1.Myocardial Metabolomics Reveals Mechanism of Shenfu Injection in Ameliorating Energy Metabolism Remodeling in Rat Model of Chronic Heart Failure
Xinyue NING ; Zhenyu ZHAO ; Mengna ZHANG ; Yang GUO ; Zhijia XIANG ; Kun LIAN ; Zhixi HU ; Lin LI
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2026;32(5):178-186
ObjectiveTo examine the influences of Shenfu injection on the endogenous metabolic byproducts in the myocardium of the rat model exhibiting chronic heart failure, thus deciphering the therapeutic mechanism of the Qi-reinforcing and Yang-warming method. MethodsSD rats were randomly allocated into a control group and a modeling group. Chronic heart failure with heart-Yang deficiency syndrome in rats was modeled by multi-point subcutaneous injection of isoproterenol, and the rats were fed for 14 days after modeling. The successfully modeled rats were randomized into model, Shenfu injection (6.0 mL·kg-1), and trimetazidine (10 mg·kg-1) groups and treated with corresponding agents for 15 days. The control group and the model group were injected with equal doses of normal saline, and the samples were collected after the intervention was completed. Cardiac color ultrasound was performed. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining was used to observe histopathological morphology, and the serum level of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) was assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The mitochondrial morphological and structural changes of cardiomyocytes were observed by transmission electron microscopy, and the metabolic profiling was carried out by ultra high performance liquid chromatography-quantitative exactive-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QE-MS). Differential metabolites were screened and identified by orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) and other methods, and then the MetaboAnalyst database was used for further screening. The relevant biological pathways were obtained through pathway enrichment analysis. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was established to evaluate the diagnostic value of each potential biomarker for myocardial injury and the evaluation value for drug efficacy. ResultsThe results of color ultrasound showed that Shenfu Injection improved the cardiac function indexes of model rats (P<0.05). The results of HE staining showed that Shenfu injection effectively alleviated the pathological phenomena such as myocardial tissue structure disorder and inflammatory cell infiltration in model rats. The results of ELISA showed that Shenfu injection effectively regulated the serum NT-proBNP level in the model rats. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that Shenfu injection effectively restored the mitochondrial morphological structure. The results of metabolomics showed that the metabolic phenotypes of myocardial samples presented markedly differences between groups. Nine differential metabolites could be significantly reversed in the Shenfu injection group, involving three metabolic pathways: pyruvate metabolism, histidine metabolism, and citric acid cycle (TCA cycle). The results of ROC analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) values of all metabolites were between 0.75 and 1.0, indicating that the differential metabolites had high diagnostic accuracy for myocardial injury, and the changes in their expression levels could be used as potential markers for efficacy evaluation. ConclusionShenfu injection significantly alleviated the damage of cardiac function, myocardium, and mitochondrial structure in the rat model of chronic heart failure with heart-Yang deficiency syndrome by ameliorating energy metabolism remodeling. Reinforcing Qi and warming Yang is a key method for treating chronic heart failure with heart-Yang deficiency syndrome.
2.Paclitaxel Oral Preparations: A Review
Jie GAO ; Shiyang LI ; Jing GUO ; Rongsheng LI ; Zhenyu XUAN
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(11):322-330
Paclitaxel, a highly effective natural antitumor drug, has been demonstrated to be efficacious in the treatment of a variety of cancers, including breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and lung cancer. The traditional paclitaxel injections have been observed to present certain issues, including overt adverse reactions and a decline in the quality of life of patients following treatment. This ultimately leads to an inability to meet the comprehensive needs of patients, thereby limiting the clinical applications of the drugs. Compared with injectable administration, the oral administration can avoid the risk of infection present in the invasive route, is conducive to improving patient compliance and quality of life, and reduces healthcare costs, and has a good application prospect. However, paclitaxel has low solubility, poor permeability, and is susceptible to the exocytosis of P-glycoprotein, which presents a significant challenge in the development of its oral preparations. Novel drug delivery technologies can enhance the solubility of paclitaxel and facilitate its controlled release, which is beneficial for the oral absorption and efficacy. The paper reviews the development history of oral preparations of paclitaxel, and summarizes the delivery technologies such as polymer micelles, nanoparticles, nanoemulsions and nanocrystals, and discusses the application mechanisms, advantages and limitations of these technologies and their adaptability in different cancer treatments. Finally, the challenges faced in the development of oral preparations of paclitaxel are summarized, and future research directions are proposed in order to provide new ideas for the development of oral delivery of paclitaxel.
3.Paclitaxel Oral Preparations: A Review
Jie GAO ; Shiyang LI ; Jing GUO ; Rongsheng LI ; Zhenyu XUAN
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(11):322-330
Paclitaxel, a highly effective natural antitumor drug, has been demonstrated to be efficacious in the treatment of a variety of cancers, including breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and lung cancer. The traditional paclitaxel injections have been observed to present certain issues, including overt adverse reactions and a decline in the quality of life of patients following treatment. This ultimately leads to an inability to meet the comprehensive needs of patients, thereby limiting the clinical applications of the drugs. Compared with injectable administration, the oral administration can avoid the risk of infection present in the invasive route, is conducive to improving patient compliance and quality of life, and reduces healthcare costs, and has a good application prospect. However, paclitaxel has low solubility, poor permeability, and is susceptible to the exocytosis of P-glycoprotein, which presents a significant challenge in the development of its oral preparations. Novel drug delivery technologies can enhance the solubility of paclitaxel and facilitate its controlled release, which is beneficial for the oral absorption and efficacy. The paper reviews the development history of oral preparations of paclitaxel, and summarizes the delivery technologies such as polymer micelles, nanoparticles, nanoemulsions and nanocrystals, and discusses the application mechanisms, advantages and limitations of these technologies and their adaptability in different cancer treatments. Finally, the challenges faced in the development of oral preparations of paclitaxel are summarized, and future research directions are proposed in order to provide new ideas for the development of oral delivery of paclitaxel.
4.Overview of Studies on the Intervention of Chinese Medicinals in Energy Metabolism Reconstruction in Heart Failure
Xinyue NING ; Wenxiao LI ; Zhenyu ZHAO ; Yang GUO ; Panpan ZHOU ; Ludan ZHAO ; Lin LI
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2025;66(10):1073-1077
Energy metabolism reconstruction is the new target of the treatment of heart failure. By combing the researches of Chinese medicinals for energy metabolism reconstruction of heart failure, it was found that Chinese medicinal compound formula and single Chinese medicinal have a certain role in regulating energy metabolism, mainly through three aspects, including the optimization of substrate utilization, improvement of mitochondrial structure, function, and homeostasis, and improvement of mitochondrial energy transport, so as to make the energy metabolism of the cardiomyocyte adjusted in the direction of beneficial to the organism, increasing the supply of energy, and improving the cardiac function.
5.Genomic characteristics of monkeypox virus from 8 cases in Changning District, Shanghai
Xiaoding HE ; Yang XU ; Ning YIN ; Zhenyu WANG ; Jiayin GUO
Shanghai Journal of Preventive Medicine 2025;37(4):332-335
ObjectiveTo investigate the epidemiological feature of Mpox infection and genetic characteristics of Mpox viruses (MPXVs), so as to understand the etiological evolution of the pathogen. MethodsThe cases infected with MPXVs were originated from Changning District, Shanghai from July 20 to August 24 in 2023. Epidemiological investigations were conducted, and throat swabs, anal swabs, or vesicle fluid were collected for MPXVs nucleic acid testing. High-throughput sequencing was performed using Miniseq of the Illumina sequencing platform, and thereafter the sequences were concatenated and analyzed using the online analysis tool Nextclade. An evolutionary tree was constructed using the MEGA 11 software. ResultsAll 8 cases were male, with an average age of (35.76±7.00) years. Among them, 6 cases were identified through active hospital visits, and 2 cases were discovered during contact tracing for Mpox cases. Within the 21 days preceding the disease onset, all cases had male-male sexual behaviors, and the incubation period ranged from 6 to 10 days. 3 cases had a history of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). MPXVs nucleic acid testing indicated that the detection rate of MPXVs was found to be 25.00% for throat swabs, 87.50% for anal swabs, and 100.00% for vesicle fluid, with statistically significant differences (χ2=11.052, P=0.004). Sequencing analyses using the online tool Nextclade indicated that all 8 MPXVs belonged to the West African clade Ⅱb, 4 MPXVs were classified as C.1 sub-lineages, and 4 MPXVs were identified as C.1.1 sub-lineages. Phylogenetic analysis using MEGA 11 indicated that 5 MPXVs were classified as Lineage C.1.1, closely related to the prevalent strains in Portugal and other European regions. ConclusionThe MPXVs sequences from Changning District are clssified into clade Ⅱb, lineage C.1.1. The detection rates of vesicle fluid and anal swabs for MPXVs are significantly higher than that of throat swabs.
6.Elevated blood pressure and its association with dietary patterns among Chinese children and adolescents aged 7-17 years
Chinese Journal of School Health 2025;46(6):863-867
Objective:
To understand the prevalence of elevated blood pressure and its association with dietary patterns in children and adolescents in China, providing evidence for developing dietary intervention of hypertension in children and adolescents.
Methods:
Data were derived from the China Children s Nutrition and Health System Survey and Application Project(2019-2021). A stratified cluster random sampling method was used to include 7 933 participants from 28 survey sites in seven major regions of Northeast, North, Northwest, East, Central, South and Southwest China. Multivariate Logistic regression models were used to analyze associations between demographic characteristics, nutritional status and elevated blood pressure. Exploratory factor analysis identified dietary patterns, which were divided into three quartile groups (T3, T2, T1) based on factor scores (compliance for dietary pattern) from high to low, and multivariate Logistic regression model assessed the correlation between elevated blood pressure and dietary patterns.
Results:
The prevalence of elevated blood pressure was 15.4% among Chinese children aged 7-17 years. Significant differences were observed across nutritional status (reference: underweight; normal weight: OR =1.57; overweight: OR = 2.61 ; obesity: OR =3.85), urban/rural residence (reference: rural; urban: OR =0.86), and paternal education (reference: junior high school and below; bachelor degree or above: OR =0.68) ( P <0.05). The detection rates of high blood pressure in T3 group children and adolescents with four dietary patterns (staple food, animal based food, snacks, vegetables and fruits) were 15.7%, 14.6%, 16.8%, and 15.8%, respectively. After adjusting for residence, paternal education, and nutritional status, the "snack dietary pattern" (mainly candy, sugar sweetened beverages, and processed snacks) showed positive associations with elevated blood pressure in T2 ( OR =1.21) and T3 ( OR =1.19) tertiles ( P <0.05).
Conclusions
The snack dietary pattern is a related factor for elevated blood pressure in children and adolescents. Restricting unhealthy snack intake may promote cardiovascular health.
7.The role of polyunsaturated fatty acid lipid peroxidation in ferroptosis after intracerebral hemorrhage: a review of mecha-nisms and therapeutic implications.
Man GUO ; Guohui ZHAO ; Zhibiao CAI ; Zhenyu ZHANG ; Jie ZHOU
Journal of Zhejiang University. Medical sciences 2025;54(5):694-704
Ferroptosis, a regulated cell death process distinct from apoptosis, is characterized by iron dysregulation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. After intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), decreased cerebral blood flow and iron released from erythrocytes trigger lipid peroxidation-particularly of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs)-through a cascade of reactions in local brain tissues, promoting ferroptosis. Mitochondrial dysfunction and neuroinflammation further elevate ROS, exacerbating lipid peroxidation and accelerating neuronal ferroptosis. Thus, PUFA peroxidation and associated metabolic pathways play a critical role in ICH-related neuronal damage. This review summarizes current understanding of how PUFA peroxidation contributes to ferro-ptosis after ICH, discusses key regulatory mechanisms involving lipid and iron metabolism, and highlights potential therapeutic strategies targeting ferroptosis to improve neurological outcomes.
Ferroptosis/physiology*
;
Humans
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Cerebral Hemorrhage/pathology*
;
Lipid Peroxidation
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Fatty Acids, Unsaturated/metabolism*
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Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism*
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Iron/metabolism*
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Animals
;
Mitochondria/metabolism*
8.Erratum: Author correction to "Sphingosine-1-phosphate, a novel TREM2 ligand, promotes microglial phagocytosis to protect against ischemic brain injury" Acta Pharm Sin B 12 (2022) 1885-1898.
Tengfei XUE ; Juan JI ; Yuqin SUN ; Xinxin HUANG ; Zhenyu CAI ; Jin YANG ; Wei GUO ; Ruobing GUO ; Hong CHENG ; Xiulan SUN
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2025;15(5):2813-2814
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.apsb.2021.10.012.].
9.N-terminal domain of Rep encoded by beet severe curly top virus mediates suppression of RNA silencing and induces VIM5 expression.
Jingyu XU ; Jianxin LU ; Zhenyu YU ; Meijie HU ; Chengkai GUO ; Zhongqi QIU ; Zhongqi CHEN
Chinese Journal of Biotechnology 2025;41(10):3956-3968
Geminiviruses cause substantial crop yield losses worldwide. The replication initiator protein (Rep) encoded by geminiviruses is indispensable for geminiviral replication. The Rep protein encoded by beet severe curly top virus (BSCTV, genus Curtovirus, family Geminiviridae) induces VARIANT IN METHYLATION 5 (VIM5) expression in Arabidopsis leaves upon BSCTV infection. VIM5 functions as a ubiquitination-related E3 ligase to promote the proteasomal degradation of methyltransferases, resulting in reduction of methylation levels in the BSCTV C2-3 promoter. However, the specific domains of Rep responsible for VIM5 induction remain poorly characterized. Although Rep proteins from several geminiviruses act as viral suppressors of RNA silencing (VSRs), whether BSCTV Rep also possesses VSR activity remains to be illustrated. In this study, we employed a transient expression system in the 16c-GFP transgenic and the wild-type Nicotiana benthamiana plants to analyze the VSR and the VIM5-inducing activities of different truncated Rep proteins haboring distinct domains. We found that the N-terminal domain (amino acids 1-180) of Rep suppressed GFP silencing in 16c-GFP transgenic N. benthamiana leaves. The minimal N-terminal fragment (amino acids 1-104) induced VIM5 expression upon co-infiltration, while C-terminal truncations lacked VIM5-inducing activity. Our results indicate that the N-terminal domain of Rep encoded by BSCTV mediates the suppression of RNA silencing and induces VIM5 expression. Thus, our findings contribute to a better understanding of interactions between geminiviral Rep and plant hosts.
Geminiviridae/genetics*
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Nicotiana/metabolism*
;
Arabidopsis/metabolism*
;
RNA Interference
;
Viral Proteins/metabolism*
;
Arabidopsis Proteins/metabolism*
;
Plants, Genetically Modified/metabolism*
;
Protein Domains
;
Plant Diseases/virology*
;
Methyltransferases/metabolism*
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Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases/metabolism*
;
DNA Helicases/genetics*
10.The role of brevican regulation in the antidepressant effects of electroacupuncture in a chronic stress rat model
Cong Gai ; Zhenyu Guo ; Kai Guo ; Shixin Yang ; Yi Zhang ; Huimin Zhu ; Feifei Kan ; Hongmei Sun ; Die Hu
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medical Sciences 2024;11(4):513-521
Objective:
To investigate the mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) for treating depression and to explore the role of brevican in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in modulating stress susceptibility and the antidepressant effects of EA in rats.
Methods:
Twenty-four Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats were equally divided into three groups: green fluorescent protein (GFP) + control, GFP + chronic unpredicted mild stress (CUMS), and short-hairpin RNA targeting on brevican (shBcan) + CUMS. Another 24 SD rats were equally divided into CUMS + GFP, CUMS + GFP + EA, and CUMS + shBcan + EA groups. Behavioral tests were conducted to assess depression-like behavior. Western blot analysis was used to evaluate the expression of brevican, aggrecan, GLuA1, and PSD95 in mPFC subregions.
Results:
Behavioral parameter evaluation show that rats in the shBcan + CUMS group exhibited a significantly reduced sucrose preference (P = .0002) and increased immobility time (P = .0011) compared to those in rats in the GFP + CUMS group. Western blotting showed that brevican expression was significantly downregulated in the PrL of the shBcan + CUMS group compared with that in the GFP + CUMS group (P = .0192). Furthermore, compared to the CUMS + GFP + EA group, the CUMS + shBcan + EA group exhibited a significantly decreased sucrose preference (P = .0334), increased immobility time (P = .0465), and increased latency to food (P = .0261). In the CUMS + shBcan + EA group, the EA-induced brevican and PSD95 overexpression was reversed, compared with that in the CUMS + GFP + EA group (P = .0454 and P = .0198, respectively).
Conclusion
EA exerts its antidepressant effects through the modulation of brevican expression in rats. Our findings highlight the important role for brevican in stress susceptibility, which could be a potential target for treating depression.


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