Objective To investigate the levels and significance of Th17 cells and regulatory T cells (Treg) in peripheral blood of children with allergic rhinitis during pollen and non-pollen seasons.Methods Thirteen children with hay fever, 10 children with house dust mite(HDM)-allergic asthma and 10 healthy children were recruited into this study.Percentages of Th17 and Treg cells were detected by flow cytometry.Levels of IL-17, IL-10 and TGF-β in cell culture supernatants were measured by ELISA.Results (1) The percentages of Th17 cells in children with allergic rhinitis [(3.4±2.4)%] were significantly higher than those in HDM-allergic asthmatics [(2.1±1.6)%] and those in healthy children [(0.5±0.3)%] during pollen season (both P<0.05).The levels of Treg cells in allergic rhinitis group [(2.1±1.3)%] and in HDM-allergic asthma group [(3.6±1.9)%] were significantly lower than those in healthy control group [(5.5±2.8)%] (both P<0.05).The levels of Th17 cells [(3.0±1.9)% vs (3.4±2.4)%, P<0.05] and ratios of Th17/Treg cells [(1.4±1.0)% vs (1.7±1.5)%, P<0.05] in children with allergic rhinitis were significantly decreased during non-pollen season as compared with those during pollen season, but the levels of Treg cells were up-regulated [(2.4±1.6)% vs (2.1±1.3)%, P<0.05].(2) Correlation analysis revealed that the ratios of Th17/Treg cells were positively correlated with the concentrations of FeNO (fractional concentration of exhaled NO) (r=0.321, P<0.05) and the counts of circulating eosinophils (r=0.198, P<0.05) in children with allergic rhinitis during pollen season.Conclusion The imbalanced Th17 and Treg cells in children with allergic rhinitis during pollen season might play a vital role in the regulation of allergic airway inflammation.

Objective To investigate the changes in percentage and function of CD4+CD25+regu-latory T cells ( Tregs) in peripheral blood of patients with hay fever. Methods A total of 20 patients with hay fever, 20 patients with house dust mite-induced allergic asthma and 20 healthy subjects were enrolled in this study. Peripheral blood samples were collected from all subjects to isolate PBMCs. Percentages of Tregs in PBMCs were measured by flow cytometry. CD4+CD25+ Tregs and CD4+CD25-T cells ( Teffs) were isola-ted by immunomagnetic cell sorting. Effects of CD4+CD25+Tregs on the proliferation of Teffs were evaluated by MTT assay. Expression of Foxp3 and TGF-β1 at mRNA level was analyzed by RT-PCR. Results During the pollen season, the percentage of circulating Tregs in patients with hay fever [(1. 82+0. 82)％] was sig-nificantly lower than that in patients with house dust mite-induced allergic asthma [(2. 96±1. 34)％] and health subjects [(5. 78±2. 29)％] (both P<0. 05). Expression of Foxp3 at mRNA level was significantly reduced in patients with hay fever (0. 46±0. 25) as compared with that of the house dust mite-induced aller-gic asthma (0. 64±0. 31) and healthy control (1. 04±0. 21) groups (both P<0. 05). Expression of TGF-β1 at mRNA level in both hay fever (0. 34±0. 27) and house dust mite-induced allergic asthma (0. 43±0. 31) groups was lower than that of the healthy control group (0. 99±0. 34). Treg-mediated suppression of Teff proliferation was significantly decreased in patients with hay fever [(17. 1±8. 4)％] as compared with that in patients with house dust mite-induced allergic asthma [(21. 4±9. 1)％]) and healthy subjects [(36. 0± 13. 9)％] (P<0. 05). Conclusion Decreased percentage and defective function of Tregs might be one of the major causes for the occurrence and development of hay fever in children during the pollen season.

Objective To explore the effect of folate on cell proliferation and apoptosis as well as on DNA methylation,expression of mRNA and protein of fragile histidine triad(FHIT)gene in cervical cancer cells. Methods Cervical cancer cell lines including CaSki(HPV16-positive)and C33A(HPV-negative)were cultured in vitro with different folate concentrations. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were determined by viable cell counting and flow cytometry while FHIT gene DNA methylation was used with methylation specific PCR(MSP). Both gene expression of FHIT protein and mRNA were detected by Western blot and Real-time PCR,respectively. Results Folate could inhibit the proliferation and promote the apoptosis in two kinds of cervical cancer cells. The number of viable cells decreased (C33A:r=0.98,P<0.001;CaSki:r=0.98,P<0.001) and the apoptosis rate increased(C33A:r=0.98,P<0.001;CaSki:r=0.99,P<0.001)along with the increase of folate concentration. FHIT gene DNA methylation showed all positive at the folate concentration levels of 1μg/ml and 10μg/ml,partially positive at 100μg/ml and 250μg/ml,but negative at 500μg/ml and 1 000μg/ml in both C33A and CaSki cells. Comparing with the control group,the mRNA or protein relative expression levels of FHIT gene in different folate concentrations were statistically significant in two kinds of cells,and showing that the FHIT gene mRNA expression(C33A:r=0.96,P<0.001;CaSki:r=0.94,P<0.001)and protein expression (C33A:r=0.96,P<0.001;CaSki:r=0.97,P<0.001) both increased along with the increase of folate concentration. Conclusion Our findings indicated that adequate folate seemed to be able to effectively inhibit the proliferation of cervical cancer cells and facilitate their apoptosis in vitro,so would reverse the aberration mRNA and protein expression of FHIT gene.

This study comprehensively analyzes the course of Military Medical Psychology from 7 aspects including the nature and status, teaching objectives, teaching principles, teaching concepts, classroom teaching, practical teaching and lecturing principles, and finally summarizes the characteristics of the course and points out its shortcomings and prospects. The study found that the Military Medical Psychology is an important interdisciplinary course between medical psychology and military science; the teaching objectives include two categories, the overall goals and classified ones; the teaching principle emphasizes the forces of developing practice ability of service orientation; the teaching concept includes combining the theory with practice, focusing on the students, informatization and lectures; the mode of classroom teaching should be cases-introduction, theory-interpretation and case-analysis; the practical teaching should strengthen teaching skills, emphasize connection, stimulate interest and improve the health; lecturing principles emphasize the focus of content. This study has preliminarily completed the teaching design of the course of Military Medical Psychology, which is conducive to the smooth implementation of this course and the cultivation of professional talents of military medical universities.

Objectives:To summarize the clinical and genetic characteristics of the patients with isolated methylmalonic acidemia and investigate the strategies for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention.Methods:Three hundred and fourteen patients (180 males, 134 females) with isolated methylmalonic acidemia were ascertained from 26 provinces or cities across the mainland of China during January 1998 to March 2020. Genetic analysis was performed by Sanger sequencing, gene panel sequencing, whole exome sequencing, multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification or quantitative PCR. According to the age of onset, the patients were divided to early-onset group (≤12 months of age) and the late-onset group (>12 months of age). They were treated by cobalamin, L-carnitine and (or) special diet and symptomatic treatment. Statistical analysis was done using Chi-square test.Results:Fifty-eight of 314 (18.5%) patients were detected by Newborn screening using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Five cases (1.6%) had a postmortem diagnosis. Two hundred and fifty-one patients (79.9%) were clinically diagnosed with an age of onset ranged from 3 hours after birth to 18 years. One hundred and fifty-nine patients (71.0%) belonged to early-onset groups, 65 patients (29.0%) belonged to the late-onset group. The most common symptoms were metabolic crises, psychomotor retardation, epilepsy, anemia and multiple organ damage. Metabolic acidosis and anemia were more common in early-onset patients than that in late-onset patients (20.8%(33/159) vs. 9.2% (6/65), 34.6% (55/159) vs. 16.9% (11/165), χ 2=4.261, 6.930, P=0.039, 0.008). Genetic tests were performed for 236 patients (75.2%), 96.2%(227/236) had molecular confirmation. One hundred and twenty-seven variants were identified in seven genes (MMUT, MMAA, MMAB, MMADHC, SUCLG1, SUCLA2, and MCEE), of which 49 were novel. The mut type, caused by the deficiency of methylmalonyl-CoA mutase, was the most common ( n=211, 93%) cause of this condition. c.729_730insTT, c.1106G>A and c.914T>C were the three most frequent mutations in MMUT gene. The frequency of c.914T>C in early-onset patients was significantly higher than that in late-onset patients (8.3% (18/216) vs. 1.6% (1/64), χ 2=3.859, P=0.037). Metabolic crisis was more frequent in mut type than the other types (72.6% (114/157) vs. 3/13, χ 2=13.729, P=0.001),developmental delay and hypotonia were less frequent in mut type (38.2% (60/157) vs. 9/13, 25.5% (40/157) vs. 8/13, χ 2=4.789, 7.705, P=0.030, 0.006). Of the 58 patients identified by newborn screening, 44 patients (75.9%) who were treated from asymptomatic phase developed normally whereas 14 patients (24.1%) who received treatment after developing symptoms exhibited varying degrees of psychomotor retardation. Conclusions:The characteristics of phenotypes and genotypes among Chinese patients with isolated methylmalonic acidemia were analyzed. Expanded the mutation spectrum of the associated genes. Because of the complex clinical manifestations and severe early onset of isolated methylmalonic acidemia, Newborn screening is crucial for early diagnosis and improvement of prognosis. MMUT gene is recommended for carrier screening as an effort to move the test earlier as a part of the primary prevention of birth defects.

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of folate on cell proliferation and apoptosis as well as on DNA methylation, expression of mRNA and protein of fragile histidine triad (FHIT)gene in cervical cancer cells.

METHODSCervical cancer cell lines including CaSki (HPV16-positive) and C33A (HPV-negative)were cultured in vitro with different folate concentrations. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were determined by viable cell counting and flow cytometry while FHIT gene DNA methylation was used with methylation specific PCR (MSP). Both gene expression of FHIT protein and mRNA were detected by Western blot and Real-time PCR, respectively.

RESULTSFolate could inhibit the proliferation and promote the apoptosis in two kinds of cervical cancer cells. The number of viable cells decreased (C33A:r = 0.98, P < 0.001; CaSki:r = 0.98, P < 0.001) and the apoptosis rate increased (C33A:r = 0.98, P < 0.001; CaSki:r = 0.99, P < 0.001) along with the increase of folate concentration. FHIT gene DNA methylation showed all positive at the folate concentration levels of 1 µg/ml and 10 µg/ml, partially positive at 100 µg/ml and 250 µg/ml, but negative at 500 µg/ml and 1 000 µg/ml in both C33A and CaSki cells. Comparing with the control group, the mRNA or protein relative expression levels of FHIT gene in different folate concentrations were statistically significant in two kinds of cells, and showing that the FHIT gene mRNA expression (C33A:r = 0.96, P < 0.001; CaSki:r = 0.94, P < 0.001) and protein expression (C33A:r = 0.96, P < 0.001; CaSki:r = 0.97, P < 0.001) both increased along with the increase of folate concentration.

CONCLUSIONOur findings indicated that adequate folate seemed to be able to effectively inhibit the proliferation of cervical cancer cells and facilitate their apoptosis in vitro, so would reverse the aberration mRNA and protein expression of FHIT gene.

Acid Anhydride Hydrolases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Apoptosis ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Culture Media ; chemistry ; DNA Methylation ; Female ; Folic Acid ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Neoplasm Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology

Objective Studies on the expression and location of zinc finger protein A20 (A20) and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) in liver tissues of patients with chronic hepatitis B were conducted, and the relationship between them and liver fibrosis was determined by FibroScan. Methods Studies on A20 and CTGF in liver tissues of 160 patients with chronic hepatitis B were conducted in accordance with the stage of pathological fibrosis and inflammation of the liver, and quantitative immunohistochemistry test was conducted, and statistical analysis was conducted by FibroScan. Results The expressions of A20 and CTGF in liver tissues increased with the aggravation of liver pathological fibrosis and inflammation, and there were significant differences between each stage and the control group (P<0.05), and there were significant differences between adjacent groups (P<0.05). Studies have shown that FibroScan increases along with pathological fibrosis and inflammation in the liver. There are significant differences between the stage and the control group (P<0.05), and no significant differences between the adjacent groups (P>0.05). There was positive correlation between liver A20 and CTGF, r=0.796 (P<0.05). Conclusions In patients with chronic hepatitis B, A20, CTGF and FibroScan are positively correlated with the degree of liver fibrosis, and A20 and CTGF are also positively correlated with the degree of liver inflammation, which can be used as indicators to evaluate the degree of liver inflammation and fibrosis, and further guide the anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrosis treatment of patients.