Objective:To investigate the clinical manifestations, serological and cerebrospinal fluid test results for syphilis, imaging features, and prognoses of cerebral syphilitic gumma.Methods:The clinical data of 1 patient with cerebral syphilitic gumma admitted to Department of Neurology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University in March 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. Papers about cerebral syphilitic gumma were searched from journals in Journal Citation Reports Q1 from 2000 to 2019, journals from 2020 to 2024 in PubMed, WOS, Embase, and Scopus databases, and journals from 2000 to 2024 in Wanfang Database, CNKI, and VIP database; the clinical data of 54 patients with cerebral syphilitic gumma reported in above databases and 1 patient in our hospital were collected for pooled analysis.Results:The main clinical manifestations of 55 cerebral syphilitic gumma patients included headache (32, 58.2%), lateral limb/facial weakness (25, 45.5%), nausea and vomiting (14, 25.5%), dizziness (11, 20.0%), sensory disturbances (10, 18.2%), blurred vision (7, 12.7%), seizure (5, 9.1%)), hearing loss (5, 9.1%), tinnitus (5, 9.1%), memory loss (3, 5.5%), aphasia (3, 5.5%), dysarthria (2, 3.6%), drop attack (2, 3.6%), weakness in opening eyes (2, 3.6%), unresponsiveness (1, 1.8%), Argyll-Robertson pupil (1, 1.8%), tabes dorsalis gait (1, 1.8%), and fever (1, 1.8%). In 51 patients who reported complete serologic test results, 45 patients (88.2%) were positive for non-specific antibodies to syphilis, and all patients were positive for specific antibodies to syphilis. In 34 patients underwent cerebrospinal fluid examination, 25 (73.5%) were positive for non-specific antibodies to syphilis, and 32 (94.1%) were positive for specific antibodies to syphilis. Isolated intracranial lesion (43, 78.2%) was mostly common in imaging test, and the frequently involved cranial sites were, orderly, the frontal lobe (14, 25.5%), parietal lobe (14, 25.5%), temporal lobe (5, 9.1%), frontotemporal lobe (3, 5.5%), frontoparietal lobe (2, 3.6%), parieto-occipital lobe (2, 3.6%), nucleus pulposus (1, 1.8%), clivus (1/55, 1.8%), and cerebral peduncle of the midbrain (1, 1.8%). Thirty patients (54.5%) were misdiagnosed as having other intracranial space-occupied diseases, orderly, glioma (11, 36.7%), metastatic tumors (5, 16.7%), meningiomas (4, 13.3%), other unexplained intracranial space-occupying (4, 13.3%), brain abscess (3, 10.0%), cavernous hemangioma (1, 3.3%), intracranial lymphoma (1, 3.3%), auditory nerve and pituitary tumors (1, 3.3%). Of the 42 patients who reported prognosis after anti-syphilitic treatments, 41 had varying degrees of improvement, and one died of brain herniation.Conclusion:Because of atypical clinical manifestations and lack of clear diagnostic criteria, cerebral syphilitic gumma is often misdiagnosed as intracranial tumors; cerebral syphilitic gumma should be considered in patients with positive non-specific antibodies to syphilis/specific antibodies to syphilis in serum and cerebrospinal fluid having neurological symptoms and intracranial space-occupied foci; timely diagnosed and treated patients can prognosed well.

Objective:To explore the short-term efficacy of small dose omalizumab in refractory sinusitis with eosinophilia after extended sinus surgery.Methods:A total of 24 patients who met the diagnostic criteria for eosinophilic chronic rhinosinusitis and remained poorly controlled after multiple surgical treatments were included in this study. These patients were admitted to Hunan People′s Hospital between January 2020 and June 2022, and comprised 13 males and 11 females with an average age of (46.43±13.74) years. The patients were randomly divided into experimental group (12 cases) and control group (12 cases), both of which underwent extended sinus opening surgery. The experimental group received a small dose of omalizumab (150 mg/month) for 4 months, while no omalizumab was applied in the control group. All patients were followed up monthly, subjective and objective symptom scores were collected and compared between groups, which included visual analogue scale (VAS) score, sino-nasal outcome test (SNOT)-22 score, Lund-Mackay score, and Lund-Kennedy score. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 24.0 software.Results:The baseline was set at 1 month after surgery. There was no significant difference in baseline clinical characteristics between the two groups. After 4 months of treatment with omalizumab, the experimental group showed significant improvements in VAS scores for nasal obstruction, rhinorrhea, hyposmia, SNOT‐22 score, and Lund-Kennedy score (3.11±1.05 vs 6.44±1.13, 2.00±0.87 vs 6.55±1.33, 2.22±0.67 vs 7.00±1.22, 4.44±0.88 vs 15.22±1.20, 1.67±1.00 vs 7.44±0.88, respectively, all P<0.001). Compared to the control group at 4 months after baseline, the experimental group had significantly lower scores for nasal obstruction, rhinorrhea, hyposmia, SNOT-22, and Lund-Kennedy (3.11±1.05 vs 7.11±1.17, 2.00±0.87 vs 7.67±1.41, 2.22±0.67 vs 7.56±0.88, 4.44±0.88 vs 15.33±2.34, 1.67±1.00 vs 9.00±1.41, respectively, all P<0.001). During a 2-month follow-up period after drug withdrawal, the VAS, SNOT-22, and Lund-Kennedy scores of the experimental group were slightly higher than those before drug withdrawal but showed no significant difference (3.44±1.33 vs 3.11±1.05, 2.22±1.09 vs 2.00±0.86, 2.55±0.88 vs 2.22±0.66, 4.77±0.97 vs 4.44±0.88, 2.11±1.05 vs 1.67±1.00, respectively, all P>0.05). Conclusion:For patients of refractory sinusitis with eosinophilia, a combination of extended sinus surgery and postoperative small dosage of omalizumab can effectively control mucous inflammation, promote mucosal epithelization, and play an important role in the critical early stage of disease recovery.

ObjectiveTo study the effect of total flavone of Litchi Semen （TFL） on proliferation， apoptosis， migration， and invasion of hepatoma cells HepG2. MethodMethyl thiazolyl tetrazolium colorimetric （MTT） assay was used to detect the effect of different-dose TFL and cisplatin on the proliferation of HepG2 cells. TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling （TUNEL） assay was used to detect the effects of low， medium， and high-dose （70， 140， 210 mg·L^-1） of TFL and cisplatin （60 mg·L^-1） on the apoptosis of HepG2 cells， thus selecting the optimal dose of TFL for the follow-up experiment. HepG2 cells were divided into a blank group， a TFL group （140 mg·L^-1）， a TFL+XL019 group （140 mg·L^-1 TFL+0.5 μmol·L^-1 XL019）， and a TFL+TPI-1 group （140 mg·L^-1 TFL+1 μmol·L^-1 TPI-1）. The effect of TFL on migration and invasion of HepG2 cells were examined by wound healing test and Transwell invasion assay， and the effect of TFL on the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition （EMT） marker in HepG2 cells were examined by cell immunofluorescence assay. Western blot was used to detect the expression of key proteins in Janus kinase 2（JAK2）/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 （STAT3） signaling pathway after the intervention by TFL. ResultMTT assay showed that the proliferation of HepG2 cells was significantly inhibited by TFL and cisplatin at 24 and 48 h as compared with blank group （P<0.01）， and the half maximal inhibitory concentration （IC₅₀） of TFL on HepG2 cells was （136.7±2.40） mg·L^-1 at 24 h and （106.8±1.11） mg·L^-1 at 48 h. The IC₅₀ of cisplatin on HepG2 cells was （58.48±2.04） mg·L^-1 at 24 h and （5.15±0.56） mg·L^-1 at 48 h. The results of TUNEL assay showed that TFL induced apoptosis of HepG2 cells. The optimal dose of TFL was 140 mg·L^-1. The results of wound healing test showed that compared with the blank group， the TFL group， TFL+XL019 group， and the TFL+TPI-1 group significantly inhibited the migration of HepG2 cells （P<0.05， P<0.01）. As compared with the TFL group， the inhibitory effect of the TFL+XL019 Group was significantly increased （P<0.05）， while that of the TFL+TPI-1 group was significantly decreased （P<0.01）. The Transwell invasion assay showed that compared with the blank group， the TFL group， TFL+XL019 group， and the TFL+TPI-1 group significantly inhibited the invasion of HepG2 cells （P<0.01）. As compared with the TFL group， the inhibitory effect of the TFL+XL019 group was significantly increased （P<0.05）， while that of the TFL+TPI-1 group was significantly decreased （P<0.01）. The results of immunofluorescence showed the intervention of TFL up-regulated the expression of E-cadherin， and down-regulated the expression of Vimentin in HepG2 cells， which was stronger in the TFL+XL019 group and weaker in the TFL+TPI-1 group. The results of Western blot showed that compared with the blank group， the TFL group， TFL+XL019 group， and the TFL+TPI-1 group did not affect the expression of JAK2 or STAT3 protein， but significantly decreased the expression levels of phosphorylatied （p）-JAK2 and p-STAT3 （P<0.05， P<0.01）. As compared with the TFL group， the expression levels of p-JAK2 and p-STAT3 in the TFL+XL019 group were significantly decreased （P<0.01）， while those in the TFL+TPI-1 group were significantly increased （P<0.01）. Compared with the blank group， the TFL group significantly increased the expression level of Src-homology domain 2 containing protein tyrosine phosphatase-1（SHP-1） with sh2 domain （P<0.01）. ConclusionTFL has the effects of inhibiting the proliferation， promoting apoptosis of HepG2 cells， and reversing the EMT process of HepG2 cells to reduce the migration and invasion， which are presumably related to the activation of SHP-1 by TFL to block JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway.

Astragali radix(AR,the dried root of Astragalus)is a popular herbal remedy in both China and the United States.The commercially available AR is commonly classified into premium graded(PG)and ungraded(UG)ones only according to the appearance.To uncover novel sensitive and specific markers for AR grading,we took the integrated mass spectrometry-based untargeted and targeted metabolomics ap-proaches to characterize chemical features of PG and UG samples in a discovery set(n=16 batches).A series of five differential compounds were screened out by univariate statistical analysis,including arginine,calycosin,ononin,formononetin,and astragaloside Ⅳ,most of which were observed to be accumulated in PG samples except for astragaloside Ⅳ.Then,we performed machine learning on the quantification data of five compounds and constructed a logistic regression prediction model.Finally,the external validation in an independent validation set of AR(n=20 batches)verified that the five com-pounds,as well as the model,had strong capability to distinguish the two grades of AR,with the pre-diction accuracy＞90％.Our findings present a panel of meaningful candidate markers that would significantly catalyze the innovation in AR grading.

To explore the effect of Astragalus membranaceus, a traditional Chinese medicine, on metabolic homeostasis of heart, brain and blood in mice, and to elucidate the cardio-cerebrovascular protective mechanisms of AR from the perspective of metabolic regulation. Thirteen ICR male mice were randomly divided into two groups which were intragastrically administered with ultrapure water and aqueous extract of Astragalus membranaceus for 10 consecutive days, respectively. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were used to comprehensively characterize the metabolic profiles of serum, heart and brain tissues. Multivariate statistical analysis combined with nonparametric tests were applied to screen and identify different metabolites, and then the related metabolic pathways were uncovered. Multivariate statistical analysis showed that the metabolic profiles of serum, heart, and brain tissues of mice after Astragalus membranaceus intervention significantly changed compared with the control group. A total of 15, 19, and 17 metabolites were identified in serum, heart, and brain tissues, respectively, among which palmitic acid and LysoPC (20∶3) were screened out from all types of biological samples. The results of metabolic pathway enrichment analysis showed that amino acid metabolism, phospholipid metabolism, fatty acid metabolism and tricarboxylic acid cycle were significantly affected. Astragalus membranaceus may protect the cardio-cerebrovascular system by regulating the metabolic homeostasis of amino acids, lipids and energy.

Objective To explore the curative effect and safety of botulintum toxin A (BTX?A) on depressive disorder in patients with Parkinson′s disease (PD). Methods Forty?two cases of PD with depression prospectively recruited in the Second Hospital Affiliated to Soochow University from August 2016 to November 2018 were divided into two groups: 28 patients in BTX?A group (administered with 100 U BTX?A injection on patients′eyebrow, forehead, bilateral lateral canthus and temporal region at 20 loci), 14 patients in sertraline (control) group (administered with 50-100 (55.36±14.47) mg/d sertraline). The scores of Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD), Self?rating Depression Scale (SDS), Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (HAMA), Self?rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) after treatment for 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks and 12 weeks were compared with the scores of each emotional rating scale for baseline respectively. Meanwhile, the differences in the scores of each emotional scale between the two treatment groups were compared. In addition, the remission rates of depression and anxiety (defined as HAMD, HAMA scores<7) at each follow?up time point between the two groups were compared to evaluate the efficacy and safety of BTX?A in the treatment of PD patients with depression. Results The scores of HAMD, HAMA, SDS, SAS in the BTX?A group and the sertraline group reduced compared to baseline after treatment (at the 2nd, 4th, 8th, 12th weeks). The scores of HAMD and SDS in the BTX?A group (HAMD scores: F=12.930, P<0.01; SDS scores: F=5.022, P=0.001) and those in the sertraline group (HAMD scores: F=2.883, P=0.030; SDS scores:F=3.427, P=0.013) were significantly lower compared to baseline, but there was no statistically significant difference in the scores of HAMD and SDS between the two groups (P>0.05). HAMD score showed that the remission rate of depression in the BTX?A group (17.9% (5/28), 35.7% (10/28)) was higher than that of the sertraline group (2/14, 4/14) at the 2nd and 4th weeks. At the 8th and 12th weeks, the remission rate of depression in the sertraline group (7/14, 9/14) was higher than that of the BTX?A group (46.4% (13/28), 53.6% (15/28)). There was no statistically significant difference in remission rate of depression between the two groups at each follow?up time point (P>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in HAMD scores between males and females in the BTX?A group (P>0.05). Two of the 28 patients in the BTX?A group had frown muscle stiffness, which lasted for two weeks and improved in one month. Two patients in the sertraline group had headache and dizziness, and two patients had dry mouth and nausea, which improved after two weeks. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups (P=0.197). Conclusion BTX?A intraocular facial muscle injection can significantly improve the depressive symptoms of PD patients, and the effect lasts for a long time, with low incidence of side effects and high safety, which can be considered as a safe and effective new method for PD patients with depressive symptoms.

Objective: To explore the curative effect and safety of botulintum toxin A (BTX-A) on depressive disorder in patients with Parkinson′s disease (PD). Methods: Forty-two cases of PD with depression prospectively recruited in the Second Hospital Affiliated to Soochow University from August 2016 to November 2018 were divided into two groups: 28 patients in BTX-A group (administered with 100 U BTX-A injection on patients′ eyebrow, forehead, bilateral lateral canthus and temporal region at 20 loci), 14 patients in sertraline (control) group (administered with 50-100 (55.36±14.47) mg/d sertraline). The scores of Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD), Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (HAMA), Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) after treatment for 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks and 12 weeks were compared with the scores of each emotional rating scale for baseline respectively. Meanwhile, the differences in the scores of each emotional scale between the two treatment groups were compared. In addition, the remission rates of depression and anxiety (defined as HAMD, HAMA scores<7) at each follow-up time point between the two groups were compared to evaluate the efficacy and safety of BTX-A in the treatment of PD patients with depression. Results: The scores of HAMD, HAMA, SDS, SAS in the BTX-A group and the sertraline group reduced compared to baseline after treatment (at the 2nd, 4th, 8th, 12th weeks). The scores of HAMD and SDS in the BTX-A group (HAMD scores: F=12.930, P<0.01; SDS scores: F=5.022, P=0.001) and those in the sertraline group (HAMD scores: F=2.883, P=0.030; SDS scores: F=3.427, P=0.013) were significantly lower compared to baseline, but there was no statistically significant difference in the scores of HAMD and SDS between the two groups (P>0.05). HAMD score showed that the remission rate of depression in the BTX-A group (17.9% (5/28), 35.7% (10/28)) was higher than that of the sertraline group (2/14, 4/14) at the 2nd and 4th weeks. At the 8th and 12th weeks, the remission rate of depression in the sertraline group (7/14, 9/14) was higher than that of the BTX-A group (46.4% (13/28), 53.6% (15/28)). There was no statistically significant difference in remission rate of depression between the two groups at each follow-up time point (P>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in HAMD scores between males and females in the BTX-A group (P>0.05). Two of the 28 patients in the BTX-A group had frown muscle stiffness, which lasted for two weeks and improved in one month. Two patients in the sertraline group had headache and dizziness, and two patients had dry mouth and nausea, which improved after two weeks. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups (P=0.197). Conclusion BTX-A intraocular facial muscle injection can significantly improve the depressive symptoms of PD patients, and the effect lasts for a long time, with low incidence of side effects and high safety, which can be considered as a safe and effective new method for PD patients with depressive symptoms.

OBJECTIVE： To study the effects of ethanol extract of Sanguis Draconis on the survival of perforating flap model in rats and PI3K/Akt/eNOS pathway. METHODS： Perforating flap model was established by cutting off surrounding vessels and keeping one perforator. After modeling， the rats were divided into model group （external use， normal saline） and ethanol extract of Sanguis Draconis （EESD， the content of dracorhodin was 75.08 mg/g） group （external use， 0.21 g/cm2）， with 10 rats in each group. They were given relevant medicine for consecutive 7 days， once a day. The flap survival rate and flap microvessel density were determined after given relevant medicine 7 days. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells （HUVECs） were reoxygenated and glycoconjugated 16 h after hypoxia and hypoglycemia to establish oxygen-glucose deprivation/oxygen-glucose recovery model of HUVECs. After modeling， model cells were divided into normal group， model group， dracorhodin high-concentration， medium- concentration and high-concentration groups （2.5， 1.0， 0.5 μg/mL）. After reoxygenated and glycoconjugated for 24 h， cells morphology was observed by microscope； cell viability and the content of NO were detected by MTT assay and colorimetry. mRNA expression of Akt， PI3K and eNOS， PI3K protein expression， the phosphorylation of Akt and eNOS protein were determined by RT-PCR and Western blot assay. RESULTS： In rat experiment， compared with model group， flap survival rate and microvessel density of rats were increased significantly in EESD group （P＜0.01）. In cell experiment， compared with normal group， the survival rate of HUVEC， NO content， mRNA expression of PI3K， Akt， eNOS，PI3K protein expression， the phosphorylation of Akt and eNOS protein were decreased significantly （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. Compared with model group， dracorhodin high-concentration， medium-concentration and high-concentration groups survival rate of HUVEC cells， NO content， mRNA expression of PI3K， Akt and eNOS， PI3K protein expression， the phosphorylation of Akt and eNOS protein were increased significantly （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. CONCLUSIONS： The survival rate of perforating flap model in rat can be increased by treating with EESD， the mechanism of which may be associated with the activation of PI3K/Akt/eNOS pathway to protect endothelial cells.

Objective To investigate the benefits of replanning after induction chemotherapy(IC) by analyzing the dosimetric impact of IC on intensity-modulated radiotherapy(IMRT)for locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC)and the dosimetric characteristics of replanning after IC, and to provide data for the rational design of clinical radiotherapy plans. Methods 16 NPC patients underwent contrast-enhanced CT scan once before and after IC.Target volumes were delineated and the chemotherapy plans were created,defined as Plan-1 and Plan-2,respectively. Then the target structure after IC was copied to Plan-1, generating the third plan, defined as Plan-1-2. The paired t-test was used to compare the dosimetric parameters between Plan-1 and Plan-1-2 and between Plan-2 and Plan-1-2. Results Plan-1 vs. Plan-1-2:Plan-1-2 showed significantly reduced D meanof target volume compared with Plan-1(P<0.05). Plan-1-2 significantly increased D meanand D maxof the spinal cord(P<0.05),although significantly reduced D mean of the brain stem and D maxof the temporal lobes compared with Plan-1. Plan-1-2 also had significantly reduced conformity index(CI)and significantly increased homogeneity index(HI)for the target volume compared with Plan-1(P<0.05). Plan-2 vs. Plan-1-2:Compared with Plan-1-2, Plan-2 significantly increased D meanand D minof gross tumor volume(GTV)and primary GTV(P<0.05)and significantly reduced D meanof the temporal lobes and D maxand D meanof the spinal cord(P<0.05), with D max decreased to 430.48 cGy;Plan-2 had significantly increased CI and significantly reduced HI for the target volume compared with Plan-1-2(all P<0.05). Conclusions IMRT plan-1 after IC has worse dosimetric distribution,while replanning after IC has more dosimetric benefits.

Objective To observe the prevention and treatment of the total flavonoids from Litchi chinensis Sonn( TFL) on hepatic fibrosis induced by dimethylnitrosamine(DMN)in rats, and to explore its mechanism. Methods Ninety SD rats were randomly divided into six groups, normal control group, model control group, colchicine group, high-, medium- and low-dose TFL group(n=15).Expect for normal control group, the other groups were given intraperitoneal injection of 2 mL.kg-1 of 5% dimethylnitrosamine for 4 weeks as the model group. The rats in the normal control group and model control group were given 5 mL.kg-1of 0.9% sodium chloride solution, colchicine group was treated with 0.1 mg.kg-1 colchicine.High-, medium-and low-dose TFL groups were given 200, 100 and 50 mg.kg-1 of TFL.The rats were sacrificed and the livers were harvested and stained with HE and Masson staining to observe pathological changes and liver fibrosis in the same part 6 weeks after all the medicine was given to the rats each day. Immunohistochemistry and Western blotting were used to detect the expression of the transforming growth factor β-Ⅰ/type Ⅱ receptor ( TβRⅠ/Ⅱ) , collagen Ⅰ( Col Ⅰ) and Ⅲ collagen ( Col Ⅲ) . Results Compared with the normal control group, the semiquantitative score of liver fiber and the protein expression of TβRⅠ, TβRⅡ, ColⅠ and Col Ⅲ in the model control group were significantly increased(P<0.01).Compared with the model control group, the protein expression levels of TβR, TβRⅡ, ColⅠand ColⅢwere significantly decreased( P<0.01) in the high-,medium-and low-dose TFL group.The semiquantitative score of liver fiber was significantly decreased( P<0.01) with a dose-effect relationship. Conclusion TFL can inhibit formation of DMN-induced liver fibrosis in rats, which may be related with reduction of expression of TβRⅠ/Ⅱ of hepatic fibrosis promoting factor TGF-β1 , inhibition of the activation and increase of hepatic stellate cells, reduction of the collagen content.