To systematically review randomized controlled trials （RCTs） of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） intervention in ulcerative colitis （UC）， and analyze the characteristics of these studies and their outcome indicators， thereby providing references for the design of future RCTs of TCM intervention in UC and offering evidence supporting the clinical application of TCM in UC. A computerized search was conducted in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure （CNKI）， Wanfang Data， VIP， SinoMed， PubMed， Cochrane Library， EMbase， and Web of Science databases for RCTs of TCM intervention in UC published from January 2021 to August 2024. The risk of bias was assessed， and outcome indicators were qualitatively analyzed. A total of 555 RCTs were included， with a sample size of 44 853 participants. The largest sample size was 218 cases， and the smallest was 28 cases， with most studies focusing on 60-100 participants. Of the 386 RCTs that explicitly reported TCM syndrome types， the top three were large intestine dampness-heat syndrome （31.05%）， spleen and kidney yang deficiency syndrome （12.47%）， and spleen deficiency with dampness syndrome （9.17%）. The interventions， ranked by frequency of use， included internal Chinese medicine compounds/preparations （64.5%）， Chinese medicine compounds/preparations with retained enema （18.2%）， internal Chinese medicine compounds/preparations + external TCM treatment （5.95%）， and external TCM treatment alone （4.86%）. The treatment duration was mainly 4-8 weeks （64.86%）， with 61 studies （10.99%） reporting follow-up time. A total of 157 outcome indicators were used， with a frequency of 3 460 occurrences， classified into six domains： TCM syndromes and symptoms （346 occurrences， 10%）， symptoms/signs （541 occurrences， 15.64%）， physical and chemical examinations （2 119 occurrences， 61.24%）， quality of life （107 occurrences， 3.09%）， long-term prognosis （61 occurrences， 1.76%）， and safety events （284 occurrences， 8.21%）. The analysis reveals several limitations in the outcome indicators of TCM intervention in UC， including the lack of a basis for sample size calculation， non-standardized TCM syndrome classification， absence of trial design and registration， inadequate blinding and allocation concealment， adherence issues with interventions， imbalanced selection of surrogate and endpoint indicators， inconsistency in the timing of outcome measurements， design issues that require standardization， and ethical and safety concerns. It is recommended that future studies actively construct a set of core indicators for UC that include standardized TCM syndrome classification， clear efficacy evaluation indicators， key endpoint indicators， and reasonable measurement time points. Long-term prognostic impacts， comprehensive assessments of patients' quality of life， and consideration of economic benefits should be emphasized， providing a basis for the clinical practice of TCM in the treatment of UC.

To systematically review randomized controlled trials （RCTs） of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） intervention in ulcerative colitis （UC）， and analyze the characteristics of these studies and their outcome indicators， thereby providing references for the design of future RCTs of TCM intervention in UC and offering evidence supporting the clinical application of TCM in UC. A computerized search was conducted in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure （CNKI）， Wanfang Data， VIP， SinoMed， PubMed， Cochrane Library， EMbase， and Web of Science databases for RCTs of TCM intervention in UC published from January 2021 to August 2024. The risk of bias was assessed， and outcome indicators were qualitatively analyzed. A total of 555 RCTs were included， with a sample size of 44 853 participants. The largest sample size was 218 cases， and the smallest was 28 cases， with most studies focusing on 60-100 participants. Of the 386 RCTs that explicitly reported TCM syndrome types， the top three were large intestine dampness-heat syndrome （31.05%）， spleen and kidney yang deficiency syndrome （12.47%）， and spleen deficiency with dampness syndrome （9.17%）. The interventions， ranked by frequency of use， included internal Chinese medicine compounds/preparations （64.5%）， Chinese medicine compounds/preparations with retained enema （18.2%）， internal Chinese medicine compounds/preparations + external TCM treatment （5.95%）， and external TCM treatment alone （4.86%）. The treatment duration was mainly 4-8 weeks （64.86%）， with 61 studies （10.99%） reporting follow-up time. A total of 157 outcome indicators were used， with a frequency of 3 460 occurrences， classified into six domains： TCM syndromes and symptoms （346 occurrences， 10%）， symptoms/signs （541 occurrences， 15.64%）， physical and chemical examinations （2 119 occurrences， 61.24%）， quality of life （107 occurrences， 3.09%）， long-term prognosis （61 occurrences， 1.76%）， and safety events （284 occurrences， 8.21%）. The analysis reveals several limitations in the outcome indicators of TCM intervention in UC， including the lack of a basis for sample size calculation， non-standardized TCM syndrome classification， absence of trial design and registration， inadequate blinding and allocation concealment， adherence issues with interventions， imbalanced selection of surrogate and endpoint indicators， inconsistency in the timing of outcome measurements， design issues that require standardization， and ethical and safety concerns. It is recommended that future studies actively construct a set of core indicators for UC that include standardized TCM syndrome classification， clear efficacy evaluation indicators， key endpoint indicators， and reasonable measurement time points. Long-term prognostic impacts， comprehensive assessments of patients' quality of life， and consideration of economic benefits should be emphasized， providing a basis for the clinical practice of TCM in the treatment of UC.

[Objective] To explore the feasibility of using whole blood as a source of NK cells for allogeneic CAR NK cell therapy and activated NK cell reinfusion therapy, and initially construct a technical system for the separation and purification of NK cells from whole blood. [Methods] All peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were enriched from 400 mL of whole blood by manual separation and machine separation, respectively. The erythrocyte loss rate, PBMCs number, NK cell purity of the two methods were compared. NK cells were sorted from PBMCs by three separation and enrichment methods as immunomagnetic bead negative selection method, platelet lysate culture expansion and PERCOLL density gradient separation method, and the purity and yield of NK cells, the activity of NK cells and the tumor-killing ability of the three separation and enrichment methods were compared. [Results] The proportion of NK cells in the lymphocyte population was higher in the manual separation method than in the machine separation method[(13.16±5.16)% vs (8.56±3.92)%, P<0.05]; the number PBMCs was lower in the manual separation method than in the machine separation method[(4.09±1.80)×10⁸vs (6.49±2.16)×10⁸, P<0.05], and there was no difference in the red blood cell loss between the two methods (P>0.05). The purity of NK cells isolated and enriched from PBMCs by manual separation method using immunomagnetic was (96.77±2.31)%; the yield was (56.27±10.47)%; the inhibition of tumor proliferation was (38.67±14.05)%; and the tumor killing rate was (19.90±8.05)%. The purity of NK cells isolated and enriched from PBMCs by manual separation method using platelet lysis culture expansion method was the highest at day 7, which was (54.84±15.80)%; the cell expansion multiple could reach 16.92±6.28 at day 7; the in vitro tumor killing rate of NK cells was (15.83±5.5)%; the tumor inhibition rate was (44.33±13.5)%; and there was no difference in the toxicity and activity of NK cells between the two methods (P>0.05). The purity of NK cells isolated and enriched by PERCOLL density gradient separation method was (15.83±5.82)%, and the yield was (14±6.25)%, which was significantly lower than the other two methods. [Conclusion] PBMCs isolated from whole blood by manual separation and NK cells enriched by negative selection with immunomagnetic beads have the potential to provide NK cell materials for CAR-NK cell therapy, and NK cells enriched by platelet lysate-conditioned medium have the potential to provide NK cells for large-scale NK cell activation reinfusion therapy.

Whole blood transfusion for the resuscitation of trauma patients is not a new concept, with its history dating back to World War I. Due to the significant survival benefits of early intervention with whole blood, an increasing number of countries and regions are using whole blood for pre-hospital resuscitation of patients with traumatic haemorrhage. Whole blood containing low-titer anti-A and anti-B antibodies is known as low-titer group O whole blood. The safety of transfusion of low-titer group O whole blood has been proven in military and local trauma centers in some countries. The use of low-titer group O whole blood for pre-hospital trauma care in China will pose new challenges to blood stations that provide whole blood. This paper reviews the selection of group O donors, the setting of anti-A and anti-B titers threshold and their detection, as well as the collection, preparation and storage of whole blood.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder with profound impact on patients’ quality of life and long-term health, and early detection and intervention are particularly critical. In recent years, the search for precise and reliable biomarkers has become one of the key strategies to effectively address the clinical challenges of PD. In this paper, we systematically evaluated potential biomarkers, including proteins, metabolites, epigenetic markers, and exosomes, in the peripheral blood of PD patients. Protein markers are one of the main directions of biomarker research in PD. In particular, α‑synuclein and its phosphorylated form play a key role in the pathological process of PD. It has been shown that aggregation of α-synuclein may be associated with pathologic protein deposition in PD and may be a potential marker for early diagnosis of PD. In terms of metabolites, uric acid, as a metabolite, plays an important role in oxidative stress and neuroprotection in PD. It has been found that changes in uric acid levels may be associated with the onset and progression of PD, showing its potential as an early diagnostic marker. Epigenetic markers, such as DNA methylation modifications and miRNAs, have also attracted much attention in Parkinson’s disease research. Changes in these markers may affect the expression of PD-related genes and have an important impact on the onset and progression of the disease, providing new research perspectives for the early diagnosis of PD. In addition, exosomes, as a potential biomarker carrier for PD, are able to carry a variety of biomolecules involved in intercellular communication and pathological regulation. Studies have shown that exosomes may play an important role in the pathogenesis of PD, and their detection in blood may provide a new breakthrough for early diagnosis. It has been shown that exosomes may play an important role in the pathogenesis of PD, and their detection in blood may provide new breakthroughs in early diagnosis. In summary, through in-depth evaluation of biomarkers in the peripheral blood of PD patients, this paper demonstrates the important potential of these markers in the early diagnosis of PD and in the study of pathological mechanisms. Future studies will continue to explore the clinical application value of these biomarkers to promote the early detection of PD and individualized treatment strategies.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is an increasingly widespread sleep-breathing disordered disease, and is an independent risk factor for many high-risk chronic diseases such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, arrhythmias and diabetes, which is potentially fatal. The key to the prevention and treatment of OSA is early diagnosis and treatment, so the assessment and diagnostic technologies of OSA have become a research hotspot. This paper reviews the research progresses of severity assessment parameters and diagnostic technologies of OSA, and discusses their future development trends. In terms of severity assessment parameters of OSA, apnea hypopnea index (AHI), as the gold standard, together with the percentage of duration of apnea hypopnea (AH%), lowest oxygen saturation (LSpO₂), heart rate variability (HRV), oxygen desaturation index (ODI) and the emerging biomarkers, constitute a multi-dimensional evaluation system. Specifically, the AHI, which measures the frequency of sleep respiratory events per hour, does not fully reflect the patients’ overall sleep quality or the extent of their daytime functional impairments. To address this limitation, the AH%, which measures the proportion of the entire sleep cycle affected by apneas and hypopneas, deepens our understanding of the impact on sleep quality. The LSpO₂ plays a critical role in highlighting the potential severe hypoxic episodes during sleep, while the HRV offers a different perspective by analyzing the fluctuations in heart rate thereby revealing the activity of the autonomic nervous system. The ODI provides a direct and objective measure of patients’ nocturnal oxygenation stability by calculating the number of desaturation events per hour, and the biomarkers offers novel insights into the diagnosis and management of OSA, and fosters the development of more precise and tailored OSA therapeutic strategies. In terms of diagnostic techniques of OSA, the standardized questionnaire and Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) is a simple and effective method for preliminary screening of OSA, and the polysomnography (PSG) which is based on recording multiple physiological signals stands for gold standard, but it has limitations of complex operations, high costs and inconvenience. As a convenient alternative, the home sleep apnea testing (HSAT) allows patients to monitor their sleep with simplified equipment in the comfort of their own homes, and the cardiopulmonary coupling (CPC) offers a minimal version that simply analyzes the electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. As an emerging diagnostic technology of OSA, machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) adeptly pinpoint respiratory incidents and expose delicate physiological changes, thus casting new light on the diagnostic approach to OSA. In addition, imaging examination utilizes detailed visual representations of the airway’s structure and assists in recognizing structural abnormalities that may result in obstructed airways, while sound monitoring technology records and analyzes snoring and breathing sounds to detect the condition subtly, and thus further expands our medical diagnostic toolkit. As for the future development directions, it can be predicted that interdisciplinary integrated researches, the construction of personalized diagnosis and treatment models, and the popularization of high-tech in clinical applications will become the development trends in the field of OSA evaluation and diagnosis.

ObjectiveMagnetoencephalography (MEG), a non-invasive neuroimaging technique, meticulously captures the magnetic fields emanating from brain electrical activity. Compared with MEG based on superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUID), MEG based on optically pump magnetometer (OPM) has the advantages of higher sensitivity, better spatial resolution and lower cost. However, most of the current studies are clinical studies, and there is a lack of animal studies on MEG based on OPM technology. Pain, a multifaceted sensory and emotional phenomenon, induces intricate alterations in brain activity, exhibiting notable sex differences. Despite clinical revelations of pain-related neuronal activity through MEG, specific properties remain elusive, and comprehensive laboratory studies on pain-associated brain activity alterations are lacking. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of inflammatory pain (induced by Complete Freund’s Adjuvant (CFA)) on brain activity in a rat model using the MEG technique, to analysis changes in brain activity during pain perception, and to explore sex differences in pain-related MEG signaling. MethodsThis study utilized adult male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. Inflammatory pain was induced via intraplantar injection of CFA (100 μl, 50% in saline) in the left hind paw, with control groups receiving saline. Pain behavior was assessed using von Frey filaments at baseline and 1 h post-injection. For MEG recording, anesthetized rats had an OPM positioned on their head within a magnetic shield, undergoing two 15-minute sessions: a 5-minute baseline followed by a 10-minute mechanical stimulation phase. Data analysis included artifact removal and time-frequency analysis of spontaneous brain activity using accumulated spectrograms, generating spectrograms focused on the 4-30 Hz frequency range. ResultsMEG recordings in anesthetized rats during resting states and hind paw mechanical stimulation were compared, before and after saline/CFA injections. Mechanical stimulation elevated alpha activity in both male and female rats pre- and post-saline/CFA injections. Saline/CFA injections augmented average power in both sexes compared to pre-injection states. Remarkably, female rats exhibited higher average spectral power 1 h after CFA injection than after saline injection during resting states. Furthermore, despite comparable pain thresholds measured by classical pain behavioral tests post-CFA treatment, female rats displayed higher average power than males in the resting state after CFA injection. ConclusionThese results imply an enhanced perception of inflammatory pain in female rats compared to their male counterparts. Our study exhibits sex differences in alpha activities following CFA injection, highlighting heightened brain alpha activity in female rats during acute inflammatory pain in the resting state. Our study provides a method for OPM-based MEG recordings to be used to study brain activity in anaesthetized animals. In addition, the findings of this study contribute to a deeper understanding of pain-related neural activity and pain sex differences.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the mechanism of the inhibitory effect of total flavonoids from Taraxacum mongolicum on high-fat diet-induced obesity in mice through modulation of intestinal flora. METHODS Twenty-four C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into blank group， model group and T. mongolicum total flavonoid group， with 8 mice in each group. Except for the blank group， the other 2 groups were given a high-fat diet， while T. mongolicum total flavonoid group was given T. mongolicum total flavonoid [400 mg/（kg·d）] intragastrically， once a day， for 8 consecutive weeks. During the experiment， the food intake of each group of mice was recorded. After the last medication， the body mass， fat weight， blood lipid level and pathological changes of liver and epididymal fat in mice were evaluated to observe the effect of T. mongolicum total flavonoid on the treatment of obesity in mice. The changes in abundance and structure of intestinal flora in mice were detected by amplicon sequencing； the effects of T. mongolicum total flavonoids on fat metabolism related genes were analyzed by qPCR. RESULTS Compared with model group， the body weight of mice in T. mongolicum total flavonoids group was decreased significantly （P＜0.05）； the levels of total lipid cholesterol， triglycerides， and LDL cholesterol were all decreased significantly （P＜0.01）， and the level of HDL cholesterol was increased significantly （P＜0.01）； the fat indexes of inguinal white adipose tissue and epididymal white wind_lz@hactcm.edu.cn adipose tissue were significantly reduced （P＜0.05）； significant improvement in hepatocellular steatosis and adipose cytopathy were significantly improved； mRNA expressions of COX7A1 and COX8B were significantly upregulated （P＜0.05）. The results of bacterial colony detection showed that compared with the model group， there was a rising trend in the diversity of the bacterial colony in T. mongolicum total flavonoids group， and the Sobs index characterization and β diversity were increased significantly （P＜0.05）. Relative abundances of Blautia， norank_f_Ruminococcaceae， Bilophila， Alistipes， classified_f_Ruminococcaceae， Parabacteroides， norank_f_Desulfovibrionaceae， Anaerotruncus were significantly up-regulated（P＜0.05）， while those of Faecalibaculum， Erysipelatoclostridium， GCA-900066575， Tuzzerella， Lactobacillus， norank_f_norank_o_RF39， achnospiraceae_FCS020_group were significantly down-regulated （P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS T. mongolicum total flavonoids can reduce body mass， fat weight and blood lipid levels， and repair the pathological damage to liver and epididymal fat in obese mice， which is related to improving intestinal flora disorders caused by high-fat diet.

This article presents a case study of a patient who visited the Geriatric Department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital due to "palpitations, shortness of breath for more than 2 years, limb weakness for 6 months, edema, and nocturnal dyspnea for 2 months". The patient exhibited decreased muscle strength in the limbs and involvement of swallowing and respiratory muscles, alongside complications of heart failure and various arrhythmias which were predominantly atrial. Laboratory tests revealed the presence of multiple autoantibodies and notably anti-mitochondrial antibodies. Following a comprehensive multidisciplinary evaluation, the patient was diagnosed with anti-mitochondrial antibody-associated inflammatory myopathy. Treatment involved a combination of glucocorticoids and immunosuppressants, along with resistance exercises for muscle strength and rehabilitation training for lung function, resulting in significant improvement of clinical symptoms. The case underscores the importance of collaborative multidisciplinary approaches in diagnosing and treating rare diseases in elderly patients, where careful consideration of clinical manifestations and subtle abnormal clinical data can lead to effective interventions.

To evaluate long-term survival and clinical outcomes of patients with knee osteo-arthritis undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) through long-term follow-up.