Objective: To characterize perioperative dynamic changes in immune-cell phenotypes and inflammatory cytokines in patients undergoing CPB (cardiopulmonary bypass) cardiac surgery, and to explore their associations with postoperative outcomes. Methods: In this prospective cohort study, 120 adult patients who underwent elective cardiac surgery under CPB at West China Hospital from May 2022 to March 2023 were enrolled. Perioperative immune-cell phenotypes and concentrations of 40 inflammation-related cytokines were measured. The primary outcomes were the sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score at 24 h after surgery and ΔSOFA (the peak SOFA score within 48 h after surgery minus the preoperative SOFA score). Secondary outcomes included major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), acute kidney injury (AKI), respiratory failure, severe liver injury, and infection. Results: The mean age of enrolled patients was 57±10 years. Of these, 52% (62/120) were male and 90% (108/120) underwent valve surgery. During the rewarming to the end of CPB, neutrophil counts rapidly increased (7.39×10 /L vs preoperative 3.07×10 /L, P<0.001), with significant upregulation of CD11b (7.30×10 /L vs preoperative 3.05×10 /L, P<0.001) and CD54 (7.15×10 /L vs preoperative 2.99×10 /L, P<0.001). Lymphocyte counts increased at the end of CPB (1.75×10 /L vs preoperative 1.12×10 /L, P<0.001) but decreased significantly at 24 h after surgery (0.59×10 /L vs preoperative 1.12×10 /L, P<0.001). Plasma analysis showed that multiple pro-inflammatory cytokines increased during CPB and remained elevated up to 24 h after surgery; five chemokines and the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 peaked at the end of CPB. The SOFA score increased from 1 (1, 2) preoperatively to 7 (5, 10) at 24 h after surgery, with a ΔSOFA of 6 (4, 8). Within 30 days after surgery, 48 patients (40.0%) developed AKI, 17 (14.2%) developed infection, 4 (3.3%) developed severe liver injury, 3 (2.5%) developed respiratory failure, and 3 (2.5%) experienced MACE. During the 2-year follow-up, 8 patients (6.7%) experienced MACE and 5 (4.2%) died. Conclusion: Multi-organ dysfunction is common after cardiac surgery under CPB (median ΔSOFA, 6), accompanied by perioperative activation of multiple immune-cell subsets and upregulation of pro-inflammatory, anti-inflammatory, and chemotactic mediators. This study provides data-driven evidence and research clues for further investigation of the associations between CPB-related immune perturbations and postoperative organ dysfunction and clinical outcomes.

Cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS), a pivotal molecule in innate immunity, has emerged as a keypoint in interdisciplinary research at the intersection of basic immunology and tumor biology. As a cytosolic nucleic acid sensor, cGAS is primarily characterized by its capacity to recognize double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) in the cytosol. Upon binding to dsDNA, cGAS undergoes a conformational change that promotes its dimerization and subsequent enzymatic activation. Once activated, it catalyzes the synthesis of the second messenger 2',3'-cGAMP from ATP and GTP. cGAMP then binds to the adaptor protein STING, which resides on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane. The binding process triggers STING to traffic from the ER to the Golgi apparatus, where it is phosphorylated by the kinase TBK1. Phosphorylated STING serves as a docking site for the transcription factor IRF3, facilitating its phosphorylation by TBK1. Once phosphorylated, IRF3 forms dimers and translocates to the nucleus, where it drives the expression of type I interferons and pro-inflammatory cytokines, initiating a potent antimicrobial state. The DNA-sensing mechanism of cGAS is inherently non-selective regarding the origin of its ligand. It readily detects exogenous DNA from invading pathogens, thereby playing an indispensable role in host defense against microbial infections. However, this same mechanism also enables cGAS to recognize self-DNA that leaks from the nucleus or mitochondria into the cytosol under various cellular stress conditions. While critical for immunity, the recognition of self-dsDNA by cGAS can disrupt cellular homeostasis and trigger aberrant inflammatory responses. The loss of self-tolerance can precipitate or exacerbate the pathogenesis of autoimmune disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and Aicardi-Goutières syndrome (AGS), highlighting the dual role of cGAS as both a sentinel for infection and a potential driver of autoimmune pathology. Notably, the subcellular localization of cGAS is not still. Increasing recent researches have revealed that cGAS is also abundant within the nucleus, challenging the traditional view of it solely as a cytosolic nucleic acid sensor. Within the nucleus, cGAS exhibits non-canonical functions that are distinct from its canonical immunological role. First, cGAS exists in a state of stringent immunological silence in the nucleus, with mechanisms involving its competitive binding to histones and its post-translational modifications which block the activation of cGAS enzymatic activity, thus, effectively preventing it from mounting an autoimmune attack on genomic DNA. Second, cGAS plays a critical role in maintaining genomic stability. Upon DNA damage, cGAS is rapidly recruited to the lesion site and participates in the DNA damage repair process. Moreover, under conditions of DNA replication stress, cGAS contributes to the stabilization of replication forks, preventing the cell from entering a state of uncontrolled hyper-replication. Consequently, in light of the dual role of cGAS in both immune regulation and tumor development, the development of small-molecule drugs targeting cGAS holds significant therapeutic promise. This review summarizes the structural characteristics of cGAS and its canonical function as a pattern recognition receptor in the cytosol, including the types of pathogens it recognizes and the autoimmune responses resulting from erroneous recognition of self-DNA. It then focuses on its emerging non-canonical functions within the nucleus, detailing its nucleocytoplasmic shuttling, the mechanisms underlying its nuclear immune quiescence, and its role in mediating DNA damage repair and replication fork stabilization. Finally, the review discusses the progress and application prospects of small-molecule drugs targeting cGAS for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer.

Cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS), a pivotal molecule in innate immunity, has emerged as a keypoint in interdisciplinary research at the intersection of basic immunology and tumor biology. As a cytosolic nucleic acid sensor, cGAS is primarily characterized by its capacity to recognize double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) in the cytosol. Upon binding to dsDNA, cGAS undergoes a conformational change that promotes its dimerization and subsequent enzymatic activation. Once activated, it catalyzes the synthesis of the second messenger 2',3'-cGAMP from ATP and GTP. cGAMP then binds to the adaptor protein STING, which resides on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane. The binding process triggers STING to traffic from the ER to the Golgi apparatus, where it is phosphorylated by the kinase TBK1. Phosphorylated STING serves as a docking site for the transcription factor IRF3, facilitating its phosphorylation by TBK1. Once phosphorylated, IRF3 forms dimers and translocates to the nucleus, where it drives the expression of type I interferons and pro-inflammatory cytokines, initiating a potent antimicrobial state. The DNA-sensing mechanism of cGAS is inherently non-selective regarding the origin of its ligand. It readily detects exogenous DNA from invading pathogens, thereby playing an indispensable role in host defense against microbial infections. However, this same mechanism also enables cGAS to recognize self-DNA that leaks from the nucleus or mitochondria into the cytosol under various cellular stress conditions. While critical for immunity, the recognition of self-dsDNA by cGAS can disrupt cellular homeostasis and trigger aberrant inflammatory responses. The loss of self-tolerance can precipitate or exacerbate the pathogenesis of autoimmune disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and Aicardi-Goutières syndrome (AGS), highlighting the dual role of cGAS as both a sentinel for infection and a potential driver of autoimmune pathology. Notably, the subcellular localization of cGAS is not still. Increasing recent researches have revealed that cGAS is also abundant within the nucleus, challenging the traditional view of it solely as a cytosolic nucleic acid sensor. Within the nucleus, cGAS exhibits non-canonical functions that are distinct from its canonical immunological role. First, cGAS exists in a state of stringent immunological silence in the nucleus, with mechanisms involving its competitive binding to histones and its post-translational modifications which block the activation of cGAS enzymatic activity, thus, effectively preventing it from mounting an autoimmune attack on genomic DNA. Second, cGAS plays a critical role in maintaining genomic stability. Upon DNA damage, cGAS is rapidly recruited to the lesion site and participates in the DNA damage repair process. Moreover, under conditions of DNA replication stress, cGAS contributes to the stabilization of replication forks, preventing the cell from entering a state of uncontrolled hyper-replication. Consequently, in light of the dual role of cGAS in both immune regulation and tumor development, the development of small-molecule drugs targeting cGAS holds significant therapeutic promise. This review summarizes the structural characteristics of cGAS and its canonical function as a pattern recognition receptor in the cytosol, including the types of pathogens it recognizes and the autoimmune responses resulting from erroneous recognition of self-DNA. It then focuses on its emerging non-canonical functions within the nucleus, detailing its nucleocytoplasmic shuttling, the mechanisms underlying its nuclear immune quiescence, and its role in mediating DNA damage repair and replication fork stabilization. Finally, the review discusses the progress and application prospects of small-molecule drugs targeting cGAS for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer.

ObjectiveStroke poses a heavy burden due to its high mortality and morbidity rates. Accurate and real-time detection of lesions is pivotal for prompt clinical intervention and favorable prognosis. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) and microwave tomography (MWT) have emerged as compelling alternatives for stroke screening, owing to their non-ionizing, non-invasive and portable nature. EIT provides information on tissue conductivity, and MWT offers high sensitivity to changes in dielectric properties. However, single-modality imaging is inherently limited, EIT suffers from low sensitivity to deep-seated tissues and severe ill-posedness of inverse problems, whereas MWT is challenged by strong nonlinearity in inverse scattering and susceptibility to modeling errors. Consequently, the clinical utility of standalone EIT or MWT for stroke diagnosis remains constrained by poor spatial resolution and imaging artifacts. To improve the accuracy and robustness of stroke imaging, a dual-modality fusion conditional denoising diffusion probabilistic model (DM-DDPM) was proposed for high-precision dual-modality image reconstruction. MethodsA dual-encoder network with a symmetric architecture and independently trained parameters was constructed to extract heterogeneous features separately from EIT boundary voltage measurements and MWT scattered field signals. Attentional feature fusion (AFF) is employed to integrate complementary information from the two modalities adaptively, generating robust fused priors that suppress redundant noise while preserving key physical characteristics. Subsequently, the fused priors are embedded into a Transformer-based diffusion model via a cross attention mechanism to guide the reverse denoising process. This approach effectively reduces artifacts and enhances the stability of conductivity distribution reconstruction. Time step embedding is introduced to enable the network to perceive the diffusion stage and further improve the accuracy of noise prediction. ResultsSimulated experiments demonstrated that DM-DDPM significantly outperforms single-modality and multi-modality networks under various noise levels. A head model simulation dataset was constructed based on COMSOL Multiphysics, and tests were carried out under 50 dB, 40 dB and 30 dB signal-to-noise ratio levels. At 30 dB, the average relative error (RE) was below 0.20, while the structural similarity index measure (SSIM) and correlation coefficient (CC) remained above 0.90 and 0.89, respectively. Compared with single-modality and multi-modality networks, artifacts were significantly reduced, lesion edges were clearer, and localization was more accurate. The model maintains high reconstruction quality and strong robustness for single, double, and triple lesions simultaneously. Furthermore, physical experiments were conducted using a 16-electrode EIT system and a 16-antenna MWT system with asynchronous data acquisition. These experiments confirmed the feasibility of the method in real-world scenarios and demonstrated that it can robustly reconstruct simulated lesions despite environmental interference and measurement noise, validating its reliability for practical clinical applications. ConclusionThe proposed method effectively combines complementary dual-modality information with a conditional diffusion model. Low accuracy and poor noise resistance in single-modality imaging were effectively addressed, while the noise amplification issue caused by direct multimodal data fusion was avoided. The proposed algorithm exhibits strong anti-noise interference ability and high imaging stability in both simulation and physical experiments. Precise localization of stroke lesions with different quantities was achieved, providing a high-precision, and practical technical support for clinical stroke detection.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of heat-sensitive moxibustion at "Feishu" (BL13) on immunoinflammatory response in rats with allergic rhinitis (AR) based on phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT) signaling pathway, so as to explore its underlying mechanism. METHODS: Thirty-two male SD rats were randomly divided into a blank group (6 rats) and a modeling group (26 rats). In the modeling group, AR model was prepared using systemic and local attack sensitization method with ovalbumin. The successfully-modeled rats were randomized into a model group (6 rats), a medication group (6 rats) and a moxibustion group (14 rats). In the moxibustion group, the suspending moxibustion was operated at bilateral "Feishu" (BL13), 40 min each time, once daily, for 21 consecutive days; during which, the temperature of the body and tail was recorded. During intervention, if the temperature of the body and tail increased by >1 ℃, the heat-sensitive reaction at the point was determined in the rats of the moxibustion group, and these rats were collected in a heat-sensitive moxibustion group (8 rats involved and 6 rats of them were randomly collected to ensure the sample-size consistency); and those without heat-sensitive moxibustion reaction were assigned to a traditional moxibustion group (6 rats). In the medication group, fluticasone propionate nasal spray was applied, 8 μL on each side, once daily and for 21 days. The behavioral score for AR symptoms after modeling and intervention, and the content of serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) after modeling were observed. After intervention, the histological morphology of the nasal mucosa was observed using HE staining, the positive expression of thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) in the nasal mucosa was detected using immunohistochemistry, the levels of IgE, interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-13 and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) were detected by ELISA, and the protein expression of the member 4 of tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily (OX40), phosphorylated protein kinase B (p-AKT), phosphorylated phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (p-PI3K) in nasal mucosa was detected by Western blotting. RESULTS: After modeling, the behavioral score of AR symptoms and serum IgE level in the modeling group were higher than those of the blank group (P<0.01), suggesting the success of AR modeling. After intervention, compared with the blank group, the behavioral score of AR symptoms was increased (P<0.01)；the nasal mucosa structure was disordered, the inflammatory infiltration was severe; the positive expression of TSLP in the nasal mucosa increased (P<0.01), the levels of serum IgE, IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 elevated (P<0.01), and the level of IFN-γ decreased (P<0.01); and the protein expression of OX40, p-AKT, and p-PI3K in the nasal mucosa increased (P<0.05) in the model group. Compared with the model group, the behavioral score of AR symptoms was reduced (P<0.01); the nasal mucosa structure, inflammatory infiltration, and vascular dilation were ameliorated to varying degrees; the positive expression of TSLP in the nasal mucosa decreased (P<0.01); the content of serum IgE, IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 decreased (P<0.05), and that of IFN-γ increased (P<0.05) in the medication, traditional moxibustion, and heat-sensitive moxibustion groups. Compared with the model group, the protein expression of p-AKT was reduced in the medication and traditional moxibustion groups (P<0.05), the protein expression of OX40, p-AKT, and p-PI3K in the nasal mucosa decreased in the heat-sensitive moxibustion group (P<0.05). When compared with the medication group, the positive expression of TSLP in the nasal mucosa was reduced (P<0.05) in the heat-sensitive moxibustion group. In comparison with the traditional moxibustion group, the content of serum IL-13 was reduced and the content of IFN-γ elevated in the heat-sensitive moxibustion and the medication groups (P<0.05), the protein expression of p-PI3K reduced in the medication group (P<0.05), and the positive expression of TSLP and the protein expression of OX40 and p-PI3K in the nasal mucosa were reduced in the heat-sensitive moxibustion group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION Heat-sensitive moxibustion at "Feishu" (BL13) can alleviate the symptoms of AR rats, ameliorate the inflammatory infiltration and telangiectasia of nasal mucosa, and inhibit immunoinflammatory response, which may be obtained by regulating PI3K/AKT signal pathway.
Animals ; Moxibustion ; Male ; Rats ; Signal Transduction ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Rhinitis, Allergic/genetics* ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/immunology* ; Acupuncture Points ; Humans ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/immunology* ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase/immunology*

This study established a high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) fingerprint of Chuanxiong Rhizoma from different producing areas and screened its potential differential components for producing areas by chemometrics. Furthermore, the content of the above differential components in Chuanxiong Rhizoma from different producing areas was measured and compared. Then, the geoherbalism markers(geo-markers) that can be used to distinguish Dao-di and non-Dao-di Chuanxiong Rhizoma were excavated by chemometrics. In fingerprint studies, a total of 27 common peaks were determined, and the fingerprint similarity for 37 batches of Chuanxiong Rhizoma samples from different producing areas was above 0.968. The orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA) was capable of distinguishing Chuanxiong Rhizoma from Sichuan and from three other provinces, as well as Dao-di Chuanxiong Rhizoma(from Dujiangyan) and non-Dao-di Chuanxiong Rhizoma(from other producing areas) in Sichuan province. Meanwhile, 14 potential differential components in Chuanxiong Rhizoma from different provinces and 16 potential differential components in Chuanxiong Rhizoma from different producing areas in Sichuan were screened by the variable importance in projection(VIP) analysis under OPLS-DA. The reference standards were used to identify 10 potential differential components in the common peaks, and subsequent content determination verified that the content of the above 10 potential differential components was different among different producing areas. Then, the OPLS-DA and VIP analysis were performed with the content of the 10 potential differential components as variables. The results showed that Z-ligustilide, chlorogenic acid, and the ratio of butylidenephthalide/senkyunolide A were the geo-markers that can distinguish Chuanxiong Rhizoma from Sichuan and Chuanxiong Rhizoma from Shaanxi, Hebei, and Jiangxi, while Z-ligustilide, n-butylphthalide, and the ratios of Z-ligustilide/senkyunolide A and butylidenephthalide/senkyunolide A were the geo-markers that can distinguish Dao-di Chuanxiong Rhizoma(from Dujiangyan) and non-Dao-di Chuanxiong Rhizoma(from other producing areas) in Sichuan province. This study elucidated the differences in material basis of Dao-di and non-Dao-di Chuanxiong Rhizoma based on fingerprinting and content determination combined with chemometrics, which provides a reference for the study of material basis of Dao-di traditional Chinese medicine.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Rhizome/chemistry* ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods* ; Chemometrics/methods* ; Quality Control

Hypertension, a common risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, has aroused global concern. As breakthroughs have been achieved in the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) and western medicine theories related to the heart and brain, top international journals such as Science pay increasing attention to the functional interaction between the heart and brain in modern medicine, known as the "heart-brain" axis, also referred to as the "cardiovascular-brain" circuit. The heart and brain interact and influence each other through the "heart-brain" axis. Increasing evidence suggests that the inflammation-regulated "heart-brain" axis plays a crucial role in the occurrence and development of hypertension, offering new insights for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. In TCM, there is a connection between the heart and brain by the sharing of blood essence, interconnected blood vessels, and shared governance over the mind. Diseases of the heart and brain share common pathological and physiological foundations, similar risk factors, and TCM pathogeneses, which form the basis for simultaneous treatment of heart and brain diseases in TCM. The principle of simultaneous treatment of the heart and brain diseases aligns with the theory of "heart-brain" axis. Modern research has found that the heart and brain are the main target organs of hypertension. Long-term high blood pressure can easily cause structural changes, mainly characterized by left ventricular hypertrophy and dilation, leading to hypertensive heart disease. Hypertension can change the structure, blood supply, and function of the brain, being closely related to cerebral atherosclerosis, cerebral infarction, cerebral hemorrhage, cognitive dysfunction, dementia and other brain diseases. TCM treatment of hypertension has a long history. According to the pathogenesis(Yang hyperactivity and blood stasis) of hypertension, the team has developed the core treatment principle of subduing Yang and activating blood. Through extensive clinical exploration and experimental research, the team has developed an effective prescription called Tianxiong Granules. This prescription has shown definite efficacy in stabilizing blood pressure, ameliorating clinical symptoms, and reducing target organ damage. The protective effects of Tianxiong Granules on the heart and brain are reflected in aspects such as symptoms related to the heart and brain, pharmacological effects on ventricular hypertrophy, and brain protection. The preliminary research by the team found that Tianxiong Granules might treat hypertension by inhibiting sympathetic nerve excitation and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system(RAAS) and targeting mitochondrial autophagy to regulate the activation of the NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3(NLRP3) inflammasome. The activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome mediates pyroptosis, which is a key mechanism of hypertension. Next, the team will construct the adeno-associated viruses with downregulated NLRP3 expression via adenoviral vectors and use viral tracing technology, left stellate ganglionectomy, and a cardiac denervation model to reveal the mechanism of Tianxiong Granules in regulating the heart-brain interaction in hypertensive rats, from both in vivo and in vitro perspectives. In summary, exploring clinical treatment strategies for hypertension from both heart and brain based on the "heart-brain" axis is likely to be a new direction for the development of drugs for hypertension and offers a new target and basis for intervention in hypertension.
Humans ; Hypertension/physiopathology* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Brain/physiopathology* ; Animals ; Heart/physiopathology*

Hepatic fibrosis is a key pathological process in the development of chronic liver disease to cirrhosis, and its core mechanism involves the activation of hepatic stellate cells(HSC) and abnormal deposition of extracellular matrix(ECM). Although existing treatments, such as antiviral drugs, can delay disease progression, they have the problem of single therapeutic targets and cannot reverse fibrosis. Accordingly, multidimensional intervention strategies are urgently needed. Recent studies have shown that circadian rhythm disorders aggravate hepatic fibrosis by regulating metabolism, immunity, and inflammation. Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) plays a unique role in restoring the circadian clock via multi-target and holistic regulation. This paper establishes a three-dimensional network by systematically integrating biological clock, metabolism, and immunity for the first time to elucidate the scientific connotation of the theory of time-concerned treatment of TCM, and proposes a new strategy for the development of time-targeted compound prescriptions, providing innovative ideas for the treatment of hepatic fibrosis.
Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis/metabolism* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Circadian Rhythm/drug effects* ; Animals ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Hepatic Stellate Cells/drug effects*

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical symptoms and MRI outcomes of patients with ruptured lumbar disc herniation(LDH) through a multicenter randomized controlled study, and to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of Yiqi Huoxue formula() in the treatment of this disease. METHODS: A total of 160 outpatients and inpatients with ruptured LDH admitted to 4 medical centers from January 2023 to June 2023 were selected and randomly divided into the Yiqi Huoxue formula group and the control group, with 80 patients in each group. In the Yiqi Huoxue formula group, there were 43 males and 37 females, with an age of (41.03±9.56) years and a disease duration of (10.45±25.37) days, and the patients were treated with Yiqi Huoxue formula. In the control group, there were 34 males and 46 females, with an age of (42.14±8.73) years and a disease duration of (11.31±21.14) days;during the acute phase, patients in this group could take celecoxib capsules orally, and methylcobalamin orally at the same time. The Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score, Oswestry disability index (ODI), changes in the volume of herniated disc tissue on MRI, herniation rate, and absorption rate were recorded at the time of enrollment and during follow-ups at the 3rd, 6th, and 12th month after treatment. RESULTS: A total of 156 patients completed the clinical follow-up, and 4 patients withdrew midway. The clinical symptoms of all patients who completed the study were relieved to varying degrees, and reabsorption of herniated disc tissue was observed in all patients in the Yiqi Huoxue formula group after treatment. For the JOA score:in the Yiqi Huoxue formula group, it was (10.73±2.76) points before treatment and (24.65±2.19) points at the 12th month after treatment;in the control group, it was (11.01±1.20) points before treatment and (17.07±3.26) points at the 12th month after treatment. For the ODI score:in the Yiqi Huoxue formula group, it was (26.21±3.55) points before treatment and (5.65±2.19) points at the 12th month after treatment;in the control group, it was (27.92±2.51) points before treatment and (9.09±2.15) points at the 12th month after treatment. At the 12th month after treatment, the JOA and ODI scores of both groups were better than those before treatment, and the scores of the Yiqi Huoxue formula group were better than those of the control group, with statistically significant differences (P<0.05). In terms of the herniated disc volume and herniation rate on MRI, the Yiqi Huoxue formula group was superior to the control group, with statistically significant differences(P<0.05). Reabsorption occurred in 56.96%(45/79) of patients in the Yiqi Huoxue formula group, which was significantly higher than the 37.66%(29/77) in the control group. CONCLUSION After treatment with Yiqi Huoxue formula, patients with ruptured LDH show significant improvement in clinical symptoms and a marked reduction in the volume of herniated discs. During the follow-up period, no obvious adverse drug reactions are observed in patients, and no recurrence of symptoms is found at the last follow-up, indicating that the formula has safe and reliable efficacy.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement/drug therapy* ; Adult ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/adverse effects* ; Middle Aged ; Lumbar Vertebrae

OBJECTIVE To explore the in vitro and in vivo inhibitory effects and mechanism of metformin on the malignant biological behavior of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma （ESCC） cells by the hypoxia inducible factor-1α （HIF-1α）/interleukin-8 （IL-8） signaling pathway. METHODS Human ESCC TE1 cells were assigned into blank group， metformin low-， medium-， and high-dose groups （0.5， 1， 2 mmol/L）， IDF-11774 （HIF-1α inhibitor） group （20 μmol/L）， and high-dose metformin+HIF-1α activator dimethyloxalylglycine （DMOG） group. After 24 h treatment， cell proliferation [measured by the positive rate of 5-ethynyl- 2′-deoxyuridine （EdU） and optical density at 450 nm （OD450 value）]， apoptosis， invasion and migration as well as mRNA expressions of proliferating cell nuclear antigen （PCNA）， Bcl-2 interacting mediator of cell death （Bim）， migration and invasion enhancer 1 （MIEN1）， and matrix metalloproteinase-9 （MMP-9）， and protein expressions of HIF-1α and IL-8 in the cells were detected. The xenograft tumor model of nude mice was established. Thirty nude mice were randomly divided into blank group， metformin low-， medium-， and high-dose groups （i.g. administration of metformin 62.5， 125， 250 mg/kg+i.p. administration of equal volume of normal saline）， IDF-11774 group （i.g. administration of 50 mg/kg IDF-11774+i.p. administration of equal volume of normal saline） and high-dose metformin+DMOG group （i.g. administration of metformin 250 mg/kg+i.p. administration of DMOG 250 mg/kg）， with 5 mice in each group. They were given relevant medicine， once a day， for 4 consecutive weeks； the mass and volume of the tumor and protein expressions of HIF-1α and IL-8 in the tumor tissue were determined. RESULTS The EdU positive rate， OD450 value， cell invasion number， scratch healing rate， mRNA expressions of PCNA， MIEN1 and MMP-9， protein expressions of HIF-1α and IL-8， as well as the mass and volume of transplanted tumors and protein expressions of HIF-1α and IL-8 in tumor tissues were decreased by metformin in concentration/dose-dependent manner （P＜0.05）. Additionally，metformin increased the apoptosis rate and mRNA expression of Bim in cells （P＜0.05）. The trend of changes in corresponding indicators in the IDF-11774 group was consistent with that in the metformin groups， whereas DMOG could significantly attenuate the aforementioned effects of high-concentration/high-dose metformin （P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS Metformin can inhibit the proliferation， invasion， migration of TE1 cells， and tumor growth of nude mice， and induce cell apoptosis， the mechanism of which may be related to the inhibition of HIF-1α/IL-8 signaling pathway.