AIM: To detect the distribution and expression of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)in radiation retinopathy(RR)through fluorescence targeted imaging.METHODS:Covalent binding of fluorescein FITC with VEGF antibody ranibizumab to prepare targeted fluorescent imaging probe ranibizumab-FITC. SD rats were randomly divided into three groups based on the principle of weight balance: a normal control group(Con group), a low-dose radiation group(10 Gy group), and a high-dose radiation group(30 Gy group). Medical linear accelerators and lead blocks were used to locally irradiate the rat eyeballs for modeling. Western blot and qRT-PCR were used to detect the expression levels of VEGF-A in each group and to screen for appropriate modeling dose. The inverted fluorescence microscope and the confocal microscope were used to observe the distribution of VEGF and imaging probes in the retinas of control and RR model group rats, and to verify the effectiveness of targeted probes.RESULTS:The expression level of VEGF-A in the retina of rats in the high-dose radiation group(30 Gy group)was higher than that in the normal control group(Con group). In early RR, VEGF expression was observed to be associated with microaneurysms and abnormal microvessels in the retina. VEGF accumulation was observed at the site of capillary wall damage. When retinal capillary endothelial damage occurred, targeted probes gathered on the outer surface of the vessel wall.CONCLUSION:The expression level of VEGF in the retina of RR model rats is elevated, and fluorescent targeted molecular imaging probes can detect the spatial distribution of VEGF at the microvascular lesions in the retina of RR rats.

Hepatitis D virus （HDV）， as a defective virus， relies on the envelope protein of hepatitis B virus （HBV） to complete replication and transmission. Chronic hepatitis B （CHB） patients comorbid with HDV infection may experience significant acceleration of liver disease progression and a significantly higher risk of serious complications such as liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） compared with the patients with CHB alone， which poses a serious threat to the life and health of patients. At present， the coverage rate of HDV screening needs to be improved， and some patients with HBV/HDV co-infection have not been found in time. Therefore， strengthening the understanding of HDV among clinicians， expanding the scope of HDV screening， identifying patients with infection in a timely manner， and performing standardized antiviral therapy and long-term follow-up management are of great significance for improving the prognosis of patients， reducing disease burden， improving the quality of life of patients， and achieving the global goal of “eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030”.

BACKGROUND:Gradient artificial bone repair scaffolds can mimic unique anatomical features in musculoskeletal tissues,showing great potential for repairing injured musculoskeletal tissues. OBJECTIVE:To review the latest research advances in gradient artificial bone repair scaffolds for tissue engineering in the musculoskeletal system and describe their advantages and fabrication strategies. METHODS:The first author of the article searched the Web of Science and PubMed databases for articles published from 2000 to 2023 with search terms"gradient,bone regeneration,scaffold".Finally,76 papers were analyzed and summarized after the screening. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)As an important means of efficient and high-quality repair of skeletal system tissues,gradient artificial bone repair scaffolds are currently designed bionically for the natural gradient characteristics of bone tissue,bone-cartilage,and tendon-bone tissue.These scaffolds can mimic the extracellular matrix of native tissues to a certain extent in terms of structure and composition,thus promoting cell adhesion,migration,proliferation,differentiation,and regenerative recovery of damaged tissues to their native state.(2)Advanced manufacturing technology provides more possibilities for gradient artificial bone repair scaffold preparation:Gradient electrospun fiber scaffolds constructed by spatially differentiated fiber arrangement and loading of biologically active substances have been developed;gradient 3D printed scaffolds fabricated by layered stacking,graded porosity,and bio-3D printing technology;gradient hydrogel scaffolds fabricated by in-situ layered injections,simple layer-by-layer stacking,and freeze-drying method;and in addition,there are also scaffolds made by other modalities or multi-method coupling.These scaffolds have demonstrated good biocompatibility in vitro experiments,were able to accelerate tissue regeneration in small animal tests,and were observed to have significantly improved histological structure.(3)The currently developed gradient artificial bone repair scaffolds have problems such as mismatch of gradient scales,unclear material-tissue interactions,and side effects caused by degradation products,which need to be further optimized by combining the strengths of related disciplines and clinical needs in the future.

The Expert Consensus on Clinical Application of Qinbaohong Zhike Oral Liquid in Treatment of Acute Bronchitis and Acute Attack of Chronic Bronchitis （GS/CACM 337-2023） was released by the China Association of Chinese Medicine on December 13^th， 2023. This expert consensus was developed by experts in methodology， pharmacy， and Chinese medicine in strict accordance with the development requirements of the China Association of Chinese Medicine （CACM） and based on the latest medical evidence and the clinical medication experience of well-known experts in the fields of respiratory medicine （pulmonary diseases） and pediatrics. This expert consensus defines the application of Qinbaohong Zhike oral liquid in the treatment of cough and excessive sputum caused by phlegm-heat obstructing lung， acute bronchitis， and acute attack of chronic bronchitis from the aspects of applicable populations， efficacy evaluation， usage， dosage， drug combination， and safety. It is expected to guide the rational drug use in medical and health institutions， give full play to the unique value of Qinbaohong Zhike oral liquid， and vigorously promote the inheritance and innovation of Chinese patent medicines.

Tumor drug resistance is an important problem in the failure of chemotherapy and targeted drug therapy, which is a complex process involving chromatin remodeling. SWI/SNF is one of the most studied ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complexes in tumorigenesis, which plays an important role in the coordination of chromatin structural stability, gene expression, and post-translation modification. However, its mechanism in tumor drug resistance has not been systematically combed. SWI/SNF can be divided into 3 types according to its subunit composition: BAF, PBAF, and ncBAF. These 3 subtypes all contain two mutually exclusive ATPase catalytic subunits (SMARCA2 or SMARCA4), core subunits (SMARCC1 and SMARCD1), and regulatory subunits (ARID1A, PBRM1, and ACTB, etc.), which can control gene expression by regulating chromatin structure. The change of SWI/SNF complex subunits is one of the important factors of tumor drug resistance and progress. SMARCA4 and ARID1A are the most widely studied subunits in tumor drug resistance. Low expression of SMARCA4 can lead to the deletion of the transcription inhibitor of the BCL2L1 gene in mantle cell lymphoma, which will result in transcription up-regulation and significant resistance to the combination therapy of ibrutinib and venetoclax. Low expression of SMARCA4 and high expression of SMARCA2 can activate the FGFR1-pERK1/2 signaling pathway in ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma cells, which induces the overexpression of anti-apoptosis gene BCL2 and results in carboplatin resistance. SMARCA4 deletion can up-regulate epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) by activating YAP1 gene expression in triple-negative breast cancer. It can also reduce the expression of Ca²⁺ channel IP3R3 in ovarian and lung cancer, resulting in the transfer of Ca²⁺ needed to induce apoptosis from endoplasmic reticulum to mitochondria damage. Thus, these two tumors are resistant to cisplatin. It has been found that verteporfin can overcome the drug resistance induced by SMARCA4 deletion. However, this inhibitor has not been applied in clinical practice. Therefore, it is a promising research direction to develop SWI/SNF ATPase targeted drugs with high oral bioavailability to treat patients with tumor resistance induced by low expression or deletion of SMARCA4. ARID1A deletion can activate the expression of ANXA1 protein in HER2+ breast cancer cells or down-regulate the expression of progesterone receptor B protein in endometrial cancer cells. The drug resistance of these two tumor cells to trastuzumab or progesterone is induced by activating AKT pathway. ARID1A deletion in ovarian cancer can increase the expression of MRP2 protein and make it resistant to carboplatin and paclitaxel. ARID1A deletion also can up-regulate the phosphorylation levels of EGFR, ErbB2, and RAF1 oncogene proteins.The ErbB and VEGF pathway are activated and EMT is increased. As a result, lung adenocarcinoma is resistant to epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs). Although great progress has been made in the research on the mechanism of SWI/SNF complex inducing tumor drug resistance, most of the research is still at the protein level. It is necessary to comprehensively and deeply explore the detailed mechanism of drug resistance from gene, transcription, protein, and metabolite levels by using multi-omics techniques, which can provide sufficient theoretical basis for the diagnosis and treatment of poor tumor prognosis caused by mutation or abnormal expression of SWI/SNF subunits in clinical practice.

Objective To explore the accuracy of artificial intelligence-based diagnosis of ovarian malignant tumors and the identification of benign and malignant tumors under transabdominal scanning and transvaginal scanning methods. Methods A dataset of transabdominal and transvaginal two-dimensional ultrasound images was used and the images were preprocessed to enhance quality. The region of interest was segmented and divided into a training set and a test set. A convolutional neural network (CNN) was trained on the images in the training set, and the accuracy of the model on the test set was calculated. Results Transvaginal scanning was 14% more accurate in diagnosing malignant ovarian tumors than transabdo-minal scanning on the test set. For identifying the benign and malignant ovarian tumors containing cystic components, a mixture of transvaginal and transabdominal scanning increased the accuracy by 9.7% over transabdominal scanning alone. Conclusion CNN can identify ovarian malignant tumors under both scanning methods, but the accuracy of transvaginal scanning is higher than that of transabdominal scanning, and the CNN model has a higher accuracy in identifying benign and malignant ovarian tumors under transvaginal scanning.

Objective To develop and validate a model to predict the risk of radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) and assess its clinical feasibility. Methods Clinical data from 125 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were included in the study. The patients were divided into training group (88 cases) and validation group (38 cases). Key predictive factors were identified using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses combined with least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression. A predictive model was constructed and evaluated using a nomogram, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, calibration curve, and decision curve analysis. Results The key variables identified by the model were tumor volume (P = 0.017), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status score (P = 0.035), 95% of the minimum dose to the target volume (P = 0.028), percentage of bilateral lung volume receiving 20 Gy of radiation (P < 0.001), and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (P = 0.021). The ROC curve showed that the areas under the curve (AUC) for the model in the training and validation groups were 0.987 and 0.992, respectively, indicating good predictive ability. The calibration curve and decision curve further confirmed the accuracy and clinical practicability of the model. Conclusion The predictive model proposed in this study can accurately assess the risk of developing RILI in patients with NSCLC who have undergone radiotherapy, demonstrating its potential value in clinical practice.

ObjectiveBased on the TCM theory of "Yang transforms materials to Qi while Yin constitutes material form"， this paper explored the effects of Zuogui Wan and Yougui Wan on the molecular mechanism of mitochondrial biogenesis during the adipogenic differentiation process of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells （BMSCs） by mediating peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator-1α （PGC-1α） and peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor γ （PPARγ）， providing theoretical support for the prevention and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis （PMOP） using Zuogui Wan and Yougui Wan. MethodsBMSCs were divided into a blank group， Zuogui Wan （ZGW） group， Yougui Wan （YGW） group， and Progynova group. Cell identification was performed using flow cytometry. The growth curves of BMSCs were plotted using the methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide （MTT） method， and the effects of Zuogui Wan and Yougui Wan on the proliferation of BMSCs were detected. The Oil red O staining method was used to detect lipid droplet formation. The Western blot method was used to detect the expression of adipogenesis-related factors PPARγ， CCAAT/enharcer-binding protein （C/EBP）α， C/EBPβ， lipoprotein lipase （LPL） protein， brown adipose tissue-related （BAT） proteins PGC-1α， uncoupcing protein 1 （UCP1）， PR domdin-containing protein 16 （PRDM16）， mitochondrial biogenesis-related PGC-1α， nuclear respiratory factor 1 （Nrf1）， nuclear factor E₂-related factor 2 （Nrf2）， and mitochondrial transcription factor A （TFAM）. The expression of adipogenesis-related factors PPARγ， C/EBPα， C/EBPβ， LPL genes， and the copy number of cytochrome B （CytoB mtDNA） gene was detected using real-time polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR）. Mitochondrial ultrastructure was detected using transmission electron microscopy. ResultsCompared with that in the blank group， the proliferation ability of BMSCs in each treatment group increased continuously as the intervention progressed， and lipid droplets significantly decreased after the drug intervention. The mRNA and protein expression levels of adipogenesis-related factors PPARγ， C/EBPα， C/EBPβ， and LPL were significantly downregulated （P<0.01）， while those of the BAT-related factors PGC-1α， UCP1， PRDM16 were significantly upregulated （P<0.01）. The number of mitochondria increased， accompanied by reduced swelling. The double membrane and cristae structure were clear， and the internal cristae rupture was reduced. The copy number of CytoB mtDNA in each treatment group was significantly increased （P<0.01）. The protein expression levels of mitochondrial biogenesis-related PGC-1α， Nrf1， Nrf2， and TFAM in each treatment group were significantly increased （P<0.01）. ConclusionBoth Zuogui Wan and Yougui Wan can prevent and treat PMOP by intervening in mitochondrial biogenesis in BMSCs through PGC-1α/PPARγ.

Adipose tissue is a critical energy reservoir in animals and humans, with multifaceted roles in endocrine regulation, immune response, and providing mechanical protection. Based on anatomical location and functional characteristics, adipose tissue can be categorized into distinct types, including white adipose tissue (WAT), brown adipose tissue (BAT), beige adipose tissue, and pink adipose tissue. Traditionally, adipose tissue research has centered on its morphological and functional properties as a whole. However, with the advent of single-cell transcriptomics, a new level of complexity in adipose tissue has been unveiled, showing that even under identical conditions, cells of the same type may exhibit significant variation in morphology, structure, function, and gene expression——phenomena collectively referred to as cellular heterogeneity. Single-cell transcriptomics, including techniques like single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq), enables in-depth analysis of the diversity and heterogeneity of adipocytes at the single-cell level. This high-resolution approach has not only deepened our understanding of adipocyte functionality but also facilitated the discovery of previously unidentified cell types and gene expression patterns that may play key roles in adipose tissue function. This review delves into the latest advances in the application of single-cell transcriptomics in elucidating the heterogeneity and diversity within adipose tissue, highlighting how these findings have redefined the understanding of cell subpopulations within different adipose depots. Moreover, the review explores how single-cell transcriptomic technologies have enabled the study of cellular communication pathways and differentiation trajectories among adipose cell subgroups. By mapping these interactions and differentiation processes, researchers gain insights into how distinct cellular subpopulations coordinate within adipose tissues, which is crucial for maintaining tissue homeostasis and function. Understanding these mechanisms is essential, as dysregulation in adipose cell interactions and differentiation underlies a range of metabolic disorders, including obesity and diabetes mellitus type 2. Furthermore, single-cell transcriptomics holds promising implications for identifying therapeutic targets; by pinpointing specific cell types and gene pathways involved in adipose tissue dysfunction, these technologies pave the way for developing targeted interventions aimed at modulating specific adipose subpopulations. In summary, this review provides a comprehensive analysis of the role of single-cell transcriptomic technologies in uncovering the heterogeneity and functional diversity of adipose tissues.

BACKGROUND: Preclinical studies have indicated that Angong Niuhuang Pills (ANP) reduce cerebral infarct and edema volumes. This study aimed to investigate whether ANP safely reduces cerebral infarct and edema volumes in patients with moderate to severe acute ischemic stroke. METHODS: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot trial included patients with acute ischemic stroke with National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores ranging from 10 to 20 in 17 centers in China between April 2021 and July 2022. Patients were allocated within 36 h after onset via block randomization to receive ANP or placebo (3 g/day for 5 days). The primary outcomes were changes in cerebral infarct and edema volumes after 14 days of treatment. The primary safety outcome was severe adverse events (SAEs) for 90 days. RESULTS: There were 57 and 60 patients finally included in the ANP and placebo groups, respectively for modified intention-to-treat analysis. The median age was 66.0 years, and the median NIHSS score at baseline was 12.0. The changes in cerebral infarct volume at day 14 were 0.3 mL and 0.4 mL in the ANP and placebo groups, respectively (median difference: -7.1 mL; interquartile range [IQR]: -18.3 to 2.3 mL, P = 0.30). The changes in cerebral edema volume of the ANP and placebo groups on day 14 were 11.4 mL and 4.0 mL, respectively ( median difference: 3.0 mL, IQR: -1.3 to 9.9 mL, P = 0.15). The rates of SAE within 90 days were similar in the ANP (3/57, 5%) and placebo (7/60, 12%) groups ( P = 0.36). Changes in serum mercury and arsenic concentrations were comparable. In patients with large artery atherosclerosis, ANP reduced the cerebral infarct volume at 14 days (median difference: -12.3 mL; IQR: -27.7 to -0.3 mL, P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: ANP showed a similar safety profile to placebo and non-significant tendency to reduce cerebral infarct volume in patients with moderate-to-severe stroke. Further studies are warranted to assess the efficacy of ANP in reducing cerebral infarcts and improving clinical prognosis. TRAIL REGISTRATION Clinicaltrials.gov , No. NCT04475328.
Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Double-Blind Method ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/adverse effects* ; Ischemic Stroke/drug therapy* ; Pilot Projects ; Stroke/drug therapy* ; Treatment Outcome