OBJECTIVE: Emerging evidence suggests that exposure to ultrafine particulate matter (UPM, aerodynamic diameter < 0.1 µm) is associated with adverse cardiovascular events. Previous studies have found that Shenlian (SL) extract possesses anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic properties and has a promising protective effect at all stages of the atherosclerotic disease process. In this study, we aimed to investigated whether SL improves UPM-aggravated myocardial ischemic injury by inhibiting inflammation and cell apoptosis. METHODS: We established a mouse model of MI+UPM. Echocardiographic measurement, measurement of myocardialinfarct size, biochemical analysis, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), histopathological analysis, Transferase dUTP Nick End Labeling (TUNEL), Western blotting (WB), Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and so on were used to explore the anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects of SL in vivo and in vitro. RESULTS: SL treatment can attenuate UPM-induced cardiac dysfunction by improving left ventricular ejection fraction, fractional shortening, and decreasing cardiac infarction area. SL significantly reduced the levels of myocardial enzymes and attenuated UPM-induced morphological alterations. Moreover, SL significantly reduced expression levels of the inflammatory cytokines IL-6, TNF-α, and MCP-1. UPM further increased the infiltration of macrophages in myocardial tissue, whereas SL intervention reversed this phenomenon. UPM also triggered myocardial apoptosis, which was markedly attenuated by SL treatment. The results of in vitro experiments revealed that SL prevented cell damage caused by exposure to UPM combined with hypoxia by reducing the expression of the inflammatory factor NF-κB and inhibiting apoptosis in H9c2 cells. CONCLUSION Overall, both in vivo and in vitro experiments demonstrated that SL attenuated UPM-aggravated myocardial ischemic injury by inhibiting inflammation and cell apoptosis. The mechanisms were related to the downregulation of macrophages infiltrating heart tissues.
Animals ; Apoptosis/drug effects* ; Particulate Matter/adverse effects* ; Mice ; Male ; Inflammation/drug therapy* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Myocardial Ischemia/drug therapy* ; Cell Line

This research investigated the contamination level,distribution of drug-resistant strains,and molecular epidemiologi-cal characteristics of Campylobacter,and further explored transmission pathways and prevention strategies.Cecum,chicken carcass,chicken product,and environmental samples,as well as swabs from workers'hands,were collected from a slaughterhouse in a large broiler group in the Jiaodong area between August 2023 and July 2024.Quantitative contamination assessment of Campylobacter in chicken carcasses and chicken products was performed.After microbial mass spectrometry identification,the representative strains of different links were selected for drug resistance testing and whole genome sequencing(WGS).On the basis of the sequencing results,the resistance genes,virulence genes,multilocus sequence typing(MLST),and phylogenetic characteristics of representative strains were analyzed.Homology comparisons were performed between isolates and strains from patients with diarrhea in the NCBI database.A total of 297 Campylobacter strains were isolated from 806 samples,and the overall detection rate was 36.85%.The detection rate of Campylobacter was highest in the evisceration process(47.33%),followed by the cutting process(35.64%).Overall,the Campylo-bacter detection rate first increased,then decreased,and subsequently increased.Drug sensitivity testing revealed that 90 isolates were resistant to nalidixic acid and ciprofloxacin,and 94.97%of isolates were resistant to tetracycline.WGS showed that both Campylo-bacter jejuni(C.jejuni)and Campylobacter coli(C.coli)carried many drug resistance and virulence genes.ST-14176 of C.jejuni was isolated for the first time herein.The predominant ST-8261 strain of C.jejuni and ST-860,ST-829,and ST-1586 strains of C.coli are known to cause human diarrhea.LOS expression genes associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome(GBS)were detected in both C.jejuni isolates from the slaughter chain and patients with GBS.Some strains exhibited close genetic relatedness to human-derived Campylo-bacter strains from the NCBI database.The detection rate of Campylobacter in the slaughterhouse first increased,then decreased,and subsequently increased,and the quantitative contamination level of each link was similar to the detection rate.Quantitative analysis of chicken carcasses/products revealed that the average bacterial load was highest in eviscerated carcasses(102.80 cfu/g),and the high-est amount of Campylobacter in chicken products reached 451.80 cfu/g.Abundant drug resistance genes and virulence genes were iden-tified,and the drug resistance genes were highly correlated with the drug resistance rate.Therefore,surveillance intensity and control measures for Campylobacter in slaughter processes should be strengthened.

Objective:To investigate the prognoses of patients with medial medullary infarction (MMI) or lateral medullary infarction (LMI) and their influencing factors.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed; 489 patients with acute medullary infarction admitted to Department of Neurology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital from January 2017 to January 2024 were enrolled. Among them, 186 patients had MMI, which was divided into isolated MMI group ( n=126) and group of MMI with other infarcts ( n=60); 303 patients had LMI, which was divided into isolated LMI group ( n=176) and group of LMI with other infarcts ( n=127). Prognosis 90 days after onset was assessed by modified Rankin Scale (mRS, scores of 3-6 as poor prognosis). Clinical data, prognosis and mortality 90 days after onset, early neurological deterioration, respiratory failure, and complications were compared between isolated MMI group and group of MMI with other infarcts and between isolated LMI group and group of LMI with other infarcts. Univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analyses were used to identify the independent influencing factors for poor prognosis 90 days after onset in patients with MMI or LMI. Results:(1) Compared with isolated MMI group, group of MMI with other infarcts had significantly lower rates of alcohol history and sensory symptoms but higher rates of Horner's syndrome, dysphagia, dysarthria, and facial palsy ( P<0.05). Compared with isolated LMI group, group of LMI with other infarcts had significantly lower rates of sensory symptoms but higher rates of dizzy and dysarthria, and statistically different Trial of ORG 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment types ( P<0.05). (2) The poor prognosis rate 90 days after onset in patients with MMI was significantly higher than that in patients with LMI (31.8% vs. 18.8%, P<0.05). Compared with isolated MMI group, group of MMI with other infarcts had significantly higher rates of respiratory failure, urinary retention, and pulmonary infection ( P<0.05). Compared with isolated LMI group, group of LMI with other infarcts had significantly higher rates of poor prognosis 90 days after onset, mortality 90 days after onset, early neurological deterioration, respiratory failure, stress ulcers, and pulmonary infection ( P<0.05). (3) Multivariate Logistic regression analysis revealed that dyskinesia ( OR=10.522, 95% CI: 1.246-88.853, P=0.031) and vertical multi-level involvement ( OR=4.585, 95% CI: 1.405-14.962, P=0.012) were independent influencing factors for poor prognosis in isolated MMI patients 90 days after onset; age ( OR=1.089, 95% CI: 1.017-1.166, P=0.015), vertical multi-level involvement ( OR=9.429, 95% CI: 1.625-54.502, P=0.012) were independent influencing factors for poor prognosis in MMI patients with other infarcts 90 days after onset; age ( OR=1.069, 95% CI: 1.006-1.136, P=0.031) and vertical multi-level involvement ( OR=7.125, 95% CI: 2.243-22.636, P<0.001) were independent influencing factors for poor prognosis in isolated LMI patients 90 days after onset; diabetes ( OR=2.807, 95% CI: 1.056-7.461, P=0.038), dysphagia ( OR=6.821, 95% CI: 1.978-23.518, P=0.002), and temporal-occipital infarcts ( OR=3.419, 95% CI: 1.133-10.302, P=0.029) were independent influencing factors for poor prognosis in LMI patients with other infarcts. Conclusion:Patients with LMI had better prognosis compared with patients with MMI; however, LMI patients with other infarcts had poorer prognosis compared with LMI patients; LMI patients with diabetes mellitus, dysphagia or temporal-occipital infarcts are prone to have poor prognosis.

Aim To investigate the effects of m6A demethylase ALKBH5 on cardiomyocytes pyroptosis in mice with myocardial infarction(MI).Methods The MI model of left anterior descending coronary artery ligation surgery was established by knocking down ALKBH5 using adeno-associated virus,and the hypox-ia model of mouse cardiomyocytes(HL-1)was estab-lished by knocking down small interfering RNA.The effects of ALKBH5 on the pyroptosis of MI mice and hypoxic HL-1 cells were observed.Subsequently,mechanism studies were conducted at the cellular lev-el,and the binding of ALKBH5 and IGF2BP2 to NL-RP3 mRNA was detected through RNA pull down and RNA immunoprecipitation(RIP)experiments.The MeRIP-qPCR method was used to determine the effects of ALKBH5 on the mRNA m6A level of NLRP3.Acti-nomycin D for RNA stability experiments were conduc-ted to detect the effects of ALKBH5 and IGF2BP2 on the stability of NLRP3 mRNA.Results Knocking down ALKBH5 in vivo and in vitro both inhibited NL-RP3 inflammasome activation and alleviated pyroptosis in MI mice and hypoxic HL-1 cells.Mechanistically,the results showed that NLRP3 mRNA could bind to ALKBH5 protein in HL-1 cells;knocking down ALK-BH5 could increase the m6A level of NLRP3 and re-duce the stability of NLRP3 mRNA;subsequently,it was confirmed that NLRP3 mRNA and IGF2BP2 pro-tein bound to each other;knocking down IGF2BP2 in-creased the mRNA stability of NLRP3.The Rescue ex-periment showed that knocking down IGF2BP2 re-versed the decrease in NLRP3 mRNA expression caused by knocking down ALKBH5.Conclusions ALKBH5 mediated m6A modification of NLRP3 pro-motes cardiomyocytes pyroptosis in mice with myocardi-al infarction.

Objective:To analyze the attributable burden of active smoking on the deaths of cancer in inhabitants aged 30 years and above in Zhejiang Province.Methods:Comparative risk assessment approach in the Global Burden of Disease Study was used with the data from Zhejiang Adult Tobacco Surveillance System and Death Monitoring Surveillance System in 2020, and population attributable fraction (PAF), years of life lost (YLL), work of potential years of life lost (WPYLL) attributed to smoking on the deaths of cancer in inhabitants aged 30 years and above in Zhejiang Province were calculated with a linear regression model.Results:In 2020, there were 81 536 cancer deaths aged 30 years and above in the surveillance areas of Zhejiang Province, of which 24 518 were attributed to active smoking (PAF: 30.07%, attributable mortality rate: 55.04/100 000). The YLL was 553 078 person-years, with a standardized YLL rate of 12.40‰, and the WPYLL was 56 606 person-years. Among various cancer types, laryngeal cancer had the highest smoking-attributable PAF (44.75%), while lung cancer accounted for the most significant number of attributable deaths and life loss, with an age-standardized YLL rate of 4.65‰.Conclusions:Active smoking is a significant risk factor for cancer mortality in Zhejiang Province, with lung cancer posing the most significant disease burden. It is urgent to advance tobacco control legislation, strengthen targeted interventions, and promote early cancer screening to reduce the disease burden associated with smoking-related cancers effectively.

Objective To propose a brain electrical phase prediction method based on long short-term memory network(LSTM)to improve the accuracy and robustness of phase synchronization prediction in transcranial magnetic stimulation(TMS).Methods First,an LSTM consisting of an input layer,an LSTM layer,an ReLU activation layer,a fully connected layer and a regression layer was constructed to capture the EEG signal features through the synergistic action of input gates,forgetting gates and output gates.Second,eye-open resting-state EEG data from 30 healthy subjects were trained using the LSTM to obtain a predictive model for EEG signal and EEG phase prediction.Finally,the LSTM method and the traditional autoregressive(AR)method were compared in terms of the phase prediction errors at the overall and individual levels and the prediction performance for peaks and troughs.A regression model was used to explore the relationships between instantaneous EEG amplitude,signal-to-noise ratio and phase prediction error with the LSTM method.Results The LSTM method achieved a total phase prediction error of 0.04°±5.69°,which was lower than that of the traditional AR method(-3.36°±51.13°).For each subject,the LSTM method demonstrated superior phase prediction accuracy compared to the traditional AR method(P＜0.001).The accuracy for predicting peaks(troughs)by the LSTM method(about 89％)was higher than that by the traditional AR method(about 10％).Unlike the traditional AR method,the LSTM method didnot result in linear relationships between instantaneous EEG amplitude,signal-to-noise ratio and phase prediction error,with Pvalues being 0.58 and 0.18,respectively.Conclusion The LSTM-based brain electrical phase prediction method shows high accuracy and robustness when used for EEG phase-synchronized TMS.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2025,46(3):1-8]

Objective To investigate the value of prone-position MRI of lumbar spine for diagnosing pediatric occult tethered cord syndrome(OTCS).Methods A total of 67 children with suspected tethered cord syndrome(TCS)and confirmed OTCS by surgery were prospectively enrolled as OTCS group,while 73 healthy subjects were recruited as control group.Supine-and prone-position lumbar MR examinations were performed in both groups.The position of filum terminale on prone axial T2WI and the presence or absence of"sunset sign"(i.e.filum terminale located within the dorsal 1/2 of spinal canal on prone axial T2WI)were observed,spinal cord conus mobility was calculated.The efficacy of"sunset sign"for diagnosing OTCS in children was calculated through comparison between groups.Receiver operating characteristic curve was drawn,the area under the curve(AUC)was calculated to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of spinal cord conus mobility.Results On prone-position axial T2WI,"sunset sign"was found in 58 cases(58/67,86.57％)but not in 9 cases(9/67,13.43％)in OTCS group,which was not even observed in control group.The sensitivity of"sunset sign"for diagnosing pediatric OTCS was 86.57％(58/67),with specificity of 100％(73/73),positive predictive value of 100％(58/58)and negative predictive value of 89.02％(73/82).The spinal cord conus mobility was(19.30±5.89)％in OTCS group and(31.71±6.58)％in control group,being statistically different between groups(t=-11.722,P＜0.001).The sensitivity,specificity and AUC of spinal cord conus mobility for diagnosing pediatric OTCS was 80.60％,90.41％and 0.920,respectively.Conclusion Prone-position MRI of lumbar spine could be used in diagnosing pediatric OTCS.

Primary aldosteronism (PA) is one of the most common causes of secondary hypertension, and is one of the risk factors of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Its incidence increases with the increase of hypertension level. The early diagnosis and treatment of PA are important. The subtype classification of PA is vital but challenging, which is related to the treatment options. Although adrenal vein sampling (AVS) is currently recognized as the gold standard for subtype diagnosis of PA, it′s an invasive test that is technically challenging and expensive, which limits its clinical use. As a non-invasive imaging method, 68Ga-Pentixafor PET/CT can visualize, locate and characterize the lesions, and facilitate PA subtyping. This article reviews the research of 68Ga-Pentixafor PET/CT in the subtype diagnosis of PA.

The dysfunction of the lysosome and autophagy-lysosome system serves as a driving force for neurodegenerative diseases, metabolic disorders, inflammatory conditions, and other related diseases, closely influencing their onset and progression. Therefore, restoring the function of the lysosome or autophagy-lysosome system has become an increasingly crucial therapeutic strategy in disease management. In this review, we will introduce the lysosomal biogenesis, structure, and function, as well as the biological process of the autophagy-lysosome system. Various diseases closely associated with lysosomal/autophagic dysfunction are also reviewed, emphasizing the significance of targeting the function of the lysosome or autophagy-lysosome system in disease treatment. Finally, we focus on engineered nanomaterials that have the capabilities to restore the function of the lysosome or autophagy-lysosome system, and summarize different strategies and methods for achieving this goal. This review aims to elucidate the latest progress in the field of nanomedicine for lysosomal/autophagic defect-related diseases and inspire the development of innovative and clinically valuable nanomedicines.
Humans ; Lysosomes/physiology* ; Autophagy/physiology* ; Nanomedicine/methods* ; Neurodegenerative Diseases/therapy* ; Animals ; Nanostructures ; Lysosomal Storage Diseases/therapy*

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the application value of genetic newborn screening (gNBS) in the Yunnan region. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted with a random selection of 3 001 newborns born in the Yunnan region from February to December 2021. Traditional newborn screening (tNBS) was used to test biochemical indicators, and targeted next-generation sequencing was employed to screen 159 genes related to 156 diseases. Positive-screened newborns underwent validation and confirmation tests, and confirmed cases received standardized treatment and long-term follow-up. RESULTS: Among the 3 001 newborns, 166 (5.53%) were initially positive for genetic screening, and 1 435 (47.82%) were genetic carriers. The top ten genes with the highest variation frequency were GJB2 (21.29%), DUOX2 (7.27%), HBA (6.14%), GALC (3.63%), SLC12A3 (3.33%), HBB (3.03%), G6PD (2.94%), SLC25A13 (2.90%), PAH (2.73%), and UNC13D (2.68%). Among the initially positive newborns from tNBS and gNBS, 33 (1.10%) and 47 (1.57%) cases were confirmed, respectively. A total of 48 (1.60%) cases were confirmed using gNBS+tNBS. The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated that the areas under the curve for tNBS, gNBS, and gNBS+tNBS in diagnosing diseases were 0.866, 0.982, and 0.968, respectively (P<0.05). DeLong's test showed that the area under the curve for gNBS and gNBS+tNBS was higher than that for tNBS (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS gNBS can expand the range of disease detection, and its combined use with tNBS can significantly shorten diagnosis time, enabling early intervention and treatment.
Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Neonatal Screening ; Genetic Testing ; Female ; Male ; Follow-Up Studies ; Prospective Studies ; China