Aim To explore the underlying molecular mechanism of Alisol A 24-acetate(24A)in improving oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation(OGD/R)injury in brain microvascular endothelial cells(BMECs)and its correlation with miR-98-5p/transi-ent receptor potential melastatin-2(TRPM2).Meth-ods The ischemia-reperfusion injury in brain micro-vascular endothelial cells(BMECs)was established u-sing bEnd.3 cells subjected to 8 h of oxygen-glucose deprivation followed by 16 h of re-oxygenation.The cells were intervened by miR-98-5p mimics and/or 18.77 μmol·L-1 24A for 24 h and divided into the control group,OGD/R group,OGD/R+24A group,OGD/R+24A+miR-98-5p mimics group and OGD/R+miR-98-5p mimics group.The mRNA levels of miR-98-5p and TRPM2 were detected by qPCR.IL-1 β and TNF-α levels were detected by ELISA.The expression levels of TRPM2,p-AKT,p-GSK3 β,AKT,GSK3 β,Bcl-2,Bax,ZO-1,Occludin,Claudin-5 were detected by Western blot.Apoptosis and reactive oxygen species(ROS)levels were detected by flow cytometry.The targeting relationship between miR-98-5p and TRPM2 was verified using dual luciferase assay.Results Compared with the control group,the apoptosis of OGD/R group was obvious,Bcl-2/Bax decreased,ZO-1,Occludin,Claudin-5 decreased,IL-1 β,TNF-α and ROS increased,miR-98-5p,p-AKT/AKT,p-GSK3β/GSK3β decreased but TRPM2 increased.But com-pared with the OGD/R group,except the control group,the other three groups showed the opposite trend in the above aspects;compared with the OGD/R+24A group,OGD/R+24A+miR-98-5p mimics group showed decreased apoptosis,decreased degradation of ZO-1,Occludin and Claudin-5,and decreased inflam-mation and ROS.miR-98-5p,p-AKT/AKT,p-GSK3β/GSK3β increased and TRPM2 decreased.However,compared with the OGD/R+24A+miR-98-5p mimics group,the OGD/R+miR-98-5p mimics group reversed this trend.Dual luciferase confirmed that miR-98-5p targeted regulation of TRPM2.Conclusion 24A in-hibits the expression of TRPM2 in BMECs through miR-98-5p,regulates AKT/GSK3β signal pathway,re-duces OGD/R inflammation and oxidative stress-medi-ated apoptosis,prevents the degradation of ZO-1,Oc-cludin and Claudin-5,and improves BBB permeability.

OBJECTIVE: Varied acupoint selections represent a potential cause of the uncertainty surrounding the efficacy of acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis (OA). Skin temperature, a guiding factor for acupoint selection, may help to address this issue. This study explored thermal sensitization of acupoints used for the treatment of knee OA. METHODS: This cross-sectional case-control study enrolled cases aged 45-75 years with symptomatic knee OA and age- and gender-matched non-knee OA controls in a 1:1 ratio. All participants underwent infrared thermographic imaging. The primary outcome was the relative skin temperature of acupoint (STA), and the secondary outcome was the absolute STA of 11 acupoints. The Z test was used to compare the relative and absolute STAs between the groups. Principal component analysis was used to extract the common factors (CFs, acupoint cluster) in the STAs. A general linear model was used to identify factors affecting the STA in the knee OA cases. For the group comparisons of relative STA, P < 0.0045 (adjusted for 11 acupoints through Bonferroni correction) was considered to indicate statistical significance. For other analyses, P < 0.05 was used as the threshold for statistical significance. RESULTS: The analysis included 308 participants, consisting of 151 cases (mean age: [64.58 ± 6.67] years; male: 25.83%; mean body mass index: [25.70 ± 3.16] kg/m²) and 157 controls (mean age: [63.37 ± 5.96] years; male: 26.11%; mean body mass index: [24.47 ± 2.84] kg/m²). The relative STAs of ST34 (P = 0.0001), EX-LE2 (P < 0.0001), EX-LE5 (P = 0.0006), SP10 (P < 0.0001), BL40 (P = 0.0012) and GB39 (P = 0.0037) were higher in the knee OA group. No difference was found in the STAs of ST35, ST36, SP9, GB33 and GB34. Four CFs were identified for relative STA in both groups. The acupoints within each CF were consistent between the groups. The mean values of the relative STAs across each CF were higher in the knee OA group. In the knee OA cases, no factors were observed to affect the relative STA, while age and gender were found to affect the absolute STA. CONCLUSION Among patients with knee OA, thermal sensitization occurs in the acupoints of the lower extremity, exhibiting localized and regional thermal consistencies. The thermally sensitized acupoints that we identified in this study, ST34, SP10, EX-LE2, EX-LE5, GB39 and BL40, may be good choices for the acupuncture treatment of knee OA. Please cite this article as: Tu JF, Wang XZ, Yan SY, Wang YR, Yang JW, Shi GX, Zhang WZ, Jing LN, Yang LS, Liu DH, Wang LQ, Mi BH. Thermal sensitization of acupoints in patients with knee osteoarthritis: A cross-sectional case-control study. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(3): 289-296.
Humans ; Osteoarthritis, Knee/physiopathology* ; Male ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Middle Aged ; Female ; Acupuncture Points ; Case-Control Studies ; Aged ; Skin Temperature ; Acupuncture Therapy

OBJECTIVE: To identify the key features of facial and tongue images associated with anemia in female populations, establish anemia risk-screening models, and evaluate their performance. METHODS: A total of 533 female participants (anemic and healthy) were recruited from Shuguang Hospital. Facial and tongue images were collected using the TFDA-1 tongue and face diagnosis instrument. Color and texture features from various parts of facial and tongue images were extracted using Face Diagnosis Analysis System (FDAS) and Tongue Diagnosis Analysis System version 2.0 (TDAS v2.0). Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regression was used for feature selection. Ten machine learning models and one deep learning model (ResNet50V2 + Conv1D) were developed and evaluated. RESULTS: Anemic women showed lower a-values, higher L- and b-values across all age groups. Texture features analysis showed that women aged 30-39 with anemia had higher angular second moment (ASM)and lower entropy (ENT) values in facial images, while those aged 40-49 had lower contrast (CON), ENT, and MEAN values in tongue images but higher ASM. Anemic women exhibited age-related trends similar to healthy women, with decreasing L-values and increasing a-, b-, and ASM-values. LASSO identified 19 key features from 62. Among classifiers, the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model achieved the best performance [area under the curve (AUC): 0.849, accuracy: 0.781]. The ResNet50V2 model achieved comparable results [AUC: 0.846, accuracy: 0.818]. CONCLUSION Differences in facial and tongue images suggest that color and texture features can serve as potential TCM phenotype and auxiliary diagnostic indicators for female anemia.
Humans ; Female ; Tongue/diagnostic imaging* ; Adult ; Anemia/diagnosis* ; Middle Aged ; Face/diagnostic imaging* ; Young Adult ; Machine Learning

Objective:To analyze the effect of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) on maternal and neonatal outcomes in pregnant women with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), especially on the incidence of hypertensive disorder in pregnancy (HDP) in women with moderate to severe OSAS.Methods:A total of 180 pregnant women with OSAS who were diagnosed through sleep monitoring during pregnancy due to high-risk factors of OSAS and registered in Peking University People′s Hospital from January 2021 to May 2024 were selected as the study subjects. Clinical data were collected from medical records for retrospective analysis. According to whether they received standardized treatment with CPAP, they were divided into the CPAP treatment group (42 cases) and the control group (138 cases). The CPAP treatment group consisted of 9 pregnant women with moderate to severe OSAS, while the control group consisted of 34 pregnant women with moderate to severe OSAS. The maternal and neonatal outcomes, the incidence of HDP, placental weight after delivery and placental weight/neonatal birth weight ratio were compared between the two groups.Results:(1) The average gestational age of pregnant women in the CPAP treatment group was higher than that in the control group [(38.7±1.0) vs (38.0±1.4) weeks], the proportion of infants small for gestational age (SGA) in the CPAP treatment group was lower [0 (0/42) vs 12.3% (17/138)], and the birth weight of infants in the CPAP treatment group was bigger [(3 396±475) vs (3 082±710) g); the differences between the two groups were statistically significant (all P<0.05). There were no significant differences between the CPAP treatment group and the control group in terms of delivery mode, rates of postpartum hemorrhage and preterm birth, umbilical artery blood gas analysis pH<7.1, lactate≥6.0 mmol/L, base excess<-12.0 mmol/L and the incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus and HDP (all P>0.05). (2) The placental weight of the CPAP treatment group was significantly lower than that of the control group [(554.0±70.6) vs (615.7±119.1) g], the placental weight/newborn birth weight ratio of the CPAP treatment group was significantly lower than that of the control group (median: 0.17 vs 0.19), and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). (3) The incidence of HDP in pregnant women with moderate to severe OSAS in the CPAP treatment group was lower than that in the control group [1/9 vs 61.8% (21/34)], and the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.05). Conclusions:CPAP treatment could prolong the gestational age in pregnant women with OSAS, reduce the incidence of SGA, increase the birth weight of infants, and reduce the incidence of HDP in pregnant women with moderate to severe OSAS, and is worth promoting in clinical practice. The improvement of neonatal outcomes by CPAP treatment is closely related to the placenta, which is worthy of further exploration.

Objective To evaluate the prognostic value of serum tissue factor pathway inhibitor-1(TFPI-1)combined with nuclear factor-κB(NF-κB)in severe traumatic brain injury(STBI).Methods The medical re-cords of 127 patients with STBI admitted to the hospital from July 2022 to August 2024 were retrospectively ana-lyzed and followed up for 6 months.They were divided into poor prognosis group(n=53)and good prognosis group(n=74)according to the prognosis of STBI patients.The serum NF-κB level,clinical data and serum TFPI-1 level of the two groups were compared.The factors affecting the adverse prognosis of STBI patients was screened,and the value of serum NF-κB and serum TFPI-1 in predicting the adverse prognosis of STBI patients were ana-lyzed.Results The serum NF-κB level in the poor prognosis group was higher than good prognosis group,and the serum TFPI-1 level was lower than good prognosis group(P<0.05).The proportion of patients aged>60 years old was higher than good prognosis group(P<0.05).Serum TFPI-1 level(OR=0.328,95%CI:0.156～0.689)was a protective factor for poor prognosis in STBI patients(P<0.05),serum NF-κB level(OR=3.773,95%CI:1.797～7.924)and age>60 years(OR=3.543,95%CI:1.687～7.441)were independent risk factors for poor prognosis in STBI patients(P<0.05).The area under the curve(AUC)of serum TFPI-1 and NF-κB levels and their combined prediction of poor prognosis in STBI patients were 0.784,0.847 and 0.931,respectively(P<0.05),and the AUC value of the combined TFPI-1 and NF-κB levels was higher(P<0.05).Conclusion Serum NF-κB combined with serum TFPI-1 has higher prognostic value in STBI patients.

Objective To explore the mechanism of baicalin mediating inflammatory response in rats with inflammatory bowel disease through microRNA(miR-21)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3(STAT3)signaling pathway.Methods A total of 60 SD rats were selected to construct inflammatory bowel disease rat model by trinitro-benzene-sulfonic acid(TNBS)colon perfusion method,and randomly divided into 6 groups,with 10 rats in each group.They were divided into model group,low-dose group(gavage of 20 mg/kg baicalin),high-dose group(gavage of 80 mg/kg baicalin),high-dose+agomiR-NC group(gavage of 80 mg/kg baicalin+tail vein injection of 80 mg/kg miRNA negative control vector agomiR-NC),high-dose+agomiR-21 group(gavage of 80 mg/kg baicalin+tail vein injection of 80 mg/kg miR-21 agonist agomiR-21)and high-dose+agomiR-21+colivelin group(gavage of 80 mg/kg baicalin+tail vein injection of 80 mg/kg agomiR-21,along with intraperitoneal injection of 1 mg/kg STAT3 activator colivelin).Another 10 SD rats were selected as control group without any treatment.The body mass of rats in each group was measured every two days during administration,and the status of rats in each group was observed after administration.Hematoxylin and eosin(HE)staining was used to evaluate the pathological damage.The myeloperoxidase(MPO)activity,inflammatory factors and oxidative stress indexes were detected by the test kit.The mRNA levels of miR-21,STAT3 were detected by qRT-PCR.The expression of STAT3 and p-STAT3 protein was detected by Western blot.Results Compared with model group,the status of inflammatory bowel disease and pathological damage degree of colon tissue in low-dose group and high-dose group were significantly improved,the levels of interleukin-13(IL-13),superoxide dismutase(SOD)and glutathione peroxidase(GSH)were increased(P<0.05),while the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleukin-6(IL-6),malondialdehyde(MDA),reactive oxygen species(ROS),and miR-21 mRNA,STAT3 mRNA,p-STAT3/STAT3 protein expression were decreased(P<0.05)in a dose-dependent manner.Compared with high-dose+agomiR-NC group,the status of inflammatory bowel disease and pathological damage degree of colon tissue were aggravated in high-dose+agomiR-21 group,the levels of IL-13,SOD and GSH were decreased(P<0.05),while the levels of TNF-α,IL-6,MDA,ROS,and miR-21 mRNA,STAT3 mRNA,P-STAT3/STAT3 protein expression were increased(P<0.05).Compared with high-dose+agomiR-NC group,the status of inflammatory bowel disease and pathological damage degree of colon tissue were aggravated in high-dose+agomiR-21+colivelin group,the levels of IL-13,SOD and GSH were decreased(P<0.05),while the levels of TNF-α,IL-6,MDA,ROS,and miR-21 mRNA,STAT3 mRNA and P-STAT3/STAT3 protein expression were increased(P<0.05).Conclusion Baicalin reduces inflammatory factors and oxidative stress levels through miR-21/STAT3 signaling pathway,and thereby ameliorates colonic injury in rats with inflammatory bowel disease.

This study aimed to characterize and identify the non-volatile components in aqueous and ethanolic extracts of the stems and leaves of Rhododendron tomentosum by using sensitive and efficient ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry(UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS) combined with a self-built information database. By comparing with reference compounds, analyzing fragment ion information, searching relevant literature, and using a self-built information database, 118 compounds were identified from the aqueous and ethanolic extracts of R. tomentosum, including 35 flavonoid glycosides, 15 phenolic glycosides, 12 flavonoids, 7 phenolic acids, 7 phenylethanol glycosides, 6 tannins, 6 phospholipids, 5 coumarins, 5 monoterpene glycosides, 6 triterpenes, 3 fatty acids, and 11 other types of compounds. Among them, 102 compounds were reported in R. tomentosum for the first time, and 36 compounds were identified by comparing them with reference compounds. The chemical components in the ethanolic and aqueous extracts of R. tomentosum leaves and stems showed slight differences, with 84 common chemical components accounting for 71.2% of the total 118 compounds. This study systematically characterized and identified the non-volatile chemical components in the ethanolic and aqueous extracts of R. tomentosum for the first time. The findings provide a reference for active ingredient research, quality control, and product development of R. tomentosum.
Rhododendron/chemistry* ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Mass Spectrometry/methods* ; Plant Leaves/chemistry*

Cistanches Herba(CH) is a famous tonic traditional Chinese medicine, with the effects of tonifying kidney Yang, nourishing kidney Yin, replenishing essence and blood, and moistening the intestines to relieve constipation. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that CH has anti-aging, anti-fatigue, immunomodulatory, neuroprotective, and anti-aging activities, serving as an ideal raw material for the development of pharmaceuticals and health products. In 2023, CH was added in the catalog of medicinal and food substances, which provided policy support for its application in conventional food products and expanding pathways for industrial diversification. To comprehensively understand current development status of CH products, this review systematically investigated professional databases including Yaozhi(https://db.yaozh.com), Chinese Pharmacopoeia, Compendium of National Standards for Chinese Patent Medicines, and Kezhuang and collected market survey data to thoroughly review the applications of CH as a primary ingredient in domestic and international Chinese patent medicines, health foods, cosmetics, and common food products. Furthermore, this review points out challenges in the current industrial development and future potential market prospects, aiming to provide guidance for the development and industrialization of CH-based pharmaceuticals and health products, thereby promoting the vigorous growth of the CH industry.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Humans ; Cistanche/chemistry* ; Animals ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional