ObjectiveTo conduct a comparative quality analysis of Inulae Flos， fuzz of Inulae Flos and calyx of Inulae Flos， elucidating the scientific connotation of the "removing calyx" process in the traditional processing of Inulae Flos. MethodsInulae Flos decoction pieces were collected， and the fuzz and calyx of Inulae Flos were prepared according to the experiences of old medicine workers. Subsequently， according to the methods under the "Inulae Flos" item in the 2025 edition of the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China， the appearance characteristics and thin-layer chromatography（TLC） identification of these samples were tested， and the moisture content， total ash content， extract content were also measured. The characteristic fingerprint patterns of Inulae Flos and fuzz of Inulae Flos were established by high-performance liquid chromatography（HPLC）， followed by similarity evaluation， principal component analysis（PCA）， and partial least squares-discriminant analysis（PLS-DA）. The contents of cryptochlorogenic acid， caffeic acid， 1，3-O-dicaffeoylqunic acid， 1，5-O-dicaffeoylqunic acid， and 1-O-acetyl britannilactone were determined to compare the quality differences of Inulae Flos， fuzz of Inulae Flos， and calyx of Inulae Flos. ResultsThe moisture content of Inulae Flos， fuzz of Inulae Flos， and calyx of Inulae Flos was all<10%. The determination results of total ash content were as follows：Calyx of Inulae Flos>Inulae Flos>fuzz of Inulae Flos， and the determination results of alcohol-soluble extract content were as follows：Fuzz of Inulae Flos>Inulae Flos>calyx of Inulae Flos. HPLC fingerprint patterns of Inulae Flos and fuzz of Inulae Flos were established， and 22 common peaks were identified. The similarity analysis and PCA showed that the overall quality of Inulae Flos and fuzz of Inulae Flos was similar， while the overall quality of calyx of Inulae Flos differed significantly from that of Inulae Flos and fuzz of Inulae Flos. PLS-DA results showed that Inulae Flos， fuzz of Inulae Flos， and calyx of Inulae Flos clustered into distinct groups， indicating significant differences among them. Cryptochlorogenic acid and caffeic acid had relatively high contents in calyx of Inulae Flos， the contents of 1，3-O-dicaffeoylqunic acid and 1，5-O-dicaffeoylqunic acid in Inulae Flos and fuzz of Inulae Flos were higher than those in calyx of Inulae Flos. The order of 1-O-acetyl britannilactone content was determined as follows：fuzz of Inulae Flos>Inulae Flos>calyx of Inulae Flos. ConclusionThe scientific nature of "Removing Calyx" process in the cleansing of Inulae Flos by old medicine workers is demonstrated by the resulting fuzz of Inulae Flos decoction pieces exhibiting enhanced cleanliness and higher content of the index component 1-O-acetyl britannilactone. This study provides a reference basis for further improving and enhancing the processing method and quality control standards of Inulae Flos.

Objective To explore the factors affecting the quality of psychological assistance hotline connections in Shaanxi Province, and to provide a basis for optimizing services. Methods A total of 149 calls with suicidal tendencies were included from January to March 2022, and data were collected by 31 trained assessors through standardized questionnaires (general information, suicide risk, emotional intensity, and wiring characteristics). Results The results showed that 56.38% of the callers were female, with age groups concentrated between ≤ 18 years old (29.53%) and 19-34 years old (43.62%). The call duration was mainly between 31 and 45 minutes (50.34%). Operators conducted a suicide risk assessment on the callers, with 38.9% having a comprehensive assessment, 38.9% having an incomplete assessment, and 22.1% having no assessment. The main mental disorders of the callers were depression (48.32%), anxiety (15.44%), and bipolar disorder (14.77%), with 25.50% having comorbidities of ≥ 2 disorders. Emotional scores were as follows: depression (4.11 ± 0.76), sadness (3.97 ± 1.03), and despair (3.78 ± 1.05). There were significant differences in depression, anger, despair, and sadness among the callers with different levels of danger (t=4.79, 3.35, 15.79, 4.24, all P<0.05). Women had higher levels of fear than men (t=3.10, P<0.01). The longer the call duration, the higher the level of despair (t=5.66, P<0.01). Multiple regression analysis showed that incomplete suicide risk assessment by operators (B=-2.36), general procedures for operators' connections (B=5.44), and technical factors (B=2.01) significantly affected the quality of psychological assistance hotlines (all P<0.05). Conclusion Callers with suicidal tendencies generally have serious mental and psychological problems and prominent negative emotions. Strengthening the suicide risk assessment ability of operators and standardizing processes and service attitudes are key to improving the quality of psychological assistance hotlines.

Objective To investigate the development, role, and regulatory mechanism of macrophage efferocytosis in the liver of hosts infected with Schistosoma japonicum. Methods The expression of efferocytosis-related gene like efferocytosis receptors, efferocytosis-related bridging molecules,“eat me” signal and “don’t eat me” signal was detected in the livers of patients and mice infected with S. japonicum in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Ten wild-type (WT) male mice (6 ~ 8 weeks old, weighing 20 ~ 25 g) were randomly divided into a Schistosoma japonicum infection (SJ) group and a normal control (NC) group, with 5 mice in each group. The efferocytosis of neutrophils and T cells by liver macrophages was detected in mice from SJ group and NC group using flow cytometry and immunofluorescence assay, respectively. The expression of efferocytosis-related Mer receptor tyrosine kinase (MerTK) and Axl receptor tyrosine kinase (Axl) proteins was determined in mouse liver tissues using Western blotting assay, and the proportion of MerTK⁺ macrophages and the average fluorescence intensity of macrophage MerTK were detected in mouse livers using flow cytometry. Changes in liver granulomas and fibrosis were observed in mice infected with S. japonicum following injection of efferocytosis inhibitors, and S. japonicum-infected mice without injection of efferocytosis inhibitors served as controls. Bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) were isolated from macrophage scavenger receptor class A (SR-A) conditional knockout (CKO) and wild-type (WT) mice, and changes in apoptotic neutrophils were detected in SR-A CKO mouse macrophages in vitro using flow cytometry. Then, BMDMs was divided into the WT mono-culture group, the WT and apoptotic neutrophils co-culture group, the SR-A CKO mono-culture group, and the SR-A CKO and neutrophils co-culture group, and the expression of MerTK and Axl was quantified in vitro using Western blotting and real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) assays during neutrophil efferocytosis. The efferocytosis of neutrophils and T cells by mouse liver macrophages was detected in the SR-A CKO SJ group and the WT SJ group using flow cytometry and immunofluorescence assay, and the expression of MerTK and Axl proteins was determined in mouse liver tissues in both groups using Western blotting. In addition, the proportion of MerTK⁺ macrophages and the average fluorescence intensity of macrophage MerTK were detected in mouse livers in both groups using flow cytometry. Results Data from the GEO database showed that the expression of some efferocytosis receptors and efferocytosis-related bridging molecules, and “eat me” and “don’t eat me” signals all appeared a tendency towards a rise in livers of patients and mice in the SJ group relative to the NC group, suggesting that S. japonicum infection-induced liver diseases may be associated with efferocytosis. Flow cytometry detected higher proportions of Ly6G⁺ cells [(13.13 ± 0.45)% vs. (6.48 ± 0.25)%; t = 22.30, P < 0.05] and CD3⁺ cells [(7.60 ± 0.33)% vs. (3.30 ± 0.42)%; t = 13.98, P < 0.05] in mouse liver macrophages in the SJ group than in the NJ group, and the expression of MerTK protein [(2.30 ± 0.14) vs. (1.14 ± 0.46); t = 4.19, P < 0.05], the mean fluorescence intensity of macrophages [(160.67 ± 15.28) vs. (94.50 ± 19.61); t = 4.81, P < 0.05], and the proportion of MerTK⁺ macrophages [(20.78 ± 4.17)% vs. (6.85 ± 0.39)%; t = 6.57, P < 0.05] were significantly higher in mouse liver tissues in the SJ group than in the NC group. The Axl expression was lower in mouse liver tissues in the SJ group than in the NC group [(1.25 ± 0.08) vs. (1.93 ± 0.37); t = 2.79, P < 0.05], and the area of granulomas around single eggs [(9.18 ± 1.81) × 10⁴μm² vs. (5.24 ± 1.35) × 10⁴ μm²; t = 3.03, P < 0.05] and proportion of collagen fibers [(25.27 ± 3.99)% vs. (15.14 ± 4.02)%; t = 3.10, P < 0.05] were significantly greater in livers of S. japonicum-infected mice with injection of efferocytosis inhibitors than in mice without injection of efferocytosis inhibitors. The in vitro efferocytosis efficiency of BMDMs [(32.83 ± 3.17)% vs. (45.43 ± 2.34)%; t = 5.54, P < 0.05], and the proportions of Ly6G⁺ [(9.37 ± 0.48)% vs. (13.13 ± 0.72)%; t = 7.50, P < 0.05] and CD3⁺ cells [(4.95 ± 0.17)% vs. (7.64 ± 0.50)%; t = 8.87, P < 0.05] in liver macrophages post-infection with S. japonicum were significantly lower in SR-A CKO mice than in WT mice, and the expression of MerTK protein [(0.65 ± 0.25) vs. (1.96 ± 0.69); t = 3.10, P < 0.05], the average fluorescence intensity of macrophages [(138.33 ± 8.39) vs. (160.67 ± 15.28); t = 3.03, P < 0.05] and the proportion of MerTK⁺ macrophages [(13.17 ± 5.01)% vs. (22.63 ± 2.06)%; t = 3.56, P < 0.05] were significantly lower in mouse liver tissues in the SR-A CKO SJ group than in the WT group. Western blotting detected no significant difference in the Axl protein expression in mouse liver tissues between the SR-A CKO SJ group and the WT SJ group [(0.48 ± 0.07) vs. (0.68 ± 0.30); t = 1.09, P > 0.05]. There were significant differences in the relative MerTK mRNA and protein expression during efferocytosis of BMDMs among the WT monoculture group, the WT and apoptotic neutrophils co-culture group, the SR-A CKO mono-culture group, and the SR-A CKO and neutrophils co-culture group (F = 9.41 and 40.68, both P values < 0.05). In addition, there was a significant difference in the relative Axl mRNA expression during efferocytosis of BMDMs among the four groups (F = 13.62, P < 0.05); however, no significant difference was seen in the relative Axl protein expression (F = 1.27, P > 0.05). Conclusions Efferocytosis of liver macrophages is seen in mice infected with S. japonicum and inhibits liver fibrosis. SR-A may up-regulate the efficiency of macrophage efferocytosis through regulating the expression of efferocytosis receptors.

Objective To investigate the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-oxidase (NOX) 2 and NOX4 genes and susceptibility to noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). Methods A total of 439 noise-exposed workers were recruited using a convenience sampling method. Based on pure-tone air conduction hearing threshold tests, participants were categorized into normal hearing, mild hearing loss, and moderate hearing loss groups, with 147, 154, 138 individuals, respectively. Peripheral venous blood samples of the workers were collected for DNA extraction. Genotyping of nine SNPs loci in NOX2 and NOX4 genes was performed using multiplex polymerase chain reaction, single-base extension, and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Results A total of seven of the nine SNPs loci conformed to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium among the workers in the normal hearing group (all P>0.05). There was no significant difference in the genotype distribution or allele frequencies for these seven SNPs loci among workers in these three groups (all P>0.05). Ordinal logistic regression analysis showed that, after adjusting for confounders including age, sex, cumulative noise exposure, smoking, alcohol consumption, and earplug use, individuals carrying the GG genotype at rs200522762 had a lower risk of NIHL compared with those carrying the TT genotype under the codominant model (P<0.05). In the recessive model, individuals carrying the GG genotype at the rs200522762 locus had a lower risk than those carrying the GT+TT genotypes (P<0.05). Polymorphisms at the other six SNPs loci were not associated with NIHL risk (all P>0.05). Conclusion The NOX4 rs200522762 polymorphism is associated with susceptibility to NIHL.

Background: This study was performed to characterize the incidence, costs, and risk factors associated with renal and cardiovascular adverse outcomes following primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Methods: Patients with STEMI who underwent pPCI using iso-osmolar contrast were enrolled at 39 centers. The incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) and major adverse renal and cardiovascular events (MARCE) was analyzed, as well as inpatient costs. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors. Results: Among 2,293 patients, the incidence of AKI and MARCE within 72 hours post-pPCI was 4.14% (n = 95) and 4.40% (n = 101), respectively. AKI and/or MARCE were associated with systolic blood pressure (AKI: odds ratio [OR], 1.009; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.000–1.018), hypertension (AKI: OR, 1.815; 95% CI, 1.133–2.906; MARCE: OR, 1.760;95% CI, 1.118–2.769), anterior wall infarction (AKI: OR, 1.895; 95% CI, 1.196–3.004; MARCE:OR, 1.939; 95% CI, 1.240–3.032), Killip class (AKI: OR, 1.465; 95% CI, 1.117–1.922; MARCE:OR, 1.467; 95% CI, 1.131–1.903), and serum creatinine (SCr; MARCE: OR, 1.006; 95% CI, 1.000–1.012). Hospitalization costs for patients with STEMI who developed AKI or MARCE were significantly higher than for those without AKI (9,595 ± 5,795 vs. 8,279 ± 3,872 USD, P = 0.003) or without MARCE (9,890 ± 5,616 vs. 8,255 ± 3,859 USD, P < 0.001). Conclusions In patients with STEMI undergoing pPCI with iso-osmolar contrast, the incidence of AKI and MARCE was associated with higher hospitalization costs. Systolic blood pressure, hypertension, anterior wall infarction, Killip class, and SCr were identified as risk factors for these outcomes.

Large language models (LLMs) offer a modern approach to help inherit traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). This article discussed the progress of LLM applications in TCM and proposed future development directions by reviewing the existing research. We have found that LLMs and related technologies have excellent applications and performance in the management of TCM knowledge and data. They are often applied in information extraction, knowledge graph construction, and data standardization processing. However, data quality and security issues need to be given more attention. In clinical diagnosis and treatment, LLMs can imitate the thinking of TCM by disassembling and reconstructing its diagnostic process and can achieve functions such as prescription recommendation and question and answer (Q&A). However, this approach involves LLMs making inferences and predictions based on existing corpora and thus may not flexibly handle complex environments and tasks. Moreover, the current evaluation criteria for TCM LLMs can be summarized into 3 categories: general evaluation metrics, technical framework evaluation, and evaluation criteria for the characteristics of TCM (such as consistency rates of prescriptions and diagnostic suggestions). However, the lack of a unified and standardized evaluation system hinders the clinical application of TCM LLMs. The future progress of TCM LLMs should focus on the 3 aforementioned critical aspects to achieve technological breakthroughs. In addition, we are promoting the research on vertical TCM LLMs and application terminals. We believe this will bring new ideas to the research on TCM LLMs.

Objective To explore the value and operational effectiveness of establishing a donor care unit (DCU). Methods A single-center retrospective cohort study design was adopted. The DCU of the Transplant Center of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University was officially put into use on August 1, 2023. As of April 30, 2024, 200 donors were divided into the DCU group (n=107) and the non-DCU group (n=93) based on the different donor maintenance sites. Baseline data of donors, organ maintenance management indicators, organ output and utilization were collected and analyzed; simultaneously, the perioperative effects and 1-year postoperative prognosis of 314 recipients undergoing kidney transplantation at the Transplant Medicine Institute of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University were tracked. Results Compared with the non-DCU group, the usage rate of vasoactive drugs in the DCU group was lower, the completeness rate of pathogen culture and the proportion of daytime organ acquisition surgeries were higher, the cold ischemia time of the liver was shorter, the professional maintenance time of donors was longer, but the total hospitalization cost of donors was higher (all P<0.05). The 24-hour urine volume of donors in the DCU group increased, the level of creatine kinase decreased, and electrolyte indicators such as procalcitonin, lactate, blood sodium and blood chloride improved (all P<0.05). The cardiac output rate of donors in the DCU group was higher than that of the non-DCU group (P<0.05). The perioperative indicators, 1-year postoperative survival rates and graft survival rates of kidney transplant recipients in both groups were similar, but the serum creatinine level of recipients in the DCU group was lower after 1 year (P<0.05). Conclusions The management and operation efficiency of the DCU are good. By monitoring and regulating the stable physiological state of donors, the quality of organs is guaranteed, thereby improving cardiac output rate and short-term function of the transplanted kidney. The total hospitalization cost of donors is higher, and its comprehensive benefits need to be studied. However, it provides preliminary evidence-based basis for the clinical application of the DCU.

Objective:To explore the cardioprotective effects of icariin (ICA) against radiation-induced cardiac disease (RICD) in C57BL/6 mice.Methods:A total of 48 female C57BL/6J mice aged 6-8 weeks were randomly divided into three groups: the control group (CON), the irradiation group (IR), and the irradiation combined with icariin group (IR+ ICA), with 16 mice in each group. The IR and IR+ ICA groups received a single cardiac irradiation at a dose of 30 Gy, while the CON group received no radiation treatment. The IR+ ICA group was treated with ICA (70 mg·kg -1·d -1) two weeks before irradiation until the end of the experiment through intragastric administration. In contrast, the CON and IR groups were treated with an equal volume of vehicle solution (0.5% sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, NaCMC) via intragastric administration. The mice′s mental status, food intake, body weight, and survival rates were monitored during the experiment. At two weeks post-irradiation, the venous blood of the mice was collected and serum was separated for the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) of creatine kinase MB isoenzyme (CK-MB) and cardiac troponin T (cTnT/TNNT2). At 12 weeks post-irradiation, the cardiac function of the mice was assessed using echocardiography. After the mice were euthanized under anesthesia, the histopathological changes and fibrosis degree of their myocardial tissues were assessed using hematoxylin and eosin (HE) and Masson′s trichrome staining, followed by the calculation of collagen volume fraction (CVF). The differential gene expression of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the cardiac tissues of the mice was detected using real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Apoptosis-related proteins and proteins associated with the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/AKT) pathway were determined using Western blotting. The survival curves of the mice were plotted using Kaplan-Meier, and the survival differences of the mice among various groups were compared using the log-rank test. Results:After irradiation, the mice in the IR group showed lethargy, as well as decreased food intake and activity, while these symptoms in the IR+ ICA group were significantly alleviated. At two weeks post-irradiation, the CK-MB and cTnT levels of the IR group were significantly elevated compared with the CON group ( t = 5.28, 8.89, P < 0.01). At 12 weeks post-irradiation, the mice in the IR group exhibited significantly decreased body weight ( t = 2.47, P < 0.05) and decreased survival rates ( HR = 8.25, 95% CI: 1.157-58.770, P < 0.05) compared with the CON group. Echocardiography revealed that the IR group featured decreased left ventricular ejection fraction (EF), decreased fractional shortening (FS), and increased left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVDD) compared with the CON group ( t = 7.02, 4.45, P < 0.05). Histopathological examination revealed that the IR group suffered from cardiomyocyte edema, disordered arrangement, and increased fibrosis, with an elevated CVF. The IR group exhibited significantly upregulated gene expression of BNP, TGF-β, and IL-6 in cardiac tissues compared with the CON group ( t = 4.23, 6.39, 4.61, P < 0.05). After-irradiation, the IR group exhibited upregulated apoptosis-related proteins Cleaved Caspase-3 and Bax ( t = 6.29, 9.54, P < 0.05), decreased Bcl-2 expression ( t = 8.20, P < 0.001), and decreased phosphorylation levels of PI3K and Akt ( t = 6.47, 3.42, P < 0.001). The symptoms of the mice were partially ameliorated after treatment with ICA. Specifically, the mice in the IR+ ICA group exhibited higher body weight ( t = 5.13, P < 0.001) and significantly higher survival rates ( HR = 0.121, 95% CI: 0.017-0.864, P < 0.05) than the IR group. Compared to the IR group, the IR+ ICA group showed elevated cardiac function indicators EF and FS( t = 3.23, 3.05, P < 0.05), and reduced LVDD ( t = 3.02, P < 0.05). The histopathological analysis revealed mitigated edema and disordered arrangement of cardiomyocytes in the IR+ ICA group. Furthermore, the IR+ ICA group exhibited significantly lower BNP, TGF-β, and IL-6 expression levels than the IR group ( t = 2.83, 4.15, 2.96, P < 0.05). The expression of apoptosis-related proteins Cleaved Caspase-3 and Bax was lower ( t = 3.23, 3.24, P < 0.05), Bcl-2 expression was higher ( t = 5.92, P < 0.001), and restored phosphorylation levels of PI3K and Akt ( t = 2.89, 8.35, P < 0.001). Conclusions:Icariin has protective effects against the RICD. It alleviates cardiomyocyte apoptosis possibly by upregulating the phosphorylation levels of PI3K and Akt.

Objective:To compare the efficacy and safety of irradiation-incorporated and chemotherapy only-based myeloablative conditioning regimens in haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (haplo-HSCT) for patients with high-risk myeloid malignancies.Methods:This study retrospectively collected clinical data from 63 high-risk acute myeloid leukemia/myelodysplastic syndrome (AML/MDS) patients who underwent haplo-HSCT at the Fifth Medical Center of the Chinese PLA General Hospital from January 2015 to December 2019. These patients were classified into the irradiation ( n = 17) and chemotherapy ( n = 46) groups based on different conditioning regimens. The differences between the two groups were compared in terms of hematopoietic reconstitution, cumulative incidence of acute/chronic graft-versus-host diseases (aGVHD and cGVHD), non-relapse mortality (NRM), relapse rate (RR), overall survival (OS), and disease-free survival (DFS), followed by the analysis of prognostic factors. Results:The median follow-up time for the irradiation and chemotherapy groups was 78.5 and 72.3 months, respectively. The median time for neutrophil engraftment was 14.0 days in the irradiation group and 14.5 d in the chemotherapy group, and for platelet engraftment was 15.0 and 13.0 d, respectively. As a result, the two groups showed no statistically significant differences in hematopoietic reconstitution ( P > 0.05). The cumulative incidence of aGVHD and cGVHD was higher in the irradiation group compared to the chemotherapy group, yet showing no statistically significant differences ( P > 0.05). Specifically, the cumulative incidence of grade Ⅱ-Ⅳ aGVHD within 100 d was 29.4% and 21.7% for the irradiation and chemotherapy groups, respectively. The cumulative incidence of grade Ⅲ-Ⅳ aGVHD was 23.5% and 13.0%, respectively. The cumulative incidence of severe cGVHD within five years was 11.8% in the irradiation group and 8.7% in the chemotherapy group. In terms of long-term survival, the cumulative 5\|year RR and NRM were 20.2% and 28.4% in the irradiation group, 5.9% and 23.9% in the chemotherapy group, respectively, showing no statistically significant differences ( P > 0.05). The 5-year DFS and OS rates were 73.9% and 47.7% in the irradiation group, and 81.1% and 54.4% in the chemotherapy group, respectively, without statistically significant differences ( P > 0.05). Notably, the irradiation group manifested more favorable DFS and OS survival curves compared to the chemotherapy group. The survival curves indicate that the irradiation-incorporated regimen exhibited better trends in OS, DFS, and cGVHD-free relapse-free survival (GRFS). However, multivariate analysis did not reveal that irradiation conditioning is an independent prognostic factor affecting survival [ HR = 0.532 (0.163-1.735), 0.370 (0.091-1.516), 0.683 (0.248-1.882), P > 0.05]. Conclusions:In haplo-HSCT for high-risk myeloid malignancies, the irradiation-incorporated conditioning regimen demonstrates lower RR and NRM, higher DFS and OS, and potentially superior survival outcomes compared to the chemotherapy only-based regimen. Therefore, the irradiation-incorporated conditioning regimen may be preferentially considered in haplo-HSCT.

Objective:To evaluate the clinical equivalence between a domestic calcipotriol/betamethasone dipropionate ointment and the originator product in the treatment of stable plaque psoriasis.Methods:A multicenter, randomized, double-blind, three-arm, parallel-group, active- and placebo-controlled study was conducted, and 449 patients aged 18 - 65 years with stable plaque psoriasis were enrolled from 25 hospitals (such as the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University). Eligible patients had a baseline physician's global assessment (PGA) score of ≥ 3 points, baseline body surface area (BSA) involvement of 5% - 30%, and a target lesion psoriasis area and severity index (TL-PASI) for plaque elevation of ≥ 3 points. Participants were randomly assigned in a 2:2:1 ratio to the test group ( n = 179), reference group ( n = 180), and placebo group ( n = 90), and applied the domestic calcipotriol/betamethasone dipropionate ointment, originator product, and ointment base respectively, once daily in the evening for 4 weeks. Efficacy and safety were assessed at weeks 1, 2, and 4. The primary efficacy endpoints were the treatment success rates and clinical success rates in each group at week 4. The per-protocol set (PPS) was used for the primary efficacy analysis, and the intention-to-treat (ITT) set for supplementary efficacy analysis. Equivalence between the test and reference preparations was tested using the Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel method adjusted for randomization strata. Superiority of the test and reference preparations over the placebo was also tested. Measurement data were compared among the 3 groups using analysis of variance or non-parametric tests, while treatment success rates, clinical success rates, and incidence rates of adverse reactions were compared using the chi-square test. Results:The ITT, PPS, and safety sets included 447, 420, and 448 patients, respectively. In the ITT set, patients were aged 43.6 ± 12.8 years, including 320 (71.6%) males and 127 (28.4%) females, and the disease duration was 11.21 ± 9.05 years; 316 (70.7%) had a PGA score of 3 points and 131 (29.3%) had a PGA score of 4 - 5 points. No significant differences in the baseline characteristics (including age, sex, disease duration and disease severity) were observed among the 3 groups (all P > 0.05). Based on the PPS analysis, the treatment success rates were 57.9% (99/171) in the test group, 50.3% (86/171) in the reference group, and 7.7% (6/78) in the placebo group, and the clinical success rates were 57.9% (99/171), 50.3% (86/171), and 10.3% (8/78), respectively; both the test and reference groups were superior to the placebo group in both treatment and clinical success rates (all P < 0.001) ; the rate differences for treatment success (90% confidence interval [ CI]: -1.3% - 16.4%) and clinical success (90% CI: -1.3% - 16.3%) between the test and reference groups were entirely within the pre-defined equivalence margin (-20% - 20%). Subgroup analyses by baseline PGA scores: for patients with a baseline PGA score of 3 points, the treatment success rates in the test, reference, and placebo groups were 60.8% (73/120), 52.1% (62/119), and 11.1% (6/54), respectively, and the corresponding clinical success rates were 61.7% (74/120), 53.8% (64/119), and 13% (7/54), respectively; the test and reference groups did not differ significantly in treatment or clinical success rates (both P > 0.05), but both showed higher success rates than the placebo group (all P < 0.001) ; the results of statistical comparisons among the 3 groups in patients with a baseline PGA score of 4 - 5 points were consistent with those observed in patients with a baseline PGA score of 3 points. The percentage reductions in PGA and TL-PASI scores from baseline to weeks 1, 2, and 4 showed significant differences among the 3 groups, which were significantly higher in the test and reference groups than in the placebo group (all P < 0.001), but did not differ between the test and reference groups (all P > 0.05). The primary adverse reactions were local skin reactions, such as pruritus, pain, and erythema. The incidence rates of adverse reactions were 8.9% (16/179) in the test group, 7.3% (13/179) in the reference group, and 7.8% (7/90) in the placebo group, with no significant difference among the 3 groups ( P > 0.05) . Conclusions:The domestic calcipotriol/betamethasone dipropionate ointment demonstrated clinical equivalence to the originator product in the treatment of stable plaque psoriasis, and the two agents exhibited comparable efficacy for patients with varying degrees of disease severity, and were comparable in the speed and degree of clinical improvement, with similar favorable safety profiles.