This study aims to investigate the effect of Chaijin Jieyu Anshen Formula on the neuroinflammation of rats with insomnia complicated with depression through the regulation of triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2(TREM2)/complement protein C1q signaling pathway. Rats were randomly divided into a normal group, a model group, a positive drug group, as well as a high, medium, and low-dose groups of Chaijin Jieyu Anshen Formula, with 10 rats in each group. Except for the normal group, the other groups were injected with p-chlorophenylalanine and exposed to chronic unpredictable mild stress to establish the rat model of insomnia complicated with depression. The sucrose preference experiment, open field experiment, and water maze test were performed to evaluate the depression in rats. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was employed to detect serum 5-hydroxytryptamine(5-HT), dopamine(DA), and norepinephrine(NE) levels. Hematoxylin and eosin staining and Nissl staining were used to observe the damage in nucleus accumbens neurons. Western blot and immunofluorescence were performed to detect TREM2, C1q, postsynaptic density 95(PSD-95), and synaptophysin 1(SYN1) expressions in rat nucleus accumbens, respectively. Golgi-Cox staining was utilized to observe the synaptic spine density of nucleus accumbens neurons. The results show that, compared with the model group, Chaijin Jieyu Anshen Formula can significantly increase the sucrose preference as well as the distance and number of voluntary activities, shorten the immobility time in forced swimming test and the successful incubation period of positioning navigation, and prolong the stay time of space exploration in the target quadrant test. The serum 5-HT, DA, and NE contents in the model group are significantly lower than those in the normal group, with the above contents significantly increased after the intervention of Chaijin Jieyu Anshen Formula. In addition, Chaijin Jieyu Anshen Formula can alleviate pathological damages such as swelling and loose arrangement of tissue cells in the nucleus accumbens, while increasing the Nissl body numbers. Chaijin Jieyu Anshen Formula can improve synaptic damage in the nucleus accumbens and increase the synaptic spine density. Compared to the normal group, the expression of C1q protein was significantly higher in the model group, while the expression of TREM2 protein was significantly lower. Compared to the model group, the intervention with Chaijin Jieyu Anshen Formula significantly downregulated the expression of C1q protein and significantly upregulated the expression of TREM2. Compared with the model group, the PSD-95 and SYN1 fluorescence intensity is significantly increased in the groups receiving different doses of Chaijin Jieyu Anshen Formula. In summary, Chaijin Jieyu Anshen Formula can reduce the C1q protein expression, relieve the TREM2 inhibition, and promote the synapse-related proteins PSD-95 and SNY1 expression. Chaijin Jieyu Anshen Formula improves synaptic injury of the nucleus accumbens neurons, thereby treating insomnia complicated with depression.
Animals ; Male ; Rats ; Nucleus Accumbens/metabolism* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Depression/complications* ; Membrane Glycoproteins/genetics* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders/complications* ; Neurons/metabolism* ; Receptors, Immunologic/genetics* ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Synapses/metabolism*

Empathy is crucial for communication and survival for individuals. Whether empathy in pain contagion shows sex differences and its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we report that pain contagion can occur in stranger female rats, but not in stranger males. Blocking oxytocin receptors in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) suppressed pain contagion in female strangers, while oxytocin administration induced pain contagion in male strangers. In vitro, corticosterone reduces neuronal activation by oxytocin. During male stranger interactions, higher corticosterone decreased oxytocin receptor-positive neuronal activity in the ACC, suppressing pain contagion. These findings highlight the role of oxytocin in pain contagion and suggest that sex differences in empathy may be determined by the balance of oxytocin and corticosterone in the ACC. This study suggests an approach for the treatment of certain mental disorders associated with abnormal empathy, such as autism and depression.
Animals ; Oxytocin/pharmacology* ; Gyrus Cinguli/drug effects* ; Male ; Female ; Corticosterone/pharmacology* ; Empathy/drug effects* ; Sex Characteristics ; Receptors, Oxytocin/antagonists & inhibitors* ; Pain/psychology* ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Neurons/metabolism*

Cervical spinal cord injury without fracture-dislocation (CSCIWFD) is referred to as a special type of cervical spinal cord injury characterized by traumatic spinal cord dysfunction and no significant bony structural abnormalities on imagines. Duo to the high risk of missed diagnosis during the initial consultation, CSCIWFD may lead to progressive neurological deterioration or even complete paralysis, severely impacting patients′ prognosis. Currently, there are no established consensuses over the diagnosis and treatment of CSCIWFD, such as the lack of evidence-based standards for indications of non-surgical treatment and risk of secondary neurological injury, as well as debates over the optimal timing for surgical intervention and indications for different surgical approaches. To address these issues, the Spine Trauma Group of the Orthopedic Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association organized experts in the relevant fields to formulate Diagnosis and treatment guideline for acute cervical spinal cord injury without fracture- dislocation in adults ( version 2025) . Based on evidence-based medicine and the principles of scientific rigor and clinical applicability, the guidelines proposed 11 recommendations covering terminology, diagnosis, evaluation treatment, and rehabilitation, etc., aiming to standardize the management of CSCIWFD.

Thoracolumbar spine fracture often leads to severe pain, functional impairments, and neurological deficits, for which open reduction and internal fixation can effectively restore the spinal structural stability. Open decompression and reduction with internal fixation can help relieve spinal cord compression and improve spinal function in cases of concomitant cord injury. Although spinal stability can be restored through surgery, patients often face chronic pain and functional impairments postoperatively. A postoperative rehabilitation program is critical in optimizing therapeutic outcomes, reducing complications, and minimizing the risk of secondary injuries. However, current rehabilitation methods, such as physical therapy, functional training, and pain management, are confronted with problems in clinical practice, including significant variation in efficacy, poor patient adherence, and prolonged rehabilitation period. There is an urgent need for a unified rehabilitation strategy to address these problems. To this end, the Spinal Trauma Group of the Orthopedic Physicians Branch of the Chinese Medical Association and the Spine Health Professional Committee of the Chinese Human Health Technology Promotion Association organized experts from relevant fields to formulate Evidence-based guidelines for rehabilitation treatment after internal fixation of thoracolumbar spine fracture in adults ( version 2025) by integrating evidences from clinical researches and advanced rehabilitation concepts at home and abroad. A total number of 14 recommendations concerning the rehabilitation treatment with multimodal analgesia, psychological intervention, deep vein thrombosis prevention, core muscle and extremity exercise, appropriate use of braces, early weight-bearing, device-aided rehabilitation exercise, neuroregulatory therapy, rehabilitation team were put forward, aiming to standardize the post-operative rehabilitation process following internal fixation, promote the functional recovery, and enhance patients′ quality of life.

Acute symptomatic osteoporotic thoracolumbar compression fracture (ASOTLF) can lead to chronic low back pain, kyphosis deformity, pulmonary dysfunction, loss of mobility, and even life-threatening complications. Vertebral augmentation is currently the mainstream treatment method for this condition. In 2019, the Editorial Board of Chinese Journal of Trauma and the Spinal Trauma Group of Orthopedic Surgeons Branch of Chinese Medical Doctor Association collaboratively led the development of Clinical guideline for vertebral augmentation for acute symptomatic osteoporotic thoracolumbar compression fractures. Six years later, with advances in clinical diagnosis and treatment techniques as well as accumulating evidence in related fields, the 2019 guideline requires updating. To this end, the Spinal Trauma Group of Orthopedic Surgeons Branch of Chinese Medical Doctor Association, the Spinal Health Professional Committee of China Human Health Science and Technology Promotion Association, and the Minimally Invasive Orthopedics Professional Committee of Shaanxi Medical Doctor Association have organized experts in the field to develop the Clinical guideline for vertebral augmentation of acute symptomatic osteoporotic thoracolumbar compression fractures ( version 2025) , based on the latest evidence-based medical researches. This guideline incorporates 3 recommendations retained from the 2019 version with updated strength of evidence, along with 12 new recommendations. It provides recommendations from six aspects of diagnosis, pain management, treatment option selection, prevention of postoperative complications, anti-osteoporosis therapy, and postoperative rehabilitation, aiming to provide a reference for standard treatment of vertebral augmentation for ASOTLF in hospitals at all levels.

BACKGROUND:The reduction of contact area,edge load,and stress increase of adjacent cartilage caused by knee cartilage defect are considered to easily cause degenerative changes in this tissue,which may develop into knee osteoarthritis.Growth factors are considered to be a treatment method to promote the healing of damaged cartilage and delay the progression of degenerative arthritis.OBJECTIVE:To analyze the hotspots and prospects of growth factor-promoted knee cartilage regeneration research by bibliometric methods.METHODS:The first author retrieved 321 articles related to growth factor-promoted knee cartilage regeneration research from the Web of Science core set database.VOSviewer 1.6.19 software was used to analyze the publication volume,country,institution,keyword,and literature citation status of the articles,and investigate the research hotspots.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)From 2000 to 2024,the annual number of publications in the field of growth factor-promoted knee cartilage regeneration showed an overall upward trend,with the highest number of publications in 2021.Harvard University in the United States published the most papers.(2)Keyword analysis showed that the frequency of keywords such as growth factor,cartilage,cartilage repair,platelet-rich plasma,and cartilage regeneration was high.In addition,the keyword co-occurrence network diagram showed that growth factor was closely related to keywords such as cartilage repair and cartilage regeneration,indicating that growth factor research plays an important role in the field of cartilage regeneration.(3)The results of literature citation analysis showed that the combination of platelet-rich plasma and muscle-derived stem cells may provide a new and effective treatment strategy for patients with osteoarthritis,which can deepen the understanding of cartilage repair mechanisms by promoting stem cell proliferation and cartilage formation.Fibroblast growth factor 2,fibroblast growth factor 18,and insulin growth factor 1 play a key role in cartilage repair and can promote chondrocyte proliferation and matrix synthesis.In particular,fibroblast growth factor 18 can promote the repair of damaged cartilage,thereby alleviating patients'pain and dysfunction,which deserves further in-depth study in the future.The latest research has developed a new Polyhedrin Delivery System(PODS)that can continuously release growth factors such as bone morphogenetic protein 2 and 7,significantly promoting chondrocyte proliferation and cartilage repair.This system provides a new perspective and potential therapy for the treatment of osteoarthritis.(4)Therefore,bone morphogenetic protein 2,7,insulin growth factor 1,and recombinant human fibroblast growth factor 18 are promising growth factor therapies for promoting cartilage regeneration.In the future,further in-depth research on the mechanism of action of growth factors,optimization of treatment strategies,and strengthening of long-term efficacy and safety evaluation are needed.

Objective To design an 8-channel gene analyzer to take the place of the widely used gene analyzer with problems in inconvenient consumable replacement and short storage time of electrophoresis polymer.Methods The 8-channel gene analyzer had its mechanical components composed of an automatic sample loading table,a polymer injection module,a high-voltage temperature control module,an optical module and an integrated U box,its electrical control system made up of a host computer(an embedded computer)and three slave computers(a sampling control board,a polymer injection control board and a high-voltage temperature control board).The automatic sample loading table involved in four motors and transmission systems for x,y,z directions and optical alignment,the transmission systems adopted mainly belt drive mode and the optical alignment motor had its threads with an anti-backlash structure;the polymer injuection module was manipulated by the polymer injection control board,and the polymer block was made of highly transparent acrylic material;the high-voltage temperature control module realized the regulation of electrophoresis voltage and the detection of electrophoresis current by the low-ripple precision high-voltage power supply,and controlled the temperature of the heating furnace by the proportional-integral-differential(PID)algorithm;the optical module consisted of an excitation module and a light-receiving module,which had the base of the reflector made of low expansion coefficient alloy material;the integrated U box had the electrophoresis polymer,capillary array,polymer block and anode buffer in a plastic housing;the host computer had the data acquisition software programmed with C# and C++,and the slave computers were controlled by STM32 SCM.Results The 8-channel gene analyzer had no significant differences with the widely used ABI3500 gene analyzer in resolution,precision accuracy and clinical results.Conclusion The 8-channel gene analyzer gains advantages in consumable replacement and storage time of electrophoresis polymer,and can meet the requirements for gene sequencing.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2025,46(2):24-30]

Background: s/Aims: Sarcomatoid hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a rare histological subtype of HCC characterized by extremely poor prognosis; however, its molecular characterization has not been elucidated. Methods: In this study, we conducted an integrated multiomics study of whole-exome sequencing, RNA-seq, spatial transcriptome, and immunohistochemical analyses of 28 paired sarcomatoid tumor components and conventional HCC components from 10 patients with sarcomatoid HCC, in order to identify frequently altered genes, infer the tumor subclonal architectures, track the genomic evolution, and delineate the transcriptional characteristics of sarcomatoid HCCs. Results: Our results showed that the sarcomatoid HCCs had poor prognosis. The sarcomatoid tumor components and the conventional HCC components were derived from common ancestors, mostly accessing similar mutational processes. Clonal phylogenies demonstrated branched tumor evolution during sarcomatoid HCC development and progression. TP53 mutation commonly occurred at tumor initiation, whereas ARID2 mutation often occurred later. Transcriptome analyses revealed the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and hypoxic phenotype in sarcomatoid tumor components, which were confirmed by immunohistochemical staining. Moreover, we identified ARID2 mutations in 70% (7/10) of patients with sarcomatoid HCC but only 1–5% of patients with non-sarcomatoid HCC. Biofunctional investigations revealed that inactivating mutation of ARID2 contributes to HCC growth and metastasis and induces EMT in a hypoxic microenvironment. Conclusions We offer a comprehensive description of the molecular basis for sarcomatoid HCC, and identify genomic alteration (ARID2 mutation) together with the tumor microenvironment (hypoxic microenvironment), that may contribute to the formation of the sarcomatoid tumor component through EMT, leading to sarcomatoid HCC development and progression.

In this experiment, self-assembled nanoparticles(SANs) were prepared by the pH-driven method, and Her-HCP SAN was constructed by using herpetrione(Her) and Herpetospermum caudigerum polysaccharides(HCPs). The average particle size and polydispersity index(PDI) were used as evaluation indexes for process optimization, and the quality of the final formulation was evaluated in terms of particle size, PDI, Zeta potential, and microstructure. The proposed Her-HCP SAN showed a spheroid structure and uniform morphology, with an average particle size of(244.58±16.84) nm, a PDI of 0.147 1±0.014 8, and a Zeta potential of(-38.52±2.11) mV. Her-HCP SAN significantly increased the saturation solubility of Her by 2.69 times, with a cumulative release of 90.18% within eight hours. The results of in vivo unidirectional intestinal perfusion reveal that Her active pharmaceutical ingredient(API) is most effectively absorbed in the jejunum, where both K_a and P_(app) are significantly higher compared to the ileum(P<0.001). However, the addition of HCP leads to a significant reduction in the P_(app) of Her in the jejunum(P<0.05). Furthermore, the formation of the Her-HCP SAN results in a notably lower P_(app) in the jejunum compared to Her API alone(P<0.001), while both K_a and P_(app) in the ileum are significantly increased(P<0.001, P<0.05). The absorption of Her-HCP SAN at different concentrations in the ileum shows no significant differences, and the pH has no significant effect on the absorption of Her-HCP SAN in the ileum. The addition of the transporter protein inhibitors(indomethacin and rifampicin) significantly increases the absorption parameters K_a and P_(app) of Her-HCP SAN in the ileum(P<0.05,P<0.01), whereas the addition of verapamil has no significant effect on the intestinal absorption parameters of Her-HCP SAN, suggesting that Her may be a substrate for multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 and breast cancer resistance proteins but not a substrate of P-glycoprotein.
Nanoparticles/metabolism* ; Polysaccharides/pharmacokinetics* ; Intestinal Absorption/drug effects* ; Animals ; Rats ; Particle Size ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacokinetics* ; Male ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Drug Carriers/chemistry* ; Drug Compounding ; Cucurbitaceae/chemistry*

Poly(lactic-co-glycolide)(PLGA)is a key excipient in long-acting sustained-release preparations,and its degradation properties directly affect the drug release behavior.In this study,PLGA microspheres were prepared by microfluidic techniques,and the morphology changes of the microspheres were observed by scanning electron microscopy(SEM).In alkaline environment,due to the accelerated hydrolysis of ester bonds,the surface of the microspheres was rapidly dissolved and eroded,and the degradation rate was significantly higher than that in acidic environment.High temperature accelerated the degradation of PLGA microspheres.Under neutral and alkaline conditions,the microspheres showed aggregation and adhesion.Under acidic conditions,the microspheres gradually decomposed into irregular fragments.The high ionic strength further promoted the surface corrosion of the microspheres,especially under extreme pH conditions.Simultaneously,PLGA microspheres encapsulating coumarin were prepared to simulate the microsphere formulation.The release rate of coumarin after degradation of the microspheres under different conditions was observed by measuring the absorbance with ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry.The results were consistent with those of the blank microspheres.This study revealed that the degradation of PLGA microspheres was significantly pH-dependent,temperature sensitive and ion strength responsive.These findings not only helped to understand and optimize the long-term stability and controlled release performance of drug-carrying microspheres,but also provided a theoretical basis for further improvement of PLGA-based drug carrier design.