ObjectiveThis paper aims to find the identified and validated clinical biomarker data building upon a clinical study of early-phase phase Ⅱ and investigate the correlation analysis of Huanglian Jiedu Wan on syndrome improvement and clinical biomarkers in the treatment of "excess heat-toxicity" based on a machine learning model. Additionally， the effective prediction of clinical biomarker values for the main symptoms of the "excess heat-toxicity" syndrome was assessed. MethodsA total of 229 patients meeting the inclusion criteria for "excess heat-toxicity" syndrome were randomly divided into the Huanglian Jiedu Wan group and the placebo group. Syndrome score transition matrices were constructed for the Huanglian Jiedu Wan group and the placebo group based on three main symptoms of "excess heat-toxicity" syndrome， such as oral ulcers， sore throat， and gum swelling and pain. Data from the patients with these three syndromes were also integrated for an overall analysis. The corresponding syndrome score transition matrices were further constructed to visualize symptom change trends of the patients in the two groups via heatmaps. Based on the identified and validated clinical biomarkers related to inflammation， oxidative stress， and energy metabolism in the early phase， Spearman correlation analysis was employed to analyze and evaluate the associations between clinical biomarkers and syndrome improvement. Key clinical biomarkers reflecting the effect of Huanglian Jiedu Wan were screened through the comparison of differences between groups. An extreme gradient boosting （XGBoost） algorithm was used to develop a prediction model for main symptom classification， with classification performance evaluated through 10-fold cross-validation. Feature importance analysis was applied to identify variables with the greatest contribution to the prediction result. ResultsThe syndrome transition matrix results indicated that the Huanglian Jiedu Wan group showed a superior effect to the placebo group in improving oral ulcers， sore throat， and overall symptoms， with significant effects observed especially in sore throat and overall symptom analyses （P<0.01）. Spearman correlation analysis revealed that several clinical biomarkers positively correlated with "excess heat-toxicity" syndrome and its main symptom improvement， were also called "heat-related biomarkers"， including succinic acid， α-ketoglutaric acid， glycine， lactic acid， adenosine monophosphate （AMP）， tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α）， interferon-γ （IFN-γ）， interleukin-1β （IL-1β）， interleukin-4 （IL-4）， interleukin-6 （IL-6）， interleukin-8 （IL-8）， interleukin-10 （IL-10）， and so on. Conversely， clinical biomarkers negatively correlated with symptom severity， were also called "heat-clearing related biomarkers" after administration of Huanglian Jiedu Wan， including malic acid， fumaric acid， cis-aconitic acid， adrenocorticotropic hormone （ACTH）， IL-1β， IL-4， IL-8， succinic acid， and citric acid. The XGBoost classification model using all 52 biomarkers as variables achieved an average test accuracy of 0.754 and an average F1 score of 0.777. Feature importance analysis identified the scores of glutamic acid in saliva and IL-6 were the highest in all the variables， with importance scores of 0.081 and 0.080， respectively. After screening out 14 key variables and optimizing the parameters， model performance improved to an average accuracy of 0.758 and an F1 score of 0.798. Feature importance analysis further determined that the glutamic acid in saliva and IL-6 showed obvious changes after screening the variables， confirming the good syndrome prediction ability of the model constructed by these key clinical biomarkers. ConclusionThis study systematically elucidates the correlation between syndrome improvement and clinical biomarkers of Huanglian Jiedu Wan in the treatment of "excess heat-toxicity" syndrome. An XGBoost classification model based on key clinical biomarkers is successfully established， achieving effective prediction of the symptoms related to the "excess heat-toxicity" syndrome such as oral ulcers and sore throat and providing a new insight for objective identification of traditional Chinese medicine syndromes.

ObjectiveThis paper aims to find the identified and validated clinical biomarker data building upon a clinical study of early-phase phase Ⅱ and investigate the correlation analysis of Huanglian Jiedu Wan on syndrome improvement and clinical biomarkers in the treatment of "excess heat-toxicity" based on a machine learning model. Additionally， the effective prediction of clinical biomarker values for the main symptoms of the "excess heat-toxicity" syndrome was assessed. MethodsA total of 229 patients meeting the inclusion criteria for "excess heat-toxicity" syndrome were randomly divided into the Huanglian Jiedu Wan group and the placebo group. Syndrome score transition matrices were constructed for the Huanglian Jiedu Wan group and the placebo group based on three main symptoms of "excess heat-toxicity" syndrome， such as oral ulcers， sore throat， and gum swelling and pain. Data from the patients with these three syndromes were also integrated for an overall analysis. The corresponding syndrome score transition matrices were further constructed to visualize symptom change trends of the patients in the two groups via heatmaps. Based on the identified and validated clinical biomarkers related to inflammation， oxidative stress， and energy metabolism in the early phase， Spearman correlation analysis was employed to analyze and evaluate the associations between clinical biomarkers and syndrome improvement. Key clinical biomarkers reflecting the effect of Huanglian Jiedu Wan were screened through the comparison of differences between groups. An extreme gradient boosting （XGBoost） algorithm was used to develop a prediction model for main symptom classification， with classification performance evaluated through 10-fold cross-validation. Feature importance analysis was applied to identify variables with the greatest contribution to the prediction result. ResultsThe syndrome transition matrix results indicated that the Huanglian Jiedu Wan group showed a superior effect to the placebo group in improving oral ulcers， sore throat， and overall symptoms， with significant effects observed especially in sore throat and overall symptom analyses （P<0.01）. Spearman correlation analysis revealed that several clinical biomarkers positively correlated with "excess heat-toxicity" syndrome and its main symptom improvement， were also called "heat-related biomarkers"， including succinic acid， α-ketoglutaric acid， glycine， lactic acid， adenosine monophosphate （AMP）， tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α）， interferon-γ （IFN-γ）， interleukin-1β （IL-1β）， interleukin-4 （IL-4）， interleukin-6 （IL-6）， interleukin-8 （IL-8）， interleukin-10 （IL-10）， and so on. Conversely， clinical biomarkers negatively correlated with symptom severity， were also called "heat-clearing related biomarkers" after administration of Huanglian Jiedu Wan， including malic acid， fumaric acid， cis-aconitic acid， adrenocorticotropic hormone （ACTH）， IL-1β， IL-4， IL-8， succinic acid， and citric acid. The XGBoost classification model using all 52 biomarkers as variables achieved an average test accuracy of 0.754 and an average F1 score of 0.777. Feature importance analysis identified the scores of glutamic acid in saliva and IL-6 were the highest in all the variables， with importance scores of 0.081 and 0.080， respectively. After screening out 14 key variables and optimizing the parameters， model performance improved to an average accuracy of 0.758 and an F1 score of 0.798. Feature importance analysis further determined that the glutamic acid in saliva and IL-6 showed obvious changes after screening the variables， confirming the good syndrome prediction ability of the model constructed by these key clinical biomarkers. ConclusionThis study systematically elucidates the correlation between syndrome improvement and clinical biomarkers of Huanglian Jiedu Wan in the treatment of "excess heat-toxicity" syndrome. An XGBoost classification model based on key clinical biomarkers is successfully established， achieving effective prediction of the symptoms related to the "excess heat-toxicity" syndrome such as oral ulcers and sore throat and providing a new insight for objective identification of traditional Chinese medicine syndromes.

Extensive studies have identified potential adverse effects on semen quality of obesity, based on body mass index, but the association between body fat distribution, a more relevant indicator for obesity, and semen quality remains less clear. We conducted a longitudinal study of 4304 sperm donors from the Guangdong Provincial Human Sperm Bank (Guangzhou, China) during 2017-2021. A body composition analyzer was used to measure total and local body fat percentage for each participant. Generalized estimating equations were employed to assess the association between body fat percentage and sperm count, motility, and morphology. We estimated that each 10% increase in total body fat percentage (estimated change [95% confidence interval, 95% CI]) was significantly associated with a 0.18 × 10 6 (0.09 × 10 6 -0.27 × 10 6 ) ml and 12.21 × 10 6 (4.52 × 10 6 -19.91 × 10 6 ) reduction in semen volume and total sperm count, respectively. Categorical analyses and exposure-response curves showed that the association of body fat distribution with semen volume and total sperm count was stronger at higher body fat percentages. In addition, the association still held among normal weight and overweight participants. We observed similar associations for upper limb, trunk, and lower limb body fact distributions. In conclusion, we found that a higher body fat distribution was significantly associated with lower semen quality (especially semen volume) even in men with a normal weight. These findings provide useful clues in exploring body fat as a risk factor for semen quality decline and add to evidence for improving semen quality for those who are expected to conceive.
Humans ; Male ; Adult ; Semen Analysis ; China ; Body Fat Distribution ; Longitudinal Studies ; Sperm Count ; Sperm Motility ; Body Mass Index ; Tissue Donors ; Obesity/complications* ; Spermatozoa ; Young Adult ; Middle Aged ; East Asian People

The lymphatic system, as well as pathological changes of the lymphatic system, underlies the progress of an array of diseases and conditions, including cancer, inflammation and autoimmune disorders, infectious diseases and metabolic syndrome. A variety of biological targets in the lymphatic system can be employed to modulate these high-burden diseases, and the pharmacokinetics and drug delivery strategies in the context of lymphatics are of critical importance to optimise drug exposure to lymphatic-related targets. As such, research and drug development in this field has gained increasing attention in recent years. This article aims to provide an overview of pharmaceutical research with a focus on the lymphatic system and therapeutic targets within the lymphatics, followed by lymphatic drug delivery approaches, which may be of interest for researchers in academia, pharmaceutical industry and regulatory sciences.

The Piezo protein is a non-selective mechanosensitive cation channel that exhibits sensitivity to mechanical stimuli such as pressure and shear stress. It converts mechanical signals into bioelectric activity within cells, thus triggering specific biological responses. In the digestive system, Piezo protein plays a crucial role in maintaining normal physiological activities, including digestion, absorption, metabolic regulation, and immune modulation. However, dysregulation in Piezo protein expression may lead to the occurrence of several pathological conditions, including visceral hypersensitivity, impairment of intestinal mucosal barrier function, and immune inflammation.Therefore, conducting a comprehensive review of the physiological functions and pathological roles of Piezo protein in the digestive system is of paramount importance. In this review, we systematically summarize the structural and dynamic characteristics of Piezo protein, its expression patterns, and physiological functions in the digestive system. We particularly focus on elucidating the mechanisms of action of Piezo protein in digestive system tumor diseases, inflammatory diseases, fibrotic diseases, and functional disorders. Through the integration of the latest research findings, we have observed that Piezo protein plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of various digestive system diseases. There exist intricate interactions between Piezo protein and multiple phenotypes of digestive system tumors such as proliferation, apoptosis, and metastasis. In inflammatory diseases, Piezo protein promotes intestinal immune responses and pancreatic trypsinogen activation, contributing to the development of ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, and pancreatitis. Additionally, Piezo1, through pathways involving co-action with the TRPV4 ion channel, facilitates neutrophil recruitment and suppresses HIF-1α ubiquitination, thereby mediating organ fibrosis in organs like the liver and pancreas. Moreover, Piezo protein regulation by gut microbiota or factors like age and gender can result in increased or decreased visceral sensitivity, and alterations in intestinal mucosal barrier structure and permeability, which are closely associated with functional disorders like irritable bowel sydrome (IBS) and functional consitipaction (FC). A thorough exploration of Piezo protein as a potential therapeutic target in digestive system diseases can provide a scientific basis and theoretical support for future clinical diagnosis and treatment strategies.

This is the first reported case of a female with monkeypox infection in Kunming City,Yunnan Province.An epi-demiological investigation was conducted to provide a scientific basis for the prevention and control of monkeypox epidemics in China,especially for early detection in females in accordance with the"Monkeypox prevention and control program(2023 ver-sion)".Diagnosis was performed as described in the"Monkeypox Diagnosis and Treatment Guidelines(2022 version)".Speci-mens were collected for laboratory testing.The epidemiological investigation determined that the female patient had sexual in-tercourse with her newly married husband once before disease onset and the husband hid his history of male homosexual sex.The laboratory test results of the woman and her husband were positive for the nucleic acid of the monkeypox virus.Both had typical clinical symptoms,including rash.The epidemiological investigation,clinical symptoms,laboratory test results,and previous epidemic data of monkeypox in Yunnan province confirmed the woman as the first female infected with monkeypox in Yunnan Province and her husband was the presumed source of infection.

Ketamine,an antagonist of the glutamate N-methyl-D-aspartate(NMDA)receptor,is cur-rently one of the most widely abused psychoactive substances.Prolonged abuse can result in damages to various systems in the body,making it crucial to investigate the regulatory mechanism of ketamine addic-tion and screening related biomarkers.In this study,zebrafish embryos/larvae were initially exposed a-cutely to ketamine.Then,a ketamine addiction model was established in 6-month-old zebrafish through conditioned place preference(CPP)experiments.The zebrafish brain transcriptome was analyzed using RNA-seq,while qPCR and Western blotting were employed to detect the expression of key genes.Results revealed significant reductions in the spontaneous tail coiling,embryo hatching rate,and survival rate of zebrafish embryos in the ketamine-treated group compared to the control group.The distance moved also decreased significantly,from 1904.2 mm in the control group to 319.0 mm in the high dose of ketamine group(300 μmol/L).Conditional positional preference experiments demonstrated that the control ze-brafish did not exhibit significant changes in activity in the CPP tank.In contrast,the ketamine-treated group increased their activity time in the light zone of the tank from 385.2 s before training to 706.4 s af-ter training,representing a 26.8％increase(***P＜0.001).This suggests a preference for ketamine stimulation in zebrafish.KEGG analysis indicated enrichment of differentially expressed genes in the neu-roactive ligand-receptor interaction pathway in the ketamine-treated samples.GSEA analysis further re-veals a significant upregulation of the glutamatergic synapse pathway(NES=1.5).In addition,compared with the control group,the mRNA levels of Grin2b and Gria2 in the ketamine group increased by 4.6 and 1.4 times,respectively,while the protein levels increased by 2.0 and 1.4 times,respectively.These findings suggest that ketamine can induce addiction in zebrafish,potentially through upregulation of the glutamatergic synaptic pathway.

Objective:To investigate the effect of GRIM-19 on the resistance of carcinoma cells to the chemotherapeutic agent docetaxel in the treatment of PCa.Methods:Using siRNA technology to interfere with the gene expression in PCa cells,we estab-lished a model of GRIM-19 overexpression/knockdown in PCa cells.We investigated the effect of different expression levels of GRIM-19 on docetaxel-induced death of the PCa cells by qPCR,Western blot and flow cytometry,and assessed the value of GRIM-19 in re-ducing the chemotherapy-resistance of PCa cells.Results:GRIM-19 was down-regulated in PCa tissues and cells.Knockout of GRIM-19 significantly decreased the expression of siGRIM19 in the PC-3 and LNCaP cells,and reduced their death rate when treated with docetaxel compared with the control group.The expressions of GRIM-19 mRNA and protein were remarkably upregulated after transfection with GRIM-19,and the overexpressed GRIM-19 promoted the death of the PC-3 and LNCaP cells treated with docetaxel in a dose-dependent manner.Flow cytometry analysis showed a lower apoptosis rate of PC-3-R cells than that of PC-3 cells at different time points of docetaxel-induction at different doses.Conclusion:GRIM-19 is a PCa suppressor gene with a significant facilitating effect on the apoptosis of PCa cells,and the overexpression of GRIM-19 promotes docetaxel-induced PCa cell death and improves the sensitivity of chemotherapy.

Background: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is a highly desmoplastic tumor with poor prognosis even after curative resection. We investigated the associations between the composition of the ICC stroma and immune cell infiltration and aimed to develop a stromal-immune signature to predict prognosis in surgically treated ICC. Patients and methods: We recruited 359 ICC patients and performed immunohistochemistry to detect α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), CD3, CD4, CD8, Foxp3, CD68, and CD66b. Aniline was used to stain collagen deposition. Survival analyses were performed to detect prognostic values of these markers. Recursive partitioning for a discrete-time survival tree was applied to define a stromal-immune signature with distinct prognostic value. We delineated an integrated stromal-immune signature based on immune cell subpopulations and stromal composition to distinguish subgroups with different recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) time. Results: We defined four major patterns of ICC stroma composition according to the distributions of α-SMA and collagen: dormant (α-SMAlow/collagenhigh), fibrogenic (α-SMAhigh/collagenhigh), inert (α-SMAlow/collagenlow), and fibrolytic (α-SMAhigh/collagenlow). The stroma types were characterized by distinct patterns of infiltration by immune cells. We divided patients into six classes. Class I, characterized by high CD8 expression and dormant stroma, displayed the longest RFS and OS, whereas Class VI, characterized by low CD8 expression and high CD66b expression, displayed the shortest RFS and OS. The integrated stromal-immune signature was consolidated in a validation cohort. Conclusion We developed and validated a stromal-immune signature to predict prognosis in surgically treated ICC. These findings provide new insights into the stromal-immune response to ICC.

Based on the differences in the protective effects of fresh Panax ginseng and its processed products on myocardial ischemia in mice, this study identified the advantageous aspects of fresh P. ginseng. By using network pharmacology combined with cell model validation, the molecular mechanisms of fresh P. ginseng in regulating the FoxO signaling pathway were preliminarily revealed. A mouse model of myocardial ischemia was established via intraperitoneal injection of isoproterenol hydrochloride(ISO). The comparison of the protective effects of fresh P. ginseng and its processed products on myocardial ischemia indicated that fresh P. ginseng had a more pronounced effect in reducing lipid peroxidation and alleviating myocardial ischemia in mice. On this basis, network pharmacology research was conducted, showing that fresh P. ginseng contained 19 dominant active ingredients and 38 key targets, including albumin(ALB), serine/threonine protein kinase(AKT1), epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR), extracellular signal-regulated kinases(ERK1/2), and mitogen-activated protein kinase(P38). Fresh P. ginseng could regulate various biological functions such as cell proliferation, apoptosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress through signaling pathways including Ras, FoxO, IL-17, and Rap1, thereby protecting cardiomyocytes. Among them, the FoxO signaling pathway was identified as a characteristic pathway for fresh P. ginseng. It was further discovered that the dominant active components of fresh P. ginseng, such as ginsenoside Re, ginsenoside Rg_1, and β-elemene, could regulate this pathway through targets such as AKT, JNK, EGFR, and P38. Biological validation results showed that ginsenoside Re, ginsenoside Rg_1, and β-elemene could enhance cell viability, reduce lactate dehydrogenase(LDH) content, and decrease reactive oxygen species(ROS) levels in the cell supernatant. Target validation results indicated that ginsenoside Rg_1 and β-elemene significantly down-regulated the expression of EGFR protein in the FoxO signaling pathway, while ginsenoside Re and β-elemene significantly down-regulated the expression of ERK1/2 and P38 proteins. This study revealed the advantageous mechanisms of fresh P. ginseng in protecting against myocardial ischemia, providing a theoretical basis for the further development of fresh P. ginseng and related products.
Panax/chemistry* ; Animals ; Mice ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Myocardial Ischemia/genetics* ; Male ; Forkhead Transcription Factors/metabolism* ; Humans ; Apoptosis/drug effects* ; Oxidative Stress/drug effects*