1.Mechanism of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Comorbidity of Parkinson's Disease and Depression: A Review
Qi ZHENG ; Xiaomin XU ; Simeng WANG ; Shumin LIU
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2026;32(4):268-276
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder primarily characterized by motor dysfunction. Traditionally, its main clinical features include resting tremor, muscular rigidity, bradykinesia, and postural balance disorders. However, an increasing number of studies have shown that its non-motor symptoms (NMS) exert an even greater impact on patients' quality of life than motor symptoms, severely affecting daily functioning and increasing the burden on families and society. Among these, depression is one of the most common and most debilitating NMS, with statistics indicating that the incidence of depression among PD patients reaches as high as 40%-50%. The pathological mechanisms are complex, involving the interplay between degenerative changes in dopaminergic neurons and disruptions in emotional regulatory circuits, which poses a substantial challenge to clinical treatment. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), characterized by holistic regulation and multi-target intervention, has demonstrated significant advantages in the treatment of PD and depression, offering new insights for managing PD-depression comorbidity. This study integrates research extracted from multiple databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), that investigates the potential mechanisms of PD and depression as well as TCM-based treatments for these conditions. The aim is to elucidate the shared pathological mechanisms underlying PD and depression and to explore the therapeutic potential of TCM in effectively combating PD-depression comorbidity through these shared mechanisms, thereby providing valuable insights for the development of targeted therapies.
2.Status of Clinical Practice Guideline Information Platforms
Xueqin ZHANG ; Yun ZHAO ; Jie LIU ; Long GE ; Ying XING ; Simeng REN ; Yifei WANG ; Wenzheng ZHANG ; Di ZHANG ; Shihua WANG ; Yao SUN ; Min WU ; Lin FENG ; Tiancai WEN
Medical Journal of Peking Union Medical College Hospital 2025;16(2):462-471
Clinical practice guidelines represent the best recommendations for patient care. They are developed through systematically reviewing currently available clinical evidence and weighing the relative benefits and risks of various interventions. However, clinical practice guidelines have to go through a long translation cycle from development and revision to clinical promotion and application, facing problems such as scattered distribution, high duplication rate, and low actual utilization. At present, the clinical practice guideline information platform can directly or indirectly solve the problems related to the lengthy revision cycles, decentralized dissemination and limited application of clinical practice guidelines. Therefore, this paper systematically examines different types of clinical practice guideline information platforms and investigates their corresponding challenges and emerging trends in platform design, data integration, and practical implementation, with the aim of clarifying the current status of this field and providing valuable reference for future research on clinical practice guideline information platforms.
3.Salvianolic acid B promotes mitochondrial homeostasis and improves cardiac function in mice with ischemia-reperfusion injury by inhibiting Sirt1 protein degradation.
Simeng LI ; Jianning CHEN ; Siman SHEN ; Wanglong LIU ; Lili YU ; Liangqing ZHANG
Journal of Southern Medical University 2025;45(10):2062-2070
OBJECTIVES:
To investigate the molecular mechanism by which salvianolic acid B (Sal-B) modulates mitochondrial functional homeostasis and alleviates myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury in mice.
METHODS:
Mouse cardiomyocyte HL-1 cells were pretreated with 5 μmol/L Sal-B with or without sh-Sirt1 transfection before exposure to hypoxia-reoxygenation (HR), and the changes in ATP production, mitochondrial superoxide activity, substrate oxidation level were evaluated. In the animal experiment, 36 C57BL/6J mice were randomized into 3 groups (n=12) for sham operation or ligation of the left anterior coronary artery to induce myocardial I/R injury with or without intravenous injection of Sal-B+I/R (50 mg/kg). In the rescue experiment, 60 adult C57BL/6J mice were randomized into 5 groups (n=12): sham-operated group, myocardial I/R group, Sal-B+I/R group, I/R+Sal-B+Sirt1fl/fl group, and I/R+Sal-B+cKO-Sirt1 group. Myocardial injury was evaluated with HE staining, and cardiac function was assessed by measurement of the ejection fraction and fractional shortening using echocardiography.
RESULTS:
In HL-1 cells with HR injury, Sal-B pretreatment significantly increased cellular ATP production, reduced mitochondrial superoxide anion levels, and enhanced oxygen consumption level. In the mouse models of myocardial I/R injury, Sal-B pretreatment markedly ameliorated I/R-induced structural disarray of the cardiac myocytes and improved cardiac ejection. Cycloheximide chase with Western blotting and ubiquitination assays after Sirt1-IP showed that Sal-B significantly inhibited Sirt1 degradation in HL-1 cells. Sirt1 knock-down reversed Sal-B-induced increases in ATP production, reduction in superoxide, and elevation of OCR in HL-1 cells. Cardiomyocyte-specific Sirt1 knockout obviously reversed Sal-B-mediated improvement in cardiac ejection function and myocardial structure damage in mice with myocardial I/R injury.
CONCLUSIONS
Sal-B promotes mitochondrial functional homeostasis in cardiomyocytes with HR injury and improves cardiac function in mice after myocardial I/R by inhibiting Sirt1 protein degradation.
Animals
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Sirtuin 1/metabolism*
;
Myocardial Reperfusion Injury/physiopathology*
;
Mice, Inbred C57BL
;
Mice
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Myocytes, Cardiac/drug effects*
;
Benzofurans/pharmacology*
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Homeostasis/drug effects*
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Male
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Mitochondria/drug effects*
;
Depsides
4.Correlation Between Traditional Chinese Medicine Constitution and Body Composition Including Visceral Fat in Overweight and Obese Populations
Mengyao LI ; Jieyu LIU ; Simeng YAO ; Bin ZHANG ; Jintu GUAN ; Peiming ZHANG ; Jihong LIU
Journal of Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2025;42(11):2670-2676
Objective To investigate the relationship between traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)constitution and body composition such as visceral fat in overweight and obese individuals.Methods A total of 320 overweight/obese patients who visited the Preventive Treatment Center of Foshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine between September 15,2023,and September 14,2024,were selected as study subjects.Among them,135 were classified into the overweight group and 185 into the obese group.Data were collected using the TCM Constitution Questionnaire and a body composition analyzer(InBody570).The differences in TCM constitution distribution between the overweight and obese groups,as well as between genders,were compared.The correlation between TCM constitution types and body composition parameters was analyzed.Logistic regression analysis was employed to identify risk factors for biased constitutions in the overweight/obese population.Results Among the 320 overweight/obese patients,phlegm-damp constitution(56.25%)and damp-heat constitution(40.31%)were the most predominant biased constitutions.The proportions of blood stasis constitution,qi depression constitution,and inherited special constitution in females were significantly higher than those in males(P<0.05 or P<0.01),with the risk of qi depression constitution in females being 6.028 times higher than that in males(P<0.01).Yang deficiency constitution was positively correlated with protein content but negatively correlated with skeletal muscle mass and body fat mass(P<0.05).The proportion of blood stasis constitution in the overweight group was higher than that in the obese group(P<0.01).In overweight/obese individuals with blood stasis constitution,the risk of excessive visceral fat was 2.658 times as high as those without excessive visceral fat.Blood stasis constitution was positively correlated with body fat mass,bone mineral content,intracellular water,and skeletal muscle mass index(SMI),but was negatively correlated with body mass index(BMI)and body cell mass(P<0.05 or P<0.01).Coclusion For overweight and obese populations,special attention should be paid to the management of visceral fat in individuals with blood stasis constitution and to emotional intervention in females.A staged and precise prevention and treatment strategy should be developed by integrating TCM constitution and body composition indicators.
5.Taking "Seven Emotions Scale" as an Example to Explore the Suitability of Four Qualitative Methods in the Development of TCM Scale
Simeng YAO ; Xiaoying NING ; Qinyong XU ; Yuanfang CHEN ; Wei ZHENG ; Jihong LIU ; Fengbin LIU ; Zhengkun HOU
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2024;65(20):2102-2108
ObjectiveTo explore the suitability of four qualitative research methods in the development of TCM scale. MethodsTaking the development of "Seven Emotions Scale" as an example, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 31 patients of emotional disorders and 10 healthy people by objective sampling, and collected psychological feelings and emotional cognition data related to seven emotions according to the interview outline. Two qualitative methods, descriptive qualitative research and descriptive phenomenology, were used to analyze the data and construct the item library of the scale. The conceptual framework of the scale was constructed by using commonly used grounded theory and frame analysis. ResultsDuring data analysis, it is found that the themes extracted from descriptive phenomenology were not easily understood by the interviewees, and it is difficult for the researchers to truly achieve the "suspension" required by phenomenology. Considering the feasibility and convenience of the researchers' actual operation, as well as whether the initial purpose of the scale research can be intuitively included in the interviewees' views and feelings, descriptive phenomenology is not suitable for the formation of scale items. Using descriptive qualitative research method to analyze the interview data of healthy people and patients with emotional disorders, 306 and 476 scale items were obtained respectively. Through grounded theory, five selective codes were obtained: physical symptoms, external manifestations, psychological feelings, behaviors and emotional control. Using frame analysis, four themes including physical symptoms, psychological feelings, behavior and emotional cognition were constructed. Both methods can be used to construct the conceptual frame of scale, but the framework analysis is more convenient and can better ensure the transparency of the research. ConclusionDescriptive qualitative research methods can be used to form the item library of TCM scales. Framework analysis is more suitable for the construction of the conceptual framework of the scale than grounded theory, while descriptive phenomenology is not suitable for the development of TCM scales.
6.Analysis of the association between threat and deprivation childhood traumas and dysfunctional attitudes in patients with major depressive episode
Hao HOU ; Dan LUO ; Lijun KANG ; Simeng MA ; Zhongchun LIU ; Bingxiang YANG
Chinese Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases 2024;50(6):349-354
Objective This study aims to explore the associations between threat and deprivation childhood traumas and dysfunctional attitudes among patients with major depressive episode,based on the dimensional model of adversity and psychopathology(DMAP).Methods Data from 970 patients with major depressive episode were collected and categorized based on the childhood trauma questionnaire-short form(CTQ-SF)scores into no trauma(426),threat-only(86),deprivation-only(210),and mixed groups(248).Cognitive distortions were assessed using the dysfunctional attitudes scale(DAS),with scores above the upper quartile indicating significant distortions.Multifactorial logistic regression analysis was employed to examine the association between threat and deprivation and dysfunctional attitudes.Results There were significant differences in the proportion of cognitive distortions among the no trauma,threat-only,deprivation-only,and mixed groups(19.25% vs.30.23% vs.20.00% vs.35.89%,P<0.001),with differences across all dimensions(P≤0.001).Multifactorial logistic regression revealed a positive correlation between threat and overall cognitive distortions(OR=2.031,P<0.001),and specific positive correlations with dimensions such as vulnerability(OR=1.709,P<0.001),appeal and repulsion(OR=2.088,P<0.001),perfectionism(OR=2.321,P<0.001),compulsivity(OR=1.765,P=0.001),approval seeking(OR=1.837,P<0.001),dependency(OR=1.554,P=0.006),and autonomous attitudes(OR=1.864,P<0.001).In contrast,deprivation was only positively correlated with the cognitive philosophy dimension(OR=1.495,P=0.015).Conclusion Childhood trauma is closely associated with dysfunctional attitudes in patients with major depressive episode.Threat correlates positively with cognitive distortions in all dimensions except cognitive philosophy,whereas deprivation correlates only with the cognitive philosophy dimension.
7.Theoretical models for influenza vaccination behavior at the individual level
Kai QU ; Yulu MIAO ; Simeng FAN ; Yanzhe LIU ; Xiaokun YANG ; Hongting ZHAO ; Ying QIN ; Jiandong ZHENG ; Yanping ZHANG ; Zhibin PENG ; Zijian FENG
Chinese Journal of Epidemiology 2024;45(4):608-614
Influenza imposes a significant disease burden on society and individuals annually, and influenza vaccination is considered a significant public health measure to prevent influenza and reduce influenza-related severe disease and death. The low influenza vaccination rate in China is partly due to certain factors affecting the willingness and behavior of individuals to receive them. Scientific research and targeted interventions on these factors can effectively improve the vaccination situation. Commonly used individual-level theoretical models for influenza vaccination behavior include the health belief model, protection motivation theory, and theory of planned behavior. This study reviews theoretical models commonly employed in researching influenza vaccination willingness and behavior. An overview of these practical applications and challenges models is presented to provide references for relevant research and intervention programs in China.
8.Clinicopathological study of 24 cases of monkeypox virus infection-related rashes
Yanhua PANG ; Xingang ZHOU ; Man LI ; Xiangmei CHEN ; Liang ZHANG ; Kun YANG ; Ting LIU ; Jiamin CHEN ; Simeng LIU ; Weimin TONG ; Jiangyang LU ; Peng WANG
Chinese Journal of Pathology 2024;53(10):1011-1017
Objective:To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics of rashes in monkeypox patients through a series of skin biopsies, and examine their pathological features and the most effective tests.Methods:Patients with monkeypox virus infection admitted to Beijing Ditan Hospital from June to August 2023 were identified. Among them, 24 patients underwent skin biopsies for clinical pathological study that were included in this study. Clinical information, rash pictures, and nucleic acid test results were analyzed using histopathology, immunohistochemistry, RNAscope ? hybridization and electron microscopy. Results:All 24 patients were male, including 14 patients with concurrent human immunodeficiency virus infection. Their average age was (32.3±5.4) years. The nucleic acid test confirmed monkeypox virus infection. The clinical feature of monkeypox rashes was solitary rather than clustered distribution, with rashes occurring in similar phase, distinguishing it from herpesvirus. The rashes in these patients were mostly scattered, with an average of (13.0±11.8) rashes, and most commonly present in the perineum, face, limbs, and trunk. The three main pathological features of these rashes were ballooning degeneration of the epidermal spinous cell layer, the characteristic intra-cytoplasmic Guarnieri′s bodies and significant infiltration of inflammatory cells in whole dermal layer. Immunohistochemistry, RNAscope ? hybridization, and electron microscopy can all effectively detect the monkeypox virus. Electron microscopy showed viral replication in various types of skin cells. Conclusions:The study describes the pathological features of monkeypox virus rashes. Pathological examination of skin biopsy samples is helpful to diagnose these rashes. The study suggests that the monkeypox virus has a unique epitheliotropic affinity and can infect various types of cells in the skin.
9.Method for Developing Patient Decision Aid in China
Yao LU ; Qian ZHANG ; Qianji CHENG ; Jianing LIU ; Mingyao SUN ; Jinling NING ; Jiajie HUANG ; Simeng REN ; Wenzheng ZHANG ; Yajie LIU ; Xiyuan DENG ; Jinhui TIAN ; Jie LIU ; Long GE
Medical Journal of Peking Union Medical College Hospital 2024;15(6):1422-1431
To systematically construct a guideline to provide a methodological guide for researchers to develop patient decision aids. Through a literature review of international methodological guidance for developing patient decision aids, sorting out the similarities and differences in the processes and methods for developing patient decision aids, and combining them with the topic discussion of the working group, the initial guideline was drafted. A total of 13 guidances was included, with the initial version containing 3 phases, 13 steps, and 48 points. We invited 19 multidisciplinary domain experts for forming consensus. The final version of the guideline contains 3 phases, 11 steps, and 24 points. The guideline has great potential to guide the development of patient decision aids in China and is expected to fill the methodological gap in the field. In the future, several rounds of pilot testing of the guideline based on specific decision issues will be conducted, and the guideline will be further revised and improved.
10.Method for Developing Patient Decision Aid in China
Yao LU ; Qian ZHANG ; Qianji CHENG ; Jianing LIU ; Mingyao SUN ; Jinling NING ; Jiajie HUANG ; Simeng REN ; Wenzheng ZHANG ; Yajie LIU ; Xiyuan DENG ; Jinhui TIAN ; Jie LIU ; Long GE
Medical Journal of Peking Union Medical College Hospital 2024;15(6):1422-1431
To systematically construct a guideline to provide a methodological guide for researchers to develop patient decision aids. Through a literature review of international methodological guidance for developing patient decision aids, sorting out the similarities and differences in the processes and methods for developing patient decision aids, and combining them with the topic discussion of the working group, the initial guideline was drafted. A total of 13 guidances was included, with the initial version containing 3 phases, 13 steps, and 48 points. We invited 19 multidisciplinary domain experts for forming consensus. The final version of the guideline contains 3 phases, 11 steps, and 24 points. The guideline has great potential to guide the development of patient decision aids in China and is expected to fill the methodological gap in the field. In the future, several rounds of pilot testing of the guideline based on specific decision issues will be conducted, and the guideline will be further revised and improved.

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