OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether auraptene (AUR) exerts a protective effect on acute diquat (DQ)-induced liver injury in mice and explore its underlying mechanisms. METHODS: Forty SPF-grade healthy male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into normal control group (Control group), DQ poisoning model group (DQ group), AUR treatment group (DQ+AUR group), and AUR control group (AUR group), with 10 mice in each group. The DQ poisoning model was established via a single intraperitoneal injection of 40 mg/kg DQ aqueous solution (0.5 mL); Control group and AUR group received an equal volume of pure water intraperitoneally. Four hours post-modeling, DQ+AUR group and AUR group were administered 0.5 mg/kg AUR aqueous solution (0.2 mL) by gavage once daily for 7 consecutive days, while Control group and DQ group received pure water. Blood and liver tissues were collected after anesthesia on day 7. Liver ultrastructure was observed by transmission electron microscopy. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels were measured via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Hepatic glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were detected using WST-1, thiobarbituric acid (TBA), and enzymatic reaction methods, respectively. Protein expression of nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1), and activated caspase-9 in liver tissues was analyzed by Western blotting. RESULTS: Transmission electron microscopy revealed that mitochondria in the Control group exhibited mild swelling, uneven distribution of matrix, and a small number of cristae fractures. In the AUR group, mitochondria showed mild swelling, with no obvious disruption of cristae structure. In the DQ group, mitochondria demonstrated marked swelling and increased volume, matrix dissolution, loss and fragmentation of cristae, and extensive vacuolization. In contrast, the DQ+AUR group showed significantly reduced mitochondrial swelling, volume increase, matrix dissolution, cristae loss and fragmentation, and vacuolization compared to the DQ group. Compared with the DQ group, the DQ+AUR group exhibited significantly lower serum AST levels (U/L: 173.45±23.60 vs. 255.33±41.51), ALT levels (U/L: 51.77±21.63 vs. 100.70±32.35), and hepatic MDA levels (μmol/g: 12.40±2.76 vs. 19.74±4.10), along with higher hepatic GSH levels (mmol/g: 37.65±14.95 vs. 20.58±8.52) and SOD levels (kU/g: 124.10±33.77 vs. 82.81±22.00), the differences were statistically significant (all P < 0.05). Western blotting showed upregulated Nrf2 expression (Nrf2/β-actin: 0.87±0.37 vs. 0.53±0.22) and HO-1 expression (HO-1/β-actin: 1.06±0.22 vs. 0.49±0.08), and downregulated Keap1 expression (Keap1/β-actin: 0.82±0.12 vs. 1.52±0.76) and activated caspase-9 expression (activated caspase-9/β-actin: 1.16±0.28 vs. 1.71±0.30) in the DQ+AUR group compared to the DQ group (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSION AUR attenuates DQ-induced acute liver injury in mice by activating the Keap1/Nrf2 signaling pathway.
Animals ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Liver/pathology* ; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury/drug therapy* ; Diquat/poisoning* ; NF-E2-Related Factor 2/metabolism* ; Oxidative Stress ; Apoptosis ; Coumarins

Soil cadmium (Cd) pollution is one of the major environmental problems globally. Ophiopogon japonicus, a multifunctional plant extensively used in traditional Chinese medicine, has demonstrated potential in environmental remediation. This study investigated the Cd accumulation pattern of O. japonicus under cadmium stress and identified the heavy metal ATPase (HMA) family members in this plant. Our results demonstrated that O. japonicus exhibited a Cd enrichment factor (EF) of 2.75, demonstrating strong potential for soil Cd pollution remediation. Nine heavy metal ATPase (HMA) members of P1B-ATPases were successfully identified from the transcriptome data of O. japonicus, with OjHMA1-OjHMA6 classified as the Zn/Co/Cd/Pb-ATPases and OjHMA7-OjHMA9 as the Cu/Ag-ATPases. The expression levels of OjHMA1, OjHMA2, OjHMA3, and OjHMA7 were significantly up-regulated under Cd stress, highlighting their crucial roles in cadmium ion absorption and transport. The topological analysis revealed that these proteins possessed characteristic transmembrane (TM) segments of the family, along with functional A, P, and N domains involved in regulating ion absorption and release. Metal ion-binding sites (M4, M5, and M6) existed on the TM segments. Based on the number of transmembrane domains and the residues at metal ion-binding sites, the plant HMA family members were categorized into three subgroups: P1B-1 ATPases, P1B-2 ATPases, and P1B-4 ATPases. Specifically, the P1B-1 ATPase subgroup included the motifs TM4(CPC), TM5(YN[X]₄P), and TM6(M[XX]SS); the P1B-2 ATPase subgroup featured the motifs TM4(CPC), TM5(K), and TM6(DKTGT); the P1B-4 ATPase subgroup contained the motifs TM4(SPC) and TM6(HE[X]GT), all of which were critical for protein functions. Molecular docking results revealed the importance of conserved sequences such as CPC/SPC, DKTGT, and HE[X]GT in metal ion coordination and stabilization. These findings provide potential molecular targets for enhancing Cd uptake and tolerance of O. japonicus by genetic engineering and lay a theoretical foundation for developing new cultivars with high Cd accumulation capacity.
Cadmium/metabolism* ; Adenosine Triphosphatases/metabolism* ; Ophiopogon/drug effects* ; Soil Pollutants/toxicity* ; Plant Proteins/metabolism* ; Stress, Physiological ; Multigene Family ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant

Objective To investigate the impact of digital subtraction angiography (DSA)-guided neurointerventional thrombus removal combined with intravenous thrombolysis by tirofiban on the rate of recanalization of blood vessels, endothelial function, hemodynamics, and the degree of neurological deficit in patients with acute cerebral infarction. Methods Eighty patients with acute cerebral infarction were selected as study subjects and randomly divided into observation group and control group using the random number table method, with 40 patients in each group. The control group was treated with DSA-guided neurointerventional thrombus removal, and the observation group was treated with intravenous thrombolysis with tirofiban on the basis of the control group. The rates of recanalization of blood vessels, endothelial function index levels, hemodynamic index levels, and the degree of neurological deficit were compared between the two groups. Results The rates of recanalization of blood vessels in the observation group and control group were 90.00%(36/40) and 65.00%(26/40), respectively, with a significant difference (P < 0.05). After treatment, the serum endothelin-1 (ET-1) levels in both groups were lower than those before treatment, and the nitric oxide (NO) levels were higher than those before treatment, and the ET-1 level in the observation group was lower than that in the control group, and the NO level was higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). After treatment, the carotid extracranial resistance and characteristic impedance in both groups were lower than those before treatment, and the mean blood flow and mean blood flow velocity were higher than those before treatment, and the carotid extracranial resistance and characteristic impedance in the observation group were lower than those in the control group, and the mean blood flow and mean blood flow velocity were higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). After treatment, the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores in both groups were lower than those before treatment, and the NIHSS score in the observation group was lower than that in the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion DSA-guided neurointerventional thrombus removal combined with intravenous thrombolysis by tirofiban can effectively increase the rate of recanalization of blood vessels in patients with acute cerebral infarction, improve endothelial function, alleviate neurological deficit symptoms, increase blood flow velocity and blood flow at ischemic lesion sites, and reduce carotid extracranial resistance and characteristic impedance.

Objective:To investigate the risk factors for the occurrence and poor in-hospital prognosis in patients with peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM).Methods:The clinical data of 35 patients with PPCM and 35 healthy pregnant women in Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University and Beijing Friendship Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University from January 2003 to January 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. The personal histories, laboratory examination, imaging examination, cardiac function outcome, etc were collected. According to the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) at discharge, the patients with PPCM were divided into in-hospital recovery group (LVEF≥50%, 18 cases) and prolonged disease group (LVEF<50%, 17 cases). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze independent risk factors of poor in-hospital prognosis in patients with PPCM.Results:Among 35 patients with PPCM, the age was (29.81 ± 5.37) years old, 17 cases (48.57%) complicated with gestational hypertension, 6 cases (17.14%) complicated with gestational diabetes mellitus, 24 cases (68.57%) of New York Heart Association (NYHA) cardiac function classification was Ⅲ to Ⅳ class, and 4 cases died (11.43%). The gestational age in patients with PPCM was significantly shorter than that in healthy pregnant women: (36.26 ± 4.27) weeks vs. (38.54 ± 4.59) weeks, the rates of multiple pregnancy and gestational hypertension were significantly higher than those in healthy pregnant women: 17.14% (6/35) vs. 2.86% (1/35) and 48.57% (17/35) vs. 11.43% (4/35), and there were statistical differences ( P<0.05 or <0.01). Compared with hospital recovery group, the patients in protracted disease group had shorter gestational age, larger left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, higher serum creatinine, C-reactive protein and amino-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), worse NYHA cardiac function classification, and there were statistical differences ( P<0.05 or <0.01); but there were no statistical difference in LVEF at the first diagnosis and troponin I between two groups ( P>0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis result showed that elevated creatinine was an independent risk factor for poor in-hospital prognosis in patients with PPCM ( OR = 4.554, 95% CI 1.536 to 13.684, P = 0.018). Conclusions:The gestational hypertension may be a risk factor for PPCM. The gestational hypertension, earlier onset time, enlarged left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, high NT-proBNP, high C-reactive protein, high creatinine and high cardiac function NYHA classification may be risk factors for poor in-hospital prognosis in patients with PPCM; and elevated creatinine is an independent risk factor for poor in-hospital prognosis in patients with PPCM.

The Ly-6 and uPAR (LU) domain-containing proteins represent a large family of cell-surface markers. In particular, mouse Ly-6A/Sca-1 is a widely used marker for various stem cells; however, its human ortholog is missing. In this study, based on a systematic survey and comparative genomic study of mouse and human LU domain-containing proteins, we identified a previously unannotated human gene encoding the candidate ortholog of mouse Ly-6A/Sca-1. This gene, hereby named LY6A, reversely overlaps with a lncRNA gene in the majority of exonic sequences. We found that LY6A is aberrantly expressed in pituitary tumors, but not in normal pituitary tissues, and may contribute to tumorigenesis. Similar to mouse Ly-6A/Sca-1, human LY6A is also upregulated by interferon, suggesting a conserved transcriptional regulatory mechanism between humans and mice. We cloned the full-length LY6A cDNA, whose encoded protein sequence, domain architecture, and exon-intron structures are all well conserved with mouse Ly-6A/Sca-1. Ectopic expression of the LY6A protein in cells demonstrates that it acts the same as mouse Ly-6A/Sca-1 in their processing and glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchoring to the cell membrane. Collectively, these studies unveil a novel human gene encoding a candidate biomarker and provide an interesting model gene for studying gene regulatory and evolutionary mechanisms.
Humans ; Membrane Proteins/genetics* ; Pituitary Neoplasms/genetics* ; Biomarkers

BACKGROUND: A polygenic risk score (PRS) derived from 112 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for gastric cancer has been reported in Chinese populations (PRS-112). However, its performance in other populations is unknown. A functional PRS (fPRS) using functional SNPs (fSNPs) may improve the generalizability of the PRS across populations with distinct ethnicities. METHODS: We performed functional annotations on SNPs in strong linkage disequilibrium (LD) with the 112 previously reported SNPs to identify fSNPs that affect protein-coding or transcriptional regulation. Subsequently, we constructed an fPRS based on the fSNPs by using the LDpred2-infinitesimal model and then analyzed the performance of the PRS-112 and fPRS in the risk prediction of gastric cancer in 457,521 European participants of the UK Biobank cohort. Finally, the performance of the fPRS in combination with lifestyle factors were evaluated in predicting the risk of gastric cancer. RESULTS: During 4,582,045 person-years of follow-up with a total of 623 incident gastric cancer cases, we found no significant association between the PRS-112 and gastric cancer risk in the European population (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.00 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.93-1.09], P = 0.846). We identified 125 fSNPs, including seven deleterious protein-coding SNPs and 118 regulatory non-coding SNPs, and used them to construct the fPRS-125. Our result showed that the fPRS-125 was significantly associated with gastric cancer risk (HR = 1.11 [95% CI, 1.03-1.20], P = 0.009). Compared to participants with a low fPRS-125 (bottom quintile), those with a high fPRS-125 (top quintile) had a higher risk of incident gastric cancer (HR = 1.43 [95% CI, 1.12-1.84], P = 0.005). Moreover, we observed that participants with both an unfavorable lifestyle and a high genetic risk had the highest risk of incident gastric cancer (HR = 4.99 [95% CI, 1.55-16.10], P = 0.007) compared to those with both a favorable lifestyle and a low genetic risk. CONCLUSION These results indicate that the fPRS-125 derived from fSNPs may act as an indicator to measure the genetic risk of gastric cancer in the European population.
Humans ; Prospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms/genetics* ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease/genetics* ; Risk Factors ; Multifactorial Inheritance/genetics* ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide/genetics* ; Genome-Wide Association Study

Objective To summarize the diagnosis and treatment experience of patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome(GBS)with positive anti sulfatide antibody in CSF.Methods The clinical data of a case of patient with GBS with positive anti sulfatide antibody in CSF in Department of Neurology,The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University in January,2023 were retrospectively analyzed,and the relevant literatures were reviewed.Results Two cases with GBS with positive anti sulfatide antibody in CSF from 2 literatures were retrieved,a total of 3 cases were retrieved.All cases were males.The onset duration was 4-6 d.Two patients with GBS with positive anti-sufatide antibody in CSF developed limb weakness,severe back and limb pain.Albuminocytologic dissociation in CSF and inefficacy of immunoglobin were found in the two cases.Severe hyponatremia secondary to intravenous immunoglobin was observed in our case.One patient presented with cranial nerve damage with mild elevation of CSF protein and improvement after immunoglobulin.Conclusion The plasmapheresis was recommended for the patients presenting with limb weakness with positive anti-sulfatide antibody in CSF in order to prevent inefficacy and severe hyponatremia secondary to intravenous immunoglobin.

Bisecting N-acetylglucosamine(GlcNAc),a GlcNAc linked to the core β-mannose resi-due via a β1,4 linkage,is a special type of N-glycosylation that has been reported to be involved in various biological processes,such as cell adhesion and fetal development.This N-glycan structure is abundant in human trophoblasts,which is postulated to be resistant to natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity,enabling a mother to nourish a fetus without rejection.In this study,we hypothesized that the human amniotic membrane,which serves as the last barrier for the fetus,may also express bisected-type glycans.To test this hypothesis,glycomic analysis of the human amniotic membrane was performed,and bisected N-glycans were detected.Furthermore,our pro-teomic data,which have been previously employed to explore human missing proteins,were ana-lyzed and the presence of bisecting GlcNAc-modified peptides was confirmed.A total of 41 glycoproteins with 43 glycopeptides were found to possess a bisecting GlcNAc,and 25 of these gly-coproteins were reported to exhibit this type of modification for the first time.These results provide insights into the potential roles of bisecting GlcNAc modification in the human amniotic membrane,and can be beneficial to functional studies on glycoproteins with bisecting GlcNAc modifications and functional studies on immune suppression in human placenta.

Objective:To explore the related factors and treatment effect observation of Parkinson disease(PD) accompanied by depression.Methods:Two hundred patients with PD admitted to Baoding Zhuozhou Baoshihua Hospital from March 2016 to March 2020 were selected. According the scores of Hamilton depression inventory 24-item version (HAMD-24), they were divided into the case group (PD accompanied by depression, HAMD-24≥8 scores, 98 cases) and the control group (PD without depression, HAMD-24<8 scores,102 cases). Single factor analysis and multivariate regression analysis were used to analyze the influencing factors of PD accompanied by depression. The patients in the case group were divided into psychological treatment group and non-psychological treatment group by random number table method, each group with 49 cases. The differences in depression degree, quality of life and sleep quality before and after treatment between the two groups were compared.Results:The incidence rate of PD accompanied by depression was 49.0% (98/200). The multivariate regression analysis showed that the Hoehn-Yahr classification (H-Y classification), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores and abnormal marital status were the influence factors of PD accompanied by depression ( P<0.05); the education years was the protective factor of PD accompanied by depression ( P<0.05). After treatment, the scores of HAMD-24 and PSQI in the psychological treatment group and the non-psychological treatment group were decreased, and the scores of HAMD-24 and PSQI in the psychological treatment group were lower than those in the non-psychological treatment group: (11.78 ± 2.94) scores vs. (15.55 ± 3.91) scores, (5.18 ± 1.05) scores vs. (5.74 ± 1.12) scores, the differences were statistically significant ( P<0.05). After treatment, the improved degree of scores of five item of HAMD-24 in the psychological treatment group were higher than those in the non-psychological treatment group, the differences were statistically significant ( P<0.05). Conclusions:PD accompanied by depression is affected by multiple factors. Strengthening psychological treatment can reduce the degree of depression in patients with PD accompanied by depression and improve the quality of sleep and life.

Objective:To investigate the value of artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted quantitative measurement in evaluation of the dynamic changes of CT for COVID-19 pneumonia.Methods:The clinical and chest CT dynamic imaging data of 99 patients with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia who were hospitalized in Wuhan Central Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology from January 15, 2020 to March 10, 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the definitive diagnosis, the 99 patients were classified into common ( n=36), severe ( n=33) and critical ( n=30) type, the CT imaging findings of each type were analyzed, including CT basic signs, total volume of pneumonia lesions and percentage of pneumonia lesions of the total lung volume (volume ratio). AI software was used to quantitatively evaluate the dynamic changes of chest CT images. The quantitative indicators included CT peak time of lesions, total volume of lesions peak, volume ratio of lesions peak, maximum growth rate of total volume and maximum growth rate of volume ratio. Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test was used to compare the difference of quantitative indexes between the 3 types, and χ 2 test or Fisher exact probability test was used to compare the difference of qualitative indexes between the 3 types. Sequence measurement and scatter plots were used to show the evolution trend of the volume ratio of the three types of COVID-19 pneumonia lesions. The ROC curve was used to analyze the value of the volume ratio of pneumonia lesions and its maximum growth rate in predicting the conversion of common pneumonia to severe or critical pneumonia. Results:There were statistically significant differences in age and gender distribution among patients with common, severe and critical COVID-19 ( P<0.05), the age of severe and critical types were significantly higher than that of common type ( P<0.01). Compared with common [2.5 (1.0, 5.0) d] and critical type[2.5 (1.0, 4.0) d], the time from onset to the first chest CT scan of severe type was prolonged [5.0 (2.5, 8.0) d, P<0.01]. There were statistically significant differences in involvement of multiple lung lobes (20 cases, 29 cases, 25 cases, χ2=10.403, P=0.006) in patients with common, severe and critical COVID-19 at the first scan, the incidence of the involvement of multiple lung lobes in severe and critical types was significantly higher than that of common type ( P=0.002). The volume ratios of patients with common, severe and critical COVID-19 at the first scan were statistically significant [1.0% (0.2%, 4.7%), 9.30% (1.63%, 26.83%), 2.10% (0.64%, 8.61%), Z=14.236, P=0.001], and the volume ratio of severe type was significantly higher than that of common type ( P<0.001), there was no statistically significant difference between common type and critical type ( P=0.062). Follow-up CT showed that the pneumonia lesions showed a dynamic transformation of progress and recovery, and it was seen that the coexistence of multiphase lesions. The trend line in the scatter plot of the three types of COVID-19 pneumonia lesions showed that the lesions in the advanced stage developed from less to more. The lesion peak volume ratios of the common, severe and critical types were 9.75% (4.83%, 13.18%), 29.80% (23.99%, 42.36%) and 61.81% (43.73%, 72.82%), respectively, the difference was statistically significant ( Z=74.147, P<0.001). The maximum growth rates of lesion volume ratio were 1.27% (0.50%, 1.81%)/d, 4.39% (3.16%, 5.54%)/d and 6.02% (4.77%, 9.96%)/d, respectively, the difference was statistically significant ( Z=52.453, P<0.001). The peak times of lesions were 12.0 (9.0, 15.0) d, 13.0 (10.0, 16.0) d and 16.5 (12.0, 25.0)d, respectively, the difference was statistically significant ( Z=9.524, P=0.009). Taking the volume ratio of pneumonia lesion 22.60% and the maximum growth rate of the volume ratio 1.875%/d as the boundary value, the sensitivity of diagnosing common type to severe or critical type was 92.10% and 96.83%, and the specificity was 100% and 80.56%, respectively. The area under the curve was 0.987 and 0.925, respectively. Conclusions:The lesions of COVID-19 pneumonia show a similar parabolic change on CT imaging. The use of AI technology to dynamitcally and accurately measure the CT pneumonia lesion volume ratio is helpful to evaluate the severity of the disease and predict the development trend of the disease. Patients with a rapid growth of volume ratio are more likely to become severe or critical type.