1.Regulation of Relevant Signaling Pathways by Traditional Chinese Medicine in Intervention of Pancreatic Cancer: A Review
Quanyou ZHAO ; Conghui ZHAO ; Yu ZHANG ; Yiping FU ; Yuting LIU ; Xiaoran WANG ; Zhanzhan LI ; Mingsan MIAO ; Li BAI
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2026;32(5):280-289
Pancreatic cancer is a highly malignant solid tumor of the digestive system with extremely poor treatment prognosis. Although its incidence rate is low, its mortality rate is extremely high. In recent years, the number of diagnosed cases worldwide has continued to rise, making pancreatic cancer the sixth leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally. Currently, clinical treatment primarily relies on operation and chemotherapy to suppress tumors. However, these approaches face challenges such as suboptimal efficacy, high postoperative recurrence rates, and severe adverse reactions. Therefore, identifying safe and effective treatment modalities remains a pressing challenge for the medical community. In recent years, research on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) interventions for pancreatic cancer has increased significantly. Multiple studies have shown that single-herb TCM, TCM formulas, and their derived single compounds can regulate the levels of tumor cell signaling pathways through multiple action targets. They inhibit the development and progression of pancreatic cancer by inhibiting cancer cell proliferation, promoting cell apoptosis, inhibiting tumor angiogenesis, reducing cancer cell invasion and migration capabilities, regulating the cell cycle, and modulating the tumor microenvironment. Additionally, TCM has the advantages of significantly enhancing the anticancer efficacy of chemotherapy drugs and causing fewer adverse reactions. However, the specific action mechanisms by which TCM intervenes in pancreatic cancer remain unclear. Further extensive research is still needed to validate the role of regulating classical signaling pathways such as phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), Wnt/β-catenin, nuclear transcription factor-κB (NF-κB), notch, and hedgehog in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Therefore, this paper reviewed Chinese and international studies on TCM intervention in pancreatic cancer through relevant signaling pathways in recent years, summarized the potential action mechanisms of TCM in the treatment of pancreatic cancer, and provided references for related research in the future.
2.Research on multi-scale convolutional neural network hand muscle strength prediction model improved based on convolutional attention module.
Yihao DU ; Mengyu SUN ; Jingjin LI ; Xiaoran WANG ; Tianfu CAO
Journal of Biomedical Engineering 2025;42(1):90-95
In order to realize the quantitative assessment of muscle strength in hand function rehabilitation and then formulate scientific and effective rehabilitation training strategies, this paper constructs a multi-scale convolutional neural network (MSCNN) - convolutional block attention module (CBAM) - bidirectional long short-term memory network (BiLSTM) muscle strength prediction model to fully explore the spatial and temporal features of the data and simultaneously suppress useless features, and finally achieve the improvement of the accuracy of the muscle strength prediction model. To verify the effectiveness of the model proposed in this paper, the model in this paper is compared with traditional models such as support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), convolutional neural network (CNN), CNN - squeeze excitation network (SENet), MSCNN-CBAM and MSCNN-BiLSTM, and the effect of muscle strength prediction by each model is investigated when the hand force application changes from 40% of the maximum voluntary contraction force (MVC) to 60% of the MVC. The research results show that as the hand force application increases, the effect of the muscle strength prediction model becomes worse. Then the ablation experiment is used to analyze the influence degree of each module on the muscle strength prediction result, and it is found that the CBAM module plays a key role in the model. Therefore, by using the model in this article, the accuracy of muscle strength prediction can be effectively improved, and the characteristics and laws of hand muscle activities can be deeply understood, providing assistance for further exploring the mechanism of hand functions .
Neural Networks, Computer
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Humans
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Hand Strength/physiology*
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Support Vector Machine
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Muscle Strength/physiology*
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Hand/physiology*
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Convolutional Neural Networks
3.Nanomedicine-driven tumor glucose metabolic reprogramming for enhanced cancer immunotherapy.
Chenwei JIANG ; Minglu TANG ; Yun SU ; Junjie XIE ; Qi SHANG ; Mingmei GUO ; Xiaoran AN ; Longfei LIN ; Ruibin WANG ; Qian HUANG ; Guangji ZHANG ; Hui LI ; Feihu WANG
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2025;15(6):2845-2866
Tumors exhibit abnormal glucose metabolism, consuming excessive glucose and excreting lactate, which constructs a tumor microenvironment that facilitates cancer progression and disrupts immunotherapeutic efficacy. Currently, tumor glucose metabolic dysregulation to reshape the immunosuppressive microenvironment and enhance immunotherapy efficacy is emerging as an innovative therapeutic strategy. However, glucose metabolism modulators lack specificity and still face significant challenges in overcoming tumor delivery barriers, microenvironmental complexity, and metabolic heterogeneity, resulting in poor clinical benefit. Nanomedicines, with their ability to selectively target tumors or immune cells, respond to the tumor microenvironment, co-deliver multiple drugs, and facilitate combinatorial therapies, hold significant promise for enhancing immunotherapy through tumor glucose metabolic reprogramming. This review explores the complex interactions between tumor glucose metabolism-specifically metabolite transport, glycolysis processes, and lactate-and the immune microenvironment. We summarize how nanomedicine-mediated reprogramming of tumor glucose metabolism can enhance immunotherapy efficacy and outline the prospects and challenges in this field.
4.Mechanism of Cnidii Fructus in the treatment of periodontitis with osteoporosis based on network pharmacology, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulation.
Miaomiao FENG ; Xiaoran XU ; Ningli LI ; Mingzhen YANG ; Yuankun ZHAI
West China Journal of Stomatology 2025;43(2):249-261
OBJECTIVES:
This study aimed to explore the active components, potential targets, and mechanism of Cnidii Fructus in the treatment of periodontitis with osteoprosis through network pharmacology, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulation technology.
METHODS:
The main chemical constituents and targets of Cnidii Fructus were screened using the TCMSP and SwissTargetPrediction databases, as well as literature reports. Targets of periodontitis and osteoporosis were predicted using different databases. The intersection targets of Cnidii Fructus, periodontitis, and osteoporosis were obtained using Venny 2.1. The protein-protein interaction network was formed on the STRING platform. Cytoscape 3.9.1 was used to construct the active component-intersection target interaction network, perform the topological analysis, and screen key targets and core active components. Furthermore, the Metascape database was used to perform gene ontology (GO) function and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis on the intersection targets. The top five key targets and core active components were selected as receptor proteins and ligand small molecules. Discovery Studio 2019 was used to dock ligands and receptors and visualize the docking results. Molecular dynamics simulation was conducted using Gromacs2022.3 to assess the stability of the interactions between the core active components and the main targets.
RESULTS:
A total of 20 potential active ingredients of Cnidii Fructus were screened, and 116 targets of Cnidii Fructus were obtained for treating periodontitis and osteoporosis. GO and KEGG analyses of the 116 targets showed that Cnidii Fructus may play a therapeutic role through the phosphoinositide 3-kinase-protein kinase B (PI3K-Akt) and advanced glycation end products-receptor for advanced glycation end products (AGE-RAGE) signaling pathways. Molecular docking showed that the core constituents were well bound to the main targets. Molecular dynamics simulations confirmed the stability of the Diosmetin-AKT1 complex system.
CONCLUSIONS
The preliminary discovery of the potential molecular pharmacological mechanism of Cnidii Fructus extract in the targeted treatment of periodontitis with osteoporosis through a multi-component, multitarget, and multi-pathway approach can serve as a theoretical foundation for future drug-development research and clinical application.
Molecular Docking Simulation
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Molecular Dynamics Simulation
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Network Pharmacology
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Periodontitis/complications*
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Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry*
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Osteoporosis/complications*
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Humans
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Protein Interaction Maps
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Cnidium/chemistry*
5.Bibliometric analysis of inflammatory bowel disease and sleep based on Web of Science database
Xiaoran WANG ; Yuling LI ; Nan ZHANG ; Hongwen MA ; Muran LI
Chinese Journal of Modern Nursing 2024;30(33):4563-4568
Objective:To implement visual analysis on inflammatory bowel disease and sleep to explore research hotspots and development trends.Methods:Literature related to inflammatory bowel disease and sleep was obtained from the Web of Science core collection database. The search period was from January 2003 to October 2023. CiteSpace 5.6.R5 was used for visual analysis.Results:A total of 311 articles on inflammatory bowel disease and sleep were included, and the overall publication volume showed an upward trend. The countries and institutions with the highest publications were the United States and Harvard University. The journal and author with the highest publication volume were Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and Ali Keshavarzian. The research hotspots on inflammatory bowel disease and sleep focused on quality of life, psychological state (depression, anxiety, and stress), fatigue, and risk. Conclusions:The overall trend of inflammatory bowel disease and sleep is developing. Quality of life, psychological state (depression, anxiety, and stress), fatigue, and risk are hotspots on inflammatory bowel disease and sleep.
6.Integrated 18F-FET PET/MR combined with arterial spin labeling for predicting isocitrate dehydrogenase(IDH)genotype and Ki-67 index of glioma
Jie BAI ; Xiaoran LI ; Jie LU
Chinese Journal of Medical Imaging Technology 2024;40(10):1476-1480
Objective To observe the value of integrated 18F-FET PET/MR combined with arterial spin labeling(ASL)for predicting isocitrate dehydrogenase(IDH)genotype and Ki-67 index of glioma.Methods Eighty patients with glioma were retrospectively enrolled.The patients were divided into mutant group(n=31)and wild group(n=49)according to IDH genotype,or into high index group(>10%,n=57)and low index group(≤10%,n=23)according to Ki-67 index.Integrated 18F-FET PET/MR was performed to obtain PET,structural MR and ASL images,simultaneously.The maximum and mean target-to-background ratio(TBRmax,TBRmean),the maximum and mean normalized cerebral blood flow(nCBFmax,nCBFmean)were calculated based on tumor's volume of interest(VOI)and were compared between groups.Receiver operating characteristic curve was drawn,the area under the curve(AUC)was calculated to evaluate the efficacy of PET/MR parameters,ASL parameters,optimal PET/MR+optimal ASL parameters(dual-mode parameters),as well as clinical+dual-mode parameters(combined parameters)for predicting IDH genotype and Ki-67 index of glioma.Results Patients'age,proportion of high WHO grade,TBRmax,TBRmean,nCBFmax and nCBFmean in mutant group were all lower than those in wild group(all P<0.01).Patients'age,proportion of high WHO grade,TBRmax,TBRmean and nCBFmax in high index group were all higher than those in low index group(all P<0.01).AUC of TBRmax,TBRmean,nCBFmax,nCBFmean,dual-mode parameters(TBRmax+nCBFmax)and combined parameters(age+TBRmax+nCBFmax)for predicting IDH genotype of glioma was 0.758,0.702,0.773,0.708,0.816 and 0.866,respectively.AUC of TBRmax,TBRmean,nCBFmax,dual-mode parameters(TBRmax+nCBFmax),combined parameters(age+TBRmax+nCBFmax)for predicting Ki-67 index of glioma was 0.823,0.719,0.701,0.823 and 0.854,respectively.Conclusion Integrated 18F-FET PET/MR combined with ASL could predict IDH genotype and Ki-67 index of gliomas effectively.
7.Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-specific T-cell responses are induced in people living with human immunodeficiency virus after booster vaccination
Xiuwen WANG ; Yongzheng LI ; Junyan JIN ; Xiaoran CHAI ; Zhenglai MA ; Junyi DUAN ; Guanghui ZHANG ; Tao HUANG ; Xin ZHANG ; Tong ZHANG ; Hao WU ; Yunlong CAO ; Bin SU
Chinese Medical Journal 2024;137(22):2734-2744
Background::T-cell-mediated immunity is crucial for the effective clearance of viral infection, but the T-cell-mediated immune responses that are induced by booster doses of inactivated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLWH) remain unclear.Methods::Forty-five PLWH who had received antiretroviral therapy (ART) for more than two years and 29 healthy controls (HCs) at Beijing Youan Hospital were enrolled to assess the dynamic changes in T-cell responses between the day before the third vaccine dose (week 0) and 4 or 12 weeks (week 4 or week 12) after receiving the third dose of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Flow cytometry, enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISpot), and multiplex cytokines profiling were used to assess T-cell responses at the three timepoints in this study.Results::The results of the ELISpot and activation-induced marker (AIM) assays showed that SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses were increased in both PLWH and HCs after the third dose of the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, and a similar magnitude of immune response was induced against the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant compared to the wild-type strain. In detail, spike-specific T-cell responses (measured by the ELISpot assay for interferon γ [IFN-γ] release) in both PLWH and HCs significantly increased in week 4, and the spike-specific T-cell responses in HCs were significantly stronger than those in PLWH 4 weeks after the third vaccination. In the AIM assay, spike-specific CD4 + T-cell responses peaked in both PLWH and HCs in week 12. Additionally, significantly higher spike-specific CD8 + T-cell responses were induced in PLWH than in HCs in week 12. In PLWH, the release of the cytokines interleukin-2 (IL-2), tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and IL-22 by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) that were stimulated with spike peptides increased in week 12. In addition, the levels of IL-4 and IL-5 were higher in PLWH than in HCs in week 12. Interestingly, the magnitude of SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses in PLWH was negatively associated with the extent of CD8 + T-cell activation and exhaustion. In addition, positive correlations were observed between the magnitude of spike-specific T-cell responses (determined by measuring IFN-γ release by ELISpot) and the amounts of IL-4, IL-5, IL-2 and IL-17F. Conclusions::Our findings suggested that SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses could be enhanced by the booster dose of inactivated COVID-19 vaccines and further illustrate the importance of additional vaccination for PLWH.
8.Expression levels of USF2 and USP10 in peripheral blood of patients with sepsis complicated with acute kidney injury and their clinical significance
Xin YU ; Yongjie WANG ; Zhenxiao LI ; Haitao SONG ; Chunli DONG ; Liangliang ZHANG ; Haitao ZHANG ; Xiaoran WANG
International Journal of Laboratory Medicine 2024;45(10):1233-1237,1242
Objective To investigate the expression levels and the clinical significance of upstream tran-scription factor 2(USF2)and ubiquitin-specific protease 10(USP10)in peripheral blood of patients with sep-sis combined with acute kidney injury(AKI).Methods A total of 259 patients with sepsis were selected from Jilin Provincial People's Hospital from January 2018 to December 2022.Patients were divided into AKI group(107 cases)and non AKI(NAKI)group(152 cases)according to whether they had AKI or not.General clini-cal data were collected and the expression levels of USF2 and USP10 in peripheral blood were detected.Pear-son analysis was used to investigate the correlation between USF2,USP10,and renal function.Binary Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the factors influencing sepsis patients with AKI.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was drown to analyze the value of USF2 and USP10 in diagnosing AKI in patients with sepsis.Results The expression level of serum USF2 in AKI group was higher than that in NAKI group,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05),while the serum USP10 expression level in AKI group was lower than that in NAKI group,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).In AKI group,USF2 expression was positively correlated with urea nitrogen(BUN),serum creatinine(Scr)and Cys-tatin C(CysC)(P<0.05),while USP10 expression was negatively correlated with BUN,Scr and CysC(P<0.05).High sequential organ failure assessment(SOFA)score,septic shock and high expression of USF2 were risk factors for AKI in sepsis patients(P<0.05),and high expression of USP10 was protective factor(P<0.05).The area under the curve(AUC)of single detection of USF2 and USP10 for diagnosing AKI in patients with sepsis was 0.742(95%CI:0.676-0.808)and 0.781(95%CI:0.724-0.839),respectively.The AUC of the combination of USF2 and USP10 for diagnosing AKI in patients with sepsis was 0.907(95%CI:0.865-0.948),which was higher than that of single detection(P<0.05).Conclusion Increased expression of USF2 and decreased expression of USP10 in peripheral blood of patients with sepsis are associated with in-creased risk of AKI and decreased renal function.
9.Establishment and verification of reference intervals for blood cell ratios in apparently healthy people
Jingzhu NAN ; Xu ZHANG ; Hui YUAN ; Xuemei WEI ; Shuai ZHANG ; Chen WANG ; Xiujuan LI ; Honghao LU ; Xiaoran SHEN
International Journal of Laboratory Medicine 2024;45(19):2396-2402,2407
Objective To establish the reference intervals of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio(NLR),mono-cyte to lymphocyte ratio(MLR)and platelet to lymphocyte ratio(PLR)in different genders and age groups in northern Chinese adults.Methods The data were analyzed according to the Clinical and Laboratory Stand-ards Institute C28-A3.Outliers were checked and judged according to the Dixon method.Subgroups were di-vided according to gender or age factors,and reference intervals were established for different subgroups.Ref-erence intervals were expressed as two-sided 95%percentiles.Results The reference intervals of NLR,MLR and PLR were 0.90-3.82,0.09-0.33 and 71.20-246.87,respectively.The results showed that NLR and PLR in men were lower than those in women(P<0.001),while MLR in men was significantly higher than that in women(P<0.001).Linear trend plots showed that NLR,MLR and PLR changed significantly in dif-ferent genders and age groups.In men,NLR and MLR increased with age,while PLR gradually increased and reached the peak before 50 years old,and gradually decreased after 50 years old.In women,NLR and MLR showed the lowest values at 50-<60 years old,while PLR reached the peak at about 50 years old.The refer-ence intervals established by the model set were verified,and the percentages beyond the reference intervals were less than 10%in different genders and age groups.Conclusion The reference intervals of NLR,MLR and PLR in different genders and age groups of healthy adults in northern China are established in the study.
10.CT and MRI findings of extrapulmonary bronchogenic cyst and its differential analysis
Xiaoran LI ; Zhijun GAO ; Wenli ZHU ; Xiaoming FU
Journal of Practical Radiology 2024;40(11):1792-1795
Objective To investigate the distribution and imaging manifestations of extrapulmonary bronchogenic cyst(BC)and to make differential diagnosis.Methods The data of 32 patients with extrapulmonary BC confirmed by pathology were collected.The lesion location,CT and MRI findings were analyzed and summarized.All patients underwent plain CT scan,and 27 of them underwent enhanced CT scan.Three patients underwent MRI plain and enhanced scan.Results Of the 32 patients,24 cases were mediastinal BC including 20 cases in the anterior mediastinum and other 4 cases in the posterior mediastinum.8 cases were ectopic BC,including 2 cases in the upper chest wall,4 cases in the gastric cardia,1 case in the greater curvature of the stomach,and 1 case in the left adre-nal gland.All lesions were single with clear boundary.The lesions were mainly round in shape(22 cases),and a few were flat/"D"shape(10 cases).There were no significant differences in the included signs between mediastinal BC and ectopic BC(P>0.05).Nodular calcification of cyst wall was found in 2 cases.There were 4 cases with CT value<20 HU and other 28 cases with CT value≥20 HU.The enhanced CT scan in 27 cases showed non-or mild enhancement.MRI showed hypointensity on T1WI in 2 cases,isointensity on T1WI in 1 case,hyperintensity on T2WI in 3 cases,and obvious enhancement on T1WI enhanced scan in 1 case.In addition,30 cases(93.7%)were misdiagnosed as thymic cyst(8 cases),thymoma(12 cases),neurogenic tumor(4 cases),ganglioneuroma(4 cases)and gastric stromal tumor(2 cases).Conclusion Extrapulmonary BC is rare,and most of the lesions are located near the central axis of the body with no obvious enhancement and sometimes cyst wall calcification,which has certain value for clinical diagnosis.

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