1.A Case Report of Pachydermoperiostosis by Multidisciplinary Diagnosis and Treatment
Jie ZHANG ; Yan ZHANG ; Li HUO ; Ke LYU ; Tao WANG ; Ze'nan XIA ; Xiao LONG ; Kexin XU ; Nan WU ; Bo YANG ; Weibo XIA ; Rongrong HU ; Limeng CHEN ; Ji LI ; Xia HONG ; Yan ZHANG ; Yagang ZUO
JOURNAL OF RARE DISEASES 2025;4(1):75-82
A 20-year-old male patient presented to the Department of Dermatology of Peking Union Medical College Hospital with complaints of an 8-year history of facial scarring, swelling of the lower limbs, and a 4-year history of scalp thickening. Physical examination showed thickening furrowing wrinkling of the skin on the face and behind the ears, ciliary body hirsutism, blepharoptosis, and cutis verticis gyrate. Both lower limbs were swollen, especially the knees and ankles. The skin of the palms and soles of the feet was keratinized and thickened. Laboratory examination using bone and joint X-ray showed periostosis of the proximal middle phalanges and metacarpals of both hands, distal ulna and radius, tibia and fibula, distal femurs, and metatarsals.Genetic testing revealed two variants in
2.Discovery of a novel thiophene carboxamide analogue as a highly potent and selective sphingomyelin synthase 2 inhibitor for dry eye disease therapy.
Jintong YANG ; Yiteng LU ; Kexin HU ; Xinchen ZHANG ; Wei WANG ; Deyong YE ; Mingguang MO ; Xin XIAO ; Xichen WAN ; Yuqing WU ; Shuxian ZHANG ; He HUANG ; Zhibei QU ; Yimin HU ; Yu CAO ; Jiaxu HONG ; Lu ZHOU
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2025;15(1):392-408
Dry eye disease (DED) is a prevalent and intractable ocular disease induced by a variety of causes. Elevated sphingomyelin (SM) levels and pro-inflammatory cytokines were detected on the ocular surface of DED patients, particularly in the meibomian glands. Sphingomyelin synthase 2 (SMS2), one of the proteins involved in SM synthesis, would light a novel way of developing a DED therapy strategy. Herein, we report the design and optimization of a series of novel thiophene carboxamide derivatives to afford 14l with an improved highly potent inhibitory activity on SM synthesis (IC50, SMS2 = 28 nmol/L). Moreover, 14l exhibited a notable protective effect of anti-inflammation and anti-apoptosis on human corneal epithelial cells (HCEC) under TNF-α-hyperosmotic stress conditions in vitro, with an acceptable ocular specific distribution (corneas and meibomian glands) and pharmacokinetics (PK) profiles (t 1/2, cornea = 1.11 h; t 1/2, meibomian glands = 4.32 h) in rats. Furthermore, 14l alleviated the dry eye symptoms including corneal fluorescein staining scores and tear secretion in a dose-dependent manner in mice. Mechanically, 14l reduced the mRNA expression of Tnf-α, Il-1β and Mmp-9 in corneas, as well as the proportion of very long chain SM in meibomian glands. Our findings provide a new strategy for DED therapy based on selective SMS2 inhibitors.
3.Quality Evaluation of Cisatracurium Besilate Injection
Jing FANG ; Xinying YU ; Kai DUO ; Biwei BAI ; Yu HAN ; Kexin XIAO ; Xinying MA ; Liqun LIU ; Jialiang ZHU
Herald of Medicine 2025;44(1):31-38
Objective To evaluate the quality of cisatracurium besilate injection produced by domestic manufacturers.Methods A comprehensive evaluation of 104 batches of samples was carried out using statutory testing methods combined withexploratory research,including related substances,1,5-pentanediol diacrylate,residual solvents,genotoxic impurities of benzenesulfonate esters,infrared spectrum,and endotoxin examination.The quality of domestic products and the controllability of current specifications were comprehensively evaluated.Results According to the statutory tests,the qualified rate of 104 batches of samples was 100.0%.The exploratory research showed that the results of related substances in the samples produced by 6 manufacturers were far below the limit,and no genotoxic impurities of benzenesulfonate esters were detected.However,the results showed that there was variability in 1,5-pentanediol diacrylate,as well as residual solvents.Conclusions The quality of the cisatracurium besilate injection is good,and the current specifications should be further improved and unified.It was proposed that the infrared spectrum,related substance,and 1,5-pentanediol diacrylate method be added or revised,and the limit of endotoxin strictly controlled.It was proposed that manufacturers pay attention to the quality of API and control injection production.
4.EvoNB:A protein language model-based workflow for nanobody mutation prediction and optimization
Danyang XIONG ; Yongfan MING ; Yuting LI ; Shuhan LI ; Kexin CHEN ; Jinfeng LIU ; Lili DUAN ; Honglin LI ; Min LI ; Xiao HE
Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis 2025;15(6):1334-1343
The identification and optimization of mutations in nanobodies are crucial for enhancing their thera-peutic potential in disease prevention and control.However,this process is often complex and time-consuming,which limit its widespread application in practice.In this study,we developed a work-flow,named Evolutionary-Nanobody(EvoNB),to predict key mutation sites of nanobodies by combining protein language models(PLMs)and molecular dynamic(MD)simulations.By fine-tuning the ESM2 model on a large-scale nanobody dataset,the ability of EvoNB to capture specific sequence features of nanobodies was significantly enhanced.The fine-tuned EvoNB model demonstrated higher predictive accuracy in the conserved framework and highly variable complementarity-determining regions of nanobodies.Additionally,we selected four widely representative nanobody-antigen complexes to verify the predicted effects of mutations.MD simulations analyzed the energy changes caused by these mu-tations to predict their impact on binding affinity to the targets.The results showed that multiple mu-tations screened by EvoNB significantly enhanced the binding affinity between nanobody and its target,further validating the potential of this workflow for designing and optimizing nanobody mutations.Additionally,sequence-based predictions are generally less dependent on structural absence,allowing them to be more easily integrated with tools for structural predictions,such as AlphaFold 3.Through mutation prediction and systematic analysis of key sites,we can quickly predict the most promising variants for experimental validation without relying on traditional evolutionary or selection processes.The EvoNB workflow provides an effective tool for the rapid optimization of nanobodies and facilitates the application of PLMs in the biomedical field.
5.Impact of ferroptosis-related gene expression on cardiovascular outcomes in chronic renal failure
Xuelan LIN ; Kexin LIU ; Xiao GE ; Yiming YU ; Lifang CAO
International Journal of Laboratory Medicine 2025;46(19):2378-2384,2390
Objective To investigate the relationship between ferroptosis-related genes[heme oxygenase-1(HO-1),solute carrier family 7 member 11(SLC7A11),and long-chain acyl-coenzyme A synthetase 4(ACSL4)]expression and cardiovascular events in patients with chronic renal failure(CRF),aiming to pro-vide clinical insights for risk assessment of cardiovascular complications.Methods A total of 124 CRF pa-tients(CRF group)admitted to the hospital from January 2020 to January 2023 and 124 healthy people(con-trol group)who underwent physical examination in the hospital during the same period were selected as the research objects.The levels of ferroptosis-related gene HO-1,SLC7A11 and ACSL4 were detected and com-pared between the two groups.CRF patients were followed up for 12 months after discharge,and they were di-vided into concurrent group(n=56)and non-concurrent group(n=66)according to the occurrence of cardio-vascular events.Spearman correlation analysis was used to investigate the correlation between iron death relat-ed genes HO-1,SLC7A11,ACSL4 and cardiovascular events in CRF patients.Univariate and multivariate Lo-gistic regression analysis were used to investigate the influencing factors of cardiovascular events in CRF pa-tients.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to analyze the predictive value of iron death re-lated genes HO-1,SLC7A11,and ACSL4 for cardiovascular events in CRF patients.Results Serum HO-1 and SLC7A11 levels in CRF group were lower than those in control group(P<0.05),and the ACSL4 level was higher than that in control group(P<0.05).The serum HO-1 and SLC7A11 levels in concurrent group were lower than those in non-concurrent group(all P<0.05),and the serum ACSL4 level was higher than that in non-concurrent group(P<0.05).Ferroptosis-related genes HO-1 and SLC7A11 were negatively correlated with cardiovascular events(r=-0.708,—0.721,P<0.05),while ACSL4 was positively correlated with car-diovascular events(r=0.699,P<0.05).High serum ACSL4 expression and high cTnT level were risk fac-tors for cardiovascular events in CRF patients(P<0.05),and high hemoglobin level and high serum HO-1 and SLC7A11 expression were protective factors for cardiovascular events in CRF patients(P<0.05).ROC curve analysis results showed that the area under the curve(AUC)of serum HO-1,SLC7A11,ACSL4,hemo-globin and cTnT alone for predicting cardiovascular events in CRF patients were 0.787,0.735,0.773,0.651 and 0.782,respectively.The AUC of the combined prediction of ferroptosis-related genes was 0.837,and the AUC of the combined application of five factors was 0.880.According to Delong's test,the AUC of both com-bined application models was significantly higher than those of individual application(P<0.05).The nomo-gram model showed that all ferroptosis-related genes were positively expressed(HO-1<1.5,SLC7A11<1.15,ACSL4≥2.75),and the risk of developing concurrent cardiovascular events in CRF patients could reach over 75%.Conclusion The expression of serum HO-1 and SLC7A11 in CRF patients is decreased,and the ACSL4 expression is increased,which is closely related to cardiovascular events,and the combined detection of three indexes has high value in predicting cardiovascular events in CRF patients.
6.Advances in the study of pharmacotherapy for addiction to naturally-derived psychoactive substances.
Kexin XIE ; Deli XIAO ; Peng XU ; Haowei SHEN ; Bin DI
Chinese Journal of Natural Medicines (English Ed.) 2025;23(8):897-908
Drug addiction, a disorder characterized by chronic relapse and compulsive drug use, poses a significant threat to public safety and human health. Addictive substances can be categorized as natural, semi-synthetic, or synthetic based on their origin. Additionally, they can be classified into three groups according to their pharmacological targets: opioids, hallucinogens, and cannabinoids that act on G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs); alcohols, nicotine, ketamine, barbiturates, and benzodiazepines (BDZs) that affect ligand-gated ion channel-type receptors; and psychostimulants that interact with monoamine transporters. Current treatments for drug addiction primarily include substitution therapy and non-pharmacological approaches. However, these methods have limitations, particularly in addressing the underlying causes of relapse. Several drugs in clinical trials have demonstrated potential therapeutic effects for addiction to opioids, heroin, cocaine, and other substances. This review examines the origins and pharmacological mechanisms of addiction to naturally-derived psychoactive substances (NPS) and provides an overview of recent advancements in pharmacotherapy for drug addiction.
Humans
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Substance-Related Disorders/drug therapy*
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Psychotropic Drugs/therapeutic use*
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Animals
7.EvoNB: A protein language model-based workflow for nanobody mutation prediction and optimization.
Danyang XIONG ; Yongfan MING ; Yuting LI ; Shuhan LI ; Kexin CHEN ; Jinfeng LIU ; Lili DUAN ; Honglin LI ; Min LI ; Xiao HE
Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis 2025;15(6):101260-101260
The identification and optimization of mutations in nanobodies are crucial for enhancing their therapeutic potential in disease prevention and control. However, this process is often complex and time-consuming, which limit its widespread application in practice. In this study, we developed a workflow, named Evolutionary-Nanobody (EvoNB), to predict key mutation sites of nanobodies by combining protein language models (PLMs) and molecular dynamic (MD) simulations. By fine-tuning the ESM2 model on a large-scale nanobody dataset, the ability of EvoNB to capture specific sequence features of nanobodies was significantly enhanced. The fine-tuned EvoNB model demonstrated higher predictive accuracy in the conserved framework and highly variable complementarity-determining regions of nanobodies. Additionally, we selected four widely representative nanobody-antigen complexes to verify the predicted effects of mutations. MD simulations analyzed the energy changes caused by these mutations to predict their impact on binding affinity to the targets. The results showed that multiple mutations screened by EvoNB significantly enhanced the binding affinity between nanobody and its target, further validating the potential of this workflow for designing and optimizing nanobody mutations. Additionally, sequence-based predictions are generally less dependent on structural absence, allowing them to be more easily integrated with tools for structural predictions, such as AlphaFold 3. Through mutation prediction and systematic analysis of key sites, we can quickly predict the most promising variants for experimental validation without relying on traditional evolutionary or selection processes. The EvoNB workflow provides an effective tool for the rapid optimization of nanobodies and facilitates the application of PLMs in the biomedical field.
8.Study on the latent classes of post-stroke depression in patients with acute stroke and nursing insights
Xuan SU ; Qiaomei CHENG ; Xiaowan LI ; Kexin WANG ; Peixi WANG ; Mengwei XIAO ; Yu WANG ; Nannan LI ; Danying XIE
Chinese Journal of Nursing 2025;60(7):785-791
Objective To explore potential categories of post-stroke depression in acute-phase stroke patients and its correlation with the degree of neurological deficits,and to provide references for healthcare professionals in developing targeted interventions.Methods Using convenience sampling,patients with acute stroke who were hospitalized in neurological ward of 2 tertiary general hospitals in Henan Province from January to April 2024 were selected as the survey participants.The investigation was conducted using the General Information Questionnaire,the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale,and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9.The correlation between potential categories of post-stroke depression and the degree of neurological deficit was analysed using unordered multiclassified logistic regression.Results Post-stroke depression score was 10.22±3.61 in 193 acute-phase stroke patients,and post-stroke depression could be categorized into 3 potential categories,namely"low depressive symptoms"(44.6%),"melancholic depression"(15.0%),and"atypical depression"(40.4%).There was a significant difference in the degree of neurological deficits(H=38.074,P<0.001).Compared with severe neurological deficits,patients with mild deficits were more likely to be categorized as"melancholic depression"(OR=0.016,P=0.001)and"atypical depression"(OR=0.040,P<0.001),and patients with moderate deficits were more likely to be classified as"atypical depression"(OR=0.085,P=0.001).Conclusion Post-stroke depression in acute-phase stroke patients has obvious categorization characteristics,and it is recommended that healthcare professionals should pay more attention to patients with different degrees of neurological deficits and adopt targeted interventions according to the different categories of post-stroke depression in order to alleviate their depressive symptoms.
9.Changpu Yujin Tang alleviates neuroinflammation in rats with Tourette syndrome by inhibiting the NLRP3/Caspase-1/GSDMD signaling pathway
Shuang HUANG ; Mengxue LI ; Liwei HUANG ; Mingyang SUN ; Kexin SUN ; Xing WEI ; Xiao LIU ; Huan LYU ; Zhenggang SHI
Immunological Journal 2025;41(4):231-236
Objective To explore the effects and mechanisms of Changpu Yujin Tang(CPYJT)on the NOD-like receptor thermal protein domain associated protein 3/cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase-1/Gasdermin D(NLRP3/Caspase-1/GSDMD)signaling pathway-mediated neuroinflammation in rats with Tourette syndrome(TS).Methods SPF-grade male SD rats were randomly divided into the Control and TS groups.After successful modeling in the TS group,the rats were randomly divided into the Model,Tiapride,and CPYJT groups,and were treated with the corresponding drugs for 4 weeks.After the treatment,the rats' behavior was scored,H & E staining was used to observe pathological changes in the striatum,ELISA was used to measure the content of IL-1β and IL-18,RT-qPCR was used to detect the expression of NLRP3 and ASC mRNA,and Western blot was used to detect the expression of NLRP3,ASC,Caspase-1,Cleaved-Caspase-1,GSDMD,and GSDMD-NT proteins.Results Compared with the Control group,the Model group showed increased scores of stereotyped and motor behaviors(P<0.01),pathological changes in the striatal tissue,increased content of IL-1β and IL-18(P<0.01),and upregulated expression of NLRP3,ASC mRNA,and NLRP3,ASC,Caspase-1,Cleaved-Caspase-1,GSDMD,and GSDMD-NT proteins(P<0.01).Compared with the Model group,the Tiapride group and the CPYJT group showed decreased scores of stereotyped and motor behaviors(P<0.01),improved pathological damage in the striatal tissue,reduced content of IL-1β and IL-18(P<0.01),and inhibited expression of NLRP3,ASC mRNA,and NLRP3,ASC,Caspase-1,Cleaved-Caspase-1,GSDMD,and GSDMD-NT proteins(P<0.01).Conclusion The therapeutic effect of CPYJT on TS is related to the inhibition of the neuroinflammatory response mediated by the NLRP3/Caspase-1/GSDMD signaling pathway.
10.Meta-synthesis of qualitative studies on the feeling of mental experience during dietary management for patients with inflammatory bowel disease
Xiao CONG ; Jie SONG ; Longhui XU ; Wenxuan ZHAO ; Jie SUN ; Kexin PU ; Kaili LYU
Chinese Journal of Practical Nursing 2025;41(29):2265-2272
Objective:To systematically evaluate the authentic feeling of mental experience among patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in the process of dietary management, aiming to provide insights for maintaining the psychological well-being of patients with IBD and strengthening their dietary management.Methods:The qualitative studies related to dietary management in patients with IBD from China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, VIP, China Biomedical Database, PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL and PsyINFO were searched from inception to January 31st 2025. Quality evaluation criteria for qualitative research of Joanna Briggs Institute, Australia, 2016 edition was used for literature evaluation. Meta integration method was used to integrate and analyze the literature findings.Results:A total of 11 articles were included in the review, from which 22 research findings were extracted and categorized into 7 groups, culminating in 3 integrated outcomes: IBD patients experienced complex emotions, IBD patients faced multiple pressures and IBD patients had ambivalent coping.Conclusions:IBD patients manifest profound psychological complexities throughout dietary management processes. Future healthcare professionals can implement multifaceted psychological intervention strategies to relieve psychological distress, promote positive emotion, overcome negative coping, and ultimately enhance the competence of dietary self-management among IBD patients.

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