This paper aimed to explore the effects of Duzhong Decoction(DZD)-containing serum on the proliferation and osteoblast differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells through L-type voltage-gated calcium channels(L-VGCCs). L-VGCCs inhibitors, nifedipine and verapamil, were used to block L-VGCCs in osteoblasts. MC3T3-E1 cells were divided into a control group, a low-dose DZD-containing serum(L-DZD) group, a medium-dose DZD-containing serum(M-DZD) group, a high-dose DZD-containing serum(H-DZD) group, a nifedipine group, a H-DZD + nifedipine group, verapamil group, and a H-DZD + verapamil group. The CCK-8 method was used for cell proliferation analysis, alkaline phosphatase(ALP) assay kits for intracellular ALP activity measurement, Western blot for protein expression level in cells, real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR technology for intracellular mRNA expression level determination, fluorescence spectrophotometer for free Ca~(2+) concentration determination in osteoblasts, and alizarin red staining(ARS) for mineralized nodule formation in osteoblasts. The experimental results show that compared to the control group, DZD groups can promote MC3T3-E1 cell proliferation, ALP activity, and mineralized nodule formation, increase intracellular Ca~(2+) concentrations, and upregulate the protein expression of bone morphogenetic protein 2(BMP2), collagen Ⅰ(COL1), α2 subunit protein of L-VGCCs(L-VGCCα2), and the mRNA expression of Runt-related transcription factor 2(RUNX2), and BMP2. After blocking L-VGCCs with nifedipine and verapamil, the intervention effects of DZD-containing serum were inhibited to varying degrees. Both nifedipine and verapamil could inhibit ALP activity, reduce mineralized nodule areas, and downregulate the expression of bone formation-related proteins. Moreover, the effects of DZD-containing serum on increasing MC3T3-E1 cell proliferation, osteoblast differentiation, and Ca~(2+) concentrations, upregulating the mRNA expression of osteoprotegerin(OPG) and protein expression of phosphorylated protein kinase B(p-Akt) and phosphorylated forkhead box protein O1(p-FOXO1), and upregulating phosphatase and tensin homolog(PTEN) expression were reversed by nifedipine. The results indicate that DZD-containing serum can increase the Ca~(2+) concentration in MC3T3-E1 cells to promote bone formation, which may be mediated by L-VGCCs and the PTEN/Akt/FoxO1 signaling pathway, providing a new perspective on the mechanism of DZD in treating osteoporosis.
Animals ; Osteoblasts/metabolism* ; Cell Proliferation/drug effects* ; Cell Differentiation/drug effects* ; Mice ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Calcium Channels, L-Type/genetics* ; Alkaline Phosphatase/genetics* ; Serum/chemistry* ; Cell Line ; Osteogenesis/drug effects* ; Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2/genetics*

Prostate cancer is one of the most common tumor, with the disease progressing from inert to aggressive tumors, and rapidly progressing to castration-resistant prostate cancer. Early-stage prostate cancer is usually asymptomatic. And by the time that symptoms appear, the disease has progressed to an incurable stage. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment is especially important to control prostate cancer, which prolongs the survival period of patients. Digital rectal examination and prostate-specific antigen have been widely used in the diagnosis of prostate cancer. However, there are certain limitations that lead to overdiagnosis and overtreatment. Although prostate needle biopsy is still the gold standard for diagnosing prostate cancer, with the wide application of multiparametric magnetic resonance examination and PSMA-PET/CT and other technologies in recent years, as well as the emergence of new biomarkers with higher sensitivity and specificity, its status as the gold standard has been challenged. And the diagnostic mode of prostate cancer has also undergone great changes. On this basis, the radical prostatectomy without prostate needle biopsy has been attempted clinically to treat prostate cancer, which gains the good clinical results. This article provides a review of the latest research advances in early screening and diagnostic models for prostate cancer.
Humans ; Male ; Benzhydryl Compounds/adverse effects* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Infertility, Male/chemically induced* ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Phenols/adverse effects* ; Testis/drug effects* ; Bisphenol A Compounds

Photodynamic immunotherapy is a promising strategy for cancer treatment. However, the dysfunctional tumor vasculature results in tumor hypoxia and the low efficiency of drug delivery, which in turn restricts the anticancer effect of photodynamic immunotherapy. In this study, we designed photosensitive lipid nanoparticles. The synthesized PFBT@Rox Lip nanoparticles could produce type I/II reactive oxygen species (ROS) by electron or energy transfer through PFBT under light irradiation. Moreover, this nanosystem could alleviate tumor hypoxia and promote vascular normalization through Roxadustat. Upon irradiation with white light, the ROS produced by PFBT@Rox Lip nanoparticles in situ dysregulated calcium homeostasis and triggered endoplasmic reticulum stress, which further promoted the release of damage-associated molecular patterns, enhanced antigen presentation, and stimulated an effective adaptive immune response, ultimately priming the tumor microenvironment (TME) together with the hypoxia alleviation and vessel normalization by Roxadustat. Indeed, in vivo results indicated that PFBT@Rox Lip nanoparticles promoted M1 polarization of tumor-associated macrophages, recruited more natural killer cells, and augmented infiltration of T cells, thereby leading to efficient photodynamic immunotherapy and potentiating the anti-primary and metastatic tumor efficacy of PD-1 antibody. Collectively, photodynamic immunotherapy with PFBT@Rox Lip nanoparticles efficiently program TME through the induction of immunogenicity and oxygenation, and effectively suppress tumor growth through immunogenic cell death and enhanced anti-tumor immunity.

Hypertrophic scar is a fibrous hyperplastic disorder that arises from skin injuries. The current therapeutic modalities are constrained by the dense and rigid scar tissue which impedes effective drug delivery. Additionally, insufficient autophagic activity in fibroblasts hinders their apoptosis, leading to excessive matrix deposition. Here, we developed an active microneedle (MN) system to overcome these challenges by integrating micromotor-driven drug delivery with autophagy regulation to remodel the scar microenvironment. Specifically, sodium bicarbonate and citric acid were introduced into the MNs as a built-in engine to generate CO₂ bubbles, thereby enabling enhanced lateral and vertical drug diffusion into dense scar tissue. The system concurrently encapsulated curcumin (Cur), an autophagy activator, and triamcinolone acetonide (TA), synergistically inducing fibroblast apoptosis by upregulating autophagic activity. In vitro studies demonstrated that active MNs achieved efficient drug penetration within isolated scar tissue. The rabbit hypertrophic scar model revealed that TA-Cur MNs significantly reduced the scar elevation index, suppressed collagen I and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) expression, and elevated LC3 protein levels. These findings highlight the potential of the active MN system as an efficacious platform for autonomous augmented drug delivery and autophagy-targeted therapy in fibrotic disorder treatments.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a well-accepted therapy for atopic dermatitis (AD). However, there are currently no evidence-based guidelines integrating TCM and Western medicine for the treatment of AD, limiting the clinical application of such combined approaches. Therefore, the China Association of Chinese Medicine initiated the development of the current guideline, focusing on key issues related to the use of TCM in the treatment of AD. This guideline was developed in accordance with the principles of the guideline formulation manual published by the World Health Organization. A comprehensive review of the literature on the combined use of TCM and Western medicine to treat AD was conducted. The findings were extensively discussed by experts in dermatology and pharmacy with expertise in both TCM and Western medicine. This guideline comprises 23 recommendations across seven major areas, including TCM syndrome differentiation and classification of AD, principles and application scenarios of TCM combined with Western medicine for treating AD, outcome indicators for evaluating clinical efficacy of AD treatment, integration of TCM pattern classification and Western medicine across disease stages, daily management of AD, the use of internal TCM therapies and proprietary Chinese medicines, and TCM external treatments. Please cite this article as: Du XR, Wu MY, Tao MC, Lin Y, Gu CY, Wu MF, Cao Y, Chen DC, Li W, Wang HW, Wang Y, Wang Y, Lu HZ, Liu X, Su XF, Li FL. Clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of atopic dermatitis with integrative traditional Chinese and Western medicine. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(6):641-653.
Dermatitis, Atopic/drug therapy* ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional/methods* ; Integrative Medicine ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Practice Guidelines as Topic

OBJECTIVE: To explore and quantify the association of hot night exposure during the sperm development period (0-90 lag days) with semen quality. METHODS: A total of 6,640 male sperm donors from 6 human sperm banks in China during 2014-2020 were recruited in this multicenter study. Two indices (i.e., hot night excess [HNE] and hot night duration [HND]) were used to estimate the heat intensity and duration during nighttime. Linear mixed models were used to examine the association between hot nights and semen quality parameters. RESULTS: The exposure-response relationship revealed that HNE and HND during 0-90 days before semen collection had a significantly inverse association with sperm motility. Specifically, a 1 °C increase in HNE was associated with decreased sperm progressive motility of 0.0090 (95% confidence interval [ CI]: -0.0147, -0.0033) and decreased total motility of 0.0094 (95% CI: -0.0160, -0.0029). HND was significantly associated with reduced sperm progressive motility and total motility of 0.0021 (95% CI: -0.0040, -0.0003) and 0.0023 (95% CI: -0.0043, -0.0002), respectively. Consistent results were observed at different temperature thresholds on hot nights. CONCLUSION Our findings highlight the need to mitigate nocturnal heat exposure during spermatogenesis to maintain optimal semen quality.
Humans ; Male ; Semen Analysis ; Adult ; Sperm Motility ; Hot Temperature/adverse effects* ; China ; Middle Aged ; Spermatozoa/physiology* ; Young Adult

Purpose::The toughest challenge in pedestrian traffic accident identification lies in ascertaining injury manners. This study aimed to systematically simulate and parameterize 3 types of craniocerebral injury including impact injury, fall injury, and run-over injury, to compare the injury response outcomes of different injury manners.Methods::Based on the total human model for safety (THUMS) and its enhanced human model THUMS-hollow structures, a total of 84 simulations with 3 injury manners, different loading directions, and loading velocities were conducted. Von Mises stress, intracranial pressure, maximum principal strain, cumulative strain damage measure, shear stress, and cranial strain were employed to analyze the injury response of all areas of the brain. To examine the association between injury conditions and injury consequences, correlation analysis, principal component analysis, linear regression, and stepwise linear regression were utilized.Results::There is a significant correlation observed between each criterion of skull and brain injury ( p < 0.01 in all Pearson correlation analysis results). A 2-phase increase of cranio-cerebral stress and strain as impact speed increases. In high-speed impact (> 40 km/h), the Von Mises stress on the skull was with a high possibility exceed the threshold for skull fracture (100 MPa). When falling and making temporal and occipital contact with the ground, the opposite side of the impacted area experiences higher frequency stress concentration than contact at other conditions. Run-over injuries tend to have a more comprehensive craniocerebral injury, with greater overall deformation due to more adequate kinetic energy conduction. The mean value of maximum principal strain of brain and Von Mises stress of cranium at run-over condition are 1.39 and 403.8 MPa, while they were 1.31, 94.11 MPa and 0.64, 120.5 MPa for the impact and fall conditions, respectively. The impact velocity also plays a significant role in craniocerebral injury in impact and fall loading conditions (the p of all F-test < 0.05). A regression equation of the craniocerebral injury manners in pedestrian accidents was established. Conclusion::The study distinguished the craniocerebral injuries caused in different manners, elucidated the biomechanical mechanisms of craniocerebral injury, and provided a biomechanical foundation for the identification of craniocerebral injury in legal contexts.

Objective To explore the possibility of rhabdomyolysis and related organ damage in new recruits training in high temperature and high humidity environment by comparing the effects of different training environments on the laboratory indicators and electrocardiogram.Methods A total of 250 new recruits from a unit in Beijing and another 250 ones from a unit in Hainan were recruited and assigned into conventional environment group and high temperature and high humidity environment group,respectively.All of them were male,with an average age of 21.36±2.59 years.Before and in 4 weeks after training in the same subjects,their general information,blood and urine indicators,and electrocardiogram were collected.All data were statistically analyzed.Results The incidences of inflammatory reaction,myocardial injury,muscle injury,liver injury,and kidney injury were 45.76％,3.39％,12.71％,25.42％,and 12.71％,respectively,in the high temperature and high humidity environment group,which were all significantly higher than those in the conventional environment group(P＜0.05).The former group had an incidence rate of 6.78％,5.93％,8.47％,6.78％,and 2.54％,respectively,in sinus bradycardia,atrial premature beats,unspecific ST-T changes,left ventricular hypertension and short PR interval,and all of the rates were higher than those of the conventional environment group(P＜0.05).Conclusion The incidences of inflammatory reaction,myocardial injury,muscle injury,liver injury,kidney injury,and ECG abnormalities are more common in new recruits after military training in high temperature and high humidity environment.

Objective To investigate the differentially expressed genes(DEGs)and their molecular interactions in unstable carotid atherosclerotic plaques.Methods Gene expression datasets related to carotid atherosclerotic plaques(GSE41571,GSE118481,and E-MTAB-2055)were downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus(GEO)and European Bioinformatics Institute(EBI)ArrayExpress databases.The co-regulated DEGs in at least two datasets of unstable carotid plaques were merged and analyzed using Gene Ontology Biological Process(GO-BP),Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG),Protein-Protein Interaction(PPI)Networks and subnetwork analysis,relationships between miRNAs/transcription factors and target genes,and drug-gene interaction database.Quantitative real-time PCR(qRT-PCR)and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)were used to detect the expression levels of some DEGs in carotid plaques and plasma from 58 patients with carotid atherosclerosis.Results GO enrichment analysis showed that DEGs in unstable carotid atherosclerotic plaques were mainly enriched in genes related to inflammatory response and extracellular matrix structure genes.KEGG enrichment analysis indicated that upregulated DEGs in unstable carotid plaques were enriched in extracellular matrix receptor(ECM-receptor)interaction,PI3K-Akt,Hippo and transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β)signaling pathways,while downregulated DEGs were primarily enriched in lysosomes,phagosomes,and chemokines processes.PPI network analysis suggested that COL1A2,COL4A2,insulin-like growth factor binding protein 6(IGFBP6),COL4A5,C1QA,CXCL10,CXCL2,CXCR4,and CSF1R may play important roles in PPI networks.Prediction of drug-gene interactions revealed that CSF1R had the most drug interaction,CXCL2 was most antagonized by drugs,and IGFBP6 was most activated by drugs.qRT-PCR showed that the expression level of IGFBP6 in unstable carotid plaques group was significantly lower than that in stable carotid plaques group(P<0.001).ELISA results showed that plasma concentration of IGFBP6 in unstable carotid plaques group was significantly lower than that in stable carotid plaques group(P<0.0001).Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)suggested that the area under the curve(AUC)for plasma IGFBP6 levels to identify unstable plaques was 0.894(95%CI 0.810-0.977),with a cutoff value of 142.08 ng/ml.Conclusion IGFBP6 may become an important biomarker for predicting unstable carotid atherosclerotic plaques.

This article takes pectoral qi as the starting point to discuss the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)pathogenesis as well as the diagnostic and therapeutic approach to difficult withdrawal of mechanical ventilation in mechanically ventilated patients.According to the five-viscera correlation theory,it is believed that the onset of difficult withdrawal of mechanical ventilation is closely related to pectoral qi.The core pathogenesis of difficult withdrawal of mechanical ventilation is due to the insufficiency of pectoral qi and the deficiency of the lung,spleen and kidney,and the obstruction of pectoral qi and disharmony of qi and blood contribute to the key pathogenesis.Chinese medicine treatment can be carried out by the usage of Sijunzi Tang(Four Mild-Drug Decoction),Bufei Tang(Decoction for Replenishing Lung),Shenling Baizhu San(Powder of Radix Ginseng,Poria and Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae)to supplement and benefit pectoral qi,and by the utilization of Buzhong Yiqi Tang(Decoction for Tonifying Middle Energizer and Replenishing Qi),Shengxian Tang(Decoction for Lifting the Sinking of Qi in Chest),Juyuan Jian(Decoction for Replenishing Qi and Lifting the Sunken Qi)to elevate yang and lift the sinking of Qi.Moreover,herbs for regulating qi and blood should be added,and the management of the diet and daily living based on the identification of the deficiency and excess of the five viscera is stressed,so as to enhance the success rate of withdrawal of mechanical ventilation.The exploration will provide ideas for the treatment of difficult withdrawal of mechanical ventilation with the integrated Chinese and western medicine.