Publications by authors named "Zejun Chen"

Introduction: Thyroid cancer is one of the most common endocrine malignancies globally, with a markedly higher incidence in women. Although pregnancy-induced hypertension is recognized as a risk factor, the underlying mechanisms linking hypertension and thyroid cancer remain poorly understood. This study explores the gender-specific associations between family history of hypertension and thyroid cancer, integrating clinical characteristics with genetic insights.

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Although lipid metabolism is a critical factor in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy (DR), the connection between lipidome and DR is still a subject of debate. We aimed to demonstrate that lipidome could serve as novel biomarkers for DR and elucidate the mediating role of inflammatory factors. Data for our investigation are available from the GWAS catalogue and FinnGen Biobank.

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Diagnosing rare diseases is challenging due to their low prevalence, diverse presentations, and limited recognition, often leading to diagnostic delays and errors. This study evaluates the effectiveness of multiple large language models (LLMs) in identifying rare diseases, comparing their performance with that of human physicians using real clinical cases. We analyzed 152 rare disease cases from the Chinese Medical Case Repository using four LLMs: ChatGPT-4o, Claude 3.

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The reciprocal connection between cell migration and proliferation relies on the intertwined contributions from substrate-associated and intercellular cues in the microenvironment. However, how cells perceive the substrates, make contact with their neighbors, and switch phenotypes under different trade-off conditions are still not fully understood. Here, we designed a distinct heterogeneous electric surface potential gradient of piezoelectric biomaterials to decouple the density-dependent migration/proliferation dichotomy.

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Objective: To analyze the prevalence of myopia among children and adolescents in Chengdu from 2021 to 2023, providing insights for myopia prevention and control.

Methods: This study was a school-based cross-sectional study in children and adolescents aged 3-18 years in Hi-tech District of Chengdu City. All the students underwent comprehensive ocular measurement, including uncorrected binocular visual acuity (VA), spherical equivalent error (SER) with noncycloplegic autorefraction, corneal radius (CR), and axial length (AL).

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Background: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most important complication of Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) in eyes. Despite its prevalence, the early detection and management of DR continue to pose considerable challenges. Our research aims to elucidate potent drug targets that could facilitate the identification of DR and propel advancements in its therapeutic strategies.

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Diabetic Foot Ulcer (DFU) is a major complication of diabetes that mostly affects the lower extremities, with a high incidence and recurrence rate in approximately 15% of patients with diabetes. The complexity of diabetic wounds poses a substantial challenge for clinical recovery, underscoring the need to investigate novel therapeutic approaches. Medicinal plants have been used to treat ulcers for centuries.

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Neuroinflammation, especially microglia/macrophage activation, is a hallmark of spinal cord injury (SCI). Jisuikang (JSK) is a clinical experiential Chinese herbal formula for SCI therapy containing Huangqi (Astragali Radix), Danggui (Angelica sinensis Radix), Chishao (Paeoniae Radix Rubra), Dilong (earthworm, Pheretima aspergillum), Chuanxiong (Chuanxiong Rhizoma), Taoren (Persicae Seman) and Honghua (Carthami Flos). Eighteen active ingredients in 6 herbs of JSK were found to be correlated with inflammation, spinal injury and other diseases.

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Exercise has been recognized as an effective intervention in the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), supported by numerous studies. However, the precise effects of exercise on pulmonary function remain to be fully elucidated. In this study, using a rat model of swimming exercise training and monocrotaline-induced PAH, we aimed to explore its impact on pulmonary morphology and function.

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Background: Glioma is the most common cancer of the central nervous system with poor therapeutic response and clinical prognosis. Insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor () signaling is implicated in tumor development and progression and induces apoptosis of cancer cells following functional inhibition. However, the relationship between the -related signaling pathway genes and glioma prognosis or immunotherapy/chemotherapy is poorly understood.

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Background: Apolygus lucorum is one of the most important piercing-sucking insect pests of the tea plant In this study, we assessed the attractiveness of basil plants to A. lucorum and the effectiveness of Ocimum gratissimum L. in the control of A.

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Background: Intervertebral disc degeneration and sarcopenia are both age-related diseases without effective treatments. Their comorbidities may worsen the prognosis, and further studies on interaction and therapy are needed. The purpose of the study was to investigate the prevalence of sarcopenia in intervertebral disc degeneration, and to compare the characteristics of intervertebral disc degeneration with and without sarcopenia and effects of interferential current.

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Background: Many researchers have investigated the use of Chinese herbs to delay the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) through their effects on colonic microflora and microbiota-derived metabolites. However, whether FuZhengHuaYuJiangZhuTongLuo (FZHY) has effects that are similar to those of AST-120 on CKD needs to be elucidated.

Methods: In this study, we compared the effects of FZHY and AST-120 on the colonic microbiota and plasma metabolites in the CKD rat model.

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Background:  Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and thrombosis are linked, but the biomolecular mechanism is unclear. We aimed to investigate the causal relationship between COVID-19 and thrombotic biomarkers.

Methods:  We used two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) to assess the effect of COVID-19 on 20 thrombotic biomarkers.

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Background: To find out if three-dimensional printing (3DP) off-the-shelf (OTS) prosthesis is superior to titanium mesh cages in anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion (ACCF) when treating single-segment degenerative cervical spondylotic myelopathy (DCSM).

Methods: DCSM patients underwent ACCF from January 2016 to January 2019 in a single center were included. Patients were divided into the 3DP group (28) and the TMC group (23).

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Background: For patients with multilevel degenerative cervical myelopathy, laminectomy and posterior cervical fusions (PCF) with instrumentation are widely accepted techniques for symptom relief. However, hardware failure is not rare and results in neck pain or even permanent neurological lesions. There are no in-depth studies of hardware-related complications following laminectomy and PCF with instrumentation.

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Transmitter dispersion eye closure quaternary (TDECQ) is a vital metric to characterize the quality of four-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-4) optical signals. However, the traditional TDECQ assessment scheme is complex and time consuming, with heavy iterative operations. Therefore, accelerating the TDECQ assessment has great significance for photonic data-center interconnection (DCI) applications.

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Background: Sarcopenia and osteoporosis are common diseases that predominantly affect older individuals. The interaction between muscle and skeleton exerts pivotal roles in bone remodeling. This study aimed to explore the function of myoblast-derived exosomal Prrx2 in osteogenic differentiation and its potential mechanisms.

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Purpose: To explore the potential impact of traditional Chinese herb FuZhengHuaYuJiangZhuTongLuo recipe (FZHY) on renal interstitial fibrosis (RIF) in chronic kidney disease (CKD) at cellular and molecular levels.

Methods: Unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) rats were established as the RIF model in vivo. The rats were given intragastric administration with FZHY once a day for consecutive 7, 14 and 21 days, respectively.

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Object: To investigate the stability and cost-effectiveness of the three-dimensional-printed (3DP) off-the-shelf (OTS) prosthesis in the reconstruction of the anterior column of the thoracic/lumbar spine after tumor resection.

Methods: Thirty-five patients (26 with primary malignant tumors and nine with metastatic malignant tumors) who underwent tumor resection and anterior column reconstruction between January 2014 and January 2019 were included in a single institute. Patients were divided into the 3DP OTS prosthesis (3DP) group (n = 14) and the titanium mesh cage (TMC) group (n = 21) by the type of implant.

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Objective: Exploring the risk factors of conjunctival squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) and establishing a prognostic model.

Methods: Information on patients with CSCC was extracted from the SEER database, conducting a retrospective study. 650 patients with CSCC were finally included in the model.

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Background: Chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) is one of the common clinical intracranial hemorrhagic disorders, accounting for 16%-20% of bilateral CSDH. At present, the surgical treatment of bilateral CSDH mainly includes drilling drainage and neuroendoscopic assistance. The main objective of this paper was to compare the effects of two surgical methods on CSDH.

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This work aims at investigating the protective effects of the mitochondria-targeted peptide SS31, on mitochondria function, preventing human retinal pigment epithelial cell-19 (ARPE-19) cell apoptosis. The ARPE-19 cells were subjected to 24 h of intervention with HO of various concentrations (0, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, and 500 mol/L). Various concentrations of SS31 (10 nM, 100 nM, and 1 mol/L) pretreated the cells for 2 h.

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Background: Alteration of intestinal flora and metabolites is closely related to chronic kidney disease (CKD) across early to advanced stages. FuZhengHuaYuJiangZhuTongLuoFang prescription (FZHY) is a Chinese herb that has been proven to effectively treat CKD, but the underlying mechanism is not clear.

Methods: Rats were subjected to intragastric treatment with FZHY 7, 14, and 21 days after unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) surgery, and kidney tissue, colon tissue, serum, and stool samples were collected.

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