Background: Sex-based differences often influence the therapeutic efficacy and safety of medications. Semen Cuscutae is a traditional tonic botanical drug with sex-specific characteristics, traditionally indicated for conditions such as impotence (exclusive to males) and restless fetus (exclusive to pregnant females). However, most existing studies have focused on a single sex. Objective: To evaluate the sex-specific biological effects of Semen Cuscutae in rats and explore its molecular mechanisms, with the aim of uncovering its pharmacological characteristics through a multiomics approach. Methods: A traditional aqueous extract of Semen Cuscutae (SCA) was used as the experimental material. Forty adult Sprague-Dawley rats (equal numbers of males and females) were randomly divided into 4 groups: male control, male SCA treatment (240 mg/kg), female control, and female SCA treatment (240 mg/kg), with 10 rats in each group. The biological effects were comprehensively evaluated using a combination of open field test, biochemical analyses, proteomics, and gut microbiota profiling. Results: As a tonic botanical drug, SCA appeared to directly affect the mental and behavioral state of rats. It significantly altered the time spent by rats in the center area during the open field test, showing a sex-dependent reversal of behaviors. Proteomic analysis of brain tissue identified 624 differentially expressed proteins across the groups, with 10 key differentially expressed proteins related to sex differences, including fibroblast growth factor receptor 3, transcription elongation factor A protein-like 1, 40S ribosomal protein S25, neural cell adhesion molecule, and anion exchange protein 2 (SLC4A2). Enrichment analysis revealed that in male rats, SCA upregulated proteins involved in biological processes such as ribosome function and energy derivation, supporting protein synthesis and enhancing energy supply, showing an overall gain effect. In contrast, in female rats, SCA downregulated proteins associated with processes such as positive regulation of target of rapamycin (TOR) signaling and vesicle transport, suggesting suppression of neuronal signaling and material transport, indicative of a shift toward a more restrained physiological state. Furthermore, SCA reduced gut microbiota diversity in female rats but increased it in males, including the abundance of Akkermansia, which may serve as a crucial mediator. Conclusion: Overall, the biological effects of SCA differ significantly between male and female rats, with evidence suggesting greater health benefits in males. These findings help elucidate the scientific basis of its traditional applications and provide guidance for the precise application of SCA as a functional health food.

Curcumae Rhizoma, derived from the rhizome of Curcuma phaeocaulis, Curcuma kwangsiensis and Curcuma wenyujin, was called Ezhu in China. In the past, Curcumae Rhizoma extracts were obtained through water decoction or alternative methods, which showed significant anti-cancer effects. However, the mixed extracts contain various compound components of Curcumae Rhizoma, leading to an ambiguous mechanism of action for Curcumae Rhizoma extracts anti-cancer. Contemporary researchers have extracted the chemical components of Curcumae Rhizoma separately for experimental verification of its active ingredients in the anti-cancer field. Numerous studies demonstrated that curcumol, germacrone, β-elemene, and curcumin in Curcumae Rhizoma extracts have significant governing effects in anti-cancer activities. Pharmacological studies have shown that Curcumae Rhizoma suppresses cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and migration, triggering apoptosis and regulating cellular autophagy to achieve anticancer effects. Here, we summarized the research progress of Curcumae Rhizoma on anti-cancer effects from 2013 to 2022, aiming to explore the deeper molecular mechanisms of Curcumae Rhizoma's active components in cancer treatment.

The purpose of this study was to identify the tick species native to Xindi Township,Yumin County,Xinjiang,China.Preliminary morphological identification of parasitic ticks collected from animals in the area was conducted with an ultra-depth of field three-dimensional VHX 600 digital stereo microscope.Total DNA of the ticks was extracted,amplified by PCR based on the COI and ITS2 gene loci,and the posi-tive PCR products were sequenced.The sequence were a-ligned with reference sequences from the NCBI database were aligned with the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool.A genet-ic phylogenetic tree was generated with the neighbor-joining method of MEGA 7.0 software to determine the evolutionary biological characteristics of ticks.Morphological identification showed that the ticks collected from Xindi Township of Yu-min County were consistent with the characteristics of Hya-lomma asiaticum.An evolutionary tree based on the COI and ITS2 gene sequences showed that the ticks collected in this study were clustered with known H.asiaticum sequences.The PCR products of COI and ITS2 were sequenced and compared,which confirmed that the collected tick species were H.asiaticum,in agreement with the morphological and molecular biological results.These findings help to clarify the distribution of ticks in Xindi Township of Xinjiang,and provide basic data for the analysis of tick genetic and evolutionary characteristics,as reference for surveillance and control of ticks in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

In recent years,as the incidence rate of stroke in China has been increasing,the number of survivors has also been rising,highlighting an urgent need to improve their quality of life and outcome.Recent advances in bioinformat-ics and genomics have unraveled close links between ischemic stroke and genetic factors.This review aims to elucidate the relationship between the risk of ischemic stroke risk and inflammation-related genes,thrombosis-related genes,genetic polymorphisms in vascular diseases,and oxidative stress-related genes,and discuss the pathogenesis and risk prediction of ischemic stroke from the perspectives of genetic variation,genetic susceptibility,epigenetics,and related research methods.These insights may provide a reference for the etiological diagnosis and personalized treatment of ischemic stroke,so as to improve survivor's outcome and quality of life.

OBJECTIVE: To explore feasibility, clinical and imaging outcomes of percutaneous endoscopic interlaminar discectomy (PEID) for single level large lumbar disc herniation(LDH). METHODS: From October 2018 to March 2023, 31 patients with single level LDH treated with PEID were retrospectively analyzed. Among patients, including 18 males and 13 females, aged from 15 to 40 years old with an average of (28.5±7.4) years old;L_4,5 in 10 patients, L₅S₁ in 21 patients;14 patients on the left side, 17 patients on the right side;the courses of disease ranged from 3 to 19 months with an average of (6.8 ± 3.1) months. Operation time, blood loss, fluoroscopy times and hospital stay were observed. Visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to evaluate low back and leg pain, Oswestry disability index (ODI) was used to evaluate lumbar function, modified MacNab was used to evaluate clinical efficacy at the latest follow-up. Median sagittal diameter of spinal canal, effective sagittal diameter of spinal canal, spinal canal area, and dural sac area were used to evaluate spinal decompression. Anterior, middle, and posterior heights of intervertebral space were used to evaluate intervertebral space changes. RESULTS: All patients were performed spinal endoscopic surgery, operation time ranged from 30 to 71 min with an average of (48.7±14.2) min, blood loss ranged from 10 to 40 ml with an average of (21.1±7.0) ml, and intraoperative fluoroscopy times ranged from 4 to 7 with an average of (4.7±0.7). The hospital stay ranged from 3 to 8 days with an average of (5.1±1.3) days, and postoperative follow-up ranged from 12 to 34 months with an average of (16.9±4.1) months. VAS of low back pain before operation and 3, 6 months after operation, the latest follow-up were (6.2±1.8), (1.4±0.8), (1.9±0.7), (1.6±0.6), respectively;VAS of leg pain were (7.6±1.6), (1.8±0.9), (1.6±0.6), (1.4±0.7), respectively;ODI were (35.74±4.62), (6.68±1.78), (6.90±1.85), (7.10±1.94), respectively;postoperative lower back pain and leg pain VAS and ODI were significantly improved at all time points after operation (P<0.05). Postoperative VAS of low back pain at 6 months was higher than that of 3 months after operation (P<0.05). At the laest follow-up, 14 patients were excellent, 15 good, and 2 acceptable according to modified MacNab standard. Median diameters of spinal canal were (0.77±0.18) and (1.18±0.24) cm before operation and at the latest follow-up. The effective diameters of spinal canal were (0.48±0.17) and (0.89±0.23) cm, respectively. The vertebral canal areas were (0.90±0.22) and (1.68±0.43) cm², respectively. Dural sac areas were (0.41±0.10) and (0.81±0.24) cm², respectively. At the least follow-up, median diameter, effective diameter, area of spinal canal and dural sac were significantly increased compared with those before operation (P<0.05). Anterior vertebral space height before operation was (1.13±0.13) cm, and improved to (0.83±0.11) cm at the latest follow-up. Central height decreased from (0.81±0.20) cm before operation to (0.61±0.14) cm at the latest follow-up. The height of posterior margin decreased from (0.67±0.21) cm before operation to (0.46±0.15) cm at the latest follow-up (P<0.05). CONCLUSION PEID for giant LDH could effectively remove protruding giant nucleus pulposus tissue, and avoid injury to cauda equina nerve and nerve roots, which has good early clinical effect. However, the height of intervertebral space was obviously lost after operation.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement/surgery* ; Lumbar Vertebrae/surgery* ; Endoscopy/methods* ; Young Adult ; Adolescent ; Diskectomy, Percutaneous/methods* ; Retrospective Studies ; Nucleus Pulposus/surgery*

Animals ; Macaca mulatta ; Optic Disk ; Glaucoma ; Craniocerebral Trauma ; Intraocular Pressure ; Low Tension Glaucoma

Objective:To investigate the safety and therapeutic effect of split liver transplantation (SLT) in clinical application.Methods:This is a retrospective case-series study. The clinical data of 203 consecutive SLT, 79 living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) and 1 298 whole liver transplantation (WLT) performed at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from July 2014 to July 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. Two hundred and three SLT liver grafts were obtained from 109 donors. One hundred and twenty-seven grafts were generated by in vitro splitting and 76 grafts were generated by in vivo splitting. There were 90 adult recipients and 113 pediatric recipients. According to time, SLT patients were divided into two groups: the early SLT group (40 cases, from July 2014 to December 2017) and the mature SLT technology group (163 cases, from January 2018 to July 2023). The survival of each group was analyzed and the main factors affecting the survival rate of SLT were analyzed. The Kaplan-Meier method and Log-rank test were used for survival analysis.Results:The cumulative survival rates at 1-, 3-, and 5-year were 74.58%, 71.47%, and 71.47% in the early SLT group, and 88.03%, 87.23%, and 87.23% in the mature SLT group, respectively. Survival rates in the mature SLT group were significantly higher than those in the early SLT group ( χ2=5.560, P=0.018). The cumulative survival rates at 1-, 3- and 5-year were 93.41%, 93.41%, 89.95% in the LDLT group and 87.38%, 81.98%, 77.04% in the WLT group, respectively. There was no significant difference among the mature SLT group, the LDLT group and the WLT group ( χ2=4.016, P=0.134). Abdominal hemorrhage, infection, primary liver graft nonfunction,and portal vein thrombosis were the main causes of early postoperative death. Conclusion:SLT can achieve results comparable to those of WLT and LDLT in mature technology liver transplant centers, but it needs to go through a certain time learning curve.

Objective:To investigate the safety and therapeutic effect of split liver transplantation (SLT) in clinical application.Methods:This is a retrospective case-series study. The clinical data of 203 consecutive SLT, 79 living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) and 1 298 whole liver transplantation (WLT) performed at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from July 2014 to July 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. Two hundred and three SLT liver grafts were obtained from 109 donors. One hundred and twenty-seven grafts were generated by in vitro splitting and 76 grafts were generated by in vivo splitting. There were 90 adult recipients and 113 pediatric recipients. According to time, SLT patients were divided into two groups: the early SLT group (40 cases, from July 2014 to December 2017) and the mature SLT technology group (163 cases, from January 2018 to July 2023). The survival of each group was analyzed and the main factors affecting the survival rate of SLT were analyzed. The Kaplan-Meier method and Log-rank test were used for survival analysis.Results:The cumulative survival rates at 1-, 3-, and 5-year were 74.58%, 71.47%, and 71.47% in the early SLT group, and 88.03%, 87.23%, and 87.23% in the mature SLT group, respectively. Survival rates in the mature SLT group were significantly higher than those in the early SLT group ( χ2=5.560, P=0.018). The cumulative survival rates at 1-, 3- and 5-year were 93.41%, 93.41%, 89.95% in the LDLT group and 87.38%, 81.98%, 77.04% in the WLT group, respectively. There was no significant difference among the mature SLT group, the LDLT group and the WLT group ( χ2=4.016, P=0.134). Abdominal hemorrhage, infection, primary liver graft nonfunction,and portal vein thrombosis were the main causes of early postoperative death. Conclusion:SLT can achieve results comparable to those of WLT and LDLT in mature technology liver transplant centers, but it needs to go through a certain time learning curve.

Objective To observe the value of quantitative CT(QCT)abdominal body fat parameters combined with clinical-imaging model for predicting recurrent acute pancreatitis(RAP).Methods Data of 468 patients with acute pancreatitis(AP),including 207 cases of RAP(RAP group)and 261 cases of non-RAP(non-RAP group)were retrospectively analyzed.Clinical information,conventional CT manifestations and QCT parameters such as abdominal subcutaneous fat area(SFA),visceral fat area(VFA),total abdominal fat area(TFA),hepatic fat content and pancreatic fat content at the first visit were recorded or measured.Clinical characteristics,CT manifestations and QCT parameter values were compared between groups,and the independent factors for predicting RAP were selected with multivariate logistic regression analysis.Then a clinical-imaging model and a comprehensive model combining with QCT parameters were constructed,and their efficacies for predicting RAP were evaluated with receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves,and the area under the curves(AUC)were calculated.Results Compared with non-RAP group,patients in RAP group were younger,had higher percentage of alcohol consumption,biliary stones and hyperlipidemia,as well as of distinct pancreatic margins on CT images,also higher VFA,TFA,liver fat content and pancreatic fat content(all P＜0.05).Alcohol consumption,hyperlipidemia,biliary stones,pancreatic margins and pancreatic fat content were all independent predictors of RAP,and the comprehensive model constructed based on these five had higher AUC(0.860)than clinical-imaging model constructed based on the previous 4 factors(0.701)and pancreatic fat content alone(0.770)(both P＜0.001).Conclusion QCT abdominal body fat parameters combined with clinical-imaging comprehensive model was effective for predicting the risk of RAP.

Objective To explore the research path to construct knowledge representation,knowledge analysis,knowledge presentation and knowledge reasoning of ancient stroke medical cases based on knowledge element theory and knowledge graph.Methods A multi-layered knowledge representation system of medical cases was constructed,which included"knowledge body-knowledge element-semantics and semantic relationships",and knowledge element indexing system was used to parse the text into structured data.Combined with the attribute graph model for graph design,Neo4j was used to build a knowledge graph,and visual presentation and analysis were performed.Results A total of 517 medical cases from 86 ancient books were included,forming a knowledge representation system including 2 types of knowledge bodies,19 types of knowledge elements,27 types of semantics and 9 types of semantic relationships.The original knowledge graph had 19 node types(8 virtual nodes)and 15 relationship types,totaling 6363 nodes and 14697 relationships;the integrated knowledge graph had 11 node types and 11 relationship types,totaling 1229 nodes and 11456 relationships.Hierarchical subgraph visualization and node connectivity analysis methods completed implicit knowledge exploration and reasoning.Conclusion The knowledge representation system can guide the structured expression and semantic level analysis of ancient text,and provide systematic data support for the construction of knowledge graphs.The original knowledge graph of ancient and modern dual-mode knowledge graph focuses on the visual presentation of complex diagnosis and treatment ideas,which is conducive to improving the efficiency of medical cases review;integrating the knowledge graph to build a scale-free network and using group cases as the object can realize the tacit knowledge of stroke from a macro dimension excavation.