1.Optimization Strategy and Practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine Compound and Its Component Compatibility
Zhihao WANG ; Wenjing ZHOU ; Chenghao FEI ; Yunlu LIU ; Yijing ZHANG ; Yue ZHAO ; Lan WANG ; Liang FENG ; Zhiyong LI
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(1):299-310
Prescription optimization is a crucial aspect in the study of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) compounds. In recent years, the introduction of mathematical methods, data mining techniques, and artificial neural networks has provided new tools for elucidating the compatibility rules of TCM compounds. The study of TCM compounds involves numerous variables, including the proportions of different herbs, the specific extraction parts of each ingredient, and the interactions among multiple components. These factors together create a complex nonlinear dose-effect relationship. In this context, it is essential to identify methods that suit the characteristics of TCM compounds and can leverage their advantages for effective application in new drug development. This paper provided a comprehensive review of the cutting-edge optimization experimental design methods applied in recent studies of TCM compound compatibilities. The key technical issues, such as the optimization of source material selection, dosage optimization of compatible herbs, and multi-objective optimization indicators, were discussed. Furthermore, the evaluation methods for component effects were summarized during the optimization process, so as to provide scientific and practical foundations for innovative research in TCM and the development of new drugs based on TCM compounds.
2.Feasibility study on integrating the red doctor spirit into the cultivation of socialist core values among medical students
Chinese Medical Ethics 2025;38(7):879-884
The key to improving the cultivation quality of socialist core values in medical colleges and universities, enhancing their dissemination efficiency, consolidating the foundation of medical students’ ideals and beliefs, and uniting the spiritual strength of medical students to serve society and dedicate themselves to the people, lies in integrating the red doctor spirit into the cultivation process of medical students’ socialist core values. Faced with the dilemmas encountered in the cultivation of socialist core values in medical colleges and universities, this paper traced the connection between the red doctor spirit and the socialist core values and reflected on the profound value connotations after the integration of the two, thereby providing theoretical references for finding appropriate cultivation methods and approaches in the future.
3.Prediction of lymph node metastasis in invasive lung adenocarcinoma based on radiomics of the primary lesion, peritumoral region, and tumor habitat: A single-center retrospective study
Hongchang WANG ; Yan GU ; Wenhao ZHANG ; Guang MU ; Wentao XUE ; Mengen WANG ; Chenghao FU ; Liang CHEN ; Mei YUAN ; Jun WANG
Chinese Journal of Clinical Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 2025;32(08):1079-1085
Objective To predict the lymph node metastasis status of patients with invasive pulmonary adenocarcinoma by constructing machine learning models based on primary tumor radiomics, peritumoral radiomics, and habitat radiomics, and to evaluate the predictive performance and generalization ability of different imaging features. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 1 263 patients with invasive pulmonary adenocarcinoma who underwent surgery at the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Jiangsu Province Hospital, from 2016 to 2019. Habitat regions were delineated by applying K-means clustering (average cluster number of 2) to the grayscale values of CT images. The peritumoral region was defined as a uniformly expanded area of 3 mm around the primary tumor. The primary tumor region was automatically segmented using V-net combined with manual correction and annotation. Subsequently, radiomics features were extracted based on these regions, and stacked machine learning models were constructed. Model performance was evaluated on the training, testing, and internal validation sets using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), F1 score, recall, and precision. Results After excluding patients who did not meet the screening criteria, a total of 651 patients were included. The training set consisted of 468 patients (181 males, 287 females) with an average age of (58.39±11.23) years, ranging from 29 to 78 years, the testing set included 140 patients (56 males, 84 females) with an average age of (58.81±10.70) years, ranging from 34 to 82 years, and the internal validation set comprised 43 patients (14 males, 29 females) with an average age of (60.16±10.68) years, ranging from 29 to 78 years. Although the habitat radiomics model did not show the optimal performance in the training set, it exhibited superior performance in the internal validation set, with an AUC of 0.952 [95%CI (0.87, 1.00)], an F1 score of 84.62%, and a precision-recall AUC of 0.892, outperforming the models based on the primary tumor and peritumoral regions. Conclusion The model constructed based on habitat radiomics demonstrated superior performance in the internal validation set, suggesting its potential for better generalization ability and clinical application in predicting lymph node metastasis status in pulmonary adenocarcinoma.
4.Mechanism Investigation of Qi-invigorating and Blood-activating Drug Combination in Yitangkang Compound Against Diabetic Cardiomyopathy Using Multimodal Research Approach
Chenghao YU ; Tingting LI ; Mingbo ZHANG ; Honghe XIAO ; Yufeng YANG ; Yan SHI
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(24):94-106
ObjectiveThrough multimodal research methods including medication rule mining, network pharmacology, molecular docking and dynamics simulation, and in vivo animal experiments, this study aims to speculate and verify the core composition (Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma Rubra-Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma-Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma) and efficacy (Qi-invigorating and blood-activating) of the drug combination in Yitangkang Compound for improving diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM), investigate the interaction relationship and binding strength between core active ingredients of the drug combination and key signaling pathway targets, and further explore the mechanism by which the Qi-invigorating and blood-activating drug combination regulates the calcium signaling pathway to improve cardiac function in DCM rats. MethodsThe Ancient and Modern Medical Cases Cloud Platform was used to construct a DCM prescription database, and the "Analysis Method" module of the platform was applied to mine and summarize medication rules, thereby determining the core composition of the Qi-invigorating and blood-activating drug combination in Yitangkang. Drug-active ingredient-signaling pathway-core target-disease analysis and visualization were conducted by combining network pharmacology with the Traditional Chinese Medicine System Pharmacology Platform (TCMSP) database, SwissTargetPrediction platform, GeneCards database, MetaScape database, CytoScape software, etc. Then, molecular docking was performed via the CB-Dock2 platform, and molecular dynamics simulation of the high-binding-strength docking complexes was carried out by Gromacs software. Finally, in vivo animal experiments were carried out. Twenty-eight Sprague Dawley (SD) rats meeting the research criteria were divided into a normal group, a model group, a drug combination group (3.3 g·kg-1), and a Yitangkang group (20 g·kg-1). A type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) rat model was established by high-fat diet feeding combined with intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ), followed by continuous feeding for eight weeks until the DCM model was successfully established. During this period, the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) compound and drug combination were administered for prevention and treatment intervention. Meanwhile, changes in blood glucose, body weight, and heart index of each group were monitored. Cardiac function was assessed by echocardiography, and electrophysiological signals were detected by an electrocardiogram. The heart tissue was observed for pathological changes by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) and Masson staining, and the expression of L-type calcium channel (CACNA1C), calmodulin (CALM1), calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase Ⅱδ (CAMK2D), and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (NOS1) proteins in the calcium signaling pathway of myocardial tissue was detected by Western blot. ResultsIn 62 DCM prescriptions, Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma Rubra, Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, and Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma were used most frequently. Their meridian tropism mainly involved the spleen, heart, and lung, and their sweet and warm properties were prominent. The drugs for tonifying or blood-activating and stasis-resolving ranked top. In association rule analysis, (Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma Rubra, Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma)-Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma had the highest lift. Network pharmacology obtained 75 active ingredients of the drug combination, 714 drug combination action targets, 2 702 disease targets, and 286 intersection targets. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network predicted nine interaction component-targets (nine active ingredients and four calcium signaling pathway target genes). Molecular docking showed the four complexes with the lowest binding energy were 2f3z-ginsenoside Re, 1cll-quercetin, 9blh-(6S)-6-(hydroxymethyl)-1,6-dimethyl-8,9-dihydro-7H-naphtho[8,7-g]benzofuran-10,11-dione, and 5vv0-miltionone Ⅱ. Dynamics simulation showed the CALM1-quercetin complex had the strongest binding affinity. The animal experiment results revealed that compared with the normal group, the model group showed significant changes in blood glucose, body weight, myocardial tissue morphology, heart index, cardiac function, electrophysiological indexes, and the expression levels of CACNA1C, CALM1, CAMK2D, and NOS1 proteins (P<0.05, P<0.01). Compared with the model group, the Yitangkang group had a certain improvement effect on the above indexes (P<0.05, P<0.01). Compared with the Yitangkang group, the drug combination group showed no significant difference in improving myocardial tissue morphology, heart index, cardiac function, electrophysiological indexes, and the expression of CACNA1C, CALM1, CAMK2D, and NOS1 proteins, except for blood glucose and body weight. ConclusionGinseng Radix et Rhizoma Rubra, Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, and Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma are the core Qi-invigorating and blood-activating drug combination in Yitangkang Compound. They have a good preventive and therapeutic effect on STZ-induced DCM in rats, and their mechanism of action may be related to the regulation of the calcium signaling pathway.
5.Study on the Material Basis of Guiqi Baizhu Prescription Inhibiting the Proliferation of Uveal Melanoma Cells Based on Traditional Chinese Medicine Chemical Bioinformatics
WANG Ruifeng ; JIN Xiaojie ; LIU Hao ; LI Chenghao ; ZHANG Min ; Li Mi ; LI Haotian ; ZHANG Yu ; MA Huanhuan ; ZHANG Yuemei
Chinese Journal of Modern Applied Pharmacy 2024;41(14):1900-1912
ABATRACT
OBJECTIVE To utilize the pharmacophore model-molecular docking combined with the virtual screening strategy of free energy calculation and the chemical bioinformatics method of traditional Chinese medicine in cell biology experiments to investigate the components of Guiqi Baizhu prescription that target phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase(PI3K) and inhibit the proliferation of uveal melanoma(UM) cells.
METHODS The pharmacophore model of PI3K inhibitor was constructed, and the compounds of Guiqi Baizhu prescription were virtual screened. The components that fit the pharmacophore model were calculated by molecular docking and binding free energy, and the potential inhibitory components were selected for biological experimental evaluation. The effects of potential inhibitory components on UM cell proliferation were detected by CCK-8 and clonal formation assay. Flow cytometry was used to detect the cell cycle and apoptosis of UM cells. The mitochondrial membrane potential of UM cells was detected using JC-10 staining. The expressions of PI3K and downstream pathway proteins were detected by Western blotting.RESULTS The pharmacophore model included 2 hydrogen bond receptors, 2 aromatic ring centers, and exclusion volumes. The results of the CCK-8 experiment showed that quercetin, tangerine, and nobiletin at concentrations of 10, 20, 40, 80 μmol·L−1, and cyrtin at concentrations of 20, 40, 80 μmol·L−1, were able to inhibit the proliferation of UM cells. The clonal formation experiment showed that quercetin, tangerine, nobiletin, and morusin, at different concentrations, could significantly inhibit the clonal proliferation of UM cells. Flow cytometry showed that UM cells were arrested in the G0/G1 phase by tangeretin and quercetin, while UM cells were arrested in the G2/M phase by nobiletin and morusin. The results of JC-10 staining showed that quercetin, nobiletin, tangeretin, and morusin could reduce the mitochondrial membrane potential of UM cells. Western blotting results showed that 4 compounds could target PI3K, but their downstream pathways were different.CONCLUSION Based on the method of chemical bioinformatics in traditional Chinese medicine, this study explores the material basis for the inhibition of UM cell proliferation by the Guiqi Baizhu prescription. It also provides insights for the modern development of traditional Chinese medicine prescription.
6.Analysis of in Vitro Activity and Mechanism of Dunhuang Yifang Daxiefei Decoction on Pneumonia Based on Chemical Bioinformatics
Jia LIN ; Xiaojie JIN ; Chenghao LI ; Ruifeng WANG ; Yehu HOU ; Yixi ZHANG ; Hao LIU ; Min ZHANG ; Juan YAO ; Jintian LI ; Yongqi LIU
Chinese Journal of Modern Applied Pharmacy 2024;41(7):871-886
OBJECTIVE
To explore the effectiveness, potential mechanism and compatibility characteristics of efficacy groups of Dunhuang medical prescription Daxiefei decoction in preventing and treating pneumonia based on chemical bioinformatics method.
METHODS
To study the effect of Daxiefei decoction freeze-dried powder solution on the proliferation activity of lung epithelial cells through cell experiments. Daxiefei decoction was divided into three groups: clearing away heat group, resolving phlegm group, and nourishing Yin group according to its efficacy characteristics. The chemical components of Daxiefei decoction were obtained by TCMSP database and literature search, and the targets were predicted in Swiss Target Prediction database. Pneumonia disease targets were obtained by DrugBank, TTD, Genecards and DisGeNET databases. STRING database and Cytoscape were used to construct the intersection target interaction network and "drug-component-target- pathway" network and DAVID database was used for KEGG pathway enrichment analysis. The network was used to analyze the scientific connotation of the compatibility of efficacy groups. Furthermore, molecular docking was used to evaluate the target-compound affinity and molecular dynamics was used to explore the dynamic molecular mechanism.
RESULTS
Cell experiments showed that Daxiefei decoction can maintain the proliferation of lung epithelial cells, reverse the decrease of mitochondrial activity induced by LPS and reduce apoptosis. Complex network analysis showed that the pathways enriched by the three functional groups contained in Daxiefei decoction were mainly distributed in two modules: inflammation regulation and reducing airway mucus hypersecretion. Each module was connected by a common target gene and had its own focus. The results of molecular docking showed that the components quercetin, baicalein, isorhamnetin etc. might be the effective multi-target components of Daxiefei decoction. SRC, EGFR, PPARA etc. had good affinity with each potential active component, which might be a potential target of Daxiefei decoction for preventing and treating pneumonia. Molecular dynamics simulation showed that the potential active component quercetin formed stable intermolecular interactions with SRC.
CONCLUSION
This study initially reveal the material basis and molecular mechanism of Daxiefei decoction in the prevention and treatment of pneumonia. It also explores the scientific connotation of Daxiefei decoction in the prevention and treatment of pneumonia with different efficacy groups, and its modern development and clinical application provide chemical bioinformatics basis.
7.Exploration of surgical treatment indications for invasive pulmonary aspergillosis and mucormycosis in children
Dingyi LIU ; Qi ZENG ; Chenghao CHEN ; Na ZHANG ; Jie YU ; Dong YAN ; Changqi XU ; Qian ZHANG ; Xu ZHANG
Chinese Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 2024;40(2):85-88
Objective:To review and analyze clinical data of patients with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis and mucormycosis, and to explore the surgical indication.Methods:Clinical data of 10 patients with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis and mucormycosis were analyzed retrospectively from March 2018 to November 2022 in our hospital, Department of Thoracic Surgery.Results:The age of children varied from 2.58 years old to 16.00 years old and 6 children were males while 4 females. Five patients suffer from invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. Five patients suffer from invasive pulmonary mucormycosis. The operative indication of 7 patients was the risk of massive bleeding in the airway. The surgical indication for two patients is to control infection and continue treating malignant tumors. One patient chose surgical treatment because the infection could not be cured after long-term antifungal treatment but the focus was limited. Two patients died of sudden acute hemoptysis before operation, the prognosis of 8 patients undergoing surgical treatment was good.Conclusion:The lethal rate of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis and mucormycosis is very high. Antifungal drug treatment combined with timely surgical treatment can save patients lives.
8.Role of risk perception between social media use and human papilloma virus vaccination willingness of college students
GUO Xiuyang,WANG Chenghao,ZHANG Guozhen
Chinese Journal of School Health 2024;45(6):817-821
Objective:
To understand the impact of social media usage on the human papilloma virus(HPV) vaccination willingness among college students in Xinjiang, so as to provide a theoretical basis for early prevention of HPVrelated diseases and preventive education.
Methods:
From March to April 2022, a total of 834 college students were selected from three universities including Xinjiang Agricultural University, Xinjiang Normal University and Xinjiang Medical University by stratified cluster random sampling method for online and offline surveys. The demographic characteristics, social media usage, risk perception, HPV vaccination willingness were obtained through questionnaires, and the Logistic regression analysis method was used to explore the role of HPV vaccine risk perception between social media use and HPV vaccination willingness of college students.
Results:
Associations were found between social media use (contact intensity, satisfaction, trust), risk perception (risk perception disorder, risk perception benefit) and HPV vaccination willingness among college students (r=0.37, 0.34, 0.35; 0.25, 0.31, P<0.05). Risk perception benefit had an intermediary effect between social media contact intensity, social media satisfaction, social media trust and HPV vaccination willingness, and the intermediary effects were 0.03 (95%CI=0. 01-0.06), 0.04(95%CI=0.02-0.07), 0.04(95%CI=0.01-0.06),and the proportions of intermediary effect were 18.00%, 26.35%, 23.00%, respectively.Risk perception disorder had an intermediary effect between social media satisfaction and HPV vaccination willingness [0.02 (95%CI=0.00-0.04)], and the intermediary effect accounts for 11.36%.
Conclusions
Risk perception benefit is the most important related factors of HPV vaccine willingness, which plays an intermediary effect between social media usage and the willingness to HPV vaccination. HPV publicity and education should be strengthened on social media platforms to promote HPVrelated knowledge and awareness of active prevention of HPV infection among college students.
9.Feasibility study on second-generation dual-layer detector spectral CT abdominal VNC in diagnosing fatty liver
Yong CHENG ; Jiehao DING ; Yu ZHANG ; Chenghao CAO ; Zhuo ZHENG ; Li PENG ; Xiaodi ZHANG ; Zhenlin LI
Chongqing Medicine 2024;53(18):2804-2809,2814
Objective To explore the feasibility of second-generation dual-layer detector spectral CT ab-dominal virtual non-contrast(VNC) for diagnosing fatty liver.Methods The imaging data of 128 patients with second-generation dual-layer detector spectral CT abdominal enhanced CT in West China Hospital of Si-chuan University from June 2022 to December 2022 were retrospectively analyzed.The CT values of the left lobe,right anterior lobe,right posterior lobe and spleen of all patients were measured on TNC,arterial stage VNC (A-VNC) and venous stage VNC (V-VNC) images.The difference value (L-S) and ratio value (L/S) between the CT value of liver and CT value of spleen were calculated.According to the threshold value of TNC image diagnosis of fatty liver in previous studies,the included cases were divided into two groups:fatty liver group and non-fatty liver group.The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the difference of quanti-tative parameters between the fatty liver group and non-fatty liver group.The efficiency of VNC in the diagno-sis of fatty liver was evaluated by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve,and the difference be-tween ROC curves was compared with DeLong's test.The intra-group and inter-group correlation coefficient (ICC) values were used to evaluate the consistency of data measurement.Results The ICC values of intra-group and inter-group consistency of data ranged (0.835-0.986) and (0.810-0.978),respectively (P<0.05).The mean value of left lobe,right anterior lobe,right posterior lobe and triple lobe of liver and CT val-ue of spleen in A-VNC and V-VNC images were lower than those of TNC images,and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05).The CT values of TNC,A-VNC,V-VNC,(L-S) values and (L/S) values of the non-fatty liver group were higher than those of the fatty liver group,and the differences were statistical-ly significant (P<0.05).The CT value,(L-S) value and (L/S) value of TNC,A-VNC and V-VNC images in the non-fatty liver group were higher than those in the fatty liver group,and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05).The area under the curve (AUC) of CT values of A-VNC and V-VNC for the diagnosis of fatty liver all were 0.997,and their efficiencies for diagnosing fatty liver had no statistical difference (Z=0.407,P=0.684).AUC of A-VNC (L-S) and V-VNC (L-S) in the diagnosis of fatty liver was 1.000 and 0.981,respectively,and their efficiencies for diagnosing fatty liver had no statistical difference (Z=1.790,P=0.074).AUC of A-VNC (L/S) and V-VNC (L/S) in the diagnosis of fatty liver was 0.992 and 0.987,respec-tively,and their efficiencies for diagnosing fatty liver also had no statistical difference (Z=0.665,P=0.506). Conclusion The CT values of liver and spleen in VNC images reconstructed by second-generation dual-layer detector spectral CT are lower than TNC,but it is still feasible to diagnose fatty liver based on VNC images.
10.Shuxuetong Inhibits Bim-dependent Apoptosis of Cerebellar Granule Neurons
Shenhao PAN ; Dongfang CAO ; Fanyi ZHAO ; Sijie ZHAO ; Chenghao ZHANG ; Jianfeng LIANG ; Jianwei WU ; Zhongmin YUAN
Journal of Sun Yat-sen University(Medical Sciences) 2024;45(4):549-556
[Objective]To investigate the effect and mechanism of Shuxuetong and its main component hirudin on the apoptosis of cerebellar granule neurons(CGNs)in Sprague-Dawley(SD)rats.[Methods]CGNs incubated in vitro for 7 days were divided into survival control group or 25 K group(cultured in medium containing 25 mmol/L KCL)and apopto-sis group or 5 K group(cultured in medium containing 5 mmol/L KCL).CGNs were separately treated with proportionally diluted and different concentrations of Shuxuetong(1/50,1/40,1/30,1/20 and 1/10)and the corresponding different con-centrations of hirudin(2,2.5,3.34,5 and 10 U/mL).Hoechst staining was performed to analyze the apoptosis.Western blot was used to detect the expression levels of Cleaved Caspase-3,Bim and VEGF.[Results]Hoechst staining showed that 5 K group had a higher apoptosis rate than 25 K group.In 25 K group,there was no significant change in the apoptosis rate between neurons treated with different concentrations of Shuxuetong and hirudin,but significant changes was found in 5 K group and the higher the concentration,the lower the apoptosis rate.Western blot results revealed that,compared with control neurons in 5 K group,Shuxuetong injection and hirudin treatments resulted in a decrease of Cleaved Caspase-3 and Bim expression,but an increase of VEGF protein.[Conclusions]Shuxuetong and its main component hirudin inhibits the apoptosis of CGNs through suppressing proapoptotic BH3-only protein Bim.


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