Objective:To observe the effects of salmeterol and fluticasone combined with the conventional treatment on the airway remodeling and bone metabolism in the patients with severe chronic obstructive lung disease ( chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD. Methods:Totally 90 patients with severe COPD were divided into the observation group and the control group according to the order of admission. The control group was received the conventional treatment, and the observation group was treated with salmeterol and fluticasone additionally. The course of treatment was 8 weeks. Before the treatment and in the 3rd and 12th month after the treat-ment, the changes in the levels of bone mineral density ( BMD) in femoral neck bone, serum osteocalcin ( BGP) , alkaline phosphatase (AKP), the total number of induced sputum cells, neutrophils percentage, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), leukocyte mediated element 8 (IL-8), matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) and other indicators were detected and compared. Results: BGP, AKP and BMD of the two groups in the 3rd month after the treatment were not significantly changed (P>0. 05), while in the 12th month after the treatment, BMD in the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group and that before the treat-ment, and BGP and AKP in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group and that before the treatment (P<0. 05). The total number of induced sputum cells, the percentage of neutrophils, FEV1, MMP-P and IL-8 in the two groups were significantly improved in the 12th month after the treatment (P<0. 05), and the difference between the two groups was statistically sig-nificant except IL-8 (P<0. 05). Conclusion:Salmeterol and fluticasone propionate can effectively improve airway remodeling in the patients with COPD. Short time use of salmeterol and fluticasone propionate shows no adverse effect on the bone metabolism, while long-term use would lead to reduced bone mineral density.

Objective To investigate the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression level by chondrocytes isolated from patients with osteoarthritis (OA) in hip or femoral neck fracture (FNF) and explore the effect of synovial fluid from OA or FNF on secretion of VEGF. Methods The cartilage tissues were collected from 12 patients with OA in hip and 8 patients with FNF. Cartilage was stained with HIM and Safranin O/Fast Green (S/F) method. The damage of cartilage was evaluated using Mankin scores.Cathepsin B which was selected for cell dedifferentiation monitoring marker and VEGF level was detected in the supernatant fluid. The synovial fluid from OA, FNF and DMEM were respectively added to the culture medium to explore their effects on regulating VEGF. Results Cartilage the Mankin scores of OA group were higher than that of FNF group. Chondrocytes gradually lost their original spherical appearance, with Cathepsin B upregulated while VEGF downregulated. The OA synovial fluid can stimulate chongdrocytes to secrete more VEGF than the one from patients with FNF. However, chondrocytes gradually produced less VEGF after passaging. Conclusion Mankin scores had good correlation with chondrocytes' VEGF production in the early stage of primary culture. Chondrocytes showed quick dedifferentiation characteristics in vitro. OA synovial fluid showed abig ger capability in stimulating chondrocytes to express more VEGF, which might indicate that OA synovial fluid participated in the pathological process of OA.

The oral microbiota is associated with oral diseases and digestive systemic diseases. Nevertheless, the causal relationship between them has not been completely elucidated, and colonisation of the gut by oral bacteria is not clear due to the limitations of existing research models. The aim of this study was to develop a human oral microbiota-associated (HOMA) mouse model and to investigate the ecological invasion into the gut. By transplanting human saliva into germ-free (GF) mice, a HOMA mouse model was first constructed. 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used to reveal the biogeography of oral bacteria along the cephalocaudal axis of the digestive tract. In the HOMA mice, 84.78% of the detected genus-level taxa were specific to the donor. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the donor oral microbiota clustered with those of the HOMA mice and were distinct from those of specific pathogen-free (SPF) mice. In HOMA mice, OTU counts decreased from the stomach and small intestine to the distal gut. The distal gut was dominated by Streptococcus, Veillonella, Haemophilus, Fusobacterium, Trichococcus and Actinomyces. HOMA mice and human microbiota-associated (HMA) mice along with the GF mice were then cohoused. Microbial communities of cohoused mice clustered together and were significantly separated from those of HOMA mice and HMA mice. The Source Tracker analysis and network analysis revealed more significant ecological invasion from oral bacteria in the small intestines, compared to the distal gut, of cohoused mice. In conclusion, a HOMA mouse model was successfully established. By overcoming the physical and microbial barrier, oral bacteria colonised the gut and profiled the gut microbiota, especially in the small intestine.
Animals ; Bacteria ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; Germ-Free Life ; Humans ; Mice ; Microbiota ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S