Animals ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; chemically induced ; etiology ; Female ; Heart ; drug effects ; In Vitro Techniques ; Lysophospholipids ; pharmacology ; physiology ; Male ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

Objective To study clinical features of liver damage in primary Sj(o)gren syndrome (pSS) and its related factors.Methods One hundred and forty-nine patients of confirmed pSS hospitalized at Peking University People's Hospital were analyzed retrospectively.Results Seventeen of 149 patients of pSS (11.4%) showed liver damage,10 diagnosed as autoimmune hepatitis and seven as primary biliary liver cirrhosis.Increased serum levels of IgG,IgM and γ-globulin accounted for 88.2% and 50.8%,35.3% and 5.3%,and 94.1% and 47.7% of those complicated with and without liver damage,respectively,with statistically significant difference (P ＜ 0.05).Positive serum anti-mitochondria antibody subtype M2 (AMA-M2) was 35.3% in pSS patients with liver damage,significantly higher than that in those without liver damage (1.5%) (P ＜ 0.05).Independent risk factors significantly associated with liver damage included age (OR = 1.013,95% CI 0.971-1.058),course of illness (OR = 1.089,95% CI 1.032-1.150),serum level of γ-globulin (OR = 4.021,95% CI 1.246-12.982),positive AMA-M2 (OR = 11.82,95% CI 0.005-0.157),and positive anti-SSA (OR = 101.333,95% CI 12.653-811.560).Conclusions Liver damage occurred rather high in pSS patients and increased serum levels of IgG,IgM,γ-globulin and anti-SSA can be used to predict their complication with liver damage.Age,course of illness,serum level of γ-globulin,positive AMA-M2 and positive anti-SSA are all significantly associated with liver damage in pSS patients.

Objective:To investigate the role of anaphylatoxin C 5 a in patients with asthma .Methods:A prospective study was performed between September 2006 and February 2007.A total of 33 patients with acute exacerbation of asthma and 13 healthy subjects were recruited into the study .The patients with acute exacerbation of asthma were also studied when they returned to the remission state .Levels of lung function, levels of C5a in induced sputum and cell differential count in induced sputum were determined . Results:The level of C5 a in induced sputum was significantly higher in patients with acute exacerbation of asthma [0.85(0.68-2.13) μg/L] than that in patients with stable asthma [0.45(0.26-0.88)μg/L, Z=-2.193, P=0.013];Sputum C5a levels in stable asthma patients were significantly higher than those in healthy controls [0.14(0.06-0.45) μg/L, Z=-2.141, P=0.015].The level of C5a in patients with severe exacerbation [2.21(1.27 -9.0) μg/L] was significantly higher than those in patients with mild exacerbation [0.34(0.17-0.63) μg/L] and moderate exacerbation [0.85(0.55-1.67) μg/L,χ2 =12.330, P=0.001].The level of C5a in induced sputum was positively correlated with the number of total cells count (r=0.797, P=0.004), neutrophils (r=0.504, P=0.032) and macrophages ( r =0.424, P=0.036 ) in acute exacerbation of asthma .Conclusion: C5a levels in induced sputum could be identified as an important prognostic biomarker , which involved in asthma ’ s pathogenesis .

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; instrumentation ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Spinocerebellar Ataxias ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

Objective To investigate the significance and distribution of lymphopenia and antilymphocyte antibody(ALA) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to explore the role of ALA in lympho penia.Methods One hundred and ten in-patients who were admitted during February 2003 to February 2008 were retrospectively reviewed.Indirect immunofluorescence test was used to detect ALA.Results ① Lymphopenia (＜1.5×109/L) was observed in 68.2% patients.Lymphopenia was associated with skin rashes,serositis,renal involvement,NPSLE,leucopenia,ANA,ds-DNA antibody,ESR and IgG levels.The lymphocyte count and SLEDAI scores was more closely correlated than total white blood cell counts.②ALA was positive in 51/110 (46.4%) patients.ALA was associated with renal involvement,NPSLE,WBC count,C3 level decrease,ANA,dsDNA antibody and SLEDAI scores.Conclusion Lymphopenia is significantly associated with SLEDAI scores.ALA is possibly one cause of lymphcytopenia.In addition,ALA is also a parameter for disease activity,and is associated with organ involvement and outcomes.

Fermentation for Eicosapentaenoic Acid(EPA) production by Nitzschia laevis at various temperature between 10℃ and 30℃ was investigated and the dynamics characteristics during fermentation process were also analyzed.Based on the results,a varying temperature nursing method of two stage control strategy is proposed:During the first stage,which comprises the delay phase and the initial index phase,the temperature is maintained at 25℃;then the temperature is shifted to 20℃ and kept up till the end of the fermentation process.By this method,a EPA content of 6.0% and a yield of 291.60 mg/L have been gained.These are 24.07% and 18.81% higher than that of fixed temperature(25℃) fermentation,respectively.

Objective To evaluate the clinical outcome of external bracket fixation in the treat- ment of complex tibia diaphysis fracture involving intra-articular fractures.Methods Forty-two cases of complex tibia diaphysis fracture with proximal and distal intra-articular fractures treated surgically in our hospital from January 1999 to January 2004 were analyzed.The complex tibia diaphysis fractures were categorized according to the AO classification as type C2 (multiple segments fracture) and type C3 (ir- regular fracture),proximal and distal intra-articular fractures in 23 and 19 cases,respectively.Definite operation was done within one week.Twenty-two cases were treated with simple external fixator,and 20 cases treated with screws and external fixator.Results All the 42 cases were followed-up regularly. According to AO evaluation of the knee and ankle joint movement,83% (35/42 cases) of the cases gained satisfactory functional outcome,14% (6/42 cases) had quite satisfactory results and 2% (1/42 case) had unsatisfactory functional outcome.Conclusion External bracket fixation can obtain outcome of relative length of the tibia and fibula,tube structure reconstruction,smoothness of the articular surface and the parallel and symmetric relation of knees and ankles for complex tibia diaphysis fracture with proxi- mal and distal intra-articular fracture.The arthritis resulting in pain in movement and restriction of func- tion is considered to be the most important factor affecting the joint function.Early functional exercise is important for best recovery of knee and ankle function.

Objective To study the different expressions of receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B ligang(RANKL) mRNA in spleens of rats fed with diet of low calcium and high fluoride. Methods A 2× 2×2 factorial design was used and the factors were calcium, fluoride and action time. In the design, 40 Wistar rats [average body mass(118.9±13.5)g] were divided into four groups randomly by weight: control with normal diet (0.790%, calcium), low calcium group with low calcium intake(0.063%, calcium), high fluoride group with normal diet and high fluoride intake(100 mg/L, fluoride) and low calcium and high fluoride group with low calcium and high fluoride intake. After 4 and 8 months, 5 rats of each group were sacrificed and total RNA was extracted from spleen. And the expression levels of RANKL mRNA were determined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results At time of 4 months, the expression level of RANKL mRNA was 0.13± 0.05,0.13± 0.03,0.17±0.02,0.27± 0.05 and at time of 8 months, it was 0.11 ± 0.01,0.16 ± 0.02,0.16± 0.03,0.36 ± 0.07 in control group, low calcium group, high fluoride group, low calcium with high fluoride group, repectively. The factorial design AVONA showed that low calcium and high fluoride had significant effects on RANKL mRNA expression(F = 40.224,56.679, all P < 0.05) while action time had not(F = 2.850, P > 0.05 ). The interactions of low calcium with high fluoride or high fluoride with action time were signifieant(F = 7.247, 18.789, all P < 0.05) while the interaction of high fluoride with action time was not(F = 1.751, P > 0.05). Conclusions Low calcium alone or high fluoride alone or low calcium with high fluoride or low calcium with action time can increase the the RANKL mRNA expression level. High fluoride does not affect the RANKL mRNA level as the action time is prolonged.

Photothermal therapy (PTT) is a highly effective anti-tumor method. However, when laser radiation was used to ablate tumors, it usually triggers a series of inflammatory reactions, promoting the further development of tumors and affecting the effect of anti-tumor therapy. Therefore, it is an effective method to improve the anti-tumor effect by suppressing the inflammatory response through the precise targeted delivery of anti-inflammatory drug while realizing the photothermal treatment of tumors. To this end, the redox-responsive linker 3,3'-dithiodipropionic acid was used to bond the classic hydrophobic anti-inflammatory drug 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid (18β-GA) and the hydrophilic fragment methoxy-polyethylene glycol (mPEG-NH₂) to obtain redox-responsive amphiphilic polymer PEG-DA-GA in this study. Then, photothermal agent IR-780 was encapsulated to prepare redox-responsive polymer micelle PDG/IR-780 NPs. The PDG/IR-780 NPs exhibited uniform particle size of 80.2 ± 5.3 nm and the polydispersity index (PDI) was 0.215 ± 0.079. All animal experiments followed the ethical requirements formulated by the Ethics Committee of Sichuan University. The results showed that PDG/IR-780 NPs could respond to the abundant glutathione (GSH) in tumor cells to promote the disintegration of nanoparticle and the release of 18β-GA, thus significantly improved the killing efficiency on 4T1 cells, when compared with the non-redox-responsive control PSG/IR-780 NPs. When the concentration of 18β-GA was 50 μg·mL^-1, the cell viability of 4T1 cells in the PDG/IR-780 NPs group was only (19.29 ± 1.80) %, which was significantly lower than the result of in PSG/IR-780 NPs group (29.30 ± 1.37) %. The results of frozen sections of tumor tissues showed that the designed PDG NPs can promote the tumor-targeted distribution of drugs compared with the free drug group. Eventually, PDG/IR-780 NPs achieved wonderful anti-tumor efficacy on 4T1 triple-negative breast cancer model, revealing the new possibility of the combined therapy strategy of photothermal and anti-inflammatory therapy.

Thrombus is a major factor leading to cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction and stroke. Although fibrinolytic anti-thrombotic drugs have been widely used in clinical practice, they are still limited by narrow therapeutic windows, short half-lives, susceptibility to inactivation, and abnormal bleeding caused by non-targeting. Therefore, it is crucial to effectively deliver thrombolytic agents to the site of thrombus with minimal adverse effects. Based on the long blood circulation and excellent drug-loading properties of human serum albumin (HSA), we employed genetic engineering techniques to insert a functional peptide (P-selectin binding peptide, PBP) which can target the thrombus site to the N-terminus of HSA. The fusion protein was expressed using Pichia pastoris and purified by Ni-chelating affinity chromatography. After being loaded with gold nanoparticles (Au NPs), the fusion protein formed homogeneous and stable nanoparticles (named as PBP-HSA@Au) with a diameter of 17.7 ± 1.0 nm and a zeta potential of -11.3 ± 0.2 mV. Cytotoxicity and hemolysis tests demonstrated the superb biocompatibility of PBP-HSA@Au. Platelet-targeting experiments confirmed the thrombus-targeting ability conferred by the introduction of PBP into PBP-HSA@Au. Upon near-infrared ray (NIR) irradiation, PBP-HSA@Au rapidly converted light energy into heat, thereby disrupting fibrinogen and exhibiting outstanding thrombolytic efficacy. The designed HSA fusion protein delivery system provides a precise, rapid, and drug-free treatment strategy for thrombus therapy. This system is characterized by its simple design, high biocompatibility, and strong clinical applicability. All animal experiments involved in this study were carried out under the protocols approved by the Animal Experiment Ethics Committee of Jiangnan University [JN. No20230915S0301015(423)].