Objective To explore the changes of programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with different baseline of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA levels after treatment with adefovir dipivoxil (ADV).Methods One hundred CHB patients with positive hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg),1 × 104 copy/mL≤HBV DNA≤1 × 107 copy/mL,and positive human leukocyte antigen-A2 were divided into two groups according to the baseline HBV DNA level:47 cases in low virus load group whose HBV DNA level was ≤1 × 105 copy/mL; 53 cases in high virus load group whose HBV DNA level was＞1 × 105 copy/mL.Both groups were treated with ADV 10 mg/d.Serum HBV DNA,HBeAg seroconversion rate,alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and total bilirubin (TBil) levels of both groups before treatment and 12 months after treatment were compared.Flow cytometry was used to test peripheral blood HBV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) surface PD-1 and peripheral blood HBV-specific CTL level.Categorical data were tested by x2 test; quantitative data was compared with t-test.Results Peripheral blood HBV-specific CTL surface PD-1 of CHB patients in low virus load group was 20.17 ％±1.69％,which was lower than that in high virus load group (41.38％±2.30％,t =53.02,P＜0.01) ; peripheral blood HBV specific CTL levels in two groups were 0.37％±0.02％ and 0.17％± 0.02％,respectively (t=50.47,P＜0.01) ; ALT and TBil levels in low virus load group were both lower than those of high virus load group (t=13.07,P＜0.01; t=5.06,P＜0.01).Twelve months after treatment,HBV DNA of 25 cases (53.2％) in low virus load group and 10 cases (18.9％) in high virus load group were lower than the detectable level (HBV DNA＜500 copy/mL,x2 =12.89,P＜0.01);HBeAg seroconversion was achieved in 15 cases(31.9％) and 1 case (1.9％),respectively (x2 =16.72,P＜0.01) ; peripheral blood HBV-specific CTL surface PD-1 expression levels were 9.00 ％ ±1.38 ％ and 29.40 ％ ± 3.76 ％,respectively (t =36.80,P＜ 0.01) ; peripheral blood HBV-specific CTL levels were 0.65％±0.10％ and0.48％±0.07％,respectively (t=9.61,P＜0.01).Conclusions After treatment with ADV,along with the decrease of HBV DNA load,HBV-specific CTL surface PD-1 expression decreases,while HBV-specific CTL level increases.The changes in low virus load group are much more remarkable.

The extreme microorganisms Ferroplasma spp., play an important role in bioleaching of sulphide ores at low pH value and temperatures around 50 degrees C. Without cell wall, Ferroplasma spp. is sensitive to pulp density, shearing force and heavy metal ions. Thus it is difficult to obtain their high cell density cultures, which limits the large-scale industrial application. In this paper, the optimum culture conditions of Ferroplasma thermophilum were studied by shaking culture. The results showed that the optimum culture conditions are as follows: 50 degrees C, initial pH 0.5, 50 mL working volume in 250 mL shaking-flask, inorganic nitrogen source (NH4)2SO4. The optimum combination of FeSO4.7H2O, yeast extract and peptone was determined by orthogonal experiments, including FeSO4.7H2O 40 g/L, yeast extract 0.3 g/L, peptone 0.2 g/L. Under the optimum culture conditions, the cell density was up to 6.3 x 10(7) cell/mL, and the oxidation of 40 g/L ferrous sulfate heptahydrate was finished in less than 72 hours. The results might provide information for scale-up of archaeon culture as well as its industrial application.
Archaea ; cytology ; growth & development ; Cell Culture Techniques ; methods ; Culture Media ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Metallurgy ; Temperature

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by cognitive impairments with progressive loss of memory and behavioral disorder.Up to now,there is no effective therapy or drug to cure AD.Recent studies have shown p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of AD,while the extracellular domain of p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75ECD) has neuroprotective effect and can attenuate the development and progression of AD.Therefore,p75ECD is a research-hotspot for prevention and treatment of AD.Here,recent studies are reviewed to learn about the advances of p75ECD in the prevention and therapy of AD and provide references for getting novel methods and drugs to treat AD.