Combined with elastic network model (ENM), the perturbation response scanning (PRS) has emerged as a robust technique for pinpointing allosteric interactions within proteins. Here, we proposed the PRS analysis of drug-target networks (DTNs), which could provide a promising avenue in network medicine. We demonstrated the utility of the method by introducing a deep learning and network perturbation-based framework, for drug repurposing of multiple sclerosis (MS). First, the MS comorbidity network was constructed by performing a random walk with restart algorithm based on shared genes between MS and other diseases as seed nodes. Then, based on topological analysis and functional annotation, the neurotransmission module was identified as the "therapeutic module" of MS. Further, perturbation scores of drugs on the module were calculated by constructing the DTN and introducing the PRS analysis, giving a list of repurposable drugs for MS. Mechanism of action analysis both at pathway and structural levels screened dihydroergocristine as a candidate drug of MS by targeting a serotonin receptor of serotonin 2B receptor (HTR2B). Finally, we established a cuprizone-induced chronic mouse model to evaluate the alteration of HTR2B in mouse brain regions and observed that HTR2B was significantly reduced in the cuprizone-induced mouse cortex. These findings proved that the network perturbation modeling is a promising avenue for drug repurposing of MS. As a useful systematic method, our approach can also be used to discover the new molecular mechanism and provide effective candidate drugs for other complex diseases.

Objective To screen the quality evaluation indicators of Bushen Huoxue Prescription(BHP)in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy(DR)by network pharmacology and molecular docking technology,and to establish content determination of active components in BHP by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry(UHPLC-QqQ-MS/MS).Methods Network pharmacology was used to screen the disease-related targets and key components,followed by molecular docking to further verify the interaction between them and confirm the active ingredients in BHP as the quality evaluation indicators.A UHPLC-QqQ-MS/MS method for the content determination of the active ingredients in BHP was established.A ZORBAX SB-C18 column(2.1 mm×50 mm,1.8 μm)was used,and methanol(A)-0.1％formic acid solution(B)was used as mobile phase.Gradient elution was performed in multiple reaction monitor mode.The flow rate was 0.3 mL·min-1 and the injection volume was 1 μL.Results Network pharmacology and molecular docking revealed five core targets and 12 BHP-related components(verbascoside,echinacoside,isoacteoside,tanshinone ⅡA,cryptotanshinone,dihydrotanshinone I,ginsenoside Re,Rd and Rb1,puerarin,daidzin,biochanin A)for the treatment of DR.There was a strong binding affinity between them(binding energy≤-5.0 kcal·mol-1).The established quantitative method demonstrated each component presented a good linearity within the specified range(r>0.999 5).The average recovery was in the range of 97.57％～101.48％.The contents of 12 components in eight batches of BHP samples were 0.027 9％～0.050 6％,0.006 4％～0.022 0％,0.017 1％～0.041 5％,0.009 2％～0.015 4％,0.012 6％～0.020 5％,0.004 4％～0.007 6％,0.334％～0.643％,0.238％～0.530％,0.353％～0.693％,3.411％～6.048％,1.023％～1.352％,0.000 8％～0.001 8％,respectively.Conclusion Based on network pharmacology,molecular docking and UHPLC-QqQ-MS/MS,a method for rapid screening and determination of 12 active components of BHP in the prevention and treatment of DR was established.This study provided a reference for comprehensive assessment of the quality and effectiveness of BHP.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical and genetic characteristics of four patients with medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MCADD). METHODS: Four children who had presented at the Children's Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University between August 2019 and August 2021 were selected as the study subjects. Clinical data of the children were collected. The children were subjected to whole exome sequencing (WES). RESULTS: All of the four children were diagnosed with MCADD. Blood amino acid and ester acyl carnitine spectrum test showed that the concentration of octanoyl carnitine (C8) was significantly increased. The main clinical manifestations included poor mental response (3 cases), intermittent diarrhea with abdominal pain (1 case), vomiting (1 case), increased transaminase (3 cases), and metabolic acidosis (2 cases). Five variants were identified by genetic testing, among which c.341A>G (p.Y114C) was unreported previously. Three were missense variants, one was frameshift variant and one was splicing variant. CONCLUSION The clinical heterogeneity of MCADD is obvious, and the severity of the disease may vary. WES can assist with the diagnosis. Delineation of the clinical symptoms and genetic characteristics of the disease can facilitate early diagnosis and treatment of the disease.
Child ; Humans ; Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase/genetics* ; Carnitine ; Genetic Testing ; Lipid Metabolism, Inborn Errors/genetics* ; Neonatal Screening

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical features and genetic basis of a child with Galactosemia. METHODS: A child who had presented at the Children's Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University on November 20, 2019 was selected as the study subject. Clinical data of the child was collected. Whole exome sequencing was carried out for the child. Candidate variants were validated by Sanger sequencing. RESULTS: Clinical manifestations of the child have included anemia, feeding difficulty, jaundice, hypomyotonia, abnormal liver function and coagulation abnormality. Tandem mass spectrometry showed increased citrulline, methionine, ornithine and tyrosine. Urine organic acid analysis showed increased phenyllactic acid, 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid, 4-hydroxyphenyllactic acid, 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate and N-acetyltyrosine. Genetic testing revealed that the child has harbored compound heterozygous variants of the GALT gene, namely c.627T>A (p.Y209*) and c.370G>C (p.G124R), which were respectively inherited from her healthy parents. Among these, c.627T>A (p.Y209*) was known as a likely pathogenic variant, while c.370G>C (p. G124R) was unreported previously and also predicted as a likely pathogenic variant(PM1+PM2_Supporting+PP3_Moderate+PPR). CONCLUSION Above discovery has expanded the spectrum of the GALT gene variants underlying Galactosemia. Patients with thrombocytopenia, feeding difficulties, jaundice, abnormal liver function and coagulation abnormality without obvious causes should be analyzed by screening of metabolic diseases in combination with genetic testing.
Child ; Female ; Humans ; Galactosemias/genetics* ; Genetic Testing ; Health Status ; Methionine ; Muscle Hypotonia ; Mutation

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics, genetic characteristics and diagnosis of spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) patients with childhood onset.Methods:The clinical data of a SCA2 pedigree who diagnosed at Neurogenetic Metabolic Disease Clinic of Children′s Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University in July 2019 were collected, and the reported cases of childhood-onset SCA2 were reviewed. The CAG repeat of ATXN2 gene was detected by polymerase chain reaction, capillary gel electrophoresis and Sanger sequencing techniques.Results:A total of 9 people in 4 generations of the family were affected, showing an autosomal dominant inheritance. The proband was a 3 years and 4 months old boy, who showed abnormal symptoms at 9 months which manifested as developmental retardation. At 1 year old, he developed progressive regression which represented neither to be amused, recognize others, stand and walk alone, nor had language development. Meanwhile, he had difficulty swallowing, long-term constipation, and a history of convulsions. His sister and mother were not yet sick. His grandmother could not walk, had slurred speech accompanied by nystagmus, and magnetic resonance imaging showed cerebellar atrophy. His granduncles and grandaunts had unstable walking and dysarthria. His great-grandfather required wheelchair to walk. This pedigree showed an autosomal dominant inheritance. One of the ATXN2 gene alleles of the proband, his sister, mother and grandmother all showed abnormal amplification with 99, 55, 44, and 43 times respectively and no inserting CAA sequence. A total of 14 literatures reported 20 cases of childhood-onset SCA2 patients who were genetically diagnosed. The majorities had onset in infancy, and few can develop into school age. The main clinical manifestations were developmental delay, dystonia or insufficiency, myoclonus or infantile spasms, motor retardation, abnormal eye movement, retinitis pigmentosa and dysphagia, while the classic cerebellar syndrome was only partially present. Abnormal rhythm was found on electroencephalogram, cerebellar atrophy on magnetic resonance imaging or CT of the head.Conclusions:This case is the youngest genetically-confirmed SCA2 patient reported in China. Reported patients usually have onset in infancy with excessive repeat sequence expansion. Their clinical characteristics are different from the classic patients and could only be diagnosed by dynamic mutation detection.

Objective:To analyze the characteristics of clinical manifestation, auxiliary examination and gene mutation of 3-hydroxy-isobutyryl-coenzyme A hydrolase (HIBCH) deficiency to better understand this disease.Methods:The clinical manifestations and genetic results of a patient with HIBCH deficiency were analyzed. The clinical features and genetic characteristics of HIBCH deficiency were summarized based on the literature review.Results:The proband, female, one year and four months old, was admitted to Children′s Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University for “vomiting and diarrhea for 15 days, dyspnea and intermittent convulsions for 13 days after digestive tract infection”. The intelligence was normal, however, the motor development was slightly delayed before onset. Physical examination showed light coma, poor response and insensitivity to light. She also had shortness of breath, weak positive three concave signs and coarse breath sound in both lungs with sputum purrs. In addition, the muscle tension of extremities was increased. Bilateral Brudzinski′s sign, Babinski′s sign and Kernig′s sign were negative. Serum hydroxybutyryl carnitine (C4OH) was increased. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed atrophy in bilateral cerebral hemispheres and abnormal symmetry signals in bilateral globus pallidus and cerebral peduncle. Novel compound heterozygous variants of HIBCH, c.489T>A (p. C163*) and c.740A>G (p. Y247C), were found in the patient, which respectively inherited from her healthy parents. Her symptoms were relieved after“cocktail”therapy and symptomatic treatment. Literature related to HIBCH deficiency published all around the world was reviewed. As a result, 17 articles, including 24 cases, had been reported. The majority of patients presented with poor feeding, dystonia and progressive motor developmental delay in early infancy. Cranial MRI showed lesions in bilateral basal ganglia. Serum C4OH concentration was elevated. And compound heterozygous or homozygous variants of HIBCH gene were found in patients with HIBCH deficiency.Conclusions:The detection of serum amino acids and acylcarnitine profiles on HIBCH deficiency was relatively specific and it was helpful to make a clear diagnosis by combining with cranial MRI and genetic tests. In this study, a case of HIBCH deficiency was confirmed, which expanded the mutation spectrum of HIBCH gene. Meanwhile, summarizing the clinical and genetic characteristics of cases reported improved understanding of HIBCH deficiency.

Objective To investigate the role of high mobility group box 1 protein(HMGB1) and the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) in the pathogenesis of primary gouty arthritis (GA).Methods Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) was used to determine the level of plasma HMGB1 in 68 acute gout (AG),48 quiescent gout (QG) and 45 healthy control(HC).Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was employed to measure the expression of HMGB1 and RAGE mRNA in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in 68 AG,48 QG and 94 HC.One way ANOVA or Wilcoxon test and Spearman's correlations were used for statistical analysis.Results The level of plasma HMGB1,PBMCs HMGB1 and RAGE mRNA were significantly higher in GA than that in HC [(24±34) ng/ml,0.019±0.029,0.000 5±0.000 3] (P＜0.05),while the level of plasma HMGB1 and PBMCs HMGB1 mRNA were significantly higher in AG [(222±178) ng/ml,0.235±0.954,0.001 5±0.003 5] than that in QG [(107±176) ng/ml,0.044±0.117,0.001 3±0.000 9] (P＜0.05),and the level of PBMCs RAGE mRNA was higher in AG than that in QG (P＞0.05).In the GA patients,the level of plasma HMGB1 was positively correlated with white blood cell count,neutrophile granulocytes count,mononuclear cells and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (r=0.34,0.44,0.39,0.33; P＜0.05),while negatively correlated with apolipoprotein A1 (r=-0.28,P＜0.05); the level of PBMCs HMGB1 mRNA was positively correlated with RAGE mRNA,white blood cell counts,neutrophil counts,lymphocyte counts,serum total cholesterol level,low density lipoprotein level and apolipoprotein B100 level (r=0.29,0.36,0.26,0.28,0.29; P＜0.05),while negatively correlated with high density lipoprotein (r=-0.30,P＜0.01); the level of PBMCs RAGE mRNA was positively correlated with lymphocyte counts,total cholesterol and apolipoprotein B100 (r=0.35,0.35,0.44; P＜0.05).Conclusion HMGB1 and its signaling pathway may play important role in the pathogenesis of gouty arthritis,which may also be involved in the regulation of the lipid metabolism of gout.

Objective To study the clinical, laboratory, X-ray and the pathological features of Parkinson disease patients with rheumatoid-like deformities. Methods One patient was described and the relevant English literature in recent 50 years were reviewed. Results Rheumatoid-like deformities in Parkinson disease was mostly observed in women. The ratio between male and female was about 1:5.6. Joint deformities occurred after 7.6 years of Parkinson's disease in average. The manifestations of joints included the flexion of the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints, hyperextension of the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints, flexion of the distal interphalangeal (DIP) joints, and ulnar deviation of wrists and bilateral feet hallux valgus. Whole-blood analysis, biochemistry profile, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C -reactive protein were all in normal range. Rheumatoid factor and ANA, anti-ENA profile, AKA, anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibody and antiperinuclear factor (APF) were all negative. Periarticular erosion was not observed in plaint X -ray films. Synovial pathology showed non -specific infla -mmation without classical syno vial membrane proliferation and pannus formation. NSAIDs and DMARDs were uneffective, but on the contrary, anti -parkinson' s disease therapy could relieve joints symptoms. Conclusion Parkinson disease can be accompanied with rheumatoid-like deformities which may be misdiagnosed as RA and should be differentiated from RA by laboratory, radiographs and synovium pathology examination.