Olfactory receptors (ORs) form the largest superfamily of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Traditionally recognized for their role in the nasal olfactory epithelium, where they mediate the sense of smell, accumulating evidence has firmly established their ectopic expression in non-olfactory tissues, including the intestine, lungs, and kidneys. The intestine, as the primary site for nutrient digestion and absorption, harbors a highly complex chemical environment. To adapt to this environment, the gut employs a sophisticated network of “chemosensors” to monitor luminal contents and maintain homeostasis. Among these sensors, intestinal ORs have emerged as crucial functional components, serving as a molecular bridge that connects environmental chemical signals—such as food-derived odorants—to specific physiological responses. This discovery has significantly deepened our understanding of how dietary flavors and compounds influence intestinal physiology at the molecular level. This review systematically summarizes the expression profiles, ligand classification, and biological functions of ORs within the gastrointestinal tract. Studies indicate that intestinal ORs exhibit distinct spatial distribution patterns across different gut segments and display cell-type specificity, particularly within enterocytes and enteroendocrine cells. These receptors function as versatile sensors capable of recognizing a wide variety of ligands, including exogenous dietary components, gut microbiota metabolites such as short-chain fatty acids, and endogenous small molecules like azelaic acid. Upon activation by specific ligands, intestinal ORs trigger intracellular signaling cascades, primarily involving the AC-cAMP-PKA pathway or calcium influx channels. A major focus of this review is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which these receptors regulate the secretion of gut hormones. Activation of specific ORs in enteroendocrine cells has been shown to stimulate the release of hormones such as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), peptide YY (PYY), and serotonin (5-HT), thereby modulating systemic energy metabolism, glucose homeostasis, and gastrointestinal motility. Furthermore, the review addresses the critical roles of ORs in immune regulation and pathology. Evidence suggests that specific ORs contribute to the maintenance of intestinal immune homeostasis and may offer protection against inflammation. Beyond their involvement in inflammatory responses, ORs such as Olfr78 have been shown to regulate the differentiation and function of intestinal endocrine cells. Similarly, Olfr544 has been demonstrated to alleviate intestinal inflammation by remodeling the gut microbiome and metabolome. These findings collectively suggest that specific ORs hold promise as therapeutic targets for mitigating intestinal inflammation and maintaining gut homeostasis. Additionally, the review explores the emerging role of ORs in cancer. Although OR expression is often downregulated in tumor tissues compared to normal mucosa, activation of specific ORs by certain ligands can inhibit tumor cell proliferation and migration and induce apoptosis via pathways such as MEK/ERK and p38 MAPK. Conversely, other receptors, such as OR7C1, may serve as biomarkers for cancer-initiating cells. In conclusion, intestinal ORs represent a vital component of the gut’s sensory network. The review also discusses the translational potential of these findings. By elucidating the precise pairing relationships between dietary components and specific ORs, novel therapeutic strategies could be developed. Intestinal ORs may thus emerge as promising targets for nutritional and pharmacological interventions in metabolic diseases, inflammatory bowel diseases, and malignancies.

Objective: To investigate the association between brain and muscle Arnt like protein 1( BMAL 1) gene and ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) parameters in college students, and to explore the influence of the interaction between the gene and weight status on the ABP levels, so as to provide reference for early prevention of chronic cardiovascular diseases related to hypertension. Methods: During September 2022 to June 2024, a total of 510 college students were recruited from a university in Changsha, China for on site questionnaire investigation, physical examination, ABP monitoring and genotyping testing. Multiple linear regression method was used to explore the association between the BMAL 1 gene and ABP indicators. An interaction term was included in the general linear model of multiple linear regression to analyze the interactive effects of BMAL 1 gene polymorphisms and weight status on ABP levels. Results: The prevalence of abnormal 24 hour blood pressure, abnormal daytime blood pressure, and abnormal nighttime blood pressure were 3.3%, 3.1%, and 3.9%, respectively. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the BMAL 1/rs7950226 polymorphism was positively correlated with the 24 hour diastolic blood pressure(DBP) and the daytime DBP level after adjusting for gender, age, and body mass index( β =0.87,0.99, both P <0.05). Also, interaction between BMAL 1/ rs 11022775 and weight status on the nighttime DBP level ( P interaction =0.03) was found. The CC genotype carriers had significantly higher nighttime DBP level ( β =3.52, P <0.05) among overweight/obesity college students, but no differences in nocturnal DBP levels were observed between CC genotype carriers and TT+CT genotype carriers among college students with normal body weight( P > 0.05). Conclusions The rs 7950226 polymorphism is associated with 24 hours DBP and daytime DBP levels. Significant interaction between rs 11022775 with weight status on the nighttime DBP level is found among college students.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the larvicidal effect of ultrasonic waves against Aedes albopictus larvae at various exposure parameters (distance and time), and to preliminarily investigate the effects of different containers (water volume and depth) and ultrasonic devices on the larvicidal efficacy, so as to provide experimental evidence for the application of ultrasound-based mosquito control technology. MethodsUnder controlled laboratory conditions, two commercially available ultrasonic devices [40 kHz/300 W and (50±5) kHz/70 W] were used to systematically examine the effects of exposure distance (20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 cm), exposure duration (1, 3, 6, 15 and 60 min), larval instar(Ⅰ‒Ⅱ and Ⅲ‒Ⅳ）, and container type on the immediate mortality of Aedes albopictus larvae collected from urban areas of Shanghai. Statistical analysis of the mortality rates of larvae among different experimental groups was performed using the chi-square test. ResultsUltrasonic exposure exerted a detectable larvicidal effect against Aedes albopictus larvae of all instars. For early-instar larvae, exposure time significantly affected mortality at all tested distances (20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 cm), with χ² values ranging from 25.57 to 32.74 ( all P<0.001). No significant distance effect was observed in the first and second instar larvae after short-term exposure (1 and 3 min; P>0.05). However, a distance-dependent effect emerged from 6 min onward (P<0.05). During short-term exposure (1 min and 3 min) at close range (20 cm and 40 cm), the immediate mortality of the third and fourth instar larvae was higher than that of the first and second instar larvae. Conversely, during prolonged exposure (15 min and 60 min), the first and second instar larvae exhibited significantly higher mortality than that of the third and fourth instar larvae. These results indicated that larval mortality was jointly influenced by exposure duration and distance. Preliminary experiments indicated that larvicidal efficacy in shallow water was lower than that in deep water. No significant difference in larvicidal effect was observed between the two ultrasonic devices with different frequencies and power outputs. ConclusionUnder laboratory conditions, ultrasound can effectively kill Aedes albopictus larvae, and the larvicidal effect is jointly influenced by larval instar, exposure distance, and aquatic environment. Compact ultrasonic devices show potential for field application in biological mosquito control.

ObjectiveTo explore the clinical safety of Feilike Mixture （FLK） in the real world. MethodsThe safety of all children who received FLK from 29 institutions in 12 provinces between January 21，2021 and December 25，2021 was evaluated through prospective centralized surveillance and a nested case control study. ResultsA total of 3 035 juveniles were included. There were 29 research centers involved，which are distributed across 12 provinces，including one traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） hospital and 28 general hospitals. The average age among the juveniles was （4.77±3.56） years old，and the average weight was （21.81±12.97） kg. Among them，119 cases （3.92%） of juveniles had a history of allergies. Acute bronchitis was the main diagnosis for juveniles，with 1 656 cases （54.46%）. FLK was first used in 2 016 cases （66.43%），and 142 juvenile patients had special dosages，accounting for 4.68%. Among them，92 adverse drug reactions （ADRs） occurred，including 73 cases of gastrointestinal system disorders，10 cases of metabolic and nutritional disorders，eight cases of skin and subcutaneous tissue diseases，two cases of vascular and lymphatic disorders，and one case of systemic diseases and various reactions at the administration site. The manifestations of ADRs were mainly diarrhea，stool discoloration，and vomiting，and no serious ADRs occurred. The results of multi-factor analysis indicated that special dosages （the use of FLK）［odds ratio （OR） of 2.642， 95% confidence interval （CI） of 1.105-6.323］，combined administration： spleen aminopeptide （OR of 4.978， 95%CI of 1.200-20.655），and reason for combined administration： anti-infection （OR of 1.814， 95%CI of 1.071-3.075） were the risk factors for ADRs caused by FLK. Conclusion92 ADRs occurred among 3 035 juveniles using FLK. The incidence of ADRs caused by FLK was 3.03%，and the severity was mainly mild or moderate. Generally，the prognosis was favorable after symptomatic treatment such as drug withdrawal or dosage reduction，suggesting that FLK has good clinical safety.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer-associated death globally. Liver transplantation (LT) has emerged as a key treatment for patients with HCC, and the Milan criteria have been adopted as the cornerstone of the selection policy. To allow more patients to benefit from LT, a number of expanded criteria have been proposed, many of which use radiologic morphological characteristics with larger and more tumors as surrogates to predict outcomes. Other groups developed indices incorporating biological variables and dynamic markers of response to locoregional treatment. These expanded selection criteria achieved satisfactory results with limited liver supplies. In addition, a number of prognostic models have been developed using clinicopathological characteristics, imaging radiomics features, genetic data, and advanced techniques such as artificial intelligence. These models could improve prognostic estimation, establish surveillance strategies, and bolster long-term outcomes in patients with HCC. In this study, we reviewed the latest findings and achievements regarding the selection criteria and post-transplant prognostic models for LT in patients with HCC.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer-associated death globally. Liver transplantation (LT) has emerged as a key treatment for patients with HCC, and the Milan criteria have been adopted as the cornerstone of the selection policy. To allow more patients to benefit from LT, a number of expanded criteria have been proposed, many of which use radiologic morphological characteristics with larger and more tumors as surrogates to predict outcomes. Other groups developed indices incorporating biological variables and dynamic markers of response to locoregional treatment. These expanded selection criteria achieved satisfactory results with limited liver supplies. In addition, a number of prognostic models have been developed using clinicopathological characteristics, imaging radiomics features, genetic data, and advanced techniques such as artificial intelligence. These models could improve prognostic estimation, establish surveillance strategies, and bolster long-term outcomes in patients with HCC. In this study, we reviewed the latest findings and achievements regarding the selection criteria and post-transplant prognostic models for LT in patients with HCC.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer-associated death globally. Liver transplantation (LT) has emerged as a key treatment for patients with HCC, and the Milan criteria have been adopted as the cornerstone of the selection policy. To allow more patients to benefit from LT, a number of expanded criteria have been proposed, many of which use radiologic morphological characteristics with larger and more tumors as surrogates to predict outcomes. Other groups developed indices incorporating biological variables and dynamic markers of response to locoregional treatment. These expanded selection criteria achieved satisfactory results with limited liver supplies. In addition, a number of prognostic models have been developed using clinicopathological characteristics, imaging radiomics features, genetic data, and advanced techniques such as artificial intelligence. These models could improve prognostic estimation, establish surveillance strategies, and bolster long-term outcomes in patients with HCC. In this study, we reviewed the latest findings and achievements regarding the selection criteria and post-transplant prognostic models for LT in patients with HCC.

Objective To explore the value of analysis on the incidence of healthcare-associated infection(HAI)based on disease diagnosis-related grouping(DRG),case mix index(CMI),and relative weight(RW).Methods All discharged cases,DRG and HAI status in a tertiary first-class general hospital from January 1 to December 31,2023 were analyzed retrospectively.Incidences of HAI in different departments were adjusted and compared by CMI.Incidences of HAI in different DRG groups were adjusted by RW.Results Among the 47 695 cases included in the analysis,757 were HAI cases,including 225 DRG groups.The department of critical care medicine had the highest incidence of HAI(11.98％).After CMI adjustment,departments with higher incidence of HAI were main-ly the department of respiratory and critical care medicine(3.96％),department of critical care medicine(3.04％),and department of neurology(2.85％),et al.DRG groups with the top five high incidence of HAI were AH11(tracheotomy and with ventilator support ≥96 hours or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation[ECMO],accompa-nied by major complications and comorbidity[MCC],50.00％),BC29(ventricular shunt and revision surgery,31.43％),BB21(craniotomy other than trauma,accompanied by MCC,27.56％),BB11(craniotomy of brain trauma,accompanied by MCC,26.32％),and GB1A(major surgery of esophagus,stomach,and duodenum,accompanied by major or moderate complications and comorbidity,16.00％).After RW adjustment,the DRG groups with the top five high incidence of HAI were ES21(respiratory system infection/inflammation,accompanied by MCC,5.89％),BR21(cerebral ischemic disease,accompanied by MCC,5.17％),FR11(heart failure,shock,accompanied by MCC,4.80％),BC29(4.57％)and AH11(3.57％).Conclusion Analyzing the incidence of HAI based on CMI and RW can help to identify key departments and disease groups for infection prevention and control,and provide reference for precise prevention and control of HAI in the new era.

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 establish an automatic classification approach for bone marrow cells based on microscopic hyperspectral imaging and three-dimensional spectral convolutional neural network (Spec-CNN).Methods:The research type is establishment of methodology. The study included 306 newly diagnosed patients' bone marrow smears under Wright's staining from the Department of Hematology of the First Medical Center of the PLA General Hospital from November 1st, 2013 to April 30th, 2024. The high-spectrum data and 4k image data of bone marrow cells were simultaneously collected using a microscopic hyperspectral-4k optical path integrated imaging system (with a spectral resolution of 400—1 000 nm). The high-spectrum data was used for model training, while the 4k image data recognized by morphologists was only used as a reference for labeling the high-spectrum data. The high-spectrum data set was divided into training set, validation set and test set in a ratio of 14∶6∶5. The training set and validation set were used to train and fine-tune the Spec-CNN model, and the test set was used to evaluate the model performance. The sensitivity, specificity ,accuracy ,and Kappa coefficient were calculated for comparing the manual annotation results as gold standard with the intelligent identification results of the Spec-CNN model. Five non-data set samples were used for external validation.Results:The acquired hyperspectral data and 4k imaging dataset comprised of 32 categories and 64 800 bone marrow cells. In the test set, the Spec-CNN model demonstrated weighted-average indicators on classification metrics across 32 cell types: sensitivity 87.79%, specificity 99.31%, and accuracy 98.78%, and Kappa coefficient 0.869. For external validation, the mean correct identification rate of bone marrow cells reached 83.28%.Conclusion:We successfully established an automatic classification method of bone marrow cells based on microscopic hyperspectral imaging and three-dimensional Spec-CNN. This method has a good automatic classification ability for 32 types of bone marrow nucleated cells, which has a certain auxiliary effect on improving the diagnosis efficiency of blood diseases for bone marrow morphologists.