Objective To employ three dimensional high-resolution vessel wall magnetic resonance imaging(3D hr-VW-MRI)for analyzing the imaging characteristics of posterior circulation non-stenotic intracranial atherosclerotic plaque and to discuss its diagnostic value in identifying culprit plaques.Methods Ninety-three patients(age[62.94±9.70]years old,67 males,26 females)with non-stenotic atherosclerosis in our hospital from Jan.2019 to Jan.2021 were retrospectively recruited.The imaging features of plaques,including luminal area,maximum wall thickness and minimum wall thickness at the most stenotic site,stenosis rate,plaque burden,remodeling index,eccentricity index,enhancement ratio at the most stenotic site,and intraplaque hemorrhage,were measured based on T1-weighted imaging(T1WI)and contrast-enhanced T1WI.The culprit plaque was defined as a lesion arising from the responsible vascular supply area to a fresh infarction on the diffusion weighted imaging(DWI)and T2 fluid attenuated inversion recovery(T2-FLAIR)images with accompanying ischemic stroke/transient ischemic attack(TIA).A plaque was considered to be a nonculprit plaque when it occurred in patients with presumed ischemic stroke/TIA,but without an infarct on DWI and T2-FLAIR.Results Sixty-one culprit plaques and 32 non-culprit plaques were analyzed.The proportions of patients with hyperlipidemia,National Institutes of Health stroke scale(NIHSS)score,narrowest plaque enhancement rate,and incidence of intraplaque hemorrhage in the culprit plaque group were significantly higher than those in the non-culprit plaque group(all P＜0.05).Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that NIHSS score(odds ratio[OR]=1.799,95％confidence interval[CI]1.303-2.484,P＜0.001),enhancement ratio(OR=1.076,95％CI 1.027-1.128,P=0.002)and intraplaque hemorrhage(OR=30.708,95％CI 2.563-367.925,P=0.007)were associated with plaque type.Conclusion NIHSS score,enhancement ratio at the most stenotic site,and intraplaque hemorrhage are independent risk factors for culprit plaques in patients with posterior circulation non-stenotic intracranial atherosclerotic disease.These indicators may help identify such culprit plaques and could be used to screen individuals with plaques having these characteristics,thereby providing a basis for early preventive interventions.

ObjectiveTo explore the impact of Gegen Qinliantang（GQT） on the fecal short-chain fatty acids（SCFAs） metabolism in antibiotic-associated diarrhea（AAD） through targeted metabolomics. MethodA total of 240 SD rats were randomly divided into six groups（n=40， half male and half female）， including blank group， model group， bifidobiogen group（0.15 g·kg^-1）， and GQT high-， medium-， and low-dose groups（10.08， 5.04， 2.52 g·kg^-1）， except for the blank group， clindamycin（250 mg·kg^-1） was given to all groups by gavage for modeling every day for 7 d. After successful modeling， each administered group was gavaged with the corresponding dose of the drug， and the blank and model groups were gavaged with an equal volume of normal saline solution， 1 time/d， for 14 d. At 0， 3， 7， 14 d after the drug intervention， eight rats were randomly selected from each group， respectively. Gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry（GC-TOF-MS） was used to perform targeted metabolomic analysis of SCFAs in the feces of rats， and partial least squares-discriminant analysis（PLS-DA） was applied to compare the differences in metabolic profiles between groups at different treatment times， and to compare the changes in the contents of SCFAs in rat feces between groups. ResultPLS-DA results showed that the blank group could be clearly distinguishable from the model group， with GQT exhibiting a closer proximity to the blank group after 7 d of treatment. After further analyzing the composition of SCFAs， it was found that the proportion of acetic acid increased and the proportions of butyric acid， valeric acid， hexanoic acid and isovaleric acid decreased in the model group compared with the blank group. After the treatment with GQT， the proportions of butyric acid， isobutyric acid， valeric acid， and isovaleric acid increased， and the proportions of acetic acid， propionic acid and caproic acid decreased. Subsequent differential analysis revealed that GQT could significantly improve the content of butyric acid， and had a certain retrogressive effect on the contents of valeric acid and hexanoic acid. ConclusionThe medium dose group of GQT can improve the contents of SCFAs in AAD feces after 7 days of treatment， which may be related to the improvement of the composition ratio of SCFAs and the contents of butyric acid， valeric acid and caproic acid.

Objective To investigate changes in the intestinal flora and function in rats with antibiotic-associated diarrhea(A AD)treated with GeGen QinLian Decoction(GQD).Methods Sixty male or female SPF-grade SD rats were fed for 7 days and then divided randomly into Control(Con)and modeling groups(1∶5 ratio).Rats in the modeling group received clindamycin 250 mg/kg by gavage once a day for 7 consecutive days.After successful modeling,the rats were divided randomly into model(Mod),high-dose GQD(GQD-H,10.08 g/kg),medium-dose GQD(GQD-M,5.04 g/kg),low-dose GQD(GQD-L,2.52 g/kg),and live Bifidobacterium power(LBP,0.15 g/kg)groups(n=10 rats per group).GQD and LBP were administered by gavage,and the Con and Mod groups were given an equal volume of saline by gavage once a day.Feces were collected after 7 consecutive days of administration for macrogenomics sequencing analysis.Results α diversity and β diversity suggested that intestinal microbial diversity differed between the Mod and GQD-treated groups.GQD increased the abundance of thick-walled bacteria and decreased the abundance of Aspergillus at the phylum level,and increased the relative abundances of the intestinal mucus bacteria Blautia,Bacteroides,Thomasclavelia,and Mediterraneibacter,and decreased the relative abundances of Adlercreutzia,Muribaculum,and Escherichia at the genus level.GQD also up-regulated the amino acid,carbohydrate,and immune disease pathways.Conclusions GQD improves the abundance ratio of beneficial and pathogenic intestinal bacteria in rats with antibiotic-associated diarrhea,which in turn reduces the intestinal inflammatory response and repairs the intestinal immune system.

Objective To investigate changes in the intestinal flora and function in rats with antibiotic-associated diarrhea(A AD)treated with GeGen QinLian Decoction(GQD).Methods Sixty male or female SPF-grade SD rats were fed for 7 days and then divided randomly into Control(Con)and modeling groups(1∶5 ratio).Rats in the modeling group received clindamycin 250 mg/kg by gavage once a day for 7 consecutive days.After successful modeling,the rats were divided randomly into model(Mod),high-dose GQD(GQD-H,10.08 g/kg),medium-dose GQD(GQD-M,5.04 g/kg),low-dose GQD(GQD-L,2.52 g/kg),and live Bifidobacterium power(LBP,0.15 g/kg)groups(n=10 rats per group).GQD and LBP were administered by gavage,and the Con and Mod groups were given an equal volume of saline by gavage once a day.Feces were collected after 7 consecutive days of administration for macrogenomics sequencing analysis.Results α diversity and β diversity suggested that intestinal microbial diversity differed between the Mod and GQD-treated groups.GQD increased the abundance of thick-walled bacteria and decreased the abundance of Aspergillus at the phylum level,and increased the relative abundances of the intestinal mucus bacteria Blautia,Bacteroides,Thomasclavelia,and Mediterraneibacter,and decreased the relative abundances of Adlercreutzia,Muribaculum,and Escherichia at the genus level.GQD also up-regulated the amino acid,carbohydrate,and immune disease pathways.Conclusions GQD improves the abundance ratio of beneficial and pathogenic intestinal bacteria in rats with antibiotic-associated diarrhea,which in turn reduces the intestinal inflammatory response and repairs the intestinal immune system.

Phenylpropanoid metabolic pathway is one of the most important secondary metabolic pathways in plants. It directly or indirectly plays an antioxidant role in plant resistance to heavy metal stress, and can improve the absorption and stress tolerance of plants to heavy metal ions. In this paper, the core reactions and key enzymes of the phenylpropanoid metabolic pathway were summarized, and the biosynthetic processes of key metabolites such as lignin, flavonoids and proanthocyanidins and relevant mechanisms were analyzed. Based on this, the mechanisms of key products of phenylpropanoid metabolic pathway in response to heavy metal stress were discussed. The perspectives on the involvement of phenylpropanoid metabolism in plant defense against heavy metal stress provides a theoretical basis for improving the phytoremediation efficiency of heavy metal polluted environment.
Plants/metabolism* ; Metals, Heavy/metabolism* ; Flavonoids/metabolism* ; Biodegradation, Environmental ; Antioxidants

ObjectiveTo investigate the mechanism of Gegen Qinliantang（GQT） on the intestinal flora of antibiotic-associated diarrhea（AAD） by 16S rRNA sequencing and network pharmacology. MethodSixty SD rats were randomly divided into six groups（n=10）， including blank group， model group， GQT high-， medium- and low-dose groups（10.08， 5.04， 2.52 g·kg^-1） as well as Lizhu Changle group（0.15 g·kg^-1）， except for the blank group， each group was given clindamycin（250 mg·kg^-1） by gavage once a day for 7 consecutive days. After successful modeling， the blank group and the model group were given equal volumes of normal saline by gavage. The other groups were given corresponding doses of drugs by gavage for 14 days. Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform（TCMSP） was used to screen the active components and targets of GQT， GeneCards， Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man（OMIM） database， Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics Knowledge Base（PharmGKB）， DrugBank and DisGeNET were used to search for AAD disease targets. The drug-disease common targets were obtained by R software. STRING was applied to analyze the target protein-protein interaction， and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes（KEGG） pathway enrichment analysis was performed. Then hematoxylin-eosin（HE） staining was used to observe the pathological changes of the colon， and 16S rRNA sequencing of AAD colon content flora structure further verified the results of network pharmacology. ResultThrough network pharmacology， it was found that 238 active components were screened from GQT and acted on 276 component targets， among which quercetin， puerarin， wogonin and apigenin were the main core components of GQT， 1 097 AAD disease targets and 127 drug-disease intersection targets. The protein-protein interaction network mainly included core targets such as protein kinase B1（Akt1）， interleukin（IL）-6 and IL-1β， which were mainly enriched in the IL-17 signaling pathway. It was verified through animal experiments that compared with the blank group， the colon structure of the model group was seriously abnormal， the intestinal epithelial columnar cells were damaged， the goblet cells were reduced， and a large number of inflammatory cells were infiltrated. Compared with the model group， the colon structure of the GQT high-dose group improved， but there were still abnormalities， the colon structure of GQT medium- and low- dose groups and Lizhu Changle group improved significantly and reached the normal level. GQT could improve the structural diversity of AAD intestinal flora. At the phylum level， the abundance of Firmicutes was increased and the abundance of Bacteroidetes was decreased. At the genus level， the abundance of Lactobacillus was increased， and the abundances of Prevotella and Bacteroides were decreased. Among them， Lactococcus could be used as a biomarker for AAD treatment with GQT， and the prediction of functional metabolism of intestinal flora revealed that GQT could promote acetate and lactate metabolic pathways in the intestine. ConclusionGQT may activate IL-17 signaling pathway by acting on the targets of Akt1 and IL-6 through key components such as quercetin and wogonin， and improve the abundance of Lactococcus in the intestinal tract as well as acetate and lactate metabolic pathways， so as to play a role in repairing the intestinal barrier for the treatment of AAD.

Objective:To compare the short- and long-term efficacy and safety of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) and transanal endoscopic microsurgery (TEM) in the treatment of rectal neuroendocrine tumor (NET) with maximum diameter ≤20 mm.Methods:From January 1, 2014 to June 30, 2022, the clinical data of 111 patients with rectal NET with maximum diameter ≤20 mm treated by ESD or TEM at Peking University People′s Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. According to the treatment of ESD or TEM, 111 patients with rectal NET were divided into ESD group (76 cases) and TEM group (35 cases). The clinicopathological characteristics (age, distance from anal margin, depth of invasion, etc.) were compared between patients with tumor maximum diameter<10 mm and 10 to 20 mm, and between ESD group patients and TEM group patients. The clinical efficacy and prognosis were also compared between ESD group and TEM group. The follow-up time was 41 months (16 months, 76 months). The propensity score matching (PSM) method was used to balance the differences of clinical characteristics between ESD and TEM groups. Independent sample t test, Wilcoxon rank-sum and chi-square test were used for statistical analysis. The risk factors of lymph node or distant metastasis were analyzed by univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression. Results:The maximum tumor diameter of 111 patients with rectal NET was (6.6±0.3) mm (ranged from 2 to 20 mm). The maximum tumor diameter of 85 cases (76.6%) was <10 mm and that of 26 cases (23.4%) was between 10 mm and 20 mm. There were statistically significant differences in age, distance from the anal margin and incidence of submucosal infiltration between patients with tumor maximum diameter<10 mm and patients with tumor maximum diameter 10 to 20 mm ((49.8±11.6 ) years old vs. (56.8±13.8) years old; 5.0 cm (4.0 cm, 8.0 cm) vs. 8.0 cm (5.0 cm, 8.0 cm); 69.4%, 59/85 vs. 96.2%, 25/26; t=2.58, Z=-2.23, χ2=6.35, P=0.011, 0.026 and 0.012). The en block resection rate of rectal NET treated with ESD or TEM was 100.0%(111/111), the complete resection rate was 93.7% (104/111), and the postoperative bleeding rate was 2.7% (3/111). There were no postoperative perforation or other major complications. During the follow-up period, there was no local recurrence. The metachronous recurrent rate was 0.9% (1/111), 3.6% (4/111) patients had lymph node or distant metastasis, and there was no death. Compared with patients with tumor maximum diameter<10 mm, more patients with tumor maximum diameter of 10 to 20 mm selected TEM (57.7%, 15/26 vs. 23.5%, 20/85), and the difference was statistically significant ( χ2=10.76, P=0.001). Before PSM, a total of 7 patients in the ESD group had positive vertical margins, and during the follow-up of 21 months (15 months, 48 months), 2 patients had lymph node or distant metastasis and received surgery. The proportion of patients with tumor maximum diameter of 10 to 20 mm and submucosal invasion in TEM group were both higher than those in ESD group (42.9%, 15/35 vs. 14.5%, 11/76; 88.6%, 31/35 vs. 69.7%, 53/76), and the differences were statistically significant( χ2=10.76 and 3.65, P=0.001 and 0.032). After PSM, there were no statistically significant differences in the complete resection rate, postoperative bleeding rate, metachronous recurrence rate, lymph node or distant metastasis rate between ESD group and TEM group (89.3%, 25/28 vs.100.0%, 28/28; 3.6%, 1/28 vs. 0, 0/28; 3.6%, 1/28 vs. 0, 0/28; 0, 0/28 vs.3.6%, 1/28; all P>0.05). However, the operation time and hospital stay of the ESD group were both shorter than those of the TEM group (27.0 min (25.0 min, 30.0 min) vs. 39.0 min (32.0 min, 45.0 min); 5.0 d (4.0 d, 5.0 d) vs. 6.0 d (3.0 d, 9.0 d)), and the differences were statistically significant ( Z=-3.38 and -2.23, P=0.001 and 0.021). Conclusion:The efficacy of ESD and TEM in rectal NET with maximum diameter ≤ 20 mm is equal, however, ESD has the advantage of shorter procedure time and hospital stay.

Objective:To analyze the expression of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] in serum and vitamin D receptor (VDR) in descending duodenum of adult patients with celiac disease and the correlation between 25 (OH) D, VDR and the clinical characteristics and indexes of celiac disease.Methods:From September 1, 2020 to May 1, 2022, 37 patients who were diagnosed with celiac disease (celiac disease group) in the Department of Gastroenterology of People′s Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region were enrolled. During the same period, according to gender, age and nationality matched at a ratio of 1 to 1, 37 patients who visited the hospital with suspected symptoms of celiac disease and finally were excluded from the diagnosis of celiac disease after screening (non-celiac disease group) were selected. General data and clinical characteristics of all the patients were collected, including diarrhea, bone mineral density (BMD), Marsh stage. Serum 25(OH)D levels were detected, and the expression of VDR(high or low expression) in the descending duodenum was evaluated by immunohistochemical staining. Independent sample t test, chi-square test and Spearman correlation analysis were used for statistical analysis. Results:The serum 25(OH)D level and the proportion of patients with high VDR expression in the celiac disease group were both lower than those of the non-celiac disease group ((12.40±8.93) μg/L vs. (16.78±7.09) μg/L; 45.9%, 17/37 vs. 75.7%, 28/37), and the proportion of patients with diarrhea was higher than that of the non-celiac disease group (45.9%, 17/37 vs. 21.6%, 8/37), and the differences were statistically significant ( t=-2.52, χ2=6.86 and 4.89, all P<0.05). The serum 25(OH)D level was positively correlated with the VDR expression level in the descending duodenum both in the celiac disease group and the non-celiac disease group ( r=0.75 and 0.64, both P<0.001), and was not correlated with the diarrhea symptoms in the 2 groups (both P>0.05). There was a positive correlation between serum 25(OH)D and BMD in the celiac disease group ( r=0.48, P=0.017), and serum 25(OH)D was also correlated with BMD in the non-celiac disease group ( r=0.93, P<0.001). The VDR expression level in the descending duodenum was negatively correlated with the Marsh stage in the celiac disease group ( r=-0.36, P=0.031), while the VDR expression level was not related to the Marsh stage in the non-celiac disease group ( P>0.05). Conclusions:Vitamin D metabolism imbalance exists in the serum and duodenal mucosa of adult patients with celiac disease, which is related to the severity of osteoporosis and histopathology. It is suggested that patients with celiac disease should receive vitamin D metabolism regulation treatment.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the relationship between the fatty acid-binding protein 4 (FABP4) and colorectal cancer (CRC). METHODS: Using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), we measured the expression of FABP4 in plasma of 50 patients who underwent surgery for CRC from October 2017 to May 2018 and 50 healthy controls. The content of the visceral fat area (VFA) as seen with abdominal computed tomography (CT) scanning was measured by ImageJ software. The expression levels of FABP4, E-cadherin, and Snail proteins in CRC and adjacent tissues were determined by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The mean concentration of plasma FABP4 of CRC patients was higher than that of the control group (22.46 vs. 9.82 ng/mL; CONCLUSIONS High LPA and VFA were risk factors for increased plasma FABP4 in CRC patients. FABP4 protein was highly expressed in CRC tissues and associated with TNM stage, differentiation, and lymph node metastasis of CRC. The level of FABP4 in CRC tissue was correlated with E-cadherin and Snail expression, suggesting that FABP4 may promote CRC progression related to epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT).

Objective:To explore the value of 3.0 T high resolution MRI (HR-MRI) in the follow-up of drug treatment in acute and non-acute ischemic stroke caused by middle cerebral artery (MCA) plaque.Methods:The perspective study enrolled patients with ischemic stroke caused by MCA stenosis from October 2012 to October 2015 in the department of Neurology and Neurosurgery of Changhai Hospital Affiliated to Naval Medical University. All the patients underwent HR-MRI and then were divided into acute and non-acute stroke groups according to the intervels of the last symptom onset to the time of HR-MRI examination. All patients were informed consent to receive antiplatelet drug and intensive lipid therapy and followed up with HR-MRI. The HR-MRI sequence including T 2WI, T 1WI and contrast-enhanced T 1WI of vessel wall, and T 2WI and DWI of brain were routinely performed. T-test of paired samples was used to evaluate the changes of stenosis rate of vascular lumen, plaque enhancement degree, plaque volume and plaque burden on HR-MRI, and the NIHSS score of nervous system and blood biochemical indicators of the patients before and after treatment. Chi square test was used to compare the difference in ischemic event recurrcence between the acute and the non-acute stroke group. Results:A total of 31 acute stroke patients and 20 non-acute stroke patients were enrolled in the study. The mean follow-up time of acute stroke group was (671.71±522.86) days. Compare with the baseline, the stenosis rate of vascular lumen ( P=0.039), plaque enhancement degree ( P<0.001), plaque volume ( P=0.024) and plaque burden ( P=0.031) were all improved after the drug treatment, the NIHSS score of nervous system was also significantly improved, and the levels of total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in 12 patients were significantly decreased. The mean follow-up time of patients with non-acute stroke was (695.35±555.90) days. The stenosis rate of vascular lumen, plaque enhancement degree, plaque volume and plaque burden were slightly improved, but without statistical significance ( P>0.05). There were no significant changes in NIHSS score of nervous system, TC, triglyceride (TG) and LDL-C ( P>0.05), however the high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was significantly increased than that in the baseline ( P=0.02). During the follow-up period, no new cerebral infarction was found in the DWI images of the two groups. Six patients had transient ischemic attack (TIA) recurrence in the acute stroke group and 5 patients in the non-acute stroke group, there was no significant difference between both groups(χ 2=0.229, P= 0.632). Conclusion:HR-MRI can be used as an important evaluation method for the follow-up of MCA atherosclerotic plaque therapy. After antiplatelet therapy and intensive lipid-lowering therapy, the plaque volume and burden of MCA offending plaque, and plaque enhancement decreased in acute stroke patients but there was no significant change in non-acute patients.