Autism spectrum disorder in children (hereinafter called "childhood autism") is a prevalent neurodevelopmental condition; however, ancient Chinese medical texts did not provide detailed accounts of it. The concept of "the sovereign fire illuminates, while the ministerial fire occupies its position" was first introduced in the Plain Questions: The Great Treatise on the Origin of Heavenly Influences chapter. Subsequent medical practitioners have elaborated on this idea, identifying the sovereign fire as the master of the spirit and governing life activities, while the ministerial fire is the assisting minister that supports the functions of the zang-fu organs. When these two are in harmony, they complement each other, collectively sustaining the body′s normal physiological functions. In the context of this theory, the pathogenesis of childhood autism is attributed to the imbalance between the sovereign and ministerial fires. The root cause lies in the mutual antagonism of these two fires, resulting in the dysfunction of the spirit. Central to childhood autism onset is the dimming of the sovereign fire and a deficiency in the spirit, while the displacement of the ministerial fire and the impaired function of the five viscera contribute significantly to the progression of the condition. Effective treatment for childhood autism involves restoring these imbalances: dispelling yin-related obstructions to illuminate the sovereign fire, nourishing the spleen and kidney to nourish the ministerial fire, and regulating the liver and lung to harmonize the sovereign and ministerial fires. The ultimate goal is to integrate body and spirit, harmonize the sovereign and ministerial fires, and restore the interconnectedness between spirit and the function of the five zang viscera. This article, based on the "the sovereign fire illuminates, while the ministerial fire occupies its position" theory, provides a novel perspective and insights for understanding and treating childhood autism through the holistic principles of traditional Chinese medicine. Emphasizing the integration of body and spirit offers new insights and approaches for the clinical management of childhood autism in traditional Chinese medicine.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease, and its pathogenesis is largely modulated by abnormal angiogenesis. Previous research has indicated that AlkB homolog 5 (ALKBH5), an important demethylase affecting N⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A) modification, plays a role in regulating angiogenesis in cardiovascular and eye diseases. Our present study found that ALKBH5 was upregulated and co-localized with cluster of differentiation 31 (CD31) in the skin of IMQ group compared with control group. ALKBH5-deficient mice decreased IMQ-induced psoriatic dermatitis and exhibited histological improvements, including decreased epidermal thickness, hyperkeratosis, numbers of dermal capillary vessels and inflammatory cell infiltration. ALKBH5-KO mice alleviated angiogenesis in psoriatic lesions by downregulating the protein kinase B (AKT)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. Additionally, the expression of ALKBH5 was significantly upregulated in IL-17A-induced human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), which further promoted the expression of angiogenesis-related cytokines and endothelial cell proliferation. Cell proliferation and angiogenesis were suppressed in ALKBH5 knockdown group, whereas ALKBH5 overexpression promoted these processes. The regulation of angiogenesis in HUVECs by ALKBH5 was facilitated through the AKT-mTOR pathway. Collectively, ALKBH5 plays a pivotal role in psoriatic dermatitis and angiogenesis, which may offer a new potential targets for treating psoriasis.
Animals ; Psoriasis/chemically induced* ; Mice ; Humans ; Neovascularization, Pathologic/genetics* ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells/metabolism* ; AlkB Homolog 5, RNA Demethylase/genetics* ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism* ; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism* ; Cell Proliferation ; Mice, Knockout ; Disease Models, Animal ; Signal Transduction ; Male ; Skin/blood supply* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Angiogenesis

The culture of suspended Vero cells is facing difficulties such as low cell viability and long doubling time. To investigate the main reasons for the slow growth and low viability of suspended Vero cells, this study conducted transcriptomic analysis of suspended Vero cells (Vero-XF) and adherent Vero cells (Vero-AD) to screen the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) affecting the growth of suspended cells. In addition, epidermal growth factor (EGF) was supplemented to the culture system to improve the growth of Vero-XF. The results showed that compared with the Vero-AD group, the Vero-XF group had 7 376 significant DEGs. Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes enrichment analysis revealed that the DEGs were mainly enriched in the autophagy and mitophagy pathways. Eleven DEGs were selected and verified by quantitative real-time PCR, which showed up-regulated expression of ATG9B, WIPI2, LAMP2, OPTN, Rab7a, and DEPTOR and down-regulated expression of ATG4D, being consistent with the results of transcriptomic analysis. In addition, the Vero-XF group showed significantly up-regulated expression of ATG101, ATG2A, and STX17 and insignificant change in the expression of NBR1, compared with the Vero-AD group. The protein levels of LC3 and P62 in Vero-XF and Vero-AD were determined by Western blotting, which showed up-regulated expression of LC3Ⅱ/Ⅰ and down-regulated expression of P62 in Vero-XF, indicating a higher level of autophagy. Finally, the exogenous supplementation of EGF at 10, 20, and 30 μg/L in the culture system reduced the autophagy level of Vero-XF by 22.35%, 48.15%, and 71.29%, increased the specific growth rate by 15.48%, 33.33%, and 57.14%, and decreased the apoptosis rate by 2.84%, 15.46%, and 16.23%, respectively. The results of this study preliminarily reveal that the activation of autophagy is one of the reasons for the slow growth of Vero-XF, which provides reference for the subsequent culture of suspended Vero cells.
Animals ; Vero Cells ; Autophagy/genetics* ; Chlorocebus aethiops ; Epidermal Growth Factor/pharmacology* ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Transcriptome ; Cell Survival

Objective:To investigate the correlation between non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection by using the method of two-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis.Methods:Genetic variation data for NHL came from the Finnish database (FinnGen) Consortium 2021 public genome-wide association study (GWAS) dataset including 1 088 patients with NHL and 299 952 control subjects. The GWAS dataset for chronic HBV infection was derived from GWAS analysis published in 2021, including 145 NHL patients and 351 740 control subjects. NHL was used as an exposure factor, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) significantly associated with NHL was used as an instrumental variable (IV), chronic HBV infection was used as an outcome variable. The two-sample MR analysis was performed by using inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method. Chronic HBV infection was taken as an exposure factor, SNP significantly associated with chronic HBV infection was taken as IV, and NHL was taken as outcome variable, and then reverse two-sample MR analysis was performed. The IVW method used the inverse variance of each IV as the weight to fit, and the ratio method was used to measure SNP one by one and make weighted regression analysis, so as to obtain the overall estimate. MR-Egger regression and the weighted median (WME) method were also used to supplement the IVW method. In sensitivity analysis, leave-one-out sensitivity analysis was used to evaluate the impact of a single SNP. Cochran Q test was used to analyze the heterogeneity of the selected IV. MR-Egger regression was used to measure the average horizontal pleiotropy of IV, and the P-value of directivity was calculated. The MR-pleiotropy residual sum and outlier (MR-PRESSO) Global Test was used to exclude possible horizontal pleiotropic outliers and reduce bias. Results:In the leave-one-out sensitivity analysis, SNP with significant effects on causal associations was excluded. In forward MR analysis, IVs were 10 SNPs associated with NHL; the IVW method indicated that there was no causal association between NHL and chronic HBV infection ( OR = 0.979, 95% CI: 0.925-1.036, P = 0.465). MR-Egger regression ( OR = 0.992, 95% CI: 0.926-1.062, P = 0.825) and WME method ( OR = 0.992, 95% CI: 0.934-1.055, P = 0.805) were used as supplementary methods to obtain the consistent results. In sensitivity analysis, Cochran Q test showed no heterogeneity among IVs (IVW method: P = 0.271, MR-Egger regression: P = 0.239). Horizontal pleiotropy was not found in the MR-Egger regression (intercept was -0.01, P = 0.778) and the MR-PRESSO Global Test ( P > 0.05), suggesting robust results. In the reverse MR analysis, IVs were 8 SNPs associated with NHL; the IVW method ( OR = 1.117, 95% CI: 0.942-1.324, P = 0.202) also found no significant causal relationship between chronic HBV infection and NHL; MR-Egger regression ( OR = 0.777, 95% CI: 0.450-1.343, P = 0.401) and WME method ( OR = 1.120, 95% CI: 0.887-1.415, P = 0.351) also showed similar risk estimates. Sensitivity analysis also suggested the consistency and reliability of the results. Cochran Q test showed no heterogeneity among IVs (IVW method: P = 0.775, MR-Egger regression: P = 0.903). Horizontal pleiotropy was not found by MR-Egger regression (intercept was 0.102, P = 0.548) and MR-PRESSO Global Test ( P > 0.05). Conclusions:MR analysis suggests no causal relationship between NHL and chronic HBV infection.

By sorting out the records of Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma as food and medicine, this article believed that Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma as the same origin of medicine and food for a long history, the earliest in the Qin and Han Dynasty Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing: "Zhu, bitter and warm, having efficacy for cold, dampness, paralysis of dead muscles, and spasm; antiperspirant, removing heat, digesting food, and be used as decoction bait; taking for a long time, losing weight and prolonging life, and don't be hungry". On the basis of Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing, later doctors continue to conduct long-term clinical observation and compatibility of its medicine and food efficacy, which is widely used in internal, external, gynaecology, pediatrics, skin and other departments, to treat spleen and stomach diseases, epidemic diseases, kidney diseases, etc. At the same time of clinical practice, Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma is also widely used in the folk for dietary therapy, including decoction bait, ointment, decoction, soup and other edible methods. Therefore, as a medicine and food and health preservation product, Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma has great development potential in daily health care and disease diagnosis and treatment with the effects of non-toxic, satiety and longevity.

AIM:To evaluate the effect of optical amplification on macular retinal thickness measurements in myopic eyes of children and adolescents using optical coherence tomography(OCT).METHODS:A total of 68 cases(126 eyes)of children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years old attending our optometric center from April 2023 to January 2024 were selected. They were divided into 44 cases(83 eyes)in the mild myopia group(-0.50 D0.05). In the moderate myopia group, the differences between the retinal thickness in each quadrant of the macula and the mean retinal thickness before and after correction were statistically significant(all P<0.001). Before correction, there was a significant difference in retinal thickness on the temporal side of the outer ring and above the outer ring of the macula in both groups(P=0.019, 0.035). However, retinal thickness in the other quadrants was not statistically different between the two groups(all P>0.05). There were significant differences between the two groups in the macular fovea, the nasal side of the inner ring, the temporal side of the inner ring, the upper inner ring, the lower inner ring, the nasal side of the outer ring, and the mean retinal thickness after correction(all P<0.05). Before correction for optical amplification, retinal thickness of the outer ring of the macula was positively correlated with SE(all P<0.05)and negatively correlated with AL(all P<0.05). By correction, a significant negative correlation was found between the macular fovea, the inner ring, and the mean retinal thickness with SE(all P<0.05). In addition, retinal thickness in all quadrants of the macula was positively correlated with AL(all P<0.001).CONCLUSION:The optical amplification affects the accuracy of retinal thickness measurements in the macular region of myopic eyes of children and adolescents, and the effect becomes more significant as the AL increases.

Objective:To understand the current situation of fear of dementia among the elderly in Changsha and its related factors in order to provide empirical evidence for lowering the level of dementia fear among the elderly and formulating effective strategies.Methods:From July to September 2022, 300 elderly people living in communities in Changsha were surveyed using a random sampling method.Data were collected via a questionnaire for general information, the Fear of Dementia Scale, the Social Support Rating Scale, and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, and multiple linear regression was used to analyze related factors for fear of dementia in the elderly.Results:For elderly people in Changsha, the fear of dementia score was 46.00(33.25, 59.00), the social support score was 40.00(34.00, 44.75), and the generalized anxiety disorder score was 3.00(2.00, 4.00).According to analysis by Spearman's correlation, the level of fear of dementia among the elderly in Changsha was positively correlated to the level of generalized anxiety( r=0.232, P<0.01)and negatively correlated to the level of social support( r=-0.226, P<0.01).Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that level of education( β=-2.385, t=-3.201, P=0.002), family history of dementia( β=10.801, t=4.151, P<0.001), frequency of physical examination( β=-2.601, t=-3.497, P=0.001), and social support( β=-0.347, t=-3.093, P=0.002)were related factors for fear of dementia in the elderly in Changsha. Conclusions:Fear of dementia among the elderly in Changsha is at a moderate level, and there is no widespread generalized anxiety.Family history of dementia, education level, frequency of physical examination, and level of social support are relevant factors for fear of dementia.To lessen the level of fear of dementia, specific intervention methods should be formulated according to the relevant factors.

Objective:Evaluate the safety and efficacy of aortic endovascular remodeling device (AERD) in the treatment of residual aortic dissection on Stanford type B aortic dissection patients after endovascular repair.Methods:Adopting a prospective cohort study design, according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total number of 60 patients with Stanford B-type aortic dissection after TEVAR surgery from January 2022 to December 2023 were included. Collecting CTA imaging data of patients before and after endovascular treatment with AERD and using computer 3D reconstruction fluid dynamics to evaluate distal aortic remodeling.Results:The incidence of major adverse events and mortality rate associated with aortic dissection within 30 days were 0 after endovascular treatment with AERD. In the short term, AERD was safe for the treatment of residual aortic dissection on Stanford type B aortic dissection patients after endovascular repair. Endovascular treatment with AERD significantly increased the volume of the true lumen of the aorta in the dissection segment, with an increase of 88.44%. At the same time, endovascular treatment with AERD significantly reduced the volume of the false lumen of the aorta in the dissection segment, with a decrease of 61.04%. Endovascular treatment with AERD has no significant effect on the longest true lumen diameter of distal aorta of stent and upper margin aorta of superior mesenteric artery. Comparing to the longest diameter of the true lumen of the aorta, the change in the shortest diameter of the true lumen of the aorta is more significant, with the shortest diameter of true lumen of distal aortic of the stent increasing by 32.29%, the shortest diameter of true lumen of the narrowest part of the aorta increasing by 204.15%, the shortest diameter of true lumen of the upper margin aorta of superior mesenteric artery increasing by 80.76%, the shortest diameter of true lumen of the lower edge aorta of the renal artery increasing by 115.26%, the shortest diameter of the opening of the left iliac artery increasing by 152.01%, and the shortest diameter of opening of the right iliac artery increasing by144.21%.Conclusion:AERD is safe and effective in the treatment of residual aortic dissection on Stanford type B aortic dissection patients after endovascular repair. Endovascular treatment with AERD promotes true lumen dilation and false lumen reduction in the early postoperative stage and promotes benign remodeling of the distal aorta after TEVAR surgery.

Hypoxia is the common characteristic of almost all solid tumors,which prevents therapeutic drugs from reaching the tumors.Therefore,the development of new targeted agents for the accurate diagnosis of hypoxia tumors is widely concerned.As carbonic anhydrase Ⅸ(CA Ⅸ)is abundantly distributed on the hypoxia tumor cells,it is considered as a potential tumor biomarker.4-(2-Aminoethyl)benzenesulfo-namide(ABS)as a CA Ⅸ inhibitor has inherent inhibitory activity and good targeting effect.In this study,Ag2S quantum dots(QDs)were used as the carrier to prepare a novel diagnostic and therapeutic bio-probe(Ag2S@polyethylene glycol(PEG)-ABS)through ligand exchange and amide condensation reaction.Ag2S@PEG-ABS can selectively target tumors by surface-modified ABS and achieve accurate tumor im-aging by the near infrared-Ⅱ(NIR-Ⅱ)fluorescence characteristics of Ag2S QDs.PEG modification of Ag2S QDs greatly improves its water solubility and stability,and therefore achieves high photothermal sta-bility and high photothermal conversion efficiency(PCE)of 45.17％.Under laser irradiation,Ag2S@PEG-ABS has powerful photothermal and inherent antitumor combinations on colon cancer cells(CT-26)in vitro.It also has been proved that Ag2S@PEG-ABS can realize the effective treatment of hypoxia tumors in vivo and show good biocompatibility.Therefore,it is a new efficient integrated platform for the diagnosis and treatment of hypoxia tumors.

Objective This study aimed to analyze the impact of genetic factors on the clinical presentation of tic disorder and investigate the pathogenesis of tic disorder considering different sources of genetic influence and generations,along with the distribution characteristics of evidence from Chinese medicine.Methods Inclusion of 474 cases of tic disorder was assembled(from October,2020 to October,2023),and clinical data on the children,including gender,age of onset,disease duration,initial symptoms,severity,comorbidities,and family history,and TCM patterns were collected.Firstly,the children were divided into genetic and nongenetic groups based on family history,and their clinical manifestations were observed.Secondly,the age of peak incidence of tic disorder in China(6 or 9 years)was used as the age segmentation point to explore the influence of heredity on clinical manifestations at different ages and the distribution of TCM patterns.Finally,children with genetically-related tic disorder were selected as probands to carry out family studies.The morbidity of the first-degree,second-degree and third-degree relatives of the probands were investigated to analyze the morbidity characteristics and distribution of TCM patterns of children with tic disorder under different genetic types.Results Out of 474 children,226 cases(47.7％)belonged to the genetic group,and 248 cases(52.3％)to the nongenetic group.Compared with the non-genetic group,the genetic group had a younger age of onset(P=0.013),a longer duration of illness(P=0.011),a higher degree of severity(P＜0.01),and more comorbid conditions(P=0.016).Children in the genetic group with an age of onset under 6 years accounted for a larger proportion of the liver-hyperactive and wind-driven pattern(26.5％)and a smaller proportion of the qi depression transforming into fire pattern(17.1％),which were significantly different from those in the non-genetic group(P=0.016).In the genetic group,146 cases(64.6％)were inherited from the father,80 cases(35.4％)from the mother,and there was no significant difference in the developmental characteristics of children with tic disorder from different sources of genetic influence.Furthermore,183 cases(81.0％)were inherited from the parent-child generation,26 cases(11.5％)from the second generation,and 17 cases(7.5％)from the third generation;the difference in initial symptoms between different genetic generations was statistically significant(P=0.042).Conclusion Children with genetically related tic disorder have a younger age of onset,their condition is more severe,and they are more likely to be comorbid with other psychiatric disorders.The variation in the distribution of Chinese medicine patterns among children with tic disorder of different ages of onset.