Objectives To study the effects of traditional Chinese herbs, Wen Yang Huo Xue Decoction (herbs of removing blood-stasis and warming the kidney-yang) and Salvia miltiorrhiza, on the animal model of sclerotic skin. Methods A mouse model for sclerotic skin was established in C3H/He mice by repeated local injections of bleomycin for 3 weeks. Wen Yang Huo Xue Decoction was given orally, and Salvia miltiorrhiza orally or intravenously, to the mouse model. The administrations started either simultaneously or after 3 weeks' injections of bleomycin. Mouse skins and lungs were examined histopathogically, and sera were tested for autoantibodies. Results The administrations of herbs, started either at the beginning or at the time sclerosis was induced, caused no significant alleviation of dermal sclerosis by the end of 5 weeks' treatment. After 8 weeks' administrations of herbs, the dermal thickness reduced and collagen histochemical index decreased significantly, especially in group Wen Yang Huo Xue Decoction was given orally and in group Salvia miltiorrhiza was given intravenously at early stage (P

Objective To establish and verify the animal model of sclerotic skin induced by bleomycin(Blm).Methods To establish a mouse model for scleroderma in C3H/He mice by repeated local injection of100?L of Blm(200?g/mL)everyday for3weeks.Then,the specimens of skin,lung and serum were examined.Results After3week local Blm injections,an intense dermal sclerosis was shown in C3H/He mice.Compared with the control skin,increased dermal thickness and increased collagen histo-chemical index were found(P

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Objective To study the transcriptional regulation of type Ⅰ procollagen gene in systemic scleroderma(SS)-derived high collagen-producing fibroblast clones by Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae(RSM).Methods Fibroblast clones with different collagen-producing capacity were previously obtained from patients with SS and normal human controls,and divided into 5 groups to be treated with RSM(1 g/L)injection,its water-soluble active monomers including sodium danshensu(20 mg/L),salvianolic acid B(5 mg/L)and protocatechuic aldehyde(5 mg/L),and lipid-soluble active monomer(tanshinone Ⅱ A,5mg/L)respectively.The fibroblast clones incubated with no drugs served as the water soluble negative control group,and those with dimethyl sulfoxide(DMSO)as the lipid soluble negative control group.MTT assay was performed to evaluate the proliferation of the fibroblast clones after 1-,3-,5-,and 7-day treatment,transient transfection and dualluciferase reporter assay system to quantify the relative activity of collagen type Ⅰ,alpha 1(COL1A1)proximal promoter in these fibroblast clones.Results The inhibitory effect of RSM and its active monomers on the proliferation of fibroblast clones was inapparent within the initial 3 days(P ＞ 0.05),but was enhanced with incubation time.A significant difference was observed in the proliferation level of fibroblast clones between RSM group and water-soluble negative control group on day 5(q′ =3.22,P ＜ 0.01),between RSM,salvianolic acid B,protocatechuic aldehyde groups and the water-soluble negative control group(q′ =4.74,3.03,2.56,all P ＜0.05)on day 7,and between tanshinone Ⅱ A and lipid-soluble negative control group on day 5 and 7(t =2.22,2.15,both P ＜ 0.05).RSM injection,tanshinone Ⅱ A and protocatechuic aldehyde significantly inhibited COL1A1 proximal promoter activity in SS-derived and normal control fibroblast clones(all P ＜ 0.01),and the former two drugs preferentially downregulated COL1A1 proximal promoter activity in SS-derived high collagenproducing fibroblast clones.Significantly different COL1A1 proximal promoter activity was observed in SS-derived high and low collagen-producing fibroblast clones between water-soluble negative control group and RSM injection group(12.019 ± 0.830 vs.4.445 ± 1.061,5.388 ± 0.480 vs.2.856 ± 0.597,F=31.78,P＜ 0.01),and between lipid-soluable negative control group and tanshinone Ⅱ A group(14.155 ± 0.672 vs.9.638 ±0.854,4.299 ± 0.252 vs.3.192 ± 0.450,F=24.10,P＜ 0.01).Conclusions RSM inhibits the transcription of COL1A1 gene in SS-derived high collagen-producing fibroblast clones,which may be mainly attributed to tanshinone Ⅱ A and protocatechuic aldehyde.

ObjectiveTo study transcriptional characteristics of type Ⅲ procollagen gene in systemic scleroderma (SS)-derived fibroblast clones and their regulation by Radix Salviae miltiorrhizae(RSM).Methods Eight fibroblast clones with different collagen-producing capacity were previously obtained from patients with SS and normal human controls.Recombinant plasmids containing different deletions of the human alpha 1 chain of type 3 procollagen(COL3A1) gene promoter were constructed,and transiently transfected into the fibroblast clones.Dual-luciferase reporter assay system was used to evaluate the activities of these recombinants in the fibroblast clones and to select a proximal transcriptional regulatory sequence.Then,the fibroblast clones were transfected with the plasmid containing the selected regulatory sequence(phCOLH30.1) followed by the treatment with RSM injection(1 g/L) and active monomers of RSM,including salvianolic acid B(5 mg/L),tanshinone Ⅱ A (5 mg/L),danshensu(20 mg/L) and protocatechuic aldehyde(5 mg/L),for 48 hours.The transfected fibroblast clones receiving no drug treatment served as the water-soluble control,and those treated with only dimethyl sulfoxide as the lipid-soluble control.Subsequently,the fibroblasts were lysed and subjected to the quantification of cellular proteins and determination of luciferase activity.The activity of recombinant promoters was compared by t test for the selection of proximal transcriptional regulatory sequence,and the activity of phCOLH30.1 by two-way analysis of variance in the RSM-interfering test(if there was interaction,one-way analysis of variance was conducted; and if there was no interaction,the main effect was tested after the removal of interaction item).ResultsOf the 6 recombinants,the recombinant containing COL3A1 proximal promoter from -96 bp to +16 bp(phCOLH30.1) showed the highest transcriptional activity in nearly all of the fibroblast clones,and the activity was positively correlated with the collagen-producing capacity of fibroblast clones.Compared with the water-soluble control,RSM injection significantly downregulated the activity of phCOLH30.1 in fibroblast clones with high and low collagen-producing capacity from patients with SS (2.261 ± 0.619 vs.3.879 ± 0.309,1.462 ± 0.291 vs.2.150 ± 0.262,both P ＜ 0.01) and normal human controls (1.681 ± 0.263 vs.3.039 ± 0.271,1.121 ± 0.361 vs.2.223 ± 0.247,both P ＜ 0.01),salvianolic acid B decreased the phCOLH30.1 activity in SS-derived high collagen-producing fibroblast clones (2.309 ± 0.524,P ＜ 0.01 ) and in the normal control fibroblast clones with high and low collagen-producing capacity (2.126 ± 0.320 and 1.976 ± 0.362,both P ＜ 0.05).Tanshinone Ⅱ A only downregulated the phCOLH30.1 activity in SS-derived high collagen-producing fibroblast clones compared with the lipid-soluble control(2.975 ± 0.666 vs 5.379 ± 0.238,P ＜ 0.01 ).Neither danshensu nor protocatechuic aldehyde showed inhibitory effects on phCOLH30.1 activity in SS-derived or normal control fibroblast clones.ConclusionsThe type Ⅲ procollagen gene is activated at the transcriptional level in high collagen-producing fibroblast clones from patients with SS,and the activation could be suppressed by RSM injection,salvianolic acid B and tanshinone Ⅱ A.

objective To investigate the tissue localization of CD4+T cells producing IL-17,namely Th17 cells.in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE),as well as its relationship with the activity of lupus.Methods By using H&E staining.double-label immunofluorescence.immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy.the localization of Th17 cells was carried out in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).affected tissue of skin and lung obtained from 4 patients with active SLE and 2 normal human controls.Flow cytometry.reverse transcription PCR.ELISA were used to detect the proportion of Th17 cells in PBMCs,the mRNA expression of interleukin-17(IL-17)A and IL-17 F,and serum level of interleukin 17,respectively,in 50 consecutive adult patients with SLE and 15 normal human controls.Results Th17 cells were detected in PBMCs of patients with active SLE.and the fuorescence intensity of IL-17 was significantly higher in patients with active SLE than in normal human controls(127.6±20.5 vs 40.6±11.1,P＜0.001).Infiltrates of Th17 cells were noted in both skin and lung tissues of patients with active SLE.but not in those of normal human controls.The proportion of Th17 cells in PBMCs was increased in patients with active SLE.and the proportion positively correlated with SLE disease activity index(SLEDAI) (r=0.725,P＜0.01).Further more.a significant increase was observed in the mRNA expression of IL-17 A and IL-17 F and serum level of IL-17 in patients with active SLE compared with normal human controls.The amount of Th17 cells was positively correlated with the development of vasculitis.and it experienced a decrease with the remission of SLE.Conclusions A proliferation of Th17 cells is noted in patients with active SLE.which seems to closely correlated with the activity of SLE and may take part in the development of vasculitis in SLE.

Objective To analyze clinical and pathological features of dermatomyositis with panniculitis as a skin manifestation.Methods Clinical data were collected from 9 cases of dermatomyositis with panniculitis as a skin manifestation in Department of Dermatology of Zhongshan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University from October 2012 to July 2016,and their clinical and pathological features were analyzed.Results Of the 9 cases,6 were female and 3 were male,and the age ranged from 28 to 73 years.Panniculitis lesions of the 9 patients all manifested as painful indurated plaques or nodules on the buttock,thigh,waist,back,abdomen,upper extremities and cheeks.These lesions occurred before,after or simultaneously with the onset of characteristic skin and muscle lesions of dermatomyositis,especially preceded the onset of characteristic lesions of dermatomyositis by 30 years in 1 case.Histopathological examination of lesions showed liquefaction degeneration of basal cells,inflammatory infiltration of lymphocytes and plasma cells around blood vessels,in the fat lobules as well as between the lobules and septa in the dermis.The necrosis and calcification of lipocytes,lipomembranous changes,fibrinoid necrosis of damaged vessel walls and microvascular occlusion were observed in some cases.Because panniculitis preceded the onset of characteristic lesions of dermatomyositis,2 patients were misdiagnosed with lupus panniculitis and morphea profunda for several times.Most patients had good response to systemic glucocorticoids combined with immunosuppressive agents,while the patients with lipomembranous fat necrosis had poor response to the combination therapy.Conclusions Panniculitis lesions of dermatomyositis are histologically characteristic,and may do not coincide with the onset of characteristic lesions of dermatomyositis.If panniculitis lesions precede characteristic lesions of dermatomyositis,patients will be easily misdiagnosed.Thus,persistent follow-up visit will be of great importance for the diagnosis.

Objective To firstly report 4 cases of dermatomyositis characterized by painful palmar eruptions complicated by fatal rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease (RP-ILD) in China.Methods Four patients with dermatomyositis with painful palmar eruptions complicated by fatal RP-ILD were enrolled from the Department of Dermatology,Zhongshan Hospital,Fudan University between December 2014 and April 2017,and their clinical and pathological features were analyzed.Results Among these patients,3 were female and 1 was male.Their age ranged from 47 to 59 years.Of the 4 patients,3 had no muscular involvement.All of the 4 patients had multiple solid red papules or nodules on the bilateral palms,palmar and lateral surfaces of fingers,which preceded,followed or concurred with the onset of other skin lesions of dermatomyositis.The occurrence of type Ⅰ respiratory failure was preceded by 3 weeks to 5 months of painful palmar eruptions in the 4 patients.Early-stage palmar eruptions were easily misdiagnosed as contact dermatitis,eczema or erythema multiforme.Histopathological examination of the skin lesions on the finger palmar surface showed perivascular infiltration of a few lymphocytes in the dermis,and deposition of varying amounts of mucin-like substances around blood vessels and appendages.Of the 4 patients,3 showed positive staining for anti-melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 antibody.Although the 4 patients received anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive therapies,they all finally died of respiratory failure.Conclusions Dermatomyositis with painful palmar eruptions may indicate the occurrence of fatal RP-ILD,and early biopsy of skin lesions is needed to help to identify the disease.Immunosuppressive treatment should be performed timely to improve the prognosis in these patients.