Objective To elucidate the effect of curcumol on hepatic stellate cell iron death and epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT),and to investigate the molecular mechanism of its anti-liver fibrosis effect.Methods A model of hepatic stellate cell activation was constructed using normal cultured hepatic stellate cells in vitro,and the cells were divided into blank group and experimental-L,-M,-H groups.The blank group was given DMEM complete culture solution for normal culture;the experimental-L,-M,-H groups were given DMEM complete culture solution containing 12.5,25.0 and 50.0 mg·L-1 curcumol for 48 h of intervention.The effects of curcumol on the proliferation of hepatic stellate cells was observed by CCK-8.The expression levels of glutathione peroxidase 4(GPX4)and solute carrier family 7 member 11(SLC7A11)were detected by Western blot.The expression levels of E-cadherin and N-cadherin were detected by immunofluorescence.Results The cell proliferation rates of the experimental-M,-H groups and blank group were(68.97±5.61)％,(61.91±4.40)％and(118.07±10.01)％;the relative expression levels of GPX4 were 0.37±0.04,0.28±0.03 and 0.58±0.05;the relative expression levels of SLC7A11 were 0.38±0.04,0.28±0.03 and 0.60±0.05;E-cadherin levels were 6.76±1.09,9.57±1.73 and 2.05±0.72;N-cadherin levels were 5.66±0.66,3.44±0.78 and 10.37±0.66.The differences of above indicators were statistically significant between the blank group and the experimental-M,-H groups(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).Conclusion Curcumol promotes iron death in hepatic stellate cells,thereby inhibiting hepatic stellate cell EMT,which may be its molecular mechanism to prevent and treat liver fibrosis.

Objective Recombinase-aided polymerase chain reaction(RAP)is a sensitive,single-tube,two-stage nucleic acid amplification method.This study aimed to develop an assay that can be used for the early diagnosis of three types of bacteremia caused by Staphylococcus aureus(SA),Pseudomonas aeruginosa(PA),and Acinetobacter baumannii(AB)in the bloodstream based on recombinant human mannan-binding lectin protein(M1 protein)-conjugated magnetic bead(M1 bead)enrichment of pathogens combined with RAP. Methods Recombinant plasmids were used to evaluate the assay sensitivity.Common blood influenza bacteria were used for the specific detection.Simulated and clinical plasma samples were enriched with M1 beads and then subjected to multiple recombinase-aided PCR(M-RAP)and quantitative PCR(qPCR)assays.Kappa analysis was used to evaluate the consistency between the two assays. Results The M-RAP method had sensitivity rates of 1,10,and 1 copies/μL for the detection of SA,PA,and AB plasmids,respectively,without cross-reaction to other bacterial species.The M-RAP assay obtained results for<10 CFU/mL pathogens in the blood within 4 h,with higher sensitivity than qPCR.M-RAP and qPCR for SA,PA,and AB yielded Kappa values of 0.839,0.815,and 0.856,respectively(P<0.05). Conclusion An M-RAP assay for SA,PA,and AB in blood samples utilizing M1 bead enrichment has been developed and can be potentially used for the early detection of bacteremia.

Further evidence is needed to explore the impact of high-altitude environments on the neurologic function of neonates.Non-invasive techniques such as cerebral near-infrared spectroscopy and amplitude-integrated electroencephalography can provide data on cerebral oxygenation and brain electrical activity.This study will conduct multiple cerebral near-infrared spectroscopy and amplitude-integrated electroencephalography monitoring sessions at various time points within the first 3 days postpartum for healthy full-term neonates at different altitudes.The obtained data on cerebral oxygenation and brain electrical activity will be compared between different altitudes,and corresponding reference ranges will be established.The study involves 6 participating centers in the Chinese High Altitude Neonatal Medicine Alliance,with altitude gradients divided into 4 categories:800 m,1 900 m,2 400 m,and 3 500 m,with an anticipated sample size of 170 neonates per altitude gradient.This multicenter prospective cohort study aims to provide evidence supporting the impact of high-altitude environments on early brain function and metabolism in neonates.[Chinese Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics,2024,26(4):403-409]

Starting with the relationship between mulberry leaves and silkworm droppings as food and metabolites, this study systematically compared the chemical components, screened out differential components, and quantitatively analyzed the main differential components based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) and UPLC-Q-TRAP-MS combined with principal component analysis(PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA). Moreover, the in vitro enzymatic transformation of the representative differential components was studied. The results showed that(1) 95 components were identified from mulberry leaves and silkworm droppings, among which 27 components only exist in mulberry leaves and 8 components in silkworm droppings. The main differential components were flavonoid glycosides and chlorogenic acids.(2) Nineteen components with significant difference were quantitatively analyzed, and the components with significant differences and high content were neochlorogenic acid, chlorogenic acid, and rutin.(3) The crude protease in the mid-gut of silkworm significantly metabolized neochlorogenic acid and chlorogenic acid, which may be an important reason for the efficacy change in mulberry leaves and silkworm droppings. This study lays a scientific foundation for the development, utilization, and quality control of mulberry leaves and silkworm droppings. It provides references for clarifying the possible material basis and mechanism of the pungent-cool and dispersing nature of mulberry leaves transforming into the pungent-warm and dampness-resolving nature of silkworm droppings, and offers a new idea for the study of nature-effect transformation mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine.
Animals ; Bombyx ; Morus/chemistry* ; Chlorogenic Acid/analysis* ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods* ; Plant Leaves/chemistry*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the current status and further development of Panax genus and 6 important individual species including P. notoginseng, P. quinquefolium, P. vietnamensis, P. japonicus, P. stipuleanatus and P. zingiberensis. METHODS: The bibliometric analysis was based on the Web of Science core database platform from Thomson Reuters. Totally, 7,574 records of scientific research of Panax species published from 1900-2019 were analyzed. The statistical and visualization analysis was performed by CiteSpace and HistCite software. RESULTS: The academic research of Panax species increase promptly. Plant science is the main research field while research and experimental medicine and agricultural engineering will be the further development tendency. Particularly, the discrimination research of P. notoginseng will be the research tendency among Panax species, especially diversity research. In addition, P. vietnamensis deserves more attention in the genus Panax. CONCLUSION This research provides a reference for further research of the genus and individual species.
Bibliometrics ; Panax

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV), two of the most prevalent human herpesviruses, cause a wide spectrum of diseases and symptoms and are associated with serious health problem. In this study, we developed an internal control reference recombinase-aided amplification (ICR-RAA) assay for the rapid detection of EBV and CMV within 30 min. The assay had a sensitivity of 5 and 1 copies/test for EBV and CMV, respectively, with no cross reaction with other pathogens. In comparison with those of the commercial quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), the sensitivity of the EBV and CMV ICR-RAAs using extracted DNA was 93.33% and 84.84%, respectively; the specificity was 98.75% and 100.00%, respectively; and the Kappa values were 0.930 and 0.892 (
Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cytomegalovirus/genetics* ; Cytomegalovirus Infections/virology* ; DNA, Viral/analysis* ; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections/virology* ; Female ; Herpesvirus 4, Human/genetics* ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques ; Recombinases/genetics* ; Young Adult

ObjectiveTo describe the epidemiologic, clinical, laboratory, and radiological characteristics and prognoses of COVID-19 confirmed patients in a single center in Beijing, China. Methods The study retrospectively included 19 patients with nucleic acid-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection at our hospital from January 20 to March 5, 2020. The final follow-up date was March 14, 2020. The epidemiologic and clinical information was obtained through direct communication with the patients or their family members. Laboratory results retrieved from medical records and radiological images were analyzed both qualitatively by two senior chest radiologists as well as quantitatively via an artificial intelligence software. Results We identified 5 family clusters (13/19, 68.4%) from the study cohort. All cases had good clinical prognoses and were either mild (3/19) or moderate (16/19) clinical types. Fever (15/19, 78.9%) and dry cough (11/19, 57.9%) were common symptoms. Two patients received negative results for more than three consecutive viral nucleic acid tests. The longest interval between an initial CT abnormal finding and a confirmed diagnosis was 30 days. One patient's nucleic acid test turned positive on the follow-up examination after discharge. The presence of radiological abnormalities was non-specific for the diagnosis of COVID-19. Conclusions COVID-19 patients with mild or no clinical symptoms are common in Beijing, China. Radiological abnormalities are mostly non-specific and massive CT examinations for COVID-19 screening should be avoided. Analyses of the contact histories of diagnosed cases in combination with clinical, radiological and laboratory findings are crucial for the early detection of COVID-19. Close monitoring after discharge is also recommended.
Adult ; COVID-19/diagnostic imaging* ; COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Testing ; Child ; China ; Female ; Humans ; Lung/diagnostic imaging* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Objective:To screen out the suitable nonpolar molecular cosolvent and concentration with adventitious root phenotype and ginsenoside content in the controlled experiment as the evaluation indexes， so as to lay a solid foundation for exploring the causes for good shape and high quality of Panax quinquefolium. Method:After being treated with different concentrations of dimethyl sulfoxide （DMSO） and ethanol， the adventitious roots were scanned using a panoramic scanner， and the resulting images were used for measuring the branch number and average diameter by WinRHIZO Pro 2016， Synbiosis ProtoCol 3 colony counter， Image J， and SmartRoot. The contents of ginsenosides Rg₁， Rb₁， and Re were determined by ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry （UPLC-MS/MS）. Result:Compared with the blank control， the 0.1% DMSO and 75% ethanol made the adventitious root phenotype and ginsenoside contents significantly changed. Specifically， the branch number and average diameter were significantly reduced. The ginsenoside Rg₁ in the adventitious roots decreased after 0.1% DMSO treatment， whereas the ginsenosides Rg₁ and Re increased after 75% ethanol treatment. The adventitious root phenotype and ginsenoside contents in the 0.1% DMSO treatment group were not significantly different from those in the control group. Conclusion:The 0.01% DMSO does not affect the adventitious root growth of P. quinquefolium and is insoluble in water， enabling it to be considered as a suitable nonpolar molecular cosolvent for future research on the genetic causes for the good shape and high quality of P. quinquefolium.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the current status of antibiotic use for very and extremely low birth weight (VLBW/ELBW) infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) of Hunan Province. METHODS: The use of antibiotics was investigated in multiple level 3 NICUs of Hunan Province for VLBW and ELBW infants born between January, 2017 and December, 2017. RESULTS: The clinical data of 1 442 VLBW/ELBW infants were collected from 24 NICUs in 2017. The median antibiotic use duration was 17 days (range: 0-86 days), accounting for 53.0% of the total length of hospital stay. The highest duration of antibiotic use was up to 91.4% of the total length of hospital stay, with the lowest at 14.6%. In 16 out of 24 NICUs, the antibiotic use duration was accounted for more than 50.0% of the hospitalization days. There were 113 cases with positive bacterial culture grown in blood or cerebrospinal fluid, making the positive rate of overall bacterial culture as 7.84%. The positive rate of bacterial culture in different NICUs was significantly different from 0% to 14.9%. The common isolated bacterial pathogens Klebsiella pneumoniae was 29 cases (25.7%); Escherichia coli 12 cases (10.6%); Staphylococcus aureus 3 cases (2.7%). The most commonly used antibiotics were third-generation of cephalosporins, accounting for 41.00% of the total antibiotics, followed by penicillins, accounting for 32.10%, and followed by carbapenems, accounting for 13.15%. The proportion of antibiotic use time was negatively correlated with birth weight Z-score and the change in weight Z-score between birth and hospital discharge (r=-0.095, -0.151 respectively, P<0.01), positively correlated with death/withdrawal of care (r=0.196, P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS Antibiotics used for VLBW/ELBW infants in NICUs of Hunan Province are obviously prolonged in many NICUs. The proportion of routine use of third-generation of cephalosporins and carbapenems antibiotics is high among the NICUs.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Birth Weight ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Extremely Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn ; Intensive Care Units, Neonatal ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Through collecting the 30-year medical experience of professor , the methods of acupuncture manipulation practice were summarized so as to provide the reference for the medical staffs in acupuncture teaching and clinical work. Professor proposes four key elements of acupuncture manipulation practice, i.e. the style of needling practice, the consciousness of needling practice, the strength of needling practice and of needling practice. Acupuncture manipulation is a highly operational clinical skill. The knowledge learning from the experience of the instructors is the important way to improve acupuncture techniques. Besides, beginners need to improve their techniques through learning the theories, a large amount of exercises as well as the self-perception.