Multiple ancestral components and complex origins of the Yugur people in Gansu province revealing by 35 Y-STR.

The Yugur people represent one of the ethnic groups residing within the Hexi Corridor, distinguishable by their small population size, linguistic diversity, intricate ancestral components, serving as a quintessential exemplar of the populations inhabiting this corridor. There are still many controversial issues in the academic community regarding the origin, migration, and formation process of the Yugur. In this study, we explored the formation process of the Yugur from the perspective of molecular anthropology, based on the paternal genetic characteristics of the Yugur people.

Physical Exercise Improves the Neuronal Function in Ischemic Stroke Via Microglial CBR/P2Y12 Signaling.

Physical exercise (PE) may be the single most important and accessible lifestyle habit throughout life, it inhibits the neuroinflammatory response and protects the brain against damage. As the innate cells in brain, microglia undergo morphological and functional changes to communicate with neurons protecting the neurons from injury. Herein, aiming at exploring the effects of PE on the communication between microglia-neuron during acute ischemic cerebral infarction, we carried out running wheel training before the conduction of transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) in C57BL/6 J and Cx3cr1-GFP mice.

Diagnostic Value of Echocardiography Combined with Residual Cholesterol for Asymptomatic Myocardial Ischaemia in Coronary Artery Disease.

This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic value of combined echocardiography and residual cholesterol in asymptomatic myocardial ischaemia. One hundred and fifty-seven patients were seen at Hefei BOE Hospital from 2019 to 2022. The patients were divided into two groups, the observation group (n=90, confirmed asymptomatic myocardial ischaemia) and the control group (n=67, negative diagnosis), based on coronary angiography.

CT-based radiomics to predict development of macrovascular invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma: A multicenter study.

Background: Macrovascular invasion (MaVI) occurs in nearly half of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients at diagnosis or during follow-up, which causes severe disease deterioration, and limits the possibility of surgical approaches. This study aimed to investigate whether computed tomography (CT)-based radiomics analysis could help predict development of MaVI in HCC.

Methods: A cohort of 226 patients diagnosed with HCC was enrolled from 5 hospitals with complete MaVI and prognosis follow-ups.

Chronic colitis exacerbates NLRP3-dependent neuroinflammation and cognitive impairment in middle-aged brain.

Background: Neuroinflammation is a major driver of age-related brain degeneration and concomitant functional impairment. In patients with Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of age-related dementia, factors that enhance neuroinflammation may exacerbate disease progression, in part by impairing the glymphatic system responsible for clearance of pathogenic beta-amyloid. Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) induce neuroinflammation and exacerbate cognitive impairment in the elderly.

NLRP3-dependent microglial training impaired the clearance of amyloid-beta and aggravated the cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common form of dementia, is marked by progressive cognitive decline, deposition of misfolded amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide and formation of neurofibrillary tangles. Recently, microglial training has emerged as an important contributor to neurological diseases, which augments the subsequent inflammation. However, how it affects the pathology of AD remains unknown.

Overexpression of Slit2 decreases neuronal excitotoxicity, accelerates glymphatic clearance, and improves cognition in a multiple microinfarcts model.

Background: Cerebral microinfarcts (MIs) lead to progressive cognitive impairments in the elderly, and there is currently no effective preventative strategy due to uncertainty about the underlying pathogenic mechanisms. One possibility is the dysfunction of GABAergic transmission and ensuing excitotoxicity. Dysfunction of GABAergic transmission induces excitotoxicity, which contributes to stroke pathology, but the mechanism has kept unknown.

Transmembrane Protein 230 Mediates a Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase-1-Linked Apoptosis.

Mutations in transmembrane protein 230 (TMEM230) gene are suggested to be associated with the autosomal dominant Parkinson's disease (PD) with typical movement disorders and Lewy body pathology. However, the normal functions and the pathological roles of TMEM230 are not clear. In this study, we used TMEM230 isoform II constructs including wild-type (WT) and four reported PD-linked mutation constructs (Y92C, R141L, 184Wext*5, and 184PGext*5).

SWE combined with ACR TI-RADS categories for malignancy risk stratification of thyroid nodules with indeterminate FNA cytology.

Objectives: To compare the diagnostic efficacy of shear wave elastography (SWE) comnined with ACR TI-RADS categories for malignancy risk stratification of thyroid nodules with interminate FNA cytology.

Methods: The clinical data, sonographic features, ACR TI-RADS grading and shear wave elastography images of 193 patients of surgical pathologically proven thyroid nodules with interminate FNA cytology were retrospectively analyzed. The diagnostic efficacy of ACR TI-RADS categories, the maximum Young's modulus (Emax) of SWE and the combination of the two were calculated respectively.

G2019S-LRRK2 mutation enhances MPTP-linked Parkinsonism in mice.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease with a heterogeneous etiology that involves genetic and environmental factors or exogenous. Current LRRK2 PD animal models only partly reproduce the characteristics of the disease with very subtle dopaminergic neuron degeneration. We developed a new model of PD that combines a sub-toxic MPTP insult to the G2019S-LRRK2 mutation.

Phasic GABA signaling mediates the protective effects of cTBS against cerebral ischemia in mice.

Continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) has been widely recognized as a therapeutic treatment for ischemic stroke, but the underlying mechanism is still elusive. Here, we investigated the protective effects of cTBS in the posterior parietal cortex during the chronic phase of stroke in the photothrombotic ischemic model. Infarction volume and neuron excitability in the peri-infarct area were assessed using immunohistochemistry and whole-cell patch-clamp.

Continuous theta burst stimulation provides neuroprotection by accelerating local cerebral blood flow and inhibiting inflammation in a mouse model of acute ischemic stroke.

Acute ischemic stroke is a leading cause of disability with limited therapeutic options. Continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) has recently been shown to be a promising noninvasive therapeutic strategy for neuroprotection in ischemic stroke patients. Here, we investigated the protective effects of cTBS following acute infarction using a photothrombotic stroke (PTS) model in the right posterior parietal cortex (PPC) of C57BL/6 mice.

Extracellular ASC exacerbated the recurrent ischemic stroke in an NLRP3-dependent manner.

Using a photothrombotic mouse model of single stroke, we show that a single stroke onset increases the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), NLR family CARD domain containing protein 4 (NLRC4), and absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2) inflammasomes, as well as the mRNA levels of NLRP3. Next, using a photothrombotic mouse model of recurrent stroke, we found that recurrent strokes increased the activation of NLRP3, exacerbated the brain damage and the pro-inflammatory response in wild type (WT) mice, but not in NLRP3 knockout ( KO) mice. Additionally, we found that apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC) protein level surrounding the infarct area was comparatively increased, but that ASC specks outside of microglia in both the ipsilateral and contralateral of stroke site were decreased in KO mice relative to wild-type (WT) controls, and the number of ASC specks surrounding the second infarct area was positively correlated to the damage scores.

Effects of Voluntary Wheel-Running Types on Hippocampal Neurogenesis and Spatial Cognition in Middle-Aged Mice.

While increasing evidence demonstrated that voluntary wheel running promotes cognitive function, little is known on how different types of voluntary wheel running affect cognitive function in elderly populations. We investigated the effects of various voluntary wheel-running types on adult hippocampal neurogenesis and spatial cognition in middle-aged mice. Male C57BL6 and Thy1-green fluorescent protein (GFP) transgenic mice (13 months) were equally assigned to one of the following groups: (1) T1: no voluntary wheel running; (2) T2: intermittent voluntary wheel running; and (3) T3: continuous voluntary wheel running.

Transplanted human neural precursor cells integrate into the host neural circuit and ameliorate neurological deficits in a mouse model of traumatic brain injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is to date one of the major critical conditions causing death and disability worldwide. Exogenous neural stem/precursor cells (NSCs/NPCs) hold great promise for improving neurological dysfunction, but their functional properties in vivo remain unknown. Human neural precursor cells (hNPCs) carrying one fluorescent reporter gene (DsRed) can be observed directly in vivo using two-photon laser-scanning microscope.

Voluntary Exercise Promotes Glymphatic Clearance of Amyloid Beta and Reduces the Activation of Astrocytes and Microglia in Aged Mice.

Age is characterized by chronic inflammation, leading to synaptic dysfunction and dementia because the clearance of protein waste is reduced. The clearance of proteins depends partly on the permeation of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) or on the exchange of water and soluble contents between the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and the interstitial fluid (ISF). A wealth of evidence indicates that physical exercise improves memory and cognition in neurodegenerative diseases during aging, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the influence of physical training on glymphatic clearance, BBB permeability and neuroinflammation remains unclear.

Continuous theta burst stimulation facilitates the clearance efficiency of the glymphatic pathway in a mouse model of sleep deprivation.

Sleep deprivation (SD) is a common condition associated with a variety of nervous system diseases, and has a negative impact on emotional and cognitive function. Continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) is known to improve cognition and emotion function in normal situations as well as in various types of dysfunction, but the mechanism remains unknown. We used two-photon in vivo imaging to explore the effect of cTBS on glymphatic pathway clearance in normal and SD C57BL/6J mice.

Transgenic over-expression of slit2 enhances disruption of blood-brain barrier and increases cell death after traumatic brain injury in mice.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of mortality and disability among male adolescents and young adults; and mild traumatic brain injury is the most common type of traumatic brain injury. The disruption of blood-brain barrier (BBB) plays an important role in brain trauma. Previously, we have found that slit2, a member of slit protein family, increases permeability of BBB.

Deferoxamine inhibits microglial activation, attenuates blood-brain barrier disruption, rescues dendritic damage, and improves spatial memory in a mouse model of microhemorrhages.

Cerebral microbleeds are strongly linked to cognitive dysfunction in the elderly. Iron accumulation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of intracranial hemorrhage. Deferoxamine (DFX), a metal chelator, removes iron overload and protects against brain damage in intracranial hemorrhage.

1-Hz Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation over the Posterior Parietal Cortex Modulates Spatial Attention.

Lesion and neuroimaging studies have suggested that regions in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) are involved in visual spatial attention. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential effects on spatial attention resulting from a transient parietal impairment induced by 1-Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). We examined 50 healthy subjects using the attention network test (ANT) after first applying rTMS to right or left PPC.

GABA-ergic interneurons involved in transcallosal inhibition of the visual cortices in vivo in mice.

In the current study we investigated the role of the corpus callosum, particularly the gamma-aminobutyric acid-ergic (GABAergic) projection neurons involved in interhemispheric inhibition (IHI). In order to explore IHI in primary visual cortices, we adopted a protocol whereby we performed a direct current lesion of the unilateral primary visual cortex with or without posterior callosotomy, and used two-photon Ca(2+)in vivo imaging on the opposite unaffected region to detect neural activities in mice. Following this procedure, the numbers of vesicular GABAergic transporters (VGATs) and GABAergic interneurons in the unaffected primary cortex were determined using immunofluorescence staining.

Allopurinol protects against ischemic insults in a mouse model of cortical microinfarction.

Microinfarcts are common in patients with cognitive decline and dementia. Allopurinol (ALLO), a xanthine oxidase (XO) enzyme inhibitor, has been found to reduce proinflammatory molecules and oxidative stress in the vasculature. We here examined the effect of pre-treatment with allopurinol on the cortical microinfarction.