Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is an increasingly widespread sleep-breathing disordered disease, and is an independent risk factor for many high-risk chronic diseases such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, arrhythmias and diabetes, which is potentially fatal. The key to the prevention and treatment of OSA is early diagnosis and treatment, so the assessment and diagnostic technologies of OSA have become a research hotspot. This paper reviews the research progresses of severity assessment parameters and diagnostic technologies of OSA, and discusses their future development trends. In terms of severity assessment parameters of OSA, apnea hypopnea index (AHI), as the gold standard, together with the percentage of duration of apnea hypopnea (AH%), lowest oxygen saturation (LSpO₂), heart rate variability (HRV), oxygen desaturation index (ODI) and the emerging biomarkers, constitute a multi-dimensional evaluation system. Specifically, the AHI, which measures the frequency of sleep respiratory events per hour, does not fully reflect the patients’ overall sleep quality or the extent of their daytime functional impairments. To address this limitation, the AH%, which measures the proportion of the entire sleep cycle affected by apneas and hypopneas, deepens our understanding of the impact on sleep quality. The LSpO₂ plays a critical role in highlighting the potential severe hypoxic episodes during sleep, while the HRV offers a different perspective by analyzing the fluctuations in heart rate thereby revealing the activity of the autonomic nervous system. The ODI provides a direct and objective measure of patients’ nocturnal oxygenation stability by calculating the number of desaturation events per hour, and the biomarkers offers novel insights into the diagnosis and management of OSA, and fosters the development of more precise and tailored OSA therapeutic strategies. In terms of diagnostic techniques of OSA, the standardized questionnaire and Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) is a simple and effective method for preliminary screening of OSA, and the polysomnography (PSG) which is based on recording multiple physiological signals stands for gold standard, but it has limitations of complex operations, high costs and inconvenience. As a convenient alternative, the home sleep apnea testing (HSAT) allows patients to monitor their sleep with simplified equipment in the comfort of their own homes, and the cardiopulmonary coupling (CPC) offers a minimal version that simply analyzes the electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. As an emerging diagnostic technology of OSA, machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) adeptly pinpoint respiratory incidents and expose delicate physiological changes, thus casting new light on the diagnostic approach to OSA. In addition, imaging examination utilizes detailed visual representations of the airway’s structure and assists in recognizing structural abnormalities that may result in obstructed airways, while sound monitoring technology records and analyzes snoring and breathing sounds to detect the condition subtly, and thus further expands our medical diagnostic toolkit. As for the future development directions, it can be predicted that interdisciplinary integrated researches, the construction of personalized diagnosis and treatment models, and the popularization of high-tech in clinical applications will become the development trends in the field of OSA evaluation and diagnosis.

Objective:To explore the application and key points of microchannel approaches in resec-tion of cervical intraspinal tumors.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on 51 cases of cervi-cal spinal canal tumors from February 2017 to March 2020.Among them,5 cases were located epidural space,6 cases were located epidural and subdural space,and 40 cases were located under the subdural extramedullary space(6 cases were located on the ventral side of the spinal cord).The maximum diameter ranged from 0.5 to 3.0 cm.The clinical manifestations included neck,shoulder or upper limb pain 43 cases,sensory disturbance(numbness)in 22 cases,and limb weakness in 8 cases.The micro-channel keyhole technique was used to expose the tumor,and the tumor was resected microscopically.Results:In this study,35 patients underwent hemilaminectomy,12 patients underwent interlaminar fenestration,2 patients underwent medial 1/4 facetectomy on the basis of hemilaminectomy or interlaminar fenestration.Two tumors were resected through anatomy space(no bone was resected).The degree of tumor resection included total resection in 50 cases and subtotal resection in 1 case.The type of the tumor included 36 schwannomas,12 meningiomas,2 enterogenic cysts and 1 dermoid cyst.There was no infec-tion and cerebrospinal fluid leakage postoperatively.Limb numbness occurred in 7 patients.The average follow-up time was 15 months(3 to 36 months).No deformity such as cervical instability or kyphosis was found.The tumor had no recurrence.Conclusion:The cervical spinal canal is relatively wide,cervical tumors with no more than three segments can be fully exposed by means of microchannel technology.Besides intramedullary or malignant tumors,they can be microsurgically removed.Preservation of the skeletal muscle structure of cervical spine is beneficial to recover the anatomy and function of cervical spine.The electrophysiological monitoring helps to avoid spinal cord or nerve root injury.

Objective By analyzing relevant literature of long COVID,we aimed to understand the current research status,hotspots and trends in this field.Methods Based on Web of Science core collection data,bibliometric analysis was used as the main research method.The results were visualized with VOSviewer.A comprehensive analysis was performed from various perspectives including trends in publication,journal distribution,highly cited papers,international research collaboration networks,and clusters of keywords,etc.Results The field of long COVID has garnered significant global academic attention.A total of 7 877 related articles were retrievable,with a total citation count of 103 389 and an average citation count of 13.13 per article.Among them,the United States published the most articles(1 780 articles,22.59%),while China ranked fifth in publication volume(686 articles,8.71%).The international scientific cooperation network reflected the close collaborative relationships between countries in long COVID research,predominantly involving the United States,the United Kingdom,Italy,India,and China.Keywords clustering indicated that the current main research focuses in the long COVID field include:clinical manifestations,epidemiological characteristics,risk factors,and mechanisms of occurrence,treatment and rehabilitation measures of long COVID,and its impact on public and social life.Conclusion This article reveals the current state,research hotspots and trends in the long COVID field,providing valuable references for related research institutions,scholars as well as health administrative office.

BACKGROUND:Periprosthetic osteolysis is the most common long-term complication of total joint arthroplasty.Many studies suggest that the inflammasome may play an important role during the osteolysis.Melatonin is a rhythm-regulated hormone secreted by the pineal gland with many functions including anti-inflammatory,anti-oxidation,and antitumor,but its effects on osteolysis and inflammasome have yet to be explored. OBJECTIVE:To explore the effect of melatonin on the osteolysis induced by wear particles and the role of melatonin on the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome. METHODS:(1)In vivo test:Fifteen C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into sham operation group,osteolysis group and melatonin group by random number table method,with 5 mice in each group.The osteolysis model of the osteolysis group and the melatonin group was established by injecting cobalt-chromium-molybdenum(CoCrMo)particles into the sagittal suture of the skull.After injection,the melatonin group was intraperitoneally injected with 50 mg/(kg·d)of melatonin for 14 consecutive days.After drug intervention,the mouse calvarium was collected for micro-CT analysis to observe the micro-structural changes around the sagittal suture.(2)In vitro test:Mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages and THP-1 cells(which had been induced to differentiate into macrophages)were taken and divided into seven groups:normal group,lipopolysaccharide group,lipopolysaccharide+CoCrMo group and melatonin 0.5,1,1.5,2 mmol/L groups(lipopolysaccharide and CoCrMo were added to the melatonin intervention groups).After the intervention for 6 hours,the expression of related proteins(NLRP3,Caspase-1,interleukin-1β,and gasdermin D,gasdermin D-N terminal)in the inflammasome of cell lysate or cell culture supernatant was detected by western blot assay.Cytotoxicity and cell death were observed through lactate dehydrogenase release and live-dead fluorescence staining. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)In vivo test:Micro-CT scanning 3D reconstruction images showed that the bone mass around the sagittal suture of the skull of mice in the osteolysis group was significantly reduced,and the bone tissue structure was severely damaged.Compared with the osteolysis group,the bone mass around the sagittal suture of the skull in the melatonin group was significantly increased,and the destruction of tissue structure was reduced.(2)In vitro test:For mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages,lipopolysaccharide significantly up-regulated NLRP3 protein expression in cell lysate,and melatonin intervention could reduce NLRP3 protein expression in a dose-dependent manner.CoCrMo particles significantly up-regulated the protein expressions of the gasdermin D-N terminal in cell lysate and Caspase-1 and interleukin-1β in the supernatant of cell culture,while melatonin intervention could reduce the expression of these proteins in a dose-dependent manner.For THP-1 cells,the protein expressions of Caspase-1 and interleukin-1β in the supernatant of cell culture were significantly up-regulated by CoCrMo particles,and the expression of these proteins was decreased dose-dependent by melatonin intervention.Lactate dehydrogenase release and live-dead fluorescence staining showed that CoCrMo particles significantly increased the release of lactate dehydrogenase and cell death in the supernatant of mouse bone marrow-derived macrophage culture,and melatonin intervention could reduce the release of lactate dehydrogenase and cell death.(3)The results show that melatonin can inhibit particle-induced inflammasome activation and pyroptosis to suppress periprosthetic osteolysis.

AIM: To explore the neuro-ophthalmological characteristics of acute macular neuroretinopathy(AMN)after SARS-CoV-2 infection.METHODS: A total of 8 patients(14 eyes), including 6 females and 2 males, who were diagnosed with AMN in the neuro-ophthalmology department of Xi'an No.1 Hospital(The First Affiliated Hospital of Northwest University)from December 27, 2022 to February 1, 2023 were included in the study. All patients had a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection before the disease, and the results of best corrected visual acuity(BCVA), non-contact indirect intraocular pressure measurement, fundus color photography, near infrared(IR), spectral-domain optical coherence tomography(SD-OCT), OCT angiography(OCTA), fundus fluorescein angiography(FFA), indocyanine green angiography(ICGA), visual field, visual evoked potential(VEP), and electroretinogram(ERG)were collected. Furthermore, the neuro-opthalmology characteristics of the included patients were analyzed and summarized.RESULTS: The included 8 patients aged from 20 to 43, with an average age of(30±6.63)years old. The patients had a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection 3 to 11(mean 5±3.51)d before the disease, and 6 out of 8 patients developed visual symptoms within 5 d of infection with SARS-CoV-2, with manifestated with decreased vision or visual scotoma. The visual acuity varied from 0.08 to 1.0, with visual field defect characterized by central, paracentral or peripheral scotoma. VEP showed prolongation latency of P100 or P2, and ERG revealed impaired function of retinal photoreceptor cell. In the early stage of the disease, the size and shape of early visual acuity, visual field, and extraretinal lesions in patients with AMN associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection may not match, and the lower the visual acuity, the later the VEP peaks.CONCLUSION: The neuro-ophthalmic features of SARS-CoV-2 infection-associated AMN require the attention of clinicians. In addition to multi-mode fundus imaging, clinicians should use a variety of methods to comprehensively evaluate visual function and prognosis of patients.

Objective To investigate the effect of microglia activation regulated by C-X3-C motif chemokine ligand 1(CX3CL1)-C-X3-C motif chemokine receptor 1(CX3CR1)pathway on memory function in hemorrhagic shock/resuscitation rats.Methods The experiment was divided into two parts.In the first part,the rats were randomly divided into sham group,model-0.5 hour group,model-1.5 hour group,model-3 hour group,10 rats in each group.There were differences in the time of hemorrhagic shock among each group.In the second part,rats were randomly divided into control group and CX3CL1 group,10 rats in each group.The rats in CX3CL1 group were treated with CX3CL1 protein factor(intraventricular injection),and the rats in control group were treated with saline.All rats were trained in Morris water maze experiments before model construction,and tests of Morris water maze experiments were carried out after 4 days of model construction.After completion,the whole brains were taken for HE staining and immunohistochemical staining.Cerebrospinal fluid was taken for detection of inflammatory cytokines,and hippocampus tissues were taken for Real-time PCR detection and Western blotting detection.Results Compared with the sham group,the escape latency of rats in model group increased,the number of platform crossings and the resident time in the third quadrant decreased.The neuronal state was impaired in HE staining in model group.In addition,compared with the sham group,the expression of ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule-1(Iba1)in the brain of the rats in model group increased,the contents of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)and interleukin(IL)-6 in the cerebrospinal fluid increased,and the M1-type microglia markers CD16,TNF-α,IL-1β and inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS)mRNA content increased.At the same time,compared with the sham group,the expressions of CX3CL1 and CX3CR1 in the brain of model group decreased,and the expressions of phosphorylated nuclear factor-κB(p-NF-κB)and nucleotide binding oligomerization domain(NOD)-like receptor protein 3(NLRP3)increased.However,compared with the control group,rats in CX3CL1 group had reduced escape latency,increased platform crossing times and quadrantⅢresident time,and recovered neuronal states.In addition,the expression of Iba1 in the brain of CX3CL1 group decreased,the contents of TNF-α and IL-6 in the cerebrospinal fluid decreased,the mRNA contents of M1-type microglia markers like CD16,TNF-α,IL-1β and iNOS decreased,and the mRNA contents of markers of M2-type microglia glial like CD206,transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β),arginase-1(Arg1),Chitinase 3-like protein 1(Ym 1)increased.Conclusion CX3CL1 can help inhibit the excessive activation of microglia,induce the polarization of microglia to M2 type,inhibit the polarization of M1 type,reduce the release of inflammatory cytokines,and alleviate the memory function damage induced by hemorrhagic shock/resuscitation.

Objective To observe the efficacy and safety of Morinda officinalis oligosaccharides in the continuation treatment of mild and moderate depression.Methods An open,single-arm,multi-center design was adopted in our study.Adult patients with mild and moderate depression who had received acute treatment of Morinda officinalis oligosaccharides were enrolled and continue to receive Morinda officinalis oligosaccharides capsules for 24 weeks,the dose remained unchanged during continuation treatment.The remission rate,recurrence rate,recurrence time,and the change from baseline to endpoint of Hamilton Depression Scale(HAMD),Hamilton Anxiety Scale(HAMA),Clinical Global Impression-Severity(CGI-S)and Arizona Sexual Experience Scale(ASEX)were evaluated.The incidence of treatment-related adverse events was reported.Results The scores of HAMD-17 at baseline and after treatment were 6.60±1.87 and 5.85±4.18,scores of HAMA were 6.36±3.02 and 4.93±3.09,scores of CGI-S were 1.49±0.56 and 1.29±0.81,scores of ASEX were 15.92±4.72 and 15.57±5.26,with significant difference(P＜0.05).After continuation treatment,the remission rate was 54.59％(202 cases/370 cases),and the recurrence rate was 6.49％(24 cases/370 cases),the recurrence time was(64.67±42.47)days.The incidence of treatment-related adverse events was 15.35％(64 cases/417 cases).Conclusion Morinda officinalis oligosaccharides capsules can be effectively used for the continuation treatment of mild and moderate depression,and are well tolerated and safe.