ObjectiveThe malaria parasites remodel the host erythrocyte structure by exporting parasite proteins that interact with the membrane skeleton proteins of red blood cells (RBCs), facilitating their intracellular survival and pathogenicity. Skeleton-binding protein 1 (SBP1) is a conserved exported protein across Plasmodium species. In Plasmodium falciparum, SBP1 has been reported to interact with erythrocyte membrane skeleton proteins 4.1R and spectrin, while its contribution to erythrocyte remodeling and parasite virulence in Plasmodium berghei (Pb) remains unclear. This study aims to determine whether PbSBP1 associates with the host cytoskeletal protein 4.1R and to investigate its role in the remodeling of host RBCs and the pathogenicity of Plasmodium berghei. MethodsIn Plasmodium berghei, the relationship between PbSBP1 and the erythrocyte cytoskeletal protein 4.1R was examined using co-immunoprecipitation. A Pbsbp1 gene knockout mutant of Plasmodium berghei (Pbsbp1∆) was generated based on the principle of double crossover homologous recombination. The deformability of erythrocytes infected with Pbsbp1∆ parasites was assessed using microfluidic methods. Microchannels with an array of cylindrical pillars were used to detect modifications in infected RBC deformability. The infected RBCs were squashed between the rows and recovered between the columns and the transit velocity (μm/s) of infected RBCs travelling through the microchannel was recorded. The component of the erythrocyte membrane skeleton junctional complex, tropomodulin (TMOD), was fluorescently labeled, and the cytoskeletal network of infected erythrocytes was imaged using super-resolution stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) to analyze ultrastructural changes in the cytoskeleton of wild-type (WT) and Pbsbp1∆-infected erythrocytes. Actin-based junctional complexes were displayed as individual clusters by the labeled TMOD in the STORM images, and the cluster densities and distances between adjacent clusters of infected RBCs were calculated. Additionally, rodent malaria models (BALB/c mice) and experimental cerebral malaria models (C57BL/6 mice) were employed to monitor the growth of Pbsbp1∆ and WT parasites during the intraerythrocytic stage and their capacity to induce cerebral malaria in mice. ResultsPbSBP1 may participate in the remodeling of infected erythrocytes through direct or indirect interaction with the erythrocyte cytoskeletal protein 4.1R. Microfluidic assays revealed that the deformability of erythrocytes infected with Pbsbp1∆ parasites was significantly enhanced compared to those infected with WT parasites. STORM imaging further demonstrated that the ultrastructure of the erythrocyte cytoskeleton in Pbsbp1∆-infected cells was altered relative to that in WT-infected erythrocytes. The distances between nearest neighbors of clusters had a tendency to increase while the cluster densities were decreased in Pbsbp1∆-infected RBCs compared to WT-infected RBCs. Subsequent phenotypic analysis indicated that the growth rate of Pbsbp1∆ parasites during the intraerythrocytic stage was significantly slower than that of WT parasites, and their ability to induce cerebral malaria in mice was also attenuated. These findings suggest that PbSBP1 is involved in the remodeling of the erythrocyte membrane skeleton, likely through its direct or indirect interaction with protein 4.1R, thereby regulating the deformability of infected erythrocytes and influencing the pathogenicity of the blood-stage parasites. ConclusionThis study establishes a role for PbSBP1 in host erythrocyte remodeling and parasite virulence, providing new research strategies for the prevention and treatment of malaria.

The brain-gut interaction theory is a multidimensional integrative concept based on the brain-gut axis， involving neural， endocrine， and immune regulatory networks as well as the gut microbiota. Zang-fu organs （脏腑） theory in traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） shows a high degree of consistency with the brain-gut interaction theory， and the core functions such as the spleen and stomach governing the ascending of the clear and descending of the turbid， the liver governing the free flow of qi， and the heart governing mental and emotional activities are closely associated with the multi-level regulatory mechanisms of the brain-gut axis. TCM therapy can modulate brain-gut interactions through multiple pathways in the treatment of spleen and stomach diseases， including the regulation of gastrointestinal hormone secretion， neurotransmitter levels， the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal （HPA） axis， immune homeostasis and inflammatory responses， as well as the gut microecology. However， current basic research on the brain-gut interaction theory in TCM for spleen and stomach diseases still faces several challenges， such as difficulties in integrating TCM spleen-stomach theory with modern pathophysiology， lack of innovation in research concepts， and limitations in research methodologies. It is therefore proposed that multidisciplinary collaboration， multi-omics technologies， and targeted research approaches should be adopted to provide more comprehensive methods for basic research on TCM spleen and stomach diseases， thereby promoting the in-depth development of brain-gut interaction theory.

The Expert Consensus on Clinical Application of Qinbaohong Zhike Oral Liquid in Treatment of Acute Bronchitis and Acute Attack of Chronic Bronchitis （GS/CACM 337-2023） was released by the China Association of Chinese Medicine on December 13^th， 2023. This expert consensus was developed by experts in methodology， pharmacy， and Chinese medicine in strict accordance with the development requirements of the China Association of Chinese Medicine （CACM） and based on the latest medical evidence and the clinical medication experience of well-known experts in the fields of respiratory medicine （pulmonary diseases） and pediatrics. This expert consensus defines the application of Qinbaohong Zhike oral liquid in the treatment of cough and excessive sputum caused by phlegm-heat obstructing lung， acute bronchitis， and acute attack of chronic bronchitis from the aspects of applicable populations， efficacy evaluation， usage， dosage， drug combination， and safety. It is expected to guide the rational drug use in medical and health institutions， give full play to the unique value of Qinbaohong Zhike oral liquid， and vigorously promote the inheritance and innovation of Chinese patent medicines.

AIM To prepare anisamide-modified ursolic acid self-assembled nanoparticles,and to evaluate their anti-drug resistance effect of enzalutamide on prostate cancer.METHODS Nanoparticle precipitation method was adopted in the preparation of anisamide-modified and non-anisamide-modified self-assembled nanoparticles,respectively,after which the particle size,Zeta potential and encapsulation efficiency were determined,and the morphology was observed under transmission electron microscope.The intake of cancer-associated fibroblasts(CAFs)was investigated,after which the model for enzalutamide resistance in prostate cancer was established,CCK8 assay was applied to analyzing the sensitization effect of self-assembled nanoparticles on enzalutamide,and Western blot was used for the detection of NRG1,HER3,AKT expressions.RESULTS The anisamide-modified self-assembled nanoparticles demonstrated the average particle size,Zeta potential and encapsulation efficiency of(195.13±8.06)nm,(-29.07±0.55)mV and(94.58±0.84)％,respectively.CAFs displayed higher intake in the anisamide-modified self-assembled nanoparticles than that in the non-modified preparation and free Cy5(P＜0.05).Meanwhile,anisamide-modified self-assembled nanoparticles were able to inhibit enzalutamide resistance caused by CAFs,reduce NRG1 expression on CAFs,and anisamide-modified self-assembled nanoparticles-treated conditioned medium of CAFs could reduce HER3 and AKT expression on LNCaP cells(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).CONCLUSION Anisamide-modified ursolic acid self-assembled nanoparticles can enhance the targeting of CAFs,alleviate the drug resistance effect of enzalutamide on prostate cancer caused by CAFs,and reduce NRG1 expression in CAFs.

Objective To explore the association between plasma fibrinogen(FBG)levels and the risk of in-hospital mortality among patients with septic shock.Methods The clinical data of 563 patients diagnosed with septic shock in the Intensive Care Unit(ICU)of Shenzhen Second People's Hospital from August 1,2018,to December 31,2020,were collected.Patient demographic information,basic vital signs,and blood routine and biochemical indices upon admission were gathered.Moreover,the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation Ⅱ(APACHEⅡ)scores were calculated.Binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to explore the correlation between plasma fibrinogen levels and in-hospital mortality in patients with septic shock.Additionally,a generalized additive model(GAM)and smoothed curve fitting were employed to investigate the nonlinear relationship between plasma fibrinogen and in-hospital mortality.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves were constructed for FBG and APACHEⅡ scores to predict in-hospital mortality in septic shock patients.The area under the curve(AUC)was computed to compare the predictive efficacies of the two.Furthermore,a segmented linear regression model was utilized for quantification.Results Binary logistic regression analysis demonstrated a significant negative correlation between plasma fibrinogen levels and in-hospital mortality among patients with septic shock(P<0.05).GAM modeling and smoothed curve fitting disclosed a nonlinear association between plasma fibrinogen levels and in-hospital mortality,with an inflection point at 5.54 g/L.The segmented linear regression model indicated that,to the left of the inflection point(FBG≤5.54 g/L),for every 1 g/L decrease in plasma fibrinogen,the risk of death increased by 24.5%(OR=0.755,P=0.003).Conversely,to the right of the inflection point(FBG>5.54 g/L),the relationship was not statistically significant(OR=1.049,P=0.685).The findings of the subgroup analyses indicated that the characteristics of the subgroups did not alter the relationship between blood fibrinogen levels and in-hospital mortality.Conclusion There is a nonlinear relationship between FBG levels and in-hospital mortality in patients with septic shock,which has predictive value for evaluating the risk of in-hospital mortality in this patient cohort.

Aim To establish the pyroptosis model of rat chondrocytes induced by tumor necrosis factor α(TNF-α)in order to study the effect of lysine acetyl-transferase 7(KAT7)on pyroptosis of chondrocytes.Methods Chondrocytes of rat knee joint were isolated by type Ⅱ collagenase digestion,and were identified by toluidine blue staining and Col Ⅱ immunofluorescence.CCK-8 was used to evaluate cell viability.Western blot was used to detect the expression of pyroptosis-related proteins NLRP3,GSDMD,caspase-8 and KAT7 in cells intervened with TNF-α,adenovirus overexpression of KAT7(KAT7-oe)and KAT7 inhibitor WM-3835.The microstructure of the cells was observed by scanning e-lectron microscopy.Pyroptosis was detected by TUNEL staining,and the expression of pyroptosis-related pro-tein and KAT7 was detected by immunofluorescence.Results Compared with the empty virus group,KAT7-oe inhibited cell viability,promoted the expression of pyroptosis-related proteins,and TNF-α enhanced this effect.At the same time,the expression of KAT7 and pyroptosis-related proteins in the TNF-α stimulation group increased,and WM-3835 reduced the related proteins expression.Electron microscopy showed that KAT7-oe caused cell swelling,deformation,membrane perforation and rupture,while WM-3835 could restore cell morphology.TUNEL staining and immunofluores-cence results also confirmed that KAT7-oe induced chondrocyte pyroptosis,and WM-3835 could down-reg-ulate the fluorescence of pyroptosis-related proteins.Conclusions The expression of KAT7 increases in rat chondrocyte pyroptosis model,and the intervention of KAT7 expression affects signal molecules related to py-roptosis pathway,suggesting that KAT7 may be related to chondrocyte pyroptosis.

Objective: To delineate the epidemiologic profile of rifampicin resistant pulmonary tuberculosis (RR-PTB) among students in Chongqing, so as to provide evidence for effectively controlling RR-PTB outbreaks in schools. Methods: Individual level surveillance records of 395 student RR-PTB cases reported from 2015 to 2024 were extracted from the China Information System for Disease Control and Prevention. The Joinpoint regression analysis was employed to quantify temporal trends in the registration rate of student RR-PTB cases, and the comparison of RR-PTB registration rates with different demographic characteristics and different regions was performed using Chi-square test. Results: From 2015 to 2024, a total of 395 student RR-PTB cases were identified, with the registration rate ranged from 0.07 per 100 000 to 1.47 per 100 000, showed a fluctuating upward trend ( AAPC= 35.22%, t =4.13, P <0.01). A turning point was detected in 2017, rates rose during 2015-2017 (APC=295.23%， t =4.62， P < 0.01 ) and plateaued thereafter (APC=-0.47%， t =-0.12， P =0.91). The proportion of RR-PTB cases occurring among students increased both among all RR-PTB cases (1.54% in 2015, 7.48% in 2024) and all student pulmonary tuberculosis cases (0.20% in 2015, 7.17% in 2024), with significant linear trends ( χ 2 trend =33.55,159.98, both P <0.01). The majority of cases were enrolled in senior high school (50.38%), classified as retreatment (53.92%), of Han ethnicity (75.95%), and diagnosed with multidrug resistant tuberculosis(53.16%). There were significant differences in the composition of different ethnicity, registration category and resistance pattern between different years( χ 2=23.47, 17.23, 59.64，all P <0.05). The South-Eastern Wuling Mountainous Region exhibited the highest notification rate (3.96 per 100 000), whereas the western region had the lowest rate ( 0.47 per 100 000). County level jurisdictions reported higher rates than district level ones (2.16 per 100 000 vs 0.63 per 100 000 ). Statistically significant differences were observed in the RR-PTB reported rates among students across different districts and counties( χ 2=418.05,167.05,both P <0.01). Conclusions From 2015 to 2024, the registration rate of detected student RR-PTB cases in Chongqing showed an increasing trend. Students have become one of the key populations for drug resistant TB prevention and control. Intensified health education and active case finding should be implemented to enhance proactive surveillance capabilities.

Objective To explore the correlation between central venous oxygen saturation(ScvO2)-re-lated indexes at different time points and the occurrence of low cardiac output syndrome(LCOS)after con-genital heart disease(CHD)correction surgery.Methods A total of 73 children who underwent CHD correc-tion surgery in this hospital from July 1st,2021 to July 1st,2024 were selected as the research subjects.The clinical data,preoperative conditions,and postoperative conditions of the children were collected.The ScvO2 and arterial lactate(Lac)levels of the children at different time points(the 1st,6th,12th,and 24th hours after surgery)were monitored,and the ScvO2/Lac at different time points and the change rate of ScvO2 in different time periods were calculated.The correlation between ScvO2-related indexes and LCOS after CHD correction surgery was analyzed.Results ScvO2 at the 6th hour after surgery,ScvO2 at the 12th hour after surgery,Sc-vO2/Lac at the 12th hour after surgery,the change rate of ScvO2 from the 1st to the 24th hour after surgery,the change rate of ScvO2 from the 6th to the 12th hour after surgery,and the change rate of ScvO2 from the 12th to the 24th hour after surgery were independent influencing factors of LCOS occurrence after CHD cor-rection surgery(P＜0.05).There was a negative correlation between ScvO2 at the 12th hour after surgery,ScvO2/Lac and LCOS occurrence after CHD correction surgery(r=-0.543,-0.523,P＜0.05).The area under the curve(AUC)of ScvO2 at the 12th hour after surgery for predicting LCOS occurrence after CHD correction surgery was 0.938(95％CI:0.865-1.000);the AUC of ScvO2/Lac at the 12th hour after surgery for predicting LCOS occurrence after CHD correction surgery was 0.922(95％CI:0.851-0.994).Conclusion ScvO2 and ScvO2/Lac at the 12th hour after surgery have good predictive potential for LCOS occurrence af-ter CHD correction surgery.

Objective:To investigate the incidence, clinical characteristics, and impact of spontaneous portosystemic shunt (SPSS) in patients with liver cirrhosis combined with hepatic encephalopathy (HE).Methods:The basic clinical and follow-up data were retrospectively analyzed for patients diagnosed with cirrhosis combined with HE at Mengchao Hepatobiliary Hospital of Fujian Medical University from January 2017 to December 2022. The patients were divided into large and small SPSS groups and a control group based on the results of abdominal enhanced CT or MRI.The clinical characteristics and outcome differences were compared among the three groups. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to compare HE-free survival time and overall survival time among the three groups. The log-rank test was used to compare the differences between groups. Cox regression analysis was used to identify the relevant risk factors affecting HE-free survival time and overall survival time.Results:A total of 223 cases with liver cirrhosis combined with HE were enrolled, including 150 in the SPSS and 73 in the control groups. The incidence rate of SPSS was 67.3% (150/223). The group was divided into small SPSS (79/150, 52.7%) and large SPSS group (71/150, 47.3%) according to the cross-sectional area of the diversion channel. The HE-free survival was shorter in the small and large SPSS groups compared with the control group (35.5 months in the small SPSS group and 21.3 months in the large SPSS group; P<0.001). The HE-free survival time was shorter in the large SPSS than with small SPSS group ( P=0.003). The overall survival time in the small SPSS group and the large SPSS group was shorter compared with the control group (small SPSS group: 39.4 months, large SPSS group: 52.9 months; P<0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in overall survival time between the small SPSS and large SPSS groups ( P=0.700). Cox regression analysis showed that SPSS was an independent risk factor affecting patients' HE-free survival time and overall survival time ( P<0.05). Conclusion:SPSS is more common in patients with liver cirrhosis combined with HE. Patients who combined with SPSS showed significant reductions in both HE-free survival time and overall survival time, especially evident in those with combined large SPSS.

Objective:Comparative study on the application value of bronchial ultrasound combined with different biopsy methods under thin-layer CT navigation in the diagnosis of malignant peripheral lung lesions.Methods:A retrospective analysis of patients with suspected malignant peripheral lung lesions identified by chest CT from January 2019 to September 2024 at the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, and Xianyang Central Hospital, who underwent routine bronchoscopy with negative results (209 cases). These patients were diagnosed using bronchial ultrasound under thin-layer CT navigation. The cases were divided into a cryobiopsy group (127 cases) and a conventional forceps biopsy group based on the biopsy method (82 cases). The diagnostic rates of the two groups were statistically analyzed, along with factors influencing the diagnostic rates. The tissue size obtained from both groups was compared, and the occurrence of complications was summarized.Results:This study included 209 cases with 216 peripheral lung lesions. A total of 209 cases with 210 lesions were successfully located through thin-slice CT guidance, resulting in a guiding success rate of 97.2% (210/216). Among the 130 lesions in the cryobiopsy group, 78 lesions were diagnosed as lung malignancies, with a diagnostic rate of 82.1% (64/78) for cryobiopsy in lung malignant lesions. In the forceps biopsy group, 46 of the 86 lesions were diagnosed as lung malignancies, with a diagnostic rate of 87.0% (40/46) for forceps biopsy in lung malignant lesions. There was no statistically significant difference between the two diagnostic rates ( P=0.473). The average longest diameter of tissue obtained by cryobiopsy was (6.11±0.23) mm, while the average longest diameter of tissue obtained by forceps biopsy was (1.58±0.43) mm. There was a statistically significant difference in tissue longest diameter between the two groups ( P＜0.001). When the distance from the bronchoscopic tip to the lesion was ≥3 cm and the most distal bronchus visible under bronchoscopy was ≤5th generation, the diagnostic rate of forceps biopsy was higher [83.3%(25/30) and 94.1%(32/34)] than that of cryobiopsy [79.3%(23/29) and 78.0%(46/59)], and the difference was statistically significant ( P＜0.05). Regarding complications, one case (1.3%, 1/78) of clinically significant complications occurred in the cryobiopsy group, while no complications occurred in the forceps biopsy group. Conclusions:Under thin-layer CT navigation, bronchial ultrasound combined with different biopsy methods demonstrates a high diagnostic rate for malignant peripheral lung lesions and is safe to operate. Cryobiopsy allows for the collection of larger tissue specimens.