To investigate the effects and mechanisms of the water extract from Sorbus tianschanica(STE) on asthmatic airway inflammation, the mice were randomly divided into six groups, including a control group, a model group, a positive drug dexamethasone group(2 mg·kg~(-1)), a low-dose STE group(1 g·kg~(-1)), a medium-dose STE group(2 g·kg~(-1)), and a high-dose STE group(4 g·kg~(-1)). Except for the control group, all groups were subjected to ovalbumin induction to establish an asthma mouse model. The anti-inflammatory effects of STE were evaluated by examining pathological changes in lung tissue and measuring the levels of interleukin(IL)-4 and IL-5 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid(BALF). Transcriptomic and proteomic methods were further employed to analyze differentially expressed genes and proteins, as well as their associated signaling pathways in lung tissue. Subsequently, the expression changes of key genes were verified by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR), and immunohistochemistry and Western blot methods were used to explore the regulatory mechanisms of STE in the pathogenesis of asthma in mice. Molecular docking was performed by using AutoDock Vina software to evaluate the binding affinity of the main active components in STE with the target proteins, including phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase catalytic subunit α(PIK3CA), Toll-like receptor 4(TLR4), protein kinase B1(Akt1), and matrix metallopeptidase 9(MMP9). The results showed significant inflammatory cell infiltration and fibrous tissue proliferation in the lung tissue of mice in the model group. However, these pathological changes were markedly reduced following STE intervention. Compared with those of the control group, the expression levels of IL-4 and IL-5 in the BALF of the model group were significantly increased but notably decreased following STE intervention. Transcriptomic and proteomic analyses identified key genes and proteins associated with allergic asthma, including tumor necrosis factor(TNF), IL-6, TLR4, PIK3CA, and MMP9. RT-qPCR validation revealed that high-dose STE intervention significantly downregulated the expressions of PIK3CA, IL-6, Akt1, MMP9, IL-13, nuclear factor-kappa B(NF-κB), TNF, CXC motif chemokine ligand 1(CXCL1), and TLR4 mRNAs and significantly upregulated the expression of signal transducer and activator of transcription 1(STAT1) mRNA. Western blot and immunohistochemical analyses confirmed that STE significantly downregulated the expressions of MMP9, TLR4, PIK3CA, and phosphorylated protein kinase B(p-Akt) in lung tissue of asthmatic mice. Moreover, molecular docking demonstrated that kaempferol-3,7-diglucoside, isoquercitrin, quercetin-3-gentiobioside, and hyperoside in STE exhibited stable binding affinities with PIK3CA, TLR4, Akt1, and MMP9, suggesting that the active components may exert anti-inflammatory effects by targeting and modulating asthma-related signaling pathways. In summary, STE exerts anti-asthmatic effects by inhibiting the expressions of PIK3CA, MMP9, p-Akt, and TLR4 and regulating the TLR4/PI3K/Akt/MMP9 signaling pathway.
Animals ; Asthma/metabolism* ; Toll-Like Receptor 4/metabolism* ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Mice ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/metabolism* ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism* ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9/metabolism* ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Female ; Humans ; Lung/immunology* ; Male

This study was aimed at identifying the pathogenic bacteria responsible for the death of a young tiger at the Fujian Meihua Mountain South China Tiger Breeding Research Institute.Tissue samples from the lungs,liver,and intestines of the deceased tiger were collected,and the bacteria were cultured inasterile environment.The bacterial strains were characterized according to their morphological and molecular biological properties,including assessment of virulence genes and antibiotic resistance genes,mouse lethality tests,and antibiotic susceptibility evaluations.A predominant bacterial strain isolated from the liver of the deceased tiger was identified as enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli(ETEC)strain Tiger22513F.Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene revealed that the Tiger22513F strain exhibited close genetic similarity to the reference strain ETEC(MF919609.1),with 99.9%nucleotide similarity,and resided on the same evolutionary branch.The Tiger22513F strain contained 11 antibiotic resistance genes(tetA,sul1,sul3,cmlA,floR,blaTEM,blaSHV,blaCMY-2,qnrA,qnrS,and qnrD)along with five virulence genes(VT1,fyuA,tsh,iucD,and ST).Mouse lethality tests indicated significant pathogenicity toward mice,affecting primarily the lungs,liver,and intestines.Antibiotic susceptibility testing demonstrated that this strain exhibited resistance to various classes of beta-lactam antibiotics,as well as quinolones and aminoglycosides.This investigation successfully isolated a multi-drug resistant enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli strain with pronounced pathogenicity from the liver of a deceased tiger;thus providing valuable scientific insights for clinical diagnosis,as well as prevention and control measures,against ETEC infections in South China tigers.

This study was aimed at identifying the pathogenic bacteria responsible for the death of a young tiger at the Fujian Meihua Mountain South China Tiger Breeding Research Institute.Tissue samples from the lungs,liver,and intestines of the deceased tiger were collected,and the bacteria were cultured inasterile environment.The bacterial strains were characterized according to their morphological and molecular biological properties,including assessment of virulence genes and antibiotic resistance genes,mouse lethality tests,and antibiotic susceptibility evaluations.A predominant bacterial strain isolated from the liver of the deceased tiger was identified as enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli(ETEC)strain Tiger22513F.Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene revealed that the Tiger22513F strain exhibited close genetic similarity to the reference strain ETEC(MF919609.1),with 99.9%nucleotide similarity,and resided on the same evolutionary branch.The Tiger22513F strain contained 11 antibiotic resistance genes(tetA,sul1,sul3,cmlA,floR,blaTEM,blaSHV,blaCMY-2,qnrA,qnrS,and qnrD)along with five virulence genes(VT1,fyuA,tsh,iucD,and ST).Mouse lethality tests indicated significant pathogenicity toward mice,affecting primarily the lungs,liver,and intestines.Antibiotic susceptibility testing demonstrated that this strain exhibited resistance to various classes of beta-lactam antibiotics,as well as quinolones and aminoglycosides.This investigation successfully isolated a multi-drug resistant enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli strain with pronounced pathogenicity from the liver of a deceased tiger;thus providing valuable scientific insights for clinical diagnosis,as well as prevention and control measures,against ETEC infections in South China tigers.

Objective:To observe the clinical efficacy and safety of venetoclax(VEN)combined with azacitidine(AZA)in the treatment of adult acute myeloid leukemia(AML)patients who are unfit for intensive chemotherapy.Methods:The clinical data of 21 adult patients with unfit AML who were treated with VEN combined with AZA in the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from January 2021 to May 2022 were collected,and the efficacy and safety were analyzed retrospectively.Results:After one course of treatment with VEN and AZA,16 out of 21 unfit AML patients reached complete remission(CR)/CR with incomplete hematologic recovery(CRi),2 patients reached partial remission(PR),the overall response rate(ORR)was 85.7％.Among the 16 patients with CR/CRi,13 achieved minimal residual disease(MRD)negativity.Among the 11 patients with adverse prognosis,8 achieved CR/CRi.By the deadline of follow-up,the median overall suivival(OS)of the entire cohort was not reached,with 1-year OS rate of 61.7％.The main adverse events of VEN combined with AZA were myelosuppression,gastrointestinal reactions and infections.There were 13 cases of leukopenia,7 cases of neutropenia,7 cases of anemia,4 cases of thrombocytopenia,and these hematologic adverse events were all grade 3-4.There were 11 cases with gastrointestinal reactions and 7 cases with infections.The above adverse events were controllable and tolerable.No tumor lysis syndrome or infection related death occurred.Conclusion:VEN combined with AZA can quickly achieve deep remission in adult patients with unfit AML,and it shows a good safety profile.

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathological features, immunophenotype, ultrastructure, genetic alterations and prognosis of succinate dehydrogenase-deficient renal cell carcinoma (SDH RCC). Methods: A total of 11 SDH RCCs, diagnosed from 2010 to 2019, were selected from the Department of Pathology of Nanjing Jingling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine for clinicopathologic, immunohistochemical (IHC), ultrastructural investigation and follow-up. The molecular features of seven cases were analyzed by the panel-targeted DNA next generation sequencing (NGS). Results: There were seven males and four females, with ages ranging from 24 to 62 years (mean 41.4 years, median 41 years). Microscopically, SDH RCC was mainly composed of solid and tubular structures with local cystic change. Four cases showed nested or trabecular structure distributed in a loose hypocellular connective tissue or around scar, similar to oncocytoma. The neoplastic cells demonstrated flocculent eosinophilic cytoplasm with typical intracytoplasmic vacuoles. Immunohistochemically, eight cases were negative for SDHB; three cases showed focal and weak expression, whereas normal renal tubular and vascular endothelial cells demonstrated strong cytoplasmic staining. NGS of DNA targeted-panel detected pathogenic mutations of SDHB gene in seven cases (including three cases with equivocal IHC expression of SDHB), without any mutations in other SDH related genes. There were four cases of SDHB missense mutation, one case of frameshift mutation, one case of splicing mutation, and one case of acquired stop codon mutation. Conclusions: SDH RCC is a distinct variant of RCCs with genetic tendency or with hereditary cancer syndrome. NGS is recommended to detect the related gene mutations for a definitive diagnosis. The patients should be closely followed up.
Adult ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell/genetics* ; Endothelial Cells ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms/genetics* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Succinate Dehydrogenase/genetics* ; Young Adult

Objective: To summarize the clinical features of Streptococcus pneumoniae-associated hemophagocytic syndrome (SP-HLH), and the serotypes and drug-resistant characteristics of the isolated strains. Methods: There were 15 children with SP-HLH admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) of Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University from January 2013 to December 2020 were included in this study. Clinical data including children's general characteristics, clinical features, laboratory examinations, treatments, prognosis and the outcomes of follow-up by May 2021 were analyzed retrospectively. The serotypes and drug resistance of the isolated strains were identified. All children were divided into the clinical improvement group and the death group. Mann-Whitney U test, Fisher's exact test were used to compare the data of the two groups. Results: Among the 15 children with SP-HLH, 8 were males and 7 were females. The age of these children was 1.0 (1.0, 2.5) years. Regarding the primary infection, there were 9 cases of severe pneumonia, 3 cases of meningitis and 3 cases of blood stream infection. None of these children had received pneumoniae conjugate vaccine (PCV) and all of them were admitted to the PICU. Respiratory failure was observed in 10 patients, acute renal injury in 5, and hemolytic uremic syndrome in 3 patients. All children received glucocorticoids and high-dose intravenous immunogloblin (IVIG) in addition to anti-infective treatment. Eight of the children were cured while the other 7 died. The neutrophil count in the death group was lower than that in the clinical improvement group ((5.0 (1.7, 9.3) × 10⁹ vs. 5.2 (3.4, 10.5) ×10⁹/L, Z =-2.43, P<0.015), and the length of hospital stay and days of PICU stay in the death group were both shorter than those in the improvement group statistically (3 (1, 11) vs. 39 (34, 48) d, 2 (1, 4) vs. 19 (12, 31) d, Z=-3.25, -3.24, both P=0.001). Ten serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae were identified, including 4 strains of 19F, 3 of 19A, 1 of 23F, 1 of 15A and 1 of 14, among which 9 strains (9/10) were covered by PCV13. All strains were resistant to erythromycin yet sensitive to vancomycin and linezolid. Conclusions: SP-HLH is more common in children under the age of 3, with a high mortality rate. The death cases have lower neutrophil count and rapid disease progression. The comprehensive treatment is anti-infective combined with glucocorticoids and high-dose IVIG. The predominant serotypes are 19F and 19A and all isolated strains were susceptible to vancomycin and linezolid.
Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use* ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Lymphohistiocytosis, Hemophagocytic/drug therapy* ; Male ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Pneumococcal Infections/drug therapy* ; Retrospective Studies ; Serogroup ; Streptococcus pneumoniae

In this study, the critical quality attributes of Wuzhuyu Decoction reference sample were explored by using characteristic chromatogram, index component content and dry extract rate as indexes.The dissemination relationship of quantity value between medicinal materials-decoction pieces-reference sample was investigated to preliminarily formulate the quality standard of the reference sample.The characteristic chromatogram of 15 batches of Wuzhuyu Decoction was established by high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) and the similarity analysis was conducted.Common peaks were demarcated and assigned to medicinal materials.Moreover, quantitative determination of limonin, evodiamine, rutaecarpine and ginsenoside Rb_1 of Wuzhuyu Decoction were performed.The dissemination of quantity value was explored combined with dry extract rate, similarity of characteristic chromatogram and transfer rate of index component content.A total of 18 common peaks were identified in the corresponding materials of Wuzhuyu Decoction reference sample, with the similarity of characteristic chromatogram greater than 0.9, and Fructus Evodiae, Radix Ginseng, Rhizoma Zingiberis Recens and Fructus Jujubae contributed 9, 5, 8 and 2 chromatographic peaks, respectively.The index component content of corresponding materials and the transfer rates of medicinal materials-decoction pieces and decoction pieces-reference sample of different batches of Wuzhuyu Decoction reference sample were as follows: the content of limonin was 0.16%-0.51%, and the transfer rates were 83.66%-115.60% and 38.54%-54.58%, respectively; the content of evodiamine was 0.01%-0.11%, the transfer rated were 80.80%-116.15% and 3.23%-12.93%, respectively; the content of rutaecarpine was 0.01%-0.05%, the transfer rates were 84.33%-134.53% and 5.72%-21.24%, respectively; the content of ginsenoside Rb_1 was 0.06%-0.11%, and the transfer rates were 90.00%-96.92% and 32.45%-67.24%, respectively.The dry extract rate of the whole prescription was 22.58%-29.89%.In this experiment, the dissemination of quantity value of Wuzhuyu Decoction reference sample was analyzed by the combination of characteristic chromatogram, index component content and dry extract rate.A scientific and stable quality evaluation method of the reference sample was preliminarily established, which provided basis for the subsequent development of Wuzhuyu Decoction and the quality control of related preparations.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Ginsenosides/analysis* ; Limonins/analysis* ; Quality Control

Objective: To explore the association between chronic hepatitis B virus infection and diabetes among adults. Methods: The baseline data of China Kadoorie Biobank ( CKB ) study from Tongxiang of Zhejiang Province was used for analysis. Community residents were investigated in the study from August 2004 to May 2008, including questionnaire survey, physical measurement and biological sample test. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate the association of chronic hepatitis B virus infection with diabetes. Results: Totally 52 888 participants were included in the final analysis. The overall prevalence of HBsAg-positive was 3.55% ( N=1 877 ). The overall prevalence of diabetes was 5.17% ( N=2 733 ). The prevalence of HBsAg-positive in diabetic patients was 3.51% ( N=96 ). Both univariate and multivariate logistic regression models indicated that there was no association between chronic hepatitis B virus infection and diabetes（ P>0.05 ）. Conclusion No significant association has been found between chronic hepatitis B virus infection and diabetes among adults.

Objective: To investigate theaccuracy of artificial intelligence sleep staging model in patients with habitual snoring and obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) based on single-channel EEG collected from different locations of the head. Methods: The clinical data of 114 adults with habitual snoring and OSAHS who visited to the Sleep Medicine Center of Beijing Tongren Hospital from September 2020 to March of 2021 were analyzed retrospectively, including 93 males and 21 females, aging from 20 to 64 years old. Eighty-five adults with OSAHS and 29 subjects with habitual snoring were included. Sleep staging analysis was performed on the single lead EEG signals of different locations (FP2-M1, C4-M1, F3-M2, ROG-M1, O1-M2) using the deep learning segmentation model trained by previous data. Manual scoring results were used as the gold standard to analyze the consistency rate of results and the influence of different categories of disease. Results: EEG data in 124 747 30-second epochs were taken as the testing dataset. The model accuracy of distinguishing wake/sleep was 92.3%,92.6%,93.5%,89.2% and 83.0% respectively,based on EEG channel Fp2-M1, C4-M1, F3-M2, REOG-M1 or O1-M2. The mode accuracy of distinguishing wake/REM/NREM and wake/REM/N1-2/SWS , was 84.7% and 80.1% respectively based on channel Fp2-M1, which located in forehead skin. The AHI calculated based on total sleep time derived from the model and gold standard were 13.6[4.30,42.5] and 14.2[4.8,42.7], respectively (Z=-2.477, P=0.013), and the kappa coefficient was 0.977. Conclusions: The autonomic sleep staging via a deep neural network model based on forehead single-channel EEG (Fp2-M1) has a good consistency in the identification sleep stage in a population with habitual snoring and OSAHS with different categories. The AHI calculated based on this model has high consistency with manual scoring.
Adult ; Artificial Intelligence ; Electroencephalography ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neural Networks, Computer ; Retrospective Studies ; Sleep ; Sleep Stages ; Young Adult

Objective: To screen the differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in human bronchial epithelial cells (HBE) treated with atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM ). Methods: HBE cells were treated with PM samples from Shenzhen and Taiyuan for 24 h. To detect overall protein expression, the Q Exactive mass spectrometer was used. Gene ontology (GO), Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG), and Perseus software were used to screen DEPs. Results: Overall, 67 DEPs were screened in the Shenzhen sample-treated group, of which 46 were upregulated and 21 were downregulated. In total, 252 DEPs were screened in the Taiyuan sample-treated group, of which 134 were upregulated and 118 were downregulated. KEGG analysis demonstrated that DEPs were mainly enriched in ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis and HIF-1 signal pathways in Shenzhen PM samples-treated group. The GO analysis demonstrated that Shenzhen sample-induced DEPs were mainly involved in the biological process for absorption of various metal ions and cell components. The Taiyuan PM -induced DEPs were mainly involved in biological processes of protein aggregation regulation and molecular function of oxidase activity. Additionally, three important DEPs, including ANXA2, DIABLO, and AIMP1, were screened. Conclusion Our findings provide a valuable basis for further evaluation of PM -associated carcinogenesis.
Air Pollutants ; analysis ; Bronchi ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Computational Biology ; Epithelial Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Gene Expression ; drug effects ; Humans ; Mass Spectrometry ; Particle Size ; Particulate Matter ; analysis ; Proteomics