Objective:To explore the role of NK cells in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell micro-transplantation(MST)in the treatment of patients with acute myeloid leukemia(AML).Methods:Data from 93 AML patients treated with MST at our center from 2013-2018 were retrospectively analyzed.The induction regimen was anthracycline and cytarabine combined with peripheral blood stem cells transplantation mobilization by granulocyte colony stimulating factor(GPBSC),followed by 2-4 courses of intensive treatment with medium to high doses of cytarabine combined with GPBSC after achieving complete remission(CR).The therapeutic effects of one and two courses of MST induction therapy on 42 patients who did not reach CR before transplantation were evaluated.Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to analyze the impact of donor NK cell dose and KIR genotype,including KIR ligand mismatch,2DS1,haplotype,and HLA-Cw ligands on survival prognosis of patients.Results:Forty-two patients received MST induction therapy,and the CR rate was 57.1％after 1 course and 73.7％after 2 courses.Multivariate analysis showed that,medium and high doses of NK cells was significantly associated with improved disease-free survival(DFS)of patients(HR=0.27,P=0.005;HR=0.21,P=0.001),and high doses of NK cells was significantly associated with improved overall survival(OS)of patients(HR=0.15,P=0.000).Donor 2DS1 positive significantly increases OS of patients(HR=0.25,P=0.011).For high-risk patients under 60 years old,patients of the donor-recipient KIR ligand mismatch group had longer DFS compared to the nonmismatch group(P=0.036);donor 2DS1 positive significantly prolonged OS of patients(P=0.009).Conclusion:NK cell dose,KIR ligand mismatch and 2DS1 influence the therapeutic effect of MST,improve the survival of AML patients.

AIM To investigate the clinical effects of Modified Mahuang Lianqiao Chixiaodou Decoction on patients with chronic eczema.METHODS One hundred and ninety-five patients were randomly assigned into Chinese medicine group(65 cases)for 3-week administration of Modified Mahuang Lianqiao Chixiaodou Decoction,western medicine group(65 cases)for 3-week administration of Levocetirizine Hydrochloride,and combined group(65 cases)for 3-week administration of both Modified Mahuang Lianqiao Chixiaodou Decoction and Levocetirizine Hydrochloride.The changes in clinical effects,clinical indices(EASI score,DQOLS score,TCM syndrome score,PINS score),skin physiological function indicesssss(OCTS,TEWL,WCTC),inflammatory factors(EOT,EOS,NK-κB,CCR3),T lymphocyte subsets(Treg,Th1,Th17,Th22),p38MAPK signaling pathway indices(ERK1,ERK2,mMEK 1,MEK2),recurrence rate and incidence of adverse reactions were detected.RESULTS The combined group demonstrated higher total effective rate than the Chinese medicine group and the western medicine group(P＜0.05),along with lower recurrence rate(P＜0.05).After the treatment,the combined group displayed lower EASI score,TCM syndrome score,PINS,TEWL,inflammatory factors,Th1,Th17,Th22 and p38MAPK signaling pathway indices than the control group(P＜0.05),along with higher DQOLS score,OCTS,WCTC,Treg(P＜0.05).The Chinese medicine group exhibited lower incidence of adverse reactions than the other two groups(P＜0.05).CONCLUSION For the patients with chronic eczema,Modified Mahuang Lianqiao Chixiaodou Decoction can safely and effectively alleviate skin lesion degree,enhance skin physiological functions,improve T lymphocyte subset,inflammatory factors levels,and regulate p38MAPK signaling pathway based on"Four-in-One"therapy,which exhibits synergistic effect when combined with Levocetirizine Hydrochloride.

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of Yiqi Huatan Tongluo Prescription(mainly composed of Fici Simplicissimae Radix,Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma,Pinelliae Rhizoma Praeparatum,Poria,Nelumbinis Folium,and Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma,etc.)combined with drug-coated balloon(DCB)in the treatment of coronary heart disease(CHD)and to observe its effect on low-shear related serological indicators.Methods A total of 106 patients with CHD of qi deficiency and phlegm stasis obstructing collateral type who were scheduled to undergo percutaneous coronary intervention were randomly divided into a treatment group and a control group,with 53 cases in each group.The control group was treated with drug-eluting stent implantation,and the treatment group was treated with DCB.After the operation,the control group was given conventional antiplatelet aggregation drugs,and the treatment group was given oral administration of Yiqi Huatan Tongluo Prescription.The medication for the two groups lasted for 12 weeks.The changes in the serum levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1(MCP-1),interleukin 1 β(IL-1β)and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)in the two groups were observed before and after treatment.Moreover,the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)syndrome efficacy after treatment and the incidence of adverse events one year after operation were compared between the two groups.Results(1)After 12 weeks of treatment,the total effective rate for TCM syndrome efficacy of the treatment group was 88.68％(47/53),and that of the control group was 75.47％(40/53).The intergroup comparison(tested by chi-square test)showed that the TCM syndrome efficacy in the treatment group was significantly superior to that in the control group(P＜0.05).(2)The analysis of indicators related to endothelial dysfunction in the blood flow with low shear stress showed that after treatment,the levels of serum MCP-1,IL-1βand VEGF in the control group presented no obvious changes(P＞0.05),but the serum levels of MCP-1 and IL-1β in the treatment group were significantly lowered compared with those before treatment(P＜0.05).The intergroup comparison showed that the decrease of serum MCP-1,IL-1β and VEGF levels in the treatment group was significantly superior to that in the control group(P＜0.05).(3)The one-year follow-up after the operation showed that the total incidence of adverse events in the treatment group was 18.87％(10/53),and that in the control group was 20.75％(11/53).There was no significant difference between the two groups(P＞0.05).Conclusion Yiqi Huatan Tongluo Prescription combined with DCB has definite action on the targets related to endothelial dysfunction in coronary blood flow with low shear stress,which is conducive to reducing inflammatory response,improving the symptoms of angina pectoris and enhancing clinical efficacy.The incidence of adverse events did not increase one year after operation,indicating good safety and effectiveness.

Objective To investigate the risk factors for diabetic ketoacidosis(DKA)in children/adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus(T1DM)and to establish a model for predicting the risk of DKA.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on 217 children/adolescents with T1DM who were admitted to General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University from January 2018 to December 2021.Among the 217 children/adolescents,169 cases with DKA were included as the DKA group and 48 cases without DKA were included as the non-DKA group.The risk factors for DKA in the children/adolescents with T1DM were analyzed,and a nomogram model was established for predicting the risk of DKA in children/adolescents with T1DM.Results For the 217 children/adolescents with T1DM,the incidence rate of DKA was 77.9%(169/217).The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that high levels of random blood glucose,hemoglobin A1c(HbA1c),blood ketone body,and triglyceride on admission were closely associated with the development of DKA in the children/adolescents with T1DM(OR=1.156,3.203×1015,20.131,and 9.519 respectively;P<0.05).The nomogram prediction model had a C-statistic of 0.95,with a mean absolute error of 0.004 between the risk of DKA predicted by the nomogram model and the actual risk of DKA,indicating that the model had a good overall prediction ability.Conclusions High levels of random blood glucose,HbA1c,blood ketone body,and triglyceride on admission are closely associated with the development of DKA in children/adolescents with T1DM,and targeted intervention measures should be developed to reduce the risk of DKA.

Tropane alkaloids (TAs) are a class of anticholinergic drugs widely used in clinical practice and mainly extracted from plant, among which Atopa belladonna is the main commercial drug source. It is of great industrial value to obtain TAs in large quantities by plant metabolic engineering. In TAs pathway, cytochrome oxidase CYP82M3 catalyze the synthesis of tropinone and then tropinone reductase I (TRI) compete with TRII for tropinone to form tropine leading to the TAs synthesis (drainage). In this study, based on the "increasing flow and drainage" metabolic engineering strategy, two genes, namely HnCYP82M3 and DsTRI from Hyoscyamus niger and Datura stramonium, respectively, were overexpressed in the hair roots of A. belladonna, with a view to promote the TAs accumulation. The HnCYP82M3 gene was cloned from the root of H. niger, and it encoded amino acid with 91.7% sequence identity with AbCYP82M3 from A. belladonna. Overexpression of HnCYP82M3 alone did not affect the content of TAs in hair roots of A. belladonna, indicating that CYP82M3 was not a key enzyme in TAs biosynthesis. Simultaneous overexpression of HnCYP82M3 and DsTRI greatly promoted the accumulation of the three TAs, and the contents of hyoscyamine, anisodamine and scopolamine were 4.97 times, 2.83 times and 2.19 times that of the control, respectively, and the increase amplitude was greater than that of single overexpression of DsTRI. This study showed that the "increasing flow and drainage" strategy of enzyme genes co-expression at branch points was a promising metabolic engineering method to effectively improve the biosynthesis of TAs in A. belladonna, and laid a theoretical and technical foundation for the large-scale industrial acquisition of TAs.

ObjectiveHuman Ku70 protein mainly involves the non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) repair of double-stranded DNA breaks (DSB) through its DNA-binding properties, and it is recently reported having an RNA-binding ability. This paper is to explore whether Ku70 has RNA helicase activity and affects miRNA maturation. MethodsRNAs bound to Ku protein were analyzed by RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (RIP-seq) and bioinfomatic anaylsis. The expression relationship between Ku protein and miRNAs was verified by Western blot (WB) and quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assays. Binding ability of Ku protein to the RNAs was tested by biolayer interferometry (BLI) assay. RNA helicase activity of Ku protein was identified with EMSA assay. The effect of Ku70 regulated miR-124 on neuronal differentiation was performed by morphology analysis, WB and immunofluorescence assays with or without Zika virus (ZIKV) infection. ResultsWe revealed that the Ku70 protein had RNA helicase activity and affected miRNA maturation. Deficiency of Ku70 led to the up-regulation of a large number of mature miRNAs, especially neuronal specific miRNAs like miR-124. The knockdown of Ku70 promoted neuronal differentiation in human neural progenitor cells (hNPCs) and SH-SY5Y cells by boosting miR-124 maturation. Importantly, ZIKV infection reduced the expression of Ku70 whereas increased expression of miR-124 in hNPCs, and led to morphologically neuronal differentiation. ConclusionOur study revealed a novel function of Ku70 as an RNA helicase and regulating miRNA maturation. The reduced expression of Ku70 with ZIKV infection increased the expression of miR-124 and led to the premature differentiation of embryonic neural progenitor cells, which might be one of the causes of microcephaly.

AIM To establish a quantitative analysis of multi-components by single-marker(QAMS)method for the simultaneous content determination of gastrodin,parishin E,syringin,parishin B,parishin C,ferulic acid,parishin A,buddleoside,harpagoside and cinnamic acid in Tianma Toufengling Capsules.METHODS The analysis was performed on a 30℃thermostatic GL Science InertsilTM ODS-3 column(150 mm×4.6 mm,5 μm),with the mobile phase comprising of acetonitrile-0.1%phosphoric acid flowing at 1.0 mL/min in a gradient elution manner,and the detection wavelengths were set at 220,280 nm.Syringin was used as an internal standard to calculate the relative correction factors of the other nine constituents,after which the content determination was made.RESULTS Ten constituents showed good linear relationships within their own ranges(r≥0.999 7),whose average recoveries were 98.53%-102.22%with the RSDs of 1.26%-2.68%.The result obtained by QAMS approximated those obtained by external standard method.CONCLUSION This accurate and specific method can be used for the quality control of Tianma Toufengling Capsules.

BACKGROUND: Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) has been explored as a potential biomarker for various inflammatory diseases and cardiovascular events. This study aimed to assess the predictive role of GDF-15 levels in cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality, considering traditional risk factors and other biomarkers. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted and 3699 patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) were enrolled into the research. Baseline GDF-15 levels were measured. Median follow-up was 3.1 years during the study. We analyzed clinical variables and several biomarkers. Multivariable Cox regression analysis was performed to evaluate prognostic performance of GDF-15 levels in predicting myocardial infarction (MI), heart failure, stroke, cardiovascular death, and non-cardiovascular death. RESULTS: Baseline GDF-15 levels for 3699 patients were grouped by quartile (≤ 1153, 1153-1888, 1888-3043, > 3043 ng/L). Higher GDF-15 levels were associated with older age, male gender, history of hypertension, and elevated levels of N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-pro BNP), soluble suppression of tumorigenesis-2 (sST2), and creatine (each with P < 0.001). Adjusting for established risk factors and biomarkers in Cox proportional hazards models, a 1 standard deviation (SD) increase in GDF-15 was associated with elevated risk of clinical events [hazard ratio (HR) = 2.18, 95% confidence interval (CI): (1.52-3.11)], including: MI [HR = 2.83 95% CI: (1.03-7.74)], heart failure [HR = 2.71 95% CI: (1.18-6.23)], cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular death [HR = 2.48, 95% CI (1.49-4.11)] during the median follow up of 3.1 years. CONCLUSIONS Higher levels of GDF-15 consistently provides prognostic information for cardiovascular events and all cause death, independent of clinical risk factors and other biomarkers. GDF-15 could be considered as a valuable addition to future risk prediction model in secondary prevention for predicting clinical events in patient with stable CAD.

Objective: To explore the influence and significance of respiratory filter on the judgment of pulmonary function and the conclusion of occupational health examination in occupational health examination. Methods: From August to November 2020, 252 occupational health examinees were randomly selected as the research objects, and the lung function was examined with the respiratory filter bite and the straight cylinder bite without filter, respectively. The lung function examination indexes and the qualification rate of lung function examination were analyzed and compared between the two groups, and the diagnostic criteria of lung function examination was corrected. Results: 252 subjects were 36 (30, 42) years old. The qualified rate of lung function examination with respiratory filter bite (28.17%, 71/252) was lower than that with straight cylinder bite (34.92%, 88/252) , the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05) . The percentage of forced vital capacity in normal predicted value (FVC%) , percentage of forced expiratory volume in the first second in normal predicted value (FEV(1)%) , and percentage of forced expiratory volume in the first second in forced vital capacity (FEV(1)/FVC%) of subjects using respiratory filter bite were lower than those using the straight cylinder bite (P<0.05) . The corrected diagnostic criteria of pulmonary function were FVC%>78%, FEV(1)%>77%, FEV(1)/FVC%>68%. There was no significant difference between the qualified rate of the respiratory filter bite lung function test calculated according to the corrected diagnostic criteria (35.71%, 90/252) and the qualified rate of the straight cylinder bite lung function test calculated according to the original diagnostic criteria (34.92%, 88/252) (P>0.05) . Conclusion: In occupational health examination, the use of respiratory filter may affect the results of pulmonary function examination. The diagnostic criteria of pulmonary function can be corrected according to different filtering effects to ensure the accuracy of the conclusions of occupational health examination.
Humans ; Adult ; Occupational Health ; Lung ; Vital Capacity ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Respiratory Function Tests/methods*

Purpose: The prevalence of frailty among patients with heart failure is about 45%. Frailty may result in patients' functional decline, falls, disability, and decreased quality of life. Qualitative studies can explore older patients' perceptions of frailty and help patients cope with it. However, a qualitative approach that explores the experience of frailty in older patients living with heart failure is lacking. This study aimed to explore the lived experience of frailty in older patients with heart failure. Methods: This qualitative study applies Giorgi's phenomenological method. Data were collected from October 2019 to August 2020. Thirteen older patients with heart failure aged at least 60 years were recruited using purposive sampling from a medical center in Taiwan. The participants participated in an in-depth interview using a semistructured interview guide. Results: Seven themes were identified: “being reborn at the end of the road but having difficulty recovering”, “living with a disease with an ineffable feeling”, “feeling like being drained: physical weakness and a dysfunctional body”, “struggling with impaired physical mobility and facing unexpected events”, “suffering from mental exhaustion”, “receiving care from loved ones”, and “turning over a new leaf”. Conclusions Frailty in older patients with heart failure was obscure and difficult to describe. Frailty could be improved by medical intervention, self-management, and social support but was difficult to reverse. Patients with heart failure should be evaluated for frailty using multidimensional assessment tools at first diagnosis and provided frailty-related information so that patients have proper insight into their disease as early as possible.