Aim To investigate the therapeutic effects of cinnamaldehyde on synovial lesions in mice with knee osteoarthritis(KOA)and its regulatory mecha-nism in the phagocytic function of synovial macropha-ges.Methods In the animal experiments,mouse ser-um and synovial tissue were extracted.HE staining was used to evaluate the inflammatory cell infiltration in the synovial tissue.ELISA was employed to detect the lev-els of inflammatory factors such as interleukins in the serum.Western blot was used to detect the expression of Ras homolog family member A(RhoA),Rho-associ-ated protein kinase 1(ROCK1),myosin light chain(MLC),and p-MLC proteins in the synovial tissue.RT-qPCR was utilized to detect the expression of in-flammatory factors and pathway-related mRNA in the synovial tissue.TUNEL staining was used to detect ap-optosis in the synovial tissue.In the cellular experi-ments,after the intervention,RAW267.4 cells were subjected to Western blot and RT-qPCR for the detec-tion of the aforementioned indicators,and confocal mi-croscopy was used to assess phagocytic function.Re-sults After cinnamaldehyde intervention,the synovial inflammatory infiltration was significantly reduced,the protein and mRNA expression of the RhoA/ROCK1/MLC signaling pathway was markedly downregulated,the fluorescence intensity of TUNEL staining signifi-cantly decreased,and the phagocytic function of macro-phages was enhanced.Conclusion Cinnamaldehyde can inhibit RhoA/Rock1/MLC signaling pathway,en-hance macrophage burial,improve synovial inflamma-tion,and delay the progression of KO A mice.

Porcine hemagglutinating encephalomyelitis virus(PHEV)is one of the coronaviruses susceptible to swine populations.The non-structural protein 2(NS2)encoded by its genome is fre-quently deleted during the epidemic transmission of the virus,but its biological significance re-mains unclear.In order to explore the structure and function of the NS2 protein,this study utilized platforms such as ProtParam,TMHMM,NetPhos3.1,and ExPASy to analyze its physicochemical properties,spatial structure,genetic evolution,and post-translational modification characteristics.Meanwhile,the NS2 protein was expressed in eukaryotes and transcriptome sequencing was per-formed to clarify the biological processes it participates in.The results showed that the NS2 protein consists of 233 amino acids,with a molecular weight of 26.735 kDa,and a half-life of approximately 30 hours in mammals.It includes 13 phosphorylation sites,2 N-glycosylation sites,and 1 O-glyco-sylation site,with no signal peptide and strong hydrophilicity.The a-helix accounts for the highest proportion in NS2(43.78％),followed by random coils(36.05％).The homology of the NS2 pro-tein between the epidemic strains PHEV-CC14 and PHEV-JL/2008 in Northeast China is 99.57％.The NS2 protein is widely involved in the regulation of nerve-related functions,such as axon guid-ance and synaptic development.This study preliminarily clarified the biological function of the NS2 protein,providing a new perspective for understanding the pathogenic mechanism of PHEV.

Aim To verify the mechanism of action of Carthami Flos-Lycopodii Herba in treating KOA carti-lage inflammation based on network pharmacology and in vitro and in vivo experiments.Methods The effec-tive ingredients of Carthami Flos-Lycopodii Herba were screened through the database,the core targets of"drug disease"were analyzed,and pathway enrichment analy-sis and molecular docking verification were conducted.Experimental verification:Primary chondrocytes were extracted from mice and divided into the control group,IL-1β group,treatment group,and treatment+TLR4 agonist group.CCK-8 method was used to screen the optimal intervention concentration of Carthami Flos-Ly-copodii Herba.ELISA was used to detect the content of inflammatory factors in chondrocytes.Western blot was employed to detect the protein expression related to cellular pathways.Subsequently,a KOA mouse model was constructed using the DMM method.After admin-istration,the knee joint injury of mice was evaluated u-sing safranin O-green staining.ELISA was used to de-tect the levels of inflammatory factors in serum.West-ern blot was employed to detect collagen Ⅱ,MMP13,Aggrecan,and apoptosis related protein expression in cartilage tissue.TUNEL staining was used to detect the apoptosis rate of cells.Results A total of 26 active ingredients of Carthami Flos-Lycopodii Herba were screened,as well as 123 potential targets for treating KOA.The enrichment analysis results indicated that it mainly involved mechanisms such as Toll like receptors and cell apoptosis.The experimental results showed that Carthami Flos-Lycopodii Herba alleviated the in-flammatory response of chondrocytes and affected the expression of pathway related proteins.Compared with KOA mice,safflower stretched muscle grass could im-prove cartilage damage and reduce the concentration of serum inflammatory factors,regulate the expression of collagen Ⅱ,MMP13,Aggrecan,and apoptosis related proteins in cartilage tissue,and reduce the fluorescence intensity of TUNEL staining in the tissue.Conclusions Carthami Flos-Lycopodii Herba can improve KOA cartilage inflammation,and its mechanism may be relat-ed to the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway.

Porcine hemagglutinating encephalomyelitis virus(PHEV)is one of the coronaviruses susceptible to swine populations.The non-structural protein 2(NS2)encoded by its genome is fre-quently deleted during the epidemic transmission of the virus,but its biological significance re-mains unclear.In order to explore the structure and function of the NS2 protein,this study utilized platforms such as ProtParam,TMHMM,NetPhos3.1,and ExPASy to analyze its physicochemical properties,spatial structure,genetic evolution,and post-translational modification characteristics.Meanwhile,the NS2 protein was expressed in eukaryotes and transcriptome sequencing was per-formed to clarify the biological processes it participates in.The results showed that the NS2 protein consists of 233 amino acids,with a molecular weight of 26.735 kDa,and a half-life of approximately 30 hours in mammals.It includes 13 phosphorylation sites,2 N-glycosylation sites,and 1 O-glyco-sylation site,with no signal peptide and strong hydrophilicity.The a-helix accounts for the highest proportion in NS2(43.78％),followed by random coils(36.05％).The homology of the NS2 pro-tein between the epidemic strains PHEV-CC14 and PHEV-JL/2008 in Northeast China is 99.57％.The NS2 protein is widely involved in the regulation of nerve-related functions,such as axon guid-ance and synaptic development.This study preliminarily clarified the biological function of the NS2 protein,providing a new perspective for understanding the pathogenic mechanism of PHEV.

Numerous studies have shown that depression is main-ly associated with the abnormal expression of connexin 43(Cx43)in astrocytes(Astro)and its mediated dysfunction of gap junction(GJ).However,the molecular mechanism of post-translational modifications targeting Cx43 to regulate neuroin-flammation-associated depression is still unclear.Post-transla-tional modifications of Cx43 mainly include phosphorylation of specific amino acid sites by PKC,PKA,PKG,MAPK and PTK,and protein degradation of Cx43 through the K48/K63 polyubiq-uitylation and deubiquitination pathways,which ultimately lead to protein degradation through K48/K63 polyubiquitination and deubiquitination.These modifications are ultimately involved in the regulation of neuroinflammatory responses through the associ-ation of GJ function.In this paper,we systematically review the role of Cx43 post-translational modifications in neuroinflamma-tion,with the aim of further exploring the potential application of targeting these modifications to modulate the inflammatory re-sponse mechanism in improving depressive symptoms.

Aim To verify the mechanism of action of Carthami Flos-Lycopodii Herba in treating KOA carti-lage inflammation based on network pharmacology and in vitro and in vivo experiments.Methods The effec-tive ingredients of Carthami Flos-Lycopodii Herba were screened through the database,the core targets of"drug disease"were analyzed,and pathway enrichment analy-sis and molecular docking verification were conducted.Experimental verification:Primary chondrocytes were extracted from mice and divided into the control group,IL-1β group,treatment group,and treatment+TLR4 agonist group.CCK-8 method was used to screen the optimal intervention concentration of Carthami Flos-Ly-copodii Herba.ELISA was used to detect the content of inflammatory factors in chondrocytes.Western blot was employed to detect the protein expression related to cellular pathways.Subsequently,a KOA mouse model was constructed using the DMM method.After admin-istration,the knee joint injury of mice was evaluated u-sing safranin O-green staining.ELISA was used to de-tect the levels of inflammatory factors in serum.West-ern blot was employed to detect collagen Ⅱ,MMP13,Aggrecan,and apoptosis related protein expression in cartilage tissue.TUNEL staining was used to detect the apoptosis rate of cells.Results A total of 26 active ingredients of Carthami Flos-Lycopodii Herba were screened,as well as 123 potential targets for treating KOA.The enrichment analysis results indicated that it mainly involved mechanisms such as Toll like receptors and cell apoptosis.The experimental results showed that Carthami Flos-Lycopodii Herba alleviated the in-flammatory response of chondrocytes and affected the expression of pathway related proteins.Compared with KOA mice,safflower stretched muscle grass could im-prove cartilage damage and reduce the concentration of serum inflammatory factors,regulate the expression of collagen Ⅱ,MMP13,Aggrecan,and apoptosis related proteins in cartilage tissue,and reduce the fluorescence intensity of TUNEL staining in the tissue.Conclusions Carthami Flos-Lycopodii Herba can improve KOA cartilage inflammation,and its mechanism may be relat-ed to the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway.

Numerous studies have shown that depression is main-ly associated with the abnormal expression of connexin 43(Cx43)in astrocytes(Astro)and its mediated dysfunction of gap junction(GJ).However,the molecular mechanism of post-translational modifications targeting Cx43 to regulate neuroin-flammation-associated depression is still unclear.Post-transla-tional modifications of Cx43 mainly include phosphorylation of specific amino acid sites by PKC,PKA,PKG,MAPK and PTK,and protein degradation of Cx43 through the K48/K63 polyubiq-uitylation and deubiquitination pathways,which ultimately lead to protein degradation through K48/K63 polyubiquitination and deubiquitination.These modifications are ultimately involved in the regulation of neuroinflammatory responses through the associ-ation of GJ function.In this paper,we systematically review the role of Cx43 post-translational modifications in neuroinflamma-tion,with the aim of further exploring the potential application of targeting these modifications to modulate the inflammatory re-sponse mechanism in improving depressive symptoms.

Aim To investigate the therapeutic effects of cinnamaldehyde on synovial lesions in mice with knee osteoarthritis(KOA)and its regulatory mecha-nism in the phagocytic function of synovial macropha-ges.Methods In the animal experiments,mouse ser-um and synovial tissue were extracted.HE staining was used to evaluate the inflammatory cell infiltration in the synovial tissue.ELISA was employed to detect the lev-els of inflammatory factors such as interleukins in the serum.Western blot was used to detect the expression of Ras homolog family member A(RhoA),Rho-associ-ated protein kinase 1(ROCK1),myosin light chain(MLC),and p-MLC proteins in the synovial tissue.RT-qPCR was utilized to detect the expression of in-flammatory factors and pathway-related mRNA in the synovial tissue.TUNEL staining was used to detect ap-optosis in the synovial tissue.In the cellular experi-ments,after the intervention,RAW267.4 cells were subjected to Western blot and RT-qPCR for the detec-tion of the aforementioned indicators,and confocal mi-croscopy was used to assess phagocytic function.Re-sults After cinnamaldehyde intervention,the synovial inflammatory infiltration was significantly reduced,the protein and mRNA expression of the RhoA/ROCK1/MLC signaling pathway was markedly downregulated,the fluorescence intensity of TUNEL staining signifi-cantly decreased,and the phagocytic function of macro-phages was enhanced.Conclusion Cinnamaldehyde can inhibit RhoA/Rock1/MLC signaling pathway,en-hance macrophage burial,improve synovial inflamma-tion,and delay the progression of KO A mice.

The adulteration and counterfeiting of herbal ingredients in medicinal and food homology (MFH) have a serious impact on the quality of herbal materials, thereby endangering human health. Compared to pharmaceutical drugs, health products derived from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are more easily accessible and closely integrated into consumers' daily life. However, the authentication of the authenticity of TCM ingredients in MFH has not received sufficient attention. The lack of clear standards emphasizes the necessity of conducting systematic research in this area. This study utilized DNA barcoding technology, combining ITS2, psbA-trnH, matK as universal barcode sequences, and DX, HH, JYH as specific barcode sequences, to identify the authenticity of commercial medicinal and food homology scented herbal teas. The aim was to investigate the authenticity of scented herbal tea products circulating in the market. The research results revealed that among 180 scented herbal tea samples, DNA barcodes were successfully obtained from 164 samples, while the remaining samples either lacked the target components or suffered severe DNA degradation, resulting in failed amplification. Combined with morphological identification studies, it was found that out of the 180 samples, 141 were authentic, accounting for 78.33% of the total samples, while 31 samples showed adulteration and 8 samples lacked the target components, accounting for 21.67% of the total samples. Additionally, water testing revealed that 5 samples of Carthamus tinctorius herbal tea exhibited the phenomenon of weight adulteration. This study exposed the presence of adulteration and weight adulteration in scented herbal tea products, highlighting the need for regulatory authorities to expedite the establishment of quality standards in scented herbal tea industry. These findings provide valuable insights for the rapid development of the scented herbal tea industry.

Objective:To analyze the total expendition,developmental changes and flow of the total cost of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)in China from 2016 to 2021,and to study the development of the total cost of TCM in different medical institutions.Methods:Institutional flow method and case-base aggregation method were used to account for the total TCM costs.Results:From 2016 to 2021,the total amount of total TCM costs flowed to TCM-type hospitals was the highest in China,the proportion of total TCM costs in primary healthcare organizations was increased,and TCM-type clinics and outpatient clinics were developed more rapidly.The share of Chinese medicine drug costs in total Chinese medicine costs has been declined,and the share of county hospitals in their total health costs has been risen overall Conclusion:In the future,it would increase the TCM investment,attach importance to the development of TCM services in non-Chinese medicine hospitals,improve the capacity of primary Chinese medicine services,continue to consolidate the policy of"strengthening the primary",and maintain the rapid development of Chinese medicine clinics and outpatient clinics;the value of Chinese medicine technical labor should be emphasized,and the driving force of county hospitals should be brought into full play.