Atractylodes lancea is a perennial herbaceous plant of Asteraceae, with rhizomes for medical use. However, A. lancea plants from different habitats have great variability, and the germplasm resources of A. lancea are unclear and mixed during production. Therefore, it is urgent to protect new varieties of A. lancea. The distinctness, uniformity, and stability(DUS) testing of new plant varieties is the foundation of plant variety protection, and the DUS testing guidelines are the technical basis for variety approval agencies to conduct DUS testing. In this study, the phenotypic traits of 94 germplasm accessions of A. lancea were investigated considering the breeding and variety characteristics of A. lancea in China. The traits were classified and described, and 24 traits were preliminarily determined, including 20 basic traits that must be tested and four traits selected to be tested. The 20 basic traits included 3 quality traits, 5 false quality traits, and 12 quantitative traits, corresponding to 1 plant traits, 2 stem traits, 8 leaf traits, 6 flower traits, and 3 seed traits. The measurement ranges and coefficients of variation of eight quantitative traits were determined, on the basis of which the grading criteria and codes of the traits were determined and assigned. The guidelines has guiding significance for the trait evaluation, utilization, and breeding of new varieties of A. lancea.
Atractylodes/growth & development* ; China ; Phenotype ; Guidelines as Topic ; Plant Breeding

This study primarily aimed to investigate the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) and other common pathogens of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in spermatozoa of infertile men and their effects on semen parameters. These pathogens included Ureaplasma urealyticum, Ureaplasma parvum, Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma genitalium , herpes simplex virus 2, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Enterococcus faecalis, Streptococcus agalactiae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa , and Staphylococcus aureus . A total of 1951 men of infertile couples were recruited between 23 March 2023, and 17 May 2023, at the Department of Reproductive Medicine of The First People's Hospital of Yunnan Province (Kunming, China). Multiplex polymerase chain reaction and capillary electrophoresis were used for HPV genotyping. Polymerase chain reaction and electrophoresis were also used to detect the presence of other STIs. The overall prevalence of HPV infection was 12.4%. The top five prevalent HPV subtypes were types 56, 52, 43, 16, and 53 among those tested positive for HPV. Other common infections with high prevalence rates were Ureaplasma urealyticum (28.3%), Ureaplasma parvum (20.4%), and Enterococcus faecalis (9.5%). The prevalence rates of HPV coinfection with Ureaplasma urealyticum, Ureaplasma parvum, Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma genitalium , herpes simplex virus 2, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Enterococcus faecalis, Streptococcus agalactiae , and Staphylococcus aureus were 24.8%, 25.4%, 10.6%, 6.4%, 2.4%, 7.9%, 5.9%, 0.9%, and 1.3%, respectively. The semen volume and total sperm count were greatly decreased by HPV infection alone. Coinfection with HPV and Ureaplasma urealyticum significantly reduced sperm motility and viability. Our study shows that coinfection with STIs is highly prevalent in the semen of infertile men and that coinfection with pathogens can seriously affect semen parameters, emphasizing the necessity of semen screening for STIs.
Humans ; Male ; Infertility, Male/epidemiology* ; Coinfection/microbiology* ; Papillomavirus Infections/virology* ; Adult ; Sexually Transmitted Diseases/complications* ; China/epidemiology* ; Staphylococcus aureus/isolation & purification* ; Chlamydia trachomatis/isolation & purification* ; Prevalence ; Mycoplasma genitalium/isolation & purification* ; Ureaplasma urealyticum/isolation & purification* ; Neisseria gonorrhoeae/isolation & purification* ; Enterococcus faecalis/isolation & purification* ; Streptococcus agalactiae/isolation & purification* ; Herpesvirus 2, Human/genetics* ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa/isolation & purification* ; Semen/virology* ; Sperm Motility ; Spermatozoa/microbiology* ; Human Papillomavirus Viruses

Purpose To investigate the clinicopathologic,immunophenotypic features,genetic alterations and prognosis of melanotic Xp11 neoplasms/melanotic TFE3-rearrangement neo-plasms.Methods Five cases were selected from the Depart-ment of Pathology,Union Hospital,Huazhong University of Sci-ence and Technology from November 2018 to July 2023.The clinicopathologic,immunohistochemical,FISH assays,next-generation sequencing(NGS)and follow-up details were collect-ed.Results There were 1 male and 4 females,with their ages ranging from 16 to 59 years(mean 28.2 years).The maximum diameters of the masses were 3-6 cm(average 4.7 cm).The tumors located in right kidneys(3 cases),tubal interstitium(1 case)and pelvis(1 case).Microscopically,most tumors shared similar morphology such as nested,acinar structures sep-arated by a delicate vascular network.Epithelioid tumor cells presented with clear to granular eosinophilic cytoplasm.Lym-phocytic infiltration was seen in the background;melanin depo-sition was noted in the cases;neoplastic necrosis was detected in 4 cases.Mitotic activity was low with 5 cases showing＜3/10 HPF.Intravascular tumor thrombus was detected in 2 cases,no lymphovascular and nerve invasions were detected in other 3 ca-ses.Immunohistochemically,all 5 cases expressed TFE3 dif-fusely,and expressed HMB45,Melan A to varying degrees,CK(AE1/AE3),CK7,EMA,PAX8,TFEB,S-100,SOX10,SMA,desmin were all non-reactive in the 5 cases.The Ki67-la-beling index was＜20％.TFE3 separation signal in 4 cases were detected by FISH,1 case was interpreted as negative due to atypical signal which was confirmed by next-generation se-quencing(NGS)assay as RBM10-TFE3.Clinical follow-up was available for five patients for 2-60 months,in which four pa-tients were alive with no evidence of disease after initial resec-tion,and one patient with thoracic spine metastasis was currently in stable condition.Conclusion Melanotic Xp1 1 neoplasms/melanotic TFE3-rearrangement neoplasms has unique morpholog-ic,immunophenotypic and genetic characteristics.It might be reclassified into a distinctive malignant mesenchymal tumor enti-ty.

Objective To investigate the risk factors for bronchopulmonary dysplasia(BPD)in twin preterm infants with a gestational age of<34 weeks,and to provide a basis for early identification of BPD in twin preterm infants in clinical practice.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for the twin preterm infants with a gestational age of<34 weeks who were admitted to 22 hospitals nationwide from January 2018 to December 2020.According to their conditions,they were divided into group A(both twins had BPD),group B(only one twin had BPD),and group C(neither twin had BPD).The risk factors for BPD in twin preterm infants were analyzed.Further analysis was conducted on group B to investigate the postnatal risk factors for BPD within twins.Results A total of 904 pairs of twins with a gestational age of<34 weeks were included in this study.The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that compared with group C,birth weight discordance of>25%between the twins was an independent risk factor for BPD in one of the twins(OR=3.370,95%CI:1.500-7.568,P<0.05),and high gestational age at birth was a protective factor against BPD(P<0.05).The conditional logistic regression analysis of group B showed that small-for-gestational-age(SGA)birth was an independent risk factor for BPD in individual twins(OR=5.017,95%CI:1.040-24.190,P<0.05).Conclusions The development of BPD in twin preterm infants is associated with gestational age,birth weight discordance between the twins,and SGA birth.

Objective To investigate changes in the urinary metabolite profiles of children exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs)during critical brain development and explore their potential link with the intestinal microbiota. Methods Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used to determine ten hydroxyl metabolites of PAHs(OH-PAHs)in 36-month-old children.Subsequently,37 children were categorized into low-and high-exposure groups based on the sum of the ten OH-PAHs.Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry was used to identify non-targeted metabolites in the urine samples.Furthermore,fecal flora abundance was assessed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing using Illumina MiSeq. Results The concentrations of 21 metabolites were significantly higher in the high exposure group than in the low exposure group(variable importance for projection>1,P<0.05).Most of these metabolites were positively correlated with the hydroxyl metabolites of naphthalene,fluorine,and phenanthrene(r=0.336-0.531).The identified differential metabolites primarily belonged to pathways associated with inflammation or proinflammatory states,including amino acid,lipid,and nucleotide metabolism.Additionally,these distinct metabolites were significantly associated with specific intestinal flora abundances(r=0.34-0.55),which were mainly involved in neurodevelopment. Conclusion Higher PAH exposure in young children affected metabolic homeostasis,particularly that of certain gut microbiota-derived metabolites.Further investigation is needed to explore the potential influence of PAHs on the gut microbiota and their possible association with neurodevelopmental outcomes.

The incidence of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) continues to rise, and there are no effective drugs to treat it. The immune microenvironment plays an important role in the development of ICC and is currently a research hotspot. Icaritin (ICA) is an innovative traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. It is considered to have potential immunoregulatory and anti-tumor effects, which is potentially consistent with the understanding of "Fuzheng" in the treatment of tumor in traditional Chinese medicine. However, whether ICA can be used to treat ICC has not been reported. Therefore, in this study, sgp19/kRas, an in situ ICC mouse model with intact immune system, was selected to evaluate the efficacy of ICA in the treatment of ICC in vivo for the first time, and the effects of ICA on the tumor immune microenvironment of ICC mice were analyzed by flow cytometry. This experiment was approved by the Experimental Animal Ethics Committee of Capital Medical University (approval number: AEEI-2023-138). In this study, sgp19/kRas ICC mouse model was treated with oral gavage of 100 mg·kg^-1 ICA. We found that ICA significantly inhibited tumor growth and tumor cell proliferation in the sgp19/kRas ICC mouse model after 3 weeks of treatment. Flow cytometry analysis indicated that ICA treatment markedly reduced the proportion of M2 macrophages and increased the number of CD3⁺CD4⁺ T cells. In vitro experiments demonstrated that ICA promoted macrophage polarization towards the M1 phenotype while inhibiting polarization towards the M2 phenotype. Furthermore, transcriptomic analysis suggested that ICA enhanced Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) expression, influencing macrophage nitric oxide metabolism synthesis pathways and receptor-related activities, thereby regulating macrophage polarization. In summary, this study demonstrates that ICA treatment significantly delays tumor progression in sgp19/kRas ICC mouse models. Mechanistically, ICA may achieve its anti-ICC effects by upregulating TLR9 receptor expression levels, promoting macrophage polarization towards the M1 phenotype, and altering the tumor immune microenvironment.

Objective:To study the effect of cluster nursing care based on 10S continuous quality improvement(CQI)on the incidence of postoperative delirium in patients with BPH.Methods:This study included 96 BPH patients undergoing transurethral resection of the prostate(TURP)in our department from August 2021 to February 2023.We randomly divided the patients into two groups of equal number to receive routine postoperative nursing care(the control group)and postoperative cluster nursing care based on the 10S DQI mode(the observation group),respectively.We recorded and compared the delirium scores of the patients at 2,6,12 and 24 hours after operation,their status of recovery,scores on Self-Rating Anxiety Scale(SAS),Self-Rating Depression Scale(SDS)and quality of life(QOL),and incidence of complications between the two groups.Results:Compared with the controls,the pa-tients in the observation group showed significantly lower delirium scores at 2 h(12.72±3.54 vs 10.65±2.87,P＜0.05),6 h(20.17±4.92 vs 14.19±4.64,P＜0.01),12 h(16.82±4.24 vs 10.69±3.18,P＜0.01)and 24 h(13.61±2.86 vs 9.13± 2.12,P＜0.01)after operation,and shorter time to ambulation([3.65±1.41]vs[2.84±0.83]d,P＜0.01)and time of postop-erative catheterization([6.28±1.65]vs[4.28±1.14]d,P＜0.01),bladder irrigation([3.41±1.08]vs[2.25±0.71]d,P＜0.01)and hospitalization([10.33±2.41]vs[7.82±2.06]d,P＜0.01).No statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups in either the SAS and SDS scores(P＞0.05)or the QOL scores before operation(P＞0.05),but the former two were dramatically decreased(P＜0.01)while the latter one increased in the observation group postoperatively(P＜0.01).Post-operative complications included delirium,bladder spasm,urethral pain,and secondary bleeding,with a significantly lower total inci-dence rate in the observation than in the control group(12.50％vs 52.08％,P＜0.01).Conclusion:Cluster nursing care based on 10S CQI can promote the postoperative recovery of BPH patients,improve their psychological status and quality of life,and reduce the incidence of delirium and complications.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effect of electroacupuncture at Tinghui (GB 2) and Benshen (GB 13) combined with routine rehabilitation training and simple routine rehabilitation training on abnormal auditory response in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHODS: A total of 70 children with ASD were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 35 cases in each group. The control group was given routine rehabilitation training. On the basis of the treatment in the control group, the observation group was given electroacupuncture at Tinghui (GB 2) and Benshen (GB 13), disperse-dense wave, frequency in 2 Hz/10 Hz, 20 min each time, and 1 day off after 6 days of treatment. Both groups were treated for 12 weeks. The incidence of abnormal auditory response, the scores of childhood autism rating scale (CARS) and autism behavior checklist (ABC) were compared between the two groups before and after treatment. RESULTS: After treatment, the total incidences of abnormal auditory response in the two groups and the incidences of dull and hypersensitive auditory response in the observation group were lower than those before treatment (P<0.05). The total incidence of abnormal auditory response and the incidence of hypersensitive auditory response in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, CARS and ABC scores of both groups were lower than those before treatment (P<0.05), and those in the observation group were lower than the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION Electroacupuncture at Tinghui (GB 2) and Benshen (GB 13) combined with routine rehabilitation training can reduce the incidence of abnormal auditory response and improve the core symptoms in children with ASD, and the clinical effect is better than the simple routine rehabilitation training.
Humans ; Child ; Electroacupuncture ; Autism Spectrum Disorder/therapy* ; Acupuncture Points ; Medicine ; Pain

Chinese medicinal resources are the cornerstone of the sustainable development of traditional Chinese medicine industry. However, due to the fecundity of species, over-exploitation, and limitations of artificial cultivation, some medicinal plants are depleted and even endangered. Tissue culture, a breakthrough technology in the breeding of traditional Chinese medicinal materials, is not limited by time and space, and can allow the production on an annual basis, which plays an important role in the protection of Chinese medicinal resources. The present study reviewed the applications of tissue culture of medicinal plants in the field of Chinese medicinal resources, including rapid propagation of medicinal plant seedlings, breeding of novel high-yield and high-quality cultivars, construction of a genetic transformation system, and production of secondary metabolites. Meanwhile, the current challenges and suggestions for the future development of this field were also proposed.
Sustainable Development ; Plants, Medicinal/genetics* ; Plant Breeding ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Technology

A rich diversity of wild medicinal plant resources is distributed in China, but the breeding of new plant varieties of Chinese medicinal plants started late and the breeding level is relatively weak. Chinese medicinal plant resources are the foundation for new varieties breeding, and the plant variety rights(PVP) are of great significance for the protection and development of germplasm resources. However, most Chinese medicinal plants do not have a distinctness, uniformity, and stability(DUS) testing guideline. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has put 191 plant species(genera) on protection lists, of which only 30 are medicinal species(genera). At the same time, only 29 of 293 species(genera) plants in the Protection List of New Plant Varieties of the People's Republic of China(Forest and Grass) belong to Chinese medicinal plants. The number of PVP applications and authorization of Chinese medicinal plants is rare, and the composition of variety is unreasonable. Up to now, 29 species(genera) of DUS test guidelines for Chinese medicinal plants have been developed. Some basic problems in the breeding of new varieties of Chinese medicinal plants have appeared, such as the small number of new varieties and insufficient utilization of Chinese medicinal plant resources. This paper reviewed the current situation of breeding of new varieties of Chinese medicinal plants and the research progress of DUS test guidelines in China and discussed the application of biotechnology in the field of Chinese medicinal plant breeding and the existing problems in DUS testing. This paper guides the further application of DUS to protect and utilize the germplasm resources of Chinese medicinal plants.
Agriculture ; Biotechnology ; Plant Breeding ; Plants, Medicinal/genetics*