Vascular cognitive impairment (VCI), caused by cerebrovascular dysfunction, severely impacts the quality of life in the elderly population, yet effective therapeutic approaches remain limited. Mitophagy, a selective mitochondrial quality-control mechanism, has emerged as a critical focus in neurological disease research. Accumulating evidence indicates that mitophagy modulates oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and neuronal apoptosis. Key signaling pathways associated with mitophagy—including PINK1/Parkin, BNIP3/Nix, FUNDC1, PI3K/Akt/mTOR, and AMPK—have been identified as potential therapeutic targets for VCI. This review summarizes the mechanistic roles of mitophagy in VCI pathogenesis and explores emerging therapeutic strategies targeting these pathways, aiming to provide novel insights for clinical intervention and advance the development of effective treatments for VCI.

Micro/nanoplastics (MNPs), recognized as emerging environmental pollutants, are widely distributed in natural environments. Due to their small particle size and significant migratory capacity, MNPs can infiltrate diverse environmental matrices, then invade and accumulate in the organism via the skin, respiration, and digestion. Recently, concerns have grown over the detrimental effects and potential toxicity of MNPs on reproductive health. This review summarized published epidemiological and toxicological studies related to MNPs exposure and their effects on reproductive health. Firstly, this review critically examined the current landscape of epidemiological evidence and found that MNPs (e.g., polystyrene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, etc.) are present in various biological specimens from both males and females, and their presence may be associated with an increased risk of reproductive disorders. Secondly, extensive toxicological studies revealed that MNPs exposure induces reproductive health damage through mechanisms such as disrupting the microstructure of reproductive organs and altering molecular-level expressions. Oxidative stress, inflammatory responses, and apoptosis are identified as potential links between MNPs exposure and reproductive damage. Finally, this review addressed the prevalent shortcomings in existing studies and proposed future directions to tackle the challenges posed by MNPs-induced reproductive harm. These insights aim to inform strategies for safeguarding public reproductive health and ecological security, providing a scientific foundation for mitigating risks associated with MNPs pollution.

Collagen membrane has attracted much attention from researchers due to its excellent properties such as wide source, degradable absorption, and low immunogenicity. However, they are limited by poor mechanical stability and rapid degradation. To enhance their physicochemical properties and biological functions, researchers have developed various strategies, including cross-linking, incorporation of growth factors or drugs, combination with other biomaterials, optimization of composition and structure, and substitution with marine-derived collagen. These advances aim to expand the clinical applications of collagen membranes in oral medicine. With the urgent demand for high-performance biomaterials in oral medicine, summarizing recent progress on collagen membranes provides valuable insights into their mechanisms, clinical efficacy, and limitations, offering reference for optimized design and broader clinical use. Furthermore, further trends may include integrating advanced manufacturing technologies to develop personalized collagen membranes, which could significantly improve therapeutic outcomes in oral diseases.
Collagen/therapeutic use* ; Humans ; Biocompatible Materials/chemistry* ; Membranes, Artificial ; Oral Medicine/methods* ; Tissue Engineering/methods*

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a life-threatening gastrointestinal disorder for which no effective pharmacological treatments are currently available. One of the pharmacological targets that merits further research is the neurokinin 1 receptor (NK1R), which is found on pancreatic acinar cells and responds to the neuropeptide substance P (SP) that participates in AP. Although a few studies have stated the involvement of SP/NK1R in neurogenic inflammation in AP development, the regulatory mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we found that following activation of NK1R by SP, β-arrestin1, a scaffold protein of NK1R, down-regulated transcription of Adss, Adsl, and Ampd in the purine nucleotide cycle, thereby inhibiting mitochondrial function through fumarate depletion. Interestingly, we identified magnolol as a new and natural NK1R inhibitor with a non-nitrogenous biphenyl core structure. It exhibited a beneficial effect on AP by restoring purine nucleotide cycle metabolic enzymes and fumarate levels. Our study not only provides new therapeutic strategies, leading compounds, and drug translation possibilities for AP, but also provides important clues for the study of downstream mechanisms driven by SP in other diseases.

Methods To investigate how the timing of cooling therapy affects organ injuries in rats with exertional heat stroke(EHS)and explore the possible mechanisms.Methods A total of 60 adult male Wistar rat models of EHS were randomized into model group without active cooling after modeling,immediate cooling group with cold water bath immediately after modeling,delayed cooling groups with cold water bath at 5,15 and 30 min after modeling,with another 12 mice without EHS as the normal control group.The changes in core body temperature of the mice were recorded and the cooling rate was calculated.After observation for 24 h,the mice were euthanized and blood samples were collected for detection of interleukin-1β(IL-1β),IL-2,IL-4,IL-6,IL-10,and interferon-γ,followed by pathological examination of the vital organs.The rats that died within 24 h were immediately dissected for examination.Results The number of deaths of the model rats within 24 h increased significantly with the time of delay of cooling treatment.The delay of cooling was positively correlated(r=0.996,P=0.004)while the cooling rate negatively correlated with the mortality rate(r=-0.961,P=0.009).The inflammatory cytokine levels presented with different patterns of variations among the cooling intervention groups.All the rat models of EHS had significant organ damages characterized mainly by epithelial shedding,edema,effusion,and inflammatory cell infiltration,and brain and renal injuries reached the peak level at 24 h after EHS.Conclusion EHS causes significant nonspecific pathologies of varying severities in the vital organs of rats,and the injuries worsen progressively with the delay of cooling.There is a significant heterogeneity in changes of serum inflammatory cytokines in rats with different timing of cooling intervention following EHS.

Methods To investigate how the timing of cooling therapy affects organ injuries in rats with exertional heat stroke(EHS)and explore the possible mechanisms.Methods A total of 60 adult male Wistar rat models of EHS were randomized into model group without active cooling after modeling,immediate cooling group with cold water bath immediately after modeling,delayed cooling groups with cold water bath at 5,15 and 30 min after modeling,with another 12 mice without EHS as the normal control group.The changes in core body temperature of the mice were recorded and the cooling rate was calculated.After observation for 24 h,the mice were euthanized and blood samples were collected for detection of interleukin-1β(IL-1β),IL-2,IL-4,IL-6,IL-10,and interferon-γ,followed by pathological examination of the vital organs.The rats that died within 24 h were immediately dissected for examination.Results The number of deaths of the model rats within 24 h increased significantly with the time of delay of cooling treatment.The delay of cooling was positively correlated(r=0.996,P=0.004)while the cooling rate negatively correlated with the mortality rate(r=-0.961,P=0.009).The inflammatory cytokine levels presented with different patterns of variations among the cooling intervention groups.All the rat models of EHS had significant organ damages characterized mainly by epithelial shedding,edema,effusion,and inflammatory cell infiltration,and brain and renal injuries reached the peak level at 24 h after EHS.Conclusion EHS causes significant nonspecific pathologies of varying severities in the vital organs of rats,and the injuries worsen progressively with the delay of cooling.There is a significant heterogeneity in changes of serum inflammatory cytokines in rats with different timing of cooling intervention following EHS.

Objective To conduct the evaluation and comparison on the application effects of the 5-D Pruritus Assessment Scale and the Multidimensional Uremic Pruritus Assessment Scale in the patients with maintenance hemodialysis.Methods A total of 154 maintenance hemodialysis patients with pruritus symptom in this hospital from February to June 2023 were selected as the study subjects.The 5-D Pruritus Assessment Scale and the Multidimensional Uremic Itch Assessment Scale were used to evaluate the dimensions such as the pruritus degree,duration and itching location.After standardization treatment by aiming at the evaluation results of the two kinds of scales,the Bland-AItman method was adopted to conduct the consistency compari-son.The Spearman correlation coefficient was adopted to test the correlation between the two kinds of scales. Results The consensus limit (LoA) confidence interval of the 5-D Pruritus Assessment Scale was-0.1578 to 0.1603,the Multidimensional Uremic Pruritus Assessment Scale was-0.1592 to 0.1592.The Spearman correlation results showed that the two scales had the positive correlation (r=0.472,P<0.001).In the 5-D Pruritus Assessment Scale,the area under the curve(AUC) of the fractal dimensions such as duration,degree,development direction,disability and distribution were 0.674 (95％CI:0.557-0.790),0.799 (95％CI:0.700-0.899),0.637 (95％CI:0.528-0.747),0.951 (95％CI:0.905-0.997) and 0.786(95％CI:0.701-0.872),respectively.In the Multidimensional Uremic Pruritus Assessment Scale,AUC of the fractal dimen-sions such as symptom and sign,psychological society and sleep were 0.989 (95％CI:0.978-1.000),0.931 (95％CI:0.878-0.985),and 0.951 (95％CI:0.909-0.994),respectively.Conclusion The consistency of the two scales is good,and both scales can be used to evaluate uremia skin pruritus.The Multidimensional Uremic Pruritus Assessment Scale is more targeted in the assessment of sleep dimension,which is more suitable for the evaluation of maintenance hemodialysis patients.

Objective To investigate the relationship between spicy diet and uremic pruritus(UP)in the patients with maintenance haemodialysis(MHD).Methods A total of 403 patients receiving the treat-ment in the blood purification center of this hospital from December 2023 to February 2024 were selected as the study subjects and grouped by the sum of the scores of frequency and degree of pepper intake.The visual analogue rating scale(VAS)was used to conduct the preliminary pruritus score in all patients,and the pa-tients with the score＞0 point conducted the multidimensional evaluation by the 14-item uremic skin pruritus scale.The blood routine and itch-related blood biochemical indexes levels of all patients were measured.Results There were 65 cases in the bland diet group,119 cases in the mild spicy diet group and 219 cases in the spicy diet group,and there was no significant difference in the number of genders between the groups(P＞0.05).There were statistically significant differences in age,dialysis age and lymphocyte count among the groups(P＜0.05).There was no statistically significant difference in the degree of pruritus among the groups(Z=9.301,P=0.157),but it was seen that the proportion of moderate and severe pruritus in the mild spicy diet group and the spicy diet group was decreased,and the proportions of no pruritus and mild pruritus showed the increasing trend.The itching score of the bland diet group was higher than that of the mildly spicy diet group and spicy diet group,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05),but there was no statistically significant difference between the mild spicy diet group and spicy diet group(P＞0.05).There was a statistically significant difference in the itch score of the patients aged 40-60 years in each group(P＜0.05),and there was no statistically significant difference in the itch score between the patients aged＞60 years old and＜40 years old in each group(P＞0.05).There was no statistically significant difference in the itch-related blood biochemical indexes among the groups(P＞0.05).Conclusion The spicy diet may reduce the degree of pruritus in patients with MHD,moreover which is not affected by the age and other factors,and may be associated with lymphocyte level decrease in the patients.

Objective To explore the characteristics of TCM syndromes in patients with coronary heart disease complicated with hypertension and diabetes based on latent structure model.Methods A multi-center cross-sectional study was used to collect the four diagnostic information of patients with coronary heart disease by using the Four Diagnostic Collection Scales of TCM developed by our research group,and a clinical database was established.Combined with frequency analysis and expert opinions,the four diagnostic information was screened to construct a latent structure model.Results Totally 702 patients with coronary heart disease complicated with hypertension and diabetes were collected.A total of 40 high-frequency four-diagnosis symptoms were screened,and 18 latent variables were obtained by latent structure model analysis.The model BIC score was-17 604.38.The latent variables in the model were comprehensively clustered,and it was found that the syndrome elements of disease location in patients with coronary heart disease complicated with hypertension and diabetes were mainly heart,liver,kidney,etc.,and the syndrome elements of disease nature were mainly qi deficiency,yin deficiency,qi stagnation,phlegm turbidity,blood stasis,etc.The syndrome types were mainly phlegm and blood stasis syndrome,spleen and kidney yang deficiency syndrome,liver depression and qi stagnation syndrome,liver and kidney yin deficiency syndrome,damp-heat intrinsic syndrome,and the mutual information and information coverage between each syndrome type and the four diagnostic information were suggested.Conclusion Latent structure model analysis can provide a qualitative and quantitative basis for the syndrome classification of patients with coronary heart disease complicated with hypertension and diabetes.

Objective To study Chinese medicine consultation strategies to achieve rapid capture of key information about patients'conditions and to advance the development of objectification in Chinese medicine consultation.Methods A symptom questioning model based on frequent pattern mining algorithm in correlation analysis was used,and a cross-merging method was used to establish a TCM symptom questioning strategy between single-system symptom questioning and multi-system integrated symptom questioning in TCM,to achieve the shortest time and highest efficiency in capturing key information about the patient's condition.Results A breakthrough from single-system questioning to five-system integrated questioning was achieved,and the process of efficiently obtaining information about the patient's condition was achieved through both single-system and five-system symptom questioning modes,and the system was able to obtain 92%of the patient's symptom information with at most 65%fewer questions than the traditional scale questioning method,greatly improving the efficiency of obtaining information about the patient's symptoms.Conclusion With the two different symptom questioning modes,the traditional TCM questioning mode of asking patients based on scales is broken,the time to obtain symptoms from patients is shortened,the questioning process is simplified,and discrepancies due to inexperience or human subjectivity are reduced,which can be used in clinical aids to diagnosis in TCM.