OBJECTIVE: To explore whether the ethanol extract of Herpetospermum caudigerum Wall (EHC), a Xizang medicinal plant traditionally used for treating liver diseases, can improve imiquimod-induced psoriasis-like skin inflammation. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence staining were used to determine the effects of topical EHC use in vivo on the skin pathology of imiquimod-induced psoriasis in mice. The protein levels of interferon-γ (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interleukin-17A (IL-17A) in mouse skin samples were examined using immunohistochemical staining. In vitro, IFN-γ-induced HaCaT cells with or without EHC treatment were used to evaluate the expression of keratinocyte-derived intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and chemokine CXC ligand 9 (CXCL9) using Western blotting and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide and proteasome inhibitor MG132 were utilized to validate the EHC-mediated mechanism underlying degradation of ICAM-1 and CXCL9. RESULTS: EHC improved inflammation in the imiquimod-induced psoriasis mouse model and reduced the levels of IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-17A in psoriatic lesions. Treatment with EHC also suppressed ICAM-1 and CXCL9 in epidermal keratinocytes. Further mechanistic studies revealed that EHC suppressed keratinocyte-derived ICAM-1 and CXCL9 by promoting ubiquitin-proteasome-mediated protein degradation rather than transcriptional repression. Seven primary compounds including ehletianol C, dehydrodiconiferyl alcohol, herpetrione, herpetin, herpetotriol, herpetetrone and herpetetrol were identified from the EHC using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry. CONCLUSION Topical application of EHC ameliorates psoriasis-like skin symptoms and improves the inflammation at the lesion sites. Please cite this article as: Zhong Y, Zhang BW, Li JT, Zeng X, Pei JX, Zhang YM, Yang YX, Li FL, Deng Y, Zhao Q. Ethanol extract of Herpetospermum caudigerum Wall ameliorates psoriasis-like skin inflammation and promotes degradation of keratinocyte-derived ICAM-1 and CXCL9. J Integr Med. 2023; 21(6): 584-592.
Animals ; Mice ; Interleukin-17/metabolism* ; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 ; Imiquimod/adverse effects* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/metabolism* ; Ligands ; Psoriasis/chemically induced* ; Keratinocytes ; Inflammation/drug therapy* ; Chemokines/metabolism* ; Interferon-gamma/metabolism* ; Disease Models, Animal ; Mice, Inbred BALB C

OBJECTIVE: To explore application value and effectiveness of virtual reality technology combined with isokinetic muscle strength training in the rehabilitation of patients after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction surgery. METHODS: Forty patients who underwent ACL reconstruction surgery from December 2021 to January 2023 were selected and divided into control group and observation group according to treatment methods, 20 patients in each group. Control group was received routine rehabilitation training combined with isokinetic muscle strength training, including 15 males and 5 females, aged from 17 to 44 years old, with an average of (29.10±8.60) years old. Observation group was performed virtual reality technology combined with isokinetic muscle strength training, including 16 males and 4 females, aged from 17 to 45 years old with an average of (30.95±9.11) years old. Lysholm knee joint score, knee extension peak torque, and knee flexion peak torque between two groups at 12 (before training) and 16 weeks (after training) after surgery were compared. RESULTS: All patients were followed up for 1 to 6 months with an average of (3.30±1.42) months. There were no statistically significant difference in Lysholm knee joint score, peak knee extension peak torque, and peak knee flexion peak torque between two groups (P>0.05) before training. After training, Lysholm knee joint score, knee extension peak torque, and knee flexion peak torque of both groups were improved compared to before training (P<0.05);there were significant difference in Lysholm knee joint score, knee extension peak torque, and knee flexion peak torque between two groups(P<0.05). CONCLUSION The application of virtual reality technology combined with isokinetic muscle strength training could promote recovery of knee joint function and enhance muscle strength in patients after ACL reconstruction surgery in further.
Male ; Female ; Humans ; Adolescent ; Young Adult ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries/surgery* ; Resistance Training ; Knee Joint/surgery* ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction/methods* ; Knee Injuries/surgery* ; Muscle Strength/physiology*

With the increasing number of obese patients worldwide, metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) has quickly become an effective way to treat obesity and related metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, lipid abnormalities, etc. Although MBS has become an important part of general surgery, there is still controversy regarding the indications for MBS. In 1991, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued a statement on the surgical treatment of severe obesity and other related issues, which continues to be the standard for insurance companies, health care systems, and hospital selection of patients. The standard no longer reflects the best practice data and lacks relevance to today's modern surgeries and patient populations. After 31 years, in October 2022, the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) and the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders (IFSO), the world's leading authorities on weight loss and metabolic surgery, jointly released new guidelines for MBS indications, based on increasing awareness of obesity and its comorbidities and the accumulation of evidence of obesity metabolic diseases. In a series of recommendations, the eligibility of patients for bariatric surgery has been expanded. Specific key updates include the following: (1) MBS is recommended for individuals with BMI≥35 kg/m², regardless of the presence, absence, or severity of co-morbidities; (2) MBS should be considered for individuals with metabolic diseases and BMI 30.0-34.9 kg/m²; (3) the BMI threshold should be adjusted for the Asian population:: BMI≥25 kg/m² suggest clinical obesity, and BMI ≥ 27.5 kg/m² population should consider MBS; (4) Appropriately selected children and adolescents should be considered for MBS.
Adolescent ; Child ; Humans ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/surgery* ; Bariatric Surgery ; Obesity/surgery* ; Obesity, Morbid/surgery* ; Weight Loss

OBJECTIVE: To derive the Chinese medicine (CM) syndrome classification and subgroup syndrome characteristics of ischemic stroke patients. METHODS: By extracting the CM clinical electronic medical records (EMRs) of 7,170 hospitalized patients with ischemic stroke from 2016 to 2018 at Weifang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shandong Province, China, a patient similarity network (PSN) was constructed based on the symptomatic phenotype of the patients. Thereafter the efficient community detection method BGLL was used to identify subgroups of patients. Finally, subgroups with a large number of cases were selected to analyze the specific manifestations of clinical symptoms and CM syndromes in each subgroup. RESULTS: Seven main subgroups of patients with specific symptom characteristics were identified, including M3, M2, M1, M5, M0, M29 and M4. M3 and M0 subgroups had prominent posterior circulatory symptoms, while M3 was associated with autonomic disorders, and M4 manifested as anxiety; M2 and M4 had motor and motor coordination disorders; M1 had sensory disorders; M5 had more obvious lung infections; M29 had a disorder of consciousness. The specificity of CM syndromes of each subgroup was as follows. M3, M2, M1, M0, M29 and M4 all had the same syndrome as wind phlegm pattern; M3 and M0 both showed hyperactivity of Gan (Liver) yang pattern; M2 and M29 had similar syndromes, which corresponded to intertwined phlegm and blood stasis pattern and phlegm-stasis obstructing meridians pattern, respectively. The manifestations of CM syndromes often appeared in a combination of 2 or more syndrome elements. The most common combination of these 7 subgroups was wind-phlegm. The 7 subgroups of CM syndrome elements were specifically manifested as pathogenic wind, pathogenic phlegm, and deficiency pathogens. CONCLUSIONS There were 7 main symptom similarity-based subgroups in ischemic stroke patients, and their specific characteristics were obvious. The main syndromes were wind phlegm pattern and hyperactivity of Gan yang pattern.
Humans ; Syndrome ; Ischemic Stroke ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Liver ; Phenotype

【Objective】 To study the annual financial expenditure in blood stations with different scales, and to establish the regression equation between blood collection units and total expenditure. 【Methods】 The annual total expenditure, the per capita cost of serving population, as well as the collection units of whole blood and apheresis platelet of 24 blood stations were collected. The financial expenditure required for collecting 10 000U blood was calculated.The statistical analysis was carried out with SPSS statistical software. 【Results】 From 2017 to 2020, the total annual financial expenditure of 24 blood stations showed an upward trend. The total expenditure among blood stations was different. The per capita cost of servicing population in the areas where the 24 blood stations were located had been increasing year by year. The 24 blood stations were divided into two grades according to the blood collection volume as 50 000 U, and the relationship equation between the blood collection volume and the annual total expenditure had been established. After testing, each equation was effective(P<0.05); There was no difference in the financial expenditure required for collecting 10 000U blood among blood stations with different scales. 【Conclusion】 From 2017 to 2020, the blood stations with an annual collection volume more than 50 000 U demonstrated a higher financial expenditure and the per capita cost of serving population than those <50 000 U. The blood collection volume of blood stations is significantly correlated with the annual total expenditure and the per capita cost of serving population.

DNA ; DNA Fingerprinting ; Homicide ; Humans

Atrial Appendage/surgery* ; Atrial Fibrillation/surgery* ; Cardiac Catheterization ; Humans ; Septal Occluder Device ; Treatment Outcome

Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC/Q-TOF-MS) was applied to rapidly identify the phospholipids in human plasma and explore the mass spectrometric fragmentation pattern. An acquity UHPLC^TM BEH C18 column (50 mm × 2.1 mm, 1.7 μm) was utilized and eluted with a gradient system; the mobile phase consisted of 10 mmol·L^-1 ammonium formate aqueous solution-0.1% formic acid aqueous solution (A) and acetonitrile-isopropanol (1∶1) organic solution (B) containing 10 mmol·L^-1 ammonium formate-0.1% formic acid. The flow rate was 0.3 mL·min^-1 and the column temperature was set at 50 ℃. An electrospray ionization (ESI) source was used to collect mass spectra in positive and negative ion mode. Based on the precise relative molecular weight and elemental composition calculated by Masslynx 4.1 software, comparison with references, and secondary mass spectrometry fragment ions and lipid databases, a total of 82 plasma lipids were identified, including 14 lysophosphatidylcholines (LysoPCs), 39 phosphatidylcholines (PCs), 17 sphingomyelins (SMs), 7 ceramides (Cers), 4 phosphatidylethanolamines (PEs), and 1 phosphatidylinositol (PI). A simple, efficient, fast and stable analytical method was established in this study for the qualitative analysis of phospholipids in human plasma, and the fragmentation regularity of the main phospholipids was determined. This work provides a good foundation for further metabolomics studies of plasma phospholipids. This study was approved by the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University Clinical Research and Application Institutional Review Board Approval (No. 2020-hs-07).

OBJECTIVE: To obtain the subtypes of the clinical hypertension population based on symptoms and to explore the relationship between hypertension and comorbidities. METHODS: The data set was collected from the Chinese medicine (CM) electronic medical records of 33,458 hypertension inpatients in the Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine between July 2014 and May 2017. Then, a hypertension disease comorbidity network (HDCN) was built to investigate the complicated associations between hypertension and their comorbidities. Moreover, a hypertension patient similarity network (HPSN) was constructed with patients' shared symptoms, and 7 main hypertension patient subgroups were identified from HPSN with a community detection method to exhibit the characteristics of clinical phenotypes and molecular mechanisms. In addition, the significant symptoms, diseases, CM syndromes and pathways of each main patient subgroup were obtained by enrichment analysis. RESULTS: The significant symptoms and diseases of these patient subgroups were associated with different damaged target organs of hypertension. Additionally, the specific phenotypic features (symptoms, diseases, and CM syndromes) were consistent with specific molecular features (pathways) in the same patient subgroup. CONCLUSION The utility and comprehensiveness of disease classification based on community detection of patient networks using shared CM symptom phenotypes showed the importance of hypertension patient subgroups.

Aim To evaluate the protective effect of Averrhoa Carambola L. Roots DMDD alleviating myocardial injury in diabetes mellitus (DM) mice and its mechanism. Methods SD mice were given high-glucose-high-fat diet combined with streptozotocin to induce DM model, and were administered with DMDD. The fasting blood glucose (FBG) was recorded. The left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP), left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP), maximum upstroke velocity of left ventricular pressure (+ dp/dt