In recent years， NOD-like receptor protein 3 （NLRP3） inflammasome in tumors has become a research hotspot， especially in melanoma， colorectal cancer， lung cancer， and breast cancer， and more and more evidence has shown that inflammation plays a role in the development， progression， angiogenesis， and invasion of cancer. Hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） is the most common type of primary liver cancer， and there are still controversies over the role of NLRP3 inflammasome in the development and progression of HCC. Therefore， this article reviews the potential impact of NLRP3 inflammasome in the progression of HCC and its mechanism of action in anticancer therapy， and it is believed that NLRP3 inflammasome can be used as an effective therapeutic target for HCC patients.

In the era of evidence-based medicine, it is necessary to explore the unique advantages of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) based on standardized technical methods and operating procedures in order to achieve the modernization and internationalization of TCM and benefit all humanity. The proposal of a three-pronged evidence system combining TCM theory, human experience and experimental evidence marks an important progress in the thinking method of the TCM evaluation system. The multi-evidence body integrated through appropriate methods provides a strong support for the clinical guideline recommendations and evidence-based health decision-making in TCM. Based on the current methodological progress of international evidence synthesis and grading, this paper proposes a novel approach for integrating multi-evidence in TCM: the MERGE framework. The aim is to establish a solid foundation for the development of this methodology and provide guidance for the advancement of evidence-based medicine framework in TCM.

As the foremost among the four examinations in traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）， inspection and related equipment research face challenges in landing and transformation due to variations in evidence quality， lack of standardization， insufficient algorithm transparency， and poor reliability and stability of decision-making. Against the backdrop of rapid development of emerging technologies such as big data， the internet of things， and artificial intelligence， coupled with macro policy support from the government， digital and intelligent generalized inspection in TCM has emerged， with the aim of utilizing digital technologies to overcome the limitations of naked-eye inspection and comprehensively perceive and analyze facial and bodily expressions. The research in this field intelligently correlates Zang-fu organ functions with health conditions and disease progression and establishes a technical system for digital and intelligent inspection， multi-dimensional and multimodal perception， fusion analysis， and decision-making. This system aims to enhance the accuracy of disease risk warning and diagnosis， bridging the gap between inspection equipment and assistance in clinical decision-making. From an evidence-based perspective， this paper systematically examines the research ideas of digital and intelligent inspection and the development of related equipment， deeply explores how to propose clinical practice-oriented key scientific issues， comprehensively acquire and co-apply multi-dimensional data， establish precise inspection models driven by digital intelligence， optimize standards to enhance equipment interoperability and reliability， construct post-effect evaluation mechanisms to promote improvement， and actively address potential risks such as the black box nature and information security in the application of intelligent technology. This paper not only demonstrates the tremendous potential of digital technologies in improving the accuracy and clinical application efficiency of inspection but also provides new perspectives and ideas for the modernization of inspection in TCM， paving the way for the application of inspection in the global medical and health field.

Emphasizing symptom efficacy is an important manifestation of the personalized diagnosis and treatment of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）. However， in current clinical practice of TCM， there are challenges such as diverse symptom expressions， difficulty in standardization， inconsistent evaluation standards for symptom efficacy， lack of universal quantitative methods， and complexity in collecting complete and accurate symptom information. These issues hinder the full and effective utilization of symptom information. Addressing the current research status and existing problems of symptom terminology standardization， quantification and grading of symptom efficacy， and collection of symptom information， this paper proposes methodological strategies for effectively recording and utilizing TCM symptom efficacy information in the era of big data. These strategies include collecting TCM symptom information based on patient reporting， standardizing the evaluation of TCM symptom efficacy from measurement scales and evaluation dimensions， integrating TCM symptom efficacy evaluation into clinical diagnosis and treatment processes， and utilizing artificial intelligence technology to acquire and process TCM symptom efficacy information. TCM symptom efficacy evaluation strategies based on patient perspectives and artificial intelligence technology will help fully explore the value of data elements， promote the objective demonstration of the specific efficacy of TCM， and facilitate the discovery of effective patterns.

Objective:To study the value of cell paraffin block immunohistochemistry and pleural fluid Crk like protein (CRKL) and macrophage inhibitory cytokine-1 (MIC-1) in the diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion.Methods:A total of 98 patients with pleural effusion treated in Shantou Central Hospital from February 2020 to February 2021 were retrospectively selected as the research objects, including 58 benign cases and 40 malignant cases. The levels of CRKL and MIC-1 in pleural effusion were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The pleural effusion was analyzed by cell paraffin block immunohistochemistry. The levels of various indexes in benign group and malignant group were compared. The diagnostic value of cell paraffin block immunohistochemistry and pleural effusion CRKL and MIC-1 for benign and malignant pleural effusion was analyzed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.Results:With pathological results as the gold standard, 54 cases of benign and 44 cases of malignant were diagnosed by cell paraffin block immunohistochemistry. The diagnostic accuracy was 75.5% (74/98) , and the sensitivity and specificity were 75.0% (30/40) and 75.9% (44/58) respectively. The levels of pleural effusion CRKL [2.84 (2.17, 3.98) ng/ml vs. 1.88 (0.94, 2.62) ng/ml], MIC-1 [2.28 (1.67, 2.98) ng/ml vs. 1.76 (1.22, 2.32) ] ng/ml] in the malignant group were higher than those in the benign group, with statistically significant differences ( Z=-4.57, P<0.001; Z=-3.09, P<0.001) . The optimal critical value of CRKL in pleural effusion for the diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion was 2.33 ng/ml, the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.76 (95% CI: 0.66-0.85) , and the sensitivity and specificity were 67.5% (27 /40) , 74.1% (43/58) . The optimal critical value of MIC-1 in pleural effusion for the diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion was 2.10 ng/ml, the AUC was 0.74 (95% CI: 0.64-0.85) , and the sensitivity and specificity were 60.0% (24/40) , 82.8% (48/58) . The AUC of MIC-1 and CRKL in pleural effusion combined with cell paraffin block immunohistochemistry for the diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion was 0.83 (95% CI: 0.75-0.91) , and the sensitivity and specificity were 85.0% (34/40) and 70.7% (41/58) . The sensitivity and AUC of combined diagnosis were significantly higher than those of CRKL and MIC-1 alone (sensitivity: χ2=4.26, P=0.046; χ2=6.27, P=0.012; AUC: Z=3.53, P<0.001; Z=4.14, P<0.001) . Conclusion:CRKL and MIC-1 in pleural effusion of patients with malignant pleural effusion are highly expressed, which can be used as indicators for the diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion. Detection combined with cell paraffin block immunohistochemistry can improve the diagnostic value of malignant pleural effusion.

Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a severe public health problem with increasing morbidity and mortality, any treatment targeting a single session is insufficient to tackle this. CHF is characterized by reduced cardiac output resulting from neurohumoral dysregulation and cardiac remodeling, which might be related to oxidative stress, inflammation, endoplasmic reticulum stress, apoptosis, autophagy, mitochondrial function, and angiogenesis. These molecular mechanisms interact with each other through crosstalk. Historically, Chinese medicinal herbs have been widely applied in the treatment of CHF, and therapeutic effects of Chinese medicinal herbs and their ingredients have been scientifically confirmed over the past decades. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with multiple components can confront the different pathogenesis of CHF through multiple targets. This review analyzes commonly used TCM patent drugs and TCM decoctions that are applicable to different stages of CHF based on clinical trials. Diverse bioactive ingredients in Chinese medicinal herbs have been found to treat CHF via multiple molecular mechanisms. This review comprehensively covers the key works on the effects and underlying mechanisms of TCM, herbal ingredients and synergistic effects of constituent compatibility in treating CHF, providing additional ideas to address this threat.

Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors reduce cardiovascular mortality in patients with diabetes mellitus but the protective mechanism remains elusive. Here we demonstrated that the SGLT2 inhibitor, Empagliflozin (EMPA), suppresses cardiomyocytes autosis (autophagic cell death) to confer cardioprotective effects. Using myocardial infarction (MI) mouse models with and without diabetes mellitus, EMPA treatment significantly reduced infarct size, and myocardial fibrosis, thereby leading to improved cardiac function and survival. In the context of ischemia and nutritional glucose deprivation where autosis is already highly stimulated, EMPA directly inhibits the activity of the Na⁺/H⁺ exchanger 1 (NHE1) in the cardiomyocytes to regulate excessive autophagy. Knockdown of NHE1 significantly rescued glucose deprivation-induced autosis. In contrast, overexpression of NHE1 aggravated the cardiomyocytes death in response to starvation, which was effectively rescued by EMPA treatment. Furthermore, in vitro and in vivo analysis of NHE1 and Beclin 1 knockout mice validated that EMPA's cardioprotective effects are at least in part through downregulation of autophagic flux. These findings provide new insights for drug development, specifically targeting NHE1 and autosis for ventricular remodeling and heart failure after MI in both diabetic and non-diabetic patients.
Animals ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/drug therapy* ; Glucose ; Humans ; Mice ; Myocardial Infarction/metabolism* ; Sodium-Glucose Transporter 2 Inhibitors/therapeutic use* ; Ventricular Remodeling

A multicenter blinded randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted in accordance with international clinical trial standards to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Xuebijing injection in the treatment of severe community-acquired pneumonia (SCAP) under strict quality control condition. This article aims to illustrate key contents of the design ideas and implementation process of the RCT of Xuebijing injection in the treatment of SCAP, including the selection of research objects, design, implementation, and insights, etc., share experience with researchers of the respiratory and critical care, and provide reference for future studies in critical care.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the recommendations of acupuncture therapy in foreign clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) so as to understand the situation of foreign acupuncture guidelines and provide the suggestions on the development of acupuncture CPGs.

METHODSA total of 5 website authorities were retrieved with the key words as "acupuncture" "moxibustion" "acupressure" and "electroacupuncture".

RESULTSA total of 93 papers on CPGs had been searched, of which, the most CPGs were collected in the National Guidelines Clearinghouse (NGC). 68 papers were screened according to the requirement of CPGs, with 26 diseases and symptoms included. Since 2012, CPGs on acupuncture therapies have increased remarkably. Regarding the recommendations on acupuncture, there were 35 papers recommending acupuncture, about accounting for 51.5%. Of them, 1 paper strongly recommended and 10 papers were against recommendation. There was no CPG for moxibustion recommendation.

CONCLUSION① The foreign recommendations are weak and brief on acupuncture. The qualities of CPGs are various among countries, which results in the limit guidance in clinical practice. The specific acupuncture CPG should be developed so as to guide the clinical strategy on acupuncture more effectively. ② There are apparent limitations on the involved diseases between those mentioned in foreign CPGs and those in the treatment in foreign countries. Being the origin of acupuncture, China should proactively develop the advantages on acupuncture treatment and participate in the development of international CPGs. ③ The recommendation on moxibustion therapy is lack. In future research, the evaluation on the safety and effectiveness should draw attention.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effect difference between acupuncture combined with western medication and simple western medication for Meniere's disease. METHODS: Ninety-six patients with Meniere's disease were randomly assigned into a combination group (48 cases, 12 cases dropping) and a medication group (48 cases, 9 cases dropping). Betastatin mesylate tablets (once 12 mg, 3 times a day) and mecobalamin tablets (once 0.5 mg, 3 times a day) were prescribed orally in the two groups. Acupuncture was used in the combination group, twice a week, 20 min a time, and the acupoints were Baihui (GV 20), Fengchi (GB 20), Tinggong (SI 19), Hegu (LI 4), Quchi (LI 11), Zusanli (ST 36), Fenglong (ST 40), Taichong (LR 3), Taixi (KI 3) and Tianshu (ST 25). All the treatment was given for continuous 12 weeks. The symptoms were observed by dizziness handicap inventory (DHI), tinnitus handicap inventory (THI), pure tone audiometry score and stuffy ear visual analogue scale (VAS). The effects were compared in the aspects of dizziness, hearing and activity. RESULTS: The scores of DHI, THI, pure tone audiometry and VAS scores after treatment were lower than those before treatment in the two groups (all <0.05), with lower scores of the above 4 indexes in the combination group after treatment (all <0.05). The difference values before and after treatment of the 4 indexes in the combination group were higher than those in the medication group (all <0.05). The effective rates of dizziness, hearing and activity in the combination group were 97.2% (35/36), 91.7% (33/36), 88.9% (32/36), which were better than 71.8% (28/39), 74.4% (29/39) and 69.2% (27/39) in the medication group (all <0.05). CONCLUSION Acupuncture combined with conventional medication achieve better effect than simple conventional medication.
Acupuncture Therapy ; Humans ; Meniere Disease ; therapy ; Tinnitus ; Treatment Outcome