The chemical constituents in dried roots of Atractylodes macrocephala were investigated in this study. Through utilizing normal-phase silica gel and ODS column chromatography, TLC, and semi-preparative HPLC, 4 new sesquiterpenoids were purified from the ethyl acetate extract of A. macrocephala. By various spectroscopic techniques, such as 1D and 2D NMR, HR-ESI-MS, IR, UV, and CD, their structures were identified as atractylmacron A (1), 9β-hydroxyasterolide (2), atractylenolide H (3), atractylenolide J (4). Compound 1 possesses a rare 6/7 bicyclic skeleton.

A variety of chromatographic techniques, including silica gel, ODS, Sephadex LH-20, and HPLC, were employed to isolate and purify the fermentation products of rice with Monascus sanguineus. A total of 38 compounds were isolated, and their structures were identified by UV, IR, NMR, MS, calculated ECD, and comparison with literature data. Compounds 1-4 were identified as new natural products, and other compounds were isolated from this fungus for the first time. A RAW264.7 macrophage model of lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-induced inflammation was used to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activities of all the compounds. The results showed that compound 6 exhibited a certain inhibitory effect on the production of nitric oxide in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells, with an inhibition rate of 53.08%.
Monascus/chemistry* ; Mice ; Animals ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents/isolation & purification* ; RAW 264.7 Cells ; Macrophages/immunology* ; Nitric Oxide/immunology* ; Oryza/metabolism* ; Fermentation

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the application effect of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) therapy on the patients treated with image fusion-guided transperineal prostate biopsy. METHODS: A total of 160 patients who underwent image fusion-guided transperineal prostate biopsy in the Urology Department from April 2023 to April 2024 were included. Patients were randomly assigned to a control group and an observation group, with 80 cases in each group. The control group received routine care, while the observation group received combined MBSR on the basis of routine care. The surgical indicators, pain levels, psychological states, nursing satisfaction, and postoperative complication rates of both groups were compared. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference in general personal information and clinical data between the two groups（P>0.05）. The surgery duration, secondary fusion rate, and postoperative complication rate in the observation group were all lower than those in the control group (［23.54±2.07］min vs ［26.25±1.69］min, P<0.05； 8.75% vs 22.50%, P=0.017； 17% vs 29%, P=0.036), and nursing satisfaction was higher in the observation group than in the control group ( 77% vs 69%, P=0.025). The VAS scores biopsy (5.11±0.93 vs 6.27±1.32, P=0.041), discharge (0.74±0.67 vs 1.85±0.95, P=0.004), and scores of SDS (47.76±2.06 vs 50.46±2.07, P=0.009) and SAS (46.89±2.68 vs 49.75±2.83, P=0.031) in the observation group were all lower than those in the control group. CONCLUSION The application of MBSR in image fusion-guided prostate biopsy can synergistically utilize the advantages of minimally invasive technology, significantly optimize surgical indicators, and improve patients' psychological experiences, which is worthy of clinical application and promotion.
Humans ; Male ; Mindfulness ; Prostate/pathology* ; Image-Guided Biopsy ; Stress, Psychological/therapy* ; Middle Aged ; Prostatic Neoplasms/pathology* ; Aged

Objective:To explore the application value of P1 response threshold of cortical auditory evoked potential（CAEP） in evaluating the rehabilitation effect of cochlear implant in young children. Methods:Thirty-three young children after cochlear implantation were divided into groups according to hearing age: Group A（hearing age 1-<2 years old） 10 people; Group B（hearing age 2-<3 years old） 13 people; Group C（hearing age 3-<4 years old） 10 people. The subjective assessment was carried out using the assessment tool for hearing-impaired children- "Criteria and Methods for assessing Auditory and language ability of hearing-impaired children" and objective electrophysiological examination was carried out using CAEP to evaluate the rehabilitation effect. SPSS 25.0 software was used for statistical analysis. Results:The results of subjective assessment of auditory ability and language ability in each group showed an increasing trend with the increase of auditory age. In this study, the P1 response threshold of CAEP in CI implanted children had a significant positive correlation with the 2 kHz hearing threshold after intervention, and the P1 response threshold of CAEP was negatively correlated with many items in subjective auditory ability and language ability assessment. Conclusion:The P1 response threshold of CAEP has a stable correlation with the results of speech audiometry, which can effectively and objectively evaluate the postoperative rehabilitation effect of young children with cochlear implantation.
Humans ; Child, Preschool ; Infant ; Male ; Female ; Evoked Potentials, Auditory ; Cochlear Implantation/rehabilitation* ; Cochlear Implants ; Auditory Threshold

Glutamine provides carbon and nitrogen to support the proliferation of cancer cells. However, the precise reason why cancer cells are particularly dependent on glutamine remains unclear. In this study, we report that glutamine modulates the tumor suppressor F-box and WD repeat domain-containing 7 (FBW7) to promote cancer cell proliferation and survival. Specifically, lysine 604 (K604) in the sixth of the 7 substrate-recruiting WD repeats of FBW7 undergoes glutaminylation (Gln-K604) by glutaminyl tRNA synthetase. Gln-K604 inhibits SCFFBW7-mediated degradation of c-Myc and Mcl-1, enhances glutamine utilization, and stimulates nucleotide and DNA biosynthesis through the activation of c-Myc. Additionally, Gln-K604 promotes resistance to apoptosis by activating Mcl-1. In contrast, SIRT1 deglutaminylates Gln-K604, thereby reversing its effects. Cancer cells lacking Gln-K604 exhibit overexpression of c-Myc and Mcl-1 and display resistance to chemotherapy-induced apoptosis. Silencing both c-MYC and MCL-1 in these cells sensitizes them to chemotherapy. These findings indicate that the glutamine-mediated signal via Gln-K604 is a key driver of cancer progression and suggest potential strategies for targeted cancer therapies based on varying Gln-K604 status.
Glutamine/metabolism* ; Myeloid Cell Leukemia Sequence 1 Protein/genetics* ; Humans ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc/genetics* ; Cell Proliferation ; Signal Transduction ; Neoplasms/pathology* ; F-Box-WD Repeat-Containing Protein 7/genetics* ; Cell Survival ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Apoptosis

BACKGROUND: The use of inserted sham acupuncture as a placebo in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is controversial, because it may produce specific effects that cause an underestimation of the effect of acupuncture treatment. OBJECTIVE: This systematic survey investigates the magnitude of insert-specific effects of sham acupuncture and whether they affect the estimation of acupuncture treatment effects. SEARCH STRATEGY: PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched to identify acupuncture RCTs from their inception until December 2022. INCLUSION CRITERIA: RCTs that evaluated the effects of acupuncture compared to sham acupuncture and no treatment. DATA EXTRACTION AND ANALYSIS: The total effect measured for an acupuncture treatment group in RCTs were divided into three components, including the natural history and/or regression to the mean effect (controlled for no-treatment group), the placebo effect, and the specific effect of acupuncture. The first two constituted the contextual effect of acupuncture, which is mimicked by a sham acupuncture treatment group. The proportion of acupuncture total effect size was considered to be 1. The proportion of natural history and/or regression to the mean effect (PNE) and proportional contextual effect (PCE) of included RCTs were pooled using meta-analyses with a random-effect model. The proportion of acupuncture placebo effect was the difference between PCE and PNE in RCTs with non-inserted sham acupuncture. The proportion of insert-specific effect of sham acupuncture (PIES) was obtained by subtracting the proportion of acupuncture placebo effect and PNE from PCE in RCTs with inserted sham acupuncture. The impact of PIES on the estimation of acupuncture's treatment effect was evaluated by quantifying the percentage of RCTs that the effect of outcome changed from no statistical difference to statistical difference after removing PIES in the included studies, and the impact of PIES was externally validated in other acupuncture RCTs with an inserted sham acupuncture group that were not used to calculate PIES. RESULTS: This analysis included 32 studies with 5492 patients. The overall PNE was 0.335 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.255-0.415) and the PCE of acupuncture was 0.639 (95% CI, 0.567-0.710) of acupuncture's total effect. The proportional contribution of the placebo effect to acupuncture's total effect was 0.191, and the PIES was 0.189. When we modeled the exclusion of the insert-specific effect of sham acupuncture, the acupuncture treatment effect changed from no difference to a significant difference in 45.45% of the included RCTs, and in 40.91% of the external validated RCTs. CONCLUSION The insert-specific effect of sham acupuncture in RCTs represents 18.90% of acupuncture's total effect and significantly affects the evaluation of the acupuncture treatment effect. More than 40% of RCTs that used inserted sham acupuncture would draw different conclusions if the PIES had been controlled for. Considering the impact of the insert-specific effect of sham acupuncture, caution should be taken when using inserted sham acupuncture placebos in RCTs. Please cite this article as: Luo XC, Liu JL, Yao MH, Chen YM, Fan AY, Liang FR, Zhao JP, Zhao L, Zhou X, Zhong XY, Yang JH, Li B, Zhang Y, Sun X, Li L. Specific effect of inserted sham acupuncture and its impact on the estimation of acupuncture treatment effect in randomized controlled trials: A systematic survey. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(6):630-640.
Acupuncture Therapy/methods* ; Humans ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Placebo Effect ; Placebos ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To investigate the application value of peripheral blood soluble human leukocyte antigen-G(sHLA-G)combined with immune cytokines in the differential diagnosis of renal transplant rejection.Methods This case-control study retrospectively analyzed 81 renal transplant patients hospitalized in the Department of Organ Transplantation,the Second Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University from April 2020 to December 2023,due to elevated serum creatinine.Among them,32 patients were diagnosed with acute rejection(acute rejection group),29 with chronic rejection(chronic rejection group),and 20 with elevated creatinine due to non-rejection causes(non-rejection group).Fifty renal transplant inpatients and outpatients with normal and stable serum creatinine were selected as control group during the same period.Clinical data such as gender,age,serum creatinine,estimated glomerular filtration rate(eGFR),and urine protein positive rate,etc.were collected.Peripheral blood of patients was sampled to measure the levels of plasma sHLA-G and immune cytokines[interferon-γ(IFN-γ),tumor necrosis factor-β(TNF-β),interleukin(IL)-2,IL-4,IL-10,IL-5,IL-6,IL-17]using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).Stratify and compare the differences in sHLA-G levels among different groups and all renal transplant inpatients by gender.Results Compared with control group,serum creatinine levels and urine protein positive rate were significantly higher in acute rejection group,chronic rejection group,and non-rejection group,while eGFR was significantly lower,serum creatinine levels in chronic rejection group and non-rejection group were higher than those in acute rejection group,while eGFR was lower than that in acute rejection group,with statistically significant differences(P<0.05).No statistically significant differences were observed in gender,age,blood type,body mass index,transplantation duration,and immunosuppressive agent use among acute rejection,chronic rejection,non-rejection,and control groups(P>0.05).Plasma sHLA-G levels in acute rejection and chronic rejection groups were significantly lower than those in control group[(19.665±11.233)U/ml vs.(24.785±21.668)U/ml vs.(44.918±39.898)U/ml,P<0.05].The sHLA-G/IL-2 ratio in chronic rejection group was significantly higher than that in acute rejection group(5.844±6.248 vs.1.825±1.574,P<0.05),and the sHLA-G/IFN-γ ratio in non-rejection group was significantly higher than that in chronic rejection group(3.452±3.283 vs.1.543±2.030,P<0.05).Among 131 renal transplant inpatients,female sHLA-G levels were significantly higher than male(P<0.05).Within each group,female sHLA-G levels in chronic rejection group were significantly higher than male(P<0.05).Although female sHLA-G levels in acute rejection,non-rejection,and control groups were higher than those of male,the gender difference was not statistically significant(P>0.05).Conclusions Peripheral blood sHLA-G levels are correlated with renal transplantation rejection.The application of sHLA-G/IL-2 and sHLA-G/IFN-γ ratios has potential value in the diagnosis and differentiation of elevated creatinine caused by acute/chronic rejection,chronic rejection and non-rejection causes,respectively.

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics and genetic causes in 2 patients with hypopar-athyroidism,sensorineural deafness and renal dysplasia syndrome(HDR).Methods A retrospective analysis of au-diology,gene detection,and other clinical diagnostic data was performed on 2 patients diagnosed with HDR syn-drome.Results Patient 1 failed the newborn hearing screening(otoacoustic emission)and was diagnosed with mod-erate sensorineural hearing loss through audiology evaluation.Follow-up tests of blood calcium and parathyroid hor-mone levels were normal,and ultrasound examinations of the urinary system and parathyroid gland showed no ab-normalities.Patient 2 passed the newborn hearing screening but failed the 3-year-old physical examination(otoa-coustic emission)and was diagnosed with moderate sensorineural hearing loss.Follow-up tests of blood calcium and parathyroid hormone levels were normal,and the parathyroid gland ultrasound showed no abnormalities,but the re-nal ultrasound showed bilateral small renal calculi with normal morphology.Both patients were diagnosed with HDR syndrome through gene testing,and the 2 GAT A3 gene mutation sites(c.867dup,c.65_68dup)causing the disease were both reported for the first time.Conclusion The clinical phenotypes of HDR syndrome are highly variable.Children with suspected hearing loss accompanied by hypoparathyroidism or renal dysfunction should have gene tes-ting and other related examinations as soon as possible to avoid misdiagnosis.

Purpose: This study evaluated the value of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in the ultrasound-guided microwave ablation (MWA) treatment of symptomatic focal uterine adenomyosis. Methods: This retrospective study was conducted between March 2020 and January 2023, enrolling 52 patients with symptomatic focal uterine adenomyosis who had undergone MWA. All patients were examined with CEUS before and after MWA. The non-perfused volume (NPV) was compared between CEUS and dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCEMRI) following ablation. Therapeutic efficacy and safety were evaluated at 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-ups. Additionally, this study explored the correlations between pre-treatment CEUS features and a volume reduction ratio indicating sufficient ablation, defined as 50% or more at the 3-month follow-up. Results: No significant differences in NPV were noted between CEUS and DCE-MRI immediately after MWA and during follow-up (all P>0.05). At the 3-month follow-up, the median VRRs for the uterus and adenomyosis were 33.2% and 63.9%, respectively. Sufficient ablation was achieved in 69.2% (36/52) of adenomyosis cases, while partial ablation was observed in the remaining 30.8% (16/52). The identification of non-enhancing areas on pre-treatment CEUS was associated with sufficient ablation (P=0.016). At the 12-month follow-up, significant decreases were observed in both the uterine and adenomyosis volumes (all P<0.001). Dysmenorrhea and menorrhagia were significantly alleviated at 12 months, and no major complications were encountered. Conclusion CEUS can be used to evaluate the ablation zone of focal adenomyosis that has been treated with MWA, similarly to DCE-MRI. The identification of non-enhancing areas on pretreatment CEUS indicates satisfactory treatment outcomes.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the regulatory effects of biofilm associated non-coding small RNA(sRNA)00085 on the survival and environmental fitness of Listeria monocytogenes.Homologous recombination technology was used to construct a deletion mutant strain(△sRNA 00085)and a complementary strain(C △sRNA 00085)of the sRNA00085 target gene.The differences in biological characteristics were compared among the standard strain,△sRNA 00085,and C△sRNA 00085.The deletion of sRNA00085 led to a significant decrease in biofilm formation capacity and sensitivity to several antibiotics,including penicillin,piperacillin,doxycycline,tetracycline,vancomycin,and cotrimoxazole.However,only the minimum inhibitory concentration(MIC)of tetracycline exhibited a significant decrease in △sRNA00085.Meanwhile,the decreased biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance of the sRNA00085 mutant were restored in the C△sRNA00085 strain.Furthermore,we investigated the transcription levels of tetracycline resistance-related genes in L.monocytogenes.Down-regu-lated transcription of the tetS gene but no significant difference in transcription of the tetA gene were observed in △sRNA 00085 compared with the standard strain and C△sRNA00085.Moreover,the elimination of sRNA00085 did not affect bacterial growth ability or sensitivity to disinfectants.These findings highlight that sRNA00085 plays an important role in the environ-mental adaptability of L.monocytogenes by affecting bacterial biofilm formation and resistance.