Ischemic stroke (IS) ranks as a leading cause of death and disability globally. The blood-brain barrier (BBB) poses significant challenges for effective drug delivery to brain tissues. Recent decades have seen the development of targeted nanomedicine and biomimetic technologies, sparking substantial interest in biomimetic drug delivery systems for treating IS. These systems are devised by utilizing or replicating natural cells and their derivatives, offering promising new pathways for detection and transport across the BBB. Their multifunctionality and high biocompatibility make them effective treatment options for IS. In addition, the incorporation of engineering techniques has provided these biomimetic drug delivery systems with active targeting capabilities, enhancing the accumulation of therapeutic agents in ischemic tissues and specific cell types. This improvement boosts drug transport and therapeutic efficacy. However, it is crucial to thoroughly understand the advantages and limitations of various engineering strategies employed in constructing biomimetic delivery systems. Selecting appropriate construction methods based on the characteristics of the disease is vital to achieving optimal treatment outcomes. This review summarizes recent advancements in three types of engineered biomimetic drug delivery systems, developed from natural cells and their derivatives, for treating IS. It also discusses their effectiveness in application and potential challenges in future clinical translation.
Humans ; Drug Delivery Systems/methods* ; Ischemic Stroke/drug therapy* ; Animals ; Blood-Brain Barrier/metabolism* ; Stroke/drug therapy*

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the differentially expressed exosomal miRNAs in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) complicated by hyperuricemia (HUA) and explore their potential as novel diagnostic molecular markers and their target genes. METHODS: This study was conducted among 30 CHF patients with HUA (observation group) and 30 healthy volunteers (control group) enrolled between September, 2020 and September, 2023. Peripheral blood samples were collected from 6 CHF patients with HUA for analyzing exosomal miRNAs by high-throughput sequencing, and the results were validated in the remaining 24 patients using qRT-PCR. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses were performed to predict the the target genes of the identified differential miRNAs. We also validated the differentially expressed miRNAs by animal experiment. RESULTS: A total of 42 differentially expressed exosomal miRNAs were detected in observation group by high-throughput sequencing; among them, miR-27a-5p was significantly upregulated (P=0.000179), and miR-139-3p was significantly downregulated (P=0.000058). In the 24 patients with both CHF and PUA, qRT-PCR validated significant upregulation of miR-27a-5p (P=0.004) and downregulation of miR-139-3p (P=0.005) in serum exosomes. When combined, miR-27a-5p and miR-139-3p had a maximum area under the curve (AUC) of 0.899 (95% CI: 0812-0.987) for predicting CHF complicated by HUA. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses suggested that the differential expressions of miR-27a-5p and miR-139-3p was associated with the activation of the AMPK-mTOR signaling pathway to activate the autophagic response. We obtained the same conclusion from animal experiment. CONCLUSIONS Upregulated exosomal miR-27a-5p combined with downregulated exosomal miR-139-3p expression can serve as a novel molecular marker for diagnosis of CHF complicated by HUA, and their differential expression may promote autophagy in cardiomyocytes by activating the AMPK-mTOR signaling pathway.
Humans ; Hyperuricemia/diagnosis* ; Heart Failure/genetics* ; MicroRNAs/metabolism* ; Exosomes/metabolism* ; Chronic Disease ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Animals

Chronic, unresolved inflammation correlates with persistent hepatic injury and fibrosis, ultimately progressing to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Bisdemethoxycurcumin (BDMC) demonstrates therapeutic potential against HCC, yet its mechanism in preventing hepatic "inflammation-carcinoma transformation" remains incompletely understood. In the current research, clinical HCC specimens underwent analysis using hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining and immunohistochemistry (IHC) to evaluate the expression of fibrosis markers, M2 macrophage markers, and CXCL12. In vitro, transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1)-induced LX-2 cells and a co-culture system of LX-2, THP-1, and HCC cells were established. Cell functions underwent assessment through 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), flow cytometry, and Transwell assays. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), Western blotting and immunofluorescence evaluated the differential expression of molecules. The interaction between β-catenin/TCF4 and CXCL12 was examined using co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP), dual luciferase, and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays. A DEN-induced rat model was developed to investigate BDMC's role in liver fibrosis-associated HCC (LFAHCC) development in vivo. Our results showed that clinical HCC tissues exhibited elevated fibrosis and enriched M2 macrophages. BDMC delayed liver fibrosis progression to HCC in vivo. BDMC inhibited the inflammatory microenvironment induced by activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). Furthermore, BDMC suppressed M2 macrophage-induced fibrosis and HCC cell proliferation and metastasis. Mechanistically, BDMC repressed TCF4/β-catenin complex formation, thereby reducing CXCL12 transcription in LX-2 cells. Moreover, CXCL12 overexpression reversed BDMC's inhibitory effect on macrophage M2 polarization and its mediation of fibrosis, as well as HCC proliferation and metastasis. BDMC significantly suppressed LFAHCC development through CXCL12 in rats. In conclusion, BDMC inhibited LFAHCC progression by reducing M2 macrophage polarization through suppressing β-catenin/TCF4-mediated CXCL12 transcription.
Animals ; Liver Neoplasms/etiology* ; Humans ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/immunology* ; Liver Cirrhosis/complications* ; Macrophages/drug effects* ; Male ; Rats ; Chemokine CXCL12/genetics* ; Diarylheptanoids/pharmacology* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; beta Catenin/genetics*

The 2025 American Thyroid Association Guidelines for the Management of Differentiated Thyroid Cancer in Adults incorporate the latest evidence-based medical research to systematically update the strategies for diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of thyroid cancer. Integrating multidisciplinary perspectives from internal medicine, surgery, radiology, pathology, and other fields—and for the first time including input from patient representatives—the guidelines comprehensively cover the entire management process of differentiated thyroid cancer, significantly enhancing their clinical applicability. Regarding the current focus on active surveillance, the new edition provides clear recommendations based on a rigorous evaluation of existing evidence and multidisciplinary input. This article reviews and discusses key updates and practical aspects of the active surveillance section in the guidelines, with reference to relevant Japanese and Korean guidelines, with the aim of improving the application of active surveillance in thyroid cancer management.

Objective:To summarize the clinical characteristics of patients with renal angiomyolipoma(RAML)combined with inferior vena cava(IVC)tumor thrombus,and to explore the feasibility of par-tial nephrectomy and thrombectomy in this series of patients.Methods:The clinical data of patients diagnosed with RAML combined with IVC tumor thrombus in the Department of Urology of the Peking University Third Hospital from April 2014 to March 2023 were retrospectively analyzed,and demographic and perioperative data of RAML patients with IVC tumor thrombus were recorded and collected from Elec-tronic Medical Record System,including age,gender,surgical methods,and follow-up time,etc.The clinical characteristics between classic angiomyolipoma(CAML)patients with IVC tumor thrombus and epithelioid angiomyolipoma(EAML)patients with IVC tumor thrombus were compared to determine the clinical characteristics of these patients.Results:A total of 11 patients were included in this study,in-cluding 7 patients with CAML with IVC tumor thrombus and 4 patients with EAML with IVC tumor thrombus.There were 9 females(9/11,81.8％)and 2 males(2/11,18.2％),with an average age of(44.0±17.1)years.9 patients(9/11,81.8％)experienced clinical symptoms,including local symp-toms including abdominal pain,hematuria,abdominal masses,and systemic symptoms including weight loss and fever;2 patients(2/11,18.2％)with RAML and IVC tumor thrombus did not show clinical symptoms,which were discovered by physical examination.Among the 11 patients,10 underwent radical nephrectomy with thrombectomy,of whom,3 underwent open surgery(3/10,30.0％),2 underwent laparoscopic surgery(2/10,20.0％),and 5 underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery(5/10,50.0％).In addition,1 patient underwent open partial nephrectomy and thrombectomy.The patients with EAML combined with I VC tumor thrombus had a higher proportion of systemic clinical symptoms(100％vs.0％,P=0.003),more intraoperative bleeding[400(240,3 050)mL vs.50(50,300)mL,P=0.036],and a higher proportion of tumor necrosis(75％vs.0％,P=0.024)compared to the patients with CAML combined with I VC tumor thrombus.However,there was no statistically significant difference in operation time[(415.8±201.2)min vs.(226.0±87.3)min,P=0.053]between the two groups.Conclusion:Compared with the patients with CAML and IVC tumor thrombus,the patients with EAML and IVC tumor thrombus had a higher rate of systemic symptoms and tumor necrosis.In addi-tion,in the selected patients with CAML with IVC tumor thrombus,partial nephrectomy and tumor thrombectomy could be performed to better preserve renal function.

Objective To investigate the role of silencing regulatory protein 1(Sirt1)in the regulation of Vibrio vulnificus sepsis-induced macrophage apoptosis and the molecular mechanisms.Methods Mouse RAW264.7 macrophages which stably overexpressed Sirt1 were constructed and screened by genistein G418.CCK-8 analysis was used to detect the proliferation of cells in the control group and Sirt1-Flag group.The changes of expression levels of apoptosis-associated protein poly ADP-ribose polymerase(PARP),cleaved-PARP,caspase3,cleaved-caspase3 and acetylated p53 in different treatment groups were detected via Western blotting.A Vibrio vulnificus sepsis model in mice was established,and the expression levels of apoptosis-associated protein cleaved-caspase3 in the lung,spleen and liver of mice of different treatment groups were detected by immunohistochemistry.Results Overexpression of Sirt1 reduced VVC-induced RAW264.7 cell damage.Overexpression of Sirt1 as well as RSV pretreatment lowered the expression of apoptosis-associated protein cleaved-PARP,cleaved-caspase3 and acetylated p53 in VVC-stimulated RAW264.7 cells and mouse peritoneal macrophages.In the mouse model of Vibrio vulnificus sepsis,therapeutic administration of RSV reduced the expression of apoptosis-associated protein marker cleaved-caspase3 in lung,spleen and liver tissues.Conclusion Sirt1 can inhibit p53 acetylation and reduces apoptosis in mouse macrophages,which helps protect against Vibrio vulnificus sepsis.

Objective To identify the pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis in bloodstream infec-tions with high confidence based on three deep learning models such as GoogleNet,ResNet101,and Vgg19,compare the performance and classification ability of these models,and explore the feasibility of applying the deep learning models for the rapid identification of pathogenic bacteria in bloodstream infections.Methods The preprocessed Gram-stained bacterial images,including 1 682 images for Staphylococcus aureus and 1 723 for Enterococcus faecalis,and 688 blank control microscopic images were input into three models for training and validation,respectively.Among them,1 344 images for Staphylococcus aureus,1 376 for Enterococcus faecalis,and 544 blank control images were used for training,and the remaining images were used for validation.The model with the best performance was identified according to the classification parameters between the models.Results The ResNet101 model had the lowest cross-en-tropy loss value(0.008 710 3),the largest Epoch value(93),and the highest accuracy rate(99％)for identifying the three types of validation set images.The cross-entropy loss value,Epoch value,and accuracy rate of the GoogleNet model were 0.063 89,86 and 98.6％,respectively,for identifying the three types of validation set images.Those of the Vgg19 model were 0.035 682,86 and 97.7％,respectively.Conclusion The ResNet101 model has the best performance in the classification of three kinds of images.The deep learning model may accurately,reliably and rapidly identify the Gram-stained images of pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis in bloodstream infections.

To promote the development of extracellular vesicles of herbal medicine especially the establishment of standardization, led by the National Expert Committee on Research and Application of Chinese Herbal Vesicles, research experts in the field of herbal medicine and extracellular vesicles were invited nationwide with the support of the Expert Committee on Research and Application of Chinese Herbal Vesicles, Professional Committee on Extracellular Vesicle Research and Application, Chinese Society of Research Hospitals and the Guangdong Engineering Research Center of Chinese Herbal Vesicles. Based on the collation of relevant literature, we have adopted the Delphi method, the consensus meeting method combined with the nominal group method to form a discussion draft of "Consensus statement on research and application of Chinese herbal medicine derived extracellular vesicles-like particles (2023)". The first draft was discussed in online and offline meetings on October 12, 14, November 2, 2022 and April and May 2023 on the current status of research, nomenclature, isolation methods, quality standards and research applications of extracellular vesicles of Chinese herbal medicines, and 13 consensus opinions were finally formed. At the Third Academic Conference on Research and Application of Chinese Herbal Vesicles, held on May 26, 2023, Kewei Zhao, convenor of the consensus, presented and read the consensus to the experts of the Expert Committee on Research and Application of Chinese Herbal Vesicles. The consensus highlights the characteristics and advantages of Chinese medicine, inherits the essence, and keeps the righteousness and innovation, aiming to provide a reference for colleagues engaged in research and application of Chinese herbal vesicles at home and abroad, decode the mystery behind Chinese herbal vesicles together, establish a safe, effective and controllable accurate Chinese herbal vesicle prevention and treatment system, and build a bridge for Chinese medicine to the world.

Objective:To investigate the effect of different surgical timing on the surgical treatment of renal angiomyolipoma(RAML)with rupture and hemorrhage.Methods:The demographic data and peri-operative data of 31 patients with rupture and hemorrhage of RAML admitted to our medical center from June 2013 to February 2023 were collected.The surgery within 7 days after hemorrhage was defined as a short-term surgery group,the surgery between 7 days and 6 months after hemorrhage was defined as a me-dium-term surgery group,and the surgery beyond 6 months after hemorrhage was defined as a long-term surgery group.The perioperative related indicators among the three groups were compared.Results:This study collected 31 patients who underwent surgical treatment for RAML rupture and hemorrhage,of whom 13 were males and 18 were females,with an average age of(46.2±11.3)years.The short-term surgery group included 7 patients,the medium-term surgery group included 12 patients and the long-term surgery group included 12 patients.In terms of tumor diameter,the patients in the long-term surgery group were significantly lower than those in the recent surgery group[(6.6±2.4)cmvs.(10.0±3.0)cm,P=0.039].In terms of operation time,the long-term surgery group was significantly shorter than the mid-term surgery group[(157.5±56.8)min vs.(254.8±80.1)min,P=0.006],and there was no sig-nificant difference between other groups.In terms of estimated blood loss during surgery,the long-term surgery group was significantly lower than the mid-term surgery group[35(10,100)mL vs.650(300,1 200)mL,P＜0.001],and there was no significant difference between other groups.In terms of intraoperative blood transfusion,the long-term surgery group was significantly lower than the mid-term surgery group[0(0,0)mL vs.200(0,700)mL,P=0.014],and there was no significant difference between other groups.In terms of postoperative hospitalization days,the long-term surgery group was sig-nificantly lower than the mid-term surgery group[5(4,7)d vs.7(6,10)d,P=0.011],and there was no significant difference between other groups.Conclusion:We believe that for patients with RAML rupture and hemorrhage,reoperation for more than 6 months is a relatively safe time range,with minimal intraoperative bleeding.Therefore,it is more recommended to undergo surgical treatment after the hema-toma is systematized through conservative treatment.

Papillary thyroid microcarcinoma(PTMC),which lacks lymph node metastasis,distant metastasis,extra-thyroid invasion,high-risk subtypes,and invasion of the trachea or recurrent laryngeal nerve,may be classified as low-risk PTMC based on clinical assessment.Surgical intervention such as lobectomy or total thyroidectomy is the primary treatment modality for PTMC.This study comprised 124 patients who underwent conformal thyroidectomy and revealed that this innovative surgical approach yielded long-term oncological outcomes comparable to those who received lobectomy or total thyroidectomy.The surgical intervention may play a significant role in the comprehensive management of PTMC,while the implementation of PTMC precision medicine necessitates the utilization of genetic testing,molecular typing,and other advanced technologies to detect early-stage high-risk factors like lymph node microinvasion and integrate biology-based surgery concept for optimal outcomes.