OBJECTIVE To explore the main factors influencing the blood concentration of duloxetine， and provide a scientific basis for the individualized use of duloxetine. METHODS Retrospective analysis was conducted on 434 inpatients with depressive disorders at the First Hospital of Hebei Medical University， who were treated with duloxetine and underwent blood concentration monitoring between January 2022 and April 2024. The study examined the impact of various factors， including gender， age， body mass index （BMI）， gene phenotypes， combined medication， drug type （original/generic）， and genotyping results of gene single nucleotide polymorphism loci， on blood concentration and the concentration-to-dose （C/D） after dose adjustment. RESULTS The blood concentration of duloxetine was 76.65 （45.57， 130.31） ng/mL， and C/D was 0.96 （0.63， 1.60） ng·d/（mL·mg）. The blood concentration of duloxetine was positively correlated with the daily dose of administration （R2＝0.253 7， P＜0.001）. Blood concentration of duloxetine in 38.94% of patients exceeded the recommended range specified in the guidelines. Gender， age， BMI， combined use of CYP2D6 enzyme inhibitors， and CYP2D6 and CYP1A2 phenotypes had significant effects on C/D of duloxetine （P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS The patient’s age， gender， BMI， combined medication， and genetic phenotypes are closely related to the blood concentration of duloxetine.

ObjectiveTo investigate the mechanism of action of Huangqi Chifengtang （HQCFT） on rats with atherosclerosis （AS） by regulating the gut microbiota and their metabolites. MethodsA rat model of AS was induced through high-fat diet feeding and vitamin D₃ injection， and the modeling lasted for 12 weeks. Fifty eight-week-old male SD rats were randomly divided into five groups： A blank group， a model group， a group receiving a low dose of HQCFT at 1.53 g·kg^-1 （HQCFT-L group）， a group receiving a high dose of HQCFT at 3.06 g·kg^-1 （HQCFT-H group）， and a group receiving atorvastatin calcium tablets at 1.8 mg·kg^-1 （Ato group）， with 10 rats in each group. Oral gavage administration started on the day after model establishment， once daily for four weeks. The efficacy of HQCFT was verified using aortic hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining and determination of lipid levels and hemorrheology. The real-time polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） was used for detecting inflammatory factor levels in the aorta， high-throughput sequencing for analyzing the gut microbiota composition in intestinal contents， targeted metabolomics for detecting short-chain fatty acid （SCFA） levels， and non-targeted metabolomics for identifying metabolomic profiles of intestinal contents. ResultsCompared with that in the blank group， the aortic tissue of rats in the model group showed significant AS lesions， including endothelial damage， inflammatory infiltration， and formation of fibrous plaques and calcified foci. Moreover， serum triacylglycerol （TG）， total cholesterol （TC）， and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol （LDL-C） levels were significantly elevated （P<0.05）， while high-density lipoprotein cholesterol （HDL-C） levels were significantly reduced （P<0.05）. Significant increases were observed in whole blood viscosity， plasma viscosity， and the mRNA expression levels of NOD-like receptor pyrin domain containing 3 （NLRP3）， Caspase-1， interleukin （IL）-β， IL-6， and tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α） in aortic tissue （P<0.05）. Additionally， gut microbiota composition， SCFA levels， and metabolomic profiles were significantly altered. Compared with those in the model group， serum TC， TG， and LDL-C levels， as well as the whole blood viscosity and plasma viscosity， were significantly reduced in all groups treated with HQCFT （P<0.05）. Significant decreases were observed in NLRP3 mRNA expression levels in all groups treated with HQCFT， Caspase-1， IL-β， and IL-6 mRNA expression levels in the HQCFT-H group， and TNF-α mRNA expression levels in the HQCFT-L group （P<0.05）. HQCFT reversed the increase in the F/B ratio and dialled back the decrease in the relative abundance of Blautia and the increase in that of Desulfovibrio. HQCFT promoted the production of acetic acid， valeric acid， and propionic acid. Non-targeted metabolomics identified 39 differential metabolites， which were mainly enriched in metabolic pathways such as arachidonic acid metabolism and primary bile acid biosynthesis. ConclusionThe mechanism by which HQCFT ameliorates AS injury may be related to the improvement of dyslipidemia and body inflammatory responses by altering gut microbiota composition， promoting SCFA production， and regulating the levels of metabolites in intestinal contents.

ObjectiveTo investigate the mechanism of action of Huangqi Chifengtang （HQCFT） on rats with atherosclerosis （AS） by regulating the gut microbiota and their metabolites. MethodsA rat model of AS was induced through high-fat diet feeding and vitamin D₃ injection， and the modeling lasted for 12 weeks. Fifty eight-week-old male SD rats were randomly divided into five groups： A blank group， a model group， a group receiving a low dose of HQCFT at 1.53 g·kg^-1 （HQCFT-L group）， a group receiving a high dose of HQCFT at 3.06 g·kg^-1 （HQCFT-H group）， and a group receiving atorvastatin calcium tablets at 1.8 mg·kg^-1 （Ato group）， with 10 rats in each group. Oral gavage administration started on the day after model establishment， once daily for four weeks. The efficacy of HQCFT was verified using aortic hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining and determination of lipid levels and hemorrheology. The real-time polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） was used for detecting inflammatory factor levels in the aorta， high-throughput sequencing for analyzing the gut microbiota composition in intestinal contents， targeted metabolomics for detecting short-chain fatty acid （SCFA） levels， and non-targeted metabolomics for identifying metabolomic profiles of intestinal contents. ResultsCompared with that in the blank group， the aortic tissue of rats in the model group showed significant AS lesions， including endothelial damage， inflammatory infiltration， and formation of fibrous plaques and calcified foci. Moreover， serum triacylglycerol （TG）， total cholesterol （TC）， and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol （LDL-C） levels were significantly elevated （P<0.05）， while high-density lipoprotein cholesterol （HDL-C） levels were significantly reduced （P<0.05）. Significant increases were observed in whole blood viscosity， plasma viscosity， and the mRNA expression levels of NOD-like receptor pyrin domain containing 3 （NLRP3）， Caspase-1， interleukin （IL）-β， IL-6， and tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α） in aortic tissue （P<0.05）. Additionally， gut microbiota composition， SCFA levels， and metabolomic profiles were significantly altered. Compared with those in the model group， serum TC， TG， and LDL-C levels， as well as the whole blood viscosity and plasma viscosity， were significantly reduced in all groups treated with HQCFT （P<0.05）. Significant decreases were observed in NLRP3 mRNA expression levels in all groups treated with HQCFT， Caspase-1， IL-β， and IL-6 mRNA expression levels in the HQCFT-H group， and TNF-α mRNA expression levels in the HQCFT-L group （P<0.05）. HQCFT reversed the increase in the F/B ratio and dialled back the decrease in the relative abundance of Blautia and the increase in that of Desulfovibrio. HQCFT promoted the production of acetic acid， valeric acid， and propionic acid. Non-targeted metabolomics identified 39 differential metabolites， which were mainly enriched in metabolic pathways such as arachidonic acid metabolism and primary bile acid biosynthesis. ConclusionThe mechanism by which HQCFT ameliorates AS injury may be related to the improvement of dyslipidemia and body inflammatory responses by altering gut microbiota composition， promoting SCFA production， and regulating the levels of metabolites in intestinal contents.

BACKGROUND:How to improve the hematopoietic microenvironment is a hot topic in the treatment of aplastic anemia. OBJECTIVE:To explore the action mechanism of Angelica sinensis polysaccharide in the treatment of aplastic anemia by combining GEO sequencing analysis,network pharmacology,and experimental validation. METHODS:Aplastic anemia-related differentially expressed genes were obtained from GEO database,and gene ontology and gene set enrichment analysis were performed.The active components and targets of Angelica sinensis polysaccharide were obtained by combining the literature with PubChem,SwissTargetPrediction,and PharmMapper databases.After the intersection targets were taken,STRING and Cytoscape were used to construct protein-protein interaction network,and gene ontology and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes enrichment analysis was performed.Mouse model of aplastic anemia was established,and the effect and action mechanism of Angelica sinensis polysaccharide on aplastic anemia were verified by blood cell analyzer,flow cytometry,ELISA,immunohistochemistry,immunofluorescence,and western blot assay. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)A total of 834 differentially expressed genes were screened,which were involved in biological processes such as cell development,hematopoiesis,and myeloid cell differentiation.(2)347 targets related to Angelica sinensis polysaccharide were retrieved and 77 potential therapeutic genes were screened.Among them,the degree values of angiogenic,apoptotic,and immune-related factors such as VEGFA,EGLN1,Bcl-2,interferon-γ,interleukin-2,interleukin-4,and interleukin-6 were significant.(3)KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed that the therapeutic targets were mainly enriched in Th17 cell differentiation,NK-related cytotoxicity,cell adhesion factors such as interferon-γ,interleukin-2,and interleukin-4 related signaling pathways.(4)Animal experiments showed that Angelica sinensis polysaccharide significantly improved bone marrow haematopoiesis,increased peripheral blood cell,and bone marrow single nucleated cell counts,and improved the survival rate of mice.Compared with the model group,mice in the Angelica sinensis polysaccharide group showed a significant decrease in the ratio of Th1/Th2 cells(P<0.01),a decrease in the expression level of interferon-γ(P<0.01),an increase in the level of interleukin-4(P<0.05),a significant increase in the level of VEGFA(P<0.01),a significant decrease in EGLN1(P<0.01),a significant decrease in apoptosis rate of bone marrow single nucleated cells and reactive oxygen species level(P<0.01),and a significant increase in cleaved Caspase-3 protein expression(P<0.01),and a significant decrease in Bcl-2/Bax ratio(P<0.01).(5)These findings show that Angelica sinensis polysaccharide can improve hematopoiesis of aplastic anemia mice by regulating aberrant T-cell subsets and promoting angiogenesis to improve hematopoietic microenvironment,and inhibiting apoptosis of bone marrow mononuclear cells.

BACKGROUND:Intestinal acute graft-versus-host disease is one of the most aggressive complications after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation with high lethality.How to improve intestinal inflammation and regulate autophagy by applying traditional Chinese medicine in order to treat intestinal acute graft-versus-host disease is a worthwhile research issue nowadays. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the mechanism of Huangqintang modulating intestinal flora for the treatment of intestinal acute graft-versus-host disease. METHODS:CB6F1 mice were irradiated with 60Co X radiation at a total dose of 8 Gy,and then single nucleated cell suspensions(bone marrow cells+splenocytes)from Balb/c H-2d mice were injected into the tail vein in order to prepare a model of intestinal acute graft-versus-host disease.These samples were randomly divided into the model group and the high-,moderate-,and low-dose Huangqintang groups.After modeling,the model,high-,moderate-,and low-dose groups received different doses of Huangqintang or an equal volume of saline by continuous gavage for 14 days.Clinical acute graft-versus-host disease grading,and survival time was recorded.Small intestinal tissues from each group were stained with hematoxylin and eosin for small intestinal mucosal pathology scoring.The intestinal flora of mice in each group was detected using 16S rDNA sequencing.Autophagy-related markers were detected using immunofluorescence,immunohistochemistry,and PCR. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Compared with the model group,the survival time of mice was significantly prolonged(P<0.01);the clinical acute graft-versus-host disease scores were significantly reduced(P<0.01);the pathological grading scores of the small intestinal mucosa were significantly diminished(P<0.01);the levels of the small intestinal tissue inflammatory factors tumor necrosis factor-α,interleukin-1β,and interleukin-6,were significantly decreased(P<0.01);the structural integrity of the small intestinal mucosal epithelium was partially restored in mice after the intervention of moderate and high-dose Huangqintang.(2)The study of intestinal flora found that compared with the model group,the pro-inflammatory strain Enterococcus was significantly reduced(P<0.05),while beneficial bacteria such as Clostridium_innocuum and Rhodococcus,a pro-autophagy bacterium,were significantly elevated(P<0.05)in the moderate-dose Huangqintang group.(3)Compared with the model group,the autophagy markers were significantly elevated in the moderate-dose Huangqintang group(P<0.05);under transmission electron microscopy,the number of autophagic vacuoles of moderate-dose Huangqintang group increased significantly.(4)The results showed that Huangqintang significantly reduced the abundance of conditionally pathogenic bacteria and the level of inflammatory factors in small intestinal tissues,and increased the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria and promoted the expression of autophagy in the small intestinal mucosa,which resulted in a significant improvement of intestinal symptoms in mice with acute graft-versus-host disease.

To investigate the effects of plasma exosomes from sheep on animal hair growth,exo-somes were extracted from two sheep breeds with significant differences in wool fineness(Xinji Fine-wool sheep and Small-tailed Han sheep)using biphasic precipitation.The exosomes were characterized by transmission electron microscopy(TEM)and nanoparticle tracking analysis(NTA).A murine alopecia areata model was established,followed by subcutaneous injection of ex-osomes for 7 consecutive days.Dorsal skin samples were collected on day 10 post-injection for his-tological analysis via hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining.miRNA and mRNA libraries were constructed through qPCR,while TargetScan and g:Profiler were employed for target gene predic-tion and KEGG enrichment analysis,respectively.Protein-protein interaction(PPI)networks were analyzed using STRING to identify key miRNA-mRNA targets,which were preliminarily validated by qPCR.Results demonstrated that on day 5 post-injection,the Small-tailed Han sheep plasma ex-osome group(SPE)exhibited more melanin deposition spots compared to the Xinji Fine-wool sheep plasma exosome group(XPE),with XPE showing greater melanin spots than the control group(NC).Histological analysis revealed that XPE group displayed significantly fewer hair folli-cles compared to SPE and NC groups(P＜0.01),while SPE group exhibited significantly larger hair follicle diameters than both XPE and NC groups(P＜0.01).Bioinformatics analysis predicted 357,711,477,346,and 3 178 target genes for miR-150,miR-133b,miR-31-5p,miR-433-3p,and miR-218,respectively,with 508 genes being co-regulated by two or more miRNAs.PPI analysis i-dentified 217 genes involved in positive regulation of cellular processes,109 in developmental regu-lation,133 in cellular development,132 in cell differentiation,and 69 in regulation of cell differenti-ation.Target genes were found to regulate hair follicle growth through Wnt signaling via Frizzled receptor binding and downstream pathways involving calmodulin(CaM)and cyclic-AMP response binding protein(CREB).qPCR validation showed significantly higher relative expression levels of miR-218,miR-150,miR-31-5p,miR-133b,and miR-433-3p in SPE and XPE groups compared to NC,with SPE exhibiting greater expression than XPE.Additionally,significant differences in FZD4,WNT4,CREB1,and FZD3 expression were observed between treatment groups and NC.These findings demonstrate that plasma exosomes from Xinji Fine-wool and Small-tailed Han sheep modulate hair growth by altering miRNA-mRNA expression profiles in skin tissues.

Objective:To study the efficiency and biosafety of Electrochemical advanced oxidation processes(EAOP)in dental bleaching,and conduct preliminary application.Methods:Indigo carmine and coffee were used as the indicator to assess the effi-cacy of EAOP.High resistance meter was used to measure the resistance of the tooth to verify the safety of the working voltage.Twenty wisdom teeth after tooth extraction were collected,dyed and bleached in vitro to verify the bleaching efficiency.Subsequent-ly,the bleached teeth were examined by scanning electron microscopy,hardness testing,and bacterial adhesion experiments to as-sess surface damage.To determine its cytotoxicity,cells were co-cultured with electrolyte.Initial samples of bleaching tray was prepared,and its durability were verified.Results:The EAOP could bleach indigo carmine within 10 min and coffee within 90 min at an operating voltage of 8 V.The resistance at the groove of the tooth socket was(3.4±1.2)MΩ,and the theoretical calculated current was less than 3 μA.The efficiency of EAOP tooth bleaching was slightly lower than that of traditional office bleaching and higher than that of home bleaching.Compared with the traditional bleaching method,scanning electron microscopy showed that EAOP had less demineralization effect on tooth surface.The tooth hardness before and after bleaching had no statistical difference(P=0.912).The bacterial adhesion test after tooth bleaching showed that EAOP method could reduce about 60％bacterial adhe-sion(P＜0.001).The cytotoxicity test showed that EAOP electrolyte had no obvious toxic effect.The durability test shows that the bleached denture still has good bleaching effect after 20 h of use.Conclusion:Compared with the traditional bleaching method,EAOP bleaching had excellent tooth bleaching effect,little effect on tooth damage,high safety,and the related bleaching devices had good durability.

Objective:To analyze the clinical efficacy and learning curve for robot-assisted cortical bone trajectory (CBT) screw fixation performed by surgeons with different seniority in the treatment of lumbar degenerative disease.Methods:The clinical data of 91 lumbar degenerative disease patients underwent robot-assisted CBT screw fixation from August 2020 to December 2022 in Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 48 patients underwent surgery performed by the same senior surgeon (senior group), with a total of 234 CBT screws were placed; while 43 patients underwent surgery performed by the same junior surgeon (junior group), with a total of 206 CBT screws were placed. The surgical related indexes, functional improvement score, lower back pain and lower limb radiation pain scores, acceptable nail insertion rate, non invasion rate of facet joints and incidence of postoperative complications were compared between two groups. The functional improvement score was evaluated using the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score, the pain score was evaluated using visual analog score (VAS). The cumulative sum (CUSUM) method was used to depict the learning curve with "single screw placement time" as the observation index.Results:There were no statistical difference in incision length, operation time, intraoperative blood loss and postoperative hospital stay between two groups ( P>0.05). The least squares means of JOA scores 1, 3 and 6 months after surgery in both groups increased significantly compared to baseline, while the least squares means of lower back pain VAS and lower limb radiation pain VAS decreased significantly compared to baseline; there were no statistical differences between two groups ( P>0.05). There were no statistical difference in acceptable nail insertion rate, non invasion rate of facet joints and incidence of postoperative complications between two group ( P>0.05). The CUSUM learning curves were fitting well and the inflection point for senior surgeon corresponded to 18 cases, while it was reached after performing surgery on 21 cases for junior surgeon. Conclusions:Robot-assisted CBT screw fixation performed by surgeons with different seniority could achieve similar clinical outcomes for treating lumbar degenerative disease. The senior surgeons are able to complete the initial learning stage faster than the junior surgeons, but there is not much difference in the number of surgeries performed the learning curve.

To investigate the pathogenicity of Sheep-origin Proteus mirabilis and the immunity effect of its inactivated vaccine.In this study,autopsy were performed on sick and dead sheep with severe diarrhea,collected liver,spleen and other diseased organs.And identified the isolated strains by morphology,Gram staining microscopy,biochemical test,molecular biology and 16S rRNA se-quencing;Drug resistance and pathogenicity were studied by drug sensitivity test,pathogenicity test in mouse and pathological histological observation;The isolated strains were inactivated by formaldehyde and mixed with alum adjuvant containing aluminum hydroxide to prepare the inacti-vated vaccine;mice were immunized after safety testing to test antibodies,cytokines and evaluate the immunological effects.Results showed that the isolate was Gram-negative short bacillus with blunt rounded ends after purification staining.Combined with biochemical tests,PCR amplified fragments and 16S rRNA sequencing results showed that the strain was Proteus mirabilis;The re-sults of drug sensitivity test showed that the isolate was highly sensitive to four antibiotics,including amikacin and piperacillin(S),the rest of the strain was moderately or poorly sensitive,or even resistant;The isolate was highly sensitive to the four antibiotics,such as amikacin and pip-eracillin(S).The lethal concentration of the isolated strain was 1.6 × 105 CFU/mL and it could cause different degrees of congestion and bruising and inflammatory cell infiltration in the liver,spleen and other major organs;The formaldehyde inactivated vaccine did not cause adverse reac-tions in mice,and the serum levels of antibodies to IgG,IgG1 and IgG2a,and the levels of antibod-ies to IL-4 and IFN-γ were higher than that of the PBS group,and the vaccine immunoprotection rate was 90％in the attacking bacterial test.In the present experiment,Proteus mirabilis was suc-cessfully isolated from the organs of sick and dead sheep.The inactivated vaccine prepared by form-aldehyde inactivation method can mediate humoral immunity to play a preventive role against the infection of S.chimaera,which can provide a new method for the prevention of bacterial diseases in sheep breeding.

Objective To analyze the forensic clinical appraisal of personal injury caused by dexamethasone poisoning and provide reference for similar cases.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 16 individuals exposed to dexamethasone-adulterated drinking water in a poisoning case.The age,gender,adverse reactions,and clinical manifestations of the appraised individuals were examined based on interview records and clinical medical histories.Results Among the 16 appraised individuals,7 were male and 9 were female,aged 29-50 years.The primary clinical manifestations involved the nervous,respiratory,digestive,and muscular systems,as well as the skin and other organs.After discontinuation of the"hormone water,"5 individuals experienced adverse clinical outcomes.Conclusion Forensic clinical examination in dexamethasone poisoning cases should be performed after the completion of clinical treatment,with particular attention to damage in specific organs.The appraisal must comprehensively consider poisoning duration,dosage,treatment measures,detoxification process,and individual variability.Such cases warrant close attention in judicial practice,and relevant authorities should improve appraisal standards to better meet forensic needs.