1.The technology of fecal microbiota transplantation and its application progress
Shuo YUAN ; Yi-fan ZHANG ; Peng GAO ; Jun LEI ; Ying-yuan LU ; Peng-fei TU ; Yong JIANG
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica 2025;60(1):82-95
Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) technology originated in China during the Eastern Jin Dynasty and has rapidly developed over the past two decades, becoming a primary method for studying the causal relationship between gut microbiota and the occurrence and progression of diseases. At the same time, the therapeutic effects of FMT in the field of gastrointestinal diseases have gained widespread recognition and are gradually expanding into other disease areas. The FMT procedure is relatively complex, and there is currently no standardized method; its success is influenced by various factors, including the donor, recipient, processing of the fecal material, and the method of implantation. Given the increasingly recognized relationship between gut microbiota and various diseases, FMT has become a research hotspot in both scientific studies and clinical applications, achieving a series of significant advancements. To help researchers better understand this technology, this paper will outline the development history of FMT, summarize common operational methods in research and clinical settings, review its application progress, and look forward to future development directions.
2.Exploration and Practice of Artificial Intelligence Empowering Case-based Teaching in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Ying-Lu HU ; Yi-Chen LIN ; Jun-Ming GUO ; Xiao-Dan MENG
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2025;52(8):2173-2184
In recent years, the deep integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into medical education has created new opportunities for teaching Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, while also offering innovative solutions to the pedagogical challenges associated with protein structure and function. Focusing on the case of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene mutations in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), this study integrates AI into case-based learning (CBL) to develop an AI-CBL hybrid teaching model. This model features an intelligent case-generation system that dynamically constructs ALK mutation scenarios using real-world clinical data, closely linking molecular biology concepts with clinical applications. It incorporates AI-powered protein structure prediction tools to accurately visualize the three-dimensional structures of both wild-type and mutant ALK proteins, dynamically simulating functional abnormalities resulting from conformational changes. Additionally, a virtual simulation platform replicates the ALK gene detection workflow, bridging theoretical knowledge with practical skills. As a result, a multidimensional teaching system is established—driven by clinical cases and integrating molecular structural analysis with experimental validation. Teaching outcomes indicate that the three-dimensional visualization, dynamic interactivity, and intelligent analytical capabilities provided by AI significantly enhance students’ understanding of molecular mechanisms, classroom engagement, and capacity for innovative research. This model establishes a coherent training pathway linking “fundamental theory-scientific research thinking-clinical practice”, offering an effective approach to addressing teaching challenges and advancing the intelligent transformation of medical education.
3.Association between mental health and muscle strength among Chinese adolescents aged 13-18
Chinese Journal of School Health 2025;46(9):1232-1236
Objective:
To explore the association between mental health and muscle strength among Chinese adolescents aged 13- 18, providing a theoretical foundation and intervention strategies for mental health promotion.
Methods:
Data were obtained from the 2019 Chinese National Survey on Students Constitution and Health, including 98 631 Chinese adolescents aged 13- 18. Psychological distress was assessed by using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10), and mental well being was measured with the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well being Scale (WEMWBS). Based on the gender and age specific Z scores of various test items [grip strength, standing long jump, pull ups (for males), and sit ups (for females)], muscle strength index (MSI) was constructed to evaluate the comprehensive level of muscle strength in adolescents. According to the Dual factor Model (DFM) of mental health, participants were categorized into four groups:troubled, symptomatic but content, vulnerable, and complete mental health. Gender differences were analyzed by using Chi-square tests, trends were tested with Cochran-Armitage tests, and multinomial Logistic regression models were applied to assess associations between muscle strength and mental health among adolescents.
Results:
In 2019, 37.4% of Chinese adolescents aged 13-18 were reported of high mental distress, and 59.9% were reported of low mental well being. Boys had significantly lower rates of high mental distress (35.3%) and low mental well being (55.6%) compared to girls (39.4%, 64.3%), and the differences were of statistical significance ( χ 2=176.13, 780.42, both P <0.05). In 2019, the rate of complete mental health among adolescents showed a downward trend with increasing age ( χ 2 trend = 258.47) and a gradual upward trend with increasing muscle strength levels ( χ 2 trend =123.14),and both boys and girls exhibited similar trends ( χ 2 trend =103.83, 168.46; 57.00 , 67.34) (all P <0.05). The results of the unordered multiclass Logistic regression model showed that after controlling for confounding factors such as age and gender, when the completely pathological group as a reference, for every 1 unit increase in MSI in adolescents, the likelihood of being in a completely mental health state increased by 29% ( OR = 1.29); for every unit increase in the Z-score for pull ups, the likelihood of being in a completely mental health state increased by 6% ( OR =1.06) among boys; for every 1 unit increase in sit up Z score, the likelihood of being in a completely mental health state increased by 19% ( OR =1.19) among girls (all P <0.05).
Conclusions
The mental health status of Chinese adolescents is not good enough. Muscle strength is positively associated with mental health.
4.Weight-dependent Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging for Viscosity Detection in Glycerol-water Mixtures
Teng LUO ; Yi-Hua ZHAO ; Yuan LU ; Wei YAN ; Jun-Le QU
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2024;51(5):1221-1230
ObjectiveBased on fluorescence lifetime imaging technology, a novel method for viscosity detection is proposed and the capability of different weighting of fluorescence lifetimes in distinguishing the viscosity of glycerol-water mixtures is evaluated, aiming to enhance the accuracy and reliability of viscosity differentiation. MethodsThis approach incorporates the principles of electronic weighting, introducing both amplitude-weighted average fluorescence lifetime (τm) and intensity-weighted average fluorescence lifetime (τi). Viscosity changes in glycerol-water mixtures are detected through τm and τi. τm Reflects the relationship between fluorescence signal amplitude and time, while τi focuses on the time-varying characteristics of fluorescence signal intensity. ResultsThe results of both τm and τi mutually corroborate each other, not only enhancing the reliability in detecting viscosity changes in glycerol-water mixtures but also revealing their unique roles in the detection process. Although τm plays a crucial role in capturing changes in fluorescence signal amplitude, τi exhibits higher accuracy in viscosity detection when considering the time-varying characteristics of fluorescence signal intensity. It is particularly noteworthy that, due to τi’s greater sensitivity, microenvironment viscosity detection can be directly analyzed using τi. This provides a more convenient approach for real-time, highly sensitive microfluidic viscosity monitoring. Therefore, through the comprehensive utilization of τm and τi, a more thorough and accurate understanding of the viscosity information in glycerol-water mixtures can be obtained, and specific parameters can be selected for in-depth analysis based on specific needs. ConclusionThe combination of amplitude weighting and intensity weighting allows for a more sensitive identification of subtle changes in viscosity under different conditions. The innovation of this method lies in its simultaneous consideration of multiple parameters, enhancing sensitivity and distinguishability to variations in viscosity. Therefore, this weighted-dependent fluorescence lifetime imaging technique not only introduces a novel approach for viscosity detection in glycerol-water mixtures but also provides a powerful analytical tool for various fields, including microfluidics, rheology, and research on novel functional materials.
5.Icariin ameliorates viral myocarditis by inhibiting TLR4-mediated ferroptosis
Wei Luo ; Yi Lu ; Jun-Hua Deng ; Peng Liu ; Yan Huang ; Wan-Xi Liu ; Chun-Li Huang
Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine 2024;14(3):106-114
Objective: To explore the mechanism by which icariin alleviates viral myocarditis. Methods: CVB3-induced cardiomyocytes were used as an in vitro model of viral myocarditis to assess the effects of icariin treatment on cell viability, inflammation, and apoptosis. Moreover, the effects of icariin on ferroptosis and TLR4 signaling were assessed. After AC16 cells were transfected with TLR4 overexpression plasmids, the role of TLR4 in mediating the regulatory effect of icariin in viral myocarditis was investigated. Results: Icariin significantly elevated cell viability and reduced inflammatory factors TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-18. Flow cytometry revealed that icariin decreased apoptosis rate, and the protein expression of Bax and cleaved caspase 3 and 9 in CVB3-induced cardiomyocytes. Additionally, it suppressed ferroptosis including lipid peroxidation and ferrous ion, as well as the TLR4 signaling. However, TLR4 overexpression abrogated the modulatory effects of icariin. Conclusions: Icariin mitigates CVB3-induced myocardial injury by inhibiting TLR4-mediated ferroptosis. Further animal study is needed to verify its efficacy.
6.Constructing a high level school health system to facilitate joint prevention practice of common diseases among students
DONG Yanhui, CHEN Lu, MA Jun, SONG Yi
Chinese Journal of School Health 2024;45(5):609-614
Abstract
Currently, the school health system in China is transitioning from basic safeguarding to comprehensive health management and has been elevated to a national strategic level. However, the diversification of students health issues and the imbalance in resource allocation remain major challenges. To address issues such as adolescent myopia, obesity, spinal curvature, mental health, and infectious diseases, there is an urgently need to build a highlevel school health system that encompasses multiple aspects such as resource allocation optimization, professional skill enhancement, and health education improvement. Simultaneously, it is need to deepen the research and implementation of common disease prevention strategies for students. It will play a vital role in promoting the construction of Healthy China, the modernization of education, and the establishment of a highquality disease control system.
7.Current status of regional school health work in Tianjin during 2019-2023
Chinese Journal of School Health 2024;45(5):620-625
Objective:
To explore the current status and progress of regional school health work to provide policy reference for school health improvement.
Methods:
Survey data on school health work in Tianjin from 2019, 2021 and 2023 was used. School health staff allocation and expenditure of the health administrative department, CDC and education department, as well as the annual implementation of health education, prevention and control of common diseases and infectious diseases, sports activities and food nutrition in primary and secondary schools were analyzed. Statistical analysis was conducted using KruskalWallis test, Chisquare test, and Fishers exact test.
Results:
The number of school health staff in the health commissions and education departments from 2019, 2021 and 2023 was relatively stable. Parttime staffs were often employed by health commissions while fulltime staffs were mainly employed by education departments. The number of school health staff at CDCs increased gradually (H=12.65, P<0.01). School health expenditure of administrative departments and schools in 2021 and 2023 increased significantly compared with that in 2019 (H=22.28, 23.75, P<0.05). More than 95% of schools set up clinics or health care rooms, and about 97% of schools had school health technicians or health teachers. More than 90% of schools had health education courses over 4 hours per semester. The rate of mental health education increased by year (86.87%, 89.91%, 96.30%, Z=2.40,P<0.05). Lack of courses regarded safety emergency and risk avoidance, growth and development, and adolescent health education. The provision rate of psychological counseling services (89.00%, 97.25%, 100.00%) and psychological problem prevention and control (56.12%, 71.56%, 81.48%) also increased by year (Z=3.83, 3.96, P<0.01). The implementation rates of prevention and control of poor vision, dental caries, overweight and obesity were all higher than 80%, and the prevention and control rate of abnormal spinal curvature showed an increasing trend (38.78%, 77.06%, 72.22%, Z=4.87, P<0.01). More than 90% of schools met the standard for physical education class hours, and the proportion of schools conducting at least 30 minutes of recess physical activities every day increased year by year (65.00%, 80.73%, 85.98%, Z=3.59, P<0.01). All schools did not have shops.
Conclusions
School health work in Tianjin is effective and constantly developing. It is necessary to continue to increase the investment of human resources and expenditure in school health, explore the approaches of cooccurrence and prevention of common diseases, and improve the school sports and nutrition environment.
8.The value of CT radiomics of the primary gastric cancer and the adipose tissue outside the gastric wall beside cancer in evaluating T staging of gastric cancer
Zhixuan WANG ; Xiaoxiao WANG ; Chao LU ; Siyuan LU ; Yi DING ; Donggang PAN ; Yueyuan ZHOU ; Jun YAO ; Jiulou ZHANG ; Pengcheng JIANG ; Xiuhong SHAN
Chinese Journal of Radiology 2024;58(1):57-63
Objective:To investigate the value of CT radiomic model based on analysis of primary gastric cancer and the adipose tissue outside the gastric wall beside cancer in differentiating stage T1-2 from stage T3-4 gastric cancer.Methods:This study was a case-control study. Totally 465 patients with gastric cancer treated in Affiliated People′s Hospital of Jiangsu University from December 2011 to December 2019 were retrospectively collected. According to postoperative pathology, they were divided into 2 groups, one with 150 cases of T1-2 tumors and another with 315 cases of T3-4 tumors. The cases were divided into a training set (326 cases) and a test set (139 cases) by stratified sampling method at 7∶3. There were 104 cases of T1-2 stage and 222 cases of T3-4 stage in the training set, 46 cases of T1-2 stage and 93 cases of T3-4 stage in the test set. The axial CT images in the venous phase during one week before surgery were selected to delineate the region of interest (ROI) at the primary lesion and the extramural gastric adipose tissue adjacent to the cancer areas. The radiomic features of the ROIs were extracted by Pyradiomics software. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator was used to screen features related to T stage to establish the radiomic models of primary gastric cancer and the adipose tissue outside the gastric wall beside cancer. Independent sample t test or χ2 test were used to compare the differences in clinical features between T1-2 and T3-4 patients in the training set, and the features with statistical significance were combined to establish a clinical model. Two radiomic signatures and clinical features were combined to construct a clinical-radiomics model and generate a nomogram. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used to evaluate the efficacy of each model in differentiating stage T1-2 from stage T3-4 gastric cancer. The calibration curve was used to evaluate the consistency between the T stage predicted by the nomogram and the actual T stage of gastric cancer. And the decision curve analysis was used to evaluate the clinical net benefit of treatment guided by the nomogram and by the clinical model. Results:There were significant differences in CT-T stage and CT-N stage between T1-2 and T3-4 patients in the training set ( χ2=10.59, 15.92, P=0.014, 0.001) and the clinical model was established. After screening and dimensionality reduction, the 5 features from primary gastric cancer and the 6 features from the adipose tissue outside the gastric wall beside cancer established the radiomic models respectively. In the training set and the test set, the AUC values of the primary gastric cancer radiomic model were 0.864 (95% CI 0.820-0.908) and 0.836 (95% CI 0.762-0.910), and the adipose tissue outside the gastric wall beside cancer radiomic model were 0.782 (95% CI 0.731-0.833) and 0.784 (95% CI 0.702-0.866). The AUC values of the clinical model were 0.761 (95% CI 0.705-0.817) and 0.758 (95% CI 0.671-0.845), and the nomogram were 0.876 (95% CI 0.835-0.917) and 0.851 (95% CI 0.781-0.921). The calibration curve reflected that there was a high consistency between the T stage predicted by the nomogram and the actual T stage in the training set ( χ2=1.70, P=0.989). And the decision curve showed that at the risk threshold 0.01-0.74, a higher clinical net benefit could be obtained by using a nomogram to guide treatment. Conclusions:The CT radiomics features of primary gastric cancer lesions and the adipose tissue outside the gastric wall beside cancer can effectively distinguish T1-2 from T3-4 gastric cancer, and the combination of CT radiomic features and clinical features can further improve the prediction accuracy.
9.Effects of Astragalus extract regulating Nrf2/ARE signaling pathway on oxidative stress in diabetic nephropathy rats
Yi-Si WU ; Fei TAN ; Lu-Lu YI ; Chang-Jun SONG
The Chinese Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 2024;40(15):2217-2221
Objective To investigate the effect of Astragalus extract on oxidative stress in diabetic nephropathy rats by regulating nuclear factor E2-related factor 2(Nrf2)/antioxidant response element(ARE)signaling pathway.Methods The diabetic rat model was constructed by high-fat diet combined with intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin,and was randomly divided into model group,experimental-L group,experimental-H group,experimental-H+ML385 group,with 12 rats in each group,and 12 rats were selected as blank group.Rats in blank group and model group were intragastric with equal volume of normal saline;rats in experimental-L,-H groups were intragastric with 50 mg·kg-1 astragalus extract and 100 mg·kg-1 Astragalus extract,respectively;rats in experimental-H+ML385 group were intragastric with 100 mg·kg-1 Astragalus extract and intraperitoneally injected with 20 mg·kg-1 ML385 once a day.Eight weeks in a row.The content of oxidative stress-related indexes in rat renal tissues was detected,the expression level of reactive oxygen species was detected by dihydroethidine staining,and the protein expression level of quinone oxidoreductase 1(NQO1),heme oxygenase 1(HO-1)and nuclear Nrf2 in rat renal tissues was detected by Western blot.Results Superoxide dismutase in blank group,model group,experimental-H group and experimental-H+ML385 group were(163.89±20.28),(71.35±12.72),(132.11±19.29)and(73.04±13.28)U·mg-1,respectively;glutathione peroxidase were(12.82±1.57),(4.91±1.18),(8.54±1.09),(5.10±1.43)U·mg-1,respectively;reactive oxygen species were 0.02±0.01,0.09±0.01,0.05±0.01 and 0.08±0.01,respectively;nuclear Nrf2 values were 0.63±0.09,0.28±0.06,0.60±0.08,0.32±0.05,respectively;the NQO1 values were 0.58±0.11,0.27±0.07,0.63±0.12 and 0.31±0.08,respectively;the HO-1 values were 0.53±0.08,0.23±0.06,0.59±0.09 and 0.28±0.05,respectively.Compared with the model group,the above indexes in the experimental-H group were statistically significant(all P<0.05).The above indexes of the experimental-H+ML385 group were statistically significant compared with the experimental-H group(all P<0.05).Conclusion Astragalus extract can alleviate oxidative stress damage in diabetic nephropathy rats,and the mechanism may be achieved by regulating Nrf2/ARE signaling pathway.
10.Current status and progress in the prevention and control of spinal curvatures in Chinese children and adolescents
SONG Xinli, YUAN Wen, JIANG Jianuo, LIU Zhonghui, CHEN Lu, SONG Yi, MA Jun, DONG Yanhui
Chinese Journal of School Health 2024;45(7):1059-1064
Abstract
Spinal curvatures has emerged as the third major chronic condition seriously threatening the physical and mental health of Chinese children and adolescents, with significant regional differences. Its etiology is complex and diverse, and early prevention and treatment are feasible, whereas treatment in later stages entails considerable difficulty and economic burden. Currently, the prevention and control of student spinal curvatures has been elevated to a national health strategy. A series of policy documents have been successively issued, and it has greatly facilitated the institutionalization and normalization of national routine screening for student spinal curvatures. However, it is still inadequate considering current prevention and control system for spinal curvatures in children and adolescents. There is an urgent need to establish a closed loop model based on China s institutional advantages, comprising Initial Screening-Diagnosis-Treatment-Preventive Control-Followup Assessment, to strengthen the safeguarding of spinal health in children and adolescents.


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