Objective To observe the effects of alendronate sodium and alfacalcidol on the parameters of atherosclerosis in old women with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM ) complicating osteoporosis .Methods 28 old women with T2DM complicating osteopo-rosis were taken as the osteoporosis group and 25 old women with T2DM and without osteoporosis were taken as the control group .Alendronate sodium(70 mg/week) and alfacalcidol(0 .5 μg/d) were given to the osteoporosis group for 12 month .The pa-rameters of the bone mass density (BMD)of femoral neck and ,T value ,arkle brachial index (ABI) ,cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) and carotid artery intima-media thickness(IMT) ,blood fat and glycosylated hemoglobin were observed .Results Com-pared with the control group ,BMD ,T value and ABI in the osteoporosis group were significantly decreased (P<0 .01) ,while CAVI and IMT were obviously increased(P<0 .05) .Compared with before treatment ABI ,CAVI and IMT after 12 month treatment in the osteoporosis group had no significant changes ,but BMD and T value of femoral neck and ward triangle area were significantly increased(P<0 .05) ,the atherosclerosis degree after 12 months in the control group was significantly aggravated (P<0 .05) .BMD and T value had no obvious change .Conclusion Alendronate sodium combined with alfacalcidol for treating T 2DM complicating os-teoporosis can improve the atherosclerosis parameters and has certain role in preventing and treating cardiovascular and cerebrovas-cular diseases .

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of low-dose rituximab (RTX) for patients in primary Sj(..o)gren's syndrome (pSS) with thrombocytopenia.Methods Four pSS patients,2 with refractory thrombocytopenia and 2 with glucocorticoid-dependent thrombocytopenia,were treated with rituximab at 100 mg,intravenous,weekly for a total of two cycles,together with prednisone 1-2 mg · kg-1 ·d-1,and the counts of platelets and B-cells were evaluated.Results Efficacy of treatment was observed in all patients.The counts of platelets,at (3-39) x 109/L baseline,incleased in 1-2 weeks,and went up to ( 107-241 ) × 109/L in 3-8 weeks.Sustained remission had been achieved for 27-52 weeks.The doses of prednisone were tappered to 3.75-7.50 mg/day in 12 weeks.One patient who relapsed at the 27th week (platelet count 47 x 109/L),was retreated with 100 mg of RTX and still had good efficacy.The counts of B-cells reduced to (0.007-0.010) × 109/L,but they did not achieved the depletion.There were no severe adverse events during RTX therapy.Conclusions Our study has shown good efficacy and tolerability of lowdose RTX for pSS with thrombocytopenia.Low-dose RTX allows for reduction in corticosteroid doses and B-cells,while large-scale randomized double-blind controlled trials are needed to confirm the results.

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics of bronchopulmonary amyloidosis secondmy to primary Sj(0)gren's syndrome (pSS).Methods One patient in our series and 42 patients in the literatures were analyzed.The clinical manifestations,imaging features,diagnosis,treatments and prognosis of these patients were described respectively.Results Among the 43 cases,42 patients were female (98％).The median age was 57 (range 29-79) years.The diagnosis of bronchopulmonary amyloidosis was made subsequently to that of pSS with a median delay of 8.9 (range 0-30) years.Thirty-eight cases (88％) were localized amyloidosis.Most cases were related to AL amyloidosis (21/28,75％ ).The main clinical manifestations included cough (18/38,47％),short of breath (13/38,34％ ),sputum (9/38,24％) and hemoptysis (5/38,13％ ).Nine patients (9/38,24％ ) had no clinical symptoms.The most common patterns of radiological manifestations included multiple nodules (40/43,93％),multiple cysts or bullae (16/43,37％),interstitial lung disease (16/43,37％ ),irregular luminal narrowing and airway wall thickening (8/43,19％ ).The pulmonary function test was done in 17 patients,which revealed moderate to severe reduced diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide (8/17,47％ ).The diagnosis of amyloidosis was made based on pathological findings in all cases.Pathologic examination showed diffuse deposits of amorphous,eosinophilic,Congo-red positive staining material.The treatments were symptomatic.The prognosis of most patients was good.The median follow-up time was 26.5 (range 2-96) months,only 2 patients died during the follow-up.Conclusion The bronchopulmonary amyloidosis secondary to pSS is localized amyloidosis in most cases.Clinical manifestations depend on the location and extent of airway lesions.The appearance of multiple lung nodules with calcified or cysts in chest images should be considered as secondary amyloidosis.No specific therapy is available for these cases,however,this condition in majority of patients progresses slowly.

Hedgehog pathway is an osteogenesis-related signaling pathway . During embryonic development , it regulates the growth and proliferation of progenitor cells and tissue formation. This pathway can be activated during liver injury. Activated Hedge-hog signaling pathway is involved in many aspects of liver wound-healing responses, including hepatic progenitor cell pro-liferation, myofibroblast transdifferentiation, apoptosis of various types of liver cells, inflammatory reactions, and vascular remod-eling. This article reviews the research progress in the role of Hedgehog signaling pathway in liver injury and the underlying mechanisms. The potential drug targets are also discussed. This review is to provide novel insights into antifibrotic research and therapeutic targets.

OBJECTIVE To explore the effect of aqueous extract of Zheng Chaihu Yin(ZCH)on paracetamol(acetaminophen,APAP)-induced hepatotoxicity. METHODS Male ICR mice were divided into three scenarios randomly:the single treatment dose of ZCH,multiple treatment or pretreatment dose of ZCH. Each scenario had a up control group and an APAP model group,while single treatment dose of ZCH group had a ZCH group at the same time. The dose of APAP and ZCH was 500 mg·kg-1 and 36 g · kg- 1,respectively. 24 h after the last administration,plasma and liver samples were prepared. Ultra- performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole- time- of- flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS)based metabolomics profiling was used to examine changes in plasma after expo?sure to ZCH,APAP or co-exposure to ZCH and APAP. Glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT) and glutamic oxaloacetic transaminas (GOT) values were determined by a biochemical auto analyzer in plasma. Histopathologic changes in the liver were observed and the area was calculated after HE staining. The data were analyzed with SPSS16.0 statistical software and the results were compared with the test between the two groups to find biomarkers. Also,SIMCA software was used for partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) pattern recognition. RESULTS Compared to control group, APAP dosing alone caused an increase in plasma transaminases and alterations in multiple metabolic pathways. Compared to APAP group,decrease in plasma transaminases was noted when ZCH was administered after or prior to APAP. Histopathologic results showed that in the single treatment group, multiple treatment group and pretreatment group,ZCH could alleviate the liver damage induced by APAP from (32.3 ± 12.0)% to (14.2 ± 9.9)%,(8.6 ± 7.9)% to (5.2 ± 1.7)% and (32.5 ± 10.0)% to (5.2 ± 6.4)%(P<0.05). Similarly,the PLS-DA of the LC-MS data showed that the groups dosed with APAP alone were the most distinct from controls,while animals dosed with ZCH prior to or after APAP treatment were located near control group. Metabolic spectrum results showed that ZCH could restore the changes in endogenous substances including lipid metabolism,amino acid metabolism,sugar metabolism and energy metabolism induced by APAP to normal. CONCLUSION ZCH water-extraction plays major roles in the regulation of metabolism on APAP-induced liver injury. These studies demonstrate that UPLC-Q-TOF-MS-based metabolomic analysis can be sensitively and accurately predict the initiation and progres?sion of liver injury and greatly contribute to a better understanding of the hepatoprotective effects of ZCH in a clinical environment.

Objective To evaluate the clinical significance of serum level of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF),angiopoietin (Ang)-1 and Ang-2 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods Serum levels of VEGF,Ang-1 and Ang-2 were measured with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Twenty-one healthy subjects,24 osteoarthritis patients and 82 rheumatoid arthritis patients were included.We defined active and inactive group according to RA disease active score,while early active RA and late active RA group were defined on the basis of disease course.There were 28 early active patients,32 late active patients and 22 inactive patients with rheumatoid arthritis.At the same time 29 RA patients were examined with ultrasound.Synovial hypertrophy (US joint count SH,US index SH),synovial fluid(US joint count SF,US index SF),resistance index and power Doppler signal (US joint PD,TSS) were scored.The correlation was analyzed.We also detected the serum levels of VEGF,Ang-1,Ang-2,ESR,CRP and DAS28 in 25patients with active RA after 3 month regular treatment.We used one-way ANOVA to compare the differences between groups,and Wilcoxon test to compare the differences between before and after treatment.We analyzed the correlation with linear correlation or Spearman rank test.Results The serum level of VEGF [(1285 ±272) pg/ml],Ang-1 [(0.55±0.25)ng/ml] in patients with rheumatoid arthritis were higher than osteoarthritis patients [(934±80) pg/ml,(0.32±0.16) ng/ml] and normal controls [(565±115) pg/ml,(0.24±0.21) ng/ml],and the serum level of Ang-2 [(1.36±0.40) ng/ml] was higher than normal controls [(0.52±0.32) ng/ml].The serum level of VEGF [(1355±194) pg/ml] in early active patients was higher than late active patients [(1096±477) pg/ml] and inactive patients [(862±91) pg/ml].The serum level of Ang-1 in early active patients,late active patients and inactive patients with rheumatoid arthritis had no statistically significant differences.The serum level of Ang-2 in inactive patients [(2.0±2.0) ng/ml] was significantly higher than late active patients [0.9±0.8) ng/ml].The serum level of VEGF was positively correlated with US joint SH,US index SH,US joint PD,and TSS.The serum level of Ang-1 was positively correlated with US joint SH,US joint PD,and TSS.The serum level of VEGF and Ang-1 were negatively correlated with RI.The serum level of Ang-2 was not correlated with US joint SH,US index SH,US joint SF,US index SF,US joint PD,TSS and RI.In the active RA patients,the serum level of VEGF,Ang-1 and Ang-2 was positively correlated with each other.In the inactive RA patients,the serum level of VEGF,Ang-1 and Ang-2 was not correlated with each other.The serum level of VEGF and Ang-1 before treatment was slightly higher than that of after treatment,but the difference was not statistically significant.The serum level of Ang-2 after treatment was significantly higher than that before treatment.ESR,CRP and DAS28 of after treatment were lower than those before treatment.Conclusion The serum VEGF and Ang-1 level could be used as useful index to reflect RA synovial thickening and angiogenesis The serum level of Ang-2 could be used as one of the efficacy indices.They may influence each other,and they may be the key factors that mediate the onset and development of RA angiogenesis and synovial inflammation.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of the systemic photodynamic therapy (SPDT)for treating leukemia using a Brown Norway myeloid leukemia (BNML) rat model.Methods The BNML rat model was established by injecting green fluorescent protein (GFP)-LT12 cells into the tail vein.After GFP-LT12 injection,the early-SPDT group,mid-SPDT group and late-SPDT group were treated with SPDT at 5,10 and 15 days,the negative control group was fed as usually,and the Ara-c positive control group was treated with Ara-c at 7 days.The GFP-LT12 cells were traced by a fluorescence imaging system.The GFP-LT12 cells in the tissues and organs were detected by flow cytometry.The levels of IFN-γ,IL-1α,IL-1β,IL-2,IL-4,IL-6,IL-10 and TNF-α in serum were detected by milliplex rat cytokine 9 kits.Results Compared with the negative control group,the survival times of the rats in the earlySPDT group,mid-SPDT group and the late-SPDT group were prolonged (all P＜0.05).The ratios of GFP-LT12 cells in pulp and liver were decreased in the late-SPDT group.The levels of IL-1β,IL-10,TNF-α and IFN-γin serum of the late-SPDT group were decreased (all P＜0.05).Conclusion The SPDT is an effective method for the treatment of leukemia,and the anti-tumor immune effect may play a key role in this process.

A randomized crossover study was performed to compare the effects of low glycemic index diets (LGI)and high glycemic index diets(HGI)on blood glucose,lipid profile and control of body weight in patients with type 2 diabetes.Compared with HGI group,the fasting serum insulin,Homa-IR,LDL-C and body weight significantly decreased in LGI group(P

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) caused by E. granulosus is a serious helminthic zoonosis in humans, livestock and wildlife. Xinjiang is one of high endemic province for CE in China. A total of 55 sheep and cattle livers containing echinococcal cysts were collected from slaughterhouses in Changji and Yining City, northern region of Xinjiang. PCR was employed for cloning 2 gene fragments, 12S rRNA and CO1 for analysis of phylogenetic diversity of E. granulosus. The results showed that all the samples collected were identified as G1 genotype of E. granulosus. Interestingly, YL5 and CJ75 strains were the older branches compared to those strains from France, Argentina, Australia. CO1 gene fragment showed 20 new genotype haploids and 5 new genotype haplogroups (H1-H5) by the analysis of Network 5.0 software, and the YLY17 strain was identified as the most ancestral haplotype. The major haplotypes, such as CJ75 and YL5 strains, showed identical to the isolates from Middle East. The international and domestic trade of livestock might contribute to the dispersal of different haplotypes for E. granulosus evolution.
Abattoirs ; Animals ; Argentina ; Australia ; Cattle ; China ; Clone Cells ; Cloning, Organism ; Echinococcosis ; Echinococcus granulosus ; Echinococcus ; France ; Genetic Variation ; Genotype ; Haploidy ; Haplotypes ; Helminths ; Humans ; Liver ; Livestock ; Middle East ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sheep

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics of dermatomyositis (DM) patients with positive anti-melanoma differentiation-associated protein 5 (MDA5) antibody-complicated with pneumomediastinum.Methods:Clinical data of patients with anti-MDA5 antibody-positive DM with or without pneumomediastinum from March 2017 to December 2019 in Ningbo First Hospital were collected and analyzed. The international literature were reviewed and compared. T-test or Mann-Whitney U test was used for measurement data, chi-square test or Fisher exact probability was used for count data. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the risk factors for anti-MDA5 antibody-positive DM with pneumomediastinum. Results:Twelve DM patients with -positive anti-MDA5 antibody without pneumomediastinum, and 1 DM patient with positive anti-MDA5 antibody-complicated with pneumomediastinum. Pooling with literature review, 16 DM patients with positive anti-MDA5 antibody-complicated with pneumomediastinum were compared. It was found that the serum ferritin (SF) level [991.6(548.5, 2875.1) ng/ml vs 355 (143.5, 395) ng/ml, Z=-2.506, P=0.012] and the rate of rapid progressive pulmonary interstitial disease (RPILD) in the pneumo-mediastinum group [76.5% vs 16.7%, χ2=10.076, P=0.002] were significantly higher than those in the non-pneumome-diastinum group. Further Logi-stic regression analysis did not show male gender [ OR=0.192, 95% CI(0.009, 4.125), P=0.291]; SF [ OR=1.002, 95% CI(0.998, 1.006), P=0.279]; RPILD[ OR=0.084, 95% CI(0.003, 2.178), P=0.136]; CADM[ OR=0.258, 95% CI(0.009, 7.419), P=0.429] was risk factor for pneumomediastinum. Conclusion:DM patients with positive anti-MDA5 antibody and high seral SF level and rapid progression of pulmonary interstitial disease are more likely to complicate with pneumomediastinum.