Background: From the perspective of traditional medicine, researchers believe that the individual’s innate quality has a reciprocal effect on the physiological level. The study of body-specific quality differences is important for improving disease risk prediction, diagnosis, and treatment approaches. Therefore, explaining the features of traditional medicine with some physiological parameters and establishing the relationship between them is clinically significant and important for predicting disease risk and developing individualized treatment methods, which is the basis of this research. Aim: To establish the correlation between an individual’s innate unique constitution and specific biochemical indicators. Materials and Methods: The innate unique constitution of individuals was determined using electronic data, and the relationships between their characteristics and levels of uric acid, creatinine, urea, and glucose in the blood were analyzed. Results: A total of 102 participants were included in the study. Among them, the Shar-Khi constitution was the most prevalent, with 28 cases (27.45%), while the Khi-Badgan constitution was the least common, with 13 cases (12.75%). Individuals with the Khi-Shar constitution exhibited the highest urea level at 4.47 ммоль/л, whereas those with the Badgan-Shar constitution had the lowest at 4.15 ммоль/л. The uric acid level was highest in individuals with the Shar-Khi constitution at 316.15 µmol/L and lowest in those with the Badgan-Shar constitution at 261.36 µmol/L (p<0.001). Furthermore, individuals with the Badgan-Khi constitution had the highest creatinine level at 73.51 µmol/L, while those with the Badgan-Shar constitution had the lowest at 63.97 µmol/L (p<0.001). The blood glucose level was highest in individuals with the Khi-Badgan constitution at 4.59 ммоль/л and lowest in those with the Khi-Shar constitution at 4.21 ммоль/л. Kidney function indicators, particularly creatinine, significantly correlated with blood glucose levels (r=0.67, p<0.01). Higher uric acid and creatinine levels were associated with elevated blood glucose levels. These findings suggest that variations in urea, uric acid, and creatinine levels among different unique constitutions could be utilized to predict the risk of kidney disease or diabetes. Conclusion Depending on the individual characteristics of traditional medicine, kidney and blood sugar parameters are different and related to each other, and can assess the state of diabetes and kidney disease. Determining the inherent characteristics of an individual is considered important for improving the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of diabetes and kidney disease.

The diagnosis of hematological disorders is currently established from the combined results of different tests, including those assessing morphology (M), immunophenotype (I), cytogenetics (C), and molecular biology (M) (collectively known as the MICM classification). In this workflow, most of the results are interpreted manually (i.e., by a human, without automation), which is expertise-dependent, labor-intensive, time-consuming, and with inherent interobserver variability. Also, with advances in instruments and technologies, the data is gaining higher dimensionality and throughput, making additional challenges for manual analysis. Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a promising tool in clinical hematology to ensure timely diagnosis, precise risk stratification, and treatment success. In this review, we summarize the current advances, limitations, and challenges of AI models and raise potential strategies for improving their performance in each sector of the MICM pipeline. Finally, we share perspectives, highlight future directions, and call for extensive interdisciplinary cooperation to perfect AI with wise human-level strategies and promote its integration into the clinical workflow.

Seven triterpenoids were isolated and purified from the 95% aqueous EtOH extract whole plants of P. villosa by various chromatographic techniques, such as silica gel, ODS, Sephadex LH-20 gel column chromatography and preparative high performance liquid chromatography. Based on physicochemical properties and spectral analyses, the structures of the seven compounds were identified as 29-acetoxyoleanolic acid-3-O-α-L-arabinopyranoside (1), oleanolic acid (2), 3β-hydroxy-24-norursa-4(23),12,20(30)-trien-28-oic acid (3), 3β-hydroxy-24-nor-urs-4(23),12-dien-28-oic acid (4), ursolic acid (5), hederagenin (6), oleanolic acid 3-O-arabinoside (7). Compound 1 is a new compound. Compounds 3, 4, 6, and 7 are isolated from P. villosa for the first time. All compounds were assayed for their anti-inflammatory activity by the prodution of NO in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. The results showed that compounds 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7 significantly inhibited the NO release.

AIM: To investigate the effect of a new type of rhinodacryocystostomy combined with fluticasone propionate on patients with chronic dacryocystitis.METHODS: A total of 100 patients(100 eyes)with chronic dacryocystitis who admitted to our hospital between January 2021 and December 2022 were enrolled in the prospective study. The patients in the study were divided into a control group(n=50)and an observation group(n=50)based on their admission order and number. Patients in the control group were treated with novel rhinodacryocystostomy, while patients in the observation group were treated with a new type of rhinodacryocystostomy combined with fluticasone propionate. The preoperative and postoperative best corrected visual acuity(BCVA), quality of life score, and recurrence of chronic dacryocystitis were compared between the two groups of patients.RESULTS: All patients completed the postoperative 6 mo follow-up, and the total effective rate of patients in the observation group was better than that of patients in the control group(98% vs 84%, P=0.001). There was no significant difference in preoperative and postoperative BCVA between the two groups(P>0.05). Preoperatively, there was no significant difference in the quality of life scores between the two groups of patients(P>0.05); At 6 mo postoperatively, the quality of life scores of patients in the control group, including physical function, psychological function, social function, and material life status, were lower than those in the observation group(all P<0.001). There were 9 recurrences in the control group(18%)and 1 in the observation group(2%), and there was statistical significance in the postoperative recurrence rate between the two groups(χ2=-2.739, P=0.001).CONCLUSION: The new type of rhinodacryocystostomy combined with fluticasone propionate treatment for chronic dacryocystitis patients has a good therapeutic effect, can improve the quality of life of patients, and reduce the probability of disease recurrence.

Licorzine granules are common preparations for children zinc deficiency. Considering the long course of treatment, the taste of licorzine granules may become a main factor affecting medication adherence. To date there have been no taste evaluation research into licorzine granules yet. In this study, both sensory evaluation and electronic tongue method were utilized to optimize licorzine granules formulations, evaluate the tastes of licorzine, excipients, optimized formulation in vivo and in vitro. As the results show, bitterness and astringency are the main unpleasant tastes generating from licorzine. Xanthan gum is the main taste-masking excipient, lowering down the bitterness and astringency of licorzine by at least one grade. Good correlation exists between the results of sensory evaluation and electronic tongue method, and an integrated combination of the two helps to obtain objective and rational research conclusions. The adult sensory evaluation study was a research-based clinical trial conducted with informed consent from all subjects in accordance with the ethical requirements of Good Clinical Practice.

Disintegration time is a key parameter that affects the palatability and compliance of oral soluble films. At present, there is no standard method to determine the disintegration time of oral soluble films. In this study, we compared the six methods (pharmacopoeial disintegration method, petri dish method, sponge surface method, slide frame and ball method, partially immersed into liquid (without weight attached) and partially immersed into liquid (with weight attached)) to determine the in vitro disintegration time of oral soluble films with different thickness, and evaluated the correlation with the in vivo disintegration time. The results showed that the repeatability and correlation of pharmacopoeial disintegration method and the partially immersed into liquid method (with weight attached) were excellent, with the endpoint of disintegration testing easy to determine. Partially immersed into liquid method (with weight attached), properly simulating the physiological condition in oral cavity, showed strong operability, good repeatability and in vitro-in vivo correlation, and was suitable for in vitro disintegration evaluation of oral soluble film dosage form. The adult sensory evaluation study was a research-based clinical trial conducted with informed consent from all subjects in accordance with the ethical requirements of Good Clinical Practice.

BACKGROUND: Liver biopsy for the diagnosis of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is limited by its inherent invasiveness and possible sampling errors. Some studies have shown that cytokeratin-18 (CK-18) concentrations may be useful in diagnosing NASH, but results across studies have been inconsistent. We aimed to identify the utility of CK-18 M30 concentrations as an alternative to liver biopsy for non-invasive identification of NASH. METHODS: Individual data were collected from 14 registry centers on patients with biopsy-proven non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and in all patients, circulating CK-18 M30 levels were measured. Individuals with a NAFLD activity score (NAS) ≥5 with a score of ≥1 for each of steatosis, ballooning, and lobular inflammation were diagnosed as having definite NASH; individuals with a NAS ≤2 and no fibrosis were diagnosed as having non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL). RESULTS: A total of 2571 participants were screened, and 1008 (153 with NAFL and 855 with NASH) were finally enrolled. Median CK-18 M30 levels were higher in patients with NASH than in those with NAFL (mean difference 177 U/L; standardized mean difference [SMD]: 0.87 [0.69-1.04]). There was an interaction between CK-18 M30 levels and serum alanine aminotransferase, body mass index (BMI), and hypertension ( P  < 0.001, P  = 0.026 and P  = 0.049, respectively). CK-18 M30 levels were positively associated with histological NAS in most centers. The area under the receiver operating characteristics (AUROC) for NASH was 0.750 (95% confidence intervals: 0.714-0.787), and CK-18 M30 at Youden's index maximum was 275.7 U/L. Both sensitivity (55% [52%-59%]) and positive predictive value (59%) were not ideal. CONCLUSION This large multicenter registry study shows that CK-18 M30 measurement in isolation is of limited value for non-invasively diagnosing NASH.
Humans ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease/diagnosis* ; Keratin-18 ; Biomarkers ; Biopsy ; Hepatocytes/pathology* ; Apoptosis ; Liver/pathology*

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics of plurihormonal PIT1-lineage pituitary neuroendocrine tumors. Methods: Forty-eight plurihormonal PIT1-lineage tumors were collected between January 2018 and April 2022 from the pathological database of Sanbo Brain Hospital, Capital Medical University. The related clinical and imaging data were retrieved. H&E, immunohistochemical and special stains were performed. Results: Out of the 48 plurihormonal PIT1-lineage tumors included, 13 cases were mature PIT1-lineage tumors and 35 cases were immature PIT1-lineage tumors. There were some obvious clinicopathological differences between the two groups. Clinically, the mature plurihormonal PIT1-lineage tumor mostly had endocrine symptoms due to increased hormone production, while a small number of immature PIT1-lineage tumors had endocrine symptoms accompanied by low-level increased serum pituitary hormone; patients with the immature PIT1-lineage tumors were younger than the mature PIT1-lineage tumors; the immature PIT1-lineage tumors were larger in size and more likely invasive in imaging. Histopathologically, the mature PIT1-lineage tumors were composed of large eosinophilic cells with high proportion of growth hormone expression, while the immature PIT1-lineage tumors consisted of chromophobe cells with a relatively higher expression of prolactin; the mature PIT1-lineage tumors had consistently diffuse cytoplasmic positive staining for keratin, while the immature PIT1-lineage tumors had various expression for keratin; the immature PIT1-lineage tumors showed more mitotic figures and higher Ki-67 proliferation index; in addition, 25.0% (12/48) of PIT1-positive plurihormonal tumors showed abnormal positive staining for gonadotropin hormones. There was no significant difference in the progression-free survival between the two groups (P=0.648) by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Conclusions: Plurihormonal PIT1-lineage tumor belongs to a rare type of PIT1-lineage pituitary neuroendocrine tumors, most of which are of immature lineage. Clinically increased symptoms owing to pituitary hormone secretion, histopathologically increased number of eosinophilic tumor cells with high proportion of growth hormone expression, diffusely cytoplasmic keratin staining and low proliferative activity can help differentiate the mature plurihormonal PIT1-lineage tumors from the immature PIT1-lineage tumors. The immature PIT1-lineage tumors have more complicated clinicopathological characteristics.
Humans ; Neuroendocrine Tumors ; Pituitary Neoplasms/pathology* ; Pituitary Hormones ; Growth Hormone/metabolism* ; Keratins

Dipsaci Radix is one of the commonly used Chinese medicinal materials in China, with a long history. It has the medicinal activities of nourishing liver and kidney, recovering from broken sinews, and treating bone fracture. Triterpenoid saponins are the main functional ingredients of Dipsacus asper. β-Amyrin synthases(β-AS) as a superfamily of oxidosqualene cyclases(OSCs) can catalyze the construction of the skeleton structure of oleanane-type triterpenoid saponins. There are only a few studies about the β-AS in D. asper, and the catalytic mechanism of this enzyme remains to be explored. To enrich the information of β-AS, according to the transcriptome sequencing results, we cloned DaWβ-AS gene from D. asper into a specific vector for heterologous expression in Escherichia coli. In the meantime, real-time PCR was performed to analyze the relative expression of DaWβ-AS in four different tissues of D. asper. The results of RT-qPCR showed DaWβ-AS had the highest expression level in leaves. Bioinformatics results indicated that DaWβ-AS had a conserved domain of PLN03012 superfamily, belonging to the cl31551 superfamily. There was no transmembrane domain or signal peptide in DaWβ-AS. This study provides a scientific basis for revealing the biological pathways of triterpenoid saponins in D. asper, which will facilitate the biosynthesis of the associated saponins and afford reference for the cultivation and development of high-quality resources of D. asper.
Cloning, Molecular ; Computational Biology ; Dipsacaceae/chemistry* ; Intramolecular Transferases ; Protein Sorting Signals ; Saponins/chemistry* ; Triterpenes/chemistry*