Aim To express and purify recombinant hCGH-CTP fusion protein in high-density suspension culture of Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO-S), and to verify the lipid accumulation effect of rhCGH-CTP on 3T3-L1 mature adipocytes. Methods The recombinant protein expression vector (pcDNA3. 1-rhCGH-CTP) was constructed, achieved by fusing the human glycoprotein hormone beta 5/alpha 2 cDNA with CTP Linker. The expression plasmid was transiently transfected into the suspended CHO-S to express rhCGH-CTP protein and then purified, and the protein biological activity was verified. Intervention with 3T3-L1 mature adipocyte cells for 24 h was performed to detect the changes of intracellular triglyceride (TG) level. Results Western blot results showed that rhCGH-CTP protein was successfully expressed in CHO-S cells, and the yield was up to 715. 4 mg • L~ . The secreted protein was purified by AKTA pure system with higher purity that was up to 90% as identified by SDS-PAGE. In addition, the intracellular cAMP content of mature adipocytes with high expression of TSHR gene significantly increased after intervention with different concentrations of rhCGH-CTP protein by ELISA kit, indicating that rhCGH-CTP protein had biological activity. Oil red 0 staining showed that compared with the control group, the lipid content of mature adipocytes in the intervention groups with different concentrations of rhCGH-CTP protein significantly decreased (P < 0. 05) . Conclusions The rhCGH-CTP protein has been successfully expressed and purified with biological activity, and effectively reduce TG. This research provides an important theoretical basis for further revealing the physiological role of CGH protein and its potential application in clinical practice.

The UK screening and treatment of retinopathy of prematurity(ROP)updated 2022 guidelines were developed by a multidisciplinary guideline development group from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and the Royal College of Ophthalmologists,following the standards of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.They were published on the websites of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and the Royal College of Ophthalmologists in March 2022,and formally published in Early Human Development in March 2023.The guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations for the screening and treatment of ROP.The most significant change in the 2022 updated version compared to the previous guidelines is the lowering of the gestational age screening criterion to below 31 weeks.The treatment section covers treatment indications,timing,methods,and follow-up visits of ROP.This article interprets the guidelines and compares them with ROP guidelines/consensus in China,providing a reference for domestic peers.

The"Guidelines for parenteral nutrition in preterm infants:the American Society for parenteral and enteral nutrition"were developed by the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition and published in the Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition in September 2023.The guidelines provide recommendations on 12 key clinical questions regarding parenteral nutrition(PN)for preterm infants.In comparison to similar guidelines,this set offers more detailed perspectives on PN for preterm infants.It presents evidence-based recommendations for the commencement time,nutrient dosage,and composition of PN,considering primary outcomes such as growth and development,as well as secondary outcomes like sepsis,retinopathy of prematurity,parenteral nutrition-related liver disease,and jaundice.This article aims to interpret the guidelines to provide a reference for colleagues in the field.

International guidelines regarding the role of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) in the management of Rh- and ABO-mediated haemolytic disease of the newborn was drafted by an international panel of experts in the fields of hematology, neonatology, and blood transfusion and was published in British Journal of Haematology on March 16, 2022. The guidelines summarize the evidence-based practice of IVIG in Rh- and ABO-mediated haemolytic disease of the newborn and propose related recommendations. The guidelines recommend that IVIG should not be applied as a routine treatment regimen for Rh- and ABO-mediated haemolytic disease of the newborn in order to reduce exchange transfusion (ET), and the best time to apply IVIG remains unclear in the situations where hyperbilirubinaemia is severe (approaching or exceeding the ET threshold) or ET cannot be implemented. These guidelines are formulated with rigorous methods, but with the lower quality of evidence.
Infant, Newborn ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins, Intravenous/therapeutic use* ; Erythroblastosis, Fetal/drug therapy* ; Exchange Transfusion, Whole Blood ; Hematologic Diseases ; Hyperbilirubinemia

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of blistering moxibustion on the expression levels of 5-hydroxytyptamine (5-HT) and its receptors of the colon tissue in the mice with visceral hypersensitivity of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), so as to explore the effect mechanism of blistering moxibustion in treatment of IBS. METHODS: Forty SPF-grade newborn Kunming mice were randomly divided into a normal group, a model group, an antagonist group and a blistering moxibustion group, 10 mice in each one. Before modeling, the injection with 0.2 mL parachlorophenylalanine (PCPA) was given on the lateral ventricle in the antagonist group. The endorectal glacial acetic acid stimulation combined with tail clipping was used to prepare the model of visceral hypersensitivity of IBS in the model group, the antagonist group and the blistering moxibustion group. After modeling, in the blistering moxibustion group, the intervention with blistering moxibustion was exerted at "Zhongwan" (CV 12), "Tianshu" (ST 25) and "Zusanli" (ST 36), once herbal irritant plaster at each acupoint, for 2 h each time, once a week, consecutively for 3 weeks. Abdominal withdrawal reflex (AWR) score and electromyographic (EMG) amplitude of abdominal muscles were adopted to evaluate the visceral hypersensitivity. HE staining was applied to observe the morphological changes in colon tissue, and immunohistochemistry was to determine the expression levels of 5-HT and its receptors. RESULTS: Compared with the normal group, EMG amplitude of abdominal muscles was increased under 20, 40 mm Hg (1 mm Hg=0.133 kPa) in the model group (P<0.05), AWR scores and EMG amplitude of abdominal muscles under 60, 80 mm Hg were all increased in the model group (P<0.05). In comparison with the model group, EMG amplitude of abdominal muscles was reduced under 20 mm Hg in the blistering moxibustion group (P<0.05), AWR scores were increased under 40 mm Hg in both the blistering moxibustion group and the antagonist group (P<0.05); AWR scores and EMG amplitude of abdominal muscles under 60, 80 mm Hg were all reduced in both the blistering moxibustion group and the antagonist group (P<0.05). Compared with the normal group, in the model group, the mucosa was slightly disturbed, while, the moderate inflammatory cells were visible in the submucosa. In comparison with the model group, the inherent glands of mucosa were regular in shape and a small number of inflammatory cells were visible in both the blistering moxibustion group and the antagonist group. In comparison with the normal group, the average positive staining area percentage (APSAP) of 5-HT and 5-HT₃R of the colon tissue was increased, while, APSAP of 5-HT₄R was reduced in the model group (P<0.05). Compared with the model group, APSAP of 5-HT and 5-HT₃R was reduced in both the blistering moxibustion group and the antagonist group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION Blistering moxibustion can relieve the visceral hypersensitivity of the mice with visceral hypersensitive IBS and the underlying mechanism is related to the regulation of the gut-brain axis mediated by 5-HT signaling pathway.
Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Hypersensitivity ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome/therapy* ; Mice ; Moxibustion ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Serotonin ; Signal Transduction

The antidepressant effect of Xiaoyaosan has been demonstrated. It is of value to explore the biological mechanism of Xiaoyaosan in the treatment of depression from the perspective of functional modules by using the method of functional module division of the metabolic network. The differential metabolites and related enzymes and proteins regulated by Xiaoyaosan were identified in the database. Pathway enrichment analysis and crosstalk pathway analysis of Xiaoyaosan regulated metabolites was carried out. A network of differentially regulated metabolites and their enzymes and proteins was constructed by using the STRING tool. The CNM decomposition algorithm was used to extract the functional modules of the network and enrichment analysis of functional modules was carried out. The results show that Xiaoyaosan regulates 97 differential metabolites, 234 related enzymes and 258 depression-related proteins. The pathways crosstalk analysis was divided into two sub-networks, one of which is related to the neural system and cell signal transduction, the other is related to the endocrine system and metabolic pathways. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis of the network and 9 functional modules extracted by the CNM algorithm shows that module 1 and module 3 belong to the pathways that can be enriched into more pathways with fewer proteins. The corresponding functions of these pathways include the endocrine system, amino acid metabolism, the nervous system and signal transduction. In this study, pathway crosstalk analysis and metabolic network module division strategies were used to explain the biological mechanism of Xiaoyaosan in the treatment of depression, providing ideas and methods for in-depth study of the pharmacological mechanism of this traditional Chinese medicine from the perspective of metabolic regulation.

Objective: The relationship between serum uric acid (SUA) levels and glycemic indices, including plasma glucose (FPG), 2-hour postload glucose (2h-PG), and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), remains inconclusive. We aimed to explore the associations between glycemic indices and SUA levels in the general Chinese population. Methods: The current study was a cross-sectional analysis using the first follow-up survey data from The China Cardiometabolic Disease and Cancer Cohort Study. A total of 105,922 community-dwelling adults aged ≥ 40 years underwent the oral glucose tolerance test and uric acid assessment. The nonlinear relationships between glycemic indices and SUA levels were explored using generalized additive models. Results: A total of 30,941 men and 62,361 women were eligible for the current analysis. Generalized additive models verified the inverted U-shaped association between glycemic indices and SUA levels, but with different inflection points in men and women. The thresholds for FPG, 2h-PG, and HbA1c for men and women were 6.5/8.0 mmol/L, 11.0/14.0 mmol/L, and 6.1/6.5, respectively (SUA levels increased with increasing glycemic indices before the inflection points and then eventually decreased with further increases in the glycemic indices). Conclusion An inverted U-shaped association was observed between major glycemic indices and uric acid levels in both sexes, while the inflection points were reached earlier in men than in women.
Aged ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Blood Glucose/analysis* ; China/epidemiology* ; Cohort Studies ; Diabetes Mellitus/blood* ; Female ; Glucose Tolerance Test ; Glycated Hemoglobin A/analysis* ; Glycemic Index ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Uric Acid/blood*

BACKGROUNDS: Azithromycin mass drug administration (MDA) is a key part of the strategy for controlling trachoma. This systematic review aimed to comprehensively summarize the present studies of azithromycin MDA on trachoma; provide an overview of the impact of azithromycin MDA on trachoma in different districts; and explore the possible methods to enhance the effectiveness of azithromycin MDA in hyperendemic districts. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched up to February 2021 with no language restriction. Studies reporting the effect of azithromycin MDA on trachoma were included. Mathematical modeling studies, animal studies, case reports, and reviews were excluded. The trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) <5.0% was used to judge the effect of azithromycin MDA on eliminating trachoma as a public health problem. Two researchers independently conducted the selection process and risk of bias assessment. RESULTS: A total of 1543 studies were screened, of which 67 studies including 13 cluster-randomized controlled trials and 54 non-randomized studies were included. The effect of azithromycin MDA on trachoma was closely related to the baseline prevalence in districts. For the districts with baseline prevalence between 5.0% and 9.9%, a single round of MDA achieved a TF <5.0%. For the districts with baseline between 10.0% and 29.9%, annual MDA for 3 to 5 years reduced TF <5.0%. However, for the districts with high level of baseline prevalence (TF >30.0%), especially with baseline TF >50.0%, annual MDA was unable to achieve the TF <5.0% even after 5 to 7 years of treatment. Quarterly MDA is more effective in controlling trachoma in these hyperendemic districts. CONCLUSIONS Azithromycin MDA for controlling trachoma depends on the baseline prevalence. The recommendation by the World Health Organization that annual MDA for 3 to 5 years in the districts with TF baseline >10.0% is not appropriate for all eligible districts.
Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use* ; Azithromycin/therapeutic use* ; Humans ; Infant ; Mass Drug Administration ; Prevalence ; Trachoma/epidemiology*

BACKGROUND: Shenque (CV8) acupoint is located on the navel and has been therapeutically used for more than 2000 years in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). However, clinical research on the underlying therapeutic molecular mechanisms of the CV8 acupoint lags far behind. This study aimed to study the mechanisms of umbilical acupoint therapy by using stem cells. METHODS: The morphological characteristics of CV8 acupoint were detected under a stereomicroscope using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. Oil Red, Masson, and immunohistochemical staining on multi-layered slices were used to identify the type of cells at the CV8 acupoint. Cell proliferation was measured by a cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) method. Flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry were used for cell identification. Induced differentiation was used to compare the differentiation of cells derived from CV8 acupoint and non-acupoint somatic stem cells into other cell types, such as osteogenic, adipogenic, and neural stem cell-like cells. RESULTS: Morphological observations showed that adipose tissues at the linea alba of the CV8 acupoint in mice had a mass-like distribution. Immunohistochemical staining confirmed the distribution of stem cell antigen-1 (Sca-1) positive cells in the multi-layered slices of CV8 acupoint tissues. Cells isolated from adipose tissues at the CV8 acupoint exhibited high expression of Sca-1 and CD44 and low expression of CD31 and CD34, and these cells possessed osteogenic, adipogenic, and neurogenic stem cell-like cell differentiation ability. The cell proliferation (day 4: 0.5138 ± 0.0111 vs. 0.4107 ± 0.0180, t = 8.447, P = 0.0011; day 5: 0.6890 ± 0.0070 vs. 0.5520 ± 0.0118, t = 17.310, P < 0.0001; day 6: 0.7320 ± 0.0090 vs. 0.6157 ± 0.0123, t = 13.190, P = 0.0002; and day 7: 0.7550 ± 0.0050 vs. 0.6313 ± 0.0051, t = 42.560, P < 0.0001), adipogenic ([9.224 ± 0.345]% vs. [3.933 ± 1.800]%, t = 5.000, P = 0.0075), and neurogenic stem cell-like cell differentiation (diameter < 50 μm: 7.2000 ± 1.3040 vs. 2.6000 ± 0.5477, t = 7.273, P < 0.0001; diameter 50-100 μm: 2.6000 ± 0.5477 vs. 1.0000 ± 0.7071, t = 4.000, P = 0.0039; and diameter >100 μm: 2.6000 ± 0.5477 vs. 0.8000 ± 0.8367, t = 4.025, P = 0.0038) were significantly enhanced in somatic stem cells derived from the CV8 acupoint compared to somatic stem cells from the groin non-acupoint. However, cells possessed significantly weaker osteogenicity ([2.697 ± 0.627]% vs. [7.254 ± 0.958]%, t = 6.893, P = 0.0023) in the CV8 acupoint group. CONCLUSIONS Our study showed that CV8 acupoint was rich with adipose tissues that contained abundant somatic stem cells. The biological examination of somatic stem cells derived from the CV8 acupoint provided novel insights for future research on the mechanisms of umbilical therapy.
Acupuncture Points ; Adipose Tissue ; Adult Stem Cells ; Animals ; Cell Differentiation ; Cells, Cultured ; Mice ; Osteogenesis

Lancang-Mekong Cooperation is a new type of subregional cooperation mechanism initiated and built by China and other five countries of the Lancang-Mekong subregion, namely Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Countries in the Lancang-Mekong subregion are geographically and culturally connected, and they have nurtured their unique traditional medicine. By combing the history of traditional medicine exchanges between China and other Lancang-Mekong countries and their progress of modern research, this paper summarized the challenges and opportunities of traditional medicine cooperation in the Lancang-Mekong subregion. It has been found that many regional cooperation mechanisms coexist for a long time in the Lancang-Mekong subregion and the medicinal resources are abundant. However, the degree of their development and utilization varies, and modern scientific research is insufficient. Lancang-Mekong Cooperation has provided a strong support for integrating the advantageous resources in Lancang-Mekong subregion countries and making progress together. Focusing on the development and protection of medicinal resources, this paper puts forward a new path of cooperation in the intellectual property rights and characteristic seed resource protection, the compilation of universal herbal pharmacopoeia in various countries, the research and development of public health products, and the construction of traditional herbal industry bases, thus enabling the traditional medicine to better protect the public health and building a human health community.
China ; Humans ; Materia Medica ; Medicine, Traditional ; Rivers ; Thailand