OBJECTIVE The emergence of evolving variants of Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)has fostered the need for change of newer and adaptive treatments for these infections.During the COVID-19 pandemic and persists,traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)herbs exhibit significant bioactivity and therapeutic effect.This study is aimed to evaluate the efficacy of four TCM preparations on 28-day mortality risk of patients and changes of the laboratory indicators.METHODS The retrospective cohort study included patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to the Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine from December 15,2022 to January 15,2023,and those died within 48 hours of admission or cannot be tracked for outcomes were excluded.The pri-mary outcome was survival status in 28 days(death or survival)starting from the day of admission.The second outcomes were labora-tory indicators,including absolute lymphocyte count,lactate dehydrogenase,creatinine,and blood urea nitrogen.Binary logistic re-gressions were used to estimate the effect of TCM preparations on the primary and secondary outcomes in main analysis.Meanwhile,heterogeneity and robustness of results from main analysis were assessed by subgroup analyses and multiple sensitivity analyses.RESULTS 1 816 eligible patients were included in analysis dataset,including 573 patients received standard care(control group)and 1 243 patients received TCM preparations(hospital preparation group).The 28-day mortality rate of hospital preparation group was lower than that of control group(4.75%vs.14.83%),and the difference was statistically significant(χ2=54.666,P<0.001).The risk of 28-day mortality was 0.535 times lower in the hospital preparation group as compared with the control group(OR=0.46,95%CI:0.305-0.708,P<0.001)showed by multivariable binary logistic regressions.Subgroup analyses showed that taking TCM preparations reduced the 28-day mortality risk.Sensitivity analyses demonstrated that the results of the main analysis for primary outcomes were robust.For secondary outcomes,the risk of abnormal absolute lymphocyte counts at discharge in the hospital prepara-tion group decreased by 0.284 times(OR=0.703,95%CI:0.515-0.961,P=0.027).CONCLUSION Compared with standard of care,taking four hospital preparations including Kanggan Heji,Feining Heji,Qishen Gubiao Keli,and Qianghuo Qushi Qingwen Heji decreased risk of 28-day mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 patients.TCM therapy achieves adequate therapeutic effects in COVID-19.

OBJECTIVE The emergence of evolving variants of Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)has fostered the need for change of newer and adaptive treatments for these infections.During the COVID-19 pandemic and persists,traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)herbs exhibit significant bioactivity and therapeutic effect.This study is aimed to evaluate the efficacy of four TCM preparations on 28-day mortality risk of patients and changes of the laboratory indicators.METHODS The retrospective cohort study included patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to the Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine from December 15,2022 to January 15,2023,and those died within 48 hours of admission or cannot be tracked for outcomes were excluded.The pri-mary outcome was survival status in 28 days(death or survival)starting from the day of admission.The second outcomes were labora-tory indicators,including absolute lymphocyte count,lactate dehydrogenase,creatinine,and blood urea nitrogen.Binary logistic re-gressions were used to estimate the effect of TCM preparations on the primary and secondary outcomes in main analysis.Meanwhile,heterogeneity and robustness of results from main analysis were assessed by subgroup analyses and multiple sensitivity analyses.RESULTS 1 816 eligible patients were included in analysis dataset,including 573 patients received standard care(control group)and 1 243 patients received TCM preparations(hospital preparation group).The 28-day mortality rate of hospital preparation group was lower than that of control group(4.75%vs.14.83%),and the difference was statistically significant(χ2=54.666,P<0.001).The risk of 28-day mortality was 0.535 times lower in the hospital preparation group as compared with the control group(OR=0.46,95%CI:0.305-0.708,P<0.001)showed by multivariable binary logistic regressions.Subgroup analyses showed that taking TCM preparations reduced the 28-day mortality risk.Sensitivity analyses demonstrated that the results of the main analysis for primary outcomes were robust.For secondary outcomes,the risk of abnormal absolute lymphocyte counts at discharge in the hospital prepara-tion group decreased by 0.284 times(OR=0.703,95%CI:0.515-0.961,P=0.027).CONCLUSION Compared with standard of care,taking four hospital preparations including Kanggan Heji,Feining Heji,Qishen Gubiao Keli,and Qianghuo Qushi Qingwen Heji decreased risk of 28-day mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 patients.TCM therapy achieves adequate therapeutic effects in COVID-19.

Previous research on traditional Chinese medicine tongue inspection has mainly focused on its development,clinical application,and objectification,ignoring the fundamental question of "why tongue inspection is important in traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis" and neglecting the dominant role of traditional Chinese medicine brain thinking activities during diagnosis. Therefore,applying modern cognitive neuroscience technology to explore the impact of tongue inspection information on traditional Chinese medicine diagnostic thinking from an empirical research perspective may open up a new path for future tongue inspection research. This article proposes the combined application of eye tracking and event-related potential technology,drawing on the experimental paradigm of text reading inference correction in cognitive psychology,to collect eye movement and electroencephalogram data of participants induced by changes in tongue information during the reading process of traditional Chinese medicine medical records. This method can achieve synchronous observation of the focus areas and electroencephalogram signals of the subjects during the reading process,and provide cognitive scientific evidence for "why tongue inspection is important in traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis" through statistical data analysis. This research approach integrates the theories,techniques,and methods of traditional Chinese medicine and cognitive science,and is of great significance for developing cognitive thinking research in traditional Chinese medicine.

OBJECTIVE To compare the chemical components contained in Artemisiae Scopariae Herba （ASH） standard decoction and its decoction pieces， and provide foundation of their pharmacological substances. METHODS ASH standard decoction and its decoction pieces were prepared； UFLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS method was used for the detection in the negative ion mode， and the total ion chromatogram was extracted by the PeakView 1.6 software. By comparing with reference substances， literature data， and online search of compound database such as PubChem， the chemical components contained in ASH standard decoction and its decoction pieces were identified and analyzed for the differences. RESULTS A total of 125 chemical components were identified in ASH standard decoction and its decoction pieces， including 50 organic acids， 39 flavonoids， 3 coumarins， 2 amino acids， 5 lignans， and 26 others. 3-methoxy-caffeic acid-4-O- β -D-glucoside， p-hydroxybenzoic acid， caffeic acid 4-O- glucoside， spiraeoside， and phenyl β-D-glucoside in ASH standard decoction were not detected in its decoction pieces， while 6′-6′ chlorogenic acid dimer， quercetin-5-glucoside， apigenin 7-methyl ether 5-（6″-malonylglucoside）， quercetin-3-O-arabinoside， 6″-caffeoylhyperin and 6-O-caffeoyl-D-glucoside in decoction pieces were not detected in the standard decoction. CONCLUSIONS Most components in ASH decoction pieces are transferred to its standard decoction， but a few components undergo chemical reactions in whole or in part during the boiling process， transforming into other or new components in the standard decoction.