This study aims to explore the effects and mechanisms of 4'-O-methylbavachalcone(MeBavaC), an active compound from Psoraleae Fructus, in regulating white matter neuroinflammation to improve vascular cognitive impairment. Male Sprague-Dawley(SD) rats were randomly divided into four groups: sham group, model group, high-dose MeBavaC group(14 mg·kg~(-1)), and low-dose MeBavaC group(7 mg·kg~(-1)). The rat model of chronic cerebral hypoperfusion(CCH) was established using bilateral common carotid artery occlusion. The Morris water maze test was performed to evaluate the learning and memory abilities of the rats. Luxol fast blue staining, Nissl staining, immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry, and transmission electron microscopy were utilized to observe the morphology and ultrastructure of the white matter myelin sheaths, axon integrity, the morphology and number of hippocampal neurons, and the loss and activation of glial cells in the white matter. Transcriptome analysis was performed to explore the potential mechanisms of white matter injury induced by CCH. Western blot and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction(qRT-PCR) assays were conducted to measure the expression levels of NOD-like receptor protein 3(NLRP3), absent in melanoma 2(AIM2), gasdermin D(GSDMD), cysteinyl aspartate-specific proteinase-1(caspase-1), interleukin-18(IL-18), interleukin-1β(IL-1β), erythropoietin(EPO), nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2(Nrf2), and heme oxygenase-1(HO-1) in the white matter of rats. The results showed that compared with the model group, MeBavaC significantly improved the learning and memory abilities of rats with CCH, improved the damage of white matter myelin sheath, maintained axonal integrity, reduced the loss of hippocampal neurons and oligodendrocytes in the white matter, inhibited the activation of microglia and the proliferation of astrocytes in the white matter, and suppressed the NLRP3/AIM2/caspase-1/GSDMD pathway. The expression levels of inflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-18 were significantly reduced, while EPO expression and the expression of Nrf2/HO-1 antioxidant pathway were notably elevated. In conclusion, MeBavaC can alleviate cognitive impairment in rats with CCH and suppress neuroinflammation in cerebral white matter. The mechanism of action may involve activation of EPO activity, promotion of endogenous antioxidant pathways, and inhibition of neuroinflammation in the white matter. This study suggests that MeBavaC exhibits antioxidant and anti-neuroinflammatory effects, showing potential application in improving cognitive dysfunction.
Animals ; Male ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; NF-E2-Related Factor 2/immunology* ; Rats ; Chalcones/administration & dosage* ; Cognitive Dysfunction/metabolism* ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Neuroinflammatory Diseases/drug therapy* ; Heme Oxygenase-1/metabolism* ; Humans ; Heme Oxygenase (Decyclizing)/genetics*

PURPOSE: Emergency resuscitative thoracotomy (ERT) is a final salvage procedure for critically injured trauma patients. Given its low success rate and ambiguous indications, its use in blunt trauma scenarios remains highly debated. Consequently, our study seeks to ascertain the overall survival rate of ERT in blunt trauma patients and determine which patients would benefit most from this procedure. METHODS: A retrospective case-control study was conducted for this research. Blunt trauma patients who underwent ERT between January 2020 and December 2023 in our trauma center were selected for analysis, with the endpoint outcome being in-hospital survival, divided into survival and non-survival groups. Inter-group comparisons were conducted using Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests, the Kruskal-Wallis test, Student's t-test, or the Mann-Whitney U test. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess potential predictors of survival. Then, the efficacy of the predictors was assessed through sensitivity and specificity analysis. RESULTS: A total of 33 patients were included in the study, with 4 survivors (12.12%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated a significant association between cardiac tamponade and survival, with an adjusted odds ratio of 33.4 (95% CI: 1.31 - 850.00, p = 0.034). Additionally, an analysis of sensitivity and specificity, targeting cardiac tamponade as an indicator for survivor identification, showed a sensitivity rate of 75.0% and a specificity rate of 96.6%. CONCLUSION The survival rate among blunt trauma patients undergoing ERT exceeds traditional expectations, suggesting that select individuals with blunt trauma can significantly benefit from the procedure. Notably, those presenting with cardiac tamponade are identified as the subgroup most likely to derive substantial benefits from ERT.
Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Case-Control Studies ; China ; Logistic Models ; Resuscitation/mortality* ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Thoracotomy/methods* ; Trauma Centers/statistics & numerical data* ; Wounds, Nonpenetrating/surgery*

OBJECTIVE: Comorbid pain and depression are common but remain difficult to treat. Electroacupuncture (EA) can effectively improve symptoms of depression and relieve pain, but its neural mechanism remains unclear. Therefore, we used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) to detect cerebral changes after initiating a mouse pain model via constriction of the infraorbital nerve (CION) and then treating these animals with EA. METHODS: Forty male C57BL/6J mice were divided into 4 groups: control, CION model, EA, and sham acupuncture (without needle insertion). EA was performed on the acupoints Baihui (GV20) and Zusanli (ST36) for 20 min, once a day for 10 consecutive days. The mechanical withdrawal threshold was tested 3 days after the surgery and every 3 days after the intervention. The depressive behavior was evaluated with the tail suspension test, open-field test, elevated plus maze (EPM), sucrose preference test, and marble burying test. The rs-fMRI was used to detect the cerebral changes of the functional connectivity (FC) in the mice following EA treatment. RESULTS: Compared with the CION group, the mechanical withdrawal threshold increased in the EA group at the end of the intervention (P < 0.05); the immobility time in tail suspension test decreased (P < 0.05); and the times of the open arm entry and the open arm time in the EPM increased (both P < 0.001). There was no difference in the sucrose preference or marble burying tests (both P > 0.05). The fMRI results showed that EA treatment downregulated the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations and regional homogeneity values, while these indicators were elevated in brain regions including the amygdala, hippocampus and cerebral cortex in the CION model for comorbid pain and depression. Selecting the amygdala as the seed region, we found that the FC was higher in the CION group than in the control group. Meanwhile, EA treatment was able to decrease the FC between the amygdala and other brain regions including the caudate putamen, thalamus, and parts of the cerebral cortex. CONCLUSION EA can downregulate the abnormal activation of neurons in the amygdala and improve its FC with other brain regions, thus exerting analgesic and antidepressant effects. Please cite this article as: Yin X, Zeng XL, Lin JJ, Xu WQ, Cui KY, Guo XT, Li W, Xu SF. Brain functional changes following electroacupuncture in a mouse model of comorbid pain and depression: a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(2): 159-168.
Animals ; Electroacupuncture ; Male ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Depression/diagnostic imaging* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Brain/diagnostic imaging* ; Disease Models, Animal ; Mice ; Pain/diagnostic imaging* ; Acupuncture Points

Abstract Prenatal stress is a common, systemic, nonspecific stress response that occurs during pregnancy. The gut microbiota, which is known as the “second genome” of the human body, interacts with all major systems of the body. Changes in the gut microbiota can impact the development and health of infants and young children. Advances in research technology have allowed us to uncover the relationship between prenatal stress and imbalances in offspring intestinal microbiota, as well as the development of multiple systemic diseases. However, the exact mechanisms through which prenatal stress disrupts the gut microbiota of offspring remain incompletely understood. This review summarizes the existing research on diseases caused by prenatal stress disrupting the offspring intestinal flora, and seeks future research directions to expand the understanding of the pathogenesis of infant diseases.

WRKY transcription factor is a type of transcription factor unique to plants and plays an important role in various physiological processes of plants. This study is based on the transcriptome data of Atractylodes lancea, the correlation between the FPKM values of the AlWRKY gene and the AlTPS gene of Atractylodes lancea was analyzed. Combined with the analysis results, the candidate gene AlWRKY65 with a significant positive correlation with the expression levels of AlTPS1 and AlTPS6 genes and a relatively high FPKM value was screened. The candidate gene was cloned to obtain the open reading frame ORF of the AlWRKY65 gene, and the related information of its encoded protein was analyzed and the gene expression was studied. The results showed that AlWRKY65 contains a 681 bp open reading frame and encoding 226 amino acids. Through amino acid sequence homology analysis, it was found that AlWRKY65 amino acid sequence had high homology with several plants such as HaWRKY65 and LsWRKY65; AlWRKY65 protein had a typical WRKYGQK domain, belonging to IIe subgroup of WRKY transcription factor family; phylogenetic analysis indicated that AlWRKY65 protein had the higher homology with CcWRKY65 protein; the expression of AlWRKY65 gene in different tissues of two producing areas of Atractylodes lancea were assayed via real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR, and the results showed that all of them were highly expressed in leaves and also has tissue differences. The expression level of AlWRKY65 gene was down-regulated within 48 h of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) induction; subcellular localization and transcriptional activation assay suggested that AlWRKY65 was located in the nucleus and had no transcriptional activation activity. This study provides a reference for further elucidating the biological function of AlWRKY65 in Atractylodes lancea.

Aim To analyze serum exosome sequencing data from patients with coronary heart disease(CHD)and normal subjects by using bioinformatics-related methods to construct a competitive endogenous ln-cRNA-miRNA-mRNA(ceRNA)regulatory network,to mine the predicted potential Chinese medicines,and to perform preliminary validation of the biological processes and core Chinese medicines involved in the ceRNA network.Methods We used exoRbase data-base to obtain the expression matrix of differential genes,combined with the raw letter method to con-struct the ceRNA network,and performed GO analysis and KEGG analysis on the differential mRNAs in the network,and used COREMINE database to predict the biological processes and core target genes involved in the ceRNA network,and to screen the herbal medi-cines with potential therapeutic effects;AVECs oxida-tive damage cell model was constructed in vitro,and the cytoskeleton,tube-forming function,cell prolifera-tion,LDH leakage rate,ROS level and p-AKT,AKT,p-PI3K and AKT protein expression were examined to verify the action pathways and targets of the core Chi-nese medicine Salvia miltiorrhiza for the treatment of coronary heart disease.Results Compared with nor-mal subjects,395 mRNAs,80 miRNAs,60 lncRNA differential genes,and 80 miRNAs were predicted in serum exosomes of coronary heart disease,and the constructed ceRNA sub-network,mainly consisted of 21 lncRNAs,80 miRNAs,and 82 mRNAs;AKT1,VEGFA,IL1B and other genes in the network.The abnormally expressed mRNAs were involved in biologi-cal processes such as oxidative stress and signaling pathways such as PI3 K/Akt,and Dan Shen,Chuanx-iong and Panax notoginseng were most closely related to exosome-mediated biological processes and core genes in coronary heart disease.The active ingredients of tanshinone ⅡA,the core Chinese medicine,could pro-mote vascular endothelial cell proliferation,tube for-mation,skeleton formation and repair,reduce LDH leakage rate and ROS level,and promote the expres-sion of p-AKT and p-PI3K protein.Conclusion There is a complex ceRNA regulatory network trans-duction in coronary artery disease serum exosomes,and traditional Chinese medicine can be used to treat CHD through multi-target intervention,and Dan Shen,Chuanxiong and Panax notoginseng are expected to be candidate sources of traditional Chinese medicine,a-mong which the active ingredient of Dan Shen,tanshi-none ⅡA,activates PI3 K/Akt signaling pathway to play a protective role against oxidative stress-injured cells,and treats CHD.

Aim To disclose the subcellular localiza-tion,expression pattern,cellular physiological function and possible molecular mechanism of C12ORF56,a novel gene located at q14.2 of chromosome 12,in the pathogenesis of lung cancer.Methods ONCOMINE database was applied to investigate the mRNA level dif-fering of C12ORF56 between normal and lung cancer tissues.Analysis based on LinkedOmics,Metascape,String and GSEA database or tools provided indication of potential cellular physiological functions of C12ORF56 in the developing of lung cancer.C12ORF56 was knocked down via siRNA and the pro-liferation of NCI-H1073 cells were observed by EdU and CCK-8 assay.RT-qPCR was used to detect the ex-pression level of C12ORF56 of lung cancer cells on dif-ferent cycle phases.The core sequence regions of pro-moter affecting the transcription of C12ORF56 gene were analyzed by Jaspar online-tools and verified by dual-luciferase assay.Results C12ORF56 was highly expressed in lung cancer cells,especially in squamous cell lung cancer.C12ORF56 correlated with cell cy-cle,cancer immune,DNA replication.Knockdown of C12ORF56 reduced NCI-H1703 cell proliferation.Conclusion The up-regulation of C12ORF56 is in-volved in the development of lung cancer by enhancing lung cancer cell proliferation.

Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics and influencing factors of vascular involvement in Beh?et′s Disease (BD) to improve and provideunderstanding of insights for clinicians to better understand this condition.Methods:Clinical data from 220 BD patients admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University from January 2012 to May 2022 were collected. Clinical manifestations and laboratory findings were compared between BD patients with and without vascular involvement, as well as between those with improved conditions and those with progressive conditions. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors.Results:①The average age of the 220 BD patients was 36.5±15.3 years. Among them, 23 patients (10.5%) had vascular involvement, including 20 males (87.0%).②Compared to BD patients without vascular involvement, those with vascular involvement had significantly higher rates of smoking [6.1%(12/197) vs.34.8%(8/23), χ2=17.19, P<0.001], cardiac involvement [1.5%(3/197) vs. 13.0%(9/23), χ2=6.42, P=0.011], and elevated C-reactive protein(CRP) levels (78.3% vs. 56.3%, χ2=4.08, P=0.043).③ Among BD patients with vascular involvement, 11 cases (47.8%) had venous lesions, and 20 cases (87.0%) had arterial lesions, with 8 cases (34.8%) having both venous and arterial involvement. The most common type of vascular involvement was arterial dilatation (11 cases), mainly aneurysms (10 cases), and deep venous thrombosis of the lower extremities (7 cases).④The 23 BD patients with vascular involvement were followed up for an average of 18.3 months. Among them, 16 patients (69.6%) showed stable improvement, while 7 patients (30.4%) experienced disease progression, including 4 deaths (1 male and 3 females). A total of 91.3% (21/23) of the patients received glucocorticoid therapy. Immunosuppressive therapy was administered to 82.6% (19/23) of the patients, with 65.2% (10/23) receiving with cyclophosphamide and 43.5% receiving with thalidomide. Additionally, 13% (3/23) of the patients were treated with cyclosporine and methotrexate, respectively, and 8.7% (2/23) were treated with received mycophenolate mofetil. Anticoagulant therapy was given to 21.7% (5/23) of the patients, using either warfarin or low molecular weight heparin. Biologic therapy was administered to 17.4% (4/23) of the patients, and surgical intervention was performed in 43.5% (10/23) of the patients. ⑤Binary logistic regression analysis identified male gender [ OR(95% CI)=5.70(1.60, 20.90), P=0.009] as an indepe-ndent risk factor for vascular involvement in BD. Conclusion:The incidence of vascular involvement in BD is 10.5%, with a higher prevalence in males. Arterial involvement is more common than venous involvement, with arterial aneurysms being the most common manifestation. Clinicians should pay attention to CRP and total cholesterol levels in BD patients.

Based on the views of FAN's Eight Dynamic-Static Sequential Methods,Professor FAN Guan-Jie believes that the obesity has the pathological factor of blood stasis in addition to qi deficiency and phlegm-damp.The compatibility of blood-activating and stasis-removing drugs for the treatment of obesity is accorded to the progression of the disease.In the clinic,Crataegi Fructus associated medicinal cluster of activating blood and removing stasis is usually recommended.The medicinal cluster is with Crataegi Fructus as the chief medicinal,and is compatible with drug pairs of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma-Carthami Flos and Moutan Cortex-Paeoniae Radix Rubra.Crataegi Fructus associated medicinal cluster is able to treat qi and blood simultaneously,mainly aimed at removing blood stasis,supplemented by nourishing blood,promoting qi and blood movement,and invigorating spleen and stomach,which has the features of simultaneous dispersing and astringency,and proper combination of static therapy and dynamic therapy,and is suitable for obese patients with blood stasis obstruction in the vessels.

Objective:To summarize the clinical treatment of complete left bundle branch block (CLBBB) after the transcatheter closure of ventricular septal defect (VSD).Methods:A case series study was conducted on the treatments and outcomes of 25 children with CLBBB after transcatheter VSD closure in Guangdong Provincial People′s Hospital from January 2010 to December 2023.Paired sample t test was used to evaluate the effect of occlude removal. Results:Among the 25 patients, 12 were males (48%), and 13 were females (52%).The age at surgery was 3.18 (2.51-3.86) years, the height before surgery was 95.0 (90.0-97.5) cm, and the weight before surgery was 13 (12-15) kg.Fourteen children were early-onset cases (≤ 1 month), while the other 11 were late-onset cases (> 1 month).The mean follow-up time was (6.63±3.93) years.Of the 14 early-onset cases, 6 children underwent occluder removal within 1 month and restored normal heart rhythm or incomplete right bundle branch block; 4 children underwent occluder removal after 1 month, of whom 2 recovered, 1 remained CLBBB, and 1 had complete atrioventricular block (CAVB); the other 4 children received drug treatment, of whom 2 had normal heart rhythm, 1 had left anterior fascicular block, and 1 died of cardiac shock and heart failure.All the 11 late-onset cases were first treated by drugs, of whom 3 recovered, and the other 8 remained CLBBB.One of the 8 cases received occluder removal at 8 months after surgery and recovered, 1 had CAVB, and the other 6 remained CLBBB.Conclusions:For patients with CLBBB after transcatheter closure of VSD, drug therapy is not always effective, and CLBBB is easy to recur.Therefore, occluder removal is recommended to be done immediately after CLBBB is discovered.Patients with persistent CLBBB should be followed up regularly, and pacemaker implantation may be performed if necessary.