Assessing the causal effect of genetically predicted metabolites and metabolic pathways on vitiligo: Evidence from Mendelian randomization and animal experiments.

Vitiligo is a common chronic skin depigmentation disorder that seriously decreases the patients' overall quality of life. Human blood metabolites could contribute to unraveling the underlying biological mechanisms of vitiligo. We used GWAS summary statistics to assess the causal association between genetically predicted 1,400 serum metabolites and vitiligo risk by Mendelian randomization (MR).

Electroconvulsive therapy modulates brain functional stability in patients with major depressive disorder.

Background: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective treatment for patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), but the underlying neuromodulatory mechanisms remain largely unknown. Functional stability represents a newly developed method based on the dynamic functional connectivity framework. This study aimed to explore ECT-evoked changes in functional stability and their relationship with clinical outcomes.

Hepatic adverse events associated with ketamine and esketamine: A population-based disproportionality analysis.

Background And Objective: To determine whether there is disproportionate reporting of hepatobiliary disorders in the United States (US) FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) for individuals prescribed ketamine or esketamine.

Design: We identified Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA) terms in the FAERS related to hepatobiliary disorders.

Main Measures: Formulations of ketamine and esketamine were evaluated for the proportionality of reporting for each hepatobiliary disorder parameter using the reporting odds ratio (ROR).

Abnormally slow dynamics in occipital cortex of depression.

Aim: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by altered activity in various higher-order regions like the anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex. While some findings also show changes in lower-order sensory regions like the occipital cortex in MDD, the latter's exact neural and temporal, e.g.

Effects of Fecal Sewage and Antibiotic Exposure Stress on the Intestinal Microflora of Weaned Tibetan Piglets.

Unregulated pig farming practices expose pigs to fecal sewage and antibiotic stress, which are common health risk factors. Thus, its effects on the animals' intestinal microflora were investigated herein. In total, 2,315,563 high-quality sequences were obtained via amplitude sequencing and, after OUT clustering, the fecal sewage group was identified to have the highest number and the antibiotic exposure group the lowest.

Left ventricular elastance with resting volumetric transthoracic echocardiography identifies different phenotypes in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: A retrospective analysis of a multicenter prospective observational study.

Background: Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a heterogeneous entity including patients with different phenotypes of near normal, normal, and supernormal left ventricular (LV) function.

Objectives: To assess the value of resting LV elastance (also known as force) with transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) to identify HFpEF phenotypes.

Methods: In a prospective, observational, multicenter study, 2380 HFpEF patients were recruited from July 2016 to May 2024.

Troponin C is required for copulation and ovulation in Nilaparvata lugens.

Troponin C (TnC) is a calcium-binding subunit of the troponin complex that regulates muscle contraction in animals. However, the physiological roles of TnC, especially in insect development and reproduction, remain largely unknown. We identified seven TnC genes encoding four EF-hand motif protein in the rice pest, the brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens.

A highly efficient mixed strain fermentation strategy to produce 11α-Hydroxyandrost-4-ene-3,17-dione from phytosterols.

11α-Hydroxyandrost-4-ene-3,17-dione (11α-OH AD) is an essential steroid hormone drug intermediate that exhibits low biotransformation efficiency. In this study, a mixed-strain fermentation strategy was established for the efficient production of 11α-OH AD from phytosterols (PS). Initially, strains were screened for efficient transformation of AD to produce 11α-OH AD.

Deleted in malignant brain tumors 1 (DMBT1) gene relate to immune priming and phagocytosis modulation in the small abalone Haliotis diversicolor.

The small abalone (Haliotis diversicolor) is an economic shellfish cultured in the south coast of China. In recent years, the frequent occurrence of the disease has led to significant mortality in abalone farms. Deleted in malignant brain tumors 1 (DMBT1), a member of the scavenger receptor cysteine-rich (SRCR) protein family, plays an important role in host defense.

STAT3 Orchestrates Immune Dynamics in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Pivotal Nexus in Tumor Progression.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) presents a formidable challenge in oncology, attributed to its association with chronic liver diseases and global prevalence. The immune microenvironment profoundly influences HCC progression, balancing immune suppression and antitumor responses. The Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3) is central to this equilibrium, orchestrating immune dynamics and intertwining tumor progression with immune evasion mechanisms.

Thyroid hormones in systemic lupus erythematosus: the catalyst for disease progression?

Objective: The study aimed to investigate the impact of varying thyroid function statuses on clinical and laboratory indicators in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 258 patients with SLE, who were stratified according to thyroid function, renal involvement, and disease activity. The predictive value of thyroid hormones was evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.

Plasma D-Dimer Changes and Clinical Value in Acute Lower Extremity Deep Venous Thrombosis Treated with Catheter-Directed Thrombolysis.

Objective: This study sought to investigate the changes in plasma D-dimer levels during catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT) in patients with acute lower extremity deep venous thrombosis (DVT), analyze imaging results, and assess their clinical implications.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 62 patients diagnosed with acute lower extremity DVT who underwent CDT between March 2019 and December 2022. Plasma D-dimer levels were measured before CDT, at regular intervals after CDT, and at the end of CDT.

UGP2, a novel target gene of TP53, inhibits endothelial cells apoptosis and atherosclerosis.

The dysfunction of the endothelial lining in lesion-prone areas of the arterial vasculature significantly contributes to the pathobiology of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Recent studies suggested that UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase 2 (UGP2) plays a role in cell proliferation and survival. This study investigates the anti-apoptotic and anti-atherogenic effects of UGP2 both in vitro and in vivo.

The effect of saffron supplementation on liver and kidney function, blood glucose and pressure in patients with diabetes and prediabetes: A grade assessed systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Saffron has been traditionally used for various health benefits, but its effects on biomarkers of liver function, kidney function, and blood pressure in diabetes are not well understood. This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the impact of saffron supplementation on systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), fasting blood glucose (FBG), liver enzymes (ALT, AST), and kidney function markers (BUN, creatinine) in patients with diabetes and prediabetes. A comprehensive search was conducted across multiple databases to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing saffron/crocin supplementation on glycemic control, hepatic and renal function, and blood pressure regulation in patients with diabetes and prediabetes.

Multi-channel spatio-temporal graph attention contrastive network for brain disease diagnosis.

Dynamic brain networks (DBNs) can capture the intricate connections and temporal evolution among brain regions, becoming increasingly crucial in the diagnosis of neurological disorders. However, most existing researches tend to focus on isolated brain network sequence segmented by sliding windows, and they are difficult to effectively uncover the higher-order spatio-temporal topological pattern in DBNs. Meantime, it remains a challenge to utilize the structure connectivity prior in the DBNs analysis.

Frontostriatal connectivity dynamically modulates the adaptation to environmental volatility.

Humans adjust their learning strategies in changing environments by estimating the volatility of the reinforcement conditions. Here, we examine how volatility affects learning and the underlying functional brain organizations using a probabilistic reward reversal learning task. We found that the order of states was critically important; participants adjusted learning rate going from volatile to stable, but not from stable to volatile, environments.

Exercise and exerkines: Mechanisms and roles in anti-aging and disease prevention.

Aging is a complex biological process characterized by increased inflammation and susceptibility to various age-related diseases, including cognitive decline, osteoporosis, and type 2 diabetes. Exercise has been shown to modulate mitochondrial function, immune responses, and inflammatory pathways, thereby attenuating aging through the regulation of exerkines secreted by diverse tissues and organs. These bioactive molecules, which include hepatokines, myokines, adipokines, osteokines, and neurokines, act both locally and systemically to exert protective effects against the detrimental aspects of aging.

Clinical value of multi-slice spiral CT in evaluating preoperative TNN staging and postoperative recurrence and metastasis of colon carcinoma.

To evaluate the clinical value of multi-slice spiral CT in preoperative TNN staging and postoperative recurrence and metastasis of colon carcinoma, and to provide evidence for the reliability of CT in the diagnosis of colon carcinoma METHODS: 89 patients with colon carcinoma diagnosed pathologically in our hospital from July 2020 to April 2023 were selected retrospectively. The preoperative TNN staging and postoperative recurrence and metastasis were monitored by 64 row 128 layer spiral CT. The diagnostic coincidence rate, TNM staging coincidence rate and postoperative recurrent TNM staging accuracy were evaluated according to the pathological diagnosis RESULTS: The diagnostic coincidence rate of multi-slice spiral CT was 97.

Preparation of Anterolateral Thigh Flap from Polio-Affected Lower Limb: A Safe Surgical Option that Preserves Patient's Motor Function.

The anterolateral thigh (ALT) flap is a commonly used donor site for free tissue transfer, especially in head and neck reconstructions. The flap's success is primarily determined by the quality and quantity of its perforating vessels, which is why clinicians typically prefer harvesting from a healthy leg with intact vascular anatomy. Poliomyelitis typically causes unilateral lower limb paralysis, resulting in muscle atrophy and deformities.

Y-shaped venous anastomosis combined with free flap for the treatment of complex craniofacial trauma.

Background: Complex craniofacial trauma is defined as those traumatic injuries that are not responding to initial treatment and may involve chronic infection, tissue exposure, and soft tissue contusions. Typical reconstruction using a Y-shaped microvascular venous anastomotic free flap is labor intensive. Although free flap grafts have been used in many applications, their use for combined microvascular anastomotic therapy remains an unexplored but attractive possibility.

E3 ubiquitin ligase SYVN1 as a promising therapeutic target for diverse human diseases.

Numerous studies conducted in recent years indicate that mammalian E3 ubiquitin ligases serve as key regulators in the maintenance of cellular homeostasis by targeting the ubiquitination of substrate proteins and activating downstream signaling pathways. SYVN1, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, is characterized by its significant functions in regulating various biological processes, including molecular mechanisms related to gene expression, signaling pathways, and cell death, among others. Consequently, SYVN1 plays a crucial role in both normal human physiology and the pathogenesis of various diseases, such as oncogenesis, cardiovascular disorders, immune regulation, skeletal anomalies, and neurological diseases.

Differentiation therapy targeting the stalled epigenetic developmental programs in pediatric high-grade gliomas.

Pediatric high-grade gliomas (pHGGs) are the most common brain malignancies in children and are characterized by blocked differentiation. The epigenetic landscape of pHGGs, particularly the H3K27-altered and H3G34-mutant subtypes, suggests these tumors may be particularly susceptible to strategies that target blocked differentiation. Differentiation therapy aims to overcome this differentiation blockade by promoting glioma cell differentiation into more mature and less malignant cells.