BACKGROUND: Chronic kidney disease (CKD)-associated anemia (CKD-anemia) is associated with poor survival, and hemoglobin targets are often not achieved with current therapies. Phase 3 trials have demonstrated the treatment efficacy of roxadustat for CKD-anemia. This phase 4 study aims to evaluate the long-term (52-week) safety and effectiveness of roxadustat in a broad real-world patient population with CKD-anemia with and without dialysis in China. METHODS: This Phase 4 multicenter, open-label, prospective study, conducted from 24 November 2020 to 11 November 2022, evaluated the long-term safety and effectiveness of roxadustat for CKD-anemia in China. Patients aged ≥18 years with CKD-anemia with or without dialysis were included. The initial oral dose was 70-120 mg (weight-based followed by dose adjustment) over 52 weeks. The primary endpoint was safety based on adverse events (AEs). The secondary endpoints were hemoglobin changes from baseline and the proportion of patients who achieved mean hemoglobin ≥100 g/L. Effectiveness evaluable populations 1 (EE1) and EE2 included roxadustat-naïve and previously roxadustat-treated patients, respectively. The safety analysis set (SAF) included all patients who received ≥1 occasion. RESULTS: The EE1, EE2, and SAF populations included 1804, 193, and 2021 patients, respectively. In the SAF, the mean age was 50 ± 14 years, and 1087 patients (53.8%) were male. Mean baseline hemoglobin was 96.9 ± 14.0 g/L in EE1 and 100.3 ± 12.9 g/L in EE2. In EE1, the mean (95% confidence interval) hemoglobin changes from baseline over weeks 24-36 and 36-52 were 14.2 (13.5-14.9) g/L and 14.3 (13.5-15.0) g/L, respectively. Over weeks 24-36 and 36-52, 83.3% and 86.1% of patients in EE1 and 82.7% and 84.7% in EE2 achieved mean hemoglobin ≥100 g/L, respectively. In the SAF, 1643 (81.3%) patients experienced treatment-emergent AEs (TEAEs). Overall, 219 (10.8%) patients experienced drug-related TEAEs. Thirty-eight (1.9%) patients died of TEAEs (unrelated to the study drug). Vascular access thrombosis was uncommon. CONCLUSIONS: Roxadustat (52 weeks) increased hemoglobin and maintained the treatment target in Chinese patients with CKD-anemia with acceptable safety, supporting its use in real-world settings. REGISTRATION Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ( www.chictr.org.cn ) ChiCTR2100046322; CDE ( www.chinadrugtrials.org.cn ) CTR20201568.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Anemia/etiology* ; Middle Aged ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic/complications* ; Glycine/adverse effects* ; Isoquinolines/adverse effects* ; Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Adult ; Hemoglobins/metabolism* ; Treatment Outcome ; China ; Registries ; East Asian People

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neurotoxicity (CIPN) is a severe dose-limiting adverse event of chemotherapy. Presently, the mechanism underlying the induction of CIPN remains unclear, and no effective treatment is available. In this study, through metabolomics analyses, we found that nab-paclitaxel therapy markedly increased serum serotonin [5-hydroxtryptamine (5-HT)] levels in both cancer patients and mice compared to the respective controls. Furthermore, nab-paclitaxel-treated enterochromaffin (EC) cells showed increased 5-HT synthesis, and serotonin-treated Schwann cells showed damage, as indicated by the activation of CREB3L3/MMP3/FAS signaling. Venlafaxine, an inhibitor of serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake, was found to protect against nerve injury by suppressing the activation of CREB3L3/MMP3/FAS signaling in Schwann cells. Remarkably, venlafaxine was found to significantly alleviate nab-paclitaxel-induced CIPN in patients without affecting the clinical efficacy of chemotherapy. In summary, our study reveals that EC cell-derived 5-HT plays a critical role in nab-paclitaxel-related neurotoxic lesions, and venlafaxine co-administration represents a novel approach to treating chronic cumulative neurotoxicity commonly reported in nab-paclitaxel-based chemotherapy.
Paclitaxel/toxicity* ; Animals ; Albumins/adverse effects* ; Serotonin/metabolism* ; Mice ; Humans ; Male ; Female ; Venlafaxine Hydrochloride/therapeutic use* ; Neurotoxicity Syndromes/metabolism* ; Middle Aged ; Schwann Cells/metabolism* ; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases/drug therapy* ; Antineoplastic Agents

Ferroptosis is a form of regulated cell death that depends on iron and reactive oxygen spe-cies.Different from apoptosis,necrosis,and autophagy,ferroptosis is characterized by the accumulation of lipid peroxides in cells.Studies have discovered that ferroptosis is closely associated with the occurrence and develop-ment of tumors and inducing ferroptosis in tumor cells can enhance the therapeutic effects of drugs on tumors.This article summarizes the latest research progress in ferroptosis regarding its mechanisms and associations with tumors,aiming to provide a reference for further understanding the interaction mechanisms between ferroptosis and tumors and offering new insights and targets for the treatment of tumors.

Age-related hearing loss(ARHL)is a common chronic disease that poses a serious threat to the physical and mental health of the elderly in an aging society.It is a sensorineural hearing loss characterized by the loss of auditory hair cells,stria vascularis lesions,apoptosis of spiral ganglia,and degeneration of the audi-tory central nervous system,reducing the quality of life of the patients.This article reviews the research progress in the relationship of ARHL with Alzheimer's disease,depression,and frailty,as well as the daily intervention in ARHL.This review aims to improve people's awareness and attention to the health hazards of ARHL and to delay the occurrence and development of ARHL by implementing daily intervention measures to form a healthy lifestyle.

Group A Streptococcus(GAS), also known as Streptococcus pyogenes, is one of the top 10 infectious disease pathogens responsible for childhood deaths worldwide.The most common infectious disease is GAS pharyngitis, which is highly prevalent in school age and can lead to complications.Rheumatic fever, a complication of GAS pharyngitis, and its sequelae, rheumatic heart disease, remain a public health challenge in developing and low-income countries and require urgent attention.The purpose of this review is to summarize the domestic and international guidelines and related literature on GAS pharyngitis for the reference of domestic clinicians, in the hope that more attention will be paid to the diagnosis and treatment of GAS pharyngitis, and the diagnosis and treatment of GAS pharyngitis will be improved.

Medicinal plants are a valuable source of essential medicines and herbal products for healthcare and disease therapy. Compared with chemical synthesis and extraction, the biosynthesis of natural products is a very promising alternative for the successful conservation of medicinal plants, and its rapid development will greatly facilitate the conservation and sustainable utilization of medicinal plants. Here, we summarize the advances in strategies and methods concerning the biosynthesis and production of natural products of medicinal plants. The strategies and methods mainly include genetic engineering, plant cell culture engineering, metabolic engineering, and synthetic biology based on multiple "OMICS" technologies, with paradigms for the biosynthesis of terpenoids and alkaloids. We also highlight the biosynthetic approaches and discuss progress in the production of some valuable natural products, exemplifying compounds such as vindoline (alkaloid), artemisinin and paclitaxel (terpenoids), to illustrate the power of biotechnology in medicinal plants.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect and mechanism of Dendrobium mixture （DMix）-containing serum on high glucose-induced podocyte injury in mice. MethodThe MPC5 mouse glomerular podocytes were cultured in vitro， and the optimal glucose concentration for modeling， modeling time， and concentration of DMix-containing serum for administration were determined. The cells were classified into normal （5.5 mmol·L^-1 glucose+10% blank serum）， model （30 mmol·L^-1 glucose+10% blank serum）， DMix-containing serum （30 mmol·L^-1 glucose+10% DMix-containing serum）， ferroptosis inhibitor （Fer-1， 30 mmol·L^-1 glucose+10% blank serum+1 μmol·L^-1 Fer-1） groups. The corresponding kits were used to measure the levels of Fe²⁺ and lactate dehydrogenase （LDH） in cells. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was employed to determine the content of glutathione （GSH） and lipid peroxide （LPO） in cells. Fluorescence probe was used to measure the reactive oxygen species （ROS） level. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting were employed to determine the mRNA and protein levels， respectively， of Wilms' tumor-1 （WT-1）， desmin， long chain acyl-CoA synthase 4 （ACSL4）， and glutathione peroxidase 4 （GPX4） in podocytes. ResultCompared with the blank group， the intervention with 30 mmol·L^-1 glucose for 48 h reduced podocyte viability （P<0.01）， and the 10% DMix-containing serum showed the most significant improvement in podocyte viability （P<0.01）. Compared with the normal group， the model group presented elevated levels of Fe²⁺， LDH， LPO， and ROS， lowered GSH level， up-regulated mRNA and protein levels of desmin and ACSL4， and down-regulated mRNA and protein levels of WT-1 and GPX4 （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the DMix-containing serum lowered the Fe²⁺， LDH， LPO， and ROS levels， elevated the GSH level， down-regulated the mRNA and protein levels of desmin and ACSL4， and up-regulated the mRNA and protein levels of WT-1 and GPX4 in podocytes （P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionDMix-containing serum exerts a protective effect on high glucose-induced podocyte injury by inhibiting ferroptosis.

Objective To explore the value of dual-phase enhanced CT radiomics in predicting post-acute pancreatitis diabetes mellitus(PPDM-A).Methods A total of 145 patients with acute pancreatitis(AP)were retrospectively collected,including 62 patients in PPDM-A group and 83 patients in non-PPDM-A group.The patients were randomly divided into training set and test set at a ratio of 7︰3,the pancreatic parenchyma in arterial phase and venous phase was delineated and the radiomics features were extracted.Vari-ance threshold method,univariate selection method and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator(LASSO)were used to screen radiomics features.The prediction performance of the model was evaluated by the area under the curve(AUC).The DeLong test was used to compare the prediction efficiency between the models,and the calibration curve and decision curve were used to evaluate the prediction efficiency of the model.Results The AUC of arterial phase model,venous phase model,combined arterial venous phase model,clinical model and radiomics combined clinical model in the training set were 0.845,0.792,0.829,0.656 and 0.862,respec-tively.The DeLong test results showed that only the difference between the radiomics combined clinical model and the clinical model in the training set and the test set was statistically significant(P<0.05).The decision curve showed that the radiomics combined clinical model had high clinical practicability in a certain range,and the calibration curve showed that the radiomics combined clinical model had the best fitting degree with the actual observation value.Conclusion Based on the dual-phase enhanced CT radiomics combined clinical model,PPDM-A can be predicted more accurately,and it can provide a certain reference value for the clinical development of per-sonalized treatment programs.

Objective: To investigate the association between physical activity and the risk of mortality, so as to provide the basis for guiding the elderly to maintain appropriate levels of physical activity. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was adopted. Basic information, weekly physical activity items and duration of the elderly aged 50-71 years old was collected from the National Institutes of Health-American Association of Retired Persons Diet and Health Study database. With all-cause mortality risk as the main outcome indicator, controlling for demographic, dietary and disease factors, the association between the duration, metabolic equivalent and intensity of physical activity and all-cause mortality risk was analyzed using restricted cubic spline and multivariable Cox proportional risk regression model. Results: A total of 266 072 participants were included, with an mean age of (70.11±5.36) years old. There were 155 244 males (58.35%) and 110 828 females (41.65%), with a total of 36 006 deaths by December 31, 2011. The median duration of physical activity was 14.00 (interquartile range, 14.00) h/week and the median metabolic equivalents was 53.00 (interquartile range, 54.71) MET-h/week. Restricted cubic spline analysis indicated that the risk of all-cause mortality declined rapidly within the physical activity range of 0 to 15.0 h/week or 50.0 MET-h/week, but with the continuing increase in physical activity, the decline in the risk of all-cause mortality slowed down (all P<0.05). Multivariable Cox proportional risk regression analysis showed that compared with participants with no physical activity, participants with the duration of 0.1-<15.0 h/week, 15.0-<29.5 h/week, ≥29.5 h/week (HR=0.502, 0.386 and 0.368), or the metabolic equivalent of 0.1-<50.0 MET-h/week, 50.0-<110.8 MET-h/week and ≥110.8 MET-h/week (HR=0.511, 0.379 and 0.354) were associated with a reduced risk of all-cause mortality. The combination of mild (0.1-<5.0 h/week), moderate (≥5.0 h/week) and vigorous (≥1.3 h/week) activities had a lower risk of all-cause mortality (HR=0.320). Conclusions Moderate physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of mortality, and it is recommended to do 15.0 h or 50.0 MET-h of physical activity per week in combination with different intensities.

This study included 20 patients with hematological diseases who developed Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) after receiving allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) from April 2014 to October 2022 at Peking University People’s Hospital. The 20 patients comprised 13 males (65.0% ) and seven females (35.0% ), with a median age of 34 (19-60) years. Eleven cases (55.0% ) of acute myeloid leukemia, four cases (20.0% ) of acute lymphocytic leukemia, two cases (10.0% ) of myelodysplastic syndrome, one case (5.0% ) of chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, one case (5.0% ) of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and one case (5.0% ) of aplastic anemia were analyzed. Three cases (15.0% ) of HLA-identical sibling hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, three cases (15.0% ) of matched unrelated donor hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and 14 cases (70.0% ) of haploid hematopoietic stem cell transplantation were identified. The median onset time of PJP was 353 (74-1121) days after transplantation. The clinical symptoms mainly included fever, cough, expectoration, and dyspnea. All patients presented signs of infection based on the CT scan, including bilateral diffuse ground-glass opacities, patchy shadows, and solid nodules. Nine patients (45.0% ) required respiratory support via nasal catheter oxygen inhalation, while seven patients (35.0% ) required ventilator-assisted breathing. Seven (35.0% ) severe infections and 13 (65.0% ) mild to moderate infections were recorded. Moreover, eight patients (40.0% ) were complicated with human cytomegalovirus infection, whereas two patients were complicated with EB virus infection. Furthermore, all 20 patients received treatment with compound sulfamethoxazole (standard dose, 11 cases; low dose, 9 cases). Furthermore, 19 patients survived and one patient died.