ObjectiveTo establish an ultra-performance liquid fingerprint and multi-components determination method for Naomaili granules. To evaluate the quality of different batches by chemometrics， and the anti-neuroinflammatory effects of water extract and main components of Naomaili granules were tested in vitro. MethodsThe similarity and common peaks of 27 batches of Naomaili granules were evaluated by using Ultra performance liquid chromatography （UPLC） fingerprint detection. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry （UPLC-MS/MS） technology was used to determine the content of the index components in Naomaili granules and to evaluate the quality of different batches of Naomaili granules by chemometrics. LPS-induced BV-2 cell inflammation model was used to investigate the anti-neuroinflammatory effects of the water extract and main components of Naomaili granules. ResultsThe similarity of fingerprints of 27 batches of samples was > 0.90. A total of 32 common peaks were calibrated， and 23 of them were identified and assigned. In 27 batches of Naomaili granules， the mass fractions of 14 components that were stachydrine hydrochloride， leonurine hydrochloride， calycosin-7-O-glucoside， calycosin，tanshinoneⅠ， cryptotanshinone， tanshinoneⅡ_A， ginsenoside Rb₁， notoginsenoside R₁， ginsenoside Rg₁， paeoniflorin， albiflorin， lactiflorin， and salvianolic acid B were found to be 2.902-3.498， 0.233-0.343， 0.111-0.301， 0.07-0.152， 0.136-0.228， 0.195-0.390， 0.324-0.482， 1.056-1.435， 0.271-0.397， 1.318-1.649， 3.038-4.059， 2.263-3.455， 0.152-0.232， 2.931-3.991 mg∙g^-1， respectively. Multivariate statistical analysis showed that paeoniflorin， ginsenoside Rg₁， ginsenoside Rb₁ and staphylline hydrochloride were quality difference markers to control the stability of the preparation. The results of bioactive experiment showed that the water extract of Naomaili granules and the eight main components with high content in the prescription had a dose-dependent inhibitory effect on the release of NO in the cell supernatant. Among them， salvianolic acid B and ginsenoside Rb₁ had strong anti-inflammatory activity， with IC₅₀ values of （36.11±0.15） mg∙L^-1 and （27.24±0.54） mg∙L^-1， respectively. ConclusionThe quality evaluation method of Naomaili granules established in this study was accurate and reproducible. Four quality difference markers were screened out， and eight key pharmacodynamic substances of Naomaili granules against neuroinflammation were screened out by in vitro cell experiments.

ObjectiveTo investigate the mechanism of action of Jiedu Huayu granules in improving liver injury in mice with acute liver failure （ALF） by observing its effect on a mouse model of ALF after prophylactic administration， and to provide a basis for clinical medication. MethodsA total of 60 specific pathogen-free male C57BL/6J mice were divided into normal group， model group， Jiedu Huayu granules group （JDHY group）， and farnesoid X receptor （FXR） agonist （GW4064） group using a random number table， with 15 mice in each group. The model of ALF was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of D-galactosamine combined with lipopolysaccharide. The mice in the JDHY group were given prophylactic administration of 0.3 g/mL drug solution of Jiedu Huayu granules by gavage for 3 days before modeling， those in the normal group and the model group were given 0.9% NaCl solution by gavage， and those in the GW4064 group were given intraperitoneal injection of GW4064 for 3 consecutive days before modeling. The mice were sacrificed after modeling， and serum and liver tissue samples were collected. A veterinary automatic biochemical analyzer was used to measure the serum levels of total bilirubin （TBil）， total bile acids （TBA）， gamma-glutamyl transferase （GGT）， alanine aminotransferase （ALT）， and aspartate aminotransferase （AST） in mice from each group； HE staining was used to observe liver pathological changes； RT-PCR was used to measure the mRNA expression levels of FXR， fibroblast growth factor 15 （FGF15）， fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 （FGFR4）， small heterodimer partner （SHP）， and bile salt export pump （BSEP） in mice， and Western blot was used to measure the protein expression levels of FXR， FGF15， FGFR4， SHP， and BSEP. A one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison between groups， and the Dunett method was used for further comparison between two groups. ResultsCompared with the normal group， the model group had significant increases in the serum levels of TBil， ALT， AST， TBA， and GGT （all P<0.01）， and compared with the model group， the JDHY group and the GW4064 group had significant reductions in the serum levels of TBil， ALT， AST， TBA， and GGT （all P <0.01）. HE staining showed that compared with the model group， the JDHY group and the GW4064 group had milder pathological injury， a reduction in the area of hepatocyte necrosis， and alleviation of cellular swelling and edema. Compared with the normal group， the model group had significant reductions in the mRNA and protein expression levels of FXR， FGF15， FGFR4， SHP， and BSEP in liver tissue （all P <0.01）， and compared with the model group， the JDHY group and the GW4064 group had significant increases in the mRNA and protein expression levels of FXR， FGF15， FGFR4， SHP， and BSEP in liver tissue （all P <0.05）. ConclusionJiedu Huayu granules may alleviate liver injury in mice with ALF through the FXR/SHP axis.

ObjectiveTo establish a regional risk assessment system for hospital-acquired infections in neurosurgery department of general hospital, and to evaluate its prevention and control effectiveness. MethodsFailure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) was used to identify the core risk factors for infections in neurosurgery department. The risk priority number (RPN) of each risk factor was calculated to determine the priority intervention targets. Targeted interventions were developed and continuously refined through the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycles. Data from January to June 2023 (control group) and July to December 2023 (intervention group) were collected to compare the differences in environmental hygiene monitoring qualification rate, incidence rate of hospital-acquired infections among inpatients, and detection rate of bacterial antimicrobial resistance. ResultsHigh-risk factors for hospital-acquired infections in neurosurgery department included patient-related risk factors, inadequate implementation of isolation measures for special infections, and poor compliance with surgical site infection (SSI) prevention protocols. After intervention, the environmental hygiene qualification rate significantly increased from 81.55% to 100.00% (χ²=120.49, P<0.001). The overall hospital-acquired infection rate among inpatients decreased from 2.62% to 2.45%, the infection rate of per case declined from 3.12% to 2.84%, and the detection rate of multidrug-resistant organism infections reduced from 43.72% to 36.79%. Additionally, antimicrobial utilization rate decreased from 48.75% to 42.53% (χ²=34.09, P<0.001). ConclusionThe FMEA-based risk assessment system can effectively identify critical infection risks in neurosurgery department, and targeted interventions can significantly improve infection prevention and control performance.

Objective: To investigate the effect of integrin α5 on the expression of NOD-like receptor thermal protein domain associated protein 3 (NLRP3) in periodontal ligament fibroblasts (PDLFs) within an inflammatory microenvironment. Methods: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Laboratory animals. After rat PDLFs were treated with LPS (0.5, 5, and 50 µg/mL) for 24 h, the primary medium was discarded and replaced with serum-free culture medium. After 24 h, the supernatant was collected and mixed with DMEM medium containing 10% exosome-free serum at a volume ratio of 1:1 to obtain conditioned medium (CM). The groups were labeled as the 0.5-CM, 5-CM, and 50-CM groups. In addition, PDLFs cultured in DMEM medium containing 10% exosome-free serum were considered the 0-CM group. PDLFs were cultured with the above CM. In the inhibitor group, PDLFs were cultured in 0-CM containing different concentrations of integrin α5 inhibitor ATN-161 (0, 0.025, 0.25, 2.5, 25, and 250 μg/mL). The effect of CM and integrin α5 inhibitor ATN-161 on cell viability was assessed using the CCK-8 assay. According to the CCK-8 results, in further inhibitor intervention experiments, PDLFs were cultured in 0-CM, 5-CM (without/with 25 μg/mL ATN-161), and 0-CM containing 25 μg/mL ATN-161, which were labeled as the 0-CM, 5-CM, ATN-161+5-CM, and ATN-161 groups, respectively. The expression changes of integrin α5 and NLRP3 were detected using Western blot and qRT-PCR techniques. For in vivo experiments, 24 rats were randomly divided into four groups (n=6). The control group contained healthy rats that received no treatment. The rats in the other three groups were injected with 40 µL of 0-CM containing 25 μg/mL ATN-161 or 5-CM (without or with 25 μg/mL ATN-161) on the palatal side of the left maxillary first molar every three days; these groups were classified as the ATN-161, 5-CM, and ATN-161+5-CM groups, respectively. On the 30th day, the left maxillary tissue of rats was used for Micro-CT, HE staining, and immunohistochemical detection. Results : The CCK-8 assay showed that CM, 25 μg/mL ATN-161, and ATN-161 concentrations below 25 μg/mL had no significant effect on cell viability at 12 h and 24 h (P > 0.05). 50-CM and 25 μg/mL ATN-161 significantly inhibited cell viability at 48 h (P < 0.05). For in vitro experiments, compared to the 0-CM group, both the protein and mRNA levels of integrin α5 and NLRP3 were significantly increased in rat PDLFs in the 5-CM group (P < 0.05). Intervention with 25 μg/mL ATN-161 significantly attenuated the enhancement of 5-CM on the expression of integrin α5 and NLRP3 (P < 0.05). For in vivo experiments, compared to the control group, alveolar bone resorption and periodontal inflammatory cell infiltration were significantly increased in the 5-CM and ATN-161+5-CM groups, and the expression of integrin α5 and NLRP3 was significantly increased (P < 0.01). However, compared to the 5-CM group, the ATN-161+5-CM group had less alveolar bone resorption and fewer periodontal inflammatory cells. Further, the expression of integrin α5 and NLRP3 was significantly reduced (P < 0.01). Conclusion In vitro and in vivo experiments showed that integrin α5 mediated NLRP3 expression in PDLFs under an inflammatory microenvironment. ATN-161 inhibited the expression of integrin α5, thus significantly downregulating the expression of NLRP3, which plays a role in inhibiting inflammation.

Objective : To investigate the effect of chromosome instability(CIN) associated gene polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase 7(GALNT7) on proliferation and apoptosis of HCT116 colon cancer cells. Methods : The HCT116 cell line withGALNT7knockdown was constructed by lentiviral infection. The correlation betweenGALNT7and CIN was verified by chromosome spread assay. The effect ofGALNT7on cell proliferation was detected by live cell counting, and the effect ofGALNT7on cell cycle distribution was detected by flow cytometry and Western blot. Caspase-3 activity and Western blot assays were used to detect the effect ofGALNT7on apoptosis. Results : HCT116 cells showed a slower proliferation rate upon knocking down ofGALNT7, and exhibited a more scattered karyotype distribution and a phenotype of increased degree of CIN. Inhibition ofGALNT7in HCT116 cells resulted in cell cycle arrest, upregulation of P21 and downregulation of CDK6 protein levels, as well as increased levels of Caspase-3 activity, cleaved PARP1 and PUMA protein expression, and decreased levels of BCL-2 protein expression. Conclusion TheGALNT7gene may promote proliferation and inhibit apoptosis of HCT116 colon cancer cells through the suppression of CIN generation.

With the continuous development of society, a large number of new chemicals are continuously emerging, which presents a challenge to current risk assessment and safety management of chemicals. Traditional toxicology research methods have certain limitations in quickly, efficiently, and accurately assessing the toxicity of many chemicals, and cannot meet the actual needs. In response to this challenge, computational toxicology that use mathematical and computer models to achieve the prediction of chemical toxicity has emerged. In the meantime, as researchers increasingly pay attention to understanding the interaction mechanisms between exogenous chemical substances and the body from the system level, and multiomics technologies develop rapidly such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, huge amounts of data have been generated, providing rich information resources for studying the interactions between chemical substances and biological molecules. System toxicology and network toxicology have also developed accordingly. Of these, network toxicology can integrate these multiomics data to construct biomolecular networks, and then quickly predict the key toxicological targets and pathways of chemicals at the molecular level. This paper outlined the concept and development of network toxicology, summarized the main methods and supporting tools of network toxicology research, expounded the application status of network toxicology in studying potential toxicity of exogenous chemicals such as agricultural chemicals, environmental pollutants, industrial chemicals, and foodborne chemicals, and analyzed the development prospects and limitations of network toxicology research. This paper aimed to provide a reference for the application of network toxicology in other fields.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of bioactive peptides combined with probiotics on serum uric acid (SUA) in patients with hyperuricemia (HUA), so as to provide the evidence for prevention and treatment of HUA. Methods: The patients with HUA aged 18 to 65 years were selected and randomly divided into an intervention group and a control group. The patients in the intervention group received bioactive peptides combined with probiotics for 28 days at a dose of 3 g/d, while the patients in the control group received an equal dose of placebos. Demographic information, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure and blood lipid were collected through questionnaire surveys, physical examination and laboratory tests. SUA levels were detected before and after 14 days and 28 days of interventions. The differences of SUA levels between the two groups were compared using generalized estimation equation. Results: Totally 108 patients with HUA were recruited, including 54 patients in the intervention group and 53 patients in the control group (1 dropout). Before interventions, there were no statistically significant differences in gender, age, course of HUA, exercise duration, frequency of alcohol consumption, frequency of meat broth consumption, BMI, prevalence of hypertension and prevalence of dyslipidemia between the two groups (all P>0.05). After 14 days of interventions, the SUA levels of the patients in the intervention group decreased by 3.00 μmol/L, while those in the control group increased by 7.00 μmol/L. After 28 days of interventions, the SUA levels of the patients in the intervention group and the control group decreased by 26.00 μmol/L and 16.00 μmol/L, respectively. However, there was no statistically significant interaction between the intervention time and group (both P>0.05). Subgroup analysis showed that after 28 days of interventions, the decrease in SUA levels in the patients aged 55 years and older and without hypertension in the intervention group was greater than those in the control group (both P<0.05). Conclusions Bioactive peptides combined with probiotics showed no significant difference in reducing SUA levels in patients with HUA compared to the control group. The effect was more significant for patients aged 55 years and older and without hypertension.

Sleep is an instinctive behavior alternating awakening state, sleep entails many active processes occurring at the cellular, circuit and organismal levels. The function of sleep is to restore cellular energy, enhance immunity, promote growth and development, consolidate learning and memory to ensure normal life activities. However, with the increasing of social pressure involved in work and life, the incidence of sleep disorders (SD) is increasing year by year. In the short term, sleep disorders lead to impaired memory and attention; in the longer term, it produces neurological dysfunction or even death. There are many ways to directly or indirectly contribute to sleep disorder and keep the hormones, including pharmacological alternative treatments, light therapy and stimulus control therapy. Exercise is also an effective and healthy therapeutic strategy for improving sleep. The intensities, time periods, and different types of exercise have different health benefits for sleep, which can be found through indicators such as sleep quality, sleep efficiency and total sleep time. So it is more and more important to analyze the mechanism and find effective regulation targets during sleep disorder through exercise. Dopamine (DA) is an important neurotransmitter in the nervous system, which not only participates in action initiation, movement regulation and emotion regulation, but also plays a key role in the steady-state remodeling of sleep-awakening state transition. Appreciable evidence shows that sleep disorder on humans and rodents evokes anomalies in the dopaminergic signaling, which are also implicated in the development of psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia or substance abuse. Experiments have shown that DA in different neural pathways plays different regulatory roles in sleep behavior, we found that increasing evidence from rodent studies revealed a role for ventral tegmental area DA neurons in regulating sleep-wake patterns. DA signal transduction and neurotransmitter release patterns have complex interactions with behavioral regulation. In addition, experiments have shown that exercise causes changes in DA homeostasis in the brain, which may regulate sleep through different mechanisms, including cAMP response element binding protein signal transduction, changes in the circadian rhythm of biological clock genes, and interactions with endogenous substances such as adenosine, which affect neuronal structure and play a neuroprotective role. This review aims to introduce the regulatory effects of exercise on sleep disorder, especially the regulatory mechanism of DA in this process. The analysis of intracerebral DA signals also requires support from neurophysiological and chemical techniques. Our laboratory has established and developed an in vivo brain neurochemical analysis platform, which provides support for future research on the regulation of sleep-wake cycles by movement. We hope it can provide theoretical reference for the formulation of exercise prescription for clinical sleep disorder and give some advice to the combined intervention of drugs and exercise.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is an increasingly widespread sleep-breathing disordered disease, and is an independent risk factor for many high-risk chronic diseases such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, arrhythmias and diabetes, which is potentially fatal. The key to the prevention and treatment of OSA is early diagnosis and treatment, so the assessment and diagnostic technologies of OSA have become a research hotspot. This paper reviews the research progresses of severity assessment parameters and diagnostic technologies of OSA, and discusses their future development trends. In terms of severity assessment parameters of OSA, apnea hypopnea index (AHI), as the gold standard, together with the percentage of duration of apnea hypopnea (AH%), lowest oxygen saturation (LSpO₂), heart rate variability (HRV), oxygen desaturation index (ODI) and the emerging biomarkers, constitute a multi-dimensional evaluation system. Specifically, the AHI, which measures the frequency of sleep respiratory events per hour, does not fully reflect the patients’ overall sleep quality or the extent of their daytime functional impairments. To address this limitation, the AH%, which measures the proportion of the entire sleep cycle affected by apneas and hypopneas, deepens our understanding of the impact on sleep quality. The LSpO₂ plays a critical role in highlighting the potential severe hypoxic episodes during sleep, while the HRV offers a different perspective by analyzing the fluctuations in heart rate thereby revealing the activity of the autonomic nervous system. The ODI provides a direct and objective measure of patients’ nocturnal oxygenation stability by calculating the number of desaturation events per hour, and the biomarkers offers novel insights into the diagnosis and management of OSA, and fosters the development of more precise and tailored OSA therapeutic strategies. In terms of diagnostic techniques of OSA, the standardized questionnaire and Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) is a simple and effective method for preliminary screening of OSA, and the polysomnography (PSG) which is based on recording multiple physiological signals stands for gold standard, but it has limitations of complex operations, high costs and inconvenience. As a convenient alternative, the home sleep apnea testing (HSAT) allows patients to monitor their sleep with simplified equipment in the comfort of their own homes, and the cardiopulmonary coupling (CPC) offers a minimal version that simply analyzes the electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. As an emerging diagnostic technology of OSA, machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) adeptly pinpoint respiratory incidents and expose delicate physiological changes, thus casting new light on the diagnostic approach to OSA. In addition, imaging examination utilizes detailed visual representations of the airway’s structure and assists in recognizing structural abnormalities that may result in obstructed airways, while sound monitoring technology records and analyzes snoring and breathing sounds to detect the condition subtly, and thus further expands our medical diagnostic toolkit. As for the future development directions, it can be predicted that interdisciplinary integrated researches, the construction of personalized diagnosis and treatment models, and the popularization of high-tech in clinical applications will become the development trends in the field of OSA evaluation and diagnosis.

ObjectiveTo investigate the protective effect of Xielitang on dextran sulfate sodium （DSS）-induced ulcerative colitis （UC） mice and its possible mechanism. MethodsDSS was used to establish UC model. Sixty mice were randomly divided into a normal group， a model group， a sulfasalazine group （0.6 g·kg^-1）， and low-， medium-， and high-dose Xielitang groups （1.67， 3.34， 6.68 g·kg^-1）. After treatment for 42 d， the colon length was recorded， and the disease activity index （DAI） score was calculated. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was used to detect the serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α）， interleukin-6 （IL-6）， and interleukin-10 （IL-10）. Hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining was used to observe the pathomorphological changes of colon. Western blot was used to detect the protein expression of farnesoid X receptor （FXR）， small heterodimer partner （SHP）， liver receptor homolog-1 （LRH-1）， cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase （CYP7A1）， and fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 （FGFR4） in liver and FXR， sodium-dependent bile acid transporter （ASBT）， and fibroblast growth factor 15 （FGF15） in ileum. 16S rRNA sequencing was used to analyze the intestinal flora. Moreover， ultra-high performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry was used to detect the bile acid content. ResultsCompared with the normal group， the model group showed significantly decreased colon length， IL-10 content， α-diversity index， abundance of Firmicutes and Lactobacillus， and content of deoxycholic acid （DCA） and lithocholic acid （LCA） （P<0.01）， significantly increased DAI score， IL-6 and TNF-α content， abundance of Bacteroidetes， and the content of cholic acid （CA）， chenodeoxycholic acid （CDCA）， and taurocholic acid （TCA） （P<0.05， P<0.01）， significantly down-regulated protein expression of FXR， SHP， and FGFR4 in liver and FXR， ASBT， and FGF15 in ileum （P<0.01）， and significantly up-regulated protein expression of LRH-1 and CYP7A1 in liver （P<0.01）. In addition， the structure of colonic mucosa was destroyed， and inflammatory cells infiltrated in the model group. Compared with the model group， Xielitang could significantly increase the colon length， IL-10 content， α-diversity index， the abundance of Firmicutes and Lactobacillus， and DCA and LCA content （P<0.05， P<0.01）， decrease DAI score， abundance of Bacteroidetes， and the content of IL-6， TNF-α， CA， CDCA， and TCA （P<0.01）， up-regulate the protein expression of FXR， SHP， and FGFR4 in liver and FXR， ASBT， and FGF15 in ileum （P<0.01）， and down-regulate the protein expression of LRH-1 and CYP7A1 in liver （P<0.01）. The pathological damage of colonic mucosa was obviously alleviated. ConclusionXielitang protects against UC probably by regulating the "intestinal microbiota-bile acid" axis， regulating intestinal flora imbalance， and maintaining bile acid homeostasis.