Natural products (NPs) have historically been a fundamental source for drug discovery. Yet the complex nature of NPs presents substantial challenges in pinpointing bioactive constituents, and corresponding targets. In the present study, an innovative natural product virtual screening-interaction-phenotype (NP-VIP) strategy that integrates virtual screening, chemical proteomics, and metabolomics to identify and validate the bioactive targets of NPs. This approach reduces false positive results and enhances the efficiency of target identification. Salvia miltiorrhiza (SM), a herb with recognized therapeutic potential against ischemic stroke (IS), was used to illustrate the workflow. Utilizing virtual screening, chemical proteomics, and metabolomics, potential therapeutic targets for SM in the IS treatment were identified, totaling 29, 100, and 78, respectively. Further analysis via the NP-VIP strategy highlighted five high-confidence targets, including poly [ADP-ribose] polymerase 1 (PARP1), signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), amyloid precursor protein (APP), glutamate-ammonia ligase (GLUL), and glutamate decarboxylase 67 (GAD67). These targets were subsequently validated and found to play critical roles in the neuroprotective effects of SM. The study not only underscores the importance of SM in treating IS but also sets a precedent for NP research, proposing a comprehensive approach that could be adapted for broader pharmacological explorations.

Objective:To explore the genetic etiology of a child with primary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy(PHO).Methods:A child who was admitted to Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University on July 27, 2021 was selected as the study subject. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples of the child and his parents and subjected to whole exome sequencing. Suspected splicing variant was verified by Sanger sequencing of family members. In vitro function was validated through a minigene assay, whilst the suspected exonic deletion was validated by long-fragment PCR. This study was approved by the Children′s Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University (Ethics No. 2023-K-011). Results:Whole exome sequencing revealed that the child has harbored compound heterozygous variants of HPGD gene, including a heterozygous deletion (Exon 3 del) derived from his father and a splicing variant (c.421+ 1G>T) derived from his mother. Long-fragment PCR verified that the child and his father had both harbored a 7 565 bp heterozygous deletion (c.218-1304_324+ 6156del), whilst the minigene assay proved that the splicing variant has resulted in skipping of exon 4. Conclusion:The heterozygous c. 218-1304_324+ 6156del deletion and the c. 421+ 1G>T splicing variant of the HPGD gene probably underlay the pathogenesis in this child. Above finding has enriched the mutational spectrum of the HPGD gene and provided a basis for genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis for this family.

Objective:To compare the effectiveness, safety and postoperative recurrence of percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) with Holmium laser for upper urinary calculi in Uyghur and Han pediatric patients.Methods:The data of 123 Uyghur and 71 Han pediatric patients with upper urinary calculi admitted to First People's Hospital of Kashgar, Xinjiang and Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University respectively, from August 2018 to August 2023, were retrospectively reviewed. The gender [males 73 (59.3%) vs.46 (64.8%) ], laterality (single/bilateral: 94/29 vs. 59/12), hydronephrosis [115 (93.5%) vs. 63 (88.7%)] and anatomical abnormalities [2(1.6%) vs. 5(7.0%)] of Uyghur and Han children were not statistically significant ( P>0.05). Uyghur children were older than Han children [5 (3, 7) vs. 3 (2, 6) years old], with a higher proportion of emaciated children [27 (21.9%) vs. 6 (8.5%) cases], a larger maximum stone diameter [(2.30±0.78) vs. (1.96±1.50) cm] and a lower proportion of multiple stones [46 (37.4%) vs. 52 (73.2%) cases] (all P<0.05). All the patients were treated with Holmium laser PCNL. The channels of the procedures in this study include F12-18 small channels and visual puncture channels. The operation datas, stone-free rate (SFR), complication rate (CR) and stone recurrence rate of the two groups were compared. Meanwhile, multiple logistic regression analysis was used to explore the factors influencing these indicators. Results:The operation time for Uyghur children was significantly longer than that of Han children [75.0 (58.0, 93.0) vs. 30.0 (20.0, 48.8) min]. Additionally, a greater proportion of Uyghur children underwent PCNL with F12-18 small channels than Han children [119 (96.7%) vs. 49(69.0%) cases]. The SFR [89.4%(110/123)vs.88.7%(63/71)], and postoperative CR [31.7%(39/123)vs. 26.8%(19/71)] in Uyghur and Han patients were not significantly different (all P>0.05). The recurrence rate in Uyghur children was higher than that observed in Han children [28.1%(25/89) vs. 15.6%(10/64), P=0.033]. The multivariate logistic regression analysis results indicated that the maximum stone diameter was an independent risk factor for SFR in both groups ( OR=0.401, 95% CI 0.191-0.842, P=0.016). Similarly, maximum stone diameter ( OR=1.896, 95% CI 1.088-3.304, P=0.024) and multiple stones ( OR=3.225, 95% CI 1.409-7.384, P=0.024) were identified as independent risk factors for CR. Ethnicity was not independent risk factor for SFR( OR=0.679, 95% CI 0.215-2.140), CR( OR=1.047, 95% CI 0.495-2.215) and stone recurrence rate( OR=0.820, 95% CI 0.285-2.356, all P>0.05). Conclusions:In comparison to Han pediatric patients during the same period, Holmium laser PCNL had similar SFR and CR for treating Uyghur children with upper urinary calculi, who were older, more emaciated and had larger average stone diameters. The higher postoperative recurrence rate of Uyghur children is likely to be associated with higher stone burden. The multivariate logistic regression analysis results showed that ethnicity was not an influential factor in SFR, complication rates, and stone recurrence rates. The findings need to be further validated in larger prospective cohort studies.

Objective To evaluate the degree of brain atrophy in spinocerebellar ataxia type 3(SCA3)patients based on artificial intelligence(AI)technology,and to explore the correlation between the degree of brain atrophy and the severity of the disease.Methods The clinical and imaging data of 23 SCA3 patients(SCA3 group)and 24 healthy controls(HC)(HC group)were collected.The International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale(ICARS)was used to evaluate the severity of ataxia in patients with SCA3.AI technology was used to process the 3D-T1 WI MR image data of the SCA3 and HC groups to segment and measure the volume and volume percentage of brain,followed by correlation analyses between brain structural alterations and the severity of ataxia in SCA3 patients.Results There were no significant differences in gender and age between the two groups(P＞0.05).The SCA3 group had a significant reduction in the volume and volume percentage of various brain regions,such as the frontal,temporal,parietal,occipital,limbic,right cerebral white mat-ter,subcortical gray matter,cerebellum and brainstem,compared to the HC group(multiple hypothesis testing adjusted P＜0.01).In the SCA3 group,the ICARS showed positive correlation with patient age(r=0.571,P=0.004)and negative correlation with the vol-ume of the left cerebellar white matter,vermis,medulla oblongata,and the volume percentages of bilateral cerebellar white matter,vermis,pons,medulla oblongata(P＜0.05).Conclusion The significant atrophy of the supratentorial and subtentorial regions of the brain in SCA3 patients.The globus pallidus exhibits the most substantial atrophy,suggesting its potential as an imaging diagnostic marker of SC A3.

Heart failure is a fatal stage of end-stage cardiovascular disease,which brings a huge medical burden to the society because of its high mortality and re-hospitalisation rates.Intestinal microecology is the largest and most com-plex microecosystem of human body.It is inhabited by tens of thousands of microorganisms in human gastrointestinal tract.In recent years,with the deepening of the study of intestinal flora,more and more studies have found that the im-balance of intestinal microecology can cause changes of metabolites in heart failure patients,which is one of the key triggers for the development of heart failure,therefore,using the intestinal microbial homeostasis as a new entry point for the treat-ment of heart failure will be a hotspot in medical research.However,the theory of Chinese medicine,"the spleen is the guardian",covers the physiological functions of the spleen,such as the spleen's main function of transporting,spleen's main function of ascending and clearing,and its main function of hiding camping,etc.,and the functions of intestinal flora and the"spleen is the guardian"are similar to a certain extent.Therefore,this paper starts from a holistic viewpoint and takes the theory of"spleen as the guardian"in Chinese medicine as an entry point to elaborate on the pathogenesis of intes-tinal microecological imbalance and heart failure,so as to provide a reference for Chinese medicine treatment or drug re-search.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the anti-tumor effects of the components of Ganoderma lucidum(Gc) based on the two-dimensional(2D) and three-dimensional(3D) culture of colorectal cancer HCT116 cells. METHODS The chemical compositional of the three components was identified by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS. An in vitro 3D culture model of HCT116 cells was established by using Matrigel as the matrix material, and the effects of Gc1, Gc2, Gc3, and 5-fluorouracil(5-FU) on the proliferation of HCT116 cells in 2D and 3D culture models were evaluated, and the effects of Gc3 on cell-cycle, apoptosis, drug resistance, lipid metabolism, and 5-FU's anti-tumor activity were evaluated. Cell viability was detected by CCK-8 assay. mRNA expression level of the cells was analyzed by Real-time PCR. Proteins expression level of the cells was analyzed by Western blotting. HPLC was used to detect the content of 5-FU in cells. RESULTS A total of 76, 69, and 17 compounds were identified from Gc1, Gc2, and Gc3, respectively. Compared with 2D culture, the proliferation rate of HCT116 cells was decreased in the 3D culture model, and the expression of cell cycle-promoters CDK2, CDK4, CDK6, and fatty acid synthesizer FASN, SREBP1 were significantly down-regulated. On the contrary, the expression of cell cycle-suppressor p21, p27, and lipid droplet breakdown proteins ATGL and drug resistance gene ITGB1, CDH1, ABCB1, and ABCC1 mRNA were significantly up-regulated. Gc1, Gc2, Gc3 and 5-FU inhibited the proliferation of both 2D and 3D cultured HCT116 cells in a dose dependent manner after incubation for 48 h, and the inhibitory effect of Gc3 was significantly stronger than Gc1 and Gc2. Gc3 could not only reduce the expression of CDK2, CDK4, Bcl-xl, ATGL, and LC3B proteins, but also increase the expression of p21, p27, Bax, Cleaved caspase-3, and Cleaved PARP1 proteins, and overexpression of LC3B or ATGL attenuated Gc3-induced cytotoxicity in 3D cultured HCT116 cells. In addition, Gc3 significantly inhibited the expression of ITGB1, CDH1, ABCB1, and ABCC1 mRNA, and increased the intracellular 5-FU content, and enhanced the anti-tumor activity. CONCLUSION Gc3 significantly inhibit the proliferation of 3D-cultured HCT116 cells by inhibiting cell autophagy and lipid droplet breakdown, and enhance the anti-cancer activity of 5-FU by inhibiting the expression of ITGB1, CDH1, ABCB1, and ABCC1 mRNA.

Metastasis accounts for 90% of breast cancer deaths, where the lethality could be attributed to the poor drug accumulation at the metastatic loci. The tolerance to chemotherapy induced by breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) and their particular redox microenvironment further aggravate the therapeutic dilemma. To be specific, therapy-resistant BCSCs can differentiate into heterogeneous tumor cells constantly, and simultaneously dynamic maintenance of redox homeostasis promote tumor cells to retro-differentiate into stem-like state in response to cytotoxic chemotherapy. Herein, we develop a specifically-designed biomimic platform employing neutrophil membrane as shell to inherit a neutrophil-like tumor-targeting capability, and anchored chemotherapeutic and BCSCs-differentiating reagents with nitroimidazole (NI) to yield two hypoxia-responsive prodrugs, which could be encapsulated into a polymeric nitroimidazole core. The platform can actively target the lung metastasis sites of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), and release the escorted drugs upon being triggered by the hypoxia microenvironment. During the responsiveness, the differentiating agent could promote transferring BCSCs into non-BCSCs, and simultaneously the nitroimidazole moieties conjugated on the polymer and prodrugs could modulate the tumor microenvironment by depleting nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate hydrogen (NADPH) and amplifying intracellular oxidative stress to prevent tumor cells retro-differentiation into BCSCs. In combination, the BCSCs differentiation and tumor microenvironment modulation synergistically could enhance the chemotherapeutic cytotoxicity, and remarkably suppress tumor growth and lung metastasis. Hopefully, this work can provide a new insight in to comprehensively treat TNBC and lung metastasis using a versatile platform.

Objective:To compare surgery-related indicators, patient recovery status, perioperative complications and risk factors affecting the occurrence of postoperative grade Ⅲ or higher complications in patients undergoing laparoscopic gastric mesenchymal tumor surgery with different visceral fat areas.Methods:Clinical data of 116 patients with gastric interstitial tumor in Shaanxi Provincial People′s Hospital from April 2014 to June 2020 were retrospectively analyzed, including 44 male patients and 72 female patients, with patient aged from 25 to 88 years old and the mean age was (61.8±10.7) years, including 54 patients in the high VFA group and 62 patients in the low VFA group. SPSS 23.0 was used for statistical analysis, and t-test and χ2 test were applied to compare and analyze the patients′ surgery-related indexes, postoperative recovery status, complications within 30 d after surgery and differences in Clavien-Dindo classification of complications, while univariate and multifactorial analyses were used to study the factors affecting the occurrence of postoperative grade Ⅲ or higher complications. Results:Patients in the high VFA group had a higher body mass index than in the low VFA group, and the difference was statistically significant ( t=4.48, P<0.001); patients in the high VFA group had longer operative time ( t=2.88, P=0.005), more intraoperative bleeding ( t=2.17, P=0.032), longer period of fasting ( t=2.73, P=0.008), longer time for defecation ( t=4.46, P<0.001) and bowel movement ( t=4.62, P<0.001), and longer postoperative hospital stay ( t=3.43) compared with those in the low VFA group ( t=2.73, P=0.001), prolonged defecation ( t=4.46), prolonged bowel movement ( t=4.62), and prolonged postoperative hospitalization ( t=3.43), with statistically significant differences ( P<0.05); the incidence of postoperative complications was significantly higher in the high VFA group (31.4%) compared with the low VFA group (14.5%) ( χ2=4.78, P=0.029); among them, the incidence of postoperative pulmonary infection was significantly higher in patients in the high VFA group (12.9%) compared with those in the low VFA group (1.6%), and the difference between them was statistically significant ( χ2=4.16, P<0.05); while the differences in postoperative incision-related complications, anastomotic fistula, lower limb venous thrombosis, and intestinal obstruction were not statistically significant ( P>0.05). The incidence of postoperative complications above grade Ⅲ of the Clavien-Dindo complication classification was significantly higher in patients in the high VFA group (16.7%) compared with those in the low VFA group (4.8%), and the difference between the two was statistically significant ( χ2=4.35, P<0.05); univariate analysis revealed that operative time ≥300 min and increased VFA were the risk factors for postoperative grade Ⅲ or higher complications, while VFA was not an independent risk factor. Conclusion:Larger visceral fat area increases the difficulty of laparoscopic gastric mesenchymal tumor surgery operation, and also affects patients′ postoperative recovery, leading to increased postoperative complications, but VFA is not an independent risk factor affecting the occurrence of postoperative grade Ⅲ or higher complications in patients with gastric mesenchymal tumor.

Purpose: This study was aimed to investigate long-term survivals and toxicities of early-stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in endemic area, evaluating the role of chemotherapy in stage II patients. Materials and Methods: Totally 187 patients with newly diagnosed NPC and restaged American Joint Committee on Cancer/ International Union Against Cancer 8th T1-2N0-1M0 were retrospectively recruited. All received intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT)±chemotherapy (CT) from 2001 to 2010. Results: With 15.7-year median follow-up, 10-year locoregional recurrence-free survival, distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), disease-specific survival (DSS), and overall survival (OS) were 93.3%, 93.5%, 92.9% and 88.2%, respectively. Multivariable analyses showed cervical lymph nodes positive and pre-treatment prognostic nutritional index ≥ 52.0 could independently predict DMFS (p=0.036 and p=0.011), DSS (p=0.014 and p=0.026), and OS (p=0.002 and p < 0.001); Charlson comorbidity index < 3 points could predict DSS (p=0.011); age > 45 years (p=0.002) and pre-treatment lactate dehydrogenase ≥ 240 U/L (p < 0.001) predicted OS. No grade 4 late toxicity happened; grade 3 late toxicities included subcutaneous fibrosis (4.3%), deafness or otitis (4.8%), skin dystrophy (2.1%), and xerostomia (1.1%). No differences on survivals were shown between IMRT+CT vs. IMRT alone in stage II patients, even in T2N1M0 (p > 0.05). Unsurprising, patients in IMRT+CT had more acute gastrointestinal reaction, myelosuppression, mucositis, late ear toxicity, and cranial nerve injury (all p < 0.05) than IMRT alone group. Conclusion Superior tumor control and satisfying long-term outcomes could be achieved with IMRT in early-stage NPC with mild late toxicities. As CT would bring more toxicities, it should be carefully performed to stage II patients.

Acetaldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) is an important kind of aldehyde dehydrogenase in mitochondria, which has the function of eliminating acetaldehyde and other toxic aldehydes substances. Furthermore, it is abundant in liver and is closely related to the occurrence and development of a variety of liver diseases. ALDH2 genetic polymorphisms plays an important role in the occurrence of a variety of liver diseases in the human population.This paper mainly reviews the research progress of ALDH2 in liver diseases in recent years, with a view to provide theoretical basis for clinical prevention and treatment.