ABSTRACT
Objective To compare the differences in pathogenicity and gene expression profiles between adult Schistosoma japonicum isolated from hilly and marshland and lake regions of Anhui Province, so as to provide the scientific evidence for formulating the precise schistosomiasis control strategy in different endemic foci. Methods C57BL/6 mice were infected with cercariae of S. japonicum isolates from Shitai County (hilly regions) and Susong County (marshland and lake regions) of Anhui Province in 2021, and all mice were sacrificed 44 days post-infection and dissected. The worm burdens, number of S. japonicum eggs deposited in the liver, and the area of egg granulomas in the liver were measured to compare the difference in the pathogenicity between the two isolates. In addition, female and male adult S. japonicum worms were collected and subjected to transcriptome sequencing, and the gene expression profiles were compared between Shitai and Susong isolates of S. japonicum. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were subjected to Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses. Results The total worm burdens [(14.50 ± 3.96) worms/mouse vs. (16.10 ± 3.78) worms/mouse; t = 0.877, P = 0.392], number of female and male paired worms [(4.50 ± 0.67) worms/mouse vs. (5.10 ± 1.45) worms/mouse; t = 1.129, P = 0.280], number of unpaired male worms [(5.50 ± 4.01) worms/mouse vs. (5.60 ± 1.69) worms/mouse; t = 0.069, P = 0.946], number of eggs deposited in per gram liver [(12 116.70 ± 6 508.83) eggs vs. (16 696.70 ± 4 571.56) eggs; t = 1.821, P = 0.085], and area of a single egg granuloma in the liver [(74 359.40 ± 11 766.34) µm2 vs. (74 836.90 ± 13 086.12) µm2; t = 0.081, P = 0.936] were comparable between Shitai and Susong isolates of S. japonicum. Transcriptome sequencing identified 584 DEGs between adult female worms and 1 598 DEGs between adult male worms of Shitai and Susong isolates of S. japonicum. GO enrichment analysis showed that the DEGs between female adults were predominantly enriched in biological processes of stimulus response, cytotoxicity, multiple cell biological processes, metabolic processes, cellular processes and signaling pathways, cellular components of cell, organelles and cell membranes and molecular functions of binding and catalytic ability, and KEGG enrichment analysis showed that these DEGs were significantly enriched in pathways of vascular endothelial growth factor signaling, glutathione metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism. In addition, the DEGs between male adults were predominantly enriched in biological processes of signaling transduction, multiple cell biological processes, regulation of biological processes, metabolic processes, development processes and stimulus responses, cellular components of extracellular matrix and cell junction and molecular functions of binding and catalytic ability, and these DEGs were significantly enriched in pathways of Wnt signaling, Ras signaling, natural killer cells-mediated cytotoxicity, extracellular matrix-receptor interactions and arginine biosynthesis. Conclusions There is no significant difference in the pathogenicity between S. japonicum isolates from hilly and marshland and lake regions of Anhui Province; however, the gene expression profiles vary significantly between S. japonicum isolates.
ABSTRACT
Objective To analyze the effects and influence factors of primary total hip arthroplasty in the treatment of senile femoral neck fractures,and to increase the excellent rate of hip joint function recovery.Methods Retrospective analysis was applied to study the clinical data of one hundred and ten senile femoral neck fractures patients who underwent primary total hip arthroplasty in the 210th Hospital of People's Liberation Army from January 2014 to March 2016,to explore the main factors affecting postoperative recovery of hip joint function.Univariate analysis was used to analyze the factors influencing the clinical efficacy of the patients in terms of gender,age,body mass index,cause of injury,type of fracture and postoperative rehabilitation time,and Logistic regression analysis was used for multivariate analysis.Results The 110 senile femoral neck fractures patients obtained primary total hip arthroplasty,36 cases have seen excellent hip joint function recovery,54 good,15 fair,and 5 poor,with an excellent rate of 81.8 %(90/110).Single factor analyses found that body mass index,preoperative concomitant diseases,surgical approach,operation time,total blood loss, postoperative analgesia,discrepancy in bilateral lower limb lengths,postoperative rehabilitation time and postoperative complications were significantly related to hip joint function recovery(χ2=8.528,12.742,9.912, 8.131,10.404,10.171,12.406,6.412,10.362,P<0.05).According to the multivariate analysis,body mass index,surgical approach,total blood loss,postoperative analgesia,discrepancy in bilateral lower limb lengths,and postoperative rehabilitation time were the main factors affecting hip joint function recovery(Wald χ2=6.213, 4.543,9.156,6.287,5.461,3.698,95%CI=1.17~6.74,1.43~9.15,1.03~5.82,1.29~9.35,0.05~0.62, 0.12~0.93,P<0.05).Conclusion Primary total hip arthroplasty may lead to excellent curative effects for elderly patients with femoral neck fracture.Smaller body mass index,minimally invasive approach,less discrepancy in bilateral lower limb lengths,postoperative analgesia,less total blood loss and longer postoperative rehabilitation time may facilitate postoperative recovery for hip joint function.
ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the clinical and imaging features of patients with Alzheimer' s disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD) and find an effective method to make differential diagnosis between the 2 entities. Methods One hundred and sixty-two patients with dementia,admitted to our hospital from August 2006 to June 2011, and 42 patients with dementia found from community epidemiological survey were chosen in our study; their clinical data were retrospectively collected and analyzed; in these patients,114 patients were with AD and 90 patients were with VaD.Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) was performed on these patients and the cognitive competence,behavioral symptoms and imaging data of these patients were analyzed and compared. Results More female,higher education level and longer course of disease in patients with AD were noted as compared with those in patients with VaD (P＜0.05); the scores of attention and calculation in patients with VaD were obviously lower than those in patients with AD (P＜0.05); the scores of short-term memory,retelling and reading comprehension in patients with VaD were obviously higher than those in patients with AD (P＜0.05); the happening of repeated convergence behavior in patients with AD was much more often than that in patients with VaD (P＜0.05); patients with AD had higher ratio of shrinking hippocampus than patients with VaD, and the incidence of vascular disease in the brain of patients with VaD was significantly higher than that of patients with AD (P＜0.05). Conclusion Substantial differences on clinical and imaging features exist in AD and VaD patients,which can be attributed to the differences of lesion nature and distribution,as well as the underlying pathophysiological procedures of each disease.