1.Research progress on the microbiota-gut-brain axis regulatory mechanisms and targeted dietary interventions in autism spectrum disorder
Mingyue HAO ; Jiajun CHANG ; Zhihua ZHANG ; Lan GAO
Acta Universitatis Medicinalis Anhui 2026;61(2):376-386
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), also known as autism, is a series of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by social disorders and repetitive stereotyped behaviors/narrow interests. Its pathogenesis is complex, and there is a lack of effective treatment drugs, with some cases having adverse outcomes. Recent studies have consistently revealed that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) commonly exhibit characteristics such as gut microbiota dysbiosis (abnormal Bacteroidetes/Firmicutes ratio), impaired intestinal barrier function (elevated serum levels of zonulin and LPS), and intestinal immune dysregulation (increased pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL-6 and TNF-α), suggesting that gastrointestinal abnormalities may influence central nervous system development through neuroendocrine, immunoregulatory, and metabolic pathways. Consequently, growing scholarly attention has focused on dietary interventions as potential approaches to alleviate clinical symptoms in children with ASD. This review systematically summarizes the role of gut microbiota and their metabolite alterations in ASD pathogenesis, along with recent advancements in understanding the microbiota-gut-brain axis mechanisms. Additionally, it elaborates on the therapeutic effects and underlying biological basis of restrictive diet therapy, modified diet therapy, and nutritional supplementation therapy in promoting the health of children with ASD. This systematic review reveals that children with ASD exhibit significant gut microbiota dysbiosis (e.g., increased Clostridium, decreased Faecalibacterium) and abnormal metabolite profiles (e.g., altered short-chain fatty acid spectra, elevated 4EPS levels). These alterations exacerbate neuroinflammation and immune dysregulation through the microbiota-gut-brain axis, thereby impacting nervous system development and function. Furthermore, interventions such as ketogenic diets, camel milk, and specific nutritional supplements can alleviate certain ASD symptoms by modulating gut microbiota, restoring intestinal barrier function, and improving metabolic pathways. Future investigations should aim to create multi-omics evaluation systems for pinpointing potential beneficiaries, devise individualized intervention strategies rooted in microbiome characteristics, and verify their therapeutic value and safety in large-scale randomized controlled trials. These efforts are crucial to transitioning ASD treatment from symptomatic control to address disease etiology, thereby paving the way for improving prognoses.
2.Alginate lyase immobilized Chlamydomonas algae microrobots: minimally invasive therapy for biofilm penetration and eradication.
Xiaoting ZHANG ; Huaan LI ; Lu LIU ; Yanzhen SONG ; Lishan ZHANG ; Jiajun MIAO ; Jiamiao JIANG ; Hao TIAN ; Chang LIU ; Fei PENG ; Yingfeng TU
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2025;15(6):3259-3272
Bacterial biofilms can make traditional antibiotics impenetrable and even promote the development of antibiotic-resistant strains. Therefore, non-antibiotic strategies to effectively penetrate and eradicate the formed biofilms are urgently needed. Here, we demonstrate the development of self-propelled biohybrid microrobots that can enhance the degradation and penetration effects for Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms in minimally invasive strategy. The biohybrid microrobots (CR@Alg) are constructed by surface modification of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (CR) microalgae with alginate lyase (Alg) via biological orthogonal reaction. By degrading the biofilm components, the number of CR@Alg microrobots with fast-moving capability penetrating the biofilm increases by around 2.4-fold compared to that of microalgae. Massive reactive oxygen species are subsequently generated under laser irradiation due to the presence of chlorophyll, inherent photosensitizers of microalgae, thus triggering photodynamic therapy (PDT) to combat bacteria. Our algae-based microrobots with superior biocompatibility eliminate biofilm-infections efficiently and tend to suppress the inflammatory response in vivo, showing huge promise for the active treatment of biofilm-associated infections.
3.Status of allostatic load in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome and its influence on in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer outcomes
Jingxian CHENG ; Yunxia CAO ; Jiajun GUAN ; Jieyu WANG ; Chunyan WANG ; Guiying LUO ; Chang′e CHEN
Chinese Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 2025;60(9):732-740
Objective:To investigate the status of allostatic load (AL) in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and its influence on the clinical outcomes of in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer.Methods:This was a prospective study. By using convenient sampling method, 421 patients with PCOS (PCOS group) and 372 control infertility patients (control group) in the Reproductive Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from April 2022 to January 2024 were investigated for basic information, physical examination, laboratory examination and follow-up of clinical outcomes. The total score of AL was calculated using 16 related indicators of cardiovascular system, metabolic system and immune system, and AL>3 was used as the judgment criteria for the high level AL group and the low level AL group. The differences in general data, embryo development and clinical outcomes between the groups were compared.Results:There were 222 cases (52.7%, 222/421) in PCOS low level AL group and 199 cases (47.3%, 199/421) in PCOS high level AL group. There were 214 patients (57.5%, 214/372) in the control low level AL group and 158 patients (42.5%, 158/372) in the control high level AL group. Embryo development outcomes: number of oocytes retrieved (median: 12, 12, 19, 14, respectively; P<0.001), number of two pronuclei (median: 8, 7, 11, 8, respectively; P<0.001), number of fertilization (median: 9, 9, 13, 10, respectively; P<0.001), number of metaphase of meiosis Ⅱ oocytes (median: 9, 8, 13, 10, respectively; P<0.001), number of transferable embryos (median: 5, 5, 7, 6, respectively; P<0.001), number of high-quality embryos (median: 4, 3, 6, 5, respectively; P<0.001), gonadotropin(Gn) starting dosage (median: 150, 200, 150, 200 U, respectively; P<0.001), total dosage of Gn (median: 1 800, 2 075, 1 575, 2 025 U, respectively; P<0.001), duration of Gn used (median: 10, 10, 10, 10 days, respectively; P=0.027) in the control low level AL group, control high level AL group, PCOS low level AL group and PCOS high level AL group were significantly different. Pairings between groups showed that number of oocytes retrieved, number of two pronuclei, number of fertilization, number of metaphase of meiosis Ⅱ oocytes and number of transferable embryos in PCOS high level AL group were lower than those in PCOS low level AL group (all P<0.05); Gn starting dosage and total dosage of Gn in PCOS low level AL group were lower than those in the other three groups (all P<0.05); duration of Gn used in PCOS high level AL group was higher than that PCOS low level AL group ( P<0.05). Clinical outcomes: the control low level AL group, control high level AL group, PCOS low level AL group and PCOS high level AL group underwent fresh transplantation [27.4% (57/208), 24.4% (38/156), 15.1% (32/212), 17.1% (33/193), respectively; P=0.006] and the proportion of transplanted day 5 embryos [82.7% (172/208), 77.6% (121/156), 91.0% (193/212), 86.5% (167/193), respectively; P=0.018] were statistically significant. There were no significant differences in fertilization rate, biochemical pregnancy rate, clinical pregnancy rate, multiple pregnancy rate and early abortion rate among the four groups (all P>0.05). Conclusion:The high level of AL in PCOS patients may affect the outcomes of embryo development, and more attention should be paid to AL in PCOS patients to reduce stress.
4.Status of allostatic load in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome and its influence on in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer outcomes
Jingxian CHENG ; Yunxia CAO ; Jiajun GUAN ; Jieyu WANG ; Chunyan WANG ; Guiying LUO ; Chang′e CHEN
Chinese Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 2025;60(9):732-740
Objective:To investigate the status of allostatic load (AL) in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and its influence on the clinical outcomes of in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer.Methods:This was a prospective study. By using convenient sampling method, 421 patients with PCOS (PCOS group) and 372 control infertility patients (control group) in the Reproductive Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from April 2022 to January 2024 were investigated for basic information, physical examination, laboratory examination and follow-up of clinical outcomes. The total score of AL was calculated using 16 related indicators of cardiovascular system, metabolic system and immune system, and AL>3 was used as the judgment criteria for the high level AL group and the low level AL group. The differences in general data, embryo development and clinical outcomes between the groups were compared.Results:There were 222 cases (52.7%, 222/421) in PCOS low level AL group and 199 cases (47.3%, 199/421) in PCOS high level AL group. There were 214 patients (57.5%, 214/372) in the control low level AL group and 158 patients (42.5%, 158/372) in the control high level AL group. Embryo development outcomes: number of oocytes retrieved (median: 12, 12, 19, 14, respectively; P<0.001), number of two pronuclei (median: 8, 7, 11, 8, respectively; P<0.001), number of fertilization (median: 9, 9, 13, 10, respectively; P<0.001), number of metaphase of meiosis Ⅱ oocytes (median: 9, 8, 13, 10, respectively; P<0.001), number of transferable embryos (median: 5, 5, 7, 6, respectively; P<0.001), number of high-quality embryos (median: 4, 3, 6, 5, respectively; P<0.001), gonadotropin(Gn) starting dosage (median: 150, 200, 150, 200 U, respectively; P<0.001), total dosage of Gn (median: 1 800, 2 075, 1 575, 2 025 U, respectively; P<0.001), duration of Gn used (median: 10, 10, 10, 10 days, respectively; P=0.027) in the control low level AL group, control high level AL group, PCOS low level AL group and PCOS high level AL group were significantly different. Pairings between groups showed that number of oocytes retrieved, number of two pronuclei, number of fertilization, number of metaphase of meiosis Ⅱ oocytes and number of transferable embryos in PCOS high level AL group were lower than those in PCOS low level AL group (all P<0.05); Gn starting dosage and total dosage of Gn in PCOS low level AL group were lower than those in the other three groups (all P<0.05); duration of Gn used in PCOS high level AL group was higher than that PCOS low level AL group ( P<0.05). Clinical outcomes: the control low level AL group, control high level AL group, PCOS low level AL group and PCOS high level AL group underwent fresh transplantation [27.4% (57/208), 24.4% (38/156), 15.1% (32/212), 17.1% (33/193), respectively; P=0.006] and the proportion of transplanted day 5 embryos [82.7% (172/208), 77.6% (121/156), 91.0% (193/212), 86.5% (167/193), respectively; P=0.018] were statistically significant. There were no significant differences in fertilization rate, biochemical pregnancy rate, clinical pregnancy rate, multiple pregnancy rate and early abortion rate among the four groups (all P>0.05). Conclusion:The high level of AL in PCOS patients may affect the outcomes of embryo development, and more attention should be paid to AL in PCOS patients to reduce stress.
5.Establishment of a risk prediction model for poly victimization among rural left behind children
LUO Yandong, CHANG Ping, ZHOU Jiajun, CAO Zicheng, LI Liping
Chinese Journal of School Health 2024;45(4):575-580
Objective:
To construct a risk prediction model for poly victimization (PV) among rural left behind middle and high school students in Chaoshan, and to evaluate the prediction effect of the model, so as to provide scientific basis for early identification and prevention of PV among students.
Methods:
A questionnaire survey was conducted among 1 005 left behind students, selected from 7 middle and high schools in rural areas of Shantou City and Jieyang City by a stratified random cluster sampling method from January 2020 to September 2021, for the personal, family, external environmental factors, psychological factors (mental resilience, coping approaches, self esteem and social support) and PV situations. R software and Logistic regression were used to screen predictor variables to build a risk prediction model, and the area under the ROC curve (area under the curve, AUC), accuracy, precision, recall, F1 value and calibration curve were used to evaluate the model s effect.
Results:
The incidence rate of PV among left behind middle and high school students was 23.38%. The results of Logistic regression analysis showed that physical illness or disability ( β =1.02), grade retention during the past year ( β =1.31), having no close partner ( β =1.00), self harm intention (seldom: β = 0.58 , occasionally: β =0.79), negative peer behavior ( β =0.90), family member smoking ( β =0.59), criminal offenses of parents ( β =1.04), witnessing school bullying ( β =0.78), house moving ( β =0.58), using venting ( β =0.34) and the coping style of patience ( β =0.28) were positively correlated with PV among left behind children in Chaoshan area, and family support in psychological flexibility ( β =-0.31) was negatively correlated with PV ( P <0.05). A nomogram prediction model was constructed for the meaningful variables included in the multivariate analysis, and the prediction model AUC was 0.88, the accuracy was 82.00 %, the precision was 77.78%, and the F1 value was 43.75%. The calibration plot fitted well, and the model had good discrimination and calibration.
Conclusion
The risk prediction model for left behind middle and high school students with PV has good predictive performance and is helpful for schools and communities to early identify high risk middle and high school students with PV.
6.Application value of radiomics-based machine learning model in identifying the degree of pulmonary ground-glass nodule infiltration
Hua HE ; Delun YANG ; Shuo SUN ; Li HE ; Xiang MA ; Mengmeng ZHAO ; Jiajun DENG ; Minjie MA ; Biao HAN ; Chang CHEN
Chinese Journal of Clinical Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 2023;30(04):522-531
Objective To establish a machine learning model based on computed tomography (CT) radiomics for preoperatively predicting invasive degree of lung ground-glass nodules (GGNs). Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of GGNs patients whose solid component less than 3 cm in the Department of Thoracic Surgery of Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital from March 2021 to July 2021 and the First Hospital of Lanzhou University from January 2019 to May 2022. The lesions were divided into pre-invasiveness and invasiveness according to postoperative pathological results, and the patients were randomly divided into a training set and a test set in a ratio of 7∶3. Radiomic features (1 317) were extracted from CT images of each patient, the max-relevance and min-redundancy (mRMR) was used to screen the top 100 features with the most relevant categories, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) was used to select radiomic features, and the support vector machine (SVM) classifier was used to establish the prediction model. We calculated the area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, negative predictive value, positive predictive value to evaluate the performance of the model, drawing calibration and decision curves of the prediction model to evaluate the accuracy and clinical benefit of the model, analyzed the performance in the training set and subgroups with different nodule diameters, and compared the prediction performance of this model with Mayo and Brock models. Two primary thoracic surgeons were required to evaluate the invasiveness of GGNs to investigate the clinical utility of the mode. Results A total of 400 patients were divided into the training set (n=280) and the test set (n=120) according to the admission criteria. There were 267 females and 133 males with an ……
7.Analysis of changes in connectivity of resting brain functional network before and after acupuncture combined with language rehabilitation training in patients with basal ganglia aphasia after stroke
Tianli LYU ; Jiajun MA ; Lu LIU ; Mingyang FU ; Zhongjian TAN ; Jingling CHANG ; Jingqing SUN
Journal of Chinese Physician 2023;25(9):1313-1318
Objective:To use the resting state functional network connectivity (FNC) method based on independent component analysis (ICA) to analyze the characteristics of FNC changes in patients with basal ganglia aphasia (BGA) after stroke, and to explore its occurrence and recovery mechanism under the intervention of acupuncture combined with language rehabilitation training.Methods:Using a prospective observational research method, 16 right-handed BGA patients who were treated at Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Capital Medical University from July 2021 to December 2022, as well as 14 healthy subjects matched in age, gender, education level, and handedness, were included. The resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging, demographic information, and Western Aphasia Examination data of healthy subjects and BGA patients before and after intervention were collected. The GIFT toolbox based on MATLAB platform was applied for ICA and resting state brain network FNC analysis. The FNC differences between BGA patients and healthy subjects were compared horizontally, and the FNC changes in BGA patients before and after intervention were compared vertically.Results:Compared with healthy subjects, post-stroke BGA patients showed decreased connectivity between the basal ganglia network, default network, and visual network before intervention, while increased connectivity between the auditory network, right frontoparietal network, and anterior cuneiform network; After the intervention of acupuncture combined with language rehabilitation training, the connectivity between the basal ganglia network, visual network, and anterior cuneiform network decreased, while the connectivity between the anterior convex network and bilateral frontoparietal network decreased, while the connectivity between the default network, auditory network, right frontoparietal network, and visual network increased. The BGA patient group showed enhanced connectivity between the basal ganglia network and the left frontoparietal network before and after intervention.Conclusions:The FNC changes between the basal ganglia network and other brain networks are key to reflecting the mechanism of BGA occurrence and language function recovery. Acupuncture combined with language rehabilitation training may improve language function by enhancing the connectivity between the basal ganglia network and the left frontoparietal network, and the redistribution of attention resources may also be one of the reasons for promoting language function recovery in BGA patients.
8.Research progress on prediction of lymph node metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer
Yang WANG ; Yifan ZHONG ; Jiajun DENG ; Yunlang SHE ; Xuefei HU ; Chang CHEN
Chinese Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 2022;38(7):434-440
Accurately predicting the risk of mediastinal lymph node metastasis before surgery is of great significance for tumor staging, treatment plan decision, and prognosis evaluation in patients with non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC). Traditional imaging methods such as CT, MRI and PET/CT are currently the most commonly used clinical methods in clinical evaluation of lymph node status. However, it is subjective to judge lymph node metastasis only by the change of image morphological characteristics, and inflammatory lymphadenopathy will also lead to a high false positive rate. The clinicopathological characteristics obtained by analyzing the clinical data of patients with NSCLC can improve the accuracy of lymph node metastasis prediction to a certain extent. The clinical prediction model based on medical images combined with the clinical characteristics of patients can provide more intuitive and rational information for doctors and patients, but the performance and applicability of the model will inevitably decrease due to changes in disease risk factors and treatment measures. In recent years, with the significant improvement of image analysis technology and computing ability, radiomics models based on medical images can deeply dig into the data in radiological images for quantitative analysis, providing new ideas for predicting mediastinal lymph node metastasis in NSCLC patients, which has attracted extensive attention at home and abroad. This article reviews the progress and makes prospects of the above methods in the prediction of mediastinal lymph node metastasis in NSCLC.
9.Exploratory study on the evaluation dimension and index of research hospital
Wei LIU ; Wenshan ZHANG ; Lei MA ; Fan GAO ; Wei HUANG ; Chang LIU ; Weiwei JIANG ; Xiaorui WANG ; Mengnan LI ; Jiajun YIN ; Xuefei HUANG ; Jing CHEN
Chinese Journal of Medical Science Research Management 2021;34(6):427-432
Objective:To explore the evaluation dimensions and indicators of research hospital, provide empirical evidence for the construction of research hospital.Methods:Non-probability sampling was adopted, physicians from 9 hospitals in Shanghai that have a National Clinical Medical Research Center or Shanghai Clinical Medical Research Center were invited as survey participants. The physician participants were divided into senior and junior groups. For senior group, a questionnaire including 5 dimensions and 21 indicators was provided. The survey participants were consulted to determine whether the indicators can be used to measure this dimension, and also invited to propose additional dimensions and indicators for improvement.For junior group, two open questions were proposed to explore their needs of support in both clinical service and research.Results:Based on suggestions from the research participants, the research team, and other expert consultant, this article tried to propose 5 dimensions and 21 indicators for evaluating research hospitals. Among them, 11 were indicators compiled by the research team based on the literature review and agreed by more than 2/3 of senior physicians surveyed, while others were proposed based on the survey results. The research team planned to use the entropy method to determine the weights of different indicators, thus, the participants were not required to make judgments on the weights of dimensions and indicators.Conclusions:The evaluation of research hospitals has not yet formed a systematic consensus. Through the exploration and establishment of evaluation dimensions and indicators, identify hospitals that are closer to the development goals of research hospitals can provide a basis for future next-step practices.
10.Discussion on capitation payment system reform based on case analysis
Jiajun QIAO ; Zhaofang ZHU ; Qi JING ; Shaohua KUANG ; Mengxuan ZOU ; Jing GAO ; Bin CUI ; Yingchun CHEN ; Jingjing CHANG
Chinese Journal of Hospital Administration 2019;35(5):358-361
Pilot areas have achieved initial success in capitation reform. On the other hand, challenges remain unsolved in terms of practical pathways, change of national medical insurance management system, related measures, incentives and allocative mechanism for implement of the reform. With the concerning on progress, practice, effects and challenges of typical areas, this article established an institutional framework. On such basis, we propose to design and refine a scheme in terms of 5 aspects, namely strengthening the basic medical care packages′financing, setting contents and standard of the basic medical care packages rationally, establishing effective evaluation system and formulating supporting measures.


Result Analysis
Print
Save
E-mail