OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of a variety of kidney-tonifying Chinese medicines on thymus regeneration after acute degeneration in mice. METHODS: Forty-eight 8-week-old male BALB/c mice were randomly divided into normal control group, model control group, negative control group, positive control group, the fructus of Cnidium monnieri (L.) Cuss. group, the fructus of Psoralea corylifolia (L.) group, the fructus of Rubus chingii Hu group, and the tuber onion seed group, with 6 mice in each group. Except for the normal control group, mice in the other groups received intraperitoneal injections of rapamycin (1 mg·kg^－1·d^－1) for 5 consecutive days followed by 14 h of starvation to induce acute thymus degeneration. After successful modeling, in treatment groups ethanol extract of the fructus of Cnidium monnieri (L.) Cuss. (0.78 g·kg^－1·d^－1), fructus of Psoralea corylifolia (L.) (0.39 g·kg^－1·d^－1), fructus of Rubus chingii Hu (0.78 g·kg^－1·d^－1) or the tuber onion seed(0.39 g·kg^－1·d^－1) was intraperitoneally injected once a day for 5 days; while the negative control group was given equal volume of normal saline, and the positive control group was given metformin (300 mg·kg^－1·d^－1). The grip strength was measured with a grip tester 2 h after the last administration. The pathological changes of thymus were observed by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining. The structure and distribution of thymic epithelial cells were observed by multiple immunofluorescence method. The proportion of T cell subsets in thymus and peripheral blood was analyzed by flow cytometry. The level of T cell receptor excision circles (TREC) in the genomic DNA of mouse spleen mononuclear cells was detected by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for evaluation of thymic output function. The expression of thymus aging- and function-related factors in the thymus tissue were detected by quantitative reverse transcription PCR. The expression of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1A (p21) and tumor protein 53 (p53) were verified by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Rapamycin induced thymic atrophy and significantly reduced limb grip strength in mice (P<0.01). Compared with the negative control group, the limb grip strength of mice in the fructus of Psoralea corylifolia (L.) group, the fructus of Rubus chingii Hu group and the tuber onion seed group was significantly enhanced (all P<0.05), and the level of TREC in spleen of the mice in each administration group was reduced (all P<0.05). Among Chinese herb medicine-treatment groups, the recovery of thymus function and tissue structure in the tuber onion seed group was most obvious. Further study showed that compared with the negative control group, the proportion of CD4 single positive cells (CD3⁺TCR-β⁺CD4⁺CD8^－) in the thymus of the tuber onion seed group was significantly increased (P<0.01), and the proportion of CD3⁺CD28⁺ T cell and CD3⁺CD8⁺CD28⁺ T cell in peripheral blood was significantly increased (all P<0.01). The mRNA levels of IL-1α, IL-6, p21 and p53 in thymocytes were decreased (all P<0.05). The results of immunohistochemistry further confirmed the decrease in p21 and p53 expression. In normal mice, tuber onion seed was observed to enhance limb grip strength (P<0.01), while suppressing thymus output and change the distribution of T cell subsets, and there was no significant effect on thymus weight and the expression of Foxn1, SIRT1, p21, CXCL2 and PTMα. CONCLUSIONS The tuber onion seed and other kidney-tonifying traditional Chinese medicines can accelerate the regeneration process of mouse thymus after acute degeneration induced by rapamycin in mice, and the tuber onion seed exhibits the most pronounced therapeutic effect.
Animals ; Mice ; Male ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Thymus Gland/physiology* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Sirolimus/adverse effects* ; Regeneration/drug effects*

Objective To analyze the application value of assisted compressed sensing(ACS)combined with deep reconstruction(DR)(ACS+DR)algorithm in MR abdominal T2WI.Methods A total of 60 patients were prospectively selected to undergo three types of respiratory-triggered transverse T2 sequence scans:fast spin echo(FSE),propeller scanning(ARMS),and ACS+DR.Two radiologists independently evaluated the images for respiratory motion artifacts,gastrointestinal peristalsis artifacts,sharpness of intrahepatic vessel and bile duct,lesion clarity,and overall image quality.Additionally,the signal-to-noise ratio(SNR),contrast-to-noise ratio(CNR),and contrast ratio(CR)between lesions and liver parenchyma signal intensity were calculated.Wilcoxon and independent sample Mann-Whitney U tests were used to compare objective scores and subjective evaluations among different groups.Results The scan time for the ACS+DR sequence was 35 s,for the ARMS sequence 180 s,and for the FSE sequence 210 s.The ACS+DR sequence showed superior performance over the other sequences in terms of scan time,respiratory motion artifacts,intrahepatic vessel and bile duct sharpness,lesion clarity,and overall image quality(P＜0.05).Compared with FSE sequence,the ARMS and ACS+DR sequences exhibited higher SNR,CNR,and CR(P＜0.05).The ACS+DR sequence showed better SNR and CNR than the ARMS sequence(P＜0.05);however,there was no significant difference between the two sequences in CR(P＞0.05).No significant difference was found among the three sequences in the number of detected lesions(P＞0.05).Conclusion The ACS+DR reconstruction algorithm for upper abdominal imaging not only ensures high image quality but also significantly improves scan speed,making it valuable for clinical application.

Objective To analyze the application value of assisted compressed sensing(ACS)combined with deep reconstruction(DR)(ACS+DR)algorithm in MR abdominal T2WI.Methods A total of 60 patients were prospectively selected to undergo three types of respiratory-triggered transverse T2 sequence scans:fast spin echo(FSE),propeller scanning(ARMS),and ACS+DR.Two radiologists independently evaluated the images for respiratory motion artifacts,gastrointestinal peristalsis artifacts,sharpness of intrahepatic vessel and bile duct,lesion clarity,and overall image quality.Additionally,the signal-to-noise ratio(SNR),contrast-to-noise ratio(CNR),and contrast ratio(CR)between lesions and liver parenchyma signal intensity were calculated.Wilcoxon and independent sample Mann-Whitney U tests were used to compare objective scores and subjective evaluations among different groups.Results The scan time for the ACS+DR sequence was 35 s,for the ARMS sequence 180 s,and for the FSE sequence 210 s.The ACS+DR sequence showed superior performance over the other sequences in terms of scan time,respiratory motion artifacts,intrahepatic vessel and bile duct sharpness,lesion clarity,and overall image quality(P＜0.05).Compared with FSE sequence,the ARMS and ACS+DR sequences exhibited higher SNR,CNR,and CR(P＜0.05).The ACS+DR sequence showed better SNR and CNR than the ARMS sequence(P＜0.05);however,there was no significant difference between the two sequences in CR(P＞0.05).No significant difference was found among the three sequences in the number of detected lesions(P＞0.05).Conclusion The ACS+DR reconstruction algorithm for upper abdominal imaging not only ensures high image quality but also significantly improves scan speed,making it valuable for clinical application.