1.Screening of biomarkers for fibromyalgia syndrome and analysis of immune infiltration
Yani LIU ; Jinghuan YANG ; Huihui LU ; Yufang YI ; Zhixiang LI ; Yangfu OU ; Jingli WU ; Bing WEI
Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research 2025;29(5):1091-1100
BACKGROUND:Fibromyalgia syndrome,as a common rheumatic disease,is related to central sensitization and immune abnormalities.However,the specific mechanism has not been elucidated,and there is a lack of specific diagnostic markers.Exploring the possible pathogenesis of this disease has important clinical significance. OBJECTIVE:To screen the potential diagnostic marker genes of fibromyalgia syndrome and analyze the possible immune infiltration characteristics based on bioinformatics methods,such as weighted gene co-expression network analysis(WGCNA),and machine learning. METHODS:Gene expression profiles in peripheral serum of fibromyalgia syndrome patients and healthy controls were obtained from the gene expression omnibus(GEO)database.The differentially co-expressed genes were screened in the expression profile by differential analysis and WGCNA analysis.Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator(LASSO)and support vector machine-recursive feature elimination(SVM-RFE)machine learning algorithm were further used to identify hub biomarkers,and draw receiver operating characteristic curve(ROC)to evaluate the accuracy of diagnosing fibromyalgia syndrome.Finally,single sample gene set enrichment analysis(ssGSEA)and gene set enrichment analysis(GSEA)were used to evaluate the immune cell infiltration and pathway enrichment in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Eight down-regulated differentially expressed genes(DEGs)were obtained after differential analysis of the GSE67311 dataset according to the conditions of log2|(FC)|>0 and P<0.05.After WGCNA analysis,497 genes were included in the module(MEdarkviolet)with the highest positive correlation(r=0.22,P=0.04),and 19 genes were included in the module(MEsalmon2)with the highest negative correlation(r=-0.41,P=6×10-5).After intersecting DEGs and the module genes of WGCNA,seven genes were obtained.Four genes were screened out by LASSO regression algorithm and five genes were screened out by SVM-RFE machine learning algorithm.After the intersection of the two,three core genes were identified,which were germinal center associated signaling and motility like,integrin beta-8,and carboxypeptidase A3.The areas under the ROC curve of the three core genes were 0.744,0.739,and 0.734,respectively,indicating that they have good diagnostic value and can be used as biomarkers for fibromyalgia syndrome.The results of immune infiltration analysis showed that memory B cells,CD56 bright NK cells,and mast cells were significantly down-regulated in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome compared with the control group(P<0.05),and were significantly positively correlated with the above three biomarkers(P<0.05).The enrichment analysis suggested that there were nine fibromyalgia syndrome enrichment pathways,mainly related to olfactory transduction pathway,neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction,and infection pathway.The above results showed that the occurrence and development of fibromyalgia syndrome are related to the involvement of multiple genes,abnormal immune regulation,and multiple pathways imbalance.However,the interactions between these genes and immune cells,as well as their relationships with various pathways need to be further investigated.
2.Bupleuri Radix Associated Prescriptions Against Depression: A Review
Congwei LI ; Mingliang QIAO ; Peiyuan ZHAO ; Bing LI ; Yi MENG
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(10):295-304
In today's society, depression is a kind of highly prevalent chronic mental illness. It leads to a high disability rate and a heavy economic burden. Depression is defined by fundamental symptoms of low mood and diminished pleasure. Its causes and mechanisms remain unclear, and it presents a broad spectrum of symptoms and a persistent nature that significantly impacts both physical and mental well-being. Treatment in Western medicine primarily focuses on alleviating symptoms, yet it entails numerous adverse effects and contraindications. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment is based on resolving depression, which is often accompanied by soothing liver, and the key medicine is Bupleuri Radix. Bupleuri Radix associated prescriptions refer to a class of prescriptions using Bupleuri Radix as the sovereign medicinal or having a high dose of Bupleuri Radix, which are widely used in the field of anti-depression. Previous studies from animal experiments, clinical research, and modern pharmacological research have confirmed that Bupleuri Radix associated prescriptions have precise anti-depression efficacy in multiple ways and at multiple levels, but lack a comprehensive and systematic summarization. This paper summarized and analyzed the literature related to the clinical application and mechanism of action of Bupleuri Radix associated prescriptions in anti-depression treatment. The results showed that the anti-depression mechanism of the Bupleuri Radix associated prescriptions (such as Xiaochaihu Tang, Xiaoyao San, Sini San, Chaihu Shugan San, and Chaihu jia Longgu Muli San) was associated with the effects of regulating monoamine neurotransmitters, the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), intestinal flora, and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, inhibiting inflammatory responses, and modulating related signaling pathways. Applying them in clinical practice can effectively alleviate patient symptoms, lower the TCM syndrome score and the severity of depression, and also reduce adverse reactions. This underscores advantages of TCM in depression treatment, which offers patients a secure, effective, and more individualized alternative treatment regimen. On this basis, the shortcomings of current studies and the future trend were analyzed. This study aimed to provide an evidence-based medicine basis for the research and development of novel antidepressant medications.
3.Enzyme-directed Immobilization Strategies for Biosensor Applications
Xing-Bao WANG ; Yao-Hong MA ; Yun-Long XUE ; Xiao-Zhen HUANG ; Yue SHAO ; Yi YU ; Bing-Lian WANG ; Qing-Ai LIU ; Li-He ZHANG ; Wei-Li GONG
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2025;52(2):374-394
Immobilized enzyme-based enzyme electrode biosensors, characterized by high sensitivity and efficiency, strong specificity, and compact size, demonstrate broad application prospects in life science research, disease diagnosis and monitoring, etc. Immobilization of enzyme is a critical step in determining the performance (stability, sensitivity, and reproducibility) of the biosensors. Random immobilization (physical adsorption, covalent cross-linking, etc.) can easily bring about problems, such as decreased enzyme activity and relatively unstable immobilization. Whereas, directional immobilization utilizing amino acid residue mutation, affinity peptide fusion, or nucleotide-specific binding to restrict the orientation of the enzymes provides new possibilities to solve the problems caused by random immobilization. In this paper, the principles, advantages and disadvantages and the application progress of enzyme electrode biosensors of different directional immobilization strategies for enzyme molecular sensing elements by specific amino acids (lysine, histidine, cysteine, unnatural amino acid) with functional groups introduced based on site-specific mutation, affinity peptides (gold binding peptides, carbon binding peptides, carbohydrate binding domains) fused through genetic engineering, and specific binding between nucleotides and target enzymes (proteins) were reviewed, and the application fields, advantages and limitations of various immobilized enzyme interface characterization techniques were discussed, hoping to provide theoretical and technical guidance for the creation of high-performance enzyme sensing elements and the manufacture of enzyme electrode sensors.
4.Diagnosis and treatment of 281 elderly patients with pulmonary ground-glass opacity: A retrospective study in a single center
Lei SU ; Yi ZHANG ; Yan GAO ; Bing WEI ; Tengteng WANG ; Yuanbo LI ; Kun QIAN ; Peilong ZHANG ; Leiming WANG ; Xiuqin WEI
Chinese Journal of Clinical Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 2025;32(01):94-99
Objective To explore the diagnosis and treatment strategies for elderly patients with ground-glass opacity (GGO). Methods The imaging features and postoperative pathological findings of the elderly patients with pulmonary GGO receiving surgery in our hospital from 2017 to 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into an elderly patient group and a non-elderly patient group based on their age. Results Finally 575 patients were included in the study. There were 281 elderly patients, including 83 males and 198 females, with an average age of (67.0±5.3) years. There were 294 non-elderly patients, including 88 males and 206 females, with an average age of (49.1±7.3) years. Compared with the non-elderly patients, elderly GGO patients showed the following distinct clinical features: long observation time for lesions (P=0.001), high proportion of rough edges of GGO (P<0.001), significant pleural signs (P<0.001) and bronchial signs (P<0.001), and high proportion of type Ⅱ-Ⅳ GGO (P<0.001), lobectomy type (P=0.013), and invasive lesions reported in postoperative pathology (P<0.001). There was no statistical difference in the average hospital stay between the two groups (P=0.106). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that GGO diameter and GGO type were the main factors affecting the operation. Observation time, GGO diameter, GGO type and pleural signs were the main influencing factors for postoperative pathological infiltrative lesions. The cut-off value of GGO diameter in predicting infiltrating lesions was 10.5 mm in the elderly patients group. Conclusion The size and type of GGO are important factors in predicting invasive lesions and selecting surgical methods. Elderly patients with radiographic manifestations of type Ⅱ-Ⅳ GGO lesions with a diameter greater than 10.5 mm should be closely followed up.
5.Study on accumulation of polysaccharide and steroid components in Polyporus umbellatus infected by Armillaria spp.
Ming-shu YANG ; Yi-fei YIN ; Juan CHEN ; Bing LI ; Meng-yan HOU ; Chun-yan LENG ; Yong-mei XING ; Shun-xing GUO
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica 2025;60(1):232-238
In view of the few studies on the influence of
6.Effect of corneal stromal lenses combined with 0.1% cyclosporine A eye drops on Mooren's ulcer
Yuchan LI ; Meichao YI ; Bing LIU
International Eye Science 2025;25(10):1699-1703
AIM:To evaluate the efficacy of corneal stromal lenses combined with 0.1% cyclosporine A eye drops in patients with Mooren's ulcer and its effect on ocular surface inflammatory factors.METHODS:In this prospective randomized controlled trial, 200 patients(272 eyes)with Mooren's ulcer were enrolled from January 2022 to January 2024. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either corneal stromal lenses alone(control group: 100 patients, 136 eyes)or combined with 0.1% cyclosporine A eye drops(observation group: 100 patients, 136 eyes). All patients were followed up for 3 mo. Clinical efficacy, visual acuity improvement, recovery time, pain score, complications, and tear levels of interleukin(IL)-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)were compared between the two groups.RESULTS:A total of 196 patients(268 eyes)completed follow-up, with 2 cases(2 eyes)lost to follow-up in each group and a lost to follow-up rate of 2.0%. The observation group showed a higher total effective rate(95.5% vs 83.6%, P<0.05). Postoperative best corrected visual acuity(LogMAR)of the observation group was significantly better than that of the control group(0.42±0.15 vs 0.65±0.18, P<0.001). Epithelial(5.24±1.15 vs 7.86±1.43 d)and stromal recovery(12.35±2.46 vs 16.72±3.15 d)were faster in the observation group(both P<0.001). Pain scores and complication rates of the observation group were lower than those of the control group(both P<0.001). Both groups showed reduced tear IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α levels postoperatively, with greater reductions in the observation group(P<0.001).CONCLUSION: Corneal stromal lenses combined with 0.1% cyclosporine A eye drops provide superior outcomes for Mooren's ulcer by enhancing visual recovery, accelerating corneal healing, reducing pain, and lowering complications, potentially through inhibition of ocular surface inflammatory factors.
7.Research progress on mechanism of interaction between traditional Chinese medicine and intestinal flora
Jing WU ; Wei-Yi TIAN ; Kun CAI ; Su-Fang ZHOU ; Yao-Feng LI ; Xiang-Yun CHEN ; Hai-Bing QIAN ; Sha-Sha YANG
Chinese Pharmacological Bulletin 2024;40(10):1823-1829
Modern Chinese medicine studies have confirmed that the interaction between traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)and intestinal flora is the key to the treatment of diseases with tradi-tional Chinese medicine.This interplay includes such activities as:traditional Chinese medicine can be metabolized by intestinal flora into effective components with different biological activities from its precursors;TCM chemicals improve the composition of gut microbiota,consequently ameliorating its dysfunction as well as associated pathological conditions;and gut microbiota mediate the interactions between the multiple chemicals in TCM.There-fore,it becomes an important way to understand the modern sci-entific connotation of traditional Chinese medicine theory to study the pharmacological mechanism of the efficacy of traditional Chi-nese medicine by targeting Gut microbiota.
8.Exploring mechanism of action and validation of key regulatory pathways of selenshenzhi prescription in treatment of esophageal cancer based on network pharmacology
Ke-Yi JI ; Su-Hui WU ; Jia-Yao YUAN ; Han-Bing LI ; Shun-Cai WANG ; Long-Jie WANG ; Lin-Lin WANG ; Qi-Long GAO
Chinese Pharmacological Bulletin 2024;40(11):2174-2184
Aim To study the main active components and potential mechanism of selenshenzhi prescription a-gainst esophageal cancer by network pharmacology and in vivo and in vitro experiments.Methods The com-mon target was extracted from TCMSP,OMIM and GeneCards databases,and the PPI network was con-structed using STRING database.DAVID database was used for GO and KEGG enrichment analysis,and a network was constructed based on STRING and DAVID database for in vivo and in vitro experimental verifica-tion.Results Prediction results showed that a total of 100 active ingredients and 749 related targets were ob-tained,and 168 common targets were obtained between selenoshenzhi recipe and esophageal cancer,which were involved in the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway and proteoglycan signaling pathways in cancer.Selenshenz-hi prescription was used to conduct preliminary verifi-cation of related targets for human esophageal cancer EC9706 based on in vitro experiments.The results showed that selenshenzhi prescription could significantly inhibit the proliferation of esophageal cancer cells and induce the apoptosis of EC9706 through the expression of Bax,Bcl-2,caspase-3 and other key apoptotic pro-teins.Lastly,the core target and pathway of selensh-enzhi prescription were preliminically verified based on in vivo animal experiments on nude mice with esopha-geal cancer.The results showed that selenshenzhi pre-scription could significantly inhibit tumor proliferation,promote tumor cell apoptosis,and induce tumor apop-tosis by regulating the expression of key proteins on PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.Conclusions Selensh-enzhi prescription can control the occurrence and de-velopment of esophageal cancer through the synergistic effect of multi-components,multi-targets and multi-pathways,and provide a theoretical basis for further clinical investigation of the mechanism of selenshenzhi prescription in the treatment of esophageal cancer in the future.
9.Transcriptomic characteristics analysis of bone from chronic osteomyelitis
Yang ZHANG ; Yi-Yang LIU ; Li-Feng SHEN ; Bing-Yuan LIN ; Dan SHOU ; Qiao-Feng GUO ; Chun ZHANG
China Journal of Orthopaedics and Traumatology 2024;37(5):519-526
Objective To explore the molecular mechanism of chronic osteomyelitis and to clarify the role of MAPK signal pathway in the pathogenesis of chronic osteomyelitis,by collecting and analyzing the transcriptional information of bone tissue in patients with chronic osteomyelitis.Methods Four cases of traumatic osteomyelitis in limbs from June 2019 to June 2020 were selected,and the samples of necrotic osteonecrosis from chronic osteomyelitis(necrotic group),and normal bone tissue(control group)were collected.Transcriptome information was collected by Illumina Hiseq Xten high throughput sequencing platform,and the gene expression in bone tissue was calculated by FPKM.The differentially expressed genes were screened by comparing the transcripts of the Necrotic group and control group.Genes were enriched by GO and KEGG.MAP3K7 and NFATC1 were selected as differential targets in the verification experiments,by using rat osteomyelitis animal model and im-munohistochemical analysis.Results A total of 5548 differentially expressed genes were obtained by high throughput sequenc-ing by comparing the necrotic group and control group,including 2701 up-regulated and 2847 down-regulated genes.The genes enriched in MAPK pathway and osteoclast differentiation pathway were screened,the common genes expressed in both MAPK and osteoclast differentiation pathway were(inhibitor of nuclear factor κ subunit Beta,IκBKβ),(mitogen-activated protein ki-nase 7,MAP3K7),(nuclear factor of activated t cells 1,NFATC1)and(nuclear factor Kappa B subunit 2,NFκB2).In rat os-teomyelitis model,MAP3K7 and NFATC1 were highly expressed in bone marrow and injured bone tissue.Conclusion Based on the transcriptome analysis,the MAPK signaling and osteoclast differentiation pathways were closely related to chronic os-teomyelitis,and the key genes IκBKβ,MAP3K7,NFATC1,NFκB2 might be new targets for clinical diagnosis and therapy of chronic osteomyelitis.
10.Tick-borne pathogens infection of rodents at the border of China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Zhuo WANG ; Qiong WU ; Xiao-Yang HUANG ; Guan-Peng HUANG ; You-Xin MA ; En-Rong MAO ; Guo-Shuang LENG ; Hong-Min ZHAO ; Bing LI ; Yi-Min WU
Chinese Journal of Zoonoses 2024;40(4):323-327
To investigate the existence of tick-borne pathogens infection of rodents at the border of China and the Demo-cratic People's Republic of Korea(DPRK).PCR was used to detect the spotted fever group rickettsiae(SFGR)ompA gene,Ehrlichia chaffeensis(Ec)and Anaplasma phagocytophilum(Ap)16S rRNA,Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis(CNm)groEL gene,Bartonella(Ba)rpoB gene,and Francisella tularensis(Ft)fopA gene in rodents samples collected from Ji'an of Jilin province and Kuandian of Liaoning Province.The positivity rates of 132 wild rats spleen samples,SFGR,Ec,Ap,CNm,Ba,and Ft were 9.85%,12.88%,5.30%,3.79%,51.52%,and 6.06%,respectively,with statistical differences in in-fection rates(x2=149.236,P=0.000).The infection rate of Ba was the highest in wild rats in this area.There was no signifi-cant difference in the infection rate of SFGR,Ec,Ap,CNm,and Ft among different rats species,but there were significant differences in the infection rate of Ba(x2=13.36,P=0.010).The infection rate of Apodemus agrarius was the highest.A-mong 132 wild rats specimens,the coinfection rate of the two pathogens was 15.9%(21/132),with Ba as the main species(15/132),and two cases of coinfection with three pathogens were detected.The infection of six tick-borne pathogens is common in wild rats at the China/DPRK border.Co-infection of two or three pathogens indicates a risk of multiple tick-borne pathogens and mixed natural foci of multiple tick-borne infec-tious diseases.

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