Through consulting herbal medicine， medical books， and local chronicles from past dynasties to modern times， this paper systematically researched Spatholobi Caulis from name， origin， producing areas， harvesting， processing， usage， quality evaluation， functions and indications， providing a reference for the development and utilization of famous classical formulas containing Spatholobi Caulis. According to the research， Spatholobi Caulis was first recorded in the Annals of Shunning Prefecture from the Qing dynasty. It was originally a medicinal herb commonly used in Shunning， Yunnan， and was named from the red juice resembling chicken blood that flowed out after the vein was cut off. The mainstream original plants of each dynasty were Kadsura heteroclita and Spatholobus suberectus. Among them， K. heteroclita mainly focused on dispersing blood stasis and unblocking meridians， mainly treating rheumatic pain and injuries caused by falls or blows， and it is mostly used as the raw material of Jixueteng ointments. S. suberectus was commonly used as decoction pieces in decoction， which had the functions of promoting blood circulation and replenishing blood， activating meridians and collaterals， and mainly used for treating anemia， irregular menstruation， and rheumatic bone pain. The production area of Spatholobi Caulis recorded in the Qing dynasty was Yunnan. Currently， the main production area of S. suberectus is Guangxi， while the main production area of K. interior is Yunnan. In the Qing dynasty， the usage of Spatholobi Caulis was an individual prescription with other herbs before making ointments， which was usually composed of the juice of it， safflower， angelica， and glutinous rice. But in modern times， Spatholobi Caulis is mostly sliced and dried for use. The quality of Spatholobi Caulis is often determined by the number of reddish-brown concentric circles on the cut surface， with a higher number indicating better quality. Additionally， the presence of resinous secretions is also considered desirable. Based on the research findings， it is suggested that when developing famous classical formulas containing Spatholobi Caulis， the choice of the primary source should be S. suberectus or K. heteroclita， taking into consideration the therapeutic effects of the formula. It is also recommended that the latest plant classification be referenced in the next edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia， adjusting the primary source of Kadsurae Caulis to K. heteroclita to avoid confusion caused by inconsistent original names， and the functions adjust to promote Qi circulation and relieve pain， disperse blood stasis and unblock collaterals， treating injuries caused by falls and bruises.

Alzheimer's disease （AD） is one of the most common diseases in the elderly population. Its etiology involves multiple pathogenic factors and pathological links such as abnormal deposition of β amyloid protein （Aβ）， hyperphosphorylation of Tau protein， abnormalities of the cholinergic system， oxidative stress， and inflammatory response. However， its specific pathogenesis has not been clarified， and no specific therapeutic drugs have been found. In recent years， more and more studies have paid attention to the potential of chemical components of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） in the treatment of AD. However， the diversity and complexity of the chemical components of TCM may have a positive impact on multiple pathological links of AD. Researchers have isolated many active components from TCMs， and the effects of treating AD have been confirmed by modern pharmacological studies. Through literature analysis， this article found that the main chemical components of TCM with anti-AD effects were saponins （31%）， flavonoids （24%）， polysaccharides （20%）， lactones （8%）， alkaloids （7%）， phenols （3%）， and other compounds （7%）. Among them， ginsenoside， notoginsenoside， epimedium flavones， puerarin， baicalein， schisandra polysaccharide， angelica polysaccharide， ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide， pachyman， huperzine A， berberine， andrographolide， curcumin， emodin， and gastrodin have been extensively studied in terms of their anti-AD effects， and their mechanisms of pharmacological action have been involved in many aspects of AD pathogenesis. This article reviews the anti-AD activities and possible mechanisms of chemical components of TCM， so as to provide a reference for the development of new drugs for the prevention and treatment of AD.

Objective:To study the impact of the age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index (ACCI) on the prognosis of patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma following laparoscopic surgical resection.Methods:Clinical data of 136 patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma undergoing laparoscopic surgery at Zhengzhou University People's Hospital between January 2013 and January 2018 were retrospectively analyzed, including 81 males and 55 females, aged (63.6±9.8) years. Patients were divided into two groups based on the median ACCI score of 4.0: the high ACCI group (ACCI>4.0, n=49) and low ACCI group (ACCI≤4.0, n=87). The prognosis was compared between the two group. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to analyze the effect of ACCI on survival after laparoscopic surgery. Results:The 1- and 3-year cumulative survival rates in low ACCI group were 87.4% and 48.3%, respectively, compared to 53.1% and 4.1% in high ACCI group ( χ2=27.97, P<0.001). Univariate Cox regression analysis indicated that ACCI >4.0 was associated with prognosis ( HR=3.73, 95% CI: 2.44-5.68, P<0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis also indicated that ACCI >4.0 was associated with an increased risk of postoperative mortality in patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma ( HR=2.69, 95% CI: 1.65-4.37, P<0.001). Conclusion:The ACCI is a significant risk factor for survival of patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma following laparoscopic surgery, which could facilitate a precise preoperative assessment of patient status and choice of surgical approach.

Objective:To compare the difference between the operation of ureteral calculi patients with COVID-19 infection during COVID-19 infection and after recovery to find out the best timing for surgery.Methods:The clinical data of 327 ureteral calculi patients with COVID-19 infection were retrospectively analyzed, including 141 cases who underwent ureteroscopic surgery. According to the time of ureteroscopic surgery, the patients were divided into two groups: operation before recovery of COVID-19 infection group ( n=81) and operation after recovery of COVID-19 infection group ( n=60). The success rate of primary surgery, stone removal incidence, complication inciednce, mortality, operation time, postoperative hemoglobin decline, hospital stay, and total hospitalization cost and other indicators of the two groups were compared between the two groups. Measurement data were expressed as mean±standard deviation ( ± s), independent t-test was used for inter-group comparison. Chi-test or continuous correction Chi-test was used for inter-group comparison for count data. Results:The success rate of primary surgery (38.3%, 31/81), stone removal rate (86.4%, 70/81) in the operation before recovery of COVID-19 infection group were significantly lower than those in the operation after recovery of COVID-19 infection group [80.0% (48/60), 98.3% (59/60)], and the differences were statistically significant ( P< 0.05). The incidence of complication, postoperative hemoglobin decline [(2.1±0.6) g/L vs (0.6±0.3) g/L], hospital stay [(14.7±3.6) d vs (4.1±1.1) d], total hospitalization cost [(34 733.3±4 412.4) yuan vs (21 919.7±3 251.3) yuan] of the operation before recovery of COVID-19 infection group were significantly higher than those in the operation after recovery of COVID-19 infection group, and the differences were statistically significant ( P< 0.001). The operation time of the operation before recovery of COVID-19 infection group was shorter [(16.9±5.4) min vs (37.7±8.9) min], and the difference was statistically significant ( P< 0.001). There was no significant difference in mortality between the two groups (3.7% vs 0, P> 0.05). Conclusion:The risk of surgical treatment for ureteral calculi patients with COVID-19 infection is high, The treatment of them should mainly be conservative treatment, and operation should be performed after COVID-19 infection is cured.

Approximately 140 million people worldwide are homozygous carriers of APOE4 (ε4), a strong genetic risk factor for late onset familial and sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD), 91% of whom will develop AD at earlier age than heterozygous carriers and noncarriers. Susceptibility to AD could be reduced by targeted editing of APOE4, but a technical basis for controlling the off-target effects of base editors is necessary to develop low-risk personalized gene therapies. Here, we first screened eight cytosine base editor variants at four injection stages (from 1- to 8-cell stage), and found that FNLS-YE1 variant in 8-cell embryos achieved the comparable base conversion rate (up to 100%) with the lowest bystander effects. In particular, 80% of AD-susceptible ε4 allele copies were converted to the AD-neutral ε3 allele in human ε4-carrying embryos. Stringent control measures combined with targeted deep sequencing, whole genome sequencing, and RNA sequencing showed no DNA or RNA off-target events in FNLS-YE1-treated human embryos or their derived stem cells. Furthermore, base editing with FNLS-YE1 showed no effects on embryo development to the blastocyst stage. Finally, we also demonstrated FNLS-YE1 could introduce known protective variants in human embryos to potentially reduce human susceptivity to systemic lupus erythematosus and familial hypercholesterolemia. Our study therefore suggests that base editing with FNLS-YE1 can efficiently and safely introduce known preventive variants in 8-cell human embryos, a potential approach for reducing human susceptibility to AD or other genetic diseases.
Humans ; Apolipoprotein E4/genetics* ; Cytosine ; Mutation ; Blastocyst ; Heterozygote ; Gene Editing ; CRISPR-Cas Systems

ObjectiveTo analyze the clinical application hotspots， development trends， compatibility characteristics， application rules， and formulation mechanisms of the Chinese marine drug pair Haliotidis Concha-Oystreae Concha in order to provide references for its clinical medication and further research. MethodBy means of various modern literature databases such as China National Knowledge Infrastructure （CNKI）， modern clinical prescriptions containing Haliotidis Concha-Oystreae Concha， as well as the clinical application hotspots， were retrieved， followed by visualized analysis of hotspots and development trends of their clinical applications using Citespace. The drug composition， efficacy and indications， and drug dosages in the prescriptions were statistically analyzed. Additionally， various statistical software including SPSS Modeler 18.0 were employed to analyze the indications， syndromes， and formulation rules of Haliotidis Concha-Oystreae Concha. ResultThe visualized analysis included 90 articles， revealing a gradual decrease in publications in this field in recent years. Key clinical application keywords were identified as hypertension， collateral deficiency producing wind， insomnia， etc. Eighty clinical prescriptions were retrieved， involving 121 drugs. Frequency analysis of compatibility demonstrated that the top 10 drugs were Uncariae Ramulus cum Uncis， Gastrodiae Rhizoma， Os Draconis， Achyranthis Bidentatae Radix， Paeoniae Radix Alba， Chrysanthemi Flos， Scutellariae Radix， Gardeniae Frucuts， Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma， and Polygoni Multiflori Caulis. Association rule analysis showed that core combinations included "Uncariae Ramulus cum Uncis-Achyranthis Bidentatae Radix" and "Os Draconis-Pheretima-Chuanxiong Rhizoma". Through factor reliability analysis， new drug combinations were derived， such as "Gastrodiae Rhizoma-Polygoni Multiflori Caulis-Eucommiae Cortex-Taxilli Herba-Leonuri Herba"， "Achyranthis Bidentatae Radix-Uncariae Ramulus cum Uncis"， "Scutellariae Radix-Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma-Margarita-Prunellae Spica"， "Os Draconis-Pheretima-Bombyx Batryticatus"， "Chrysanthemi Flos-Chuanxiong Rhizoma"， "Poria-Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma"， and "Paeoniae Radix Alba-Gardeniae Fructus-Sclerotium Poriae Pararadicis". The Haliotidis Concha-Oystreae Concha drug pair was mainly used to treat diseases with liver Yang hyperactivity syndrome， with hypertension accounting for 40.00%， migraines for 30.00%， and dizziness for 15.00%. In the treatment of liver Yang hyperactivity syndrome， the main categories of compatible drugs were liver-pacifying and wind-extinguishing ones （19.86%）， blood-activating and stasis-resolving ones （12.13%）， and spirit-calming ones （10.08%）. High-frequency drugs in the prescriptions function to reduce blood pressure through multiple pathways， such as increasing nitric oxide （NO） levels， downregulating angiotensin Ⅱ （Ang Ⅱ）， and inhibiting angiotensin-converting enzyme （ACE）. ConclusionThrough comprehensive analysis of the results， the Haliotidis Concha-Oystreae Concha drug pair is commonly used for hypertension with liver Yang hyperactivity syndrome， and is often combined with deficiency-tonifying， liver-pacifying and wind-extinguishing， heat-clearing， and spirit-calming drugs， aiming to simultaneously extinguish wind， relieve spasms， and pacify the liver to subdue Yang， while also clearing heat to relax bowels， stabilizing the mind， and enhancing the liver-pacifying and Yang-subduing effects of this drug pair.

Objective:To investigate the application value of peripheral blood circulating tumor cell (CTC) classification in the prediction of preoperative microvascular invasion of hepato-cellular carcinoma (HCC).Methods:The retrospective case-control study was conducted. The clinico-pathological data of 102 HCC patients who were admitted to Zhengzhou University People's Hospital from September 2018 to September 2020 were collected. There were 71 males and 31 females, aged from 29 to 80 years, with a median age of 57 years. Observation indicators: (1) surgical situations; (2) results of CTC detection and microvascular invasion in HCC patients; (3) results of CTC classification and the best cut-off value of CTC classification in the prediction of microvascular invasion in HCC; (4) influencing factors for microvascular invasion in HCC; (5) comparison of clinicopathological features in HCC patients with different cell counts in mesenchymal phenotype of CTC (M-CTC). Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD, and comparison between groups was analyzed using the independent sample t test. Measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M(range) or M( Q1, Q3), and comparison between groups was analyzed using the nonparametric rank sum U test. Count data were described as absolute numbers or percentages, and comparison between groups was analyzed using the chi-square test. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine the best cut-off value for the risk of microvascular invasion in patients. Univariate and multivariate analysis were performed using the Logistic regression model. Results:(1) Surgical situations. All 102 patients underwent surgery successfully, including 17 cases undergoing local hepatectomy, 43 cases under-going segmentectomy, 22 cases undergoing hepatic lobectomy, 13 cases undergoing hemilectomy and 7 cases undergoing enlarged hemilectomy. The operation time and the volume of intraoperative blood loss were 235(147,293)minutes and 300(110,500)mL of the 102 patients, respectively. (2) Results of CTC detection and microvascular invasion in HCC patients. Of 102 patients, there were 36 casas with epithelial phenotype of CTC (E-CTC), 86 cases with hybrid phenotype of CTC (H-CTC), 30 cases with M-CTC, respectively, and the total CTC (T-CTC) were positive in 89 cases. Results of postoperative pathological examination showed that there were 40 cases with micro-vascular inva-sion and 62 cases without microvascular invasion in the 102 patients. Of the 40 patients with micro-vascular invasion, the count of E-CTC, H-CTC, M-CTC and T-CTC were 0(0,1) per 5 mL, 4(2,5) per 5 mL, 1(0,2) per 5 mL and 5(3,8) per 5mL, respectively. The above indicators of the 62 cases without microvascular invasion were 0(0,1) per 5 mL, 3(1,5) per 5 mL, 0(0,0) per 5 mL and 3(2,6) per 5 mL, respectively. There were significant differences in the count of M-CTC and T-CTC between patients with and without microvascular invasion ( Z=-4.83, -2.96, P<0.05). (3) Results of CTC classi-fication and the best cut-off value of CTC classification in the prediction of microvascular invasion in HCC. The ROC curve showed that best cut-off value of M-CTC and T-CTC counts in the prediction of microvascular invasion in HCC were 1 per 5 mL and 4 per 5 mL, respectively, with the area under curve, the corresponding specificity, sensitivity were 0.70 (95% confidence interval as 0.60-0.81, P<0.05), 75.8%, 62.9% and 0.67 (95% confidence interval as 0.57-0.78, P<0.05), 60.0%, 72.5%, respec-tively. (4) Influencing factors for microvascular invasion in HCC. Result of univariate analysis showed that alpha fetoprotein (AFP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), tumor diameter, tumor number, tumor margin, Barcelona clinic liver cancer staging, M-CTC counts and T-CTC counts were related factors influencing microvascular invasion in HCC ( odds ratio=3.13, 0.43, 4.92, 5.65, 2.54, 2.93, 8.25, 4.47, 95% confidence interval as 1.34-7.33, 0.19-0.98, 2.09-11.58, 2.35-13.63, 1.13-5.75, 1.27-6.74, 3.13-21.75, 1.88-10.61, P<0.05). Result of multivariate analysis showed that tumor diameter >5 cm, tumor number as multiple and M-CTC counts ≥1 per 5 mL were independent risk factors influencing microvascular invasion in HCC ( odds ratio=2.97, 4.14, 4.36, 95% c onfidence interval as 1.01-8.70, 1.14-15.02, 1.36-13.97, P<0.05). (5) Comparison of clinicopathological features in HCC patients with different cell counts in M-CTC. The 102 HCC patients were divided into the high M-CTC group of 30 cases with M-CTC counts ≥1 per 5 mL and the low M-CTC group of 72 cases with M-CTC counts <1 per 5 mL, according to the best cut-off value of M-CTC counts. Cases with hepatitis, cases with AFP >400 μg/L, cases with AST >35 U/L, cases with irregular tumor margin, cases with tumor diameter >5 cm, cases with tumor number as multiple and cases with micro-vascular invasion were 22, 17, 13, 21, 18, 16 and 22 in the high M-CTC group of 30 cases. The above indicators were 35, 18, 48, 26, 25, 21 and 18 in the low M-CTC group of 72 cases. There were significant differences in the above indicators between the high M-CTC group and the low M-CTC group ( χ2=5.25, 9.42, 4.80, 9.79, 5.55, 5.35, 20.75, P<0.05). Conclusions:The epithelial-mesen-chymal phenotype of peripheral blood CTC can be used to predict the preoperative microvascular invasion in HCC. Tumor diameter >5 cm, tumor number as multiple and M-CTC counts ≥1 per 5 mL are independent risk factors influencing microvascular invasion in HCC patients.

Objective:To compare the short-term clinical outcomes of patients undergoing laparoscopic versus open radical resection of hilar cholangiocarcinoma.Methods:The clinical data of 91 patients who underwent radical resection for hilar cholangiocarcinoma at our hospital from January 2018 to June 2021 were analyzed retrospectively. There were 48 males and 43 females, with aged of (61.51±7.18) years old. The patients were divided into the laparotomy group ( n=59) and the laparoscopic group ( n=32) based on the operations they received. The general data, perioperative data and complications of the two groups were compared. Results:There was no perioperative death in the laparoscopic group, but one patient died of abdominal bleeding in the laparotomy group. All other patients recovered from postoperative complications with treatment. When compared with patients in the laparotomy group, the operation time [(381.28±102.37) vs. (296.81±84.74) min] and biliary intestinal anastomosis time [(17.81±2.81) vs. (15.19±2.27) min] were significantly longer in the laparoscopic group. However, the postoperative hospital stay [(12.34±3.46) vs. (15.10 ± 4.48) d], bed rest time [(3.38±0.66) vs. (5.24±0.88) d], analgesic time [(4.31±0.90) vs. (6.22±1.26) d] and postoperative time to first feeding [(3.91±0.89) vs. (5.32±0.86) d] were significantly lower ( P<0.05). There were no significant differences in amounts of intraoperative bleeding, numbers of lymph node harvested and incidences of postoperative complications between groups ( P>0.05). Conclusion:Under the premise of strictly indications, laparoscopic radical resection of hilar cholangiocarcinoma was safe and feasible, and had certain advantages in promoting the rapid recovery of patients.

With technological advances in high-throughput sequencing, high resolution mass-spectrometry, and multi-omics data integrative tools and data repositories, the omics research in life sciences are evolving from single-omics strategy to multi-omics strategy. The research of system biology driven by multi-omics will bring a new paradigm in life sciences. This paper briefly summarizes the development of genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics, highlights the composition and function of multi-omics platforms as well as the applications of multi-omics technology, and prospects future applications of multi-omics in synthetic biology and biomedicine.
Genomics ; Proteomics/methods* ; Metabolomics/methods* ; Epigenomics/methods* ; Technology

Zedoary tumeric (Curcumae Rhizoma, Ezhu in Chinese) has a long history of application and has great potential in the treatment of liver cancer. The antiliver cancer effect of zedoary tumeric depends on the combined action of multiple pharmacodynamic substances. In order to clarify the specific mechanism of zedoary tumeric against liver cancer, this paper first analyzes the mechanism of its single pharmacodynamic substance against liver cancer, and then verifies the joint anti liver cancer mechanism of its “pharmacodynamic group”. By searching the research on the antihepatoma effect of active components of zedoary tumeric in recent years, we found that pharmacodynamic substances, including curcumol, zedoarondiol, curcumenol, curzerenone, curdione, curcumin, germacrone, β-elemene, can act on multi-target and multi-channel to play an antihepatoma role. For example, curcumin can regulate miR, GLO1, CD133, VEGF, YAP, LIN28B, GPR81, HCAR-1, P53 and PI3K/Akt/mTOR, HSP70/TLR4 and NF-κB. Wnt/TGF/EMT, Nrf2/Keap1, JAK/STAT and other pathways play an antihepatoma role. Network pharmacological analysis showed that the core targets of the “pharmacodynamic group” for anti-life cancer are AKT1, EGFR, MAPK8, etc, and the core pathways are neuroactive live receiver interaction, nitrogen metabolism, HIF-1 signaling pathway, etc. At the same time, by comparing and analyzing the relationship between the specific mechanisms of pharmacodynamic substance and “pharmacodynamic group”, it is found that they have great reference significance in target, pathway, biological function, determination of core pharmacodynamic components, formation of core target protein interaction, in-depth research of single pharmacodynamic substance, increasing curative effect and so on. By analyzing the internal mechanism of zedoary tumeric pharmacodynamic substance and “pharmacodynamic group” in the treatment of liver cancer, this paper intends to provide some ideas and references for the deeper pharmacological research of zedoary tumeric and the relationship between pharmacodynamic substance and “pharmacodynamic group”.