ObjectiveThis paper aims to investigate and evaluate the staged efficacy and safety of the representative empirical prescription of the “Zhu Ke Jiao” theory， Qijia Rougan prescription， combined with entecavir in the treatment of hepatic fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B. MethodsA multicenter randomized controlled clinical study was conducted， and 101 patients diagnosed with chronic hepatitis B-related hepatic fibrosis （CHB-HF） who met the diagnosis and inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to an observation group （Qijia Rougan prescription + entecavir） and a control group （entecavir）. The treatment duration was 24 weeks. Liver stiffness measurement （LSM）， fibrosis-4 index （FIB-4）， portal vein diameter， hepatitis B serology， biochemical indicators， hepatic fibrosis markers in serum ［hyaluronic acid （HA）， laminin （LN）， procollagen Ⅲ peptide （PⅢP）， and type Ⅳ collagen （Ⅳ-C）］， and traditional Chinese medicine syndrome scores were used as efficacy evaluation indicators. Efficacy assessments and explorations of different staged subgroups of Qijia Rougan prescription were conducted according to LSM values based on the Metavir pathological staging standard. ResultsA total of 98 cases were included for statistical analysis， with 49 cases in the observation group and 49 in the control group. The general data of the patients in both groups were comparable. Compared with the same group before treatment， the observation group showed a significant reduction in LSM and FIB-4 （P<0.01）， as well as notable improvements in LN， Ⅳ-C， and various TCM syndrome scores （P<0.05， P<0.01）. When compared to the control group after treatment， the observation group demonstrated significant improvements in LSM， FIB-4， and various TCM syndrome score indicators （P<0.05， P<0.01）， indicating that the observation group performed better than the control group. Subgroup analysis of the regression of hepatic fibrosis stages showed that compared to the same group before treatment， the observation group had better improvement in regression of stages F2 and F3 （P<0.05）. When compared to the control group after treatment， the observation group exhibited superior improvement in regression of stage F3 （P<0.05）. No adverse events occurred in either group during the treatment period. ConclusionCompared with entecavir alone， the combination of Qijia Rougan prescription and entecavir significantly improves the degree of hepatic fibrosis and clinical TCM symptoms in patients. The optimal intervention period is primarily during stage F3， which is a potential “interception” point of the “Zhu Ke Jiao” theory.

Objective To assess the value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound(US)in differential diagnosis of hyperechoic hepatic lesions when compared to conventional US.Methods Eighty-four hyperechoic liver lesions in 66 patients were examined using both conventional and contrast-enhanced US techniques.Results Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed a significant improvement in the discrimination of malignant versus benign hyperechoic hepatic lesions (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve,0.867±0.045 at conventional US,0.997±0.003 with contrast-enhanced US(P＜0.0001).For correct diagnoses types of hyperechoic liver lesions,contrast-enhanced US improved from 64.3% to 92.9%,comic)ared with conventional US (P＜0.001).Conclusions Contrast-enhanced US showed a significant improvement in characterization and differentiation of hyperechoic hepatic lesions when compared to conventional US.

AIM　To determine the effects of glycoconjugates and their glycans from Lycium barbarum L. on inhibiting low density lipoprotein (LDL) peroxidation. METHODS　Using Cu2+-induced oxidation as a model, the oxidative production of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) and the LDL electrophoresis migration on agarose gel were measured. RESULTS　The effects of glycoconjugates and their glycans from Lycium barbarum L. on inhibiting LDL peroxidation were different, among them, glycoconjugate LbGp5 showed the best effect on inhibiting LDLperoxidation. CONCLUSION　The glycoconjugates can inhibit LDL peroxidatin while their glycans showed no effects on inhibiting LDL peroxidation.