Objective To measure the expression of TGF-β1 in the sera of patients with psoriatic arthritis and its significance.Methods The serum level of TGF-β1 was measured in 38 patients with psoriatic arthritis and 80 patients with psoriasis vulgaris.Results A significant difierence was observed between the patients with psoriatic arthritis and those with psoriasis vulgaris(375.92±95.883 pg/ml vs.510.78±167.967 pg/ml,t=4.60,P<0.01).Conclusion Continuous monitoring of serum levels of TGF-β1 may help clinicians to take precautions against osteoporosis in patients with psoriatic arthritis.

Objective To evaluate the influence of narrow-band ultraviolet B on lesional microvessel density (MVD),vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF),matrix metalloproteinases 2 (MMP-2)as well as on serum VEGF in patients with psoriasis vulgaris(PV).Methods Fifteen patients with PV were recruited into this study with 10 normal human controls.All patients received NB-UVB phototherapy thrice a week for 4-5 weeks.Prior and after the treatment,psoriasis area and severity index (PASI)was calculated,tissue specimens were taken from non-photoexposed lesions,and sera samples were obtained from these patients.Then,MvD and the expression level of VEGF and MMP-2 were measured by immunohistochemical labeled dextran polymer(LDP)method in the tissue specimens.Also,the serum level of VEGF was tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).Results PASI score remarkably decreased in patients after the photothempy(t=13.35,P＜0.01).The MVDs were 20.52±5.02,7.33±1.24 and 4.26±0.79 capillaries per high power field(400 × amplification),in psoriatic lesions before treatment,after treatment,and normal control tissues,respectively,with a significant difference among the three groups (F=97.57,P＜0.05),and a significant increase was observed in the lesions before treatment compared with those after treatment and normal controls.The serum level of VEGF was 307.55±121.65 ng/L in psoriatic lesions before treatment,significantly higher than that after treatment(163.92±95.57 ng/L),and in normal control skin (139.78±79.06 ng/L),whereas there was no significant difference between the latter two groups(P＞0.05).The positivity rate of MMP-2 was similar among the three groups without statistical difference(P＞0.05).In psoriatic patients,a positive correlation was observed among PASI score,MVD,lesional and serum VEGF levels(P＜0.05),also among the MVD,VEGF and MMP-2 levels in lesions(P＜0.05).but lesional MMP-2 was unrelated to PASI score or sgrum VEGF(both P＞0.05).Conclusions NB-UVB may regulate superficial dermal microvascular proliferation by acting on the expression of VEGF in sera and lesions of psoriatic patients.VEGF and MMP-2 may bOth participate in the proliferation process of microvessels,while MMP-2 is unlikely to be involved in the therapeutic mechanism of NB-UVB.

Objective To explore the relationship of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) with gastrointestinal bleeding in adult patients with Henoch-Sch(o)nlein purpura (HSP).Methods Laboratory data including routine blood test results,C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were collected from 115 adult patients with HSP and 100 healthy controls,and retrospectively analyzed.NLR and PLR were calculated and compared.Logistic regression analysis was used to determine variables associated with gastrointestinal bleeding in adult patients with HSP,and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to estimate the predictive efficacy of these variables.Results NLR and PLR were both significantly higher in adult patients with HSP than in healthy controls (both P ＜ 0.05),and NLR,PLR and CRP levels were all significantly higher in adult HSP patients with gastrointestinal bleeding than in those without (all P ＜ 0.05).Logistic regression analysis showed that NLR was an independent risk factor for gastrointestinal bleeding in adult HSP patients (P ＜ 0.05).The ROC curve revealed that the optimal cut-off point of NLR for predicting gastrointestinal bleeding was 3.24 in adult patients with HSP,with the sensitivity and specificity being 85.1％ and 71.3％ respectively.Conclusions Both NLR and PLR evidently increase in adult patients with HSP,especially in those with gastrointestinal bleeding.NLR is a potential predictor for gastrointestinal bleeding in adult patients with HSP.