1.Professor LIU Jinmin's Clinical Experience in Treating Epilepsy Based on the Method of Closing Yangming and Regaining Vital Activity
Lin ZOU ; Tianye SUN ; Mingyuan YAN ; Mi ZHAGN ; Shuai ZHAO ; Kaiyue WANG ; Lili LI ;
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2025;66(4):344-348
To summarize the clinical experience of Professor LIU Jinmin in treatment for epilepsy. It is believed that main pathogenesis of epilepsy is yangming failure to close and vital activity loss control, so a therapeutic approach focused on restoring the closure of yangming and regaining vital activity was proposed for the treatment of epilepsy. For excess syndrome, the treatment focuses on draining excess and descending qi, promoting purgation and restoring spirit. When yangming dryness-heat predominates, the approach involves unblock the bowels and regulating the spirit, descending qi and reducing fire, with modified Chengqi Decoction (承气汤) as prescription; when yangming phlegm-fire predominates, the treatment focuses on clearing heat and resolving phlegm, calming mind and suppressing fright, with modified Qingxin Wendan Decoction (清心温胆汤) as prescription; when yangming blood stasis predominates, the approach involves breaking up blood stasis and promoting purgation, eliminating stasis and awakening the mind, with Taoren Chengqi Decoction (桃核承气汤) as prescription. For deficiency syndrome, the treatment emphasizes tonifying deficiency and raising qi, strengthening the stomach and nourishing the spirit. When center qi deficiency and sinking of clear qi of the nutrients from food, the approach involves replenishing and uplifting qi while nourishing vital activity, with modified Liujunzi Decoction (六君子汤) as prescription; when yin deficiency and fluid consumption, the treatment focuses on nourishing stomach and tonifying yin, promoting fluid production and calming the spirit, with modified Maimendong Decoction (麦门冬汤) combined with Yiwei Decoction (益胃汤) as prescriptions. In clinical situations of deficiency-excess complex, it is essential to distinguish the primary condition from the secondary, applying both supplementing and draining methods flexibly to achieve optimal treatment.
2.Network toxicology and its application in studying exogenous chemical toxicity
Yanli LIN ; Zehua TAO ; Zhao XIAO ; Chenxu HU ; Bobo YANG ; Ya WANG ; Rongzhu LU
Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine 2025;42(2):238-244
With the continuous development of society, a large number of new chemicals are continuously emerging, which presents a challenge to current risk assessment and safety management of chemicals. Traditional toxicology research methods have certain limitations in quickly, efficiently, and accurately assessing the toxicity of many chemicals, and cannot meet the actual needs. In response to this challenge, computational toxicology that use mathematical and computer models to achieve the prediction of chemical toxicity has emerged. In the meantime, as researchers increasingly pay attention to understanding the interaction mechanisms between exogenous chemical substances and the body from the system level, and multiomics technologies develop rapidly such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, huge amounts of data have been generated, providing rich information resources for studying the interactions between chemical substances and biological molecules. System toxicology and network toxicology have also developed accordingly. Of these, network toxicology can integrate these multiomics data to construct biomolecular networks, and then quickly predict the key toxicological targets and pathways of chemicals at the molecular level. This paper outlined the concept and development of network toxicology, summarized the main methods and supporting tools of network toxicology research, expounded the application status of network toxicology in studying potential toxicity of exogenous chemicals such as agricultural chemicals, environmental pollutants, industrial chemicals, and foodborne chemicals, and analyzed the development prospects and limitations of network toxicology research. This paper aimed to provide a reference for the application of network toxicology in other fields.
3.An alkyne and two phenylpropanoid derivants from Carthamus tinctorius L.
Lin-qing QIAO ; Ge-ge XIA ; Ying-jie LI ; Wen-xuan ZHAO ; Yan-zhi WANG
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica 2025;60(1):185-190
The chemical constituents from the
4.Efficacy of Fufang Lingjiao Jiangya Pills with Different Proportions of Goat Horn Replacing Antelope Horn on Spontaneous Hypertensive Rats
Tengjian WANG ; Wanlu ZHAO ; Yang YU ; Yan LIU ; Kun CAO ; Zheyuan LIN ; Yue WU ; Lilan LUO ; Weizhi LAI ; Zhaohuan LOU ; Qiaoyan ZHANG ; Quanlong ZHANG ; Luping QIN
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(9):68-78
ObjectiveTo investigate the optimal ratio of goat horn replacing antelope horn in Fufang Lingjiao Jiangya pills and the blood pressure-lowering mechanism of this medicine. MethodsThe blood pressure-lowering efficacy of Fufang Lingjiao Jiangya pills with varying proportions of goat horn replacing antelope horn was evaluated on spontaneous hypertensive rats (SHR). In this experiment, 50 SHR rats were randomly grouped as follows: model (n=8), captopril (0.01 g·kg-1) (n=6), low-dose blank Fufang Lingjiao Jiangya pills (0.342 g·kg-1) (n=6), high-dose blank Fufang Lingjiao Jiangya pills (0.684 g·kg-1) (n=6), low-dose antelope horn-containing Fufang Lingjiao Jiangya pills (0.378 g·kg-1) (n=6), high-dose antelope horn-containing Fufang Lingjiao Jiangya pills (0.756 g·kg-1) (n=6), low-dose goat horn-containing Fufang Lingjiao Jiangya pills (0.378 g·kg-1) (n=6), and high-dose goat horn-containing Fufang Lingjiao Jiangya pills (0.756 g·kg-1) (n=6). Additionally, 8 WKY rats were used as the normal group. Drugs were administered by gavage for 4 weeks while an equal volume of distilled water was administered for the normal and model groups. Blood pressure was measured before administration, 3 h post administration, and biweekly thereafter. In the experiment for Fufang Lingjiao Jiangya pills with goat horn replacing antelope horn in different proportions, 48 SHR rats were randomly grouped as follows: model, blank Fufang Lingjiao Jiangya pills (0.684 g·kg-1), antelope horn-containing Fufang Lingjiao Jiangya pills (0.756 g·kg-1), 2× goat horn-containing Fufang Lingjiao Jiangya pills (0.824 g·kg-1), 4× goat horn Fufang Lingjiao Jiangya pills (0.969 g·kg-1), and 6× goat horn Fufang Lingjiao Jiangya pills (1.112 g·kg-1). The normal group included 8 WKY rats, and the normal group and model group received an equal volume of distilled water. The treatment lasted for 2 weeks, and blood pressure was recorded at various time points (pre-administration, 3 h post administration, and on days 4, 7, 10, and 14 of administration). Serum levels of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), angiotensin Ⅱ(Ang Ⅱ), renin, and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Histopathological changes in the heart, kidney, and thoracic aorta were observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining. The protein levels of ACE2, angiotensin Ⅱ type 1 receptor (AT1R), and angiotensinogen (AGT) in the kidney tissue were determined by Western blot, while the expression of nuclear factor (NF)-κB p65 and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in the thoracic aorta tissue was assessed by immunohistochemistry. ResultsCompared with the model group, all treatment groups showed lowered blood pressure (P<0.05, P<0.01), and the 6× goat horn-containing Fufang Lingjiao Jiangya pills group showed consistent blood pressure-lowering effect with the antelope horn-containing Fufang Lingjiao Jiangya pills group. Compared with the normal group, the model group showed elevated serum levels of ACE, Ang Ⅱ, renin, and IL-6, while the elevations were declined in the Fufang Lingjiao Jiangya pills groups (P<0.05, P<0.01). Pathological changes in the heart, kidney, and thoracic aorta were alleviated in all the treatment groups, with the 6× goat horn- and antelope horn-containing Fufang Lingjiao Jiangya pills groups exhibited the best effect. Western blot and immunohistochemistry results showed that all the treatment groups exhibited down-regulated protein levels of AT1R, AGT, NF-κB p65, and TLR4 and up-regulated protein levels of ACE2 (P<0.05, P<0.01) compared with model group, with the 6×goat horn- and antelope horn-containing Fufang Lingjiao Jiangya pills groups showcasing the best effect. ConclusionReplacing antelope horn with 6×goat horn in Fufang Lingjiao Jiangya pills can achieve consistent blood pressure-lowering effect with the original prescription. The prescription may exert the effect by inhibiting the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) and TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathways.
5.Research Progress on Qingwen Baidu Decoction and Its Active Ingredients in Prevention of Lung Injury
Xiaojie LIN ; Xianan WEN ; Qiaolin ZENG ; Li WANG ; Yuanru ZHENG ; Jie ZHAO
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(9):315-322
Acute lung injury (ALI) is a common and highly lethal clinical syndrome characterized by acute progressive respiratory failure. Currently, the treatment of ALI primarily involves respiratory support therapy and symptomatic pharmacotherapy, yet there is still a lack of specific and effective pharmacological treatments. Qingwen Baidu decoction is a traditional Chinese medicine formula that has the effects of clearing heat, removing toxin, cooling blood, and purging fire. Its pharmacological effects include anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, antibacterial, antiviral, sedative, and so on. The flavonoids, phenols, terpenes, and other components contained in this formula have strong pharmacological activity, which can regulate the inflammatory response caused and oxidative stress in ALI and maintain the integrity of alveolar-capillary barrier (ACB) by anti-apoptosis, anti-pathogen infection, and anti-pulmonary fibrosis, thereby improving the pathological changes of lung tissue. Among them, flavonoids have been reported more, and their mechanism of action is complex and diverse. For example, quercetin, luteolin, and baicalin act on multiple important targets, such as signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), mitogen-activated protein kinase 3 (MAPK3), etc. and participate in the regulation of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/myeloid differentiation primary response 88 (MyD88)/nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2(Nrf2)/Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1), and silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1)/forkhead box protein O1 (FoxO1) signaling pathways, thereby intervening in pathological events such as inflammation, oxidative stress, cell apoptosis, and fibrosis. This paper aims to review the research progress on Qingwen Baidu decoction and its active ingredients in the prevention and treatment of lung injury in the expectation of providing reference for its subsequent pharmacological mechanism research and theoretical support for its clinical application and drug development in the treatment of ALI.
6.Status of Clinical Practice Guideline Information Platforms
Xueqin ZHANG ; Yun ZHAO ; Jie LIU ; Long GE ; Ying XING ; Simeng REN ; Yifei WANG ; Wenzheng ZHANG ; Di ZHANG ; Shihua WANG ; Yao SUN ; Min WU ; Lin FENG ; Tiancai WEN
Medical Journal of Peking Union Medical College Hospital 2025;16(2):462-471
Clinical practice guidelines represent the best recommendations for patient care. They are developed through systematically reviewing currently available clinical evidence and weighing the relative benefits and risks of various interventions. However, clinical practice guidelines have to go through a long translation cycle from development and revision to clinical promotion and application, facing problems such as scattered distribution, high duplication rate, and low actual utilization. At present, the clinical practice guideline information platform can directly or indirectly solve the problems related to the lengthy revision cycles, decentralized dissemination and limited application of clinical practice guidelines. Therefore, this paper systematically examines different types of clinical practice guideline information platforms and investigates their corresponding challenges and emerging trends in platform design, data integration, and practical implementation, with the aim of clarifying the current status of this field and providing valuable reference for future research on clinical practice guideline information platforms.
7.Characteristic Analysis of Effective Components and Compounds of TCM for Prevention and Treatment of Breast Cancer Based on Wnt/β-catenin Signaling Pathway Targeting
Haoyang WANG ; Lin GUO ; Hui ZHAO ; Lihua CAO ; Na LI ; Mingsan MIAO
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(5):282-290
Breast cancer is a kind of malignant tumor with a complex mechanism, and its morbidity and mortality are increasing year by year, which seriously threatens women's health. At present, the main clinical treatments are surgical resection, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and drug therapy, but they are often accompanied by side effects and adverse reactions, which affect the therapeutic effect. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has the advantages of multi-component and multi-target treatment in the fight against breast cancer. The wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is one of the classic pathways in cancer research. Abnormally activated Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway inhibits β-catenin degradation by blocking the formation of Axin/glycogen synthase kinase 3β/adenomatous polyposis coli complex, thus promoting β-catenin nuclear metastasis, and it binds to T cell transcription factor/lymphoenhancer factor-1 to initiate downstream target genes and further interfere with the proliferation, migration, and invasion of tumor cells to affect the tumor process. Previous studies have shown that TCM monomers and compounds can mediate the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway to inhibit the malignant phenotype of breast cancer cells, thus playing an anti-breast cancer role, and the biochemical process involved in the regulation of therapeutic drugs has not been systematically combed. By analyzing and collating Chinese and foreign literature at the present stage, this paper discussed the association mechanism between Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and breast cancer and analyzed the internal mechanism of TCM monomers and compounds in mediating Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway to exert anti-breast cancer effect. The statistical results showed that the flavonoids, alkaloids, and terpenoids in TCM monomers could target the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and block the further development of malignant phenotype of breast cancer cells. TCM compounds with functions of clearing heat and detoxifying, promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, and tonifying kidney and liver were commonly used to intervene in the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway to prevent breast cancer. Compared with the current inhibitors of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, the application of TCM monomers and compounds is expected to bring low-toxicity and high-efficiency breast cancer treatment drugs to the clinical practice, and the existing results provide a reference for the subsequent screening, research, and development of TCM small-molecule compounds and TCM compounds against breast cancer.
8.Application of "balance-shaped sternal elevation device" in the subxiphoid uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for anterior mediastinal masses resection
Jinlan ZHAO ; Weiyang CHEN ; Chunmei HE ; Yu XIONG ; Lei WANG ; Jie LI ; Lin LIN ; Yushang YANG ; Lin MA ; Longqi CHEN ; Dong TIAN
Chinese Journal of Clinical Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 2025;32(03):308-312
Objective To introduce an innovative technique, the "balance-shaped sternal elevation device" and its application in the subxiphoid uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for anterior mediastinal masses resection. Methods Patients who underwent single-port thoracoscopic assisted anterior mediastinal tumor resection through the xiphoid process at the Department of Thoracic Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University from May to June 2024 were included, and their clinical data were analyzed. Results A total of 7 patients were included, with 3 males and 4 females, aged 28-72 years. The diameter of the tumor was 1.9-17.0 cm. The operation time was 62-308 min, intraoperative blood loss was 5-100 mL, postoperative chest drainage tube retention time was 0-9 days, pain score on the 7th day after surgery was 0-2 points, and postoperative hospital stay was 3-12 days. All patients underwent successful and complete resection of the masses and thymus, with favorable postoperative recovery. Conclusion The "balance-shaped sternal elevation device" effectively expands the retrosternal space, providing surgeons with satisfactory surgical views and operating space. This technique significantly enhances the efficacy and safety of minimally invasive surgery for anterior mediastinal masses, reduces trauma and postoperative pain, and accelerates patient recovery, demonstrating important clinical significance and application value.
9.Predicting Postoperative Motor Function in High-risk Glioma Based on The Morphology Change of Motor Fiber Tracts
Qiang MA ; Song-Lin YU ; Chu-Yue ZHAO ; Xi-Jie WANG ; Song LIN ; Zhen-Tao ZUO ; Tao YU
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2025;52(4):1018-1026
ObjectiveGliomas in the motor functional area can damage the corticospinal tract (CST), leading to motor dysfunction. Currently, there is a lack of unified methods for evaluating the extent of CST damage, especially in patients with high surgical risk where the minimum distance from the lesion to the CST is less than 10 mm. This study aims to further clarify the classification method and clinical significance of CST morphological changes in these patients. MethodsThis retrospective study analyzed 109 high-risk functional area glioma patients who underwent neurosurgical treatment with preoperative diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) imaging and intraoperative neurostimulation guidance between 2014 and 2024. All patients had a lesion-to-tract distance (LTD) of less than 10 mm between the CST and the lesion. Preoperative DTI evaluation of CST involvement-induced morphological changes were reviewed. Patients were divided into 3 groups: 17 cases (15.6%) with symmetric CST morphology compared to the healthy side (CST symmetry), 48 cases (44.0%) with significant CST morphology changes compared to the healthy side (CST deformation), and 44 cases (40.4%) with CST overlap with the tumor (CST overlap). Then we classified patients according to preoperative assessment of tumor-induced morphological changes, and analyze postoperative motor function for each category. ResultsPostoperative pathology showed a significantly higher proportion of high-grade gliomas (HGG) in the CST overlap group compared to the other two groups (P=0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that CST overlap was a predictor of HGG (P=0.000). The rate of total tumor resection in the CST deformation group and overlap group was lower than in the CST symmetric group (P=0.008). There was a total of 41 postoperative hemiplegic patients, with 4 cases (23.5%) in the CST symmetric group, 11 cases (22.9%) in the CST deformation group, and 26 cases (59.1%) in the CST overlap group. CST overlap with the tumor predicted postoperative hemiplegia (P=0.016). Two-way ANOVA analysis of the affected/healthy side and CST morphology groups showed significant main effects of CST grouping and healthy-affected side (P=0.017 and P=0.010), with no significant interaction (P=0.31). The fractional anisotropy (FA) value in the CST overlap group and the affected side was lower. A decrease in the FA value on the affected side predicted postoperative hemiplegia (sensitivity 69.2%, specificity 71.9%). ConclusionWe have established a method to predict postoperative hemiplegia in high-risk motor functional area glioma patients based on preoperative CST morphological changes. CST overlap leads to a decrease in CST FA values. This method can be used for precise patient management and aid in accurate preoperative surgical planning.
10.Construction and Validation of a Large Language Model-Based Intelligent Pre-Consultation System for Traditional Chinese Medicine
Yiqing LIU ; Ying LI ; Hongjun YANG ; Linjing PENG ; Nanxing XIAN ; Kunning LI ; Qiwei SHI ; Hengyi TIAN ; Lifeng DONG ; Lin WANG ; Yuping ZHAO
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2025;66(9):895-900
ObjectiveTo construct a large language model (LLM)-based intelligent pre-consultation system for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to improve efficacy of clinical practice. MethodsA TCM large language model was fine-tuned using DeepSpeed ZeRO-3 distributed training strategy based on YAYI 2-30B. A weighted undirected graph network was designed and an agent-based syndrome differentiation model was established based on relationship data extracted from TCM literature and clinical records. An agent collaboration framework was developed to integrate the TCM LLM with the syndrome differentiation model. Model performance was comprehensively evaluated by Loss function, BLEU-4, and ROUGE-L metrics, through which training convergence, text generation quality, and language understanding capability were assessed. Professional knowledge test sets were developed to evaluate system proficiency in TCM physician licensure content, TCM pharmacist licensure content, TCM symptom terminology recognition, and meridian identification. Clinical tests were conducted to compare the system with attending physicians in terms of diagnostic accuracy, consultation rounds, and consultation duration. ResultsAfter 100 000 iterations, the training loss value was gradually stabilized at about 0.7±0.08, indicating that the TCM-LLM has been trained and has good generalization ability. The TCM-LLM scored 0.38 in BLEU-4 and 0.62 in ROUGE-L, suggesting that its natural language processing ability meets the standard. We obtained 2715 symptom terms, 505 relationships between diseases and syndromes, 1011 relationships between diseases and main symptoms, and 1 303 600 relationships among different symptoms, and constructed the Agent of syndrome differentiation model. The accuracy rates in the simulated tests for TCM practitioners, licensed pharmacists of Chinese materia medica, recognition of TCM symptom terminology, and meridian recognition were 94.09%, 78.00%, 87.50%, and 68.80%, respectively. In clinical tests, the syndrome differentiation accuracy of the system reached 88.33%, with fewer consultation rounds and shorter consultation time compared to the attending physicians (P<0.01), suggesting that the system has a certain pre- consultation ability. ConclusionThe LLM-based intelligent TCM pre-diagnosis system could simulate diagnostic thinking of TCM physicians to a certain extent. After understanding the patients' natural language, it collects all the patient's symptom through guided questioning, thereby enhancing the diagnostic and treatment efficiency of physicians as well as the consultation experience of the patients.

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