1.Constructing a model of degenerative scoliosis using finite element method:biomechanical analysis in etiology and treatment
Kai HE ; Wenhua XING ; Shengxiang LIU ; Xianming BAI ; Chen ZHOU ; Xu GAO ; Yu QIAO ; Qiang HE ; Zhiyu GAO ; Zhen GUO ; Aruhan BAO ; Chade LI
Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research 2025;29(3):572-578
BACKGROUND:Degenerative scoliosis is defined as a condition that occurs in adulthood with a coronal cobb angle of the spine>10° accompanied by sagittal deformity and rotational subluxation,which often produces symptoms of spinal cord and nerve compression,such as lumbar pain,lower limb pain,numbness,weakness,and neurogenic claudication.The finite element method is a mechanical analysis technique for computer modelling,which can be used for spinal mechanics research by building digital models that can realistically restore the human spine model and design modifications. OBJECTIVE:To review the application of finite element method in the etiology and treatment of degenerative scoliosis. METHODS:The literature databases CNKI,PubMed,and Web of Science were searched for articles on the application of finite element method in degenerative scoliosis published before October 2023.Search terms were"finite element analysis,biomechanics,stress analysis,degenerative scoliosis,adult spinal deformity"in Chinese and English.Fifty-four papers were finally included. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)The biomechanical findings from the degenerative scoliosis model constructed using the finite element method were identical to those from the in vivo experimental studies,which proves that the finite element method has a high practical value in degenerative scoliosis.(2)The study of the etiology and treatment of degenerative scoliosis by the finite element method is conducive to the prevention of the occurrence of the scoliosis,slowing down the progress of the scoliosis,the development of a more appropriate treatment plan,the reduction of complications,and the promotion of the patients'surgical operation.(3)The finite element method has gradually evolved from a single bony structure to the inclusion of soft tissues such as muscle ligaments,and the small sample content is increasingly unable to meet the research needs.(4)The finite element method has much room for exploration in degenerative scoliosis.
2.Establishment and Evaluation of Insomnia Animal Models with Heart and Spleen Deficiency
Jieyao DIAO ; Hui XU ; Yunfeng ZHOU ; Zhen WANG ; Xin ZHAO ; Haoguang QU ; Chongyang GUAN
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(17):234-243
Heart and spleen deficiency syndrome is the most common syndrome type in patients with insomnia. Based on the theory of disease syndrome-combined animal model, this paper used multiple databases to search for the keywords "heart and spleen deficiency", "insomnia", "sleepless", "disease syndrome-combined animal model", "model evaluation", etc. It selected the literature related to the animal model of insomnia with heart and spleen deficiency in the past 20 years to evaluate from the aspects of model establishment, modeling factors, syndrome model, disease model, macro characterization & macro characterization evaluation scale, micro indicators, etc. It is found that the existing animal model of insomnia with heart and spleen deficiency is not completely constructed by the method of disease syndrome combination of disease modeling factors and syndrome modeling factors. In the model using this method, the single establishment factor of heart and spleen deficiency does not conform to the clinical reality of disease, and the selection of the factors for the insomnia model is not closely related to or even separated from the syndrome performance. There is a problem of insufficient quantification of macro representation when the macro representation of the model replaces the symptoms related to heart and spleen deficiency syndrome and insomnia in an equivalent manner for macro representation evaluation, which can be improved according to the quantitative ideas and examples of the existing macro representation and macro representation evaluation scale. There are few specific indicators of heart and spleen deficiency syndrome in micro indicators. The micro research of heart and spleen deficiency syndrome and the essence of other traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes can be carried out by metabonomics and other technologies combined with the theory of corresponding prescription and syndrome, along the specific related ideas of "prescription and syndrome, treatment principle and selection of prescription, treatment principle and selection of acupoints, as well as therapeutic mechanism and syndrome essence". The future users and researchers of animal models of insomnia with heart and spleen deficiency can get improved methods and ideas through the shortcomings of animal models of heart and spleen deficiency listed in this paper and construct animal models of insomnia with heart and spleen deficiency that are more suitable for clinical practice, so as to establish a more perfect modeling method and evaluation system of disease syndrome-combined animal model.
3.Establishment and Evaluation of Insomnia Animal Models with Heart and Spleen Deficiency
Jieyao DIAO ; Hui XU ; Yunfeng ZHOU ; Zhen WANG ; Xin ZHAO ; Haoguang QU ; Chongyang GUAN
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(17):234-243
Heart and spleen deficiency syndrome is the most common syndrome type in patients with insomnia. Based on the theory of disease syndrome-combined animal model, this paper used multiple databases to search for the keywords "heart and spleen deficiency", "insomnia", "sleepless", "disease syndrome-combined animal model", "model evaluation", etc. It selected the literature related to the animal model of insomnia with heart and spleen deficiency in the past 20 years to evaluate from the aspects of model establishment, modeling factors, syndrome model, disease model, macro characterization & macro characterization evaluation scale, micro indicators, etc. It is found that the existing animal model of insomnia with heart and spleen deficiency is not completely constructed by the method of disease syndrome combination of disease modeling factors and syndrome modeling factors. In the model using this method, the single establishment factor of heart and spleen deficiency does not conform to the clinical reality of disease, and the selection of the factors for the insomnia model is not closely related to or even separated from the syndrome performance. There is a problem of insufficient quantification of macro representation when the macro representation of the model replaces the symptoms related to heart and spleen deficiency syndrome and insomnia in an equivalent manner for macro representation evaluation, which can be improved according to the quantitative ideas and examples of the existing macro representation and macro representation evaluation scale. There are few specific indicators of heart and spleen deficiency syndrome in micro indicators. The micro research of heart and spleen deficiency syndrome and the essence of other traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes can be carried out by metabonomics and other technologies combined with the theory of corresponding prescription and syndrome, along the specific related ideas of "prescription and syndrome, treatment principle and selection of prescription, treatment principle and selection of acupoints, as well as therapeutic mechanism and syndrome essence". The future users and researchers of animal models of insomnia with heart and spleen deficiency can get improved methods and ideas through the shortcomings of animal models of heart and spleen deficiency listed in this paper and construct animal models of insomnia with heart and spleen deficiency that are more suitable for clinical practice, so as to establish a more perfect modeling method and evaluation system of disease syndrome-combined animal model.
4.Spatial transcriptomics reveals that metabolic characteristics define the tumor immunosuppression microenvironment via iCAF transformation in oral squamous cell carcinoma.
Zheqi LIU ; Zhen ZHANG ; Yu ZHANG ; Wenkai ZHOU ; Xu ZHANG ; Canbang PENG ; Tong JI ; Xin ZOU ; Zhiyuan ZHANG ; Zhenhu REN
International Journal of Oral Science 2024;16(1):9-9
Tumor progression is closely related to tumor tissue metabolism and reshaping of the microenvironment. Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), a representative hypoxic tumor, has a heterogeneous internal metabolic environment. To clarify the relationship between different metabolic regions and the tumor immune microenvironment (TME) in OSCC, Single cell (SC) and spatial transcriptomics (ST) sequencing of OSCC tissues were performed. The proportion of TME in the ST data was obtained through SPOTlight deconvolution using SC and GSE103322 data. The metabolic activity of each spot was calculated using scMetabolism, and k-means clustering was used to classify all spots into hyper-, normal-, or hypometabolic regions. CD4T cell infiltration and TGF-β expression is higher in the hypermetabolic regions than in the others. Through CellPhoneDB and NicheNet cell-cell communication analysis, it was found that in the hypermetabolic region, fibroblasts can utilize the lactate produced by glycolysis of epithelial cells to transform into inflammatory cancer-associated fibroblasts (iCAFs), and the increased expression of HIF1A in iCAFs promotes the transcriptional expression of CXCL12. The secretion of CXCL12 recruits regulatory T cells (Tregs), leading to Treg infiltration and increased TGF-β secretion in the microenvironment and promotes the formation of a tumor immunosuppressive microenvironment. This study delineates the coordinate work axis of epithelial cells-iCAFs-Tregs in OSCC using SC, ST and TCGA bulk data, and highlights potential targets for therapy.
Humans
;
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/metabolism*
;
Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck
;
Mouth Neoplasms/metabolism*
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Immunosuppression Therapy
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Transforming Growth Factor beta
;
Head and Neck Neoplasms
;
Gene Expression Profiling
;
Tumor Microenvironment
5.Relationship between serum TSG-6 and col-16 levels and severity of the illness and clinical outcome in patients with active ulcerative colitis
Jinting WANG ; Chunyan XU ; Jie LIU ; Kaifeng SUN ; Zhen ZHOU
International Journal of Laboratory Medicine 2024;45(4):441-446
Objective To investigate the relationship between serum tumor necrosis factor α stimulated gene 6(TSG-6)and collagen ⅩⅥ(col-16)levels and severity of the illness and clinical outcome in patients with active ulcerative colitis(UC).Methods A total of 79 patients with active UC admitted to the department of gastroenterology in the hospital from January 2020 to January 2023 were selected as the active UC group,56 patients with UC in remission who were similar in gender and age to the active UC group were selected as the remission UC group,and 60 healthy subjects who underwent physical examination in the hospital during the same period were selected as the control group.Patients with active UC were divided into mild group(n=25),moderate group(n=34)and severe group(n=20)according to the modified Mayo score.Patients with active UC were divided into good prognosis group(n=58)and poor prognosis group(n=21)according to colonoscopy results after 2 months of treatment.Serum TSG-6 and col-16 levels in each group were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay,Spearman rank correlation analysis was used to analyze the relation-ship between serum TSG-6 and col-16 levels and severity of the illness,and the influence of serum TSG-6 and col-16 levels on clinical outcome was analyzed by multivariate Logistic regression.Receiver operating charac-teristic(ROC)curve was used to evaluate the predictive value of serum TSG-6 and col-16 for poor prognosis in patients with active UC.Results The serum TSG-6 and col-16 levels in active UC group and remission UC group were higher than those in control group,and the serum TSG-6 and col-16 levels in active UC group were higher than those in remission UC group,the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).Serum TSG-6 and col-16 levels in severe group and moderate group were higher than those in mild group,and serum TSG-6 and col-16 levels in severe group were higher than those in moderate group,with statistical significance(P<0.05).By Spearman rank correlation analysis,serum TSG-6 and col-16 in active UC patients were positively correlated with modified Mayo scores(rs=0.695、0.627,P<0.05).Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that compared with<159.32 ng/mL,patients with serum TSG-6 interquartile interval of 289.15-413.55 ng/mL and>413.55 ng/mL had a higher risk of poor prognosis.ROC curve analysis results showed that the area under the curve of TG-6 and col-16 in predicting poor prognosis was 0.776 and 0.764,respective-ly.The predictive value of serum TG-6 and col-16 combined detection was better than that of single index(Z=3.392,4.218,P<0.05).Conclusion The serum TSG-6 and col-16 levels in active UC patients are ab-normally elevated,which is closely related to severity of the illness and clinical outcome.The levels of serum TSG-6 and col-16 can be used as potential biochemical indicators to judge the disease and predict the clinical outcome.
6.Clinical observation of areola approach endoscopic thyroidectomy and gasless axillary approach endoscopic thyroidectomy in the treatment of patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma
Hongyan SHEN ; Dandan HU ; Lei ZHAO ; Peiyou REN ; Guanlei ZHOU ; Zhen XU
Chinese Journal of Endocrine Surgery 2024;18(1):51-56
Objective:To explore the clinical efficacy of areola approach endoscopic thyroidectomy (AET) and gasless axillary approach endoscopic thyroidectomy (GAET) in the treatment of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) patients.Methods:A total of 96 PTC patients from the Thyroid Surgery Department of Linyi People’s Hospital from May. 2019 to May. 2022 were selected and randomly divided into 48 patients using a random number table method. The areola group received AET, while the armpit group received GAET. The surgical situation, postoperative recovery, relevant biochemical indicators [white blood cell count (WBC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), parathyroid hormone (PTH), blood calcium] before and after surgery, postoperative pain level, discomfort level, neck function, and complications were compared between the two groups.Results:The surgical time and extubation time of the armpit group were (125.71±15.73) minutes and (3.12±0.53) days, respectively, which were shorter than those of the areola group (137.94±20.02) minutes and (3.48±0.46) days. The intraoperative bleeding volume was (14.19±4.16) mL, which was less than that of the areola group (22.65±7.39) mL, and the number of lymph nodes cleaned was 5.06±1.02, which was more than that of the areola group (4.23±1.14) ( P<0.05) ; there was no significant difference in postoperative drainage volume and hospital stay between the two groups ( P>0.05) ; Peripheral blood WBC in the armpit group on the 1st and 3rd day after surgery [ (5.69±0.15) ×10 9/L, (5.52±0.14) ] ×10 9/L, ESR [ (8.21±0.55) mm/h, (7.64±0.60) mm/h], CRP [ (10.06±1.78) ng/L, (8.93±1.33) ng/L] were lower than those in the areola group [ (5.83±0.21) ×10 9/L, (5.70±0.23) ×10 9/L, (8.87±0.74) mm/h, (8.19±0.68) mm/h, (12.45±1.90) ng/L, (10.45±1.50) ng/L] ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the levels of the above biochemical indicators 5 days after surgery ( P>0.05). There was no significant difference in peripheral blood PTH and calcium levels between the two groups on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th postoperative days ( P>0.05). The pain level [ (3.25±0.32) scores, (2.53±0.27) scores, (1.82±0.22) scores] and discomfort level [ (6.85±0.71) scores, (5.24±0.66) scores, (3.51±0.57) scores] in the axillary group were lower than those in the areola group [ (3.78±0.40) scores, (2.89±0.34) scores, (2.06±0.26) scores, (7.46±0.84) scores, (6.09±0.73) scores, (4.16±0.60) scores] on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th postoperative days ( P<0.05). The neck flexion, lateral flexion, and extension range of motion in the axillary group on the 3rd day after surgery were (33.16±3.09) °, (27.63±2.57) °, and (30.44 2.73) °, respectively, which were greater than those in the areola group[ (30.08±2.76) °, (25.14±2.30) °, and (27.98±2.54) °], and the swallowing disorder index was (30.16±4.97) points lower than the (34.83±4.13) points in the areola group ( P<0.05). The incidence of complications in the axillary group was 4.17% (2/48), lower than the 16.67% (8/48) in the areola group. Conclusion:GAET treatment for PTC patients can improve the effect of lymph node dissection, reduce the degree of surgical trauma, postoperative pain and discomfort, accelerate early postoperative recovery of neck function, and reduce complications.
7.Role and mechanism of reactive oxygen species in tendinopathy
Ke LIU ; Weidong XU ; Hengyu ZHOU ; Shuo BAI ; Zhen ZHANG ; Ruidong GE
Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research 2024;28(11):1780-1788
BACKGROUND:Reactive oxygen species may be closely related to the occurrence and development of tendinopathy,but its exact role and related signal transduction mechanism have not been fully summarized. OBJECTIVE:To review current clinical or preclinical original studies,summarize the role of reactive oxygen species in tendinopathy and related signal transduction pathways and to explore its characteristics and whether there is a unified downstream pathway. METHODS:Relevant original studies in PubMed,Embase,Web of Science,as well as CNKI,WanFang,and VIP databases were searched by computer and the search results were screened and excluded according to the inclusion criteria.Ninety articles were finally included for review and analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Reactive oxygen species affects the direction of tendon healing by simultaneously acting on tendon cells and the extracellular matrix,and it exhibits a bifacial effect in the treatment of tendinopathy.Concentration of reactive oxygen species may be the key to determining its direction of action.The possibility that low-dose reactive oxygen species can participate in the normal physiological healing of tendons or that tendon tissues are adaptive to stimulations may be the underlying mechanism that produces this characteristic effect.Reactive oxygen species affect the composition and structure of the extracellular matrix and normal tendon repair as well as maintain viability in response to external stimulations through matrix metalloproteinases,mitogen-activated protein kinases,mitochondrial apoptosis,the forkhead transcription factor O family,autophagy,inflammation,and antioxidant signaling pathways.Different reactive oxygen species stimulation intensities,durations,and external environments may cause different alterations in downstream molecular pathways and thus have different effects on the tendon.Due to the large gap in the number of literature included in the evaluation of the positive and negative effects of reactive oxygen species,it may cause some analytical error in the search for factors behind the characteristics of the action of reactive oxygen species in tendon.In addition,most experimental intervention conditions and results of interest are relatively homogeneous;therefore,the temporal and quantitative mechanisms of reactive oxygen species and the synergistic effects with other intervention factors have not been clarified,and the overall system of molecular actions of reactive oxygen species in tendinopathy has not been constructed.To conclude,reactive oxygen species might be involved in the treatment and prevention of tendinopathies as a beneficial factor in the future,and facilitate the exploration of oxidative stress signaling pathways and overall molecular action systems in tendinopathies thereafter,as well as lay the foundation for research on the therapeutic strategies of different antioxidants in tendinopathies to better prevent and treat tendon injury and degeneration.
8.Spatial transcriptomics reveals that metabolic characteristics define the tumor immunosuppression microenvironment via iCAF transformation in oral squamous cell carcinoma
Liu ZHEQI ; Zhang ZHEN ; Zhang YU ; Zhou WENKAI ; Zhang XU ; Peng CANBANG ; Ji TONG ; Zou XIN ; Zhang ZHIYUAN ; Ren ZHENHU
International Journal of Oral Science 2024;16(1):110-121
Tumor progression is closely related to tumor tissue metabolism and reshaping of the microenvironment.Oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC),a representative hypoxic tumor,has a heterogeneous internal metabolic environment.To clarify the relationship between different metabolic regions and the tumor immune microenvironment(TME)in OSCC,Single cell(SC)and spatial transcriptomics(ST)sequencing of OSCC tissues were performed.The proportion of TME in the ST data was obtained through SPOTlight deconvolution using SC and GSE103322 data.The metabolic activity of each spot was calculated using scMetabolism,and k-means clustering was used to classify all spots into hyper-,normal-,or hypometabolic regions.CD4T cell infiltration and TGF-β expression is higher in the hypermetabolic regions than in the others.Through CellPhoneDB and NicheNet cell-cell communication analysis,it was found that in the hypermetabolic region,fibroblasts can utilize the lactate produced by glycolysis of epithelial cells to transform into inflammatory cancer-associated fibroblasts(iCAFs),and the increased expression of HIF1A in iCAFs promotes the transcriptional expression of CXCL12.The secretion of CXCL12 recruits regulatory T cells(Tregs),leading to Treg infiltration and increased TGF-β secretion in the microenvironment and promotes the formation of a tumor immunosuppressive microenvironment.This study delineates the coordinate work axis of epithelial cells-iCAFs-Tregs in OSCC using SC,ST and TCGA bulk data,and highlights potential targets for therapy.
9.Association of Human Whole-blood NAD+Levels with Nabothian Cyst
Ling XU ; Xuan Yue WANG ; Wei WANG ; Xue FAN ; Yu Xue CHEN ; Yun Tian ZHOU ; He Yu LIU ; Ye YU ; Fan YANG ; Yu Zhen JU ; Yong ZHOU ; Liang Deng WANG
Biomedical and Environmental Sciences 2024;37(5):471-478
Objective Little is known about the association between whole-blood nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide(NAD+)levels and nabothian cysts.This study aimed to assess the association between NAD+levels and nabothian cysts in healthy Chinese women. Methods Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the association between NAD+levels and nabothian cysts. Results The mean age was 43.0±11.5 years,and the mean level of NAD+was 31.3±5.3 μmol/L.Nabothian cysts occurred in 184(27.7%)participants,with single and multiple cysts in 100(15.0%)and 84(12.6%)participants,respectively.The total nabothian cyst prevalence gradually decreased from 37.4%to 21.6%from Q1 to Q4 of NAD+and the prevalence of single and multiple nabothian cysts also decreased across the NAD+quartiles.As compared with the highest NAD+quartile(≥34.4 μmol/L),the adjusted odds ratios with 95%confidence interval of the NAD+Q1 was 1.89(1.14-3.14)for total nabothian cysts.The risk of total and single nabothian cysts linearly decreased with increasing NAD+levels,while the risk of multiple nabothian cysts decreased more rapidly at NAD+levels of 28.0 to 35.0 μmol/L. Conclusion:Low NAD+levels were associated with an increased risk of total and multiple nabothian cysts.
10.Disease spectrum and pathogenic genes of inherited metabolic disorder in Gansu Province of China
Chuan ZHANG ; Ling HUI ; Bing-Bo ZHOU ; Lei ZHENG ; Yu-Pei WANG ; Sheng-Ju HAO ; Zhen-Qiang DA ; Ying MA ; Jin-Xian GUO ; Zong-Fu CAO ; Xu MA
Chinese Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics 2024;26(1):67-71
Objective To investigate the disease spectrum and pathogenic genes of inherited metabolic disorder(IMD)among neonates in Gansu Province of China.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the tandem mass spectrometry data of 286 682 neonates who received IMD screening in Gansu Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital from January 2018 to December 2021.A genetic analysis was conducted on the neonates with positive results in tandem mass spectrometry during primary screening and reexamination.Results A total of 23 types of IMD caused by 28 pathogenic genes were found in the 286 682 neonates,and the overall prevalence rate of IMD was 0.63‰(1/1 593),among which phenylketonuria showed the highest prevalence rate of 0.32‰(1/3 083),followed by methylmalonic acidemia(0.11‰,1/8 959)and tetrahydrobiopterin deficiency(0.06‰,1/15 927).In this study,166 variants were identified in the 28 pathogenic genes,with 13 novel variants found in 9 genes.According to American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics guidelines,5 novel variants were classified as pathogenic variants,7 were classified as likely pathogenic variants,and 1 was classified as the variant of uncertain significance.Conclusions This study enriches the database of pathogenic gene variants for IMD and provides basic data for establishing an accurate screening and diagnosis system for IMD in this region.

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