Objective: To elucidate the potential mechanisms by which Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) regulates gut microbiota (GM) to influence the development of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). Methods: Data mining, network pharmacology, and Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses (two-sample design) were conducted in integration to systematically explore the CHM-GM-POAG axis. Literature-based data mining method was applied to identify frequently used herbs and herb pairs for POAG, and the properties and meridian tropism of the herbs were analyzed as well. Target prediction and pathway enrichment analyses were performed to identify shared molecular pathways among CHM components, GM, and POAG. MR analysis was performed to assess the genetically predicted causal associations between specific microbial taxa and POAG risk. Results: Our data mining work indicated that commonly used CHMs were mainly bitter and sweet in flavors and cold in property, with meridian tropism toward the liver, lung, and kidney. The predominant therapeutic effects of the CHMs included soothing the liver and regulating Qi, promoting blood circulation, and reducing fluid retention. Representative herb pairs were Shudihuang (Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata)-Gouqi (Lycii Fructus) with Zexie (Alismatis Rhizoma), Gouqi (Lycii Fructus)-Fuling (Poria) with Shudihuang (Rehmanniae Radix), and Juhua (Chrysanthemi Flos)-Gouqi (Lycii Fructus) with Zexie (Alismatis Rhizoma). Network pharmacology revealed overlapping targets involving antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and metabolic regulation pathways. MR analysis demonstrated that higher abundances of Ruminiclostridium 6 [odds ratio (OR) = 0.73, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.58 – 0.92, P = 0.007], Ruminococcaceae UCG-002 (OR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.63 – 0.96, P = 0.018), Ruminococcus torques group (OR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.57 – 0.90, P = 0.004), and Victivallis (OR = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.70 – 0.96, P = 0.016) were causally associated with reduced POAG risk, whereas Actinomyces (OR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.06 – 1.68, P = 0.013) and Blautia (OR = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.01 – 1.90, P = 0.042) showed positive associations. Conclusion This study revealed potential causal links between GM and POAG and provided integrative evidence that CHM may modulate the microbiota to exert neuroprotective effects. These findings offer new integrative insights into the gut-eye axis and a theoretical basis for developing microbiota-targeted CHM strategies in glaucoma management.

Objective:To analyze the influencing factors of not achieving textbook outcome (TO) after laparoscopic radical surgery in patients with malignant pancreatic body and tail tumor, and to establish and evaluate a nomogram for predicting the failure to achieve TO.Methods:The clinical data of 111 patients with malignant pancreatic body and tail tumors undergoing laparoscopic radical surgery in the Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery in Henan Provincial People's Hospital from January 2020 to December 2022 were retrospectively analyzed, including 44 males and 67 females, aged (53.8±14.7) years. All patients were staged TNM I to II, including pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma ( n=102, 91.9%), pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor ( n=5, 4.5%), and pancreatic intraductal papillary mucinous tumors ( n=4, 3.6%). The patients were randomly divided into a training set ( n=78) and a test set ( n=33) at a ratio of 7∶3. The 78 patients in the training set were further divided into TO group ( n=28) and control group ( n=50, not achieving TO). Based on the univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis of training set, the influencing factors of failure to achieve TO after laparoscopic radical surgery in patients with pancreatic body and tail tumor were analyzed. A nomogram based on the multi-factors were established to predict the failure to achieve TO. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, calibration curve, decision curve analysis (DCA) were utilized to evaluate the nomogram. Results:There were significant differences in tumor diameter, positive lymph nodes, operation time and CT value of pancreas between the TO and control groups (all P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that tumor diameter >4 cm ( OR=9.673, 95% CI: 2.198-42.579), positive lymph node ( OR=5.385, 95% CI: 1.514-19.154), pancreatic CT value ( OR=0.594, 95% CI: 0.392-0.902) were the influencing factors for patients who did not achieve TO (all P<0.05). Based on the results of multiple factors, a nomogram was established to predict the failure to achieve TO after laparoscopic radical surgery. The area under the ROC curve of the nomogram was 0.849 (95% CI: 0.757-0.940) and 0.873 (95% CI: 0.730-1.000) in the training and test sets, respectively. The calibration curve was close to the ideal curve and the predicted results of the nomogram matched well with the actual results. The DCA showed that the nomogram has obvious positive net benefit. Conclusion:The nomogram constructed with tumor diameter > 4 cm, positive lymph nodes and CT value of pancreas for prediction of the patients with pancreatic body and tail malignant tumor after laparoscopic radical surgery did not achieve TO has good performance.

Objective To investigate the effect and underlying mechanism of Qingguang’an Granules (青光安颗粒剂, QGAG) on mitochondrial autophagy (mitophagy) of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in rats with chronic ocular hypertension (COH). Methods Sixty Sprague Dawley (SD) rats, half males and half females, were randomly assigned to three groups: the control, model, and QGAG (2.5 g/kg) groups, with 20 rats in each group. Rats’ model of COH was established by cauterizing episcleral veins in the model group and QGAG group. Three weeks after successful modeling, rats in the QGAG group were intragastrically administered with QGAG, while rats in the control group and the model group received an equal dose of normal saline. After three months of intragastric administration, intraocular pressure (IOP) of all rats was measured. The mitophagy was monitored by the immunofluorescence method, the mitochondrial membrane potential was measured using the JC-1 method, and the morphological changes of mitophagy in RGCs were observed by transmission electron microscopy. Meanwhile, rat RGCs were labeled using the fluorescent gold method, and RGCs density in each group was calculated. Moreover, RGCs apoptosis was observed by TdT-mediated dUTP Nick-End Labeling (TUNEL) assay. Finally, the expression levels of Parkin, optineurin, microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3-II/microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3-I (LC3-II/LC3-I), recombinant lysosomal associated membrane protein 1 (LAMP1), and B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) in RGCs were determined by Western blot assay. The corresponding mRNAs were detected through quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Results The QGAG reduced IOP in COH rats, and inhibited mitophagy and apoptosis of RGCs (P < 0.05). Besides, the QGAG significantly increased the expression levels of Parkin and Bcl-2 (P < 0.05), and inhibited the expression levels of optineurin, LAMP1, and LC3-II/LC3-I (P < 0.05) in RGCs of COH rats. Conclusion The QGAG can inhibit mitophagy in RGCs of COH rats and show a protective effect against optic nerve damage caused by glaucoma, which may be mediated through the mitophagy ubiquitination via the Parkin/PINK1-related pathway.

Objective To investigate the serum level of placental growth factor (PLGF) and explore its relationship with left ventricular structure and function in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients.Methods Seventy-two non-dialysis CKD patients and sixteen age-and sex-matched healthy controls were included in this study.Serum PLGF level was measured by ELISA.Cardiac structure and function were assessed by two dimensional echocardiography.Results (1)The serum level of PLGF in CKD patients[3.32(2.97,19.77) ng/L] was significantly higher compared to the healthy controls [2.33(2.27,2.49) ng/L] (P ＜ 0.01).It progressively increased with the decline of renal function (P＜ 0.05/6).(2)The interventricular septum (IVS),left ventricular posterior wall (LVPW) was significantly higher while the ejection fraction was significantly lower in CKD patients.(3)The serum PLGF level was higher in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) than those without LVH [19.05(3.31,21.05) ng/L vs 2.99(2.60,3.32) ng/L,P ＜ 0.05].The prevalence of LVH in the group above median PLGF level was significantly higher than that in the group below the median PLGF level (70％ vs 18％,P ＜ 0.01).(4)PLGF level was positively correlated with left ventricular mass index (LVMI),systolic pressure,diastolic pressure,24 h urine protein,Scr,UA,BUN,iPTH,the history of high blood pressure and was negatively correlated with LVEF,hemoglobin,albumin,eGFR (P ＜ 0.05).Multiple regression results showed that UA,Scr,LVEF,Hb were associated with PLGF level independently (P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions CKD patients have elevated level of PLGF.It has a relationship with cardiac structure and function.It may participate in the occurrence of cardiovascular events.