This study investigated the protective effect of arbutin(Arb) in yam on lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-induced acute lung injury(ALI) in a mouse model and revealed its possible mechanism of action by metabolomics technology, providing a theoretical basis for clinical treatment of ALI. SPF BALB/c mice were randomly divided into normal control group, model group, resveratrol(Rv)-positive control group, Arb low-dose(15 mg·kg~(-1)) group, and Arb high-dose(30 mg·kg~(-1)) group. The LPS-induced ALI model was established in all groups except the normal control group. Hematoxylin-eosin(HE) staining, TUNEL staining, and WBP whole-body non-invasive pulmonary function testing were used to evaluate the degree of lung tissue damage and lung function changes. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) was used to detect the level of inflammatory factors in lung tissue. Flow cytometry was used to analyze the M1/M2 polarization status of macrophages in lung tissue. Western blot was used to detect the expression levels of the TLR4 signaling pathway and related apoptotic proteins. Liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometer(LC-MS) metabolomics was used to analyze the changes in serum metabolic profile after Arb intervention. The results showed that Arb pretreatment significantly alleviated LPS-induced lung tissue injury, improved lung function, reduced the levels of pro-inflammatory factors(IL-6, TNF-α, IL-18, and IL-1β), and regulated the polarization status of M1/M2 macrophages. In addition, Arb inhibited the activation of the TLR4 signaling pathway, reduced the expression of pro-apoptotic proteins such as Bax, caspase-3, and caspase-9, up-regulated the level of Bcl-2 protein, and inhibited apoptosis of lung cells. Metabolomic analysis showed that Arb significantly improved LPS-induced metabolic abnormalities, mainly involving key pathways such as galactose metabolism, phenylalanine metabolism, and lipid metabolism. In summary, Arb can significantly reduce LPS-induced ALI by regulating the release of inflammatory factors, inhibiting the activation of the TLR4 signaling pathway, improving metabolic disorders, and regulating macrophage polarization, indicating that Arb has potential clinical application value.
Animals ; Acute Lung Injury/chemically induced* ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Arbutin/administration & dosage* ; Male ; Toll-Like Receptor 4/immunology* ; Apoptosis/drug effects* ; Lung/metabolism* ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Protective Agents/administration & dosage* ; Humans ; Macrophages/immunology* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage*

Parameters of peripheral blood cell have been shown as the potential predictors of erectile dysfunction (ED). To investigate the clinical significance of hematological parameters for predicting the risk of rapid ejaculation, we established a rat copulatory model on the basis of ejaculation distribution theory. Blood samples from different ejaculatory groups were collected for peripheral blood cell counts and serum serotonin (5-HT) tests. Meanwhile, the relationship between hematological parameters and ejaculatory behaviors was assessed. Final analysis included 11 rapid ejaculators, 10 normal ejaculators, and 10 sluggish ejaculators whose complete data were available. The platelet (PLT) count in rapid ejaculators was significantly lower than that in normal and sluggish ejaculators, whereas the platelet distribution width (PDW) and mean platelet volume (MPV) were significantly greater in rapid ejaculators. Multivariate logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that the PLT was an independent protective factor for rapid ejaculation. Meanwhile, rapid ejaculators were found to have the lowest serum 5-HT compared to normal and sluggish ejaculators ( P < 0.001). Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between the PLT and serum 5-HT ( r = 0.662, P < 0.001), indicating that the PLT could indirectly reflect the serum 5-HT concentration. In addition, we assessed the association between the PLT and ejaculatory parameters. There was a negative correlation between ejaculation frequency (EF) and the PLT ( r = -0.595, P < 0.001), whereas there was a positive correlation between ejaculation latency (EL) and the PLT ( r = 0.740, P < 0.001). This study indicated that the PLT might be a useful and convenient diagnostic marker for predicting the risk of rapid ejaculation.
Male ; Animals ; Ejaculation/physiology* ; Rats ; Platelet Count ; Pilot Projects ; Serotonin/blood* ; Biomarkers/blood* ; Mean Platelet Volume ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; ROC Curve ; Erectile Dysfunction/physiopathology*

Four furan α-butenolactones were isolated from 50% acetone extract of tuber of Alisma orientale by silica gel column, chromatography gel column and high performance liquid chromatography techniques. Their structures were identified by modern wave spectroscopy techniques and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) and assigned as (5R)-5-hydroxy-3,4-dimethylfuran-2(5H)-one (1), 5-hydroxy-3,5-dimethylfuran-2(5H)-one (2), 5-hydroxy-4-(1-methylethyl)-2(5H)-furanone (3) and alismanoid A (4). Compound 1 was new compound and compounds 2–4 were first isolated from Alisma orientale. Compound 1-4 had potential antifibrotic activities.

Objective To design a post-structured technology-based clinical disease database system to solve the problems of the traditional disease database system in dependence on manual judgment,lack of auxiliary annotation and poor availability of electronic medical record data.Methods An entity recognition model was constructed with I2B2 standard and bi-directional long short-term memory(BiLSTM)model to form a medical record template library,and some relational templates were generated and complex medical entities were extracted to realize post-structuring of electronic medical records.Then a clinical disease database system was established based on the post-structured electronic medical record technology,which was composed of the modules for medical record structuring,structured assessment,data annotation,routine functions and system management.Results The system developed transformed the text of electronic medical records into structured language,contributed to data element extraction and intelligent structured service and enhanced the efficiency of clinical treatment and scientific research.Conclusion The system developed improves the data availability of clinical diseases,reduces the workload of user data processing,ensures the quality of data application and lays a foundation for assisted decision making during clinical treatment and scientific research.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2024,45(4):20-26]

Objective:To explore the mechanism of hypertension inducing erectile dysfunction(ED)using transcriptomics and network pharmacology.Methods:We randomly divided 12 male rats with spontaneous hypertension(SHT)into an L-arginine(LA)group(n=6)and an SHT model control(MC)group(n=6),took another 6 Wistar Kyoto male rats as normal controls(NC),and treated the animals in the LA group by intraperitoneal injection of LA at 400 mg/kg and those in the latter two groups with physio-logical saline,once a day,all for 7 days.Then we observed the blood pressure and penile erection of the rats,and determined the ex-pressions of the cGMP/PKG signaling pathway-related proteins and mRNAs in different groups using ELISA,Western blot and RT-qPCR.Results:Transcriptomics combined with network pharmacology showed that the cGMP/PKG signaling pathway played a key role in hypertension-induced ED.In vivo animal experiments revealed a significantly lower frequency of penile erections in the MC than in the NC group(1.33±0.52 vs 2.67±0.51,P＜0.05).The protein expressions of eNOS,PKG and sGC were markedly de-creased in the model controls compared with those the normal controls(P＜0.05),but remarkably upregulated in the LA group com-pared with those in the MC group(P＜0.05).Conclusion:Hypertension decreases the expressions of eNOS,NO,sGC,cGMP and PKG proteins and the level of testosterone by inhibiting the cGMP/PKG signaling pathway,which consequently suppresses the relaxa-tion of the penile vascular smooth muscle and reduces erectile function.

Background/Aims: Despite the high efficacy of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), approximately 1–3% of hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients fail to achieve a sustained virological response. We conducted a nationwide study to investigate risk factors associated with DAA treatment failure. Machine-learning algorithms have been applied to discriminate subjects who may fail to respond to DAA therapy. Methods: We analyzed the Taiwan HCV Registry Program database to explore predictors of DAA failure in HCV patients. Fifty-five host and virological features were assessed using multivariate logistic regression, decision tree, random forest, eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), and artificial neural network. The primary outcome was undetectable HCV RNA at 12 weeks after the end of treatment. Results: The training (n=23,955) and validation (n=10,346) datasets had similar baseline demographics, with an overall DAA failure rate of 1.6% (n=538). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that liver cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, poor DAA adherence, and higher hemoglobin A1c were significantly associated with virological failure. XGBoost outperformed the other algorithms and logistic regression models, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 1.000 in the training dataset and 0.803 in the validation dataset. The top five predictors of treatment failure were HCV RNA, body mass index, α-fetoprotein, platelets, and FIB-4 index. The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the XGBoost model (cutoff value=0.5) were 99.5%, 69.7%, 99.9%, 97.4%, and 99.5%, respectively, for the entire dataset. Conclusions Machine learning algorithms effectively provide risk stratification for DAA failure and additional information on the factors associated with DAA failure.

Background/Aims: Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients who failed antiviral therapy are at increased risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study assessed the potential role of metformin and statins, medications for diabetes mellitus (DM) and hyperlipidemia (HLP), in reducing HCC risk among these patients. Methods: We included CHC patients from the T-COACH study who failed antiviral therapy. We tracked the onset of HCC 1.5 years post-therapy by linking to Taiwan’s cancer registry data from 2003 to 2019. We accounted for death and liver transplantation as competing risks and employed Gray’s cumulative incidence and Cox subdistribution hazards models to analyze HCC development. Results: Out of 2,779 patients, 480 (17.3%) developed HCC post-therapy. DM patients not using metformin had a 51% increased risk of HCC compared to non-DM patients, while HLP patients on statins had a 50% reduced risk compared to those without HLP. The 5-year HCC incidence was significantly higher for metformin non-users (16.5%) versus non-DM patients (11.3%; adjusted sub-distribution hazard ratio [aSHR]=1.51; P=0.007) and metformin users (3.1%; aSHR=1.59; P=0.022). Statin use in HLP patients correlated with a lower HCC risk (3.8%) compared to non-HLP patients (12.5%; aSHR=0.50; P<0.001). Notably, the increased HCC risk associated with non-use of metformin was primarily seen in non-cirrhotic patients, whereas statins decreased HCC risk in both cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic patients. Conclusions Metformin and statins may have a chemopreventive effect against HCC in CHC patients who failed antiviral therapy. These results support the need for personalized preventive strategies in managing HCC risk.

Aim To investigate the effect of arbutin on apoptosis of NRK-52e cells induced by LPS and the potential mechanism.Methods The model of NRK- 52e cells injury was constructed by LPS, and NRK-52e cells were divided into control, LPS ( 1 mg • L 1 ) , low dose arbutin (LPS, 1 mg • L 1 + arbutin, 5 (xmol • L_l ) , high dose arbutin ( LPS, 1 mg • L 1 + arbutin , 10 (xmol • L 1 ) and its corresponding inhibitor THC group ( 1 (xmol • L 1).The cell viability was detected ; the levels of ROS, apoptosis, Ca~' concentration and mitochondrial membrane potential ( MMP ) were detected by flow cytometry; the levels of key apoptosis proteins were detected by in cell western; the binding activity of arbutin with ER(3 was imitated by molecular docking technology, and verified by in cell western.Results Arbutin could effectively regulate the levels of ROS, Ca"+ , apoptosis proteins and ER(3 in NRK-52e cells induced by LPS and inhibit the de- cline of MMP, which is blocked by estrogen receptor inhibitor THC.In addition, arbutin has good binding activity with ERf}.Conclusion This study confirms that arbutin could inhibit LPS-induced apoptosis of NRK-52e cells through ER£.

Two new neolignans and one new lignan (1-3) were obtained from the roots of Paeonia lactiflora. Their structures were unambiguously elucidated based on extensive spectroscopic analysis, single-crystal X-ray crystallography, and the calculated and experimental electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra. Compound 1 was a racemic mixture and successfully resolved into the anticipated enantiomers via chiral-phase HPLC. Compound 3 demonstrated moderate inhibitory activity against human carboxylesterase 2A1 (hCES2A1) with an IC₅₀ value of 7.28 ± 0.94 μmol·^-1.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Humans ; Lignans/chemistry* ; Paeonia ; Plant Roots/chemistry* ; Stereoisomerism

This paper aims to detect the antigens in porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) vaccines by high-performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) coupled with multi-angle laser light scattering (MALLS). With purified inactivated PCV2 and PCV2 virus-like particles (VLP) as references, two inactivated vaccines (a and b) and two VLP vaccines (c and d) for PCV2 from four manufacturers were analyzed by HPSEC-MALLS after demulsification. The antigen peaks in HPSEC-MALLS were identified by PCV2 antigen test strips, Western blotting and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The repeatability and linearity of the method were investigated. The results showed the virus antigens in the two inactivated vaccines were eluted at about 13.3 min in HPSEC. The molecular weight of these antigens was 2.61×10⁶ (±4.34%) Da and 2.40×10⁶ (±2.51%) Da, respectively, as calculated by MALLS. The antigen peaks of the two VLP vaccines also appeared at 13.3 min and the molecular weight was 2.09×10⁶ (±2.94%) Da and 2.88×10⁶ (±11.85%) Da, respectively, which was close to the theoretical molecular weight of PCV2. Moreover, an antigen peak of VLP vaccine c was observed at 11.4 min and the molecular weight was 4.37×10⁶ (±0.42%) Da. The antigen was verified to be the dimer of VLP by TEM. Vaccine d and purified Cap VLP antigens were tested repeatedly, and the RSD of the peak area (n=3) was all < 1.5%, indicating that the method was repeatable. The purified VLP were diluted in serial and tested for linearity. The result suggested good linear relationship between the peak area of VLP or VLP aggregates and the protein concentration of the sample with R² of 0.999 and 0.997, respectively. Thus, the method met the requirement for quantification and aggregate analysis. This method is accurate and efficient in in vitro quality evaluation and improvement of PCV2 vaccine.
Animals ; Antibodies, Viral ; Capsid Proteins ; Chromatography, Gel ; Circoviridae Infections/prevention & control* ; Circovirus ; Lasers ; Swine ; Vaccines, Inactivated ; Vaccines, Virus-Like Particle ; Viral Vaccines