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In 2020, the number of deaths caused by lung cancer worldwide reached 1,796,144, making it the leading cause of cancer‐related deaths. Cyclooxygenase‐2/prostaglandin endoperoxide synthase 2 (COX‐2/PTGS2) is overexpressed in lung cancer, which promotes tumor proliferation, invasion, angiogenesis, and resistance to apoptosis. Here, we report that the oligonucleotide drug HQi‐sRNA‐2 from Traditional Chinese Medicine Huangqin targeting COX‐2/PTGS2 significantly inhibited proliferation, migration, and invasion and induced apoptosis in the human lung cancer cell line NCI‐H460. Oral delivery of HQi‐sRNA‐2 bencaosomes prolonged survival, reduced tumor burden, and maintained weight in a spontaneous mouse lung cancer model. Compared with paclitaxel, HQi‐sRNA‐2 may be less toxic and have approximately equal efficacy in reducing tumor burden. Our previous studies reported that herbal small RNAs (sRNAs) are functional medical components. Our data suggest that sphingosine (d18:1)‐HQi‐sRNA‐2 bencaosomes, targeting COX‐2/PTGS2 and downregulating the PI3K and AKT signaling pathways, may provide novel therapeutics for lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Alterations in gut microbiota have been implicated in the pathogenesis of ankylosing spondylitis (AS), but the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. This study aims to investigate changes in gut microbiota and metabolites in individuals with AS before and after treatment with secukinumab, to identify the biological characteristics specific to AS patients and investigate the potential biomarkers, for optimizing therapeutic strategies more effectively. Methods: Fecal microbiome data were collected from 30 AS patients before and after secukinumab therapy and compared with data from 40 healthy controls (HC). Additionally, we analyzed the metabolic profile of both groups from plasma. Results: Findings indicated that the treatment‐induced changes in the composition of several crucial bacterial groups, including Megamonas, Prevotella_9, Faecalibacterium, Roseburia, Bacteroides, and Agathobacter. Post‐treatment, these groups exhibited a distribution more akin to that of the healthy populations compared with their pretreatment status. We identified three gut microbial taxa, namely Prevotellaceae_bacterium_Marseille_P2831, Prevotella_buccae, and Elusimicrobiota, as potential biomarkers for diagnosing individuals at a higher risk of developing AS and assessing disease outcomes. Plasma metabolomics analysis revealed 479 distinct metabolites and highlighted three disrupted metabolic pathways. Integration of microbiome and metabolomics datasets demonstrated a significant degree of correlation, underscoring the impact of the microbiome on metabolic activity. Conclusion: Secukinumab can restore the balance of the gut microbiome and metabolites in AS patients, rendering them more similar to those found in the healthy population. The analysis of microbiome and metabolomics data have unveiled some candidate biomarkers capable of evaluating treatment efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an improved axisymmetric interfacial lattice Boltzmann flux solver abandoning the previous predictor-corrector scheme is proposed. Unlike the previous model starting from the two-dimensional standard lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), the present method is developed using the axisymmetric LBM, which directly incorporates the axisymmetric effects into the distribution functions. As a result, the proposed solver does not need the corrector step involving complicated space derivatives. It makes this method simpler and more computationally efficient. In the present solver, the resultant governing equation is globally resolved by the finite volume method, while the fluxes are reconstructed by local application of the axisymmetric LBM. Therefore, the inconsistency between the local reconstruction and the global governing equation can be eliminated because the global equation can be strictly derived from the axisymmetric LBM, which holds stronger physical basis than the previous method. Numerical experiments about the interface capturing and the multiphase flows are conducted to test the proposed model. Results show that the present method is superior to the fractional step solver in terms of the accuracy, stability, and computational efficiency. In addition, this solver has the capacity of simulating large-density-ratio and complex interfacial change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]