BACKGROUND:Some studies have found that ferroptosis of osteoblasts can be an important mechanism to induce the occurrence and development of hormone-induced femoral head necrosis.With the development of Chinese medicine,some scholars have found that some Chinese medicine monomer,Chinese medicine compound and Chinese patent medicine can regulate the ferroptosis of osteoblasts through various pathway mechanisms,and finally play a role in the treatment of steroid-induced avascular necrosis of femoral head. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the relationship between ferroptosis and steroid-induced avascular necrosis of femoral head and the mechanism of Chinese medicine regulating ferroptosis of osteoblasts in the treatment of steroid-induced avascular necrosis of femoral head,so as to provide new ideas for the diagnosis and treatment of steroid-induced avascular necrosis of femoral head. METHODS:With"ferroptosis,steroid-induced avascular necrosis of femoral head,osteoblast,Chinese herbal medicine,glucocorticoid,iron metabolism,reactive oxygen species,glutathione peroxidase"as Chinese search terms,and"ferroptosis,hormonal necrosis of the femoral head,osteoblast,Chinese herbal medicine,glucocorticoid,iron metabolism,ROS,GPX4"as English search terms,the search was conducted on CNKI,PubMed,WanFang,VIP and other databases.The relevant articles on osteoblast ferroptosis and steroid-induced avascular necrosis of femoral head and the regulation of Chinese herbal medicine intervention from the establishment of each database to 2023 were screened.Finally,76 articles were systematically analyzed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Ferroptosis of osteoblasts plays an important role in the pathogenesis of steroid-induced avascular necrosis of femoral head.(2)The occurrence of ferroptosis in osteoblasts is regulated by a variety of mechanisms,such as intracellular iron overload causing ferroptosis.Lipid peroxidation damages cell membrane and causes ferroptosis.Cystine/glutamate reverse transporter induced ferroptosis by influencing glutathione level and glutathione peroxidase 4 activity.Fenton reaction in the cell produces a large number of reactive oxygen species and causes ferroptosis.(3)Chinese medicine monomer icariin,Chinese medicine compound Qinge pills and Chinese patent medicine Bushen Huoxue granules can regulate the occurrence of osteoblast ferroptosis,and help to prevent and treat steroid-induced avascular necrosis of femoral head.(4)The mechanism of ferroptosis in osteoblasts is still unclear.Further investigation on the mechanism of action of both is expected to provide a new choice for clinical treatment of steroid-induced avascular necrosis of femoral head.

The seat of human intelligence is the human cerebral cortex, which is responsible for our exceptional cognitive abilities. Identifying principles that lead to the development of the large-sized human cerebral cortex will shed light on what makes the human brain and species so special. The remarkable increase in the number of human cortical pyramidal neurons and the size of the human cerebral cortex is mainly because human cortical radial glial cells, primary neural stem cells in the cortex, generate cortical pyramidal neurons for more than 130 days, whereas the same process takes only about 7 days in mice. The molecular mechanisms underlying this difference are largely unknown. Here, we found that bone morphogenic protein 7 (BMP7) is expressed by increasing the number of cortical radial glial cells during mammalian evolution (mouse, ferret, monkey, and human). BMP7 expression in cortical radial glial cells promotes neurogenesis, inhibits gliogenesis, and thereby increases the length of the neurogenic period, whereas Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) signaling promotes cortical gliogenesis. We demonstrate that BMP7 signaling and SHH signaling mutually inhibit each other through regulation of GLI3 repressor formation. We propose that BMP7 drives the evolutionary expansion of the mammalian cortex by increasing the length of the neurogenic period.
Animals ; Mice ; Humans ; Ependymoglial Cells/metabolism* ; Hedgehog Proteins/metabolism* ; Ferrets/metabolism* ; Cerebral Cortex ; Neurogenesis ; Mammals/metabolism* ; Neuroglia/metabolism* ; Bone Morphogenetic Protein 7/metabolism*

BACKGROUND:With the variation of disease treatment modes and the in-depth research on senile osteoporosis in recent years,increasing studies have confirmed that traditional Chinese medicine has a significant effect on the prevention and treatment of senile osteoporosis. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effect of Yishen Gushu Formula on bone metabolic markers in patients with osteoporosis of kidney deficiency and blood stasis type. METHODS:102 patients with senile osteoporosis of kidney deficiency and blood stasis type who were treated at Ruikang Hospital Affiliated to Guangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from July 2020 to March 2022 were enrolled,including 32 males and 70 females,aged 71-93 years.All patients were randomly divided into two groups,with 51 patients in each group.The control group was treated with calcium carbonate D3 granules and sodium alendronate tablets,while the treatment group was treated with Yishen Gushu Formula beyond the control group.Treatments in each group lasted 3 months.Bone mineral density of the L1-4 lumbar vertebrae and left femoral neck,visual analog scale score,and serum levels of osteocalcin,osteopontin,type Ⅰ collagen cross-linked C-terminal peptide and tartrate resistant acid phosphatase were measured before and 3 months after treatment.Traditional Chinese medicine syndrome score and therapeutic efficiency were also assessed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:After 3 months of treatment,the bone mineral density of the lumbar vertebrae(L1-4)and left femoral neck was significantly increased in both two groups(P<0.05),and the bone mineral density of the lumbar vertebrae(L1-4)and left femoral neck was significantly higher in the treatment group than the control group(P<0.05).The visual analog scale scores of both groups after 3 months of treatment were lower than those before treatment(P<0.05),and the visual analog scores of the treatment group after 3 months of treatment were lower than those of the control group(P<0.05).After 3 months of treatment,the serum levels of osteocalcin,osteopontin,type Ⅰ collagen cross-linked C-terminal peptide and tartrate resistant acid phosphatase were significantly improved in both two groups,while compared with the control group,the serum levels of osteocalcin and osteopontin were significantly higher(P<0.05)and the serum levels of type Ⅰ collagen cross-linked C-terminal peptide and tartrate resistant acid phosphatase were significantly lower in the treatment group(P<0.05).After 3 months of treatment,the Traditional Chinese medicine syndrome scores were decreased in both two groups,while the Traditional Chinese medicine syndrome scores in the treatment group were lower than those in the control group.After 3 months of treatment,no significant adverse reactions occurred in both groups.The total effective rate was 88.2%and 70.6%in the treatment and control groups respectively,and there was a significant difference between the two groups(P<0.05).To conclude,Yishen Gushu Formula combined with anti-osteoporosis drugs can significantly improve the clinical symptoms of patients with senile osteoporosis of kidney deficiency and blood stasis type and prevent disease progression by regulating bone metabolism,increasing bone mineral density,and relieving pain.

BACKGROUND:Studies have found that chondrocyte ferroptosis can be used as an important pathogenesis to induce the occurrence and development of osteoarthritis.With the continuous development of Chinese medicine,some scholars have found that some traditional Chinese medicine monomers and traditional Chinese medicine compounds can inhibit chondrocyte ferroptosis through various mechanisms of action,and finally play a role in the treatment of osteoarthritis. OBJECTIVE:To explore the relationship between ferroptosis and osteoarthritis and the mechanism by which traditional Chinese medicine deals with ferroptosis in the treatment of osteoarthritis,in order to provide new ideas for the treatment and prevention of osteoarthritis. METHODS:With"osteoarthritis,ferroptosis,chondrocytes,lipid metabolism,traditional Chinese medicine,ROS,GPX 4"as the English and Chinese search terms,CNKI,PubMed,WanFang,and VIP databases were searched for relevant articles regarding the relationship between ferroptosis and osteoarthritis and its traditional Chinese medicine intervention until 2022.Then,a systematic analysis was conducted. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Intracellular iron overload will cause lipid peroxidation,resulting in the accumulation of reactive oxygen species and eventually the occurrence of ferroptosis,while excessive iron will accelerate the apoptosis of chondrocytes and affect chondrocyte homeostasis,thereby inducing the development of osteoarthritis.When amino acid metabolism is abnormal,an imbalance in glutamate and cystine exchange causes the accumulation of glutamate outside the cells,and high extracellular concentration of glutamate will cause the depletion of glutathione,indirectly inhibiting the function of ferroptosis-related factors,and contributing to ferroptosis.When cellular lipid metabolism is abnormal,unsaturated fatty acids,an important component of the cell membrane,lose their diallyl hydrogen atoms,leading to the destruction of cells to induce ferroptosis,while lipid metabolism is closely involved in the progression of osteoarthritis.Traditional Chinese medicine can play a role in the prevention and treatment of osteoarthritis by inducing the occurrence of ferroptosis.The research on iron death is still immature,and further research on its action mechanism is expected to open up new ways for the clinical treatment of osteoarthritis.

BACKGROUND:As tissue engineering brings new hope to the worldwide problem of articular cartilage repair,the construction of light-curing 3D printed hydrogel scaffolds with biomimetic composition is of great significance for cartilage tissue engineering. OBJECTIVE:To construct a biomimetic methacryloylated hyaluronic acid/acellular Wharton's jelly composite hydrogel scaffold by digital light processing 3D printing technology,and to evaluate its biocompatibility. METHODS:Wharton's jelly was isolated and extracted from human umbilical cord,then decellulated,freeze-dried,ground into powder,and dissolved in PBS to prepare 50 g/L acellular Wharton's jelly solution.Methylallylated hyaluronic acid was prepared,lyophilized and dissolved in PBS to prepare 50 g/L methylallylated hyaluronic acid solution.Acellular Wharton's jelly solution was mixed with methacrylyacylated hyaluronic acid solution at a volume ratio of 1:1,and was used as bio-ink after adding photoinitiator.Methylacrylylated hyaluronic acid hydrogel scaffolds(labeled as HAMA hydrogel scaffolds)and methylacrylylated hyaluronic acid/acellular Wharton's jelly gel scaffolds(labeled as HAMA/WJ hydrogel scaffolds)were prepared by digital light processing 3D printing technology,and the microstructure,swelling performance,biocompatibility,and cartilage differentiation performance of the scaffolds were characterized. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Under scanning electron microscope,the two groups of scaffolds showed a three-dimensional network structure,and the fiber connection of HAMA/WJ hydrogel scaffold was more uniform.Both groups achieved swelling equilibrium within 10 hours,and the equilibrium swelling ratio of HAMA/WJ hydrogel scaffold was lower than that of HAMA hydrogel scaffold(P＜0.05).(2)CCK-8 assay showed that HAMA/WJ hydrogel scaffold could promote the proliferation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells compared with HAMA hydrogel scaffold.Dead/live staining showed that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells grew well on the two groups of scaffolds,and the cells on the HAMA/WJ hydrogel scaffolds were evenly distributed and more cells were found.Phalloidine staining showed better adhesion and spread of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in HAMA/WJ hydrogel scaffold than in HAMA.(3)Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were inoculated into the two groups for chondrogenic induction culture.The results of qRT-PCR showed that the mRNA expressions of agglutinoglycan,SOX9 and type Ⅱ collagen in the HAMA/WJ hydrogel scaffold group were higher than those in the HAMA hydrogel scaffold group(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).(4)These findings indicate that the digital light processing 3D bioprinting HAMA/WJ hydrogel scaffold can promote the proliferation,adhesion,and chondrogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells.

ObjectiveTo explore the syndrome elements and evolving patterns of patients with hepatitis B virus-related acute on chronic liver failure （HBV-ACLF） at different stages. MethodsClinical information of 1,058 hospitalized HBV-ACLF patients， including 618 in the early stage， 355 in the middle stage， and 85 in the late stage， were collected from 18 clinical centers across 12 regions nationwide from January 1， 2012 to February 28， 2015. The “Hepatitis B-related Chronic and Acute Liver Failure Chinese Medicine Clinical Questionnaire” were designed to investigate the basic information of the patients， like the four diagnostic information （including symptoms， tongue， pulse） of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）， and to count the frequency of the appearance of the four diagnostic information. Factor analysis and cluster analysis were employed to determine and statistically analyze the syndrome elements and patterns of HBV-ACLF patients at different stages. ResultsThere were 76 four diagnostic information from 1058 HBV-ACLF patients， and 53 four diagnostic information with a frequency of occurrence ≥ 5% were used as factor analysis entries， including 36 symptom information， 12 tongue information， and 5 pulse information. Four types of TCM patterns were identified in HBV-ACLF， which were liver-gallbladder damp-heat pattern， qi deficiency and blood stasis pattern， liver-kidney yin deficiency pattern， and spleen-kidney yang-deficiency pattern. In the early stage， heat （39.4%， 359/912） and dampness （27.5%， 251/912） were most common， and the pattern of the disease was dominated by liver-gallbladder damp-heat pattern （74.6%， 461/618）； in the middle stage， dampness （30.2%， 187/619） and blood stasis （20.7%， 128/619） were most common， and the patterns of the disease were dominated by liver-gallbladder damp-heat pattern （53.2%， 189/355）， and qi deficiency and blood stasis pattern （27.6%， 98/355）； and in the late stage， the pattern of the disease was dominated by qi deficiency （26.3%， 40/152） and yin deficiency （20.4%， 31/152）， and the patterns were dominated by qi deficiency and blood stasis pattern （36.5%， 31/85）， and liver-gallbladder damp-heat pattern （25.9%， 22/85）. ConclusionThere are significant differences in the distribution of syndrome elements and patterns at different stages of HBV-ACLF， presenting an overall trend of evolving patterns as "from excess to deficiency， transforming from excess to deficiency"， which is damp-heat → blood stasis → qi-blood yin-yang deficiency.

Objective:To explore the effect of chronic intermittent hypoxia(CIH)on learning and memory dysfunc-tion in rats,as well as the expression of high mobility group box-1(HMGB1)and nuclear transcription factor-KB(NF-κB)in the hippocampus region.Methods:The CIH rat model was established,and forty SD rats were randomly divid-ed into four groups:normoxia group,hypoxia for 4 weeks group(CIH4 group),hypoxia for 8 weeks group(CIH8 group),and hypoxia for 12 weeks group(CIH12 group).Morris water maze was used to assess the learning memory ability of rats,and immunohistochemistry and ELISA were used to detect the expression of HMGB1 and NF-κB in the hippocampus of rats.Results:Compared with the normoxia group,the CIH12 and CIH8 groups had longer escape la-tency,the number of crossing the platform and the residence time in the quadrant of the platform were significantly shortened,but there was no significant difference in the CIH4 group.Additionally,there was no significant expression of HMGB1 and NF-κB in the hippocampal region of the normoxia group,but little expression was observed in CIH4 group,and significantly expressed in CIH8 group and CIH12 group,and the expression of CIH12 group was significantly higher than that of CIH8 group.Conclusion:CIH can lead to a decline in learning and memory function in rats,and the longer time of intermittent hypoxia led to the more significant effect on their learning and memory function.In addi-tion,CIH also leads to increased expression levels of HMGB1 and NF-κB in the hippocampus region,and the expres-sion increased more significantly after hypoxia for 12 weeks,comparing to hypoxia for 8 weeks.

ObjectiveTo analyze the research hotspots and development trends of postpartum rehabilitation at home and abroad in the past ten years. MethodsCiteSpace 6.2.R2 was used to analyze the co-occurrence, cluster, and bursting of keywords of the relevant literature in the field of postpartum rehabilitation in CNKI and Web of Science (WOS) in the past ten years. ResultsTotally, 2 686 Chinese papaers were included in CNKI and 1 247 English papers were included in WOS. Both databases showed an increasing trend in the number of publications related to the field of postpartum rehabilitation, but the overall number of publications in CNKI grew faster and the total number of publications was more than that in WOS. For CNKI, there were 455 nodes, 1 102 links, with a density of 0.010 7; nine clusters were obtained; the bursting keywords showed that the diseases of concern shifted from breast distension and pain to pelvic floor diseases, and the hot spots of treatment methods shifted from Chinese medicine to electrical stimulation, biofeedback, and then pelvic floor training. For WOS, there were 463 nodes, 1 633 connected lines, with a density of 0.015 3; 14 clusters were obtained; the bursting keywords showed that the disease hotspots of concern shifted from anal prolapse and postpartum hemorrhage to organ prolapse, the hotspots of treatment methods shifted from analgesia to exercise, and the focus of research methods shifted from trial to qualitative research and meta-analysis. ConclusionDomestic postpartum rehabilitation started later than foreign countries. Although certain research results have been achieved, there is still a certain gap compared with the development of foreign postpartum rehabilitation.

Imaging is an essential tool in the management of spinal disorders. Most spine surgeons focus on bony structures and the spinal cord when reading imaging examinations, while the interpretation of the morphology and characteristics of soft tissues such as paraspinal muscles and fat has been a "relative blind spot". As the imaging features of the non-bony structures of the spine have been studied and reinterpreted, it has become clear that these non-bony structural changes are also associated with spinal diseases. Soft tissue parameters such as "paraspinal muscle cross-sectional area," "subcutaneous fat thickness," and "paraspinal muscle fat infiltration rate" on CT, MRI, and other imaging studies have been shown to play a role in spine diseases, and have been shown to be reproducible in the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of spinal disorders and have potential for clinical application. In addition, the association of sarcopenia and spinal epidural lipomatosis with spinal disorders is gaining attention. In recent years, with a better understanding of the pathogenesis of spinal disorders, techniques such as 3D gait analysis and photographic postural measurement have also shown promise in the diagnosis and assessment of the outcome of degenerative spinal disorders and adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. In view of this, this article summarizes the latest research progress in the basic and clinical aspects of non-bony structures of the spine and analyzes the significance of the imaging features of these non-bony structures in the basic research and diagnosis of spinal diseases.

Objective : To study the guidance effects of fibroblast growth factor 3 ( FGF3) on the prethalamic γ⁃aminobutyric acid (GABA) inhibitory axons, and to explore the effect of FGF3 on the formation of thalamic axonal network. Methods : Expression and localization of FGF3 and prethalamic GABA marker gene in chicken embryonic diencephalon were detected by immunofluorescence. Early orientation of GABA axons was tracked by DiI. Three⁃dimensional gel co⁃culture experiment was carried out to investigate guidance effects of FGF3 on early prethalamic GABA inhibitory axons. Results : Prethalamic GABA cells were adjacent to the FGF3 + hypothalamas, located above the hypothalamus. DiI tracing experiments revealed that prethalamic GABA inhibitory axons had already extended into the thalamus at E6. Compared with the blank control group, FGF3 not only significantly promoted the growth of prethalamic GABA inhibitory nerve fibers in the prethalamus, but also repelled the newborn prethalamic axons to the dorsal thalamus. The number of prethalamic axons was significantly less in proximal section (towards FGF3 beads) than that in distal section (away from FGF3 beads) (P < 0. 01) . Moreover, the guidance effects of FGF3 on prethalamic axons could be blocked by the FGF pathway inhibitor SU5402. Conclusion FGF3, an axon guidance molecule expressed in hypothalamus, exerts guidance effects on the pathway selection of adjacent prethalamic GABA inhibitory nerve fibers.