1.Application of Bedside Hypertonic Saline-contrast Electrical Impedance Tomography of Lung Perfusion in Patients After Pulmonary Endarterectomy: Two Cases and Literature Review
Qiuyan CAI ; Wanglin LIU ; Wei CHENG ; Jingjing LIU ; Chaoji ZHANG ; Jianzhou LIU ; Yun LONG ; Huaiwu HE
Medical Journal of Peking Union Medical College Hospital 2025;16(2):513-518
Pulmonary electrical impedance tomography (EIT), a noninvasive, continuous, dynamic, and radiation-free bedside imaging technique for monitoring pulmonary ventilation, is now widely utilized in the diagnosis and management of critically ill patients. Beyond ventilation monitoring, hypertonic saline contrast-enhanced EIT for bedside pulmonary perfusion assessment has recently garnered significant attention. This article describes the application of hypertonic saline contrast-enhanced EIT to evaluate pulmonary perfusion in two patients following pulmonary endarterectomy, providing a reference for its perioperative application in such patients.
2.Therapeutic Study on The Inhibition of Neuroinflammation in Ischemic Stroke by Induced Regulatory T Cells
Tian-Fang KANG ; Ai-Qing MA ; Li-Qi CHEN ; Han GONG ; Jia-Cheng OUYANG ; Fan PAN ; Hong PAN ; Lin-Tao CAI
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2025;52(4):946-956
ObjectiveNeuroinflammation plays a crucial role in both the onset and progression of ischemic stroke, exerting a significant impact on the recovery of the central nervous system. Excessive neuroinflammation can lead to secondary neuronal damage, further exacerbating brain injury and impairing functional recovery. As a result, effectively modulating and reducing neuroinflammation in the brain has become a key therapeutic strategy for improving outcomes in ischemic stroke patients. Among various approaches, targeting immune regulation to control inflammation has gained increasing attention. This study aims to investigate the role of in vitro induced regulatory T cells (Treg cells) in suppressing neuroinflammation after ischemic stroke, as well as their potential therapeutic effects. By exploring the mechanisms through which Tregs exert their immunomodulatory functions, this research is expected to provide new insights into stroke treatment strategies. MethodsNaive CD4+ T cells were isolated from mouse spleens using a negative selection method to ensure high purity, and then they were induced in vitro to differentiate into Treg cells by adding specific cytokines. The anti-inflammatory effects and therapeutic potential of Treg cells transplantation in a mouse model of ischemic stroke was evaluated. In the middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model, after Treg cells transplantation, their ability to successfully migrate to the infarcted brain region and their impact on neuroinflammation levels were examined. To further investigate the role of Treg cells in stroke recovery, the changes in cytokine expression and their effects on immune cell interactions was analyzed. Additionally, infarct size and behavioral scores were measured to assess the neuroprotective effects of Treg cells. By integrating multiple indicators, the comprehensive evaluation of potential benefits of Treg cells in the treatment of ischemic stroke was performed. ResultsTreg cells significantly regulated the expression levels of both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in vitro and in vivo, effectively balancing the immune response and suppressing excessive inflammation. Additionally, Treg cells inhibited the activation and activity of inflammatory cells, thereby reducing neuroinflammation. In the MCAO mouse model, Treg cells were observed to accumulate in the infarcted brain region, where they significantly reduced the infarct size, demonstrating their neuroprotective effects. Furthermore, Treg cell therapy notably improved behavioral scores, suggesting its role in promoting functional recovery, and increased the survival rate of ischemic stroke mice, highlighting its potential as a promising therapeutic strategy for stroke treatment. ConclusionIn vitro induced Treg cells can effectively suppress neuroinflammation caused by ischemic stroke, demonstrating promising clinical application potential. By regulating the balance between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines, Treg cells can inhibit immune responses in the nervous system, thereby reducing neuronal damage. Additionally, they can modulate the immune microenvironment, suppress the activation of inflammatory cells, and promote tissue repair. The therapeutic effects of Treg cells also include enhancing post-stroke recovery, improving behavioral outcomes, and increasing the survival rate of ischemic stroke mice. With their ability to suppress neuroinflammation, Treg cell therapy provides a novel and effective strategy for the treatment of ischemic stroke, offering broad application prospects in clinical immunotherapy and regenerative medicine.
3.Ethical reflections on narrative wills in elderly end-of-life patients
Linan CHENG ; Fuman CAI ; Huiling LI ; Qian CHEN ; Fengying ZHANG
Chinese Medical Ethics 2025;38(6):712-717
Elderly end-of-life patients often experience distress due to being caught in dilemmas of contemplation and decision-making. Narrative wills, grounded in life values and premised on respecting individual wishes and needs, present an individual’s unique life story through narrative forms, conveying their overall experience, interpretation of meaning, and understanding of life. They are preserved and passed on in a way that meets individual expectations, thereby promoting human exploration, reflection, and growth regarding the meaning of life through interpersonal interactions that transcend space and time. This paper explored the concept of narrative wills among elderly end-of-life patients, the ethical value and ethical principles of narrative wills, and the moral and ethical risks. It also provided specific ethical interpretations, assisting in the application and development of narrative wills in elderly end-of-life patients.
4.Yulin Hukun Decoction Ameliorates Diminished Ovarian Reserve via PI3K/Akt/mTOR-Mediated Autophagy
Ruixia WANG ; Huan CHENG ; Yaxing FAN ; Tingyun CAI ; Meifang LI
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(18):77-85
ObjectiveTo observe the effect of Yulin Hukun decoction on autophagy mediated by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway in the mouse model of cyclophosphamide-induced diminished ovarian reserve and explore the follicular development-improving mechanism of this decoction. MethodsSixty female ICR mice with normal estrous cycle were assigned into a blank group (n=10) and a modeling group (n=50). The model was established by intraperitoneal injection of cyclophosphamide (60 mg·kg-1) for 5 days. The successfully modeled mice were randomly grouped as follows: model, estradiol (0.26 mg·kg-1), and high-, medium-, and low-dose (56.42, 28.21, 14.105 g·kg-1, respectively) Yulin Hukun decoction, with 10 mice in each group. The blank group and the model group received normal saline (10 mL·kg-1). The intervention was performed once a day for 21 days. The general conditions, estrous cycle, body weight, and ovary index were observed and recorded for each group. Serum levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), estradiol (E2), and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Histopathological changes in the ovarian tissue were observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining. Western blot was employed to determine the protein levels of PI3K, Akt, mTOR, autophagy-related protein 7 (Atg7), beclin1, microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3Ⅱ (LC3Ⅱ), ubiquitin-binding adaptor protein (p62), forkhead box protein O1 (FoxO1), and acetylated forkhead box protein O1 (Ac-FoxO1) in mouse ovaries. Real-time PCR was adopted to determine the mRNA levels of PI3K, Akt, mTOR, Atg7, beclin1, and LC3Ⅱ in the mouse ovarian tissue. ResultsCompared with the blank group, the model group had disturbed estrous cycle, decreased body weight (P<0.05), loose ovarian structure with increased atretic follicles, increased serum FSH level (P<0.05), and decreased AMH and estradiol levels (P<0.05). Compared with the model group, the treatment groups showed recovered estrous cycles and body weight. The estradiol group and high- and medium-dose Yulin Hukun decoction groups showed declined FSH level (P<0.05) and elevated AMH levels (P<0.05). In addition, the treatment groups showed downregulated protein levels of Atg7, LC3Ⅱ, beclin1, FoxO1, and Ac-FoxO1 (P<0.01), upregulated protein levels of PI3K, Akt, mTOR, and p62 (P<0.01) in the ovarian tissue, gradual repair of the ovarian structure, with more intact and numerous follicles of various stages. ConclusionYulin Hukun decoction can inhibit autophagy in ovarian granulosa cells by activating the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway and inhibiting the expression of autophagy-related proteins and transcription factors, thereby improving follicular development and ovarian reserve.
5.Pharmacological Mechanism of Traditonal Chinese Medicine in Prevention and Treatment of Breast Cancer: A Review
Xiaoli WEN ; Fangyan CAI ; Biting CHENG ; Xiang ZHANG ; Hongning LIU
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(22):252-263
Breast cancer, as one of the major cancers threatening women's health globally, is characterized by high aggressiveness, high malignancy, and poor prognosis. In 2022, according to the World Health Organization, breast cancer ranked second in the incidence of female cancers globally, accounting for 11.6% of all new cancer cases. Western medical doctors mainly use surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, endocrine therapy, and molecular targeted therapy to treat breast cancer, which can effectively improve the recurrence rate and death rate of breast cancer patients and prolong the survival period of patients. However, its treatment process is often accompanied by a series of side effects, which bring challenges to patients' quality of life. However, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has demonstrated significant therapeutic effects in inhibiting the proliferation and metastasis of breast cancer cells, reducing toxic side effects produced by chemotherapy, and improving patients' survival rate and quality of life. It is therefore particularly necessary to investigate the pharmacological effects and mechanisms of TCM in breast cancer treatment. The authors combed the pharmacological effects and mechanisms of the etiology and pathogenesis of breast cancer, identification and treatment of breast cancer, TCM compound, TCM single medicine, TCM monomer, and external treatment of TCM to prevent and control breast cancer and found that TCM has a therapeutic effect on breast cancer. It can play a role in increasing the effectiveness, reducing the toxicity, and alleviating the adverse reactions. It can inhibit breast cancer cell proliferation, cell cycle, migration, invasion, immune escape, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), aerobic glycolysis, mitochondrial biosynthesis, aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, reduce drug resistance, promote apoptosis, ferroptosis, cell autophagy, and regulate the tumor immune microenvironment by regulating signaling pathways. This paper aims to provide new ideas and methods for experimental research and clinical treatment of breast cancer.
6.Development and validation of a multidisciplinary risk assessment scale for immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated myocarditis
Yanan DAI ; Yuan LIU ; Yuchen XU ; Qingqing CAI ; Yan WANG ; Yuhong ZHOU ; Leilei CHENG ; Junbo GE
Chinese Journal of Clinical Medicine 2025;32(4):561-567
Objective To develop a risk assessment scale for immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-associated myocarditis based on multidisciplinary collaboration, and to evaluate its diagnostic performance. Methods Based on multidisciplinary cooperation, integrating clinical experience from oncology and cardiology, literature data, and patient conditions, a risk assessment scale for ICI-associated myocarditis was developed. A total of 101 patients with malignancies who received immunotherapy at Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, from October 2020 to October 2024 were included as the validation cohort. Patients were stratified into low-risk (0-1 point), medium-risk (2-4 points), and high-risk (≥5 points) groups based on their scale scores. The association between pretictive risk stratifications and actual assessment results was assessed using the Cox proportional hazards regression model. The predictive value of the scale for ICI-associated myocarditis was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Agreement between the scale scores and actual assessment results was assessed using Cohen’s Kappa coefficient. Results Based on the scale pretictive results, 28(27.7%), 8(7.9%), 65(64.4%) patients were at low risk, medium risk, and high risk for ICI-related myocarditis, respectively; however, 46(45.5%), 8(7.9%), 47(46.5%) were at low risk, medium risk, and high risk actually. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the cumulative incidence of ICI-related myocarditis in the high-risk group was significantly higher than that in the medium- and low-risk groups (P<0.05). In the multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards model, the ICI-related myocarditis risk in high-risk group was about 4 times that in the low-risk group. ROC curve analysis demonstrated that the average area under the curve (AUC) for predicting ICI-related myocarditis was 0.81, with an accuracy of 0.74. The Cohen’s Kappa coefficient was 0.55, indicating moderate agreement. In the actual high-risk group, no patient was predicted to be at low risk; in the actual low-risk group, 16 patients were predicted to be at high risk. Conclusions This risk assessment scale for ICI-associated myocarditis shows high predictive performance. It provides oncologists with a simple yet effective multidisciplinary diagnostic reference tool, potentially enhancing early identification of ICI-associated myocarditis.
7.The Prevention and Treatment of Pulmonary Nodules “Nodule-cancer Transformation” Based on the View of “Disease with Latent Pathogen Induced by a New Pathogen”
Yi LIU ; Chuchu ZHANG ; Bingyi YIN ; Qiyuan MAO ; Qianwen CHENG ; Ruijuan CAI ; Hongsheng LIN
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2024;65(1):39-43
As one of the pathogenic mechanisms contained in The Inner Canon of Yellow Emperor (《黄帝内经》), “disease with latent pathogen induced by a new pathogen” means that the induced new pathogen resulted to a combination of the latent previous pathogen and the new pathogen, which caused the disease. Based on this, it is believed that the change of “nodule-cancer transformation” of pulmonary nodules is actually based on the deficiency of original qi, and the new pathogen induces the latent pathogens like phlegm coagulation, qi stagnation, blood stasis, toxicity, so healthy qi can not drive the pathogens out, and the long-time detention generated into cancerous turbidity, and deve-loped into cancerous tumour at the end. Therefore, based on the three-stage treatment of unformed cancer, dense cancerous toxin, and developed cancer, the clinical practice applied six methods of clearing, expelling, dissipating, tonifying, harmonizing, and transforming, taking into account both the manifestation and root cause, moving the treatment window of pulmonary nodules forward, attacking the pathogens when the toxin was not yet overbearing, supporting the healthy qi before declining, delaying the process of nodules-cancer transformation, and providing ideas for the prevention and treatment of pulmonary nodules “nodule-cancer transformation” in traditional Chinese medicine.
8.Research on population pharmacokinetics of propofol injection in adult patients under general anesthesia
Jin-Xia LI ; An-Cheng GU ; Fu-Miao YUAN ; Cai LI ; Hai-Jun DENG ; Zhong-Yuan XU
The Chinese Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 2024;40(14):2124-2128
Objective To quantitatively assess the influence of various factors on the pharmacokinetic parameters of propofol and to develop a propofol population pharmacokinetic model tailored for Chinese patients.Methods Thirty patients scheduled for selective abdominal surgeries received an anesthesia dose of propofol at 2.0 mg·kg-1.The concentration of propofol in collected venous blood samples was measured using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.Polymorphisms in metabolizing enzyme genes were detected through Sanger sequencing technology.Pharmacokinetic parameters were computed,and models were constructed and evaluated using Phoenix Winnonlin software.Results Through software analysis,the drug's in vivo process was best described by a three-compartment model.The population mean values for the central compartment clearance rate(CL),shallow peripheral compartment clearance rate(Q2),deep peripheral compartment clearance rate(Q3),central compartment volume of distribution(V),shallow peripheral compartment volume of distribution(V2),and deep peripheral compartment volume of distribution(V3)were 1.71 L·min-1,1.31 L·min-1,1.51 L·min-1,5.92 L,19.86 L and 99.06 L,respectively.Body weight was identified as a significant covariate affecting CL and V,and was incorporated into the model.Conclusion The evaluation of the final model demonstrates its substantial predictive capability,offering directional guidance for the clinical administration of propofol.
9.Research status of AQP5 regulation of programmed cell death in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Cheng-Cai YUN ; Li-Ying ZHANG ; Hong-Dou HOU ; Huan-Huan ZHANG ; Zhang-Bo SONG ; Wen-Xing YONG
The Chinese Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 2024;40(14):2134-2138
Aquaporin 5(AQP5),as the main water transport protein in the body,can regulate lung diseases by regulating airway mucus secretion,pulmonary inflammation,and lung function.Programmed cell death(PCD)plays a crucial role in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD).AQP5 may affect the development of COPD by regulating PCDs.This article reviews the molecular regulatory mechanism of AQP5 on apoptosis,autophagy,iron death and pyroptosis in PCDs in recent years,and further discusses its effect on COPD in order to provide theoretical support for clinical prevention and treatment of COPD.
10.Molecular mechanism of ABO bood group variation
Hang LEI ; Xuefeng WANG ; Xiaowen CHENG ; Hui ZHANG ; Xiaohong CAI
Chinese Journal of Blood Transfusion 2024;37(4):385-391
【Objective】 To study the relationship between ABO subtype, para-Bombay blood group and genotype, so as to explore the possible molecular mechanism of these two blood groups, and provide accurate genetic detection targets and theoretical basis for the accurate identification of ABO blood group. 【Methods】 First, the serology of 24 200 patients with blood type identification in the Ruijin Hospital from February to December in 2022 were analyzed, as well as 10 ambiguous ABO samples from other hospitals(3 were suspected ABO subtype and 7 were suspected para-Bombay blood group). Then ABO subtypes and para-Bombay blood groups were directly sequenced or post-clonal sequencing was performed to analyze ABO, FUT1 and FUT2 gene sequences. 【Results】 Among the 24 200 patients underwent blood type identification, 7 cases of ABO subtypes were detected. Among the 10 ambiguous samples sent by other hospitals, 2 of ABO subtypes, 1 of normal type A, and 7 of para-Bombay blood type were detected. In total, we identified blood types as follows: 1) 9 ABO subtypes: A

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