OBJECTIVES: To investigate the synergistic mechanism of the traditional Chinese medicine Rosa laevigata Michx. (RLM) for treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). METHODS: Network pharmacological analysis was carried out to screen the active ingredients of RLM and PAH disease targets and construct the "component-target-disease" interaction network, followed by gene enrichment analysis and molecular docking studies. In the cell experiments, primary cultures of rat pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells were exposed to hypoxia for 24 h and treated with solvent or 100, 200 and 300 mg/mL RLM, and the changes in cell proliferation were detected using Western blotting for PCNA and immunofluorescence staining. In the animal experiment, male SD rats were randomized into 5 control group, monocrotaline (MCT) solvent group, and MCT with RLM (100, 200 and 300 mg/mL) treatment groups. HE staining and immunofluorescence staining were used to observe histopathological changes in the pulmonary blood vessels of the rats. RESULTS: Seven core active ingredients (including β-sitosterol and kaempferol) in RLM and 39 key disease targets were identified, and molecular docking showed that SRC was a high-affinity target. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the differential genes were significantly enriched in calcium signaling and PI3K-AKT pathways. In rat pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells, hypoxic exposure significantly up-regulated cellular expression of PCNA and phosphorylation levels of Src and AKT1, which were obviously lowered by RLM treatment. In RLM-treated rat models, the mean pulmonary artery pressure and right ventricular hypertrophy index (Fulton index) were significantly reduced, the tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) was improved, and pulmonary vascular wall thickening and fibrosis were obviously ameliorated. CONCLUSIONS RLM inhibits pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cell proliferation in rat models of hypertension possibly by regulating the Src-AKT1 axis, suggesting the potential of RLM as a new natural drug for treatment of pulmonary hypertension.
Animals ; Cell Proliferation/drug effects* ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Pulmonary Artery/cytology* ; Male ; Rats ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle/cytology* ; Hypertension, Pulmonary/pathology* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular/cytology* ; src-Family Kinases/metabolism* ; Cells, Cultured

Objective:To explore the clinical characteristics of patients with metastatic gastric tumor and to differentiate them from those with primary malignant gastric tumors.Methods:This study retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 21 patients with metastatic gastric tumor confirmed by gastroscopy biopsy and pathology.The clinical manifestations,gastroscopy characteristics,pathological results,and the time interval between the diagnosis of primary malignant tumor and the confirmation of gastric metastasis were summarized.Results:The patient primarily exhibited symptoms related to gastric involvement;gastroscopy findings resembled those of primary malignant tumors of the stomach;pathological results were consistent with primary malignant tumors;the time interval between the diagnosis of primary cancer and the confirmation of metastatic gastric tumor varied significantly,ranging from up to 18 years to simultaneous detection.Conclusion:Metastatic gastric tumors are similar to primary malignant tumors of the stomach in terms of clinical manifestations and endoscopic features,making clinical differentiation challenging.The main approach for distinguishing them is based on pathological examination.

Objective: To understand the current status of tuberculosis prevention and control knowledge and perceived stress among college and middle school students with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in Yantai City, and to analyze the related factors, so as to provide a basis for the school to carry out health education and psychological counseling. Methods: A matched case control study was conducted, with 100 PTB student patients in junior high school and above who were diagnosed at designated medical institutions from October 2020 to October 2024. Four healthy control students of the same gender, same dormitory, or same class were selected for each case. Therefore, 100 cases and 400 controls were investigated by questionnaire. The following information was collected: personal basic information; tuberculosis prevention and control awareness; and scores of the Chinese Perceived Stress Scale (CPSS). Conditional Logistic regression model and mixed linear models were used to compare the PTB prevention and control awareness rate, as well as the perceived stress between the case and control groups. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to analyze the factors that may affect the perceived stress of students with PTB. Results: The awareness rates of four tuberculosis knowledge items (symptoms of PTB, main causes of onset after infection, consequences of PTB patients not receiving standardized and complete treatment, the most important method to prevent PTB) were higher in the case group (40.00%, 72.00% , 38.00%, 49.00%) than the control group (21.50%, 57.50%, 22.25%, 31.25%) and the differences were statistically significant ( Wald χ 2=18.44, 8.78, 13.20, 16.89, all P <0.01). The tension score (10.49±4.20), loss of control score ( 11.21± 4.58), and total score (21.70±6.88) in the case group were higher than the control group (9.35±4.73, 9.75±5.60, 19.09±8.36) and the differences were statistically significant ( t =2.21, 2.42, 2.88, all P <0.05). The results of multiple linear regression analysis showed that age ≥ 18 years and family history of tuberculosis were the related factors affecting the overall perceived stress and tension of college and middle school students with PTB ( B total scores =4.50, 5.91; B tension score =2.39, 3.23, all P <0.05). Conclusions The tuberculosis prevention and control awareness rate, and the perceived stress of college and middle school students with PTB in Yantai are both higher than students without tuberculosis. Moreover, the perceived stress of students with PTB who are aged ≥18 years or have a family history of tuberculosis is even higher.

Objective To construct an intelligent segmentation and T-stage diagnostic model for esophageal cancer based on the DAEUnet and ConvNeXt networks using transfer learning.Methods Dicom raw data from 126 patients diagnosed with esophageal cancer between January 2018 and April 2022 were collected,including 100 cases from Department of Thoracic Surgery at the First Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University and 26 cases from the Department of Thoracic Surgery at Shanxi Cancer Hospital.After data augmentation,a total of 60 275 images were obtained.The DAEUnet esophageal cancer intelligent segmentation network was built,and on this basis,3 classification networks,ConvNeXt,Swin Transformer,and ResNet were constructed for T-stage diagnosis of esophageal cancer.Results The Dice similarity coefficient(DSC)for esophageal cancer intelligent segmentation using the DAEUnet network was 0.82,and the DSC value of the esophagus,aorta,normal esophagus,mediastinal lymph nodes,and heart was 72.4％,87.5％,79.3％,60.5％ and 96.8％,respectively.Among the 3 T-stage diagnosis models for esophageal cancer,the ConvNeXt model performed the best,with a precision value for T1～T4 stages of 0.65,0.727,0.889 and 0.92,respectively,and an AUC value of 0.892,which were superior to the ResNet and Swin Transformer networks.Conclusion The proposed DAEUnet and ConvNeXt-based intelligent segmentation and T-stage diagnosis model for esophageal cancer improves T-stage accuracy and treatment efficiency.

Hydrosalpinx is one of the common causes of female infertility and a more common type of chronic tubal inflammation. Hydrosalpinx may reduce the success of assisted reproductive technology (ART) through a variety of mechanisms, including mechanical flushing of the embryo, embryo toxicity, reduced endometrial receptivity, and suppression of ovarian function. The effect of hydrosalpinx and its treatment strategy on ovarian response during controlled superovulation is controversial in existing studies, and there are fewer studies on the effect of hydrosalpinx on embryo quality. In this article, we clarify the pathophysiological mechanisms of hydrosalpinx, analyze its potential impact on ovarian response and embryo quality, and further explore the impact of therapeutic strategies for tubal hydrosalpinx on ART outcomes.

Patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) have an increased risk of kidney stones. Parathyroidectomy (PTX) is the main treatment for PHPT. However, the effect of PTX on kidney stones in patients with PHPT is unclear. This article summarizes the risk factors for kidney stones after PTX or not and the influence of PTX on the occurrence and development of renal stones in patients with PHPT, in order to explore the causes and mechanisms of PHPT and its postoperative renal stones.

The aim of the experiment was to study the effects of Echinacea purpurea extract on the digestive ability,immune function and intestinal barrier of the Bamei ternary pigs.Forty-eight healthy pigs of 50 days old were randomly divided into four groups,each with three replicates and four pigs in each replicate.The control group(CON)was fed a basal diet,and the experimental group was divided into 5 g/kg(T1),10 g/kg(T2)and 15 g/kg(T3)of Echinacea extract in the basal diet.The pre-test period was 5 days and the main test period was 35 days with free feeding and drinking during the test period.The results showed that:There was no significant effect on the apparent digestibility of nutrients and jejunum morphology in the test group compared to the CON group(P＞0.05).Amylase and trypsin activities were significantly higher in the experimental group and lipase activities were significantly higher in T2 and T3 groups compared to CON group(P＜0.05).GSH,CAT and T-AOC activities were significantly higher in the experimental group compared to CON group(P＜0.05).In comparison with CON group,the levels of IL-1 and IL-6 were significantly lower in the experimental group(P＜0.05),and the levels of TNF-α were significantly lower in the T2 and T3 groups(P＜0.05);and the levels of IL-10 were signifi-cantly higher in the T3 group(P＜0.05).The mRNA and protein expression levels of TLR4,MyD88,TRAF6,and NF-κB were significantly lower in the experimental group(P＜0.05).The mRNA and protein expression levels of CLDN-1,OCLN and ZO-1 were significantly increased in the test group(P＜0.05).The results between the test groups showed that the protein expression levels of CLDN-1 and OCLN were significantly increased in the T3 group compared with the T1 group(P＜0.05).In conclusion,the addition of Echinacea extract to the ration can,to a certain ex-tent,improve the digestive ability,balance the immune ability,and improve the intestinal barrier function of the Bamei ternary pigs,thus promoting the intestinal health of pigs.

Hydrosalpinx is one of the common causes of female infertility and a more common type of chronic tubal inflammation. Hydrosalpinx may reduce the success of assisted reproductive technology (ART) through a variety of mechanisms, including mechanical flushing of the embryo, embryo toxicity, reduced endometrial receptivity, and suppression of ovarian function. The effect of hydrosalpinx and its treatment strategy on ovarian response during controlled superovulation is controversial in existing studies, and there are fewer studies on the effect of hydrosalpinx on embryo quality. In this article, we clarify the pathophysiological mechanisms of hydrosalpinx, analyze its potential impact on ovarian response and embryo quality, and further explore the impact of therapeutic strategies for tubal hydrosalpinx on ART outcomes.

Patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) have an increased risk of kidney stones. Parathyroidectomy (PTX) is the main treatment for PHPT. However, the effect of PTX on kidney stones in patients with PHPT is unclear. This article summarizes the risk factors for kidney stones after PTX or not and the influence of PTX on the occurrence and development of renal stones in patients with PHPT, in order to explore the causes and mechanisms of PHPT and its postoperative renal stones.

Objective:To investigate the clinical manifestation, therapy, and prognosis of Susac syndrome and enhance the understanding of this disease.Methods:A case summary was made.The clinical data of two siblings with Susac syndrome treated at Children′s Medical Center, Peking University First Hospital in January 2024 were summarized.Reported cases of pediatric Susac syndrome were reviewed.Results:The onset of the disease in the two siblings was at the age of 3.00 and 6.75 years, with recurrent headaches, tinnitus, hearing loss and encephalopathy symptoms.Cranial magnetic resonance imaging showed multiple cerebral microbleeding and microinfarction lesions, " snowball like" in the corpus callosum and diffuse white matter edema in the brain.Audiometry revealed sensorineural hearing loss.In one case, ophthalmic fluorescein angiography revealed ischemic changes due to branch retinal artery occlusions.No pathogenic variants were detected in gene testing.This child was diagnosed with Susac syndrome, and the symptoms were improved after treatment with Corticosteroids and Rituximab.No relapse was observed during the 9-month follow-up.A total of 20 pediatric cases of Susac syndrome were retrieved, including 18 reported previously and 2 cases from this study.There were 2 boys and 18 girls, with the age of onset ranging from 2.5 to 17.0 years.The common initial symptoms included headache (19 cases), vertigo and tinnitus or hearing loss (9 cases), and vision impairment or visual field defect (4 cases). The symptoms were improved after immunotherapy.Conclusions:With a low incidence, Susac syndrome is rare in children and difficult to diagnose.There may be a genetic predisposition in such disease.Early diagnosis and immunotherapy can low the relapse and improve the prognosis.