1.Study on the immunotoxicity and mechanism of Carthamus tinctorius extract on RBL-2H3 cells
Silan WU ; Xiaoli MEI ; Jinping LUO ; Li ZHANG ; Sixing HUANG ; Chonggang HUANG
China Pharmacy 2026;37(8):1003-1008
OBJECTIVE To investigate the immunotoxicity and potential mechanism of Carthamus tinctorius extract on RBL-2H3 cells via direct induction and induction by sensitized serum prepared with an overdose of the extract. METHODS For direct induction by C. tinctorius extract, RBL-2H3 cells were divided into normal control group (no treatment) and C. tinctorius extract group (10 mg/mL). For induction by sensitized serum prepared with an overdose of C. tinctorius extract, rats were divided into normal control group (no treatment), adjuvant-treated group (1 mL adjuvant), C. tinctorius extract-induced sensitization group (2.04 g/mL), and ovalbumin (OVA)-induced sensitization group (50 mg/mL). Sensitization was performed once every other day for a total of 3 times. Morphological changes of RBL-2H3 cells were observed, the degranulated rate of cells was counted, and histamine content was determined; the release rate of β -hexosaminidase ( β -Hex) was calculated, the levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and intracellular Ca²⁺ concentration were detected. RESULTS Under direct induction by C. tinctorius extract, compared with the normal control group, the volume of cells in the C. tinctorius extract group was significantly reduced and cell density decreased; the degranulation rate of cells, histamine content, β -Hex release rate, IL-6 and TNF-α levels, as well as intracellular Ca²⁺ concentration were all significantly increased ( P <0.01). Under i nduction by sensitized serum prepared with an overdose of C. tinctorius extract, compared with the adjuvant-treated group, the above indicators in the C. tinctorius extract-induced sensitization group and the OVA-induced sensitization group showed consistent changes with those in the C. tinctorius extract group under direct induction, all being significantly elevated ( P <0.01). CONCLUSIONS C. tinctorius extract may affect degranulation of RBL-2H3 cells and promote Ca²⁺ influx accompanied by the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines through two approaches: direct induction and induction by sensitized serum prepared under overdose administration. Its mechanism may be related to the activation of the calcium signaling pathway and the regulation of inflammatory pathways under the synergistic effect of multiple components.
2.Determination of tiamulin concentration in minipig plasma by LC-MS/MS and its application in pharmacokinetic studies of different formulations
Jiahui TU ; Mei GENG ; Qingming HOU ; Xianhai LUO ; Zhixia QIU ; Cong WANG
Journal of China Pharmaceutical University 2026;57(1):54-59
The present study aimed to establish an LC-MS/MS method for the quantification of tiamulin in minipig plasma and to further conduct a pharmacokinetic comparison of different formulations. The plasma samples were extracted with acetonitrile (meloxicam as internal standard), separated on a C18 column, and quantified by multiple reaction monitoring mode (ESI+). Sanyuan minipigs were used as experimental animals. Plasma samples were collected after intravenous injection (10 mg/kg) and intragastric administration (20 mg/kg). The method showed good linearity, with intra- and inter-batch RSD of 1.00%–8.13% and RE within ±15%. The extraction recovery, matrix effect and stability of the analytical methods met the relevant requirements. Tiamulin fumarate active pharmaceutical ingredient was intravenously administered, with c0 of about (4383.73±2676.78) ng/mL, AUC0-t of about (4803.50±965.68) h·ng/mL, t1/2 of about (4.66±1.68) h, and CL of about (2.14±0.46) L/(kg·h). Three tiamulin formulations were intragastrically administered, with cmax of (552.00±328.55), (545.00±136.97) and (590.60±237.02) ng/mL, tmax of (1.47±0.68), (0.69±0.75) and (0.72±0.72) h, and F of 24.85%, 15.28% and 16.97%, respectively. The validated method meets the requirements for biological sample analysis and is applicable for the pharmacokinetic evaluation of tiamulin formulations in minipigs.
3.Research progress of macrophage-related microRNA in rheumatoid arthritis
Qijiang JIANG ; Chenggen LUO ; Yanjuan CHEN ; Mei TIAN ; Yong CHEN
Acta Universitatis Medicinalis Anhui 2026;61(5):955-960
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease characterized by chronic synovial inflammation and joint destruction, with a complex pathogenesis. Macrophage polarization plays a pivotal role in disease progression. Recent studies demonstrate that microRNA (miRNA), as critical post-transcriptional regulators, can participate in the inflammatory response process by regulating the polarization state of macrophages, thereby aggravating RA joint damage. This review summarizes the mechanism of action of various miRNA in regulating macrophage polarization, and emphasizes their potential therapeutic value in RA.
4.Resistance of Aedes albopictus to common insecticides in Zhejiang Province, 2024
Qin-mei LIU ; Jin-na WANG ; Tian-qi LI ; Ming-yu LUO ; Zhou GUAN ; Zhen-yu GONG ; Ji-min SUN
Acta Parasitologica et Medica Entomologica Sinica 2026;33(2):96-100
Objective In order to understand the current resistance status of Aedes albopictus(Ae. albopictus) adult population to commonly used insecticides and the resistance dynamics development in Zhejiang Province and provide a theoretical basis for the scientific and rational use of hygienic insecticides. Methods Resistance determination was carried out using the diagnostic dose method(GB/T 26347-2010)recommended by WHO in the adult mosquito contact cylinder method to monitor the resistance of Ae. albopictus field populations in 11 cities and districts in Zhejiang Province in 2024. Results The monitoring result showed that adult Ae. albopictus in 11 areas were resistant or suspected resistant populations to both cis-cypermethrin and permethrin; suspected and resistant populations to the organophosphate insecticide malathion were as high as 81.82%; while suspected resistance to the carbamate insecticide residual carbofuran accounted for 45.45%, and the rest of the monitoring sites were sensitive to it. Conclusions The result suggest that the generalized resistance of Ae. albopictus populations to pyrethroids and organophosphorus insecticides in the field in Zhejiang Province needs to be highly emphasized. In future mosquito vector and mosquito-borne disease control, insecticides should be selected based on the resistance monitoring information, while following scientific guidelines for insecticide use.
5.Research Progress on Ferroptosis in the Pathogenesis of Neurodegenerative Diseases
Journal of Sun Yat-sen University(Medical Sciences) 2026;47(5):809-819
Driven by the global trend of population aging, the prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), Huntington’s disease (HD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), has been rising consistently. The pathogenic mechanisms of these disorders are complex, and effective disease-modifying therapies remain an unmet clinical need. Ferroptosis, a regulated cell death modality driven by iron-dependent lipid peroxidation, has been widely implicated in the occurrence and evolution of the aforementioned conditions. Under pathological states, both perturbed iron metabolism and reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation can precipitate ferroptosis. Specifically, iron overload exacerbates oxidative injury via the Fenton reaction, disrupts the glutathione (GSH)-based antioxidant defense system, and induces extensive peroxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), ultimately culminating in neuronal damage. Furthermore, ferroptosis interacts synergistically with other pathological hallmarks, such as oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, aberrant protein aggregation, and apoptosis, thereby accelerating disease progression. A synthesis of current evidence indicates that disrupted iron homeostasis, enhanced lipid peroxidation, GSH depletion, and impaired glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) activity constitute the common basis for ferroptosis in these neurodegenerative diseases. Concurrently, ferroptosis also displays certain disease‑specific characteristics by engaging distinct pathogenic proteins and regulatory pathways in each disorder. In this review, we delineate the molecular regulatory framework of ferroptosis, summarize its research progress in AD, PD, HD, and ALS, and highlight both shared mechanisms and divergent regulatory pathways across these diseases, with the goal of informing future investigations into disease pathogenesis and the discovery of novel strategies.
6.Research Progress on Ferroptosis in the Pathogenesis of Neurodegenerative Diseases
Journal of Sun Yat-sen University(Medical Sciences) 2026;47(5):809-819
Driven by the global trend of population aging, the prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), Huntington’s disease (HD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), has been rising consistently. The pathogenic mechanisms of these disorders are complex, and effective disease-modifying therapies remain an unmet clinical need. Ferroptosis, a regulated cell death modality driven by iron-dependent lipid peroxidation, has been widely implicated in the occurrence and evolution of the aforementioned conditions. Under pathological states, both perturbed iron metabolism and reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation can precipitate ferroptosis. Specifically, iron overload exacerbates oxidative injury via the Fenton reaction, disrupts the glutathione (GSH)-based antioxidant defense system, and induces extensive peroxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), ultimately culminating in neuronal damage. Furthermore, ferroptosis interacts synergistically with other pathological hallmarks, such as oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, aberrant protein aggregation, and apoptosis, thereby accelerating disease progression. A synthesis of current evidence indicates that disrupted iron homeostasis, enhanced lipid peroxidation, GSH depletion, and impaired glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) activity constitute the common basis for ferroptosis in these neurodegenerative diseases. Concurrently, ferroptosis also displays certain disease‑specific characteristics by engaging distinct pathogenic proteins and regulatory pathways in each disorder. In this review, we delineate the molecular regulatory framework of ferroptosis, summarize its research progress in AD, PD, HD, and ALS, and highlight both shared mechanisms and divergent regulatory pathways across these diseases, with the goal of informing future investigations into disease pathogenesis and the discovery of novel strategies.
7.Role of SWI/SNF Chromatin Remodeling Complex in Tumor Drug Resistance
Gui-Zhen ZHU ; Qiao YE ; Yuan LUO ; Jie PENG ; Lu WANG ; Zhao-Ting YANG ; Feng-Sen DUAN ; Bing-Qian GUO ; Zhu-Song MEI ; Guang-Yun WANG
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2025;52(1):20-31
Tumor drug resistance is an important problem in the failure of chemotherapy and targeted drug therapy, which is a complex process involving chromatin remodeling. SWI/SNF is one of the most studied ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complexes in tumorigenesis, which plays an important role in the coordination of chromatin structural stability, gene expression, and post-translation modification. However, its mechanism in tumor drug resistance has not been systematically combed. SWI/SNF can be divided into 3 types according to its subunit composition: BAF, PBAF, and ncBAF. These 3 subtypes all contain two mutually exclusive ATPase catalytic subunits (SMARCA2 or SMARCA4), core subunits (SMARCC1 and SMARCD1), and regulatory subunits (ARID1A, PBRM1, and ACTB, etc.), which can control gene expression by regulating chromatin structure. The change of SWI/SNF complex subunits is one of the important factors of tumor drug resistance and progress. SMARCA4 and ARID1A are the most widely studied subunits in tumor drug resistance. Low expression of SMARCA4 can lead to the deletion of the transcription inhibitor of the BCL2L1 gene in mantle cell lymphoma, which will result in transcription up-regulation and significant resistance to the combination therapy of ibrutinib and venetoclax. Low expression of SMARCA4 and high expression of SMARCA2 can activate the FGFR1-pERK1/2 signaling pathway in ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma cells, which induces the overexpression of anti-apoptosis gene BCL2 and results in carboplatin resistance. SMARCA4 deletion can up-regulate epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) by activating YAP1 gene expression in triple-negative breast cancer. It can also reduce the expression of Ca2+ channel IP3R3 in ovarian and lung cancer, resulting in the transfer of Ca2+ needed to induce apoptosis from endoplasmic reticulum to mitochondria damage. Thus, these two tumors are resistant to cisplatin. It has been found that verteporfin can overcome the drug resistance induced by SMARCA4 deletion. However, this inhibitor has not been applied in clinical practice. Therefore, it is a promising research direction to develop SWI/SNF ATPase targeted drugs with high oral bioavailability to treat patients with tumor resistance induced by low expression or deletion of SMARCA4. ARID1A deletion can activate the expression of ANXA1 protein in HER2+ breast cancer cells or down-regulate the expression of progesterone receptor B protein in endometrial cancer cells. The drug resistance of these two tumor cells to trastuzumab or progesterone is induced by activating AKT pathway. ARID1A deletion in ovarian cancer can increase the expression of MRP2 protein and make it resistant to carboplatin and paclitaxel. ARID1A deletion also can up-regulate the phosphorylation levels of EGFR, ErbB2, and RAF1 oncogene proteins.The ErbB and VEGF pathway are activated and EMT is increased. As a result, lung adenocarcinoma is resistant to epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs). Although great progress has been made in the research on the mechanism of SWI/SNF complex inducing tumor drug resistance, most of the research is still at the protein level. It is necessary to comprehensively and deeply explore the detailed mechanism of drug resistance from gene, transcription, protein, and metabolite levels by using multi-omics techniques, which can provide sufficient theoretical basis for the diagnosis and treatment of poor tumor prognosis caused by mutation or abnormal expression of SWI/SNF subunits in clinical practice.
8.Levels and clinical significance of miR-17-5p and miR-141-3p in the serum of children with bacterial meningitis
Ziming TAN ; Mei ZHANG ; Tong LI ; Jun WANG ; Qiong LUO
International Journal of Laboratory Medicine 2025;46(9):1051-1055
Objective To investigate the levels and clinical significance of microRNA(miR)-17-5p and miR-141-3p in the serum of children with bacterial meningitis(BM).Methods A total of 111 children with BM ad-mitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University from May 2019 to May 2022 were in-cluded as the study group,and another 111 healthy children who underwent physical examinations were in-cluded as the control group.Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR(qRT-PCR)was used to measure the ex-pression levels of serum miR-17-5p and miR-141-3p.Pearson correlation was used to analyze the correlation between serum miR-17-5p,miR-141-3p levels and inflammatory factors in children with BM.Multivariate Lo-gistic regression was applied to analyze the influencing factors of BM occurrence.Receiver operating character-istic(ROC)curve was applied to analyze the diagnostic value of miR-17-5p and miR-141-3p levels for BM.Re-sults The serum levels of miR-17-5p and miR-141-3p in the study group were obviously lower than those in the control group(P<0.05),while the serum levels of C-reactive protein(CRP),procalcitonin(PCT),inter-feron-γ(IFN-γ),tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleukin(IL)-1β,and IL-6 in the study group were high-er than those in the control group(P<0.05).According to Pearson correlation analysis,miR-17-5p and miR-141-3p were negatively correlated with CRP,PCT,IFN-γ,TNF-α,IL-1β,and IL-6(P<0.05).According to multivariate Logistic analysis,CRP,PCT,IFN-γ,TNF-α,IL-1β,and IL-6 were risk factors affecting the occur-rence of BM(P<0.05),while miR-17-5p and miR-141-3p were protective factors affecting the occurrence of BM(P<0.05).According to the ROC curve,the area under the curve(AUC)of serum level of miR-17-5p for diagnosing BM was 0.756,and the AUC of serum level of miR-141-3p for diagnosing BM was 0.720.The AUC of the combination of the two for diagnosing BM was 0.819,which was larger than that of single detec-tion(Zcombination vs.miR-17-5p=2.278,Zcombination vs.miR-141-3p=2.425,P<0.05).Conclusion The expression levels of miR-17-5p and miR-141-3p in the serum of children with BM are reduced.The two are related to the levels of inflammatory factors,and their combined detection has a high diagnostic value for BM.
9.Bibliographical cataloging for ancient TCM books
Hongtao LI ; Weina ZHANG ; Lin TONG ; Jingpeng DENG ; Qian ZHAO ; Honglei WANG ; Naiying LIU ; Mei SHI ; Qiang LIU ; Ying LIN ; Xiaohong ZHANG ; Lili FENG ; Mingrui ZHANG ; Yanqiu LUO ; Guangkun CHEN ; Yan DONG ; Bin LI ; Sihong LIU ; Bing LI ; Chen LI ; Meng LI ; Rui WANG ; He LU
International Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2025;47(6):729-740
With reference to the Information and Documentation-Resource Description (GB/T 3792-2021) and Bibliographical Description for Ancient Chinese Books (GB/T 3792.7-2008) and other cataloging standards and rules, drawing on the practical experience of cataloging ancient TCM books, Bibliographical Cataloging for Ancient TCM Books was formulated. This standard specifies the entry items and their order of ancient TCM books, cataloging identifier, cataloging text, cataloging information source, and cataloging item details. The standard can provide standardized and unified guiding principles and methods for the work of ancient TCM books, and promote the sharing and utilization of ancient TCM books.
10.Transcriptome Sequencing and Bioinformatics Analysis of Herba Chlorophyti Laxi
Jingyu LI ; Yiheng DAI ; Yan GU ; Xuqiang LUO ; Yu MEI ; Jihua WANG
Journal of Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2025;42(6):1485-1491
Objective To study the transcriptional expression of Chlorophyti Laxi R.Br.using high-throughput sequencing technology.Methods Total RNA of Chlorophtum laxum R.Br.was extracted,followed by library construction,sequencing,and de novo assembly to obtain unigene sequences.These sequences were then annotated and compared to acquire genetic information of the Chlorophtum laxum R.Br.transcriptome.Results A total of 29 325 unigene were identified,with an average length of 1 026 bp and an N50 of 1 697 bp.Among them,20 338 unigene were functionally annotated in at least one database,with Chlorophtum laxum R.Br.showing the highest sequence similarity to Asparagus officinalis.In the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)database,13 392 unigene were annotated,including genes involved in flavonoid biosynthesis and ubiquinone and other terpenoid-quinone biosynthesis pathways.Thirty-five upstream genes related to Chlorophtum laxum R.Br.saponin biosynthesis were identified.In the Gene Ontology(GO)database,16 728 unigene were annotated,covering cellular anatomical entities,binding,and biological processes.Using the Microsatellite Identification Tool(MISA),11 486 assembled unigene longer than 1 000 bp were analyzed for simple sequence repeats(SSRs),resulting in the identification of 5 178 SSR loci,for which primers were designed using Primer 3.0.By comparing Chlorophtum laxum R.Br.unigene with the transcription factor database,657 transcription factors,including bHLH,MYB,and WRKY,were identified.Conclusion The transcriptome data provide a foundation for studying the biosynthetic pathways and functional genes of medicinal active components in Chlorophtum laxum R.Br.,and also contribute to the conservation and development of its resources.


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