ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the action mechanism by which Banxia Xiexintang （BXT） inhibits epithelial-mesenchymal transition （EMT） in chronic atrophic gastritis （CAG） rats by regulating the interleukin-17（IL-17）/extracellular regulated protein kinases（ERK）/CCAAT enhancer binding protein β（C/EBPβ）signaling pathway， thereby providing new theoretical evidence for the treatment of CAG with classic traditional Chinese medicine formulas. MethodsA CAG rat model was established by using the combined factor method. After successful modeling， the rats were randomly divided into the model group， low-， medium-， and high-dose groups （0.549， 1.098， 2.196 g·kg^-1， respectively） of BXT， and the positive drug group （vitacoenzyme， 0.3 g·kg^-1）. A normal control group was also set up. After 8 weeks of intervention， the pathological changes of gastric tissue were evaluated. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was used to detect the contents of IL-17， tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α）， cyclooxygenase-2 （COX-2）， and C/EBPβ in serum， as well as the contents of EMT markers in gastric mucosal tissue including E-cadherin， N-cadherin， and vimentin. The immunohistochemistry method was employed to determine the localization and protein expression levels of IL-17， p-ERK， and C/EBPβ in gastric mucosal tissue. Western blot was used to detect the protein expressions of C/EBPβ， ERK， and its phosphorylated form （p）-ERK in gastric mucosa. Real-time polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） was applied to measure the mRNA expression levels of ERK， COX-2， and C/EBPβ in gastric mucosa. ResultsCompared with those in the normal control group， the rats in the model group showed gastric mucosal glandular atrophy and inflammatory cell infiltration. The protein and their related mRNA expressions of C/EBPβ， ERK， and p-ERK in gastric mucosa were significantly increased （P<0.05，P<0.01）. The levels of IL-17， TNF-α， COX-2， and C/EBPβ in serum were significantly increased （P<0.01）. The contents of N-cadherin and vimentin in gastric mucosal tissue were significantly increased， while the content of E-cadherin was significantly decreased （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， after intervention with different doses of BXT， the pathological damage of the gastric mucosa was improved to varying degrees. The protein and mRNA expressions of C/EBPβ， ERK， and p-ERK in gastric mucosa were significantly reduced （P<0.05，P<0.01）. The levels of IL-17， TNF-α， COX-2， and C/EBP β in serum were significantly decreased （P<0.01）. The contents of N-cadherin and vimentin in gastric mucosa tissue were decreased， while the content of E-cadherin was increased （P<0.05，P<0.01）. ConclusionBXT can effectively improve the pathological damage of gastric mucosal tissue in CAG rats. Its action mechanism may be related to reducing the levels of IL-17 and TNF-α in serum， regulating the IL-17/ERK/C/EBPβ signaling pathway and inhibiting the EMT process.

Objective To investigatethe relationship between gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms and clinicopathological characteristics, p53 expression, and survival of Chinese patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma. Methods A total of 3882 patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma, 970 matched patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and 970 matched patients with gastric cardia adenocarcinoma were included to compare the incidence of GERD symptoms. Patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma were divided into two groups according to the presence and absence of GERD symptoms. The differences in clinicopathological characteristics and p53 expression between the two groups were compared by chi-square test, and the differences in survival between the two groups were compared by landmark analysis. Results The incidence of GERD symptoms increased successively in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, esophageal adenocarcinoma, and gastric cardia adenocarcinoma. In patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma, the proportions of male, less than 65 years old, lower thoracic tumors, tumors without squamous cell carcinoma, poorly differentiation, early tumors (stage 0-I), and p53-positive tumors in the group with GERD symptoms were higher than those in the group without GERD symptoms; moreover, the long-term survival (≥15 years) was better. Conclusion GERD symptom is an important clinical sign of esophageal adenocarcinoma. It is closely related to specific clinicopathological characteristics, p53 overexpression, and good long-term prognosis.

Objective:To analyze the levels of thrombin generation and activated protein C resistance (APC-R) in lupus anticoagulant (LA)-positive patients, and to assess their effectiveness in predicting thrombotic risk in these patients.Methods:Retrospective case-control study. A total of 185 patients with positve LA [91 males, 94 females; age (47.59±19.14) years] in Ruijin Hospital of Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine from November 1st, 2024 to March 31st, 2025 were included. Patients were stratified into thrombotic ( n=91) and non-thrombotic groups ( n=94) based on clinical diagnosis and imaging evidence of thrombosis. The basic characteristics and routine laboratory coagulation levels of LA-positive patients were analyzed. Post-test plasma samples were collected from 43 cases with positive or strongly positive LA, categorized into thrombotic ( n=23) and non-thrombotic ( n=20) groups. Additionally, plasma was collected from 80 healthy controls [40 males and 40 females, age (38.37±15.74) years]. Using simple random sampling method, plasma samples from 10 selected males and 10 selected females were mixed to make 1 group of healthy control, thus accordingly resulted in a total of 4 healthy control groups. Thrombin generation assays (TGA) were then employed to measure prothrombin generation and activated protein C resistance (APC-R) levels in the healthy control, non-thrombotic, and thrombotic groups. One-way analysis of variance was utilized to compare thrombin generation and APC-R levels across these groups. Results:Among the routine laboratory coagulation indexes, the median levels of activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), fibrin degradation product (FDP) and protein C (PC) in thrombotic group were 30.9 (28.8, 35.5) s, 2.5 (1.3, 2.8) mg/L, and 107.0 (93.0, 127.0)%, respectively, which were significantly higher compared with the non-thrombosis group (all P<0.05). However, between the thrombotic and non-thrombotic group, no statistically significant differences were observed for the levels of prothrombin time (PT), thrombin time (TT), fibrinogen (Fg), or D-dimer (D-D) ( P>0.05). The TGA results showed that the total thrombin generation, the maximal thrombin generation and APC-R levels of patients in the thrombotic group were (1 118.72±387.34) nmol/L·min, (106.01±59.00) nmol/L and (0.33±0.22), respectively, which were significantly higher compared with those in the non-thrombotic group (all P<0.05). Conclusion:Significantly increased thrombin generation and enhanced APC-R were present in the LA-positive patients with thrombosis, indicating the important values of thrombin generation and APC-R in assessing thrombosis risk among this population.

Objective:To explore the mediating effect of dyadic coping between perceived social support and family cohesion and adaptability and happiness in spouses of patients with post-stroke motor impairments.Methods:From December 2023 to May 2024, a total of 366 spouses of patients with post-stroke motor impairments who received treatment at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University were recruited as study participants. Data were collected using the general information, perceived social support scale, dyadic coping inventory, Chinese version of the family cohesion and adaptability scale(FACESⅡ-CV), and memorial University of Newfoundland scale of happiness. The AMOS 21.0 software was utilized to construct a structural equation model to examine the mediating effect of dyadic coping between perceived social support, family cohesion and adaptability and happiness.Results:The spouses of patients with post-stroke motor impairments reported overall scores for perceived social support (62.80±12.80), dyadic coping (117.07±20.78), family cohesion and adaptability (115.96±19.51), and happiness (22.27±7.29). Family cohesion and adaptability was positively correlated with dyadic coping and perceived social support ( r=0.614, 0.520, both P<0.01).Spousal happiness was positively correlated with dyadic coping and perceived social support ( r=0.296, 0.202, both P<0.01).The spouses recognized that perceived social support had a positive correlation with dyadic coping ( r=0.479, P<0.01).Dyadic coping played a partial mediating effect between perceived social support and family cohesion and adaptability as well as happiness, accounting for 32.41% (0.211/0.651) and 44.39% (0.190/0.428) of the total effect, respectively. Conclusion:Dyadic coping is the mediating variable of family cohesion, adaptability and happiness of spouses of patients with post-stroke motor impairments. Medical staff should try to construct a dyadic coping intervention plan to improve the dyadic coping level of spouses of patients with post-stroke motor impairments, so as to improve their family happiness index.

Objective To establish the fingerprint of Xuemai Shutong granules by UPLC-ELSD and determine the contents of 9 components in the preparation simultaneously.Methods The UPLC-ELSD was used to establish the fingerprint of Xuemai Shutong granules,and determine the content of its 9 components.The similarity evaluation system,systematic,cluster analysis,principal component analysis and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis were used to evaluate the quality of different batches of preparation.Results The similarity degrees of UPLC-ELSD fingerprints of 11 batches of Xuemai Shutong granules were from 0.929 to 0.978,17 common peaks were calibrated,of which 11 peaks were identified:peak 3(notoginsenoside R1),peak 4[ginsenoside Rg,(Re)],peak 5(notoginsenoside R2),peak 6(ginsenoside Rb,),peak 9(astragaloside Ⅳ),peak 10(ginsenoside Rk3),peak 11(ginsenoside Rh4),peak 12[20(S)-ginsenoside Rg3],peak 13[20(R)-ginsenoside Rg3],peak 14(ginsenoside Rk1),peak 15(ginsenoside Rg5).The stoichiometric analysis divided 11 batches of samples into 2 classes,and the 2 principal components in PCA analysis reflected the information of 17common peaks,10 peaks which affected the quality difference are screened out.The linear relationship of the 9 components was good in their respective quality ranges in the content analysis(r＞0.999 2),the average recovery rate were between 95.02％-97.78％and the RSD were 0.69％-1.70％(n=6).The contents of notoginsenoside R1,notoginsenoside R2,ginsenoside Rb1,astragaloside Ⅳ,ginsenoside Rh4,20(S)-ginsenoside Rg3,20(R)-ginsenoside Rg3,ginsenoside Rk1 ginsenoside Rg5 in the 11 batches of Xuemai Shutong granules were 0.087 5-0.187 6,0.494 3-0.688 6,0.448 1-0.705 5,0.192 2-0.270 8,1.492 5-2.077 6,0.316 0-0.463 8,0.254 5-0.382 0,0.117 6-0.163 9,3.407 7-4.706 4 mg·g-1,respectively.Conclusions The established fingerprint and content determination method was accurate and reliable,which can improve the quality standard of Xuemai Shutong granules,and provide reference for its overall quality evaluation.

Antibiotic resistance is spreading at a faster rate than new antibiotic agents applied for clinical remedies. It is an urgent need to discover potential compounds to combat multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria. Marine fungi offer a promising avenue for mining antibiotic-like molecules with chemical diversity. To discover structurally novel and antibiotic metabolites, we screened the in-house marine fungus genome library and found a fungus Stephanonectria keithii LZD-10-1 containing a non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) cluster with 18 modules to synthesize a new subfamily of peptaibols with effective eradication against MDR pathogens. Targeting isolation of the cultured fungus afforded six new peptaibols, which exhibit the ability to kill MDR bacteria by targeting bacterial membrane phospholipids, especially phosphatidylglycerol (PG), leading to the dysfunction of bacterial membranes. Furthermore, their efficacies against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in both Galleria mellonella and mouse wound infection models were observed. This study underscores the significance of employing genome-guided approaches to identify untapped marine fungi as potential sources for novel antibiotic candidates with unique scaffolds.

Avian infectious bronchitis(IB),a rapidly spreading and acute disease in chickens,is caused by the infectious bronchitis virus(IBV).IB is characterized by its remarkable genetic varia-bility.IBV has a high degree of mutation,and the existing means of immunization often fail to a-chieve good results,seriously affecting the development of the domestic poultry industry.This ar-ticle offers a comprehensive review of the current understanding of the immune response to IBV,focusing on three key areas:non-specific immunity,mucosal immunity,and specific immunity.By dissecting these aspects,the aim is to provide a theoretical reference for the study of the immune mechanism of IBV.

Objective:To explore the mediating effect of dyadic coping between perceived social support and family cohesion and adaptability and happiness in spouses of patients with post-stroke motor impairments.Methods:From December 2023 to May 2024, a total of 366 spouses of patients with post-stroke motor impairments who received treatment at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University were recruited as study participants. Data were collected using the general information, perceived social support scale, dyadic coping inventory, Chinese version of the family cohesion and adaptability scale(FACESⅡ-CV), and memorial University of Newfoundland scale of happiness. The AMOS 21.0 software was utilized to construct a structural equation model to examine the mediating effect of dyadic coping between perceived social support, family cohesion and adaptability and happiness.Results:The spouses of patients with post-stroke motor impairments reported overall scores for perceived social support (62.80±12.80), dyadic coping (117.07±20.78), family cohesion and adaptability (115.96±19.51), and happiness (22.27±7.29). Family cohesion and adaptability was positively correlated with dyadic coping and perceived social support ( r=0.614, 0.520, both P<0.01).Spousal happiness was positively correlated with dyadic coping and perceived social support ( r=0.296, 0.202, both P<0.01).The spouses recognized that perceived social support had a positive correlation with dyadic coping ( r=0.479, P<0.01).Dyadic coping played a partial mediating effect between perceived social support and family cohesion and adaptability as well as happiness, accounting for 32.41% (0.211/0.651) and 44.39% (0.190/0.428) of the total effect, respectively. Conclusion:Dyadic coping is the mediating variable of family cohesion, adaptability and happiness of spouses of patients with post-stroke motor impairments. Medical staff should try to construct a dyadic coping intervention plan to improve the dyadic coping level of spouses of patients with post-stroke motor impairments, so as to improve their family happiness index.

Objective To establish the fingerprint of Xuemai Shutong granules by UPLC-ELSD and determine the contents of 9 components in the preparation simultaneously.Methods The UPLC-ELSD was used to establish the fingerprint of Xuemai Shutong granules,and determine the content of its 9 components.The similarity evaluation system,systematic,cluster analysis,principal component analysis and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis were used to evaluate the quality of different batches of preparation.Results The similarity degrees of UPLC-ELSD fingerprints of 11 batches of Xuemai Shutong granules were from 0.929 to 0.978,17 common peaks were calibrated,of which 11 peaks were identified:peak 3(notoginsenoside R1),peak 4[ginsenoside Rg,(Re)],peak 5(notoginsenoside R2),peak 6(ginsenoside Rb,),peak 9(astragaloside Ⅳ),peak 10(ginsenoside Rk3),peak 11(ginsenoside Rh4),peak 12[20(S)-ginsenoside Rg3],peak 13[20(R)-ginsenoside Rg3],peak 14(ginsenoside Rk1),peak 15(ginsenoside Rg5).The stoichiometric analysis divided 11 batches of samples into 2 classes,and the 2 principal components in PCA analysis reflected the information of 17common peaks,10 peaks which affected the quality difference are screened out.The linear relationship of the 9 components was good in their respective quality ranges in the content analysis(r＞0.999 2),the average recovery rate were between 95.02％-97.78％and the RSD were 0.69％-1.70％(n=6).The contents of notoginsenoside R1,notoginsenoside R2,ginsenoside Rb1,astragaloside Ⅳ,ginsenoside Rh4,20(S)-ginsenoside Rg3,20(R)-ginsenoside Rg3,ginsenoside Rk1 ginsenoside Rg5 in the 11 batches of Xuemai Shutong granules were 0.087 5-0.187 6,0.494 3-0.688 6,0.448 1-0.705 5,0.192 2-0.270 8,1.492 5-2.077 6,0.316 0-0.463 8,0.254 5-0.382 0,0.117 6-0.163 9,3.407 7-4.706 4 mg·g-1,respectively.Conclusions The established fingerprint and content determination method was accurate and reliable,which can improve the quality standard of Xuemai Shutong granules,and provide reference for its overall quality evaluation.

Avian infectious bronchitis(IB),a rapidly spreading and acute disease in chickens,is caused by the infectious bronchitis virus(IBV).IB is characterized by its remarkable genetic varia-bility.IBV has a high degree of mutation,and the existing means of immunization often fail to a-chieve good results,seriously affecting the development of the domestic poultry industry.This ar-ticle offers a comprehensive review of the current understanding of the immune response to IBV,focusing on three key areas:non-specific immunity,mucosal immunity,and specific immunity.By dissecting these aspects,the aim is to provide a theoretical reference for the study of the immune mechanism of IBV.