1.Regulation of NLRP3 Inflammasome by Traditional Chinese Medicine in Treatment of Atopic Dermatitis: A Review
Minmin HU ; Aimin LIU ; Mengying MA ; Changyu WU
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2026;32(4):315-321
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an atopic disease with a complex etiology and pathogenesis resulting from the interaction of multiple factors. The NOD-like receptor pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is an important component of innate immunity and is involved in the onset and progression of AD, encompassing multiple processes such as inflammation, pyroptosis, and autophagy. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has shown significant clinical efficacy in the treatment of AD and also offers advantages including flexible compatibility, multi-target effects, and low drug resistance. A large number of studies have shown that single Chinese medicinal components and compound prescriptions can treat atopic diseases by modulating the NLRP3 inflammasome. This article elaborates on the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and its influence on the pathogenesis and progression of AD, and summarizes recent studies on the mechanisms by which active constituents, extracts, and compound formulations of Chinese medicine treat AD through regulation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and related signaling pathways, with the aim of providing a reference for the clinical treatment of AD and the development of TCM.
2.Clinical characteristics and prognosis analysis of 99 pediatric patients with acute hyperleukocytic leukemia
Haixiao QI ; Li MA ; Mengying WU ; Wenxia KUAI
Journal of Leukemia & Lymphoma 2025;34(9):524-529
Objective:To investigate the clinical features and prognostic factors of pediatric patients with acute hyperleukocytic leukemia (AHL).Methods:A retrospective case series study was conducted. The clinical data of 99 pediatric patients diagnosed with AHL who admitted to the Affiliated Huai'an No.1 People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University between May 2015 and November 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. The enrolled children were grouped based on the following factors including gender, age, initial white blood cell count (WBC), initial lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), whether tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) occurred, immunophenotype, fusion gene, whether complete remission (CR) was achieved on the 19th day (D19) after transplantation, and whether CR was achieved on the 46th day (D46) after transplantation. All the patients were treated with the chemotherapy regimen of Shanghai Children's Medical Center - Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia - 2015 (SCMC-ALL-2015). Flow cytometry was used to monitor the minimal residual disease (MRD); fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to screen out the mutant genes. The median follow-up time was 47 months. The Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis, and the log-rank test was used for intergroup comparisons. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to screen out the the prognostic factors.Results:Among 99 AHL patients, there were 65 males and 35 females; the median age was 7.71 (3.32, 11.20) years. At the initial diagnosis, 48 cases had WBC≤100×10 9/L, and 51 cases had WBC>100×10 9/L; 36 cases had LDH ≤ 2 000 U/L, and 63 cases had LDH > 2 000 U/L; 3 cases had TLS, 5 cases had MLL::AF4 positive, 7 cases had BCR::ABL positive, 7 cases had E2APBX1 positive, and 10 cases had TEL::AML1 positive; 28 cases were acute T-cell lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), and 71 cases were acute B-cell lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). At D19, 74 cases achieved bone marrow CR; at D46, 82 cases achieved bone marrow CR; 3-year and 5-year OS rates were 74.5% and 71.3%, respectively. During the follow-up, 14 cases relapsed and 15 died, including 12 dying of relapse, 2 dying of infection and 1 case dying of pulmonary graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). There were statistically significant differences in the 3-year OS rate in patients with different age, initial WBC, initial LDH, immunophenotyping, whether bone marrow CR at D19 was achieved, whether MRD at D19 occurred, whether bone marrow CR at D46 was achieved, whether MRD at D46 occurred, the presence of TLS, MLL::AF4 positive and TEL::AML1 positive (all P < 0.05). Furthermore, multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that LDH(>2 000 U/L), MLL::AF4 positive, T immunophenotyping, relapse, not achieving bone marrow CR at D19, not achieving bone marrow CR at D46, and MRD positive at D46 were independent risk factors influencing 3-year OS rate (all P < 0.05). Conclusions:Pediatric patients with AHL have high tumor burden at early stage, and TLS may cause death. Patients treated with the SCMC-ALL-2015 protocol can achieve favorable therapeutic effects and prognosis. LDH, MLL::AF4, immunophenotyping and relapse are prognostic factors.
3.A Randomized controlled study on the efficacy of HAIC sequential DEB-TACE in the treatment of colorec-tal cancer liver metastasis
Mengying ZHANG ; Yaokai MA ; Yifan DU ; Wei ZHANG ; Bo ZHOU ; Xiyi YANG
The Journal of Practical Medicine 2025;41(17):2721-2727
Objective To analyze the efficacy of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy(HAIC)sequential drug-eluting beads transcatheter arterial chemoembolization(DEB-TACE)in the treatment of liver metastases from colorectal cancer.Methods 86 patients with colorectal cancer liver metastasis admitted to multiple centers from September 2022 to September 2023 were selected and divided into a control group(43 cases)and an experimental group(43 cases)according to the random number table method.The control group was treated with HAIC,and the experimental group was treated with HAIC sequential DEB-TACE.The clinical data and the changes of tumor markers and liver function indexes before and after treatment were compared between the two groups,and the short-term and long-term efficacy was evaluated,and the adverse reactions were recorded.Results After treatment,the levels of carcinoembryonic antigen,carbohydrate antigen 125,carbohydrate antigen 199,carbohydrate antigen 242,aspartate aminotransferase,alanine aminotransferase,alkaline phosphatase and γ-glutamyl transpeptidase in the two groups decreased(P<0.05),and those in the experimental group were lower than the control group(P<0.05).The proportion of repeated treatment in the experimental group was lower than that in the control group(P<0.05).The objective remission rate and disease control rate in the experimental group were 60.00%and 82.50%respectively,which were higher than 30.95%and 61.90%in the control group(P<0.05).There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the control group and the experimental group(P>0.05).The results of Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed that the overall survival rate and progression-free survival rate of the experimental group were higher than those of the control group(P<0.05).Conclusions HAIC sequential DEB-TACE can effectively remove tumor cells and improve liver function in patients with colorectal can-cer liver metastasis,and it has good clinical efficacy and can prolong the survival time of patients.
4.18F-FDG PET/CT in Differential Diagnosis of Breast Cancer with Solitary Pulmonary Lesions
Yiting ZHAO ; Qin PENG ; Mei MA ; Mengying YANG ; Jing LI
Chinese Journal of Medical Imaging 2025;33(10):1072-1078
Purpose To evaluate the diagnostic value of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose(18F-FDG)PET/CT in differentiating primary lung cancer(PLC)from metastatic pulmonary breast cancer in breast cancer patients with solitary pulmonary lesion(SPL).Materials and Methods This retrospective analysis included 58 breast cancer patients with SPL in the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from January 2015 to August 2024.All patients had pathologically confirmed breast cancer with SPL and underwent PET/CT scans,including 36 cases of PLC and 22 cases of metastatic pulmonary breast cancer.Differences in clinical pathological features,high resolution CT morphological,and PET metabolic characteristics were analyzed.Multivariate Logistic regression was utilized to investigate independent predictive factors for SPL diagnosis.Results Statistically significant differences were observed between lesion density,nodule-lung interface,bubble sign,vascular convergence sign and pleural indentation sign(χ2=9.420,7.000,8.487,all P<0.05).PET/CT metabolic analysis revealed a significant difference in maximum standardized uptake value(SUVmax)between the two groups(Z=4.613,P<0.001).Multivariate analysis showed that bubble sign,pleural indentation sign and lower SUVmax were independent predictors for PLC.With an SUVmax threshold of 2.5,the area under the receiver operating curve(AUC)was 0.862,with a sensitivity of 90.9%,specificity of 77.8%and an accuracy of 82.8%.Combined analysis of high resolution CT and SUVmax demonstrated the highest diagnostic efficacy,with an area under the curve of 0.937,sensitivity of 90.9%,specificity of 94.4%and accuracy of 93.1%.Conclusion The presence of bubble sign,pleural indentation and SUVmax<2.5 suggests a high likelihood of PLC.Combined high resolution CT imaging features and PET metabolic characteristics significantly improve diagnostic accuracy for SPLs in breast cancer patients.
5.A systematic review of validation studies on the performance of GLIM criteria for malnutrition assessment
Yongshuai MENG ; Yanjuan LU ; Chunlei LIU ; Huilin JIA ; Mengying SUN ; Xiaoge HE ; Xiaoya SHENG ; Linna ZHANG ; Yinan MA ; Sangsang KE ; Lichuan ZHANG ; Qian LU
Chinese Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2025;33(4):290-298
Objective:To systematically evaluate studies validating the performance of the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) in diagnosing malnutrition.Methods:Seven Chinese and English databases including Embase, Web of Science (WOS), PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, SinoMed, CNKI, Wanfang Data, and VIP Database were searched for articles on the validation of GLIM criteria published between September 2018 and September 2024. Two researchers independently performed literature screening and data extraction. The concurrent and predictive validity of the criteria was analyzed.Results:A total of 136 papers were included for analysis. The GLIM criteria for diagnosing malnutrition had a sensitivity of 77%, a specificity of 87%, and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.90. Malnutrition diagnosed by the GLIM criteria predicted prolonged hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) stays, increased readmission and complication rates (both overall and infectious), reduced survivals (median, overall, and disease-free), and increased in-hospital and follow-up mortalities. Both moderate and severe malnutrition predicted decreased overall survival. However, only three studies analyzed the impact of nutritional therapy on the clinical outcomes of malnourished patients.Conclusions:The GLIM criteria accurately differentiate malnutrition and are a valid predictive tool of clinical outcomes. However, the validity criteria in these validation studies were questionable, along with high methodological heterogeneity. Furthermore, there is a lack of studies validating the role of nutritional therapy in improving the clinical outcomes of malnourished patients.
6.In vivo production of anti-CD19 CAR-T cells with T cell-targeted engineered exosomes to evaluate cytotoxicity against lymphoma cells
Dong TING ; Zhou YING ; Yu BOYU ; Xia XUEJIAO ; Ma YIGE ; Ma YAN ; Gao YANG ; Zhou MENGYING ; Wang CHANGJUN ; Li QIUYI ; Gu CHAOJIANG
Chinese Journal of Clinical Oncology 2025;52(6):279-286
Objective:Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell(CAR-T)immunotherapy has made major breakthroughs in the treatment of blood tu-mors.However,current CAR-T therapies face several limitations:they require autologous cells,involve a lengthy and costly production pro-cess,and use lentiviral transduction that carry risk of insertional carcinogenesis due to random integration.Therefore,there is an urgent need to develop a universal cost-effective cancer immunotherapy method generating CAR-T cells for in vivo cancer immunotherapy.Meth-ods:This study successfully established an exosome-mediated,T-cell targeted delivery system,demonstrating both precise design and func-tional efficacy for biomedical applications.To optimize CAR-T cell generation the transfection dose was adjusted,and the kinetics of CAR-T cell percentage were recorded.The cytotoxicity of the resulting CAR-T cells was evaluated in vitro by calcein-AM release.To test the tumor-killing in vivo of engineered exosomes,human PBMCs were injected into NPG mice via the tail vein to establish humanized mice,followed by intravenous injection of tumor cells to induce cancer.Results:To overcome the limitations of conditional autologous CAR-T cells,we de-veloped a T cell-targeted exosome system capable of specifically targeting human CD3+,CD4+,and CD8+T cells.CAR-T production was dose-dependent,with transfection efficiency reaching upto 97.8%at 106 particles/cell.Both in vitro cytotoxicity assays and in vivo animal experi-ments demonstrated that exosome-incubated CAR-T cells effectively eliminated CD19-positive Raji cells,highlighting their specificity and therapeutic potential in antigen-directed applications.Conclusions:We successfully established a CD8-targeting exosome delivery system for CAR-T cell production capable of transforming CD8+T cells into functional CAR-T cells,which showed significant tumor-killing ability in vitro and in mice.Compared with the traditional lentiviral vector for the preparation of CAR-T cells in vitro,in vivo-reprogrammed CAR-T cells us-ing our CD8-targeted exosome delivery system,with higher transfection efficiency,shorter production period,lower cost,and eliminated the risk of insertion carcinogenesis.This strategy promises to bring a new era of universal CAR-T medicine,which can improve cancer immuno-therapy and may hold promise as a therapeutic platform to treat various diseases.
7.A systematic review of validation studies on the performance of GLIM criteria for malnutrition assessment
Yongshuai MENG ; Yanjuan LU ; Chunlei LIU ; Huilin JIA ; Mengying SUN ; Xiaoge HE ; Xiaoya SHENG ; Linna ZHANG ; Yinan MA ; Sangsang KE ; Lichuan ZHANG ; Qian LU
Chinese Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2025;33(4):290-298
Objective:To systematically evaluate studies validating the performance of the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) in diagnosing malnutrition.Methods:Seven Chinese and English databases including Embase, Web of Science (WOS), PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, SinoMed, CNKI, Wanfang Data, and VIP Database were searched for articles on the validation of GLIM criteria published between September 2018 and September 2024. Two researchers independently performed literature screening and data extraction. The concurrent and predictive validity of the criteria was analyzed.Results:A total of 136 papers were included for analysis. The GLIM criteria for diagnosing malnutrition had a sensitivity of 77%, a specificity of 87%, and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.90. Malnutrition diagnosed by the GLIM criteria predicted prolonged hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) stays, increased readmission and complication rates (both overall and infectious), reduced survivals (median, overall, and disease-free), and increased in-hospital and follow-up mortalities. Both moderate and severe malnutrition predicted decreased overall survival. However, only three studies analyzed the impact of nutritional therapy on the clinical outcomes of malnourished patients.Conclusions:The GLIM criteria accurately differentiate malnutrition and are a valid predictive tool of clinical outcomes. However, the validity criteria in these validation studies were questionable, along with high methodological heterogeneity. Furthermore, there is a lack of studies validating the role of nutritional therapy in improving the clinical outcomes of malnourished patients.
8.18F-FDG PET/CT in Differential Diagnosis of Breast Cancer with Solitary Pulmonary Lesions
Yiting ZHAO ; Qin PENG ; Mei MA ; Mengying YANG ; Jing LI
Chinese Journal of Medical Imaging 2025;33(10):1072-1078
Purpose To evaluate the diagnostic value of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose(18F-FDG)PET/CT in differentiating primary lung cancer(PLC)from metastatic pulmonary breast cancer in breast cancer patients with solitary pulmonary lesion(SPL).Materials and Methods This retrospective analysis included 58 breast cancer patients with SPL in the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from January 2015 to August 2024.All patients had pathologically confirmed breast cancer with SPL and underwent PET/CT scans,including 36 cases of PLC and 22 cases of metastatic pulmonary breast cancer.Differences in clinical pathological features,high resolution CT morphological,and PET metabolic characteristics were analyzed.Multivariate Logistic regression was utilized to investigate independent predictive factors for SPL diagnosis.Results Statistically significant differences were observed between lesion density,nodule-lung interface,bubble sign,vascular convergence sign and pleural indentation sign(χ2=9.420,7.000,8.487,all P<0.05).PET/CT metabolic analysis revealed a significant difference in maximum standardized uptake value(SUVmax)between the two groups(Z=4.613,P<0.001).Multivariate analysis showed that bubble sign,pleural indentation sign and lower SUVmax were independent predictors for PLC.With an SUVmax threshold of 2.5,the area under the receiver operating curve(AUC)was 0.862,with a sensitivity of 90.9%,specificity of 77.8%and an accuracy of 82.8%.Combined analysis of high resolution CT and SUVmax demonstrated the highest diagnostic efficacy,with an area under the curve of 0.937,sensitivity of 90.9%,specificity of 94.4%and accuracy of 93.1%.Conclusion The presence of bubble sign,pleural indentation and SUVmax<2.5 suggests a high likelihood of PLC.Combined high resolution CT imaging features and PET metabolic characteristics significantly improve diagnostic accuracy for SPLs in breast cancer patients.
9.A Randomized controlled study on the efficacy of HAIC sequential DEB-TACE in the treatment of colorec-tal cancer liver metastasis
Mengying ZHANG ; Yaokai MA ; Yifan DU ; Wei ZHANG ; Bo ZHOU ; Xiyi YANG
The Journal of Practical Medicine 2025;41(17):2721-2727
Objective To analyze the efficacy of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy(HAIC)sequential drug-eluting beads transcatheter arterial chemoembolization(DEB-TACE)in the treatment of liver metastases from colorectal cancer.Methods 86 patients with colorectal cancer liver metastasis admitted to multiple centers from September 2022 to September 2023 were selected and divided into a control group(43 cases)and an experimental group(43 cases)according to the random number table method.The control group was treated with HAIC,and the experimental group was treated with HAIC sequential DEB-TACE.The clinical data and the changes of tumor markers and liver function indexes before and after treatment were compared between the two groups,and the short-term and long-term efficacy was evaluated,and the adverse reactions were recorded.Results After treatment,the levels of carcinoembryonic antigen,carbohydrate antigen 125,carbohydrate antigen 199,carbohydrate antigen 242,aspartate aminotransferase,alanine aminotransferase,alkaline phosphatase and γ-glutamyl transpeptidase in the two groups decreased(P<0.05),and those in the experimental group were lower than the control group(P<0.05).The proportion of repeated treatment in the experimental group was lower than that in the control group(P<0.05).The objective remission rate and disease control rate in the experimental group were 60.00%and 82.50%respectively,which were higher than 30.95%and 61.90%in the control group(P<0.05).There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the control group and the experimental group(P>0.05).The results of Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed that the overall survival rate and progression-free survival rate of the experimental group were higher than those of the control group(P<0.05).Conclusions HAIC sequential DEB-TACE can effectively remove tumor cells and improve liver function in patients with colorectal can-cer liver metastasis,and it has good clinical efficacy and can prolong the survival time of patients.
10.In vivo production of anti-CD19 CAR-T cells with T cell-targeted engineered exosomes to evaluate cytotoxicity against lymphoma cells
Dong TING ; Zhou YING ; Yu BOYU ; Xia XUEJIAO ; Ma YIGE ; Ma YAN ; Gao YANG ; Zhou MENGYING ; Wang CHANGJUN ; Li QIUYI ; Gu CHAOJIANG
Chinese Journal of Clinical Oncology 2025;52(6):279-286
Objective:Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell(CAR-T)immunotherapy has made major breakthroughs in the treatment of blood tu-mors.However,current CAR-T therapies face several limitations:they require autologous cells,involve a lengthy and costly production pro-cess,and use lentiviral transduction that carry risk of insertional carcinogenesis due to random integration.Therefore,there is an urgent need to develop a universal cost-effective cancer immunotherapy method generating CAR-T cells for in vivo cancer immunotherapy.Meth-ods:This study successfully established an exosome-mediated,T-cell targeted delivery system,demonstrating both precise design and func-tional efficacy for biomedical applications.To optimize CAR-T cell generation the transfection dose was adjusted,and the kinetics of CAR-T cell percentage were recorded.The cytotoxicity of the resulting CAR-T cells was evaluated in vitro by calcein-AM release.To test the tumor-killing in vivo of engineered exosomes,human PBMCs were injected into NPG mice via the tail vein to establish humanized mice,followed by intravenous injection of tumor cells to induce cancer.Results:To overcome the limitations of conditional autologous CAR-T cells,we de-veloped a T cell-targeted exosome system capable of specifically targeting human CD3+,CD4+,and CD8+T cells.CAR-T production was dose-dependent,with transfection efficiency reaching upto 97.8%at 106 particles/cell.Both in vitro cytotoxicity assays and in vivo animal experi-ments demonstrated that exosome-incubated CAR-T cells effectively eliminated CD19-positive Raji cells,highlighting their specificity and therapeutic potential in antigen-directed applications.Conclusions:We successfully established a CD8-targeting exosome delivery system for CAR-T cell production capable of transforming CD8+T cells into functional CAR-T cells,which showed significant tumor-killing ability in vitro and in mice.Compared with the traditional lentiviral vector for the preparation of CAR-T cells in vitro,in vivo-reprogrammed CAR-T cells us-ing our CD8-targeted exosome delivery system,with higher transfection efficiency,shorter production period,lower cost,and eliminated the risk of insertion carcinogenesis.This strategy promises to bring a new era of universal CAR-T medicine,which can improve cancer immuno-therapy and may hold promise as a therapeutic platform to treat various diseases.

Result Analysis
Print
Save
E-mail