ObjectiveFat infiltration has been shown to be closely related to muscle mass loss and a variety of muscle diseases. This study proposes a method based on phase-angle electrical impedance tomography (ΦEIT) to visualize the electrical characteristic response caused by muscle fat infiltration, aiming to provide a new technical means for early non-invasive detection of muscle mass deterioration. MethodsThis study was divided into two parts. First, a laboratory pork model was constructed to simulate different degrees of fat infiltration by injecting1 ml or 2 ml of emulsified fat solution into different muscle compartments, and the phase angle images were reconstructed using ΦEIT. Second, a human experiment was conducted to recruit healthy subjects (n=8) from two age groups (20-25 years old and 26-30 years old). The fat content percentage η_fat of the left and right legs was measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), and the phase angle images of the left and right calves were reconstructed using ΦEIT. The relationship between the global average phase angle Φ_M and the spatial average phase angle Φ_Mi of each muscle compartment and fat infiltration was further analyzed. ResultsIn the laboratory pork model, the grayscale value of the image increased with the increase of η_fat and Φ_M showed a downward trend. The results of human experiments showed that at the same fat content percentage, the Φ_M of the 26-30-year-old group was about 20%-35% lower than that of the 20-25-year-old group. The fat content percentage was significantly negatively correlated with Φ_M. In addition, the M₂ (soleus) compartment was most sensitive to fat infiltration, and the spatial average phase angles of the M₂ (soleus), M₃ (tibialis posterior and flexor digitorum longus), and M₄ (tibialis anterior, extensor digitorum longus, and peroneus longus) compartments all showed significant inter-group differences. ConclusionΦEIT imaging can effectively distinguish different degrees of fat infiltration, especially in deep, small or specially located muscles, showing high sensitivity, demonstrating the potential application of this method in local muscle mass monitoring and early non-invasive diagnosis.

Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is one of the most common precancerous lesions of the oral mucosa, and its pathogenesis has not been fully elucidated. Small noncoding RNAs (SncRNAs), a class of RNA molecules that do not code for proteins, have been widely reported to be involved in the regulation of a variety of human diseases. An increasing number of studies have shown that a variety of SncRNAs play important roles in the pathogenesis of OSF. Current studies have shown that microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in OSF disease progression by regulating the expression of related transcription factors and genes or epithelial mesenchymal transformation to regulate the activation of fibroblasts (FBs). Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) that transform growth factor-β/suppressor of mothers against decapentaplegic (TGF-β/Smad) signaling pathways or interact with miRNAs are involved in the development of OSF. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play a role in OSF by interacting with miRNAs. tRNA-derived small RNAs (tsRNAs) are involved in the progression of various fibrotic diseases, but their specific mechanism of action in OSF still needs to be further explored. In the future, it is still necessary to focus on the targets of SncRNAs mediating OSF progression and explore their function and molecular mechanism in OSF to provide new ideas for the diagnosis and treatment of OSF.

Based on the interaction between supramolecule of traditional Chinese medicine and enterobacteria, the material basis of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Coptidis Rhizoma was explored. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) were used to characterize the morphological differences of Rhubarb single decoction, Coptis single decoction and Rhubarb and Coptis co-decoction. An in vitro antibacterial model (E. coli, E. faecium and B. subtilis) was established to evaluate the damage effect of the combination of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Coptidis Rhizoma on enterobacteria. Ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was used to analyze the changes of chemical components of single decoctions and co-decoctions. The co-decoction of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Coptidis Rhizoma was turbid after decocting. The spherical particles of 300-400 nm were observed under SEM, and the co-decoction was more uniform and stable than that of single decoction. The interaction between supramolecules formed after the combination of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Coptidis Rhizoma and enterobacteria was significantly different from that of single decoction. In the process of interaction between supramolecules and enterobacteria, the spherical state was maintained, and the medicinal ingredients in Coptidis Rhizoma or Rhei Radix et Rhizoma were blocked, which could effectively alleviate the damage to enterobacteria. This study provided a reference for subsequent studies on the regulation of intestinal flora homeostasis by the combination of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Coptidis Rhizoma.

Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics of 310 patients with anti-tuberculosis drug-induced liver injury(ATB-DILI),to explore prognostic influencing factors,and to provide reference for its prevention and treatment.Methods Primary tuberculosis patients hospitalized in the Department of Tuberculosis of the Third People's Hospital of Kunming from November 2020 to November 2022 who met the diagnosis of ATB-DILI were enrolled.Statistics by gender,age,history,type of tuberculosis,co-morbidities,frequency of anti-tuberculosis regimens leading to liver injury,use of hepatoprotective drugs,and management and regression were performed to analyze the clinical characteristics of the patients and the factors influencing their prognosis.Results 310 patients were included,male,148(47.74%)and female,162(52.26%).The mean age was 44.33±17.47 years.Thirty-four patients had a history of allergy.The combination of isoniazid,rifampicin,pyrazinamide,and ethambutol(244 patients,78.71%)was the anti-tuberculosis regimen that resulted in the highest number of cases of hepatic injury.The median time between initiation of the tuberculosis regimen and the development of hepatic injury in patients with ATB-DILI was 30 d,and the mean duration of hospitalization was 16.39±7.01 d.The most used hepatoprotective drug was reduced glutathione(154 patients,49.68%),and most patients used a combination of 2 hepatoprotective drugs(128 patients,41.29%).Liver injury improved in 257 cases(82.90%)and failed in 53 cases(17.10%).The differences in alcohol consumption,severity,clinical staging,TT,ALP,TBIL,DBIL,IBIL,and GGT were statistically significant compared to those who did not recover(P<0.05),and severity and high ALP were independent risk factors for poor prognosis.Conclusions Patients should be carefully asked if they have a history of basic liver disease and alcoholism before using anti-tuberculosis drugs.In the course of anti-tuberculosis treatment,the combined use of anti-tuberculosis drugs is more serious than the use of single drugs to cause liver damage.Drugs that may cause liver damage should be used with caution and improved anti-tuberculosis programs should be explored.At the same time,liver function should be monitored regularly during anti-tuberculosis treatment,especially 30 days after medication,in order to reduce the occurrence of adverse reactions.

The effect of different concentrations of glycyrrhizic acid (GA) and Zn²⁺ on the self-assembly of metal complexes was investigated by forming metal complexes, and the properties and assembly mechanisms of the formed carrier-free supramolecular hydrogel were characterised. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and zeta potential were used to characterise the microscopic morphology and stability of the GA-Zn complex hydrogel, which had spherical-like particles of about 1 μm with good stability; the rheometer was used to detect its materialistic properties, which showed excellent stability, self-healing property and reversibility; through in vitro bacterial inhibition, it was found that the GA-Zn carrier-free supramolecular hydrogel has enhanced bacterial inhibition function after assembly. The hydrogel was also found to possess both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant efficacy when evaluated using LPS and H₂O₂ induced RAW 264.7 cell damage models, respectively. The above results suggest that GA-Zn hydrogel not only has good materialistic properties, but also possesses good antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, which has the value of clinical research as a carrier-free multi-functional antimicrobial dressing, and the present study provides a reference for the discovery of novel biomedical materials from active molecules of natural traditional Chinese medicine.

The unique advantages of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in treating late onset hypogonadism in male have gradually emerged with the continuous deepening of the understanding and research on late onset hypogonadism in male. Time sequence is a general summary of the natural growth and operational laws. Tian gui and testosterone have their normal time sequences, and they may be associated with each other. A man′s tian gui follows the regular time sequence from " inception" to " exhaustion" throughout " eight" under normal physiological conditions. " Tian gui out of time sequence" includes the loss of tian gui exuberance (dysfunction of viscera dominated by the liver) and exhaustion in the time sequence (pathological deficiency of viscera dominated by the kidney), resulting in " tian gui exhaustion" in advance of " eight eight". Tian gui and testosterone are key concepts in Chinese and Western medicine for understanding late onset hypogonadism in male. The theory of " tian gui out of time sequence" may be closely related to the core pathogenesis of this condition, particularly in cases of liver depression and kidney deficiency. This study suggests that restoring the normal time sequence of tian gui while treating the liver and kidney simultaneously through time-sharing treatment should be effective. The use of Xiongcan Yishen Formula has shown promising therapeutic result, offering new insights and references for treating late onset hypogonadism in male using TCM.

Objective To evaluate the predictive ability and influencing factors of individualized drug administration adjuvant decision-making system Java PK? for Desktop(JPKD)for tacrolimus blood concentration in kidney transplant recipients.Methods The monitoring data of tacrolimus blood concentration from 149 recipients early after kidney transplantation were collected.The trough blood concentration of tacrolimus was predicted by JPKD.The absolute weighted deviation and relative prediction deviation between the actual and predicted concentration were calculated.The influencing factors of the absolute weighted deviation were analyzed by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses,and the predictive values of these influencing factors on the accuracy of software prediction were assessed by delineating the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve.Results Two hundred and sixty-six samples of tacrolimus blood concentration data were collected from 149 patients.The measured blood concentration of tacrolimus was(6.5±3.0)ng/mL(1.1-16.6 ng/mL),and the predicted value calculated by JPKD was(5.6±2.5)ng/mL(1.4-14.4 ng/mL).The absolute weighted deviation of the calculated data was 28.38％,and the relative prediction deviation was-13.55％.Univariate analysis showed that gender,albumin,changes in hematocrit,cytochrome P450(CYP)3A5*3 genotype and C3435T genotype were associated with the inaccurate prediction results.Multivariate logistic regression analysis found that CYP3A5*3 genotype of AA and the changes in hematocrit were the independent risk factors affecting the accuracy of tacrolimus blood concentration predicted by JPKD.ROC curve analysis showed that when the changes in hematocrit exceeded 2.25％,the risk of inaccurate software prediction was increased.Conclusions JPKD possesses certain accuracy in predicting the blood concentration of tacrolimus in kidney transplant recipients,which may improve the qualified rate of tacrolimus blood concentration.Nevertheless,CYP3A5*3 genotype and the changes of hematocrit may affect the accuracy of predictions.

Objective To explore the curative effect of indobufen combined with clopidogrel and its influences on platelet activity and coagulation function in patients with acute myocardial infarction(AMI)after percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI).Methods According to different treatment methods,patients with AMI were divided into treatment group and control group.The control group was given clopidogrel(75 mg,qd)and aspirin(0.1 g,qd),while treatment group was given clopidogrel(75 mg,qd)and indobufen tablets(0.1 g,bid).All were treated for 1 month.The curative effect,platelet count(PLT),mean platelet volume(MPV),prothrombin time(PT),fibrinogen(FIB)and D-dimer(D-D)before and after treatment,and adverse events within 1 month after medication were compared between the two groups.Results There were 38 cases in treatment group and 43 cases in control group.After treatment,curative effect in treatment group and control group were 97.37％and 86.05％,PLT were(167.89±43.62)× 109·L-1 and(183.73±49.81)× 109·L-1,MPV were(11.86±2.31)and(10.97±2.16)fl,FIB levels were(2.53±0.61)and(2.78±0.72)g·L-1,D-D levels were(0.20±0.06)and(0.22±0.07)mg·L-1,PT were(12.82±2.35)and(12.26±2.28)s,the difference was not statistically significant(all P＞0.05).The incidence of adverse drug reactions in treatment group and control group were 2.63％and 11.63％,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.001).Conclusion Indobufen combined with clopidogrel has the comparable curative effect and good anti-platelet aggregation effect as aspirin,and indobufen has higher safety.So it is recommended as the medication regimen for AMI patients after PCI.

Objective To explore the potential mechanism of action of paeoniflorin in diabetes mellitus,the related targets and pathways were preliminarily discussed,based on the network pharmacology and molecular docking technology.Methods Analyze the potential targets of paeoniflorin using the Swiss Target Prediction database.Genecards and OMIM databases yielded the genes of diabetes-related illnesses.After taking the intersection of the two,protein-protein interaction network(PPI)was established using STRING and Cytoscape programs to search for key genes with strong correlation and complete gene ontology(GO)and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)enrichment analysis.Use AutoDockTools and Pymol programs to complete protein molecule docking validation.Results The pharmacologically-related study revealed 63 targets associated with paeoniflorin,4 758 genes related to diabetes,and 50 intersection targets.15 key genes including vascular endothelial growth factor A(VEGFA),epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR),V-Ha-ras harvey(HRAS),V-src sarcoma(SRC)and heat shock protein hs 90-alpha(HSP90AA1)were screened.RAs-associated protein 1,Ras,calcium and other signaling pathways were obtained by KEGG pathway analysis.Molecular docking results showed that paeoniflorin had good binding ability with key genes.Conclusion Paeoniflorin can treat diabetes through multiple targets and pathways,and this mechanism can provide a basis for the application of paeoniflorin in anti diabetes and drug research and development.

Objective:To investigate the prognosis and the factors that influence it in patients with non-gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) who are at low risk of recurrence.Methods:This was a retrospective cohort study. Clinicopathologic and prognostic data from patients with non-gastric GISTs and at low risk of recurrence (i.e., very low-risk or low-risk according to the 2008 version of the Modified NIH Risk Classification), who attended 18 medical centers in China between January 2000 and June 2023, were collected. We excluded patients with a history of prior malignancy, concurrent primary malignancy, multiple GISTs, and those who had received preoperative imatinib. The study cohort comprised 1,571 patients with GISTs, 370 (23.6%) of whom were at very low-risk and 1,201 (76.4%) at low-risk of recurrence. The cohort included 799 (50.9%) men and 772 (49.1%) women of median age 57 (16–93) years. Patients were followed up to July 2024. The prognosis and its influencing factors were analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic curves for tumor diameter and Ki67 were established, and the sensitivity, specificity, area under the curve (AUC) and optimal cut-off value with 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Propensity score matching was implemented using the 1:1 nearest neighbor matching method with a matching tolerance of 0.02.Results:With a median follow-up of 63 (12–267) months, the 5- and 10-year overall survival (OS) rates of the 1,571 patients were 99.5% and 98.0%, respectively, and the 5- and 10-year disease-free survival (DFS) rates were 96.3% and 94.4%, respectively. During postoperative follow-up, 3.8% (60/1,571) patients had disease recurrence or metastasis, comprising 0.8% (3/370) in the very low-risk group and 4.7% (57/1,201) in the low-risk group. In the low-risk group, recurrence or metastasis occurred in 5.5% (25/457) of patients with duodenal GISTs, 3.9% (25/645) of those with small intestinal GISTs, 9.2% (6/65) of those with rectal GISTs, and 10.0% (1/10) of those with colonic GISTs. Among the 60 patients with metastases, 56.7% (34/60) of the metastases were located in the abdominal cavity, 53.3% (32/60) in the liver, and 3.3% (2/60) in bone. During the follow-up period, 13 patients (0.8%) died of disease. Receiver operating characteristic curves were plotted for tumor diameter and Ki67 and assessed using the Jordon index. This showed that the difference in DFS between the two groups was statistically significant when the cutoff value for tumor diameter was 3.5 cm (AUC 0.731, 95% CI: 0.670–0.793, sensitivity 77.7%, specificity 64.1%). Furthermore, the difference in DFS between the two groups was statistically significant when the cutoff value for Ki67 was 5% (AUC 0.693, 95% CI: 0.624–0.762, sensitivity 60.7%, specificity 65.3%). Multifactorial analysis revealed that tumor diameter ≥3.5 cm, Ki67 ≥5%, and R1 resection were independent risk factors for DFS in patients with non-gastric GISTs at low risk of recurrence (all P<0.05). Furthermore, age >57 years, Ki67 ≥5%, and R1 resection were also independent risk factors for OS in patients with non-gastric GISTs at low risk of recurrence (all P<0.05). We also grouped the patients according to whether they had received postoperative adjuvant treatment with imatinib for 1 or 3 years. This yielded 137 patients in the less than 1-year group, 139 in the 1-year plus group; and 44 in both the less than 3 years and 3-years plus group. After propensity score matching for age, tumor diameter, Ki67, and resection status, the differences in survival between the two groups were not statistically significant (all P>0.05). The 10-year DFS and OS were 87.5% and 95.5%, respectively, in the group treated with imatinib for less than 1 year and 88.5% and 97.8%, respectively, in the group treated for more than 1 year. The 10-year DFS and OS were 89.6% and 92.6%, respectively, in the group treated with imatinib for less than 3 years and 88.0% and 100.0%, respectively, in the group treated with imatinib for more than 3 years. Conclusion:The overall prognosis of primary, non-gastric, low recurrence risk GISTs is relatively favorable; however, recurrences and metastases do occur. Age, tumor diameter, Ki67, and R1 resection may affect the prognosis. For some patients with low risk GISTs, administration of adjuvant therapy with imatinib for an appropriate duration may help prevent recurrence and improve survival.