Ancient traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) doctrine says "The superior doctor prevents illnesses," pointing out preventative medicine as the ultimate goal for medical care. TCM recognizes that genetic predisposition and environmental and lifestyle influences contribute to diseases. It divides people into eight constitutions in addition to one normal/healthy kind. People with one of the eight subhealth constitutions are prone to develop different kinds of corresponding illnesses. The goal for this type of categorization is to help people take preemptive measures to prevent or delay disease onset. As the peripheral immune system through surveying the body, it can capture information from essentially all organs and reflect anomalies occurring in each organ. Thus, the detailed profiling of the peripheral immune-system function can generally reflect a person's overall heath state. In this study, we performed the single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from individuals with Tanshi (phlegm dampness) constitution. They were prone to develop metabolic disorders including diabetes. scRNA-seq revealed greatly reduced mucosal-associated invariable T cell content and heightened TNFα-NFκB, JAK-STAT, and interferon signaling. These findings indicated heightened chronic inflammation, as well as increased hypoxia/apoptosis responses, likely resulting from frequent sleep apnea that Tanshi individuals experienced. Altogether, this pilot study demonstrated effectiveness in using scRNA-seq to reveal molecular-immunological bases for constitution categorization, thereby substantiating that preventative medicine originated from TCM.
Humans ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear/metabolism* ; Male ; Female ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Single-Cell Analysis ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Transcriptome ; Single-Cell Gene Expression Analysis

OBJECTIVE: Aloin, the main active component in Aloe vera (L.) Burm. f., has shown promising anti-tumor effects. This study investigated the impact of aloin in lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) and explored its functional mechanism. METHODS: We analyzed the viability, migration, invasion, proliferation, and apoptosis of two LUSC cell lines after treatment with aloin. Target molecules of aloin and downstream target transcripts of nuclear receptor subfamily 3 group C member 2 (NR3C2) were predicted by bioinformatics. The biological functions of NR3C2 and metallothionein 1 M (MT1M) in the malignant properties of LUSC cells were determined. A co-culture system of LUSC cells with monocyte-derived macrophages was constructed. Mouse xenograft tumor models were generated to analyze the functions of aloin and NR3C2 in the tumorigenic activity of LUSC cells and macrophage polarization in vivo. RESULTS: Aloin suppressed malignant properties of LUSC cells in vitro. However, these effects were negated by the silencing of NR3C2. NR3C2 was found to activate MT1M transcription by binding to its promoter. Additional upregulation of MT1M suppressed the malignant behavior of LUSC cells augmented by NR3C2 silencing. Analysis of the M1 and M2 markers/cytokines in the macrophages or the culture supernatant revealed that aloin treatment or MT1M overexpression in LUSC cells enhanced M1 polarization while suppressing M2 polarization of macrophages, whereas NR3C2 silencing led to reverse trends. Consistent findings were reproduced in vivo. CONCLUSION This study demonstrated that aloin activates the NR3C2/MT1M axis to suppress the malignant behavior of LUSC cells and M2 macrophage polarization. Please cite this article as: Chen YN, Lu JY, Gao CF, Fang ZR, Zhou Y. Aloin blocks the malignant behavior of lung squamous cell carcinoma cells and M2 macrophage polarization by modulating the NR3C2/MT1M axis. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(2): 195-208.
Lung Neoplasms/metabolism* ; Humans ; Animals ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/metabolism* ; Mice ; Macrophages/drug effects* ; Emodin/analogs & derivatives* ; Metallothionein/genetics* ; Cell Proliferation/drug effects* ; Cell Movement/drug effects* ; Apoptosis/drug effects* ; Receptors, Glucocorticoid/genetics*

Objective:To understand the incidence trend of meningococcal meningitis from 1990 to 2023 and major pathogenic serogroups of Neisseria ( N.) meningitidis from 2006 to 2023 in China and the time trend of the incidence of meningococcal meningitis caused by main pathogenic serogroups, and provide reference for the prevention and control of meningococcal meningitis. Methods:The study used the data from "National Epidemic Data Compile" from 1990 to 2003 and the data from China Notifiable Infectious Disease Reporting System from 2004 to 2023 to analyze the incidence trend of meningococcal meningitis in China from 1990 to 2023 by Joinpoint regression method. Based on the data of the national meningococcal meningitis surveillance information reporting and management system from 2006 to 2023, the incidence of meningococcal meningitis caused by different serogroups of N. meningitidis was described and analyzed, and the trend χ2 test was performed to analyze the change of the incidence of meningococcal meningitis caused by N. meningitidis A, B, and C. Results:The overall incidence of meningococcal meningitis in China showed a downward trend from 1990 to 2023 [average annual percent change (AAPC)=-14.80%, P<0.001], with the most obvious decline from 2005 to 2012 [annual percent change (APC)=-31.01%, P<0.001]. The incidence of meningococcal meningitis decreased in both men and women (AAPC=-14.69% and -15.05%, both P<0.001). A total of 1 178 serogroup specific cases of meningococcal meningitis were reported in China from 2006 to 2023, the proportion of serogroup C was highest (32.5%), followed by unclassified (22.3%), B (20.1%), A (18.4%), W (4.5%), Y (2.0%) and X (0.2%). The results of trend χ2 test indicated that the incidence of meningococcal meningitis caused by N. meningitidis A and C showed downward trends (both P<0.001) and the incidence of meningococcal meningitis caused by N. meningitidis B showed an upward trend in general population and young children (0-4 years old group) from 2006 to 2023 (both P<0.05). Conclusion:The incidence of meningococcal meningitis showed a downward trend in China from 1990 to 2023, but it is still necessary to pay more attention to the incidence of meningococcal meningitis caused by N. meningitidis B in age group aged 0-4 years and by multi serogroups at same time in general population.

Objective To investigate the predictive value of serum oncogene[proliferation-related gene(C-myc),transformation gene(N-ras),silk/threonine kinase 1(PLK1),fibroblast growth factor 2(FGF2)]protein levels in patients with hepatitis B associated hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)after hepatic arterial chemoem-bolization(TACE).Methods A total of 127 patients with hepatitis B-associated hepatocellular carcinoma ad-mitted to a hospital from July 2016 to January 2021 were selected and divided into death group and survival group according to the follow-up results.The serum oncogene C-myc,N-ras,PLK1 and FGF2 protein levels were determined by double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Univariate and multivari-ate Cox analysis were used to analyze the risk factors of serum oncogene C-myc,N-ras,PLK1 and FGF2 pro-tein levels in patients with hepatitis B-associated hepatocellular carcinoma after TACE.The receiver operating characteristic curve was used to evaluate the prognostic value of the serum oncogene C-myc,N-ras,PLK1 and FGF2 protein levels,and the patients were divided into high expression group and low expression group ac-cording to the corresponding cutoff value.Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to evaluate the prognosis of different serum oncogene C-myc,N-ras,PLK1 and FGF2 protein level.Results Multivariate Cox regression a-nalysis indicated that TNM stage Ⅲ to Ⅳ(HR=2.998,95％CI:1.239-7.257),portal vein metastasis(HR=3.737,95％CI:1.941-7.193),abdominal metastasis(HR=3.482,95％CI:1.709-7.097),Child-Pugh grade B(HR=2.587,95％CI:1.045-6.406),high serum oncogene C-myc protein level(HR=1.224,95％CI:1.090-1.374),high serum oncogene N-ras protein level(HR=1.218,95％CI:1.097-1.353),high serum oncogene PLK1 protein level(HR=1.237,95％CI:1.110-1.379)and high serum oncogene FGF2 protein level(HR=1.141,95％CI:1.060-1.228)were independent risk factors for the prognosis of hepatitis B-asso-ciated hepatocellular carcinoma patients after TACE(all P＜0.05).The overall survival rate of low expression group of serum oncogene C-myc,N-ras,PLK1,FGF2 protein level was significantly higher than that of high expression group of serum oncogene C-myc,N-ras,PLK1,FGF2 protein level,the difference was statistically significant(all P＜0.001).Conclusion Serum oncogene C-myc,N-ras,PLK1,FGF2 protein levels have predic-tive value for the prognosis of patients with HBV-related liver cancer after TACE.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy and safety of multiple-dose intravenous tranexamic acid (TXA) for reducing blood loss in complex tibial plateau fractures with open reduction internal fixation by a prospective randomized controlled trial. METHODS: A study was conducted on patients with Schatzker type Ⅳ-Ⅵ tibial plateau fractures admitted between August 2020 and December 2022. Among them, 88 patients met the selection criteria and were included in the study. They were randomly allocated into 3 groups, the control group (28 cases), single-dose TXA group (31 cases), and multiple-dose TXA group (29 cases), using a random number table method. There was no significant difference ( P>0.05) in terms of age, gender, body mass index, the Schatzker type and side of fracture, laboratory examinations [hemoglobin (Hb), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), prothrombin time (PT), fibrinogen (Fib), international normalized ratio (INR), D-dimer, and interleukin 6 (IL-6)], and preoperative blood volume. The control group received intravenous infusion of 100 mL saline at 15 minutes before operation and 3, 6, and 24 hours after the first administration. The single-dose TXA group received intravenous infusion of 1 g TXA (dissolved in 100 mL saline) at 15 minutes before operation, followed by an equal amount of saline at each time point after the first administration. The multiple-dose TXA group received intravenous infusion of 1 g TXA (dissolved in 100 mL saline) at each time point. The relevant indicators were recorded and compared between groups to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of TXA, including hospital stays, operation time, occurrence of infection; the occurrence of lower extremity deep vein thrombosis, intermuscular vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism at 1 week after operation; the lowest postoperative Hb value and Hb reduction rate, the difference (change value) between pre- and post-operative APTT, PT, Fib, and INR; D-dimer and IL-6 at 24 and 72 hours after operation; total blood loss, intraoperative blood loss, hidden blood loss, drainage flow during 48 hours after operation, and postoperative blood transfusion. RESULTS: ① TXA efficacy evaluation: the lowest Hb value in the control group was significantly lower than that in the other two groups ( P<0.05), and there was no significant difference between the single- and multiple-dose TXA groups ( P>0.05). The Hb reduction rate, total blood loss, intraoperative blood loss, drainage flow during 48 hours after operation, and hidden blood loss showed a gradual decrease trend in the control group, single-dose TXA group, and multiple-dose TXA group. And differences were significant ( P<0.05) in the Hb reduction rate and drainage flow during 48 hours after operation between groups, and the total blood loss and hidden blood loss between control group and other two groups. ② TXA safety evaluation: no lower extremity deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism occurred in the three groups after operation, but 3, 4, and 2 cases of intermuscular vein thrombosis occurred in the control group, single-dose TXA group, and multiple-dose TXA group, respectively, and the differences in the incidences between groups were not significant ( P>0.05). There was no significant difference in the operation time between groups ( P>0.05). But the length of hospital stay was significantly longer in the control group than in the other groups ( P<0.05); there was no significant difference between the single- and multiple-dose TXA groups ( P>0.05). ③ Effect of TXA on blood coagulation and inflammatory response: the incisions of the 3 groups healed by first intention, and no infections occurred. The differences in the changes of APTT, PT, Fib, and INR between groups were not significant ( P>0.05). The D-dimer and IL-6 in the three groups showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing over time, and there was a significant difference between different time points in the three groups ( P<0.05). At 24 and 72 hours after operation, there was no significant difference in D-dimer between groups ( P>0.05), while there was a significant difference in IL-6 between groups ( P<0.05). CONCLUSION Multiple intravenous applications of TXA can reduce perioperative blood loss and shorten hospital stays in patients undergoing open reduction and internal fixation of complex tibial plateau fractures, provide additional fibrinolysis control and ameliorate postoperative inflammatory response.
Humans ; Tranexamic Acid/therapeutic use* ; Blood Loss, Surgical/prevention & control* ; Interleukin-6 ; Prospective Studies ; Tibial Plateau Fractures ; Tibial Fractures/surgery* ; Thrombosis

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of quadruple therapy involving radiotherapy (RT), lenvatinib, anti-PD-1 antibody and GEMOX (oxaliplatin and gemcitabine) chemotherapy (quadruple therapy) in treatment cohort of patients with unresectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC).Methods:The patients with recurrent, metastatic, or unresectable ICC underwent quadruple therapy at Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University between September 2018 and May 2022 were selected. The data about efficacy and safety of quadruple therapy were collected in the hospital electronic medical record system. All patients were followed up regularly to obtain the long-term prognostic data until December 31, 2022. The efficacy, prognosis, and toxicity data were collected and analyzed.Results:A total of 41 patients were included in the analysis. After a median follow-up period of 15 months, disease progression was diagnosed in 36 patients (18 patients died), while 3 patients were lost to follow-up. The causes of death included liver failure induced by intrahepatic tumor progression ( n=6), distant metastases (lungs or brain, n=6), abdominal lymph node metastases ( n=3), cancer cachexia ( n=2), and unknown cause ( n=1). The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 11 months (95% CI: 9.2-12.8), and the median overall survival (OS) was 35 months (95% CI: 17.0-52.0). All patients experienced treatment-related adverse events (AEs) during the study treatment period. Of the 41 patients, 13 patients experienced at least once grade 3 or worse treatment-related AE, but all were manageable with symptomatic treatment. No treatment-related deaths were reported during the follow-up period. Conclusions:Radiotherapy (RT), lenvatinib, anti-PD-1 antibody and GEMOX in the treatment of unresectable ICC shows significant efficacy and good safety, which is worthy of clinical application.

AIM: To investigate the relationship between human cholesteryl ester transfer protein CETP gene polymorphism and postoperative neurocognitive disorders (PND). METHODS: A total of 124 elderly patients over 65 years of age who underwent elective non-cardiac surgery were enrolled in the study while 25 healthy volunteers matching age and sex were recruited as the control group. Neuropsychological tests were performed 1 day before surgery, 7 days, and 3 months after surgery. PND was determined using the Z value method. The venous blood sample of the surgical patient was taken before the operation, followed by direct gene sequencing. Statistical methods were used to calculate the correlation between CETP gene polymorphism (rs5882) and PND. RESULTS: The incidence of PND was 29.3% and 18.2% at 7 days and 3 months after operation respectively. The A allele frequency of PND patients was significantly higher than that of non-PND patients 7 days and 3 months after surgery (65.52% vs. 41.43%, 34.48% vs. 58.57%, P=0.001), while the G allele frequency in PND group lower than that of non-PND (58.33% vs. 37.86%, 41.67% vs. 62.14%, P=0.004).AA genotype in PND patients was 34.48%, 38.89% at 7 days and 3 months after surgery respectively, significantly higher than 14.29%, 16.05% of non-PND (P=0.023, P=0.029). CONCLUSION: CETP rs5882 polymorphism is associated with PND and AA genotype may be a predisposing factor for postoperative PND in Chinese Han elderly patient.

Cholelithiasis is a common disease in clinical practice. At present, surgery is the primary Western treatment method for this disease, but there are problems such as surgical trauma, a high recurrence rate, and postoperative complications. Various traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) methods for the treatment of cholelithiasis have achieved satisfactory results and have been widely used in clinical practice in recent years. This article summarizes the research advances in TCM therapy for cholelithiasis from the aspects of the understanding of cholelithiasis in TCM, TCM treatment methods for cholelithiasis and their mechanisms, and integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine therapy. It is pointed out that TCM can significantly improve or inhibit the information of cholelithiasis and has the advantages of reliable therapeutic effect, few side effects, and a low recurrence rate; however, its further application is limited by the unclear mechanism of action of TCM and defects of related clinical research such as low quality and poor repeatability. It is recommended to strengthen basic research and conduct high-level randomized controlled clinical trials in the future to provide scientific and objective evidence for clinical diagnosis and treatment of cholelithiasis and thus improve the clinical effect of TCM in the treatment of cholelithiasis.

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary sarcoma of bone, and it is a leading cause of cancer death among adolescents and young adults. However, the molecular mechanism underlying osteosarcoma carcinogenesis remains poorly understood. Recently, cyclin-dependent kinase 6 (CDK6) was identified as an important oncogene. We found that CDK6 protein level, rather than CDK6 mRNA level, is much higher in osteosarcoma tissues than in normal adjacent tissues, which indicates a post-transcriptional mechanism involved in CDK6 regulation in osteosarcoma. MiRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that repress gene expression at the post-transcriptional level and have widely been shown to play important roles in many human cancers. In this study, we investigated the role of miR-29b as a novel regulator of CDK6 using bioinformatics methods. We demonstrated that CDK6 can be downregulated by miR-29b via binding to the 3'-UTR region in osteosarcoma cells. Furthermore, we identified an inverse correlation between miR-29b and CDK6 protein levels in osteosarcoma tissues. Finally, we examined the function of miR-29b-driven repression of CDK6 expression in osteosarcoma cells. The results revealed that miR-29b acts as a tumor suppressor of osteosarcoma by targeting CDK6 in the proliferation and migration processes. Taken together, our results highlight an important role for miR-29b in the regulation of CDK6 in osteosarcoma and may open new avenues for future osteosarcoma therapies.
3' Untranslated Regions ; Animals ; Base Sequence ; Bone Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Movement ; Cell Proliferation ; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 6 ; antagonists & inhibitors ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Mice ; MicroRNAs ; metabolism ; Osteosarcoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; RNA Interference ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; RNA, Small Interfering ; metabolism ; Rats ; Sequence Alignment ; Up-Regulation

Objective Few reports are seen about the effects of cooling blood and removing stasis on nephrin and podocin . This study was to evaluate the therapy of cooling blood and removing stasis for Henoch -Sch?nlein purpura nephritis ( HSPN) and its ac-tion mechanisms by observing the effects of Danshao Granular Ⅲ on hematuresis , proteinuria and the expressions of nephridial nephrin and podocin in HSPN rats . Methods Twenty-one SD male rats were e-qually randomized to a blank control , an HSPN model , and a Dan-shao group.At 13 weeks after modeling , the animals in the model group were treated intragastrically with distilled water , while those in the Danshao group with Danshao Granular Ⅲtwice daily for 4 weeks. Then, the urinary red blood cell ( RBC) count was examined , the
24 h urinary protein quantity determined , the glomerular mesangial changes observed under the light microscope , the protein expres-sions and distributions of nephrin and podocin detected by indirect immunofluorescence , and their mRNA expressions determined by re-al-time PCR. Results The urinary RBC count and 24 h urine protein quantity were significantly higher in the HSPN model than in the blank control group (26.5/HP vs 0.3/HP and [2.214 ±1.090]g/24 h vs [0.624 ±0.354]g/24 h, both P<0.01).The model rats showed obvious pathological changes in the renal tissue .The urinary RBC count and 24 h urine protein volume were remarkably de-creased in the Danshao group as compared with the models (0.8/HP vs 26.5/HP and [1.000 ±0.651]g/24 h vs [2.214 ±1.090] g/24 h, both P<0.01).The pathological changes in the renal tissue of the Danshao group were reduced in comparison with those of the model group.The protein expression of nephrin was higher in the former than in the latter (65.975 ±14.414 vs 43.520 ±0.632, P<0.01) and so was that of podocin though with no statistically significant difference (P>0.05).The distributions of nephrin and podocin were improved after Danshao treatment .The mRNA expressions of nephrin and podocin were markedly higher in the Danshao group than in the HSPN models (0.530 ±0.089 vs 0.117 ±0.021 and 0.490 ±0.160 vs 0.033 ±0.025, P<0.05). Conclusion Danshao Granular Ⅲ, with its main action mechanisms of cooling blood and removing stasis , can effectively reduce urinary RBC count and urinary protein quantity and improve the symptoms of HSPN in rats .