OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) in promoting recovery of the facial function with the involvement of autophagy, glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway. METHODS: Seventy-two male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allocated into the control, sham-operated, facial nerve injury (FNI), EA, EA+3-methyladenine (3-MA), and EA+GDNF antagonist groups using a random number table, with 12 rats in each group. An FNI rat model was established with facial nerve crushing method. EA intervention was conducted at Dicang (ST 4), Jiache (ST 6), Yifeng (SJ 17), and Hegu (LI 4) acupoints for 2 weeks. The Simone's 10-Point Scale was utilized to monitor the recovery of facial function. The histopathological evaluation of facial nerves was performed using hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. The levels of Beclin-1, light chain 3 (LC3), and P62 were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC), immunofluorescence, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, respectively. Additionally, IHC was also used to detect the levels of GDNF, Rai, PI3K, and mTOR. RESULTS: The facial functional scores were significantly increased in the EA group than the FNI group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). HE staining showed nerve axons and myelin sheaths, which were destroyed immediately after the injury, were recovered with EA treatment. The expressions of Beclin-1 and LC3 were significantly elevated and the expression of P62 was markedly reduced in FNI rats (P<0.01); however, EA treatment reversed these abnormal changes (P<0.01). Meanwhile, EA stimulation significantly increased the levels of GDNF, Rai, PI3K, and mTOR (P<0.01). After exogenous administration with autophagy inhibitor 3-MA or GDNF antagonist, the repair effect of EA on facial function was attenuated (P<0.05 or P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS EA could promote the recovery of facial function and repair the facial nerve damages in a rat model of FNI. EA may exert this neuroreparative effect through mediating the release of GDNF, activating the PI3K/mTOR signaling pathway, and further regulating the autophagy of facial nerves.
Rats ; Male ; Animals ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Electroacupuncture ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase/metabolism* ; Facial Nerve Injuries/therapy* ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/metabolism* ; Beclin-1 ; Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; Signal Transduction ; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism* ; Autophagy ; Mammals/metabolism*

Objective To develop an intelligent model for differential diagnosis of atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia(AVNRT)and atrioventricular re-entrant tachycardia(AVRT)using 12-lead wearable electrocardiogram devices.Methods A total of 356 samples of 12-lead supraventricular tachycardia(SVT)electrocardiograms recorded by wearable devices were randomly divided into training and validation sets using 5-fold cross validation to establish the intelligent classification model,and 101 patients with the diagnosis of SVT undergoing electrophysiological studies and radiofrequency ablation from October,2021 to March,2023 were selected as the testing set.The changes in electrocardiogram parameters before and during induced tachycardia were compared.Based on multiscale deep neural network,an intelligent diagnosis model for classifying SVT mechanisms was constructed and validated.The 3-lead electrocardiogram signals from Ⅱ,Ⅲ,and V1 were extracted to build new classification models,whose diagnostic efficacy was compared with that of the 12-lead model.Results Of the 101 patients with SVT in the testing set,68 were diagnosed with AVNRT and 33 were diagnosed with AVRT by electrophysiological study.The pre-trained model achieved a high area under the precision-recall curve(0.9492)and F1 score(0.8195)for identifying AVNRT in the validation set.The total F1 scores of the lead Ⅱ,Ⅲ,V1,3-lead and 12-lead intelligent diagnostic models in the testing set were 0.5597,0.6061,0.3419,0.6003 and 0.6136,respectively.Compared with the 12-lead classification model,the lead-Ⅲ model had a net reclassification index improvement of-0.029(P=0.878)and an integrated discrimination index improvement of-0.005(P=0.965).Conclusion The intelligent diagnostic model based on multiscale deep neural network using wearable electrocardiogram devices has an acceptable accuracy for classifying SVT mechanisms.

Objective:To investigate the effect of bevacizumab combined with taxanes in the treatment of advanced human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) negative breast cancer.Method:A total of 61 patients with advanced HER-2 negative breast cancer admitted to SiChuan Mianyang 404 Hospital from January 2021 to June 2023 were selected as the research objects, giving one to paclitaxel (albumin combined type) treatment of 29 patients in control group, will be cut bead single combined therapy with paclitaxel (albumin combined type) of 32 patients into the observation group. The clinical efficacy (objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR)), the levels of tumor markers (carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen 125 (carbohydrate)) before and after treatment were compared between the two groups CA125, carbohydrate antigen 153 (CA153), adverse reactions during treatment; Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as indicated, and comparison between groups was analyzed using the t test. Rate between group compared with chi-square test. The rank sum test was used to compare the constituent ratio of ordinal data between groups. Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to analyze the prognosis of patients. Results After treatment, the ORR and DCR of the observation group were significantly higher than those of the control group (53.13%(17/32) vs 27.59 (8/29), 84.38% (27/32) vs 62.07% (18/29)), the differences were statistically significant ( χ2=4.10, 3.91, all P<0.05). After treatment, the serum CEA, CA125 and CA153 in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (CEA: (15.76±1.89) ng/mL vs. (20.24±2.36) ng/mL, CA125: (25.78±3.44) kU/L vs (34.66±4.01) kU/L, CA125: (25.78±3.44) kU/L vs. (34.66±4.01) kU/L; CA153: (18.34±2.19) kU/L vs. (24.19±3.28) kU/L). The difference between the two groups was statistically significant ( t-values were 8.22, 9.31, and 8.26, all P<0.01). There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups during treatment ( P>0.05). The median progression-free survival (PFS) of the observation group was significantly longer than that of the control group (8 months vs 5 months, χ2=7.14, P=0.008). Conclusions:Bevacizumab combined with taxanes in the treatment of patients with advanced HER-2 negative breast cancer has definite short-term efficacy, can inhibit the expression of tumor markers, prolong PFS, has good safety, and is worthy of clinical application.

Glyceryl phenylbutyrate(GPB)serves as a long-term management medication for Ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency(OTCD),effectively controlling hyperammonemia,but there is a lack of experience in using this medicine in China.This article retrospectively analyzes the case of a child diagnosed with OTCD at Shanghai Children's Medical Center,Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine,including a review of related literature.After diagnosis,the patient was treated with GPB,followed by efficacy follow-up and pharmacological monitoring.The 6-year and 6-month-old male patient exhibited poor speech development,disobedience,temper tantrums,and aggressive behavior.Blood ammonia levels peaked at 327 μmol/L;urine organic acid analysis indicated elevated uracil levels;cranial MRI showed extensive abnormal signals in both cerebral hemispheres.Genetic testing revealed de novo mutation in the OTC gene(c.241T＞C,p.S81P).Blood ammonia levels were approximately 43,80,and 56 μmol/L at 1,2,and 3 months after starting GPB treatment,respectively.During treatment,blood ammonia was well-controlled without drug-related adverse effects.The patient showed improvement in developmental delays,obedience,temperament,and absence of aggressive behavior.

Objective To investigate the risk factors for bronchopulmonary dysplasia(BPD)in twin preterm infants with a gestational age of<34 weeks,and to provide a basis for early identification of BPD in twin preterm infants in clinical practice.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for the twin preterm infants with a gestational age of<34 weeks who were admitted to 22 hospitals nationwide from January 2018 to December 2020.According to their conditions,they were divided into group A(both twins had BPD),group B(only one twin had BPD),and group C(neither twin had BPD).The risk factors for BPD in twin preterm infants were analyzed.Further analysis was conducted on group B to investigate the postnatal risk factors for BPD within twins.Results A total of 904 pairs of twins with a gestational age of<34 weeks were included in this study.The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that compared with group C,birth weight discordance of>25%between the twins was an independent risk factor for BPD in one of the twins(OR=3.370,95%CI:1.500-7.568,P<0.05),and high gestational age at birth was a protective factor against BPD(P<0.05).The conditional logistic regression analysis of group B showed that small-for-gestational-age(SGA)birth was an independent risk factor for BPD in individual twins(OR=5.017,95%CI:1.040-24.190,P<0.05).Conclusions The development of BPD in twin preterm infants is associated with gestational age,birth weight discordance between the twins,and SGA birth.

Objective To develop an intelligent model for differential diagnosis of atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia(AVNRT)and atrioventricular re-entrant tachycardia(AVRT)using 12-lead wearable electrocardiogram devices.Methods A total of 356 samples of 12-lead supraventricular tachycardia(SVT)electrocardiograms recorded by wearable devices were randomly divided into training and validation sets using 5-fold cross validation to establish the intelligent classification model,and 101 patients with the diagnosis of SVT undergoing electrophysiological studies and radiofrequency ablation from October,2021 to March,2023 were selected as the testing set.The changes in electrocardiogram parameters before and during induced tachycardia were compared.Based on multiscale deep neural network,an intelligent diagnosis model for classifying SVT mechanisms was constructed and validated.The 3-lead electrocardiogram signals from Ⅱ,Ⅲ,and V1 were extracted to build new classification models,whose diagnostic efficacy was compared with that of the 12-lead model.Results Of the 101 patients with SVT in the testing set,68 were diagnosed with AVNRT and 33 were diagnosed with AVRT by electrophysiological study.The pre-trained model achieved a high area under the precision-recall curve(0.9492)and F1 score(0.8195)for identifying AVNRT in the validation set.The total F1 scores of the lead Ⅱ,Ⅲ,V1,3-lead and 12-lead intelligent diagnostic models in the testing set were 0.5597,0.6061,0.3419,0.6003 and 0.6136,respectively.Compared with the 12-lead classification model,the lead-Ⅲ model had a net reclassification index improvement of-0.029(P=0.878)and an integrated discrimination index improvement of-0.005(P=0.965).Conclusion The intelligent diagnostic model based on multiscale deep neural network using wearable electrocardiogram devices has an acceptable accuracy for classifying SVT mechanisms.

Background/Aims: Cholestatic liver diseases including primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) are associated with active hepatic fibrogenesis, which ultimately progresses to cirrhosis. Activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are the main fibrogenic effectors in response to cholangiocyte damage. JCAD regulates cell proliferation and malignant transformation in nonalcoholic steatoheaptitis-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (NASH-HCC). However, its participation in cholestatic fibrosis has not been explored yet. Methods: Serial sections of liver tissue of PBC patients were stained with immunofluorescence. Hepatic fibrosis was induced by bile duct ligation (BDL) in wild-type (WT), global JCAD knockout mice (JCAD-KO) and HSC-specific JCAD knockout mice (HSC-JCAD-KO), and evaluated by histopathology and biochemical tests. In situ-activated HSCs isolated from BDL mice were used to determine effects of JCAD on HSC activation. Results: In consistence with staining of liver sections from PBC patients, immunofluorescent staining revealed that JCAD expression was identified in smooth muscle α-actin (α-SMA)-positive fibroblast-like cells and was significantly up-regulated in WT mice with BDL. JCAD deficiency remarkably ameliorated BDL-induced hepatic injury and fibrosis, as documented by liver hydroxyproline content, when compared to WT mice with BDL. Histopathologically, collagen deposition was dramatically reduced in both JCAD-KO and HSC-JCAD-KO mice compared to WT mice, as visualized by Trichrome staining and semi-quantitative scores. Moreover, JCAD deprivation significantly attenuated in situ HSC activation and reduced expression of fibrotic genes after BDL. Conclusions JCAD deficiency effectively suppressed hepatic fibrosis induced by BDL in mice, and the underlying mechanisms are largely through suppressed Hippo-YAP signaling activity in HSCs.

Starting with the relationship between mulberry leaves and silkworm droppings as food and metabolites, this study systematically compared the chemical components, screened out differential components, and quantitatively analyzed the main differential components based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) and UPLC-Q-TRAP-MS combined with principal component analysis(PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA). Moreover, the in vitro enzymatic transformation of the representative differential components was studied. The results showed that(1) 95 components were identified from mulberry leaves and silkworm droppings, among which 27 components only exist in mulberry leaves and 8 components in silkworm droppings. The main differential components were flavonoid glycosides and chlorogenic acids.(2) Nineteen components with significant difference were quantitatively analyzed, and the components with significant differences and high content were neochlorogenic acid, chlorogenic acid, and rutin.(3) The crude protease in the mid-gut of silkworm significantly metabolized neochlorogenic acid and chlorogenic acid, which may be an important reason for the efficacy change in mulberry leaves and silkworm droppings. This study lays a scientific foundation for the development, utilization, and quality control of mulberry leaves and silkworm droppings. It provides references for clarifying the possible material basis and mechanism of the pungent-cool and dispersing nature of mulberry leaves transforming into the pungent-warm and dampness-resolving nature of silkworm droppings, and offers a new idea for the study of nature-effect transformation mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine.
Animals ; Bombyx ; Morus/chemistry* ; Chlorogenic Acid/analysis* ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods* ; Plant Leaves/chemistry*

A rich diversity of wild medicinal plant resources is distributed in China, but the breeding of new plant varieties of Chinese medicinal plants started late and the breeding level is relatively weak. Chinese medicinal plant resources are the foundation for new varieties breeding, and the plant variety rights(PVP) are of great significance for the protection and development of germplasm resources. However, most Chinese medicinal plants do not have a distinctness, uniformity, and stability(DUS) testing guideline. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has put 191 plant species(genera) on protection lists, of which only 30 are medicinal species(genera). At the same time, only 29 of 293 species(genera) plants in the Protection List of New Plant Varieties of the People's Republic of China(Forest and Grass) belong to Chinese medicinal plants. The number of PVP applications and authorization of Chinese medicinal plants is rare, and the composition of variety is unreasonable. Up to now, 29 species(genera) of DUS test guidelines for Chinese medicinal plants have been developed. Some basic problems in the breeding of new varieties of Chinese medicinal plants have appeared, such as the small number of new varieties and insufficient utilization of Chinese medicinal plant resources. This paper reviewed the current situation of breeding of new varieties of Chinese medicinal plants and the research progress of DUS test guidelines in China and discussed the application of biotechnology in the field of Chinese medicinal plant breeding and the existing problems in DUS testing. This paper guides the further application of DUS to protect and utilize the germplasm resources of Chinese medicinal plants.
Agriculture ; Biotechnology ; Plant Breeding ; Plants, Medicinal/genetics*

Chinese medicinal resources are the cornerstone of the sustainable development of traditional Chinese medicine industry. However, due to the fecundity of species, over-exploitation, and limitations of artificial cultivation, some medicinal plants are depleted and even endangered. Tissue culture, a breakthrough technology in the breeding of traditional Chinese medicinal materials, is not limited by time and space, and can allow the production on an annual basis, which plays an important role in the protection of Chinese medicinal resources. The present study reviewed the applications of tissue culture of medicinal plants in the field of Chinese medicinal resources, including rapid propagation of medicinal plant seedlings, breeding of novel high-yield and high-quality cultivars, construction of a genetic transformation system, and production of secondary metabolites. Meanwhile, the current challenges and suggestions for the future development of this field were also proposed.
Sustainable Development ; Plants, Medicinal/genetics* ; Plant Breeding ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Technology