Based on the interleukin-17(IL-17) signaling pathway, this study explores the effect and mechanism of Bufei Decoction on Klebsiella pneumoniae pneumonia in rats. SD rats were randomly divided into the control group, model group, Bufei Decoction low-dose group(6.68 g·kg~(-1)·d~(-1)), Bufei Decoction high-dose group(13.36 g·kg~(-1)·d~(-1)), and dexamethasone group(1.04 mg·kg~(-1)·d~(-1)), with 10 rats in each group. A pneumonia model was established by tracheal drip injection of K. pneumoniae. After successful model establishment, the improvement in lung tissue damage was observed following drug administration. Core targets and signaling pathways were screened using transcriptomics techniques. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the mRNA expression of core targets interleukin-6(IL-6), interleukin-1β(IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), and chemokine CXC ligand 6(CXCL6). Western blot was used to assess key proteins in the IL-17 signaling pathway, including interleukin-17A(IL-17A), nuclear transcription factor-κB activator 1(Act1), tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6(TRAF6), and downstream phosphorylated p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase(p-p38 MAPK), and phosphorylated nuclear factor-κB p65(p-NF-κB p65). Apoptosis of lung tissue cells was detected by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling(TUNEL). The results showed that, compared with the control group, the model group exhibited significant pathological damage in lung tissue. The mRNA expression of IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α, and CXCL6, as well as the protein levels of IL-17A, Act1, TRAF6, p-p38 MAPK/p38 MAPK, and p-NF-κB p65/NF-κB p65, were significantly increased, and the number of apoptotic cells was notably higher, indicating successful model establishment. Compared with the model group, both low-and high-dose groups of Bufei Decoction showed reduced pathological damage in lung tissue. The mRNA expression levels of IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α, and CXCL6, and the protein levels of IL-17A, Act1, TRAF6, p-p38 MAPK/p38 MAPK, and p-NF-κB p65/NF-κB p65, were significantly decreased, with a significant reduction in apoptotic cells in the high-dose group. In conclusion, Bufei Decoction can effectively improve lung tissue damage and reduce inflammation in rats with K. pneumoniae. The mechanism may involve the regulation of the IL-17 signaling pathway and the reduction of apoptosis.
Animals ; Interleukin-17/metabolism* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Rats ; Male ; Klebsiella pneumoniae/physiology* ; Klebsiella Infections/immunology* ; Humans ; Lung/drug effects*

PURPOSE: Intertrochanteric fractures undergoing proximal femoral nail antirotation (PFNA) surgery are associated with significant hidden blood loss. This study aimed to explore whether intramedullary administration of tranexamic acid (TXA) can reduce bleeding in PFNA surgery for intertrochanteric fractures in elderly individuals. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial was conducted from January 2019 to December 2022. Patients aged over 60 years with intertrochanteric fractures who underwent intramedullary fixation surgery with PFNA were eligible for inclusion and grouped according to random numbers. A total of 249 patients were initially enrolled, of which 83 were randomly allocated to the TXA group and 82 were allocated to the saline group. The TXA group received intramedullary perfusion of TXA after the bone marrow was reamed. The primary outcomes were total peri-operative blood loss and post-operative transfusion rate. The occurrence of adverse events was also recorded. Continuous data was analyzed by unpaired t-test or Mann-Whitney U test, and categorical data was analyzed by Pearson Chi-square test. RESULTS: The total peri-operative blood loss (mL) in the TXA group was significantly lower than that in the saline group (577.23 ± 358.02 vs. 716.89 ± 420.30, p = 0.031). The post-operative transfusion rate was 30.67% in the TXA group and 47.95% in the saline group (p = 0.031). The extent of post-operative deep venous thrombosis and the 3-month mortality rate were similar between the 2 groups. CONCLUSION We observed that intramedullary administration of TXA in PFNA surgery for intertrochanteric fractures in elderly individuals resulted in less peri-operative blood loss and decreased transfusion rate, without any adverse effects, and is, thus, recommended.
Humans ; Tranexamic Acid/administration & dosage* ; Hip Fractures/surgery* ; Male ; Aged ; Female ; Fracture Fixation, Intramedullary/adverse effects* ; Blood Loss, Surgical/prevention & control* ; Antifibrinolytic Agents/administration & dosage* ; Aged, 80 and over ; Bone Nails ; Middle Aged ; Blood Transfusion/statistics & numerical data*

Transarterial radioembolization (TARE) is a widely utilized therapeutic approach for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), however, the clinical implementation is constrained by the stringent preparation conditions of radioembolization agents. Herein, we incorporated the superstable homogeneous iodinated formulation technology (SHIFT), simultaneously utilizing an enhanced solvent form in a carbon dioxide supercritical fluid environment, to encapsulate radionuclides (such as ¹³¹I,¹⁷⁷Lu, or ¹⁸F) with lipiodol for the preparation of radiolipiodol. The resulting radiolipiodol exhibited exceptional stability and ultra-high labeling efficiency (≥99%) and displayed notable intratumoral radionuclide retention and in vivo stability more than 2 weeks following locoregional injection in subcutaneous tumors in mice and orthotopic liver tumors in rats and rabbits. Given these encouraging findings, ¹⁸F was authorized as a radiotracer in radiolipiodol for clinical trials in HCC patients, and showed a favorable tumor accumulation, with a tumor-to-liver uptake ratio of ≥50 and minimal radionuclide leakage, confirming the feasibility of SHIFT for TARE applications. In the context of transforming from preclinical to clinical screening, the preparation of radiolipiodol by SHIFT represents an innovative physical strategy for radionuclide encapsulation. Hence, this work offers a reliable and efficient approach for TARE in HCC, showing considerable promise for clinical application (ChiCTR2400087731).

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the association between susceptibility genes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in children with obesity. METHODS: We conducted a two-step case-control study. Ninety-three participants were subjected to whole-exome sequencing (exploratory set). Differential genes identified in the small sample were validated in 1,022 participants using multiplex polymerase chain reaction and high-throughput sequencing (validation set). RESULTS: In the exploratory set, 14 genes from the NAFLD-associated pathways were identified. In the validation set, after adjusting for sex, age, and body mass index, ECI2 rs2326408 (dominant model: OR = 1.33, 95% CI: 1.02-1.72; additive model: OR = 1.22, 95% CI: 1.01-1.47), C6orf201 rs659305 (dominant model: OR = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.01-1.69; additive model: OR = 1.21, 95% CI: 1.00-1.45), CALML5 rs10904516 (pre-ad dominant model: OR = 1.36, 95% CI: 1.01-1.83; adjusted dominant model: OR = 1.40, 95% CI: 1.03-1.91; and pre-ad additive model: OR = 1.26, 95% CI: 1.04-1.66) polymorphisms were significantly associated with NAFLD in children with obesity ( P < 0.05). Interaction analysis revealed that the gene-gene interaction model of CALML5 rs10904516, COX11 rs17209882, and SCD5 rs3733228 was optional ( P < 0.05), demonstrating a negative interaction between the three genes. CONCLUSION In the Chinese population, the CALML5 rs10904516, C6orf201 rs659305, and ECI2 rs2326408 variants could be genetic markers for NAFLD susceptibility.
Humans ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease/genetics* ; Child ; Male ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Case-Control Studies ; Exome Sequencing ; Adolescent ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Obesity/complications* ; Pediatric Obesity/complications* ; China

Brasilicardin A, a diterpene glycoside isolated from pathogenic actinomycete Nocardia brasiliensis IFM 0406, has become a novel immunosuppressant candidate due to its significant immunosuppressive activity, low toxicity and unique mechanism of action. However, brasilicardin A and its analogues have become a research hotspot to the development of this promising immunosuppressant because of the low-yield production in the natural pathogenic producer and the synthetically challenging skeleton. According to the reported biosynthetic pathway of brasilicardin A, the function of involved diterpene synthase was analyzed by bioinformatics. Then the genes bra1-5 that synthesize the brasilicardin A skeleton were directionally amplified from the pathogenic strain N. brasiliensis IFM 0406, and heterologous expression was achieved successfully in Streptomyces albus R1. The compounds were isolated and purified by using various column chromatographies including silica gel column chromatography and semi-preparative HPLC. Six new brasilicardins were established and named brasilicardin H-M. The activity of brasilicardins was screened using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated mouse primary macrophage inflammation model. Brasilicardin H-M exhibited good inhibitory activity on nitric oxide (NO) release with IC₅₀ values of 28.24 ± 3.70, 37.44 ± 2.00, 39.85 ± 4.02, 26.77 ± 4.40, 65.25 ± 1.48 and 15.24 ± 2.72 μmol·L^-1, respectively (indomethacin as the positive control with IC₅₀ value of 34.28 ± 4.10 μmol·L^-1). The results indicated that six compounds had potential anti-inflammatory activity. This study laid a foundation for the elucidation of the brasilicardin A biosynthetic pathway and evaluation of the structure-activity relationship as well as new drug developments.

Objective To explore the risk factors of frozen shoulder,and to provide the basis for the prevention of frozen shoulder.Methods A total of 114 patients with frozen shoulder who were hospitalized in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University from January 2020 to August 2022 were included in case group,and 114 physical examination patients with no history of frozen shoulder were included in control group.The clinical data of two groups were collected and the risk factors of frozen shoulder were analyzed by multivariate Logistic regression.Results There were statistically significant differences in cervical radiculopathy,type 2 diabetes mellitus,hepatitis,chronic non-atrophic gastritis,lumbar disc herniation,osteoporosis and thyroid sarcoidosis between two groups(P<0.05).Multivariate Logistic analysis showed that cervical radiculopathy(OR=6.114,95%CI:1.458-25.642)and type 2 diabetes mellitus(OR=24.069,95%CI:4.023-144.007)were independent risk factors for the onset of frozen shoulder.Conclusion Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and cervical radiculopathy have a higher risk of frozen shoulder,and should pay attention to early prevention.

ObjectiveTo explore the role of saikosaponin D （SSD） targeting signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 （STAT3） in inducing apoptosis of bladder cancer cells by computer-aided drug design and experimental verification. MethodThe druggability and biotoxicity of SSD were explored by Bayesian classifier modeling. The information about SSD， the active ingredient of Bupleuri Radix， was searched against the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systematic Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform （TCMSP）. The targets of SSD were predicted by PubChem， TCMSP， a Bioinformatics Analysis Tool for Molecular mechANism of Traditional Chinese Medicine （BATMAN-TCM）， Coremine， an Encyclopedia of Traditional Chinese Medicine （ETCM）， and SwissTargetPrediction. GeneCards， Therapeutic Target Database （TTD）， and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man （OMIM） were employed to predict the potential therapeutic targets of bladder cancer. Then， the common targets shared by SSD and bladder cancer were selected for Gene Ontology （GO） and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes （KEGG） pathway enrichment analyses. Molecular docking was adopted to explore the binding affinity and structural stability of SSD with target proteins. Cytoscape 3.9.1 was used to construct the STAT3-drug regulatory network and STAT3-apoptosis regulatory network. UM-UC-3 cells were treated with 0， 5， 10， 15 μmol·L^-1 SSD for 24 h. Then， flow cytometry was used to detect the apoptosis of bladder cancer cells， and Western blot was employed to determine the protein levels of B-cell lymphoma-2 （Bcl-2）， Bcl-2-associated X protein （Bax）， Bcl-2-associated death promoter （Bad）， STAT3， and phosphorylation （p）-STAT3. ResultBayesian classifier modeling and molecular docking showed that SSD had low biotoxicity and bound well to the target protein STAT3 to form a stable protein-ligand complex. There were 282 common targets between bladder cancer and SSD， among which STAT3 was the most central target. The GO enrichment analysis showed that the potential core therapeutic targets involved 3 036 biological processes， 82 cellular components， and 171 molecular functions. The KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the potential core targets were mainly related to the C-type lectin receptor signaling pathway， Toll-like receptor signaling pathway， and cell apoptosis pathway. The STAT3-drug regulatory network and STAT3-apoptosis regulatory network showed that 29 drugs interacted with STAT3， and 27 apoptosis-related genes had a strong correlation with STAT3. Flow cytometry showed that the apoptosis rate increased with the increase in SSD concentration （P<0.05）. Western blotting results showed that SSD down-regulated the protein levels of p-STAT3 and Bcl-2 and up-regulated the protein levels of Bax and Bad in a concentration-dependent manner （P<0.05）. ConclusionSSD has good druggability and low biotoxicity. It may promote the apoptosis of bladder cancer cells by targeting STAT3.

Objective:To investigate the clinical efficacy of three-connections and four-screwings technique in the treatment of high double column acetabular fractures through a single ilioinguinal approach.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted to analyze the data of 42 patients who had been treated for high double column acetabular fractures from June 2017 to June 2020 at Trauma Ward 2, Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, The First Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Changde. There were 19 males and 23 females with an age of (42.7±25.6) years. 29 injuries were due to a traffic accident, 12 ones to fall from a height, and one to fall. The time from injury to operation was (4.5±2.1) days. All the patients were treated by the three-connections and four-screwings technique through a single ilioinguinal approach. Briefly, the anterior column was connected and secured to the main bone using 3 routes, and the posterior column was attached and fixated to the anterior column reset using 2 or 3 of the 4 screwings. The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, fracture reduction quality, fracture healing time, hip function at the last follow-up and complications during the follow-up were recorded.Results:For this cohort, the operation time was (150.0±30.5) min, and intraoperative blood loss (300.0±50.0) mL. According to the Matta scale for postoperative acetabular fracture reduction, 34 cases were excellent, 6 cases good, and 2 cases acceptable, with an excellent and good rate of 95.2% (40/42). After operation one patient had fat liquefaction and wound exudation which responded to drainage and dressing change. The 42 patients were followed up for (15.0±3.4) months. All fractures healed after (11.0±2.0) months. By the modified Merle d'Aubigné & Postel scoring system, the hip function was evaluated at the last follow-up as excellent in 33 cases, as good in 6 cases, and as fair in 3 cases, yielding an excellent and good rate of 92.9% (39/42).Conclusions:In the treatment of high double column acetabular fractures, the three-connections and four-screwings technique through a single ilioinguinal approach can lead to fine reduction and rigid fixation by lag screw compression and neutralization plate protection. Consequently, early functional exercises can be performed to secure good therapeutic outcomes for the patients.

Objective:To investigate the current situation of the use of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) for portal hypertension, which should aid the development of TIPS in China.Methods:The China Portal Hypertension Alliance (CHESS) initiated this study that comprehensively investigated the basic situation of TIPS for portal hypertension in China through network research. The survey included the following: the number of surgical cases, main indications, the development of Early-TIPS, TIPS for portal vein cavernous transformation, collateral circulation embolization, intraoperative portal pressure gradient measurement, commonly used stent types, conventional anticoagulation and time, postoperative follow-up, obstacles, and the application of domestic instruments.Results:According to the survey, a total of 13 527 TIPS operations were carried out in 545 hospitals participating in the survey in 2021, and 94.1% of the hospital had the habit of routine follow-up after TIPS. Most hospitals believed that the main indications of TIPS were the control of acute bleeding (42.6%) and the prevention of rebleeding (40.7%). 48.1% of the teams carried out early or priority TIPS, 53.0% of the teams carried out TIPS for the cavernous transformation of the portal vein, and 81.0% chose routine embolization of collateral circulation during operation. Most of them used coils and biological glue as embolic materials, and 78.5% of the team routinely performed intraoperative portal pressure gradient measurements. In selecting TIPS stents, 57.1% of the hospitals woulel choose Viator-specific stents, 57.2% woulel choose conventional anticoagulation after TIPS, and the duration of anticoagulation was between 3-6 months (55.4%). The limitation of TIPS surgery was mainly due to cost (72.3%) and insufficient understanding of doctors in related departments (77.4%). Most teams accepted the domestic instruments used in TIPS (92.7%).Conclusions:This survey shows that TIPS treatment is an essential part of treating portal hypertension in China. The total number of TIPS cases is far from that of patients with portal hypertension. In the future, it is still necessary to popularize TIPS technology and further standardize surgical indications, routine operations, and instrument application.