Depression is a major cause of disability and has adverse effects.Despite the many types of anti-depressants,clinical treatments of depression remain poor.Therefore,novel anti-depressant mechanisms need to be explored.The beneficial effects of irisin on the nervous system are gradually being elucidated,and studies have found that irisin has an anti-depressant effect,which may become a new treatment for depression.This study explored the mechanism of irisin and its upstream and downstream anti-depressants by reviewing the existing studies explaining the link between irisin and depression,and proposes that SIRT1/PGC-1α may mediate FNDC5/irisin to regulate BDNF to promote neurogenesis and improve depression,which provides a new idea to study irisin and its upstream and downstream anti-depressants.

The construction of experimental animal models plays an important supporting role in research into the mechanisms of action of Chinese medicines.There have been increasing reports of the construction and evaluation of animal models of spleen deficiency;however,the construction method have involved different standards and there has been insufficient objectification of the evaluation indexes.In this review,we summarize the construction and evaluation method of animal models of spleen deficiency from the aspects of animal selection,model establishment,macroscopic characterization,behavioral experiments,and objective indexes of spleen deficiency,with a view to providing theoretical guidance for the construction of experimental animal models of spleen deficiency and references for the selection of animal model platforms for spleen deficiency.

Objective This study aimed to develop an experimental animal platform for evaluating the feasibility and safety of intelligent acupuncture robots and to lay the foundation for further research.Methods Six 2-month-old Guangxi Bama miniature pigs were used as experimental subjects for acupuncture verification after anesthesia.First,manual acupuncture verification was carried out.Six acupoints were selected for each experimental animal and the needles were left for 20 min after the lifting,inserting,and twisting manipulation.Before and after controls were included.The experiment was carried out for 28 days,and each experiment was conducted once every 2 days for a total of 10 times.After verification of manual acupuncture,a point 10 mm from each of the six selected acupoints was selected,with a total of 12 points,and acupuncture operations were carried out on the experimental animals using the intelligent acupuncture module of the acupuncture robot at different frequencies and angles,to further verify the stability and feasibility of the animal platform.Results Routine safety-related blood indicators and blood biochemistry indicators after the procedure were normal and stable compared with those before the procedure.The average heart rate of the animals was 124 beats/min,the average blood pressure was 87/36 mmHg,and the average body temperature of was 36℃at a room temperature of 25℃,with no significant change in body temperature during and after the experiment.On the basis of this experimental platform,acupuncture manipulation using the intelligent acupuncture module of the acupuncture robot was completed successfully,with no abnormalities related to acupuncture such as bending,breaking,or stagnation of needles during the experimental process,and the experimental animals showed no obvious abnormalities.Conclusions This study established a stable experimental animal platform for evaluating the feasibility and safety of acupuncture carried out by intelligent acupuncture robots,based on the existing experimental method of miniature pigs.These result lay a foundation for further research related to the use of intelligent acupuncture robots.

Non-small cell lung cancer （NSCLC） is a malignant tumor of the respiratory system with a high incidence. The early symptoms are not typical， and most patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage， which seriously threatens the lives and health of people. Surgery， chemotherapy， and targeted therapy are the main means of treatment at present， but the consequent drug resistance and adverse reactions restrict these treatment methods with certain limitations. In recent years， with the development of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） in tumor resistance， TCM has attracted extensive attention for its obvious therapeutic effect and fewer adverse reactions. Numerous signaling pathways are involved in the formation and development of NSCLC， where phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase （PI3K）/protein kinase B （Akt）/mammalian target of rapamycin （mTOR） signaling pathway is one of the key regulatory pathways. The PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway affects the proliferation， invasion， and metastasis of NSCLC cells by affecting the cycle， inhibiting the apoptosis， inhibiting the autophagy of tumor cells， and promoting tumor neovascularization. As revealed by the recent literature， Chinese medicine plays an indispensable role in NSCLC cell autophagy， cell cycle， apoptosis， invasion and metastasis， neovascularization， and reversal of drug resistance by regulating the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. Although some Chinese medicinal extracts or compounds have made great breakthroughs in some mechanisms of action in the treatment of NSCLC， these studies only remain at the level of in vitro cell experiments and animal studies in vivo. Researchers are faced with the great challenge of "transforming the research results of Chinese medicines into clinical applications". Based on the current research status in China and abroad， this paper reviewed Chinese medicine in the intervention in NSCLC through the regulation of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway in recent years， in order to open up new ideas for NSCLC drug therapy research and also provide a useful reference for further mechanism research.

Vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) is a clinical syndrome with impairment of at least one cognitive domain caused by vascular risk factors or cerebrovascular diseases, and its pathogenesis is not completely clear so far. Microglia are innate immune cells in the brain. They participate in many processes such as neuroinflammation, synaptic pruning, myelin regeneration, neurogenesis and connection. They are associated with the occurrence and development of various neurological diseases such as cerebral infarction, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and autism. Recent studies have shown that microglia play an important role in the development of VCI. This article reviews the role of microglia in VCI.

Purpose: Most lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patients are diagnosed at the advanced stage and have poor prognosis. DNA methylation plays an important role in the prognosis prediction of cancers. The objective of this study was to identify new DNA methylation sites as biomarkers for LUAD prognosis. Materials and Methods: We downloaded DNA methylation data from The Cancer Genome Atlas data portal. Cox proportional hazard regression model and random survival forest algorithm were applied to identify the DNA-methylation sites. Methylation of sites were validated in the Gene Expression Omnibus cohorts. Function annotation were done to explore the biological function of DNA methylated sites signature. Results: Six DNA methylation sites were identified as prognosis signature. The signature yielded acceptable discrimination between the high-risk group and low-risk group. The discrimination effect of this DNA methylation signature for the OS was obvious, with a median OS of 21.89 months vs. 17.74 months for high-risk vs. low-risk groups. This prognostic prediction model was validated by the test group and GEO dataset. The predictive survival value was higher for the prognostic prediction model than that for the tumor node metastasis stage. Adjuvant hemotherapy could not affect the prediction of the signature. Functional analysis indicated that these signature genes were involved in protein binding and cytoplasm. Conclusion We identified the prognostic signature for LUAD by combining six DNA methylation sites. This could service as potential robust and specificity signature in the prognosis prediction of LUAD.

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the clinical characteristics and prognosis of children with anti-N-methyl--aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis and to provide a basis for early clinical identification of this disease. METHODS: The clinical data of 42 cases of anti-NMDAR encephalitis at Department of Pediatrics, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University from January 2015 to March 2018 were collected. The clinical features and followed-up outcomes were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: There were 15 cases (35.7%) of males and 27 cases (64.3%) of females in 42 children, with a ratio of 1꞉1.8. They were aged from 4 months to 17 years, with an average of (9.20±4.66) years. The most common initial symptoms were seizures (47.6%, 20/42) and mental behavior disorder (35.7%, 15/42). During the course of the disease, 85.7% patients(36/42) had mental and behavior disorder, 85.7% patients (36/42) had epilepsy, 76.2% (32/42) had speech disorder, 66.7% patients (28/42) had dyskinesia, 66.7% patients (28/42) had the decreased level of consciousness, 61.9% patients (26/42) had autonomic instability, and 57.1% (24/42) patients had sleep disorder. All the children had positive antibody against NMDA receptor resistance encephalitis in cerebrospinal fluid. Head MRI showed the abnormal incidence was 50.0% (21/42), and the lesions involved in parietal lobe, frontal lobe, temporal lobe, occipital lobe, midbrain, thalamus, basal ganglia and optic nerve. There was a patient with optic nerve damage combined with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody positive. Forty cases were examined by electroencephalogram (EEG), 92.5% cases (37/40) were abnormal, mainly showing diffuse slow waves, and δ brushes could be seen in severe cases. And there was 1 patient (2.4%) complicated with mesenteric teratoma. The mRS score (2.14±1.46) at discharge was significantly lower than the highest mRS score (3.88±1.38) during hospitalization (<0.05). After 3-39 months of follow-up, mRS score at 3 months after discharge was only 0.81±1.29, which was still improved compared with that at discharge, 76.2% cases (32/42) experienced complete or near-complete recovery (mRS score≤2), and 4.8% (2/42) cases relapsed. There was no mortality; the initial time of immunotherapy and the highest mRS score in the course of the disease were the factors affecting the prognosis. The earlier the starting time for immunotherapy and the lower mRS score in the course of the disease were, the better the prognosis was. CONCLUSIONS Seizures, mental and behavior disorder, dyskinesias, speech disorder and autonomic instability are common clinical manifestations of anti-NMDAR encephalitis in children. The effect of immunotherapy is significant, and the time to start immunotherapy and the severity of the disease are important factors affecting the prognosis. Anti-NMDAR encephalitis can be combined with other autoantibodies, but its clinical significance and mechanism need further study.
Adolescent ; Anti-N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Encephalitis ; Autoantibodies ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Electroencephalography ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate ; Retrospective Studies

Objective To analyze the risk factors for postoperative pulmonary complications(PPC)in patients undergoing lung cancer surgery to establish a nomogram model to predict the risk of PPC.Methods From January 2014 to October 2017,316 patients undergoing lung cancer surgery at Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University were enrolled in this study.Their clinical data were analyzed and univariate analysis was used to determine the risk factors related to PPC.The significant variables were included in the multivariate logistic regression analysis to analyze the independent risk factors for PPC.Then the R software was used to establish a predictive nomogram model.Bootstrap method was used to validate the nomogram model and ROC curve was used to explore the predictive efficacy of the model in predicting the PPC.Results A total of 55 cases out of 316 patients undergoing lung cancer surgery had PPC.The prevalence rate was 17.4%.Age(OR=1.151,95%CI 1.041-1.274),chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD)(OR=3.659,95%CI 1.498-8.939),smoking index(OR=1.171,95%CI 1.055-1.300),pN stage(N1:OR=6.686,95%CI 1.959-22.814;N2:OR=7.714,95%CI 2.390-24.900;N3:OR=15.943,95%CI 4.318-58.869)and the poor compliance of breathing exercise(OR=1.298,95%CI 1.031-1.635)were all independent risk factors for PPC.The nomogram model showed a conformance-index of 0.841,while ROC curve showed that the area under the curve for the nomogram model predicting pressure sores was 0.820(95%CI:0.760-0.881).Conclusions The nomogram built based on age,COPD,smoking index,pN stage,and the poor compliance of breathing exercises has good discrimination and accuracy which could be used for predicting individual PPC risk and screening the patients with high risk,with potentially high clinical application value.

Objective To establish the effect of curcumin on PTX-resistant esophageal cancer cell line EC9706/PTX and to investigate the mechanism of curcumin on the epithelial stromalization (EMT) of EC9706/PTX cells.Methods EC9706/PTX cells were established by medium concentration intermittent method.The drug resistance index and cross resistance were measured by MTT assay.The inhibitory effects of different concentrations of curcumin on EC9706/PTX cell proliferation were detected.The effects of curcumin on the morphological changes,migration and invasion of EC9706/PTX cells were examined by cytostatic staining,scratching and transwell invasion assay.The effects of curcumin on the expression of E-cadherin,N-cadherin,vimentin and fibronectin in EC9706/PTX cells at mRNA and protein levels were detected by fluorescence quantitative PCR and Western blot.The effect of curcumin on the expressions of NF-κB p65 and Snail in EC9706/PTX cells were detected by Western blot.Results The drug resistance index of EC9706/PTX was 28.4,which was cross-resistant to cisplatin and doxorubicin.Curcumin could inhibit the proliferation of EC9706/PTX cells.The migration and invasion of EC9706/PTX cells were significantly decreased under the action of curcumin at 20 μmol/L concentration.Fluorescence quantitative PCR and Western blot analysis showed that the expression of Ecadherin was down-regulated and the expression of N-cadherin was up-regulated,and curcumin reversed this phenomenon.Western blot analysis showed that the expression of NF-κB p65 and Snail protein was enhanced after PTX-resistant generated in EC cell,but curcumin reversed this phenomenon.Conclusion Curcumin can inhibit the proliferation,migration and invasion of EC9706/PTX cells.The mechanism maybe that curcumin inhibits the NF-κB-Snail pathway.

Objective To investigate the changes of relevant characteristics in the Beagle model of type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM) induced by high fat diet and low dose streptozotocin (STZ) injection. Methods Thirty male Beagles were randomly divided into three groups:(1) Control group (n=10), fed with a standard chow. (2) High fat diet group (n=10), fed with high fat diet. (3) Model group (n=10), fed with high fat diet for two months and then given STZ in?jection. Lee index, fasting blood glucose, serum insulin levels, urine glucose and blood biochemical indexes were regularly detected. Oral glucose tolerance test ( OGTT) and histopathological examination were performed. Results After treatment for two months, the insulin resistance and dyslipidemia appeared and Lee index significantly increased in the high fat diet group and model group (P<0?01). In the diabetic beagles, fasting blood glucose levels were prominently increased (P<0?01), as compared with the control group and high fat diet group, and held on a high blood glucose level for three months. Among the three groups, the dogs with OGTT values>11?1 mmol/ L and were not restored at three hours, showed some pancreatic histological damages and diseases. Conclusions A beagle model of type 2 diabetes mellitus is construc?ted, exhibiting some characteristics of human type 2 diabetes mellitus such as hyperglycemia,hyperinsulinism,dyslipidemia and other typical features.