Metabolic diseases have seen a steady increase in incidence in recent years, becoming one of the main causes of sub-health status globally. Neutrophil extracellular traps(NETs) are reticular complexes containing DNA, which trap foreign microorganisms or induce an immune response. Current research indicates that NETs are widely active in various metabolic diseases and can cause severe damage to the body through multiple mechanisms, including promoting blood glucose elevation, damaging vascular endothelial cells, forming vascular embolisms, triggering intense inflammation, and promoting lipid accumulation. Therefore, intervening in NETs is an important approach to treating metabolic diseases. Research has shown a close relationship between the theory of spleen heat-turbid toxin theory and metabolic diseases-NETs mechanism. The basic pathogenesis include the internal accumulation of phlegm-dampness, qi stagnation and blood stasis, internal accumulation of dampness-heat, phlegm and blood stasis, and flourishing toxic heat. Various Chinese herbal medicines with the functions of dispelling dampness, resolving phlegm, promoting blood circulation to remove blood stasis, and clearing heat and toxins, along with their extracts and compound prescriptions, can treat metabolic diseases by regulating NETs and delaying disease progression. This paper systematically outlined the formation mechanisms of NETs, their connection to metabolic diseases, the theoretical basis in TCM, their roles in numerous metabolic diseases, and the current research status of TCM in regulating NETs to prevent and control metabolic diseases, aiming to provide effective reference ideas for developing therapeutic strategies for metabolic diseases.
Humans ; Extracellular Traps/metabolism* ; Metabolic Diseases/metabolism* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Animals ; Neutrophils/metabolism* ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

Bacillus mycoides JA20-1 was screened and identified as a biocontrol bacterium with a high capacity for producing volatile organic compounds(VOCs) in the laboratory. This strain had significant inhibitory effects on various postharvest disease pathogens in crops, such as Botrytis cinerea, as well as soil-borne disease pathogens in ginseng, such as Sclerotinia ginseng. In order to accelerate its industrialization process, in this study, single-factor experiments and response surface optimization methods were used. The fermentation medium and fermentation conditions in the shake flask of strain JA20-1 were systematically optimized by using cell production volume as the response variable. Meanwhile, the biocontrol effect of JA20-1 on B. cinerea of ginseng during the storage period was evaluated by using the method of fumigation in a dry dish in vitro. The results indicated that the optimal fermentation medium formulation for strain JA20-1 was as follows: 1% yeast paste, 1% soluble starch, 0.25% K_2HPO_4·3H_2O, and 0.2% NaCl. The optimal fermentation conditions in the shake flask were vaccination size of 3%, culture volume of 50 mL in a 250 mL Erlenmeyer flask, pH of 6.2, fermentation temperature of 34 ℃, shaking speed of 180 r·min~(-1), and incubation time of 18 hours. The bacteria count in the fermentation broth under these conditions reached 2.17 × 10~8 CFU·mL~(-1), which was 6.58 times higher than before. The average control efficacy of the fermentation broth on Botrytis cinerea of ginseng under in vitro fumigation reached 61.70% and 84.04% respectively, when 20 mL and 30 mL per dish were used. The research provided theoretical support and technical foundation for the development and utilization of Bacillus mycoides JA20-1 and the biocontrol of soil-borne diseases in ginseng and postharvest diseases in crops.
Botrytis/drug effects* ; Fermentation ; Panax/microbiology* ; Plant Diseases/prevention & control* ; Volatile Organic Compounds/metabolism* ; Bacillus/physiology* ; Pest Control, Biological/methods* ; Biological Control Agents/metabolism* ; Culture Media/chemistry*

BACKGROUND: Blood glucose and serum albumin have been associated with cardiovascular disease prognosis, but the impact of admission-blood-glucose-to-albumin ratio (AAR) on adverse outcomes in critical ill coronary artery disease (CAD) patients was not investigated. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with CAD were non-consecutively selected from the MIMIC-IV database and categorized into quartiles based on their AAR. The primary outcome was 1-year mortality, and secondary endpoints were in-hospital mortality, acute kidney injury (AKI), and renal replacement therapy (RRT). A restricted cubic splines model and Cox proportional hazard models assessed the association between AAR and adverse outcomes in CAD patients. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis determined differences in endpoints across subgroups. RESULTS: A total of 8360 patients were included. There were 726 patients (8.7%) died in the hospital and 1944 patients (23%) died at 1 year. The incidence of AKI and RRT was 63% and 4.3%, respectively. High AAR was markedly associated with in-hospital mortality (HR = 1.587, P = 0.003), 1-year mortality (HR = 1.502, P < 0.001), AKI incidence (HR = 1.579, P < 0.001), and RRT (HR = 1.640, P < 0.016) in CAD patients in the completely adjusted Cox proportional hazard model. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis noted substantial differences in all endpoints based on AAR quartiles. Stratified analysis and interaction test demonstrated stable correlations between AAR and outcomes. CONCLUSIONS The results highlight that AAR may be a potential indicator for assessing in-hospital mortality, 1-year mortality, and adverse renal prognosis in critical CAD patients.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is one of the most common diseases in elderly men, the incidence of which gradually increases with age and leads to lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), which seriously affects the quality of life of patients. Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) are widely used for the treatment of BPH in China and some other countries. To explore the molecular mechanisms of CHMs for BPH, we conducted a review based on peer-reviewed English-language publications in PubMed and Web of Science databases from inception to December 31, 2023. This article primarily reviewed 32 papers on the use of CHMs and its active compounds in the treatment of BPH, covering animal and cell experiments, and identified relevant mechanisms of action. The results suggest that the mechanisms of action of CHMs in treating BPH may involve the regulation of sex hormones, downregulation of cell growth factors, anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects, inhibition of cell proliferation, and promotion of apoptosis. CHMs also exhibit α-blocker-like effects, with the potential to relax urethral smooth muscle and alleviate LUTS. Additionally, we also reviewed 4 clinical trials and meta-analyses of CHMs for the treatment of BPH patients, which provided initial evidence of the safety and effectiveness of CHMs treatment. CHMs treatment for BPH shows advantages as a multi-component, multi-target, and multi-pathway therapy, which can mitigate the severity of the disease, improve LUTS, and may become a reliable treatment option in the future.
Prostatic Hyperplasia/drug therapy* ; Humans ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Male ; Animals

This study explored the molecular mechanism of acteoside against hepatoma 22(H22) tumor in mice through c-Jun N-terminal kinase(JNK) signaling pathway. H22 cells were subcutaneously inoculated in 50 male BALB/c mice, and then the model mice were classified into model group, low-dose, medium-dose, and high-dose acteoside groups, and cisplatin group. The administration lasted 2 weeks for each group(5 consecutive days/week). The general conditions of mice in each group, such as mental status, diet intake, water intake, activity, and fur were observed. The body weight, tumor volume, tumor weight, and tumor-inhibiting rate were compared before and after administration. Morphological changes of liver cancer tissues were observed based on hematoxylin and eosin(HE) staining, and the expression of phosphorylated(p)-JNK, JNK, B-cell lymphoma-2(Bcl-2), Beclin-1, and light chain 3(LC3) in each tissue was detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blot. qRT-PCR was performed to detect the mRNA expression of JNK, Bcl-2, Beclin-1, and LC3. The general conditions of mice in model and low-dose acteoside groups were poor, while the general conditions of mice in the remaining three groups were improved. The body weight of mice in medium-dose acteoside group, high-dose acteoside group, and cisplatin group was smaller than that in model group(P<0.01). The tumor volume in model group was insignificantly different from that in low-dose acteoside group, and the volume in cisplatin group showed no significant difference from that in high-dose acteoside group. Tumor volume and weight in medium-dose and high-dose acteoside groups and cisplatin group were lower than those in the model group(P<0.001). The tumor-inhibiting rates were 10.72%, 40.32%, 53.79%, and 56.44% in the low-dose, medium-dose, and high-dose acteoside groups and cisplatin group, respectively. HE staining showed gradual decrease in the count of hepatoma cells and increasing sign of cell necrosis in the acteoside and cisplatin groups, and the necrosis was particularly obvious in the high-dose acteoside group and cisplatin group. Immunohistochemical results suggested that the expression of Beclin-1, LC3, p-JNK, and JNK was up-regulated in acteoside and cisplatin groups(P<0.05). The results of immunohistochemistry, Western blot, and qRT-PCR indicated that the expression of Bcl-2 was down-regulated in the medium-dose and high-dose acteoside groups and cisplatin group(P<0.01). Western blot showed that the expression of Beclin-1, LC3, and p-JNK was up-regulated in acteoside and cisplatin groups(P<0.01), and there was no difference in the expression of JNK among groups. qRT-PCR results showed that the levels of Beclin-1 and LC3 mRNA were up-regulated in the acteoside and cisplatin groups(P<0.05), and the level of JNK mRNA was up-regulated in medium-dose and high-dose acteoside groups and cisplatin group(P<0.001). Acteoside promotes apoptosis and autophagy of H22 cells in mice hepatoma cells by up-regulating the JNK signaling pathway, thus inhibiting tumor growth.
Male ; Animals ; Mice ; Cisplatin/pharmacology* ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/genetics* ; MAP Kinase Signaling System ; Beclin-1 ; Apoptosis ; Liver Neoplasms/genetics* ; Necrosis ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2/metabolism* ; Cell Line, Tumor ; RNA, Messenger/metabolism* ; Autophagy

Literature regarding the impacts of heavy metal exposure on erectile dysfunction (ED) is scarce. We aimed to evaluate the correlation between 10 urinary metals and ED in a large, nationally representative adult male sample. The dataset was extracted from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) during the period of 2001-2002 and 2003-2004. Weighted proportions and multivariable logistic regression analysis adjusted for confounding variables were utilized to determine the relationship between metal exposure and ED. Weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression was utilized to evaluate the impact of a mixture of urinary metals on ED. A total of 1328 participants were included in our study. In multivariable logistic regression analysis, cobalt (Co) and antimony (Sb) were positively associated with ED (odds ratio [OR]: 1.36, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.10-1.73, P = 0.020; and OR: 1.41, 95% CI: 1.12-1.77, P = 0.018, respectively) after full adjustment. Men in tertile 4 for Co (OR: 1.49, 95% CI: 1.02-2.41, P for trend = 0.012) and Sb (OR: 1.53, 95% CI: 1.08-2.40, P for trend = 0.041) had significantly higher odds of ED than those in tertile 1. Furthermore, the WQS index was significantly linked with increased odds of ED after full adjustment (OR: 1.31, 95% CI: 1.04-1.72, P < 0.05). Our study expanded on previous literature indicating the possible role of heavy metal exposure in the etiology of ED. The evaluation of heavy metal exposure should be included in the risk assessment of ED.
Adult ; Humans ; Male ; United States ; Erectile Dysfunction/etiology* ; Nutrition Surveys ; Metals, Heavy ; Risk Assessment

OBJECTIVE: To explore the brain effect mechanism and the correlation between brain functional imaging and cognitive function in treatment of depressive disorder (DD) with transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) based on the resting-state functional magenetic reasonance imaging (rs-fMRI). METHODS: Thirty-two DD patients were included in a depression group and 32 subjects of healthy condition were enrolled in a normal group. In the depression group, the taVNS was applied to bilateral Xin (CO₁₅) and Shen (CO₁₀), at disperse-dense wave, 4 Hz/20 Hz in frequency and current intensity ≤20 mA depending on patient's tolerance, 30 min each time, twice daily. The duration of treatment consisted of 8 weeks. The patients of two groups were undertaken rs-fMRI scanning. The scores of Hamilton depression scale (HAMD), Hamilton anxiety scale (HAMA) and Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST) were observed in the normal group at baseline and the depression group before and after treatment separately. The differential brain regions were observed before and after treatment in the two groups and the value of degree centrality (DC) of fMRI was obtained. Their correlation was analyzed in terms of HAMD, HAMA and WCST scores. RESULTS: The scores of HAMD and HAMA in the depression group were all higher than those in the normal group (P<0.05). After treatment, the scores of HAMD and HAMA were lower than those before treatment in the depression group; the scores of total responses, response errors and perseverative errors of WCST were all lower than those before treatment (P<0.05). The brain regions with significant differences included the left inferior temporal gyrus, the left cerebellar peduncles region 1, the left insula, the right putamen, the bilateral supplementary motor area and the right middle frontal gyrus. After treatment, the value of DC in left supplementary motor area was negatively correlated to HAMD and HAMA scores respectively (r=-0.324, P=0.012; r=-0.310, P=0.015); the value of DC in left cerebellar peduncles region 1 was negatively correlated to the total responses of WCST (r=-0.322, P=0.013), and the left insula was positively correlated to the total responses of WCST (r=0.271, P=0.036). CONCLUSION The taVNS can modulate the intensity of the functional activities of some brain regions so as to relieve depressive symptoms and improve cognitive function.
Humans ; Depression/therapy* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods* ; Vagus Nerve Stimulation/methods* ; Brain/diagnostic imaging* ; Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation/methods* ; Vagus Nerve

Mycena, a symbiont of Gastrodia elata, promotes seed germination of G. elata and plays a crucial role in the sexual reproduction of G. elata. However, the lack of genetic transformation system of Mycena blocks the research on the interaction mechanism of the two. In order to establish the protoplast transformation system of Mycena, this study analyzed the protoplast enzymatic hydrolysis system, screened the resistance markers and regeneration medium, and explored the transient transformation. After hydrolysis of Mycena hyphae with complexes enzymes for 8 h and centrifugation at 4 000 r·min~(-1), high-concentration and quality protoplast was obtained. The optimum regeneration medium for Mycena was RMV, and the optimum resistance marker was 50 mg·mL~(-1) hygromycin. The pLH-HygB-HuSHXG-GFP-HdSHXG was transformed into the protoplast of Mycena which then expressed GFP. The established protoplast transformation system of Mycena laid a foundation for analyzing the functional genes of Mycena and the molecular mechanism of the symbiosis of Mycena and G. elata.
Agaricales ; Gastrodia/genetics* ; Protoplasts ; Symbiosis/genetics* ; Transformation, Genetic

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the protective function of Babao Dan (BBD) on 5-flurouracil (5-FU)-induced intestinal mucositis (IM) and uncover the underlying mechanism. METHODS: A total of 18 male mice were randomly divided into 3 groups by a random number table, including control, 5-FU and 5-FU combined BBD groups, 6 mice in each group. A single intraperitoneal injection of 5-FU (150 mg/kg) was performed in 5-FU and 5-FU combined BBD groups on day 0. Mice in 5-FU combined BBD group were gavaged with BBD (250 mg/kg) daily from day 1 to 6. Mice in the control group were gavaged with saline solution for 6 days. The body weight and diarrhea index of mice were recorded daily. On the 7th day, the blood from the heart of mice was collected to analyze the proportional changes of immunological cells, and the mice were subsequently euthanized by mild anesthesia with 2% pentobarbital sodium. Colorectal lengths and villus heights were measured. Intestinal-cellular apoptosis and proliferation were evaluated by Tunel assay and immunohistochemical staining of proliferating cell nuclear antigen, respectively. Immunohistochemistry and Western blot were performed to investigate the expressions of components in Wnt/β-catenin pathway (Wnt3, LRP5, β-catenin, c-Myc, LRG5 and CD44). RESULTS: BBD obviously alleviated 5-FU-induced body weight loss and diarrhea, and reversed the decrease in the number of white blood cells, including monocyte, granulocyte and lymphocyte, and platelet (P<0.01). The shortening of colon caused by 5-FU was also reversed by BBD (P<0.01). Moreover, BBD inhibited apoptosis and promoted proliferation in jejunum tissues so as to reduce the intestinal mucosal damage and improve the integrity of villus and crypts. Mechanically, the expression levels of Wnt/β -catenin mediators such as Wnt3, LRP5, β-catenin were upregulated by BBD, activating the transcription of c-Myc, LRG5 and CD44 (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS BBD attenuates the adverse effects induced by 5-FU via Wnt/β-catenin pathway, suggesting it may act as a potential agent against chemotherapy-induced intestinal mucositis.
Animals ; Male ; Mice ; Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use* ; beta Catenin/metabolism* ; Diarrhea/drug therapy* ; Fluorouracil/pharmacology* ; Intestinal Mucosa ; Mucositis/metabolism* ; Pentobarbital/therapeutic use* ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen/metabolism* ; Saline Solution

Abstract: Objective （ ） To compare the measured results of arsenic in urine by atomic fluorescence spectrometry AFS and - （ - ）， Methods inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy ICP MS and analyze the reasons of the difference. The samples WS/T 474-2015 Determination of Arsenic in Urine by Hydride Generation Atomic Fluorescence were pretreated according to Spectrometry， （ ∶ ∶ ∶∶ ，V/V/V） and digested with mixed acid nitric acid sulfuric acid perchloric acid=3 1 1 and then determined by - - AFS and ICP MS. The samples were diluted with 0.50% nitric acid and determined by ICP MS. The samples included urine ， ， （ arsenic quality control samples inorganic arsenic supplemented samples and organic arsenic arsenic choline and arsenic ） - betaine supplemented samples. Standard curve method was used to compare the results of AFS method and ICP MS method. Results （ ） （ ） The results of quality control samples by AFS method digestion and ICP-MS method without digestion were ， - within the range of reference values but the values obtained by AFS method were lower than those obtained by ICP MS method. - - - ， The recovery of AFS and ICP MS was 97.79% 100.82% and 99.55% 99.98% respectively. In the middle and high ， - （ P ） concentration groups the measured values of inorganic arsenic by AFS were lower than that by ICP MS all <0.01 . The （ ） - recovery of arsenic betaine and arsenic choline by AFS method digestion was only 2.17% 2.63%. The values of arsenic betaine （ ） - （ and arsenic choline measured by AFS method digestion were lower than those measured by ICP MS method without ） - （ ）（ P ）Conclusion digestion and ICP MS method digestion all <0.01 . The result of urine arsenic measured by AFS method - ， was lower than that measured by ICP MS method which may be related to the mixed acid digestion of AFS method. Keywords: ； - ； ； ； ； ；