Steviarebaudiana Bertoni (S. rebaudiana for short), native to the Amambay Mountains of South America, is a sweet tasting medicinal plant with a long history of use in traditional medical systems. With the increasing global interest in natural products, their ethnopharmacological value and therapeutic potential have received growing attention from researchers, physicians, patients, and consumers. This review aims to comprehensively assess the ethnobotanical traits, traditional uses, pharmacological activities, major constituents, mechanisms of action, and safety profiles of S. rebaudiana. A comprehensive literature search was conducted using English and Chinese databases—Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, CNKI, Google Scholar, and Elsevier—covering publications up to March 2025, including the keywords “ethnobotany”, “geographical distribution”, “traditional medicine”, “bioactivity”, “phytochemistry”, “pharmacological activities” and “toxicity”. Its taxonomic identity was confirmed using the Medicinal Plant Names Services (MPNS) and Plants of the World Online (POWO). Additional ethnopharmacological monographs and reference works were consulted to supplement database coverage. These findings show that S. rebaudiana has been traditionally used to lower blood glucose levels, reduce inflammation, and promote digestion. Modern research has identified bioactive metabolites, such as diterpenes, flavonoids, and phenolic acids, which exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, and hepatoprotective effects. These properties have therapeutic potential for the management of metabolic disorders, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative conditions and liver dysfunction. Although generally recognized as safe, some studies have reported immunological and reproductive concerns under high-dose or prolonged exposure, underscoring the need for further toxicological and clinical evaluation. In conclusion, this review bridges traditional ethnomedical knowledge with modern pharmacological evidence, providing a foundation for future research and the potential clinical translation of S. rebaudiana in phytotherapy.

Atherosclerosis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory disease associated with lipid deposition in the vascular intima. Copper is a vital trace element implicated in the onset and progression of AS. Excessive intracellular copper accumulation induces a unique form of cell death termed “cuproptosis.” The emergence of the concept of cuproptosis has highlighted the potential role of copper in AS. This review explores the regulatory mechanisms of copper metabolism and cuproptosis, summarizes recent findings on the link between copper excess and AS, and examines how cuproptosis may influence AS progression. The goal is to propose novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for AS through the lens of cuproptosis.

Background: The purpose of this study is to analyze the influencing factors associated with Long-COVID in patients infected with Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Changchun City, Jilin Province, China three months after discharge in March 2022. Methods: In this study, we conducted a telephone follow-up based on the real-world data collected from the Affiliated Hospital to Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun Tongyuan Shelter Hospital and Changchun Infectious Disease Hospital during the COVID-19 epidemic in Changchun in March 2022. We used the Global COVID-19 Clinical Platform Case Report Form for Post COVID condition as a follow-up questionnaire to collect the general information, past medical history, clinical symptoms, COVID-19 vaccine inoculation doses, and other relevant information to analyze the symptom characteristics of COVID-19 patients three months after discharge from the hospital and related factors affecting Long COVID. Results: A total of 1,806 patients with COVID-19 were included in this study, 977 males and 829 females, with a mean age of 38.5 [30.0, 49.4] years, and the number of female patients suffering from Long COVID (50.87%) was greater than male patients (p = 0.023). The binary logistic regression analysis of factors influencing Long COVID showed that smoking history (OR (95%CI) = 0.551(0.425–0.714), p < 0.001, taking never smoking as a reference), allergy history (OR (95%CI) = 1.618 (1.086–2.413), p-value 0.018, taking no allergy as a reference), first symptoms (OR (95%CI) = 0.636 (0.501–0.807), p < 0.001, with no first symptoms as reference) and COVID-19 vaccine inoculation doses (OR (95%CI) = 1.517 (1.190–1.933), p-value 0.001, with ≤ 2 doses of COVID-19 vaccine inoculation doses as reference) constituted its influencing factors. The first symptoms of patients on admission mainly included fever (512 cases, 71.81%), cough (279 cases, 39.13%) and dry or itchy throat (211 cases, 29.59%). The most common symptoms of Long COVID were persistent fatigue (68 cases), amnesia (61 cases), insomnia (50 cases) and excessive sweating (50 cases). Conclusion: The first symptoms on admission were predominantly fever, cough and dry or itchy throat. The most common symptoms of Long COVID were persistent fatigue, amnesia, insomnia and excessive sweating, and female patients were at a higher risk of Long COVID.

This study aimed to perform a systematic meta-analysis to investigate how varying severities of tricuspid regurgitation (TR) affect mortality in patients with heart failure (HF). PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and the Cochrane Library were searched up to March 2024. Heterogeneity and sensitivity analyses as well as subgroup analyses were carried out using Stata (15.1). In total, 12 cohort studies involving 45 829 HF patients were included. The meta-analysis demonstrated that the TR group exhibited notably higher all-cause mortality [risk ratio (RR) = 1.15, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02–1.29, P < 0.05] and HF rehospitalization rate (RR = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.13–1.36, P < 0.001) than the non-TR group. Subgroup analysis by the severity of TR indicated that all-cause mortality (RR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.10–1.63, P < 0.05), HF rehospitalization rate (RR = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.16–1.45, P < 0.001) and cardiovascular mortality (RR = 1.49, 95% CI: 1.04–2.15, P < 0.05) were notably higher in the moderate/severe TR group than in the non-TR/mild TR group. Subgroup analysis showed that ejection fraction, region, regression methods and publication year affected the results of both groups. Moderate and severe TR can increase the risk of all-cause mortality and HF rehospitalization rate. However, these results may be influenced by other factors. More studies on the prognosis of HF patients with different ejection fractions and regions are desired to further validate and improve our findings.

Background: This study aimed to evaluate systematically the risk prediction model for heart failure after myocardial infarction, assess its prediction performance and effect, and provide a reference basis for clinical practice and scientific research. Methods: Computerized searches of CNKI, WanFang Data, China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP), China Biology Medicine Database, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, and other databases were performed to retrieve all studies on risk prediction models for heart failure after myocardial infarction from the time of library construction to June 1, 2023. Two researchers independently screened the literature, extracted the information, and evaluated the risk of bias in the included studies. Results: A total of 28 studies were included, of which 25 were retrospective and 3 were prospective, all conducted in China and in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Twenty-two studies were modeled using logistic regression, 5 studies were modeled using Cox regression, and 1 study was modeled using full-subset regression. Twenty-eight studies had an area under the work characteristic curve of the subjects or a C-statistic between 0.6 and 0.9, and only 2 studies were divided into modeling and validation groups for external validation. The most common predictors in the predictive models were age, Gensini score, ultrasensitive C-reactive protein level, multiple diseased vessels, left ventricular ejection fraction, and GRACE score, among others. Heterogeneity and risk of bias were high in the prediction models, with the risk of bias high in 26 models and unclear in 2. Fourteen of the 28 models had high overall applicability. Conclusion: The overall predictive efficacy of the heart failure risk prediction model in patients with acute myocardial infarction was good; however, the model heterogeneity and risk of bias were high, and the overall quality needs to be improved. In the future, the TRIPOD reporting specifications should be strictly followed, and the model should be described objectively in 22 aspects, including the title and abstract, introduction, methods, results, statistical analysis, and discussion, to improve the quality of the model and facilitate the prediction model to better serve the clinic.