ObjectiveTo study the changing law of appearance color and physicochemical properties of Angelicae Sinensis Radix Carbonisata（ASRC） during the processing by color space method combined with statistical analysis， so as to provide reference for determining the processing endpoint and evaluating the quality of the decoction pieces. MethodsTaking processing time（4， 8， 12， 16 min） and temperature（180， 200， 220， 240 ℃） as factors， ASRC decoction pieces with different processing degrees were prepared in a completely randomized design. Then， the brightness value（L^*）， red-green value（a^*）， yellow-blue value（b^*）， and total chromaticity value （E^*ab） of the decoction pieces were determined by spectrophotometer， the color difference value（ΔE） was calculated， and the data of colorimetric values were analyzed by discriminant analysis. At the same time， the pH， charcoal adsorption， and contents of tannins， 5-hydroxymethylfurfural（5-HMF）， tryptophan， chlorogenic acid， ferulic acid， senkyunolide I， senkyunolide H and ligustilide of ASRC with different processing degrees were determined by pH meter， ultraviolet and visible spectrophotometry and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography（UPLC）. Principal component analysis（PCA） was used to analyze the data of physicochemical indexes， after determining the processing technology of ASRC， the canonical discriminant function was established to distinguish the decoction pieces with different processing degrees， and leave-one-out cross validation was conducted. Finally， Pearson correlation analysis was used to explore the correlation between various physicochemical indexes and chromaticity values. ResultsWith the prolongation of the processing time， L^*， a^*， b^* and E^*ab all showed a decreasing trend， and the established discriminant model based on color parameters was able to distinguish ASRC with different processing degrees. The pH showed an increasing trend with the prolongation of processing time， and the charcoal adsorption， and the contents of tannins， 5-HMF， and tryptophan all showed an increasing and then decreasing trend. Among them， the charcoal adsorption， contents of tannin and 5-HMF reached their maximum values successively after processing for 8-12 min. While the contents of chlorogenic acid， ferulic acid， senkyunolide I， senkyunolide H and ligustilide decreased with the increase of processing time， with a decrease of 60%-80% at 8 min of processing. Therefore， the optimal processing time should be determined to be 8-12 min. PCA could clearly distinguish ASRC with different processing degrees， while temperature had no significant effect on the processing degree. The 12 batches of process validation results（10 min， 180-240 ℃） showed that except for 3 batches identified as class Ⅱ light charcoal， all other batches were identified as class Ⅲ standard charcoal， and the chromaticity values of each batch of ASRC were within the reference range of class Ⅱ-Ⅲ sample chromaticity values. The correlation analysis showed that the chromaticity values were negatively correlated with pH and charcoal adsorption， and positively correlated with contents of tryptophan， chlorogenic acid， ferulic acid， senkyunolide I， senkyunolide H， and ligustilide. And both pH and charcoal adsorption were negatively correlated with the contents of the above components， but the charcoal adsorption was positively correlated with the content of 5-HMF. ConclusionThe chromaticity values and the contents of various physicochemical indicators of ASRC undergo significant changes with the prolongation of processing time， and there is a general correlation between chromaticity values and various physicochemical indicators. Based on the changes in color and physicochemical indicators， the optimal processing time for ASRC is determined to be 8-12 min. This study reveals the dynamic changes of the relevant indexes in the processing of ASRC， which can provide a reference for the discrimination of the processing degree and the quantitative study of the processing endpoint.

BACKGROUND:Human periodontal stem cells have a certain inhibitory effect on the pro-inflammatory function of M1-type macrophages,and it is not clear whether icariin,which has anti-inflammatory and other pharmacological activities,can enhance the inhibitory effect of human periodontal stem cells on M1-type macrophages. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effect of icariin on M1 macrophages after pretreatment of human periodontal stem cells. METHODS:Primary human periodontal stem cells were isolated,cultured and characterized.THP-1 was induced and M1-type macrophages were identified by immunofluorescence staining and PCR.Human periodontal stem cells were cultured with α-MEM complete medium containing concentrations of 10-7,10-6,10-5,and 10-4 mol/L icariin,and the cytotoxicity of Icariin on human periodontal stem cells was detected by the CCK-8 assay at 1,3,5,and 7 days,respectively.α-MEM complete medium,untreated α-MEM conditioned medium for human periodontal stem cells and α-MEM conditioned medium for human periodontal stem cells pretreated with icariin for 24 hours were conditioned with RPMI-1640 complete medium in a 1:1 ratio for M1-type macrophages in the control,untreated,and pretreated groups,and 24 hours later,the mRNA expression of inflammatory factors in M1 macrophages was detected by RT-PCR.The protein expression of inflammatory factors in M1 macrophages was detected by ELISA.The expression of surface markers and nuclear factor-κB pathway-related proteins in M1/M2 macrophages was detected by western blot assay. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)CCK-8 assay results showed that 10-7,10-6,10-5,10-4 mol/L icariin was not cytotoxic to the human periodontal stem cells,and from day 5 onwards,all the concentrations increased the cell viability,and promoted the cell proliferation.10-4 mol/L icariin was selected for follow-up experiment.(2)RT-PCR and ELISA results showed that compared with the control group,the untreated group and the pretreated group both decreased the expression and secretion of interleukin-1β,interleukin-6,and tumor necrosis factor-α of M1-type macrophages(P<0.05),and the pretreated group was lower than the untreated group(P<0.05).(3)Western blot assay results showed that compared with the untreated group,the expression of CD86 was significantly lower in the pretreated group(P<0.05);compared with the control group,the expression of CD206,a surface marker of M2-type macrophages,was elevated in both the untreated and pretreated groups(P<0.01),and it was significantly higher in the pretreated group than in the untreated group(P<0.01).In M1-type macrophages after 24 hours of conditioned culture,compared with the control group,the expression of nuclear factor-κB/P65 was decreased in the untreated group and the pretreated group(P<0.01),and the expression of p-IκBα was decreased only in the pretreated group(P<0.01);the expression of both nuclear factor-κB/P65 and p-IκBα was significantly reduced in the pretreated group compared with the untreated group(P<0.05),while the difference of IκBα in the three groups was not statistically significant.(4)These results indicated that icariin enhanced the inhibitory effect of human periodontal stem cells on M1-type macrophages,and this effect may be related to the inhibition of the nuclear factor-κB signaling pathway of macrophages.

ObjectiveTo observe the clinical effectiveness and potential mechanism of combined tongue three-needle acupuncture and acupoint application on Lianquan （CV 23） for patients with dysphagia after ischemic stroke. MethodsA prospective study was conducted on 160 patients with post-stroke dysphagia， who were randomly divided into a treatment group and a control group， with 80 cases in each group. The control group received conventional rehabilitation training， while the treatment group received tongue three-needle acupuncture combined with acupoint application on Lianquan （CV 23） on the basis of conventional rehabilitation training， for 4 weeks in both groups. We compared the clinical effectivenss of both groups after treatment， and assessed the swallowing function including videofluoroscopic swallowing study （VFSS）， standardized swallowing assessment （SSA） and functional oral intake scale （FIOS）， swallowing contrast test including hyoid maximum displacement （HmaxD）， pharyngeal transit time （PTT）， and upper esophageal sphincter （UES） opening， surface electromyography （sEMG） test including maximum amplitude and swallowing duration as well as swallowing quality of life questionnaire （SWAL-QOL） score of the patients in both groups before treatment， after 2 weeks and 4 weeks of treatment， respectively. ResultsThe total effective rate in treatment group was 82.50% （66/80）， significantly higher than 66.25% （53/80） in control group （P＜0.05）. The VFSS， and FOIS scores， UES opening rate and HmaxD， sEMG maximal amplitude values， and SWAL-QOL scores were increased in both groups after 2 weeks and 4 weeks of treatment compared with the values before treatment （P＜0.05）， while SSA scores， PTT， and swallowing duration were decreased compared within group before treatment （P＜0.05）. VFSS and FOIS scores， UES opening rate and HmaxD， sEMG maximal amplitude values， and SWAL-QOL scores after 2 and 4 weeks of treatment in the treatment group were higher （P＜0.05）， while SSA scores， PTT， and swallowing duration were lower （P＜0.05） than those in the control group at the same time. ConclusionCombined tongue three-needle acupuncture and acupoint application on Lianquan （CV 23） for patients with dysphagia after ischemic stroke can significantly improve swallowing activities， and its mechanism of action may be related to the improvement of the contraction ability and coordination of swallowing-related muscle groups.

Lymphatic metastasis is the main metastatic route for colorectal cancer, which increases the risk of cancer recurrence and distant metastasis. The properties of the lymph node metastatic colorectal cancer (LNM-CRC) cells are poorly understood, and effective therapies are still lacking. Here, we found that hypoxia-induced fibroblast activation protein alpha (FAPα) expression in LNM-CRC cells. Gain- or loss-function experiments demonstrated that FAPα enhanced tumor cell migration, invasion, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, stemness, and lymphangiogenesis via activation of the STAT3 pathway. In addition, FAPα in tumor cells induced extracellular matrix remodeling and established an immunosuppressive environment via recruiting regulatory T cells, to promote colorectal cancer lymph node metastasis (CRCLNM). Z-GP-DAVLBH, a FAPα-activated prodrug, inhibited CRCLNM by targeting FAPα-positive LNM-CRC cells. Our study highlights the role of FAPα in tumor cells in CRCLNM and provides a potential therapeutic target and promising strategy for CRCLNM.

Objective:To establish the ultra high performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) fingerprints of Mume flos at different flowering stages; To provide reference for the quality research of Mume flos.Methods:The fingerprints of Mume flos were established by UPLC method, and the common peaks were identified by high performance liquid chromatography high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Chemometrics analysis was carried out with the fingerprints' common peak area of plum blossom at different flowering stages as a variable. Semiquantitative analysis of changes in flavonoids and phenolic acids in Mume flos at different flowering stages was conduct using peak area calculation method.Results:Totally 31 common peaks were identified in the fingerprints of plum blossom medicinal materials at different flowering stages and 9 components were identified. Clustering analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA) both classified plum blossom medicinal herbs at different flowering stages into three categories. Among them, there were significant differences between the groups at the bud stage, blooming period, and final flowering period, while the differences between the groups at blooming period and final flowering period were relatively small. The orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) screened 16 different components with VIP>1.0. The contents of phenolic acids in different flowering stages were as follows: bud stage>blooming period>final flowering period, while the contents of flavonoids were as follows: blooming period>final flowering period>bud stage.Conclusions:This method is simple and reliable, and can provide reference for the quality evaluation of plum blossom medicinal materials at different flowering stages.

Objective:To evaluate the effects of objective feedback teaching applied in the specialist nurses training of digestive endoscopy.Methods:Six-eighty nurses participating in the training of specialist nurses of digestive endoscopy in Chongqing were recruited in the study, among which, 30 trainees in 2019 were assigned to the observation group, taking objective feedback teaching, and 38 trainees in 2018 were assigned to the control group, receiving traditional teaching. After the training, the two teaching methods were assessed through theoretical results, operation skills and comprehensive evaluation, and meanwhile a self-designed satisfaction questionnaire on the satisfaction of trainees was conducted. SPSS 25.0 was used to perform t-test, Chi-square test and Mann-Whitney U test. Results:The operation skills (84.90±4.92) and comprehensive quality (86.30±4.62) of observation group were higher than those of the control group [(82.39±4.10), (83.86±5.10)], with statistically significant differences ( P<0.05), while there was no significant difference in theoretical knowledge [(85.80±5.63) vs. (83.68±4.51), P>0.05]. Trainees were satisfied with the new training mode. Conclusion:The objective feedback teaching mode can improve the training effect especially on operation skills and comprehensive quality of the specialist nurses of digestive endoscopy, and insure the satisfaction of specialist nurses with the training.

  Objective  To study the demographic and clinical characteristics, correlation of genotype and phenotype and treatment of Blau syndrome to facilitate early diagnosis and timely treatment of Blau syndrome.  Methods  Seventy-two patients with Blau syndrome from 11 centers from May 2006 to April 2022 were retrospectively analyzed, and their general information, clinical data, laboratory examination and treatment medication were collected.  Results  The distribution of patients with Blau syndrome was uniform in geographical north and south of China, and there was no obvious gender bias. The mean age of onset was (14.30±12.81) months, and the age of diagnosis was (55.18±36.22) months. 35% of patients with Blau syndrome happened before 1 year old, and all patients developed before 5 years old. 87.50% (63/72) had granulomatous arthritis, 65.28% (47/72) had rash, 36.11% (26/72) had ocular involvement, 27.78% (20/72) had fever, and 15.28% (11/72) had pulmonary involvement. Arthritic manifestations of Blau syndrome were most at risk, followed by rash, ocular involvement, and fever.The first 25 months of the disease, the risk of developing a rash was the greatest. The risk of developing arthritis was the greatest between 25 months and 84 months. The main mutations were p.R334Q and p.R334W, and patients with p.R334Q mutation had relatively high incidence of fever (35.71%[5/14] vs. 14.29%[1/7], P=0.43) and ocular involvement (42.86%[6/14]vs. 28.57%[2/7], P=0.51). There was a relatively high incidence of rash (85.71%[6/7] vs. 64.29%[9/14], P=0.59) in patients with the p.R334W mutation. Forty-five patients(62.50%)were treated with a combina-tion of glucocorticoid and methotrexate. Twenty-two patients were treated with tumor necrosis factor antagonist in addition to glucocorticoid and methotrexate.  Conclusions  The risk of different clinical manifestations of Blau syndrome from high to low was arthritis, followed by rash, ocular involvement and fever. The main treatment was glucocorticoid combined with methotrexate, to which biological agents could be added.

Objective:To investigate the role of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ)/CD36 signaling pathway in macrophage lipid metabolism after Mycobacterium tuberculosis ( Mtb) infection. Methods:THP-1-derived macrophages were infected with Mtb. Four groups were included in this study, which were control group, Mtb infection group, Mtb+ rosiglitazone (ROZ, PPARγ agonist) group and Mtb+ GW9662 (PPARγ antagonist) group. Western blot and RT-PCR were used to detect the expression of PPARγ in macrophages at protein and mRNA levels, respectively. The lipids in cells were detected by oil red O staining. The concentrations of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein (LDL-C) and high density lipoprotein (HDL-C) in the supernatant of cell culture were detected by automatic biochemical analyzer. The expression of CD36 was detected by immunohistochemistry. CCK-8 was used to detect the proliferation rate of macrophages. Results:Mtb infection significantly increased the expression of PPARγ in macrophages ( P<0.001), promoted intracellular lipid aggregation and CD36 expression and decreased the levels of TC, TG, LDL-C and HDL-C in the supernatant of cell culture ( P<0.001) and cell proliferation rate ( P<0.001). PPARγ agonist significantly enhanced the intracellular lipid accumulation and CD36 expression that were induced by Mtb infection and down-regulated the lipid level in the supernatant of cell culture and cell proliferation rate, while PPARγ antagonist reversed the above effects. Conclusions:PPARγ played a role in lipid metabolism in Mtb-infected macrophages through affecting CD36 expression.

OBJECTIVE: To report on a novel KIR3DL3 allele identified in a southern Han Chinese individual. METHODS: Peripheral blood sample was collected from a voluntary blood donor with inconclusive result by KIR3DL3 sequence-based typing (SBT). Total mRNA was extracted and subjected to reverse transcription to obtain KIR3DL3 cDNA, which was then amplified by PCR with a pair of KIR3DL3-specific primers. The product was subjected to cDNA cloning and sequencing. RESULTS: cDNA cloning and sequencing have identified a wide-type KIR3DL3*00802 allele and a novel KIR3DL3*064 allele. The latter differed from KIR3DL3*00601 by a missense variant at codon 374[c.1184 C>T (p.Thr374Ile)] in exon 9. The novel KIR3DL3 allele has been officially assigned by the KIR subcommittee of World Health Organization Nomenclature Committee for factors of HLA system. CONCLUSION cDNA cloning and sequencing may be used to distinguish inconclusive results in KIR3DL3 SBT in order to identify novel KIR alleles.

Objective To establish a two-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatography method for the determination of tigecycline in human cerebrospinal fluid, which can be used for the drug monitoring in patients with intracranial infection. Methods The quantification was carried out by an external standard method. The first-dimension column was a Aston SNX5 phenyl chromatographic column (50 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm) with ammonium phosphate (pH was adjusted with ammonium hydroxide to 7.5)-methanol (45∶55, V/V) as the mobile phase and the flow rate was 1.2 ml/min. The second-dimension chromatographic column was Aston SC5 C₁₈ (275 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm), with ammonium phosphate (pH was adjusted with ammonium hydroxide to 7.4)-ammonium phosphate (pH was adjusted with ammonium hydroxide to 3.0)- acetonitrile (30∶50∶20, V/V/V) as the mobile phase and the flow rate was 1.0 ml/min. The detection wavelength was 340 nm. The temperature was 40 ℃ and the injection volume was 200 μl. Results The calibration curve of tigecycline showed good linearity from 64.5 to 1 290.0 ng/ml in human cerebrospinal fluid (r=0.999 8). The RSD of intra and inter-day precision were less than 5.0% with the detection accuracy of 98.80%−106.51%. Conclusion This method is simple, quick, accurate, specific and sensitive. It meets the requirements of tigecycline determination in clinical human cerebrospinal fluid, which offers the individualized therapeutic assurance for patients with intracranial infection.