DTwP-HB-Hib vaccine (Pentavac SD, SSI / Pentavac PFS, SSI)

Characterization of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)-phosphorylated hemoglobin for changing pork meat quality: from simulations to applications.

Wang Yanli Y, Liu Lili L, Cheng Weiwei W, Zhang Xinshuai X et al.

The valorization of hemoglobin (Hb) from meat processing by-products is essential for sustainable recycling. However, this process is severely constrained by the inherent limitations of Hb, such as poor stability and low solubility. To overcome these challenges, this study proposes a computationally guided dual-modification strategy. This approach integrates covalent phosphorylation with epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)-mediated non-covalent interactions to enhance the applicability of modified Hb. Artificial neural network prediction and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were employed to rationalize the modification process. MD simulations and binding energy calculations revealed that the stability of the complex is driven by specific amino acid residues, with ALA142, ASN139 and THR38 making the most significant contributions through robust hydrogen bonding networks. Spectroscopic analysis confirmed that this interaction with EGCG drastically reduced the α-helix content (from 74% to 30%), inducing a conformational opening that exposed cryptic hydrophobic pockets. The modified Hb exhibited superior surface hydrophobicity, antioxidant activity and foaming capacity. Crucially, application in a pork meat sausage model demonstrated that the EGCG-phosphorylated porcine hemoglobin (EGCG-PHb) complex effectively acted, overcoming the severe gel brittleness caused by phosphorylation and significantly enhancing the springiness and chewiness of the meat matrix. The protein structure of the EGCG-PHb complex was significantly altered compared to Hb, and EGCG-PHb complex also significantly improved the springiness and chewiness of pork sausages. This dual-modification strategy provides new insights into the development and utilization of Hb. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.

Immunogenicity and protective efficacy of recombinant BCG expressing a multi-epitope vaccine against mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Zhang Xuan-Ji XJ, Luo Jia-Rui JR, Tian Ting-Ting TT, Shi Juan J et al.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infects approximately one-quarter of the global population, of whom 5%-10% develop active tuberculosis (TB). Although Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) remains the cornerstone vaccine against severe infant TB, its efficacy in adults is limited, underscoring the need for novel TB vaccines. This study aimed to design a multi-epitope vaccine, tMEV, and validate its protective potential through bioinformatic prediction and in vivo experiments. tMEV was constructed from dominant T- and B-cell epitopes derived from Mtb ESAT-6, PE35, PPE38, and PE4 proteins, fused with an adjuvant. Its vaccine candidacy was assessed via physicochemical and solubility profiling, secondary and tertiary structure modeling, TLR-4 molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulation, and immune simulation. The tMEV coding sequence was cloned into pMV361 and transformed into BCG to generate recombinant BCG (rBCG-tMEV). Immunogenicity, antigenicity, and protective efficacy were evaluated in mouse immunization and Mtb challenge models. tMEV exhibited favorable vaccine-like properties in silico. In mice, both tMEV and rBCG-tMEV induced Mtb-specific immune responses. Compared with PBS, tMEV significantly enhanced cellular and humoral immunity with a Th2-biased profile. Relative to conventional BCG, rBCG-tMEV elicited a superior mixed Th1-Th2 response and higher antigen-specific immunity, accompanied by increased secretion of IFN-γ, IL-2, TNF-α, granzyme B, and perforin. Moreover, rBCG-tMEV markedly reduced bacterial loads in the lungs and spleens of Mtb-infected mice, conferring partial protection. These findings demonstrate that tMEV and rBCG-tMEV possess robust immunogenicity and protective potential against Mtb, representing promising novel TB vaccine candidates and providing a rationale for future vaccine development and optimization.

Malnutrition risk factors and a pre-post evaluation of a multicomponent management program in older inpatients with chronic heart failure: a single-centre retrospective study.

Yu Sujun S, Wan Miaomiao M, Li Yuqi Y

To investigate nutritional impairment-related outcomes admission among hospitalized older patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and to conduct a pre-post evaluation of the clinical effect of a unified multicomponent management program delivered to all enrolled patients during their inpatient stay. A single-centre retrospective observational study was split into two independent analytical parts. Part 1: Retrospective risk factor and model construction analysis: We screened 200 complete medical records of elderly CHF inpatients admitted from March 2023 to March 2024, stratified participants into nutritionally impaired (n = 71) and non-impaired (n = 129) groups based on combined admission GNRI + NRS2002 assessment using a pre-defined "and" algorithm: impaired if GNRI ≤98 and NRS2002 ≥ 3; non-impaired if GNRI >98 and NRS2002 < 3, then performed univariate, multicollinearity and multivariate logistic regression analyses to screen nutritional risk-related variables and construct an internally validated nomogram prediction model, only using cross-sectional admission data without repeated follow-up assessment. Uncontrolled inpatient before-after observational sub-study: All 200 enrolled patients received a unified full-hospital multicomponent management program, which was uniformly implemented from the first day of each patient's admission throughout their entire hospital stay. Nutritional risk status, NYHA classification, Hb, CRP, and SAS scores were measured at two fixed time points: baseline (admission day, before intervention initiation) and discharge day (post full-course intervention). No parallel control group was set, no external follow-up after discharge was conducted, and all 200 patients had complete paired admission-discharge data with zero loss to follow-up; routine standard heart failure drug treatment remained consistent for all subjects during hospitalization without additional concurrent therapeutic adjustments. Collinearity diagnostics and logistic regression were applied for the risk factor section; paired t-tests and chi-square tests were adopted for within-cohort before-after comparisons. Missing clinical data were excluded prior to analysis; only fully documented cases were retained. Univariate testing revealed significant intergroup differences in smoking history, NYHA cardiac function classification, hemoglobin (Hb), C-reactive protein (CRP), and SAS scores (all p < 0.05), with no severe multicollinearity detected (variance inflation factor ≤ 10, tolerance ≥ 0.1). Multivariate logistic regression identified smoking history (OR = 2.437, p = 0.003), NYHA classification (OR = 2.632, p = 0.002), Hb (OR = 0.921, p < 0.001), CRP (OR = 2.894, p < 0.001), and SAS score (OR = 1.086, p < 0.001) as factors independently associated with. The nomogram prediction model built on these five indicators yielded an AUC of 0.869 (95% CI: 0.814-0.923) on internal ROC validation, with a non-significant Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit p-value of 0.266, demonstrating satisfactory discriminative and calibration performance. The combined "and" algorithm identified 71 impaired patients, while GNRI alone flagged 89 patients and NRS2002 alone flagged 78 patients; the overlap between the two tools is illustrated in a Venn diagram. After standardized implementation of the multicomponent management program for all patients, the proportion of patients with NYHA class I-II increased, while the proportion with NYHA class III-IV and the admission-determined nutritional impairment rate declined significantly (all p < 0.05). Marked improvements in Hb, CRP, and SAS scores were also observed post-intervention relative to admission baseline (all p < 0.05). Hospitalized older CHF patients bear a prominent admission nutritional impairment burden. Smoking history, NYHA classification, Hb, CRP, and SAS score are independently associated with admission nutritional impairment-related variables, and the established nomogram can assist clinical high-risk population screening. The uncontrolled inpatient before-after comparison demonstrated significant improvements in cardiac function, nutritional risk status, inflammatory markers, and anxiety after the multicomponent management program; due to the absence of a control group and potential confounding inpatient factors, causal effects of the intervention cannot be confirmed; only observational within-cohort changes are described. This study provides real-world retrospective evidence including a nutritional risk prediction model and preliminary observational intervention outcomes, with major limitations consisting of a single-centre design and an uncontrolled pre-post comparison lacking parallel controls.

Correction to "Screening Natural Cholesterol Analogs to Assemble Self-Adjuvant Lipid Nanoparticles for Antigens Tagging Guided Therapeutic Tumor Vaccine".