Objective To observe the ultrasound biomicroscopy(UBM)findings of lacrimal canaliculitis.Methods Totally 35 patients with single eye lacrimal canaliculitis who underwent surgical treatment were retrospectively enrolled,including 3 cases of simple superior lacrimal tubule abnormalities,19 cases of simple inferior lacrimal tubule abnormalities and 13 cases with both superior and inferior lacrimal tubules.UBM data and postoperative laboratory examination results were comparatively analyzed.Results The detection rate of UBM for lacrimal canaliculitis was 100％.Abnormal coenobium-like structures in lacrimal tubule were characterized by elliptical or irregular low echo,with unclear boundaries and uneven internal echo,some with punctate high echoes,while polyps presented as oval or strip-shaped high echo with clear boundaries and uniform internal echoes in UBM.UBM findings of tumor like hyperplasia were similar to abnormal coenobium-like structures but with relatively uniform internal echoes.Sulfur particles extracted from lacrimal tubule revealed no fungi in 35 cases by postoperation pathology,while actinomycete was observed in 24 cases,with UBM finding of abnormal coenobium-like structures and punctate high echoes.Conclusion UBM findings of lacrimal canaliculitis had certain characteristics.Coenobium-like structures and punctate high echoes in lacrimal tubule could be observed after infection of actinomycete.

Objective:To explore the incidence of delirium in patients of advanced age hospitalized in internal medicine departments and analyze its influencing factors.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the medical records of 586 patients of advanced age hospitalized in internal medicine departments at the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Third Affiliated Hospital from May 2023 to May 2024. Patients were divided into a delirium group and a non-delirium group based on whether delirium occurred. Univariate analysis and binary Logistic regression analysis were used to explore the factors influencing delirium in patients of advanced age hospitalized in internal medicine departments.Results:Among 586 patients of advanced age hospitalized in internal medicine departments, the incidence of delirium was 21.2% (124/586). Binary Logistic regression analysis showed that age, activities of daily living (Barthel Index), folate deficiency, sleep disorders, and indwelling catheters were factors influencing delirium in patients of advanced age hospitalized in internal medicine departments ( P<0.05) . Conclusions:The incidence of delirium is high among patients of advanced age hospitalized in internal medicine departments. Healthcare professionals should pay particular attention to elderly patients with advanced age, limited activities of daily living, folate deficiency, sleep disorders, and indwelling catheters, and should implement targeted preventive strategies as early as possible.

Objective:To explore the incidence of delirium in patients of advanced age hospitalized in internal medicine departments and analyze its influencing factors.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the medical records of 586 patients of advanced age hospitalized in internal medicine departments at the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Third Affiliated Hospital from May 2023 to May 2024. Patients were divided into a delirium group and a non-delirium group based on whether delirium occurred. Univariate analysis and binary Logistic regression analysis were used to explore the factors influencing delirium in patients of advanced age hospitalized in internal medicine departments.Results:Among 586 patients of advanced age hospitalized in internal medicine departments, the incidence of delirium was 21.2% (124/586). Binary Logistic regression analysis showed that age, activities of daily living (Barthel Index), folate deficiency, sleep disorders, and indwelling catheters were factors influencing delirium in patients of advanced age hospitalized in internal medicine departments ( P<0.05) . Conclusions:The incidence of delirium is high among patients of advanced age hospitalized in internal medicine departments. Healthcare professionals should pay particular attention to elderly patients with advanced age, limited activities of daily living, folate deficiency, sleep disorders, and indwelling catheters, and should implement targeted preventive strategies as early as possible.

Objective To observe the ultrasound biomicroscopy(UBM)findings of lacrimal canaliculitis.Methods Totally 35 patients with single eye lacrimal canaliculitis who underwent surgical treatment were retrospectively enrolled,including 3 cases of simple superior lacrimal tubule abnormalities,19 cases of simple inferior lacrimal tubule abnormalities and 13 cases with both superior and inferior lacrimal tubules.UBM data and postoperative laboratory examination results were comparatively analyzed.Results The detection rate of UBM for lacrimal canaliculitis was 100％.Abnormal coenobium-like structures in lacrimal tubule were characterized by elliptical or irregular low echo,with unclear boundaries and uneven internal echo,some with punctate high echoes,while polyps presented as oval or strip-shaped high echo with clear boundaries and uniform internal echoes in UBM.UBM findings of tumor like hyperplasia were similar to abnormal coenobium-like structures but with relatively uniform internal echoes.Sulfur particles extracted from lacrimal tubule revealed no fungi in 35 cases by postoperation pathology,while actinomycete was observed in 24 cases,with UBM finding of abnormal coenobium-like structures and punctate high echoes.Conclusion UBM findings of lacrimal canaliculitis had certain characteristics.Coenobium-like structures and punctate high echoes in lacrimal tubule could be observed after infection of actinomycete.

Objective: To explore and validate the potential targets of Paeoniae Radix Alba (P. Radix, Bai Shao) in protecting against chemical liver injury through network pharmacology, molecular docking technology, and in vitro cell experiments. Methods: Network pharmacology was used to identify the common potential targets of P. Radix and chemical liver injury. Molecular docking was used to fit the components, which were subsequently verified in vitro. A cell model of hepatic fibrosis was established by activating hepatic stellate cell (HSC)-LX2 cells with 10 ng/mL transforming growth factor-β1. The cells were exposed to different concentrations of total glucosides of paeony (TGP), the active substance of P. Radix, and then evaluated using the cell counting kit-8 assay, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and western blot. Results: Analysis through network pharmacology revealed 13 key compounds of P. Radix, and the potential targets for preventing chemical liver injury were IL-6, AKT serine/threonine kinase 1, jun proto-oncogene, heat shock protein 90 alpha family class A member 1 (HSP90AA1), peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPARG), PTGS2, and CASP3. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis indicated the involvement of response to drugs, membrane rafts, and peptide binding. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis revealed that the main pathways involved lipid and atherosclerosis and chemical carcinogenesis-receptor activation. Paeoniflorin and albiflorin exhibited strong affinity for HSP90AA1, PTGS2, PPARG, and CASP3. Different concentrations of TGP can inhibit the expression of COL-Ⅰ, COL-Ⅲ, IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1β, HSP-90α, and PTGS2 while increasing the expression of PPAR-γ and CASP3 in activated HSC-LX2 cells. Conclusion P. Radix primarily can regulate targets such as HSP90AA1, PTGS2, PPARG, CASP3. TGP, the main active compound of P. Radix, protects against chemical liver injury by reducing the inflammatory response, activating apoptotic proteins, and promoting the apoptosis of activated HSCs.

Objective:To explore the effect of neutrophil elastase(NE)on neutrophil inflammatory recruitment.Methods:Mice bone marrow-derived neutrophils were pretreated with an exogenous elastase inhibitor-sivelestat sodium.The effects of elastase inhibition on the in vivo inflammatory recruitment,chemotaxis,adhesion,cell polarization and spreading of NE were examined by peritonitis adoptive transfer assay,dunn chamber,flow chamber,immunofluorescence staining and spreading assay,respectively.The effects of elastase inhibition on NE phagocytosis and reactive oxygen species(ROS)release capacity were detected by flow cytom-etry and the luminol chemiluminescence system.Results:Sivelestat sodium pretreatment significantly attenuated neutrophil in vivo in-flammatory recruitment(P<0.001);impaired neutrophil perception of chemotaxis in vitro(P<0.05),slowed chemotactic velocity(P<0.05),and decreased the chemotactic distance(P<0.05);reduced the adhesion of neutrophils to inflamed endothelial cells(P<0.000 1)and inhibited the phagocytosis of bacteria by neutrophils(P<0.01);however,there was no significant effect on neutrophil spreading,polarization and ROS.Conclusion:NE inhibition significantly impaired the inflammatory recruitment cascade response and phagocyto-sis of neutrophils in vitro and in vivo but had no significant effect on the spreading,polarization and ROS release of neutrophils.

Terpene synthase (TPS) plays important roles in the synthesis of terpenoids which are the main fragrances in Rhododendron flowers. To understand the function of TPS genes in terpenoid metabolism in relation to flower aroma formation, we identified all TPS gene family members in Rhododendron by analyzing its genome database. We then used a transcriptomic approach to analyze the differential gene expression patterns of TPS gene family members in the scented flower Rhododendron fortunei compared to the non-scented flower Rhododendron 'Nova Zembla'. The contents of terpenoid compounds in petals of the above two Rhododendron species at different developmental stages were also measured by using qRT-PCR and head space-solid phase micro-extraction combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Our results showed that a total of 47 RsTPS members, with individual lengths ranged from 591 to 2 634 bp, were identified in the Rhododendron genome. The number of exons in RsTPS gene ranged from 3 to 12, while the length of each protein encoded ranged from 196 to 877 amino acids. Members of the RsTPS family are mainly distributed in the chloroplast and cytoplasm. Phylogenetic analysis showed that RsTPS genes can be clustered into 5 subgroups. Seven gene family members can be functionally annotated as TPS gene family since they were temporally and spatially expressed as shown in the transcriptome data. Notably, TPS1, TPS10, TPS12 and TPS13 in Rhododendron fortunei were expressed highly in flower buds reached the peak in the full blossoming. Correlation analysis between gene expression levels and terpenoid content indicates that the expression levels of TPS1, TPS4, TPS9, TPS10, TPS12 and TPS13 were positively correlated with the content of terpenoids in the petals of R. fortunei at all flower developmental stages, suggesting that these six genes might be involved in the aroma formation in R. fortunei.
Rhododendron/metabolism* ; Phylogeny ; Terpenes/metabolism* ; Family ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant

Phenylalaninammo-nialyase (PAL) is a key enzyme in the synthesis of methyl benzoate - a plant aroma compound. In order to understand the function of this enzyme in the formation of fragrance in the scented Rhododendron species-Rhododendron fortunei, we cloned a gene encoding this enzyme and subsequently examined the gene expression patterns and the profile of enzyme activity during development in various tissues. The full length of RhPAL gene was cloned by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) techniques. The expression levels of RhPAL gene were measured by real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) and the amount of phenylalanine and cinnamic acid were assayed with LC-MS. The results showed that the ORF sequence of RhPAL gene amplified from the cDNA templates of flower buds had 2 145 bp, encoding 715 amino acids, and shared 90% homology to the PAL amino acid sequences from other species. qRT-PCR analysis showed that the expression of RhPAL in petals during flowering kept in rising even until the flowers wilted. The expression of RhPAL in pistil was much higher than that in stamen, while the expression in the younger leaves was higher than in old leaves. However, the expression level was relatively lower in petal and stamen compared to that in leaves. We also measured the PAL activity by Enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay in the petals of flowers at different flowering stages. The results showed that PAL activity reached the highest at the bud stage and then decreased gradually to the lowest when the flowers wilted, which followed a similar trend in the emission of the flower fragrance. The phenylalanine and cinnamic acid contents measured by LC-MS were highly correlated to the expression level of RhPAL in various tissues and at different flowering stages, implying that RhPAL plays an important role in the formation of the flower fragrance. This work may facilitate the breeding and improvement of new fragrant Rhododendron cultivars.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Cloning, Molecular ; DNA, Complementary ; Flowers/genetics* ; Rhododendron/genetics*

Estrogen receptors are steroid receptors, widely distributed in skeletal muscle, liver and other tissues.Currently, there are 5 known estrogen receptors.Different estrogen receptors are distributed in different places and have different functions.By mediating different estrogen receptors, estrogen plays an important role in anti-inflammation, promoting proliferation and inhibiting muscle atrophy.Skeletal muscle is the main tissue in the human body, accounting for about 40% of body weight.Skeletal muscle not only plays the role of exercise and support, but also plays an important role in maintaining the body′s metabolism.In recent years, estrogen receptors have received extensive attention in skeletal muscle diseases.Estrogen receptors are considered as potential targets for the treatment of skeletal muscle diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy(DMD)and myotubular myopathy(MTM). This article reviews the research progress of estrogen receptors in skeletal muscle diseases.

Objective:To explore the injury effect and its possible mechanism of amiodarone on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).Methods:After 3 generations of cultivation, the HUVECs were seeded in 96-well plates and incubated with amiodarone (0, 10, 20, 30, and 60 μmol/L) for 24 hours. The cell viability was detected using cell counting kit 8 (CCK-8) assay and the relative viability of cells incubated with different concentrations of amiodarone were calculated by taking the cell viability of the 0 μmol/L group as 100%. The concentration of amiodarone at which cell viability was reduced to 70% was selected for subsequent experiments. The effect of amiodarone of this concentration on the activity of HUVECs after action for different time (6, 12, 24, 36, and 48 hours) was detected using the CCK-8 assay. HUVECs cultured with amiodarone of this concentration were set as the experimental groups and those without amiodarone were set as the control group. Apoptosis rate of HUVECs was detected by Annexin V-FITC/P flow cytometry; the protein and mRNA expression levels of B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax), Caspase-3, interleukin 10 (IL-10), IL-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) were detected using western blotting and real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction, respectively; the reactive oxygen species (ROS) was detected by DCFH-DA fluorescence probe assay; the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was detected by water-soluble tetrazolium-1 assay; the reduced glutathione (GSH) content was detected by microplate assay.Results:The viabilities of HUVECs incubated with amiodarone at concentration of 10, 20, 30, and 60 μmol/L for 24 hours were (88.82±2.64)%, (74.96±1.75)%, (64.95±2.10)%, and (18.57±0.65)%, respectively; differences were all significant (all P<0.01) between each experiment group and control group, as well as between each experiment group. Amiodarone at a concentration of 30 μmol/L was used for subsequent experiments. After incubating with 30 μmol/L amiodarone for 6, 12, 24, 36, and 48 hours, the viabilities of HUVECs were (90.19±1.88)%, (82.81±2.51)%, (75.33±1.37)%, (65.76±1.85)%, and (47.01±3.29)%, respectively; differences were all significant (all P<0.01) between each experiment group and control group, as well as between each experiment group. Compared with the control group, the apoptosis rate of cells in the experimental group was significantly higher (48.59% vs. 16.34%, P<0.01), the protein and mRNA expression levels of pro-apoptotic proteins Bax and caspase-3, and pro-inflammatory factors IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α were higher (all P<0.01), whereas the protein and mRNA expression levels of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and anti-inflammatory factor IL-10 were lower ( P<0.05, P<0.01). Conclusions:Amiodarone can cause HUVECs injury, which would be enhanced with the increase of concentration and action time of amiodarone. Amiodarone may cause HUVECs injury by inducing apoptosis, inflammatory response, and oxidative stress.