Cold has been a long-term survival challenge in the evolutionary process of mammals. In response to cold stress, in addition to brown adipose tissue (BAT) dissipating energy as heat through glucose and lipid oxidation to maintain body temperature, cold stimulation can strongly activate thermogenesis and energy expenditure in beige fat cells, which are widely distributed in the subcutaneous layer. However, the effects of cold stimulation on other tissues and systemic lipid metabolism remain unclear. Our previous research indicated that, under cold stress, BAT not only produces heat but also secretes numerous exosomes to mediate BAT-liver crosstalk. Whether subcutaneous fat has a similar mechanism is still unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the alterations in lipid metabolism across various tissues under cold exposure and to explore whether subcutaneous fat regulates systemic glucose and lipid metabolism via exosomes, thereby elucidating the regulatory mechanisms of lipid metabolism homeostasis under physiological stress. RT-qPCR, Western blot, and H&E staining methods were used to investigate the physiological changes in lipid metabolism in the serum, liver, epididymal white adipose tissue, and subcutaneous fat of mice under cold stimulation. The results revealed that cold exposure significantly enhanced the thermogenic activity of subcutaneous adipose tissue and markedly increased exosome secretion. These exosomes were efficiently taken up by hepatocytes, where they profoundly influenced hepatic lipid metabolism, as evidenced by alterations in the expression levels of key genes involved in lipid synthesis and catabolism pathways. This study has unveiled a novel mechanism by which subcutaneous fat regulates lipid metabolism through exosome secretion under cold stimulation, providing new insights into the systemic regulatory role of beige adipocytes under cold stress and offering a theoretical basis for the development of new therapeutic strategies for obesity and metabolic diseases.
Animals ; Lipid Metabolism/physiology* ; Mice ; Exosomes/metabolism* ; Cold Temperature ; Subcutaneous Fat/physiology* ; Thermogenesis/physiology* ; Adipose Tissue, Brown/metabolism* ; Male

Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) processing is a unique and highly distinctive pharmaceutical technology in China. Utilizing modern scientific methods to elucidate the connotations of traditional processing theory and its effects is expected to facilitate the inheritance, development, innovation, and enhancement of TCM processing, and lead to more original research outcomes in the field of TCM. The breakthrough in TCM processing lies in the study of its underlying principles, and analyzing these principles involves researching the transformation mechanisms of chemical components and the biological effect mechanisms of the transformed components. This paper proposed the concept of "TCM processing chemical biology"(TCMPCB) for the first time. Under the guidance of TCM theory, the active components transformed during TCM processing were used as chemical tools to study their targets and molecular regulatory mechanisms, aiming to clarify the scientific principles by which TCM processing affected biological effects in the organism. The research findings also provided new directions for discovering novel active components, new lead compounds, creating new decoction pieces, and developing new TCM drugs. This paper provided a detailed introduction to the background, definition, research content, research ideas, research methods, and prospects of TCMPCB, with the aim of offering new research perspectives for analyzing the principles of TCM processing and providing new pathways for achieving the "four new and eight transformations" in TCM processing.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional/methods* ; Humans ; Animals

Loss-of-function variants in CSDE1 have been strongly linked to neuropsychiatric disorders, yet the precise role of CSDE1 in neurogenesis remains elusive. In this study, we demonstrate that knockout of Csde1 during cortical development in mice results in impaired neural progenitor proliferation, leading to abnormal cortical lamination and embryonic lethality. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that Csde1 upregulates the transcription of genes involved in the cell cycle network. Applying a dual thymidine-labelling approach, we further revealed prolonged cell cycle durations of neuronal progenitors in Csde1-knockout mice, with a notable extension of the G1 phase. Intersection with CLIP-seq data demonstrated that Csde1 binds to the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of mRNA transcripts encoding cell cycle genes. Particularly, we uncovered that Csde1 directly binds to the 3' UTR of mRNA transcripts encoding Cdk6, a pivotal gene in regulating the transition from the G1 to S phases of the cell cycle, thereby maintaining its stability. Collectively, this study elucidates Csde1 as a novel regulator of Cdk6, sheds new light on its critical roles in orchestrating brain development, and underscores how mutations in Csde1 may contribute to the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders.
Animals ; Neurogenesis/genetics* ; Cell Cycle/genetics* ; Mice, Knockout ; Mice ; Neural Stem Cells/metabolism* ; DNA-Binding Proteins/metabolism* ; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 6/genetics* ; Cell Proliferation ; 3' Untranslated Regions ; Cerebral Cortex/embryology* ; RNA-Binding Proteins ; Mice, Inbred C57BL

The evolution of acupuncture anesthesia (AA) has spanned six decades. Cardiothoracic surgery serves as a representative case study to illustrate this evolution. Reflecting on its historical development, the use of AA in cardiothoracic surgery has advanced from basic AA procedures in the 1960s to combined acupuncture and drug anesthesia techniques in the early 1980s. Since 2005, the innovative use of non-intubation AA combined anesthesia has been implemented extensively in cardiothoracic surgery. As the medical industry continues to evolve, the techniques applied in AA have expanded to encompass the entire perioperative period in cardiothoracic surgery, leading to the introduction of the concept of modern AA. The use of AA in cardiothoracic surgery exemplifies the ongoing advances and integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine. Moving forward, it is imperative to enhance the theoretical framework of AA through the execution of rigorous multicenter clinical trials, to further strengthen the body of evidence supporting evidence-based medicine, and to finally explore the underlying mechanisms of AA. Please cite this article as: Wu XD, Wei XQ, Chen TY, Zhou WX, Wang K, Zhou J. From pioneering to innovation: A comprehensive review of acupuncture anesthesia in cardiothoracic surgeries. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(6):623-629.
Humans ; Acupuncture Analgesia/methods* ; Acupuncture Therapy/methods* ; Cardiac Surgical Procedures ; Anesthesia/methods* ; Thoracic Surgical Procedures

italic>Anoectochilus roxburghii liquid (spray, a hospital preparation of Wu Mengchao Hepatobiliary Hospital of Fujian Medical University) has shown a good clinical treatment effect during the COVID-19 pandemic, but its material basis and mechanism of action are still unclear. In this study, network pharmacology and molecular docking methods were used to predict the molecular mechanism of A. roxburghii liquid against COVID-19, and pharmacodynamic experiments in vitro were conducted to study the interaction between the current targets with clear preventive and therapeutic effects and the key components of A. roxburghii liquid. UPLC-MS and database were used to compare and analyze the active ingredients in the liquid, and 17 potential active ingredients with good drug-like properties were screened by in vivo pharmacokinetics process in SwissADME database. SwissTargetPrediction and GeneCards were searched to find 93 common targets. Cytoscape 3.8.2 software was used to construct the "component-target" network map, and the Metascape platform was used for gene function annotation and pathway enrichment analysis. It was found that the extract could regulate the positive response to external stimuli, inflammatory response, cytokine production and other biological processes by binding the active ingredients such as isorhamnetin, kaempferol, luteolin, quercetin and apigenin to the common targets (NOS3, MPO, MMP3, etc.), and play an anti-COVID-19 role. In the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) activity inhibition assay, it was found that the stock solution of A. roxburghii liquid (for spray), and the supernatant after removing polysaccharides (mainly containing flavonoids) could to some extent inhibit the activity of ACE2. Crucially, in the experiment of 2019-nCOV-S pseudovirus infecting HEK-293T-ACE2 cells, we found that A. roxburghii liquid may exert anti-COVID-19 effects by blocking the binding of SARS-CoV-S protein to ACE2.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the clinical efficacy of Chaigui Zengmian prescription （composed of Bupleuri Radix， Codonopsis Radix， Scutellariae Radix， Cinnamomi Ramulus， Paeoniae Radix Alba， Astragali Radix， Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma， and Scorpio） in treating recurrent respiratory tract infections in children with syndrome of Qi deficiency in lung and spleen and the influences of this prescription on immune factors. MethodSixty-six children suffering from recurrent respiratory tract infections due to Qi deficiency in lung and spleen were selected and randomized into a control group （33 cases） and an observation group （33 cases）. The control group received spleen aminopeptide oral lyophilized powder and the observation group was treated with self-made Chaigui Zengmian prescription granules. Both groups were treated for two months （as two consecutive courses of treatment）. The traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） symptom scores and the serum levels of total immunoglobulins （IgA， IgM， and IgG） and T-helper cells （Th1， Th2， and Th1/Th2） were measured in both groups before and after treatment and then compared. Result① After treatment， the TCM symptom scores of both groups declined and the observation group had lower scores than the control group （P<0.05）. ② The observation group［87.50%（28/32）］ had higher total response rate than the control group［96.88%（31/32）］（Z=7.921，P<0.05）.Also the observation group［28.13%（9/32）］ had more cured children than the control group［6.25（2/32）］ （χ²=5.379，P<0.05） ③ After treatment， the serum levels of IgA， IgM， IgG， Th1， and Th1/Th2 elevated while that of Th2 declined （P<0.05）， and the changes were more obvious in the observation group than in the control group （P<0.05）. ConclusionChaigui Zengmian prescription is effective in treating recurrent respiratory tract infections in children with the syndrome of Qi deficiency in lung and spleen. It can alleviate the symptoms and rectify immune disequilibrium， demonstrating a clinical application value.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a pathological syndrome characterized by the excessive deposition of lipids in hepatocytes but not caused by alcohol and other definite liver damage factors. The pathogenesis of NAFLD is complex. When the liver is damaged, a large amount of lipids deposited in hepatocytes will induce oxidative stress injury, endoplasmic reticulum stress and metabolic disorders in hepatocytes, and immune cells further secrete inflammatory cytokines and release them into the blood, causing systemic inflammation. In the process of NAFLD, the inflammatory response plays an important role. Macrophages are the most abundant non-parenchymal cells in the liver and play an important role in liver inflammatory injury. Hepatic macrophages include liver-native and monocyte-derived macrophages, and their activation and polarization processes are involved in the different development stages of NAFLD. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) compound and its active compounds have been found to regulate macrophages to participate in the process of inflammation, injury and recovery of NAFLD. Based on the existing research reports, this paper elaborates the relationship between the source, activation and polarization of macrophages and NAFLD as the breakthrough point, and systematically reviews the mechanism of TCM in the prevention and treatment of NAFLD by regulating the activation, recruitment and polarization of macrophages. This paper aims to provide new ideas for the discovery of novel NAFLD candidate drugs from TCM via targeting macrophages.

Objective To explore the features of sleep quality and its relationship with perceived stress and occupational stress in military personnel serving in high-altitude regions.Methods Cross-sectional study design was adopted in this study.In February 2023,self-designed demographic data questionnaire,Pittsburgh sleep quality index(PSQI),perceived stress scale(PSS-10)and job content questionnaire(JCQ)were applied to survey 3 784 soldiers from a unit stationing in plateau subjected by cluster sampling.Results The total score of PSQI was 5.37±2.78 in the participants,and the total score and the scores of each dimension of PSQI were significantly higher than the national norms for Chinese(P＜0.001).There were significant differences in PSQI scores among different age,length of military service,nationality,length of stationing in plateau,education level and family structure(P＜0.001).The low perceived stress group had significantly lower PSQI scores than the high perceived stress group(t=-12.108,P＜0.001).Regulatory effect analysis showed that the length of stationing in plateau,work autonomy,work psychological requirements,and social support in the work environment could modulate the relationship between perceived stress and sleep quality(t=8.326,-3.788,-2.145,-6.656,P＜0.05),and explained 14.6％,7.6％,7.0％and 7.9％of the variance of sleep quality,respectively.Conclusion The military personnel serving in high-altitude regions have a poor sleep quality.Age,time of military service,time of stationing in plateau,nationality,family structure,education level,perceived stress,and occupational stress are important factors affecting their sleep quality.The length of stationing in plateau time and occupational stress,can modulate the relationship between perceived stress and sleep quality.

Objective To design a novel oxygenator to solve the existing problems of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation(ECMO)machine in high transmembrane pressure difference,low efficiency of blood oxygen exchange and susceptibility to thrombosis.Methods The main body of the oxygenator vascular access flow field was gifted with a flat cylindrical shape.The topology of the vascular access was modeled in three dimensions,and the whole flow field was cut into a blood inlet section,an inlet buffer,a heat exchange zone,a blood oxygen exchange zone,an outlet buffer and a blood outlet section.The oxygenator was compared with Quadrox oxygenator by means of ANSYS FLUENT-based simulation and prototype experiments.Results Simulation calculations showed the oxygenator designed was comparable to the clinically used ones in general,and gained advantages in transmembrane pressure difference,blood oxygen exchange and flow uniformity.Experimental results indicated that the oxygenator behaved better than Quadrox oxygenator in transmembrane pressure difference and blood oxygen exchange.Conclusion The oxygenator has advantages in transmem-brane pressure difference,temperature change,blood oxygen ex-change and low probability of thrombosis.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2024,45(3):23-28]