ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of quercetin on acute gouty arthritis （GA） in rats by inhibiting the reactive oxygen species （ROS）/NOD-like receptor protein 3 （NLRP3）/interleukin-1β （IL-1β） signaling pathway. MethodsSixty SPF-grade male SD rats were randomized into normal， model， colchicine （0.3 mg·kg^-1）， and low-， medium-， and high-dose （25， 50， 100 mg·kg^-1， respectively） quercetin groups （n=10）. The rats in the dosing groups were administrated with the corresponding drugs （10 mL·kg^-1） by gavage once a day for one week. An equal volume of normal saline was given by gavage to rats in normal and model groups. One hour after drug administration on day 5， an acute GA model was established in other groups except the control group via intra-articular injection of monosodium urate （MSU） suspension into the right posterior ankle joint cavity. The joint swelling and gait were scored at the time points of 6， 12， 24， 48 h after modeling. Histopathological alterations in the ankle joint tissue from each group were assessed by hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining. Malondialdehyde （MDA）， xanthine oxidase （XOD）， and total superoxide dismutase （T-SOD） assay kits were used to assess the levels of MDA， XOD， and T-SOD in the serum. The levels of tumor interleukin-6 （IL-6）， necrosis factor-α （TNF-α）， and IL-1β in the rat serum， as well as ROS in the ankle joint tissue， were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. Western blot was performed to determine the protein levels of NLRP3， thioredoxin-interacting protein （TXNIP）， apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD domain （ASC）， precursor cysteinyl aspartate-specific proteinase-1 （pro-Caspase-1）， cleaved Caspase-1 （Caspase-1 p20）， and IL-1β in the ankle joint tissue. Real-time PCR was employed to assess the mRNA levels of TXNIP， NLRP3， ASC， IL-1β， and TNF-α in the ankle joint tissue. ResultsCompared with the normal group， the model group exhibited decreased spontaneous activity， mental fatigue， increased ankle joint swelling and gait scores （P<0.01）， aggravated synovial tissue edema and inflammatory cell infiltration （P<0.01）， elevated levels of XOD， MDA， TNF-α， IL-1β， and IL-6 in the serum and ROS in the joint tissue （P<0.01）， a declined level of T-SOD （P<0.01）， up-regulated protein levels of NLRP3， TXNIP， ASC， pro-Caspase-1， Caspase-1 p20， and IL-1β in the ankle joint tissue （P<0.01）， and up-regulated mRNA levels of NLRP3， TXNIP， ASC， IL-1β， and TNF-α in the ankle joint tissue （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the medium- and high-dose quercetin groups showed improved general conditions， decreased gait scores （P<0.05， P<0.01）， reduced joint swelling （P<0.01）， alleviated synovial tissue edema and inflammatory cell infiltration （P<0.05， P<0.01）， lowered levels of XOD， MDA， TNF-α， IL-1β， and IL-6 in the serum and ROS in the joint tissue （P<0.01）， increased levels of T-SOD （P<0.01）， down-regulated protein levels of TXNIP， NLRP3， ASC， pro-Caspase-1， Caspase-1 p20， and IL-1β in the ankle joint tissue （P<0.05， P<0.01）， and down-regulated mRNA levels of TXNIP， NLRP3， ASC， IL-1β， and TNF-α in the ankle joint tissue （P<0.01）. Low-dose quercetin also ameliorated some of the above parameters （P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionQuercetin exerts anti-GA effects by blocking the ROS/NLRP3/IL-1β signaling pathway， downregulating NLRP3 inflammasome activation， and inhibiting the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines including TNF-α， IL-1β， and IL-6.

ObjectiveTo analyze the differences in color， odor and volatile components of Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium（CRP） before and after being stir-fried with Halloysitum Rubrum， and to explore the material basis of enhancing the effect of strengthening spleen after processing and the scientific connotation of decoction pieces processed with Halloysitum Rubrum as the auxiliary material. MethodsThe volatile components of the samples before and after processing were identified and relatively quantified by headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry（HS-GC-MS）， and the volatile components were analyzed by principal component analysis（PCA） and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis（OPLS-DA）. According to the principle of variable importance in the projection（VIP） value>1.5， volatile differential components before and after processing were screened. And combined with intelligent sensory technologies such as colorimeter and electronic nose， the chroma and odor information of CRP before and after being stir-fried with Halloysitum Rubrum were identified. Pearson correlation analysis was used to explore the correlation between volatile differential components and chroma values. ResultsA total of 112 volatile components were identified from CRP and CRP stir-fried with Halloysitum Rubrum， of which 84 were from CRP and 97 were from CRP stir-fried with Halloysitum Rubrum. And 7 differential components were selected， including α-pinene， β-myrcene， linalool， sabinene， ocimene isomer mixture， A-ocimene， and δ-elemene. After being processed with Halloysitum Rubrum， the brightness value（L^*）， yellow-blue value（b^*） and total chromatic value（E^*_ab） of CRP were decreased（P<0.01）， and red-green value（a^*） was increased（P<0.01）， the response values of S4， S5， S10 and S13 sensors were significantly increased（P<0.05）， and the response values of S3 and S8 sensors were significantly decreased（P<0.05）. Correlation analysis showed that α-pinene and β-myrcene were negatively correlated with L^* and E^*_ab， but positively correlated with a^*. Sabinene was positively correlated with L^* and E^*_ab. Linalool was positively correlated with L^* and E^*_ab， and negatively correlated with a^*. The ocimene isomer mixture was positively correlated with the L^*. ConclusionAfter being processed with Halloysitum Rubrum， the appearance color， odor and volatile components of CRP change significantly， and α-pinene， β-myrcene， sabinene， linalool and A-ocimene are the characteristic volatile components before and after processing， which can provide references for the quality evaluation and clinical application of CRP and its processed products.

ObjectiveTo analyze the differences in color， odor and volatile components of Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium（CRP） before and after being stir-fried with Halloysitum Rubrum， and to explore the material basis of enhancing the effect of strengthening spleen after processing and the scientific connotation of decoction pieces processed with Halloysitum Rubrum as the auxiliary material. MethodsThe volatile components of the samples before and after processing were identified and relatively quantified by headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry（HS-GC-MS）， and the volatile components were analyzed by principal component analysis（PCA） and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis（OPLS-DA）. According to the principle of variable importance in the projection（VIP） value>1.5， volatile differential components before and after processing were screened. And combined with intelligent sensory technologies such as colorimeter and electronic nose， the chroma and odor information of CRP before and after being stir-fried with Halloysitum Rubrum were identified. Pearson correlation analysis was used to explore the correlation between volatile differential components and chroma values. ResultsA total of 112 volatile components were identified from CRP and CRP stir-fried with Halloysitum Rubrum， of which 84 were from CRP and 97 were from CRP stir-fried with Halloysitum Rubrum. And 7 differential components were selected， including α-pinene， β-myrcene， linalool， sabinene， ocimene isomer mixture， A-ocimene， and δ-elemene. After being processed with Halloysitum Rubrum， the brightness value（L^*）， yellow-blue value（b^*） and total chromatic value（E^*_ab） of CRP were decreased（P<0.01）， and red-green value（a^*） was increased（P<0.01）， the response values of S4， S5， S10 and S13 sensors were significantly increased（P<0.05）， and the response values of S3 and S8 sensors were significantly decreased（P<0.05）. Correlation analysis showed that α-pinene and β-myrcene were negatively correlated with L^* and E^*_ab， but positively correlated with a^*. Sabinene was positively correlated with L^* and E^*_ab. Linalool was positively correlated with L^* and E^*_ab， and negatively correlated with a^*. The ocimene isomer mixture was positively correlated with the L^*. ConclusionAfter being processed with Halloysitum Rubrum， the appearance color， odor and volatile components of CRP change significantly， and α-pinene， β-myrcene， sabinene， linalool and A-ocimene are the characteristic volatile components before and after processing， which can provide references for the quality evaluation and clinical application of CRP and its processed products.

This case report describes a 68-year-old male patient diagnosed with primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). After receiving Yttrium-90 microsphere selective internal radiation therapy (⁹⁰Y-SIRT), the tumor significantly reduced in size, and tumor markers alpha fetoprotein (AFP) and abnormal prothrombin (PIVKA-Ⅱ) decreased. Postoperative pathological results showed minimal residual tumor cells, indicating that ⁹⁰Y-SIRT has good efficacy and safety in downstaging and conversion of HCC, thereby facilitating subsequent surgical resection.

Gastric cancer is a common malignant tumor of the digestive tract and can be classified as “fullness of the stomach”， “epigastric pain”， “noise” and other categories in the field of traditional Chinese medicine. Sijunzi decoction is composed of Panax ginseng， Poria cocos， Atractylodes macrocephala， and honey-fried Glycyrrhiza uralensis， and it has the effect of tonifying qi and strengthening the spleen. This article summarizes the active ingredients， mechanism of action， and clinical application research progress of Sijunzi decoction in treating gastric cancer. The results show that the main active ingredients of Sijunzi decoction include ginsenosides， atractylenolide， pachymic acid， glycyrrhizic acid， etc.； Sijunzi decoction and its effective ingredients can play an anti-gastric cancer role by inhibiting the proliferation of gastric cancer cell， inducing apoptosis of gastric cancer cell， enhancing gastric cancer cell chemotherapy sensitivity， and inhibiting invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer cell. In addition， Sijunzi decoction can enhance the efficacy of chemotherapy drugs， strengthen the immune function of the body and lower serum cancer marker levels during the clinical treatment of gastric cancer.

Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics of children with head and neck rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) and to summarize the mid-long term efficacy of Beijing Children′s Hospital Rhabdomyosarcoma 2006 (BCH-RMS-2006) regimen and China Children′s Cancer Group Rhabdomyosarcoma 2016 (CCCG-RMS-2016) regimen.Methods:A retrospective cohort study. Clinical data of 137 children with newly diagnosed head and neck RMS at Beijing Children′s Hospital, Capital Medical University from March 2013 to December 2021 were collected. Clinical characteristic of patients at disease onset and the therapeutic effects of patients treated with the BCH-RMS-2006 and CCCG-RMS-2016 regimens were compared. The treatments and outcomes of patients with recurrence were also summarized. Survival analysis was performed by Kaplan-Meier method, and Log-Rank test was used for comparison of survival rates between groups.Results:Among 137 patients, there were 80 males (58.4%) and 57 females (41.6%), the age of disease onset was 59 (34, 97) months. The primary site in the orbital, non-orbital non-parameningeal, and parameningeal area were 10 (7.3%), 47 (34.3%), and 80 (58.4%), respectively. Of all patients, 32 cases (23.4%) were treated with the BCH-RMS-2006 regimen and 105 (76.6%) cases were treated with the CCCG-RMS-2016 regimen. The follow-up time for the whole patients was 46 (20, 72) months, and the 5-year progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates for the whole children were (60.4±4.4)% and (69.3±4.0)%, respectively. The 5-year OS rate was higher in the CCCG-RMS-2016 group than in BCH-RMS-2006 group ((73.0±4.5)% vs. (56.6±4.4)%, χ2=4.57, P=0.029). For the parameningeal group, the 5-year OS rate was higher in the CCCG-RMS-2016 group (61 cases) than in BCH-RMS-2006 group (19 cases) ((57.3±7.6)% vs. (32.7±11.8)%, χ2=4.64, P=0.031). For the group with meningeal invasion risk factors, the 5-year OS rate was higher in the CCCG-RMS-2016 group (54 cases) than in BCH-RMS-2006 group (15 cases) ((57.7±7.7)% vs. (30.0±12.3)%, χ2=4.76, P=0.029). Among the 10 cases of orbital RMS, there was no recurrence. In the non-orbital non-parameningeal RMS group (47 cases), there were 13 (27.6%) recurrences, after re-treatment, 7 cases survived. In the parameningeal RMS group (80 cases), there were 40 (50.0%) recurrences, with only 7 cases surviving after re-treatment. Conclusions:The overall prognosis for patients with orbital and non-orbital non-parameningeal RMS is good. However, children with parameningeal RMS have a high recurrence rate, and the effectiveness of re-treatment after recurrence is poor. Compared with the BCH-RMS-2006 regimen, the CCCG-RMS-2016 regimen can improve the treatment efficacy of RMS in the meningeal region.

The general models for intermediates quality analysis in the production process of Yaobitong capsule were established by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) combined with chemometrics, realizing the rapid determination of notoginsenoside R1, ginsenoside Rg1, ginsenoside Re, ginsenoside Rb1, ginsenoside Rd and moisture. The spray-dried fine powder and total mixed granule were selected as research objects. The contents of five saponins were determined by high performance liquid chromatography and the moisture content was determined by drying method. The measured contents were used as reference values. Meanwhile, NIR spectra were collected. After removing abnormal samples by Monte Carlo cross validation (MCCV), Monte Carlo uninformative variables elimination (MC-UVE) and competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS) were used to select feature variables respectively. Based on the feature variables, quantitative models were established by partial least squares regression (PLSR), extreme learning machine (ELM) and ant lion optimization least squares support vector machine (ALO-LSSVM). The results showed that CARS-ALO-LSSVM model had the optimum effect. The correlation coefficients of the six index components were greater than 0.93, and the relative standard errors were controlled within 6%. ALO-LSSVM was more suitable for a large number of samples with rich information, and the prediction effect and stability of the model were significantly improved. The general models with good predicting effect can be used for the rapid quality determination of Yaobitong capsule intermediates.

As the number of patients with compromised immune function increases and fungal resistance develops, so does the risk of contracting deadly fungi in humans. Both fungi and humans are eukaryotes, so identifying unique targets for antifungal drug development is difficult. In addition, the existing antifungal drugs are limited by toxicity, drug interaction and drug resistance in practical application, which leads to the increasing incidence and fatal rate of fungal infections. Therefore, it is urgent to develop new antifungal drugs. The semi-synthetic technology using microbial fermentation products from natural sources as lead compounds has become the most used method in structural modification of antifungal drugs due to its advantages of few reaction steps and easy operation. This paper will introduce the current status of natural antifungal drugs in clinical use, as well as the latest progress in the research and development of new semi-synthetic antifungal drugs, and summarize their mechanism of action, structural modifications, advantages and disadvantages, so as to provide reference for the subsequent development of new antifungal drugs.

Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and osteoporosis (OP) are two very common metabolic diseases. A growing body of experimental evidence supports a pathophysiological link between MAFLD and OP. MAFLD is often associated with the development of OP. Rutaecarpine (RUT) is one of the main active components of Chinese medicine Euodiae Fructus. Our previous studies have demonstrated that RUT has lipid-lowering, anti-inflammatory and anti-atherosclerotic effects, and can improve the OP of rats. However, whether RUT can improve both fatty liver and OP symptoms of MAFLD mice at the same time remains to be investigated. In this study, we used C57BL/6 mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 4 months to construct a MAFLD model, and gave the mice a low dose (5 mg·kg^-1) and a high dose (15 mg·kg^-1) of RUT by gavage for 4 weeks. The effects of RUT on liver steatosis and bone metabolism were then evaluated at the end of the experiment [this experiment was approved by the Experimental Animal Ethics Committee of Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (approval number: IMB-20190124D₃03)]. The results showed that RUT treatment significantly reduced hepatic steatosis and lipid accumulation, and significantly reduced bone loss and promoted bone formation. In summary, this study shows that RUT has an effect of improving fatty liver and OP in MAFLD mice.

Objective: To examine the effect of intracellular vesicles (IVs) and extracellular vesicles (EVs) that originated from periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) on the osteogenic differentiation of PDLSCs within a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-simulated inflammatory microenvironment, and to provide new insights for the application of IVs in the repair and regeneration of periodontal tissue in periodontitis. Methods: Ethical approval was obtained from the institution. Human-origin PDLSCs were extracted, and the IVs and EVs from PDLSCs at the 3rd-6th passages were gathered and identified using transmission electron microscopy, nano flow cytometry (Nano FCM) analysis, and Western Blot. The 3rd-6th generations of PDLSCs were categorized into the following groups: Control group, LPS group, LPS + 100 μg/mL EVs group (LPS+EVs group), and LPS + 100 μg/mL IVs group (LPS+IVs group). The effects of the IVs and EVs on the anti-inflammatory and osteogenic differentiation of PDLSCs in an inflammatory microenvironment were assessed by using a Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), Western Blot, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining, and alizarin red staining (ARS). Results: Under transmission electron microscopy, the IVs and EVs derived from PDLSCs displayed a double-layer membrane structure. NanoFCM analysis revealed that the average diameters of the IVs and EVs were 79.6 nm and 82.1 nm, respectively. Western Blot analysis indicated that the surface proteins CD9, CD63, and CD81 of the IVs and EVs were positively expressed, while calnexin was negatively expressed, indicating that IVs and EVs were successfully obtained. Compared with the Control group, the proliferation of PDLSCs in the LPS group was reduced, while the levels of inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the cell supernatant were increased, the mRNA expressions of osteogenic differentiation-related genes, including osteoblast-related genes runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), osteocalcin (OCN) of PDLSCs were reduced, the protein expressions of RUNX2 and osteopontin (OPN) were also decreased (P<0.05); compared with the LPS group, the proliferation of PDLSCs in the LPS+EVs group and LPS+IVs group were significantly increased, while the levels of IL-6, TNF-α were significantly reduced, and the mRNA expressions of RUNX2, ALP, OCN were significantly increased, the protein expressions of RUNX2 and OPN were also significantly increased (P<0.05). Further, in the inflammatory microenvironment, Compared with EVs, IVs more significantly promote the proliferation of PDLSCs, inhibit TNF-α expression, enhance the expression of RUNX2 mRNA, upregulate the expression of RUNX2 and OPN proteins, increase ALP activity, and promote the formation of mineralized nodules (P<0.05). Conclusion IVs and EVs derived from PDLSCs can boost the proliferation of PDLSCs in an inflammatory microenvironment, inhibit the expression of inflammatory factors, and advance the osteogenic differentiation of PDLSCs. The anti-inflammatory and osteogenic effects of IVs are superior to those of EVs.