Ideas and methods of in vitro model establishment for cell microenvironment in COPD / 中国药理学通报

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( COPD ) major chronic disease threatening public health with complex pathological mechanisms. The change of the cell microenvironment of the lung is an important part of the pathophysiology of COPD. Cell culture technology is an important method to investigate the pathological mechanism of COPD and evaluate the pharmacological effect of medicine. Here we introduce the composition of the cell microenvironment of the lung, the change of the cell microenvironment in the pathological process of COPD, and summarize the application of in vitro model mimics cell microenvironment of COPD in the study of mechanism. In addition, we aim to put forward the ideas of the in vitro model establishment of cell microenvironment of COPD.

Specific DNA barcodes screening, germplasm resource identification, and genetic diversity analysis of Platycodon grandiflorum / 药学学报

Platycodonis Radix is the dry root of Platycodon grandiflorum of Campanulaceae, which has a variety of pharmacological effects and is a commonly used bulk Chinese medicine. In this study, the chloroplast genome sequences of six P. grandiflorum from different producing areas has been sequenced with Illumina HiSeq X Ten platform. The specific DNA barcodes were screened, and the germplasm resources and genetic diversity were analyzed according to the specific barcodes. The total length of the chloroplast genome of 6 P. grandiflorum samples was 172 260-172 275 bp, and all chloroplast genomes showed a typical circular tetrad structure and encoded 141 genes. The comparative genomics analysis and results of amplification efficiency demonstrated that trnG-UCC and ndhG_ndhF were the potential specific DNA barcodes for identification the germplasm resources of P. grandiflorum. A total of 305 P. grandiflorum samples were collected from 15 production areas in 9 provinces, for which the fragments of trnG-UCC and ndhG_ndhF were amplificated and the sequences were analyzed. The results showed that trnG-UCC and ndhG_ndhF have 5 and 11 mutation sites, respectively, and 5 and 7 haplotypes were identified, respectively. The combined analysis of the two sequences formed 13 haplotypes (named Hap1-Hap13), and Hap4 is the main genotype, followed by Hap1. The unique haplotypes possessed by the three producing areas can be used as DNA molecular tags in this area to distinguish from the germplasm resources of P. grandiflorum from other areas. The haplotype diversity, nucleotide diversity and genetic distance were 0.94, 4.79×10-3 and 0.000 0-0.020 3, respectively, suggesting that the genetic diversity was abundant and intraspecific kinship was relatively close. This study laid a foundation for the identification of P. grandiflorum, the protection and utilization of germplasm resources, and molecular breeding.

Ethylene Enhances Cd Tolerance through Promoting Lignin Synthesis and Reducing Cadmium Absorption and Accumulation in Tomato / 中国生物化学与分子生物学报

Cadmium(Cd) stress seriously inhibits the growth and development of plants, and Cd is enriched in the human body along the food chain, causing major risks to human health. Ethylene(ETH) is known for its role as a traditional plant hormone that plays a crucial part in various stress responses. However, the precise mechanisms by which ETH regulates plant tolerance to Cd remain unclear. In this study, we observed that treatment with 3 mg L

Multi-index analysis of regional brain activity in patients with Alzheimer's disease during resting state / 解剖学报

Objective To investigate the spontaneous neural activity in the brain of patients with Alzheimer' s disease (AD) used 3 indicators of resting state-functional magnetic resonance (rs-fMRI) amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF), fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (fALFF) and percentage amplitude fluctuation (PerAF). Methods Totally 36 clinically diagnosed AD patients and 40 healthy volunteers were scanned by fMRI in resting state respectively. ALFF, fALFF and PerAF were used to calculate and compare the changes of brain regions between the two groups. Results Compared with the normal control group, mALFF value in AD group increased significantly in bilateral caudate nucleus, medial frontal gyrus, superior frontal gyrus, gyrus rectus, anterior cingulate gyrus, olfactive cortex, left middle frontal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus (P<0. 05). mALFF values decreased significantly in the right middle temporal gyrus, inferior temporal gyrus, inferior occipital gyrus, middle occipital gyrus, bilateral calcarine, cuneus, lingual gyrus, superior occipital gyrus, vermis, precuneus and other regions (P<0. 05). In AD group, mfALFF value of right inferior temporal gyrus, anterior cerebellar lobe, fusiform gyrus, left superior frontal gyrus, medial frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, gyrus rectus and anterior cingulate gyrus increased significantly (P<0. 05); mfALFF values decreased significantly in bilateral lingual gyrus, left calcarine, cuneus, superior occipital gyrus, middle occipital gyrus and vermis (P<0. 05). In AD group, mPerAF value increased significantly in bilateral gyrus rectus, anterior cingulate gyrus, medial frontal gyrus, left superior frontal gyrus, caudate nucleus, middle frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, olfactive cortex and insula (P<0. 05); mPerAF values decreased significantly in bilateral calcarine, cuneus, superior occipital gyrus, lingual gyrus, precuneus, left fusiform gyrus, inferior occipital gyrus, right superior parietal lobule, angular gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, inferior temporal gyrus and middle occipital gyrus (P < 0. 05). Conclusion The default mode network (DMN) and visual network of AD patients are characterized by abnormal brain activity, with the most significant neural activity in the prefrontal cortex and visual cortex.

Susceptibility weighted imaging of superficial cerebellar veins / 解剖学报

[Abstract] ObjectVisualizing the superficial cerebellar vein and its tributaries on suscepxibility weighted imaging (SWI), and to construct superficial cerebellar vein network. Methods According to the inclusion criteria, 80 healthy volunteers (40 males and 40 females) were selected for 3. 0 T MRI scans to obtain conventional sequence cross-section, sagittal tomographic images, and SWI image data. Post-processing was performed on the Extended MR workspace 2. 6. 3. 4 image workstation to reconstruct minimum intensity projection(mIP) images. SPSS 21. 0 statistical software was used to analyze and process each data, and the diameter measurement result were expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Results Both SWI and mIP could image the structures of the cerebellum and its veins. The cerebellar veins were divided into deep and superficial parts. The superficial cerebellar veins were divided into two groups: the vermis and the cerebellar hemispheres. The superficial vein of the cerebellar vermis consisted of superior vermis vein [diameter: (1. 21±0. 24)mm, occurrence rate: 92. 16%], summit vein [ diameter: (0. 66 ± 0. 05) mm, occurrence rate: 95%], mountain vein [diameter: (0. 76±0. 03)mm, occurrence rate: 100%], inferior vermis vein [diameter: (1. 40±0. 27)mm, occurrence rate: 99. 02%]. The superficial cerebellar hemisphere vein consists of anterior superior cerebellar vein [diameter: (1. 09± 0. 12)mm, occurrence rate: 100%], posterior superior cerebellar vein [diameter: (0. 88±0. 13) mm, occurrence rate: 70%], anterior inferior cerebellar vein [ diameter: (1. 34 ± 0. 15) mm, occurrence rate: 100%], posterior inferior cerebellar vein [ diameter: (1. 11 ± 0. 09) mm, occurrence rate: 92. 5%]. The deep veins were divided into cerebellomesencephalic fissure group, cerebellopontine fissure group, and cerebellomedullary fissure group. Conclusion SWI can display the microstructure and venules of the cerebellum, and can construct a network of superficial cerebellar veins.

Gabapentin effectively alleviates pain sensitization and regulates CACNA2D1 expression in postherpetic neuralgia rats / 中国药理学通报

Aim To identify the molecular target of gabapentin in the treatment of postherpetic neuralgia(PHN). Methods The molecular target of gabapentin for PHN was analyzed by network pharmacology and molecular docking and confirmed by coprecipitation test. Rats were randomly divided into control group, model group, model+50 mg·kg-1 gabapentin group, model+100 mg·kg-1 gabapentin group, and model+200 mg·kg-1 gabapentin group, with nine rats in each group. The pain-related behaviors of the rats were measured at different time points. The mRNA and protein expressions of CACNA2D1, Bax, and Bcl-2 in rat spinal cord were determined by immunofluorescence, Western blot, and qPCR. Results CACNA2D1 was the target gene of gabapentin that determined via network pharmacology, molecular docking, and co-precipitation tests. After modeling, mechanical pain threshold and thermal pain threshold significantly decreased, and the number of apoptotic GABA cells significantly increased. However, after intraperitoneal injection of 50, 100, and 200 mg·kg-1 gabapentin, mechanical pain threshold and thermal pain threshold significantly increased(P<0.05), and the number of apoptotic GABA cells significantly decreased(P<0.01). Immunofluorescence and Western blot results showed that compared with the model group, with the increase of gabapentin concentration, the positive expression rate of Bax significantly decreased, and the positive expression rate of Bcl-2 and CACNA2D1 significantly increased. The mRNA expression levels of Bax, Bcl-2 and CACNA2D1 detected by qPCR were consistent with the results of immunofluorescence and Western blot. Conclusions Gabapentin up-regulates the expression of target protein CACNA2D1, inhibits the proapoptotic protein Bax, and promotes the expression of apoptotic inhibitor Bcl-2.

Clinical efficacy and safety of venetoclax combined with multidrug chemotherapy in the treatment of 15 patients with relapsed or refractory early T-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia / 中华血液学杂志

Objective: To explore the efficacy and safety of Venetoclax combined with multidrug chemotherapy in patients with relapsed or refractory early T-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (R/R ETP-ALL) . Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed 15 patients with R/R ETP-ALL who received Venetoclax combined with multidrug chemotherapy from December 2018 to February 2022. Among them, eight cases were combined with demethylated drugs, four cases were combined with demethylated drugs and HAAG chemotherapy regimen, two cases were combined with demethylated drugs and CAG regimen, and one case was combined with Cladribine. Specific usage and dosage of Venetoclax: 100 mg on day 1, 200 mg on day 2, 400 mg on day 3-28, orally; when combined with azole antifungal drugs, dosage was reduced to 100 mg/d. Results: Fifteen patients (10 males and 5 females) with R/R ETP-ALL were treated with Venetoclax and multidrug chemotherapy with a median age of 35 (12-42) years old. Of 4 refractory and 11 relapsed patients, the efficacy was evaluated on the 21th day following combined chemotherapy: the overall response rate, the complete response (CR) rate, and the CR with incomplete hematological recovery (CRi) rate were 67.7% (10/15), 60.0% (9/15), and 6.7% (1/15), respectively. For the overall study population, the 12-month overall survival (OS) rate was 60.0%, and the median OS was 17.7 months. The disease-free survival (DFS) rate of all CR patients at 12 months was 60.0%, and the median DFS did not reach. About 14 patients had Ⅲ-Ⅳ hematological toxicity, but these adverse reactions were all controllable. No adverse reaction in the nervous system and tumor lysis syndrome occurred in this study, and no adverse reaction of organs above grade Ⅲ occurred. Conclusion: Venetoclax combined with multidrug chemotherapy may be a safe and promising treatment option for patients with R/R ETP-ALL.

Efficacy and safety of Kangxian Huanji Granule as adjunctive treatment in acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: An exploratory randomized controlled trial / 中西医结合学报

BACKGROUND@#Acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (AE-IPF) is an important occurrence in the natural history of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), associated with high hospitalization rates, high mortality and poor prognosis. At present, there is no effective treatment for AE-IPF. Chinese herbal medicine has some advantages in treating IPF, but its utility in AE-IPF is unclear.@*OBJECTIVE@#The treatment of AE-IPF with Kangxian Huanji Granule (KXHJ), a compound Chinese herbal medicine, lacks an evidence-based justification. This study explores the efficacy and safety of KXHJ in patients with AE-IPF.@*DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTIONS@#We designed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, exploratory clinical trial. A total of 80 participants diagnosed with AE-IPF were randomly assigned to receive KXHJ or a matching placebo; the treatment included a 10 g dose, administered twice daily for 4 weeks, in addition to conventional treatment. Participants were followed up for 12 weeks after the treatment.@*MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES@#The primary endpoints were treatment failure rate and all-cause mortality. Secondary endpoints included the length of hospitalization, overall survival, acute exacerbation rate, intubation rate, the modified British Medical Research Council (mMRC) score, and the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire for IPF (SGRQ-I) score.@*RESULTS@#The rate of treatment failure at 4 weeks was lower in the intervention group compared to the control group (risk ratio [RR]: 0.22; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.051 to 0.965, P = 0.023). There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality at 16 weeks (RR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.179 to 3.138; P > 0.999) or in the acute exacerbation rate during the 12-week follow-up period (RR: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.334 to 1.434; P = 0.317). The intervention group had a shorter length of hospitalization than the control group (mean difference [MD]: -3.30 days; 95% CI, -6.300 to -0.300; P = 0.032). Significant differences in the mean change from baseline in the mMRC (between-group difference: -0.67; 95% CI: -0.89 to -0.44; P < 0.001) and SGRQ-I score (between-group difference: -10.36; 95% CI: -16.483 to -4.228; P = 0.001) were observed after 4 weeks, and also in the mMRC (between-group difference: -0.67; 95% CI: -0.91 to -0.43; P < 0.001) and SGRQ-I (between-group difference: -10.28; 95% CI, -15.838 to -4.718; P < 0.001) at 16 weeks. The difference in the adverse events was not significant.@*CONCLUSION@#KXHJ appears to be effective and safe for AE-IPF and can be considered a complementary treatment in patients with AE-IPF. As a preliminary exploratory study, our results provide a basis for further clinical research.@*TRIAL REGISTRATION@#Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR1900026289). Please cite this article as: Li JS, Zhang HL, Guo W, Wang L, Zhang D, Zhao LM, Zhou M. Efficacy and safety of Kangxian Huanji Granule as adjunctive treatment in acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: an exploratory randomized controlled trial. J Integr Med. 2023; 21(6): 543-549.

Application of nuclear magnetic resonance in the clinical study of high myopia / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

Myopia is a harmful ophthalmic disease that may change the activity of the visual cortex and affect the corresponding neural function. At present, the incidence rate of myopia in China has been rising unprecedentedly, especially in high myopia(HM). Therefore, efficacious prevention and treatment of myopia are extremely important. However, since the specific pathogenesis of myopia has not been clarified so far, it is difficult to achieve the prevention and control of the disease at its source. Recently, there have been studies on the pathogenesis of myopia from the perspective of genetics, environment, neurotransmitters, etc., but few studies have explored the neuroimaging mechanism of myopia from the perspective of brain structure and function. With the development of magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)technology, brain images gradually appear in the study of myopia-related mechanisms. Therefore, this paper summarizes the research on myopia-related brain images, to provide an important reference for the clinical prevention and control of myopia.

Intravitreal Dexamethasone implant in the treatment of distinct optical coherence tomography types of macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

AIM:To evaluate the efficacy of intravitreal dexamethasone implant(DEX-I)in the treatment of different types of macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion(RVO).METHODS:A retrospective observational case study was conducted. A total of 46 patients(46 eyes)who were diagnosed with RVO-macular edema(ME)and received DEX-I of 0.7 mg as the initial treatment in Dalian No.3 People's Hospital from July 2019 to June 2020 were collected. According to the morphological characteristics of optical coherence tomography(OCT), they were divided into diffuse retinal thickening type(DRT type, 13 patients, 13 eyes), cystoid macular edema type(CME type, 22 patients, 22 eyes )and serous retinal detachment type(SRD type, 11 patients, 11 eyes ). The best corrected visual acuity(BCVA)and central retinal thickness(CRT)of patients with three types of macular edema were observed and compared before treatment and 1, 2 and 3mo after treatment.RESULTS:Compared with before treatment, BCVA of patients with DRT, CME and SRD were significantly improved at 1, 2 and 3mo after treatment, and CRT was significantly decreased(all P&#x003C;0.017). At 3mo after treatment, BCVA(0.21±0.12, 0.22±0.10LogMAR)of DRT and SRD patients was significantly better than that of CME(0.45±0.14LogMAR, both P&#x003C;0.017), and CRT(254.08±49.07, 248.92±44.19μm)was significantly lower than that of CME(314.70±92.66 μm, both P&#x003C;0.017).CONCLUSIONS: DEX-I is effective in the treatment of various OCT types of macular edema secondary to RVO, and the treatment response of CME type is worse than that of DRT and SRD types.

Application of supraclavicular fasciocutaneous island flap for reconstruction after removal of tumors in parotid and auricle area / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of supraclavicular fasciocutaneous island flap (SIF) for repairing the defect of parotid or auricle regions after tumor resection. Methods: From February 2019 to June 2021, 12 patients (11 males and 1 female, aged 54-77 years old), of whom 4 with parotid adenoid cystic carcinoma and 8 with auricular basal cell carcinoma underwent reconstruction surgery for postoperative defects in the parotid gland area and auricular area with SIF in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University and their clinical data were retrospectively analyzed. Size of the SIF, time for harvesting SIF, neck lymph node dissection and postoperative complications were recorded. Results: The flap areas were (6-9) cm × (8-13) cm, and the harvesting time for SIF ranged from 40 to 80 min, averaging 51.7 min. The donor sites were directly closed. All patients underwent ipsilateral levels Ⅰ-Ⅲ neck dissection, with 4 cases undergoing additional level Ⅳ neck dissection and 2 cases undergoing level Ⅳ-Ⅴ neck dissection. Of the 12 SIF, 10 were completely survival and 2 had flap arterial crisis with partial flap necrosis, in addition, 1 had donor site wound dehiscence. With follow-up of 10-42 months, there were no tumor recurrences in 10 patients, 1 patient was lost to follow-up at 10 months postoperatively, and 1 patient experienced local tumor recurrence at 11 months after surgery and died 15 months later. Conclusion: SIF is an easily harvested flap with good skin features matching the skin in parotid and auricle regions and less damage to donor site, and this flap has no need for microvascular anastomosis technique. SIF is feasible and effective for repairing defects in parotid and auricle area.

Urban-rural differentials in the relationship between personality traits and changes in depressive symptoms / 北京大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#The prevalence of depressive symptoms has become a significant public health issue in China. Research on the relationship between personality traits and changes in depressive symptoms, as well as further exploration of urban-rural differences, not only benefits for the understanding of the prevalence trend of depression in China, but also provides a useful reference for the government to develop personalized mental health prevention strategies.@*METHODS@#Based on the data from the China Family Panel Studies in 2018 and 2020, a univariate analysis was conducted on 16 198 Chinese residents aged 18 years and above. Five dimensions of personality traits were conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism and openness. In the study, 16 198 residents were divided into "keep good group", "better group", "worse group" and "keep bad group" according to the changes in depressive symptoms in 2018 and 2020. After controlling for factors, such as gender and education, multinomial Logistic regression analysis was used to examine whether personality traits were associated with changes in depressive symptoms. In addition, we evaluated whether urban-rural and personality traits interacted to influence depressive symptoms.@*RESULTS@#The five dimensions of personality traits were significantly correlated with changes in depressive symptoms. Conscientiousness, extroversion, and agreeableness were negatively associated with depressive symptoms, while neuroticism and openness were positively related. Urban and rural differences moderated the relationship between personality traits and depressive symptoms. Compared with urban residents, rural residents showed stronger correlations between neuroticism (OR=1.14; 95%CI: 1.00-1.30) and the group of depression-recovery, as well as conscientiousness (OR=0.79;95%CI: 0.68-0.93) and the group of persistent-depression.@*CONCLUSION@#The study finds that personality traits have a significant correlation with changes in depressive symptoms, with certain traits showing a negative or positive relationship. Specifically, higher levels of conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness are associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms, while higher levels of neuroticism and openness are associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. In addition, the study finds that rural residents have a stronger association between their personality traits and persistent or improved depressive symptoms, which highlights the need for tailoring mental health intervention and prevention programs that should take into account personality traits and urban-rural differences in China. By developing targeted strategies that are sensitive to personality differences and geographic disparities, policymakers and mental health professionals can help prevent and reduce the incidence of depressive symptoms, ultimately improving the overall well-being of Chinese adults. Meanwhile, additional studies in independent populations are needed to corroborate the findings of this study.

Interpretation of the essential updates in guidelines for the prevention and treatment of chronic hepatitis B (Version 2022) / 中华肝脏病杂志

Chinese Society of Hepatology and Chinese Society of Infectious Diseases, Chinese Medical Association update the guidelines for the prevention and treatment of chronic hepatitis B (version 2022) in 2022. The latest guidelines recommend more extensive screening and more active antiviral treating for hepatitis B virus infection. This article interprets the essential updates in the guidelines to help deepen understanding and better guide the clinical practice.

Primary adrenal NK/T cell lymphoma: a clinicopathologic analysis of six cases / 中华病理学杂志

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathologic features of primary adrenal NK/T cell lymphoma (PANKL). Methods: Six cases of PANKL were collected at Henan Provincial People's Hospital from January 2000 to December 2021. The clinicopathologic features including morphology, immunophenotype, treatment and prognosis were retrospectively analyzed, and relevant literature was reviewed. Results: There were two males and four females. The median age was 63 years (ranged from 57 to 68 years). The tumors involved bilateral adrenal glands in 4 cases and unilateral adrenal gland in 2 cases. The main clinical symptom was low back pain without obvious cause. Serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) is elevated in five cases. The imaging feature was rapidly enlarging mass initially confined to unilateral/bilateral adrenal glands. Morphologically, the lymphoid cells were mainly medium-sized with a diffuse growth pattern. Coagulative necrosis and nuclear fragmentation were common. Angioinvasion was seen. Immunophenotypically, the neoplastic cells were positive for CD3, CD56 and TIA-1 while CD5 was negative in 5 cases. All cases were positive for EBER by in situ hybridization with more than 80% proliferative activity by Ki-67. Four cases received chemotherapy, one case underwent surgery, and one case underwent surgery with chemotherapy. Follow-up was done in 5 cases; one case was lost to follow-up. Three patients died with a median survival of 11.6 months (3-42 months). Conclusions: PANKL is rare with highly aggressive clinical presentation and poor prognosis. Accurate diagnosis entails correlation of histomorphology, immunohistochemistry, EBER in situ hybridization and clinical history.

Epidemiological distribution of genotypes and sub-genotypes of hepatitis B virus in 15 ethnic groups in China / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective: To understand the distribution of genotypes and sub-genotypes of HBV in different ethnic groups in China. Methods: The HBsAg positive samples were selected by stratified multi-stage cluster sampling from the sample base of national HBV sero-epidemiological survey in 2020 for the amplification of S gene of HBV by nested PCR. A phylogeny tree was constructed to determine the genotypes and sub-genotypes of HBV. The distribution of genotypes and sub-genotypes of HBV were analyzed comprehensively by using laboratory data and demographic data. Results: A total of 1 539 positive samples from 15 ethnic groups were successfully amplified and analyzed, and 5 genotypes (B, C, D, I and C/D) were detected. The proportion of genotype B was higher in ethnic group of Han (74.52%, 623/836), Zhuang (49.28%, 34/69), Yi (53.19%, 25/47), Miao (94.12%, 32/34), Buyi (81.48%, 22/27). The proportions of genotype C were higher in ethnic groups of Yao (70.91%, 39/55). Genotype D was the predominant genotype in Uygur (83.78%, 31/37). Genotype C/D were detected in Tibetan (92.35%,326/353). In this study, 11 cases of genotype I were detected, 8 of which were distributed in Zhuang nationality. Except for Tibetan, sub-genotype B2 accounted for more than 80.00% in genotype B in all ethnic groups. The proportions of sub-genotype C2 were higher in 8 ethnic groups, i.e. Han, Tibetan, Yi, Uygur, Mongolian, Manchu, Hui and Miao. The proportions of sub-genotype C5 were higher in ethnic groups of Zhuang (55.56%, 15/27) and Yao (84.62%, 33/39). For genotype D, sub-genotype D3 was detected in Yi ethnic group and sub-genotype D1 was detected in both Uygur and Kazak. The proportions of sub-genotype C/D1 and C/D2 in Tibetan were 43.06% (152/353) and 49.29% (174/353). For all the 11 cases of genotype I infection, only sub-genotype I1 was detected. Conclusions: Five genotypes and 15 sub-genotypes of HBV were found in 15 ethnic groups. There were significant differences in the distribution of genotypes and sub-genotypes of HBV among different ethnic groups.

Role of traditional Chinese Medicine in prevention and treatment of chronic hepatitis B liver fibrosis: Current status, challenges, and thoughts / 临床肝胆病杂志

In recent years, significant breakthroughs have been made in the research on the role of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the prevention and treatment of chronic hepatitis B liver fibrosis. In terms of clinical research, several multicenter randomized double-blind controlled studies have been conducted with liver pathological changes as the main efficacy evaluation indicator, which have improved the level of evidence in clinical research on the TCM prevention and treatment of liver fibrosis. As for basic research, in-depth studies have been conducted on the mechanism of action of TCM in intervening against liver fibrosis at various levels, including the effect on HSC activation, apoptosis and autophagy, inhibition of liver inflammatory injury, immunoregulation, and inhibition of hepatic sinusoidal capillarization, thereby highlighting the advantages and research difficulties of TCM through "multiple components, targets, and pathways". Under the guidance of Implementation Plan for the Major Projects of Revitalizing and Developing TCM, it is crucial to conduct high-quality clinical and basic research on TCM in the treatment of liver fibrosis, produce high-quality industry achievements, and thus help TCM to be recognized around the world.

Construction of cell factories for production of valencene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae / 药学学报

Valencene, a kind of sesquiterpenoid with a citrus flavor, is mainly found in Valencia orange and is commonly used in cosmetics and food additives, as well as industrial synthetic nootkatone. In this study, synthetic biology was used to create a Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell factory to produce valencene. Fistly, valencene synthase gene (CnVS) from Callitropsis nootkatensis was inserted into the chromosome of the chassis strain YTT-T5. The resulting strain VAL-01 could produce 1.1 mg·L-1 valencene. Protein fusion technique was used, different valencene synthases were compared and the copy number of key genes was adjusted, yielding valencene to 436.4 mg·L-1. Then, knocking-out the transcription factor ROX1 resulted in valencene improvement by 17.4%. Moreover, the induction system of galactose was regulated, transcription factor PDR3 and INO2 were overexpressed. The engineered strain VAL-10 could produce 2 798.6 mg·L-1 valencene by high cell density fermentation method (nearly 2 500 times higher than VAL-01). This study provides a basis for green production of valencene.

Screening of specific DNA barcode, identification of germplasm resources, and analysis of genetic diversity of Atractylodes chinenesis / 药学学报

italic>Atractylodes chinensis has important medicinal and economic values. In this study, the chloroplast genome sequences of four A. chinensis samples from different producing areas were sequenced using the Illumina platform. The specific DNA barcodes were screened and the germplasm resources of A. chinensis samples from different producing areas and the genetic diversity of the population were analyzed basing on the specific barcodes. The whole chloroplast genomes of the four A. chinensis samples had a typical cyclic tetrad structure, with 112 genes annotated. The comparative genomics results indicated that ccsA and trnC-GCA_petN were potential specific DNA barcodes for intraspecific identification of A. chinensis. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of ccsA and trnC-GCA_petN was performed on 256 samples from 14 areas in 9 provinces, and the amplification efficiency was 100%. Sequence analysis showed that ccsA and trnC-GCA_petN had 11 and 22 variant positions, which could identify 16 and 22 haplotypes, respectively. The combined sequence analysis identified 39 haplotypes, named Hap1-Hap39, of which the most abundant and widely distributed genotype was Hap9. Haplotype diversity (Hd) = 0.896 and nucleotide diversity (Pi) = 0.002 22 indicated high genetic diversity at the species level in A. chinensis. The genetic distances of the haplotypes were 0.000 00-0.004 88, indicating that there were small genetic differences among the haplotypes. The results of phylogenetic tree analysis showed that 39 haplotypes had very close genetic relationship, and formed two obvious branches with other groups of the same genus except Atractylodes macrocephala. This study plays an important role in the identification of the origin of A. chinensis and the protection and breeding of germplasm resources.

Comparison of 7 methods for sample size determination based on confidence interval estimation for a single proportion / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To compare different methods for calculating sample size based on confidence interval estimation for a single proportion with different event incidences and precisions.@*METHODS@#We compared 7 methods, namely Wald, AgrestiCoull add z2, Agresti-Coull add 4, Wilson Score, Clopper-Pearson, Mid-p, and Jefferys, for confidence interval estimation for a single proportion. The sample size was calculated using the search method with different parameter settings (proportion of specified events and half width of the confidence interval [ω=0.05, 0.1]). With Monte Carlo simulation, the estimated sample size was used to simulate and compare the width of the confidence interval, the coverage of the confidence interval and the ratio of the noncoverage probability.@*RESULTS@#For a high accuracy requirement (ω =0.05), the Mid-p method and Clopper Pearson method performed better when the incidence of events was low (P < 0.15). In other settings, the performance of the 7 methods did not differ significantly except for a poor symmetry of the Wald method. In the setting of ω=0.1 with a very low p (0.01-0.05), failure of iteration occurred with nearly all the methods except for the Clopper-Pearson method.@*CONCLUSION@#Different sample size determination methods based on confidence interval estimation should be selected for single proportions with different parameter settings.