Objective:To analyze the key β-amyloid protein (Aβ) deposition in brain regions affecting the progression from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to Alzheimer's disease (AD).Methods:Based on the positron emission tomography data of Aβ in the Alzheimer's disease neuroimaging initiative database, the penalized generalized estimating equation (PGEE) and the mixed effects regression forest algorithm (MERF) were used to conduct dimensionality reduction analysis on 164 brain regions with Aβ deposition. Additionally, a multivariate longitudinal data joint model was used to screen the key Aβ deposition brain regions that influence the progression from MCI to AD.Results:Five key brain regions were commonly screened out by the PGEE and MERF models, they were the right prefrontal orbital cortex, the left superior temporal sulcus shore cortex, the right medial orbitofrontal cortex, the left putamen, and the right transverse temporal cortex, respectively. The results of the multivariate longitudinal data joint model based on these 5 Aβ deposition brain regions showed that, except the left superior temporal sulcus shore cortex, the longitudinal change trajectories of the other 4 Aβ deposition brain regions all affected the progression from MCI to AD ( P<0.05). Conclusion:The Aβ deposition in the right prefrontal orbital cortex, right medial orbitofrontal cortex, left putamen and right transverse temporal cortex affect the progression from MCI to AD.

Objective To investigate the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD)after asthma and explore factors influen-cing the onset and progression of asthma in patients with COPD.Methods A follow-up cohort was established based on the United Kingdom Biobank(UKB)database.The risk of asthma and COPD was predicted,and the influencing factors were analyzed using a mul-tistate model(MSM).Results Without considering the influence of covariates,the cumulative risk from COPD to mortality was the highest,followed by asthma to COPD,and asthma to mortality.Advanced age,male,diabetes mellitus(DM),high waist-to-hip ratio,hyper-tension,increased Townsend deprivation index,increased frequency of smoking,and family history were risk factors for developing COPD in the asthmatic population.Advanced age,male,DM,high waist-to-hip ratio,hypertension,increased Townsend deprivation index,and in creased frequency of smoking were risk factors for mortality in the asthmatic population.Advanced age,male,and DM and increased Townsend deprivation index were risk factors for mortality in the COPD population.Conclusion Advanced age,male,DM,high waist-to-hip ratio,hypertension,increased Townsend deprivation index,increased smoking frequency,and family history increased the risk of COPD in the asthmatic population.This MSM can be used to predict the influencing factors and degree of COPD after asthma,and reveal the change law of disease progression.

Objective:To analyze the key β-amyloid protein (Aβ) deposition in brain regions affecting the progression from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to Alzheimer's disease (AD).Methods:Based on the positron emission tomography data of Aβ in the Alzheimer's disease neuroimaging initiative database, the penalized generalized estimating equation (PGEE) and the mixed effects regression forest algorithm (MERF) were used to conduct dimensionality reduction analysis on 164 brain regions with Aβ deposition. Additionally, a multivariate longitudinal data joint model was used to screen the key Aβ deposition brain regions that influence the progression from MCI to AD.Results:Five key brain regions were commonly screened out by the PGEE and MERF models, they were the right prefrontal orbital cortex, the left superior temporal sulcus shore cortex, the right medial orbitofrontal cortex, the left putamen, and the right transverse temporal cortex, respectively. The results of the multivariate longitudinal data joint model based on these 5 Aβ deposition brain regions showed that, except the left superior temporal sulcus shore cortex, the longitudinal change trajectories of the other 4 Aβ deposition brain regions all affected the progression from MCI to AD ( P<0.05). Conclusion:The Aβ deposition in the right prefrontal orbital cortex, right medial orbitofrontal cortex, left putamen and right transverse temporal cortex affect the progression from MCI to AD.

Objective:To explore the causal association between insulin-like growth factor-1(IGF-1)and colorectal cancer(CRC)based on two sample Mendelian randomization(MR)analysis.Methods:A bidirectional two sample MR analysis was conducted based on publicly aggregated data from the IEU OpenGWAS project.The inverse variance weighted(IVW)method was used as the main analysis model to assess the causal relationship between IGF-1 and CRC.Additional analyses were performed using weighted median(WM),MR-Egger regression,weighted mode estimator(WME),and simple mode(SM)methods.Sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the robustness of the results.Results:A total of 386 single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs)were selected as instrumental variables(IVs)with IGF-1 as the exposure factor.The MR analysis results revealed a positive causal association between IGF-1 and the risk of CRC[odds ratio(OR)=1.178,95％confidence interval(CI):1.092-1.272)](P＜0.001),and the association remained significant after adjusting for height[OR(95％CI)=1.214(1.111,1.327)](P＜0.001).Cochran's Q-test showed heterogeneity among the IVs(P＜0.05),while the horizontal pleiotropy of IV was not detected by the MR-Egger regression(P＞0.05).The leave-one-out analysis showed that the MR results were robust.Reverse MR analysis indicated no reverse causal relationship between IGF-1 and CRC[OR(95％CI):1.017(0.997,1.037)](P=0.103).Conclusion:There is a causal relationship between IGF-1 level and CRC,and elevated IGF-1 level could be a risk factor for CRC.

Objective:To discuss the influencing factors of angina pectoris in the patients with diabetes mellitus(DM),to construct a Bayesian network model to explore the network relationships among the influencing factors,and to predict the risk of angina pectoris in the patients with DM.Methods:Based on the UK Biobank(UKB)database,the Logistic regression aralysis model was used to screen the influencing factors of angina pectoris in the patients with DM.The taboo search algorithm was used for structure learning,and the Bayesian parameter estimation method was used for parameter learning to construct the Bayesian network model.Results:A total of 22 712 DM patients were included.The influencing factors of angina pectoris in the patients with DM included 14 variables:gender,age,body mass index(BMI),triglycerides(TG),total cholesterol(TC),glycated hemoglobin(HbA1c),hypertension,maternal smoking around delivery,smoking status,alcohol consumption,regular exercise,insomnia,sleep duration,and childhood relative body size(P<0.05).A Bayesian network model was constructed with 15 nodes and 22 directed edges.Among them,age,HbA1c,hypertension,regular exercise,BMI,and sleep duration were directly associated with the occurrence of angina pectoris in the patients with DM,while gender,smoking status,alcohol consumption,TC,TG,insomnia,childhood relative body size,and maternal smoking around delivery were indirectly associated with the occurrence of angina pectoris in the patients with DM.Conclusion:Age,HbA1c,hypertension,regular exercise,BMI,and sleep duration are direct influencing factors of angina pectoris in the patients with DM.Controlling HbA1c,blood pressure,and BMI levels,engaging in regular exercise,and maintaining appropriate sleep duration are beneficial for reducing the risk of angina pectoris in the patients with DM.

Objective:To screen the Alzheimer's disease(AD)-related genes and construct its diagnostic model using bioinformatics technology and machine learning(ML)algorithms,to discuss the immunological characteristics of AD patients,and to provide novel biomarkers for AD diagnosis.Methods:The AD-related gene expression dataset GSE125583 was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus(GEO)database.Differentially expressed genes(DEGs)were identified through differential analysis.Gene Ontology(GO)functional enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)signaling pathway enrichment analyses were performed to explore the biological functions and signaling pathways of DEGs.A protein-protein interaction(PPI)network was constructed,and hub genes were screened using Cytoscape software combined with three ML algorithms:Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator(LASSO),eXtreme Gradient Boosting(XGBoost),and Random Forest(RF).The screened hub genes were utilized to build an AD diagnostic model via RF,followed by feature importance ranking.The model's efficacy and key genes were evaluated using a test set.Single-sample gene set enrichment analysis(ssGSEA)was used for immune cell infiltration analysis between AD group and control group.Results:Differential analysis identified 1 287 DEGs.The GO functional enrichment analysis results revealed that DEGs were primarily involved in biological functions related to neural signaling,synapses,and vesicles.KEGG signaling pathway enrichment analysis indicated significant enrichment of DEGs in ion transport,neurotransmitter,and ligand-gated channel pathways.Nine overlapping hub genes were screened by the three ML algorithms.In the AD diagnostic model,the top four key genes with highest diagnostic performance were adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide 1(ADCYAP1),brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF),platelet-derived growth factor receptor β(PDGFRB),and C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4(CXCR4),with corresponding area under the curve(AUC)values of 0.852,0.795,0.820,and 0.756,respectively.The model achieved an AUC of 0.828,accuracy of 81.25%,sensitivity of 84.40%,and specificity of 71.43%.The immune cell infiltration analysis results demonstrated higher infiltration of macrophages,monocytes,natural killer(NK)cells,and lymphocytes in AD tissue.Among these,NK/natural killer T(NKT)cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cells showed significant correlations with the four key genes(P<0.05).Conclusion:The feature genes screened based on bioinformatics and ML exhibit diagnostic potential for AD.Genes such as ADCYAP1 may serve as potential biomarkers for AD diagnosis,offering significant implications for early prevention and treatment.

Objective To investigate the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD)after asthma and explore factors influen-cing the onset and progression of asthma in patients with COPD.Methods A follow-up cohort was established based on the United Kingdom Biobank(UKB)database.The risk of asthma and COPD was predicted,and the influencing factors were analyzed using a mul-tistate model(MSM).Results Without considering the influence of covariates,the cumulative risk from COPD to mortality was the highest,followed by asthma to COPD,and asthma to mortality.Advanced age,male,diabetes mellitus(DM),high waist-to-hip ratio,hyper-tension,increased Townsend deprivation index,increased frequency of smoking,and family history were risk factors for developing COPD in the asthmatic population.Advanced age,male,DM,high waist-to-hip ratio,hypertension,increased Townsend deprivation index,and in creased frequency of smoking were risk factors for mortality in the asthmatic population.Advanced age,male,and DM and increased Townsend deprivation index were risk factors for mortality in the COPD population.Conclusion Advanced age,male,DM,high waist-to-hip ratio,hypertension,increased Townsend deprivation index,increased smoking frequency,and family history increased the risk of COPD in the asthmatic population.This MSM can be used to predict the influencing factors and degree of COPD after asthma,and reveal the change law of disease progression.

Objective:Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is the most common primary malignant tumor of the liver.The diagnosis rate of early HCC is low,and most patients are diagnosed at the late stage and have a very poor prognosis.Therefore,it is urgent to explore effective early diagnosis markers and intervention targets for HCC.Cancer/testicular antigen 1A(CTAG1A)is abnormally expressed and highly immunogenic in a variety of tumors,but its expression characteristics and immunogenicity in HCC remain unclear.The aim of this study is to identify the expression and immunogenicity of CTAG1A in HCC tissues and cells,providing a new biomarker for the early diagnosis of HCC and a new potential target for clinical immunotherapy.Methods:This study screened the differentially expressed gene profiles between 10 pairs of very early HCC(BCLC stage 0 HCC)tumors and paracancerous tissues using a transcriptome microarray.The expression of CTAG1A was verified by RT-qPCR in an independent large sample(BCLC stage 0,A,B,C HCC tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues,n=149)and various hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines.Bioinformatics tools(TepiTool of IEDB database and Swiss Model)were used to predict the MHC-Ⅰ and MHC-Ⅱ epitopes of CTAG1A.The candidate peptides were synthesized by solid-phase polypeptide synthesis method.After purification by HPLC and verification by mass spectrometry assay,the specific T cell responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMC)of 9 HCC patients to all peptides were detected by IFN-γ enzyme-linked immunospot assay(ELISpot).The clinical samples were collected from HCC patients admitted to the Third Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University(Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital)from 2015 to 2022.The collection and usage of all samples were carried out with the consent of the patients,and with the approval of the Ethics Committee of Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital(EHBHKY2015-01-017)and in strict accordance with relevant requirements and ethical regulations.Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 30.0 software,and the diagnostic efficiency was evaluated by ROC curve.Results:Transcriptome chip screening results showed that CTAG1A expression was significantly up-regulated in the very early-stage HCC(BCLC stage 0 HCC)(|FC|=99.16,P<0.0001).The verification using the clinical independent samples showed its high expression in all stages of HCC and better diagnostic efficacy in early-stage HCC(BCLC stage 0 HCC AUC=0.6893,sensitivity=85.71%;BCLC stage A HCC AUC=0.8229,sensitivity=83.33%).Furthermore,the expression of CTAG1A was significantly higher in multiple liver cancer cell lines than in relatively normal liver cell lines(P<0.001).Compared with alpha-fetoprotein(AFP),CTAG1A showed better diagnostic efficacy in BCLC stage 0 and stage A HCC(ROC curve analysis of AFP showed no significant difference in early HCC,P>0.05).Bioinformatics tools predicted that CTAG1A contained 8 MHC-type I and 4 MHC-type II epitopes.The IFN-γ ELISpot assay showed that 12 synthetic peptides could induce PBMC specific T cell response in HCC patients to varying degrees.Conclusion:CTAG1A is significantly overexpressed in early-stage HCC and has multi-epitope immunogenicity,which may activate CD8? and CD4? T cells,suggesting its potential as a target for HCC immunotherapy.It may provide a new direction for developing combined immunotherapy strategies based on mRNA vaccines or adoptive cell therapy.Compared with AFP,CTAG1A exhibits better diagnostic efficacy in early-stage HCC,suggesting its potential as a marker for early diagnosis of HCC.

Objective:To study the influence of the severity of diabetic retinopathy (DR) on the visual function of patients with type 2 diabetes, to provide scientific basis for the early prevention and control of DR.Methods:This study was designed as a cross-sectional study, recruiting already-diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients in four community health service centers in Guizhou Province between February and September 2022. Employing the Chinese version of the Visual Function Index-14 (VF-14), assess the participants′ near vision, visual adaptation, subjective visual perception, and stereo vision, with higher scores indicating poorer visual function. Categorize the severity of each eye′s damage into no diabetic retinopathy (DR), mild non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), moderate NPDR, severe NPDR, and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), and use a 5-level DR grading system to evaluate the overall severity of diabetic retinopathy in both eyes. Employing linear regression analysis to investigate the linear relationship between DR and visual function index. Local weighted regression evaluates the nonlinear relationship between the DR composite score and the scores of visual function, with a steeper slope indicating poorer visual function for that level.Results:A total of 542 patients with type 2 diabetes were investigated, including 244 (45.02%) males, 298 (54.98%) females, and 162 (29.89%) patients with DR. After adjusting for confounders, compared with those without DR, patients with binocular DR Had overall scores ( β=0.136, P=0.003), near vision ( β=0.163, P<0.001), visual adaptation ( β=0.092, P=0.042), subjective vision ( β=0.120, P=0.009) and stereo vision ( β=0.094, P=0.044) were higher than those without DR. There were no differences in visual functions between DR And monocular DR. The local weighted regression curve showed that near vision (slope: 23.78) and overall score (slope: 58.37) increased sharply from mild to moderate NPDR in both eyes. Visual adaptation (slope: 5.37, 7.72), subjective vision (slope: 6.53, 7.93), stereovision (slope: 0.74, 0.91) increased slowly in mild to moderate NPDR in both eyes and in moderate to severe NPDR/PDR in both eyes. Conclusion:Binocular DR is associated with impaired visual function, but there is no difference between monocular DR And non-DR visual function. The early damage of DR To visual function is mainly manifested in near vision. In the prevention and control of DR, more attention should be paid to visual function, especially the change of near vision, and retinal damage should not be assessed solely by visual status.

Objective:To investigate the diagnosis of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry(DXA)for osteoporosis(OP)of postmenopausal patients with rheumatoid arthritis(RA)in Qinghai region and the risk factors of them.Methods:A total of 200 postmenopausal female RA patients who admitted to Qinghai Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from May 2022 to April 2023 were selected.All patients were tested for bone mineral density(BMD)after admission,and lumbar spines L1-L4,whole lumbar,large trochanter,Ward's triangle area,whole body and whole forearm were measured by DXA.According to the results of BMD test,patients whose BMD T values of all body parts-2.5 SD were less or equal to-2.5 were included in the OP group(121 cases),and patients whose BMD T value of all body parts were larger than-2.5 SD were included in the non-OP group(79 cases).The BMD T value of different body parts between two groups of RA patients were compared and analyzed.The area under curve(AUC)of receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to analyze the diagnostic efficiency of BMD T value for OP.The logistic regression method was adopted to analyze the risk factors that postmenopausal RA patients of Qinghai region occurred OP.Results:The BMD T values of L1,L2,L3,L4,whole lumbar,large trochanter,Ward's triangular area,whole body and whole forearm of OP group were obviously lower than those of the non-OP group.In analysis of ROC curve,the sensitivities of BMD T values of L1,L2,L3,L4,whole lumbar,large trochanter,Ward's triangle area,whole body and forearm were respectively 96.20%,95.22%,90.16%,96.03%,92.01%,89.36%,99.26%,90.02% and 96.03% in diagnosing OP,and the specificities of them were respectively 81.00%,82.19%,85.22%,83.06%,83.06%,90.22%,80.06%,86.23%,83.09%,and the AUC values of them were respectively 0.908,0.905,0.896,0.906,0.903,0.879,0.918,0.901 and 0.906.The results of the logistic-regression analysis showed that advanced age,long disease course,rheumatic activity scores of 28 joints,erythrocyte sedimentation rate and Calcium supplementation were the risk factors of occurring OP in postmenopausal RA patients in Qinghai region.Conclusion:The DXA method that detects BMD of RA patients who occur OP can be used as gold standard to assess OP,and there are many risk factors that affect the occurrence of OP in postmenopausal RA patients of Qinghai region.The clinical work should combine with relative factors to formulate reasonable measure so as to reduce the incidence of OP.