The purpose of this paper is to explore the decoction and dosing methods of rhubarb root and rhizome in classical prescriptions and to provide a reference basis for the clinical use of rhubarb root and rhizome. By collating the relevant classical prescriptions of rhubarb root and rhizome in Shanghan Lun and Jingui Yaolüe, the relationship between its decoction and dosing methods and the syndrome was analyzed. The decoction of rhubarb root and rhizome in classical prescriptions can be divided into three categories: simultaneous decoction, decoction later, and other methods (impregnation in Mafei decoction, decoction with water from the well spring first taken in the morning, and pills). If it enters the blood level or wants to slow down, rhubarb root and rhizome should be decocted at the same time with other drugs. If it enters the qi level and wants to speed up, rhubarb root and rhizome should be decocted later. If it wants to upwardly move, rhubarb root and rhizome should be immersed in Mafei decoction. If it wants to suppress liver yang, rhubarb root and rhizome should be decocted with water from the well spring first taken in the morning. If the disease is prolonged, rhubarb root and rhizome should be taken in pill form. The dosing methods of rhubarb root and rhizome can be divided into five categories: draught, twice, three times, before meals, and unspecified. For acute and serious illnesses with excess of pathogenic qi and adequate vital qi, we choose draught. For gastrointestinal diseases, we choose to take the medicine twice. For achieving a moderate and long-lasting effect, we choose to take the medicine three times. If the disease is located in the lower part of the heart and abdomen, we choose to take it before meals. The use of rhubarb root and rhizome in clinical practice requires the selection of the appropriate decoction and dosing methods according to the location of the disease, the severity of the disease, the patient′s constitution, and the condition after taking the medicine.

" Lijie and yellowish sweating" originates from the chapter on stroke and arthralgia diseases in Synopsis of Golden Chamber. Later generations typically interpret it as yellow fluid oozing from painful joints, a characteristic manifestation of arthralgia. In Western medicine, Lijie corresponds to diseases such as gouty arthritis, with its primary clinical manifestations being redness, swelling, heat, and painful joints, most often without yellow fluid discharge. Therefore, the interpretation of " Lijie and yellowish sweating" contradicts the clinical manifestations often observed in this disease. Thus, this article reinterprets the meaning of " Lijie and yellowish sweating" from the pathogenesis of " sweat exposure to water, as if water harms the heart" , combined with the viewpoints of other medical practitioners. Determining the meaning of " yellowish sweating" is crucial for understanding the pathogenesis of arthralgia and clarifying the relationship between arthralgia and yellowish sweating. ZHANG Zhongjing mentioned arthralgia and " yellowish sweating" together, not to differentiate between the two diseases but to emphasize the common pathogenesis of the two, namely, the cold and dampness injuring the heart, blood, and vessels. This paper proposes a new explanation of " Lijie and yellowish sweating" , which suggests that " yellowish sweating" is not confined to the joints but can be found all over the body. The pathogenesis of " Lijie and yellowish sweating" lies in the insufficiency of the liver and kidney and exogenous water dampness, leading to disharmony between nutrient qi and defensive qi and between yin and yang. Primary treatment should harmonize yingfen and weifen, as well as tonify and replenish the liver and kidney. The clinical selection of medicines can be considered Guizhi Decotion, a type of formula. The pathogenesis of " Lijie and yellowish sweating" is complex, and clinical treatment should be comprehensively considered to achieve the best therapeutic effect.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical effect of acupuncture and moxibustion combined with umbilical therapy on anxiety and depression in patients with neurogenic bladder (NB) after spinal cord injury (SCI). METHODS: Thirty cases of NB after SCI with anxiety and depression were selected and treated with acupuncture and moxibustion combined with umbilical therapy. Acupuncture was applied at Baihui (GV20), Yintang (GV24⁺), Sanyinjiao (SP6), Shenmen (HT7), Hegu (LI4), Taichong (LR3), once a day, continuous treatment for 4 weeks. Ginger moxibustion was applied at the bladder meridian of foot taiyang and governor vessel, once a day, continuous treatment for 4 weeks. In treatment of umbilical therapy, Chaihu (Radix Bupleuri), Yujin (Radix Curcumae), Rougui (Cortex Cinnamomi) were ground and mixed with the same amount of honey, put into the application, and the application was placed on the navel after filling the navel with fine salt, once a day for 4 weeks. Hamilton anxiety scale (HAMA) score, Hamilton depression scale (HAMD) score, urodynamic indexes (maximum urinary flow rate [Qmax], maximum detrusor pressure [Pdet-max], residual urine volume [RUV]), neurogenic bladder symptom score (NBSS), urinary symptom distress scale (USDS) score were compared before and after treatment, and the clinical efficacy was evaluated. RESULTS: After treatment, the scores of HAMA, HAMD, NBSS, USDS and RUVwere lower than those before treatment (P<0.05), and Qmax and Pdet-max were higher than those before treatment (P<0.05). The total effective rate was 93.3 (28/30). CONCLUSION Acupuncture and moxibustion combined with umbilical therapy can effectively relieve anxiety and depression symptoms, improve urination disorders in patients with NB after SCI.
Humans ; Moxibustion ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Spinal Cord Injuries/psychology* ; Depression/etiology* ; Anxiety/etiology* ; Urinary Bladder, Neurogenic/etiology* ; Young Adult ; Aged ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Acupuncture Points

The connection between tendons and bones is called the tendon bone connection. With the continuous improvement of national sports awareness, excessive exercises and the related intensity are prone to damage the tendon bone connection. Tendon bone healing is a complex repair and healing process involving multiple factors, and good tendon bone healing is a prerequisite for its physiological function. The complexity of tendon bone structure also poses great challenges to the repair of tendon bone injuries. In recent years, researches have found that stem cells, growth factors, macrophages, and other factors are closely related to the healing process of tendon bone injuries, among which macrophages play an important role in the healing process. The authors reviewed relevant research literature in recent years and summarized the role of macrophages in tendon bone healing, in order to provide new ideas and directions for treatment strategies to promote tendon bone healing.
Humans ; Macrophages/metabolism* ; Wound Healing ; Animals ; Tendons/physiology* ; Bone and Bones/injuries* ; Tendon Injuries

Myelin formation is considered the last true "invention" in the evolution of vertebrate nervous system cell structure. The rapid jumping pulse propagation achieved by myelin enables the high conduction speed that is the basis of human movement, sensation, and cognitive function. As a key structure in the brain, white matter is the gathering place of myelin. However, with age, white matter-associated functions become abnormal and a large number of myelin sheaths undergo degenerative changes, causing serious neurological and cognitive disorders. Despite the extensive time and effort invested in exploring myelination and its functions, numerous unresolved issues and challenges persist. In-depth exploration of the functional role of myelin may bring new inspiration for the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) diseases and even mental illnesses. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive examination of the structure and key molecules of the myelin in the CNS, delving into its formation process. Specifically, we propose a new hypothesis regarding the source of power for myelin expansion in which membrane compaction may serve as a driving force for myelin extension. The implications of this hypothesis could provide valuable insights into the pathophysiology of diseases involving myelin malfunction and open new avenues for therapeutic intervention in myelin-related disorders.
Myelin Sheath/metabolism* ; Humans ; Central Nervous System/metabolism* ; Animals

Lysosomes represent a promising target for cancer therapy and reducing drug resistance. However, the short treatment time and low efficiency of lysosomal targeting have limited the application in lysosome-targeting anticancer drugs. In this study, we proposed an adhesive-bandage approach and synthesized a new lysosomal targeting drug, namely long-term lysosome-targeting anticancer drug (LLAD). It contains a SLC38A9-targeting covalently bound moiety and an alkaline component both to prolong the inhibition of SLC38A9 in lysosomes and alkalinize lysosomes. Upon short term and low-dose treatment of HeLa cells, at passage 0, with LLAD, it rapidly alkalinized lysosomes and also can be detected in lysosomes even at passage 15. LLAD induced apoptosis in HeLa cells through long-term lysosomal damage, and showed better long-term anticancer effect than cisplatin in vivo. Overall, our study paves the way for developing long-term lysosomal targeting drugs to treat cancer and overcome the drug resistance of cancer cells, and also provides a candidate drug, LLAD, for treating cancer.

The incomplete degradation of tumour cells by macrophages (Mϕ) is a contributing factor to tumour progression and metastasis, and the degradation function of Mϕ is mediated through phagosomes and lysosomes. In our preliminary experiments, we found that overactivation of NADPH oxidase 2 (NOX2) reduced the ability of Mϕ to degrade engulfed tumour cells. Above this, we screened out liquiritin from Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch, which can significantly inhibit NOX2 activity and inhibit tumours, to elucidate that suppressing NOX2 can enhance the ability of Mϕ to degrade tumour cells. We found that the tumour environment could activate the NOX2 activity in Mϕ phagosomes, causing Mϕ to produce excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS), thus prohibiting the formation of phagolysosomes before degradation. Conversely, inhibiting NOX2 in Mϕ by liquiritin can reduce ROS and promote phagosome-lysosome fusion, therefore improving the enzymatic degradation of tumour cells after phagocytosis, and subsequently promote T cell activity by presenting antigens. We further confirmed that liquiritin down-regulated the expression of the NOX2 specific membrane component protein gp91 phox, blocking its binding to the NOX2 cytoplasmic component proteins p67 phox and p47 phox, thereby inhibiting the activity of NOX2. This study elucidates the specific mechanism by which Mϕ cannot degrade tumour cells after phagocytosis, and indicates that liquiritin can promote the ability of Mϕ to degrade tumour cells by suppressing NOX2.

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis （NASH） is a chronic liver disease with the main pathological features of hepatic steatosis， inflammatory cell infiltration， and interstitial fibroplasia， and it is an important risk factor for liver fibrosis， liver cirrhosis， and hepatocellular carcinoma. NOD-like receptor protein 3 （NLRP3） inflammasome is the core of innate immunity， and the abnormal activation of NLRP3 inflammasome is closely associated with the development and progression of NASH， which involves multiple links such as inflammatory response and oxidative stress. A large number of studies have shown that the active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） and TCM compound prescriptions can improve oxidative stress， regulate lipid metabolism， and alleviate liver inflammation by regulating NLRP3 inflammasome. TCM treatment applied in clinical practice has achieved a good therapeutic effect， while inflammasome is one of the key pathways or targets for TCM in improving NASH. This article reviews the mechanism of action of NLRP3 inflammasome in NASH and the research advances in TCM intervention of NLRP3 inflammasome， in order to provide ideas for the clinical TCM treatment of NASH， as well as reference targets and research directions for the research and development of new TCM drugs.

The theory of "yang transforming qi and yin shaping up body" comes from Huangdi Neijing (Inner Canon of Yellow Emperor),which describes the basic form of human metabolism dominated by "yang transforming qi":the effect of " yang transforming qi" leads the energy metabolism of human body,while the effect of "yin shaping up body" leads the material metabolism. Metabolic syndrome is a clinical syndrome with metabolic disorders of protein,fat and carbohydrate. The theory of "yang transforming qi and yin shaping up body" has a strong guiding value for the pathogenesis analysis and clinical differentiation and treatment of metabolic syndrome. Yin and yang represent the two basic trends of the change and development of things,and the functions of "transforming qi" and "shaping up body" are the main manifestations of them in metabolism. From this perspective,this paper suggests that the key pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome should be "insufficiency of yang transforming qi and impairment of yin shaping up body" based on the mutual assistance of yin and yang. On this basis we take "coordinating yin-yang and promoting the reproduction of them" as the main directions of therapy,which provides a new idea for the treatment of metabolic syndrome.

Objective To explore the value of probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy(pCLE)in the differential diagnosis of fundic gland polyps.Methods A total of 63 patients who underwent conventional white light image(WLI)and suggested with gastric polyps in our gastroenterology endoscopy center during June and December 2023 were enrolled,and their clinical data,WLI,narrow band images(NBI),pCLE images and postoperative histopathological findings were collected.The characteristics of fundic gland polyps under pCLE were statistically verified,and the sensitivity,specificity,accuracy and consistency of different endoscopic diagnoses were calculated respectively.Results Under pCLE,fundic gland polyps were mainly manifested as elongated gastric pit opening,"hand-in-hand"gastric pit opening,well-arranged blood vessels around the pit opening,and no luciferin oozing.The sensitivity,specificity,accuracy of WLI were 72.73％,75.00％,73.13％and 0.343 for fundic gland polyps,and 81.82％,71.43％,71.64％and 0.354 for hyperplastic polyps,respectively.While,the above values of NBI were 87.27％,83.33％,86.57％and 0.673 for fundic gland polyps,and 81.82％,85.71％,85.07％and 0.554 for hyperplastic polyps;and those of pCLE were 92.73％,91.67％,92.53％and 0.769 for fundic gland polyps,and 90.91％,94.64％,94.03％and 0.797 for hyperplastic polyps pCLE had better sensitivity,specificity and accuracy than WLI and NBI,and had the results consistent with histopathological findings.Conclusion pCLE can be used in the differential diagnosis of fundic gland polyps.