ObjectiveTo investigate the therapeutic effect of Biejiajian Pills on rats with carbon tetrachloride （CCl₄）-induced hepatic fibrosis and its mechanism based on the bile acid （BA）-short-chain fatty acid （SCFA） metabolic axis. MethodsThe method of CCl₄ induction was used to establish a rat model of hepatic fibrosis， and 32 male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into control group， model group， Biejiajian Pills group （2.2 g/kg）， and silymarin group （43.19 mg/kg）， with 8 rats in each group. All rats except those in the control group were given intraperitoneal injection of CCl₄ （diluted with corn oil at a ratio of 4∶6， 2 mL/kg） to induce a model of hepatic fibrosis for 8 consecutive weeks， and the rats in the drug administration groups were given the corresponding drug by gavage. An automatic biochemical analyzer was used to measure the serum levels of alanine aminotransferase （ALT）， aspartate aminotransferase （AST）， total bilirubin （TBil）， and albumin （Alb）； chloramine-T colorimetry was used to measure the content of hydroxyproline （HYP） in liver tissue； HE staining and Masson staining were used to observe liver histopathological changes； UPLC-MS/MS and GC-MS were used to measure the levels of BAs and SCFAs. The Shapiro-Wilk test and the Levene test were performed for all data to determine normality and homogeneity of variance； a one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between multiple groups， and the least significant difference t-test was used for further comparison between two groups； the Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison of Ishak score between groups， and the Dunn’s test was used for further comparison between two groups. The Benjamini-Hochberg method was used for multiple comparison correction in the screening of differentially expressed metabolites in metabolomics data. The variable importance in projection （VIP） values were obtained in combination with the orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis （OPLS-DA） model， and metabolites with VIP>1 and P<0.05 were selected as significantly differentially expressed metabolites between groups. The robustness of the OPLS-DA model was evaluated through 200 permutation tests， and the main parameters of the model were reported， including the interpretation rate of the model for categorical variables （R²Y） and the predictive ability of the model （Q²）. A Spearman’s rank correlation analysis was performed. ResultsThe results of staining showed ordered arrangement of hepatocytes in the Biejiajian Pills group， with significant alleviation of inflammatory cell infiltration and collagen fiber deposition. Compared with the control group， the model group had significant increases in the serum levels of TBil and HYP and a significant reduction in the serum level of Alb （all P<0.05）. Compared with the control group， the Biejiajian Pills group had significant increases in the serum levels of AST， ALT， TBil， and HYP and a significant reduction in the serum level of Alb （all P<0.05）， and the silymarin group had significant increases in the serum levels of ALT， TBil， and HYP and a significant reduction in the serum level of Alb （all P<0.05）. Compared with the model group， the Biejiajian Pills group had significant reductions in the serum levels of ALT， AST， TBil， and HYP （all P<0.05）， and the silymarin group had significant reductions in the serum levels of ALT， TBil， HYP， and AST and a significant increase in the serum level of Alb （all P<0.05）. Mechanism studies showed that compared with the control group， the model group had significant reductions in the levels of taurolithocholic acid， tauro-α-muricholic acid， taurocholic acid， glycodeoxycholic acid， taurohyocholic acid， chenodeoxycholic acid， glycohyodeoxycholic acid， 7，12-diketolithocholic acid， taurochenodeoxycholic acid， and glycochenodeoxycholic acid and significant increases in the levels of hyodeoxycholic acid， norcholic acid， β-muricholic acid， and cholic acid （all P<0.05）. Compared with the model group， the Biejiajian Pills group had significant increases in the levels of the protective BAs taurolithocholic acid， chenodeoxycholic acid， taurocholic acid， taurohyocholic acid， and taurodeoxycholic acid and significant reductions in the levels of tauro-α-muricholic acid， tauro-β-muricholic acid， taurohyodeoxycholic acid+tauroursodeoxycholic acid， α-muricholic acid， glycoursodeoxycholic acid， and norcholic acid （alll P<0.05）. As for SCFAs， compared with the model group， the Biejiajian Pills group had significant increases in the levels of acetic acid， propionic acid， isobutyric acid， butyric acid， isopentanoic acid， pentanoic acid， and hexanoic acid （all P<0.05）. Compared with the model group， the silymarin group had significant reductions in the levels of taurolithocholic acid， tauro-α-muricholic acid， norcholic acid， glycocholic acid， deoxycholic acid， tauro-β-muricholic acid， taurodeoxycholic acid， taurohyodeoxycholic acid+tauroursodeoxycholic acid， and α-muricholic acid and significant increases in the levels of taurocholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid， as well as significant increases in the levels of the SCFAs acetic acid， propionic acid， pentanoic acid， and hexanoic acid （all P<0.05）. The correlation analysis showed that the metabolism of BAs and SCFAs was correlated with the changes in serum indicators. ConclusionBiejiajian Pills can alleviate CCl₄-induced hepatic fibrosis in rats by regulating the BA/SCFA metabolic axis.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of palliative care on drug use, medical service utilization and medical expenditure of patients with advanced cancer. METHODS: A cohort of patients including pal-liative care and standard care was constructed using the medical records of the patients in Peking University Cancer Hospital from 2018 to 2020, and coarsened exact matching was used to match the two groups of patients. The average monthly opioid consumption, hospitalization rate, intensive care unit (ICU) rate and operation rate, and the average monthly total cost were selected to evaluate drug use, medical service utilization and medical expenditure. Chi-square test and Wilcoxon signed rank test were used to compare the differences between the two groups before and after exposure and the change in the palliative care group. The net impact of palliative care on the patients was calculated using the difference-in-differences analysis. RESULTS: In this study, 180 patients in the palliative care group and 3 101 patients in the stan-dard care group were finally included in the matching, and the matching effect of the two groups was good (L₁ < 0.1). Before and after exposure, the average monthly opioid consumption in the palliative care group was significantly higher than that in the standard care group (Before exposure: 0.3 DDD/person-month vs. 0.1 DDD/person-month, P < 0.01; After exposure: 0.7 DDD/person-month vs. 0.1 DDD/person-month, P < 0.01; DDD refers to defined daily dose), palliative care significantly increased the average monthly opioid consumption in the patients (0.3 DDD/person-month, P < 0.01). The hospitalization rate (48.9% vs. 74.3%, P < 0.01) and operation rate (3.9% vs. 8.8%, P < 0.01) of the patients in palliative care group were significantly lower than those in standard care group, and the ICU rate became similar between the two groups (1.1% vs. 1.6%, P=0.634). Palliative care significantly reduced the patients ' hospitalization rate (-25.6%, P < 0.01), ICU rate (-4.9%, P < 0.01) and operation rate (-14.5%, P < 0.01). Before and after exposure, the average monthly total costs of pal-liative care group were slightly higher than those of standard care group (Before exposure: 20 092.3 yuan vs. 19 132.8 yuan, P=0.725; After exposure: 9 719.8 yuan vs. 8 818.8 yuan, P=0.165). Palliative care increased the average monthly total cost by 2 208.8 yuan, but it was not statistically significant (P=0.316). CONCLUSION Palliative care can increase the opioid consumption in advanced cancer patients, reduce the rates of hospitalization, ICU and surgery, but has no significant effect on medical expenditure.
Humans ; Palliative Care/economics* ; Neoplasms/drug therapy* ; Analgesics, Opioid/economics* ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Hospitalization/economics* ; Intensive Care Units/statistics & numerical data* ; Health Expenditures/statistics & numerical data* ; Adult ; Drug Utilization/statistics & numerical data* ; Patient Acceptance of Health Care/statistics & numerical data*

Objective:To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of active pulmonary tuberculosis (pulmonary tuberculosis) in Xi'an from 2013 to 2023 and predict the incidence trend of pulmonary tuberculosis in Xi'an by using autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) product seasonal models to provide a decision-making basis for tuberculosis prevention and control.Methods:The incidence data of pulmonary tuberculosis reported in Xi'an from 2013 to 2023 were collected through the Tuberculosis Information Management System of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The Excel 2016 software was used for descriptive statistical analysis of pulmonary tuberculosis incidence data reported in Xi'an from 2013 to 2023. The SPSS 20.0 software was used to establish an ARIMA product seasonal model to predict the incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis in Xi'an.Results:A total of 49 860 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis were reported in Xi'an from 2013 to 2023, with an annual average incidence of 45.60/100 000. The incidence showed a downward trend in the past decade. The incidence was high in spring, with a peak from March to May, a small peak from November to January, and a low incidence in February and October. The annual average incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis in 2 suburban counties (52.80/100 000) was higher than that in 14 urban areas (43.21/100 000) ( χ2=20.19, P<0.001). With the increase of age, the incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis was higher, and the incidence of the males was higher than that of female ( χ2=378.34, P<0.001), the ratio of male to female incidence was 1.73∶1. The most occupation of the population was farmers, accounting for 46.54%. The established ARIMA (0, 1, 1) (1, 1, 1) 12 product seasonal model exhibited a good prediction effect, with the Bayesian Information Criterion being -1.567, the root mean square error being 0.42, and the mean absolute percentage error being 9.62. The average relative error between the actual value and the predicted value was 6.63%, and the 95% CI of the predicted value included the actual value. Conclusions:2013-2023, the incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis in Xi'an has been on the decline as a whole. Special attention should be paid to the prevention and control of tuberculosis in districts (counties) adjacent to mountainous areas in the south, people aged 60 years and above, and farmers and other vulnerable groups. The established ARIMA (0, 1, 1) (1, 1, 1) 12 product seasonal model exhibited a good predictive effect and can be applied to the short-term prediction of tuberculosis incidence.

Microplastics(particles<5 μm in diameter),generated through plastic processing or natural degradation,have emerged as novel environmental contaminants with increasing threats to ecosys-tems and human health.Recent studies have demonstrated the accumulation of microplastics in various environmental matrices,human tissues and even placentas,highlighting the urgent need to investigate their health effects.These particles enter the human system primarily through dietary intake and water consumption,yet critical knowledge gaps remain regarding their bioaccumulation potential,toxicological profiles,and synergistic interactions with co-existing environmental contaminants.The Drosophila mela-nogaster(fruit fly),a well-established model organism,offers distinct advantages for contaminant toxicity assessment,including a compact life cycle,small body size,rapid reproduction,ease of laboratory maintenance,and extensive availability of transgenic strains.In particular,its genome has a high degree of homology with the human genome,which further enhances its scientific relevance for toxicological studies.In this review,we summarize the advantages of Drosophila models in microplastic toxicity studies,with particular emphasis on recent advances in understanding intestinal toxicity,neuro toxicity,genotox-icity,reproductive toxicity,developmental toxicity,and transgenerational toxicity.We point to critical research gaps that require urgent investigation,including the bioaccumulation dynamics of microplas-tics,metabolic transformation and elimination pathways,multi-pollutant interaction effects,molecular mechanisms of toxicity,and comprehensive health risk assessment frameworks.The review aims to provide data for elucidating the mechanisms of microplastic toxicity and formulating evidence-based prevention strategies.

The aim of this study is to establish an gene editing method of Mesomycoplasma hyo-pneumoniae(Mhp)based on the homologous recombination principle.The restriction enzyme di-gestion and ligation method combined with gene synthesis were used to construct a shuttle plasmid to achieve replication in both Mhp and Escherichia coli(E.coli).The pGEM?-T vector was used as the skeleton.The oriC sequence of Mhp which can achieve the replication of the plasmid in Mhp was inserted into the vector.Sequences of the Spiroplasma promoter and puromycin resistance gene were then inserted into the above constructed plasmid to screen recombinant clones.The up-stream and downstream homologous arms of p97 were constructed to initiate homologous recombination.The recA gene of E.coli is inserted to improve the efficiency of homologous recom-bination.The obtained shuttle plasmid was then delivered into Mhp by electro-transformation or chemical transformation.A shuttle plasmid,pGEM?-Mhp-oriC-p 97,which can replicate in both Mhp and E.coli was constructed.With the transformation of this plasmid,the carried puromycin gene and recA gene can be expressed,the p97 gene can be edited.Finally,the genetically unstable p97 gene mutant was initially obtained.In this study,a tool for Mhp gene editing based on the principle of homologous recombination was established,which laid a foundation for the develop-ment of tools for studying the pathogenesis of Mhp.

The aim of this study is to establish an gene editing method of Mesomycoplasma hyo-pneumoniae(Mhp)based on the homologous recombination principle.The restriction enzyme di-gestion and ligation method combined with gene synthesis were used to construct a shuttle plasmid to achieve replication in both Mhp and Escherichia coli(E.coli).The pGEM?-T vector was used as the skeleton.The oriC sequence of Mhp which can achieve the replication of the plasmid in Mhp was inserted into the vector.Sequences of the Spiroplasma promoter and puromycin resistance gene were then inserted into the above constructed plasmid to screen recombinant clones.The up-stream and downstream homologous arms of p97 were constructed to initiate homologous recombination.The recA gene of E.coli is inserted to improve the efficiency of homologous recom-bination.The obtained shuttle plasmid was then delivered into Mhp by electro-transformation or chemical transformation.A shuttle plasmid,pGEM?-Mhp-oriC-p 97,which can replicate in both Mhp and E.coli was constructed.With the transformation of this plasmid,the carried puromycin gene and recA gene can be expressed,the p97 gene can be edited.Finally,the genetically unstable p97 gene mutant was initially obtained.In this study,a tool for Mhp gene editing based on the principle of homologous recombination was established,which laid a foundation for the develop-ment of tools for studying the pathogenesis of Mhp.

Objective:To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of active pulmonary tuberculosis (pulmonary tuberculosis) in Xi'an from 2013 to 2023 and predict the incidence trend of pulmonary tuberculosis in Xi'an by using autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) product seasonal models to provide a decision-making basis for tuberculosis prevention and control.Methods:The incidence data of pulmonary tuberculosis reported in Xi'an from 2013 to 2023 were collected through the Tuberculosis Information Management System of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The Excel 2016 software was used for descriptive statistical analysis of pulmonary tuberculosis incidence data reported in Xi'an from 2013 to 2023. The SPSS 20.0 software was used to establish an ARIMA product seasonal model to predict the incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis in Xi'an.Results:A total of 49 860 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis were reported in Xi'an from 2013 to 2023, with an annual average incidence of 45.60/100 000. The incidence showed a downward trend in the past decade. The incidence was high in spring, with a peak from March to May, a small peak from November to January, and a low incidence in February and October. The annual average incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis in 2 suburban counties (52.80/100 000) was higher than that in 14 urban areas (43.21/100 000) ( χ2=20.19, P<0.001). With the increase of age, the incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis was higher, and the incidence of the males was higher than that of female ( χ2=378.34, P<0.001), the ratio of male to female incidence was 1.73∶1. The most occupation of the population was farmers, accounting for 46.54%. The established ARIMA (0, 1, 1) (1, 1, 1) 12 product seasonal model exhibited a good prediction effect, with the Bayesian Information Criterion being -1.567, the root mean square error being 0.42, and the mean absolute percentage error being 9.62. The average relative error between the actual value and the predicted value was 6.63%, and the 95% CI of the predicted value included the actual value. Conclusions:2013-2023, the incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis in Xi'an has been on the decline as a whole. Special attention should be paid to the prevention and control of tuberculosis in districts (counties) adjacent to mountainous areas in the south, people aged 60 years and above, and farmers and other vulnerable groups. The established ARIMA (0, 1, 1) (1, 1, 1) 12 product seasonal model exhibited a good predictive effect and can be applied to the short-term prediction of tuberculosis incidence.

Microplastics(particles<5 μm in diameter),generated through plastic processing or natural degradation,have emerged as novel environmental contaminants with increasing threats to ecosys-tems and human health.Recent studies have demonstrated the accumulation of microplastics in various environmental matrices,human tissues and even placentas,highlighting the urgent need to investigate their health effects.These particles enter the human system primarily through dietary intake and water consumption,yet critical knowledge gaps remain regarding their bioaccumulation potential,toxicological profiles,and synergistic interactions with co-existing environmental contaminants.The Drosophila mela-nogaster(fruit fly),a well-established model organism,offers distinct advantages for contaminant toxicity assessment,including a compact life cycle,small body size,rapid reproduction,ease of laboratory maintenance,and extensive availability of transgenic strains.In particular,its genome has a high degree of homology with the human genome,which further enhances its scientific relevance for toxicological studies.In this review,we summarize the advantages of Drosophila models in microplastic toxicity studies,with particular emphasis on recent advances in understanding intestinal toxicity,neuro toxicity,genotox-icity,reproductive toxicity,developmental toxicity,and transgenerational toxicity.We point to critical research gaps that require urgent investigation,including the bioaccumulation dynamics of microplas-tics,metabolic transformation and elimination pathways,multi-pollutant interaction effects,molecular mechanisms of toxicity,and comprehensive health risk assessment frameworks.The review aims to provide data for elucidating the mechanisms of microplastic toxicity and formulating evidence-based prevention strategies.

BACKGROUND:The research of dental stem cells in the fields of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering has been deepening,bringing hope for the repair of tooth-related tissues and the treatment of systemic diseases.However,there is a lack of systematic research and analysis on the biological characteristics of dental stem cells in different age groups. OBJECTIVE:To explore the biological characteristics of the human deciduous tooth and permanent tooth pulp stem cells cultured in umbilical cord blood platelet lysate to provide a reliable basis for human platelet lysates to replace fetal bovine serum. METHODS:The pulp tissues of deciduous teeth,juvenile permanent teeth and adult permanent teeth were taken out and cultured in DMEM/F-12 medium supplemented with 10%fetal bovine serum or different concentrations(5%,10%and 15%)of human platelet lysates.Cell proliferation in the four groups was detected by cytometry.The optimal concentration of human platelet lysates was selected for subsequent experiments.Under the optimal concentration of human platelet lysates,human deciduous tooth and juvenile and adult permanent tooth pulp stem cells were cultured in vitro.The cell growth status was observed under the microscope.The specific antigen on the cell surface was detected by flow cytometry.The cell proliferation ability was tested by the cell counting method and CCK-8 assay.The cell differentiation ability in vitro was observed by a three-line differentiation assay. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)The cell proliferation rate of the 10%human platelet lysate group was the highest.(2)In all three groups,fusiform fibrous cells grew and expanded from around the tissue block.There was no significant difference between deciduous teeth and juvenile permanent tooth cells,but the adult permanent tooth cells were larger than the deciduous and juvenile permanent tooth cells of the same generation.(3)The results of flow cytometry showed that deciduous teeth,juvenile permanent teeth and adult permanent teeth conformed to the phenotypic characteristics of mesenchymal stem cells.(4)The proliferative capacity of adult permanent dental pulp stem cells was significantly lower than those of deciduous teeth and juvenile permanent dental pulp stem cells(P<0.01).(5)mRNA expressions of osteoblast-related genes alkaline phosphatase and bone morphogenetic protein 2,lipoprotein lipase and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ2,mRNA expressions of chondroblast related gene type II collagen α1 and cartilage oligomeric matrix protein in adult pulp stem cells of permanent teeth were significantly lower than those of deciduous teeth and juvenile permanent teeth pulp stem cells(P<0.01).(6)Compared with adult dental pulp stem cells,human deciduous teeth and juvenile permanent teeth dental pulp stem cells have the stronger proliferative capacity and multidirectional differentiation potential,and are more suitable for clinical research and disease treatment.

Objective To construct a nomogram prediction model for the risk of mild cognitive impair-ment (MCI) in elderly people aged ≥ 60-year-old.Methods A total of 502 elderly permanent residents in Guangxi were selected as the research subjects by the multi-stage stratified random sampling method,and the general situation questionnaire and the Beijing edition of MoCA-BJ scale were used to investigate the elderly people,and their anthropometric indicators were collected.The minimum absolute shrinkage rate and selection operator (LASSO) regression were used to screen the characteristic variables.The MCI risk nomogram pre-diction model was constructed.The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and calibration curve were adopted to conduct the fitting effect test on the prediction model.Results Among the 502 elderly people,244 cases (46.04％) had the normal cognition and 258 cases (48.68％) had MCI.The logistic regression analysis showed that the age,education background,month income,children support,calf circumference,BMI and body fat index were the influencing factors of MCI in the elderly people,and the nomogram prediction model of the MCI risk in the elderly people was constructed by these seven variables.The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the model was 0.790 (95％CI:0.750-0.829),the sensitivity was 0.64,the specificity was 0.62,the C-index index was 0.790,and the model fitting x2=8.111,P=0.454,the predictive value was basically consistent with the actual value.Conclusion The nomogram prediction model of MCI risk in the elderly peo-ple is successfully constructed with good predictive effect.