1.PPARα activation alleviates lithocholic acid-induced liver injury by inhibiting pyroptosis
Hang-Fei Liang ; Chuo-Ying Mai ; Xuan Li ; Jia-Ning Tian ; Hai-Guo Su ; Min Huang ; Jian-Hong Fang ; Hai-Tao Wang ; Xiao Yang ; Hui-Chang Bi
Liver Research 2026;10(2):177-188
Background and aims
The mechanism of cholestatic liver injury (CLI) is unclear, and effective therapies are lacking. While peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα) agonists show potential hepatoprotective effect and pyroptosis is implicated in hepatocellular damage, how PPARα activation mitigates lithocholic acid (LCA)-induced pyroptosis remains unknown.
Methods
The hepatoprotective effect of PPARα agonists was evaluated in a mouse model of intrahepatic cholestasis induced by LCA. Liver injury was assessed via serum biochemistry, hematoxylin and eosin and TUNEL staining, and electron microscopy. Pyroptosis pathways were analyzed using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, Western blot, and co-immunoprecipitation.
Results
Combined morphological, histopathological, and biochemical analyses confirmed that PPARα activation protects against CLI. Compared with LCA treatment alone, PPARα activation significantly attenuated the elevation of serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), the increased TUNEL-positive cells, and the formation of hepatocyte membrane pores. Mechanistically, PPARα activation suppressed both NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis and apoptosis protease-activating factor-1 (APAF-1)/CASPASE-3/GSDME-mediated pyroptosis. Furthermore, PPARα agonist pretreatment inhibited activation of the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) and forkhead box O1 (FOXO1) signaling pathways.
Conclusions
PPARα protects against LCA-induced CLI by inhibiting both NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis associated with NF-κB and APAF-1/CASPASE-3/GSDME-mediated pyroptosis associated with the FOXO1 signaling pathway.
2.Ethical issues in digital medical insurance governance: generation, manifestations, and countermeasures
Zengying ZHUANG ; Linlin YUE ; Yanjie JIANG ; Guiying XUAN ; Bo WANG ; Shenchao JIANG ; Jingchao HE ; Xutong LIU ; Shangwei HAN ; Xuerun TIAN ; Yongxuan LIU ; Nuo XU ; Qifan YANG
Chinese Medical Ethics 2026;39(10):1342-1348
Digital medical insurance governance, as an important component of digital transformation, improves the efficiency of medical insurance services while facing complex ethical challenges. Taking stakeholder theory as the analytical framework, this paper explored the generative mechanisms, manifestations, and countermeasures of ethical issues in digital medical insurance governance. This study uncovered that accelerated technological iteration and lagging ethical and legal norms, as well as interest conflicts among multiple participants in governance, constituted the major causes of ethical issues. These issues specifically manifested as data privacy leakage, unfair algorithmic decision-making, widening digital divide, ambiguous accountability, and other aspects. To address these issues, this paper put forward systematic countermeasures, such as establishing a dynamic ethical and legal regulatory system, balancing the demands of stakeholders, strengthening technological ethical governance, narrowing the digital divide, and enhancing accountability mechanisms. Through the implementation of multi-dimensional governance strategies, it aimed to balance technological innovation and ethical constraints, advance the inclusiveness, fairness, and sustainable development of digital medical insurance, and provide theoretical reference and practical references for improving China’s digital medical insurance governance system.
3.Analysis of the drug resistence and the whole genome characteristics of mycoplasma pneumoniae strains in Suzhou City from 2023 to 2024
Man YUAN ; Xiaolong WANG ; Qiang SHEN ; Xuerong YA ; Xuan YUAN ; Ge TIAN ; Zefeng DONG
Chinese Journal of Preventive Medicine 2025;59(9):1533-1539
To analyze the prevalence, drug resistance and whole genome characteristics of Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) in respiratory throat swab samples of hospitalized children with pneumonia in Suzhou City from 2023 to 2024. Throat swab samples of hospitalized children aged 0-14 years old with pneumonia in Suzhou were collected from September 2023 to September 2024. Real-time fluorenscence quantitative PCR technology was used to detect MP nucleic acid. The results showed that the positive rate of MP in 3 235 samples was 22.44% (726/3 235), with a rate of 55.00% in week 47 of 2023. The positive rate of MP increased with age ( χ2=45.842, P<0.001). The study selected MP nucleic acid test positive samples from week 20 (5.13-5.19) to week 23 (6.3-6.9) of 2024 for isolation, culture and resistance phenotype detection. About 31 MP strains were successfully isolated and cultured, all of which were resistant to macrolides. The next-generation sequencing technology and nanopore sequencing technology were used for genome sequencing. All 31 strains carried the A2063G mutation, with the main prevalent genotype being the P1-1, and the main mlST type being the ST3. Despite the overall genomic similarity between strains being over 99%, there were significant differences between the P1-1 and P1-2 strains in the P1 gene region. In summary, from 2023 to 2024, the main MP type prevalent in Suzhou City is the P1-1 genotype. All isolated MP strains carry an A2063G resistance site mutation and are resistant to macrolides, requiring continuous monitoring and further research.
4.Simultaneous Determination of Four Off-flavors in Freshwater Fish by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Combined with Silica Solid Phase Extraction
Liang-Liang TIAN ; Dong-Mei HUANG ; Yuan WANG ; Xuan-Yun HUANG ; Yong-Fu SHI ; Hong-Li YE
Chinese Journal of Analytical Chemistry 2025;53(7):1158-1166
An effective method for simultaneously detecting four semivolatile earthy-musty odors in freshwater fish by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS)was developed.The concurrent extraction of geosmin(GSM),2-methylisoborneol(MIB),2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine(IPMP),and 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine(IBMP)in fish tissue was conducted with n-hexane.The optimized QuEChERS material was implemented,and it was found that C18,primary secondary amine(PSA)and MgSO4 could adsorb the target analytes in n-hexane.So only the graphitized carbon black(GCB)could be used to purify the extraction.The adsorption rates of different materials for the four kinds of odors materials were explored in n-hexane and ethyl acetate.The experimental results revealed that the adsorption rates of silica for the four targets were 99.5%-100%in n-hexane and 0.7%-5.0%in ethyl acetate respectively.Then the silica solid phase extraction(SPE)method was utilized to eluent the compounds using 1.0 mL n-hexane/ethyl acetate in different proportions.The results of the comparative analysis demonstrated that n-hexane/ethyl acetate(4∶1,V/V)was the optimized eluent.Based on the obtained results,n-hexane extraction and GCB purification combined with silica SPE were used to isolate GSM,MIB,IPMP and IBMP from fish and the method was validated.It was found that the method showed good linearity in the range of 0.5-200 ng/mL,and with detection limits of 0.6 μg/kg for GSM and MIB,0.2 μg/kg for IPMP and IBMP.The limits of quantitation(LOQ)were 1.0 μg/kg for GSM and MIB,0.6 μg/kg for IPMP and IBMP.Good recoveries(77.5%-112.0%)and relative standard deviations(1.56%-9.42%)were also obtained.The use of silica SPE greatly mitigated the issue that the off-flavor compounds were easily lost in the gas blowing concentration process.There was no cross contamination in this method because the sample pretreatments were conducted separately,which was different with the most commonly used HS-SPME method for detecting semi-volatile substances.The sensitivity of this method was high enough to produce good quantitative results below the odor thresholds of the examined off-flavor compounds.
5.Research progress of phytochemicals in tumor immunotherapy
Xuan ZHANG ; Juan LI ; Chuanfeng FANG ; Hong TIAN ; Jiaren LIU
Practical Oncology Journal 2025;39(5):428-432
In recent years,the incidence and mortality of malignant tumors have been increasing year by year,becoming a se-rious challenge to global public health.Unlike traditional treatment methods,tumor immunotherapy activates the body's own immune system to against tumors,and has significant advantage such as minimal side effects,long-lasting efficacy,and strong targeting.Howev-er,immunotherapy also has issues such as frequent adverse reactions and high treatment costs.In order to enhance the efficacy of im-munotherapy,some phytochemicals are used in the field of immunotherapy as modulators.These phytochemicals not only increase the sensitivity of tumor cells to immune cells,but also reduce the expression of immune checkpoint proteins.Therefore,this article provides a review of phytochemicals that play an important role in tumor immunotherapy and their related mechanisms of action.
6.Important factors affecting depression:modulatory effects of Cx43 on neuroinflammation
Xuan ZENG ; Zi-han YAN ; Zhi-feng TIAN ; Hong-bin WANG ; Qi-di AI ; Mei-yu LIN ; Xuan LIU ; Nai-hong CHEN ; Song-wei YANG ; Yan-tao YANG
Chinese Pharmacological Bulletin 2025;41(11):2027-2031
Numerous studies have shown that depression is main-ly associated with the abnormal expression of connexin 43(Cx43)in astrocytes(Astro)and its mediated dysfunction of gap junction(GJ).However,the molecular mechanism of post-translational modifications targeting Cx43 to regulate neuroin-flammation-associated depression is still unclear.Post-transla-tional modifications of Cx43 mainly include phosphorylation of specific amino acid sites by PKC,PKA,PKG,MAPK and PTK,and protein degradation of Cx43 through the K48/K63 polyubiq-uitylation and deubiquitination pathways,which ultimately lead to protein degradation through K48/K63 polyubiquitination and deubiquitination.These modifications are ultimately involved in the regulation of neuroinflammatory responses through the associ-ation of GJ function.In this paper,we systematically review the role of Cx43 post-translational modifications in neuroinflamma-tion,with the aim of further exploring the potential application of targeting these modifications to modulate the inflammatory re-sponse mechanism in improving depressive symptoms.
7.Comparison of Logistic Regression and Machine Learning Approaches in Predicting Depressive Symptoms: A National-Based Study
Xing-Xuan DONG ; Jian-Hua LIU ; Tian-Yang ZHANG ; Chen-Wei PAN ; Chun-Hua ZHAO ; Yi-Bo WU ; Dan-Dan CHEN
Psychiatry Investigation 2025;22(3):267-278
Objective:
Machine learning (ML) has been reported to have better predictive capability than traditional statistical techniques. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of ML algorithms and logistic regression (LR) for predicting depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods:
Analyses were carried out in a national cross-sectional study involving 21,916 participants. The ML algorithms in this study included random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), neural network (NN), and gradient boosting machine (GBM) methods. The performance indices were sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, precision, F1-score, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC).
Results:
LR and NN had the best performance in terms of AUCs. The risk of overfitting was found to be negligible for most ML models except for RF, and GBM obtained the highest sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, precision, and F1-score. Therefore, LR, NN, and GBM models ranked among the best models.
Conclusion
Compared with ML models, LR model performed comparably to ML models in predicting depressive symptoms and identifying potential risk factors while also exhibiting a lower risk of overfitting.
8.Research progress of phytochemicals in tumor immunotherapy
Xuan ZHANG ; Juan LI ; Chuanfeng FANG ; Hong TIAN ; Jiaren LIU
Practical Oncology Journal 2025;39(5):428-432
In recent years,the incidence and mortality of malignant tumors have been increasing year by year,becoming a se-rious challenge to global public health.Unlike traditional treatment methods,tumor immunotherapy activates the body's own immune system to against tumors,and has significant advantage such as minimal side effects,long-lasting efficacy,and strong targeting.Howev-er,immunotherapy also has issues such as frequent adverse reactions and high treatment costs.In order to enhance the efficacy of im-munotherapy,some phytochemicals are used in the field of immunotherapy as modulators.These phytochemicals not only increase the sensitivity of tumor cells to immune cells,but also reduce the expression of immune checkpoint proteins.Therefore,this article provides a review of phytochemicals that play an important role in tumor immunotherapy and their related mechanisms of action.
9.Important factors affecting depression:modulatory effects of Cx43 on neuroinflammation
Xuan ZENG ; Zi-han YAN ; Zhi-feng TIAN ; Hong-bin WANG ; Qi-di AI ; Mei-yu LIN ; Xuan LIU ; Nai-hong CHEN ; Song-wei YANG ; Yan-tao YANG
Chinese Pharmacological Bulletin 2025;41(11):2027-2031
Numerous studies have shown that depression is main-ly associated with the abnormal expression of connexin 43(Cx43)in astrocytes(Astro)and its mediated dysfunction of gap junction(GJ).However,the molecular mechanism of post-translational modifications targeting Cx43 to regulate neuroin-flammation-associated depression is still unclear.Post-transla-tional modifications of Cx43 mainly include phosphorylation of specific amino acid sites by PKC,PKA,PKG,MAPK and PTK,and protein degradation of Cx43 through the K48/K63 polyubiq-uitylation and deubiquitination pathways,which ultimately lead to protein degradation through K48/K63 polyubiquitination and deubiquitination.These modifications are ultimately involved in the regulation of neuroinflammatory responses through the associ-ation of GJ function.In this paper,we systematically review the role of Cx43 post-translational modifications in neuroinflamma-tion,with the aim of further exploring the potential application of targeting these modifications to modulate the inflammatory re-sponse mechanism in improving depressive symptoms.
10.Analysis of the drug resistence and the whole genome characteristics of mycoplasma pneumoniae strains in Suzhou City from 2023 to 2024
Man YUAN ; Xiaolong WANG ; Qiang SHEN ; Xuerong YA ; Xuan YUAN ; Ge TIAN ; Zefeng DONG
Chinese Journal of Preventive Medicine 2025;59(9):1533-1539
To analyze the prevalence, drug resistance and whole genome characteristics of Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) in respiratory throat swab samples of hospitalized children with pneumonia in Suzhou City from 2023 to 2024. Throat swab samples of hospitalized children aged 0-14 years old with pneumonia in Suzhou were collected from September 2023 to September 2024. Real-time fluorenscence quantitative PCR technology was used to detect MP nucleic acid. The results showed that the positive rate of MP in 3 235 samples was 22.44% (726/3 235), with a rate of 55.00% in week 47 of 2023. The positive rate of MP increased with age ( χ2=45.842, P<0.001). The study selected MP nucleic acid test positive samples from week 20 (5.13-5.19) to week 23 (6.3-6.9) of 2024 for isolation, culture and resistance phenotype detection. About 31 MP strains were successfully isolated and cultured, all of which were resistant to macrolides. The next-generation sequencing technology and nanopore sequencing technology were used for genome sequencing. All 31 strains carried the A2063G mutation, with the main prevalent genotype being the P1-1, and the main mlST type being the ST3. Despite the overall genomic similarity between strains being over 99%, there were significant differences between the P1-1 and P1-2 strains in the P1 gene region. In summary, from 2023 to 2024, the main MP type prevalent in Suzhou City is the P1-1 genotype. All isolated MP strains carry an A2063G resistance site mutation and are resistant to macrolides, requiring continuous monitoring and further research.


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