1.Advances in naringenin for ocular diseases
International Eye Science 2026;26(5):851-855
Naringenin(NAR), a naturally derived flavonoid compound, has attracted considerable attention due to its multiple pharmacological activities, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-allergic, and antibacterial effects. This article systematically reviews the experimental and preclinical research progress of naringenin in common ocular diseases, with a focus on its potential applications in corneal neovascularization, dry eye disease, glaucoma, cataracts, and retinal disorders. Existing studies indicate that naringenin can exert protective effects on ocular tissues by regulating multiple signaling pathways, such as inhibiting inflammatory responses, alleviating oxidative stress-induced damage, and suppressing angiogenesis, thereby demonstrating promising therapeutic potential. Meanwhile, this review summarizes the research progress of ocular biopharmaceutical formulations, including naringenin eye drops, and highlights current limitations, such as its poor solubility and low bioavailability, which hinder its clinical translation. Naringenin shows unique advantages in the treatment of ocular diseases. However, future research should further clarify its molecular mechanisms, optimize drug delivery systems to enhance ocular bioavailability, and conduct well-designed clinical trials, aiming to provide new strategies and insights for the treatment of ocular diseases.
2.Longitudinal Association Between Weight Adjusted Waist Index and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Middle Aged and Elderly Adults Based on the CHARLS
Xiang LIU ; Shujun YANG ; Xirui ZHOU ; Lele YUAN ; Meisi KONG ; Yan LIU ; Min XIA
Journal of Sun Yat-sen University(Medical Sciences) 2026;47(1):64-76
ObjectiveTo investigate the temporal trend of weight-adjusted-waist index (WWI) and its association with the risk of incident cardiovascular diseases (CVD) among middle-aged and older Chinese adults. MethodsBased on the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), this research enrolled participants aged 45 and above with complete physical measurement data from the 2011, 2013, and 2015 waves. Complex sampling weights were applied to calculate the mean WWI, and the Mann-Kendall test was used to analyze its trend. From the 2011 baseline survey, individuals with a history of cardiovascular disease or missing key covariates were further excluded. New-onset cardiovascular outcome events were collected during follow-up until 2020. Participants were categorized into Q1–Q4 groups based on baseline WWI quartiles. Multivariable log-binomial regression models were constructed to assess the association between WWI and CVD, while restricted cubic splines were employed to evaluate potential nonlinear relationships. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to verify the robustness of the findings. ResultsFrom 2011 to 2015, the weighted mean WWI among Chinese middle-aged and older adults remained generally stable (2011: 11.17±1.68; 2013: 11.28±1.35; 2015: 11.24±1.59; P for trend <0.05). During the longitudinal follow-up, 1 784 incident CVD cases were documented. After multivariable adjustment, each unit increase in WWI was associated with a 17% increased risk of CVD (RR: 1.17, 95%CI: 1.10-1.24). Compared with the Q1 group, the risk of CVD in the Q2, Q3, and Q4 groups increased by 23% (RR: 1.23, 95% CI: 1.07-1.40), 27% (RR: 1.27, 95% CI: 1.11-1.44), and 40% (RR: 1.40, 95% CI: 1.22-1.60), respectively. A significant linear trend was observed between the increasing WWI and elevated CVD risk (P for trend <0.001). Subgroup analysis revealed a stronger association in participants aged 45-60 years (P for interaction <0.05). The results of sensitivity analysis were consistent with the main research results. ConclusionsThe overall trend of WWI level in the middle-aged and elderly population in China is stable from 2011 to 2015. The higher level of WWI is associated with an increased risk of CVD, suggesting that WWI may be used as a simple and effective indicator to evaluate the risk of cardiovascular metabolism in middle-aged and elderly people.
3.Application of Novel Environmentally Friendly Reagents in Pathological Section Preparation and Immunohistochemistry
Jieying LI ; Shujun LIANG ; Ying DING ; Shuying LIU ; Lina QIN ; Zhaoliang PAN ; Lianqiang FENG ; Huijie YUAN
Journal of Sun Yat-sen University(Medical Sciences) 2026;47(3):509-517
ObjectiveTo explore the application effects of environmentally friendly reagents versus traditional reagents in tissue processing, paraffin sectioning, hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, special staining, and immunohistochemistry. MethodsPancreatic, renal, splenic, hepatic, pulmonary, skeletal muscle, and cardiac tissues were collected from mice and New Zealand rabbits, and randomly divided into a traditional group (Group A), an environmentally friendly reagent I group (Group B), and an environmentally friendly reagent Ⅱ group (Group C). The processed tissue sections from all three groups were subjected to paraffin sections, HE staining, phosphotungstic acid-hematoxylin staining, and Mallory trichrome staining. The pancreatic tissue sections were subjected to immunohistochemical detection of insulin protein. Evaluation criteria included tissue morphological integrity, embedding operability, section quality, and staining effects. ResultsNo significant differences were observed among the three groups of samples in terms of fixation efficacy, embedding operations, and section quality. After HE staining, all groups exhibited bright nuclear and cytoplasmic staining with clear contrast, with excellent-and-good rates of 98%, 99%, and 97% for Groups A, B, and C, respectively, showing no statistically significant differences (A vs. B, P=0.561; A vs. C, P=0.651). In phosphotungstic acid-hematoxylin staining, Groups A and C showed clear structural contrast and bright staining for striated muscle and collagen fibers, whereas Group B exhibited uneven staining. The excellent-and-good rates were 100%, 10%, and 95% for Groups A, B, and C, respectively, with significant differences between Group A and Group B (P<0.01) but no statistical difference between Group A and Group C (P=0.311). In Mallory trichrome staining, Groups A and B outperformed Group C. The excellent-and-good rates were 95%, 90%, and 15% for Groups A, B, and C, respectively, with significant differences between Group A and Group C (P<0.01), but no statistical difference between Group A and Group B (P=0.548). Immunohistochemical results showed that Group A had a clean background with no non-specific staining, while Groups B and C exhibited significant non-specific staining, with statistically significant differences in non-specific staining rates between the groups (A vs. B, 5% vs. 100%, P<0.01; A vs. C, 5% vs.100%, P<0.01). ConclusionIn HE staining, environmentally friendly reagents demonstrated effective tissue fixation and staining results comparable to traditional reagents, meeting the teaching requirements. For special staining, Group B and Group C performed better in Mallory trichrome staining and phosphotungstic acid-hematoxylin staining, respectively. However, environmentally friendly reagents exhibited non-specific staining issues in immunohistochemistry, where further optimization is required.
4.In situ tumor cell engineering reverses immune escape to enhance immunotherapy effect.
Shujun LIU ; Shijun YUAN ; Meichen LIU ; Jinhu LIU ; Shunli FU ; Tong GAO ; Shuang LIANG ; Xinyan HUANG ; Xinke ZHANG ; Yongjun LIU ; Zipeng ZHANG ; Na ZHANG
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2025;15(1):627-641
The underlying cause of low response rates to existing immunotherapies is that tumor cells dominate tumor immune escape through surface antigen deficiency and inducing tumor immunosuppressive microenvironment (TIME). Here, we proposed an in situ tumor cell engineering strategy to disrupt tumor immune escape at the root by restoring tumor cell MHC-I/tumor-specific antigen complex (MHC-I/TSA) expression to promote T-cell recognition and by silencing tumor cell CD55 to increase the ICOSL+ B-cell proportion and reverse the TIME. A doxorubicin (DOX) and dual-gene plasmid (MAC pDNA, encoding both MHC-I/ASMTNMELM and CD55-shRNA) coloaded drug delivery system (LCPN@ACD) with tumor targeting and charge/size dual-conversion properties was prepared. LCPN@ACD-induced ICD promoted DC maturation and enhanced T-cell activation and infiltration. LCPN@ACD enabled effective expression of MHC-I/TSA on tumor cells, increasing the ability of tumor cell recognition and killing. LCPN@ACD downregulated tumor cell CD55 expression, increased the proportion of ICOSL+ B cells and CTLs, and reversed the TIME, thus greatly improving the efficacy of αPD-1 and CAR-T therapies. The application of this in situ tumor cell engineering strategy eliminated the source of tumor immune escape, providing new ideas for solving the challenges of clinical immunotherapy.
5.Targeted inhibition of macrophage STING signaling alleviates inflammatory injury and ventricular remodeling in acute myocardial infarction.
Huan YAO ; Qingman HE ; Shujun WEI ; Li XIANG ; Yuanyuan LUO ; Cong HUANG ; Weiwei LIU ; Chuan ZHENG ; Xueping LI ; Yongxiang GAO
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2025;15(8):4030-4046
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) acts as a damage-associated molecular pattern to activate the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) signaling in macrophages, promoting tissue inflammation. However, its role in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) remains unclear. Macrophage-specific Sting1 knockout mice were used to validate STING's pathological role in AMI. Cardiac and liver mtDNA were used to activate macrophages in co-culture systems with cardiomyocytes to assess fibrosis and hypertrophy. Panaxatriol saponin (PTS) was tested for its ability to block mtDNA-driven macrophage activation and subsequent cardiomyocyte damage. STING-PTS binding ability was analyzed. AMI rats received PTS to evaluate its effects on myocardial inflammation and ventricular remodeling. In vivo, macrophage-specific Sting1 knockout reduced myocardial inflammation and injury after AMI. In vitro, mtDNA-activated macrophages induced cardiomyocyte fibrosis and hypertrophy through STING signaling. PTS suppressed mtDNA-driven macrophage activation by directly binding STING, thereby blocking inflammatory cascades. In AMI rats, PTS treatment attenuated acute inflammation and reversed ventricular remodeling. These findings establish the mtDNA-STING axis in macrophages as a critical driver of post-AMI inflammation and identify pharmacological STING inhibition with PTS as a promising therapeutic strategy. The study bridges genetic validation with translational applications, highlighting macrophage STING as a novel target for ischemic heart disease management.
6.Natural vaccine adjuvants from traditional Chinese medicines: Mechanisms to applications.
Xiaoyuan FAN ; Fengxiang LIU ; Fei SUN ; Yiyang WANG ; Wenwen SHEN ; Shujun WANG ; Jin SUN ; Kaiyuan WANG
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2025;15(9):4644-4672
With the rapid advancement of vaccines, the research and application of vaccine adjuvants have garnered significant attention. Despite the development of numerous vaccine adjuvants, their applications in human vaccines remain limited due to either insufficient efficacy or severe side effects. Consequently, there is growing interest in developing bioactive compounds derived from traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) as vaccine adjuvants, owing to their natural biocompatibility, diversity, and safety. Here, we systematically review the current application status and potential value of TCM-based bioactive compounds in vaccine adjuvants. Firstly, we elaborate on the types and characteristics of active ingredients, such as polysaccharides, saponins, flavonoids, acids, and alkaloids. The mechanisms by which these compounds function as vaccine adjuvants are then discussed, including their roles in enhancing humoral immunity, cellular immunity, and relieving the immune suppression in the microenvironment. Additionally, we summarize the current strategies for structural modification and platform optimization to adapt to different application scenarios. Finally, we offer insights into the future development directions for these potential adjuvants, highlighting research priorities, technical approaches, and application prospects. In conclusion, natural vaccine adjuvants derived from TCMs present broad application prospects and hold promise for future vaccine development.
7.A multi-scale supervision and residual feedback optimization algorithm for improving optic chiasm and optic nerve segmentation accuracy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma CT images.
Jinyu LIU ; Shujun LIANG ; Yu ZHANG
Journal of Southern Medical University 2025;45(3):632-642
OBJECTIVES:
We propose a novel deep learning segmentation algorithm (DSRF) based on multi-scale supervision and residual feedback strategy for precise segmentation of the optic chiasm and optic nerves in CT images of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients.
METHODS:
We collected 212 NPC CT images and their ground truth labels from SegRap2023, StructSeg2019 and HaN-Seg2023 datasets. Based on a hybrid pooling strategy, we designed a decoder (HPS) to reduce small organ feature loss during pooling in convolutional neural networks. This decoder uses adaptive and average pooling to refine high-level semantic features, which are integrated with primary semantic features to enable network learning of finer feature details. We employed multi-scale deep supervision layers to learn rich multi-scale and multi-level semantic features under deep supervision, thereby enhancing boundary identification of the optic chiasm and optic nerves. A residual feedback module that enables multiple iterations of the network was designed for contrast enhancement of the optic chiasm and optic nerves in CT images by utilizing information from fuzzy boundaries and easily confused regions to iteratively refine segmentation results under supervision. The entire segmentation framework was optimized with the loss from each iteration to enhance segmentation accuracy and boundary clarity. Ablation experiments and comparative experiments were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of each component and the performance of the proposed model.
RESULTS:
The DSRF algorithm could effectively enhance feature representation of small organs to achieve accurate segmentation of the optic chiasm and optic nerves with an average DSC of 0.837 and an ASSD of 0.351. Ablation experiments further verified the contributions of each component in the DSRF method.
CONCLUSIONS
The proposed deep learning segmentation algorithm can effectively enhance feature representation to achieve accurate segmentation of the optic chiasm and optic nerves in CT images of NPC.
Humans
;
Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods*
;
Optic Chiasm/diagnostic imaging*
;
Optic Nerve/diagnostic imaging*
;
Algorithms
;
Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
;
Deep Learning
;
Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging*
;
Neural Networks, Computer
;
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/methods*
8.Visual analysis of the application of wearable devices in nursing care both domestically and internationally
Qing DONG ; Shujun XING ; Xianghuan LI ; Jing ZHAI ; Xinyu WANG ; Jiaqi LIU ; Jinlan LI ; Xiaoru GAO ; Yu TANG
China Modern Doctor 2025;63(30):1-4,68
Objective To analyze the research status,hotspots,and trends of wearable devices in nursing applications both domestically and internationally.Methods Using China National Knowledge Infrastructure,Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform,and Embase core databases as data sources,VOSviewer was used to visualize and analyze the publication time,keywords,and other relevant literature.Results Total of 428 articles were included,including 196 Chinese articles and 232 English articles.The overall publication volume showed an upward trend.Domestic research focuses on chronic diseases,artificial intelligence,and nursing,with the main research subjects being the elderly;Foreign research focuses on smart devices,self-monitoring,and quality of life,with the main research subjects being adults.Conclusion Currently,the number of publications on the application of wearable devices in nursing is relatively small,but the overall research heat is on the rise,mainly used for chronic diseases and self-monitoring.In the future,the application scope of wearable devices should be expanded and their potential value should be explored to promote the innovation and progress of nursing models.
9.Factors affecting the prevalence of hyperuricemia in an island troop
Yongguang FANG ; Shujun SUN ; Chong TANG ; Chunyu LIU ; Qian XU ; Ying LIANG ; Huihui GUO ; Peng YANG ; Nannan CHEN
Journal of Navy Medicine 2025;46(6):574-578
Objective To analyze the factors affecting the prevalence of hyperuricemia(HUA)in an island troop.Methods A total of 1 113 soldiers stationed on an island from December 2021 to December 2022 were selected as research objects by cluster sampling.Their lifestyle and health information were collected.Physical examination and laboratory detection were conducted.Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of HUA.Results The prevalence rate of HUA was 21.02%(234/1 113).There were significant differences in the body mass index(BMI),waist-to-hip ratio,triglyceride,alanine aminotransferase,and creatinine between the soldiers with hyperuricemia and the soldiers with normal blood uric acid(P<0.05).Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that BMI≥24(OR=1.49,95%CI:1.09-2.05),abnormal liver function(OR=2.26,95%CI:1.31-3.92),and dyslipidemia(OR=1.46,95%CI:1.01-2.12)were positively correlated with hyperuricemia;age>30 years old(OR=0.59,95%CI:0.37-0.93)and exercise time>1 h per week(OR=0.46,95%CI:0.22-0.97)were negatively correlated with HUA.Conclusion The prevalence rate of hyperuricemia is at a high level in an island troop.BMI≥24,age≤30 years old,exercise time≤1 h per week,abnormal liver function,and dyslipidemia are the risk factors for HUA.Prevention and control measures should be taken as early as possible for the soldiers with these risk factors.
10.Research progress in effects of NSD2 gene on immune function and regulatory mechanism
Guiyu ZHAO ; Shujun GAO ; Yuefang LIU
Chinese Journal of Microbiology and Immunology 2025;45(8):707-711
Immunodeficiency is one of the main clinical phenotypes of diseases caused by germline loss-of-function variants in the nuclear SET domain-containing protein 2 (NSD2)-coding gene. NSD2 gene plays an important regulatory role in the immune system, but the underlying mechanism has not been fully elucidated. In recent years, great progress has been made regarding the function of NSD2 gene in the immune system including involving in B cell differentiation and development, promoting germinal center B cell activation and antibody production, recruiting regulatory T (Treg) cells to the maternal-fetal interface to induce maternal-fetal immune tolerance, and up-regulating MHCⅠ expression in tumor cells to trigger tumor immunity. This article mainly reviews the research progress in the regulatory function of NSD2 gene in the above immune processes.

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