Objective To preliminarily investigate the safety and efficacy of donor pancreas needle biopsy in simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation. Methods Clinical data of 7 cases undergoing donor pancreas biopsy were collected retrospectively. All cases underwent donor pancreas biopsy before or during simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation. Frozen section or paraffin sectioning techniques were used for tissue preparation, and hematoxylin-eosin and Masson staining were performed to histologically evaluate the donor pancreas. The quality of donor pancreas was comprehensively assessed by combining histological findings with the donor's clinical data. Postoperative follow-up data of 5 simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplant recipients were collected to summarize the safety of donor pancreas biopsy and the prognosis of transplant recipients. Results The 7 pancreas donors were aged 28 to 62 years, with a body mass index ranging from 20.76 to 27.68 kg/m². Liver ultrasound indicated fatty liver in 3 cases, while pancreatic ultrasound did not reveal any significant abnormalities. Among them, biopsy was performed on 2 donors after completion of pancreatic procurement and processing, and the frozen section histology showed moderate acute pancreatitis changes (edema of acinar cells, necrosis and inflammatory cell infiltration). Combined with a serum amylase level elevated more than 3 times the upper limit of normal value, these two donor pancreases were finally discarded. The remaining 5 cases underwent biopsy immediately after pancreatic vascular anastomosis during simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation, and histological evaluation was performed on paraffin-embedded sections. No biopsy-related complications (such as bleeding, pancreatic fistula, etc.) occurred after transplantation. One recipient died of severe infection 2 months after transplantation, while the other 4 recipients were followed up for more than 5 years, with well-functioning transplant kidneys and pancreases. Conclusions Donor pancreas biopsy is relatively safe, and the risk of biopsy-related complications after transplantation is controllable. Comprehensive assessment of donor pancreas quality by combining histological evaluation with the donor's clinical indicators is conducive to improving the accuracy of donor pancreas selection and organ utilization.

Objective To investigate the effects of electroacupuncture for the restoration of muscle regeneration and the secretion of exosomes around acupoints in a model of erector spinae muscle injury.Methods Forty SPF-grade male SD rats were randomly divided into blank group,model group,electroacupuncture group,and electroacupuncture+exosome inhibitor group,with 10 rats per group.Except for the blank group,the erector spinae muscle injury models were established in other groups by intramuscular injection of 0.5%bupivacaine.The blank control group received no treatment,whereas the rats in the electroacupuncture and electroacupuncture+exosome inhibitor groups were treated with electroacupuncture at"Weizhong"(BL40)and"Shenshu"(BL23)acupoints,respectively,stimulation was applied daily for 7 consecutive days,with each session lasting 20 minutes.The parameters used were a sparse-dense wave waveform,a frequency of 2/10 Hz,and a current intensity of 1 mA.The exosome inhibitor GW4869(3 g/L,50 μL per acupoint)was injected 1 h before each electroacupuncture in the electroacupuncture+exosome inhibitor group.After intervention,the erector spinae muscles were collected and observed by HE and Masson staining for morphological changes.The expression of paired box gene 7(Pax7)and recombinant myogenic differentiation(MyoD)was detected by immunohistochemistry,while the expression of myogenin(MyoG)and myosin heavy chain(MyHC)proteins was detected by western blotting.The serum exosomes of rats in each group were extracted and identified by transmission electron microscopy and nanoparticle tracking analysis,and the expression of Alix,differentiation cluster 63(CD63),and tumor susceptibility gene 101(TSG101)proteins were detected by Western blotting.Results Compared with the blank group,the model group,the electroacupuncture group,and the electroacupuncture+exosome inhibitor group exhibited spinae muscle fiber fragmentation,degeneration,necrosis,and inflammatory cell infiltration in HE staining.The result of Masson staining showed that collagen fiber hyperplasia was increased.The model group showed increased expression of MyoD,Pax7,MyoG,MyHC,and CD63,while TSG101 expression was downregulated(P<0.05).In the electroacupuncture group,the expression of MyoD,Pax7,Alix,and TSG101 was elevated(P<0.05),and the expression of MyHC and CD63 was decreased(P<0.05).The electroacupuncture+exosome inhibitor group displayed increased expression of MyHC,Alix,and TSG101(P<0.05),and the expression of CD63 was decreased(P<0.05).Compared with the model group,the electroacupuncture group and the electroacupuncture+exosome inhibitor group showed reduced muscle fiber degeneration,necrotic areas,and inflammatory cell infiltration as observed in HE staining,along with decreased collagen fiber hyperplasia in Masson staining.Specifically,the electroacupuncture group demonstrated increased expression of MyoD,Pax7,MyoG,Alix,and TSG101(P<0.05),and the expression of CD63 was decreased(P<0.05).The electroacupuncture+exosome inhibitor group displayed downregulated expression of Pax7,MyoG,MyHC,and CD63(P<0.05),and the expression of Alix and TSG101 was regulated(P<0.05).Compared with the electroacupuncture+exosome inhibitor group,the electroacupuncture group exhibited less muscle fiber degeneration and necrosis,reduced inflammatory cell infiltration in HE staining,and decreased stained collagen fibers in Masson staining.The electroacupuncture group showed increased expression of MyoD,Pax7,MyoG,MyHC,Alix,and CD63(P<0.05).Conclusion Electroacupuncture can up-regulate the expression of Pax7 and MyoD,and promote the regeneration of erector spinae muscles,which may be related to stimulating the secretion of exosomes around the acupoint.Exosomes may be an important mediator for the efficacy of acupuncture.

Objective To compare the ability of single-phase,dual-phase,and triphasic models in forecasting postoperative pancreatic fistula(POPF)after pancreaticoduodenectomy(PD)using radiomics based on triphasic enhanced CT.Methods A total of 181 patients who underwent multi-phase enhanced CT prior to PD were retrospectively selected,and the collection phase included non-contrast,arterial phase(AP),and equilibrium phase(EP).3D Slicer software was utilized to segment the region of interest(ROI)for the postoperative pancreatic remnant on each phase.Radiomics feature extraction was performed using R software,followed by feature selection through least absolute shrinkage and selection operator(LASSO)regression with five-fold cross-validation to prevent model overfitting.The effective features selected were combined in a weighted linear manner to obtain a Radiomics score(Radscore).The patients were divided into training set and test set in a 7︰3 ratio.Logistic regression was employed to construct seven POPF prediction models(three single-phase,three dual-phase,and one triphasic models)based on different phase combinations.The diagnostic performance of the models was evaluated using the area under the curve(AUC)of receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve,accuracy(ACC),sensitivity(SEN),and specificity(SPE).The DeLong test was applied to compare the differences in AUC among different models.Results After LASSO regression,24 effective features associated with POPF were selected from different phases.In the test set,the triphasic model exhibited the highest AUC and ACC(AUC=0.76,ACC=0.808).The calibration curve demonstrated the strongest agreement between the estimated probabilities and observed probabilities for the triphasic model.The decision curve analysis(DCA)curve indicated that the triphasic model had the largest threshold range with a higher net benefit.Conclusion Compared with single-phase and dual-phase models,the triphasic model based on enhanced CT provides better prediction of POPF after PD,aiding clinical decision-making and improve prognosis.

There exist risks of ionizing radiation in radiodiagnosis examinations. Implementing shielding protection following the optimization and as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) principles represents a measure to reduce radiation doses to patients. The implementation of shielding protection in clinical practices should meet high requirements due to variations in the modalities and items in radiodiagnosis examinations, the characteristics and irradiation method of X-ray beams, the method of automatic selection of image quality and radiation dose-related parameters by imaging equipment, the radiation sensitivity of human tissues and organs. This review introduced the shielding products, methods and effects in various radiodiagnosis examinations, as well as the current status and challenges in their applications, aiming to provide a reference for future related research and clinical practices.

BACKGROUND: The clinical impact of post-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) quantitative flow ratio (QFR) in patients treated with PCI for chronic total occlusion (CTO) was still undetermined. METHODS: All CTO vessels treated with successful anatomical PCI in patients from PANDA III trial were retrospectively measured for post-PCI QFR. The primary outcome was 2-year vessel-oriented composite endpoints (VOCEs, composite of target vessel-related cardiac death, target vessel-related myocardial infarction, and ischemia-driven target vessel revascularization). Receiver operator characteristic curve analysis was conducted to identify optimal cutoff value of post-PCI QFR for predicting the 2-year VOCEs, and all vessels were stratified by this optimal cutoff value. Cox proportional hazards models were employed to calculate the hazard ratio (HR) with 95% CI. RESULTS: Among 428 CTO vessels treated with PCI, 353 vessels (82.5%) were analyzable for post-PCI QFR. 31 VOCEs (8.7%) occurred at 2 years. Mean value of post-PCI QFR was 0.92 ± 0.13. Receiver operator characteristic curve analysis shown the optimal cutoff value of post-PCI QFR for predicting 2-year VOCEs was 0.91. The incidence of 2-year VOCEs in the vessel with post-PCI QFR < 0.91 (n = 91) was significantly higher compared with the vessels with post-PCI QFR ≥ 0.91 (n = 262) (22.0% vs. 4.2%, HR = 4.98, 95% CI: 2.32-10.70). CONCLUSIONS Higher post-PCI QFR values were associated with improved prognosis in the PCI practice for coronary CTO. Achieving functionally optimal PCI results (post-PCI QFR value ≥ 0.91) tends to get better prognosis for patients with CTO lesions.

Intestinal fibrosis is a significant clinical challenge in inflammatory bowel diseases, but no effective anti-fibrotic therapy is currently available. Glucagon receptor (GCGR) and glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP1R) are both peptide hormone receptors involved in energy metabolism of epithelial cells. However, their role in intestinal fibrosis and the underlying mechanisms remain largely unexplored. Herein GCGR and GLP1R were found to be reduced in the stenotic ileum of patients with Crohn's disease as well as in the fibrotic colon of mice with chronic colitis. The downregulation of GCGR and GLP1R led to the accumulation of the metabolic byproduct lactate, resulting in histone H3K9 lactylation and exacerbated intestinal fibrosis through epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Dual activating GCGR and GLP1R by peptide 1907B reduced the H3K9 lactylation in epithelial cells and ameliorated intestinal fibrosis in vivo. We uncovered the role of GCGR/GLP1R in regulating EMT involved in intestinal fibrosis via histone lactylation. Simultaneously activating GCGR/GLP1R with the novel dual agonist peptide 1907B holds promise as a treatment strategy for alleviating intestinal fibrosis.

Mutations in the cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 gene (CDKL5) cause a severe neurodevelopmental disorder, yet the impact of truncating mutations remains unclear. Here, we introduce the Cdkl5^492stop mouse model, mimicking C-terminal truncating mutations in patients. 492stop/Y mice exhibit altered dendritic spine morphology and spontaneous seizure-like behaviors, alongside other behavioral deficits. After creating cell lines with various Cdkl5 truncating mutations, we found that these mutations are regulated by the nonsense-mediated RNA decay pathway. Most truncating mutations result in CDKL5 protein loss, leading to multiple disease phenotypes, and offering new insights into the pathogenesis of CDKL5 disorder.
Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Mice ; Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases/deficiency* ; Mutation/genetics* ; Epileptic Syndromes/genetics* ; Humans ; Dendritic Spines/pathology* ; Spasms, Infantile/genetics* ; Male ; Seizures/genetics* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL

Cemental tear is a rare and indetectable condition unless obvious clinical signs present with the involvement of surrounding periodontal and periapical tissues. Due to its clinical manifestations similar to common dental issues, such as vertical root fracture, primary endodontic diseases, and periodontal diseases, as well as the low awareness of cemental tear for clinicians, misdiagnosis often occurs. The critical principle for cemental tear treatment is to remove torn fragments, and overlooking fragments leads to futile therapy, which could deteriorate the conditions of the affected teeth. Therefore, accurate diagnosis and subsequent appropriate interventions are vital for managing cemental tear. Novel diagnostic tools, including cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), microscopes, and enamel matrix derivatives, have improved early detection and management, enhancing tooth retention. The implementation of standardized diagnostic criteria and treatment protocols, combined with improved clinical awareness among dental professionals, serves to mitigate risks of diagnostic errors and suboptimal therapeutic interventions. This expert consensus reviewed the epidemiology, pathogenesis, potential predisposing factors, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, differential diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of cemental tear, aiming to provide a clinical guideline and facilitate clinicians to have a better understanding of cemental tear.
Humans ; Dental Cementum/injuries* ; Consensus ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Cone-Beam Computed Tomography ; Tooth Fractures/therapy*

OBJECTIVE: Baicalein has been reported to have wide therapeutic effects that act through its anti-inflammatory activity. This study examines the effect and mechanism of baicalein on sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy (SIC). METHODS: A thorough screening of a small library of natural products, comprising 100 diverse compounds, was conducted to identify the most effective drug against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated H9C2 cardiomyocytes. The core target proteins and their associated signaling pathways involved in baicalein's efficacy against LPS-induced myocardial injury were predicted by network pharmacology. RESULTS: Baicalein was identified as the most potent protective agent in LPS-exposed H9C2 cardiomyocytes. It exhibited a dose-dependent inhibitory effect on cell injury and inflammation. In the LPS-induced septic mouse model, baicalein demonstrated a significant capacity to mitigate LPS-triggered myocardial deficits, inflammatory responses, and ferroptosis. Network pharmacological analysis and experimental confirmation suggested that hypoxia-inducible factor 1 subunit α (HIF1-α) is likely to be the crucial factor in mediating the impact of baicalein against LPS-induced myocardial ferroptosis and injury. By combining microRNA (miRNA) screening in LPS-treated myocardium with miRNA prediction targeting HIF1-α, we found that miR-299b-5p may serve as a regulator of HIF1-α. The reduction in miR-299b-5p levels in LPS-treated myocardium, compared to the control group, was reversed by baicalein treatment. The reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting, and dual-luciferase reporter gene analyses together identified HIF1-α as the target of miR-299b-5p in cardiomyocytes. CONCLUSION Baicalein mitigates SIC at the miRNA level, suggesting the therapeutic potential of it in treating SIC through the regulation of miR-299b-5p/HIF1-α/ferroptosis pathway. Please cite this article as: Zhou WY, Du JK, Liu HH, Deng L, Ma K, Xiao J, Zhang S, Wang CN. Baicalein attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced myocardial injury by inhibiting ferroptosis via miR-299b-5p/HIF1-α pathway. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(5):560-575.
Flavanones/pharmacology* ; Animals ; MicroRNAs/genetics* ; Lipopolysaccharides ; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit/genetics* ; Ferroptosis/drug effects* ; Mice ; Myocytes, Cardiac/metabolism* ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Rats ; Male ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Cardiomyopathies/etiology* ; Cell Line ; Sepsis/complications*