OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Shexiang Tongxin Dropping Pill (STDP) in treating stable angina patients with phlegm-heat and blood-stasis syndrome by exercise duration and metabolic equivalents. METHODS: This multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial enrolled stable angina patients with phlegm-heat and blood-stasis syndrome from 22 hospitals. They were randomized 1:1 to STDP (35 mg/pill, 6 pills per day) or placebo for 56 days. The primary outcome was the exercise duration and metabolic equivalents (METs) assessed by the standard Bruce exercise treadmill test after 56 days of treatment. The secondary outcomes included the total angina symptom score, Chinese medicine (CM) symptom scores, Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ) scores, changes in ST-T on electrocardiogram and adverse events (AEs). RESULTS: This trial enrolled 309 patients, including 155 and 154 in the STDP and placebo groups, respectively. STDP significantly prolonged exercise duration with an increase of 51.0 s, compared to a decrease of 12.0 s with placebo (change rate: -11.1% vs. 3.2%, P<0.01). The increase in METs was significantly greater in the STDP group than in the placebo group (change: -0.4 vs. 0.0, change rate: -5.0% vs. 0.0%, P<0.01). The improvement of total angina symptom scores (25.0% vs. 0.0%), CM symptom scores (38.7% vs. 11.8%), reduction of nitroglycerin consumption (100.0% vs. 11.3%), and all domains of SAQ, were significantly greater with STDP than placebo (all P<0.01). The changes in Q-T intervals at 28 and 56 days from baseline were similar between the two groups (both P>0.05). Twenty-five participants (16.3%) with STDP and 16 (10.5%) with placebo experienced AEs (P=0.131), with no serious AEs observed. CONCLUSION STDP could improve exercise tolerance in patients with stable angina and phlegm-heat and blood stasis syndrome, with a favorable safety profile. (Registration No. ChiCTR-IPR-15006020).
Humans ; Double-Blind Method ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/adverse effects* ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Angina, Stable/physiopathology* ; Aged ; Syndrome ; Treatment Outcome ; Placebos ; Tablets

OBJECTIVE: To explore and quantify the association of hot night exposure during the sperm development period (0-90 lag days) with semen quality. METHODS: A total of 6,640 male sperm donors from 6 human sperm banks in China during 2014-2020 were recruited in this multicenter study. Two indices (i.e., hot night excess [HNE] and hot night duration [HND]) were used to estimate the heat intensity and duration during nighttime. Linear mixed models were used to examine the association between hot nights and semen quality parameters. RESULTS: The exposure-response relationship revealed that HNE and HND during 0-90 days before semen collection had a significantly inverse association with sperm motility. Specifically, a 1 °C increase in HNE was associated with decreased sperm progressive motility of 0.0090 (95% confidence interval [ CI]: -0.0147, -0.0033) and decreased total motility of 0.0094 (95% CI: -0.0160, -0.0029). HND was significantly associated with reduced sperm progressive motility and total motility of 0.0021 (95% CI: -0.0040, -0.0003) and 0.0023 (95% CI: -0.0043, -0.0002), respectively. Consistent results were observed at different temperature thresholds on hot nights. CONCLUSION Our findings highlight the need to mitigate nocturnal heat exposure during spermatogenesis to maintain optimal semen quality.
Humans ; Male ; Semen Analysis ; Adult ; Sperm Motility ; Hot Temperature/adverse effects* ; China ; Middle Aged ; Spermatozoa/physiology* ; Young Adult

Objective:It is of great significance to analyze the expression characteristics of immune-related genes in pancreatic cancer and their relationship with prognosis,construct and verify a reliable prognostic model,and explore prognostic methods of pancreatic cancer from the perspective of immune microenvironment.Methods:GSEA enrich-ment analysis of differentially expressed genes in pancreatic cancer was performed to identify key immune-related pathways and genes.The genes involved in the immune pathway were screened through the STRING database and combined with univariate Cox regression and LASSO regression analysis.Three key genes,RIPK2,IRAK2 and CXCL11,were finally identified to construct the prognostic model.The accuracy of the model was evaluated using ROC curves and calibration curves,and verified in an independent verification set(GSE57495).At the same time,the expression pat-terns of key genes in the immune microenvironment were analyzed by single-cell RNA sequencing,and the expression levels of these genes were verified in pancreatic cancer cell lines by RT-qPCR.Results:The expressions of RIPK2,IRAK2 and CXCL11 in pancreatic cancer cell lines were higher than those in normal pancreatic cancer cells(P<0.05).The model based on these three genes divided the patients into a high-risk group(n=87)and a low-risk group(n=89),and the difference in survival time between the high-risk group and the low-risk group was statistically significant(P<0.001).Risk score was correlated with G stage,N stage and tumor residue(P<0.01).Single-cell analysis showed that the ex-pression of these genes was highest in tumor-associated macrophages(mean>0.5)and correlated with regulatory T cells and macrophage infiltration(P<0.05).Multivariate analysis showed that risk score was correlated with overall sur-vival after adjusting for clinical factors(P=0.0014).Conclusion:Based on three key immune-related genes(RIPK2,IRAK2 and CXCL11),we successfully constructed a model to accurately predict the prognosis of pancreatic cancer pa-tients,revealing the important role of these genes in the tumor immune microenvironment,and providing new insights and theoretical basis for pancreatic cancer prognosis assessment and immunotherapy research.

Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)expresses abundant glycolytic enzymes and displays comprehensive glucose metabolism reprogramming.Aldolase A(ALDOA)plays a prominent role in glycolysis;however,little is known about its role in HCC development.In the present study,we aim to explore how ALDOA is involved in HCC proliferation.HCC proliferation was markedly suppressed both in vitro and in vivo following ALDOA knockout,which is consistent with ALDOA overexpression encouraging HCC prolifera-tion.Mechanistically,ALDOA knockout partially limits the glycolytic flux in HCC cells.Meanwhile,ALDOA translocated to nuclei and directly interacted with c-Jun to facilitate its Thr93 phosphorylation by P21-activated protein kinase;ALDOA knockout markedly diminished c-Jun Thr93 phosphorylation and then dampened c-Jun transcription function.A crucial site Y364 mutation in ALDOA disrupted its interaction with c-Jun,and Y364S ALDOA expression failed to rescue cell proliferation in ALDOA deletion cells.In HCC patients,the expression level of ALDOA was correlated with the phosphorylation level of c-Jun(Thr93)and poor prognosis.Remarkably,hepatic ALDOA was significantly upregulated in the promotion and progression stages of diethylnitrosamine-induced HCC models,and the knockdown of Aldoa strikingly decreased HCC development in vivo.Our study demonstrated that ALDOA is a vital driver for HCC development by activating c-Jun-mediated oncogene transcription,opening additional avenues for anti-cancer therapies.

Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)serves as a treasure trove of ancient knowledge,holding a crucial position in the medical field.However,the exploration of TCM's extensive information has been hindered by challenges related to data standardization,completeness,and accuracy,primarily due to the decen-tralized distribution of TCM resources.To address these issues,we developed a platform for TCM knowledge discovery(TCMKD,https://cbcb.cdutcm.edu.cn/TCMKD/).Seven types of data,including syndromes,formulas,Chinese patent drugs(CPDs),Chinese medicinal materials(CMMs),ingredients,targets,and diseases,were manually proofread and consolidated within TCMKD.To strengthen the integration of TCM with modern medicine,TCMKD employs analytical methods such as TCM data mining,enrichment analysis,and network localization and separation.These tools help elucidate the molecular-level commonalities between TCM and contemporary scientific insights.In addition to its analytical capabilities,a quick question and answer(Q&A)system is also embedded within TCMKD to query the database efficiently,thereby improving the interactivity of the platform.The platform also provides a TCM text annotation tool,offering a simple and efficient method for TCM text mining.Overall,TCMKD not only has the potential to become a pivotal repository for TCM,delving into the pharmaco-logical foundations of TCM treatments,but its flexible embedded tools and algorithms can also be applied to the study of other traditional medical systems,extending beyond just TCM.

Objective:To evaluate the diagnostic value of the vesical imaging-reporting and data system（VI-RADS）for determining muscle invasion in variant histology urothelial carcinoma（VUC）of the bladder.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on the pathological and imaging data of 518 bladder cancer patients admitted to Jiangsu Province Hospital between January 2013 and January 2023. Patients were stratified into pure urothelial carcinoma（PUC）group（ n = 457）and variant urothelial carcinoma（VUC）group（ n = 61）based on the presence of histological variants. In the PUC group，there were 390 males（85.3%）and 67 females（14.7%），with a mean age of（66.9 ± 11.2）years. Tumor characteristics included maximum diameter ≥ 30 mm in 149（32.6%），< 30 mm in 308（67.4%），multiple tumors in 147（32.2%），solitary in 310（67.8%），pedunculated morphology in 143（31.3%）and non-pedunculated in 314（68.7%）. Histological grading identified high-grade tumors in 319 patients（69.8%）and low-grade tumors in 138（30.2%）. Pathological stage distribution included 191 of T a（41.8%），127 of T 1（27.8%），76 of T 2（16.6%），47 of T 3（10.3%），and 16 of T 4（3.5%）patients. The VUC group included 61 patients，comprising 51 males（83.6%）and 10 females（16.4%），with a mean age of（65.8 ± 11.4）years. Tumor characteristics were maximum diameter ≥ 30 mm in 38（62.3%），< 30 mm in 23（37.7%），multiple tumors in 16（26.2%），solitary in 45（73.8%），pedunculated morphology in 11（18.0%）and non-pedunculated in 50（82.0%）. Histological grading identified high-grade tumors in 59 patients（96.7%）and low-grade tumors in 2（3.3%）. Pathological stage distribution included 3 of T a（4.9%），15 of T 1（24.6%），15 of T 2（24.6%），20 of T 3（32.8%），and 8 of T 4（13.1%）patients. No statistically significant differences were found between the two groups in gender，age，or tumor multiplicity（ P > 0.05）. Statistically significant differences were found in pathological grade，pathological stage，maximum tumor diameter，and pedunculated morphology（ P < 0.05）. Furthermore，an external validation cohort of 278 bladder cancer patients treated between February 2023 and February 2024 from multiple centers（Jiangsu Provincial People’s Hospital，The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University，Union Hospital Tongji Medical College Huazhong University of Science and Technology，Jiangsu Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine，Suzhou Municipal Hospital，Huaian First People’s Hospital，Yixing People’s Hospital）was retrospectively analyzed to externally validate the performance of VI-RADS scoring in predicting muscle invasion of VUC. This cohort included a PUC subgroup of 241 patients，comprising 196 males（81.3%）and 45 females（18.7%），with a mean age of（68.0 ± 10.7）years. Tumor characteristics were maximum diameter ≥ 30 mm in 85（35.3%），< 30 mm in 156（64.7%），multiple tumors in 65（27.0%），solitary in 176（73.0%），pedunculated morphology in 76（31.5%）and non-pedunculated in 165（68.5%）. Histological grading identified high-grade tumors in 175 patients（72.6%）and low-grade tumors in 66（27.4%）. Pathological staging comprised 107 patients of T a（44.4%），78 of T 1（32.4%），22 of T 2（9.1%），22 of T 3（9.1%），and 12 of T 4（5.0%）. The VUC subgroup consisted of 37 patients，comprising 29 males（78.4%）and 8 females（21.6%），with a mean age of（70.5 ± 9.5）years. Tumor characteristics were maximum diameter ≥ 30 mm in 23（62.2%），< 30 mm in 14（37.8%），multiple tumors in 9（24.3%），solitary in 28（75.7%），pedunculated morphology in 7（18.9%）and non-pedunculated in 30（81.1%）. Histological grading identified high-grade tumors in 36 patients（97.3%）and low-grade tumors in 1（2.7%）. Pathological staging comprised 1 patient of T a（2.7%），9 of T 1（24.3%），7 of T 2（18.9%），19 of T 3（51.4%），and 1 of T 4（2.7%）. In this validation cohort，no significant differences were found in gender，age，tumor multiplicity，or pedunculated morphology between the PUC and VUC subgroups（ P > 0.05）. Significant differences were observed in pathological grade，pathological stage，and maximum tumor diameter（ P < 0.05）. Three radiologists independently reviewed and scored the multiparametric MRI（mp-MRI）in a blinded manner. Inter-reader agreement was assessed using the weighted kappa statistic. Differences in variables between the two groups were compared using t-tests，chi-square tests，or Fisher’s exact test. The diagnostic performance of VI-RADS for muscle invasion in VUC and PUC was comprehensively evaluated using receiver operating characteristic（ROC）curves，the area under the curve（AUC），and cut-off values determined by the Youden’s index. The DeLong test was used to assess whether the diagnostic performance of VI-RADS differed between VUC and PUC. Results:In the retrospective single-center cohort，the AUC of VI-RADS for assessing muscle invasion was 0.895（95% CI 0.864?0.922）in the PUC group，with a cut-off value of > 3，and the AUC was 0.896（95% CI 0.791-0.960）in the VUC group，with a cut-off value of > 3. The difference between the two groups was not statistically significant（ P = 0.986）. Using a VI-RADS score > 3 as the cut-off value，the accuracy，sensitivity，specificity，positive predictive value（PPV），and negative predictive value（NPV）for diagnosing muscle invasion status in the PUC group were 85.8%（392/457），70.5%（98/139），92.5%（294/318），80.3%（98/122），and 87.8%（294/335），respectively. The corresponding values for the VUC group were 82.0%（50/61），76.7%（33/43），94.4%（17/18），97.1%（33/34），and 63.0%（17/27）.In the retrospective multicenter cohort，the AUC of VI-RADS for assessing muscle invasion was 0.891（95% CI 0.845?0.927）in the PUC group，with a cut-off value of > 2，and the AUC was 0.898（95% CI 0.754?0.973）in the VUC group，with a cut-off value of > 3. The difference between the two groups was not statistically significant（ P = 0.897）. Using a VI-RADS score > 3 as the cut-off value，the accuracy，sensitivity，specificity，PPV，and NPV for diagnosing muscle invasion status in the PUC group were 85.9%（207/241），58.9%（33/56），94.1%（174/185），75.0%（33/44），and 88.3%（174/197），respectively. The corresponding values for the VUC group were 81.1%（30/37），77.8%（21/27），90.0%（9/10），95.5%（21/22），and 60.0%（9/15）.In the single-center cohort，the Kappa values for inter-reader agreement in assessing muscle invasion status using VI-RADS were 0.881（ P < 0.01）for the PUC group and 0.941（ P < 0.01）for the VUC group among the three readers. In the multicenter cohort，the Kappa values were 0.858（ P < 0.01）for the PUC group and 0.838（ P < 0.01）for the VUC group. Conclusions:VI-RADS demonstrates similarly high diagnostic performance for assessing muscle invasion in both PUC and VUC，which is applicable for diagnosing muscle invasion status in VUC，and shows good inter-reader agreement.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) serves as a treasure trove of ancient knowledge, holding a crucial position in the medical field. However, the exploration of TCM's extensive information has been hindered by challenges related to data standardization, completeness, and accuracy, primarily due to the decentralized distribution of TCM resources. To address these issues, we developed a platform for TCM knowledge discovery (TCMKD, https://cbcb.cdutcm.edu.cn/TCMKD/). Seven types of data, including syndromes, formulas, Chinese patent drugs (CPDs), Chinese medicinal materials (CMMs), ingredients, targets, and diseases, were manually proofread and consolidated within TCMKD. To strengthen the integration of TCM with modern medicine, TCMKD employs analytical methods such as TCM data mining, enrichment analysis, and network localization and separation. These tools help elucidate the molecular-level commonalities between TCM and contemporary scientific insights. In addition to its analytical capabilities, a quick question and answer (Q&A) system is also embedded within TCMKD to query the database efficiently, thereby improving the interactivity of the platform. The platform also provides a TCM text annotation tool, offering a simple and efficient method for TCM text mining. Overall, TCMKD not only has the potential to become a pivotal repository for TCM, delving into the pharmacological foundations of TCM treatments, but its flexible embedded tools and algorithms can also be applied to the study of other traditional medical systems, extending beyond just TCM.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) expresses abundant glycolytic enzymes and displays comprehensive glucose metabolism reprogramming. Aldolase A (ALDOA) plays a prominent role in glycolysis; however, little is known about its role in HCC development. In the present study, we aim to explore how ALDOA is involved in HCC proliferation. HCC proliferation was markedly suppressed both in vitro and in vivo following ALDOA knockout, which is consistent with ALDOA overexpression encouraging HCC proliferation. Mechanistically, ALDOA knockout partially limits the glycolytic flux in HCC cells. Meanwhile, ALDOA translocated to nuclei and directly interacted with c-Jun to facilitate its Thr93 phosphorylation by P21-activated protein kinase; ALDOA knockout markedly diminished c-Jun Thr93 phosphorylation and then dampened c-Jun transcription function. A crucial site Y364 mutation in ALDOA disrupted its interaction with c-Jun, and Y364S ALDOA expression failed to rescue cell proliferation in ALDOA deletion cells. In HCC patients, the expression level of ALDOA was correlated with the phosphorylation level of c-Jun (Thr93) and poor prognosis. Remarkably, hepatic ALDOA was significantly upregulated in the promotion and progression stages of diethylnitrosamine-induced HCC models, and the knockdown of A ldoa strikingly decreased HCC development in vivo. Our study demonstrated that ALDOA is a vital driver for HCC development by activating c-Jun-mediated oncogene transcription, opening additional avenues for anti-cancer therapies.

Objective:It is of great significance to analyze the expression characteristics of immune-related genes in pancreatic cancer and their relationship with prognosis,construct and verify a reliable prognostic model,and explore prognostic methods of pancreatic cancer from the perspective of immune microenvironment.Methods:GSEA enrich-ment analysis of differentially expressed genes in pancreatic cancer was performed to identify key immune-related pathways and genes.The genes involved in the immune pathway were screened through the STRING database and combined with univariate Cox regression and LASSO regression analysis.Three key genes,RIPK2,IRAK2 and CXCL11,were finally identified to construct the prognostic model.The accuracy of the model was evaluated using ROC curves and calibration curves,and verified in an independent verification set(GSE57495).At the same time,the expression pat-terns of key genes in the immune microenvironment were analyzed by single-cell RNA sequencing,and the expression levels of these genes were verified in pancreatic cancer cell lines by RT-qPCR.Results:The expressions of RIPK2,IRAK2 and CXCL11 in pancreatic cancer cell lines were higher than those in normal pancreatic cancer cells(P<0.05).The model based on these three genes divided the patients into a high-risk group(n=87)and a low-risk group(n=89),and the difference in survival time between the high-risk group and the low-risk group was statistically significant(P<0.001).Risk score was correlated with G stage,N stage and tumor residue(P<0.01).Single-cell analysis showed that the ex-pression of these genes was highest in tumor-associated macrophages(mean>0.5)and correlated with regulatory T cells and macrophage infiltration(P<0.05).Multivariate analysis showed that risk score was correlated with overall sur-vival after adjusting for clinical factors(P=0.0014).Conclusion:Based on three key immune-related genes(RIPK2,IRAK2 and CXCL11),we successfully constructed a model to accurately predict the prognosis of pancreatic cancer pa-tients,revealing the important role of these genes in the tumor immune microenvironment,and providing new insights and theoretical basis for pancreatic cancer prognosis assessment and immunotherapy research.