Background: Sleep fragmentation is a persistent problem throughout the course of Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, the related neurophysiological patterns and the underlying mechanisms remained unclear.Method: We recorded subthalamic nucleus (STN) local field potentials (LFPs) using deep brain stimulation (DBS) with real-time wireless recording capacity from 13 patients with PD undergoing a one-night polysomnography recording, 1 month after DBS surgery before initial programming and when the patients were off-medication. The STN LFP features that characterised different sleep stages, correlated with arousal and sleep fragmentation index, and preceded stage transitions during N2 and REM sleep were analysed.Results: Both beta and low gamma oscillations in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep increased with the severity of sleep disturbance (arousal index (ArI)-beta_NREM: r=0.9, p=0.0001, sleep fragmentation index (SFI)-beta_NREM: r=0.6, p=0.0301; SFI-gamma_NREM: r=0.6, p=0.0324). We next examined the low-to-high power ratio (LHPR), which was the power ratio of theta oscillations to beta and low gamma oscillations, and found it to be an indicator of sleep fragmentation (ArI-LHPR_NREM: r=−0.8, p=0.0053; ArI-LHPR_REM: r=−0.6, p=0.0373; SFI-LHPR_NREM: r=−0.7, p=0.0204; SFI-LHPR_REM: r=−0.6, p=0.0428). In addition, long beta bursts (>0.25 s) during NREM stage 2 were found preceding the completion of transition to stages with more cortical activities (towards Wake/N1/REM compared with towards N3 (p<0.01)) and negatively correlated with STN spindles, which were detected in STN LFPs with peak frequency distinguishable from long beta bursts (STN spindle: 11.5 Hz, STN long beta bursts: 23.8 Hz), in occupation during NREM sleep (β=−0.24, p<0.001).Conclusion: Features of STN LFPs help explain neurophysiological mechanisms underlying sleep fragmentations in PD, which can inform new intervention for sleep dysfunction.Trial registration number: NCT02937727.

Background and aims: The mitotic catastrophe (MC) pathway plays an important role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression and tumor microenvironment (TME) regulation. However, the mechanisms linking MC heterogeneity to immune evasion and treatment response remain unclear.Methods: Based on 94 previously published highly correlated genes for MC, HCC patients’ data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and changes in immune signatures and prognostic stratification were studied. Time and spatial-specific differences for MCGs were assessed by single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptome (ST) analysis. Multiple external databases (GEO, ICGC) were employed to construct an MC-related riskscore model.Results: Identification of two MC-related subtypes in HCC patients from TCGA, with clear differences in immune signatures and prognostic risk stratification. Spatial mapping further associates low MC tumor regions with significant immune escape-related signaling. Nomogram combining MC riskscore and traditional indicators was validated great effect for early prediction of HCC patient outcomes.Conclusion: MC heterogeneity enables immune escape and therapy resistance in HCC. The MC gene signature serves as a reliable prognostic indicator for liver cancer. By revealing clear immune and spatial heterogeneity of HCC, our integrated approach provides contextual therapeutic strategies for optimal clinical decision-making.

Purpose: Accumulating evidence suggests that theta/beta ratio (TBR), an electroencephalographic (EEG) frequency band parameter, might serve as an objective marker of executive cognitive control in healthy adults. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has a detrimental impact on patients’ behavior and cognitive performance while whether TBR is different in OSA population has not been reported. This study aimed to explore the difference in relative EEG spectral power and TBR during sleep between patients with severe OSA and non-OSA groups. Patients and Methods: 142 participants with in-laboratory nocturnal PSG recording were included, among which 100 participants suffered severe OSA (apnea hypopnea index, AHI > 30 events/hour; OSA group) and 42 participants had no OSA (AHI ≤ 5 events/h; control group). The fast Fourier transformation was used to compute the EEG power spectrum for total sleep duration within contiguous 30-second epochs of sleep. The demographic and polysomnographic characteristics, relative EEG spectral power and TBR of the two groups were compared. Results: It was found that the beta band power during NREM sleep and total sleep was significantly higher in the OSA group than controls (p < 0.001, p = 0.012, respectively), and the theta band power during NREM sleep and total sleep was significantly lower in the OSA group than controls (p = 0.019, p = 0.014, respectively). TBR during NREM sleep, REM sleep and total sleep was significantly lower in the OSA group compared to the control group (p < 0.001 for NREM sleep and total sleep, p = 0.015 for REM sleep). TBR was negatively correlated with AHI during NREM sleep (r=− 0.324, p < 0.001) and total sleep (r=− 0. 312, p < 0.001). Conclusion: TBR was significantly decreased in severe OSA patients compared to the controls, which was attributed to both increased beta power and decreased theta power. TBR may be a stable EEG-biomarker of OSA patients, which may accurately and reliably identify phenotype of patients.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the predictive value of drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) for the outcomes of velopharyngeal surgery in adult patients with Friedman stage II and III obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS).Methods: A total of 39 male OSAS patients with Friedman stage II and III were retrospectively analyzed. Subjects with an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) > 5 events/h indicated by polysomnography (PSG) and typical symptoms, such as snoring, sleep apnea, and daytime sleepiness, were included in this study. All these patients underwent pre-operative DISE examinations and were treated by velopharyngeal surgery and evaluated by velum, oropharynx, tongue base, and epiglottis (VOTE) scoring system. Clinical, polysomnographic parameters (e.g., hypopnea, apnea, AHI, lowest oxygen saturation, etc.), cephalometric variables, and DISE findings were evaluated. The treatment outcomes were assessed by polysomnography at least 6 months after surgery.Results: All 39 patients showed complete velopharyngeal airway collapses during pre-operative DISE examinations. After surgery, the AHI was significantly improved from 50.2 ± 21.6 to 19.8 ± 19 events/h (P < 0.05). There were 23 responders (59.0%) and 16 non-responders (41.0%). The glossopharyngeal airway collapse degree (GA-CD) was significantly different between responders and non-responders (P < 0.05). The velopharyngeal airway collapse pattern (VA-CP) and GA-CD were independently predictive of treatment outcomes (both P < 0.05). Patients with non-lateral VA-CP and grade II GA-CD (collapse degree > 50%) had a significantly lower surgical success rate than those without (P < 0.05).Conclusion: The VA-CP and GA-CD in DISE examination are valuable for predicting the treatment outcomes of velopharyngeal surgery in patients with Friedman stage II and III OSAS. Patients with lateral VA-CP and grade I GA-CD are appropriate candidates for velopharyngeal surgery.

Objective: This study mainly aimed to investigate the effect of daily duration of chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) exposure on circulating growth hormone (GH)/insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) concentrations and body weight changes of premature rats.Methods: 40 healthy male SD rats aged six weeks were enrolled in this study. These rats were randomly divided into four groups (n = 10 per group), including normal control (NC) group (normal oxygen exposure every day), CIH-1 group (daily CIH exposure for 2 h), CIH-2 group (daily CIH exposure for 4 h), and CIH-3 group (daily CIH exposure for 8 h). The serum GH/IGF-1 concentrations and body weights in all rats were determined after 30 days of normal oxygen or CIH exposure.Results: No significant difference was found with respect to the baseline body weight among the four groups of rats. After establishments of animal models with a duration of 30 days, significant differences were found respect to body weight, body weight changes, and serum GH/IGF-1 concentrations among the four groups of rats with a same trend (all P < 0.05): the highest values were all in NC group rats, followed CIH-1 group, CIH-2 group, and CIH-3 group rats. Among all the rats, the body weight changes correlated significantly with both serum GH and IGF-1 concentrations (both P < 0.05).Conclusion: CIH decreases circulating GH/IGF-1 concentrations and causes growth delay in premature rats. Such effects could be aggravated by increased daily duration of CIH exposures.