1.Protective Effect of Gegen Qianliantang on Intestinal Mucosal Barrier in Ulcerative Colitis Mice via STAT3/NF-κB Axis Regulating Th1/Treg Differentiation
Beilei DENG ; Anan WANG ; Wenya FENG ; Lixin WANG ; Tiansong ZHANG ; Chengyong MA ; Xiutian GUO
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(20):12-21
ObjectiveTo explore the protective effect and mechanism of Gegen Qianliantang (GQT) on intestinal mucosal barrier function in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced ulcerative colitis (UC) model mice. MethodsA UC model was established in C57BL/6 mice using a 2.5% DSS solution. Mice were randomly divided into five groups (n=8 per group): blank group, model group, mesalazine sustained-release granule group (0.52 g·kg-1), high-dose GQT group (2.23 g·kg-1), and low-dose GQT group (1.12 g·kg-1). Fecal characteristics and body weight changes were observed before and after treatment. The body weight loss and disease activity index (DAI) of UC mice were calculated to evaluate symptom severity. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and Alizarin blue-periodic acid-Schiff (AB-PAS) staining were used to detect histological changes in colon tissue. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) and mucin 2 (MUC2). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), IL-17A, and anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. Flow cytometry was used to detect the activation of helper T lymphocyte subsets (Th1, Th17), regulatory T cells (Treg), and regulatory B cells (Breg) in spleen and colon tissues. Western blot was used to detect the expression levels of T-bet, forkhead box protein P3(FoxP3), nuclear transcription factor(NF)-κB p65, phosphorylated NF-κB p65 (p-NF-κB p65), signal transducer and activator of transcription 3(STAT3), and phosphorylated STAT3 (p-STAT3). ResultsCompared with the model group, both high- and low-dose GQT groups significantly improved the body weight loss and DAI scores (P<0.05), alleviated colonic inflammation, and showed optimal efficacy in the high-dose group. AB-PAS staining showed that compared with the model group, both the high- and low-dose GQT groups significantly increased goblet cell proliferation and mucin secretion, indicating improved mucosal barrier function. GQT upregulated the expression of ZO-1 and MUC2 in colon tissue (P<0.05), suppressed IFN-γ, IL-6, and TNF-α secretion (P<0.05), elevated IL-10 secretion (P<0.05), but had no significant effect on IL-17A. At the same time, high- and low-dose GQT intervention increased the activation of CD4+ FoxP3+ Treg cells (P<0.05) and suppressed activation of CD4+ IFN-γ+ Th1 cells (P<0.05). Western blot showed that GQT downregulated T-bet, NF-κB p65, and STAT3 protein expression (P<0.05), upregulated FoxP3 (P<0.05), and also reduced phosphorylation levels of p-NF-κB p65 and p-STAT3 (P<0.05). ConclusionGQT can upregulate the activation of CD4+ FoxP3+ Treg cells, reduce the activation of CD4+ IFN-γ+ Th1 cells, inhibit the secretion of IFN-γ, IL-6, and TNF-α, and increase the secretion of IL-10. It enhances the expression of MUC2 and ZO-1 in colon tissue, thereby alleviating inflammatory damage to the intestinal mucosa and restoring mucosal barrier integrity. These effects may be related to its regulation of NF-κB p65 and STAT3 signaling pathways, ultimately regulating the activation of transcription factors T-bet and FoxP3.
2.Microbiome, metabolome, and transcriptome analyses in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: insights into immune modulation by F. nucleatum.
Xue ZHANG ; Jing HAN ; Yudong WANG ; Li FENG ; Zhisong FAN ; Yu SU ; Wenya SONG ; Lan WANG ; Long WANG ; Hui JIN ; Jiayin LIU ; Dan LI ; Guiying LI ; Yan LIU ; Jing ZUO ; Zhiyu NI
Protein & Cell 2025;16(6):491-496
3.Prediction of potential geographic distribution of Oncomelania hupensis in Yunnan Province using random forest and maximum entropy models
Zongya ZHANG ; Chunhong DU ; Yun ZHANG ; Hongqiong WANG ; Jing SONG ; Jihua ZHOU ; Lifang WANG ; Jiayu SUN ; Meifen SHEN ; Chunqiong CHEN ; Hua JIANG ; Jiaqi YAN ; Xiguang FENG ; Wenya WANG ; Peijun QIAN ; Jingbo XUE ; Shizhu LI ; Yi DONG
Chinese Journal of Schistosomiasis Control 2024;36(6):562-571
Objective To predict the potential geographic distribution of Oncomelania hupensis in Yunnan Province using random forest (RF) and maximum entropy (MaxEnt) models, so as to provide insights into O. hupensis surveillance and control in Yunnan Province. Methods The O. hupensis snail survey data in Yunnan Province from 2015 to 2016 were collected and converted into O. hupensis snail distribution site data. Data of 22 environmental variables in Yunnan Province were collected, including twelve climate variables (annual potential evapotranspiration, annual mean ground surface temperature, annual precipitation, annual mean air pressure, annual mean relative humidity, annual sunshine duration, annual mean air temperature, annual mean wind speed, ≥ 0 ℃ annual accumulated temperature, ≥ 10 ℃ annual accumulated temperature, aridity and index of moisture), eight geographical variables (normalized difference vegetation index, landform type, land use type, altitude, soil type, soil textureclay content, soil texture-sand content and soil texture-silt content) and two population and economic variables (gross domestic product and population). Variables were screened with Pearson correlation test and variance inflation factor (VIF) test. The RF and MaxEnt models and the ensemble model were created using the biomod2 package of the software R 4.2.1, and the potential distribution of O. hupensis snails after 2016 was predicted in Yunnan Province. The predictive effects of models were evaluated through cross-validation and independent tests, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), true skill statistics (TSS) and Kappa statistics were used for model evaluation. In addition, the importance of environmental variables was analyzed, the contribution of environmental variables output by the models with AUC values of > 0.950 and TSS values of > 0.850 were selected for normalization processing, and the importance percentage of environmental variables was obtained to analyze the importance of environmental variables. Results Data of 148 O. hupensis snail distribution sites and 15 environmental variables were included in training sets of RF and MaxEnt models, and both RF and MaxEnt models had high predictive performance, with both mean AUC values of > 0.900 and all mean TSS values and Kappa values of > 0.800, and significant differences in the AUC (t = 19.862, P < 0.05), TSS (t = 10.140, P < 0.05) and Kappa values (t = 10.237, P < 0.05) between two models. The AUC, TSS and Kappa values of the ensemble model were 0.996, 0.954 and 0.920, respectively. Independent data verification showed that the AUC, TSS and Kappa values of the RF model and the ensemble model were all 1, which still showed high performance in unknown data modeling, and the MaxEnt model showed poor performance, with TSS and Kappa values of 0 for 24%(24/100) of the modeling results. The modeling results of 79 RF models, 38 MaxEnt models and their ensemble models with AUC values of > 0.950 and TSS values of > 0.850 were included in the evaluation of importance of environmental variables. The importance of annual sunshine duration (SSD) was 32.989%, 37.847% and 46.315% in the RF model, the MaxEnt model and their ensemble model, while the importance of annual mean relative humidity (RHU) was 30.947%, 15.921% and 28.121%, respectively. Important environment variables were concentrated in modeling results of the RF model, dispersed in modeling results of the MaxEnt model, and most concentrated in modeling results of the ensemble model. The potential distribution of O. hupensis snails after 2016 was predicted to be relatively concentrated in Yunnan Province by the RF model and relatively large by the MaxEnt model, and the distribution of O. hupensis snails predicted by the ensemble model was mostly the joint distribution of O. hupensis snails predicted by RF and MaxEnt models. Conclusions Both RF and MaxEnt models are effective to predict the potential distribution of O. hupensis snails in Yunnan Province, which facilitates targeted O. hupensis snail control.
4.In vivo Fate of Functionalized Liposomes:Applications and Challenges
Linghui ZOU ; Xu YANG ; Jilang LI ; Wenya DING ; Jianfang FENG
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2023;29(3):244-253
Functionalized liposomes can improve the in vivo process of drugs to achieve high-efficiency delivery by enhancing drug absorption, changing drug distribution and reducing the elimination, which is one of the hotspots in nanomedicine research with broad application prospects. However, the drug information published by official websites of National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) shows that there are few liposomal products on the market, and the domestic varieties are mainly generic drugs. Excepting for polyethylene glycolized (PEGylated) liposomes, no other functionalized liposomes have been approved for marketing, which indicates that the clinical translation of functionalized liposomes remains at a low level. Therefore, the relevant reports of functionalized liposomes in recent years were reviewed in this paper, their application advantages and main challenges in preparation research and development were discussed based on the in vivo process, and their low clinical translation mainly because of the insufficient clinical thinking, safety and efficacy of functional materials, inaccurate in vitro and in vivo analysis methods and difficulty in scaling up production. Meanwhile, the possible strategies such as introducing the concept of clinical multi-function to improve clinical acuity, focusing on examining the modification density of functional materials and the interaction between the modified materials, evaluating the drug delivery performance of functionalized liposomes from multiple perspectives and scenarios, and conducting cost and convenience-oriented formulation composition and preparation process optimization were proposed in order to provide a reference for the development of functionalized liposomes and other carrier-based nanomedicines.
5.Establishment of Specific Chromatogram and Thin-layer Identification Method for Kaixinsan
Wenya GAO ; Min FENG ; Chang GAO ; Haiyu ZHAO ; Yanyan ZHOU ; Hongjie WANG ; Ruipeng YU ; Yipeng ZHAO ; Lili ZHANG ; Yanqing GAO ; Yanhong XIAO ; Cuina CHENG ; Xiaolu WEI ; Nan SI ; Baolin BIAN
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2023;29(13):37-44
ObjectiveTo establish the specific chromatogram and thin layer chromatography(TLC) identification method of Kaixinsan(KXS) samples, in order to clarify the key quality attributes and provide reference for the quality evaluation of KXS. MethodHigh performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) specific chromatogram of KXS was developed with YMC Hydrosphere C18 column(4.6 mm×250 mm, 5 μm), the mobile phase was acetonitrile(A)-0.2% formic acid aqueous solution(B) for gradient elution(0-15 min, 2%-20%A; 15-25 min, 20%-25%A; 25-30 min, 25%-30%A; 30-45 min, 30%-31%A; 45-50 min, 31%-44%A; 50-65 min, 44%-45%A; 65-73 min, 45%-75%A; 73-95 min, 75%-100%A; 95-105 min, 100%A; 105-105.1 min, 100%-2%A; 105.1-120 min, 2%A), the detection wavelength was 320 nm. Ultra high performance liquid chromatography-linear ion trap-electrostatic field orbitrap mass spectrometry(UHPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap MS) was used to identify the chemical components of KXS with electrospray ionization(ESI), negative ion mode and scanning range of m/z 50-2 000. TLC identification methods for Poria and Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma in KXS were established. ResultThere were 11 common peaks in the specific chromatogram of KXS, attributed to Polygalae Radix, Poria and Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma. Taking peak 9(α-asarone) as the reference peak, the relative standard deviations of the retention times of 15 batches of KXS samples were<0.2%. A total of 34 compounds were identified by UHPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap MS, including terpenoids, phenylpropanoids, oligosaccharides and ketones. The established TLC had good separation and was rapid, reliable, simple, feasible, suitable for the identification of Poria and Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma in KXS. ConclusionThe specific chromatogram and TLC of KXS are stable and reproducible. The material basis of KXS is basically clarified by MS, which can provide a reference for the development and quality control of KXS.
6.Epidemiological characteristics of childhood infectious diseases in a single center in Beijing City from 2007 to 2021
Wenya FENG ; Yunhua YAO ; Chengsong ZHAO ; Yuchuan LI ; Huan LIU ; Yi TIAN ; Gang LIU
Chinese Journal of Infectious Diseases 2023;41(7):447-453
Objective:To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of childhood infectious diseases in a single center in Beijing City from 2007 to 2021, and to provide scientific basis for the management of infectious diseases in hospitals.Methods:The clinical data of outpatients or inpatients aged<18 years old with infectious diseases recorded in the Nationwide Health Information-based Disease Control and Prevention Information System of Beijing Children′s Hospital, Capital Medical University from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2021 were collected. Descriptive epidemiological methods were used to analyze the types of infectious diseases, population distribution, time distribution characteristics, as well as the etiological characteristics of major infectious diseases.Results:There were 219 260 cases reported, accounting for 5.73‰(219 260/38 295 800) of the total number of hospital cases, with two peaks of 25 469 and 22 928 cases in 2010 and 2019, respectively. The main category of infectious diseases was class C, accounting for 77.51%(169 947/219 260). According to the classification of transmission routes, fecal-oral transmission infectious diseases were the most common, with 144 712 cases (66.00%), followed by air and droplet transmission infectious diseases with 73 946 cases (33.73%), showing an increasing trend by year. The top five diseases in terms of incidence were hand, foot and mouth disease (114 864 cases), influenza (28 703 cases), varicella (22 190 cases), other infectious diarrheal diseases (21 040 cases) and scarlet fever (11 500 cases). Among the 219 260 children, there were 131 546 males and 87 714 females, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.5 to 1. Children aged≤6 years old comprised the majority, with a total of 189 593 cases (86.47%). The peak period of infectious diseases reporting was from May to July. Hand, foot and mouth disease was mainly caused by Coxsackie virus A16(35.02%(1 258/3 592)), while Coxsackie virus A6 had been increasing rapidly since 2017. The main pathogen of influenza was influenza A virus (62.18%(7 400/11 900)), while other infectious diarrhea was mainly caused by rotavirus (87.55%(4 283/4 892)).Conclusions:There is an intermittent outbreak in the incidence of childhood infectious diseases, and air and droplet transmission infectious diseases have shown an upward trend in recent years. Hand, foot and mouth disease, influenza, varicella, other infectious diarrheal diseases and scarlet fever are the main infectious diseases affecting children. Different diseases have the characteristics of age and onset season. The prevention and control of infectious diseases should be updated gradually according to the epidemic trend. Proper protection should be taken during peak seasons and for key populations.
7.TiRobot combined with three-dimensional imaging to assist minimally invasive treatment of pelvic fractures
Yongbiao WANG ; Xiaoreng FENG ; Yiyi YAO ; Jinbiao LIN ; Jinfa ZHENG ; Lianxiong GUAN ; Yupeng LI ; Zhaopei LUO ; Wenya ZHAO
Chinese Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma 2022;24(10):856-861
Objective:To explore the efficacy and safety of TiRobot combined with three-dimensional imaging in the minimally invasive surgery for pelvic fractures.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted of the 40 patients with pelvic fracture who had been treated by fixation with S1 and S2 sacroiliac screws at Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Yangjiang People's Hospital from January 2019 to May 2021. They were divided into 2 groups according to their treatment methods. In the TiRobot group of 20 cases subjected to percutaneous sacroiliac screw fixation assisted by TiRobot combined with three-dimensional imaging, there were 13 males and 7 females with an age of (38.2 ± 8.8) years. In the manual group of 20 cases subjected to fixation with manual placement of sacroiliac screws under conventional C-arm fluoroscopy, there were 11 males and 9 females with an age of (37.3 ± 9.2) years. The 2 groups were compared in terms of fluoroscopy time for screw placement, guide needle adjustment, operation time, intraoperative blood loss, visual analogue scale (VAS) 72 hours after operation, postoperative hospital stay, time to ambulation, excellent to good rate of screw placement, complication rate, fracture union time, Majeed score at 6 months after operation, and excellent to good rate of functional evaluation.Results:There was no significant difference between the 2 groups in their preoperative general data, showing they were comparable ( P > 0.05). In the TiRobot group, fluoroscopy time for screw placement [(8.2 ± 2.9) s], guide needle adjustment [(0.4 ± 0.2) times], operation time [(67.4 ± 5.5) min], and intraoperative blood loss [(36.5 ± 8.0) mL] were significantly less than those in the manual group [(40.4 ± 4.5) s, (8.6 ± 0.7) times, (78.4 ± 7.2) min, and (41.6 ± 7.8) mL], postoperative VAS [3.0 (4.0, 5.0) points] was significantly lower than that in the manual group [4.0 (5.0, 6.0) points], the excellent to good rate of screw placement (100%, 40/40) was significantly higher than that in the manual group (85.0%, 34/40), and the complication rate (5.0%,1/20) was significantly lower than that in the manual group (35.0%, 7/20) (all P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between the 2 groups in postoperative hospital stay, time to ambulation, fracture union time, Majeed score, or excellent to good rate of functional evaluation ( P > 0.05). Conclusion:In the minimally invasive surgery for pelvic fractures, TiRobot combined with three-dimensional imaging leads to positive outcomes, because it can reduce operation time and radiation exposure, improve accuracy of screw placement, and increase safety.
8.Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio predicts hemorrhagic transformation in patients with acute ischemic stroke
Wenya LAN ; Feng QIU ; Yao ZHANG ; Haibo JIANG ; Mingyang DU ; Lili XU ; Hui CAO
International Journal of Cerebrovascular Diseases 2021;29(8):583-588
Objective:To investigate the predictive value of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) for hemorrhagic transformation (HT) in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS).Methods:Consecutive patients with AIS without performing intravenous thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomy admitted to the Cerebrovascular Disease Treatment Center, the Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from December 2015 to December 2020 were enrolled. The clinical, imaging and laboratory examination data were collected. HT was defined as the first imaging examination of AIS patients without finding bleeding signs, but the imaging reexamination after hospitalization found intracranial hemorrhage. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the independent correlation between NLR and HT. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the predictive value of NLR for HT. Results:A total of 805 patients with AIS were included. The median age was 67 years (interquartile range, 63-71 years), the median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score was 4 (interquartile range, 2-9), the median NLR was 3.84 (interquartile range, 2.66-5.30). Seventy-ywo patients (8.9%) had HT. There were significant differences in age, baseline systolic blood pressure, baseline NIHSS score, time from onset to admission, time from onset to blood collection, time from onset to imaging reexamination, NLR, atrial fibrillation, history of previous stroke and transient ischemic attack and stroke etiology between the HT group and the non-HT group (all P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that NLR was an independent risk factor for HT in patients with AIS after adjusting for confounding factors (odds ratio 1.355, 95% confidence interval 1.099-1.672; P=0.005). The ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve of NLR predicting HT was 0.852, and the optimal cut-off value was 4.75. Its sensitivity and specificity of predicting HT were 88.3% and 71.8% respectively. Conclusion:High NLR is an independent risk factor for HT in patients with AIS during hospitalization, and had better predictive value for HT risk.
9.Characteristics and recovery of hearing loss in 573 patients with bacterial meningitis
Jifeng SHI ; Haihong LIU ; Zhenzhen DOU ; Lingyun GUO ; Wenya FENG ; Yi ZHOU ; Ying LI ; Xin JIN ; Huili HU ; Zhipeng ZHENG ; Bing LIU ; Bing HU ; Tianming CHEN ; Xin GUO ; Heying CHEN ; Gang LIU
Chinese Journal of Pediatrics 2021;59(8):633-639
Objective:To analyze the characteristics and prognosis of hearing loss in children with bacterial meningitis.Methods:This was a single-center retrospective cohort study. Patients diagnosed with bacterial meningitis who were hospitalized in Beijing Children′s Hospital between 2010 and 2016 and older than 28 days and younger than 18 years at symptom onset were included in this study ( n=573). All clinical information including hearing assessment results during hospitalization were reviewed. All patients with hearing loss were followed up to repeat their hearing test and assess their hearing condition with parents′ evaluation of aural and (or) oral performance of children (PEACH). Patients were grouped according to their hearing assessment results, and Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the risk factors for hearing loss in patients with bacterial meningitis. Results:Five hundred and seventy-three patients were enrolled in this study, including 347 males and 226 females. The onset age ranged from 29 days to 15.8 years. Two hundred and forty-six patients had identified causative pathogens, among whom 92 cases (37.4%) were pneumococcal meningitis cases. Hearing loss was found in 160 cases (27.9%) during hospitalization, involving 240 ears. Permanent hearing loss was found in 20 cases (16.9%), involving 32 ears. In the patients with permanent hearing loss, 87.5% (28/32) of ears were identified as severe or profound hearing loss during hospitalization. Logistic regression analysis showed that dystonia, the protein concentration level in cerebrospinal fluid>1 g/L, glucose concentration level lower than 1 mmol/L and subdural effusion were independent risk factors for hearing loss ( OR=2.426 (1.450-4.059), 1.865 (1.186-2.932), 1.544 (1.002-2.381) and 1.904 (1.291-2.809)). Conclusions:Hearing loss is a common sequela of bacterial meningitis in children. Most patients have transient hearing loss, but patients with severe or profound hearing impairment have a higher risk of developing permanent hearing loss.
10.Exosomes derived from cerebral vascular endothelial cells after ischemic preconditioning protect neurons against oxygen-glucose deprivation-induced injury
Lili XU ; Yao ZHANG ; Mingyang DU ; Wenya LAN ; Feng QIU ; Hui CAO
International Journal of Cerebrovascular Diseases 2020;28(8):613-619
Objective:To investigate the effect of exosomes (Exo) secreted by brain vascular endothelial cell bEnd.3 after ischemic preconditioning (IPC) on neurons suffering from oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD).Methods:bEnd.3 was exposed to OGD for 3 h to simulate IPC in vivo. After 48 h of reoxygenation, the Exo (IPC Exo) in the conditioned medium were extracted and identified by Western blot and transmission electron microscopy. IPC Exo were incubated with primary cultured mouse cortical neurons for 24 h. Confocal microscope was used to observe whether Exo could be uptaked by primary cultured mouse cerebral cortical neurons. The primary cultured cortical neurons were divided into control group, OGD group, OGD+ IPC Exo (5 μg/ml, 10 μg/ml, 20 μg/ml) groups and sham OGD group (treated with Exo secreted by bEnd.3 cultured under normoxia conditions). The cell viability was detected by CCK-8 and cell survival/death detection kit.Results:Transmission electron microscopy showed that the extract of bend.3 culture medium showed typical morphology of Exo, i. e., a double concave disc-shaped vesicle with a diameter of 30-100 nm. Western blot analysis showed that the extract of bEnd.3 medium highly expressed Exo markers Alix and Tsg101. Confocal microscopy showed that Exo could be uptaked by primary cultured mouse cortical neurons, and the uptake of Exo was widely distributed in the cytoplasm and synapses. Compared with the OGD group, the addition of 10 and 20 μg/ml IPC Exo could significantly increased the neuronal viability ( P<0.05), while the addition of sham Exo had no neuroprotective effect. Conclusion:Exo released by cerebral vascular endothelial cells after IPC have protective effect on neurons suffering from OGD.

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