Objective: This study aimed to explore the correlation between balance function and core muscle activation in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), compared to healthy individuals. Methods: A total of 24 AIS patients and 25 healthy controls were recruited. The limits of stability (LOS) test were conducted to assess balance function, while surface electromyography was used to measure the activity of core muscles, including the internal oblique, external oblique, and multifidus. Diaphragm thickness was measured using ultrasound during different postural tasks. Center of pressure (COP) displacement and trunk inclination distance were also recorded during the LOS test. Results: AIS patients showed significantly greater activation of superficial core muscles, such as the internal and external oblique muscles, compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Diaphragm activation was lower in AIS patients during balance tasks (p < 0.01). Although no significant difference was observed in COP displacement between the groups, trunk inclination was significantly greater in the AIS group during certain tasks (p < 0.05). Conclusion These findings suggest distinct postural control patterns in AIS patients, highlighting the importance of targeted interventions to improve balance and core muscle function in this population.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the correlation between balance function and core muscle activation in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), compared to healthy individuals. Methods: A total of 24 AIS patients and 25 healthy controls were recruited. The limits of stability (LOS) test were conducted to assess balance function, while surface electromyography was used to measure the activity of core muscles, including the internal oblique, external oblique, and multifidus. Diaphragm thickness was measured using ultrasound during different postural tasks. Center of pressure (COP) displacement and trunk inclination distance were also recorded during the LOS test. Results: AIS patients showed significantly greater activation of superficial core muscles, such as the internal and external oblique muscles, compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Diaphragm activation was lower in AIS patients during balance tasks (p < 0.01). Although no significant difference was observed in COP displacement between the groups, trunk inclination was significantly greater in the AIS group during certain tasks (p < 0.05). Conclusion These findings suggest distinct postural control patterns in AIS patients, highlighting the importance of targeted interventions to improve balance and core muscle function in this population.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the correlation between balance function and core muscle activation in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), compared to healthy individuals. Methods: A total of 24 AIS patients and 25 healthy controls were recruited. The limits of stability (LOS) test were conducted to assess balance function, while surface electromyography was used to measure the activity of core muscles, including the internal oblique, external oblique, and multifidus. Diaphragm thickness was measured using ultrasound during different postural tasks. Center of pressure (COP) displacement and trunk inclination distance were also recorded during the LOS test. Results: AIS patients showed significantly greater activation of superficial core muscles, such as the internal and external oblique muscles, compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Diaphragm activation was lower in AIS patients during balance tasks (p < 0.01). Although no significant difference was observed in COP displacement between the groups, trunk inclination was significantly greater in the AIS group during certain tasks (p < 0.05). Conclusion These findings suggest distinct postural control patterns in AIS patients, highlighting the importance of targeted interventions to improve balance and core muscle function in this population.

Objective To explore the correlation of bilateral knee joint strength asymmetry with balance,walking ability,and motor function in hemiplegic stroke patients,providing a reference for clinical assessment of stroke patients.Methods A total of 46 hemiplegic stroke patients admitted to the Rehabilitation Medicine Department of People's Hospital of Shijiazhuang from February to December 2023 were selected.According to the Berg Balance Scale(BBS)scores,patients were divided into Group A(BBS score≤20,n=23)and Group B(BBS score>20,n=23).The peak torque and differences of bilateral knee flexors and extensors were compared between two groups.Isokinetic technology was used to assess the differences in peak torque of bilateral knee joints at 60°/s and 120°/s.BBS,Functional Ambulation Classification(FAC),and Fugl-Meyer Assessment of Lower Extremity(FMA-LE)were used to evaluate patients'balance,walking ability,and lower limb motor function.The correlation between bilateral knee joint peak torque and its difference with the scores of three functional scales was analyzed.Results The peak torque of knee flexors and extensors at 60°/s in group A was significantly lower than that in group B(P<0.05).At both 60°/s and 120°/s the differences in peak torque between the healthy and affected sides of knee flexors and extensors were greater than those in group B(P<0.05).At 60°/s,the difference in peak torque of bilateral knee extensors in hemiplegic stroke patients was negatively correlated with the scores of BBS,FAC,and FMA-LE(r=-0.569,-0.582,-0.606,P<0.01),as did the knee flexors(r=-0.534,-0.386,-0.458,P<0.05).At 120°/s,similar negative correlations were observed for both knee extensors(r=-0.304,-0.304,-0.443,P<0.05)and flexors(r=-0.337,-0.349,-0.370,P<0.05).Conclusions Bilateral knee joint strength asymmetry in hemiplegic stroke patients is negatively correlated with balance and walking ability.The difference in strength between the two sides of knee joint may be one of the clinical indicators for evaluating the motor function of stroke patients.

Objective To identify risk factors for severe hand-foot-mouth disease(HFMD)cases in Fuzhou,providing scientific evidence for disease prevention and control.Methods Severe pediatric HFMD cases in Fuzhou between 2017 and 2024 were collected from the"China Disease Prevention and Control Information System".Non-severe cases were frequency-matched based on the same onset period,same affected region,same parents'educational level,and age(±1 year)to form a non-severe group.Demographic characteristics,clinical symptoms,medical history,and pathogen types of both groups were collected.Logistic regression was used to identify the risk factors for severe cases.Results From 2017 to 2024,Fuzhou reported 503 severe HFMD cases and 1053 matched non-severe cases.Demographically,severe group had a higher proportion of home-based childcare,rural residence,care-seeking delay>2 d,while EV71 vaccination rates,handwashing habits before meals and after defecation,and caregivers with HFMD prevention education were lower than those in non-severe group,with statistically significant difference(P<0.001).Clinically,severe group showed more frequent fever>3 d,altered consciousness/seizure,limb tremors/convulsions,the proportion of infectious disease and the proportion of EV71-positive cases than those in non-severe group(P<0.001).Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that home-based childcare(OR=3.213,95%CI 1.913-5.398),rural residence(OR=2.121,95%CI 1.513-2.973),lack of EV7 vaccination(OR=3.141,95%CI 1.996-4.945),care-seeking delay>2 d(OR=2.004,95%CI 1.410-2.849),no handwashing habits before meals and after defecation(OR=3.927,95%CI 1.718-5.356),caregiver without HFMD education(OR=2.465,95%CI 1.807-3.362),fever>3 d(OR=2.585,95%CI 1.801-3.709),altered consciousness/seizures(OR=4.059,95%CI 2.731-6.031),limb tremors/convulsions(OR=2.087,95%CI 1.398-3.117),history of infectious disease(OR=3.369,95%CI 1.725-6.335)and EV71 positivity(OR=3.854,95%CI 2.678-5.545)were risk factors for severe HFMD cases.The recovery time in severe group was significantly longer than that in non-severe group[18(5,32)d vs.11(4,23)d,P<0.001].Conclusions Prevention and control efforts should target high-risk groups by strengthening health education,promoting EV71 vaccination and improving the treatment of severe HFMD cases to reduce the incidence of severe HFMD.

The p21-activated kinase 4 (PAK4), a key regulator of malignancy, is negatively correlated with immune infiltration and has become an emergent drug target of cancer therapy. Given the lack of high efficacy PAK4 inhibitors, we herein reported the identification of a novel inhibitor 13 bearing a tetrahydrobenzofuro[2,3-c]pyridine tricyclic core and possessing high potency against MIA PaCa-2 and Pan02 cell lines with IC₅₀ values of 0.38 and 0.50 μmol/L, respectively. This compound directly binds to PAK4 in a non-ATP competitive manner. In the mouse Pan02 model, compound 13 exhibited significant tumor growth inhibition at a dose of 100 mg/kg, accompanied by reduced levels of PAK4 and its phosphorylation together with immune infiltration in mice tumor tissue. Overall, compound 13 is a novel allosteric PAK4 inhibitor with a unique tricyclic structural feature and high potency both in vitro and in vivo, thus making it worthy of further exploration.

Ovarian tumor (OT) is the most lethal form of gynecologic malignancy, with minimal improvements in patient outcomes over the past several decades. Metastasis is the leading cause of ovarian cancer-related deaths, yet the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Psychological stress is known to activate the glucocorticoid receptor (NR3C1), a factor associated with poor prognosis in OT patients. However, the precise mechanisms linking NR3C1 signaling and metastasis have yet to be fully elucidated. In this study, we demonstrate that chronic restraint stress accelerates epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and metastasis in OT through an NR3C1-dependent mechanism involving nuclear protein 1 (NUPR1). Mechanistically, NR3C1 directly regulates the transcription of NUPR1, which in turn increases the expression of snail family transcriptional repressor 2 (SNAI2), a key driver of EMT. Clinically, elevated NR3C1 positively correlates with NUPR1 expression in OT patients, and both are positively associated with poorer prognosis. Overall, our study identified the NR3C1/NUPR1 axis as a critical regulatory pathway in psychological stress-induced OT metastasis, suggesting a potential therapeutic target for intervention in OT metastasis.

Oligodendrocyte lineage cells, including oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) and oligodendrocytes (OLs), are essential in establishing and maintaining brain circuits. Autophagy is a conserved process that keeps the quality of organelles and proteostasis. The role of autophagy in oligodendrocyte lineage cells remains unclear. The present study shows that autophagy is required to maintain the number of OPCs/OLs and myelin integrity during brain aging. Inactivation of autophagy in oligodendrocyte lineage cells increases the number of OPCs/OLs in the developing brain while exaggerating the loss of OPCs/OLs with brain aging. Inactivation of autophagy in oligodendrocyte lineage cells impairs the turnover of myelin basic protein (MBP). It causes MBP to accumulate in the cytoplasm as multimeric aggregates and fails to be incorporated into integral myelin, which is associated with attenuated endocytic recycling. Inactivation of autophagy in oligodendrocyte lineage cells impairs myelin integrity and causes demyelination. Thus, this study shows autophagy is required to maintain myelin quality during aging by controlling the turnover of myelin components.
Animals ; Autophagy/physiology* ; Oligodendroglia/metabolism* ; Myelin Sheath/physiology* ; Aging/pathology* ; Myelin Basic Protein/metabolism* ; Cell Lineage/physiology* ; Mice ; Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Brain/cytology* ; Cells, Cultured ; Cell Count

OBJECTIVE: Varied acupoint selections represent a potential cause of the uncertainty surrounding the efficacy of acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis (OA). Skin temperature, a guiding factor for acupoint selection, may help to address this issue. This study explored thermal sensitization of acupoints used for the treatment of knee OA. METHODS: This cross-sectional case-control study enrolled cases aged 45-75 years with symptomatic knee OA and age- and gender-matched non-knee OA controls in a 1:1 ratio. All participants underwent infrared thermographic imaging. The primary outcome was the relative skin temperature of acupoint (STA), and the secondary outcome was the absolute STA of 11 acupoints. The Z test was used to compare the relative and absolute STAs between the groups. Principal component analysis was used to extract the common factors (CFs, acupoint cluster) in the STAs. A general linear model was used to identify factors affecting the STA in the knee OA cases. For the group comparisons of relative STA, P < 0.0045 (adjusted for 11 acupoints through Bonferroni correction) was considered to indicate statistical significance. For other analyses, P < 0.05 was used as the threshold for statistical significance. RESULTS: The analysis included 308 participants, consisting of 151 cases (mean age: [64.58 ± 6.67] years; male: 25.83%; mean body mass index: [25.70 ± 3.16] kg/m²) and 157 controls (mean age: [63.37 ± 5.96] years; male: 26.11%; mean body mass index: [24.47 ± 2.84] kg/m²). The relative STAs of ST34 (P = 0.0001), EX-LE2 (P < 0.0001), EX-LE5 (P = 0.0006), SP10 (P < 0.0001), BL40 (P = 0.0012) and GB39 (P = 0.0037) were higher in the knee OA group. No difference was found in the STAs of ST35, ST36, SP9, GB33 and GB34. Four CFs were identified for relative STA in both groups. The acupoints within each CF were consistent between the groups. The mean values of the relative STAs across each CF were higher in the knee OA group. In the knee OA cases, no factors were observed to affect the relative STA, while age and gender were found to affect the absolute STA. CONCLUSION Among patients with knee OA, thermal sensitization occurs in the acupoints of the lower extremity, exhibiting localized and regional thermal consistencies. The thermally sensitized acupoints that we identified in this study, ST34, SP10, EX-LE2, EX-LE5, GB39 and BL40, may be good choices for the acupuncture treatment of knee OA. Please cite this article as: Tu JF, Wang XZ, Yan SY, Wang YR, Yang JW, Shi GX, Zhang WZ, Jing LN, Yang LS, Liu DH, Wang LQ, Mi BH. Thermal sensitization of acupoints in patients with knee osteoarthritis: A cross-sectional case-control study. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(3): 289-296.
Humans ; Osteoarthritis, Knee/physiopathology* ; Male ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Middle Aged ; Female ; Acupuncture Points ; Case-Control Studies ; Aged ; Skin Temperature ; Acupuncture Therapy