Objective Henoch-Sch?nlein purpura(HSP)is a common multisystemic vasculitis in children ,but the exact pathogenesis remains unknown. Pentraxin 3(PTX3),a new kind of inflammatory cytokines,has a strong inflammatory effect,and is involved in occurrence and develop-ment of a variety of autoimmune diseases. The objective of this study is to evaluate the expression of PTX3,interleukin-8(IL-8),tumor necrosis fac-tor-α(TNF-α)and high sensitivity C-reactive protein(hs-CRP)in children with HSP,and explore the clinical significance of PTX3 in HSP devel-opment. Methods Thirty-six children(HSP group)and 17 healthy children(control group)were enrolled in the study. Serum levels of PTX3,IL-8 and TNF-α were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Serum hs-CRP levels were measured by automatic biochemical analyzer. Re-sults The serum levels of PTX3,IL-8,TNF-α,and hs-CRP were up-regulated in HSP group compared with the control group(P<0.05). The levels of PTX3,IL-8,TNF-α,and hs-CRP in patients with joint symptoms,or/and gastrointestinal symptoms,or/and kidney injury were significant-ly higher than those patients without joint symptoms,or/and gastrointestinal symptoms,or/and kidney injury(P<0.05). The expression of PTX3 was positively correlated with the expression of IL-8 and TNF-α(r=0.514,0.833,all P<0.05),but there was no correlation between PTX3 and hs-CRP(r=0.292,P>0.05). The expression of PTX3,IL-8,TNF-α and hs-CRP in HSP patients had no gender difference(all P>0.05). Con-clusion The high expression of PTX3 is related to the degree of inflammation in children with HSP. The up-regulated expression of PTX3 may play an important role in pathogenesis of HSP in children.

The mutation rate used in the previous analyses of pig evolution and demographics was cursory and hence invited potential bias in inferring evolutionary history.Herein,we estimated the de novo mutation rate of pigs as 3.6×10-9 per base per generation using high-quality whole-genome sequencing data from nine individuals in a three-generation pedigree through stringent filtering and validation.Using this mutation rate,we re-investigated the evolutionary history of pigs.The esti-mated divergence time of～10 kiloyears ago(KYA)between European wild and domesticated pigs was consistent with the domestication time of European pigs based on archaeological evidence.However,other divergence events inferred here were not as ancient as previously described.Our estimates suggest that Sus speciation occurred～1.36 million years ago(MYA);European wild pigs split from Asian wild pigs only～219 KYA;and south and north Chinese wild pigs split～25 KYA.Meanwhile,our results showed that the most recent divergence event between Chinese wild and domesticated pigs occurred in the Hetao Plain,northern China,approximately 20 KYA,supporting the possibly independent domestication in northern China along the middle Yellow River.We also found that the maximum effective population size of pigs was～6 times larger than estimated before.An archaic migration from other Sus species originating～2 MYA to European pigs was detected during western colonization of pigs,which may affect the accuracy of previous demo-graphic inference.Our de novo mutation rate estimation and its consequences for demographic his-tory inference reasonably provide a new vision regarding the evolutionary history of pigs.

Objective To investigate the effect of intestinal mucosal Toll-like receptor 4/nuclear factor κB (TLR4/NF-κB) signaling pathway on renal damage in pseudo-sterile IgA nephropathy (IgAN) mice. Methods C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into experimental group (pseudosterile mouse model group), control group (IgAN mouse model group), pseudosterile mouse blank group, and normal mouse blank group. Pseudosterile mice were established by intragastric administration of quadruple antibiotics once a day for 14 days. The pseudosterile IgAN mouse model was set up by combination of oral bovine serum albumin (BSA) administration and staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) injection. The pathological changes of renal tissue were observed by immunofluorescence staining and PAS staining, and the intestinal mucosa barrier damage indicators lipopolysaccharide(LPS), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1(sICAM-1) and D-lactate(D-LAC) were analyzed by ELISA. Biochemical analysis was used to test 24 hour urine protein, serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen. The mRNA and protein levels of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) were detected by reverse transcription PCR and Western blot analysis. Results The kidney damage of pseudosterile IgAN mice was more severe than that of IgAN mice, and the expressions of intestinal mucosal barrier damage markers (LPS, sICAM-1 and D-LAC) were significantly increased in pseudosterile IgAN mice. In addition, the expressions of TLR4, MyD88, and NF-κB level were all up-regulated in the intestinal tissues of IgAN pseudosterile mice. Conclusion Intestinal flora disturbance leads to intestinal mucosal barrier damage and induces activation of TLR4 signaling pathway to mediate renal injury in IgAN.
Animals ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Glomerulonephritis, IGA ; NF-kappa B ; Toll-Like Receptor 4/genetics* ; Lipopolysaccharides ; Myeloid Differentiation Factor 88/genetics* ; Kidney ; Intestinal Mucosa ; Infertility ; Disease Models, Animal