Objective To analyze the cause of puncturing failure in ultrasonography guided minimal-invasive percutaneous nephrolithotomy (MPCNL). Methods A retrospective analysis involved total 612 patients with upper urinary tract lithialisis treated with MPCNL from May 2005 to May 2010.382 cases were acupunctured by traditional G18 puncturing instrument (group A),and the other 230 cases were performed by the improved ARROW Raulerson blue syringe (group B).The average renal pelvis range was 24 mm vs.21 mm before operation,and largest diameter of renal calculi was 3.7 cm vs.3.8 cm (P ＞ 0.05).Success rate and time cost as well as therapeutic effect were compared between the 2 groups. Results There were 29 cases of puncturing failure in group A (totally 382 cases) while only 2 in group B (totally 230 cases).The successful rate of establishment of working channel was significantly higher in group B (P ＜ 0.05).Average time of puncture procedure was 5.1 min and 4.8 min respectively (P ＞ 0.05).There was no puncturing-related severe complication in any group.The unsuccessful cases in the group A and related causes were:5 cases for obesity,13 cases for puncture needle slipping,9 cases for channel dropout,and 2 cases for needle route dropout.However,only 2 cases failed in group B,the accurate position of calculi was at upper and lower calyx.One case was over-weighted,another was because of pathway-loss during the calculi elimination processs.And the one-off puncture successful rate of A and B group was 92.4％ vs.99.1％,and the one-off puncture successful rate was significantly higher in group B. Conclusions Overobesity of patients is an important cause of puncturing failure for sonographically MPCNL.The establishment of working-channel with ARROW Raulerson blue syringe could be feasible and the success rate was significantly higher.

Background Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), especially herbal medicine, has been widely used in China and now is also being increasingly used in other countries for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Although many studies have demonstrated that certain Chinese herbal products are effective and safe for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, most of these lack sufficient quality. Therefore, large randomized clinical trials and further scientific research to determine its safety, effectiveness are necessary.QiShen YiQi Dripping Pills (QSYQDP) is a herbal preparation clinically used in the treatment and prevention of coronary artery disease. Preliminary observations have shown its safety and effectiveness. Methods/Design This randomized, controlled trial will recruit 3600 patients with a history of myocardial infarction. Patients will be randomized into two groups by a Centr-Randomized System. One group receives QSYQDP, the other group receive aspirin. This trial protocol will describe eligibility criteria, detailed information on the treatment definition, blinding, endpoints, statistical methods, sample size determination, data management, legal aspects, and the current status of the trial. Discussion This trial is one of the first randomized, controlled clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese herbal medicine in the treatment and secondary prevention of coronary artery disease. The results of this study should help to define the role of TCM in modern medical care, as well as to provide the management strategy for CAD patients in China and other countries.

Currently,human health due to corona virus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic has been seriously threatened.The coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2)spike(S)protein plays a crucial role in virus transmission and several S-based therapeutic approaches have been approved for the treatment of COVID-19.However,the efficacy is compromised by the SARS-CoV-2 evolvement and mutation.Here we report the SARS-CoV-2 S protein receptor-binding domain(RBD)inhibitor licorice-saponin A3(A3)could widely inhibit RBD of SARS-CoV-2 variants,including Beta,Delta,and Omicron BA.1,XBB and BQ1.1.Furthermore,A3 could potently inhibit SARS-CoV-2 Omicron virus in Vero E6 cells,with EC50 of 1.016 pM.The mechanism was related to binding with Y453 of RBD deter-mined by hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry(HDX-MS)analysis combined with quan-tum mechanics/molecular mechanics(QM/MM)simulations.Interestingly,phosphoproteomics analysis and multi fluorescent immunohistochemistry(mIHC)respectively indicated that A3 also inhibits host inflammation by directly modulating the JNK and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK)path-ways and rebalancing the corresponding immune dysregulation.This work supports A3 as a promising broad-spectrum small molecule drug candidate for COVID-19.

It is an urgent demand worldwide to control the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus. The 3-chymotrypsin-like protease (3CL^pro) and papain-like protease (PL^pro) are key targets to discover SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors. After screening 12 Chinese herbal medicines and 125 compounds from licorice, we found that a popular natural product schaftoside inhibited 3CL^pro and PL^pro with IC₅₀ values of 1.73 ± 0.22 and 3.91 ± 0.19 μmol/L, respectively, and inhibited SARS-CoV-2 virus in Vero E6 cells with EC₅₀ of 11.83 ± 3.23 μmol/L. Hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry analysis, quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics calculations, together with site-directed mutagenesis indicated the antiviral activities of schaftoside were related with non-covalent interactions with H41, G143 and R188 of 3CL^pro, and K157, E167 and A246 of PL^pro. Moreover, proteomics analysis and cytokine assay revealed that schaftoside also regulated immune response and inflammation of the host cells. The anti-inflammatory activities of schaftoside were confirmed on lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury mice. Schaftoside showed good safety and pharmacokinetic property, and could be a promising drug candidate for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.