Is Sham Acupuncture Equally Effective for Primary Insomnia? A Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis.

Purpose: To compare the efficacy differences between acupuncture and sham acupuncture in adult primary insomnia through Bayesian network meta-analysis, analyze the impact of different types of sham acupuncture on efficacy, and explore the basis for the control setting.

Methods: A literature search of seven databases, including PubMed and Embase, until April 23, 2025, included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing AT with noninvasive sham acupuncture (NISA), superficial acupuncture (SA), and non-acupuncture therapy (NAT) for treating PI in adults. The statistical analyses were conducted using R (version 4.

Integrated acupuncture-pharmacotherapy for perimenopausal insomnia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: Insomnia is a prevalent symptom among perimenopausal women, mainly attributed to estrogen-progesterone imbalance and neuropsychiatric factors, significantly impacting their quality of life. This article seeks to systematically evaluate the efficacy of integrated acupuncture-pharmacotherapy (AP) in treating perimenopausal insomnia (PMI), offering new insights for the management of insomnia in women.

Methods: Searches were conducted in 8 databases: PubMed, Web of Science (WOS), Cochrane Library, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Biology Medicine Disc (CBM), Wanfang Academic Journal Full-text Database (Wanfang), and Chongqing VIP Database (CQVIP).

Polygonatum odoratum polysaccharides: A comprehensive review of bioaccumulation, extraction, structure characteristics, bioactivities and application.

Polygonatum odoratum polysaccharides (POPs) are the key bioactive components of Polygonatum odoratum (Mill.) Druce, a medicinal and edible plant with over two millennia of documented use in traditional Chinese medicine. POPs exhibit a wide range of pharmacological activities, such as hypoglycemic, antioxidant, immunomodulatory, antitumor, hepatoprotective, and gut microbiota-modulation effects.

Effect and underlying molecular mechanism of essential oil from Y. H. Chen et C. Ling. roots in the control of acute urarthritis.

This study is the first to investigate the essential oil from roots of Y. H. Chen et C.

Identification of chalcone isomerase gene family in revealed genes regulating isoflavone synthesis.

(AM) is the original plant of the famous traditional Chinese medicine Astragali Radix, and its isoflavones are important bioactive substances with wide-ranging medicinal values. The chalcone isomerase (CHI) serves a pivotal function in flavonoid synthesis. However, the CHI gene family in AM has not yet been characterized and systematically analyzed.

Effect of nonpharmacologic therapies on depressive symptoms in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: a network meta-analysis.

Background: Depression or depressive symptoms exacerbate the burden in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). The therapeutic effects of various non-pharmacological interventions remain unclear.

Objective: This paper aims to evaluate the effectiveness of different non-pharmacological measures in alleviating depression or depressive symptoms in patients with CFS through network meta-analysis.

[Characterization of hippocampal components of Danzhi Xiaoyao Formula based on HPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS and network pharmacology and assessment of its therapeutic potential for nervous system diseases].

In this study, the pharmacodynamic components and potential pharmacological functions of Danzhi Xiaoyao Formula in treating nervous system diseases were investigated by hippocampal component characterization and network pharmacology. After rats were administrated with Danzhi Xiaoyao Formula by gavage, high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry(HPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) was employed to explore the components in the hippocampus of rats. Fifty-seven components were identified in the hippocampus of rats by comparing the extract of Danzhi Xiaoyao Formula, herbal components in the hippocampus after administration, and blank samples.

Crossing Pathological Boundaries: Multi-Target Restoration of the Neurovascular Unit in Alzheimer's and Vascular Dementia-From Modern Therapeutics to Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VD) are the two most common forms of dementia, and they share common mechanisms, especially in regard to neurovascular dysfunction. There has been increasing evidence that the disruption of the neurovascular unit (NVU), which consists of endothelial cells, pericytes, astrocytes, microglia, neurons, and basement membrane, is one of the key early events in both AD and VD. The objective of this review is to summarize the structure and physiological function of the NVU, then discuss the pathological remodeling of the NVU in AD and VD and finally, show emerging evidence of multi-target approaches that restore the NVU and neurovascular protection.

Extraction, purification, structural characterization, and health benefit of the litchi ( Sonn.) polysaccharides: a review.

Litchi, a prominent species within the genus of the Sapindaceae family, is a fruit renowned for its significant nutritional, health, and pharmacological properties. Polysaccharides are one of the functional active ingredients in litchi, with various biological functions such as hypoglycemic effect, prebiotic effect, promoting effect on exopolysaccharide production by , antioxidant effect, antiproliferative effect, immunoregulatory effect. Consequently, research on litchi polysaccharides has steadily expanded and deepened in recent years.

Application of Mendelian randomization in the discovery of risk factors for cancer from 2014 to 2024: a bibliometric review.

Introduction: Cancer represents a significant threat to human health, resulting in considerable suffering and placing strain on the medical system. Mendelian randomization (MR) is a cutting-edge technique widely utilized in epidemiological studies, demonstrating distinct advantages in identifying risk factors associated with various diseases. In recent times, there has been considerable interest in MR studies within cancer research.

Lipidome profiles and sleep disorders: A Mendelian randomization analysis of insomnia, sleep terrors, sleep apnea, and circadian rhythm disturbances.

Sleep disorders, such as insomnia, sleep terrors, sleep apnea, and sleep-wake schedule disorders, pose a significant public health challenge worldwide, yet their underlying pathophysiological mechanisms are not fully understood. Lipids, beyond being structural membrane components, actively regulate neuroinflammation, circadian rhythms, and neuronal signaling, all implicated in sleep disorder pathophysiology. This study employed two-sample Mendelian randomization (TSMR) to explore the causal relationships between the lipidome and these sleep disorders, analyzing a comprehensive GWAS dataset with 179 lipid species.

Correction: Glory LG12 preventives loperamide-induced constipation in mice by modulating intestinal flora and metabolic pathways.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.

Molecular mechanisms and potential implications of ferroptosis, cuproptosis, and disulfidptosis in septic lung injury.

Sepsis remains a life-threatening condition worldwide, causing significant morbidity and mortality across diverse patient populations. Among the various organs adversely affected by sepsis, the lung is particularly vulnerable, often succumbing to acute lung injury (ALI) or its more severe form, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Recent basic and translational research has highlighted the importance of multiple regulated cell death (RCD) pathways beyond traditional apoptosis in the pathogenesis of septic lung injury.

Mechanism of Huanglian Wendan Decoction in ameliorating non-alcoholic fatty liver disease via modulating gut microbiota-mediated metabolic reprogramming and activating the LKB1/AMPK pathway.

Background: Huanglian Wendan Decoction (HLWDD), a classical traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula, has shown therapeutic promise in treating metabolic disorders. However, its underlying mechanisms against non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) remain unclear.

Objective: This study aimed to elucidate the pharmacological mechanisms by which HLWDD ameliorates NAFLD, focusing on its impact on lipid metabolism, gut microbiota, and amino acid regulation.

Sepsis toxicity network reconstruction-Dynamic signaling and multi-organ injury: A review.

Sepsis is a complex systemic disease in which systemic toxicity-arising from inflammation-immune dysregulation, oxidative stress, programmed cell death (apoptosis, pyroptosis, ferroptosis), and metabolic reprogramming-drives multi-organ injury. The aim of this review was to synthesize how signaling pathways evolve within and between key organs (lungs, liver, kidneys, heart) and to evaluate whether multi-omics integration and network modeling can identify critical toxic nodes and predict disease progression. We conducted a narrative review of English-language mechanistic studies published between 2015 and 2025 in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus, supplemented by bibliography screening, while excluding case reports, conference abstracts, and non-mechanistic work.

Potential therapeutic role of sex steroids in treating sarcopenia: a network pharmacology and molecular dynamics study.

Background: Sarcopenia, characterized by progressive muscle loss and functional decline in aging, poses significant health challenges. Sex steroids, such as estradiol and testosterone, have potential therapeutic roles in mitigating muscle degeneration. This study explores the molecular mechanisms and targets of sex steroids in the treatment of sarcopenia using network pharmacology, enrichment analysis, machine learning, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulations.

Three undescribed Schinortriterpenoids from Schisandra chinensis and their neuroprotective effects.

Three undescribed SNTs, schisaterpene SU (1-3), were isolated from the extract of Schisandra chinensis. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of HR-ESI-MS, NMR data and ECD calculation. All compounds were evaluated for their Neuroprotective activity induced by MPP in SH-SY5Y cells.

Research on error classification in gamma analysis on the basis of dosimetric feature engineering and deep learning.

Purpose Gamma analysis serves as a critical safety assurance tool in radiotherapy, yet its broader clinical implementation remains constrained by insufficient error analysis capabilities. To address this limitation, this study proposes a gamma passing rate (GPR) prediction method with error analysis capabilities by integrating dose feature engineering with a dose prediction model. Method The study cohort comprised 26 clinical cases, with 6 cases (1,515 static segments generated from volumetric modulated arc therapy​ (VMAT) plans) allocated for model training and 20 cases (10 step-and-shoot plans with 415 segments and 10 VMAT plans) allocated for testing.

Inhibition of myocyte-specific enhancer factor 2A (MEF2A) attenuates cardiac fibrosis and improves heart function by regulating the Snail1/RhoA/α-SMA pathway.

Myocardial fibrosis (MF) is a key pathological process driving heart failure, characterized by excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition and impaired cardiac function. Although myocyte-specific enhancer factor 2 A (MEF2A) is implicated in cardiac fibroblast activation, its role in MF remains unclear. We manipulated MEF2A expression in cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) through knockdown and overexpression, and assessed fibrosis markers, migration, and RhoA signaling.

Research Progress in Nerve Regeneration Based on Polylactic Acid.

Peripheral nerve injuries, though rarely fatal, can lead to sensory and motor deficits and neuropathic pain, significantly lowering patients' quality of life. Thus, it is crucial to explore potential treatments that can promote the regeneration of injured sciatic nerves. Currently, nerve anastomosis is performed between the two ends for short-gap nerve defects, while long-gap nerve defects require the use of nerve conduits, scaffolds, and nerve grafts.

An environment-friendly strategy for direct characterization of polysaccharides in Auricularia auricula-judae by ATR-FTIR spectra and chemometrics.

The traditional polysaccharide component analysis often depends on utilization of chemical reagents, which pose potential threats to human health and environmental safety. The quantification analysis of Auricularia auricula-judae polysaccharides (AAPs) faces prominent challenges, e.g.

Proanthocyanidins inhibit CYP1B1 through mixed-type kinetics and stable binding in molecular dynamics simulations.

Cytochrome P450 1B1 (CYP1B1) is a heme-containing enzyme involved in procarcinogen activation and estrogen metabolism, contributing to tumor progression. This study investigates the inhibitory effects of proanthocyanidin (PA) on CYP1B1-catalyzed reactions and its underlying mechanisms. Enzyme kinetics revealed that PA exerts mixed-type inhibition with an IC₅₀ of 2.

Asthma risk: the inseparable synergy of obesity and metabolism.

Background: Obesity is a risk factor for asthma, but heterogeneity remains. The relationship between different metabolic obesity phenotypes and asthma has not been previously studied.

Methods: We used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), including a total of 50,544 participants.

Mechanisms of IGF1R signaling in type 2 diabetes-related neurodegeneration and therapeutic implications of exercise.

Background: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a chronic metabolic disorder associated with an elevated risk of neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), notably Alzheimer's disease (AD). The insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) plays a key role in both T2D and ND pathogenesis by regulating neuroinflammation and neuronal survival. However, the precise molecular mechanisms linking T2D to NDs remain unclear.

Research progress on extraction and purification, structural characteristics, biological activities, structure-activity relationships, and applications of Arctium lappa L. (burdock) polysaccharides: A review.

Arctium lappa L. (burdock) is a plant of the genus Arctium in the family Asteraceae, which is a commonly used food and medicinal resource. Notably, burdock polysaccharides are essential active components with remarkable and beneficial biological activities, including anti-constipation, anti-diabetes, anti-tussive, anti-edema, anti-oxidant, and anti-inflammatory.