Causal association between particulate matter 2.5 and Alzheimer's disease: a Mendelian randomization study.

Background: Although epidemiological evidence implies a link between exposure to particulate matter (PM) and Alzheimer's disease (AD), establishing causality remains a complex endeavor. In the present study, we used Mendelian randomization (MR) as a robust analytical approach to explore the potential causal relationship between PM exposure and AD risk. We also explored the potential associations between PM exposure and other neurodegenerative diseases. Methods: Drawing on extensive genome-wide association studies related to PM exposure, we identified the instrumental variables linked to individual susceptibility to PM. Using summary statistics from five distinct neurodegenerative diseases, we conducted two-sample MR analyses to gauge the causal impact of PM on the risk of developing these diseases. Sensitivity analyses were undertaken to evaluate the robustness of our findings. Additionally, we executed multivariable MR (MVMR) to validate the significant causal associations identified in the two-sample MR analyses, by adjusting for potential confounding risk factors. Results: Our MR analysis identified a notable association between genetically predicted PM2.5 (PM with a diameter of 2.5 µm or less) exposure and an elevated risk of AD (odds ratio, 2.160; 95% confidence interval, 1.481 to 3.149; p < 0.001). A sensitivity analysis supported the robustness of the observed association, thus alleviating concerns related to pleiotropy. No discernible causal relationship was identified between PM and any other neurodegenerative diseases. MVMR analyses-adjusting for smoking, alcohol use, education, stroke, hearing loss, depression, and hypertension-confirmed a persistent causal relationship between PM2.5 and AD. Sensitivity analyses, including MR-Egger and weighted median analyses, also supported this causal association. Conclusion: The present MR study provides evidence to support a plausible causal connection between PM2.5 exposure and AD. The results emphasize the importance of contemplating air quality interventions as a public health strategy for reducing AD risk.

The efficacy of Kinesio taping in patients with post-stroke dysphagia: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Dysphagia, or swallowing dysfunction, is a commonly observed complication among stroke patients, which has been associated with increased mortality rates. The treatment of post-stroke dysphagia encompasses various therapeutic approaches, and Kinesio taping has recently emerged as a potentially effective intervention. This study aims to evaluate the potential benefits of Kinesio Tape in improving dysphagia symptoms in individuals who have experienced a stroke. METHODS: his study searched PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Wanfang Medical Database, CBM, CNKI, and Wipro VIP databases. Randomised controlled trials on the effect of intraosseous patches on the recovery of swallowing function in stroke patients were collected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The search was conducted from from the date of database construction to June 2, 2023. Included trials were assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. Meta-analyses were performed using ReviewerManager 5.4.1, and publication bias tests were performed using stata17. RESULTS: A total of 12 randomized controlled trials consisting of 724 patients were included in the analysis. The results showed that the effective rate of Kinesio taping [RR = 1.27, 95% CI (1.16, 1.39), P < .00001], swallowing function score [MD = 0.78, 95% CI (0.45, 1.11), P < .00001], and quality of life score for patients with swallowing disorders [MD = 21.68, 95% CI (8.47, 36.90), P = .001] were all superior to those of the controls. CONCLUSION: Kinesio taping have been shown to improve swallowing function and nutritional status in patients with dysphagia in the pharyngeal phase.

Research hotspots and trends of brain-computer interface technology in stroke: a bibliometric study and visualization analysis.

Background: The incidence and mortality rates of stroke are escalating due to the growing aging population, which presents a significant hazard to human health. In the realm of stroke, brain-computer interface (BCI) technology has gained considerable attention as a means to enhance treatment efficacy and improve quality of life. Consequently, a bibliometric visualization analysis was performed to investigate the research hotspots and trends of BCI technology in stroke, with the objective of furnishing reference and guidance for future research. Methods: This study utilized the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-Expanded) within the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database as the data source, selecting relevant literature published between 2013 and 2022 as research sample. Through the application of VOSviewer 1.6.19 and CiteSpace 6.2.R2 visualization analysis software, as well as the bibliometric online analysis platform, the scientific knowledge maps were constructed and subjected to visualization display, and statistical analysis. Results: This study encompasses a total of 693 relevant literature, which were published by 2,556 scholars from 975 institutions across 53 countries/regions and have been collected by 185 journals. In the past decade, BCI technology in stroke research has exhibited an upward trend in both annual publications and citations. China and the United States are high productivity countries, while the University of Tubingen stands out as the most contributing institution. Birbaumer N and Pfurtscheller G are the authors with the highest publication and citation frequency in this field, respectively. Frontiers in Neuroscience has published the most literature, while Journal of Neural Engineering has the highest citation frequency. The research hotspots in this field cover keywords such as stroke, BCI, rehabilitation, motor imagery (MI), motor recovery, electroencephalogram (EEG), neurorehabilitation, neural plasticity, task analysis, functional electrical stimulation (FES), motor impairment, feature extraction, and induced movement therapy, which to a certain extent reflect the development trend and frontier research direction of this field. Conclusion: This study comprehensively and visually presents the extensive and in-depth literature resources of BCI technology in stroke research in the form of knowledge maps, which facilitates scholars to gain a more convenient understanding of the development and prospects in this field, thereby promoting further research work.

Global research hotspots and frontiers of myasthenia gravis from 2002 to 2021: A bibliometric study.

The objective of this study is to utilize bibliometric and visual analysis techniques to identify hotspots and frontiers of research in myasthenia gravis (MG) and provide valuable references for future research. The Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database was used to retrieve literature data related to MG research, which was then analyzed using VOSviewer 1.6.18, CiteSpace 6.1.R3, and the Online Platform for Bibliometric Analysis. The analysis revealed 6734 publications distributed across 1612 journals and contributed by as many as 24,024 authors affiliated with 4708 institutions across 107 countries/regions. The number of annual publications and citations for MG research has steadily increased over the past 2 decades, with the last 2 years alone witnessing a remarkable increase in annual publications and citations to over 600 and 17,000, respectively. In terms of productivity, the United States emerged as the top producing country, while the University of Oxford ranked first in terms of research institutions. Vincent A was identified as the top contributor in terms of publications and citations. Muscle & Nerve and Neurology ranked first in publications and citations respectively, with clinical neurology and neurosciences among the main subject categories explored. The study also identified pathogenesis, eculizumab, thymic epithelial cells, immune checkpoint inhibitors, thymectomy, MuSK antibodies, risk, diagnosis, and management as the current hot research topics in MG, while burst keywords like quality of life, immune-related adverse events (irAEs), rituximab, safety, nivolumab, cancer, and classification indicated the frontiers of MG research. This study effectively identifies the hotspots and frontiers of MG research, and offers valuable references for researchers interested in this area.

CircHIPK2 facilitates phenotypic switching of vascular smooth muscle cells in hypertension.

Hypertension is a clinical syndrome characterized by increased systemic arterial blood pressure, affecting about 1.4 billion people currently worldwide with only one in seven cases adequately controlled. It is the main contributing factor of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), often co-existing with other CVDs risk factors to impair the structure and function of important organs such as heart, brain, and kidney, and ultimately lead to multi-organ failure. Vascular remodeling is a critical process in the development of essential hypertension, and phenotype switching of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) was reported contributing substantially to vascular remodeling. circHIPK2 is a circular RNA (circRNA) derived from the second exon of homeodomain-interacting protein kinase 2 (HIPK2). Several studies revealed that circHIPK2 functions in various diseases by serving as a microRNA (miRNA) sponge. However, the functional roles and molecular mechanisms of circHIPK2 in VSMC phenotype switching and hypertension are not clear. In the present study, we showed that the expression of circHIPK2 was significantly upregulated in the VSMCs of hypertensive patients. Functional studies showed that circHIPK2 promoted the Angiotensin II (AngII)-induced VSMC phenotype switching by acting as the sponge of miR-145-5p, thereby upregulating the expression of a disintegrin and metalloprotease (ADAM) 17. Collectively, our study provides a new therapeutic target for hypertension.

Global trends and hotspots in research of robotic surgery in oncology: A bibliometric and visual analysis from 2002 to 2021.

Background: With the development of robotic surgery in the field of oncology, an increasing number of relevant research papers have been published. In order to explore the research hotspots and trends in this field, a bibliometric and visual analysis was performed for the first time. Methods: The literature records related to oncology robotic surgery were obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection database and imported into the software VOSviewer 1.6.18, CiteSpace 6.1.R3, and the Bibliometric Online Analysis Platform for analysis. Results: A total of 6,964 publications, including 5,635 articles and 1,329 reviews, were included in this study. Over the past 20 years, annual publications and citations have experienced rapid growth, particularly in the last two years. The United States was the country with the most publications, while Yonsei University in South Korea was the most productive institution. The Journal of Robotic Surgery and the Journal of Urology were the journals with the most publications and citations, respectively. Mottrie A from Belgium and Ficarra V from Italy were the authors with the highest number of publications and citations, respectively. The keywords "robotic surgical procedure", "laparoscopic surgery", "prostate cancer", "colorectal cancer", "gastric cancer", "resection", "complications classification", "open surgery", "transoral robotic surgery", "pathological outcomes", and "robot-assisted surgery" reflect the research hotspots and trends of oncology robotic surgery. Conclusion: The therapeutic advantages of robotic surgery in oncology are not yet prominent, and further randomized controlled trials with multicenter and large samples are needed to evaluate the advantages of robotic surgery compared with laparoscopic surgery and open surgery in the treatment of tumors from multiple outcome indicators.

Identification of a five-gene signature in association with overall survival for hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is considered to be a malignant tumor with a high incidence and a high mortality. Accurate prognostic models are urgently needed. The present study was aimed at screening the critical genes for prognosis of HCC. METHODS: The GSE25097, GSE14520, GSE36376 and GSE76427 datasets were obtained from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). We used GEO2R to screen differentially expressed genes (DEGs). A protein-protein interaction network of the DEGs was constructed by Cytoscape in order to find hub genes by module analysis. The Metascape was performed to discover biological functions and pathway enrichment of DEGs. MCODE components were calculated to construct a module complex of DEGs. Then, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was used for gene enrichment analysis. ONCOMINE was employed to assess the mRNA expression levels of key genes in HCC, and the survival analysis was conducted using the array from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) of HCC. Then, the LASSO Cox regression model was performed to establish and identify the prognostic gene signature. We validated the prognostic value of the gene signature in the TCGA cohort. RESULTS: We screened out 10 hub genes which were all up-regulated in HCC tissue. They mainly enrich in mitotic cell cycle process. The GSEA results showed that these data sets had good enrichment score and significance in the cell cycle pathway. Each candidate gene may be an indicator of prognostic factors in the development of HCC. However, hub genes expression was weekly associated with overall survival in HCC patients. LASSO Cox regression analysis validated a five-gene signature (including CDC20, CCNB2, NCAPG, ASPM and NUSAP1). These results suggest that five-gene signature model may provide clues for clinical prognostic biomarker of HCC.