ObjectiveTo observe the clinical effectiveness and safety of Qingfei Shenshi Decoction （清肺渗湿汤） combined with western medicine for patients with bronchial asthma of heat wheezing syndrome， and to explore its potential mechanism of action. MethodsEighty-six participants with bronchial asthma of heat wheezing syndrome were randomly divided into treatment group and control group， each group with 43 participants. The control group received conventional western medicine， and the treatment group was additionally administered Qingfei Shenshi Decoction orally on the basis of the control group， 1 dose per day. Both groups were treated for 14 days. The primary outcome measure was clinical effectiveness； secondary outcome measures included traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndrome score， asthma control test （ACT） score， pulmonary function indices such as forced expiratory volume in 1 second （FEV₁）， forced vital capacity （FVC）， peak expiratory flow （PEF）， serum inflammatory factor levels including interleukin-4 （IL-4）， tumour necrosis factor-α （TNF-α）， and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein （hs-CRP）， and immune function indices including CD3⁺， CD4⁺， CD8⁺， CD4⁺/CD8⁺. All outcome measures were evaluated before and after treatment. Vital signs were monitored， and electrocardiography， blood routine， urine routine， liver function， and renal function tests were performed before and after treatment. Adverse events and reactions during the study were recorded. ResultsA total of 80 patients completed the trial with 40 in each group. The total clinical effective rate of the treatment group was 97.5% （39/40）， which was significantly higher than that of the control group （85.0%， 34/40， P＜0.05）. After treatment， both groups showed decreased TCM syndrome scores， IL-4， TNF-α， hs-CRP， and CD8⁺ levels， as well as increased ACT scores， CD3⁺， CD4⁺， CD4⁺/CD8⁺， FEV₁， FVC， and PEF levels （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. Moreover， the improvements in these indices were more significant in the treatment group than in the control group （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. No significant abnormalities in safety indicators were observed in either group， and no adverse events or reactions occurred. ConclusionQingfei Shenshi Decoction combined with conventional western medicine for patients with bronchial asthma of heat wheezing syndrome can effectively improve the clinical symptoms， pulmonary function， and clinical effectiveness， with good safety. Its mechanism may be related to reducing inflammatory factor levels and regulating T lymphocyte subsets to improve immune function.

Background The quality of occupational health technical services is directly linked to the protection of workers' health rights and the efficacy of occupational disease prevention and control. However, the industry still faces critical challenges: sporadic instances of institutional non-compliance and persistent irregularities in professional practice continue to undermine overall service performance. Objective To assess the current quality status of occupational health technical services in Zhejiang Province and propose countermeasures for quality improvement, providing a scientific basis for policy optimization and service delivery quality enhancement. Methods A total of 69 occupational health technical service institutions in Zhejiang Province that obtained formal accreditation as of April 30, 2024, were sampled, including 3 public institutions and 66 private institutions (comprising 3 formerly Class-A, 28 formerly Class-B, 11 formerly Class-C, and 24 newly certified institutions). Following the Technical Protocol for Quality Monitoring of Occupational Health Technical Service in Zhejiang Province and the Technical Protocol for Proficiency Testing of Occupational Health Detection in Zhejiang Province, a quality assessment task force comprising national and provincial experts was established. Evaluation was conducted across four dimensions: qualification maintenance and compliance, standardization of technical services, authenticity of technical services, and proficiency testing, utilizing a combination of document review, on-site inspections, and technical skill assessments. Results The occupational health technical service institutions in Zhejiang Province were predominantly private entities (82.5%), with significant disparities in overall service quality. The pass rates for qualification maintenance and compliance, technical service standardization, technical service authenticity, and the excellence rate for laboratory proficiency testing were 81.5%, 80.7%, 97.3%, and 90.4%, respectively. Regarding qualification maintenance, the pass rates for "environmental conditions" (49.8%, 56.7%) and "instrumentation and equipment" (58.2%、65.6%) were significantly lower for formerly Class-C and newly certified institutions compared to other categories. In terms of technical standardization, "standardized on-site inspections" recorded the lowest pass rate (67.4%), with newly certified institutions at only 48.0%. Regarding technical service authenticity, formerly Class-C institutions exhibited issues such as missing raw chromatograms for blank samples (85.7% pass rate). In laboratory proficiency testing, public and formerly Class-A institutions achieved 100% excellence rates, but the performance of formerly Class-C and newly certified institutions was comparatively weak; specifically, the failure rate for organic analysis in formerly Class-C institutions reached 20%; the failure rate for dust testing items in newly certified institutions was 10.3%. Conclusion The overall quality of occupational health technical services in Zhejiang Province still requires significant improvement, particularly in basic institutional conditions, the standardization of on-site inspections, and laboratory proficiency in organic and dust analysis. Formerly Class-C and newly certified institutions should be the primary focus of quality management efforts. Differentiated regulatory strategies are recommended, alongside strengthening interim and ex-post supervision to gradually enhance the quality of occupational health technical services across all institutions.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the correlation of component content with colorimetric values during the roasting process of Ziziphus jujuba ， and to provide criteria for discriminating the roasting degree of Z. jujuba . METHODS Samples were prepared by dry stir-frying for different roasting times. The eight main components in raw Z. jujuba and the samples stir-fried for different roasting times-namely adenosine， magnoflorine， jujuboside A， spinosin， 6-feruloylspinosin， betulinic acid， oleic acid， and linoleic acid-were quantitativel y analyzed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography. The chromaticity values were determined using a UV spectrophotometer. The correlation and differences between the chromaticity values of Z. jujuba at different roasting times and their components content were analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis， linear regression analysis， principal component analysis （PCA） ， cluster heatmap analysis （CHA）， and partial least squares discriminant analysis （PLS-DA） to clarify the processing endpoint. RESULTS As the roasting time increased， the contents of linoleic acid and oleic acid decreased， while the contents of other components exhibited an increasing trend. Concurrently， the colorimetric value L* and E*ab were observed to decline， whereas the a* value demonstrated a gradual increase. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that L* and E*ab exhibited a significant negative correlation with the contents of adenosine， spinosin， 6-feruloylspinosin， jujuboside A， betulinic acid and magnoflorine （ P ＜0.05）. The results of linear regression analysis indicate that the content of six components, including adenosine， in the medicinal material can be preliminarily predicted by analyzing the colorimetric values of Z. jujuba powder. PCA and CHA successfully classified raw and stir-fried samples. The PLS-DA results indicated that L*， E*ab， a*， linoleic acid content， and oleic acid content were the main parameters that differentiated the color and quality of Z. jujuba at different roasting times. After frying for 9 to 10 minutes， the colorimetric values L* and E*ab decreased to their minimum values and stabilized， while a* remained consistently high with little variation；simultaneously， the concentrations of the six major components， excluding linoleic acid and oleic acid， reached their peak levels. CONCLUSIONS A significant correlation between the colorimetric values of Z. jujuba and the contents of six components， including adenosine， is confirmed. The optimal roasting time range is determined to be 9-10 minutes. Furthermore， the colorimetric value-component content correlation analysis method established in this study proved to be practical and applicable for discriminating the roasting degree of Z. jujuba .

ObjectiveTo express and purify the endolysin PlyL from the Bacillus anthracis prophage LambdaBa02 in prokaryotic cells, and to explore its role in the detection of Bacillus anthracis, so as to provide a novel strategy for the specific and rapid detection of Bacillus anthracis.MethodsAccording to the sequence of Bacillus anthracis vaccine strain CVCC40205 registered in GenBank, the plyL gene was amplified by PCR with plyL gene-specific primers and inserted into the prokaryotic expression vector pET28a(+) to construct the recombinant expression plasmid pET28a(+)-His-plyL, which was then transformed into E.coli BL21(DE3) and induced by IPTG. The induced expression conditions were optimized to enhance soluble expression, and the recombinant PlyL protein was purified via nickel-affinity chromatography. The lytic activity of recombinant PlyL protein was assessed by measuring absorbance values, and an ELISA method was established to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of Bacillus anthracis detection.ResultsThe recombinant expression plasmid pET28a(+)-His-plyL was confirmed to be correctly constructed by NdeⅠ and XhoⅠ double digestion and sequencing. The optimal induction conditions were 0. 5 mmol/L IPTG at 16 ℃ for 16 h. The relative molecular mass of the expressed recombinant PlyL protein was about 28 600. After purification and concentration, the final concentration of the protein was2. 55 mg/mL, and the purity reached 80. 6%. The purified recombinant PlyL protein could reduce the A_(600)value of Bacillus anthracis culture solution. The sensitivity of the preliminarily established ELISA method for detecting Bacillus anthracis was1 × 10~3 CFU/mL, and there was no cross-reactivity against closely related strains such as Bacillus cereus and Bacillus thuringiensis(P < 0. 000 1).ConclusionThe recombinant PlyL protein was successfully expressed and purified in prokaryotic cells, which exhibits both efficient lytic activity and species specificity, making it a promising novel tool for the rapid detection of Bacillus anthracis.

To explore the advantages of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） and integrative TCM-Western medicine approaches in the treatment of diabetic microvascular complications （DMC）， refine key pathophysiological insights and treatment principles， and promote academic innovation and strategic research planning in the prevention and treatment of DMC. The 38th session of the Expert Salon on Diseases Responding Specifically to Traditional Chinese Medicine， hosted by the China Association of Chinese Medicine， was held in Beijing， 2024. Experts in TCM， Western medicine， and interdisciplinary fields convened to conduct a systematic discussion on the pathogenesis， diagnostic and treatment challenges， and mechanism research related to DMC， ultimately forming a consensus on key directions. Four major research recommendations were proposed. The first is addressing clinical bottlenecks in the prevention and control of DMC by optimizing TCM-based evidence evaluation systems. The second is refining TCM core pathogenesis across DMC stages and establishing corresponding "disease-pattern-time" framework. The third is innovating mechanism research strategies to facilitate a shift from holistic regulation to targeted intervention in TCM. The fourth is advancing interdisciplinary collaboration to enhance the role of TCM in new drug development， research prioritization， and guideline formulation. TCM and integrative approaches offer distinct advantages in managing DMC. With a focus on the diseases responding specifically to TCM， strengthening evidence-based support and mechanism interpretation and promoting the integration of clinical care and research innovation will provide strong momentum for the modernization of TCM and the advancement of national health strategies.

ObjectiveTo explore the diagnostic value of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and to investigate the changes in brain functional connectivity in default mode network (DMN) and medial temporal lobe (MTL) regions. MethodsLiteratures were retrieved from multiple databases including CNKI, PubMed, Medline, and Embase, etc. from January, 2020 to October, 2025, investigating the changes in functional connectivity of DMN and MTL in patients with MCI compared to health control (HC) using rs-fMRI. Two researchers independently screened and extracted the literatures and methodological quality was assessed using QUADAS-2. Review Manager 5.4 was used to perform a meta-analysis of neuroimaging indicators in MCI patients and HC subjects. Stata and SDM were utilized to summarize diagnostic efficacy and brain functional connectivity, calculating the over all sensitivity, specificity and summary receiver operating characteristic-area under the curve (SROC-AUC). Deeks funnel plots were drawn, literature weights were analyzed, and subgroup analyses were conducted. ResultsA total of ten literatures were ultimately included, involving 1 010 patients with MCI and 1 714 HC subjects. MCI patients showed decreased or abnormal blood oxygen level dependence signals in DMN, focusing on bilateral medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and posterior cingulate cortex. The SROC-AUC was 0.91. In MTL, there was a characteristic decrease of spontaneous neural functional connectivities between the hippocampus and other regions, reflecting the obstruction of information transmission from episodic memory to the central nodes. Abnormal functional connectivity in DMN and MTL resulted in compensatory resting-state functional connectivity enhancement in other subnetworks or local functional connections, such as frontoparietal network and the hippocampal-parietal network. Abnormal activation of mPFC suggested atrophy of the hippocampus or abnormal brain function. The decline in functional connectivity between DMN and MTL indicated impairment of memory and information processing in the early stage. ConclusionThe early functional decoupling between DMN and MTL is a crucial neural mechanism at the MCI stage of AD, providing important neuroimaging evidence for the early diagnosis of AD.

Dendritic cells (DCs) serve as the primary antigen-presenting cells in autoimmune diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and exhibit distinct signaling profiles due to antigenic diversity. Type II collagen (CII) has been recognized as an RA-specific antigen; however, little is known about CII-stimulated DCs, limiting the development of RA-specific therapeutic interventions. In this study, we show that CII-stimulated DCs display a preferential gene expression profile associated with migration, offering a new perspective for targeting DC migration in RA treatment. Then, saikosaponin D (SSD) was identified as a compound capable of blocking CII-induced DC migration and effectively ameliorating arthritis. Optineurin (OPTN) is further revealed as a potential SSD target, with Optn deletion impairing CII-pulsed DC migration without affecting maturation. Function analyses uncover that OPTN prevents the proteasomal transport and ubiquitin-dependent degradation of C-C chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7), a pivotal chemokine receptor in DC migration. Optn-deficient DCs exhibit reduced CCR7 expression, leading to slower migration in CII-surrounded environment, thus alleviating arthritis progression. Our findings underscore the significance of antigen-specific DC activation in RA and suggest OPTN is a crucial regulator of CII-specific DC migration. OPTN emerges as a promising drug target for RA, potentially offering significant value for the therapeutic management of RA.

Taxifolin (TAX) is a natural compound known for its liver protection effect, but the mechanism remains unknown. Phosphorylated proteomics analyses discovered that the phosphorylation level of NDRG1 at T328 was a key event of TAX-improved liver fibrosis. We established models with NDRG1 knockout (KO) in vivo and in vitro, demonstrating that NDRG1 KO attenuated the development of hepatocyte injury, and combining NDRG1 KO and TAX administration did not result in a reduction in protection against liver injury. Cellular thermal shift assay and surface plasma resonance analysis showed that TAX directly binds to NDRG1 rather than its upstream kinase, subsequently demonstrating that TAX regulated phosphorylation of NDRG1 at T328 through binding to its C289 site. NDRG1 T328A (phosphorylated mutation) and T328E (mimic phosphorylation) in vivo and in vitro confirmed that pNDRG1_T328 exacerbates hepatocyte injury along with DNA damage, inflammatory response, and apoptosis, thereby contributing to hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) activation. In contrast, TAX can inhibit the above pathological abnormalities and block hepatocyte injury-triggered HSCs activation and fibrosis. Overall, TAX is a potent liver protection drug primarily targeting NDRG1 and inhibiting pNDRG1_T328 in hepatocytes.

The ventral anterior (VA) nucleus of the thalamus is a major target of the basal ganglia and is closely associated with the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Notably, the VA receives direct innervation from the hypothalamic histaminergic system. However, its role in PD remains unknown. Here, we assessed the contribution of histamine to VA neuronal activity and PD motor deficits. Functional magnetic resonance imaging showed reduced VA activity in PD patients. Optogenetic activation of VA neurons or histaminergic afferents significantly alleviated motor deficits in 6-OHDA-induced PD rats. Furthermore, histamine excited VA neurons via H1 and H2 receptors and their coupled hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated channels, inward-rectifier K⁺ channels, or Ca²⁺-activated K⁺ channels. These results demonstrate that histaminergic afferents actively compensate for Parkinsonian motor deficits by biasing VA activity. These findings suggest that targeting VA histamine receptors and downstream ion channels may be a potential therapeutic strategy for PD motor dysfunction.
Animals ; Histamine/metabolism* ; Male ; Oxidopamine/toxicity* ; Rats ; Ventral Thalamic Nuclei/physiopathology* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Disease Models, Animal ; Parkinson Disease/metabolism* ; Neurons/physiology* ; Humans ; Optogenetics

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is linked to an increased prevalence of myocardial infarction (MI). However, research dedicated to elucidating the pathogenesis of AS-MI is lacking. In this study, we explored the biomarkers for enhancing the diagnostic and therapeutic efficiency of AS-MI. Datasets were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. We employed weighted gene co-expression network analysis and machine learning models to screen hub genes. A receiver operating characteristic curve and a nomogram were designed to assess diagnostic accuracy. Gene set enrichment analysis was conducted to reveal the potential function of hub genes. Immune infiltration analysis indicated the correlation between hub genes and the immune landscape. Subsequently, we performed single-cell analysis to identify the expression and subcellular localization of hub genes. We further constructed a transcription factor (TF)-microRNA (miRNA) regulatory network. Finally, drug prediction and molecular docking were performed. S100A12 and MCEMP1 were identified as hub genes, which were correlated with immune-related biological processes. They exhibited high diagnostic value and were predominantly expressed in myeloid cells. Furthermore, 24 TFs and 9 miRNA were associated with these hub genes. Enzastaurin, meglitinide, and nifedipine were predicted as potential therapeutic agents. Our study indicates that S100A12 and MCEMP1 exhibit significant potential as biomarkers and therapeutic targets for AS-MI, offering novel insights into the underlying etiology of this condition.
Humans ; Spondylitis, Ankylosing/complications* ; Systems Biology/methods* ; Myocardial Infarction/diagnosis* ; Biomarkers/metabolism* ; MicroRNAs/genetics* ; Gene Regulatory Networks ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Machine Learning