ObjectiveTo analyze the characteristics of 150 patients with spinal cord injury complicated with spasticity. MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted on 150 patients with spinal cord injury accompanied by spasticity from September, 2019 to December, 2024. Their age, gender, cause of injury, injury site, severity of injury, spasticity severity and other indicators were recorded. The relationships between different characteristics were analyzed, and a correlation analysis of disease duration, spasticity grade, injury level, injury severity and age were conducted. ResultsThere was no significant difference in age distribution between patients with tetraplegia and paraplegia (Z = 0.806, P = 0.420). The proportions of trauma (χ² = 3.982, P = 0.046) and tetraplegia (χ² = 10.559, P = 0.010) were higher in males than in females. Trauma was the main cause of injury in both tetraplegia and paraplegia patients; the proportion of tetraplegia was higher than paraplegia in trauma patients, while paraplegia was higher than tetraplegia in non-trauma patients (χ² = 11.885, P < 0.001). Patients with tetraplegia was dominated by incomplete injury, whereas patients with paraplegia was dominated by complete injury (χ² = 10.885, P = 0.012). Grade A injury was predominant in trauma patients (P = 0.003). Spasticity grade showed a very weak positive correlation with disease duration (r = 0.175, P = 0.032) and age (r = 0.168, P = 0.040). Injury severity showed a very weak positive correlation with age (r = 0.183, P = 0.025). ConclusionCharacteristics of patients with spinal cord injury complicated with spasticity is different with gender, cause of injury, injury level, injury severity.

BACKGROUND:Virtual reality technology is a popular human-computer intelligent interaction technology in recent years,and has been widely used in leisure and entertainment,vocational training,medical rehabilitation and other fields. OBJECTIVE:To explore the potential of virtual reality technology combined with different therapies in functional recovery of patients with peripheral nerveinjury,summarize its mechanism of action,evaluate its application effects and prospects,and discuss its advantages and disadvantages,so as to provide new ideas and methods for rehabilitation practice after peripheral nerve injury.METHODS:The relevant literature of CNKI and PubMed database from inception to May 2024 was retrieved by computer. Chinese and English search terms were "peripheral nerves injury,virtual reality,endoplasmic reticulum stress,muscle atrophy,cerebral cortex,mirror therapy,tendon vibration,treadmill training." Finally,68 articles were included for analysis.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1) Virtual reality technology,as a new auxiliary means,simulates the real environment to provide immersive multi-sensory experiences for patients,greatly enriching the dimensions of rehabilitation training and significantly accelerating the recovery process of patients with peripheral nerve injury. Its mechanism of action is to promote cortical plasticity through multi-sensory stimulation,invading the dormant areas adjacent to the cortex,and these areas responding to other inputs or generating new muscle activation,thereby promoting functional recovery. (2) Virtual reality technology has been widely combined with traditional therapies,showcasing its unique advantages. When combined with mirror therapy,the advantage of virtual reality is breaking the limitation of body position and advancing the time point of rehabilitation intervention. When combined with tendon vibration,virtual reality technology enhances the dual stimulation of visual and tactile perception to enhance the illusion of movement,significantly improving the perception and motor ability of patients,but also raises the issue of increased perception of limb weight. In running machine training,virtual reality technology further leverages its advantages by simulating real-life environments through multi-sensory stimulation to enhance balance and walking function,but problems such as motion sickness still exist. (3) Therefore,in actual applications,due to the fact that virtual reality combined with mirror therapy and tendon vibration will enhance the illusion of movement for patients,it is more suitable for early stages of rehabilitation. Meanwhile,the combination of virtual reality and treadmill training is suitable for the later stage of rehabilitation,helping patients to better return to their daily lives. (4) Although virtual reality technology has shown great potential in peripheral nerve injury rehabilitation,there are still some problems and challenges,such as motion sickness,the design and application of virtual reality rehabilitation games,and ethical considerations. Future research should focus on solving these problems to further promote the development of virtual reality technology in the field of rehabilitation.

BACKGROUND:Exercise as a form of active rehabilitation can improve the dysfunction caused by peripheral nerve injury,and different exercise modalities target different lesion sites and recovery mechanisms. OBJECTIVE:To comprehensively analyze the application and mechanisms of different exercise modalities in functional recovery from peripheral nerve injury. METHODS:A computerized search was conducted in PubMed and CNKI databases for relevant literature published before January 2024.The search terms used were"peripheral nerve injury,spinal cord,exercise,cerebral cortex,muscle atrophy,mirror therapy,blood flow restriction training"in both English and Chinese.Finally,77 articles were included for review. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Peripheral nerve injury can cause systemic pathological changes such as skeletal muscle atrophy,corresponding spinal cord segmental lesions,and sensorimotor cortex remodeling.Aerobic exercise can improve dysfunction by enhancing the immune response,promoting glial cell polarization,and promoting the release of nerve growth factor.Blood flow restriction exercise can regulate the secretion of muscle growth factor,promote muscle growth and enhance muscle strength.Mirror movement has a good effect in activating the cerebral cortex and reducing cortical remodeling.Different exercise modalities have potential benefits in functional recovery after peripheral nerve injury;however,there are still some problems and challenges,such as the choice of exercise modalities,the control of exercise intensity and frequency,and the detailed analysis of mechanisms.

Objective:To investigate the risk factors for patients with hypertriglyceridemia-related acute pancreatitis (HTG-AP) developing into severe acute pancreatitis or experiencing organ failure.Methods:This retrospective cohort study collected clinical data from 2 429 patients diagnosed with acute pancreatitis from five hospitals in China between January 2019 and December 2023 using a pre-designed data collection form. The cohort included 1 516 males and 913 females,with an age of (50.2±16.5)years(range: 11 to 99 years). Among them,353 patients (16.1%) had HTG-AP,while 1 846 (83.9%) had non-HTG-AP. HTG-AP was defined as serum triglyceride levels>500 mg/dl with other etiologies excluded. Intergroup comparisons were performed using t-tests,Mann-Whitney U test or χ2 tests,respectively. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess risk factors for severe acute pancreatitis after adjusting for potential confounders,and a predictive model was developed and validated. Results:Compared with other etiologies,HTG-AP patients had a higher risk of progressing to SAP ( OR=1.415,95% CI: 0.866 to 2.312, P=0.017) and organ failure ( OR=1.256,95% CI: 1.015 to 1.554, P=0.036). Among HTG-AP patients,risk factors for SAP included body mass index ( OR=1.856,95% CI: 1.742 to 1.987, P=0.033),fasting blood glucose ( OR=1.128,95% CI: 1.036 to 1.229, P=0.006),white blood cell count( OR=1.162,95% CI: 1.055 to 1.281, P=0.002),and the presence of pleural effusion ( OR=13.151,95% CI: 4.330 to 19.946, P<0.01). A nomogram prediction model for SAP in HTG-AP was constructed based on these risk factors,demonstrating good discriminative ability with area under the curve values of 0.877 in the training set and 0.894 in the validation set,along with satisfactory calibration. Conclusions:HTG-AP patients are at higher risk of developing SAP and organ failure. The risk prediction model incorporating body mass index,fasting blood glucose,white blood cell count,and pleural effusion shows good predictive value for SAP.

Objective·To investigate the bidirectional causal relationships between celiac disease(CeD)and Hashimoto thyroiditis(HT)as well as Graves disease(GD),using a two-sample Mendelian randomization(MR)approach.Methods·Single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs)related to CeD,HT and GD were extracted from publicly available Genome-Wide Association Studies(GWAS)databases and used as instrumental variables.The inverse-variance weighted(IVW)method served as the primary analytical approach,supplemented by MR-Egger,weighted median(WME)and weighted mode(WMO)methods,to evaluate the causal associations between CeD and both HT and GD.Replication analyses using alternative GWAS datasets were conducted to validate the robustness of the results.Heterogeneity was assessed using Cochran's Q test,and pleiotropy was evaluated via MR-Egger intercept test.Leave-one-out analyses were performed to assess the impact of individual SNPs on the results.Results·The IVW analysis results indicated that genetically predicted CeD significantly increased the risk of HT[discovery group:OR=1.186(95%CI 1.114?1.262),P<0.001;replication group:OR=1.218(95%CI 1.090?1.361),P<0.001]and GD[discovery group:OR=1.214(95%CI 1.155?1.276),P<0.001;replication group:OR=1.273(95%CI 1.161?1.396),P<0.001].However,reverse MR analyses did not provide evidence for a causal relationship between HT and CeD,while genetically predicted GD significantly increased the risk of CeD[discovery group:OR=1.259(95%CI 1.006?1.576),P=0.044;replication group:OR=1.387(95%CI 1.233?1.560),P<0.001].Sensitivity analyses suggested that the results were not influenced by horizontal pleiotropy.Conclusion·CeD may be causally associated with a higher risk of HT and GD,while GD may increase the risk of developing CeD.HT does not appear to have an impact on CeD.

BACKGROUND:Peripheral nerve injuries can cause severe functional disabilities in patients,and long-segment nerve defects often fail to regenerate spontaneously.In recent years,tissue engineering techniques have gradually been applied to the repair of long-segment nerve injuries,yet research hotspots and development trends are unclear.OBJECTIVE:To analyze the research hotspots and trends in the field of peripheral nerve tissue engineering over the past 20 years using bibliometric software.METHODS:CiteSpace 6.2R6 software was employed to conduct highly cited analysis and keyword analysis on peripheral nerve tissue engineering literature published from 2004 to 2024 in the Web of Science and China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI)databases.The keyword analysis encompasses keyword co-occurrence analysis,keyword clustering analysis,keyword timeline analysis,and keyword emergence analysis.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:A total of 2 961 articles from the Web of Science database and 1171 articles from the CNKI database were included.The number of publications in the Web of Science database showed fluctuations but exhibited an overall increasing trend year by year,while the publication volume in the CNKI database remained relatively stable annually.Most of the top ten most cited articles in the Web of Science database were review articles.The results of the keyword analysis from Web of Science and CNKI databases indicated that the most studied nerve tissue engineering materials over the past 20 years include silk fibroin,collagen,chitosan,polycaprolactone,polylactic acid,and graphene.The biochemical cues investigated in these materials include olfactory ensheathing cells,Schwann cells,stem cells,and nerve growth factors.The most commonly employed external physical factor is electrical stimulation applied to the materials.Among various tissue engineering techniques,electrospinning technology and 3D printing technology have been the most extensively researched.

BACKGROUND:Cervical disc degeneration is a common degenerative disease,and inflammatory proteins play an important role in cervical disc degeneration,but the specific mechanisms involved remain to be thoroughly investigated.OBJECTIVE:Using the Mendelian randomization method to assess the potential causal relationship between 91 inflammatory proteins and cervical disc degeneration.METHODS:Genome-wide association analysis statistics for 91 inflammatory proteins(from GCST90274758 to GCST90274848)were obtained from the Genome-Wide Association Analysis Catalog of publicly available genome-wide association analysis data and genome-wide association analysis data for cervical disc degeneration from the Finngen database(finngen_R10_M13_CERVICDISCV).Inverse variance weighting,MR-Egger regression,weighted median,weighted modeling,and simple modeling were used to investigate the causal relationship between inflammatory proteins and cervical disc degeneration.Sensitivity analyses were performed to test whether the results of the Mendelian randomization analysis were reliable,and then the inverse Mendelian randomization analysis was performed in the same way.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The results of the forward analysis showed that a total of six inflammatory proteins were significantly and causally associated with cervical disc degeneration,of which glial cell lineage-derived neurotrophic factor(odds ratio(OR)=1.095,95%confidence interval(CI):1.012-1.184,P=0.023),interleukin 4(OR=1.094,95%CI:1.002-1.194,P=0.045)and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 levels(OR=1.062,95%CI:1.001-1.127,P=0.048)showed a direct positive causal association with the risk of cervical disc degeneration;interleukin 17C(OR=0.906,95%CI:0.839-0.979,P=0.013),interleukin 18(OR=0.924,95%CI:0.866-0.986,P=0.017)and interleukin 2 levels(OR=0.894,95%CI:0.821-0.973,P=0.010)showed a direct negative causal association with the risk of cervical disc degeneration.The results of the inverse analysis showed that when cervical disc degeneration was used as exposure data,there was no significant causal relationship with any of the 91 inflammatory proteins.The results of the sensitivity analysis showed that the Cochran's Q test for the two-way Mendelian randomization,the MR-Egger regression method,and the MR-PRESSO results had P values greater than 0.05,indicating that there was no significant heterogeneity or multiplicity in the analysis of the causal effect between inflammatory proteins and cervical disc degeneration.To conclude,there may be a relatively significant potential causal relationship between glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor,interleukin 4,monocyte chemotactic protein-1,interleukin 17C levels,interleukin 18,and interleukin 2 levels and cervical disc degeneration,which provides valuable clues for research on the potential mechanisms of cervical disc degeneration as well as early prevention and drug treatment of cervical disc degeneration.

BACKGROUND:Electrical stimulation is an effective treatment plan for peripheral nerve injuries,but different frequencies of electrical stimulation have different mechanisms and applications for promoting peripheral nerve recovery.OBJECTIVE:To systematically sort out and summarize the roles and applications of different frequencies of electrical stimulation in the treatment of peripheral nerve injuries,and to deeply analyze the advantages and disadvantages of various methods in order to find the most beneficial treatment strategy for patients'nerve recovery.METHODS:Computer-based searches were conducted in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI)and PubMed databases from the inception of the databases to May 2024.The search terms included"peripheral nerve injury,electrical stimulation,low frequency electrical stimulation,medium frequency electrical stimulation,high frequency electrical stimulation,TENS,interfering electricity,short wave,ultrashort wave,frequency"in both English and Chinese.Ultimately,74 relevant documents were included for analysis.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Peripheral nerve injury,a common clinical disease,can cause sensory and motor dysfunction in patients.Low-frequency electrical stimulation can promote cell proliferation and accelerate the expression of nerve growth factor within the cell after electrical stimulation,promote macrophage recruitment and infiltration,accelerate the clearance of myelin debris,and promote myelin regeneration of damaged axons.Medium-frequency electrical stimulation can act on deeper tissues and is better for relieving neuropathic pain.High-frequency electrical stimulation can promote the proliferation of Schwann cells and macrophages,inhibit inflammatory factors,and rapidly recruit cells to the site of nerve injury,accelerating the speed of nerve repair.Different frequencies of electrical stimulation have their own advantages in promoting the recovery of peripheral nerve injuries,but there are still some issues,such as differences in the site of electrical stimulation and the treatment plans for various disease types.

BACKGROUND:Electromyographic biofeedback therapy has demonstrated unique advantages of non-invasive,real-time feedback,personalized treatment and promotion of neuroplasticity,and can promote the recovery of motor function in patients with spinal cord injury.OBJECTIVE:To review the current application status and therapeutic effects of electromyographic biofeedback combined with exercise therapy,robotic exoskeletons,and virtual reality technology in the recovery of motor function after spinal cord injury.METHODS:Relevant literature was retrieved from CNKI and PubMed databases up to May 2024.The search terms included"spinal cord injury,EMG biofeedback,physical therapy,robotic exoskeleton,VR,motor function,exercise"in both English and Chinese.Finally,71 articles were included for review.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Mechanisms by which electromyographic biofeedback therapy promotes spinal cord injury rehabilitation include promoting neural plasticity changes,strengthening neuromuscular connections and improving movement patterns.Electromyographic biofeedback,as an emerging tool for treating spinal cord injury,is often used in conjunction with other therapeutic methods,including exercise therapy,robotic exoskeletons,and VR,to promote the recovery of motor function after spinal cord injury.The effectiveness of combination therapy has been significantly improved.However,there are still some problems and challenges,such as the lack of detailed analysis of the mechanism,the lack of large-scale trials that provide strong evidence for combined efficacy,and the limited adaptability of the technology.Future research can focus on these aspects:to improve the personalization and accuracy of electromyographic biofeedback;to develop new rehabilitation equipment and expand the application areas of electromyographic biofeedback combined with more advanced technologies or engineering equipment;to apply electromyographic biofeedback to gait training systems,respiratory training systems,and limb-linkage rehabilitation systems,so as to improve the accuracy of the feedback and the effect of personalized treatment plans.At the same time,the ease of use and comfort of the equipment will be improved.

Executive function(EF) is an advanced cognitive function of the central nervous system, and is closely related to an individual's capacity for daily living and adaptation. Patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) typically exhibit significant executive dysfunction. While most existing studies on the executive function of individuals with ADHD are cross-sectional, and little is known about the longitudinal maturation process of related brain structures and functional connectivity patterns. The findings indicate that ADHD patients exhibit differential developmental trajectories in brain structural and functional connectivity compared with typically developing group.Furthermore, there is a lifespan association between abnormal brain network development and ADHD symptoms. This article aims to elucidate the characteristics of executive function deficits in ADHD patients across different developmental stages, examining their relationship with the nervous system’s development from a development perspective.