BACKGROUND:Macrophages play a key role in the occurrence and progression of lung diseases,and autophagy plays an important role in maintaining environmental homeostasis and functional stability in macrophages.It has been suggested that macrophage autophagic activity has two sides in lung inflammatory diseases.OBJECTIVE:To summarize the relationship between macrophage autophagy and lung diseases,thereby providing reference for exploring the prevention and treatment strategies of lung inflammatory diseases by targeting macrophage autophagy.METHODS:Literature retrieval was performed in CNKI and PubMed for relevant literature published from database inception to September 2024.The search terms were"macrophage autophagy,efferocytosis,macrophage polarization,acute lung injury,pneumonia,chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,pulmonary fibrosis,asthma"in Chinese and English,respectively.The search results were included or excluded based on the selection criteria,and 100 papers that met the criteria were finally included in the review.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)The obstruction of autophagy flow will induce the polarization imbalance of macrophages and impair their efferocytosis,resulting in the increase of M1 macrophages and aggravating inflammation.(2)The judgment of autophagic activity should be based on whether the autophagy flow is smooth or not,and it is essential to evaluate the degradation ability of autophagy.Some studies failed to comprehensively detect the degradation ability of autophagy lysosomes to assess whether the autophagy flow is unobtrusive.As a result,the so-called two-sided view of pulmonary macrophage autophagy in pulmonary inflammatory diseases in such studies is actually related to the one-sided judgment of autophagy activity.(3)The pathological manifestations vary across different pulmonary diseases and even at different stages of the same disease.Activation of macrophage autophagy plays a positive role in regulating pulmonary inflammatory homeostasis in conditions such as acute lung injury,infectious pneumonia,mild chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,early-stage pulmonary fibrosis,and secondary asthma.However,in the severe fibrotic stage of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and the progressive stage of pulmonary fibrosis,the activation of pulmonary macrophage autophagy aggravates pulmonary fibrosis,reflecting the dual nature of macrophage autophagy.In allergic asthma,autophagy is activated in lung-resident macrophages but suppressed in infiltrating monocyte-derived macrophages from circulation.The former is closely related to airway stenosis,and the latter aggravates pneumonia disorders.Therefore,identifying the types and progression stages of lung diseases,along with accurately assessing autophagic activity,is crucial for future investigations into the relationship between macrophage autophagy and disease pathogenesis,thereby facilitating the development of therapeutic strategies in the future.

BACKGROUND:Macrophages play a key role in the occurrence and progression of lung diseases,and autophagy plays an important role in maintaining environmental homeostasis and functional stability in macrophages.It has been suggested that macrophage autophagic activity has two sides in lung inflammatory diseases.OBJECTIVE:To summarize the relationship between macrophage autophagy and lung diseases,thereby providing reference for exploring the prevention and treatment strategies of lung inflammatory diseases by targeting macrophage autophagy.METHODS:Literature retrieval was performed in CNKI and PubMed for relevant literature published from database inception to September 2024.The search terms were"macrophage autophagy,efferocytosis,macrophage polarization,acute lung injury,pneumonia,chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,pulmonary fibrosis,asthma"in Chinese and English,respectively.The search results were included or excluded based on the selection criteria,and 100 papers that met the criteria were finally included in the review.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)The obstruction of autophagy flow will induce the polarization imbalance of macrophages and impair their efferocytosis,resulting in the increase of M1 macrophages and aggravating inflammation.(2)The judgment of autophagic activity should be based on whether the autophagy flow is smooth or not,and it is essential to evaluate the degradation ability of autophagy.Some studies failed to comprehensively detect the degradation ability of autophagy lysosomes to assess whether the autophagy flow is unobtrusive.As a result,the so-called two-sided view of pulmonary macrophage autophagy in pulmonary inflammatory diseases in such studies is actually related to the one-sided judgment of autophagy activity.(3)The pathological manifestations vary across different pulmonary diseases and even at different stages of the same disease.Activation of macrophage autophagy plays a positive role in regulating pulmonary inflammatory homeostasis in conditions such as acute lung injury,infectious pneumonia,mild chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,early-stage pulmonary fibrosis,and secondary asthma.However,in the severe fibrotic stage of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and the progressive stage of pulmonary fibrosis,the activation of pulmonary macrophage autophagy aggravates pulmonary fibrosis,reflecting the dual nature of macrophage autophagy.In allergic asthma,autophagy is activated in lung-resident macrophages but suppressed in infiltrating monocyte-derived macrophages from circulation.The former is closely related to airway stenosis,and the latter aggravates pneumonia disorders.Therefore,identifying the types and progression stages of lung diseases,along with accurately assessing autophagic activity,is crucial for future investigations into the relationship between macrophage autophagy and disease pathogenesis,thereby facilitating the development of therapeutic strategies in the future.

With the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence(GAI)technologies,their widespread application in academic research and writing is continuously expanding the boundaries of sci-entific inquiry.However,this trend has also raised a series of ethical and regulatory challenges,inclu-ding issues related to authorship,content authenticity,citation accuracy,and accountability.In light of the growing involvement of AI in generating academic content,establishing an open,controllable,and trustworthy ethical governance framework has become a key task for safeguarding research integrity and maintaining trust within the academic community.This expert consensus outlines ethical requirements across key stages of AI-assisted academic writing-including topic selection,data management,citation practices,and authorship attribution.It aims to clarify the boundaries and ethical obligations surrounding AI use in academic writing,ensuring that technological tools enhance efficiency without compromising in-tegrity.The goal is to provide guidance and institutional support for building a responsible and sustainable research ecosystem.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute infectious respiratory disease that has been prevalent since December 2019. Chinese medicine (CM) has demonstrated its unique advantages in the fight against COVID-19 in the areas of disease prevention, improvement of clinical symptoms, and control of disease progression. This review summarized the relevant material components of CM in the treatment of COVID-19 by searching the relevant literature and reports on CM in the treatment of COVID-19 and combining with the physiological and pathological characteristics of the novel coronavirus. On the basis of sorting out experimental methods in vivo and in vitro, the mechanism of herb action was further clarified in terms of inhibiting virus invasion and replication and improving related complications. The aim of the article is to explore the strengths and characteristics of CM in the treatment of COVID-19, and to provide a basis for the research and scientific, standardized treatment of COVID-19 with CM.
Humans ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; COVID-19 Drug Treatment ; SARS-CoV-2/drug effects* ; COVID-19/therapy* ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional/methods* ; Antiviral Agents/pharmacology* ; Animals

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of miR-483-5p on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells proliferation and stemness, as well as the attenuating effect of Pien Tze Huang (PZH). METHODS: Differentially expressed miRNA between HepG2 cells and hepatic cancer stem-like cells (HCSCs) were identified by a miRNA microarray assay. miR-483-5p mimics were transfected into HepG2 cells to explore the effects of miR-483-5p on cell proliferation and stemness. HepG2 cells and HCSCs were treated with PZH (0, 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 mg/mL) to explore the effects of PZH on the proliferation and stemness, both in non-induced state and the state induced by miR-483-5p mimics. RESULTS: miR-483-5p was significantly up-regulated in HCSCs and its overexpression increased cell proliferation and stemness in HepG2 cells (P<0.05). PZH not only significantly inhibited proliferation in HepG2 cells, but also significantly suppressed the cell proliferation and self-renewal of HCSCs (P<0.05). The effects of miR-483-5p mimics on proliferation and stemness of HepG2 cells were partially abolished by PZH. CONCLUSIONS miR-483-5p promotes proliferation and enhances stemness of HepG2 cells, which were attenuated by PZH, demonstrating that miR-483-5p is a potential molecular target for the treatment of HCC and provide experimental evidence to support clinical use of PZH for patients with HCC.
Humans ; MicroRNAs/metabolism* ; Cell Proliferation/drug effects* ; Liver Neoplasms/drug therapy* ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/drug therapy* ; Hep G2 Cells ; Neoplastic Stem Cells/metabolism* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic/drug effects*

Objective To use imaging features of pulmonary nodules to predict the risk of lymph node metastasis in patients with cT1-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), providing a reference for clinical decision-making. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the imaging features and postoperative pathological results of cT1 NSCLC patients who underwent surgical treatment at Linyi People’s Hospital from July 2019 to July 2022. Patients were grouped and analyzed according to lymph node metastasis status. Results A total of 1 123 patients were included, comprising 471 males and 652 females, with a median age of 59 (52, 66) years. Comparative analysis revealed that sex, age, nodule location, nodule size on imaging, solid component size, consolidation tumor ratio (CTR), average CT value, and tumor proximity to the pleura all influenced lymph node metastasis. A nomogram was constructed, indicating that the probability of lymph node metastasis in cT1 NSCLC was positively correlated with solid component size, CTR, and average CT value of the pulmonary nodule, and negatively correlated with patient age. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.929. Conclusion For cT1 NSCLC patients, the probability of lymph node metastasis can be predicted by measuring the solid component size, CTR, and average CT value of the pulmonary nodule, in conjunction with patient age. However, relying solely on pulmonary nodule imaging characteristics is insufficient to determine a specific lymph node dissection strategy.

Despite therapy with potent antiviral agents, chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients remain at high risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). While metabolites have been rediscovered as active drivers of biological processes including carcinogenesis, the specific metabolites modulating HCC risk in CHB patients are largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that baseline plasma from CHB patients who later developed HCC during follow-up exhibits growth-promoting properties in a case-control design nested within a large-scale, prospective cohort. Metabolomics analysis reveals a reduction in long-chain acylcarnitines (LCACs) in the baseline plasma of patients with HCC development. LCACs preferentially inhibit the proliferation of HCC cells in vitro at a physiological concentration and prevent the occurrence of HCC in vivo without hepatorenal toxicity. Uptake and metabolism of circulating LCACs increase the intracellular level of acetyl coenzyme A, which upregulates histone H3 Lys14 acetylation at the promoter region of KLF6 gene and thereby activates KLF6/p21 pathway. Indeed, blocking LCAC metabolism attenuates the difference in KLF6/p21 expression induced by baseline plasma of HCC/non-HCC patients. The deficiency of circulating LCACs represents a driver of HCC in CHB patients with viral control. These insights provide a promising direction for developing therapeutic strategies to reduce HCC risk further in the antiviral era.

With the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence(GAI)technologies,their widespread application in academic research and writing is continuously expanding the boundaries of sci-entific inquiry.However,this trend has also raised a series of ethical and regulatory challenges,inclu-ding issues related to authorship,content authenticity,citation accuracy,and accountability.In light of the growing involvement of AI in generating academic content,establishing an open,controllable,and trustworthy ethical governance framework has become a key task for safeguarding research integrity and maintaining trust within the academic community.This expert consensus outlines ethical requirements across key stages of AI-assisted academic writing-including topic selection,data management,citation practices,and authorship attribution.It aims to clarify the boundaries and ethical obligations surrounding AI use in academic writing,ensuring that technological tools enhance efficiency without compromising in-tegrity.The goal is to provide guidance and institutional support for building a responsible and sustainable research ecosystem.

Objective:To explore the clinical phenotype and genetic etiology of a child with Developmental epileptic encephalopathy type 104 (DEE 104).Methods:A child who had presented at the Children′s Medical Center of the Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University in February 2021 for recurrent seizures over 1 month was selected as the study subject. Clinical data of the child was collected. Peripheral blood samples of the child and his parents were collected and subjected to whole exome sequencing (WES). Candidate variant was verified by Sanger sequencing.Results:The child, a five-month-old male, had presented with frequent focal seizures with severe developmental retardation from infancy. Physical examination showed emaciation, microcephaly, oblique palpebral fissures, Stahl′s ears, and hypotonia in the limbs. Electroencephalogram revealed multi-focal sharp waves, slow waves and slow spinal waves. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging revealed enlargement of bilateral lateral ventricles and the third ventricle, along with widening of brain sulci, fissure and cisterna. WES revealed that he had harbored a heterozygous c. 2401C>T (p.His801Tyr) missense variant of the ATP6V0A1 gene. Sanger sequencing showed that both of his parents were of the wild type. Based on the guidelines from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), the variant was predicted to be likely pathogenic (PS2+ PM2_Supporting+ PP3). The proband was diagnosed with DEE 104. Early treatment with sodium valproate has failed, but the child had become seizure free after the addition of levetiracetam and topiramate. He still had abnormal EEG discharges and severe psychomotor retardation. Combining our case and a review of literature, DEE104 is mainly caused by de novo heterozygous variants of the ATP6V0A1 gene with an autosomal dominant inheritance. The patients may show refractory epilepsy and severe global developmental delay from infancy. Conclusion:The c. 2401C>T (p.His801Tyr) variant probably underlay the DEE104 in this child.

Objective To investigate the distribution of the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)constitution types in the patients with nonspecific low back pain(NLBP)and to explore the correlation of the thickness of ligamentum flavum with the age,body mass index(BMI),gender,the presence of diabetes mellitus,and the grading of hypertension.Methods Sixty patients with NLBP admitted to Guangdong Second Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital from January 2023 to June 2023 were selected as the study subjects.The TCM constitution types of the patients were identified,the thickness of the ligamentum flavum at lumbar vertebrae 4/5 segment(L4/5)disc level was measured by computerized tomography(CT)scanning,and the patients'age,genders,TCM constitution types,BMI,the presence or absence of diabetes mellitus,and hypertension grading were recorded.Correlation analysis and linear regression analysis were used for the exploration of the relevant influencing factors for the thickness of the ligamentum flavum of patients with NLBP.Results(1)The average thickness of ligamentum flavum in the 60 patients with NLBP was(2.60±0.72)mm.(2)The TCM constitutions of NLBP patients were classified into four types,of which blood stasis constitution was the most common,accounting for 21 cases(35.0%),followed by 19 cases(31.7%)of damp-heat constitution,12 cases(20.0%)of phlegm-damp constitution,and 8 cases(13.3%)of qi deficiency constitution.(3)The results of correlation analysis showed that BMI,gender,TCM constitution type and the presence or absence of diabetes mellitus had no influence on the thickness of ligamentum flavum in NLBP patients(P＞0.05),while the age and hypertension grading had an influence on the thickness of ligamentum flavum(P＜0.01).(4)The results of linear regression analysis showed that the age had an influence on the thickness of the ligamentum flavum(b = 0.034,t = 6.282,P＜0.01),while the influence of the hypertension grading had no influence on the thickness of the ligamentum flavum(P＞0.05).Conclusion The TCM constitution type of NLBP patients is predominated by blood stasis constitution,the thickness of ligamentum flavum is significantly affected by the age,and hypertension may be a potential factor affecting the thickness of ligamentum flavum.