[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.apsb.2021.07.004.].

The continuous emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants as well as other potential future coronavirus has challenged the effectiveness of current COVID-19 vaccines. Therefore, there remains a need for alternative antivirals that target processes less susceptible to mutations, such as the formation of six-helix bundle (6-HB) during the viral fusion step of host cell entry. In this study, a novel high-throughput screening (HTS) assay employing a yeast-two-hybrid (Y2H) system was established to identify inhibitors of HR1/HR2 interaction. The compound IMB-9C, which achieved single-digit micromolar inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 and its Omicron variants with low cytotoxicity, was selected. IMB-9C effectively blocks the HR1/HR2 interaction in vitro and inhibits SARS-CoV-2-S-mediated cell-cell fusion. It binds to both HR1 and HR2 through non-covalent interaction and influences the secondary structure of HR1/HR2 complex. In addition, virtual docking and site-mutagenesis results suggest that amino acid residues A930, I931, K933, T941, and L945 are critical for IMB-9C binding to HR1. Collectively, in this study, we have developed a novel screening method for HR1/HR2 interaction inhibitors and identified IMB-9C as a potential antiviral small molecule against COVID-19 and its variants.

The oxytocin receptor (OXTR) has garnered increasing attention for its role in regulating both mature behaviors and brain development. It has been established that OXTR mediates a range of effects that are region-specific or period-specific. However, the current studies of OXTR expression patterns in mice only provide limited help due to limitations in resolution. Therefore, our objective was to generate a comprehensive, high-resolution spatiotemporal expression map of Oxtr mRNA across the entire developing mouse brain. We applied RNAscope in situ hybridization to investigate the spatiotemporal expression pattern of Oxtr in the brains of male mice at six distinct postnatal developmental stages (P7, P14, P21, P28, P42, P56). We provide detailed descriptions of Oxtr expression patterns in key brain regions, including the cortex, basal forebrain, hippocampus, and amygdaloid complex, with a focus on the precise localization of Oxtr⁺ cells and the variance of expression between different neurons. Furthermore, we identified some neuronal populations with high Oxtr expression levels that have been little studied, including glutamatergic neurons in the ventral dentate gyrus, Vgat⁺Oxtr⁺ cells in the basal forebrain, and GABAergic neurons in layers 4/5 of the cortex. Our study provides a novel perspective for understanding the distribution of Oxtr and encourages further investigations into its functions.
Animals ; Receptors, Oxytocin/metabolism* ; Male ; Brain/growth & development* ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Neurons/metabolism* ; Single-Cell Analysis ; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ; RNA, Messenger/metabolism* ; Animals, Newborn

ObjectiveTo investigate the efficacy and mechanism of saffron floral bio-residues（SFB） in the treatment of hyperuricemia（HUA） combined with gouty arthritis（GA） in a compound compatibility setting. MethodScreening candidate control Chinese medicines for compound and SFB based on network target distance calculation and data analysis. After adaptive feeding of 80 SD rats for 7 days， 10 rats were randomly selected as the blank group， while the remaining 70 rats were intraperitoneally injected with 3% potassium oxonate and orally administered with 1% adenine for 14 consecutive days. On the 13^th day， rats were injected with 2.5% sodium urate solution into the right ankle joint cavity to induce swelling of the joint capsule on the opposite side， inducing a HUA combined with GA model. At the same time， the modeling rats were randomly divided into 7 groups， including the model group， benzbromarone group（positive drug， 0.02 g·kg^-1）， Tongfengshu tablets group（9 g·kg^-1）， Tongfengshu granules group（9 g·kg^-1）， SFB granules group（3.6 g·kg^-1）， Plantaginis Semen granules group（3.6 g·kg^-1）， and new formula group（SFB replacing Plantaginis Semen in Tongfengshu granules， 9 g·kg^-1）， with 10 rats in each group. Each treatment group was orally administered with the corresponding drugs according to body weight， while the control and model groups were given equal volume of distilled water by gavage once a day for 14 consecutive days. After 14 days of synchronous administration and modeling， changes in gait， ankle joint swelling and mechanical pain threshold in rats were observed， and serum uric acid， creatinine， urea nitrogen and xanthine oxidase（XOD） were measured. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELSIA） was used to detect the levels of tumor necrosis factor（TNF）-α， interleukin（IL）-1β and IL-6 in rat serum， hematoxylin-eosin（HE） staining was used to observe the pathological changes in the liver， kidney and ankle joints of rats， Western blot was used to detect the expression levels of uric acid transporter 1（URAT1）， glucose transporter 9 （GLUT9）， organic anion transporter 1（OAT1）， adenosine triphosphate（ATP） binding cassette transporter G2（ABCG2）， and liver XOD proteins. ResultThrough network pharmacology analysis， Plantaginis Semen was selected as a candidate control herb， and Tongfengshu tablets was used as a compound compatibility environment to explore the efficacy of SFB in reducing blood uric acid levels and treating GA. Animal experiments showed that compared with the blank group， the gait score and joint swelling degree of the model group were significantly increased， and the mechanical pain threshold was significantly decreased（P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the gait score， joint swelling degree and mechanical pain threshold of rats in each medication group were improved to varying degrees. Biochemical indicators showed that compared with the blank group， the serum uric acid， creatinine， urea nitrogen and XOD levels of the model group were significantly increased（P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the serum uric acid and XOD levels of rats in each treatment group were significantly decreased（P<0.01）. ELISA results showed that compared with the blank group， the levels of serum TNF-α， IL-1β and IL-6 in the model group were significantly increased（P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the levels of TNF-α， IL-1β and IL-6 in the benzbromarone group， Tongfengshu tablets group， Tongfengshu granules group and new formula group were significantly reduced（P<0.05，P<0.01）. Western blot results showed that compared with the blank group， the expression levels of URAT1 and GLUT9 proteins in renal tissue and OXD protein in liver tissue of the model group were significantly increased， while the expression levels of renal OAT1 and ABCG2 were significantly decreased（P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the expression levels of renal URAT1 and GLUT9 in the SFB granules group， Tongfengshu granules group and new formula group were significantly decreased， while the expression levels of renal OAT1 and ABCG2 were significantly increased， and the expression of XOD protein in liver tissue was significantly decreased（P<0.05， P<0.01）. Pathological analysis showed that focal infiltration of neutrophils， cell necrosis and nuclear fragmentation were observed in the liver tissue of the model group， sodium urate deposition crystals and tubular dilation appeared in renal tissue， synovial hyperplasia and inflammatory cell infiltration appeared in ankle joint. Compared with the model group， the abnormal degrees of liver， kidney and ankle joint tissue of rats in each treatment group were alleviated. ConclusionThe new formula of SFB replacing Plantaginis Semen has the same effect in the treatment of HUA combined with GA. This study proposes a new strategy to investigate the efficacy of new resources of Chinese medicine in a compound compatibility environment， which can provide a new demonstration for the research and development of new resources of Chinese medicine.

Objective To investigate the clinical effect and hearing loss of endolymphatic sac decompression(ESD)combined with one or two semicircular canal obstruction(SCO)in treating the patient with stage Ⅲ or stageⅣ Meniere disease.Methods Forty-three patients with stage Ⅲ or stage Ⅳ Meniere disease,who failed to respond to conventional conservative treatment and had the expectation of preserving residual hearing function,were enrolled in the study.They were divided into three groups according to the operation they underwent:ESD combined with lateral and posterior semicircular canal obstruction(ESD+LPSCO)13 cases,ESD combined with lateral semicircu-lar canal obstruction(ESD+LPSCO)14 cases,and ESD only 16 cases.Data of vertigo,ear fullness and tinnitus be-fore and after operation was collected,analyzed and compared.Hearing function before and after the operation was also evaluated.Results The number of vertigo attacks in the three groups(ESD+LPSCO,ESD+LSCO,and ESD)were all significantly reduced after operation.The vertigo control rate were 92.3％,78.6％and 62.5％re-spectively.Compared with pre-operation,the vertigo severity post-operation in the three groups were also signifi-cantly reduced.And the improvement rate of vertigo severity after ESD+LPSCO and ESD+LSCO were both 100％,which were significantly higher than that of ESD(68.8％).The discomfort of tinnitus and ear fullness in the three groups were significantly improved compared with that of pre-operation.The improvement rates of tinnitus in the three groups were 46.2％,50.0％and 43.8％respectively,with no significant difference.The improvement rate of ear fullness in the three groups were 61.5％,57.1％and 50.0％respectively,with no significant difference either.The proportion of patients with decreased hearing after operation in the three groups was 15.4％,7.1％and 18.8％,respectively,and the differences were insignificant.Conclusion ESD combined with one or two SCO can effectively control vertigo and other symptoms of patients with stage Ⅲ or Ⅳ Meniere's disease who had failure to conventional conservative treatment,and can preserve the residual hearing function in considerable extent.

Objective To verify the mental health status and methods to regulate emotion as well as identify the associated factors among Northwest University students during the lockdown period of the COVID-19 outbreak in Xi'an.Methods A questionnaire survey using the random sampling was conducted among the college students in Xi'an,using Self-Control Scale(SCS),Perceived Social Support Scale(PSSS),the Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale Lite(DASS-21),and Self-Rating Scale of Sleep(SRSS).Results A total of 512 valid questionnaires for college students were collected.The statistical results showed that during the lockdown period after the COVID-19 epidemic outbreak in Xi'an,there were gender and discipline differences in self-control and understanding of social support among college students.That is,compared with boys,girls were more likely to receive social support(P=0.031),friend support(P=0.008),and other support(P=0.029).Compared to liberal arts majors,college students majoring in science and engineering were more likely to engage in self-control,especially in healthy habits(P=0.001),moderate entertainment(P=0.002),and impulse control(P=0.001).However,there was no significant difference in the influence of students'age or whether they came from rural or urban areas on their self-control and understanding of social support abilities.The statistical results also found that the age of college students was significantly correlated with their level of stress and sleep status.Their self-control ability and ability to comprehend social support also had correlation with their mental health status and sleep status during the lockdown period of the epidemic.Conclusion College students were prone to have negative emotions and sleep disorders during the lockdown period of sudden epidemic,which were more common in senior grades,male college students,and liberal arts majors.Active self-control and seeking social support can effectively moderate negative emotions and sleep disturbances.

Objective:To investigate the effect and potential mechanism of exposure to 20 nm polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) on lipid metabolism in mice liver.Methods:An animal experimental model was designed, which was completed from September 2022 to July 2023 on the exposure omics platform of the School of Public Health at Capital Medical University and the Key Laboratory of Environment and Population Health at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.1 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg PS-NPs tail vein mice exposure models were constructed. After exposure 7 d, serum was collected to measure the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). Real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and air flow assisted desorption electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry imaging (AFADESI-MSI) analysis were used to analyze the mRNA levels of fatty acid esterification related genes ( Dgat1 and Dgat2) and lipid transport related genes ( ApoB, Cd36, ApoE and Mttp) and metabolites′ spatial changes in liver tissue. In vivo imaging system (IVIS) and tissue shake sections were employed to observe the fluorescence biological distribution of PS-NPs. t-test or one-way ANOVA was used to explore the difference between groups. Results:The serum ALT levels were (83.97±4.58), (91.17±13.69) and (142.43±6.09) U/L in the control group, 1 mg/kg PS-NPs exposure group and 10 mg/kg PS-NPs exposure group respectively ( F=37.281, P<0.05). The relative mRNA levels of Dgat1, Dgat2, ApoB, Cd36 and ApoE were (1.49±0.63, 2.53±0.32, 2.45±0.54), (1.07±0.38, 1.86±0.83, 2.23±0.73), (1.01±0.13, 1.58±0.43, 2.03±0.52), (1.01±0.14, 1.55±0.37, 1.52±0.51), (1.01±0.17, 2.11±0.27, 2.39±0.93) in these three groups respectively. The differences were statistically significant ( F=11.54, 6.95, 14.90, 5.98 and 14.68, P<0.05). AFADESI-MSI analysis found that PS-NPs exposure led to a significant decrease in the levels of glutarylcarnitine and O-Linoleoylcarnitine ( t=4.12 and 3.35, P<0.05), which were associated with lipid beta oxidation. The content of triglycerides (TG) (m/z 921.726 4, t=8.69, P<0.05; m/z 919.711 4, t=3.20, P<0.05), phosphatidylic acid (PA) (m/z 895.712 3, t=3.60, P<0.05; m/z 821.526 6, t=3.36, P<0.05), lysophosphatidylcholine (LysoPC) (m/z 560.310 6, t=3.35, P<0.05; m/z 582.295 3, t=6.28, P<0.05), phosphatidylcholine (PC) (m/z 778.533 9, t=3.53, P<0.05; m/z 804.549 6, t=3.60, P<0.05; m/z 820.523 1, t=3.37, P<0.05), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) (m/z 772.523 3, t=3.08, P<0.05) showed a significant increase in the PS-NPs exposure group. In vivo and in vitro imaging and in situ cell localization revealed that PS-NPs were mainly enriched in hepatic stellate cells and hepatic Kupffer cells in liver tissue. Conclusion:Exposure to PS-NPs induces disorder of liver lipid metabolism, which may be related to the accumulation of PS-NPs in hepatic stellate cells and hepatic Kupffer cells, providing basis for searching early biomarkers of PS-NPs exposure and further mechanism research.

Objective:To investigate the effect and potential mechanism of exposure to 20 nm polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) on lipid metabolism in mice liver.Methods:An animal experimental model was designed, which was completed from September 2022 to July 2023 on the exposure omics platform of the School of Public Health at Capital Medical University and the Key Laboratory of Environment and Population Health at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.1 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg PS-NPs tail vein mice exposure models were constructed. After exposure 7 d, serum was collected to measure the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). Real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and air flow assisted desorption electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry imaging (AFADESI-MSI) analysis were used to analyze the mRNA levels of fatty acid esterification related genes ( Dgat1 and Dgat2) and lipid transport related genes ( ApoB, Cd36, ApoE and Mttp) and metabolites′ spatial changes in liver tissue. In vivo imaging system (IVIS) and tissue shake sections were employed to observe the fluorescence biological distribution of PS-NPs. t-test or one-way ANOVA was used to explore the difference between groups. Results:The serum ALT levels were (83.97±4.58), (91.17±13.69) and (142.43±6.09) U/L in the control group, 1 mg/kg PS-NPs exposure group and 10 mg/kg PS-NPs exposure group respectively ( F=37.281, P<0.05). The relative mRNA levels of Dgat1, Dgat2, ApoB, Cd36 and ApoE were (1.49±0.63, 2.53±0.32, 2.45±0.54), (1.07±0.38, 1.86±0.83, 2.23±0.73), (1.01±0.13, 1.58±0.43, 2.03±0.52), (1.01±0.14, 1.55±0.37, 1.52±0.51), (1.01±0.17, 2.11±0.27, 2.39±0.93) in these three groups respectively. The differences were statistically significant ( F=11.54, 6.95, 14.90, 5.98 and 14.68, P<0.05). AFADESI-MSI analysis found that PS-NPs exposure led to a significant decrease in the levels of glutarylcarnitine and O-Linoleoylcarnitine ( t=4.12 and 3.35, P<0.05), which were associated with lipid beta oxidation. The content of triglycerides (TG) (m/z 921.726 4, t=8.69, P<0.05; m/z 919.711 4, t=3.20, P<0.05), phosphatidylic acid (PA) (m/z 895.712 3, t=3.60, P<0.05; m/z 821.526 6, t=3.36, P<0.05), lysophosphatidylcholine (LysoPC) (m/z 560.310 6, t=3.35, P<0.05; m/z 582.295 3, t=6.28, P<0.05), phosphatidylcholine (PC) (m/z 778.533 9, t=3.53, P<0.05; m/z 804.549 6, t=3.60, P<0.05; m/z 820.523 1, t=3.37, P<0.05), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) (m/z 772.523 3, t=3.08, P<0.05) showed a significant increase in the PS-NPs exposure group. In vivo and in vitro imaging and in situ cell localization revealed that PS-NPs were mainly enriched in hepatic stellate cells and hepatic Kupffer cells in liver tissue. Conclusion:Exposure to PS-NPs induces disorder of liver lipid metabolism, which may be related to the accumulation of PS-NPs in hepatic stellate cells and hepatic Kupffer cells, providing basis for searching early biomarkers of PS-NPs exposure and further mechanism research.

Objective To construct a model for predicting the benign and malignant risk of the patients with gastric diseases using con-ventional laboratory indicators such as tumor markers,blood routine,and coagulation indicators,and validate its predictive value.Methods The medical records of patients with gastric diseases who visited the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical Univer-sity from January 2018 to January 2023 were analyzed retrospectively.According to the pathological results,the patients were divided into the gastric cancer(GC)group(n=134)and chronic non-atrophic gastritis(CNAG)group(n=298).Their routine test data such as serum and whole blood tests were collected.The statistical analysis was conducted using the R 4.2.3 software,and a model for pre-dicting the risk of GC was constructed and validated.Results A model for predicting the risk of GC was constructed successfully using the Logistic regression analysis,which included D-dimer,carcinoembryonic antigen(CEA),carbohydrate antigen 72-4(CA72-4)and hemoglobin(Hb).A visual nomogram was plotted as the final prediction model.The areas under the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve(AUCROC)of the model in the training and testing sets were 0.809(95%CI:0.754-0.864)and 0.808(95%CI:0.724-0.892),respectively.The sensitivity and specificity of the model were 58.5%and 93.3%,respectively,indicating that it had good pre-dictive ability.Conclusion The model for predicting the malignant risk of patients with gastric diseases constructed using routine tes-ting indicators has good accuracy and can effectively predict the risk of gastric disease transforming into gastric cancer.It helps to find early gastric cancer patients in clinical practice and take targeted prevention and intervention measures.

Objective To study the accuracy and safety of oral mucosal exfoliated cell specimens used in the bedside rapid detection of MTHFR C677T genotype by using the fluorescent probe method.Methods The outpatients and inpatients with hypertension visited and admitted in the department of cardiovascular medicine of this hospital from January 2019 to September 2020 were selected.The plasma homocysteine (Hcy) level in all patients was detected in the laboratory,a total of 482 hypertensive patients with Hcy≥10 μmol/L were se-lected,and the oral mucosal cells and whole blood sample were collected in all patients,and the genotypes of the above specimens were detected by the oral mucosal exfoliative cell fluorescent probe method and whole blood sample contrast reagents.If the two test results were inconsistent,the "gold standard" Sanger sequen-cing method was used to detect the whole blood sample for the final determination of MTHFR C677T geno-type.The coincidence rate was compared between the two detection methods,and the probability of adverse e-vents during the samples collection was observed and recorded.The accuracy and safety of fluorescence probe method for detecting MTHFR C677T genotype in the patients with oral mucosa exfoliation was evaluated.Re-sults The oral mucosal exfoliated cell samples and whole blood samples from 482 hypertensive patients were successfully collected,and no obvious adverse reactions occurred during the sampling process.The incidence rate of total mutation of MTHFR C677T gene detected by the fluorescence probe method and contrast reagent all were 73.23％ (353/482),the coincidence rate of homozygous wild type (CC type) in MTHFR C677T gene detected by the two methods was 100.00％ (95％CI:97.11-100.00),which of heterozygous mutant type (CT type) was 99.14％ (95％CI:96.91-99.76),which of homozygous mutant type (TT type) was 99.17％(95％CI:95.47-99.85),the total coincident rate of MTHFR C677T genotype was 99.38％ (95％CI:98.19-99.79)and the detection results consistency Kappa value was 0.9902.Conclusion The detection of MTHFR C677T gene mutation in oral mucosal exfoliated cells by fluorescent probe method is simple with less invasion,moreover which is rapid,safe and accurate.