Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a chronic, progressive degenerative disease affecting both upper and lower motor neurons, primarily characterized by skeletal muscle weakness and atrophy. Notably, the same muscle group may exhibit asynchronous involvement. This study aims to investigate the involvement patterns of the orbicularis oculi (OOc) and orbicularis oris (OOr) in ALS patients, compare the findings with healthy controls (HCs) and myasthenia gravis (MG) patients, and explore the characteristics and clinical significance of facial muscle involvement in ALS.

BACKGROUND:Traditional surgery for lumbar disc herniation involves extensive excision of tissue surrounding the nerve for decompression and removal of protruding lumbar intervertebral discs,which poses various risks and complications such as nerve damage causing paralysis,lumbar instability,herniation recurrence,intervertebral space infection,and adjacent vertebral diseases. OBJECTIVE:To propose the symmetrically adduction of lumbar decompression induced resorption of herniated nucleus pulpous technique for lumbar spine symmetrically decompression,showing the induced resorption of herniated nucleus pulpous phenomenon and early clinical efficacy,and then analyze its decompression mechanism. METHODS:214 patients with lumbar disc herniation at Department of Orthopedics,First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from March 2021 to May 2023 were enrolled in this study.Among them,81 patients received conservative treatment as the control group,and 133 patients received symmetrically adduction of lumbar decompression induced resorption of herniated nucleus pulpous treatment as the trial group.Before surgery,immediately after surgery(7-14 days),and early after surgery(over 1 year),MRI images were used to measure the volume changes of lumbar disc herniation.CT images were used to measure the posterior displacement distance of the lumbar spinous process ligament complex,as well as the width and height of the lateral recess.Japanese Orthopaedic Association scores were used to evaluate the patient's neurological function recovery. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Control group:81 patients with lumbar disc herniation were treated conservatively,with a total of 171 herniated lumbar discs.The average follow-up time was(22.7±23.1)months.The first and second MRI measurements of 171 herniated lumbar discs showed herniated lumbar disc volumes of(551.6±257.9)mm3 and(792.2±330.4)mm3,respectively,with an average volume increase rate of(53.2±44.4)%,showing statistically significant differences(P<0.001).Out of 171 herniated lumbar discs,4 experienced natural shrinkage,with an absorption ratio of 2.3%(4/171)and an absorption rate of(24.5±9.9)%.(2)Trial group:133 patients with lumbar disc herniation had a total of 285 herniated lumbar discs.(1)Immediately after surgery:All patients were followed up immediately after surgery.229 out of 285 herniated lumbar discs experienced retraction,with an absorption ratio of 80.3%(229/285)and an average absorption rate of(21.5±20.9)%,with significant and complete absorption accounting for 6.5%.There were a total of 70 herniated lumbar discs in the upper lumbar spine,with an absorption ratio of 85.7%(60/70),an average absorption rate of(23.1±19.5)%,and a maximum absorption rate of 86.6%.There were 215 herniated lumbar discs in the lower lumbar spine,with an absorption ratio of 78.6%(169/215),an average absorption rate of(21.0±21.3)%,and a maximum absorption rate of 83.2%.Significant and complete absorption of the upper and lower lumbar vertebrae accounted for 5.7%and 6.5%,respectively,with no statistically significant difference(P>0.05).The average distance of posterior displacement of the spinous process ligament complex immediately after surgery was(5.2±2.8)mm.There were no significant differences in the width and height of the left and right lateral recess before and immediately after surgery(P>0.05).The Japanese Orthopaedic Association score immediately after surgery increased from(10.1±3.4)before surgery to(17.0±4.8),and the immediate effective rate after surgery reached 95.6%.(2)Early postoperative period:Among them,46 patients completed the early postoperative follow-up.There were 101 herniated lumbar discs,with an absorption ratio of 94%(95/101)and an average absorption rate of(36.9±23.7)%.Significant and complete absorption accounted for 30.6%,with a maximum absorption rate of 100%.Out of 101 herniated lumbar discs,3 remained unchanged in volume,with a volume invariance rate of 2.97%(3/101).Out of 101 herniated lumbar discs,3 had an increased volume of herniated lumbar discs,with an increase ratio of 2.97%(3/101)and an increase rate of(18.5±18.4)%.The Japanese Orthopaedic Association score increased from preoperative(9.3±5.1)to(23.5±4.0),with an excellent and good rate of 93.4%.(3)The early postoperative lumbar disc herniation absorption ratios of the control group and trial group were 2.3%and 85.9%,respectively,with statistically significant differences(P<0.001).(4)Complications:There were two cases of incision exudation and delayed healing in the trial group.After conservative treatment such as dressing change,no nerve injury or death occurred in the incision healing,and no cases underwent a second surgery.(5)It is concluded that symmetrically adduction of lumbar decompression induced resorption of herniated nucleus pulpous is a new method for treating lumbar disc herniation that can avoid extensive excision of the"ring"nerve and achieve satisfactory early clinical efficacy.It does not damage the lumbar facet joints or alter the basic anatomical structure of the lateral recess,fully preserves the herniated lumbar discs,and can induce significant or even complete induced resorption of herniated nucleus pulpous.Symmetrically adduction of lumbar decompression induced resorption of herniated nucleus pulpous provides a new basis and method for the clinical treatment of lumbar disc herniation.

This study investigated the influence of Leptospira interrogans infection on the expression of the autophagy-related proteinsmyosin-like BCL2 interacting protein(Beclin-1),microtubule-associated proteinlight chain 3B(LC3B),and sequestosome 1(P62).C3H/HeJ mice were infected with L.interrogansserovar stain Lai for construction of an animal model of leptospirosis.Silver strain-ing was used to detect leptospires in lung,liver,and kidney tissues of L.interrogans-infected mice.Histological changes in these tis-sues were detected with hematoxylin and eosin(HE)staining.The morphology of autophagosomes and leptospires in the lung,liver,and kidney tissues of L.interrogans-infected micewere determined through transmission electron microscopy.Expression of the autophagy-related proteins Beclin-1,LC3B,and P62 in the lung,liver,and kidney tissues of L.interrogans-infected C3H/HeJ mice was measured with immunohistochemistry.In these tissues,silver straining examination revealed leptospires.These tissues also showed histopathological changes typical of leptospirosis,such as pulmonary hemorrhage,extensive hepatocyte necrosis,both glomerular and tubular necrosis,and inflammatory cell infiltration;moreover,the leptospires were surrounded by autophagosomes.Immunohistochemi-cal examination indicated elevated expression of both Beclin-1 and LC3B in the lung,liver and kidney tissues of L.interrogans-infected mice(P<0.05),whereas the P62 level was significantly diminished in every tissue sample during L.interrogans infection(P<0.05).These results indicated that autophagy is activated during L.interrogans infection in the lung,liver,and kidney tissues of C3H/HeJ mice.

In this study,the similarities and differences of plasma collection and quality control in China and abroad were analyzed by comparing the related regulations,standards,guidelines and literatures.Rational and constructive suggestions were proposed,aiming to optimize domestic plasma management and promote the improvement of plasma-related standards.There was little difference on facilities and safety control process of plasma between China and the developed countries(United States,EU and Japan),However,significant differences existed on plasma station setting,donor screening standards,collection interval,volume limits,plasma testing modes and tests,plasma quarantine standard and utilization of recovered plasma.The United States sets the industry benchmark and is worthy of reference for our country both in plasma collection and quality control.

Objective To examine the changing prevalence and antimicrobial resistance profiles of Burkholderia cepacia in 52 hospitals across China from 2015 to 2021.Methods A total of 9 261 strains of B.cepacia were collected from 52 hospitals between January 1,2015 and December 31,2021.Antimicrobial susceptibility of the strains was tested using Kirby-Bauer method or automated antimicrobial susceptibility testing systems according to a unified protocol.The results were interpreted according to the breakpoints released in the Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute(CLSI)guidelines(2023 edition).Results A total of 9 261 strains of B.cepacia were isolated from all age groups,especially elderly patients.The proportion was 11.1％(1 032 strains)in children,significantly lower than the proportion in adults.About half(46.5％,4 310/9 261)of the strains were isolated from patients at least 60 years old and 42.3％(3 919/9 261)of the strains were isolated from young adults.Most isolates(71.1％)were isolated from sputum and respiratory secretions,followed by urine(10.7％)and blood samples(8.1％).B.cepacia isolates were highly susceptible to the five antimicrobial agents recommended in the CLSI M100 document(33rd edition,2023).B.cepacia isolates showed relatively higher resistance rates to meropenem and levofloxacin.However,the resistance rates to ceftazidime,trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole,and minocycline remained below 8.1％.The percentage of B.cepacia strains resistant to levofloxacin was the highest compared to other antibiotics in any of the three age groups(from 12.4％in the patients＜18 years old to 20.6％in the patients aged 60 years or older).Conclusions B.cepacia is one of the clinically important non-fermenting gram-negative bacteria.Accurate and timely reporting of antimicrobial susceptibility test results and ongoing antimicrobial resistance surveillance are helpful for rational prescription of antimicrobial agents and proper prevention and control of nosocomial infections.

Intra-aortic balloon pump(IABP),as the most commonly used percutaneous mechanical circulatory assist device,is routinely implanted through the femoral artery pathway.However,when implantation through the femoral artery pathway is difficult or contraindicated,other pathways including the brachial artery pathway,axillary artery pathway,etc.can be considered.IABP assisted interventional treatment for complex high-risk and indicated patients(CHIP)can reduce the risk of intraoperative complications,stabilize hemodynamics,increase the complete revascularization rate of CHIP,and improve long-term prognosis.The reverse guidewire technique can improve the success rate of percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI)for chronic total occlusion(CTO)of coronary arteries.In clinical practice,the reverse pathway is often chosen in addition to the forward pathway,such as the contralateral radial and brachial artery pathway,femoral artery pathway,etc.This article reports a case of bilateral femoral artery occlusion,in which IABP was implanted through the left brachial artery pathway,and then with the assistance of IABP,the right coronary artery CTO lesion was successfully opened through the right radial artery in the forward direction and the right brachial artery in the reverse direction,with the aim of providing reference for clinical PCI treatment for such special cases.

Aim To investigate the role and mecha-nism of allopurinol(ALLO)in restoring the abnormal metabolism of kynurenine(Kyn)mediated by trypto-phan-2,3-dioxygenase 2(TDO2)to ameliorate ulcera-tive colitis(UC)in mice,and to provide experimental basis for the treatment of UC by ALLO.Methods A dextran sodium sulfate(DSS)-induced mouse UC mod-el was established,and the mice were randomly divided into the control group,the model group,the ALLO low,medium and high-dose groups(10,20,and 40 mg·kg-1),and the positive-significant salazosulfapyridine(SASP)(200 mg·kg-1)group.The body mass and disease activity index(DAI)scores of mice were re-corded;HE staining was performed to observe the de-gree of pathological damage in colon tissue;Western blot was performed to detect TDO2 protein expression in colon tissue;flow cytometry was performed to detect changes in the proportion of macrophages in spleen and mesenteric lymph nodes;ELISA was employed to de-tect the levels of TNF-α,IL-1β and IL-6 pro-inflamma-tory cytokines in the supernatant of colon tissue homog-enate;high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC)was used to detect the levels of tryptophan(Trp)and Kyn in the supernatant of colon tissue ho-mogenate.Results Compared with the model group,ALLO administration significantly ameliorated colonic histopathological injury in UC mice,decreased the pro-portion of macrophages in spleen and mesenteric lymph nodes,down-regulated the levels of TNF-α,IL-1 β,and IL-6 pro-inflammatory factors in serum of homogenate of colonic tissues,and inhibited the activity(Kyn/Trp ratio)and expression of TDO2 in colonic tissues.Con-clusion ALLO improves disease manifestations in mice with ulcerative colitis,which may be related to its restoration of abnormal Kyn metabolism.

A mounting body of research suggests that circRNAs significantly contribute to the develop-ment of myocardial fibrosis.The microarray results of human circular RNA expression profile indicated that circHERC4_041 expression increased in the myocardium of patients with heart failure,RT-qPCR a-nalysis confirmed that the myocardial expression level of circHERC4_041 in individuals with heart failure were considerably elevated compared to that in healthy organ donors.Fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH)confirmed that circHERC4_041 was abundant in the cytoplasm of human cardiomyocyte AC16.Overexpression of circHERC4_041 in mouse myocardial fibroblasts(mCFs)mediated by adenovirus in-hibited the expression of fibrosis-related proteins in mCFs.Experiments involving cell proliferation,wound healing,and Transwell assays demonstrated that overexpression of circHERC4_041 suppressed the growth and mobility of mCFs(P＜0.001).Sequence analysis results suggested that circHERC4_041 con-tains potential ribosome entry sequence(IRES)and open reading frame(ORF).Western blot confirmed that circHERC4_041 could translate the 516 amino acid HERC4-516aa protein,which was mainly located in the cytoplasm of the cell.Cell functional experiments confirmed that circHERC4_041 inhibited the fi-brotic phenotype of mCFs by specifically translating HERC4-516aa(P＜0.05).The specific interaction between HERC4-516aa and transglutaminase 2(TGM2)was confirmed by IP-MS screening and Co-IP i-dentification.Further results found that the degradation of TGM2 was promoted through proteasome path-way.The overexpression of TGM2 in mCFs facilitated by adenoviral vectors could counteract the suppres-sive effects of HERC4-516aa on the fibrotic phenotype of mCFs.Therefore,this study confirmed that the HERC4-516aa protein translated by circHERC4_041 can specifically bind to TGM2 to inhibit the fibrotic phenotype of myocardial fibroblasts.

A mounting body of research suggests that circRNAs significantly contribute to the develop-ment of myocardial fibrosis.The microarray results of human circular RNA expression profile indicated that circHERC4_041 expression increased in the myocardium of patients with heart failure,RT-qPCR a-nalysis confirmed that the myocardial expression level of circHERC4_041 in individuals with heart failure were considerably elevated compared to that in healthy organ donors.Fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH)confirmed that circHERC4_041 was abundant in the cytoplasm of human cardiomyocyte AC16.Overexpression of circHERC4_041 in mouse myocardial fibroblasts(mCFs)mediated by adenovirus in-hibited the expression of fibrosis-related proteins in mCFs.Experiments involving cell proliferation,wound healing,and Transwell assays demonstrated that overexpression of circHERC4_041 suppressed the growth and mobility of mCFs(P＜0.001).Sequence analysis results suggested that circHERC4_041 con-tains potential ribosome entry sequence(IRES)and open reading frame(ORF).Western blot confirmed that circHERC4_041 could translate the 516 amino acid HERC4-516aa protein,which was mainly located in the cytoplasm of the cell.Cell functional experiments confirmed that circHERC4_041 inhibited the fi-brotic phenotype of mCFs by specifically translating HERC4-516aa(P＜0.05).The specific interaction between HERC4-516aa and transglutaminase 2(TGM2)was confirmed by IP-MS screening and Co-IP i-dentification.Further results found that the degradation of TGM2 was promoted through proteasome path-way.The overexpression of TGM2 in mCFs facilitated by adenoviral vectors could counteract the suppres-sive effects of HERC4-516aa on the fibrotic phenotype of mCFs.Therefore,this study confirmed that the HERC4-516aa protein translated by circHERC4_041 can specifically bind to TGM2 to inhibit the fibrotic phenotype of myocardial fibroblasts.

Objective:To investigate the factors influencing the persistence of prostate specific antigen(PSA) following radical prostatectomy, and to develop and validate a predictive model for PSA persistence.Methods:Clinical data from 1 828 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy at Shanghai Changhai Hospital between January 2015 and December 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. Of these, 1 295 patients from January 2015 to April 2021 comprised the modeling group, while 533 patients from May 2021 to December 2023 formed the validation group. Additionally, 109 patients who underwent radical surgery at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University between March and December 2023 were included as an external validation group. Patients with incomplete clinical information, serum PSA levels exceeding 100 ng/ml, or those who received preoperative neoadjuvant therapy were excluded. Ultimately, 1 003, 369, and 86 patients were included in the modeling, validation, and external validation groups, respectively. The modeling group had serum PSA of 19.29 (8.43, 23.73) ng/ml; the clinical stages were distributed as T 1, T 2, T 3, and T 4 in 191, 673, 123, and 16 patients, respectively; the primary Gleason scores of biopsy were 3, 4, and 5 in 460, 466, and 77 patients, respectively; and the secondary Gleason scores were 3, 4, and 5 in 363, 486, and 154 patients, respectively. The validation group had serum PSA of 12.80 (6.82, 14.40) ng/ml; the clinical stages were distributed as T 1, T 2, T 3, and T 4 in 40, 289, 37, and 3 patients, respectively; the primary Gleason scores of biopsy were 3, 4, and 5 in 218, 145, and 6 patients, respectively; and the secondary Gleason scores were 3, 4, and 5 in 140, 184, and 45 patients, respectively. The external validation group had serum PSA of 12.84 (7.11, 12.97) ng/ml; the clinical stages were distributed as T 1, T 2 and T 3 in 9, 68, and 9 patients, respectively; the primary Gleason scores of biopsy were 3, 4, and 5 in 58, 27, and 1 patient, respectively; and the secondary Gleason scores were 3, 4, and 5 in 28, 50, and 8 patients, respectively. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent risk factors for PSA persistence after radical prostatectomy in the modeling group and a prediction model was constructed. The predictive performance of the model was analyzed using the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve, the calibration curve, and the clinical decision curve. The predictive performance of the model was verified by the ROC curve in the validation group and the external validation group. Results:The incidence of persistent PSA after surgery in the modeling group, validation group, and external validation group was 8.97% (90/1 003), 7.32% (27/369), and 17.4% (15/86), respectively. In the modeling group, univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that serum PSA, percentage of positive needle cores, primary Gleason score on biopsy, and secondary Gleason score on biopsy were independent risk factors for PSA persistence ( P<0.05), and a prediction model was constructed based on these factors. The AUC value of this model was 0.790 (95% CI 0.745-0.835). Calibration curve and clinical decision curve analyses showed that the model's predicted probabilities aligned well with actual risks within the 0-40% prediction interval, providing clinical benefit. The AUC values of the ROC curves in the validation group and external validation group were 0.808 (95% CI 0.719-0.897) and 0.822 (95% CI 0.714-0.929), respectively, indicating that the model had good predictive performance. Conclusions:The predictive model for PSA persistence, constructed based on serum PSA, percentage of positive needle cores, primary and secondary Gleason score on biopsy, demonstrated good clinical predictive performance, exhibiting high accuracy in both internal and cross-center validation.