Objective To evaluate extracellular and intracellular IFNγ and IL-4 levels in assessing Th1/Th2 balance in children with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and asymptomatic carriers.Methods Fiftyfour hospitalized children including 23 CHB patients and 31 asymptomatic carriers were collected from May 2007 to February 2009.Thirty-four healthy children were served as control.Serum IFNγ and IL-4 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and intracellular IFNγand IL-4 levels were detected by flow cytometer.Analysis of variance (for homogenous variance) and Kruskal-Wallis test (for non-homogenous variance) were performed.Results The differences on extracellular IFNγ, IL-4 and Th1/Th2 among CHB, asymptomatic carriers and control groups were not statistically significant (F=0.342, 0.020 and 0.507, P ＞ 0.05); while the intracellular IFNγlevels were (7.68 ± 4.62), (11.71 ±4.36) and (13.61 ±6.71) μg/mL, and Th1/Th2 ratios were 0.96 ±0.30, 1.67 ±0.76 and 2.11 ± 1.12in three groups respectively (F=0.255 and 0.140, P ＜ 0.05 or ＜ 0.01).The differences in intracellular IL-4 levels among three groups were not significant (F=0.425, P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions Cytokine balance is affected in CHB children and asymptomatic carriers, and flow cytometry analysis is considered as a better method in evaluating the status of Th1/Th2 balance.

Objective To investigate the therapeutic effects of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) on rat fulminant hepatic failure (FHF). Methods The rat MSC were separated and purified by adherent culture of whole bone marrow cells. The rat FHF models were established by CCl4 intragastric administration.The rats were divided into experimental group (n=20) and model control group (n=20).And the same dose of saline was administered to rats as normal controls (n=8).Dosage of 1.0 × 106 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) labeled MSC were transplanted into rats in experimental group and normal control group through caudal veins,and the same dose of saline was given intravenously in model control group.Part of rats in each group were sacrificed after 7 days and 14 days of injection to evaluate the general condition,survival rate,liver function,tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α level,liver pathology and MSC homing to the liver between experimental group and model control group.Normal distribution data were compared by independent-sample t test and nonnormal distribution data were analyzed by non-parameter test.ResultsAfter 3 days of injection,the generalcondition of experimental group were better than the model control group. After 7 days of injection,there were 15 and 8 survival rats,the survival rates were statistically different between experimental group and model control group (x2 =4.122,P＜0.05).After 7 days and 14 days of injection,the liver function and TNF-α levels were statistically different between experimental group and model control group (both P ＜0.05),and liver pathology improvement in experimental group was more significant than model control group.DAPI labeled cells increased after transplantation in experimental group, whilefewDAPIlabeledcellswere observedinnormalcontrolgroup.ConclusionsMSC can home to liver of FHF rats after MSC allogeneic transplantation through caudal veins,which can improve liver immunity and liver tissue necroinflammation,and facilitate recovery of liver function.Therefore,it is demonstrated that MSC transplantation has obvious therapeutic effect on rat FHF.

Patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis is sensitive to concurrent infection and impact glucocorticoid response and disease prognosis. Glucocorticoids can increase the incidence and of serious infections and fungal infections. Among them, Gram-negative bacterial infections are the major one, and invasive fungal infections are not uncommon. Early diagnosis and empiric anti-infective therapy are important means for severe alcoholic hepatitis with concurrent infection. Anti-infective strategies covering multiple drug-resistant bacteria should be timely formulated after determining the high risk of multiple drug-resistant bacterial infections.

Parkinson′s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder, and the abnormal levels of its pathological marker ɑ-synuclein (ɑ-syn) are often accompanied by imbalanced heavy metal homeostasis. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear, with limited research. This review explores the interactions between iron, copper, zinc, and manganese with pathological ɑ-syn′s abnormal expression, aggregation, and degradation in development and progression of PD. It also discusses potential therapeutic directions for addressing heavy metal imbalances in PD patients.