ObjectiveBased on transcriptomics， to explore the mechanism of Hei Xiaoyaosan regulating the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B （PI3K/Akt） signaling pathway to improve the learning and memory ability of insomnia rats with liver depression syndrome. MethodsSixty 8-week-old male SD rats were randomly divided into the blank group， model group， eszopiclone group （0.09 mg·kg^-1）， and low， medium， and high dose groups of Hei Xiaoyaosan （3.82， 7.65， 15.30 g·kg^-1）， with ten rats in each group. Except for the blank group， the other groups were induced insomnia rat model with liver depression by chronic restraint， tail clamping stimulation and intraperitoneal injection of p-chlorophenylalanine （PCPA）. Each treatment group received intragastric administration according to the specified dosage， once a day for 14 consecutive days. The pentobarbital sodium cooperative sleep test， open field test， and Morris water maze test were used to test the sleep quality， depressive-like behavior， and learning and memory abilities of rats. Additionally， enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was used to detect the contents of 5-hydroxytryptamine （5-HT）， γ-aminobutyric acid （GABA）， brain-derived neurotrophic factor （BDNF）， glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor （GDNF） and nitric oxide （NO） in hippocampus. Hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining was performed to observe pathological changes of the hippocampal tissue， while terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase deoxyuridine triphosphate （dUTP） nick end labeling （TUNEL） was used to evaluate apoptosis of hippocampal neurons. Transcriptomic sequencing technology was employed to identify differentially expressed genes in hippocampus between the model group and the blank group， as well as between the medium-dose group of Hei Xiaoyaosan and the model group. Gene Ontology （GO） and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes （KEGG） enrichment analysis were performed on the intersecting genes. Subsequently， the enriched key genes and signaling pathways were analyzed and verified. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） was utilized to assess the mRNA expression levels of phosphatase and tensin homolog （PTEN）， B-cell lymphoma-2 （Bcl-2）-like protein 11 （BCL2L11）， and mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 （MAPK1） in hippocampus， and Western blot was employed to evaluate the protein expressions of PI3K， phosphorylation （p）-PI3K， Akt， p-Akt， Bcl-2， Bcl-2-associated X protein （Bax）， and cleaved Caspase-3 in the same tissue. ResultsCompared with the blank group， the model group exhibited a reduction in body weight， an increase in sleep latency， and a decrease in sleep duration （P<0.01）. Additionally， rats showed obvious depression-like behavior， and their learning and memory abilities decreased. Furthermore， the contents of 5-HT， GABA， NO， BDNF and GDNF in hippocampus decreased （P<0.01）. Histological examination revealed a disorganized cell arrangement in the CA1 region of the hippocampus， characterized by irregular cell shapes， a reduced cell count， deeply stained and pyknotic nuclei， increased vacuolar degeneration， and an elevated apoptosis rate （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the body weight of the high and medium dose groups of Hei Xiaoyaosan increased， the sleep latency shortened and the sleep time prolonged （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Additionally， depression-like behavior and learning and memory abilities of rats were significantly improved， the levels of 5-HT， GABA， NO， BDNF and GDNF in the hippocampus increased （P<0.05， P<0.01）. These interventions also ameliorated pathological damage in the hippocampal CA1 area and reduced the apoptosis of hippocampal neurons （P<0.01）. Transcriptomic sequencing results indicated that Hei Xiaoyaosan might exert a therapeutic effect by regulating PI3K/Akt pathway through key mRNAs such as PTEN， BCL2L11， and MAPK1. The roles of these key mRNAs and proteins within PI3K/Akt pathway were further validated. In comparison to the blank group， the expression levels of PTEN， BCL2L11 and MAPK1 mRNA in the hippocampus of rats in the model group were increased （P<0.01）， while the protein expression levels of p-PI3K， p-Akt and Bcl-2 were decreased （P<0.01）， and the protein expression levels of PTEN， Bax and cleaved Caspase-3 were increased （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the high-dose and medium-dose groups of Hei Xiaoyaosan could down-regulate the expressions of PTEN， BCL2L11 and MAPK1 mRNAs （P<0.01）， up-regulate the expressions of p-PI3K， p-Akt and Bcl-2 proteins （P<0.01）， and down-regulate the protein expressions of PTEN， Bax and cleaved Caspase-3 （P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionHei Xiaoyaosan may regulate PI3K/Akt signaling pathway by down-regulating expressions of key genes such as PTEN， BCL2L11 and MAPK1， and thus improve the learning and memory abilities of insomnia rats with liver depression syndrome.

BACKGROUND: The FAVOR (Comparison of Quantitative Flow Ratio Guided and Angiography Guided Percutaneous Intervention in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease) III China trial demonstrated that percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) lesion selection using quantitative flow ratio (QFR) measurement, a novel angiography-based approach for estimating fractional flow reserve, improved two-year clinical outcomes compared with standard angiography guidance. This study aimed to assess the cost-effectiveness of QFR-guided PCI from the perspective of the current Chinese healthcare system. METHODS: This study is a pre-specified analysis of the FAVOR III China trial, which included 3825 patients randomized between December 25, 2018, and January 19, 2020, from 26 centers in China. Patients with stable or unstable angina pectoris or those ≥72 hours post-myocardial infarction who had at least one lesion with a diameter stenosis between 50% and 90% in a coronary artery with a ≥2.5 mm reference vessel diameter by visual assessment were randomized to a QFR-guided strategy or an angiography-guided strategy with 1:1 ratio. During the two-year follow-up, data were collected on clinical outcomes, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), estimated costs of index procedure hospitalization, outpatient cardiovascular medication use, and rehospitalization due to major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE). The primary analysis calculated the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) as the cost per MACCE avoided. An ICER of ¥10,000/MACCE event avoided was considered economically attractive in China. RESULTS: At two years, the QFR-guided group demonstrated a reduced rate of MACCE compared to the angiography-guided group (10.8% vs . 14.7%, P <0.01). Total two-year costs were similar between the groups (¥50,803 ± 21,121 vs . ¥50,685 ± 23,495, P = 0.87). The ICER for the QFR-guided strategy was ¥3055 per MACCE avoided, and the probability of QFR being economically attractive was 64% at a willingness-to-pay threshold of ¥10,000/MACCE avoided. Sensitivity analysis showed that QFR-guided PCI would become cost-saving if the cost of QFR were below ¥3682 (current cost: ¥3800). Cost-utility analysis yielded an ICER of ¥56,163 per QALY gained, with a 53% probability of being cost-effective at a willingness-to-pay threshold of ¥85,000 per QALY gained. CONCLUSION: In patients undergoing PCI, a QFR-guided strategy appears economically attractive compared to angiographic guidance from the perspective of the Chinese healthcare system. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT03656848.
Humans ; Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention/methods* ; Male ; Female ; Coronary Angiography/methods* ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Coronary Artery Disease/surgery* ; Quality-Adjusted Life Years ; Fractional Flow Reserve, Myocardial/physiology*

Lung cancer,the second most prevalent cancer in the world with a persistently high mortality rate,threatens the life and health of all humanity.With the development of clinical trials,the treatment options for lung cancer have been enriched,and the understanding of the timing of intervention has become more explicit than before.Thus,the prognosis of lung cancer has significantly improved.However,unmet clinical needs still exist.This review provides the global trend of clinical research in lung cancer treatment and describes the evolution of clinical trials in terms of design,implementation,and regulation.The change in study endpoints is conducive to shortening the research and development cycle and accelerating the launch of drugs.The refinement of study populations and therapeutic targets facilitates the realization of the maximum efficacy of precision treatment.The integration of comprehensive and diversified therapeutic strategies and the combination of prevention and treatment further promote the improvement of survival and the alleviation of social burden.This review also proposes a prospective direction for future development of clinical research in lung cancer.

ObjectiveBased on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry（UPLC-Q-TOF-MS）， network pharmacology and pharmacodynamics， to investigate the pharmacodynamic material basis and mechanism of Hei Xiaoyaosan in improving learning and memory ability of insomnia rats. MethodUPLC-Q-TOF-MS was used to characterize the chemical constituents of Hei Xiaoyaosan. Network pharmacology was applied to construct the network of active ingredients-intersecting targets-pathways， and molecular docking was performed on key ingredients and core targets. Sixty 8-week-old male SD rats were selected and randomly divided into blank group， model group， Hei Xiaoyaosan low， medium， and high dose groups（3.82， 7.65， 15.30 g·kg^-1）， and zolpidem tartrate group（0.5 mg·kg^-1）， with 10 rats in each group. Except for the blank group， the insomnia model was induced by intraperitoneal injection of p-chlorophenylalanine（PCPA） for 4 consecutive days. Rats in each dosing group were administered the corresponding dose by gavage， once a day for 14 consecutive days. Morris water maze test was utilized to assess the learning and memory ability of rats， transmission electron microscopy was employed to examine the ultrastructure of hippocampal synapses， enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA） was conducted to analyze the levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine（5-HT）， interleukin-6（IL-6）， and tumor necrosis factor-α（TNF-α） in hippocampal tissues， and Western blot was performed to detect the expression levels of tumor suppressor protein p53（TP53）， rat sarcoma virus（RAS）， epidermal growth factor receptor（EGFR）， cyclic adenosine monophosphate（cAMP）-response element binding protein（CREB） binding protein（CREBBP）， glycogen synthase kinase-3β（GSK-3β）， protein kinase B1（Akt1）， nitric oxide synthase 1（NOS1）， phosphorylated（p）-Akt1， and p-GSK-3β in hippocampal tissues. Additionally， real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction（Real-time PCR） was used to assess the mRNA expression levels of TP53， RAS， EGFR， CREBBP， GSK-3β， Akt1 and NOS1. ResultA total of 176 components were identified in Hei Xiaoyaosan， mainly flavonoids， triterpene saponins， phenylpropanoids and other compounds. Network pharmacological analysis revealed that TP53， V-Ha-Ras Harvey Rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog（HRAS）， neuroblastoma sarcoma viral oncogene homolog（NRAS）， EGFR， CREBBP， GSK-3β， Akt1 and NOS1 were the key targets of Hei Xiaoyaosan in treating insomnia. The core targets were predominantly associated with cAMP， RAS， Ras-associated protein 1（Rap1）， advanced glycation end products（AGE）/receptor for AGE（RAGE）， and EGFR signaling pathways， and the key active ingredients of Hei Xiaoyaosan in treating insomnia were 8-shogaol， ligustilide F， 6-gingerol， levistilide A and senkyunolide E. Animal experiment results demonstrated that Hei Xiaoyaosan medium and high dose groups significantly increased body weight， shortened sleep latency and prolonged sleep duration in insomnia rats（P<0.01）， significantly decreased escape latency and increased platform crossing frequency（P<0.01）， and improved the pathological changes of hippocampal synaptic ultrastructure. Meanwhile， the two groups could significantly elevate 5-HT level， Akt1 mRNA expression， Akt1 and p-Akt1 protein expression（P<0.01）， reduce inflammatory factor levels（P<0.01）， and down-regulate protein expression levels of TP53， RAS， NOS1， EGFR， CREBBP， GSK-3β and p-GSK-3β（P<0.01）， as well as mRNA expression levels of TP53， RAS， NOS1， EGFR， CREBBP and GSK-3β in hippocampal tissues（P<0.01）. ConclusionThis study determined that the five key active ingredients（8-shogaol， ligustilide F， 6-gingerol， levistilide A and senkyunolide E） in Hei Xiaoyaosan may improve the learning and memory ability of insomnia rats by regulating signaling pathways such as cAMP， RAS， and EGFR， providing an important reference for its mechanism research and clinical application.

Advances in novel drugs, therapies, and genetic techniques have revolutionized the diagnosis and treatment of cancers, substantially improving cancer patients' prognosis. Although rare tumors account for a non-negligible number, the practice of precision medicine and development of novel therapies are largely hampered by many obstacles. Their low incidence and drastic regional disparities result in the difficulty of informative evidence-based diagnosis and subtyping. Sample exhaustion due to difficulty in diagnosis also leads to a lack of recommended therapeutic strategies in clinical guidelines, insufficient biomarkers for prognosis/efficacy, and inability to identify potential novel therapies in clinical trials. Herein, by reviewing the epidemiological data of Chinese solid tumors and publications defining rare tumors in other areas, we proposed a definition of rare tumor in China, including 515 tumor types with incidences of less than 2.5/100 000 per year. We also summarized the current diagnosis process, treatment recommendations, and global developmental progress of targeted drugs and immunotherapy agents on the status quo. Lastly, we pinpointed the current recommendation chance for patients with rare tumors to be involved in a clinical trial by NCCN. With this informative report, we aimed to raise awareness on the importance of rare tumor investigations and guarantee a bright future for rare tumor patients.
Humans ; Neoplasms/pathology* ; Biomarkers ; Prognosis ; Oceans and Seas ; China/epidemiology*

Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors reduce cardiovascular mortality in patients with diabetes mellitus but the protective mechanism remains elusive. Here we demonstrated that the SGLT2 inhibitor, Empagliflozin (EMPA), suppresses cardiomyocytes autosis (autophagic cell death) to confer cardioprotective effects. Using myocardial infarction (MI) mouse models with and without diabetes mellitus, EMPA treatment significantly reduced infarct size, and myocardial fibrosis, thereby leading to improved cardiac function and survival. In the context of ischemia and nutritional glucose deprivation where autosis is already highly stimulated, EMPA directly inhibits the activity of the Na⁺/H⁺ exchanger 1 (NHE1) in the cardiomyocytes to regulate excessive autophagy. Knockdown of NHE1 significantly rescued glucose deprivation-induced autosis. In contrast, overexpression of NHE1 aggravated the cardiomyocytes death in response to starvation, which was effectively rescued by EMPA treatment. Furthermore, in vitro and in vivo analysis of NHE1 and Beclin 1 knockout mice validated that EMPA's cardioprotective effects are at least in part through downregulation of autophagic flux. These findings provide new insights for drug development, specifically targeting NHE1 and autosis for ventricular remodeling and heart failure after MI in both diabetic and non-diabetic patients.
Animals ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/drug therapy* ; Glucose ; Humans ; Mice ; Myocardial Infarction/metabolism* ; Sodium-Glucose Transporter 2 Inhibitors/therapeutic use* ; Ventricular Remodeling

We have discovered and synthesized a series of indole-based derivatives as novel sigma-2 (σ ₂) receptor ligands. Two ligands with high σ ₂ receptor affinity and subtype selectivity were then radiolabeled with F-18 in good radiochemical yields and purities, and evaluated in rodents. In biodistribution studies in male ICR mice, radioligand [¹⁸F]9, or 1-(4-(5,6-dimethoxyisoindolin-2-yl)butyl)-4-(2-[¹⁸F]fluoroethoxy)-1H-indole, was found to display high brain uptake and high brain-to-blood ratio. Pretreatment of animals with the selective σ ₂ receptor ligand CM398 led to significant reductions in both brain uptake (29%-54%) and brain-to-blood ratio (60%-88%) of the radioligand in a dose-dependent manner, indicating high and saturable specific binding of [¹⁸F]9 to σ ₂ receptors in the brain. Further, ex vivo autoradiography in male ICR mice demonstrated regionally heterogeneous specific binding of [¹⁸F]9 in the brain that is consistent with the distribution pattern of σ ₂ receptors. Dynamic positron emission tomography imaging confirmed regionally distinct distribution and high levels of specific binding for [¹⁸F]9 in the rat brain, along with appropriate tissue kinetics. Taken together, results from our current study indicated the novel radioligand [¹⁸F]9 as the first highly specific and promising imaging agent for σ ₂ receptors in the brain.

Objective: The relationship between outdoor temperature and blood pressure (BP) has been inconclusive. We analyzed data from a prospective cohort study in northwestern China to investigate the effect of outdoor temperature on BP and effect modification by season. Methods: A total of 32,710 individuals who participated in both the baseline survey and the first follow-up in 2011-2015 were included in the study. A linear mixed-effect model and generalized additive mixed model (GAMM) were applied to estimate the association between outdoor temperature and BP after adjusting for confounding variables. Results: The mean differences in systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) between summer and winter were 3.5 mmHg and 2.75 mmHg, respectively. After adjusting for individual characteristics, meteorological factors and air pollutants, a significant increase in SBP and DBP was observed for lag 06 day and lag 04 day, a 0.28 mmHg (95% Conclusions This study demonstrated a significant negative association between outdoor temperature and BP in a high-altitude environment of northwest China. Moreover, BP showed a significant seasonal variation. The association between BP and temperature differed by season and individuals' demographic characteristics (age, gender, BMI), unhealthy behaviors (smoking and alcohol consumption), and chronic disease status (CVDs, hypertension, and diabetes).
Adult ; Blood Pressure/physiology* ; China/epidemiology* ; Environmental Exposure/statistics & numerical data* ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Seasons ; Temperature

As one of the most lethal diseases, pancreatic cancer shows a dismal overall prognosis and high resistance to most treatment modalities. Furthermore, pancreatic cancer escapes early detection during the curable period because early symptoms rarely emerge and specific markers for this disease have not been found. Although combinations of new drugs, multimodal therapies, and adjuvants prolong survival, most patients still relapse after surgery and eventually die. Consequently, the search for more effective treatments for pancreatic cancer is highly relevant and justified. As a newly re-discovered mediator of gasotransmission, hydrogen sulfide (H