ObjectiveHepatocyte nuclear factor 4-alpha (HNF4A) is a critical transcription factor in the liver and pancreas. Dysfunctions of HNF4A lead to maturity onset diabetes of the young 1 (MODY1). Notably, MODY1 patients with HNF4A pathogenic mutations exhibit decreased responses to arginine and reduced plasma triglyceride levels, but the mechanisms remain unclear. This study aims to investigate the potential target genes transcriptionally regulated by HNF4A and explore its role in these metabolic pathways. MethodsA stable 293T cell line expressing the HNF1A reporter was overexpressed with HNF4A. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed to analyze transcriptional differences. Transcription factor binding site prediction was then conducted to identify HNF4A binding motifs in the promoter regions of relevant target genes. ResultsRNA-seq results revealed a significant upregulation of transmembrane 4 L six family member 5 (TM4SF5) mRNA in HNF4A-overexpressing cells. Transcription factor binding predictions suggested the presence of five potential HNF4A binding motifs in the TM4SF5 promoter. Finally, we confirmed that the DR1 site in the -57 to -48 region of the TM4SF5 promoter is the key binding motif for HNF4A. ConclusionThis study identified TM4SF5 as a target gene of HNF4A and determined the key binding motif involved in its regulation. Given the role of TM4SF5 as an arginine sensor in mTOR signaling activation and triglyceride secretion, which closely aligns with phenotypes observed in MODY1 patients, our findings provide novel insights into the possible mechanisms by which HNF4A regulates triglyceride secretion in the liver and arginine-stimulated insulin secretion in the pancreas.

Pathological vascular remodeling is a hallmark of various vascular diseases. Previous research has established the significance of andrographolide in maintaining gastric vascular homeostasis and its pivotal role in modulating endothelial barrier dysfunction, which leads to pathological vascular remodeling. Potassium dehydroandrographolide succinate (PDA), a derivative of andrographolide, has been clinically utilized in the treatment of inflammatory diseases precipitated by viral infections. This study investigates the potential of PDA in regulating pathological vascular remodeling. The effect of PDA on vascular remodeling was assessed through the complete ligation of the carotid artery in C57BL/6 mice. Experimental approaches, including rat aortic primary smooth muscle cell culture, flow cytometry, bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation assay, Boyden chamber cell migration assay, spheroid sprouting assay, and Matrigel-based tube formation assay, were employed to evaluate the influence of PDA on the proliferation and motility of smooth muscle cells (SMCs). Molecular docking simulations and co-immunoprecipitation assays were conducted to examine protein interactions. The results revealed that PDA exacerbates vascular injury-induced pathological remodeling, as evidenced by enhanced neointima formation. PDA treatment significantly increased the proliferation and migration of SMCs. Further mechanistic studies disclosed that PDA upregulated myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) expression in SMCs and interacted with T-cadherin (CDH13). This interaction augmented proliferation, migration, and extracellular matrix deposition, culminating in pathological vascular remodeling. Our findings underscore the critical role of PDA in the regulation of pathological vascular remodeling, mediated through the MyD88/CDH13 signaling pathway.
Mice ; Rats ; Animals ; Myeloid Differentiation Factor 88/metabolism* ; Vascular Remodeling ; Cell Proliferation ; Vascular System Injuries/pathology* ; Carotid Artery Injuries/pathology* ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular ; Cell Movement ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Signal Transduction ; Succinates/pharmacology* ; Potassium/pharmacology* ; Cells, Cultured ; Diterpenes ; Cadherins

ObjectiveTriple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the breast cancer subtype with the worst prognosis, and lacks effective therapeutic targets. Colony stimulating factors (CSFs) are cytokines that can regulate the production of blood cells and stimulate the growth and development of immune cells, playing an important role in the malignant progression of TNBC. This article aims to construct a novel prognostic model based on the expression of colony stimulating factors-related genes (CRGs), and analyze the sensitivity of TNBC patients to immunotherapy and drug therapy. MethodsWe downloaded CRGs from public databases and screened for differentially expressed CRGs between normal and TNBC tissues in the TCGA-BRCA database. Through LASSO Cox regression analysis, we constructed a prognostic model and stratified TNBC patients into high-risk and low-risk groups based on the colony stimulating factors-related genes risk score (CRRS). We further analyzed the correlation between CRRS and patient prognosis, clinical features, tumor microenvironment (TME) in both high-risk and low-risk groups, and evaluated the relationship between CRRS and sensitivity to immunotherapy and drug therapy. ResultsWe identified 842 differentially expressed CRGs in breast cancer tissues of TNBC patients and selected 13 CRGs for constructing the prognostic model. Kaplan-Meier survival curves, time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curves, and other analyses confirmed that TNBC patients with high CRRS had shorter overall survival, and the predictive ability of CRRS prognostic model was further validated using the GEO dataset. Nomogram combining clinical features confirmed that CRRS was an independent factor for the prognosis of TNBC patients. Moreover, patients in the high-risk group had lower levels of immune infiltration in the TME and were sensitive to chemotherapeutic drugs such as 5-fluorouracil, ipatasertib, and paclitaxel. ConclusionWe have developed a CRRS-based prognostic model composed of 13 differentially expressed CRGs, which may serve as a useful tool for predicting the prognosis of TNBC patients and guiding clinical treatment. Moreover, the key genes within this model may represent potential molecular targets for future therapies of TNBC.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of Ruyi Zhenbaowan（RYZBW）in the treatment of initial and early knee osteoarthritis （KOA） through a prospective multicenter，randomized，double-blind，and placebo-parallel controlled trial. MethodFrom October 13^th， 2021 to December 25^th， 2021， 240 KOA subjects meeting the acceptance criteria were enrolled in 15 sub-centers including Wangjing Hospital， Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences， and they were randomly divided into observation group and control group， with 120 cases in each group. The intervention measures for the observation group were RYZBW + health education， and the intervention measures for the control group were RYZBW placebo + health education. The intervention period in both groups was four weeks， and they were followed up for four weeks after the intervention. The primary outcome measure was the total score of Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index score （WOMAC score）， and the secondary outcome measures were the response rate of visual scale （VAS） pain score， WOMAC sub item scores （joint pain， joint stiffness， and joint function）， quality of life （SF-12） score， and traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndrome score. Result（1） Efficacy evaluation. The marginal model results showed that the observation group was better than the control group in improving the WOMAC total score and WOMAC pain score in the treatment of KOA with RYZBW， and the difference was statistically significant （P<0.05）. There was no significant difference between the two groups in improving VAS score response rate， WOMAC function score， WOMAC stiffness score， SF12-PCS （quality of life-physical health） score， SF12-MCS （quality of life-mental health） score， and TCM syndrome score. （2） Subgroup analysis. ① In terms of VAS score response rate， the response rate of the observation group was higher than that of the control group for subjects with baseline VAS score of （4， 5］， and the difference was statistically significant （P<0.05）. ② In terms of TCM syndrome score， for subjects aged ［56， 60］ and ［61， 65］， the decrease in total TCM syndrome score in the observation group was better than that in the control group， and the difference was statistically significant （P<0.05）. ConclusionTibetan medicine RYZBW has good clinical efficacy in improving WOMAC total score， VAS score response rate， WOMAC pain score， WOMAC function score， and TCM syndrome score for patients with initial and early KOA， which can fill the lack of Tibetan medicine RYZBW in the treatment of KOA and make a demonstration study for the inheritance and development of ethnic medicine.

Four furan α-butenolactones were isolated from 50% acetone extract of tuber of Alisma orientale by silica gel column, chromatography gel column and high performance liquid chromatography techniques. Their structures were identified by modern wave spectroscopy techniques and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) and assigned as (5R)-5-hydroxy-3,4-dimethylfuran-2(5H)-one (1), 5-hydroxy-3,5-dimethylfuran-2(5H)-one (2), 5-hydroxy-4-(1-methylethyl)-2(5H)-furanone (3) and alismanoid A (4). Compound 1 was new compound and compounds 2–4 were first isolated from Alisma orientale. Compound 1-4 had potential antifibrotic activities.

Sonogenetics is an emerging synthetic biology technique that uses sound waves to activate mechanosensitive ion channel proteins on the cell surface to regulate cell behavior and function.Due to the widespread presence of mechanically sensitive ion channel systems in cells and the advantages of non-invasion,strong penetrability,high safety and high accuracy of sonogenetics technology,it has great development potential in basic biomedical research and clinical applications,especially in neuronal regulation,tumor mechanism research,sonodynamic therapy and hearing impairment.This review discusses the basic principles of sonogenetics,the development status of sonogenetics and its application in the prevention and treatment of noise-induced hearing loss,summarizes and analyzes the current challenges and future development direction,thus providing a reference for further research and development of sonogenetics in the field of military medicine.

ObjectiveTo assess the clinical efficacy and regulation of skin microbiota in children with atopic dermatitis and damp-heat accumulation syndrome treated by Zhaqu Xiaofeng Powder （楂曲消风散， ZXP）. MethodsNinety children were randomized into a treatment group and a control group， each with 45 children. The treatment group received ZXP orally， while the control group received levocetirizine hydrochloride syrup， both for 4 weeks. The atopic dermatitis severity index （SCORAD）score， visual analog scale （VAS）score for itching， children dermatology life quality index （CDLQI）score， and traditional Chinese medicine syndrome score were assessed before and after 2- and 4-week treatment. Simultaneously， adhering to the principles of sample size in microbial sequencing， 25 children were randomly selected from each group （total 50 children）； skin samples were collected before and after treatment， and skin specimen DNA was extracted for 16S rRNA gene amplifier sequencing； the skin microbiota levels were detected， and the distribution of bacteria， diversity of flora， and differences between groups were compared. ResultsThere were five drop-outs in each group， and 40 cases in each group were included in final analysis. After 2- and 4-week treatment， both groups showed a significant reduction in SCORAD scores， VAS scores， and CDLQI scores， and more reductions were shown after 4-week treatment than 2-week treatment （P＜0.01）. The SCORAD score， VAS score， and CDLQI score of the treatment group were significantly lower than those in the control group after 4-week treatment （P＜0.01）. The scores of upset， thirsty， poor appetite， short red urine， and dry stool were reduced in the treatment group （P＜0.05）， while the scores of thirsty， poor appetite， short and red urine decreased after treatment （P＜0.05）. After 4 weeks of treatment， among the differential genera with abundances ＞0.5% in the treatment group， The cumulative relative abundances of Staphylococcus aureus， Streptococcus_mitis， Escherichia coli and Gemella_haemolysans in the treatment group were downregulated after treatment； in the control group， there was a relative cumulative decrease in the abundance of Streptococcus_mitis. The control group had reduced relative abundance of Streptococcus_mitis， Escherichia coli， Staphylococcus aureus and Gemella_haemolysans， after treatment （P＜0.05）. Alpha diversity analysis revealed an increase in both Chaol index and Shannon index after treatment （P＜0.05）， while there was no significant difference in Chaol index and Shannon index in the control group before and after treatment （P＞0.05）. Higher Chaol index and Shannon index were found in the treatment group （P＜0.05）. Beta diversity analysis showed that there were significant differences in the microbial community structure at the lesion site between the treatment group and the control group before treatment. The microbial community structure in the treatment group was similar after treatment， while there was no significant change in the microbial community structure in the control group before and after treatment. There were significant structure differences of key bacteria genus in both groups before and after treatment. ConclusionZXP used in the treatment of pediatric atopic dermatitis （AD）with the syndrome of damp-heat accumulation， has shown efficacy in reducing the severity of skin lesions， alleviating itching， and enhancing the quality of life in children. This modulation aims to decrease the abundance of pathogenic bacteria while promoting the colonization of beneficial bacteria， thereby altering the skin microbiota and contributing to the treatment of pediatric AD.

Objective To establish an HPLC fingerprint of Dingdang Qigui Decoction and analyze and evaluate it using chemical pattern recognition technology;To determine the contents of 5 effective chemical components in Dingdang Qigui Decoction;To provide a basis for its quality control.Methods The analysis was performed on Agilent 5 TC-C18(2)column(250 mm×4.6 mm).The mobile phase comprised of acetonitrile-0.1%phosphoric acid aqueous solution with the gradient elution at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min.The detection wavelength was set at 260 nm.The column temperature was maintained at 30℃and the injection volume was 10 μL.SPSS 26.0 and SIMCA 14.1 were used to perform clustering analysis and principal component analysis on the 10 batches of Didang Qigui Decoction.The landmark components for inter batch differences were selected through orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA).Results The HPLC fingerprint with eighteen common peaks of Didang Qigui Decoction in 10 batches of sample was established,and the similarities of samples were between 0.828 and 0.989.Five indicative components were identified and quantitatively analyzed by comparing with the reference substances,which were paeoniflorin,mauroisoflavone glucoside,hesperidin,cinnamaldehyde and aloe rhodopsin.The linear ranges was 10.000 0-320.000 0 μg/mL,2.500 0-80.000 0 μg/mL,10.000 0-320.000 0 μg/mL,10.000 0-320.000 0 μg/mL,0.078 1-5.000 0 μg/mL,respectively,and their mean recovery ranged from 100.30%to 104.09%.Clustering analysis and principal component analysis divided 10 batches of samples from Didang Qigui Decoction into 2 categories.Through OPLS-DA screening,hairy pistil isoflavone glycosides,paeoniflorin,and hesperidin were selected as landmark components for quality differences.Conclusion The quality evaluation method for Didang Qigui Decoction established in this study is simple,sensitive,accurate,and reproducible,which can provide a basis for the quality evaluation of Didang Qigui Decoction.

Objective:To evaluate the safety and efficacy of tumor-treating fields (TTFields) and chemoradiation in patients with high-grade glioblastoma.Methods:Clinical data of 38 patients admitted to the Jiangsu Cancer Hospital from September 2021 to May 2023 who were diagnosed with high-grade glioblastoma (36 cases of World Health Organization grade Ⅳ and 2 cases of grade Ⅲ) were retrospectively analyzed. All patients received TTFields combined with concurrent chemoradiation after surgery. Response assessment in neuro-oncology (RANO) criteria was used to evaluate the glioma responses as tumor remission, stable or progression. Common terminology criteria for adverse events v5.0 and TTFields related skin adverse reaction (dAE) criteria were used to evaluate the adverse events. Treatment compliance was assessed by data on the NovoTTF-200A therapeutic device, calculated as a percentage of daily TTFields usage time. Survival analysis was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method and compared by the log-rank test.Results:The median duration of treatment with TTFields in 38 patients was 20 h (rang: 2.4-22.6 h), and the median treatment compliance was 83% (range: 10%-94%). After 42 days of TTFields combined with concurrent chemoradiation, 12 patients who underwent complete tumor resection were assessed as stable according to RANO criteria. Among the 26 patients who underwent partial tumor resection, 23 (88%) were evaluated as disease remission according to RANO criteria. The 7-, 10-, 13-month progression-free survival rate was 81.0%、64.0%、49.5%, repectively. The common adverse events included grade 1 (45%) and grade 2 (8%) dAE, without grade 3-4 dAE. Typical presentations included contact dermatitis, blisters, lesions or ulcers, and abscesses. The median follow-up time was 10.0 months (range: 1.6-21.3 months). At follow-up as of July 2023, 26 of the 38 patients were stable and 12 had disease progression (8 died).Conclusion:The preliminary results show that TTFields combined with chemoradiation is effective, safe and reliable treatment for high-grade glioblastoma.

Objective:To report the results of national surveillance on the distribution and antimicrobial resistance profile of clinical Gram-negative bacteria isolates from bloodstream infections in China in 2022.Methods:The clinical isolates of Gram-negative bacteria from blood cultures in member hospitals of national bloodstream infection Bacterial Resistant Investigation Collaborative System（BRICS）were collected during January 2022 to December 2022. Antibiotic susceptibility tests were conducted by agar dilution or broth dilution methods recommended by Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute（CLSI）. WHONET 5.6 and SPSS 25.0 software were used to analyze the data.Results:During the study period，9 035 strains of Gram-negative bacteria were collected from 51 hospitals，of which 7 895（87.4%）were Enterobacteriaceae and 1 140（12.6%）were non-fermenting bacteria. The top 5 bacterial species were Escherichia coli（ n=4 510，49.9%）， Klebsiella pneumoniae（ n=2 340，25.9%）， Pseudomonas aeruginosa（ n=534，5.9%）， Acinetobacter baumannii complex（ n=405，4.5%）and Enterobacter cloacae（ n=327，3.6%）. The ESBLs-producing rates in Escherichia coli， Klebsiella pneumoniae and Proteus spp. were 47.1%（2 095/4 452），21.0%（427/2 033）and 41.1%（58/141），respectively. The prevalence of carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli（CREC）and carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae（CRKP）were 1.3%（58/4 510）and 13.1%（307/2 340）；62.1%（36/58）and 9.8%（30/307）of CREC and CRKP were resistant to ceftazidime/avibactam combination，respectively. The prevalence of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii（CRAB）complex was 59.5%（241/405），while less than 5% of Acinetobacter baumannii complex was resistant to tigecycline and polymyxin B. The prevalence of carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa（CRPA）was 18.4%（98/534）. There were differences in the composition ratio of Gram-negative bacteria in bloodstream infections and the prevalence of main Gram-negative bacteria resistance among different regions，with statistically significant differences in the prevalence of CRKP and CRPA（ χ2=20.489 and 20.252， P<0.001）. The prevalence of CREC，CRKP，CRPA，CRAB，ESBLs-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae were higher in provinicial hospitals than those in municipal hospitals（ χ2=11.953，81.183，10.404，5.915，12.415 and 6.459， P<0.01 or <0.05），while the prevalence of CRPA was higher in economically developed regions（per capita GDP ≥ 92 059 Yuan）than that in economically less-developed regions（per capita GDP <92 059 Yuan）（ χ2=6.240， P=0.012）. Conclusions:The proportion of Gram-negative bacteria in bloodstream infections shows an increasing trend，and Escherichia coli is ranked in the top，while the trend of CRKP decreases continuously with time. Decreasing trends are noted in ESBLs-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Low prevalence of carbapenem resistance in Escherichia coli and high prevalence in CRAB complex have been observed. The composition ratio and antibacterial spectrum of bloodstream infections in different regions of China are slightly different，and the proportion of main drug resistant bacteria in provincial hospitals is higher than those in municipal hospitals.