BACKGROUND:With changing lifestyles and aging,sagittal spinal imbalance has become a common orthopedic issue significantly affecting knee and pelvic function.Understanding the impact of sagittal spinal imbalance and its compensatory mechanisms is crucial for improving the clinical management of chronic pain.OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the alignment of the spine-pelvis-lower extremities using whole-body EOS imaging,analyze the correlation between spinal sagittal imbalance and knee joint parameters,and explore their compensatory mechanisms.METHODS:A total of 71 patients with chronic low back pain or patellofemoral pain who visited Department of Orthopedics,First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University between January 1,2021 and December 31,2023 were included.Radiographic measurements were performed using whole-body EOS to determine pelvic tilt,pelvic incidence,lumbar lordosis,sagittal vertical axis,global tilt,hip-knee-angle,knee flexion angle,lateral distal femoral angle,and medial proximal tibial angle.Patients were classified into normal group(pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis＜10°),compensated group(10°＜pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis＜20°),and decompensated group(pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis＞20°)based on the SRS-Schwab spinal deformity classification according to pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis difference.The differences in radiographic parameters among the groups were analyzed.The differences in American Knee Society Knee Score and Oswestry Disability Index scores were compared among each group.Patients were divided into chronic low back pain group and non-chronic low back pain group,patellofemoral pain group and non-patellofemoral pain group based on clinical symptoms,and the relationship between radiographic parameter differences and clinical symptoms was analyzed.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)When pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis was less than 20°,lateral distal femoral angle and medial proximal tibial angle tended to stabilize.When pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis was greater than 20°,it showed a linear correlation with lateral distal femoral angle and medial proximal tibial angle,with lateral distal femoral angle increasing and medial proximal tibial angle decreasing with increasing pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis values.(2)Compared with the normal group,the compensated group had significantly increased pelvic tilt(P＜0.01),while knee joint parameters hip-knee-angle and knee flexion angle showed no significant differences;the decompensated group showed significant increases in pelvic tilt(P＜0.01),and decreases in hip-knee-angle,and knee flexion angle(P＜0.01).Compared with the compensated group,the decompensated group showed a significant decrease in hip-knee-angle(P＜0.05),but had no significant differences in pelvic tilt and knee flexion angle.(3)Compared with the non-patellofemoral pain group,patients with patellofemoral pain had significant decreases in spinal lumbar lordosis,lateral distal femoral angle,and medial proximal tibial angle(P＜0.05)and a significant increase in pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis(P＜0.05).(4)Patients with low back pain had significant differences in radiographic parameters compared with the non-chronic low back pain group(P＜0.05).(5)Compared with the normal group,both the compensated and decompensated groups showed a significant decrease in American Knee Society Knee Score scores and a significant increase in Oswestry Disability Index scores(P＜0.05).Compared with the compensated group,the decompensated group showed a significant decrease in American Knee Society Knee Score scores and a significant increase in Oswestry Disability Index scores(P＜0.05).(6)Pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis values increased with age and were higher in females compared with males.(7)This study systematically reveals the spine and lower limbs play an important role in disease progression and clinical symptoms.Associated symptoms low back pain and patellofemoral pain are related to the stability of the spine-pelvis-lower extremity alignment.Furthermore,spinal sagittal imbalance is more severe in elderly and female patients.

BACKGROUND:With changing lifestyles and aging,sagittal spinal imbalance has become a common orthopedic issue significantly affecting knee and pelvic function.Understanding the impact of sagittal spinal imbalance and its compensatory mechanisms is crucial for improving the clinical management of chronic pain.OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the alignment of the spine-pelvis-lower extremities using whole-body EOS imaging,analyze the correlation between spinal sagittal imbalance and knee joint parameters,and explore their compensatory mechanisms.METHODS:A total of 71 patients with chronic low back pain or patellofemoral pain who visited Department of Orthopedics,First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University between January 1,2021 and December 31,2023 were included.Radiographic measurements were performed using whole-body EOS to determine pelvic tilt,pelvic incidence,lumbar lordosis,sagittal vertical axis,global tilt,hip-knee-angle,knee flexion angle,lateral distal femoral angle,and medial proximal tibial angle.Patients were classified into normal group(pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis＜10°),compensated group(10°＜pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis＜20°),and decompensated group(pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis＞20°)based on the SRS-Schwab spinal deformity classification according to pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis difference.The differences in radiographic parameters among the groups were analyzed.The differences in American Knee Society Knee Score and Oswestry Disability Index scores were compared among each group.Patients were divided into chronic low back pain group and non-chronic low back pain group,patellofemoral pain group and non-patellofemoral pain group based on clinical symptoms,and the relationship between radiographic parameter differences and clinical symptoms was analyzed.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)When pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis was less than 20°,lateral distal femoral angle and medial proximal tibial angle tended to stabilize.When pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis was greater than 20°,it showed a linear correlation with lateral distal femoral angle and medial proximal tibial angle,with lateral distal femoral angle increasing and medial proximal tibial angle decreasing with increasing pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis values.(2)Compared with the normal group,the compensated group had significantly increased pelvic tilt(P＜0.01),while knee joint parameters hip-knee-angle and knee flexion angle showed no significant differences;the decompensated group showed significant increases in pelvic tilt(P＜0.01),and decreases in hip-knee-angle,and knee flexion angle(P＜0.01).Compared with the compensated group,the decompensated group showed a significant decrease in hip-knee-angle(P＜0.05),but had no significant differences in pelvic tilt and knee flexion angle.(3)Compared with the non-patellofemoral pain group,patients with patellofemoral pain had significant decreases in spinal lumbar lordosis,lateral distal femoral angle,and medial proximal tibial angle(P＜0.05)and a significant increase in pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis(P＜0.05).(4)Patients with low back pain had significant differences in radiographic parameters compared with the non-chronic low back pain group(P＜0.05).(5)Compared with the normal group,both the compensated and decompensated groups showed a significant decrease in American Knee Society Knee Score scores and a significant increase in Oswestry Disability Index scores(P＜0.05).Compared with the compensated group,the decompensated group showed a significant decrease in American Knee Society Knee Score scores and a significant increase in Oswestry Disability Index scores(P＜0.05).(6)Pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis values increased with age and were higher in females compared with males.(7)This study systematically reveals the spine and lower limbs play an important role in disease progression and clinical symptoms.Associated symptoms low back pain and patellofemoral pain are related to the stability of the spine-pelvis-lower extremity alignment.Furthermore,spinal sagittal imbalance is more severe in elderly and female patients.

Notum, a negative feedback regulator of the Wnt signaling, has emerged as a promising target for treating glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIOP). This study showcases an efficient strategy for discovering the anti-Notum constituents from herbal medicines (HMs) as novel anti-GIOP agents. Firstly, a rapid-responding near-infrared fluorogenic substrate for Notum was rationally engineered for high-throughput identifying the anti-Notum HMs. The results showed that Bu-Gu-Zhi (BGZ), a known anti-osteoporosis herb, potently inhibited Notum in a competitive-inhibition manner. To uncover the key anti-Notum constituents in BGZ, an efficient strategy was adapted via integrating biochemical, phytochemical, computational, and pharmacological assays. Among all identified BGZ constituents, three furanocoumarins were validated as strong Notum inhibitors, while 5-methoxypsoralen (5-MP) showed the most potent anti-Notum activity and favorable safety profiles. Mechanistically, 5-MP acted as a competitive inhibitor of Notum via creating strong hydrophobic interactions with Trp128 and Phe268 in the catalytic cavity of Notum. Cellular assays showed that 5-MP remarkably promoted osteoblast differentiation and activated Wnt signaling in dexamethasone (DXMS)-challenged MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts. In dexamethasone-induced osteoporotic mice, 5-MP strongly elevated bone mineral density (BMD) and improved cancellous and cortical bone thickness. Collectively, this study constructs a high-efficient platform for discovering key anti-Notum constituents from HMs, while 5-MP emerges as a promising anti-GIOP agent.

Objective:To automatically classify hypertensive heart disease (HHD) and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) based on mul-titask learning algorithm using native T1 mapping images.Methods:A total of 203 patients admitted to Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University from January 2017 to December 2021 were enrolled, including 53 patients with HHD, 121 patients with HCM, and 29 patients with normal control (NC). Native T1 mapping images of all enrolled patients were acquired using MRI and processed by a multi-task learning algorithm. The classification performance of each model was validated using ten-fold crossover, confusion matrix, and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves. The Resnet 50 model based on the original images was established as a control.Results:The ten-fold crossover validation results showed that the MTL-1 024, MTL-64, and MTL-all models showed better performance in terms of area under the curve (AUC), accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity compared to the Resnet 50 model. In the classification task, the MTL-64 model showed the best performance in terms of AUC (0.942 1), while the MTL-all model reached the highest value in terms of accuracy (0.852 2). In the segmentation task, the MTL-64 model achieved the best results with the Dice coefficient (0.879 7). The confusion matrix plot showed that the MTL model outperforms the Resnet 50 model based on the original image in terms of overall performance. The ROC graphs of all MTL models were significantly higher than the original image input Resnet 50 model.Conclusions:Multi-task learning-based native T1 mapping images are effective for automatic classification of HHD and HCM.

Objective To predict and validate the core targets of Sijunzi Decoction through network pharmacology and animal experiments,and to explore the mechanism of action of Sijunzi Decoction in inhibiting the occurrence of adenomas in chronic colorectal inflammation.Methods Based on TCMSP,GeneCards and OMIM databases,screen potential targets for active components of Sijunzi Decoction and gene targets related to disease and immunity,construct a potential target regulatory network for active components of Sijunzi Decoction,analyze relevant pathways and core targets through pathway enrichment and protein interaction networks,and explore potential targets of Sijunzi Decoction in inhibiting intestinal diseases.By intervening in the DSS induced chronic colorectal inflammation mouse model with Sijunzi Decoction,the protective effect of Sijunzi Decoction on chronic colorectal inflammation mice was confirmed through changes in intestinal phenotype and pathological staining in each group of mice.Finally,the transcriptional levels and protein expression levels of the core targets related to Sijunzi Decoction predicted based on network pharmacology were verified through qRT PCR and Western Blot,further validating the mechanism of Sijunzi Decoction's inhibitory effect on the occurrence of adenomas in mice with chronic colorectal inflammation.Results Network pharmacology analysis shows that Sijunzi Decoction is related to inflammatory,immune,and tumor related pathways,and 15 related core targets have been screened and predicted.After intervention with Sijunzi Decoction in DSS chronic colorectal inflammation model mice,it slowed down the inflammatory response of the colon and significantly improved the number and size of intestinal tumors.QRT PCR and Western Blot further confirmed that the mechanism of action of Sijunzi Decoction is related to the core targets of network pharmacology prediction,EGFR,MAPK8,and CASP3.Conclusion Sijunzi Decoction can inhibit the expression levels of EGFR,MAPK8,and CASP3,exerting the effect of inhibiting the occurrence of adenomas in chronic colorectal inflammation.This provides a new idea for further exploring the mechanism of Sijunzi Decoction's inhibition of the occurrence of adenomas in chronic colitis.

Cardiomyopathy, Dilated/metabolism* ; Humans ; Microfilament Proteins/metabolism* ; Models, Cardiovascular ; Mutation ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; Pluripotent Stem Cells/metabolism* ; Transcription Factors/metabolism* ; Troponin T/metabolism*

This study was aimed to establish a quantitative method for the determination of agarotetrol in agarwood to control its quality. The HPLC analysis was performed on a Diamonsil C18 column (4.6 mm í 250 mm, 5 μm), eluted with a mobile phase of water with 0.1% formic acid and acetonitrile in gradient mode with the flow rate of 0.7 mL·min-1. The detection wavelength was set at 252 nm. The column temperature was 30oC. The results showed that the separation of agarotetrol and adjacent peaks were more than 1.5, which achieved a baseline separation. A good lin-earity (r = 0.999 8) was observed in the range of 2.0-125.0 μg·mL-1, with the average recovery of 102.75%. The a-garotetrol cannot be less than 0.15% based on the data of Agarwood samples. It was concluded that the method was accurate and reliable to determine the content of agarotetrol, which can be used for the quality control of agarwood.

Objective To investigate the initial manifestation and disease onset feature of systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE) in the past ten years in fifteen hospitals in Jiangsu Province.Methods Data was collected by the same Methodsin all the participated hospitals and then it was summarized for retrospective analysis.Two groups were compared by chi-square test.Results ① One thousand nine hundred and fifty eight patients were investigated and the male-to-female ratio was 1∶15.0.② One thousand seven hundred and ninty eight patients had clear initial manifestations.The most common initial manifestations were skin and mucosal lesions(769 cases,42.8％ ) and arthritis (697 cases,38.8％ ).The main skin lesion was malar rash (706 cases).Arthritis was found to be more common in female than male.③ All hospitalized patients at their first admission showed multiple organ/system involvement:the most common involvement was skin and mucous membrane (82.3％),hematologic damage (74.0％),in which at least one series of blood cells were involved,arthritis (1156 cases,56.5％ ) much more than myositis (51 cases),proteinuria 1046 cases and hematuria in 385 cases.Renal biopsy pathology showed type Ⅳ glomerulonephritis.Conclusion ① SLE patients are mainly female and the male to female ratio is 1∶15.0.② The most common initial manifestations are skin and mucosal lesions.③ The most commonly involved organ/system are skin and mucous membrane,blood,joint and kidney.The most common pathological changes shown in renal biopsy is type Ⅳ glomerulonephritis.