ObjectiveTo evaluate the impact of yang-reinforcing and blood-activating therapy on the long-term prognosis for patients with dilated cardiomyopathy （DCM） of yang deficiency and blood stasis syndrome. MethodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted involving 371 DCM patients with yang deficiency and blood stasis syndrome. The yang-reinforcing and blood-activating therapy was defined as the exposure factor. Patients were categorized into exposure group （186 cases） and non-exposure group （185 cases） according to whether they received yang-reinforcing and blood-activating therapy combined with conventional western medicine for 6 months or longer. The follow-up period was set at 48 months， and the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to assess the cumulative incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events （MACE） in both groups. Cox regression analysis was used to explore the impact of yang-reinforcing and blood-activating therapy on the risk of MACE， and subgroup analysis was performed. Changes in traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndrome score， left ventricular ejection fraction （LVEF）， left ventricular fractional shortening （LVFS）， left ventricular end-diastolic diameter （LVEDD）， and Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire （MLHFQ） score were compared between groups at the time of first combined use of yang-reinforcing and blood-activating therapy （before treatment） and 1 year after receiving the therapy （after treatment）. ResultsMACE occurred in 31 cases （16.67%） in the exposure group and 47 cases （25.41%） in the non-exposure group. The cumulative incidence of MACE in the exposure group was significantly lower than that in the non-exposure group ［HR=0.559， 95%CI（0.361，0.895）， P=0.014］. Cox regression analysis showed that yang-reinforcing and blood-activating therapy was an independent factor for reducing the risk of MACE in DCM patients ［HR=0.623， 95%CI（0.396，0.980）， P=0.041］， and consistent results were observed in different subgroups. Compared with pre-treatment， the exposure group showed decreased TCM syndrome score and MLHFQ score， reduced LVEDD， and increased LVEF and LVFS after treatment （P＜0.05）； in the non-exposure group， TCM syndrome score decreased， LVEF and LVFS increased， and LVEDD reduced after treatment （P＜0.05）. After treatment， the exposure group had higher LVEF and LVFS， smaller LVEDD， and lower TCM syndrome score and MLHFQ score compared with the non-exposure group （P＜0.05）. ConclusionCombining yang-reinforcing and blood-activating therapy with conventional western medicine can reduce the risk of MACE in DCM patients with yang deficiency and blood stasis syndrome， meanwhile improving their clinical symptoms， cardiac function， and quality of life.

OBJECTIVE To study the ameliorative effect and mechanism of Forsythia suspensa-Lonicera japonica herb pair on acute lung injury （ALI） based on serum exosomal microRNA （miRNA）. METHODS The rats were randomly divided into a blank group （normal saline）， model group （nomal saline）， and F. suspensa-L. japonica herb pair group （2.55 g/kg）， with 10 rats in each group. Except for the blank group， the other groups were used to establish an ALI model by intratracheal dripping of 5 mg/ mL lipopolysaccharides. After modeling， each group was given relevant medicine/normal saline intragastrically， once a day， for 3 consecutive days. After the last medication， the pathological status of lung tissue was observed； lung wet-to-dry weight ratio and leukocyte counts in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid （BALF） were determined. The levels of inflammatory factors [tumor necrosis factor-α（TNF-α）， interleukin-1β （IL-1β）， IL-10] in BALF were determined. Exosomes were isolated from rat serum， and high- throughput sequencing technology was employed to screen differentially expressed miRNA within the exosomes， followed by Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes （KEGG） enrichment analysis. Based on the screened differentially expressed miRNA and the enriched KEGG pathways， in vitro cellular experiments were conducted for validation. RESULTS The animal experimental results demonstrated that after intervention with the F. suspensa-L. japonica herb pair， the wet-to-dry weight ratio， the number of leukocytes in BALF， as well as the levels of TNF-α and IL-1β in BALF of ALI rats were all significantly reduced （P＜0.01）， while the level of IL-10 was significantly increased （P＜0.01）. The results of high-throughput sequencing experiments revealed that the F. suspensa-L. japonica herb pair could significantly up-regulate the expressions of miR-345-3p， miR-194-5p， miR-653-5p， and others in exosomes. Among them， the KEGG pathways involved in the target genes of differentially expressed miRNA included the hypoxia-inducible factor-1（HIF-1） signaling pathway， among others. The results of cellular E-mail：huang.haiying@126.com validation experiments showed that overexpressed miR-345-3p could significantly elevate the level of IL-10 in the cell supernatant （P＜0.01）， while significantly reducing the levels of TNF-α and IL-1β in the cell supernatant， as well as the mRNA and protein expression levels of protein kinase B1， phosphatidylinositol 3- kinase， and HIF-1α （P＜0.01）. CONCLUSIONS F. suspensa-L. japonica herb pair can alleviate inflammatory responses and thereby exert a therapeutic effect in improving ALI by up-regulating the expression of miR-345-3p in serum exosomes and inhibiting the activity of the HIF-1 signaling pathway.

BACKGROUND:Hydroxy safflower yellow A has anti-ischemia,anti-oxidation,anti-thrombotic and anti-inflammatory effects.Whether it affects neuronal pyroptosis after glucose-oxygen deprivation/reglucose-reoxygenation is still unclear. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the protective effect of hydroxy safflower yellow A on neuronal pyroptosis and its mechanism. METHODS:HT22 cells in logarithmic growth phase were randomly divided into five groups:normal group,model group,hydroxy safflower yellow A group,colivelin group,and colivelin+hydroxy safflower yellow A group.HT22 cells were treated with glucose-oxygen deprivation/reglucose-reoxygenation to establish neuronal pyroptosis model,and then treated with STAT3 agonist Colivelin and hydroxy safflower yellow A.JC-1 probe was employed to assess changes in mitochondrial membrane potential.Reactive oxygen species kit was used to determine the content of reactive oxygen species in cells.GSDMD/TUNEL staining was conducted to observe cell pyroptosis.Immunofluorescence analysis was performed to detect STAT3 and GSDMD protein expression.RT-PCR was utilized for assessing mRNA expression levels of STAT3,NLRP3,and Caspase-1.Western blot assay was utilized to measure the protein expression levels of p-STAT3,NLRP3,GSDMD,Cleaved-caspase-1,and interleukin-1β. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Compared with the normal group,the number of pyroptotic cells increased in HT22 cells in the model group along with a significant increase in protein expression levels of p-STAT3,NLRP3,Cleaved-caspase-1,GSDMD,and interleukin-1β.Compared with the model group,the number of pyroptotic cells reduced,and the expression of pyroptosis-related proteins significantly decreased in the hydroxy safflower yellow A group.(2)In comparison with the model group,pyroptosis worsened in the colivelin group where mitochondrial membrane potential decreased along with elevated reactive oxygen species content and increased mRNA expression levels of STAT3,NLRP3,and Caspase-1,as well as increased protein expression levels of p-STAT3,NLRP3,GSDMD,Cleaved-caspase-1,and interleukin-1β.Compared with the Colivelin group,above indexes were improved in the colivelin+hydroxy safflower yellow A group.These results suggest that hydroxy safflower yellow A plays a neuroprotective role through STAT3 signaling pathway to inhibit HT22 pyroptosis after glucose-oxygen deprivation/reglucose-reoxygenation treatment.

Objective:To explore the genetic and clinical characteristics of Guizhou patients with enlarged vestibular aqueduct（EVA） syndrome through combined SLC26A4 variant analysis and clinical phenotype analysis. Methods:Seventy-two EVA patients underwent comprehensive genetic testing using a multiplex PCR-based deafness gene panel and next-generation sequencing（NGS）. The audiological and temporal bone imaging characteristics were compared across mutation subtypes. Results:A total of 27 pathogenic loci of SLC26A4 were detected in 72 patients, including c.919-2A>G in 79.2%（57/72）. A novel deletion（c.1703_1707+6del） was discovered. Among 65 cases, truncated mutations were 89.2%（58/65）, 52.3%（34/65）, 28（43.1%） and 7（10.8%）. No significant differences were observed in the midpoint diameter of the vestibular aqueduct and the incidence of incomplete partitioning typeⅡ（IP-Ⅱ） of the cochlea among the three groups of patients. Moreover, there was no difference in the midpoint diameter of different vestibular pipes or the combination with IP-Ⅱ. Conclusion:The most common mutation site of SLC26A4 in EVA patients in Guizhou is c.919-2A>G, though genotype-phenotype correlations remain elusive. The detection of 27 mutation sites and the discovery of new mutation sites suggested the precise diagnostic significance of NGS technology in EVA patients in Guizhou.
Humans ; Sulfate Transporters ; Vestibular Aqueduct/abnormalities* ; Mutation ; Membrane Transport Proteins/genetics* ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural/genetics* ; Male ; Female ; Child ; Adolescent ; Child, Preschool ; Adult ; Young Adult ; Phenotype ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing

Dry eye disease (DED) is a prevalent and intractable ocular disease induced by a variety of causes. Elevated sphingomyelin (SM) levels and pro-inflammatory cytokines were detected on the ocular surface of DED patients, particularly in the meibomian glands. Sphingomyelin synthase 2 (SMS2), one of the proteins involved in SM synthesis, would light a novel way of developing a DED therapy strategy. Herein, we report the design and optimization of a series of novel thiophene carboxamide derivatives to afford 14l with an improved highly potent inhibitory activity on SM synthesis (IC_{50, SMS2} = 28 nmol/L). Moreover, 14l exhibited a notable protective effect of anti-inflammation and anti-apoptosis on human corneal epithelial cells (HCEC) under TNF-α-hyperosmotic stress conditions in vitro, with an acceptable ocular specific distribution (corneas and meibomian glands) and pharmacokinetics (PK) profiles (t _{1/2, cornea} = 1.11 h; t _{1/2, meibomian glands} = 4.32 h) in rats. Furthermore, 14l alleviated the dry eye symptoms including corneal fluorescein staining scores and tear secretion in a dose-dependent manner in mice. Mechanically, 14l reduced the mRNA expression of Tnf-α, Il-1β and Mmp-9 in corneas, as well as the proportion of very long chain SM in meibomian glands. Our findings provide a new strategy for DED therapy based on selective SMS2 inhibitors.

ObjectiveTo investigate the mechanism of Forsythiae Fructus-Lonicerae Japonicae Flos（FF） in the treatment of acute lung injury（ALI） by investigating the effects of FF on serum metabolomics of rats with ALI. MethodsThirty male SD rats were acclimated for 1 week， and 6 rats were randomly selected as the blank group. The other 24 rats were injected with lipopolysaccharide（LPS） solution by tracheal drip to establish an ALI model. After successful model establishment， the rats were randomly divided into the model group， the FF low-dose group（3.0 g·kg^-1）， the FF high-dose group（6.0 g·kg^-1）， and the dexamethasone group（5 mg·kg^-1）， with six rats in each group. The FF low- and high-dose groups and the dexamethasone group were received daily oral administration of the corresponding drug solution， and the blank group and the model group were gavaged with an equal amount of saline， treatment was administered continuously for 3 d. The pathological conditions of rat lung tissues were evaluated by hematoxylin-eosin（HE） staining， wet/dry mass ratio（W/D） of the lung tissues， and protein concentration in rat bronchoalveolar lavage fluid（BALF）. Metabolomic analysis of rat serum was performed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry（UPLC-Q-TOF-MS）， combined with multivariate statistical analysis， the potential biomarkers of FF in treating ALI were screened by variable importance in the projection（VIP） value>1， P<0.05 from t-test， and log₂fold change（FC）>1 or log₂FC<-1. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes（KEGG） database combined with MetaboAnalyst were used for pathway analysis of the screened differential metabolites. The protein expression levels of sphingosine-1-phosphate（S1P）， phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase（PI3K）， protein kinase B1（Akt1）， and phosphorylated Akt1（p-Akt1） were examined by Western bolt. The expression levels of interleukin（IL）-6， IL-1β， and tumor necrosis factor（TNF）-α in BALF were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA）. ResultsCompared with the blank group， rats in the model group showed ALI pathological features such as alveolar lumen dilatation， interstitial hemorrhage and massive inflammatory cell infiltration， and the protein concentration in BALF and W/D of the lung tissues were significantly elevated（P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the low- and high-dose groups of FF as well as the dexamethasone group exhibited reduced pulmonary bronchial hemorrhage in rats， and the protein concentration in BALF and W/D were significantly decreased（P<0.05）， and the lung injury was significantly alleviated. Analysis of rat serum metabolomics revealed that FF downregulated 38 biomarkers. Pathway enrichment analysis showed that FF primarily exerted therapeutic effects through 7 key metabolic pathways， including arginine biosynthesis， sphingomyelin metabolism， alanine， aspartate and glutamate metabolism， taurine and hypotaurine metabolism， α-linolenic acid metabolism， niacin and nicotinamide metabolism， and retinol metabolism. The results of Western bolt and ELISA showed that， compared with the blank group， the model group exhibited significantly elevated expression levels of S1P， PI3K， Akt1 and p-Akt1 proteins in the lung tissues， as well as increased expression levels of IL-6， IL-1β and TNF-α in BALF（P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the expression levels of the aforementioned indicators were significantly downregulated in the low- and high-dose FF groups as well as the dexamethasone group（P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionFF may play a role in ALI by regulating amino acid metabolism and lipid metabolism， and its mechanism may be related to the inhibition of S1P/PI3K/Akt1 signaling pathway to attenuate the inflammatory response caused by ALI.

Objective To observe changes of dynamic functional connectivity(dFC)of brain networks in different stages of Parkinson disease(PD).Methods Totally 52 early-stage PD patients(early PD group),36 late-stage PD patients(late PD group)and 38 healthy controls(HC group)were prospectively enrolled,and resting-state functional MRI were performed.The sliding window,independent component analysis and k-means clustering were used to extract dFC intensity and temporal properties,including fractional windows,dwell time and transition frequency.Results Network connectivity patterns within and between visual network(VIS),sensorimotor network(SMN),default mode network(DMN),cerebellar network(CB)and cognitive executive network(CEN)were altered in PD patients.Four dFC states were identified,in which connections between components in states Ⅰ and Ⅱ were compact,while in states Ⅲ and Ⅳ were sparse.The fractional window and dwell time of late PD group,early PD group and HC group successively increased under state Ⅱ,but successively decreased under state Ⅲ(all P＜0.05).Under state Ⅰ and Ⅳ,no significant difference of fractional window nor dwell time was found between early PD group and late PD group(both P＞0.05),and the above indexes under state Ⅰ were both lower than those in HC group(all P＜0.05),the fraction window under state Ⅳ was higher than that in HC group(both P＜0.05).Conclusion The temporal properties of dFC in PD patients were altered,characterized by increased tendency toward segregated states.Furthermore,fractional windows and dwell time were associated with PD disease stages,suggesting that dFC parameters might serve as novel biomarkers for assessing clinical progression of PD.

Objective:Bidirectional causal associations of 41 cytokines with atopic dermatitis(AD)were explored based on a Mendelian randomization(MR)approach.Methods:Pooled data from genome wide association study(GWAS)of 41 cytokines and AD were utilized for instrumental variable(IV)screening,and single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP)affecting the results of MR analyses was excluded by the MR-PRESSO outlier test as well as by the MR Steiger filtering method.Two-sample bidirectional MR analyses were performed using inverse variance weighting(IVW),MR-Egger regression,and weighted median methods(WM).MR-Egger intercept term test and Cochran's Q test were performed to test the pleiotropy and heterogeneity of IV,and MR results were visu-alized by scatterplots,funnel plots,and leave-one-out plots.Results:Forward MR analysis showed that MIG(IVW:OR=0.89;95%CI:0.81～0.97;P=0.006)reduced the risk of AD development.In contrast,IL-5(IVW:OR=1.17;95%CI:1.01～1.36;P=0.042)and IL-18(MR Egger:OR=1.17;95%CI:1.03～1.33;P=0.030)increased the risk of AD development.Inverse MR analysis showed a potential causal association between AD and increased MIG(IVW:Beta=0.10;95%CI:0.02～0.17;P=0.014).None of the sensitivity analyses indicated pleiotropy and heterogeneity of the included IV.Conclusion:MIG may be an important marker in the progression of AD with a potential bidirectional causal association with risk of morbidity.IL-5 and IL-18 have a potential positive causal association for AD.

With the continuous deepening of medical insurance payment reform, the implementation of the ambulatory patient groups(APG) based point system for payment has posed new challenges to the quality management of outpatient electronic medical record writing, as well as the supervision and operation management of outpatient costs in hospitals. A certain hospital began information technology construction in July 2021. By introducing diagnostic grouping functions into the outpatient electronic medical record system, the hospital strengthened the standardization of medical record writing. It also established an intelligent audit system for medical insurance costs to conduct full-process supervision of outpatient medical expenses and developed an intelligent operation analysis system for outpatient APG to provide a basis for hospital operation management decisions and performance distribution. These measures effectively improved the quality of outpatient medical record, reduced outpatient medical costs, and optimized their structure. The application of the intelligent medical insurance audit system also effectively prevented certain non-compliant issues in medical insurance payments, which can provide a reference for other medical institutions.

Objective:To investigate the effects of 10° head up tilt bed rest (HUT) on human cardiac function via 3D speckle tracking echocardiography (3D-STE), and to study the difference in cardiac function under the submaximal exercise load between the horizontal position and 10° HUBR.Methods:Thirty young healthy volunteers were recruited as the subjects, who were randomly divided into an 10° HUT exercise group and horizontal exercise group with 15 subjects in each. Subjects in both groups were asked to ride the bicycle ergometer in the 10° HUBR position and supine position respectively. The load started with 50 W and was increased by 25 W every 3 min until it reached the maximum of 125 W. Before the exercise (resting state), 1 min after the load was increased each time, and 3 min after exercise (recovery period), the following indices were collected: ①basic cardiac function indices: heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), ②conventional cardiac ultrasound indices: left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), stroke volume (SV) and cardiac output (CO), ③left ventricular strain indices: global longitudinal strain (GLS), global circumferential strain (GCS), and global area strain (GAS) measured by 3D-SET. The changes of these indices in the 2 groups of subjects under different exercise loads were observed.Results:The differences in the major effect of the basic heart indices (HR, SBP and DBP), conventional cardiac ultrasound indices (LVEF, SV and CO) and left ventricular strain indices (GLS, GCS and GAS) in response to the exercise load were statistically significant ( F=194.90, 113.66, 17.19, P=0.017, 0.018, 0.001). With the increase of the exercise load, the basic heart indices and conventional cardiac ultrasound indices kept rising, the left ventricular strain indices reached the minimum under a moderate exercise load (75 W), HR, SBP and CO were higher than those of the resting state ( P<0.05 or 0.01). Both LVEF under exercise loads of 75, 100, 125 W and during recovery, and SV under exercise loads of 100, 125 W and during recovery were significantly higher than those of the resting state ( P<0.05 or 0.01), while GLS and GCS under exercise loads of 50, 75, 125 W ( P<0.05 or 0.01), and GAS under exercise loads of 50, 75 W ( P<0.01) were significantly lower. There were statistically significant differences not only in GCS across the groups ( F=4.60, P=0.026) but also in DBP due to the interactions between the grouping and exercise loads ( F=3.13, P=0.031). DBP was higher than that of the resting state when the exercise load was 125 W in both groups. Conclusions:During submaximal exercise, myocardial contractility shows sustained enhancement with the increase of the exercise load. The results of GLS, GCS and GAS indicate that myocardial strain reaches its lowest value under a moderate exercise load, suggesting that moderate exercise can be used to evaluate cardiac function via 3D-SET. Under a simulated lunar gravity of 10° HUT, there is less deformation in the short axis direction of the myocardium, indicating that GCS can be used as a sensitive indicator to detect changes in cardiac function under different gravities.