Grounded in the theory of "all marrows dominated by brain", this study explored the therapeutic mechanism of Zuogui Pills in modulating the oxytocin(OXT)/oxytocin receptor(OXTR) feed-forward loop in the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis(PMOP). A PMOP rat model was established using ovariectomy, and 70 Sprague-Dawley female rats were randomly divided into the following groups: sham operation group, model group, estradiol group(17β-estradiol, 0.05 mg·kg~(-1)·d~(-1)), Zuogui Pills low, medium, and high dose groups(0.2, 0.4, 0.8 g·kg~(-1)·d~(-1), respectively), and an antagonist group(atosiban 0.9 mg·kg~(-1)·d~(-1) + 17β-estradiol 0.05 mg·kg~(-1)·d~(-1) + Zuogui Pills 0.4 g·kg~(-1)·d~(-1)). After 12 weeks of model establishment, treatment was administered by gavage once daily for another 12 weeks, followed by sample collection. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) was used to measure serum levels of estrogen(E_2), OXT, tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase(TRACP-5b), and bone alkaline phosphatase(BALP). Histopathological changes in the left distal femur were observed through hematoxylin and eosin(HE) staining. Micro-computed tomography(micro-CT) was used to analyze the microstructure of the right distal femur. Western blot was employed to detect the expression levels of OXTR, small GTP-binding protein Ras, Raf1 proto-oncogene(Raf1), mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1/2(MEK1/2), and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2(ERK1/2), and their phosphorylated forms in tibial tissues. Compared with the model group, the Zuogui Pills medium and high dose groups showed significantly increased levels of E_2, OXT, and BALP, with a notable decrease in TRACP-5b levels. Morphologically, the trabeculae in the left distal femur were more tightly arranged. The fibrous structure in the right distal femur was significantly improved in the Zuogui Pills high dose group. Additionally, the expression of OXTR, Ras, p-Raf1, p-MEK1/2, and p-ERK1/2 proteins in tibial tissues was significantly increased. The therapeutic effect of the Zuogui Pills high dose group was partially inhibited when an OXTR antagonist was administered. These findings suggest that Zuogui Pills can regulate the OXT/OXTR feed-forward loop, activate the phosphorylation of the downstream Ras/Raf1/MEK/ERK signaling pathway, and ultimately improve bone mineral density, thereby exerting therapeutic effects in PMOP.
Animals ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Rats ; Female ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Oxytocin/genetics* ; Receptors, Oxytocin/genetics* ; Humans ; Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal/genetics* ; Bone and Bones/drug effects* ; Brain/drug effects* ; Bone Marrow/drug effects*

Mycophenolic acid (MPA), the active moiety of both mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and enteric-coated mycophenolate sodium (EC-MPS), serves as a primary immunosuppressant for maintaining solid organ transplants. Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) enhances treatment outcomes through tailored approaches. This study aimed to develop an evidence-based guideline for MPA TDM, facilitating its rational application in clinical settings. The guideline plan was drawn from the Institute of Medicine and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Using the Delphi method, clinical questions and outcome indicators were generated. Systematic reviews, Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) evidence quality evaluations, expert opinions, and patient values guided evidence-based suggestions for the guideline. External reviews further refined the recommendations. The guideline for the TDM of MPA (IPGRP-2020CN099) consists of four sections and 16 recommendations encompassing target populations, monitoring strategies, dosage regimens, and influencing factors. High-risk populations, timing of TDM, area under the curve (AUC) versus trough concentration (C₀), target concentration ranges, monitoring frequency, and analytical methods are addressed. Formulation-specific recommendations, initial dosage regimens, populations with unique considerations, pharmacokinetic-informed dosing, body weight factors, pharmacogenetics, and drug‍-‍drug interactions are covered. The evidence-based guideline offers a comprehensive recommendation for solid organ transplant recipients undergoing MPA therapy, promoting standardization of MPA TDM, and enhancing treatment efficacy and safety.
Mycophenolic Acid/administration & dosage* ; Drug Monitoring/methods* ; Humans ; Organ Transplantation ; Immunosuppressive Agents/administration & dosage* ; Delphi Technique

Receptor-interacting protein kinase 1 (RIPK1) plays an essential role in regulating the necroptosis and apoptosis in cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. However, the regulation of RIPK1 kinase activity after cerebral I/R injury remains largely unknown. In this study, we found the downregulation of protein arginine methyltransferase 1 (PRMT1) was induced by cerebral I/R injury, which negatively correlated with the activation of RIPK1. Mechanistically, we proved that PRMT1 directly interacted with RIPK1 and catalyzed its asymmetric dimethylarginine, which then blocked RIPK1 homodimerization and suppressed its kinase activity. Moreover, pharmacological inhibition or genetic ablation of PRMT1 aggravated I/R injury by promoting RIPK1-mediated necroptosis and apoptosis, while PRMT1 overexpression protected against I/R injury by suppressing RIPK1 activation. Our findings revealed the molecular regulation of RIPK1 activation and demonstrated PRMT1 would be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of ischemic stroke.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the expression of apolipoprotein C1 (APOC1) in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and its effects on proliferation and apoptosis of PTC cells. METHODS: The expression level of APOC1 in PTC and its impact on prognosis were analyzed using GEPIA 2 and Kaplan-Meier databases. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Western blotting were used to detect the expression of APOC1 in PTC and adjacent tissues and in 3 PTC cell lines and normal thyroid Nthyori 3-1 cells. In TPC-1 and BCPAP cells, the effect of Lipofectamine 2000-mediated transfection with APOC1 siRNA or an APOC1-overexpressing plasmid on cell growth and colony formation ability were examined by observing the growth curves and using colony-forming assay. The changes in cell cycle and apoptosis of the transfected cells were analyzed with flow cytometry. RT-qPCR and Western blotting were used to detect the changes in expressions of P21, P27, CDK4, cyclin D1, Bcl-2, Bax, caspase-3 and caspase-9 and the key proteins in the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway. RESULTS: APOC1 expression was significantly higher in PTC tissues and the 3 PTC cell lines than in the adjacent tissues and Nthyori 3-1 cells, respectively. In TPC-1 and BCPAP cells, APOC1 knockdown obviously reduced cell proliferative activity, increased the percentage of G0/G1 phase cells, lowered the percentages of S and G2 phase cells, promoted cell apoptosis, and downregulated mRNA and protein expression levels of CDK4, cyclin D1 and Bcl-2 and the protein levels of p-JAK2 and p-STAT3. APOC1 overexpression in the cells produced the opposite effects on cell proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle and the mRNA and protein expressions. The application of AG490, a JAK2 inhibitor, strongly attenuated APOC1 overexpression-induced activation of the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway in BCPAP cells. CONCLUSIONS APOC1 overexpression promotes proliferation and inhibits apoptosis of PTC cells possibly by activating the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway and accelerating cell cycle progression.
Humans ; Apoptosis ; Cell Proliferation ; STAT3 Transcription Factor/metabolism* ; Signal Transduction ; Janus Kinase 2/metabolism* ; Thyroid Neoplasms/pathology* ; Thyroid Cancer, Papillary ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Carcinoma, Papillary

OBJECTIVE: In Pakistan, traditional medicines are an important component of the medical system, with numerous varieties and great demands. However, due to the scattered resources and the lack of systematic collection and collation, adulteration of traditional Pakistani medicine (TPM) is common, which severely affects the safety of their medicinal use and the import and export trades. Therefore, it is urgent to systematically organize and unify the management of TPM and establish a set of standards and operable methods for the identification of TPM. METHODS: We collected and organized the information on 128 TPMs with regard to their medicinal parts, efficacy, usage, and genetic material, based on Pakistan Hamdard Pharmacopoeia of Eastern Medicine: Pharmaceutical Codex. The genetic information of TPM is summarized from national center for biotechnology information (NCBI) and global pharmacopoeia genome database (GPGD). Furthermore, we utilized bioinformatics technology to supplement the chloroplast genome (cp-genome) data of 12 TPMs. To build the web server, we used the Linux + Apache + MySQL + PHP (LAMP) system and constructed the webpage on a PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) model view controller (MVC) framework. RESULTS: We constructed a new genomic database, the traditional Pakistani medicine genomic database (TPMGD). This database comprises five entries, namely homepage, medicinal species, species identification, basic local alignment search tool (BLAST), and download. Currently, TPMGD contains basic profiles of 128 TPMs and genetic information of 102 TPMs, including 140 cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences and 119 mitochondrial genome sequences from Bombyx mori, 1 396 internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) sequences and 1 074 intergenic region (psbA-trnH) sequences specific to 92 and 83 plant species, respectively. Additionally, TPMGD includes 199 cp-genome sequences of 82 TPMs. CONCLUSION TPMGD is a multifunctional database that integrates species description, functional information inquiry, genetic information storage, molecular identification of TPM, etc. The database not only provides convenience for TPM information queries but also establishes the scientific basis for the medication safety, species identification, and resource protection of TPM.

Objective To investigate the expression level of basic leucine zipper and W2 domain-containing protein 1(BZW1)in gastric cancer,its impact on patient prognosis and the underlying mechanisms.Methods TIMER,UALCAN and Kaplan-Meier Plotter databases were used for analyzing BZW1 expression level gastric cancer tissues and its correlation with tumor grade and stage and the patients'prognosis.We further analyzed BZW1 expressions,disease progression,and postoperative 5-year survival in 102 patients undergoing radical surgery for gastric cancer at our hospital between January,2014 and December,2016.Gastric cancer MGC803 cells were examined for changes in migration,invasion,and epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT)following lentivirus-mediated BZW1 overexpression or knockdown.Results The protein and mRNA expressions of BZW1 in gastric cancer tissues were 3.30 and 6.54 times of those in adjacent tissues,respectively(P<0.01).BZW1 expression in gastric cancer tissues were positively correlated with peripheral blood CEA and CA199 levels(P<0.01).A high BZW1 expression was an independent risk factor for 5-year survival of gastric cancer patients after radical surgery(P<0.05,HR=2.070,95%CI:1.021-4.196).At the cut-off value of 3.61,BZW1 expression had a sensitivity of 75.56%and a specificity of 71.93%for predicting postoperative 5-year mortality(P<0.01).In MGC803 cells,BZW1 overexpression obviously promoted cell migration and invasion(P<0.05),enhanced cellular expressions of N-cadherin and vimentin(P<0.05)and inhibited the expression of E-cadherin(P<0.05).Enrichment analysis suggested the involvement of BZW1 in the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.Western blotting confirmed that BZW1 overexpression promoted while BZW1 knockdown inhibited the expressions of Wnt3a,β-catenin and C-myc in MGC803 cells(P<0.05).Conclusion BZW1 is highly expressed in gastric cancer tissues to affect the patient prognosis possibly by activation the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway to promote EMT of gastric cancer cells.

Objective To investigate the expression level of basic leucine zipper and W2 domain-containing protein 1(BZW1)in gastric cancer,its impact on patient prognosis and the underlying mechanisms.Methods TIMER,UALCAN and Kaplan-Meier Plotter databases were used for analyzing BZW1 expression level gastric cancer tissues and its correlation with tumor grade and stage and the patients'prognosis.We further analyzed BZW1 expressions,disease progression,and postoperative 5-year survival in 102 patients undergoing radical surgery for gastric cancer at our hospital between January,2014 and December,2016.Gastric cancer MGC803 cells were examined for changes in migration,invasion,and epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT)following lentivirus-mediated BZW1 overexpression or knockdown.Results The protein and mRNA expressions of BZW1 in gastric cancer tissues were 3.30 and 6.54 times of those in adjacent tissues,respectively(P<0.01).BZW1 expression in gastric cancer tissues were positively correlated with peripheral blood CEA and CA199 levels(P<0.01).A high BZW1 expression was an independent risk factor for 5-year survival of gastric cancer patients after radical surgery(P<0.05,HR=2.070,95%CI:1.021-4.196).At the cut-off value of 3.61,BZW1 expression had a sensitivity of 75.56%and a specificity of 71.93%for predicting postoperative 5-year mortality(P<0.01).In MGC803 cells,BZW1 overexpression obviously promoted cell migration and invasion(P<0.05),enhanced cellular expressions of N-cadherin and vimentin(P<0.05)and inhibited the expression of E-cadherin(P<0.05).Enrichment analysis suggested the involvement of BZW1 in the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.Western blotting confirmed that BZW1 overexpression promoted while BZW1 knockdown inhibited the expressions of Wnt3a,β-catenin and C-myc in MGC803 cells(P<0.05).Conclusion BZW1 is highly expressed in gastric cancer tissues to affect the patient prognosis possibly by activation the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway to promote EMT of gastric cancer cells.

Objective:By analyzing the relationship between the efficiency of traditional Chinese medicine services and the efficiency of comprehensive medical services in county-level traditional Chinese medicine hospitals in Shandong,it explores the path of coordinated development between traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine in traditional Chinese medicine hospitals,providing references for the high-quality development of county-level traditional Chinese medicine hospitals.Methods:The efficiency of traditional Chinese medicine services and comprehensive medical services in county-level traditional Chinese medicine hospitals in Shandong Province from 2019 to 2022 was analyzed by Data Envelopment Analysis(DEA),and the correlation was analyzed by Spearman correlation coefficient.Results:The efficiency of traditional Chinese medicine services in county-level traditional Chinese medicine hospitals in Shandong Province is lower than that of comprehensive medical services,and the scale return coefficient of traditional Chinese medicine category indicators is better than that of comprehensive category indicators.There is a positive correlation between the efficiency of traditional Chinese medicine services and the efficiency of comprehensive medical services.Conclusion:Traditional Chinese medicine hospitals should appropriately expand their investment in traditional Chinese medicine resources.Adhere to the hospital management model of traditional Chinese medicine services as the main focus,and build a coordinated development path between traditional Chinese and western medicine from both the supply and demand sides.