Objective To investigate the serum levels of soluble human leukocyte antigen (sHLA)-G in patients with polymyositis (PM) or dermatomyositis (DM),and to analyze its association with clinical features and possible role in the pathogenesis of PM/DM.Methods Serum sHLA-G levels of 26 patients with PM,70 patients with DM and 35 matched healthy controls were measured by ELISA.The relationship between the sHLA-G levels and clinical features or seroimmunological data in the patients with PM/DM was analyzed.Results Serum levels of sHLA-G in PM/DM patients were significantly higher compared to healthy controls [(44±70) U/ml vs (4±5) U/ml,P＜0.01].There was statistically significant difference between DM patients and PM patients [(54±81) U/ml vs (27±41) U/ml,P=0.004].The incidence of dysphagia was significantly higher in sHLA-G elevated group than those in sHLA-G normal group (P=0.001).Additionally,Spearman rank correlation analysis showed that the serum sHLA-G levels were positively correlated with serum C3 (r=0.284,P=0.021),but negatively correlated with CD3+ T cells (r=-0.233,P=0.047) and CD4+ T cells (r=-0.287,P=0.015) in the peripheral blood in patients with PM/DM.Serum levels of sHLA-G in non-treated PM/DM patients were significantly higher compared to treated patients [(77±99) U/ml vs (34±52) U/ml,P=0.021].No relationship between serum sHLA-G levels and PM/DM disease activity,or different drug therapy was found.Conclusion Serum levels of sHLA-G are increased in PM/DM patients.The increased production of sHLA-G,paralleled with higher incidence of dysphagia and lower level of CD3+ T cells and CD4+ T cells,indicates that sHLA-G may play an important role in the pathogenesis of PM/DM.

Objective This study aims to test the hypothesis that low density granulocytes (LDGs) is involved in the pathogenesis of DM associated-Interstitial lung disease (ILD).Methods Forty eight DM patients (28 with ILD) and 19 age-and sex-matched healthy Chinese volunteers were recruited to this study.LDGs percentage in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was tested by flow cytometry.Neutrophilrelated genes (LL-37,MPO and MMP-8) expressions in PBMCs were tested by quantitative RT-PCR.Myositis disease activity assessment visual analogue scales (MYOACT) was used to assess the disease activity.Percentages of LDGs were compared in patients with ILD and without by using unpaired t test with Welch's correction,the correlations between LDGs and clinical parameters were further analyzed by linear correlation analysis.The expressions of neutrophil-related mRNA and proteins in PBMCs were compared by using MannWhitney U test.Results LDGs percentage in PBMCs was 7.1-fold higher in DM patients than healthy controls [(9.1±11.5)％ vs (1.3±0.7)％,t=4.664,P＜0.01].LDGs percentage in PBMCs was 2.7-fold higher in DM patients with ILD than DM patients without ILD [(12.3±14.1)％ vs (4.5±2.6)％,t=2.835,P=0.008 3].The mRNA expression level of LL-37,MPO and MMP-8 and LL-37 protein levels in the DM group were significantly higher than those in the control group.LDGs percentage positively correlated with MYOACT lung disease activity scores (r=0.439,P=0.010).Conclusion Percentage of LDGs in PBMCs is significantly increased in DM patients with ILD and positively correlated with MYOACT lung disease activity scores,suggesting that abnormall increasing of LDGs is a potential contributor to the pathogenesis of DM-associated ILD.

Functional gastrointestinal disease is a group of clinical syndrome of non-organic disease. Its various clinical symptoms have a certain specificity and overlap phenomenon, and the mechanism is not clear. TCM believes thatphychological factorsare an important cause. Emotion failurecan effect spleen and stomach functionthrough liver and heart directly or indirectly.At present, the phychological factors and the relationship between functional gastrointestinal disease are getting attentiongradually. It is recognized that the mechanism of phychological factorsmay be related to brain axis dysfunction, mast cell activation, intestinal flora and so on. This article expounded the above-mentioned mechanism and reviewed the detailed TCM intervention measures to functional gastrointestinal disease in recent years.

Objective To explore the association between waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and dyslipidemia in Chinese adults and to find out an optimal threshold of WHtR for predicting dyslipidemia.Methods A total of 221 270 adults from 4 health checkup centers nationwide were selected by using cluster random sampling method.Height,body weight,waist circumference (WC),total cholesterol (TC),triglyceride (TG),high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C) were measured.Body mass index (BMI) and WHtR were then calculated.The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve(AUC) was analyzed and optimal cutoffs were estimated by maximizing the sums of sensitivity and specificity.Results WHtR showed the largest AUCs in the participants with higher TC,TG and LDL-C,followed by increased WC and BMI.In male and female,the optimal thresholds of WHtR,WC and BMI for predicting dyslipidemia were 0.49-0.50 and 0.47-0.49,83-85and 73-76 cm,and 24-25 and 22-23 kg/m2,respectively.Conclusion WHtR may be superior to WC and BMI for predicting dyslipidemia,and an unisex cutoff of 0.5 should be recommended.

Aim To investigate the effect of simvastatin on the FKN expression in human umbilical vascular endothelial cells(HUVEC)up-regulated by interleukine-18(IL-18),and the effect on adhesion of FKN to monocyte THP-1.Methods FKN expression in HUVEC was determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and the adhesion was checked by in vitro Flow chamber.Results Incubation of HUVECs with IL-18 upregulated FKN mRNA expression(P

Objective To investigate the effects of NE on hepatic stellate cells(HSCs)apoptosis.Methods After NE and the antagonists of adrenoceptor subtypes were administered to HSCs,MTT method was used to evaluate cell proliferation.TUNEL assay and flow cytometry(FCM)were used to identify cell apoptosis.Results(1)Compared with control group,NE at concentrations of 1、10 and 100 ?mol/L induced HSCs proliferation in a time-dependent manner;The action of NE at concentrations of 10 ?mol/L reached the peak(0.262?0.085 vs 0.048?0.055,P

Irritable bowel syndrome( IBS)is a common functional gastrointestinal disease,relevant investigations on pathogenesis of IBS mainly focus on genetic susceptibility, social psychological stress, visceral hypersensitivity, dysregulation of brain-gut axis,dysbiosis of intestinal flora,and dysimmunity of intestinal mucosa. This article reviewed the correlation between dysbiosis of intestinal microbiota and dysregulation of brain-gut axis in IBS.

ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical significance of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (ⅡM).MethodsPeripheral blood lymphocyte subsets was determined by flow cytometry in 89 patients with polymyositis(PM ) or dermatomyositis ( DM ).The association between clinical features and peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets was analyzed by F test,t test and x2 test.ResultsPatients with active DM showed significant decreases in counts of CD3+ cell,CD3+CD4+ cell and CD3+CD8+ cell[(8±4),(5.4±2.8) and (2.6±1.6) ×108/L respectively],compared with those in inactive DM [(16±6), (10.4±5.6) and (5.6±3.8) ×108/L respectively] and healthy controls [(14±4), (8.3±2.8) and (4.6±1.7) ×108/Lrespectively](F=12.901,8.257,7.084; P＜0.05).Logistic regression analysis indicated that myositis disease activity could influence the counts of peripheral blood CD3+ cell,CD3+CD4+ cell and CD3+ CD8+ cell (b=0.211,0.344,0.289; P＜0.05 ).ILD in ⅡM could influence the counts of CD3+ cell and the ratio of CD3+CD4+cell (b=0.928,1.974; P＜0.05 ).Logistic regression analysis indicated that the count of CD3+CD8+ cell was risk factor for death,and the relative risk was 0.989(b=-0.011 ; P＜0.05).ConclusionPeripheral blood lymphocyte subsets may be regarded as useful laboratory parameters for monitoring RA disease activity.Decreased CD8+ T cell may predict a poor outcome of patients with IIM.

Objective To investigate the effects of over-expression of wild-type PTEN gene and its mutant (G129E) on apoptosis and proliferation of activated hepatic stellate cells (HSC) in vitro and its potential mechanisms. Methods The activated HSC cells were cultured in vitro and transfected with PTEN gene and G129E gene via adenoviral vector. The apoptosis of HSC was measured by MTT , and its proliferation was assessed by TUNEL and flow cytometry (FCM) . Western blotting and real-time fluorescent quantitation PCR were used to detect expression of PTEN in HSC. And the changes of Bcl-2 and Bax expression were tested by Western blotting. Results The wild type PTEN gene and G129E gene were successfully transducted into HSC, which resuted in elevated expression of Bax and reduced expression of Bcl-2 (P<0.01). After transduction, HSC proliferation was markedly inhibited with inhibitory rates of 14.03% and 23.12% at 48 and 72 hours in Ad-PTEN ,respectively, as well as 9.52% and 12.63% in Ad-G129E, respectively. Apoptotic rate of HSC exposed to Ad-PTEN or Ad-G129E for 72 hours increased significantly (P<0.01). Furthermore, wild type PTEN was more powerful than G129E for above-mentioned effects. Conclusions Over-expression of wild type PTEN and its mutant G129E can inhibit the proliferation of activated HSC, and induce HSC apoptosis through the Bcl-2/Bax pathway. In addition, the effect of wild type PTEN is more powerful than that of G129E.

Objective To investigate the expression of TLR2 in colon mucosa of ulcerative colitis (UC) and to analyze the correlation with clinical activity and endoscopic grading. Methods The biopsies from 47 UC patients and 13 healthy controls were collected, and the expression of TLR2 protein and mRNA in colonic mucosa was determined by Western Blot and semi-quantitative RT-PCR, respectively. The patients were graded according to endoscopic and clinical findings. Results The expressions of TLR2 protein and TLR2 mRNA in UC patients were significantly increased than those in healthy controls, which was correlated with the progression of the disease. Conclusion The expressions of TLR2 protein and TLR2 mRNA in colon mucosa from UC patients might be used as a marker for disease activity.