Chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH) plays an important role in the occurrence and development of vascular dementia (VD). Recent studies have indicated that multiple stages of immune-inflammatory response are involved in the process of cerebral ischemia, drawing increasing attention to immune therapies for cerebral ischemia. This study aims to identify potential immune therapeutic targets for CCH using bioinformatics methods from an immunological perspective. We identified a total of 823 differentially expressed genes associated with CCH, and further screened for 9 core immune-related genes, namely RASGRP1, FGF12, SEMA7A, PAK6, EDN3, BPHL, FCGRT, HSPA1B and MLNR. Gene enrichment analysis showed that core genes were mainly involved in biological functions such as cell growth, neural projection extension, and mesenchymal stem cell migration. Biological signaling pathway analysis indicated that core genes were mainly involved in the regulation of T cell receptor, Ras and MAPK signaling pathways. Through LASSO regression, we identified RASGRP1 and BPHL as key immune-related core genes. Additionally, by integrating differential miRNAs and the miRwalk database, we identified miR-216b-5p as a key immune-related miRNA that regulates RASGRP1. In summary, the predicted miR-216b-5p/ RASGRP1 signaling pathway plays a significant role in immune regulation during CCH, which may provide new targets for immune therapy in CCH.
Humans ; Computational Biology/methods* ; Brain Ischemia/therapy* ; Immunotherapy ; MicroRNAs/genetics* ; Signal Transduction ; Dementia, Vascular/genetics* ; Chronic Disease

OBJECTIVE To investigate the variations in taste， aroma and volatile organic compounds of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma decoction pieces derived from different sources， and to identify their origins. METHODS The flavor， odor and volatile organic compounds of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma decoction pieces from different sources were compared and analyzed by using electronic tongue， electronic nose， and gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry （GC-IMS）. Principal component analysis （PCA）， partial least squares-discriminant analysis （PLS-DA）， orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis （OPLS-DA） and Fisher discriminant analysis were employed to identify the origins of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma decoction pieces and establish the basis discrimination criteria. RESULTS The differences in taste of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma decoction pieces from 3 origins were primarily characterized by bitterness， astringency， and bitter-astringent aftertaste. In terms of smell， variations were mainly observed in inorganic sulfides， organic sulfides containing aromatic components， methane and other short-chain alkanes， alcohols， ethers， aldehydes and ketones， as well as nitrogen oxides. Differentially volatile organic compounds mainly consisted of alcohols， aldehydes and ketones. Furthermore， the samples from 8 batches could be effectively classified into 3 categories.Three types of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma decoction pieces can be effectivily identified based on the peak intensity ratio between volatile substances. For example， when the peak intensity of 2-acetylfuran was 3-19 times that of isobutyric acid [dimer]， it was considered as Rheum officinale Baill. CONCLUSIONS The discriminant models established in this study， along with the criteria for determining the origins based on the peak intensity ofcharacteristic volatile compounds， can be utilized for the identification of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma decoction pieces.

Objective:To investigate the characteristics of 18F-FDG and 18F-9-fluoropropyl-(+ )-dihydrotetrabenazine (FP-(+ )-DTBZ; short for DTBZ) brain vesicular monoamine transporter type 2 (VMAT2) PET/CT imaging and analyze its clinical diagnostic value in Parkinson′s disease (PD) patients with or without rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (RBD). Methods:From July 2022 to June 2023, 50 patients clinically confirmed with primary PD who underwent 18F-FDG and 18F-DTBZ PET/CT imaging in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University were prospectively collected. Among them, 18 patients with PD accompanied by RBD (PD-RBD(+ ) group; 16 males, 2 females, age (59.2±9.3) years); 32 patients without RBD (PD-RBD(-) group; 16 males, 16 females, age (57.7±10.2) years). Moreover, 10 healthy controls matched with the age of PD patients were included (5 males, 5 females, age (60.3±9.6) years). 18F-DTBZ specific uptake ratio (SUR) of bilateral striatum, caudate nucleus, anterior putamen, posterior putamen, nucleus accumbens, substantia nigra and other brain regions were obtained with occipital cortex as the reference region. Striatal anterior-posterior gradient and other related semi-quantitative indicators were calculated according to the corresponding formula. One-way analysis of variance (the least significant difference (LSD)- t test), Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test (Bonferroni correction), independent-sample t test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to analyze the data. Pearson correlation and Spearman rank correlation analyses were used to evaluate the correlations. ROC curve analysis was also performed. The differences in global glucose metabolism in two groups were compared using statistical parametric mapping (SPM). Results:PD-RBD(+ ) group had a significantly lower Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) or PD Sleep Scale (PDSS) score than PD-RBD(-) group ( z values: -3.12, -3.08, both P<0.01), and its contralateral striatal anterior-posterior gradient of the predominantly affected limbs was significantly lower than that in PD-RBD(-) group ( t=-2.73, P=0.009). SPM analysis showed that the glucose metabolism in the contralateral prefrontal lobe was higher than that in the PD-RBD (-) group ( t values: 3.11-3.57, all P<0.001). 18F-DTBZ SUR in the bilateral striatum, caudate nucleus, anterior putamen, posterior putamen, nucleus accumbens, substantia nigra were considerably lower in both groups compared to the healthy control group ( F values: 6.24-147.61, H values: 8.66-24.43, all P<0.05; post-hoc: LSD- t test, Bonferroni correction, all P<0.01). In the PD-RBD(-) group, contralateral striatal anterior-posterior gradient were negatively correlated with unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS) score and modified Hoehn-Yahr (mH-Y) stage ( r=-0.35, P=0.048; rs=-0.39, P=0.026). The AUC for distinguishing PD-RBD(+ ) and PD-RBD(-) with a contralateral striatal anterior-posterior gradient was 0.706 (95% CI: 0.562-0.851, P=0.016), with the sensitivity and specificity of 59.4%(19/32) and 16/18, respectively. Conclusions:The decrease of contralateral striatal anterior-posterior gradient of VMAT2 is more obvious in patients with PD-RBD(+ ), and there are differences in brain metabolism between the two groups, suggesting that there may be different neuropathological changes and different pathophysiological mechanisms between PD patients with and without RBD. 18F-DTDZ PET/CT can provide imaging basis for the differential diagnosis of the disease subtypes.

Clinicians need to focus on various points in the diagnosis and treatment of insomnia.This article prescribed the treatment protocol based on the unique features,such as insomnia in the elderly,women experiencing specific physiologi-cal periods,children insomnia,insomnia in sleep-breathing disorder patients,insomnia in patients with chronic liver and kidney dysfunction.It pro-vides some reference for clinicians while they make decision on diagnosis,differentiation and treat-ment methods.

Objective To investigate the association between clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential(CHIP)and the severity of coronary artery lesions in coronary heart disease(CHD)patients with renal insufficiency.Methods A case-control trial was conducted on 70 CHD patients with renal insufficiency admitted in Chongqing Emergency Medical Center(Affiliated Central Hospital of Chongqing University)and Department of Cardiovascular Diseases of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from December 2023 to July 2024.According to the median Gensini score,they were classified into the Gensini score＜44 group(n=34)and ≥44 group(n=36),and based on carrying CHIP mutation or not,they were divided into CHIP group(n=23)and non-CHIP group(n=47).The differences in clinical data were compared between the above 2 pair groups respectively.Binary logistic regression analysis was used to assess the relationship between CHIP status and the severity of coronary artery lesions.Results Compared with the Gensini score＜44 group,the Gensini score ≥44 group had a higher CHIP carriage rate(17.2％vs 47.6％,P=0.008)as well as NT-proBNP level(767 vs 3 480 ng/L,P=0.039).Binary logistic regression analysis showed that CHIP status was still associated with higher Gensini scores after adjustment of NT-proBNP(OR=3.935,95％CI=1.153～13.435,P=0.029).Further CHIP grouping results suggested that the patients in the CHIP group had higher Gensini score(48 vs 38,P=0.004),larger proportion of 3-vessle disease(52.2％vs 25.5％,P=0.040),and lower left ventricular ejection fraction(55.0％vs 58.0％,P=0.042)than those in the non-CHIP group.Conclusion CHIP is an independent risk factor for severe coronary artery disease in CHD patients with renal insufficiency.

Objective:To analyze the characteristics of aneurysmal bone cysts (ABC) and related factors of postoperative recurrence, so as to improve the clinical diagnosis and treatment level of ABC in children.Methods:The clinical data of children pathologically diagnosed as ABC after surgery in the Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University from January 2010 to December 2018 were retrospectively analyzed.Clinical characteristics of the patients, including age, gender, lesion sites, and main clinical manifestations (pain, swelling, local tenderness, joint dysfunction and pathological fracture) were analyzed and summarized.Before operation, imaging Enneking staging was carried out, cyst volume was estimated, and the distance from cysts to the epiphyseal plate was measured.During surgery, patients received lesion curettage, local cautery and bone grafting, and the pathological fractures were treated with auxiliary internal fixation.Results were determined by Neer imaging grading after surgery, and grades Ⅰ and Ⅱ were postoperative recurrence.Possible recurrence factors were analyzed statistically by Fisher′ s exact test. Results:A total of 29 cases meeting the criteria were included, including 19 males and 10 females.The age ranged from 3.6 to 14.0 years old, averaging 9.2 years old; 12 patients were smaller than 10 years old and 17 patients were older than 10 years old.The cysts of 9 cases were located in proximal femur (31.0%), 5 cases in proximal humerus (17.2%), and 4 cases in proximal fibula (13.8%); The other 11 cases (37.9%) occurred in the middle and distal end; 26 cases (89.7%) had local tenderness, 25 cases (86.2%) showed varying degrees of pain, 18 cases (62.1%) presented local swelling, 15 cases (51.7%) were accompanied by joint dysfunction, and 12 cases (41.4%) were combined with pathological fractures.According to Enneking staging results, 18 cases (62.1%) were at rest stage, 7 cases (24.1%) at active stage, and 4 cases (13.8%) at invasive stage.Cyst volume was estimated to be 3.3-172.0 cm 3, with a median of about 50.8 cm 3.The distance from cysts to the epiphyseal plate was 0-85.0 mm, with a median of 20.8 mm.All children were followed up for 2.2-10.1 years (averaging 3.8 years). There were 6 cases (20.7%) of grades Ⅰ and Ⅱ according to Neer grading standard, and they suffered from recurrence about 2.5-20.3 months after surgery (averaging 12.5 months). The recurrence rate was higher in patients with cyst volume >50.8 cm 3 (42.9%, 6/14 cases) as well as in patients at active stage and invasive stage (45.5%, 5/11 cases) ( P<0.05). There was no statistical difference between the recurrence rate of ABC in different gender, age, the distance from cysts to the epiphyseal plate and pathological fractures. Conclusions:ABC is prone to occur in the proximal metaphysis of the long bones of children′s extremities.Main manifestations are pain, swelling, local tenderness and joint dysfunction, and ABC is frequently accompanied by pathological fractures.A higher postoperative recurrence rate is related to a larger cyst size and the active and invasion phases of the cyst, but gender, age, the distance from the cyst to the epiphyseal plate and pathological fractures are not significantly related to the postoperative recurrence rate.

The clinical data of rare hemiaxial limb skeletal Ollier disease in a child admitted to the Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University in July 2020 were analyzed retrospectively.The literature was reviewed and the methods of diagnosis and treatment of Ollier disease in children were summarized.The patient is a 3-year-old boy, who was hospitalized for 2 days of claudication of the right lower limb.Imaging examination showed hemiaxial limb ske-letal disease and suggested the possibility of histiocytosis.Curettage, bone graft and plaster external fixation were performed on the lesions of the right femoral neck and greater trochanter.The postoperative pathological results indicated endogenous chondroma.The follow-up results revealed that the bone graft healed well, the symptoms of claudication were improved, and there were no complications such as infections and femoral head necrosis.Long tubular bones are the main site of children′s Ollier disease, but multiple lesions in hemiaxial limbs are extremely rare.It is difficult to diagnose this rare case, which is easily misdiagnosed.At present, it′s diagnosis still needs to be confirmed by pathological examination.Surgical treatment and long-term follow-up are needed for children with a wide range of lesions, seriously impaired limb function and obvious limb deformity.

Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics of bone tumors in children, so as to improve the understanding and diagnosis of bone tumors in children.Methods:The clinical data of bone tumors in children hospitalized in the Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University from January 2009 to December 2018 were collected, with the age ≤ 14 years old.All children′s gender, age, tumor type, location, number of lesions and first symptoms were counted, and the clinical characteristics of bone tumors in children in this area were analyzed.Results:Totally 548 children with bone tumor were collected, with 344 males and 204 females, and the ratio of males to females was 1.69∶1.00, with 462 single cases and 86 multiple cases.Among the multiple cases (86 cases), 82 cases (95.35%) were benign bone tumors.The total number of cases increased with age.The age of different tumors has its own characteristics.Tibia was the most common tumor location (223 in total), followed by femur (177 in total) and humerus (82 in total). According to the classification of tumor nature, there were 478 cases (87.22%) of benign bone tumors, 43 cases (7.85%) of intermediate bone tumors and 27 cases (4.93%) of malignant bone tumors.The incidence of benign bone tumors was significantly higher than that of intermediate and malignant bone tumors, with statistically significant differences ( χ2=72.604, P<0.05). Among the benign bone tumors (478 cases), osteochondroma was the most common (265 cases), accounting for 55.44%; among the intermediate bone tumors (43 cases), aneurysmal bone cyst was the most common (20 cases), occupying 46.51%; among the malignant bone tumors(27 cases), osteosarcoma was the most common (16 cases), accounting for 59.26%.Among the initial symptoms, 268 cases were local masses, and 166 cases were pain, which were significantly higher than that of 79 without symptoms, with 28 lameness, 4 deformity and 3 dysfunction, and the differences were statistically significant( χ2=71.422, P<0.05). Conclusions:The majority of bone tumors patients in children were male, and the incidence increased with age.Benign and solitary are common, and the multiple cases were mainly benign.The most common locations are tibia and femur.The initial symptoms were mainly local mass and pain.Most importantly, the clinical characteristics of different tumors are slightly different.

Objective:To explore the clinical application value of the dual-layer detector spectral CTA in evaluation of brain perfusion impairment in patients with acute ischemic stroke.Methods:Clinical and imaging data of 35 patients with acute ischemic stroke in Weihai Central Hospital from March 2020 to October 2020 were reviewed retrospectively. All patients underwent head and neck spectral CTA examination and dynamic cerebral perfusion CT examination with dual-layer detector spectral CT. The iodine density map and effective atomic number map were reconstructed using CTA data, and the iodine density and effective atomic number, as well as the cerebral blood volume (CBV) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) values of the hypoperfusion area and the contralateral side were measured and compared; the areas of brain hypoperfusion regions were measured. Pearson′s correlation coefficient was used to analyze the correlation between iodine density values and CBV values, iodine density values and CBF values, effective atomic number values and CBV values, effective atomic number values and CBF values, as well as hypoperfusion area shown on CTA images and displayed on CTP-CBF map.Results:Of all the 35 patients, the iodine density value [(0.22±0.07) mg/ml], effective atomic number value (7.38±0.05), CBV value [(1.9±0.7) ml/100 g] and CBF value [(15.1±5.9) ml/(100 g·min)] of the hypoperfusion area were significantly lower than those of the healthy side [iodine density value (0.44±0.10) mg/ml, effective atomic number value (7.52±0.06), CBV value (3.4±0.7) ml/100 g, CBF value (57±27) ml/(100 g·min); t values were -14.7, -14.5, -11.2, -9.7, respectively, all P<0.001]. No significant difference was found between the hypoperfusion area shown on spectral CTA [(2 292±1 393) mm 2] and shown on CTP-CBF map [(2 290±1 359) mm 2] ( t=-0.076, P=0.944). There was a positive correlation between iodine density value and CBV (affected side: r=0.350, P=0.039, healthy side: r=0.551, P=0.001); a positive correlation was also found between effective atomic number value and CBV (affected side: r=0.488, P=0.003, healthy side: r=0.552, P=0.001); and there was a strong positive correlation between the hypoperfusion area on CTA and that on CTP-CBF ( r=0.993, P<0.001). Conclusion:Dual-layer detector spectral CTA can provide the “one-stop” assessement including head and neck vascular evaluation, as well as the hypoperfution area measument, which can be an alternative rapid method for evaluation of patients with acute ischemic stroke.

Objective: To construct and confirm a predictive model for the risks of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) with metabolic syndrome (MS) and its factors in Xinjiang Kazakh population. Methods: A total of 2 286 Kazakh individuals were followed for 5 years from 2010 to 2012 as baseline survey. They were recruited in Xinyuan county, Yili city, Xinjiang. CVD cases were identified via medical records of the local hospitals in 2013, 2016 and 2017, respectively. Factor analysis was performed on 706 MS patients at baseline, and main factors, age, and sex were extracted from 18 medical examination indexs to construct a predictive model of CVD risk. After excluding the subjects with CVD at baseline and incomplete data, 2007 were used as internal validation, and 219 Kazakhs in Halabra Township were used as external validation. Logistic regression discriminations were used for internal validation and external validation, as well as to calculate the probability of CVD for each participant and receiver operating characteristic curves. Results: The prevalence of MS in Kazakh was 30.88%. Seven main factors were extracted from the Kazakh MS population, namely obesity factor, blood lipid and blood glucose factor, liver function factor, blood lipid factor, renal metabolic factor, blood pressure factor, and liver enzyme factor. The area under the curve (AUC) for predicting CVD in the internal validation was 0.773 (95%CI 0.754-0.792). In the external validation, the AUC for predicting CVD was 0.858 (95%CI 0.805-0.901). Conclusions The CVD risk prediction model constructed by 7 main factors extracted from Kazakh MS patients has high validation efficiency and can be used for risk assessment of CVD in Xinjiang Kazakh population.