Type 1 diabetes (T1D) develops when the immune system targets and destroys pancreatic β-cells responsible for insulin production, ultimately resulting in reduced insulin levels. Islet transplantation has garnered significant attention as a potential treatment, but it presents numerous challenges that hinder its effectiveness for T1D patients. A primary issue is the immune system’s tendency to reject transplanted islets, leading to a gradual decline in their functionality. Furthermore, many individuals remain reliant on additional insulin therapy. These challenges are exacerbated by the global shortage of organ donors, which limits the availability of pancreata for transplantation. This review outlines several innovative strategies to regenerate insulin-producing β-cells for the treatment of T1D, with a primary focus on pancreatic progenitor and stem cells. The strategy of converting non-β cells, particularly pancreatic α-cells, into functional β-cells continues to show promise. Moreover, α-cells, which are less vulnerable to autoimmune attacks, present a distinct opportunity for β-cell regeneration in individuals with T1D. While the use of progenitor or stem cells for β-cell regeneration appears encouraging, various hurdles, such as immune rejection, suboptimal differentiation, and other challenges, still impede the implementation of this strategy. Nonetheless, this approach may ultimately pave the way for long-lasting treatment and potential cures for T1D.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other motor neuron diseases (MNDs) are major global causes of death. However, their global incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years remain largely unknown, despite their importance for disease prevention and resource allocation. We therefore examined the global epidemiology of ALS/MNDs.

This study analyzed data from the Global Burden of Disease 2021 database for 204 regions (1990–2021), focusing on ALS/MNDs. Data from the world, China, and the G8 countries were analyzed separately. Age-standardized incidence rates were reported for the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s.

A rising global burden of ALS/MNDs, with significant variations across regions and levels of the social development index, was observed in the Global Burden of Disease database. A significant overlap of etiology between neurological diseases and ALS was also identified. Among the G8 countries and China, China and the USA exhibited the highest prevalence rates in the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s, with China showing 3.3 per 10,000 and the USA 4.0 per 10,000 in the 2020s.

Understanding the common etiologies of ALS/MNDs is key to their effective control. Recommended strategies include pollution control, chemical and radiation safety management, disease monitoring, public health education, multi-departmental collaboration, and scientific research.

With the widespread application of systemic treatments for hepatocellular carcinoma, liver injury caused by molecular targeted drugs and immune checkpoint inhibitors has become a common clinical problem. The Chinese Society of Hepatology, Chinese Medical Association, organized domestic experts to summarize and analyze adverse liver reactions, as well as advances in the diagnosis and treatment related to systemic therapy for liver cancer, both domestically and internationally. Based on this work, we formulated the “Consensus on the Management of Liver Injury Associated with Targeted Drugs and Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors for Hepatocellular Carcinoma”, aiming to provide practical recommendations and decision-making guidance for clinicians in hepatology and related specialties. This guidance focuses on the monitoring, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of liver injury during targeted and immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy, ultimately helping more liver cancer patients benefit from targeted immunotherapy.

Drug discovery is an exceptionally long and costly process, often taking over 10 years and costing billions of dollars. Despite these efforts, more than 90% of drug candidates fail, with most failures occurring during clinical trials due to issues related to efficacy, safety, or poor pharmacokinetics. A major contributor to these failures is biopharmaceutic barriers, including poor solubility, limited permeability, active efflux by transporters such as P-glycoprotein and breast cancer resistance protein, and extensive first-pass metabolism by CYP450 enzymes. These factors severely limit drug absorption and bioavailability, reducing therapeutic efficacy. Although traditional approaches, such as high-throughput absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion screening and improved chemical design, have achieved some progress, a major shift is now occurring through the use of in silico modeling, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning. These AI-driven tools enhance the prediction accuracy of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion profiles, identify transporter interactions, and even simulate metabolic pathways. Additionally, modern formulation technologies, such as three-dimensional printing, lipid-based nanocarriers, and biodegradable delivery systems, are increasingly being integrated with AI-powered design platforms to personalize and optimize drug delivery. However, these promising advancements also raise regulatory and ethical concerns that must be addressed before widespread adoption. This review examines the major biopharmaceutic barriers responsible for drug development failures and explores how emerging AI-driven strategies and formulation innovations are being used to overcome these limitations. It also discusses current regulatory challenges and ethical considerations associated with adopting these technologies.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are non-coding RNAs characterized by a strictly closed-loop covalent structure. They are abundantly detected in various cells due to their conserved nature. Studies have reported their potential association with chronic liver disease (CLD), including hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), with possible roles as diagnostic and prognostic markers. This study aimed to analyze the potential use of serum-derived hsa_circ_101555 as a diagnostic tool for CLD without HCC, and to compare it with other known non-invasive parameters for liver disease severity and inflammation. Additionally, it aimed to evaluate its expression among non-HCC CLD patients, CLD with HCC cases reported in our published (phase I) study, and healthy controls.

A cross-sectional study (phase II) was conducted involving 30 clinically, laboratory, and radiologically diagnosed Egyptian non-HCC CLD patients and 30 healthy subjects. The serum expression level of hsa_circ_101555 was measured using real-time polymerase chain reaction. The diagnostic accuracy was assessed through receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, calculating the area under the curve to determine sensitivity and specificity. The study also compared hsa_circ_101555 levels with established non-invasive parameters such as the Child-Turcotte-Pugh and model for end-stage liver disease scores, as well as inflammatory markers like the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio.

hsa_circ_101555 demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy (area under the curve of 0.970) at a cutoff point of 2.088 for differentiating non-HCC CLD patients from healthy controls. Elevated circRNA levels were noted in patients with hepatic encephalopathy and ascites, correlating with advanced liver disease scores (Child-Turcotte-Pugh/model for end-stage liver disease scores). Mean circRNA values were highest in HCC cases, followed by non-HCC CLD patients, and lowest in healthy controls.

Serum-derived hsa_circ_101555 demonstrates high diagnostic accuracy in differentiating non-HCC CLD patients from healthy controls. These findings suggest that hsa_circ_101555 has the potential to serve as a reliable non-invasive biomarker for the early diagnosis of CLD, correlating with disease severity and inflammation markers. Further research with larger sample sizes is warranted to validate its clinical utility and enhance the management of CLD.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) poses a significant challenge in modern medicine due to its high prevalence. The pathogenesis of MAFLD involves a complex dysmetabolic process consistent with the “multiple-hit” hypothesis. This process includes excessive triglyceride (TC) accumulation within hepatocytes, lipotoxicity, insulin resistance (IR), chronic low-grade inflammation, and increased oxidative stress. The role of leptin in the liver has been extensively studied, demonstrating both direct effects on hepatic cells and indirect actions mediated through the central nervous system (CNS). In MAFLD, leptin modulates several physiological processes: it improves glucose metabolism by enhancing insulin sensitivity and lowering glucose levels; regulates lipid metabolism by promoting β-oxidation and TC export while inhibiting lipogenesis; and contributes to fibrogenesis by upregulating transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) expression and activating hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and the immune response. This review explores the structure of leptin, its primary physiological functions, its potential role in MAFLD pathogenesis, and its promise as a novel therapeutic target.

Ginseng, a traditional Chinese medicinal herb, has been used for centuries to enhance vitality and overall well-being. This review synthesizes multiple studies to summarize the latest discoveries on the immunoregulatory effects of ginseng, its role in improving patients’ quality of life, and new evidence of its antitumor properties. It concludes that ginseng and its extracts can improve patients’ quality of life and may have the potential to target tumor cells. Meanwhile, ginseng extracts significantly improve sub-health status, with an 85% improvement rate observed in young adults after 30 days of intervention. This review provides valuable new evidence for ongoing research on ginseng and its extracts.

Globally, the integration of traditional medicine and modern medicine has been recognized as a global health priority aimed at improving healthcare accessibility, cultural relevance, and therapeutic effectiveness. This review systematically examines the global landscape of traditional medicine-modern medicine integration by analyzing policy developments, regulatory frameworks, and clinical implementation models across various regions, including Asia, Africa, Europe, and the USA. The scope of the review encompasses five key domains: (1) global policy initiatives, (2) regulatory and institutional frameworks, (3) clinical integration models, (4) impacts and outcomes of integrative practices, and (5) challenges and barriers to implementation. Based on peer-reviewed literature and official health policy documents published between 2000 and 2025, the present review investigates how countries have operationalized clinical integration models combining traditional and complementary medicine. Although interest in traditional and complementary medicine has grown worldwide, persistent challenges, such as limited scientific validation, lack of standardization, and professional resistance, continue to hinder progress. This review concludes that successful and sustainable integration requires evidence-based clinical approaches, inclusive regulatory reforms, and coordinated policy strategies. Countries such as China, India, and Brazil have made significant advances, offering valuable models for future implementation worldwide.

Further decompensation in cirrhosis is associated with increased mortality. However, reliable tools to predict further decompensation after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) are currently limited. This study aimed to investigate the incidence and risk factors of further decompensation within one year post-TIPS in patients with cirrhosis and to develop a predictive model for identifying high-risk individuals.

This retrospective cohort study enrolled 152 patients with cirrhosis undergoing TIPS for variceal bleeding and/or refractory ascites (January 2018–January 2024). Patients were stratified according to one-year decompensation outcomes. LASSO regression and multivariable logistic analysis were used to identify predictors, and a nomogram was constructed and internally validated using bootstrapping (1,000 replicates).

Among the 152 patients (median age 57.5 years [IQR 50.0–66.0]; 58.6% male; 58.6% viral/alcohol-associated etiology), 65.8% (100/152) achieved clinical stability at one year post-TIPS, while 34.2% (52/152) developed further decompensation. LASSO regression identified right hepatic lobe volume, spleen volume, and portal pressure gradient (PPG) reduction as key predictors, all independently associated with further decompensation risk in multivariable analysis (OR [95% CI]: 0.683 [0.535–0.873], 1.435 [1.240–1.661], and 0.961 [0.927–0.996], respectively). The nomogram demonstrated superior discrimination compared with PPG reduction alone and benchmark prognostic scores (AUC 0.854 [0.792–0.915] vs. 0.619–0.652; ΔAUC +0.201–+0.235, p < 0.001) with 92.3% sensitivity. High-risk patients (score > 86) had a 10.7-fold higher risk of further decompensation than low-risk patients (60.0% vs. 5.6%; p < 0.0001).

This validated model, combining hepatosplenic volumetry and PPG reduction, accurately stratifies further decompensation risk post-TIPS and may guide targeted surveillance and preventive interventions.