Ulcerative colitis（UC） is a chronic non-specific inflammatory bowel disease characterized by inflammation and ulceration of the colonic mucosa and submucosa， and its complex pathogenesis involves immune abnormality， oxidative stress and other factors. The nuclear transcription factor E₂-related factor 2（Nrf2）， encoded by the Nfe212 gene， plays a central role in antioxidant responses. It not only activates various antioxidant response elements such as heme oxygenase-1（HO-1） and quinone oxidoreductase 1（NQO1）， but also enhances the activity of glutathione-S-transferase（GST） and superoxide dismutase 1（SOD1）， effectively eliminating reactive oxygen species（ROS） accumulated in the body， and mitigating oxidative stress-induced damage to intestinal mucosa. In addition， Nrf2 can reduce the release of inflammatory factors and infiltration of immune cells by regulating immune response， cell apoptosis and autophagy pathways， thereby alleviating intestinal inflammation and promoting the repair and regeneration of damaged mucosa. Based on this， this paper reviews the research progress of Chinese materia medica in the prevention and treatment of UC by modulating the Nrf2 signaling pathway. It deeply explores the physiological role of Nrf2， the molecular mechanism of activation， the protective effect in the pathological process of UC， and how active ingredients in Chinese materia medica regulate the Nrf2 signaling pathway through multiple pathways to exert their potential mechanisms. These studies have revealed in depth that Chinese materia medica can effectively combat oxidative stress by regulating the Nrf2 signaling pathway. It can also play a role in anti-inflammatory， promoting autophagy， inhibiting apoptosis， protecting the intestinal mucosal barrier， and promoting intestinal mucosal repair， providing new ideas and methods for the multi-faceted treatment of UC.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a congenital malformation resulting from abnormal embryonic development of the heart and great vessels, accounting for approximately 25% of all congenital malformations. Children with CHD are often complicated by short stature. Although surgical treatment can improve their growth and development to a certain extent, some children still experience growth retardation after surgery. Recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) is the main drug for treating short stature, but its efficacy and safety in the treatment of patients with concomitant CHD warrant further investigation. This article reports six cases of children with CHD and short stature who were treated with rhGH. Through a literature review, we summarize and discuss the therapeutic efficacy, follow-up experiences, and adverse reactions of rhGH treatment, aiming to provide references for clinicians in applying rhGH to treat patients with CHD and short stature.

Objective: To explore the effects of parenting style on emotional and behavioral problems (EBPs) of preschool children and to provide theoretical reference for promoting children s physical and mental health. Methods: In October-November 2021, a stratified cluster random sampling method was adopted to select 3 575 preschool children aged 3-6 years from 12 kindergartens in Hefei. Data on parenting styles and children s EBPs were collected through electronic questionnaires. Binary Logistic regression model was used to explore the effects of parenting styles on children s EBPs. Results: The detection rates of emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer interaction problems, and prosocial behavior problems were 15.5% ( n =554), 23.2% ( n =830), 22.4% ( n =802), 38.2% ( n =1 367), and 29.5% ( n =1 055) in preschool children, respectively. Binary Logistic regression analysis showed that after adjusting for covariates such as child s age, sex, and preterm birth, a high authoritative parenting style reduced the risk of EBPs in children ( OR =0.29-0.78), while a high authoritarian ( OR =1.36-2.15) and high permissive ( OR =1.36-1.68) parenting style in mothers increased the risk of EBPs in children (all P <0.05). Further stratified analysis indicated that among children with fathers exhibiting high authoritative, high authoritarian, or high permissive parenting styles, a high authoritative parenting style in mothers reduced the risk of peer interaction problems and prosocial behavior problems ( OR =0.51, 0.30 ; 0.44, 0.23; 0.51, 0.29, all P <0.05). Among children with fathers exhibiting a high authoritative parenting style, a high authoritarian parenting style in mothers increased the risk of emotional problems ( OR =2.59), and both high authoritarian and high permissive parenting styles in mothers increased the risk of conduct problems ( OR =3.25, 2.09) and hyperactivity problems ( OR =2.35, 2.87) (all P <0.05). Among children with fathers exhibiting high authoritarian or high permissive parenting styles, a high authoritarian parenting style in mothers increased the risk of EBPs ( OR =1.65-2.71, 1.62-2.52, all P <0.05). Conclusion Parenting style is an important factor affecting EBPs of preschool children, and appropriate parenting style is beneficial for children s psychological development.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the rules of acupoint selection and compatibility of acupuncture and moxibustion in treatment of chronic cough using data mining. METHODS: The ancient and modern medical record cloud platform, and the databases, i.e. CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, EMbase, Web of Science and PubMed, were searched to screen the ancient and modern literature on acupuncture and moxibustion treatment of chronic cough. The prescription database was established for acupuncture and moxibustion treatment of chronic cough, and the analysis conducted on the frequency and use percentage in the aspects of intervention measures, acupoint selection, acupoint distribution, meridian tropism, special points and acupoint combination, as well as the association rules and clustering rules of acupoint selection. The subgroup analysis was performed in accordance with the etiology of chronic cough and intervention measures. RESULTS: A total of 106 articles were included and 158 prescriptions were extracted. The intervention measures were acupuncture, moxibustion, herbal medication and the combination of several measures. The high-frequency acupoints included Feishu (BL13), Zusanli (ST36), Dazhui (GV14), Pishu (BL20), Danzhong (CV17), Shenshu (BL23), Lieque (LU7), Dingchuan (EX-B1), Tiantu (CV22), and Fenglong (ST40). These acupoints are mainly distributed on the back, lumbar region, chest and abdomen. The involved meridians were bladder meridian of foot-taiyang, conception vessel, and lung meridian of hand-taiyin. The special points covered back-shu points, crossing points and five-shu point. Regarding the compatibility of acupoints, the combination of upper and lower points, and the combination of front and back points were predominant in treatment. The analysis of association rules found that the support of Feishu (BL13)→Zusanli (ST36) was the highest; the cluster analysis obtained 8 clusters of acupoints. The acupoint compatibility and overall rules were similar when cough variant asthma (CVA) or the mixed reasons were involved, and the local treatment approach was adopted if the etiology of disease was related to upper airway cough syndrome (UACS) and gastroesophageal reflux cough (GERC). The acupoint selection was similar among different intervention measures. When two kinds of measures were combined in treatment, Feishu (BL13), Pishu (BL20) and Zusanli (ST36) were the most common. CONCLUSION In treatment with acupuncture and moxibustion for chronic cough, the acupoints are selected on the affected local area, depending on syndrome differentiation, and focusing on back-shu points. The main acupoints are Feishu (BL13), Zusanli (ST36), Dazhui (GV14), Pishu (BL20), Danzhong (CV17) and Shenshu (BL23). The combined therapy is dominant with acupuncture, moxibustion and herbal medicine involved.
Acupuncture Points ; Moxibustion/history* ; Humans ; Cough/history* ; Acupuncture Therapy/history* ; Chronic Disease/therapy* ; Data Mining ; History, Ancient ; Meridians ; Chronic Cough

This study employed the "disease-medicine-dose" pattern to mine the medication rules of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) prescriptions containing Astragali Radix in ancient Chinese medical books, aiming to provide a scientific basis for the clinical application of Astragali Radix and the development of new medicines. The TCM prescriptions containing Astragali Radix were retrieved from databases such as Chinese Medical Dictionary and imported into Excel 2020 to construct the prescription library. Statical analysis were performed for the prescriptions regarding the indications, syndromes, medicine use frequency, herb effects, nature and taste, meridian tropism, dosage forms, and dose. SPSS statistics 26.0 and IBM SPSS Modeler 18.0 were used for association rules analysis and cluster analysis. A total of 2 297 prescriptions containing Astragali Radix were collected, involving 233 indications, among which sore and ulcer, consumptive disease, sweating disorder, and apoplexy had high frequency(>25), and their syndromes were mainly Qi and blood deficiency, Qi and blood deficiency, Yin and Yang deficiency, and Qi deficiency and collateral obstruction, respectively. In the prescriptions, 98 medicines were used with the frequency >25 and they mainly included Qi-tonifying medicines and blood-tonifying medicines. Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, Angelicae Sinensis Radix, Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma, Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma, and Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium were frequently used. The medicines with high frequency mainly have warm or cold nature, and sweet, pungent, or bitter taste, with tropism to spleen, lung, heart, liver, and kidney meridians. In the treatment of sore and ulcer, Astragali Radix was mainly used with the dose of 3.73 g and combined with Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma to promote granulation and heal up sores. In the treatment of consumptive disease, Astragali Radix was mainly used with the dose of 37.30 g and combined with Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma to tonify deficiency and replenish Qi. In the treatment of sweating disorder, Astragali Radix was mainly used with the dose of 3.73 g and combined with Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma to consolidate exterior and stop sweating. In the treatment of apoplexy, Astragali Radix was mainly used with the dose of 7.46 g and combined with Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma to dispell wind and stop convulsions. Astragali Radix can be used in the treatment of multiple system diseases, with the effects of tonifying Qi and ascending Yang, consolidating exterior and stopping sweating, and expressing toxin and promoting granulation. According to the manifestations of different diseases, when combined with other medicines, Astragali Radix was endowed with the effects of promoting granulation and healing up sores, tonifying deficiency and Qi, consolidating exterior and stopping sweating, and dispelling wind and replenishing Qi. The findings provide a theoretical reference and a scientific basis for the clinical application of Astragali Radix and the development of new medicines.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal/history* ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional/history* ; History, Ancient ; Astragalus Plant/chemistry* ; China ; Astragalus propinquus

The gut microbiota regulates intestinal nutrient absorption, participates in modulating host glucolipid metabolism, and contributes to ameliorating glucolipid metabolism disorder. Dysbiosis of the gut microbiota can compromise the integrity of the intestinal mucosal barrier, induce inflammatory responses, and exacerbate insulin resistance and abnormal lipid metabolism in the host. Dangua Humai Oral Liquid, a hospital-developed formulation for regulating glucolipid metabolism, has been granted a national invention patent and demonstrates significant clinical efficacy. This study aimed to investigate the effects of Dangua Humai Oral Liquid on gut microbiota and the intestinal mucosal barrier in a mouse model with glucolipid metabolism disorder. A glucolipid metabolism disorder model was established by feeding mice a high-glucose and high-fat diet. The mice were divided into a normal group, a model group, and a treatment group, with eight mice in each group. The treatment group received a daily gavage of Dangua Humai Oral Liquid(20 g·kg~(-1)), while the normal group and model group were given an equivalent volume of sterile water. After 15 weeks of intervention, glucolipid metabolism, intestinal mucosal barrier function, and inflammatory responses were evaluated. Metagenomics and untargeted metabolomics were employed to analyze changes in gut microbiota and associated metabolic pathways. Significant differences were observed between the indicators of the normal group and the model group. Compared with the model group, the treatment group exhibited marked improvements in glucolipid metabolism disorder, alleviated pathological damage in the liver and small intestine tissue, elevated expression of recombinant claudin 1(CLDN1), occluding(OCLN), and zonula occludens 1(ZO-1) in the small intestine tissue, and reduced serum levels of inflammatory factors lipopolysaccharides(LPS), lipopolysaccharide-binding protein(LBP), interleukin-6(IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α). At the phylum level, the relative abundance of Bacteroidota decreased, while that of Firmicutes increased. Lipid-related metabolic pathways were significantly altered. In conclusion, based on the successful establishment of the mouse model of glucolipid metabolism disorder, this study confirmed that Dangua Humai Oral Liquid effectively modulates gut microbiota and mucosal barrier function, reduces serum inflammatory factor levels, and regulates lipid-related metabolic pathways, thereby ameliorating glucolipid metabolism disorder.
Animals ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome/drug effects* ; Mice ; Intestinal Mucosa/microbiology* ; Male ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Humans ; Glycolipids/metabolism* ; Lipid Metabolism/drug effects* ; Administration, Oral ; Disease Models, Animal

Insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) is a critical endocrine mediator implicated in male reproductive physiology. To investigate the correlation between IGF2 protein levels and various aspects of male infertility, specifically focusing on sperm quality, inflammation, and DNA damage, a cohort of 320 male participants was recruited from the Women's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine (Hangzhou, China) between 1 st January 2024 and 1 st March 2024. The relationship between IGF2 protein concentrations and sperm parameters was assessed, and Spearman correlation and linear regression analysis were employed to evaluate the independent associations between IGF2 protein levels and risk factors for infertility. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure IGF2 protein levels in seminal plasma, alongside markers of inflammation (tumor necrosis factor-alpha [TNF-α] and interleukin-1β [IL-1β]). The relationship between seminal plasma IGF2 protein levels and DNA damage marker phosphorylated histone H2AX (γ-H2AX) was also explored. Our findings reveal that IGF2 protein expression decreased notably in patients with asthenospermia and teratospermia. Correlation analysis revealed nuanced associations between IGF2 protein levels and specific sperm parameters, and low IGF2 protein concentrations correlated with increased inflammation and DNA damage in sperm. The observed correlations between IGF2 protein levels and specific sperm parameters, along with its connection to inflammation and DNA damage, underscore the importance of IGF2 in the broader context of male reproductive health. These findings lay the groundwork for future research and potential therapeutic interventions targeting IGF2-related pathways to enhance male fertility.
Humans ; Male ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor II/metabolism* ; Infertility, Male/genetics* ; DNA Damage ; Adult ; Inflammation/metabolism* ; Spermatozoa/metabolism* ; Semen Analysis ; Semen/metabolism* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/metabolism* ; Histones/metabolism* ; Interleukin-1beta/metabolism*

This study explores whether the current external quality assessment (EQA) level and acceptable bias for basic semen analysis in China are clinically useful. We collected data of semen EQA from Andrology laboratories in the Hunan Province (China) in 2022 and searched for data in the published literature from January 2000 to December 2023 in China. On the basis of these data, we analyzed the coefficients of variation and acceptable biases of different quality control materials for basic semen analysis through robust statistics. We compared these findings with quality specifications based on biological variation from optimal, desirable, and minimum levels of bias to seek a unified and more suitable semen EQA bias evaluation standard for China's national conditions. Different sources of semen quality control material exhibited considerable variation in acceptable biases among laboratories, ranging from 8.2% to 56.9%. A total of 50.0% of the laboratories met the minimum quality specifications for progressive motility (PR), whereas 100.0% and 75.0% of laboratories met only the minimum quality specifications for sperm concentration and total motility (nonprogressive [NP] + PR), respectively. The Z value for sperm concentration and PR+NP was equivalent to the desirable performance specification, whereas the Z value for PR was equivalent only to the minimum performance specification. This study highlights the feasibility of operating external quality assessment schemes for basic semen analysis using quality specifications based on biological variation. These specifications should be unified among external quality control (EQC) centers based on biological variation.
Semen Analysis/standards* ; Humans ; China ; Male ; Quality Control ; Sperm Motility ; Sperm Count/standards*

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to analyze the clinical features and genetic etiology of a patient with multiple morphological abnormalities of the sperm flagella (MMAF) retrospectively. METHODS: A severely oligospermic patient from the Reproductive Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Ningbo University was selected as the study subject. Clinical data and examination results were collected. High-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics were used to analyze the genetic etiology. And Sanger sequencing was employed to validate findings in the family. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to observe the sperm ultrastructure, and immunofluorescence analysis was performed to examine the localization of FSIP2 protein in the sperm. RESULTS: The patient presented with severe oligospermia, and sperm morphology displayed MMAF. TEM revealed fibrous sheath and 9+2 microtubule structural disruptions in the sperm. Sequencing identified compound heterozygous variants in the FSIP2 gene (c.17798C > T, c.5927T > G), inherited from the father and mother, respectively. According to the guidelines of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, the variants were classified as pathogenic. The patient's spouse underwent intracytoplasmic single sperm injection, resulting in one embryo, but no clinical pregnancy occurred after embryo transfer. CONCLUSION This study reported the mutation of FSIP2 gene c.17798C > T, c.5927T > G in a patient with MMAF. These findings expand the mutational spectrum of the FSIP2 gene and provide insights for genetic and assisted reproductive counseling for patients with MMAF.
Humans ; Male ; Sperm Tail/pathology* ; Heterozygote ; Oligospermia/genetics* ; Spermatozoa ; Mutation ; Infertility, Male/genetics* ; Adult ; Pedigree ; Retrospective Studies ; Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic

Colorectal cancer (CRC) poses a severe global health challenge with high incidence and mortality rates. USP37 has been identified as the bona fide deubiquitinase of SND1, playing a critical role in stabilizing SND1, thereby augmenting its oncogenic potential. The interaction between USP37 and SND1 was confirmed through extensive proteomics, ubiquitinomics, and interactomics, underscoring their synergistic effects on CRC proliferation and metastasis. Additionally, CDK1 has emerged as a pivotal regulator of USP37, phosphorylating it at threonine 631 rather than serine 628, enhancing its deubiquitinase activity, and consequently stabilizing SND1 to drive CRC malignancy further. Histological analyses of human CRC samples linked the upregulation of CDK1 and USP37 with increased SND1 levels and poor patient prognosis. High-throughput virtual screening and subsequent experimental validation identified Dacarbazine as a pharmacological inhibitor of USP37, and its inhibition disrupted SND1 stability, hindering CRC cell proliferation and metastasis. This study reveals a novel and promising molecular mechanism driving CRC progression through the CDK1-USP37-SND1 axis, highlighting the clinical importance of targeting this pathway to improve patient outcomes.