Sixty four pregnancy women with mildly raised TSH level (2.5-4.5 mU/L) in the 1st trimester were divided into two groups:only the thyroid function was monitored in study Ⅰ group (n =32),while levothyroxine therapy was given in study Ⅱ group (n =32);45 normal pregnant women with TSH level ＜2.5 mU/L served as control group.Serum unconjugated estriol(uE3) and placenta growth factor (PlGF) levels in 3rd trimester were measured in all subjects.The incidence of adverse events in control group,study groups Ⅰ and Ⅱ were 22.2％,40.6％ and 31.3％,respectively (P ＞0.05).The serum levels of uE3 (7.34 μg/L) and PlGF (76.3 ng/L) were elevated in study group Ⅱ;and the uE3 level was close to that in the control group (6.61 μg/L),while PlGF level was lower than that in the control group (169.1 ng/L).When TPO antibody was positive,the uE3 level in the study group Ⅰ (logarithmic value 0.37 ±0.31) was lower than those in other two groups (logarithmic value 0.81 ± 0.37,0.56 ± 0.27),while there was no significant difference in PlGF levels among three groups.The results suggest that levothyroxine may improve placental function to some extent and TPO antibody might be one of the regulators in the expression of uE3.

Objective: To assess the clinical significance of changes in levels of serum β2 microglobulin (β2-MG), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) after treatment. Methods: A total of 89 patients with DLBCL who were admitted to the hospital between February 2015 an July 2017 were included in the DLBCL group and 40 normal, healthy persons admitted during the same period were selected as the control group. All DLBCL patients underwent standard chemotherapy after admission. Peripheral venous blood was collected before and after chemotherapy to determine any changes in serum β2-MG, VEGF, and LDH levels. Biomarker levels were also compared with those from normal, healthy subjects. The clinical and pathological data of all DLBCL patients were collected and the relationships between changes in biomarker levels, clinical and pathological parameters of DLBCL, and curative effects were analyzed. Results: The levels of serum β2-MG, VEGF, and LDH in the DLBCL group were higher than those in the control group (P<0.05) and all levels in DLBCL group decreased after chemotherapy (P<0.05). The effective rate of the R-CHOP group was higher than that of the CHOP group (P<0.05). Serum LDH levels were higher in patients with typical B symptoms than in those without such symptoms (P<0.05). Serum levels of β2-MG, VEGF, and LDH were higher in patients with Ann Arbor stageⅢ-Ⅳlymphoma, with bone marrow involvement, whose international prognostic index (IPI) was high-risk, and with treatment failure than in those with stageⅠ-Ⅱlymphoma, without bone marrow involvement, with low-risk IPI, and with treatment response (P<0.05). The levels of serum VEGF, β2-MG, and LDH were positively correlated with each other, and all three biomarkers were negatively correlated with treatment response (P<0.05). Conclusions: Levels of serum β2-MG, VEGF, and LDH are elevated in patients with DLBCL but are significantly decreased after treatment. Changes in expression levels of these three biomarkers are related to clinical stage, bone marrow involvement, IPI, and treatment response. These biomarkers can be used as a basis for monitoring DLBCL and evaluating curative effect and prognosis.

Objective: To explore the effect of hydrogen-rich saline on the CD4⁺ CD25⁺ Foxp3⁺ Treg cells in a guinea pig model of allergic rhinitis (AR) and investigate the underling anti-inflammatory mechanism. Methods: Using random number table, eighteen guinea pigs were divided into three groups (control group/AR group/HRS group, n=6 of each group). AR guinea pig model was built with ovalbumin and aluminum. The guinea pigs were injected with hydrogen-rich saline (HRS group) for ten days after sensitation. And control group was injected with equal normal saline at the same time. Number of sneezes, degree of runny nose and nasal rubbing movements were scored. Peripheral blood eosinophil count was recorded. The content of interleukin 10(IL-10) and transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) in the serum were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Immunohistochemical method was taken to detect IL-10 and TGF-β in nasal mucosa. The proportion of CD4⁺ CD25⁺ Foxp3⁺ T cells in the CD4⁺ T cells of spleen and peripheral blood were determined with flow cytometry. SPSS 17.0 software was used to analyze the data. Results: There was significant difference in symptom scores among them. The scores of AR group preceded control group, and HRS could decrease the scores of AR ((6.29±1.79) vs (1.01±0.71), (4.50±0.84) vs (6.29±1.79), F=24.725, all P<0.05). The highest number of eosinophils in the peripheral blood belonged to control group, and the number of eosinophils were dramatically reduced after HRS administration ((0.41±0.05)×10⁹/L vs (0.25±0.03 )×10⁹/L, (0.32±0.03)×10⁹/L vs (0.41±0.05)×10⁹/L, F=70.05, all P<0.05). The content of IL-10 and TGF-β in control group is peak ((86.88±17.17) pg/ml, (598.28±72.70) pg/ml, respectively), and compared with AR group, HRS also increased the expression of IL-10 and TGF-β of peripheral blood ((72.54±11.75) pg/ml vs (53.49±10.07) pg/ml, (530.23±57.15) pg/ml vs (482.69±65.96) pg/ml, F value was 28.357, 14.128, respectively, all P<0.05). The proportion of CD4⁺ CD25⁺ Foxp3⁺ Treg cells in controls exceeded HRS group and AR group (1.81%±0.10%, 1.29%±0.74%, respectively), and HRS treatment increased the ratio of CD4⁺ CD25⁺ Foxp3⁺ Treg cells than AR group of peripheral blood ((1.50%±0.11%) vs (1.15%±0.11%), F=168.96, P<0.05). But there was no significant diferences in splene tissue ((1.01%±0.08%) vs (0.98%±0.09%), F=97.381, P>0.05). Conclusion Both the number and the cytokine secretion of CD4⁺ CD25⁺ Foxp3⁺ Treg cells are decreased in AR group, HRS may inhibit inflammatory response and ameliorate AR via improving the number and the cytokine secretion.

COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection severely threatens global health and economic development. No effective antiviral drug is currently available to treat COVID-19 and any other human coronavirus infections. We report herein that a macrolide antibiotic, carrimycin, potently inhibited the cytopathic effects (CPE) and reduced the levels of viral protein and RNA in multiple cell types infected by human coronavirus 229E, OC43, and SARS-CoV-2. Time-of-addition and pseudotype virus infection studies indicated that carrimycin inhibited one or multiple post-entry replication events of human coronavirus infection. In support of this notion, metabolic labelling studies showed that carrimycin significantly inhibited the synthesis of viral RNA. Our studies thus strongly suggest that carrimycin is an antiviral agent against a broad-spectrum of human coronaviruses and its therapeutic efficacy to COVID-19 is currently under clinical investigation.