Background The widespread use of herbicides has led to environmental contamination and has implications for human health. The liver is an important organ for the detoxification of environmental pollutants; however, studies on the association between herbicide exposure and liver function are limited. Objectives To investigate the association between baseline serum herbicide levels and changes in liver enzyme levels and liver enzyme abnormalities over a 5-year period in middle-aged and older adults. Methods This study was based on a nested case-control population of type 2 diabetes established in the Dongfeng-Tongji cohort, with a total of 1388 subjects included in this study and followed up for 5 years. Epidemiological data were collected through questionnaires, and baseline serum concentrations of three herbicides (metolachlor, propham, and acetochlor) were measured by gas chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. Serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were detected at baseline and follow-up visits. The associations between baseline serum herbicide levels and changes in AST and ALT over 5 years were assessed using linear regression models with herbicide levels categorized into quartiles, adjusting for age, sex, education level, smoking status, drinking status, physical activity, body mass index, and new-onset type 2 diabetes occurred during follow-up. The relationship between baseline serum herbicide levels and the risk of liver enzyme abnormalities during follow-up was further analyzed using logistic regression models. Results The positive rates of metolachlor, propham, and acetochlor were all higher than 80%, and their spiked rates of recovery ranged from 73.46% to 106.77%. The mean ± standard deviation of the age of subjects at baseline was (62.7±7.6) years, with 34.1% being male. The median serum levels of metolachlor, propham, and acetochlor at baseline were 0.05, 0.16, and 0.03 ng·mL⁻¹, respectively. There was no significant difference in baseline serum herbicide levels between the normal and abnormal liver enzyme groups at follow-up (P >0.05). The baseline liver enzyme levels and the changes in AST and ALT over 5 years in those who developed abnormal liver enzymes were significantly higher than those in the normal liver enzyme group (P <0.05). The linear regression analysis showed that the changes in AST increased progressively over 5 years in the second, third, and fourth quartiles of propham compared to the lowest quartile group (the second quartile: b=1.49, 95%CI: 0.10, 2.87; the third quartile: b=1.52, 95%CI: 0.14, 2.90; the fourth quartile: b=1.69, 95%CI: 0.31, 3.08; P <0.05). The associations of serum metolachlor and acetochlor with changes in AST were not significant. Additionally, no significant relationships were found between the three serum herbicides and the changes in ALT over 5 years or the risk of liver enzyme abnormalities. Conclusion Serum propham levels in middle-aged and older adults are positively associated with changes in liver enzyme AST, which may have an effect on liver function. More studies are needed to provide scientific evidence for the association between herbicide exposure and liver function.

Background Chronic intermittent hypobaric hypoxia (CIHH) can effectively alleviate type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In this process, the underlying mechanism in its association with the epigenetic regulation of DNA methylation in the promoter regions of glucose metabolism key enzyme genes remains unclear yet. Objective To investigate the effects of CIHH on expression and promoter region methylation of key enzyme genes related to glucose metabolism in diabetes mice, and to explore the underlying mechanism by which CIHH regulates glucose metabolism. Methods Forty C57BL/6J male mice were divided randomly into a normobaric normoxic control (NN/CON) group, a chronic intermittent hypobaric hypoxia intervention control (CIHH/CON) group, a normobaric normoxic diabetic model (NN/DM) group, and a chronic intermittent hypobaric hypoxia intervention diabetic model (CIHH/DM) group. The mice in the NN/DM and the CIHH/DM groups were fed for 7 weeks with high-fat and high-sugar diet. Subsequently, these mice were intraperitoneally injected consecutively with 50 mmol·L⁻¹ streptozotocin (STZ) for 5 d at a dose of 40 mg·kg⁻¹ (body weight) per day to create T2DM model mice. The mice in the CIHH/DM and the CIHH/CON groups were intervened by simulating hypobaric hypoxia at 5000 m altitude for 6 h per day, while the mice in the NN/DM and the NN/CON groups were always placed in a normobaric normoxic environment. All mice were continuously treated for 4 weeks, and blood glucose were monitored during this period. After the CIHH intervention experiment, the glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity of mice were evaluated. A set of indicators involved in key glycolytic enzymes glucokinase (GK) and pyruvate kinase (PK), as well as key gluconeogenic enzymes phosphoenolpyruvate carboxyl kinase (PEPCK) and glucose-6-phosphatase (G6P) were measured in the liver of mice, including enzyme activity, relative mRNA expression level, and DNA methylation level in the gene promoter regions. Results Compared with the mice in the NN/DM group, the blood glucose levels of the mice in the CIHH/DM group decreased after the 25^th day of the CIHH intervention (P<0.05). Regarding the diabetic glucose tolerance curves, the area under the curve (AUC) of the mice in the CIHH/DM group was lower than that of the NN/DM group (P<0.05). Compared with the mice in the NN/DM group, the mice in the CIHH/DM group showed that the serum insulin content and HOMA of insulin resistance index (HOMA-IRI) decreased (P<0.05), the enzyme activities of GK and PK increased and the relative mRNA expression levels of their genes were up-regulated (P<0.05), while the enzyme activities of PEPCK and G6P decreased and the relative mRNA expression levels of their genes were down-regulated (P<0.05) in liver. The average DNA methylation levels in the promoter regions of GK, PK, PEPCK, and G6P genes in liver of mice in each group were not significantly different (P>0.05), and their correlations with mRNA expression levels were also not statistically significant (P>0.05). Conclusion CIHH intervention may reduce blood glucose level, improve glucose tolerance, alleviate insulin resistance, and regulate the key enzyme activities of glucose metabolism and the relative mRNA expression of their corresponding genes in T2DM mice, but the above phenomena are not related to the DNA methylation levels in the promoter regions of these key enzymes.

Gallbladder carcinoma,a relatively rare malignancy within the biliary tract,presents a grave prognosis primarily due to asymptomatic early stages leading to advanced stage diagnosis and the absence of efficacious treatment options.Research has identified chronic inflammation,predom-inantly caused by gallstones,as a critical etiological factor.While surgical intervention offers potential curative outcomes in early stages,the majority of cases are identified too late for optimal surgical outcomes.Chemotherapy and targeted therapy,despite offering new therapeutic avenues,have not significantly improved overall survival rates.Thus,understanding the pathogenesis of gallbladder cancer,especially its association with key genetic and molecular pathways,is imperative for devising novel therapeutic strategies.This review delineates the epidemiology,pathogenesis,current treat-ment modalities,and research advancements in gallbladder cancer,aiming to provide innovative in-sights for clinical management and guide future research endeavors.

Acute cerebral infarction(ACI)has the characteristics of onset nasty and high mortality,and thus the rapid determination of the occurrence and development of ACI plays a key role in the diagnosis,treatment and prognosis of ACI patients.It has shown that the serum level of human haptoglobin(Hp)is related to ACI.In this study,surface enhanced Raman scattering(SERS)combined with immune recognition was applied to establish a quantitative analysis method for serum Hp.Firstly,the SERS substrate of silver nanoparticles was prepared on silicon wafer,and 4-mercaptobenzoic Acid(MBA)was used as a Raman probe by forming Ag—S bond and connecting it on the surface of nanoparticles.The carboxyl group of MBA was linked to amino group of self-made high-affinity antibody through forming CO—NH structure thus forming a SERS self-assembled chip of Hp(Ag/MBA/anti-Hp).Hp in serum could be specifically captured by antibodies on SERS substrate,which caused the shift of SERS characteristic peak of MBA.The results showed that there was a good linear relationship between the logarithm of Hp concentration and the SERS characteristic peak shift of MBA.The detection range was 1-1000 ng/mL(R2=0.988).The Hp concentrations in serum of 90 ACI patients were determined by this method,and the results were consistent with those of ELISA method,which proved the practicability and accuracy of this method.This method was highly specific,simple and convenient,which could realize the specific recognition and quantitative analysis of serum Hp,so as to be an effective means for clinical detection of serum Hp,thus providing a reference for the treatment and prognosis of ACI.

Objective To investigate the dietary patterns of rural residents in the high-incidence areas of esophageal cancer (EC), and to explore the clustering and influencing factors of risk factors associated with high-incidence characteristics. Methods A special structured questionnaire was applied to conduct a face-to-face survey on the dietary patterns of rural residents in Yanting county of Sichuan Province from July to August 2021. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to analyze the influencing factors of risk factor clustering for EC. Results There were 838 valid questionnaires in this study. A total of 90.8% of rural residents used clean water such as tap water. In the past one year, the people who ate fruits and vegetables, soybean products, onions and garlic in high frequency accounted for 69.5%, 32.8% and 74.5%, respectively; the people who ate kimchi, pickled vegetables, sauerkraut, barbecue, hot food and mildew food in low frequency accounted for 59.2%, 79.6%, 68.2%, 90.3%, 80.9% and 90.3%, respectively. The clustering of risk factors for EC was found in 73.3% of residents, and the aggregation of two risk factors was the most common mode (28.2%), among which tumor history and preserved food was the main clustering pattern (4.6%). The logistic regression model revealed that the gender, age, marital status and occupation were independent influencing factors for the risk factors clustering of EC (P<0.05). Conclusion A majority of rural residents in high-incidence areas of EC in Yanting county have good eating habits, but the clustering of some risk factors is still at a high level. Gender, age, marital status, and occupation are influencing factors of the risk factors clustering of EC.

OBJECTIVE To establish the project approval evaluation system for traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） preparations in medical institutions guided by new drug conversion， to improve the success rate of approval for TCM preparations in medical institutions and lay the foundation for the later drug conversion. METHODS Research and development team used the literature research method and brainstorming method to list and organize relevant elements of project evaluation and determine the initial indicator system. Experts were consulted using the Delphi method to confirm the evaluation index. The weights were calculated based on the proportion of importance scores for each indicator and assigned specific scores to each item. The indicator system was used to evaluate 31 TCM preparations applied for filing by various departments of our hospital from April to July 2023. RESULTS After two rounds of 17 experts’ consultation， the final TCM preparation system included five primary indicators， i.e. theoretical basis， clinical research foundation， pharmaceutical foundation， prescription， and clinical value， as well as 17 secondary indicators including prescription source， traditional Chinese medicine theory， clinical positioning and so on. Human experience was considered as the item which would be rejected as one vote. Based on the above indicator system， our hospital further improved the filing and project approval process for TCM preparations in medical institutions. Among the 31 TCM preparations applied for filing by various departments from April to July 2023， 8 TCM preparations with a score ≥65 were selected for development. CONCLUSIONS The evaluation system is objective， comprehensive， and highly operable. It is suitable for the selection of TCM preparations in medical institutions before research and development.

The incidence of psycho-cardiological diseases， i.e.， cardiovascular diseases combined with psychological disorders， is increasing year by year. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor （BDNF） plays a role in the pathogenesis of such diseases. According to the theory of collateral diseases， our team innovates the concept of regulating mental activity by dredging collaterals in the treatment of psycho-cardiological diseases and summarizes the concepts of "heart of Qi and collaterals" and "heart of vessels and collaterals". We believe that obstructed collaterals and disturbed mental activity run through the whole course of psycho-cardiological diseases， being the core pathogenesis. BDNF closely related to the core pathogenesis can regulate nerve and vascular inflammation， alleviate oxidative stress， and mediate a variety of signaling pathways， thereby promoting the survival and repair of nerve cells and vascular endothelial cells to regulate emotion and protect the heart. Therefore， BDNF is one of the potential biomarkers for clinical treatment of psycho-cardiological diseases. Collateral obstruction caused by blood stasis is specifically manifested as collateral deficiency， blood stasis， and Qi stagnation in collaterals. It can easily lead to inflammation， free radical generation， and antioxidant system changes in the patients with psycho-cardiological diseases， which can cause oxidative stress damage， affect the BDNF level， and result in mental disorders， such as anxiety and depression. Disturbed mental activity is mainly caused by the disturbance in the heart of Qi and collaterals， which is specifically manifested as the disturbance of the mind and liver soul. It is prone to cause anxiety or depression symptoms， which is closely related to the BDNF-mediated abnormal activation of neural circuits， nerve injury， and inflammation. This article elaborates on the theoretical connotation and pathological mechanism of regulating mental activity by dredging collaterals in the treatment of psycho-cardiological diseases from the perspective of BDNF， aiming to provide new ideas for the prevention and treatment of psycho-cardiological diseases and collateral diseases.

Objective:To investigate the effect of low-dose ketamine on neuroinflammation and microcirculation in mice with traumatic brain injury (TBI).Methods:Sixty adult male C57BL/6 mice, weighing 22-28 g, were randomly divided into sham-operated group, TBI group, Sham+ketamine group, and TBI+ketamine group ( n=15). A controlled cortical impingement (CCI) method was used to establish TBI models in the later 2 groups. Sham+ketamine group and TBI+ketamine group were intraperitoneally injected with 30 mg/kg ketamine once daily for 3 d at 30 min after TBI; sham-operated group and TBI group were intraperitoneally injected same amount of saline at the same time points. Cerebral cortical blood flow in 6 mice from each group was measured by laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) before, immediately after, 30 min after, 1 d after and 3 d after modeling, respectively. Three d after modeling, immunohistochemical staining and immunofluorescent double label staining were used to detect the nuclear translocation of microglia markers, ionized calcin-antibody-1 (Iba-1) and nuclear factor (NF)-κB p65 in damaged cortical brain tissues in 6 mice from each group. The remaining 3 mice in each group were sacrificed and tissue plasma was extracted 3 d after modeling; levels of NF-κB p65, phosphorylated (p)-NF-κB p65, p-IκB and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in cortical brain tissues were detected by Western blotting. Expressions of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1-β (IL-1β) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), iNOS, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) in cortical brain tissues were detected by ELISA. Results:LSCI indicated that, 3 d after modeling, relative blood flow in local cerebral microcirculation of TBI+ketamine group was significantly increased compared with that of TBI group ( P<0.05). Immunohistochemical staining indicated that compared with the sham-operated group and Sham+ketamine group, the TBI group and TBI+ketamine group had significantly increased number of Iba-1 positive cells in the cerebral cortex ( P<0.05); compared with the TBI group, the TBI+ketamine group had significantly decreased number of Iba-1 positive cells ( P<0.05). ELISA indicated that compared with the sham-operated group and Sham+ketamine group, the TBI group and TBI+ketamine group had significantly increased expressions of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, iNOS, ROS and RNS in damaged cortical brain tissues ( P<0.05); compared with the TBI group, the TBI+ ketamine group had significantly decreased expressions of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, iNOS, ROS and RNS in damaged cortical brain tissues ( P<0.05). Immunofluorescent double label staining indicated obviously inhibited NF-κB p65 nuclear translocation in TBI+ketamine group when it was compared with TBI group. Western blotting indicated that compared with the sham-operated group and Sham+ketamine group, the TBI+ketamine group had significantly increased iNOS, NF-κB p65, p-NF-κB p65 and P-IκB protein expressions in damaged cortical brain tissues ( P<0.05); compared with the TBI group, the TBI+ketamine group had significantly decreased protein expressions of iNOS, NF-κB p65, p-NF-κB p65 and p-IκB in damaged cortical brain tissues ( P<0.05). Conclusion:Low-dose ketamine reduces neuroinflammation and improves cerebral microcirculatory blood flow after open TBI, whose mechanism may be related to inhibition of microglia NF-κB/iNOS pathway.

Background Previous studies have shown that bisphenol A exposure is associated with the risk of hypertension; however, most of them are cross-sectional and the conclusions are not consistent. Objective To evaluate the association between bisphenol A exposure and the incident risk of hypertension. Methods Based on a nested case-control design involving 1990 subjects derived from the Dongfeng-Tongji cohort, a total of 1080 subjects were included in this study after excluding 887 hypertensive cases at baseline and 23 subjects with missing blood pressure data in follow-up visits. Epidemiological information was collected through questionnaire survey, and serum bisphenol A concentration was detected by high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Logistic regression model was used to analyze the potential association between serum bisphenol A level and the risk of hypertension incidence, and linear regression model was used to analyze the association between serum bisphenol A level and blood pressure changes between baseline and follow-up. Results The average age of the 1 080 participants was (62.03±7.45) years, of which 41.1% were male. During the follow-up period, a total of 477 (44.2%) developed hypertension. The median serum concentration of bisphenol A in the total population was 3.15 μg·L⁻¹, and the baseline bisphenol A concentration in the new case group (3.24 μg·L⁻¹) was higher than that in the control group (2.98 μg·L⁻¹) (P<0.05). After adjustment for selected covariates, the risk of hypertension increased by 12% (OR=1.12, 95%CI: 1.02, 1.22) for each unit increase in naturally log-transformed bisphenol A; the systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure increased by 1.88 (95%CI: 1.08, 2.69) mmHg and 1.14 (95%CI: 0.68, 1.61) mmHg, respectively. Compared with the low bisphenol A tertile group, the risk of hypertension in the middle tertile and high tertile groups increased by 39% (OR=1.39, 95%CI: 1.01, 1.91) and 40% (OR=1.40, 95%CI: 1.02, 1.93) respectively; the systolic blood pressure increased by 5.91 (95%CI: 3.06, 8.76) mmHg and 5.71 (95%CI: 2.82, 8.59) mmHg, and the diastolic blood pressure increased by 3.09 (95%CI: 3.06, 8.59) mmHg and 2.89 (95%CI: 1.22, 4.57) mmHg, respectively (P_trend<0.001). A positive association between serum bisphenol A level and hypertension was found among those who were female, never/former smokers, never/former drinkers, without family history of hypertension, with physical exercise, and with prehypertension at baseline (P_trend<0.05). There was no interaction between selected stratified variables and bisphenol A levels on hypertension (P_interaction>0.05). Conclusion Bisphenol A exposure is positively associated with the risk of hypertension.

Objective:To evaluate the role of O-sialoglycoprotein endopeptidase (OSGEP) in hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury (HIRI) and the relationship with oxidative stress in mice.Methods:Experiment Ⅰ Twenty-four SPF healthy male C57BL/6 mice, 12 wild-type and 12 OSGEP knockdown, aged 6-8 weeks, weighing 18-22 g, were divided into 4 groups ( n=6 each) by the random number table method: wild-type shamoperation group (Sham group), wild-type HIRI group (HIRI group), OSGEP knockdown+ sham operation group (Sham+ KD group) and OSGEP knockdown+ HIRI group (HIRI+ KD group). Ischemia-reperfusion model was prepared by blocking the hepatic artery and portal vein for 60 min followed by reperfusion in anesthetized animals, the blood vessels were only exposed without occlusion in Sham group and Sham+ KD group, and the blood vessels were clamped for 60 min followed by reperfusion in HIRI group and HIRI+ KD group. The mice were sacrificed after 6-h reperfusion to extract liver tissue samples for microscopic examination of histopathological changes (with an optical microscope after HE staining) which were evaluated using Suzuki score and for determination of the serum concentrations of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) (using the DCFH-DA fluorescent probe method), contents of malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione(GSH) in liver tissues (using a colorimetric method) and expression of OSGEP (using Western blot). Experiment Ⅱ The well-growing AML12 cells were divided into 4 groups ( n=30 each) using a random number table method: control group (C group), oxygen-glucose deprivation/restoration (OGD/R) group, OGD/R+ OSGEP knockdown group (OGD/R+ KD group), and OGD/R+ OSGEP knockdown negative control group (OGD/R+ NC group). Group C was cultured under normal conditions. Group OGD/R was subjected to O 2-glucose deprivation for 6 h followed by restoration of O 2-glucose supply for 24 h in OGD/R group. In OGD/R+ KD group, stable transfection of AML12 cells with OSGEP knockdown was performed prior to the experiment, and the other procedures were the same as those previously described. The cell survival rate was measured by the CCK-8 assay, the release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was measured, the DCFH-DA method was used to detect the levels of ROS, and the contents of MDA and GSH were determined using a colorimetric method. Results:Experiment Ⅰ Compared with Sham group, the expression of OSGEP was significantly down-regulated, the serum concentrations of AST and ALT, Suzuki score, levels of ROS and content of MDA were increased, and the GSH content was decreased in HIRI group ( P<0.05), and no significant change was found in each parameter in Sham+ KD group ( P>0.05). Compared with HIRI group, the serum concentrations of AST and ALT, Suzuki score, levels of ROS and content of MDA were significantly increased, and the GSH content was decreased in HIRI+ KD group ( P<0.05). Experiment Ⅱ Compared with group C, the expression of OSGEP was significantly down-regulated, the cell survival rate and GSH content were decreased, and the release of LDH, levels of ROS and content of MDA were increased in group OGD/R ( P<0.05). Compared with OGD/R group, the cell survival rate and GSH content were significantly decreased, and the release of LDH, levels of ROS and content of MDA were increased in OGD/R+ KD group ( P<0.05), and no significant change was found in each parameter in OGD/R+ NC group ( P>0.05). Conclusions:OSGEP plays an endogenous protective role in HIRI by inhibiting oxidative stress in mice.