Compared with traditional therapies for chronic liver disease （CLD）， Bifidobacterium has the characteristics of multi-target intervention， high biosafety， and good host compatibility and provides new strategies for intervention of CLD progression in terms of microecological regulation. Various studies have shown that Bifidobacterium regulates liver homeostasis and exerts a therapeutic effect on CLD by regulating intestinal flora， maintaining antioxidation， promoting energy consumption， alleviating inflammation， improving glycolipid metabolism， and exerting an antitumor effect. This article systematically reviews the studies on Bifidobacterium in the treatment of CLD in China and globally， explores their different mechanisms， and elaborates on the interaction between related signaling pathways （such as the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 signaling pathway and the adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase signaling pathway） and the liver， in order to provide a basis for probiotic intervention in liver pathology， as well as new ideas for the comprehensive treatment of CLD.

Chemical constituents of n-butanol fraction of ethanol extract from the leaves of Cyclocarya paliurus (Batalin) Iljinskaja were studied. Ten compounds were purified by silica gel, MCI, ODS, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography and semi-preparative high-performance liquid chromatography. Based on the physicochemical properties and spectroscopic data, these compounds were identified as (4S)-4,8-dihydroxy-α-tetralone-5-[6′-(3′′,5′′-dimethoxy-(E)-p-coumaroyl)]-β-D-glucopyranoside (1), (4S)-4,8-dihydroxy-α-tetralone-5-[6′-(E)-feruloyl]-β-D-glucopyranoside (2), (1S,3R,4S,5R)-4,5-di-O-caffeoyl quinic acid methyl ester (3), (1R,3R,4S,5R)-3,4-di-O-caffeoyl quinic acid methyl ester (4), (3R,5R)-3,4,5-tri-O-caffeoylquinic acid methyl ester (5), (1R,3R,4S,5R)-3-O-caffeoyl-5-O-p-coumaroyl quinic acid methyl ester (6), (1R,3R,4S,5R)-3-O-p-coumaroy-4-O-caffeoyl quinic acid methyl ester (7), (1R,3R,4S,5R)-3-O-caffeoyl-4-O-p-coumaroy quinic acid methyl ester (8), (3R,5R)-3,5-di-O-caffeoyl quinic acid methyl ester (9) and (1S,3R,4R,5R)-4-O-caffeoyl-5-O-feruloyl quinic acid methyl ester (10). Among them, compound 1 was a new compound, and compounds 3–10 were isolated from the genus Cyclocarya for the first time.

Objective To explore the dominant views with positive results when performing echocardiography on common congenital heart disease (CHD) in children using the seven-step screening method for pediatric echocardiography. Methods The echocardiographic data of children with atrial septal defect, patent foramen ovale, ventricular septal defect, and patent ductus arteriosus were collected from September 2021 to February 2022. The disease type distribution, view distribution, and the dominant view distribution were analyzed. Dominant view referred to the view with a high ratio of positive result images per view to the total image in each disease. Results A total of 8 353 images of 1 633 children with common CHD were collected. There were 813 males and 820 females ageed 0-7 years, including 3 613 images in 701 patients with atrial septal defect, 1 178 images in 206 patients with patent foramen ovale, 2 857 images in 576 patients with ventricular septal defect, and 705 images in 150 patients with patent ductus arteriosus. The dominant views of atrial septal defect were subxiphoid 2-chamber view (92.96%), subxiphoid 4-chamber view (85.61%), parasternal 4-chamber view (62.07%), and parasternal short-axis view (38.50%). The dominant views of patent foramen ovale were subxiphoid 2-chamber view (82.69%) and subxiphoid 4-chamber view (65.41%). The dominant views of ventricular septal defect were parasternal 5-chamber view (79.73%), parasternal short-axis view (79.41%), parasternal 4-chamber view (58.18%), and parasternal long-axis view (51.11%). The dominant view of patent ductus arteriosus was parasternal short-axis view (98.80%). Conclusion The analysis of the lesion key areas of common CHD shows that there are 4 dominant views for atrial septal defect and ventricular septal defect, 2 for patent foramen ovale, and only 1 for patent ductus arteriosus. Clarifying the dominant views of common CHD is conducive to rapid and accurate diagnosis of diseases, clinical practice, teaching and scientific research.

Childhood is a critical period for growth and development, and the oral microbiota, as the second most diverse microbial community in the human body, plays a pivotal role in maintaining children's health. Recent studies have demonstrated that dysbiosis of the oral microbiota not only contributes to oral diseases such as dental caries and periodontitis but may also influence the development of children's skeletal, nervous, digestive, cardiovascular, and immune systems through mechanisms involving inflammatory responses, metabolic regulation, and cross-organ communication networks. This review systematically examines the role of the oral microbiota in childhood growth and development and, guided by the core principles of the "active health" model, proposes multiple intervention strategies—including probiotics, xylitol, and mouthwashes—to optimize children's health through early oral microbiota modulation.

Objective To investigate the species of ticks in Suizhou City, Hubei Province, so as to provide insights into management of ticks and tick-borne diseases. Methods During the period between May 2023 and June 2024, livestock breeding farms and vegetation neighboring the place of residence of confirmed and suspected patients with tick-borne disease were selected as sampling points in rural areas from Yindian Township, Gaocheng Township, Wanhe Township, Wushan Township, Xiaolin Township, Xihe Township, Hedian Township and Beijiao Street in Suizhou City, Hubei Province, where confirmed and suspected cases with tick-borne diseases had been reported. The parasitic ticks on the body surface of free-range livestock were captured with tweezers in livestock breeding farms, and free ticks on the vegetation surface were captured with the flagging method. Morphological identification of tick samples was performed under a microscope, and the gender and developmental stage of ticks were determined. One engorged adult tick, 2 to 3 blood-feeding but non-engorged adult ticks, 10 to 15 unfed female ticks, 15 to 20 unfed male ticks, and 30 to 40 tick nymphs or larvae were assigned into a group, respectively. Genomic DNA was extracted from tick samples in each group, and mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene was amplified. Sequence analysis was performed with the DNASTAR software, and phylogenetic analysis was performed using the software MEGA 7.0. In addition, the phylogenetic tree was generated using the maximum likelihood method based on the Kimura 2 parameter model. Results A total of 2 438 ticks were captured from Suizhou City, Hubei Province during the period between May 2023 and June 2024, including 595 free ticks and 1 483 parasitic ticks. Three developmental stages of ticks were captured, including larvae, nymphs, and adults, and 75.18% (1 899/2 438) of captured ticks were adult, in which 79.04% (1 501/1 899) were female. Morphological and molecular biological assays identified one family, three genera and four species of captured ticks, including 2 425 Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks (99.47%) and one H. flava tick (0.04%) of the genus Haemaphysalis, 11 Rhipicephalus microplus ticks (0.45%) of the genus Rhipicephalus, and one Ixodes sinensis tick (0.04%) of the genus Ixodes in the family Ixodidae. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the H. longicornis sequence (SZ49) in this study was clustered with sequences from Yunnan Province (GenBank accession number: MH024510.1), Hebei Province (GenBank accession number: MK450606.1) and Henan Province (GenBank accession number: MZ230645.1) into a clade, and the H. flava sequence (SZ19) in this study was clustered with sequences from Japan (GenBank accession number: MW064044.1), South Korea (GenBank accession number: ON629585.1), and Jiangsu Province (GenBank accession number: PP494741.1) and Hebei Province of China (GenBank accession number: MH520685.1) into a clade, while the R. microplus sequence (SZ8) in this study was clustered with the sequences from India (GenBank accession number: MK621328.1), and Henan Province (GenBank accession number: MT555307.1) and Guizhou Province of China (GenBank accession number: PP446801.1) into a clade. The sequence of I. sinensis (SZ23) in this study had 99.51% homology with that (GenBank accession number: OM368265.1) of ticks sampled from Wuhan City, Hubei Province. Conclusion There are four tick species of H. longicornis, H. flava, R. microplus and I. sinensis in Suizhou City, Hubei Province, and H. longicornis is the dominant species. H. flava is firstly recorded in Suizhou City.

BACKGROUND:Spleen has the functions of blood storage,hematopoiesis,and immunity.With the increase of age,the structural degeneration and functional decline of spleen lead to the impairment of immune system function,thus accelerating the aging process of the body.The treatment of spleen aging in tree shrews with highly active umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells has not been reported. OBJECTIVE:To explore the intervention effect and mechanism of highly active umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells on spleen aging in tree shrews. METHODS:Highly active umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells were isolated,cultured,and obtained from the umbilical cord tissue of newborn tree shrews by caesarean section.The differentiation abilities of adipogenesis,osteogenesis,and chondrogenesis were detected by three-line differentiation kit.Cell cycle and surface markers were detected by flow cytometry.The second generation of highly active umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells were transfected with Genechem Green Fluorescent Protein with infection complex values of 100,120,140,160,180,and 200,respectively,to screen the best transfection conditions.After transfection,the fourth generation of highly active umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells was injected into the tail vein of tree shrews in the elderly treatment group.The young control group and the aged model group were not given special treatment.After 4 months of treatment,the spleen tissue was taken and the structure of the spleen was observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining.β-Galactosidase staining was used to detect the activity of aging-related galactosidase.Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expression levels of p21 and p53 proteins.Ki67 and PCNA immunofluorescence staining was used to detect cell proliferation activity.Immunofluorescence staining was used to detect the expression levels of spleen autophagy protein molecules Beclin 1 and APG5L/ATG5.Reactive oxygen species fluorescence staining was used to detect the content of reactive oxygen species in spleen tissue.CD3 immunofluorescence staining was used to detect the change of the proportion of total T lymphocytes.The secretion levels of interleukin 1β and transforming growth factor β1 in spleen were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay.The distribution of highly active umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells labeled with green fluorescent protein in spleen tissue was observed by DAPI double staining of nucleus. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Highly active umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells grew in a short spindle shape with fish-like growth,with a large proportion of G0/G1 phase,and had the potential to differentiate into adipogenesis,osteogenesis,and chondrogenesis.(2)Multiplicity of infection=140 and transfection for 72 hours were the best conditions for labeling tree shrews highly active umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells with Genechem Green Fluorescent Protein.(3)Compared with the aged model group,in the aged treatment group,the spleen tissue cells of tree shrews were arranged closely,and the area of white pulp was increased(P<0.01);the boundary between red pulp and white pulp was clear;the proportion of germinal centers did not show statistically significant difference(P>0.05).The activity level of galactosidase related to spleen tissue aging was decreased(P<0.001),and the expression levels of aging protein molecules p21 and p53 were down-regulated(P<0.001).The expression levels of proliferation-related molecules Ki67 and PCNA were up-regulated(P<0.001,P<0.05);expression levels of autophagy-related molecules Beclin 1 and APG5L/ATG5 were up-regulated(P<0.001),and the content of reactive oxygen species decreased(P<0.001),and the proportion of CD3+T cells increased(P<0.05).The secretion level of interleukin 1β in the aging-related secretion phenotype decreased(P<0.001);no significant difference was found in transforming growth factor β1 level(P>0.05).Compared with the young control group,the above indexes were significantly different in the elderly treatment group(P<0.05).(4)Green fluorescent cells labeled with green fluorescent protein were observed in spleen tissue of tree shrews the elderly treatment group by frozen tissue section observation.The results show that intravenous infusion of highly active umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells can migrate to spleen tissue,inhibit the production of reactive oxygen species,down-regulate the expression of aging-related proteins,induce autophagy,promote cell proliferation,reduce chronic inflammation,and then improve the structure and function of spleen tissue.

Background: s/Aims: Sarcomatoid hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a rare histological subtype of HCC characterized by extremely poor prognosis; however, its molecular characterization has not been elucidated. Methods: In this study, we conducted an integrated multiomics study of whole-exome sequencing, RNA-seq, spatial transcriptome, and immunohistochemical analyses of 28 paired sarcomatoid tumor components and conventional HCC components from 10 patients with sarcomatoid HCC, in order to identify frequently altered genes, infer the tumor subclonal architectures, track the genomic evolution, and delineate the transcriptional characteristics of sarcomatoid HCCs. Results: Our results showed that the sarcomatoid HCCs had poor prognosis. The sarcomatoid tumor components and the conventional HCC components were derived from common ancestors, mostly accessing similar mutational processes. Clonal phylogenies demonstrated branched tumor evolution during sarcomatoid HCC development and progression. TP53 mutation commonly occurred at tumor initiation, whereas ARID2 mutation often occurred later. Transcriptome analyses revealed the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and hypoxic phenotype in sarcomatoid tumor components, which were confirmed by immunohistochemical staining. Moreover, we identified ARID2 mutations in 70% (7/10) of patients with sarcomatoid HCC but only 1–5% of patients with non-sarcomatoid HCC. Biofunctional investigations revealed that inactivating mutation of ARID2 contributes to HCC growth and metastasis and induces EMT in a hypoxic microenvironment. Conclusions We offer a comprehensive description of the molecular basis for sarcomatoid HCC, and identify genomic alteration (ARID2 mutation) together with the tumor microenvironment (hypoxic microenvironment), that may contribute to the formation of the sarcomatoid tumor component through EMT, leading to sarcomatoid HCC development and progression.

Objective To discuss the main pathological types and imaging characteristics of pulmonary nodules that are highly suspected to be malignant in clinical practice but are pathologically confirmed to be benign. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of patients with pulmonary nodules who were initially highly suspected of malignancy but were subsequently pathologically confirmed to be benign. These patients were treated at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University from December 2020 to April 2023. Based on the outcomes of preoperative discussions, the patients were categorized into a benign group and a suspicious malignancy group. The clinical data and imaging characteristics of both groups were compared. Results A total of 232 patients were included in the study, comprising 112 males and 120 females, with a mean age of (50.7±12.0) years. Among these, 127 patients were classified into the benign group, while 105 patients were categorized into the suspicious malignancy group. No statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups regarding age, gender, symptoms, smoking history, or tumor history (P>0.05). However, significant differences were noted in nodule density, CT values, margins, shapes, and malignant signs (P＜0.05). Further analysis revealed that in the suspicious malignancy group, solid nodules were predominantly characterized by collagen nodules and fibrous tissue hyperplasia (33.3%), followed by tuberculosis (20.4%) and fungal infections (18.5%). In contrast, non-solid nodules were primarily composed of collagen nodules and fibrous tissue hyperplasia (41.2%) and atypical adenomatous hyperplasia (17.7%). Conclusion Benign pulmonary nodules that are suspected to be malignant are pathologically characterized by the presence of collagen nodules, fibrous tissue hyperplasia, tuberculosis, atypical adenomatous hyperplasia, and fungal infections. Radiologically, these nodules typically present as non-solid lesions and may exhibit features suggestive of malignancy, including spiculation, lobulation, cavitation, and pleural retraction.

Hepatic fibrosis is a key intermediate stage in the progression of various chronic liver diseases to liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） has a good effect in the treatment of hepatic fibrosis， but its mechanism of action remains unclear. This article introduces the pathological mechanisms of hepatic fibrosis， including etiology and pathogenesis based on TCM theory and related mechanisms in Western medicine （such as hepatic stellate cell ［HSC］ activation， hepatic fibrosis driven by metabolic reprogramming， and key signaling pathways in hepatic fibrosis）. On this basis， this article analyzes the core mechanisms of TCM in the treatment of hepatic fibrosis， including inhibiting HSC activation and proliferation， suppressing liver inflammation and modulating immunity， counteracting lipid peroxidation damage， regulating the synthesis and secretion of pro-fibrotic factors， maintaining the metabolic balance of extracellular matrix， regulating key signaling pathways， modulating gut microbiota， and inhibiting sinusoidal capillarization， in order to summarize the mechanism of action of TCM in the treatment of hepatic fibrosis and lay a foundation for better developing TCM-based therapeutics for hepatic fibrosis.

Objective To investigate the role of JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway mediated Treg/Th17 imbalance in children with cow's milk protein allergy and the effect of dietary avoidance on the imbalance.Methods A total of 103 children with cow's milk protein allergy in the hospital were enrolled and divided in-to the IgE-mediated group(n=38)and the non-IgE-mediated group(n=65).All patients underwent a 3-month strict dietary avoidance intervention.A total of 100 healthy children who underwent health checkups at the hospital's physical examination center during the same period,with no history of food allergy or other im-mune-related diseases,were selected as the healthy control group.The percentages of Treg and Th17 cells were measured by flow cytometry.The mRNA expression levels of JAK2,STAT3,SOCS1,and SOCS3 were determined by qPCR.Differences between groups,changes before and after dietary avoidance,and correlations between these indicators and clinical symptoms were analyzed using Pearson's test.Results At baseline,both the IgE-mediated group and the non-IgE-mediated group had significantly lower Treg percentages and SOCS1/SOCS3 mRNA levels,and higher Th17 percentages and JAK2/STAT3 mRNA levels compared to the healthy control group(P＜0.05).After dietary avoidance,Treg percentages and SOCS1/SOCS3 mRNA levels in-creased,while Th17 percentages and JAK2/STAT3 mRNA levels decreased in the IgE-mediated group and the non-IgE-mediated group(P＜0.05).The increase of Treg percentage and the decrease of Th17 percentage in the non-IgE-mediated group were greater than in the IgE-mediated group,whereas the increases of SOCS1 and SOCS3 mRNA levels were smaller in the non-IgE-mediated group(P＜0.05).Logistic regression identified JAK2,STAT3,SOCS1,and SOCS3 mRNA levels as factors influencing Treg and Th17 percentages(P＜0.05).Pearson correlation analysis revealed that allergic symptom scores and serum milk-specific IgE levels were positively correlated with JAK2/STAT3 mRNA levels and Th17 percentage,and negatively correlated with SOCS1/SOCS3 mRNA levels,Treg percentage,and the Treg/Th17 ratio(P＜0.05).Conclusion Dieta-ry avoidance can modulate the activity of JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway,with a more pronounced improve-ment in non-IgE-mediated cow's milk protein allergy.