OBJECTIVE: To optimize the technology of extracting total flavonoids from Sophora japonica.METHODS: The extracting technology of total flavonoids (from Sophora japonica) was optimized by response surface methodology(RSM) with ethanol concentration,solid-solvent ratio,extracting temperature,extracting time and extracting times as factors and the yield of total flavonoids as index.RESULTS: The optimal parameters were determined as follows: the ethanol concentration was 60%;the solid-solvent ratio was 1∶10;the extracting was conducted for 1 time(90 min) at 90 ℃.CONCLUSION:The optimized extraction technology was simple and stable and which serves as references for industrial large scale production.

Vitamin K(VK)occurs naturally in two forms, including vitamin K 1(VK 1)and vitamin K 2(VK 2). The function of VK is related to the number of its side chains.In addition to the function of coagulation, VK is also gradually found to be involved in bone metabolism, which is closely related to the occurrence of adult osteoporosis.The rapid growth and development in childhood is a period of extremely vigorous bone metabolism.The role of VK in children′s bone metabolic diseases has been gradually recognized in recent years.However, there are still few clinical studies on the level of VK in children of different ages and how VK participates in children′s bone metabolic diseases.This article reviews the types and metabolism of VK, the mechanism of VK regulating bone metabolism, the level of VK and its role in bone metabolic diseases, so as to provide new understanding and ideas for the prevention and treatment of bone health in children.

BACKGROUND:Exosomes play a role in all stages of wound repair,and there is currently a large body of research on exosomes in skin wound repair,which has been shown to have great potential for clinical applications. OBJECTIVE:To summarize and discuss the main mechanisms and clinical applications of exosomes in the treatment of skin wounds,in order to promote the clinical translation of exosomes. METHODS:PubMed,clinicaltrials.gov,China National Knowledge Infrastructure,Food and Drug Administration database,and Chinese Clinical Trial Register were searched from inception to March 2023.The English search terms were"exosomes,wound healing,stem cells,chronic wound,immunoregulation,inflammation,skin,therapeutic use,isolation,characterization,infections".The Chinese search terms were"exosomes,wound healing,stem cells,immunomodulation,clinical applications".A total of 79 articles were included for the summary. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Exosomes can improve and accelerate wound healing through inflammation regulation,immune protection,angiogenesis,cell proliferation and migration,and collagen remodeling.(2)Exosomes derived from stem cells have mature preparation techniques and related mechanism research,which is currently the mainstream research direction.Non-stem cell-derived exosomes have the advantages of convenience,economy,and easy production,and can be used as a supplement for clinical applications.(3)The clinical application of exosomes is still in its infancy,but has great potential for application.Various exosome modification techniques have laid the foundation for the future development of clinically personalized services and require further research.(4)The clinical translation of exosomes faces many challenges,such as low yield,high heterogeneity,lack of unified standards for isolation,purification,and quality control,and difficulties in storage.

Objective:To establish a new model for the prediction of severe outcomes of COVID-19 patients and provide more comprehensive, accurate and timely indicators for the early identification of severe COVID-19 patients.Methods:Based on the patients’ admission detection indicators, mild or severe status of COVID-19, and dynamic changes in admission indicators (the differences between indicators of two measurements) and other input variables, XGBoost method was applied to establish a prediction model to evaluate the risk of severe outcomes of the COVID-19 patients after admission. Follow up was done for the selected patients from admission to discharge, and their outcomes were observed to evaluate the predicted results of this model.Results:In the training set of 100 COVID-19 patients, six predictors with higher scores were screened and a prediction model was established. The high-risk range of the predictor variables was calculated as: blood oxygen saturation <94 %, peripheral white blood cells count >8.0×10 9, change in systolic blood pressure <-2.5 mmHg, heart rate >90 beats/min, multiple small patchy shadows, age >30 years, and change in heart rate <12.5 beats/min. The prediction sensitivity of the model based on the training set was 61.7 %, and the missed diagnosis rate was 38.3 %. The prediction sensitivity of the model based on the test set was 75.0 %, and the missed diagnosis rate was 25.0 %. Conclusions:Compared with the traditional prediction (i.e. using indicators from the first test at admission and the critical admission conditions to assess whether patients are in mild or severe status), the new model’s prediction additionally takes into account of the baseline physiological indicators and dynamic changes of COVID-19 patients, so it can predict the risk of severe outcomes in COVID-19 patients more comprehensively and accurately to reduce the missed diagnosis of severe COVID-19.

Objective To establish the reference intervals for test indicators of thyroid function,namely thyroid stimulating hormone(TSH),free thyroxine(FT4),and free triiodothyronine(FT3),in the children aged 0 to 15 years old in Nanning,China.Methods A total of 1 289 healthy children aged 0 to 15 years old who attended the Guangxi International Zhuang Medicine Hospital Affiliated with Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine from October 2018 to August 2023 were selected.The concentrations in serum TSH,FT4,and FT3 were measured by chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay(CMIA).According to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute(CLSI)EP28-A3c guideline,the nonparametric percentile method was used to establish the reference intervals for TSH,FT4,and FT3 in the children aged 0 to 15 years old in Nanning area.Results The established reference intervals were as follows:TSH(male):0 to＜1 month:0.88-7.81 μIU/mL,1 month to 15 years:0.59-5.06 μIU/mL;TSH(female):0 to＜1 month:0.93-8.42μIU/mL,1 month to 15 years:0.60-4.30 μIU/mL.FT4(male):0 to＜1 month:0.99-1.92 pg/mL,1 month to 15 years:0.86-1.33 pg/mL;FT4(female):0 to＜1 month:1.05-2.06 pg/mL,1 month to 15 years:0.85-1.37 pg/mL;FT3:0 to＜1 month:2.16-4.24 pmol/L,1 month to＜11 years:2.75-4.49 pmol/L,11 to 15 years:2.45-4.34 pmol/L.Significant differences were observed among different gender and age groups for TSH,FT4,and FT3 levels(P＜0.05).Conclusion This study successfully established the refer-ence intervals of TSH,FT4,and FT3 in the children aged 0 to 15 years old in Nanning area,which were significantly different among various gender and age groups.

Objective:To explore the feature of FOS expression in oxytocin-and vasopressin-positive neurons in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus(PVN)under different status of diabetes mellitus(DM).Methods:Intraperito-neal injection of vehicle or STZ in mice was conducted to establish control or diabetes model.Mechanical sensitivity was evaluated by von Frey filament tests to distinguish diabetic neuropathic pain(DNP)from without-pain group(DWP).The expression of FOS,oxytocin(OXT)-and vasopressin(VP)-positive neurons,as well as their double labeling was detected by immunohistochemical and immunofluorescent staining.Cell counting and comparison were made in groups.Results:FOS expression was easily detected in the PVN in the three groups(Control group,DNP group and DWP group)at 7 days,while that in DWP and DNP groups at 28 days was hardly detectable,with the number being signifi-cantly different from the 7 days group(P＜0.05 or 0.001).Likewise,compared with the control group,immunofluo-rescent signals for VP and OXT staining in the DNP and DWP groups also showed a trend of weakening as the modeling time increased(P＜0.05).The cell counting after double staining for VP or OXT with FOS showed that,in the DWP group at 7 days,the number of VP and FOS double-labeled neurons was 74.33±22.10,accounting for(56.64± 7.52)％of VP-positive cells,whereas the double labeling rate for OXT and FOS was only(10.44±3.14)％.In the DNP group at 7 days,the number of OXT and FOS double-labeled neurons was 51.00±31.80,accounting for(18.50 ±9.51)％of OXT-positive neurons,whereas the double labeling rate for VP and FOS was only(9.34±3.27)％.In contrast to these changes in 7 days group,the expression of FOS decreased sharply in the group of 28 days,thereby al-most no double-labeled neurons.Conclusion:The plasticity changes of oxytocin-and vasopressin-positive neurons in the PVN are different depending on the status of pain and non-pain,and the stage of disease progression.Understanding the changes is of great significance for unravelling the neural mechanism of diabetes and its complications.