Objective:To investigate the effect of melatonin (MEL) influence on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced long-term anxiety-like behavior and activation of astrocytes in septic neonatal rats.Methods:Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly(random number) assigned to the control group, LPS group and LPS+MEL group. Sepsis model was intraperitoneally injected with LPS (1 mg/kg), and neonatal rats in the MEL group were administered with MEL (10 mg/kg) 30 min after LPS injection. At different time points after injection, rats in each group were divided into three subgroups: 3 d, 7 d and 28 d. The expression of GFAP and TNF-α in the corpus callosum was detected by immunofluorescence staining and Western blot. Open-field test was applied to observe anxiety-like behaviors. In vitro, cultured neonatal SD rat astrocytes were divided into the control group, LPS group, LPS+MEL group, and LPS+MEL+luzindole group. Immunofluorescence staining was used to observe the expression of GFAP and TNF-α. Expression of GFAP, TNF-α, p-NF-κBp65, NF-κBp65 protein in astrocytes were assessed by Western blot. RT-qPCR was used to investigate the mRNA expression of GDNF and BDNF. One-way ANOVA and two-way ANOVA were used for comparison of multiple groups of variables. A P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results:LPS reduced the duration of movement in the central area and distance in the central area/total distance in open-field test, while melatonin evidently reversed the LPS-induced anxiety-like behavior. Compared with the LPS group, the expressions of GFAP and TNF-α were significantly decreased in the corpus callosum at 3 d and 7 d in the MEL group ( P< 0.05). Compared with the LPS group, MEL could significantly decrease the expression of GFAP, TNF-α and p-NF-κBp65 in astrocytes ( P< 0.05), which could be blocked by Luzindole. In addition, compared with the LPS group, MEL pretreatment could reverse the down regulation of GDNF and BDNF induced by LPS ( P<0.05). Conclusions:MEL can relieve LPS-induced long-term anxiety-like behavior in septic neonatal rats. The mechanism may be related to the inhibition of astrocyte activation and inflammatory reaction through NF - κ B pathway.

The standardized training of resident physicians of Chinese medicine specialized graduate students (standardized training) is a great reform of clinical postgraduate education and a major initiative to improve professional degree graduates education. It contributes to higher professional qualities of clinicians in China. At this stage, the standardized training in our school just started and some problems existed such as department arrangement, training and checking system, curriculum and tutors instruction. Here, taking the standardized training in our school as an example, this paper discussed some issues on the training and put forward suggestion. This will help standardize our training, improve the training quality of our graduate students and develope medical professional talents.

Objective To investigate the effect of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) on the expression of synaptic protein SNAP-25 in the hippocampus in septic neonatal rat induced by systemic lipopolysaceharide (LPS) injection.Methods Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into two groups:control group and sepsis group.The rat model of sepsis was produced by intraperitoneal injection of 1 mg/kg LPS,and rats in the control group were injected with an equal volume of 0.01 mol/L phosphate buffered saline (PBS).The expression levels of IL-1β and IL-1R1 in the hippocampus at 1,2 and 3 d,and synaptosomal-associated protein 25 (SNAP-25) at 7,14 and 24 d after LPS intraperitoneal injection were detected by Western blot.After cultured for 24 h,primary hippocampal neurons were divided into four groups including the control group,IL-1β (40 ng/mL) treatment group,IL-1β (40 ng/mL) + IL-1Ra (40 ng/mL) treatment group,and IL-1Ra (40 ng/mL) treatment group.The effect of IL-1β on SNAP-25 expression in primary hippocampal neuron was determined by Western blot and real-time PCR.The purity of hippocampal neurons were identified by NeuN immunofluorescence staining and the activity of neurons were detected by CCK-8 assay.All data were analyzed by SPSS version 22.0.The data were analyzed by student-t test and Dunnett-t test.The interaction effects were analyzed by factorial ANOVA.Differences were considered to be statistically significant if P＜ 0.05.Results Compared with the control group,the expressions of IL-1β and IL-1R1 were significantly increased in the hippocampus at 1,2 and 3 d after intraperitoneal injection of LPS (P＜0.05).The expression of SNAP-25 protein was decreased at 7,14,and 28 d after intraperitoneal injection of LPS (P＜0.05).The purity of primary neurons was about up to 92％.The activity of primary neurons was not relatively changed after treated with IL-1β at a dose less than 40 ng/mL.The level of SNAP-25 protein was obviously decreased in primary neurons at 24 h after IL-1β treatment (P＜0.05).IL-1Ra treatment might reverse the effect of IL-1β on primary neurons (P＜0.05).While,the expression of SNAP-25 mRNA was not statistically different in each group (P＞0.05).Conclusions IL-1β may possibly inhibit the expression level of SNAP-25 protein in the hippocampus in the septic rats through its receptor IL-1R1,which would contribute to cognitive dysfunction of septic neonatal rats in later life.

Objective To investigate the prevalence of vitiligo in China through a multi-center and larse-population epidemiological survey.Methods A community-based survey was conducted in 6 cities from 6 provinces.Cluster sampling method was used.Subjects were required to fulfill the self-report questionnaires and received physical examination by dermatologists.EpiData and SPSS11.5 were utilized for statistical analysis. Results Totally,19 974 patients participated in this study,and 17 345 valid questionnaires were retrieved with a return rate of 86.84%.Of them,122 were found to have vitiligo.The prevalence and standardized prevalence of vitiligo was 0.70% and 0.56% in all patients,0.95% (75) and 0.69% in male patients and 0.50% (47) and O.45% in female patients.respectively.A significant elevation was observed in the prevalence of vitiligo in males than in females (P<0.01).The prevalence of vitiligo was increased with age and peaked in patients aging from 60 to 69 years and those over 70 years.The age at onset of vitiligo varied from 0 to 19 years in 21.85% of these patients,from 20 to 49 years in 47.05%.The most connnon type was focal vitiligo,which accounted for 36.06%,while the rarest type wag segmental type (2.46%).The pesitivity rate of family history of vitiligo was 9.84% in patients and 1.31% in community population (P<0.01).About 31.97% of the patients complained of negative influence of vitiligo on quality of life.Conclusions The standardized prevalence of vitiligo is 0.56%in 6 provinces from China.Males seem to have a higher prevalence of vifiligo than females.

Objective:To investigate the effect of melatonin on oligodendrocyte maturation and differentiation in corpus callosum of septic neonatal rats induced by systemic lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection.Methods:Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allocated into the control group, septic experimental group, and melatonin group. In the septic experimental group, rats were intraperitoneally administrated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (1 mg/kg). In the melatonin group, melatonin was intraperitoneally administered (10 mg/kg) at 0.5 h after LPS injection. The expression level of IL-6, olig1, olig2, and the MAG protein were detected by Western blot at different time points in the three groups. BV-2 cells were used in vitro. For drug administration, the effect of LPS, melatonin and melatonin receptor antagonist, luzindole, on IL-6 expression in BV-2 microglia cell was determined by Western blot. The medium of BV2 cell were collected to treat primary OPCs. The expression level of olig1, olig2 and MAG protein in primary OPCs were detected by Western blot. SPSS 20.0 statistical software was used for analysis, and the data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA and two-way ANOVA. Differences were considered to be statistically significantly if P<0.05. Result:Compared with the LPS group, the expression of IL-6 was significantly decreased in the corpus callosum at 6 h, l d, and 3 d in the melatonin group ( P<0.05). The expression of olig1, olig2 and MAG protein were increased at day 7, 14, and 28 in the melatonin group compared with the LPS group ( P<0.05). In vitro the expressions of IL-6 was significantly increased after LPS treatment ( P<0.05), but was decreased in the LPS+melatonin treatment group ( P<0.05). After treatment with melatonin receptor inhibitor, luzindole, the expressions level of IL-6 was increased ( P<0.05). The expression of olig1, olig2 and MAG protein were decreased with conditioned medium in the LPS BV2 cell group than the control group in the primary OPCs ( P<0.05). However, those were increased with conditioned medium in the LPS+melatonin BV2 cell group than the LPS group ( P<0.05). Conclusions:Melatonin may inhibit the inflammation response in the corpus callosum through its receptor, and may promote the maturation and differentiation of oligodendrocyte, suggesting that melatonin may have therapeutic effect on neuroinflammation and axonal hypomyelination on PWM in septic neonatal rats.

Objective To explore the predictive value of CT radiomics and morphological features for the prognosis and survival in non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC)patients.Methods The clinic data of 300 NSCLC patients(300 lesions)were downloaded from the Cancer Imaging Archive,with 210 randomly selected as the training set and 90 as the test set.According to the prognosis and survival,the patients were divided into two groups with survival period≤3 and＞3 years.3D Slicer software was used to delineate the regions of interest layer by layer in CT images,and the radiomics features were extracted from each region of interest.Both t-test and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator were utilized for radiomics feature screening.Three types of prediction models,namely radiomics model,morphological model and combined model,were constructed with Logistic regression,whose performances were evaluated using the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve.Results The differences in radiomics labels and mediastinal lymph node metastasis between the training set and the test set were statistically significant.For radiomics model,morphological model and combined model,the area under the ROC curve was 0.784(95%CI:0.722-0.847),0.734(95%CI:0.664-0.804)and 0.748(95%CI:0.680-0.815)in the training set,and 0.737(95%CI:0.630-0.844),0.665(95%CI:0.554-0.777)and 0.687(95%CI:0.578-0.797)in the test set,which demonstrated that radiomics model had the best diagnostic performance.Conclusion The CT radiomics model can effectively predict the prognosis and survival in NSCLC patients.

Background Flurochloridone (FLC) can induce apoptosis in Sertoli cells, but the specific mechanism remains unknown. Objective To investigate the testicular cell apoptosis in mice as well as apoptosis and activation of endoplasmic reticulum stress in TM4 cell line induced by FLC through in vivo and in vitro study designs respectively, and study the role of inosital-requiring enzyme 1α (IRE1α)-c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling pathway in the process of FLC-induced apoptosis in TM4 cells through intervention study design. Methods Testicular tissues were collected from male C57BL/6 mice which were treated with 3, 15, 75, and 375 mg·（kg·d）⁻¹ FLC by oral perfusion for 28 d. Apoptosis was observed by TUNEL staining, and the levels of apoptosis-related proteins were detected by Western blotting, including B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2 interacting mediator of cell death (Bim), and Bcl-2 associated X protein (Bax). In the in vitro study, TM4 cells were treated with different concentrations of FLC (40, 80, and 160 μmol·L⁻¹) for 6 h, then apoptosis rate was detected by flow cytometry, and the levels of apoptosis-related proteins (Bcl-2, Bim, and Bax) and endoplasmic reticulum stress-related proteins [glucose regulated protein 78 (GRP78), phosphorylated-protein kinase R like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (p-PERK), activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6), phosphorylated-inosital-requiring enzyme 1α (p-IRE1α), and phosphorylated-JNK (p-JNK)] were measured by Western blotting. In the intervention study, TM4 cells were pretreated with IRE1α phosphorylation inhibitor 4μ8C and JNK phosphorylation inhibitor SP600125 for 6 h, then treated with 160 μmol·L⁻¹ FLC for 6 h. The levels of apoptosis-related proteins and endoplasmic reticulum stress-related proteins were measured by Western blotting, and cell viability was detected by cell counting kit-8. Results After the male C57BL/6 mice orally exposed to FLC for 28 d, apoptosis occurred in the seminiferous tubule. The protein expression level of Bcl-2, apoptosis inhibitor, was decreased in the 75 and 375 mg·(kg·d)⁻¹ groups (P<0.05), and the protein expression levels of Bim and Bax, apoptosis promoters, were increased in the 75 and 375 mg·(kg·d)⁻¹ groups respectively (P<0.05). The percentages of apoptotic cells in the 0, 40, 80, and 160 μmol·L⁻¹ FLC groups were 2.7%±0.2%, 4.8%±1.3%, 9.4%±0.3%, and 13.2%±0.2%, respectively, increased significantly compared with the control group (P<0.05). The protein expression level of Bcl-2 also was decreased in the 160 μmol·L⁻¹ FLC group (P<0.05), while the levels of Bim and Bax were increased in both of the 80 and 160 μmol·L⁻¹ groups (P<0.05). The expression levels of endoplasmic reticulum stress-related proteins (GRP78, p-PERK, ATF6, p-IRE1α, and p-JNK) were increased (P<0.05) or showed a rising trend in TM4 cells. Pre-treatment with 4μ8C (25 and 50 μmol·L⁻¹) and SP600125 (10 and 20 μmol·L⁻¹) significantly down-regulated the protein expression levels of GRP78, p-IRE1α, p-JNK, and Bax induced by FLC (P<0.05) or in a downward trend. Both of the inhibitors alleviated the decreased cell viability induced by FLC (P<0.05) or in alleviating fashion. Conclusion FLC could induce apoptosis in mice testis and TM4 cell apoptosis through activating endoplasmic reticulum stress and IRE1α-JNK signaling pathway.

ObjectiveTo summarize the liver biopsy and clinical features of patients with liver injury of unknown origin， and to investigate the value of ultrasound-guided percutaneous liver biopsy in the diagnosis of liver injury of unknown origin. MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data and ultrasound-guided percutaneous liver biopsy results of 94 patients with liver injury of unknown origin who were admitted to Zhongshan Hospital， Xiamen University， from January 2018 to February 2023. According to the proportion of the patients with different final diagnoses， the patients were divided into autoimmune liver disease （AILD） group， metabolic associated fatty liver disease （MAFLD） group， drug-induced liver injury （DILI） group， alcoholic liver disease （ALD） group， and unknown group. An analysis of variance was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between multiple groups， and the Bonferroni analysis or the Dunnett’ T3 test was used for further comparison between two groups； the Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between multiple groups； the Fisher’s exact test was used for comparison of categorical data between multiple groups. ResultsAll 94 patients with liver injury of unknown origin underwent ultrasound-guided percutaneous liver biopsy after admission， among whom 90 patients （95.7%） had a confirmed diagnosis based on liver biopsy and clinical features. There were 43 patients （45.7%） with AILD， 21 （22.3%） with MAFLD， 15 （16.0%） with DILI， 6 （6.4%） with ALD， 1 （1.1%） with AILD and MAFLD， 1 （1.1%） with hemochromatosis， 1 （1.1%） with Budd-Chiari syndrome， 1 （1.1%） with congenital hepatic fibrosis， and 1 （1.1%） with idiopathic portal hypertension， while 4 patients （4.3%） still had an unknown etiology after liver biopsy. There were significant differences between the patients with top five diagnoses in age （F=4.457， P<0.05） ， body mass index （BMI） （F=3.245， P<0.05）， aspartate aminotransferase （AST） （H=11.128， P<0.05）， gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase （GGT） （H=24.789， P<0.05）， alkaline phosphatase （ALP） （H=26.013， P<0.05）， IgG （H=19.099， P<0.05）， IgM （H=21.263， P<0.05）， AMA-M2 positive rate （P<0.05）， and ANA positive rate （P<0.05）. Compared with the MAFLD group， the AILD group had significantly higher age， AST， GGT， and ALP and a significantly lower BMI； compared with the MAFLD group and the DILI group， the AILD group had significant increases in IgG and IgM； the AILD group had significant increases in the positive rates of AMA-M2 and ANA compared with the other four groups. ConclusionAILD， MAFLD， and DILI are the most common causes in patients with liver injury of unknown origin. Ultrasound-guided percutaneous liver biopsy plays an important role in determining the cause of liver injury of unknown origin， but it is still needed to make a comprehensive analysis based on clinical history， different types of liver injury， laboratory markers， and imaging data.

The C-glycosidic bond that connects the sugar moiety with aglycone is difficult to be broken or made due to its inert nature. The knowledge of C-glycoside breakdown and synthesis is very limited. Recently, the enzyme DgpA/B/C cascade from a human intestinal bacterium PUE was identified to specifically cleave the C-glycosidic bond of puerarin (daidzein-8-C-glucoside). Here we investigated how puerarin is recognized and oxidized by DgpA based on crystal structures of DgpA with or without substrate and biochemical characterization. More strikingly, we found that apart from being a C-glycoside cleaving enzyme, DgpA/B/C is capable of efficiently converting O- to C-glycoside showing the activity as a structure isomerase. A possible mechanistic model was proposed dependently of the simulated complex structure of DgpB/C with 3″-oxo-daidzin and structure-based mutagenesis. Our findings not only shed light on understanding the enzyme-mediated C-glycosidic bond breakage and formation, but also may help to facilitate stereospecific C-glycoside synthesis in pharmaceutical industry.

Background Flurochloridone (FLC) is toxic to male reproduction and can induce apoptosis of testicular tissue and supporting cells under oxidative stress. Of particular concern is whether nuclear factor-erythrocyte 2-related factor 2/heme oxygenase-1 (Nrf2/HO-1) signaling pathway and nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB) signaling pathway participate this process. Objective To observe apoptosis of testicular tissue and sertoli TM4 cells and alterations of Nrf2/HO-1 and NFκB signaling pathways in mice treated with FLC in vivo/in vitro. Methods (1) Animal experiment. Testis samples were harvested from male C57BL/6 mice after 28-day FLC (0, 3, 15, 75, and 375 mg·kg⁻¹ per day) exposure via oral route. Malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in homogenate of testicular tissue were measured by colorimetry. Apoptosis of testicular tissue was evaluated by TUNEL staining. Expression and distribution of Nrf2 and NFκB were detected by immunohistochemistry. Protein expression levels of Nrf2, HO-1, NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1), NFκB, inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa-B kinase subunit beta (IKKβ), and phosphorylated recombinant inhibitory subunit of nuclear factor kappa-B alpha (P-IκBα) in testicular tissue homogenate were determined by Western blotting. (2) Cell experiment. TM4 cell lines were treated with 40, 80, 120, 160, and 200 μmol·L⁻¹ FLC for 6 h, and cell viability was detected by CCK-8. After 6 h exposure to 40, 80, and 160 μmol·L⁻¹ FLC, the apoptosis rate was detected by flow cytometry, and the protein expression levels of Nrf2, HO-1, NQO1, NFκB, IKKβ, and IκBα were detected by Western blotting. Results (1) Animal experiment. Apoptosis occurred in the interstitial and basal parts of spermatogenic tubules in male C57BL/6 mice after 28 days of oral FLC exposure. Compared with the control group, the MDA level in testicular tissue of the 375 mg·kg⁻¹ FLC-treated group was significantly increased (P<0.05), and the SOD activity was significantly decreased (P<0.05). After 375 mg·kg⁻¹ FLC exposure, apoptosis occurred in the interstitial and basal parts of spermatogenic tubules. The results of immunohistochemistry showed the expression of Nrf2 and NFκB in the interstitium and basal part of spermatogenic tubules of the treated groups. Compared with the control group, the protein levels of Nrf2, NQO1, P-IκBα, NFκB, and IKKβ in the 15, 75, and 375 mg·kg^-1 groups were significantly increased (P<0.001), and the HO-1 protein level was significantly increased in the 375 mg·kg⁻¹ group (P<0.001). (2) Cell experiment. Compared with the control group, the TM4 cell viabilities in the 40, 80, 120, 160, and 200 μmol·L⁻¹ FLC-treated groups significantly decreased (P<0.01). The apoptosis rates were significantly increased (P<0.05), and the apoptosis rates increased from 5.7% in the control group to 7.4%, 9.4%, and 11.7% in the 40, 80, and 160 μmol·L⁻¹, respectively. The Nrf2 protein level in the 40 μmol·L⁻¹ group was significantly increased (P<0.01), while the levels significantly decreased in the 80 and 160 μmol·L⁻¹ groups (P<0.01). The HO-1 protein levels in the 40, 80, and 160 μmol·L⁻¹ groups were significantly increased (P<0.01). The level of NQO1 protein in the 40 μmol·L⁻¹ group was significantly increased (P<0.01). The NFκB protein levels were significantly increased in the 80 and 160 μmol·L⁻¹ groups (P<0.001). The IκBα protein levels were significantly decreased in all treated groups (P<0.001). The IKKβ protein had no significant change. Conclusion FLC induces testicular tissue apoptosis, and the process affects Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway and NFκB signaling pathway. The in vitro study confirms that FLC could induce apoptosis of TM4 cells and activate Nrf2/HO-1 and NFκB signaling pathways.