Mutations in the cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 gene (CDKL5) cause a severe neurodevelopmental disorder, yet the impact of truncating mutations remains unclear. Here, we introduce the Cdkl5^492stop mouse model, mimicking C-terminal truncating mutations in patients. 492stop/Y mice exhibit altered dendritic spine morphology and spontaneous seizure-like behaviors, alongside other behavioral deficits. After creating cell lines with various Cdkl5 truncating mutations, we found that these mutations are regulated by the nonsense-mediated RNA decay pathway. Most truncating mutations result in CDKL5 protein loss, leading to multiple disease phenotypes, and offering new insights into the pathogenesis of CDKL5 disorder.
Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Mice ; Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases/deficiency* ; Mutation/genetics* ; Epileptic Syndromes/genetics* ; Humans ; Dendritic Spines/pathology* ; Spasms, Infantile/genetics* ; Male ; Seizures/genetics* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the association between body mass index (BMI) and mortality based on the 10-year population-based multicenter prospective study. METHODS: A general population-based multicenter prospective study was conducted at four sites in rural China between 2013 and 2023. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models and restricted cubic spline analyses were used to assess the association between BMI and mortality. Stratified analyses were performed based on the individual characteristics of the participants. RESULTS: Overall, 19,107 participants with a sum of 163,095 person-years were included and 1,910 participants died. The underweight (< 18.5 kg/m ²) presented an increase in all-cause mortality (adjusted hazards ratio [ aHR] = 2.00, 95% confidence interval [ CI]: 1.66-2.41), while overweight (≥ 24.0 to < 28.0 kg/m ²) and obesity (≥ 28.0 kg/m ²) presented a decrease with an aHR of 0.61 (95% CI: 0.52-0.73) and 0.51 (95% CI: 0.37-0.70), respectively. Overweight ( aHR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.67-0.86) and mild obesity ( aHR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.59-0.87) had a positive impact on mortality in people older than 60 years. All-cause mortality decreased rapidly until reaching a BMI of 25.7 kg/m ² ( aHR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.92-0.98) and increased slightly above that value, indicating a U-shaped association. The beneficial impact of being overweight on mortality was robust in most subgroups and sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSION This study provides additional evidence that overweight and mild obesity may be inversely related to the risk of death in individuals older than 60 years. Therefore, it is essential to consider age differences when formulating health and weight management strategies.
Humans ; Body Mass Index ; China/epidemiology* ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Rural Population/statistics & numerical data* ; Aged ; Follow-Up Studies ; Adult ; Mortality ; Cause of Death ; Obesity/mortality* ; Overweight/mortality*

Public cell culture platform is an important facility in laboratory animal facilities, providing essential support for scientific research such as the development of animal tumor disease models and transgenic animals. By establishing a public cell culture experimental platform, laboratory animal centers can effectively integrate experimental animals and cell culture resources, optimizing the allocation of scientific research resources to facilitate better research outcomes. The majority of cells cultured in these platforms are used for animal experiments. Contamination or quality issues in these cells not only affect experimental results but also jeopardize the health of experimental animals, potentially leading to microbial infections and contamination of entire animal facilities. Therefore, public cell culture laboratories within experimental animal facilities impose stricter quality control measures than conventional cell culture rooms. This study takes the public cell culture platform at the Laboratory Animal Center of Shanghai Jiao Tong University as a case study to discuss management experiences, focusing on facility maintenance and management, personnel management and quality control of cell biological risk. The aim is to provide useful reference for the management of public cell culture laboratories in experimental animal facilities and other institutions.

Small for gestational age (SGA) infants are more likely to experience neurocognitive impairments compared to appropriate for gestational age (AGA) infants. This paper reviews recent research on the neurocognitive development of SGA children. SGA can lead to a "brain-sparing effect" due to growth restriction, which may affect cerebral blood flow and brain structure. However, this does not guarantee normal brain development. Restrictive blood flow can result in changes in brain structure, such as reduced total white matter and gray matter volume in various brain regions, including the cerebral cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum, ultimately leading to decreased head circumference. SGA children also exhibit lower scores in all neurocognitive domains, including intelligence, attention, memory, and executive function. This may result in poor academic performance and an increased risk of social, behavioral, and neurological problems, such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy, visual and hearing impairments, as well as comorbidities like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD), autism spectrum disorder(ASD), anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia. Several risk factors for SGA-related neurocognitive impairments have been identified, including gestational hypertension, abnormal gestational weight, smoking, and catch-up growth. Studies have shown that the best interventions to improve cognitive dysplasia include nutrient supplementation, continued breastfeeding, high-quality education, and appropriate early intervention (responsive parenting) are effective in improving cognitive outcomes for SGA children.

AIM: To analyze the abnormal refractive status of infants and young children aged 6 to 48 months, and to provide basis for the correction of ametropia and the early prevention and treatment of amblyopia.METHODS: Infants and young children aged 6 to 48 months were examined for refraction by Spot vision screener for natural optometry. Clinical data of infants and young children with refractive abnormalities were collected, Ciliary muscle paralysis agent was used for retinoscopy and optometry, and the results were statistically analyzed.RESULTS: A total of 168 cases(336 eyes)with abnormal Spot refractive outcomes were collected, with a high proportion of hyperopia and astigmatism abnormalities, 38.4% and 28.6%, respectively, while the proportion of myopia was low(12.2%). There were 90 cases of anisometropia(≥1.00 D), among which 41 cases(45.6%)were astigmatic anisometropia, 33 cases(36.7%)were hyperopic anisometropia, and 16 cases(17.8%)were myopic anisometropia, accounting for the least proportion. A total of 109 infants and young children with Spot refractive abnormalities completed ciliary muscle paralysis retinal optometry. The analysis of the difference and correlation between Spot diopter and post ciliary muscle paralysis optometry results showed that the difference in astigmatism was 0.34±0.64 D(P<0.001), the difference in hyperopia was -2.10±1.27 D(P<0.001), and the difference in myopia was -0.43±0.91 D(P=0.023). Although there was a statistical difference between the two results, astigmatism, hyperopia, and myopia were highly positively correlated, respectively(r=0.694, 0.762, 0.909).CONCLUSION: The main refractive abnormalities in infants and young children aged 6 to 48 months are astigmatism, hyperopia, and anisometropia, with fewer abnormalities in myopia. For screening abnormalities, further ciliary muscle paralysis agent retinoscopy and optometry should be performed, and glasses correction should be given to effectively prevent refractive amblyopia in infants and young children.

Pyroptosis is the programmed death of cells accompanied by an inflammatory response and is widely involved in the development of a variety of diseases, such as infectious diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and neurodegeneration. It has been shown that cellular scorching is involved in the pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension ( PAH) in cardiovascular diseases. Patients with PAH have perivascular inflammatory infiltrates in lungs, pulmonary vasculopathy exists in an extremely inflam-matory microenvironment, and pro-inflammatory factors in cellular scorching drive pulmonary vascular remodelling in PAH patients. This article reviews the role of cellular scorch in the pathogenesis of PAH and the related research on drugs for the treatment of PAH, with the aim of providing new ideas for clinical treatment of PAH.

Background: There remains controversy over the relationship between serum magnesium levels and obesity in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess whether there is any association of serum magnesium levels with obesity and abdominal obesity in T2DM. Methods: This cross-sectional, real-world study was conducted in 8,010 patients with T2DM, which were stratified into quintiles according to serum magnesium levels. The clinical characteristics and the prevalence of obesity and abdominal obesity were compared across serum magnesium quintiles in T2DM. Regression analyses were used to evaluate the relationship of serum magnesium with obesity and abdominal obesity in T2DM (clinical trial registration number: ChiCTR1800015893). Results: After adjustment for age, sex, and duration of diabetes, the prevalence of obesity and abdominal obesity was significantly declined across magnesium quintiles (obesity: 51.3%, 50.8%, 48.9%, 45.3%, and 43.8%, respectively, P<0.001 for trend; abdominal obesity: 71.5%, 70.5%, 68.2%, 66.4%, and 64.5%, respectively, P=0.001 for trend). After controlling for confounders, there were clearly negative associations of serum magnesium levels and quintiles with obesity and abdominal obesity in T2DM. Moreover, C-reactive protein partly mediates the effect of serum magnesium on obesity and abdominal obesity (P=0.016 and P=0.004, respectively). Conclusion The significantly negative relationship between serum magnesium and the risk of obesity and abdominal obesity was observed in T2DM. Furthermore, the independently negative association of serum magnesium with obesity may be explained by its anti-inflammatory functions. Serum magnesium levels may be applied to assess the risk of obesity and abdominal obesity in T2DM.

Aim To design and synthesize a series of phenylacetamide derivatives with different substituted phenylacetic acid as raw materials,and to investigate the protective effects of the compound on the damage of pancreatic β cells induced by palmitate acid(PA).Methods Min6 cells were cultured and divided into B blank control group,PA treatment group and PA+compounds group.The viability of Min6 cells was de-tected by CCK-8.The protein expressions of TXNIP and NLRP3 were observed by Western blot.MDA con-tent and SOD activity were detected by MDA and SOD kit.The insulin secretion of Min6 islet cells was meas-ured with insulin ELISA kit.Results A total of 10 phenylacetamide derivatives were designed and synthe-sized.Their structures were confirmed by 1H NMR and ESI-MS.Pharmacological activity study showed that most of the compounds had protective effects on islet βcells,among which LY-6 and LY-8 had stronger pro-tective effects than PA model group,with the cell via-bility of 61.4％,and LY-6 had the highest cell activi-ty,reaching to 104.9％.Compared with PA group,the protein expression of TXNIP and NLRP3 decreased in LY-6 and LY-8 groups,MDA content decreased and SOD activity increased,and insulin secretion of Min6 cell increased.Conclusions LY-6 and LY-8 inhibit TXNIP expression and decrease the activation of NL-RP3 inflammasome,and decrease the production of MDA and increase SOD activity,and thus reducing is-let β cells apoptosis and increasing insulin secretion.Therefore,the compound LY-6 could serve as a poten-tial anti-diabetic new chemical entity.

Gap junction(GJ),also known as gap junction,is widely found between neurons and glial cells,and can connect neighboring cells and mediate the transmission of electrical sig-nals between neighboring cells.The GJ channel,which exists between neurons and mediates intercellular electrical signaling,is also known as an electrical synapse.Connexins(Cxs)are the molecular basis of GJ,and are expressed to different degrees in different neurons and glial cells.The presence of GJ mediates different functions among neurons and glial cells,which further influences the establishment of various mature neural circuits,re-flecting the importance of GJ in the maintenance of neural cir-cuits.This review summarizes the relationship between GJ and neural circuits in relation to the effects of GJ and different Cxs on neurons and glial cells,providing new research ideas for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders.

Objective:This study aimed to introduce droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) for monitoring Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCT) in children and assess its viability as a complementary detection method in clinical settings.Methods:A total of 290 blood samples from 47 children undergoing alloHSCT were collected. Both ddPCR and real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) were employed to detect EBV DNA load in plasma, with a comparison of detection efficiencies between the two methods. Continuous monitoring of 39 children was conducted to observe dynamic changes in EBV DNA load in plasma and analyze the merits and drawbacks of both methods.Results:The EBV positive detection rate of ddPCR was significantly higher than that of qPCR ( χ2=20.25, P<0.001), particularly in samples with low viral loads. Among the children monitored continuously for EBV DNA, 14 out of 39 exhibited positive ddPCR result. Notably, in two cases where patients displayed rash and fever symptoms with positive ddPCR result but negative qPCR result, ddPCR demonstrated heightened sensitivity in early EBV infection detection. Conclusions:ddPCR holds certain advantages in monitoring EBV infection post-alloHSCT in children, especially for samples with low viral loads. However, as this method is still in the exploratory stage of clinical application, further research and practice are needed to validate its utility.