Expert Opin Drug Discov
July 2025
Background: Cathepsin K (CTSK), a cysteine protease of the papain family, exhibits high expression in activated osteoclasts, making it a key therapeutic target for osteoporosis. However, there are currently no CTSK inhibitors available for clinical use.
Research Design And Methods: The authors employed a combination of deep learning approaches and experimental methods to identify novel CTSK inhibitors.
Current treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC) remains challenging, with the mainstay of therapy being 5-aminosalicylic acid-based drugs, which have limited and inconsistent results. Atractylodes macrocephala (AM) is a traditional Chinese medicine commonly used in the clinical treatment of various inflammatory diseases. Herein, we demonstrate that AM-derived extracellular vesicle-like particles (AMEVLP) can effectively modulate the gut microbiota, thereby significantly improving the treatment efficiency of UC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Infectious spondylitis is a rare but increasingly recognized condition involving infectious lesions of the spine. It can affect patients of all ages and is typically caused by bacterial, fungal, or other pathogens. The infection commonly targets the vertebral bodies and intervertebral discs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Med (Lausanne)
April 2025
One of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality globally is non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It has become a significant public health concern due to its rising incidence rate and fatality. Tumor-associated macrophage (TAM) is important in the tumor microenvironment (TME) of NSCLC because they have an impact on the development, metastasis, and incidence of tumors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: spondylitis is a rare fungal spondylitis that often occurs in immunocompromised patients. This article reports a case of spondylitis with specific image signs, which is rarely reported in an immunocompetent patient.
Case Presentation: This is a case of L3-4 segmental spondylitis diagnosed.
Objective: Osteomyelitis caused by Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) infection is an inflammatory bone disease characterized by continuous bone destruction, which is difficult to treat. This research aimed to explore the molecular mechanisms of S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Osteoporosis (OP) is the most prevailing primary bone disease caused by the imbalance between bone resorption and formation. Rhizoma Drynariae-derived EV-like particles (RD-EVLP) perform the anti-osteoporosis effect by promoting the osteogenic differentiation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (h-BMSCs) which may be regulated by circular RNAs (circRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs). This study aimed to reveal the functional roles and mechanisms of the RD-EVLP regulating osteogenic differentiation of osteoporosis through the activation of hsa_circ_0001275 sponging miR-422a.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Ophthalmol
March 2025
Background: Acute retinal necrosis triggered by routine cataract surgery is a rare condition, which may be overlooked by the clinicians. We report a case of unilateral acute retinal necrosis (ARN) with the onset 4 days after uncomplicated cataract surgery. The patient demonstrates satisfactory outcomes following anti-virus therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWorld J Gastrointest Oncol
February 2025
Background: The combination of sorafenib with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is being investigated for its potential to improve outcomes in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of this combined treatment strategy in enhancing overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) compared to monotherapies.
Methods: A systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA guidelines.
Introduction: This study conducted a targeted analysis of metabolites involved in inflammatory, oxidative stress, and neuronal pathways that were previously implicated with sleepiness based on our prior work identifying metabolites in these pathways in persons with OSA. We examine associations between sleep latency (based on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) which is an important indicator of sleep quality and daytime sleepiness, and metabolic concentrations to identify potential mechanisms linking the two.
Methods: This cross-sectional study included 88 participants newly diagnosed and untreated for OSA who underwent an overnight in-lab or at home sleep study recruited from the Emory Mechanisms of Sleepiness Symptoms Study (EMOSS).
Mol Med Rep
April 2025
Low back pain (LBP) is a leading cause of disability worldwide. Although not all patients with Modic changes (MCs) experience LBP, MC is often closely associated with LBP and disc degeneration. In clinical practice, the focus is usually on symptoms related to MC, which are hypothesized to be associated with LBP; however, the link between MC and nerve compression remains unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Med (Lausanne)
January 2025
spondylitis is a rare fungal infection, primarily occurring in immunocompromised patients, although cases in immunocompetent individuals have also been reported. While is commonly associated with pulmonary infections, it can also cause spondylitis. Patients typically present with back pain, limb numbness, and neurological compression symptoms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObesity strongly increases the risk of cardiometabolic diseases, yet the underlying mediators of this relationship are not fully understood. Given that obesity strongly influences circulating protein levels, we investigated proteins mediating the effects of obesity on coronary artery disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. By integrating two-step proteome-wide Mendelian randomization, colocalization, epigenomics and single-cell RNA sequencing, we identified five mediators and prioritized collagen type VI α3 (COL6A3).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurr Res Toxicol
December 2024
Ectopic lipid deposition in the hepatocyte plays an important role in the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which has become one of the most common causes of chronic liver disease worldwide yet no approved drugs are currently available. In this study, a cell-based method was developed to screen potential drugs with low toxicity that inhibit lipid accumulation. In the same 96-well plate, cytotoxicity was measured using CCK8 assay, followed by lipid content detection using BODIPY 493/503 via fluorometry assay, a lipid droplet-specific fluorescent dye commonly used in microscopy and flow cytometry, but not previously reported in fluorometry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNon‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the most prevalent and lethal types of cancers worldwide and its high incidence and mortality rates pose a significant public health challenge. Despite significant advances in targeted therapy and immunotherapy, the overall prognosis of patients with NSCLC remains poor. Hypoxia is a critical driving factor in tumor progression, influencing the biological behavior of tumor cells through complex molecular mechanisms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiallelic variants in GLDN have recently been associated with lethal congenital contracture syndrome 11 (LCCS11), a form of fetal akinesia deformation sequence (FADS) with high neonatal mortality. In this report, we describe five individuals from two Canadian Inuit families originating from different communities in Nunavik all affected with FADS and harboring a rare homozygous missense variant, [NM_181789.4:c.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCopy number variations (CNVs) in the 7q11.2 and 22q11.2 chromosomal regions are major contributors to genetic disorders such as Williams-Beuren syndrome and 22q11.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLancet Reg Health West Pac
December 2024
Background: The association between congenital heart disease (CHD) and non-optimal temperatures has received limited investigation. We aimed to investigate the impact of extreme temperatures on CHD mortality.
Methods: We reviewed the National Mortality Surveillance System of China and retrieved death records attributable to CHD from 2013 to 2021.
Front Pharmacol
September 2024
Gastric cancer (GC) is a prevalent form of cancer worldwide and has a high death rate, with less than 40% of patients surviving for 5 years. GC demonstrates a vital characteristic of evading regulatory cell death (RCD). However, the extent to which RCD patterns are clinically significant in GC has not been well investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The abnormal growth factors-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells was known as a vital pathogenesis of proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). This study aims to explore how survivin inhibition affects EMT induced by epidermal growth factor (EGF) in RPE cells.
Methods: Human primary RPE cells were identified in vitro.
Int J Infect Dis
November 2024
Background: Spondylitis is a spinal infection which has been increasing in susceptible populations globally. This disease is caused by various microorganisms. Fungal spondylitis is rare in clinical practice and is strongly associated with immunosuppression and diabetes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSignal Transduct Target Ther
August 2024
Derived from enteroendocrine cells (EECs), glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP) are pivotal incretin hormones crucial for blood glucose regulation. Medications of GLP-1 analogs and GLP-1 receptor activators are extensively used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity. However, there are currently no agents to stimulate endogenous incretin secretion.
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