A study of the therapeutic mechanism of Jakyakgamcho-Tang about functional dyspepsia through network pharmacology research

Herbal medicines have traditionally been used as an effective digestive medicine. However, compared to the effectiveness of Herbal medicines, the treatment mechanism has not been fully identified. To solve this problem, a system-level treatment mechanism of Jakyakgamcho-Tang (JGT), which is used for the treatment of functional dyspepsia (FD), was identified through a network pharmacology study. The two components, paeoniae radix alba and licorice constituting JGT were analyzed based on broad information on chemical and pharmacological properties, confirming 84 active chemical compounds and 84 FD-related targets. The JGT target confirmed the relationship with the regulation of various biological movements as follows: cellular behaviors of muscle and cytokine, calcium ion concentration and homeostasis, calcium- and cytokine-mediated signalings, drug, inflammatory response, neuronal cells, oxidative stress and response to chemical. And the target is enriched in variety FD-related signaling as follows: MAPK, Toll-like receptor, NOD-like receptor, PI3K-Akt, Apoptosis and TNF signaling pathway. These data give a new approach to identifying the molecular mechanisms underlying the digestive effect of JGT.     

济南市市中区成年居民二手烟暴露现状及其相关知识态度调查

目的了解山东省济南市市中区成年居民二手烟暴露现状及其对二手烟危害相关知识态度知晓情况, 为进一步做好控烟宣传及政策制定提供参考依据。方法采用随机整群抽样方法对在济南市市中区杆石桥办事处2个居委抽取的2 497名18~69周岁成年居民进行问卷调查。结果济南市市中区成年居民吸烟吸烟率为33.04%, 二手烟暴露率为60.35%;不同特征居民二手烟暴露率比较, 不同性别、年龄、文化程度、职业成年居民二手烟暴露率差异均有统计学意义(均P<0.001);1 507名二手烟暴露者中, 暴露频率为1~3天/周、4~6天/周和几乎每天者分别占18.18%、27.27%和54.55%, 差异有统计学意义(χ²=17.529, P<0.001), 主要暴露场所为家中、工作场所和交通工具者分别占12.08%、77.90%和10.02%, 差异有统计学意义(χ²=19.026, P<0.001);有63.12%的成年居民知晓二手烟会引发心脏病, 有65.24%的成年居民知晓二手烟会引发儿童肺部疾病, 有77.77%的成年居民知晓二手烟会引发肺癌;有67.08%的成年居民支持公共场所禁烟, 有69.84%的成年居民支持工作场所禁烟。结论济南市市中区成年居民二手烟暴露水平较高, 危害较大, 应进一步加强控烟, 提高无烟环境的创立。     

Clinical Characteristics of Korean Patients with Elderly-Onset Crohn’s Disease: Results from the Prospective CONNECT Study

The clinical course and prognosis of patients with elderly-onset Crohn’s disease (CD) remain unclear. This study aimed to analyze the clinical characteristics and outcomes of elderly-onset CD patients from the prospective CONNECT study cohort, a nationwide, multicenter cohort study of patients with CD in Korea. Among a total of 1,175 patients in the prospective CONNECT study cohort, 94 patients (Montreal age A3) were included and divided into two groups according to their age at diagnosis: the elderly-onset group (diagnosed with CD after 60 years of age, n=26, 67.54±6.7 years) and late adult-onset group (diagnosed as CD at age 41 to 59 years, n=68, 48.06±5.1 years). The elderly-onset group was characterized by a lower Crohn’s disease activity index at diagnosis (124.89±101.9 vs 189.55±128.6, p=0.023) and higher rates of previous anti-tuberculosis treatment (34.6% vs 4.4%, p<0.001) than the late adult-onset group. Compared with the late adult-onset group, the elderly-onset group showed a significantly less use of thiopurines (p=0.003), as well as anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha agents (p=0.047). Additionally, the elderly-onset group was less likely to require bowel resection than the late adult-onset group (p=0.067), suggesting that elderly-onset CD patients in Korea appear to have more favorable clinical outcomes than late adult-onset CD patients. (Gut Liver 2022;16:-1000)     

Increased CD4+CD8+ Double Positive T Cells during Hantaan Virus Infection

Hantaan virus (HTNV) infection causes an epidemic of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) mainly in Asia. It is well known that T cells mediated anti-viral immune response. Although previous studies showed that double positive T (DP T) cells, a little portion of T lymphocytes, were involved in adaptive immune response during virus infection, their kinetic changes and roles in HTNV infection have not yet been explored. In this study, we characterized DP T cells from HFRS patients based on flow cytometry data combined with scRNA-seq data. We showed that HTNV infection caused the upregulation of DP T cells in the peripheral blood, which were correlated with disease stage. The scRNA-seq data clustered DP T cells, unraveled their gene expression profile, and estimated the ordering of these cells. The production of granzyme B and CD107a from DP T cells and the abundant TCR distribution indicated the anti-viral property of DP T cells. In conclusion, this study identified, for the first time, an accumulation of DP T cells in the peripheral blood of HFRS patients and suggested these DP T cells belonging to CD8⁺T cells lineage. The DP T cells shared the similar characteristics with cytotoxic T cells (CTL) and exerted an anti-viral role in HFRS.     

Preoperative Serum Triglyceride to High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Ratio Can Predict Prognosis in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study

Background: Previously, research has reported associations of lipid and lipoprotein imbalances with carcinogenesis and cancer progression, so they have been considered as promising prognostic biomarkers for cancer in recent years. However, the correlation of preoperative serum triglyceride to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (TG/HDL-C) with non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) prognosis remains under exploration. Here, the study investigated the prognostic function of TG/HDL-C for NSCLC. Methods: The total combined group of this retrospective study enrolled 479 NSCLC patients from two tertiary referral hospitals, of which 223 patients were defined as the training group (Nanchang) and the remaining 256 were defined as the validation group (Wuhan). The cut-off of preoperative TG/HDL-C was determined through ROC curve in the training group and verified in the validation and combined groups subsequently. With one Cox proportional hazards model and K-M survival curves, a survival analysis was conducted. Results: In the training group, the optimal cut-off of TG/HDL-C was 1.02. Furthermore, the data based on the training group revealed a greater, shorter, overall survival (OS) in patients having a high TG/HDL-C (>1.02) than those having low TG/HDL-C (≤1.02). Meanwhile, in univariate and multivariate analysis, for prognostic OS among NSCLC patients, TG/HDL-C acted as one independent factor. All the results above were confirmed in the validation and combined groups. Conclusion: NSCLC patients with a comparatively low preoperative serum TG/HDL-C level had a correlation with well OS. TG/HDL-C possibly acted as one novel, effective prognostic biomarker for NSCLC patients.     

Concurrent TP53 mutations predict a poor prognosis of EGFR-mutant NSCLCs treated with TKIs: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis

The prognostic value of tumor protein P53 (TP53) mutation for tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment in EGFR-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains controversial. Therefore, the present meta-analysis was performed to investigate the potential association between the prognosis of TKI treatment for patients with advanced EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC and the presence or absence of concurrent TP53 mutations. In the present study, 24 eligible studies from the PubMed, Embase and Cochrane databases were identified by screening prior to inclusion. Data were extracted by two independent investigators and analyzed using STATA 14.0 software. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence interval (CIs) were used to determine the association between objective response rates (ORRs) and TP53 mutations. In addition, differences in the incidence of TP53 mutations between patients with exon 21 L858R mutations and exon 19 deletions of EGFR were evaluated using this method. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% CIs were used to calculate the prognostic value of TP53 mutations for progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). No significant difference in the incidence of TP53 mutations was detected between the patients with exon 21 L858R mutation and those with exon 19 deletion (OR=0.91; 95% CI=0.65-1.27; P=0.568). However, the pooled results revealed that TP53 mutations were significantly associated with shorter PFS (HR=1.51; 95% CI=1.33-1.71; P<0.001) and OS (HR=1.64; 95% CI=1.33-2.02; P<0.001). By contrast, TP mutations were not associated with the ORR of EGFR-TKI treatment (OR=0.91; 95% CI=0.69-1.21; P=0.529). In conclusion, a worse prognosis for TKI treatment was observed in patients with EGFR-mutant NSCLCs and concurrent TP53 mutations, suggesting that TP53 mutations is associated with primary resistance to EGFR-TKIs.     

个人防护用品相关性头痛发病机制及影响因素研究进展

 随着疫情防控常态化,个人防护用品（PPE）的使用可能会越来越普遍,而伴随的PPE相关性头痛（HAPPE）的高发生率,也逐渐成为众多研究探讨的热点之一。本文结合有关研究,对HAPPE发病机制,相关影响因素和干预措施进行综述,旨在为制定针对HAPPE医务人员的干预方案提供参考。     

Associations between Dynamic Vitamin D Level and Thyroid Function during Pregnancy

Optimal Vitamin D (VitD) status and thyroid function are essential for pregnant women. This study aimed to explore associations between dynamic VitD status and thyroid function parameters in each trimester and throughout the pregnancy period. Information on all 8828 eligible participants was extracted from the Peking University Retrospective Birth Cohort in Tongzhou. Dynamic VitD status was represented as a combination of deficiency/sufficiency in the first and second trimesters. Thyroid function was assessed in three trimesters. The associations between VitD and thyroid function were assessed by multiple linear regression and generalized estimating equation models in each trimester and throughout the pregnancy period, respectively. The results indicated that both free thyroxine (fT4; β = 0.004; 95%CI: 0.003, 0.006; p < 0.001) and free triiodothyronine (fT3; β = 0.009; 95%CI: 0.004, 0.015; p = 0.001) had positive associations with VitD status in the first trimester. A VitD status that was sufficient in the first trimester and deficient in the second trimester had a lower TSH (β = −0.370; 95%CI: −0.710, −0.031; p = 0.033) compared with the group with sufficient VitD for both first and second trimesters. In conclusion, the associations between VitD and thyroid parameters existed throughout the pregnancy. Maintaining an adequate concentration of VitD is critical to support optimal thyroid function during pregnancy.