As one of the core pathogenesis during treatment with traditional Chinese medicine，liver heat runs through different stages of liver disease. The interpretation of its meaning in different medicine categories（traditional Chinese medicine，Tibetan medicine，Mongolian medicine，Uygur medicine，Dai medicine，Yao medicine，etc.） is not unified， and the phenomena of the same name with different meanings，confusion， and misappropriation emerge. This seriously restricts the inheritance，innovation， and clinical application of traditional Chinese medicine and ethnomedicine. By tracing and analyzing liver heat， it is found that liver heat in traditional Chinese medicine is caused by disordered rest and diet， as well as internal injury due to emotional disorder， which leads to liver dysfunction， Qi stagnation， and heat turning to fire in the liver meridian. The liver heat in Tibetan medicine is caused by the accumulated heat of the liver nature and the evil heat in the liver， which stimulates the toxin of Chiba fever. The liver heat in Mongolian medicine derives from the abnormal diet and rest， making excessive Sheila accumulate in the liver and causing disease. The above etiologies are all related to diet， rest，exogenous evil，emotion，and so on， and the pathogenesis is related to the imbalance of Qi and the metabolic disorder of organs. The clinical symptoms are pain in the liver region，yellow eyes， bitter mouth， fever，digestion，and loss of appetite. The principle of treatment and compatibility of prescription are heat-based， with auxiliary detoxification. Other ethnomedicine， such as Uygur medicine， Dai medicine， Yao Medicine，Miao medicine， and She medicine do not have a clear discussion on liver heat，and their etiology， pathogenesis， treatment，and prescription are not systematic，mostly based on a single drug or proven prescriptions.Through the systematic tracing，mining，induction，analysis， and arrangement of the liver heat based on existing literature information database in China，this paper regarded syndrome as the outline and disease as the goal，clarified the similarities and differences of the pathogenesis of liver heat in traditional Chinese medicine，and determined the relationship between liver heat and liver disease and the status quo of syndrome and treatment.This review provides evidence and reference for clinical prevention and treatment，as well as drug development for liver disease.

G protein-coupled receptor (GPR) 40, as one of GPRs family, plays a potential role in regulating glucose and lipid metabolism. To study the effect of GPR40 novel agonist SZZ15-11 on hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia and its potential mechanism, spontaneous type 2 diabetic KKA^y mice, human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells and murine mature adipocyte 3T3-L1 cells were used. KKA^y mice were divided into four groups, vehicle group, TAK group, SZZ (50 mg·kg^-1) group and SZZ (100 mg·kg^-1) group, with oral gavage of 0.5% sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), 50 mg·kg^-1 TAK875, 50 and 100 mg·kg^-1 SZZ15-11 respectively for 45 days. Fasting blood glucose, blood triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC), non-fasting blood glucose were tested. Oral glucose tolerance test and insulin tolerance test were executed. Blood insulin and glucagon were measured via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). After mice′s execution, liver tissue was harvested to test TG and TC content. Then pathological morphology of liver was observed through hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, and the lipid metabolism relative signal pathway was analyzed by Western blot and RT-PCR. The experiments were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College. At the same time, Akt phosphorylation level in HepG2 cells and adiponectin in 3T3-L1 cells treated with TNFα were measured with Western blot. The results show that SZZ15-11 not only decreased blood glucose and lipid, improved insulin sensitivity, but also increased fasting blood glucagon and promoted insulin secretion after glucose loading in KKA^y mice. Additionally, SZZ15-11 alleviated hepatic steatosis and liver dysfunction in KKA^y mice. In liver tissue, SZZ15-11 increased AMPKα phosphorylation level and cholesterol metabolism relative gene Abcg8 transcription. In HepG2 cells, SZZ15-11 increased Akt phosphorylation level. In adipocyte 3T3-L1, SZZ15-11 recovered the decreased adiponectin expression by TNFα. This study proved that GPR40 agonist SZZ15-11 could be a candidate compound for regulating glucolipid metabolic disorder.

Objective This study investigated the impact of occupational mercury(Hg)exposure on human gene transcription and expression,and its potential biological mechanisms. Methods Differentially expressed genes related to Hg exposure were identified and validated using gene expression microarray analysis and extended validation.Hg-exposed cell models and PTEN low-expression models were established in vitro using 293T cells.PTEN gene expression was assessed using qRT-PCR,and Western blotting was used to measure PTEN,AKT,and PI3K protein levels.IL-6 expression was determined by ELISA. Results Combined findings from gene expression microarray analysis,bioinformatics,and population expansion validation indicated significant downregulation of the PTEN gene in the high-concentration Hg exposure group.In the Hg-exposed cell model(25 and 10 μmol/L),a significant decrease in PTEN expression was observed,accompanied by a significant increase in PI3K,AKT,and IL-6 expression.Similarly,a low-expression cell model demonstrated that PTEN gene knockdown led to a significant decrease in PTEN protein expression and a substantial increase in PI3K,AKT,and IL-6 levels. Conclusion This is the first study to report that Hg exposure downregulates the PTEN gene,activates the PI3K/AKT regulatory pathway,and increases the expression of inflammatory factors,ultimately resulting in kidney inflammation.

Objective:To investigate the safety of early antiplatelet therapy for non-cardioembolic mild stroke patients with thrombocytopenia.Methods:Data of acute ischemic stroke patients with baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale(NIHSS)score≤3 and a platelet count<100×109/L were obtained from a multicenter register.Those who required anticoagulation or had other contraindications to antiplatelet therapy were excluded.Short-term safety outcomes were in-hospital bleeding events,while the long-term safety outcome was a 1-year all-cause death.The short-term neurological outcomes were evaluated by modified Rankin scale(mRS)score at discharge.Results:A total of 1868 non-cardioembolic mild stroke patients with thrombocytopenia were enrolled.Multivariate regression analyses showed that mono-antiplatelet therapy significantly increased the proportion of mRS score of 0-1 at discharge(OR=1.657,95%CI:1.253-2.192,P<0.01)and did not increase the risk of intracranial hemorrhage(OR=2.359,95%CI:0.301-18.503,P>0.05),compared with those without antiplatelet therapy.However,dual-antiplatelet therapy did not bring more neurological benefits(OR=0.923,95%CI:0.690-1.234,P>0.05),but increased the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding(OR= 2.837,95%CI:1.311-6.136,P<0.01)compared with those with mono-antiplatelet therapy.For patients with platelet counts≤75×109/L and>90×109/L,antiplatelet therapy significantly improved neurological functional outcomes(both P<0.05).For those with platelet counts(>75-90)×109/L,antiplatelet therapy resulted in a significant improvement of 1-year survival(P<0.05).For patients even with concurrent coagulation abnormalities,mono-antiplatelet therapy did not increase the risk of various types of bleeding(all P>0.05)but improved neurological functional outcomes(all P<0.01).There was no significant difference in the occurrence of bleeding events,1-year all-cause mortality risk,and neurological functional outcomes between aspirin and clopidogrel(all P>0.05).Conclusions:For non-cardioembolic mild stroke patients with thrombocytopenia,antiplatelet therapy remains a reasonable choice.Mono-antiplatelet therapy has the same efficiency as dual-antiplatelet therapy in neurological outcome improvement with lower risk of gastrointestinal bleeding.

Objective To observe the clinical effect of PENG's tendon-separating tuina therapy combined with lateral needling technique for meridian sinew in the treatment of acute scapulohumeral periarthritis(referred to as frozen shoulder),and to provide therapeutic ideas and evidence for the treatment of acute scapulohumeral periarthritis.Methods Sixty patients with acute scapulohumeral periarthritis were randomly divided into treatment group and control group,with 30 cases in each group.The control group was treated with lateral needling technique for meridian sinew,and the treatment group was treated with PENG's tendon-seperating tuina therapy combined with lateral needling technique for meridian sinew.Both groups were treated for once a day,10 times as a course of treatment,and for a total of 2 courses of treatment.The changes of pain Visual Analogue Scale(VAS)score and Constant-Murley Scale(CMS)score of shoulder joint function in the two groups were observed before treatment and after one and two course(s)of treatment.Moreover,the clinical efficacy of the two groups was evaluated.Results(1)After two courses of treatment,the total effective rate of the treatment group was 90.00%(27/30),and that of the control group was 73.30%(22/30).The overall efficacy(tested by rank sum test)and total effective rate(tested by chi-square test)of the treatment group were significantly superior to those of the control group,and the differences were statistically significant(P＜0.05).(2)After one and two course(s)of treatment,the VAS scores of pain in the two groups were significantly decreased than those before treatment(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01);after two courses of treatment,VAS scores in the two groups were significantly lower than those after one course of treatment(P＜0.05).The decrease of VAS scores in the treatment group after one and two course(s)of treatment was significantly superior to that in the control group,and the difference were statistically significant(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01).(3)After one and two course(s)of treatment,the CMS scores of shoulder joint function in the two groups were significantly higher than those before treatment(P＜0.01);after two courses of treatment,the CMS scores in the two groups were higher than those after one course of treatment(P＜0.05).The increase of CMS scores in the treatment group after one and two course(s)of treatment was significantly superior to that in the control group,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.01).Conclusion PENG's tendon-separating tuina therapy combined with lateral needling technique for meridian sinew has a definite clinical effect in the treatment of patients with acute scapulohumeral periarthritis,which can effectively relieve the pain and discomfort of shoulder joint and improve the movement function of shoulder joint.

Objective To investigate the predictive value of serum oncogene[proliferation-related gene(C-myc),transformation gene(N-ras),silk/threonine kinase 1(PLK1),fibroblast growth factor 2(FGF2)]protein levels in patients with hepatitis B associated hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)after hepatic arterial chemoem-bolization(TACE).Methods A total of 127 patients with hepatitis B-associated hepatocellular carcinoma ad-mitted to a hospital from July 2016 to January 2021 were selected and divided into death group and survival group according to the follow-up results.The serum oncogene C-myc,N-ras,PLK1 and FGF2 protein levels were determined by double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Univariate and multivari-ate Cox analysis were used to analyze the risk factors of serum oncogene C-myc,N-ras,PLK1 and FGF2 pro-tein levels in patients with hepatitis B-associated hepatocellular carcinoma after TACE.The receiver operating characteristic curve was used to evaluate the prognostic value of the serum oncogene C-myc,N-ras,PLK1 and FGF2 protein levels,and the patients were divided into high expression group and low expression group ac-cording to the corresponding cutoff value.Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to evaluate the prognosis of different serum oncogene C-myc,N-ras,PLK1 and FGF2 protein level.Results Multivariate Cox regression a-nalysis indicated that TNM stage Ⅲ to Ⅳ(HR=2.998,95％CI:1.239-7.257),portal vein metastasis(HR=3.737,95％CI:1.941-7.193),abdominal metastasis(HR=3.482,95％CI:1.709-7.097),Child-Pugh grade B(HR=2.587,95％CI:1.045-6.406),high serum oncogene C-myc protein level(HR=1.224,95％CI:1.090-1.374),high serum oncogene N-ras protein level(HR=1.218,95％CI:1.097-1.353),high serum oncogene PLK1 protein level(HR=1.237,95％CI:1.110-1.379)and high serum oncogene FGF2 protein level(HR=1.141,95％CI:1.060-1.228)were independent risk factors for the prognosis of hepatitis B-asso-ciated hepatocellular carcinoma patients after TACE(all P＜0.05).The overall survival rate of low expression group of serum oncogene C-myc,N-ras,PLK1,FGF2 protein level was significantly higher than that of high expression group of serum oncogene C-myc,N-ras,PLK1,FGF2 protein level,the difference was statistically significant(all P＜0.001).Conclusion Serum oncogene C-myc,N-ras,PLK1,FGF2 protein levels have predic-tive value for the prognosis of patients with HBV-related liver cancer after TACE.

Objective:To analyze the dose-response relationship of 99Tc m-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) in pediatric renal static imaging. Methods:A retrospective analysis of children (model group: n=199, 81 males, 118 females; validation group: n=30, 13 males, 17 females; all age: 1 month-14 years) who underwent 99Tc m-DMSA renal static imaging from January 2022 to November 2023 in Wuhan Children′s Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology were conducted. Post-administration radiation counts and related clinical data were collected. Imaging quality was evaluated using visual analogue scoring (VAS). ROC curve analysis was used to assess the relationship between radiation count intensity (RCI) and imaging quality. A nonlinear mixed-effects modeling method was employed to establish the dose-response relationship for 99Tc m-DMSA in pediatric renal static imaging. Internal and external validations of the model were performed. Final model was utilized to evaluate patient dosing protocols. Results:Body weight was considered as a significant determinant of the dose-response relationship in 99Tc m-DMSA renal static imaging( χ2 values: 120.79, 116.36, both P<0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the quality of diagnostic images was acceptable when the anterior renal RCI was ≥32.61 (cut-point) and the posterior renal RCI was ≥35.46 (cut-point). Both internal and external validation results demonstrated that the dose-response model established exhibited good prediction performance. Based on the final model graph, the image quality could meet the requirements for clinical diagnosis. Conclusions:The 99Tc m-DMSA dose-response model for pediatric renal static imaging is successfully established. Individualized dosage based on the model can provide a reference for clinical individualized dosing decision-making.

Objective:To investigate the effects of elesclomol-Cu(ES-Cu)on the proliferation and cuproptosis of human acute myeloid leukemia(AML)cells.Methods:The effects of ES-Cu on the proliferation of AML cells and the AML cells pre-treated with ammonium tetrathiomolybdate(TTM)were examined by CCK-8 assay.The Calcein/PI kit was used to detected the changes in activity and cytotoxicity of AML cells induced by ES-Cu.Flow cytometry and Cytation3 fully automated cell imaging multifunctional detection system were used to analyze DCFH-DA fluorescence intensity,so as to determine the level of reactive oxygen species(ROS).The GSH and GSSG detection kits were used to measure the intracellular GSH content.Western blot was used to detected the expression of cuproptosis-related proteins ATP7B,FDX1,DLAT and DPYD.Results:ES-Cu inhibited the proliferation of Kasumi-1 and HL-60 cells in a concentration-dependent manner(rKasumi-1=-0.99,rHL-60=-0.98).As the concentration of ES-Cu increased,the level of intracellular ROS also increased(P＜0.01-0.001).TTM could significantly reverse the inhibitory effect of ES-Cu on cell proliferation and its promoting effect on ROS.With the increase of ES-Cu concentration,the content of GSH was decreased(r=-0.98),and Western blot showed that the protein expressions of ATP7B,FDX1,DLAT and DPYD were significantly reduced(P＜0.05).Conclusion:ES-Cu can induce cuproptosis in AML cells,which provides a new idea for the treatment of AML.

Objective:To explore whether acupuncture can affect intestinal barrier and visceral pain of rats with irritable bowel syndrome(IBS)by regulating brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF)and its downstream tyrosine kinase receptor B(TrkB),and to explore the possibility of BDNF/TrkB signaling pathway as a new target for acupuncture treatment.Methods:Sixty SD rats were ran-domly grouped into healthy group,IBS group,acupuncture group,positive control group and acupuncture+TrkB activation group,with 12 rats in each group.An IBS rat model was established,abdominal withdrawal reflex(AWR)was used to detect visceral pain of rats in each group;levels of TNF-α and IL-1β in colon of rats in each group were measured;expression levels of colonic mucosal cyto-plasmic Claudin 1(ZO-1)and occludin were measured with immunohistochemistry;expression levels of BDNF and TrkB mRNA and protein in colon of rats in each group were measured with fluorescence quantitative PCR and Western blot.Results:Compared with healthy group,colonic mucosa of rats in IBS group was damaged,expressions of ZO-1 and occludin were significantly reduced,AWR score,fecal water content,TNF-α and IL-1β contents,colonic BDNF,TrkB mRNA and BDNF protein expressions,and TrkB phos-phorylation were significantly increased(P<0.05);compared with IBS group,colon mucosa of acupuncture group and positive control group gradually recovered,expressions of ZO-1 and occludin were significantly increased,AWR score,fecal water content,TNF-α and IL-1β contents,colonic BDNF,TrkB mRNA and BDNF protein expressions,and TrkB phosphorylation were significantly re-duced(P<0.05);compared with acupuncture group,colonic mucosa of rats in acupuncture+TrkB activation group still had lesions,expressions of ZO-1 and occludin were significantly reduced,AWR score,fecal water content,TNF-α and IL-1β contents,colonic BDNF,TrkB mRNA and BDNF protein expressions,and TrkB phosphorylation were significantly increased(P<0.05).Conclusion:Acupuncture can regulate BDNF/TrkB pathway,inhibit expression of related proteins,improve intestinal barrier function,reduce vis-ceral pain,inflammation and relieve IBS.

Objective:To explore the effect and safety of mesenchymal stem cell exosome microneedle introduction in the treatment of melasma.Methods:Thirty cases of female patients with stable melasma in the Department of Dermatology, Changsha Meilai Medical Beauty Hospital, aged (36±5) years and with a disease duration of (42.4±20.7) months, from July 2021 to July 2022, were retrospectively included. According to Fitzpatrick skin typing, 23 cases of type Ⅲ and 7 cases of type Ⅳ were included. All patients were locally anesthetized with lidocaine cream for 30 min, and rolled with a 0.5 mm needle in a zigzag pattern with even force, in the order of the right cheek, the left cheek, the forehead, the nose, the mandible, and the upper lip. During the rolling process, 3 ml of MSC exosome medical liquid wound dressing was applied to the facial skin, and after it was fully absorbed, exosome was locally readministered in the area of melasma. Treatment ended with a slight redness at the site of application. 1 MSC exosome wound dressing was appllied as a cold compress for 15 min after treatment. Treatment was given once every 2 weeks for 6 consecutive sessions. All the patients were followed up at 4 and 12 weeks after the last session, and the area and severity index of melasma (MASI) were scored before and after the treatment, the clinical efficiency and patient satisfaction rate and the incidence of adverse reactions were also counted.Results:At 4 and 12 weeks after the end of treatment, the skin color of all 30 patients was brighter than that before treatment, and no recurrence of melasma symptoms seen. At 12 weeks after the end of treatment, the decrease rate of MASI score was 66.1%, among which the decrease rate of MASI score in patients with type Ⅲ melasma was 63.9%, and the decrease rate of MASI score in patients with type Ⅳ melasma was 63.9%. Among the 30 patients, 1 case was cured, 25 cases showed obvious improved, 4 cases were improved, and no cases were ineffective, with an effective rate of 86.7% (26/30). Five patients were very satisfied, 18 patients were satisfied, 6 patients were generally satisfied, and 1 patient was dissatisfied; the patient satisfaction rate was 76.7% (23/30). No serious adverse reactions occurred in all patients.Conclusions:MSC exosome microneedle introduction is safe and effective in the treatment of melasma without serious adverse reactions.