OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of Qingda Granule (QDG) in ameliorating hypertension-induced cardiac damage and investigate the underlying mechanisms involved. METHODS: Twenty spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) were used to develope a hypertension-induced cardiac damage model. Another 10 Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats were used as normotension group. Rats were administrated intragastrically QDG [0.9 g/(kg•d)] or an equivalent volume of pure water for 8 weeks. Blood pressure, histopathological changes, cardiac function, levels of oxidative stress and inflammatory response markers were measured. Furthermore, to gain insights into the potential mechanisms underlying the protective effects of QDG against hypertension-induced cardiac injury, a network pharmacology study was conducted. Predicted results were validated by Western blot, radioimmunoassay immunohistochemistry and quantitative polymerase chain reaction, respectively. RESULTS: The administration of QDG resulted in a significant decrease in blood pressure levels in SHRs (P<0.01). Histological examinations, including hematoxylin-eosin staining and Masson trichrome staining revealed that QDG effectively attenuated hypertension-induced cardiac damage. Furthermore, echocardiography demonstrated that QDG improved hypertension-associated cardiac dysfunction. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and colorimetric method indicated that QDG significantly reduced oxidative stress and inflammatory response levels in both myocardial tissue and serum (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS Both network pharmacology and experimental investigations confirmed that QDG exerted its beneficial effects in decreasing hypertension-induced cardiac damage by regulating the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE)/angiotensin II (Ang II)/Ang II receptor type 1 axis and ACE/Ang II/Ang II receptor type 2 axis.
Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Hypertension/pathology* ; Renin-Angiotensin System/drug effects* ; Rats, Inbred SHR ; Oxidative Stress/drug effects* ; Male ; Rats, Inbred WKY ; Blood Pressure/drug effects* ; Myocardium/pathology* ; Rats ; Inflammation/pathology*

Objective: To establish a machine learning-based precision blood donor recruitment model at the county level and assess its generalizability and applicability. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted using blood donation and SMS recruitment data from the Taicang Branch of the Suzhou Blood Center between 2019 and 2024. Multiple machine learning algorithms were employed, including extreme gradient boosting, support vector machine, k-nearest neighbor, logistic regression, decision tree, random forest, and multilayer perceptron. These were combined with techniques such as synthetic minority oversampling, undersampling, and cost-sensitive learning (using MFE and MSFE loss functions). Model parameters were optimized through grid search to identify the best-performing model. Results: In a prospective comparative study against conventional methods, the machine learning models increased the recruitment success rate among high-willingness donors by an average of 129.15%, and the recruitment efficiency per SMS improved by 125.02% compared with the traditional method. Under full-scale SMS sending, the recruitment rate per SMS increased by 42.61%, and SMS sending efficiency improved by 31.77%, significantly enhancing recruitment performance. Conclusion: This study represents the first application of a machine learning-based precision donor recruitment model at the county-level in China. The precise recruitment framework not only improves recruitment efficiency and reduces recruitment costs but also demonstrates strong scalability and generalizability. It provides a scientific and feasible intelligent pathway to ensure the safety and sustainability of the blood supply.

Objective:To evaluate the effect of low-dose esketamine for postoperative analgesia on the postoperative depression in patients with gastrointestinal tumors.Methods:This study was a prospective randomized controlled trial. Eighty patients, aged 18-64 yr, with a body mass index of 18-25 kg/m 2, of American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status classification Ⅱ or Ⅲ, scheduled for elective radical resection of the gastrointestinal tumor under general anesthesia from June to November 2023 in our hospital, were divided into 2 groups ( n=40 each) using a random number table method: esketamine group (group E) and control group (group C). Each patient received postoperative patient-controlled intravenous analgesia(PCIA). The PCIA solution in group E contained esketamine 0.5 mg/kg, dezocine 0.5 mg/kg, dexmetomidine 1.5 μg/kg and flurbiprofen ester 100 mg in 100 ml of normal saline. The PCIA solution in group C contained dezocine 0.5 mg/kg, dexmetomidine 1.5 μg/kg and flurbiprofen ester 100 mg in 100 ml of normal saline. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was used to assess the patients′ anxiety and depression at 1 day before operation (T 0) and 2 days after operation (T 1). The Quality of Recovery-15 scale was used to evaluate the early postoperative recovery quality. Visual analog scale scores, the pressing times of patient-controlled analgesia and the number of rescue analgesia were recorded within 2 days after operation. The occurrence of drug-related adverse reactions was also recorded. Results:Seventy-eight patients were finally included, with 39 cases in group E and 39 cases in group C. Compared with group C, the postoperative HADS-depression scale score and incidence of depression were significantly decreased, the Quality of Recovery-15 scale score was increased, the visual analog scale scores were decreased ( P<0.05), and no significant changes were found in the postoperative HADS-anxiety scale score and incidence of anxiety, the pressing times of patient-controlled analgesia and the number of rescue analgesia in group E ( P>0.05). Visual hallucination was found at 1 day after operation in one patient and relieved at 2 days after operation in group E. There was no significant difference in the incidence of postoperative dizziness, nausea and vomiting between the two groups ( P>0.05). Conclusions:Postoperative analgesia with 0.5 mg/kg esketamine can alleviate postoperative depressive symptoms, enhance the efficacy of analgesia and improve the early postoperative recovery quality in patients with gastrointestinal tumors.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of Danmu Extract Syrup (DMS) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung injury (ALI) in mice and explore the mechanism. METHODS: Seventy-two male Balb/C mice were randomly divided into 6 groups according to a random number table (n=12), including control (normal saline), LPS (5 mg/kg), LPS+DMS 2.5 mL/kg, LPS+DMS 5 mL/kg, LPS+DMS 10 mL/kg, and LPS+Dexamethasone (DXM, 5 mg/kg) groups. After pretreatment with DMS and DXM, the ALI mice model was induced by LPS, and the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were collected to determine protein concentration, cell counts and inflammatory cytokines. The lung tissues of mice were stained with hematoxylin-eosin, and the wet/dry weight ratio (W/D) of lung tissue was calculated. The levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1 β in BALF of mice were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. The expression levels of Claudin-5, vascular endothelial (VE)-cadherin, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), phospho-protein kinase B (p-Akt) and Akt were detected by Western blot analysis. RESULTS: DMS pre-treatment significantly ameliorated lung histopathological changes. Compared with the LPS group, the W/D ratio and protein contents in BALF were obviously reduced after DMS pretreatment (P<0.05 or P<0.01). The number of cells in BALF and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity decreased significantly after DMS pretreatment (P<0.05 or P<0.01). DMS pre-treatment decreased the levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1 β (P<0.01). Meanwhile, DMS activated the phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/Akt) pathway and reversed the expressions of Claudin-5, VE-cadherin and VEGF (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS DMS attenuated LPS-induced ALI in mice through repairing endothelial barrier. It might be a potential therapeutic drug for LPS-induced lung injury.
Mice ; Male ; Animals ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism* ; Lipopolysaccharides ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/metabolism* ; Interleukin-1beta/metabolism* ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A/metabolism* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/metabolism* ; Claudin-5/metabolism* ; Acute Lung Injury/chemically induced* ; Lung/pathology* ; Interleukin-6/metabolism* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal

The management of surplus drugs is an important part of drug administration. At present, China′s medical institutions are in the initial exploration stage in managing surplus drugs.This study analyzed the causes, safety hazards, management policies, and management problems of surplus drugs in medical institutions, and proposed targeted countermeasures and suggestions, including establishing unified and standardized management methods, consensus or guidelines, optimizing internal management of medical institutions, improving the management awareness of medical staff, and clarifying the benefits of surplus drugs, so as to provide references for medical institutions to manage surplus drugs reasonably.

To standardize the management of surplus drugs, improve the efficiency of medical resource utilization, promote the rational use of medical insurance funds, and reduce the financial burden on patients, a large tertiary hospital implemented a practice for managing surplus drugs starting in May 2023. This practice encompassed multiple aspects, including the establishment of organizational structure, clarification of responsibilities, formulation of billing for fractional doses and a reasonable surplus drugs list, establishment of standardized management processes, and allocation of special funds for surplus drugs. These efforts had initially achieved effective management of surplus drugs. As of November 2023, the management of surplus drugs had benefited 136 908 patients, with an average savings of 873.61 yuan per patient and a cumulative savings of approximately 34.7 million yuan in medical insurance funds. This practice had effectively reduced the wastage of medical resources, and could provide references for promoting standardized management of surplus drugs in medical institutions of China. In the future, the hospital should further expand the coverage of surplus drugs, ensure patients′ rights to informed consent, and establish a comprehensive performance incentive mechanism to promote the sustainable development of surplus drug management.

Lithocarpus litseifolius is rich in the chalcones phloridzin and trilobatin, the biosynthesis pathways of which have not been fully demonstrated. Chalcone synthase(CHS) is the first key rate-limiting enzyme in the biosynthesis of flavonoids in plants. To explore the functions of CHS gene family in chalcone synthesis of L. litseifolius, this study screened out two CHS genes(LlCHS1 and LlCHS2) from the transcriptome data of this plant, and then bioinformatics analysis and functional characterization were performed for the two genes. The bioinformatics analysis showed that LlCHS1 and LlCHS2 were acidic hydrophilic stable proteins with no transmembrane domain, composed of 395 and 390 amino acid residues, respectively. Both of them contained the characteristic amino acid sequence "WGVLFGFGPGL" and highly conserved active sites(Cys-164, Phe-215, His-303, and Asn-336) of the CHS family. The phylogenetic tree showed that LlCHS1 shared the same clade with similar genes in Aquilaria sinensis, and LlCHS2 was closely related to similar genes in Malus domestica. Under exogenous addition of phloretic acid, co-expression of LlCHS1 or LlCHS2 with Aa4CL from Aromatoleum aromaticum in Escherichia coli catalyzed the production of phloretin from phloretic acid. This study laid a theoretical foundation for revealing the functions of CHS in plants and provided new enzymatic modules for producing phloretin by synthetic biology.
Acyltransferases/chemistry* ; Phylogeny ; Plant Proteins/chemistry* ; Cloning, Molecular ; Amino Acid Sequence

【Objective】 To explore the relationship between the storage time of leukodepleted red blood cells and transfusion adverse reactions by analyzing the occurrence of transfusion adverse reactions of patients after leukodepleted red blood cells transfusion from four hospitals. 【Methods】 By using the electronic medical record management system, the collection and transfusion dates of leukodepleted red blood cells from four hospitals in Enshi Prefecture from 2018 to 2022, as well as the information on transfusion adverse reactions, were retrieved. 【Results】 From 2018 to 2022, a total of 697 61 bags of leukodepleted red blood cells were transfused in four hospitals, resulting in 166 cases of transfusion adverse reactions, among which 93 were allergic reactions, 63 were non hemolytic febrile reactions, and 10 were others, with a total incidence rate of transfusion adverse reactions at 0.24%. The average storage time of leukodepleted red blood cells with and without transfusion adverse reactions was (20.25±6.31) and (19.88±5.50) days, respectively. With a storage time of 7 days as the threshold, the incidence of transfusion adverse reactions was the lowest for a storage time of 15~21 days. The incidence of transfusion adverse reactions of leukodepleted red blood cells in two groups (with storage days ≤21 days and >21 days) was not statistically significant(P>0.05). 【Conclusion】 Allergic reactions were the main type of transfusion adverse reaction caused by leukodepleted red blood cells, and the incidence of transfusion adverse reactions decreased and then increased with the prolongation of the storage time of leukodepleted red blood cells. There was no significant difference in the incidence of transfusion adverse reactions with leukodepleted red blood cells stored for ≤ 21 days and >21 days.

This study aims to explore the effect of Buyang Huanwu Decoction glycosides on the inflammatory response of apolipoprotein E~(-/-)(ApoE~(-/-)) mice and RAW264.7 cells through nuclear factor kappa-B(NF-κB) signaling pathway. In the in vivo experiment, ApoE~(-/-) mice were fed with high-fat diets for 12 weeks to induce the animal model of atherosclerosis, and 75 μg·mL~(-1) oxidized low-density lipoprotein(Ox-LDL) incubated RAW264.7 cells for 24 h to establish the atherosclerosis cell model. Automatic biochemical analyzer, hematoxylin-eosin(HE) staining, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA), Western blot, and droplet digital polymerase chain reaction(PCR) were used to determine the blood lipid levels, aortic intimal thickness, inflammatory factor content, NF-κB pathway-related proteins, and mRNA expression levels, and evaluate arterial atherosclerotic lesions and anti-atherosclerotic mechanisms of the drug. The model of atherosclerosis was successfully established in ApoE~(-/-) mice after 12 weeks of feeding with high-fat diets. In the model group, the plasma levels of total cholesterol(TC), triglyceride(TG), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C) were increased(P<0.01), the intima of the blood vessels was thickened, the levels of inflammatory factors tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) and interleukin-6(IL-6) were increased, and the protein and mRNA expressions of NF-κB and inhibitor of NF-κB(IκBα) were significantly increased as compared with the control group. Compared with the model group, the high-dose Buyang Huanwu Decoction glycoside group decreased the plasma levels of TC, TG, and LDL-C, reduced the plaque area and thickness and the content of inflammatory factor TNF-α, and inhibited the protein and mRNA expressions of NF-κB and IκBα, with the effect same as Buyang Huanwu Decoction. In the in vivo experiment, 75 μg·mL~(-1) Ox-LDL stimulated RAW264.7 cells for 24 h to successfully establish a foam cell model. As compared with the control group, the nuclear amount of NF-κB and the protein and mRNA expressions of IκBα in the model group increased. Compared with the model group, the middle-dose and high-dose Buyang Huanwu Decoction glycoside groups decreased the nuclear amount of NF-κB and the protein and mRNA expressions of IκBα. The above results show that the glycosides are the main effective substances of Buyang Huanwu Decoction against atherosclerosis, which inhibit the NF-κB pathway and reduce the inflammatory response, thus playing the role against atherosclerotic inflammation same as Buyang Huanwu Decoction.
Mice ; Animals ; NF-kappa B/metabolism* ; NF-KappaB Inhibitor alpha/metabolism* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/metabolism* ; Glycosides/pharmacology* ; Cholesterol, LDL ; Atherosclerosis/genetics* ; Signal Transduction ; Inflammation/drug therapy* ; Interleukin-6 ; Apolipoproteins E/pharmacology* ; RNA, Messenger/metabolism*

The substitute materials of autologous tissue graft for periodontal soft tissue augmentation surgery develop rapidly. The use of substitute material can avoid the second operation area, shorten the operation time, reduce the postoperative reaction and pain, and is not limited by the quantity, suitable for a wide range of cases. In this paper, the characteristics, histological study, clinical application and therapeutic effect of acellular dermal matrix as a substitute material for autologous tissue transplantation were introduced to provide reference for clinical work.
Acellular Dermis ; Wound Healing