BACKGROUND: Dual regimen dolutegravir (DTG) plus lamivudine (3TC) has demonstrated non-inferior efficacy compared to DTG-based three-drug regimens (3DRs), yet directly comparative data regarding the efficacy and safety of DTG + 3TC and bictegravir/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide (B/F/TAF) for therapy-naïve people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 (PWH) are still limited. We aimed to assess the antiviral potency and safety profiles of DTG + 3TC vs. B/F/TAF based on antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naïve PWH in China. METHODS: This retrospective multicenter study enrolled PWH initiating ART with DTG + 3TC or B/F/TAF from 2020 to 2022 in Guangdong and Guangxi. We analyzed response rates based on target not detected (TND) status using intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis. Subgroups were formed based on baseline viral load (VL) (<100,000 vs . ≥100,000 copies/mL) and CD4 + cell count (<200 vs . ≥200 cell/µL). Median time to TND VL was assessed by Kaplan-Meier method. We also measured changes from baseline in CD4 + cell counts, CD4/CD8 ratio, lipid parameters, weight, creatinine (Cr), estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and drug-related adverse effects (DRAEs). RESULTS: We enrolled 280 participants, including 137 (48.9%) on DTG + 3TC and 143 (51.1%) on B/F/TAF. At week 48, 96.4% (132/137) on DTG+3TC and 100% (143/143) on B/F/TAF achieved TND ( P = 0.064). At week 12, TND responses were higher with B/F/TAF (78.3% [112/143]) than DTG+3TC (30.7% [42/137]) ( P <0.001). This trend held across subgroups. B/F/TAF achieved TND faster (12 weeks) than DTG+3TC (24 weeks) ( P <0.001). No differences were seen in CD4 + cell count and CD4/CD8 ratio, except in the high-VL subgroup, where B/F/TAF showed better recovery. DRAEs were significantly lower with B/F/TAF (4.9% [7/143]) than with DTG + 3TC (13.1% [18/137]) ( P = 0.016). Lipid parameters, body weight, and Cr increased in both groups over 48 weeks, with DTG+3TC showing a more favorable effect on triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and weight gain. CONCLUSIONS In this real-life study, B/F/TAF led to a faster viral decline and fewer DRAEs compared to DTG+3TC. No significant difference was observed in the TND rate at week 48, regardless of baseline VL and CD4 + cell count. CD4 + recovery was superior for B/F/TAF in participants with high VL. The DTG + 3TC regimen had less impact on metabolic changes than B/F/TAF.
Adult ; Humans ; Anti-HIV Agents/therapeutic use* ; China ; Emtricitabine/pharmacology* ; HIV Infections/drug therapy* ; HIV-1 ; Lamivudine/pharmacology* ; Lipids ; Retrospective Studies

ObjectiveTo compare the diagnostic accuracy of five different weighting methods of Chinese medicine syndrome and then analyze their diagnostic efficacy and characteristics， by taking Diagnostic Standard for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus （T2DM） with Dampeness-heat Syndrome （abbreviated as diagnostic standard） as an example. MethodsData from expert questionnaire on the diagnostic standard and a cross-sectional survey of 1021 patients were collected. The comparative diagnostic test accuracy （CDTA） method was used to calculate the area under the ROC curve （AUC）， area under the PR curve （AUPR）， accuracy （ACC）， sensitivity， and specificity of five commonly used weighting methods in two categories， including knowledge-driven weighting methods （expert scoring synthesis method， analytic hierarchy process， and precedence chart method） and data-driven weighting methods （logistic regression contribution method and entropy weighting method）. ResultsAmong 1021 patients with T2DM， 389 cases were diagnosed as dampness-heat syndrome. The expert scoring synthesis method， analytic hierarchy process method， and precedence chart method were basically consistent in the weight scores of each item. The expert scoring comprehensive method， analytic hierarchy process method， and entropy weighting method have a smaller difference in the weight scores of each item， while there was larger difference in the weight scores of each item of the precedence chart method and the logistic regression contribution method. The AUC （95% CI）， AUPR， ACC， sensitivity， and specifi-city of the expert scoring synthesis method were 0.913 （0.893， 0.932）， 0.851， 0.870， 0.868 and 0.875， respectively； while those of the analytic hierarchy process method were 0.910 （0.890， 0.930）， 0.838， 0.879， 0.848 and 0.896； of the precedence chart method were 0.919 （0.900， 0.937）， 0.858， 0.875， 0.871 and 0.875； of the logistic regression contribution method were 0.867 （0.842， 0.891）， 0.792， 0.853， 0.769 and 0.898； and of the entropy weighting method were 0.895 （0.873， 0.916）， 0.820， 0.869， 0.802 and 0.908. ConclusionThe knowledge-driven weighting methods are better than the data-driven weighting methods in terms of diagnostic efficacy and reflecting expert experience.

Objective:To investigate the reproductive toxicity of cadmium sulfide nanoparticles (Nano-CdS) with different particle sizes on male mice.Methods:In January 2019, 30 SPF grade male mice were randomly divided into a control group, an experimental group[CdS Ⅰ group (particle size approximately 5 nm), and a CdS Ⅱ group (particle size approximately 50 nm) ], with 10 mice in each group. The experimental group was orally gavaged with 100 mg/kg, once a day, while the control group was gavaged with an equal volume of physiological saline for 45 consecutive days. After 45 days, levels of cadmium accumulation in testis were determined directly by AAS, deformity and testicular histopathological changes were also observed. Serum testosterone levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbentassay (ELISA), expression levels of P450scc, 17β-HSD and P450c17 mRNA were determined by real-time PCR. P450c17 protein was determinated by Western Blot.Results:The histopathological results showed that the testes of the experimental group mice showed varying degrees of damage; Ultrastructural observation showed that the ultrastructure of mouse testicular cells in each experimental group showed varying degrees of mitochondrial expansion and disappearance of cristae, as well as irregular nuclear membranes. The degree of damage in CdS Ⅰ group was milder than that in CdS Ⅱ group. Compared with the control group, the cadmium content in the testes of the CdS Ⅰ and CdS Ⅱ groups significantly increased ( P=0.001, 0.001), and the CdS Ⅱ group was higher than the CdS Ⅰ group ( P=0.001). Compared with the control group, the levels of testosterone in the CdS Ⅰ and CdS Ⅱ groups decreased with statistical significance ( P=0.001, 0.001). Real time fluorescence quantitative PCR results showed that compared with the control group, the experimental group's P450scc, 17β-HSD. The expression levels of 17β-HSD and P450c17 mRNA were significantly reduced, with statistically significant differences ( P=0.001, 0.001, 0.001), and CdS Ⅱ group 17β-HSD. The expression levels of 17β-HSD and P450c17 mRNA were significantly lower than those of CdS Ⅰ group ( P=0.001, 0.036). The Western Blot assay results showed that the expression levels of P450c17 protein in the testes of CdS Ⅰ and CdS Ⅱ groups of mice were significantly reduced, with statistical significance ( P=0.001, 0.001) ; And the CdS Ⅱ group was significantly lower than the CdS Ⅰ group ( P=0.001). According to Spearman correlation analysis, testosterone levels are correlated with P450scc, P450c17, 17β-HSD mRNA. There is a highly positive correlation between 17β-HSD mRNA levels, with statistically significant differences ( rs=0.88, 0.80, 0.70, P=0.001, 0.001, 0.004) . Conclusion:Nano cadmium sulfide may induce reproductive toxicity by reducing the expression levels of key enzyme genes and enzyme protein activity in testosterone and its synthesis in mice, and the CdS Ⅱ group has a stronger toxic effect.

Objective:To investigate the reproductive toxicity of cadmium sulfide nanoparticles (Nano-CdS) with different particle sizes on male mice.Methods:In January 2019, 30 SPF grade male mice were randomly divided into a control group, an experimental group[CdS Ⅰ group (particle size approximately 5 nm), and a CdS Ⅱ group (particle size approximately 50 nm) ], with 10 mice in each group. The experimental group was orally gavaged with 100 mg/kg, once a day, while the control group was gavaged with an equal volume of physiological saline for 45 consecutive days. After 45 days, levels of cadmium accumulation in testis were determined directly by AAS, deformity and testicular histopathological changes were also observed. Serum testosterone levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbentassay (ELISA), expression levels of P450scc, 17β-HSD and P450c17 mRNA were determined by real-time PCR. P450c17 protein was determinated by Western Blot.Results:The histopathological results showed that the testes of the experimental group mice showed varying degrees of damage; Ultrastructural observation showed that the ultrastructure of mouse testicular cells in each experimental group showed varying degrees of mitochondrial expansion and disappearance of cristae, as well as irregular nuclear membranes. The degree of damage in CdS Ⅰ group was milder than that in CdS Ⅱ group. Compared with the control group, the cadmium content in the testes of the CdS Ⅰ and CdS Ⅱ groups significantly increased ( P=0.001, 0.001), and the CdS Ⅱ group was higher than the CdS Ⅰ group ( P=0.001). Compared with the control group, the levels of testosterone in the CdS Ⅰ and CdS Ⅱ groups decreased with statistical significance ( P=0.001, 0.001). Real time fluorescence quantitative PCR results showed that compared with the control group, the experimental group's P450scc, 17β-HSD. The expression levels of 17β-HSD and P450c17 mRNA were significantly reduced, with statistically significant differences ( P=0.001, 0.001, 0.001), and CdS Ⅱ group 17β-HSD. The expression levels of 17β-HSD and P450c17 mRNA were significantly lower than those of CdS Ⅰ group ( P=0.001, 0.036). The Western Blot assay results showed that the expression levels of P450c17 protein in the testes of CdS Ⅰ and CdS Ⅱ groups of mice were significantly reduced, with statistical significance ( P=0.001, 0.001) ; And the CdS Ⅱ group was significantly lower than the CdS Ⅰ group ( P=0.001). According to Spearman correlation analysis, testosterone levels are correlated with P450scc, P450c17, 17β-HSD mRNA. There is a highly positive correlation between 17β-HSD mRNA levels, with statistically significant differences ( rs=0.88, 0.80, 0.70, P=0.001, 0.001, 0.004) . Conclusion:Nano cadmium sulfide may induce reproductive toxicity by reducing the expression levels of key enzyme genes and enzyme protein activity in testosterone and its synthesis in mice, and the CdS Ⅱ group has a stronger toxic effect.

The unique characteristics of the tumor microenvironment (TME) could be exploited to develop antitumor nanomedicine strategies. However, in many cases, the actual therapeutic effect is far from reaching our expectations due to the notable tumor heterogeneity. Given the amplified characteristics of TME regulated by vascular disrupting agents (VDAs), nanomedicines may achieve unexpected improved efficacy. Herein, we fabricate platelet membrane-fusogenic liposomes (PML/DP&PPa), namely "platesomes", which actively load the hypoxia-activated pro-prodrug DMG-PR104A (DP) and physically encapsulate the photosensitizer pyropheophorbide a (PPa). Considering the different stages of tumor vascular collapse and shutdown induced by a VDA combretastatin-A4 phosphate (CA4P), PML/DP&PPa is injected 3 h after intraperitoneal administration of CA4P. First, CA4P-mediated tumor hemorrhage amplifies the enhanced permeation and retention (EPR) effect, and the platesome-biological targeting further promotes the tumor accumulation of PML/DP&PPa. Besides, CA4P-induced vascular occlusion inhibits oxygen supply, followed by photodynamic therapy-caused acute tumor hypoxia. This prolonged extreme hypoxia contributes to the complete activation of DP and then high inhibitory effect on tumor growth and metastasis. Thus, such a combining strategy of artificially-regulated TME and bio-inspired platesomes pronouncedly improves tumor drug delivery and boosts tumor hypoxia-selective activation, and provides a preferable solution to high-efficiency cancer therapy.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic and recurrent inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that has become a major gastroenterologic problem during recent decades. Numerous complicating factors are involved in UC development such as oxidative stress, inflammation, and microbiota disorder. These factors exacerbate damage to the intestinal mucosal barrier. Spirulina platensis is a commercial alga with various biological activity that is widely used as a functional ingredient in food and beverage products. However, there have been few studies on the treatment of UC using S. platensis aqueous extracts (SP), and the underlying mechanism of action of SP against UC has not yet been elucidated. Herein, we aimed to investigate the modulatory effect of SP on microbiota disorders in UC mice and clarify the underlying mechanisms by which SP alleviates damage to the intestinal mucosal barrier. Dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) was used to establish a normal human colonic epithelial cell (NCM460) injury model and UC animal model. The mitochondrial membrane potential assay 3-‍‍(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,‍5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and staining with Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)/propidium iodide (PI) and Hoechst 33258 were carried out to determine the effects of SP on the NCM460 cell injury model. Moreover, hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), western blot, and 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequencing were used to explore the effects and underlying mechanisms of action of SP on UC in C57BL/6 mice. In vitro studies showed that SP alleviated DSS-induced NCM460 cell injury. SP also significantly reduced the excessive generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and prevented mitochondrial membrane potential reduction after DSS challenge. In vivo studies indicated that SP administration could alleviate the severity of DSS-induced colonic mucosal damage compared with the control group. Inhibition of inflammation and oxidative stress was associated with increases in the activity of antioxidant enzymes and the expression of tight junction proteins (TJs) post-SP treatment. SP improved gut microbiota disorder mainly by increasing antioxidant enzyme activity and the expression of TJs in the colon. Our findings demonstrate that the protective effect of SP against UC is based on its inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokine overproduction, inhibition of DSS-induced ROS production, and enhanced expression of antioxidant enzymes and TJs in the colonic mucosal barrier.
Animals ; Antioxidants/pharmacology* ; Colitis/prevention & control* ; Colitis, Ulcerative/metabolism* ; Colon/metabolism* ; Dextran Sulfate/toxicity* ; Disease Models, Animal ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; Inflammation/metabolism* ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Oxidative Stress ; Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism* ; Spirulina

Elucidating the active components of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)is essential for understanding the mechanisms of TCM and promote its rational use as well as TCM-derived drug development.Recent studies have shown that surface plasmon resonance(SPR)technology is promising in this field.In the present study,we propose an SPR-based integrated strategy to screen and analyze the major active components of TCM.We used Radix Paeoniae Alba(RPA)as an example to identify the compounds that can account for its anti-inflammatory mechanism via tumor necrosis factor receptor type 1(TNF-R1).First,RPA extraction was analyzed using an SPR-based screening system,and the potential active in-gredients were collected,enriched,and identified as paeoniflorin and paeonol.Next,the affinity con-stants of paeoniflorin and paeonol were determined as 4.9 and 11.8 μM,respectively.Then,SPR-based competition assays and molecular docking were performed to show that the two compounds could compete with tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)while binding to the subdomain 1 site of TNF-R1.Finally,in biological assays,the two compounds suppressed cytotoxicity and apoptosis induced by TNF-α in the L929 cell line.These findings prove that SPR technology is a useful tool for determining the active in-gredients of TCM at the molecular level and can be used in various aspects of drug development.The SPR-based integrated strategy is reliable and feasible in TCM studies and will shed light on the eluci-dation of the pharmacological mechanism of TCM and facilitate its modernization.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic and recurrent inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that has become a major gastroenterologic problem during recent decades. Numerous complicating factors are involved in UC development such as oxidative stress, inflammation, and microbiota disorder. These factors exacerbate damage to the intestinal mucosal barrier. Spirulina platensis is a commercial alga with various biological activity that is widely used as a functional ingredient in food and beverage products. However, there have been few studies on the treatment of UC using S. platensis aqueous extracts (SP), and the underlying mechanism of action of SP against UC has not yet been elucidated. Herein, we aimed to investigate the modulatory effect of SP on microbiota disorders in UC mice and clarify the underlying mechanisms by which SP alleviates damage to the intestinal mucosal barrier. Dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) was used to establish a normal human colonic epithelial cell (NCM460) injury model and UC animal model. The mitochondrial membrane potential assay 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and staining with Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)/propidium iodide (PI) and Hoechst 33258 were carried out to determine the effects of SP on the NCM460 cell injury model. Moreover, hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), western blot, and 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequencing were used to explore the effects and underlying mechanisms of action of SP on UC in C57BL/6 mice. In vitro studies showed that SP alleviated DSS-induced NCM460 cell injury. SP also significantly reduced the excessive generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and prevented mitochondrial membrane potential reduction after DSS challenge. In vivo studies indicated that SP administration could alleviate the severity of DSS-induced colonic mucosal damage compared with the control group. Inhibition of inflammation and oxidative stress was associated with increases in the activity of antioxidant enzymes and the expression of tight junction proteins (TJs) post-SP treatment. SP improved gut microbiota disorder mainly by increasing antioxidant enzyme activity and the expression of TJs in the colon. Our findings demonstrate that the protective effect of SP against UC is based on its inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokine overproduction, inhibition of DSS-induced ROS production, and enhanced expression of antioxidant enzymes and TJs in the colonic mucosal barrier.

Objective:To explore the value of a radiomics nomogram based on T 1WI for prediction of the relapse of osteosarcoma after surgery within 1 year from multicenter data. Methods:The imaging and clinical data of 107 patients with pathologica1ly confirmed osteosarcoma who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy before surgery from 6 hospitals from January 2009 to October 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. A training cohort consisted of 75 patients from firstly enrolled 4 hospitals and an independent validation cohort of 32 patients from other 2 hospitals. Pretreatment T 1WI was used to extract radiomics features. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was applied to reduce the dimension and then the radiomics signature was constructed to predict the relapse of osteosarcoma after surgery within 1 year in training cohort. Independent clinical risk factors were screened using one-way logistic regression, and then a radiomics nomogram incorporated the radiomics signature and MRI characteristics was developed by multivariate logistic regression. The predictive nomogram was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve in the training cohort, and validated in the independent validation cohort. The calibration curve was used to evaluate the agreement between prediction and actual observation and the decision curve was used to demonstrate the clinical usefulness. Results:Based on T 1WI from multicenter institutions, the radiomics signature was built using 2 valuable selected features that were significantly associated with relapse within 1 year. Two selected features included 1 gray-level co-occurrence matrices (GLCM) feature (L_G_1.0_GLCM_homogeneity1, LASSO coefficient 3.122) and 1 gray-level run length matrix (GLRLM) feature (GLRLM_RP, LASSO coefficient -2.474). The prediction nomogram including radiomics signature and MRI characteristics (joint invasion and perivascular involvement) showed good discrimination with the area under the ROC curve of 0.884 and 0.821 in the training and validation cohorts, respectively. The calibration curve showed that the nomogram achieved good agreement between prediction and actual observation. Decision curve analysis demonstrated that the radiomics nomogram was clinically useful when the threshold probability was greater than 21%. Conclusion:The radiomics nomogram based on T 1WI can be used as a non-invasive quantitative tool to predict relapse of osteosarcoma within 1 year before treatment, which provides support for clinical decision-making in osteosarcoma.

Objective:To determine the expression of T follicular helper (Tfh) cell-related molecules inducible costimulator (ICOS) and programmed cell death-1 receptor (PD-1) in skin lesions of patients with bullous pemphigoid (BP), and to explore the role of Tfh cells in the pathogenesis of BP.Methods:Twenty-one paraffin-embedded tissue specimens were collected from 21 patients with confirmed BP in Dalian Dermatosis Hospital from 2014 to 2017, including 7 females and 14 males with an average age of 72.57 years. Ten normal skin tissue specimens served as control group. Immunohistochemical SP method was used to determine the expression of ICOS and PD-1 in BP skin lesions and normal skin tissues.Results:In BP lesions, ICOS and PD-1 were mainly expressed in the basal layer, spinous layer, granular layer and stratum corneum, especially in the spinous layer in the epidermis, and also expressed in inflammatory cells in the dermis. Additionally, they were both expressed in the cytoplasm and nuclei, occasionally expressed on the cell membrane. However, ICOS and PD-1 were rarely expressed in the normal skin tissues. The expression rates of ICOS and PD-1 were significantly higher in the BP group (85.71% [18/21], 47.62% [10/21], respectively) than in the normal control group (both were 0; P < 0.001, < 0.05, respectively) .Conclusion:Tfh cell-related molecules ICOS and PD-1 may play important roles in the pathogenesis of BP.