Chronic pain is a complex condition shaped by long-standing alterations in both physiological and psychological processes. Rather than representing a simple continuation of acute nociceptive signaling, chronic pain is increasingly understood as the outcome of progressive dysregulation within distributed neural systems that govern sensation, affect, motivation, and cognitive control. Neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies indicate that this state is accompanied by extensive plastic changes in deep brain structures and large-scale networks. Beyond well-described central sensitization processes, chronic pain is characterized by disrupted oscillatory rhythms and altered connectivity within large-scale brain networks, including thalamo-cortical circuits and prefrontal-limbic-reward networks. These findings support a conceptual shift from viewing chronic pain as a focal, lesion-driven phenomenon toward recognizing it as a disorder of distributed network pathology. Pharmacological treatments remain central to clinical practice, yet their long-term efficacy is often limited and frequently accompanied by substantial side effects. The ongoing concerns about opioid-related risks and the inadequate therapeutic response in a subset of patients highlight the need for safe, non-pharmacological approaches that can address not only pain but also comorbid disturbances in mood, sleep, and social functioning. Neuromodulation provides a promising path toward mechanism-based and non-pharmacological management of chronic pain by employing physical or chemical stimulation to alter the excitability and synchrony of specific neural populations within central, peripheral, and autonomic systems. While invasive deep brain stimulation demonstrates that targeting deep brain structures can be effective, its clinical application is restricted by surgical risks and cost, highlighting the importance of non-invasive techniques capable of reaching deep targets. Current non-invasive approaches, such as transcranial electric stimulation, are constrained by limited penetration depth and insufficient spatial precision. These limitations hinder reliable engagement of deep regions implicated in pain, including the thalamus and nucleus accumbens, and tend to produce broad, non-specific modulation of cross-network oscillatory activity. Temporal interference (TI) stimulation has emerged as a means of overcoming these obstacles. By delivering interacting high-frequency currents that generate a low-frequency envelope within the head, TI enables focal stimulation of deep targets while minimizing superficial current delivery. Recent multiscale modeling and animal studies indicate that TI exploits the nonlinear rectification properties of neuronal membranes in response to high-frequency carriers, as well as their phase-locked responses to low-frequency envelopes, to generate “peak-focused” electric fields in deep regions under relatively low superficial current loads. Moreover, TI appears to exhibit potential advantages in terms of cell-type selectivity and rhythm-specific engagement, including differential responses across neuronal subtypes and distinct coupling to θ-, β-, and γ-band oscillations. These features suggest a promising avenue for correcting abnormal rhythms and network dynamics that contribute to chronic pain. This review summarizes current knowledge of the neural mechanisms underlying chronic pain and recent advances in TI research. It examines functional disturbances across key pain-related regions and networks, outlines the principles and technical characteristics of TI, and discusses potential deep-brain targets and stimulation strategies relevant to chronic pain. Evidence to date indicates that TI, with its non-invasiveness, tolerability, and capacity for precise deep brain modulation, holds great promise for the management of treatment-resistant chronic pain and may evolve into a new generation of precise and efficient non-pharmacological analgesic strategies.

Chronic pain is a complex condition shaped by long-standing alterations in both physiological and psychological processes. Rather than representing a simple continuation of acute nociceptive signaling, chronic pain is increasingly understood as the outcome of progressive dysregulation within distributed neural systems that govern sensation, affect, motivation, and cognitive control. Neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies indicate that this state is accompanied by extensive plastic changes in deep brain structures and large-scale networks. Beyond well-described central sensitization processes, chronic pain is characterized by disrupted oscillatory rhythms and altered connectivity within large-scale brain networks, including thalamo-cortical circuits and prefrontal-limbic-reward networks. These findings support a conceptual shift from viewing chronic pain as a focal, lesion-driven phenomenon toward recognizing it as a disorder of distributed network pathology. Pharmacological treatments remain central to clinical practice, yet their long-term efficacy is often limited and frequently accompanied by substantial side effects. The ongoing concerns about opioid-related risks and the inadequate therapeutic response in a subset of patients highlight the need for safe, non-pharmacological approaches that can address not only pain but also comorbid disturbances in mood, sleep, and social functioning. Neuromodulation provides a promising path toward mechanism-based and non-pharmacological management of chronic pain by employing physical or chemical stimulation to alter the excitability and synchrony of specific neural populations within central, peripheral, and autonomic systems. While invasive deep brain stimulation demonstrates that targeting deep brain structures can be effective, its clinical application is restricted by surgical risks and cost, highlighting the importance of non-invasive techniques capable of reaching deep targets. Current non-invasive approaches, such as transcranial electric stimulation, are constrained by limited penetration depth and insufficient spatial precision. These limitations hinder reliable engagement of deep regions implicated in pain, including the thalamus and nucleus accumbens, and tend to produce broad, non-specific modulation of cross-network oscillatory activity. Temporal interference (TI) stimulation has emerged as a means of overcoming these obstacles. By delivering interacting high-frequency currents that generate a low-frequency envelope within the head, TI enables focal stimulation of deep targets while minimizing superficial current delivery. Recent multiscale modeling and animal studies indicate that TI exploits the nonlinear rectification properties of neuronal membranes in response to high-frequency carriers, as well as their phase-locked responses to low-frequency envelopes, to generate “peak-focused” electric fields in deep regions under relatively low superficial current loads. Moreover, TI appears to exhibit potential advantages in terms of cell-type selectivity and rhythm-specific engagement, including differential responses across neuronal subtypes and distinct coupling to θ-, β-, and γ-band oscillations. These features suggest a promising avenue for correcting abnormal rhythms and network dynamics that contribute to chronic pain. This review summarizes current knowledge of the neural mechanisms underlying chronic pain and recent advances in TI research. It examines functional disturbances across key pain-related regions and networks, outlines the principles and technical characteristics of TI, and discusses potential deep-brain targets and stimulation strategies relevant to chronic pain. Evidence to date indicates that TI, with its non-invasiveness, tolerability, and capacity for precise deep brain modulation, holds great promise for the management of treatment-resistant chronic pain and may evolve into a new generation of precise and efficient non-pharmacological analgesic strategies.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) represent a distinct subpopulation of cells characterized by self-renewal capacity, differentiation potential, and critical roles in driving tumor progression, therapeutic resistance, recurrence, and maintenance of the tumor microenvironment. Targeting CSCs has emerged as a pivotal direction in cancer research, offering novel strategies to overcome drug resistance and prevent metastasis and relapse. Lysosomes, traditionally recognized as central organelles for intracellular degradation and recycling, are indispensable for cellular homeostasis. Dysregulation of lysosomal function is intimately linked to various diseases, including cancer. In tumors, aberrant lysosomal activity can promote malignant progression through mechanisms such as altering metabolic pathways, enhancing lysosomal exocytosis, modulating drug resistance, and interfering with autophagy-lysosomal pathways. Recent studies have underscored the involvement of lysosomes in regulating CSC properties. This review synthesizes findings on lysosomal regulation of CSCs through the following aspects. (1) Lysosomes exert complex and critical bidirectional control over CSC stemness maintenance through three degradation pathways that are dependent on their degradative function. (i) The lysophagy pathway. This pathway exhibits dual roles. Activation can sustain CSC functions; for instance, in glioblastoma, hypoxia upregulates Gal-8 via the STAT3/HIF1α signaling axis to induce autophagy, supporting stem cell survival. In head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, degradation of GSK3β activates the Wnt pathway, enhancing stemness. Conversely, this pathway can suppress stemness by degrading stemness-related proteins such as BMI-1 and OCT4A, thereby impairing CSC self-renewal capacity. (ii) Mitophagy pathway. In non-small cell lung cancer stem cells, mitophagy-related mechanisms, such as the accumulation of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) activating the TLR9-Notch1-AMPK signaling axis, have been shown to promote CSC proliferation. (iii) Autophagosome-dependent lysosomal degradation pathway. This pathway directly regulates stemness-related proteins in a bidirectional manner. Enhanced degradative function can promote CSC properties, exemplified by the degradation of NUMB to activate Notch signaling. Conversely, attenuated degradative function can also enhance stemness by stabilizing oncoproteins (e.g., protecting Frizzled-1 from degradation to sustain Wnt signaling) or preventing the degradation of tumor suppressors (e.g., inhibiting Notch degradation). (2) Constituent proteins of lysosomes, including membrane proteins and luminal acid hydrolases, participate in regulating CSC stemness. Regarding membrane proteins, LAMP2A facilitates chaperone-mediated autophagy to maintain stemness in glioblastoma and ovarian cancer. V-ATPase, by maintaining an acidic luminal environment, promotes proliferation and drug resistance in glioma stem cells. Among hydrolases, cathepsins B and L are highly expressed in pancreatic and ovarian cancers and correlate with poor prognosis. Furthermore, targeting lysosomes to induce lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP) triggers lysosome-mediated cell death, presenting a potential therapeutic strategy for eradicating CSCs.(3) The acidic luminal environment, single-membrane structure, and the presence of transmembrane transporters (e.g., ABCA3) enable lysosomes to passively trap or actively uptake and sequester chemotherapeutic drugs. Subsequent drug extrusion via exocytosis confers drug resistance. In CSCs, this lysosome-mediated drug sequestration, often cooperating with autophagy, establishes multimodal drug resistance. Therefore, targeting lysosomal function represents a potential strategy to overcome therapy resistance. The central role of lysosomes in regulating CSC stemness and resistance positions them as highly promising therapeutic targets. Strategies aimed at disrupting lysosomal function to selectively eliminate CSCs include: inhibiting the lysosome-autophagy system using agents like IITZ or lovastatin; inducing lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP) with compounds such as hexamethylene amiloride to compromise membrane stability; and disrupting the acidic luminal environment using drugs like siramesine or the K/H transport compound 2. In conclusion, lysosomes critically regulate CSC stemness maintenance and drug resistance through degradative pathways, membrane protein functions, luminal hydrolase activities, and drug sequestration mechanisms. This redefines the lysosome from a traditional “waste disposal unit” to a “signal integration center” in CSCs. The duality and context-dependency of lysosomal function in CSCs offer novel insights into the heterogeneity observed across different tumors. Targeting lysosomal vulnerabilities—such as inducing LMP, disrupting acidity, or blocking autophagic flux—provides a strategy to bypass canonical CSC resistance mechanisms and directly trigger cell death. This establishes the lysosome as a key target to overcome CSC-mediated therapy resistance, paving the way for developing diverse candidate drugs and innovative combination therapies in oncology.

OBJECTIVE To formulate Guidelines for the standardized implementation of pharmacist-managed clinics （ 2026 edition ） in response to the challenges faced by such clinics in China， including uneven development， large discrepancies in service specifications， insufficient patient awareness， and limited medical insurance coverage. METHODS Led by the Pharmaceutical Affairs Professional Committee of the Chinese Hospital Association， the Evidence-based Pharmacy Professional Committee of the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association， and the Hospital Pharmacy Professional Committee of the Cross-strait Medical and Health Exchange Association， a total of 19 domestic hospital pharmacy experts were organized. Through a systematic review of national policies and literature research， current practical experience was summarized. Consensus on the contents of the guidelines was reached after in-depth discussions. RESULTS &CONCLUSIONS The guidelines covered five sections： definition and connotation of pharmacist-managed clinics， establishment requirements， implementation and management， post competency， and practical research. Firstly， the definition and connotation included three operational forms of pharmacist-managed clinics （independent mode， physician-pharmacist joint mode， and online pharmacist-managed clinic mode） and classified service modes （specialty-specific， drug-specific， and disease-specific pharmacist-managed clinics）. The establishment requirements were further refined， covering system construction （pharmaceutical service management system， quality control and assessment mechanism）， personnel qualifications （professional credentials， continuing education and professional training， etc）， service recipients， as well as service venues and facilities. Subsequently， the implementation and management of pharmacist-managed clinics were proposed， involving service procedures， intervention measures， documentation and records， patient education and follow-up， humanistic care， as well as risk management and quality control. Finally， post competency encompassed the competency requirements for pharmacists providing services in pharmacist-managed clinics， as well as the suggestions on teaching methods； practical research encouraged the conduct of high-quality pharmaceutical practice in the setting of pharmacist-managed clinics. The guidelines provide valuable guidance for the standardized implementation of pharmacist-managed clinics in China in terms of establishment， management， teaching， and research， fill the guideline gap in this field， and can promote the high-quality development of pharmacist-managed clinics.

OBJECTIVE To provide standardized guidance for the rational clinical use of antibody-based drugs for the treatment of myasthenia gravis， and to enhance the evidence-based system of guidelines and consensus in this field. METHODS The consensus expert team consisted of 71 multidisciplinary experts from 28 provinces/autonomous regions/municipalities directly under the Central Government. Evidence was systematically retrieved through multiple databases， drug package inserts， and official websites of international and national health administrative authorities， drug regulatory agencies， healthcare security departments， and related industry associations， up to April 30， 2025. Evidence was graded according to the 2014 version of JBI pre-grading system for evidence from intervention studies. Based on full consideration of the current best evidence and multidisciplinary expert experience， the expert consensus recommendations were formulated using a modified Delphi method. RESULTS The Evidence-based expert consensus on the clinical application and pharmaceutical management of antibody-based drugs for the treatment of myasthenia gravis standardized the key points of whole-process pharmaceutical management for four antibody-based drugs approved for marketing in the mainland of China for the treatment of myasthenia gravis （efgartigimod alfa， efgartigimod alfa/hyaluronidase， eculizumab， and rozanolixizumab）. It formulated 37 expert consensus recommendations covering nine pharmaceutical management aspects： drug suitability selection， medication in special populations， administration methods， drug storage， therapeutic drug monitoring and pharmacogenetic testing， immunization management， drug interactions， pharmaceutical care， and off-label drug use. CONCLUSIONS Based on the current best evidence and multidisciplinary expert experience， this consensus establishes a whole-process management framework for antibody-based drugs for the treatment of myasthenia gravis， from clinical application to pharmaceutical management. It provides a scientific basis for the rational and precise use of these drugs in clinical practice， effectively promotes the enhancement of pharmaceutical management efficiency， and helps improve the overall therapeutic benefits for patients.

Objective:To explore the efficacy and safety of combining targeted therapy and immunotherapy with standard chemotherapy in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.Methods:This is a single-center retrospective cohort study. A total of 123 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer who received first-line systemic treatment at the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University between January 2022 and December 2024 were retrospectively enrolled. There were 65 males and 58 females,with a mean age of (65.1±10.1) years (range:22 to 88 years). According to whether targeted therapy combined with immunotherapy was added to chemotherapy,patients were divided into a triplet group ( n=46) and a standard chemotherapy group ( n=77). The primary endpoints were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS); secondary endpoints included radiological efficacy indicators (objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR),clinical benefit rate,etc.) and treatment-related adverse events. Propensity score matching (PSM,caliper=0.2) was used to balance baseline characteristics between groups. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to estimate survival,and Cox regression models were applied to analyze factors influencing OS and PFS. Results:In the original cohort,the median OS was 11 months in the triplet group and 8 months in the chemotherapy group,with no statistically significant difference ( P=0.056). The median PFS was 5 months in the triplet group and 3 months in the chemotherapy group,also without statistical significance ( P>0.05). Multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that the triplet regimen was an independent prognostic factor for both OS and PFS ( P<0.05). After PSM,baseline balance between groups was good. The median OS was 10.0 months in the triplet group and 7.0 months in the chemotherapy group, with no significant difference ( P=0.094). In terms of efficacy, the ORR was 26.1% (12/46) in the triplet group versus 7.8% (6/77) in the chemotherapy group,with a statistically significant difference ( χ2=6.320, P=0.012). The DCR was 54.3% (25/46) in the triplet group and 33.8% (26/77) in the chemotherapy group,also statistically significant ( χ2=4.214, P=0.037). The incidence of adverse events was similar between groups,mostly grade 1 to 2. Conclusions:The triplet regimen of chemotherapy,targeted therapy,and immunotherapy shows potential in improving efficacy and prolonging survival with acceptable safety in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. However, its definitive benefits require further investigation.

Objective:To explore the efficacy and safety of combining targeted therapy and immunotherapy with standard chemotherapy in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.Methods:This is a single-center retrospective cohort study. A total of 123 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer who received first-line systemic treatment at the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University between January 2022 and December 2024 were retrospectively enrolled. There were 65 males and 58 females,with a mean age of (65.1±10.1) years (range:22 to 88 years). According to whether targeted therapy combined with immunotherapy was added to chemotherapy,patients were divided into a triplet group ( n=46) and a standard chemotherapy group ( n=77). The primary endpoints were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS); secondary endpoints included radiological efficacy indicators (objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR),clinical benefit rate,etc.) and treatment-related adverse events. Propensity score matching (PSM,caliper=0.2) was used to balance baseline characteristics between groups. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to estimate survival,and Cox regression models were applied to analyze factors influencing OS and PFS. Results:In the original cohort,the median OS was 11 months in the triplet group and 8 months in the chemotherapy group,with no statistically significant difference ( P=0.056). The median PFS was 5 months in the triplet group and 3 months in the chemotherapy group,also without statistical significance ( P>0.05). Multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that the triplet regimen was an independent prognostic factor for both OS and PFS ( P<0.05). After PSM,baseline balance between groups was good. The median OS was 10.0 months in the triplet group and 7.0 months in the chemotherapy group, with no significant difference ( P=0.094). In terms of efficacy, the ORR was 26.1% (12/46) in the triplet group versus 7.8% (6/77) in the chemotherapy group,with a statistically significant difference ( χ2=6.320, P=0.012). The DCR was 54.3% (25/46) in the triplet group and 33.8% (26/77) in the chemotherapy group,also statistically significant ( χ2=4.214, P=0.037). The incidence of adverse events was similar between groups,mostly grade 1 to 2. Conclusions:The triplet regimen of chemotherapy,targeted therapy,and immunotherapy shows potential in improving efficacy and prolonging survival with acceptable safety in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. However, its definitive benefits require further investigation.

ObjectiveTo explore the dose-effect relationship and safety of high， medium， and low doses of raw Astragali Radix in the modified Huangqi Chifengtang （MHCD） for treating proteinuria in immunoglobulin A （IgA） nephropathy， and to provide scientific evidence for the clinical use of high-dose Astragali Radix in the treatment of proteinuria in IgA nephropathy. MethodsA total of 120 patients with IgA nephropathy， diagnosed with Qi deficiency and blood stasis combined with wind pathogen and heat toxicity， were randomly divided into a control group and three treatment groups. The control group received telmisartan combined with a Chinese medicine placebo， while the treatment groups were given telmisartan combined with MHCD containing different doses of raw Astragali Radix （60， 30， 15 g）. Each group contained 30 patients， and the treatment period was 12 weeks. Changes in 24-hour urinary protein （24 hUTP）， traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndrome scores， effective rate， and renal function were observed before and after treatment. Safety was assessed by monitoring liver function and blood routine. ResultsAfter 12 weeks of treatment， 24 hUTP significantly decreased in the high， medium， and low-dose groups， as well as the control group （P<0.05， P<0.01）. The TCM syndrome scores in the high， medium， and low-dose groups also significantly decreased （P<0.01）. Comparisons between groups showed that the 24 hUTP in the high-dose group was significantly lower than in the medium， low-dose， and control groups （P<0.05， P<0.01）， and the 24 hUTP in the medium-dose group was significantly lower than in the control group （P<0.05）. The TCM syndrome scores in the high and medium-dose groups were significantly lower than in the low-dose and control groups （P<0.05， P<0.01）. The total effective rates for proteinuria in the high， medium， low-dose， and control groups were 92.59% （25/27）， 85.19% （23/27）， 60.71% （17/28）， and 57.14% （16/28）， respectively. The effective rates in the high and medium-dose groups were significantly higher than in the low-dose and control groups （χ²=13.185， P<0.05， P<0.01）. The effective rates for TCM syndrome scores in the high， medium， low-dose， and control groups were 88.89% （24/27）， 81.48% （22/27）， 71.43% （20/28）， and 46.43% （13/28）， respectively. The efficacy of TCM syndrome scores in the high and medium-dose groups was significantly higher than in the control group （χ²=14.053， P<0.01）. Compared with pre-treatment values， there was no statistically significant difference in eGFR and serum creatinine in the high and medium-dose groups. However， eGFR significantly decreased in the low-dose and control groups after treatment （P<0.05）， and serum creatinine levels increased significantly in the control group （P<0.05）. No statistically significant differences were observed in urea nitrogen， uric acid， albumin， total cholesterol， triglycerides， liver function， and blood routine before and after treatment in any group. ConclusionThere is a dose-effect relationship in the treatment of IgA nephropathy with high， medium， and low doses of raw Astragali Radix in MHCD. The high-dose group exhibited the best therapeutic effect and good safety profile.

Polycyclic polyprenylated acylphloroglucinols (PPAPs) represent a distinct subclass of specialized metabolites predominantly found in the plant kingdom, particularly within the Guttiferae (Clusiaceae) family. These compounds exhibit remarkable structural diversity and a wide range of biological activities. Seco- and nor-PPAPs, two unique variants of PPAPs with diverse skeletal structures, have been extensively investigated. As of June 2023, 200 compounds have been isolated from four genera, with Hypericum being the primary source. Notably, 115 of these compounds were identified in the past four years, indicating a significant increase in research activity. Seco- and nor-PPAPs can be categorized into six main subgroups based on the original PPAP scaffolds. Biological studies have revealed their potential in various therapeutic applications, including anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, anti-Alzheimer's disease (anti-AD), multidrug resistance (MDR) reversal, anti-depressant, neuroprotective, and immunosuppressive effects. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the occurrence, structures, and bioactivities of natural seco- and nor-PPAPs, offering valuable insights for the further development of PPAPs.
Phloroglucinol/analogs & derivatives* ; Humans ; Molecular Structure ; Animals ; Clusiaceae/chemistry* ; Plant Extracts/pharmacology* ; Biological Products/pharmacology*

Hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) remains a critical complication contributing to graft dysfunction following liver surgery. As part of an ongoing search for hepatoprotective natural products, five previously unreported homoadamantane-type polycyclic polyprenylated acylphloroglucinols (PPAPs), named hyperhomanoons A-E (1-5), and one known analog, hypersampsone O (6), were isolated from Hypericum patulum. Among these, compound 6 demonstrated potent protective effects against CoCl₂-induced hypoxic injury in hepatocytes. Furthermore, in a murine model of hepatic IRI induced by vascular occlusion, pretreatment with 6 markedly alleviated liver damage and reduced hepatocyte apoptosis. This study is the first to identify PPAPs as promising scaffolds for the development of therapeutic agents targeting hepatic IRI, underscoring their potential as lead compounds in drug discovery efforts for ischemic liver diseases.
Reperfusion Injury/prevention & control* ; Animals ; Hypericum/chemistry* ; Phloroglucinol/administration & dosage* ; Mice ; Humans ; Male ; Liver/blood supply* ; Apoptosis/drug effects* ; Molecular Structure ; Protective Agents/pharmacology* ; Hepatocytes/drug effects* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Liver Diseases/drug therapy*