OBJECTIVE: To explore the efficacy and safety of Juan Bi Pill (JBP) in treatment of active rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: From February 2017 to May 2018, 115 participants from 4 centers were randomly divided into JBP group (57 cases) and placebo group (58 cases) in a 1:1 ratio using a random number table method. Participants received a dose of JBP (4 g, twice a day, orally) combined with methotrexate (MTX, 10 mg per week) or placebo (4 g, twice a day, orally) combined with MTX for 12 weeks. Participants were required with follow-up visits at 24 and 48 weeks, attending 7 assessment visits. Participants were undergo disease activity assessment 7 times (at baseline and 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 48 weeks) and safety assessments 6 times (at baseline and 4, 8, 12, 24, 48 weeks). The primary endpoint was 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28-ESR and DAS28-CRP). The secondary endpoints included American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for 20% and 50% improvement (ACR20/50), Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI), clinical disease activity index (CDAI), visual analog scale (VAS), Short Form-36 (SF-36) score, Medial Outcomes Study (MOS) sleep scale score, serum erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), tender joint count, swollen joint count, and morning stiffness. The adverse reactions were observed during the treatment. RESULTS: After 12 weeks of treatment, DAS28-ESR and DAS28-CRP scores in both groups were lower than before treatment (both P<0.01), while the remission rate of DAS28-ESR and DAS28-CRP and low disease activity of JBP group were higher than those in the placebo group (both P<0.01). JBP demonstrated better efficacy on ACR20 and ACR50 compliance rate at 12 and 48 weeks comparing to placebo (all P<0.05). The CDAI and HAQ-DI score, pain VAS and global VAS change of RA patients and physicians, the serum ESR and CRP levels, and the number of tenderness and swelling joints were lower than before treatment at 4, 8, 12, 24, 48 weeks in both groups (P<0.05 or P<0.01), while the reduction of above indices in the JBP group was more obvious than those in the placebo group at 12 weeks (ESR and CRP, both P<0.05) or at 12 and 48 weeks (all P<0.01). There was no difference in adverse reactions between the 2 groups during treatment (P=0.75). CONCLUSION JBP combined with MTX could effectively reduce disease activity in patients with RA in active stage, reduce the symptoms of arthritis, and improve the quality of life, while ensuring safety, reliability, and fewer adverse effects. (Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, No. NCT02885597).
Humans ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid/drug therapy* ; Methotrexate/adverse effects* ; Female ; Double-Blind Method ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Treatment Outcome ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/adverse effects* ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Adult ; Antirheumatic Agents/adverse effects* ; Aged

Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative technology in accelerating drug discovery and development within natural medicines research. Natural medicines, characterized by their complex chemical compositions and multifaceted pharmacological mechanisms, demonstrate widespread application in treating diverse diseases. However, research and development face significant challenges, including component complexity, extraction difficulties, and efficacy validation. AI technology, particularly through deep learning (DL) and machine learning (ML) approaches, enables efficient analysis of extensive datasets, facilitating drug screening, component analysis, and pharmacological mechanism elucidation. The implementation of AI technology demonstrates considerable potential in virtual screening, compound optimization, and synthetic pathway design, thereby enhancing natural medicines' bioavailability and safety profiles. Nevertheless, current applications encounter limitations regarding data quality, model interpretability, and ethical considerations. As AI technologies continue to evolve, natural medicines research and development will achieve greater efficiency and precision, advancing both personalized medicine and contemporary drug development approaches.
Biological Products/pharmacology* ; Artificial Intelligence ; Humans ; Drug Discovery/methods* ; Machine Learning ; Deep Learning

Human carboxylesterase 2A (hCES2A) plays pivotal roles in prodrug activation and hydrolytic metabolism of ester-bearing chemicals. Targeted inhibition of intestinal hCES2A represents a feasible strategy to mitigate irinotecan-triggered gut toxicity (ITGT), but the orally active, selective, and efficacious hCES2A inhibitors are rarely reported. Here, a novel drug-like hCES2A inhibitor was developed via three rounds of structure-based drug design (SBDD) and structural optimization. Initially, donepezil was identified as a moderate hCES2A inhibitor from 2000 US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs. Following two rounds of SBDD and structural optimization, a donepezil derivative (B7) was identified as a strong reversible hCES2A inhibitor. Subsequently, nine B7 carbamates were rationally designed, synthesized and biologically assayed. Among all synthesized carbamates, C3 showed the most potent time-dependent inhibition on hCES2A (IC₅₀ = 0.56 nmol/L), excellent specificity and favorable drug-like properties. C3 could covalently modify the catalytic serine of hCES2A with high selectivity, while this agent also showed favorable safety profiles, high intestinal exposure, and impressive effects for ameliorating ITGT in both human intestinal organoids and tumor-bearing mice. Collectively, this study showcases a rational strategy for developing drug-like and serine-targeting covalent inhibitors against target serine hydrolase(s), while C3 emerges as a promising orally active drug candidate for ameliorating ITGT.

Objective Establish the fingerprint of the group and optimize the extraction process of the Yunpi Huatan Tongqiao decoction.Methods The macroscopic characterization and similarity analysis of the extract fingerprint were carried out by applying the total statistical moment method.With baicalin,wogonin,rosmarinic acid,liquiritin,glycyrrhizic acid and paste yield as key quality attributes,and extraction time,water addition and extraction times as key process parameters,the optimal extraction process was selected by AHP-independent weight method,and the process was verified.Results Establishing a total statistical moment similarity evaluation method,and the average statistical moment similarity of the total amount of fingerprints of different extraction methods was 0.8807.The ANOVA results of the process evaluation model function are displayed that P<0.0001,R2=0.9904,indicating that the model was statistically significant.The best extraction process was determined as follows:adding 10-fold volume of water in the whole prescription,extracting for 1.5 h and extracting twice.Conclusion The total statistical moment analysis method that conforms to the fingerprint characteristics of the fingerprint of the extract was established,which was stable and reliable,which provided a reference basis for the quality control of the whole process of the subsequent process research.

Objective To explore the effect of Tongdu Tiaoshen acupuncture,a needling method for dredging governor vessel and regulating mind,on cerebral hemodynamics and oxygen free radicals in the patients with post-stroke epilepsy(PSE).Methods A total of 60 patients with PSE were randomly divided into a treatment group and a control group,with 30 cases in each group.Both groups were given basic treatment for lowering lipid level,controlling blood pressure and glucose contents,and counteracting platelet aggregation.Moreover,the control group was treated with Sodium Valproate Sustained-Release Tablets,and the treatment group was treated with Tongdu Tiaoshen acupuncture mainly on the acupoints of Baihui(GV20),Shenting(GV24),Shuigou(GV26),Fengfu(GV 16),Fengchi(GB20)based on the treatment for the control group.One month constituted a course of treatment,and the treatment for the two groups covered three courses of treatment.The number of epileptic seizures,the severity of electroencephalogram(EEG),the peak systolic velocity(Vs)and end diastolic velocity(Vd)of bilateral anterior cerebral arteries,middle cerebral arteries and posterior cerebral arteries detected by transcranial Doppler ultrasonography(TCD),and the changes in the peripheral levels of oxygen free radicals such as malondialdehyde(MDA),hydroxyl radical(OH),lipid peroxide(LPO)and superoxide dismutase(SOD)in the two groups were observed before and after treatment.After treatment,the clinical efficacy and safety of the two groups were evaluated.Results(1)After three months of treatment,the total effective rate of the treatment group was 93.33％(28/30),and that of the control group was 73.33％(23/30).The intergroup comparison(tested by chi-square test)showed that the efficacy of the treatment group was significantly superior to that of the control group(P＜0.05).(2)After treatment,the average monthly epileptic seizure frequency in the two groups was decreased when compared with that before treatment(P＜0.05),and the decrease in the treatment group was more significant than that in the control group(P＜0.05).(3)After treatment,the grading of EEG severity in the two groups was significantly improved when compared with that before treatment(P＜0.05),and the improvement in the treatment group was significantly superior to that in the control group(P＜0.05).(4)After treatment,the peripheral levels of oxygen free radicals of MDA,OH and LPO in the two groups were lower than those before treatment(P＜0.05),and the peripheral level of SOD was higher than that before treatment(P＜0.05).The decrease of MDA,OH and LPO levels and the increase of SOD level in the treatment group were significantly superior to those in the control group(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01).(5)After treatment,the values of cerebral hemodynamic indicators of Vs and Vd of both left and right anterior cerebral artery,middle cerebral artery and posterior cerebral artery in the two groups were higher than those before treatment(P＜0.05),and the increase in the treatment group was significantly superior to that in the control group,the differences being statistically significant(P＜0.05).(6)During the treatment,there were no fainting,sticking of needle,bleeding and rash occurring during acupuncture in the two groups,which indicated that the therapy had high safety.Conclusion Tongdu Tiaoshen acupuncture can significantly reduce the seizure frequency of PSE and improve the severity of epileptic EEG.Its therapeutic mechanism may be related with the decrease of the oxygen free radical levels and with the improvement of cerebral hemodynamics.

DNA damage triggers cells to initiate a series of DNA damage response(DDR),including DNA damage repair,cell cycle checkpoint activation,cell cycle arrest,activation of various intracellular signal transduction pathways,and cell apoptosis,etc.DNA Damage Repair,an important mechanism by which cells maintain genomic stability,was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2015.DNA damage repair pathways mainly include:base-excision repair(BER),nucleotide excision repair(NER),mis-match repair(MMR),homologous recombination(HR)and non-homologous end joining(NHEJ).They play an important role in the repair of DNA damage such as single-strand break(SSB)or double-strand break(DSB).DNA damage repair defects are closely related to tumorigenesis and development and is also an important target for tumor therapy.Poly-ADP-ribose polymerase(PARP)and breast canc-er susceptibility gene BRCA1/2 and others in the DNA damage repair pathways have synthetic lethality effects.It makes PARP inhibitor(PARPi)be the first and currently the only commercially available syn-thetic lethal target drug for tumor therapy.PARPi has good efficacy in the treatment of ovarian cancer and a variety of solid tumors,which make the research and development of synthetic lethal target drugs related to DNA damage repair and DDR pathway become a hot spot.Other targets under research mainly in-clude:ataxia telangiectasia-mutated protein(ATM),ataxia telangiectasia and RAD3 related protein(ATR),DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit(DNA-PKcs),checkpoint kinasel(CHK1),Checkpoint kinase 2(CHK2),mitogen-preventing protein kinase WEE 1,etc.The combination of PARPi with other DDR target drugs,anti-angiogenesis drugs or immune checkpoint inhibitors may be-come effective means and development prospect to overcome PARPi resistance and improve the therapeu-tic effect.Here we review the key molecules and potential tumor therapeutic targets in DNA damage re-pair and related DDR pathways,and the research on synthetic lethal targets and their application and prospect in ovarian cancer.We aim to provide guidance for basic research and clinical application.

The PCR-amplified severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus(SFTSV)Gn-DⅢ-Ⅲ gene was inserted into the pET-30a(+)prokaryotic expression vector to generate the re-combinant plasmid pET-SFTSV-Gn-D Ⅲ-Ⅲ.The plasmid was transformed into E.coli BL21(DE3)for Gn-DⅢ-m protein expression and the expression conditions were optimized.The Gn-DⅢ-Ⅲ protein purified with Ni-NTA column affinity chromatography was applied as the captured antigen to establish an indirect ELISA method for the detection of SFTSV antibody.The results demonstrated that the recombinant plasmid pET-SFTSV-Gn-D Ⅲ-Ⅲ was successfully constructed as identified by PCR and sequencing.The recombinant protein SFTSV Gn-D m-Ⅲ was soluble ex-pression in E.coli under the optimal induction conditions of 0.4 mmol/L IPTG at 25 ℃ for 4 h,and the protein purity was 91.77％after purification by Ni-NTA column.The optimal reaction con-ditions for the indirect ELISA of SFTSV antibody were as follows:coating antigen concentration(5 μg/mL),primary antibody(incubation at 37 ℃ for 1.5 h),and secondary antibody(diluted 1:10 000 and incubated at 37 ℃ for 1 h).The established method had no cross-reactivity with Rift Valley fever virus(RVFV),Ebola virus(EBOV),and tick-borne encephalitis virus(TBEV)posi-tive sera.The method had a high sensitivity,with P/N＞2.1 for SFTSV-positive sera diluted to 81920.Coefficients of variation for intra-and inter-batch reactions were less than 10％.Detection of four SFTSV-infected human clinical serum samples showed the serum samples from patients in re-mission were tested as positive(P/N＞2.1),while serum samples from patients with multiple or-gan failure were detected as negative(P/N＜2.1).The results indicated that the SFTSV Gn-D Ⅲ-Ⅲ protein was successfully expressed and purified,and it was used as the coating protein to estab-lish an indirect ELISA assay for SFTSV antibody,which possesses good specificity,sensitivity and reproducibility.This method might be applied to detect human SFTSV clinical serum samples.

Objective To analyze the distribution and antimicrobial resistance of pathogens from wounds of burned patients,providing reference for the rational use of antimicrobial agents and healthcare-associated infection(HAI)prevention and control.Methods Clinical data of burned patients admitted to a tertiary first-class hospital from Ja-nuary 2020 to December 2022 were analyzed retrospectively,pathogens in the wound was cultured,identified,and performed antimicrobial susceptibility analysis.Results From 2020 to 2022,a total of 588 burned patients were ad-mitted,734 strains of pathogens were detected,including 415 strains(56.54％)of Gram-negative bacteria,306 strains(41.69％)of Gram-positive bacteria,and 13(1.77％)strains of fungi.The top 5 pathogens were Staphy-lococcus aureus,Escherichia coli,Pseudomonas aeruginosa,Klebsiella pneumoniae,and Enterobacter cloacae.Staphylococcus aureus had higher resistance rates(93.02％-97.37％)to penicillin G,resistance rate to oxacillin increased from 11.63％to 21.92％.Pseudomonas aeruginosa mainly exhibited resistance to ticarcillin/clavulanic acid,aztreonam,and levofloxacin,resistance rates to imipenem and meropenem were 15.00％-38.10％and 10.00％-33.33％,respectively.Susceptibility of Enterobacterales bacteria to cephalosporins enhanced with the increased of cephalosporin generations,and exhibited higher resistance to commonly used antimicrobial agents.Conclusion Over the past three years,there has been no significant change in the detection of major pathogens and antimicrobial resistance in wounds of burned patients in this hospital.Antimicrobial resistance of Staphylococcus aureus and En-terobacterales is relatively severe,and it is necessary to carry out surveillance on pathogens from burn wounds in corresponding areas.

Objective:To report the results of national surveillance on the distribution and antimicrobial resistance profile of clinical Gram-positive bacteria isolates from bloodstream infections in China in 2022.Methods:The clinical isolates of Gram-positive bacteria from blood cultures in member hospitals of National Bloodstream Infection Bacterial Resistant Investigation Collaborative System（BRICS）were collected during January 2022 to December 2022. Antibiotic susceptibility tests were conducted by agar dilution or broth dilution methods recommended by Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute（CLSI）. WHONET 5.6 and SPSS 25.0 software were used to analyze the data.Results:A total of 3 163 strains of Gram-positive pathogens were collected from 51 member units，and the top five bacteria were Staphylococcus aureus（ n=1 147，36.3%），coagulase-negative Staphylococci（ n=928，29.3%）， Enterococcus faecalis（ n=369，11.7%）， Enterococcus faecium（ n=296，9.4%）and alpha-hemolyticus Streptococci（ n=192，6.1%）. The detection rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus（MRSA）and methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative Staphylococci（MRCNS）were 26.4%（303/1 147）and 66.7%（619/928），respectively. No glycopeptide and daptomycin-resistant Staphylococci were detected. The sensitivity rates of Staphylococcus aureus to cefpirome，rifampin，compound sulfamethoxazole，linezolid，minocycline and tigecycline were all >95.0%. Enterococcus faecium was more prevalent than Enterococcus faecalis. The resistance rates of Enterococcus faecium to vancomycin and teicoplanin were both 0.5%（2/369），and no vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium was detected. The detection rate of MRSA in southern China was significantly lower than that in other regions（ χ2=14.578， P=0.002），while the detection rate of MRCNS in northern China was significantly higher than that in other regions（ χ2=15.195， P=0.002）. The detection rates of MRSA and MRCNS in provincial hospitals were higher than those in municipal hospitals（ χ2=13.519 and 12.136， P<0.001）. The detection rates of MRSA and MRCNS in economically more advanced regions（per capita GDP≥92 059 Yuan in 2022）were higher than those in economically less advanced regions（per capita GDP<92 059 Yuan）（ χ2=9.969 and 7.606， P=0.002和0.006）. Conclusions:Among the Gram-positive pathogens causing bloodstream infections in China， Staphylococci is the most common while the MRSA incidence decreases continuously with time；the detection rate of Enterococcus faecium exceeds that of Enterococcus faecalis. The overall prevalence of vancomycin-resistant Enterococci is still at a low level. The composition ratio of Gram-positive pathogens and resistant profiles varies slightly across regions of China，with the prevalence of MRSA and MRCNS being more pronounced in provincial hospitals and areas with a per capita GDP≥92 059 yuan.

OBJECTIVE To estimate the cost-utility of sacituzumab govitecan （SG） versus single-agent chemotherapy in the treatment of hormone receptor-positive （HR+）/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative （HER2－） advanced metastatic breast cancer. METHODS From the perspective of the Chinese medical system， a three-state partitioned survival model was constructed to examine the cost-utility of SG versus single-agent chemotherapy based on TROPiCS-02 trial. The cycle length was set to 1 month， and the time horizon was 10 years. The annual discount was 5%. The model output included total costs and quality adjusted life month （QALM）， and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio （ICER） was calculated for cost-utility analysis， by setting willingness-to-pay （WTP） threshold at 3 times gross domestic product （GDP） per capita of China in 2023 （22 340 yuan/QALM）. Univariate sensitivity analyses， probability sensitivity analyses， and scenario analyses were performed to evaluate the robustness of the results and calculate the price threshold when SG had economic advantages. RESULTS SG group gained incremental 4.25 QALM and 561 570 yuan compared with single-agent chemotherapy， which resulted in an ICER of 132 102/QALM that was higher than WTP. The results of the univariate sensitivity analysis showed that the monthly average cost of SG had the greatest impact on the results； the results of probability sensitivity analysis showed that the probability of SG scheme being cost-effective at the WTP threshold was 0. The results of scenario analysis showed that the conclusions of this study were robust under different time horizons （5， 10， 15 years）. The price threshold for SG being cost-effective was 1 344 yuan per 180 mg. CONCLUSIONS Based on the perspective of Chinese medical system， SG appears to be not cost-effective compared with single-agent chemotherapy for HR+/ HER2－ advanced metastatic breast cancer at the price of 8 400 yuan per 180 mg. A substantial price cut should be taken to be cost- effective.