Dysregulation of immune response is currently recognized as one of the important pathological factors in ulcerative colitis (UC). Based on the confirmation that the Sini San (SNS) can significantly improve the colon inflammation induced by dextran sulfate sodium sulfate (DSS) in mice, the present work systematically studied the xenobiotics in the colon and mesenteric lymph nodes, spleen, and thymus of UC mice after administration of SNS by high-performance liquid chromatography-ion trap time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-IT-TOF-MS). The results showed that, in addition to the colon, some components and their metabolites in SNS could be distributed in immune tissues, and it was found that the quality of relatively low-abundance and weakly responsive components such as saikosaponin a, paeoniflorin, and glycyrrhizic acid had the characteristics of efficient transmission to the colon and lymphoid organs. These components were very likely to be the source of pharmacodynamic substances of SNS. The findings of this study lay a foundation for the study of the efficacy and molecular mechanism of the components against ulcerative colitis, and also provide a scientific basis for the rational clinical application of SNS, which is expected to promote the secondary development of its preparations.

Objective To summarise and analyse the qualitative studies on the factors that influence patient involvement in decision-making for the initial administration of insulin for the patients with Type II diabetes,from the perspectives of patients and healthcare staff in order to provide a reference to promote patient involvement in decision-making.Methods Systematic searches were conducted across databases,such as CINAHL,Cochrane Library,EMBASE,PubMed,Web of Science,PsycINFO,China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI),Wanfang Data,VIP,and SinoMed,for qualitative studies on the factors that affect patient involvement in initial insulin decision-making for the patients with Type II diabetes.The search was limited to articles from the inception of the databases to 30th September,2023.Quality of the included studies was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute(JBI)evidence-based healthcare centre for qualitative research quality assessment tool.The results were integrated using a synthesising integration method.Results A total of 19 articles were included,yielding 20 study results,which were categorised into 7 themes of patient decision-making related values,patient role preferences in decision-making,condition of patient,the role of healthcare staff in patient participation in decision-making,professional quality of healthcare staff,relationship between patient and healthcare staff,and the support from a medical institution.The data were ultimately integrated into 4 overarching themes of patient personal factors,healthcare staff factors,patient-staff interaction factors and medical institution factors.Conclusion The involvement of the patients with Type II diabetes in the decision-making for the initial administration of insulin is influenced by patients themselves,healthcare staff and medical institutions.It requires efforts of multiple parties:not only with the patients actively participate in decision-making,but also with the healthcare staff and institutions who provide effective decision supports.

The role of photoplethysmography(PPG)in the functional assessment of the cardiovascular system at home and abroad was summarized to provide theoretical references and lessons for the medical application of PPG and innovative research.Currently,functional assessment indices such as heart rate,heart rhythm,blood pressure,and volume can be analyzed from PPG signals,which can also assist in identifying and diagnosing abnormal blood pressure,diabetes mellitus,cardiac arrhythmia,sleep apnea syndrome,early ischemic shock,and other diseases.However,the accuracy and precision of PPG,data interpretation and standardization,waveform analysis,and clinical applications remain controversial.PPG has been widely used in medical and scientific research to effectively assess the functional status of the cardiovascular system and assist in diagnosing various diseases.In the future,PPG is expected to show a multipath development trend in high-precision,multi-parameter,noncontact,remote monitoring,and medical treatment.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Weight loss via a mobile application (App) or a paper-based diary (Paper) may confer favorable metabolic and anthropometric changes. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A randomized parallel trial was conducted among 57 adults whose body mass indices (BMIs) were 25 kg/m 2 or greater. Participants randomly assigned to either the App group (n = 30) or the Paper group (n = 27) were advised to record their foods and supplements through App or Paper during the 12-week intervention period. Relative changes of anthropometries and biomarker levels were compared between the 2 intervention groups.Untargeted metabolic profiling was identified to discriminate metabolic profiles. RESULTS: Out of the 57 participants, 54 participants completed the trial. Changes in body weight and BMI were not significantly different between the 2 groups (P = 0.11). However, body fat and low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol levels increased in the App group but decreased in the Paper group, and the difference was statistically significant (P = 0.03 for body fat and 0.02 for LDL-cholesterol). In the metabolomics analysis, decreases in methylglyoxal and (S)-malate in pyruvate metabolism and phosphatidylcholine (lecithin) in linoleic acid metabolism from pre- to post-intervention were observed in the Paper group. CONCLUSIONS In the 12-week randomized parallel trial of weight loss through a App or a Paper, we found no significant difference in change in BMI or weight between the App and Paper groups, but improvement in body fatness and LDL-cholesterol levels only in the Paper group under the circumstances with minimal contact by dietitians or health care providers.Trial Registration: Clinical Research Information Service Identifier: KCT0004226

Purpose To preliminarily establish a predictive model for assessing preterm birth in the first trimester via clinical history and multiple ultrasound parameters.Materials and Methods This study included 200 women in the first trimester of pregnancy from 6 to 8 weeks in the Affiliated Renhe Hospital of Three Gorges University from September 2020 to September 2021,and their clinical history,two-dimensional imaging data and cervical elastography data were collected.Logistic regression analysis,screening and assignment were performed to initially establish a clinical prediction model for evaluating preterm birth during the first trimester.Results Finally,41 pregnant women developed preterm birth(preterm birth group),and 159 pregnant women did not develop preterm birth(term group).History of miscarriage,history of preterm birth,uterocervical angle(UCA),A,and A1 were the independent risk factors for preterm birth via univariate analysis,and multivariate analysis was carried out to obtain the formula:Logit(P)=1.495×abortion history+1.060×A1+0.795×UCA+1.354×A-14.951,which had a good fit via Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test,and the diagnostic efficiency was 96.9%.Conclusion The early pregnancy prediction model can effectively predict the occurrence of preterm birth in pregnant women with singleton pregnancy.

Alzheimer''s disease (AD) has brought to us huge medical and economic burdens, and so discovery of its therapeutic drugs is of great significance.In this paper, we utilized knowledge graph embedding (KGE) models to explore drug repurposing for AD on the publicly available drug repurposing knowledge graph (DRKG).Specifically, we applied four KGE models, namely TransE, DistMult, ComplEx, and RotatE, to learn the embedding vectors of entities and relations on DRKG.By using three classical knowledge graph evaluation metrics, we then evaluated and compared the performance of these models as well as the quality of the learned embedded vectors.Based on our results, we selected the RotatE model for link prediction and identified 16 drugs that might be repurposed for the treatment of AD.Previous studies have confirmed the potential therapeutic effects of 12 drugs against AD, i.e., glutathione, haloperidol, capsaicin, quercetin, estradiol, glucose, disulfire, adenosine, paroxetine, paclitaxel, glybride and amitriptyline.Our study demonstrates that drug repurposing based on KGE may provide new ideas and methods for AD drug discovery.Moreover, the RotatE model effectively integrates multi-source information of DRKG, enabling promising AD drug repurposing.The source code of this paper is available at https://github.com/LuYF-Lemon-love/AD-KGE.

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics, diagnosis and treatment methods of children with gene mutation-negative essential thrombocytosis (ET).Methods:The clinical data of a child with gene mutation-negative ET in the Blood Diseases Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences were collected, and the related literature was reviewed.Results:The epistaxis was the main clinical symptom of this child. He was diagnosed as ET (gene mutation-negative) by bone marrow aspiration and gene detection. After hydroxyurea treatment, the platelet count increased and the clinical symptoms were improved.Conclusions:The incidence rate of ET in children is low, and the frequency of gene mutation-negative ET in children reported in the literature is different. The large number of samples and long-term follow-up studies are needed.

Adult ; Atherosclerosis ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; China ; Habits ; Humans ; Lipids

Objective:To investigate the clinical features and prognosis of children with positive flow cytometry of cerebrospinal fluid(CNSI + )in maintained acute lymphoblastic leukemia(ALL). Methods:Clinical data including clinical characteristics, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of 12 patients with ALL CNSI diagnosis in maintenance period were analyzed to explore the prognostic factors.Results:The 12 children with CNSI + in maintenance were mainly male, and all of them were B-ALL.High leukemia cell count at first diagnosis( χ2=6.374, P=0.012), insensitivity to glucocorticoid pretherapy( χ2=5.048, P=0.025), increased rate of abnormal CSF cells(≥60%, χ2=7.024, P=0.008), course of CNSI + ≤14 months( χ2=4.873, P=0.027)and complex karyotype( χ2=9.356, P=0.002)are the adverse prognostic factors.Karyotype is an independent factor( P=0.017). Conclusion:The prognosis of children with CNSI + is unfavourable.Intrathecal injection and chemotherapy are the important treatment for children with CNSI + in maintenance period.Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is an important choice for children with relapse.

5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) plays an important role in the fields of medicine and agriculture. 5-ALA can be produced by engineered Escherichia coli and Corynebacterium glutamicum. We systematically engineered the C4 metabolic pathway of C. glutamicum to further improve its ability to produce 5-ALA. Firstly, the hemA gene encoding 5-ALA synthase (ALAS) from Rhodobacter capsulatus and Rhodopseudomonas palustris were heterologously expressed in C. glutamicum, respectively. The RphemA gene of R. palustris which showed relatively high enzyme activity was selected. Screening of the optimal ribosome binding site sequence RBS5 significantly increased the activity of RphemA. The ALAS activity of the recombinant strain reached (221.87±3.10) U/mg and 5-ALA production increased by 14.3%. Subsequently, knocking out genes encoding α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase inhibitor protein (odhI) and succinate dehydrogenase (sdhA) increased the flux of succinyl CoA towards the production of 5-ALA. Moreover, inhibiting the expression of hemB by means of sRNA reduced the degradation of 5-ALA, while overexpressing the cysteine/O-acetylserine transporter eamA increased the output efficiency of intracellular 5-ALA. Shake flask fermentation using the engineered strain C. glutamicum 13032/∆odhI/∆sdhA-sRNAhemB- RBS5RphemA-eamA resulted in a yield of 11.90 g/L, which was 57% higher than that of the original strain. Fed-batch fermentation using the engineered strain in a 5 L fermenter produced 25.05 g/L of 5-ALA within 48 h, which is the highest reported-to-date yield of 5-ALA from glucose.
Aminolevulinic Acid/metabolism* ; Corynebacterium glutamicum/metabolism* ; Fermentation ; Metabolic Engineering ; Rhodobacter capsulatus/enzymology* ; Rhodopseudomonas/enzymology*