OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the dynamic changes of glucocorticoid (GC) dose and the feasibility of GC discontinuation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients under the background of Chinese medicine (CM). METHODS: This multicenter retrospective cohort study included 1,196 RA patients enrolled in the China Rheumatoid Arthritis Registry of Patients with Chinese Medicine (CERTAIN) from September 1, 2019 to December 4, 2023, who initiated GC therapy. Participants were divided into the Western medicine (WM) and integrative medicine (IM, combination of CM and WM) groups based on medication regimen. Follow-up was performed at least every 3 months to assess dynamic changes in GC dose. Changes in GC dose were analyzed by generalized estimator equation, the probability of GC discontinuation was assessed using Kaplan-Meier curve, and predictors of GC discontinuation were analyzed by Cox regression. Patients with <12 months of follow-up were excluded for the sensitivity analysis. RESULTS: Among 1,196 patients (85.4% female; median age 56.4 years), 880 (73.6%) received IM. Over a median 12-month follow-up, 34.3% (410 cases) discontinued GC, with significantly higher rates in the IM group (40.8% vs. 16.1% in WM; P<0.05). GC dose declined progressively, with IM patients demonstrating faster reductions (median 3.75 mg vs. 5.00 mg in WM at 12 months; P<0.05). Multivariate Cox analysis identified age <60 years [P<0.001, hazard ratios (HR)=2.142, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.523-3.012], IM therapy (P=0.001, HR=2.175, 95% CI: 1.369-3.456), baseline GC dose ⩽7.5 mg (P=0.003, HR=1.637, 95% CI: 1.177-2.275), and absence of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs use (P=0.001, HR=2.546, 95% CI: 1.432-4.527) as significant predictors of GC discontinuation. Sensitivity analysis (545 cases) confirmed these findings. CONCLUSIONS RA patients receiving CM face difficulties in following guideline-recommended GC discontinuation protocols. IM can promote GC discontinuation and is a promising strategy to reduce GC dependency in RA management. (Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, No. NCT05219214).
Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid/drug therapy* ; Glucocorticoids/therapeutic use* ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Retrospective Studies

Tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), are a series of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by pathological accumulation of the microtubule-associated protein tau. Since the abnormal modification and deposition of tau in nerve cells are crucial for tauopathy etiology, methods for reducing tau levels, such as promoting tau degradation, may become effective strategies for disease treatment. Herein, we identified that sorafenib significantly reduced total tau and phosphorylated tau levels through screening FDA-approved drugs. We showed that sorafenib treatment attenuated cognitive deficits and tau pathologies in PS19 tauopathy model mice. Mechanistically, we found that sorafenib inhibited multiple kinases involved in tau phosphorylation and promoted autophagy. Importantly, we further demonstrated that sorafenib also promoted the expression of the E3 ubiquitin ligase FBXW7, which could bind tau and mediate tau degradation through the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Finally, we showed that FBXW7 expression decreased in the brains of AD patients and tauopathy model mice, and that overexpression of FBXW7 in the hippocampus attenuated cognitive deficits and tau pathologies in PS19 mice. These results suggest that sorafenib may be a promising treatment option for tauopathies by promoting tau degradation and reducing tau phosphorylation, and that targeting FBXW7 could also serve as an alternative therapeutic strategy for tauopathies.

Objective:To explore the value of serum P-selectin,Interleukin-18(IL-18),and Homocysteine(Hcy)levels in predicting the adverse outcomes of interventional therapy in elderly patients with deep vein thrombosis(DVT)in the lower extremities.Methods:A total of 165 elderly patients with DVT from January 2020 to August 2023 were se-lected.All patients underwent transcatheter intervention thrombolysis therapy.Patients were divided into good outcome group and poor outcome group according to the clinical treatment outcome.Serum P-selectin,IL-18,and Hcy levels were compared between the two groups.The correlation between serum P-selectin,IL-18,and Hcy levels and disease indicators,as well as the outcomes of interventional therapy was analyzed.The predictive value of serum P-selectin,IL-18,and Hcy levels for the outcomes of interventional therapy was evaluated.Results:The total effective rate of catheter-based interventional thrombolysis in 165 patients was 81.82%(135/165).The patients with good outcomes were included in the good outcome group,and the patients with poor outcomes were included in the poor outcome group.The difference in circumference between the affected side and the healthy side of the thigh and the difference in circumference between the affected side and the healthy side of the calf in the poor outcome group were greater than those in the good outcome group(P<0.05).The levels of serum P-selectin,IL-18,and Hcy in the poor outcome group were higher than those in the good outcome group(P<0.05).The levels of serum P-selectin,IL-18,and Hcy were posi-tively correlated with the difference in circumference between the affected and healthy thighs and the difference in cir-cumference between the affected and healthy calves,and negatively correlated with the outcome of interventional therapy(P<0.05).Before and after correcting other factors,serum P-selectin,IL-18,and Hcy were all independent risk factors for the outcome of interventional therapy in elderly patients with DVT(P<0.05).The area under the curve(AUC)of serum P-selectin,IL-18,and Hcy for predicting the outcome of interventional therapy for elderly DVT was 0.789(95%CI:0.718-0.848),0.812(95%CI:0.744-0.868),and 0.792(95%CI:0.722-0.851),respectively.The cutoff values were 44.21 ng/mL,185.73 ng/L,and 23.60 μmol/L,with sensitivities of 70.00%,70.00%,and 80.00%,and specificities of 82.22%,82.96%,and 68.15%,respectively.The AUC of the combined prediction of the outcomes of interventional therapy for elderly DVT was 0.935(95%CI:0.886-0.967),with a cutoff value of 44.08 ng/mL,185.16 ng/L,and 23.37 μmol/L for the three variables,with a sensitivity of 86.67%and a specificity of 88.15%.This was significantly better than the individual prediction values of the three variables(Z=5.817,4.753,5.206,all P<0.001).Conclusion:Serum P-selectin,IL-18,and Hcy are significantly correlated with disease indicators and interventional treatment outcomes in el-derly patients with DVT,and can effectively predict the outcome of interventional treatment,with a high combined pre-dictive value.

OBJECTIVE: This cross-sectional study assessed the methodological quality of systematic reviews (SRs) of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) published in Chinese between Jan 2021 and Sep 2022. METHODS: Chinese language CHM SRs were identified through literature searches across 3 international and 4 Chinese databases. Methodological quality was appraised using A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews 2. Logistic regressions were used to explore associations between bibliographical characteristics and quality. RESULTS: Analyses of methodological quality found that among the 213 sampled SRs, 69.5% were of critically low quality, 30.5% were of low quality, and none achieved high or moderate quality. Common shortcomings included the failure to identify the studies excluded from the analysis, failure to disclose funding sources, and limited evaluation of the potential impact of bias on conclusions. Logistic regressions revealed that SRs led by corresponding authors affiliated with universities or academic institutions tended to be of lower quality than SRs led by authors affiliated with hospitals or clinical facilities. CONCLUSION Recent Chinese language CHM SRs exhibited limited methodological quality, making them unlikely to support the development of clinical practice guidelines. Urgent initiatives are needed to enhance training for researchers, peer-reviewers and editors involved in the preparation and publication of SRs. Adoption of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses reporting guidelines in Chinese language journals is crucial to improve the relevance of SRs for Chinese medicine development. Addressing deficiencies in methodology and reporting is essential for promoting evidence-based practices and informed clinical decisions in Chinese medicine. Please cite this article as: Jiang Y, Zhong CC, Wang BH, Xu SS, Ho FF, Kwong MH, Ho L, Zhou JHS, Lam KC, Liu JP, Zhang BT, Chung VCH. Methodological quality of systematic reviews on orally administered Chinese herbal medicine published in Chinese between 2021 and 2022: A cross-sectional study. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(5):492-501.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Systematic Reviews as Topic/standards* ; Humans ; China ; Administration, Oral ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

Objective:To explore the value of serum P-selectin,Interleukin-18(IL-18),and Homocysteine(Hcy)levels in predicting the adverse outcomes of interventional therapy in elderly patients with deep vein thrombosis(DVT)in the lower extremities.Methods:A total of 165 elderly patients with DVT from January 2020 to August 2023 were se-lected.All patients underwent transcatheter intervention thrombolysis therapy.Patients were divided into good outcome group and poor outcome group according to the clinical treatment outcome.Serum P-selectin,IL-18,and Hcy levels were compared between the two groups.The correlation between serum P-selectin,IL-18,and Hcy levels and disease indicators,as well as the outcomes of interventional therapy was analyzed.The predictive value of serum P-selectin,IL-18,and Hcy levels for the outcomes of interventional therapy was evaluated.Results:The total effective rate of catheter-based interventional thrombolysis in 165 patients was 81.82%(135/165).The patients with good outcomes were included in the good outcome group,and the patients with poor outcomes were included in the poor outcome group.The difference in circumference between the affected side and the healthy side of the thigh and the difference in circumference between the affected side and the healthy side of the calf in the poor outcome group were greater than those in the good outcome group(P<0.05).The levels of serum P-selectin,IL-18,and Hcy in the poor outcome group were higher than those in the good outcome group(P<0.05).The levels of serum P-selectin,IL-18,and Hcy were posi-tively correlated with the difference in circumference between the affected and healthy thighs and the difference in cir-cumference between the affected and healthy calves,and negatively correlated with the outcome of interventional therapy(P<0.05).Before and after correcting other factors,serum P-selectin,IL-18,and Hcy were all independent risk factors for the outcome of interventional therapy in elderly patients with DVT(P<0.05).The area under the curve(AUC)of serum P-selectin,IL-18,and Hcy for predicting the outcome of interventional therapy for elderly DVT was 0.789(95%CI:0.718-0.848),0.812(95%CI:0.744-0.868),and 0.792(95%CI:0.722-0.851),respectively.The cutoff values were 44.21 ng/mL,185.73 ng/L,and 23.60 μmol/L,with sensitivities of 70.00%,70.00%,and 80.00%,and specificities of 82.22%,82.96%,and 68.15%,respectively.The AUC of the combined prediction of the outcomes of interventional therapy for elderly DVT was 0.935(95%CI:0.886-0.967),with a cutoff value of 44.08 ng/mL,185.16 ng/L,and 23.37 μmol/L for the three variables,with a sensitivity of 86.67%and a specificity of 88.15%.This was significantly better than the individual prediction values of the three variables(Z=5.817,4.753,5.206,all P<0.001).Conclusion:Serum P-selectin,IL-18,and Hcy are significantly correlated with disease indicators and interventional treatment outcomes in el-derly patients with DVT,and can effectively predict the outcome of interventional treatment,with a high combined pre-dictive value.

At present, brain disease has become a "killer" in the field of general health, and the existence of blood-brain barrier has become one of the challenges in drug delivery into the brain. According to studies, cell membrane coating technique can endow nanoparticles with the characteristics of immune escape, long circulation, targeted delivery, and so on. Therefore, membrane biomimetic nanoparticles have been widely used in the field of disease treatment. Among them, the cell membrane derived from immune cells, tumor cells, and stem cells can cross the blood-brain barrier through the transcellular pathway and cell bypass pathway, which is used to prepare biomimetic membrane nanoparticles to break through the blood-brain barrier to achieve the treatment of brain diseases. What's more, the brain targeted ability of biomimetic nanoparticles would be further enhanced by modifying the cell membrane with peptides. This paper introduces the preparation methods of membrane biomimetic nanoparticles, expounds in detail the way that cell membrane coated nanoparticles break through the blood-brain barrier and achieve efficient intracerebral drug delivery. It also summarizes the prospects and challenges of this novel drug delivery system in the treatment of brain diseases, providing a reference for the research of membrane biomimetic nanoparticles in the treatment of brain diseases.

The third-generation epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor osimertinib (OSI) has been approved as the first-line treatment for EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study aims to explore a rational combination strategy for enhancing the OSI efficacy. In this study, OSI induced higher CD47 expression, an important anti-phagocytic immune checkpoint, via the NF-κB pathway in EGFR-mutant NSCLC HCC827 and NCI-H1975 cells. The combination treatment of OSI and the anti-CD47 antibody exhibited dramatically increasing phagocytosis in HCC827 and NCI-H1975 cells, which highly relied on the antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis effect. Consistently, the enhanced phagocytosis index from combination treatment was reversed in CD47 knockout HCC827 cells. Meanwhile, combining the anti-CD47 antibody significantly augmented the anticancer effect of OSI in HCC827 xenograft mice model. Notably, OSI induced the surface exposure of "eat me" signal calreticulin and reduced the expression of immune-inhibitory receptor PD-L1 in cancer cells, which might contribute to the increased phagocytosis on cancer cells pretreated with OSI. In summary, these findings suggest the multidimensional regulation by OSI and encourage the further exploration of combining anti-CD47 antibody with OSI as a new strategy to enhance the anticancer efficacy in EGFR-mutant NSCLC with CD47 activation induced by OSI.
Humans ; Mice ; Animals ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/metabolism* ; Lung Neoplasms/metabolism* ; Acrylamides/pharmacology* ; ErbB Receptors/metabolism* ; Cell Line, Tumor ; CD47 Antigen/therapeutic use*

OBJECTIVES: To study the early clinical efficacy of combined therapy of stage 4 neuroblastoma. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on the medical data and follow-up data of 14 children with stage 4 neuroblastoma who were diagnosed in Hong Kong University-Shenzhen Hospital from January 2016 to June 2021. RESULTS: The median age of onset was 3 years and 7.5 months in these 14 children. Among these children, 9 had positive results of bone marrow biopsy, 4 had N-Myc gene amplification, 13 had an increase in neuron-specific enolase, and 7 had an increase in vanilmandelic acid in urine. Based on the results of pathological examination, differentiated type was observed in 6 children, undifferentiated type in one child, mixed type, in one child and poorly differentiated type in 6 children. Of all the children, 10 received chemotherapy with the N7 regimen (including 2 children receiving arsenic trioxide in addition) and 4 received chemotherapy with the Rapid COJEC regimen. Thirteen children underwent surgery, 14 received hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and 10 received radiotherapy. A total of 8 children received Ch14.18/CHO immunotherapy, among whom 1 child discontinued due to anaphylactic shock during immunotherapy, and the other 7 children completed Ch14.18/CHO treatment without serious adverse events, among whom 1 child was treated with Lu177 Dotatate 3 times after recurrence and is still undergoing chemotherapy at present. The median follow-up time was 45 months for all the 14 children. Four children experienced recurrence within 2 years, and the 2-year overall survival rate was 100%; 4 children experienced recurrence within 3 years, and 7 achieved disease-free survival within 3 years. CONCLUSIONS Multidisciplinary combined therapy is recommended for children with stage 4 neuroblastoma and can help them achieve better survival and prognosis.
Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use* ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Humans ; Infant ; Neuroblastoma/drug therapy* ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Radionuclide Imaging ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

This study explored the correlation between color and chemical components of Chrysanthemi Indici Flos(CIF), aiming at providing a reference for its procurement, evaluation, and breeding. Colorimeter and ultra-performance liquid chromatograph(UPLC) were used to determine the color(lightness-shade chromaticity value L~*, red-green chromaticity value a~*, yellow-blue chromati-city value b~*) and chemical components(cynaroside, linarin, luteolin, apigenin, and chlorogenic acid) of 84 CIF germplasms, respectively. Diversity analysis, correlation analysis, regression analysis, and cluster analysis were performed. The results showed that the color and chemical components of CIF were diversified. Chlorogenic acid was in significantly positive correlation with L~* and b~* and significantly negative correlation with a~*. Cynaroside and grey relational grade γ_i of chemical components were in significantly po-sitive correlation with b~* and L~*, respectively, whereas linarin, luteolin, and apigenin had no significant correlation with L~*, a~*, or b~*. The 84 CIF germplasms were clustered into 4 clades. In addition, germplasms in clade Ⅲ had higher γ_i and total color value(E~*_(ab)) than those in other clades, with the best quality and color, and a germplasm with the highest quality, bright yellow color, and highest content of linarin was screened out in this clade. Thus, CIF with bright yellow color had high content of cymaroside and chlorogenic acid and thereby high quality. In summary, the color can be used to quickly predict the quality of CIF. Our results provided data for the evaluation of CIF quality by color and a reference for its procurement and breeding.
Chrysanthemum/chemistry* ; Luteolin/analysis* ; Chlorogenic Acid/analysis* ; Apigenin/analysis* ; Plant Breeding ; Excipients ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods*

Pancreaticojejunostomy is the most common anastomosis following pancreaticoduodenectomy and middle pancreatectomy. The detailed surgical technics of pancreaticojejunostomy vary dramatically, but none of them can achieve zero fistula rate. In recent years,with the development of new surgical concept,application of new surgical technology, high-tech materials and instruments,the incidence of pancreatic fistula has decreased. At the same time,researches on investigating the risk factors of pancreaticojejunostomy are gradually deepening. Based on years of surgical experience on pancreaticojejunostomy and current literatures, this paper analyzes the factors affecting the effect of pancreaticojejunostomy, such as the patient's basic physical state,pancreatic texture and diameter of the pancreatic duct,pathology and course of the disease,surgical technology and perioperative management,and summarizes six technical principles for pancreaticojejunostomy to be shared with surgical comrades:appropriate tension,protection of blood supply,hermetic closure of pancreatic section,accurate connection of pancreatic duct and intestinal mucosa,individualization,learning and accumulation of experience.
Anastomosis, Surgical/adverse effects* ; Humans ; Pancreatic Fistula/prevention & control* ; Pancreaticoduodenectomy/adverse effects* ; Pancreaticojejunostomy/adverse effects* ; Postoperative Complications/epidemiology* ; Treatment Outcome