OBJECTIVE: To review the clinical applications of functional perforator flaps in restoring human body functions. METHODS: An extensive literature review was conducted on both domestic and international publications to summarize the clinical use of functional perforator flaps for functional restoration. RESULTS: Perforator flaps are among the most commonly used flaps in reconstructive surgery. Beyond providing soft tissue repair, they are increasingly employed to reconstruct diverse bodily functions, leading us to propose the concept of the "functional perforator flap". Although various forms of functional perforator flaps are currently utilized, reports are predominantly scattered case studies, lacking systematic organization. Commonly used functional perforator flaps can be categorized into five types: chimeric perforator flaps, perforator flaps for nerve function restoration, perforator flaps for lymphatic drainage enhancement, flow-through perforator flaps, and perforator flaps for restoring bone and joint motion. These flaps significantly broaden the application scope of perforator flaps, elevating the goal of reconstruction from mere wound repair to achieving repair concurrent with functional reconstruction. CONCLUSION The application of various functional perforator flap designs significantly improves wound reconstruction outcomes and represents an effective approach for managing complex defects. Future developments will undoubtedly see more forms of functional perforator flaps reported to meet increasingly sophisticated reconstructive demands.
Humans ; Perforator Flap/blood supply* ; Plastic Surgery Procedures/methods* ; Soft Tissue Injuries/surgery* ; Skin Transplantation/methods* ; Wound Healing

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics of patients with clinical and subclinical Cushing's syndrome caused by primary bilateral macronodular adrenal hyperplasia(PBMAH).Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 198 patients with Cushing's syndrome caused by PBMAH diagnosed in the First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital from January 2004 to October 2024.According to clinical manifestations,the patients were classified into clinical type Cushing's syndrome(n=61)and subclinical type Cushing's syndrome(n=137),and the clinical characteristics of the two types were compared.Results The mean age at diagnosis of patients with PBMAH-induced Cushing's syndrome was(53.5±10.4)years,including 118 males and 80 females,with a male-to-female ratio of 1.475:1.Compared with the subclinical type,the clinical type had a higher proportion of females,higher levels of serum cortisol,24-hour urine free cortisol(24 h UFC),and inhibited serum cortisol after low-dose dexamethasone suppression.Additionally,the clinical type had lower plasma ACTH,larger adrenal nodules and a higher risk of surgery(P<0.05)compared with those in subclinical type.The incidences of hypertension,dyslipidemia,obesity,diabetes mellitus,hypokalemia,vitamin D deficiency,osteoporosis,coronary heart disease,and cerebrovascular disease in patients with Cushing's syndrome caused by PBMAH were 87.9%,50.5%,37.1%,36.9%,27.8%,25.9%,18.7%,18.7%and 12.1%,respectively.Among them,compared with subclinical type patients,clinical type patients had higher incidence of hypokalaemia,vitamin D deficiency and osteoporosis(P<0.05),while there were no statistically significant differences in the incidences of other comorbidities between the two types(P>0.05).The results of postoperative follow-up for PBMAH patients showed that the short-term biochemical remission rate of unilateral total adrenalectomy was 41.5%(22/53)and the long-term biochemical remission rate was 32.0%(8/25).The short-term biochemical remission rate of unilateral partial(or nodular)adrenalectomy was 52.9%(9/17),and the long-term biochemical remission rate was 14.3%(1/7).All patients who underwent unilateral total adrenalectomy plus contralateral partial resection developed adrenal insufficiency(3/3),and 1 patient(1/3)relapsed 3.4 years after surgery.Conclusion Clinical and subclinical types of Cushing's syndrome caused by PBMAH have their distinct clinical characteristics.Surgery is an effective treatment for PBMAH,but a certain proportion of patients fail to achieve biochemical remission after non-bilateral total adrenalectomy.

Objective To investigate the associations of reproductive health indicators with lung function and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD)among women aged 40 years and above.Methods From Jul to Sep,2021,female subjects aged 40 years and above were randomly selected from the Shanghai Suburban Adult Cohort and Biobank for COPD screening.A questionnaire was used to obtain information on demographic characteristics and reproductive health indicators.Linear regression was used to analyze the effects of reproductive health indicators on forced vital capacity(FVC)and forced expiratory volume in the first second(FEV1).Logistic regression was also used to analyze the effects of reproductive health factors on FVC as a percentage of the predicted value(FVC%Pred)and FEV1%Pred as well as on COPD.Results A total of 1876 women aged 40 years and above were enrolled with mean age of(62.1±8.2)years old,among them,78.1%were menopausal,and 40.9%had been pregnant≥3 times.Multivariate analysis showed that FVC and FEV1 decreased in postmenopausal women,but menopause was not associated with a decrease in their percentage of predicted values.Pregnancies≥3 times was a risk factor for COPD(for 3 times,OR=4.92,95%CI:1.48-19.95,P<0.05;for≥4 times,OR=9.06,95%CI:2.32-41.57,P<0.01),while pregnancies of 2 times did not increase the risk of COPD.Conclusion In women aged 40 years and above,menopause is associated with poorer FVC and FEV1,and excessive pregnancy(≥3 times)is a risk factor for COPD.

Objective:To explore the safety and effectiveness of placing nasointestinal tubes under bedside electromagnetic navigation in elderly patients,and to investigate the factors related to successful nasointestinal tube placement.Method:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the records of all elderly patients undergoing nasointestinal tube placement under bedside electromagnetic navigation at General Hospital Of Eastern Theater Command from June 1,2021 to January 31,2024.Statistical analysis was performed on the relevant indicators of the placement tube and the factors related to successful placement.Result:A total of 163 elderly patients were included,with a total success rate of 87.7%,an average placement time of(18.5±18.9)min,an average inserted nasal intestinal tube length of(104.6±9.8)cm,and a placement-related complications rate of 1.8%.The factors related to successful placement include chronic disease as the main diagnosis(P=0.0196),preoperative placement of a gastric tube(P=0.0060),and preoperative use of prokinetic drugs(P=0.0268).Conclusion:Placing nasointestinal tubes under bedside electromagnetic navigation is an efficient and safe method for placing nasointestinal tubes in elderly patients.The success rate of placement in chronic patients is higher.Preoperative placement of a gastric tube and use of prokinetic drugs may help with tube placement.

Three new anthraquinones were isolated from the 80% ethanol extract of Prismatomeris tetrandra by silica gel, MCI, ODS column chromatography and high performance preparative liquid chromatography (HPLC). The structures of the new compounds were identified by mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance and other spectroscopic methods as 6-hydroxy-1,2,3-trimethoxy-7-methylanthracene-9,10-dione (1), 6-(hydroxymethyl)-1,2,3-trimethoxyanthracene-9,10-dione (2) and 7-hydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)-1,2-dimethoxyanthracene-9,10-dione (3). Compounds 1, 2 and 3 showed protective effects against monosodium glutamate-induced damage in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells, with the cell survival rates elevated 18.45%, 4.31%, and 7.65%, respectively.

Ex-situ conservation is an important means to protect biological genetic resources. Resource protection has received more and more attention with the continuous improvement of the comprehensive utilization of traditional Chinese medicine resources. In this paper, the research and compilation of the species list of ex-situ cultivated medicinal plants in 12 Chinese Academy of Sciences botanic gardens and 19 specialized medicinal botanic gardens in China were carried out. Based on the Species 2000(2017) and other classification databases, species diversity of medicinal plants ex-situ cultivated in these botanical gardens were analyzed. The study found that there were 16 351 higher plant species in our country, belonging to 276 families and 1 936 genera. Of these, 6 949 specieswere medicinal plants, accounting for 50.4% of the total medicinal plants. There were 1 280 medicinal plants were in threatened status, accounting for 19.6% of all threatened species in the Chinese Biodiversity Red List, with ex-situ cultivated proportion of 59.5%. And 3 988 medicinal plants were Chinese endemic species, accounting for 22.5% of all Chinese endemic species, with ex-situ cultivated proportion of 53.3%. This article has reference significance for the management and protection of medicinal plant resources.

BACKGROUND:The connection between high-level central nervous system and spinal cord and peripheral nerve under injury level is blocked by traumatic spinal cord injury,and the whole function of the body is thereby influenced.The loss of motor function and feeling both severely affect the patient's life quality in views of physiology,psychology,function and social economics.RNA interference is an effective method to silence target genes,which provides a new treatment strategy for spinal cord injury.OBJECTIVE:To explore the application status of RNA interference in spinal cord injury.METHODS:PubMed and CNKI databases were retrieved using the keywords of "RNA interference,RNAi,spinal cord injury" in English and Chinese,respectively.The articles addressing the application of RNA interference in spinal cord injury were collected and reviewed.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Totally 44 articles were enrolled.It is urgent to find a new way to treat spinal cord injury.Compared with the traditional gene silencing technology,RNA interference owing to high specificity,high efficiency,high stability and high penetrability is considered to be a new direction for the studies on the pathogenesis and treatment of spinal cord injury.

Objective: To evaluate the inhibitory effect of dihydroartemisinin on neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y, explore the possible mechanism of dihydroartemisinin against neuroblastoma cells. Methods: The cell viability of dihydroartemisinin treated SH-SY5Y cells was examined by MTT assay and morphology of cells was observed by using inverted microscope. Cell cycle was examined with flowcytometry assay, then cyclin D1 and caspase-3 proteins expression was detected by ELISA and western blotting assay. Results: MTT analysis results showed that cell viability significantly decreased after exposure to 0.05, 0.50, 5.00 and 50.00 μmol/L dihydroartemisinin in a dose-dependent manner, and the lower density of cells was observed in treated groups. The number of cells in sub-G1 phase was increased after treatment with different doses of dihydroartemisinin compared with the control group. The expression of cyclin D1 protein was decreased, while the expression of caspase-3 protein was increased in treated group. Conclusions: Dihydroartemisinin could inhibit the proliferation through stopping the cell cycle and inducing the apoptosis in neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of different concentrations of ethanol on action potential (AP) in the isolated rat myocardium and the possible mechanism of electric-physiological changes. Standard microelectrode technique was used to record AP in isolated rat myocardium, and whole cell patch clamp technique was used to record the human Kv1.5 (hKv1.5) channel currents in HEK293 cells. The effects of different concentrations of ethanol (6.25, 12.5, 25.0, 50.0, 100.0 and 200.0 mmol/L) on AP parameters in rat atrium and papillary and Kv1.5 channel currents in HEK293 cells were analyzed. The results showed that in isolated atrium, action potential amplitude (APA), action potential duration (APD), action potential duration of 50% repolarization (APD(50)) and action potential duration of 90% repolarization (APD(90)) were not affected by 6.25 and 12.5 mmol/L ethanol, while APD, APD(50) and APD(90) were prolonged significantly by 25.0-200.0 mmol/L ethanol (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), and APA was reduced with 100.0 and 200.0 mmol/L ethanol (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). In isolated papillary, APA, APD, APD(50) and APD(90) were not affected by 6.25-25.0 mmol/L ethanol, while APD, APD(50) and APD(90) were prolonged significantly with 50.0-200.0 mmol/L ethanol (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), and APA was reduced with 200.0 mmol/L ethanol (P < 0.05). The Kv1.5 channel currents were inhibited by ethanol in a concentration dependent manner in HEK293 cells. These findings suggest that 6.25 and 12.5 mmol/L ethanol produce no effects on AP parameters, and 50.0-200.0 mmol/L ethanol prolong APD significantly in isolated rat atrium and papillary. The prolonged effect on APD in isolated myocardium may be due to the inhibition of the Kv1.5 channel currents.
Action Potentials ; drug effects ; Animals ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Ethanol ; pharmacology ; HEK293 Cells ; Humans ; Kv1.5 Potassium Channel ; antagonists & inhibitors ; drug effects ; Male ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; physiology ; Patch-Clamp Techniques ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

The aim of the present study was to investigate the alterations in thoracic aortic vasomotor function in rats with chronic heart failure (CHF) post myocardial infarction (MI), and then explored the possible mechanism of pathological changes. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into sham and CHF groups randomly. The CHF model group of rats was generated by ligating the left anterior descending artery. In sham-operated rats the ligation was placed but not tightened. A total of 20 rats underwent either sham-operated (n=8) or surgery for MI (n=12). All sham-operated rats survived the surgical procedure and the post-surgical period, whereas total mortality among MI-rats was 25% (3 out of 12). Only MI-rats with infarct-size >30% of the left ventricle (LV) were included for analysis (8 out of 9). Ten weeks after surgery, rats were anaesthetized for hemodynamic measurements, which contains systolic pressure, diastolic pressure, left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP), left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP), LV+dp/dt(max) and LV-dp/dt(max). After that hearts were rapidly excised and weighed. Myocardial infarct size was determined by triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining method. Isolated thoracic artery ring preparations were studied in a wire-myograph. The arterial constrictive responses to KCl, CaCl2, phenylephrine (PE), and caffeine and the arterial diastolic responses to acetylcholine (ACh) were recorded by the Multi Myograph System. To explore the possible mechanism, nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor N-nitrl-L-arginine methylester (L-NAME) and non-selective cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitor indomethacin (Indo) were used. The results obtained were as follows: (1) CHF group showed an increased contraction response to KCl (5-100 mmol/L) and PE (1x10(-8)-3x10(-4) mol/L), and a reduced endothelium-dependent relaxation response to ACh (1x10(-12)-1x10(-4) mol/L) compared with those observed in sham group (P<0.01, P<0.05); (2) In the presence of L-NAME (1 mmol/L), the endothelium-dependent cumulative contractions to ACh (1x10(-7)-1x 10(-4) mol/L) was significantly enhanced in CHF group (P<0.05), and this effect was reversed by pretreatment with Indo (10 mumol/L); (3) In CHF group, the vessels incubated with Indo (10 mumol/L) showed an increased vasodilation induced by ACh (1x10(-12)-1x10(-4) mol/L) (P<0.05); (4) In the Ca(2+)-free K-H solution, calcium-dependent contraction curves induced by CaCl2 (1x10(-4)-3x10(-2) mol/L) in CHF group significantly shifted to the left compared with sham group (P<0.05); while the vascular contraction induced by caffeine (30 mmol/L) had no significant changes. These findings suggest that thoracic arteries of rats with CHF have endothelial dysfunction, and the contribution of endothelial dilation and contraction was significantly altered in CHF rats. The mechanism could be partly associated with the increased endothelium-dependent contracting factors by COX pathway, or the increased extracellular Ca(2+) influx through voltage-operated channels, thus leading to elevated vasoconstriction.
Animals ; Aorta, Thoracic ; physiopathology ; Chronic Disease ; Endothelins ; metabolism ; Endothelium, Vascular ; physiopathology ; Heart Failure ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Male ; Myocardial Infarction ; complications ; Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Vasomotor System ; physiopathology