Objective The volume and cortical thickness of gray matter in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica (NMO) were compared and analyzed by voxel⁃based morphometry (VBM) and surface⁃based morphometry (SBM), and the differences in the structural changes of gray matter in the two diseases were discussed. Methods A total of 21 MS patients, 16 NMO patients and 19 healthy controls were scanned by routine MRI sequence. The data were processed and analyzed by VBM and SBM method based on the statistical parameter tool SPM12 of Matlab2014a platform and the small tool CAT12 under SPM12. Results Compared with the normal control group (NC), after Gaussian random field (GRF) correction, the gray matter volume in MS group was significantly reduced in left superior occipital, left cuneus, left calcarine, left precuneus, left postcentral, left central paracentral lobule, right cuneus, left middle frontal, left superior frontal and left superior medial frontal (P<0. 05). After family wise error (FWE) correction, the thickness of left paracentral, left superiorfrontal and left precuneus cortex in MS group was significantly reduced (P<0. 05). Compared with the NC group, after GRF correction, the gray matter volume in the left postcentral, left precentral, left inferior parietal, right precentral and right middle frontal in NMO group was significantly increased (P<0. 05). In NMO group, the volume of gray matter in left middle occipital, left superior occipital, left inferior temporal, right middle occipital, left superior frontal orbital, right middle cingulum, left anterior cingulum, right angular and left precuneus were significantly decreased (P<0. 05). Brain regions showed no significant differences in cortical thickness between NMO groups after FWE correction. Compared with the NMO group, after GRF correction, the gray matter volume in the right fusiform and right middle frontal in MS group was increased significantly(P<0. 05). In MS group, the gray matter volume of left thalamus, left pallidum, left precentral, left middle frontal, left middle temporal, right pallidum, left inferior parietal and right superior parietal were significantly decreased (P<0. 05). After FWE correction, the thickness of left inferiorparietal, left superiorparietal, left supramarginal, left paracentral, left superiorfrontal and left precuneus cortex in MS group decreased significantly (P<0. 05). Conclusion The atrophy of brain gray matter structure in MS patients mainly involves the left parietal region, while NMO patients are not sensitive to the change of brain gray matter structure. The significant difference in brain gray matter volume between MS patients and NMO patients is mainly located in the deep cerebral nucleus mass.

AIM To investigate the effects of total Astragalus saponins on the improvement of sarcopenia in a rat model of type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM).METHODS The rats were divided into the normal group for a normal feeding and the model group for the feeding of high-sugar and high-fat diet combined with intraperitoneal injection of STZ to establish a T2DM model.The successful model rats were randomly divided into the model group,the metformin group(0.2 g/kg)and the total Astragalus saponins group(80 mg/kg),and given corresponding doses of drugs by gavage.After 12 weeks administration,the rats had their FBG,postprandial blood glucose(PG2h)and wet weight of skeletal muscle measured;their serum levels of INS,C-peptide(C-P),IGF-1,TNF-α and IL-1β detected by ELISA;their morphological changes of skeletal muscle observed by HE staining;their protein expressions of PI3K,p-Akt,mTOR,S6K1,FoxO1 and Murf1 in skeletal muscle detected by Western blot;and their mRNA expressions of Pi3k,Akt and mtor in skeletal muscle detected by RT-qPCR method.RESULTS Compared with the model group,the total Astragalus saponins group displayed decreased levels of FBG,PG2h,OGTT-AUC,HOMA-IR,TNF-α and IL-1β(P＜0.01);increased levels of INS,C-P,IGF-1 and wet weight of skeletal muscle(P＜0.05,P＜0.01);improved skeletal muscle atrophy and increased protein expressions of PI3K,p-Akt,mTOR and S6K1 in skeletal muscle(P＜0.05,P＜0.01);decreased protein expressions of FoxO1 and Murf1(P＜0.05,P＜0.01);and increased mRNA expressions of Pi3k,Akt and mtor(P＜0.01).CONCLUSION The improvement effects of total Astragalus saponins on sarcopenia in T2DM rats may be associated with the regulation of PI3K/Akt/mTOR and PI3K/Akt/FoxO1 pathways.

From January 2019 to December 2021, overweight and obese children who visited in health outpatient Center of Hunan Children's Hospital were studied to explore and analyze the rate, related factors and patterns of multimorbidity of overweight and obesity-related diseases in children in Hunan Province. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to analyze the multimorbidity-related factors of overweight and obesity-related diseases in children. Association rules (apriori algorithm) were used to explore the multimorbidity patterns of overweight and obesity-related diseases in children. A total of 725 overweight and obese children were included in this study. The multimorbidity rate of overweight and obesity-related diseases in children was 46.07% (334/725). Age, waist circumference, the frequency of food consumption such as hamburgers and fries and adding meals before bedtime were multimorbidity-related factors of overweight and obesity-related diseases in children. The multimorbidity associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was relatively common. The patterns with the top three support degrees were "NAFLD+dyslipidemia","NAFLD+hypertension" and "NAFLD+hyperuricemia". The patterns with the top three confidence and elevation degrees were "Hypertension+dyslipidemia => NAFLD","Hyperuricemia => NAFLD" and "NAFLD+hypertension => dyslipidemia".
Child ; Humans ; Overweight/complications* ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ; Pediatric Obesity/epidemiology* ; Hyperuricemia ; Multimorbidity ; Hypertension/epidemiology* ; Dyslipidemias ; Body Mass Index ; Risk Factors

Objective To investigate the spontaneous neural activity in the brain of patients with Alzheimer' s disease (AD) used 3 indicators of resting state-functional magnetic resonance (rs-fMRI) amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF), fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (fALFF) and percentage amplitude fluctuation (PerAF). Methods Totally 36 clinically diagnosed AD patients and 40 healthy volunteers were scanned by fMRI in resting state respectively. ALFF, fALFF and PerAF were used to calculate and compare the changes of brain regions between the two groups. Results Compared with the normal control group, mALFF value in AD group increased significantly in bilateral caudate nucleus, medial frontal gyrus, superior frontal gyrus, gyrus rectus, anterior cingulate gyrus, olfactive cortex, left middle frontal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus (P<0. 05). mALFF values decreased significantly in the right middle temporal gyrus, inferior temporal gyrus, inferior occipital gyrus, middle occipital gyrus, bilateral calcarine, cuneus, lingual gyrus, superior occipital gyrus, vermis, precuneus and other regions (P<0. 05). In AD group, mfALFF value of right inferior temporal gyrus, anterior cerebellar lobe, fusiform gyrus, left superior frontal gyrus, medial frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, gyrus rectus and anterior cingulate gyrus increased significantly (P<0. 05); mfALFF values decreased significantly in bilateral lingual gyrus, left calcarine, cuneus, superior occipital gyrus, middle occipital gyrus and vermis (P<0. 05). In AD group, mPerAF value increased significantly in bilateral gyrus rectus, anterior cingulate gyrus, medial frontal gyrus, left superior frontal gyrus, caudate nucleus, middle frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, olfactive cortex and insula (P<0. 05); mPerAF values decreased significantly in bilateral calcarine, cuneus, superior occipital gyrus, lingual gyrus, precuneus, left fusiform gyrus, inferior occipital gyrus, right superior parietal lobule, angular gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, inferior temporal gyrus and middle occipital gyrus (P < 0. 05). Conclusion The default mode network (DMN) and visual network of AD patients are characterized by abnormal brain activity, with the most significant neural activity in the prefrontal cortex and visual cortex.

Primary liver cancer is the second leading cause of death from malignant tumors in China, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the main type. The disease stage at the time of HCC diagnosis largely determines the efficacy of subsequent treatment. Due to the HCC screening among high-risk population has not yet popularized, and the current diagnose method of early HCC is not satisfactory, the early HCC diagnosis rate is less than 30% in China. Metabolomics research emerging in recent years has promoted the research progress of HCC in many fields, such as elaborating the mechanism of occurrence and development, early prevention and diagnosis, exploring drug treatment targets. At the same time, a large number of serum metabolites with excellent sensitivity and specificity were discovered, which made up for the deficiency of traditional serological indicators and helped the early screening and early diagnosis of HCC. This review will summarize the studies on serum metabolomic markers of HCC in recent 5 years, explore the role of metabolomics in the early prediction and diagnosis of HCC and its application prospect.
Biomarkers, Tumor ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/pathology* ; Early Detection of Cancer ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms/pathology* ; Metabolomics/methods*

Although anti-thrombotic therapy has been successful for prevention of deaths from acute myocardial infarction (MI), by far, there are few preventive and therapeutic options for ischemic heart failure (IHF) after MI. Qi-Tai-Suan (QTS) is an oleanolic acid (OA) derivative which once underwent a clinical trial for treating hepatitis. In this study, we investigated the potential cardioprotective effect of QTS on IHF. IHF mouse model was constructed by coronary artery ligation in male C57BL/6J mice, and the protective effects of QTS on IHF were examined by echocardiography measurement, histological and TUNEL analysis, etc. We found that QTS exhibited promising cardioprotective effect on IHF. QTS treatment significantly improved cardiac function of IHF mice and the symptoms of heart failure. Notably, QTS had much better oral bioavailability (F = 41.91%) in mice than its parent drug OA, and took effects mainly as its original form. Mechanistically, QTS ameliorated ischemic heart failure likely through suppression of cardiac apoptosis, inflammation and fibrosis. Taken together, QTS holds great promise as a preventive and therapeutic agent for ischemic heart failure and related diseases.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Fibrosis ; Heart Failure/drug therapy* ; Inflammation/drug therapy* ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Myocardial Ischemia/pathology* ; Oleanolic Acid/pharmacology*

To establish a content determination method for quality control of the pieces and standard decoction of honey-fried Descurainiae Semen. Standard decoction of honey-fried Descurainiae Semen was prepared with standardized process, and high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode-array detector(HPLC-DAD) was used to detect its characteristic fingerprint and determine the content of quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucose-7-O-β-D-gentiobioside. In addition, the transfer rate, dry extract rate and pH value were calculated. The results showed that the established method had a high accuracy. The content of quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucose-7-O-β-D-gentiobioside in 13 batches of standard decoction was 0.03-0.12 mg·mL~(-1); the transfer rate was 13.4%-23.1%; the rate of extracts was 1.9%-5.5%, and the pH was between 5.4-5.9. The similarity coefficients were all greater than 0.85, indicating good homogeneity for the different batches of decoction. There were 7 common peaks in the characteristic chromatogram, one of which was quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucose-7-O-β-D-gentiobioside. In this paper, the established content determination and quality evaluation method for Descurainiae Semen pieces and decoction was simple, rapid and reproducible, providing reference for the quality control of honey-fried Descurainiae Semen pieces, standard decoction and its preparations.
Brassicaceae/chemistry* ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/standards* ; Glucosides/analysis* ; Honey ; Quality Control ; Quercetin/analogs & derivatives*

The qualitative and quantitative analysis on traditional Chinese medicine and formula components can be made by chemical and instrumental analysis methods. Of both, the instrumental analysis methods play a dominant role, including HPLC, HPLC-MS, HPLC-NMR, GC, GC-MS, biochemical and biological effect. But because traditional Chinese medicines and formula have complicated components, chemical methods are so unspecific that they shall be used less or with caution. While instrumental analysis methods are so specific that they are appropriate for analyzing complicated single component. The analysis techniques for multiple components of traditional Chinese medicines and formula focus on fingerprints, but all of these analysis techniques are limited by the pre-requisite of separation and the lack of general-purpose detectors and therefore being hard to realize the determination of all components of traditional Chinese medicines and formula. In the natural world, however, organisms identify native and alien components through specificity and non-specificity of clusters decided by antigens and antibodies. For example, components of traditional Chinese medicines are directly or indirectly synthesized into antigens and injected into animals, in order to generate specific antibodies and then collect cross reaction information of these components to specific antibodies. As for components without cross reaction, their contents shall be directly read out on the basis of the inhibition rate curve of competitive reaction for specificity of antigens and antibodies. Besides, a cross inhibition rate matrix shall be established first, and them a multiple regression linear equation between cross component concentration or concentration logarithm and inhibition rate by labeling the immunity competitive reaction between antibodies and haptens of traditional Chinese medicine and compound components, and then solved to obtain concentration of each component. The two results are combined to establish the synthetic immunity chip method for traditional Chinese medicine and formula components.
Animals ; Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; High-Throughput Screening Assays ; methods ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; methods ; Vaccines, Synthetic ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo investigate the feasibility and clinical benefits of umbilical hernia repair in conjunction with abdominoplasty.

METHODSThe incision was designed in accord with abdominoplasty. The skin and subcutaneous tissue was dissected toward the costal arch, and then the anterior sheath of rectus abdominus was exposed. After exposure and dissection of the sac of umbilical hernia, tension-free hernioplasty was performed with polypropylene mesh. After dissecting the redundant skin and subcutaneous tissue, the abdominal wall was tightened.

RESULTSBetween May 2008 and May 2011, ten patients were treated in the way mentioned above. The repair of umbilical hernia and the correction of abdominal wall laxity were satisfactory. There was no recurrence of umbilical hernia, hematoma, seroma or fat liquefaction.

CONCLUSIONThrough careful selection of patients, repair of umbilical hernia and body contouring could be achieved simultaneously.

Injections for traditional Chinese medicine have over 60 years of history of development and application. In recent years, however, their adverse reactions have been reported one after another. Consequently, studies on screening sensitinogens (sensibiligens) from injections for traditional Chinese medicine have drawn people's attention and become a tough problem all over the world. This essay analyzes the current state of studies on screening techniques of sensitinogens in injections for traditional Chinese medicine according their mechanism of immunotoxicity, and then proposes to adopt the synthetic immunoassay combining immunity bottle chip, immunity cover chip and immunity chromatographic fingerprint to screen sensitinogens from injections for traditional Chinese medicine, in order to build a safety evaluation barrier for development and clinical application of injections for traditional Chinese medicine.
Drug Hypersensitivity ; immunology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; chemistry ; toxicity ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods