Peripheral nerve networks (PNNs) play a vital role in the neural recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI). Electroacupuncture (EA), as an alternative medicine, has been widely used in SCI and was proven to be effective on neural functional recovery. In this study, the interaction between PNNs and semaphrin3A (Sema3A) in the recovery of the motor function after SCI was observed, and the effect of EA on them was evaluated. After the establishment of the SCI animal model, we found that motor neurons in the ventral horn of the injured spinal cord segment decreased, Nissl bodies were blurry, and PNNs and Sema3A as well as its receptor neuropilin1 (NRP1) aggregated around the central tube of the gray matter of the spinal cord. When we knocked down the expression of Sema3A at the damage site, NRP1 also downregulated, importantly, PNNs concentration decreased, and tenascin-R (TN-R) and aggrecan were also reduced, while the Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) motor function score dramatically increased. In addition, when conducting EA stimulation on Jiaji (EX-B2) acupoints, the highly upregulated Sema3A and NRP1 were reversed post-SCI, which can lessen the accumulation of PNNs around the central tube of the spinal cord gray matter, and simultaneously promote the recovery of motor function in rats. These results suggest that EA may further affect the plasticity of PNNs by regulating the Sema3A signal and promoting the recovery of the motor function post-SCI.

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. Evidence shows that ischemic stroke (IS) accounts for nearly 80 percent of all strokes and that the etiology, risk factors, and prognosis of this disease differ by gender. Female patients may bear a greater burden than male patients. The immune system may play an important role in the pathophysiology of females with IS. Therefore, it is critical to investigate the key biomarkers and immune infiltration of female IS patients to develop effective treatment methods. Herein, we used weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to determine the key modules and core genes in female IS patients using the GSE22255, GSE37587, and GSE16561 datasets from the GEO database. Subsequently, we performed functional enrichment analysis and built a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. Ten genes were selected as the true central genes for further investigation. After that, we explored the specific molecular and biological functions of these hub genes to gain a better understanding of the underlying pathogenesis of female IS patients. Moreover, the “Cell type Identification by Estimating Relative Subsets of RNA Transcripts (CIBERSORT)” was used to examine the distribution pattern of immune subtypes in female patients with IS and normal controls, revealing a new potential target for clinical treatment of the disease.

Aims: This study aimed to investigate the effect of perineuronal net (PNN) and neurocan (NCAN) on spinal inhibitory parvalbumin interneuron (PV‐IN), and the mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) in promoting spinal cord injury (SCI) repair through neurocan in PNN.Methods: A mouse model of SCI was established. Sham‐operated mice or SCI model mice were treated with chondroitin sulfate ABC (ChABC) enzyme or control vehicle for 2 weeks (i.e., sham+veh group, sham+ChABC group, SCI+veh group, and SCI+ChABC group, respectively), and then spinal cord tissues were taken from the T10 lesion epicenter for RNA sequencing (RNA‐seq). MSigDB Hallmark and C5 databases for functional analysis, analysis strategies such as differential expression gene analysis (DEG), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), and protein–protein interaction (PPI). According to the results of RNA‐seq analysis, the expression of NCAN was knocked down or overexpressed by virus intervention, or/and EA intervention. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), immunofluorescence, western blot, electrophysiological, and behavioral tests were performed.Results: After the successful establishment of SCI model, the motor dysfunction of lower limbs, and the expression of PNN core glycan protein at the epicenter of SCI were reduced. RNA‐seq and PCR showed that PNN core proteoglycans except NCAN showed the same expression trend in normal and injured spinal cord treated with ChABC. KEGG and GSEA showed that PNN is mainly associated with inhibitory GABA neuronal function in injured spinal cord tissue, and PPI showed that NCAN in PNN can be associated with inhibitory neuronal function through parvalbumin (PV). Calcium imaging showed that local parvalbumin interneuron (PV‐IN) activity decreased after PNN destruction, whether due to ChABC treatment or surgical bruising of the spinal cord. Overexpression of neurocan in injured spinal cord can enhance local PV‐IN activity. PCR and western blot suggested that overexpression or knockdown of neurocan could up‐regulate or down‐regulate the expression of GAD. At the same time, the activity of PV‐IN in the primary motor cortex (M1) and the primary sensory cortex of lower (S1HL) extremity changed synchronously. In addition, overexpression of neurocan improved the electrical activity of the lower limb and promoted functional repair of the paralyzed hind limb. EA intervention reversed the down‐regulation of neurocan, enhanced the expression of PNN in the lesioned area, M1 and S1HL.Conclusion: Neurocan in PNN can regulate the activity of PV‐IN, and EA can promote functional recovery of mice with SCI by upregulating neurocan expression in PNN.

Introduction. Neuropathic pain is a commonly seen symptom and one of the most intractable comorbidities following spinal cord injury (SCI). Acupuncture has been widely used for neuropathic pain after SCI in clinical settings. There is no systematic review or metaanalysis evaluating the efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of SCI-induced neuropathic pain. Thus, this study aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the efficacy of acupuncture on SCI-induced neuropathic pain. Methods. Seven databases were comprehensively searched, including PubMed, the Cochrane Library, the Web of Science, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), the Chinese Biomedical Literature Service System (SinoMed), the Wanfang Database, and the Chinese Scientific Journals Database (VIP) from their inception to 30 September 2021. Two independent reviewers evaluated the eligibility of the data retrieved based on the pre-established eligibility criteria and assessed the methodological quality of the included studies using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. The outcome indexes in this study included the visual analogue scale, the numeric rating scale, the present pain intensity, and the pain region index. Sensitivity and subgroup analyses were also performed to specifically evaluate the intervention effects. In addition, publication bias was analyzed. Results. Six randomized controlled trials (145 participants in the experimental groups and 141 participants in the control groups) were identified that evaluated the application of acupuncture for neuropathic pain after SCI and were included in this study. The results of our study revealed that acupuncture had a positive effect on the pain severity (standardized mean difference (SMD): 1.40, 95 confidence interval (CI): 2.23; 0.57), the present pain intensity (MD=0.61, 95 CIs=0.98; 0.23), and the pain region index (MD=3.04, 95 CI=3.98; 2.11). In addition, sensitivity analyses showed that these results were robust and stable. Subgroup analyses indicated that electroacupuncture (EA) had better effects on SCI-induced neuropathic pain. However, a publication bias was observed. Conclusion. Available evidence appears to suggest that acupuncture may have a role in SCI-induced neuropathic pain management, but this remains to be determined.

Stroke is one of the leading causes of patients' death and long‐term disability worldwide, and ischaemic stroke (IS) accounts for nearly 80% of all strokes. Differential genes and weighted gene co‐expression network analysis (WGCNA) in male and female patients with IS were compared. The authors used cell type identification by estimating relative subsets of RNA transcripts (CIBERSORT) to analyse the distribution pattern of immune subtypes between male and female patients. In this study, 141 up‐regulated and 61 down‐regulated genes were gathered and distributed into five modules in response to their correlation degree to clinical traits. The criterion for Gene Ontology (GO) term and Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway indicated that detailed analysis had the potential to enhance clinical prediction and to identify the gender‐related mechanism. After that, the expression levels of hub genes were measured via the quantitative real‐time PCR (qRT‐PCR) method. Finally, CCL20, ICAM1 and PTGS2 were identified and these may be some promising targets for sex differences in IS. Besides, the hub genes were further verified by rat experiments. Furthermore, these CIBERSORT results showed that T cells CD8 and Monocytes may be the target for the treatment of male and female patients, respectively.

Objective: Cognitive impairment is notably prevalent among schizophrenic individuals and is acknowledged as one of the core features of the disorder. Despite the proliferation of literature on cognitive rehabilitation treatments for schizophrenia in recent years, there remains a dearth of systematic reviews and selections of research in this area. From a bibliometric perspective, this study aims to analyze and discuss the current state, developmental trends, and potential research hotspots of cognitive rehabilitation in schizophrenia over the past two decades.Methods: The Core database of Web of Science was utilized to retrieve articles on cognitive rehabilitation in Schizophrenia that were published from 2004 to 2024. Bibliometrics was applied to perform both quantitative and qualitative analyses of authors, institutions, countries, journals, references, and keywords, leveraging tools such as CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and the R software package Bibliometrix.Results: A total of 2,413 articles were encompassed in this study, comprising 1,774 regular articles and 373 review articles. The United States emerged as the country with the highest productivity and citation counts, engaging in academic collaborations with over 40 nations. This was followed by the United Kingdom and Spain. King’s College London stood out as the leading institution in the field. However, the article with the highest average citation rate was authored by Susan R. McGurk from the Dartmouth Centre for Psychiatric Research in the United States. Schizophrenia Research proved to be the most influential journal in this domain, with its articles being cited over 10,000 times.Conclusion: This study provides a comprehensive review of research achievements in cognitive rehabilitation for schizophrenia spanning from 2004 to 2024, and outlines global research hotspots and trends with future projections. Currently, methods for cognitive rehabilitation in schizophrenia and neural plasticity in the brain represent the cutting-edge of research. The safety, efficacy, and standardization of virtual reality are poised to emerge as potential future hotspots and trends in research. Additionally, the neurobiological foundations of cognitive remediation therapy constitute an unexplored territory ripe for further investigation.