1.Celastrol directly targets LRP1 to inhibit fibroblast-macrophage crosstalk and ameliorates psoriasis progression.
Yuyu ZHU ; Lixin ZHAO ; Wei YAN ; Hongyue MA ; Wanjun ZHAO ; Jiao QU ; Wei ZHENG ; Chenyang ZHANG ; Haojie DU ; Meng YU ; Ning WAN ; Hui YE ; Yicheng XIE ; Bowen KE ; Qiang XU ; Haiyan SUN ; Yang SUN ; Zijun OUYANG
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2025;15(2):876-891
Psoriasis is an incurable chronic inflammatory disease that requires new interventions. Here, we found that fibroblasts exacerbate psoriasis progression by promoting macrophage recruitment via CCL2 secretion by single-cell multi-omics analysis. The natural small molecule celastrol was screened to interfere with the secretion of CCL2 by fibroblasts and improve the psoriasis-like symptoms in both murine and cynomolgus monkey models. Mechanistically, celastrol directly bound to the low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1) β-chain and abolished its binding to the transcription factor c-Jun in the nucleus, which in turn inhibited CCL2 production by skin fibroblasts, blocked fibroblast-macrophage crosstalk, and ameliorated psoriasis progression. Notably, fibroblast-specific LRP1 knockout mice exhibited a significant reduction in psoriasis like inflammation. Taken together, from clinical samples and combined with various mouse models, we revealed the pathogenesis of psoriasis from the perspective of fibroblast-macrophage crosstalk, and provided a foundation for LRP1 as a novel potential target for psoriasis treatment.
2.Construction and clinical practice of vector management strategy for preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia by blocking etiological characteristics
Xinhua XIA ; Ying WANG ; Pengbo YAN ; Yanling SUN ; Meimei SI ; Lie QIN ; Yuxia WANG ; Yanan LI ; Ling CHEN ; Zijun ZHANG
Chinese Journal of Practical Nursing 2024;40(4):283-288
Objective:To establish an environmental management strategy for the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia from the perspective of etiological characteristics and to verify its application effect.Methods:Based on a sampling survey, this study constructed preventive management strategies for ventilator-associated pneumonia by blocking pathogen characteristics from the perspective of both colonization and infection management in patients. From July 2021 to June 2023, a non-synchronous randomized controlled study was conducted, including a control group of 59 cases and an experimental group of 57 cases from ICU of Tianjin Teda Hospital, all of them were mechanically ventilated patients. The effectiveness of the strategy was confirmed.Results:In the control group, there were 35 males and 24 females, with an average age of (46.97 ± 18.84) years. In the experimental group, there were 39 males and 18 females, with an average age of (47.49 ± 13.85) years. During the study period, there were 9 cases of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in the control group and 2 cases in the experimental group, the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (exact odds ratio=0.031). The duration of mechanical ventilation in the experimental group (122.41 ± 18.36) h, which was shorter than that in the control group (187.62 ± 18.05) h, and the difference was statistically significant ( t=19.28, P<0.05). The length of ICU stay in the experimental group was (8.38 ± 0.79) d, in the control group was (10.99 ± 1.10) d, the difference between them was statistically significant ( t=14.66, P<0.05). On the 7th day, there were 7 cases of positive pathogenic bacteria in sputum culture in the experimental group, which was significantly different from the 29 cases in the control group ( χ2=16.73, P<0.05). Conclusions:The vector management strategy for preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia by blocking etiological characteristics can reduce the incidence of VAP, shorten the duration of mechanical ventilation and ICU stay, and reduce the pathogen load in the sputum of mechanically ventilated patients on the 7th day.
3.Analysis and comparison of major plant databases in China and ASEAN countries
Shuo WANG ; Yuanchen ZHAO ; Zijun ZHANG ; Yan WANG ; Xingnan YUE ; Lu GAO ; Zhiyong LI
International Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2023;45(1):17-23
At present, countries around the world are paying greater attention to the protection of medicinal plants and traditional medicinal knowledge resources, and are looking for various ways to protect medicinal plants. Many countries have established their own databases to save the medicinal plant information resources. This paper focuses on the introduction of medicinal plant databases in six countries including Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore, and compares their basic information. It is difficult to achieve integration and sharing among these databases. It brings certain difficulties to the use of researchers in related fields. It is suggested that the construction of a multinational common medicinal plant database should be included in the "Belt and Road Initiative" to systematically organize massive information, enhance exchanges between countries on traditional medicinal plants, and achieve medicinal plant information sharing, and the establishment of a shared database will reduce optimization and maintenance to a certain extent or renewal work, laying the foundation for the protection, development and sustainable use of traditional medicinal plant resources.
4.Treatment of Allergic Rhinitis with Traditional Chinese Medicine: A Review
Linjing ZHANG ; Yingying ZHAO ; Lili LIU ; Zheng GONG ; Mingsheng ZHANG ; Jianhua LIU ; Zijun DONG ; Jingyi HU ; Xiaoxiao ZHANG ; Zhanfeng YAN
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2023;29(9):268-273
This article reviews the clinical studies about the treatment of allergic rhinitis (AR) with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in recent years. AR is a common and frequently occurring disease in the department of otolaryngology. The common manifestations of AR include nasal congestion, sneezing, runny nose, and nasal itching. AR, belonging to the category of rhinitis, is a dominant disease in the TCM treatment of otorhinolaryngologic diseases and head and neck diseases. The ancient literature has laid a solid theoretical basis on the etiology and pathogenesis of AR. According to the ancient literature, the theoretical basis, and their own experience, modern doctors classified the causes of AR into the disorders in Zang-fu organs and six meridians. Most of the explanations focus on the disorders in Zang-fu organs, especially the lung, spleen, and kidney. The clinical studies in this field mainly involve TCM treatment alone, integrated TCM and Western medicine treatment, and TCM external treatment. These therapies have good efficacy in the clinical treatment of AR. Among them, TCM treatment alone has significant advantages in alleviating the symptoms and nasal signs, declining the scores of related scales, and reducing the eosinophil count (EOS) of nasal secretions, with definite long-term efficacy. Integrated TCM and Western medicine treatment can complement with each other. The TCM external treatment methods include acupuncture, moxibustion, acupoint catgut embedding, acupoint application, and nasal irrigation with TCM, which are safe, simple, acceptable by patients and have good therapeutic effect. Finally, the clinical research status of TCM treatment of AR was summarized, and suggestions were put forward from three aspects: standardizing the clinical research protocol of TCM, encouraging pure TCM research, and exploring the mechanism of TCM treatment on the basis of frontier research achievements. This review aims to provide higher-level evidence for subsequent clinical research and promote the research on dominant AR diseases.
5.A comparative study of iodine content in serum, plasma and whole blood
Liting YANG ; Zijun YAO ; Zhen WANG ; Han ZHANG ; Yan WANG ; Huailan GUO
Chinese Journal of Endemiology 2023;42(6):502-506
Objective:To evaluate the consistency of individual iodine nutrition levels by serum iodine, plasma iodine and whole blood iodine, and to provide reference for iodine-related epidemiological investigation.Methods:Healthy adults aged 18 - 59 years were recruited from the Research Center of Environment and Health in Water Source Area of South-to-North Water Diversion of Hubei University of Medicine. Whole blood sample was collected and serum and plasma were separated. The content of iodine in serum, plasma and whole blood was determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and the linear relationship, precision and accuracy of the standard curve of the detection method were evaluated. The difference of three kinds of blood iodine levels was analyzed by variance analysis of compatibility group design, and Passing-Bablok regression and Bland-Altman plot were used to evaluate the consistency between serum iodine and plasma iodine.Results:The linear range of iodine in serum, plasma and whole blood was 0.0 - 25.0 μg/L, and the correlation coefficients ( R2) were all > 0.999. The relative standard deviation of 8 mixed blood samples ranged from 1.9% to 4.3% ( n = 6), and the determination results of blood iodine certified standard substances were all within the reference range. The recovery rate of the added standard ranged from 99% to 106%. The iodine levels in serum, plasma and whole blood of 50 volunteers were (57.31 ± 8.06), (57.49 ± 8.50) and (33.89 ± 5.40) μg/L, respectively, and there was no statistically significant difference between serum iodine and plasma iodine ( P = 0.904). The results of Passing-Bablok regression showed that there was no statistically significant difference in bias between serum iodine and plasma iodine ( P = 0.538). The Bland-Altman plot indicated that the difference between serum iodine and plasma iodine was within the consistency limit. Conclusion:The results of plasma iodine and serum iodine are in good agreement, and plasma iodine can be used as an evaluation index of individual iodine nutrition level. But there is no consistency between whole blood iodine and serum iodine.
6.Treatment of Aural Vertigo Ménière's Disease with Traditional Chinese Medicine: A Review
Ziyu WU ; Xin WANG ; Ying ZHANG ; Jingjing YUAN ; Wei WU ; Zijun DONG ; Qinyan HONG ; Yuting SU ; Zhonghai XIN ; Zhanfeng YAN ; Xiaoxiao ZHANG
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2023;29(21):196-203
Ménière's disease (MD) is an inner ear disease characterized by vertigo, tinnitus, hearing loss, and ear stuffiness. Modern therapies such as drugs, surgery, and vestibular function rehabilitation have limited effects in relieving the symptoms and reducing the recurrence. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) can alleviate the symptoms of MD with simple operation and mild adverse reactions while emphasizing psychological adjustment. The TCM treatment of MD is individualized depending on different stages and pathogenic factors. The internal treatment mainly targets phlegm, dampness, water, wind, fire, deficiency, and blood stasis. External interventions include acupuncture and moxibustion. This paper reviewed the published articles about the treatment of MD with TCM. In recent five years, the published studies were mainly clinical trials and experience discussion (or case reports), and few reports of fundamental research were published. In these studies, the Western medicine diagnosis of MD mostly refers to the Diagnostic Basis and Efficacy Evaluation of Ménière's Disease (Guiyang, 2006) and the Guidelines for Diagnosis and Treatment of Ménière's Disease (2017), while the TCM diagnosis mostly refers to the Criteria of Diagnosis and Therapeutic Effect of Diseases and Syndromes in Traditional Chinese Medicine issued by the National Administration of TCM in 1994. The efficacy was mostly evaluated based on clinical efficacy, scales, syndrome scores, pure tone audiometry, etc., while caboratory indexes were rarely used. The available clinical studies about the treatment of MD with TCM generally have low quality of evidence and single intervention means. In the future, the research on the treatment of MD with TCM can be improved by standardizing the research program, improving the quality of evidence, exploring more intervention methods, and strengthening basic research.
7.Increased functional connectivity of amygdala subregions in patients with drug-naïve panic disorder and without comorbidities.
Ping ZHANG ; Xiangyun YANG ; Yun WANG ; Huan LIU ; Limin MENG ; Zijun YAN ; Yuan ZHOU ; Zhanjiang LI
Chinese Medical Journal 2023;136(11):1331-1338
BACKGROUND:
Amygdala plays an important role in the neurobiological basis of panic disorder (PD), and the amygdala contains different subregions, which may play different roles in PD. The aim of the present study was to examine whether there are common or distinct patterns of functional connectivity of the amygdala subregions in PD using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and to explore the relationship between the abnormal spontaneous functional connectivity patterns of the regions of interest (ROIs) and the clinical symptoms of PD patients.
METHODS:
Fifty-three drug-naïve, non-comorbid PD patients and 70 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. Seed-based resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) analyses were conducted using the bilateral amygdalae and its subregions as the ROI seed. Two samples t test was performed for the seed-based Fisher's z -transformed correlation maps. The relationship between the abnormal spontaneous functional connectivity patterns of the ROIs and the clinical symptoms of PD patients was investigated by Pearson correlation analysis.
RESULTS:
PD patients showed increased rsFC of the bilateral amygdalae and almost all the amygdala subregions with the precuneus/posterior cingulate gyrus compared with the HC group (left amygdala [lAMY]: t = 4.84, P <0.001; right amygdala [rAMY]: t = 4.55, P <0.001; left centromedial amygdala [lCMA]: t = 3.87, P <0.001; right centromedial amygdala [rCMA]: t = 3.82, P = 0.002; left laterobasal amygdala [lBLA]: t = 4.33, P <0.001; right laterobasal amygdala [rBLA]: t = 4.97, P <0.001; left superficial amygdala [lSFA]: t = 3.26, P = 0.006). The rsFC of the lBLA with the left angular gyrus/inferior parietal lobule remarkably increased in the PD group ( t = 3.70, P = 0.003). And most of the altered rsFCs were located in the default mode network (DMN). A significant positive correlation was observed between the severity of anxiety and the rsFC between the lSFA and the left precuneus in PD patients ( r = 0.285, P = 0.039).
CONCLUSIONS
Our research suggested that the increased rsFC of amygdala subregions with DMN plays an important role in the pathogenesis of PD. Future studies may further explore whether the rsFC of amygdala subregions, especially with the regions in DMN, can be used as a biological marker of PD.
Humans
;
Panic Disorder
;
Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods*
;
Amygdala
;
Gyrus Cinguli
;
Comorbidity
8.Optic cup and disc segmentation model based on linear attention and dual attention.
Zijun LAN ; Jun XIE ; Yan GUO ; Zhe ZHANG ; Bin SUN
Journal of Biomedical Engineering 2023;40(5):920-927
Glaucoma is one of blind causing diseases. The cup-to-disc ratio is the main basis for glaucoma screening. Therefore, it is of great significance to precisely segment the optic cup and disc. In this article, an optic cup and disc segmentation model based on the linear attention and dual attention is proposed. Firstly, the region of interest is located and cropped according to the characteristics of the optic disc. Secondly, linear attention residual network-34 (ResNet-34) is introduced as a feature extraction network. Finally, channel and spatial dual attention weights are generated by the linear attention output features, which are used to calibrate feature map in the decoder to obtain the optic cup and disc segmentation image. Experimental results show that the intersection over union of the optic disc and cup in Retinal Image Dataset for Optic Nerve Head Segmentation (DRISHTI-GS) dataset are 0.962 3 and 0.856 4, respectively, and the intersection over union of the optic disc and cup in retinal image database for optic nerve evaluation (RIM-ONE-V3) are 0.956 3 and 0.784 4, respectively. The proposed model is better than the comparison algorithm and has certain medical value in the early screening of glaucoma. In addition, this article uses knowledge distillation technology to generate two smaller models, which is beneficial to apply the models to embedded device.
Humans
;
Optic Disk/diagnostic imaging*
;
Glaucoma/diagnosis*
;
Algorithms
;
Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological
;
Databases, Factual
9.Analysis of common quality problems for centralized monitoring of clinical research initiated by pediatric investigators
Jinxia WANG ; Hongyang ZHANG ; Ziyang CAO ; Zijun YAN ; Chunxia WANG ; Lin ZOU
Chinese Journal of Medical Science Research Management 2023;36(5):384-388
Objective:To standardize the management of pediatric Investigator-Initiated Trails (IIT) and improve the execution quality, this study takes a tertiary hospital for children in Shanghai as an example to analyze and summarize the main quality problems in the implementation of pediatric IIT projects and provide appropriate suggestions.Methods:From 2020 to 2022, based on the quality indicators of the IIT project of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, and combined with the characteristics of pediatrics, a centralized monitoring method was used to conduct spot checks and evaluations on the IIT project of a tertiary hospital for children in Shanghai.Results:From 2020 to 2022, a total of 77 IIT projects were inspected, including 27 in the initiation stage, 36 in the execution stage, and 14 in the conclusion stage. In terms of ethical compliance, there are issues with researchers′ weak ethical awareness and non-standard signing of informed consent in the pediatric IIT project. The main problems in terms of execution quality and science include non-standard CRF table design, insufficient awareness of safety management, lack of emphasis on research registration and specialized data management, randomization and blind methods. There are issues with low enrollment rate and low funding execution rate in terms of execution progress.Conclusions:There are certain quality problems during the execution of pediatric IIT projects. Strengthen the establishment of an effective process management and supervision system to improve the quality management of pediatric IIT research processes is needed.
10.Construction of early warning indicators of in-hospital cardiac arrest in adult inpatients
Yuxia WANG ; Zijun ZHANG ; Xinhua XIA ; Pengbo YAN ; Wei LI ; Caihong HUI
Chinese Critical Care Medicine 2022;34(12):1248-1252
Objective:To establish early warning indicators for Chinese nurses to recognize in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) of adult inpatients.Methods:Computer retrieval of Chinese and English databases such as CNKI, Wanfang Database, VIP, National Medical Library of the United States PubMed Database, Web of Science, Embase Database of the Netherlands Medical Abstracts, Cochrane Library Database and other international guidelines collaboration network (GIN), National Institute for Health and Clinical Optimization (NICE), Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN), BMJ best clinical practice and other guidelines was performed. The retrieval time limit for respiratory and cardiac arrest early warning indicators or risk identification related content of the adult inpatient in the professional website was until June 30, 2020. After literature research and expert group analysis, the research group drew up an expert correspondence questionnaire, and selected 32 medical and nursing experts from Beijing, Tianjin, Jilin, Shandong, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang and other grade three first-class general hospitals from July to September 2022. The Delphi method was used to conduct two rounds of expert correspondence, forming the final version of the early warning index of cardiac arrest in adult inpatients.Results:Five first-level indicators, 23 second-level indicators and 41 third-level indicators including vital signs, consciousness and pupils, postoperative blood drainage volume, lab results and other five aspects were initially formed. The effective response rates of the two rounds of expert correspondence were 100% (32/32) and 93.75% (30/32), respectively, the Kendall coordination coefficients W of the first round and the second round were 0.340 and 0.462, respectively, the expert authority coefficients Cr were 0.88 and 0.89, respectively, the mean value of importance assignment was 3.94-5.00, 4.07-5.00, and the coefficient of variation was 0-0.16, 0-0.14, with statistically significant differences (all P < 0.05). Finally, 5 primary indicators, 23 secondary indicators and 43 tertiary indicators were formed, including five aspects of vital signs, consciousness and pupils, postoperative blood drainage, lab results, symptoms and chief complaints. Conclusion:The expert consultation on the early warning indicators of IHCA for adult patients tends to be consistent and scientific, which is applicable to help nurses detect the changes of patients' condition as early as possible.

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