1.Herbal Textual Research on Inulae Flos in Famous Classical Formulas
Caixia LIU ; Yue HAN ; Yanzhu MA ; Lei GAO ; Sheng WANG ; Yan YANG ; Wenchuan LUO ; Ling JIN ; Jing SHAO ; Zhijia CUI ; Zhilai ZHAN
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2026;32(3):210-221
In this paper, by referring to ancient and modern literature, the textual research of Inulae Flos has been conducted to clarify the name, origin, production area, quality evaluation, harvesting, processing and others, so as to provide reference and basis for the development and utilization of famous classical formulas containing this herb. After textual research, it could be verified that the medicinal use of Inulae Flos was first recorded in Shennong Bencaojing of the Han dynasty. In successive dynasties, Xuanfuhua has been taken as the official name, and it also has other alternative names such as Jinfeicao, Daogeng and Jinqianhua. The period before the Song and Yuan dynasties, the main origin of Inulae Flos was the Asteraceae plant Inula japonica, and from the Ming and Qing dynasties to the present, I. japonica and I. britannica are the primary source. In addition to the dominant basal species, there are also regional species such as I. linariifolia, I. helianthus-aquatili, and I. hupehensis. The earliest recorded production areas in ancient times were Henan, Hubei and other places, and the literature records that it has been distributed throughout the country since modern times. The medicinal part is its flower, the harvesting and processing method recorded in the past dynasties is mainly harvested in the fifth and ninth lunar months, and dried in the sun, and the modern harvesting is mostly harvested in summer and autumn when the flowers bloom, in order to remove impurities, dry in the shade or dry in the sun. In addition, the roots, whole herbs and aerial parts are used as medicinal materials. In ancient times, there were no records about the quality of Inulae Flos, and in modern times, it is generally believed that the quality of complete flower structure, small receptacles, large blooms, yellow petals, long filaments, many fluffs, no fragments, and no branches is better. Ancient processing methods primarily involved cleaning, steaming, and sun-drying, supplemented by techniques such as boiling, roasting, burning, simmering, stir-frying, and honey-processing. Modern processing focuses mainly on cleaning the stems and leaves before use. Regarding the medicinal properties, ancient texts describe it as salty and sweet in taste, slightly warm in nature, and mildly toxic. Modern studies characterize it as bitter, pungent, and salty in taste, with a slightly warm nature. Its therapeutic effects remain consistent across eras, including descending Qi, resolving phlegm, promoting diuresis, and stopping vomiting. Based on the research results, it is recommended that when developing famous classical formulas containing Inulae Flos, either I. japonica or I. britannica should be used as the medicinal source. Processing methods should follow formula requirements, where no processing instructions are specified, the raw products may be used after cleaning.
2.Herbal Textual Research on Inulae Flos in Famous Classical Formulas
Caixia LIU ; Yue HAN ; Yanzhu MA ; Lei GAO ; Sheng WANG ; Yan YANG ; Wenchuan LUO ; Ling JIN ; Jing SHAO ; Zhijia CUI ; Zhilai ZHAN
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2026;32(3):210-221
In this paper, by referring to ancient and modern literature, the textual research of Inulae Flos has been conducted to clarify the name, origin, production area, quality evaluation, harvesting, processing and others, so as to provide reference and basis for the development and utilization of famous classical formulas containing this herb. After textual research, it could be verified that the medicinal use of Inulae Flos was first recorded in Shennong Bencaojing of the Han dynasty. In successive dynasties, Xuanfuhua has been taken as the official name, and it also has other alternative names such as Jinfeicao, Daogeng and Jinqianhua. The period before the Song and Yuan dynasties, the main origin of Inulae Flos was the Asteraceae plant Inula japonica, and from the Ming and Qing dynasties to the present, I. japonica and I. britannica are the primary source. In addition to the dominant basal species, there are also regional species such as I. linariifolia, I. helianthus-aquatili, and I. hupehensis. The earliest recorded production areas in ancient times were Henan, Hubei and other places, and the literature records that it has been distributed throughout the country since modern times. The medicinal part is its flower, the harvesting and processing method recorded in the past dynasties is mainly harvested in the fifth and ninth lunar months, and dried in the sun, and the modern harvesting is mostly harvested in summer and autumn when the flowers bloom, in order to remove impurities, dry in the shade or dry in the sun. In addition, the roots, whole herbs and aerial parts are used as medicinal materials. In ancient times, there were no records about the quality of Inulae Flos, and in modern times, it is generally believed that the quality of complete flower structure, small receptacles, large blooms, yellow petals, long filaments, many fluffs, no fragments, and no branches is better. Ancient processing methods primarily involved cleaning, steaming, and sun-drying, supplemented by techniques such as boiling, roasting, burning, simmering, stir-frying, and honey-processing. Modern processing focuses mainly on cleaning the stems and leaves before use. Regarding the medicinal properties, ancient texts describe it as salty and sweet in taste, slightly warm in nature, and mildly toxic. Modern studies characterize it as bitter, pungent, and salty in taste, with a slightly warm nature. Its therapeutic effects remain consistent across eras, including descending Qi, resolving phlegm, promoting diuresis, and stopping vomiting. Based on the research results, it is recommended that when developing famous classical formulas containing Inulae Flos, either I. japonica or I. britannica should be used as the medicinal source. Processing methods should follow formula requirements, where no processing instructions are specified, the raw products may be used after cleaning.
3.Design of a smart blood donation assistant based on large language model
Lan LUO ; Kanglie WAN ; Yue ZHENG ; Xiaoya ZHAO ; Zhedong HAN
Chinese Journal of Blood Transfusion 2026;39(2):241-247
Objective: To develop a smart blood donation service assistant for popularizing donation-related knowledge to blood donors via intelligent Q&A support, thereby enabling precise service delivery. Methods: Based on the operational scenarios of the Zhejiang Provincial Blood Center, the system utilized the open-source Dify platform for agent orchestration, and integrated with the DeepSeek model as the language processing engine to support online real-time interaction. External tools, including the Amap API and MySQL database queries, were encapsulated via the Model Context Protocol (MCP). A professional blood knowledge base for Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) was constructed using the BGE-M3 embedding model. An innovative dual-large language model collaborative verification mechanism was introduced to design the overall framework. The system was deployed privately using Docker containerization, and offline closed-loop optimization was achieved through customized Python scripts. Results: An interactive interface for blood donors was developed by integrating the chatflow Web component from Dify. The intelligent assistant Agent can recommend optimal blood donation sites and navigation routes by invoking the Amap API based on the donor's location. The Blood Donation Knowledge Agent enables timely responses to inquiries, along with reasonable suggestions and reminders. This agent specializes in the field of voluntary blood donation, empowering the assistant to answer doubts and questions for blood donors in the form of intelligent question-and-answer interaction. It also guides users through preliminary self-assessments, helping potential donors identify eligibility issues beforehand, thereby effectively increasing the on-site success rate of blood donation and reducing resource waste. Conclusion: The smart blood donation assistant validates the feasibility of the "Dify+MCP+RAG" technical architecture within the blood transfusion informatization field. The assistant not only improves the service experience for blood donors, but also, ensures the sustainable evolution of the system through its modular design and closed-loop optimization mechanism, thus providing valuable insights for the intelligent transformation of traditional blood donation service systems.
4.Knowledge graph-enhanced long-tail learning approach for traditional Chinese medicine syndrome differentiation
Weikang KONG ; Chuanbiao WEN ; Yue LUO
Digital Chinese Medicine 2026;9(1):57-67
Objective:
To address the dual challenges of long-tail distribution and feature sparsity in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome differentiation within real clinical settings, we propose a data-efficient learning framework enhanced by knowledge graphs.
Methods:
We developed Agent-GNN, a three-stage decoupled learning framework, and validated it on the Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome Diagnosis (TCM-SD) dataset containing 54 152 clinical records across 148 syndrome categories. First, we constructed a comprehensive medical knowledge graph encoding the complete TCM reasoning system. Second, we proposed a Functional Patient Profiling (FPP) method that utilizes large language models (LLMs) combined with Graph Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to extract structured symptom-etiology-pathogenesis subgraphs from medical records. Third, we employed heterogeneous graph neural networks to learn structured combination patterns explicitly. We compared our method against multiple baselines including BERT, ZY-BERT, ZY-BERT + Know, GAT, and GPT-4 Few-shot, using macro-F1 score as the primary evaluation metric. Additionally, ablation experiments were conducted to validate the contribution of each key component to model performance.
Results:
Agent-GNN achieved an overall macro-F1 score of 72.4%, representing an 8.7 percentage points improvement over ZY-BERT + Know (63.7%), the strongest baseline among traditional methods. For long-tail syndromes with fewer than 10 samples, Agent-GNN reached a macro-F1 score of 58.6%, compared with 39.3% for ZY-BERT + Know and 41.2% for GPT-4 Few-shot, representing relative improvements of 49.2% and 42.2%, respectively. Ablation experiments confirmed that the explicit modeling of etiology-pathogenesis nodes contributed 12.4 percentage points to this enhanced long-tail syndrome performance.
Conclusion
This study proposes Agent-GNN, a knowledge graph-enhanced framework that effectively addresses the long-tail distribution challenge in TCM syndrome differentiation. By explicitly modeling manifestation-mechanism-essence patterns through structured knowledge graphs, our approach achieves superior performance in data-scarce scenarios while providing interpretable reasoning paths for TCM intelligent diagnosis.
5.Peripheral blood cell counts as predictors of response to neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: A retrospective study in a single center
Xingqiang RAN ; Chengcheng ZHANG ; Tao LUO ; Binwen XU ; Yue ZHANG ; Liwen ZHANG ; Maoyong FU
Chinese Journal of Clinical Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 2026;33(05):743-750
Objective To explore the predictive value of peripheral blood cells in the efficacy of neoadjuvant immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Methods A retrospective study was conducted on patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (clinical stages Ⅱ-Ⅳa) who underwent neoadjuvant immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy at the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College from April 2020 to November 2023. According to whether the pathology was completely relieved after treatment, patients were divided into a pathological complete remission group and a pathological incomplete remission group. The College of American Pathologists criteria were used to evaluate the tumor pathological regression grade (TRG) after neoadjuvant therapy (TRG=0, 1 defined as a good efficacy group, TRG=2, 3 defined as a poor efficacy group). Results A total of 92 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were collected, including 72 males and 20 females. The average age was (65.86±7.66) years. The complete remission of pathology was closely related to the number of lymphocytes in the blood before treatment (P=0.019). The area under the curve (AUC) for predicting complete remission of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after neoadjuvant immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy was 0.678, the maximum Youden index was 0.328, and the optimal cutoff value was 1.845. The incidence of postoperative pulmonary infection in the pathological incomplete remission group was higher than that in the pathological complete remission group (25.0% vs. 5.6%, P=0.030). Using the optimal cutoff value, there were statistically significant differences in pathological N stage and pathological TNM stage between patients with lymphocyte counts <1.845×109/L and ≥1.845×109/L (P<0.05). Treatment response (by TRG) was significantly associated with the pretreatment red blood cell count (P=0.009). The AUC for predicting a good TRG response was 0.669, with a maximum Youden index of 0.385 and an optimal cutoff value of 4.235. Between the good and poor response groups, there were statistically significant differences in postoperative pathological T stage (P<0.001), N stage (P=0.041), and TNM stage (P<0.001). When stratified by the optimal cutoff value, there were statistically significant differences in age (P<0.001) and the prevalence of hypertension (P=0.022) between patients with red blood cell counts <4.235×1012/L and ≥4.235×1012/L. Conclusion A pretreatment absolute lymphocyte count ≥1.845×109/L and a red blood cell count <4.235×1012/L are good predictors for pathological complete response and a good pathological response, respectively, following neoadjuvant immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
6.The construction and evaluation of heart preservation model for empty beating donor heart based on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation technology
Shijie YIN ; Xiao YUE ; Chunhua WANG ; Wei WU ; Guanbin QIN ; Lan LUO ; Qiangxin HUANG ; Guixin HE
Chinese Journal of Clinical Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 2026;33(05):791-798
Objective To explore the construction of heart preservation model of empty beating donor based on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Methods From January 2022 to August 2023, 20 Guangxi Bama miniature pigs weighing 25-30 kg were selected, half male and half female. Under general anesthesia and heparinization, a midline thoracotomy was performed. The pericardium was cut after freeing the anterior and posterior vena cavae, and a perfusion needle was inserted near the brachiocephalic artery in the ascending aorta, connected to a blood collection bag to collect 500-600 mL of blood. The anterior and posterior vena cavae were ligated, the aorta was blocked and perfused with HTK solution to stop the heart beating. The superior and inferior vena cavae were cut off, the right pulmonary vein was decompressed, the aorta and left and right pulmonary arteries and veins were cut off, and the whole heart was removed. An ECMO device was used to continuously perfuse a cardioprotective solution mainly composed of oxygenated warm blood, maintaining the isolated pig heart beating for 8 hours, monitoring (once/hour) ECMO perfusion parameters, blood gas indicators, perfusate electrolytes, inflammatory factors, myocardial enzymes, myoglobin, and troponin levels. Myocardial tissue was taken for hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining to observe myocardial cell damage and evaluate the quality of heart preservation. Results Among the 20 isolated beating pig hearts, 17 successfully resumed beating, 3 experienced ventricular fibrillation, resuscitated after intracardiac electrical defibrillation, and all 20 pig hearts successfully beat for 8 hours. There was no statistical difference in ECMO perfusion parameters, blood gas indicators, perfusate electrolytes, and inflammatory factors at each time point (P>0.05). There were statistical increases in myocardial enzymes, myoglobin, and troponin levels (P<0.05). HE staining results suggested that there was no severe myocardial damage. Conclusion ECMO technology can be used for pig heart preservation with good results, and this study provides experimental evidence for improving heart preservation research in clinical heart transplantation.
7.Glutamate Receptor Antagonists Attenuate Stereotyped Behaviors via Modulating BDNF Levels in Obsessive-complusive Disorder Model Mice
Weijie WANG ; Yuchong LUO ; Dongmiao HUANG ; Chen YANG ; Jihui YUE ; Xianglan WANG ; Shenglin WEN
Journal of Sun Yat-sen University(Medical Sciences) 2025;46(3):475-485
ObjectiveTo explore whether fluoroethylnormemantine (FENM), an NMDA receptor antagonist, could improve compulsive-like behaviors and to investigate its underlying mechanisms in the RU24969-induced obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) mouse model. MethodsThirty-two mice were randomly assigned to four groups: Saline (n=8), RU24969 (n=8), RU+FENM (n=8), and FENM (n=8). Mice received FENM or an equivalent volume of saline for pre-treatment, followed by RU24969 or saline for model induction 30 minutes later. Behavioral tests were performed 1 hour after modeling, and serum samples were collected to measure the level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Evans Blue dye was intravenously injected to assess dye content in brain tissue, thereby evaluating potential blood-brain barrier damage. ResultsFENM treatment significantly improved repetitive stereotyped circling behavior (F=39.850, P<0.001) and alleviated persistent motor activity (F=50.200, P<0.001) in RU24969 model mice. Additionally, FENM treatment significantly increased serum BDNF level in RU24969-induced OCD mice (F=18.930, P<0.001). ConclusionsFENM , an NMDA receptor antagonist, may alleviate compulsive behaviors in OCD mice by modulating BDNF levels , thereby exerting anti-compulsive effects. Neither the RU24969 model nor FENM treatment significantly affectes blood-brain barrier integrity.
8.Research progress on quality control methods for monitoring illicit drugs use in wastewater
Yue XIAO ; Shuai YUAN ; Ruxin LUO ; Ruiqin ZHU ; Bin DI ; Ping XIANG
Journal of China Pharmaceutical University 2025;56(2):139-147
The use of wastewater analysis, or wastewater-based epidemiology, to assess and monitor the situation of drug abuse is now widely used at home and abroad. However, there is currently a lack of effective evaluation methods and effective ways of comparison, supervision and standardization, which is not conducive to the analysis and comparisons of data in different countries and regions. Quality control techniques can control the laboratory's analytical errors, safeguard the consistency and comparability of identification conclusions, and promote the further improvement of the level and capacity of urban drug governance, thus playing significant roles. This paper provides an overview of sample collection, sample preservation and transportation, laboratory analysis, back-calculation of drug use and external laboratory quality control in the process of wastewater analysis, with a view to exploring more comprehensive scientific and objective methods and approaches suitable for examining and evaluating qualitative and quantitative analysis of drugs in wastewater among laboratories.
9.Analysis of human parvovirus B19 nucleic acid detection in blood products in China
Yue WANG ; Xiaobei ZHENG ; Qin GONG ; Ying ZHAO ; Yuanxiu LUO ; Dandan YANG ; Linlin ZHANG ; Zheng JIANG ; Gan PENG ; Jin ZHANG ; Bingbing KE
Chinese Journal of Blood Transfusion 2025;38(7):950-957
Objective: To analyze the nucleic acid load of human parvovirus B19 in major commercially available blood products in China, including human albumin, human intravenous immunoglobulin, human rabies immunoglobulin and various coagulation factor products, aiming to provide evidence for improving blood product manufacturing processes and quality control of source plasma. Methods: A total of 98 batches of coagulation factor products were tested for human parvovirus B19 nucleic acid using real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR, including 42 batches of human prothrombin complex, 35 batches of human coagulation factor Ⅷ, and 21 batches of human fibrinogen. Additionally, 6 batches of human albumin, 6 batches of human intravenous immunoglobulin, and 38 batches of human rabies immunoglobulin were tested for human parvovirus B19 nucleic acid. Results: Human parvovirus B19 nucleic acid were undetectable in human albumin, human intravenous immunoglobulin and human rabies immunoglobulin. Among the 98 batches of coagulation factor products tested for human parvovirus B19 nucleic acid, B19 nucleic acid reactivity rate was 69.0% (29/42) for human prothrombin complex batches, but nucleic acid concentration were all significantly lower than 10
IU/mL. The reactivity rate of B19 nucleic acid in 35 batches of human coagulation factor Ⅷ was 48.6% (17/35), with nucleic acid concentration all below 10
IU/mL. The reactivity rate of B19 nucleic acid in 21 batches of human fibrinogen was 61.9% (13/21), with nucleic acid concentration all below 10
IU/mL. Conclusion: No human parvovirus B19 has been detected in human albumin, human intravenous immunoglobulin, or human rabies immunoglobulin. Human parvovirus B19 nucleic acid may exist in commercially available coagulation factor products, highlighting the need for enhanced screening of human parvovirus B19 nucleic acid in these products. It is also recommended that B19 viral nucleic acid testing be conducted on source plasma, particularly for coagulation factor products.
10.Effect Mechanism and Law of Sterilization by 60Co-γ Ray Irradiation on Chemical Composition of Chinese Materia Medica: A Review
Tingting ZHU ; Jian RANG ; Rangyanpo LUO ; Rui GU ; Yue YANG ; Si LU ; Shihong ZHONG
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(18):306-314
60Co-γ ray irradiation has the unique advantages of high efficiency, strong penetration, operation at room temperature and no residue, which has been widely used in the sterilization of Chinese medicinal materials, decoction pieces, Chinese patent medicine. However, the irradiation effect may cause changes in the content of chemical components in Chinese materia medica or the emergence of new radiolysis products, leading to reduced efficacy and uncontrollable safety risks. This paper reviewed the relevant literature at home and abroad, summarized the effect of irradiation sterilization on various types of chemical compositions of Chinese medicinal materials and their preparations, and analyzed and explored the rule of change. The results showed that the content changes of various chemical components in Chinese materia medica after 60Co-γ ray irradiation sterilization varied. The contents of most flavonoids, terpenoids, phenylpropanoids and quinones decreased after irradiation, and the degree of decrease increased with the elevated irradiation dose. The contents of lignans, alkaloids, isoflavones and some terpenoids did not change significantly before and after irradiation, while the content changes of triterpenoid saponins, dihydroflavonols, chalcones, sugars and glycosides after irradiation were not yet uniform. Therefore, it is recommended to pay attention to the compositional changes of irradiated Chinese medicines, strengthen the research on the standards of irradiated Chinese medicines, and standardize the irradiation and sterilization of Chinese medicines in order to promote the healthy and rational application of irradiated Chinese medicines.

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