Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are the primary fibrogenic cells in the liver, and their activation plays a crucial role in the development and progression of hepatic fibrosis. Here, we report that retinoid X receptor-alpha (RXRα), a unique member of the nuclear receptor superfamily, is a key modulator of HSC activation and liver fibrosis. RXRα exerts its effects by modulating calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase β (CaMKKβ)-mediated activation of AMP-activated protein kinase-alpha (AMPKα). In addition, we demonstrate that K-80003, which binds RXRα by a unique mechanism, effectively suppresses HSC activation, proliferation, and migration, thereby inhibiting liver fibrosis in the CCl₄ and amylin liver NASH (AMLN) diet animal models. The effect is mediated by AMPKα activation, promoting mitophagy in HSCs. Mechanistically, K-80003 activates AMPKα by inducing RXRα to form condensates with CaMKKβ and AMPKα via a two-phase process. The formation of RXRα condensates is driven by its N-terminal intrinsic disorder region and requires phosphorylation by CaMKKβ. Our results reveal a crucial role of RXRα in liver fibrosis regulation through modulating mitochondrial activities in HSCs. Furthermore, they suggest that K-80003 and related RXRα modulators hold promise as therapeutic agents for fibrosis-related diseases.

Objective To investigate the risk factors for pneumonia complicating infectious mononucleosis(IM)in adults and construct a nomogram prediction model.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 198 IM patients admitted to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Medical University from January 2015 to December 2021.Patients were divided into pneumonia group(n=52)and non-pneumonia group(n=146)based on whether pulmonary infection occurred during hospitalization.The baseline data(age,gender,place of onset,etc.),clinical manifestations(maximum body temperature,lymph node enlargement,splenomegaly,etc.),and inflammatory indicators[white blood cell count(WBC),C-reactive protein(CRP),etc.]were compared between the two groups.Kaplan-Meier curves were plotted to analyze the key indicators affecting the hospital stay of IM patients.Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the independent risk factors for pneumonia complicating IM in adults and construct a nomogram prediction model based on the identified risk factors.The predictive efficacy of the model was evaluated using the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve and the consistency of the model was assessed using the calibration curve.The fit of the model was evaluated using the Hosmer-Lemeshow test.Additionally,the sensitivity,specificity,and accuracy of the model were assessed using confusion matrix.Results Compared with non-pneumonia group,the pneumonia group had a significantly higher proportion of patients from rural areas,with body mass index(BMI)≥24 kg/m2,smoking history,hepatomegaly,fever duration of≥7 d,as well as increased total hospitalization costs and average daily hospitalization costs,and prolonged hospital stay(P<0.05).The proportion of patients with a history of antibiotic use was lower in the pneumonia group(P<0.05).Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients from rural areas,with BMI≥24 kg/m2,smoking history,no prophylactic use of antibiotics,fever duration≥7 d,and hepatomegaly had significantly prolonged hospital stays(P<0.05).Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that living in a rural area(OR=4.089,P<0.05),hepatomegaly(OR=4.082,P<0.05),and elevated WBC(OR=1.205,P<0.05)were independent risk factors for pneumonia complicating IM in adults,while the prophylactic use of antibiotics(OR=0.142,P<0.05)was an independent protective factor.The area under the ROC curve of the constructed nomogram prediction model was 0.827(95%CI 0.762-0.892),and the slope of the calibration curve was close to 1,and the Hosmer-Lemeshow test showed χ2=5.299,P=0.725,indicating good consistency and fit of the prediction model.The results of the confusion matrix assessment showed that the sensitivity of the model was 0.669(0.624-0.773),the specificity was 0.827(0.724-0.930),and the accuracy was 0.732(0.665-0.793).Conclusion The nomogram prediction model based on place of onset,hepatomegaly,the prophylactic use of antibiotics and WBC has excellent fit and discrimination,providing an effective quantitative tool for prognosis assessment of IM.

Abstract: Hyperuricemia is a metabolic disease caused by elevated uric acid in the body, and is closely related to the increased risk of cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and renal complications. In the development process of uric acid-lowering drugs, activity evaluation is a crucial step. At present, the activity screening methods of uric acid-lowering drugs can be roughly divided into two categories: in vitro and in vivo. In vitro screening is mainly for such targets as xanthine oxidase, urate transporters, and purine nucleoside phosphorylase, etc.; while in vivo screening is achieved by rodent, poultry and organoid models. In this article, the activity evaluation methods for uric acid-lowering compounds are comprehensively summarized both in vitro and in vivo, aiming to provide some insight for the development of uric acid-lowering drugs.

BACKGROUND: Stress cardiomyopathy (SCM) currently has a high incidence in older adults, and the theories regarding its causes include "catecholamine myocardial toxicity" and "sympathetic hyperactivation". However, the role of the central nervous system in the pathogenesis of SCM remains unknown. We investigated the role of microglia activation in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVN) in the development of SCM. METHODS: An SCM model was created using male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, immobilized for 6 h every day for a week. Electrocardiogram, cardiac electrophysiology, and echocardiography examinations were performed to verify the changes in cardiac structure and function in rats with SCM. RNA sequencing was used to explore the changes in the hypothalamus during SCM. In addition, brain and heart tissues were collected to detect microglial activation and sympathetic activity. RESULTS: The main findings were as follows: (1) immobilization stress successfully induced SCM in SD rats; (2) microglia were significantly activated in the hypothalamus, as evidenced by cytosol thickening, increases in the number of microglial branches, and microglia enriched in the PVN; (3) in SCM, the microglia in the PVN exhibited increased central and peripheral cardiac sympathetic activity and increased the expression of neuroinflammatory factors; and (4) it is possible that inhibiting microglial activation could suppress the sympathetic activity of the central nervous system and heart and increase cardiac electrical stability in SCM rats. CONCLUSIONS SCM was induced in SD rats by immobilization stress, acting through the activation of the hypothalamic microglia. The activated microglia were specifically enriched in the PVN, increasing the activity of the central and peripheral sympathetic nervous systems by regulating the expression of neuro-inflammatory factors, mediating dysfunction of the left ventricle, and increasing the susceptibility to ventricular arrhythmias.

Imported medicinal materials are an important part of Chinese medicinal resources. To be specific, about 10% of the around 600 commonly used Chinese medicinal materials are from abroad, and the introduction of foreign medicinal materials has promoted the development of Chinese medicine. Amid the advancement of reform and opening up and the "Belt and Road" Initiative, major headway has been made in the cross-border trade in China, bringing opportunities for the import of medicinal materials from border ports. However, for a long time, there is a lack of systematic investigation on the types of exotic medicinal materials at border ports. In the fourth national census of traditional Chinese medicine resources, National Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, together with several organizations, investigated the nearly 40 border ports, Chinese medicinal material markets, and border trade markets in 6 provinces/autonomous regions in China for the first time and recorded the types, sources, circulation, and the transaction characteristics of imported medicinal materials. Moreover, they invited experts to identify the origins of the collected 237 medicinal materials. In addition, the status quo and the problems of the medicinal materials were summarized. This study is expected to lay a basis for clarifying the market and origins of imported medicinal materials as well as the scientific research on and supervision of them.
Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Materia Medica ; Records ; Censuses ; China ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal

Objective To investigate the predictive value of peripheral blood LMR and LMR/LDH on the prognosis of primary Waldeyer's Ring DLBCL patients. Methods We collected 71 patients with primary Waldeyer's Ring DLBCL. The ROC curve was used to determine the optimal critical values of LMR and LMR/LDH before treatment. The chi-square test was used to analyze the constituent ratio and rate of high and low LMR groups as well as high and low LMR/LDH groups. Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate survival rate. Log rank method and Cox risk regression model were used for univariate and multivariate analyses, respectively. Results The optimal critical values of LMR and LMR/LDH were 2.97 and 1.56, respectively. The prognosis of patients in the high LMR group was significantly better than that in the low LMR group (P < 0.001). The prognosis of patients in the high LMR/LDH group was significantly better than that in the low LMR/LDH group (P < 0.001). Univariate analysis showed that age, B symptoms, clinical stage, treatment efficacy, IPI score, LDH level, LMR and LMR/LDH were important factors that influenced the prognosis of early-stage Waldeyer's Ring DLBCL. Multivariate analysis showed that the age, clinical stage and LMR/LDH were independent prognostic factors. Conclusion LMR and LMR/LDH before treatment may have certain value in predicting the prognosis of Waldeyer's Ring DLBCL patients.

The quality marker(Q-marker) of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) is a new concept of TCM quality control proposed in recent years. It is a hot issue in the research of modern Chinese medicine. The TCM efficacy is a high-level summary of the TCM therapeutic effect under the guidance of TCM theory. On this basis, it is of considerable significance to explore the TCM efficacy marker for the TCM modernization. However, the traditional research strategy based on the single herb and decoction piece in macro TCM level, or the drug research strategy based on the biological effect of the targets, is quite different from the characteristics of multiple components of TCM, as well as the weak and low-selective effect of Chinese medicine ingredients on targets. Therefore, how to select representative ingredients to characterize the TCM overall efficacy is a problematic point in establishing TCM efficacy markers. In this paper, the concept and method of Q-marker were introduced into the study of Chinese medicine efficacy. The research method for systematic TCM was used to systematically discuss the connotation of TCM efficacy markers, the principles of discovery and determination, common research ideas and techniques by taking the representative research results as an example. This study provides new ideas for the research and discovery of TCM efficacy markers.
Biomarkers ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Quality Control ; Research Design

Objective:To explore the value of 3.0 T high resolution MRI (HR-MRI) in the follow-up of drug treatment in acute and non-acute ischemic stroke caused by middle cerebral artery (MCA) plaque.Methods:The perspective study enrolled patients with ischemic stroke caused by MCA stenosis from October 2012 to October 2015 in the department of Neurology and Neurosurgery of Changhai Hospital Affiliated to Naval Medical University. All the patients underwent HR-MRI and then were divided into acute and non-acute stroke groups according to the intervels of the last symptom onset to the time of HR-MRI examination. All patients were informed consent to receive antiplatelet drug and intensive lipid therapy and followed up with HR-MRI. The HR-MRI sequence including T 2WI, T 1WI and contrast-enhanced T 1WI of vessel wall, and T 2WI and DWI of brain were routinely performed. T-test of paired samples was used to evaluate the changes of stenosis rate of vascular lumen, plaque enhancement degree, plaque volume and plaque burden on HR-MRI, and the NIHSS score of nervous system and blood biochemical indicators of the patients before and after treatment. Chi square test was used to compare the difference in ischemic event recurrcence between the acute and the non-acute stroke group. Results:A total of 31 acute stroke patients and 20 non-acute stroke patients were enrolled in the study. The mean follow-up time of acute stroke group was (671.71±522.86) days. Compare with the baseline, the stenosis rate of vascular lumen ( P=0.039), plaque enhancement degree ( P<0.001), plaque volume ( P=0.024) and plaque burden ( P=0.031) were all improved after the drug treatment, the NIHSS score of nervous system was also significantly improved, and the levels of total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in 12 patients were significantly decreased. The mean follow-up time of patients with non-acute stroke was (695.35±555.90) days. The stenosis rate of vascular lumen, plaque enhancement degree, plaque volume and plaque burden were slightly improved, but without statistical significance ( P>0.05). There were no significant changes in NIHSS score of nervous system, TC, triglyceride (TG) and LDL-C ( P>0.05), however the high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was significantly increased than that in the baseline ( P=0.02). During the follow-up period, no new cerebral infarction was found in the DWI images of the two groups. Six patients had transient ischemic attack (TIA) recurrence in the acute stroke group and 5 patients in the non-acute stroke group, there was no significant difference between both groups(χ 2=0.229, P= 0.632). Conclusion:HR-MRI can be used as an important evaluation method for the follow-up of MCA atherosclerotic plaque therapy. After antiplatelet therapy and intensive lipid-lowering therapy, the plaque volume and burden of MCA offending plaque, and plaque enhancement decreased in acute stroke patients but there was no significant change in non-acute patients.

Vacuum sealing drainage (VSD) is frequently used in abdominal surgeries. However, relevant guidelines are rare. Chinese Trauma Surgeon Association organized a committee composed of 28 experts across China in July 2017, aiming to provide an evidence-based recommendation for the application of VSD in abdominal surgeries. Eleven questions regarding the use of VSD in abdominal surgeries were addressed: (1) which type of materials should be respectively chosen for the intraperitoneal cavity, retroperitoneal cavity and superficial incisions? (2) Can VSD be preventively used for a high-risk abdominal incision with primary suture? (3) Can VSD be used in severely contaminated/infected abdominal surgical sites? (4) Can VSD be used for temporary abdominal cavity closure under some special conditions such as severe abdominal trauma, infection, liver transplantation and intra-abdominal volume increment in abdominal compartment syndrome? (5) Can VSD be used in abdominal organ inflammation, injury, or postoperative drainage? (6) Can VSD be used in the treatment of intestinal fistula and pancreatic fistula? (7) Can VSD be used in the treatment of intra-abdominal and extra-peritoneal abscess? (8) Can VSD be used in the treatment of abdominal wall wounds, wound cavity, and defects? (9) Does VSD increase the risk of bleeding? (10) Does VSD increase the risk of intestinal wall injury? (11) Does VSD increase the risk of peritoneal adhesion? Focusing on these questions, evidence-based recommendations were given accordingly. VSD was strongly recommended regarding the questions 2-4. Weak recommendations were made regarding questions 1 and 5-11. Proper use of VSD in abdominal surgeries can lower the risk of infection in abdominal incisions with primary suture, treat severely contaminated/infected surgical sites and facilitate temporary abdominal cavity closure.
Abdomen ; surgery ; China ; Drainage ; methods ; Evidence-Based Medicine ; Humans ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; Societies, Medical ; organization & administration ; Surgical Wound Infection ; prevention & control ; Traumatology ; organization & administration ; Vacuum