1.Olfactory Receptors Expressed in The Intestine and Their Functions
Pei-Wen YANG ; Meng-Meng YUAN ; Ying ZHOU ; Peng LI ; Gui-Hong QI ; Ying YANG ; Zhong-Yi MAO ; Meng-Sha ZHOU ; Xiao-Shuang MAO ; Jian-Ping XIE ; Yi-Nan YANG ; Shi-Hao SUN
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2026;53(3):534-549
Olfactory receptors (ORs) form the largest superfamily of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Traditionally recognized for their role in the nasal olfactory epithelium, where they mediate the sense of smell, accumulating evidence has firmly established their ectopic expression in non-olfactory tissues, including the intestine, lungs, and kidneys. The intestine, as the primary site for nutrient digestion and absorption, harbors a highly complex chemical environment. To adapt to this environment, the gut employs a sophisticated network of “chemosensors” to monitor luminal contents and maintain homeostasis. Among these sensors, intestinal ORs have emerged as crucial functional components, serving as a molecular bridge that connects environmental chemical signals—such as food-derived odorants—to specific physiological responses. This discovery has significantly deepened our understanding of how dietary flavors and compounds influence intestinal physiology at the molecular level. This review systematically summarizes the expression profiles, ligand classification, and biological functions of ORs within the gastrointestinal tract. Studies indicate that intestinal ORs exhibit distinct spatial distribution patterns across different gut segments and display cell-type specificity, particularly within enterocytes and enteroendocrine cells. These receptors function as versatile sensors capable of recognizing a wide variety of ligands, including exogenous dietary components, gut microbiota metabolites such as short-chain fatty acids, and endogenous small molecules like azelaic acid. Upon activation by specific ligands, intestinal ORs trigger intracellular signaling cascades, primarily involving the AC-cAMP-PKA pathway or calcium influx channels. A major focus of this review is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which these receptors regulate the secretion of gut hormones. Activation of specific ORs in enteroendocrine cells has been shown to stimulate the release of hormones such as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), peptide YY (PYY), and serotonin (5-HT), thereby modulating systemic energy metabolism, glucose homeostasis, and gastrointestinal motility. Furthermore, the review addresses the critical roles of ORs in immune regulation and pathology. Evidence suggests that specific ORs contribute to the maintenance of intestinal immune homeostasis and may offer protection against inflammation. Beyond their involvement in inflammatory responses, ORs such as Olfr78 have been shown to regulate the differentiation and function of intestinal endocrine cells. Similarly, Olfr544 has been demonstrated to alleviate intestinal inflammation by remodeling the gut microbiome and metabolome. These findings collectively suggest that specific ORs hold promise as therapeutic targets for mitigating intestinal inflammation and maintaining gut homeostasis. Additionally, the review explores the emerging role of ORs in cancer. Although OR expression is often downregulated in tumor tissues compared to normal mucosa, activation of specific ORs by certain ligands can inhibit tumor cell proliferation and migration and induce apoptosis via pathways such as MEK/ERK and p38 MAPK. Conversely, other receptors, such as OR7C1, may serve as biomarkers for cancer-initiating cells. In conclusion, intestinal ORs represent a vital component of the gut’s sensory network. The review also discusses the translational potential of these findings. By elucidating the precise pairing relationships between dietary components and specific ORs, novel therapeutic strategies could be developed. Intestinal ORs may thus emerge as promising targets for nutritional and pharmacological interventions in metabolic diseases, inflammatory bowel diseases, and malignancies.
2.Process Optimization and Health Risk Assessment of Calcined Haematitum Based on QbD Concept
Yue YANG ; Jingwei ZHOU ; Jialiang ZOU ; Guorong MEI ; Yifan SHI ; Lei ZHONG ; Jiaojiao WANG ; Xuelian GAN ; Dewen ZENG ; Xin CHEN ; Lin CHEN ; Hongping CHEN ; Shilin CHEN ; Yuan HU ; Youping LIU
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(13):187-196
ObjectiveTo investigate the processing technology of calcined Haematitum based on the concept of quality by design(QbD) and to assess its health risk. MethodsTaking whole iron content, Fe2+ dissolution content and looseness as critical quality attributes(CQAs), and calcination temperature, calcination time, spreading thickness and particle size as critical process parameters(CPPs) determined by the failure mode and effect analysis(FMEA), the processing technology of calcined Haematitum was optimized by orthogonal test combined with analytic hierarchy process-criteria importance through intercriteria correlation(AHP-CRITIC) hybrid weighting method. The contents of heavy metals and harmful elements were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and the health risk assessment was carried out by daily exposure(EXP), target hazard quotient(THQ) and lifetime cancer risk(LCR), and the theoretical value of the maximum limit was deduced. ResultsThe optimal processing technology for calcined Haematitum was calcination at 650 ℃, calcination time of 1 h, particle size of 0.2-0.5 cm, spreading thickness of 1 cm, and vinegar quenching for 1 time[Haematitum-vinegar(10:3)]. The contents of 5 heavy metals and harmful elements in 13 batches of calcined Haematitum were all decreased with reductions of up to 5-fold. The cumulative THQ of 2 batches of samples was>1, while the cumulative THQ of all batches of Haematitum was>1. The LCR of As in 1 batches of Haematitum was 1×10-6-1×10-4, and the LCR of the rest was<1×10-6, and the LCRs of calcined Haematitum were all<1×10-6, indicating that the carcinogenic risk of calcined Haematitum was low, but special attention should still be paid to Haematitum medicinal materials. Preliminary theoretical values of the maximum limits of Cu, As, Cd, Pb and Hg were formulated as 1 014, 25, 17, 27, 7 mg·kg-1. ConclusionThe optimized processing technology of calcined Haematitum is stable and feasible, and the contents of heavy metals and harmful elements are reduced after processing. Preliminary theoretical values of the maximum limits of Cu, As, Cd, Pb and Hg are formulated to provide a scientific basis for the formulation of standards for the limits of harmful elements in Haematitum.
3.Optimization of Processing Technology of Calcined Pyritum Based on QbD Concept and Its XRD Fingerprint Analysis
Xin CHEN ; Jingwei ZHOU ; Haiying GOU ; Lei ZHONG ; Tianxing HE ; Wenbo FEI ; Jialiang ZOU ; Yue YANG ; Dewen ZENG ; Lin CHEN ; Hongping CHEN ; Shilin CHEN ; Yuan HU ; Youping LIU
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(13):197-205
ObjectiveBased on the concept of quality by design(QbD), the processing process of calcined Pyritum was optimized, and its X-ray diffraction(XRD) fingerprint was established. MethodsThe safety, effectiveness and quality controllability of calcined Pyritum were taken as the quality profile(QTPP), the color, hardness, metallic luster, phase composition, the contents of heavy metals and hazardous elements were taken as the critical quality attributes(CQAs), and the calcination temperature, calcination time, paving thickness and particle size were determined as the critical process parameters(CPPs). Differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction(XRD) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(ICP-MS) were used to analyze the correlation between the calcination temperature and CQAs of calcined Pyritum. Then, based on the criteria importance through intercriteria correlation(CRITIC)-entropy weight method, the optimal processing process of calcined Pyritum was optimized by orthogonal test. Powder XRD was used to analyze the phase of calcined Pyritum samples processed according to the best process, and the mean and median maps of calcined Pyritum were established by the superposition of geometric topological figures, and similarity evaluation and cluster analysis were carried out. ResultsThe results of single factor experiments showed that the physical phase of Pyritum changed from FeS2 to Fe7S8 during the process of temperature increase, the color gradually deepened from dark yellow, and the contents of heavy metals and harmful elements decreased. The optimized processing process of calcined Pyritum was as follows:calcination temperature at 750 ℃, calcination time of 2.5 h, paving thickness of 3 cm, particle size of 0.8-1.2 cm, vinegar quenching 1 time[Pyritum-vinegar(10∶3)]. After calcination, the internal structure of Pyritum was honeycomb-shaped, which was conducive to the dissolution of active ingredients. XRD fingerprints of 13 batches of calcined Pyritum characterized by 10 common peaks were established. The similarities of the relative peak intensities of the XRD fingerprints of the analyzed samples were>0.96, and it could effectively distinguish the raw products and unqualified products. ConclusionTemperature is the main factor affecting the quality of calcined Pyritum. After processing, the dissolution of the effective components in Pyritum increases, and the contents of heavy metals and harmful substances decrease, reflecting the function of processing to increase efficiency and reduce toxicity. The optimized processing process is stable and feasible, and the established XRD fingerprint can be used as one of the quality control standards of calcined Pyritum.
4.Phase Change and Quantity-quality Transfer Analysis of Medicinal Materials, Decoction Pieces and Standard Decoction of Haliotidis Concha (Haliotis discus hannai)
Zhihan YANG ; Jingwei ZHOU ; Weichao WANG ; Yu HUANG ; Chuang LUO ; Lian YANG ; Chenyu ZHONG ; Hongping CHEN ; Fu WANG ; Yuan HU ; Youping LIU ; Shilin CHEN ; Lin CHEN
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(13):206-214
ObjectiveTo explore the quantity-quality transfer process of medicinal materials, decoction pieces and standard decoction of Haliotidis Concha(Haliotis discus hannai) by analyzing the physical phase and compositional changes, so as to provide references for the effective control of its quality. MethodsA total of 20 batches of Haliotidis Concha(H. discus hannai) from different habitats were collected and prepared into corresponding calcined products and standard decoction, and the content of CaCO3 of the three samples were determined and the extract yield and transfer rate of CaCO3 were calculated. The changes in elemental composition and their relative contents were investigated by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry(XRF), X-ray diffraction(XRD) was used to study the changes in the phase compositions of the three samples and to establish their respective XRD specific chromatogram. Fourier transform infrared spectrometry(FTIR) was used to study the changes in the chemical composition and content changes of the three samples and to establish their respective FTIR specific chromatogram, while combining hierarchical cluster analysis(HCA), principal component analysis(PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA) to find the common and differential characteristics, in order to explore the quantity-quality transfer relationship in the preparation process of standard decoction of Haliotidis Concha(H. discus hannai). ResultsThe CaCO3 contents of the 20 batches of medicinal materials, decoction pieces and standard decoction of Haliotidis Concha(H. discus hannai) were 93.87%-98.95%, 96.02%-99.97% and 38.29%-51.96%, respectively, and the extract yield of standard decoction was 1.71%-2.37%, and the CaCO3 transfer rate of decoction pieces-standard decoction was 0.68%-1.27%. XRF results showed that the elemental species and their relative contents contained in Haliotidis Concha and its calcined products had a high degree of similarity, and although there was no obvious difference in the elemental species contained in decoction pieces and standard decoction, the difference in the relative contents was obvious, which was mainly reflected in the decrease of the relative content of element Ca and the increase of the relative content of element Na. XRD results showed that Haliotidis Concha mainly contained CaCO3 of aragonite and calcite, while calcined Haliotidis Concha only contained CaCO3 of calcite, and standard decoction mainly contained CaCO3 of calcite and Na2CO3 of natrite. FTIR results showed that there were internal vibrations of O-H, C-H, C=O, HCO3- and CO32- groups in Haliotidis Concha, while O-H, HCO3- and CO32- groups existed in the calcined products and standard decoction. ConclusionThe changes of Haliotidis Concha and calcined Haliotidis Concha are mainly the increase of CaCO3 content, the transformation of CaCO3 aragonite crystal form to calcite crystal form and the absence of organic components after calcination, and the changes of calcined products and standard decoction are mainly the decrease of CaCO3 content and the increase of Na2CO3 relative content. The method established in the study is applicable to the quality control of the shellfish medicines-decoction pieces- standard decoction, which provides a new idea for the study of quality control of dispensing granules of shellfish medicines.
5.Mental health literacy and its relationship with symptoms of depression,anxiety,and insomnia in young adults
Yuqing YANG ; Jing HUANG ; Zixin LIN ; Tong YU ; Xiyuan CHEN ; Ning YANG ; Shaoling ZHONG ; Liang ZHOU
Chinese Mental Health Journal 2025;39(4):344-349
Objective:To explore the level of mental health literacy and its relationship with symptoms of de-pression,anxiety,and insomnia in young adults.Methods:A total of 10 273 young adults aged 18-23 in Guang-zhou were selected and assessed with the National Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire,Patient Health Question-naire-9(PHQ-9),General Anxiety Disorder 7-Item Scale(GAD-7)and Insomnia Severity Index(ISI).Results:Totally 1 137(11.1%)participants met the criteria for adequate mental health literacy,2 758(26.8%)participants were with symptoms of depression,1 355(13.2%)with symptoms of anxiety and 4 936(48.0%)experiencing symptoms of insomnia.Logistic regression analyses showed that after adjusting for other factors,substandard mental health literacy was an independent risk factor for symptoms of depression,anxiety and insomnia(OR=2.08,1.93,1.49;95%CI:1.74-2.48,1.52-2.46,1.31-1.70).Conclusion:The level of mental health literacy in young a-dults is insufficient,and the lack of mental health literacy is significantly associated with the symptoms of depres-sion,anxiety and insomnia.
6.The efficacy and safety of nebulized inhalation of recombinant human interferon α1b in the treatment of pediatric respiratory syncytial viral associated lower respiratory tract infections: a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase Ⅲ clinical study
Xiaohui LIU ; Baoping XU ; Yunxiao SHANG ; Han ZHANG ; Zhenkun ZHANG ; Guangyu LIN ; Ju YIN ; Aihua CUI ; Guocheng ZHANG ; Zhaoling SHI ; Liwei GAO ; Chunming JIANG ; Junmei BIAN ; Yongjian HUANG ; Rongfang ZHANG ; Xiaomei LIU ; Xiaoqing YANG ; Yu TANG ; Lili ZHONG ; Hongmei QIAO ; Chuangli HAO ; Yuqing WANG ; Qubei LI ; Ling CAO ; Yungang YANG ; Ling LU ; Rongjun LIN ; Xingzhen SUN ; Wei ZHOU ; Qiang CHEN ; Jikui DENG ; Yuejie ZHENG ; Lin ZHAO ; Tao AI ; Xiaohong LIU ; Xiaoxia LU ; Ning JIANG ; Ming LI
Chinese Journal of Applied Clinical Pediatrics 2025;40(3):180-186
Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of nebulized inhalation of recombinant human interferon (IFN) α1b injection in the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) associated lower respiratory tract infections (pneumonia and bronchiolitis) in children.Methods:A randomized, double-blind, parallel, placebo-controlled add-on design was used.Children with pneumonia or bronchiolitis aged 2 months to 5 years who tested positive for RSV antigen within 72 hours of onset from 30 clinical trial sites including Beijing Children′s Hospital, Capital Medical University between February 2021 and December 2022 were included in this study and randomly divided into 2 groups at a ratio of 1∶1 based on a stratified-block method.Both groups received basic treatments such as cough control, asthma relieving, expectorant treatment, fever reduction, oxygen therapy, etc.The experimental group received additional nebulized inhalation of IFN α1b injection at a dose of 2.0 μg/(kg·time), twice a day.The control group received nebulized inhalation of placebo twice a day.Clinical efficacy was evaluated based on indicators such as the duration of clinical symptoms and signs, and the Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate the median and 95% CI of the duration of clinical symptoms and signs.The Log-rank test was used to compared data between groups.Safety was assessed through the incidence of adverse reactions and laboratory tests, and the Chi-square test was used to analyze the difference between groups. Results:There were 123 children in the experimental group and 122 children in the control group.The median durations of all the 5 clinical symptoms and signs [including shortness of breath, wheezing, dyspnea (visible retractions), decreased transcutaneous oxygen saturation, and abnormal mental state] in the experimental group after treatment were slightly shortened than those in the control group [2.7 d(95% CI: 1.9-3.0 d)] vs.[2.9 d(95% CI: 2.6-3.6 d), P=0.027].The improvement in dyspnea (retractions) was especially pronounced in the experimental group, with a relief rate of 50.0% (0, 100%) on the first day of administration[compared with 0 (0, 50.0%) in the control group ( Z=2.002, P=0.025)].The median duration of dyspnea in the experimental group was nearly 1 day shorter than that in the control group [1.0 d(95% CI: 0.7-1.7 d) vs.1.8 d(95% CI: 1.0-2.5 d), P=0.046].There were no significant difference in hospital stay [6.0(5.0, 8.0) d vs.6.5(5.0, 8.0) d, Z=0.675, P=0.500], oxygen therapy duration [32.0(14.0, 96.3) h vs.39.0 (24.0, 83.2) h, Z=0.094, P=0.925], the recovery rate from clinical symptoms during treatment [(105/106, 99.1%) vs.(96/101, 95.0%)], and recurrence rate [(0/106, 0) vs.(2/101, 2.0%)] between the 2 groups (all P>0.05).However, the above-mentioned four indicators in the experimental group showed a trend of clinical benefits.The quantitative virus detection results showed that the RSV viral load in both groups decreased after treatment compared to before treatment.After 2 days of treatment, the decline rate of RSV viral load from the baseline was 0.90 lg copies/(mL·d) in the experimental group and 0.25 lg copies/(mL·d)in the control group, with a statistically significant difference ( P<0.05).Furthermore, there was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the 2 groups ( P>0.05).Importantly, no drug-related serious adverse reactions occurred in both groups. Conclusions:The nebulized inhalation therapy of IFN α1b demonstrates efficacy and safety in treating pediatric RSV associated lower respiratory tract infections.It particularly offers outstanding clinical therapeutic value for severe children.
7.Research progress on the temporomandibular joint arthritis associated with juvenile idiopathic arthritis
Birong ZHONG ; Guilong ZHOU ; Shiping CHANG ; Yong YANG ; Zhongping SU ; Kezhen ZHAO ; Jinlong ZHAO ; Lei TIAN ; Qin MA
Journal of Practical Stomatology 2025;41(4):549-556
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis(JIA)is the most prevalent joint disease in childhood.The disease is defined as arthritis of unknown etiology,involving one or more joints,with onset before the age of 16 years and symptomatic duration of more than 6 weeks.Temporomandibular joint(TMJ)arthritis is a common manifestation of JIA,but it often develops insidiously.Failing to diag-nose and treat it promptly may lead to maxillofacial dysfunction and dentofacial deformity,and negatively affect the patient's quality of life.Therefore,early diagnosis and disease management of TMJ arthritis are crucial.This article reviews the occurrence of JIA-TMJ arthritis and its progress in clinical diagnosis and disease treatment in recent years,aiming to provide some reference for den-tists in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of JIA.
9.Performance of a prompt engineering method for extracting individual risk factors of precocious puberty from electronic medical records.
Feixiang ZHOU ; Taowei ZHONG ; Guiyan YANG ; Xianglong DING ; Yan YAN
Journal of Central South University(Medical Sciences) 2025;50(7):1224-1233
OBJECTIVES:
Accurate identification of risk factors for precocious puberty is essential for clinical diagnosis and management, yet the performance of natural language processing methods applied to unstructured electronic medical record (EMR) data remains to be fully evaluated. This study aims to assess the performance of a prompt engineering method for extracting individual risk factors of precocious puberty from EMRs.
METHODS:
Based on the capacity and role-insight-statement-personality-experiment (CRISPE) prompt framework, both simple and optimized prompts were designed to guide the large language model GLM-4-9B in extracting 10 types of risk factors for precocious puberty from 653 EMRs. Accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score were used as evaluation metrics for the information extraction task.
RESULTS:
Under simple and optimized prompt conditions, the overall accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score of the model were 84.18%, 98.09%, 81.99%, and 89.32% versus 97.15%, 98.31%, 98.16%, and 98.23%, respectively. The optimized prompts achieved more stable performance across age (<9 years vs ≥9 years) and visit-time (<2023 vs ≥2023) subgroups compared with simple prompts. The accuracy range for extracting each risk factor was 60.03%-97.24%, while with optimized prompts, the range improved to 92.19%-99.85%. The largest performance improvement occurred for "beverage intake" (60.03% vs 92.19%), and the smallest for "maternal age of menarche" (97.24% vs 99.23%). In comparing distributions among simple prompts, optimized prompts, and ground truth, statistically significant differences were observed for snack intake, beverage intake, soy milk intake, honey intake, supplement use, tonic use, sleep quality, and sleeping with the light on (all P<0.001), while exercise (P=0.966) and maternal menarche age (P=0.952) showed no significant differences.
CONCLUSIONS
Compared with simple prompts, optimized prompts substantially improved the extraction performance of individual risk factors for precocious puberty from EMRs, underscoring the critical role of prompt engineering in enhancing large language model performance.
Humans
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Puberty, Precocious/epidemiology*
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Risk Factors
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Electronic Health Records
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Female
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Child
;
Natural Language Processing
10.Non-invasive positive pressure ventilation for residual OSAHS with hypercapnia: a case report.
Liqiang YANG ; Shuyao QIU ; Jianwen ZHONG ; Xiangqian LUO ; Yilong ZHOU ; Jinhong ZENG ; Dabo LIU
Journal of Clinical Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery 2025;39(2):177-180
This case report outlines the treatment of an 11-year-old female who underwent adenotonsillectomy six years ago for snoring but experienced postoperative inefficacy. Her symptoms worsened two weeks before readmission, with increased snoring and sleep apnea, disabling her from lying down to sleep. She was readmitted on December 1, 2023, and diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome and hypercapnia. Automatic BiPAP alleviated her symptoms, with sleep breathing parameters normalizing during treatment. Follow-up at one month showed significant acceleration in her growth and resolution of her hypersomnolence issue.
Humans
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Female
;
Child
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Hypercapnia/complications*
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Sleep Apnea, Obstructive/complications*
;
Positive-Pressure Respiration
;
Noninvasive Ventilation

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