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.

Hepatic alveolar echinococcosis is a highly invasive zoonotic parasitic disease with poor prognosis. Surgical intervention serves as the pivotal approach to achieve radical cure and improve the prognosis of hepatic alveolar echinococcosis patients. In recent years, with the popularization of the concept of precision surgery and the development of the multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment model, the surgical treatment strategies for hepatic alveolar echinococcosis have been continuously enriched, and the selection of surgical procedures has become increasingly diversified. Although key surgical techniques such as radical hepatectomy, autologous liver transplantation and allogeneic liver transplantation have achieved remarkable progress in clinical application, many insurmountable challenges still remain. Therefore, by sorting out the latest evidence-based advances in the field of surgical treatment for hepatic alveolar echinococcosis, this article focuses on discussing the application status and bottlenecks of radical hepatectomy, autologous liver transplantation and allogeneic liver transplantation in hepatic alveolar echinococcosis, aiming to provide a reference for the clinical treatment of hepatic alveolar echinococcosis.

Background: Adrenocortical hormones, particularly 11-oxygenated androgens, are pivotal in female reproductive health and fertility. Standardized detection kits and population-specific reference intervals are lacking in China, hindering related clinical applications. Methods: A HPLC-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) pipeline was developed, rigorously validated, and applied to simultaneously quantify corticosterone, cortisone, cortisol, 18-OH cortisol, androstenedione (A4), 11β-hydroxyandrostenedione (11-OH A4), dehydroepiandrosterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate in serum samples from 455 reproductive-aged women (18–45 yrs) in Guangxi, China. Age-dependent concentration trends were analyzed, and reference intervals stratified by age (2.5th to 97.5th percentiles) were established. Correlations with body-composition metrics, ethnicity, and the menstrual cycle were investigated. Results: The HPLC-MS/MS method demonstrated high precision (intra- and inter-assay CVs < 15%), accuracy, and sensitivity. All eight hormones exhibited significant age-related declines (P < 0.001 for seven hormones; P = 0.001 for 11-OH A4). Notably, 11-OH A4 levels were significantly lower in the 35–45-yr (3.05 nmol/L) and 25–34-yr (3.09 nmol/L) age groups than in the 18–24-yr (3.57 nmol/L) age group, whereas no significant difference was observed between the 35–45-yr and 25–34-yr age groups. Weak negative correlations were observed between the body mass index and corticosterone and cortisone levels, whereas ethnicity and the menstrual cycle showed no significant associations with hormone levels. Conclusions We developed an HPLC-MS/MS-based method for simultaneously quantifying eight adrenocortical hormones, including 11-OH A4, and defined age-specific reference intervals for reproductive-aged Chinese women. These findings advance the clinical utility of adrenocortical hormones in diagnosing and managing reproductive disorders.

Objectives: . Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) is a significant cause of hearing loss. Intratympanic steroid injection (ITSI) is commonly used as an initial or salvage treatment; however, the lack of a standardized treatment protocol has resulted in variability in clinical practice. In addition, no efficient prediction model currently exists to support personalized management. Therefore, this study aimed to develop tailored management strategies for ISSNHL using a machine-learning model. Methods: . This retrospective multicenter cohort study was conducted between January 2015 and December 2020, with data analysis performed between January 2021 and March 2024. Patients were selected based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision criteria for ISSNHL, along with relevant medication and procedure codes. Patients with pure-tone audiogram results not meeting ISSNHL criteria, better initial hearing in the affected ear, an identifiable etiology, no post-treatment audiogram, or delayed treatment (>6 weeks) were excluded. We included 770 patients diagnosed with ISSNHL who received ITSI. The primary outcome was the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for prediction performance. Recovery status was determined using the last pure-tone audiogram. Modeling was conducted on the Quanta for Medical Care AI platform using five machine-learning algorithms and a nested cross-validation framework, in which feature selection and hyperparameter tuning were performed in the inner folds and model performance was evaluated in the outer folds. Results: . A random forest classifier outperformed the other models in predicting hearing outcomes, achieving an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.788. Time to ITSI was the most influential treatment-related factor, with ITSI administered within 10 days of hearing loss being associated with better outcomes. This model can be used to provide personalized prognostic estimates under different treatment protocols. Conclusion . The machine-learning-based prediction model facilitates personalized treatment strategies and timely treatment adjustments for ISSNHL, thereby optimizing the likelihood of complete recovery.

Objective To analyze the value of combined prediction of peripheral blood CD4+,CD3-CD16+CD56+,CD8+,CD19+for the risk of death in patients with Epstein-Barr virus-associated hemophagocytic syn-drome(EBV-HLH).Methods A total of 84 patients with EBV-HLH who were treated in Beijing Friendship Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University and Peking University First Hospital from May 2021 to A-pril 2023 were selected and divided into a death group(17 cases)and a survival group(67 cases)according to their survival outcomes within 6 months.The general information and peripheral blood T lymphocyte subsets of the two groups were compared,multivariate Logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate the influencing factors of death in EBV-HLH patients,and receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to evaluate the predictive value of peripheral blood T lymphocyte subsets on death in EBV-HLH patients.Results The platelet count,hemoglobin,CD4+and CD3-CD16+CD56+levels in the death group were lower than those in the survival group,while the levels of CD8+and CD19+were higher than those in the survival group(P＜0.05).Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that platelet count,hemoglobin,CD4+,and CD3-CD16+CD56+were all independent protective factors for the death of EBV-HLH patients,while CD8+and CD19+were independent risk factors for the death of EBV-HLH patients(P＜0.05).The ROC curve results showed that the area under the curve of combined prediction of CD4+,CD8+,CD19+,CD3 CD16+CD56+for death in EBV-HLH patients was 0.923,with sensitivity and specificity of 94.12％and 80.60％,respectively,which were significantly higher than those predicted by each individual indicator(P＜0.05).Conclusion The abnormal expression of CD4+,CD3-CD16+CD56+,CD8+,and CD19+in peripheral blood of EBV-HLH patients is associated with their survival outcomes,and the combined prediction of CD4+,CD3-CD16+CD56+,CD8+,and CD19+has high reference value for predicting patients'death.

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.

Objective To investigate the effects of galectin-3(Gal3)on autophagy in high glucose-induced human telomerase reverse transcriptase-immortalized retinal pigment epithelial(hTERT-RPE)cells.Methods The hTERT-RPE cells cultured in vitro were randomly divided into a normal group(group C),a high glucose group(group HG),a high glu-cose+si-NC group(group HG+si-NC)and a high glucose+si-Gal3 group(group HG+si-Gal3).Reverse transcrip-tion polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR)was used to detect the relative mRNA expression levels of Gal3,intercellular ad-hesion molecule(ICAM)-1,interleukin(IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-α in hTERT-RPE cells of each group.The expression levels of IL-1 and IL-6 in the supernatant of hTERT-RPE cells were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).The expression level of reactive oxygen species(ROS),the activity of superoxide dismutase(SOD)and the content of malondialdehyde(MDA)in hTERT-RPE cells were analyzed by dichlorofluorescin diacetate(DCFH-DA)staining,the colorimetric method and the microplate method,respectively.The protein expression levels of Gal3,the ratio of microtubule associated protein 1 light chain 3(LC3)type Ⅱ to type Ⅰ(LC3 Ⅱ/LC3 Ⅰ),Beclin 1,and autophagy-associat-ed 5(ATG5)and 7(ATG7)in hTERT-RPE cells from each group were detected by Western blot analysis.After the hTERT-RPE cells in each group were transfected with double fluorescent mRFP-GFP-LC3 plasmids alone and with RFP-LAMP1 and GFP-LC3 plasmids jointly,the changes of autophagy flow in hTERT-RPE cells were detected by laser confocal microscopy.Results Compared with the group C,the group HG showed an increase in the expression of Gal3,IL-1,IL-6,TNF-α,ICAM-1,P62,ROS and MDA content(all P＜0.05).However,the expression of LC3 Ⅱ/LC3 Ⅰ,Beclin1,ATG7,ATG5,the SOD activity,and the number of red(autolysosomes)and yellow fluorescence spots(autophagosomes)of the double fluo-rescent mRFP-GFP-LC3 plasmid were all lower in the group HG than those in the group C(all P＜0.05).There was no sig-nificant difference in the number of yellow fluorescent spots(autolysosomes)co-located by RFP-LAMP1 and GFP-LC3 plas-mids between groups C and HG(P＞0.05).There were no significant differences in the expression levels of the above-mentioned indexes in hTERT-RPE cells between groups HG and HG+si-NC(all P＞0.05).The expression levels of Gal3,IL-1,IL-6,TNF-α,ICAM-1,P62,ROS and MDA content in hTERT-RPE cells of the group HG+si-Gal3 were lower than those of the group HG+si-NC(all P＜0.05).Compared with those in the group HG+si-NC,the expression levels of LC3 Ⅱ/LC3 Ⅰ,Beclin1,ATG7,ATG5,SOD activity,and the number of red and yellow fluorescent spots of the double fluo-rescent mRFP-GFP-LC3 plasmid were increased in the group HG+si-Gal3(all P＜0.05).There was no significant differ-ence in the number of yellow fluorescent spots co-located by RFP-LAMP1 and GFP-LC3 plasmids between groups HG+si-GaL3 and HG+si-NC(P＞0.05).Conclusion Gal3 is significantly elevated in hTERT-RPE cells induced by high glu-cose,resulting in impaired autophagy flow.It produces a direct regulatory effect on the formation of autophagosomes,and plays a highly active role in oxidative damage and expression of inflammatory factors in hTERT-RPE cells induced by high glucose.

Objective:To investigate the effect of microRNA-204-5p (miR-204-5P) on silica (SiO 2) -induced inflammatory response in macrophages and its mechanism. Methods:In September 2023, SiO 2-induced mouse macrophage (RAW264.7) model in vitro was constructed. The experiment was divided into blank control group, SiO 2 treatment group, SiO 2+ mimic transfection control group and SiO 2+ mimic transfection group. RAW264.7 cells were evenly seeded into 6-well plates and cultured for 24 hours prior to transfection. The SiO 2+mimic control group and SiO 2+mimic group were transfected with miR-204-5P mimic control and miR-204-5P mimic, respectively. After 6 hours of transfection, except for the blank control group, the other three groups were treated with SiO 2 suspension, while the blank control group received an equal volume of PBS for 24 hours of stimulation.Cell viability was detected by CCK-8 assay. RT-qPCR was used to detect the mRNA expression levels of miR-204-5P and dishevelled 3 (DVL-3) in cells. Western blot was used to detect Wnt/β-catenin pathway related proteins DVL-3, β-catenin, T cell factor 4 (TCF4) and matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) . JAK2/STAT3 pathway related proteins Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) , signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) , phosphorylated JAK2 (p-JAK2) , phosphorylated STAT3 (p-STAT3) ; Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression level. ELISA was used to detect the expression levels of inflammatory factors interleukin-6 (IL-6) , tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) in cell supernatant. The t test was used to compare the differences between the two groups, and the one-way analysis of variance was used to compare the differences among multiple groups. Results:Compared with SiO 2+ mimic transfection control group, the cell viability of SiO 2+ mimic transfection group had no significant change. The mRNA and protein levels of DVL-3 were significantly decreased ( P<0.05) . The protein expression levels of β-catenin, TCF4 and MMP-9 were significantly decreased ( P<0.05) . The protein expression levels of p-JAK2 and p-STAT3 decreased. The levels of inflammatory factors IL-6, TNF-α, and TGF-β 1 and the expression level of protein iNOS were significantly decreased ( P<0.05) . Conclusion:miR-204-5P alleviates SiO 2- induced macrophage inflammation by regulating the wnt/β-catenin pathway and JAK2/STAT3 pathway.

Objective:To evaluate the association between body mass index (BMI) and bone mineral density of calcaneus in adults.Methods:Data of the second resurvey of China Kadoorie Biobank study from Tongxiang of Zhejiang Province were used. A total of 2 896 participants aged 44-84 years were included in the final analysis. Overweight was defined as 23.0 kg/m 2≤BMI<25.0 kg/m 2, and obesity was defined as BMI ≥25.0 kg/m 2 based on the criteria recommended by WHO/West Pacific Region. Multiple linear regression model was used to evaluate the association between BMI and calcaneus bone mineral density. Restricted cubic splines were used to investigate the dose-response relationship between BMI and calcaneus bone mineral density. Results:The calcaneus bone mineral density in the study subjects were as follow ( x± SE): the broadband ultrasound attenuation was (109.4±12.1) dB/MHz, the speed of ultrasound was (1 545.9±33.8) m/s, and the stiffness index was 85.7±15.8. After adjusting for socio-demographic factors, lifestyle, waist circumference, diabetes and hypertension prevalence, BMI was positively associated with calcaneus stiffness index in non-overweight and non-obese adults, with β of 2.30 (95% CI: 1.11-3.49) for men ( P<0.001) and 1.08 (95% CI: 0.38-1.78) for women ( P=0.003), respectively. In addition, BMI was positively associated with calcaneus stiffness index in overweight and obese women ( β=0.90, 95% CI: 0.38-1.42) ( P<0.001), and null association was found in overweight and obese men ( β=0.06, 95% CI: -0.92-1.04) ( P=0.900). Restricted cubic spline model showed a nonlinear dose-response relationship between BMI and calcaneus stiffness index. Conclusion:Non-linear association was found between BMI with calcaneus bone mineral density in adults.

Traditional development of small protein scaffolds has relied on display technologies and mutation-based engineering, which limit sequence and functional diversity, thereby constraining their therapeutic and application potential. Protein design tools have significantly advanced the creation of novel protein sequences, structures, and functions. However, further improvements in design strategies are still needed to more efficiently optimize the functional performance of protein-based drugs and enhance their druggability. Here, we extended an evolution-based design protocol to create a novel minibinder, BindHer, against the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). It not only exhibits super stability and binding selectivity but also demonstrates remarkable properties in tissue specificity. Radiolabeling experiments with ^99mTc, ⁶⁸Ga, and ¹⁸F revealed that BindHer efficiently targets tumors in HER2-positive breast cancer mouse models, with minimal nonspecific liver absorption, outperforming scaffolds designed through traditional engineering. These findings highlight a new rational approach to automated protein design, offering significant potential for large-scale applications in therapeutic mini-protein development.