1.Harnessing Machine Learning for Personalized Care of Patients With Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Multicenter Cohort Study
Yen-Ting GUO ; Ching-Ting TAN ; Chen-Chi WU ; Chun-Ying WANG ; Chein-Yu HUANG ; Tzu-Hsiang YANG ; Ting-Yi LEE ; Ting-Hua YANG ; Tien-Chen LIU ; Pey-Yu CHEN ; Pei-Hsuan LIN
Clinical and Experimental Otorhinolaryngology 2026;19(2):194-204
Objectives:
. Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) is a significant cause of hearing loss. Intratympanic steroid injection (ITSI) is commonly used as an initial or salvage treatment; however, the lack of a standardized treatment protocol has resulted in variability in clinical practice. In addition, no efficient prediction model currently exists to support personalized management. Therefore, this study aimed to develop tailored management strategies for ISSNHL using a machine-learning model.
Methods:
. This retrospective multicenter cohort study was conducted between January 2015 and December 2020, with data analysis performed between January 2021 and March 2024. Patients were selected based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision criteria for ISSNHL, along with relevant medication and procedure codes. Patients with pure-tone audiogram results not meeting ISSNHL criteria, better initial hearing in the affected ear, an identifiable etiology, no post-treatment audiogram, or delayed treatment (>6 weeks) were excluded. We included 770 patients diagnosed with ISSNHL who received ITSI. The primary outcome was the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for prediction performance. Recovery status was determined using the last pure-tone audiogram. Modeling was conducted on the Quanta for Medical Care AI platform using five machine-learning algorithms and a nested cross-validation framework, in which feature selection and hyperparameter tuning were performed in the inner folds and model performance was evaluated in the outer folds.
Results:
. A random forest classifier outperformed the other models in predicting hearing outcomes, achieving an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.788. Time to ITSI was the most influential treatment-related factor, with ITSI administered within 10 days of hearing loss being associated with better outcomes. This model can be used to provide personalized prognostic estimates under different treatment protocols.
Conclusion
. The machine-learning-based prediction model facilitates personalized treatment strategies and timely treatment adjustments for ISSNHL, thereby optimizing the likelihood of complete recovery.
2.circHERC4_041 Inhibits the Fibrotic Phenotype of Cardiac Fibroblasts by Encoding Protein
Yuan GAO ; Chuan-Meng ZHOU ; Hua-Yan WU ; Ya WANG ; Ru-Shi WU ; Pei-Ying GUAN ; Jun-Tao FANG ; Jin-Dong XU ; Yu-Peng LIU ; Zhi-Qin HU ; Zhi-Xin SHAN
Chinese Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2025;41(3):393-403
A mounting body of research suggests that circRNAs significantly contribute to the develop-ment of myocardial fibrosis.The microarray results of human circular RNA expression profile indicated that circHERC4_041 expression increased in the myocardium of patients with heart failure,RT-qPCR a-nalysis confirmed that the myocardial expression level of circHERC4_041 in individuals with heart failure were considerably elevated compared to that in healthy organ donors.Fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH)confirmed that circHERC4_041 was abundant in the cytoplasm of human cardiomyocyte AC16.Overexpression of circHERC4_041 in mouse myocardial fibroblasts(mCFs)mediated by adenovirus in-hibited the expression of fibrosis-related proteins in mCFs.Experiments involving cell proliferation,wound healing,and Transwell assays demonstrated that overexpression of circHERC4_041 suppressed the growth and mobility of mCFs(P<0.001).Sequence analysis results suggested that circHERC4_041 con-tains potential ribosome entry sequence(IRES)and open reading frame(ORF).Western blot confirmed that circHERC4_041 could translate the 516 amino acid HERC4-516aa protein,which was mainly located in the cytoplasm of the cell.Cell functional experiments confirmed that circHERC4_041 inhibited the fi-brotic phenotype of mCFs by specifically translating HERC4-516aa(P<0.05).The specific interaction between HERC4-516aa and transglutaminase 2(TGM2)was confirmed by IP-MS screening and Co-IP i-dentification.Further results found that the degradation of TGM2 was promoted through proteasome path-way.The overexpression of TGM2 in mCFs facilitated by adenoviral vectors could counteract the suppres-sive effects of HERC4-516aa on the fibrotic phenotype of mCFs.Therefore,this study confirmed that the HERC4-516aa protein translated by circHERC4_041 can specifically bind to TGM2 to inhibit the fibrotic phenotype of myocardial fibroblasts.
3.Pharmacological effects of linarin on Aβ deposition and neuroinflammation in APP/PS1 mice
Pei-zhi MAO ; Ying-yan YAN ; Zeng-ze YAN ; Jian-hua QI ; Long-hu WANG ; Qi-jun CHEN
Chinese Pharmacological Bulletin 2025;41(4):661-667
Aim To investigate the effect of linarin on improving cognitive behavior of APP/PS1 mice,and to explore the therapeutic effect of linarin on A β deposi-tion and neuroinflammation and its correlation.Meth-ods APP/PS1 transgenic mice were randomly divid-ed into the model group,high-dose group,medium-dose group,low-dose group and positive control group.C57BL/6J mice were set as the normal group.Morris water maze was used to evaluate the learning and mem-ory abilities of mice.TUNEL staining was used to de-tect the apoptosis of neurons in the CA1 region of mice.IHC was used to detect the expression levels of Aβ42 and GFAP.Western blot was used to detect the expression levels of BACE1 and PS-1.Results Com-pared with the normal group,mice of the model group showed lower NCP,shorter target quadrant travel,less target quadrant residence time percentage(all P<0.01),higher apoptosis rate of neurons in the CA1 re-gion(P<0.01),significantly higher protein expres-sion levels of A β42 and GFAP(all P<0.01),and significantly higher protein expression levels of BACE1 and PS-1(all P<0.01).Compared with the model group,the medium-dose group,high-dose group and positive control group showed higher NCP,longer tar-get quadrant travel,more target quadrant residence time percentage(all P<0.05),lower apoptosis rate of neurons in the CA1 region(P<0.01),significantly lower protein expression levels of A β42 and GFAP(all P<0.01),and significantly lower protein expression levels of BACE1 and PS-1(all P<0.01).Conclu-sions Linarin can inhibit two key enzymes to reduce the decomposition of APP and the generation of A β42,thereby inhibiting the activation of astrocytes,allevia-ting neuroinflammation,improving the core pathologi-cal features of AD,and thus significantly improving learning and memory impairment in APP/PS1 mice.
4.CXCL8 expression and its clinical significance in cervical cancer tissues
Hua ZHANG ; Ibibulla NURBIA ; Pengfei LU ; Chunli JIA ; Xuanxuan PEI ; Yongxing BAO
Journal of China Medical University 2025;54(10):914-918,925
Objective To assess the expression of CXCL8 in cervical cancer and its association with clinicopathological features and therapeutic efficacy of patients.Methods Bioinformatic analysis was performed using The Cancer Genome Atlas and Genotype-Tissue Expression databases to compare CXCL8 expression between cervical cancer and normal tissues.R software(version 4.4.0)was used for data analysis,with the timeROC package applied to construct time-dependent receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves for evalua-ting the prognostic predictive efficacy of CXCL8.The survival package with the survfit function was used to compare survival differences between CXCL8 high-and low-expression groups.Clinical data and tissue specimens were collected from 94 patients with cervical squa-mous cell cancer treated at The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University between January 2017 and December 2021.Immu-nohistochemical staining was used to detect CXCL8 expression levels and analyze its correlation with clinicopathological characteristics,therapeutic efficacy,and prognosis.Results Bioinformatic analysis showed that CXCL8 was highly expressed in cervical cancer tissues than in normal tissues(P<0.05).Time-dependent ROC curves and survival analyses showed that patients with high CXCL8 expression had significantly shorter overall survival than those with low CXCL8 expression(P<0.001).Immunohistochemical results showed that CXCL8 expression in cervical cancer tissues was significantly higher than that in adjacent tissues(P<0.000 1).Clinical correlation analy-sis revealed that CXCL8 expression levels were associated with treatment regimen(P<0.001)and short-term therapeutic efficacy(P=0.017).Compared to the low-expression group,the high-expression group showed a significantly lower therapeutic efficacy and shorter overall survival(P<0.05).Conclusion CXCL8 is highly expressed in cervical cancer tissues,and patients with high CXCL8 expression have poor prognosis.Thus,CXCL8 may be an effective target for assessing the prognosis and clinical treatment of cervical cancer.
5.The impact of the number of negative lymph node resections on the overall survival and recurrence rate of patients with ovarian cancer
Li XIN ; Weibin WANG ; Xinrong WEI ; Qingqing PEI ; Hua WEI
The Journal of Practical Medicine 2025;41(21):3412-3421
Objective To explore the impact of the number of negative lymph node resections on the overall survival and recurrence rate of patients with ovarian cancer.Methods A retrospective selection was made of 150 ovarian cancer patients admitted to our hospital from October 2021 to October 2023 as the research subjects.According to the standard of the number of negative lymph nodes removed,they were divided into three groups:T1 group(≤17),T2 group(18~27),and T3 group(≥28).Clinical characteristics and surgical indicators were collected,and the recurrence and survival situations were analyzed.Results The clinical characteristic analysis results showed that there were no statistically significant differences among the three groups in terms of age,meno-pausal status,BMI,CCI,family history of tumors,etc.(P>0.05).There were no significant differences in surgi-cal methods,residual lesion size,postoperative complications among the three groups(P>0.05).In terms of operation time,T1 group
6.Expert Consensus on the Ethical Requirements for Generative AI-Assisted Academic Writing
You-Quan BU ; Yong-Fu CAO ; Zeng-Yi CHANG ; Hong-Yu CHEN ; Xiao-Wei CHEN ; Yuan-Yuan CHEN ; Zhu-Cheng CHEN ; Rui DENG ; Jie DING ; Zhong-Kai FAN ; Guo-Quan GAO ; Xu GAO ; Lan HU ; Xiao-Qing HU ; Hong-Ti JIA ; Ying KONG ; En-Min LI ; Ling LI ; Yu-Hua LI ; Jun-Rong LIU ; Zhi-Qiang LIU ; Ya-Ping LUO ; Xue-Mei LV ; Yan-Xi PEI ; Xiao-Zhong PENG ; Qi-Qun TANG ; You WAN ; Yong WANG ; Ming-Xu WANG ; Xian WANG ; Guang-Kuan XIE ; Jun XIE ; Xiao-Hua YAN ; Mei YIN ; Zhong-Shan YU ; Chun-Yan ZHOU ; Rui-Fang ZHU
Chinese Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2025;41(6):826-832
With the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence(GAI)technologies,their widespread application in academic research and writing is continuously expanding the boundaries of sci-entific inquiry.However,this trend has also raised a series of ethical and regulatory challenges,inclu-ding issues related to authorship,content authenticity,citation accuracy,and accountability.In light of the growing involvement of AI in generating academic content,establishing an open,controllable,and trustworthy ethical governance framework has become a key task for safeguarding research integrity and maintaining trust within the academic community.This expert consensus outlines ethical requirements across key stages of AI-assisted academic writing-including topic selection,data management,citation practices,and authorship attribution.It aims to clarify the boundaries and ethical obligations surrounding AI use in academic writing,ensuring that technological tools enhance efficiency without compromising in-tegrity.The goal is to provide guidance and institutional support for building a responsible and sustainable research ecosystem.
7.Expert Consensus on the Ethical Requirements for Generative AI-Assisted Academic Writing
You-Quan BU ; Yong-Fu CAO ; Zeng-Yi CHANG ; Hong-Yu CHEN ; Xiao-Wei CHEN ; Yuan-Yuan CHEN ; Zhu-Cheng CHEN ; Rui DENG ; Jie DING ; Zhong-Kai FAN ; Guo-Quan GAO ; Xu GAO ; Lan HU ; Xiao-Qing HU ; Hong-Ti JIA ; Ying KONG ; En-Min LI ; Ling LI ; Yu-Hua LI ; Jun-Rong LIU ; Zhi-Qiang LIU ; Ya-Ping LUO ; Xue-Mei LV ; Yan-Xi PEI ; Xiao-Zhong PENG ; Qi-Qun TANG ; You WAN ; Yong WANG ; Ming-Xu WANG ; Xian WANG ; Guang-Kuan XIE ; Jun XIE ; Xiao-Hua YAN ; Mei YIN ; Zhong-Shan YU ; Chun-Yan ZHOU ; Rui-Fang ZHU
Chinese Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2025;41(6):826-832
With the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence(GAI)technologies,their widespread application in academic research and writing is continuously expanding the boundaries of sci-entific inquiry.However,this trend has also raised a series of ethical and regulatory challenges,inclu-ding issues related to authorship,content authenticity,citation accuracy,and accountability.In light of the growing involvement of AI in generating academic content,establishing an open,controllable,and trustworthy ethical governance framework has become a key task for safeguarding research integrity and maintaining trust within the academic community.This expert consensus outlines ethical requirements across key stages of AI-assisted academic writing-including topic selection,data management,citation practices,and authorship attribution.It aims to clarify the boundaries and ethical obligations surrounding AI use in academic writing,ensuring that technological tools enhance efficiency without compromising in-tegrity.The goal is to provide guidance and institutional support for building a responsible and sustainable research ecosystem.
8.Analysis on the current status of outpatient benefit policies for patients with hypertension and diabetes in urban and rural residents
Pei-lin WU ; Jing LIANG ; Yan-qing MIAO ; Dong-hua TIAN
Chinese Journal of Health Policy 2025;18(2):24-29
Objective:To analyze the current policy design of outpatient benefit policies for patients with hypertension and diabetes(H&D)in urban and rural residents in China,and to provide references for optimizing the outpatient benefit mechanism for patients with H&D.Methods:A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data on the basic features of General Outpatient Benefit(GOB),Outpatient Medication Guarantee Mechanisms for Hypertension and Diabetes(OMGM-H&D)and Outpatient Benefit for Patient with Chronic and Special Diseases(OB-C&S),focusing on deductibles,policy reimbursement ratios,and maximum payment limits.Descriptive statistical analysis was performed on the data.Results:A total of 334 regions were surveyed,of which 253 regions(75.34%)had implemented all three policies.Regional analysis revealed significant differences(P<0.001)in reimbursement ratios for GOB and the OMGM-H&D between the eastern,central,and western regions,with the western region having notably higher ratios than the eastern and central regions.However,no significant difference (P>0.05) was observed in the reimbursement ratios for OB-C&S across regions. Regarding deductibles,no significant regional difference (P>0.05) was found for GOB,but significant differences (P<0.05) existed for the OMGM-H&D and OB-C&S. Additionally,the annual maximum payment limits for all three policies showed significant regional variations (P<0.001). Conclusions:The outpatient benefits policy for patients with H&D have achieved full coverage nationwide among urban and rural residents in China,but regional equity in benefit levels requires improvement. It is recommended to strengthen data feedback mechanisms and promote provincial-level pooling of medical insurance.
9.Endurance exercise alleviates cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats by activating Mas/PKA/CREB/UCP2 signaling pathway
Hui-sheng WU ; Hua-xun WU ; Wen-long DAI ; Jun CHENG ; Pei-pei GUO
Chinese Pharmacological Bulletin 2025;41(6):1079-1085
Aim To investigate the effects of endur-ance exercise(EE)on rats following cerebral ischemi-a/reperfusion injury(CI/RI)and to explore its rela-tionship with the Mas signaling pathway.Methods Seventy-two adult male SD rats were randomly divided into four groups(n=18 each):sham group,model group,EE group(group E),and A779 pretreatment group(group A).The CI/RI model was established u-sing middle cerebral artery occlusion method Rats in both group E and group A underwent regular running for four weeks before model preparation,while rats in group A were injected with A779 30 minutes before model preparation.The cognitive function of rats was evaluated using the Neurological Disability Score(NDS)and Morris water maze test.After intravenous injection of Evans blue(EB)for one hour,the rats were euthanized,and brain tissues were collected to measure the infarction volume,EB content,ROS con-tent,and the percentage of apoptotic neurons of the hippocampal CA1 region.The protein expression relat-ed to the Mas pathway was detected by Western blot.Results Compared with the model group,the learning and memory ability as well as the neurological function in group E exhibited a significant improvement(P<0.05).Both the cerebral infarction volume and the ap-optotic neuron percentage in the ischemic hippocampal CA1 region showed a significant reduction in group E(P<0.05).The ROS content along with the EB con-tent in the brain tissue significantly decreased in group E(P<0.05).Furthermore,the expressions of Mas/PKA/CREB/UCP2 pathway related proteins were sig-nificantly enhanced in group E(P<0.05).However,the Mas receptor antagonist A779 significantly inhibited these neurological effects(P<0.05).Conclusion EE may inhibit oxidative stress and alleviate CI/RI in rats by activating the Mas/PKA/CREB/UCP2 signaling pathway.
10.Mechanism of Polygonum capitatum on atherosclerosis based on data mining
Zi YE ; Yun-pei WANG ; Yu-hui WANG ; Xun-de XIAN ; Xiao-jie LI ; Chun-hua HUANG ; Yuan-zhu LIAO ; Di-dong LOU ; Yi-xia ZHOU
Chinese Pharmacological Bulletin 2025;41(12):2369-2378
Aim To systematically investigate the ac-tive components,targets,and regulatory pathways of Po-lygonum capitatum in intervening atherosclerosis(AS)through network pharmacology,molecular docking and animal experiments.Methods Active components of Polygonum capitatum and AS-related targets were screened and identified through database searches.Protein-protein interaction(PPI)network analysis was performed using the STRING database,followed by GO and KEGG enrichment analyses via the David plat-form.Molecular docking validation was conducted with AutoDock.An AS model was established in Syrian golden hamsters fed a high-fat diet.Predicted pathways and targets were validated using qPCR,ELISA,and histopathological assessment of aortic and hepatic tis-sues via HE staining.Results Network pharmacology identified 27 potential active components of Polygonum capitatum(primarily flavonoids such as quercetin and luteolin)and 110 drug-disease intersection targets,in-cluding core targets MMP-9,ALB,and AKT1.GO and KEGG analyses enriched 593 and 125 pathways,re-spectively,with the NF-κB inflammatory pathway,TNF signaling pathway and lipid metabolism/atherosclerosis pathways highlighted as key mechanisms.Animal ex-periments demonstrated that Polygonum capitatum im-proved serum lipid profiles(reduced TC,TG,LDL-C)in AS hamsters,suppressed the MMP-9/NF-κB signa-ling pathway(downregulated MMP-9,p65 phosphoryla-tion,TNF-α,and IL-6),and inhibited VSMC synthetic phenotypic transformation(upregulated α-SMA and myocardin)by downregulating MCPIP1.Additionally,Polygonum capitatum ameliorated aortic lesions and he-patic lipid deposition in AS hamsters.Conclusions Polygonum capitatum alleviates AS by synergistically regulating the MMP-9/NF-κB/MCPIP1 axis through flavonoid components,suppressing vascular inflammato-ry cascades and maintaining VSMC contractile pheno-types.This reflects Polygonum capitatum's multi-com-ponent,multi-pathway,and multi-target characteristics in combating AS.

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