1.Study on the metabolomic mechanism of Limosilactobacillus reuteri in ameliorating chemotherapy-induced intestinal mucosal injury
Xinru WAN ; Jie CHEN ; Mengru YUAN ; Zhongxuan GUI ; Qingyi GE ; Mei ZHANG
Acta Universitatis Medicinalis Anhui 2026;61(6):1091-1102
ObjectiveTo investigate the metabolic mechanisms of Limosilactobacillus reuteri (L. reuteri) in alleviating chemotherapy-induced intestinal mucosal injury (CIMI). MethodsC57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into the Control group, Model group, and L. reuteri treatment group (n=8 per group). Mice in the L. reuteri group were intragastrically administered L. reuteri (1 × 109 CFU/mL) for 10 consecutive days. From day 5, mice in the Model and L. reuteri groups were intraperitoneally injected with 5-FU (65 mg/kg) for 6 consecutive days to establish a CIMI model. Body weight changes, colon length, and related indicators were recorded. Intestinal histopathological injury was assessed by HE staining with measurement of villus height and crypt depth. The expression levels of zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), Occludin, Claudin-4, Muc1, and Muc2 in ileal tissues were determined by RT-qPCR and immunohistochemistry to evaluate intestinal barrier function. In addition, untargeted metabolomics was performed on cecal contents from each group to analyze metabolic profiles and enrichment of differential metabolic pathways. ResultsL. reuteri intervention significantly alleviated body weight loss (P<0.001) and colon shortening (P<0.05) in CIMI mice, effectively reducing ileal tissue pathological damage, and upregulating the expression of ZO-1, Occludin, Claudin4, Muc1, and Muc2 (P<0.05). Untargeted metabolomics analysis showed that L. reuteri treatment reversed the abnormal metabolic profile in the cecal contents of CIMI mice, bringing it closer to normal. Various differential metabolites, such as acylcarnitines and polyunsaturated fatty acids, might play an important role in L. reuteri-mediated alleviation of CIMI. These differential metabolites were primarily enriched in key pathways such as linoleic acid metabolism, tryptophan metabolism, and unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis. ConclusionThis study reveals that L. reuteri improves intestinal barrier function and alleviates CIMI by regulating the intestinal metabolic profile, particularly lipid and amino acid metabolism. It provides a novel potential strategy for the prevention and treatment of CIMI.
2.Proteomic Profiling of Qi-blood Deficiency vs Damp-heat Syndrome in Colorectal Cancer: Therapeutic Targeting by Astragaloside IV-berberine
Zhao-Huan LI ; Jing-Wen ZHAO ; Xin ZHANG ; Jian-Jin GUO ; Jie XU ; Zeng-Qiang YANG ; Hao TU ; Min ZOU ; Ming-Bin GUI ; Feng GAO
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2026;53(9):2462-2479
ObjectiveColorectal cancer (CRC) is a highly heterogeneous malignancy, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome differentiation is widely used in its clinical management. However, the biological basis underlying different TCM syndromes remains insufficiently understood. This study aimed to investigate the proteomic differences between qi-blood deficiency syndrome (QBDS) and damp-heat syndrome (DHS) in CRC patients and to establish a “syndrome-differential protein-herbal component” network for exploring potential molecular mechanisms and therapeutic targets associated with syndrome-specific treatment strategies. MethodsTumor tissue samples were collected from 10 patients with pathologically confirmed CRC, including 5 patients diagnosed with QBDS and 5 with DHS according to standardized TCM syndrome differentiation criteria. Tandem mass tag (TMT)-based quantitative proteomics was employed to identify differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) between the two syndrome groups. Functional enrichment analyses, including Gene Ontology (GO) annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses, were performed to characterize the biological functions and signaling pathways associated with the identified DEPs. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis was further applied to screen key syndrome-related proteins and construct a core protein prediction model. Subsequently, molecular docking was conducted to evaluate the binding affinities between representative herbal compounds, astragaloside IV and berberine, and the identified core proteins. Finally, cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assays were performed in HCT 116 and HT-29 colorectal cancer cell lines to validate the anti-proliferative activities of these compounds in vitro. ResultsA total of 44 DEPs were identified between QBDS and DHS tissues, including 21 upregulated and 23 downregulated proteins in the QBDS group relative to the DHS group. Functional enrichment analyses revealed that these proteins were primarily associated with antiviral immune responses, regulation of inflammatory signaling, NF‑κB signaling pathways, cholesterol metabolism, and other biological processes relevant to tumor progression and host immune regulation. LASSO regression analysis identified eight core proteins with potential syndrome-specific significance. Among them, ST7, GPCPD1, and PODXL were closely associated with QBDS, whereas FAT1, GRB7, KRT7, MAFF, and MMP8 were associated with DHS. Molecular docking demonstrated favorable interactions between astragaloside IV and QBDS-related proteins, with binding energies lower than -5 kcal/mol, indicating stable binding activity. Berberine exhibited even lower binding energies and stronger binding specificity toward DHS-related core proteins. In vitro experiments further confirmed that both compounds inhibited CRC cell proliferation, while berberine displayed significantly greater anti-proliferative efficacy. The lowest 48 h IC50 value of berberine reached 15.21 mg/L in CRC cells, indicating a stronger growth-inhibitory effect than astragaloside IV. ConclusionCRC patients with QBDS and DHS exhibit distinct proteomic characteristics, suggesting that different TCM syndromes possess unique molecular signatures. The identified core proteins may serve as potential biomarkers for syndrome differentiation, while astragaloside IV and berberine may exert therapeutic effects through targeting syndrome-specific molecular networks. These findings provide preliminary proteomic evidence supporting syndrome-guided precision integrative medicine in CRC and offer new insights into the biological basis of TCM syndrome differentiation and individualized therapeutic strategies.
3.Analysis on epidemiological characteristics and changing trends of fatal injury in residents in Qingdao, 2014 - 2023
Wensheng GUI ; Jie CHEN ; Yaoyao XU ; Zicheng JIN ; Haiping DUAN ; Hua ZHANG
Chinese Journal of Epidemiology 2025;46(9):1617-1622
Objective:To understand the epidemiological characteristics and changing trends of injury-related deaths in local residents in Qingdao from 2014 to 2023, and provide evidence for development of injury prevention and control measures.Methods:The incidence data on fatal injury in residents of Qingdao from 2014 to 2023 were used to describe the epidemiological characteristics of fatal injury by using fatal injury rate, standardized fatal injury rate, proportion, and death order. The average annual percentage change (AAPC) was used to describe the annual change in fatal injury rates, and the trend of fatal injury was analyzed.Results:From 2014 to 2023, a total of 23 533 residents died of injury in Qingdao, with a crude fatal injury rate of 28.74/100 000 and a standardized fatal injury rate of 27.64/100 000. The total fatal injury rate showed a downward trend (AAPC: -5.06%, P<0.05). The top three causes of fatal injury in the residents were road traffic accident (40.85%), suicide (15.80%), and accidental falls (12.92%). In terms of gender specific fatal injury cause, the top one in both men and women was road traffic accident injury. In terms of age specific fatal injury cause, the top one was road traffic accident in the all age groups, except age group 5-14 years with top cause of drowning. From 2014 to 2023, the fatal injury rates of road traffic accident, suicide, and accidental poisoning in the top five fatal injury causes showed a downward trend year by year (AAPC:-7.42%, -6.54%, -13.95%, P<0.05). Conclusions:The fatal injury rate showed a downward trend in the residents in Qingdao from 2014 to 2023. It is necessary to strengthen the prevention and control of road traffic accident injury, suicide, falls in the elderly, and drowning in adolescents.
4.One case of elderly pregnant women with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction was treated
Tao LI ; Gui-xia WEI ; Zhen-ye CHENG ; Jun-jie ZHANG ; Li YU ; Yuan-yuan SONG ; Xue-xiang LI
Chinese Journal of Interventional Cardiology 2025;33(7):412-417
Patients with advanced pregnancy complicated by acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction are relatively rare both domestically and internationally,and there are currently no relevant guidelines to guide clinical treatment.In this case,a 39-year-old pregnant woman was admitted to the hospital with sudden chest pain,and the electrocardiogram showed extensive anterior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.Coronary angiography showed subtotal subtotal occlusion of the proximal left anterior descending artery.Reperfusion and revascularization were given,and the blood flow grade of the trial of thrombolytic in myocardial infarction was restored.Complete intravascular ultrasonography to determine the cause of occlusion due to spontaneous hematoma of the left anterior descending artery.After the operation,a reasonable antiplatelet and anticoagulant treatment regimen was selected according to the coronary artery lesion,and the pregnancy was terminated at the appropriate time,and 1 live male baby was successfully delivered.Maternal and fetal health was followed up after 1、3 and 6 months.Through the experience and summary of the treatment process,combined with the literature,the pathogenesis of this disease is discussed,and the strategy of revascularization,the selection of antithrombotic drugs and the timing of pregnancy termination are discussed in depth for clinical reference.
5.Optimizing blood-brain barrier permeability in KRAS inhibitors:A structure-constrained molecular generation approach
Xia SHENG ; Yike GUI ; Jie YU ; Yitian WANG ; Zhenghao LI ; Xiaoya ZHANG ; Yuxin XING ; Yuqing WANG ; Zhaojun LI ; Mingyue ZHENG ; Liquan YANG ; Xutong LI
Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis 2025;15(8):1848-1859
Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog(KRAS)protein inhibitors are a promising class of thera-peutics,but research on molecules that effectively penetrate the blood-brain barrier(BBB)remains limited,which is crucial for treating central nervous system(CNS)malignancies.Although molecular generation models have recently advanced drug discovery,they often overlook the complexity of bio-logical and chemical factors,leaving room for improvement.In this study,we present a structure-constrained molecular generation workflow designed to optimize lead compounds for both drug effi-cacy and drug absorption properties.Our approach utilizes a variational autoencoder(VAE)generative model integrated with reinforcement learning for multi-objective optimization.This method specifically aims to enhance BBB permeability(BBBp)while maintaining high-affinity substructures of KRAS in-hibitors.To support this,we incorporate a specialized KRAS BBB predictor based on active learning and an affinity predictor employing comparative learning models.Additionally,we introduce two novel metrics,the knowledge-integrated reproduction score(KIRS)and the composite diversity score(CDS),to assess structural performance and biological relevance.Retrospective validation with KRAS inhibitors,AMG510 and MRTX849,demonstrates the framework's effectiveness in optimizing BBBp and highlights its potential for real-world drug development applications.This study provides a robust framework for accelerating the structural enhancement of lead compounds,advancing the drug development process across diverse targets.
6.Dimeric natural product panepocyclinol A inhibits STAT3 via di-covalent modification.
Li LI ; Yuezhou WANG ; Yiqiu WANG ; Xiaoyang LI ; Qihong DENG ; Fei GAO ; Wenhua LIAN ; Yunzhan LI ; Fu GUI ; Yanling WEI ; Su-Jie ZHU ; Cai-Hong YUN ; Lei ZHANG ; Zhiyu HU ; Qingyan XU ; Xiaobing WU ; Lanfen CHEN ; Dawang ZHOU ; Jianming ZHANG ; Fei XIA ; Xianming DENG
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2025;15(1):409-423
Homo- or heterodimeric compounds that affect dimeric protein function through interaction between monomeric moieties and protein subunits can serve as valuable sources of potent and selective drug candidates. Here, we screened an in-house dimeric natural product collection, and panepocyclinol A (PecA) emerged as a selective and potent STAT3 inhibitor with profound anti-tumor efficacy. Through cross-linking C712/C718 residues in separate STAT3 monomers with two distinct Michael receptors, PecA inhibits STAT3 DNA binding affinity and transcription activity. Molecular dynamics simulation reveals the key conformation changes of STAT3 dimers upon the di-covalent binding with PecA that abolishes its DNA interactions. Furthermore, PecA exhibits high efficacy against anaplastic large T cell lymphoma in vitro and in vivo, especially those with constitutively activated STAT3 or STAT3Y640F. In summary, our study describes a distinct and effective di-covalent modification for the dimeric compound PecA to disrupt STAT3 function.
7.Optimizing blood-brain barrier permeability in KRAS inhibitors: A structure-constrained molecular generation approach.
Xia SHENG ; Yike GUI ; Jie YU ; Yitian WANG ; Zhenghao LI ; Xiaoya ZHANG ; Yuxin XING ; Yuqing WANG ; Zhaojun LI ; Mingyue ZHENG ; Liquan YANG ; Xutong LI
Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis 2025;15(8):101337-101337
Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) protein inhibitors are a promising class of therapeutics, but research on molecules that effectively penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB) remains limited, which is crucial for treating central nervous system (CNS) malignancies. Although molecular generation models have recently advanced drug discovery, they often overlook the complexity of biological and chemical factors, leaving room for improvement. In this study, we present a structure-constrained molecular generation workflow designed to optimize lead compounds for both drug efficacy and drug absorption properties. Our approach utilizes a variational autoencoder (VAE) generative model integrated with reinforcement learning for multi-objective optimization. This method specifically aims to enhance BBB permeability (BBBp) while maintaining high-affinity substructures of KRAS inhibitors. To support this, we incorporate a specialized KRAS BBB predictor based on active learning and an affinity predictor employing comparative learning models. Additionally, we introduce two novel metrics, the knowledge-integrated reproduction score (KIRS) and the composite diversity score (CDS), to assess structural performance and biological relevance. Retrospective validation with KRAS inhibitors, AMG510 and MRTX849, demonstrates the framework's effectiveness in optimizing BBBp and highlights its potential for real-world drug development applications. This study provides a robust framework for accelerating the structural enhancement of lead compounds, advancing the drug development process across diverse targets.
9.One case of elderly pregnant women with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction was treated
Tao LI ; Gui-xia WEI ; Zhen-ye CHENG ; Jun-jie ZHANG ; Li YU ; Yuan-yuan SONG ; Xue-xiang LI
Chinese Journal of Interventional Cardiology 2025;33(7):412-417
Patients with advanced pregnancy complicated by acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction are relatively rare both domestically and internationally,and there are currently no relevant guidelines to guide clinical treatment.In this case,a 39-year-old pregnant woman was admitted to the hospital with sudden chest pain,and the electrocardiogram showed extensive anterior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.Coronary angiography showed subtotal subtotal occlusion of the proximal left anterior descending artery.Reperfusion and revascularization were given,and the blood flow grade of the trial of thrombolytic in myocardial infarction was restored.Complete intravascular ultrasonography to determine the cause of occlusion due to spontaneous hematoma of the left anterior descending artery.After the operation,a reasonable antiplatelet and anticoagulant treatment regimen was selected according to the coronary artery lesion,and the pregnancy was terminated at the appropriate time,and 1 live male baby was successfully delivered.Maternal and fetal health was followed up after 1、3 and 6 months.Through the experience and summary of the treatment process,combined with the literature,the pathogenesis of this disease is discussed,and the strategy of revascularization,the selection of antithrombotic drugs and the timing of pregnancy termination are discussed in depth for clinical reference.
10.Analysis on epidemiological characteristics and changing trends of fatal injury in residents in Qingdao, 2014 - 2023
Wensheng GUI ; Jie CHEN ; Yaoyao XU ; Zicheng JIN ; Haiping DUAN ; Hua ZHANG
Chinese Journal of Epidemiology 2025;46(9):1617-1622
Objective:To understand the epidemiological characteristics and changing trends of injury-related deaths in local residents in Qingdao from 2014 to 2023, and provide evidence for development of injury prevention and control measures.Methods:The incidence data on fatal injury in residents of Qingdao from 2014 to 2023 were used to describe the epidemiological characteristics of fatal injury by using fatal injury rate, standardized fatal injury rate, proportion, and death order. The average annual percentage change (AAPC) was used to describe the annual change in fatal injury rates, and the trend of fatal injury was analyzed.Results:From 2014 to 2023, a total of 23 533 residents died of injury in Qingdao, with a crude fatal injury rate of 28.74/100 000 and a standardized fatal injury rate of 27.64/100 000. The total fatal injury rate showed a downward trend (AAPC: -5.06%, P<0.05). The top three causes of fatal injury in the residents were road traffic accident (40.85%), suicide (15.80%), and accidental falls (12.92%). In terms of gender specific fatal injury cause, the top one in both men and women was road traffic accident injury. In terms of age specific fatal injury cause, the top one was road traffic accident in the all age groups, except age group 5-14 years with top cause of drowning. From 2014 to 2023, the fatal injury rates of road traffic accident, suicide, and accidental poisoning in the top five fatal injury causes showed a downward trend year by year (AAPC:-7.42%, -6.54%, -13.95%, P<0.05). Conclusions:The fatal injury rate showed a downward trend in the residents in Qingdao from 2014 to 2023. It is necessary to strengthen the prevention and control of road traffic accident injury, suicide, falls in the elderly, and drowning in adolescents.

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