Objective To describe and analyze the epidemiological characteristics of scrub typhus in Huai'an, Jiangsu Province from 2006 to 2024 and explore the long-term incidence trend and distribution of high-risk areas, and to formulate targeted prevention and control strategies. Methods The scrub typhus case report data of Huai'an from 2006 to 2024 in the Chinese Disease Prevention and Control Information System were extracted for descriptive analysis. Results A total of 898 cases of scrub typhus were reported in Huai'an, with an average annual incidence rate of 0.96 per 100 000 from 2006 to 2024. There was a turning point in the incidence trend of scrub typhus in 2011. From 2006 to 2011, the annual percentage change (APC) was 47.09% (95% CI: 7.53 - 859.39), and the upward trend was statistically significant (P < 0.05). From 2012 to 2024, the APC was -2.12% (95% CI: -29.09 - 3.75), and the downward trend was not statistically significant. October and November were the high-incidence months, and the total concentration from 2006 to 2024 was 0.93, indicating that scrub typhus had strict seasonality. The circular distribution method estimated that the peak period of the epidemic was from October 11th to November 25th, and the peak day of incidence was November 3rd. Jinhu County was a high-incidence area. The ratio of male to female cases was 1.03. The age group with the highest reported incidence was 40 to < 80 years old. The occupation with the highest proportion was farmers, accounting for 78.03%. Conclusion From 2006 to 2024, scrub typhus in Huai'an shows a peak every 3 - 4 years. Middle-aged and elderly farmers are the key population at risk, and Jinhu County is a key area. In the future, targeted health education should be carried out to effectively control the prevalence of scrub typhus.

This paper aimed to investigate the therapeutic effect and mechanism of action of the Yiqi Fumai Formula(YQFM), a kind of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM), on mice with experimental heart failure based on the "heart-gut axis" theory. Based on the network pharmacology integrated with the group collaboration algorithm, the active ingredients were screened, a "component-target-disease" network was constructed, and the potential pathways regulated by the formula were predicted and analyzed. Next, the model of experimental heart failure was established by intraperitoneal injection of adriamycin at a single high dose(15 mg·kg~(-1)) in BALB/c mice. After intraperitoneal injection of YQFM(lyophilized) at 7.90, 15.80, and 31.55 mg·d~(-1) for 7 d, the protective effects of the formula on cardiac function were evaluated using indicators such as ultrasonic electrocardiography and myocardial injury markers. Combined with inflammatory factors in the cardiac and colorectal tissue, as well as targeted assays, the relevant indicators of potential pathways were verified. Meanwhile, 16S rDNA sequencing was performed on mouse fecal samples using the Illumina platform to detect changes in gut flora and analyze differential metabolic pathways. The results show that the administration of injectable YQFM(lyophilized) for 7 d significantly increased the left ventricular end-systolic internal diameter, fractional shortening, and ejection fraction of cardiac tissue of mice with experimental heart failure(P<0.05). Moreover, markers of myocardial injury were significantly decreased(P<0.05), indicating improved cardiac function, along with significantly suppressed inflammatory responses in cardiac and intestinal tissue(P<0.05). Additionally, the species of causative organisms was decreased, and the homeostasis of gut flora was improved, involving a modulatory effect on PI3K-Akt signaling pathway-related inflammation in cardiac and colorectal tissue. In conclusion, YQFM can affect the "heart-gut axis" immunity through the homeostasis of the gut flora, thereby exerting a therapeutic effect on heart failure. This finding provides a reference for the combination of TCM and western medicine to prevent and treat heart failure based on the "heart-gut axis" theory.
Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Heart Failure/microbiology* ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Male ; Disease Models, Animal ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome/drug effects* ; Heart/physiopathology* ; Humans ; Signal Transduction/drug effects*

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute infectious respiratory disease that has been prevalent since December 2019. Chinese medicine (CM) has demonstrated its unique advantages in the fight against COVID-19 in the areas of disease prevention, improvement of clinical symptoms, and control of disease progression. This review summarized the relevant material components of CM in the treatment of COVID-19 by searching the relevant literature and reports on CM in the treatment of COVID-19 and combining with the physiological and pathological characteristics of the novel coronavirus. On the basis of sorting out experimental methods in vivo and in vitro, the mechanism of herb action was further clarified in terms of inhibiting virus invasion and replication and improving related complications. The aim of the article is to explore the strengths and characteristics of CM in the treatment of COVID-19, and to provide a basis for the research and scientific, standardized treatment of COVID-19 with CM.
Humans ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; COVID-19 Drug Treatment ; SARS-CoV-2/drug effects* ; COVID-19/therapy* ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional/methods* ; Antiviral Agents/pharmacology* ; Animals

(+)-Borneol, the main component of "Natural Borneol" in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, is a high-end spice and precious medicine. Plant extraction cannot meet the increasing demand for (+)-borneol, while microbial biosynthesis offers a sustainable supply route. However, its production was extremely low compared with other monoterpenes, even with extensively optimizing the mevalonate pathway. We found that the key challenge is the complex and unusual dephosphorylation reaction of bornyl diphosphate (BPP), which suffers the side-reaction and the competition from the cellular dephosphorylation process, especially lipid metabolism, thus limiting (+)-borneol synthesis. Here, we systematically optimized the dephosphorylation process by identifying, characterizing phosphatases, and balancing cellular dephosphorylation metabolism. For the first time, we identified two endogenous phosphatases and seven heterologous phosphatases, which significantly increased (+)-borneol production by up to 152%. By engineering BPP dephosphorylation and optimizing the MVA pathway, the production of (+)-borneol was increased by 33.8-fold, which enabled the production of 753 mg/L under fed-batch fermentation in shake flasks, so far the highest reported in the literature. This study showed that rewiring dephosphorylation metabolism was essential for high-level production of (+)-borneol in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and balancing cellular dephosphorylation is also helpful for efficient biosynthesis of other terpenoids since all whose biosynthesis involves the dephosphorylation procedure.

Traditional development of small protein scaffolds has relied on display technologies and mutation-based engineering, which limit sequence and functional diversity, thereby constraining their therapeutic and application potential. Protein design tools have significantly advanced the creation of novel protein sequences, structures, and functions. However, further improvements in design strategies are still needed to more efficiently optimize the functional performance of protein-based drugs and enhance their druggability. Here, we extended an evolution-based design protocol to create a novel minibinder, BindHer, against the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). It not only exhibits super stability and binding selectivity but also demonstrates remarkable properties in tissue specificity. Radiolabeling experiments with ^99mTc, ⁶⁸Ga, and ¹⁸F revealed that BindHer efficiently targets tumors in HER2-positive breast cancer mouse models, with minimal nonspecific liver absorption, outperforming scaffolds designed through traditional engineering. These findings highlight a new rational approach to automated protein design, offering significant potential for large-scale applications in therapeutic mini-protein development.

As the field of oral pathology has evolved, the nomenclature and classification of oral mucosal diseases with a remarkable risk of malignant transformation have undergone several modifications. In 2005, the World Health Organization (WHO) introduced the concept of oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) as an alternative to the terms for oral precancerous lesions and precancerous conditions. In the consensus report by the WHO Collaborating Center for Oral Cancer of 2021, OPMD is defined as "any oral mucosal abnormality that is associated with a statistically increased risk of developing oral cancer."This definition encompasses a range of conditions, in-cluding oral leukoplakia, oral submucous fibrosis, proliferative verrucous leukoplakia, oral lichen planus, and other lesions. In light of the complex etiology, unclear pathogenesis, and carcinogenesis of OPMDs, early and precise diagnosis and treatment can contribute to the secondary prevention of oral cancer. For this reason, this review, which aims to provide a basis for the precise clinical diagnosis of OPMDs, was performed. Its aim was achieved by reviewing the historical evolution and research progress of the nomenclature, classification, and histopathological diagnostic criteria of OPMDs.
Humans ; Mouth Neoplasms/diagnosis* ; Precancerous Conditions/diagnosis* ; Leukoplakia, Oral/diagnosis* ; Lichen Planus, Oral/pathology* ; Oral Submucous Fibrosis/pathology* ; Mouth Mucosa/pathology* ; World Health Organization

Objective:To understand the epidemiological characteristics of human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) among acute respiratory infection (ARI) cases in 16 provinces of China from 2009 to 2023.Methods:The data of this study were collected from the ARI surveillance data from 16 provinces in China from 2009 to 2023, with a total of 28 278 ARI cases included in the study. The clinical specimens from ARI cases were screened for HRSV nucleic acid from 2009 to 2023, and differences in virus detection rates among cases of different age groups, regions, and months were analyzed.Results:A total of 28 278 ARI cases were enrolled from January 2009 to September 2023. The age of the cases ranged from<1 month to 112 years, and the age M ( Q1, Q3) was 3 years (1 year, 9 years). Among them, 3 062 cases were positive for HRSV nucleic acid, with a total detection rate of 10.83%. From 2009 to 2019, the detection rate of HRSV was 9.33%, and the virus was mainly prevalent in winter and spring. During the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the detection rate of HRSV fluctuated between 6.32% and 18.67%. There was no traditional winter epidemic peak of HRSV from the end of 2022 to the beginning of 2023, and an anti-seasonal epidemic of HRSV occurred from April to May 2023. About 87.95% (2 693/3 062) of positive cases were children under 5 years old, and the difference in the detection rate of HRSV among different age groups was statistically significant ( P<0.001), showing a decreasing trend of HRSV detection rate with the increase of age ( P<0.001). Among them, the HRSV detection rate (25.69%) was highest in children under 6 months. Compared with 2009-2019, the ranking of HRSV detection rates in different age groups changed from high to low between 2020 and 2023, with the age M (Q1, Q3) of HRSV positive cases increasing from 1 year (6 months, 3 years) to 2 years (11 months, 3 years). Conclusion:Through 15 years of continuous HRSV surveillance analysis, children under 5 years old, especially infants under 6 months old, are the main high-risk population for HRSV infection. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevalence and patterns of HRSV in China have changed.

Objective:To understand the epidemiological characteristics of human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) among acute respiratory infection (ARI) cases in 16 provinces of China from 2009 to 2023.Methods:The data of this study were collected from the ARI surveillance data from 16 provinces in China from 2009 to 2023, with a total of 28 278 ARI cases included in the study. The clinical specimens from ARI cases were screened for HRSV nucleic acid from 2009 to 2023, and differences in virus detection rates among cases of different age groups, regions, and months were analyzed.Results:A total of 28 278 ARI cases were enrolled from January 2009 to September 2023. The age of the cases ranged from<1 month to 112 years, and the age M ( Q1, Q3) was 3 years (1 year, 9 years). Among them, 3 062 cases were positive for HRSV nucleic acid, with a total detection rate of 10.83%. From 2009 to 2019, the detection rate of HRSV was 9.33%, and the virus was mainly prevalent in winter and spring. During the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the detection rate of HRSV fluctuated between 6.32% and 18.67%. There was no traditional winter epidemic peak of HRSV from the end of 2022 to the beginning of 2023, and an anti-seasonal epidemic of HRSV occurred from April to May 2023. About 87.95% (2 693/3 062) of positive cases were children under 5 years old, and the difference in the detection rate of HRSV among different age groups was statistically significant ( P<0.001), showing a decreasing trend of HRSV detection rate with the increase of age ( P<0.001). Among them, the HRSV detection rate (25.69%) was highest in children under 6 months. Compared with 2009-2019, the ranking of HRSV detection rates in different age groups changed from high to low between 2020 and 2023, with the age M (Q1, Q3) of HRSV positive cases increasing from 1 year (6 months, 3 years) to 2 years (11 months, 3 years). Conclusion:Through 15 years of continuous HRSV surveillance analysis, children under 5 years old, especially infants under 6 months old, are the main high-risk population for HRSV infection. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevalence and patterns of HRSV in China have changed.

Objective To summarize the effect of the timing of lung transplantation and related treatment measures on clinical prognosis of patients with paraquat poisoning. Methods Clinical data of a patient with paraquat poisoning undergoing bilateral lung transplantation were retrospectively analyzed. Clinical manifestations, auxiliary examination, diagnosis and treatment of this patient were summarized and analyzed. Results A 17-year-old adolescent was admitted to hospital due to nausea, vomiting, cough and systemic fatigue after oral intake of 20-30 mL of 25% paraquat. After symptomatic support treatment, the oxygen saturation was not improved, and pulmonary fibrosis continued to progress. Therefore, sequential bilateral lung transplantation was performed under extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). After postoperative rehabilitation and active prevention and treatment for postoperative complications, the patient was discharged at postoperative 50 d. Conclusions The timing of lung transplantation after paraquat poisoning may be selected when the liver and kidney function start to recover. Active and targeted prevention of potential pathogen infection in perioperative period and early rehabilitation training contribute to improving clinical prognosis of lung transplant recipients.