Objective: To study the antiviral effect of polysaccharides from brown seaweed Lobophora variegata. Method: The crude polysaccharide was extracted with boiling water and precipitated with ethanol,and then fractionated with ion exchange chromatography. Its antiviral activity was tested by cytopathic effect (CPE) reduction assay and plaque reduction assay. The cytotoxicity of the water crude extract was determined by MTT method. Results: The crude water extract showed markedly antiviral activity against herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 and type 2 including ACV resistant strain and clinical strains with low EC50 values of 18.2 and 6.25 μg/ml respectively. It also showed very low cytotoxicity to Vero, HEp-2 and MDCK cells. Therefore, the crude extract possessed high selective index for antiviral effect. It also had some inhibitory effect on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) but had no effect on influenza A virus. Two fractions were isolated from the water crude extract and they exhibited anti-HSV activity in the test of CPE reduction assay in Vero cells. Conclusion: Seaweed Lobophora variegata contains antiviral polysaccharides with high inhibitory effect on herpes simplex virus.

Objective To investigate the efficacy and complications of therapeutic ERCP for patients over 80 years. Methods Data of 80 patients aging over 80 years, who tnderwent therapeutic ERCP from August 2007 to August 2009 were retrospectively studied. The etiology, complications and therapeutic effects were evaluated. Results A total of 51 patients (63. 8% ) were accompanied by cardiovascular diseases, and 43 patients were diagnosed as having malignant bile duct stricture (53. 8% ). The overail therapeutic efficacy was 96. 3%. The incidence of post-operative complications was 12. 5% (10/80). Occurrence of complications in patients with malignant tumors ( 18. 6% ) was significantly higher than that in patients with bile duct stones (5.6% ,P ＜0. 05). Incidence of complications in those with cardiopulmonary diseases was similar with that in patients without (11.8% vs. 13.8%,P＞0.05). Conclusion Age more than 80should not be considered as contraindication of ERCP. Therapeutic ERCP is effective in senior patients. Patients with advanced ages shows a relatively high incidence of complication after ERCP, which may not be related to other accompanying diseases.

Objective To investigate the effect of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) on autophagy and the secretion of chemokine receptor CXCR4 induced by low-dose immunosuppressive durgs.Methods Flow cytometry was used to detect the changes of hUC-MSCs surface markers after treatment with low-dose tacrolimus and rapamycin.The effect of treatment with tacrolimus and rapamycin on proliferation of hUC-MSCs was analyzed with WST-1 assay.Regular RT-PCR was applied to analyze the mRNAs expression of ligands such as LC3B,Atg5 and Beclin1 in hUC-MSCs.Western blotting was carried out to detect the expression of LC3B,Atg5,Beclin1 and p-ULK1 in hUC-MSCs after treatment with tacrolimus and rapamycin.The secretion of chemokine receptor CXCR4 in hUC-MSCs was analyzed under the state of autophay by flow cytometry.Results Flow cytometry analysis confirmed low-dose immunosuppressive drugs tacrolimus and rapamycin did not cause changes in hUC-MSCs phenotypes significantly.Low-dose tacrolimus had no cytotoxic effect on hUC-MSCs,while,rapamycin could inhibit the proliferation of hUC-MSCs after 24 h or 48 h,with survival rate being 73.66％ and 68.81％ (P＜0.05) of controls,respectively.Moreover,both tacrolimus and rapamycin could inhibit PI3K/AKt/mTOR signaling pathway to activate hUC-MSCs autophagy,and the related proteins of LC3B,Atg5 and Beclin1 increased significantly and induced the up-regulation of CXCR4 secretion.Conclusion Our results here demonstrated that low-dose tacrolimus and rapamycin induce autophagy in hUC-MSCs and promote the secretion of CXCR4.

Objective: To investigate the history, risk factors for prognosis of malignant biliary stricture (MBS) patients receiving conservative therapy after endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography(ERCP) and to set up a predictive model for overall survival (OS). Methods: MBS patients who underwent ERCP and conservative therapy in Xijing Hospital and PLA No.451 Hospital from January 2009 to December 2013 were enrolled to the present study. Predictive factors associated with OS were identified in the training cohort by stepwise multivariate Cox regression analysis. A predictive model was then developed and externally validated in the validation cohort. Results: Between January 2009 and December 2013, 152 and 149 patients were eligible to the training and validation cohort respectively. In the training cohort, tumors were mainly originated from bile duct (33.6%), pancreas (23.5%) or ampulla (20.4%). 76.3% (116/152) patients died during the observation period. The median OS for the training population was 5.0 months (3.9-6.2 months). CA19-9≥1 000 U/mL, non-ampulla tumor, metastasis, pre-ERCP total bilirubin≥7 mg/dL and hilar stricture were identified as independent predictive factors of poor OS (all P<0.05). Based on these factors, the COMTH predictive model was developed. The median OS of patients with COMTH>8 in the training and validation cohorts were both 3.0 months, which were significantly shorter than those with COMTH≤8 (10.0 and 6.9 months in the training and validation cohorts respectively, both P<0.001). Conclusion The prognosis of MBS patients undergoing ERCP is poor. The survival chance of patients with COMTH>8 is even more dismal.

In recent years, the infection of nontuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) has been increasing rapidly, which captivates widespread attention. The infection rate of NTM in kidney transplant recipients is more significantly elevated due to the impact of immunosuppressive drugs and other factors. However, due to the lack of sufficient research evidence, relevant guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of NTM after kidney transplantation are still lacking. To further standardize the diagnosis and treatment of NTM disease in kidney transplant recipients, and deepen medical practitioners' understanding and diagnosis and treatment of NTM disease in organ transplantation in China, Branch of Organ Transplantation of Chinese Medical Association organized relevant experts to formulate this guideline by referring to the latest edition of “An official ATS/IDSA statement: diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of nontuberculous mycobacterial diseases”, “Expert Consensus on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Disease”, and “Technical Specification for Clinical Diagnosis and Treatment of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria in Organ Transplant Recipients (2019 Edition) ”, and considering the characteristics of kidney transplant recipients.