1.Evaluation of antimicrobial activity of milk exosomes loaded with rifamycin S derivative
Zhanqun YANG ; Xiang LI ; Chenghua LIU ; Mengzhu ZHENG ; Shiyong FAN ; Yuchao DONG ; Zihao WANG ; Jian LIN ; Guang YANG ; Long CHEN
Chinese Journal of Pharmacology and Toxicology 2025;39(3):208-215
OBJECTIVE To design and synthesize rifamycin S derivatives and load them into milk exosomes to evaluate their in vitro antimicrobial activity.METHODS Rifamycin S derivatives were synthe-sized and characterized by mass spectrometry and NMR.Using the dilution assay method,the inhibitory activity of each rifamycin S derivatives molecule against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aerugi-nosa was determined,and the IC50 was calculated.Derivatives molecules with excellent antimicrobial activity were selected and loaded into milk exosomes using the ultrasonication method,resulting in the preparation of milk exosome-loaded rifamycin S derivatives.The antimicrobial activity against Staphylo-coccus aureus was determined using the dilution assay method.The inhibitory effect of the exosome-loaded rifamycin S derivatives on Staphylococcus aureus residing within macrophages was detected using the plate colony counting method.RESULTS Three rifamycin S derivatives were successfully designed and synthesized,which demonstrated superior antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus(the parent compound's antimicrobial activity is merely from 1/20 to 1/80 of that of the three rifamycin S derivatives)and Pseudomonas aeruginosa(the parent compound's antimicrobial activity is only 1/14 and 1/9 of that of compound 1 and compound 3)compared to the parent compound.The loading of milk exosomes with the rifamycin S derivatives compound 3 was successfully achieved,with a loading efficiency of 10.9%.The antimicrobial activity of the compound after exosome loading was significantly enhanced against Staphylococcus aureus in vitro and against Staphylococcus aureus residing within macrophages(P<0.01).CONCLUSION The designed and synthesized derivatives of rifamycin S possess stronger anti-microbial activity,and their antibacterial efficacy against both extracellular and intracellular bacteria can be further enhanced after loading into exosomes.
2.Mechanism of Mitochondrial Autophagy and Intervention of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Renal Fibrosis: A Review
Shuqi MIN ; Chenghua ZHANG ; Qiwang HE ; Xinyue ZHANG ; Zhiyi LI ; Meifeng ZHU ; Shenju WANG
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(11):314-321
With the main pathological features of glomerulosclerosis and interstitial fibrosis, renal fibrosis is a key pathological process causing chronic kidney disease to progress to end-stage disease. As a cellular autophagic process, mitochondrial autophagy plays a crucial role in maintaining mitochondrial mass and functional stability. Mitochondrial dysfunction is considered to be one of the key factors driving the progression of fibrosis. Phosphatase and tension protein homologue (PTEN) induce various signalling pathways such as putative kinase 1/parkin, Nip3-like protein X/Bcl-2 interacting protein 3, and FUN14 structural domain-containing protein 1 to activate mitochondrial autophagy to participate in the regulation of fibrogenic factors, amelioration of oxidative stress, and inhibition of inflammatory response and apoptosis, which in turn effectively slows down the progression of renal fibrosis. Studies have shown that traditional Chinese medicine monomers and compound preparations, including phenolics, terpenoids, ketones, and alkaloids, can regulate mitochondrial autophagy-related signalling pathways and achieve significant clinical efficacy in intervening in the progression of renal fibrosis for the treatment of chronic kidney disease. This paper summarized the mechanism of mitochondrial autophagy and the research progress of traditional Chinese medicine intervention in renal fibrosis to provide new ideas for the study of the mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine in treating renal fibrosis.
3.Clinical Efficacy of Tonifying Kidney and Replenishing Essence on Asthenospermia Patients with Syndrome of Kidney Essence Deficiency and Effect of This Method on Expression Levels of AMPK/mTORC1 Signaling Pathway-associated Proteins
Yuanjie FU ; Fuhao LI ; Chenghua PENG ; Dong XU ; Guoan YIN ; Xiaopeng HUANG ; Degui CHANG ; Liang DONG
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(7):141-147
ObjectiveTo observe the clinical efficacy of tonifying kidney and replenishing essence on asthenozoospermia patients with the syndrome of kidney essence deficiency and the effects of this method on the adenosine 5′-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK)/mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling pathway. MethodsSeventy-two eligible asthenozoospermia patients with the syndrome of kidney essence deficiency treated in the Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from February 2023 to January 2024 were selected and randomly assigned into an observation group and a control group, with 36 patients in each group. The observation group received oral administration of Guilu Tianjing capsules, while the control group received oral administration of L-carnitine oral solution. The treatment course lasted for 4 weeks in both groups. The observed indicators included sperm progressive motility rate (PR), total sperm motility (PR+NP), percentage of normal mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) symptom scores before and after treatment in both groups. A three-month follow-up was instituted to record the conception status of the patients’ spouses. Additionally, eight patients were randomly selected from the eligible patients in the observation group, and four healthy males with normal semen routine examination results were included as the control group for the determination of protein expression. Western blotting was conducted to assess the expression of AMPK, phosphorylated (p)-AMPK, regulatory-associated protein of mTOR (RAPTOR) and p-RAPTOR, and PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1) in sperms from the observation group before and after treatment, as well as in the sperms of the control group. ResultsThe pregnancy rate of spouses in the observation group was 9.09% (3/33), which was higher than that (3.33%, 1/30) in the control group. The total response rate was 84.8% (28/33) in the observation group and 66.7% (20/30) in the control group, with no statistically significant difference. After treatment, both groups were improved considering PR, PR+NP, MMP, and TCM symptom scores (P<0.01). Moreover, the observation group exhibited more pronounced decreases in TCM symptom scores than the control group (P<0.05), while the changes in PR, PR+NP, and MMP showed no statistical significance between groups. Compared with the control group, the asthenozoospermia group exhibited upregulations in phosphorylation levels of AMPK and RAPTOR and protein level of PINK (P<0.01). The administration of Guilu Tianjing Capsules led to downregulations in the phosphorylation levels of AMPK and RAPTOR and protein level of PINK1 (P<0.01). However, the protein levels of AMPK and RAPTOR demonstrated no significant difference between before and after treatment. During the study period, neither group of patients exhibited any notable adverse reactions. ConclusionGuilu Tianjing capsules can enhance the sperm motility and percentage of normal mitochondrial membrane potential in asthenozoospermia patients with the syndrome of kidney essence deficiency by downregulating the AMPK/mTORC1 signaling pathway, lowering the protein level of PINK1, and inhibiting excessive activation of mitophagy.
4.Clinical Efficacy of Tonifying Kidney and Replenishing Essence on Asthenospermia Patients with Syndrome of Kidney Essence Deficiency and Effect of This Method on Expression Levels of AMPK/mTORC1 Signaling Pathway-associated Proteins
Yuanjie FU ; Fuhao LI ; Chenghua PENG ; Dong XU ; Guoan YIN ; Xiaopeng HUANG ; Degui CHANG ; Liang DONG
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(7):141-147
ObjectiveTo observe the clinical efficacy of tonifying kidney and replenishing essence on asthenozoospermia patients with the syndrome of kidney essence deficiency and the effects of this method on the adenosine 5′-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK)/mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling pathway. MethodsSeventy-two eligible asthenozoospermia patients with the syndrome of kidney essence deficiency treated in the Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from February 2023 to January 2024 were selected and randomly assigned into an observation group and a control group, with 36 patients in each group. The observation group received oral administration of Guilu Tianjing capsules, while the control group received oral administration of L-carnitine oral solution. The treatment course lasted for 4 weeks in both groups. The observed indicators included sperm progressive motility rate (PR), total sperm motility (PR+NP), percentage of normal mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) symptom scores before and after treatment in both groups. A three-month follow-up was instituted to record the conception status of the patients’ spouses. Additionally, eight patients were randomly selected from the eligible patients in the observation group, and four healthy males with normal semen routine examination results were included as the control group for the determination of protein expression. Western blotting was conducted to assess the expression of AMPK, phosphorylated (p)-AMPK, regulatory-associated protein of mTOR (RAPTOR) and p-RAPTOR, and PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1) in sperms from the observation group before and after treatment, as well as in the sperms of the control group. ResultsThe pregnancy rate of spouses in the observation group was 9.09% (3/33), which was higher than that (3.33%, 1/30) in the control group. The total response rate was 84.8% (28/33) in the observation group and 66.7% (20/30) in the control group, with no statistically significant difference. After treatment, both groups were improved considering PR, PR+NP, MMP, and TCM symptom scores (P<0.01). Moreover, the observation group exhibited more pronounced decreases in TCM symptom scores than the control group (P<0.05), while the changes in PR, PR+NP, and MMP showed no statistical significance between groups. Compared with the control group, the asthenozoospermia group exhibited upregulations in phosphorylation levels of AMPK and RAPTOR and protein level of PINK (P<0.01). The administration of Guilu Tianjing Capsules led to downregulations in the phosphorylation levels of AMPK and RAPTOR and protein level of PINK1 (P<0.01). However, the protein levels of AMPK and RAPTOR demonstrated no significant difference between before and after treatment. During the study period, neither group of patients exhibited any notable adverse reactions. ConclusionGuilu Tianjing capsules can enhance the sperm motility and percentage of normal mitochondrial membrane potential in asthenozoospermia patients with the syndrome of kidney essence deficiency by downregulating the AMPK/mTORC1 signaling pathway, lowering the protein level of PINK1, and inhibiting excessive activation of mitophagy.
5.Mechanism of Mitochondrial Autophagy and Intervention of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Renal Fibrosis: A Review
Shuqi MIN ; Chenghua ZHANG ; Qiwang HE ; Xinyue ZHANG ; Zhiyi LI ; Meifeng ZHU ; Shenju WANG
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(11):314-321
With the main pathological features of glomerulosclerosis and interstitial fibrosis, renal fibrosis is a key pathological process causing chronic kidney disease to progress to end-stage disease. As a cellular autophagic process, mitochondrial autophagy plays a crucial role in maintaining mitochondrial mass and functional stability. Mitochondrial dysfunction is considered to be one of the key factors driving the progression of fibrosis. Phosphatase and tension protein homologue (PTEN) induce various signalling pathways such as putative kinase 1/parkin, Nip3-like protein X/Bcl-2 interacting protein 3, and FUN14 structural domain-containing protein 1 to activate mitochondrial autophagy to participate in the regulation of fibrogenic factors, amelioration of oxidative stress, and inhibition of inflammatory response and apoptosis, which in turn effectively slows down the progression of renal fibrosis. Studies have shown that traditional Chinese medicine monomers and compound preparations, including phenolics, terpenoids, ketones, and alkaloids, can regulate mitochondrial autophagy-related signalling pathways and achieve significant clinical efficacy in intervening in the progression of renal fibrosis for the treatment of chronic kidney disease. This paper summarized the mechanism of mitochondrial autophagy and the research progress of traditional Chinese medicine intervention in renal fibrosis to provide new ideas for the study of the mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine in treating renal fibrosis.
6.Ursodeoxycholic acid inhibits the uptake of cystine through SLC7A11 and impairs de novo synthesis of glutathione
Fu'an XIE ; Yujia NIU ; Xiaobing CHEN ; Xu KONG ; Guangting YAN ; Aobo ZHUANG ; Xi LI ; Lanlan LIAN ; Dongmei QIN ; Quan ZHANG ; Ruyi ZHANG ; Kunrong YANG ; Xiaogang XIA ; Kun CHEN ; Mengmeng XIAO ; Chunkang YANG ; Ting WU ; Ye SHEN ; Chundong YU ; Chenghua LUO ; Shu-Hai LIN ; Wengang LI
Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis 2025;15(1):189-207
Ursodeoxycholic acid(UDCA)is a naturally occurring,low-toxicity,and hydrophilic bile acid(BA)in the human body that is converted by intestinal flora using primary BA.Solute carrier family 7 member 11(SLC7A11)functions to uptake extracellular cystine in exchange for glutamate,and is highly expressed in a variety of human cancers.Retroperitoneal liposarcoma(RLPS)refers to liposarcoma originating from the retroperitoneal area.Lipidomics analysis revealed that UDCA was one of the most significantly down-regulated metabolites in sera of RIPS patients compared with healthy subjects.The augmentation of UDCA concentration(≥25 μg/mL)demonstrated a suppressive effect on the proliferation of liposarcoma cells.[15N2]-cystine and[13Cs]-glutamine isotope tracing revealed that UDCA impairs cystine uptake and glutathione(GSH)synthesis.Mechanistically,UDCA binds to the cystine transporter SLC7A11 to inhibit cystine uptake and impair GSH de novo synthesis,leading to reactive oxygen species(ROS)accumulation and mitochondrial oxidative damage.Furthermore,UDCA can promote the anti-cancer effects of ferroptosis inducers(Erastin,RSL3),the murine double minute 2(MDM2)inhibitors(Nutlin 3a,RG7112),cyclin dependent kinase 4(CDK4)inhibitor(Abemaciclib),and glutaminase inhibitor(CB839).Together,UDCA functions as a cystine exchange factor that binds to SLC7A11 for antitumor activity,and SLC7A11 is not only a new transporter for BA but also a clinically applicable target for UDCA.More importantly,in combination with other antitumor chemotherapy or physiotherapy treatments,UDCA may provide effective and promising treatment strategies for RLPS or other types of tumors in a ROS-dependent manner.
7.Ursodeoxycholic acid inhibits the uptake of cystine through SLC7A11 and impairs de novo synthesis of glutathione.
Fu'an XIE ; Yujia NIU ; Xiaobing CHEN ; Xu KONG ; Guangting YAN ; Aobo ZHUANG ; Xi LI ; Lanlan LIAN ; Dongmei QIN ; Quan ZHANG ; Ruyi ZHANG ; Kunrong YANG ; Xiaogang XIA ; Kun CHEN ; Mengmeng XIAO ; Chunkang YANG ; Ting WU ; Ye SHEN ; Chundong YU ; Chenghua LUO ; Shu-Hai LIN ; Wengang LI
Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis 2025;15(1):101068-101068
Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is a naturally occurring, low-toxicity, and hydrophilic bile acid (BA) in the human body that is converted by intestinal flora using primary BA. Solute carrier family 7 member 11 (SLC7A11) functions to uptake extracellular cystine in exchange for glutamate, and is highly expressed in a variety of human cancers. Retroperitoneal liposarcoma (RLPS) refers to liposarcoma originating from the retroperitoneal area. Lipidomics analysis revealed that UDCA was one of the most significantly downregulated metabolites in sera of RLPS patients compared with healthy subjects. The augmentation of UDCA concentration (≥25 μg/mL) demonstrated a suppressive effect on the proliferation of liposarcoma cells. [15N2]-cystine and [13C5]-glutamine isotope tracing revealed that UDCA impairs cystine uptake and glutathione (GSH) synthesis. Mechanistically, UDCA binds to the cystine transporter SLC7A11 to inhibit cystine uptake and impair GSH de novo synthesis, leading to reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and mitochondrial oxidative damage. Furthermore, UDCA can promote the anti-cancer effects of ferroptosis inducers (Erastin, RSL3), the murine double minute 2 (MDM2) inhibitors (Nutlin 3a, RG7112), cyclin dependent kinase 4 (CDK4) inhibitor (Abemaciclib), and glutaminase inhibitor (CB839). Together, UDCA functions as a cystine exchange factor that binds to SLC7A11 for antitumor activity, and SLC7A11 is not only a new transporter for BA but also a clinically applicable target for UDCA. More importantly, in combination with other antitumor chemotherapy or physiotherapy treatments, UDCA may provide effective and promising treatment strategies for RLPS or other types of tumors in a ROS-dependent manner.
8.A DPAL method for the identification of the synergistic target of drugs.
Dongyao WANG ; Yuxiao TANG ; Na LI ; Chenghua WU ; Jianxin YANG ; Mengpu WU ; Feng LU ; Yifeng CHAI ; Chenqi LI ; Hui SHEN ; Xin DONG ; Changquan LING
Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis 2025;15(11):101351-101351
Image 1.
9.Abnormal Gait Recognition of Patients with Stroke Based on Deep Learning Fusion
Chenhao LI ; Peng YANG ; Chenglong FENG ; Haifeng ZHANG ; Chenghua JIANG ; Wenxin NIU
Journal of Medical Biomechanics 2025;40(4):955-962
Objective To address the personalized differences in motion gait between stroke patients and healthy older adults,as well as the issue of abnormal gait recognition,a deep learning fusion-based approach is proposed to effectively improve the accuracy of abnormal gait recognition.Methods A model fusing convolutional neural networks(CNN)and bidirectional long short-term memory networks(BiLSTM)was adopted,with the introduction of a residual network(ResNet).Unilateral ankle joint movement data at different walking speeds within a comfortable range were collected from healthy older adults and stroke patients.Signals from inertial sensors and electromyography sensors were used as inputs,while gait features were analyzed and gait differences between the two groups were compared.The effectiveness of the model was validated by comparing the classification performance of traditional deep learning models and CNN-ResNet-BiLSTM models with different layer combinations in terms of abnormal gait recognition accuracy.Results The CNN-ResNet-BiLSTM model,which introduced residual connectivity,performed excellently in abnormal gait recognition.Compared with traditional deep learning models such as the gated recurrent unit(GRU)and long short-term memory network(LSTM),its prediction accuracy was improved by 13.6%and 8.36%,respectively.Additionally,compared with other model combinations,this model achieved an overall accuracy of 97.78%.Conclusions The algorithm proposed in this study can be applied to stroke-related abnormal gait detection,providing technique support for the early diagnosis and precise monitoring of such diseases.
10.Effects of different doses of rosuvastatin on lipid metabolism and left ventricular function in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus accompanied by coronary heart disease
Li ZHANG ; Lihua JIANG ; Chenghua YIN
Chinese Journal of Primary Medicine and Pharmacy 2025;32(4):552-556
Objective:To investigate the effects of different doses of rosuvastatin on lipid metabolism and left ventricular function in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) accompanied by coronary heart disease (CHD).Methods:A prospective study was conducted involving 63 patients with T2DM accompanied by CHD who were treated at Jinan 2 nd People's Hospital and The Fifth People's Hospital of Jinan from January 2022 to June 2023. In a randomized case-control study, patients were assigned to either a control group ( n = 31, receiving 10 mg/d of rosuvastatin) or an observation group ( n = 32, receiving 20 mg/d of rosuvastatin) using a random number table method. After 8 weeks of treatment, the therapeutic effects were evaluated, and blood lipid levels and left ventricular function were recorded before and after treatment. Plasma levels of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), homocysteine (Hcy), C-reactive protein (CRP), and the distance covered in a 6-minute walk test were compared between the two groups. Patients were followed for 1 year to monitor adverse reactions and the occurrence of adverse cardiovascular events. Results:The effective treatment rate in the observation group was significantly higher than that in the control group [90.63% (29/32) vs. 70.97% (22/31), χ2 = 3.95, P < 0.05). Prior to treatment, there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups regarding blood lipid levels, cardiac ultrasound indicators, serum levels of NT-proBNP, Hcy, and CRP, the distance covered in the 6-minute walk test, and the incidences of adverse reactions and adverse cardiovascular events (all P > 0.05). After treatment, both groups showed a reduction in total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (both P < 0.05), with the observation group demonstrating significantly lower levels ( t = 10.54, 14.01, both P < 0.001). Additionally, both groups showed an increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( P < 0.05), but the observation group achieved significantly higher levels ( t = -14.07, P < 0.001). Both groups also exhibited an increase in left ventricular ejection fraction ( P < 0.05), with a greater improvement in the observation group ( t = -2.34, P < 0.05). The left ventricular end-diastolic diameter decreased in both groups ( P < 0.05), but the observation group had a smaller diameter ( t = 2.78, P < 0.05). Levels of NT-proBNP, Hcy, and CRP decreased in both groups (all P < 0.05), with the observation group showing significantly lower levels ( t = 6.55, 3.94, 6.38, all P < 0.001). Finally, the distance covered in the 6-minute walk test increased in both groups ( P < 0.05), with the observation group covering a greater distance ( t = -4.32, P < 0.001). Conclusions:High-dose rosuvastatin can effectively improve lipid metabolism and left ventricular function in patients with T2DM complicated by CHD. It significantly reduces levels of NT-proBNP, Hcy, and CRP, enhances exercise capacity, and demonstrates high safety, indicating a high potential for clinical application.

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