Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) is a cytosolic pattern recognition receptor that recognizes multiple pathogen-associated molecular patterns and damage-associated molecular patterns. It is a cytoplasmic immune factor that responds to cellular stress signals, and it is usually activated after infection or inflammation, forming an NLRP3 inflammasome to protect the body. Aberrant NLRP3 inflammasome activation is reportedly associated with some inflammatory diseases and metabolic diseases. Recently, there have been mounting indications that NLRP3 inflammasomes play an important role in liver injuries caused by a variety of diseases, specifically hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury, hepatitis, and liver failure. Herein, we summarize new research pertaining to NLRP3 inflammasomes in hepatic injury, hepatitis, and liver failure. The review addresses the potential mechanisms of action of the NLRP3 inflammasome, and its regulation in these liver diseases.
Humans ; NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein/metabolism* ; Inflammasomes/physiology* ; Animals ; Liver Diseases/metabolism* ; Liver/metabolism* ; Reperfusion Injury/metabolism*

Objective To investigate the mechanism of inducing macrophage polarization induced by acupoint effect of electroacupuncture to promote the repair of acute skeletal muscle injury.Methods 45 SD rats were randomly divided into blank group,model group,electroacupuncture group(EA group),sodium chrominate group (DSCG group) and electroacupuncture+sodium chrominate group (hereinafter referred to as EA+DSCG group),with 9 rats in each group. The rats in the EA group and the EA+DSCG group were subjected to EA intervention at the right "Chengshan" (BL57) and "Yanglingquan"(GB34),with a frequency of 2 Hz/100 Hz. The gait changes of rats were recorded by animal gait analyzer. The morphological changes of the right gastrocnemius were observed by HE staining. The changes of mast cell aggregation and degranulation in local skin muscles of "chengshan" point were observed by toluidine blue staining. The expressions of Pax7,MyoD and skin mast cells and 5-HT in the right gastrocnemius were detected by immunofluorescence method. The positive expressions of CD68 and CD206 in right gastrocnemius macrophage was observed by immunohistochemical staining.Results Compared with blank group,the wiggle time of the right hind leg in model group and DSCG group increased,stride length decreased,HE staining showed inflammatory cell infiltration,myocyte enlargement,degeneration and necrosis. The degranulation rate of local skin mast cells in "Chengshan" (BL57) area increased,and the expressions of mast cell tryptase,5-HT,Pax7,MyoD,CD68 and CD206 increased (P<0.05). Compared with model group,the wiggle time of the right hind leg in EA group and EA+DSCG group decreased,stride length increased,HE staining showed that inflammatory cell infiltration was reduced,muscle cells were uniform in size and arranged neatly. Mast cell degranulation rate increased significantly in EA group,and the expressions of mast cell tryptase,5-HT,Pax7,MyoD and CD206 increased (P<0.05),while CD68 expression decreased (P<0.05). Compared with EA+DSCG group,the degranulation rate of mast cells and the expressions of mast cell tryptase,5-HT,Pax7,MyoD and CD206 increased (P<0.05),while CD68 expression decreased in EA group (P<0.05). Conclusion EA "Chengshan" (BL57) and "Yanglingquan" (GB34) can stimulate acupuncture points to locally induce mast cell degranulation,promote the polarization of macrophages,and then activate muscle satellite cells to play the regulatory process of repairing skeletal muscle injury.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease caused by inflammatory cells. Various inflammatory cells involved in RA include fibroblast-like synoviocytes, macrophages, CD4⁺T-lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, osteoclasts and chondrocytes. The close interaction between various inflammatory cells leads to imbalance of immune response and disorder of the expression of mRNA in inflammatory cells. It helps to drive production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and stimulate specific antigen-specific T- and B-lymphocytes to produce autoantibodies which is an important pathogenic factor for RA. Competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) can regulate the expression of mRNA by competitively binding to miRNA. The related ceRNA network is a new regulatory mechanism for RNA interaction. It has been found to be involved in the regulation of abnormal biological processes such as proliferation, apoptosis, invasion and release of inflammatory factors of RA inflammatory cells. Understanding the ceRNA network in 6 kinds of RA common inflammatory cells provides a new idea for further elucidating the pathogenesis of RA, and provides a theoretical basis for the discovery of new biomarkers and effective therapeutic targets.
Humans ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid/genetics* ; MicroRNAs/metabolism* ; Synoviocytes/pathology* ; Cytokines/metabolism* ; RNA, Messenger/metabolism* ; Fibroblasts/pathology* ; Cell Proliferation

Objective:To identify tooth number abnormalities on pediatric panoramic radiographs based on deep learning.Methods:Eight hundred panoramic radiographs of children aged 4 to 11 years meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected and randomly assigned by writing programs in Python (version 3.9) to the training set (480 images), verification set (160 images) and internal test set (160 images), taken in Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology between November 2012 to August 2020. And all panoramic radiographs of children aged 4 to 11 years taken in the First Outpatient Department of Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology from June 2022 to December 2022 were collected as the external test set (907 images). All of the 1 707 images were obtained by operators to determine the outline and to label the tooth position of each deciduous tooth, permanent tooth, permanent tooth germ and additional tooth. The deep learning model with ResNet-50 as the backbone network was trained on the training set, validated on the verification set, tested on the internal test set and external test set. The images of test sets were divided into two categories according to whether there was abnormality of tooth number, to calculate sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value, and then divided into four types of extra teeth and missing permanent teeth both existed, extra teeth existed only, missing permanent teeth existed only, and normal teeth number, to calculate Kappa values. Results:The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 98.0%, 98.3%, 99.0% and 96.7% in the internal test set, and 97.1%, 98.4%, 91.9% and 99.5% in the external test set respectively, according to whether there was abnormality of tooth number. While images were divided into four types, the Kappa value obtained in the internal test set was 0.886, and that in the external test set was 0.912. Conclusions:In this study, a deep learning-based model for identifying abnormal tooth number of children was developed, which could identify the position of additional teeth and output the position of missing permanent teeth on the basis of identifying normal deciduous and permanent teeth and permanent tooth germs on panoramic radiographs, so as to assist in diagnosing tooth number abnormalities.

This paper reviews the clinical research on the treatment of chronic prostatitis with traditional Chinese medicine in recent years. It is believed that the core of the etiology and pathogenesis of this disease lies in the deficiency of spleen and kidney, dampness heat, phlegm turbid and blood stasis toxin. If the disease lasts for a long time, the spleen and kidney become to the deficiency from excess. The internal treatment of traditional Chinese medicine includes syndrome differentiation, disease differentiation or single prescription, while the external treatment mainly includes herbal bathing, enema, anal administration and acupuncture. Traditional Chinese medicine has advantages in the treatment of this disease. We should continue to study the the mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine for this disease, standardize the syndrome differentiation and treatment and outocmes evaluation, and carry out research on famous prescriptions on prostatitis.

Objective:To understand the situation and distribution of fluoride in rural centralized water supply in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (Inner Mongolia for short), and provide a reference for adjustment of prevention and control measures.Methods:From 2014 to 2018, 836, 947, 1 033, 1 068, 1 099 rural centralized water supply monitoring sites were designated in 77 banners (counties, districts) separately in Inner Mongolia, and factory water and tip water samples were collected during plentiful phase and exhausted phase every year, respectively, and fluoride content was tested. Descriptive analysis was done according to time, water period (plentiful phase and exhausted phase), water sample type (factory water and tip water), water treatment method (conventional treatment, sedimentation and filtration, only disinfection and untreated), area distribution [eastern region (Hulunbuir, Xing'an League, Tongliao and Chifeng), central region (Hohhot, Baotou, Ulanqab and Xilinhot) and western region (Ordos, Bayannur and Alashan)], and the results were analyzed visually by ArcMAP 10.2.Results:From 2014 to 2018, 3 251, 3 671, 4 058, 4 087 and 4 395 water samples were collected, the medians fluoride were 0.69, 0.70, 0.69, 0.64 and 0.66 mg/L, and the annual compliance rates of fluoride were 80.31% (2 611/3 251), 81.83% (3 004/3 671), 83.14% (3 374/4 058), 85.91% (3 511/4 087) and 84.57% (3 717/4 395). The difference of compliance rate of fluoride in rural centralized water supply in different years was statistically significant (χ 2=51.748, P < 0.01), and the compliance rate of fluoride showed an increasing trend with the years (χ 2=41.140, P < 0.01). The compliance rates of fluoride in plentiful phase and exhausted phase were 83.36% (8 128/9 750) and 83.29% (8 089/9 712), respectively, and the difference was not significant statistically (χ 2=0.020, P > 0.05). As for water sample type, the compliance rates of fluoride in factory water and tip water were 83.55% (6 583/7 879) and 83.17% (9 628/11 576), and the difference was not significant statistically (χ 2=0.485, P > 0.05). The difference of compliance rate of fluoride in different water treatment methods was statistically significant (χ 2=192.014, P < 0.01). The compliance rates of fluoride in water with conventional treatment and only disinfection were higher [95.51% (404/423) and 94.44% (986/1 044)]; and the untreated water had the lowest compliance rate of fluoride [81.75% (13 073/15 991)]. There was a statistically significant difference in compliance rates of fluoride in the eastern, central and western regions (χ 2=629.256, P < 0.01), with the eastern region had the highest compliance rate of 89.17% (7 337/8 228); the central region had the lowest compliance rate of 74.67% (5 391/7 220). The visualization results showed that the compliance rate of fluoride was obviously low in the central region north of Yin Mountains and west of Greater Higgnan Mountains. Conclusions:From 2014 to 2018, the compliance rates of fluoride in rural centralized water supply increase year by year, and some achievements have been made in fluorine reduction and water improvement project in Inner Mongolia. However, there are still some rural areas with low level of water fluoride compliance rates which mainly distribute in the central region of Inner Mongolia in the north of Yin Mountains and west of Greater Higgnan Mountains. The current focus of prevention and control should be shifted from "general control" to "precise fluorine control". In the future, it is necessary to implement treatment projects in key areas of fluorine pollution from the aspects of policy implementation and technological innovation to ensure the drinking water safety of local rural residents.

Obesity has become one of the most serious issues threatening the health of humankind, and we conducted this study to examine whether and how celastrol protects against obesity.

Objective:To evaluate the feasibility, safety and efficacy of robotic-assisted lateral lymph node dissection for mid-low advanced rectal cancer.Methods:A retrospective cohort study was performed. Inclusion criteria: (1) age between 18 and 80 years old; (2) rectal adenocarcinoma diagnosed by pathology; (3) without distant metastasis by preoperative CT or MRI; (4) patients underwent robotic-assisted total mesorectal resection (TME). Exclusion criteria: (1) conversion to open surgery; (2) multiple primary tumors; (3) patients underwent combined multiple organ resection. According to the above criteria, 137 patients undergoing robotic-assisted mid-low rectal cancer resection in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi′an Jiaotong University from December 2016 to April 2019 were enrolled. Ninety-seven cases underwent robotic-assisted total mesorectal excision (TME group) and 40 underwent robotic-assisted total mesorectal resection with lateral lymph node dissection (LLND) (TME+LLND group, pelvic LLND was performed with neurovascular guidance to retain pelvic autonomic nerves in the order of the left side the first and then the right side). The propensity score matching of 1:1 was performed with R software, based on age, sex, BMI, ASA classification, distance from tumor to the anal verge, preoperative chemoradiotherapy history, preoperative abdominal surgery history, the size of tumors and TNM stage. The operative indicators, postoperative recovery, pathology and postoperative complications within 30 days were compared between the two groups.Results:A total of 72 cases were successfully matched (36 in each group), and there were no statistically significant differences in baseline data between the two groups (all P>0.05). The operation time of TME+LLND group was significantly longer than that of TME group [275.0 (180-405) minutes vs. 220.0 (140-320) minutes, Z=-3.680, P<0.001], while there were no statistically significant differences in blood loss during operation, time to postoperative first flatus, postoperative hospital stay, total hospital cost, tumor differentiation, and distal resection length of margin (all P>0.05). Circumferential resection margin was all negative in both groups. The number of harvested lymph modes in the TME+LLND groups was higher than that in the TME group [26 (18-37) vs. 14 (9-36), Z=-6.407, P<0.001]. In addition, there were no statistically significant differences in postoperative morbidity and Clavien-Dindo classification of complication within 30 days between the two groups (both P>0.05). Conclusions:Although robotic lateral lymph node dissection requires longer operation time, it is a feasible, safe and effective procedure.

Objective:To evaluate the feasibility, safety and efficacy of robotic-assisted lateral lymph node dissection for mid-low advanced rectal cancer.Methods:A retrospective cohort study was performed. Inclusion criteria: (1) age between 18 and 80 years old; (2) rectal adenocarcinoma diagnosed by pathology; (3) without distant metastasis by preoperative CT or MRI; (4) patients underwent robotic-assisted total mesorectal resection (TME). Exclusion criteria: (1) conversion to open surgery; (2) multiple primary tumors; (3) patients underwent combined multiple organ resection. According to the above criteria, 137 patients undergoing robotic-assisted mid-low rectal cancer resection in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi′an Jiaotong University from December 2016 to April 2019 were enrolled. Ninety-seven cases underwent robotic-assisted total mesorectal excision (TME group) and 40 underwent robotic-assisted total mesorectal resection with lateral lymph node dissection (LLND) (TME+LLND group, pelvic LLND was performed with neurovascular guidance to retain pelvic autonomic nerves in the order of the left side the first and then the right side). The propensity score matching of 1:1 was performed with R software, based on age, sex, BMI, ASA classification, distance from tumor to the anal verge, preoperative chemoradiotherapy history, preoperative abdominal surgery history, the size of tumors and TNM stage. The operative indicators, postoperative recovery, pathology and postoperative complications within 30 days were compared between the two groups.Results:A total of 72 cases were successfully matched (36 in each group), and there were no statistically significant differences in baseline data between the two groups (all P>0.05). The operation time of TME+LLND group was significantly longer than that of TME group [275.0 (180-405) minutes vs. 220.0 (140-320) minutes, Z=-3.680, P<0.001], while there were no statistically significant differences in blood loss during operation, time to postoperative first flatus, postoperative hospital stay, total hospital cost, tumor differentiation, and distal resection length of margin (all P>0.05). Circumferential resection margin was all negative in both groups. The number of harvested lymph modes in the TME+LLND groups was higher than that in the TME group [26 (18-37) vs. 14 (9-36), Z=-6.407, P<0.001]. In addition, there were no statistically significant differences in postoperative morbidity and Clavien-Dindo classification of complication within 30 days between the two groups (both P>0.05). Conclusions:Although robotic lateral lymph node dissection requires longer operation time, it is a feasible, safe and effective procedure.