1.Association of mixed exposure to lithium, vanadium, uranium, and bismuth in early pregnancy with gestational weight gain
Jiao LI ; Qi LI ; Shuang CHENG ; Jiayi SONG ; Xiaohui GUO ; Xiang WANG ; Di CHENG ; Kefeng FAN ; Ju WANG
Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine 2026;43(4):475-484
Background Gestational weight gain is closely related to maternal and infant health outcomes. Pregnant women are simultaneously exposed to four metals—lithium (Li), vanadium (V), uranium (U), and bismuth (Bi)—through inhalation of fine particulate matter and consumption of contaminated food and water. Existing studies suggest that exposure to these metals may be associated with gestational weight gain. However, no study has yet explored the complex relationships between exposure to mixtures of these four metals and weight gain at different stages of pregnancy. Objective To investigate the associations between mixed exposure to Li, V, U, and Bi in early pregnancy and the average weekly gestational weight gain during both early pregnancy and mid-to-late pregnancy. Methods This prospective study recruited eligible women in early pregnancy from an obstetrics clinic of a tertiary hospital in Jinan, China, between September 2021 and July 2023. Pre-pregnancy weight, current weight (at 11+0 to 13+6 weeks of gestation), and spot urine samples (≥5.0 mL) were collected at enrollment. Urinary concentrations of Li, V, Bi, and U were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Participants were followed up in late pregnancy (≥28 weeks of gestation) to collect information on physical activity via questionnaire; weight measurements at the last antenatal visit (35+0 to 37+6 weeks of gestation) were obtained from the hospital information system. After adjusting for covariates, multiple linear regression and generalized additive models were used to assess the associations of individual metals with weekly weight gain in early pregnancy and in mid-to-late pregnancy. Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) and quantile-based g-computation (Qgcomp) were applied to evaluate the joint effects of the metal mixture exposure on weekly weight gain at the two gestational stages. Results A total of 313 pregnant women were included. The geometric means of urinary Li, V, U, and Bi concentrations were 37.07, 0.20, 0.06, and 0.04 μg·L−1, respectively; after creatinine adjustment, the corresponding values were 46.82, 0.25, 0.07, and 0.05 μg·g−1 (Cr). The mean weekly gestational weight gain was (0.19±0.25) kg in early pregnancy and (0.53 ± 0.18) kg in mid-to-late pregnancy. Both multiple linear regression and generalized additive models showed that urinary V concentration was positively associated with average weekly gestational weight gain in early pregnancy, while no significant associations were found for other metals or for gestational weight gain in mid-to-late pregnancy. In the BKMR model with early-pregnancy weight gain as the outcome, V had the strongest association [posterior inclusion probability (PIP)=0.773]. When other metals were fixed at their medians, V showed a positive non-linear association with the outcome. A significant single-metal effect of V and its interaction with Li were observed. Compared with the 50th percentile of the metal mixture, the average weekly weight gain in early pregnancy increased by 0.016 (95%CI: 0.003, 0.029) and 0.018 (95%CI: 0.001, 0.036) at the 60th and 65th percentiles, respectively; conversely, at the 25th percentile, it decreased by 0.026 (95%CI: 0.002, 0.050). Overall, the joint effect of the metal mixture on early- pregnancy weight gain showed an upward trend. In the BKMR model for mid-to-late pregnancy gestational weight gain, all PIPs were<0.5, and no significant single-metal effects, interactions, or joint effects were identified. Qgcomp results confirmed a positive association between the metal mixture and early-pregnancy weight gain (b=0.031, 95%CI: 0.010, 0.051; P<0.01), with V contributing the highest positive weight (0.71). No significant association was found for weight gain in mid-to-late pregnancy (b=0.007, P=0.339). Conclusion Higher levels of co-exposure to the Li, V, Bi, and U metal mixture during early pregnancy may be associated with increased average weekly weight gain in early pregnancy. Among these metals, V exhibits a predominant role and appears to interact with Li. No association is observed between early-pregnancy metal mixture exposure and average weekly gestational weight gain in mid-to-late pregnancy. These findings suggest that monitoring and managing metal exposure during early pregnancy may be crucial for the rational regulation of gestational weight gain.
2.Risk prediction of long working hours exposure on occupational stress and depressive symptoms among internet industry employees: Based on an interpretable machine learning framework
Xinyi LU ; Tao SONG ; Yuting ZHOU ; Qingxin MENG ; Jianlin LOU ; Hongchang ZHOU ; Jin WANG ; Shuang LI
Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine 2026;43(1):16-27
Background Long working hours, as a common risk factor for occupational stress, is closely related to the occurrence of depressive symptoms. Understanding how long working hours affect occupational stress and depressive symptoms will inform occupational health interventions. Objective To quantify the impact of long working hours exposure on occupational stress and depressive symptoms among Internet industry employees, translate black-box outputs into actionable insights, and demonstrate the value of interpretable machine learning for early-warning occupational-health surveillance. Methods A dataset was derived from a cross-sectional survey involving 2866 internet industry employees in China. This survey was part of the project Risk Assessment Of Long Working Hour Exposure And Its Adverse Health Effects, conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Health and Poisoning Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, from 2021 to 2023. Working hours, occupational stress and depressive symptoms were quantified with a set of structured questionnaires including the Core Occupational Stress Scale and the Patient Health Questionnaire. Pairwise associations were screened by Mantel tests and variance-inflation factors. Key predictors identified through feature selection were fed into six machine-learning risk-prediction models. Visual interpretation was provided by feature importance, Shapley additive explanations (SHAP) and local interpretable model-agnostic explanations (LIME), while directed causal effects and intervention impacts of prolonged working hours exposure on occupational stress and depressive symptoms were dissected with causal explanation of features techniques. Results The positive rates of occupational stress and depressive symptoms among internet employees were 12.9% and 77.8% respectively. Twelve core features for occupational stress and nine for depressive symptoms were retained after selection. After these features were supplied to six predictive algorithms and evaluated on five metrics, the Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LGBM) achieved the highest accuracy—0.89 for occupational stress and 0.79 for depressive symptoms on the hold-out test set. The feature-importance rankings converged on fatigue accumulation and life satisfaction as dominant drivers for both outcomes, whereas weekly working hours and daily overtime emerged as the principal exposure-related predictors. The SHAP summary plots revealed that longer weekly hours and daily overtime systematically elevated the probability of occupational stress. The causal feature explanation further quantified that ascending one category in weekly working hours increased the probability of occupational stress by 7.04%. Conclusion Exposure to long working hours is associated with both occupational stress and depressive symptoms among internet industry employees. Interpretable machine-learning frameworks translate these associations into transparent, defensible drivers, enabling precise identification of the pivotal factors and their interplay. This evidence base equips occupational-health practitioners with actionable insights for designing targeted prevention and intervention strategies.
3.External review of the recommendations of the Guidelines for Evidence-based Use of Biological Agents for the Clinical Treatment of Osteoporosis: a cross-sectional survey
Lingling YU ; Shuang LIU ; Zaiwei SONG ; Qiusha YI ; Yu ZHANG ; Liyan MIAO ; Zhenlin ZHANG ; Chunli SONG ; Yaolong CHEN ; Lingli ZHANG ; Rongsheng ZHAO
China Pharmacy 2025;36(9):1025-1029
OBJECTIVE To assess the scientific rigor, clarity and feasibility of the recommendations of the Guidelines for Evidence-based Use of Biological Agents for the Clinical Treatment of Osteoporosis (hereinafter referred to as the Guideline) through external review, in order to further revise and improve the Guideline recommendations. METHODS This study employed a cross-sectional survey research design, a convenience sampling method was adopted to select frontline medical workers in the field of osteoporosis (including clinical doctors, clinical pharmacists, and nurses) as well as patients or their family members. External review was conducted through a combination of closed-ended and open-ended electronic questionnaires to get feedback from them on the appreciation,clarity and feasibility of the 32 preliminary recommendations in the Guideline. RESULTS A total of 90 external review subjects from 15 hospitals were collected, including 45 clinical doctors, 15 clinical pharmacists, 15 nurses and 15 patients or their family members. The overall appreciation degree of recommendations was 99.38%, the overall clarity degree of recommendations was 98.92%, and the overall feasibility degree of recommendations was 99.65%. At the same time, 111 subjective suggestions were collected, which provided an important reference for the further improvement of the Guideline recommendations. Based on the above feedback, the Guideline steering committee and core expert group revised the wording of 12 draft recommendations without deletion, and finally determined 32 recommendations. CONCLUSIONS The external review provides an important basis for the final formation of the Guideline, further improves the scientific rigor, clarity and feasibility of the recommendations, and ensures the standardization, practicality and implementability of the Guideline.
4.Risk prediction model of anastomotic fistula after radical resection of esophageal cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Tao LI ; Yunlan JIANG ; Jing KANG ; Shuang SONG ; Qiufeng DU ; Xiaodong YI
Chinese Journal of Clinical Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 2025;32(03):385-392
Objective To systematically evaluate the risk prediction model of anastomotic fistula after radical resection of esophageal cancer, and to provide objective basis for selecting a suitable model. Methods A comprehensive search was conducted on Chinese and English databases including CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, CBM, PubMed, EMbase, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library for relevant studies on the risk prediction model of anastomotic fistula after radical resection of esophageal cancer from inception to April 30, 2023. Two researchers independently screened literatures and extracted data information. PROBAST tool was used to assess the risk of bias and applicability of included literatures. Meta-analysis was performed on the predictive value of common predictors in the model with RevMan 5.3 software. Results A total of 18 studies were included, including 11 Chinese literatures and 7 English literatures. The area under the curve (AUC) of the prediction models ranged from 0.68 to 0.954, and the AUC of 10 models was >0.8, indicating that the prediction performance was good, but the risk of bias in the included studies was high, mainly in the field of research design and data analysis. The results of the meta-analysis on common predictors showed that age, history of hypertension, history of diabetes, C-reactive protein, history of preoperative chemotherapy, hypoproteinemia, peripheral vascular disease, pulmonary infection, and calcification of gastric omental vascular branches are effective predictors for the occurrence of anastomotic leakage after radical surgery for esophageal cancer (P<0.05). Conclusion The study on the risk prediction model of anastomotic fistula after radical resection of esophageal cancer is still in the development stage. Future studies can refer to the common predictors summarized by this study, and select appropriate methods to develop and verify the anastomotic fistula prediction model in combination with clinical practice, so as to provide targeted preventive measures for patients with high-risk anastomotic fistula as soon as possible.
5.Research progress of antifungal drugs from natural sources
Shao-jie CHU ; Yan ZHENG ; Shuang-shuang SU ; Xue-song WU ; Hong YAN ; Shao-xin CHEN ; Hong-bo WANG
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica 2025;60(1):48-57
As the number of patients with compromised immune function increases and fungal resistance develops, so does the risk of contracting deadly fungi in humans. Both fungi and humans are eukaryotes, so identifying unique targets for antifungal drug development is difficult. In addition, the existing antifungal drugs are limited by toxicity, drug interaction and drug resistance in practical application, which leads to the increasing incidence and fatal rate of fungal infections. Therefore, it is urgent to develop new antifungal drugs. The semi-synthetic technology using microbial fermentation products from natural sources as lead compounds has become the most used method in structural modification of antifungal drugs due to its advantages of few reaction steps and easy operation. This paper will introduce the current status of natural antifungal drugs in clinical use, as well as the latest progress in the research and development of new semi-synthetic antifungal drugs, and summarize their mechanism of action, structural modifications, advantages and disadvantages, so as to provide reference for the subsequent development of new antifungal drugs.
6.Calcium imaging in C2C12 cells and RAW264.7 cells post co-culture and changes induced by sodium palmitate
Li-jun SONG ; Shuang WU ; Qin SHA ; Chuan-xin YANG ; Xing-yu TONG ; Hui JIANG
Fudan University Journal of Medical Sciences 2025;52(6):877-882
Objective To observe the effect of RAW264.7 cells on calcium sparks in a insulin resistance model of C2C12 cells induced by sodium palmitate.Methods C2C12 cells and RAW264.7 cells were co-cultured to simulate the in vivo state of skeletal muscle.C2C12 cells were cultured in high-glucose medium containing 2%horse serum to induce differentiation into mature myotubes,and then divided into 5 groups:control(RAW264.7 cells),co-culture of C2C12 with RAW264.7,C2C12 alone,co-culture of C2C12 with RAW264.7 plus sodium palmitate(PA),and C2C12 alone with PA.PA of 5 mmol/L was used to induce insulin resistance in C2C12 cells for 24 hours.Revived and expanded RAW264.7 cells were evenly added to C2C12 cells and co-cultured for two days.Subsequently,cells were maintained in modified suspension culture,and both cell types were loaded with the calcium ion fluorescent probe Fluo-4 AM.Finally,Paraxanthine was used to induce intracellular calcium sparks,which was captured and recorded under a laser confocal microscope.Results No significant calcium signal change was observed in the control group.Co-cultured C2C12 cells exhibited rapid and pronounced calcium signal changes,whereas calcium signals in C2C12 cells cultured alone increased slowly throughout the observation period without a sharp decline.The peak calcium signal was reached significantly faster in co-cultured C2C12 cells than that in C2C12 cells cultured alone(P<0.001).With PA induction,calcium signal changes in C2C12 cells were not markedly altered,while distinct calcium fluctuations were still observed in co-cultured C2C12 cells,and the peak calcium signal was reached significantly faster in co-cultured C2C12 cells than that in C2C12 cells cultured alone(P<0.001).Conclusion RAW264.7 cells enhance the dynamic responsiveness of calcium signaling in both normal and PA-stimulated C2C12 cells.
7.Network pharmacology analysis and experimental validation of Geranium wilfor-dii Maxim in ameliorating liver injury through the necroptosis pathway
Jingyi YANG ; Kunzhao YANG ; Lu ZHANG ; Zhanghao FU ; Linxi HAN ; Weijie SONG ; Shuang XU ; Hongxu DU
Chinese Journal of Veterinary Science 2025;45(9):1977-1989
Based on network pharmacology,molecular docking,and experimental validation,this study explored the mechanisms of Geranium wilfordii Maxim(GWM)in the treatment of liver injury.Mice were randomly divided into a control group(CON group),a model group(CCl4 group),a high-dose drug group(GWM-H group),and a low-dose group(GWM-L group).The liv-er injury model in mice was induced by CCl4,and liver tissue pathological morphology was ob-served,along with the measurement of the relative gene expression levels of liver inflammatory factors.Active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine and target information of Chinese medi-cine and diseases were obtained through databases such as TCMSP,PubChem,Swiss Target Pre-diction,Super-PRED,Gene Cards,and DisGeNET.Intersecting the targets of liver injury,necropto-sis,and drugs yielded potential drug targets.String database was used for protein-protein interac-tion(PPI)analysis of the potential targets.Furthermore,Cytoscape was utilized to construct a net-work diagram of"drug-disease-active ingredient-intersection target,"Wei Sheng Xin was used for GO and KEGG pathway analysis.Molecular docking was performed using MOE software,and the results of molecular docking were experimentally validated to detect the expression of key targets in the RIPK1/RIPK3/MLKL signaling pathway.Animal experiments showed that compared to the CON group,the CCl4 group of mice exhibited a significant increase in liver organ index(P<0.05),markedly elevated serum AST activity(P<0.05),and a highly significant increase in ALT activity(P<0.01).Pathological examination revealed chaotic liver lobules,severe hepatocyte steatosis,ex-tensive hepatocyte necrosis,and inflammatory cell infiltration in the livers of mice in the CCl4 group.In comparison to the CCl4 group,the GWM-H group showed a significant decrease in liver organ index(P<0.05),while the GWM-L group displayed a downward trend.The GWM-H group exhibited a significant reduction in serum AST activity(P<0.05),the GWM-L group showed a decreasing trend in serum AST activity,the GWM-H group demonstrated a highly significant de-crease in serum ALT activity(P<0.01),and the GWM-L group displayed a significant decrease in serum ALT activity(P<0.05).Histopathological examination revealed that the drug treatment groups could improve CCl4-induced liver injury,with the GWM-H group showing better efficacy than the GWM-L group.RT-qPCR results of liver tissues showed that compared to the CON group,the CCl4 group exhibited a highly significant increase in the relative expression of IL-1βand PGE2 mRNA(P<0.01),while the mRNA relative expression of COX2 showed an increasing trend.In contrast,compared to the CCl4 group,the GWM-H group showed a remarkably significant decrease in the relative expression of IL-1βmRNA(P<0.01),a significant decrease in PGE2 mR-NA expression(P<0.05),and a decreasing trend in COX2 mRNA expression.Through network pharmacology,56 potential targets related to GWM in ameliorating necroptosis-induced liver injury were identified.Key targets,based on degree value,include TNF,Bcl2,HSP90AA1,and Caspase8,while the key components are quercetin,luteolin,kaempferol,and ellagic acid.Functional enrich-ment analysis yielded 2 173 entries for GO and 146 biological pathways for KEGG.Molecular doc-king results indicated a strong binding capacity between the main components of GWM and key targets.RT-qPCR experimental results showed that compared to the CON group,the CCl4 group exhibited a extremely significantly increase in the mRNA relative expression of TNF-α,TNFR1,MLKL(P<0.01),significantly increase in the mRNA relative expression of FAS,RIPK1,RIPK3 mRNA(P<0.05),and a significant decrease in Caspase 8 mRNA expression(P<0.05).The addi-tion of GWM successfully reversed this trend;compared to the CCl4 group,the GWM-H group showed a highly significant decrease in the mRNA relative expression of TNF-α,TNFR1,FAS and MLKL mRNA(P<0.01),significant decrease in RIPK1,RIPK3 mRNA expression(P<0.05),and an increasing trend in CASPASE8 mRNA expression.GWM exerts hepatoprotective effects through multiple components and pathways,among which inhibition of the RIPK1/RIPK3/MLKL pathway reduces hepatocyte necroptosis,potentially serving as one of the essential mechanisms for its protective effects.
8.Mechanism of QingRe HuoXuo Formula against NSCLC based on network pharmacology and molecular docking technology
Bin-bin LI ; Jing-tao ZHANG ; Xue LI ; Yi-yang JIANG ; Shuang SONG ; Xiang-dong XU ; Fei XU
Chinese Pharmacological Bulletin 2025;41(8):1542-1552
Aim To explore the material basis and un-derlying mechanism of Qingre Huoxue Formula(QRHXF)in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC)by applying network pharmacology,molecular docking technology and bioinformatics com-bined with animal experiments.Methods TCMSP,ECTM,and BATMAN databases were used to obtain active components and corresponding targets of QRHXF;GEO and DisGeNENT databases were con-ducted to acquire NSCLC-associated differential expres-sion genes.By intersecting them,the common targets were obtained.It was chosen to construct a herb-com-ponent-disease network and protein-protein interaction(PPI)network.Furthermore,DAVID database was used to perform gene ontology(GO)function and Kyo-to encyclopedia of genes and genomes(KEGG)path-way enrichment analyses.The molecular docking was presented by adopting Autodock Vina program to verify key targets.RNA-seq datawere downloaded from TC-GA database to obtain differential gene expression.Ka-planMeier(KM)analysis was performed to analyze the relationship between gene expression and overall sur-vival.Mouse subcutaneous tumor model of LLC was established.The effects of QRHXF on body weight,tumor volume and weight were monitored for pharmaco-dynamic analysis.Tumor tissues slides were stained with hematoxylin and eosin(HE)for histopathological examination.Immunohistochemistry(IHC)staining was employed for detecting Ki67 and EP300.Western blot was performed to measure the protein expression of TP53,CDK1 and NTRK1.Results The results of net-work pharmacology showed that a total of seven com-mon targets were screened from NSCLC and QRHXF,and the effect of QRHXF on anti-NSCLC may occur via multiple signaling pathways,including cell cycle.The results of molecular docking indicated that the main ac-tive components of QRHXF had low binding energy and stable docking conformation with the molecular target for treating NSCLC.According to bioinformatic analy-sis,there were significant differences in BRCA1,CDK1 and NTRK1 mRNA expression between tumor tissues and normal tissues,which were also prognostic factors for overall survival.Animal experimental research showed QRHXF inhibited subcutaneous tumor growth(P<0.01)and improved the quality of life in mice with NSCLC.After QRHXF intervention,the density of tumor cells was significantly reduced,and necrotic are-as were increased.The expressions of Ki67 and EP300 were significantly decreased.Compared with the model group,Western blot showed up-regulation of TP53 and NTRKA(P<0.05),whereas CDK1 were down-regu-lated(P<0.05).Conclusion QRHXF exerted anti-NSCLC effects by regulating NTRK1,EP300,TP53,CDK1 and inducing cell cycle,cell cycle arrest and in-hibiting tumor growth,metastasis and angiogenesis.
9.A family study of autosomal dominant intellectual disability caused by pathogenic variations of the DYNC1H1 gene
Haipo YANG ; Hong PAN ; Shuang WANG ; Yidan LIU ; Cuijie WEI ; Yanbin FAN ; Danyu SONG ; Lin GE ; Hui XIONG
Chinese Journal of Applied Clinical Pediatrics 2025;40(4):290-294
Objective:To analyze and summarize clinical phenotypic characteristics and genetic variations in patients with intellectual disability and pathogenic variations of the DYNC1H1 gene across 4 generations within a single family. Methods:Retrospective case analysis.Clinical data of a child with epilepsy and intellectual disability and her family members were collected from the Children′s Medical Center, Peking University First Hospital on December 2019.The child was followed up regularly.DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood of the child′s family members.Then whole-exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing were performed to identify the genetic variation type in the proband and her family members.The relationship between genotype and phenotype was further analyzed.Results:A total of 13 patients across 4 generations in the family had intellectual disability, and the proband also had drug-resistant epilepsy.The variation c. 13556C> A (p.A4519E) of the DYNC1H1 gene was confirmed by gene testing in 8 patients (no blood samples were obtained from the remaining patients). Conclusions:DYNC1H1 gene-related intellectual disability in most previously reported cases are caused by novel variations of this gene.In this study, a large family of 13 intellectual disability patients across 4 generations caused by a pathogenic mutation in the DYNC1H1 gene was summarized.The findings make precise genetic counseling possible for this family and provide a basis for further studies on the relationship between the genotype and phenotype of the DYNC1H1 gene.
10.Effects of probiotic-assisted minocycline on periodontal index,salivary flora concentration and oral health status in elderly patients with chronic periodontitis
Yanru MA ; Hengguo SONG ; Shuang SONG ; Jie YANG ; Shiying LI
Journal of Practical Stomatology 2025;41(4):490-494
Objective:To investigate the clinical effect of probiotic-assisted minocycline in the treatment of elderly patients with chronic periodontitis(CP).Methods:95 elderly patients with CP in our hospital from January 2021 to March 2023 were selected and divided into observation group(49 cases)and control group(46 cases)by random number table method.Both groups received oral health education,the control group received standard periodontal treatment,the observation group was given probiotic lozenges,and both groups were treated for 4 weeks.The therapeutic effect and occurrence of adverse reactions in the 2 groups were analyzed,and the periodontal index[loss of attachment(AL),probing depth(PD),bleeding index(BI)],oral flora(concentrations of Lac-tobacillus salivary and porphyromonas gingivalis)and oral health status[oral health assessment tool(OH AT)score]before and after treatment were compared.Results:No cases were excluded in 2 groups.After treatment,the total effective rate of observation group was 95.92%higher than that of control group 80.43%(P<0.05).After treatment,the values of AL,PD and BI in the 2 groups were lower than before treatment(P<0.05),and the values of AL,PD and BI in the observation group were lower than those in the control group(P<0.05).After treatment,the concentration of porphyromonas gingivalis in saliva in 2 groups was lower than that be-fore treatment,and the concentration of lactobacillus in saliva was higher than that before treatment(P<0.05).The concentration of porphyromonas gingivalis in saliva in observation group was lower than that in control group,and the concentration of lactobacillus in saliva was higher than that in control group(P<0.05).After treatment,the OH AT score of the 2 groups was lower than that before treatment(P<0.05),and the OHAT score of the observation group was lower than that of the control group(P<0.05).There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups(P>0.05).Conclusion:Probiotics assisted mino-cycline in the treatment of elderly patients with CP can reduce periodontal index,regulate oral flora and improve oral health without increasing adverse reactions.

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