Medicine
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Although thread embedding acupuncture (TEA) is widely used for facial nerve palsy (FNP) in Korea, it lacks clinical evidence. Therefore, a large-scale and long-term clinical trial is needed. It is necessary to standardize and optimize TEA treatment for clinical study. ⋯ The most frequent sequelae of FNP for which TEA was used as contracture around the mouth (75.3%). The most preferred treatment method was insertion of 6-10 monofilament threads using a 29-gauge needle at intervals of 2.2 ± 1.59 weeks in the sequelae period. The results of this survey can be used to standardize and optimize the procedure of TEA for FNP for further clinical research.
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The association between periodontitis and diabetes have been assessed by many cross-sectional studies, in which controlling confounding factors is important. Propensity score matching (PSM) may help address this issue. Therefore, we evaluated this relationship in a (PSM) analysis of individuals representing the general Korean population. ⋯ We included 9508 adults who were aged ≥ 19 years from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey VII (2016-2018) and performed logistic regression analyses before and after PSM. The PSM was based on periodontal disease (yes or no) using a 1:1 match ratio and included 5858 individuals (2929 per group). Confounding variables, such as age, sex, marital status, occupation, education, income, smoking and drinking habits, obesity, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertriglyceridemia, were matched and adjusted in the logistic regression analysis.
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To explore the mechanism of Epimedii Folium (HF) and Notoginseng Radix (NR) intervention in vascular dementia (VD). This study used the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP) database to collect the active ingredients and potential drug targets of HF and NR, the Uniprot database to convert drug target names into gene names, GeneCards, Drugbank, Therapeutic Target Database, and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man database to collect the potential disease targets of VD, and then combined them with the drug targets to construct the HF-NR-VD protein-protein interaction (PPI) network by Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting (STRING). Cytoscape (version 3.7.1) was used to perform cluster analysis of the PPI network. ⋯ KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed that TNF and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways may occupy the core status in the anti-VD system. Molecular docking results confirmed that the core targets of VD had a high affinity for the main compounds of the HF-NR couplet medicine. We demonstrated the multi-component, multi-target, and multi-pathway characteristics of HF-NR couplet medicine for the treatment of VD and provided a foundation for further clinical application and experimental research.
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Proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) is a world-wide leading cause of blindness among adults and may be associated with the influence of genetic factors. It is significant to search for genetic biomarkers of PDR. In our study, we collected genomic data about PDR from gene expression omnibus (GEO) database. ⋯ The expression of hub genes in GEO datasets was verified and a diagnostic model was constructed by LASSO as follows: index = IFI44L * 0.0432 + C1QTNF5 * 0.11246. IFI44L and C1QTNF5 might affect the disease progression of PDR by regulating metabolism-related and inflammatory pathways. IFI44L and C1QTNF5 may play important roles in the disease process of PDR, and a LASSO regression model suggested that the 2 genes could serve as promising biomarkers of PDR.
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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), evolved into a global pandemic. As ACE2 on the surface of alveolar cells of the lung epithelium is one of the potential target receptors for SARS-CoV-2, the respiratory symptoms are the most common presentation of COVID-19. The aim of our study was to investigate the morphological findings in lung tissue after being infected by SARS-CoV-2 and compare histopathologic changes in patients with COVID-19 infection history who died to those who survived. ⋯ As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, new complications following SARS-CoV-2 infection are identified. Newly observed entity in patients with COVID-19 infection history who survived is pulmonary pneumo-hematocele. The appearance of these lesion has become increasingly frequent.