Objective: To investigate the correlation between color parameters (L^*, a^*, b^*, Eab^*) and the contents of reducing sugars, total polysaccharides, total oligosaccharides, as well as four saccharides (fructose, glucose, sucrose, and kestose) during the nine cycles of steaming and sun-drying processing of Polygonatum kingianum, and to preliminarily explore the optimal processing duration.
Methods: The color changes were objectively evaluated using a colorimeter. The anthrone-sulfuric acid method was employed to determine total polysaccharides and oligosaccharides. The 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid (DNS) colorimetric method was used to measure total reducing sugar content. High-performance liquid chromatography coupled with charged aerosol detection (HPLC-CAD) was applied for quantitative analysis of fructose, glucose, sucrose, and kestose. Multivariate statistical analysis was conducted to assess samples from different processing stages.
Results: Significant variations in color and component contents were observed across processing stages. The herbal pieces progressively darkened with increased processing cycles: brightness (L^*) and total color difference (Eab^*) initially decreased then stabilized, while a^* (red-green) and b^* (yellow-blue) values first increased then declined. Total polysaccharides and oligosaccharides showed overall decreasing trends, whereas reducing sugars initially increased before stabilizing. Fructose and glucose levels rose continuously, while sucrose and kestose decreased progressively, becoming undetectable after five cycles.
Conclusion: The chromatic alteration and saccharide composition of P. kingianum showed significant correlation with processing duration. Both total color difference (Eab^*) and reducing sugar content stabilized after four processing cycles (12 hours), suggesting that four cycles of steaming and sun-drying may represent the optimal processing duration.

Objective: To investigate the correlation between the color parameters (L^*, a^*, b^*, Eab^* values) of Polygoni Multiflori Radix Praeparata powder prepared by different processing techniques and the contents of 2,3,5,4’-tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, emodin, physcion, emodin-8-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, physcion-8-O-β-D-glucopyranoside.
Methods: The L^*, a^*, b^* and Eab^* values of Polygoni Multiflori Radix Praeparata powder prepared by different processing techniques were determined by spectrophotometer, and the contents of the five components were determined by high performance liquid chromatography. Secondly, SPSS 26.0 software and Simca 14.1 software were used to analyze the correlation.
Results: Through the hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), it was found that the steamed samples and black bean steamed samples could be obviously divided into two categories: raw products and processed products. The processed products could be further divided into 2-8 h and 12-48 h. Pearson correlation analysis showed that the content of stilbene glycoside was significantly positively correlated with L^*, a^* and b^* values (P<0.01). The a^* value was significantly positively correlated with the content of emodin and physcion (P<0.01). Emodin-8-O-β-D-glucoside was positively correlated with L^* value and b^* value, while physcion-8-O-β-D-glucoside was negatively correlated with a^* value. Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS) showed that 2,3,5,4’-tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-β-D-glucoside (VIP=1.69) and emodin-8-O-β-D-glucoside (VIP=1.06) were the key variables affecting chromaticity characteristics (P<0.01).
Conclusion: The three processes of steaming, black bean steaming and black bean stewing are consistent in composition transformation and chromaticity variation, and stilbene glycoside can be used as a specific index component to characterize the processed color. Chromatic parameters can effectively reflect the processing progression and serve as quality monitoring indicators during production.

BACKGROUND:The Ilizarov technique is very effective in the treatment of congenital brachymetatarsia of the fourth,but there are still some complications.The optimal proportion of lengthening of the fourth metatarsal is still controversial.OBJECTIVE:To explore the clinical efficacy of Ilizarov technique in the treatment of congenital brachymetatarsia of the fourth and the optimal lengthening ratio.METHODS:Medical records of patients with congenital brachymetatarsia of the fourth treated with Ilizarov technique in Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from August 2021 to October 2023 were collected.American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society scores before and after the treatment,length of the fourth metatarsal before and after surgery,and postoperative complications were evaluated.The prolongation ratio was analyzed by subgroups to assess the best suitable length for the operative conditions.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)A total of 16 patients were included.The length of the fourth metatarsal before treatment was(43.51±3.75)mm,and the shortening length was(12.53±2.82)mm;the lengthening time during the treatment period was(36.95±4.12)days,and the time with external fixation bracket was(102.30±32.74)days,and the lengthening length after the treatment was(13.90±3.47)mm,and the prolongation ratio was(32.30±9.10)％.(2)American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society scores were significantly increased at the last follow-up compared with that before treatment(t=0.763,P＜0.01).(3)The main postoperative complications were bone nonunion,metatarsophalangeal joint dislocation,metatarsophalangeal joint narrowing,and excessive lengthening of the fourth metatarsal.All patients were free of infection and abnormal sensation in the toe.(4)Subgroup analysis based on prolongation ratio showed that the rate of complications in patients in the prolongation ratio ≤ 35.36％group(17％)was significantly lower than the prolongation ratio＞35.36％group(100％)(t=14.008,P＜0.01).Meanwhile,the postoperative American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society score of patients in the prolongation ratio ≤ 35.36％group(90.25±3.01)was higher than that of patients in the prolongation ratio＞35.36％group(82.00±9.97)(t=2.254,P=0.037).(5)It is concluded that Ilizarov technique for the treatment of congenital brachymetatarsia of the fourth is less traumatic surgery,can significantly improve the foot deformity of patients,especially suitable for the treatment of patients whose prolongation ratio does not exceed 35.36％,with low complication rate and satisfactory results.

A 48-year-old woman was treated with toripalimab for triple negative breast cancer.She developed symptoms of pollakiuria and urinary urgency after 1st cycle of toripalimab,and was hospitalized for severe abdominal pain after 2nd circle of treatment,after symptomatic treatment,the condition improved.However,after the 3rd,4th,and 5th cycles of medication,the symptoms recurred.The symptoms did not reappear after discontinuing toripalimab.Therefore,ureteritis associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors(ICI)was considered based on case characteristics,urine routine,urine culture,ultrasound and CT findings.According to Naranjo's Assessment Scale,the association between toripalimab and ureteritis was considered"definite".The possibility of ureteritis associated with ICI should be considered if symptoms of urinary tract irritation occur during the use of toripalimab,and urine analysis,urine culture,and imaging examination should be conducted to detect such adverse reactions earlier.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the short-term effectiveness of Ilizarov technique combined with steel needle internal fixation in treating Charcot neuroarthropathy (CN) of the foot and ankle. METHODS: Between June 2020 and December 2023, 12 patients with Eichenholtz stage Ⅲ CN of the foot and ankle were treated with Ilizarov technique and steel needle internal fixation. There were 9 males and 3 females with an average age of 48.6 years (range, 19-66 years). The disease duration ranged from 1 to 16 months (mean, 6.8 months). Ankle joint involvement predominated in 7 cases, while midfoot involvement occurred in 5 cases; 3 cases presented with skin ulceration and soft tissue infection. Preoperative American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) score was 31.2±9.0, 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36)-Physical Component Summary (PCS) score was 32.6±6.8, and Mental Component Summary (MCS) score was 47.8±8.4. Postoperative assessments included wound healing, regular X-ray film/CT evaluations of fusion status, and effectiveness via AOFAS and SF-36-PCS, MCS scores. RESULTS: All operations were successfully completed without neurovascular complication. Two patients experienced delayed wound healing requiring intervention, and the others achieved primary healing. All patients were followed up 15-43 months (mean, 23.3 months). Imaging confirmed successful joint fusion within 13-21 weeks (mean, 16.8 weeks). At last follow-up, the AOFAS score was 72.5±6.4, and the SF-36-PCS and MCS scores were 63.2±8.4 and 76.7±5.3, respectively, all of which improved compared to preoperative levels, with significant differences ( P<0.05). CONCLUSION Ilizarov technique combined with steel needle internal fixation effectively restores walking function and achieves satisfactory short-term effectiveness in CN of the foot and ankle.
Humans ; Middle Aged ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Ilizarov Technique ; Arthropathy, Neurogenic/surgery* ; Aged ; Ankle Joint/surgery* ; Treatment Outcome ; Needles ; Fracture Fixation, Internal/instrumentation* ; Steel ; Young Adult ; Foot Joints/surgery*

BACKGROUND:The Ilizarov technique is very effective in the treatment of congenital brachymetatarsia of the fourth,but there are still some complications.The optimal proportion of lengthening of the fourth metatarsal is still controversial.OBJECTIVE:To explore the clinical efficacy of Ilizarov technique in the treatment of congenital brachymetatarsia of the fourth and the optimal lengthening ratio.METHODS:Medical records of patients with congenital brachymetatarsia of the fourth treated with Ilizarov technique in Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from August 2021 to October 2023 were collected.American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society scores before and after the treatment,length of the fourth metatarsal before and after surgery,and postoperative complications were evaluated.The prolongation ratio was analyzed by subgroups to assess the best suitable length for the operative conditions.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)A total of 16 patients were included.The length of the fourth metatarsal before treatment was(43.51±3.75)mm,and the shortening length was(12.53±2.82)mm;the lengthening time during the treatment period was(36.95±4.12)days,and the time with external fixation bracket was(102.30±32.74)days,and the lengthening length after the treatment was(13.90±3.47)mm,and the prolongation ratio was(32.30±9.10)％.(2)American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society scores were significantly increased at the last follow-up compared with that before treatment(t=0.763,P＜0.01).(3)The main postoperative complications were bone nonunion,metatarsophalangeal joint dislocation,metatarsophalangeal joint narrowing,and excessive lengthening of the fourth metatarsal.All patients were free of infection and abnormal sensation in the toe.(4)Subgroup analysis based on prolongation ratio showed that the rate of complications in patients in the prolongation ratio ≤ 35.36％group(17％)was significantly lower than the prolongation ratio＞35.36％group(100％)(t=14.008,P＜0.01).Meanwhile,the postoperative American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society score of patients in the prolongation ratio ≤ 35.36％group(90.25±3.01)was higher than that of patients in the prolongation ratio＞35.36％group(82.00±9.97)(t=2.254,P=0.037).(5)It is concluded that Ilizarov technique for the treatment of congenital brachymetatarsia of the fourth is less traumatic surgery,can significantly improve the foot deformity of patients,especially suitable for the treatment of patients whose prolongation ratio does not exceed 35.36％,with low complication rate and satisfactory results.

A 48-year-old woman was treated with toripalimab for triple negative breast cancer.She developed symptoms of pollakiuria and urinary urgency after 1st cycle of toripalimab,and was hospitalized for severe abdominal pain after 2nd circle of treatment,after symptomatic treatment,the condition improved.However,after the 3rd,4th,and 5th cycles of medication,the symptoms recurred.The symptoms did not reappear after discontinuing toripalimab.Therefore,ureteritis associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors(ICI)was considered based on case characteristics,urine routine,urine culture,ultrasound and CT findings.According to Naranjo's Assessment Scale,the association between toripalimab and ureteritis was considered"definite".The possibility of ureteritis associated with ICI should be considered if symptoms of urinary tract irritation occur during the use of toripalimab,and urine analysis,urine culture,and imaging examination should be conducted to detect such adverse reactions earlier.

ObjectiveTo observe the therapeutic effect of Qiwei Baizhusan（QWBZS） on diabetic encephalopathy（DE） rat model， and to explore the possible mechanism of QWBZS in the treatment of DE based on phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase（PI3K）/protein kinase B（Akt）/glycogen synthase kinase-3β（GSK-3β） signaling pathway. MethodForty-eight SPF male Wistar rats were randomly divided into blank group（8 rats） and high-fat diet group（40 rats）. After 12 weeks of feeding， rats in the high-fat diet group were intraperitoneally injected with 35 mg·kg^-1 of 1% streptozotocin（STZ） for 2 consecutive days to construct a DE model， and rats in the blank group were injected with the same amount of sodium citrate buffer. After successful modeling， according to blood glucose and body weight， model rats were randomly divided into model group， low， medium and high dose groups of QWBZS（3.15， 6.3， 12.6 g·kg^-1）， combined western medicine group（metformin+rosiglitazone， 0.21 g·kg^-1）， with 6 rats in each group. The administration group was given the corresponding dose of drug by gavage， and the blank group and the model group were given an equal volume of 0.9% sodium chloride solution by gavage， 1 time/day for 6 weeks. Morris water maze was used to detect the spatial memory ability of DE rats. Fasting insulin （FINS） level was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA） and insulin resistance index（HOMA-IR） was calculated. Hematoxylin-eosin（HE） staining was used to observe the morphological changes of hippocampus in rats， ELISA was used to detect the indexes of oxidative stress in hippocampal tissues， real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction（Real-time PCR） was used to detect mRNA expression levels of PI3K， Akt， nuclear transcription factor-κB（NF-κB）， tumor necrosis factor-α（TNF-α） and interleukin-1β（IL-1β） in hippocampus， and Western blot was used to detect the protein expression of PI3K， Akt， phosphorylated（p）-Akt， GSK-3β and p-GSK-3β in hippocampus of rats. ResultCompared with the blank group， FINS and HOMA-IR values of the model group were significantly increased（P<0.01）， the path of finding the original position of the platform was significantly increased， and the escape latency was significantly prolonged（P<0.01）， the morphology of neuronal cells in hippocampal tissues was disrupted， the levels of reactive oxygen species（ROS） and malondialdehyde（MDA） in hippocampus of rats were increased， and the activity of superoxide dismutase（SOD） was decreased（P<0.05， P<0.01）， mRNA expression levels of PI3K and Akt were decreased（P<0.01）， mRNA expression levels of NF-κB， TNF-α and IL-1β were increased（P<0.05， P<0.01）， the protein expression levels of PI3K， p-Akt and p-GSK-3β were significantly decreased， and the protein expression of GSK-3β was significantly increased（P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the FINS and HOMA-IR values of the medium dose group of QWBZS and the combined western medicine group were significantly decreased（P<0.01）， the path of finding the original position of the platform and the escape latency were significantly shortened（P<0.01）， the hippocampal tissue structure of rats was gradually recovered， and the morphological damage of nerve cells was significantly improved， the contents of ROS and MDA in hippocampus of rats decreased and the level of SOD increased（P<0.01）， the mRNA expression levels of PI3K and Akt were increased（P<0.01）， and the mRNA expression levels of NF-κB， TNF-α and IL-1β were decreased （P<0.05， P<0.01）， the protein expression levels of PI3K， p-Akt and p-GSK-3β were significantly increased（P<0.01）， and the expression of GSK-3β was significantly decreased（P<0.01）. ConclusionQWBZS can alleviate insulin resistance in DE rats， it may repair hippocampal neuronal damage and improve learning and cognitive ability of DE rats by activating PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β signaling pathway.

Objective To carry out a proficiency testing of content determination of geniposide in Gardeniae fructus,evaluate the content determination ability of index components in traditional Chinese medicine in the laboratory of inspection and detection in drug-related fields,and improve the quality control ability of content determination of related laboratories.Methods The laboratory's capability-verification activities were conducted based on the CNAS-RL02 Rules for Proficiency Testing and ISO/IEC 17043 Conformity Assessment-General Requirements for Proficiency Testing.After preparing the sample,the results of homogeneity and stability tests were analyzed according to CNAS-GL003 Guidance on Evaluating the Homogeneity and Stability of Samples Used for Proficiency Testing.After the test results were qualified,they were used as proficiency testing samples and randomly distributed to participants.The results were collected,and the robust statistical method and the Z scores were used to analyze the results of these laboratories'reports.Results 403 laboratories in this proficiency testing program reported the results,of which 367 results were acceptable,accounting for 91.07％,17(4.22％)laboratories obtained suspicious results,and 19 laboratories gave unsatisfactory results,with the dissatisfaction rate of 4.71％.Conclusion The majority of the 403 participant laboratories have the ability to determine the content of geniposide in Gardeniae fructus by HPLC and the laboratory testing ability and quality management level of the drug monitoring system are high.This proficiency testing provides a basis for understanding the technical reserve capacity and management level of China's pharmaceutical inspection and testing laboratories,and provides technical support for future government supervision.

AIM:To investigate the protective effect of total flavonoids from Patrina villosa Juss(PJF)on the lung in an experimental rat model of acute lung injury(ALI),and to elucidate the potential mechanism.METHODS:The ALI rat model was established by instilling 5 mg/kg of lipopolysaccharide(LPS)into the airway.Sixty male SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups:control,LPS,LPS+low-dose PJF(receiving 100 mg/kg PJF one hour before ALI modeling)and LPS+high-dose PJF(receiving 300 mg/kg PJF one hour before ALI modeling).Each group consisted of 15 animals.Lung tissues and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid(BALF)were collected from all groups 24 h after modeling.For as-sessment of lung tissue morphology,HE staining was performed.The wet/dry weight ratio of the lung tissue was deter-mined using the wet/dry weighing method.Evans blue staining was conducted to assess epithelial barrier permeability in lung tissues.ELISA was used to detect the levels of inflammatory factors tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleukin-1β(IL-1β)and IL-6 in the BALF,as well as oxidative stress markers including superoxide dismutase(SOD),myeloperoxi-dase(MPO)and glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px)activity,and malondialdehyde(MDA)content in the lung tissue.The expression levels of C/EBP homologous protein(CHOP),glucose-regulated protein 78(GRP78)and X-box binding pro-tein 1(XBP1)in the lung tissue were analyzed by Western blotting.RESULTS:Compared with control group,the rats in LPS group exhibited a blurred alveolar structure with a significant infiltration of inflammatory cells.The ALI score and the wet/dry weight ratio of the lung tissue were increased(P<0.05).Concurrently,the levels of IL-6,IL-1β and TNF-α in the BALF,along with MDA content and MPO activity in the lung tissue,were elevated(P<0.05).Additionally,the pro-tein levels of CHOP,GRP78 and XBP1 were up-regulated in the lung tissue(P<0.05),while the SOD and GSH-Px activi-ty was significantly decreased(P<0.05).Compared with LPS group,PJF intervention exerted beneficial effects on the lung tissue morphology with reduced ALI score and lower lung wet/dry weight ratio(P<0.05).Moreover,the levels of IL-6,IL-1β and TNF-α in BALF,as well as MDA content,MPO activity and the protein levels of CHOP,GRP78 and XBP1 in the lung tissue were all significantly decreased(P<0.05),while the SOD and GSH-Px activity was significantly in-creased(P<0.05).The efficacy in high-dose group exceeded that in low-dose group.CONCLUSION:The PJF have pro-tective effect on the lungs of rats with ALI,and its mechanism may be related to the inhibition of inflammation,oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress.