1.Establishment and application of a UPLC-MS/MS method for the determination of tiletamine and its metabolite in biological samples.
Zihao CAI ; Wenguang YAN ; Jiahao LI ; Yanjun DING ; Jiang LING
Journal of Central South University(Medical Sciences) 2025;50(6):1002-1012
OBJECTIVES:
Tiletamine, a veterinary anesthetic, has emerged as a novel psychoactive substance and has been abused in many parts of the world, causing great harm to public health. However, the sensitivity of existing detection methods cannot meet the needs of forensic practice. This study aims to establish an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method for the determination of tiletamine and its metabolite desethyltiletamine in human biological samples, and to verify its applicability in forensic practice.
METHODS:
SKF525A was used as the internal standard. Biological samples were extracted with acetonitrile containing 1 ng/mL SKF525A, vortexed for 10 min, ultrasonicated for 20 min, centrifuged at 10 000 r/min for 10 min, and 500 μL of the supernatant was filtered through a 0.22 μm membrane. Analyses were performed using an ACQUITY UPLC H-Class PLUS system and an XEVO TQ-S Micro triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. An ACQUITY UPLC® BEH C18 (1.7 µm, 2.1 mm×100 mm) column at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min was used, and four mobile phase systems were tested to optimize separation. Detection used positive electrospray ionization (ESI+) in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode, with quantifier ion transitions of mass to charge 224.043→179.016 for tiletamine and mass to charge 196.08→151.06 for desethyltiletamine. Calibration curves were established over 0.1-200 ng/mL in spiked blood samples. The linear range, limit of detection (LOD), and limit of quantification (LOQ) were determined. Low (5 ng/mL), medium (20 ng/mL), and high (100 ng/mL) concentrations of tiletamine were spiked into blood, liver, and kidney to evaluate precision, accuracy, matrix effect, recovery, and stability. Finally, actual forensic case samples were tested to validate applicability.
RESULTS:
The established UPLC-MS/MS method achieved simultaneous detection of tiletamine and desethyltiletamine in human biological samples, with retention times of 3.42 min and 2.82 min, respectively. Using mobile phase A (20 mmol/L ammonium acetate and 0.1% formic acid in water) and mobile phase B (acetonitrile) produced the best separation. In blood, tiletamine showed good linearity from 0.1-200 ng/mL (r=0.992, R2=0.983), LOD 0.03 ng/mL, LOQ 0.1 ng/mL, recovery 92%-107%, and matrix effect 71%-99%. In liver and kidney, recoveries were 91%-98% and 93%-104%, and matrix effects were 69%-96% and 72%-100%, respectively. Intra- and inter-day precision [expressed as relative standard deviation (RSD)] and accuracy [expressed as relative error (RE)] were within 15%, and samples were stable at -20 ℃. Tiletamine was detected in actual case samples at 0.37 μg/mL (blood), 0.15 μg/g (liver), 0.11 μg/g (kidney) in case 1, and 8.75 ng/mL (blood) in case 2; desethyltiletamine was also detected in blood.
CONCLUSIONS
The UPLC-MS/MS method is efficient, accurate, and sensitive, and is suitable for detecting tiletamine and desethyltiletamine in human biological samples.
Tandem Mass Spectrometry/methods*
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Humans
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Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods*
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Substance Abuse Detection/methods*
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Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
2.Correlation between triglyceride-glucose index-body mass index product and hypertension
Yangyi ZHENG-LIU ; Zihao DING ; Tianyao LONG ; Tong YU ; Minqi LI ; Ling LI ; Xiuqin HONG
Journal of Chinese Physician 2025;27(8):1191-1196
Objective:To explore the correlation between triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index-body mass index (BMI) product (TyG-BMI) and hypertension.Methods:Based on the cross-sectional survey data of adult hypertension prevalence in Hunan Province from June 2013 to May 2014, 4 012 subjects aged ≥18 years with complete key data were included. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the correlation between TyG-BMI and hypertension, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to compare the ability of TyG index and TyG-BMI to identify hypertension.Results:A total of 4 012 subjects were included in this study, with an average age of (54.6±12.6)years, and males accounted for 40.98%(1 644/4 012). The prevalence of hypertension was 38.33%(1 538/4 012). Logistic regression analysis showed that elevated TyG-BMI was an independent risk factor for hypertension ( P<0.05). In the fully adjusted model, each 1/4 increase in TyG-BMI was associated with a 1.017-fold increase in the risk of hypertension ( OR=1.017, 95% CI: 1.014-1.019). Compared with the lowest quartile group (Q 1), the higher quartile groups (Q 2, Q 3, Q 4) of TyG-BMI had a higher risk of hypertension, with OR values of 1.841, 2.265, and 4.386, respectively. Restricted cubic spline plot showed a linear dose-response relationship between TyG-BMI and the risk of hypertension (overall trend P<0.001). In subgroup analyses stratified by age, gender, smoking and drinking status, TyG-BMI was positively correlated with hypertension. In addition, ROC curve analysis showed that TyG-BMI had better diagnostic value for hypertension compared with TyG index. Conclusions:TyG-BMI is an independent risk factor for hypertension. Excessively high TyG-BMI or gradual increase of TyG-BMI will increase the risk of hypertension, and TyG-BMI has higher value in identifying hypertension compared with TyG index.
3.SITA:Predicting site-specific immunogenicity for therapeutic antibodies
Yewei CUN ; Hao DING ; Tiantian MAO ; Yuan WANG ; Caicui WANG ; Jiajun LI ; Zihao LI ; Mengdie HU ; Zhiwei CAO ; Tianyi QIU
Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis 2025;15(6):1378-1389
Antibody humanization is critical to reduce immunogenicity and enhance efficacy in the preclinical phase of the development of therapeutic antibodies originated from animal models.Computational suggestions have long been desired,but available tools focused on immunogenicity calculation of whole antibody sequences and sequence segments,missing the individual residue sites.This study introduces Site-specific Immunogenicity for Therapeutic Antibody(SITA),a novel computational framework that predicts B-cell immunogenicity score for not only the overall antibody,but also individual residues,based on a comprehensive set of amino acid descriptors characterizing physicochemical and spatial features for antibody structures.A transfer-learning-inspired framework was purposely adopted to overcome the scarcity of Antibody-Antibody structural complexes.On an independent testing dataset derived from 13 Antibody-Antibody structural complexes,SITA successfully predicted the epitope sites for Antibody-Antibody structures with a receiver operating characteristic(ROC)-area unver the ROC curve(AUC)of 0.85 and a precision-recall(PR)-AUC of 0.305 at the residue level.Furthermore,the SITA score can significantly distinguish immunogenicity levels of whole human antibodies,therapeutic antibodies and non-human-derived antibodies.More importantly,analysis of an additional 25 thera-peutic antibodies revealed that over 70%of them were detected with decreased immunogenicity after modification compared to their parent variants.Among these,nearly 66%antibodies successfully iden-tified actual modification sites from the top five sites with the highest SITA scores,suggesting the ability of SITA scores for guide the humanization of antibody.Overall,these findings highlight the potential of SITA in optimizing immunogenicity assessments during the process of therapeutic antibody design.
4.SITA: Predicting site-specific immunogenicity for therapeutic antibodies.
Yewei CUN ; Hao DING ; Tiantian MAO ; Yuan WANG ; Caicui WANG ; Jiajun LI ; Zihao LI ; Mengdie HU ; Zhiwei CAO ; Tianyi QIU
Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis 2025;15(6):101316-101316
Antibody (Ab) humanization is critical to reduce immunogenicity and enhance efficacy in the preclinical phase of the development of therapeutic Abs originated from animal models. Computational suggestions have long been desired, but available tools focused on immunogenicity calculation of whole Ab sequences and sequence segments, missing the individual residue sites. This study introduces Site-specific Immunogenicity for Therapeutic Antibody (SITA), a novel computational framework that predicts B-cell immunogenicity score for not only the overall antibody, but also individual residues, based on a comprehensive set of amino acid descriptors characterizing physicochemical and spatial features for antibody structures. A transfer-learning-inspired framework was purposely adopted to overcome the scarcity of Ab-Ab structural complexes. On an independent testing dataset derived from 13 Ab-Ab structural complexes, SITA successfully predicted the epitope sites for Ab-Ab structures with a receiver operating characteristic (ROC)-area unver the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.85 and a precision-recall (PR)-AUC of 0.305 at the residue level. Furthermore, the SITA score can significantly distinguish immunogenicity levels of whole human Abs, therapeutic Abs and non-human-derived Abs. More importantly, analysis of an additional 25 therapeutic Abs revealed that over 70% of them were detected with decreased immunogenicity after modification compared to their parent variants. Among these, nearly 66% Abs successfully identified actual modification sites from the top five sites with the highest SITA scores, suggesting the ability of SITA scores for guide the humanization of antibody. Overall, these findings highlight the potential of SITA in optimizing immunogenicity assessments during the process of therapeutic antibody design.
5.Correlation between triglyceride-glucose index-body mass index product and hypertension
Yangyi ZHENG-LIU ; Zihao DING ; Tianyao LONG ; Tong YU ; Minqi LI ; Ling LI ; Xiuqin HONG
Journal of Chinese Physician 2025;27(8):1191-1196
Objective:To explore the correlation between triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index-body mass index (BMI) product (TyG-BMI) and hypertension.Methods:Based on the cross-sectional survey data of adult hypertension prevalence in Hunan Province from June 2013 to May 2014, 4 012 subjects aged ≥18 years with complete key data were included. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the correlation between TyG-BMI and hypertension, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to compare the ability of TyG index and TyG-BMI to identify hypertension.Results:A total of 4 012 subjects were included in this study, with an average age of (54.6±12.6)years, and males accounted for 40.98%(1 644/4 012). The prevalence of hypertension was 38.33%(1 538/4 012). Logistic regression analysis showed that elevated TyG-BMI was an independent risk factor for hypertension ( P<0.05). In the fully adjusted model, each 1/4 increase in TyG-BMI was associated with a 1.017-fold increase in the risk of hypertension ( OR=1.017, 95% CI: 1.014-1.019). Compared with the lowest quartile group (Q 1), the higher quartile groups (Q 2, Q 3, Q 4) of TyG-BMI had a higher risk of hypertension, with OR values of 1.841, 2.265, and 4.386, respectively. Restricted cubic spline plot showed a linear dose-response relationship between TyG-BMI and the risk of hypertension (overall trend P<0.001). In subgroup analyses stratified by age, gender, smoking and drinking status, TyG-BMI was positively correlated with hypertension. In addition, ROC curve analysis showed that TyG-BMI had better diagnostic value for hypertension compared with TyG index. Conclusions:TyG-BMI is an independent risk factor for hypertension. Excessively high TyG-BMI or gradual increase of TyG-BMI will increase the risk of hypertension, and TyG-BMI has higher value in identifying hypertension compared with TyG index.
6.Risk factors for intrahepatic venovenous shunt in patients with cirrhosis and its impact on hepatic venous pressure gradient
Liangzi DING ; Zihao CAI ; Jiangqiang XIAO ; Ming ZHANG ; Feng ZHANG ; Yuzheng ZHUGE
Chinese Journal of Hepatology 2024;32(11):984-988
Objective:To evaluate the factors affecting the incidence of intrahepatic venovenous shunt (IVVS) in patients with cirrhosis and its impact on hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG).Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on the data of patients with liver cirrhosis who received HVPG measurement in Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital from April 2013 to March 2022. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were used to investigate the incidence rate and risk factors of IVVS and its impact on HVPG. The t-test and rank-sum test were used for the measurement data, and the χ2 test was used for the count data. Results:A total of 242 cases with cirrhosis were included in the statistical analysis, including 54 (22.3%) with IVVS and 188 (77.7%) without IVVS. There was a statistically significant difference ( P<0.05) in prothrombin time (PT), HVPG, and splenectomy history between the two groups of patients' baseline data (all P<0.05). The multiple logistic regression analysis results showed that PT was an independent risk factor for the occurrence of IVVS ( P<0.05), and patients combined with IVVS had lower HVPG values [(17.58±5.57) mmHg vs. (11.92±5.38) mmHg, 1 mmHg=0.133 kPa; t=6.623, P<0.001]. Conclusions:Patients with liver cirrhosis have a high incidence rate of IVVS, which is closely associated with a low prothrombin time. Additionally, patients combined with IVVS have low HVPG values, which affect its accuracy.
7.Analysis of the effect and symptom progression of hybird surgery for cerebral arteriovenous malformation:a single-center retrospective cohort study
Qianjin DING ; Zihao SONG ; Yongjie MA ; Jiaxing YU ; Peng HU ; Hongqi ZHANG
Chinese Journal of Cerebrovascular Diseases 2024;21(10):664-670
Objective To investigate the safety and efficacy of bybrid surgery in the treatment of cerebral arteriovenous malformation(CAVM)and possible factors for postoperative symptom progression.Methods A total of 61 patients with CAVM admitted to the Department of Neurosurgery,Xuanwu Hospital,Capital Medical University from January 1,2016 to December 31,2021 who underwent bybrid surgery were retrospectively included.Demographic information(sex,age),incidence(first diagnosis of CAVM by imaging and/or first appearance of CAVM-related symptoms such as hemorrhage and epilepsy),time from onset to hybrid surgery,modified Rankin scale(mRS)score at admission,history of previous CAVM treatment(surgical removal of previous CAVM and intravascular treatment),CAVM imaging data(lesion location,size,drainage),Spetzler-Martin grade,lesion density(loose,dense),CAVM combined with aneurysm or aneurysmal structure,surgical method(microsurgery+intraoperative DSA,microsurgery+intraoperative DSA+endovascular embolism),treatment-related complications(intracranial hemorrhage and/or ischemic events and/or edema in surgery-related areas,puncture site hematoma and/or fistula and/or pseudoaneurysm,gastrointestinal and/or gingival bleeding and/or epistaxis,contrast hypersensitivity,all-cause death),clinical and radiological follow-up data were recorded.The safety(treatment-related complications,symptom progression[positive difference between the mRS score at 6 months postoperatively and the baseline mRS score])and effectiveness(occlusion,complete absence of the malformation on DSA at 6 months postoperatively;good prognosis,mRS score≤2 at 6months postoperatively)of hybrid surgery treatment were evaluated.Based on the clinical follow-up results at 6 months after surgery,patients who underwent hybrid surgery for CAVM were divided into the progressive group and the non-progressive group,and their baseline and clinical characteristics were compared.Results(1)Among the 61 patients who underwent hybrid surgery for CAVM,37(60.7%)were male,with a median age of 25(13,42)years;11(18.0%)were asymptomatic,and 39(63.9%)had hemorrhage as their initial symptom,while 11(18.0%)had seizures as their initial symptom.At admission,54(88.5%)patients had an mRS score of ≤2,including 38(62.3%)patients who had undergone previous endovascular embolization and had residual or recurrent CAVM;the Spetzler-Martin grade of the CAVM lesion was Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅲ,or Ⅳ in 13(21.3%),22(36.1%),21(34.4%),and 5(8.2%)patients,respectively;24 patients underwent DSA verification during surgery using a hybrid surgical platform,and 37 patients underwent DSA verification and assisted endovascular embolization using a hybrid surgical platform.(2)Clinical follow-up completion rate was 77.0%(47/61);the follow-up time ranged from 6 to 24 months and the median follow-up time was 12(6,24)months.The good prognosis rate was 91.5%(43/47),there was no death.The incidence of treatment-related complications was 10.6%(5/47).The completion rate of imaging follow-up was 72.1%(44/61)and the median follow-up time was 15(10,22)months.There were 40(90.9%)of CAVM occlusion,2(4.5%)of residual CAVM and 2(4.5%)of recurrent CAVM.(3)Among the 47 patients who completed clinical follow-up,15 patients developed symptoms and 32 patients did not develop symptoms.There were no significant differences in sex,age,onset symptoms,mRS score at admission,lesion location,lesion density and aneurysm or aneurysmal structure between the two groups(all P>0.05).In the progressive group,the proportion of lesions with the largest diameter<3 cm,3-6 cm and>6 cm were 3/15,10/15 and 2/15,respectively,and the largest diameter was mainly 3-6 cm.In the non-progressive group,the proportion of the largest diameter<3 cm and 3-6 cm were 18/32 and 14/32,respectively,and the largest diameter<3 cm was the main proportion(x2=8.321).Deep venous drainage(x2=11.937)and residual and/or recurrence(x2=8.507)were present in the progressive group,and the differences between the groups were statistically significant(all P<0.05).Conclusions Hybrid surgery has certain safety and effectiveness in the treatment of CAVM.Patients with CAVM who experienced progression after undergoing composite surgery have characteristics such as larger maximum diameter,the presence of deep venous drainage and residual and/or recurrence,and the factors affecting progression need to be further explored in the future.
8.Research on the application of non-contact physiological and psychological detection in the analysis of long-term simulated weightlessness effects
Shuai DING ; Zi XU ; Qian RONG ; Shujuan LIU ; Zihao LIU ; Yuan WU ; Yao YU ; Zhili LI ; Cheng SONG ; Lina QU ; Hao WANG ; Yinghui LI
Space Medicine & Medical Engineering 2024;35(2):78-83,98
Objective Explore a non-contact physiological and psychological detection model based on facial video in simulations of weightlessness effects,research new methods for non-contact heart rate and negative mood state detection in long-term simulations of weightlessness effect analysis.Methods Construct a non-contact physiological and psychological data collection system for fusion analysis of visible light and thermal infrared videos.Collect physiological and psychological data of volunteers in the"Earth Star-Ⅱ"90-day head-down bed rest experiment.A non-contact heart rate detection model based on GCN facial multi-region feature fusion and a non-contact negative mood state detection model considering data reliability were constructed,and the effectiveness of the models were validated with finger clip heart rate and POMS-SF scale as labels.Results The experimental results show that the average difference in the Bland-Altman plot of the non-contact heart rate detection model is-1.26 bpm,and 96.3%of value error detection data falls within the 95%confidence interval,indicating a high consistency between the model detected heart rate and the finger clip heart rate.The non-contact negative mood state detection model achieves an accuracy of>0.85 for detecting tension,depression,anger,and fatigue.Features such as heart rate,AU06,eye gaze,and head pose were observed to be important to mood state detection.Conclusion Non-contact physiological and psychological detection methods not only can be utilized for long-term physiological analysis in simulations of weightlessness effects,but also provide a novel technical approach for on-orbit astronauts health assurance during long-term space flight in the future.
9.The lysine methyltransferase SMYD2 facilitates neointimal hyperplasia by regulating the HDAC3-SRF axis.
Xiaoxuan ZHONG ; Xiang WEI ; Yan XU ; Xuehai ZHU ; Bo HUO ; Xian GUO ; Gaoke FENG ; Zihao ZHANG ; Xin FENG ; Zemin FANG ; Yuxuan LUO ; Xin YI ; Ding-Sheng JIANG
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2024;14(2):712-728
Coronary restenosis is an important cause of poor long-term prognosis in patients with coronary heart disease. Here, we show that lysine methyltransferase SMYD2 expression in the nucleus is significantly elevated in serum- and PDGF-BB-induced vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), and in tissues of carotid artery injury-induced neointimal hyperplasia. Smyd2 overexpression in VSMCs (Smyd2-vTg) facilitates, but treatment with its specific inhibitor LLY-507 or SMYD2 knockdown significantly inhibits VSMC phenotypic switching and carotid artery injury-induced neointima formation in mice. Transcriptome sequencing revealed that SMYD2 knockdown represses the expression of serum response factor (SRF) target genes and that SRF overexpression largely reverses the inhibitory effect of SMYD2 knockdown on VSMC proliferation. HDAC3 directly interacts with and deacetylates SRF, which enhances SRF transcriptional activity in VSMCs. Moreover, SMYD2 promotes HDAC3 expression via tri-methylation of H3K36 at its promoter. RGFP966, a specific inhibitor of HDAC3, not only counteracts the pro-proliferation effect of SMYD2 overexpression on VSMCs, but also inhibits carotid artery injury-induced neointima formation in mice. HDAC3 partially abolishes the inhibitory effect of SMYD2 knockdown on VSMC proliferation in a deacetylase activity-dependent manner. Our results reveal that the SMYD2-HDAC3-SRF axis constitutes a novel and critical epigenetic mechanism that regulates VSMC phenotypic switching and neointimal hyperplasia.
10.Analysis of the current situation and related factors in physical exercise behaviors among high school students in Taizhou City
ZHANG Yan, DING Hairong, XUE Hao, QIU Dayong, ZHANG Zihao
Chinese Journal of School Health 2024;45(7):965-968
Objective:
To analyze the current situation and related factors of physical exercise behavior among high school students, so as to provide theoretical basis for improving their health level.
Methods:
In May 2022, a stratified cluster random sampling method was used to select 17 high schools in the jurisdiction of Taizhou City. A total of 3 402 high school students were selected by class to conduct a survey on the prevalence and related factors of physical exercise behavior by Chinese Sports Activity Level Scale. And binary Logistic regression analysis was conducted to analyze the influencing factors.
Results:
Among the surveyed high school students, the rate of poor physical exercise behavior reached 53.4%. The rates of poor physical exercise behavior varied within the group in terms of gender, urban and rural areas, whether they were only children, maternal education, parental emotions, parental exercise habits, parenting styles, family income and academic performance were statistically significant (χ2=12.38, 11.73, 742.71, 28.86, 24.38, 39.98, 71.92, 33.34, 176.97, P<0.01). High school students of grade 3, female students, parents with low education, parents who occasionally and never exercise, intergenerational discipline, low family income, and average academic performance were the tendency factors for poor physical exercise behavior(OR=1.39, 1.18, 1.62, 1.30, 1.36, 2.21, 1.53, 1.46, 1.52, P<0.05).
Conclusions
The rate of poor physical exercise behavior among high school students in Taizhou City is relatively high and is affected by various factors such as age, gender, academic performance, and family background. It should actively reduce the impact of unfavorable factors, promote high school students to participate in physical exercise, and improve the health level of high school students.


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