Biomolecular condensates are formed through phase separation of biomacromolecules such as proteins and RNAs. These condensates exhibit liquid-like properties that can futher transition into more stable material states. They form complex internal structures via multivalent weak interactions, enabling precise spatiotemporal regulations. However, the use of inconsistent and non-standardized terminology has become increasingly problematic, hindering academic exchange and the dissemination of scientific knowledge. Therefore, it is necessary to discuss the terminology related to biomolecular condensates in order to clarify concepts, promote interdisciplinary cooperation, enhance research efficiency, and support the healthy development of this field.

Objective To explore the correlation between lung injury and human neutrophil lipocalin(HNL)in rats with sepsis.Methods 45 rats were randomly divided into a control group,a sham group,and a model group.The model group was to construct a rat sepsis lung injury model,the sham group was to free cecum laparotomy and then close abdomen without ligation and puncture,and the control group was with healthy rats.Serum interleukin(IL)-6,IL-1β,tumor necrosis factor-a(TNF-α),and HNL in each group of rats were detected with reagent kit.Oxygenation index was detected by blood gas analysis system.Lung wet/dry(W/D)ratio was calculated.Patho-logical morphology of lung tissue was observed by HE staining,and lung injury score was calculated.Results There were no significant differences in IL-6,IL-1β,TNF-α,HNL levels,oxygenation index,lung tissue wet/dry ratio,and lung injury score between the control group and the sham group at 12,24 and 36 hours(all P＞0.05).Compared with the sham group,IL-6,IL-1β,TNF-α,HNL levels,oxygenation index,lung tissue wet/dry ratio,and lung injury score in the model group increased at 12,24 and 36 hours,with significant differences(all P＜0.05).At 12,24 and 36 hours,lung tissue structure of rats was normal in the control group,with no edema ob-served;there were only a few inflammatory cells in the lung tissue of rats from the sham group;while in the model group,lung tissue structure of rats was severely injured,pulmonary alveoli collapsed,and inflammatory cells were severely infiltrated,but pathology improved with time.In rats with sepsis and lung injury,HNL was positively cor-related with IL-6,IL-1β,TNF-α,lung wet/dry ratio,and lung injury scores(all P＜0.05),while negatively corre-lated with oxygenation index(P＜0.05).Conclusion In rats with sepsis lung injury,HNL increases significantly,with severe inflammation and aggravation in lung tissue wet/dry ratio and lung injury,while oxygenation index de-creases.HNL level is positively correlated with IL-6,IL-1β,TNF-α levels,lung tissue wet/dry ratio and lung inju-ry,but negatively correlates with oxygenation index.

Objective: To identify the main metals involved in cognitive impairment in the Chinese oldest old, and explore the association between these metal exposures and cognitive impairment. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 1 568 participants aged 80 years and older from Healthy Aging and Biomarkers Cohort Study (2017 to 2018). Fasting venous blood was collected to measure the levels of nine metals (selenium, lead, cadmium, arsenic, antimony, chromium, manganese, mercury, and nickel). The cognitive function of these participants was evaluated by using the Chinese version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (CMMSE). The random forest (RF) was applied to independently identify the main metals that affected cognitive impairment. The multivariate logistic regression model and restricted cubic splines (RCS) model were used to further verify the association of the main metals with cognitive impairment. Results: The age of 1 568 study subjects was (91.8±7.6) years old, including 912 females (58.2%) and 465 individuals (29.7%) with cognitive function impairment. Based on the RF model (the out-of-bag error rate was 22.9%), the importance ranking of variables was conducted and the feature screening of five times ten-fold cross-validation was carried out. It was found that selenium was the metal that affected cognitive function impairment, and the other eight metals were not included in the model. After adjusting for covariates, the multivariate logistic regression model showed that with every increase of 10 μg/L of blood selenium levels, the risk of cognitive impairment decreased (OR=0.921, 95%CI: 0.889-0.954). Compared with the lowest quartile(Q₁) of blood selenium, the ORs (95%CI) of Q₃ and Q₄ blood selenium were 0.452 (0.304-0.669) and 0.419 (0.281-0.622) respectively. The RCS showed a linear dose-response relationship between blood selenium and cognitive impairment (P_nonlinear>0.05). Conclusion: Blood selenium is negatively associated with cognitive impairment in the Chinese oldest old.
Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Humans ; Selenium ; Cohort Studies ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Metals/analysis* ; Cognitive Dysfunction/epidemiology* ; China/epidemiology*

This study aims to establish the ultra-performance liquid chromatography(UPLC) fingerprint and multi-indicator quantitative analysis method for Schisandrae Sphenantherae Fructus(SSF) and to screen out the potential quality markers(Q-markers) of hepatoprotection based on network pharmacology. The similarity analysis was performed using the Chinese Medicine Chromatographic Fingerprint Similarity Evaluation System, which showed that the similarity of the fingerprints of 15 samples from different regions ranged from 0.981 to 0.998. Eighteen common components were identified, from which 3 differential components were selected by cluster analysis and principal component analysis. The "component-target-pathway" network was built to predict the core components related to the hepatoprotective effects. Fourteen core components were screened by network pharmacology. They acted on the targets such as AKT1, CCND1, CYP1A1, CYP3A4, MAPK1, MAPK3, NOS2, NQO1, and PTGS2 to regulate the signaling pathways of lipid metabolism and atherosclerosis, hepatitis B, interleukin-17, and tumor necrosis factor. Considering the chemical measurability, characteristics, and validity, schisantherin A, anwulignan, and schisandrin A were identified as the Q-markers. The content of schisantherin A, anwulignan, and schisandrin A in the test samples were 0.20%-0.57%, 0.13%-0.33%, and 0.42%-0.70%, respectively. Combining the fingerprint, network pharmacology, and content determination, this study predicted that schisantherin A, anwulignan, and schisandrin A were the Q-markers for the hepatoprotective effect of SSF. The results can provide reference for improving the quality evaluation standard and exploring the hepatoprotective mechanism of SSF.
Schisandra/chemistry* ; Network Pharmacology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury/drug therapy*

Yinchenzhufu decoction (YCZFD) is a classic formula for treating Yin Huang syndrome, which can improve liver injury caused by cholestasis. However, the mechanism of action of YCZFD still remains unclear. This article used network pharmacology, molecular docking, animal experiments, and molecular biology methods to explore the mechanism of YCZFD in treating liver injury caused by cholestasis. A mouse model of acute cholestasis induced by lithocholic acid was used to investigate the effects of YCZFD on liver injury. The experimental procedures described in this paper were reviewed and approved by the Ethical Committee at the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (approval NO. PZSHUTCM190823002). The results showed that YCZFD could reduce the levels of blood biochemical indicators and improve hepatocyte damage of cholestatic mice. Then, multiple databases were used to predict the corresponding targets of YCZFD active components on cholestatic liver injury. An intersection target protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks based on String database and Cytoscape software was used to demonstrate the possible core targets of YCZFD against cholestatic liver injury. The results indicated that core targets of YCZFD include tumor necrosis factor, interleukin-1β, non-receptor tyrosine kinase Src, interleukin-6, etc. GO (gene ontology) and KEGG (kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes) enrichment analysis indicated that YCZFD may regulate the tumor necrosis factor signaling pathway, nuclear factor-κB signaling pathway, bile secretion, and other related factors to ameliorate the cholestatic liver injury. AutoDockTools software was used to perform molecular docking verification on the core targets and components of YCZFD. To verify the results of network pharmacology, UPLC-MS/MS method was used to determine the effect of YCZFD on levels of bile acid profiles in mouse liver tissues. It was found that treatment with YCZFD significantly reduced the content of free bile acids, taurine bound bile acids, and total bile acids in the liver tissues of cholestatic mice. Then, results from real time PCR and Western blot also found that YCZFD can upregulate the expression of hepatic nuclear receptor farnesoid X receptor, metabolizing enzyme (UDP glucuronidase transferase 1a1), and efflux transporters (bile salt export pump, multidrug resistance-associated protein 2, multidrug resistance-associated protein 3, etc) in cholestasis mice, promote bile acid metabolism and excretion, and improve bile acid homeostasis. Moreover, YCZFD can also inhibit pyroptosis and inflammation by regulating NOD-like receptors 3 pathway, thereby inhibiting cholestatic liver injury.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the enhancement of macrophage chemotaxis in patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and its correlation with the disease severity. METHODS: Eighty patients with KOA admitted from July 2019 to June 2022 were enrolled as the observation group and divided into 29 cases of moderate group, 30 cases of severe group and 21 cases of extremely severe group. At the same time, 30 healthy subjects were included as the control group. The gene expressions of NF-κB, CXC chemokine receptor 7 (CXCR7) and CXC chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12) in macrophages of each group were analyzed. Visual analogue scale(VAS) was used to evaluate the degree of joint pain. Joint function was evaluated by knee Joint Society Scoring system(KSS). Finally, data analysis was carried out. RESULTS: The expression levels of NF-κB, CXCR7 and CXCL12 in moderate group, severe group and extreme recombination group were higher than those in control group. The VAS, the expression of NF-κB, CXCR7 and CXCL12 in the severe group and the extreme recombination group were higher than those in the moderate group, whereas KSS was lower than that in the moderate group. The VAS, expression levels of NF-κB, CXCR7 and CXCL12 in the extremely severe group were higher than those in the severe group, and KSS was lower than that in the severe group (all P<0.01). The expression levels of NF-κB, CXCR7 and CXCL12 in macrophages were positively correlated with VAS score, but negatively correlated with KSS(all P<0.01). The expression levels of NF-κB, CXCR7 and CXCL12 in macrophages were positively correlated with the severity of disease. After excluding the influence of traditional factors (gender, age and disease duration), multiple linear regression analysis further showed that the expression levels of NF-κB, CXCR7 and CXCL12 were still positively correlated with the severity of disease(all P<0.01). CONCLUSION The chemotaxis of macrophages in patients with KOA increased with the aggravation of the disease, and was related to the degree of pain and function impairment.
Humans ; Osteoarthritis, Knee/genetics* ; Chemotaxis/genetics* ; NF-kappa B/metabolism* ; Macrophages/metabolism* ; Receptors, CXCR/metabolism* ; Patient Acuity

Objective:To evaluate the new model of group screening combined with opportunistic screening for the diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer.Methods:Group screening combined with opportunistic screening was used for gastric cancer screening. (1) Group screening. Cluster sampling was used to screen gastric cancer by endoscopy in high-risk population (aged 40-<70 years) of rural residents in Weihai from July 2017 to December 2020, and biopsy was obtained for histopathology if necessary. Main collection parameters included the detection rate of advanced gastric cancer, early gastric cancer and high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (HGIN). (2) Opportunistic screening. The changes of the detection rates of early gastric cancer in opportunistic screening in 2 hospitals in Weihai area were observed during the same period of time.Results:(1) In group screening, from July 2017 to December 2020, the first batch of 8 000 cases of gastric cancer screening were completed. The cases of advanced gastric cancer, early gastric cancer and HGIN were 36, 28, and 62, respectively. The detection rates of gastric cancer and early gastric cancer were 0.80% (64/8 000) and 43.75% (28/64), respectively. The proportion of early gastric cancer+HGIN who received endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) was 77.78% (70/90), and the rate of curative resection was 100.00%(70/70). (2) Opportunistic screening: from July 2017 to December 2020, the annual early gastric cancer detection rates in opportunistic screening in Wendeng District Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital were 16.67% (1/6), 20.00% (3/15), 23.53% (4/17), and 33.33% (6/18) in the consecutive 4 years, respectively. The annual detection rates of early gastric cancer in opportunistic screening in Ru Shan Peoples Hospital were 14.74% (14/95), 23.80% (60/252), 25.49% (65/255), and 24.04% (50/208), respectively. The detection rates of opportunistic screening for early gastric cancer in hospitals in Weihai city increased year by year.Conclusion:In areas with high incidence of gastric cancer, a certain scale of group screening can lead to a wider range of opportunistic screening, resulting in the increase of the detection rate of early gastric cancer. The new model of diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer is worth recommendation.

PURPOSE: COVID-19 is also referred to as a typical viral septic pulmonary infection by 2019-nCoV. However, little is known regarding its characteristics in terms of systemic inflammation and organ injury, especially compared with classical bacterial sepsis. This article aims to investigate the clinical characteristics and prognosis between COVID-19-associated sepsis and classic bacterial-induced sepsis. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, septic patients with COVID-19 in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a government-designed therapy center in Shenzhen, China between January 14, 2020 and March 10, 2020, and septic patients induced by carbapenem-resistant klebsiella pneumonia (CrKP) admitted to the ICU of the Second People's Hospital of Shenzhen, China between January 1, 2014 and October 30, 2019 were enrolled. Demographic and clinical parameters including comorbidities, critical illness scores, treatment, and laboratory data, as well as prognosis were compared between the two groups. Risk factors for mortality and survival rate were analyzed using multivariable logistic regression and survival curve, respectively. RESULTS: A total of 107 patients with COVID-19 and 63 patients with CrKP were enrolled. A direct comparison between the two groups demonstrated more serious degrees of primary lung injury following 2019-nCoV infection (indicated by lower PaO CONCLUSION Critical COVID-19 shares clinical characteristics with classical bacterial sepsis, but the degree of systemic inflammatory response, secondary organ damage and mortality rate are less severe. However, following 2019-nCoV infection, the level of immunosuppression may be increased and thus induce in more death at the later stage of patients' hospitalstay.
COVID-19 ; Carbapenems ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Klebsiella ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Sepsis

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the incidence of extrauterine growth retardation (EUGR) and its risk factors in very preterm infants (VPIs) during hospitalization in China. METHODS: A prospective multicenter study was performed on the medical data of 2 514 VPIs who were hospitalized in the department of neonatology in 28 hospitals from 7 areas of China between September 2019 and December 2020. According to the presence or absence of EUGR based on the evaluation of body weight at the corrected gestational age of 36 weeks or at discharge, the VPIs were classified to two groups: EUGR group (n=1 189) and non-EUGR (n=1 325). The clinical features were compared between the two groups, and the incidence of EUGR and risk factors for EUGR were examined. RESULTS: The incidence of EUGR was 47.30% (1 189/2 514) evaluated by weight. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that higher weight growth velocity after regaining birth weight and higher cumulative calorie intake during the first week of hospitalization were protective factors against EUGR (P<0.05), while small-for-gestational-age birth, prolonged time to the initiation of total enteral feeding, prolonged cumulative fasting time, lower breast milk intake before starting human milk fortifiers, prolonged time to the initiation of full fortified feeding, and moderate-to-severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia were risk factors for EUGR (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS It is crucial to reduce the incidence of EUGR by achieving total enteral feeding as early as possible, strengthening breastfeeding, increasing calorie intake in the first week after birth, improving the velocity of weight gain, and preventing moderate-severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia in VPIs.
Female ; Fetal Growth Retardation ; Gestational Age ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Infant, Very Low Birth Weight ; Prospective Studies ; Risk Factors

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of Shenmai Injection (SMI) on the long-term prognosis of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). METHODS: The Hospital Information System was used to extract data of CHF patients, and the retrospective cohort study was conducted for analysis. In non-exposed group, standardized Western medicine treatment and Chinese patent medicine or decoction were applied without combination of SMI while in the exposed group, SMI were applied for more than 7 days. Evaluation indicators are followed with New York Heart Association functional classification (NYHA classification), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide precursor (NT-ProBNP), cardiogenic death and heart failure (HF) readmission. Statistical analysis includes Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression which are used to explore the relationship between SMI and outcome events. RESULTS: A total of 1,211 eligible CHF patients were involved and finally 1,047 patients were followed up successfully. After treatment, the cases of NYHA classification decline in the exposed and non-exposed groups accounted for 64.30% and 43.45%, respectively; the improvement values of LVEF were 8.89% and 7.91%, respectively; the improvement values of NT-ProBNP were 909 pg/mL and 735 pg/mL, respectively. After exposure on SMI, the rates of cardiogenic death and HF readmission reduced from 15.43% to 10.18% and 38.93% to 32.37%. According to Kaplan-Meier analysis, the log-rank P value of SMI and cardiogenic death was 0.014, while the counterpart of SMI and HF readmission was 0.025. Cox regression analysis indicated that for cardiogenic death, age, cardiomyopathy, diabetes, and NYHA classification were risk factors while β-blockers, aldosterone receptor antagonists, Chinese patent medicine/decoction and SMI were protective factors. Likewise, for HF readmission, age, cardiomyopathy, and NYHA classification were risk factors while SMI was a protective factor. CONCLUSION Combination with SMI on the standardized Western medicine treatment can effectively reduce cardiogenic mortality and readmission rate in CHF patients, and thereby improve the long-term prognosis.
Biomarkers ; Drug Combinations ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heart Failure/drug therapy* ; Humans ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain ; Peptide Fragments ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Stroke Volume ; Ventricular Function, Left