The Golgi apparatus (GA) is a key membranous organelle in eukaryotic cells, acting as a central component of the endomembrane system. It plays an irreplaceable role in the processing, sorting, trafficking, and modification of proteins and lipids. Under normal conditions, the GA cooperates with other organelles, including the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), lysosomes, mitochondria, and others, to achieve the precise processing and targeted transport of nearly one-third of intracellular proteins, thereby ensuring normal cellular physiological functions and adaptability to environmental changes. This function relies on Golgi protein quality control (PQC) mechanisms, which recognize and handle misfolded or aberrantly modified proteins by retrograde transport to the ER, proteasomal degradation, or lysosomal clearance, thus preventing the accumulation of toxic proteins. In addition, Golgi-specific autophagy (Golgiphagy), as a selective autophagy mechanism, is also crucial for removing damaged or excess Golgi components and maintaining its structural and functional homeostasis. Under pathological conditions such as oxidative stress and infection, the Golgi apparatus suffers damage and stress, and its homeostatic regulatory network may be disrupted, leading to the accumulation of misfolded proteins, membrane disorganization, and trafficking dysfunction. When the capacity and function of the Golgi fail to meet cellular demands, cells activate a series of adaptive signaling pathways to alleviate Golgi stress and enhance Golgi function. This process reflects the dynamic regulation of Golgi capacity to meet physiological needs. To date, 7 signaling pathways related to the Golgi stress response have been identified in mammalian cells. Although these pathways have different mechanisms, they all help restore Golgi homeostasis and function and are vital for maintaining overall cellular homeostasis. It is noteworthy that the regulation of Golgi homeostasis is closely related to multiple programmed cell death pathways, including apoptosis, ferroptosis, and pyroptosis. Once Golgi function is disrupted, these signaling pathways may induce cell death, ultimately participating in the occurrence and progression of diseases. Studies have shown that Golgi homeostatic imbalance plays an important pathological role in various major diseases. For example, in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD), Golgi fragmentation and dysfunction aggravate the abnormal processing of amyloid β-protein (Aβ) and Tau protein, promoting neuronal loss and advancing neurodegenerative processes. In cancer, Golgi homeostatic imbalance is closely associated with increased genomic instability, enhanced tumor cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and increased resistance to cell death, which are important factors in tumor initiation and progression. In infectious diseases, pathogens such as viruses and bacteria hijack the Golgi trafficking system to promote their replication while inducing host defensive cell death responses. This process is also a key mechanism in host-pathogen interactions. This review focuses on the role of the Golgi apparatus in cell death and major diseases, systematically summarizing the Golgi stress response, regulatory mechanisms, and the role of Golgi-specific autophagy in maintaining homeostasis. It emphasizes the signaling regulatory role of the Golgi apparatus in apoptosis, ferroptosis, and pyroptosis. By integrating the latest research progress, it further clarifies the pathological significance of Golgi homeostatic disruption in neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and infectious diseases, and reveals its potential mechanisms in cellular signal regulation.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between angiotensin Ⅱ type 1 receptor autoantibody (AT1-AA) and semen parameters. Methods： The semen samples of 820 male patients who were treated in the Reproductive Medicine Center of Taiyuan Central Hospital from August 2022 to August 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. The levels of AT1-AA and Ang Ⅱ of semen were detected by ELISA, and the function of AT1-AA was detected by cardiomyocyte beating assay in suckling rats. The patients were divided into low group, median group and high group according to the OD values of AT1-AA. The differences in general data and semen parameters between different groups were analyzed. And the correlation between AT1-AA level and semen parameters in semen of all study subjects was analyzed by the method of Spearman analysis. And the relationships between AT1-AA OD value, Ang Ⅱ level and semen parameters in the AT1-AA high value group were analyzed as well. RESULTS: AT1-AA was present in semen with good function. There was no significant difference in the general data of patients in different AT1-AA levels (P>0.05). In the comparison of semen parameters among the groups with different levels of AT1-AA, there were differences in sperm concentration, PR concentration, NP％, and ALH among the three groups (P<0.05). And AT1-AA OD value was positively correlated with total sperm count, sperm concentration, PR concentration, and NP％, and negatively correlated with semen volume (P<0.05). In the AT1-AA high value group, the OD value of AT1-AA in semen was negatively correlated with inactive sperm, and positively correlated with total motility (［PR+NP］％), curve rate, mean path rate, and ALH. However, there was no correlation between the level of Ang Ⅱ in semen and semen parameters (P>0.05). CONCLUSION The presence of AT1-AA in semen may be associated with the promotion of sperm motility.
Male ; Humans ; Autoantibodies ; Sperm Motility ; Semen ; Retrospective Studies ; Receptor, Angiotensin, Type 1/immunology* ; Animals ; Rats ; Angiotensin II ; Adult ; Sperm Count ; Semen Analysis ; Receptor, Angiotensin, Type 2/immunology*

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

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: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is sensitive to ferroptosis, a new form of programmed cell death that occurs in most tumor types. However, the mechanism through which ferroptosis modulates HCC remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the oncogenic role and prognostic value of FANCD2 and provide novel insights into the prognostic assessment and prediction of immunotherapy. METHODS: Using clinicopathological parameters and bioinformatic techniques, we comprehensively examined the expression of FANCD2 macroscopically and microcosmically. We conducted univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses to identify the prognostic value of FANCD2 in HCC and elucidated the detailed molecular mechanisms underlying the involvement of FANCD2 in oncogenesis by promoting iron-related death. RESULTS: FANCD2 was significantly upregulated in digestive system cancers with abundant immune infiltration. As an independent risk factor for HCC, a high FANCD2 expression level was associated with poor clinical outcomes and response to immune checkpoint blockade. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed that FANCD2 was mainly involved in the cell cycle and CYP450 metabolism. CONCLUSION To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to comprehensively elucidate the oncogenic role of FANCD2. FANCD2 has a tumor-promoting aspect in the digestive system and acts as an independent risk factor in HCC; hence, it has recognized value for predicting tumor aggressiveness and prognosis and may be a potential biomarker for poor responsiveness to immunotherapy.
Humans ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/diagnosis* ; Liver Neoplasms/diagnosis* ; Immunotherapy ; Fanconi Anemia Complementation Group D2 Protein/metabolism* ; Prognosis ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Biomarkers, Tumor/metabolism*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection's effect on gestational liver function, pregnancy and delivery complications, and neonatal development. METHODS: A total of 157 HCV antibody-positive (anti-HCV[+]) and HCV RNA(+) patients (Group C) and 121 anti-HCV(+) and HCV RNA(-) patients (Group B) were included as study participants, while 142 anti-HCV(-) and HCV RNA(-) patients (Group A) were the control group. Data on biochemical indices during pregnancy, pregnancy complications, delivery-related information, and neonatal complications were also collected. RESULTS: Elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) rates in Group C during early, middle, and late pregnancy were 59.87%, 43.95%, and 42.04%, respectively-significantly higher than Groups B (26.45%, 15.70%, 10.74%) and A (23.94%, 19.01%, 6.34%) ( P < 0.05). Median ALT levels in Group C were significantly higher than in Groups A and B at all pregnancy stages ( P < 0.05). No significant differences were found in neonatal malformation rates across groups ( P > 0.05). However, neonatal jaundice incidence was significantly greater in Group C (75.16%) compared to Groups A (42.25%) and B (57.02%) ( χ ² = 33.552, P < 0.001). HCV RNA positivity during pregnancy was an independent risk factor for neonatal jaundice ( OR = 2.111, 95% CI 1.242-3.588, P = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS Chronic HCV infection can affect the liver function of pregnant women, but does not increase the pregnancy or delivery complication risks. HCV RNA(+) is an independent risk factor for neonatal jaundice.
Humans ; Female ; Pregnancy ; Adult ; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious/epidemiology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Pregnancy Outcome ; Infant, Newborn ; Viremia/virology* ; Hepatitis C ; Hepacivirus/physiology* ; Hepatitis C, Chronic/virology* ; Young Adult ; Alanine Transaminase/blood*

This paper outlines the common aspects of constructing integrated urban medical groups,focusing on governance,organizational restructuring,operational modes,and mechanism synergy.It then delves into the challenges in China's group construction,highlighting issues with power-responsibility alignment,capacity evolution,incentive alignment,and performance evaluation.Finally,the paper suggests strategies to enhance China's compact urban medical groups,focusing on governance reform,capacity building,benefit integration,and performance evaluation.

Objective To understand the respiratory protection competency of staff in hospitals.Methods Staff from six hospitals of different levels and characteristics in Beijing were selected,including doctors,nurses,medical technicians,and servicers,to conduct knowledge assessment on respiratory protection competency.According to exposure risks of respiratory infectious diseases,based on actual cases and daily work scenarios,content of respira-tory protection competency assessment was designed from three aspects:identification of respiratory infectious di-seases,transmission routes and corresponding protection requirements,as well as correct selection and use of masks.The assessment included 6,6,and 8 knowledge points respectively,with 20 knowledge points in total,all of which were choice questions.For multiple-choice questions,full marks,partial marks,and no mark were given respective-ly if all options were correct,partial options were correct and without incorrect options,and partial options were correct but with incorrect options.Difficulty and discrimination analyses on question of each knowledge point was conducted based on classical test theory.Results The respiratory protection competency knowledge assessment for 326 staff members at different risk levels in 6 hospitals showed that concerning the 20 knowledge points,more than 60％participants got full marks for 6 points,while the proportion of full marks for other questions was relatively low.Less than 10％participants got full marks for the following 5 knowledge points:types of airborne diseases,types of droplet-borne diseases,conventional measures for the prevention and control of healthcare-associated infec-tion with respiratory infectious diseases,indications for wearing respirators,and indications for wearing medical protective masks.Among the 20 knowledge questions,5,1,and 14 questions were relatively easy,medium,and difficult,respectively;6,1,4,and 9 questions were with discrimination levels of ≥0.4,0.30-0.39,0.20-0.29,and ≤0.19,respectively.Conclusion There is still much room for hospital staff to improve their respiratory protection competency,especially in the recognition of diseases with different transmission routes and the indications for wearing different types of masks.

During the progression of heart failure(HF),abnormal transduction of the transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β)/Smads signaling pathway is important mechanism of myocardial fibrosis(MF)in HF.TGF-β,a key factor in MF,is in an overexpression state in the process of MF in HF,and Smads is a major effector downstream of TGF-β.The TGF-β/Smads pathway induces abnormal proliferation of myofibroblasts,aggravates myocardial extracellular matrix deposition,and reduces the ability of the cardiac tissues to resist fibrosis,which plays a complex role in the pathogenesis of MF in HF.Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)has the efficacy of unequivocal inhibiting myocardial collagen deposition,anti-MF,protecting the myocardium and improving cardiac function in the prevention and treatment of MF in HF and so on,and the TGF-β/Smads pathway is one of the key pathways through which TCM monomers,TCM combinations,and proprietary medicines can exert their cardioprotective effects on the HF.This paper reviews the existing experimental research results of TCM intervening in the TGF-β/Smads pathway for the treatment of MF in HF over the past 10 years,with a view to providing theoretical basis for the prevention and treatment of HF MF well as the development and of new drugs.

Objective To investigate the impact of emodin(EM)on vascular endothelial cell injury in rats with diabetes macroangiopathy by regulating hypoxia inducible factor-1α(HIF-1α)/vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)signaling pathway.Methods SD rats were divided into blank group and modeling group,the rats in the modeling group were fed with high fat and high sugar combined with N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester to build the diabetes macroangiopathy model,and the blank group was fed with ordinary diet.The vascular endothelial cells successfully isolated from the thoracic aorta of rats in blank group and modeling group were named control group and model group,respectively.The vascular endothelial cells in the modeling group were divided into model group,dimethyloxallyl glycine(DMOG)group(10 μmol·L-1DMOG),combined group(80 mg·L-1EM+10 μmol·L-1 DMOG)and experimental-L,-M,-H groups(20,40,80 mg·L-1 EM).The apoptosis of rat vascular endothelial cells was detected by flow cytometry;Western blot was applied to detect the expression of HIF-1αand VEGF proteins in rat vascular endothelial cells.Results The apoptosis rates of vascular endothelial cells in experimental-M,-H groups,DMOG group,combined group,model group and control group were(10.18±0.36)％,(6.28±0.20)％,(24.96±1.18)％,(12.36±0.49)％,(18.76±0.68)％and(4.59±0.26)％;HIF-1α protein levels were 0.96±0.07,0.78±0.06,2.03±0.12,1.05±0.13,1.58±0.12 and 0.69±0.05;VEGF protein levels were 0.59±0.05,0.23±0.02,0.98±0.06,0.63±0.04,0.86±0.07 and 0.11±0.01.The above indexes in the model group were compared with the control,DMOG,experimental-M and experimental-H groups,and the above indexes in the combined group were compared with the experimental-H group,and the differences were statistically significant(all P＜0.05).Conclusion EM may inhibit HIF-1α/VEGF pathway to improve vascular endothelial cell injury in rats with diabetes macroangiopathy.