Following the core outcome set standards for development(COS-STAD), this study aims to construct core outcome set(COS) for clinical research on traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) treatment of simple obesity. Firstly, a comprehensive review was conducted on the randomized controlled trial(RCT) and systematic review(SR) about TCM treatment of simple obesity that were published in Chinese and English databases to collect reported outcomes. Additional outcomes were obtained through semi-structured interviews with patients and open-ended questionnaire surveys for clinicians. All the collected outcomes were then merged and organized as an initial outcome pool, and then a preliminary list of outcomes was formed after discussion by the working group. Subsequently, two rounds of Delphi surveys were conducted with clinicians, methodology experts, and patients to score the importance of outcomes in the list. Finally, a consensus meeting was held to establish the COS for clinical research on TCM treatment of simple obesity. A total of 221 RCTs and 12 SRs were included, and after integration of supplementary outcomes, an initial outcome pool of 141 outcomes were formed. Following discussions in the steering advisory group meeting, a preliminary list of 33 outcomes was finalized, encompassing 9 domains. Through two rounds of Delphi surveys and a consensus meeting, the final COS for clinical research on TCM treatment of simple obesity was determined to include 8 outcomes: TCM symptom scores, body mass index(BMI), waist-hip ratio, waist circumference, visceral fat index, body fat rate, quality of life, and safety, which were classified into 4 domains: TCM-related outcomes, anthropometric measurements, quality of life, and safety. This study has preliminarily established a COS for clinical research on TCM treatment of simple obesity. It helps reduce the heterogeneity in the selection and reporting of outcomes in similar clinical studies, thereby improving the comparability of research results and the feasibility of meta-analysis and providing higher-level evidence support for clinical practice.
Humans ; Obesity/therapy* ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Treatment Outcome ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use*

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the dynamic changes of glucocorticoid (GC) dose and the feasibility of GC discontinuation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients under the background of Chinese medicine (CM). METHODS: This multicenter retrospective cohort study included 1,196 RA patients enrolled in the China Rheumatoid Arthritis Registry of Patients with Chinese Medicine (CERTAIN) from September 1, 2019 to December 4, 2023, who initiated GC therapy. Participants were divided into the Western medicine (WM) and integrative medicine (IM, combination of CM and WM) groups based on medication regimen. Follow-up was performed at least every 3 months to assess dynamic changes in GC dose. Changes in GC dose were analyzed by generalized estimator equation, the probability of GC discontinuation was assessed using Kaplan-Meier curve, and predictors of GC discontinuation were analyzed by Cox regression. Patients with <12 months of follow-up were excluded for the sensitivity analysis. RESULTS: Among 1,196 patients (85.4% female; median age 56.4 years), 880 (73.6%) received IM. Over a median 12-month follow-up, 34.3% (410 cases) discontinued GC, with significantly higher rates in the IM group (40.8% vs. 16.1% in WM; P<0.05). GC dose declined progressively, with IM patients demonstrating faster reductions (median 3.75 mg vs. 5.00 mg in WM at 12 months; P<0.05). Multivariate Cox analysis identified age <60 years [P<0.001, hazard ratios (HR)=2.142, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.523-3.012], IM therapy (P=0.001, HR=2.175, 95% CI: 1.369-3.456), baseline GC dose ⩽7.5 mg (P=0.003, HR=1.637, 95% CI: 1.177-2.275), and absence of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs use (P=0.001, HR=2.546, 95% CI: 1.432-4.527) as significant predictors of GC discontinuation. Sensitivity analysis (545 cases) confirmed these findings. CONCLUSIONS RA patients receiving CM face difficulties in following guideline-recommended GC discontinuation protocols. IM can promote GC discontinuation and is a promising strategy to reduce GC dependency in RA management. (Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, No. NCT05219214).
Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid/drug therapy* ; Glucocorticoids/therapeutic use* ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Retrospective Studies

Aim To investigate the anti-Zika virus(ZIKV)mechanism of diterpenoid compound 9 from Euphorbia helioscopia in vitro.Methods The cytotox-icity of compound 9 was evaluated using the CCK-8 as-say.A ZIKV-infected Vero cell model was established,and the antiviral activity was assessed through RT-qPCR,plaque assay,Western blot,and immunofluores-cence.Furthermore,the mechanism of action was elu-cidated using multi-cell line validation,nanoparticle tracking analysis,cellular thermal shift assay,and mo-lecular docking.Results In Vero cells,compound 9 exhibited an EC50 of(3.95±0.15)μmol·L-1 and a CC50 of(272.12±8.56)μmol·L-1,demonstrating significantly higher antiviral efficacy than the positive control drug ribavirin(RBV).Its virus inactivation effect was time-dependent and could significantly re-duce viral load and plaque formation.Studies revealed that compound 9 altered the physicochemical properties of ZIKV particles,including reducing surface charge and increasing particle size distribution.Additionally,it significantly enhanced the thermal stability of the prM protein.Molecular docking analysis indicated that compound 9 formed a high-affinity interaction with the prM protein(binding energy:-38.52 kJ·mol-1)and stabilized its structure through hydrophobic interac-tions.Conclusion Compound 9 exerts in vitro anti-ZIKV activity by directly inactivating the virus,disrup-ting viral particle integrity,and targeting the prM pro-tein.

High mobility group box protein 1(HMGB1)is one of the most widely expressed protein member in the HMGs family,which is well known for its involvement in the body inflammatory response.Previous researches have found that it plays a significant role in cell migration,immune identification and neuroprotection.Spinal cord injury is a disease that causes severe damage to the nervous system,and neural circuits are disrupted after a spinal cord injury,which leads to many conditions including ischemia and hypoxia,inflammatory responses,demyelinating lesions,and glial scar formation that are detrimental to nerve regeneration and repair,making it one of the most difficult diseases to treat in the modern spinal surgery field.HMGB1 is upregulated after spinal cord injury,thereby regulating neuroinflam-matory responses,and participating in the neuronal apoptosis,promoting neuronal regeneration,and inducing neural stem cell differentiation and migration,which plays an important role in the process of neural function recovery.This paper summarizes the structure and function of HMGB1,as well as its role in spinal cord injury,in order to provide direction for founding therapeutic target for neurological function recovery after spinal cord injury.

Aim To investigate the anti-Zika virus(ZIKV)mechanism of diterpenoid compound 9 from Euphorbia helioscopia in vitro.Methods The cytotox-icity of compound 9 was evaluated using the CCK-8 as-say.A ZIKV-infected Vero cell model was established,and the antiviral activity was assessed through RT-qPCR,plaque assay,Western blot,and immunofluores-cence.Furthermore,the mechanism of action was elu-cidated using multi-cell line validation,nanoparticle tracking analysis,cellular thermal shift assay,and mo-lecular docking.Results In Vero cells,compound 9 exhibited an EC50 of(3.95±0.15)μmol·L-1 and a CC50 of(272.12±8.56)μmol·L-1,demonstrating significantly higher antiviral efficacy than the positive control drug ribavirin(RBV).Its virus inactivation effect was time-dependent and could significantly re-duce viral load and plaque formation.Studies revealed that compound 9 altered the physicochemical properties of ZIKV particles,including reducing surface charge and increasing particle size distribution.Additionally,it significantly enhanced the thermal stability of the prM protein.Molecular docking analysis indicated that compound 9 formed a high-affinity interaction with the prM protein(binding energy:-38.52 kJ·mol-1)and stabilized its structure through hydrophobic interac-tions.Conclusion Compound 9 exerts in vitro anti-ZIKV activity by directly inactivating the virus,disrup-ting viral particle integrity,and targeting the prM pro-tein.

Objective To investigate the role and clinical significance of Calpain activity and 145 kDa cleavage fragments of αⅡ-spec-trin breakdown products(SBDP145)in systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE).Methods 124 patients with confirmed SLE and de-tailed clinical data were collected as the SLE group,and 75 healthy individuals who underwent physical examination during the same period were selected as the control group.Their serum samples were collected,and serum SBDP145 levels and Calpain activity were de-tected by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)and substrate-based method,respectively.The Mann-Whitney U test,Spearman rank correlation,univariate and multivariate Logistic regression,and receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve were used to evaluate the clinical value of Calpain activity and SBDP145 in the diagnosis and assessment of SLE.Results Compared with healthy controls,serum Calpain activity([17.000[8.5000,33.500]RFU vs 7.500[4.000,12.500]RFU)and SBDP145 levels(5.283[3.532,9.463]ng/mL vs 1.472[0.994,2.212]ng/mL)in SLE patients were significantly increased(Z=-9.229,P<0.001;Z=-6.881,P<0.001).Furthermore,the Calpain activity was significantly correlated with SLE disease activity index(SLEDAI-2K)score(r=0.349,P<0.001).Logistic regression analysis showed that the increased Calpain activity and SBDP145 levels were significantly associated with the occurrence of SLE(OR=1.164,95％CI:1.016-1.334,P=0.029;OR=3.822,95％CI:1.928-7.574,P<0.001).The ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the ROC curve(AUCROC)of serum Calpain activity in distin-guishing SLE and healthy controls was 0.762(95％CI:0.697-0.827).When the cut-off value was 13.75 RFU,its sensitivity and speci-ficity were 63.1％and 81.1％,respectively.The AUCROC of serum SBDP145 levels in distinguishing SLE and healthy controls was 0.891(95％CI:0.845-0.936).When the cut-off value was 2.377 ng/mL,its sensitivity and specificity were 88.7％and 80.0％,re-spectively.The AUCROC,sensitivity,and specificity of combining the two with traditional SLE clinical indicators,including complement C3,erythrocyte sedimentation rate,and anti-dsDNA antibodies,in the diagnosis of SLE reached 0.986(95％CI:0.972-1.000),93.3％,and 96.0％,respectively.The Spearman correlation analysis results showed that the organ damage index(SDI)score of SLE patients was positively correlated with serum Calpain activity and SBDP145 levels(r=0.342,P<0.001;r=0.250,P=0.005).Con-clusion The elevated Calpain activity and SBDP145 levels are closely related to the occurrence and development of SLE,suggesting that they may be served as potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and assessment of SLE patients.

High mobility group box protein 1(HMGB1)is one of the most widely expressed protein member in the HMGs family,which is well known for its involvement in the body inflammatory response.Previous researches have found that it plays a significant role in cell migration,immune identification and neuroprotection.Spinal cord injury is a disease that causes severe damage to the nervous system,and neural circuits are disrupted after a spinal cord injury,which leads to many conditions including ischemia and hypoxia,inflammatory responses,demyelinating lesions,and glial scar formation that are detrimental to nerve regeneration and repair,making it one of the most difficult diseases to treat in the modern spinal surgery field.HMGB1 is upregulated after spinal cord injury,thereby regulating neuroinflam-matory responses,and participating in the neuronal apoptosis,promoting neuronal regeneration,and inducing neural stem cell differentiation and migration,which plays an important role in the process of neural function recovery.This paper summarizes the structure and function of HMGB1,as well as its role in spinal cord injury,in order to provide direction for founding therapeutic target for neurological function recovery after spinal cord injury.

Objective To investigate the role and clinical significance of Calpain activity and 145 kDa cleavage fragments of αⅡ-spec-trin breakdown products(SBDP145)in systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE).Methods 124 patients with confirmed SLE and de-tailed clinical data were collected as the SLE group,and 75 healthy individuals who underwent physical examination during the same period were selected as the control group.Their serum samples were collected,and serum SBDP145 levels and Calpain activity were de-tected by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)and substrate-based method,respectively.The Mann-Whitney U test,Spearman rank correlation,univariate and multivariate Logistic regression,and receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve were used to evaluate the clinical value of Calpain activity and SBDP145 in the diagnosis and assessment of SLE.Results Compared with healthy controls,serum Calpain activity([17.000[8.5000,33.500]RFU vs 7.500[4.000,12.500]RFU)and SBDP145 levels(5.283[3.532,9.463]ng/mL vs 1.472[0.994,2.212]ng/mL)in SLE patients were significantly increased(Z=-9.229,P<0.001;Z=-6.881,P<0.001).Furthermore,the Calpain activity was significantly correlated with SLE disease activity index(SLEDAI-2K)score(r=0.349,P<0.001).Logistic regression analysis showed that the increased Calpain activity and SBDP145 levels were significantly associated with the occurrence of SLE(OR=1.164,95％CI:1.016-1.334,P=0.029;OR=3.822,95％CI:1.928-7.574,P<0.001).The ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the ROC curve(AUCROC)of serum Calpain activity in distin-guishing SLE and healthy controls was 0.762(95％CI:0.697-0.827).When the cut-off value was 13.75 RFU,its sensitivity and speci-ficity were 63.1％and 81.1％,respectively.The AUCROC of serum SBDP145 levels in distinguishing SLE and healthy controls was 0.891(95％CI:0.845-0.936).When the cut-off value was 2.377 ng/mL,its sensitivity and specificity were 88.7％and 80.0％,re-spectively.The AUCROC,sensitivity,and specificity of combining the two with traditional SLE clinical indicators,including complement C3,erythrocyte sedimentation rate,and anti-dsDNA antibodies,in the diagnosis of SLE reached 0.986(95％CI:0.972-1.000),93.3％,and 96.0％,respectively.The Spearman correlation analysis results showed that the organ damage index(SDI)score of SLE patients was positively correlated with serum Calpain activity and SBDP145 levels(r=0.342,P<0.001;r=0.250,P=0.005).Con-clusion The elevated Calpain activity and SBDP145 levels are closely related to the occurrence and development of SLE,suggesting that they may be served as potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and assessment of SLE patients.

Aim To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of remimazolam tosylate for administering general anesthesia in morbidly obese patients.Methods This clinical trial was conducted at a single center from De-cember 2021 to October 2023.It assessed 108 morbid-ly obese patients(body mass index,BMI≥40)who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.Patients were randomly assigned to either the remimazaolam group(Group R)or the propofol group(Group P)for general anesthesia induction and maintenance.The primary outcome was to compare the incidence of ad-verse events and postoperative recovery characteristics between the two groups.Results During induction pe-riod,the incidence of adverse events was higher in group P,including hypotension(P＜0.01),hypox-emia(P＜0.05),bradycardia(P＜0.01),and in-creased vasopressor requirement(P＜0.05).The time to loss of consciousness and BIS falling to 60 was shor-ter in group P than in group R(P＜0.01).There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of postoperative quality of recovery(QoR-40 score),24-hour postoperative pain visual an-alogue scale(VAS)scores and morphine consump-tion.In conclusion,remimazolam tosylate,utilized for anesthesia induction in morbidly obese patients,signif-icantly reduced hypotension and hypoxemia compared to propofol,while it could also maintain similar postop-erative recovery quality.Conclusions Remimazolam is effective in reducing the incidence of hypotension and hypoxaemia during the induction period of general anaesthesia in morbidly obese patients and it is compa-rable to propofol in terms of quality of postoperative re-covery.

Nitazoxanide is an FDA-approved antiprotozoal drug. Our previous study found that oral administration of nitazoxanide inhibited Western diet (WD)-induced hepatic steatosis in ApoE^-/- mice. However, the specific mechanism remains to be elucidated. In the present study, we performed an untargeted metabolomics approach to reveal the effect of nitazoxanide on the liver metabolic profiles in WD-fed ApoE^-/- mice, and carried out the cellular experiments to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. UPLC-MS-based untargeted metabolomics analysis was used to investigate the effect of nitazoxanide on global metabolite changes in liver tissues. The differential metabolites were screened for enrichment analysis and pathway analysis. Hepatocytes were treated with tizoxanide, the metabolite of nitazoxanide, to investigate the underlying mechanism based on the findings in metabolomics study. The improvement of liver lipid metabolism disorders by nitazoxanide treatment in WD-fed ApoE^-/- mice was mainly through regulating glycerophospholipid metabolism, D-glutamine and glutamate metabolism, glutathione metabolism, and arginine biosynthesis metabolism. Tizoxanide, the active metabolite of nitazoxanide, increased glutathione (GSH) contents and glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (Gcl-c) and glutathione reductase (Gsr) mRNA expressions in HepG2 cells. Tizoxanide increased cystathionine β-synthase (CBS) and phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PEMT) protein levels, inhibited lipid accumulation in hepatocytes induced by free fatty acid (FFA). Tizoxanide increased S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine hydrolase (SAHH) protein levels in HepG2 cells and mouse primary liver cells stimulated with free fatty acid (FFA). Tizoxanide increased N-acetyl glutamate synthase (Nags) and carbamoylphosphate synthetase 1 (Cps1) mRNA expressions in HepG2 cells. In conclusion, nitazoxanide improves WD-induced hepatic steatosis in ApoE^-/- mice and the underlying mechanisms include increasing CBS expression, GSH content, PEMT protein expression, Nags and Cps1 mRNA expression in hepatocytes.