Bioactive compounds derived from herbal medicinal plants modulate various therapeutic targets and signaling pathways associated with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), the world's primary cause of death. Ginkgo biloba, a well-known traditional Chinese medicine with notable cardiovascular actions, has been used as a cardio- and cerebrovascular therapeutic drug and nutraceutical in Asian countries for centuries. Preclinical studies have shown that ginkgolide B, a bioactive component in Ginkgo biloba, can ameliorate atherosclerosis in cultured vascular cells and disease models. Of clinical relevance, several clinical trials are ongoing or being completed to examine the efficacy and safety of ginkgolide B-related drug preparations in the prevention of cerebrovascular diseases, such as ischemia stroke. Here, we present a comprehensive review of the pharmacological activities, pharmacokinetic characteristics, and mechanisms of action of ginkgolide B in atherosclerosis prevention and therapy. We highlight new molecular targets of ginkgolide B, including nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidases (NADPH oxidase), lectin-like oxidized LDL receptor-1 (LOX-1), sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), platelet-activating factor (PAF), proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) and others. Finally, we provide an overview and discussion of the therapeutic potential of ginkgolide B and highlight the future perspective of developing ginkgolide B as an effective therapeutic agent for treating atherosclerosis.

Objective To analyze the medication laws of children with nephrotic syndrome during hormone withdrawal period treated by TCM master Zhang Qi using data mining methods,inheriting his academic ideas.Methods The medical records of children with nephrotic syndrome during the hormone withdrawal period treated by Professor Zhang Qi at the Outpatient Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Heilongjiang Provincial Hospital from January 2008 to December 2018 were collected.A database was established using Excel 2019.Frequency statistics,association rules,and clustering analysis were employed among other data mining techniques to elucidate Professor Zhang Qi's medication principles based on the Traditional Chinese Medicine Inheritance Computing Platform 3.5.Results A total of 271 prescriptions were selected,encompassing 194 types of Chinese herbs,with a total drug frequency of 4 610 instances.High-frequency herbs included Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma,Astragali Radix,Nelumbinis Semen,Ophiopogonis Radix,Lycii Cortex,Poria,Pseudostellariae Radix,Bupleuri Radix,Lonicerae Japonicae Flos,and others.The properties of the drugs were predominantly cold and neutral,with flavors mainly sweet,bitter and pungent,and they targeted the lung meridian,spleen meridian,and kidney meridian primarily.In terms of therapeutic efficacy,there was a higher frequency of usage for tonifying deficiencies,clearing heat,and resolving water and dampness.Through association rule analysis,a total of 184 groups of high-frequency herb combinations were identified.When the support rate was set at 60%,seven core herb combinations were included:Astragali Radix,Pseudostellariae Radix,Nelumbinis Semen,Ophiopogonis Radix,Lycii Cortex,Poria,Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma.Clustering analysis yielded 6 novel formula combinations.Conclusion The hormone withdrawal period for children with nephrotic syndrome is characterized by the weakness of the lung,spleen and kidney,commonly presenting as qi-yin deficiency syndrome.Professor Zhang Qi manages the condition by regulating the qi of the lung,spleen and kidney,and employs a treatment strategy that is both tonifying and supplementing.To balance yin and yang,medications are chosen to clear dampness and heat,regulate qi and the stomach,and promote the elimination of water and dampness.

Aim To construct a diabetic atherosclerosis mouse model and study the pathological characteristics of diabetic atherosclerosis.Methods Fifty 8-week-old male LDLR-/-mice were fed with standard diet for 2 weeks and then changed to high-fat diet,they were randomly divided into two groups.The diabetic atherosclerosis group was given intraperitoneal injection of low dose streptozotocin(STZ)for 5 days continuouly to establish the model,and the atheroscle-rosis group was given citrate buffer injection at the same time.The body mass,blood glucose and blood lipids of the mice in the two groups were detected for many times.At the age of 23 weeks,the mice were euthanized after glucose tolerance test.HE staining and oil red O staining were used to detect the gross and aortic root atherosclerosis,immunohistochemical staining was used to detect CD4,α-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA),EGF-like module-containing mucin-like hormone re-ceptor-like 1(EMR1),monocyte chemotactic protein-1(MCP-1),NOD-like receptor protein 3(NLRP3),vascular cell adhesion molecule-1(VCAM-1),matrix metalloproteinase-2(MMP-2)and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1(TIMP-1),Western blot was used to detect α-SMA,CD4,tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),NLPR3,intercellular adhesion molecule-1(ICAM-1),and type Ⅰ and Ⅲ collagen.Results Compared with the atherosclerosis group,the body mass decreased,the levels of total cholesterol(TC),triglyceride(TG),low density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDLC)increased,and the levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDLC)decreased(P＜0.05)in the diabetic atherosclerosis group.Compared with the atherosclerosis group,the distribution of atherosclerotic plaques was diffuse and the area was increased in the diabetic atherosclerosis group,and the contents of lipids,T cells,macrophages,smooth muscle cells,type Ⅰ and Ⅲ colla-gen were increased(P＜0.05);the protein levels of TNF-α,MCP-1,MMP-2,NLRP3,ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 in vascular tissues were increased,while the content of TIMP-1 were decreased and MMP2/TIMP-1 were increased(P＜0.05).Conclusions LDLR-mouse model of diabetic atherosclerosis can be successfully established by STZ induction combined with high-fat diet,which can reflect the plaque composition and inflammatory characteristics of diabetes promoting atheroscle-rosis.It can be used as a relatively ideal pathological model for the study of diabetic macroangiopathy.

Background::Breast cancer is ranked among the most prevalent malignancies in the Chinese female population. However, comprehensive reports detailing the latest epidemiological data and attributable disease burden have not been extensively documented.Methods::In 2018, high-quality cancer surveillance data were recorded in 700 population-based cancer registries in China. We extracted data on female breast cancers (International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision [ICD-10]: C50) and estimated the incidence and mortality in 2022 according to the baseline data and corresponding trends from 2010 to 2018. Pathological types were classified according to the ICD for Oncology, 3rd Edition codes. Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were calculated as the sum of the years of life lost (YLLs) and years lived with disability (YLDs).Results::In 2022, approximately 357,200 new female breast cancer cases and 75,000 deaths occurred in China, accounting for 15.59% and 7.94% of total new cancer cases and deaths, respectively. The age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) was 33.04 per 100,000. When analyzed by pathological type, the ASIRs for papillary neoplasms, invasive breast carcinoma, rare and salivary gland-type tumors, and other types were 1.13, 29.79, 0.24, and 1.88 per 100,000, respectively. The age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) was 6.10 per 100,000. A total of 2,628,000 DALYs were found to be attributable to female breast cancer in China, comprising 2,278,300 YLLs and 349,700 YLDs. The ASIR, ASMR, and age-standardized rate (ASR) for DALYs in urban areas were consistently higher than those in rural areas. We observed a four-fold increase in the ASIR and ASR for DALYs and an eight-fold increase in the ASMR among females over 55 years compared with those aged under 55 years.Conclusion::These data provide invaluable insights into the latest epidemiology of female breast cancer in China and highlight the urgency for disease prevention and control strategy formulation.

BACKGROUND: Three-dimensional shear wave elastography (3D-SWE) is a promising method in distinguishing benign and malignant thyroid nodules. By combining with conventional method, it may further improve the diagnostic value. The study aimed to assess the diagnostic value of American College of Radiology (ACR) thyroid imaging reporting and data system (TI-RADS) combined with 3D-SWE in ACR TI-RADS 4 and 5 thyroid nodules. METHODS: All nodules were examined by conventional ultrasonography, ACR TI-RADS classification, and 3D-SWE examination. Conventional ultrasonography was used to observe the location, size, shape, margin, echogenicity, taller-than-wide sign, microcalcification, and blood flow of thyroid nodules, and then ACR TI-RADS classification was performed. The Young's modulus values (3D-C-Emax, 3D-C-Emean, and elastography standard deviation [3D-C-Esd]) were measured on the reconstructed coronal plane images. According to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, the best diagnostic efficiency among 3D-C-Emax, 3D-C-Emean, and 3D-C-Esd was selected and the cut-off threshold was calculated. According to the surgical pathology, they were divided into benign group and malignant group. And appropriate statistical methods such as t -test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to compare the difference between the two groups. On this basis, 3D-SWE combined with conventional ACR TI-RADS was reclassified as combined ACR TI-RADS to determine benign or malignant thyroid nodules. RESULTS: Of the 112 thyroid nodules, 62 were malignant and 50 were benign. The optimal cut-off value of three-dimensional maximum Young's modulus in coronal plane (3D-C-Emax) was 51.5 kPa and the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.798. The AUC, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of conventional ACR TI-RADS were 0.828, 83.9%, 66.0%, and 75.9%, respectively. The AUC, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of combined ACR TI-RADS were 0.845, 90.3%, 66.0%, and 79.5%, respectively. The difference between the two AUC values was statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS Combined ACR TI-RADS has higher diagnostic efficiency than conventional ACR TI-RADS. The sensitivity and accuracy of combined ACR TI-RADS showed significant improvements. It can be used as an effective method in the diagnosis of thyroid nodules.
Humans ; Thyroid Nodule/pathology* ; Elasticity Imaging Techniques/methods* ; Retrospective Studies ; Ultrasonography/methods*

Gastric cancer （GC） is one of the common malignant tumors， and the incidence and mortality of GC in China rank first in the world. At present， the pathogenesis of GC has not been fully clarified. Although surgery， radiotherapy， chemotherapy， targeted therapy， and immunotherapy have achieved good results in the treatment of GC， there are still many complications， decreased sensitivity， and severe side effects. Banxia Xiexintang， derived from Treatise on Cold Damage and Miscellaneous Diseases（《伤寒杂病论》）， has been clinically used for more than 2000 years with the effects of combining cold and warm drugs， dissipating mass， and relieving stuffiness， and is a classic prescription for treating digestive tract diseases in later generations. Through clinical observation and experimental research， it is found that Banxia Xiexintang and its single drugs have good effect in preventing and treating GC. Chinese medicine has multi-component and multi-target characteristics and can treat GC through various mechanisms. Therefore， it is necessary to carry out systematic and in-depth research from the aspects of molecular biology and network pharmacology， and comprehensively reveal the mechanism of Banxia Xiexintang in preventing and treating GC. At present， the mechanism of Banxia Xiexintang in treating GC mainly focuses on inducing apoptosis of GC cells， inhibiting proliferation， migration， and invasion of GC cells， protecting peritoneal mesothelial cells， inhibiting peritoneal metastasis of GC cells， regulating GC microenvironment， and inhibiting the malignant transformation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells （BMSCs）. This research group is committed to the prevention and treatment of GC with Banxia Xiexintang， aiming to comprehensively reveal the mechanism of action and the pharmacodynamic material basis of Banxia Xiexintang in the prevention and treatment of GC， and provide an important scientific basis for further clinical application of Banxia Xiexintang. After searching CNKI， PubMed， Wanfang Data， VIP， and other databases， this paper summarized Banxia Xiexintang in the treatment of GC from the aspects of prescription basis， material basis， network pharmacology， clinical and experimental studies， etc.， so as to provide references for further research on pharmacological effect of Banxia Xiexintang and its application in the clinical treatment of GC.

The clinical utilization of doxorubicin (Dox) in various malignancies is restrained by its major adverse effect: irreversible cardiomyopathy. Extensive studies have been done to explore the prevention of Dox cardiomyopathy. Currently, ferroptosis has been shown to participate in the incidence and development of Dox cardiomyopathy. Sorting Nexin 3 (SNX3), the retromer-associated cargo binding protein with important physiological functions, was identified as a potent therapeutic target for cardiac hypertrophy in our previous study. However, few study has shown whether SNX3 plays a critical role in Dox-induced cardiomyopathy. In this study, a decreased level of SNX3 in Dox-induced cardiomyopathy was observed. Cardiac-specific Snx3 knockout (Snx3-cKO) significantly alleviated cardiomyopathy by downregulating Dox-induced ferroptosis significantly. SNX3 was further demonstrated to exacerbate Dox-induced cardiomyopathy via induction of ferroptosis in vivo and in vitro, and cardiac-specific Snx3 transgenic (Snx3-cTg) mice were more susceptible to Dox-induced ferroptosis and cardiomyopathy. Mechanistically, SNX3 facilitated the recycling of transferrin 1 receptor (TFRC) via direct interaction, disrupting iron homeostasis, increasing the accumulation of iron, triggering ferroptosis, and eventually exacerbating Dox-induced cardiomyopathy. Overall, these findings established a direct SNX3-TFRC-ferroptosis positive regulatory axis in Dox-induced cardiomyopathy and suggested that targeting SNX3 provided a new effective therapeutic strategy for Dox-induced cardiomyopathy through TFRC-dependent ferroptosis.

Objective:To analyse the changes in color Doppler and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) blood flow parameters in patients with septic acute kidney injury (AKI) from the perspective of macroscopic circulation and microscopic circulation perfusion, in order to explore the value of clinical application of ultrasound in this disease.Methods:A total of 53 ICU-admitted patients diagnosed with septic AKI at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from January 2021 to May 2022 were selected.Patients with septic AKI were classified into stages 1-3 according to the 2012 Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) AKI diagnostic criteria, with stage 1 being the mild group(17 cases), stages 2 and 3 being the severe group(21 cases), and septic patients without AKI in the same period being the control group(15 cases). The ultrasound parameters such as the relative blood flow(RBF) and time-averaged velocity(TAV) of the renal artery as well as the cardiac output (CO) and cardiac index (CI) in the macroscopic circulation were measured, and the time-intensity curve was analysed by the CEUS analysis software to calculate the microscopic parameters such as time to peak(TTP), rise time(RT), fall half time(FHT) and mean transit time(MTT), and the cardiac output and cardiac index were also measured. The differences in ultrasound Doppler and CEUS parameters among the various groups were compared. The diagnostic effectiveness of each parameter for severe AKI was assessed using ROC curve analysis.Results:①In macrocirculation, the renal blood flow (RBF) and time-averaged velocity (TAV) gradually decreased ( P=0.004, P<0.001) as the disease progressed in AKI patients. But the difference of CO and CI among the three groups were not statistically significant in each group ( P=0.17, 0.12). ②In microcirculation, the renal interlobar artery Doppler parameters pulsatility index (PI), resistance index (RI), and systolic/diastolic flow ratio (S/D) gradually increase in patients with septic AKI ( P<0.05) and the CEUS parameters TTP, RT, FHT and MTT were prolonged ( P<0.001, P=0.003, P=0.004, P=0.009). ③The combined diagnosis of RI and TTP was more beneficial in diagnosing septic AKI in critically ill patients [AUC=0.93(0.85-1.00)]. Conclusions:Color Doppler ultrasound combined with CEUS can detect reduced macroscopic and microscopic circulation in patients with septic AKI, especially in those with severe AKI, and this is independent of changes in CO or CI.

Objective To analyze the onset characteristics of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with cognitive impairment in Baotou area, and study the improvement effect of GLP-1 receptor agonists. Methods A total of 320 patients with T2DM admitted between September 2021 and September 2022 were selected and divided into the observation group with T2DM and cognitive dysfunction and the negative control group without cognitive dysfunction according to their cognitive function status , Among the 160 cases in each group; Patients with type 2 diabetes and cognitive impairment were randomly divided into a treatment group and a control group, 80 cases in each group; the control group was treated with conventional treatment, and the treatment group was additionally treated with semaglutide; Logistics multiple regression model was used to analyze T2DM The related risk factors of cognitive impairment in patients were assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score to evaluate the cognitive function of the patients. Results Multivariate regression model showed that course of disease, age, vitamin D, HbA1c, LDL-C, BMI, Hcy, Lp-PLA2, TNF-α, IL-6 and folic acid levels were also independent risk factors for cognitive impairment in T2DM patients (P<0.05); There was a significant positive correlation between GLP-1 receptor agonists and cognitive function recovery in T2DM patients with cognitive impairment (P<0.05). Conclusion The onset of T2DM with cognitive impairment in Baotou area is often accompanied by a long course of disease, older age, abnormal levels of vitamin D, HbA1c, LDL-C, BMI, Hcy, Lp-PLA2, TNF-α, IL-6 and folic acid, and GLP -1 receptor agonists have a clear role in improving the cognitive function of patients.

Pathological cardiac hypertrophy serves as a significant foundation for cardiac dysfunction and heart failure. Recently, growing evidence has revealed that microRNAs (miRNAs) play multiple roles in biological processes and participate in cardiovascular diseases. In the present research, we investigate the impact of miRNA-34c-5p on cardiac hypertrophy and the mechanism involved. The expression of miR-34c-5p was proved to be elevated in heart tissues from isoprenaline (ISO)-infused mice. ISO also promoted miR-34c-5p level in primary cultures of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (NRCMs). Transfection with miR-34c-5p mimic enhanced cell surface area and expression levels of foetal-type genes atrial natriuretic factor (Anf) and β-myosin heavy chain (β-Mhc) in NRCMs. In contrast, treatment with miR-34c-5p inhibitor attenuated ISO-induced hypertrophic responses. Enforced expression of miR-34c-5p by tail intravenous injection of its agomir led to cardiac dysfunction and hypertrophy in mice, whereas inhibiting miR-34c-5p by specific antagomir could protect the animals against ISO-triggered hypertrophic abnormalities. Mechanistically, miR-34c-5p suppressed autophagic flux in cardiomyocytes, which contributed to the development of hypertrophy. Furthermore, the autophagy-related gene 4B (ATG4B) was identified as a direct target of miR-34c-5p, and miR-34c-5p was certified to interact with 3' untranslated region of Atg4b mRNA by dual-luciferase reporter assay. miR-34c-5p reduced the expression of ATG4B, thereby resulting in decreased autophagy activity and induction of hypertrophy. Inhibition of miR-34c-5p abolished the detrimental effects of ISO by restoring ATG4B and increasing autophagy. In conclusion, our findings illuminate that miR-34c-5p participates in ISO-induced cardiac hypertrophy, at least partly through suppressing ATG4B and autophagy. It suggests that regulation of miR-34c-5p may offer a new way for handling hypertrophy-related cardiac dysfunction.