ObjectiveThe essence of syndrome manifestation recognition in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is to infer the body’s latent pathogenesis state from clinical observational information, rather than to perform simple label matching. However, previous studies have largely modeled this task as syndrome pattern classification within a fixed label space, which does not adequately reflect the cognition process of TCM syndrome differentiation centered on pathogenesis reasoning, and is also insufficient to capture the openness, semantic variability, and cross-disease reusability of syndrome manifestation expression. This study aimed to investigate whether introducing pathogenesis reasoning chain-of-thought (PR-CoT) supervision into large language models (LLMs) could improve the quality and cognitive consistency of syndrome manifestation recognition and support cross-disease transfer. MethodsSyndrome manifestation recognition was formulated as a conditional generation task under the framework of clinical observational information (X)→pathogenesis structure (Z)→syndrome pattern output (Y), where Z serves as an explicit intermediate structural variable linking the clinical evidence and syndrome judgment. Within this framework, a PR-CoT-supervised dataset for syndrome manifestation recognition was constructed based on medical case records of spleen-stomach disorders. After preprocessing, information extraction, manual proofreading, and data cleaning, the dataset comprised 4 800 training cases, 400 development cases, and 400 test cases. Each sample was annotated with a structured PR-CoT consisting of three progressive levels: clinical information summarization, comprehensive pathogenesis analysis, and syndrome pattern output. Supervised fine-tuning was conducted on open-source LLMs, with an end-to-end model serving as the baseline. Qwen3-32B was used as the primary experimental model, and Qwen3-14B as the scale comparison model. A progressive multidimensional evaluation framework was further established, comprising a structural parsing level, a semantic similarity level, and an expert blind review level. At the structural parsing level, syndrome pattern expressions were decomposed into structural elements and evaluated using Precision, Recall, F1 score, and Jaccard similarity. At the semantic similarity level, independent LLMs scored the theoretical proximity between predicted and reference syndrome patterns. At the expert blind review level, three TCM experts independently evaluated model outputs on two dimensions: syndrome differentiation consistency and terminology standardization of syndrome patterns. In addition, zero-shot cross-disease transfer evaluation was conducted on gynecological and heart-system disorder test sets. ResultsAt the structural parsing level, PR-CoT supervision did not lead to a stable improvement in the element-wise overlap of syndrome pattern structural components. Compared with the corresponding baselines, neither Qwen3-32B nor Qwen3-14B showed consistent advantages in structural matching metrics after the introduction of PR-CoT supervision. In contrast, at the semantic similarity level, PR-CoT supervision produced stable positive gains across different model scales and evaluation systems. The average semantic score of Qwen3-32B increased from 6.425 8 in the baseline model to 6.585 0 after PR-CoT supervision, and that of Qwen3-14B increased from 5.870 0 to 5.964 2. At the expert blind review level, the overall score of Qwen3-32B (PR-CoT) was 7.026 0±0.107 7, higher than 6.416 3±0.288 9 for its baseline. In zero-shot cross-disease testing, the PR-CoT model still showed advantages in semantic evaluation and expert evaluation on both gynecological and heart-system disorder test sets, indicating a certain degree of transferability. ConclusionThe benefits of PR-CoT supervision are mainly reflected in TCM semantic consistency and clinical plausibility, rather than in improved hard matching of structural elements. These findings support understanding syndrome manifestation recognition as a process of generating and expressing latent pathogenesis structures, rather than as a classification task within a traditional fixed label space. By introducing pathogenesis reasoning as an explicit intermediate structure into the modeling process and combining it with a progressive multidimensional evaluation framework, this study provides a methodological pathway for intelligent TCM syndrome differentiation that integrates theoretical alignment, interpretability, and multi-level evaluation.

ObjectiveThe essence of syndrome manifestation recognition in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is to infer the body’s latent pathogenesis state from clinical observational information, rather than to perform simple label matching. However, previous studies have largely modeled this task as syndrome pattern classification within a fixed label space, which does not adequately reflect the cognition process of TCM syndrome differentiation centered on pathogenesis reasoning, and is also insufficient to capture the openness, semantic variability, and cross-disease reusability of syndrome manifestation expression. This study aimed to investigate whether introducing pathogenesis reasoning chain-of-thought (PR-CoT) supervision into large language models (LLMs) could improve the quality and cognitive consistency of syndrome manifestation recognition and support cross-disease transfer. MethodsSyndrome manifestation recognition was formulated as a conditional generation task under the framework of clinical observational information (X)→pathogenesis structure (Z)→syndrome pattern output (Y), where Z serves as an explicit intermediate structural variable linking the clinical evidence and syndrome judgment. Within this framework, a PR-CoT-supervised dataset for syndrome manifestation recognition was constructed based on medical case records of spleen-stomach disorders. After preprocessing, information extraction, manual proofreading, and data cleaning, the dataset comprised 4 800 training cases, 400 development cases, and 400 test cases. Each sample was annotated with a structured PR-CoT consisting of three progressive levels: clinical information summarization, comprehensive pathogenesis analysis, and syndrome pattern output. Supervised fine-tuning was conducted on open-source LLMs, with an end-to-end model serving as the baseline. Qwen3-32B was used as the primary experimental model, and Qwen3-14B as the scale comparison model. A progressive multidimensional evaluation framework was further established, comprising a structural parsing level, a semantic similarity level, and an expert blind review level. At the structural parsing level, syndrome pattern expressions were decomposed into structural elements and evaluated using Precision, Recall, F1 score, and Jaccard similarity. At the semantic similarity level, independent LLMs scored the theoretical proximity between predicted and reference syndrome patterns. At the expert blind review level, three TCM experts independently evaluated model outputs on two dimensions: syndrome differentiation consistency and terminology standardization of syndrome patterns. In addition, zero-shot cross-disease transfer evaluation was conducted on gynecological and heart-system disorder test sets. ResultsAt the structural parsing level, PR-CoT supervision did not lead to a stable improvement in the element-wise overlap of syndrome pattern structural components. Compared with the corresponding baselines, neither Qwen3-32B nor Qwen3-14B showed consistent advantages in structural matching metrics after the introduction of PR-CoT supervision. In contrast, at the semantic similarity level, PR-CoT supervision produced stable positive gains across different model scales and evaluation systems. The average semantic score of Qwen3-32B increased from 6.425 8 in the baseline model to 6.585 0 after PR-CoT supervision, and that of Qwen3-14B increased from 5.870 0 to 5.964 2. At the expert blind review level, the overall score of Qwen3-32B (PR-CoT) was 7.026 0±0.107 7, higher than 6.416 3±0.288 9 for its baseline. In zero-shot cross-disease testing, the PR-CoT model still showed advantages in semantic evaluation and expert evaluation on both gynecological and heart-system disorder test sets, indicating a certain degree of transferability. ConclusionThe benefits of PR-CoT supervision are mainly reflected in TCM semantic consistency and clinical plausibility, rather than in improved hard matching of structural elements. These findings support understanding syndrome manifestation recognition as a process of generating and expressing latent pathogenesis structures, rather than as a classification task within a traditional fixed label space. By introducing pathogenesis reasoning as an explicit intermediate structure into the modeling process and combining it with a progressive multidimensional evaluation framework, this study provides a methodological pathway for intelligent TCM syndrome differentiation that integrates theoretical alignment, interpretability, and multi-level evaluation.

ObjectiveTo explore the effect of oral sodium butyrate on skeletal muscle atrophy in CT26 tumor mice through the gut microbiota-skeletal muscle axis and its potential mechanism. MethodsSixty SPF BALB/c male mice aged 8 weeks were randomly divided into a normal control group (NC, n=18) and a ABX-depleted group (ABX, n=42). The ABX mice were pretreated with a quadruple antibiotic cocktail via oral gavage (0.2 ml per administration, once daily, 6 d per week, for 2 weeks), whereas NC received an equal volume of sterile water. The quadruple antibiotic cocktail consisted of metronidazole (1 g/L), vancomycin (0.5 g/L), ampicillin (1 g/L), and gentamicin (1 g/L). Following successful pretreatment, six mice from each group were randomly selected for gut microbiota sequencing analysis and designated as the Abx group and the NC0 group, respectively. Theremaining mice in ABX were subcutaneously inoculated in the dorsum with 0.2 ml of CT26 cell suspension (at a cell density of 1×10⁷/ml). Then these mice were randomly allocated into three subgroups: a control tumor bearing model group (0_NaB, n=12), a tumor-bearing model group receiving low-dose oral sodium butyrate (L_NaB, n=12), a tumor-bearing model group receiving high-dose oral sodium butyrate (H_NaB, n=12). And mice in NC were inoculated at the same site with 0.2 ml of normal saline. The administration dose for L_NaB was 0.3 g/(kg·d), that for H_NaB was 0.5 g/(kg·d), while NC and 0_NaB were given the same volume of normal saline (0.2ml per time, once daily, 6 d per week, for 4 weeks). The general condition of mice was monitored, and forelimb grip strength gastrocnemius muscle mass and its muscle fiber cross-sectional area were measured for each group. The structural changes in gut microbiota were assessed by 16S rRNA sequencing of cecal contents. Pathological alterations in the intestinal wall were examined via HE staining. Serum and gastrocnemius muscle levels of TNF‑α, IL-6, IL-1β, and LPS were quantified using ELISA. The protein expression of ZO-1 and occludin in the small intestine, as well as proteins associated with the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway in the gastrocnemius muscle, were detected by Western blot analysis. Results(1) The alpha-diversity in Abx was significantly lower than that in NC0 (P<0.01), a significant decrease of the mass and muscle fiber cross-sectional area of the gastrocnemius (P<0.01), with the majority of gut microbiota being effectively depleted. (2) Compared with NC, the subcutaneous tumors of mice in 0_NaB were prominent, a significant increase of the mass and muscle fiber cross-sectional area of the gastrocnemius, accompanied by a significant decrease in body weight at the end of the 3th and 4th week (P<0.05), and a significant weakening of the forelimb grasping strength at the 5th and 6th week (P<0.01). Compared with 0_NaB, the tumor mass of mice in L_NaB and H_NaB showed a significant decreasing trend, and the grip strength of the forelimbs significantly increased at the 5th and 6th week (P<0.05, P<0.01). (3) Compared with 0_NaB, the Shannon and Observed species indices in α diversity of L_NaB and H_NaB were significantly increased (P<0.05). At the genus level, compared with 0_NaB, L_NaB exhibited a significant decrease in the relative abundance of Parasutterella (P< 0.01), while H_NaB showed significant reductions in the relative abundances of both Escherichia-Shigella and Parasutterella (P < 0.01). (4) Compared with 0_NaB, the small intestinal tissue structure in L_NaB and H_NaB was more intact, the infiltration of inflammatory cells was significantly reduced, and the capillaries were slightly dilated. The expression levels of ZO-1 and occludin proteins in L_NaB were significantly increased (P<0.01). (5) The LPS concentration in the gastrocnemius muscle and the protein expression levels of TLR4, MyD88, p-IκBα, and p-NF‑κB p65 in L_NaB and H_NaB were significantly lower than those in 0_NaB (P<0.05). The serum TNF‑α concentration in H_NaB and TNF-α concentration in the gastrocnemius muscle of the L_NaB and H_NaB were significantly lower than those in 0_NaB (P<0.05, P<0.01, P<0.01). ConclusionOral administration of NaB can improve gut microbiota α diversity, adjusting its composition, improving intestinal mucosal barrier function, reducing the LPS-induced pro-inflammatory response, and delaying skeletal muscle atrophy. The underlying mechanism may involve down regulation of TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling in skeletal muscle.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease with worldwide prevalence,primarily characterized by epidermal hyperplasia,abnormal keratinization,and immune cell infiltration,with a significant negative impact on patients' quality of life and mental well-being.The onset of psoriasis is closely associated with genetic susceptibility,immune dysregulation,and environmental factors.Despite research progress into the pathogenesis of psoriasis,existing treatment method still face problems including limited efficacy and obvious side effects.There is thus an urgent need for an in-depth analysis of its pathological network and the development of novel interventional strategies.The imiquimod-induced psoriasis animal model has accordingly become a crucial tool for studying psoriasis owing to its high reproducibility and excellent pathological simulation.This review systematically summarizes the core mechanism of action of the imiquimod-induced psoriasis model,expounds on the molecular basis of its action via pathways such as the cascade reaction of the core immune-inflammatory axis,the multi-regulatory network of downstream synergistic mechanisms,and the interaction between host and environmental factors.Research based on this model has successfully verified the therapeutic effects of various targeted therapies and natural products on psoriasis,demonstrating its important application value in therapeutic interventional research.We also discuss the limitations of the imiquimod-induced psoriasis model,and indicate future research directions,with the aim of providing references for further in-depth research and the treatment of psoriasis.

Objective To analyze the characteristics of facial and tongue chromaticity parameters in patients with gastrointestinal tumors by setting the inspection image characteristics of patients with gastrointestinal tumors as the main research content;To establish an auxiliary diagnostic model for gastrointestinal tumors.Methods One-way ANOVA,t-test,Mann-whitney U test,canonical correlation analysis and Spearman statistical methods were used to analyze the characteristics of inspection image indexes and correlation of tumor markers of the 391 cases in the control group and 359 patients with gastrointestinal tumors.Machine learning methods such as SVM,Random Forest,KNN,Naive Bayes,XG Boost and Ada Boost were used to establish an auxiliary diagnostic model for gastrointestinal tumors.Results In terms of facial indicators,there were differences in F-R,F-G and F-B indicators among the control group,early-stage gastrointestinal cancer patients,and mid-to late-stage gastrointestinal cancer patients,in the comparison of tongue features among,TC-L,TB-L and TB-a of the control group,patients with early gastrointestinal tumors,and patients with intermediate and advanced gastrointestinal tumors showed a gradual downward trend;the AUC of the auxiliary diagnosis model of gastrointestinal tumor disease based on the chromaticity parameters of face tongue image constructed by Ada Boost algorithm was 0.930.Conclusion The auxiliary diagnostic model of gastrointestinal diseases constructed by facial and tongue images has good diagnostic effect,which can provide objective data support for in-depth exploration of the complex relationship between diagnosis and disease.

Objectives:To analyze the clinical characteristics of upper cervical vertebrae with dumbbell schwannoma,and to explore its clinical symptoms,imaging features,and treatment plans.Methods:A retro-spective analysis was performed on 14 patients with upper cervical intra-and extraspinal dumbbell-shaped schwannoma admitted to the Spinal Surgery Department of Southern Theater General Hospital from January 2022 to June 2024,including 9 males and 5 females,aged 43.64±11.96 years(25-61 years).According to the location,size,scope of the tumor,and relationship with the surrounding important tissue structure in upper cervical spine,the relevant clinical treatment data were analyzed and the surgical treatment plan was dis-cussed.Cervical X-ray,CT and MRI examinations were regularly performed after surgery to evaluate the con-ditions of complete resection of tumor and recurrence,the stability of the upper cervical spine and whether the internal fixation was loose or broken.The recovery of spinal nerve function and pain improvement were evaluated by the Japanese Orthopaedic Association(JOA)and visual analogue scale(VAS)scores.Results:All the patients underwent complete tumor resection in one stage,and the postoperative JOA score(10.14±1.55 vs 13.86±1.06,P=0.005)and VAS score(2.42±1.29 vs 0.64±0.71,P=0.000)were statistically different from those before surgery.Postoperative tumor histopathology was confirmed as schwannoma in all the 14 patients.The follow-up time was 6 months to 2 years.No recurrence of tumor was found,neurological symptoms were significantly improved,and no upper cervical instability appeared.Conclusions:For patients with intra-and extra-spinal dumbbell-shaped schwannoma in the upper cervical spine,complete resection of the tumor in one stage of posterior approach can be given priority.If the important stable tissue structure of the upper cervical spine is destroyed,upper cervical spine fixation and fusion should be performed to ensure the stabil-ity of upper cervical spine after tumor resection.

Objectives:To analyze the clinical characteristics of upper cervical vertebrae with dumbbell schwannoma,and to explore its clinical symptoms,imaging features,and treatment plans.Methods:A retro-spective analysis was performed on 14 patients with upper cervical intra-and extraspinal dumbbell-shaped schwannoma admitted to the Spinal Surgery Department of Southern Theater General Hospital from January 2022 to June 2024,including 9 males and 5 females,aged 43.64±11.96 years(25-61 years).According to the location,size,scope of the tumor,and relationship with the surrounding important tissue structure in upper cervical spine,the relevant clinical treatment data were analyzed and the surgical treatment plan was dis-cussed.Cervical X-ray,CT and MRI examinations were regularly performed after surgery to evaluate the con-ditions of complete resection of tumor and recurrence,the stability of the upper cervical spine and whether the internal fixation was loose or broken.The recovery of spinal nerve function and pain improvement were evaluated by the Japanese Orthopaedic Association(JOA)and visual analogue scale(VAS)scores.Results:All the patients underwent complete tumor resection in one stage,and the postoperative JOA score(10.14±1.55 vs 13.86±1.06,P=0.005)and VAS score(2.42±1.29 vs 0.64±0.71,P=0.000)were statistically different from those before surgery.Postoperative tumor histopathology was confirmed as schwannoma in all the 14 patients.The follow-up time was 6 months to 2 years.No recurrence of tumor was found,neurological symptoms were significantly improved,and no upper cervical instability appeared.Conclusions:For patients with intra-and extra-spinal dumbbell-shaped schwannoma in the upper cervical spine,complete resection of the tumor in one stage of posterior approach can be given priority.If the important stable tissue structure of the upper cervical spine is destroyed,upper cervical spine fixation and fusion should be performed to ensure the stabil-ity of upper cervical spine after tumor resection.

Objective:To evaluate the practical effectiveness of a one-to-one mentorship-based short-term training model for senior medical professionals in clinical, teaching, research, and management dimensions based on the reaction and learning levels of the Kirkpatrick model, and to explore its application value.Methods:A total of 109 physicians and their 109 mentors who participated in the senior medical professional training program at The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from June 2023 to May 2024 were included. The one-to-one mentorship teaching method was implemented. Data were collected through self-assessment questionnaires and mentor evaluation forms to analyze satisfaction, proficiency, competency improvement, and training effectiveness and their correlations.Results:Valid feedback forms were collected from 100 physicians and 100 mentors. At the reaction level, the satisfaction of trainees was high for mentors (99.00%, 99/100) and training content [clinical: 98.96%(95/96), teaching: 93.75%(15/16), research 85.71%(12/14), management: 100.00%(24/24)]. At the learning level, trainee self-assessed and mentor-evaluated proficiency exceeded 75.00% across all dimensions except research. Significant improvements in clinical, teaching, research, and management competencies were reported by both trainees and mentors ( P<0.001). Notably, evaluations of clinical competency improvement showed strong consistency ( r s=0.37, P<0.001). Conclusions:The one-to-one mentorship-based short-term training model demonstrated positive effects in enhancing mentorship outcomes and excellent educational effectiveness in senior medical professionals. This model is recommended for implementation in similar hospitals for training senior medical professionals.

Objective:To study the functional characteristics of protective,barrier,and controlled release of film forming pharmaceutical excipients in formulations,establish a method for measuring the properties of film forming pharmaceutical excipients,and evaluate their performance.Methods:By preparing free films of different film forming pharmaceutical excipients and referring to national standards and literature research systems,a testing sys-tem covering key indicators such as tensile strength and elongation,water vapor permeability,flexibility,and solu-bility was constructed.Results:Through comparative testing of multiple brands of excipients,all detection methods showed good discriminability and reproducibility,indicating the applicability and stability of the methods.Conclusion:Evaluating the properties of film forming pharmaceutical excipients through a successfully constructed method not only reveals the structure-activity relationship between material structure and functional characteristics,but also provides technical support for the construction of functional index databases for pharmaceutical excipients.This research result can be used to guide the development of new film forming pharmaceutical excipients and pro-vide experimental basis for industry standard setting,meeting the needs of drug research and quality supervision.

Objective:To study the functional characteristics of protective,barrier,and controlled release of film forming pharmaceutical excipients in formulations,establish a method for measuring the properties of film forming pharmaceutical excipients,and evaluate their performance.Methods:By preparing free films of different film forming pharmaceutical excipients and referring to national standards and literature research systems,a testing sys-tem covering key indicators such as tensile strength and elongation,water vapor permeability,flexibility,and solu-bility was constructed.Results:Through comparative testing of multiple brands of excipients,all detection methods showed good discriminability and reproducibility,indicating the applicability and stability of the methods.Conclusion:Evaluating the properties of film forming pharmaceutical excipients through a successfully constructed method not only reveals the structure-activity relationship between material structure and functional characteristics,but also provides technical support for the construction of functional index databases for pharmaceutical excipients.This research result can be used to guide the development of new film forming pharmaceutical excipients and pro-vide experimental basis for industry standard setting,meeting the needs of drug research and quality supervision.