Construction and validation of a nomogram for predicting lateral lymph node metastasis in pediatric and adolescent with differentiated thyroid carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Limited research has been conducted to specifically investigate the identification of risk factors and the development of prediction models for lateral lymph node metastasis (LNM) in pediatric and adolescent differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) populations, despite its significant association with unfavorable prognosis. METHODS: This study entails a retrospective analysis of the clinical characteristics exhibited by pediatric and adolescent patients who have been diagnosed with DTC. The data utilized for this analysis was sourced from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, spanning the time frame from 2000 to 2020. Furthermore, the study incorporates patients who were treated at the Departments of Breast and Thyroid Surgery in the Second Clinical Medical College, Affiliated Fifth People's Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, as well as The General Hospital of Western Theater Command, during the period from 2010 to 2020. RESULTS: A cohort of 2631 patients from the SEER database, along with an additional 339 patients from our departments who met the specified inclusion criteria, were included in this study. Subsequently, four clinical variables, namely age, tumor size, multifocality, and extrathyroidal invasion, were identified as being significantly associated with lateral LNM in pediatric and adolescent DTC patients. These variables were then utilized to construct a nomogram, which demonstrated effective discrimination with a concordance index (C-index) of 0.731. Furthermore, the performance of this model was validated through both internal and external assessments, yielding C-index values of 0.721 and 0.712, respectively. Afterward, a decision curve analysis was conducted to assess the viability of this nomogram in predicting lymph node metastasis. CONCLUSION: The current investigation has effectively constructed a nomogram model utilizing visualized multipopulationsal data. Our findings demonstrate a significant association between various clinical characteristics and lateral LNM in pediatric and adolescent DTC patients. These outcomes hold substantial significance for healthcare practitioners, as they can employ this model to inform individualized clinical judgments for the pediatric and adolescent cohorts.

Efficacy and safety of tenapanor in hemodialysis patients with hyperphosphatemia: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: The effects of tenapanor in reducing serum phosphorus in hemodialysis patients with hyperphosphatemia are uncertain and no relevant meta-analysis has been conducted. We performed a meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tenapanor. METHODS: All randomized controlled trials of tenapanor were searched up to 1 August 2022. The primary endpoint was the change in serum phosphorus level from baseline with tenapanor and placebo. Data on drug-related adverse events (AEs), gastrointestinal AEs and diarrhea were collected to determine the safety of tenapanor. RESULTS: There were 533 patients throughout five trials that were eligible. Tenapanor significantly lowered blood phosphorus level by 1.79 mg/dl in the mean difference than the placebo. Diarrhea, gastrointestinal AEs, and drug-related AEs were more severe than placebo. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis showed that although drug side effects were common, tenapanor significantly reduced serum phosphorus level in hemodialysis patients.

Moringa oleifera seed ethanol extract and its active component kaempferol potentiate pentobarbital-induced sleeping behaviours in mice via a GABAergic mechanism.

CONTEXT: Moringa oleifera Lam. (Moringaceae) (MO) is an important food plant that has high nutritional and medical value. However, there is limited information on whether its seeds can improve sleep. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the effects of MO seed ethanol extracts (EEMOS) on sleep activity improvement and examined the underlying mechanisms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male ICR mice were placed into six groups (n = 12) and treated as follows: Control (sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, 20 mL/kg), estazolam tablets (2 mg/kg), EEMOS (1, 2 g/kg) and kaempferol (1, 2 mg/kg). These samples were successively given intragastric for 14 d. Locomotor activity assay, pentobarbital-induced sleeping and pentetrazol-induced seizures tests were utilized to examine the sedative-hypnotic effects (SHE) of EEMOS. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the results revealed that EEMOS (2 g/kg) and KA (2 mg/kg) possessed good SHE and could significantly elevate the levels of γ-aminobutyric acid and reduce the levels of glutamic acid in the mouse hypothalamus (p < 0.05). Moreover, SHE was blocked by picrotoxin, flumazenil and bicuculline (p < 0.05). EEMOS (2 g/kg) and KA (2 mg/kg) significantly upregulated the protein expression levels of glutamic acid decarboxylase-65 (GAD65) and α1-subunit of GABAA receptors in the hypothalamus of mice (p < 0.05), not affecting glutamic acid decarboxylase-67 (GAD67) and γ2-subunit expression levels (p > 0.05). Additionally, they cause a significant increase in Cl- influx in human cerebellar granule cells at a concentration of 8 µg/mL (p < 0.05). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrated that EEMOS could improve sleep by regulating GABAA-ergic systems, and encourage further clinical trials to treat insomnia.

[Applying Biomod2 for modeling of species suitable habitats:a case study of Paeonia lactiflora in China].

Paeonia lactiflora is an important medicinal resource in China. It is of great significance for the protection and cultivation of P. lactiflora resources to find the suitable habitats. The study was based on the information of 98 distribution sites and the data of 20 current environmental factors of wild P. lactiflora in China. According to the correlation and importance of environmental factors, we selected the main environmental factors affecting the potential suitable habitats. Then, BCC-CSM2-MR model was employed to predict the distribution range and center change of potential suitable habitat of wild P. lactiflora in the climate scenarios of SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0, and SSP5-8.5 during 2021-2100. The ensemble model combined with GBM, GLM, MaxEnt, and RF showed improved prediction accuracy, with TSS=0.85 and AUC=0.95. Among the 20 environmental factors, annual mean temperature, monthly mean diurnal range of temperature, temperature seasonality, mean temperature of the warmest quarter, precipitation of the wettest month, precipitation seasonality, precipitation of the driest quarter, and elevation were the main factors that affected the suitable habitat distribution of P. lactiflora. At present, the potential suitable habitats of wild P. lactiflora is mainly distributed in Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Hebei, Beijing, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Shandong, Gansu, Xinjiang, Tibet, and Ningxia, and concentrated in the northeastern Inner Mongolia, central Heilongjiang, and northern Jilin. Under future climate conditions, the highly sui-table area of wild P. lactiflora will shrink, and the potential suitable habitat will mainly be lost to different degrees. However, in the SSP5-8.5 scenario, the low suitable area of wild P. lactiflora will partially increase in the highlands and mountains in western China including Xinjiang, Tibet, and Qinghai during 2061-2100. The distribution center of wild P. lactiflora migrated first to the northeast and then to the southwest. The total suitable habitats were stable and kept in the high-latitude zones. The prediction of the potential geo-graphical distribution of P. lactiflora is of great significance to the habitat protection and standardized cultivation of this plant in the future.

Herbal Textual Research on Violae Herba in Famous Classical Formulas / 中国实验方剂学杂志

By referring to the relevant ancient herbal literature， medical records and prescription books， the textual research of Violae Herba has been conducted to verify the name， origin， producing area， quality evaluation and processing method changes. The results showed that the name of Zihua Diding originated from its flower color and plant morphological characteristics. The primitive plant of Violae Herba is Viola genus of Violaceae， V. yedoensis， as stipulated in the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia， has been the mainstream in past dynasties of China. Violae Herba is mainly wild， and it is widely distributed throughout the country. Since modern times， the quality of Violae Herba is better with integrity， green color and yellow root. There are few records on the harvesting and processing methods of Violae Herba in ancient times， most of which are directly used after drying. It is suggested that the collection and processing methods of Violae Herba in the famous classical formulas can be implemented in accordance with the provisions of the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia.

Moringa oleifera Lam Seed Oil Augments Pentobarbital-Induced Sleeping Behaviors in Mice via GABAergic Systems.

Moringa oleifera Lam. (MO), which is widely consumed as both food and herbal medicine in tropical and subtropical regions, has a wide spectrum of health benefits. Yet, whether the oil obtained from MO seeds could affect (improve) the sleep activity remains unclear. Herein, we used the locomotor activity, pentobarbital-induced sleeping, and pentetrazol-induced convulsions test to examine sedative-hypnotic effects (SHE) of MO oil (MOO) and explored the underlying mechanisms. Besides, the main components of MOO like oleic acid, ß-Sitosterol, and Stigmasterol were also evaluated. The results showed that they possessed good SHE. Except for oleic acid and Stigmasterol, they could significantly elevate γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) and reduce glutamic acid (Glu) levels in the hypothalamus of mice. Moreover, SHE was blocked by picrotoxin, flumazenil, and bicuculline, except for oleic acid, which could not be antagonized by picrotoxin. Molecular mechanisms showed that MOO and ß-Sitosterol significantly upregulated the amount of protein-level expression of Glu decarboxylase-65 (GAD65) and α1-subunit of GABAA receptors in the hypothalamus of mice, not affecting GAD67, γ2 subunits. These data indicated that MOO modulates sleep architectures via activation of the GABAA-ergic systems.

Total aglycones from Marsdenia tenacissima increases antitumor efficacy of paclitaxel in nude mice.

Marsdeniae tenacissimae Caulis (MTC) is a Chinese herbal medicine used mainly for treatment of cancer, whose pharmacologically active constituents responsible for its in vivo activity and clinical efficacy have not been clearly elucidated. In this study, total aglycones of MTC (ETA) showed the ability to sensitize KB-3-1, HeLa, HepG2 and K562 cells to paclitaxel treatment. More inspiringly, ETA markedly enhanced the antitumor activity of paclitaxel in nude mice bearing HeLa or KB-3-1 xenografts. Compared to treatment with paclitaxel alone, treatment with combination of paclitaxel and ETA achieved significant reduction in volume and weight of HeLa tumors (p<0.05), and remarkable inhibition to the growth of KB-3-1 tumors (p<10⁻6). ETA was characterized by the presence of a group of tenacigenin B ester derivatives, among which four reference compounds, 11α-O-tigloyl-12ß-O-acetyltenacigenin B, 11α,12ß-di-O-tigloyltenacigenin B, 11α-O-2-methylbutanoyl-12ß-O-tigloyltenacigenin B, and 11α-O-(2-methylbutanoyl)-12ß-O-benzoyltenacigenin B, accounted for 42.14% of the total peak area of 19 detectable components assayed by HPLC. Our study has identified ETA as a promising sensitizer for cancer chemotherapy.

[Study on antiinflammatory effect of a compound TCM agent containing ant extractive in animal models].

OBJECTIVE: To study the antiinflammatory effect of a compound TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) agent on animal models. The agent contains ant extractive and a blent of three herbal products, herba epimedii, fructus cnidii, and fructus lycii. METHOD: Three animal models to induce experimental inflammation in rats, including carrageenin--induced paw edema, cotton-ball granuloma and adjuvant induced arthritis, were chosen to study the antiinflammatory effect of the TCM agent. RESULT: The TCM agent showed a marked inhibitory effect on edema induced by all three types of inflammation in rats, the inhibitory rate of the TCM agent at the dose of 0.20, 0.40 and 0.80 g.kg-1 in granuloma model bing over 25% at 1 hour post oral administration, and being 23.8%, 22.7%, 39.7% at 6 hour. In addition, the TCM agent also showed a significant preventive as well as therapeutic effect on adjuvant induced arthritis in rats, and improved the pathological changes of the animal joints with the induced arthritis. CONCLUSION: TCM agent has significant antiinflammatory effects on the three above mentioned animal models.

Study on antiinflammatory effect of a compound TCM agent containing ant extractive in animal models / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the antiinflammatory effect of a compound TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) agent on animal models. The agent contains ant extractive and a blent of three herbal products, herba epimedii, fructus cnidii, and fructus lycii.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Three animal models to induce experimental inflammation in rats, including carrageenin--induced paw edema, cotton-ball granuloma and adjuvant induced arthritis, were chosen to study the antiinflammatory effect of the TCM agent.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The TCM agent showed a marked inhibitory effect on edema induced by all three types of inflammation in rats, the inhibitory rate of the TCM agent at the dose of 0.20, 0.40 and 0.80 g.kg-1 in granuloma model bing over 25% at 1 hour post oral administration, and being 23.8%, 22.7%, 39.7% at 6 hour. In addition, the TCM agent also showed a significant preventive as well as therapeutic effect on adjuvant induced arthritis in rats, and improved the pathological changes of the animal joints with the induced arthritis.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>TCM agent has significant antiinflammatory effects on the three above mentioned animal models.</p>