1.Correlation between liver fibrosis degree and carotid plaque in patients with lean metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease
Shuai ZHANG ; Shoulu JIN ; Wanqing LI ; Xijing SHI ; Hao LIANG ; Hao DONG ; Dailong LU ; Ying ZHU ; Xiaoxing XIANG ; Jun LIU
Journal of Clinical Hepatology 2026;42(2):319-325
ObjectiveTo investigate the association between noninvasive liver fibrosis markers and carotid plaque (CP) in patients with lean metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), and to provide a basis for screening high-risk populations. MethodsA total of 957 patients with lean MAFLD who underwent physical examination in Subei People’s Hospital from January 2021 to June 2023 was enrolled as the observation cohort, with the presence or absence of CP as the outcome, and fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease fibrosis score (NFS) were used to assess liver fibrosis degree. The independent-samples t test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two groups; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups. The multivariate logistic regression analysis, the restricted cubic spline analysis, the receiver operating characteristic curve, and the mediation effect analysis were used to investigate the association between liver fibrosis degree and CP. ResultsThe prevalence rate of CP was 36.6% in the lean MAFLD population. Compared with the non-CP group(n=607), the CP group (n=350) had a significantly higher proportion of male patients, a significantly higher proportion of patients with smoking/diabetes/hypertension, and significantly higher levels of age, creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, triglycerides, fasting blood glucose, aspartate aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase ratio, NFS, and FIB-4 index, as well as significantly lower levels of platelet count and albumin (all P<0.05). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that after adjustment for confounding factors, FIB-4 index (odds ratio[OR]=2.979, 95% confidence interval[CI]:2.141 — 4.219, P<0.001) and NFS (OR=1.747, 95%CI: 1.499 — 2.046, P<0.001) were positively correlated with CP. Both FIB-4 index and NFS had a good value in predicting CP. Hypertension had a significant indirect effect on the prevalence rate of CP through its impact on liver fibrosis markers, and its mediating effect accounted for 39.5% — 40.8% of the total effect (P<0.001). ConclusionIn patients with lean MAFLD, NFS and FIB-4 index are significantly positively correlated with the prevalence rate of CP, and they can be used as potential epidemiological predictive indicators. Liver fibrosis markers may play a mediating role in the association between hypertension and CP. Interventions targeting hypertension and liver fibrosis markers may help to prevent and delay the progression of CP.
2.Association of liver fibrosis markers and inflammation markers with the risk of gallstones in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease
Shuai ZHANG ; Shoulu JIN ; Wanqing LI ; Xijing SHI ; Hao LIANG ; Hao DONG ; Dailong LU ; Ying ZHU ; Xiaoxing XIANG ; Jun LIU
Journal of Clinical Hepatology 2026;42(3):579-585
ObjectiveTo investigate the association of liver fibrosis scores and inflammation markers with gallstones in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), as well as the mediating role of liver fibrosis scores in the relationship between inflammation markers and gallstones. MethodsA total of 14 567 patients who received physical examination and were diagnosed with MAFLD in Subei People’s Hospital from January 2014 to June 2023 were enrolled in this study, and according to the results of abdominal color Doppler ultrasound, they were divided into gallstone group with 1 724 patients and non-gallstone group with 12 843 patients. Related clinical data were collected from all patients, including demographic data, medical history, family history, physical examination, Color Doppler ultrasound, and biochemical parameters. The biomarkers associated with metabolic disorders and insulin resistance included triglyceride-glucose index (TyG), TyG-body mass index (BMI) index, atherogenic index of plasma (AIP), and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol-to-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (NHHR); the biomarkers associated with inflammation and nutritional status included neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), neutrophil percentage-to-albumin ratio (NPAR), and monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR); the biomarkers for assessing liver fibrosis degree and liver function included albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) score, NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS), fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index, and aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI). The independent-samples t test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups, while the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two groups; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis, restricted cubic spline analysis, and mediating effect analysis were used to assess the association of liver fibrosis markers and inflammation markers with the risk of gallstones. ResultsThe prevalence rate of gallstones was 11.8% among the MAFLD patients. There were significant differences between the gallstone group and the non-gallstone group in sex, age, smoking history, diabetes, hypertension, lymphocytes, platelets, glucose, albumin, serum uric acid, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, red blood cell, NLR, NPAR, MLR, NFS, FIB-4 index, and ALBI score (all P<0.05). The multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that NLR (odds ratio [OR]=1.091, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.028 — 1.160, P<0.05), NPAR (OR=1.073, 95%CI: 1.042 — 1.105, P<0.05), MLR (OR=1.142, 95%CI: 1.057 — 1.232, P<0.05), NFS (OR=1.239, 95%CI: 1.190 — 1.291, P<0.05), and FIB-4 index (OR=1.326, 95%CI: 1.241 — 1.417, P<0.05) were influencing factors for the prevalence rate of gallstones. The restricted cubic spline analysis showed a significant non-linear association between NFS/FIB-4 index and the risk of gallstone (non-linear P<0.05). The mediating effect analysis further showed that the association of NLR, MLR, and NPAR with gallstones was partially mediated by NFS or FIB-4 index, with a mediating effect accounting for 36.79%、28.09%、29.67% and 18.31%、17.70、11.57%, respectively. ConclusionNFS and FIB-4 index have a non-linear association with the prevalence rate of gallstones in MAFLD patients, and they also mediate the association of NLR, NPAR, and MLR with the risk of gallstone.
3.DYRK2:a novel therapeutic target for rheumatoid arthritis combined with osteoporosis based on East Asian and European populations
Zhilin WU ; Qin HE ; Pingxi WANG ; Xian SHI ; Song YUAN ; Jun ZHANG ; Hao WANG
Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research 2026;30(6):1569-1579
BACKGROUND:Studies have shown that rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis are positively correlated,but the causal relationship and related mechanisms have not yet been confirmed.With the cross-fertilization of computer science and life sciences,Mendelian randomization and bioinformatics analyses based on genome-wide association study(GWAS)and transcriptome sequencing data can assess the causal relationship between two diseases,explore the related mechanisms,and mine the therapeutic targets,which will be beneficial to the precision treatment of rheumatoid arthritis combined with osteoporosis.OBJECTIVE:To explore the causal relationship between rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis using two-sample Mendelian randomization and to mine potential co-morbid targets and potential targeted drugs through summary-data-based Mendelian randomization and bioinformatics analyses,aiming to provide theoretical basis for mechanism exploration and precision treatment in the field of rheumatoid arthritis combined with osteoporosis.METHODS:(1)Firstly,GWAS data of rheumatoid arthritis,osteoporosis,and cis-expression quantitative trait locus(cis-eQTL)in Asian and European populations were downloaded from the GWAS Catalog,IEU Open GWAS,FinnGen,and eQTLGen databases,and were used for two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis and summary-data-based Mendelian randomization analysis.(2)Transcriptome sequencing data of rheumatoid arthritis(GSE93272 and GSE15573)were downloaded from the GEO database for bioinformatics analysis.(3)Subsequently,forward and inverse Mendelian randomization analyses between rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis were performed,and inverse variance weighted was used as the main metric for the analyses,and the results were corroborated with MR Egger,simple mode,weighted median and weighted mode.(4)Then,the genes closely related to rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis were identified based on the summary-data-based Mendelian randomization analysis,and the co-disease targets of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis were mined based on cross-analysis.Meanwhile,the biological functions of the co-morbid targets were verified based on bioinformatics analysis and cellular experiments.(5)In addition,a rheumatoid arthritis risk prediction nomogram was constructed based on DYRK2,and its prediction performance was verified by receiver operating characteristic curve,correction curve and decision curve.Finally,the target potential drugs were mined based on Enrichr database and molecular docking was performed.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Forward Mendelian randomization analysis of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis showed statistically significant results except for GCST90044540 and GCST90086118,and all other results indicated a significant causal relationship and positive correlation between rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis.(2)Inverse Mendelian randomization analysis suggested that no significant causal relationship was seen between osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis.(3)Summary-data-based Mendelian randomization analysis identified a total of 412 and 344 genes positively associated with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis,and 421 and 347 genes negatively associated.Based on the cross-analysis,26 co-morbid genes were subsequently obtained.Among them,DYRK2 was a potential therapeutic target,and subsequent bioinformatics analysis and cellular experiments confirmed its important role in the progression of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis.(4)Furthermore,the constructed nomogram has excellent predictive performance.Finally,four potential DYRK2-targeting drugs(undecanoic acid,metyrapone,JNJ-38877605,and ACA)were discovered and molecular docking also demonstrated reliable targeting ability.(5)In conclusion,based on GWAS data from Asian and European populations,we successfully demonstrated that rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis are causally related at the genetic level,DYRK2 is a potential therapeutic target,and four small molecules are potential target drugs.
4.DYRK2:a novel therapeutic target for rheumatoid arthritis combined with osteoporosis based on East Asian and European populations
Zhilin WU ; Qin HE ; Pingxi WANG ; Xian SHI ; Song YUAN ; Jun ZHANG ; Hao WANG
Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research 2026;30(6):1569-1579
BACKGROUND:Studies have shown that rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis are positively correlated,but the causal relationship and related mechanisms have not yet been confirmed.With the cross-fertilization of computer science and life sciences,Mendelian randomization and bioinformatics analyses based on genome-wide association study(GWAS)and transcriptome sequencing data can assess the causal relationship between two diseases,explore the related mechanisms,and mine the therapeutic targets,which will be beneficial to the precision treatment of rheumatoid arthritis combined with osteoporosis.OBJECTIVE:To explore the causal relationship between rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis using two-sample Mendelian randomization and to mine potential co-morbid targets and potential targeted drugs through summary-data-based Mendelian randomization and bioinformatics analyses,aiming to provide theoretical basis for mechanism exploration and precision treatment in the field of rheumatoid arthritis combined with osteoporosis.METHODS:(1)Firstly,GWAS data of rheumatoid arthritis,osteoporosis,and cis-expression quantitative trait locus(cis-eQTL)in Asian and European populations were downloaded from the GWAS Catalog,IEU Open GWAS,FinnGen,and eQTLGen databases,and were used for two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis and summary-data-based Mendelian randomization analysis.(2)Transcriptome sequencing data of rheumatoid arthritis(GSE93272 and GSE15573)were downloaded from the GEO database for bioinformatics analysis.(3)Subsequently,forward and inverse Mendelian randomization analyses between rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis were performed,and inverse variance weighted was used as the main metric for the analyses,and the results were corroborated with MR Egger,simple mode,weighted median and weighted mode.(4)Then,the genes closely related to rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis were identified based on the summary-data-based Mendelian randomization analysis,and the co-disease targets of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis were mined based on cross-analysis.Meanwhile,the biological functions of the co-morbid targets were verified based on bioinformatics analysis and cellular experiments.(5)In addition,a rheumatoid arthritis risk prediction nomogram was constructed based on DYRK2,and its prediction performance was verified by receiver operating characteristic curve,correction curve and decision curve.Finally,the target potential drugs were mined based on Enrichr database and molecular docking was performed.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Forward Mendelian randomization analysis of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis showed statistically significant results except for GCST90044540 and GCST90086118,and all other results indicated a significant causal relationship and positive correlation between rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis.(2)Inverse Mendelian randomization analysis suggested that no significant causal relationship was seen between osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis.(3)Summary-data-based Mendelian randomization analysis identified a total of 412 and 344 genes positively associated with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis,and 421 and 347 genes negatively associated.Based on the cross-analysis,26 co-morbid genes were subsequently obtained.Among them,DYRK2 was a potential therapeutic target,and subsequent bioinformatics analysis and cellular experiments confirmed its important role in the progression of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis.(4)Furthermore,the constructed nomogram has excellent predictive performance.Finally,four potential DYRK2-targeting drugs(undecanoic acid,metyrapone,JNJ-38877605,and ACA)were discovered and molecular docking also demonstrated reliable targeting ability.(5)In conclusion,based on GWAS data from Asian and European populations,we successfully demonstrated that rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis are causally related at the genetic level,DYRK2 is a potential therapeutic target,and four small molecules are potential target drugs.
5.Construction of a risk prediction model for cardiovascular events in community hypertensive patients based on remote ambulatory blood pressure parameters
Guiqiu ZHU ; Yihong WU ; Hao ZHANG ; Jun SUN ; Yajuan ZHANG ; Xiaohong WANG ; Zongquan ZHAO
Journal of Public Health and Preventive Medicine 2026;37(3):85-89
Objective To explore the risk prediction model of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in community patients with hypertension based on remote ambulatory blood pressure parameters. Methods From November 2023 to October 2024, 486 community patients with hypertension who received standardized management in Nanjing Medical University Affiliated to Suzhou Hospital were retrospectively selected. All patients wore remote ambulatory blood pressure monitor to obtain 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure data. Clinical data were collected and remote ambulatory blood pressure parameters [24-hour systolic blood pressure variability (SBPV), 24-hour diastolic blood pressure variability (DBPV), nighttime SBPV, nighttime DBPV, daytime SBPV, daytime DBPV] were extracted. The patients were followed up for 12 months, and were classified into MACE group (n=42) and non-MACE group (n=444) according to whether MACE occurred during follow-up. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was adopted to screen the influencing factors for MACE. Based on the above factors, a risk prediction model was constructed and verified by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results MACE occurred in 42 cases among 486 patients, with an incidence rate of 8.64%. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis suggested that nighttime DBPV (OR=1.119, 95%CI: 1.030-1.214), 24h-SBPV (OR=1.115, 95%CI: 1.007-1.235), nighttime SBPV (OR=1.116, 95%CI: 1.016-1.226) and diabetes mellitus (OR=2.762, 95%CI: 1.059-7.203) were independent factors for MACE (P<0.05). The model validation results revealed that the area under the ROC curve was 0.905 (95%CI: 0.854-0.956 ), and the model had a good discrimination degree. Conclusion Nighttime DBPV, 24h-SBPV, nighttime SBPV and diabetes mellitus are independent risk factors for MACE in community patients with hypertension. The clinical prediction model based on these variables exhibits certain predictive value on MACE risk.
6.Investigation of the prevalence of cognitive frailty in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and analysis of associated factors
Yihong WU ; Hao ZHANG ; Jun SUN ; Yajuan ZHANG ; Jufan TIAN ; Guiqiu ZHU ; Zongquan ZHAO
Journal of Public Health and Preventive Medicine 2026;37(3):99-103
Objective To investigate the prevalence of cognitive frailty and its associated factors among middle-aged and elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Gusu District, Suzhou City, to provide a basis for intervention measures. Methods COPD patients managed at Pingjiang New Town Community Health Service Center in Gusu District from January to December 2024 were selected. Data were collected using the Fried Frailty Phenotype, Mini-Mental State Examination, and a general information questionnaire. Chi-square tests, one-way analysis of variance, and multivariate Logistic regression were used for data analysis. Results A total of 1 388 patients were included, with 916 males (65.99%) and 472 females (34.01%). Cognitive frailty was observed in 554 cases (prevalence: 39.91%). Univariate analysis showed significant differences in gender, education, visual impairment, hearing impairment, sleep disorders, and disease duration between the cognitive frailty and non-cognitive frailty groups (all P<0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression indicated that education was negatively associated with cognitive frailty (illiteracy OR=6.969, P<0.001; primary school OR=1.499, P=0.005), while visual impairment (OR=2.347, P<0.001), hearing impairment (OR=1.705, P<0.001), sleep disorders (OR=2.488, P<0.001), and disease duration (≤5 years OR=0.329, P<0.001; 6-10 years OR=0.487, P<0.001) were positively associated with cognitive frailty. Conclusion The prevalence of cognitive frailty among middle-aged and elderly COPD patients in Gusu District, Suzhou City, is high (39.91%). Epositively associated with cognitive frailtyducation, sensory impairments, sleep disorders, and disease duration are associated factors. Clinical attention to high-risk groups and implementation of early screening and targeted interventions are recommended.
7.Treatment Modalities and Long-Term Outcomes in Unruptured Vertebrobasilar Fusiform Aneurysms: A Nationwide Observational Cohort Study
Linggen DONG ; Dachao WEI ; Xiheng CHEN ; Mingtao LI ; Yang ZHAO ; Yong SUN ; Qingbin NIE ; Jun FENG ; Guomin XIAO ; Jinghua ZHOU ; Shengli HU ; Lifei FENG ; Lifeng QI ; Hongen LIU ; Geng GUO ; Yufang LI ; Renfu TIAN ; Jianghua YU ; Dianshi JIN ; Liang HAO ; Tian TIAN ; Shizhong ZHANG ; Yang WANG ; Liping LIU ; Ming LV
Journal of Stroke 2026;28(2):250-262
Background:
and Purpose Vertebrobasilar fusiform aneurysms (VBFAs) carry substantial morbidity and mortality, but optimal management for unruptured VBFAs remains unclear. We compared the safety and efficacy of conservative management (CM), stent-assisted coiling (SAC), and flow diverters (FDs) in patients with unruptured VBFAs, focusing on long-term prognosis.
Methods:
This study included data from a nationwide Chinese cohort of patients with vertebrobasilar dissecting aneurysms. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) balanced confounders across groups. The primary outcome was poor prognosis (modified Rankin Scale score >2). Secondary outcomes included aneurysm rupture, ischemic stroke, compression symptoms, and VBFA-related deaths. Logistic regression estimated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed.
Results:
Among 1,115 patients with unruptured VBFAs, 838 (median age, 54 years; 655 men) were included. After IPTW, baseline characteristics were balanced. Median follow-up was 54 months. FD was associated with a lower risk of poor prognosis than CM (OR, 0.48 [95% CI, 0.30 to 0.77]; p=0.002), with no difference between CM and SAC. FD also reduced aneurysm rupture (OR, 0.20 [95% CI, 0.07 to 0.60]; p=0.004) and compression symptoms (OR, 0.30 [95% CI, 0.13 to 0.68]; p=0.004) versus CM. Time-to-event analyses further revealed significant differences in vertebral artery lesions and Type I–II VBFAs, whereas no significant differences were observed in basilar or vertebrobasilar junction lesions or in Type III–IV VBFAs.
Conclusions
Compared with CM, FD was associated with improved long-term outcomes in unruptured VBFAs, particularly in vertebral artery lesions and Type I–II VBFAs, although residual confounding cannot be excluded.
8.SIRT5 Potentiates Hepatocarcinogenesis by Modulating Protein Acylation in Mice
Yu ZHANG ; Feng-Rui REN ; Jia-Yun LI ; Xiang-Yu CHEN ; Zi-Yi WANG ; Qi SUN ; Jun-Cheng ZHAO ; Ye ZHANG ; Zhen HUANG ; Hao HU ; Tao-Tao WEI ; Min XIAO
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2026;53(6):1712-1722
ObjectiveHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents 90% of all primary liver cancers. The main risk factors associated with HCC include viral hepatitis (B and/or C), alcohol abuse, and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), which progressively advance to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and ultimately evolve into HCC. Surgical resection represents the most effective treatment for HCC, while recent advances in immunotherapy, including immune checkpoint inhibitors and adoptive cell therapies, have provided improved treatment prospects for patients with unresectable HCC. However, the complex metabolic heterogeneity of HCC limits the therapeutic efficacy. Metabolic intermediates acyl-CoA not only provide energy and substrates for numerous biochemical reactions but also serve as donors for protein lysine acylation, a major class of post-translational modification (PTM). Therefore, a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying protein lysine acylation and hepatocarcinogenesis is urgently needed. MethodsThe levels of protein lysine acylation and silence information regulator 5 (SIRT5) expression levels in clinical HCC samples were analyzed by Western blot. Quantitative malonylome and succinylome of HCC samples were analyzed by antibody-based affinity enrichment coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. The proliferation of HCC cells was analyzed with Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assays, the apoptosis was quantified by Annexin V-FITC/propidium iodide (PI) staining coupled with flow cytometry, and the ability of cells to migrate was assayed by Transwell assays. The enzymatic activity of glutathione S-transferase Mu 1 (GSTM1) was quantified. Transgenic mice with hepatic overexpression of SIRT5 were constructed using CRISPR-Cas9, and primary hepatocarcinogenesis was induced by administration of diethylnitrosamine. ResultsWestern blot analysis indicated that the expression level of SIRT5 was elevated in clinical samples from HCC patients, and the levels of lysine malonylation, glutarylation, and succinylation were significantly reduced in HCC tissues. Knockout of SIRT5 in MHCC-97H and MHCC-97L hepatoma cells suppressed cell proliferation, and increased the percentage of apoptotic cells significantly. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses of the differentially malonylome and succinylome of HCC samples revealed significant enrichment in two major classes of biological processes: core energy metabolism (e.g., glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, tricarboxylic acid metabolic process, fatty acid beta oxidation) and detoxification and oxidative stress response (e.g., response to toxic substance, chemical carcinogenesis, reactive oxygen species (ROS)). SIRT5 removes malonylation from lysine residues in GSTM1 and restores its detoxification activity, which is crucial for the survival of hepatocytes under stressed conditions. More importantly, in vivo experiment indicated that hepatic-specific overexpression of SIRT5 in mice accelerated diethylnitrosamine-induced liver fibrosis and hepatocarcinogenesis, indicating the critical role of SIRT5 in HCC progression. ConclusionThis study highlights the previously unrecognized SIRT5-GSTM1 axis as a key regulator in hepatocarcinogenesis, and suggests a potential target for the treatment of patients with HCC.
9.Mechanism of tanshinone ⅡA in ameliorating acetaminophen-induced liver injury based on network pharmacology and molecular docking techniques
Tingyan ZHANG ; Tingting LI ; Xiaofeng YUAN ; Chuan ZHANG ; Kai HAO ; Jun BIAN
Journal of Pharmaceutical Practice and Service 2026;44(8):417-425
Objective To investigate the potential protective mechanism of tanshinone ⅡA against acetaminophen (APAP)-induced acute liver injury. Methods Thirty mice were randomly divided into the normal group, model group, low-dose tanshinone ⅡA group (5 mg/kg), medium-dose tanshinone ⅡA group (10 mg/kg) and high-dose tanshinone ⅡA group (20 mg/kg). All groups were intragastrically administered once daily for 7 consecutive days. On the 7th day, except for the normal group, mice in the remaining groups were intraperitoneally injected with 400 mg/kg APAP to establish the acute lung injury (ALI) model. The protective effect of tanshinone ⅡA was evaluated based on the liver weight ratio, the levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and HE staining. Targets of tanshinone ⅡA were predicted by the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP), and a shared target protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed by Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins (STRING) 11.5 in combination with disease targets from GeneCards. The Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis was performed by Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID), and the component-target-pathway network was constructed. The molecular docking between tanshinone ⅡA and the core targets was performed by AutoDock and visualised. Results Compared with the normal group, the liver weight ratio and serum aminotransferase level of mice with acute liver injury were significantly elevated (P<0.05), and the pathological injury of liver tissue was obvious. After tanshinone ⅡA treatment, the above index were significantly reduced (P<0.05), and the pathological injury was significantly improved. Further network pharmacological analysis was carried out and found that KEGG pathway enrichment analysis focused on IL-17 signaling pathway and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling pathway, etc. In addition, the PPI core network showed that the key targets of tanshinone ⅡA to ameliorate acute liver injury mainly included TP53, AKT1, SRC, TNF and JUN. The molecular docking results showed that tanshinone ⅡA had high binding scores with the targets of MMP9, NFKB1, TNF, EP300 and SMAD3; and was able to bind to the targets of TP53, AKT1, SRC and JUN. Conclusion Tanshinone ⅡA may play a protective role against acute liver injury by regulating genes such as AKT1, JUN and TNF, and participating in signaling pathways such as TNF and IL-17.
10.Construction and validation of a machine learning-based risk assessment model for post-transplant diabetes mellitus
Hao WANG ; Yongqiang FAN ; Zhiyong SHI ; Rui ZHANG ; Yan WANG ; Jun XU
Journal of Clinical Hepatology 2026;42(8):1894-1901
ObjectiveTo construct and validate a risk assessment model for post-transplant diabetes mellitus (PTDM) using multiple machine learning algorithms, and to realize the early identification of PTDM. MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of the patients who underwent allogeneic liver transplantation in The First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from April 1, 2020 to December 31, 2024, and they were randomly divided into a training set and a validation set at a ratio of 7∶3. The LASSO regression analysis combined with 5-fold cross-validation was used for feature selection. Seven machine learning models were developed in the training set, i.e., logistic regression (LR), decision tree (DT), Naive Bayes (NB), random forest (RF), K-nearest neighbor (KNN), extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), and adaptive boosting (AdaBoost). In the validation set, various methods were used to assess the predictive performance of each model, such as accuracy, precision, recall rate, specificity, F1 score, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC), and area under the precision-recall curve (AUPRC). The Brier score and decision curve analysis were used to assess the calibration and clinical practicability of the models, and the SHAP method was used to analyze feature importance. The independent-samples t test or the Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used for comparison of continuous data between two groups, and the chi-square test or the Fisher’s exact test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups. ResultsA total of 135 liver transplant recipients were enrolled, among whom 26 developed PTDM, and there were 94 patients in the training set and 41 in the validation set. Feature extraction and screening identified 7 key features of sex, overweight or obesity, anhepatic phase, time of operation, length of hospital stay, early postoperative hypomagnesemia, and impaired fasting glucose (IFG). In the validation set, the XGBoost model showed the best predictive performance, with an AUROC of 0.907 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.807 — 0.989), an AUPRC of 0.649 (95%CI: 0.339 — 0.955), an accuracy of 0.878, a precision of 0.667, a recall rate of 0.750, an F1-score of 0.706, a specificity of 0.909, and a Brier score of 0.104. The decision curve analysis showed that when the threshold probability was below 0.667, application of the XGBoost model in clinical decision-making provided relatively high net benefit. The SHAP analysis showed that the length of hospital stay ranked first in terms of feature importance, followed by time of operation, overweight or obesity, sex, IFG, anhepatic phase, and early postoperative hypomagnesemia. ConclusionThe risk assessment model for PTDM in liver transplant recipients based on XGBoost algorithm has excellent performance and can effectively identify high-risk individuals; however, multicenter large-sample data are needed for further validation.


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