Atherosclerosis(AS)is the major pathologic basis of cardiovascular disease,and its complications,such as myocardial infarction and stroke,are primarily triggered by rupture of atherosclerotic vulnerable plaques(VASPs).Conventional imaging techniques rely on anatomical changes,making it difficult to assess plaque vulnerability at an early stage.In recent years,molecular imaging combined with nanoprobe technology has enabled precise visualization at the cellular and molecular levels by targeting pathological features of plaques(e.g.,lipid core,inflammation,thin fibrous cap,etc.).This article reviews the pathological features of VASPs,the limitations of existing imaging techniques,and the design principles and application progress of molecular imaging probes and discusses the challenges and future directions for their clinical translation.

Objective:To investigate ferroptosis-related genes in pterygium tissue by using bioinformatic analysis.Methods:The pterygium gene expression profile dataset GSE2513 was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus Database to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to ferroptosis.Functional annotation and enrichment analysis of the DEGs were performed using Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG).Hub genes were identified from the DEGs using LASSO logistic regression analysis and a support vector machine recursive feature elimination (SVM-REF).Single-gene GSEA analysis was performed on hub genes and a competitive endogenous RNA interaction network was constructed to determine the RNA regulatory relationships of the hub genes.Pterygium tissue samples from 9 patients (9 eyes) undergoing pterygium surgery and conjunctival tissue samples from 9 patients (9 eyes) undergoing strabismus surgery who visited the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University were collected from 2022 to 2023 during surgery, and the expression of hub genes and ferroptosis-related marker genes was detected by fluorescence quantitative PCR.This study followed the Declaration of Helsinki, and the study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University (No.2022-KY-0006-001).Results:In the dataset, there were 37 ferroptosis-related genes with significant expression differences, including 16 upregulated genes and 21 downregulated genes.GO analysis revealed significant enrichment in responses to external stimuli, responses to nutritional levels, responses to extracellular stimuli, responses to oxidative stress and starvation, transcription regulatory complexes, and RNA polymerase Ⅱ transcription regulatory complexes, RNA polymerase Ⅱ-specific transcription, and DNA-binding transcription.KEGG analysis showed that the DEGs were primarily enriched in ferroptosis and NOD-like receptor signaling pathways.LASSO regression analysis identified DUOX2, ATF3, NDRG1, EGR1, and ALDH3A2 as hub genes, and SVM-REF analysis identified NDRG1, NF2, IDH2, DUOX2, CHP1, ATF3, and SREBF1 as hub genes. DUOX2, ATF3, and NDRG1 were identified as the intersection hub genes.Single-gene GSEA analysis revealed that DUOX2 was enriched in the cell adhesion molecule CAMs pathway, the heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis pathway, and the glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis ganglioside series pathway. ATF3 and NDRG1 were enriched in the PPAR signaling pathway and other pathways.Compared with normal conjunctival tissue, the relative expression levels of the ferroptosis markers PTGS2 and TFRC mRNA were increased in pterygium tissue, while the relative expression levels of FTH1, GPX4, SLC40A1, HSPB1, and NFE2L2 mRNA were decreased, with statistically significant differences ( t=12.220, 16.580, 5.664, 6.455, 8.691, 9.883, 17.590; all P<0.01). Conclusions:Ferroptosis may play an important role in the pathogenesis of pterygium. DUOX2, ATF3, and NDRG1 may be the hub genes affecting this complicated process.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the characteristics of central nervous system regulation in patients with refractory overactive bladder (rOAB) using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), and to analyze the differences in brain function and connection between the patients and healthy population. METHODS: From May 1 to November 30, 2024, we performed rs-fMRI for 47 rOAB patients and another 47 matched healthy controls, documented relevant clinical data from all the participants and obtained their Overactive Bladder Symptom Scores (OABSS) and Overactive Bladder Questionnaire (OAB-Q) scores. Based on rs-fMRI, we compared the results of Independent Component Analysis (ICA), amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF), fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo) and degree centrality (DC) between the rOAB patients and healthy controls. RESULTS: The rOAB patients, in comparison with the healthy controls, showed dramatically higher daytime urination frequency (11.64 ± 3.85) vs (5.76 ± 0.91), nighttime urination frequency (3.72 ± 1.64) vs (0.31 ± 0.47), OABSS (8.22 ± 2.21) vs (0.64±0.78), OAB-Q1 score (20.85 ± 5.28) vs (6.78 ± 1.04), and OAB-Q2 score (45.04 ± 12.11) vs (14.51 ± 1.66) (all P<0.01). No statistically significant differences were observed in the results of ICA and ALFF between the right superior frontal and right middle frontal regions in the rOAB patients (P>0.05), but fALFF, ReHo and DC were significantly decreased in the patients compared with those in the healthy controls (P<0.01). CONCLUSION Compared with healthy population, the functions and connection of the frontal superior right and frontal middle right brain regions in rOAB patients are significantly down-regulated, which may serve as new therapeutic targets.
Humans ; Urinary Bladder, Overactive/physiopathology* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Brain/physiopathology* ; Female ; Male ; Adult ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Case-Control Studies ; Middle Aged ; Rest ; Brain Mapping

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of acupuncture therapy on dysphagia in patients with Parkinson's disease. METHODS: This randomized controlled study lasted 42 days and included 112 patients with Parkinson's disease and dysphagia. Participants were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups (56 cases each group) using the completely randomized design, all under routine treatment. The experimental group was given acupuncture therapy. The primary outcome was Penetration-Aspiration Scale (PAS). The secondary outcomes were (1) Standardized Swallowing Assessment (SSA), and (2) nutritional status including body mass index (BMI), serum albumin, prealbumin, and hemoglobin. Adverse events were recorded as safety indicators. RESULTS: One participant quitted the study midway. There were no significant differences in baseline assessment (P>0.05). After treatment, both groups showed significant improvement in PAS, SSA and nutritional status except for BMI of the control group. There were significant differences between the two groups in the PAS for both paste and liquid, SSA (25.18±8.25 vs. 20.84±6.92), BMI (19.97±3.34 kg/m²vs. 21.26 ±2.38 kg/m²), serum albumin (35.16 ±5.29 g/L vs. 37.24 ±3.98 g/L), prealbumin (248.33 ±27.72 mg/L vs. 261.39 ±22.10 mg/L), hemoglobin (119.09±12.53 g/L vs. 126.67±13.97 g/L) (P<0.05). There were no severe adverse events during the study. CONCLUSION: The combination of routine treatment and acupuncture therapy can better improve dysphagia and nutritional status in patients with Parkinson's disease, than routine treatment solely. (registration No. CLINICALTRIAL gov NCT06199323).
Humans ; Parkinson Disease/therapy* ; Deglutition Disorders/physiopathology* ; Acupuncture Therapy/adverse effects* ; Male ; Female ; Aged ; Middle Aged ; Treatment Outcome ; Nutritional Status ; Body Mass Index

BACKGROUND: There is a gap in understanding the effects of different acupoints and treatment methods (acupuncture and moxibustion) on microcirculatory changes in the lumbar region. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the thermal effects of acupuncture at Weizhong (BL40), with acupuncture at Chize (LU5) and moxibustion at both acupoints as control interventions. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTIONS: In this randomized controlled trial, 140 healthy participants were equally divided into four groups: acupuncture at BL40 (Acu-BL40), acupuncture at LU5 (Acu-LU5), moxibustion at BL40 (Mox-BL40) and moxibustion at LU5 (Mox-LU5). Participants underwent a 30-minute session of their assigned treatment. Infrared thermal imaging was used to collect temperature data on the areas of interest for analysis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary measure was the change in average temperature of the observed area after the intervention. The secondary measures included periodic temperature changes every 5 min and the temperature changes of the Governor Vessel and Bladder Meridian in the observed area after the intervention. RESULTS: Significant interactions were observed between treatments and acupoints affecting temperature (P < 0.001). The Acu-BL40 group showed a notably higher increase in mean temperature after 30 min compared to the Acu-LU5 and Mox-BL40 groups, with increases of 0.29 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.17 to 0.41) and 0.24 (95% CI = 0.08 to 0.41) °C, respectively. CONCLUSION: Acupuncture at BL40 acupoint can significantly increase the mean temperature in the observed area, highlighting the specific thermal effect of acupuncture compared to moxibustion in the lumbar area. This suggests a potential therapeutic benefit of acupuncture at BL40 for managing lumbar conditions. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05665426). Please cite this article as: Zheng SY, Wang XY, Lin LN, Liu S, Huang XX, Liu YY, Yu XS, Pan W, Fang JQ, Liang Y. Lumbar temperature change after acupuncture or moxibustion at Weizhong (BL40) or Chize (LU5) in healthy adults: A randomized controlled trial. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(2): 145-151.
Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Young Adult ; Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Body Temperature ; Healthy Volunteers ; Lumbosacral Region/physiology* ; Moxibustion ; Adolescent

Objective:To investigate ferroptosis-related genes in pterygium tissue by using bioinformatic analysis.Methods:The pterygium gene expression profile dataset GSE2513 was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus Database to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to ferroptosis.Functional annotation and enrichment analysis of the DEGs were performed using Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG).Hub genes were identified from the DEGs using LASSO logistic regression analysis and a support vector machine recursive feature elimination (SVM-REF).Single-gene GSEA analysis was performed on hub genes and a competitive endogenous RNA interaction network was constructed to determine the RNA regulatory relationships of the hub genes.Pterygium tissue samples from 9 patients (9 eyes) undergoing pterygium surgery and conjunctival tissue samples from 9 patients (9 eyes) undergoing strabismus surgery who visited the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University were collected from 2022 to 2023 during surgery, and the expression of hub genes and ferroptosis-related marker genes was detected by fluorescence quantitative PCR.This study followed the Declaration of Helsinki, and the study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University (No.2022-KY-0006-001).Results:In the dataset, there were 37 ferroptosis-related genes with significant expression differences, including 16 upregulated genes and 21 downregulated genes.GO analysis revealed significant enrichment in responses to external stimuli, responses to nutritional levels, responses to extracellular stimuli, responses to oxidative stress and starvation, transcription regulatory complexes, and RNA polymerase Ⅱ transcription regulatory complexes, RNA polymerase Ⅱ-specific transcription, and DNA-binding transcription.KEGG analysis showed that the DEGs were primarily enriched in ferroptosis and NOD-like receptor signaling pathways.LASSO regression analysis identified DUOX2, ATF3, NDRG1, EGR1, and ALDH3A2 as hub genes, and SVM-REF analysis identified NDRG1, NF2, IDH2, DUOX2, CHP1, ATF3, and SREBF1 as hub genes. DUOX2, ATF3, and NDRG1 were identified as the intersection hub genes.Single-gene GSEA analysis revealed that DUOX2 was enriched in the cell adhesion molecule CAMs pathway, the heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis pathway, and the glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis ganglioside series pathway. ATF3 and NDRG1 were enriched in the PPAR signaling pathway and other pathways.Compared with normal conjunctival tissue, the relative expression levels of the ferroptosis markers PTGS2 and TFRC mRNA were increased in pterygium tissue, while the relative expression levels of FTH1, GPX4, SLC40A1, HSPB1, and NFE2L2 mRNA were decreased, with statistically significant differences ( t=12.220, 16.580, 5.664, 6.455, 8.691, 9.883, 17.590; all P<0.01). Conclusions:Ferroptosis may play an important role in the pathogenesis of pterygium. DUOX2, ATF3, and NDRG1 may be the hub genes affecting this complicated process.

This study aims to explore the effects and mechanisms of the traditional Chinese medicine Cordyceps sinensis(CS) in ameliorating heart aging and injury in mice based on animal experiments and network pharmacology. A mouse model of heart aging was established by continuously subcutaneous injection of D-galactose(D-gal). Thirty mice were randomly assigned into a normal group, a model group, a low-dose CS(CS-L) group, a high-dose CS(CS-H) group, and a vitamin E(VE) group. Mice in these groups were administrated with normal saline, different doses of CS suspension, or VE suspension via gavage daily. After 60 days of treatment with D-gal and various drugs, all mice were euthanized, and blood and heart tissue samples were collected for determination of the indicators related to heart aging and injury in mice. Experimental results showed that both high and low doses of CS and VE ameliorated the aging phenotype, improved the heart index and myocardial enzyme spectrum, restored the expression levels of proteins associated with cell cycle arrest and senescence-associated secretory phenotypes(SASP), and alleviated the fibrosis and histopathological changes of the heart tissue in model mice. From the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform(TCMSP),259 active ingredients of CS were retrieved. From Gene Cards and OMIM, 2 568 targets related to heart aging were identified, and 133common targets shared by CS and heart aging were obtained. The Gene Ontology(GO) functional annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes( KEGG) pathway enrichment revealed that the pathways related to heart aging involved oxidative stress,apoptosis, inflammation-related signaling pathways, etc. The animal experiment results showed that both high and low doses of CS and VE ameliorated oxidative stress and apoptosis in the heart tissue to varying degrees in model mice. Additionally, CS-H and VE activated the nuclear factor E2-related factor 2(Nrf2)/heme oxygenase-1(HO-1) pathway and inhibited the expression of key proteins in the nuclear factor-κB(NF-κB) pathway in the heart tissue of model mice. In conclusion, this study demonstrated based on network pharmacology and animal experiments that CS may alleviate heart aging and injury in aging mice by reducing oxidative stress,apoptosis, and inflammation in the heart via the Nrf2/HO-1/NF-κB pathway.
Animals ; Cordyceps/chemistry* ; Mice ; NF-E2-Related Factor 2/genetics* ; NF-kappa B/genetics* ; Aging/genetics* ; Male ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Network Pharmacology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Heme Oxygenase-1/genetics* ; Heart/drug effects* ; Humans ; Myocardium/metabolism* ; Membrane Proteins/genetics*

This study aimed to investigate the effect of Dahuang Zhechong Pills(DHZCP) in delaying heart aging(HA) and explore the potential mechanism. Network pharmacology and molecular docking were employed to explore the targets and potential mechanisms of DHZCP in delaying HA. Furthermore, in vitro experiments were conducted with the DHZCP-containing serum to verify key targets and pathways in D-galactose(D-gal)-induced aging of cardiomyocytes. Active components of DHZCP were searched against the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform(TCSMP), and relevant targets were predicted. HA-related targets were screened from the GeneCards, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man(OMIM), and DisGeNET. The common targets shared by the active components of DHZCP and HA were used to construct a protein-protein interaction network in STRING 12.0, and core targets were screened based on degree in Cytoscape 3.9.1. Metaspace was used for Gene Ontology(GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) enrichment analyses of the core targets to predict the mechanisms. Molecular docking was performed in AutoDock Vina. The results indicated that a total of 774 targets of the active components of DHZCP and 4 520 targets related to HA were screened out, including 510 common targets. Core targets included B-cell lymphoma 2(BCL-2), serine/threonine kinase 1(AKT1), and hypoxia-inducible factor 1 subunit A(HIF1A). The GO and KEGG enrichment analyses suggested that DHZCP mainly exerted its effects via the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase(PI3K)/AKT signaling pathway, HIF-1α signaling pathway, longevity signaling pathway, and apoptosis signaling pathway. Among the pathways predicted by GO and KEGG enrichment analyses, the PI3K/AKT/HIF-1α signaling pathway was selected for verification. The cell-counting kit 8(CCK-8) assay showed that D-gal significantly inhibited the proliferation of H9c2 cells, while DHZCP-containing serum increased the viability of H9c2 cells. SA-β-gal staining revealed a significant increase in the number of blue-green positive cells in the D-gal group, which was reduced by DHZCP-containing serum. TUNEL staining showed that DHZCP-containing serum decreased the number of apoptotic cells. After treatment with DHZCP-containing serum, the protein levels of Klotho, BCL-2, p-PI3K/PI3K, p-AKT1/AKT1, and HIF-1α were up-regulated, while those of P21, P16, BCL-2 associated X protein(Bax), and cleaved caspase-3 were down-regulated. The results indicated that DHZCP delayed HA via multiple components, targets, and pathways. Specifically, DHZCP may delay HA by reducing apoptosis via activating the PI3K/AKT/HIF-1α signaling pathway.
Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/genetics* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Apoptosis/drug effects* ; Myocytes, Cardiac/cytology* ; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit/genetics* ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/genetics* ; Animals ; Rats ; Humans ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Aging/metabolism* ; Protein Interaction Maps/drug effects* ; Heart/drug effects* ; Network Pharmacology