Baihuasheshecao(Hedyotis diffusa) is a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine derived from the whole herb of H. diffusa and has been widely utilized in folk medicine. It possesses anti-tumor, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties, making it one of the frequently used herbs in TCM clinical practice. However, Shuixiancao(H. corymbosa) and Xianhuaercao(H. tenelliflora), species of the same genus, are often used as substitutes for Baihuasheshecao. To substantiate the medicinal basis of Baihuasheshecao, this study systematically reviewed classical herbal texts and modern literature, examining its nomenclature, botanical origin, harvesting, processing, properties, meridian tropism, pharmacological effects, and clinical applications. The results indicate that Baihuasheshecao was initially recorded as "Shuixiancao" in Preface to the Indexes to the Great Chinese Botany(Zhi Wu Ming Shi Tu Kao). Based on its morphological characteristics and habitat description, it was identified as H. diffusa in the Rubiaceae family. Subsequent records predominantly refer to it as Baihuasheshecao as its official name. In most regions, Baihuasheshecao is recognized as the authentic medicinal material, distinct from Shuixiancao and Xianhuaercao. Baihuasheshecao is harvested in late summer and early autumn, and the dried whole plant, including its roots, is used medicinally. The standard processing method involves cutting. It is known for its effects in clearing heat, removing toxins, reducing swelling and pain, and promoting diuresis to resolve abscesses. Initially, it was mainly used for treating appendicitis, intestinal abscesses, and venomous snake bites, and later, it became a treatment for cancer. The excavation of its clinical value followed a process in which overseas Chinese introduced the herb from Chinese folk medicine to other countries. After its unique anti-cancer effects were recognized abroad, it was reintroduced to China and gradually became a crucial TCM for cancer treatment. The findings of this study help clarify the historical and contemporary uses of Baihuasheshecao, providing literature support and a scientific basis for its rational development and precise clinical application.
Humans ; China ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Hedyotis/classification* ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional/history*

Acute lung injury(ALI) is a critical clinical condition primarily characterized by refractory hypoxemia and infiltration of inflammatory cells in lung tissue, which can progress into a more severe form known as acute respiratory distress syndrome(ARDS). Immune cells and inflammatory cytokines play important roles in the progression of the disease. Due to its unclear pathogenesis and the lack of effective clinical treatments, ALI is associated with a high mortality rate and severely affects patients' quality of life, making the search for effective therapeutic agents particularly urgent. Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma, the dried root of the perennial herb Panax ginseng from the Araliaceae family, contains active ingredients such as saponins and polysaccharides, which possess various pharmacological effects including anti-tumor activity, immune regulation, and metabolic modulation. In recent years, studies have shown that ginsenosides exhibit notable effects in reducing inflammation, ameliorating epithelial and endothelial cell injury, and providing anticoagulant action, indicating their comprehensive role in alleviating lung injury. This review summarizes the pathogenesis of ALI and the molecular mechanisms through which ginsenosides act at different stages of ALI development. The aim is to provide a scientific reference for the development of ginsenoside-based drugs targeting ALI, as well as a theoretical basis for the clinical application of Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma in the treatment of ALI.
Ginsenosides/pharmacology* ; Humans ; Acute Lung Injury/immunology* ; Animals ; Panax/chemistry* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by chronic relapsing intestinal inflammation and encompasses ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). IBD has emerged as a global healthcare problem. Clinically efficacious therapeutic agents are deficient. This study concentrates on models of ulcerative colitis with the objective of discovering novel therapeutic strategies. Previous investigations have established that schisandrin A demonstrates anti-inflammatory effects in vitro, concurrently enhancing the transcriptional activity of farnesoid X receptor (FXR). FXR inversely modulates the transcriptional activity of NF-κB, which has an important role in regulating inflammatory responses. Consequently, the current study was to explore the safeguarding influence of schisandrin A on ulcerative colitis and delineate the mechanism by which it regulates this effect through the FXR signaling pathway. The effect of schisandrin A on the mRNA levels of inflammatory factors was evaluated in RAW264.7 cells. The dual luciferase reporter gene assay was used to verify the relationship between schisandrin A and FXR targeting. The animal experiments were performed in accordance with the regulations of the Animal Ethics Committee of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (approval No. PZSHUTCM2304250005). Acute ulcerative colitis was induced in wild-type or FXR knockout C57BL/6 mice by drinking 3% dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) for 7 days, and schisandrin A was administered via gavage for a continuous treatment period of 7 days. The body weight and faecal were monitored daily. The mRNA levels of inflammatory factors in colon tissue and FXR target genes were measured by RT-qPCR. The findings revealed that schisandrin A, in vitro, impeded the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced elevation in mRNA levels of inflammatory factors and schisandrin A could augment transcriptional activity of FXR. In wild-type mice, schisandrin A significantly improved weight loss, colon shortening, loose stools and blood in stools in mice with acute ulcerative colitis, and schisandrin A significantly reduced the expression of pro-inflammatory factors genes and significantly increased the expression of FXR target genes in colon tissues. In FXR knockout mice, the administration of schisandrin A failed to yield ameliorative effect on acute ulcerative colitis in mice. In conclusion, schisandrin A can reduce intestinal inflammation through the FXR signaling pathway to alleviate acute ulcerative colitis in mice. Implications arise that Schisandra lignans could serve as lead compounds for drug development aimed at inflammatory bowel disease.

[摘 要] 目的：探讨解偶联蛋白2（UCP2）抑制剂京尼平（GEN）对人下咽癌FaDu细胞增殖及线粒体功能的影响。方法：使用不同浓度的GEN作用于FaDu细胞24 h，实验分为GEN 0（对照）、50、100、200和400 μmol/L组。采用CCK-8法检测各组细胞增殖能力，DCFH-DA探针及JC-1染色联合流式细胞术检测GEN对FaDu细胞活性氧（ROS）含量及线粒体膜电位的影响，激光共聚焦显微镜观察GEN对FaDu细胞线粒体膜通透性转换孔的影响，可见分光光度法检测细胞中乳酸的含量，WB法检测细胞中UCP2蛋白的表达变化。结果：与对照组相比，GEN可显著抑制FaDu细胞的增殖活力（P<0.05或P<0.01）、细胞中UCP2蛋白的表达（P<0.05），降低线粒体膜电位（P<0.05或P<0.01）、乳酸含量（P<0.000 1），改变细胞线粒体膜孔道通透性，提高细胞中ROS水平（P<0.05或P<0.01）。结论：GEN通过调节细胞中UCP2的表达水平进而影响细胞的氧化还原能力及线粒体功能，从而发挥抑制人下咽癌FaDu细胞增殖并诱导细胞凋亡的作用。

Objective     To evaluate the clinical radiological features combined with circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the diagnosis of invasiveness evaluation of subsolid nodules in lung cancers. Methods     Clinical data of 296 patients from the First Hospital of Lanzhou University between February 2019 and February 2021 were retrospectively included. There were 130 males and 166 females with a median age of 62.00 years. Patients were randomly divided into a training set and an internal validation set with a ratio of 3 : 1 by random number table method. The patients were divided into two groups: a preinvasive lesion group (atypical adenomatoid hyperplasia and adenocarcinoma in situ) and an invasive lesion group (microinvasive adenocarcinoma and invasive adenocarcinoma). Independent risk factors were selected by regression analysis of training set and a Nomogram prediction model was constructed. The accuracy and consistency of the model were verified by the receiver operating characteristic curve and calibration curve respectively. Subgroup analysis was conducted on nodules with different diameters to further verify the performance of the model. Specific performance metrics, including sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy at the threshold were calculated. Results     Independent risk factors selected by regression analysis for subsolid nodules were age, CTCs level, nodular nature, lobulation and spiculation. The Nomogram prediction mode provided an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.914 (0.872, 0.956), outperforming clinical radiological features model AUC [0.856 (0.794, 0.917), P=0.003] and CTCs AUC [0.750 (0.675, 0.825), P=0.001] in training set. C-index was 0.914, 0.894 and corrected C-index was 0.902, 0.843 in training set and internal validation set, respectively. The AUC of the prediction model in training set was 0.902 (0.848, 0.955), 0.913 (0.860, 0.966) and 0.873 (0.730, 1.000) for nodule diameter of 5-20 mm, 10-20 mm and 21-30 mm, respectively. Conclusion     The prediction model in this study has better diagnostic value, and is more effective in clinical diagnosis of diseases.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is considered to be a manifestation of metabolic syndrome and has become one of the chronic diseases that endanger health around the world. There is still a lack of effective therapeutic drugs in clinical practice. Farnesoid X receptor (FXR) has been a popular target for NAFLD research in recent years. Fexaramine (Fex) is a potent and selective agonist of FXR, and its mechanism of action to improve NAFLD is unclear. Therefore, in this study, a mouse model of NAFLD was constructed using a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet and treated with Fex orally for 6 weeks. We evaluated the ameliorative effect of Fex on disorders of glucolipid metabolism in NAFLD mice, and preliminarily explored its potential mechanism of action. The animal experiments were approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (approval number: PZSHUTCM210913011). In this study, it was found that 100 mg·kg^-1 Fex significantly inhibited body weight gain, alleviated insulin resistance, improved liver injury and lipid accumulation in NAFLD mice. The effect of Fex on the expression of hepatic intestinal FXR and its target genes in NAFLD mice was further examined. Analysis of serum and hepatic bile acid profiles and expression related to hepatic lipid metabolism. It was found that Fex could stimulate intestinal FXR, promote fibroblast growth factor 15 (FGF15) secretion, inhibit the expression of cytochrome P450 family 7 subfamily A member 1 (CYP7A1), the rate-limiting enzyme of bile acid synthesis in liver, regulate bile acid synthesis by negative feedback, and improve the disorder of bile acid metabolism. At the same time, Fex reduces liver lipid synthesis and absorption, increases fatty acid oxidation, thus improving liver lipid metabolism. This study shows that Fex can improve NAFLD by activating intestinal FXR-FGF15 signal pathway and regulating liver lipid metabolism.

Six new abietane diterpenoids (1-6) and five undescribed iridoids (7-11) have been isolated from the aerial parts of Caryopteris mongolica. The intricate structural characterization of these compounds was meticulously undertaken using an array of advanced spectroscopic techniques. This process was further enhanced by the application of DP4+ probability analyses and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations. Following isolation and structural elucidation, the cytotoxicity of these compounds was evaluated. Among them, compound 3 stood out, displaying significant cytotoxic activity against HeLa cells with an IC₅₀ value of 7.83 ± 1.28 μmol·L^-1. Additionally, compounds 1, 2, 4, 9, and 10 manifested moderate cytotoxic effects on specific cell lines, with IC₅₀ values ranging from 11.7 to 20.9 μmol·L^-1.
Humans ; Abietanes/chemistry* ; HeLa Cells ; Lamiaceae/chemistry* ; Circular Dichroism ; Diterpenes/chemistry* ; Molecular Structure

Purinergic P2Y Receptor Antagonists ; Consensus ; Cardiovascular System ; Cardiology ; Asia

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*

Radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer results in various post-operative complications, and the influencing factors are complicated. The diagnosis, treatment and prevention of common complications have been reported in many literatures. However, there are few reports on the prevention and treatment of rare complications. Rare complications after radical gastrectomy are often overlooked due to their low incidence. In addition, there are few guidelines and expert consensus regarding to the rare complications. Therefore, clinicians may lack experience in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of rare complications after radical gastrectomy. Based on the literature review and the author's experience, this article systematically reviews seven rare complications after radical gastrectomy (duodenal stump fistula, pancreatic fistula, chyle leakage, esophagomediastinal fistula, internal hernia, gastroparesis, and intussusception). This article aims to provide a comprehensive reference for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of rare complications after radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer patients.
Humans ; Stomach Neoplasms/complications* ; Gastrectomy/methods* ; Postoperative Complications/etiology* ; Duodenal Diseases ; Laparoscopy/adverse effects* ; Retrospective Studies