OBJECTIVE:To systematically evaluate the efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation on the motor function of patients with Parkinson's disease,and to compare the efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation at different targets on the motor function of patients with Parkinson's disease,so as to provide a theoretical basis for the target selection of transcranial direct current stimulation in clinical practice. METHODS:Cochrane Library,PubMed,Web of Science,CNKI,VIP,WanFang Data were retrieved for randomized controlled trials on the improvement of motor function in patients with Parkinson's disease by transcranial direct current stimulation published from the database inception to January 2023.The keywords were"Parkinson,transcranial direct current stimulation"in English and Chinese.The quality of the included studies was evaluated using the Cochrane 5.1.0 risk of bias assessment tool and the PEDro scale.Meta-analysis of outcome indicators was performed using RevMan 5.4 and Stata 17.0 software. RESULTS:Fifteen randomized controlled trials were finally included,and the PEDro scale showed that all were high-quality or very high-quality studies.Meta-analysis showed that transcranial direct current stimulation significantly improved Unified-Parkinson Disease Rating Scale part III score[mean difference(MD)=-2.49,95%confidence interval(CI):-4.42 to-0.55,P<0.05),step frequency score(MD=0.07,95%CI:0.03-0.11,P<0.05)and step speed score(MD=0.02,95%CI:0.00-0.05,P<0.05),but not for Berg Balance Scale scores(MD=2.57,95%CI:-0.74 to 5.87,P>0.05).Network Meta-analysis probability ranking:In terms of Unified-Parkinson Disease Rating Scale part III scores,the probability ranking results of target stimulation efficacy were dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex(52.4%)>primary motor cortex(45.8%)>central point of the brain(1.8%)>conventional rehabilitation(0%);in terms of gait frequency scores,the probability probability ranking results of target stimulation efficacy were cerebellum(50.1%)>central point of the brain(45.8%)>dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex(3.9%)>primary motor cortex(0.2%)>conventional rehabilitation(0%);in terms of gait speed scores,the probability ranking results of target stimulation efficacy were cerebellum(64.8%)>dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex(23.8%)>central point of the brain(9.4%)>primary motor cortex(1.7%)>conventional rehabilitation(0.4%);in terms of Berg Balance Scale scores,the probability ranking results of target stimulation efficacy were cerebellum(77.4%)>dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex(20.7%)>central point of the brain(0.7%)>conventional rehabilitation(0.2%). CONCLUSION:Transcranial direct current stimulation significantly improves motor function of patients with Parkinson's disease,with better motor coordination in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and better walking and balance in the cerebellum.

BACKGROUND:The specific mechanism of Gushukang,as a Chinese traditional patent medicine for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis of kidney deficiency and blood stasis,needs further studies. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effect of Gushukang on serum sex hormones,bone microstructure and estrogen receptor in postmenopausal osteoporosis. METHODS:Firstly,network pharmacological analysis was performed.The active ingredients and action targets of Gushukang and the targets of postmenopausal osteoporosis were obtained respectively.Cytoscape was used to construct the active ingredient-target network.STRING database and Cytoscape were used for protein-protein interaction analysis and screening of core targets.DAVID database was used for Gene Ontology(GO)and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)enrichment analyses of intersection targets.Then the ovariectomized Sprague-Dawley rats were used in the animal experiment.Gushukang was administered by gavage for 3 months.The serum estrogen level was detected by ELISA,the bone microstructure was detected by microCT,and the protein expression of estrogen receptor α and estrogen receptor β in bone tiusse was detected by western blot. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The network pharmacological research results identified 132 active ingredients and 150 targets of Gushukang and 1155 targets of postmenopausal osteoporosis.After intersections with 1155 postmenopausal osteoporosis targets,87 targets of active ingredients of Gushukang against postmenopausal osteoporosis were obtained.By constructing the active ingredient-target network,it was found that the active ingredients at the core were quercetin,kaempferol,luteolin,naringin and isorhamnetin,and the targets at the core were NCOA2,ESR2,AR,F2,ESR1 and PTGS1.The final targets obtained after the protein-protein interaction analysis and screening included MAPK8,ESR1,JUN,R3C1,RELA and FOS,of which ESR1 was the common core target obtained from the two analyses.KEGG enrichment analysis showed estrogen,tumor necrosis factor,apoptosis and other signaling pathways.Therefore,animal experiments focused on the effect of Gushukang on different subtypes of estrogen receptors in the estrogen signaling pathway.The results showed that in the Gushukang group,bone microstructure was significantly improved,serum estrogen level had no significant change,but the protein expression of estrogen receptor α and β in bone tissue was significantly increased.All the findings indicate that the mechanism of Gushukang in the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis may be related to its hormone-like effect and the enhancement of estrogen receptor expression.

Objective:To evaluate the right atrial volume and function abnormalities in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) by four-dimensional automatic quantitation technique, and to explore the application value of this technique in evaluating the risk stratification and World Health Organization functional class(WHO-FC) of PH patients.Methods:Eighty-four adult patients with PH diagnosed by right heart catheterization from April to October 2022 in Fuwai Central China Cardiovascular Hospital were consecutively enrolled as the PH group. All cases were divided into 3 groups according to the mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP): mild PH group ( n=28), moderate PH group ( n=28), severe PH group ( n=28). Twenty-eight healthy volunteers matched by gender and age were included in the same period as the control group. The volume and strain parameters of the right atrium were obtained by analyzing the four-dimensional image of the right atrium using four-dimensional automatic quantitation technique, including right atrial minimum volume index (RAVImin), right atrial maximum volume index (RAVImax), right atrial presystolic volume index (RAVIpreA), right atrial ejection fraction (RAEF), right atrial passive ejection fraction (RAPEF), right atrial active ejection fraction, RAAEF, longitudinal strains of right atrial reserve, conduit and systolic period (RASr, RAScd, RASct), circumferential strains of right atrial reserve, conduit and systolic period (RASr-c, RAScd-c, RASct-c). The differences in right atrial parameters among four groups were compared.ROC curve was used to analyze the diagnostic efficiency of right atrial four-dimensional strain parameters for PH patients with WHO-FC≥Ⅲ. Pearson linear correlation analysis was used to investigate the relationships between RASr and right atrial area (RAA), NT-proBNP and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion to pulmonary arterial systolic pressure ratio (TAPSE/sPAP). Results:①Compared with the control group, RAEF, RAPEF, RASr, RAScd, RASr-c, RAScd-c were significantly decreased in mild, moderate and severe PH groups; while RAAEF, RASct, RASct-c were significantly increased in mild PH group and significantly decreased in moderate and severe PH groups, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). RAVImin, RAVImax, RAVIpreA gradually increased among the control, mild PH, moderate PH and severe PH groups, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). RAEF, RAPEF, RAAEF, RASr, RAScd, RASct, RASr-c, RAScd-c, RASct-c were decreased successively among mild, moderate and severe PH groups, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). ②ROC curve showed that RASr had the highest diagnostic efficiency in PH patients with WHO-FC ≥Ⅲ, and the cut-off value was 20.5% (AUC=0.914, P<0.001). ③Correlation analysis showed that RASr was correlated with RAA, NT-proBNP and TAPSE/sPAP ( r=-0.803, -0.621, 0.739; all P<0.001). Conclusions:The degree of right atrial function impairment increased in patients with mild, moderate and severe PH in turn. RASr is the best predictor of WHO-FC ≥Ⅲ in patients with pulmonary hypertension and is a potential parameter for risk stratification in patients with PH.

OBJECTIVE To establish a method for simultaneous determi nation of six components in Melastoma dodecandrum and investigate its correlation with antioxidant activity. METHODS Ultra high-performance liquid chromatography （UPLC）method was adopted. The contents of gallic acid ，protocatechuic acid ，isovitexin，rutin and ellagic acid in 23 batches of M. dodecandrum were determined by quantitative analysis of multi-components by single-marker （QAMS）method，using vitexin as the internal reference. Then 1，1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl（DPPH）free radical method ，2，2′-azino-bis（3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid ） diammonium salt （ABTS）method and ferric ion reduction/antioxidant power （FRAP）method were applied to determine the antioxidant activity of 23 batches of M. dodecandrum . Grey correlation analysis and bivariate correlation analysis were used to evaluate the correlation between six components and antioxidant activity. RESULTS The content of vitexin were 0.021％-0.182％. The contents of gallic acid ，protocatechuic acid ，isovitexin，rutin and ellagic acid by QAMS method were 0.008％-0.042％， 0.003％-0.023％，0.071％-0.283％，0.013％-0.140％ and 0.006％-0.021％，respectively. Compared with the results of external standard method ，P was greater than 0.05. Grey correlation analysis showed that the grey correlation coefficients between the contents of six components an d antioxidant activity was 0.727 6- 0.866 9. Bivariate correlation analysis showed that the contents of vitexin ，isovitexin and rutin were positively correlated with antioxidant activity （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01），the content of gallic acid and protocatechuic acid were negatively correlated with antioxidant activity （P＜0.05）. There was no significant correlation between ellagic acid and antioxidant activity.CONCLUSIONS QAMS method is successfully established for the simultaneous determination of six components in M. dodecandrum. The six components in M. dodecandrum are highly correlated with antioxidant activity.

Objective:To establish the biology reference interval (RI) of peripheral blood procalcitonin (PCT) for children between 3 days and 6 years old in China.Methods:Totally 3 353 reference individuals with apparent health or no specific diseases were recruited in 18 hospitals throughout the country during October 2020 to May 2021. Reference individuals were divided into four groups: 3-28 days, 29 days - 1 year, 1-3 years and 4-6 years. Vein blood or capillary blood were collected by percutaneous puncture from every reference individual. The PCT level in serum and the capillary whole blood were assayed by Roche Cobas e601 and Norman NRM411-S7 immunoanalyzer. Outliers were deleted and 95th percentiles of every group were provided as RIs. Man-Whitney U test or Kruskal-Wallis test were used performed to assess the difference among different gender, age or method groups. Results:The difference of PCT distribution between male and female is not statistically significant, but the difference between serum and capillary whole blood is statistically significant. The differences between age groups are significant too. For Roche e601, serum PCT RI of 3-28 days group is <0.23 μg/L, 29 days - 6 years are <0.11 μg/L. For NRM411, Serum PCT RI of 3-28 days group is <0.21 μg/L, 29 days - 1 year: <0.09 μg/L, 1 - 6 years: <0.10 μg/L. For whole blood PCT, RI of 3-28 days group is <0.26 μg/L, 29 days - 6 years is <0.15 μg/L.Conclusions:Serum and capillary whole blood PCT have different RIs, however, capillary whole blood PCT testing is valuable in pediatric application. Children in 3-28 days show higher PCT levels than other age group. To establish the RIs and understand the differences among different groups are essential for the interpretation and clinical application of peripheral blood PCT testing results.

Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), which is previously known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), represents a major health concern worldwide with limited therapy. Here, we provide evidence that ferroptosis, a novel form of regulated cell death characterized by iron-driven lipid peroxidation, was comprehensively activated in liver tissues from MAFLD patients. The canonical-GPX4 (cGPX4), which is the most important negative controller of ferroptosis, is downregulated at protein but not mRNA level. Interestingly, a non-canonical GPX4 transcript-variant is induced (inducible-GPX4, iGPX4) in MAFLD condition. The high fat-fructose/sucrose diet (HFFD) and methionine/choline-deficient diet (MCD)-induced MAFLD pathologies, including hepatocellular ballooning, steatohepatitis and fibrosis, were attenuated and aggravated, respectively, in cGPX4-and iGPX4-knockin mice. cGPX4 and iGPX4 isoforms also displayed opposing effects on oxidative stress and ferroptosis in hepatocytes. Knockdown of iGPX4 by siRNA alleviated lipid stress, ferroptosis and cell injury. Mechanistically, the triggered iGPX4 interacts with cGPX4 to facilitate the transformation of cGPX4 from enzymatic-active monomer to enzymatic-inactive oligomers upon lipid stress, and thus promotes ferroptosis. Co-immunoprecipitation and nano LC-MS/MS analyses confirmed the interaction between iGPX4 and cGPX4. Our results reveal a detrimental role of non-canonical GPX4 isoform in ferroptosis, and indicate selectively targeting iGPX4 may be a promising therapeutic strategy for MAFLD.

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 investigate the clinical application of self-developed magnetic anchoring device for assisting thoracoscopic pulmonary resection. 【Methods】 Eleven patients underwent thoracoscopic pulmonary assisted with resection magnetic anchoring technique at the Department of Thoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, from March to May 2019. Their clinical data were retrospectively analyzed. The operation time, blood loss, blood transfusion volume, postoperative hospital stay, and postoperative complications were recorded. 【Results】 There were seven male and four female patients, with the average age of (51.6±13.9) years (range from 22 to 69 years). Three single-port and eight single-utility-port thoracoscopic surgeries were performed. Magnetic instruments provided good surgical field exposure in all operations. Among 11 surgeries, one was converted to thoracotomy and one to three-hole surgery due to enlargement and adhesion of hilar lymph nodes. The operation time was (107.8±63.1) minutes (range of 27-182 minutes). The blood loss was 50 (10-50)mL (range of 5-1 000 mL). No blood transfusion was needed during the operation. The postoperative hospital stay was (5.0±1.8) days (range of 3-9 days). No postoperative complications occurred in all the patients. 【Conclusion】 Magnetic anchor technique can effectively alleviate the "chopstick effect" in thoracoscopic surgery. Magnetic anchor technique is safe and feasible in assisting thoracoscopic pulmonary resection.

Objective:To investigate the effect of infused CD34 + cell count on hematopoietic recovery and prognosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients after autologous peripheral blood hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (APBSCT). Methods:The data of 60 NHL patients who underwent APBSCT from May 2010 to May 2016 in the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Shanxi Medical University was retrospectively analyzed, including 32 B-NHL patients and 28 T-NHL patients. The patients were grouped according to the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) threshold, and the hematopoietic reconstruction after transplantation was analyzed. The relationship between the infused CD34 + cell count and prognosis was analyzed. The prognostic factors were analyzed using univariate and multivariate analyses. Results:The CD34 + cell count threshold was determined to be 4.35×10 6/kg based on ROC. In CD34 + cell count≥ 4.35×10 6/kg group (20 cases) and CD34 + cell count < 4.35×10 6/kg group (40 cases), the granulocyte recovery time was (9.9±1.2) d and (12.5±3.7) d ( P = 0.031), and the platelet recovery time was (9.4±1.7) d and (13.8±2.9) d ( P = 0.012). The 3-year overall survival(OS) rates in CD34 + cell count ≥ 4.35×10 6/kg group and CD34 + cell count < 4.35×10 6/kg group were 85.0% and 55.0% ( P = 0.024), and the 3-year PFS rates were 85.0% and 57.5% ( P = 0.016). In B-NHL patients, the 3-year PFS rates in CD34 + cell count ≥ 4.35×10 6/kg group (11 cases) and CD34 + cell count < 4.35×10 6/kg group (21 cases) were 81.8% and 42.9% ( P = 0.037), respectively. In T-NHL patients, the 3-year OS rates in CD34 + cell count ≥ 4.35×10 6/kg group (9 cases) and CD34 + cell count < 4.35×10 6/kg group (19 cases) were 77.8% and 36.8% ( P = 0.049), respectively. Univariate survival analysis showed that the predictive factors of both OS and PFS included age > 60 years old, Ann Arbor stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ, international prognostic index (IPI) score > 2 and infused CD34 + cell count < 4.35×10 6/kg (all P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that IPI score and infused CD34 + cell count were both independent predictive factors of PFS ( RR = 0.333, 95% CI 0.112-0.994, P = 0.049; RR = 0.190, 95% CI 0.047-0.773, P = 0.020), and IPI score was an independent predictive factor of OS ( RR = 0.095, 95% CI 0.011-0.837, P = 0.034). Conclusion:The infused CD34 + cell count affects the hematopoietic reconstruction time and component blood transfusion after APBSCT, and has certain predictive value for the prognosis of NHL patients.

Objective:To evaluate the performance of aldosterone testing in China through the External Quality Assessment (EQA) and improve the testing quality of aldosterone.Methods:Two kinds of EQA program for aldosterone were carried out in China, one of which is Routine EQA and the other is Trueness verification scheme. Lyophilized sera with 5 concentration levels were used as quality control of Routine EQA. The results were grouped according to the instrument. Target values and the coefficient of variation ( CV) were calculated in each group. Trueness verification scheme was verified by using frozen human sera of 3 concentration levels determined by the reference method, and the bias of each instrument group from the target value was calculated. Results:272 laboratories submitted the testing results, and 91.6% of laboratories used chemiluminescence method. The maximum CV was obtained by radioimmunoassay and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, and the robust CVs were 14.6%-33.4% and 43.5%-53.9%, respectively. For chemiluminescence methods, the robust group CV was less than 10%. The results of the Trueness verification scheme showed that liquid chromatography mass spectrometry method was the most accurate method, with biases of -7.9%, 8.9% and -0.7% for the three quality controls. Diasorin system had the more accurate results deviated from the target by 58.7%, 7.9% and -2.1%, respectively. The results of other chemiluminescence methods were negatively correlated with the sample concentration, and one of them with a bias of 479%. Conclusions:The accuracy and comparability of aldosterone among laboratories in China are not satisfactory. Reagent manufacturers and laboratories should pay more attention to EQA, with the aldosterone results traceable to SI unit, and improve the test quality of aldosterone.