Objective: To investigate the role and mechanism of the heat-clearing and detoxifying drug Laggerae Herba in regulating the nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor-2(Nrf2)/solute carrier family 7 member 11 (SLC7A11)/glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) signaling pathway to inhibit ferroptosis and improve chronic heart failure induced by transverse aortic arch constriction in mice. Methods: Twenty-four male ICR mice were divided into the sham (n=6) and transverse aortic arch constriction groups (n=18) according to the random number table method. The transverse aortic arch constriction group underwent transverse aortic constriction surgery to establish models. After modeling, the transverse aortic arch constriction group was further divided into the model, captopril, and Laggerae Herba groups according to the random number table method, with six mice per group. The captopril (15 mg/kg) and Laggerae Herba groups (1.95 g/kg) received the corresponding drugs by gavage, whereas the sham operation and model groups were administered the same volume of ultrapure water by gavage once a day for four consecutive weeks. After treatment, the cardiac function indexes of mice in each group were detected using ultrasound. The heart mass and tibia length were measured to calculate the ratio of heart weight to tibia length. Hematoxylin and eosin staining were used to observe the pathological changes in myocardial tissue. Masson staining was used to observe the degree of myocardial fibrosis. Wheat germ agglutinin staining was used to observe the degree of myocardial cell hypertrophy. Prussian blue staining was used to observe the iron deposition in myocardial tissue. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the amino-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and glutathione (GSH) contents in mice serum. Colorimetry was used to detect the malondialdehyde (MDA) content in mice serum. Western blotting was used to detect the Nrf2, GPX4, SLC7A11, and ferritin heavy chain 1 (FTH1) protein expressions in mice cardiac tissue. Results: Compared with the sham group, in the model group, the ejection fraction (EF) and fractional shortening (FS) of mice decreased, the left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV) and left ventricular end-systolic diameter (LVESD) increased, the left ventricular anterior wall end-systolic thickness (LVAWs) and left ventricular posterior wall end-systolic thickness (LVPWs) decreased, the ratio of heart weight to tibia length increased, the myocardial tissue morphology changed, myocardial fibrosis increased, the cross-sectional area of myocardial cells increased, iron deposition appeared in myocardial tissue, the serum NT-proBNP and MDA levels increased, the GSH level decreased, and Nrf2, GPX4, SLC7A11, and FTH1 protein expressions in cardiac tissue decreased (P<0.05). Compared with the model group, in the captopril and Laggerae Herba groups, the EF, FS, and LVAWs increased, the LVESV and LVESD decreased, the ratio of heart weight to tibia length decreased, the myocardial cells were arranged neatly, the degree of myocardial fibrosis decreased, the cross-sectional area of myocardial cells decreased, the serum NT-proBNP level decreased, and the GSH level increased. Compared with the model group, the LVPWs increased, the iron deposition in myocardial tissue decreased, the serum MDA level decreased, and Nrf2, GPX4, SLC7A11, and FTH1 protein expressions in cardiac tissue increased (P<0.05) in the Laggerae Herba group. Conclusion Laggerae Herba improves the cardiac function of mice with chronic heart failure caused by transverse aortic arch constriction, reduces the pathological remodeling of the heart, and reduces fibrosis. Its mechanism may be related to Nrf2/SLC7A11/GPX4 pathway-mediated ferroptosis.

Objective: This study aimed to construct an animal model of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) that integrates disease and syndrome based on the "deficiency-blood stasis-toxin" pathogenesis and to evaluate it comprehensively. Methods: The HFpEF mouse model was constructed using a combination of Nω-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) and a high-fat diet. According to the random number table method, SPF-grade male C57BL/6J mice were randomly assigned to the control, L-NAME, high-fat diet, and model groups, 10 in each group. Comprehensive observations and data collection on macroscopic signs (e.g., fur condition, mental state, stool and urine, oral and nasal condition, paw and body condition, etc.) and cardiac function were performed after 10 and 16 weeks of model induction. Additionally, the syndrome evolution was elucidated based on diagnostic criteria for clinical syndromes of heart failure. Furthermore, pathological and molecular biological examinations of myocardial tissue were performed to assess the stability and reliability of the model. Results: Mice in the model group showed typical characteristics of syndrome of qi deficiency and blood stasis, as well as syndrome of internal heat accumulation, including lethargy, slow response, dull paw color and oral/nasal color, exercise intolerance, abnormal platelet activation, dry feces, and dark yellow urine. The time window for these syndromes was between 10 and 16 weeks post-modeling. Cardiac function assessments revealed severe diastolic dysfunction, concentric myocardial hypertrophy, and myocardial fibrosis in the model group. Pathological examinations showed a significantly increased collagen deposition in the myocardial interstitium, enlarged cross-sectional area of cardiomyocytes, and sparse coronary microvasculature in the model group. Molecular biological analyses indicated marked activation of the inducible nitric oxide synthase/nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells/NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 inflammatory pathway and significantly elevated inflammation levels in the myocardial tissue of the model group. Although mice in the L-NAME and high-fat diet groups also showed certain manifestations of qi deficiency syndrome, the substantial cardiac damage was relatively limited compared to the control group. Conclusion This study has constructed an animal model of HFpEF that integrates disease and syndrome based on the "deficiency-blood stasis-toxin" pathogenesis. The macroscopic and microscopic characteristics of this model are consistent with the manifestations of syndrome of qi deficiency and blood stasis, toxin syndrome, and syndrome of internal heat accumulation. Moreover, it can stably simulate the HFpEF state and reflect phenotypic changes in human disease. This model provides a suitable experimental platform to explore the pathogenesis of HFpEF, evaluate the effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment regimens, and promote in-depth research on TCM syndromes of heart failure.

Objective To explore the expression of triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2(TREM2)in high-glucose microglia and to investigate the role of TREM2 in the proliferation,migration and phagocytosis of high-glucose microglia.Methods Microglia cells were divided into control group and high-glucose treatment group(67.5 mmol/L glucose,24 h).The microglia cells were counted and the expression of Iba1 and TREM2 was de-tected.TREM2 siRNA was transfected to detect the proliferation and migration of microglia.The amyloid β-peptide(Aβ)with a fluorescent tag was added to observe the phagocytosis of Aβ by microglia.Results Compared to normal microglia,the number of microglia significantly decreased after high-glucose treatment(P＜0.001),while the ex-pression of TREM2 and Iba1 markedly increased(P＜0.001).High glucose and TREM2 did not affect the prolifer-ation of microglia.Compared to the normal group,the migration of microglia significantly decreased after high-glu-cose treatment(P＜0.05)and TREM2 did not affect the migration ability of high-glucose microglia.Compared to the normal group,the phagocytosis of Aβ by microglia significantly decreased in the high-glucose treated group(P＜0.001).Furthermore,TREM2 knockdown further decreased the phagocytosis of Aβ by high-glucose microglia(P＜0.001).Conclusions The expression of TREM2 in microglia significantly increases after high-glucose treat-ment,which significantly affects phagocytosis of Aβ by microglia.

To study the carriage status of drug susceptibility, clonal complex groups, serotypes, surface proteins and virulence genes of Streptococcus agalactiae from respiratory specimen sources. A total of 35 strains of S.agalactiae meeting the criteria were collected from 3 hospitals in 2 locations, Tangshan and Jinan. The age span of the patients was 3 days-92 years, and the percentage of elderly patients≥60 years was 71.5%.The susceptibility to 9 antimicrobial drugs was measured and analyzed using the micro broth dilution method. The strains were 100.0% sensitive to penicillin, linezolid, vancomycin, and ceftriaxone; However, it exhibits high resistance rates to erythromycin, clindamycin and levofloxacin, at 97.1%, 85.7% and 82.9% respectively; and the resistance rates to tetracycline and chloramphenicol were 34.3% and 14.2%, respectively. Genome sequence determination and analysis showed that 16 resistance genes were detected in 35 strains, among which: macrolide and lincosamide resistance genes were mainly ermB, with a carrying rate of 74.2%; tetracycline resistance genes were mainly tetM, with a carrying rate of 25.7%; in addition, the mutation rates of the quinolone resistance determinants gyrA and parC were 88.5% and 85.7%, respectively. 35 strains belonged to 6 ST types and 4 clonal groups, with CC10/ST10 as the main one, accounting for 62.8%; they contained 4 serotypes of Ⅰb, Ⅱ, Ⅲ, and Ⅴ, as well as 1 untyped strain, with serotype Ⅰb as the main one, accounting for 65.7%. The strains carried three pilus types, PI1+PI2a, PI2a and PI2b types, respectively, and detected five surface proteins, alpha, alp1, rib, srr, and r df_0594, and seven virulence factors, cba, cfb, cylE, fbsA, hylB, l mb, and pavA. Overall, S.agalactiae isolated from respiratory tract specimens is predominantly sourced from elderly patients, with CC10 strains being most prevalent. These strains harbor multiple drug-resistant and virulence genes, demonstrating elevated resistance rates to macrolides, lincosamides, and quinolones. This emphasizes the necessity for vigilant attention to the health threat posed by S. agalactiae from respiratory tract speciments of elderly patients.

Objective:The incidence of infections in patients with malignant hematologic diseases is extremely high and significantly affects their prognosis.Identifying early and precise biomarkers for infection is crucial for guiding the treatment of infections in these patients.Previous studies have shown that procalcitonin(PCT)can serve as an early diagnostic marker for bloodstream infections in patients with malignant hematologic diseases.This study aims to compare serum PCT levels in these patients with different pathogens,disease types,infection sites,and severity levels. Methods:Clinical data and laboratory results of infected patients with malignant hematologic diseases treated at the Department of Hematology,the Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University from January 2018 to August 2023 were collected.General patient information was retrospectively analyzed.Serum PCT levels were compared among patients with different pathogens,types of malignant hematologic diseases,infection sites,and infection severity;Receiver operator characteristic(ROC)curves were used to determine the cut-off values and diagnostic value of serum PCT levels in diagnosing bloodstream infections versus local infections and severe infections versus non-severe infections.Mortality rates after 4-7 days of anti-infective treatment were compared among groups with rising,falling,and unchanged PCT levels. Results:A total of 526 patients with malignant hematologic diseases were included.The main pathogens were Gram-negative bacteria(272 cases,51.7%),followed by Gram-positive bacteria(120 cases,22.8%),fungi(65 cases,12.4%),viruses(23 cases,4.4%),and mixed pathogens(46 cases,8.7%).The main types of malignant hematologic diseases were acute myeloid leukemia(216 cases,41.1%),acute lymphoblastic leukemia(107 cases,20.3%),and lymphoma(93 cases,17.7%).Granulocyte deficiency was present in 68.3%(359 cases)of the patients during infection,with severe infection in 24.1%(127 cases).Significant differences in serum PCT levels were found among patients with different types of pathogens(P<0.001),with the highest levels in Gram-negative bacterial infections.Significant differences in serum PCT levels were also found among patients with different types of malignant hematologic diseases(P<0.05),with the highest levels in lymphoma patients.Serum PCT levels were significantly higher in systemic infections and severe infections compared to local infections and non-severe infections(both P<0.001).ROC curve analysis showed that the cut-off values for diagnosing bloodstream infections and severe infections were 0.22 and 0.28 ng/mL,with areas under the curve of 0.670 and 0.673,respectively.After 4-7 days of anti-infective treatment,the mortality rates of the PCT declining,PCT unchanged,and PCT rising groups were 11.9%,21.2%,and 35.7%,respectively,and pairwise comparisons were statistically significant(all P<0.05). Conclusion:PCT can be used as an auxiliary indicator for early identification of different pathogens,infection sites,and severity levels in patients with malignant hematologic diseases combined with infections.Dynamic monitoring of PCT levels after empirical antibiotic treatment provides important guidance for assessing patient's prognosis.

To study the carriage status of drug susceptibility, clonal complex groups, serotypes, surface proteins and virulence genes of Streptococcus agalactiae from respiratory specimen sources. A total of 35 strains of S.agalactiae meeting the criteria were collected from 3 hospitals in 2 locations, Tangshan and Jinan. The age span of the patients was 3 days-92 years, and the percentage of elderly patients≥60 years was 71.5%.The susceptibility to 9 antimicrobial drugs was measured and analyzed using the micro broth dilution method. The strains were 100.0% sensitive to penicillin, linezolid, vancomycin, and ceftriaxone; However, it exhibits high resistance rates to erythromycin, clindamycin and levofloxacin, at 97.1%, 85.7% and 82.9% respectively; and the resistance rates to tetracycline and chloramphenicol were 34.3% and 14.2%, respectively. Genome sequence determination and analysis showed that 16 resistance genes were detected in 35 strains, among which: macrolide and lincosamide resistance genes were mainly ermB, with a carrying rate of 74.2%; tetracycline resistance genes were mainly tetM, with a carrying rate of 25.7%; in addition, the mutation rates of the quinolone resistance determinants gyrA and parC were 88.5% and 85.7%, respectively. 35 strains belonged to 6 ST types and 4 clonal groups, with CC10/ST10 as the main one, accounting for 62.8%; they contained 4 serotypes of Ⅰb, Ⅱ, Ⅲ, and Ⅴ, as well as 1 untyped strain, with serotype Ⅰb as the main one, accounting for 65.7%. The strains carried three pilus types, PI1+PI2a, PI2a and PI2b types, respectively, and detected five surface proteins, alpha, alp1, rib, srr, and r df_0594, and seven virulence factors, cba, cfb, cylE, fbsA, hylB, l mb, and pavA. Overall, S.agalactiae isolated from respiratory tract specimens is predominantly sourced from elderly patients, with CC10 strains being most prevalent. These strains harbor multiple drug-resistant and virulence genes, demonstrating elevated resistance rates to macrolides, lincosamides, and quinolones. This emphasizes the necessity for vigilant attention to the health threat posed by S. agalactiae from respiratory tract speciments of elderly patients.

Microglial surveillance plays an essential role in clearing misfolded proteins such as amyloid-beta, tau, and α-synuclein aggregates in neurodegenerative diseases. However, due to the complex structure and ambiguous pathogenic species of the misfolded proteins, a universal approach to remove the misfolded proteins remains unavailable. Here, we found that a polyphenol, α-mangostin, reprogrammed metabolism in the disease-associated microglia through shifting glycolysis to oxidative phosphorylation, which holistically rejuvenated microglial surveillance capacity to enhance microglial phagocytosis and autophagy-mediated degradation of multiple misfolded proteins. Nanoformulation of α-mangostin efficiently delivered α-mangostin to microglia, relieved the reactive status and rejuvenated the misfolded-proteins clearance capacity of microglia, which thus impressively relieved the neuropathological changes in both Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease model mice. These findings provide direct evidences for the concept of rejuvenating microglial surveillance of multiple misfolded proteins through metabolic reprogramming, and demonstrate nanoformulated α-mangostin as a potential and universal therapy against neurodegenerative diseases.

Coding with high-frequency stimuli could alleviate the visual fatigue of users generated by the brain-computer interface (BCI) based on steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP). It would improve the comfort and safety of the system and has promising applications. However, most of the current advanced SSVEP decoding algorithms were compared and verified on low-frequency SSVEP datasets, and their recognition performance on high-frequency SSVEPs was still unknown. To address the aforementioned issue, electroencephalogram (EEG) data from 20 subjects were collected utilizing a high-frequency SSVEP paradigm. Then, the state-of-the-art SSVEP algorithms were compared, including 2 canonical correlation analysis algorithms, 3 task-related component analysis algorithms, and 1 task discriminant component analysis algorithm. The results indicated that they all could effectively decode high-frequency SSVEPs. Besides, there were differences in the classification performance and algorithms' speed under different conditions. This paper provides a basis for the selection of algorithms for high-frequency SSVEP-BCI, demonstrating its potential utility in developing user-friendly BCI.
Humans ; Brain-Computer Interfaces ; Evoked Potentials, Visual ; Algorithms ; Discriminant Analysis ; Electroencephalography

Objective:To investigate the correlations of endoscopic evaluation results with laboratory indices and clinical disease activity in Crohn disease (CD) patients with different intestinal involvement.Methods:Data of 147 patients diagnosed as having CD who visited the Department of Gastroenterology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2022 were collected retrospectively. According to the involvement of intestinal segment, patients were divided into three groups: the group with isolated small intestinal involvement ( n=55), the group with both small intestinal and large intestinal involvement ( n=48), and the group with isolated large intestinal involvement ( n=44). Correlations of endoscopic evaluation (based on CDEIS) with laboratory indices and clinical disease activity (based on Harvey-Bradshaw index) were analyzed. Results:C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) could be used for the prediction of endoscopic disease activity. The areas under curve (AUC) of receiver operator characteristic (ROC) were 0.677 (0.506-0.849) and 0.744 (0.597-0.890), respectively. In terms of determing clinical disease activity, clinical Harvey-Bradshaw index was consistent with endoscopic CDEIS score in 65.3% (96/147) patients, showing a low positive correlation ( r=0.260, P<0.05). In subgroup analysis for patients with isolated small intestinal involvement, CRP showed no predictive value for clinical disease activity [AUC (95% CI): 0.617 (0.461-0.773), P=0.148], while for endoscopic activity neither CRP nor ESR showed predictive value [AUC (95% CI): 0.537 (0.146-0.929), P=0.829; AUC (95% CI): 0.571 (0.153-0.990), P=0.680]. Furthermore, for patients with isolated small intestinal involvement and both small intestinal and large intestinal involvement, no correlation was found between clinical Harvey-Bradshaw index and endoscopic CDEIS score ( r=0.222, P=0.092; r=0.142, P=0.322). Conclusion:For CD patients with small intestinal involvement, especially isolated small intestinal involvement, laboratory indices and clinical disease activity cannot accurately reflect endoscopic disease activity. Great importance should be attached to evaluation of the extent and activity of intestinal lesions by endoscopy, especially enteroscopy.

Objective:To predict and analyze the number of acute pancreatitis (AP) inpatients based on time series model, and to explore the predictive efficiency of the model.Methods:Clinical data of AP inpatients in the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University from January 2014 to December 2019 were collected. R software was used to collect the time series of AP inpatients, and the trend and seasonal characteristics of AP inpatients from 2014 to 2018 were analyzed. Furthermore, the autoregressive moving average (ARIMA) model was established through stationarity test, model ordering and model testing steps, and the best selected model was used to predict the monthly number of inpatients in 2019 to verify its prediction efficiency.Results:A total of 3 939 AP patients were included in the study. The most common etiology for AP was cholestrogenic (48.2%), followed by hyperacylglyceremia (36.3%). The peak age of hospitalization was from 40 to 60 years old. Time series analysis showed that the number of AP inpatients increased year by year. The highest peak of the disease was from February to March, followed by September to November; and there was seasonal variation and the incidence was relatively small in summer. The established original training set sequence did not pass the stationarity test ( P=0.061), so the ARIMA model was established after it was transformed into a stationarity sequence by first-order difference. According to the criterion of minimum AIC value, ARIMA(2, 1, 1)(1, 1, 1) 12 was selected as the best model. The model was used to predict the number of AP inpatients in 2019, showing that it could better fit the trend of onset time and had good short-term prediction effect. The mean root error and absolute error were 6.8790 and 4.7783, respectively. Conclusions:The number of AP inpatients increases year by year with seasonal changes. ARIMA model is effective in predicting the number of AP inpatients and can be used for short-term prediction.