Objective To investigate the effect of ligustrazine on spinal cord repair from the perspective of macrophage autophagy and its molecular mechanism in a rat model.Methods A rat model of spinal cord injury was established using Allen's method.Successful modeling was indicated by hindlimb spasm,tail twisting,and Basso,Beattie,and Bresnahan(BBB)score of 0.The rats were divided into 4 groups:sham-operation group,model group,low-dose ligustrazine group,and high-dose ligustrazine group,with 10 rats in each group.The low-dose and high-dose ligustrazine groups were administered ligustrazine(150 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg,respectively)via intraperitoneal injection,while the normal and model groups received an equal volume of normal saline once daily for 28 days.At different time points after surgery,the hindlimb motor function of the rats was assessed using the BBB scale.Hematoxylin-eosin(HE)and Nissl staining were used to observe the histopathological changes in the spinal cord tissue and the morphology of neurons.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)was employed to detect the expression levels of superoxide dismutase(SOD)and malondialdehyde(MDA)in the spinal cord tissue.TUNEL staining was used to evaluate the apoptosis status of spinal cord neurons.Protein levels of LC3 I,LC3 Ⅱ,Bax,and Bcl-2 in the spinal cord tissue were detected by Western Blot.Electron microscopy was used to observe the formation of autophagosomes in spinal cord macrophages,and immunofluorescence was used to detect the protein expression of LC3 Ⅱ in spinal cord macrophages.Results Compared with the sham-operation group,the model group exhibited impaired hindlimb function and spinal cord tissue morphology(P<0.05),along with decreased levels of SOD,apoptosis,LC3 Ⅱ/Ⅰ,Bcl-2 protein expression,autophagosome number in macrophages,and LC3 Ⅱ protein expression,as well as increased levels of MDA,Bax,and Bax/Bcl-2 protein expression(P<0.05).Compared with the model group,both the low-dose and high-dose ligustrazine groups showed improved hindlimb function and spinal cord tissue morphology(P<0.05),with increased levels of SOD,apoptosis,LC3 Ⅱ/Ⅰ,Bcl-2 protein expression,autophagosome number in macrophages,and LC3 Ⅱ protein expression,as well as decreased levels of MDA,Bax,and Bax/Bcl-2 protein expression(P<0.05).The intervention effect of ligustrazine was dose-dependent.Conclusion Ligustrazine can effectively repair spinal cord injury in rats,and its molecular mechanism may be related to the activation of autophagy in spinal cord macrophages and the inhibition of neuronal apoptosis.

Objective To investigate the value of qualitative and quantitative characteristics of gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid(Gd-EOB-DTPA)enhanced MRI in preoperative prediction of vessels encapsulating tumor clusters(VETC)pattern in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC).Methods A total of 234 patients diagnosed with HCC by pathology were analyzed retrospectively.A total of 101 VETC-positive HCC patients and 133 VETC-negative HCC patients were included.All patients were divided into training group and validation group according to 7︰3.The training group data were used to construct a prediction model for VETC-positive HCC.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was drawn and the area under the curve(AUC)was calculated to verify the diagnostic efficiency of the model.Calibration curve was drawn to verify the calibration of the model.Results Multivariate logistic regression analysis predicted the independent risk factors for VETC-positive HCC:portal phase peripheral washout[odds ratio(OR)6.493],necrosis or severe ischemia(OR 4.756),targetoid transitional phase or hepatobiliary phase(OR 0.307),and lesion to liver signal intensity ratio(LLR)on arterial phase(OR 0.074).The AUC of the training group in predicting VETC-positive HCC was 0.790[95%confidence interval(CI)0.720-0.859].The AUC of the validation group in predicting VETC-positive HCC was 0.779(95%CI 0.668-0.889).The calibration curve diagram showed that the calibration curve(the slope was 0.91)almost coincides with the ideal curve,indicating that the prediction model had better calibration.Conclusion The qualitative and quantitative characteristics of Gd-EOB-DTPA enhanced MRI can be used to predict VETC-positive HCC preoperatively,the independent risk factors of VETC include portal phase peripheral washout,necrosis or severe ischemia,targetoid transitional phase or hepatobiliary phase,and LLR on arterial phase.