Effects of lipoic acid on oxidative stress and damages to sensory nerve subgroups in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy

Objective: To explore the effect of lipoic acid on oxidative stress and damages to sensory nerve subsets in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Methods: A total of 150 patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy who had received treatment in the Hospital between January 2017 and July 2018 were selected. The patients were randomly divided into two groups, with 75 cases in each group. The control group was treated with Xueshuangtong Injection and Kallikrein, and the observation group was treated with lipoic acid plus medicines given to the control group. The nerve conduction velocity, blood pressure and blood glucose, serum lipids, and serum inflammatory factors were compared between the two groups. Results: The CPT values of the median nerve-ulnar nerves, bilateral superficial peroneal nerves and deep peroneal nerves in the observation group at 5 Hz, 250 Hz, and 2000 Hz were lower than those in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant. After treatment, the SOD in the observation group was higher than that in the control group, and the MDA and Hs-CRP were lower than those in the control group, where the difference was statistically significant. After treatment, the levels of blood pressure and blood glucose in the observation group were lower than those in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant. After treatment, LDL-C, TC, and TG in the observation group were lower than those in the control group, and HDL-C was higher than that in the control group. The difference was statistically significant. Conclusion: For patients with type 2 diabetes, lipoic acid can help improve the clinical treatment, which can improve the levels of blood glucose, blood pressure and blood lipid, increase nerve conduction velocity, and reduce the damage to sensory nerve subgroup.

Regional Metabolic Patterns of Abnormal Postoperative Behavioral Performance in Aged Mice Assessed by XH-NMR Dynamic Mapping Method

Abnormal postoperative neurobehavioral performance(APNP)is a common phenomenon in the early postoperative period.The disturbed homeostatic status of metabolites in the brain after anesthesia and surgery might make a significant contribution to APNP.The dynamic changes of metabolites in different brain regions after anesthesia and surgery,as well as their potential association with APNP are still not well understood.Here,we used a battery of behavioral tests to assess the effects of laparotomy under isoflurane anesthesia in aged mice,and investigated the metabolites in 12 different sub-regions of the brain at different time points using proton nuclear magnetic resonance('H-NMR)spectroscopy.The abnormal neurobehavioral performance occurred at 6 h and/or 9 h,and recovered at 24 h after anesthesia/surgery.Compared with the control group,the altered metabolite of the model group at 6 h was aspartate(Asp),and the difference was mainly displayed in the cortex;while significant changes at 9 h occurred predominantly in the cortex and hippocampus,and the corresponding metabolites were Asp and glutamate(Glu).All changes returned to baseline at 24 h.The altered metabolic changes could have occurred as a result of the acute APNP,and the metabolites Asp and Glu in the cortex and hippocampus could provide preliminary evidence for understanding the APNP process.

Mammographic density and risk of breast cancer recurrence and mortality

To the Editor:Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death among females.Due to the advantages of low pain,high resolution,and good reproducibility,mammography is widely used in early breast cancer clinical screening.Mammography density(MD)is the proportion of dense breast tissue in mammograms and is one of the strongest risk factors for breast cancer.Studies have shown that high MD increases breast cancer risk by 4 to 6 times.A previous meta-analysis of 13 case-control studies showed a positive correlation(odds ratio[OR]:1.52,95%confidence interval[CI]:1.39-1.66)between percentage dense area and breast cancer risk,[1]but it did not assess the relationship between MD and breast cancer prognosis.

Neuronal Network Dissection with Neurotropic Virus Tracing

The brain is a marvel of biological evolution,a highly complex organ including hundreds of different types of about 100 billion neurons.Understanding the structure and function of the brain is one of the most challenging scientific questions in the 21st century.Crucially,the structure of neural circuits and the mechanisms of neuronal information processing related to brain function are still poorly understood[1].A neural circuit is composed of a large number of synaptically connected neurons of different types and characteristics.It is the structural basis for the execution of various functions,such as perception,emotion,memory,and imagination,as well as other activities.Revealing the structure of neural circuits is the basic premise for understanding the mechanism of information processing in the brain[2].