1.Research progress and clinical challenges in immunosuppressive regimens for xenotransplantation
Yu ZHANG ; Kun WANG ; Xuyuan ZHU ; Yuxiang CHEN ; Tao LI ; Xiaojie MA ; Hongtao JIANG
Organ Transplantation 2026;17(1):28-35
As a pivotal strategy to alleviate the shortage of organ donors, xenotransplantation has achieved remarkable advances in both pre-clinical and clinical studies in recent years, driven by continuous optimization of gene modification techniques and immunosuppressive regimens. Nevertheless, clinical translation still confronts formidable challenges, including rejection and heightened infection risks, which severely compromise long-term graft survival. Consequently, the role of immunosuppressive regimens in xenotransplantation has become increasingly prominent. This article summarizes the mechanisms underlying xenogeneic immune rejection, the latest developments in immunosuppressive regimens, cutting-edge strategies for inducing immune tolerance and the major hurdles facing clinical xenotransplantation. It delves into potential optimization strategies and directions for future clinical research, aiming to offer theoretical insights and practical guidance for the safe and effective application of clinical xenotransplantation.
2.Mechanism and Combination Therapy of Berberine in Treatment of Nonalcoholic Fatty liver Disease:A Review
Xiaojie WANG ; Heng ZHANG ; Sutong LIU ; Lihui ZHANG ; Wenxia ZHAO
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(5):269-281
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease in the world. Because of its complex pathogenesis, high clinical prevalence and large population, it poses a great threat and challenge to public health in the world. Therefore, active intervention measures are needed. Currently, western medicine is effective in reducing weight, reducing liver fat content, improving glucose-lipid metabolism and insulin resistance. However, for patients with NAFLD-related fibrosis and cirrhosis, there is still a lack of sufficient histological evidence to support its benefits, and randomized controlled trials are still needed to clarify. Lifestyle intervention is an important cornerstone for the treatment of NAFLD, but there are many problems such as poor implementation and low compliance of patients, and the clinical efficacy is not ideal. Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) has the significant advantages of multiple pathways and multiple targets. Berberine, the active ingredient of TCM, can interfere with the production of NAFLD from multiple pathways, including increasing energy consumption, weight loss, improving glucose-lipid metabolism, improving insulin resistance, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidation, regulating intestinal flora, restoring bile acid homeostasis, anti-fibrosis and so on, which can play a positive role in the treatment of NAFLD. At the same time, it was found that the combination of BBR with Chinese and western medicines had significant advantages in promoting drug absorption, improving oral bioavailability, increasing the highest biological distribution in the liver, enhancing the overall therapeutic effect of NAFLD, and reducing adverse drug reactions, which could provide reference for clinical medication.
3.Causal relationship between mental disorders and hypercholesterolemia: a Mendelian randomization analysis
Qian ZOU ; Ni TANG ; Huanhui LIU ; Hanjing ZHANG ; Xiaojie MA
Sichuan Mental Health 2025;38(2):123-130
BackgroundMetabolic syndrome (MetS) is highly prevalent in patients with mental disorders, including elevated diastolic or systolic blood pressure, elevated fasting glucose, hypercholesterolemia, abdominal obesity and so on. As an important component of MetS, the relationship between hypercholesterolemia and mental disorder has been extensively reported, whereas few genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been conducted to identify the causal role of mental disorders in hypercholesterolemia. ObjectiveTo explore the potential causal relationship between mental disorders and hypercholesterolemia by two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) method. MethodsSummary data from GWAS were analyzed. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) strongly associated with mental disorders were chosen as instrumental variables, and hypercholesterolemia was used as outcome variable. MR analysis utilized inverse-variance weighted (IVW), MR-Egger regression and weighted median estimation (WME) as the primary analytical tool, and supplemented by simple mode (SM) and weighted mode (WM). The causal relationship between mental disorders and the risk of hypercholesterolemia was illustrated in terms of odds ratio (OR). ResultsA total of 36 SNPs associated with mental disorders were identified as instrumental variables. The primary findings from IVW revealed existence of a causal relationship between mental disorders and hypercholesterolemia (IVW: OR=1.067, 95% CI: 1.026~1.109, P=0.001). Findings from the additional methods (MR-Egger regression, WME, SM, WM) were basically consistent with those reported in IVW method. Further verification indicated that the causal relationship between mental disorders and the risk of hypercholesterolemia was not affected by genetic polymorphism (P>0.05). The absence of heterogeneity was confirmed through Cochran's Q test and MR-Egger regression (P>0.05). Furthermore, no causal association in the reverse direction was found (P>0.05). ConclusionThere is a causal relationship between mental disorders and hypercholesterolemia, and patients with mental disorders may have an increased probability of suffering from hypercholesterolemia.
4.Macrophages in xenotransplantation
Xuyuan ZHU ; Yu ZHANG ; Yuxiang CHEN ; Tao LI ; Xiaojie MA ; Hongtao JIANG
Organ Transplantation 2025;16(4):495-501
Xenotransplantation is one of the effective ways to overcome the shortage of donor organs. However, the molecular incompatibility between xenotransplantation donors and recipients can cause rejection, which greatly limits the clinical application of xenotransplantation. In recent years, researchers have deeply explored the mechanism of xenotransplantation rejection through xenotransplantation models of pig-to-monkey and pig-to-brain death recipients, and found that the innate immune system plays an important role in rejection. Macrophages, as phagocytes in the innate immune system, not only damage xenografts through phagocytosis but also interact with other immune cells to influence the immune microenvironment of xenotransplantation. However, due to the heterogeneity of macrophages, their phenotypes and functions in xenotransplantation rejection remain unclear. Therefore, it is necessary to further explore the role of macrophages in xenotransplantation rejection. This article reviews the latest research progress of macrophages in xenotransplantation rejection, aiming to explore the mechanisms of macrophages in xenotransplantation rejection and provide references for future research.
5.Study on relationships of MS4A1 gene polymorphism with blood concentration and efficacy of rituximab in patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Feng SHI ; Tao LIU ; He HUANG ; Caifu FANG ; Shaoxing GUAN ; Zhang ZHANG ; Zhao WANG ; Xiaojie FANG ; Zhuojia CHEN ; Shu LIU
China Pharmacy 2025;36(13):1641-1647
OBJECTIVE To explore the effects of CD20 coding gene (MS4A1) polymorphism on the blood concentration and efficacy of rituximab in patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. METHODS A prospective observational study was conducted on 160 newly diagnosed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients who received the R-CHOP regimen at the Sun Yat Sen University Cancer Center from January 2016 to December 2020, with a minimum follow-up period of approximately 5 years. The blood concentration of rituximab was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. MS4A1 tagSNPs were selected by Haploview4.2 software, including rs1051461, rs17155034, rs4939364, and rs10501385. The genotype of MS4A1 was detected by Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Univariate linear regression analysis was employed to examine the correlation between various factors(demographic, clinical, and genotypic variables) in patients and the steady-state trough concentration of rituximab during the first course of treatment, followed by multivariate linear regression analysis. Kaplan-Meier curves were drawn to evaluate progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Using MS4A1 genotype and tumor stage as independent variables, Cox regression model was employed to evaluate the factors influencing patient prognosis. RESULTS The blood concentration of rituximab in MS4A1 rs10501385 CC carriers was 15.20 μg/mL,which was significantly lower than 21.95 μg/mL in AA+AC carriers (P<0.05). The multivariate linear regression model incorporating tumor stage and MS4A1 rs10501385 polymorphism explained 7.3% of the interindividual variability in rituximab concentrations. Compared with MS4A1 rs1051461 CC carriers, CT+TT carriers had significantly prolonged PFS and OS (P<0.05). The Cox proportional hazards regression model showed that the MS4A1 rs1051461 CC genotype (HR=4.406, 95%CI:1.743-11.137, P<0.05) and tumor Ⅲ&Ⅳ (HR=3.233, 95%CI: 1.413-7.399, P<0.05) were independent risk factors for PFS. CONCLUSIONS The tumor staging and MS4A1 rs10501385 polymorphism are key influencing factors for blood concentration of rituximab, and MS4A1 rs1051461 polymorphism significantly affects PFS in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients.
6.Research progress on the role of extracellular histones in xenotransplantation
Kun WANG ; Yu ZHANG ; Yuxiang CHEN ; Xiaojie MA ; Tao LI ; Hongtao JIANG
Organ Transplantation 2025;16(6):962-969
Organ transplantation faces the challenge of a shortage of donors. Although xenotransplantation holds great potential, it is limited by rejection. Extracellular histones, as key members of damage-associated molecular patterns, have been proven in recent years to play a crucial role in transplant rejection by activating innate immunity, regulating the coagulation-inflammation network, and modulating adaptive immune responses. However, the specific functions and key mechanisms remain to be clarified. Therefore, this article reviews the structural characteristics of histones, their release pathways, the biological functions of extracellular histones, and their potential roles in xenotransplantation. It summarizes the latest research progress of extracellular histones in xenotransplantation, analyzes the shortcomings of existing research and the direction for future research, with the expectation of providing references for the application of extracellular histones in xenogeneic kidney transplantation.
7.Research on type 2 diabetes prediction algorithm based on photoplethysmography.
Mingying HU ; Quanyu WU ; Yifan CAO ; Jin CAO ; Yifan ZHAO ; Lin ZHANG ; Xiaojie LIU
Journal of Biomedical Engineering 2025;42(5):1005-1011
To address the current issues of data imbalance and scarcity in photoplethysmography (PPG) data for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) prediction, this study proposes an improved conditional Wasserstein generative adversarial network with gradient penalty (CWGAN-GP). The algorithm integrated gated recurrent unit (GRU) networks and self-attention mechanisms to construct a generator, aiming to produce high-quality PPG signals. Various data augmentation methods, including the improved CWGAN-GP, were employed to expand the PPG dataset, and multiple classifiers were applied for T2DM prediction analysis. Experimental results showed that the model trained on data generated by the improved CWGAN-GP achieved the optimal prediction performance. The highest accuracy reached 0.895 0, and compared with other data enhancement methods, this approach exhibited significant advantages in terms of precision and F1-score. The generated data notably enhances the accuracy and generalization ability of T2DM prediction models, providing a more reliable technical basis for non-invasive early T2DM screening based on PPG signals.
Photoplethysmography/methods*
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Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/diagnosis*
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Humans
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Algorithms
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Neural Networks, Computer
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Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted
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Prediction Algorithms
8.Research progress in the role of gut microbiota in ethanol metabolism.
Yuchun YANG ; Xiaojie ZHANG ; Ti CHEN
Journal of Central South University(Medical Sciences) 2025;50(3):501-510
In recent years, gut microbiota has been increasingly recognized as a key player in ethanol metabolism and the development of related diseases. On one hand, ethanol intake directly affects the gut, leading to significant alterations in microbial diversity and composition. On the other hand, gut microbiota influences ethanol-induced damage to various organs, especially the liver, through multiple metabolic byproducts (such as short-chain fatty acids like butyrate, propionate, and acetate), modulation of immune responses, alteration of intestinal barrier function, and regulation of ethanol-metabolizing enzymes. Given the close association between gut microbiota and ethanol metabolism, the gut microbiome presents a promising therapeutic target for alcohol-related liver diseases. This review summarizes recent advances in understanding how gut microbiota affects ethanol metabolism, aiming to elucidate its role in the onset and progression of ethanol-related diseases and to provide a theoretical basis and novel targets for microbiota-based interventions.
Gastrointestinal Microbiome/physiology*
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Ethanol/metabolism*
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Humans
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Fatty Acids, Volatile/metabolism*
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Liver Diseases, Alcoholic/metabolism*
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Animals
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Alcohol Drinking/metabolism*

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