Brain effect mechanism of lever positioning manipulation on LDH analgesia based on multimodal MRI: a study protocol.

INTRODUCTION: The clinical symptoms of Lumbar Disc Herniation (LDH) can be effectively ameliorated through Lever Positioning Manipulation (LPM), which is closely linked to the brain's pain-regulating mechanisms. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) offers an objective and visual means to study how the brain orchestrates the characteristics of analgesic effects. From the perspective of multimodal MRI, we applied functional MRI (fMRI) and Magnetic Resonance Spectrum (MRS) techniques to comprehensively evaluate the characteristics of the effects of LPM on the brain region of LDH from the aspects of brain structure, brain function and brain metabolism. This multimodal MRI technique provides a biological basis for the clinical application of LPM in LDH. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A total of 60 LDH patients and 30 healthy controls, matched by gender, age, and years of education, will be enrolled in this study. The LDH patients will be divided into two groups (Group 1, n = 30; Group 2, n = 30) using a random number table method. Group 1 will receive LPM treatment once every two days, for a total of 12 times over 4 weeks. Group 2 will receive sham LPM treatment during the same period as Group 1. All 30 healthy controls will be divided into Group 3. Multimodal MRI will be performed on Group 1 and Group 2 at three time points (TPs): before LPM (TP1), after one LPM session (TP2), and after a full course of LPM treatment. The healthy controls (Group 3) will not undergo LPM and will be subject to only a single multimodal MRI scan. Participants in both Group 1 and Group 2 will be required to complete clinical questionnaires. These assessments will focus on pain intensity and functional disorders, using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) scoring systems, respectively. DISCUSSION: The purpose of this study is to investigate the multimodal brain response characteristics of LDH patients after treatment with LPM, with the goal of providing a biological basis for clinical applications. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05613179 , identifier: NCT05613179.

Complement C1q (C1qA, C1qB, and C1qC) May Be a Potential Prognostic Factor and an Index of Tumor Microenvironment Remodeling in Osteosarcoma.

The tumor microenvironment (TME) has important effects on the tumorigenesis and development of osteosarcoma (OS). However, the dynamic mechanism regulating TME immune and matrix components remains unclear. In this study, we collected quantitative data on the gene expression of 88 OS samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and downloaded relevant clinical cases of OS from the TARGET database. The proportions of tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TICs) and the numbers of immune and matrix components were determined by CIBERSORT and ESTIMATE calculation methods. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network construction and Cox regression analysis were conducted to analyze differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The complement components C1qA, C1qB and C1qC were then determined to be predictive factors through univariate Cox analysis and PPI cross analysis. Further analysis found that the levels of C1qA, C1qB and C1qC expression were positively linked to OS patient survival time and negatively correlated with the clinicopathological feature percent necrosis at definitive surgery. The results of gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) demonstrated that genes related to immune functions were significantly enriched in the high C1qA, C1qB and C1qC expression groups. Proportion analysis of TICs by CIBERSORT showed that the levels of C1qA, C1qB and C1qC expression were positively related to M1 and M2 macrophages and CD8+ cells and negatively correlated with M0 macrophages. These results further support the influence of the levels of C1qA, C1qB and C1qC expression on the immune activity of the TME. Therefore, C1qA, C1qB and C1qC may be potential indicators of remodeling in the OS TME, which is helpful to predict the prognosis of patients with OS and provide new ideas for immunotherapy for OS.

[Simultaneous Determination of Three Components in Ficus microcarpa Leaves by HPLC].

OBJECTIVE: To develop an HPLC method for the content determination of benzoic acid, 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid and acetosyringonecas in Ficus microcarpa Leaves. METHODS: The determination was performed on Purospher® STAR C18 (250 mm x 4.6 mm,5 µm). The mobile phase was consisted of acetonitrile-0.2% phosphoric acid aqueous solution with linear gradient elution and the flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The column temperature was set at 35 °C and the detection wavelength was 270 nm. RESULTS: The linear range of benzoic acid, 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid and acetosyringonecas was 0.0121-1.21 µg (r = 0.9995), 0.423-42.32 [Lg ( r = 0.9999) and 0.047-4.70 pg( r = 0. 9996) , respectively. The average recovery was 100.7, 101.2 and 96.5 respectively. CONCLUSION: This method is simple,reproducible,and can be used for determination of three components of benzoic acid, 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid and acetosyringonecas in Ficus microcarpa Leaves.

[Study on Effective Parts of Ficus microcarpa Leaves by Serum HPLC Fingerprint].

OBJECTIVE: To study the relevance between the drug effects and serum HPLC fingerprint of chemical constituents in blood from Ficus microcarpa leaves. METHODS: Fingerprints of the preparation and drug-containing serum of rats were established by HPLC. Based on the fingerprints, chemical constituents in blood were investigated. RESULTS: There were seven common peaks in the HPLC fingerprints of drug-containing serum of rats. Polarity fraction of the chemical constituents in blood existed in the ethyl acetate extract, and five fingerprint peaks of serum HPLC fingerprint existed in n-butanol extract. CONCLUSION: Determination of the component groups in blood provides some data on material basis study in vivo for Ficus microcarpa leaves.