1.Research progress on the role of advanced glycosylation end products in ocular diseases
Xiaoqi GONG ; Jiaojiao FENG ; Yibo HAN ; Jike SONG ; Hongsheng BI
International Eye Science 2025;25(6):906-911
The excessive accumulation of advanced glycosylation end products(AGEs), the end products of non-enzymatic glycosylation reactions, can be involved in the pathological processes of various ocular diseases through mechanisms such as oxidative stress, inflammatory responses and apoptosis. In this paper, we systematically reviewed the key role of AGEs in diabetic keratopathy, cataract, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration(ARMD)and diabetic retinopathy(DR). It was found that AGEs activate signalling pathways such as NADPH oxidase, MAPK and NF-κB by binding to the receptor RAGE, leading to reactive oxygen species(ROS)generation, release of inflammatory factors, and vascular endothelial dysfunction, which in turn induces delayed corneal healing, cross-linking of lens proteins, optic nerve degeneration, formation of choroidal neovascularisation(CNV), and blood-retinal barrier(BRB)disruption. For example, in diabetic keratopathy, AGEs delay wound healing via the ROS/NLRP3 inflammatory vesicle axis; in cataract, ascorbic acid-mediated cross-linking of lens proteins due to AGEs directly impairs lens transparency; and in DR, AGEs exacerbate microvascular damage by regulating vasucular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)expression and pericyte apoptosis. In addition, this article discusses the advances and limitations of AGEs detection techniques, such as the potential application of lens AGEscan fluorescence assay in screening for diabetic complications, and the need to develop tissue-specific assays for aqueous humour and vitreous. For therapeutic strategies, the research directions of inhibiting AGEs production, blocking RAGE signalling pathway and developing anti-glycosylation drugs are proposed to emphasise their clinical value in delaying disease progression. This review not only integrates the molecular mechanisms and clinical associations of AGEs in ocular diseases, but also provides a theoretical basis for targeted interventions, which is of great significance in exploring novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
2.Altered oral microbiome and metabolites are associated with improved lipid metabolism in HBV-infected patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease.
Jingjing ZHANG ; Song FENG ; Dali ZHANG ; Jian XUE ; Chao ZHOU ; Pengcheng LIU ; Shuangnan FU ; Man GONG ; Hui FENG ; Ning ZHANG
Journal of Southern Medical University 2025;45(9):2034-2045
OBJECTIVES:
To investigate the impact of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection on oral microbiota and metabolites in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and the underlying mechanisms.
METHODS:
This prospective study was conducted in 47 MAFLD patients complicated with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and 48 MAFLD patients without CHB enrolled from November, 2023 to January, 2024. Fasting tongue coating samples were collected from the patients for analyzing microbial community structures and metabolites using high-throughput 16S rDNA sequencing and non-targeted metabolomics techniques, and their associations with clinical indicators and biological pathways were explored using correlation analysis and functional annotation.
RESULTS:
The levels of fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol (TC), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), and severity of fatty liver were all significantly lower in MAFLD+CHB group than in MAFLD group. Microbiota analysis showed that the abundances of Patescibacteria (at the phylum level), Hydrogenophaga, and Absconditabacteriales (at the genus level) were significantly increased, while the abundance of Megasphaera was decreased in MAFLD+CHB group. The differential microbiota were significantly correlated with TC, GGT and low-density lipoprotein (r=-0.68‒0.75). Metabolomics analysis revealed that 469 metabolites (including lipids and amino acids) were upregulated and 2306 (including organic oxygen-containing compounds and phenylpropanoids) were downregulated in MAFLD+CHB group, for which KEGG enrichment analysis suggested abnormal activation of the linoleic acid metabolism and glycerophospholipid metabolism pathways. Correlation analysis between microbiota and metabolites indicated that Patescibacteria and Megasphaera, which were positively correlated with lipid metabolites and negatively with fatty acid metabolites, respectively, jointly affected glycolipid metabolism and oxidative stress pathways.
CONCLUSIONS
Compared to patients with MAFLD alone, MAFLD patients with concurrent chronic HBV infection showed lower levels in some lipid metabolism indicators and the degree of hepatic steatosis, accompanied by alterations in oral microbiota structure and metabolic profiles. The precise mechanisms involved require further investigation to be fully elucidated.
Humans
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Lipid Metabolism
;
Prospective Studies
;
Microbiota
;
Hepatitis B, Chronic/microbiology*
;
Male
;
Female
;
Adult
;
Fatty Liver/microbiology*
;
Middle Aged
;
Mouth/microbiology*
;
Metabolomics
5.Research progress on the antitumor efficacy improvement for nanomedicine by combinatorial modification with multiligand
Xiao-yu ZHANG ; Song-gu WU ; Hui XU ; Jun-bo GONG ; Jin-feng XING ; Zhen-ping WEI
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica 2024;59(7):1942-1951
After entering the body from the drug delivery site, antitumor nanomedicines need to cross a series of physiopathological barriers to reach the target site of action to effectively exert antitumor therapeutic effects. The ligand modification strategy is a classic method to enhance the efficiency of nanomedicine delivery
6.Link Brain-Wide Projectome to Neuronal Dynamics in the Mouse Brain.
Xiang LI ; Yun DU ; Jiang-Feng HUANG ; Wen-Wei LI ; Wei SONG ; Ruo-Nan FAN ; Hua ZHOU ; Tao JIANG ; Chang-Geng LU ; Zhuang GUAN ; Xiao-Fei WANG ; Hui GONG ; Xiang-Ning LI ; Anan LI ; Ling FU ; Yan-Gang SUN
Neuroscience Bulletin 2024;40(11):1621-1634
Knowledge about the neuronal dynamics and the projectome are both essential for understanding how the neuronal network functions in concert. However, it remains challenging to obtain the neural activity and the brain-wide projectome for the same neurons, especially for neurons in subcortical brain regions. Here, by combining in vivo microscopy and high-definition fluorescence micro-optical sectioning tomography, we have developed strategies for mapping the brain-wide projectome of functionally relevant neurons in the somatosensory cortex, the dorsal hippocampus, and the substantia nigra pars compacta. More importantly, we also developed a strategy to achieve acquiring the neural dynamic and brain-wide projectome of the molecularly defined neuronal subtype. The strategies developed in this study solved the essential problem of linking brain-wide projectome to neuronal dynamics for neurons in subcortical structures and provided valuable approaches for understanding how the brain is functionally organized via intricate connectivity patterns.
Animals
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Neurons/physiology*
;
Mice
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Brain/physiology*
;
Mice, Inbred C57BL
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Somatosensory Cortex/physiology*
;
Neural Pathways/physiology*
;
Hippocampus/physiology*
;
Mice, Transgenic
;
Male
;
Brain Mapping
;
Nerve Net/physiology*
;
Substantia Nigra/physiology*
;
Tomography, Optical/methods*
7.Quick guideline for diagnosis and treatment of novel coronavirus Omicron variant infection
Guang CHEN ; Tao CHEN ; Sainan SHU ; Xiaojing WANG ; Ke MA ; Di WU ; Hongwu WANG ; Yan LIU ; Wei GUO ; Meifang HAN ; Jianxin SONG ; Tonglin LIU ; Shusheng LI ; Jianping ZHAO ; Yuancheng HUANG ; Yong XIONG ; Zuojiong GONG ; Qiaoxia TONG ; Jiazhi LIAO ; Feng FANG ; Xiaoping LUO ; Qin NING
Chinese Journal of Clinical Infectious Diseases 2023;16(1):26-32
Novel coronavirus Omicron variant infection can cause severe illness and even death in certain populations. Omicron variant infection may lead to systemic inflammatory response, coagulation disorder, multi-organ dysfunction and other pathophysiological changes, which are different from other Novel coronavirus variants to a certain extent, so therapeutic strategies should not be the same. The National Medical Center for Major Public Health Events invited experts in fields of infectious diseases, respiratory medicine, intensive care, pediatrics and fever clinic to develop this quick guideline based on the current best evidence and extensive clinical practices. This quick guideline aims to standardize the diagnosis and treatment of novel coronavirus Omicron infection, and to improve the disease management abilities of clinicians.
8.BGB-A445, a novel non-ligand-blocking agonistic anti-OX40 antibody, exhibits superior immune activation and antitumor effects in preclinical models.
Beibei JIANG ; Tong ZHANG ; Minjuan DENG ; Wei JIN ; Yuan HONG ; Xiaotong CHEN ; Xin CHEN ; Jing WANG ; Hongjia HOU ; Yajuan GAO ; Wenfeng GONG ; Xing WANG ; Haiying LI ; Xiaosui ZHOU ; Yingcai FENG ; Bo ZHANG ; Bin JIANG ; Xueping LU ; Lijie ZHANG ; Yang LI ; Weiwei SONG ; Hanzi SUN ; Zuobai WANG ; Xiaomin SONG ; Zhirong SHEN ; Xuesong LIU ; Kang LI ; Lai WANG ; Ye LIU
Frontiers of Medicine 2023;17(6):1170-1185
OX40 is a costimulatory receptor that is expressed primarily on activated CD4+, CD8+, and regulatory T cells. The ligation of OX40 to its sole ligand OX40L potentiates T cell expansion, differentiation, and activation and also promotes dendritic cells to mature to enhance their cytokine production. Therefore, the use of agonistic anti-OX40 antibodies for cancer immunotherapy has gained great interest. However, most of the agonistic anti-OX40 antibodies in the clinic are OX40L-competitive and show limited efficacy. Here, we discovered that BGB-A445, a non-ligand-competitive agonistic anti-OX40 antibody currently under clinical investigation, induced optimal T cell activation without impairing dendritic cell function. In addition, BGB-A445 dose-dependently and significantly depleted regulatory T cells in vitro and in vivo via antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. In the MC38 syngeneic model established in humanized OX40 knock-in mice, BGB-A445 demonstrated robust and dose-dependent antitumor efficacy, whereas the ligand-competitive anti-OX40 antibody showed antitumor efficacy characterized by a hook effect. Furthermore, BGB-A445 demonstrated a strong combination antitumor effect with an anti-PD-1 antibody. Taken together, our findings show that BGB-A445, which does not block OX40-OX40L interaction in contrast to clinical-stage anti-OX40 antibodies, shows superior immune-stimulating effects and antitumor efficacy and thus warrants further clinical investigation.
Mice
;
Animals
;
Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor/physiology*
;
Receptors, OX40
;
Membrane Glycoproteins
;
Ligands
;
Antibodies, Monoclonal/pharmacology*
;
Antineoplastic Agents/pharmacology*
9.Recompensation of liver cirrhosis: Current status and challenges
Gong FENG ; Juanjuan SONG ; Feng YE ; Yonghong MA ; Yilin REN ; Ziyi ZHANG ; Na HE ; Xueping LI ; Man MI
Journal of Clinical Hepatology 2023;39(10):2464-2469
Traditionally, the progression from compensated liver cirrhosis to decompensated liver cirrhosis has been considered an irreversible point in the natural history of the disease; however, with the suppression of underlying etiology, cure, and disease regression, this view is challenged by an increasing number of new evidence, and the idea of “recompensation of liver cirrhosis” is gradually being accepted. In recent years, scholars in China and globally have been exploring the specific definition of recompensation of liver cirrhosis and the clinical features of patients. By summarizing the recent studies on recompensation of liver cirrhosis in China and globally, integrating existing views, and analyzing related research evidence, this article points out the main challenges in the field of recompensation at this stage, including the lack of in-depth clinical and basic research, the need to define recompensation in the context of NAFLD, and related ethical issues, in order to provide new directions for future research in this field.
10.Bidirectional relationship between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and sarcopenia: New insights and perspectives
Gong FENG ; Yilin REN ; Yonghong MA ; Tianyue WU ; Jiayi ZHANG ; Xiaoni YAN ; Juanjuan SONG ; Xueping LI ; Man MI
Journal of Clinical Hepatology 2023;39(11):2682-2688
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a group of highly heterogeneous diseases closely associated with metabolic dysfunction. Sarcopenia is a syndrome caused by a continuous decline in muscle mass, strength, and function, and it is often accompanied by NAFLD. Insulin resistance is the main pathological mechanism for sarcopenia and NAFLD, and in addition, factors such as changes in proteins and branched-chain amino acid, hyperammonemia, intestinal flora, and endocrine dysfunction can also lead to sarcopenia and NAFLD. With the deepening of clinical research, many published prospective studies have confirmed the existence of a bidirectional and complex pathophysiological relationship between sarcopenia and NAFLD. This article reviews the bidirectional relationship between sarcopenia and NAFLD, discusses the common pathogenesis of sarcopenia and NAFLD, summarizes the challenges faced in this field, and proposes new directions for the research on the bidirectional relationship between NAFLD and sarcopenia.

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