Objectives:To investigate the epidemiological characteristics and ethnic differences of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome(CKM)among the Hani,Dai,Bai,and Lisu populations in Yunnan Province,and to provide evidence for developing effective prevention and control strategies for CKM.Methods:A cross-sectional survey was conducted among four ethnic minority groups.A total of 3 906 permanent residents aged 18 years and older were enrolled using a multistage cluster random sampling method.CKM stages(0-4)were defined based on the 2023 American Heart Association criteria,stages 3-4 were classified as advanced CKM.Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were used to compare the prevalence of CKM stages across ethnic groups.Modified Poisson regression was applied to estimate relative risk(RR)and 95%confidence intervals(CI)for factors associated with advanced CKM.Results:The prevalence rates of CKM stage 1 and above among the Hani,Dai,Bai and Lisu ethnic groups were 80.1%,87.3%,84.8%and 67.8%,respectively.The prevalence of CKM was generally higher in males than in females,and the prevalence of CKM increased significantly with age.The Dai ethnic group had the highest prevalence of advanced CKM(24.7%,95%CI:22.1%-27.4%),while the Lisu ethnic group had the lowest prevalence of advanced CKM(13.7%,95%CI:11.5%-15.9%).Modified Poisson regression analysis showed that older age and higher body mass index were common risk factors for advanced CKM across all four ethnic groups.Additionally,except for the Lisu ethnic group,the other three ethnic groups had specific individual risk factors:among the Hani ethnic group,low educational attainment(RR=2.18,95%CI:1.12-4.25)and low income(RR=1.47,95%CI:1.00-2.18)were the primary risk factors of CKM.Among the Dai ethnic group,smoking(RR=1.60,95%CI:1.07-2.37)and a family history of cardiovascular disease(RR=1.61,95%CI:1.14-2.27)are the primary risk factors of CKM.Among the Bai ethnic group,male gender(RR=0.48,95%CI:0.29-0.79)was the primary risk factor of CKM.Conclusions:The prevalence of CKM stage 1 or higher is relatively high among the four minority ethnic groups in Yunnan province.There are significant differences in staging characteristics and primary risk factors across ethnic groups,necessitating the development of stratified,differentiated intervention strategies to achieve precise prevention and control and ethnic health equity in terms of CKM.

Pruritus is one of the common comorbidities in patients with chronic kidney disease, significantly reducing life quality and increasing the risks of depression and mortality. This report presents the treatment process of a patient undergoing maintenance hemodialysis with pruritus. The patient successively received an optimized dialysis prescription, management of chronic kidney disease-related mineral and bone disorder, correction of secondary hyperparathyroidism, enhanced skin care, and administration of gabapentin. However, pruritus symptoms of this patient persisted. Subsequently, the patient was treated with nalfurafine hydrochloride, resulting in significant relief of pruritus symptoms without any adverse reaction. This case provides new insights and references for the treatment of chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus.

Objective To explore the impact of the number of negative lymph node resections on the overall survival and recurrence rate of patients with ovarian cancer.Methods A retrospective selection was made of 150 ovarian cancer patients admitted to our hospital from October 2021 to October 2023 as the research subjects.According to the standard of the number of negative lymph nodes removed,they were divided into three groups:T1 group(≤17),T2 group(18～27),and T3 group(≥28).Clinical characteristics and surgical indicators were collected,and the recurrence and survival situations were analyzed.Results The clinical characteristic analysis results showed that there were no statistically significant differences among the three groups in terms of age,meno-pausal status,BMI,CCI,family history of tumors,etc.(P>0.05).There were no significant differences in surgi-cal methods,residual lesion size,postoperative complications among the three groups(P>0.05).In terms of operation time,T1 group0.05),but with the increase in the number of lymph node resections(from T1 group to T3 group),the recurrence rate showed a statistically significant downward trend(P<0.05).Cox regression analysis showed that the univariate analysis indicated that for each additional negative lymph node,the risk of death decreased by 4.7%(HR=0.953,P<0.05);the multivariate analysis(after adjusting for confounding factors)showed that the risk decreased by 5.8%(HR=0.942,P<0.05).Restricted cubic spline(RCS)analysis confirmed a significant linear association between the two(P<0.05).With 5 lymph nodes as the reference,the risk ratios for 10,20,and 30 resections were 1.003,0.760,and 0.317,respectively,and the trend showed that the risk of death contin-ued to decrease as the number of lymph nodes increased.Multivariate Cox analysis showed that the risk of death in T3 group was 68%lower than that in T1 group(P<0.05),the risk in FIGO stage Ⅲ was 3.11 times higher(P<0.05),and the risk in high-grade tumors was 2.80 times higher(P<0.05).Conclusions The number of nega-tive lymph nodes removed in patients with ovarian cancer is linearly correlated with prognosis.The more lymph nodes removed,the lower the risk of death for the patients.Adequate lymph node removal should be an important part of the surgical treatment for ovarian cancer.

(rsFC)and their relationship with negative symptoms in schizophrenia patients with predominant negative symptoms(PNS).Methods Fifty-four schizophrenia patients with PNS and sixty-one healthy controls underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI)scans.Data were collected on general demographic information,the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale(PANSS),the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms(SANS),and the Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale(TEPS).Twelve striatal subregions were selected as regions of interest(ROIs)to analyze the rsFC between each ROI and whole-brain voxels.The rsFC values of areas with significant differences were extracted for Pearson correlation analysis with negative symptoms.Results Compared with healthy controls,schizophrenia patients with PNS exhibited decreased rsFC between the right dorsal caudal putamen(DCP)and right insula,left middle frontal gyrus(MFG),right median cingulate and paracingulate gyri(MCC);between the left DCP and right putamen,left insula,left MFG;between the right dorsal rostral putamen(DRP)and bilateral MFG,left insula,right MCC;between the left DRP and right insula,left rolandic operculum;between the right ventral rostral putamen(VRP)and bilateral putamen,left MFG,right MCC;between the left VRP and right insula,left putamen,bilateral MFG,right MCC,left inferior parietal gyrus,excluding supramarginal and angular gyri.Decreased rsFC was also observed between the left ventral caudate/nucleus accumbens(inferior)and right insula,left anterior cingulate cortex,supracallosal,bilateral precuneus(a threshold of P<0.001 in voxel-level with P<0.05 in cluster-lever,corrected for family-wise error,PFWE<0.05/12=0.004).No regions showed increased rsFC in schizophrenia patients with PNS relative to healthy controls.And no significant correlations were found between striatal rsFC and negative symptoms(PBonferroni>0.05).Conclusion Schizophrenia patients with PNS exhibited widespread cortical-striatal functional connectivity abnormalities,particularly reduced rsFC between the putamen and the MFG,MCC and insula.

Depression is a heterogeneous mental disorder in which the interaction between genetic susceptibility and environ-mental factors plays a key role in its pathogenesis.Although the specific mechanisms of the disease still need to be thoroughly studied and elucidated,there is now a broad consensus that epi-genetic markers have a central influence on its mechanism of ac-tion.DNA methylation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BD-NF)is not only regarded as a promising epigenetic biomarker of pathology,but may also help predict the efficacy of antidepres-sants.In this paper we reviewed the gene structure of BDNF and its DNA methylation regulation mechanism,and also analyzed the changes of DNA methylation of this factor in depression pa-tients and animal models,aiming to provide new ideas and theo-retical support for clinical research.

AIM To study the chemical constituents from Tetrastigma hemsleyanum Diels et Gilg and their antitumor activity in vitro.METHODS Silica gel,ODS,Sephadex LH-20 and semi-preparative HPLC were used for isolation and purification,then the structures of obtained compounds were identified by physicochemical properties and spectral data.The antitumor activity in vitro was determined by MTT mothod.RESULTS Twenty-eight compounds were isolated and identified as triphyllin A(1),eruberin B(2),(2S,4R)-5,7-dihydroxy-4,4'-dimethyl-6,8-dimethyl-flavan-5-O-β-D-6-acetylglucopyranoside-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(3),eruberin A(4),abacopterin Ⅰ(5),matteucinol(6),homoerodictyol(7),(2S)-5,3',4'-trihydroxy-7-methoxy-flavanone(8),(2S)-5,2',5'-trihydroxy-7-methoxyflavanone(9),galinsonside B(10),quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(11),kaempferol 3-O-robinobioside(12),rutin(13),geniposide(14),jasminoside A(15),β-sitostenone(16),sitosterol palmitate(17),β-sitosterol(18),ursolic acid(19),hyptadienic acid(20),3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid(21),3,4-dimethoxybenzoic acid(22),gallic acid(23),dibutylphthalate(24),bis-(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate(25),9-nonadecenoic acid(26),triacylglycerol(27),crocin Ⅰ(28).The IC50 values of compound 1 for human gastric adenocarcinoma cells BGC-823 and human colon cancer cells HCT-116 were(22.07±0.38),(20.67±0.11)μmol/L,respectively.The IC50 value of compound 9 for BGC-823 cells was(21.58±0.05)μmol/L,and the IC50 value of compound 4 for HCT-116 cells was(16.67±0.36)μmol/L.CONCLUSION Compounds 1-10,14-15 and 28 are first isolated from Tetrastigma genus.Compounds 1,4,9 have weak antitumor activity in vitro.

AIM To investigate the effects of Yiqi Juanbi Formula on chondrocyte pyroptosis in rat models of collagen-induced arthritis(CIA).METHODS Fifty rats were subcutaneously injected at the tail base with an emulsion containing equal volumes of bovine type Ⅱ collagen and incomplete Freund's adjuvant(IFA)to establish the CIA models.These rats were then randomly assigned to the model group,the methotrexate group(0.35 mg/kg),and the low-dose,medium-dose,and high-dose Yiqi Juanbi Formula groups(9.4,18.7,37.4 g/kg),in contrast to the ten intact rats serving in the normal control group.Following four weeks of intragastric administration,the rats had their general conditions observed;their joint swelling and arthritis indices measured;their ankle joint pathology assessed by HE staining;their serum levels of IL-1β,IL-18 and TNF-ɑ detected by ELISA;their mRNA expressions of NLRP3,Caspase-1,GSDMD,IL-1β,IL-18 and TNF-ɑ in ankle cartilage quantified by RT-qPCR;their protein expressions of NF-κB,NLRP3 and Caspase-1 in ankle cartilage analyzed by Western blot;and their NLRP3 and GSDMD positive expressions in ankle cartilage examined by immunohistochemistry.RESULTS Compared to the control group,the model group showed significantly increased joint swelling and arthritis indices(P＜0.01);elevated serum levels of IL-1 β,IL-18 and TNF-ɑ(P＜0.01);pathological changes including cartilage surface defects,reduced cell count,altered cellular morphology,irregular cell arrangement,and significant inflammatory cell infiltration in synovial tissue;upregulated mRNA expressions of NF-κB,NLRP3,Caspase-1,GSDMD,IL-1β,IL-18 and TNF-ɑ(P＜0.01)and increased protein expressions of NF-κB,NLRP3 and Caspase-1(P＜0.01)in ankle cartilage;enhanced positive expressions of NLRP3 and GSDMD in ankle cartilage(P＜0.01).Compared to the model group,the groups intervened with methotrexate or medium-or high-dose Yiqi Juanbi Formula exhibited reduced joint swelling and arthritis indices(P＜0.01);alleviated pathological damage in ankle joints;decreased serum levels of IL-1β,IL-18 and TNF-ɑ(P＜0.01);downregulated mRNA expressions of NF-κB,NLRP3,Caspase-1,GSDMD,IL-1β,IL-18 and TNF-ɑ(P＜0.05,P＜0.01),and reduced protein expressions of NF-κB,NLRP3 and Caspase-1(P＜0.05,P＜0.01)in ankle cartilage;and diminished positive expressions of NLRP3 and GSDMD in ankle cartilage(P＜0.01).CONCLUSION Yiqi Juanbi Formula alleviates inflammation in CIA rats,potentially by inhibiting the activation of the NF-κB/NLRP3/Caspase-1 signaling pathway,thereby suppressing chondrocyte pyroptosis.

A mounting body of research suggests that circRNAs significantly contribute to the develop-ment of myocardial fibrosis.The microarray results of human circular RNA expression profile indicated that circHERC4_041 expression increased in the myocardium of patients with heart failure,RT-qPCR a-nalysis confirmed that the myocardial expression level of circHERC4_041 in individuals with heart failure were considerably elevated compared to that in healthy organ donors.Fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH)confirmed that circHERC4_041 was abundant in the cytoplasm of human cardiomyocyte AC16.Overexpression of circHERC4_041 in mouse myocardial fibroblasts(mCFs)mediated by adenovirus in-hibited the expression of fibrosis-related proteins in mCFs.Experiments involving cell proliferation,wound healing,and Transwell assays demonstrated that overexpression of circHERC4_041 suppressed the growth and mobility of mCFs(P＜0.001).Sequence analysis results suggested that circHERC4_041 con-tains potential ribosome entry sequence(IRES)and open reading frame(ORF).Western blot confirmed that circHERC4_041 could translate the 516 amino acid HERC4-516aa protein,which was mainly located in the cytoplasm of the cell.Cell functional experiments confirmed that circHERC4_041 inhibited the fi-brotic phenotype of mCFs by specifically translating HERC4-516aa(P＜0.05).The specific interaction between HERC4-516aa and transglutaminase 2(TGM2)was confirmed by IP-MS screening and Co-IP i-dentification.Further results found that the degradation of TGM2 was promoted through proteasome path-way.The overexpression of TGM2 in mCFs facilitated by adenoviral vectors could counteract the suppres-sive effects of HERC4-516aa on the fibrotic phenotype of mCFs.Therefore,this study confirmed that the HERC4-516aa protein translated by circHERC4_041 can specifically bind to TGM2 to inhibit the fibrotic phenotype of myocardial fibroblasts.

Depression is a heterogeneous mental disorder in which the interaction between genetic susceptibility and environ-mental factors plays a key role in its pathogenesis.Although the specific mechanisms of the disease still need to be thoroughly studied and elucidated,there is now a broad consensus that epi-genetic markers have a central influence on its mechanism of ac-tion.DNA methylation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BD-NF)is not only regarded as a promising epigenetic biomarker of pathology,but may also help predict the efficacy of antidepres-sants.In this paper we reviewed the gene structure of BDNF and its DNA methylation regulation mechanism,and also analyzed the changes of DNA methylation of this factor in depression pa-tients and animal models,aiming to provide new ideas and theo-retical support for clinical research.

A mounting body of research suggests that circRNAs significantly contribute to the develop-ment of myocardial fibrosis.The microarray results of human circular RNA expression profile indicated that circHERC4_041 expression increased in the myocardium of patients with heart failure,RT-qPCR a-nalysis confirmed that the myocardial expression level of circHERC4_041 in individuals with heart failure were considerably elevated compared to that in healthy organ donors.Fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH)confirmed that circHERC4_041 was abundant in the cytoplasm of human cardiomyocyte AC16.Overexpression of circHERC4_041 in mouse myocardial fibroblasts(mCFs)mediated by adenovirus in-hibited the expression of fibrosis-related proteins in mCFs.Experiments involving cell proliferation,wound healing,and Transwell assays demonstrated that overexpression of circHERC4_041 suppressed the growth and mobility of mCFs(P＜0.001).Sequence analysis results suggested that circHERC4_041 con-tains potential ribosome entry sequence(IRES)and open reading frame(ORF).Western blot confirmed that circHERC4_041 could translate the 516 amino acid HERC4-516aa protein,which was mainly located in the cytoplasm of the cell.Cell functional experiments confirmed that circHERC4_041 inhibited the fi-brotic phenotype of mCFs by specifically translating HERC4-516aa(P＜0.05).The specific interaction between HERC4-516aa and transglutaminase 2(TGM2)was confirmed by IP-MS screening and Co-IP i-dentification.Further results found that the degradation of TGM2 was promoted through proteasome path-way.The overexpression of TGM2 in mCFs facilitated by adenoviral vectors could counteract the suppres-sive effects of HERC4-516aa on the fibrotic phenotype of mCFs.Therefore,this study confirmed that the HERC4-516aa protein translated by circHERC4_041 can specifically bind to TGM2 to inhibit the fibrotic phenotype of myocardial fibroblasts.