Application of valve removal technique in improved endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

AIM: To investigate the efficacy of valve removal technology in improved endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy.METHODS: Prospective randomized controlled study. A total of 92 patients(98 eyes)with nasolacrimal duct obstruction who underwent endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy in our hospital from November 2020 to September 2022 were selected as the study subjects and they were randomly divided into group A(traditional group)and group B(improved group). The nasal mucosal flap was preserved after incision of the nasal mucosa in group A, the lacrimal sac flap and nasal mucosal flap were trimmed to an appropriate shape after the incision of the lacrimal sac, and the lacrimal sac flap the nasal mucosal flap were matched up. Group B made a “□” shaped incision on the nasal mucosa to remove the complete square nasal mucosa tissue. After the lacrimal sac was incised, the lacrimal sac mucosa was preserved as much as possible, and then the residual nasal mucosa was trimmed to make the lacrimal sac flap close to but not in contact with the residual nasal mucosa. Furthermore, the intraoperative bleeding volume and surgical duration of two groups of patients were recorded, and follow up until 3 mo postoperative. Nasal endoscopy and lacrimal duct flushing examinations were performed at 1 and 3 mo postoperative, respectively. The proliferation of granulation tissue within 5 mm of the ostial postoperative and the therapeutic effect were observed.RESULTS: At 3 mo postoperatively, 6 patients(7 eyes)who were lost to follow-up were excluded. A total of 44 eyes were included in group A, and 47 eyes were included in group B. The bleeding volume [27.00(22.00, 41.00)mL] and the surgical duration [35.00(33.00, 42.00)min] in group B were significantly lower than those in the group A(P<0.001). At 1 mo postoperatively, granulation tissue hyperplasia was observed within 5 mm of the ostial in 12 eyes of group A. In group B, granulation tissue hyperplasia was observed within 5 mm of the ostial in 1 eye. At 3 mo postoperatively, there were 9 eyes in group A with ostial adhesions but incomplete closure, and 2 eyes with complete closure; group B had 1 eye with mild adhesions at the ostial site and no ostial closure. The postoperative complications in the group B were significantly less than those in the group A(P<0.05), and the therapeutic effect was better than that in the group A(P<0.05).CONCLUSION: The application of valve removal technology in improving endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy not only significantly reduces intraoperative bleeding and surgical duration, but also effectively reduces postoperative complications and improves surgical efficacy.

Progress on targets and therapeutic drugs for pancreatic cancer / 药学学报

Pancreatic cancer is a highly malignant tumor with a poor prognosis. It is very hard to treat pancreatic cancers for their high heterogeneity, complex tumor microenvironment, and drug resistance. Currently, gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel, capecitabine and FOLFIRINOX are standard chemotherapy for resectable or advanced metastatic pancreatic cancer. Considering the limited efficacy and toxic side effects of chemotherapy, targeted and immune drugs have gradually attracted attention and made some progress. In this article, we systematically reviewed the chemotherapeutic drugs, targets and related targeted drugs, and immunotherapy drugs for pancreatic cancer.

Protective Effect and Mechanism of Kuntai Capsule on Angiotensin II -Induced Hypertension in Ovariectomized Rats / 中国结合医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the protective effect and mechanism of Kuntai (KT) Capsule on angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced hypertension in ovariectomized (OVX) rats.@*METHODS@#Fifty-four rats were randomly divided into 6 groups according to a random number table, 9 in each group: control, OVX sham+Ang II, OVX, OVX+Ang II, OVX+Ang II +E2, and OVX+Ang II +KT. OVX rats model was constructed by retroperitoneal bilateral ovariectomy. After 4 weeks of pretreatment with KT Capsule [0.8 g/(kg·d) and 17- β -estradiol (E2, 1.2 mg/(kg·d)] respectively, Ang II was injected into a micro-osmotic pump with a syringe to establish a hypertensive rat model. Blood pressure of rat tail artery was measured in a wake state of rats using a non-invasive sphygmomanometer. Blood pressure changes were compared between the intervention groups (OVX+Ang II +KT, OVX+Ang II +E2) and the negative control group (OVX+Ang II). Serum malondialdehyde (MDA) level and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were detected respectively. The expressions of oxidative stress-related protein superoxide dismutase2 (SOD2) and anti-thioredoxin (TRX), autophagy marker protein [beclin1, light chain (LC) 3 II/I ratio and autophagy canonical pathway protein phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/serine/threonine kinase (AKT)-mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)] were evaluated by Western blotting.@*RESULTS@#Compared with the OVX+Ang II group, the systolic blood pressure of OVX+Ang II +KT group was significantly lowered (P<0.05) but not the diastolic blood pressure. Besides, SOD2 and TRX protein levels in mycardial tissues were significantly reduced in the OVX+Ang II +KT group compared with the OVX+Ang II group (P<0.05). Oxidative stress serum markers MDA and SOD were down- and up-regulated in the OVX+Ang II +KT group, respectively (P<0.05). Compared with OVX+Ang II group, the levels of cardiac proteins beclin-1 and LC3II/LC3 I in OVX+Ang II +KT group were also up-regulated (P<0.05), and the expression levels of p-PI3K, p-AKT and mTOR protein were down-regulated (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#KT could protect blood pressure of Ang II-induced OVX rats by inhibiting oxidative stress and up-regulating protective autophagy.

Research progress of Eubacterium and its metabolite short-chain fatty acids in regulating type 2 diabetes mellitus / 中华预防医学杂志

Intestinal flora and its metabolites are closely related to the progression of type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM). Eubacterium is one of the dominant intestinal flora, and its metabolites short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) play a leading role in regulating intestinal metabolic balance. It has been reported that SCFAs can regulate the secretion of glucagon-like peptide-1, improve the function of pancreatic β cells, participate in bile acids metabolism and regulate the production of inflammatory factors in T2DM. Based on the above research background, this article mainly reviews the relationship between Eubacterium and its metabolite SCFAs and T2DM and its regulatory mechanism.

Identification of the metabolites from co-cultures of marine Streptomyces sp. IMB18-531 and Cladosporium sp. IMB19-099 / 药学学报

A new siderophore chelate (1) and 8 known compounds were identified from the liquid co-cultures of the marine-derived Streptomyces sp. IMB18-531 and Cladosporium sp. IMB19-099 by a combination of chromatography methods, including C18 reversed-phase medium pressure chromatography, gel column chromatography and HPLC. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic analysis and chemical methods as aluminioxamine E (1), desferrioxamine E (2), ferrioxamine E (3), terragine E (4), capsimicin (5), cyclo(L-prolinyl-L-tyrosine) (6), anthranilic acid (7), (Z)-14-methylpentadec-9-enoic acid (8), and (Z)-hexadec-8-enoic acid (9). Compound 2 showed inhibitory activities against the expression of liver fibrosis related genes COL1A1, MMP2, and TIMP2. Compounds 5, 8, and 9 displayed antibacterial activities against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis and Bacillus subtilis, with MICs of 16-64 μg·mL-1. Compound 5 showed cytotoxicities against human pancreatic cancer MIA Paca-2 and human colon cancer HT-29 cell lines with IC50 of 2.9 and 6.3 μmol·L-1, respectively.

Material compatibility of human albumin / 中国输血杂志

【Objective】 To investigate the compatibility of human albumin and its internal packaging materials of Sinopharm Lanzhou Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. 【Methods】 One batch of inner packaging materials (medium borosilicate glass-molded injection bottle and halogenated butyl rubber plug for injection) was extracted with 4 extraction solvents to conduct the toxicological evaluation of potential inner packaging extracts. Through the simulated acceleration test, the trend analysis of the elements in the sample and the inner surface of the glass bottle were observed, and the routine drug inspection items during the long-term stability test process were determined. 【Results】 The detection results of the leaching elements of the internal packaging materials did not exceed the limit of 50%, and the organic matter safety threshold (margin of safety, MOS) was greater than 1.0, indicating that both the leaching elements and the organic matter had no safety risk to the user under the current exposure. The results of the simulated acceleration test show that the drug will not have the risk of peeling tablets after the long-term stability condition was placed for a period of time, and the routine inspection items of the long-term stability test drugs all meet the requirements of the pharmacopoeia. 【Conclusion】 The inner packaging material has no significant impact on the quality of drugs and has good overall compatibility, making it suitable for packaging human albumin.

Assessing Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Progression by Using Perivascular Adipose Tissue Attenuation on Computed Tomography Angiography

Objective@#Recent studies have highlighted the active and potential role of perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) in atherosclerosis and aneurysm progression, respectively. This study explored the link between PVAT attenuation and abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) progression using computed tomography angiography (CTA). @*Materials and Methods@#This multicenter retrospective study analyzed patients with AAA who underwent CTA at baseline and follow-up between March 2015 and July 2022. The following parameters were obtained: maximum diameter and total volume of the AAA, presence or absence of intraluminal thrombus (ILT), maximum diameter and volume of the ILT, and PVAT attenuation of the aortic aneurysm at baseline CTA. PVAT attenuation was divided into high (> -73.4 Hounsfield units [HU]) and low (≤ -73.4 HU). Patients who had or did not have AAA progression during the follow-up, defined as an increase in the aneurysm volume > 10 mL from baseline, were identified. Kaplan–Meier and multivariable Cox regression analyses were used to investigate the association between PVAT attenuation and AAA progression. @*Results@#Our study included 167 participants (148 males; median age: 70.0 years; interquartile range: 63.0–76.0 years), of which 145 (86.8%) were diagnosed with AAA accompanied by ILT. Over a median period of 11.3 months (range: 6.0–85.0 months), AAA progression was observed in 67 patients (40.1%). Multivariable Cox regression analysis indicated that high baseline PVAT attenuation (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 2.23; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.16–4.32; P = 0.017) was independently associated with AAA progression. This association was demonstrated within the patients of AAA with ILT subcohort, where a high baseline PVAT attenuation (aHR = 2.23; 95% CI, 1.08–4.60; P = 0.030) was consistently independently associated with AAA progression. @*Conclusion@#Elevated PVAT attenuation is independently associated with AAA progression, including patients of AAA with ILT, suggesting the potential of PVAT attenuation as a predictive imaging marker for AAA expansion.

Diagnostic and prognostic value of bone marrow plasma cell morphology in patients with plasma cell myeloma / 中华检验医学杂志

Objective:To investigate the value of bone marrow plasma cell morphology in the diagnosis and prognosis of plasma cell myeloma (PCM).Method:Observational study.Collect the bone marrow morphology image reports and corresponding monoclonal protein (M protein) identification results of 1071 patients [629 males and 442 females, Median age 62 (29, 93) years] diagnosed with PCM in the outpatient and inpatient departments of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University from January 1, 2017 to February 28, 2022. Combined with Durie‐Salmon(DS) and International Staging System (ISS) of 427 patients diagnosed with PCM and overall survival time (OS) of 436, summarize the relevant plasma cell morphological characteristics. Statistical methods include chi-square test, Kruskal-Walls test, Spearman correlation analysis and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis.Result:The bone marrow morphology reports showed that the typical morphological features of peripheral blood in 573 patients with PCM included plasma cells (40.84%), immature granulocytes (30.89%), rouleaux formation in erythrocytes (68.94%) and nucleated red blood cells (8.55%). The types of bone marrow plasma cells in 1 071 patients diagnosed with PCM included 372 (34.73%) plasmablasts, 674 (62.93%)immature plasma cells, and 25 (2.34%) mature plasma cells. There is a significant positive correlation between the number of bone marrow plasma cells (proportion of nuclear cells) and the concentration of IgG and IgA type, from M protein identification( r=0.55, r=0.60, P<0.01). The proportions of M protein types in 1 071 patients with PCM from high to low were IgG (45.75%), IgA (23.53%), light chain (19.61%), IgD (4.76%), non-secretory (4.3%), biclonal (1.78%), IgE (0.19%), IgM (0.08%). The typical characteristics of the bone marrow plasma cells in various M protein types included clustered distribution, different cell body sizes, inclusions in the cytoplasm, binuclear, polynuclear, and abnormal nuclear. The proportion of plasmablasts in DSⅢ stage was 44.81% (164/366), higher than 21.57% (11/51) in DSⅡstage, and the difference was statistically significant(χ 2=10.2, P<0.05). There was a significant positive correlation between the number of bone marrow plasma cells and DS and ISS stages( r=0. 0.23, r=0.30, P<0.01). The median OS of the PCM patients in the plasmablasts group was significantly shorter than that in the immature plasma cells group [56.0 (23.0, 101.8) months vs 75.9(31.6, 121.5) months, HR=1.42,95% CI 1.05-1.91, P=0.02]. The median OS of the PCM patients in the group of tumor plasma cells burden≥37.5% was shorter than that of the tumor plasma cells burden<37.5% [75.9 (21.4, 122.6)months vs 81.3 (36.6, 108) months, HR=1.54,95% CI 1.14-2.07, P<0.05]. Conclusion:The morphology and tumor burden of bone marrow plasma cells provide an important basis for the diagnosis of PCM and can be used as a prognostic indicator for patients with PCM.

Chronic psychological stress aggravates intestinal barrier damage and promotes enteritis development through inhibiting Wnt/β-catenin pathway / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

Objective:To investigate the mechanism by which chronic psychological stress aggravates intestinal barrier damage and promotes the development of enteritis through inhibiting Wnt/β-catenin pathway, so as to provide a new therapeutic strategy for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).Methods:A comorbidity model of chronic psychological stress and enteritis was established using C57BL/6J mice. HE staining was used to analyze the effects of chronic psychological stress on the intestinal pathological damage in mice with enteritis. ELISA was used to detect the expression of proinflammatory cytokines. The ultrastructural changes of colonic cells and the state of intestinal mucus layer were observed under transmission electron microscope and scanning electron microscope. The secretion of mucoprotein 2 (MUC2) and the expression of cell proliferation marker Ki67 were detected by immunofluo rescence staining. The numbers of goblet cells were detected by Alcian blue-periodic acid-Schiff (AB-PAS) staining. Western blot was performed to analyze the expression of tight junction protein between intestinal epithelial cells, β-catenin which was a key protein of Wnt/β-catenin pathway maintaining crypt proliferation, and downstream protein c-myc.Results:The sugar water consumption ratio decreased, but tail suspension immobility time, the swimming immobility time and the expression of corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) in hypothalamus increased (all P<0.05) in the stress group as compared with those in the control group. Chronic psychological stress promoted weight loss and colonic shortening in mice with enteritis, exacerbated pathological damage and enhanced the release of pro-inflammatory factors. Moreover, increased disappearance of intestinal epithelial microvilli and severe cellular ultrastructural damage were also observed in the stress+ dextran sulfate sodium salt (DSS) group. There was no pathological damage in the control and stress groups. Chronic psychological stress aggravated intestinal barrier injury and inhibited intestinal barrier repair by inhibiting Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Conclusions:In the mouse model of DSS-induced enteritis, chronic psychological stress preconditioning inhibited the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, weakened the repair ability of intestinal epithelium, aggravated the loss of mucus layer of intestinal barrier and the damage of tight junction structure, and promoted the development of enteritis. In the absence of enteritis, chronic psychological stress had no significant effects on the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and the intestinal barrier.

The study of auscultation-assisted bedside blind placement of the nasojejunal feeding tube in oldest-old patients / 中国实用护理杂志

Objective:To evaluate the success rate and influencing factors of auscultation-assisted bedside blind placement of the spiral nasojejunal feeding tube in oldest-old patients.Methods:A case series study was conducted in those elderly hospitalized patients who met the indications for naso intestinal intubation from January 2019 to May 2021 in China-Japan Friendship Hospital. Auscultation-assisted bedside blind placement of the spiral nasojejunal feeding tube was implemented. In addition, abdominal X-ray imaging was performed to confirm the location of the catheter tip. The primary indicators included were the success rate and the first attempt success rate of nasojejunal tube placement;, while the secondary indicators included were the number of attempts and the time of insertion. The rate of operational-related adverse events was ustreated as to evaluate the indicator of safety. Logistic regression analysis was used to conduct multi factor analysis.Results:The total success rate and the first-attempt success rate of tube implantation reached were 90.1%(73/81) and 85.2%(69/81), respectively. The mean attempt per individual patient was (1.2 ± 0.2) times for each patient. The median length of operation time was 40.0(27.0, 45.0) minutes, more specifically, among which the median length time of nasogastric and gastrojejunal placement was 20.0(15.0, 25.0) and 18.0(12.5, 20.0) minutes, respectively; while the median lengthtime of nasogastric placement was greaterhigher than that of gastrojejunal placement ( Z = -2.78, P<0.05). As suggested by multivariate analysis, indicated that the conscious conditions of patients had a signific antlyimpact affect on the success rate of for tube implantation ( OR = 19.25, 95% CI 1.24-299.63, P<0.05). In addition, the incidence rate of operational-related adverse events was 37.0%(30/81). By contrast, there were no serious adverse events occurring during the study period. Conclusions:The auscultation-assisted bedside blind placement of the nasojejunal feeding tube technique is effective and safe for early nutrition support in oldest-old patients in terms of early nutritionsupport, the success rate of which is significant largely affected by the patients′ conscious conditions of patients.

Analysis of the clinical characteristics and risk factors of postoperative atrial fibrillation in patients with critical burns / 中华烧伤杂志

Objective: To investigate the clinical characteristics and risk factors of postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) in patients with critical burns. Methods: A retrospective case series study was conducted. From January 2017 to December 2021, two hundred and twenty-seven critically burned aldult patients who met the inclusion criteria were admitted to Guangzhou Red Cross Hospital of Jinan University, including 173 males and 54 females, aged 19-83 (43±14) years. The admission years of patients were collected, and the percentage of patients complicated with POAF in each year was calculated. According to whether the patients were complicated with POAF or not, they were divided into POAF group (n=17) and non-POAF group (n=210). Following data were collected in patients in POAF group, including operation methods, duration of operation, intraoperative blood loss before occurrence of POAF each time, occurrence time and times of POAF, postoperative body temperature, blood pressure, hemoglobin, blood glucose, blood lactate, sepsis, and electrolyte, and type, duration, and treatment of POAF. General data of patients in the two groups including age, gender, burn reason, total burn area, full-thickness burn area, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ (APACHEⅡ) and sepsis-related organ failure evaluation (SOFA) scores on admission, combined with underlying diseases (hypertension, diabetes, and other types of arrhythmias), and sepsis were collected and analyzed. The mortality and factors influencing the prognosis of patients in the two groups such as mechanical ventilation time, operations times, and burn intensive care unit (BICU) length of stay were also collected and analyzed. Data were statistically analyzed with independent sample t test, Mann-Whitney U test, chi-square test or Kruskal-Wallis H test. The multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed on the general data with statistically significant differences between the two groups, and the independent risk factors influencing the onset of POAF in 227 patients with critical burns were screened. Results: From 2017 to 2021, the percentage of critically burned patients complicated with POAF increased year by year. In POAF group, eschar debridement in limbs was the main surgical procedure prior to POAF complication, with the operation time of (3.5±1.2) h and the intraoperative blood loss volume of (365±148) mL.The POAF occurred 25 times in total in patients of POAF group, mostly within one week after the injury and within 6 hours after the operation with most of these patients having POAF only once. When POAF happened, the patients were often complicated with hypothermia, anemia, hyperglycemia, high blood lactate, sepsis, and electrolyte disturbance, and few patients had complications of hypotension. The POAF lasted (5±3) h, with all being paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, and most of POAF patients were reverted to sinus rhythm after amiodarone intervention. Most patients in the two groups suffered from flame burn, and the gender, age, and SOFA score on admission of patients in the two groups were similar (P>0.05); the APACHEⅡ score on admission, total burn area, full-thickness burn area, incidence proportion of sepsis, combined with diabetes and hypertension and other types of arrhythmias of patients in POAF group were significantly higher or larger than those in non-POAF group (t=3.47, with χ2 values of 7.44, 10.86, 12.63, 14.65, 6.49, and 7.52, respectively, P<0.05 or P<0.01). The full-thickness burn area, combined with other types of arrhythmias, and sepsis were the independent risk factors for POAF in 227 critically burned patients (with odds ratios of 4.45, 0.04, and 3.06, respectively, with 95% confidence intervals of 2.23-8.87, 0.01-0.22, and 1.77-5.30, respectively, P<0.01). Compared with those in non-POAF group, the mechanical ventilation time, BICU length of stay, number of operations, and mortality rate of patients in POAF group were significantly increased (Z=3.89, Z=2.57, t=3.41, χ2=3.72, P<0.05 or P<0.01). Conclusions: POAF is a common postoperative complication in critically burned patients, and the incidence is increasing year by year, which seriously affects the prognosis of patients. The full-thickness burn area together with other types of arrhythmias and sepsis are the high-risk factors for POAF complication in patients with critical burns.

Two decomposition algorithms of dual-energy cone beam CT and their dependence on the phantom sizes / 中华放射医学与防护杂志

Objective:To analyze the effects of two decomposition algorithms of dual-energy cone beam CT (DECBCT) (direct decomposition and iterative decomposition) on the image quality and material decomposition accuracy of different sizes of phantoms.Methods:Different sizes of imaging parts of patients were simulated using the combination of CatPhan604 phantoms and customized annuluses. CBCT with high energy of 140 kVp and low energy of 100 kVp were acquired using the Varian Edge CBCT system. Then the material decomposition of DECBCT images was performed using the two algorithms. The electron density (ED) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of each material in the CTP682 module were calculated. They were used to assess the decomposition accuracy and image quality of the two algorithms.Results:Based on the values in the Catphan604 manual, both algorithms have high ED accuracy. Only the ED accuracy of four materials of the smallest sized phantom showed statistical difference ( z = -4.21, 4.30, 2.87, 5.45, P < 0.05), but the average relative error was less than 1%. The CNR of the iterative decomposition algorithm was significantly higher than that of the direct decomposition, increasing by 51.8%-703.47%. The increase in the phantom size significantly reduced the accuracy of ED, and the increased amplitude of the relative error was up to a maximum of 2.52%. The large phantom size also reduced the image quality of iterative decomposition, and the decreased amplitude of CNR was up to a maximum of 39.71. Conclusions:Compared with the direct decomposition, the iterative decomposition algorithm can significantly reduce the image noise and improve the contrast without losing the accuracy of electron density in the DECBCT construction of different sizes of phantoms.

Herbal Textual Research on Coptidis Rhizoma in Famous Classical Formulas / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Through the combing of ancient books of Chinese herbal medicine in the past dynasties， a textual research of Coptidis Rhizoma involved the name， origin， medicinal parts， producing area， quality evaluation， harvesting and processing methods in famous classical formulas was conducted in this paper. After textual research， the mainstream varieties of Coptidis Rhizoma in the Ranunculaceae family before Tang and Song dynasties were Coptis chinensis and C. chinensis var. brevisepala， after the Ming and Qing dynasties， C. deltoidea， C. teeta and C. omeiensis were gradually praised. In ancient times， the authentic producing area of Coptidis Rhizoma has the characteristics of gradually moving to the west. The eastern Coptidis Rhizoma was highly praised in the early stage， while in the later stage， western Coptidis Rhizoma like chicken feet was highly praised. In the early stage， western Coptidis Rhizoma probably originated from C. chinensis and its genus， while Coptidis Rhizoma like chicken feet was cultivated， and no wild species has been found so far. As Coptidis Rhizoma has mixed use of multiple origins in ancient books of past dynasties， based on the current shortage of market resources in C. teeta and C. deltoidea， there are also endangered and protected plants of C. chinensis var. brevisepala and C. omeiensis， combined with the mainstream medicines and resources of past generations， it is recommended to choose C. chinensis as the base of the formulas. In ancient times， there were many processing methods for Coptidis Rhizoma， such as frying and wine-， ginger-， honey-processed. In the process of developing famous classical formulas， the appropriate processing specifications of Coptidis Rhizoma should be selected based on the original source records and the requirements of the medicinal material.

Advances in the biosynthesis of tetrapyrrole compounds / 生物工程学报

Tetrapyrrole compounds are a class of compounds with important functions. They exist in living organisms and have been widely used in agriculture, food, medicine, and other fields. The cumbersome process and high cost of chemical synthesis, as well as the shortcomings of unstable quality of animal and plant extraction methods, greatly hampered the industrial production and applications of tetrapyrrole compounds. In recent years, the rapid development of synthetic biology has provided new tools for microorganisms to efficiently synthesize tetrapyrrole compounds from renewable biomass resources. This article summarizes various strategies for the biosynthesis of tetrapyrrole compounds, discusses methods to improve its biosynthesis efficiency and future prospects, with the aim to facilitate the research on biosynthesis of tetrapyrrole compounds.

Dahuang Zhechong pills inhibit liver cancer growth in a mouse model by reversing Treg/Th1 balance / 中国天然药物

The infiltration of immune cells into the hepatocellular carcinoma microenvironment is the main reason why hepatocellular carcinoma patients are prone to carcinoma recurrence and the disease are incurable. Notably, the infiltration of Treg cells is the main trigger. Dahuang Zhechong pill (DHZCP) is a traditional Chinese herbal compound successful in the treatment of hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma. DHZCP can heal and nourish while slowing the onset of the disease, thereby strengthening the body's immune function. It can localize tumors and ultimately achieve the goal of eliminating tumors. In this study, an orthotopic liver cancer model of mice was used to explore the mechanism of DHZCP enhancing anti-tumor immunity, which showed more Th1 cells in the peripheral blood and spleen after DHZCP treatment, while more IFN-γ was secreted to activate CD8+ T cells and Treg cell production was inhibited, thereby suppressing the growth of HCC. Finally, we also analyzed the potential components of DHZCP from the perspective of modern targets using network pharmacology methods and experimental results.

Progress in filters for denoising cryo-electron microscopy images / 北京大学学报(医学版)

Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) imaging has the unique potential to bridge the gap between cellular and molecular biology. Therefore, cryo-EM three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction has been rapidly developed in recent several years and applied widely in life science research to reveal the structures of large macromolecular assemblies and cellular complexes, which is critical to understanding their functions at all scales. Although the technical breakthrough in recent years, for example, the introduction of the direct detection device (DDD) camera and the development of cryo-EM software tools, made the three cryo-EM pioneers share the 2017 Nobel Prize, several bottleneck problems still exist that hamper the further increase of the resolution of single-particle reconstruction and hold back the application of in situ subnanometer structure determination by cryo-tomography. Radiation damage is still the key limiting factor in cryo-EM. In order to minimize the radiation damage and preserve as much resolution as possible, the imaging conditions of a low dose and weak contrast make cryo-EM images extremely noisy with very low signal-to-noise ratios (SNR), generally about 0.1. The high noise will obscure the fine details in cryo-EM images or reconstructed maps. Thus, a method to reduce the level of noise and improve the resolution has become an important issue. In this paper, we systematically reviewed and compared some robust filters in the cryo-EM field of two aspects, single-particle analysis (SPA) and cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET), and especially studied their applications, such as, 3D reconstruction, visualization, structural analysis, and interpretation. Conventional approaches to noise reduction in cryo-EM imaging include the use of Gaussian, median, and bilateral filters, among other means. A Gaussian filter selects an appropriate filter kernel to conduct spatial convolution with a noisy image. Although noise with larger standard deviations in cryo-EM images can be suppressed and satisfactory performance is achieved in certain cases, this filter also blurs the images and over-smooths small-scale image features. This is especially detrimental when precise quantitative information needs to be extracted. Unlike a Gaussian filter, a median filter is based on the order statistics of the image and selects the median intensity in a window of the adjacent pixels to denoise the image. Although this filter is robust to outliers, it suffers from aliasing problems that possibly result in incorrect information for cryo-EM structure interpretation. A bilateral filter is a nonlinear filter that performs spatial weighted averaging and is more selective in the pixels allowing to contribute to the weighted sum, excluding the high frequency noise from the smoothing process. Thus, this filter can be used to smooth out noise while maintaining the edge details, which is similar to an anisotropic diffusion filter, and distinct from a Gaussian filter but its utility will be limited when the SNR of a cryo-EM image is very low. Generally, spatial filtering methods have the disadvantage of losing image resolution when reducing noise. A wavelet transform can exploit the wavelet's natural ability to separate a signal from noise at multiple image scales to allow for joint resolution in both the spatial and frequency domains, and thus has the potential to outperform existing methods. The modified wavelet shrinkage filter we developed can offer a remarkable improvement in image quality with a good compromise between detail preservation and noise smoothing. We expect that our review study on different filters can provide benefits to cryo-EM applications and the interpretation of biological structures.

Analysis of clinical characteristics of the disease spectrum in 498 children with hyper blood immunoglobulin E / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics of the disease spectrum of pediatric hyper blood immunoglobulin E (IgE).Methods:A total of 498 children with total serum IgE ≥ 5×10 5 IU/L admitted to the Department of Pediatrics, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University from January 2012 to December 2018 were enrolled.Their clinical data, etiology distribution, clinical manifestations, laboratory results, treatment and outcomes were retrospectively analyzed.According to serum total IgE level, patients were divided into mildly increased IgE group (5×10 5-<10×10 5 IU/L), moderately increased group (10×10 5-<20×10 5 IU/L), and severely increased group (≥20×10 5 IU/L). The distribution of disease types among the 3 groups were compared. Results:(1) Allergic disease (213 cases) was the most common etiology in children with hyper blood IgE, and infectious disease (163 cases), mycoplasma pneumoniae (109 cases) and EB virus (120 cases) were common pathogens.(2) The incidence of allergic diseases (45.0%) and infectious diseases (42.2%) in the mildly increased group was significantly higher than that in the moderately increased group (40.8%, 26.2%, respectively) and the severely increased group(38.9%, 12.2%, respectively) (all P<0.001). The incidence of immune diseases(18.5%), tumors and hematological diseases (5.4%) in the moderately increased group was significantly higher than that of the mildly increased group (4.4%, 2.0%, respectively) (all P<0.001). The incidence of immune diseases (34.4%), tumors and hematological diseases (11.1%) in the severely increased group was significantly higher than that of the mildly increased group(4.4%, 2.0%, respectively) and the moderately increased group (18.5%, 5.4%, respectively) (all P<0.001). (3) The main clinical manifestations were fever (63.5%), respiratory symptoms (53.7%) and lympha-denopathy (53.7%), 47.5% of the children with hyper blood IgE had an increased white blood cell count, and 12.1% of them had an increased eosinophil count.(4) The most common specific allergens were dust mite combination (32.0%), milk (17.0%), and egg white (16.0%). There was no difference in disease distribution among the 3 groups of hyper blood IgE children with positive specific IgE ( P=0.164). Conclusions:Hyper blood IgE in children are most commonly caused by allergic and infectious diseases.The etiological distributions of hyper blood IgE in children at varying severities differ a lot.The higher the total IgE level, the higher the incidence of immunodeficiency disease, rheumatic disease, tumor and hematological disease.

Traditional Chinese medicine syndrome types and syndrome elements of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease / 临床肝胆病杂志

ObjectiveTo investigate the distribution of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome types and syndrome elements of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). MethodsRelated databases (CNKI, Wanfang Dota, and VIP)were searched for articles on the syndrome differentiation of NAFLD published up to July 2020. Two investigators independently performed literature screening and collection and summarization of syndrome types based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and an Excel 2010 database was established after the standardization of syndrome names, re-decomposition of syndrome types, and extraction of syndrome elements. The data were imported into SPSS 25.0 statistical software for the analysis of frequency distribution. ResultsA total of 45 qualified articles were collected, with a total of 8703 cases reported. A total of 14 syndrome types were obtained after standardization, and 10 syndrome elements reflecting the nature of disease and 4 syndrome elements of disease location were obtained after the syndrome types were disassembled. Stagnation of liver Qi and spleen deficiency syndrome (26.47%) and damp-heat accumulation syndrome (22.16%) were the most common syndrome types, followed by stagnation of phlegm dampness, intermingled phlegm and blood stasis, and stagnation of liver Qi and Qi stagnation. Dampness (23.75%), Qi stagnation (19.82%), Qi deficiency (17.12%), phlegm (15.43%), and heat (12.13%) were the most common syndrome elements reflecting the nature of disease, followed by stasis, Yin deficiency, and Yang deficiency, while fire and cold were relatively uncommon. Qi stagnation and Qi deficiency (26.63%), dampness and heat (22.30%), phlegm and dampness (16.17%), and phlegm and stasis (12.19%) were the most common combinations of syndrome elements. The liver and the spleen were the most common syndrome elements of disease location, accounting for 90.95% of the constituent ratio, and the combination of the liver and the spleen with the same disease accounted for 54.01%. The combination of one, two, three, or four syndrome elements was observed, and the combination of two syndrome elements accounted for 76.03%. ConclusionStagnation of liver Qi and spleen deficiency are the basic pathogeneses of NAFLD, and liver, spleen, dampness, Qi stagnation, Qi deficiency, phlegm, and heat are common syndrome elements. Dampness, phlegm, and heat are important factors for the development and progression of this disease.

The biology, function, and applications of exosomes in cancer

Exosomes are cell-derived nanovesicles with diameters from 30 to 150 nm, released upon fusion of multivesicular bodies with the cell surface. They can transport nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids for intercellular communication and activate signaling pathways in target cells. In cancers, exosomes may participate in growth and metastasis of tumors by regulating the immune response, blocking the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and promoting angiogenesis. They are also involved in the development of resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs. Exosomes in liquid biopsies can be used as non-invasive biomarkers for early detection and diagnosis of cancers. Because of their amphipathic structure, exosomes are natural drug delivery vehicles for cancer therapy.

Arachidonic acid metabolism in liver glucose and lipid homeostasis / 生理学报

Arachidonic acid (AA) is an ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid, which mainly exists in the cell membrane in the form of phospholipid. Three major enzymatic pathways including the cyclooxygenase (COX), lipoxygenase (LOX) and cytochrome P450 monooxygenase (CYP450) pathways are involved in AA metabolism leading to the generation of a variety of lipid mediators such as prostaglandins, leukotrienes, hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids (HETEs) and epoxyeicoastrienoic acids (EETs). These bioactive AA metabolites play an important role in the regulation of many physiological processes including the maintenance of liver glucose and lipid homeostasis. As the central metabolic organ, the liver is essential in metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins, and its dysfunction is associated with the pathogenesis of many metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This article aims to provide an overview of the enzymatic pathways of AA and discuss the role of AA-derived lipid mediators in the regulation of hepatic glucose and lipid metabolism and their associations with the pathogenesis of major metabolic disorders.