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 trajectory models of care-seeking patterns for type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM)patients,analyze the influencing factors of different trajectories,and explore the fasting blood glucose control levels of T2DM patients with different trajectories.Methods A retrospective cohort study was carried out on 18088 T2DM patients who had health records and been involved in the diabetic management in Community Health Service Center of Minhang District,Shanghai from 2006 to 2009.Starting from Jan 1,2010,participants were followed up until Dec 31,2019,with complete follow-up information.Group-based trajectory modelling(GBTM)was employed to identify and construct the fluctuation trajectory of fasting blood glucose in the patients.Bayesian information criterion(BIC),average posterior probability(AvePP)and other evaluation indicators were used to select the optimum subgroup number model.Then the differences in demographic characteristics,health status,family history,fasting blood glucose,BMI,etc were compared among different categories.Multinational logistic regression model was constructed to explore the influencing factors of different fluctuation trajectories.Cox regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between the long-term trajectories of care-seeking patterns and fasting blood glucose control level.Results Using GBTM analysis,we constructed the optimal Model 4 to categorize 18088 T2DM patients with community health records into five distinct trajectory subgroups:continuous non-attendance group(22.29%),low-level increasing group(15.09%),high-level slowly decreasing group(14.18%),high-level rapidly decreasing group(14.90%),and continuous regular attendance group(33.54%).With the continuous regular attendance group serving as the reference,gender,age,place of residence,baseline comorbidity of hypertension,baseline fasting plasma glucose level,and BMI were found to influence the community attendance trajectories of T2DM patients(P<0.05).After adjusting for confounding factors,Cox regression analysis revealed that compared to the continuous non-attendance group,the low-level increasing group,high-level slowly decreasing group,and continuous regular attendance group had better glycemic control,with HRs of 0.37(95%CI:0.34-0.39),0.72(95%CI:0.67-0.78),and 0.78(95%CI:0.73-0.84),respectively.The glycemic control level in the high-level rapidly decreasing group was comparable,with an HR of 1.06(95%CI:0.99-1.12).Conclusion Based on the optimal model,the community medical treatment trajectories of T2DM patients showed different dynamic characteristics.Factors such as gender,residence,hypertension,and weight loss may influence these varying trajectories.Regular community visits and follow-up may help control blood glucose levels.

Epigenomic imbalance drives abnormal transcriptional processes,promoting the onset and progression of cancer.Although defective gene regulation generally affects carcinogenesis and tumor suppression networks,tumor immunogenicity and immune cells involved in antitumor responses may also be affected by epigenomic changes,which may have significant implications for the development and application of epigenetic therapy,cancer immunotherapy,and their combinations.Herein,we focus on the impact of epigenetic regulation on tumor immune cell function and the role of key abnormal epigenetic processes,DNA methylation,histone post-translational modification,and chromatin structure in tumor immunogenicity,and introduce these epigenetic research methods.We emphasize the value of small-molecule inhibitors of epigenetic modulators in enhancing antitumor immune responses and discuss the challenges of developing treatment plans that combine epigenetic therapy and immuno-therapy through the complex interaction between cancer epigenetics and cancer immunology.

Based on the literature study,the thoughts and possible therapeutic mechanism in treating male infertility from the perspective of spleen and kidney by regulating intestinal flora were explored.Disturbance of intestinal flora is one of the important factors leading to the development of male infertility,and the spleen and kidney have certain similarities to intestinal flora in the physiological function and pathological changes.Moreover,tonifying the kidney and strengthening the spleen can regulate the intestinal flora by fostering the growth of beneficial bacteria,inhibiting the reproduction of pathogenic bacteria,and protecting the barrier of the intestinal mucosa.Therefore,the possible therapeutic mechanisms in treating male infertility with the prescriptions for tonifying the kidney and strengthening the spleen to regulate intestinal flora are as follows:inhibiting the expression of inflammatory factors to reduce the inflammatory reaction of testicular tissues;improving the antioxidant capacity to alleviate the damage of spermatozoa caused by oxidative stress,and improving the bad mood to alleviate the impact of psychological stress on the reproductive system.The exploration of the thoughts for treating male infertility from the perspective of spleen and kidney by regulating intestinal flora may provide a new entry point for modern Chinese medicine clinical treatment of male infertility.

Objective:To explore the mechanism of hypertension inducing erectile dysfunction(ED)using transcriptomics and network pharmacology.Methods:We randomly divided 12 male rats with spontaneous hypertension(SHT)into an L-arginine(LA)group(n=6)and an SHT model control(MC)group(n=6),took another 6 Wistar Kyoto male rats as normal controls(NC),and treated the animals in the LA group by intraperitoneal injection of LA at 400 mg/kg and those in the latter two groups with physio-logical saline,once a day,all for 7 days.Then we observed the blood pressure and penile erection of the rats,and determined the ex-pressions of the cGMP/PKG signaling pathway-related proteins and mRNAs in different groups using ELISA,Western blot and RT-qPCR.Results:Transcriptomics combined with network pharmacology showed that the cGMP/PKG signaling pathway played a key role in hypertension-induced ED.In vivo animal experiments revealed a significantly lower frequency of penile erections in the MC than in the NC group(1.33±0.52 vs 2.67±0.51,P＜0.05).The protein expressions of eNOS,PKG and sGC were markedly de-creased in the model controls compared with those the normal controls(P＜0.05),but remarkably upregulated in the LA group com-pared with those in the MC group(P＜0.05).Conclusion:Hypertension decreases the expressions of eNOS,NO,sGC,cGMP and PKG proteins and the level of testosterone by inhibiting the cGMP/PKG signaling pathway,which consequently suppresses the relaxa-tion of the penile vascular smooth muscle and reduces erectile function.

N ⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A) modification is critical for mRNA splicing, nuclear export, stability and translation. Fat mass and obesity-associated protein (FTO), the first identified m⁶A demethylase, is critical for cancer progression. Herein, we developed small-molecule inhibitors of FTO by virtual screening, structural optimization, and bioassay. As a result, two FTO inhibitors namely 18077 and 18097 were identified, which can selectively inhibit demethylase activity of FTO. Specifically, 18097 bound to the active site of FTO and then inhibited cell cycle process and migration of cancer cells. In addition, 18097 reprogrammed the epi-transcriptome of breast cancer cells, particularly for genes related to P53 pathway. 18097 increased the abundance of m⁶A modification of suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS1) mRNA, which recruited IGF2BP1 to increase mRNA stability of SOCS1 and subsequently activated the P53 signaling pathway. Further, 18097 suppressed cellular lipogenesis via downregulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha (C/EBPα), and C/EBPβ. Animal studies confirmed that 18097 can significantly suppress in vivo growth and lung colonization of breast cancer cells. Collectively, we identified that FTO can work as a potential drug target and the small-molecule inhibitor 18097 can serve as a potential agent against breast cancer.

Scaffold hopping refers to computer-aided screening for active compounds with different structures against the same receptor to enrich privileged scaffolds, which is a topic of high interest in organic and medicinal chemistry. However, most approaches cannot efficiently predict the potency level of candidates after scaffold hopping. Herein, we identified potent PDE5 inhibitors with a novel scaffold via a free energy perturbation (FEP)-guided scaffold-hopping strategy, and FEP shows great advantages to precisely predict the theoretical binding potencies ΔG _FEP between ligands and their target, which were more consistent with the experimental binding potencies ΔG _EXP (the mean absolute deviations | Δ G FEP - Δ G EXP |  < 2 kcal/mol) than those ΔG _MM-PBSA or ΔG _MM-GBSA predicted by the MM-PBSA or MM-GBSA method. Lead L12 had an IC₅₀ of 8.7 nmol/L and exhibited a different binding pattern in its crystal structure with PDE5 from the famous starting drug tadalafil. Our work provides the first report via the FEP-guided scaffold hopping strategy for potent inhibitor discovery with a novel scaffold, implying that it will have a variety of future applications in rational molecular design and drug discovery.

Objective To investigate the clinical value of von Willebrand factor antigen-to-albumin ratio (VAR) score and glycocalicin index (GCI) score in predicting the development and classification of esophageal varices in comparison with von Willebrand factor antigen-to-platelet ratio (VITRO) score. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for 146 patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis who were hospitalized from April 2020 to December 2021, and esophageal varices (EV) was diagnosed and graded with the results of gastroscopy as the standard. VITRO, VAR, and GCI were calculated, and their association with EV was analyzed. The t -test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups, and a one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison between multiple groups; the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two groups. The chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. A logistic regression model analysis was used to identify the predictive factors for EV, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of each index. Results Gastroscopy showed 54 patients without EV, 30 with mild EV, 33 with moderate EV, and 29 with severe EV. The patients with EV had significantly higher VAR and GCI scores than those without EV ( t =-5.819 and -3.449, both P < 0.001). The linear regression analysis showed that VAR and GCI increased with the increase in EV grade ( P =0.002 and 0.005). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that VAR (odds ratio [ OR ]=1.46, 95% confidence interval [ CI ]: 1.21-1.75, P < 0.001) and GCI ( OR =1.84, 95% CI : 1.22-2.77, P =0.003) were independently associated with EV. VITRO score had an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.718 in diagnosing EV and 0.863 in diagnosing severe EV, with the optimal cut-off values of 2.77 and 5.37, respectively. VAR and GCI had an AUC of 0.745 and 0.710, respectively, in diagnosing EV, with the optimal cut-off values of 8.88 and 1.70, respectively; VAR and GCI had an AUC of 0.755 and 0.787, respectively, in diagnosing severe EV, with the optimal cut-off values of 9.81 and 2.00, respectively. VAR combined with GCI had significantly better efficacy than VITRO in diagnosing EV ( P =0.009), with an AUC of 0.808, a sensitivity of 55.43%, and a specificity of 94.44%; VAR combined with GCI had an AUC of 0.869 in diagnosing severe EV, which was similar to VITRO ( P =0.421). Conclusion VAR and GCI scores are potential noninvasive markers for the prediction and risk stratification of EV in patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis.

Our previous study demonstrated that phosphodiesterase 8 (PDE8) could work as a potential target for vascular dementia (VaD) using a chemical probe 3a. However, compound 3a is a chiral compound which was obtained by chiral resolution on HPLC, restricting its usage in clinic. Herein, a series of non-chiral 9-benzyl-2-chloro-adenine derivatives were discovered as novel PDE8 inhibitors. Lead 15 exhibited potent inhibitory activity against PDE8A (IC₅₀ = 11 nmol/L), high selectivity over other PDEs, and remarkable drug-like properties (worthy to mention is that its bioavailability was up to 100%). Oral administration of 15 significantly improved the cAMP level of the right brain and exhibited dose-dependent effects on cognitive improvement in a VaD mouse model. Notably, the X-ray crystal structure of the PDE8A-15 complex showed that the potent affinity and high selectivity of 15 might come from the distinctive interactions with H-pocket including T-shaped π-π interactions with Phe785 as well as a unique H-bond network, which have never been observed in other PDE-inhibitor complex before, providing new strategies for the further rational design of novel selective inhibitors against PDE8.