BACKGROUND:Cannabidiol is effective in ameliorating the body's inflammatory response,but no clear mechanistic studies have been conducted to ameliorate skeletal muscle inflammation induced by exhaustive exercise. OBJECTIVE:To explore the mechanism by which cannabidiol improves skeletal muscle inflammation during exhaustive exercise by using transcriptome sequencing technology. METHODS:Thirty-six Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into six groups:blank control group,exercise coconut oil group,exercise control group,50 mg/kg cannabidiol group,60 mg/kg cannabidiol group,and 70 mg/kg cannabidiol group,with six rats in each group.Except for rats in the blank control group,rats in each group were subjected to swimming exercise for 9 days to produce the exhaustive exercise model.At the end of each swimming exercise,rats in the cannabidiol groups were given 2 mL of fat-soluble cannabidiol at different concentrations(50,60,and 70 mg/kg)by gavage;rats in the exercise coconut oil group were given the same volume of coconut oil by gavage until the end of the exercise on the 9th day;and rats in the blank control group and the exercise control group were not given any special treatment.The levels of inflammatory factors and differentially expressed genes in the skeletal muscle of rats in each group were determined using ELISA and transcriptome sequencing techniques.Differentially expressed genes obtained were subjected to KEGG analysis,and the accuracy of the sequencing data was verified by fluorescence quantitative PCR. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The results of ELISA showed that the contents of interleukin-6(P<0.05),tumor necrosis factor-α(P<0.01),interleukin-10 and other inflammatory factors in the exercise group increased significantly compared with the blank control group and the coconut oil group.After cannabidiol intervention,the mass concentrations of interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α showed a sequential decrease with increasing cannabidiol concentration.By comparing GO and KEGG databases,the functional properties of differentially expressed genes were analyzed,and the results showed that the differentially expressed genes were mainly involved in the tumor necrosis factor signaling pathway and the Toll-like receptor signaling pathway.RT-qPCR results showed that the trends of five randomly selected differentially expressed genes were in agreement with the transcriptome sequencing results.To conclude,cannabidiol can improve skeletal muscle inflammation caused by exhaustive exercise.

Objective To investigate the predictive value of urinary exosomal microRNA(miR)-29 c in the clinical outcome of organ-and non-organ-confined bladder urothelial carcinoma(BUC).Methods From January 2017 to March 2022,152 patients with BUC were recruited from the Department of Urology in our hospital as a validation set.In addition,126 non-cancer controls were selected from the physical examination center of our hospital.The expression level of urinary exosomal miR-29c was detected by real-time quantitative PCR.Results In the validation set,urinary exosomal miR-29c level in BUC patients was significantly lower than that in non-cancer control group(P＜0.05),while urinary exosomal miR-17-5p level and miR-590-5p level were not significantly different(P＞0.05).The area under ROC curve of urinary exosomal miR-29c for the diagnosis of BUC was 0.969(95％CI:0.953～0.986),and the corresponding sensitivity and specificity were 92.1％and 90.2％,respectively.In subtype analysis,urinary exosomal miR-29c levels were further reduced in patients with non-organ-confined BUC compared with patients with organ-confined BUC(P=0.009).Overall survival(OS),disease-free survival(DFS)and disease-specific survival(DSS)were longer in the urinary exosomal miR-29c high expression group(P＜0.05).Conclusion Low levels of urinary exosomal miR-29c are an adverse prognostic factor for survival in patients with BUC,and are promising as a predictor of adverse clinical outcomes of organ-and non-organ-confined BUC.

Objective:To investigate the clinical features, molecular etiology, and treatment of a family with Treacher Collins Syndrome 2 (TCS2).Methods:Information of the proband (female, 8 years old) including medical history and family history was collected. Physical examination and examinations concerning laboratory, audiology, and radiology were performed on the proband. Physical examination was also performed on the family members. Genomic DNA of proband was extracted for whole exome sequencing, and then the genomic DNA of family members was extracted for Sanger sequencing. POLR1D and TCS2 related literatures published before August 31,2023 were searched and sifted in PubMed and CKNI databases. The clinical characteristics of TCS2 were summarized. Results:The proband had poor hearing since childhood, with pure tone audiometry indicating conductive hearing loss. She had a smaller jaw, bilateral preauricular fistulas and cup-shaped ear deformities. Temporal bone CT scan revealed deformities in the left external ear canal, bilateral middle ear and inner ear. A bone-conduction hearing aid device was surgically implanted, resulting in restoration of almost normal hearing levels. The proband′s mother also had a slightly smaller jaw. Genetic analysis revealed a novel heterozygous variant NM_015972.4:c.38_47del in the POLR1D gene in the proband, which was inherited from her mother. A review of the literature revealed no clear evidence of genotype-phenotype correlation in TCS2. Conclusions:Molecular diagnosis plays a vital role in the diagnosis of TCS2. Patients with normal facial phenotype may be carriers of pathogenic variants in the POLR1D gene and have the risk of passing it to the offsprings with complete penetrance. Proper bone conductive hearing devices can improve the quality of life of TCS2 patients.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of Ruyi Zhenbaowan（RYZBW）in the treatment of initial and early knee osteoarthritis （KOA） through a prospective multicenter，randomized，double-blind，and placebo-parallel controlled trial. MethodFrom October 13^th， 2021 to December 25^th， 2021， 240 KOA subjects meeting the acceptance criteria were enrolled in 15 sub-centers including Wangjing Hospital， Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences， and they were randomly divided into observation group and control group， with 120 cases in each group. The intervention measures for the observation group were RYZBW + health education， and the intervention measures for the control group were RYZBW placebo + health education. The intervention period in both groups was four weeks， and they were followed up for four weeks after the intervention. The primary outcome measure was the total score of Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index score （WOMAC score）， and the secondary outcome measures were the response rate of visual scale （VAS） pain score， WOMAC sub item scores （joint pain， joint stiffness， and joint function）， quality of life （SF-12） score， and traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndrome score. Result（1） Efficacy evaluation. The marginal model results showed that the observation group was better than the control group in improving the WOMAC total score and WOMAC pain score in the treatment of KOA with RYZBW， and the difference was statistically significant （P<0.05）. There was no significant difference between the two groups in improving VAS score response rate， WOMAC function score， WOMAC stiffness score， SF12-PCS （quality of life-physical health） score， SF12-MCS （quality of life-mental health） score， and TCM syndrome score. （2） Subgroup analysis. ① In terms of VAS score response rate， the response rate of the observation group was higher than that of the control group for subjects with baseline VAS score of （4， 5］， and the difference was statistically significant （P<0.05）. ② In terms of TCM syndrome score， for subjects aged ［56， 60］ and ［61， 65］， the decrease in total TCM syndrome score in the observation group was better than that in the control group， and the difference was statistically significant （P<0.05）. ConclusionTibetan medicine RYZBW has good clinical efficacy in improving WOMAC total score， VAS score response rate， WOMAC pain score， WOMAC function score， and TCM syndrome score for patients with initial and early KOA， which can fill the lack of Tibetan medicine RYZBW in the treatment of KOA and make a demonstration study for the inheritance and development of ethnic medicine.

Objective To study the causes of two Chinese families with Branchio-oto syndrome.Methods The clinical data of two families were collected,and the pathogenic genes and variants of Branchio-oto syndrome were screened and verified by whole exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing.Results Two proband patients were diagnosed with Branchio-oto syndrome.Proband 1 presented with preauricular and anterior cervical fistulas,as well as congenital severe sensorineural hearing loss.On the other hand,proband 2 displayed a preauricular fistula and an anterior cervical cyst.At the age of 5,progressive deterioration of binaural hearing was observed,leadingtothe cur-rent diagnosis of severe mixed deafness.Genetic analysis showed that proband 1 and 2 carried nonsense variants of EYA1 gene:NM_000503.6:c.1408G＞T(p.Glu470Ter),and c.889C＞T(p.Arg297Ter).According to the guide-lines of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics(ACMG),the above variants were rated as patho-genic variants.After reviewing the literature,the c.1408G＞T variant had not been previously reported,and the c.889C＞T is a known variant.Conclusion The variants c.1408G＞T(p.Glu470Ter)and c.889C＞T(p.Arg297Ter)of EYA1 gene are the cause of these two families with Branchio-oto syndrome.The first report of c.1408G＞T broadens the mutational spectrum of EYA1 gene and provids a clinical reference for the diagnosis of Branchio-oto syndrome.

Objective To investigate the molecular epidemiology of hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae(HvKp)and its independent risk factors for infection,and to provide research basis for anti-infection treat-ment.Methods A total of 519 Klebsiella pneumoniae strains were collected from Inner Mongolia Forestry General Hospital from January 2020 to December 2022.String test was used to distinguish hypermyxoid strains(HMV-Kp)and non-HMV-KP.The rmpA,rmpA2,and iutA genes were detected by common PCR agarose gel electrophoresis to screen the HvKp strains.Multilocus sequence typing analysis was performed on 60 HvKp strains and the minimum spanning tree was drawn.Multivariate Logistic regression was used to ana-lyze the risk factors of HvKp infection.Results The positive rate of HMV-Kp was 39.69％,the positive rate of HvKp was 37.19％,and HMV-Kp accounted for 76.68％of HvKp.The detection rate of HvKp in general surgery department was the highest,and the detection rate of HvKp in pus specimens was the highest.By ST typing comparison,a total of 18 types of 60 HvKp strains were detected,ST23 type was the most common type(50.00％),followed by ST86 type(8.33％).Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that male,liver abscess,infection or suppuration of other tissues and organs,and use of macrolide antibiotics in the past 3 months were independent risk factors for HvKp infection(P＜0.05).Conclusion There is a strong associa-tion between HvKp and HMV-Kp strains,and ST23 type is the dominant type in this study.Male,liver ab-scess,infection or suppuration of other tissues and organs,and use of macrolide antibiotics in the past 3 months are independent risk factors for HvKp infection.

Objective To create a mouse model of colorectal polyps with Apc-Kras-Cre gene mutations using the tamoxifen induction method.Methods Mice with Apc-Kras-Cre mutations were divided into four groups and injected intraperitoneally with different concentrations and dosages of tamoxifen for different durations,with group 1 injected with low dosage tamoxifen(5 mg/kg)for 1 day,group 2 injected with low dosage tamoxifen(5 mg/kg)for 3 days,group 3 injected with high dosage tamoxifen(50 mg/kg)for 1 day,group 4 injected with high dosage tamoxifen(50 mg/kg)for 3 days.C57BL/6J mice were used as a healthy control group and survival and changes in body weight were observed.All mice were euthanized 4 weeks post-tamoxifen induction and the colon length and number and size of intestinal polyps were observed.Histological changes in the intestinal tissue and polyps were detected by hematoxylin and eosin staining.Results The survival rate of male mice was higher(P＜0.001)and the morbidity rate of male mice was lower compared with female mice(P＜0.05).The survival rate differed significantly among the four groups(P＜0.01).All groups showed significant changes in body weight compared with the healthy control group(P＜0.001).There were also significant differences in weight changes between tamoxifen-induced groups 1 and 2,between groups 2 and 3,and between groups 1 and 4(P＜0.001,P＜0.01,P＜0.05,respectively).There were no significant differences in colon length between any treated group and the healthy control group(P＞0.05),but colon length did differ between tamoxifen-induced groups 1 and 3(P＜0.05).Polyp size varied in each group of tamoxifen-treated mice,with most polyps occuring at the distal end of the colon,while mice in groups 3 and 4 had more and larger polyps.Histopathological examination showed intestinal polyps with uneven and misaligned glandular and epithelial arrangements,a loosely-packed intestinal mucosal barrier,and irregularly-distributed crypts in tamoxifen-induced mice compared with the healthy control group,while mice in tamoxifen-induced groups 3 and 4 showed signs of inflammation and mice in group 4 showed necrosis of cells in some regions.Conclusions Tamoxifen-induced Apc-Kras-Cre model mice were successfully established,with the group 3 induction method being the most suitable.

Aiming at the problems of missing important features, inconspicuous details and unclear textures in the fusion of multimodal medical images, this paper proposes a method of computed tomography (CT) image and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) image fusion using generative adversarial network (GAN) and convolutional neural network (CNN) under image enhancement. The generator aimed at high-frequency feature images and used double discriminators to target the fusion images after inverse transform; Then high-frequency feature images were fused by trained GAN model, and low-frequency feature images were fused by CNN pre-training model based on transfer learning. Experimental results showed that, compared with the current advanced fusion algorithm, the proposed method had more abundant texture details and clearer contour edge information in subjective representation. In the evaluation of objective indicators, Q ^AB/F, information entropy (IE), spatial frequency (SF), structural similarity (SSIM), mutual information (MI) and visual information fidelity for fusion (VIFF) were 2.0%, 6.3%, 7.0%, 5.5%, 9.0% and 3.3% higher than the best test results, respectively. The fused image can be effectively applied to medical diagnosis to further improve the diagnostic efficiency.
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/methods* ; Neural Networks, Computer ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods* ; Algorithms

Objective:To evaluate the effect of ozone preconditioning on splenic natural killer (NK) cells in septic mice.Methods:Twenty-four SPF-grade male C57BL/6 mice, aged 6-8 weeks, weighing 18-22 g, were divided into 4 groups ( n=6 each) according to the random number table method: control group (group C), lipopolysaccharide (LPS)group, ozone+ LPS group (O 3+ LPS) and air+ LPS group (Air+ LPS). The sepsis was induced by intraperitoneal injection of LPS 10 mg/kg. Ozone preconditioning was started at 5 days before developing the model: ozone 1 mg/kg was intraperitoneally injected once a day for 5 consecutive days, the equal volume of air was injected in Air+ LPS group. The survival was observed within 72 h after LPS injection, and sepsis score and ear temperature (once every 2 h, an average was calculated) were recorded. The posterior orbital venous blood samples were taken at 6 and 24 h after LPS injection for determination of serum interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) concentrations using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The spleen was then taken, and a single cell suspension of the spleen was prepared for measurement of the percentage of NK cells in the spleen by flow cytometry. Results:Compared with C group, the ear temperature, sepsis score and 72-h survival rate were significantly decreased, serum IFN-γ and IL-10 concentrations were increased at each time point after LPS injection, and the percentage of splenic NK cells was increased at 6 h after LPS injection and decreased at 24 h after LPS injection in LPS, Air+ LPS and O 3+ LPS groups ( P<0.05). Compared with LPS group, the ear temperature, sepsis score and 72-h survival rate were significantly increased, serum IFN-γ concentrations were decreased at each time point after LPS injection, serum IL-10 concentrations were increased at each time point after LPS injection, and the percentage of splenic NK cells was decreased at 6 h after LPS injection and increased at 24 h after LPS injection in O 3+ LPS group ( P<0.05), and no significant change was found in the parameters mentioned above in Air+ LPS group ( P>0.05). Conclusions:The mechanism by which ozone preconditioning reduces sepsis may be related to reduction of inflammatory responses and regulation of splenic NK cell levels in septic mice.

Objective:To investigate the factors affecting the accuracy of electronic portal imaging device (EPID)-based in vivo dose verification in radiotherapy for patients with lung and esophageal cancers, and to recommend the workflow and specifications for the application of the in vivo dose verification. Methods:This study randomly selected 32 patients who received radiotherapy for esophageal and lung cancers at the Department of Radiation Oncology, Jinhua Municipal Central Hospital from May to August 2022, including 14 lung cancer cases and 18 esophageal cancer cases. Using a uRT-linac 506c linear accelerator, these patients were treated according to the dynamic intensity-modulated radiotherapy (dIMRT) and EPID-based In vivo dose verification ( In vivo EPID) plans developed with the uRT-TPOIS planning system. The In vivo dose verification performed during the treatment included 238 fractions of In vivo EPID and 80 fractions of image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) for the lung cancer cases, as well as 414 fractions of In vivo EPID and 105 fractions of IGRT for the esophageal cancer cases. The 2D γ passing rate for each irradiation field was obtained according to the set threshold value. Furthermore, fractioned irradiation fields with γ-passing rates below the threshold value were analyzed, and primary factors decreasing the γ-passing rate were further analyzed by combining the online CT images and 3D reconstruction-derived dose. Results:For lung and esophageal cancers, the mean γ-passing rates were 95.1% ± 5.7% and 96.5% ± 4.5%, respectively at 3 mm/5%; 91.5% ± 8.4% and 92.2% ± 4.9%, respectively at 3 mm/3%, and 79.1% ± 14.7% and 83.7% ± 8.2%, respectively at 2 mm/2%, indicating no statistically significant differences between two cancers ( P > 0.05). The average γ passing rate for beam orientations near 0°/180° (Group A) was higher than those near 90°/270° (Group B) 3 mm/5%: Z = -25.4, P < 0.05; 3 mm/3%: Z = -26.8, P < 0.05). The IGRT correction of setup errors significantly improved the γ passing rates (96.3% ± 5.1% and 96.4% ± 4.9%, respectively at 3 mm/5%, Z = -5.50, P < 0.05; 92.3% ± 8.0% and 91.3% ± 7.7%, respectively at 3 mm/3%, Z = -9.54, P < 0.05). The results of In vivo dose verification were affected by changes in the volumes and motion of tumors and normal tissues, radiotherapy positioning, and adequacy of pre-treatment preparation. Conclusions:EPID-based In vivo dose verification during radiotherapy can avoid incorrect irradiation. However, it is necessary to standardize the workflow of the EPID-based In vivo dose verification to avoid the decrease in the γ passing rate caused by artificial factors.