Imaging, Genetic, and Pathological Features of Vascular Dementia.

BACKGROUND: Over the past decades, marked progress has been made in detecting vascular dementia (VD) both through maturation of diagnostic concepts and advances in brain imaging, especially MRI. We summarized the imaging, genetic, and pathological features of VD in this review. SUMMARY: It is a challenge for the diagnosis and treatment of VD, particularly in patients where there is no evident temporal relation between cerebrovascular events and cognitive dysfunction. In patients with cognitive dysfunction with poststroke onset, the etiological classification is still complicated. KEY MESSAGES: In this review, we summarized the clinical, imaging, and genetic as well as pathological features of VD. We hope to offer a framework to translate diagnostic criteria to daily practice, address treatment, and highlight some future perspectives.

Application of Shouwu Yizhi prescription in decubation of patients with ischemic stroke.

We investigate the application of Shouwu Yizhi prescription (SYP) in decubation of patients with ischemic stroke (IS). The clinical data of 106 patients recovering from IS who came to our hospital from December 2019 to December 2020 were selected for retrospective analysis, and they were separated into experimental group (n = 53, basic treatment + SYP) and control group (n = 53, basic treatment) based on the principle of random grouping. The clinical indexes such as lipid indexes and neurological disability score (NDS) after treatment were compared between both groups to comprehensively evaluate the clinical effects of different treatment regimens. Except for high-density lipoprotein cholesterol value, the lipid indexes in the experimental group after treatment were remarkably lower than those in the control group (P < 0.001). After treatment, the levels of hypersensitive C-reactive protein, homocysteine and lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 were remarkably lower in the experimental group than control group (P < 0.05). After treatment, the experimental group had remarkably higher mean scores of Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Fugl-Meyer Assessment in upper and lower limbs and lower NDS than control group (P < 0.001). SYP is an efficient treatment plan in decubation of IS, which can effectively improve the blood lipid indexes and neurological function of patients, and further studies will help establish a better solution for such patients.

Network pharmacology-based strategy to investigate the active ingredients and molecular mechanisms of Scutellaria Barbata D. Don against radiation pneumonitis.

INTRODUCTION: Herbal medicines combined with radiotherapy significantly reduced the incidence of radiation pneumonitis (RP), and the Scutellaria barbata D. Don (SBD) is a perennial herb that has been reported to protect against radiation-induced pneumonitis. However, the exact molecular mechanism is not known. The objective of this research was to investigate the against radiation pneumonitis ingredients and their functional mechanisms in SBD. METHODS: Based on the network pharmacology approaches, we collected active ingredients and target genes in SBD against RP through Traditional Chinese Medicine System Pharmacology (TCMSP) Database, and the "Herb-Ingredients-Target Genes-Disease" Network was constructed by using of Cytoscape. STRING analysis was performed to reveal the protein-protein interactions, and then we applied enrichment analysis on these target proteins, gene function, and pathways. RESULTS: A total of 18 ingredients in SBD regulate 65 RP related target proteins, which show that quercetin, luteolin, baicalein, wogonin may be the key active ingredients, while IL6, AKT1, VEGFA, MMP9, CCL2, prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2) (cyclooxygenase-2 [COX-2]), CXCL8, IL1B, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK1), and IL10 were identified as critical targets. Besides, the results of Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis indicated that predicted targets of SBD are mostly associated with the pathological process of oxidative stress and inflammation. AGE- Receptor of Advanced Glycation Endproducts (RAGE) signaling pathway in diabetic complications, IL-17 signaling pathway, hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) signaling pathway, NF-kappa B signaling pathway might serve as the principal pathways for RP treatment. CONCLUSION: In our study, the pharmacological and molecular mechanism of SBD against RP was predicted from a holistic perspective, and the results provided theoretical guidance for researchers to explore the mechanism in further research.

The genome of the miiuy croaker reveals well-developed innate immune and sensory systems.

The miiuy croaker, Miichthys miiuy, is a representative Sciaenidae known for its exceptionally large otoliths. This species mainly inhabits turbid aquatic environments with mud to sandy mud bottoms. However, the characteristics of the immune system of this organism and its specific aquatic environment adaptations are poorly understood. Thus, we present a high-quality draft genome of miiuy croaker. The expansions of several gene families which are critical for the fish innate immune system were identified. Compared with the genomes of other fishes, some changes have occurred in the miiuy croaker sensory system including modification of vision and expansion of taste and olfaction receptors. These changes allow miiuy croaker to adapt to the environment during the long-term natural selection. The genome of miiuy croaker may elucidate its relatively well-developed immune defense and provide an adaptation model of the species thriving in turbid deep aquatic environments.

Characteristics and phylogenetic analysis of the complete mitochondrial genome of Cheilodactylus quadricornis (Perciformes, Cheilodactylidae).

The complete mitochondrial genome of the Cheilodactylus quadricornis was firstly determined in the present study. The mitochondrial genome of C. quadricornis is 16 521 nucleotides, comprising 13 protein-coding genes and 2 ribosomal RNA genes, 22 tRNA genes and 2 main non-coding regions (the control region and the origin of the light-strand replication). The overall base composition was T, 26.3%; C, 29.6%; A, 27.8% and G, 16.3%. The gene arrangement, base composition, and tRNA structures of the complete mitochondrial genome of C. quadricornis is similar to other teleosts. Only two central conserved sequence blocks (CSB-2 and CSB-3) were identified in the control region. In addition, the conserved motif 5'-GCCGG-3' was identified in the origin of light-strand replication of C. quadricornis. The complete mitochondrial genome of C. quadricornis was used to construct phylogenetic tree, which shows that C. quadricornis and C. variegatus clustered in a clade and formed a sister relationship. This mitogenome sequence data would play an important role in population genetics and phylogenetic analysis of the Cheilodactylidae.