This study identified 8 members including NjBIN2 of the GSK3 family in Nardostachys jatamansi by bioinformatics analysis. Moreover, the phylogenetic tree revealed that the GKS3 family members of N. jatamansi had a close relationship with those of Arabidopsis. RT-qPCR results showed that NjBIN2 presented a tissue-specific expression pattern with the highest expression in roots, suggesting that NjBIN2 played a role in root growth and development. In addition, the application of epibrassinolide or the brassinosteroid(BR) synthesis inhibitor(brassinazole) altered the expression pattern of NjBIN2 and influenced the photomorphogenesis(cotyledon opening) and root development of N. jatamansi, which provided direct evidence about the functions of NjBIN2. In conclusion, this study highlights the roles of BIN2 in regulating the growth and development of N. jatamansi by analyzing the expression pattern and biological function of NjBIN2. It not only enriches the understanding about the regulatory mechanism of the growth and development of N. jatamansi but also provides a theoretical basis and potential gene targets for molecular breeding of N. jatamansi with improved quality in the future.
Brassinosteroids/metabolism* ; Steroids, Heterocyclic/metabolism* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant/drug effects* ; Plant Proteins/metabolism* ; Phylogeny ; Nardostachys/metabolism* ; Plant Growth Regulators/pharmacology* ; Plant Roots/drug effects*

OBJECTIVE: To compare the therapeutic efficacy and safety of local anesthesia and spinal anesthesia for the patients with varicocele (VC) who underwent microsurgical varicocelectomy (MV). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the data of VC patients who underwent MV treatment at the Andrology Department of the Affiliated Ruikang Hospital of Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine from May 2020 to March 2023. Cases with complete clinical data and follow-up evaluation were selected and divided into a control group (spinal anesthesia) and an observation group (local anesthesia) according to different anesthesia methods. The surgical time (including anesthesia time), visual analogue scale (VAS) score for pain, hospital stay, treatment cost, sperm concentration, forward motile sperm rate, and normal sperm morphology rate after three months of surgery, as well as postoperative complications and recurrence rate were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: A total of 107 eligible cases were included, with 56 cases in the control group and 51 cases in the observation group. There was no significant difference in the VAS score for pain during and after four hours of surgery, as well as postoperative complications, and recurrence rate between the two groups (P> 0.05). There was an significant increase in sperm concentration, forward motile sperm rate, and normal sperm morphology rate in both of two groups after three months of surgery (P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference between the two groups three months after surgery (P>0.05). The surgical time and hospital stay were shorter than those of the control group (P<0.05). And the treatment cost in observation group was lower than that of the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION Both local anesthesia and lumbar anesthesia for MV treatment of VC have good efficacy and safety. However, patients treated with MV under local anesthesia for VC have obvious advantages in terms of operation time (including anesthesia time), hospital stay, and treatment cost, which is worthy of clinical promotion and application.
Humans ; Male ; Varicocele/surgery* ; Retrospective Studies ; Microsurgery ; Anesthesia, Spinal ; Adult ; Treatment Outcome ; Anesthesia, Local

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is associated with an increased risk of calcific aortic valve stenosis (CAVS). However, the directionality of causation between blood pressure traits and aortic stenosis is unclear, as is the benefit of antihypertensive drugs for CAVS. METHODS: Using genome-wide association studies (GWAS) summary statistics, we performed bidirectional two-sample univariable mendelian randomization (UVMR) to assess the causal associations of systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and pulse pressure (PP) with CAVS. Multivariable mendelian randomization (MVMR) was conducted to evaluate the direct effect of hypertension on CAVS, adjusting for confounders. Drug target mendelian randomization (MR) and summary-level MR (SMR) were used to estimate the effects of 12 classes of antihypertensive drugs and their target genes on CAVS risk. Inverse variance weighting was the primary MR method, with sensitivity analyses to validate results. RESULTS: UVMR showed SBP, DBP, and PP have causal effects on CAVS, with no significant reverse causality. MVMR confirmed the causality between hypertension and CAVS after adjusting for confounders. Drug-target MR analyses indicated that calcium channel blockers (CCBs), loop diuretics, and thiazide diuretics via SBP lowering exerted protective effects on CAVS risk. SMR analysis showed that the CCBs target gene CACNA2D2 and ARBs target gene AGTR1 were positively associated with CAVS risk, while diuretics target genes SLC12A5 and SLC12A1 were negatively associated with aortic stenosis risk. CONCLUSIONS Hypertension has a causal relationship with CAVS. Managing SBP in hypertensive patients with CCBs may prevent CAVS. ARBs might exert protective effects on CAVS independent of blood pressure reduction. The relationship between diuretics and CAVS is complex, with opposite effects through different mechanisms.

Ovarian tumor (OT) is the most lethal form of gynecologic malignancy, with minimal improvements in patient outcomes over the past several decades. Metastasis is the leading cause of ovarian cancer-related deaths, yet the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Psychological stress is known to activate the glucocorticoid receptor (NR3C1), a factor associated with poor prognosis in OT patients. However, the precise mechanisms linking NR3C1 signaling and metastasis have yet to be fully elucidated. In this study, we demonstrate that chronic restraint stress accelerates epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and metastasis in OT through an NR3C1-dependent mechanism involving nuclear protein 1 (NUPR1). Mechanistically, NR3C1 directly regulates the transcription of NUPR1, which in turn increases the expression of snail family transcriptional repressor 2 (SNAI2), a key driver of EMT. Clinically, elevated NR3C1 positively correlates with NUPR1 expression in OT patients, and both are positively associated with poorer prognosis. Overall, our study identified the NR3C1/NUPR1 axis as a critical regulatory pathway in psychological stress-induced OT metastasis, suggesting a potential therapeutic target for intervention in OT metastasis.

BACKGROUND: A growing body of research is exploring the role of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory dietary supplements in the treatment of osteoarthritis, highlighting an increasing emphasis on non-pharmacological interventions. Although more patients are turning to supplements to manage osteoarthritis, their actual effectiveness remains uncertain. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the available evidence concerning the efficacy of various dietary supplements in osteoarthritis treatment. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library and Web of Science for studies on the use of various dietary supplements in the treatment of osteoarthritis from the creation of each database until Jan 20, 2025. INCLUSION CRITERIA: (1) Research object: osteoarthritis. (2) Intervention measures: patients in the treatment group received dietary supplements, while the control group received placebos. (3) Research type: randomized controlled trials (RCTs). DATA EXTRACTION AND ANALYSIS: Two researchers independently examined the literature and retrieved data based on predefined criteria. The information gathered included the first author, year of publication, sample size, participant demographics, length of the follow-up period, intervention and control measures, and inclusion indications. RCTs comparing dietary supplements to placebo with the pain and function subscales of the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) among patients with osteoarthritis were included. The optimal dietary supplement was identified based on the total ranking by summing the surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) of these two scores. Furthermore, the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) was used to confirm the quality of the evidence. RESULTS: Overall, 23 studies covering 21 dietary supplements and involving 2455 participants met the inclusion criteria. In the WOMAC pain score, the SUCRA of passion fruit peel extract was 91% (mean difference [MD]: -9.2; 95% confidence interval [CI]: [-16.0, -2.3]), followed by methylsulfonylmethane (89%), undenatured type II collagen (87%), collagen (84%), and Lanconone (82%). The SUCRA (99%) of passion fruit peel extract (MD: -41.0; 95% CI: [-66.0, -16.0]) ranked first in terms of the WOMAC function score, followed by Lanconone (95%), collagen (86%), ParActin (84%), and Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (83%). The top three total rankings are passion fruit peel extract (95.0%), Lanconone (88.5%), and collagen (85.0%). However, the GRADE revealed low evidence quality. CONCLUSION Passion fruit peel extract was the best supplement for improving WOMAC pain and function scores in patients with osteoarthritis, followed by Lanconone and collagen. However, further large-scale, well designed RCTs are required to substantiate these promising findings. Please cite this article as: Chen CS, Wen L, Yang F, Deng YC, Ji JH, Chen RJ, Chen Z, Chen G, Gu JY. Effects of dietary supplements on patients with osteoarthritis: A systematic review and network meta-analysis. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(4): 357-369.
Humans ; Dietary Supplements ; Osteoarthritis/drug therapy* ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic

Recently,inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(ICP-MS)has shown great potential in the quantitative analysis of biomolecules due to its high sensitivity,high accuracy,anti-interference ability and multi-element detection capability.Elemental tags enable specific labeling of target biomolecules with element-reporter groups,playing a critical role in the performance of bioanalysis using ICP-MS.Antibodies are highly specific to antigens on cell surfaces and are one of the most commonly used targeted delivery vehicles.Traditional random chemical coupling methods are difficult to control the coupling sites and loading numbers of element reporters,which lead to heterogeneity of antibody conjugates,affecting the specific recognition and binding ability of antibodies and antigens,and thus reducing the targeting ability and quantitative accuracy.To solve these issues,site-specific coupling of antibodies with element reporter was studied in this work.By using peptide-mediated affinity labeling technology,a short chain DNA was specifically labeled to immunoglobulin G(IgG)antibody K248,and then DNA base complementary pairing was used to realize accurate assembly of monoclonal antibodies and Eu-modified phage MS2 capsid,resulting in the preparation of highly sensitive and selective element tags.This method overcame the heterogeneity problem of element tags caused by random coupling,and ensured the targeting specificity,affinity and signal amplification ability of element tags.The element tag prepared here showed a specificity to bind/label with epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR)biomarker on the surface of cancer cells,realizing single cancer cell analysis using ICP-MS.

Objective To investigate the therapeutic effect and mechanism of paeoniflorin(PAE)on thrombosis angiitis obliterans(TAO)in rats.Methods TAO rat model was established by sodium laurate injection.Rats were randomly divided into sham operation group(intraperitoneal injection of 0.9％NaCl),model group(intraperitoneal injection of 0.9％NaCl),experimental-L,-H groups(intraperitoneal injection of PAE 5,20 mg·kg-1·d-1),experimental-H+agonist group(intraperitoneal injection of 20 mg·kg-1·d-1 PAE+caudal vein injection of 10 ng·mL-1·kg 1·d-1 740 Y-P).Thrombin time(TT)was measured by magnetic bead coagulation;the levels of interleukin(IL)-1 β and endothelin 1(ET-1)were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit;the expression levels of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase(PI3K),phosphorylated-PI3K(p-PI3 K),protein kinase B(AKT),p-AKT,nuclear factor(NF)-κB p65,p-NF-κB p65 were detected by Western blotting.Results The TT of sham operation group,model group,experimental-L,-H groups and experimental-H+agonist group were(14.88±1.32),(10.02±0.95),(12.65±1.22),(14.70±1.36)and(10.64±1.21)s;IL-1β were(154.23±13.45),(356.69±31.17),(268.62±23.58),(199.64±20.87)and(337.48±31.46)pg·mL-1;ET-1 were(6.78±0.68),(14.43±1.14),(11.23±1.07),(8.20±0.81)and(13.33±1.27)pg·mL-1;p-PI3K/PI3K were 0.36±0.04,0.76±0.07,0.59±0.05,0.44±0.04 and 0.69±0.07;p-AKT/AKT were 0.52±0.05,0.90±0.09,0.74±0.08,0.61±0.06 and 0.86±0.08;p-NF-κB p65/NF-κB p65 were 0.28±0.03,0.95±0.04,0.69±0.07,0.35±0.05 and 0.87±0.08,respectively.There were statistically significant differences between model group and sham operation group(all P＜0.05);the above indexes in experimental-L group and experimental-H group were significantly different from those in medel group(all P＜0.05);the above indexes in experimental-H+agonist group were significantly different from those in experimental-H group(all P＜0.05).Conclusion PAE may improve disease progression in TAO rats by inhibiting the PI3K/AKT/NF-κB signaling pathway.

Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) diseases are common clinical conditions. The number of patients with TMJ diseases is large, and the etiology, epidemiology, disease spectrum, and treatment of the disease remain controversial and unknown. To understand and master the current situation of the occurrence, development and prevention of TMJ diseases, as well as to identify the patterns in etiology, incidence, drug sensitivity, and prognosis is crucial for alleviating patients′suffering.This will facilitate in-depth medical research, effective disease prevention measures, and the formulation of corresponding health policies. Cohort construction and research has an irreplaceable role in precise disease prevention and significant improvement in diagnosis and treatment levels. Large-scale cohort studies are needed to explore the relationship between potential risk factors and outcomes of TMJ diseases, and to observe disease prognoses through long-term follw-ups. The consensus aims to establish a standard conceptual frame work for a cohort study on patients with TMJ disease while providing ideas for cohort data standards to this condition. TMJ disease cohort data consists of both common data standards applicable to all specific disease cohorts as well as disease-specific data standards. Common data were available for each specific disease cohort. By integrating different cohort research resources, standard problems or study variables can be unified. Long-term follow-up can be performed using consistent definitions and criteria across different projects for better core data collection. It is hoped that this consensus will be facilitate the development cohort studies of TMJ diseases.