Objective To assess the current status of microbial and parasitic quality control for laboratory animals in Jiangxi Province by analyzing microbiological and parasitic test results from production facilities between 2020 and 2024, and to provide a basis for enhancing quality control measures. MethodsIn accordance with the current national standards for laboratory animals at the time of testing, the Jiangxi Provincial Laboratory Animal Quality Inspection Station (affiliated to Institute of Occupational Medicine of Jiangxi) conducted microbial and parasitic testing on 451 laboratory animals of 4 species from 6 laboratory animal production units in Jiangxi Province between 2020 and 2024, and analyzed the quality status of laboratory animals in the province. ResultsPasteurella pneumotropica was detected in one mouse sample in 2020, with a detection rate of 5.00%. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was detected in one mouse sample and mouse hepatitis virus antibody was detected in another mouse sample in 2023, with a detection rate of 2.78%, respectively. No microorganisms or parasites that should be excluded from SPF grade mice as specified in the national standards were detected in 2021, 2022, or 2024, with a qualification rate of 100.00%. Pasteurella pneumotropica was detected in four rat samples in 2020, with a detection rate of 20.00%. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was detected in two rat samples in 2021, with a detection rate of 10.00%, and Tyzzer's disease agent antibody was detected in four rat samples in 2024, with a detection rate of 10.00%. No microorganisms or parasites that should be excluded from SPF grade rats as specified in the national standards were detected in 2022 or 2023, with a qualification rate of 100.00%. For rabbits and guinea pigs, no microorganisms or parasites required to be tested for conventional grade rabbits and guinea pigs as specified in the national standards were detected from 2020 to 2024, with the qualification rate of both species reaching 100.00%. ConclusionBased on the microbial and parasitic testing results, the quality of rabbits and guinea pigs in Jiangxi Province is satisfactory. However, some issues persist with rats and mice. It is recommended to enhance the quality of experimental animals in Jiangxi Province by increasing the frequency of random inspections by quality testing units or by improving the self-inspection capabilities of production and user facilities.

ObjectiveTo investigate the mechanism by which Jianpi Xiao'ai prescription （JPXAP） inhibits colorectal cancer progression by regulating the inducible nitric oxide synthase-arginase 1 （iNOS-ARG1） metabolic axis and inducing mitochondrial reactive oxygen species （mito-ROS）-mediated mitochondrial structural and functional impairment. MethodsAn arginine metabolism disorder model of human colorectal cancer HCT116 cells was established by combined treatment with recombinant human interferon-γ （IFN-γ， 10 μg·L^-1） and N（ω）-hydroxy-L-arginine （Nor-NOHA， 200 μmol·L^-1） for 24 h， followed by intervention with 5%， 10%， or 20% JPXAP-containing serum. Cell proliferation was assessed using cell counting kit-8 （CCK-8）， 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine （EdU） staining， and colony formation assays. Cell invasion and migration were evaluated using Transwell chamber and wound healing assays. Mitochondrial membrane potential （MMP） and ROS levels were assessed by JC-1 and MitoSOX staining， respectively. Mitochondrial ultrastructure was observed by transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. The expression of iNOS， ARG1， and mitochondrial dynamics-related proteins， including mitofusin 2 （MFN2） and dynamin-related protein 1 （DRP1）， was analyzed by Western blot and immunofluorescence. The levels of L-arginine， citrulline， and urea were determined by colorimetric methods and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. ResultsCompared with the blank group， the model group exhibited significantly upregulated iNOS expression， downregulated ARG1 expression， a decreased ARG1/iNOS ratio， reduced L-arginine and urea levels， and increased citrulline levels （P<0.05）. Meanwhile， mito-ROS accumulation was significantly increased， the JC-1 red/green fluorescence ratio was decreased， and mitochondria showed swelling and cristae disruption， indicating that metabolic disorder induced mitochondrial injury. Compared with the model group， all JPXAP-treated groups further decreased the ARG1/iNOS ratio， enhanced nitric oxide （NO） and reactive nitrogen species accumulation， further reduced L-arginine and urea levels， and increased citrulline levels （P<0.01）. EdU-positive rate， colony formation rate， wound healing rate， and Transwell invasion number all decreased significantly with increasing serum concentration （P<0.01）. Mito-ROS levels were further elevated， and the JC-1 red/green ratio further decreased. TEM revealed aggravated mitochondrial swelling and vacuolization. MFN2 expression was downregulated and DRP1 expression was upregulated （P<0.01），in a dose-dependent manner. ConclusionJPXAP further activates NO-mediated oxidative/nitrosative stress under arginine metabolism imbalance， inducing mito-ROS accumulation， MMP collapse， and mitochondrial dynamics imbalance， thereby inhibiting colorectal cancer cell proliferation and migration. These findings reveal an antitumor mechanism of JPXAP based on coordinated targeting of the "metabolism-mitochondria" axis.

Objective This study investigated the diversity of rodent populations and the infection status of Bartonella at three ports along the China-Mongolia border in 2022. Methods Rodents at three Belt and Road ports along the China-Mongolia border, namely Ganqimaodu, Erenhot, and Zhuengadabuqi, were morphologically identified. The Bartonella citrate synthase(gltA)gene was amplified by nested polymerase chain reaction(PCR), and PCR-positive products were sequenced. The resulting sequences were then analyzed for genetic characteristics. Phylogenetic analysis was performed using MEGA 11.0 software using Neighbor-Joining and Maximum-Likelihood method. Results A total of 94 rodents were captured, representing seven species from five families and six genera: Mus musculus, Meriones unguiculatus, Meriones meridianus, Spermophilus dauricus, Allactaga sibirica, Dipus sagitta, and Phodopus roborovskii. Among them, M. unguiculatus was the most abundant species, with 58 rodents, accounting for 61.70% of the total. Overall,11 positive Bartonella pathogen sequences were obtained from the three ports, with a positive detection rate of 11.70%(11/94). The infected rodent species included M. unguiculatus, M. meridianus, and A. sibirica, and two species of Bartonella were detected. Conclusions Rodents at Ganqimaodu, Erenhot, and Zhuengadabuqi ports along the China-Mongolia border were naturally infected with Bartonella. Rodent monitoring and pathogen prevention and control in this area should be strengthened.

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

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the impact of foam macrophages (FMs) on the intracellular survival of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and identify the molecular mechanisms influencing MTB survival. METHODS: An in vitro FM model was established using oleic acid induction. Transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses were conducted to identify the key molecular pathways involved in FM-mediated MTB survival. RESULTS: Induced FMs effectively restricted MTB survival. Transcriptomic and metabolomic profiling revealed distinct changes in gene and metabolite expression in FMs during MTB infection compared with normal macrophages. Integrated analyses identified significant alterations in the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) signaling pathway, indicating that its activation contributes to the FM-mediated restriction of MTB survival. CONCLUSIONS FMs inhibit MTB survival. The cAMP signaling pathway is a key contributor. These findings enhance the understanding of the role of FMs in tuberculosis progression, suggest potential targets for host-directed therapies, and offer new directions for developing diagnostic and therapeutic strategies against tuberculosis.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis/physiology* ; Transcriptome ; Metabolomics ; Foam Cells/microbiology* ; Humans ; Metabolome ; Tuberculosis/microbiology* ; Gene Expression Profiling

Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis(C.pseudotuberculosis)is a group of intracellular Gram-positive bacteria that can cause zoonotic diseases.This study investigated the mechanisms of inflammatory mediator secretion and the phagocytic and bactericidal functions of mouse peritoneal macrophages following C.pseudotuberculosis infection.Initially,transcriptomic sequencing was em-ployed to identify genes critical for C.pseudotuberculosis infection in macrophages.Subsequently,gene knockout mice were utilized to assess the impact of these key genes on inflammatory media-tor secretion,activation of inflammatory signaling pathways,and the phagocytic and bactericidal functions of macrophages infected with C.pseudotuberculosis.Techniques such as ELISA,Western blot,and immunofluorescence were employed in this analysis.Further,transcriptomic sequencing was conducted to identify key downstream genes.Following C.pseudotuberculosis infection,GO enrichment analysis was performed,and TLR2 was identified as the focal point of the study.Perito-neal macrophages from C57BL/6J and TLR2 knockout(TLR2-/-)mice were infected with C.pseudotuberculosis.ELISA results revealed that the levels of TNF-α,IL-1β,and IL-10 were signifi-cantly downregulated in TLR2-/-macrophages compared to C57BL/6J macrophages post-infec-tion.Western blot demonstrated that the absence of TLR2 led to a marked decrease in M APK(p38 and ERK)signaling pathway phosphorylation following C.pseudotuberculosis infection.Immuno-fluorescence results indicated that the phagocytic rate of TLR2-/-macrophages was significantly higher than that of C57BL/6J macrophages after infection.Subsequently,transcriptomic analysis of C57BL/6J and TLR2-/-macrophages infected with C.pseudotuberculosis was performed,followed by GO enrichment analysis of differential genes.IL-36a,Cx3cr1,TLR1,and TLR2 were identified as key differential genes.TLR2 plays a crucial role in the inflammatory response induced by C.pseudotuberculosis infection in mice,influencing the progression of the inflammatory response and host outcomes through the secretion of inflammatory mediators,activation of signaling pathways,and modulation of phagocytic and bactericidal functions.IL-36a and Cx3cr1 were identified as key downstream factors in this process.

Objective To design a high altitude adaptive oxygen generator for the crews to alleviate their high altitude reaction in high altitude environment and meet their requirements for oxygen supply.Methods A high altitude adaptive oxygen generator based on the mature pressure swing adsorption oxygen production method was designed with the key technologies of discharge capacity compensation of air compression pump and airway fusion of molecular sieve tower,which had the components of molecular sieve tower,air compression pump,controller,cooling fan,cooler,solenoid valve,regulator,flow meter and etc.Trials were carried out at the simulated altitude and field plateau environment so as to verify the high altitude adaptive performance of the oxygen generator developed.Results The trial results showed the oxygen generator met the desired objectives and the requirements for oxygen volume fraction in GJB 2799-1996 General specification for medical oxygen generator using molecular sieve method.Conclusion The oxygen generartor provides oxygen supply effectively for vehicle operators in plateau environments or the ones rushing into the plateau.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2025,46(4):29-34]

Objective:To construct a structural equation model for neck work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) in the footwear industry and analyze the mediating effect of fatigue in the model.Methods:From November 2018 to December 2019, stratified cluster sampling was adopted to select all the workers (3565 people) from 7 footwear enterprises in Fujian Province as the research subjects. The incidence of WMSDs, fatigue and work-related condition were investigated by using the Chinese version of the Musculoskeletal Disorders Questionnaire. A structural equation model of individual factors, work type, work posture, work organization factors, and fatigue on neck WMSDs was constructed to analyze the mediating effect of fatigue among them.Results:The incidence rate of WMSDs in the neck of footwear workers was 39.6% (1413/3565) , and the incidence rate of neck fatigue was 46.6% (1662/3565) .The final structural equation model was constructed with a χ2/ df of 9.927, a goodness-of-fit index of 0.961, an adjusted goodness-of-fit index of 0.946, and a root mean square error of approximation of 0.050. Except for the χ2/ df, all other fit indicators met the standard. Individual factors and work posture factors had a direct effect on neck WMSDs, with standardized path coefficients of 0.101 and 0.077, respectively ( P<0.05) . Individual factors, work type, work posture, and work organization had indirect effects on neck WMSDs through fatigue, the standardized path coefficients of indirect effects were 0.163, 0.090, 0.206, 0.105, respectively, and the standardized path coefficients of the total effect were 0.264, 0.090, 0.282, and 0.105 respectively ( P<0.05) . The indirect effects of individual factors and work posture factors on neck WMSDs through fatigue accounted for 61.74% and 73.05% of the total effects, respectively. The standardized path coefficient of fatigue on WMSDs was 0.689 ( P<0.001) , with the highest coefficient among all paths. Conclusion:Individual factors, work type, work posture, and work organization factors are important influencing factors in the occurrence and development of neck WMSDs in the footwear industry, and fatigue plays an important mediating role in them.

Objective:To investigate the relationship among seminal oxidation-reduction potential(nORP),sperm DNA frag-mentation(DFI)and semen parameters in patients with varicocele.Methods:Clinical data of 522 patients treated in the reproduc-tive andrology clinic of the Northern Theater General Hospital from November 2023 to December 2023 were retrospectively analyzed,in-cluding 435 men of childbearing age and 87 men of infertile age.The patients were divided into the varicocele group(n=116)and non-varicocele group(n=406)according to clinical diagnosis.The differences of seminal plasma nORP,DFI,sperm high DNA stain ability(HDS)and semen parameters were analyzed between the two groups.The relationship among general clinical data,seminal plasma nORP,semen parameters,DFI and HDS in patients with varicocele were further analyzed.According to the severity of varico-cele,the patients were divided into three groups,including mild,moderate and severe.And the differences of seminal plasma nORP and semen parameters,DFI and HDS among all groups were analyzed.The differences of seminal plasma nORP,semen parameters,DFI and HDS were compared between the varicocele and non-varicocele groups.Results:The total sperm count,sperm concentra-tion,progressive motility sperm percentage(PR％)and normal sperm morphology rate(NSMR)in patients with varicocele were sig-nificantly lower than those in control group(P＜0.05).And seminal plasma nORP,DFI and HDS in patients with varicocele were sig-nificantly higher than those in control group(P＜0.05).Seminal plasma nORP in patients with varicocele was significantly negatively correlated with total sperm,sperm concentration and NSMR(P＜0.05),and significantly positively correlated with DFI and HDS(P＜0.05).There were significant differences in nORP,total sperm count,sperm concentration,PR％,DFI and HDS among mild,moderate and severe varicocele groups(P＜0.05).Seminal plasma nORP,sperm concentration,PR％and DFI in severe group were significantly lower than those in mild and moderate groups(P＜0.05).Sperm count and HDS in severe group were significantly lower than those in mild group(P＜0.05).In infertile patients,seminal plasma nORP,DFI and HDS in varicocele group were significantly higher than those in control group(P＜0.05).And PR％in varicocele group was significantly lower than that in control group(P＜0.05).Conclusions:Seminal plasma nORP in patients with varicocele may be an important marker of oxidative stress affecting DFI and semen parameters.