The MADS-box gene family is a very important transcriptional regulator gene, which plays a role in the whole growth and development process of plants. The APETALA1 (AP1) gene is considered to play an important regulatory role in the transformation of plant flowering, but also to control the characteristic development of floral organs. Lonicera macranthoides is used as medicine with dry buds and early flowers. Therefore, studying the potential mechanism of AP1 gene in regulating flower organ development can provide a basis for improving its medicinal value by molecular means. To explore the potential mechanism of the AP1 gene in the regulation of floral organ development in L. macranthoides, the full-length cDNA of the AP1 was cloned by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and named LmMADS4. The results show that the CDS of the LmMADS4 gene is 729 bp and encodes 242 amino acids, and the LmMADS4 protein contains no signal peptide and no transmembrane structure, which is an unstable hydrophilic protein. Through homologous sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis, LmMADS4 and L. japonica MADS27 protein cluster into one class and are closely related. Finally, the expression pattern and protein interaction pattern of LmMADS4 were analyzed by real-time reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) and yeast two-hybrid technology. The qRT-PCR showed that LmMADS4 gene was differentially expressed in the stems, leaves and flower bud at different developmental stages, including bud type variety Longhua and common variety Baiyun; and LmMADS4 gene was highly expressed in the flower buds, and with the development of flower buds, LmMADS4 gene was continuously up-regulated in the flower bud variety Longhua, however, the expression level of LmMADS4 in the Baiyun terminal flower bud was lower than that in the late flower bud, but the difference was not significant. The yeast two-hybrid results showed that the bait vector pGBKT7-LmMADS4 was not toxic to yeast strains and had no self-activating activity. LmMADS4 protein interacted with LmSVP1, LmSVP3 and LmSOC1s proteins. This study can provide a theoretical basis for exploring the mechanism of long flower bud stage and corolla non-unfolding at the molecular level and variety improvement of L. macranthoides.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the distribution and antimicrobial susceptibility of causative microorganisms recovered from patients with intra-abdominal infections (IAIs). METHODS: A total of 2,926 bacterial and fungal strains were identified in samples collected from 1,679 patients with IAIs at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital between 2011 and 2021. Pathogenic bacteria and fungi were identified using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) was performed using the VITEK 2 compact system and the Kirby-Bauer method. AST results were interpreted based on the M100-Ed31 clinical breakpoints of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. RESULTS: Of the 2,926 strains identified, 49.2%, 40.8%, and 9.5% were gram-negative bacteria, gram-positive bacteria, and fungi, respectively. Escherichia coli was the most prevalent pathogen in intensive care unit (ICU) and non-ICU patients; however, a significant decrease was observed in the isolation of E. coli between 2011 and 2021. Specifically, significant decreases were observed between 2011 and 2021 in the levels of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing E. coli (from 76.9% to 14.3%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (from 45.8% to 4.8%). Polymicrobial infections, particularly those involving co-infection with gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, were commonly observed in IAI patients. Moreover, Candida albicans was more commonly isolated from hospital-associated IAI samples, while Staphylococcus epidermidis had a higher ratio in community-associated IAIs. Additionally, AST results revealed that most antimicrobial agents performed better in non-ESBL-producers than in ESBL-producers, while the overall resistance rates (56.9%-76.8%) of Acinetobacter baumanmii were higher against all antimicrobial agents than those of other common gram-negative bacteria. Indeed, Enterococcus faecium, Enterococcus faecalis, S. epidermidis, and S. aureus were consistently found to be susceptible to vancomycin, teicoplanin, and linezolid. Similarly, C. albicans exhibited high susceptibility to all the tested antifungal drugs. CONCLUSION The distribution and antimicrobial susceptibility of the causative microorganisms from patients with IAIs were altered between 2011 and 2021. This finding is valuable for the implementation of evidence-based antimicrobial therapy and provides guidance for the control of hospital infections.
Humans ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Escherichia coli ; Gram-Negative Bacteria ; Gram-Positive Bacteria ; Retrospective Studies ; Staphylococcus aureus ; Intraabdominal Infections/epidemiology* ; Candida albicans ; Coinfection

Diminished ovarian reserve (DOR), generally defined as a decreased number or quality of oocytes, has a significant impact on quality of life and fertility in women. In recent years, the incidence of DOR has been increasing and the ages of patients are younger. The search for an effective DOR treatment has emerged as one of the preeminent research topics in reproductive health. An effective DOR therapy would improve ovarian function, fertility, and quality of life in patients. In this review we evaluated DOR treatment progress both in Western medicine and Chinese medicine, and elucidated the characteristics of each treatment.
Female ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Ovarian Reserve ; Quality of Life ; Oocytes ; Treatment Outcome ; Infertility, Female/therapy*

Objective: To explore the prevalence, clinical characteristics and risk factors of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in silicosis patients. Methods: In May 2021, a cross-sectional study was used to retrospectively include 329 silicosis patients first diagnosed in Beijing Chaoyang Hospital from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2020. The demographic data, occupational history, chest imaging, pulmonary function and blood routine indicators of silicosis patients with COPD were analyzed, and the risk factors of silicosis with COPD were analyzed by multiple logistic regression. Results: There were 128 patients with silicosis complicated with COPD, and the overall prevalence rate was 38.9% (128/329) . Among them, 73.4% (94/128) were male and 33.6% (43/128) were heavy smokers; 33.6% (43/128) of patients were classified as gold 1, 37.5% (48/128) as gold 2, 25.0% (32/128) as gold 3, and 3.9% (5/128) as gold 4. Diagnostic age (OR=1.04, 95%CI=1.02~1.06, P<0.001) , cumulative smoking (OR=1.03, 95%CI=1.01~1.05, P=0.008) and silicosis stage III (OR=7.06, 95% CI=4.00-12.46, P<0.001) were risk factors for silicosis complicated with COPD. Conclusion: Diagnostic age, cumulative smoking volume and third stage of silicosis are the risk factors of silicosis patients with different degrees of COPD, which should be paid attention to in clinical treatment.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Prevalence ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/epidemiology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Silicosis/epidemiology*

Objective: To analyze the distribution and keywords of Chinese and English literature on pneumoconiosis and smoking, and to explore its characteristics and evolutionary laws. Methods: In November 2020, using PubMed, Web of Science, SinoMed, and CNKI as search databases, literature search was performed using Chinese and English search terms related to pneumoconiosis and smoking. The document management software Note Express 3.5.0 and the bibliometric analysis software VOS viewer 1.6.10 were used to analyze the publication year, number of publications, countries, research institutions and keywords. Results: In the English literature, there were 938 articles about pneumoconiosis and smoking related research, and the literature was first published in 1962. Among them, the United States published the largest number of articles (450 articles), and China published 29 articles, ranking fourth. There were a total of 601 research articles on pneumoconiosis and smoking in Chinese literature. The literature was first published in 1976. The institution that published the most articles was China Medical University (23 articles), followed by Lanzhou University (15 articles). Keyword co-occurrence analysis showed that domestic and foreign literatures were the main research hotspots on occupational exposure, carcinogenicity, risk factors, lung function, and DNA damage of pneumoconiosis and smoking. Conclusion: The research on pneumoconiosis and smoking focuses on carcinogenicity, risk factors, lung function, DNA damage mechanism, etc., providing research hotspots for the prevention and clinical treatment of related diseases.
United States ; Humans ; Bibliometrics ; Publications ; PubMed ; Databases, Factual ; Smoking/epidemiology* ; China

Objective: To explore the heterogeneity and correlation of clinical phenotypes and genotypes in children with disorders of sex development (DSD). Methods: A retrospective study of 1 235 patients with clinically proposed DSD in 36 pediatric medical institutions across the country from January 2017 to May 2021. After capturing 277 DSD-related candidate genes, second-generation sequencing was performed to analyzed the heterogeneity and correlation combined with clinical phenotypes. Results: Among 1 235 children with clinically proposed DSD, 980 were males and 255 were females of social gender at the time of initial diagnosis with the age ranged from 1 day of age to 17.92 years. A total of 443 children with pathogenic variants were detected through molecular genetic studies, with a positive detection rate of 35.9%. The most common clinical phenotypes were micropenis (455 cases), hypospadias (321 cases), and cryptorchidism (172 cases) and common mutations detected were in SRD5A2 gene (80 cases), AR gene (53 cases) and CYP21A2 gene (44 cases). Among them, the SRD5A2 mutation is the most common in children with simple micropenis and simple hypospadias, while the AMH mutation is the most common in children with simple cryptorchidism. Conclusions: The SRD5A2 mutation is the most common genetic variant in Chinese children with DSD, and micropenis, cryptorchidism, and hypospadias are the most common clinical phenotypes. Molecular diagnosis can provide clues about the biological basis of DSD, and can also guide clinicians to perform specific clinical examinations. Target sequence capture probes and next-generation sequencing technology can provide effective and economical genetic diagnosis for children with DSD.
3-Oxo-5-alpha-Steroid 4-Dehydrogenase/genetics* ; Child ; China/epidemiology* ; Cryptorchidism/genetics* ; Disorders of Sex Development/genetics* ; Female ; Genital Diseases, Male ; Genotype ; Humans ; Hypospadias/genetics* ; Male ; Membrane Proteins/genetics* ; Penis/abnormalities* ; Phenotype ; Retrospective Studies ; Steroid 21-Hydroxylase/genetics*

BACKGROUND: Shenyankangfu Tablet (SYKFT) is a Chinese patent medicine that has been used widely to decrease proteinuria and the progression of chronic kidney disease. OBJECTIVE: This trial compared the efficacy and safety of SYKFT, for the control of proteinuria in primary glomerulonephritis patients, against the standard drug, losartan potassium. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTION: This was a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial. Primary glomerulonephritis patients, aged 18-70 years, with blood pressure ≤ 140/90 mmHg, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≥ 45 mL/min per 1.73 m MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was change in the 24-hour proteinuria level, after 48 weeks of treatment. RESULTS: A total of 735 participants were enrolled. The percent decline of urine protein quantification in the SYKFT group after 48 weeks was 8.78% ± 2.56% (P = 0.006) more than that in the losartan 50 mg group, which was 0.51% ± 2.54% (P = 1.000) less than that in the losartan 100 mg group. Compared with the losartan potassium 50 mg group, the SYKFT plus losartan potassium 50 mg group had a 13.39% ± 2.49% (P < 0.001) greater reduction in urine protein level. Compared with the losartan potassium 100 mg group, the SYKFT plus losartan potassium 100 mg group had a 9.77% ± 2.52% (P = 0.001) greater reduction in urine protein. With a superiority threshold of 15%, neither was statistically significant. eGFR, serum creatinine and serum albumin from the baseline did not change statistically significant. The average change in TCM syndrome score between the patients who took SYKFT (-3.00 [-6.00, -2.00]) and who did not take SYKFT (-2.00 [-5.00, 0]) was statistically significant (P = 0.003). No obvious adverse reactions were observed in any group. CONCLUSION: SYKFT decreased the proteinuria and improved the TCM syndrome scores of primary glomerulonephritis patients, with no change in the rate of decrease in the eGFR. SYKFT plus losartan potassium therapy decreased proteinuria more than losartan potassium therapy alone. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER NCT02063100 on ClinicalTrials.gov.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the current status and research hotspots of occupational dust exposure-related chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases(COPD). METHODS: Publications were searched and collected from the CNKI, SinoMed, PubMed and EMBASE. The high frequency key words were visually analyzed using NoteExpress V3.0 and VOSviewer 1.6.10, and content analysis was used to analyze research hotspots. RESULTS: A total of 3 095 COPD publications related to occupational dust exposure were retrieved. The first paper on COPD was published in 1973 in Chinese literature, and the number of publications had been on the rise since 2006. A total of 410 journals and 980 research institutions had published relevant articles. The first paper on COPD was published in 1950 in English literature, with a peak in publication after 2014. A total of 523 journals and 109 countries or regions had published relevant articles. The results of keyword co-occurrence analysis showed that COPD studies related to dust exposure mainly focused on epidemiology, risk factors and clinical characteristics. CONCLUSION: The number of research papers on occupational dust exposure-related COPD has been on the rise. The research papers mainly focus on epidemiology, risk factors and clinical characteristics of COPD.

Objective: Several COVID-19 patients have overlapping comorbidities. The independent role of each component contributing to the risk of COVID-19 is unknown, and how some non-cardiometabolic comorbidities affect the risk of COVID-19 remains unclear. Methods: A retrospective follow-up design was adopted. A total of 1,160 laboratory-confirmed patients were enrolled from nine provinces in China. Data on comorbidities were obtained from the patients' medical records. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratio ( Results: Overall, 158 (13.6%) patients were diagnosed with severe illness and 32 (2.7%) had unfavorable outcomes. Hypertension (2.87, 1.30-6.32), type 2 diabetes (T2DM) (3.57, 2.32-5.49), cardiovascular disease (CVD) (3.78, 1.81-7.89), fatty liver disease (7.53, 1.96-28.96), hyperlipidemia (2.15, 1.26-3.67), other lung diseases (6.00, 3.01-11.96), and electrolyte imbalance (10.40, 3.00-26.10) were independently linked to increased odds of being severely ill. T2DM (6.07, 2.89-12.75), CVD (8.47, 6.03-11.89), and electrolyte imbalance (19.44, 11.47-32.96) were also strong predictors of unfavorable outcomes. Women with comorbidities were more likely to have severe disease on admission (5.46, 3.25-9.19), while men with comorbidities were more likely to have unfavorable treatment outcomes (6.58, 1.46-29.64) within two weeks. Conclusion Besides hypertension, diabetes, and CVD, fatty liver disease, hyperlipidemia, other lung diseases, and electrolyte imbalance were independent risk factors for COVID-19 severity and poor treatment outcome. Women with comorbidities were more likely to have severe disease, while men with comorbidities were more likely to have unfavorable treatment outcomes.
Adult ; Aged ; COVID-19/virology* ; China/epidemiology* ; Comorbidity ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Severity of Illness Index ; Treatment Outcome

Traditional Chinese medicine for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis has been widely used in clinical practice. However, due to the diversity of the composition of traditional Chinese medicine and the complexity of its interaction with human body, it is difficult to apply traditional quality control ingredients to characterize its overall efficacy. Systematic traditional Chinese medicine is an effective method for studying the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine, embodying the dialectical unity of holism and reductionism. Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma is a common traditional Chinese medicine for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. In this study, we constructed a multi-dimensional network of "efficacy-pharmacological efficacy-targets-components" based on systematic traditional Chinese medicine, and discussed the discovery of the efficacy markers of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. Firstly, based on the Chinese medicine efficacy-pharmacology database, the most relevant pharmacological actions(boundary) for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis(function) were obtained, and the target sets(structure) of the corresponding pharmacological action were obtained by the DrugBank database. Then, STRING database was used to construct protein-protein interaction network(relationship) of targets related to promoting blood circulation and removing stasis, and key targets(elements) in the network were selected by evaluating topological parameters of targets. Finally, the potential efficacy markers of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma were predicted by molecular docking based on the key targets of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. The results demonstrated that salvianolic acid B, salvianolic acid A, tanshinone Ⅱ_A and tanshinone Ⅰ were the potential markers of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma on promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. Salvianolic acid B, salvianolic acid A, tanshinone Ⅱ_A had been reported to have anti-platelet aggregation, anti-thrombotic, cardiovascular protection and some other pharmacological functions. Based on systematic traditional Chinese medicine, we have preliminarily predicted the efficacy markers of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma in promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis in this study, providing a research method for the discovery of efficacy markers and a reference for the overall quality control of traditional Chinese medicine.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Plant Roots ; Rhizome ; Salvia miltiorrhiza