Long-term auditory monitoring in children with Alport syndrome based on different degrees of renal injury / 临床耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

Objective:To investigate long-term auditory changes and characteristics of Alport syndrome（AS） patients with different degrees of renal injury. Methods:Retrospectively analyzing clinical data of patients diagnosed AS from January 2007 to September 2022, including renal pathology, genetic detection and hearing examination. A long-term follow-up focusing on hearing and renal function was conducted. Results:This study included 70 AS patients, of which 33（25 males, 8 females, aged 3.4-27.8 years） were followed up, resulting in a loss rate of 52.9%.The follow-up period ranged from 1.1to 15.8 years, with 16 patients followed-up for over 10 years. During the follow-up, 10 patients presenting with hearing abnormalities at the time of diagnosis of AS had progressive hearing loss, and 3 patients with new hearing abnormalities were followed up, which appeared at 5-6 years of disease course. All of which were sensorineural deafness. While only 3 patients with hearing abnormalities among 13 patients received hearing aid intervention. Of these patients,7 developed end-stage renal disease（ESRD）, predominantly males （6/7）. The rate of long-term hearing loss was significantly different between ESRD group and non-ESRD group（P=0.013）. There was no correlation between the progression of renal disease and long-term hearing level（P>0.05）. kidney biopsies from 28 patients revealed varying degrees of podocyte lesion and uneven thickness of basement membrane. The severity of podocyte lesion was correlated with the rate of long-term hearing loss（P=0.048）, and there was no correlation with the severity of hearing loss（P>0.05）. Among 11 cases, theCOL4A5mutationwas most common （8 out of 11）, but there was no significant correlation between the mutation type and hearing phenotype（P>0.05）. Conclusion:AS patients exhibit progressive hearing loss with significant heterogeneity over the long-term.. THearing loss is more likely to occur 5-6 years into the disease course. Hearing abnormalities are closely related to renal disease status, kidney tissue pathology, and gene mutations, emphasizing the need for vigilant long-term hearing follow-up and early intervention.

Inhibitory effects of a TRPM4 inhibitor 9-phenanthrol on electrical activity of INS-1 pancreatic β-cells / 药学学报

The Ca2+-activated monovalent cation selective transient receptor potential melastatin 4 (TRPM4) channel expressed in pancreatic β-cells is implicated in the β-cell function and insulin secretion, but how pharmacological function of TRPM4 channel affects membrane excitability of β-cells remains largely unknown. Here, we report that pharmacological inhibition of TRPM4 by specific inhibitor 9-phenanthrol attenuates electrical activities of pancreatic β-cells. In whole-cell current clamp recordings, 9-phenanthrol results in inhibition of action potential frequency induced by tolbutamide of the INS-1 pancreatic β-cells in a dose-dependent manner with an IC50 value of 14.99 ± 7.93 μmol·L-1. Similarly, 9-phenanthrol also inhibited action potential firing in INS-1 cells stimulated by current injection. Further recordings of β-cells demonstrate the significant inhibitory effects on action potential peak and action potential amplitude by 9-phenanthrol. Taken together, our results show the involvement of TRPM4 channel function in pancreatic β-cells depolarization and action potential, it provides pharmacological experimental methods and theoretical support for the study of TRPM4 channel in pancreatic β-cells.

Research progress on using traditional Chinese medicine and extracts for activating blood circulation in prevention and treatment of silicosis / 中国职业医学

Occupational silicosis features as irreversible pulmonary fibrosis, which is caused by long-term inhalation of free silica dust. The pathogenesis of silicosis is complex and there is no cure at present. Traditional Chinese medicine classifies silicosis fibrosis into the category of diseases as "pulmonary paralysis" and "pulmonary arthralgia", and its treatment is based on promoting blood circulation and activating qi. Traditional Chinese medicine for activating blood circulation is one of the commonly used medications, which has the effects of anti-oxidation, anti-inflammation, anti-fibrosis and immunomodulation, and has broad application prospect in the prevention and treatment of silicosis. At present, animal experiments and clinical studies have been carried out using the single Chinese herbs extracts that could activate blood circulation such as Salvia miltiorrhiza, Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort., Panax notoginseng, Curcuma longa L., peach kernel and Carthamus tinctorius L. as well as their compound herbs for the prevention and treatment of silicosis. The mechanisms of anti-pulmonary fibrosis and the efficacy and safety of treating silicosis and its complications were explored. There are also scholars studying Salvia miltiorrhiza, Curcuma longa L. and Danhong injection, Taohong Siwu Decoction and others for prevention and treatment of pulmonary fibrosis. Additionally, network pharmacological research, analyzing potential targets and pathways, were carried out to provide scientific rationale for prevention and treatment of silicosis. However, the effectiveness of research is still uncertain, and it cannot meet the clinical needs. In the future, it is necessary to explore the application of more high-quality active components of traditional Chinese medicine monomer or mixture of activating blood circulation in the prevention and treatment of silicosis, to provide new ideas and scientific basis for the prevention and treatment of silicosis using traditional Chinese medicine.

Establishment and evaluation of risk prediction model for the esophageal cancer via whole transcriptome analysis / 中国胸心血管外科临床杂志

@#Objective    To establish the gene-based esophageal cancer (ESCA) risk score prediction models via whole transcriptome analysis to provide ideas and basis for improving ESCA treatment strategies and patient prognosis. Methods    RNA sequencing data of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) and adjacent tissues were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. The edgeR method was used to screen out the differential genes between ESCA tissue and normal tissue, and the key genes affecting the survival status of ESCC and EAC patients were initially identified through univariate Cox regression analysis. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression analysis and multivariate Cox regression analysis were used to further screen genes and establish ESCC and EAC risk score prediction models. Results    The risk score prediction models were the independent prognostic factors for ESCA, and the risk score was significantly related to the survival status of patients. In ESCC, the risk score was related to T stage. In EAC, the risk score was related to lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis and clinical stage. The constructed nomogram based on risk score showed good predictive ability. In ESCC, the risk score was related to tumor immune cell infiltration and the expression of immune checkpoint genes. However, this feature was not obvious in EAC. Conclusion 聽 聽The ESCC and EAC risk score prediction models have shown good predictive capabilities, which provide certain inspiration and basis for optimizing the management of ESCA and improving the prognosis of patients.

A case report of anti-NMDAR encephalitis complicated with acute peripheral nerve damage / 中国综合临床

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis in combination with acute peripheral nerve damage is rare. A young female patient with anti-NMDAR encephalitis was admitted to Qianfoshan Hospital in Shandong Province on October 23, 2022. The main manifestations were abnormal mental behavior, consciousness disorders, and flaccid paralysis. Electromyography indicated axonal damage to the upper and lower extremities. Patient was in critical condition and admitted to the ICU with tracheal intubation for central hypoventilation. A combination of critical polyneuropathy was considered. The prognosis was good after hormone shock, immunosuppressive therapy, surgical therapy, anti-infection, respiratory support and symptomatic support. The diagnosis of anti-NMDAR encephalitis with acute peripheral nerve damage is difficult. Immune factors need to be considered and paraneoplastic syndrome should be differentially diagnosed.

Role of free radicals in cerebral ischemic tolerance of rats induced by limb ischemic preconditioning / 中国病理生理杂志

AIM: To explore whether free radicals participate in cerebral ischemic tolerance and the up-regula-tion of p38 MAPK and ERK signaling pathways in rats induced by limb ischemic preconditioning (LIP). METHODS: A total of 128 Wistar rats with permanent occlusion of bilateral vertebral arteries were randomly divided into sham group (n=16), cerebral ischemia (CI) group (n=16), LIP+CI group (n=16), DMTU (a free radical scavenger)+LIP+CI group (n=64) and DMTU+sham group (n=16). Six rats in each group were used to observe the delayed neuronal death (DND) in hippocampal CA1 region by thionin staining at 7 d after the end of operation. Other 10 rats in each group were used to de-tect the expression of p38 MAPK and ERK in hippocampal CA1 region by immunohistochemistry and Western blot. RE-SULTS: Lethal CI resulted in obvious DND in hippocampal CA1 region. However, LIP reversed the above injurious changes, represented by the decrease in histological grade and the increase in neuronal density compared with CI group (P<0. 01). Moreover, LIP significantly up-regulated the expression of p38 MAPK and ERK in hippocampal CA1 region com-pared with CI group (P<0. 01). Administration of free radical scavenger DMTU via femoral vein before LIP partially re-versed the neuroprotective effect of LIP, and blocked the up-regulation of p38 MAPK and ERK expression in hippocampal CA1 region in rats compared with LIP+CI group (P<0. 01). CONCLUSION: Free radicals are involved in the neuropro-tection and up-regulation of p38 MAPK and ERK expression induced by LIP in rats.

Anti-inflammatory Effect and Mechanism of Artesunate： A Review / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Inflammation， the basic pathological process of many diseases， can occur in various tissues and organs of the body and cause many diseases including cancer. So far， there are thousands of anti-inflammatory drugs on the market， but most of these drugs have adverse reactions of gastrointestinal injury， and can even cause greater damage to the body. In recent years， the research on the repurpose of Chinese medicine is in the ascendant， and the innovative research on the specific antimalarial drug artemisinin has attracted extensive attention from scholars in China and abroad. Artesunate is a water-soluble derivative of artemisinin， which has the characteristics of quick effect and low toxicity. In addition to its significant therapeutic effect on malaria， artesunate also has a potential anti-inflammatory effect. In this review， the anti-inflammatory effect and mechanism of artesunate were elaborated in detail by consulting the relevant literature. It was found that artesunate had good anti-inflammatory effects in the respiratory system， liver injury， osteoarthritis， dermatitis， kidney inflammation， colitis， neuroinflammation， and even in novel coronavirus disease 2019 （COVID-19）. It was concluded that artesunate mainly participated in apoptotic signal transduction， mediated immune regulation， and improved oxidative stress to play an anti-inflammatory role by acting on nuclear factor-κB （NF-κB）， nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 （Nrf2）， phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase （PI3K）/protein kinase B （Akt）/mammalian target of rapamycin （mTOR）， Toll-like receptor 4 （TLR4）/myeloid differentiation factor 88 （MyD88）/tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 （TRAF6）， high mobility group box 1 （HMGB1）/receptor for advanced glycation endproduct （RAGE）， and other pathways. Through the review of the anti-inflammatory effect and mechanism of artesunate， it is expected to provide a reference for the application of artesunate in inflammation resistance and further development and utilization of artesunate in the future.

Advances in immune checkpoint inhibitors combined with other treatments / 中国药科大学学报

@#As one of the most attention-attracting immunotherapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have been approved as the first-line drugs for the therapy of various types of cancers.Nevertheless, the single application of ICIs exhibited limited efficacy, and it is easy to develop drug resistance.Therefore, the development of combination therapies become a hot topic in this field to improve the efficacy of ICIs therapy.This article describes some new ICIs targets, reveals the mechanisms of resistance, and introduces the current status of combination other therapies with ICIs therapy systematically including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hyperthermia, antiangiogenic therapy, tumor vaccines, cytokine therapy and adoptive cellular therapy.Furthermore, the synergistic mechanism of combination therapy to enhance antitumor effect.Thus, this article provides solid references for personalized combination therapy according to the pathological characteristics of patients.

Thought on Improving Medical Students’ Strain Capacity in the Application of Ethics in Clinical Teaching / 中国医学伦理学

Improveing students’ strain capacity in the application of medical ethics is an important part of clinical teaching. This paper revealed the basic connotation of strain capacity in the application of medical ethics, emphasized the necessity for medical students to possess this quality, and emphatically expounded that training students in clinical teaching according to the five basic practical requirements of ethical adaptability. For practical problems, students’ ethical discrimination ability, ethical difficult problem handling ability, and comprehensive application ability of ethics and law should be improved according to practical requirements.

Geographic Variations in the Prevalence, Awareness, Treatment, and Control of Dyslipidemia among Chinese Adults in 2018-2019: A Cross-sectional Study / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the spatial patterns of the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control rates of dyslipidemia at the provincial level in China.@*METHODS@#A national and provincial representative cross-sectional survey was conducted among 178,558 Chinese adults in 31 provinces in mainland China in 2018-2019, using a multi-stage, stratified, cluster-randomized sampling design. Subjects, as households, were selected, followed by a home visit to collect information. Both descriptive and linear regression procedures were applied in the analyses.@*RESULTS@#The overall prevalence of dyslipidemia was 35.6%, and wide geographic variations of prevalence, treatment, and control rates of dyslipidemia were identified among 178,558 eligible participants with a mean age of 55.1 ± 13.8 years. The highest-lowest difference regarding the provincial level prevalence rates were 19.7% vs. 2.1% for high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, 16.7% vs. 2.5% for high total cholesterol, 35.9% vs. 5.4% for high triglycerides, and 31.4% vs. 10.5% for low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The treatment rate of dyslipidemia was correlated with the socio-demographic index ( P < 0.001), urbanization rate ( P = 0.01), and affordable basic technologies and essential medicines ( P < 0.001).@*CONCLUSION@#Prevailing dyslipidemia among the Chinese population and its wide geographic variations in prevalence, treatment, and control suggest that China needs both integrated and localized public health strategies across provinces to improve lipid management.

Exposure characteristics of common chemical pollutants and health risk assessment in indoor air of barber shops and beauty salons in Liaocheng City / 环境与职业医学

Background The presence of formaldehyde, ammonia, benzene, toluene, and xylene in indoor air of public places has been confirmed to cause health damage. The employees of barber and beauty shops are exposed to relatively enclosed space for a long time, and could surfer more serious health risks from indoor air chemical pollutants. Objective To analyze the concentrations of common indoor air chemical pollutants in barber shops and beauty salons in Liaocheng City, and explore potential health risks of the pollutants for employees. Methods Using a stratified randomized sampling method, 8 to 10 barber shops and 5 to 10 beauty salons were selected in the main urban area of Liaocheng City to conduct monitoring of the sanitary conditions of public places in winter and summer every year from 2016 to 2021; the indoor air concentrations of formaldehyde, ammonia, benzene, toluene, and xylene in the selected sites were measured, and a questionnaire survey was conducted to collect exposure characteristics of indoor pollutants. The concentration distributions of the five chemical pollutants were obtained from the monitoring data for 6 consecutive years, and the health risk assessment model recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was used to perform health risk assessment of inhalation exposure. Results In 2016–2021, the median indoor air concentrations of formaldehyde, ammonia, benzene, toluene, and xylene in the two types of sites were lower than the limits of Hygienic Indicators and Limits for Public Places (GB 37488-2019), but the concentrations of some monitoring sites were higher than the limits. The disqualification rates of the five pollutants in the barber shops were 16.8%, 2.7%, 2.4%, 6.4%, and 12.0%, respectively. The disqualification rate of formaldehyde was the highest in all pollutants (22.0%), while the disqualification rates of ammonia, toluene, and xylene were 1.3%, 2.0%, and 2.0% in beauty salons respectively. Both formaldehyde and benzene were found to have carcinogenic risks (CR) in the two types of public places. Both median values of CR were greater than 1.0×10−6, and both maximum values were greater than 1.0×10−4. Formaldehyde had the highest non-carcinogenic risk in the indoor air of barber shops and beauty salons. The median non-carcinogenic hazard quotients (HQ) of formaldehyde were both greater than 1, and the maximum values were 16.72 and 12.19 times of the standard value; ammonia and toluene had the lowest non-carcinogenic risks, and their maximum values of HQ were less than 1; the median HQs of benzene and xylene were far less than 1, but their maximum risk values of barber shop were greater than 1. Conclusion For the sake of worker's health, formaldehyde and benzene should be the indoor air pollutant control priority for barber shops and beauty salons in Liaocheng; formaldehyde poses the most serious health hazard to practitioners and should be given high attention and necessary measures to reduce the hazard; benzene poses certain carcinogenic risks, with some of its highest values exceeding 10−4, which is higher than the recommended safety threshold.

Acupuncture for Patients with Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria: A Randomized, Sham-Controlled Pilot Trial / 中国结合医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To determine the feasibility of conducting a full-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) and investigate the basic information and safety of acupuncture for patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU).@*METHODS@#A total of 80 participants with CSU from July 2018 to July 2019 were randomly assigned to receive active acupuncture (n=41) on a fixed prescription of acupoints or sham acupuncture (n=39) with superficial acupuncture on non-acupuncture points through the completely randomized design. Patients in both groups received 5 sessions per week for 2 weeks, and participants were followed for a further 2 weeks. Feasibility was assessed by recruitment and randomization rates, retention of participants, treatment protocol adherence, and the incidence of adverse events (AEs). The clinical primary outcome was the changes from baseline weekly urticaria activity scores (UAS7) after treatment at 2 weeks. Secondary outcomes included the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score of itching intensity, Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD), and Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA).@*RESULTS@#A total of 80 participants were enrolled. The recruitment rate of 24.02%, randomization rate of 100%, a loss rate of 6.25%, and no obvious AEs were observed in either group. The decrease from baseline in the mean UAS7 total score at week 2 in the active acupuncture group was -8.63 (95%CI, -11.78 to -5.49) and -6.21 (95%CI, -9.43 to -2.98) in the sham acupuncture group for a between-group difference of -2.42 (95% CI, -6.93 to 2.07). The change in the DLQI, VAS of itching intensity, HAMA, and HAMD were a slightly better improvement trend in the active acupuncture group than the sham acupuncture group, but the between-group difference was not significant.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Active acupuncture had a better improvement trend in alleviating symptoms, improving quality of life and regulating the mood of anxiety and depression in patients with CSU than sham acupuncture. (Registration Nos. AMCTR-ICR-18000190 and ChiCTR2100054776).

Guanxin V Relieves Ventricular Remodeling by Inhibiting Inflammation: Implication from Virtual Screening, Systematic Pharmacology, Molecular Docking, and Experimental Validation / 中国结合医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To reveal the anti-inflammatory mechanism of Guanxin V, which is prescribed for ventricular remodeling in clinical practice.@*METHODS@#Guanxin V-, ventricular remodeling-, and inflammation-related targets were obtained through an integrated strategy of virtual screening and systematic pharmacology, and then the shared targets were visualised with a Venn diagram. Guanxin V network and the protein-protein interaction network were drawn, and enrichment analysis was conducted. Finally, the main results obtained from the integrated strategy were validated by molecular docking and in vivo experiments.@*RESULTS@#A total of 251, 11,425, and 15,246 Guanxin V-, ventricular remodeling-, and inflammation-related targets were acquired, respectively. Then, 211 shared targets were considered to contribute to the mechanism of ventricular remodeling treated by Guanxin V. Guanxin network and the protein-protein interaction network were drawn, and enrichment analysis showed some cardiovascular-related biological processes and signaling pathways. Molecular docking revealed that the Guanxin V-derived compounds could align with key targets. Final in vivo experiments proved that Guanxin V reverses ventricular remodeling by inhibiting inflammation.@*CONCLUSION@#Guanxin V relieves ventricular remodeling by regulating inflammation, which provides new ideas for the anti-ventricular remodeling mechanism of Guanxin V.

Study on HBV-related acute-on-chronic liver failure risk factors and novel predictive survival model / 中华肝脏病杂志

Objective: To identify the predisposing factors, clinical characteristics, and risk factors of disease progression to establish a novel predictive survival model and evaluate its application value for hepatitis B virus-related acute-on-chronic liver failure. Methods: 153 cases of HBV-ACLF were selected according to the guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of liver failure (2018 edition) of the Chinese Medical Association Hepatology Branch. Predisposing factors, the basic liver disease stage, therapeutic drugs, clinical characteristics, and factors affecting survival status were analyzed. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to screen prognostic factors and establish a novel predictive survival model. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to evaluate predictive value with the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) and the Chronic Liver Failure Consortium Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure score (CLIF-C ACLF). Results: 80.39% (123/153) based on hepatitis B cirrhosis had developed ACLF. HBV-ACLF's main inducing factors were the discontinuation of nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs) and the application of hepatotoxic drugs, including Chinese patent medicine/Chinese herbal medicine, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, anti-tuberculosis drugs, central nervous system drugs, anti-tumor drugs, etc. 34.64% of cases had an unknown inducement. The most common clinical symptoms at onset were progressive jaundice, poor appetite, and fatigue. The short-term mortality rate was significantly higher in patients complicated with hepatic encephalopathy, upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage, hepatorenal syndrome, and infection (P < 0.05). Lactate dehydrogenase, albumin, the international normalized ratio, the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, hepatic encephalopathy, and upper gastrointestinal bleeding were the independent predictors for the survival status of patients. The LAINeu model was established. The area under the curve for evaluating the survival of HBV-ACLF was 0.886, which was significantly higher than the MELD and CLIF-C ACLF scores (P < 0.05), and the prognosis was worse when the LAINeu score ≥ -3.75. Conclusion: Discontinuation of NAs and the application of hepatotoxic drugs are common predisposing factors for HBV-ACLF. Hepatic decompensation-related complications and infection accelerate the disease's progression. The LAINeu model can predict patient survival conditions more accurately.

The prospect and challenge of liquid biopsy in the diagnosis and treatment of chest malignancy / 中华预防医学杂志

In recent years, the incidence of chest malignant tumors in China has increased year by year, which has seriously threatened the health problems of people. Among them, early screening and intervention of patients with chest malignancies is the key to cancer prevention. Early detection, early diagnosis, and early treatment as the "three early prevention" of clinical practice are conducive to improve the survival rate of tumor patients. As a non-invasive and real-time reflection of tumor status, liquid biopsy has gradually received attention in clinical diagnosis and treatment. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs), circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and exosomes as liquid biopsy "Three carriages" are not only widely used in the diagnosis, monitoring and prognostic evaluation of chest malignancies, but also face many unknown challenges. In this article, the application of liquid biopsy in chest malignancies in recent years is elaborated in detail, which provides a reference for the formulation of clinical tumor prevention and diagnosis and treatment strategies.

Identification of Q-markers for Schisandrae Sphenantherae Fructus in treating drug-induced liver injury based on network pharmacology, fingerprint and quantitative analysis / 中国中药杂志

This study aims to establish the ultra-performance liquid chromatography(UPLC) fingerprint and multi-indicator quantitative analysis method for Schisandrae Sphenantherae Fructus(SSF) and to screen out the potential quality markers(Q-markers) of hepatoprotection based on network pharmacology. The similarity analysis was performed using the Chinese Medicine Chromatographic Fingerprint Similarity Evaluation System, which showed that the similarity of the fingerprints of 15 samples from different regions ranged from 0.981 to 0.998. Eighteen common components were identified, from which 3 differential components were selected by cluster analysis and principal component analysis. The "component-target-pathway" network was built to predict the core components related to the hepatoprotective effects. Fourteen core components were screened by network pharmacology. They acted on the targets such as AKT1, CCND1, CYP1A1, CYP3A4, MAPK1, MAPK3, NOS2, NQO1, and PTGS2 to regulate the signaling pathways of lipid metabolism and atherosclerosis, hepatitis B, interleukin-17, and tumor necrosis factor. Considering the chemical measurability, characteristics, and validity, schisantherin A, anwulignan, and schisandrin A were identified as the Q-markers. The content of schisantherin A, anwulignan, and schisandrin A in the test samples were 0.20%-0.57%, 0.13%-0.33%, and 0.42%-0.70%, respectively. Combining the fingerprint, network pharmacology, and content determination, this study predicted that schisantherin A, anwulignan, and schisandrin A were the Q-markers for the hepatoprotective effect of SSF. The results can provide reference for improving the quality evaluation standard and exploring the hepatoprotective mechanism of SSF.

An improved extraction and nonradioactive thin-layer chromatography detection method of mycolic acid / 生物工程学报

Mycolic acids (MAs), i.e. 2-alkyl, 3-hydroxy long-chain fatty acids, are the hallmark of the cell envelope of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and are related with antibiotic resistance and host immune escape. Nowadays, they've become hot target of new anti-tuberculosis drugs. There are two main methods to detect MAs, 14C metabolic labeling thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer (LC-MS). However, the user qualification of 14C or the lack of standards for LC-MS hampered the easy use of this method. TLC is a common way to analyze chemical substance and can be used to analyze MAs. In this study, we used tetrabutylammonium hydroxide and methyl iodide to hydrolyze and formylate MAs from mycobacterium cell wall. Subsequently, we used diethyl ether to extract methyl mycolate. By this method, we can easily extract and analyze MA in regular biological labs. The results demonstrated that this method could be used to compare MAs of different mycobacterium in different growth phases, MAs of mycobacteria treated by anti-tuberculosis drugs or MAs of mycobacterium mutants. Therefore, we can use this method as an initial validation for the changes of MAs in researches such as new drug screening without using radioisotope or when the standards are not available.

Saliva microbiota and metabolite in individuals with caries or periodontitis / 中华口腔医学杂志

Objective: To detect and analyze the characteristics of oral microbiota in species composition, function and metabolism among caries, periodontitis and oral healthy individuals, hunting for the microbiome-derived biomarkers with specificity and sensitivity to estimate the occurrence of these two diseases. Methods: Saliva samples were collected from 10 patients with high caries risk [decayed-missing-filled teeth (DMFT)≥6, HC group] in Department of Endodontics, 10 patients with periodontitis of grade Ⅱ A-Ⅲ C (PG group) in Department of Periodontology and 10 oral healthy individuals (HH group) from School of Stomatology, The Fourth Military Medical University during from March 2022 to June 2022. A baseline examination was conducted on all participants, including their oral conditions of caries and periodontal health. Metagenomic sequencing (Illumina PE150 platform) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry were used to detect microorganisms and their metabolites in the samples respectively. The sequencing data were analyzed to obtain the information of microbial taxonomic composition, functional genes and metabolites in each group of samples. The basic oral conditions and saliva samples of subjects in each group were evaluated and collected by the same professional endodontist. Results: There were no significant difference in baseline characteristics such as age and sex among the subjects in each group (P>0.05). DMFT in HC group (9.0±1.7) was significantly higher than that in HH group (0) and PG group (0) (F=243.00, P<0.001). Sequencing data analysis showed that the taxonomic compositions of salivary microbiota in each group were mainly Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Fusobacteria at the phylum level, and Streptococcus, Neisseria, Rothia, Prevotella at the genus level. Differential analysis showed that, compared with the HH group, HC group and PG group had significant differences in taxonomic composition (P<0.05), and the most significant among them was Prevotella. At the species level, Prevotella pallens was the most significant change in HC group, and Porphyromonas gingivalis in PG group. Metabolite analysis showed that there were significant differences in metabolites between HC group and PG group. The results showed that, compared with the HH group, the most significant metabolite change was 3-hydroxy-1, 5-diphenylpentan-1-one in HC group (P=0.001) and N1 acetylspermine in PG group (P=0.002) respectively. Compared with the PG group, the metabolite of HC group with the most significant difference is D-glucosamine 6-phosphate (P=0.006). The metabolism gene function analysis showed that, the enrichment of carbohydrate metabolism related genes was highest in HC group, followed with HH group, and it was lowest in PG group. In addition, compared with the HH group, the abundance of functional genes related to glucose metabolism, such as ABC transporter and phosphotransferase system, were significantly decreased in PG group (P<0.05), but significantly increased in HC group (P<0.05). Conclusions: There is a significant correlation between the alternation of carbohydrate metabolism of salivary microbiota with the occurrence of caries and periodontitis. In the future, Prevotella pallens and 3-hydroxy-1, 5-diphenylpentan-1-one may be the potential biomarkers of caries; while Porphyromonas gingivalis and N1 acetylspermine work in the predictions of periodontitis.

Application of "major scientific issues and engineering technology difficulties in traditional Chinese medicine(2019-2021)" in national science and t echnology layout / 中国中药杂志

In order to judge the future development trend of science and technology, plan ahead and lay out the frontier technology fields and directions, China Association of Chinese Medicine(CACM) has launched consultation projects for collecting "major scienti-fic issues and engineering technology difficulties in traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)" for the industry for three consecutive years since 2019. Up to now, 18 projects have been selected as major issues for research, and some experience and achievements have been made. These projects have been applied in important scientific and technological work such as scientific and technological planning and deployment at all levels of national, local, and scientific research institutions, the selection and cultivation of major national scientific and technological projects, and the construction of innovation bases, giving full play to the role of the think tank advisory committee of CACM. This study reviewed the selection of major issues for the first time, systematically combed its application in the national layout of science and technology, and put forward the existing problems and improvement suggestions, aiming to provide new ideas for further improving the selection of major issues and research direction, providing a theoretical basis and decision support for the national scientific and technological layout in the field of TCM, and promoting scientific and technological innovation to facilitate the high quality development of TCM.

Guideline for clinical comprehensive evaluation of Chinese patent medicine (2022 version) / 中国中药杂志

Currently,the research or publications related to the clinical comprehensive evaluation of Chinese patent medicine are increasing,which attracts the broad attention of all circles. According to the completed clinical evaluation report on Chinese patent medicine,there are still practical problems and technical difficulties such as unclear responsibility of the evaluation organization,unclear evaluation subject,miscellaneous evaluation objects,and incomplete and nonstandard evaluation process. In terms of evaluation standards and specifications,there are different types of specifications or guidelines with different emphases issued by different academic groups or relevant institutions. The professional guideline is required to guide the standardized and efficient clinical comprehensive evaluation of Chinese patent medicine and further improve the authority and quality of evaluation. In combination with the characteristics of Chinese patent medicine and the latest research achievement at home and abroad,the detailed specifications were formulated from six aspects including design,theme selection,content and index,outcome,application and appraisal,and quality control. The guideline was developed based on the guideline development requirements of China Assoication of Chinese medicine. After several rounds of expert consensus and public consultation,the current version of the guideline has been developed.