Objective To investigate the effect of simulated microgravity on the proliferation and differentiation of the human megakaryocyte cells in vitro. Methods The fourth generation rotating cell culture system (RCCS-4) was used to generate the simulated microgravity environment. The cell viability was assessed by trypan blue staining method. The proliferation of cells was assessed by cell counting method and CCK8 method. The CD41+/CD61+ cells rate and the cells cycle were detected by flow cytometry. The expression levels of thrombopoietin receptor (c-mpl) and transcription factors were detected with RT-PCR. Results After 24, 48, 72 h, culture under simulated microgravity resulted in a significant decrease in the cell number , proliferative activity, cells in the G2/M phase and levels of c-mpl mRNA expression in comparison with that under the normal gravity (P < 0.05). After 48 h and 72 h culture, CD41+/CD61+ cells ratio decreased and RUNX-1 mRNA expression was down-regulated in cells of the group SMG compared with that of the group NG (P < 0.05). Conclusion Microgravity can inhibit the proliferation and differentiation of human megakaryocyte cells in vitro. The mechanism may be that TPO/c-mpl pathway was inhibited by down regulating the expression of c-mpl which transcriptional inhibition lead to.

Objective To analyze the value of the potential risk factors on predicting primary graft dysfunction (PGD) after bilateral lung transplantation for the patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).Methods A retrospective study was conducted. Fifty-eight patients with IPF who underwent the bilateral lung transplantation admitted to Wuxi People's Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University from June 2014 to March 2017 were enrolled. The grade 3 PGD happened within 72 hours after transplantation was taken as the outcome event, and these patients were divided into PGD and non-PGD groups. The age, gender, body mass index (BMI), underlying disease, and N-terminal-probrain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) before operation, pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP), pulmonary artery diastolic pressure (PADP), and mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) before and after operation, duration of operation, the volume of blood transfusion during operation and postoperation, the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) during the operation, blood purification treatment after operation, and shock within 3 days after operation were recorded. The differences of parameters mentioned above between the two groups were compared. The predictive factors of PGD were searched by binary logistic regression analysis, and the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was plotted to analyze the predictive value of preoperative PADP for grade 3 PGD after transplantation.Results Among 58 patients who underwent the bilateral lung transplantation, 52 patients were enrolled. The rest patients were excluded because of incomplete clinical data. There were 17 patients in the PGDgroup, with a mortality rate of 47.06%. The non-PGD group included 35 patients with a mortality rate of 8.57%. PADP and mPAP ahead of operation, the dosage of red cells suspension after the operation, and the total amount of blood transfusion during and after the operation in PGD group were significantly higher than those in non-PGD group [PADP ahead of operation (mmHg, 1 mmHg = 0.133 kPa): 33.7±10.5 vs. 25.3±10.1, mPAP ahead of operation (mmHg): 40.4±14.1 vs. 32.8±11.1, the dosage of red cells suspension after the operation (mL): 700 (300, 1500) vs. 300 (300, 500), the total amount of blood transfusion during and after the operation (mL): 2250 (1850, 4275) vs. 1800 (1550, 2800)], with statistically significant differences (all P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in age, gender, BMI, underlying disease, NT-proBNP before operation, PASP before and after operation, PADP and mPAP after operation, duration of operation, amount of plasma and red cells suspension as well as total amount of blood transfusion during operation, plasma amount and total amount of blood transfusion after operation, amount of plasma and red cells suspension during and after operation, use of ECMO during operation, blood purification treatment after operation, and shock after operation between the two groups (all P > 0.05). It was shown by binary logistic regression analysis that the preoperative PADP was the independent risk factor of grade 3 PGD after lung transplantation [odds ratio (OR) = 1.084, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) = 1.016-1.156,P = 0.015]. It was shown by ROC curve that the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the PADP before operation for predicting the grade 3 PGD after lung transplantation was 0.728. When the cut-off value was 36 mmHg, the sensitivity was 47.1%, and the specificity was 91.4%.Conclusions Compared with the non-PGD group, the patients with higher preoperative PADP were more common in the PGD group, and the patients in the PGD group were more likely to be characterized by grade 3 PGD after lung transplantation. The preoperative PADP was an effective predictor of grade 3 PGD after lung transplantation.

We report two cases of rituximab (RTX)-induced interstitial pneumonia in two lymphoma patients receiving RTX treatment. Interstitial pneumonia was successfully managed in these two cases after a one-week-long intervention with corresponding treatments without affecting further treatment of the primary disease. RTX-induced interstitial pneumonia is characterized by a latent onset with an unclear pathological mechanism and absence of typical symptoms. High-resolution CT scan can provide valuable evidence for early diagnosis of RTX-induced interstitial pneumonia, which might be attributed partially to an increased susceptibility to P. jirovecii and fungal infection due to prolonged RTX treatment.

We report two cases of rituximab (RTX)-induced interstitial pneumonia in two lymphoma patients receiving RTX treatment. Interstitial pneumonia was successfully managed in these two cases after a one-week-long intervention with corresponding treatments without affecting further treatment of the primary disease. RTX-induced interstitial pneumonia is characterized by a latent onset with an unclear pathological mechanism and absence of typical symptoms. High-resolution CT scan can provide valuable evidence for early diagnosis of RTX-induced interstitial pneumonia, which might be attributed partially to an increased susceptibility to P. jirovecii and fungal infection due to prolonged RTX treatment.