Digital Chinese Medicine最新文献

{"title":"Clinical efficacy of fecal microbiota transplantation based on syndrome element differentiation principle in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus","authors":"Ruiting Chai , Jinwen Shi , Fangzhen Wu , Zhaoyang Yang , Candong Li","doi":"10.1016/j.dcmed.2025.09.008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcmed.2025.09.008","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><div>To investigate the therapeutic efficacy and potential mechanisms of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and to preliminarily identify the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome element characteristics of FMT in the treatment of T2DM.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Between March 25, 2023 and September 30, 2024, T2DM patients who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled at the Department of Rheumatology and Endocrinology of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Participants received oral microbiota capsules as an adjunct to metformin therapy. Information obtained by four diagnostic methods of TCM, along with clinical and laboratory parameters, was collected before and after the intervention. Metagenomic sequencing was employed to analyze the gut microbiota, and Spearman correlation analysis was used to explore the relationship between laboratory indicators and differential bacterial genera. According to the post-treatment reduction in glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), patients were categorized into a response (R) group and a non-response (NR) group. Treatment outcomes, safety indicators, gut microbiota changes, and TCM syndrome element features were compared between the two groups.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>A total of 53 T2DM patients were included in the final analysis, and 30 patients were assigned to R group and 23 to NR group. After treatment, the R group exhibited significant reductions in HbA1c, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and 2-hour postprandial glucose (2hPG) (<em>P</em> < 0.05 or <em>P</em> < 0.01). The NR group also showed significant decreases in HbA1c and FPG levels <em>P</em> < 0.01 or <em>P</em> < 0.05. Compared with the NR group, after treatment, FPG level in the R group demonstrated significant reductions (<em>P</em> < 0.01). As compared with before treatment, pancreatic islet function demonstrated enhancement in the R group, a significant increase in the 2-hour pastprandial C-peptide (2hC-P) levels in R group (<em>P</em> < 0.05), whereas no marked change was observed in the NR group. Regarding body composition indicators, the R group showed significantly lower waist-hip ratio (WHR), visceral fat (VF), and subcutaneous fat (SF) levels compared with the NR group (<em>P</em> < 0.01). After treatment, the NR group exhibited a significant elevation in aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels (<em>P</em> < 0.05). Other safety-related indicators fluctuated within normal reference ranges, and no other adverse events, such as diarrhea, fever, or nausea, were reported. Metagenomic sequencing showed that FMT improved the diversity and richness of the gut microbiota, remodeling its overall structure. At the phylum level, the abundance of <em>p_Firmicutes</em> decreased significantly (<em>P</em> < 0.01), while the abundances of <em>p_Bacteroidota</em> and <","PeriodicalId":33578,"journal":{"name":"Digital Chinese Medicine","volume":"8 3","pages":"Pages 363-378"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145414203","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Traditional Chinese medicine in lupus nephritis: mechanistic insights and integrative therapeutic strategies","authors":"Elizabethrani Edwin , Karthikeyan Elumalai , Nandhini Jayaprakash","doi":"10.1016/j.dcmed.2025.09.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcmed.2025.09.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><div>To review and synthesize preclinical and clinical evidence regarding traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formulations and bioactive herbal compounds in lupus nephritis (LN), and to identify direction and research priorities for integrating TCM with professional care.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A narrative literature review was conducted by searching Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar for articles published between January 1, 2011 and March 31, 2024. Search terms combined controlled vocabulary [e.g., medical subject headings (MeSH)] and free-text words including lupus nephritis, traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese herbal medicine, formulation, and names of specific herbs [Leigongteng (Tripterygii Wilfordii Radix et Rhizoma), Baishao (Paeoniae Radix Alba), and Yinghao (Artemisiae Annuae Herba)]. Both randomized controlled trials and observational studies were included, along with mechanistic preclinical studies and pharmacologic investigations. Inclusion criteria were studies that reported renal outcomes (proteinuria and estimated glomerular filtration rate), immune-modulatory mechanisms, or safety and herb-drug interaction data. Studies without primary data, case reports, or those lacking relevance to LN were excluded. References of key articles were manually screened to identify additional eligible studies.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>TCM formulas [e.g., Liuwei Dihuang Pills (六味地黄丸), Zhibai Dihuang Pills (知柏地黄丸), and Huanglian Jiedu Decoction (黄连解毒汤)] and herbal medicines [e.g., extracts from Leigongteng (Tripterygii Wilfordii Radix et Rhizoma), Baishao (Paeoniae Radix Alba), and Yinghao (Artemisiae Annuae Herba)] were commonly used in the above studies. TCM formulations and their constituent compounds showed multi-modal mechanisms relevant to LN pathogenesis, encompassing immunomodulation (reduction of autoreactive B/T cell activity, regulatory T cell enhancement), inhibition of pro-inflammatory signaling pathways nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD), leucine-rich repeat (LRR) and pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3 inflammasome), anti-fibrotic and antioxidant effects, and direct renal-protective properties. In many studies, these indicators can reduce proteinuria and improve renal function. Clinical data, while promising, are heterogeneous in design, sample size, endpoints, and TCM formulation standardization. Safety concerns (notably with Tripterygium preparations) and potential herb-drug interactions with immunosuppressants remained important considerations.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>TCM offers biologically plausible and multi-targeted adjuvant strategies for LN that may enhance therapeutic efficacy and reduce toxicity when combined with modern therapies. To translate these promises into clinical practice, future work should prioritize the","PeriodicalId":33578,"journal":{"name":"Digital Chinese Medicine","volume":"8 3","pages":"Pages 323-334"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145420318","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of moxibustion at Huantiao (GB30) acupoint on nerve regeneration in rats with sciatic nerve injury","authors":"Pinxi Zhou , Ruhan Zhang , Mailan Liu, Mi Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.dcmed.2025.09.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcmed.2025.09.010","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><div>To observe the effects of moxibustion at Huantiao (GB30) acupoint on nerve repair, regeneration, and function in rats with sciatic nerve injury (SNI), and explore the possible mechanism of SNI improvement via moxibustion.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A total of 70 specific pathogen-free (SPF) grade male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly assigned to control group (<em>n</em> = 10) and model group (<em>n</em> = 60). Following replication of SNI to model group rats, 60 SNI model rats were randomly allocated to SNI groups of 1 d, 3 d, and 7 d and moxibustion groups of 1 d, 3 d, and 7 d with 10 rats in each group. Moxibustion groups were given moxibustion at the Huantiao (GB30) acupoint on the affected side with a 5 cm distance from the skin under isoflurane respiratory anesthesia and treated once a day for 20 min for 1 d, 3 d, and 7 d, respectively. Control and SNI groups were anesthetized with isoflurane daily for 20 min. Open field tests and thermal pain threshold tests were conducted, and the general condition of rats was observed in each group pre-modeling and on treatment day 1, 3, and 7. At the end of the treatment, immunofluorescence was used to detect the axonal growth rate, axonal growth density, and Schwann cells (SCs) proliferation in the middle 1-mm cross-section of the crush injury segment in rats. The gastrocnemius muscles on both sides of the rats were taken and weighed to calculate the wet weight ratio of the gastrocnemius muscles on both sides to observe the muscle atrophy of the rats, and hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining was used to observe the pathomorphological changes of the gastrocnemius muscles on the affected side. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to detect the expression levels of nerve growth factor (NGF), interferon (IFN), macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), interleukin (IL)-4, and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β in the sciatic nerve tissue of the rats.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>After modeling, rats in both moxibustion and SNI groups showed typical signs of pain behaviors (bending and curling of the hind soles of the affected side, licking claws, and lameness) and decreased activity compared with control group. The main benefits of moxibustion were evident from day 3: compared with SNI group, rats in moxibustion group had marked relief of pain behavior, increased activity levels and movement, and a lower response to thermal pain. At the same time, moxibustion significantly promoted the repair of SNI, as evidenced by the significantly better axonal growth rate, growth density, and SCs proliferation density in the crush injury segment compared with SNI group (<em>P</em> < 0.01). Moxibustion also regulated the local microenvironment of the injury, up-regulated the pro-nerve repair factors NGF, IL-4, and TGF-β (<em>P</em> < 0.05), and down-regulated the pro-inflammatory factors IFN-γ (<em>P</em> < 0.01) and MIF (<em>P</em> &","PeriodicalId":33578,"journal":{"name":"Digital Chinese Medicine","volume":"8 3","pages":"Pages 389-399"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145420320","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of Zuogui Jiangtang Yishen Formula in regulating the NLRP3/caspase-1/GSDMD signaling axis on pyroptosis in rats with diabetic kidney disease","authors":"Shujuan Hu , Xuhua Li , Xiu Liu , Peng Yao , Lili Chen , Rong Yu , Yajun Peng","doi":"10.1016/j.dcmed.2025.09.009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcmed.2025.09.009","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><div>To investigate the effects of Zuogui Jiangtang Yishen Formula (左归降糖益肾方, ZGJTYSF) in regulating the nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3)/caspase-1/gasdermin D (GSDMD) signaling axis on pyroptosis in rats with diabetic kidney disease (DKD).</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Fifty male specific pathogen-free (SPF) grade Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats (12 weeks old) were fed a high-fat diet for one month to establish an early DKD model. Model establishment was confirmed when fasting blood glucose (FBG) ≥ 11.1 mmol/L and urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (uACR) ≥ 30 mg/g. The successfully modeled early DKD rats were randomly divided by random number table into five groups (<em>n</em> = 10 per group): model group; dapagliflozin group (1.0 mg/kg, by gavage, served as positive control); and low-, medium-, and high-dose of ZGJTYSF groups (4.9, 9.9, and 19.9 g/kg, respectively, by gavage). Age-matched male SPF Wistar rats (<em>n</em> = 10) served as control group. Rats in control and model groups were gavaged with equivalent volumes of distilled water. Treatment lasted 12 weeks. Changes in uACR, FBG, and renal function were observed in all groups. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE), periodic acid-Schiff (PAS), and Masson staining were used to observe renal histopathological changes. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the localization and expression of caspase-1, GSDMD, and NLRP3 in rat renal tissues. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase deoxyuridine triphosphate (dUTP) nick end labeling (TUNEL) was utilized to detect pyroptosis in renal tissues. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and Western blot were applied to detect mRNA and protein expression levels of NLRP3, caspase-1, GSDMD, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-18.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Compared with model group, all doses of ZGJTYSF showed reductions in FBG, with medium- and high-dose of ZGJTYSF groups demonstrating significant decreases at week 8 and 12 (<em>P</em> < 0.05). For uACR, all doses of ZGJTYSF groups exhibited a decreasing trend, with high-dose of ZGJTYSF group being significantly lower than low- and medium-dose of ZGJTYSF groups at week 12 (<em>P</em> < 0.05) and showing no significant difference from dapagliflozin group (<em>P</em> > 0.05). No significant differences in renal function parameters (serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, and uric acid) were observed among groups (<em>P</em> > 0.05). Histopathological examination revealed milder glomerular and tubular lesions in both ZGJTYSF groups and dapagliflozin group, with renal pathological changes in high-dose of ZGJTYSF group resembling those in dapagliflozin group. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated significantly reduced expression of caspase-1, GSDMD, and NLRP3 in renal tissues of dapagliflozin group and high-dose of ZGJTYSF group compared with model group (<em>P</em> < 0.05 or <em>P</em> < 0.01), while the differences in low","PeriodicalId":33578,"journal":{"name":"Digital Chinese Medicine","volume":"8 3","pages":"Pages 379-388"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145414204","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Bone protective potential of Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. seed hydroalcoholic extract on ovariectomy-induced osteoporosis in Wistar rats via ER/OPG/RANKL signaling pathway","authors":"Pooja Bhalerao, Manoj Magre, Satish Mandlik, Vaibhav Shinde, Deepa Mandlik","doi":"10.1016/j.dcmed.2025.09.013","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcmed.2025.09.013","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><div>To investigate the bone-protective potential of <em>Nelumbo nucifera</em> Gaertn. seed hydroalcoholic extract (NNHE) in an ovariectomized (OVX) rat model by modulating the estrogen receptor/osteoprotegerin/receptor activator of nuclear factor (NF)-κB (ER/OPG/RANKL) signaling pathway.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Network pharmacology was employed with the databases of PubChem, BindingDB, DisGeNET, Gene Ontology (GO), and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), along with Cytoscape 3.10.2 for identifying the targets and pathways of NNHE relevant to OP. A total of 48 specific pathogen-free (SPF) grade female Wistar rats were randomly divided into six groups (<em>n</em> = 8 per group): sham control, OVX control, OVX + NNHE [100, 200, 400 mg/(kg·d)], and OVX + alendronate [3 mg/(kg·week)]. The treatment lasted for 16 weeks. Post-treatment assessment included bone parameters (weight, thickness, density, volume, and length), serum biochemical markers [parathyroid hormone (PTH), estrogen, OPG, RANKL, tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), osteocalcin (OC), calcitonin (CT), calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP)], pro-inflammatory cytokines [tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α, NF-κB, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6], lipid profiles [total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein (LDL), and high density lipoprotein (HDL)], oxidative stress markers [superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH), and malondialdehyde (MDA)], and histopathological analyses of femur, uterus, and vaginal tissues.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Network pharmacology analysis revealed 61 overlapping targets between NNHE and osteoporosis-related genes, including signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), NF-κB subunit 1 (NFKB1), dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2), matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9), and caspase-3. GO and KEGG enrichment suggested involvement in the ER/OPG/RANKL signaling pathway. <em>In vivo</em> studies demonstrated that NNHE treatment (400 mg/kg) significantly reduced OVX-induced body weight gain and exhibited estrogenic activity in the vaginal cornification assay. NNHE at 200 and 400 mg/kg significantly increased serum estrogen levels compared with OVX control group, while uterine weight remained unaffected. NNHE significantly improved the lipid profile compared with OVX group, with TC, TG, and LDL decreased, while HDL levels were increased at 200 and 400 mg/kg. Bone metabolism markers were significantly improved compared with OVX group, with serum Ca and P levels restored at all NNHE doses and ALP activity reduced. NNHE effectively modulated bone turnover markers compared with OVX group by reducing levels of OC, TRAP, and PTH, and increasing level of CT. In addition, NNHE decreased RANKL level while increasing OPG level at 200 and 400 mg/kg. Bone mineral density (BMD) was significantly enhanced compared with OVX group. Serum oxidative s","PeriodicalId":33578,"journal":{"name":"Digital Chinese Medicine","volume":"8 3","pages":"Pages 425-442"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145420323","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A lung cancer early-warning risk model based on facial diagnosis image features","authors":"Yulin Shi , Shuyi Zhang , Jiayi Liu , Wenlian Chen , Lingshuang Liu , Ling Xu , Jiatuo Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.dcmed.2025.09.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcmed.2025.09.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><div>To explore the feasibility of constructing a lung cancer early-warning risk model based on facial image features, providing novel insights into the early screening of lung cancer.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>This study included patients with pulmonary nodules diagnosed at the Physical Examination Center of Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from November 1, 2019 to December 31, 2024, as well as patients with lung cancer diagnosed in the Oncology Departments of Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine and Longhua Hospital during the same period. The facial image information of patients with pulmonary nodules and lung cancer was collected using the TFDA-1 tongue and facial diagnosis instrument, and the facial diagnosis features were extracted from it by deep learning technology. Statistical analysis was conducted on the objective facial diagnosis characteristics of the two groups of participants to explore the differences in their facial image characteristics, and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was used to screen the characteristic variables. Based on the screened feature variables, four machine learning methods: random forest, logistic regression, support vector machine (SVM), and gradient boosting decision tree (GBDT) were used to establish lung cancer classification models independently. Meanwhile, the model performance was evaluated by indicators such as sensitivity, specificity, F1 score, precision, accuracy, the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC), and the area under the precision-recall curve (AP).</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>A total of 1 275 patients with pulmonary nodules and 1 623 patients with lung cancer were included in this study. After propensity score matching (PSM) to adjust for gender and age, 535 patients were finally included in the pulmonary nodule group and the lung cancer group, respectively. There were significant differences in multiple color space metrics (such as R, G, B, V, L, a, b, Cr, H, Y, and Cb) and texture metrics [such as gray-levcl co-occurrence matrix (GLCM)-contrast (CON) and GLCM-inverse different moment (IDM)] between the two groups of individuals with pulmonary nodules and lung cancer (<em>P</em> < 0.05). To construct a classification model, LASSO regression was used to select 63 key features from the initial 136 facial features. Based on this feature set, the SVM model demonstrated the best performance after 10-fold stratified cross-validation. The model achieved an average AUC of <styled-content style-type=\"number\">0.8729</styled-content> and average accuracy of 0.799 0 on the internal test set. Further validation on an independent test set confirmed the model’s robust performance (AUC = 0.823 3, accuracy = 0.729 0), indicating its good generalization ability. Feature importance analysis demonstrat","PeriodicalId":33578,"journal":{"name":"Digital Chinese Medicine","volume":"8 3","pages":"Pages 351-362"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145414205","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Bridging tradition and innovation: phenomics of traditional Chinese medicine 2.0 as a catalyst for the development of integrated holistic precision medicine","authors":"Bin Cong","doi":"10.1016/j.dcmed.2025.09.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcmed.2025.09.001","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":33578,"journal":{"name":"Digital Chinese Medicine","volume":"8 3","pages":"Pages 279-281"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145420317","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reviving classical Bawl (urine) diagnostics in Unani medicine via artificial intelligence and digital tools: toward integrative informatics for traditional systems","authors":"Farooqui Shazia Parveen ,&nbsp;Khaleel Ahmed ,&nbsp;Athar Parvez Ansari ,&nbsp;Ahmed Kazi Kabiruddin ,&nbsp;Noor Zaheer Ahmed ,&nbsp;Shaheen Akhlaq ,&nbsp;Sendhilkumar Selvaradjou","doi":"10.1016/j.dcmed.2025.09.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcmed.2025.09.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In Unani medicine, <em>Bawl</em> (urine) is recognized as a key diagnostic tool, with humoural imbalances assessed via parameters like color, consistency, sediment, clarity, froth, odor, and volume. This conceptual review explores how these classical diagnostic indicators may be contextualized alongside modern urinalysis markers (e.g., bilirubin, protein, ketones, and sedimentation) and examined through emerging artificial intelligence (AI) frameworks. Potential applications include ResNet-18 for color classification, You Only Look Once version 8 (YOLOv8) for sediment detection, long short-term memory (LSTM) for viscosity estimation, and EfficientDet for froth analysis, with standardized urine images/videos forming the basis of future datasets. Additionally, a comparative ontology is proposed to align Unani perspectives with diagnostic approaches in traditional Chinese medicine, encouraging cross-system integration. By synthesizing classical epistemology with computational intelligence, this review highlights pathways for developing AI-based decision support systems to promote personalized, accessible, and telemedicine-enabled healthcare.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":33578,"journal":{"name":"Digital Chinese Medicine","volume":"8 3","pages":"Pages 313-322"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145420416","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Phenomics of traditional Chinese medicine 2.0: the integration with digital medicine","authors":"X.U. Min ,&nbsp;S.H.A.O. Xinyi ,&nbsp;G.U.O. Donggeng ,&nbsp;Y.A.N. Xiaojing ,&nbsp;W.A.N.G. Lei ,&nbsp;Y.A.N.G. Tao ,&nbsp;L.I.A.N.G. Hao ,&nbsp;P.E.N.G. Qinghua ,&nbsp;YE Lingyu Linda ,&nbsp;C.H.E.N.G. Haibo ,&nbsp;DUAN Dayue Darrel","doi":"10.1016/j.dcmed.2025.09.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcmed.2025.09.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Modern western medicine typically focuses on treating specific symptoms or diseases, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) emphasizes the interconnections of the body’s various systems under external environment and takes a holistic approach to preventing and treating diseases. Phenomics was initially introduced to the field of TCM in 2008 as a new discipline that studies the laws of integrated and dynamic changes of human clinical phenomes under the scope of the theories and practices of TCM based on phenomics. While TCM Phenomics 1.0 has initially established a clinical phenomic system centered on Zhenghou (a TCM definition of clinical phenome), bottlenecks remain in data standardization, mechanistic interpretation, and precision intervention. Here, we systematically elaborates on the theoretical foundations, technical pathways, and future challenges of integrating digital medicine with TCM phenomics under the framework of “TCM phenomics 2.0”, which is supported by digital medicine technologies such as artificial intelligence, wearable devices, medical digital twins, and multi-omics integration. This framework aims to construct a closed-loop system of “Zhenghou–Phenome–Mechanism–Intervention” and to enable the digitization, standardization, and precision of disease diagnosis and treatment. The integration of digital medicine and TCM phenomics not only promotes the modernization and scientific transformation of TCM theory and practice but also offers new paradigms for precision medicine. In practice, digital tools facilitate multi-source clinical data acquisition and standardization, while AI and big data algorithms help reveal the correlations between clinical Zhenghou phenomes and molecular mechanisms, thereby improving scientific rigor in diagnosis, efficacy evaluation, and personalized intervention. Nevertheless, challenges persist, including data quality and standardization issues, shortage of interdisciplinary talents, and insufficiency of ethical and legal regulations. Future development requires establishing national data-sharing platforms, strengthening international collaboration, fostering interdisciplinary professionals, and improving ethical and legal frameworks. Ultimately, this approach seeks to build a new disease identification and classification system centered on phenomes and to achieve the inheritance, innovation, and modernization of TCM diagnostic and therapeutic patterns.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":33578,"journal":{"name":"Digital Chinese Medicine","volume":"8 3","pages":"Pages 282-299"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145420316","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Efficacy and safety of the tonifying spleen and reinforcing Qi therapy combined with thyroid hormone in Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism: a systematic review and meta-analysis","authors":"Mengfei Yang ,&nbsp;Yiwen Lai ,&nbsp;Tianshu Gao","doi":"10.1016/j.dcmed.2025.09.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dcmed.2025.09.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><div>To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the tonifying spleen and reinforcing Qi (TSRQ) therapy combined with thyroid hormone replacement therapy (THRT) for treating Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>From database foundation to January 14, 2025, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Data, China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP), and China Biomedical Literature Database (CBM) were searched for relevant information. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) evaluating the efficacy and safety of TSRQ therapy combined with THRT for Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism were eligible for inclusion. Following quality assessment, data were analyzed using Stata 15.1 to conduct a meta-analysis and systematic review. Subgroup analysis was used to identify the sources of heterogeneity. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system was adopted to evaluate the certainty of the evidence.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>This study included 30 RCTs, comprising 2 687 patients with Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism. Overall methodological quality was acceptable, with no studies exhibiting a high risk of bias. Meta-analysis demonstrated that TSRQ therapy combined with THRT significantly enhanced serum free triiodothyronine (fT3) levels [standardized mean difference (SMD) = 0.76, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.57 to 0.94, <em>P</em> &lt; 0.001] and free thyroxine (fT4) levels (SMD = 0.86, 95% CI: 0.61 to 1.11, <em>P</em> &lt; 0.001), while reducing thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels (SMD = – 0.99, 95% CI: – 1.20 to – 0.78, <em>P</em> &lt; 0.001) compared with THRT alone. Furthermore, the combination therapy significantly decreased anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb) levels (SMD = – 1.46, 95% CI: – 1.79 to – 1.13, <em>P</em> &lt; 0.001) and anti-thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) levels (SMD = – 1.46, 95% CI: – 1.80 to – 1.11, <em>P</em> &lt; 0.001). TSRQ therapy did not adversely impact the safety profile of THRT. However, while some sources of heterogeneity have been identified (e.g., specific detection methodologies, <em>I</em>² = 0.0%, <em>P</em> = 0.938), there remains a portion of unexplained heterogeneity (e.g., publication year, <em>I</em>² = 93.4%, <em>P</em> &lt; 0.001), which has undermined confidence in these pooled estimates. The evidence ratings for fT3, fT4, and TSH were limited, and those for TPOAb and TgAb were even more limited.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>TSRQ therapy combined with THRT may strengthen thyroid function and modulate immune dysregulation in patients with Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism without increasing adverse event incidence.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":33578,"journal":{"name":"Digital Chinese Medicine","volume":"8 3","pages":"Pages 335-350"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145420319","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}