Objective To investigate the effects of icariin on high glucose-induced autophagy and apoptosis of podocytes,and the regulating effects on mammalian target of rapamycin(mTOR)/serine-threonine kinase(Akt)/cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element binding protein(CREB)pathway.Methods The mouse podocytes MPC5 were taken and divided into five groups:normal control group(5.5 mmol·L-1 glucose),high glucose group(30 mmol·L-1 glucose),icariin group(30 mmol·L-1glucose+5 μmol·L-1icariin),GDC-0349 group(30 mmol·L-1glucose+50 μmol·L-1 GDC-0349),icariin+GDC-0349 group(30 mmol·L-1 glucose+5 μmol·L-1 icariin+50 μmol·L-1 GDC-0349).Cultured for 48 hours,the tetramethylazozolium salt method was used to detect the viability of MPC5 cells;acridine orange staining was used to observe the autophagy of MPC5 cells;apoptosis of MPC5 cells was detected by flow cytometry;Western blotting was used to detect the expression of autophagy[microtubule associated protein one light chain 3(LC3)II,LC3Ⅰ,autophagy-related protein(Beclin-1)],apoptosis[Bcl-2 related X protein(Bax),B cell lymphoma-2(Bcl-2)]and mTOR/Akt/CREB pathway-related proteins of MPC5 cells.Results Compared with the normal control group,the cell viability,expression levels of Bcl-2,phosphorylated mTOR(p-mTOR)/mTOR,phosphorylated Akt(p-Akt)/Akt,phosphorylated CREB(p-CREB)/CREB protein of MPC5 cells in the high glucose group were significantly decreased(P＜0.05),the autophagy ability was enhanced,the autophagosome showed orange fluorescence,and the apoptosis rate,LC3Ⅱ/LC3Ⅰ,Beclin-1,Bax protein expression levels were significantly increased(P＜0.05).Compared with the high glucose group,the cell viability,LC3Ⅱ/LC3Ⅰ,Beclin-1,Bcl-2,p-mTOR/mTOR,p-Akt/Akt,p-CREB/CREB protein expression levels of MPC5 cells in icariin group were significantly increased,the autophagy ability was further enhanced,the number of autophagosomes was increased,the autophagosomes showed brick red fluorescence(P＜0.05),the apoptosis rate and Bax protein expression level were significantly decreased(P＜0.05),and the cell viability,LC3Ⅱ/LC3Ⅰ,Beclin-1,Bcl-2,p-mTOR/mTOR,p-Akt/Akt and p-CREB/CREB proteins expression levels of MPC5 cells in GDC-0349 group were significantly decreased,the autophagy ability was weakened,the number of autophagosomes was reduced,the autophagosomes showed orange fluorescence(P＜0.05),and the apoptosis rate and Bax protein expression level were significantly increased(P＜0.05);icariin+GDC-0349 could reverse the effect of icariin on high glucose induced MPC5 cells(P＜0.05).Conclusion Icariin promotes elevated glucose-induced podocyte autophagy and inhibits apoptosis by activating the mTOR/Akt/CREB pathway.

Abstract Dry eye disease is a chronic ocular surface inflammatory disease caused by abnormal tear quality or quantity and decreased tear film stability due to various reasons, and often accompanied by ocular discomfort such as itching, dryness, foreign body sensation, and visual dysfunction, which can seriously affect the patient′s quality of life and visual quality if not intervened in time. With the change of social lifestyles, the increase of environmental pollution and the trend of population aging, dry eye disease has become the most common ocular surface disease besides refractive error. Currently, dry eye disease is widely recognized as a non-infectious immune-related inflammatory disease, but the signaling pathways involved in dry eye disease are poorly understood. Whether dry eye disease is caused by excessive tear evaporation, insufficient tear production, or mucin deficiency, the ocular surface tissues(cornea/conjunctiva) inevitably undergo pathological processes such as aberrant proliferation, squamous epithelial hyperplasia, initiation of corneal damage repair mechanisms, and reduction in the number of conjunctival goblet cells, whereas the Wnt/β-catenin pathway is known to have a wide range of biological functions and plays an important role in cell proliferation, differentiation, and stemness maintenance. Therefore, this review describes the pathogenesis and potential experimental therapeutic options of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in dry eye disease from this perspective, aiming to provide new targets for the treatment of dry eye disease and achieve the goal of controlling the disease progression from the root.

Objectives:To determine the effect of glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency on patients’ complications and prognosis following allogeneic stem cell hematopoietic transplantation (allo-HSCT) .Methods:7 patients with G6PD deficiency (study group) who underwent allo-HSCT at Peking University People's Hospital from March 2015 to January 2021 were selected as the study group, and thirty-five patients who underwent allo-HSCT during the same period but did not have G6PD deficiency were randomly selected as the control group in a 1∶5 ratio. Gender, age, underlying diseases, and donors were balanced between the two groups. Collect clinical data from two patient groups and perform a retrospective nested case-control study.Results:The study group consisted of six male patients and one female patient, with a median age of 37 (range, 2-45) years old. The underlying hematologic diseases included acute myeloid leukemia ( n=3), acute lymphocytic leukemia ( n=2), and severe aplastic anemia ( n=2). All 7 G6PD deficiency patients achieved engraftment of neutrophils within 28 days of allo-HSCT, while the engraftment rate of neutrophils was 94.5% in the control group. The median days of platelet engraftment were 21 (6–64) d and 14 (7–70) d ( P=0.113). The incidence rates of secondary poor graft function in the study group and control group were 42.9% (3/7) and 8.6% (3/35), respectively ( P=0.036). The CMV infection rates were 71.4% (5/7) and 31.4% (11/35), respectively ( P=0.049). The incidence rates of hemorrhagic cystitis were 57.1% (4/7) and 8.6% (3/35), respectively ( P=0.005), while the bacterial infection rates were 100% (7/7) and 77.1% (27/35), respectively ( P=0.070). The infection rates of EBV were 14.3% (1/7) and 14.3% (5/35), respectively ( P=1.000), while the incidence of fungal infection was 14.3% (1/7) and 25.7% (9/35), respectively ( P=0.497). The rates of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD) were 0% and 5.7%, respectively ( P=0.387) . Conclusions:The findings of this study indicate that blood disease patients with G6PD deficiency can tolerate conventional allo-HSCT pretreatment regimens, and granulocytes and platelets can be implanted successfully. However, after transplantation, patients should exercise caution to avoid viral infection, complications of hemorrhagic cystitis, and secondary poor graft function.

Objective:To analyze the spatial-temporal epidemiological characteristics of pertussis from 2013 to 2022 in Hebei Province and to provide a reference for improving prevention and control measures.Methods:Based on the data of pertussis reported in Hebei Province during 2013-2022 to analyze the popular characteristic, the ArcGIS 10.8 software was used to construct a ring map and to perform spatial autocorrelation analysis; the SaTScan 10.1 software was used for spatial-temporal scan statistics.Results:There were 6 715 cases of the cumulative report in Hebei Province from 2013 to 2022 without death. The annual report incidence was 0.90/100 000. The overall incidence rate showed an upward trend from 2013 to 2019, and during 2020-2021, it showed a sharp decline, but in 2022, it showed a sharp increase. Summer and autumn are the peak seasons of the epidemic. The incidence was highest in age group <1 year (48.67%), and the lowest age group in age group ≥15 years (0.45%) and mainly scattered children (78.03%); the incidence about men is higher than women. Spatial autocorrelation analysis showed that the onset of pertussis has spatial clustering, and high-high clusters were found in Langfang, Baoding, and Cangzhou, the top three countries with reported incidence. The area covered by a low-low cluster was consistent with the distribution of the corresponding low-incidence areas in this study. Space-time scan detects five statistically significant areas, and three zones were concentrated in 2022.Conclusions:The incidence of pertussis in Hebei had obvious season, population, and area-specific differences. There was obvious spatiotemporal and clustering, so the control of key areas should target the characteristics of time and space.

Food toxicology plays a crucial role in supporting scientific and technical aspects of food safety risk assessment.However,traditional methods relying on animal testing are becoming increas-ingly inadequate for identifying and evaluating emerging foods and unknown risks.There is a strong push worldwide towards the development of new approach methodologies(NAMs)based on non-animal testing methods.Policies and regulations related to NAMs are being standardized gradually in the European Union,the United States,and China.Some progress has also been made in applying these methodologies in food toxicology research in China.For instance,within the"Food Toxicology Program"at the National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment,high-content and high-throughput in vitro hazard identification models employing model organisms like human macrophages,hepatocytes,adipocytes,embryonic stem cells,and zebrafish,as well as Toxicological Thresholds of Concern and quantitative in vitro to in vivo extrapolation based on physiologically-based toxicokinetic models have been estab-lished and applied.Nonetheless,new toxicological hazard identification technologies still face challenges such as inadequate elucidation of toxic mechanisms,insufficient collaborative research efforts,and inef-ficient translation of these findings into practical applications.

Objective:To investigate the carriage status of Neisseria meningitidis ( Nm) among the healthy population in Hebei Province for the prevention and control of meningitis. Methods:From 2015 to 2022, throat swabs were collected from health people, which were selected by cluster random sampling in 11 cities of Hebei.The positive rate of Nm was detected by bacterial culture. The serogroups of isolated strains were identified.The laboratory detection results of Nm strains, combined with epidemiological survey data, were synthetically analyzed. Results:A total of 20 245 people were investigated; 249 strains of Nm were isolated; the overall Nm carriage rate was 1.23%. The carriage rate was significantly higher in men than in women(χ 2=28.831, P<0.05). The positive rates of Nm in different age groups were significantly different(χ 2=428.018, P<0.05), with the highest rates in the 15-19 year-old group(4.90%, 149/3 042). The positive rates of Nm were significantly different in different regions(χ 2=177.512, P<0.05), with the highest positive rate of Nm in Xingtai, Shijiazhuang, Chengde and Baoding city in sequence. Among the isolated Nm strains, ungroupable serogroups, serogroup B, serogroup C, and serogroup W accounted for 71.49%(178/249), 13.65%(34/249), 6.83%(17/249) and 4.42%(11/249), respectively. Conclusions:The carriage rate of Nm among healthy population is generally low in Hebei Province. It is recommended to continue to strengthen monitoring, pay attention to the changes and distribution characteristics of Nm, and formulate scientific and targeted prevention and control measures of meningococcal disease.

Purpose: The risk stratification of pediatric anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) has not been standardized. In this study, new risk factors were included to establish a new risk stratification system for ALCL, and its feasibility in clinical practice was explored. Materials and Methods: On the basis of the non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma Berlin–Frankfurt–Munster 95 (NHL-BFM-95) protocol, patients with minimal disseminated disease (MDD), high-risk tumor site (multiple bone, skin, liver, and lung involvement), and small cell/lymphohistiocytic (SC/LH) pathological subtype were enrolled in risk stratification. Patients were treated with a modified NHL-BFM-95 protocol combined with an anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibitor or vinblastine (VBL). Results: A total of 136 patients were enrolled in this study. The median age was 8.8 years. The 3-year event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival of the entire cohort were 77.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 69.0% to 83.9%) and 92.3% (95% CI, 86.1% to 95.8%), respectively. The 3-year EFS rates of low-risk group (R1), intermediate-risk group (R2), and high-risk group (R3) patients were 100%, 89.5% (95% CI, 76.5% to 95.5%), and 67.9% (95% CI, 55.4% to 77.6%), respectively. The prognosis of patients with MDD (+), stage IV cancer, SC/LH lymphoma, and high-risk sites was poor, and the 3-year EFS rates were 45.3% (95% CI, 68.6% to 19.0%), 65.7% (95% CI, 47.6% to 78.9%), 55.7% (95% CI, 26.2% to 77.5%), and 70.7% (95% CI, 48.6% to 84.6%), respectively. At the end of follow-up, one of the five patients who received maintenance therapy with VBL relapsed, and seven patients receiving anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibitor maintenance therapy did not experience relapse. Conclusion This study has confirmed the poor prognostic of MDD (+), high-risk site and SC/LH, but patients with SC/LH lymphoma and MDD (+) at diagnosis still need to receive better treatment (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03971305).

ObjectiveTo reveal the effects of different microbial agents on quality of Lycii Fructus by comparing the differences in the contents of multiple types of chemical components in Lycii Fructus after the application of different microbial agents. MethodTaking Ningqi No. 7 as experimental material， four microbial agents， namely Peiyuan combined with Xinterui（TP group）， Trichoderma harzianum combined with Bacillus subtilis（BW group）， Genwuyou（MT group） and Junyiduo（JYD group）， were applied， and no microbial agents was used as the blank group（CK group）. Then the contents of total phenolics， total flavonoids， saccharides， amino acids， nucleosides and bases， betaine and other components in Lycii Fructus were determined by ultraviolet spectrophotometry（UV）， high performance liquid chromatography（HPLC） and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry（UHPLC-MS/MS）， and the methods such as multiple comparisons， principal component analysis（PCA） and partial least squares-discriminant analysis（PLS-DA） were used to analyze the effect of different microbial agents on the quality of Lycii Fructus. ResultMicrobial agents had different effects on chemical components of Lycii Fructus. The content of total phenolics was the highest in the TP group， and it varied significantly from the CK group（P<0.05）. The total flavonoid content was the highest in the BW group， followed by the TP group. Both polysaccharide and alduronic acid contents were the highest in the JYD group. Betaine content in the TP and BW groups were significantly higher than that in the CK group（P<0.05）. For the determined 23 kinds of amino acids， most of them were the lowest in the JYD group， and the highest in the MT group， while the nucleoside bases were higher in the MT and BW groups. It indicated that Lycii Fructus from different treatment groups could be distinguished clearly based on the determined 45 chemical components. The result of PLS-DA showed that the major differential components in each group were polysaccharides， glucose， fructose， betaine， alduronic acid， asparagine， sucrose， threonine， total flavonoids， alanine and total phenolics. The results of PCA composite scores based on the main differential components showed that composite scores of chemical components in each group were BW group>TP group>MT group>CK group>JYD group. ConclusionThe application of microbial agents of BW， TP and MT can promote the quality improvement of Lycii Fructus， and the application of JYD can promote the accumulation of polysaccharides and alduronic acid to a certain extent， but the overall effect on the quality of Lycii Fructus is not clear. This study lays the foundation for the green and healthy development of Lycii Fructus industry.

ObjectiveTo study the changes of mitochondrial function of ovarian granulosa cells in women of different ages and the effect of Erzhi-Tiangui prescription on in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer （IVF-ET） outcomes for elderly women， so as to verify the connotation of the "Seven-Seven" theory in the Huangdi's Internal Classic （《黄帝内经》）. MethodA total of 150 infertility patients undergoing IVF-ET at the Reproductive and Genetic Center of Integrative Medicine， Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine were recruited and assigned into "hree-Seven/Four-Seven （30 cases）， Five-Seven （60 cases）， and Six-Seven （60 cases） groups according to the "Seven-Seven" theory. The Five-Seven and Six-Seven groups were further assigned into control and Chinese medicine subgroups using the random number plus envelope method， and the Chinese medicine group was administrated with Erzhi Tiangui prescription from the start day of controlled ovulation stimulation cycle to the trigger day. The IVF outcome was observed， and Western blot was employed to determine the levels of mitofusin 1 （MFN1）， mitofusin 2 （MFN2）， and dynamin-related protein 1 （Drp1） in the ovarian granulosa cells. ResultCompared with the Three-Seven/Four-Seven group， the control subgroups of the Five-Seven and Six-Seven groups showed decreased retrieved oocytes， two pronuclear （2PN） embryos， available embryos， high-quality embryos， clinical pregnancy rate， and live birth rate （P<0.05）. Moreover， the control subgroup of the Six-Seven group showed decreased fresh embryo transfer rate（P<0.05）. Compared with the control subgroup of the Five-Seven group， that of the Six-Seven group showed reduced retrieved oocytes， 2PN embryos， available embryos， high-quality embryos， and clinical pregnancy rate （P<0.05）. The Chinese medicine subgroup had more retrieved oocytes， 2PN oocytes， and available embryos than the control subgroup in the Five-Seven groups （P<0.05）. The Chinese medicine subgroup had more retrieved oocytes， than the control subgroup in the Six-Seven groups （P<0.05）. The control subgroup of the Six-Seven group showed lower expression levels of Mfn1 and Mfn2 and higher level of Drp1 than the control subgroup of the Five-Seven group （P<0.05）， which indicated that the levels of Mfn1 and Mfn2 in ovarian granulosa cells were down-regulated while the expression of Drp1 was up-regulated with aging （P<0.05）. The Chinese medicine subgroup had higher Mfn2 level and lower Drp1 level than the control subgroup in the Five-Seven group （P<0.05）， and the Chinese medicine subgroup had higher Mfn1 and Mfn2 levels and lower Drp1 level than then control subgroup in the Six-Seven group （P<0.05）. ConclusionsThe prognosis of IVF in women after "Five-Seven" became worse with aging， and the mitochondria in ovarian granulosa cells showed decreased fusion ability and increased fission， which verified the connotation of the "Seven-Seven" theory from the mitochondrial function. Erzhi Tiangui prescription can regulate the mitochondrial function of ovarian granulosa cells in elderly women， up-regulate the expression levels of Mfn1 and Mfn2 to promote mitochondrial fusion， and down-regulate the expression of Drp1 to reduce mitochondrial fission， thus alleviating the ovarian hypofunction caused by aging， improve the development potential of oocytes， and improve the IVF outcomes of elderly women. However， this prescription has limited efficacy for the elderly women in the age range of "Six-Seven".

Objective:To investigate the expression levels of peripheral blood lymphocytes in patients with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) of the cervix and early cervical cancer, and to analyze their correlation with the clinicopathological characteristics of cervical cancer.Methods:The clinical data of 65 patients with HSIL and 78 patients with early cervical cancer (2018 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage ≤ stage Ⅱ A) treated in Shanxi Province Cancer Hospital from October 2020 to November 2021 were retrospectively analyzed, and 31 healthy people undergoing physical examination during the same period were treated as the healthy control group. The expressions of CD3 + T cells, CD4 + T cells, CD8 + T cells, NK cells, NK/T cells and other immune cells in fasting peripheral blood of the patients were detected by using flow cytometry. Results:The expression levels of CD3 + T cells, CD4 + T cells, CD4 +/CD8 + and NK cells were 71±8, 39±7, 1.5±0.5, 16±7, respectively in HSIL group, and 73±9, 41±9, 1.5±0.6, 16±9, respectively in early cervical cancer group, which were lower than those in the healthy control group (76±9, 45±10, 2.0±1.3, 20±7) (all P < 0.05). The expression levels of CD8 + T cells was 28±7, 29±8, respectively in HSIL group and early cervical cancer group, which were higher than those in the healthy control group (24±7) (all P < 0.05). The expression level of total B cells in early cervical cancer group was lower than that in healthy control group (10±4 vs.12±3, P < 0.05). The expression level of CD3 + T cells in peripheral blood of early cervical cancer patients with tumor diameter >4 cm and nerve/vascular invasion was 71±10 and 72±8, which was lower than that of patients with tumor diameter 2-4 cm, ≤2 cm and without nerve/vascular invasion (72±8, 75±8, 78±7); the expression level of CD8 + T cell was 32±8 and 35±4, which was higher than that of patients with tumor diameter 2-4 cm, ≤2 cm, and without nerve/vascular invasion (28±8, 28±7, 29±8) (all P < 0.05). The levels of CD3 + T cells and total B cells were negatively correlated with the tumor diameter (all P < 0.05), while the level of CD8 + T cells was positively correlated with tumor diameter ( P < 0.05); the levels of CD3 + T cells and NK cells were negatively correlated with nerve/vascular invasion (all P < 0.05). Conclusions:The immune function of the body starts to change in the early progression of cervical cancer, and is related to the tumor diameter and nerve/vascular invasion of cervical cancer.