BACKGROUND:Troxerutin has been found to have a significant ameliorative effect on brain disorders,but there are fewer studies on the effects of troxerutin on the treatment of cerebral infarction and on neuronal cells. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the mechanism by which troxerutin regulates nuclear factor-κB signaling pathway to reduce brain injury and neuronal apoptosis in cerebral infarction rats. METHODS:Fifty clean grade rats were randomized into healthy group,model group,and troxerutin+nuclear factor-κB agonist group,troxerutin group,and nuclear factor-κB inhibitor group.Except for the healthy group,all other groups were used to establish a rat model of cerebral infarction by arterial ligation.The healthy and model groups were treated once a day with an equal amount of physiological saline by gavage.The troxerutin+nuclear factor-κB agonist group was intervened with 72 mg/kg troxerutin by gavage+20 mg/kg RANK intraperitoneally.The troxerutin group was treated with 72 mg/kg troxerutin by gavage.The nuclear factor κB inhibitor group was intervened intraperitoneally with 120 mg/kg nuclear factor κB inhibitor pyrrolidine disulfiram.Administration in each group was given once a day for 30 continuous days.Zea-longa was used to detect neurological damage in rats,hematoxylin-eosin staining was used to observe pathological changes,TUNEL was used to detect neuronal apoptosis,and immunoblotting and PCR were used to detect the expression of nuclear factor-κB p65 and nuclear factor-κB p50 at protein and mRNA levels,respectively. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the healthy group,the neurological function score,neuronal apoptosis rate,nuclear factor-κB p65,nuclear factor-κB p50 mRNA and protein expression levels were elevated in the model group(P＜0.05).Compared with the model group,the neurological function score,neuronal apoptosis rate,nuclear factor-κB p65 and nuclear factor-κB p50 mRNA and protein expression levels were decreased in the troxerutin+nuclear factor-κB agonist group(P＜0.05).Compared with the troxerutin+nuclear factor-κB agonist group,the neurological function score,neuronal apoptosis rate,nuclear factor-κB p65 and nuclear factor-κB p50 mRNA and protein expression levels were reduced in the troxerutin group and nuclear factor-κB inhibitor group(P＜0.05).In addition,there was no difference between the troxerutin group and the nuclear factor-κB inhibitor group(P＞0.05).In the model group,there was a large number of cytoplasmic vacuolation,obvious edema and necrosis,and a large number of inflammatory cell infiltrations.In the troxerutin+nuclear factor-κB agonist,the swelling of brain tissue was reduced,and reticulate structures and condensed cells were reduced,still with some edema.In the troxerutin group and nuclear factor-κB inhibitor group,brain tissue swelling,neuronal edema degeneration,cytoplasmic vacuolation and neuronal nucleus consolidation were reduced,and the inflammatory cell infiltration was significantly decreased.To conclude,troxrutin can reduce the expression of neurological impairment,inhibit neuronal apoptosis and improve the pathological injury of brain tissue in rats with cerebral infarction,and its mechanism of action may be related to the modulation of nuclear factor-κB expression and related signaling pathways.

Objective:To investigate the response of mandibular condylar chondroprogenitors to flow fluid shear stress(FFSS).Methods:Chondroprogenitors were in vitro cultured and stimulated with FFSS that can cause cell degeneration,and treated with sec-ond-generation high-throughput RNA sequencing.Differential gene expression was screened using DESeq2 software for gene ontology(GO)functional enrichment analysis,kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes(KEGG)pathway enrichment analysis and protein-protein interaction(PPI)network analysis.qRT-PCR was performed to validate the core genes screened by PPI.Results:A total of 1996 differentially expressed genes were obtained,mainly including inflammatory response and cell cycle related molecules.Among them,Actal,Atf3,Ccl2,116,Nfkbia,Ret and Vcaml were identified as the core genes.Conclusion:FFSS stimulation affects chondroprogenitor function by acting on inflammatory responses and cell cycle-related signaling pathways in chondroprogenitors.

Objective:To investigate the effects of the taurochenodeoxycholic acid(TCDCA)on cartilage degeneration in tem-poromandibular joint osteoarthritis(TMJ OA).Methods:36 female SD rats aged 6 weeks were randomly divided into 3 groups:con-trol group(CON),unilateral anterior crossbite group(UAC),UAC plus TCDCA injection group(UAC+TCDCA).UAC model was es-tablished in all rats in UAC and UAC+TCDCA groups.Samples were collected at 8 and 12 weeks(control group,UAC group,UAC+TCDCA group)after set up of the experiment(n=6),and TMJ morphological examination was performed.The expression of CYP7A1,BAAT and TGR5 in the tissue and cells was examined by immunohistochimical staining.Results:(1)Compared with the CON group of the same age,the cells in the condylar cartilage were disordered,the cartilage matrix was reduced and thinner in UAC group.Compared with UAC group of the same age,cell arrangement,cell number,cartilage matrix and cartilage thickness were im-proved in UAC+TCDCA group(P＜0.05).(2)Compared with the CON group of the same age,the positive cells for TCDCA-specific receptor TGR5 and the key enzymes CYP7A1 and BAAT were mainly distributed in the anterior hypertrophic layer and hypertrophic layer at each time point.The number of positive cells in the UAC group was significantly reduced compared with the CON group.Conclusion:TCDCA has obvious therapeutic effects on the degeneration in TMJ OA.

Objective To investigate the activity of Acorus tatarinowii extracts against dust mites, and to isolate and characterize active ingredient of A. tatarinowii extracts. Methods The essential oil components were extracted from A. tatarinowii rhizome powder by rotary evaporation with methanol as solvents, followed by petroleum ether extraction and rotary evaporation. The essential oil was mixed with Tween-80 at a ratio of 1:1 and diluted into concentrations of 1.000 00%, 0.500 00%, 0.250 00%, 0.125 00%, 0.062 50% and 0.031 25%, while diluted Tween-80 served as controls. A. tatarinowii essential oil at each concentration (200 μL) was transferred evenly to filter papers containing 100 adult mites, with each test repeated in triplicate, and controls were assigned for each concentration. Following treatment at 25 °C and 75% relative humidity for 24 h, the mean corrected mortality of mites was calculated. The essential oil components were separated by silica gel column chromatography, and the essential oil was prepared in the positive column of medium pressure; and then, each component was collected. Silica gel column chromatography was run with the mobile phase that consisted of petroleum ether solution containing 10% ethyl acetate and pure ethyl acetate, detection wavelength of 254 nm, positive silica gel column as the chromatography column, and room temperature as the column temperature. Each component of the purified A. tatarinowii essential oil was diluted into 1.000 00% for acaricidal tests. The components with less than 100% acaricidal activity were discarded, and the remaining components were diluted into 50% of the previous-round tests for subsequent acaricidal tests. The components with acaricidal activity were subjected to high-performance liquid chromatography, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and pulsed-Fourier transform nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The structure of active monomer compounds was determined by standard spectral library retrieval and literature review. Results A. tatarinowii essential oil at concentrations of 1.000 00%, 0.500 00%, 0.250 00% and 0.125 00% killed all dust mites, and the corrected mortality was all 100%. Exposure to A. tatarinowii extracts at an effective concentration of 0.062 50% for 24 hours resulted in 94.33% mortality of dust mites. Six components (A to F) were separated using gel column chromatography, and components D and E both showed a 100% acaricidal activity against dust mites at a concentration of 0.50000%. In addition, Component D was identified as isoeugenol methyl ether, and Component E as β-asarinol. Conclusion The extract of A. tatarinowii essential oil has acaricidal activity, and the isoeugenol methyl ether shows a remarkable acaricidal activity against dust mites.

Objective To investigate the progress of two-dimensional echocardiographic parameters in patients with different severity of aortic stenosis.Methods A retrospective analysis was per-formed on 96 patients diagnosed with aortic stenosis with at least 2 times of transthoracic echo-cardiography(interval ≥1 year)in Department of Cardiology,Fourth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital from March 2017 to December 2023.According to aortic stenosis severity,they were divided into a mild group(72 cases),a moderate group(14 cases)and a severe group(10 cases).Peak pressure gradient(PPG)across aortic valve,Vmax,mean aortic valve pressure gradient(ΔPm),pulmonary artery systolic pressure(PASP)were collected,and the changes and annual progress of these echocardiographic parameters at baseline and before and after follow-up were analyzed.Results The values of IVST,LVPWT,Vmax,aortic valve PPG and ΔPm were sig-nificantly increased in the mild,moderate and severe stenosis groups in turn(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).The values of Vmax,PPG and ΔPm were significantly lower in the mild stenosis group than the moderate and severe stenosis groups,and the LVPWT value was obviously lower in the mild ste-nosis group than the severe stenosis group(P＜0.05).The aortic valve PPG and ΔPm values at follow-up were significantly higher than those before the follow-up in the three stenosis groups(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).After follow-up,the Vmax values in mild and moderate stenosis groups were notably higher than before(P＜0.01).The PASP value at follow-up was significantly higher than before in the severe stenosis group(P＜0.05).The annual progression rate of Vmax,PASP,LVEF were gradually increased in the mild,moderate,and severe stenosis groups(P＞0.05).The annual progression rate of ΔPm was gradually increased in the three groups in turn(2.30±1.77 mm Hg/year vs 2.40±1.18 mm Hg/year vs 6.08±1.70 mm Hg/year,P＜0.05).Conclusion As the severity of baseline aortic stenosis increases,obvious changes are observed in cardiac structure and function.Before and after follow-up,the serious the aortic stenosis severity is,the faster the annual progression rates of Vmax,PPG,LVEF and PASP are.

Background and objective Cough is one of the main complications after pulmonary surgery,which seriously affects the postoperative quality of life.Preserving the pulmonary branch of vagus nerve may reduce the incidence of postoperative cough.Therefore,the aim of this study was to investigate whether preserving the pulmonary branch of the vagus nerve could reduce the incidence of postoperative chronic cough in patients with stage I peripheral lung adenocarcinoma.Methods A total of 125 patients who underwent single-port thoracoscopic radical resection for lung cancer in the Depart-ment of Thoracic Surgery,The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China from June 2022 to June 2023 were retrospectively selected,and divided into two groups according to whether the vagopulmonary branch was preserved during the operation,namely,the vagopulmonary branch group(n=61)and the traditional group(n=64).The general clinical data,perioperative conditions,lymph node dissection,Mandarin Chinese version of The Leicester Cough Questionnaire(LCQ-MC)scores before and 8 weeks after operation were recorded in the two groups.Both the two groups were divided into tamponade group and non-tamponade group according to whether autologous fat or gelatin sponge was tamponade after lymph node dissection.LCQ-MC scores and postoperative chronic cough of both groups were calculated.Results The LCQ-MC score of the traditional group was significantly lower than that of the vagopulmonary branch group in physiological,psychological,social and total scores at 8 weeks after surgery,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).There were more cough patients in the traditional group than the vagopulmonary branch group at 8 weeks after surgery,with significant difference(P=0.006).Subgroup analysis was conducted separately for the vagopulmonary branch group and the traditional group.Among the patients in the vagopulmonary branch group and the traditional group,the LCQ-MC scores of the non-tamponade group 8 weeks after surgery were lower than those of the tamponade group(P<0.05).There were more patients with cough in the group 8 weeks after surgery than in the tamponade group(P=0.001,P=0.024).Conclusion For patients with stage I peripheral lung adenocarcinoma,the preservation of the pulmonary branch of vagus nerve is safe and effective,which can reduce the incidence of postoperative chronic cough and improve the postoperative quality of life of the patients.

Background and objective With further understanding and research into non-small cell lung cancer with tumours ≤2 cm in maximum diameter,segmental lung resection is able to achieve the same long-term prognosis as lobec-tomy.However,there are few studies on the prognostic effect of wedge resection on small volume invasive lung adenocarci-noma with an invasion depth of 0.5 to 1.0 cm.Therefore,this study focuses on the clinical efficacy and prognosis of wedge re-section in patients with small-volume invasive lung adenocarcinoma.Methods A retrospective analysis of the medical records of 208 patients who underwent surgery in the Department of Thoracic Surgery of the Affiliated Provincial Hospital of Anhui Medical University from February 2016 to December 2017 was made,and the postoperative pathological results confirmed small volume invasive lung adenocarcinoma.According to their surgical methods,they were divided into lobectomy group(n=115),segmentectomy group(n=48)and wedge resection group(n=45).Kaplan-Meier survival curve estimation and Cox proportional risk regression model were used to explore the influence of different surgical methods on the prognosis of patients with small volume invasive lung adenocarcinoma.Results The wedge resection group had better perioperative outcomes compared with the segmentectomy group and lobectomy group,with statistically significant differences in intraoperative bleed-ing(P=0.036),postoperative drainage(P＜0.001),operative time(P=0.018),postoperative time with tubes(P=0.001),and postoperative complication rate(P=0.006).There were no significant differences when comparing the three groups in terms of survival rate(lobectomy group vs segmentectomy group,P=0.303;lobectomy group vs wedge resection group,P=0.742;and segmentectomy group vs wedge resection group,P=0.278)and recurrence-free survival rate(lobectomy group vs segmentec-tomy group,P=0.495;lobectomy group vs wedge resection group,P=0.362;segmentectomy group vs wedge resection group,P=0.775).Univariate and multivariate survival analyses showed that consolidation tumor ratio(CTR)was the prognostic factor of overall survival and revurrence-free survival for patients with small-volume invasive lung adenocarcinoma(P＜0.05).Conclusion Wedge resection in patients with small volume invasive lung adenocarcinoma can achieve long-term outcomes similar to segmentectomy and lobectomy.When the CTR≤0.5,wedge resection is preferred in such patients.

This study was designed to investigate the potential protective effect of isopimpinelline against para-chlorophenylalanine(PCPA)-induced pineal gland damage in rats.Forty male Sprague-Dawley(SD)rats were divided into four groups(n=10 each):a normal group,a model group,a melatonin-treated group(10 mg/kg),and an isopimpinelline-treated group(1.5 mg/kg).All groups,except for the normal,received intraperitoneal injection of PCPA(450 mg/kg)to induce pineal gland damage.Subsequent treatments were administered orally for 7 days.Sleep latency and duration were evaluated on the sixth day using the pentobarbital sodium sleep synergy test.After the treatment period,serum melatonin levels and pineal gland inflammation markers were assessed alongside oxidative and antioxidative parameters.Histological examinations of the pineal gland were conducted,and the expression of proteins related to the Nrf2 and NF-κB signaling pathways were quantified.Data showed that isopimpinelline alleviates the structural damage in the pineal gland of model rats,significantly elevated serum melatonin levels,and markedly improved sleep latency and duration(P＜0.05).Isopimpinelline activated the Nrf2 signaling pathway by inhibiting Keap1 expression,which facilitated the nuclear translocation of Nrf2 and upregulated the antioxidant proteins NQO1 and HO-1,thereby mitigating oxidative stress in the pineal gland(P＜0.05).Furthermore,isopimpinelline significantly reduced the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-2,TNF-α and IL-6.Isopimpinelline also suppressed the NF-κB signaling pathway,reducing the expression of NF-κB p65,IKKβ,and p-IKKβ proteins,as well as the nuclear translocation of NF-κB p65(P＜0.05),thereby providing anti-inflammatory benefits.In conclusion,isopimpinelline could protect pineal gland from damage by activating the Nrf2 signaling pathway and inhibiting the NF-κB pathway.

BACKGROUND: Pre-operative accuracy of subcentimeter ground glass nodules (SGGNs) is a difficult problem in clinical practice, but there are few clinical studies on the benign and malignant prediction model of SGGNs. The aim of this study was to help identify benign and malignant lesions of SGGNs based on the imaging features of high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and the general clinical data of patients, and to build a risk prediction model. METHODS: This study retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 483 patients with SGGNs who underwent surgical resection and were confirmed by histology from the First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China from August 2020 to December 2021. The patients were divided into the training set (n=338) and the validation set (n=145) according to 7:3 random assignment. According to the postoperative histology, they were divided into adenocarcinoma group and benign lesion group. The independent risk factors and models were analyzed by univariate analysis and multivariate Logistic regression. The receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed to evaluate the model differentiation, and the calibration curve was used to evaluate the model consistency. The clinical application value of the decision curve analysis (DCA) evaluation model was drawn, and the validation set data was substituted for external verification. RESULTS: Multivariate Logistic analysis screened out patients' age, vascular sign, lobular sign, nodule volume and mean-CT value as independent risk factors for SGGNs. Based on the results of multivariate analysis, Nomogram prediction model was constructed, and the area under ROC curve was 0.836 (95%CI: 0.794-0.879). The critical value corresponding to the maximum approximate entry index was 0.483. The sensitivity was 76.6%, and the specificity was 80.1%. The positive predictive value was 86.5%, and the negative predictive value was 68.7%. The benign and malignant risk of SGGNs predicted by the calibration curve was highly consistent with the actual occurrence risk after sampling 1,000 times using Bootstrap method. DCA showed that patients showed a positive net benefit when the predictive probability of the predicted model probability was 0.2 to 0.9. CONCLUSIONS Based on preoperative medical history and preoperative HRCT examination indicators, the benign and malignant risk prediction model of SGGNs was established to have good predictive efficacy and clinical application value. The visualization of Nomogram can help to screen out high-risk groups of SGGNs, providing support for clinical decision-making.
Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Lung Neoplasms/surgery* ; Adenocarcinoma ; China ; Hospitals ; Multiple Pulmonary Nodules

Objective To investigate the association between serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Methods A total of 599 patients with T2DM who were hospitalized in Department of Endocrinology, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, from July 2016 to December 2018 were enrolled as subjects. According to the presence or absence of NAFLD, the patients were divided into NAFLD group with 286 patients and non-NAFLD group with 313 patients, and according to the results of abdominal ultrasound, the patients with NAFLD were divided into mild group with 111 patients, moderate group with 105 patients, and severe group with 70 patients. General clinical data were compared between groups. The independent samples t - test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups, and an analysis of variance was used for comparison between three groups; the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two groups, and the Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison between three groups; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. Pearson correlation analysis and Spearman correlation analysis were used to investigate the correlation between ALP and clinical indices, and a logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the influencing factors for NAFLD. Results Compared with the non-NAFLD group, the NAFLD group had significantly higher proportion of patients with history of hypertension ( χ 2 =7.864, P < 0.05), systolic blood pressure ( t =-2.226, P < 0.05), diastolic blood pressure ( t =-3.800, P < 0.05), body mass index (BMI) ( t =-11.842, P < 0.05), waist circumference (WC) ( t =-9.150, P < 0.05), fasting insulin (FINS) ( Z =-6.173, P < 0.05), fasting C-peptide ( t =-5.419, P < 0.05), serum uric acid ( t =-4.957, P < 0.05), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( t =-2.702, P < 0.05), triglyceride ( Z =-9.376, P < 0.05), total cholesterol (TC) ( t =-3.016, P < 0.05), Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) ( Z =-5.794, P < 0.05), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ( Z =-6.737, P < 0.05), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) ( Z =-4.389, P < 0.05), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) ( Z =-7.764, P < 0.05), and ALP ( t =-2.833, P < 0.05), as well as significantly lower age ( t =2.184, P < 0.05) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( Z =-5.273, P < 0.05). The severity of NAFLD (mild, moderate or severe) was positively correlated with age ( r s =0.140, P < 0.05), BMI ( r s =0.239, P < 0.05), WC ( r s =0.222, P < 0.05), FINS ( r s =0.191, P < 0.05), HOMA-IR ( r s =0.218, P < 0.05), ALT ( r s =0.188, P < 0.05), AST ( r s =0.279, P < 0.05), GGT ( r s =0.202, P < 0.05), and ALP ( r s =0.361, P < 0.05). In the patients with T2DM and NAFLD, ALP was positively correlated with HbAlc ( r =0.149, P < 0.05), fasting plasma glucose ( r =0.146, P < 0.05), HOMA-IR ( r s =0.132, P < 0.05), TC ( r =0.151, P < 0.05), ALT ( r s =0.210, P < 0.05), AST ( r s =0.192, P < 0.05), and GGT ( r s =0.297, P < 0.05). The logistic regression analysis showed that ALP was an influencing factor for NAFLD in patients with T2DM (odds ratio=1.013, 95% confidence interval: 1.004-1.023, P < 0.05). Conclusion Elevated serum ALP is a risk factor for T2DM with NAFLD and is closely associated with hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, and hyperlipemia, and ALP may play a role in the development and progression of T2DM and NAFLD.