25,161.75)vs.125.00(114.00,145.25),P<0.001].Conclusion Gender,age,educational level,clinical symptoms,and injection method are predictive indicators for the DOT of BoNT-A in BEB patients.Specifically,DOT is positively correlated with age but negatively correlated with educational level and severity of clinical symptom.Additionally,the DOT is longer in male patients compared to female patients and in those treated with the PT-PS injection method compared to the PT injection method.

Botulinum toxin(BoNT)is currently the first-line method for treating focal dystonia,which causes muscle paralysis by chemical denervation.Recent neuroimaging studies have found that BoNT treatment could alter neuroplasticity in the brain of patients with focal dystonia.However,the specific central nervous system mechanisms have not been fully elucidated.To this end,here we review the neuroimaging studies on BoNT treatment for dystonia from three aspects:functional magnetic resonance imaging,structural magnetic resonance imaging,and positron emission tomography imaging.It suggests that BoNT may improve the symptoms of dystonia patients by affecting functional connectivity,microstructure,and metabolic levels of the cortex,basal ganglia,thalamus,and cerebellum,etc.Therefore,this review will provide a theoretical reference for further exploring the mechanism and developing potential therapeutic targets of dystonia.

Objective:To improve the operability and stability of the middle cerebral artery occlusion(MCAO)model,we established a novel method,external carotid artery ligation free(ECA-LF),for MCAO model and compared its advantages with the traditional Longa method and Koizumi method.Methods:A total of 100 male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into four groups:sham group,Koizumi group,Longa group,and ECA-LF group.The advantages and disadvantages of each method were evaluated in terms of surgical operation time,postoperative animal survival rate,postoperative animal survival rate,neurological functional score,and stability of infarct size.Results:The ECA-LF method spent less time than either the Longa or the Koizumi method during the course of making MCAO model.Com-pared with the Longa group,the ECA-LF group had a lower Garcia score,but was comparable to the Koizumi group.The survival rate of animals in the ECA-LF group was significantly higher than the other two groups 7 days after surgery.The Morris water maze(MWM)test showed that there was no significant difference between the ECA-LF group and oth-er two groups in learning and memory ability.The degree of cerebral edema and infarct size in the ECA-LF group were comparable to the other two groups.Conclusion:Compared with the traditional Longa and Koizumi methods,the ECA-LF method simplifies the surgical procedures,shortens the model-making time,and improves the survival rate of model animal with similar stability to the traditional methods.It has certain advantages in stroke experimental research.

Objective:To improve the operability and stability of the middle cerebral artery occlusion(MCAO)model,we established a novel method,external carotid artery ligation free(ECA-LF),for MCAO model and compared its advantages with the traditional Longa method and Koizumi method.Methods:A total of 100 male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into four groups:sham group,Koizumi group,Longa group,and ECA-LF group.The advantages and disadvantages of each method were evaluated in terms of surgical operation time,postoperative animal survival rate,postoperative animal survival rate,neurological functional score,and stability of infarct size.Results:The ECA-LF method spent less time than either the Longa or the Koizumi method during the course of making MCAO model.Com-pared with the Longa group,the ECA-LF group had a lower Garcia score,but was comparable to the Koizumi group.The survival rate of animals in the ECA-LF group was significantly higher than the other two groups 7 days after surgery.The Morris water maze(MWM)test showed that there was no significant difference between the ECA-LF group and oth-er two groups in learning and memory ability.The degree of cerebral edema and infarct size in the ECA-LF group were comparable to the other two groups.Conclusion:Compared with the traditional Longa and Koizumi methods,the ECA-LF method simplifies the surgical procedures,shortens the model-making time,and improves the survival rate of model animal with similar stability to the traditional methods.It has certain advantages in stroke experimental research.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus （T2DM） is a heterogeneous disease with insulin deficiency and insulin resistance （IR） as the main etiology and is often accompanied by complications. Volatile oil is a volatile oily liquid extracted from natural plants， which has many pharmacological effects such as regulating Qi， relieving pain， inhibiting bacteria， and reducing inflammation. In recent years， there have been numerous reports on the treatment of T2DM by natural plant volatile oil and its effective components， which has become one of the new directions in the treatment of T2DM. With natural plant essential oil and its active components as the starting point， this paper comprehensively analyzed and summarized the material basis， mechanism， and signaling pathways of essential oil in the treatment of T2DM and its complications in China and abroad in recent years， and focused on the inhibitory effect of essential oil and its active components， such as carvacrol， paeonol， and β-caryophylene， on IR to improve T2DM by protecting pancreatic β-cells， inhibiting α-glucosidase activity， regulating the abundance and diversity of intestinal microbiota， and regulating glucose transporter protein type4 （GLUT4）， adenylate 5′-monophosphate-activated protein kinase （AMPK）， phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase （PI3K）/protein kinase B （Akt） signaling pathways to provide some references for the volatile oil intervention in T2DM and the development of new green antidiabetic drugs.