Neonatal diabetes mellitus （NDM） is a rare monogenic disorder primarily caused by insufficient insulin secretion resulting from mutations in the KCNJ11 and ABCC8 genes. Sulfonylureas， represented by glibenclamide， have become the standard therapy for this type of NDM by precisely closing the mutated ATP-sensitive potassium channels in pancreatic β cells， thereby restoring insulin secretion. Clinical studies confirm that sulfonylureas enable over 90% of patients to successfully transition from insulin to oral treatment， achieving long-term stable glycemic control and improving neurological outcomes to a certain extent. In terms of safety， severe hypoglycemia induced by sulfonylureas is relatively rare and gastrointestinal reactions are mild； moreover， sulfonylureas show good long-term tolerability， and have no adverse effects on child growth and development. In the future， by further refining the full-chain management pathway of “rapid genetic diagnosis-early intervention-specialized dosage forms-long-term follow-up”， the clinical application of sulfonylureas is expected to provide NDM patients with an optimized treatment regimen and maximize their health benefits.

Definitive chemoradiotherapy (dCRT) has become a cornerstone in the treatment of locally advanced esophageal cancer; however, local control remains suboptimal, and persistent lesions or locoregional recurrences after treatment are not uncommon. For patients without distant metastases but with local failure, whether surgical intervention can still offer curative potential remains a major clinical dilemma. Salvage esophagectomy (SE) offers potential long-term survival for selected patients, but this procedure is performed in the context of severe fibrosis, impaired local blood supply, and obscured anatomical planes following chemoradiotherapy, resulting in significantly higher perioperative risk compared to primary esophagectomy. Consequently, controversies exist regarding patient selection, preoperative restaging, choice of surgical approach, extent of lymphadenectomy, gastrointestinal reconstruction, and perioperative management. In recent years, with the refinement of restaging modalities such as PET/CT, the accumulation of experience in high-volume centers, and emerging evidence from clinical studies, the clinical role of SE has gradually shifted from a "high-risk salvage measure" to a "selective curative strategy aimed at achieving long-term survival in carefully selected patients". Nevertheless, standardized guidelines for patient selection, technical approaches, and perioperative management are still lacking. Based on current evidence and clinical experience, experts organized by the Integrated Esophageal Cancer Committee of Chinese Anti-Cancer Association systematically reviewed key issues regarding SE, including its definition, indications, preoperative evaluation, choice of surgical approach, lymphadenectomy, gastrointestinal reconstruction, and perioperative management, and formulated a Chinese expert consensus. This consensus aims to provide guidance for standardized assessment, appropriate referral, individualized surgical decision-making, and optimized perioperative management of patients with locoregional failure after dCRT. Ultimately, this will increase the likelihood of R0 resection, reduce the risk of severe complications, and promote the safer, more judicious, and standardized implementation of SE in high-risk scenarios.

Anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of refractory nephrotic syndrome （RNS） in children. The first- generation rituximab is the most widely used in clinical practice； it shows definite efficacy in children with RNS， is recommended by guidelines， particularly for achieving a high remission rate in minimal change nephrosis， and can significantly reduce the cumulative use of glucocorticoids and immunosuppressants. The second-generation ofatumumab has potential as an alternative treatment for patients who are intolerant or resistant to rituximab， while the third-generation obinutuzumab has shown efficacy in complex cases such as rituximab resistance or post-transplant recurrence. However， there is still controversy regarding the optimization of rituximab treatment dosage and whether ofatumumab and obinutuzumab offer greater advantages than rituximab for the treatment of RNS in children. The most common adverse reaction induced by anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies is infusion reactions， and long-term adverse events mainly include increased risks of sustained immunosuppression and infections. Rituximab has significant economic advantages for the treatment of RNS， but additional pharmacoeconomic research based on China’s healthcare environment is needed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of ofatumumab and obinutuzumab in this population. Given that the current use of ofatumumab and obinutuzumab in this field is considered off-label use， clinical application should only proceed after a rigorous evaluation of the patient’s benefits and risks.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect and mechanism of Hyssopus cuspidatus Boriss. extract (HCE) in ovalbumin (OVA)-induced allergic asthma. METHODS: Components identification of HCE was conducted using ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry. Mice were sensitized with OVA to establish asthmatic model, and dexamethasone was used as positive control. Respiratory reactivity, white cells counting in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and peripheral blood, cytokine level measurement in serum and lung tissue, and histologic examination were performed to evaluate the therapeutic effect of HCE on asthma. Network pharmacology approach was used for mechanism prediction. Western blotting and untargeted lipidomics method were applied for mechanism validation. RESULTS: Fifty-two compounds were identified in HCE, predominantly terpenoids and flavonoids. HCE markedly reduced airway resistance, the eosinophil infiltration in lung tissues, and the levels of immunoglobulin E, interleukin-4, interleukin-5, and interleukin-13. Network pharmacology analysis suggested phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases (PI3K), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and p38 Mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) may be key proteins of HCE in the treatment of allergic asthma. Western blot results indicated that the levels of phosphorylated PI3K, JNK, and P38 were downregulated in HCE-treated group. Moreover, HCE significantly upregulated the levels of ceramide and sphingomyelin and downregulated the level of phosphatidylcholine. CONCLUSION HCE inhibited allergic asthma via PI3K/JNK/P38 signaling pathway and lipid homeostasis regulation.

Osteoporosis is a prevalent skeletal condition characterized by reduced bone mass and strength, leading to increased fragility. Buqi-Tongluo (BQTL) decoction, a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription, has yet to be fully evaluated for its potential in treating bone diseases such as osteoporosis. To investigate the mechanism by which BQTL decoction inhibits osteoclast differentiation in vitro and validate these findings through in vivo experiments. We employed MTS assays to assess the potential proliferative or toxic effects of BQTL on bone marrow macrophages (BMMs) at various concentrations. TRAcP experiments were conducted to examine BQTL's impact on osteoclast differentiation. RT-PCR and Western blot analyses were utilized to evaluate the relative expression levels of osteoclast-specific genes and proteins under BQTL stimulation. Finally, in vivo experiments were performed using an osteoporosis model to further validate the in vitro findings. This study revealed that BQTL suppressed receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL)-induced osteoclastogenesis and osteoclast resorption activity in vitro in a dose-dependent manner without observable cytotoxicity. The inhibitory effects of BQTL on osteoclast formation and function were attributed to the downregulation of NFATc1 and c-fos activity, primarily through attenuation of the MAPK, NF-κB, and Calcineurin signaling pathways. BQTL's inhibitory capacity was further examined in vivo using an ovariectomized (OVX) rat model, demonstrating a strong protective effect against bone loss. BQTL may serve as an effective therapeutic TCM for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis and the alleviation of bone loss induced by estrogen deficiency and related conditions.
Animals ; NFATC Transcription Factors/genetics* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Ovariectomy ; Osteoclasts/metabolism* ; Female ; Osteogenesis/drug effects* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Rats ; NF-kappa B/genetics* ; Osteoporosis/genetics* ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Bone Resorption/genetics* ; Cell Differentiation/drug effects* ; Humans ; RANK Ligand/metabolism* ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/genetics* ; Transcription Factors

Immune checkpoints include a series of receptor-ligand pairs that play a key role in the proliferation, activation, and immune regulatory responses of immune cells. Although immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), such as programmed death protein 1 (PD-1) and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) have achieved good therapeutic effects in clinical practice, some patients still experience ineffective treatment and immune resistance. A large amount of evidence has shown that immune checkpoint proteins are related to cell metabolism during immune regulation. On the one hand, immune checkpoints connect to alter the metabolic reprogramming of tumor cells to compete for nutrients required by immune cells. On the other hand, immune checkpoints regulate the metabolic pathways of immune cells, such as phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B/mammalian target of rapamycin (PI3K/AKT/mTOR) to affect the activation of immune cells. Based on a review of the literature, this article reviews the mechanisms by which PD-1, CTLA-4, T cell immunoreceptor with Ig and ITIM domains (TIGIT), T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing protein 3 (TIM-3), cluster of differentiation 47 (CD47), and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) regulate cell metabolic reprogramming, and looks forward to whether targeting the ligand-receptor pairs of immune checkpoints in a "dual regulation" manner and inhibiting metabolic pathways can effectively solve the problem of tumor immune resistance.
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Humans ; Neoplasms/genetics* ; Metabolic Networks and Pathways/immunology* ; Animals ; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors/pharmacology*

Objective To investigate the diversity and composition of gut fungi microbiota in patients with polycystic kidney disease(PKD)and its correlation with clinical indicators.Methods A total of 44 PKD patients,44 patients with non-polycystic chronic kidney disease(NPCKD)and 22 healthy controls(HC)admitted to our hospital from February 2023 to February 2024 were recruited.ITS1 DNA sequencing was applied to analyze the gut fungal composition.Bioinformatics analysis was used to compare the diversity and structural differences of fungi among the 3 groups.Pearson correlation analysis was performed to analyze the relationship between gut fungi and clinical indicators.Results There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics(gender,age,body mass index,etc.)among the 3 groups,but statistical differences were seen in terms of serum indicators(such as serum creatinine,blood urea nitrogen,uric acid,estimated glomerular filtration rate,etc.)(P<0.01).Alpha diversity analysis showed no significant difference was seen between the PKD and HC groups,but the PKD group had significant differences to the NPCKD group(P<0.01).Beta diversity analysis revealed significant differences among the 3 groups and in pairwise comparisons(P=0.001).Fungi composition analysis found that the abundance of Candida was significantly higher in the PKD group than the other 2 groups(P<0.01),while the abundances of Aspergillus and Cladosporium were significantly lower in the PKD group than the HC group(P<0.05).Linear discriminant analysis(LEFSe)indicated that Candida was significantly enriched,while Aspergillus and Cladosporium were significantly reduced in the PKD group.Correlation analysis revealed that the abundance of Cladosporium was negatively correlated with cyst diameter and immunoglobulin light chain Kappa/Lambda ratio in the PKD group(P<0.05),while the abundance of Candida was positively correlated with liver/kidney cyst diameter(P<0.01).Conclusion PKD patients exhibit characteristic changes in gut fungi diversity and composition.The abundances of Cladosporium and Candida are closely associated with clinical indicators of PKD patients.

Objective:To explore the dosimetric characteristics of intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT) and intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for typical abdominal and pelvic tumors.Methods:Three patients with abdominal and pelvic tumors (one case each of liver cancer, cervical cancer, and prostate cancer) admitted to Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute from January to June 2024 were selected as the research subjects. IMPT and IMRT plans were designed for each case based on clinical target volume (CTV) and organs at risk (OARs) constraints. Dosimetric parameters, including conformity index (CI), homogeneity index (HI), and gradient index (GI) for target coverage, as well as OARs dose metrics, were evaluated. The volume of additional dose deposition in the body was compared by assessing regions receiving 10%, 30%, and 50% of the prescription dose.Results:For all three cases, IMRT plan demonstrated higher CI values (0.82, 0.81, and 0.86) compared to IMPT plan (0.61, 0.62, and 0.43). IMPT plan yielded lower HI values (0.053, 0.075, and 0.020) than IMRT plan (0.060, 0.120, and 0.080) and lower GI values (3.45, 2.63, and 3.80 vs. 7.28, 4.76, and 4.66 for IMRT plan). In liver cancer, IMPT plan reduced the D mean of normal liver tissues and right kidney by 37.8% and 78.5%, respectively, and decreased the D max of spinal cord by 13.2%. For cervical cancer, IMPT plan reduced the V 30 of the small bowel by 22.0%, D mean of the bladder, rectum and bone marrow by 15.7%, 14.3% and 12.6%, and spinal cord D max by 4.8%. In prostate cancer, IMPT plan lowered bladder and rectal D mean by 14.9% and 36.5%, respectively, but resulted in an increase of 35.3% and 6.1% in the D mean and V 40 of the left femoral head, respectively, and an increase of 23.6% and 10.8% in the D mean and V 40 of the right femoral head, respectively. IMPT plan reduced the volumes receiving 10%, 30%, and 50% of the prescription dose by 48.9%-64.8%, 22.0%-47.0%, and 22.0%-57.7%, respectively, compared to IMRT plan. Conclusions:Comparison between IMPT and IMRT plans for abdominopelvic tumors: IMPT plan offers advantages in reducing doses to normal organs such as the liver, kidneys, spinal cord, small intestine, rectum, and bladder. However, its advantage is less pronounced regarding the dose to the femoral heads. IMPT plan notably minimizes additional dose deposition within the body.

Collagen is a major structural protein in the matrix of animal cells and the most widely distributed and abundant functional protein in mammals. Collagen’s good biocompatibility, biodegradability and biological activity make it a very valuable biomaterial. According to the source of collagen, it can be broadly categorized into two types: one is animal collagen; the other is recombinant collagen. Animal collagen is mainly extracted and purified from animal connective tissues by chemical methods, such as acid, alkali and enzyme methods, etc. Recombinant collagen refers to collagen produced by gene splicing technology, where the amino acid sequence is first designed and improved according to one’s own needs, and the gene sequence of improved recombinant collagen is highly consistent with that of human beings, and then the designed gene sequence is cloned into the appropriate vector, and then transferred to the appropriate expression vector. The designed gene sequence is cloned into a suitable vector, and then transferred to a suitable expression system for full expression, and finally the target protein is obtained by extraction and purification technology. Recombinant collagen has excellent histocompatibility and water solubility, can be directly absorbed by the human body and participate in the construction of collagen, remodeling of the extracellular matrix, cell growth, wound healing and site filling, etc., which has demonstrated significant effects, and has become the focus of the development of modern biomedical materials. This paper firstly elaborates the structure, type, and tissue distribution of human collagen, as well as the associated genetic diseases of different types of collagen, then introduces the specific process of producing animal source collagen and recombinant collagen, explains the advantages of recombinant collagen production method, and then introduces the various systems of expressing recombinant collagen, as well as their advantages and disadvantages, and finally briefly introduces the application of animal collagen, focusing on the use of animal collagen in the development of biopharmaceutical materials. In terms of application, it focuses on the use of animal disease models exploring the application effects of recombinant collagen in wound hemostasis, wound repair, corneal therapy, female pelvic floor dysfunction (FPFD), vaginal atrophy (VA) and vaginal dryness, thin endometritis (TE), chronic endometritis (CE), bone tissue regeneration in vivo, cardiovascular diseases, breast cancer (BC) and anti-aging. The mechanism of action of recombinant collagen in the treatment of FPFD and CE was introduced, and the clinical application and curative effect of recombinant collagen in skin burn, skin wound, dermatitis, acne and menopausal urogenital syndrome (GSM) were summarized. From the exploratory studies and clinical applications, it is evident that recombinant collagen has demonstrated surprising effects in the treatment of all types of diseases, such as reducing inflammation, promoting cell proliferation, migration and adhesion, increasing collagen deposition, and remodeling the extracellular matrix. At the end of the review, the challenges faced by recombinant collagen are summarized: to develop new recombinant collagen types and dosage forms, to explore the mechanism of action of recombinant collagen, and to provide an outlook for the future development and application of recombinant collagen.