Objective:To explore the clinical profile and prognostic features of relapsing polychondritis (RP) with nervous system involvement.Methods:The clinical data of 28 RP patients with nervous system involvement admitted to Peking Union Medical College Hospital from December 2005 to November 2019 were collected and analyzed.Results:The median age of the patients was 50 years and 57.1% (16/28) were men. Patients with central nervous system involvement accounted for 92.9% (26/28) of the total. Common manifestations included headache (69.2%, 18/26), cognitive impairment (38.5%, 10/26), and mental disorders (38.5%, 10/26); only two cases had peripheral nervous system damage. Brain magnetic resonance imaging revealed that subcortical (13/18) and cortical (8/18) tissues were most affected. Cerebrospinal fluid tests showed that the median white blood cell count was 55×10 6/L, while the protein level was also slighted elevated ((0.54±0.17) g/L). All patients were treated with glucocorticoids, and 85.7% (24/28) of patients with immunosuppressants; 27 patients showed optimistic responses to the treatment, while 24 had recurrent courses. Cognitive dysfunction was the most common residual symptom. Follow-up data of 16 patients were available with an average follow-up time of 3.3 years. Ten of the patients were in stable condition and three patients died. Conclusions:Nervous system damage, especially limbic encephalitis and meningitis may present in course of RP. However, it is a challenge to diagnose for the non-specific clinical manifestations. Treatment with corticosteroids and immunosuppressants can lead to a favorable response.

Objective: To investigate the influence of inhibiting expression of polyamine-modulated factor (PMF-1) on the antitumor effect of glucocorticoid dexamethasone (DEX) in human cervical cancer Caski cells. Methods: siRNAs which target human PMF-1 gene were designed and synthesized, and their effect on the expression of PMF-1 in Caski cells was evaluated by Western blotting. The PMF-1 down-regulated and control Caski cells were treated with DEX, and then the affect of PMF-1 down regulation on the sensitivity of the tumor cells to DEX was analyzed. MTT method was used to detect cell proliferation, flow cytometry was used to analyze cell cycle, Western blotting method was used to evaluate expression level of glucocorticoids receptor (GR), and HPLC was used to analyze intracellular polyamine content. Results: The transient transfection of Caski cells with siRNAwhich targets PMF-1 gene can significantly reduce the expression level of PMF-1 protein. Compared with the control cells, treating PMF-1 down-regulated Caski cells with DEX can more effectively inhibit cell proliferation（P<0.01), up regulate GR expression, arrest cell cycle at G2 stage（P<0.01), and also significantly reduce intracellular polyamine level（P<0.01). Conclusion：Inhibiting PMF-1 expression can enhance antitumor pharmacological activity of DEX against human cervical cancer cells, and the underlying mechanism may be related with enhanced cell cycle inhibition and decreased intracellular polyamine level.

Myocardial dysfunction is the most serious complication of sepsis. Sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction (SMD) is often associated with gastrointestinal dysfunction, but its pathophysiological significance remains unclear. The present study found that patients with SMD had higher plasma gastrin concentrations than those without SMD. In mice, knockdown of the gastrin receptor, cholecystokinin B receptor (Cckbr), aggravated lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cardiac dysfunction and increased inflammation in the heart, whereas the intravenous administration of gastrin ameliorated SMD and cardiac injury. Macrophage infiltration plays a significant role in SMD because depletion of macrophages by the intravenous injection of clodronate liposomes, 48 h prior to LPS administration, alleviated LPS-induced cardiac injury in Cckbr-deficient mice. The intravenous injection of bone marrow macrophages (BMMs) overexpressing Cckbr reduced LPS-induced myocardial dysfunction. Furthermore, gastrin treatment inhibited toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) expression through the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPAR-α) signaling pathway in BMMs. Thus, our findings provide insights into the mechanism of the protective role of gastrin/CCKBR in SMD, which could be used to develop new treatment modalities for SMD.