Cold has been a long-term survival challenge in the evolutionary process of mammals. In response to cold stress, in addition to brown adipose tissue (BAT) dissipating energy as heat through glucose and lipid oxidation to maintain body temperature, cold stimulation can strongly activate thermogenesis and energy expenditure in beige fat cells, which are widely distributed in the subcutaneous layer. However, the effects of cold stimulation on other tissues and systemic lipid metabolism remain unclear. Our previous research indicated that, under cold stress, BAT not only produces heat but also secretes numerous exosomes to mediate BAT-liver crosstalk. Whether subcutaneous fat has a similar mechanism is still unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the alterations in lipid metabolism across various tissues under cold exposure and to explore whether subcutaneous fat regulates systemic glucose and lipid metabolism via exosomes, thereby elucidating the regulatory mechanisms of lipid metabolism homeostasis under physiological stress. RT-qPCR, Western blot, and H&E staining methods were used to investigate the physiological changes in lipid metabolism in the serum, liver, epididymal white adipose tissue, and subcutaneous fat of mice under cold stimulation. The results revealed that cold exposure significantly enhanced the thermogenic activity of subcutaneous adipose tissue and markedly increased exosome secretion. These exosomes were efficiently taken up by hepatocytes, where they profoundly influenced hepatic lipid metabolism, as evidenced by alterations in the expression levels of key genes involved in lipid synthesis and catabolism pathways. This study has unveiled a novel mechanism by which subcutaneous fat regulates lipid metabolism through exosome secretion under cold stimulation, providing new insights into the systemic regulatory role of beige adipocytes under cold stress and offering a theoretical basis for the development of new therapeutic strategies for obesity and metabolic diseases.
Animals ; Lipid Metabolism/physiology* ; Mice ; Exosomes/metabolism* ; Cold Temperature ; Subcutaneous Fat/physiology* ; Thermogenesis/physiology* ; Adipose Tissue, Brown/metabolism* ; Male

Syringa pinnatifolia, belonging to the family Oleaceae, is a species endemic to China. It is predominantly distributed in the Helan Mountains region of Inner Mongolia and Ningxia of China. The peeled roots, stems, and thick branches have been used as a distinctive Mongolian medicinal material known as "Shan-chen-xiang", which has effects such as suppressing "khii", clearing heat, and relieving pain and is employed for the treatment of cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases and joint pain. Over the past five years, significant increase was achieved in research on chemical constituents and pharmacological effects. There were a total of 130 new constituents reported, covering sesquiterpenoids, lignans, and alkaloids. Its effects of anti-myocardial ischemia, anti-cerebral ischemia/reperfusion, sedation, and analgesia were revealed, and the mechanisms of agarwood formation were also investigated. To better understand its medical value and potential of clinical application, this review updates the research progress in recent five years focusing on the chemical constituents and pharmacological effects of S. pinnatifolia, providing reference for subsequent research on active ingredient and support for its innovative application in modern medicine system.
Medicine, Mongolian Traditional ; Humans ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Animals ; Syringa/chemistry*

OBJECTIVE: To assess the independent and combined effects of air pollutants, meteorological factors, and greenspace exposure on new tuberculosis (TB) cases. METHODS: TB case data from Shanghai (2013-2018) were obtained from the Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Environmental data on air pollutants, meteorological variables, and greenspace exposure were obtained from the National Tibetan Plateau Data Center. We employed a distributed-lag nonlinear model to assess the effects of these environmental factors on TB cases. RESULTS: Increased TB risk was linked to PM _2.5, PM ₁₀, and rainfall, whereas NO ₂, SO ₂, and air pressure were associated with a reduced risk. Specifically, the strongest cumulative effects occurred at various lags: PM _2.5 ( RR = 1.166, 95% CI: 1.026-1.325) at 0-19 weeks; PM ₁₀ ( RR = 1.167, 95% CI: 1.028-1.324) at 0-18 weeks; NO ₂ ( RR = 0.968, 95% CI: 0.938-0.999) at 0-1 weeks; SO ₂ ( RR = 0.945, 95% CI: 0.894-0.999) at 0-2 weeks; air pressure ( RR = 0.604, 95% CI: 0.447-0.816) at 0-8 weeks; and rainfall ( RR = 1.404, 95% CI: 1.076-1.833) at 0-22 weeks. Green space exposure did not significantly impact TB cases. Additionally, low temperatures amplified the effect of PM _2.5 on TB. CONCLUSION Exposure to PM _2.5, PM ₁₀, and rainfall increased the risk of TB, highlighting the need to address air pollutants for the prevention of TB in Shanghai.
China/epidemiology* ; Humans ; Air Pollutants/analysis* ; Tuberculosis/epidemiology* ; Incidence ; Meteorological Concepts ; Particulate Matter/adverse effects* ; Environmental Exposure ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Air Pollution ; Middle Aged

OBJECTIVE: Poxviruses are zoonotic pathogens that infect humans, mammals, vertebrates, and arthropods. However, the specific role of ticks in transmission and evolution of these viruses remains unclear. METHODS: Transcriptomic and metatranscriptomic raw data from 329 sampling pools of seven tick species across five continents were mined to assess the diversity and abundance of poxviruses. Chordopoxviral sequences were assembled and subjected to phylogenetic analysis to trace the origins of the unblasted fragments within these sequences. RESULTS: Fifty-eight poxvirus species, representing two subfamilies and 20 genera, were identified, with 212 poxviral sequences assembled. A substantial proportion of AT-rich fragments were detected in the assembled poxviral genomes. These genomic sequences contained fragments originating from rodents, archaea, and arthropods. CONCLUSION Our findings indicate that ticks play a significant role in the transmission and evolution of poxviruses. These viruses demonstrate the capacity to modulate virulence and adaptability through horizontal gene transfer, gene recombination, and gene mutations, thereby promoting co-existence and co-evolution with their hosts. This study advances understanding of the ecological dynamics of poxvirus transmission and evolution and highlights the potential role of ticks as vectors and vessels in these processes.
Animals ; Poxviridae/physiology* ; Ticks/virology* ; Phylogeny ; Transcriptome ; Evolution, Molecular ; Poxviridae Infections/virology* ; Genome, Viral

With the aging and changes in living conditions,the incidence rate and mortality of tumors have been rising rapidly,which has become a hot topic in the medical field.At present,the treatment methods or tumors are also improving day by day,mainly relying on surgical resection.However,the characteristics of fast tumor metastasis and spread,as well as complex growth locations,make the surgical resection method limited.More and more people choose drug targeted therapy for tumors in order to reduce surgical side effects,among which cyclic guanosine monophosphate synthase interferon gene stimulatory factor(cGAS-STING signaling pathway)plays an important role in the occurrence,proliferation,and survival of tumor cells.At present,there are many types of drugs used to treat tumors,but most of them have limited control over tumor spread.In order to study the role of traditional Chinese medicine in tumor treatment and leverage its multi-component,multi target,and multi pathway characteristics,this article comprehensively analyzes and summarizes the treatment of tumors using traditional Chinese medicine based on the cGAS-STING signaling pathway in recent years,in order to further study the mechanism of action of traditional Chinese medicine and its active ingredients in the cGAS-STING signaling pathway,it also provides ideas for clinical research on new drugs.

Objective To explore the efficacy of T-cell spot test of tuberculosis infection(T-SPOT.TB)in the differential diagnosis of spinal tuberculosis(STB),and optimize diagnostic efficacy through the optimal cut-off value of receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve.Methods Clinical data of patients with spinal infection in a hospi-tal from January 2010 to May 2019 were collected,including preoperative T-SPOT.TB test results,white blood cell count,C-reactive protein,erythrocyte sedimentation rate,procalcitonin,and tuberculosis antibodies,etal.Clinical diagnosis was conducted based on diagnostic criteria.The sensitivity and specificity of T-SPOT.TB in preoperative diagnosis of STB and other spinal infection was analyzed,and the diagnostic efficacy of the optimized T-SPOT.TB indicators was evaluated.Results A total of 132 patients were included in this study,out of whom 78 patients(59.09％)were diagnosed with STB,and 54(40.91％)were diagnosed with non-tuberculosis(non-TB)spinal in-fection.The sensitivity and specificity of T-SPOT.TB in differential diagnosis of STB were 67.68％and 66.67％,respectively.Univariate logistic regression analysis showed that compared with non-TB spinal infection,the OR va-lue of T-SPOT.TB test in diagnosing STB was 4.188(95％CI:1.847-9.974,P＜0.001).The optimized T-SPOT.TB evaluation index through ROC curve to determine the optimal cut-off values of ESAT-6,CFP-10,and CFP-10+ESAT-6 for differential diagnosis of STB and non-TB spinal infection were 12.5,19.5,and 36,respec-tively,and area under curve(AUC)values were 0.765 6,0.741 5,and 0.778 6,respectively,all with good diag-nostic efficacy.CFP-10+ESAT-6 had the highest AUC.CFP-10+ESAT-6 specific spot count had higher efficacy in the diagnosis of STB,with a diagnostic accuracy of 75.56％,higher than 67.42％of pre-optimized T-SPOT.TB.Conclusion T-SPOT.TB test has high diagnostic efficacy in differentiating STB from non-TB spinal infection.Posi-tivity in T-SPOT.TB test,especially with spot count of CFP-10+ESAT-6 over 36,indicates a higher likelihood of STB.

Objective To investigate the role and molecular mechanism of exosomal miR-224-5p in colorectal cancer (CRC).Methods The miR-224-5p expression in CRC patient tissues and cell-derived exosomes was measured by laser capture microdissection and qRT-PCR, respectively. Dual-luciferase reporter gene assay was used to determine the target gene of miR-224-5p. The protein expressions of p53 and unc-51 like kinase 2 (ULK2) in CRC cells were detected by western blot. Flow cytometry was used to detect cell cycle and apoptosis. Cell proliferation was measured by CCK8 and EdU assay.Results The miR-224-5p expression was upregulated in CRC tissues and increased progressively with the rise of CRC stage. CRC cells secreted extracellular miR-224-5p mainly in an exosome-dependent manner, and then miR-224-5p could be transferred to surrounding tumor cells to regulate cell proliferation in the form of autocrine or paracrine. Moreover, ULK2 was characterized as a direct target of miR-224-5p and was downregulated in CRC tissues. Interestingly, ULK2 inhibited CRC cell proliferation in a p53-dependent manner. Furthermore, exosome-derived miR-224-5p partially reversed the proliferation regulation of ULK2 on CRC cells.Conclusion Our findings demonstrate that exosome-transmitted miR-224-5p promotes p53-dependent cell proliferation by targeting ULK2 in CRC, which may offer promising targets for CRC prevention and therapy.

Objective To observe and compare the changes of vertebral bone mineral density(BMD)in the early stages of spinal Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.Methods Patients who underwent spinal surgery at Xiangya Hospital,Central South University from January 1 to December 31,2023 were continuously enrolled(spinal tuber-culosis group),based on gender matching,non-spinal tuberculosis surgical patients treated for spinal stenosis were selected as the control group.Dual-energy X-ray scans were performed on the enrolled patients,difference in verte-bral BMD between two groups of patients was compared.An animal model of spinal Mycobacterium tuberculosis in-fection(referred to as the animal model)was constructed,differences in microstructure of trabecular bone between spinal tuberculosis group and control group was compared,and the bone volume/tissue volume(BV/TV),the thickness of trabecular bone(Tb.Th),the number of trabecular bone(Tb.N),and sparse density of trabecular(Tb.Sp)were used as evaluation indexes to further analyze the bone quality differences between the diseased verte-brae and the neighboring vertebrae.Results 69 patients were included in the spinal tuberculosis group and the con-trol group,respectively.The BMD of patients in the spinal tuberculosis group(0.793[0.712,0.869]g/cm2)was lower than that of the control group(0.907[0.800,1.020]g/cm2),difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).Microstructure of trabecular bone BV/TV([18.4±5.4]％),Tb.Th([0.124±0.010]mm)in the spinal tuberculosis group of animal model were significantly altered compared with BV/TV([22.6±3.2]％),Tb.Th([0.160±0.017]mm)in the control group(both P＜0.05).In the spinal tuberculosis group,microstructure of diseased vetebral trabecular bone BV/TV([25.5±6.7]％)and Tb.N([1.871±0.443]/mm)were significantly lower than BV/TV([26.6±6.8]％)and Tb.N([1.969±0.454]/mm)in the neighboring vertebrae,both with statistically difference(both P＜0.05).Conclusion In the early stages of spinal Mycobacterium tuberculosis infec-tion,microstructure of vertebral trabecular bone can be altered,leading to a decrease in BMD.

BackgroundThe treatment of patients with depressive disorders is short of targeted outcome assessment. As a secondary outcome that is guided by patient values， quality of life is thus of relatively high evaluative value. In China， there exists a lack of large sample prospective cohort studies evaluating the effect of different treatment protocols on quality of life in patients with acute depressive disorder. ObjectiveTo explore the effects of monotherapy and combination therapy on the quality of life of patients with depressive disorder in acute phase， so as to provide references for optimizing the outcome of treatment for such patients. MethodsA prospective follow-up cohort study from August 24， 2020 to November 29， 2021 was conducted， including 1 330 patients from 22 hospitals across 18 cities in China. All these patients met the diagnostic criteria for depressive episodes， recurrent depressive disorder from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders， fifth edition （DSM-5）. Patients were divided into monotherapy group （n=969） and combination therapy group （n=361） according to the acute phase treatment protocol. At baseline， the end of the first half month as well as the 1^st， 2^nd， 3^rd， 6^th， 9^th and 12^th months of treatment， patients were assessed with Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology Self-report （IDS-SR30）， Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire-Short Form （Q-LES-Q-SF）， Concise Health Risk Tracking Scale （CHRT） and Siehan Disability Scale （SDS）. Frequency， Intensity， and Burden of Side Effects Rating （FIBSER） was adopted for assessment at each visit time point of treatment. Spearman correlation analysis was adopted to examine the correlation of quality of life with suicide risk， adverse reactions and impaired social functioning among patients. ResultsAt the end of three months of treatment， the Q-LES-Q-SF score of monotherapy group was higher than that of combination therapy group， and the difference was statistically significant （Z=2.008， P<0.05）. The time effects of both treatment protocols possessed statistical significance （F=111.393， P<0.01）. At the end of three months of treatment， the Q-LES-Q-SF score was negatively correlated with CHRT and SDS scores， respectively， in both monotherapy group and combination treatment group （r=-0.660， -0.712， -0.634， -0.718， P<0.01）. ConclusionBoth monotherapy and combination therapy can facilitate the improvement of the life quality of patients with acute depressive disorder， but monotherapy may achieve better than the combination therapy in this aspect. ［Funded by The National Key Research and Development Program of China "Research on the Prevention and Control of Major Chronic Non-communicable Diseases" （number， 2017YFC1311101）］

To investigate the effect of inactivated new tu-berculosis vaccine strain(B/R strain)on immune memory of T lymphocytes in mice,C57BL/6 mice were immunized with PBS,BCG strain,B/R strain and inactivated B/R strain.At week 9,12 and 15 after immunization,the spleens of each group were taken,and the spleen lymphocytes were extracted.Half of the spleen lymphocytes in each group were directly de-tected,and the rest were cultured in vitro and stimulated with PPD according to the experimental design.Flow cytometry was used to detect the number of central memory T cells(TCM)and effector memory T cells(TEM)in spleen lymphocytes of uns-timulated and stimulated mice.Without PPD stimulation after immunization,the CD4+TCM(F=13.20,P＜0.05)and CD4+TEM(F=28.15,P＜0.05)induced by inactivated B/R group,B/R group and BCG group was higher than that of PBS group at week 9.The induced CD8+TCM(F=8.92,P＜0.05)and CD8+TEM(F=6.13,P＜0.05)was higher than that of PBS group.At week 12,the CD4+TCM(F=15.97,P＜0.05)and CD4+TEM(F=13.60,P＜0.05)induced by each group was higher than that of PBS group.The induced CD8+TCM(F=5.52,P＜0.05)and CD8+TEM(F=20.15,P＜0.05)was higher than that of PBS group.At week 15,the CD4+TCM(F=15.40,P＜0.05)and CD4+TEM(F=7.43,P＜0.05)induced by each group was higher than that of PBS group.The induced CD8+TCM(F=6.57,P＜0.05)and CD8+TEM(F=9.27,P＜0.05)was higher than that of PBS group.At week 9,the CD4+TCM(F=9.66,P＜0.05)and CD4+TEM(F=11.20,P＜0.05)induced by inacti-vated B/R group,B/R group and BCG group was higher than that of PBS group.The induced CD8+TCM(F=7.24,P＜0.05)and CD8+TEM(F=9.30,P＜0.05)was higher than that of PBS group.At week 12,the CD4+TCM(F=9.33,P＜0.05)and CD4+TEM(F=6.94,P＜0.05)induced by each group was higher than that of PBS group.The induced CD8+TCM(F=67.71,P＜0.05)and CD8+TEM(F=10.86,P＜0.05)was higher than that of PBS group.At week 15,the CD4+TCM(F=39.88,P＜0.05)and CD4+TEM(F=11.93,P＜0.05)induced by each group was higher than that of PBS group.The induced CD8+TCM and CD8+TEM(F=38.47,P＜0.05)was higher than that of PBS group(F=138.80,P＜0.05).It is worth noting that at week 15,the CD8+TCM(qinactivated B/R=12.24,qB/R=12.61,P＜0.05)and CD8+TEM(qinactivated B/R=7.19,qB/R=5.00,P＜0.05)induced by inactivated B/R group and B/R group were higher than those of BCG group.The immunizing mice with inactivated B/R strain,the ability of inducing immune memory of T lymphocytes in mice was equivalent to that of B/R strain.Heat-inacti-vation did not affect the ability of B/R strain to induce immune memory in mice.