1.Oligomeric proanthocyanidin ameliorates sepsis-associated renal tubular injury: involvement of oxidative stress, inflammation, PI3K/AKT and NFκκB signaling pathways
Enhui CUI ; Qijing WU ; Haiyan ZHU ; Weiqian TIAN
The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology 2025;29(2):165-178
Sepsis is a potentially fatal infectious disease that easily causes shock and numerous organ failures. The kidney is one of the most susceptible to injury. Early intervention and renal protection significantly minimize patient mortality. Oligomeric proanthocyanidin (OPC), a naturally occurring plant compound, has a high potential for renal protection. This study was aimed at exploring the potential renoprotective role of OPC in sepsis-related renal tubular injury. C57/B6 mice were intraperitoneally injected with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to simulate sepsis-related acute kidney injury in vivo. Renal function and pathology were assessed. RNA sequencing examined OPC mechanisms against LPS-induced renal injury. Oxidative stress indicators and inflammatory cytokines in blood serum and renal tissues were evaluated. In vitro, MTT assays assess cell viability. Apoptosis cells were detected using Hoechst 33342 and propidium iodide staining. Western blot assessed PI3K/AKT and NFκB signaling pathway proteins. OPC reduced LPS-induced renal tubular injury, improved renal functions and pathological changes, restored glutathione content, superoxide dismutase activity, and catalase activity, inhibited malondialdehyde overproduction, and suppressed LPS-induced overproduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the decline of anti-inflammatory cytokines. OPC attenuated LPS-induced cell morphological injury, reduced cell viability loss, and recovered the changes in proteins involved in PI3K/AKT and NFκB signaling pathways in MTEC cells. OPC protects against LPSinduced renal tubular injury by counteracting oxidative stress, inhibiting inflammatory responses, activating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, and inhibiting the NFκB signaling pathway. It may provide a viable solution to lessen renal injury in patients with sepsis.
2.Oligomeric proanthocyanidin ameliorates sepsis-associated renal tubular injury: involvement of oxidative stress, inflammation, PI3K/AKT and NFκκB signaling pathways
Enhui CUI ; Qijing WU ; Haiyan ZHU ; Weiqian TIAN
The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology 2025;29(2):165-178
Sepsis is a potentially fatal infectious disease that easily causes shock and numerous organ failures. The kidney is one of the most susceptible to injury. Early intervention and renal protection significantly minimize patient mortality. Oligomeric proanthocyanidin (OPC), a naturally occurring plant compound, has a high potential for renal protection. This study was aimed at exploring the potential renoprotective role of OPC in sepsis-related renal tubular injury. C57/B6 mice were intraperitoneally injected with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to simulate sepsis-related acute kidney injury in vivo. Renal function and pathology were assessed. RNA sequencing examined OPC mechanisms against LPS-induced renal injury. Oxidative stress indicators and inflammatory cytokines in blood serum and renal tissues were evaluated. In vitro, MTT assays assess cell viability. Apoptosis cells were detected using Hoechst 33342 and propidium iodide staining. Western blot assessed PI3K/AKT and NFκB signaling pathway proteins. OPC reduced LPS-induced renal tubular injury, improved renal functions and pathological changes, restored glutathione content, superoxide dismutase activity, and catalase activity, inhibited malondialdehyde overproduction, and suppressed LPS-induced overproduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the decline of anti-inflammatory cytokines. OPC attenuated LPS-induced cell morphological injury, reduced cell viability loss, and recovered the changes in proteins involved in PI3K/AKT and NFκB signaling pathways in MTEC cells. OPC protects against LPSinduced renal tubular injury by counteracting oxidative stress, inhibiting inflammatory responses, activating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, and inhibiting the NFκB signaling pathway. It may provide a viable solution to lessen renal injury in patients with sepsis.
3.Oligomeric proanthocyanidin ameliorates sepsis-associated renal tubular injury: involvement of oxidative stress, inflammation, PI3K/AKT and NFκκB signaling pathways
Enhui CUI ; Qijing WU ; Haiyan ZHU ; Weiqian TIAN
The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology 2025;29(2):165-178
Sepsis is a potentially fatal infectious disease that easily causes shock and numerous organ failures. The kidney is one of the most susceptible to injury. Early intervention and renal protection significantly minimize patient mortality. Oligomeric proanthocyanidin (OPC), a naturally occurring plant compound, has a high potential for renal protection. This study was aimed at exploring the potential renoprotective role of OPC in sepsis-related renal tubular injury. C57/B6 mice were intraperitoneally injected with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to simulate sepsis-related acute kidney injury in vivo. Renal function and pathology were assessed. RNA sequencing examined OPC mechanisms against LPS-induced renal injury. Oxidative stress indicators and inflammatory cytokines in blood serum and renal tissues were evaluated. In vitro, MTT assays assess cell viability. Apoptosis cells were detected using Hoechst 33342 and propidium iodide staining. Western blot assessed PI3K/AKT and NFκB signaling pathway proteins. OPC reduced LPS-induced renal tubular injury, improved renal functions and pathological changes, restored glutathione content, superoxide dismutase activity, and catalase activity, inhibited malondialdehyde overproduction, and suppressed LPS-induced overproduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the decline of anti-inflammatory cytokines. OPC attenuated LPS-induced cell morphological injury, reduced cell viability loss, and recovered the changes in proteins involved in PI3K/AKT and NFκB signaling pathways in MTEC cells. OPC protects against LPSinduced renal tubular injury by counteracting oxidative stress, inhibiting inflammatory responses, activating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, and inhibiting the NFκB signaling pathway. It may provide a viable solution to lessen renal injury in patients with sepsis.
4.Construction of a Diagnostic Model for Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndromes of Chronic Cough Based on the Voting Ensemble Machine Learning Algorithm
Yichen BAI ; Suyang QIN ; Chongyun ZHOU ; Liqing SHI ; Kun JI ; Chuchu ZHANG ; Panfei LI ; Tangming CUI ; Haiyan LI
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2025;66(11):1119-1127
ObjectiveTo explore the construction of a machine learning model for the diagnosis of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes in chronic cough and the optimization of this model using the Voting ensemble algorithm. MethodsA retrospective analysis was conducted using clinical data from 921 patients with chronic cough treated at the Respiratory Department of Dongfang Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. After standardized processing, 84 clinical features were extracted to determine TCM syndrome types. A specialized dataset for TCM syndrome diagnosis in chronic cough was formed by selecting syndrome types with more than 50 cases. The synthetic minority over-sampling technique (SMOTE) was employed to balance the dataset. Four base models, logistic regression (LR), decision tree (dt), multilayer perceptron (MLP), and Bagging, were constructed and integrated using a hard voting strategy to form a Voting ensemble model. Model performance was evaluated using accuracy, recall, precision, F1-score, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, area under the curve (AUC), and confusion matrix. ResultsAmong the 921 cases, six syndrome types had over 50 cases each, phlegm-heat obstructing the lung (294 cases), wind pathogen latent in the lung (103 cases), cold-phlegm obstructing the lung (102 cases), damp-heat stagnating in the lung (64 cases), lung yang deficiency (54 cases), and phlegm-damp obstructing the lung (53 cases), yielding a total of 670 cases in the specialized dataset. High-frequency symptoms among these patients included cough, expectoration, odor-induced cough, throat itchiness, itch-induced cough, and cough triggered by cold wind. Among the four base models, the MLP model showed the best diagnostic performance (test accuracy: 0.9104; AUC: 0.9828). Compared with the base models, the Voting ensemble model achieved superior performance with an accuracy of 0.9289 on the training set and 0.9253 on the test set, showing a minimal overfitting gap of 0.0036. It also achieved the highest AUC (0.9836) in the test set, outperforming all base models. The model exhi-bited especially strong diagnostic performance for damp-heat stagnating in the lung (AUC: 0.9984) and wind pathogen latent in the lung (AUC: 0.9970). ConclusionThe Voting ensemble algorithm effectively integrates the strengths of multiple machine learning models, resulting in an optimized diagnostic model for TCM syndromes in chronic cough with high accuracy and enhanced generalization ability.
5.Neuroprotective effect of Tibetan medicine 70 Wei Pearl Pill on 6-OHDA Parkinson's disease model rats
Haiyan CUI ; Dan SONG ; Hongyan LI ; Jie LI ; Xinjie ZHAO ; Jianli ZHAO ; Mengru ZHANG ; Yong CHENG
Journal of Xi'an Jiaotong University(Medical Sciences) 2025;46(1):190-196
Objective To investigate the neuroprotective effect of Tibetan medicine 70 Wei Pearl Pill(RNSP)on 6-hydroxydopamine(6-OHDA)induced Parkinson's disease model rats and its related mechanism.Methods Totally 48 male SD rats were randomly divided into control group,model group,model plus low-dose RNSP group(90 mg/kg),model plus medium-dose RNSP group(180 mg/kg),model plus high-dose RNSP group(360 mg/kg),and model plus madopar group(50 mg/kg),with 8 rats in per group.Except for the control group,the other rats were treated with 6-OHDA single injection into the striatum to establish the PD model.Each group was given intragastric administration after modeling and the control group and model group were given an equal volume of saline once a day for 4 weeks.The rats were subjected to apomorphine-induced rotation,experiments at the 2nd and 4th week after the completion of modeling,and the open field experiment was conducted the next day after the last rotation experiment to observe the animal behavior.After the behavioral experiment,the rats were stained with tyrosine hydroxylase(TH)in the substantia nigra pars compacta by immunohistochemical method and the positive neurons were counted.The protein levels of Bcl-2,BAX,Caspase-3 in substantia nigra and P38,P-P38,ERK,P-ERK,JNK,P-JNK in the striatum were detected by Western blotting.Results Compared with the control group,the rotation frequency and percentage of rotating rats in the model group increased significantly at the 2nd and 4th weeks after modeling;the open field active distance,average speed and times of crossing the grid were significantly decreased;and the rest time was significantly increased.While the number of TH positive neurons in the substantia nigra was significantly decreased,the BAX and Caspase-3 protein levels were increased significantly,Bcl-2 was decreased significantly,the ratios of P-P38/P38,P-JNK/JNK and P-ERK/ERK in the striatum were significantly increased in PD group.Compared with the model group,the rotation frequency and percentage of rotating rats in the low-,medium-and high-dose groups of RNSP had no significant changes after 2 weeks of administration,the rotation frequency in the high-dose group and percentage of rotating rats in the low-and medium-dose RNSP groups significantly decreased after 4 weeks of administration.The open field active distance,average speed,and times of crossing the grid were significantly increased;the rest time was significantly decreased.The number of TH positive neurons in the substantia nigra was significantly increased,the Bax and Caspase-3 protein levels were decreased significantly while the Bcl-2 was significantly increased.The ratios of P-P38/P38,P-JNK/JNK and P-ERK/ERK in the striatum were significantly decreased.Conclusion Tibetan medicine RNSP can improve the motor ability and reduce the loss of DA neurons in PD rats,and its mechanism may be related to inhibiting P38/JNK/ERK signaling pathway and reducing the apoptosis of midbrain neurons.
6.Non-targeted screening and prioritization of emerging pollutants in sewage using direct injection high-resolution mass spectrometry
Chao ZHANG ; Chang WANG ; Xiangru YI ; Jingjing SONG ; Li YANG ; Tao WANG ; ZhiWen WEI ; Keming YUN ; Haiyan CUI ; Fangxing YANG ; Meng HU
Chinese Journal of Forensic Medicine 2025;40(3):317-322
Objective To establish a high-throughput non-targeted screening and prioritization method for emerging pollutants(EPs)in sewage using direct injection high-resolution mass spectrometry(HRMS).Methods The sewage samples were filtered by membrane filter and directly subjected to the liquid chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometer based on a method modified from our previous study.A C18 chromatographic column was applied for a gradient elution separation,and accurate mass and mass spectral fragment information were obtained through the MS full scan mode and MS/MS DIA data collection mode.After peak detection and alignment,the features from the raw data through open source software MZmine 3,and then high-throughput screening strategies such as MassBank and PubChem databases were used for compound annotation.Finally,the candidate features were confirmed with chemical standards by compared their retention time and mass spectrum fragmentation ion peaks.Results 13 EPs were identified,including 7 industrial chemicals,4 pharmaceuticals,1 pesticide and 1 metabolite.High detection rates were observed for metformin(86.2%),2-hydroxybenzothiazole(79.3%),1,2-benzisothiazole-3-one(72.4%),and 1,2-benzisothiazole-3-one(72.4%).The quantitative concentration range of EPs was 1.37~19.05 ng/mL,with the high concentrations observed for melamine(19.05 ng/mL)and furosemide(18.49 ng/mL).Ecological risk assessment identified 1,2-benzisothiazol-3-one,4-aminoacetophenone,creatinine,2-hydroxybenzothiazole,and furosemide as key pollutants.Conclusion This direct injection coupled with HRMS workflow enables efficient non-targeted screening and prioritization of emerging EPs in sewage samples,highlighting five ecotoxicologically critical EPs.The methodology enhances environmental monitoring capabilities and provide critical technical support for interdisciplinary research such as environmental forensics and health risk assessment.
7.Effects of Cortical Bone Modeling Methods on Biomechanical Responses of Chinese 95th Percentile Pelvis Finite Element Model
Shihai CUI ; Weizuo CHEN ; Haiyan LI ; Lijuan HE ; Wenle LÜ
Journal of Medical Biomechanics 2025;40(1):187-193
Objective The finite element pelvis model with detailed anatomical structures which meets the Chinese human 95th percentile characteristics is developed,and the influence of cortical bone modeling method on the biomechanical response of the real pelvis is explored.Methods Based on the pelvic medical images of a 95th percentile male volunteer,two finite element pelvis models with real hip bone cortical bone thickness(REA-M)and 2 mm uniform cortical bone thickness(CON-M)dominated by hexahedral elements were constructed.Using the simulation method to reconstruct the loading conditions of cadaver experiments,the validation of models was verified by comparing the cadaver experimental results and simulation results,and biomechanical response differences of two models under different working conditions were discussed.Results The simulation data showed that there was a strong correlation between the overall biomechanical responses of two pelvic models and the cadaver experiment,and the mechanical response difference between two models was mostly within 8%,and the correlation score difference between two models was smaller than 2%.Conclusions The validation of two pelvic models established in this study is verified by rebuilding multiple simulation experiments.Although the biomechanical responses of CON-M and REA-M models were different,the difference was small.From the perspective of model simplification,the CON-M model can be used to study the biomechanical response of the pelvis.
8.Association between adiponectin copy number variation region and gestational diabetes mellitus
Ziheng LI ; Haiyan LIU ; Yao DONG ; Kailin WANG ; Jin LIU ; Huilu CUI ; Qing LI ; Anqun HU ; Zongguang LI ; Bin WANG ; Yingjie ZHENG
Chinese Journal of Epidemiology 2025;46(5):867-873
Objective:To investigate the association between adiponectin-related copy number variation (CNV) region (CNVR) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).Methods:Pregnant women who had prenatal screening in Anqing Municipal Hospital, Anhui Province, from February 2018 to December 2020 were surveyed for baseline information collection, and blood samples were collected. The outcome information was obtained by post pregnancy follow-up. Latex-enhanced immunoturbidimetry and ASA-CHIA chip were used to detect serum adiponectin levels and CNV of pregnant women, respectively. After genotyping, CNV data were processed with software PennCNV 1.0.5 following standard quality control procedure. CNVR were identified and integrated by using software R 4.3.3. Then the associations between CNVR and adiponectin was evaluated, and gene annotation and over-representation analysis were conducted. The log-binomial regression model was used to adjust relevant covariates and analyze the association between adiponectin-related CNVR and GDM.Results:The detection rate of GDM was 9.54% (176/1 845) in the pregnant women. The genotyping information of 1 840 people (99.73%) passed quality evaluation. A total of 33 878 CNVs were identified, and 1 449 CNVRs were obtained after integration. After the false discovery rate method correction, CNVR_132 (CHR2: 47611743-47635062), CNVR_254 (CHR3: 10182703-10183872), CNVR_691 (CHR7: 150637053-150834539) and CNVR_1101 (CHR14: 104248431-104830620) were correlated with adiponectin levels (all P<0.05). Over- representation analysis showed that the molecular function of ribonucleotide binding [Gene Ontology (GO): 0032553] was significantly enriched based on the GO database. The log-binomial regression model, adjusting age, pre-pregnancy BMI, history of miscarriage, smoking history, and family history of diabetes, indicated that CNVR_132 (CHR2: 47611743-47635062) and CNVR_1101 (CHR14: 104248431-104830620) were not statistically associated with the risk for GDM (both P>0.05). However, CNVR_254 (CHR3: 10182703-10183872, a RR=1.83, 95% CI: 1.15-2.91) and CNVR_691 (CHR7: 150637053-150834539, a RR=1.73, 95% CI: 1.23-2.43) might be associated with an increased risk for GDM (all P<0.05). Conclusion:Adiponectin-related CNVR_254 (CHR3: 10182703-10183872) and CNVR_691 (CHR7: 150637053-150834539) might be risk factors for the incidence of GDM.
9.Clinical and molecular characteristics of monogenic diabetes mellitus in children-single center study
Qiong CHEN ; Fang LIU ; Yan CUI ; Yuan LI ; Haiyan WEI
Chinese Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism 2025;41(2):129-134
Objective:To investigate the clinical and molecular characteristics of monogenic diabetes in children at a single-center in Henan Province.Methods:Clinical data from children diagnosed with monogenic diabetes at the Department of Endocrinology and Genetic Metabolism, Henan Children’s Hospital, between January 2016 and August 2023 were analyzed, alongside molecular genetic testing.Results:Of 84 children suspected of monogenic diabetes, 44 were genetically diagnosed with a 52.4% positive rate. Diagnosis included neonatal diabetes mellitus(NDM, 14 cases), maturity-onset diabetes of the young(MODY, 22 cases), and other diabetes-related genetic syndromes(8 cases). NDM patients had a younger age at onset, higher blood glucose levels at admission, and a greater incidence of being small for gestational age and diabetic ketoacidosis compared to MODY patients( P<0.001). Three novel heterozygous mutations were identified in IGF1R and GCK genes, namely IGF1R c. 2650G>T, GCK c. 572G>C, GCK c. 766G>T. Conclusions:The high molecular diagnostic rate based on clinical phenotype, birth history, and family history enhances the diagnosis, management, genetic counseling, and prognosis of monogenic diabetes in children.
10.Clinical characteristics and efficacy of glyceryl phenylbutyrate treatment in 20 pediatric patients with urea cycle disorder
Wenjuan QIU ; Chengkai SUN ; Yuan XIAO ; Xiaoyan HUANG ; Cui SONG ; Jin WU ; Haiyan WEI ; Liwen WU ; Dan YU ; Hongwei DU ; Chen LIU ; Xuefan GU
Chinese Journal of Pediatrics 2025;63(9):1005-1010
Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics of urea cycle disorder (UCD), the efficacy and safety of glyceryl phenylbutyrate (GPB) therapy in pediatric patients with UCD.Methods:This study was a retrospective, single-arm, multicenter clinical study. The clinical data of 20 pediatric patients with UCD who received GPB treatment at 9 hospitals nationwide between December 2021 and August 2024 were collected. The clinical manifestations, laboratory results, and molecular genetic characteristics were analyzed, ammonia levels and other laboratory results were evaluated pre-post GPB therapy by paired t-tests or Wilcoxon tests. Results:Among the 20 pediatric patients with UCD, there were 8 males and 12 females, and the onset age was 2.8 (1.4, 5.7) years. The ammonia levels were 174 (125, 342) μmol/L at first onset. The symptoms included vomiting in 6 cases, drowsiness in 5 cases, epilepsy in 5 cases, developmental delay in 5 cases, psychiatric and behavioral abnormalities in 3 cases, and lethargy in 1 case, and 18 cases exhibited abnormal liver function. Twenty cases included 6 UCD subtypes, with 11 cases being ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency. A total of 27 variants were identified, 11 (41%) of which were novel. The age of patients who began GPB therapy was 4.0 (1.5, 6.6) years. Ten cases stopped GPB after 4.2 (3.4, 5.3) months, with 4 patients undergoing liver transplantation and 6 discontinuing for financial reasons. The remaining ten patients continued GPB therapy for 11.6 (8.6, 14.0) months. The duration of GPB treatment was 6.0 (4.2, 12.3) months, at the final visit, the levels of ammonia, platelets and aspartate aminotransferase were lower compared to those of pre-treatment (all P<0.05). The serum albumin level was higher than that of pre-treatment ( P=0.016). Two patients suffered only one episode of acute hyperammonaemia, with ammonia levels of 232 and 141 μmol/L, respectively. Nine cases experienced adverse effects potentially related to GPB, decreased appetite in 6 cases, vomiting in 3 cases, abnormal skin oil odor in 2 cases, somnolence, fatigue and diarrhea each in 1 case, with symptoms improved within 6 (3, 10) days. Conclusions:UCD primarily manifests with neurological and gastrointestinal symptoms, and early diagnosis of UCD could be achieved through the analysis of ammonia. GPB may effectively reduce ammonia levels in UCD pediatric patients, with favorable safety and tolerability.

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