ObjectiveTo clarify whether METTL14 mediates the core role of acupuncture at Neiguan (PC6) in promoting myelination and improving behavior in young autistic rats through gene intervention technology. MethodsThe ASD model was established by intraperitoneal injection of valproic acid (VPA) in pregnant rats. Male offspring were intracerebroventricularly injected with adenovirus-packaged METTL14 shRNA (sh-METTL14) or its control (sh-NC) on postnatal day 1, with a model group set as well. Subsequently, the juvenile rats were divided into model group, acupuncture group, acupuncture+sh-NC group, and acupuncture+sh-METTL14 group. The acupuncture group received acupuncture at Neiguan (PC6) from postnatal day 7, once daily for 21 consecutive days. Neurobehavioral changes were evaluated by behavioral tests; METTL14 knockdown efficiency and the expression of METTL14, METTL3, and PTEN were detected by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blot (WB); PTEN m⁶A levels were measured by RNA immunoprecipitation-qPCR (RIP-qPCR); myelin ultrastructure, expression of myelin basic protein (MBP) and neurofascin 155 (NF155), and dendritic spine density were observed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunofluorescence, qRT-PCR, and primary neuron culture. ResultsBehaviorally, knockdown of METTL14 significantly counteracted the beneficial effects of acupuncture in improving self-grooming, open field exploration, three-chamber social interaction, and Morris water maze learning and memory (P<0.05, P<0.01). Compared with the acupuncture+sh-NC group, the acupuncture+sh-METTL14 group showed significantly decreased mRNA and protein expression of hippocampal METTL14 (P<0.01), and the upregulating effects of acupuncture on METTL3 and PTEN expression were reversed (P<0.01). Meanwhile, knockdown of METTL14 significantly inhibited the acupuncture-induced increase in PTEN m⁶A levels (P<0.01). Morphologically, knockdown of METTL14 attenuated the improvement of myelin structure by acupuncture, reversed the downregulation of MBP and upregulation of NF155 induced by acupuncture, and blocked the increase in dendritic spine density (P<0.05, P<0.01). ConclusionMETTL14 is a key molecule mediating the therapeutic effect of acupuncture at Neiguan. Acupuncture at Neiguan upregulates METTL14, thereby enhancing m⁶A methylation modification of PTEN mRNA to stabilize its expression, ultimately promoting myelin development and improving behavioral symptoms in ASD juvenile rats. This preliminarily reveals the modern biological connotation of “opening Xuanfu and dredging myelin”.

ObjectiveTo clarify whether METTL14 mediates the core role of acupuncture at Neiguan (PC6) in promoting myelination and improving behavior in young autistic rats through gene intervention technology. MethodsThe ASD model was established by intraperitoneal injection of valproic acid (VPA) in pregnant rats. Male offspring were intracerebroventricularly injected with adenovirus-packaged METTL14 shRNA (sh-METTL14) or its control (sh-NC) on postnatal day 1, with a model group set as well. Subsequently, the juvenile rats were divided into model group, acupuncture group, acupuncture+sh-NC group, and acupuncture+sh-METTL14 group. The acupuncture group received acupuncture at Neiguan (PC6) from postnatal day 7, once daily for 21 consecutive days. Neurobehavioral changes were evaluated by behavioral tests; METTL14 knockdown efficiency and the expression of METTL14, METTL3, and PTEN were detected by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blot (WB); PTEN m⁶A levels were measured by RNA immunoprecipitation-qPCR (RIP-qPCR); myelin ultrastructure, expression of myelin basic protein (MBP) and neurofascin 155 (NF155), and dendritic spine density were observed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunofluorescence, qRT-PCR, and primary neuron culture. ResultsBehaviorally, knockdown of METTL14 significantly counteracted the beneficial effects of acupuncture in improving self-grooming, open field exploration, three-chamber social interaction, and Morris water maze learning and memory (P<0.05, P<0.01). Compared with the acupuncture+sh-NC group, the acupuncture+sh-METTL14 group showed significantly decreased mRNA and protein expression of hippocampal METTL14 (P<0.01), and the upregulating effects of acupuncture on METTL3 and PTEN expression were reversed (P<0.01). Meanwhile, knockdown of METTL14 significantly inhibited the acupuncture-induced increase in PTEN m⁶A levels (P<0.01). Morphologically, knockdown of METTL14 attenuated the improvement of myelin structure by acupuncture, reversed the downregulation of MBP and upregulation of NF155 induced by acupuncture, and blocked the increase in dendritic spine density (P<0.05, P<0.01). ConclusionMETTL14 is a key molecule mediating the therapeutic effect of acupuncture at Neiguan. Acupuncture at Neiguan upregulates METTL14, thereby enhancing m⁶A methylation modification of PTEN mRNA to stabilize its expression, ultimately promoting myelin development and improving behavioral symptoms in ASD juvenile rats. This preliminarily reveals the modern biological connotation of “opening Xuanfu and dredging myelin”.

Objective:To understand the prevalence of frailty and the importance of its influencing factors in adult population in Shaanxi Province.Methods:The data were from Shaanxi baseline survey of natural population cohort study in northwest China during 2018-2019. The frailty index (FI) was constructed to evaluate the frailty status of the population, and XGboost model combined with Shapley method was used to analyze the importance of the sociodemographic and life behavior factors affecting the prevalence of frailty by gender and age.Results:A total of 25 079 subjects were included, in whom 964 (3.8%) had frailty, and there was no significant difference in the overall prevalence of frailty between women (3.9%) and men (3.8%) ( P=0.629), but there was a gender specific difference in the distribution of FI ( P<0.001), and the proportion of the pre-frailty in men was higher than that in women. The prevalence of frailty increased with age ( P<0.001), the prevalence of frailty were 1.3%, 2.5% and 7.8% in young, middle-aged and elderly women, respectively, and 1.9%, 2.7% and 5.5% in young, middle-aged and elderly men, respectively. Sociodemographic characteristics and lifestyle patterns were both influencing factors for the prevalence of frailty, but their importance varied with gender and age. The top five contributing factors were education level, staying up late, annual family income level, sedentary time and marital status in young women, and staying up late, smoking, annual family income level, sedentary time and drinking in young men. The top five contributing factors were education level, annual family income level, passive exposure to smoking, staying up late, and sedentary time in middle-aged women, and annual family income level, education level, sedentary time, staying up late and drinking in middle-aged men. The top five contributing factors were annual family income level, passive exposure to smoking, sedentary time, marital status, and smartphone use in elderly women, and education level, annual family income level, smoking, smartphone use and sedentary time in elderly men. Conclusions:There are gender specific differences in the distribution of FI in Shaanxi. The prevalence of frailty increased with age, but young and middle-aged people also have frailty risk. The prevalence of frailty in young men was mainly related to unhealthy life behaviors, such as staying up late, smoking, sedentary behavior and drinking, while the prevalence of frailty in middle-aged and elderly men and women were more affected by sociodemographic factors, such as education level, economic status and marital status.

Parameters of peripheral blood cell have been shown as the potential predictors of erectile dysfunction (ED). To investigate the clinical significance of hematological parameters for predicting the risk of rapid ejaculation, we established a rat copulatory model on the basis of ejaculation distribution theory. Blood samples from different ejaculatory groups were collected for peripheral blood cell counts and serum serotonin (5-HT) tests. Meanwhile, the relationship between hematological parameters and ejaculatory behaviors was assessed. Final analysis included 11 rapid ejaculators, 10 normal ejaculators, and 10 sluggish ejaculators whose complete data were available. The platelet (PLT) count in rapid ejaculators was significantly lower than that in normal and sluggish ejaculators, whereas the platelet distribution width (PDW) and mean platelet volume (MPV) were significantly greater in rapid ejaculators. Multivariate logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that the PLT was an independent protective factor for rapid ejaculation. Meanwhile, rapid ejaculators were found to have the lowest serum 5-HT compared to normal and sluggish ejaculators ( P < 0.001). Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between the PLT and serum 5-HT ( r = 0.662, P < 0.001), indicating that the PLT could indirectly reflect the serum 5-HT concentration. In addition, we assessed the association between the PLT and ejaculatory parameters. There was a negative correlation between ejaculation frequency (EF) and the PLT ( r = -0.595, P < 0.001), whereas there was a positive correlation between ejaculation latency (EL) and the PLT ( r = 0.740, P < 0.001). This study indicated that the PLT might be a useful and convenient diagnostic marker for predicting the risk of rapid ejaculation.
Male ; Animals ; Ejaculation/physiology* ; Rats ; Platelet Count ; Pilot Projects ; Serotonin/blood* ; Biomarkers/blood* ; Mean Platelet Volume ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; ROC Curve ; Erectile Dysfunction/physiopathology*

OBJECTIVES: To explore the mediating role of sleep duration in the relationship between depression symptoms and myopia among middle school students. METHODS: This study was a cross-sectional research conducted using a stratified cluster random sampling method. A total of 1 728 middle school students were selected from two junior high schools and two senior high schools in certain urban areas and farms of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. Questionnaire surveys and vision tests were conducted among the students. Spearman analysis was used to analyze the correlation between depression symptoms, sleep duration, and myopia. The Bootstrap method was employed to investigate the mediating effect of sleep duration between depression symptoms and myopia. RESULTS: The prevalence of myopia in the overall population was 74.02% (1 279/1 728), with an average sleep duration of (7.6±1.0) hours. The rate of insufficient sleep was 83.62% (1 445/1 728), and the proportion of students exhibiting depression symptoms was 25.29% (437/1 728). Correlation analysis showed significant negative correlations between visual acuity in both eyes and sleep duration with depressive emotions as measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (with correlation coefficients of -0.064, -0.084, and -0.199 respectively; P<0.01), as well as with somatic symptoms and activities (with correlation coefficients of -0.104, -0.124, and -0.233 respectively; P<0.01) and interpersonal relationships (with correlation coefficients of -0.052, -0.059, and -0.071 respectively; P<0.05). The correlation coefficients for left and right eye visual acuity and sleep duration were 0.206 and 0.211 respectively (P<0.001). Sleep duration exhibited a mediating effect between depression symptoms and myopia (indirect effect=0.056, 95%CI: 0.029-0.088), with the mediating effect value for females (indirect effect=0.066, 95%CI: 0.024-0.119) being higher than that for males (indirect effect=0.042, 95%CI: 0.011-0.081). CONCLUSIONS Sleep duration serves as a partial mediator between depression symptoms and myopia in middle school students.
Humans ; Myopia/etiology* ; Male ; Female ; Depression/physiopathology* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Sleep ; Adolescent ; Students ; Child ; Time Factors ; Sleep Duration

Pancreatic acinar cell carcinoma (PACC) is a rare exocrine tumor of the pancreas with distinct clinical and pathological features. In recent years, advancements in molecular biology techniques have led to a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying PACC. Progress in imaging, endoscopic, and molecular diagnostic technologies has improved the early detection rate of PACC. The primary treatment modalities for PACC include surgical resection, chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy; however, the therapeutic efficacy still requires further improvement. This article reviews the current research status of PACC, covering its epidemiology, pathological characteristics, molecular alterations, diagnostic methods, and treatment strategies, and discusses the controversies and future directions in PACC research.

Objective:To understand the prevalence of frailty and the importance of its influencing factors in adult population in Shaanxi Province.Methods:The data were from Shaanxi baseline survey of natural population cohort study in northwest China during 2018-2019. The frailty index (FI) was constructed to evaluate the frailty status of the population, and XGboost model combined with Shapley method was used to analyze the importance of the sociodemographic and life behavior factors affecting the prevalence of frailty by gender and age.Results:A total of 25 079 subjects were included, in whom 964 (3.8%) had frailty, and there was no significant difference in the overall prevalence of frailty between women (3.9%) and men (3.8%) ( P=0.629), but there was a gender specific difference in the distribution of FI ( P<0.001), and the proportion of the pre-frailty in men was higher than that in women. The prevalence of frailty increased with age ( P<0.001), the prevalence of frailty were 1.3%, 2.5% and 7.8% in young, middle-aged and elderly women, respectively, and 1.9%, 2.7% and 5.5% in young, middle-aged and elderly men, respectively. Sociodemographic characteristics and lifestyle patterns were both influencing factors for the prevalence of frailty, but their importance varied with gender and age. The top five contributing factors were education level, staying up late, annual family income level, sedentary time and marital status in young women, and staying up late, smoking, annual family income level, sedentary time and drinking in young men. The top five contributing factors were education level, annual family income level, passive exposure to smoking, staying up late, and sedentary time in middle-aged women, and annual family income level, education level, sedentary time, staying up late and drinking in middle-aged men. The top five contributing factors were annual family income level, passive exposure to smoking, sedentary time, marital status, and smartphone use in elderly women, and education level, annual family income level, smoking, smartphone use and sedentary time in elderly men. Conclusions:There are gender specific differences in the distribution of FI in Shaanxi. The prevalence of frailty increased with age, but young and middle-aged people also have frailty risk. The prevalence of frailty in young men was mainly related to unhealthy life behaviors, such as staying up late, smoking, sedentary behavior and drinking, while the prevalence of frailty in middle-aged and elderly men and women were more affected by sociodemographic factors, such as education level, economic status and marital status.

BackgroundDepression has become a public health concern that affects the physical and mental health of college students. acute stress response is a risk factor of depression. Exploring the relationship and mechanism between acute stress response and depression is of great significance for preventing and intervening depression in college students. ObjectiveTo examine the relationship between acute stress response and depression among college students， and to analyze the mediating role of rumination and the moderated effect of perceived social support， so as to provide references for the prevention and intervention of depression in college student . MethodsFrom March to April 2020， a cluster sampling method was employed to select 1 355 college students from three universities in Hubei， Jiangxi and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Participants were assessed with Acute Stress Disorder Scale （ASDS）， Ruminative Responses Scale （RRS）， Brief form of Perceived Social Support Questionnaire （F-SozU） and Patients' Health Questionnaire Depression Scale-9 item （PHQ-9）. Pearson correlation analysis was adopted to examine the correlation between the scores of each scale. The mediating role of rumination between acute stress response and depression and the moderated role of perceived social support were examined respectively by using Model 4 and Model 14 in Macro Program Process 3.3. ResultsA total of 1 303 valid questionnaires were collected， yielding a valid response rate of 96.16%. The results of Pearson correlation analysis showed that ASDS score was positively correlated with RRS score and PHQ-9 score （r=0.649， 0.528， P<0.01） among college students. The mediation analysis results demonstrated that rumination played a partial mediating role between acute stress response and depression， with the mediating effect value of 0.273 （95% CI：0.222~0.328）， accounting for 68.59% of the total effect. Perceived social support played a moderated role in the latter path of the mediation model （rumination → depression） （β=-0.004， 95% CI： -0.017~-0.004， P<0.01）. ConclusionRumination played a partial mediating role between acute stress response and depression in college students， and perceptive social support played a moderated role between rumination and depression. ［Funded by Scientific Research Fund Project of Education Department of Yunnan Province （number， 2025J0437）］

In recent years, due to the development of radiotherapy technology and nuclear energy, people have paid more and more attention to the various effects of ionizing radiation on organisms. Ionizing radiation can induce protein, DNA and other biological macromolecules to damage, resulting in apoptosis, senescence, cancer and a series of changes. For a long time, it has been believed that the main target of ionizing radiation damage is DNA in the nucleus. However, it has been reported in recent years that ionizing radiation has both direct and indirect effects, and the theory of ROS damage in the indirect effects believes that ionizing radiation has target uncertainty, so it is not comprehensive enough to evaluate only the DNA damage in the nucleus. It has been reported that ionizing radiation can cause damage to organelles as well as damage to cells. Mitochondria are important damaged organelles because mitochondria occupy as much as 30% of the entire cell volume in the cytoplasm, which contains DNA and related enzymes that are closely related to cellular ATP synthesis, aerobic respiration and other life activities. What is more noteworthy is that mitochondria are the only organelles in which DNA exists in the human body, which makes researchers pay attention to various damage to mitochondrial DNA caused by ionizing radiation (such as double-strand breaks, base mismatching, and fragment loss). Although these damages also occur in the nucleus, mitochondrial DNA is more severely damaged than nuclear DNA due to its lack of histone protection, so mitochondria are important targets of ionizing radiation damage in addition to the nucleus. Mitochondrial DNA is not protected by histones and has little repair ability. When exposed to ionizing radiation, common deletions occur at an increased frequency and are passed on to offspring. For large-scale mitochondrial DNA damage, mitochondria indirectly compensate for the amount of damaged DNA by increasing the number of DNA copies and maintaining the normal function of mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondria are in a state of oxidative stress after exposure to ionizing radiation, and this oxidative stress will promote the change in mitochondrial function. When mitochondria are damaged, the activity of proteins related to aerobic respiration decreases, and oxidative respiration is inhibited to a certain extent. At the same time, a large amount of active superoxide anions are continuously produced to stimulate mitochondrial oxidative stress, and the signal of such damage is transmitted to the surrounding mitochondria, resulting in a cascade of damage reaction, which further activates the signalling pathway between mitochondria and nucleus. The cell nucleus is also in a state of oxidative stress, and finally, the level of free radicals is high, causing secondary damage to the genetic material DNA of mitochondria and nucleus. In this paper, the damage effects of ionizing radiation on mitochondria are reviewed, to provide a new idea for radiation protection.