Objective This study aims to investigate the effect of berberine (Ber) on foam cell formation induced by oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) in macrophages and to explore the mechanism's association with the ACE2-Ang(1-7)-Mas axis. Methods They were randomly divided into blank group, model group (RAW264.7 cells induced with 60 μg/mL ox-LDL), and berberine group (the model treated with berberine interventions at 2.5, 5, and 10 μmol/L concentrations). Lipid accumulation within the cells was assessed by Oil Red O staining, and the content of lipid droplets in each group was quantitatively analyzed by enzymatic method. The content of total cholesterol (TC) and free cholesterol (FC) in foam cells were detected by enzymatic method. The levels of oxidative stress factors (malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH)), inflammatory factors such as tumor necrosis factor α(TNF-α), and nitric oxide (NO) were measured using corresponding relevant reagent kits. The mRNA and protein expressions of ACE2 and Mas were evaluated through quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot analysis, respectively. The levels of AngII and Ang(1-7) were detected by ELISA. Results Compared with the model group, the berberine groups exhibited reduced lipid droplet accumulation and a dose-dependent decrease in intracellular lipid content. Berberine significantly lowered TC and FC levels in foam cells and reduced the CE/TC ratio. The levels of the oxidative factor MDA were significantly reduced, while the levels of the antioxidant factors SOD and GSH were markedly increased. Inflammatory factors TNF-α and NO were significantly decreased. The expression of the ACE2-Ang(1-7)-Mas signaling pathway was significantly activated, and the effect was more pronounced in the Ber group with high-concentration compared to the group with low-concentration, demonstrating a dose-dependent response. Conclusion Berberine can inhibit macrophage foam cell formation, potentially through upregulation of the ACE2-Ang(1-7)-Mas signaling pathway, thereby contributing to the alleviation of atherosclerosis.
Berberine/pharmacology* ; Foam Cells/cytology* ; Animals ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Mice ; Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 ; Angiotensin I/genetics* ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A/genetics* ; Peptide Fragments/genetics* ; Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled/genetics* ; RAW 264.7 Cells ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins/genetics* ; Proto-Oncogene Mas ; Lipoproteins, LDL/pharmacology* ; Nitric Oxide/metabolism* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/metabolism*

Rapid and ultrasensitive detection of pathogen-associated biomarkers is vital for the early diagnosis and therapy of bacterial infections. Herein, we developed a close-packed and ordered Au@AgPt array coupled with a cascade triggering strategy for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and colorimetric identification of the Staphylococcus aureus biomarker micrococcal nuclease (MNase) in serum samples. The trimetallic Au@AgPt nanozymes can catalyze the oxidation of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) molecules to SERS-enhanced oxidized TMB (oxTMB), accompanied by the color change from colorless to blue. In the presence of S. aureus, the secreted MNase preferentially cut the nucleobase AT-rich regions of DNA sequences on magnetic beads (MBs) to release alkaline phosphatase (ALP), which subsequently mediated the oxTMB reduction for inducing the colorimetric/SERS signal fade away. Using this "on-to-off" triggering strategy, the target S. aureus can be recorded in a wide linear range with a limit of detection of 38 CFU/mL in the colorimetric mode and 6 CFU/mL in the SERS mode. Meanwhile, the MNase-mediated strategy characterized by high specificity and sensitivity successfully discriminated between patients with sepsis (n = 7) and healthy participants (n = 3), as well as monitored the prognostic progression of the disease (n = 2). Overall, benefiting from highly active and dense "hot spot" substrate, MNase-mediated cascade response strategy, and colorimetric/SERS dual-signal output, this methodology will offer a promising avenue for the early diagnosis of S. aureus infection.

Objective To explore the effects of Tepp-46, a pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) agonist, on the skin fibrosis of patients with systemic scleroderma (SSc) and its therapeutic effect on the SSc mouse models. Methods Full-thickness skin tissues of SSc patients and healthy controls were taken, and the expression levels of PKM2 and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) were detected using immunohistochemical staining. The skin primary fibroblasts were isolated from the tissues, and the PKM2 protein expression was detected using Western blotting. SSc fibroblasts were stimulated with Tepp-46 of different concentrations, and Western blotting was used to measure the expression of PKM2, collagen type Ⅰα1 (ColⅠα1) and α-SMA protein after the stimulation. The C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into three groups: control group, bleomycin (BLM) group and Tepp-46 group. BLM was injected subcutaneously to establish the SSc mouse model, at the same time, Tepp-46 treatment initiated in the Tepp-46 group. At 21 d after modeling, the mice were executed and their skins were taken. HE staining and Masson staining were used to analyze morphological changes of the skin. The immunohistochemical staining was used to examine the expression of PKM2 and α-SMA protein in the mouse skin. Western blotting was used to analyze the expression of ColⅠα1 and PKM2 in the mouse skin. Results Compared with the healthy controls, α-SMA protein expression in the dermis of SSc patients was higher, and PKM2 protein expression in the epidermis and dermis of SSc patients increased (P＜0.000 1). PKM2 protein expression in primary fibroblasts of SSc skin was higher than that of healthy controls (P＜0.01); after Tepp-46 stimulation, the levels of ColⅠα1 and α-SMA in SSc fibroblasts decreased (P＜0.01), but PKM2 protein was not affected. In the mice, HE and Masson stainings showed that compared with BLM group, the pathological changes of skin were alleviated in the Tepp-46 group. The immunohistochemical staining results showed the levels of PKM2 and α-SMA in the skin of Tepp-46 group were lower than those of the BLM group (P＜0.000 1). Western blotting results showed the level of ColⅠα1 in the Tepp-46 group was lower than that in the BLM group (P＜0.001). Conclusions The expression of PKM2 protein in SSc skin tissue and primary fibroblasts is up-regulated, and PKM2 agonist Tepp-46 can inhibit SSc skin fibrosis.

Objective:To investigate the current status and influencing factors of care preparedness in primary caregivers of children with acute leukemia, so as to provide theoretical basis for targeted nursing intervention plans in the future.Methods:A total of 160 primary caregivers of children with acute leukemia in Hematology Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences recruited by convenient sampling were investigated by the general data questionnaire, the Preparedness for Caregiving Scale, the Herth Hope Index, the Family Caregiver Task Inventory and the Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale-Family Member Form. Descriptive analysis, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis H test, Spearman rank correlation and multiple stepwise liner regression were used for statistical analysis. Results:One hundred and fifty-nine questionnaires were effectively collected, including 13 males and 146 females, aged (34.61 ± 8.60) years old. The total score of care preparedness, hope, uncertainty in illness, care ability for caregivers were (26.47 ± 7.53), (37.72 ± 4.11), (61.96 ± 17.02), (15.06 ± 12.94) points. The total score of care preparedness for caregivers was negatively correlated with the score of uncertainty in illness( r=-0.300, P<0.05), and positively correlated with the hope and care ability of main caregivers ( r=0.166, 0.254, both P<0.05). Caregivers′ uncertainty in illness, caregiver gender, availability of other caregivers, caregivers′ hope entered the multiple stepwise regression equation, which could explain 20.4% of the total variation of resilience. Conclusions:The preparation of the primary caregivers for children with acute leukemia is at a medium level. The primary caregivers who are male, who have insufficient knowledge of the disease, who have no co-caregivers, and who have low hope level should be focused on in clinical practice. Pertinent measures should be taken to improve care preparedness and care quality.

Summarizing the nursing experience of a child with HHV-6B encephalitis after umbilical cord blood transplantation and CAR-T therapy. The child was 4 years old and was diagnosed with acute T lymphocytic leukemia on May 28, 2021. Nursing points: meticulously observe symptoms for early diagnosis and treatment; develop a specialized management plan, implement individualized care; enhance medication management to improve the quality of care; establish a shared decision-making communication model to prevent hospital-acquired infections; provide patient-centered care for lumbar puncture; assess the needs of the child and family, alleviate negative emotions; improve pre-discharge preparation, emphasize continuity of care. With proactive treatment and careful nursing, the child′s condition improved, and they were discharged. Follow-up for six months showed the child in a sustained remission state with no adverse sequelae, and normal life resumed.

Palliative and hospice care is an emerging medical care model for the development of modern medicine,and its emergence is not only a sign of social demand and the development of human civilization,but also an important manifestation of the change in the modern medical model.Hospice care is the final stage of palliative care,which is of great significance for the end-of-life treatment of incurable diseases.Palliative and hospice care has become an independent discipline in many countries,and its development has been rapid.However,the develop-ment of hospice and palliative care in China is not satisfactory,and the lack of money and human resources are the main reasons limiting its development.Many scholars have carried out a lot of useful practices in this regard.How to explore a road of hospice and palliative care development suitable for China′s national conditions is an urgent problem to be solved.By reviewing domestic and foreign literature,this paper summarizes the development mode and payment method of palliative and hospice care abroad,identifies the challenges encountered in the practice of hospice care in China,and draws on the development experience of palliative and hospice care in foreign countries.We aimed to identify pain points and difficulties faced in developing palliative and hospice care in China,so as to better serve patients at the end of life,gradually promote the concept of palliative and hospice care,and contribute to the sustainable development of palliative and hospice care in China.

Objective To analyze the clinical features and prognosis of isolated trochlear nerve palsy in our hospital.Methods The clinical data of 23 patients with isolated trochlear nerve palsy diagnosed in our hospital from October 2019 to February 2023 were retrospective analyzed.Results In this group,there were 15 males and 8 females.There were 8 cases of microvascular etiology,5 cases of non-specific inflammation,4 cases of trauma,2 cases of ischemic stroke,1 case of cerebral microhemorrhage,1 case of intracranial mass,1 case of idiopathic and 1 case of congenital.Except one case lost to follow-up,the complete recovery rate within 6 months of onset of the other 22 cases was 82％.There was no statistical difference between microvascular causes and non-microvascular causes.Conclusion The etiology and distribution of solitary trochlear nerve palsy are diverse,and isolated trochlear nerve palsy may be a signal of stroke,and the overall prognosis is good after conservative treatment,and the decision on whether to correct it with surgery can be followed up for at least 6 months.

This study was designed to investigate the role of ring finger protein 20(RNF20)in host innate immunity against RNA viruses.Dual luciferase reporter assay was employed to examine the effects of RNF20 overexpression on Sendai virus(SeV)infection-induced activation of interferon a4(Ifna4)gene promoter in 293T human embryonic kidney epithelial cells.Rnf20 myeloid conditional knockout mouse model was constructed(Rnf2OF/F;Lyz2-Cre),and the frequency of myeloid subsets in the bone marrow,spleen,blood of Rnf20F/F;Lyz2-Cre mice and littermate Rnf20F/F mice were detected by flow cytometry.After bone marrow-derived macrophages(BMDMs)were cultured and subjected to the infection of SeV and vesicular stomatitis virus(VSV),Western blot was used to detect the phosphorylation of transcription factor interferon regulatory factor 3(IRF3)and nuclear factor-κB(NF-κB).ELISA was used to detect the production of IFN-β,TNF-α and IL-6,and Bulk RNA-sequencing was employed to explore transcriptional changes.Furthermore,M1 and M2 macrophage polarization was induced by LPS and IL-4,respectively,to confirm the changes revealed by transcriptome analysis.Data showed that RNF20 overexpression showed no significant effect on SeV infection-induced activation of Ifna4 gene promoter in 293T cells.There is almost no difference in the development of myeloid subsets between Rnf20F/F;Lyz2-Cre and Rnf2OF/F mice.After RNA viral infection of BMDMs from Rnf20F/F;Lyz2-Creand Rnf201 mice,the phosphorylation of IRF3 and NF-κB p65 and the expression of IFN-[3,TNF-α and IL-6 were comparable between the two groups,while the expression levels of several genes related to macrophage polarization were significantly different.The loss of RNF20 showed the tendency of hindering M1 macrophage polarization while promoting M2 macrophage polarization.In conclusion,RNF20 does not affect RNA viral infection-induced activation of IRF3 or NF-κB pathways,but it might get involved in the resolution of inflammation afterwards.

Objective:To explore the correlation between blastomere count variations “skip value” which extracted from by time-lapse technology (TLT) combined with artificial intelligence (AI) and morphological features of in vitro fertilization (IVF) embryo, and to test its feasibility in clinical applications.Methods:This study was a diagnostic experiment (AI reassessment of embryo transferred patients), a total of 6 545 embryos from 1 226 patients who underwent IVF at the Women and Children′s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from December 2020 to December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed, of which 2 869 embryos were attempted to cultured to blastocyst stage by TLT. The embryo dynamic map (EDM) was drawn by Embryo Viewer, a TLT recording software, based on embryo developmental kinetics. The self-developed AI embryo evaluation software identified and recorded the number of cleavages in real time during embryonic development, and compared with the EDM, the correlation between the skip value formed by the change of cleavage sphere counts and the outcomes of the embryos was analyzed. The correlation among skip value, morphological score of embryo, implantation rate and live birth rate were performed by Spearman and step-up logistic regression. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was selected for reporting there relationship of skip value and morphology. Finally, predicting power of skip value for implantation and live birth rate were performed by ROC analysis.Results:The total skip values extracted from the blastomere count of embryos (72 hours post-fertilization) were negatively correlated with abnormal cleavage, blastocyst formation rate, day 3 (D3)-cell score, uneven size and fragmentation (the β values were -0.268, -0.116, -0.213, -0.159 and -0.222, respectively; all P<0.001); positively correlated with D3-cell number ( β=0.034; P<0.001); negatively correlated with blastocyst formation rate and implantation rate ( OR=0.97, 95% CI: 0.93-0.99, P=0.034; OR=0.96, 95% CI: 0.93-0.98, P=0.044). The power of predicting implantation were similar between the order selection of skip values and traditional morphology criteria [area under curve (AUC): 0.679 vs 0.620]. Live birth rate were negatively correlated with female age ( OR=0.91, 95% CI: 0.88-0.93; P<0.001), D3 general score ( OR=0.77, 95% CI: 0.59-0.99; P=0.045) and order selection of skip values ( OR=0.98, 95% CI: 0.96-0.99; P=0.038), while positively correlated with retrieved oocyte number and endometrial thickness in embryo transferred ( OR=1.08, 95% CI:1.05-1.11, P<0.001; OR=1.09, 95% CI:1.06-0.12, P<0.001, respectively) from multivariate regression analysis, and the power of predicting live birth was 0.666 for AUC. Conclusions:The skip value and its order form is a systematic quantification of embryo development, correlated with embryo developmental quality and clinical outcome. It could be an addition parameter for embryo culture and selection.