[ ABSTRACT] AIM:To investigate the role of chronic psychological stress on periodontitis and the effects of hy-perbaric oxygen ( HBO) on periodontitis with psychological stress in rats.METHODS:Male special pathogen-free Wistar rats (n=80) were randomly divided into 4 groups:(1)normal control group;(2)experimental periodontitis group:the pe-riodontitis model was induced by wrapping 3/0 silk ligature inoculated with Porphyromonas gingivalis around the left maxil-lary second molar of the rats; ( 3 ) psychological stress stimulation group; ( 4 ) periodontitis model with stress stimulation group.Psychological stress was removed at the 9th week after ligature, and 4 rats from each experimental group were ran-domly chosen for HBO treatment.The rats were sacrificed at the 2nd, 4th, 8th and 10th weeks after ligature.The levels of blood glucose, adrenocorticotropic hormone ( ACTH) , corticosterone and adrenaline were measured as the stress markers. The histological changes of periodontal tissues were observed under microscope with HE staining.RESULTS:The levels of blood glucose, ACTH, corticosterone and adrenaline in psychological stress stimulation group and periodontitis with stress group were significantly higher than those in control group and experimental periodontitis group at the 2nd and 4th weeks af-ter ligature (P<0.05).The levels of the stress markers were significantly lower than those in untreated groups in the 10th week after HBO (P<0.01).The sites of gingival attachment were normal in control group and psychological stress stimu-lation group.Periodontal pocket, and periodontal attachment loss ( AL) were observed in experimental periodontitis group. The tissue damage was much heavier in periodontitis model with stress stimulation group as the furcation of tooth was ex-posed and the tissue damage was observed on both sides of the adjacent teeth.No significant difference of AL between psy-chological stress stimulation group and normal control group during the experiment was observed.The AL in periodontal model with stress stimulating group was significantly higher than that in experimental periodontitis group at the 2nd, 4th and 8th weeks (P<0.01).The level of AL was attenuated at the 10th week after HBO (P<0.01).No difference of histologi-cal change in periodontal tissues was observed between control group and psychological stress stimulation group.Severer in-flammatory changes and alveolar bone destruction were observed in periodontitis with stress group than those in experimental periodontitis group.The levels of inflammation reduced at the 10th week after HBO.CONCLUSION:Stress stimulation is one of the inducing factors of periodontitis in rats, which aggravates periodontitis.HBO may represent a useful way in trea-ting psychological stress periodontitis.

AIM:To observe the expression of TLR2 and TLR4 on mast cells (MCs) in the periapical tissues from different types of human chronic periapical diseases , and to analyze the role of TLR 2 and TLR4 on tryptase-positive MCs in the immunopathogenesis of human chronic periapical diseases .METHODS: A total of 60 donors, including healthy control group , periapical granuloma group and periapical cyst group , were enrolled in the study .The periapical tis-sue specimens were fixed in 10%buffered formalin and stained with hematoxylin and eosin for histopathology , or stained with double-immunofluorescence for identification of TLR 2-tryptase and TLR4-tryptase double-positive MCs in the periapical tissues.RESULTS:Compared with the healthy control , the densities of TLR2-tryptase and TLR4-tryptase double-positive MCs in periapical tissues were significantly increased in human chronic periapical diseases (P<0.01).The densities of TLR2-tryptase and TLR4-tryptase double-positive MCs in periapical cyst group were significantly higher than those in peria-pical granuloma group (P<0.01).CONCLUSION:TLR2 and TLR4 were expressed on the MCs in the periapical tissues of human chronic periapical diseases .TLR2-tryptase and TLR4-tryptase double-positive MCs may participate in the patho-genesis of chronic periapical diseases .

Objective:To determine the prevalence situation of adult female acne (AFA) patients and to explore the risk factors related to AFA.Methods:From September 2019 to June 2020, 290 female acne patients aged from 25 to 48 (29.57±4.50) years were surveyed with a questionnaire of risk factors and the prevalence situation of acne in the acne clinic of the Department of Dermatology, Wuxi No.2 Hospital Affiliated with Nanjing Medical University.Results:AFA occured more frequently in the jaw (95.17%), cheek (93.79%) and forehead (89.66%). Recurrent acne (38.62%) and comedonal acne (50.34%) more commonly occured. Cosmetics, endocrine, diet, genetics and other factors aggravated AFA. Age ( H=7.286, P>0.05; F=0.122, P>0.05), gonadal hormone concentrations ( Z=-0.365, P>0.05; χ 2=0.276, P>0.05), menstrual cycle ( Z=-0.274, P>0.05; χ 2=0.217, P>0.05), genetics ( Z=-1.244, P>0.05; χ 2=1.771, P>0.05) made no difference to acne grading and types. Excessive use of cosmetics could lead to increased comedo (χ 2=7.097, P<0.05). Cosmetics had no difference to acne grading ( Z=-0.065, P>0.05). Gonadal hormone concentrations were uncorrelated with menstrual cycle (χ 2=1.397, P>0.05). Conclusions:The pathogenesis of AFA is related to a variety of factors, which affect the skin barrier function and require comprehensive treatment.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the inhibitory effects of ursolic acid on interleukin-6 （IL-6）-mediated invasion and migration of breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells （hereinafter referred to as “231 cells”）. METHODS The effects of 20， 40， 80， 160 and 320 µmol/L ursolic acid on the proliferation rate of 231 cells were measured by CCK-8 method. The breast cancer 231 cells were divided into control group， model group and administration group. The migration and invasion abilities of cells were detected by scratch assay and Transwell assay. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction （q-PCR） assay and Western blot assay were used to detect the mRNA and protein expressions of epithelial-mesenchymal transition-related makers such as E cadherin （E-cad）， matrix metalloprotein 2 （MMP2）， MMP9， vimentin （Vim）， CD44 molecule （CD44） and aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family member A1 （ALDH1A1）. The phosphorylation levels of JAK2 and STAT3 in the Janus kinase 2/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 （JAK2/STAT3） signaling pathway （in terms of p-JAK2/JAK2 ratio and p-STAT3/STAT3 ratio） were detected by Western blot assay. RESULTS A low concentration of ursolic acid of 20 µmol/L （no significant inhibitory effect on cell proliferation ability） was selected as the subsequent administration concentration. Compared with the control group， the migration and invasion abilities of cells in the model group were significantly enhanced （P＜0.05）； compared with the model group， the migration and invasion abilities of cells in the administered group were significantly reduced （P＜0.05）. Compared with the control group， the relative mRNA and protein expressions of epithelial-mesenchymal transition-related markers MMP9， MMP2， Vim， ALDH1A1 and CD44 were all elevated to different extents， and the mRNA and protein expressions of E-cad were all decreased to different extents in the model group cells， and part of the differences had statistical significance （P＜0.05）， the p-JAK2/JAK2 ratio and p-STAT3/STAT3 ratio were significantly increased in the model group （P＜0.05）； compared with the model group， the expressions of the above indicators were reversed to some extent in the administration group. CONCLUSIONS Ursolic acid blocks the activation of JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathwby the inflammatory factor IL-6， which ultimately interrupts the invasion and metastasis of breast cancer cells.