The Differences in Parameters in Ultrasound Imaging and Biomechanical Properties of the Quadriceps Femoris with Unilateral Knee Osteoarthritis in the Elderly: A Preliminary Observational Study.

Purpose: Our study aims to evaluate differences in muscle parameters of the quadriceps muscles in patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) in older adults. Methods: The study included 40 patients diagnosed with unilateral knee osteoarthritis in the KOA group (KG) and 40 asymptomatic elderly individuals in the control group (CG). Muscle ultrasonic mean echo intensity and shear modulus, as well as tone and stiffness of the rectus femoris (RF), vastus medialis (VM), and vastus lateralis (VL) were analyzed. Additionally, clinical correlations were performed. Results: In the KG group, there were significant differences in echo intensity, shear modulus, and tone between the affected and unaffected sides for RF (p=0.003, 0.019, 0.014), while VM showed significant differences in shear modulus and tone (p=0.006, 0.002). Additionally, VL exhibited significant differences in echo intensity, shear modulus, and stiffness (p=0.007, 0.006, 0.010). Compared to the CG group, the KG group showed significant differences in echo intensity of the affected side RF (p=0.001). VM exhibited statistically significant differences in echo intensity and shear modulus (p < 0.001, p=0.008), while VL showed statistically significant differences in echo intensity, tone, and stiffness (p < 0.001, p=0.028, p < 0.001). The correlation results showed that patients with unilateral KOA, VM, and VL echo intensity were correlated with K-L grade (r = 0.443, p=0.004; r = 0.469, p=0.002). The tone of VL was correlated with VAS and WOMAC (r = 0.327, p=0.039; r = 0.344, p=0.030). Conclusion: The parameters of the quadriceps femoris muscle exhibit asymmetry between the affected and unaffected sides in patients with unilateral KOA, as well as a difference between the dominant side of healthy older individuals and the affected side of KOA.

Gelatin/Dopamine/Zinc-Doped Ceria/Curcumin nanocomposite hydrogels for repair of chronic refractory wounds.

Chronic wound healing is a common clinical challenge, characterized by bacterial infection, protracted inflammatory response, oxidative stress, and insufficient neovascularization. Nanozymes have emerged as a promising solution for treating skin wounds due to their antioxidant, antibacterial, and angiogenic properties. In recent years, combining nanozymes with hydrogels to jointly promote wound healing has attracted increasing research interest. However, most of the current nanocomposite hydrogels are still not effective in simultaneously controlling inflammatory, oxidative stress and bacterial invasion in wound healing. Improving the therapeutic functional diversity and efficacy of nanocomposite hydrogels remains a problem that needs to be addressed. In this study, we prepared nanocomposite hydrogels (GelMD-Cur@ZHMCe) by combining methylacrylated gelatin modified with dopamine (GelMD) with Zinc-doped hollow mesoporous cerium oxide nanoparticles loaded with curcumin (Cur@ZHMCe). The resulting hydrogels exhibited excellent water absorption, adhesion, and biocompatibility. In vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that GelMD-Cur@ZHMCe has excellent antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and vasculature-promoting properties, which enable it to rapidly promote wound repair. The wound healing rate of the rat total skin defect infection model treated with GelMD-Cur@ZHMCe reached 98.5±4.9 % after 14 days of treatment. It was demonstrated that this multifunctional nanocomposite hydrogel provides a promising therapeutic strategy for skin repair.

Curcumenol regulates Histone H3K27me3 demethylases KDM6B affecting Succinic acid metabolism to alleviate cartilage degeneration in knee osteoarthritis.

BACKGROUND: Cartilage metabolism dysregulation is a crucial driver in knee osteoarthritis (KOA). Modulating the homeostasis can mitigate the cartilage degeneration in KOA. Curcumenol, derived from traditional Chinese medicine Curcuma Longa L., has demonstrated potential in enhancing chondrocyte proliferation and reducing apoptosis. However, the specific mechanism of Curcumenol in treating KOA remains unclear. This study aimed to demonstrate the molecular mechanism of Curcumenol in treating KOA based on the transcriptomics and metabolomics, and both in vivo and in vitro experimental validations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, a destabilization medial meniscus (DMM)-induced KOA mouse model was established. And the mice were intraperitoneally injected with Curcumenol at 4 and 8 mg/kg concentrations. The effects of Curcumenol on KOA cartilage and subchondral was evaluated using micro-CT, histopathology, and immunohistochemistry (IHC). In vitro, OA chondrocytes were induced with 10 µg/mL lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and treated with Curcumenol to evaluate the proliferation, apoptosis, and extracellular matrix (ECM) metabolism through CCK8 assay, flow cytometry, and chondrocyte staining. Furthermore, transcriptomics and metabolomics were utilized to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and metabolites. Finally, integrating multi-omics analysis, virtual molecular docking (VMD), and molecular dynamics simulation (MDS), IHC, immunofluorescence (IF), PCR, and Western blot (WB) validation were conducted to elucidate the mechanism by which Curcumenol ameliorates KOA cartilage degeneration. RESULTS: Curcumenol ameliorated cartilage destruction and subchondral bone loss in KOA mice, promoted cartilage repair, upregulated the expression of COL2 while downregulated MMP3, and improved ECM synthesis metabolism. Additionally, Curcumenol also alleviated the damage of LPS on the proliferation activity and suppressed apoptosis, promoted ECM synthesis. Transcriptomic analysis combined with weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) identified a significant downregulation of 19 key genes in KOA. Metabolomic profiling showed that Curcumenol downregulates the expression of d-Alanyl-d-alanine, 17a-Estradiol, Glutathione, and Succinic acid, while upregulating Sterculic acid and Azelaic acid. The integrated multi-omics analysis suggested that Curcumenol targeted KDM6B to regulate downstream protein H3K27me3 expression, which inhibited methylation at the histone H3K27, consequently reducing Succinic acid levels and improving KOA cartilage metabolism homeostasis. Finally, both in vivo and in vitro findings indicated that Curcumenol upregulated KDM6B, suppressed H3K27me3 expression, and stimulated collagen II expression and ECM synthesis, thus maintaining cartilage metabolism homeostasis and alleviating KOA cartilage degeneration. CONCLUSION: Curcumenol promotes cartilage repair and ameliorates cartilage degeneration in KOA by upregulating KDM6B expression, thereby reducing H3K27 methylation and downregulating Succinic Acid, restoring metabolic stability and ECM synthesis.

Synergistic engineering of heterostructure and oxygen vacancy in cobalt hydroxide/aluminum oxyhydroxide as bifunctional electrocatalysts for urea-assisted hydrogen production.

Designing inexpensive, high-efficiency and durable bifunctional catalysts for urea oxidation reaction (UOR) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is an encouraging tactic to produce hydrogen with reduced energy expenditure. Herein, oxygen vacancy-rich cobalt hydroxide/aluminum oxyhydroxide heterostructure on nickel foam (denoted as Co(OH)2/AlOOH/NF-100) has been fabricated using one step hydrothermal process. Theoretical calculation and experimental results indicate the electrons transfer from Co(OH)2 to highly active AlOOH results in the interfacial charge redistribution and optimization of electronic structure. Abundant oxygen vacancies in the heterostructure could improve the conductivity and simultaneously serve as the active sites for catalytic reaction. Consequently, the optimal Co(OH)2/AlOOH/NF-100 demonstrates excellent electrocatalytic performance for HER (62.9 mV@10 mA cm-2) and UOR (1.36 V@10 mA cm-2) due to the synergy between heterointerface and oxygen vacancies. Additionally, the in situ electrochemical impedance spectrum (EIS) for UOR suggests that the heterostructured catalyst exhibits rapid reaction kinetics, mass transfer and current response. Importantly, the urea-assisted electrolysis composed of the Co(OH)2/AlOOH/NF-100 manifests a low cell voltage (1.48 V @ 10 mA cm-2) in 1 M KOH containing 0.5 M urea. This work presents a promising avenue to the development of HER/UOR bifunctional electrocatalysts.

UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS combined with machine learning methods for screening quality indicators of Hypericum perforatum L.

Hypericum perforatum L. (HPL), also known as St. John's wort, is one of the extensively researched domestically and internationally as a medicinal plant. In this study, non-targeted metabolomics combined with machine learning methods were used to identify reasonable quality indicators for the holistic quality control of HPL. First, the high-resolution MS data from different samples of HPL were collected, and visualized the chemical compounds through the MS molecular network. A total of 122 compounds were identified. Then, the orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) model was established for comparing the differences in metabolite expression between flower, leaf, and branches. A total of 46 differential metabolites were screened out. Subsequently, analyzing the pharmacological activities of these differential metabolites based on protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. A total of 25 compounds associated with 473 gene targets were retrieved. Among them, 13 highly active compounds were selected as potential quality markers, and five compounds were ultimately selected as quality control markers for HPL. Finally, three different classifiers (support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), and K-nearest neighbor (KNN)) were used to validate whether the selected quality control markers are qualified. When the feature count is set to 122 and 46, the RF model demonstrates optimal performance. As the number of variables decreases, the performance of the RF model degrades. The KNN model and the SVM model also exhibit a decrease in performance but still manage to satisfy the intended requirements. The strategy can be applied to the quality control of HPL and can provide a reference for the quality control of other herbal medicines.

Influence of Different Types of Surfactants on the Flotation of Natural Quartz by Dodecylamine.

The synergistic effect among flotation agents is why combined flotation agents exhibit superior performance compared to single flotation agents. This research investigates the influence of three surfactants with different charges of polar groups, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), and octanol, combined with dodecylamine (DDA), on quartz flotation. Through the implementation of flotation tests, bubble-particle adhesion induction time testing, gas-liquid two-phase foam properties testing, and surface tension testing, it is revealed that substituting part of the DDA with these surfactants can either enhance or at least maintain the quartz recovery, affect the adhesion induction time, reduce the surface tension of the flotation system, and change the foaming performance and foam stability, depending on their mole ratio in the combined collector. Compared to DDA alone, combining CTAB or OCT with DDA can significantly increase quartz recovery, while SDS with DDA only yields an approximate recovery. Combining SDS or OCT with DDA can reduce the foam stability, while CTAB with DDA enhances the foam stability. The effect of the combination of surfactants and DDA on the adhesion induction time of quartz grains of different sizes with bubbles is the same; furthermore, there is a negative correlation between the adhesion induction time and the recovery, while the foaming properties and stability of foam are positively correlated with the recovery.

Microfluidic particle counter visualizing mucosal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in the upper respiratory tract for rapid evaluation of immune protection.

Mucosal antibodies in the upper respiratory tract are the earliest and most critical responders to prevent respiratory infections, providing an indication for the rapid evaluation of immune protection. Here, we report a microfluidic particle counter that directly visualizes mucosal antibody levels in nasal mucus. The mucosal anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor binding domain (RBD) antibodies in nasal secretions first react with magnetic microparticles (MMPs) and polystyrene microparticles (PMPs) that are surface-modified to form a "MMPs-anti-spike RBD IgG-PMPs" complex when RBD is present. After magnetic separation and loading into the microfluidic particle counter, the free PMPs, which are reduced with increasing anti-spike RBD IgG antibody levels, are trapped by a microfluidic particle dam and accumulate in the trapping channel. A sensitive mode [limit of detection (LOD): 14.0 ng mL-1; sample-to-answer time: 70 min] and an equipment-free rapid mode (LOD: 37.4 ng mL-1; sample-to-answer time: 20 min) were achieved. Eighty-seven nasal secretion (NS) samples from vaccinees were analyzed using our microfluidic particle counter, and the results closely resemble those of the gold-standard enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The analysis shows that higher antibody levels were found in convalescent volunteers compared to noninfected volunteers. Together, we demonstrate a rapid kit that directly indicates immune status, which can guide vaccine strategy for individuals and the government.

The potential molecular markers of inflammatory response in KOA with AD based on single-cell transcriptome sequencing analysis and identification of ligands by virtual screening.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and osteoarthritis (OA) are both senile degenerative diseases. Clinical studies have found that OA patients have a significantly increased risk of AD in their later life. This study hypothesized that chronic aseptic inflammation might lead to AD in KOA patients. However, current research has not yet clarified the potential mechanism between AD and KOA. Therefore, this study intends to use KOA transcriptional profiling and single-cell sequencing analysis technology to explore the molecular mechanism of KOA affecting AD development, and screen potential molecular biomarkers and drugs for the prediction, diagnosis, and prognosis of AD in KOA patients. It was found that the higher the expression of TXNIP, MMP3, and MMP13, the higher the risk coefficient of AD was. In addition, the AUC of TXNIP, MMP3, and MMP13 were all greater than 0.70, which had good diagnostic significance for AD. Finally, through the virtual screening of core proteins in FDA drugs and molecular dynamics simulation, it was found that compound Cobicistat could be targeted to TXNIP, Itc could be targeted to MMP3, and Isavuconazonium could be targeted to MMP13. To sum up, TXNIP, MMP3, and MMP13 are prospective molecular markers in KOA with AD, which could be used to predict, diagnose, and prognosis.

A Multifunctional Nanozyme Integrating Antioxidant, Antimicrobial and Pro-Vascularity for Skin Wound Management.

Background: Skin wounds are a prevalent issue that can have severe health consequences if not treated correctly. Nanozymes offer a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of skin wounds, owing to their advantages in regulating redox homeostasis to reduce oxidative damage and kill bacteria. These properties make them an effective treatment option for skin wounds. However, most of current nanozymes lack the capability to simultaneously address inflammation, oxidative stress, and bacterial infection during the wound healing process. There is still great potential for nanozymes to increase their therapeutic functional diversity and efficacy. Methods: Herein, copper-doped hollow mesopores cerium oxide (Cu-HMCe) nanozymes with multifunctional of antioxidant, antimicrobial and pro-vascularity is successfully prepared. Cu-HMCe can be efficiently prepared through a simple and rapid solution method and displays sound physiological stability. The biocompatibility, pro-angiogenic, antimicrobial, and antioxidant properties of Cu-HMCe were assessed. Moreover, a full-thickness skin defect infection model was utilized to investigate the wound healing capacity, as well as anti-inflammatory and pro-angiogenic properties of nanozymes in vivo. Results: Both in vitro and in vivo experiments have substantiated Cu-HMCe's remarkable biocompatibility. Moreover, Cu-HMCe possesses potent antioxidant enzyme-like catalytic activity, effectively clearing DPPH radicals (with a scavenging rate of 80%), hydroxyl radicals, and reactive oxygen species. Additionally, Cu-HMCe exhibits excellent antimicrobial and pro-angiogenic properties, with over 70% inhibition of both E. coli and S. aureus. These properties collectively promote wound healing, and the wound treated with Cu-HMCe achieved a closure rate of over 90% on the 14th day. Conclusion: The results indicate that multifunctional Cu-HMCe with antioxidant, antimicrobial, and pro-angiogenic properties was successfully prepared and exhibited remarkable efficacy in promoting wound healing. This nanozymes providing a promising strategy for skin repair.

Structural regulation of amorphous molybdenum sulfide by atomic palladium doping for hydrogen evolution.

Molybdenum sulfide materials have long been considered as attractive non-precious-metal electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, comparing with the crystalline counterpart, amorphous MoSx has been less investigated previously. We here propose to increase the catalytical activity of a-MoSx by raising the reactant concentration at the catalytic interface via a chemical doping approach. The reconstruction of coordination structure of a-MoSx via Pd doping induces the formation of abundant unsaturated S atoms. Moreover, the reactant friendly catalytic interface is constructed through introducing hydrophilic groups to a-MoSx. The doped a-MoSx catalyst exhibits significantly enhanced HER activity in both acid and alkaline media.

Engineering nanosystems for transdermal delivery of antihypertensive drugs.

To control hypertension, long-term continuous antihypertensive therapeutics are required and five classes of antihypertensive drugs are frequently involved, including diuretics, ß-blockers, calcium channel blockers, angiotensin II receptor blockers, and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors. Although with demonstrated clinical utility, there is still room for the improvement of many antihypertensive drugs in oral tablet or capsule dosage form, in terms of reducing systemic side effects and first-pass hepatic drug uptake. Meanwhile, nanocarrier-mediated transdermal drug delivery systems have emerged as a powerful tool for various disease treatments. With benefits such as promoting patient compliance for long-time administration, enhancing skin permeability, and reducing systemic side effects, these systems are reasonably investigated and developed for the transdermal delivery of multiple antihypertensive drugs. This review aims to summarize the literature relating to nanosystem-based transdermal antihypertensive drug delivery and update recent advances in this field, as well as briefly discuss the challenges and prospects of engineering transdermal delivery nanosystems for hypertension treatment.

The relationship between ablation range and ablation energy in papillary thyroid microcarcinoma: a comparison between microwave ablation and laser ablation.

OBJECTIVES: To study the relationship between the ablation range and applied energy of laser ablation (LA) and microwave ablation (MWA) in papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC). METHODS: A total of 201 PTMC patients were treated with LA (n = 102) or MWA (n = 99) with single-applicator fixed ablation. The ablation range was determined by contrast-enhanced ultrasound. The ratios of ablation volume, longitudinal diameter, and orthogonal diameter to ablation energy (RAV/E, RAL/E, RAO/E) were analyzed and compared between MWA and LA. The effects of PTMC characteristics and Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) on ablation efficiency were evaluated by linear regression. RESULTS: The RAV/E was 0.72 (0.65-0.84) mm3/J for MWA and 0.48 (0.39-0.54) mm3/J for LA. HT was significantly correlated with RAV/E of LA (coefficient = - 0.367, p < 0.0001). RAL/E did not differ significantly between MWA and LA (MWA 0.026 mm/J, LA 0.025 mm/J; p = 0.957). However, MWA had a greater RAO/E than LA (MWA 0.014 mm/J, LA 0.012 mm/J; p < 0.0001). The plateau values of MWA and LA on the ablation orthogonal diameter were 10.7 mm and 8.69 mm, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: MWA showed a higher RAV/E than LA. More intuitively, MWA had a better ablation performance than LA on the orthogonal axis rather than the longitudinal axis. Theoretically, MWA and LA could achieve complete ablation of ≤ 6.70 mm and ≤ 4.69 mm PTMC separately by single-applicator fixed ablation considering a unilateral 2-mm safe margin. HT had a negative effect on LA but not on MWA. CLINICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT: This study establishes strong connections between ablation energy and ablation range in papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) in vivo, possibly contributing to the supplementation of the PTMC Ablation Consensus or Guidelines and providing a scientific basis for choosing clinical ablation parameters in PTMC. KEY POINTS: • Both microwave ablation (MWA) and laser ablation (LA) have excellent performance on the ablation longitudinal axis (easily exceeding 10 mm) for papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC). • MWA performed much better than LA on the ablation orthogonal axis. • MWA and LA are expected to achieve complete ablation of ≤ 6.70 mm and ≤ 4.69 mm PTMC separately by single-applicator fixed ablation considering a unilateral 2-mm safe margin.

Holistic quality evaluation method of Epimedii Folium based on NIR spectroscopy and chemometrics.

INTRODUCTION: There are some problems in the quality control of Epimedii Folium (leaves of Epimedium brevicornum Maxim.), such as the mixed use of Epimedii Folium from different harvesting periods and regions, incomplete quality evaluation, and time-consuming analysis methods. OBJECTIVE: Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy was conducted to establish a rapid overall quality evaluation method for Epimedii Folium. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Quantitative models of the total solid, moisture, total flavonoid, and flavonol glycoside (Epimedin A, Epimedin B, Epimedin C, Icariin) contents of Epimedii Folium were established by partial least squares regression (PLSR). The root mean square error (RMSE) and correlation coefficient (R) were used to evaluate the performance of models. The qualitative models of Epimedii Folium from different geographic origins and harvest periods were established based on K-nearest neighbor (KNN), back-propagation neural network (BPNN), and random forest (RF). Accuracy and Kappa values were used to evaluate the performance of models. A new multivariable signal conversion strategy was proposed, which combines NIR spectroscopy with the PLSR model to predict the absorbance values of retention time points in the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprint to obtain the predicted HPLC fingerprint. The Pearson correlation coefficient and cosine coefficient were used to evaluate the similarity between real and predicted HPLC fingerprints. RESULTS: Qualitative models, quantitative models, and the similarity between real and predicted HPLC fingerprints are satisfactory. CONCLUSION: The method serves as a fast and green analytical quality evaluation method of Epimedii Folium and can replace traditional methods to achieve the overall quality evaluation of Epimedii Folium.

Association between sarcopenia and osteoarthritis among the US adults: a cross-sectional study.

The association between sarcopenia and OA still presents many uncertainties. We aimed to assess whether sarcopenia is associated with occurrence of OA in US adults. We conducted a cross-sectional study consisting of 11,456 participants from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2006. Sarcopenia was defined by a low muscle mass. The skeletal muscle index (SMI) was calculated as the appendicular skeletal muscle mass divided by body mass indexes (BMI) or body weight. OA status was assessed by using self-reported questionnaire. We evaluated the association between sarcopenia and OA using multivariate regression models. In addition, subgroup and interaction analysis were performed. Sarcopenia was associated with OA when it was defined by the BMI-adjusted SMI (OR = 1.23 [95% CI, 1.01, 1.51]; P = 0.038) and defined by the weight-adjusted SMI (OR = 1.30 [95% CI, 1.10, 1.55]; P = 0.003). Subgroup and interaction analysis found that the strongest positive association mainly exists in smoker (OR = 1.54 [95% CI, 1.21, 1.95], Pint = 0.006), and this association is not significant in other groups. In conclusion, we found that sarcopenia was associated with occurrence of OA. Subgroup analysis revealed that the association between sarcopenia and OA was more pronounced in smoker. Further well-designed prospective cohort studies are needed to assess our results.

Validity evidence for simulator-based obstetric ultrasound competency assessment tool: a multi-center study.

PURPOSE: To collect validity evidence for a simulator-based obstetric ultrasound competency assessment tool (OUCAT). METHODS: 89 sonographers from three centers (XY, MC, DT), including novices (n=21), experienced trainees (n=44), and experts (n=24), participated in the competency assessment. Validity evidence of OUCAT was collected according to Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. Content validity was ensured by reviewing guidelines and reaching expert consensus. The response process was ensured via training raters. Internal structure was explored through internal consistency, inter-rater reliability, and test-retest reliability. Relations to other variables were explored by comparing OUCAT scores of sonographers with different experience. Evidence for consequences was collected by determining the pass/fail level. RESULTS: OUCAT included 123 items, of which 117 items could effectively distinguish novices from experts (P<0.05). The internal consistency was represented by the Cronbach's α coefficient (0.978). The inter-rater reliability was high, with XY being 0.868, MC being 0.877, and DT being 0.937 (P<0.001). Test-retest reliability was 0.732 (P=0.001). The performance of experts was significantly better than experienced trainees, and the performance of experienced trainees was significantly better than novices (70.3±10.7 vs. 39.8±15.0 vs. 20.5±10.6, P<0.001). The pass/fail level determined by contrast group method was 45 points. The passing rate of novices, experienced trainees and experts was 0% (0/21), 31.8% (14/44), and 100% (24/24), respectively. CONCLUSION: Simulator-based OUCAT exhibits good reliability and validity in assessing obstetric ultrasound skills.

Research and publication trends on knee osteoarthritis and cellular senescence: a bibliometric analysis.

Background: Cellular senescence is associated with age-related pathological changes, senescent cells promote the development of knee osteoarthritis. A better understanding between knee osteoarthritis and cellular senescence may enhance the effectiveness of therapies that aim to slow or stop the progression of this disease. Purpose: This study aimed to systematically analyze and visualize the publication trends, research frontiers and current research hotspots of knee osteoarthritis and cellular senescence by using bibliometrics. Methods: The publication search was performed on the Web of Science Core Collection database for documents published from 1992 to 2023. VOSviewer, Citespace, R package Bibliometrix and Microsoft Office Excel were used to study the characteristics of the publications. The publication number, countries, institutions, authors, journals, citations and co-citations, keywords were analyzed. Results: A total of 1,074 publications were analyzed, with an average annual growth rate of 29.89%. United States accounted for the biggest contributor, ranked first in publications and citations. Publications of this field were published in 420 journals, OSTEOARTHRITIS and CARTILAGE was the most influential. A total of 5,657 authors contributed to this research. The most productive author was Lotz, MK (n = 31, H-index = 22, Total citation = 2,619), followed by Loeser, R.F (n = 16, H-index = 14, Total citation = 2,825). However, the collaboration between authors was relatively weak. Out of the 1,556 institutions involved, 60% were from the United States. Scripps Research ranked first with 25 papers and a total of 2,538 citations. The hotspots of this field had focused on the pathomechanisms (e.g., expression, inflammation, apoptosis, autophagy, oxidative stress) and therapeutics (e.g., stem cell, platelet-rich plasma, transplantation, autologous chondrocytes, repair), and the exploration of Senolytics might be the important direction of future research. Conclusion: Research on the cross field of knee osteoarthritis and cellular senescence is flourishing. Age-related pathomechanism maps of various cells in the joint and the targeted medicines for the senescent cells may be the future trends. This bibliometric study provides a comprehensive analysis of this cross field and new insights into future research.

[Relationship between intramuscular fat content in the quadriceps muscle and clinical severity in patients with knee osteoarthritis].

OBJECTIVE: To explore relationship between intramuscular fat content of quadriceps femoris and clinical severity of knee osteoarthritis (KOA). METHODS: Totally 30 KOA patients were selected from February 2021 to June 2021, including 6 males and 24 females, aged with an average of (64.20±9.19) years old, and body mass index (BMI) was (24.92±3.35) kg·m-2. Patients were divided into relative severe leg (RSL) and relative moderate leg (RML) according to severity of pain on visual analogue scale(VAS). Musculoskeletal ultrasound was used to collect muscle images of quadriceps muscles on both sides of the patient, and Image J was used to analyze echo intensity (EI) of each muscle. Both VAS and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) were used to assess pain and function. Quadriceps muscle EI on both sides of patients was compared. Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to analyze correlation between quadriceps muscle EI value between RSL and RML, and linear regression was used to analyze relationship between each muscle EI and VAS and WOMA scores of patients. RESULTS: The EI of RSL lateral vastus lateralis (VL) was 123.78±36.25 and RSL vastus medialis (VM) was 109.46±30.36 which were significantly higher than those of 108.03±31.34 and 93.32±26.04 of RML (P<0.05), but there was no statistical significance in EI values of rectus femoris (RF) on both sides (P>0.05). EI values of VL and VM on both sides were significantly correlated (P<0.05). There was a significant positive correlation between VM EI value and VAS score in RSL and RML (P<0.05). VM EI values in RSL were positively correlated with total WOMAC (P<0.05), and VM VL EI values in RML were positively correlated with total WOMAC score (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Intramuscular fat content of quadriceps is closely related to severity of clinical symptoms in KOA patients, and the most obvious one is VM. Therefore, the intramuscular fat content of quadriceps may be an objective indicator to evaluate severity of KOA patients. At the same time, reducing intramuscular fat content of the quadriceps muscle of KOA patients may be a new direction for the prevention and treatment of KOA.

Exploring molecular mechanisms underlying the pathophysiological association between knee osteoarthritis and sarcopenia.

Objectives: Accumulating evidence indicates a strong link between knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and sarcopenia. However, the mechanisms involved have not yet been elucidated. This study primarily aims to explore the molecular mechanisms that explain the connection between these 2 disorders. Methods: The gene expression profiles for KOA and sarcopenia were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database, specifically from GSE55235, GSE169077, and GSE1408. Various bioinformatics techniques were employed to identify and analyze common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) across the 3 datasets. The techniques involved the analysis of Gene Ontology and pathways to enhance understanding, examining protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks, and identifying hub genes. In addition, we constructed the network of interactions between transcription factors (TFs) and genes, the co-regulatory network of TFs and miRNAs for hub genes, and predicted potential drugs. Results: In total, 14 common DEGs were found between KOA and sarcopenia. Detailed information on biological processes and signaling pathways of common DEGs was obtained through enrichment analysis. After performing PPI network analysis, we discovered 4 hub genes (FOXO3, BCL6, CDKN1A, and CEBPB). Subsequently, we developed coregulatory networks for these hub genes involving TF-gene and TF-miRNA interactions. Finally, we identified 10 potential chemical compounds. Conclusions: By conducting bioinformatics analysis, our study has successfully identified common gene interaction networks between KOA and sarcopenia. The potential of these findings to offer revolutionary understanding into the common development of these 2 conditions could lead to the identification of valuable targets for therapy.

Causal relationship between sarcopenia and osteoarthritis: a bi-directional two-sample mendelian randomized study.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that osteoarthritis (OA) and sarcopenia (SP) are closely related to each other, but the causal relationships between them have not been established. The aim of this study was to investigate the causal associations between OA and SP via a bi-directional Mendelian randomization (MR) approach. METHODS: A bi-directional two-sample MR was adopted to research the causal relationship between SP and OA. The instrumental variables for SP and four types of OA: KOA, HOA, total knee replacement (TKR) and total hip replacement (THR) were derived from published large genome-wide association studies (GWAS). The inverse variance weighted (IVW), MR-Egger and weighted median estimator (WME) methods were used to estimate bi-directional causal effects. RESULTS: Low grip strength (GS) did not have a causal effect on four types of OA (KOA: OR = 1.205, 95% CI 0.837-1.734, p = 0.316; HOA: OR = 1.090, 95% CI 0.924-1.609, p = 0.307; TKR: OR = 1.190, 95% CI 1.084-1.307, p = 0.058; THR: OR = 1.035, 95% CI 0.792-1.353, p = 0.798), while appendicular lean mass (ALM) had a causal effect on four types of OA (KOA: OR = 1.104, 95% CI 1.041-1.171, p = 0.001; HOA: OR = 1.151, 95% CI 1.071-1.237, p < 0.001; TKR: OR = 1.114, 95% CI 1.007-1.232, p < 0.001; THR: OR = 1.203, 95% CI 1.099-1.316, p < 0.001). In the reverse direction, KOA or HOA did not have a significant causal effect on both GS and ALM (KOA-GS: OR = 1.077, 95% CI 0.886-1.309, p = 0.458; KOA-ALM: Beta = 0.004, p = 0.892; HOA-GS: OR = 1.038, 95% CI 0.981-1.099, p = 0.209; HOA-ALM: Beta = - 0.017, p = 0.196; TKR-GS: OR = 0.999, 95% CI 0.739-1.351, p = 0.997; TKR-ALM: Beta = 0.018, p = 0.501; THR-GS: OR = 1.037, 95% CI 0.978-1.101, p = 0.222; THR-ALM: Beta = - 0.023, p = 0.081). CONCLUSIONS: The present study suggests that SP may have a causal effect on OA through changes in muscle composition rather than muscle strength, while little evidence was provided for the causal effect of OA on SP.

Induced mechanism of phosphatase hormesis by Cd ions and rhizosphere metabolites of Trifolium repens L.

Rhizosphere phosphatases can exhibit hormetic effects in response to cadmium (Cd) ion stimulation. However, understanding the mechanisms underlying hormesis effects on soil ecosystems is challenging as studies on hormesis are usually specific to an organism, cell, or organ. To comprehensively investigate the mechanism of phosphatase hormesis, this study utilized in situ zymography and metabolomics to analyze the rhizosphere of Trifolium repens L. (white clover). Zymograms showed that rhizosphere phosphatase displayed a hormetic effect in 10 mg kg-1 Cd contaminated soil, with a hotspot area 1.8 times larger than non-Cd contaminated soil and a slight increase in enzyme activity. Nevertheless, the phosphatase activity was substantially suppressed upon elevating the Cd concentration in the soil to 50 mg kg-1. Differential metabolite identification and KEEG pathway enrichment analysis revealed that both rhizosphere organic acids and amino acid compounds positively affected phosphatase activity, and both were able to stabilize complexation with Cd ions via carboxyl groups. Besides, molecular docking models suggested that Cd ions act as cofactors to induce the formation of hydrogen bonds between amino acids/organic acids and phosphatase residues to form a triplet complex with a more stable structure, thereby improving phosphatase activity. The results indicated that amino acids and organic acids are heavily enriched in the rhizosphere of white clover and form a particular structure with soil Cd ions and phosphatase, which is essential for inducing the phosphatase hormesis as a detoxification mechanism in the rhizosphere micro-ecosystem.