The mechanical threshold alterations with different treatment from day 0 to day 24.

<p>The data are presented as means ± SD (n = 7). *<i>P<</i>0.05 <i>vs</i>. control, **<i>P<</i>0.01 <i>vs</i>. control, ***<i>P<</i>0.001 <i>vs</i>. control, ^#<i>P<</i>0.05 <i>vs</i>. pinch + Gal group, ^##<i>P<</i>0.01 <i>vs</i>. pinch + Gal group, ^###<i>P<</i>0.001 <i>vs</i>. pinch + Gal group.</p

The NCV alterations at different experimental conditions.

<p>Panel A: MNCV decreased significantly after sciatic nerve-pinch injury at day 16 and 24 as compared with that in sham-operated control animals. Gal treatment improved MNCV significantly at the same experimental time point. Panel B: SNCV decreased significantly after sciatic nerve-pinch injury at day 16 and 24 as compared with that in sham-operated control animals. Gal treatment improved SNCV significantly at the same experimental time point. The data are presented as mean ± SD (n = 7). *<i>P<</i>0.05, **<i>P<</i>0.01, ***<i>P<</i>0.001.</p

The thermal threshold alterations with different treatment from day 0 to day 24.

<p>The data are presented as means ± SD (n = 7). *<i>P<</i>0.05 <i>vs</i>. control, **<i>P<</i>0.01 <i>vs</i>. control, ***<i>P<</i>0.001 <i>vs</i>. control, ^#<i>P<</i>0.05 <i>vs</i>. pinch + Gal group, ^##<i>P<</i>0.01 <i>vs</i>. pinch + Gal group, ^###<i>P<</i>0.001 <i>vs</i>. pinch + Gal group.</p

Expression of mRNAs for Gal, GalR1, and GalR2 in DRG and SDH.

<p>Panel A: Gal mRNA levels in DRG after sciatic nerve-pinch injury at day 8, 16, and 24 without or with Gal treatment. Panel B: Gal mRNA levels in SDH after sciatic nerve-pinch injury at day 8, 16, and 24 without or with Gal treatment. Panel C: GalR1 mRNA levels in DRG after sciatic nerve-pinch injury at day 8, 16, and 24 without or with Gal treatment. Panel D: GalR1 mRNA levels in SDH after sciatic nerve-pinch injury at day 8, 16, and 24 without or with Gal treatment. Panel E: GalR2 mRNA levels in DRG after sciatic nerve-pinch injury at day 8, 16, and 24 without or with Gal treatment. Panel F: GalR2 mRNA levels in SDH after sciatic nerve-pinch injury at day 8, 16, and 24 without or with Gal treatment. The mRNA level was expressed as the ratio of control. The data are presented as mean ± SD (n = 7). *<i>P<</i>0.05, **<i>P<</i>0.01, ***<i>P<</i>0.001.</p

Semi-thin cross sections of sciatic nerve with toluidine blue staining.

<p>Panel A1, A2 and A3: The dystrophy appearance of nerve fibers after sciatic nerve-pinch injury at day 8, 16, and 24, respectively. The internal structure of the nerve was severely disorganized, sometimes with apparently enlarged nerve fibers (arrows) in Panel A1 or A2. Panel B1 and B2: The dystrophy appearance improved at day 8 and 16, respectively, after sciatic nerve-pinch injury with Gal treatment as compared with that in Panel A1 and A2. Panel B3: Most of the nerve fibers recovered to almost normal status at day 24 after sciatic nerve-pinch injury with Gal treatment. Panel C1, C2, and C3: Normal appearance of the sciatic nerve, with small and large diameter myelinated fibers regularly distributed in sham-operated control animals at day 8, 16 and day 24, respectively, after sham operation. Scale bar = 10 µm.</p

Relative expression (qPCR) of lncRNAs from RA patients and HCs.

<p>(A–E) The expression levels of five selected lncRNAs in 36 RA patients and 24 corresponding HCs. (A-D) The expression levels of four lncRNAs (NR_002838, uc001zwf.1, ENST00000456270, and NR_026812) in RA patients and HCs were significantly different. (E) The difference in lncRNA ENST00000566394 was not significant. (F) Comparison of the expression of five validated lncRNAs in microarray and qPCR results. A negative number indicates that lncRNAs were downregulated, and a positive number indicates the upregulation of lncRNAs. The heights of the columns in the chart represent the mean expression value of the log2 fold changes (RA/HC) for each of the five validated lncRNAs in the microarray and RT-qPCR data.</p

Correlations between differentially expressed lncRNAs and clinical characteristics in RA.

<p>(A-H) The expression level of ENST00000456270 was significantly positively correlated with serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-a; (I-L) the expression levels of NR_002838 and ENST00000456270 were significantly correlated with the SDAI.</p

Analysis of DE-lincRNAs and neighboring protein-coding genes (distance < 300 kb).

<p>Analysis of DE-lincRNAs and neighboring protein-coding genes (distance < 300 kb).</p

Expression profiles of lncRNAs(A/C/E) and mRNAs(B/D/F) in female RA patients.

<p>(A and B) Scatter-plot of differences in the lncRNA and mRNA expression. The X and Y axes are the mean normalized signal values (log2 scaled). The gray lines are 2-fold change lines. (C and D) Volcano plot of differentially expressed lncRNAs and mRNAs. The horizontal green line represents a P-value of 0.05, and vertical green lines represent 2.0-fold changes up and down. X axes are the fold change values (log2 scaled), and Y axes are the P-values (log10 scaled). (E) and (F) Hierarchical clustering analysis of lncRNAs and mRNAs with expression changes greater than two-fold and <i>P</i> value <0.05. RA patient group: R1, R2, R3; Healthy control group: C1, C2, C3. Red and green colors represent up- and downregulated genes, respectively.</p

Distribution of differentially expressed lncRNAs and mRNAs on chromosomess.

<p>Distribution of differentially expressed lncRNAs and mRNAs on chromosomess.</p