1.Role of alkaloid compounds in regulating chronic liver diseases
Yihui ZHENG ; Jiahui WANG ; Tiejian ZHAO ; Xuelin DUAN ; Lei WANG ; Yang ZHENG ; Shiquan YANG
Journal of Clinical Hepatology 2025;41(2):375-382
Chronic liver diseases with common causes including viral infections, alcohol abuse, and autoimmune diseases. Alkaloids, as a class of plant-derived compounds, have shown significant potential in regulating chronic liver diseases. Recent studies have shown that alkaloids are able to exert a therapeutic effect on chronic liver diseases through multiple pathways. These compounds have a regulatory effect on key pathological processes such as liver fibrosis, inflammatory response, oxidative stress, and cell apoptosis, and they also regulate the metabolic homeostasis of hepatocytes by modulating multiple signaling pathways, thereby playing a role in regulating chronic liver diseases. This article reviews the role and mechanism of alkaloids in the treatment of chronic liver diseases, in order to provide new ideas and directions for the treatment of chronic liver diseases.
2.Characteristics of the Five Tones of Parkinson's Disease Patients Based on the Theory of "Five-Viscera Phonology":A Case-Control Study
Wenxue YANG ; Xuelin WANG ; Min LI ; Shaodan LI ; Minghui YANG
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2025;66(2):165-169
ObjectiveTo study the characteristics of the five tones of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients based on the theory of "five-viscera phonology", and provide references for the syndrome differentiation and treatment of PD. MethodsA total of 272 cases of PD patients were collected as the PD group, and 240 individuals, including patient family members and hospital staff, were recruited as the control group. The 25-tone analyzer was used to collect the five-tone characteristics of both PD patients and control group participants. The participants were then stratified into three age groups, 41~55, 56~70, and 71~85 years old, and categorized by gender (male and female) for analysis. The frequency and composition ratio of the five tones were analyzed for both groups across the different age ranges and genders. Additionally, the average voice frequency of each participant was calculated to compare differences between groups, stratified by age range and gender. ResultsIn the 41~55 and 56~70 age groups, male participants in the PD group and the control group exhibited the highest frequency of Yu (羽) tone, with the PD group showing a significantly higher composition ratio of Yu tone compared to the control group (P<0.05); for males in the 56~70 age group, the composition ratios of Shang (商) and Zhi (徵) tone in the PD group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). For males in the 71~85 age group, both the PD group and the control group had the highest frequency of Yu tone, but there was no statistically significant difference in the composition ratios of the five tones between groups (P>0.05). For female participants in the PD group across all age groups, Yu tone was the most frequent, whereas for the control group, Jue (角) tone was the most frequent in all age groups, and the composition ratio of Yu tone in the PD group was significantly higher than that in the control group across all age groups (P<0.05); in the 56~70 age group, the composition ratio of Jue tone was lower in the PD group compared to that in the control group (P<0.05). Regarding voice frequency, males in the PD group aged 41~55 and 56~70 had higher voice frequency than those in the control group of the same age range, and similarly, females in the PD group aged 56~70 and 71~85 had higher voice frequency than their counterparts in the control group (P<0.05). ConclusionPD patients have a voice with a higher frequency and an increased proportion of Yu tone in their five-tone distribution. According to the theory of five-viscera phonology, PD patients may have disease mechanism of kidney essence deficiency.
3.Exploring the role of curcumol on mitochondrial autophagy in hepatic stellate cells based on the PINK1/Parkin signalling pathway
Huaye Xiao ; Lei Wang ; Jiahui Wang ; Tiejian Zhao ; Yang Zheng ; Xuelin Duan
Acta Universitatis Medicinalis Anhui 2025;60(5):919-928
Objective:
To investigate the mechanism of action of curcumol on mitochondrial autophagy in hepatic stellate cells and its molecular mechanism against liver fibrosis.
Methods :
Hepatic stellate cells were divided into blank group, model group(lipopolysaccharide 5 mg/L), and low, medium and high curcumol group(12.5, 25 and 50 mg/L); Thiazolyland(MTT) was used to detect the effects of curcumol on the viability of hepatic stellate cells; flow cytometry was used to detect the effects of curcumol on apoptosis of hepatic stellate cells; 5,5′,6,6′-Tetrachloro-1,1′,3,3′-tetraethylimidacarbocyanine iodide(JC-1) was used to detect the mitochondrial membrane potential; effects of curcumol on mitochondrial morphology and autophagosome were detected by transmission electron microscopy; effect of curcumol on mitochondrial localisation were detected by fluorescent probe; Immunoblotting assay was performed to detect the effects of curcumin on PTEN-induced putative kinase 1(PINK1), Parkinson's disease protein(Parkin), microtubule-associated protein light chain 3(LC3), autophagy-associated protein(Beclin1), mitochondrial inner membrane translocase 23(Timm23), mitochondrial outer membrane translocase 20(Tomm20), Bcl-2 associated X protein(Bax), B lymphocytoma-2(Bcl2), cleaved-cysteine protease 3(Caspase3), α-smooth muscle actin(ɑ-SMA), collagen type Ⅰ(Collagen Ⅰ), and collagen type Ⅲ(Collagen Ⅲ) protein expression.
Results :
Compared with the blank control group, cell proliferation rate, Caspase3, Bcl2, LC3Ⅱ, Beclin1, PINK1, Parkin, ɑ-SMA, CollagenⅠ, CollagenⅢ proteins significantly increased in the model group(P<0.01), co-localisation of mitochondria and lysosomes increased, and the number of mitochondrial autophagosome significantly increased(P<0.01), while Timm23 and Tomm20 proteins, mitochondrial membrane potential decreased significantly(P<0.01), apoptosis rate decreased, and Bax protein expression decreased. Compared with the model group, after curcumol intervention, cell proliferation rate, Bcl2, Timm23, Tomm20, α-SMA, CollagenⅠ and CollagenⅢ protein expression significantly decreased in the curcumol low-, medium-and high-concentration groups(P<0.01), and the mitochondrial membrane potential significantly decreased(P<0.01), whereas apoptosis rate, Caspase3, Bax, LC3Ⅱ, Beclin1, PINK1 and Parkin proteins significantly increased(P<0.05), the co-localisation of mitochondria and lysosomes increased, and the number of mitochondrial autophagosome significantly increased(P<0.01).
Conclusion
Curcumol exerts ameliorative effects on hepatic fibrosis by modulating mitochondrial hyperautophagy mediated by the PINK1/Parkin signaling pathway, and promoting hepatic stellate cell apoptosis.
4.Research progress on magnetic resonance imaging and neurobiological mechanisms of anhedonia in major depressive disorder
Peishan HUANG ; Ke WANG ; Xuelin ZHANG ; Yi MIAO ; Qiangli DONG
Chinese Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases 2025;51(3):180-185
Major depressive disorder is a common mental disorder,one of the core symptoms of which is anhedonia,characterized by a reduced ability to respond to pleasurable stimuli.Brain images of patients with major depressive disorders with anhedonia show the following features:reduced volume or cortical thickness in brain regions such as the striatum and temporal lobe,changes in the microstructure of white matter tracts,abnormal neuronal activity in the frontal lobe,temporal lobe,and limbic system,and altered connectivity in the default mode network,reward network,and fronto-parietal network.Additionally,factors such as stress,gene expression,the glutamate system,and biological rhythms may also influence anhedonia.The neurobiological mechanisms of anhedonia are intricate,and are crucial for the diagnosis,treatment,and prognosis of depressive disorders.
5.Correlation and predictive value of obesity measurement indicators and cerebrovascular function scores in healthy physical examination population
Dianhua DU ; Chunwei WU ; Lan MO ; Xuelin ZHANG ; Wen WU ; Yiping WANG ; Xian WU ; Bo WANG ; Shaohui FENG
Chinese Journal of Health Management 2025;19(4):286-291
Objective:To analyze the correlation and predictive value of obesity measurement indicators and cerebrovascular function scores in healthy physical examination population.Methods:It was a cross-sectional analysis that employed a simple random sampling method to select 3 496 individuals who underwent healthy physical examinations and cerebrovascular function tests at the Physical Examination Center of the Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University from January to December 2022. The general information, physical examination data, biochemical examination results, human component analyses, and cerebrovascular function integral data were collected. Based on cerebrovascular function scores, the participants were divided into high-risk group (0-24 points, 70 cases), medium-risk group (25-49 points, 317 cases), low-risk group (50-74 points, 787 cases), and normal group (≥75 points, 2 322 cases). Spearman correlation analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were utilized to assess the correlation and predictive value of obesity measurement indicators and cerebrovascular function integrals.Results:Among the 3 496 subjects included in the analysis, 2 018 were male and 1 478 were female, with an average age of (46.4±7.9) years. The age, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, body fat ratio, body fat content, visceral fat area, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, homocysteine all exhibited an increasing trend as the cerebrovascular function integral value decreased (all P<0.05). The skeletal muscle content in the low-risk group was significantly higher than those in the high-risk group, medium-risk group, and normal group [45.00 (36.80, 50.60) vs 44.10 (36.98, 50.45), 44.50 (37.80, 50.20), and 42.75 (36.30, 48.60) kg, respectively] ( P<0.05). The triglyceride level in the medium-risk group was higher when compared to those in the high-risk group, low-risk group, and normal group[1.87 (1.29, 2.70) vs 1.71 (1.24, 2.80), 1.75 (1.18, 2.70), and 1.43 (1.00, 2.14) mmol/L] ( P<0.05). The high-density lipoprotein level in the normal group was higher than the high-risk group, medium-risk group, and low-risk group[1.26 (1.05, 1.51) vs 1.16 (0.94, 1.36), 1.15 (0.99, 1.39), and 1.16 (0.97, 1.39) mmol/L, respectively] ( P<0.05). The increases in systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, body mass index, and body fat content were all moderately negatively correlated with the cerebrovascular function score ( rs=-0.347, -0.335, -0.370, and -0.340, respectively, all P<0.05). The increase in age ( OR=1.012, 95% CI: 1.002-1.022), systolic blood pressure ( OR=1.027, 95% CI: 1.017-1.036), diastolic blood pressure ( OR=1.028, 95% CI: 1.014-1.042), body mass index ( OR=1.157, 95% CI: 1.083-1.237), body fat rate ( OR=1.021, 95% CI: 1.007-1.035), and fasting blood glucose ( OR=1.072, 95% CI: 1.020-1.127) were all positively correlated with the decrease of the cerebrovascular function score; conversely, the increase in skeletal muscle content ( OR=0.967, 95% CI: 0.951-0.982) was negatively correlated with the decrease in cerebrovascular function score (all P<0.05). The area under the curve for the combined prediction of cerebrovascular function integral value by age, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, body mass index, body fat rate, skeletal muscle content, and fasting blood glucose was 0.754. Conclusions:As the body mass index and body fat content increase and the skeletal muscle content decreases in the healthy physical examination population, the likelihood of abnormal cerebrovascular function integral values rises; the combination of age, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, body mass index, body fat percentage, skeletal muscle content, and fasting blood glucose indicators can predict the increased risk of cerebrovascular function integral values.
6.Role of the Brock, Mayo, and PKUPH combined model in risk stratification of solitary pulmonary nodules in a health check-up cohort
Xuejiao LIU ; Bin LI ; Yan LI ; Xiangfeng KONG ; Juan SUN ; Xuelin LI ; Xichun WANG ; Biqiang LI
Chinese Journal of Health Management 2025;19(7):550-556
Objective:To investigate the role of the Brock, Mayo, and PKUPH combined model in risk stratification of solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) in health check-up population.Methods:An ambispective cohort study was conducted on 668 eligible SPNs cases from the health management center in Chongqing General Hospital from June 2018 to June 2019. The exposure condition was prospectively followed or historically retrospected, and the clinical outcomes were prospectively followed. SPNs were classified into benign and malignant groups. Descriptive statistics and univariate analysis were performed to assess the differences in risk characteristics between two groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, clinical decision curve, and Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test were used to evaluate and compare the predictive performance, clinical utility, and calibration of the combined model versus individual Brock, Mayo, and PKUPH models.Results:Among the 668 SPNs cases, 82 (12.28%) were diagnosed as malignant. Age, sex, smoking history, extrapulmonary tumor history, diameter, upper lobe, clear border and spicule sign in the malignant group were significantly different from those in the benign group (all P<0.05). The combined model demonstrated superior predictive performance, clinical utility, and calibration compared to the best-performing individual Brock model [Area under the curve (AUC): 0.88 (95% CI: 0.84-0.92) vs 0.86 (95% CI: 0.82-0.91)]. Besides, multi-grade risk stratification enabled by the combined model was better than binary classification, with the malignant rate of the four risk levels were 0.60%, 4.62%, 14.58% and 56.07%, respectively. Conclusion:The combined model addresses the limitations of individual models in SPNs risk stratification for health examination populations, improving predictive performance, clinical utility, and calibration, while proposing a superior multi-grade risk stratification system.
7.Research progress on magnetic resonance imaging and neurobiological mechanisms of anhedonia in major depressive disorder
Peishan HUANG ; Ke WANG ; Xuelin ZHANG ; Yi MIAO ; Qiangli DONG
Chinese Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases 2025;51(3):180-185
Major depressive disorder is a common mental disorder,one of the core symptoms of which is anhedonia,characterized by a reduced ability to respond to pleasurable stimuli.Brain images of patients with major depressive disorders with anhedonia show the following features:reduced volume or cortical thickness in brain regions such as the striatum and temporal lobe,changes in the microstructure of white matter tracts,abnormal neuronal activity in the frontal lobe,temporal lobe,and limbic system,and altered connectivity in the default mode network,reward network,and fronto-parietal network.Additionally,factors such as stress,gene expression,the glutamate system,and biological rhythms may also influence anhedonia.The neurobiological mechanisms of anhedonia are intricate,and are crucial for the diagnosis,treatment,and prognosis of depressive disorders.
8.miR-146a chitosan nanoparticles preparation and protective effects on acute liver cell injury induced by LPS
Saining WANG ; Huifang BAI ; Ning JIANG ; Qianqian DANG ; Fengying YIN ; Lin SUN ; Xuelin WANG
Chinese Journal of Veterinary Science 2025;45(6):1260-1267
This study aims to investigate the characteristics of chitosan-loaded miR-146a nanoparti-cles and explore their protective effect against acute liver cell injury induced by LPS in vitro.Galac-tosylated arginine chitosan(GCA)nanoparticles were successfully synthesized,prepared and used to further prepare GCA-miR-146a nanoparticles with different mass ratios by ion cross-linking method.The binding efficiency of miR-146a by GCA nanoparticles was detected by gel retardation experiment.Particle size,morphology and potential were observed and detected by transmission e-lectron microscopy and Zetasizer NanoZS90 respectively.The cytotoxicity of GCA nanoparticles on HepG2 cells was detected by CCK-8 kit.Cellular uptake was assayed by fluorescence microscopy to select the optimum ratio for the further study.The LPS induced acute liver cell injury were evalua-ted by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR.The results showed that the mass ratio of GCA-miR-146a was 5∶1.Encapsulation efficiency and drug loading efficiency of the nanoparticles reached 97.11%and 20.08%,respectively.The 100 nm nanoparticles with 1.15 mV surface charge showed uniform morphology.The GCA-miR-146a nanoparticles had no cytotoxicity and had high transfection efficiency on HepG2 cells.The study demonstrated that GCA-miR-146 ananoparticles could significantly increase the expression of miR-146a in HepG2 cells and reduce the mRNA ex-pression levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in vitro.The prepared GCA nanoparticles loaded with miR-146a had high loading efficiency and could protect LPS-induced acute liver cell injury in vitro.
9.Cohort study of effects of shift work on renal function in oil workers in northern China
Zhikang SI ; Xuelin WANG ; Rui MENG ; Zekun ZHAO ; Ziwei ZHENG ; Jianhui WU
Chinese Journal of Industrial Hygiene and Occupational Diseases 2025;43(5):379-384
Objective:To analyze the effects of shift work on the renal function of oil workers and investigate whether there is a measured response relationship between shift work and renal dysfunction.Methods:In this study, oil workers who participated in physical examinations at the North China Oilfield Downhole Hospital were selected as the study subjects, and the physical examinations as well as questionnaires of the study subjects in 2017 and 2018 were collected as the baseline data, which included blood biochemical indexes, socio-demographic characteristics, history of life behaviors, occupational exposures, and occupational histories. Three follow-up surveys were subsequently conducted in April 2019, April 2020, and January 2021. The presence of renal dysfunction in the study population was determined based on the glomerular filtration rate tested at the medical examination hospital. The exposure of the study subjects to shift work was assessed using the weighted shift index (WSI), the relationship between different levels of shift work and renal dysfunction was analyzed using Cox regression, and the measure of WSI and renal dysfunction was explored by restricted cubic spline (RCS). response relationship.Results:A total of 2292 study participants were included in this study, and the prevalence density of renal dysfunction was 87.44 k/year, of which the prevalence of renal dysfunction in females (30.31%), those with per capita monthly income <2, 000 yuan (27.00%), those who consume alcohol (27.10%), those who are hypertensive (23.05%), those who are exposed to high temperatures (27.37%), those who are exposed to organic solvents (30.42%), and those who are engaged in shift work (25.87%) were to be found had a higher prevalence of renal dysfunction ( P<0.05). After correcting for age, sex, and other risk factors, there was a nonlinear association between intensity of shift work and renal dysfunction, with a hazard ratio ( HR) of 1.29 (95% CI: 0.98-1.59) for the development of renal dysfunction in petroleum workers for shift work performed at higher intensities, and moderate intensity of exposure to shift work reduced the risk of renal dysfunction in petroleum workers ( HR=0.54 with a 95% CI: 0.39-0.75, P<0.001) . Conclusion:Prolonged shift work increases the risk of renal dysfunction in oil workers, and the occurrence of renal dysfunction in oil workers is influenced by multiple factors.
10.Acceptance of generative artificial intelligence among maternal and infant care personnel and its influencing factors
Ziteng WANG ; Ruifu KANG ; Xuelin SUN ; Ling TONG ; Yanling WANG ; Yanting CHEN ; Qian XIAO
Chinese Journal of Modern Nursing 2025;31(19):2545-2549
Objective:To assess the current level of acceptance of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) among maternal and infant care providers and to explore the factors influencing their acceptance.Methods:A convenience sampling method was used to survey 164 maternal and infant care providers from Beijing Hospital and China-Japan Friendship Hospital between March and May 2024. The survey instruments included a general information questionnaire, GAI Acceptance among Maternal and Infant Care Providers Scale, and Self-assessment Scales for Digital Technology Awareness and Self-assessment Scales for Digital Competence. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to identify influencing factors.Results:The total acceptance score of GAI among 164 participants was [181 (158, 200) ]. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that interest in GAI, digital technology awareness, and digital competence were significant influencing factors for GAI acceptance, with statistically significant differences ( P<0.05) . Conclusions:The level of GAI acceptance among maternal and infant care providers was relatively high. It is recommended to strengthen the promotion and training on the application and precautions of GAI, improve their digital competence and professional literacy, while fostering critical and independent thinking, to enhance the integration of GAI into maternal and infant care services.


Result Analysis
Print
Save
E-mail