1.Construction and validation of machine learning predictive models for the risk of metabolic associated fatty liver disease
Linjie QIU ; Haiyan REN ; Yan REN ; Meijie LI ; Chacha ZOU ; Zijing WU ; Jin ZHANG
Journal of Clinical Hepatology 2026;42(4):848-855
ObjectiveTo investigate the value of predictive models established based on machine learning methods in predicting the risk of metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), and to analyze its key risk factors. MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed for the 50 variables of 2 168 healthy individuals who underwent physical examination in Department of Health Assessment, Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, from January 2021 to December 2024, including body composition, past history, and laboratory tests, and according to whether they were diagnosed with MAFLD or not, they were divided into MAFLD group with 265 individuals and non-MAFLD group with 1 903 individuals. The Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of continuous data between two groups, and the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups. Randomly split the research data into a training set and a validation set in a 70% to 30% ratio. Predictive factors were screened from the training set data using univariate analysis, LASSO regression, and multivariate Logistic regression analysis. Predictive models were then constructed using seven machine learning methods: Logistic regression, decision tree, random forest (RF), eXtreme gradient boosting, light gradient boosting machine, support vector machine, and artificial neural network. Model performance was evaluated by plotting receiver operating characteristic curve for the validation set and calculating the area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, and Youden index for each model. Furthermore, the SHapley Additive exPlanation (SHAP) method was used to analyze the contribution of variables in the optimal model. ResultsThe prevalence rate of MAFLD among the 2 168 subjects was 12.22% (265/2 168). Smoking, diastolic blood pressure, phase angle, visceral fat area, muscle fat ratio, waist-to-hip ratio, aspartate aminotransferase, non-HDL-C/HDL-C ratio, triglyceride-glucose index, and gallstones were independent risk factors for MAFLD (all P<0.05). The seven predictive models of support vector machine, eXtreme gradient boosting, decision tree, light gradient boosting machine, artificial neural network, RF, and Logistic regression had an AUC of 0.738, 0.754, 0.757, 0.786, 0.795, 0.796, and 0.815, respectively, in the validation set, among which the RF model had the best discriminatory ability (AUC=0.796, 95% confidence interval: 0.754 — 0.839), with a sensitivity of 81.01%, a specificity of 63.16%, and a Youden index of 44.17%. The SHAP analysis showed that visceral fat area, waist-to-hip ratio, and diastolic blood pressure were the top three predictive factors in terms of importance. ConclusionThe RF model, constructed based on body composition and clinical indicators, has a good performance in predicting the risk of MAFLD, and its interpretability can help to identify high-risk individuals in the early stage in clinical practice.
2.Horticultural Therapy Combined with Intradermal Needling for Patients with Generalized Anxiety Disorder of Liver Depression Transforming into Fire Syndrome Under Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Psychological Therapy:Clinical Observation of 60 Cases
Wanyun ZHANG ; Jiayi YAN ; Qingyi QIU ; Yumei PENG ; Xiaoling ZHONG ; Jinwen ZHANG ; Rundong TANG ; Miao WU ; Dan HU ; Guang SU
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2025;66(1):50-58
ObjectiveTo observe the clinical effectiveness of horticultural therapy involving the planting of Chinese medicinal herbs (mint and lily potted plants) combined with intradermal needling therapy for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) of liver depression transforming into fire syndrome under transcranial magnetic stimulation and basic psychological therapy, and to explore the possible mechanisms of action. MethodsA total of 180 patients with GAD of liver depression transforming into fire syndrome were randomly divided into three groups, horticultural therapy group, intradermal needling group, and horticultural therapy+intradermal needling group, with 60 patients in each. All groups received basic treatment including basic psychological therapy and transcranial magnetic stimulation. The horticultural therapy group received horticultural therapy in addition to the basic treatment; the intradermal needling group received intradermal needling therapy once a week for 8 weeks in addition to the basic treatment; the horticultural therapy+intradermal needling group received both horticultural therapy and intradermal needling therapy, following the same procedures and duration. Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA), Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores were assessed at baseline and after 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks of treatment. Serum levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone (CORT) were measured before treatment and after 8 weeks of treatment. Motor-evoked potential (MEP) baseline levels were recorded before treatment, and MEP amplitude ratios were compared after 1 week and 8 weeks of treatment. Clinical effectiveness and safety were evaluated after 8 weeks of treatment. Pearson correlation analysis was used to examine the relationships between serum ACTH and CORT levels, MEP amplitude, and anxiety. ResultsIn the horticultural therapy group and intradermal needling group, HAMA, SAS and PSQI scores after 4, 6, and 8 weeks treatment were lower than baseline scores (P<0.05). In the horticultural therapy+intradermal needling group, these scores showed a significant decline starting after 2 weeks treatment and continuing through 8 weeks after treatment (P<0.05). The HAMA, SAS, and PSQI scores in the horticultural therapy+intradermal needling group were significantly lower than those in the other two groups after 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks treatment (P<0.05). After 8 weeks of treatment, serum CORT and ACTH levels in the horticultural therapy+intradermal needling group were significantly lower than baseline levels (P<0.05) and were also lower than those in the horticultural therapy group and intradermal needling group at the same time point (P<0.01). When comparing the level after 8 weeks treatment to that after 1 week treatment, under PAS10 stimulation, the MEP amplitude ratio in the intradermal needling group decreased at 30 minutes, while in the horticultural therapy+intradermal needling group, the MEP amplitude ratio decreased at all time points (P<0.05 or P<0.001); under PAS25 stimulation, the MEP amplitude ratio in the horticultural therapy group increased at 20 minutes, and in the intradermal needle group at 10 minutes (P<0.05). In the horticultural therapy+intradermal needling group, the MEP amplitude ratio increased significantly at all time points after treatment (P<0.001). The cure rate in the horticultural therapy+intradermal needling group (74.14%, 43/58) was significantly higher than that in the horticultural therapy group (30.00%, 18/60) and the intradermal needling group (48.28%, 28/58, P<0.05). Correlation analysis revealed that serum ACTH and CORT levels were positively correlated with HAMA scores (r = 0.488, P<0.01; r = 0.428, P<0.01). Following PAS10 intervention, the MEP amplitude ratio was positively correlated with HAMA scores (r = 0.458, P<0.01), whereas after PAS25 intervention, the MEP amplitude ratio was negatively correlated with HAMA scores (r = -0.562, P<0.01). ConclusionHorticultural therapy combined with intradermal needling treatment, under transcranial magnetic stimulation and basic psychological therapy, demonstrates significant clinical effectiveness in patients with GAD of liver depression transforming into fire syndrome. Its mechanism of action may be related to the regulation of hyperactivation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the reduction of cortical excitability.
3.Traditional Chinese Medicine Regulates NF-κB Signaling Pathway for Treatment of Obesity: A Review
Zijing WU ; Jixin LI ; Linjie QIU ; Yan REN ; Chacha ZOU ; Meijie LI ; Wenjie LI ; Jin ZHANG
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(5):310-318
Obesity is a chronic low-grade inflammation and a risk factor for diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and malignant tumors, demonstrating an increasingly grim development situation. The nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway is a key signaling pathway involved in the immune response and inflammatory response. In obese individuals, the expression of NF-κB is overactivated, which leads to abnormal inflammatory responses in the body. Therefore, it is expected to alleviate inflammation and treat obesity by regulating the NF-κB signaling pathway, which has been proven effective by a large number of studies. The available studies on the NF-κB signaling pathway mostly focus on tumors, and there is no systematic review of the mechanism of this pathway in mediating obesity and the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment. We reviewed the research progress in the pathological and physiological processes of obesity mediated by NF-κB signaling pathway and TCM treatment, aiming to give insights into the clinical treatment of obesity with TCM and provide reference targets and research directions for exploring the biological foundations and the development of new TCM preparations.
4.Effect of IPKP in the treatment of thoracolumbar OVCF and analysis of risk factors for postoperative bone cement leakage
Tao YANG ; Jun XIAO ; Yan-qiu ZHANG
Journal of Regional Anatomy and Operative Surgery 2025;34(9):805-808
Objective To explore the outcome of improved percutaneous kyphoplasty(IPKP)for the treatment of thoracolumbar osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture(OVCF),and analyze the risk factors of postoperative bone cement leakage.Methods A total of 115 patients with thoracolumbar OVCF admitted to our hospital from March 2020 to March 2022 were included and divided into the IPKP group(n=64)and the percutaneous kyphoplasty(PKP)group(n=51)according to different surgical methods.The surgery related condition and postoperative complications of patients were recorded.The visual analogue scale(VAS)scores,Oswestry disability index(ODI)scores,anterior vertebral height,middle vertebral height and Cobb angle of patients before surgery and 3 months and 1 year after surgery were compared.The influencing factors of postoperative bone cement leakage were analyzed.Results The operation time of patients in the IPKP group was longer than that in the PKP group(P<0.05),while there was no statistically significant difference in the injected amount of bone cement during the operation between the two groups(P>0.05).The VAS and ODI scores of patients in the two groups decreased 3 months and 1 year after surgery compared with those before surgery(P<0.05),while there was no statistically significant difference in VAS or ODI scores after surgery between the two groups(P>0.05).Three months and 1 year after surgery the anterior and middle vertebral heights of patients in the IPKP and PKP groups increased and the Cobb angle decreased compared with those before surgery(P<0.05).One year after surgery,the anterior and middle vertebral heights in the IPKP group were significantly higher than those in the PKP group(P<0.05),and the Cobb angle was significantly smaller than that in the PKP group(P<0.05).Among the 115 patients with thoracolumbar OVCF,there was no complications such as infection,re-fracture,or vascular embolism occurred after surgery,and there were 13 cases with bone cement leakage,whose risk factor was incomplete endplate/posterior wall(P<0.05).Conclusion Compared with PKP,IPKP in the treatment of thoracolum-bar OVCF has better effect and better recovery of vertebral structure.Incomplete endplate/posterior wall can increase the risk of postopera-tive bone cement leakage,which requires reasonable and effective intervention measures.
5.Accessory cavitated uterine malformation:one case report and literature review
Bai-juan DING ; Li-wei ZHANG ; Yan-qiu WEI ; Xiu-juan CUI
Fudan University Journal of Medical Sciences 2025;52(5):747-751
Accessory cavitated uterine malformation(ACUM)is a rare unique congenital Müllerian duct malformation.Its main clinical manifestations are abdominal pain shortly after menarche and progressive aggravation,also may present as chronic periodic lower abdominal pain or abnormal uterine bleeding.Because it occurs rarely,it is easy to cause misdiagnosis or delay diagnosis.This paper reports the clinical manifestations,diagnosis and treatment of a young patient with ACUM,and reviews the literature to deepen the understanding of this rare genital tract malformation.
6.Research progress on risk factors and prevention of extubation failure in intensive care unit patients with tracheal intubation
Yuhua RAN ; Xiaoming XU ; Wei LU ; Hongtao ZHANG ; Lulu QIU ; Xinru YAN
Chinese Journal of Practical Nursing 2025;41(4):316-321
Tracheal intubation is the most commonly used way to establish artificial airway in intensive care unit patients, and it is the premise of respiratory support and treatment, the success of extubation is an important basis to measure the prognosis of patients. Influenced by many factors, extubation of patients may fail, resulting in prolonged hospitalization, increased medical expenses and increased incidence of complications. This article reviews the literature at home and abroad, and summarizes the main mechanism, risk factors and prevention strategies of extubation failure in intensive care unit patients, aiming at improving the recognition ability of clinical medical staff for extubation failure and providing reference for clinical management and follow-up research.
7.Construction and identification of recombinant fowl adenovirus 4 expressing Cap protein of goose astrovirus virus genotype 2
Xingyu LI ; Yan LI ; Panpan YANG ; Junjie LIU ; Mengjia XIANG ; Yutao ZHU ; Luyao QIU ; Qilong QIAO ; Boshun ZHANG ; Dexin BU ; Chenghao HAN ; Chunmei YU ; Yanfang CONG ; Zeng WANG ; Jianli LI ; Baiyu WANG ; Jun ZHAO
Chinese Journal of Veterinary Science 2025;45(3):443-448,513
To construct a recombinant fowl adenovirus 4(FAdV-4)expressing the Cap protein of goose astrovirus genotype 2(GoAstV-2),the expression cassette of Cap gene was inserted into the natural 1 966 bp deletion region of the FAdV-4 genome in the infectious clone p15A-cm-FAdV4-HNJZ.The resulted recombinant plasmid p15A-cm-FAdV4-HNJZ-Cap/GoAstV-2 was linearized with restriction enzyme and transfected into chicken hepatoma cell line(LMH)to rescue the recombinant FAdV-4 expressing the Cap protein of GoAstV-2,rF Ad V4-Cap/GoAstV-2.After 15 passages in LMH cells,the recombinant rFAdV4-Cap/GoAstV-2 was identified by PCR using primers flanking the insertion site of the Cap gene expression cassette and using viral genome DNA extracted from rFAdV4-Cap/GoAstV-2 infected LMH cells as template.LMH cells were in-fected with 15th passage rFAdV4-Cap/GoAstV-2 and indirect immunofluorescence was performed with a polyclonal antibody against Cap protein as the primary antibody.Western blot was carried out with lysates of rFAdV4-Cap/GoAstV-2 infected LMH cells.The in vitro replication dynamic of the 15th passage of the rFAdV4-Cap/GoAstV-2 was also investigated in LMH cells.The results demonstrated that the Cap gene of GoAstV-2 was presented in the genome of the recombinant vi-rus rF AdV4-Cap/Go Ast V-2,and could be expressed stably.The prepared recombinant virus in this study will lay a foundation for developing inactivated bivalent vaccine candidate against co-in-fection of FAdV-4 and GoAstV-2 in goose.
8.Long-chain acylcoenzyme A synthase 4 regulates effects of fatty acid synthase on malignant biological behavior of esophageal cancer cells and resistance of gefitinib
Qian-hua ZHOU ; Lei JIANG ; Zhang-gui WANG ; Chao RUI ; Yi-min SHI ; Yan-xin FANG ; Qiu-shui JIN
Chinese Pharmacological Bulletin 2025;41(6):1108-1115
Aim To investigate the effect of ACSL4 on the malignant biological behavior of esophageal cancer cells and gefitinib resistance by regulating FASN,and to explore the related mechanism.Methods Thirty-five fresh esophageal cancer tissues and adjacent nor-mal tissues,and 30 esophageal cancer tissues with ge-fitinib resistance were collected.The expressions of ACSL4 and FASN were detected by qRT-PCR and im-munohistochemistry.The expression levels of ACSL4 and FASN in human normal esophageal cells HET-1 A,esophageal cancer cell lines ECA109,EC9706,TE-1 and TE-1/GR were detected by qRT-PCR.Cells in each group were constructed by liposome transfection technique,and the drug resistance and proliferation a-bility of cells were detected by cloning and CCK-8 as-say,cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry,cell invasion ability was detected by Transwell,and EMT pathway protein expression was detected by Western blot.Results Compared with adjacent normal tis-sues,the expression of ACSL4 and FASN genes in cancer tissues increased,and there was a positive corre-lation.The expression of ACSL4 significantly increased in ECA109,EC9706 and TE-1 cells compared with HET-1 A cells.With the increase of gefitinib concen-tration,the expression of ACSL4 in TE-1 cells gradually increased,and the expression of ACSL4 in TE-1/GR cells was higher than that of TE-1.Compared with the control group and the si-NC group,the cell proliferation and invasion ability of si-ACSL4 group decreased,the number of apoptosis increased,the expression of E-Cadherin increased,and the expression of N-Cadherin,Vimentin and β-catenin decreased.The response ex-periment showed that compared with the si-ACSL4 group and the si-ACSL4+oe-NC group,the cells in the si-ACSL4+oe-FASN group increased drug resistance,increased proliferation and invasion ability,decreased apoptosis number and decreased expression of E-Cad-herin.The expressions of N-Cadherin,Vimentin and β-catenin increased.Conclusions By down-regulating the expression of FASN,ACSL4 reverses the resistance of esophageal cancer TE-1/GR cells to gefitinib and in-hibits the proliferation,invasion and accelerates apopto-sis of TE-1/GR cells,which may be related to the regu-lation of EMT signaling pathway.
9.Cloning,bioinformatics analysis,expression and localization of APOD in bactrian camel epididymis
Aili CUI ; Wenjing WANG ; Xue HUANG ; Qiu YAN ; Tianan LI ; Jinghong NAN ; Yong ZHANG ; Xingxu ZHAO ; Qi WANG
Chinese Journal of Veterinary Science 2025;45(4):752-759
Apolipoprotein D(APOD)is a protein that is widely present in animal tissues and is in-volved in the reproductive regulation of the body.In order to investigate the expression regularity of APOD in bactrian camel epididymis and its regulation effect on sperm maturation,this study took the epididymis of bactrian camel during estrus and anestrus as materials,and first cloned the complete sequence of APOD coding sequence(CDS)region.The physicochemical properties of AP-OD were analyzed by ProParam,SOPMA,SWISS-MODEL and MEGA7.0 software.Meanwhile,the expression and distribution of APOD in epididymis were detected by qRT-PCR,Western blot and IHC.The cloning results showed that:the length of the CDS region of APOD gene was 624 bp,encoding 207 amino acids.The APOD sequence of Bactrian camel was highly conserved with the nucleotide and amino acid sequence of alpaca,and the homology of APOD sequence with elk was the lowest.The results of qRT-PCR showed that the mRNA levels of APOD in the head,body and tail of epididymis in estrus were significantly higher than those in estrus(P<0.01).Western blot results showed that the APOD protein expression and mRNA expression trend was similar in the head and body of the epididymis during anestrus,but the APOD expression level in the tail of the epididymis during anestrus was opposite to the mRNA expression level(P<0.05).The results of H&E and IHC showed that there were significant differences in epididymal tissue between estrus and anestrus.In addition,APOD showed positive reactions in epididymal epithelial cells,smooth muscle cells,sperm and connective tissue to varying degrees,suggesting that APOD may be in-volved in the maturation of sperm during estrus and anestrus,providing evidence for further explo-ring the regulatory mechanism of APOD's involvement in seasonal estrus.
10.Establishment and application of ultra-fast real-time PCR for Brucella detection
Zhen-na XU ; Zhi-peng WU ; Wei-bin HONG ; Zhi-shen GUAN ; Qi-ming LIN ; Zuan-lan MO ; Yi-fei YE ; Hai-yan XIE ; Min LI ; Yan-qiu ZHU ; Xiao-jun LI ; Xian-peng ZHANG
Chinese Journal of Zoonoses 2025;41(3):278-283
This study was aimed at establishing a method of ultra-fast quantitative PCR for Brucella detection.We used an exogenous recombinant plasmid as the internal reference and targeted the T4SS secretion system,an important Brucella viru-lence factor,to design specific primers and probes.The sensitivity,specificity,and repeatability of this method were evaluated,and a standard curve was constructed.The coincidence rate of detection findings with this method versus quantitative PCR was determined.This method markedly decreased the detection time to only 10 minutes.The standard curve demonstrated a good linear relationship(Y=-3.410 7x+38.357,R2=0.998 5)with a low minimum detection limit of 10 copies/μL.The method exhibited good specificity and did not specifically amplify several common clinical bacteria other than Brucella.The de-tection of three concentrations of positive plasmids yielded coefficients of variation(CVs)of 0.20%to 0.91%,thus demonstra-ting the method's excellent repeatability.Furthermore,140 clinical samples were analyzed concurrently with the fluorescence PCR method,which yielded a 100%compliance rate and consistent results.Our findings indicated that the Brucella ultra-fast quantitative PCR was ultrafast;had high sensitivity,high specificity,and good specificity;and can be used for the clinical de-tection of Brucella and emergency investigation of epidemics.Therefore,this method is valuable for the early diagnosis of Bru-cella.

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