1.Staged Characteristics of Mitochondrial Energy Metabolism in Chronic Heart Failure with Heart-Yang Deficiency Syndrome and Prescription Intervention from Theory of Reinforcing Yang
Zizheng WU ; Xing CHEN ; Lichong MENG ; Yao ZHANG ; Peng LUO ; Jiahao YE ; Kun LIAN ; Siyuan HU ; Zhixi HU
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2026;32(5):129-138
Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a complex clinical syndrome caused by ventricular dysfunction, with mitochondrial energy metabolism disorder being a critical factor in disease progression. Heart-Yang deficiency syndrome, as the core pathogenesis of CHF, persists throughout the disease course. Insufficiency of heart-Yang leads to weakened warming and propelling functions, resulting in the accumulation of phlegm-fluid, blood stasis, and dampness. This eventually causes Qi stagnation with phlegm obstruction and blood stasis with water retention, forming a vicious cycle that exacerbates disease progression. According to the theory of reinforcing Yang, the clinical experience of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) master Tang Zuxuan in treating CHF with heart-Yang deficiency syndrome, and achievements from molecular biological studies, this study innovatively proposes an integrated research framework of "TCM syndrome differentiation and staging-mitochondrial metabolism mechanisms-intervention with Yang-reinforcing prescriptions" which is characterized by the integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine. Heart-Yang deficiency syndrome is classified into mild (Stage Ⅰ-Ⅱ), severe (Stage Ⅲ), and critical (Stage Ⅳ) stages. The study elucidates the precise correlations between the pathogenesis of each stage and mitochondrial metabolism disorders from theoretical, pathophysiological, and therapeutic perspectives. The mild stage is characterized by impaired biogenesis and substrate-utilization imbalance, corresponding to heart-Yang deficiency and phlegm-fluid aggregation. Linggui Zhugantang and similar prescriptions can significantly improve the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma co-activator-1α(PGC-1α)/silent information regulator 2 homolog 1 (SIRT1) and ATPase activity. The severe stage centers on oxidative stress and structural damage, reflecting Yang deficiency with water overflow and phlegm-blood stasis intermingling. At this stage, Zhenwu Tang and Qiangxin Tang can effectively mitigate oxidative stress damage, increase adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content, and repair mitochondrial structure. The critical stage arises from calcium overload and mitochondrial disintegration, leading to the collapse of Yin-Yang equilibrium. At this stage, Yang-restoring and crisis-resolving prescriptions such as Fuling Sini Tang and Qili Qiangxin capsules can inhibit abnormal opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP), reduce cardiomyocyte apoptosis rate, and protect mitochondrial function. By summarizing the characteristics of mitochondrial energy metabolism disorders at different stages of CHF, this study explores the application of the theory of reinforcing Yang in treating heart-Yang deficiency syndrome and provides new insights for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of CHF.
2.Construction and validation of circadian rhythm genes-related prognostic risk model for lung adenocarcinoma
Yanqi CUI ; Hu ZHAO ; Yawei ZHANG ; Lin NI ; Duohuang LIAN ; Jingrong YANG ; Shixin YE ; Fengfeng XU ; Jincan ZHANG ; Zhiyong ZENG
Chinese Journal of Clinical Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 2026;33(04):550-558
Objective To explore the relationship between circadian rhythm genes and the occurrence, development, prognosis, and tumor microenvironment (TME) of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Methods The Cancer Genome Atlas data were used to evaluate the expression, copy number variation, and somatic mutation frequency of circadian gene sets in LUAD. Gene ontology, Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes, and gene set enrichment analysis were used to explore the potential mechanisms by which circadian rhythm genes affected LUAD progression. Cox regression, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression, support vector machine recursive feature elimination, and random forest screened circadian genes and established prognostic models, and on this basis constructed nomogram to predict patients’ 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates. Kaplan-Meier survival curves, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, and time-dependent ROC curves were drawn to evaluate the predictive ability of the model, and the external dataset of GEO further verified the prognostic value of the prediction model. In addition, we evaluated the association of the prognostic model with immune cells and immune checkpoint genes. Single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis was used to explore the molecular characteristics between prognostically relevant circadian genes and different immune cell populations in TME. Results Differentially expressed circadian rhythm genes were mainly enriched in biological processes related to cGMP-PKG signaling pathway, lipid and atherosclerosis, and JAK-STAT signaling pathway. Seven circadian rhythm genes: LGR4, CDK1, KLF10, ARNTL2, RORA, NPAS2, PTGDS were screened out, and a RiskScore model was established. According to the median RiskScore, samples were divided into a high-risk group and a low-risk group. Compared with patients in the low-risk group, patients in the high-risk group showed a poorer prognosis (P<0.001). Immunological characterization analysis showed that there were differences in the infiltration of multiple immune cells between the low-risk group and high-risk group. Most immune checkpoint genes had higher expression levels in the high-risk group than those in the low-risk group, and RiskScore was positively correlated with the expression of CD276, TNFSF4, PDCD1LG2, CD274, and TNFRSF9, and negatively correlated with the expression of CD40LG and TNFSF15. The scRNA-seq analysis showed that RORA and KLF10 were mainly expressed in natural killer cells. Conclusion The prognostic model based on seven feature circadian rhythm genes has certain predictive value for predicting survival of LUAD patients. Dysregulated expression of circadian genes may regulate the occurrence, progression as well as prognosis of LUAD through affecting TME, which provides a possible direction for finding potential strategies for treating LUAD from the perspective of mechanism by which circadian disorder affects immune cells.
3.The SMAD-Pathway Mediates HMGB1-Induced Proliferation and Metastatic Progression in Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells
De-De LIAN ; Xue Mei LI ; Yu-Xi JIA ; Ming-Wei ZHOU ; Xiang-Ru CHEN ; Yang-Yang TIAN ; Min LI ; Ming-Hui SUN ; Ye ZHAO ; Hong-Jun LI ; Qing-Ling ZHANG
Annals of Dermatology 2026;38(1):51-58
Background:
High-mobility group box protein 1 (HMGB1) is a chromatin-binding protein involved in arthritis, ischemia, sepsis, atherosclerosis, neurodegenerative disorders, meningitis, and cancer. HMGB1 exhibits dual roles in cancer, acting as either a tumor suppressor or oncoprotein depending on context.
Objective:
This research aimed to elucidate HMGB1’s functional significance in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC).
Methods:
We overexpressed HMGB1 in cSCC cell lines using recombinant adenovirus and examined its effects on cell proliferation, colony formation, and cell migration.
Results:
Immunohistochemical analysis revealed elevated HMGB1 expression levels in cSCC tissue relative to normal epidermis. To assess the influence of HMGB1, we employed recombinant adenoviruses expressing HMGB1 to transduce SCC cell lines (SCC12 and SCC13). Enhanced HMGB1 expression significantly promoted cellular proliferation and colony formation capacity.Notably, HMGB1 overexpression elevated the levels of proliferation regulators, including P63, SOX2, CDK4 and CDK6. Furthermore, HMGB1 overexpression substantially enhanced tumor invasiveness, accompanied by upregulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) biomarkers. Mechanistically, overexpression of HMGB1 enhanced transforming growth factor-β signaling by increasing phosphorylation of SMAD2/3, the key mediators of EMT.
Conclusion
These data imply that HMGB1 acts as a tumor-promoting factor in cSCC.
4.Detiction and drug resistance to commonly used antibiotics of Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis in chronic cervicitis patients
Ren YE ; Bin ZHANG ; Longhui SHEN ; Lian WU ; Xin LIU
Chinese Journal of Nosocomiology 2025;35(14):2140-2144
OBJECTIVE To explore the prevalence of Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis among the patients with chronic cervicitis(CC)and observe their drug resistance to commonly used antibiotics.METHODS A total of 91 patients with CC who were treated in gynecology department of Women and Children's Hospital Affiliated to Ningbo University from Jan.2022 to Jun.2024 were assigned as the CC group,meanwhile,91 healthy women who received physical examination were chosen as the control group.The genital tract secretions were collected from all of the research subjects for the culture of U.urealyticum and M.hominis and drug suscep-tibility testing.The isolation rates of U.urealyticum,M.hominis and U.urealyticum plus M.hominis were com-pared between the two groups.The isolation rates of U.urealyticum and M.hominis were compared among the different age groups of CC patients.The drug susceptibility testing of U.urealyticu m and M.hominis for doxycyc-line(DOX),josamycin(JOS),ofloxacin(OFL),clarithromycin(CLA),erythromycin(ERY),tetracycline(TET),azithromycin(AZI)and pristinamycin(PTN)were observed.RESULTS Totally 75(82.41%)genital tract secretion samples tested positive for Mycoplasma among the 91 samples,37 detected with U.urealyticum,25 were M.hominis,and 13 were U.urealyticum plus M.hominis.The isolation rates of U.urealyticum,M.hominis and U.urealyticum plus M.hominis of the CC group were 40.66%,24.47%and 14.29%,respective-ly,higher than 8.79%,4.40%and 5.49%of the control group(P<0.05).The total detection rate of U.urealyti-cum,M.hominis and U.urealyticum plus M.hominis was higher among the CC patients aged between 20 and 40 years old than among the CC patients aged more than 40 years old(P<0.05).The U.urealyticum strains from the positive specimens of the CC patients were highly sensitive to CL A and DOS but were resistant to OFL,CIP and PTN;the M.honinis and U.urealyticum plus M.hominis strains were sensitive to JOS and DOX but were resistant to OFL and CIP.CONCLUSIONS The detection rates of U.urealyticum plus M.hominis are higher a-mong the CC patients than among the normal population.The isolated U.urealyticum and M.hominis strains are highly resistant to quinolones and aminoglycosides.It is necessary for the hospital to empirically choose sensitive antibiotics based on the result of drug susceptibility testing.
5.Optimization of inferior vena cava imaging quality using spectral CT virtual monoenergetic images combined with multiphase scanning
Dapeng GAO ; Ziran WANG ; Xiangchuang KONG ; Quan CHEN ; Tianhe YE ; Beibei TIAN ; Shen GUI ; Lian YANG
Chinese Journal of Radiology 2025;59(9):990-996
Objective:To investigate the optimization of inferior vena cava imaging using dual-layer spectral detector CT (DLCT) virtual monoenergetic images (VMI) combined with multiphase scanning.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the imaging data of 184 patients who underwent inferior vena cava imaging using dual-layer detector spectral CT at Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, from January 2021 to October 2024. Each patient underwent multiphase scanning (60, 80, and 120 s after contrast injection were referred to as the first, second, and third phases, respectively). The images were reconstructed into conventional 120 kVp polyenergetic image (PI) and VMIs at 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80 keV. Image quality of 120 kVp PI and VMI for each phase was evaluated. The objective image quality indicators included CT value, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and noise. Comparisons of the above indictors within the same phase were performed using repeated measures ANOVA or the Friedman test, while comparisons between different phases were conducted using one-way ANOVA or the Kruskal-Wallis test.Results:At the same phase, the CT value, SNR, and CNR of the 40 keV VMI were higher than those of other energy level VMIs and PI (all P<0.001). The SNR of the 40 keV VMI in the third phase was significantly higher than in the first phase ( P<0.05), while there was no significant difference between the first and second phases ( P>0.05). The standard deviation (SD) of the 40 keV VMI in the third phase was significantly lower than that in the first and second phases (all P<0.05). The subjective scores for the 40 keV VMI were higher than those for other energy level VMIs and PI at the same phase ( P<0.001). The subjective scores for the 40 keV VMI in the third phase were higher than those in the second and first phases ( P<0.001). The percentage of scores≥4 in the third phase (77.17%,142/184) was significantly higher than those in the first phase (28.26%,52/184) and second phase (61.96%,114/184) ( P<0.001). Conclusion:In inferior vena cava imaging, the 40 keV VMI, combined with the optimal phase (120 s delay), effectively optimizes image quality.
6.Detiction and drug resistance to commonly used antibiotics of Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis in chronic cervicitis patients
Ren YE ; Bin ZHANG ; Longhui SHEN ; Lian WU ; Xin LIU
Chinese Journal of Nosocomiology 2025;35(14):2140-2144
OBJECTIVE To explore the prevalence of Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis among the patients with chronic cervicitis(CC)and observe their drug resistance to commonly used antibiotics.METHODS A total of 91 patients with CC who were treated in gynecology department of Women and Children's Hospital Affiliated to Ningbo University from Jan.2022 to Jun.2024 were assigned as the CC group,meanwhile,91 healthy women who received physical examination were chosen as the control group.The genital tract secretions were collected from all of the research subjects for the culture of U.urealyticum and M.hominis and drug suscep-tibility testing.The isolation rates of U.urealyticum,M.hominis and U.urealyticum plus M.hominis were com-pared between the two groups.The isolation rates of U.urealyticum and M.hominis were compared among the different age groups of CC patients.The drug susceptibility testing of U.urealyticu m and M.hominis for doxycyc-line(DOX),josamycin(JOS),ofloxacin(OFL),clarithromycin(CLA),erythromycin(ERY),tetracycline(TET),azithromycin(AZI)and pristinamycin(PTN)were observed.RESULTS Totally 75(82.41%)genital tract secretion samples tested positive for Mycoplasma among the 91 samples,37 detected with U.urealyticum,25 were M.hominis,and 13 were U.urealyticum plus M.hominis.The isolation rates of U.urealyticum,M.hominis and U.urealyticum plus M.hominis of the CC group were 40.66%,24.47%and 14.29%,respective-ly,higher than 8.79%,4.40%and 5.49%of the control group(P<0.05).The total detection rate of U.urealyti-cum,M.hominis and U.urealyticum plus M.hominis was higher among the CC patients aged between 20 and 40 years old than among the CC patients aged more than 40 years old(P<0.05).The U.urealyticum strains from the positive specimens of the CC patients were highly sensitive to CL A and DOS but were resistant to OFL,CIP and PTN;the M.honinis and U.urealyticum plus M.hominis strains were sensitive to JOS and DOX but were resistant to OFL and CIP.CONCLUSIONS The detection rates of U.urealyticum plus M.hominis are higher a-mong the CC patients than among the normal population.The isolated U.urealyticum and M.hominis strains are highly resistant to quinolones and aminoglycosides.It is necessary for the hospital to empirically choose sensitive antibiotics based on the result of drug susceptibility testing.
7.Evaluation of Hemolytic Performance of Cellulose Hemostatic Products
Qing-qing HOU ; Qin-lian JIAO ; Chun-xia QIAO ; Zi-ye WANG ; Xiao-yan WANG ; Wen-qian MA ; Zeng-xiang LIU ; Xiao-xia SUN
Progress in Modern Biomedicine 2025;25(9):1488-1495
Objective:To compare the differences in the evaluation of hemolysis performance of cellulose hemostatic materials using different detection methods and test media,and to explore a m ore reasonable testing plan for such products.Methods:Hemolysis tests were conducted on cellulose hemostatic materials using the absorbance measurement hemolysis method and hemoglobin concentration measurement hemolysis method in accordance with YY/T 1651.1-2019 standard.We compared the changes in hemolysis rate,pH value,and osmotic pressure under different experimental media.Results:Under the same experimental method,compared to SC,the hemolysis results using PBS as the extraction medium are smaller,and the changes in pH and osmotic pressure are closer to the normal range of human body changes.Conclusions:The changes in pH and osmotic pressure may be one of the reasons for the high hemolysis rate of cellulose hemostatic materials.Choosing PBS with buffering effect as the leaching medium may be more suitable for evaluating the hemolysis performance of cellulose hemostatic materials.
8.Evaluation of Hemolytic Performance of Cellulose Hemostatic Products
Qing-qing HOU ; Qin-lian JIAO ; Chun-xia QIAO ; Zi-ye WANG ; Xiao-yan WANG ; Wen-qian MA ; Zeng-xiang LIU ; Xiao-xia SUN
Progress in Modern Biomedicine 2025;25(9):1488-1495
Objective:To compare the differences in the evaluation of hemolysis performance of cellulose hemostatic materials using different detection methods and test media,and to explore a m ore reasonable testing plan for such products.Methods:Hemolysis tests were conducted on cellulose hemostatic materials using the absorbance measurement hemolysis method and hemoglobin concentration measurement hemolysis method in accordance with YY/T 1651.1-2019 standard.We compared the changes in hemolysis rate,pH value,and osmotic pressure under different experimental media.Results:Under the same experimental method,compared to SC,the hemolysis results using PBS as the extraction medium are smaller,and the changes in pH and osmotic pressure are closer to the normal range of human body changes.Conclusions:The changes in pH and osmotic pressure may be one of the reasons for the high hemolysis rate of cellulose hemostatic materials.Choosing PBS with buffering effect as the leaching medium may be more suitable for evaluating the hemolysis performance of cellulose hemostatic materials.
9.Non-targeted metabolomic profiling reveals characteristic metabolic pro-file associated with development process of cervical cancer
Qingzhi ZHAI ; Yunzhi MA ; Mingxia YE ; Mingyang WANG ; Yang LI ; Li LI ; Yuanguang MENG ; Lian LI
Chinese Journal of Pathophysiology 2025;41(2):230-238
AIM:The aim of our study is to investigate the metabolic profile differences during cervical lesion progression and evaluate their potential clinical value in assisting the diagnosis of cervical cancer(CC).METHODS:Ul-tra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry(UHPLC-HRMS)was em-ployed to conduct non-targeted metabolomic analysis of cervical swab samples from 43 CC patients,34 high-grade squa-mous intraepithelial lesion(HSIL)patients,and 43 healthy controls.Based on the distinct features among the three groups,principal component analysis(PCA)was used to identify the metabolic differences among CC,HSIL and healthy groups.MetaboAnalyst 5.0 was then employed to perform KEGG pathway enrichment analysis on the differential metabo-lites.Finally,random forest machine learning algorithm was used to construct classification prediction models for distin-guishing CC from healthy,HSIL from healthy,and CC from HSIL.The performance of these models was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve analysis.RESULTS:A total of 1 543 metabolites were identified across the healthy,HSIL and CC groups after filtration,with 407 metabolites differing between the groups.The study found that metabolite PGE2 was present in all three groups,with its expression levels progressively increasing with the progression of cervical lesions.Differential metabolite enrichment analysis demonstrated that CC is associated with specific cancer-relat-ed metabolic pathways,including the tricarboxylic acid cycle,tyrosine metabolism,tryptophan metabolism,and the pen-tose phosphate pathways.Additionally,the study developed three prediction models based on metabolic products for diag-nosing HSIL and CC:the full model,the simplified model,and the PGE2 model.The results indicated that metabolites ex-hibited strong diagnostic efficiency.Both the full model and the simplified model effectively distinguished CC from HSIL,CC from healthy,and HSIL from healthy.The AUC values for the full model were 0.90,0.92 and 0.84,respectively,while those for the simplified model were 0.81,0.95 and 0.85,respectively.Furthermore,the PEG2 model achieved AUC values of 0.74 and 0.80 for distinguishing CC from healthy and HSIL from healthy,respectively.CONCLUSION:The metabolic profiles of cervical cancer exhibit significant differences during the progression of cervical cancer,and these metabolites hold potential clinical value as biomarkers for cervical lesions.
10.Clinical trail of vericiguat combined with sacubitril valsartan sodium in the treatment of patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction
Miao-jun WANG ; Shi-ping XU ; Xiao-jin PAN ; Zhi-dong YE ; Yu-fang LIAN ; Jun QIU ; Shao-tang LU ; Sheng-jie ZHOU
The Chinese Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 2025;41(1):6-10
Objective To observe the clinical efficacy and safety of vericiguat tablets combined with sacubitril valsartan sodium(Sac/Val)tablets in the treatment of patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction(HFrEF).Methods The HFrEF patients were divided into control group and treatment group according to the cohort method.The control group was treated with Sac/Val tablets 200 mg per time,bid,orally.On the basis of control group,the treatment group was treated with vericiguat tablets 2.5 mg per time,qd,taken with meal.Two groups were treated for 3 months.The clinical efficacy,left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF),left ventricular end-diastolic dimension(LVEDD)and end-systolic diameter(LVESD),levels of high sensitivity C-reactive protein(hs-CRP),interleukin-6(IL-6),nitric oxide(NO),N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide(NT-proBNP),blood urea nitrogen(BUN)and serum creatinine(SCr),and safety were compared between the two groups.During follow-up,the heart failure rehospitalization rates and major adverse cardiovascular events were compared between the two groups.Results Treatment group was enrolled 53 patients,control group was enrolled 53 patients.After treatment,the total effective rates of treatment and control groups were 94.34%(50 cases/53 cases)and 81.13%(43 cases/53 cases)with statistical significant difference(P<0.05).After treatment,the LVEF of treatment and control groups were(48.02±5.20)%and(43.02±4.33)%,the LVEDDs were(52.85±6.30)and(55.63±6.88)mm,the LVESDs were(41.64±6.40)and(44.22±5.85)mm,the levels of hs-CRP were(10.22±2.63)and(14.60±2.98)mg L-1,the levels of IL-6 were(14.48±2.40)and(17.36±2.52)pg·mL-1,the levels of NO were(102.60±20.16)and(92.16±16.33)μmol·L-1,the levels of NT-proBNP were(898.74±102.20)and(1315.60±182.64)ng·L-1,the levels of BUN were(12.02±2.28)and(13.45±2.33)mmol·L-1,the levels of SCr were(82.22±5.89)and(85.64±6.03)μmol·L-1,the heart failure rehospitalization rates were 5.66%and 13.21%,respectively;the differences were statistical significant between two groups(all P<0.05).The adverse drug reactions of treatment group were hyperkalemia,hypotension,renal dysfunction,dizziness and headache,while those in control group were renal dysfunction,hyperkalemia,and hypotension.The major adverse cardiovascular events of treatment group were angina pectoris and acute myocardial infarction,while those in control group were angina pectoris,acute myocardial infarction and atrial fibrillation.The incidences of total adverse drug reactions in treatment and control groups were 13.21%and 7.55%,the incidences of major adverse cardiovascular events were 5.66%and 13.21%,respectively,without statistically significant differences(all P>0.05).Conclusion Vericiguat tablets combined with Sac/Val tablets have a definitive clinical efficacy in the treatment of HFrEF patients,which can improve cardiac and endothelial function,reduce inflammatory response and readmission times,without increasing the incidences of adverse drug reactions.

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