Background: Epimedii Folium is well known for its medicinal value. Four Epimedium species—Euphorbia brevicornu, E. sagittatum, E. pubescens, and E. koreanum—are the designated original plants of Epimedii Folium. Objective: The objective of this study is to facilitate the identification of the four Epimedium species and clarify their distributional responses to climate change. Methods: In this study, we assessed the genetic divergence of the four species and identified the molecular markers for species identification by using chloroplast genome sequences. Furthermore, we forecasted the distribution of potentially suitable regions of the four species Folium under climate change. Results: The authors obtained 26 chloroplast genome sequences of the four species and identified 1393 variable sites and 273 indel events. Genetic divergence analyses revealed that E. koreanum had long genetic distance from the other three species. Compared with the complete chloroplast genome, six hypervariable markers were discovered, and both rps4-trnL and ndhF were chosen as Epimedii Folium-specific DNA barcodes. Climate change is expected to influence the geographical distribution of the four Epimedium species, which were primarily found in China, South Korea, and Japan, leading to both expansion and contraction of their distribution ranges. Conclusion: Two identification markers were selected as the specific DNA barcodes for all four original plant species of Epimedii Folium. In addition, the shift of potential suitable area in various climate scenarios has been predicted. With the support of identification markers and the dynamics of suitable distribution areas, we are able to establish a foundation for the sustainable utilization of medicinal Epimedium resources in the future.

Objective To explore the causal relationship between social stress and tinnitus onset using a two-sample Mendelian randomization approach. Methods Genetic data pertaining to social stress and tinnitus were extracted from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) databases. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) that were independent and strongly correlated with social stress were selected as instrumental variables, with tinnitus serving as the outcome variable. Mendelian randomization analyses were performed using inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method, weighted median method, and Mendelian randomization-Egger regression. The intercept term from Mendelian randomization-Egger regression was utilized to assess horizontal pleiotropy, Cochran's Q statistic was employed to evaluate heterogeneity, and leave-one-out analysis was conducted for sensitivity assessment. Results The social stress dataset encompassed 459, 742 samples, while the tinnitus dataset comprised 117, 882 samples. A total of 10 SNPs tightly associated with social stress were identified as instrumental variables. The analysis results of random-effects inverse variance weighting (IVW), weighted median method, and Mendelian randomization-Egger regression were similar (OR=1.251, 1.274, 1.438), indicating that social stress was a risk factor for tinnitus, and there was a positive causal effect between them, with no heterogeneity or pleiotropy in the results. Conclusion There is a causal relationship between social stress and tinnitus onset, which may offer novel perspectives for the clinical prevention and treatment of tinnitus in the future.