1.Development of cardiovascular clinical research data warehouse and real-world research.
Dan-Dan LI ; Ya-Ni YU ; Zhi-Jun SUN ; Chang-Fu LIU ; Tao CHEN ; Dong-Kai SHAN ; Xiao-Dan TUO ; Jun GUO ; Yun-Dai CHEN
Journal of Geriatric Cardiology 2025;22(7):678-689
BACKGROUND:
Medical informatics accumulated vast amounts of data for clinical diagnosis and treatment. However, limited access to follow-up data and the difficulty in integrating data across diverse platforms continue to pose significant barriers to clinical research progress. In response, our research team has embarked on the development of a specialized clinical research database for cardiology, thereby establishing a comprehensive digital platform that facilitates both clinical decision-making and research endeavors.
METHODS:
The database incorporated actual clinical data from patients who received treatment at the Cardiovascular Medicine Department of Chinese PLA General Hospital from 2012 to 2021. It included comprehensive data on patients' basic information, medical history, non-invasive imaging studies, laboratory test results, as well as peri-procedural information related to interventional surgeries, extracted from the Hospital Information System. Additionally, an innovative artificial intelligence (AI)-powered interactive follow-up system had been developed, ensuring that nearly all myocardial infarction patients received at least one post-discharge follow-up, thereby achieving comprehensive data management throughout the entire care continuum for high-risk patients.
RESULTS:
This database integrates extensive cross-sectional and longitudinal patient data, with a focus on higher-risk acute coronary syndrome patients. It achieves the integration of structured and unstructured clinical data, while innovatively incorporating AI and automatic speech recognition technologies to enhance data integration and workflow efficiency. It creates a comprehensive patient view, thereby improving diagnostic and follow-up quality, and provides high-quality data to support clinical research. Despite limitations in unstructured data standardization and biological sample integrity, the database's development is accompanied by ongoing optimization efforts.
CONCLUSION
The cardiovascular specialty clinical database is a comprehensive digital archive integrating clinical treatment and research, which facilitates the digital and intelligent transformation of clinical diagnosis and treatment processes. It supports clinical decision-making and offers data support and potential research directions for the specialized management of cardiovascular diseases.
2.Cytoplasmic and nuclear NFATc3 cooperatively contributes to vascular smooth muscle cell dysfunction and drives aortic aneurysm and dissection.
Xiu LIU ; Li ZHAO ; Deshen LIU ; Lingna ZHAO ; Yonghua TUO ; Qinbao PENG ; Fangze HUANG ; Zhengkun SONG ; Chuanjie NIU ; Xiaoxia HE ; Yu XU ; Jun WAN ; Peng ZHU ; Zhengyang JIAN ; Jiawei GUO ; Yingying LIU ; Jun LU ; Sijia LIANG ; Shaoyi ZHENG
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2025;15(7):3663-3684
This study investigated the role of the nuclear factor of activated T cells c3 (NFATc3) in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) during aortic aneurysm and dissection (AAD) progression and the underlying molecular mechanisms. Cytoplasmic and nuclear NFATc3 levels were elevated in human and mouse AAD. VSMC-NFATc3 deletion reduced thoracic AAD (TAAD) and abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) progression in mice, contrary to VSMC-NFATc3 overexpression. VSMC-NFATc3 deletion reduced extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation and maintained the VSMC contractile phenotype. Nuclear NFATc3 targeted and transcriptionally upregulated matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) and MMP2, promoting ECM degradation and AAD development. NFATc3 promoted VSMC phenotypic switching by binding to eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (eEF2) and inhibiting its phosphorylation in the VSMC cytoplasm. Restoring eEF2 reversed the beneficial effects in VSMC-specific NFATc3-knockout mice. Cabamiquine-targets eEF2 and inhibits protein synthesis-inhibited AAD development and progression in VSMC-NFATc3-overexpressing mice. VSMC-NFATc3 promoted VSMC switch and ECM degradation while exacerbating AAD development, making it a novel potential therapeutic target for preventing and treating AAD.
3.Shenlian Extract Protects against Ultrafine Particulate Matter-Aggravated Myocardial Ischemic Injury by Inhibiting Inflammation and Cell Apoptosis.
Shui Qing QU ; Yan LIANG ; Shuo Qiu DENG ; Yu LI ; Yue DAI ; Cheng Cheng LIU ; Tuo LIU ; Lu Qi WANG ; Li Na CHEN ; Yu Jie LI
Biomedical and Environmental Sciences 2025;38(2):206-218
OBJECTIVE:
Emerging evidence suggests that exposure to ultrafine particulate matter (UPM, aerodynamic diameter < 0.1 µm) is associated with adverse cardiovascular events. Previous studies have found that Shenlian (SL) extract possesses anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic properties and has a promising protective effect at all stages of the atherosclerotic disease process. In this study, we aimed to investigated whether SL improves UPM-aggravated myocardial ischemic injury by inhibiting inflammation and cell apoptosis.
METHODS:
We established a mouse model of MI+UPM. Echocardiographic measurement, measurement of myocardialinfarct size, biochemical analysis, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), histopathological analysis, Transferase dUTP Nick End Labeling (TUNEL), Western blotting (WB), Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and so on were used to explore the anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects of SL in vivo and in vitro.
RESULTS:
SL treatment can attenuate UPM-induced cardiac dysfunction by improving left ventricular ejection fraction, fractional shortening, and decreasing cardiac infarction area. SL significantly reduced the levels of myocardial enzymes and attenuated UPM-induced morphological alterations. Moreover, SL significantly reduced expression levels of the inflammatory cytokines IL-6, TNF-α, and MCP-1. UPM further increased the infiltration of macrophages in myocardial tissue, whereas SL intervention reversed this phenomenon. UPM also triggered myocardial apoptosis, which was markedly attenuated by SL treatment. The results of in vitro experiments revealed that SL prevented cell damage caused by exposure to UPM combined with hypoxia by reducing the expression of the inflammatory factor NF-κB and inhibiting apoptosis in H9c2 cells.
CONCLUSION
Overall, both in vivo and in vitro experiments demonstrated that SL attenuated UPM-aggravated myocardial ischemic injury by inhibiting inflammation and cell apoptosis. The mechanisms were related to the downregulation of macrophages infiltrating heart tissues.
Animals
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Apoptosis/drug effects*
;
Particulate Matter/adverse effects*
;
Mice
;
Male
;
Inflammation/drug therapy*
;
Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use*
;
Mice, Inbred C57BL
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Myocardial Ischemia/drug therapy*
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Cell Line
4.Sonogenetics and its application in military medicine
Ying-Tan ZHUANG ; Bo-Yu LUO ; Xiao-Dong ZHANG ; Tuo-Yu LIU ; Xin-Yue FAN ; Guo-Hua XIA ; Qing YUAN ; Bin ZHENG ; Yue TENG
Medical Journal of Chinese People's Liberation Army 2024;49(3):360-366
Sonogenetics is an emerging synthetic biology technique that uses sound waves to activate mechanosensitive ion channel proteins on the cell surface to regulate cell behavior and function.Due to the widespread presence of mechanically sensitive ion channel systems in cells and the advantages of non-invasion,strong penetrability,high safety and high accuracy of sonogenetics technology,it has great development potential in basic biomedical research and clinical applications,especially in neuronal regulation,tumor mechanism research,sonodynamic therapy and hearing impairment.This review discusses the basic principles of sonogenetics,the development status of sonogenetics and its application in the prevention and treatment of noise-induced hearing loss,summarizes and analyzes the current challenges and future development direction,thus providing a reference for further research and development of sonogenetics in the field of military medicine.
5.New Advances in the Use of 18F-FET PET in the Diagnosis and Management of Adult High-Grade Gliomas
Qingqing HAN ; Tuo LI ; Haiqun XING ; Chao REN ; Jiahui LIU ; Yu WANG ; Wenbin MA ; Xin CHENG ; Li HUO
JOURNAL OF RARE DISEASES 2024;3(1):102-107
Gliomas are the most common primary intracranial tumors in adults, among which high-grade glioma patients are characterized by short survival and poor prognosis. The diagnosis, treatment, evaluation of effective treatments, and prognosis prediction of high-grade gliomas are of great significance for improving patient survival. Conventional enhanced magnetic resonance imaging has deficiencies in delineating tumor extent, identifying tumor progression and treatment-related changes. Therefore, there is a broad consensus to incorporate amino acid PET, and 18F-FET PET inparticular, into the diagnostic and therapeutic process of high-grade gliomas. In this article, we review the new research progress of 18F-FET PET in the diagnosis and treatment of adult high-grade glioma in recent years.
6.Construction and Enhancement of Graduate Curriculum System for Traditional Chinese Medicine Pharmacology: A Case Study of Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences
Tuo LIU ; Yanqiong ZHANG ; Shihuan TANG ; Zhiyong LI ; Shan WANG ; Baohua LIU ; Yu BAI ; Yujie LI
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2024;30(23):3-7
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) pharmacology (PTCM) is a discipline that studies the interactions between Chinese medicines and the human body, as well as their underlying mechanisms, under the guidance of TCM theories while employing modern scientific techniques and methods. This article reviews the historical development and achievements of the PTCM discipline at the Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, and outlines the reform measures undertaken in recent years to advance the construction of the graduate course system in PTCM. Building upon the foundation of the "Special Topics in PTCM" course, the curriculum has been expanded through reforms to include a series of self-designed courses, such as foundational advanced courses, experimental pharmacology courses, pharmacological research tools courses, and applied TCM research courses. Along with enriching the graduate course system, the study explores innovative approaches and methods for graduate education and teaching in PTCM, and reflects on the challenges in course system construction and teaching, serving as a reference for improving the quality of graduate training, promoting the development of the PTCM discipline, and advancing teaching reform practices.
7.Innovation of Methods for Efficacy Evaluation of Traditional Chinese Medicine Compound Prescriptions: Establishment of Characterization System for Simultaneous Treatment/Regulation Based on Correlation Patterns of Five Zang-organs
Yujie LI ; Tuo LIU ; Luqi WANG ; Lina CHEN ; Yan LIANG ; Chengcheng LIU ; Yu LI ; Xiaoxin ZHU
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2024;30(23):19-26
The clinical efficacy advantages of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) compound prescriptions have always been inadequately characterized in experimental research,which has become a bottleneck restricting the development of TCM pharmacology and even the progress of TCM. The concept of simultaneous treatment/regulation,guided by the theory of mutual generation and restriction of five zang-organs,has guiding significance in the clinical practice of TCM throughout history and is still widely used in the current clinical practice. However,this unique and clinically valuable diagnostic and therapeutic medication system based on the syndrome differentiation has been completely ignored in the modern research of TCM pharmacology,which might be one of the key factors restricting the pharmacological characterization of the therapeutic advantages of TCM compound prescriptions. On the basis of systematically summarizing the phased progress and achievements of the efficacy evaluation of TCM compound prescriptions,this article explores the path of exploring the pharmacological advantages of TCM compound prescriptions on simultaneous treatment/regulation on the basis of the correlation patterns of five zang-organs,from the theory of Zangxiang,the core concept of five zang-organs,and the TCM disease recognition based on the theory of mutual generation and restriction of five zang-organs. With the heart-lung correlation as a breakthrough point,this study explored a new characterization method for the pharmacological advantages of TCM,aiming to provide new ideas for evaluating the efficacy of TCM compound prescriptions.
8.Effect of Artemisinin and Its Derivatives in Treatment of Nervous System Diseases: A Review
Yan LIANG ; Shuiqing QU ; Yu LI ; Yue DAI ; Chengcheng LIU ; Luqi WANG ; Lina CHEN ; Tuo LIU ; Yujie LI
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2024;30(23):292-299
With the rapid development of social economy, the number of patients with nervous system diseases has increased, and the incidence of the population has a trend of younger, which has a serious impact on life health and social economy. Artemisinin is an active antimalarial component extracted and isolated from Artemisia annua, a Chinese medicinal material. Artemisinin and its derivatives, in addition to the antimalarial effect, also have anti-parasitic, anti-fungal, anti-viral, hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, anti-tumor, and anti-inflammatory effects, showing a wide range of pharmacological activities. In the past five years, research on the new pharmacological effects of artemisinin and its derivatives has been deepening, and the efficacy of artemisinin and its derivatives in nervous system diseases has attracted much attention, including anti-neuroinflammation, anti-oxidative stress, maintaining the stability of the blood-brain barrier, regulating the release of neurotransmitters, repairing neuronal damage, and promoting neuronal regeneration. These pharmacological effects indicate that artemisinin and its derivatives are potentially capable of neuroprotection. By sorting out literature on the pharmacological activity of artemisinin and its derivatives in nervous system during 2019-2024, this paper systematically summarized the protective effects of artemisinin and its derivatives against nervous system diseases such as stroke, neurodegenerative diseases, neuroimmunological diseases, neuralgia, and nervous system tumors. This review is expected to provide clues and evidence for new indication expansion of artemisinin drugs, innovative drug development, and clinical treatment of nervous system diseases.
9.Mechanisms of Outdoor Air Pollution Affecting Cardiovascular Diseases: A Review
Chengcheng LIU ; Yu LI ; Yan LIANG ; Shuiqing QU ; Yue DAI ; Tuo LIU ; Lina CHEN ; Luqi WANG ; Yujie LI
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2024;30(23):318-326
The impact of air pollution on human health has always been a research hotspot in the global health field. Outdoor air pollutants composed of multiple components can enter the human body through various pathways. Cardiovascular diseases are a group of diseases caused by outdoor air pollutants. Studies have shown that the incidence of cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension, arrhythmia, and heart failure, is significantly increased among people exposed to air pollution environments. Air pollutants such as fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide are closely related to the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases, and short-term and long-term exposure causes different cardiovascular risks. By reviewing the relevant research reports from 2019 to 2024, this article summarizes the epidemiological evidence of cardiovascular diseases caused by different air pollutants. It generalizes the pathways through which air pollutants accelerate the progression of cardiovascular diseases. These pathways include oxidative stress, inflammatory response, thrombosis, extracellular vesicle release, endoplasmic reticulum stress, apoptosis, endothelial dysfunction, autonomic nervous system imbalance, and their interactions. Based on the different mechanisms of air pollution on cardiovascular diseases, the article analyzes the main progress in drug intervention and summarizes the roles of various active ingredients and compound prescriptions of traditional Chinese medicine in treating air pollution-related cardiovascular diseases, providing reference for the research on the mechanisms and drug interventions of air pollution-related cardiovascular diseases.
10.Treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases in Diabetes Mellitus with Traditional Chinese Medicine: A Review
Yu ZHANG ; Yu LI ; Zhongyuan ZHENG ; Yan LIANG ; Chengcheng LIU ; Yue DAI ; Luqi WANG ; Tuo LIU ; Lina CHEN ; Yujie LI
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2024;30(23):327-337
The complex pathophysiological mechanisms between diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases have not yet been fully elucidated, becoming one of the challenges in clinical care. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP1-RA) and sodium glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2) are clinically used to reduce the cardiovascular risk of patients with diabetes mellitus. Traditional Chinese medicine has diverse biological activities and unique advantages in the treatment of chronic complex diseases due to its multi-component and multi-target effects. Based on recent reports, this paper reviewed the common risk factors of diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases (e.g., hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, and inflammation), related targets such as apolipoprotein C-Ⅲ (APOC3), S100 calcium-binding protein A8/A9 (S100A8/A9), growth/differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15), and NACHT, LRR, and PYD domains-containing protein 3 (NLRP3), advanced glycation end products, insulin resistance, endothelial dysfunction, endoplasmic reticulum stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and intestinal flora disorder. In addition, this paper summarized the research progress in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases in diabetes mellitus with the active ingredients (e.g., baicalein, puerarin, curcumin, notoginsenoside, and tanshinone ⅡA), single herbal medicines (e.g., Astragali Radix, Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma, Sophorae Flavescentis Radix, Cinnamomi Cortex, and Corni Fructus), and compound formulas (e.g., Buzang Tongluo Fang, Yiqi Yangyin Huoxue Fang, Shenqi Fang, Huangqisan, Danggui Buxue Tang, and Liuwei Dihuang Wan) of traditional Chinese medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine mainly treats cardiovascular diseases in diabetes mellitus by reducing inflammation and oxidative stress, ameliorating dyslipidemia and insulin resistance, protecting islet β cell function, repairing endothelial damage, inhibiting smooth muscle cell proliferation, foam cell formation, macrophage polarization, and cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis, and regulating intestinal flora disorder. These processes involve insulin receptor substrate/ phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B (IRS/PI3K/Akt), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α/γ (PPAR α/γ), nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), adenosine 5′-monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK), hypoxia-inducible factor-1-BCH domain-containing protein (HIF-1-BNIP), vascular endothelial growth factor/hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (VEGF/HIF-1α) and other signaling pathways. This review is expected to provide a theoretical basis and reference for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases in diabetes mellitus with traditional Chinese medicine.

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