Wei Guo, Ming-Xuan Wang, Tong Mu, Kan Xu, Zhao-Di Jiang, Xue-Hua Wan, Jun-Wei Li, Yong-Xiang Yi
Wei Guo, Ming-Xuan Wang, Tong Mu, Kan Xu, Zhao-Di Jiang, Xue-Hua Wan, Department of Infectious Disease and Liver Disease, The Second Hospital of Nanjing, Affiliated to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210003, Jiangsu Province, China
Jun-Wei Li, Yong-Xiang Yi, Clinical Research Center, The Second Hospital of Nanjing, Affiliated to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 211113, Jiangsu Province, China
Yong-Xiang Yi, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing 210008, Jiangsu Province, China
Co-corresponding authors: Jun-Wei Li and Yong-Xiang Yi.
Author contributions: Guo W performed the experiments and wrote the manuscript; Wang MX, Jiang ZD and Mu T collected the clinical samples and clinical information; Xu K and Wan XH performed the in vivo experiments; Yi YX and Li JW designed the study and revised the manuscript. All the authors contributed to the article and approved the manuscript for submission. Prof. Yi YX, as the clinical research lead, assumed primary responsibility for the comprehensive design of clinical trials, including protocol development, ethical approval acquisition, patient screening and recruitment strategies, clinical data collection and validation processes, as well as the interpretation of patient-derived findings. On the experimental research front, Prof. Li JW directed all laboratory-based investigations, overseeing experimental design formulation, methodology optimization, molecular mechanism exploration, data analysis pipelines, and the validation of key mechanistic hypotheses through rigorous bench science approaches. Beyond their specialized supervisory roles in these respective areas, both corresponding authors collaboratively ensured the maintenance of the highest academic standards throughout the manuscript development process. This joint oversight included critical evaluation of the theoretical framework, methodological rigor, data interpretation accuracy, and the overall scientific narrative. Additionally, they played pivotal roles in securing the necessary financial support for this multifaceted research program through competitive grant applications and institutional funding allocations. Their combined intellectual input, resource provision, and continuous mentorship were absolutely fundamental to the successful execution and timely completion of this comprehensive research endeavor, which bridges important gaps between clinical observations and fundamental biological mechanisms.
Supported by Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province, No. SJCX23-0857.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Research Ethics Committee of The Second Hospital of Nanjing Review Board.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All procedures involving animals were reviewed and approved by the Animal Care and Utilization Committee of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine [IACUC protocol number: (Protocol No. 2024AE01044)].
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE Guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE Guidelines.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See:
https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Corresponding author: Yong-Xiang Yi, MD, PhD, Clinical Research Center, The Second Hospital of Nanjing, Affiliated to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, No. 1 Kangfu Road, Tangshan Subdistrict, Jiangning District, Nanjing 211113, Jiangsu Province, China.
ian0126@126.com
Received: July 1, 2025
Revised: August 1, 2025
Accepted: August 25, 2025
Published online: October 27, 2025
Processing time: 116 Days and 18.1 Hours
