BACKGROUND:Recent studies have shown that connective tissue growth factor not only participates in the development of neurons,but also participates in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases,depression,epilepsy,etc.It can also be used as a therapeutic target to develop related drugs,thereby improving the patients'quality of life. OBJECTIVE:To summarize the biological functions of connective tissue growth factor and the mechanisms involved in neurodegenerative diseases and depression,as well as the progress in intervention with connective tissue growth factor and related emerging treatments. METHODS:The first author searched relevant articles published from January 1996 to December 2022 in PubMed and Web of Science.The key words were"connective tissue growth factor,nervous system,depression,Alzheimer disease,epilepsy,Parkinson disease,epilepsy,amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,FG-3019"in English.After reading,screening and sorting,the articles consistent with the content of the review were collected.Finally,51 articles were selected for review. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Connective tissue growth factor participates in multiple biological activities such as fibrosis,cell adhesion,and cell development under different conditions through four different structural domains.Connective tissue growth factor is up-regulated in lesion sites of neurodegenerative diseases,depression and epilepsy.After interfering with the expression of connective tissue growth factor,the symptoms improve or disappear,suggesting that connective tissue growth factor plays an important role in the progression of these diseases.The development of novel therapeutic strategies and intervention targets around connective tissue growth factor is very promising therapeutic research.More research is needed to identify the mechanism of action to transfer from basic medical studies to clinical studies and to achieve safer and more effective treatments.

ObjectiveTo explore the mechanism of Danggui Niantongtang （DGNTT） against adjuvant-induced arthritis （AA） in rats with wind-dampness-heat arthralgia （FSR） based on the variation of intestinal flora. MethodA total of 60 SD rats were randomized into normal （control） group， FSR group， low-， medium-， and high-dose DGNTT （5.67， 11.34， 22.68 g·kg^-1） groups， and methotrexate （MTX） group （1.35 mg·kg^-1）， with 10 rats in each group. The rats， except the control group， were injected with Mtb adjuvant and then exposed to artificial climatic chamber （hot and humid with wind） for 64 h for modeling. The rats were treated with water， DGNTT or MTX for 28 days from the day of injection. Arthritis index （AI） of rats was measured and paw volume was determined with a volume meter. The morphology of synovial tissues of the knees was observed based on hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining and the changes of intestinal flora were analyzed based on 16S rRNA sequencing. ResultDGNTT can alleviate the hyperplasia of synovial tissue and inflammation of AA rats with FSR and inhibit the formation of pannus. The results of 16S rRNA sequencing showed that the relative abundance of Firmicutes， Lactobacillus， Prevotella 9， and Alloprevotella decreased （P<0.05， P<0.01） and the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes and Bacteroides increased （P<0.01） in FSR group compared those in the control group. Compared with the FSR group， all DGNTT groups and MTX group had high relative abundance of Lactobacillus （P<0.05， P<0.01） and low relative abundance of Bacteroidetes （P<0.01） and medium-dose and high-dose DGNTT groups and MTX group showed high abundance of Firmicutes， Prevotella 9， and Alloprevotella and low abundance of Bacteroides （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Spearman's correlation analysis suggested that the abundance of Bacteroides and Helicobacter was in positive correlation with AI （P<0.05）， while the abundance of Prevotella 9 and Candidatus Saccharimonas was in negative correlation with AI （P<0.01， P<0.05）. There was a negative correlation between the abundance of Prevotella 9 and paw volume （P<0.01）， and the abundance of Ruminococcaceae NK4A214 group， Christensenellaceae R-7 group， and Bacteroides was in negative correlation with spleen index （P<0.05）. The abundance of Prevotella 9 was in negative correlation with spleen index （P<0.01）. ConclusionDGNTT is effective for arthritis with FSR， as it can regulate the composition of intestinal flora in AA rats by increasing the abundance of probiotics and inhibiting the growth of pathogenic bacteria. The mechanism is the likelihood that it improves intestinal immune metabolism to ensure intestinal homeostasis.

The widespread application of next generation sequencing (NGS) in clinical settings has enabled testing, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of genetic diseases. However, many issues have arisen in the meanwhile. One of the most pressing issues is the lack of standards for reporting genetic test results across different service providers. The First Forum on Standards and Specifications for Clinical Genetic Testing was held to address the issue in Shenzhen, China, on October 28, 2017. Participants, including geneticists, clinicians, and representatives of genetic testing service providers, discussed problems of clinical genetic testing services across in China and shared opinions on principles, challenges, and standards for reporting clinical genetic test results. Here we summarize expert opinions presented at the seminar and report the consensus, which will serve as a basis for the development of standards and guidelines for reporting of clinical genetic testing results, in order to promote the standardization and regulation of genetic testing services in China.

Objective To compare the outcomes between interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS)patients treated with three-drug combination (M blockers + alpha blockers + Amitriptyline) and Sodium hyaluronate intravesical instillation.Methods The patients who came to Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University during October 2014 to September 2015 were investigated if they had IC/BPS.According to the treatment plan,27 patients (group A) received three-drug combination (M blocker + alpha blockers + Amitriptyline)therapy.Thirty-eight patients recelved instillation of sodium hyaluronate (40 mg/50 ml) therapy (group B).Intravesical instillations were performed weekly in the first 6 weeks,and monthly until sixth month.Interstitial cystitis symptom index,interstitial cystitis problem index,overactive bladder symptom score,visual analogue scale/score,the maximum urination and self-rating depression scale were assessed at baseline and the sixth month.Measurement data were expressed as ((x) ±s),t test was used for comparison between groups,and paired t-test was used for comparison of paired data.Results There were 65 patients.Age range was 25-73 years,course of disease (2-99 months),average age (51.4 ± 13.5),average duration (39.8 ± 31.0) months,of which 9 male (13.8％) and 56 female (86.2％) patients.The group A variation of ICSI、ICPI、OABSS、VAS、SDS and maximum urination were 3.7 ± 2.4、1.3 ± 1.5、1.2 ± 1.3、2.1 ± 1.5、3.1 ± 4.5、74.6 ± 52.4,The variation of group B ware 6.8 ± 3.6、5.0 ± 3.8、2.5 ± 1.8、2.8 ± 1.7、8.9 ± 6.4、109.0 ± 81.1.The improvement in ICSI,ICPI,OABSS,SDS of group B were higher than group A (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion IC/BPS seriously affect the quality of life and the patients are prone to depression.The sodium hyaluronate intravesical instillation therapy could achieve more effect than the three-drug combination therapy.