ObjectiveA qualitative analysis method was established for the composition of Astragali Radix（AR） before and after rice stir-frying. On the basis of systematic characterization of the chemical compositions in AR and stir-fried AR with rice（ARR）， the structures of their major compounds were deduced and identified， and the differential compositions between them were analyzed. MethodsUltra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry（UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS） was used to detect the samples of AR and ARR in positive and negative ion modes， respectively. The compounds were analyzed and identified through self-constructed databases， literature， and reference standards， etc. And the data were analyzed by chemometrics， in order to screen for the differential components between AR and ARR. ResultsA total of 123 compounds were identified in AR and ARR， including 41 flavonoids， 19 terpenoids， 26 organic acids， 8 amino acids， 5 nucleotides， 5 carbohydrates and 19 other compounds. Among them， there were 95 common components in both， 18 unique components in AR， and 10 unique components in ARR. Principal component analysis（PCA） and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis（OPLS-DA） results both showed that there were significant differences in the chemical constituents of AR before and after rice stir-frying， and a total of 26 constituents with differences in the content were screened out， including L-canavanine， L-pyroglutamic acid， L-phenylalanine， cis-caffeic acid， and malonylastragaloside Ⅰ. Among them， 19 constituents of ARR were down-regulated and 7 constituents were up-regulated by comparing with AR. ConclusionThis study clarifies that the chemical composition of AR and ARR is mainly composed of flavonoids， terpenoids， and organic acids， and analyzes the components with significant differences in content between the two in combination with chemometrics， and the differential components are dominated by amino acids， organic acids and terpenoids， which can provide reference for the subsequent quality control and material basis research.

Radiation-induced intestinal injury is caused by high dose of radiation in the abdomen and pelvis. The disease is characterized by complicated pathological mechanisms and poses significant challenges to clinical treatment, seriously affecting the quality of life and health of patients. Current treatments in modern medicine offer limited efficacy and are often associated with adverse side effects. Traditional Chinese medicine monomers inhibit inflammatory factors (e.g., tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β) and regulate the antioxidant enzyme system (e.g., improving the activity of superoxide dismutase) to effectively reduce the symptoms of radiation-induced intestinal injury with minimal side effects. Through targeted delivery of nanoparticles, nanotechnology can accurately deliver the active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine to damaged intestinal tissues, thus improving their bioavailability and therapeutic effects. This paper reviews the mechanisms of Chinese medicine monomers in the prevention and treatment of radiation-induced intestinal injury and the application of nanotechnology for enhanced efficiency. The paper also discusses the clinical potential of these approaches. These results provide a reference for future research and clinical practice.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.apsb.2022.06.016.].

Objective:To prospectively observe the changes of tumor-related symptoms in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma following the administration of nimotuzumab one week before radiotherapy.Methods:Non-metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with positive epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression and symptoms caused by the primary lesion or metastatic cervical lymph nodes admitted to Cancer Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences were prospectively recruited. Investigators recorded tumor-related symptoms in recruited patients one day before the first administration of nimotuzumab (D0) and conducted follow-up visits from day 2 to day 7 after the first administration (D2-D7) to document symptom changes. All recruited patients were asked to assess tumor-related symptoms on D0 and D7 by visual analogue scale (VAS) scores. VAS scores were analyzed by paired t-test. Results:From June 2020 to April 2023, a total of 21 patients met the inclusion criteria. The median age was 49 years (range: 27-69 years), with a male-to-female ratio of 1.3:1. Among the patients, 17 patients (81%) received concurrent nimotuzumab for 8 cycles, 7 cycles for 3 cases (14%), and 6 cycles for 1 case (5%), respectively. All patients completed symptom assessments as required. The overall response rate of symptoms after the first administration of nimotuzumab was 62%, with response rates of 4/6、5/8、4/10、4/10、4/11、3/11 for tinnitus, headache, aural fullness, secondary pain caused by neck mass, nasal bleeding, and nasal obstruction, respectively. The VAS scores for overall symptoms were significantly decreased after the administration of nimotuzumab one week before radiotherapy ( P<0.001), with the most significant decrease in VAS scores for tinnitus, aural fullness, and headache. Conclusion:The administration of nimotuzumab one week before radiotherapy significantly alleviates tumor-related symptoms in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, particularly in alleviating tinnitus, aural fullness, and headache.

This study aims at developing a dataset for determining the presence of carotid artery plaques in ultrasound images,composed of 1761 ultrasound images from 1165 participants.A deep learning architecture that combines bilinear convolutional neural networks with residual neural networks,known as the single-input BCNN-ResNet model,was utilized to aid clinical doctors in diagnosing plaques using carotid ultrasound images.Following training,internal validation,and external validation,the model yielded an ROC AUC of 0.99(95%confidence interval:0.91 to 0.84)in internal validation and 0.95(95%confidence interval:0.96 to 0.94)in external validation,surpassing the ResNet-34 network model,which achieved an AUC of 0.98(95%confidence interval:0.99 to 0.95)in internal validation and 0.94(95%confidence interval:0.95 to 0.92)in external validation.Consequently,the single-input BCNN-ResNet network model has shown remarkable diagnostic capabilities and offers an innovative solution for the automatic detection of carotid artery plaques.

Objective:This article analyzed the current situation, similarities and differences and main problems of the registration and management systems of innovative medical devices in China and the United States.Methods:This article summarized the requirements and policies for the registration management of innovative medical devices in China and the United States, as well as the development and differences of the registration of innovative medical devices in China and the United States, and the main problems in the registration management of innovative medical devices in China.Results:At present, the development level of medical device industry in China and the United States was different, facing different development problems, and there were differences in the access standards and management methods of innovative medical devices. The registration management system established for innovative medical devices in China was gradually improving, and to a certain extent, it had promoted the enthusiasm of innovative product research and development and registration applications, but there were also problems such as unclear innovation evaluation scales, insufficient early intervention of review resources, and insufficient utilization of post-marketing data.Conclusions:Drawing on the beneficial experience of breakthrough device registration management in the United States, we will improve the registration management system for innovative products and shorten the review and approval cycle by clarifying the identification criteria for innovative medical devices, promoting the placement of review resources in the R&D stage, and further strengthening the use of post-marketing data and regulatory scientific research.

Objective Based on the framework of"quantitative analysis of supporting policies",this study focuses on the formulation and implementation of supporting policies for pharmaceutical science and technology innovative enterprises in China,so as to provide a certain reference for the implementation and improvement of policies for pharmaceutical science and technology innovative enterprises in China.Methods This study used Roy Rothwell and Walter Zegveld's innovative policy tools as the basis for analysis,and combined with the dimension of policy type,the policy was quantitatively analyzed.Results A total of 47 effective policy documents were selected,including 22 issued by the state and 25 issued by Beijing municipal government.A total of 104 policy instruments were included through the dismantling of policy provisions.Specifically,environment-based policy tools accounted for the highest proportion(60.58%),while demand-based and supply-based policy tools were relatively few.From the perspective of policy types,there were more planning policy documents(25 articles),while there were relatively few specific implementation policies(22 articles).Conclusion It is necessary to focus on optimizing the formulation stage of support policies and improving the use of supply-oriented and demand-oriented policy tools to better meet the needs of pharmaceutical science and technology innovative enterprises.

Background/Aims: Ubiquitination is widely involved in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by regulating various cellular processes. However, systematic strategies for screening core ubiquitin-related genes, clarifying their functions and mechanisms, and ultimately developing potential therapeutics for patients with HCC are still lacking. Methods: Cox and LASSO regression analyses were performed to construct a ubiquitin-related gene prediction model for HCC. Loss- and gain-of-function studies, transcriptomic and metabolomics analysis were used to explore the function and mechanism of UBE2S on HCC cell glycolysis and growth. Results: Based on 1,423 ubiquitin-related genes, a four-gene signature was successfully constructed to evaluate the prognosis of patients with HCC. UBE2S was identified in this signature with the potential to predict the survival of patients with HCC. E2F2 transcriptionally upregulated UBE2S expression by directly binding to its promoter. UBE2S positively regulated glycolysis in a HIF-1α-dependent manner, thus promoting the proliferation of HCC cells. Mechanistically, UBE2S enhanced K11-linkage polyubiquitination at lysine residues 171 and 196 of VHL independent of E3 ligase, thereby indirectly stabilizing HIF-1α protein levels by mediating the degradation of VHL by the proteasome. In particular, the combination of cephalomannine, a small molecule compound that inhibits the expression of UBE2S, and PX-478, an inhibitor of HIF-1α, significantly improved the anti-tumor efficacy. Conclusions UBE2S is identified as a key biomarker in HCC among the thousands of ubiquitin-related genes and promotes glycolysis by E3 enzyme-independent ubiquitination, thus serving as a therapeutic target for the treatment of HCC.

OBJECTIVE To explore the mechanism of Kuaisong yin in the prevention and treatment of constipation. METHODS Slow transit constipation （STC） model was established with Compound difenoxylate tablet in mice and rats. Two batches of mice were divided into blank group， model group， positive control group （Maren soft capsule， 0.64 g/kg）， Kuaisong yin low-dose， medium-dose and high-dose groups （3.2， 6.4， 12.8 g/kg）， with 10 mice in each group. The effect of Kuaisong yin on constipation in mice was evaluated by intestinal propulsion experiment and defecation experiment. Rats were divided into blank group， model group， positive control group （Maren soft capsule，0.36 g/kg）， Kuaisong yin low-dose and high-dose groups （2.4， 4.8 g/kg）， with 7 or 8 rats in each group. They were given relevant medicine once a day for 1 week. The metabonomics of serum and urine of rats were analyzed by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS technology. RESULTS Compared with model group， the ink propulsion rate and 5 h defecation volume of mice in Kuaisong yin high-dose group were significantly increased （P＜0.05）； the first defecation time of mice in Kuaisong yin medium-dose and high-dose groups was significantly shortened， and the quality of defecation was significantly reduced within 5 h （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. Serum metabonomics screened 16 compounds （such as proline， propionylcarnitine， hemolytic phosphatidylcholine， etc.） and 6 metabolic pathways （such as sphingomyelin metabolism， arginine and proline metabolism， sphingolipid biosynthesis-lactose and neolactone series）. Urine metabonomics screened 20 different metabolites （such as prostaglandin A2， L-valine， phosphatidylcholine， sphingomyelin， etc.） and 8 metabolic pathways （such as valine， leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis， sphingomyelin metabolism， pyruvate metabolism， etc.）. CONCLUSIONS Kuaisong yin can play a role in improving constipation by regulating different metabolites such as hemolytic phosphatidylcholine， phosphatidylcholine， prostaglandin A2， L-valine， proline， and regulating metabolic pathways such as multiple amino acid metabolism， sphingomyelin metabolism， etc.

OBJECTIVE To study the mechanism of Compound zaoren granule in improving insomnia. METHODS Forty-nine mice were divided into blank group， model group， positive control group 1 （Estazolam tablets 0.5 mg/kg），control group 2 （Shumian capsule 0.6 g/kg）， Compound zaoren granule low-dose， medium-dose and high-dose groups （2.5， 5， 10 g/kg）， with 7 mice in each group. The insomnia model was established by chronic unpredictable mild stress combined with 4-chloro-DL- phenylacetic acid. The behavioral changes of mice were investigated through open field test and pentobarbital sodium synergistic hypnosis experiment， as well as the pathomorphology of mice hypothalamus tissue was observed by HE staining. The metabonomics analysis and multivariate statistical analysis of serum in mice were performed by UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS， and the differential metabolites were screened out； the metabolic pathway analysis was conducted based on MetaboAnalyst 5.0 database. RESULTS Compared with blank group， the total travelling distance， the number of entering the central region and the moving distance in the central region of the model group were significantly reduced （P＜0.05）， the proportion of total rest time was significantly increased （P＜0.05）， the sleep duration of mice was significantly shortened （P＜0.05）， and hypothalamic nerve cells damaged and severely vacuolated. Compared with model group， the total travelling distance of Compound zaoren granule low-dose and medium-dose groups were increased significantly and the proportions of total rest time of those groups were decreased significantly （P＜0.05）， and the sleep duration of mice in Compound zaoren granule high-dose group was prolonged significantly （P＜0.05）； the hypothalamic nerve cells of mice in each administration group recovered to varying degrees， and the hypothalamus histiocytes of mice in the Compound zaoren granules high-dose group were closer to those in the blank group. A total of 18 differential metabolites （such as phenylalanine， taurine， norvaline， methionine） and 4 important amino acid metabolic pathways （L-phenylalanine， tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis； taurine and hypotaurine metabolism； L-phenylalanine metabolism； cysteine and methionine metabolism） were identified through metabolomics analysis. CONCLUSIONS Compound zaoren granules can normalize the disordered metabolism in vivo by regulating differential metabolites such as phenylalanine， taurine， and four amino acid metabolic pathways， so as to improve insomnia.