OBJECTIVE: Cigarette smoking exacerbates the progression of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). The role of tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) in chronic lung diseases has gained attention; however, it remains unclear whether smoking-exacerbated lung damage in TB is associated with TLS. This study aimed to analyze the characteristics of pulmonary TLS in smokers with TB and to explore the possible role of TLS in smoking-related lung injury in TB. METHODS: Lung tissues from 36 male patients (18 smokers and 18 non-smokers) who underwent surgical resection for pulmonary TB were included in this study. Pathological and immunohistological analyses were conducted to evaluate the quantity of TLS, and chest computed tomography (CT) was used to assess the severity of lung lesions. The correlation between the TLS quantity and TB lesion severity scores was analyzed. The immune cells and chemokines involved in TLS formation were also evaluated and compared between smokers and non-smokers. RESULTS: Smoker patients with TB had significantly higher TLS than non-smokers ( P < 0.001). The TLS quantity in both the lung parenchyma and peribronchial regions correlated with TB lesion severity on chest CT (parenchyma: r = 0.5767; peribronchial: r = 0.7373; both P < 0.001). Immunohistochemical analysis showed increased B cells, T cells, and C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 13 (CXCL13) expression in smoker patients with TB ( P < 0.001). CONCLUSION Smoker TB patients exhibited increased pulmonary TLS, which was associated with exacerbated lung lesions on chest CT, suggesting that cigarette smoking may exacerbate lung damage by promoting TLS formation.
Humans ; Male ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/immunology* ; Middle Aged ; Tertiary Lymphoid Structures/pathology* ; Adult ; Lung/pathology* ; Smoking/adverse effects* ; Smokers ; Aged ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) in promoting recovery of the facial function with the involvement of autophagy, glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway. METHODS: Seventy-two male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allocated into the control, sham-operated, facial nerve injury (FNI), EA, EA+3-methyladenine (3-MA), and EA+GDNF antagonist groups using a random number table, with 12 rats in each group. An FNI rat model was established with facial nerve crushing method. EA intervention was conducted at Dicang (ST 4), Jiache (ST 6), Yifeng (SJ 17), and Hegu (LI 4) acupoints for 2 weeks. The Simone's 10-Point Scale was utilized to monitor the recovery of facial function. The histopathological evaluation of facial nerves was performed using hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. The levels of Beclin-1, light chain 3 (LC3), and P62 were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC), immunofluorescence, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, respectively. Additionally, IHC was also used to detect the levels of GDNF, Rai, PI3K, and mTOR. RESULTS: The facial functional scores were significantly increased in the EA group than the FNI group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). HE staining showed nerve axons and myelin sheaths, which were destroyed immediately after the injury, were recovered with EA treatment. The expressions of Beclin-1 and LC3 were significantly elevated and the expression of P62 was markedly reduced in FNI rats (P<0.01); however, EA treatment reversed these abnormal changes (P<0.01). Meanwhile, EA stimulation significantly increased the levels of GDNF, Rai, PI3K, and mTOR (P<0.01). After exogenous administration with autophagy inhibitor 3-MA or GDNF antagonist, the repair effect of EA on facial function was attenuated (P<0.05 or P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS EA could promote the recovery of facial function and repair the facial nerve damages in a rat model of FNI. EA may exert this neuroreparative effect through mediating the release of GDNF, activating the PI3K/mTOR signaling pathway, and further regulating the autophagy of facial nerves.
Rats ; Male ; Animals ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Electroacupuncture ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase/metabolism* ; Facial Nerve Injuries/therapy* ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/metabolism* ; Beclin-1 ; Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; Signal Transduction ; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism* ; Autophagy ; Mammals/metabolism*

Pogostemon cablin is a famous southern medicine.As the important raw material for modern medicine and industry,Pogostemon cablin becomes required with a large marketing demand.However,due to the serious continuous cropping obstacles in the growth process of Pogostemon cablin,the aggravation of diseases of Pogostemon cablin and the degradation of its quality arose.This paper outlined the ecological factors such as climate factors,soil factors and topographic factors suitable for the growth of Pogostemon cablin,analyzed the continuous cropping obstacles and diseases arising in the cultivation,reviewed the current ecological planting mode of Pogostemon cablin such as crop rotation,intercropping,relay-cropping and under-forest planting,and also made a comprehensive evaluation of the economic benefits,ecological benefits and social benefits of the ecological planting mode of Pogostemon cablin,aiming to provide a theoretical basis and a reference for the promotion of the ecological planting mode of Pogostemon cablin.

Objective To develop a health belief model(HBM)based adolescent alcohol-related cognition scale to measure adolescent alcohol-related cognition and test its reliability and validity.Methods The adolescents'alcohol-related cognitive scale was developed based on HBM model.By using purposive sampling,three general high schools in Qingpu District,Shanghai were selected.One-third of the classes from grades 10 and 11 in each school were randomly selected,and the students from these classes were surveyed as the research subjects.Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to analyze its reliability(internal consistency reliability and combination reliability)and validity(structural validity,convergent validity,discriminative validity and criterion validity).Results A total of 970 questionnaires were collected,of which 948 were valid,with an effective rate of 97.7%.The adolescents'alcohol-related cognitive scale contained 22 items.Five common factors were extracted from exploratory factor analysis,including perceived susceptibility,perceived severity,perceived benefits,perceived obstacles,and self-efficacy.The cumulative variance contribution rate reached 83.89%.The results of confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the overall fit of the model.The average variance extracted value(AVE)of each dimension was greater than 0.5,and the convergent validity of the model was ideal.The AVE square root of each dimension of the scale was greater than its correlation coefficient,indicating good discrimination validity.Cronbach's α coefficient of the total volume table was 0.892,indicating good overall reliability.Conclusion The adolescents'alcohol-related cognitive scale developed in this study has good reliability and validity,which can be used to measure adolescents'alcohol-related perceptions.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the regulatory effects of biofilm associated non-coding small RNA(sRNA)00085 on the survival and environmental fitness of Listeria monocytogenes.Homologous recombination technology was used to construct a deletion mutant strain(△sRNA 00085)and a complementary strain(C △sRNA 00085)of the sRNA00085 target gene.The differences in biological characteristics were compared among the standard strain,△sRNA 00085,and C△sRNA 00085.The deletion of sRNA00085 led to a significant decrease in biofilm formation capacity and sensitivity to several antibiotics,including penicillin,piperacillin,doxycycline,tetracycline,vancomycin,and cotrimoxazole.However,only the minimum inhibitory concentration(MIC)of tetracycline exhibited a significant decrease in △sRNA00085.Meanwhile,the decreased biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance of the sRNA00085 mutant were restored in the C△sRNA00085 strain.Furthermore,we investigated the transcription levels of tetracycline resistance-related genes in L.monocytogenes.Down-regu-lated transcription of the tetS gene but no significant difference in transcription of the tetA gene were observed in △sRNA 00085 compared with the standard strain and C△sRNA00085.Moreover,the elimination of sRNA00085 did not affect bacterial growth ability or sensitivity to disinfectants.These findings highlight that sRNA00085 plays an important role in the environ-mental adaptability of L.monocytogenes by affecting bacterial biofilm formation and resistance.

This study aims to identify the main chemical compounds, investigate the effects of different drying methods on the quality, and determine the appropriate drying method of Callicarpae Nudiflorae Folium. UPLC-UV-Q-TOF-MS was employed to characterize and identify 35 main compounds, including phenylethanoid glycosides, flavonoids, and iridoids in Callicarpae Nudiflorae Folium. A method for the simultaneous determination of 8 compounds with strong UV absorption and high content was established to evaluate the quality of Callicarpae Nudiflorae Folium dried by different methods. UPLC-UV-Q-TOF-MS combined with principal component analysis(PCA) was employed to compare the Callicarpae Nudiflorae Folium samples treated by microwave drying at different power(119, 231, and 385 W), drying in the shade, sun drying, and oven drying at different temperatures(50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100 ℃). The total content of decaffeoyl acteoside, picroside Ⅲ, galuteolin, forsythin B, acteoside, isoacteoside, 6-hydroxyluteolin-7-glucoside, and caffeic acid in Callicarpae Nudiflorae Folium, as well as the content of most compounds, decreased with the rise in drying temperature and with the decrease in microwave power. Considering the content of compounds, low carbon, and energy saving, microwave drying at 231 W, low-temperature drying, or natural drying is recommended for the production of Callicarpae Nudiflorae Folium. This study provides a scientific basis for the selection of drying methods for Callicarpae Nudiflorae Folium at the place of origin and for the improvement of quality standards.
Desiccation/methods* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Callicarpa/chemistry* ; Plant Leaves/chemistry* ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Flavonoids/analysis* ; Microwaves ; Mass Spectrometry

We used network pharmacology to predict the mechanism in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) via modified Gan Cao Fu Zi Decoction (GCFZ), and validated the results of the analysis and explored the pharmacodynamic effects of GCFZ through animal experiments. Firstly, TCMID, SymMap, HERB, STITCH and GEO databases were utilized to obtain the target genes of GCFZ for the treatment of RA, which yielded a total of 1 250 differentially expressed genes for RA, 534 genes for GCFZ targets and 83 intersecting genes. Then functional enrichment analysis of the intersecting genes was performed through GO and KEGG databases, and the results revealed that GCFZ and its active ingredients mainly functioned through cytokine pathways, where chemokine signaling pathway and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling pathway were enriched with a high number of genes. Cytoscape 3.8.0 software was used to construct the drug-target-disease network and screen key proteins, which included TNF, C-X-C chemokine ligand 8 (CXCL8), C-X-C chemokine ligand 10 (CXCL10), C-C chemokine ligand 5 (CCL5), C-X-C chemokine ligand 2 (CXCL2) and C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4). The molecular docking technology was used to confirm the binding ability of the main active ingredients of GCFZ to the core proteins. Additionally, the therapeutic effects of GCFZ in low (4 g·kg^-1), medium (8 g·kg^-1) and high (16 g·kg^-1) dose groups were investigated by constructing the collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) rat model. X-ray imaging approach, HE staining and Safranin O-Fast Green staining showed that GCFZ treatment significantly improved bone destruction, synovial hyperplasia and cartilage damage in CIA rats, while immunofluorescence results showed that GCFZ treatment could regulate the expression of TNF, CXCL8 and CCL5. In summary, our results indicate that GCFZ contains a variety of small molecule pharmacodynamic substances, which can exert therapeutic effects via multiple targets and pathways, and obviously reduce the symptoms of arthritis in CIA rats. This animal experiment of our research was approved by the Experimental Animal Management and Ethics Committee of Bengbu Medical College.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to estimate the cost-effectiveness of the combined chemotherapy regimen containing Bedaquiline (BR) and the conventional treatment regimen (CR, not containing Bedaquiline) for the treatment of adults with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in China. METHODS: A combination of a decision tree and a Markov model was developed to estimate the cost and effects of MDR patients in BR and CR within ten years. The model parameter data were synthesized from the literature, the national TB surveillance information system, and consultation with experts. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of BR vs. CR was determined. RESULTS: BR ( vs. CR) had a higher sputum culture conversion rate and cure rate and prevented many premature deaths (decreased by 12.8%), thereby obtaining more quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) (increased by 2.31 years). The per capita cost in BR was as high as 138,000 yuan, roughly double that of CR. The ICER for BR was 33,700 yuan/QALY, which was lower than China's 1× per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020 (72,400 yuan). CONCLUSION BR is shown to be cost effective. When the unit price of Bedaquiline reaches or falls below 57.21 yuan per unit, BR is expected to be the dominant strategy in China over CR.
Adult ; Humans ; Antitubercular Agents/therapeutic use* ; Cost-Effectiveness Analysis ; Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant/drug therapy* ; China/epidemiology*

This study aimed to characterize and identify the non-volatile components in Pogostemonis Herba by using ultra-perfor-mance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) combined with UNIFI and an in-house library. The chemical components in 50% methanol extract of Pogostemonis Herba were detected by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS in both positive and negative MS~E continuum modes. Then, the MS data were processed in UNIFI combined with an in-house library to automatically characterize the metabolites. Based on the multiple adduct ions, exact mass, diagnostic fragment ions, and peak intensity of compounds and the fragmentation pathways and retention behaviors of reference substances, the structures identified by UNIFI were further verified and those of the unidentified compounds were tentatively elucidated. A total of 120 compound structures were identified or tentatively identified, including flavonoids, phenylpropanoids, phenolic acids, terpenes, fatty acids, alkaloids, and phenylethanoid glycosides. Sixteen of them were accurately identified by comparison with reference substances, and 53 compounds were reported the first time for Pogostemonis Herba. This study systematically characterized and identified the non-volatile compounds in Pogostemonis Herba for the first time. The findings provide a scientific basis for revealing the pharmacodynamic material basis, establishing a quality control system, and developing products of Pogostemonis Herba.

Objective: To explore the epidemiological characteristic of a COVID-19 outbreak caused by 2019-nCoV Omicron variant BF.7 and other provinces imported in Shenzhen and analyze transmission chains and characteristics. Methods: Field epidemiological survey was conducted to identify the transmission chain, analyze the generation relationship among the cases. The 2019-nCoV nucleic acid positive samples were used for gene sequencing. Results: From 8 to 23 October, 2022, a total of 196 cases of COVID-19 were reported in Shenzhen, all the cases had epidemiological links. In the cases, 100 were men and 96 were women, with a median of age, M (Q₁, Q₃) was 33(25, 46) years. The outbreak was caused by traverlers initial cases infected with 2019-nCoV who returned to Shenzhen after traveling outside of Guangdong Province.There were four transmission chains, including the transmission in place of residence and neighbourhood, affecting 8 persons, transmission in social activity in the evening on 7 October, affecting 65 persons, transmission in work place on 8 October, affecting 48 persons, and transmission in a building near the work place, affecting 74 persons. The median of the incubation period of the infection, M (Q₁, Q₃) was 1.44 (1.11, 2.17) days. The incubation period of indoor exposure less than that of the outdoor exposure, M (Q₁, Q₃) was 1.38 (1.06, 1.84) and 1.95 (1.22, 2.99) days, respcetively (Wald χ²=10.27, P=0.001). With the increase of case generation, the number and probability of gene mutation increased. In the same transmission chain, the proportion of having 1-3 mutation sites was high in the cases in the first generation. Conclusions: The transmission chains were clear in this epidemic. The incubation period of Omicron variant BF.7 infection was shorter, the transmission speed was faster, and the gene mutation rate was higher. It is necessary to conduct prompt response and strict disease control when epidemic occurs.
Male ; Humans ; Female ; SARS-CoV-2 ; COVID-19/epidemiology* ; Disease Outbreaks ; Epidemics ; China/epidemiology*