BACKGROUND:Pain mechanisms in patients with lumbar disc herniation are associated with inflammation,autophagy is closely related to intervertebral disc diseases and inflammatory response,and aberrant miR-206 expression can trigger skeletal diseases. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the mechanism of miR-206 on inflammation,analgesia and autophagy related proteins in nucleus pulposus in rats with lumbar disc herniation. METHODS:Sixty SPF male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into control group,model group,miR-206 mimics-NC group,miR-206 mimics group,miR-206 inhibitor-NC group and miR-206 inhibitor group.Animal models of lumbar disc herniation were established except for the control group.Ten days after modeling,miR-206 mimics-NC group,miR-206 mimics group,miR-206 inhibitor-NC group and miR-206 inhibitor group were injected with miR-206 mimics-NC(20 μmol/L,10 μL),miR-206 mimics(20 μmol/L,10 μL),miR-206 inhibitor-NC(20 μmol/L,10 μL)and miR-206 inhibitor(20 μmol/L,10 μL),respectively.Administration was given once a day for 4 continuous days.The control group and model group were injected with the same dose of normal saline.The paw withdrawal mechanical threshold of bilateral hind feet was measured by Von Frey filaments,and the paw withdrawal thermal latency of bilateral hind feet was measured by heat pain tester.The morphology of dorsal root ganglia was observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining.The expressions of inflammatory factors phospholipase A2,cyclooxygenase 2,prostaglandin E2,tumor necrosis factor α,and interleukin 1β in nucleus pulposus were detected by qPCR.The expressions of autophagy-related proteins LC3I and Beclin-1 were detected by western blot assay. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:At 3,7,and 14 days after modeling,the paw withdrawal mechanical threshold and paw withdrawal thermal latency were both decreased in the model group compared with the control group,while the levels of phospholipase A2,cyclooxygenase 2,prostaglandin E2,tumor necrosis factor α,interleukin 1β,LC3I and Beclin-1 increased(P<0.05).The above indexes showed no significant changes in the miR-206 inhibitor-NC group and miR-206 mimics-NC group compared with the model group(P>0.05).Compared with the miR-206 mimics-NC group,the miR-206 mimics group had lower paw withdrawal mechanical threshold and paw withdrawal thermal latency and higher levels of phospholipase A2,cyclooxygenase 2,prostaglandin E2,tumor necrosis factor α,interleukin 1β,LC3I,and Beclin-1 levels(P<0.05).Compared with the miR-206 inhibitor-NC group,the rats in the miR-206 inhibitor group showed opposite changes in the above indicators,and there were significant differences between the two groups(P<0.05).To conclude,inhibition of miR-206 can significantly improve the level of inflammatory factors in nucleus pulposus of rats with lumbar disc herniation,increase pain threshold,and reduce autophagy.The mechanism is related to the inhibition of LC3I and Beclin-1 expression.

Objective:To evaluate the application of intraoperative optical coherence tomography (iOCT) in vitreoretinal surgery.Methods:An observational case series study was conducted.A total of 316 patients (316 eyes) who received vitreoretinal surgery and iOCT from January 2015 to December 2017 in Hangzhou Branch of Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University were enrolled.The iOCT scanning time and result, the consistency between iOCT result and observation under the operating microscope as well as the influence of iOCT on surgical strategy were recorded.The postoperative adverse reactions and complications were observed.The study protocol was approved by an Ethics Committee of Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University(No.2019-168-K-160). Written informed consent was obtained from all patients prior to any medical examination.Results:There were 85.8% (271/316) of patients who successfully completed iOCT scanning, with an average scanning time of (3.54±2.30)minutes.Among the 271 successful eyes, there were 51 with idiopathic macular hole (IMH), 95 with epiretinal membrane, 50 with dense vitreous hemorrhage (VH), 30 with macular lamellar hole, 12 with vitreous macular traction syndrome, 33 with myopic maculopathy.There were 45 eyes, accounting for 16.6%, the iOCT results of which were inconsistent with the observation of operator under the operating microscope.There were 27 eyes, accounting for 10.0%, the surgical strategy of which was changed.The iOCT results of IMH showed that intra-retinal bridge connection appeared in 2 eyes after ILM peeling, then air tamponade was used.High-reflection strips on the edge of the MH after ILM peeling, called the Hole-door phenomenon, were found in 15 eyes, accounting for 32.6%.In MH with a diameter >400 μm, the postoperative best corrected visual acuity and continuity of outer limiting membrane were better in eyes with Hole-door phenomenon than eyes without Hole-door phenomenon.There were 8 eyes, accounting for 8.4%, showing residual membrane, 3 eyes of which received extra ERM peeling.There were 56 eyes, accounting for 58.9%, showing the secondary changes after membrane peeling.For 50 eyes with dense VH, there were 17 eyes showing the normal macular structure, accounting for 34%, and 33 eyes showing the abnormal macular structure, accounting for 66.0%.In addition, the macular structures of 14 eyes, accounting for 28.0%, observed in iOCT image were inconsistent with the intraocular microscope finding, and 11 of them received extra ERM peeling.Conclusions:The application of iOCT in vitreoretinal surgery can guide the selection of reasonable surgical methods during operation, predict postoperative recovery as well as improve postoperative outcomes.

Objective:The investigation and research on the application status of Hepatic Venous Pressure Gradient (HVPG) is very important to understand the real situation and future development of this technology in China.Methods:This study comprehensively investigated the basic situation of HVPG technology in China, including hospital distribution, hospital level, annual number of cases, catheters used, average cost, indications and existing problems.Results:According to the survey, there were 70 hospitals in China carrying out HVPG technology in 2021, distributed in 28 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central Government). A total of 4 398 cases of HVPG were performed in all the surveyed hospitals in 2021, of which 2 291 cases (52.1%) were tested by HVPG alone. The average cost of HVPG detection was (5 617.2±2 079.4) yuan. 96.3% of the teams completed HVPG detection with balloon method, and most of the teams used thrombectomy balloon catheter (80.3%).Conclusion:Through this investigation, the status of domestic clinical application of HVPG has been clarified, and it has been confirmed that many domestic medical institutions have mastered this technology, but it still needs to continue to promote and popularize HVPG technology in the future.

Objective:To observe the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and aquaporin 4 (AQP4) in the inner limiting membrane (ILM) of diabetic retinopathy (DR) with macular edema, and analyze the correlation between VEGF and AQP4 expression.Methods:A cross-sectional study. From September 2019 to September 2020, 38 eyes of 38 patients with DR and idiopathic macular hole (iMH) who underwent vitrectomy (PPV) combined with ILM stripping at the Hangzhou campus of The Affiliated Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University at Hangzhou were included in the study. Among them, there were 25 males and 13 females who aged 37-76 years old, average age was 59±10 years old; All eye included 15 right eyes and 23 left eyes. iMH and DR included 9 eyes in 9 cases and 29 eyes in 29 cases, respectively, and they were divided into iMH group and DR group. The DR group was divided into DME group and no DME group according to whether it was accompanied by diabetic macular edema (DME), with 14 eyes and 15 eyes respectively. After the stripped ILM tissue was fixed, immunofluorescence analysis was performed to obtain a picture of the fluorescence mode of AQP4 and VEGF, and the fluorescence intensity value of VEGF and AQP4 was measured by Image J software. The differences of VEGF and AQP4 immunofluorescence values in the specimens between groups were compared by one-way analysis of variance. The correlation between the fluorescence intensity of AQP4 and the fluorescence intensity of VEGF was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis.Results:The average fluorescence intensity valuesof VEGF and AQP4 in ILM specimens of DME group, no DME group and iMH group were 38.96±7.53, 28.25±3.12, 30.07±4.84 and 49.07±8.73, 37.96±6.45, 38.08±5.04, respectively. The average fluorescence intensity of VEGF and AQP4 in the ILM specimens of the DME group was significantly higher than that of the no DME group and iMH group, and the difference was statistically significant ( F=13.977, 9.454; P<0.05). The average fluorescence intensity values of VEGF and AQP4 on IML specimens in the DR group were 33.80±7.91, 43.76±9.44, respectively. The results of Pearson correlation analysis showed that the fluorescence intensity of VEGF and AQP4 in the ILM specimens of the DR group was significantly positively correlated ( r=0.597, P=0.003). Conclusions:The expressions of VEGF and AQP4 in ILM of eyes with DR and DME are significantly increased compared with those without DME. The expression of VEGF and AQP4 in ILM of eyes with DR is positively correlated.

Microbes play important roles in human health and disease. The interaction between microbes and hosts is a reciprocal relationship, which remains largely under-explored. Current com-putational resources lack manually and consistently curated data to connect metagenomic data to pathogenic microbes, microbial core genes, and disease phenotypes. We developed the MicroPhenoDB database by manually curating and consistently integrating microbe-disease associ-ation data. MicroPhenoDB provides 5677 non-redundant associations between 1781 microbes and 542 human disease phenotypes across more than 22 human body sites. MicroPhenoDB also pro-vides 696,934 relationships between 27,277 unique clade-specific core genes and 685 microbes. Dis-ease phenotypes are classified and described using the Experimental Factor Ontology (EFO). A refined score model was developed to prioritize the associations based on evidential metrics. The sequence search option in MicroPhenoDB enables rapid identification of existing pathogenic microbes in samples without running the usual metagenomic data processing and assembly. Micro-PhenoDB offers data browsing, searching, and visualization through user-friendly web interfaces and web service application programming interfaces. MicroPhenoDB is the first database platform to detail the relationships between pathogenic microbes, core genes, and disease phenotypes. It will accelerate metagenomic data analysis and assist studies in decoding microbes related to human dis-eases. MicroPhenoDB is available through http://www.liwzlab.cn/microphenodb and http://lilab2. sysu.edu.cn/microphenodb.

Objective To diagnose correctly for paravertebral spinal hemangioma and neurilemmoma through retrospective analysis of characteristics of MRI.Methods Paravertebral spinal hemangiomas (n＝11)and neurilemmomas (n＝17)confirmed by surgery and pathology were analyzed retrospectively.Results Paravertebral spinal hemangiomas occurred in the thoracic epidural,hyperintense singal on T2 WI,obvious homogeneous enhancement,associated with vertebral body destruction and vertebral hemangioma.Paravertebral neurilemmomas were located in the middle and upper cervical segments and the thoracic epidural space.The solid area showed mild hyperintense singal on T2 WI,irregularly higher hyperintense signal inside,and obvious heterogeneous enhancement,without the cystic area being enhanced.The differences between the two tumors were significant in location,vertebral hemangioma,lesions of the same layer of bone destruction,relationship with the spinal cord,T2 WI signal,and enhanced performance (P＜0.05 ).There were no significant differences in age,sex,clinical manifestation,shape,volume,affected attachment,and T1 WI signal (P＞0.05 ).Conclusion The MRI findings of paravertebral spinal hemangioma and neurilemmoma are significantly different in the location,vertebral hemangioma,bone destruction,relationship with the spinal cord,T2 WI signal and enhanced performance.

Objective To observe the long-term clinical effect of pars plana vitrectomy combined with fovea-sparing internal limiting peeling in the treatment of macular foveoschisis in pathologic myopic. Methods A prospective case series study. Fifteen patients (15 eyes) with pathological myopic macular foveoschisis who received treatment in Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University from December 2015 to December 2016 were enrolled. There were 4 males (4 eyes) and 11 females (11eyes), with an average age of 55.33±8.34 years. All patients underwent BCVA, diopter, spectral domain OCT and axial length measurement. The mean logMAR BCVA was 0.95±0.64. The mean central fovea thickness (CFT) was 576.00±185.32 μm. All patients underwent vitrectomy combined with fovea-sparing internal limiting peeling. After gas-liquid exchange, 12％ C3F8 was filled and followed up at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery. Follow-up time was more than 12 months. The structural changes of BCVA and macular area were observed.Results The foveal internal limiting membranes was successfully preserved in all eyes using the techinique. At the final follow-up, the CFT was 258.60±175.22 μm and the BCVA was 0.46±0.43, which were significantly improved compared with preoperative measurements (t=4.90, 5.20;P<0.001). Macular foveoschisis was resovled in 13 eyes. BCVA increased in 14 eyes. Internal limiting membranes proliferation and contraction occurred in 5 eyes and full-thickness macular hole occurred in 1 eye.Conclusions Pars plana vitrectomy with fovea-sparing internal limiting peeling is effective in the treatment of myopic macular retinoschisis. It can improve BCVA and CFT.

Objective To investigate the therapeutic effect of different doses of methylprednisolone (MP) in smoke inhalation-induced acute lung injury (SI-ALI).Methods Adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into control group (group A,n = 6), smoke inhalation group (group B, smoke inhalation 30 minutes,n = 30) and smoke+MP 40, 4, 0.4 mg/kg intervention group (groups C, D, E; intraperitoneal injection of MP at 1 hour before smoke inhalation, n = 30) according to random number table method. The survival status of rats in each group was observed at 24 hours, and murine smoke inhalation induced trauma score (MSITS) according to the symptoms and signs of rats at 3 hours after smoke inhalation were scored. The blood of abdominal aorta of rats was collected. Then the rats were sacrificed to harvest bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and lung tissue. The levels of interleukin (IL-6, IL-17a) in plasma and BALF were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA); the total number of white blood cells and the proportion of leukocytes or macrophages in BALF were calculated; the histopathological changes of lung were observed and the lung injury score was given; the expression of myeloperoxidase (MPO) and high mobility group protein B1 (HMGB1) in lung tissue were detected by Western Blot.Results The 24-hour survival rate of group B rats was 33.67％. The survivalrate of groups C, D and E (65.73％, 85.17％, 60.07％) were significantly higher than that of group B (allP < 0.05), and the survival rate of group D was significantly higher than that of groups C and E. Diffuse inflammatory cell infiltration, intra-alveolar hemorrhage and a large amount of edema fluid were seen in the lung tissue of group B; and the lung injury score was significantly higher than that of group A. Compared with group B, the lung injury in different doses of MP group were decreased to different degrees, while the lung injury scores in groups C and D were significantly decreased (3.31±1.37, 2.62±0.98 vs. 5.52±0.97, bothP < 0.01); correlation analysis showed that MSITS score was significantly and positively correlated with lung injury score (r = 0.862,P < 0.001). The levels of plasma inflammatory factors and BALF protein, inflammatory cells and inflammatory factors, and the expression of MPO, HMGB1 in group B were significantly higher than those in group A. Compared with group B, the levels of inflammatory factors in plasma, and protein content, inflammatory cells and inflammatory factors in BALF in different doses of MP group were decreased to different degrees, with significant differences in groups C and D [plasma: IL-17a (pg/L): 49.28±27.12, 36.57±16.52 vs. 191.79±88.21; IL-6 (ng/L): 206.47±109.96, 197.52±113.86 vs. 669.00±299.60; BALF: protein content (mg/L):892.0±164.5, 566.1±120.9 vs. 1838.0±145.8; white blood cell count (×109/L): 5.40±1.67, 2.81±1.20 vs. 9.02± 2.06; neutrophil ratio: 0.315±0.081, 0.273±0.080 vs. 0.590±0.096; IL-17a (ng/L): 22.63±8.62, 18.92±8.43 vs. 43.31±19.17; IL-6 (ng/L): 156.49±46.94, 123.66±64.91 vs. 253.43±80.03; allP< 0.01]; in addition, the expression of MPO and HMGB1 protein in lung tissues of MP groups with different doses were significantly decreased, the expression of MPO in group D was significantly lower than that in group E [MPO/β-actin (fold increase from group A):2.14±0.97 vs. 4.35±0.87,P < 0.01], the expression of HMGB1 in groups C and D were significantly lower than that in group E [HMGB1/β-actin (fold increase from group A): 1.77±0.73, 1.23±0.67 vs. 3.65±1.08, bothP < 0.05]. Conclusions MP can significantly improve the survival rate of SI-ALI rats and reduce the acute pulmonary and systemic inflammatory response. The MP effect of 4 mg/kg was better than 40 mg/kg and 0.4 mg/kg.

Objective To observe the effects of seawater immersion at different temperatures on survival time and mortality and physiological state of non-anesthetized rats.Methods Totally 100 SD male rats(The abdominal cavity was implanted with a temperature sensor in advance)were randomly divided into five groups which were immersed in 20 ℃,17 ℃,15 ℃,13 ℃ and 10 ℃ seawater,respectively.Each group contains 20 rats.The changes of respiration,heart rate and muscle fibrillation within 2 hours were observed and the survival time and mortality of each group were counted in 24 hours.The decrease trend of intraperitoneal temperature in rats was analyzed retrospectively within 2 hours.Results Soaking for 10 minutes,the respiratory and heart rate of each group were significantly increased,but there was no significant difference among groups(P>0.05).The respiratory and heart rate decreased rapidly between 10 and 40 minutes,and the decline was slower relatively between 40 and 80 minutes.Soaking for 80 minutes,the respiration rate of rats among groups had significant difference(P<0.05).Immersing for 100 minutes,the heart rates of rats in each group were significantly different(P<0.05).Soaking for 20 minutes,the muscle fibrillation of 15 ℃,13 ℃ and 10 ℃ group reached the peak,and there were significant differences among groups(P<0.05),then disappeared.However the rats in 20 ℃ and 17 ℃ group reached the peak at 30 minutes,but there was no significant difference between two groups(P>0.05),hereafter the muscle fibrillation was maintained at a certain level.The mean survival time of 20 ℃ group,17 ℃ group,15 ℃ group,13 ℃ group and 10 ℃ group in 24 hours were(23.6±1.23)hours,(15.0±4.16)hours,(7.7±3.21)hours,(2.4±0.91)hours and (1.1±0.39)hours,respectively,and the survival curve of each group was statistically significant(P<0.05).The intraperitoneal temperature of rats showed a decline in the cliff,the lower the water temperature,the faster the descending.Soaking for 40 minutes,the difference of intraperitoneal temperature of each group was statistically significant(P<0.05).Conclusion The effects of seawater immersion at different temperatures on the physiological state and survival time and mortality of rats are significantly different.With the decrease of water temperature,the physiological state changes more obviously,the survival time is shorter and the mortality rate is higher.

Objective To evaluated the correlations between MSCT features and expression of VEGF-C,lymphatic vessel density (LVD)in gastric carcinoma.Methods Both plain MSCT and triphasic dynamic contrast-enhanced scan were performed in 58 patients with gastric carcinoma.All patients underwent total/subtotal gastrectomy after MSCT scanning.All specimens were collected into liquid nitrogen or deep freeze refrigerator.Detection procedure for VEGF-C mRNA was performed using RT-PCR,and the LVD was detected with 5’-nucleotidase (5’-Nase)histochemistry.Results The VEGF-C positive rate and the LVD in tumor tissue were high-er than those in normal tissue (P < 0.05 ).In the tumors between diffused and intestinal groups and between non-metastasis and lymph node metastasis groups,the VEGF-C positive rate was 87.1% and 59.3%,87.8% and 41.2%,and the LVD was 8.04±4.58 and 4.08±2.44,8.50±4.70 and 3.64 ± 1.41,respectively,indicating statistically significant differences (P <0.05 ).Conclusion Over-expression of VEGF-C and higher LVD are closely correlated with the lymph node metastasis and Lauren types of MSCT fea-tures of gastric carcinoma.VEGF-C can promote the lymphangiogenesis in carcinoma and further lymph metastasis.