Objective To evaluate the efficacy of combining the replenishing qi and nourishing yin empirical formula with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in diabetic macular edema (DME). Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 59 patients diagnosed with DME at Tongji Hospital of Tongji University or Shanghai Nanxiang Hospital, Jiading District from June 2019 to December 2022. Among them, 29 cases received intravitreal injection of ranibizumab (anti-VEGF group), while 30 cases received both intravitreal injection of ranibizumab and oral administration of the replenishing qi and nourishing yin empirical formula (combined treatment group). The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central macular thickness (CMT), and the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome score were compared between the two groups before treatment and at 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, and 24 weeks after treatment. Results Compared with before treatment, BCVA significantly improved (P＜0.05) and CMT significantly decreased (P＜0.05) at different time points after treatment in both groups. At 16, 20, and 24 weeks after treatment, BCVA in the combined treatment group was superior to that in the anti-VEGF group (P＜0.01). At 12, 16, 20, and 24 weeks after treatment, CMT in the combined treatment group was lower than that in the anti-VEGF group (P＜0.01). Starting from week 8 after treatment, the TCM syndrome scores in the combined treatment group were lower than those in the anti-VEGF group (P＜0.01). Conclusions The replenishing qi and nourishing yin empirical formula could improve the efficacy of anti-VEGF therapy in DME patients, indicating that integrating traditional Chinese and Western medicine has certain clinical application value in treating DME.

Objective To construct a nomogram model for predicting lower extremity deep vein throm-bosis(DVT)during hospitalization in the patients undergoing mechanical thrombectomy due to acute ische-mic stroke.Methods A total of 901 patients with acute anterior circulation large vessel occlusion undergoing mechanical thrombectomy in the hospital from January 1,2017 to January 1,2024 were selected as the study subjects and divided into the lower extremity DVT group(n=112)and non-DVT group(n=789)according to whether DVT occurred after surgery.The observation indicators included the clinically relevant data,perio-perative related indicators and related laboratory indicators.The multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the relevant influencing factors,and then the nomogram model was established.The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve and area under the curve(AUC)were used to analyze the predictive efficiency of the model.The clinical benefit of the predictive model was assessed by the clinical decision curve analysis(DCA)curve.Results There were statistically significant differences in the age,NIHSS score at admission,history of diabetes mellitus,history of smoking and history of DVT between the two groups(P<0.05).There were statistically significant differences in the time from onset to femoral artery puncture,time from onset to admission,time from femoral artery puncture to revascularization and postoperative complicating pul-monary infection between the two groups(P<0.05).There were statistically significant differences in D-di-mer,venous blood glucose and PLT at admission between the two groups(P<0.05).The multivariate logis-tic regression analysis results showed that the NIHSS score at admission,diabetes history,age,D-dimer,time from onset to femoral artery puncture and postoperative complicating pulmonary infection were the independ-ent influencing factors for lower extremity DVT during hospitalization in the patients with acute ischemic stroke treated with mechanical thrombectomy(P<0.05).The ROC curve and Bootstrap method verification results all showed that the nomogram predictive ability was strong.The DCA curve showed that when the threshold value was 0.12-0.96,the clinical benefit and applicability of the model were the best.Conclusion The constructed nomogram model can better predict the clinical outcome of the patients,and has a wide range of clinical applicability.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of age-friendly social and family care environment on the long-term care (LTC) services for the disabled elderly people. METHODS: A questionnaire-based survey was conducted among disabled elderly people in three cities of Zhejiang province from June to August 2022, involving 311 subjects from Ningbo city (LTC service insurance pilot site, insured group) and 542 subjects from Hangzhou and Quzhou cities (uninsured group). The service provisions, including ensuring daily activities, preventive healthcare, and satisfying spiritual comfort, were compared among the groups. The family friendly care environment was evaluated with the Family Function Scale and assistance of daily activities, financial support and emotional comfort. The social friendly care environment was measured with the revised WHO recommended age-friendly city environmental framework, including accessibility guarantee environment, information dissemination environment, social participant environment, and life security environment. After controlling for covariates such as sociodemographic, elderly care status, and health risk characteristics, the impact of environment on the effectiveness of service provision of LTC insurance was explored by multiple logistic regression analysis. The mediating and moderating effects were tested to explore the role of age-friendly care environment. A fixed effects model was used to test the service provision effects of LTC insurance policy. RESULTS: Disabled elderly with LTC insurance had a higher proportion of their preventive health care and spiritual comfort needs met. Additionally, a multifactorial analysis found a significant positive association between LTC insurance and meeting the spiritual comfort needs. Compared with insured group (Ningbo city), disabled elderly people in Hangzhou urban area (OR=0.45, 95%CI:0.27-0.74, P<0.01) and Quzhou rural area (OR=0.21, 95%CI:0.12-0.37, P<0.01) were more likely to feel unsatisfied with spiritual comfort. The results of mediation analysis showed that the scores of accessibility guarantee environment (OR=1.22, 95%CI:1.02-1.45, P<0.05), information dissemination environment (OR=1.19, 95%CI:1.02-1.39, P<0.05), and social participation environment (OR=1.40, 95%CI:1.17-1.67, P<0.01) in a socially friendly care environment were positively correlated with the satisfaction rate of mental comfort services. The results of the moderation effect analysis indicated that a socially friendly care environment (OR=1.46, 95%CI:1.16-1.84, P<0.01) could compensate for the difference in effectiveness between insured (Ningbo) and uninsured (Hangzhou and Quzhou) areas of LTC insurance. A fixed effect model confirmed the policy chain of LTC insurance policy-social friendly care environment-mental health service satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS The implementation of LTC insurance has improved service accessibility, making disabled elderly people feel "seen and valued", and generating psychological and spiritual satisfaction. Accelerating the establishment and improvement of the LTC insurance system requires systematic design, especially emphasizing the supportive role of a socially friendly care environment, and promoting it in urban and rural areas according to the local conditions.
Humans ; Aged ; Persons with Disabilities ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Long-Term Care ; Female ; Male ; China ; Social Environment ; Middle Aged ; Aged, 80 and over

Debates persist regarding the efficacy and safety of azvudine, particularly its real-world outcomes. This study involved patients aged ≥60 years who were admitted to 25 hospitals in mainland China with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection between December 1, 2022, and February 28, 2023. Efficacy outcomes were all-cause mortality during hospitalization, the proportion of patients discharged with recovery, time to nucleic acid-negative conversion (T _NANC), time to symptom improvement (T _SI), and time of hospital stay (T _HS). Safety was also assessed. Among the 5884 participants identified, 1999 received azvudine, and 1999 matched controls were included after exclusion and propensity score matching. Azvudine recipients exhibited lower all-cause mortality compared with controls in the overall population (13.3% vs. 17.1%, RR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.67-0.90; P = 0.001) and in the severe subgroup (25.7% vs. 33.7%; RR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.66-0.88; P < 0.001). A higher proportion of patients discharged with recovery, and a shorter T _NANC were associated with azvudine recipients, especially in the severe subgroup. The incidence of adverse events in azvudine recipients was comparable to that in the control group (2.3% vs. 1.7%, P = 0.170). In conclusion, azvudine showed efficacy and safety in older patients hospitalized with COVID-19 during the SARS-CoV-2 omicron wave in China.

Palmitoylation, an essential covalent attachment of a fatty acid (usually C16 palmitate) to cysteine residues within proteins, is crucial for regulating protein functionality and enzymatic activities. This lipid modification facilitates the anchoring of proteins to cellular membranes, dictating their subcellular distribution and influencing protein transport dynamics and intracellular positioning. Additionally, it plays a role in regulating protein degradation through the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Palmitoylation is implicated in the pathogenesis and progression of cardiovascular diseases by modulating substrates and prompting additional post-translational modifications, as well as by interacting with other molecular alterations. Moreover, an intervention strategy focusing on palmitoylation processes is anticipated to offer novel therapeutic avenues for cardiovascular pathologies and address extant challenges in clinical settings. This review consolidates current research on the role and importance of palmitoylation in cardiovascular diseases by exploring its regulatory functions, the catalyzing enzymes, and the involved substrates. It highlights recent discoveries connecting palmitoylation-targeted therapies to cardiovascular health and examines potential approaches and future challenges in cardiovascular treatment.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of hypaphorine (HYP) on Crohn's disease (CD)‑like colitis in mice and its molecular mechanism. METHODS: Thirty male C57BL/6J mice were equally randomized into WT, TNBS, and HYP groups, and in the latter two groups, mouse models of CD-like colitis were established using TNBS with daily gavage of 15 mg/kg HYP or an equivalent volume of saline. The treatment efficacy was evaluated by assessing the disease activity index (DAI), body weight changes, colon length and histopathology. The effect of HYP was also tested in a LPS-stimulated Caco-2 cell model mimicking intestinal inflammation by evaluating inflammatory responses and barrier function of the cells using qRT-PCR and immunofluorescence staining. GO and KEGG analyses were conducted to explore the therapeutic mechanism of HYP, which was validated in both the cell and mouse models using Western blotting. RESULTS: In the mouse models of CD-like colitis, HYP intervention obviously alleviated colitis as shown by significantly reduced body weight loss, colon shortening, DAI and inflammation scores, and expressions of pro-inflammatory factors in the colon tissues. HYP treatment also significantly increased the TEER values, reduced bacterial translocation to the mesenteric lymph nodes, liver, and spleen, lowered serum levels of I-FABP and FITC-dextran, increased the number of colonic tissue cup cells, and upregulated colonic expressions of MUC2 and tight junction proteins (claudin-1 and ZO-1) in the mouse models. In LPS-stimulated Caco-2 cells, HYP treatment significantly inhibited the expressions of pro-inflammatory factors and increased the expressions of tight junction proteins. Western blotting showed that HYP downregulated the expressions of the key proteins in the TLR4/MyD88 signaling pathway in both the in vitro and in vivo models. CONCLUSIONS HYP alleviates CD-like colitis in mice possibly by suppressing intestinal epithelial inflammation and improving gut barrier function.
Animals ; Male ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Crohn Disease/drug therapy* ; Mice ; Humans ; Caco-2 Cells ; Intestinal Mucosa/metabolism* ; Colitis/drug therapy* ; Disease Models, Animal ; Inflammation ; Toll-Like Receptor 4/metabolism* ; Myeloid Differentiation Factor 88/metabolism* ; Intestinal Barrier Function

Schizophrenia (SZ) stands as a severe psychiatric disorder. This study applied diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data in conjunction with graph neural networks to distinguish SZ patients from normal controls (NCs) and showcases the superior performance of a graph neural network integrating combined fractional anisotropy and fiber number brain network features, achieving an accuracy of 73.79% in distinguishing SZ patients from NCs. Beyond mere discrimination, our study delved deeper into the advantages of utilizing white matter brain network features for identifying SZ patients through interpretable model analysis and gene expression analysis. These analyses uncovered intricate interrelationships between brain imaging markers and genetic biomarkers, providing novel insights into the neuropathological basis of SZ. In summary, our findings underscore the potential of graph neural networks applied to multimodal DTI data for enhancing SZ detection through an integrated analysis of neuroimaging and genetic features.
Humans ; Schizophrenia/pathology* ; Diffusion Tensor Imaging/methods* ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Brain/metabolism* ; Young Adult ; Middle Aged ; White Matter/pathology* ; Gene Expression ; Nerve Net/diagnostic imaging* ; Graph Neural Networks

Objective The optimum formulation process was selected to prepare the ethosomes of Cortex Dictamni-Fructus Kochiae,and its prescription was verified and its properties were studied.Methods The formulation was optimized by single factor and response surface test.The appearance,particle size,Zeta potential and stability were investigated.The encapsulation rate was used as the evaluation index.Results The optimum preparation process of ethosomes of Cortex Dictamni-Fructus Kochiae is as follows:Using the dosage of lyophilized powder 409.06 mg,soybean lecithin 258.07 mg,cholesterol 90.87 mg,ethanol volume fraction 22.76％,stirred for 2 hours at 700 r·min-1 at 50 ℃ water bath temperature,The appearance of the prepared ethosomes suspension was light yellow,and the particles were nearly spherical in shape.The average particle size was(103.1±0.78)nm,the Zeta potential was(-36.0±3.65)mV,and the average encapsulation rates of Xibutanone,ash,and saponin Ⅰc were(89.25±0.91)％,(80.16±1.52)％,(86.59±0.58)％,respectively.After 14 days of storage at room temperature,the results showed that:The ethosomal suspension is still a light yellow,uniform,and stable liquid,and there is no stratified precipitation phenomenon.Conclusion The method of ethanol injection is easy to operate,high encapsulation rate and good stability,which lays a foundation for further study on the skin administration of this preparation.

Objective:To investigate the characteristics of visual and auditory sustained attention and sex differences in pupils of different grades.Method:Totally 231 students from grades 1 to 6 participated in this stud-y.The development and sex differences of sustained attention were measured by average reaction times,coefficients of variation for reaction times,omission error rates and commission error rates in visual and auditory two-choice re-action time(CRT)tasks.Result:The students in grade 5 had significantly slower visual average reaction times and coefficients of variation for reaction times(P＜0.001 or P＜0.05)than those in grade 3.The students in grade 5 had significantly lower auditory average reaction times,coefficients of variation for reaction times,omission error rates and commission error rates(P＜0.001 or P＜0.01)than those in grade 1.There was no significant sex differ-ences in visual or auditory average reaction times,coefficients of variation for reaction times or omission error rates(Ps＞0.05).Conclusion:There would be age differences in characteristics of both visual and auditory sustained at-tention in pupils,and may be no sex difference in visual or auditory sustained attention.