Objective To investigate the therapeutic effect of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation(taVNS)on overweight/obesity patients,and to explore its central mechanism.Methods Twenty-six overweight/obesity patients were randomly divided into two groups,12 cases in the taVNS test group(shortened as the taVNS group)and 14 cases in the lifestyle intervention control group(shortened as the control group).The patients in the control group were treated with online lifestyle intervention of calorie-restricted diet(CRD),and the patients in the taVNS group were treated with taVNS on the basis of the intervention for the control group.The taVNS was performed on unilateral acupoints of spleen and endocrine,twice(in the morning and at evening)per day,for five days a week.The treatment for the two groups covered four weeks.The obesity indicators such as body weight,body mass index(BMI)and waist circumference of the patients in the two groups were observed before and after treatment.Moreover,the resting-state cerebral functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI)data of the patients were collected after treatment,and then the regulatory effect of taVNS on the regional homogeneity(ReHo)of local cerebral area of the patients was observed.Results(1)During the trial,one case in each group dropped off,and a total of 24 patients(including 13 cases in the control group and 11 cases in the taVNS group)were finally included in the statistical analysis of the observation indicators.(2)After treatment,the body weight,BMI and waist circumference of patients in the taVNS group were decreased compared with those before treatment(P＜0.05),while the obesity indicators in the control group only showed a downward trend compared with those before treatment,the differences being not statistically significant(P＞0.05).The improvement of the obesity indicators of body weight,BMI,and waist circumference in the taVNS group was significantly superior to that in the control group,and there were statistically significant differences in the post-treatment indicators and in the pre-and post-treatment difference values of the indicators between the two groups(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01).(3)After treatment,the taVNS group had greater ReHo values in the left prefrontal lobe and medial frontal gyrus than the control group,and the control group had greater ReHo value in the right parietal lobe than the taVNS group,which indicated that compared with the control group,the ReHo of the left prefrontal lobe and medial frontal gyrus in the taVNS group was increased and the ReHo of the right parietal lobe was decreased(Pvoxel＜0.001,Pcluster＜0.05,corrected by FWE level).Conclusion As a non-invasive treatment method,taVNS exerts certain efficacy for the treatment of overweight/obesity patients.The central response mechanism for treatment of obesity is probably related with the modulation of taVNS on the functional areas of left prefrontal lobe,medial frontal gyrus,and right parietal lobe of the patients.

The biological characteristics and pathogenicity of Klebsiella oxytoca isolated from sick carrier pigeons in Gansu province were explored by morphological observations,biochemical testing,16S rRNA PCR analysis,and RNA sequencing.The drug resistance and pathogenicity of the isolated strains were studied by histopathological observation,drug susceptibility testing,and pathogenicity analysis.The livers,lungs,hearts,and other organs of the sick pigeons were bleeding.In addition,the livers were yellow and brittle,and the lungs were purulent.A Gram-negative,short,rod-shaped bacterium was successfully isolated from the sick pigeon.Pink,smooth,moist,and round colonies grew on MacConkey's agar.The result of the indigo matrix test was positive.The homology between the amplified 16S rRNA sequence and MN330093.1 was 100.00％,indicating that the sick pigeon was infected with K.oxytoca.The strain was named GS-BY-GG.K.Oxytoca GS-BY-GG was resistant to 10 drugs,including penicillin,ampicillin,and furazolidone,and sensitive to 5 others,which included florfenicol,meropenem,and gentamicin.Histopathological observation showed bleeding in multiple organs.The liver cells were irregu-larly arranged with brown-yellow pigmentation.Extensive cell necrosis and exfoliation were observed in the trachea and mucosal epithelium,with inflammatory cell infiltration in the mucosal layer.The isolates were highly pathogenic in specific pathogen-free chickens.These findings provide support for the clinical diagnosis and control of K.oxytoca GS-BY-GG.

OBJECTIVE: Omicron, a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant, is responsible for numerous infections in China. This study investigates the association between the use of Seven-Flavor Herb Tea (SFHT) and the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection to develop precise and differentiated strategies for control of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: This case-control study was conducted at shelter hospitals and quarantine hotels in China. A total of 5348 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients were enrolled between April 1 and May 31, 2022, while 2190 uninfected individuals served as healthy controls. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data on demographics, underlying diseases, vaccination status, and use of SFHT. Patients were propensity-score-matched using 1:1 nearest-neighbor matching of the logit of the propensity score. Subsequently, a conditional logistic regression model was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Overall, 7538 eligible subjects were recruited, with an average age of [45.54 ± 16.94] years. The age of COVID-19 patients was significantly higher than that of uninfected individuals ([48.25 ± 17.48] years vs [38.92 ± 13.41] years; t = 22.437, P < 0.001). A total of 2190 COVID-19 cases were matched with uninfected individuals at a 1:1 ratio. The use of SFHT (odds ratio = 0.753, 95% confidence interval: 0.692, 0.820) was associated with a lower risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to untreated individuals. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that taking SFHT reduces the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. This is a useful study in the larger picture of COVID-19 management, but data from large-sample multi-center, randomized clinical trial are warranted to confirm the finding. Please cite this article as: Zhang SX, Chen XX, Zheng Y, Cai BH, Shi W, Ru M, Li H, Zhang DD, Tian Y, Chen YL. Reduced SARS-CoV-2 infection risk is associated with the use of Seven-Flavor Herb Tea: A multi-center observational study in Shanghai, China. J Integr Med. 2023; 21(4):369-376.
Humans ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; COVID-19/epidemiology* ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Case-Control Studies ; China/epidemiology* ; Tea

Owing to the advancement in pharmaceutical technology, traditional Chinese medicine industry has seen rapid development. Preferring conventional manufacturing mode, pharmaceutical enterprises of traditional Chinese medicine have no effective process detection tools and process control methods. As a result, the quality of the final products mainly depends on testing and the quality is inconsistent in the same batch. Process analytical technology(PAT) for traditional Chinese medicine manufacturing, as one of the key advanced manufacturing techniques, can break through the bottleneck in quality control of medicine manufacturing, thus improving the production efficiency and product quality and reducing the material and energy consumption. It is applicable to the process control and real-time release of advanced manufacturing modes such as intelligent manufacturing and continuous manufacturing. This paper summarized the general idea of PAT for traditional Chinese medicine manufacturing. Through the analysis of the characteristics and status quo of the technology, we summed up the methodology for the continuous application and improvement of PAT during the whole life-cycle of traditional Chinese medicine. The five key procedures(process understanding, process detection, process modeling, process control, and continuous improvement) were summarized, and the application was reviewed. Finally, we proposed suggestions for the technical and regulatory challenges in implementing PAT in traditional Chinese medicine industry. This paper aims to provide a reference for development and application of PAT in advanced manufacturing, intelligent manufacturing, and continuous manufacturing of traditional Chinese medicine industry.
Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Technology, Pharmaceutical ; Drug Industry ; Quality Control

Physical attributes of Chinese herbal extracts are determined by their chemical components, and the physical and chemical attributes jointly affect the preparation process performance and the final product quality. Therefore, in order to improve the quality control of Chinese herbal extracts, we should comprehensively study the batch-to-batch consistency of physical and chemical attributes as well as the correlations between them. This paper first explored the physical attributes affecting the preparation process performance of the compound Danshen extract and developed a method for characterizing the texture attributes. With such main chemical components as water, phenolic acids, saponins, and saccharides and texture, rheology, and other physical attributes taken into consideration, the batch-to-batch quality fluctuation of products from different production lines and time was analyzed by principal components analysis(PCA). Finally, the correlation and partial least squares(PLS) analysis was conducted, and the regression equation was established. The fitting result of the PLS model for dynamic viscosity was satisfying(R~2Y=0.857, Q~2=0.793), suggesting that the chemical components could be adjusted by the component transfer rate in the extraction process, the impurity removal rate in the alcohol precipitation process, and the water retention rate of the concentration process to meet the control of the extract dynamic viscosity. This study clarified the correlations between physical and chemical attributes of the compound Danshen extract and established a method for controlling its physical attributes based on process regulation, which would provide reference for improving the quality control of Chinese herbal extracts.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Quality Control ; Salvia miltiorrhiza/chemistry* ; Water

Aim To investigate the mechanism by which ginsenoside Rgl regulates autophagy anrl delays brain aging in mice through AMPK/mTOR signaling pathway.Methods C57BL/6J male mice were ran¬domly divided into four groups, namely brain aging model group ,control group, Rgl anti-aging group,auto¬phagy activator Rapamycin anti-aging group.After the modeling was completed, the test of each experimental index would be carried out on the next day.Morris wa¬ter maze experiment was used to detect the learning and memory ability of mice.Paraffin sections of the hippocampus were prepared, HE , Nissl and immunohis- tochemical staining were used to observe the morpholo¬gy of hippocampal neurons, the number of neurons and Nissl bodies was counted, and autophagy-related proteins p62 , ATG5 , ULK1 were detected.Brain tissue homogenates were prepared to detect the aetivity of brain tissue acetylcholinesterase ( AChE ).Western blot was userl to detect brain tissue autophagy-related proteins LC3II, P62, beclinl, P-AMPK/AMPK, P- mTOR/mTOR and apoptosis protein P53.Results Water maze test showed that Rgl and Hap significantly improved the learning and memory abilities of brain-ag¬ing mice.HE and Nissl staining showed that Rgl and Rap decreased necrotic cells and increased the number of Nissl bodies in the hippocampus of brain-aging mice.Immunohistochemistry staining showed that Rgl and Rap decreased the expression of neuronal autoph- agv protein P62 in hippocampus and increased the ex-pression of ATG5 and ULK1.Rgl and Rap decreased the activity of AhcE in brain-aging mice.Western blot showed that Rgl and Rap increased autophagy-related proteins LC3II, Beclinl , P-AMPK/AMPK, but de¬creased the expression of P-mTOR/mTOR, P62, P53.Conclusions Ginsenoside Rgl can effectively antago¬nize the aging effect of D-gal on mouse brain.The pos¬sible mechanism is related to the regulation of autoph- agv by Rgl through AMPK/mTOR signaling pathway.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical characteristics and risk factors of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) in patients with severe aplastic anemia (SAA). METHODS: Clinical data from 270 SAA patients with allo-HSCT were retrospectively analyzed, including 108 sib congruence patients and 162 substitute donors (68 unrelated donor congruence patients and 94 related haploid patients). Different pretreatment schemes were selected for different transplantation modes. The HLA-identical sibling and haploid grafts were all bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cells, and the grafts from unrelated donors were peripheral blood stem cells. After granulocyte implantation, blood CMV-DNA was regularly monitored. Flow cytometry was also used to determine the absolute number of CD3 RESULTS: CMV infection occurred in 229 of 270 patients with an incidence of 84.8%. Among them, 18 patients developed giant cell disease. Univariate analysis showed that alternative donors (unrelated total and haploid donors), mycophenolate mofetil and acute graft-versus-host disease were statistically significantly associated with CMV infection (P<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that alternative donors were associated with CMV infection. The recovery of CD3 CONCLUSION After allo-HSCT, substitute donors are more easily to develop CMV infection than full-sibling donors, and the reconstruction of immune function is delayed after transplantation.
Anemia, Aplastic ; Cytomegalovirus Infections ; Graft vs Host Disease ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies

Tumors are new organisms formed by uncontrollable cell proliferation of local tissues driven by various oncogenic factors. The cause of tumors is unknown with life-threating outcome. Tumors can be classified into benign tumors， borderline tumors， and malignant tumors according to their pathological properties. Among them， malignant tumor is commonly known as cancer， with no specific medicines or reliable cure means， so this is a hot spot and difficult point in current medical research. In ancient literatures， there are many records about the efficacy of Chinese herbal medicine in treating tumor， and modern pharmacological researches have shown that more and more active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine（TCM） have gradually highlighted their inhibitory effect on various types of tumor. Caulis sinomenii has been used for treatment of rheumatic diseases in TCM for a long history. Sinomenine is a major bioactive alkaloid presented in C. sinomenii， which has demonstrated a wide range of pharmacological activities such as anti-inflammation， immunosuppression， analgesia and sedation， and due to its slightly soluble in water， it is commonly used in clinic in the form of hydrochloride， with its commercial name of Zhengqing Fengtongning. Recent studies show that sinomenine alone or combined with chemoradiotherapy can inhibit growth of several tumors significantly or in a synergistic way， so it is termed as an inhibitor of tumors. Anti-tumor effect of sinomenine involve inhibition of tumor cell proliferation， induction of tumor cell apoptosis， blockade of tumor cell cycle， suppression of tumor invasion and metastasis， induction of autophagy of tumor cells， and reversal of multidrug resistance of tumor cells. Upon combination with nanomaterials， it can enhance efficiency and reduce toxicity. Here we summarized and reviewed recent advances on basic anti-tumor research of sinomenine， and then made a classification and description according to its in vivo and in vitro pharmacological action and mechanism of action， so as to elucidate the great potential of sinomenine as a promising anti-tumor drug， and provide reference for further research on its anti-tumor mechanism.

Chloroquine (CQ) phosphate has been suggested to be clinically effective in the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). To develop a physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model for predicting tissue distribution of CQ and apply it to optimize dosage regimens, a PBPK model, with parameterization of drug distribution extrapolated from animal data, was developed to predict human tissue distribution of CQ. The physiological characteristics of time-dependent accumulation was mimicked through an active transport mechanism. Several dosing regimens were proposed based on PBPK simulation combined with known clinical exposure-response relationships. The model was also validated by clinical data from Chinese patients with COVID-19. The novel PBPK model allows in-depth description of the pharmacokinetics of CQ in several key organs (lung, heart, liver, and kidney), and was applied to design dosing strategies in patients with acute COVID-19 (Day 1: 750 mg BID, Days 2-5: 500 mg BID, CQ phosphate), patients with moderate COVID-19 (Day 1: 750 mg and 500 mg, Days 2-3: 500 mg BID, Days 4-5: 250 mg BID, CQ phosphate), and other vulnerable populations (.., renal and hepatic impairment and elderly patients, Days 1-5: 250 mg BID, CQ phosphate). A PBPK model of CQ was successfully developed to optimize dosage regimens for patients with COVID-19.

【Objective】A full exome sequencing of an early-onset family Alzheimer′s disease (EOFAD) was conduct? ed to identify the mutational sites which may cause diseases. The result of the current study may provide suggestion to genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis.【Methods】Whole exome sequencing was performed on the family members and software PolyPhen-2 as well as SIFT was employed for hazard prediction (Prediction on functional effects of the missense mutation).【Results】The heterozygous mutation c.758A>G (p.Tyr253Cys) in exon 9 of TTC3 gene had been identified in proband whose mother had been proved with heterozygous mutation c.758A>G. According to the family separation and related bioinformatics analysis, the mutant gene was a possible pathogenic mutation. 【Conclusion】 A new mutation was found of c.758A>G in TTC3 gene within a Chinese EOFAD family and a new mutation to the spectrum of genetic mutation in EOFAD was expanded. The finding provides a significant groundwork for future exploration on the mechanisms underlying EOFAD.