Objective To explore the clinical characteristics of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) accompanied with KMT2D gene mutation and the impact of its co-mutated genes on prognosis. Methods Clinical data of 155 newly diagnosed DLBCL patients were obtained. The second-generation sequencing method was used to detect 475 hotspot genes, including KMT2D mutation. Patients were divided into the KMT2D mutation group and KMT2D wild-type group based on the presence or absence of KMT2D gene mutation. Clinical characteristics, differences in co-mutated genes, and survival differences between the two groups were compared. Results The frequency of KMT2D mutation was 31%, which is predominantly observed in elderly patients (P=0.07) and less in the double-expressor phenotype (P=0.07). Compared with the KMT2D wild-type group, KMT2D gene mutation was associated with higher co-mutation rates of CDKN2A (OR=2.82, P=0.01) and BCL2 (OR=3.84, P=0.016), while being mutually exclusive with MYC gene mutation (OR=0.11, P=0.013). In univariate survival analysis, no statistically significant difference in overall survival (OS) was found between the KMT2D mutation group and the wild-type group (P=0.54). Further analysis of the prognostic significance of KMT2D with other gene mutations indicated that patients with KMT2D^mutBTG2^mut had poorer OS than those with KMT2D^wt BTG2^mut (P=0.07) and KMT2D^wt BTG2^wt (P=0.05). On the contrary, patients with KMT2D^mut CD79B^mut had better OS than those with KMT2D^mut CD79B^wt (P=0.09), with no prognostic impact observed for other co-mutated genes. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that Ann Arbor stages Ⅲ and Ⅳ (HR=2.751, 95%CI: 1.169-6.472, P=0.02), elevated LDH levels (HR=2.461, 95%CI: 1.396-4.337, P=0.002), Ki-67 index>80% (HR=1.875, 95%CI: 1.066-3.299, P=0.029), and KMT2D^mutBTG2^mut(HR=4.566, 95%CI: 1.348-15.471, P=0.015) were independent risk factors for OS in patients with DLBCL (P<0.05). Conclusion DLBCL patients with KMT2D mutation often have multiple gene mutations, among which patients with a co-mutated BTG2 gene have poor prognosis.

ObjectiveStudies have shown that nuciferine has anti-cerebral ischemia effect， but the specific mechanism of action has not been elaborated. Based on the transcriptome results， the pharmacological mechanism of nuciferine against cerebral ischemia was analyzed from multiple dimensions including tissue， cell， pathological process， biological process and signaling pathway. MethodsThirty SD rats were randomly divided into the sham group， model group and nuciferine group（40 mg·kg^-1） according to weight. Except for the sham group， the model of middle cerebral artery occlusion（MCAO） was established by thread embolization method after 30 min of administration in the other two groups. Twenty-four hours after surgery， transcriptome sequencing was used to detect the gene expression profiles in the cortex penumbra of rat cerebral tissue， and gene ontology（GO） and kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes（KEGG） pathway enrichment analysis were performed for differentially expressed genes. The mechanismof nuciferine against cerebral ischemia was analyzed from 5 dimensions of tissue， cell， pathological process， biological process and signaling pathway by the transcriptome-based multi-scale network pharmacology platform（TMNP）. ResultsTranscriptome sequencing and gene quantitative analysis showed that 667 genes were significantly reversed by nuciferine. Further enrichment analysis of KEGG and GO suggested that the pathways of nuciferine involved regulating stress response， ion transport， cell proliferation and differentiation， and synaptic function. TMNP research found that at the tissue level， nuciferine could significantly improve the cerebral tissue injury caused by ischemia. At the cellular and pathological levels， nuciferine could play an anti-cerebral ischemia role by improving the state of various nerve cells， mobilizing immune cells， regulating inflammation. And at the level of biological processes and signaling pathways， nuciferine mainly acted on the processes such as vascular remodeling， inflammation-related signaling pathways， and synaptic signaling. ConclusionCombined with the results of transcriptome sequencing， gene quantitative analysis and TMNP， the mechanism of nuciferine against cerebral ischemia may be related to processes such as intervening in stress response and inflammation， affecting vascular remodeling and regulating synaptic function. These results can provide a basis and reference for further study of the pharmacological mechanism of nuciferine against cerebral ischemia.

ObjectiveTo explore quality difference factors of Perillae Caulis based on the contents of multiple chemical components and comprehensively evaluate the quality. MethodsA total of 32 batches of Perillae Caulis samples were collected from 12 producing areas such as Hebei， Anhui and Guangdong， and their diameter range， epidermis color and producing areas were recorded. Total flavonoids， total phenols， volatile oils， 5 active components and 84 volatile components in 32 batches of samples were quantitatively or semi-quantitatively determined by colorimetry， ultra performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array detector（UPLC-PDA） and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry（GC-MS）. Then the differences between the contents of these components were analyzed by principal component analysis（PCA） and non-parametric test. According to the weights of the index components determined by PCA model， entropy weight-technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution（TOPSIS） model was constructed to evaluate the quality of Perillae Caulis with different characters and origins. ResultsThere were significant differences in the composition of Perillae Caulis with different diameters， epidermis colors and producing areas， and 9 differential components were screened out， including 6 index constituents（total flavonoids， total phenols， caffeic acid， scutellarin， rosmarinic acid and luteolin） and 3 volatile components（caryophyllene oxide， （-）-humulene epoxide Ⅱ， 14-hydroxycaryophyllene）， of which 6 index constituents were higher in samples with small diameter， purple-brown epidermis and southern origin， while the contents of 3 volatile components were higher in samples with large diameter， dark-brown epidermis and northern origin. A significant difference was shown in the model scores of different diameters， epidermis colors and origins（P<0.05）， and the scores of Perillae Caulis with small diameter and purple-brown epidermis from southern area， especially Guangdong， had a high score. ConclusionThere are significant differences in the composition and content of chemical constituents between different diameters， epidermal colors and production areas of Perillae Caulis， samples showing small diameter， owing purple-brown epidermis， and originating from Guangdong were of higher-quality due to their higher content of 8 key indices.

ObjectiveTo explore quality difference factors of Perillae Caulis based on the contents of multiple chemical components and comprehensively evaluate the quality. MethodsA total of 32 batches of Perillae Caulis samples were collected from 12 producing areas such as Hebei， Anhui and Guangdong， and their diameter range， epidermis color and producing areas were recorded. Total flavonoids， total phenols， volatile oils， 5 active components and 84 volatile components in 32 batches of samples were quantitatively or semi-quantitatively determined by colorimetry， ultra performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array detector（UPLC-PDA） and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry（GC-MS）. Then the differences between the contents of these components were analyzed by principal component analysis（PCA） and non-parametric test. According to the weights of the index components determined by PCA model， entropy weight-technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution（TOPSIS） model was constructed to evaluate the quality of Perillae Caulis with different characters and origins. ResultsThere were significant differences in the composition of Perillae Caulis with different diameters， epidermis colors and producing areas， and 9 differential components were screened out， including 6 index constituents（total flavonoids， total phenols， caffeic acid， scutellarin， rosmarinic acid and luteolin） and 3 volatile components（caryophyllene oxide， （-）-humulene epoxide Ⅱ， 14-hydroxycaryophyllene）， of which 6 index constituents were higher in samples with small diameter， purple-brown epidermis and southern origin， while the contents of 3 volatile components were higher in samples with large diameter， dark-brown epidermis and northern origin. A significant difference was shown in the model scores of different diameters， epidermis colors and origins（P<0.05）， and the scores of Perillae Caulis with small diameter and purple-brown epidermis from southern area， especially Guangdong， had a high score. ConclusionThere are significant differences in the composition and content of chemical constituents between different diameters， epidermal colors and production areas of Perillae Caulis， samples showing small diameter， owing purple-brown epidermis， and originating from Guangdong were of higher-quality due to their higher content of 8 key indices.

Testicular histology based on testicular biopsy is an important factor for determining appropriate testicular sperm extraction surgery and predicting sperm retrieval outcomes in patients with azoospermia. Therefore, we developed a deep learning (DL) model to establish the associations between testicular grayscale ultrasound images and testicular histology. We retrospectively included two-dimensional testicular grayscale ultrasound from patients with azoospermia (353 men with 4357 images between July 2017 and December 2021 in The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China) to develop a DL model. We obtained testicular histology during conventional testicular sperm extraction. Our DL model was trained based on ultrasound images or fusion data (ultrasound images fused with the corresponding testicular volume) to distinguish spermatozoa presence in pathology (SPP) and spermatozoa absence in pathology (SAP) and to classify maturation arrest (MA) and Sertoli cell-only syndrome (SCOS) in patients with SAP. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUCs), accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were used to analyze model performance. DL based on images achieved an AUC of 0.922 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.908-0.935), a sensitivity of 80.9%, a specificity of 84.6%, and an accuracy of 83.5% in predicting SPP (including normal spermatogenesis and hypospermatogenesis) and SAP (including MA and SCOS). In the identification of SCOS and MA, DL on fusion data yielded better diagnostic performance with an AUC of 0.979 (95% CI: 0.969-0.989), a sensitivity of 89.7%, a specificity of 97.1%, and an accuracy of 92.1%. Our study provides a noninvasive method to predict testicular histology for patients with azoospermia, which would avoid unnecessary testicular biopsy.
Humans ; Male ; Azoospermia/diagnostic imaging* ; Deep Learning ; Testis/pathology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Adult ; Ultrasonography/methods* ; Sperm Retrieval ; Sertoli Cell-Only Syndrome/diagnostic imaging*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of RNA binding protein ELAVL1 in prostate cancer (PCa), especially hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (HSPC), and its relationship with tumor proliferation. This study further aims to reveal the molecular mechanism by which ELAVL1 promotes HSPC proliferation by stabilizing SOX4 mRNA in an m6A-dependent manner. METHODS: The expression of ELAVL1 in PCa tissues and its relationship with prognosis were analyzed in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, and the differences in HSPC and hormone-resistant prostate cancer (HRPC) were compared. And its relationship with prognosis were analyzed in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, and the differences in HSPC and hormone-resistant prostate cancer (HRPC) were compared. Western blot was used to detect ELAVL1 protein expression in PCa cell lines. After ELAVL1 knockdown by siRNA, cell proliferation was evaluated using CCK-8 assays, and changes in downstream target genes were detected by RT-qPCR. Tumor xenograft experiments in nude mice were performed to further assess the impact of ELAVL1 on tumor growth. The interaction between ELAVL1 and SOX4 mRNA was verified by RIP-seq. And the mRNA and protein levels of SOX4 after knockdown of ELAVL1 were detected by RT-qPCR and Western blot, respectively. CCK-8 was used to evaluate the effect of SOX4 knockdown on cell proliferation. MeRIP-qPCR was used to detect the m6A modification level of SOX4 and the effect of knocking down METTL3. RNA pull-down experiments verified the interaction between SOX4 RNA fragments and ELAVL1 protein. RNA stability experiments evaluated the effect of ELAVL1 knockdown on SOX4 mRNA stability. RESULTS: The expression of ELAVL1 in PCa cells was higher than that in normal prostate epithelial cells. The prognosis of patients with high expression of ELAVL1 was significantly worse than that of patients with low expression. In the GSE32269 dataset, the expression level of ELAVL1 in HSPC was significantly higher than that in HRPC. After knocking down of ELAVL1 in LNCaP and VCaP cells, CCK-8 experiments showed that the cell proliferation ability was significantly affected after knocking down ELAVL1, and overexpressed ELAVL1 promoted the proliferation of HSPC cells. The results of in vivo studies showed that knockdown of ELAVL1 significantly inhibited the tumorigenic capacity of LNCaP cells and resulted in a marked reduction in xenograft tumor mass. The levels of SOX4 mRNA and protein in LNCaP and VCaP cells were significantly higher than those in normal prostate epithelial cells RWPE-1. RIP-qPCR confirmed the interaction between ELAVL1 protein and SOX4 mRNA. After knocking down of ELAVL1, the expression levels of SOX4 mRNA and protein were significantly decreased. After knocking down of SOX4, the proliferation ability of LNCaP and VCaP cells was significantly inhibited. CONCLUSION ELAVL1 is highly expressed in HSPC. High expression of ELAVL1 is associated with the proliferation of HSPC. SOX4 is a downstream molecule of ELAVL1 which promotes the proliferation of HSPC. ELAVL1 enhances the stability of SOX4 mRNA through an m6A-dependent mechanism.
Male ; Humans ; SOXC Transcription Factors/genetics* ; ELAV-Like Protein 1/metabolism* ; Cell Proliferation ; Prostatic Neoplasms/genetics* ; Animals ; Mice, Nude ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Mice ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; RNA, Messenger/metabolism* ; Prognosis

OBJECTIVE: Varied acupoint selections represent a potential cause of the uncertainty surrounding the efficacy of acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis (OA). Skin temperature, a guiding factor for acupoint selection, may help to address this issue. This study explored thermal sensitization of acupoints used for the treatment of knee OA. METHODS: This cross-sectional case-control study enrolled cases aged 45-75 years with symptomatic knee OA and age- and gender-matched non-knee OA controls in a 1:1 ratio. All participants underwent infrared thermographic imaging. The primary outcome was the relative skin temperature of acupoint (STA), and the secondary outcome was the absolute STA of 11 acupoints. The Z test was used to compare the relative and absolute STAs between the groups. Principal component analysis was used to extract the common factors (CFs, acupoint cluster) in the STAs. A general linear model was used to identify factors affecting the STA in the knee OA cases. For the group comparisons of relative STA, P < 0.0045 (adjusted for 11 acupoints through Bonferroni correction) was considered to indicate statistical significance. For other analyses, P < 0.05 was used as the threshold for statistical significance. RESULTS: The analysis included 308 participants, consisting of 151 cases (mean age: [64.58 ± 6.67] years; male: 25.83%; mean body mass index: [25.70 ± 3.16] kg/m²) and 157 controls (mean age: [63.37 ± 5.96] years; male: 26.11%; mean body mass index: [24.47 ± 2.84] kg/m²). The relative STAs of ST34 (P = 0.0001), EX-LE2 (P < 0.0001), EX-LE5 (P = 0.0006), SP10 (P < 0.0001), BL40 (P = 0.0012) and GB39 (P = 0.0037) were higher in the knee OA group. No difference was found in the STAs of ST35, ST36, SP9, GB33 and GB34. Four CFs were identified for relative STA in both groups. The acupoints within each CF were consistent between the groups. The mean values of the relative STAs across each CF were higher in the knee OA group. In the knee OA cases, no factors were observed to affect the relative STA, while age and gender were found to affect the absolute STA. CONCLUSION Among patients with knee OA, thermal sensitization occurs in the acupoints of the lower extremity, exhibiting localized and regional thermal consistencies. The thermally sensitized acupoints that we identified in this study, ST34, SP10, EX-LE2, EX-LE5, GB39 and BL40, may be good choices for the acupuncture treatment of knee OA. Please cite this article as: Tu JF, Wang XZ, Yan SY, Wang YR, Yang JW, Shi GX, Zhang WZ, Jing LN, Yang LS, Liu DH, Wang LQ, Mi BH. Thermal sensitization of acupoints in patients with knee osteoarthritis: A cross-sectional case-control study. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(3): 289-296.
Humans ; Osteoarthritis, Knee/physiopathology* ; Male ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Middle Aged ; Female ; Acupuncture Points ; Case-Control Studies ; Aged ; Skin Temperature ; Acupuncture Therapy

Objective: To establish anin vitromodel of ferroptosis induced by Erastin and RAS-selective lethal 3(RSL3) in hepatoma cells, and to provide theoretical basis for the development of novel therapeutic strategies for HCC. Methods: Hepatoma cells(HCCLM3, HepG2, Hep3B, Huh7 and PLC/PRF/5) in logarithmic growth phase were treated with Erastin(0-40 μmol/L) and RSL3(0-10 μmol/L) at double concentrations respectively. After 24 h, CCK-8 method was used to detect cell viability, draw growth curve, calculate IC50, and HCC cells sensitive to inducers were selected for follow-up experiments. The effect of inducer on the state of hepatoma cells was observed under light microscope, and immunoblotting and flow cytometry were used to verify whether the ferroptotic modelin vitrowas successfully constructed. Results: Huh7, Hep3B and HepG2 cells were sensitive to Erastin and RSL3, but HCCLM3 and PLC/PRF/5 were insensitive to Erastin and RSL3. When the concentration of Erastin and RSL3 reached the maximum, the survival rate was still above 65%. Huh7, Hep3B and HepG2 cells were selected for subsequent experiments. Compared with the control group, the expression of Glutathione peroxidase 4(GPX4), a ferroptotic marker, was down-regulated in a concentration-dependent manner. In Huh7, Hep3B and HepG2 cells, lipid reactive oxygen species(ROS) levels significantly increased after 24 h treatment with 10 μmol/L and 20 μmol/L Erastin, respectively; in Huh7 cells, lipid ROS levels significantly increased after 24 h treatment with 0.5 μmol/L and 1 μmol/L RSL3, respectively; in Hep3B and HepG2 cells, lipid ROS levels significantly increased after 24 h treatment with 1 μmol/L and 2 μmol/L RSL3, respectively, compared with control group. Conclusion Huh7, Hep3B and HepG2 cells are highly sensitive to Erastin and RSL3. Huh7, Hep3B and HepG2 cells treated with 10 μmol/L Erastin for 24 h are good models for simulating ferroptosis induced by Erastinin vitro, Huh7 cells treated with 0.5 μmol/L RSL3 for 24 h and Hep3B and HepG2 cells treated with 1 μmol/L RSL3 for 24 h are good models for simulating ferroptosis induced by RSL3in vitro.

Objective:To explore the clinical and genetic characteristics of a child with autosomal recessive primary microcephaly (MCPH).Methods:A case study has been carried out on a boy who had presented at the Inner Mongolia Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital for microcephaly and mental deficiency in September 2022. Prenatal ultrasound images were retrospectively analyzed, and whole exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing were carried out for his family. A literature review was also carried out using keywords such as " ASPM gene", "microcephaly", "prenatal diagnosis", "primary microcephaly", " ASPM", "MCPH5", "MCPH", "autosomal recessive microcephaly", and "prenatal diagnosis on ultrasonography" on the PubMed database, Wanfang Data and China National Knowledge until September 2023. This study was approved by Medical Ethics Committee of the Inner Mongolia Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital (Ethics No. 2021-093-1). Results:The proband had shown progressive reduction in biparietal diameter (BPD) and head circumference (HC) during the fetal period. He was found to harbor compound heterozygous variants of the ASPM gene, which included a paternally derived c. 8044C>T (p.R2682X) and a maternally derived c.8652dup (p.A2885Sfs*35). Both variants were classified as pathogenic (PVS1+ PM2_Supporting+ PP4; PVS1+ PM2_Supporting+ PM3) based on the guidelines from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG). For other fetuses in his family, prenatal ultrasound and genetic testing were all normal. Literature research has identified 11 relevant articles, which included 14 MCPH cases. All of the MCPH5 cases had shown various degrees of reduced BPD/HC on fetal imaging (100%, 15/15). Developmental delay, intellectual disability, and attention deficits were noted in all survived cases, with one case having seizures (12.5%, 1/8). Their genotypes had included homozygotes (46.2%, 6/13) and compound heterozygotes (53.8%, 7/13) for nonsense variants (45%, 9/20) and frameshifting variants (55%, 11/20). Conclusion:The compound heterozygous variants c. 8044C>T (p.R2682X) and c. 8652dup (p.A2885Sfs*35) of the ASPM gene probably underlay the reduced BPD and HC in this proband with MCPH.

Objective To establish a normal three-dimensional model of the hip bone in adolescents aged 10-19 years old,analyze the morphology and positional parameters of the posterior superior iliac spine of the hip bone among different genders,sides,and ages,which can supplement the study of the anatomical morphology of the hip bone and to provide a reference for the diagnosis of the clinically relevant diseases and for the therapeutic manipulation and localization of the hip bone.Methods Forty adolescent patients aged 10-19 years without previous spinal pelvic diseases were selected,and the pelvic CT image data were collected and imported into Mimics 21.0 software to establish the model.The relative position parameters of the posterior superior iliac spine and the surrounding anatomical landmarks included the length from the posterior superior iliac spine to the anterior superior iliac spine(ab),the length from the tip of the posterior superior iliac spine to the sciatica(ac),the length from the tip of the posterior superior iliac spine to the pubic tubercle(ae),the length from the tip of the posterior superior iliac spine to the midpoint of the posterior margin of the auricular joint surfaces(af),the length from the tip of the posterior superior iliac spine to the iliac spine turn(ag),and the length from the sciatica tubercle to the highest point of the iliac spine(cd).The local parameters of the posterior superior iliac spine included the width(W0)and the thickness(H0)at point A.The maximum width of the posterior iliac spine(WMAX),its distance from point a(D0),and the width of the iliac spine were measured at 0.5,1,and 1.5 cm from point a,and were recorded sequentially as W1,W2,and W3.The width of the iliac spine at the turn of the iliac spine(point g)was measured(W4).The relative positions and parameters of the posterior superior iliac spine to the surrounding anatomical landmarks and the localized parameters of the posterior superior iliac spine were compared sequentially for different genders,sides,and age groups.Results In the measurement result of the parameters of the posterior superior iliac spine and the surrounding anatomical landmarks,the differences in the comparisons between different genders of the ac,ae,and af indexes were statistically significant(P＜0.05),and the differences in the comparisons between different genders of the ab,ag,and cd indexes were not statistically significant(P＞0.05).The differences in the comparisons between the right and left sides of the ab,ac,ae,af,ag,and cd indexes were not statistically significant(P＞0.05).The difference in comparison between different age groups of ab,ac,ae,af,ag,and cd indicators was statistically significant(P＜0.05).In the measurement result of the local parameters of the posterior superior iliac spine,the difference in the comparison between the sexes of the W0,W1,W2,WMAX,and H0 indexes was statistically significant(P＜0.05),and the difference in the comparison between the sexes of the W3,W4,and D0 indexes was not statistically significant(P＞0.05);And the difference in the comparison between the left and right sides of the W0,W1,W2,and the right and left sides of the W3,W4,WMAX,D0,and H0 indexes was not statistically significant(P＞0.05);The difference between W0,W1,W2,W3,W4,WMAX,D0,H0 indicators compared between different age groups was not statistically significant(P＞0.05).Conclusion Adolescent females have overall greater pelvic parameters than males,with wider and thicker tips of the posterior superior iliac spine in females and narrower and thinner tips of the posterior superior iliac spine in males;Pelvic parameters show a tendency to increase with age,while the width and thickness of the posterior superior iliac spine,as well as the width of the cephalic end to the iliac spine remain essentially unchanged.