This study explored the action mechanism of Jiawei Xionggui Decoction in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease(AD) by integrating mouse brain tissue metabolomics and network pharmacology. Six-month-old amyloid precursor protein/presenilin 1(APP/PS1) mice were selected and divided into the APP/PS1 group and Jiawei Xionggui Decoction intervention group, with age-matched C57BL/6 mice serving as controls. Cognitive abilities and pathological damage in the mice were observed. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry(GC-MS/MS) technology was utilized to analyze the metabolic profiles of mice brain tissue. Differential metabolites were screened, and relevant metabolic pathways were enriched. Network pharmacology was adopted to screen the active components of Jiawei Xionggui Decoction, so as to construct a protein-protein interaction network of its core targets for AD treatment and conduct Gene Ontology(GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) enrichment analysis of potential targets for Jiawei Xionggui Decoction in treating AD. Finally, a "metabolite-reaction-enzyme-gene" network was constructed for combined analysis of metabolomics and network pharmacology. The results showed that Jiawei Xionggui Decoction significantly reversed the trends of 18 differential metabolites involved in 15 metabolic pathways such as glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism, glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism, pyruvate metabolism, alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism, and tricarboxylic acid cycle(TCA) in mouse brain tissue. Furthermore, 383 core targets of Jiawei Xionggui Decoction were implicated in pathways like the phosphoinositide 3-kinase(PI3K)/protein kinase B(Akt) signaling pathway and calcium signaling pathway. Overall analysis indicated that energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and fatty acid metabolism were crucial metabolic pathways for Jiawei Xionggui Decoction in treating AD. The findings suggest that Jiawei Xionggui Decoction can protect neuronal cells in mouse brain tissue, thus improving cognitive impairment.
Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Mice ; Network Pharmacology ; Metabolomics ; Cognitive Dysfunction/genetics* ; Alzheimer Disease/genetics* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor/metabolism* ; Male ; Brain/drug effects* ; Humans ; Presenilin-1/metabolism* ; Protein Interaction Maps/drug effects* ; Mice, Transgenic ; Disease Models, Animal

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy and safety of Erzhu Jiedu Decoction (EZJDD) Granules in treating mid-advanced hepatitis B virus-associated primary liver cancer (HBV-PLC) patients with Pi (Spleen)-deficiency and dampness-heat syndrome. METHODS: From January 2021 to June 2023, a cohort of 132 patients were enrolled and randomly assigned to a control group or a EZJDD group according to the random numbers, with 66 patients in each group. The patients in the control group received conventional treatment for 3 months, followed by a 3-month follow-up. In addition to the conventional treatment, patients in the EZJDD group were administered EZJDD Granules (10.9 g/pack, 2 packs twice per day) orally for same duration. Progression-free survival (PFS) as primary outcome was evaluated by Kaplan Meier method. Karnofsky performance status (KPS) scores were used to assess the quality of life in two groups before and after treatment, and survival rates were determined as well. The efficacy of Chinese medicine syndrome was calculated with Nimodipine method. Liver function, tumor indicators and T lymphocyte subsets were measured, respectively. Safety indicators were recorded and assessed. RESULTS: Of the 116 patients who completed the study, 57 were in the control group and 59 in the EZJDD group. The median PFS was 3.53 months (106 days) in the EZJDD group compared to 2.33 months (70 days) in the control group (P=0.005). Six-month survival rate was 52.63% (30/57) in the control group and 69.49% (41/59) in the EZJDD group (P=0.039). The median KPS score in the EZJDD group [70(63, 90)] was higher than that in the control group [70(60, 80)] (P=0.013). The total effective rate of CM syndrome was 52.63% (30/57) in the control group and 77.97% (46/59) in the EZJDD group (P=0.005). The levels of alpha fetoprotein, alpha fetoprotein-L3, alpha-L-fucosidase and protein induced by Vitamin K absence or antagonist- II in the EZJDD group increased less than the control group (P>0.05). CD8⁺ levels were decreased, while CD3⁺ and CD4⁺ levels, as well as CD4⁺/CD8⁺ ratio were significantly increased in the EZZJD group (P<0.05). No treatment-related adverse reactions were observed during the study. CONCLUSION EZJDD Granules significantly prolonged the median PFS and improved 6-month survival rate in patients with mid-advanced HBV-PLC (Registration No. ChiCTR2200056922).
Humans ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/adverse effects* ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Liver Neoplasms/complications* ; Hepatitis B virus/physiology* ; Hepatitis B/complications* ; Treatment Outcome ; Adult ; Spleen/drug effects* ; Quality of Life ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Aged ; Syndrome

OBJECTIVE: Varied acupoint selections represent a potential cause of the uncertainty surrounding the efficacy of acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis (OA). Skin temperature, a guiding factor for acupoint selection, may help to address this issue. This study explored thermal sensitization of acupoints used for the treatment of knee OA. METHODS: This cross-sectional case-control study enrolled cases aged 45-75 years with symptomatic knee OA and age- and gender-matched non-knee OA controls in a 1:1 ratio. All participants underwent infrared thermographic imaging. The primary outcome was the relative skin temperature of acupoint (STA), and the secondary outcome was the absolute STA of 11 acupoints. The Z test was used to compare the relative and absolute STAs between the groups. Principal component analysis was used to extract the common factors (CFs, acupoint cluster) in the STAs. A general linear model was used to identify factors affecting the STA in the knee OA cases. For the group comparisons of relative STA, P < 0.0045 (adjusted for 11 acupoints through Bonferroni correction) was considered to indicate statistical significance. For other analyses, P < 0.05 was used as the threshold for statistical significance. RESULTS: The analysis included 308 participants, consisting of 151 cases (mean age: [64.58 ± 6.67] years; male: 25.83%; mean body mass index: [25.70 ± 3.16] kg/m²) and 157 controls (mean age: [63.37 ± 5.96] years; male: 26.11%; mean body mass index: [24.47 ± 2.84] kg/m²). The relative STAs of ST34 (P = 0.0001), EX-LE2 (P < 0.0001), EX-LE5 (P = 0.0006), SP10 (P < 0.0001), BL40 (P = 0.0012) and GB39 (P = 0.0037) were higher in the knee OA group. No difference was found in the STAs of ST35, ST36, SP9, GB33 and GB34. Four CFs were identified for relative STA in both groups. The acupoints within each CF were consistent between the groups. The mean values of the relative STAs across each CF were higher in the knee OA group. In the knee OA cases, no factors were observed to affect the relative STA, while age and gender were found to affect the absolute STA. CONCLUSION Among patients with knee OA, thermal sensitization occurs in the acupoints of the lower extremity, exhibiting localized and regional thermal consistencies. The thermally sensitized acupoints that we identified in this study, ST34, SP10, EX-LE2, EX-LE5, GB39 and BL40, may be good choices for the acupuncture treatment of knee OA. Please cite this article as: Tu JF, Wang XZ, Yan SY, Wang YR, Yang JW, Shi GX, Zhang WZ, Jing LN, Yang LS, Liu DH, Wang LQ, Mi BH. Thermal sensitization of acupoints in patients with knee osteoarthritis: A cross-sectional case-control study. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(3): 289-296.
Humans ; Osteoarthritis, Knee/physiopathology* ; Male ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Middle Aged ; Female ; Acupuncture Points ; Case-Control Studies ; Aged ; Skin Temperature ; Acupuncture Therapy

Objective To investigate the population composition,seasonal dynamics,and infestation levels of cockroaches in Lanzhou,China,and to provide information for the scientific development of cockroach control strategies.Methods Monitoring was conducted at three locations using the sticky trap method.Habitats included farm product markets,catering establishments,hotels,hospitals,and residential areas.Results From 2016 to 2023,the average cockroach density was 0.77 insects per board,with an average infestation rate of 10.84%.Blattella germanica was the dominant species.Seasonal density of cockroaches showed an approximately unimodal distribution,peaking in September.The highest average density and infestation rates were observed in farm product markets.Conclusions Cockroach density and infestation levels in Lanzhou remained relatively low.A comprehensive prevention and control strategy focusing on environmental management in key areas should be implemented according to the seasonal fluctuations.

Lens injury is an important etiological factor in the reduction of visual function following ocular trauma.Currently, there are no clear standards for the classification of lens injury, and comprehensive diagnostic tools are lacking.This deficiency leads to numerous controversies and challenges in critical areas, such as diagnosis and preoperative evalution, timing of surgery, surgical strategy, and assessment of postoperative prognosis.Tomographic imaging technology, such as computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, optical coherence tomography, has introduced a new dimension to the evaluation of lens injury, which is crucial for assessing the transparency, texture, location, morphology, and integrity of the lens, as well as the zonules and nearby intraocular structures.However, the use of tomographic imaging technology is somewhat limited due to the limitations of relying on a single method.With the ongoing advancement of imaging technologies and the rapid development of big data and artificial intelligence, tomographic imaging will become an increasingly essential tool in the future management of lens injury.Our expert group reviewed the epidemiological characteristics and classification of lens injury and the major challenges currently faced in the diagnosis and treatment of lens injury, and provided expert recommendations mainly focusing on the application, shortcomings and limitations of current tomographic imaging technology in the diagnosis and treatment of lens injury, and future development directions.

Lens injury is an important etiological factor in the reduction of visual function following ocular trauma.Currently, there are no clear standards for the classification of lens injury, and comprehensive diagnostic tools are lacking.This deficiency leads to numerous controversies and challenges in critical areas, such as diagnosis and preoperative evalution, timing of surgery, surgical strategy, and assessment of postoperative prognosis.Tomographic imaging technology, such as computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, optical coherence tomography, has introduced a new dimension to the evaluation of lens injury, which is crucial for assessing the transparency, texture, location, morphology, and integrity of the lens, as well as the zonules and nearby intraocular structures.However, the use of tomographic imaging technology is somewhat limited due to the limitations of relying on a single method.With the ongoing advancement of imaging technologies and the rapid development of big data and artificial intelligence, tomographic imaging will become an increasingly essential tool in the future management of lens injury.Our expert group reviewed the epidemiological characteristics and classification of lens injury and the major challenges currently faced in the diagnosis and treatment of lens injury, and provided expert recommendations mainly focusing on the application, shortcomings and limitations of current tomographic imaging technology in the diagnosis and treatment of lens injury, and future development directions.

Objective:To explore the latent profile of discharge readiness of patients with lower extremity arteriosclerosis obliterans and analyze its influencing factors, so as to provide theoretical basis for individualized management of discharge readiness in patients with lower limb arteriosclerosis obliterans.Methods:From February 2022 to December 2022, 194 patients with arteriosclerosis obliterans of lower limbs who received surgical treatment in the vascular surgery department of Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University were investigated by using general information questionnaire, Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale, Quality of Discharge Teaching Scale and Family APGAR Index for a cross-sectional survey. Latent profile analysis was used to identify different categories, and Logistic regression analysis was used to explore its influencing factors.Results:Totally 182 valid questionnaires were collected, of which 127 males and 55 females, and patients over 60 years old were the majority, accounting for 81.9%. Three latent profile models were identified in this study, namely, low discharge readiness group (27.47%), medium discharge readiness-high expected support group (41.21%) and high discharge readiness group (31.31%). Logistic regression analysis showed that first hospitalization ( OR=19.218, 95% CI 2.949-125.237), the quality of discharge guidance ( OR=0.896, 95% CI 0.857-0.937) were the predictive factors of medium discharge readiness-high expected support group ( P<0.05); family function ( OR=0.185, 95% CI 0.097-0.353) and the quality of discharge guidance ( OR=0.823, 95% CI 0.764-0.888) were the predictive factors of the low discharge readiness group of patients with arteriosclerosis obliterans (all P<0.05). Conclusions:There are different types of discharge readiness of patients with arteriosclerosis obliterans, and patients with poor quality of discharge guidance and poor family function are more likely to have a trend of low discharge readiness. Patients with low quality discharge guidance and first hospitalization are more likely to have a trend of moderate discharge readiness-high expected support. For this kind of patients, medical staff should take corresponding measures to improve their readiness for discharge.

Aim To study the molecular mechanism of pterostilbene(PTS)inhibiting the growth of esophage-al squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC).Methods Soft agar assay was used to detect the effect of PTS on the anchored independent growth of KYSE150.TMT-la-beled quantitative proteomics analysis was used to ana-lyze the influence of PTS on the proteome of KYSE150.Then the differentially expressed proteins(DEPs)enrichment was analyzed by GO and KEGG,and signaling pathway interactions were analyzed by STRING database.The molecular docking model of PTS and PPARα was established by computer.Trans-mission electron microscopy was used to observe the in-fluence of PTS on the morphology change of KYSE150.Western blot analysis the effects of PTS on PPARα sig-naling pathway and ferroptosis related proteins expres-sion.Results PTS inhibited the anchorage-independ-ent growth capability of KYSE150.A total of 249 DEPs were identified by proteomic analysis,including 175 up-regulated proteins and 74 down-regulated pro-teins.The DEPs enrichment analysis showed that PPAR signaling pathway was related to unsaturated fat-ty acid synthesis,pyruvate metabolism and other meta-bolic signaling pathways.PTS caused the reduction of mitochondrial volume and mitochondrial cristae of KYSE150.PTS inhibited the expression of PPARα sig-naling pathway and ferroptosis related proteins.Con-clusion PTS induced the ferroptosis of ESCC by in-hibiting PPARα signaling pathway.

Objective:To explore the risk factors for stone recurrence after laparoscopic common bile duct exploration (LCBDE) combined with laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) and to develop a risk prediction model.Methods:Clinical data of 344 patients with bile duct stones who underwent LCBDE combined with LC at Hebei General Hospital from January 2016 to March 2022 were retrospectively analyzed, including 165 males and 179 females, aged (62.72±13.56) years old. Patients were divided into two groups based on whether stones recurred during the follow-up period: recurrence group ( n=37) and non-recurrence group ( n=307). Clinical data such as common bile duct diameter, stone size, number of stones and duration of T-tube drainage were collected from the patients. Logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors for postoperative stone recurrence, and then developed a logistic regression model. The predictive efficacy of the model was assessed by the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and the Hosmer-Lemeshow test. Results:The results of multifactorial logistic regression analysis showed that patients with ≥2 choledochal stones had a high risk of stone recurrence after LCBDE combined with LC ( OR=3.094, 95% CI: 1.069-8.954, P=0.037). In contrast, regular postoperative oral choleretic medication was a protective factor for stone recurrence after LCBDE combined with LC ( OR=0.160, 95% CI: 0.072-0.354, P=0.001). A logistic regression model, based on the number of common bile duct stones and regular postoperative oral choleretic medication, was developed to predict the recurrence of bile duct stones in patients who underwent LCBDE combined with LC. The area under the ROC curve for this model was found to be 0.821 (95% CI: 0.758-0.885). The Hosmer-Lemeshow test, χ 2=7.26, P=0.509, suggested that there is good agreement between the model's predicted probabilities and ideal probabilities. Conclusions:The number of stones (≥2) is an independent risk factor for stone recurrence after LCBDE combined with LC in patients with bile duct stones. Regular postoperative oral choleretic medication is a protective factor for stone recurrence after LCBDE combined with LC. Predictive models based on the number of choledochal stones and regular postoperative oral choleretic medication have better efficacy in predicting postoperative stone recurrence.

Objective To analyze the active components and mechanism of action of Houttuyniae Herba-Leonuri Herba in treating systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE).Methods The main chemical components of Houttuyniae Herba-Leonuri Herba and their targets through Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform(TCMSP)were obtained,and the active components of the Chinese medicine according to ADME were screened;the potential therapeutic targets of SLE through Genecards database were obtained.The protein-protein interactions(PPI)network was constructed by using the STRING 12.0 database,and the potential protein functional modules in the network was mined.The molecular docking technique was used to further validate the action mechanism of components and targets which played a therapeutic role.Results A total of 198 Houttuyniae Herba-Leonuri Herba-SLE intersection targets were obtained.Core active ingredients such as isothermalone,iso-preleoheterin,kaempferol,and quercetin and core targets such as IL6,AKT1,SRC,STAT3 and EGFR were screened out.A total of 1 001 entries were screened by Gene Ontology(GO)functional enrichment analysis,which were mainly related to the reaction of proteins and their kinases,and inflammation,etc..A total of 166 pathways were enriched in Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG),including cancer pathway,PI3K-Akt signaling pathway,neuroactive ligand-receptor pathway,and so on.Molecular docking results showed that the core active components of Houttuyniae Herba-Leonuri Herba had great binding activities with their core targets,which preliminarily verified the above network pharmacology results.Conclusion Houttuyniae Herba-Leonuri Herba may exerts a therapeutic effect on SLE through core ingredients such as isothermalone acting on core targets such as IL6,AKT1,SRC,STAT3 and EGFR,and regulating cancer pathway,PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction.