ObjectiveThis paper aims to find the identified and validated clinical biomarker data building upon a clinical study of early-phase phase Ⅱ and investigate the correlation analysis of Huanglian Jiedu Wan on syndrome improvement and clinical biomarkers in the treatment of "excess heat-toxicity" based on a machine learning model. Additionally， the effective prediction of clinical biomarker values for the main symptoms of the "excess heat-toxicity" syndrome was assessed. MethodsA total of 229 patients meeting the inclusion criteria for "excess heat-toxicity" syndrome were randomly divided into the Huanglian Jiedu Wan group and the placebo group. Syndrome score transition matrices were constructed for the Huanglian Jiedu Wan group and the placebo group based on three main symptoms of "excess heat-toxicity" syndrome， such as oral ulcers， sore throat， and gum swelling and pain. Data from the patients with these three syndromes were also integrated for an overall analysis. The corresponding syndrome score transition matrices were further constructed to visualize symptom change trends of the patients in the two groups via heatmaps. Based on the identified and validated clinical biomarkers related to inflammation， oxidative stress， and energy metabolism in the early phase， Spearman correlation analysis was employed to analyze and evaluate the associations between clinical biomarkers and syndrome improvement. Key clinical biomarkers reflecting the effect of Huanglian Jiedu Wan were screened through the comparison of differences between groups. An extreme gradient boosting （XGBoost） algorithm was used to develop a prediction model for main symptom classification， with classification performance evaluated through 10-fold cross-validation. Feature importance analysis was applied to identify variables with the greatest contribution to the prediction result. ResultsThe syndrome transition matrix results indicated that the Huanglian Jiedu Wan group showed a superior effect to the placebo group in improving oral ulcers， sore throat， and overall symptoms， with significant effects observed especially in sore throat and overall symptom analyses （P<0.01）. Spearman correlation analysis revealed that several clinical biomarkers positively correlated with "excess heat-toxicity" syndrome and its main symptom improvement， were also called "heat-related biomarkers"， including succinic acid， α-ketoglutaric acid， glycine， lactic acid， adenosine monophosphate （AMP）， tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α）， interferon-γ （IFN-γ）， interleukin-1β （IL-1β）， interleukin-4 （IL-4）， interleukin-6 （IL-6）， interleukin-8 （IL-8）， interleukin-10 （IL-10）， and so on. Conversely， clinical biomarkers negatively correlated with symptom severity， were also called "heat-clearing related biomarkers" after administration of Huanglian Jiedu Wan， including malic acid， fumaric acid， cis-aconitic acid， adrenocorticotropic hormone （ACTH）， IL-1β， IL-4， IL-8， succinic acid， and citric acid. The XGBoost classification model using all 52 biomarkers as variables achieved an average test accuracy of 0.754 and an average F1 score of 0.777. Feature importance analysis identified the scores of glutamic acid in saliva and IL-6 were the highest in all the variables， with importance scores of 0.081 and 0.080， respectively. After screening out 14 key variables and optimizing the parameters， model performance improved to an average accuracy of 0.758 and an F1 score of 0.798. Feature importance analysis further determined that the glutamic acid in saliva and IL-6 showed obvious changes after screening the variables， confirming the good syndrome prediction ability of the model constructed by these key clinical biomarkers. ConclusionThis study systematically elucidates the correlation between syndrome improvement and clinical biomarkers of Huanglian Jiedu Wan in the treatment of "excess heat-toxicity" syndrome. An XGBoost classification model based on key clinical biomarkers is successfully established， achieving effective prediction of the symptoms related to the "excess heat-toxicity" syndrome such as oral ulcers and sore throat and providing a new insight for objective identification of traditional Chinese medicine syndromes.

ObjectiveTo analyze the processing mechanism underlying the enhanced effect of invigorating spleen and stopping diarrhea of soil-fried Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma（AMR） by analyzing the changes of microstructure， chemical composition and anti-ulcerative colitis（UC） activity before and after soil stir-frying. MethodsThe microstructure and elemental composition of AMR before and after soil stir-frying were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy（SEM-EDS）， to investigate the differences in microstructure and the underlying causes. Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry（UPLC-Q-TOF-MS） coupled with UNIFI 1.9.2 natural product analysis platform were used to analyze and identify the chemical constituents in raw and soil-fried products， and multivariate statistical methods including principal component analysis（PCA） and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis（OPLS-DA） were used to explore the differences and sources of chemical constituents between them. A dextran sulfate sodium（DSS）-induced UC mouse model was established. The method of disease activity index（DAI） was used to evaluate the severity of intestinal inflammation. Hematoxylin-eosin（HE） staining was used to observe the pathological changes of colon tissue， enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA） was used to detect the levels of inflammatory factors， Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction（Real-time PCR） and Western blot were used to analyze the expressions of key genes and proteins involved in the intestinal mucosal barrier. The 16S rRNA sequencing was used to evaluate the diversity of intestinal flora， headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry（HS-GC-MS） was used to explore the levels of short-chain fatty acids（SCFAs） in feces. Base on the above findings， this paper investigated the effects of raw and soil-fried AMR on the biological， chemical， mechanical and immune barriers of model animals， and the differences in pharmacological effects and underlying mechanisms from the perspective of regulating the intestinal mucosal barrier in UC mice. ResultsSEM observation revealed numerous hearth soil particles on the surface of soil-fried AMR， accompanied by bubble-like bulges. At the same time， there were many cracks and folds on the surface of the hearth soil. EDS analysis revealed that the contents of Si， Al， Mg and Ca in soil-fried AMR were significantly higher than those of raw products， and these elements constituted the primary components of hearth soil. UPLC-Q-TOF-MS combined with database comparison was used to identify the chemical constituents of raw and soil-fried AMR. In positive ion mode， a total of 132 components were identified， primarily comprising three categories of terpenoids， polyphenols and amino acids. In negative ion mode， a total of 40 components were identified， primarily polyphenolic and glycoside compounds. Among them， the contents of sesquiterpenes and polyphenolic acids were changed significantly before and after processing. Soil-fried AMR could reduce the DAI score of UC mice， alleviate the shortening of colon length， reduce the levels of pro-inflammatory factors such as interleukin（IL）-17， IL-18， γ-interferon（IFN-γ） and tumor necrosis factor（TNF）-α in serum， increase the levels of anti-inflammatory factors such as secretory immunoglobulin A（sIgA）， IL-10， IL-4 and transforming growth factor-β（TGF-β） in serum， increase the expressions of key genes and proteins of intestinal mucosal barrier such as tight junction protein-1（ZO-1）， Occludin， Claudin-1 and mucin 2（MUC2） in colonic mucosa， and improve the disorders of intestinal flora diversity and the levels of SCFAs（P<0.05， P<0.01）. The raw and stir-fried products of AMR also exhibited the aforementioned effects， but they were weaker than the soil-fried products. Additionally， the auxiliary material hearth soil also had a certain pharmacodynamic effect. ConclusionSoil-fried AMR can enhance the protective effect on intestinal mucosal barrier in UC mice. These changes or heating-induced alterations in the microscopic structure and chemical composition of AMR may be attributed to the dual effects of adsorption of hearth soil.

ObjectiveHeadspace solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry（HS-SPME-GC-MS） and GC-triple quadrupole MS（GC-QqQ-MS） in combination with non-targeted and targeted metabolomics were employed to systematically analyze the chemical composition differences of Xihuangwan prepared with natural musk and artificial musk， and establish an identification system for them. MethodsThe volatile components of 9 batches of Xihuangwan samples from 8 manufacturers were analyzed by HS-SPME-GC-MS non-targeted metabolomics， and identified by comparing their MS data with the National Institute of Standards and Technology（NIST） spectral library. Orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis（OPLS-DA） was used to identify differential volatile components of Xihuangwan prepared with natural musk and artificial musk. Additionally， GC-QqQ-MS targeted metabolomics was applied to quantify the levels of α-pinene， β-elemene， muscone， dehydroepiandrosterone， bornyl acetate， and octyl acetate in 27 batches of samples from 9 manufacturers. Cluster analysis， principal component analysis（PCA）， and partial least squares-discriminant analysis（PLS-DA） were conducted to further explore the differences in volatile components between Xihuangwan samples prepared with natural musk and artificial musk. ResultsNon-targeted metabolomics identified 291 volatile compounds in Xihuangwan， including alkanes， esters， alkanes， alcohols， ketones， naphthalenes and others. OPLS-DA analysis revealed distinct separation between Xihuangwan samples containing artificial musk（A1， C1， D1， E1， F1， G1， I1） and those containing natural musk（H1， H3）. A total of 30 differential metabolites were identified. The relative contents of these 30 differential metabolites were visualized using a radar chart， revealing significant differences in the levels of octanol， borneol acetate and muscone. Cluster analysis and PCA results from targeted metabolomics indicated that Xihuangwan could be classified into two distinct groups：one composed of natural musk（H1， H3） and the other of artificial musk， sample H2. PLS-DA identified muscone， octyl acetate， and dehydroepiandrosterone as key differential volatile components. Although no significant difference was observed in the content of octyl acetate between the two groups， statistically significant differences were found for muscone and dehydroepiandrosterone（P<0.05）. ConclusionMuscone and dehydroepiandrosterone can be used for the differentiation of Xihuangwan samples containing natural musk from those containing artificial musk. This study systematically and comprehensively analyzed the differences in the types and contents of major volatile components in Xihuangwan prepared with natural musk and artificial musk， providing a scientific basis for quality evaluation and control of Xihuangwan.

Objective To construct glucose oxidase（GOx）–loaded nanogels （GONGs）, optimize their formulation, and evaluate their capacity to inhibit the Warburg effect in glioma cells. Methods A responsive polymer （HAM） was synthesized and used to self-assemble GONGs, which were then characterized. Encapsulation efficiency and drug loading were determined using fluorescence spectrophotometry. Biocompatibility was tested by measuring cytotoxicity and hemolytic activity. Western blotting was used to evaluate the effects of GONGs on the expression of proteins associated with the Warburg phenotype and oxidative damage in glioma cells. Results GONGs prepared at a drug–to–polymer ratio of 1∶10 exhibited a particle size of 140.3 nm and a zeta potential of −27.2 mV. Compared with free GOx, GONGs markedly reduced cytotoxicity, increased the IC₅₀ in hUVEC cells from 2.150 nmol/L to 74.86 nmol/L, and significantly decreased hemolysis. At a GOx concentration of 2 nmol/L, GONGs effectively downregulated glycolysis-related proteins, such as HK2 and LDHA, and inhibited glutamine metabolism in glioma cells. Conclusion GONGs exhibited high GOx loading capacity, significantly reduced GOx-induced cytotoxicity, inhibited the Warburg effect in glioma cells and induced oxidative damage.

Objective: To investigate the current status of emotional and behavioral problems among preschool children in Hefei, and to explore their association with the family rearing environment, providing scientific evidence for improving the family rearing environment and promoting children s mental health. Methods: From March to May 2023, a stratified cluster sampling method was applied to select 1 893 preschool children from five kindergartens in Hefei. Data on children s emotional and behavioral problems and family rearing environment were collected through electronic questionnaires. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Parent Version) was employed to assess children s emotional and behavioral problems. Binary Logistic regression was conducted to analyze their association with family rearing environment. Results: Among preschool children, the prevalence rates of emotional symptoms, conducts, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship difficulties, and prosocial behavior were 9.7% (184 cases), 37.7% (713 cases), 16.7% (316 cases), 48.5% (918 cases), and 17.5% (332 cases), respectively. The abnormal detection rate of total difficulties score was 18.3% (346 cases). Binary Logistic regression analysis showed that higher maternal education level (postgraduate degree), parental daily interaction time ≥1 h, daily outdoor activity time for children ≥2 h, consistent family rearing attitudes, and nightly sleep duration for children ≥8 h were associated with lower abnormal risks of total difficulties score in preschool children [ OR(95%CI )=0.48(0.24-0.95), 0.66(0.49-0.90), 0.65(0.48-0.87), 0.39(0.29-0.52), 0.71(0.51-0.99)，all P < 0.05 ]. Conclusion The abnormal detection rates of emotional and behavioral problems among preschool children in Hefei are at moderate levels, and family rearing environment is related to children s emotional and behavioral problems.

Objective To analyze the trends in the disease burden of tracheal, bronchus, and lung cancer (TBL) in China and in low-, middle-, and high-socio-demographic index (SDI) countries and regions from 1990 to 2021, with the aim of providing evidence for the formulation of targeted prevention and control strategies. Methods Utilizing data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2021, we extracted TBL-related data from 1990 to 2021, stratified by sex, age group, and year. We assessed the disease burden and trends of TBL across different groups, conducted a decomposition analysis to identify the leading contributors to the change in disease burden, and examined the relationship between disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and SDI. Results In 2021, the overall burden of TBL in China was substantially higher than that in other groups. The fold-increase in the number of prevalent cases, deaths, and DALYs was significantly greater in China. Moreover, the growth rates of the age-standardized prevalence rate (ASPR), age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR), and age-standardized DALYs rate (ASDR) in China were higher than the overall levels in other SDI countries. In all groups, the ASPR of TBL generally followed a pattern of increasing and then decreasing with age; however, for males in China and middle-SDI countries, the ASPR exhibited a decline in the 80-84 age group. Decomposition analysis revealed that the primary drivers of the increasing TBL burden varied among groups: the rise in DALYs in China and middle-SDI countries was mainly driven by population aging, in low-SDI countries by population growth, and in high-SDI countries by epidemiological transition. While global health inequality in TBL showed some improvement, low-SDI countries continued to bear a disproportionately heavy health burden. Conclusion The disease burden of TBL in China has progressively increased from 1990 to 2021, now ranking among the highest globally. Multiple factors, predominantly driven by population aging, are exacerbating this burden. The burden of TBL is influenced by advancing age, sex differences, and SDI levels. China, along with low- and middle-SDI countries, should implement targeted intervention strategies based on epidemiological findings, including expanding investment in public health services and strengthening healthcare systems, to mitigate the growing burden of TBL.

Patients with Takayasu arteritis combined with aortic valve disease often have a poor prognosis following surgical valve replacement, frequently encountering complications such as perivalvular leakage, valve detachment, and anastomotic aneurysm. This article presents a high-risk case wherein severe aortic valve insufficiency associated with Takayasu arteritis was successfully managed through transcatheter aortic valve implantation via the transapical approach. The patient had satisfactory valve function with no complications observed during the six-month postoperative follow-up. This case provides a minimally invasive and feasible alternative for the clinical management of such high-risk patients.

The American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC), in collaboration with multiple professional organizations, jointly released the "Guideline for the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults" in August 2025. Based on the latest evidence-based medical findings from February 2015 to January 2025, the guideline proposes an individualized treatment strategy grounded in total cardiovascular disease risk stratification, incorporates the novel PREVENT risk assessment model, lowers the medication initiation threshold and control targets for high-risk populations, and provides specific management recommendations for special populations. This article provides an interpretation of these updates and conducts a comparative analysis with the current status of hypertension prevention and treatment in China as well as Chinese guidelines, aiming to offer reference for hypertension control practices in China.

The American Heart Association (AHA) officially released the "2025 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics: A Report of US and Global Data From the American Heart Association" on January 27, 2025. This report systematically compiles the latest statistics on major cardiovascular diseases worldwide, while simultaneously integrating relevant outcome indicators, including quality of care, procedures, and economic costs, and updating the global prevalence patterns and evolving trends of diverse risk factors impacting cardiovascular health, providing essential guidance for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Synthesizing insights from this pivotal report and other relevant studies, this article highlights key findings concerning the global prevalence and mortality of heart diseases, associated risk factors, and emerging diagnostic and therapeutic technologies.

Objective To investigate the value of preoperative clinical data and computed tomography angiography (CTA) data in predicting perioperative mortality risk in patients with acute aortic dissection (AAD), and to construct a Nomogram prediction model. Methods A retrospective study was conducted on AAD patients treated at Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University from February 2013 to July 2023. Patients who died during the perioperative period were included in the death group, and those who improved during the same period were randomly selected as the non-death group using a random number table method. The first CTA data and preoperative clinical data within the perioperative period of the two groups were collected, and related risk factors were analyzed to screen out independent predictive factors for perioperative death. The Nomogram prediction model for perioperative mortality risk in AAD patients was constructed using the screened independent predictive factors, and the effect of the Nomogram was evaluated by calibration curves and area under the curve (AUC). Results A total of 270 AAD patients were included. There were 60 patients in the death group, including 42 males and 18 females with an average age of (56.89±13.42) years. There were 210 patients in the non-death group, including 163 males and 47 females with an average age of (56.15±13.77) years. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that type A AAD [OR=4.589, 95%CI (2.273, 9.267), P<0.001], irregular tear morphology [OR=2.054, 95%CI (1.025, 4.117), P=0.042], decreased hemoglobin [OR=0.983, 95%CI (0.971, 0.995), P=0.007], increased uric acid [OR=1.003, 95%CI (1.001, 1.005), P=0.004], and increased aspartate aminotransferase [OR=1.003, 95%CI (1.000, 1.006), P=0.035] were independent risk factors for perioperative death in AAD patients. The Nomogram prediction model constructed using the above risk factors had an AUC of 0.790 for predicting perioperative death, indicating good predictive performance. Conclusion Type A AAD, irregular tear morphology, decreased hemoglobin, increased uric acid, and increased aspartate aminotransferase are independent predictive factors for perioperative death in AAD patients. The Nomogram prediction model constructed using these factors can help assess the perioperative mortality risk of AAD patients.