ObjectiveTo construct a risk prediction model for frequent acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease （COPD） under disease-syndrome combination， thus providing decision support for precise clinical intervention. MethodsA total of 2 029 patients with acute exacerbations of COPD admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine from January 2020 to August 2024 were retrospectively included. These patients were classified into groups of frequent acute exacerbations （≥2 times/year） and infrequent acute exacerbations （<2 times/year） according to the hospitalization times per year. Risk factors were screened by LASSO regression combined with logistic regression， and a nomogram model was constructed. The model performance was assessed based on the area under the curve （AUC）， calibration curves， and decision curve analysis （DCA）. ResultsThe differences in baseline characteristics between the frequent acute exacerbations group （1 196 cases） and infrequent acute exacerbations group （833 cases） were not statistically significant. LASSO regression combined with multivariate logistic regression screened the following independent risk factors： body mass index （BMI）， hospitalization days， number of smoking years， place of residence， use of noninvasive ventilators， oxygen-demanding therapy， liver cirrhosis， use of systemic glucocorticosteroids， and traditional Chinese medicine syndrome （phlegm and stasis obstructing the lung）. The nomogram model showed good discrimination and calibration in both the training set （AUC=0.748） and validation set （AUC=0.774）. ConclusionThe risk prediction model for frequent acute exacerbations of COPD， integrating traditional Chinese medicine syndrome， constructed in this study has high accuracy. It can provide a scientific basis for early clinical identification of high-risk patients and individualized intervention.

ObjectiveTo observe the short-term and long-term efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） surgical operations in treating mixed hemorrhoids. MethodsA multi-center retrospective cohort study was conducted， collecting clinical data from 17，831 mixed hemorrhoid surgery patients in 8 top-tier TCM hospitals in Jiangsu Province. Standardized and structured datasets were obtained through artificial intelligence models. Patients who underwent western surgical treatment were categorized into the western surgery group （11,646 cases）， and those receiving TCM surgical operations were categorized into the TCM surgery group （6185 cases）. Propensity score matching （1∶1 matching） was used to balance baseline data between groups. The primary outcome was the one-year recurrence rate， and secondary outcomes included the main symptoms （rectal bleeding， degree of prolapse） and secondary symptoms （anal distension， anal edema， wound secretion and exudation， anal stenosis， residual skin tags， perianal itching， and anal pain） measured on days 7， 28， and 60 after discharge. ResultsAfter matching， 2194 patients were included in each group. Symptom scores showed that at 28 days after discharge， the TCM surgical group had superior improvement in rectal bleeding ［OR=5.786， 95%CI （3.092，10.827）］， degree of prolapse ［OR=4.510， 95%CI （1.649，12.333）］， and anal edema ［OR=3.188， 95%CI （1.295，7.845）］ compared to the western surgical group. At 60 days post-discharge， the TCM group still showed advantages in improving rectal bleeding ［OR=5.237， 95%CI （1.077，25.464）］ and anal pain ［OR=11.697， 95%CI （1.186，115.336）］ （P＜0.05）. Long-term follow-up showed that the one-year recurrence rate in the TCM surgery group was 1.1% （8/726）， while that in the western surgery group was 2.3% （10/444）， with no statistically significant difference between the two groups （P＞0.05）. ConclusionBased on real-world data， TCM surgical treatment for mixed hemorrhoids shows significant short-term symptom improvement， particularly in terms of hemostasis， reducing swelling， and alleviating prolapse of anal masses.

Triatoma rubrofasciata is currently the most widely distributed species of Triatoma worldwide, and it is also widespread in southern China. T. rubrofasciata has been proven to transmit Trypanosoma cruzi, and is one of vectors transmitting Chagas disease, which poses a potential risk for transmission of imported Chagas disease in China. Findings from latest studies have shown that T. rubrofasciata naturally infects T. lewisi, T. conorhini, and T. rangeli, which undoubtedly increases significant risks of and challenges to trypanosomiasis control in China. This article briefly describes the species of T. rubrofasciata-transmitted trypanosomes, and summarizes the epidemiological characteristics of trypanosomiasis, so as to provide insights into T. rubrofasciata-transmitted trypanosomiasis surveillance and control, and prevention of trypanosomiasis development and transmission in China.

Background: Adrenocortical hormones, particularly 11-oxygenated androgens, are pivotal in female reproductive health and fertility. Standardized detection kits and population-specific reference intervals are lacking in China, hindering related clinical applications. Methods: A HPLC-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) pipeline was developed, rigorously validated, and applied to simultaneously quantify corticosterone, cortisone, cortisol, 18-OH cortisol, androstenedione (A4), 11β-hydroxyandrostenedione (11-OH A4), dehydroepiandrosterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate in serum samples from 455 reproductive-aged women (18–45 yrs) in Guangxi, China. Age-dependent concentration trends were analyzed, and reference intervals stratified by age (2.5th to 97.5th percentiles) were established. Correlations with body-composition metrics, ethnicity, and the menstrual cycle were investigated. Results: The HPLC-MS/MS method demonstrated high precision (intra- and inter-assay CVs < 15%), accuracy, and sensitivity. All eight hormones exhibited significant age-related declines (P < 0.001 for seven hormones; P = 0.001 for 11-OH A4). Notably, 11-OH A4 levels were significantly lower in the 35–45-yr (3.05 nmol/L) and 25–34-yr (3.09 nmol/L) age groups than in the 18–24-yr (3.57 nmol/L) age group, whereas no significant difference was observed between the 35–45-yr and 25–34-yr age groups. Weak negative correlations were observed between the body mass index and corticosterone and cortisone levels, whereas ethnicity and the menstrual cycle showed no significant associations with hormone levels. Conclusions We developed an HPLC-MS/MS-based method for simultaneously quantifying eight adrenocortical hormones, including 11-OH A4, and defined age-specific reference intervals for reproductive-aged Chinese women. These findings advance the clinical utility of adrenocortical hormones in diagnosing and managing reproductive disorders.

OBJECTIVE To study the chemical constituents in the root bark of Schisandra sphenanthera and their cytotoxic activ-ities.METHODS The compounds were isolated and purified by silica,Sephadex LH-20 and semi preparative-HPLC and the chem-ical structures were identified by 1 H-NMR,13 C-NMR and MS data analysis.The cytotoxic activities of the compounds were deter-mined by MTT method.RESULTS Twenty lignans were isolated and deduced as:Matairesinol(1),2-Hydroxy-2-(3′,4′-di-hydroxyphenyl)methyl-3-(3″,4″-dimethoxyphenyl)methyl-gamma-butyrolactone(2),(+)-Nortrachelogenin(3),2-Hydroxy-2-(4′-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-3′-hydroxyphenyl)methyl-3-(3″,4″-dimethoxyphenyl)methyl-γ-butyrolactone(4),Nortracheloside(5),Burselignan(6),(+)-Cycloolivil(7),5-Methoxy-(+)-isolariciresinol(8),(-)-Isolariciresinol 3α-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(9),(+)-9-O-β-D-Glucopyranosyl lyoniresinol(10),(-)-Secoisolariciresinol(11),Licarin A(12),Cedrusin(13),Mataires-inol 4′-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(14),Pregomisin(15),Meso-dihydroguaiaretic acid(16),7S,8R-Erythro-4,9,9′-trihydroxy-3,3′-dimethoxy-8-O-4′-neolignan-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(17),Gomisin M2(18),Gomisin M3(19),Pinoresinol(20).Com-pounds 1-3,12,15,16,18 and 19 showed cytotoxic activity against A549,HCT116 and SW620 cell lines with IC50 values ranging from 1.4 to 22.9 μmol·L-1.CONCLUSION Compounds 1-4,6-12,14,17-19 are isolated from the plant for the first time,com-pounds 1-3,12,15,16,18 and 19 exhibit cytotoxic activities.

Objective:To investigate the effect of Gexia Zhuyu decoction on Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/Nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) signaling pathway on ulcerative colitis and intestinal mucosal barrier.Methods:A total of 86 cases of ulcerative colitis admitted to Xi′an Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Hospital from March 2019 to July 2023 were prospectively included and divided into observation group and control group according to random number table method, with 43 cases in each group. The control group was treated with mesalazine enteric-coated tablets; The observation group was treated with mesalazine enteric-coated tablets combined with Gexia Zhuyu decoction for removing stasis. The clinical efficacy of the two groups was compared in terms of TCM syndrome score, intestinal mucosal barrier function index [diamine oxidase (DAO), D-lactic acid (D-LA)], TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway expression and inflammatory factor index [interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)] before and after treatment. The occurrence of adverse reactions was also compared.Results:The total effective rate of observation group was higher than that of control group (χ 2=4.074, P=0.044). Before treatment, there was no significant difference in TCM syndrome scores between the two groups (all P>0.05). After treatment, the TCM syndrome scores of both groups were lower than those before treatment (all P<0.05), and the TCM syndrome scores of the observation group were lower than those of the control group (all P<0.05). Before treatment, there were no significant differences in D-LA and DAO levels between the two groups (all P>0.05). After treatment, the levels of D-LA and DAO in both groups were lower than before treatment (all P<0.05), and the levels of D-LA and DAO in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (all P<0.05). After treatment, the mRNA expressions of TLR4 and NF-κB in both groups were decreased compared with those before treatment, and the mRNA expressions of TLR4 and NF-κB in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (all P<0.05). After treatment, the levels of IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α in both groups were decreased compared with those before treatment (all P<0.05), and the levels of IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (all P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups (χ 2=2.346, P=0.126). Conclusions:The application of Gexia Zhuyu decoction in the treatment of ulcerative colitis can not only effectively improve the clinical symptoms, signs and intestinal mucosal barrier function, but also improve the inflammatory response by mediating TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway.

BACKGROUND:It is urgent to improve the study on the molecular mechanism of Ban's Culuan Zhuyun Decoction improving oocyte quality in polycystic ovary syndrome.OBJECTIVE:To observe the effects of Ban's Culuan Zhuyun Decoction on oocyte quality in a mouse model of polycystic ovary syndrome and to explore the underlying mechanisms of its intervention in polycystic ovary syndrome.METHODS:Subcutaneous injection of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate was used to establish the polycystic ovary syndrome model in 21-day-old female Kunming mice,and the treatment was conducted for 21 consecutive days.The estrous cycle and pregnancy was recorded.ELISA was used to detect serum sex hormone levels.The rate of apoptosis in oocytes was detected using Annexin V staining.The level of reactive oxygen species in oocytes was detected using dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate.The condition of spindle bodies and chromosomes in oocytes were detected using the immunofluorescence method.Network pharmacology and molecular docking were used to verify the binding properties of Ban's Culuan Zhuyun Decoction core active components and oocyte maturation-related factors(growth differentiation factor 9 and bone morphogenetic protein 15).Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR and western blot were used to detect the mRNA and protein expression levels of growth differentiation factor 9 and bone morphogenetic protein 15 in oocytes,respectively.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Ban's Culuan Zhuyun Decoction core active components(quercetin,kaempferol,and β-sitosterol)showed good binding activities with growth differentiation factor 9 and bone morphogenetic protein 15.(2)Ban's Culuan Zhuyun Decoction ameliorated the estrous cycle,regulated serum hormone,increased the pregnancy,decreased the rate of apoptosis,declined the level of reactive oxygen species,diminished the rate of abnormal spindle assembly and chromosome loss(P<0.01,P<0.05);and promoted the mRNA and protein expression of growth differentiation factor 9 and bone morphogenetic protein 15(P<0.05).Therefore,Ban's Culuan Zhuyun Decoction may improve the oocyte quality and increase the fertility of polycystic ovary syndrome mice by regulating the gene expression of growth differentiation factor 9 and bone morphogenetic protein 15.

To construct a subgenomic replication subsystem of foot-and-mouth disease virus(FM-DV)carrying fluorescent protein(UnaG),the full-length cDNA plasmid of FMDV was employed as the template.A few of structural and non-structural protein genes of FMDV were removed by double-enzyme digestion.By substituting reporter gene sequences expressing the green fluorescent protein UnaG for specific structural protein sequences of FMDV,FMDV-UnaG replicators were successfully created.After PCR and sequencing,linearized FMDV-UnaG replicons were transfected into BSR/T7 cells expressing T7 RNA polymerase,and the fluorescence signal was observed through fluorescence microscopy and laser confocal technique.The results demonstrated that the constructed FMDV-UnaG replicons could effectively express UnaG protein,and the protein colo-calized with FMDV 3A protein.Additionally,Western blot and RT-qPCR also detected that the replicator RNA could express the non-structural proteins of the virus and replicate autonomously in BSR/T7 cells,respectively.In conclusion,the successful construction of FMDV-UnaG sub-genomic replicators offers a favorable tool for further research on the replication and translation mechanism of FMDV and the development of vaccine vectors.

Objective To discuss the method of constructing TCM word network and the subsequent optimization method;To solve the problems of natural language processing in the TCM-clinical decision support system using TCM terminology.Methods This study was based on several national standards and terminology dictionaries of TCM,such as Zhong Yi Lin Chuang Zhen Liao Shu Yu Ji Bing Part and Zhong Yi Yao Xue Zhu Ti Ci Biao,supplemented with related corpus on the Internet,and the framework of TCM word network was constructed with ontology as the guide.Word2Vec was used to load pre-trained models for similarity calculation,statistical and rule-based new word discovery,bibliometric analysis,and other methods to add or delete concept words and synonyms such as symptom terms and prescription terms.Results The TCM word network contained 55 semantic types and 13 semantic relationships,more than 110 000 concept words,and more than 300 000 synonyms.In addition to classifying concept words by semantic types,more detailed semantic classification was carried out in the upper and lower tree structures,in which more than 30 000 concept words had superordinate words,and nearly 2 600 concept words had subordinate words.At the same time,a process-based terminology supplementation mechanism,update review mechanism and cleaning mechanism were created.Conclusion TCM word network can not only be applied to the natural language processing process of TCM-clinical decision support system,but also can be applied to the normalization of data and the automatic construction of knowledge graph.

Objective To investigate the effect of forsythigenin on the malignant progression of lung cancer cells by regulating the cyclic adenosine monophosphate/exchange protein directly activated by cAMP1/Ras-associated protein 1(cAMP/EPAC1/RAP1)signaling pathway.Methods Lung cancer cell line A549 was cultured in vitro and grouped into the control group,the low dose forsythigenin group(25 mg/L),the medium dose forsythigenin group(50 mg/L),the high dose forsythigenin group(100 mg/L),the high dose forsythigenin+specific increase in intracellular cAMP content(pertussis toxin PTX)group(100 mg/L forsythigenin+5 μmol/L PTX)and high dose forsythigenin+EPAC1 antagonist(ESI-09)group(100 mg/L forsythigenin+1.5 μmol/L ESI-09).CCK-8 experiment was applied to detect cell proliferation.Scratch test was applied to detect cell migration.Flow cytometry was applied to detect cell apoptosis.Transwell was applied to detect cell invasion.ELISA method was applied to detect cAMP level in cell supernatant.Western blot assay was applied to detect expression levels of cAMP/EPAC1/RAP1 signaling pathway proteins and apoptotic proteins[B lymphoblastoma-2(Bcl-2)and Bcl-2 associated X protein(Bax)].Results Compared with the control group,the OD450 value of A549 cells,number of cell invasions,scratch healing rate,level of cAMP,expression levels of Bcl-2,EPAC1 and RAP1 proteins were significantly reduced in the low dose,medium dose and high dose forsythigenin groups,and the expression of Bax protein and the rate of cell apoptosis were significantly increased in a dose-dependent manner(P＜0.05).Compared with the high-dose forsythigenin group,the OD450 value of A549 cells,scratch healing rate,number of cell invasions,level of cAMP,expression levels of Bcl-2,EPAC1 and RAP1 proteins were obviously increased in the high-dose forsythigenin+PTX group,the expression of Bax protein and the apoptosis rate were obviously reduced(P＜0.05).Levels of all indexes in the high dose forsythigenin+ESI-09 group were opposite.Conclusion Forsythigenin inhibits proliferation,migration,and invasion of A549 cells and promotes apoptosis by down-regulating the cAMP/EPAC1/RAP1 signaling pathway.