Aromatic Chinese medicinal essential oils are volatile oils extracted from aromatic Chinese herbs， which can prevent and treat respiratory infectious diseases through multiple synergistic mechanisms including pathogen inhibition， immune regulation， and inflammatory response regulation. Essential oils are primarily used externally on the body to prevent infections and alleviate symptoms through methods like inhalation， smearing， topical application， bathing， gargling or as a suppository. They can also be utilized in the environment for disinfection and air purification， through methods like diffusion， vaporization， or spraying. The external application of essential oils extracted from Chinese aromatic herbs has the advantages of convenience， quick absorption， and simultaneous influence on both the body and mind. However， there are still challenges and deficiencies in aspects such as the positioning of functions， indications， safety， and the research on the mechanism of action. It has been proposed to combine the theory of aromatic Chinese medicinals with the characteristics of essential oils， and formulate prescriptions of Chinese medicinal essential oils under the principles of traditional Chinese medicine syndrome differentiation， and prevent and treat respiratory infectious diseases efficiently， accurately， and safely， thereby expanding the clinical application of aromatic Chinese medicinals and the preventive theory of traditional Chinese medicine.

ObjectiveTo observe the clinical efficacy and safety of hot ironing with Haitongpi Formula （海桐皮方， HF） in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation （LDH） of cold-dampness obstruction type. MethodsA total of 70 patients with cold-dampness obstruction type LDH were randomly divided into a treatment group and a control group， with 35 cases in each group. Both groups received three movements technique of Qinggong Spinal Manipulation （QSM） as the basis for treatment. In addition， the treatment group received hot ironing with HF， while the control group applied Diclofenac Sodium Gel externally. The treatment duration for both groups was 14 days. The clinical efficacy was compared between groups. Japanese Orthopedic Association （JOA） score， visual analog scale （VAS） for pain， pain pressure threshold （PPT） for lumbar positive response points， and traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） symptom scores were compared， on day 7， and day 14 of treatment， as well as on day 7 and day 14 of follow-up. The lumbar curvature index （LCI） was also compared before treatment and on day 14 of treatment. Adverse reactions during the study were recorded for both groups. ResultsA total of 35 patients in the treatment group and 34 patients in the control group were included for final analysis. The clinical total effective rate of the treatment group （91.43%， 32/35） was significantly higher than that of the control group （82.35%， 28/34， P＜0.05）. Both the JOA score and PPT of the two groups increased on day 7 and day 14 of treatment， and on day 7 and day 14 of follow-up. VAS scores and TCM symptom scores both decreased. The LCI of both groups increased on day 14 of treatment （P＜0.01）. Compared with the control group at the same time points， on day 14 of treatment and day 7 and day 14 of follow-up， the treatment group had higher JOA scores and PPT， and lower VAS scores and TCM symptom scores. The LCI of the treatment group increased on day 14 of treatment （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. One case in the control group showed mild skin allergy， with no other adverse reactions observed in either group. ConclusionBased on three movements technique of QSM， hot ironing with HF shows better clinical efficacy than external Diclofenac Sodium Gel in the treatment of cold-dampness obstruction type LDH. It can significantly reduce lumbar pain， increase pain pressure threshold， improve clinical symptoms， lumbar function， and lumbar curvature， with good safety.

BACKGROUND: The available evidence regarding the benefits of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on patients receiving dialysis with coronary artery disease (CAD) is limited and inconsistent. This study aimed to evaluate the association between PCI and clinical outcomes as compared with medical therapy alone in patients undergoing dialysis with CAD in China. METHODS: This multicenter, retrospective study was conducted in 30 tertiary medical centers across 12 provinces in China from January 2015 to June 2021 to include patients on dialysis with CAD. The primary outcome was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), defined as a composite of cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, and non-fatal stroke. Secondary outcomes included all-cause death, the individual components of MACE, and Bleeding Academic Research Consortium criteria types 2, 3, or 5 bleeding. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess the association between PCI and outcomes. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) and propensity score matching (PSM) were performed to account for potential between-group differences. RESULTS: Of the 1146 patients on dialysis with significant CAD, 821 (71.6%) underwent PCI. After a median follow-up of 23.0 months, PCI was associated with a 43.0% significantly lower risk for MACE (33.9% [ n  = 278] vs . 43.7% [ n  = 142]; adjusted hazards ratio 0.57, 95% confidence interval 0.45-0.71), along with a slightly increased risk for bleeding outcomes that did not reach statistical significance (11.1% vs . 8.3%; adjusted hazards ratio 1.31, 95% confidence interval, 0.82-2.11). Furthermore, PCI was associated with a significant reduction in all-cause and cardiovascular mortalities. Subgroup analysis did not modify the association of PCI with patient outcomes. These primary findings were consistent across IPTW, PSM, and competing risk analyses. CONCLUSION This study indicated that PCI in patients on dialysis with CAD was significantly associated with lower MACE and mortality when comparing with those with medical therapy alone, albeit with a slightly increased risk for bleeding events that did not reach statistical significance.
Humans ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention/methods* ; Male ; Female ; Coronary Artery Disease/drug therapy* ; Retrospective Studies ; Renal Dialysis/methods* ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; China ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Treatment Outcome

The aim of this study was to investigate the contribution of lung zinc ions to pathogenesis of lung ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in rats. Male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into control group, lung I/R group (I/R group), lung I/R + low-dose zinc chloride group (LZnCl₂+I/R group), lung I/R + high-dose ZnCl₂ group (HZnCl₂+I/R group), lung I/R + medium-dose ZnCl₂ group (MZnCl₂+I/R group) and TPEN+MZnCl₂+I/R group (n = 8 in each group). Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to measure the concentration of zinc ions in lung tissue. The degree of lung tissue injury was analyzed by observing HE staining, alveolar damage index, lung wet/dry weight ratio and lung tissue gross changes. TUNEL staining was used to detect cellular apoptosis in lung tissue. Western blot and RT-qPCR were used to determine the protein expression levels of caspase-3 and ZIP8, as well as the mRNA expression levels of zinc transporters (ZIP, ZNT) in lung tissue. The mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) of lung tissue was detected by JC-1 MMP detection kit. The results showed that, compared with the control group, the lung tissue damage, lung wet/dry weight ratio and alveolar damage index were significantly increased in the I/R group. And in the lung tissue, the concentration of Zn²⁺ was markedly decreased, while the cleaved caspase-3/caspase-3 ratio and apoptotic levels were significantly increased. The expression levels of ZIP8 mRNA and protein were down-regulated significantly, while the mRNA expression of other zinc transporters remained unchanged. There was also a significant decrease in MMP. Compared with the I/R group, both MZnCl₂+I/R group and HZnCl₂+I/R group exhibited significantly reduced lung tissue injury, lung wet/dry weight ratio and alveolar damage index, increased Zn²⁺ concentration, decreased ratio of cleaved caspase-3/caspase-3 and apoptosis, and up-regulated expression levels of ZIP8 mRNA and protein. In addition, the MMP was significantly increased in the lung tissue. Zn²⁺ chelating agent TPEN reversed the above-mentioned protective effects of medium-dose ZnCl₂ on the lung tissue in the I/R group. The aforementioned results suggest that exogenous administration of ZnCl₂ can improve lung I/R injury in rats.
Animals ; Reperfusion Injury/pathology* ; Male ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Rats ; Chlorides/administration & dosage* ; Lung/pathology* ; Zinc Compounds/administration & dosage* ; Apoptosis/drug effects* ; Caspase 3/metabolism* ; Cation Transport Proteins/metabolism*

Fermented traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) has a long history of medicinal use, such as Sojae Semen Praeparatum, Arisaema Cum Bile, Pinelliae Rhizoma Fermentata, red yeast rice, and Jianqu. Fermentation technology was recorded in the earliest TCM work, Shen Nong's Classic of the Materia Medica. Microorganisms are essential components of the fermentation process. However, the contamination of fermented TCM by toxigenic fungi and mycotoxins due to unstandardized fermentation processes seriously affects the quality of TCM and poses a threat to the life and health of consumers. In this paper, the characteristics, microbial composition, and mycotoxin profile of fermented TCM are systematically summarized to provide a theoretical basis for its quality and safety control.
Fermentation ; Mycotoxins/analysis* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/analysis* ; Fungi/classification* ; Bacteria/genetics* ; Drug Contamination ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

OBJECTIVE: To explore the efficacy and apoptosis of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with ASXL1 mutation. METHODS: The clinical data of 80 AML patients with ASXL1 mutation treated in our hospital from January 2019 to December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. The clinical characteristics of the patients were summarized, and the therapeutic effect and prognostic factors of allo-HSCT for the patients were analyzed. RESULTS: Among the 80 patients, 38 were males and 42 were females, and the median age was 39(14-65) years. There were 17 patients in low-risk group, 25 patients in medium-risk group and 38 patients in high-risk group. ASXL1 mutation co-occurred with many other gene mutations, and the frequent mutated genes were TET2 (71.25%), NRAS (18.75%), DNMT3A (16.25%), NPM1 (15.00%), CEBPA (13.75%). Among medium and high-risk patients, 29 underwent allo-HSCT, while 34 received chemotherapy. The 2-year overall survival (OS) rate and disease-free survival (DFS) rate of the allo-HSCT group were 72.4% and 70.2%, while those of the chemotherapy group were 44.1% and 34.0%, respectively. The statistical analysis showed significant differences between the two groups (both P < 0.01). Multivariate analysis showed that age at transplantation >50- years and occurrence of acute graft-versus-host disease after transplantation were poor prognostic factors for OS and DFS in transplantation patients. CONCLUSION Allo-HSCT can improve the prognosis of AML patients with ASXL1 mutation.
Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/therapy* ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Female ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mutation ; Adult ; Repressor Proteins/genetics* ; Adolescent ; Retrospective Studies ; Aged ; Nucleophosmin ; Young Adult ; Transplantation, Homologous ; Prognosis ; Survival Rate

Objective To evaluate the performance of the Quality of Life Instrument for Chronic Dis-ease Nephrotic Syndrome [QLICD-NS(V2.0)] in patients with nephrotic syndrome.Methods A total of 203 patients with nephrotic syndrome (NS) diagnosed in the Department of Nephrology,Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University from March 2021 to November 2021 were selected for QLICD-NS(V2.0) eval-uation,and the evaluation methods were generalization theory (GT) and item response theory (IRT).The dif-ficulty,discrimination coefficient and information amount of each item were obtained by using Multilog 7.0 software to analyze the grade response model (GRM) of IRT.Results The results of GT showed that the contribution ratio of the global total score in the four domains of QLICD-NS(V2.0) scale was evenly distribu-ted,and the generalization coefficient of the four domains was greater than 0.50.Except for social function,the variance component of the participants in the other three domains were greater than the item variance compo-nent,and the reliability index of each domain was greater than 0.50.The results of IRT showed that the dis-crimination degree of QLICD-NS(V2.0) scale was 0.82.Except for items TNS7 and TNS8,the difficulty coef-ficients of the other items ranged from -3 to 3 and increase monotonically.Conclusion The QLICD-NS (V2.0) scale has good reliability in physiological function and psychological function,and is acceptable in so-cial field and special function.The QLICD-NS(V2.0) scale developed in this study has good performance.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) plays a crucial role in maintaining the homeostasis of the brain's internal environment, which poses challenges to the treatment of central nervous system diseases. Drug carriers can aid in the delivery of therapeutic agents across the BBB to exert their pharmacological effects. The article reviewed the pathways for drug delivery across the BBB, the intracerebral fate and the classification of drug carriers and focuses on the functions and characteristics of liposomes, exosomes, apoptotic bodies, cell-penetrating peptides, and cell-targeting peptides. The review will provide an outlook on the future and challenge of research in the field of drug delivery across the BBB.

Objective:To evaluate the values of 18F-PI-2620 PET/CT brain imaging with SUV ratio (SUVR) in the assessment of tau protein deposition in the brain of patients with different cognitive disorders and its correlation with cognition. Methods:This was a cross-sectional study. From December 2019 to November 2022, a total of 67 subjects including 54 patients with Alzheimer′s disease (AD; 21 males, 33 females, age (68.6±7.8) years), 7 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI; 1 male, 6 females, age (63.1±11.2) years) and 6 healthy controls (HC; 4 males, 2 females, age (69.0±5.8) years) were enrolled retrospectively in Renji Hospital. All participants were examined by 18F-PI-2620 PET/CT. SUVRs of brain regions were obtained, including frontal lobe, temporal lobe, occipital lobe, parietal lobe, insular lobe, whole brain, as well as 10 independent brain ROIs (amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, cingulate gyrus, superior occipital gyrus, superior parietal gyrus, inferior angular gyrus, precuneus, inferior temporal gyrus, entorhinal cortex and parahippocampal gyrus), with inferior cerebellum cortex as the reference region. All participants were estimated by cognitive scales(mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA)). One-way analysis of variance and the least significant difference t test were used to compare the differences of SUVR in each brain region among HC, MCI and AD groups. ROC curve analysis was used to determine the optimal cut-off values of SUVR in each brain region for the differential diagnosis of AD-MCI and AD-HC. Pearson correlation analysis was employed to examine the correlations of SUVR with cognitive scale scores. Results:The SUVR of whole brain was 1.40±0.31 in AD group, 1.08±0.19 in MCI group, and 1.01±0.12 in HC group. SUVR analysis in the whole brain and each brain region could distinguish AD from HC, AD from MCI ( F values: 1.76-10.09, t values: 2.98-7.47, all P<0.05), but could not distinguish HC from MCI ( t values: 0.17-1.53, all P>0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the best cut-off value of SUVR was 1.18 for whole brain (AUC=0.89), 1.13 for amygdala (AUC=0.94) and 1.26 for parahippocampal gyrus (AUC=0.94) for differential diagnosis of AD and HC, which was 1.06 for whole brain (AUC=0.82), 1.18 for amygdala (AUC=0.88) and 1.28 (AUC=0.88) for infratemporal gyrus to differential diagnosis of AD and MCI. SUVRs of the whole brain, frontal, occipital, parietal, temporal and insula were significantly negatively correlated with MMSE and MoCA cognitive scale scores ( r values: from -0.64 to -0.40, all P<0.05). Conclusions:SUVR quantitative analysis in 18F-PI-2620 PET imaging can assist the differential diagnosis of AD and HC, AD and MCI. The SUVRs of whole brain and five lobes show negative correlations with MMSE and MoCA scores.

Objective:To assess the diagnostic efficiency of 18F-FDG PET for Alzheimer′s disease (AD) in patients with memory impairment. Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on 96 patients (40 males, 56 females, age: 69.0(62.8, 74.0) years) initially diagnosed with memory impairment in Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University between August 2019 and September 2023. The amyloid-tau-neurodegeneration (ATN) criteria, based on 18F-AV45+ 18F-PI-2620 PET/CT+ MRI imaging results, were used as the diagnostic standard for AD. Visual analysis (temporoparietal or posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) hypometabolism) and semi-quantitative analysis methods (PET-SCORE and NeuroQ software analysis (SUV ratio, SUVR)) were applied to evaluate the diagnostic efficiency of 18F-FDG PET imaging for AD. Diagnostic efficiencies of visual assessment and semi-quantitative parameters were compared by χ2 test. Additionally, Pearson correlation analysis was performed to examine the relationship between results of PET-SCORE and cognitive scales. Results:Of the 96 patients initially diagnosed with memory impairment, 61 were clinically diagnosed with AD, while 35 were non-AD patients. Visual assessment of temporoparietal hypometabolism showed the highest sensitivity (91.80%, 56/61), which was significantly different from the sensitivities of PET-SCORE (40.98%(25/61); χ2=29.03, P<0.001) and visual assessment of PCC hypometabolism (77.05%(47/61); χ2=5.82, P=0.016). While semi-quantitative assessment using PET-SCORE demonstrated the highest specificity (100%, 35/35), which was significantly different from the specificities of visual assessment methods (temporoparietal hypometabolism: 17.14%(6/35), χ2=27.03, P<0.001; PCC hypometabolism: 54.29%(19/35), χ2=14.06, P<0.001). PET-SCORE exhibited statistically significant correlations with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and Activities of Daily Living (ADL) scores ( r values: -0.38, -0.36, 0.31, all P<0.01). Conclusions:Among patients initially diagnosed with memory impairment, visual assessment in 18F-FDG PET imaging analysis demonstrates higher sensitivity, while semi-quantitative analysis using PET-SCORE exhibits higher specificity. PET-SCORE shows statistically significant correlation with the severity of cognitive decline.