1.Construction of a Path for Evaluating the Efficacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine Driven by the Integration of Big Data and Multidisciplinary Technologies
Hongyan CUI ; Yuhan FENG ; Rui LI ; Yanan LIU ; Ruixia ZHAO ; Mingyi SHAO
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2026;67(20):2149-2154
By systematically analyzing the bottlenecks in current traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) efficacy evaluation, this study addresses the limitations of TCM efficacy assessment methods in terms of individualization, holism, and complexity representation. Drawing on the concepts and methodologies of evidence-based medicine and systems biology, this paper proposes a new evaluation path by integrating multidisciplinary technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence (AI), omics techniques, and bioinformatics, and encompassing from foundational data, individualized evaluation, and mechanistic analysis to evidence translation. The path first integrates real-world data, multi-omics profiling, and dynamic monitoring via smart devices to construct a high-dimensional dynamic data foundation. Subsequently, leveraging this foundation, it combines digital twins, dynamic symptom networks, and reinforcement learning to develop a dynamic efficacy evaluation method based on individual self-reference, enabling a shift from group mean comparisons to individual potential outcome comparisons. Furthermore, adopting the systems biology paradigm, it employs dynamic omics monitoring and deep learning models to dissect the synergistic mechanisms of TCM compound prescriptions from network regulation, emergent effects, and dynamic evolution dimensions. Finally, it enhances real-world evidence strength through target trial emulation and causal inference, achieving model iteration via incremental learning. This path aims to advance efficacy evaluation from "point validation" to "systematic characterization" and from "outcome assessment" to "process mechanism elucidation," providing methodological support for the modernization of TCM.
2.A CYP80B enzyme from Stephania tetrandra enables the 3'-hydroxylation of N-methylcoclaurine and coclaurine in the biosynthesis of benzylisoquinoline alkaloids.
Yaoting LI ; Yuhan FENG ; Wan GUO ; Yu GAO ; Jiatao ZHANG ; Lu YANG ; Chun LEI ; Yun KANG ; Yaqin WANG ; Xudong QU ; Jianming HUANG
Chinese Journal of Natural Medicines (English Ed.) 2025;23(5):630-640
Benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (BIAs) are a structurally diverse group of plant metabolites renowned for their pharmacological properties. However, sustainable sources for these compounds remain limited. Consequently, researchers are focusing on elucidating BIA biosynthetic pathways and genes to explore alternative sources using synthetic biology approaches. CYP80B, a family of cytochrome P450 (CYP450) enzymes, plays a crucial role in BIA biosynthesis. Previously reported CYP80Bs are known to catalyze the 3'-hydroxylation of (S)-N-methylcoclaurine, with the N-methyl group essential for catalytic activity. In this study, we successfully cloned a full-length CYP80B gene (StCYP80B) from Stephania tetrandra (S. tetrandra) and identified its function using a yeast heterologous expression system. Both in vivo yeast feeding and in vitro enzyme analysis demonstrated that StCYP80B could catalyze N-methylcoclaurine and coclaurine into their respective 3'-hydroxylated products. Notably, StCYP80B exhibited an expanded substrate selectivity compared to previously reported wild-type CYP80Bs, as it did not require an N-methyl group for hydroxylase activity. Furthermore, StCYP80B displayed a clear preference for the (S)-configuration. Co-expression of StCYP80B with the CYP450 reductases (CPRs, StCPR1, and StCPR2), also cloned from S. tetrandra, significantly enhanced the catalytic activity towards (S)-coclaurine. Site-directed mutagenesis of StCYP80B revealed that the residue H205 is crucial for coclaurine catalysis. Additionally, StCYP80B exhibited tissue-specific expression in plants. This study provides new genetic resources for the biosynthesis of BIAs and further elucidates their synthetic pathway in natural plant systems.
Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System/chemistry*
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Benzylisoquinolines/chemistry*
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Hydroxylation
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Plant Proteins/chemistry*
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Alkaloids/metabolism*
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Stephania tetrandra/genetics*
3.Causal association between cathepsins and bone mineral density:two-way Mendelian randomization analyses
Nan JIANG ; Haonan FU ; Yuhan HAO ; Zhilin CHEN ; Zhiqing ZHU ; Feng XU ; Dong YU
Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research 2025;29(12):2623-2630
BACKGROUND:Previous studies have indicated that cathepsin K can intervene with the occurrence and development of osteoporosis by regulating bone mineral density in middle-aged and older adults. However,whether there is a causal relationship between the cathepsin family and bone mineral density in other populations remains unknown. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the causal relationship between cathepsin and bone mineral density.METHODS:Genetic loci associated with eight cathepins were extracted from the IEU Open GWAS database as instrumental variables,and bone mineral density values in five age groups acted as an outcome. The causal relationship between cathepin and bone mineral density was assessed by two-way Mendelian randomization analysis. Heterogeneity of the genetic instrumental variables was assessed using Cochran's Q test,pleiotropy was assessed using the MR-Egger intercept test,and the sensitivity of single nucleotide polymorphisms used as instrumental variables to the causal effect of exposure and outcome was assessed using the leave-one-out method. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The results of the inverse variance weighting method with positive Mendelian randomization showed that cathepin H was negatively associated with bone mineral density in people aged 45-60 years[odds ratio (95% confidence interval)=0.965(0.94-0.99),P=0.04];cathepin Z was negatively associated with bone mineral density in people aged 30-45 year[odds ratio (95% confidence interval)=1.06 (1.00-1.11),P=0.03]. The results of sensitivity analysis showed a stable causal relationship,and MR-Egger intercept analysis did not detect potential horizontal pleiotropy. The inverse Mendelian randomization results showed that bone mineral density had no significant inverse effect on cathepin. The above results confirm that cathepin can affect bone mineral density in some age groups,which may increase the risk of osteoporosis and should be given more attention.
4.Unraveling Optimal Dose and Responsive Markers for Human Cord Blood Derived Mononuclear Cells in Alleviating Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in Neonatal Mice
Jia CHEN ; Yuhan CHEN ; Xue DU ; Liu HE ; Yanhua WANG ; Huiling HAN ; Qiuping LI ; Huixia ZHOU ; Zhichun FENG
International Journal of Stem Cells 2025;18(4):368-383
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), characterized by impaired alveolarization and dysregulated vascularization, is a severe health burden for neonates worldwide. Hyperoxia induced acute lung injury is a major contributor to the progression and deterioration of BPD. An increasing number of animal studies have revealed that human umbilical cord blood derived mononuclear cells (hUCB-MNCs) infusion significantly attenuated the hyperoxia-induced acute lung injury through regeneration capacity. Currently, clinical application requires determination of the optimal dose and adjustment to good manufacturing practices. In this work, we comprehensively investigated the optimal dose of hUCB-MNCs in alleviating hyperoxia-induced lung injury in neonatal C57BL6/J mice. Mice with hyperoxia exposure were implanted with low (3×104cells/kg, Dl), middle (3×105 cells/kg, Dm) and high (3×106 cells/kg, Dh) dose of hUCB-MNCs at postnatal day 7. Three weeks after graft, characteristics exhibited in lungs including morphology, function and cytokine expression were thoroughly analyzed. Implantation of hUCB-MNCs sharply reverted the impaired lung architecture induced by hyperoxia exposure dose dependently as evidenced by indicated parameters. Attenuated expression of IL-1β concomitant with enhanced expression of IL-10 and IL-2 were shown in Dh inoculated groups, where Dl and Dm failed to restore the level of IL-10, IL-1β and IL-2. Significantly re-escalated marker of angiogenic marker VEGFA, CD31 in lung tissue were uniquely observed in Dh group. Mechanistically, our study revealed the appropriate dose of intravenous infusion of hUCB-MNCs in alleviating hyperoxia-induced lung injury through modulating reactive oxygen species response in neonatal mice.Therefore, a tight control of hUCB-MNCs density or levels of CB-MNC related products is of great significance.
5.Characteristics of traumatic brain injury-related articles published in Chinese Journal of Trauma from 1985 to 2024
Junfeng FENG ; Yuhan HAN ; Rongze SUN ; Zhaoyi CHEN
Chinese Journal of Trauma 2025;41(9):864-871
Objective:To analyze the characteristics and significance of traumatic brain injury-related articles published in Chinese Journal of Trauma (hereinafter referred to as"the Journal") from 1985 to 2024. Methods:Using the CNKI database as the data source, traumatic brain injury-related articles published in the Journal from 1985 to 2024 were retrieved. Key metrics analyzed included total publication count, article types [original articles (including basic and clinical research, with clinical research further categorized as prospective/retrospective and single-center/multicenter studies), case reports, reviews/expert forums, consensus/guidelines], publication timeline, provincial and institutional collaborations, authors, and key words.Results:Among 10 687 total publications, 1 579 articles (14.77%) focused on traumatic brain injury, comprising comprised 1 196 original articles (75.74%), 226 ase reports (14.31%), 151 reviews/expert forums (9.56%), and 6 consensus/guidelines (0.38%). When stratified by decade (1985-1994, 1995-2004, 2005-2014, 2015-2024), the proportion of basic research among original articles was 12.67%, 28.13%, 31.70%, and 37.32%, respectively. Of clinical studies, prospective designs accounted for 23.39%, 34.21%, 34.73%, and 51.69%, respectively and multicenter collaborations accounted for 17.74%, 27.96%, 33.83%, and 47.19%, respectively. The number of case reports was 38, 142, 27, and 19, respectively; the number of reviews/expert forums was 4, 17, 53, and 77, respectively; and the number of consensus and guidelines was 0, 0, 1, and 5, respectively. The regions with more than 150 published articles were Shanghai Municipality, Zhejiang Province and Chongqing Municipality. The top 3 prolific institutions in the last two decades were Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (46 articles), Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University (26 articles), and Changzheng Hospital Affiliated to Naval Medical University (25 articles). The top 3 prolific authors were Jiang Jiyao (66 articles), Zhang Sai (40 articles), and Zhu Cheng (38 articles). Beyond "brain injury", the top five key words were "treatment", "prognosis", "intracranial pressure", "brain edema", and "therapeutic hypothermia". Among the top 20 key words, "intracranial pressure" was the only specific monitoring metric, while "therapeutic hypothermia" and "decompressive craniectomy" were the most frequently cited specific treatment and surgical procedure, respectively.Conclusion:Over the 40-year period, the Journal′s traumatic brain injury-related articles have demonstrated a rising proportion of basic research among original articles, increased adoption of prospective and multicenter designs in clinical studies, and substantial growth in reviews/expert forums alongside consensus/guidelines in recent years, with research output concentrated among a limited number of institutions and authors.
6.Advance in biomechanical factors regulating angiogenesis in atherosclerotic plaques
Chengxiu PENG ; Hanxiao CHEN ; Yuhan ZENG ; Yujing FENG ; Yuhao LI ; Yang SHEN
Chinese Journal of Arteriosclerosis 2025;33(2):102-107
Angiogenesis within atherosclerotic plaques is a critical determinant of plaque stability.The biome-chanical microenvironment,consisting of fluid shear force,plaque structural stress,and matrix stiffness,serves as signifi-cant factors in mediating plaque angiogenesis.Endothelial cells respond to mechanical signals and participate in plaques neovascularization through force chemical signal transduction mechanisms.This review provides an overview of the mecha-nisms by which mechanical factors regulate angiogenesis within plaques and offers a novel therapeutic approach for the pre-vention and treatment of atherosclerosis.
7.Value of metagenomic next generation sequencing in diagnosis of primary spinal suppurative infection
Yuelei WANG ; Yuhan LIN ; Zhaohui LI ; Jiaming LIU ; Qiang ZHANG ; Xiaofeng LIAN ; Feng SHEN ; Chuqiang YIN ; Zengshuai HAN ; Huafeng WANG ; Ting WANG
Chinese Journal of Orthopaedics 2025;45(17):1147-1153
Objective:To investigate the diagnostic value of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) for pyogenic spinal infections.Methods:A total of 255 patients diagnosed with pyogenic spinal infections were enrolled between September 2022 and September 2024 at Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital, Fuzhou Second General Hospital, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Shandong University Affiliated Public Health Clinical Center, and the Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. Among them, 155 were male and 100 were female, with an average age of 62.5±14.2 years (ranging from 13 to 90 years). All patients had samples of infected tissue and/or pus collected for microbial culture and mNGS testing. The number, types, and positive rates of pathogens detected by microbial culture and mNGS were compared. Using culture results as the gold standard, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed for mNGS testing and the combined method of mNGS and microbial culture, calculating the area under the curve (AUC) and 95% CI. Results:All 255 cases were clinically diagnosed as pyogenic spinal infections, with 194 cases providing microbiological evidence. The most common Gram-positive bacterium was Staphylococcus aureus, while the most common Gram-negative bacterium was Escherichia coli. A total of 33 pathogenic microorganisms were detected by mNGS, while microbial culture detected 18 pathogenic microorganisms. The positive rate of mNGS was 72.2% (184 out of 255), which was significantly higher than that of 30.2% (77 out of 255) for microbial culture, showing a significant difference (χ 2=90.150, P<0.001); the positive rate of mNGS combined with microbial culture was 76.1% (194 out of 255) with significant difference compared to mNGS alone (χ 2=8.100, P<0.001). Among 178 culture-negative samples, the detection rate of mNGS was 65.7% (117 out of 178); among 77 culture-positive samples, the detection rate of mNGS was 87.0% (67 out of 77), and 97.0% (65 out of 67) of the detected pathogens matched the culture results at the species level. The AUCs of the ROC curves for mNGS testing and the combination of mNGS with microbial culture were 0.606 [95% CI (0.534, 0.678)] and 0.671 [95% CI (0.606, 0.736)], respectively, with significant differences compared to microbial culture ( P=0.007; P=0.007). Conclusions:mNGS demonstrates superior performance over conventional culture in identifying pathogens in pyogenic spinal infections. Moreover, combining mNGS with culture further improves diagnostic yield, supporting its integration into clinical practice.
8.Construction of a health education checklist for safety management of oral antitumor drugs in tumor patients
Hongli LI ; Hong ZHANG ; Yuhan LU ; Zhichao FENG ; Miaoning YOU ; Xiaoting HOU ; Liyan ZHANG ; Jie ZHANG ; Dong PANG ; Hong YANG
Chinese Journal of Modern Nursing 2025;31(21):2906-2911
Objective:To construct a health education checklist for safety management of oral antitumor drugs in tumor patients, so as to provide a guidance for clinical nurses in practice, thereby improving the drug safety of patients taking oral antitumor drugs.Methods:Based on the cognition-behavior theoretical framework, a preliminary draft of a health education checklist for safety management of oral antitumor drugs in tumor patients was developed through literature review. The Delphi method was used to conduct consultations with 17 experts from July to September 2024 to revise and add or delete the contents of the checklist based on the experts' assignments of importance to the indicators at each level and the textual comments made.Results:A total of two rounds of expert consultation were conducted. The final established health education checklist for safety management of oral antitumor drugs in tumor patients included 4 primary and 28 secondary indicators. In the two rounds of consultation, the positive coefficient of experts was 100.0%, the coefficient of expert authority was 0.93, the coefficients of variation for the two rounds of expert ratings were 0 to 0.173 and 0 to 0.151, and the coefficients of Kendall's concordance were 0.141 (χ 2=74.461, P<0.001) and 0.113 (χ 2=59.549, P=0.002) , respectively. Conclusions:The health education checklist for safety management of oral antitumor drugs in tumor patients has good scientific, reliable and clinical practical value, which can provide scientific, standardized and convenient practical guidance for clinical nurses to implement health education on drug safety management for patients taking oral antitumor drugs.
9.Advance in biomechanical factors regulating angiogenesis in atherosclerotic plaques
Chengxiu PENG ; Hanxiao CHEN ; Yuhan ZENG ; Yujing FENG ; Yuhao LI ; Yang SHEN
Chinese Journal of Arteriosclerosis 2025;33(2):102-107
Angiogenesis within atherosclerotic plaques is a critical determinant of plaque stability.The biome-chanical microenvironment,consisting of fluid shear force,plaque structural stress,and matrix stiffness,serves as signifi-cant factors in mediating plaque angiogenesis.Endothelial cells respond to mechanical signals and participate in plaques neovascularization through force chemical signal transduction mechanisms.This review provides an overview of the mecha-nisms by which mechanical factors regulate angiogenesis within plaques and offers a novel therapeutic approach for the pre-vention and treatment of atherosclerosis.
10.Value of metagenomic next generation sequencing in diagnosis of primary spinal suppurative infection
Yuelei WANG ; Yuhan LIN ; Zhaohui LI ; Jiaming LIU ; Qiang ZHANG ; Xiaofeng LIAN ; Feng SHEN ; Chuqiang YIN ; Zengshuai HAN ; Huafeng WANG ; Ting WANG
Chinese Journal of Orthopaedics 2025;45(17):1147-1153
Objective:To investigate the diagnostic value of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) for pyogenic spinal infections.Methods:A total of 255 patients diagnosed with pyogenic spinal infections were enrolled between September 2022 and September 2024 at Qingdao University Affiliated Hospital, Fuzhou Second General Hospital, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Shandong University Affiliated Public Health Clinical Center, and the Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. Among them, 155 were male and 100 were female, with an average age of 62.5±14.2 years (ranging from 13 to 90 years). All patients had samples of infected tissue and/or pus collected for microbial culture and mNGS testing. The number, types, and positive rates of pathogens detected by microbial culture and mNGS were compared. Using culture results as the gold standard, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed for mNGS testing and the combined method of mNGS and microbial culture, calculating the area under the curve (AUC) and 95% CI. Results:All 255 cases were clinically diagnosed as pyogenic spinal infections, with 194 cases providing microbiological evidence. The most common Gram-positive bacterium was Staphylococcus aureus, while the most common Gram-negative bacterium was Escherichia coli. A total of 33 pathogenic microorganisms were detected by mNGS, while microbial culture detected 18 pathogenic microorganisms. The positive rate of mNGS was 72.2% (184 out of 255), which was significantly higher than that of 30.2% (77 out of 255) for microbial culture, showing a significant difference (χ 2=90.150, P<0.001); the positive rate of mNGS combined with microbial culture was 76.1% (194 out of 255) with significant difference compared to mNGS alone (χ 2=8.100, P<0.001). Among 178 culture-negative samples, the detection rate of mNGS was 65.7% (117 out of 178); among 77 culture-positive samples, the detection rate of mNGS was 87.0% (67 out of 77), and 97.0% (65 out of 67) of the detected pathogens matched the culture results at the species level. The AUCs of the ROC curves for mNGS testing and the combination of mNGS with microbial culture were 0.606 [95% CI (0.534, 0.678)] and 0.671 [95% CI (0.606, 0.736)], respectively, with significant differences compared to microbial culture ( P=0.007; P=0.007). Conclusions:mNGS demonstrates superior performance over conventional culture in identifying pathogens in pyogenic spinal infections. Moreover, combining mNGS with culture further improves diagnostic yield, supporting its integration into clinical practice.

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