BACKGROUND:Macrophages play a key role in the occurrence and progression of lung diseases,and autophagy plays an important role in maintaining environmental homeostasis and functional stability in macrophages.It has been suggested that macrophage autophagic activity has two sides in lung inflammatory diseases.OBJECTIVE:To summarize the relationship between macrophage autophagy and lung diseases,thereby providing reference for exploring the prevention and treatment strategies of lung inflammatory diseases by targeting macrophage autophagy.METHODS:Literature retrieval was performed in CNKI and PubMed for relevant literature published from database inception to September 2024.The search terms were"macrophage autophagy,efferocytosis,macrophage polarization,acute lung injury,pneumonia,chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,pulmonary fibrosis,asthma"in Chinese and English,respectively.The search results were included or excluded based on the selection criteria,and 100 papers that met the criteria were finally included in the review.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)The obstruction of autophagy flow will induce the polarization imbalance of macrophages and impair their efferocytosis,resulting in the increase of M1 macrophages and aggravating inflammation.(2)The judgment of autophagic activity should be based on whether the autophagy flow is smooth or not,and it is essential to evaluate the degradation ability of autophagy.Some studies failed to comprehensively detect the degradation ability of autophagy lysosomes to assess whether the autophagy flow is unobtrusive.As a result,the so-called two-sided view of pulmonary macrophage autophagy in pulmonary inflammatory diseases in such studies is actually related to the one-sided judgment of autophagy activity.(3)The pathological manifestations vary across different pulmonary diseases and even at different stages of the same disease.Activation of macrophage autophagy plays a positive role in regulating pulmonary inflammatory homeostasis in conditions such as acute lung injury,infectious pneumonia,mild chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,early-stage pulmonary fibrosis,and secondary asthma.However,in the severe fibrotic stage of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and the progressive stage of pulmonary fibrosis,the activation of pulmonary macrophage autophagy aggravates pulmonary fibrosis,reflecting the dual nature of macrophage autophagy.In allergic asthma,autophagy is activated in lung-resident macrophages but suppressed in infiltrating monocyte-derived macrophages from circulation.The former is closely related to airway stenosis,and the latter aggravates pneumonia disorders.Therefore,identifying the types and progression stages of lung diseases,along with accurately assessing autophagic activity,is crucial for future investigations into the relationship between macrophage autophagy and disease pathogenesis,thereby facilitating the development of therapeutic strategies in the future.

ObjectiveTo investigate the differences in clinical features and outcomes between patients with hepatic Wilson's disease （WD） presenting with the syndrome of combined phlegm and stasis and the syndrome of dampness-heat internal accumulation. MethodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted by consecutively recruiting patients with hepatic WD from the Encephalopathy Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine between January 2022 and August 2025. According to traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndrome differentiation， the patients were assigned into a combined phlegm and stasis group and a dampness-heat internal accumulation group. All the patients received standard treatment. Baseline data， laboratory indicators， complications， Model for End-Stage Liver Disease （MELD） score， Child-Turcotte-Pugh （CTP） score， and Chronic Liver Failure-Sequential Organ Failure Assessment （CLIF-SOFA） score were recorded. The clinical features and outcomes of the two groups of patients were compared by t-test， U-test and multivariate logistic regression. ResultsA total of 141 patients with hepatic WD were included. The combined phlegm and stasis group comprised 68 patients with an average age of （28.22±10.47） years， including 43 males and 25 females. The dampness-heat internal accumulation group comprised 73 patients with an average age of （30.22±8.79） years， including 44 males and 29 females. Univariate analysis showed no statistically significant differences in age or gender between the two groups. The combined phlegm and stasis group had lower platelet （PLT）， alanine aminotransferase （ALT）， aspartate aminotransferase （AST）， creatine （CRE）， total cholesterol （TC）， and triglycerides （TG） levels （P<0.05 or P<0.01） and higher total bilirubin （TBIL） and prothrombin time （PT） （P<0.05） than the dampness-heat internal accumulation group. There were no statistically significant differences in the incidence of hepatic encephalopathy， infection， spontaneous bacterial peritonitis， ascites， or gastrointestinal bleeding between the two groups. The incidence of splenomegaly and the MELD score were higher in the combined phlegm and stasis group （P<0.05）. The CTP and CLIF-SOFA scores were also higher in the combined phlegm and stasis group， while these differences were not statistically significant. Eleven patients in the combined phlegm and stasis group and 9 patients in the dampness-heat internal accumulation group developed liver failure. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that PT （OR=1.794， 95%CI 1.249-2.576）， TBIL （OR=1.111， 95%CI 1.026-1.203）， ALT （OR=1.053， 95%CI 1.004-1.105）， and TCM syndrome （OR=5.420， 95%CI 1.384-21.227） were independent risk factors for the development of liver failure in hepatic WD. ConclusionCompared with the hepatic WD patients with the syndrome of dampness-heat internal accumulation， those with the syndrome of combined phlegm and stasis exhibit severe liver function impairment and disease conditions. Furthermore， TCM syndrome serves as an independent predictive factor for the occurrence of liver failure in patients with hepatic WD.

BACKGROUND:Macrophages play a key role in the occurrence and progression of lung diseases,and autophagy plays an important role in maintaining environmental homeostasis and functional stability in macrophages.It has been suggested that macrophage autophagic activity has two sides in lung inflammatory diseases.OBJECTIVE:To summarize the relationship between macrophage autophagy and lung diseases,thereby providing reference for exploring the prevention and treatment strategies of lung inflammatory diseases by targeting macrophage autophagy.METHODS:Literature retrieval was performed in CNKI and PubMed for relevant literature published from database inception to September 2024.The search terms were"macrophage autophagy,efferocytosis,macrophage polarization,acute lung injury,pneumonia,chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,pulmonary fibrosis,asthma"in Chinese and English,respectively.The search results were included or excluded based on the selection criteria,and 100 papers that met the criteria were finally included in the review.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)The obstruction of autophagy flow will induce the polarization imbalance of macrophages and impair their efferocytosis,resulting in the increase of M1 macrophages and aggravating inflammation.(2)The judgment of autophagic activity should be based on whether the autophagy flow is smooth or not,and it is essential to evaluate the degradation ability of autophagy.Some studies failed to comprehensively detect the degradation ability of autophagy lysosomes to assess whether the autophagy flow is unobtrusive.As a result,the so-called two-sided view of pulmonary macrophage autophagy in pulmonary inflammatory diseases in such studies is actually related to the one-sided judgment of autophagy activity.(3)The pathological manifestations vary across different pulmonary diseases and even at different stages of the same disease.Activation of macrophage autophagy plays a positive role in regulating pulmonary inflammatory homeostasis in conditions such as acute lung injury,infectious pneumonia,mild chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,early-stage pulmonary fibrosis,and secondary asthma.However,in the severe fibrotic stage of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and the progressive stage of pulmonary fibrosis,the activation of pulmonary macrophage autophagy aggravates pulmonary fibrosis,reflecting the dual nature of macrophage autophagy.In allergic asthma,autophagy is activated in lung-resident macrophages but suppressed in infiltrating monocyte-derived macrophages from circulation.The former is closely related to airway stenosis,and the latter aggravates pneumonia disorders.Therefore,identifying the types and progression stages of lung diseases,along with accurately assessing autophagic activity,is crucial for future investigations into the relationship between macrophage autophagy and disease pathogenesis,thereby facilitating the development of therapeutic strategies in the future.

This study aims to investigate the characteristics of chitosan-loaded miR-146a nanoparti-cles and explore their protective effect against acute liver cell injury induced by LPS in vitro.Galac-tosylated arginine chitosan(GCA)nanoparticles were successfully synthesized,prepared and used to further prepare GCA-miR-146a nanoparticles with different mass ratios by ion cross-linking method.The binding efficiency of miR-146a by GCA nanoparticles was detected by gel retardation experiment.Particle size,morphology and potential were observed and detected by transmission e-lectron microscopy and Zetasizer NanoZS90 respectively.The cytotoxicity of GCA nanoparticles on HepG2 cells was detected by CCK-8 kit.Cellular uptake was assayed by fluorescence microscopy to select the optimum ratio for the further study.The LPS induced acute liver cell injury were evalua-ted by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR.The results showed that the mass ratio of GCA-miR-146a was 5∶1.Encapsulation efficiency and drug loading efficiency of the nanoparticles reached 97.11％and 20.08％,respectively.The 100 nm nanoparticles with 1.15 mV surface charge showed uniform morphology.The GCA-miR-146a nanoparticles had no cytotoxicity and had high transfection efficiency on HepG2 cells.The study demonstrated that GCA-miR-146 ananoparticles could significantly increase the expression of miR-146a in HepG2 cells and reduce the mRNA ex-pression levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in vitro.The prepared GCA nanoparticles loaded with miR-146a had high loading efficiency and could protect LPS-induced acute liver cell injury in vitro.

Based on the previous transcriptomic experimental data of Trichinella spiralis(T.spira-lis)in this study,the larval stage specific gene TP12446 was screened and its identity in the ubiq-uitin ligase RNF family was predicted.In the study,bioinformatics methods were used to analyze its physicochemical properties and its activity to lay the foundation for further exploring the func-tion of TP12446 gene.The physicochemical properties and protein structure of TP12446 protein were predicted by bioinformatics.Its ubiquitin ligase activity was also verified by ubiquitination re-actions in vitro.The expression characteristics of TP12446 protein in different stage of T.spiralis infection were analyzed by qPCR and Western blot.Bioinformatics analysis showed that TP12446 protein was composed of 453 amino acids and its molecular weight was 51.48 kDa.The protein had a transmembrane structure and contained signal peptides.The results indicated that it was a secre-tory protein and mainly located in the cytoplasmic membrane.The protein structure analysis re-vealed that the protein contained RING and PA domain,its secondary structure was mainly com-posed of α-helix and irregular crimp and there were 10 B cell epitopes on TP12446 protein.The prediction of glycosylation and phosphorylation sites indicated that TP12446 protein contained 38 potential phosphorylation sites.Results of PPI interaction protein prediction showed that TP12446 protein had strong interaction with Usp8,Tmem37,Otub1,Otub2,Ubox5 and CD151.The results of qPCR and Western blot showed that TP12446 gene expression was the highest in the larva stage of T.spiralis,the activity of ubiquitin ligase was verified by ubiquitination reaction in vitro.TP12446 protein was a secretory hydrophobic protein with E3 ubiquitin ligase activity,which was involved in regulating cell cycle and apoptosis.

This study aims to investigate the characteristics of chitosan-loaded miR-146a nanoparti-cles and explore their protective effect against acute liver cell injury induced by LPS in vitro.Galac-tosylated arginine chitosan(GCA)nanoparticles were successfully synthesized,prepared and used to further prepare GCA-miR-146a nanoparticles with different mass ratios by ion cross-linking method.The binding efficiency of miR-146a by GCA nanoparticles was detected by gel retardation experiment.Particle size,morphology and potential were observed and detected by transmission e-lectron microscopy and Zetasizer NanoZS90 respectively.The cytotoxicity of GCA nanoparticles on HepG2 cells was detected by CCK-8 kit.Cellular uptake was assayed by fluorescence microscopy to select the optimum ratio for the further study.The LPS induced acute liver cell injury were evalua-ted by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR.The results showed that the mass ratio of GCA-miR-146a was 5∶1.Encapsulation efficiency and drug loading efficiency of the nanoparticles reached 97.11％and 20.08％,respectively.The 100 nm nanoparticles with 1.15 mV surface charge showed uniform morphology.The GCA-miR-146a nanoparticles had no cytotoxicity and had high transfection efficiency on HepG2 cells.The study demonstrated that GCA-miR-146 ananoparticles could significantly increase the expression of miR-146a in HepG2 cells and reduce the mRNA ex-pression levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in vitro.The prepared GCA nanoparticles loaded with miR-146a had high loading efficiency and could protect LPS-induced acute liver cell injury in vitro.

BACKGROUND:Macrophage subtypes exhibit tissue heterogeneity,and the adipose tissue macrophage phenotype is largely influenced by obesity.Local and systemic inflammatory responses caused by obese adipose tissue macrophages are considered a vital pathological mechanism of obesity-associated metabolic diseases.OBJECTIVE:To summarize the inflammatory characteristics of different macrophage subtypes in adipose tissue and their relationship with obesity-associated metabolic diseases,aiming to provide a reference basis for targeting specific macrophage subtypes to explore preventive and treatment strategies for obesity-associated metabolic diseases.METHODS:Literature retrieval was conducted in CNKI and PubMed using Chinese and English search terms "obesity,adipose tissue,adipose tissue macrophage,macrophage polarisation,metabolic diseases." The search results were accepted or excluded according to the inclusion criteria.Ninety-one papers that met the criteria were finally included for review.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1) Macrophages have tissue heterogeneity.Under normal conditions,adipose tissue macrophages are mainly composed of anti-inflammatory M2 resident macrophages,which maintain tissue inflammation homeostasis.Under obese conditions,a large number of foreign infiltrating macrophages surround hypertrophic adipocytes,and most of them exhibit pro-inflammatory characteristics.Therefore,it is believed that adipose tissue macrophages of pro-inflammatory M1 type may actually be a collection of multiple pro-inflammatory subtypes.Further understanding of the characteristics of various pro-inflammatory subtypes helps us to gain a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying inflammatory disorders in obese adipose tissue.(2) In obesity,foreign infiltrating macrophages form crown-like structures around hypertrophic adipocytes.Currently,six different subtypes of the crown-like structure have been identified,most of which exhibit pro-inflammatory properties and a few of which possess anti-inflammatory characteristics.Thus,taking full advantage of the anti-inflammatory subtypes while inhibiting the differentiation of the pro-inflammatory subtypes may be a new target for alleviating inflammatory damage in obese adipose tissue.(3) M3,Mme,CD9+and LAM adipose tissue macrophage subtypes have been found to be involved in the occurrence and development of metabolic diseases such as atherosclerosis,diabetes,insulin resistance,and cancer.DARC+and Mfehi adipose tissue macrophage subtypes play a vital role in the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease,obesity insulin resistance,iron death,and other related metabolic diseases.The above studies further suggest that inflammatory disorders caused by externally infiltrated macrophages in obese adipose tissue are an important pathological basis for obesity-induced metabolic diseases.Further in-depth research on the characteristics of various subtypes has important theoretical and practical significance.

Objective To investigate the effects of Bushen Shengjing Tiaohe Qixue Prescription on rats with diminished ovarian reserve(DOR)based on Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.Methods Totally 60 8-week-old SD female rats were randomly divided into control group,model group,estradiol valerate group and TCM low-,medium-and high-dosage groups,with 10 rats in each group.Except for the control group,the rats in the other groups were given a single intraperitoneal injection of cyclophosphamide 75 mg/kg to replicate the DOR rat model.From the next day of modeling,the corresponding drugs was administered for medication groups by gavage for 3 weeks.The general conditions of the rats were observed,ELISA was used to detect the contents of serum follicle-stimulating hormone(FSH),luteinizing hormone(LH),estradiol(E2),anti-mullerian hormone(AMH)and inhibin B(INHB),HE staining was used to observe the morphologic changes in ovarian tissue,Western blot was used to detect GSK3β,β-catenin,CyclinD1 and c-MYC protein expressions in ovarian tissues,immunohistochemical staining was used to observe β-catenin expression in ovarian tissue,RT-qPCR was used to detect Wnt1,Wnt2,Wnt4,GSK3β,β-catenin,CyclinD1 and c-MYC mRNA expression in ovarian tissue,transmission electron microscopy was used to observe ultrapathologic structure of ovarian granulosa cells.Results Compared with the control group,the rats in the model group had reduced intake of food and water,slow or even reduced body mass gain,and disturbed estrous cycle,the serum contents of FSH and LH increased(P<0.01),the contents of E2,AMH and INHB decreased(P<0.01);the number of follicles of all levels in ovarian tissue was reduced,and there was increased number of atretic follicles with disturbed arrangement of the granulosa cells;the expression of GSK3β protein in ovarian tissue increased(P<0.01),the expression of β-catenin,CyclinD1 and c-MYC protein decreased(P<0.05,P<0.01),and β-catenin positive expression decreased(P<0.01),the expression of Wnt1,Wnt2,Wnt4,β-catenin,CyclinD1 and c-MYC mRNA in ovarian tissue decreased(P<0.01),GSK3β mRNA expression was increased(P<0,01);organelles such as mitochondria and nuclei of ovarian granulosa cells were highly swollen and partially lysed.Compared with the model group,the rats in the administered group all had different degrees of body mass increase,partial restoration of the motility cycle,serum FSH and LH contents decreased,and serum E2,AMH and INHB contents increased(P<0.01,P<0.05);the number of follicles at all levels in ovarian tissue increased to varying degrees,and the atretic follicles were reduced;the expression of GSK3β protein in ovarian tissue decreased,β-catenin,CyclinD1 and c-MYC protein expressions increased,β-catenin positive expression increased,the expression of Wnt1,Wnt2,Wnt4,β-catenin,CyclinD1 and c-MYC mRNA in ovarian tissue increased,and GSK3β mRNA expression decreased,with statistical significance in estradiol valerate group and TCM high-dosage group(P<0.05,P<0.01);mitochondria,endoplasmic reticulum and other organelles of ovarian granulosa cells were mildly to moderately swollen.Conclusion Bushen Shengjing Tiaohe Qixue Prescription can improve ovarian function and regulate serum sex hormone levels in DOR model rats,and its mechanism might be related to the activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.

BACKGROUND:Macrophage subtypes exhibit tissue heterogeneity,and the adipose tissue macrophage phenotype is largely influenced by obesity.Local and systemic inflammatory responses caused by obese adipose tissue macrophages are considered a vital pathological mechanism of obesity-associated metabolic diseases.OBJECTIVE:To summarize the inflammatory characteristics of different macrophage subtypes in adipose tissue and their relationship with obesity-associated metabolic diseases,aiming to provide a reference basis for targeting specific macrophage subtypes to explore preventive and treatment strategies for obesity-associated metabolic diseases.METHODS:Literature retrieval was conducted in CNKI and PubMed using Chinese and English search terms "obesity,adipose tissue,adipose tissue macrophage,macrophage polarisation,metabolic diseases." The search results were accepted or excluded according to the inclusion criteria.Ninety-one papers that met the criteria were finally included for review.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1) Macrophages have tissue heterogeneity.Under normal conditions,adipose tissue macrophages are mainly composed of anti-inflammatory M2 resident macrophages,which maintain tissue inflammation homeostasis.Under obese conditions,a large number of foreign infiltrating macrophages surround hypertrophic adipocytes,and most of them exhibit pro-inflammatory characteristics.Therefore,it is believed that adipose tissue macrophages of pro-inflammatory M1 type may actually be a collection of multiple pro-inflammatory subtypes.Further understanding of the characteristics of various pro-inflammatory subtypes helps us to gain a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying inflammatory disorders in obese adipose tissue.(2) In obesity,foreign infiltrating macrophages form crown-like structures around hypertrophic adipocytes.Currently,six different subtypes of the crown-like structure have been identified,most of which exhibit pro-inflammatory properties and a few of which possess anti-inflammatory characteristics.Thus,taking full advantage of the anti-inflammatory subtypes while inhibiting the differentiation of the pro-inflammatory subtypes may be a new target for alleviating inflammatory damage in obese adipose tissue.(3) M3,Mme,CD9+and LAM adipose tissue macrophage subtypes have been found to be involved in the occurrence and development of metabolic diseases such as atherosclerosis,diabetes,insulin resistance,and cancer.DARC+and Mfehi adipose tissue macrophage subtypes play a vital role in the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease,obesity insulin resistance,iron death,and other related metabolic diseases.The above studies further suggest that inflammatory disorders caused by externally infiltrated macrophages in obese adipose tissue are an important pathological basis for obesity-induced metabolic diseases.Further in-depth research on the characteristics of various subtypes has important theoretical and practical significance.

Objective To investigate the effects of Bushen Shengjing Tiaohe Qixue Prescription on rats with diminished ovarian reserve(DOR)based on Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.Methods Totally 60 8-week-old SD female rats were randomly divided into control group,model group,estradiol valerate group and TCM low-,medium-and high-dosage groups,with 10 rats in each group.Except for the control group,the rats in the other groups were given a single intraperitoneal injection of cyclophosphamide 75 mg/kg to replicate the DOR rat model.From the next day of modeling,the corresponding drugs was administered for medication groups by gavage for 3 weeks.The general conditions of the rats were observed,ELISA was used to detect the contents of serum follicle-stimulating hormone(FSH),luteinizing hormone(LH),estradiol(E2),anti-mullerian hormone(AMH)and inhibin B(INHB),HE staining was used to observe the morphologic changes in ovarian tissue,Western blot was used to detect GSK3β,β-catenin,CyclinD1 and c-MYC protein expressions in ovarian tissues,immunohistochemical staining was used to observe β-catenin expression in ovarian tissue,RT-qPCR was used to detect Wnt1,Wnt2,Wnt4,GSK3β,β-catenin,CyclinD1 and c-MYC mRNA expression in ovarian tissue,transmission electron microscopy was used to observe ultrapathologic structure of ovarian granulosa cells.Results Compared with the control group,the rats in the model group had reduced intake of food and water,slow or even reduced body mass gain,and disturbed estrous cycle,the serum contents of FSH and LH increased(P<0.01),the contents of E2,AMH and INHB decreased(P<0.01);the number of follicles of all levels in ovarian tissue was reduced,and there was increased number of atretic follicles with disturbed arrangement of the granulosa cells;the expression of GSK3β protein in ovarian tissue increased(P<0.01),the expression of β-catenin,CyclinD1 and c-MYC protein decreased(P<0.05,P<0.01),and β-catenin positive expression decreased(P<0.01),the expression of Wnt1,Wnt2,Wnt4,β-catenin,CyclinD1 and c-MYC mRNA in ovarian tissue decreased(P<0.01),GSK3β mRNA expression was increased(P<0,01);organelles such as mitochondria and nuclei of ovarian granulosa cells were highly swollen and partially lysed.Compared with the model group,the rats in the administered group all had different degrees of body mass increase,partial restoration of the motility cycle,serum FSH and LH contents decreased,and serum E2,AMH and INHB contents increased(P<0.01,P<0.05);the number of follicles at all levels in ovarian tissue increased to varying degrees,and the atretic follicles were reduced;the expression of GSK3β protein in ovarian tissue decreased,β-catenin,CyclinD1 and c-MYC protein expressions increased,β-catenin positive expression increased,the expression of Wnt1,Wnt2,Wnt4,β-catenin,CyclinD1 and c-MYC mRNA in ovarian tissue increased,and GSK3β mRNA expression decreased,with statistical significance in estradiol valerate group and TCM high-dosage group(P<0.05,P<0.01);mitochondria,endoplasmic reticulum and other organelles of ovarian granulosa cells were mildly to moderately swollen.Conclusion Bushen Shengjing Tiaohe Qixue Prescription can improve ovarian function and regulate serum sex hormone levels in DOR model rats,and its mechanism might be related to the activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.