A representative from the research team of the First Affiliated Hospital of XJTU receives the award.

The academic journal Cell Press recently announced its 2024 Most Popular China Paper Award, with a team from the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU), led by Zuyi Yuan, Yue Wu, and Ting Li, receiving the honor for their paper A gut microbiota-bile acid axis promotes intestinal homeostasis upon aspirin-mediated damage published in Cell Host & Microbe.

The study, a collaboration with Frank J. Gonzalez from the National Institutes of Health in the United States, combined clinical cohort multi-omics and animal experiments to reveal the protective role of the gut microbiota-bile acid axis in aspirin-induced intestinal injury.

The team identified Parabacteroides goldsteinii, a gut commensal bacterium significantly inhibited by aspirin, and its metabolite 7-keto-lithocholic acid (7-keto-LCA), which plays a key role in maintaining gut homeostasis.

Experiments showed that supplementing Parabacteroides goldsteinii alleviated aspirin-induced intestinal barrier damage in mice. Further mechanistic studies revealed that 7-keto-LCA, as an antagonist of the farnesoid X receptor (FXR), promotes intestinal stem cell self-renewal and epithelial repair by inhibiting FXR signaling and activating Wnt signaling.

This research presents a novel microbial-metabolic intervention strategy for preventing and treating aspirin-related enteropathy: restoring gut microbial balance by supplementing specific probiotics (such as Parabacteroides goldsteinii) or exogenous bile acid metabolites may mitigate drug-induced intestinal injury.

Over the past decade, the number of papers published by Chinese scientists in Cell Press journals has increased year by year, reaching 2,446 in 2024. The 2024 award covered five major fields: life science, materials science, medicine, interdisciplinary science, and sustainability.

After editorial nominations, third-party expert reviews, and evaluations based on multiple indicators such as downloads, citations, and innovativeness, 50 "Annual Papers" and 25 "Most Popular Papers" were selected.