To investigate the protective effects and underlying mechanisms of Qin-Zhu-Liang-Xue decoction (QZLX) in atopic dermatitis (AD) and glucocorticoid resistance, we conducted a single-blinded, randomized controlled clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of this concoction. Network pharmacology analysis was performed and validated through clinical studies. The efficacy, safety, and mechanism of action of QZLX and glucocorticoid receptor (GR) α recombinant protein were assessed in AD mice induced by 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB). Correlation analysis was performed to determine the clinical relevance of GRα. The trial demonstrated that patients who received QZLX showed considerable improvements in their Scoring Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) scores compared with those who received mizolastine at week 4. Network pharmacological analysis identified GRα as a key target for QZLX in AD treatment. QZLX administration increased the serum GRα expression in AD patients, alleviated AD symptoms in mice, decreased inflammatory cytokine expression, and increased GRα expression without affecting liver or kidney function. In addition, GRα recombinant protein improved AD-like skin lesions in DNFB-induced mice. A negative correlation was observed between GRα expression and clinical parameters, including SCORAD, DLQI, and serum IgE levels. QZLX alleviates AD symptoms through the upregulation of GRα and thus presents a novel therapeutic strategy for the prevention of glucocorticoid resistance in AD management.
Dermatitis, Atopic/drug therapy* ; Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Humans ; Mice ; Network Pharmacology ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Receptors, Glucocorticoid/metabolism* ; Disease Models, Animal ; Single-Blind Method ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

Objective To construct an assay for early infection diagnosis of Angiostrongylus cantonensis based on gold nanorod polymerization.Methods Stable gold nanorods were synthesized by the gold seed growth method,and labeled with different concentrations of sulfhydrylated crude and purified antigens of lar-vae and adults of Angiostrongylus cantonensis,and their excretory and secretory antigens,and then scanned the longitudinal surface plasmon resonance(LSPR)of the stable gold nanorods by ultraviolet-visible(UV-Vis)spectrophotometry,and screened for the optimal labeled antigens for the detection of different infection time after infection of rats with Angiostrongylus cantonensis.The displacement changes were screened to se-lect the best labeled antigens for the detection of serum antibodies and positive sera of series of dilution gradi-ents at different infection times(5,7,14,21 d)after infection with Angiostrongylus cantonensis in rats,and at the same time,the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)was set up for the same test.Kappa test was used to compare the consistency of the two assays.Results Gold nanorods with stable aspect ratio were suc-cessfully prepared.The gold nanorods labeled with 10 μg/mL of adult purified antigen had a maximum LSPR shift of 40 nm,and were able to detect serum antibodies in rats 5 d after mild,moderate and severe infection with Angiostrongylus cantonensis,as well as positive sera at a maximum dilution of 1∶600.The ELISA was able to detect serum antibodies in rats after 14 d of mild infection,and 7 d of moderate and severe infection,as well as positive sera at a maximum dilution of 1∶200.The ELISA detected positive serum antibodies in rats after 14 d of mild infection and 7 d of moderate and severe infection,as well as in rats at a maximum dilution of 1∶200.The Kappa value of the two methods was 0.750(P<0.01),and the results of the two methods had strong consistency.Conclusion A polymerized gold nanorod assay for early and rapid diagnosis of An-giostrongylus cantonensis infection is successfully constructed.

Bronchial asthma is a common chronic heterogeneous airway disease that is pathologically characterized by airway hyperresponsiveness and chronic inflammation.The pathogenesis of this disease is complex.Essentially,it is an airway inflammatory response driven by abnormal activation of the immune system.Its occurrence and development involve the participation of various immune cells and immune factors,including B lymphocytes,T lymphocytes,mast cells,macrophages and dendritic cells,as well as key cytokines such as interleukin(IL)-4,IL-5,IL-13,and interferon(IFN)-γ.And key cytokines such as interleukin(IL)-4,IL-5,IL-13 and interferon-γ.The complex interactions between these immune cells and mediators cause a series of pathological changes such as increased airway mucus secretion,smooth muscle contraction and airway remodeling,ultimately leading to the appearance of clinical symptoms,such as chest tightness,shortness of breath,wheezing and coughing.This article conducts systematically reviews current understanding of the immunological pathogenesis of bronchial asthma,thereby providing theoretical references for drug development and clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Objective:To develop the Home-based Self-management Efficacy Questionnaire for Stable Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Patients and test its reliability and validity.Methods:Guided by the individual and family self-management theory and self-management efficacy theory, a preliminary questionnaire was developed through literature analysis, semi-structured interviews, and expert inquiries. From September to November 2022, convenience sampling was used to select stable COPD patients of the Respiratory Department of Tongji University Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital as participants for investigation for project analysis and exploratory factor analysis of the questionnaire. From December 2022 to January 2023, a survey was conducted on stable COPD patients who visited the Respiratory Department of Tongji University Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital and Yancheng Third People's Hospital to conduct confirmatory factor analysis and reliability testing on the questionnaire.Results:A total of 220 and 290 questionnaires were distributed respectively, and 214 and 280 valid questionnaires were collected, with effective response rates of 97.27% (214/220) and 96.55% (280/290), respectively. The Home-based Self-management Efficacy Questionnaire for COPD Patients included six dimensions and 28 items. The questionnaire's total Cronbach's α coefficient was 0.910, and the half-confidence coefficient was 0.806. The content validity index at the questionnaire level was 0.928, and the content validity index at the item level was 0.800 to 1.000. The exploratory factor analysis showed that a total of six common factors were extracted, with a cumulative variance contribution rate of 63.943%. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the model fitted well and the questionnaire factor structure was stable.Conclusions:The the Home-based Self-management Efficacy Questionnaire for Stable COPD has been developed with good reliability and validity, providing a reference for medical and nursing staff to evaluate the home self-management efficacy of stable COPD patients.

Bronchial asthma is a common chronic heterogeneous airway disease that is pathologically characterized by airway hyperresponsiveness and chronic inflammation.The pathogenesis of this disease is complex.Essentially,it is an airway inflammatory response driven by abnormal activation of the immune system.Its occurrence and development involve the participation of various immune cells and immune factors,including B lymphocytes,T lymphocytes,mast cells,macrophages and dendritic cells,as well as key cytokines such as interleukin(IL)-4,IL-5,IL-13,and interferon(IFN)-γ.And key cytokines such as interleukin(IL)-4,IL-5,IL-13 and interferon-γ.The complex interactions between these immune cells and mediators cause a series of pathological changes such as increased airway mucus secretion,smooth muscle contraction and airway remodeling,ultimately leading to the appearance of clinical symptoms,such as chest tightness,shortness of breath,wheezing and coughing.This article conducts systematically reviews current understanding of the immunological pathogenesis of bronchial asthma,thereby providing theoretical references for drug development and clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Objective:To develop the Home-based Self-management Efficacy Questionnaire for Stable Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Patients and test its reliability and validity.Methods:Guided by the individual and family self-management theory and self-management efficacy theory, a preliminary questionnaire was developed through literature analysis, semi-structured interviews, and expert inquiries. From September to November 2022, convenience sampling was used to select stable COPD patients of the Respiratory Department of Tongji University Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital as participants for investigation for project analysis and exploratory factor analysis of the questionnaire. From December 2022 to January 2023, a survey was conducted on stable COPD patients who visited the Respiratory Department of Tongji University Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital and Yancheng Third People's Hospital to conduct confirmatory factor analysis and reliability testing on the questionnaire.Results:A total of 220 and 290 questionnaires were distributed respectively, and 214 and 280 valid questionnaires were collected, with effective response rates of 97.27% (214/220) and 96.55% (280/290), respectively. The Home-based Self-management Efficacy Questionnaire for COPD Patients included six dimensions and 28 items. The questionnaire's total Cronbach's α coefficient was 0.910, and the half-confidence coefficient was 0.806. The content validity index at the questionnaire level was 0.928, and the content validity index at the item level was 0.800 to 1.000. The exploratory factor analysis showed that a total of six common factors were extracted, with a cumulative variance contribution rate of 63.943%. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the model fitted well and the questionnaire factor structure was stable.Conclusions:The the Home-based Self-management Efficacy Questionnaire for Stable COPD has been developed with good reliability and validity, providing a reference for medical and nursing staff to evaluate the home self-management efficacy of stable COPD patients.

Background: Brucella infection induces brucellosis, a zoonotic disease. The intracellular circulation process and virulence of Brucella mainly depend on its type IV secretion system (T4SS) expressing secretory effectors. Secreted protein BspJ is a nucleomodulin of Brucella that invades the host cell nucleus. BspJ mediates host energy synthesis and apoptosis through interaction with proteins. However, the mechanism of BspJ as it affects the intracellular survival of Brucella remains to be clarified. Objectives: To verify the functions of nucleomodulin BspJ in Brucella's intracellular infection cycles. Methods: Constructed Brucella abortus BspJ gene deletion strain (B. abortus ΔBspJ) and complement strain (B. abortus pBspJ) and studied their roles in the proliferation of Brucella both in vivo and in vitro. Results: BspJ gene deletion reduced the survival and intracellular proliferation of Brucellaat the replicating Brucella-containing vacuoles (rBCV) stage. Compared with the parent strain, the colonization ability of the bacteria in mice was significantly reduced, causing less inflammatory infiltration and pathological damage. We also found that the knockout of BspJ altered the secretion of cytokines (interleukin [IL]-6, IL-1β, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor-α, interferon-γ) in host cells and in mice to affect the intracellular survival of Brucella. Conclusions BspJ is extremely important for the circulatory proliferation of Brucella in the host, and it may be involved in a previously unknown mechanism of Brucella's intracellular survival.

Objective:To investigate the longitudinal trajectory and influencing factors of cancer-related fatigue (CRF) in breast cancer patients during chemotherapy.Methods:From March 2019 to January 2020, breast cancer patients in Longhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Peking Union Medical College Hospital were selected as the research objects to conduct follow-up investigation. The survey tools included general information questionnaire, Cancer-related Fatigue Assessment Scale, International Physical Activity Questionnaire, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Scale.Results:A total of 91 patients were included in the study. The incidence of severe CRF at each time point before chemotherapy, 3 weeks after chemotherapy and 6 weeks after chemotherapy were 1.1% (1/91), 8.8% (5/57) and 2.1% (1/48), respectively. The results of the generalized estimation equation showed that the trajectory of the total score CRF firstly increased and then decreased, reaching a peak at 3 weeks after chemotherapy (35.45±13.07), and mild CRF change showed statistical difference ( P<0.05). In addition, BMI and sleep and daytime dysfunction were the influencing factors of the total score of CRF. Disease stage, sleep disturbance and daytime dysfunction were the influencing factors of CRF with different severity. Conclusions:CRF is a prominent problem in breast cancer patients during chemotherapy. Attention should be paid to high-risk individuals with abnormal BMI and daytime function by medical staff.

Objective:To evaluate the differential expression of blood routine in different types of infection and the diagnostic value of C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PT), ferritin (SF) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in bacterial and mycoplasma pneumonia and their early warning value in severe cases.Method:A total of 627 patients, including 176 cases of bacterial pneumonia, 275 cases of mycoplasma pneumonia, 176 cases of viral infection and 180 cases of normal control were collected from May 2018 to December 2019 in children′s Hospital Affiliated to Capital Institute of Pediatrics. The mycoplasma pneumonia group was divided into mild group (151 cases) and severe group (124 cases) according to the results of lavage fluid RNA-examination. All patients received completed blood routine test at the first day of admission, patients in bacteria group and Mycoplasma group received the examination of four inflammatory indicators. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to analyze the differences in blood routine results between different infection groups, and the differences of inflammatory indexes between bacterial group and Mycoplasma mild and severe group. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC)-curve method was used to analyze the predictive value of inflammatory indexes between different infection groups.Results:There were significant differences in leukocyte count, neutrophil, lymphocyte and monocyte percentage between bacterial pneumonia, mycoplasma pneumonia, viral infection and normal control group ( P<0.05). The differences of four inflammatory indexes in bacterial group, mild Mycoplasma group and severe group were statistically significant ( P<0.05). The rest of the index (CRP, PCT, LDH, SF and white blood cell count) were P<0.05 (CRP: area under curve [AUC] 0.799; PCT: AUC 0.579; LDH: AUC 0.651; SF: AUC 0.854), in mild and severe mycoplasma group, except WBC, by ROC-curves analysis. The AUC value of the area under the curve of CRP and SF is high, and the sensitivity and specificity at the diagnostic critical point are high, which has great diagnostic value (CRP: diagnostic critical point 12.55 mg/L, sensitivity 0.719, specificity 0.755; SF: diagnostic critical point 176.02 μg/L, sensitivity 0.765, specificity 0.960). ROC curve results also showed that of PCT, White blood cell and neutrophil percentage had the diagnostic value in bacterial infection and mycoplasma infection, P<0.05 (PCT: AUC 0.658; leukocyte: AUC 0.804; neutrophil: AUC 0.630). Leukocyte count is the best differential index (diagnostic critical point 9.585×10 9/L, sensitivity 0.778, specificity 0.698), PCT has higher sensitivity at the diagnostic critical point of 0.55 μg/L, but the specificity is slightly lower (diagnostic critical point of 0.55 μg/L, sensitivity 0.862, specificity 0.366). Conclusions:PCT and leukocyte count can be used as the preferred inflammatory indexes to distinguish bacterial and mycoplasma infection. CRP, LDH, PCT and SF can be used as early warning indexes to evaluate severe mycoplasma infection.