ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the action mechanism by which Banxia Xiexintang （BXT） inhibits epithelial-mesenchymal transition （EMT） in chronic atrophic gastritis （CAG） rats by regulating the interleukin-17（IL-17）/extracellular regulated protein kinases（ERK）/CCAAT enhancer binding protein β（C/EBPβ）signaling pathway， thereby providing new theoretical evidence for the treatment of CAG with classic traditional Chinese medicine formulas. MethodsA CAG rat model was established by using the combined factor method. After successful modeling， the rats were randomly divided into the model group， low-， medium-， and high-dose groups （0.549， 1.098， 2.196 g·kg^-1， respectively） of BXT， and the positive drug group （vitacoenzyme， 0.3 g·kg^-1）. A normal control group was also set up. After 8 weeks of intervention， the pathological changes of gastric tissue were evaluated. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was used to detect the contents of IL-17， tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α）， cyclooxygenase-2 （COX-2）， and C/EBPβ in serum， as well as the contents of EMT markers in gastric mucosal tissue including E-cadherin， N-cadherin， and vimentin. The immunohistochemistry method was employed to determine the localization and protein expression levels of IL-17， p-ERK， and C/EBPβ in gastric mucosal tissue. Western blot was used to detect the protein expressions of C/EBPβ， ERK， and its phosphorylated form （p）-ERK in gastric mucosa. Real-time polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） was applied to measure the mRNA expression levels of ERK， COX-2， and C/EBPβ in gastric mucosa. ResultsCompared with those in the normal control group， the rats in the model group showed gastric mucosal glandular atrophy and inflammatory cell infiltration. The protein and their related mRNA expressions of C/EBPβ， ERK， and p-ERK in gastric mucosa were significantly increased （P<0.05，P<0.01）. The levels of IL-17， TNF-α， COX-2， and C/EBPβ in serum were significantly increased （P<0.01）. The contents of N-cadherin and vimentin in gastric mucosal tissue were significantly increased， while the content of E-cadherin was significantly decreased （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， after intervention with different doses of BXT， the pathological damage of the gastric mucosa was improved to varying degrees. The protein and mRNA expressions of C/EBPβ， ERK， and p-ERK in gastric mucosa were significantly reduced （P<0.05，P<0.01）. The levels of IL-17， TNF-α， COX-2， and C/EBP β in serum were significantly decreased （P<0.01）. The contents of N-cadherin and vimentin in gastric mucosa tissue were decreased， while the content of E-cadherin was increased （P<0.05，P<0.01）. ConclusionBXT can effectively improve the pathological damage of gastric mucosal tissue in CAG rats. Its action mechanism may be related to reducing the levels of IL-17 and TNF-α in serum， regulating the IL-17/ERK/C/EBPβ signaling pathway and inhibiting the EMT process.

The need for suitable interventions for progressive pulmonary vascular lesions has become a bottleneck and a consequent focus in the prevention and treatment of clinical pulmonary hypertension.Plexiform lesions in pulmonary arterioles are the typical pathological manifestation of irreversible abnormal pulmonary vascular remodeling and the criterion for stage Ⅳ pulmonary vascular remodeling.There is currently no effective clinical intervention for such pathophysiological lesions,highlighting the need for corresponding animal models.This review considers new progress in the stereology of plexiform lesions and highlights plexiform-lesion models in mice and rats induced by multifactor stimulation,such as two-hit models and genetic engineering.It also evaluates the characteristics and applications of these models to provide a reference for animal experimental studies and to clarify the mechanism of pulmonary hypertension with pulmonary vascular plexiform lesions.

Dental stem cells(DSCs),a distinct subset of mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs),are isola-ted from dental tissues,such as dental pulp,exfoliated deciduous teeth,periodontal ligament,and apical papilla.They have emerged as a promising source of stem cell therapy for tissue regeneration and autoim-mune disorders.The main types of DSCs include dental pulp stem cells(DPSCs),stem cells from hu-man exfoliated deciduous teeth(SHED),periodontal ligament stem cells(PDLSCs),and stem cells from apical papilla(SC AP).Each type exhibits distinct advantages:easy access via minimally invasive procedures,multi-lineage differentiation potential,and excellent ethical acceptability.DSCs have demon-strated outstanding clinical efficacy in oral and maxillofacial regeneration,and their long-term safety has been verified.In oral tissue regeneration,DSCs are highly effective in oral tissue regeneration for critical applications such as the restoration of dental pulp vitality and periodontal tissue repair.A defining advan-tage of DSCs lies in their ability to integrate with host tissues and promote physiological regeneration,which render them a better option for oral tissue regenerative therapies.Beyond oral applications,DSCs also exhibit promising potential in the treatment of systemic diseases,including type Ⅱ diabetes and au-toimmune diseases due to their immunomodulatory effects.Moreover,extracellular vesicles(EVs)de-rived from DSCs act as critical mediators for DSCs' paracrine functions.Possessing regulatory properties similar to their parental cells,EVs are extensively utilized in research targeting tissue repair,immuno-modulation,and regenerative therapy—offering a"cell-free"strategy to mitigate the limitations associated with cell-based therapies.Despite these advancements,standardizing large-scale manufacturing,maintai-ning strict quality control,and clarifying the molecular mechanisms underlying the interaction of DSCs and their EVs with recipient tissues remain major obstacles to the clinical translation of these treatments into broad clinical use.Addressing these barriers will be critical to enhancing their clinical applicability and therapeutic efficacy.In conclusion,DSCs and their EVs represent a transformative approach in re-generative medicine,and increasing clinical evidence supports their application in oral and systemic diseases.Continuous innovation remains essential to unlocking the widespread clinical potential of DSCs.

Objective:To evaluate the therapeutic value of radiotherapy in combined immunotherapy and chemotherapy as first-line treatment for patients with oligometastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on data from 195 NSCLC patients who lacked epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) or anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) mutations and were treated at the Anyang Tumor Hospital and the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University from January 2019 to December 2021. These patients consisted of 166 male and 29 female cases, aged from 28 to 85 years, with an average age of (61.4 ± 9.3) years. These patients were divided into two groups, with each group receiving the radiotherapy and combined immunotherapy and chemotherapy (the radiotherapy and combination group, n = 60) and combined immunotherapy and chemotherapy only (the combination group, n = 135). Then, propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to analyze the differences in prognosis between both groups before and after PSM, as well as the short-term efficacy and adverse reactions after PSM. Results:For the 195 NSCLC patients, the median follow-up time was 31.8 months, with median overall survival (OS) and median progression-free survival (PFS) recorded at 23.8 months and 9.2 months, respectively. The radiotherapy and combination group exhibited enhanced 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival rates of 78.5%, 55.9%, and 45.1%, respectively, significantly higher than the combination group (48.3%, 35.6%, and 26.6%, respectively, χ2 = 14.65, P < 0.001). Similarly, the radiotherapy and combination group displayed 1-, 2-, and 3-year PFS rates of 51.9%, 29.5%, and 22.7%, respectively, exceeding those of the combination group (30.0%, 24.5%, and 16.9%, respectively, χ2=6.09, P=0.014). After PSM, the radiotherapy and combination group manifested an objective response rate (ORR) of 60.0% (33/55) and a disease control rate (DCR) of 89.1% (49/55), which were 16.4% (9/55) and 56.4% (31/55), respectively for the combination group. These results suggested that the radiotherapy and combination group demonstrated significantly higher ORR and DCR ( χ2 = 22.18, 14.85, P<0.001). After PSM, the radiotherapy and combination group yielded 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival rates of 70.9%, 52.3%, and 41.9%, respectively, significantly than the combination group (43.6%, 29.8%, and 27.1%, respectively, χ2=8.95, P=0.003). The radiotherapy and combination group exhibited 1-, 2-, and 3-year PFS rates of 47.3%, 27.3%, and 18.7%, respectively, significantly higher than the combination group (23.6%, 17.6%, and 15.4%, respectively, χ2 = 6.71, P = 0.010). Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that independent factors affecting OS included clinical stage, treatment regimen, number of immunotherapy cycles, and treatment efficacy ( HR = 1.88, 2.11, 0.23, 1.79, P < 0.05). Similarly, independent factors affecting PFS consisted of treatment regimen, number of immunotherapy cycles, and treatment efficacy ( HR = 1.62, 0.37, 3.42, P <0.05). There were no statistical differences in the incidence of grade ≥ 2 bone marrow suppression (18.2% vs. 12.7%) and grade ≥ 2 pneumonia (21.8% vs. 14.5%) between both groups ( P>0.05). Conclusions:Introducing radiotherapy into combined immunotherapy and chemotherapy as first-line treatment for oligometastatic NSCLC can optimize both local and systemic disease control and significantly improve patient prognosis without increasing treatment-related adverse reactions.

The phenomenon of adolescent suicide has become a serious challenge to global public health, and suicidal behavior can directly threatening the lives of adolescents.Attempted suicide during adolescence has long-term negative impacts on their health in adulthood.With the continuous development of artificial intelligence technology, machine learning has demonstrated markedly superior performance compared to traditional assessment tools in predicting the risk of suicide among adolescents.Therefore, this article reviews the application and significance of machine learning in predicting suicidal behavior among adolescents.It mainly focuses on machine learning-related concepts, the utilization of multimodal data such as text and voice, as well as the in-depth analysis of algorithmic performance.However, this learning technology continues to encounter challenges pertaining to data quality, overfitting, model interpretability as well as ethical considerations.In future practical applications, various factors, including data characteristics, problem requirements, time costs and algorithm performance, should be comprehensively considered to develop a more accurate predictive model for adolescent suicidal behavior, thereby safeguarding the mental health of adolescents.

Objective:To investigate the clinical application value of whole brain computed tomography perfusion(CTP)imaging combined with computed tomography angiography(CTA)on head and neck in treating chronic ischemic cerebrovascular disease(ICVD)by superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery(STA-MCA)bypass.Methods:Fifty patients with suspected chronic ICVD who admitted to Chengdu Second People's Hospital and Deyang People's Hospital(29 cases from Chengdu Second People's Hospital and 21 cases from Deyang People's Hospital)from May 2020 to October 2024 were selected.All patients underwent whole-brain CTP examination and CTA examination on head and neck before the surgery,and then,the preoperative assessment efficacy of the combination of the two examination for patients with STA-MCA surgical indication was analyzed.The changes of the CTP parameters[cerebral blood volume(CBV),cerebral blood flow(CBF),mean transit time(MTT),time to drain(TTD),and time to maximum(Tmax)]between the affected side and the healthy side before surgery,and between them after surgery,and these parameter of affected side between before and after surgery were compared respectively.The course and the anastomosis conditions of the bypass vessels were analyzed through CTA images.The CTP parameters of patients with postoperative cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome(CHS)were statistically analyzed.Then,the relationship between the changes of cerebral perfusion values on the affected side after surgery and CHS,as well as the follow-up situation,were analyzed.Results:In 50 patients with suspected chronic ICVD,34 patients with surgical indication of STA-MCA bypass were screened out by CTA combined with CTP,who existed severely narrowed or occluded blood vessels accompanied by reduced CTP,and other 16 cases who did not meet surgical indication of STA-MCA bypass were excluded.In 34 patients with chronic ICVD,the preoperative CBF value of affected side was lower than that of healthy side,and the preoperative MTT,TTD and Tmax values of affected side were all higher than those of the healthy side,and the differences were statistically significant(t=6.648,6.030,10.638,14.063,P<0.05),while there was not significant difference in CBV value between two sides(P>0.05).In the affected side,the postoperative CBF value was higher than preoperative CBF value,and the postoperative MTT,TTD and Tmax values were lower than preoperative these indicators,and the differences were statistically significant(t=8.578,7.166,11.321,11.912,P<0.05).There was no significant difference in the CBV value between before and after surgery(P>0.05).In 34 patients with chronic ICVD,there was not significant difference in CTP parameters between the affected side and the healthy side in 28 patients with chronic ICVD after 6 patients with CHS were excluded(P>0.05).The results of CTA showed that the diameter size and course of superficial temporal artery of all patients were clearly displayed,and the bypass vessels of them were unblocked,and the anastomoses of them were well developed.All 34 patients with chronic ICVD successfully completed unilateral STA-MCA bypass surgery.After the surgery,based on the clinical symptoms and the CTP reexamination results of the patients,it was determined that 6 patients(17.7%)were CHS,whose appearances were the CBF value of affected side was(60.81±5.79)ml/100(g·min),which was significantly higher than that[(53.30±5.21)ml/100(g·min)]of the healthy side.The MTT value of affected side was(2.9±0.82)s,which was significantly lower than that of the healthy side(4.2±1.1)s,and the differences were statistically significant(t=2.358,2.341,P<0.05).In the postoperative follow-up of 2 to 17 months for patients,there was not dead case,and the clinical symptoms of the most of patients were improved significantly,and there was no serious adverse events.Conclusion:Whole-brain CTP combined with CTA examination on head and neck is conducive to accurately determine the degree of vascular stenosis and cerebral perfusion before surgery,and screen patients with chronic ICVD who occurred indications of STA-MCA surgery,and can also assess the patency of bypass vessels,the recovery degree of cerebral perfusion,and the possibility of occurring CHS after surgery,which has important clinical guiding value.

Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a myeloid tumor derived from the malignant clones of hematopoietic stem cells, has an annually increasing incidence. The contemporary research direction has shifted to analyzing the synergistic effect of immune surveillance collapse and abnormal bone marrow microenvironment in the pathological process of MDS. Against this backdrop, the immune checkpoint molecule TIM3 has emerged as a key target because of its persistently high expression on the surface of important immune cells such as T and NK cells. The abnormal activation of the TIM3 pathway is the mechanism by which solid tumors and hematological malignancies achieve immune escape and is a key hub in the formation of immune exhaustion phenotypes. This work integrates the original discoveries of our team with the latest international progress, systematically demonstrating the bidirectional regulatory network of TIM3 between the malignant clone proliferation of MDS and the immunosuppressive microenvironment. Integrating the evidence from emerging clinical trials allows us to consider the clinical significance of TIM3-targeted blocking for MDS, providing a transformative path to overcome the resistance of traditional treatments and marking a new chapter in the active immune reconstitution of MDS treatment.

With the widespread use of antimicrobial agents, bacterial drug resistance has become an increasingly severe issue, posing significant challenges to global healthcare. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has emerged as a research focus in the field of bacterial resistance due to its broad sources, high safety profile, low toxicity, and antimicrobial mechanisms distinct from those of chemical drugs. Studies have shown that various TCM herbs, such as Scutellaria baicalensis, exert antibacterial effects through multiple pathways, including disrupting the integrity of bacterial cell walls and membranes, inhibiting nucleic acid and protein synthesis, and impairing energy production and metabolism. Additionally, certain TCM herbs, including Scutellaria baicalensis, Coptis chinensis, and Fritillaria thunbergii, can reverse antimicrobial resistance by eliminating resistant plasmids, inhibiting bacterial efflux pump function, and suppressing β-lactamase activity. TCM holds promising potential for antibacterial applications and synergistically reversing antimicrobial resistance, though systematic analyses remain limited. This review summarizes the mechanisms of antibacterial action of TCM and current research on its synergistic use with antimicrobial agents to reverse drug resistance, aiming to provide insights for developing novel TCM-based antimicrobials and addressing bacterial resistance.

To compare the clinical efficacy of intralesional corticosteroid injection combined with topical corticosteroids versus topical corticosteroids alone in patients with idiopathic granulomatous mastitis (IGM).

With the continuous development of messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, mRNA-based drugs have shown broad application prospects in recent years. Since mRNA is easy to be degraded and difficult to enter cells directly, the mRNA delivery vectors have always been one of the focuses in the development of mRNA-based drugs. Although lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have been widely used for the delivery of mRNA, they tend to accumulate in the liver, and repeated administration can easily induce inflammatory response which leads to tissue damage. Compared with LNPs, virus-like particles (VLPs) have the advantages of high biocompatibility and safety, being expected to offer new solutions for mRNA delivery. Based on the practical application requirements, this review summarized the research progress in VLPs according to the mRNA delivery steps: particle assembly, delivery into cells, and intracellular release. We hope to provide a basis and design ideas for the development of new VLPs as delivery vectors, promote the application of VLPs in mRNA delivery, and provide new possibilities for the research and application of mRNA-based therapeutics.
RNA, Messenger/administration & dosage* ; Humans ; Nanoparticles/chemistry* ; Genetic Vectors ; Lipids/chemistry* ; Drug Delivery Systems/methods* ; Virion ; Animals ; Gene Transfer Techniques ; Liposomes