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Background: The pathogenic mechanisms underlying the autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction in patients with chronic migraine (CM) remain unclear. This study investigated the pathogenesis of ANS dysfunction in this population. Methods: A total of 60 patients diagnosed with CM and 60 healthy subjects were recruited to participate in this study. The pupil diameter, pupil contraction velocity, latency, amplitude, and the maximum gradient recovery time were examined before, at 2 min and at 5 min after the cold pressor test, which was combined with the pupillary light reflex method. A brain 3D T1-weighted structural imaging scan, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan, and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scan were also acquired. Results: Patients with CM exhibited a longer recovery time to the maximum gradient at 2 min and at 5 min after cold pressing compared with the control group (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05, respectively). There was no significant difference in the pupil diameter, pupillary contraction velocity, latency, amplitude, blood pressure, or heart rate between the two groups (all P > 0.05). In the CM group, the regional homogeneity (ReHo) values of the left amygdala and left lateral hypothalamic area were significantly higher than those of other brain areas (P < 0.001, Alphasim corrected). The DTI scan of the whole brain area showed a lack of significant difference in DTI indices, including FA, MD, AD, and RD values between the two groups (P > 0.05, Alphasim corrected). Conclusion: The dysfunction of the left amygdala and left lateral hypothalamic area may be related to ANS dysfunction in patients with CM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It must be admitted that the incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) was on the rise all over the world, but the related treatment had not caught up. Further research on the underlying pathogenesis of CRC was conducive to improving the survival status of current CRC patients. Methods: Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) screening were conducted based on "limma" and "RobustRankAggreg" package of R software. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was performed in the integrated DEGs that from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and all samples of validation were from Gene Expression Omnlbus (GEO) dataset. Results: The terms obtained in the functional annotation for primary DEGs indicated that they were associated with CRC. The MEyellow stand out whereby showed the significant correlation with clinical feature (disease), and 4 hub genes, including ABCC13, AMPD1, SCNN1B and TMIGD1, were identified in yellow module. Nine datasets from Gene Expression Omnibus database confirmed these four genes were significantly down-regulated and the survival estimates for the low-expression group of these genes were lower than for the high-expression group in Kaplan-Meier survival analysis section. MEXPRESS suggested that down-regulation of some top hub genes may be caused by hypermethylation. Receiver operating characteristic curves indicated that these genes had certain diagnostic efficacy. Moreover, tumor-infiltrating immune cells and gene set enrichment analysis for hub genes suggested that there were some associations between these genes and the pathogenesis of CRC. Conclusion: This study identified modules that were significantly associated with CRC, four novel hub genes, and further analysis of these genes. This may provide a little new insights and directions into the potential pathogenesis of CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]