In recent years， hyperuricemia （HUA） has shown a rapidly increasing incidence and tends to occur in increasingly young people， with a wide range of cardiac， renal， joint， and cancerous hazards and all-cause mortality associations. Western medicine treatment has limitations such as large liver and kidney damage， medication restriction， and easy recurrence. The intestine is the major extra-renal excretion pathway for uric acid （UA）， and the intestinal microecology can be regulated to promote UA degradation. It offers great potential to develop UA-lowering strategies that target the intestinal microecology， which are promising to provide safer and more effective therapeutic approaches. Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） can treat HUA via multiple targets and multiple pathways from a holistic view， with low toxicity and side effects. Studies have shown that intestinal microecology is a crucial target for TCM in the treatment of HUA. However， its specific mechanism of action has not been fully elucidated. Focusing on the key role of intestinal microecology in HUA， this review explores the relationship between intestinal microecology and HUA in terms of intestinal flora， intestinal metabolites， intestinal UA transporters， and intestinal barriers. Furthermore， we summarize the research progress in TCM treatment of HUA by targeting the intestinal microecology， with the aim of providing references for the development of TCM intervention strategies for HUA and the direction of future research.

Periodontitis is a common oral disease caused by bacteria coupled with an excessive host immune response. Stem cell therapy can be a promising treatment strategy for periodontitis, but the relevant mechanism is complicated. This study aimed to explore the therapeutic potential of mitochondria from human embryonic stem cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hESC-MSCs) for the treatment of periodontitis. The gingival tissues of periodontitis patients are characterized by abnormal mitochondrial structure. Human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) were exposed to 5 μg/mL lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for 24 h to establish a cell injury model. When treated with hESC-MSCs or mitochondria derived from hESC-MSCs, HGFs showed reduced expression of inflammatory genes, increased adenosine triphosphate (ATP) level, decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and enhanced mitochondrial function compared to the control. The average efficiency of isolated mitochondrial transfer by hESC-MSCs was determined to be 8.93%. Besides, a therapy of local mitochondrial injection in mice with LPS-induced periodontitis showed a reduction in inflammatory gene expression, as well as an increase in both the mitochondrial number and the aspect ratio in gingival tissues. In conclusion, our results indicate that mitochondria derived from hESC-MSCs can reduce the inflammatory response and improve mitochondrial function in HGFs, suggesting that the transfer of mitochondria between hESC-MSCs and HGFs serves as a potential mechanism underlying the therapeutic effect of stem cells.
Humans ; Gingiva/cytology* ; Fibroblasts/metabolism* ; Mitochondria/physiology* ; Mesenchymal Stem Cells/cytology* ; Animals ; Periodontitis/therapy* ; Mice ; Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism* ; Inflammation ; Lipopolysaccharides ; Human Embryonic Stem Cells/cytology* ; Cells, Cultured ; Adenosine Triphosphate/metabolism* ; Male

The Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription (JAK-STAT) control natural killer (NK) cells development and cytotoxic functions, however, whether long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in this pathway remains unknown. We found that miR155HG was elevated in activated NK cells and promoted their proliferation and effector functions in both NK92 and induced-pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)-derived NK (iPSC-NK) cells, without reliance on its derived miR-155 and micropeptide P155. Mechanistically, miR155HG bound to miR-6756 and relieved its repression of JAK3 expression, thereby promoting the JAK-STAT pathway and enhancing NK cell proliferation and function. Further investigations disclosed that upon cytokine stimulation, STAT3 directly interacts with miR155HG promoter and induces miR155HG transcription. Collectively, we identify a miR155HG-mediated positive feedback loop of the JAK-STAT signaling. Our study will also provide a power target regarding miR155HG for improving NK cell generation and effector function in the field of NK cell adoptive transfer therapy against cancer, especially iPSC-derived NK cells.

Objective To analyze the value of MRI in evaluating the treatment efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy(NAC)in breast cancer patients.Methods The clinical data of 130 patients with breast cancer were analyzed retrospectively.All patients under-went 4-8 cycles of NAC,with MRI examinations was performed before and after NAC treatment.Based on postoperative response eval-uation criteria in solid tumors(RECIST),the patients were categorized into effective and ineffective groups.The MRI related param-eters,early enhancement parameters and peak enhancement parameters before and after NAC were observed to evaluate the efficacy of MRI in evaluating the treatment efficacy of NAC in breast cancer.Results The sensitivity,specificity,and accuracy of MRI in evalua-ting the treatment efficacy of NAC in breast cancer were 96.74％,89.47％,and 94.62％,respectively.The Kappa value for consis-tency analysis between MRI and postoperative pathology reached 0.869,indicating good agreement.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve analysis showed that the area under the curve(AUC)for MRI in predicting the treatment efficacy of NAC in breast cancer was 0.935[95％ confidence interval(CI)0.831-0.981].Significant differences were observed between the effective and ineffec-tive groups in early and peak enhancement parameters before and after NAC(P＜0.05).Conclusion MRI can effectively assesses the treatment efficacy of NAC in breast cancer patients,demonstrating high value in clinical applications.

AIM:To investigate the protective effects of Klotho protein against hypoxia/reoxygenation(H/R)-in-duced damage in rat cardiomyocytes,and to elucidate its underlying mechanisms.METHODS:Rat cardiomyocyte H9c2 cells were divided into 4 groups:control,H/R,low-concentration(1 μmol/L)Klotho+H/R,and high-concentration(10 μmol/L)Klotho+H/R groups.Cells were pretreated with Klotho at specified concentrations before induction of H/R injury.Flow cytometry was used to determine cardiomyocyte apoptosis rates,while reactive oxygen species(ROS)levels were measured using the DCFH-DA probe.Additionally,superoxide dismutase(SOD)activity and malondialdehyde(MDA)content were assessed using biochemical assay kits.Mitochondrial membrane potential was evaluated using the JC-1 as-say,and activity of caspase-3 and caspase-9 was quantified.Western blot analysis was conducted to measure the protein expression of cytochrome C(Cyt-C),B-cell lymphoma-2(Bcl-2),and Bcl-2-associated X protein(Bax)in cardio-myocytes from each group.RESULTS:Compared with the control group,the H/R group exhibited significantly increased apoptosis rates(P<0.05),elevated ROS levels and MDA content,decreased SOD activity(P<0.05),reduced mitochon-drial membrane potential(P<0.05),increased caspase-3 and caspase-9 activity(P<0.05),decreased mitochondrial Cyt-C and Bcl-2 protein expression(P<0.05),and increased cytoplasmic Cyt-C and Bax protein expression(P<0.05).In comparison with the H/R group,both low-and high-concentration Klotho treatments significantly reduced cardiomyocyte apoptosis(P<0.05),lowered ROS levels and MDA content(P<0.05),increased SOD activity(P<0.05),restored mito-chondrial membrane potential(P<0.05),decreased caspase-3 and caspase-9 activity(P<0.05),increased mitochondrial Cyt-C and Bcl-2 expression(P<0.05),and decreased cytoplasmic Cyt-C and Bax expression(P<0.05).Notably,the high-concentration Klotho group demonstrated more pronounced protective effects(P<0.05).CONCLUSION:Klotho protein exerts protective effects against H/R-induced cardiomyocyte injury,possibly by inhibiting mitochondria-mediated apoptosis.

Objective Exploring alterations in regional homogeneity(ReHo)in the brain of adolescents with depression and suicide attempts.Methods Adolescent patients with depression were included.Those with at least one suicide attempt within one year were classified as the suicide attempt group(32 cases),and those without suicide attempts within one year were classified as the non-suicide attempt group(33 cases).Additionally,a healthy control group(31 individuals)was included.All subjects underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI)scans,and the ReHo values were calculated.The severity of depressive symptoms and the suicide risk were evaluated using the patient health questionnaire-9(PHQ-9)and the mini-international neuropsychiatric interview(MINI)suicide scale,respectively.The ReHo values were compared across groups,and the correlations between ReHo values in distinct brain regions and the PHQ-9 and the MINI suicide scales were analyzed.Results Compared with the healthy control group,the ReHo values in the right and left thalamus,right and left precentral gyrus were decreased in the suicide attempt group(voxel level P<0.001,cluster level P<0.05,GRF corrected),while the ReHo value in the right superior temporal gyrus was increased(voxel level P<0.001,cluster level P<0.05,GRF corrected).Compared with the healthy control group,the ReHo values in the right midbrain and the right thalamus were decreased in the non-suicide attempt group(voxel level P<0.001,cluster level P<0.05,GRF corrected),while the ReHo values in the left middle frontal gyrus,right middle frontal gyrus,and right superior frontal gyrus were increased(voxel level P<0.001,cluster level P<0.05,GRF corrected).Compared with the non-suicide attempt group,the ReHo values in the right medial and paracingulate gyrus were decreased in the suicide attempt group(voxel level P<0.001,cluster level P<0.05,GRF corrected).ReHo values in the right superior temporal gyrus of the suicide attempt group showed a positive correlation with PHQ-9 scores(r=0.407,P=0.026).Conclusion Reduced ReHo values in the right medial and paracingulate gyrus at rest in the group with suicide attempt depression may be a potential neural mechanism for suicide in adolescent depressed patients.

Objective:To detect the expression levels of long non-coding RNAs(lncRNA)in elderly patients with pulmonary tuberculosis(PTB)and those with non-tuberculous lung diseases(non-TB), and to assess the performance of these lncRNA in the differential diagnosis of PTB.Methods:A total of 300 elderly patients with suspected PTB were recruited from Beijing Chest Hospital between January 2024 and September 2024, and were further divided into the PTB group and the non-TB lung disease group based on the results of mycobacterium tuberculosis(MTB)pathogenicity testing.Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated using a lymphocyte separation solution, and RNA was extracted using the TRIzol method.Nine lncRNAs, previously identified as differentially expressed in PTB through our group's microarray analysis, were selected and detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction to evaluate the expression levels of these lncRNAs between the PTB and non-TB lung disease groups.The overall patients were randomly divided into training and validation sets in a 7∶3 ratio.Lasso regression was employed to select the characteristic variables, and a random forest algorithm was then used to construct the lncRNA diagnostic portfolio.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves were generated to evaluate the diagnostic performance of individual lncRNAs and the combined panel in differentiating elderly patients with PTB from those with other non-TB lung diseases.Results:A total of 201 cases were included, with 105 confirmed elderly patients diagnosed with PTB(52.2%)and 96 elderly patients suffering from non-TB lung disease(47.8%).Compared to the elderly patients with non-TB lung disease, the expression levels of ENST00000417346.1, ENST00000620744.1, lncRNA PWP1, ENST00000583184.1, lncRNA ABHD17B, ENST00000607464.1, ENST00000516057.1, and NR_003000 were significantly downregulated in the PTB patients, whereas the expression level of lncRNA BCL2L10 was significantly upregulated in the PTB patients.ROC analysis revealed that the area under the curve(AUC)for each lncRNA ranged from 0.659 to 0.848.The diagnostic panel, which included NR_003000, ENST00000607464.1, ENST00000583184.1, and ENST00000620744.1 as determined by Lasso analysis, exhibited AUC values of 0.917 and 0.906 in the training and validation sets, respectively.The performance of this panel was superior to that of each individual lncRNA.Conclusions:The random forest model, which incorporates NR_003000, ENST00000607464.1, ENST00000583184.1, and ENST00000620744.1, demonstrates potential in differentiating between PTB and non-TB lung diseases.

AIM:To investigate the protective effects of Klotho protein against hypoxia/reoxygenation(H/R)-in-duced damage in rat cardiomyocytes,and to elucidate its underlying mechanisms.METHODS:Rat cardiomyocyte H9c2 cells were divided into 4 groups:control,H/R,low-concentration(1 μmol/L)Klotho+H/R,and high-concentration(10 μmol/L)Klotho+H/R groups.Cells were pretreated with Klotho at specified concentrations before induction of H/R injury.Flow cytometry was used to determine cardiomyocyte apoptosis rates,while reactive oxygen species(ROS)levels were measured using the DCFH-DA probe.Additionally,superoxide dismutase(SOD)activity and malondialdehyde(MDA)content were assessed using biochemical assay kits.Mitochondrial membrane potential was evaluated using the JC-1 as-say,and activity of caspase-3 and caspase-9 was quantified.Western blot analysis was conducted to measure the protein expression of cytochrome C(Cyt-C),B-cell lymphoma-2(Bcl-2),and Bcl-2-associated X protein(Bax)in cardio-myocytes from each group.RESULTS:Compared with the control group,the H/R group exhibited significantly increased apoptosis rates(P<0.05),elevated ROS levels and MDA content,decreased SOD activity(P<0.05),reduced mitochon-drial membrane potential(P<0.05),increased caspase-3 and caspase-9 activity(P<0.05),decreased mitochondrial Cyt-C and Bcl-2 protein expression(P<0.05),and increased cytoplasmic Cyt-C and Bax protein expression(P<0.05).In comparison with the H/R group,both low-and high-concentration Klotho treatments significantly reduced cardiomyocyte apoptosis(P<0.05),lowered ROS levels and MDA content(P<0.05),increased SOD activity(P<0.05),restored mito-chondrial membrane potential(P<0.05),decreased caspase-3 and caspase-9 activity(P<0.05),increased mitochondrial Cyt-C and Bcl-2 expression(P<0.05),and decreased cytoplasmic Cyt-C and Bax expression(P<0.05).Notably,the high-concentration Klotho group demonstrated more pronounced protective effects(P<0.05).CONCLUSION:Klotho protein exerts protective effects against H/R-induced cardiomyocyte injury,possibly by inhibiting mitochondria-mediated apoptosis.

Objective:To explore the mediating effect of coping styles on the relationship between reinforce-ment sensitivity and non-suicidal self-injury(NSSI)behavior in adolescents.Methods:In total,4 462 middle school students were chosen by stratified cluster random sampling.All participants were asked with the question"In the past 1 year,have you intentionally harmed yourself(but not with the intention of ending your life)"to determine whether they had NSSI behavior in the past 12 months.All students were also assessed with the Trait Coping Style Questionnaire(TCSQ)and Reinforcement Sensitivity Scale(RSS).Results:The prevalence of NSSIbehavior in past year was 11.3％.Logistic regression analysis showed that the total scores of punishment sensitivity of RSS(OR=1.26,95％CI=1.10-1.46),negative coping style of TCSQ(OR=2.23,95％CI=1.92-2.60),and positive coping style of TCSQ(OR=0.70,95％CI=0.62-0.80)were associated with the screen-positive rate of NSSI behavior.Bootstrap test showed that the total scores of positive coping style of TCSQ(β=0.15,95％CI=0.10-0.20)and negative coping style of TCSQ(β=0.53,95％CI=0.43-0.64)partially mediated the relation-ship between the total scores of punishment sensitivity of RSS and the screen-positive rate of NSSI behavior in ado-lescents.Conclusion:The occurrence of NSSI behavior in adolescents is associated with the over-activation of pun-ishment sensitivity,partly through coping styles.

Objective Exploring alterations in regional homogeneity(ReHo)in the brain of adolescents with depression and suicide attempts.Methods Adolescent patients with depression were included.Those with at least one suicide attempt within one year were classified as the suicide attempt group(32 cases),and those without suicide attempts within one year were classified as the non-suicide attempt group(33 cases).Additionally,a healthy control group(31 individuals)was included.All subjects underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI)scans,and the ReHo values were calculated.The severity of depressive symptoms and the suicide risk were evaluated using the patient health questionnaire-9(PHQ-9)and the mini-international neuropsychiatric interview(MINI)suicide scale,respectively.The ReHo values were compared across groups,and the correlations between ReHo values in distinct brain regions and the PHQ-9 and the MINI suicide scales were analyzed.Results Compared with the healthy control group,the ReHo values in the right and left thalamus,right and left precentral gyrus were decreased in the suicide attempt group(voxel level P<0.001,cluster level P<0.05,GRF corrected),while the ReHo value in the right superior temporal gyrus was increased(voxel level P<0.001,cluster level P<0.05,GRF corrected).Compared with the healthy control group,the ReHo values in the right midbrain and the right thalamus were decreased in the non-suicide attempt group(voxel level P<0.001,cluster level P<0.05,GRF corrected),while the ReHo values in the left middle frontal gyrus,right middle frontal gyrus,and right superior frontal gyrus were increased(voxel level P<0.001,cluster level P<0.05,GRF corrected).Compared with the non-suicide attempt group,the ReHo values in the right medial and paracingulate gyrus were decreased in the suicide attempt group(voxel level P<0.001,cluster level P<0.05,GRF corrected).ReHo values in the right superior temporal gyrus of the suicide attempt group showed a positive correlation with PHQ-9 scores(r=0.407,P=0.026).Conclusion Reduced ReHo values in the right medial and paracingulate gyrus at rest in the group with suicide attempt depression may be a potential neural mechanism for suicide in adolescent depressed patients.