The effects of gastrodin on TLR4 expression in microglia induced by ischemia and hypoxia / 神经解剖学杂志

Objective:To determine the effect of gastrodin(GAS)on toll-like receptor 4(TLR4)expression in mi-croglia after hypoxic-ischemic brain damage.Methods:Hypoxia-ischemic brain damage(HIBD)model was established in neonatal rat in vivo.Thirty 3 d SD rats of were randomly divided into there groups:Sham group,HIBD model group,HIBD model+gastrodin intervention group(HIBD+G).Oxygen glucose deprivation(OGD)model was established in BV2 cells in vitro,Control group(Control),oxygen glucose deprivation group(OGD),OGD+gastrodin intervention group(OGD+G)were randomly set in vitro.Both Western Blot and immunofluorescence staining techniques were used to detect the expression of TLR4 in cells of each group in vitro and in the left corpus callosum region in vivo.Results:The expression of TLR4 was significantly increased in OGD-induced microglia.After gastrodin intervention,TLR4 expression was decreased significantly(P＜0.05).Conclusion:GAS can inhibit the expression of TLR4 in activated microglia and thus play a neuroprotective role in HIBD.

Effect of hand hygiene intervention on healthcare-associated case infection incidence from 2014 to 2022 / 中国感染控制杂志

Objective To observe the effect of multi-modal hand hygiene(HH)intervention on HH compliance,as well as the relationship between HH compliance and the healthcare-associated(HA)case infection incidence.Methods From 2014 to 2022,the infection control team in a tertiary first-class hospital implemented multi-modal HH intervention for health care workers(HCWs).The changing trend of HH monitoring data,the correlation be-tween HH compliance rate and HA case infection incidence were analyzed retrospectively.Results The consump-tion of HH products in the wards showed a stable upward trend;HH compliance rate increased from 64.98％in 2014 to 85.01％in 2022(P＜0.001),and HA case infection incidence decreased from 1.21％to 0.83％(P＜0.05).HH compliance rate was negatively correlated with HA case infection incidence(r=-0.369,P=0.027).HH compliance rates in different regions and job posts in each quarter were increased(P＜0.001).For 5 different HH moments in each quarter,HH compliance rate fluctuated slightly before sterile manipulation and after touching patient;presented rising trend after touching surroundings around patient,and decreased before touching patient and after touching patient's body fluid since 2020(P＜0.001).Conclusion Multi-modal HH intervention can im-prove the HH compliance of HCWs,improving their HH awareness is conducive to reducing HA case infection incidence.

COVID-19 related autoimmune myopathy: 5 cases report / 中华神经科杂志

Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics, imaging, myopathology and outcomes of patients with COVID-19 related autoimmune myopathy.Methods:The clinical features, serum creatine kinase (CK), myositis antibodies, muscle magnetic resonance imaging, myopathology and therapy of 5 patients with COVID-19 related autoimmune myopathy diagnosed in Peking University First Hospital from December 2022 to April 2023 were collected. The effects of the therapy after a short term follow up were analyzed.Results:Among the 5 patients, there were 3 males and 2 females, with onset age of 42-86 years. All patients presented with proximal muscle weakness in the recovery term of COVID-19. Myalgia was noted in 3 cases, dysphagia in 1, skin damage in 2, interstitial lung disease in 1. The serum CK of the 5 patients was 1 663-16 000 IU/L, 1 patient had anti-3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase autoantibodies and 1 patient had anti-signal recognition particle autoantibodies. The electromyography showed myogenic lesions in all patients. Muscle magnetic resonance imaging showed diffuse muscle edema in all patients, myofascial edema in 3 and subcutaneous-tissue edema in 3. The muscle biopsies in 4 patients revealed necrotic myopathy,with high P62 expression in muscle fibers. The electromicroscopy of 2 patients revealed vacuolated mitochondria and intranuclear tubulofilamentous inclusions in muscle fibers. Four patients were treated with glucocorticoids, of whom 2 patients combined with intravenous immunoglobulin, tacrolimus or cyclophosphamide. One case had close monitoring without drug therapy. They showed significant improvement, but the CK was still abnormal in 4 patients.Conclusions:COVID-19 leads to immune mediated myopathy. The manifestation of patients is characterized by proximal predominant weakness and high creatine kinase level. Muscle magnetic resonance imaging shows diffuse muscle edema. The muscle biopsies reveal necrotic myopathy. The effectiveness of immunosuppression needs to be further studied.

Diagnostic strategies for peripheral neuropathy / 中华神经科杂志

Peripheral neuropathies are commonly diagnosed in different clinical department of the hospital. The diagnosis is generated by a set of reasonable process based on the manifestations of patients. According to the age of onset, the speed of disease development and the symptoms of peripheral nerve lesions, the peripheral neuropathy is divided into a definite clinical subtype for a particular patient. On this basis, utility of the nerve conduction studies and electromyography is conducted to confirm the anatomical locations of peripheral neuropathy. The etiologic diagnosis is based on anatomical diagnosis of peripheral nerve with a reasonable choice of auxiliary tests, including serological testing, peripheral nerve imaging and biopsy. Genetic tests are chosen for patients with clinical suspective diagnosis of hereditary disease. Finally, therapy evaluation on the basis of etiologic diagnosis is important for forming a treatment plan.

Episodic Neurological Dysfunction in X-Linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease: Expansion of the Phenotypic and Genetic Spectrum

Background@#and Purpose X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1 (CMTX1) is characterized by peripheral neuropathy with or without episodic neurological dysfunction. We performed clinical, neuropathological, and genetic investigations of a series of patients with mutations of the gap-junction beta-1 gene (GJB1) to extend the phenotypic and genetic description of CMTX1. @*Methods@#Detailed clinical evaluations, sural nerve biopsy, and genetic analysis were applied to patients with CMTX1. @*Results@#We collected 27 patients with CMTX1 with GJB1 mutations from 14 unrelated families. The age at onset (AAO) was 20.9±12.2 years (mean±standard deviation; range, 2–45 years). Walking difficulties, weakness in the legs, and pes cavus were common initial symptoms. Compared with female patients, males tended to have a younger AAO (males vs. females=15.4±9.6 vs. 32.0±8.8 years, p=0.002), a longer disease course (16.8±16.1 vs. 5.5±3.8 years, p=0.034), and more-severe electrophysiological results. Besides peripheral neuropathy, six of the patients had special episodic central nervous system (CNS) evidence from symptoms, signs, and/or reversible white-matter lesions. Neuropathology revealed the loss of large myelinated fibers, increased number of regenerated axon clusters with abnormally thin myelin sheaths, and excessively folded myelin. Genetic analysis identified 14 GJB1 variants, 6 of which were novel. @*Conclusions@#These findings expand the phenotypic and genetic spectrum of CMTX1. Although CMTX1 was found to have high phenotypic and CNS involvement variabilities, detailed neurological examinations and nerve conduction studies will provide critical clues for accurate diagnoses. Further exploration of the underlying mechanisms of connexin 32 involvement in neuropathy or CNS dysfunction is warranted to develop promising therapies.

Visual analysis of articles on alarm management of clinical medical equipment based on CiteSpace / 医疗卫生装备

The articles on alarm management of clinical medical equipment from January 2000 to January 2023 were collected with common databases in the world as search sources.CiteSpace software was used for trend drawing of annual publication distribution,author cooperation network mapping,country/institution cooperation network mapping and keyword knowledge mapping,and for analyzing related issues in depth.The annual publication of medical equipment alarm management research showed a fluctuating upward trend,the authors had good cooperative relationship with the organizations,the hotspots included ventilator,alarm and alarm fatigue in Chinese and alarm fatigue,intensive care unit and patient safety in English,and the research frontier involved in alarm fatigue,false alarm and alarm management.References were provided for conducting related research in China.

The MRI characters of forearm muscles in patients with myotonic dystrophy type1 / 中国神经精神疾病杂志

Objective This study aimed to investigate the MRI features of forearm muscles from myotonic dystrophy type 1(DM1)and to evaluate the correlation between clinical factors and muscle MRI.Methods We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of genetic-confirmed DM1 patients including the clinical manifestations,the electromyography and the muscle pathology results.MRI scan was used to examine forearm muscles.Analysis of T1weighed images and short inversion time inversion recovery images were used to evaluate muscle fatty infiltration and muscle edema,respectively.The correlation between the fatty infiltration and age,disease duration and muscle strength were investigated.Results Twenty-three DM1 patients from different family were enrolled.The onset age was 17～60 year-old,mean age was(34.3±12.2)year-old,and the mean course of disease was 5(3,9)years.Their main symptoms were hand weakness and stiffness,accompanying with alopecia and excessive daytime sleepiness.The median fatty infiltration scores were recorded as follows:flexor digitorum profundus(FDP)4.0(3.0,4.0),flexor pollicis longus(FPL)4.0(3.0,4.0),extensor pollicis brevis 2.0(1.0,2.5),abductor pollicis longus 2.0(0.5,2.5),extensor pollicis longus 2.0(1.0,2.0),flexor digitorum superficialis 2.0(0.5,2.5),supinator(S)2.0(1.0,2.0).Other muscles scores were less than 1 of which the pronator teres(PT)was 1.0(0.0,1.0).Atrophy of FDP was detected in nine,atrophy of FPL in six and hypertrophy of PT in 11 patients.The muscle edema was evident in FDP,FPL,and the flexor digitorum superficialis,while brachioradialis and pronator teres were normal.There was no significant correlation between mean muscle fat infiltration score and age or course of disease.The mean muscle fat infiltration was significantly correlated with muscle strength score(r =-0.590,P<0.01).The mean fatty infiltration scores of FDP and FPL were not correlated with age nor course of disease,but correlated with grip strength(r =-0.754,P<0.01 and r =-0.699,P<0.01).Conclusion The forearm MRI in DM1 patients exhibit a relatively specific distribution of selective muscle involvement and can be used to assess muscle weakness.

Research progress of anti-3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase myopathy / 中华神经科杂志

Anti-3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR) myopathy is one of the subtypes of immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy. Anti-HMGCR antibodies induce complement activation,subsequently resulting in myofiber necrosis,regeneration with autophagy abnormalities and mitochondrial changes. The age of onset is from children to adulthood. Some patients have a history of exposure to statins. Most patients are subacute onset. The patients with chronic progressive process, are more like muscular dystrophy. The main symptoms are proximal symmetrical weakness of limbs and usually accompanied with extra-muscle symptoms. The MRI showed muscle edema in all patients and fatty infiltrates in some patients. Myositis-specific auto-antibodies and muscle biopsies play key roles in diagnosis of HMGCR myopathy. Corticosteroids and immunosuppressants were first line therapy. Pediatric patients or patients with chronic course are usually refractory, and the efficacy of different combinations of immunosuppressants needs to be further investigated.

Differences in Contents and Formation Methods of Clinical Questions in Chinese and Korean Clinical Practice Guidelines of Acupuncture-Moxibustion: Scoping Review / 中国结合医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To analyze the differences in the needs of users and the value orientation of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) by comparing the contents and formation methods of clinical questions in Chinese and Korean CPGs of acupuncture-moxibustion (Acup-Mox).@*METHODS@#The full text of CPGs was systematically searched from the official websites of Chinese and Korean traditional medicine societies and Acup-Mox associations, with the topic "Acup-Mox for treating diseases" and the retrieval time up to September 28, 2022. Two researchers screened the CPGs independently, and extracted the guidelines' topics, content, quantity and formation methods of clinical questions. The quantitative data were collected by counting the frequency, and the qualitative data were classified and described by thematic analysis.@*RESULTS@#A total of 29 guidelines were included in this study, including 20 Chinese guidelines (305 questions) and 9 Korean guidelines (223 questions). The differences lie in the aspects of content and diversity, and formation method. As for content and diversity, Chinese guidelines focused mainly on the questions related to treatment such as the operation of specific intervention (86, 28.2%), efficacy of intervention (78, 25.6%), and also involving questions in diagnosis, prevention, and prognosis. While the clinical questions in Korean guidelines were concentrated to efficacy of intervention (218, 97.8%). As for formation method, in Chinese guidelines, questions were usually collected directly from clinicians, and then determined and optimized by experts. In Korean guidelines, frequently used clinical Acup-Mox interventions would be screened first. Then the expert group would set up corresponding intervention control measures so as to form clinical questions related to treatment efficacy.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The differences reflect the different needs of clinical practitioners, and the different aims or concepts in developing Acup-Mox guidelines between China and South Korea. Chinese guidelines emphasized promoting operation protocols and techniques of Acup-Mox for practical use, while Korean guidelines emphasized promoting the frequently used clinical intervention therapies. It is speculated that the guidelines from these two countries would play different roles in guiding clinical operation and supporting medical decision. In terms of formation methods of clinical questions, it is suggested to attach importance to optimizing process in formatting clinical questions to improve the clinical applicability of CPGs of Acup-Mox.

Clinical characteristics of children with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant infection in Kunming / 中华儿科杂志

Objective: To investigate the clinical characteristics of hospitalized children infected with the Omicron variant in Kunming after the withdrawal of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) and analyze the risk factors of severe cases. Methods: Clinical data was retrospectively collected from 1 145 children with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection who were hospitalized in six tertiary grade A hospitals in Kunming from December 10th, 2022 to January 9th, 2023. According to clinical severity, these patients were divided into the general and severe SARS-CoV-2 groups, and their clinical and laboratory data were compared. Between-group comparison was performed using t-test, chi-square test and Mann-Whitney U test. Spearman correlation test and multivariate Logistic regression analysis were used to determine the risk factors of severe illness. Results: A total of 1 145 hospitalized patients were included, of whom 677 were male and 468 female. The age of these patients at visit was 1.7 (0.5, 4.1) years. Specifically, there were 758 patients (66.2%) aged ≤3 years at visit and 387 patients (33.8%) aged >3 years. Of these children, 89 cases (7.8%) had underline diseases and the remaining 1 056 cases (92.2%) had no combined diseases. Additionally, of all the patients, 319 cases (27.9%) were vaccinated with one or two doses of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, 748 cases (65.3%) had acute upper respiratory tract infection (AURTI), and six cases died (0.5%). A total of 1 051 cases (91.8%) were grouped into general SARS-CoV-2 group and 94 cases (8.2%) were grouped into severe SARS-CoV-2 group. Compared with the general cases, the severe cases showed a lower rate of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and younger median age, lower lymphocyte count, as well as proportions of CD8+T lymphocyte (36 cases (38.3%) vs. 283 cases (26.9%), 0.5 (2.6, 8.0) vs. 1.6 (0.5, 3.9) years, 1.3 (1.0, 2.7) ×109 vs. 2.7 (1.3,4.4)×109/L, 0.17 (0.12, 0.24) vs. 0.21 (0.15, 0.16), respectively, χ2=4.88, Z=-2.21,-5.03,-2.53, all P<0.05). On the other hand, the length of hospital stay, proportion of underline diseases, ALT, AST, creatine kinase isoenzyme, and troponin T were higher in the severe group compared to those in the general group ((11.6±5.9) vs. (5.3±1.8) d, 41 cases (43.6%) vs. 48 cases (4.6%), 67 (26,120) vs. 20 (15, 32) U/L, 51 (33, 123) vs. 44 (34, 58) U/L、56.9 (23.0, 219.3) vs. 3.6 (1.9, 17.9) U/L, 12.0 (4.9, 56.5) vs. 3.0 (3.0, 7.0) ×10-3 pg/L,respectively, t=-20.43, χ2=183.52, Z=-9.14,-3.12,-6.38,-3.81, all P<0.05). Multivariate regression analysis indicated that increased leukocyte count (OR=1.88, 95%CI 1.18-2.97, P<0.01), CRP (OR=1.18, 95%CI 1.06-1.31, P<0.01), ferritin (OR=1.01, 95%CI 1.00-1.00, P<0.01), interleukin (IL)-6 (OR=1.05, 95%CI 1.01-1.08, P=0.012), D-dimer (OR=2.56, 95%CI 1.44-4.56, P<0.01) and decreased CD4+T lymphocyte (OR=0.84, 95%CI 0.73-0.98, P=0.030) were independently associated with the risk of severe SARS-CoV-2 in hospitalized children with Omicron infection. Conclusions: After the withdrawal of NPI, the pediatric inpatients with Omicron infection in Kunming were predominantly children younger than 3 years of age, and mainly manifested as AURTI with relatively low rate of severe SARS-CoV-2 infection and mortality. Elevated leukocyte counts, CRP, ferritin, IL-6, D-dimer, and decreased CD4+T lymphocytes are significant risk factors for developing severe SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Discussion on Collection of Clinical Questions in International Clinical Practice Guidelines of Acupuncture-Moxibustion / 中国结合医学杂志

The clinical questions of acupuncture-moxibustion (Acup-Mox) guidelines are complicated, including not only the curative effect of Acup-Mox intervention measures, but also the operational elements of Acup-Mox. This paper aimed to put forward the idea and process of collecting clinical questions in developing international acupuncture clinical practice guidelines. The experience was collected and the idea of collecting clinical questions of Acup-Mox was formed through expert consultation and discussion in combination with expert opinions. Based on the characteristics of Acup-Mox discipline. This paper put forward the thinking of collecting elements of clinical questions following the intervention-population-outcome-control (I-P-O-C) inquiry process, according to the discipline of Acup-Mox. It was emphasized that in the process of collecting clinical questions, "treatable population" and "alleviable outcome indicators" for a specific Acup-Mox intervention with certain therapeutic effect should be focused on, so as to highlight the pertinence of clinical questions of Acup-Mox guidelines in terms of population and outcome elements.

Mechanism of Danggui Sini Decoction in improving kidney injury caused by blood stasis syndrome based on metabolomics and network pharmacology / 中国中药杂志

This article analyzed the mechanism of Danggui Sini Decoction(DSD) in improving kidney injury caused by blood stasis syndrome(BSS) in rats. Firstly, 32 female SD rats were randomly divided into the following four groups: a normal group and a BSS group, both receiving an equal amount of distilled water by gavage; a normal+DSD group and a BSS+DSD group, both receiving 5.103 g·kg~(-1) DSD orally for a total of 14 days. Daily cold water bath was given to establish the BSS model, and on the 14th day, BSS rats were subcutaneously injected with 0.8 mg·kg~(-1) adrenaline. Normal rats were subjected to the water bath at 37 ℃ and injected with an equal volume of distilled water. After the experiment, 24-hour urine, serum, and kidney samples were collected for metabolomic analysis, biochemical measurements, and hematoxylin-eosin(HE) staining. The study then employed ~1H-NMR metabolomic technology to reveal the metabolic network regulated by DSD in improving BSS-induced kidney injury and used network pharmacology to preliminarily elucidate the key targets of the effectiveness of DSD. Pathological and biochemical analysis showed that DSD intervention significantly reduced inflammation and abnormal levels of blood creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, and urine protein in the kidneys. Metabolomic analysis indicated that DSD attenuated BSS-induced kidney injury primarily by regulating 10 differential metabolites and three major metabolic pathways(taurine and hypotaurine metabolism, citrate cycle, and acetaldehyde and dicarboxylic acid metabolism). Network pharmacology analysis suggested that the protective effect of DSD against BSS-induced kidney injury might be related to two key genes, ATP citrate lyase(ACLY) and nitric oxide synthase 2(NOS2), and two main metabolic pathways, i.e., arginine biosynthesis, and arginine and proline metabolism. This study, from the perspective of network regulation, provides initial insights and evidence into the mechanism of DSD in improving kidney injury induced by BSS, offering a basis for further investigation into the molecular mechanisms underlying its efficacy.

Analysis and thought on reaching the consensus during the development of acupuncture and moxibustion clinical practice guidelines in China / 中国针灸

Based on the 28 Chinese clinical practice guidelines of acupuncture and moxibustion, this study summarized and analyzed the contents related to reaching consensus during the development process. The results indicated that all the 28 guidelines reported they have used consensus in the "recommendations" section, and provided details on consensus personnel, consensus methods, consensus process and consensus materials. However, it was found that the reporting of consensus was in need of further improvement. The limitations included unclear definition and responsibilities of "expert group", obscure concept between "consensus meeting" and "expert discussion", non-rigorous process of reaching consensus when generating recommendations and lacking of detailed reporting of the consensus reaching process. As such, we suggested that future researchers should conduct researches to further standardized the consensus process when developing acupuncture and moxibustion clinical practice guidelines, so as to improve the quality and clinical applicability of guidelines．.

Statistical methods for relative risk estimation and applications in case-cohort study / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective: To systematically introduce the design of case-cohort study and the statistical methods of relative risk estimation and their application in the design. Methods: First, we introduced the basic principles of case-cohort study design. Secondly, Prentice's method, Self-Prentice method and Barlow method were described in the weighted Cox proportional hazard regression models in detail, finally, the data from the Shanghai Women's Health Study were used as an example to analyze the association between obesity and liver cancer incidence in the full cohort and case-cohort sample, and the results of parameters from each method were compared. Results: Significant association was observed between obesity and risk for liver cancer incidence in women in both the full cohort and the case-cohort sample. In the Cox proportional hazard regression model, the partial regression coefficients of the full cohort and the case-cohort sample fluctuated with the adjustment of confounding factors, but the hazard ratio estimates of them were close. There was a difference in the standard error of the partial regression coefficient between the full cohort and the case-cohort sample. The standard error of the partial regression coefficient of the case-cohort sample was larger than that of the full cohort, resulting in a wider 95% confidence interval of the relative risk. In the weighted Cox proportional hazard regression model, the standard error of the partial regression coefficient of Prentice's method was closer to the parameter estimates from full cohort than Self-Prentice method and Barlow method, and the 95% confidence interval of hazard ratio was closer to that of the full cohort. Conclusions: Case-cohort design could yield parameter results closer to the full cohort by collecting and analyzing data from sub-cohort members and patients with the disease, and reduce sample size and improve research efficiency. The results suggested that Prentice's method would be preferred in case-cohort design.

High-temperature requirement A serine peptidase 1-related cerebral small vessel disease / 中华神经科杂志

The high-temperature requirement A serine peptidase 1 (HTRA1) gene mutation results in cerebral autosomal recessive arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy and autosomal dominant cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD). This article described the definition, clinical features, magnetic resonance imaging manifestations, genetic and pathological examinations and treatment plans of HTRA1 related CSVD and highlighted the distinction between HTRA1 related CSVD and other inherited disorders with white matter involvement, and proposed a diagnostic pathway for timely recognition of HTRA1 related CSVD in a routine clinical environment. Ultimately, in addition to the conventional treatment of CSVD, effective targeted treatment methods still need to be established.

Clinical, myopathological and imaging features of pediatric anti-3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl- coenzyme A reductase myopathy / 中华神经科杂志

Objective:To determine the clinical, pathological and imaging phenotypes of pediatric patients with anti-3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR) myopathy to explore its diagnostic strategies.Methods:The clinical features of 10 pediatric patients with anti-HMGCR myopathy in the Department of Neurology, Peking University First Hospital from July 2014 to July 2021 were collected. Muscle biopsies were performed in all patients, with histological, enzymatic histochemical and immunohistochemical staining.Results:The male to female ratio was 6∶4, the age of onset was 3-16 (8.3±3.7) years, 2 cases had subacute onset, and 8 cases experienced chronic progressive onset. All patients presented with neck and proximal muscular weakness of all limbs. Skin rash was observed in 2 cases. Serum creatine kinase was 998-27 981 U/L. The electromyography results were available from 6 cases, who experienced myogenic changes. The muscle magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 5 cases and revealed muscle edema predominantly in posterior compartment of thigh, with mild fatty infiltrate in 2 cases. An initial diagnosis was limb-girdle muscular dystrophy in 7 cases, but with subsequently negative genetic testing. Muscle biopsies revealed scattered necrotic fibers and regenerating fibers, complement deposition in sarcolemma basement-membrane areas of non-necrotic fibers and a few of lymphocyte infiltrate in all specimens. Moreover, a high frequency of major histocompatibility complex Ⅰ expression in muscle fibers was observed in 9 cases, proliferation of connective tissue of endomysium in 8 cases, muscle fiber hypertrophy in 4 cases and vacuoles in 2 cases.Conclusions:Pediatric anti-HMGCR myopathy is frequently misdiagnosed as muscular dystrophy. Systematic consideration of anti-HMGCR myopathy and testing for myositis specific antibody in children with genetically unconfirmed muscular dystrophy may help the differential diagnosis.

Vacuoles in muscle fiber: pathological differences in various diseases / 中华神经科杂志

The vacuole in muscle fibers is a non-specific myopathological change. As a myopathological term, it occurs in several rare disorders. The vacuoles are mostly related to the autophagy of glycogen, lipids, abnormal proteins, and organelles, and a few are caused by glycogen or lipids deposition or sarcoplasmic reticulum luminal vacuolization. The vacuoles impair the structure of muscle fibers, being one of the myopathological features in various diseases. In this review, clinical features and myopathological changes of various diseases with vacuolar muscle fibers were introduced and the diagnostic value of intrafibral vacuoles was focused on. Knowing the underlying pathogenesis is required to understand these myopathological changes.

SPTLC2 gene mutation leads to intermediate Charcot-Marries-Tooth disease: a family report / 中华神经科杂志

Objective:To report a SPTLC2 gene mutation in a family with a phenotype of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.Methods:To screen the family of patients with pathogenic mutations of SPTLC2 gene from the database of hereditary peripheral neuropathy in the Department of Neurology, Peking University First Hospital, and to collect their clinical data, peripheral nerve conduction examination, nerve ultrasound examination, pathological examination of the peroneal nerve and whole exome sequencing results of prohand.Results:One family was screened, the proband was a 16-year-old female with 4 years of sensory loss and anhidrosis of both lower limbs and 16 months of walking difficulty who admitted to Peking University First Hospital in January 2022. Physical examination showed sensory loss, dry skin and weakness in distal limbs. Her father had numbness and dry skin in the distal lower limbs from childhood,weakness and atrophy of his lower limbs in adulthood. He died at age of 52 years old. The nerve conduction study revealed no action potentials of the sensory and motor nerves of the lower limbs in the proband. The amplitude of the compound muscle action potential of the motor conduction of the bilateral ulnar nerve and median nerve decreased, and the nerve conduction velocity of the bilateral median nerve were 32 m/s and 24 m/s. Neurosonography showed thickening of peripheral nerves. Sural biopsy revealed severe loss of myelinated and unmyelinated nerve fibers with onion bulbs formation. SPTLC2 gene showed a known heterozygous p.G435V mutation. The lower limb weakness was improved after oral L-serine.Conclusions:SPTLC2 gene mutation can lead to an intermediate Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease phenotype. L-serine can improve the limb weakness.

Characteristics of neuralgia in patients with Fabry disease in China / 中华神经科杂志

Objective:To summarize the characteristics of neuralgia in Fabry disease and explore the effects of genders and alpha-galactosidase A (GLA) gene mutation types on neuralgia.Methods:Questionnaires and Brief Pain Inventory evaluations were conducted on the recruited patients diagnosed as Fabry disease in Department of Neurology, Peking University First Hospital from January 2001 to April 2020. The characteristics of the neuralgia were summarized, and the portrait of neuralgia between male and female patients, and the patient groups carrying truncated mutations and non-truncated mutations of GLA gene was compared.Results:A total of 93 patients with Fabry disease were enrolled. The incidence of neuralgia was 91.4% (85/93),and the average onset age of pain was 9 years. The average remission age was 20 years with the remission incidence of 22.8% (18/79). Pain attack on extremities [96.5%(82/85)] was the most common form. The neuralgia relieving rate of male patients [17.5%(11/63)] was lower than that of females (7/16, χ2=5.01, P=0.025).Brief Pain Inventory scores showed that the degree of most severe pain attack within 24 hours of male patients (4.16±3.20) was higher than that of females (2.07±2.02, t=3.03, P=0.004),and the impact of pain on daily life [male 4 (7) vs female 0 (4), Z=-2.33, P=0.020], walking ability [male 5 (8) vs female 0 (2), Z=-2.87, P=0.004], daily work [male 5 (8) vs female 0 (2), Z=-3.10, P=0.002], relationship [male 2 (6) vs female 0 (3), Z=-2.67, P=0.008] and interests [male 4 (8) vs female 0 (3), Z=-2.81, P=0.005] of male patients was also higher than female patients. The truncated mutation group [1 (2)] only showed higher score on the current pain level than the non-truncated mutation group [0(0), Z=-2.89, P=0.003]. Conclusions:The neuralgia in Chinese patients with Fabry disease showed high incidence and early onset. Male patients presented more severe pain than female which led to a greater impact on life, while the type of GLA gene mutation had less impact on neuralgia.

Neurosonographic characteristics of peripheral nerve in transthyretin familial amyloid polyneuropathy / 中华神经科杂志

Objective:To study peripheral nerve morphology in patients with transthyretin familial amyloid polyneuropathy (TTR-FAP) using high-frequency ultrasonography (HFUS), and to evaluate the value of HFUS in diagnosis of TTR-FAP.Methods:Thirty-eight patients with TTR-FAP diagnosed by gene detection and 23 normal controls from June 2015 to June 2021 in Peking University First Hospital were enrolled in this study. Consecutive ultrasonography scanning was performed in 6 pairs of nerves of bilateral limbs with 30 sites. The cross sectional area (CSA), CSA variability and inter-nerve CSA variability data of the two groups were retrospectively calculated and compared.Results:Compared with the normal controls, TTR-FAP patients showed larger CSA values at most nerve sites of both upper and lower limbs, and there were statistically significant differences at M1(median nerve) [8.55 (6.90, 9.40) mm 2vs 10.05 (9.10, 14.10) mm 2, Z=5.58, P<0.001], M3 (median nerve) [(6.98±1.66) mm 2vs (9.29±2.30) mm 2, t=6.28, P<0.001], M5 (median nerve) [(8.91±1.81) mm 2vs (14.33±4.20) mm 2, t=9.84, P<0.001], U5 (ulnar nerve) [(6.20±1.93) mm 2vs (9.34±2.85) mm 2, t=7.31, P<0.001], Sci1 (sciatic nerve) [(53.50±17.24) mm 2vs (79.74±20.75) mm 2, t=7.57, P<0.001], Sci2 (sciatic nerve) [(53.66±14.21) mm 2vs (73.98±19.21) mm 2, t=6.82, P<0.001] and Tib (tibial nerve) [(31.05±8.43) mm 2vs (46.29±13.14) mm 2, t=7.84, P<0.001] sites. There was no statistically significant difference in CSA at each site among the different subtypes and disease severity of TTR-FAP patients ( P>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in CSA-variability of the median and ulnar nerves between the patients with TTR-FAP and the normal controls ( P>0.05). The side-to-side difference ratio of intra-nerve CSA variability of the ulnar nerve in the patients with TTR-FAP was smaller than that of the normal controls (1.15±0.10 vs 1.46±0.43, t=3.43, P=0.002), whereas no statistically significant difference of that in the median nerve was found between the two groups ( P>0.05). Conclusions:The most pronounced peripheral nerve thickening in the proximal limb segments with no signs of asymmetric distribution or lateralization is confirmed by HFUS in TTR-FAP patients and should be regarded as a marker of TTR-FAP. HFUS has clinical value in diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy in TTR-FAP patients.