Network pharmacology has gained widespread application in drug discovery, particularly in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) research, which is characterized by its "multi-component, multi-target, and multi-pathway" nature. Through the integration of network biology, TCM network pharmacology enables systematic evaluation of therapeutic efficacy and detailed elucidation of action mechanisms, establishing a novel research paradigm for TCM modernization. The rapid advancement of machine learning, particularly revolutionary deep learning methods, has substantially enhanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology, offering significant potential to advance TCM network pharmacology research. This paper describes the methodology of TCM network pharmacology, encompassing ingredient identification, network construction, network analysis, and experimental validation. Furthermore, it summarizes key strategies for constructing various networks and analyzing constructed networks using AI methods. Finally, it addresses challenges and future directions regarding cell-cell communication (CCC)-based network construction, analysis, and validation, providing valuable insights for TCM network pharmacology.
Medicine, Chinese Traditional/methods* ; Artificial Intelligence ; Network Pharmacology/methods* ; Humans ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Drug Discovery

Objective: To examine the association of hypertension onset age with diabetes, so as to provide insights into reducing the the risk of cardiovascular events. Methods: Permanent residents aged 35 to 75 years were selected through the program of early screening and comprehensive intervention for the high-risk cardiovascular disease population in Changning District and Baoshan District, Shanghai Municipality from 2016 to 2020. Demographic information, disease history, hypertension onset age, blood pressure and fasting blood glucose were collected through questionnaire surveys, physical examination and laboratory tests. The residents were divided into four groups based on the onset age of hypertension: <45, 45-<55, 55-<65 and ≥65 years old, and the residents with normal blood pressure were selected as control. The association of hypertension onset age with prediabetes and diabetes were identified using a multivariable logistic regression model. Results: A total of 25 228 residents were recruited, including 8 753 males (34.70%) and 16 475 females (65.30%). The prevalence of hypertension was 43.80%. There were 1 779, 3 274, 3 781 and 2 217 cases with hypertension onset age of <45, 45-<55, 55-<65 and ≥65 years old, respectively, and 14 177 residents with normal blood pressure. The prevalence of prediabetes and diabetes were 24.01% and 11.29%, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that after adjusting for confounding factors such as gender, marital status and educational level, compared with the normal blood pressure group, the risk of prediabetes was higher in the hypertension onset age groups of <45 (OR=1.345, 95%CI: 1.164-1.553), 45-<55 (OR=1.365, 95%CI: 1.212-1.536) and 55-<65 years old (OR=1.376, 95%CI: 1.239-1.527), and the risk of diabetes was higher in the hypertension onset age groups of <45 (OR=2.302, 95%CI: 1.906-2.775), 45-<55 (OR=2.349, 95%CI: 2.016-2.734), 55-<65 (OR=1.909, 95%CI: 1.667-2.184) and ≥65 years old (OR=1.315, 95%CI: 1.131-1.526). Conclusion There are statistically significant associations between hypertension onset age with prediabetes and diabetes.

Objective: To develop the Family-School-Community Cooperation Dilemma Scale for Nutritional Education in Primary Schools Students, and to determine its reliability and validity, in order to provide a basis for developing targeted strategies to promote family-school-community cooperation in the area of nutritional education. Methods: Based on overlapping spheres of influence theory, the initial scale was developed through a qualitative and literature review, discussion with Delphi experts and a pilot survey from July 2022 to July 2023. From July to September 2023, a total of 125 primary school parents, 118 primary school teachers and 113 community personnel were selected from six cities in Jiangsu Province by convenient sampling methods, who were investigated to test the reliability and validity of the scale and to develop a formal scale. Results: The final Family-School-Community Cooperation Dilemma Scale for Nutritional Education in Primary School students consisted of 3 dimensions and 19 items. The exploratory analysis extracted three metric factors, with a contribution ratio of 69.07% to the accumulated variance. The mean scale component effectiveness was 0.94, and the coefficient of association between the respective dimensions and the scale ranged from 0.80 to 0.91.The overall Cronbach α coefficient for the scale was 0.95, the folded half reliability was 0.87, and the retest reliability was 0.98. Conclusion The Family-School-Community Cooperation Dilemma Scale for Nutritional Education in Primary School Students has good reliability and validity, and can be used to measure the degree of the family-school-community cooperation dilemma regarding nutritional education in primary school students.

Objective:To explore the clinical characteristics, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) related to SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant infection.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on clinical data of 11 children with MIS-C, who were admitted to the Department of Pediatrics of Peking University First Hospital from December 2022 to January 2023. Clinical characteristics, treatment, and follow-up of MIS-C were summarized in this study.Results:The 11 cases contained 7 boys and 4 girls, with an age of 4.4 (2.0, 5.5) years on admission. All the patients had fever, with a duration of 7(5, 9) days. Other clinical manifestations included rash in 7 cases, conjunctival hyperemia in 5 cases, red lips and raspberry tongue in 3 cases, lymphadenopathy in 3 cases, and swollen fingers and toes in 2 cases. There were 8 cases of digestive symptoms, 8 cases of respiratory symptoms, and 3 cases of nervous system symptoms. Eight patients had multi-system injuries, and one of them had shock presentation. All 11 patients were infected with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BF.7 variant. The laboratory examination results showed that all cases had elevated inflammatory indicators, abnormal coagulation function and myocardial damage. Six patients had elevated white blood cell counts, 5 cases had liver function abnormalities, 3 cases had kidney function abnormalities, and 8 cases had coronary artery involvement. All 11 patients received anti-infection treatment, of which 3 cases received only 2 g/kg intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), while the remaining 8 cases received a combination of IVIG and 2 mg/(kg·d) methylprednisolone. Among the 8 cases with coronary artery disease, 6 cases received low molecular weight heparin anticoagulation therapy. All patients were followed up in 2 weeks after being discharged, and their inflammatory markers had returned to normal by that time. The 8 cases with coronary artery disease and 3 cases with pneumonia showed significant improvement or back to normal at the 4-week follow-up. All patients had no new complications or comorbidities during follow-up of more than 3 months.Conclusions:MIS-C may present with Kawasaki disease-like symptoms, with or without gastrointestinal, neurological, or respiratory symptoms. Elevated inflammatory markers, abnormal coagulation function, and cardiac injury contribute to the diagnosis of MIS-C. IVIG and methylprednisolone were the primary treatments for MIS-C, and a favorable short-term prognosis was observed during a follow-up period of more than 3 months.

ObjectiveTo investigate the correlation between mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) body constitution types in the elderly, and to provide an evidence for the control of cognitive impairment in the elderly. MethodsThe elderly aged 65 and above who participated in the community physical examinations in a community of Changning District, Shanghai were selected as the research subjects. The cognitive function was assessed by using the Clock Drawing Test combined with the Ascertain Dementia 8-item Questionnaire (AD8), the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and the Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE). The diagnostic criteria for MCI was identified based on the 2018 Chinese Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Dementia and Cognitive Disorders, along with the assessment results and clinical history information. The current investigation method was used to collect the basic information and the prevalence of chronic disease of the subjects through questionnaire inquiries. The elderly subjects’ ability to take care of themselves was evaluated based on the Elderly Self⁃Care Ability Evaluation Scale, while the TCM body constitution types were determined based on the Chinese Medicine Health Care Management Service Specification. The association of the detection rate of MCI with gender, education level, history of chronic disease and TCM body constitution types were analyzed lastly. ResultsA total of 2 351 elderly people were investigated, including 1 037 males and 1 314 females, with an average age of (74.11±6.15) years. 174 subjects, accounting for 7.40%, were identified with MCI. The highest detection rate of MCI in the elderly are those with a Qi stagnation constitution (10.8%), followed by those with a dampness-heat constitution (9.1%) and a Qi deficiency constitution (8.4%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that advanced age, lower educational level, a history of tuberculosis, and TCM constitutions such as dampness-heat, Qi stagnation, and Qi deficiency were the potential risk factors for MCI. ConclusionThere is a significant association between TCM constitution types such as dampness-heat, Qi stagnation, and Qi deficiency with MCI. TCM techniques can be integrated into the health management services for the elderly population, and targeted interventions can be provided to those with imbalanced constitution types so as to reduce the risk of MCI.

Objective:To investigate the risk factors of acute symptomatic seizures (ASS) and epilepsy in children with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD).Methods:A ambispective cohort study was used including 74 children with MOGAD who were admitted to the Department of Pediatrics of Peking University First Hospital from January 2013 to June 2023 and were followed up. Demographic information, clinical information, treatment status, ASS and epilepsy status were collected. The clinical phenotypes were classified. According to the presence or absence of ASS in the course of disease, the children and the course of disease were divided into groups with and without ASS. Chi-square test, Fisher exact test and Mann Whitney U test were used to analyze the correlation between symptoms and auxiliary examination characteristics and the occurrence of ASS in the two groups of children. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used for multivariate analysis. Results:The onset age of the 74 children with MOGAD was 6.58 (3.80, 9.67) years, including 38 females (51.4%) and 36 males (48.6%). The duration of the final follow-up was 2.67 (1.10, 4.12) years, with a total of 239 times acute clinical episodes. ASS occurred in 39.2% (29/74) children during the course of disease and in 29.3% (70/239) of attacks. The common phenotypes were ADEM (67 times (28.0%)), optic neuritis (37 times (15.4%)) and cerebral cortical encephalitis (31 times (13.0%)) in 239 times acute clinical episodes. The incidence of ASS in ADEM and cerebral cortical encephalitis phenotype was 28.4%(19/67) and 100.0% (31/31), respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that cortical involvement on magnetic resonance imaging during clinical attacks was an independent risk factor for ASS ( β=-1.49, OR=0.23) after excluding attacks involving only optic nerve or spinal cord (49 episodes). During the follow-up, 5 children (6.8%) had epilepsy, and all children with epilepsy had multiple clinical attacks of MOGAD and previous ASS. Conclusions:Cortical involvement on magnetic resonance imaging during clinical episodes is an independent risk factor for ASS in children with MOGAD. All MOGAD children with epilepsy had ASS and multiple MOGAD clinical episodes in the past.

Objective : To examine the association between prediabetes and the risk of cancer, so as to provide insights into precision cancer prevention. Methods: Based on the project of Early Screening and Comprehensive Interventions among Population at A High Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases in Changning District, Shanghai Municipality, baseline data were captured from permanent community residents at ages of 35 to 75 years from 2016 to 2019, including demographics, physical examinations, previous medical history and used of medications. The development of cancers was used as a outcome measure, and the follow-up was terminated by May 2021. The development of cancer was collected through the Changning Cancer Registration System, and the association between prediabetes and the risk of cancer was examined using a multivariable logistic regression model. Results: A total of 9 503 participants were finally included, with a mean age of (57.12±10.89) years. The participants included 2 167 cases with prediabetes (22.80%) and 7 336 individuals with normal glucose (77.20%), and included 3 713 men (39.07%) and 5 790 women (60.93%). A total of 114 new cases with cancers were diagnosed until the final follow-up, including 37 cases among prediabetic patients (1.71%) and 77 cases among participants with normal blood glucose (1.05%). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that after adjustment for age, gender, marital status, educational level, family annual income, smoking, alcohol consumption, body mass index, hypertension, administration of antihypertensive agents, dyslipidemia, administration of lipid-lowering agents and medical history of cardio-cerebrovascular diseases, a higher risk of cancers was detected among prediabetic patients than among participants with normal blood glucose (OR=1.528, 95%CI: 1.025-2.277), and prediabetes had no significant interactions with age, gender, smoking or alcohol consumption (all P>0.05). Conclusion Prediabetes is statistically associated with the risk of cancer.

As the main stabilizing structure of the medial ankle joint, deltoid ligament plays a role in counteracting excessive eversion of the hindfoot and external rotation of the talus during ankle movement so as to maintain the biomechanical stability of ankle joint. Although the incidence of deltoid ligament injury is low, improper diagnosis and treatment can affect the path of talus motion and eventually lead to chronic medial instability or traumatic arthritis of the ankle joint, seriously affecting the normal life and motor function of the patients. The diagnosis of deltoid ligament injury needs to be based on the characteristics of the injury, physical examination and imaging, among which X-ray, MRI and ultrasonography are most frequently used. There are various methods to treat deltoid ligament injury according to the type of injury, and thus the choice of treatment has been a hot topic in the field of foot and ankle surgery. The choice of non-surgical or surgical treatment for acute deltoid ligament injury remains controversial. For the treatment of chronic deltoid ligament injury, there is no consensus on direct repair or deltoid ligament reconstruction. In addition, the choice of autologous or allograft tendon or wire anchors for deltoid ligament reconstruction is also disputed. The rehabilitation of deltoid ligament injury is crucial to the early restoration of motor function of the ankle joint, but the related guidelines or consensus are scarce. In order to fully understand the characteristics of deltoid ligament injury, make accurate diagnosis and formulate reasonable treatment and rehabilitation programs, the authors review the research progress in deltoid ligament injury from aspects of anatomical characteristics, biomechanical mechanism of injury, diagnosis, treatment and postoperative functional rehabilitation, hoping to provide a reference for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of deltoid ligament injury.

Objective:To analyze the clinical features and genotypes of mitochondrial complex Ⅰ deficiency due to NDUFAF5 gene mutations.Methods:Clinical data of 2 cases with mitochondrial complex Ⅰ deficiency due to NDUFAF5 gene mutations admitted in the Department of Pediatrics, Peking University First Hospital from February 2015 to July 2018 were retrospectively reviewed and followed up.Reported cases of mitochondrial complex Ⅰ deficiency due to NDUFAF5 gene mutations were searched in online databases, including the PubMed, Wanfang, Chinese Journal Full-Text Database and VIP database from January 1975 to February 2020 with " NDUFAF5" as the key word.Through literature review, clinical features and genotypes of mitochondrial complex Ⅰ deficiency due to NDUFAF5 gene mutations were summarized.Results:Case 1 showed mentor and mental regression after infection at the age of 1 year and 4 months.The condition of case 1 remained stable at the age of 5 year and 6 months at the last follow-up.Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed multiple lesions in the white matter of the frontal and parieto-occipital lobes, basal ganglia, thalamus, cerebellum, brain stem and corpus callosum.Case 2 showed rapidly bilateral visual impairment at the age of 7 years and 4 months.The patient′s vision moderately recovered at the age of 8 years and 8 months.Brain MRI showed midbrain, periaqueductal gray, medulla oblongata and putamen lesions.Spinal MRI showed continuous lesions in the cervical cord 1-4.Genetic test showed NDUFAF5 gene c. 764C>T (p.Ala255Val) and c. 508C>T (p.Arg170Trp), homozygous c. 836T>G (p.Met279Arg) mutations in case 1 and case 2 respectively.Through online searching, 6 reports involving 14 cases were retrieved.The most common clinical phenotype was Leigh syndrome.Two cases had disease onset during the neonatal period, and their disease progressed rapidly and died within 1 year old.Eleven cases had onset during the infantile period, and 72.7% (8/11 cases) of them had a normal development.The common initial symptoms were mental or motor regression, feeding difficulty and dystonia.Seventy-two point seven percent (8/11 cases) had acute/subacute onset after infection, showing paroxysmal deterioration, and died in infancy or childhood.One patient developed dystonia in childhood and visual impairment in adulthood.Conclusions:The onset age ranged from neonatal period to childhood in patients with NDUFAF5 gene mutations, and their clinical phenotypes vary a lot.The main clinical phenotype is Leigh syndrome.Disease onset during the infantile period is frequent, and mostly presents paroxysmal deterioration after infection, while disease onset in childhood is rare.

Objective:To summarize the clinical characteristics of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD) and compare the differences in efficacy of different disease-modifying drugs.Methods:An ambispective cohort study was conducted in 42 children diagnosed with MOGAD at Department of Pediatrics, Peking University First Hospital from January 2012 to March 2021 and conducted long-term follow-up to analyze clinical phenotypes and compare the efficacy of different disease-modifying drugs such as rituximab, mycophenolate mofetil and azathioprine. Kruskal-Wallis H test was used to compare the annual relapse rate of disease-modifying drugs at different times, expanded disability status scale (EDSS) score at the last follow-up, and Wilcoxon rank test was used to compare the annual relapse rate before and after modified disease therapy. The Log-rank (Mantel-Cox) survival curve was used to compare the relapse rate of different disease-modifying drugs. Results:Of the 42 cases, 22 were male and 20 were female, with the age at disease onset of 5.96 (2.33-12.90) years. The disease duration was 4.46 (1.25-13.00) years at the last follow-up with 161 clinical acute attacks. Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) was the most common phenotype of first attack and all attacks during disease course ((60% (25/42) for first attack, 38% (61/161) for all attacks). The most common clinical syndrome was neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) (50%, 21/42). Of the 42 children, 5 (12%) showed encephalitis and 6 (14%) combined with anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antibody overlap syndrome. The most commonly involved areas of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were subcortical white matter (71%, 88/124), cortex (26%, 32/124) and periventricular white matter (25%, 32/124). Spinal cord MRI was most frequently involved in cervical (70%, 16/23) and thoracic (61%, 14/23) medulla, and 43% (10/23) longitudinally extensive transeverse myelitis. Disease-modifying drugs were used in 34 patients. The annual relapse rate after treatment with rituximab, mycophenolate mofetil and azathioprine decreased (all P<0.05) and there was no statistically significant difference in the annual relapse proportion among the groups ( P=0.307). Conclusions:The most common clinical attack of first and all of MOGAD in children is ADEM, and the most common clinical syndrome is NMOSD. Rituximab, mycophenolate mofetil and azathioprine can reduce the annual relapse rate, but it is not clear effect of which treatment is better.