Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and osteoporosis (OP) are two very common metabolic diseases. A growing body of experimental evidence supports a pathophysiological link between MAFLD and OP. MAFLD is often associated with the development of OP. Rutaecarpine (RUT) is one of the main active components of Chinese medicine Euodiae Fructus. Our previous studies have demonstrated that RUT has lipid-lowering, anti-inflammatory and anti-atherosclerotic effects, and can improve the OP of rats. However, whether RUT can improve both fatty liver and OP symptoms of MAFLD mice at the same time remains to be investigated. In this study, we used C57BL/6 mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 4 months to construct a MAFLD model, and gave the mice a low dose (5 mg·kg^-1) and a high dose (15 mg·kg^-1) of RUT by gavage for 4 weeks. The effects of RUT on liver steatosis and bone metabolism were then evaluated at the end of the experiment [this experiment was approved by the Experimental Animal Ethics Committee of Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (approval number: IMB-20190124D₃03)]. The results showed that RUT treatment significantly reduced hepatic steatosis and lipid accumulation, and significantly reduced bone loss and promoted bone formation. In summary, this study shows that RUT has an effect of improving fatty liver and OP in MAFLD mice.

BACKGROUND: The available evidence regarding the benefits of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on patients receiving dialysis with coronary artery disease (CAD) is limited and inconsistent. This study aimed to evaluate the association between PCI and clinical outcomes as compared with medical therapy alone in patients undergoing dialysis with CAD in China. METHODS: This multicenter, retrospective study was conducted in 30 tertiary medical centers across 12 provinces in China from January 2015 to June 2021 to include patients on dialysis with CAD. The primary outcome was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), defined as a composite of cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, and non-fatal stroke. Secondary outcomes included all-cause death, the individual components of MACE, and Bleeding Academic Research Consortium criteria types 2, 3, or 5 bleeding. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess the association between PCI and outcomes. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) and propensity score matching (PSM) were performed to account for potential between-group differences. RESULTS: Of the 1146 patients on dialysis with significant CAD, 821 (71.6%) underwent PCI. After a median follow-up of 23.0 months, PCI was associated with a 43.0% significantly lower risk for MACE (33.9% [ n  = 278] vs . 43.7% [ n  = 142]; adjusted hazards ratio 0.57, 95% confidence interval 0.45-0.71), along with a slightly increased risk for bleeding outcomes that did not reach statistical significance (11.1% vs . 8.3%; adjusted hazards ratio 1.31, 95% confidence interval, 0.82-2.11). Furthermore, PCI was associated with a significant reduction in all-cause and cardiovascular mortalities. Subgroup analysis did not modify the association of PCI with patient outcomes. These primary findings were consistent across IPTW, PSM, and competing risk analyses. CONCLUSION This study indicated that PCI in patients on dialysis with CAD was significantly associated with lower MACE and mortality when comparing with those with medical therapy alone, albeit with a slightly increased risk for bleeding events that did not reach statistical significance.
Humans ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention/methods* ; Male ; Female ; Coronary Artery Disease/drug therapy* ; Retrospective Studies ; Renal Dialysis/methods* ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; China ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Treatment Outcome

Small animal multimodal biomedical imaging refers to the integration of multiple imaging techniques within the same system or device to acquire comprehensive physiological and pathological information of small animals, such as mice and rats. With the continuous advancement of biomedical research, this cutting-edge technology has attracted extensive attention. Multimodal imaging techniques, based on diverse imaging principles, overcome the limitations of single-modal imaging through information fusion, significantly enhancing the overall system's sensitivity, temporal/spatial resolution, and quantitative accuracy. In the future, the integration of new materials and artificial intelligence will further boost its sensitivity and resolution. Through interdisciplinary innovation, this technology is expected to become the core technology of personalized medicine and expand its applications to drug development, environmental monitoring, and other fields, thus reshaping the landscape of biomedical research and clinical practice. This review summarized the progress on the application and investigation of multimodal biomedical imaging techniques, and discussed its development in the future.
Animals ; Multimodal Imaging/trends* ; Rats ; Mice ; Artificial Intelligence ; Diagnostic Imaging/methods* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVES: Papular dermatoses commonly affecting the female vulva, such as molluscum contagiosum, syringoma, lymphangioma, folliculitis, verruca vulgaris, ectopic sebaceous glands, and bowenoid papulosis, often present with similar clinical appearances and are frequently misdiagnosed. This study aims to explore the clinical diagnostic value of reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) in differentiating these conditions. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on RCM imaging and histopathological findings from lesion sites in 172 female patients with vulval papular dermatoses. RCM characteristics confirmed by biopsy were summarized and diagnostic clues were explored. RESULTS: RCM diagnosis was consistent with histopathological diagnosis in 147 out of 172 cases (85.47%). Molluscum contagiosum, syringoma, lymphangioma, and folliculitis all exhibited cystic-like structures under RCM, differing in the location of the structures, wall characteristics, internal contents, and reflectivity. Verruca vulgaris, ectopic sebaceous glands, and bowenoid papulosis lacked such structures. Verruca vulgaris showed distinctive low-refractive vacuolated cells in the spinous layer; bowenoid papulosis exhibited mild cytologic atypia in the spinous layer; ectopic sebaceous glands were characterized by moderately to low-refractive, fish roe-like sebaceous lobules within the dermis. CONCLUSIONS RCM enables noninvasive, real-time, and dynamic visualization of key diagnostic and differential features of common vulvar papular dermatoses in women, offering high diagnostic value.
Humans ; Female ; Microscopy, Confocal/methods* ; Retrospective Studies ; Adult ; Vulvar Diseases/diagnosis* ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult ; Aged ; Adolescent ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Child ; Skin Diseases/pathology* ; Molluscum Contagiosum/diagnosis*

The neonatal mammalian heart has a remarkable regenerative capacity, while the adult heart has difficulty to regenerate. A metabolic reprogramming from glycolysis to fatty acid oxidation occurs along with the loss of cardiomyocyte proliferative capacity shortly after birth. In this study, we sought to determine if and how metabolic reprogramming regulates cardiomyocyte proliferation. Reversing metabolic reprogramming by carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1) inhibition, using cardiac-specific Cpt1a and Cpt1b knockout mice promoted cardiomyocyte proliferation and improved cardiac function post-myocardial infarction. The inhibition of CPT1 is of pharmacological significance because those protective effects were replicated by etomoxir, a CPT1 inhibitor. CPT1 inhibition, by decreasing poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 expression, reduced ADP-ribosylation of dual-specificity phosphatase 1 in cardiomyocytes, leading to decreased p38 MAPK phosphorylation, and stimulation of cardiomyocyte proliferation. Our present study indicates that reversing metabolic reprogramming is an effective strategy to stimulate adult cardiomyocyte proliferation. CPT1 is a potential therapeutic target for promoting heart regeneration and myocardial infarction treatment.

Objective To analyze the changing trends of the burden of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)in China from 1990 to 2021 and provide a basis for formulating prevention and treatment strategies.Methods The standardized incidence rate,prevalence,mortality,and disability-adjusted life year(DALY)rate of NAFLD in China from 1990 to 2021 were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021.The average annual percentage change of rate data was calculated by Joinpoint 4.2 and the age,period,and birth cohort effects of the prevalence and DALY rate were analyzed by the age-period-cohort model.Results Compared to 1990,the incidence rate and prevalence of NAFLD have been on the rise,while the mortality and DALY rate have been declining.The age effect curves of prevalence and DALY rate showed an upward trend followed by a downward trend for both males and females.With the period from 1992 to 1996 as the reference group,the period effect curve of prevalence showed a downward trend followed by an upward trend,being the lowest in the period from 2002 to 2006(RR=0.93).The period effect curve of DALY rate showed a downward trend from 1992 to 2011 and then tended to flatten out.With the period from 1972 to 1981 as the reference group,the birth cohort effect curve of prevalence showed a steady upward trend in the general population and both male and female populations.The birth cohort effect curve of DALY rate showed an overall upward trend followed by a downward trend,with the peak occurring in the birth cohort group between 1922 and 1931.The DALY rate of NAFLD caused by smoking and high fasting blood glucose has shown a downward trend since 2014,and fasting blood glucose gradually became the dominant factor as age increased.Conclusions From 1990 to 2021,NAFLD in China has shown a rising prevalence but a significantly declining DALY rate.This suggests that current prevention and control strategies are effective,and further efforts should be made to raise residents' health awareness in controlling the occurrence and development of NAFLD.
Humans ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease/epidemiology* ; China/epidemiology* ; Prevalence ; Female ; Male ; Incidence ; Disability-Adjusted Life Years ; Middle Aged ; Adult

Objective:To explore the feasibility and application value of indocyanine green(ICG)lymph node tracer in clinical early stage cervical cancer staging surgery.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on 31 patients with early clinical stage(ⅠA1-ⅡA1)cervical cancer who underwent laparoscopic radical hysterectomy,pelvic lymph node resection and para-aortic lymph node sampling were selected as the study subjects in Sichuan Provincial Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital from April 1,2022 to July 31,2023.They were divided into the ICG fluorescence tracer group(ICG group,17 cases)and the conventional surgery group(control group,14 ca-ses)based on whether ICG was injected or not.The resected lymph nodes were classified and submitted for ex-amination according to location and whether they presented visualization.The method of contingency coefficient was used to analyze the correlations between lymph node visualization patterns and lymph node metastasis and clinicopathological characteristics,and the perioperative data of the two groups were compared.Results:①The postoperative stage of 8 patients(25.8％)(4 in each group)were improved compared with the preoperative clini-cal stage.The number of resected lymph nodes in the ICG group was less than that in the control group(18±9 nodes/person vs.26±11 nodes/person,P＜0.05).There were no statistically significant differences in operation time,intraoperative blood loss,postoperative FIGO(2018)staging,lymph node metastasis rate,and positive rate of resected lymph nodes between the two groups(P＞0.05).②The visualization rate in the ICG group was 64.71％(11/17).There was no statistically significant difference in the positive rate between the visualized and non-visualized lymph nodes(P＞0.05).There was a significant correlation between lymph node visualization and lymph node metastasis(C=0.707,P＜0.05),and a significant correlation was found between lymph node visual-ization and lymph node metastasis in the same patient(C=0.557,P＜0.05).Conclusions:The rate of lymph node metastasis in clinical early stage cervical cancer is low.ICG fluorescence visualization can trace lymph nodes and predict the risk of metastasis.By only resecting the visualized lymph nodes under the guidance of ICG tracer,the lymph node metastasis status of early-stage cervical cancer can be fully evaluated,which is worthy of further research.

Obiective Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a degenerative disease of the central nervous system (CNS) caused by a variety of risk factors. There are various pathological changes, but apoptosis of the neurological meridian cells is one of the most important pathological bases. Hyperlipidemia is a high-risk factor for the development of AD, which can lead to increased levels of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) in brain tissues. PCSK9 is a protease closely related to lipid metabolism, but studies have shown that it may be related to the development of AD. LRP1 is abundantly expressed in neuronal cells, and it is an important transporter for the clearance of Aβ. There is now a large amount of literature confirming that PCSK9 can induce the degradation of LRP1. PI3K/AKT is an important signaling pathway in vivo, which plays an important role in apoptosis, and there is now a large amount of literature confirming that LRP1 activates the PI3K/AKT pathway, which has an anti-apoptotic effect. So can PCSK9 affect the PI3K/AKT pathway through LRP1 and thus regulate neuronal apoptosis? This deserves further investigation.The aim of this study was to explore the role of PCSK9 in mediating ox-LDL pro-apoptotic neuronal cell death and its mechanism, and then further elaborate the mechanism of hyperlipidemia leading to neurodegenerative diseases such as AD. MethodsFirstly, PC12 cells were treated with different concentrations of ox-LDL (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 mg/L) for 24 h. Oil red O staining was used to detect lipid accumulation in PC12 cells, Hoechst33258 staining and flow cytometry to detect apoptosis in PC12 cells, ELISA to detect the content of Aβ secreted by PC12, Western blot to detect expression of SREBP2, PCSK9 and LRP1. Then PC12 cells were treated with 75 mg/L ox-LDL for different times (0, 6, 12, 24, 48 h), and Western blot were performed to detect the expression of SREBP2, PCSK9 and LRP1. Finally, after transfecting 100 nmol/L PCSK9 siRNA into PC12 cells for 48 h, PC12 cells were treated with 75 mg/L ox-LDL for 24 h, Hoechst33258 staining and flow cytometry to detect apoptosis rate of PC12 cells, and Western blot to detect PCSK9, LRP1, PI3K, AKT, P-PI3K , P-AKT, NF-κB, Bcl-2, Bax, Caspase-9 and Caspase-3 expression, and ELISA detected Aβ content secreted by PC12 cells. Resultsox-LDL increased lipid accumulation and promoted apoptosis and Aβ secretion in PC12 cells, as well as increasing the expression of SREBP2 and PCSK9 and decreasing the expression of LRP1 in PC12 cells. pCsk9 siRNA could be inhibited through the PI3K/AKT pathway and the NF-κB-Bcl-2/Bax-Caspase-9/3 pathway to inhibit ox-LDL-induced apoptosis in PC12 cells while increasing Aβ secretion in PC12 cells. Conclusionox-LDL plays a bidirectional regulatory role in ox-LDL-induced apoptosis of PC12 cells by inducing an increase in PCSK9 expression and a decrease in LRP1 expression in PC12 cells, which in turn affects different signaling pathways downstream.

Objective:To explore the feasibility and application value of indocyanine green(ICG)lymph node tracer in clinical early stage cervical cancer staging surgery.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on 31 patients with early clinical stage(ⅠA1-ⅡA1)cervical cancer who underwent laparoscopic radical hysterectomy,pelvic lymph node resection and para-aortic lymph node sampling were selected as the study subjects in Sichuan Provincial Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital from April 1,2022 to July 31,2023.They were divided into the ICG fluorescence tracer group(ICG group,17 cases)and the conventional surgery group(control group,14 ca-ses)based on whether ICG was injected or not.The resected lymph nodes were classified and submitted for ex-amination according to location and whether they presented visualization.The method of contingency coefficient was used to analyze the correlations between lymph node visualization patterns and lymph node metastasis and clinicopathological characteristics,and the perioperative data of the two groups were compared.Results:①The postoperative stage of 8 patients(25.8％)(4 in each group)were improved compared with the preoperative clini-cal stage.The number of resected lymph nodes in the ICG group was less than that in the control group(18±9 nodes/person vs.26±11 nodes/person,P＜0.05).There were no statistically significant differences in operation time,intraoperative blood loss,postoperative FIGO(2018)staging,lymph node metastasis rate,and positive rate of resected lymph nodes between the two groups(P＞0.05).②The visualization rate in the ICG group was 64.71％(11/17).There was no statistically significant difference in the positive rate between the visualized and non-visualized lymph nodes(P＞0.05).There was a significant correlation between lymph node visualization and lymph node metastasis(C=0.707,P＜0.05),and a significant correlation was found between lymph node visual-ization and lymph node metastasis in the same patient(C=0.557,P＜0.05).Conclusions:The rate of lymph node metastasis in clinical early stage cervical cancer is low.ICG fluorescence visualization can trace lymph nodes and predict the risk of metastasis.By only resecting the visualized lymph nodes under the guidance of ICG tracer,the lymph node metastasis status of early-stage cervical cancer can be fully evaluated,which is worthy of further research.

Objective:To explore the feasibility and application value of indocyanine green(ICG)lymph node tracer in clinical early stage cervical cancer staging surgery.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on 31 patients with early clinical stage(ⅠA1-ⅡA1)cervical cancer who underwent laparoscopic radical hysterectomy,pelvic lymph node resection and para-aortic lymph node sampling were selected as the study subjects in Sichuan Provincial Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital from April 1,2022 to July 31,2023.They were divided into the ICG fluorescence tracer group(ICG group,17 cases)and the conventional surgery group(control group,14 ca-ses)based on whether ICG was injected or not.The resected lymph nodes were classified and submitted for ex-amination according to location and whether they presented visualization.The method of contingency coefficient was used to analyze the correlations between lymph node visualization patterns and lymph node metastasis and clinicopathological characteristics,and the perioperative data of the two groups were compared.Results:①The postoperative stage of 8 patients(25.8％)(4 in each group)were improved compared with the preoperative clini-cal stage.The number of resected lymph nodes in the ICG group was less than that in the control group(18±9 nodes/person vs.26±11 nodes/person,P＜0.05).There were no statistically significant differences in operation time,intraoperative blood loss,postoperative FIGO(2018)staging,lymph node metastasis rate,and positive rate of resected lymph nodes between the two groups(P＞0.05).②The visualization rate in the ICG group was 64.71％(11/17).There was no statistically significant difference in the positive rate between the visualized and non-visualized lymph nodes(P＞0.05).There was a significant correlation between lymph node visualization and lymph node metastasis(C=0.707,P＜0.05),and a significant correlation was found between lymph node visual-ization and lymph node metastasis in the same patient(C=0.557,P＜0.05).Conclusions:The rate of lymph node metastasis in clinical early stage cervical cancer is low.ICG fluorescence visualization can trace lymph nodes and predict the risk of metastasis.By only resecting the visualized lymph nodes under the guidance of ICG tracer,the lymph node metastasis status of early-stage cervical cancer can be fully evaluated,which is worthy of further research.