Objective To investigate the potential roles of pattern recognition receptor in the pathogenesis of asthma,the concentrations of serum nucleotide -binding oligomerization domain like receptors 1 (NOD1 )and Toll like receptor 1(TLR1)and Dectin and sCD14 protein were determined.Methods Blood samples were obtained from 45 cases of severe asthma(asthma group)during acute attack and convalescent period,the concentrations of serum NOD1,TLR1,Dectin and sCD14 protein were assessed using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA),and compared with 30 healthy children(control group).Results The concentrations of NOD1,TLR1,Dectin and sCD14 protein were significantly higher in acute attack period of the asthma group[(65.53 ±19.95)ng/mL,(10.46 ±3.35)ng/mL, (80.38 ±19.51)ng/mL,(4.51 ±1.29)ng/mL]than those in the control group[(25.57 ±9.64)ng/mL,(5.54 ± 1.49)ng/mL,(47.37 ±15.16)ng/mL,(2.21 ±0.68)ng/mL](t =11.57,8.63,7.82,9.95,all P <0.01).Moreo-ver,the concentrations of serum NOD1,Dectin and sCD14 protein were dramatically decreased in convalescent period of the asthma group[(39.67 ±11.25)ng/mL,(60.04 ±16.76)ng/mL,(3.38 ±0.97)ng/mL]compared with acute asthma attack period(t =8.19,6.32,5.42,all P <0.01),while the concentration of serum TLR1 was not different between this two period (9.51 ±3.19)ng/mL(t =1.27,P >0.05).Furthermore,level of NOD1 was positively corre-lated with sCD14(r =0.49,P <0.01).Conclusion Levels of serum NOD1,TLR1,Dectin and sCD14 protein were increased in acute severe asthma,whereas,they were decreased in convalescent period.The elevation of them indicated that pattern recognition reception has synergistic function in the pathogenesis of asthma attack.

Objective To investigate the clinical features of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and NMO spectrum disorders (NMOSD) with primary Sj(o)gren' s syndrome (pSS).Methods Eleven inpatients diagnosed as NMO secondary to pSS in Peking Union Medical College Hospital were retrospectively analyzed.Results Eleven patients of pSS with NMO were enrolled in this study,including 10 females and 1 male.The mean age was(35 ± 15)years old.The course of disease ranged from one month to 16 years,with a median of 10 months.The interval between optic nerve and spinal cord involvement was 3 months to 2 years.Eight patients had NMOSD as initial presentations of pSS.Eight patients had history of optic neuropathy.The most frequently involved spinal segment was cervical cord (10 cases) shown by magnetic resonance.Serum NMO-IgG antibodies were tested in 7 patients and 6 of them were positive.Conclusion NMOSD may present as an important and initial clinical manifestation of pSS,which suggesting the involvement of central nervous system.Autoimmune antibodies,NMO-IgG and imaging were supposed to be done for further evaluation of prognosis and therapy regimens.

Objective Through the detections of the heterozygote frequencies tests of fetal specific genes PLAC4 and COL6A2 mRNA alleles in plasma of pregnant women, to explore its possibility of application in the noninvasive prenatal screenings of trisomy-21. Methods A toltal of 500 cases (males and females 250 cases respectively)of Han ethnic groups with Henan Provice of China who were subject to the physical checkup clinic of the Third Affiliated Hospital,Zhengzhou University from June to December, 2013 were selected as the healthy physical checkup group, and such techniques as DNA sequencing and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) were adopted to the determinations of the heterozygote frequencies of the single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP)of the PLAC4 and COL6A2 genes in the maternal peripheral blood in the healthy physical checkup group, and the differential comparisons of the determination results of the SNP heterozygote frequencies and the corresponding heterozygote frequencies in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database;30 cases of healthy pregnant women who spontaneously underwent pregnancy checkups at the maternity clinic were randomly selected as the healthy pregnancy group, and real-time fluorescence quantitative reverse transcription-PCR technique was adopted for determining the expression levels of PLAC4 and COL6A2 mRNA in the peripheral blood of pregnant women of 8 weeks, 10 weeks, 12 weeks, 14 weeks and 16 weeks;40 cases of the same phase were selected for acting as the specimens for the karyotype analyses of the amniotic fluid cells, among which 20 cases were trisomy-21, and the 20 cases of the negative control group, and reverse transcription-multiplex ligation dependent probe amplification (RT-MLPA) technique was adopted for screening the fetal trisomy-21. Results (1) The allele heterozygote frequencies of the SNP of the healthy physical checkup group:determinations of the genotypes and hybrid rates of the 10 SNP sites of the PLAC4 and COL6A2 genes indicated that those with higher heterozygote frequencies were respectively rs7717, rs559, rs1044598, rs59066201 and rs1042917, with population coverage of 98%. Among them, the allele hybrid rates of rs59066201 were never seen in the NCBI database;in the respective comparisons of the allele hybrid rates of rs8130833, rs9977003 and rs7844 with the hybrid rates of the NCBI database, the variations had statistical significance (P<0.05). (2) The expression levels of PLAC4 and COL6A2 mRNA of the different pregnancy weeks of the healthy pregnancy group: the levels of PLAC4 mRNA in the peripheral blood of women of 8 weeks, 10 weeks, 12 weeks, 14 weeks and 16 weeks of pregnancy were respectively 7.22 ± 1.05, 8.02±1.41,9.51±1.69,11.33±2.11 and 13.31±2.58, with their expression levels rising along with the increase of the pregnancy weeks; among them, the comparison of pregnancy 8 weeks and pregnancy 10 weeks, the variations had no statistical significance (P>0.05);in the mutual comparisons among the expression levels of the various pregnancy weeks, the variations had statistical significance (P<0.05). The expression levels of COL6A2 mRNA in 8 weeks, 10 weeks, 12 weeks, 14 weeks and 16 weeks were respectively 8.95 ± 1.28, 11.19 ± 1.36,15.00 ± 1.58,16.87 ± 1.72 and 18.96 ± 2.79, with their expression levels rising along with the increase of the pregnancy weeks, and in the mutual comparisons between the expression levels of the various pregnancy weeks, the variations all had statistical significance (P<0.05). (3) Prenatal screenings of trisomy-21 in the validation group of the trisome:a total of 5 sites of rs7717, rs559, rs1044598, rs59066201 and rs1042917 were selected from the allele heterozygote frequencies of SNP sites were selected from the subjects of the healthy physical checkup group, and 10 cases of trisomy-21 specimens and 10 cases of negative CTR specimens were accurately determined, with the sensitivity reached 80%(17/20), and the specificity reached 90%(18/20). One case of the trisomy-21 and two negative cases were both homozygotes, and among the trisomy-21 specimens of two cases, only one SNP was a heterozygote, and it was impossible to conduct screenings on these 5 cases, with the screening accuracy reaching 100%(35/35). Conclusions Fetal specific genes PLAC4 and COL6A2 mRNA are expressed in the peripheral blood of pregnant women in different gestational age;its expression level increases with the increase of gestational age. Among them, five SNP including rs7717, rs559, rs1044598, rs59066201 and rs1042917 show highest heterogeneity rate, which is different from the corresponding heterogeneity rate in NCBI database. RT-MLPA technology is a rapid, effective, noninvasive and low cost method of prenatal screening 21 trisomy.

Objective　To provide a data foundation not only for food safety supervision and pollution source tracing, but also for the clinical treatment of drug-resistant bacteria in barreled drinking water, the drug resistance and type Ⅲ secretion system (T3SS) virulence genes carriage of Pseudomonas aeruginosa detected in barreled drinking water in Hainan Province were investigated, and the correlative relationship between strain ribosomal subtypes and virulence genes were then discussed. Methods The drug resistance of the isolated 55 strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was confirmed by using VITEK 2 Compact automatic microbial drug sensitivity system, and the T3SS virulence genes ExoU, ExoS, ExoT and ExoY were amplified by PCR, bacterial strain subtypes and homology were analyzed by the RiboPrinter automatic microbial gene fingerprint identification system. Results The drug sensitivity results showed that Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from barreled water had relatively low drug resistance, though one strain of multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa was discovered, resistant to imipenem, ciprofloxacin and cefepime. The distribution of T3SS virulence genes showed four genotypic combinations: ExoT+/ExoY+/ExoS+/ExoU- (45.45%, 25/55), ExoT+/ExoY+/ExoS-/ExoU+ (34.55%, 19/55), ExoT+/ExoY-/ExoS-/ExoU+(18.18%, 10/55), ExoT+/ExoY+/ExoS+/ExoU+ (1.82%, 1/55). Ribosomal typing results showed that the Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains were divided into six subtypes, the numbers of each subtype accounted for 24 (43.64%), 1 (1.82%), 25 (45.45%), 1 (1.82%), 3 (5.45%) and 1 (1.82%) respectively, with subtype Ⅰ and subtype Ⅲ being dominant. The main T3SS genotypes of the top two subtype I and subtype III were ExoT+/ExoY+/ExoS-/ExoU+ (16/24, 66.67%) and ExoT+/ExoY+/ExoS+/ExoU- (22/25, 88%). Conclusions The T3SS secretion system exhibits the characteristics of multiple virulence genes' coordinated expression, and there is a certain correlation between subtypes of bacterial strains and virulence genotypesThe exploration of the relationship between them provides guidance for tracing the source of Pseudomonas aeruginosa contamination, production control, clinical treatment in barrelled drinking water, and preliminarily establishes the initial data of local Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains in barrelled drinking water as well the related drug sensitivity data in Hainan.

Nerve injury-induced protein-1 (Ninjurin-1, Ninj1) was initially identified as a novel adhesion molecule in rat sciatic nerve and to be up-regulated in neurons and Schwann cells of distal nerve segments after nerve transection or crush injury. Recently, Ninj1 was found to act as a modulator of cell migration, angiogenesis, and apoptosis. Accumulating evidence indicates that innate immune response plays beneficial and deleterious roles in brain ischemia, and the trans-endothelial migration of blood-derived immune cells is key initiator of this response. In the present study, we examined the expression profile and cellular distribution of Ninj1 in rat brain after transient focal cerebral ischemia. Ninj1 expression was found to be significantly induced in cortical penumbras 1 day after 60 min of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and to increase gradually for 8 days and then declined. In infarction cores of cortices, patterns of Ninj1 expression were similar to those observed in cortical penumbras, except induction was maintained for 10 days. At 1 day post-MCAO, Ninj1 inductions were detected mainly in neutrophils and endothelial cells in both infarction cores and penumbras, but reactive macrophages were the major cellular expressers of Ninj1 at 4 days post-MCAO. Expressional induction in reactive macrophages was maintained in infarction cores after 12 days post-MCAO but not in penumbras. These dynamic expressions of Ninj1 in different immune cells at different times suggest that this protein performs various, critical roles in the modulation of acute and delayed immune responses in the postischemic brain.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Brain Ischemia* ; Brain* ; Cell Movement ; Endothelial Cells ; Immunity, Innate ; Infarction ; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery ; Macrophages ; Myeloid Cells* ; Neurons ; Neutrophils ; Rats* ; Schwann Cells ; Sciatic Nerve

Nerve injury-induced protein-1 (Ninjurin-1, Ninj1) was initially identified as a novel adhesion molecule in rat sciatic nerve and to be up-regulated in neurons and Schwann cells of distal nerve segments after nerve transection or crush injury. Recently, Ninj1 was found to act as a modulator of cell migration, angiogenesis, and apoptosis. Accumulating evidence indicates that innate immune response plays beneficial and deleterious roles in brain ischemia, and the trans-endothelial migration of blood-derived immune cells is key initiator of this response. In the present study, we examined the expression profile and cellular distribution of Ninj1 in rat brain after transient focal cerebral ischemia. Ninj1 expression was found to be significantly induced in cortical penumbras 1 day after 60 min of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and to increase gradually for 8 days and then declined. In infarction cores of cortices, patterns of Ninj1 expression were similar to those observed in cortical penumbras, except induction was maintained for 10 days. At 1 day post-MCAO, Ninj1 inductions were detected mainly in neutrophils and endothelial cells in both infarction cores and penumbras, but reactive macrophages were the major cellular expressers of Ninj1 at 4 days post-MCAO. Expressional induction in reactive macrophages was maintained in infarction cores after 12 days post-MCAO but not in penumbras. These dynamic expressions of Ninj1 in different immune cells at different times suggest that this protein performs various, critical roles in the modulation of acute and delayed immune responses in the postischemic brain.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Brain Ischemia* ; Brain* ; Cell Movement ; Endothelial Cells ; Immunity, Innate ; Infarction ; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery ; Macrophages ; Myeloid Cells* ; Neurons ; Neutrophils ; Rats* ; Schwann Cells ; Sciatic Nerve

Glycyrrhizin (GL), a triterpene that is present in the roots and rhizomes of licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), has been reported to have anti-inflammatory and anti-viral effects. Recently, we demonstrated that GL produced the neuroprotective effects with the suppression of microglia activation and proinflammatory cytokine induction in the postischemic brain with middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in rats and improved motor impairment and neurological deficits. In the present study, we investigated whether GL has a beneficial effect in kainic acid (KA)-induced neuronal death model. Intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of 0.94 nmole (0.2 microg) of KA produced typical neuronal death in both CA1 and CA3 regions of the hippocampus. In contrast, administration of GL (10 mg/kg, i.p.) 30 min before KA administration significantly suppressed the neuronal death, and this protective effect was more stronger at 50 mg/kg. Moreover, the GL-mediated neuroprotection was accompanied with the suppression of gliosis and induction of proinflammatory markers (COX-2, iNOS, and TNF-alpha). The anti-inflammatory and anti-excitotoxic effects of GL were verified in LPS-treated primary microglial cultures and in NMDA- or KA-treated primary cortical cultures. Together these results suggest that GL confers the neuroprotection through the mechanism of anti-inflammatory and anti-excitotoxic effects in KA-treated brain.
Animals ; Brain ; Cell Death ; Gliosis ; Glycyrrhiza ; Glycyrrhizic Acid ; Hippocampus ; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery ; Kainic Acid ; Mice ; Microglia ; Neurons ; Neuroprotective Agents ; Rats ; Rhizome

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of different Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) clinical strains on the proliferation and apoptosis of gastric epithelial cells, and to observe the effect of H.pylori on gastric mucosa by Mongolian gerbil model infected H.pylori. METHODS: H.pylori isolates harvested from pathologically documented gastric carcinoma (GC, n=10) or chronic gastritis specimens (CG, n=10) were co-cultured with GES-1 cells individually. MTT assay and flow cytometry were used to determine the proliferation and apoptosis of GES-1 cells induced by H.pylori isolates. Mongolian gerbils were infected by the most (A strain) and the least (B strain) significantly proliferated H.pylori strains. Results When co-cultured with the cell/bacteria concentration ratio 1:1 and 1:50 for 12 h and the cell/bacteria concentration ratio 1:50 for 24 h, H.pylori clinical strains isolated from patients with gastric cancer promoted the proliferation of GES-1 cells, and there was significant difference in the absorbance compared with the group of gastritis strains(P<0.05). The apoptosis rate of the GC and CG groups increased significantly (P<0.05) compared with the control group when co-cultured with the cell/bacteria concentration ratio 1:50 and 1:200, and there was no significant difference between the GC group and the CG group (P>0.05). The incidences of intestinal metaplasia and dysplasia in the A strain group were significantly higher than those in the B strain group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION H.pylori strains from different disease sources have different effects on the proliferation of GES-1 cells. H.pylori isolated from gastric cancer can promote the proliferation of cells to different degrees and directly induce gastric precancerosis and gastric cancer.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Cell Line ; Cell Proliferation ; Chronic Disease ; Gastric Mucosa ; cytology ; microbiology ; pathology ; Gastritis ; microbiology ; pathology ; Gerbillinae ; Helicobacter Infections ; pathology ; Helicobacter pylori ; pathogenicity ; Humans ; Metaplasia ; pathology ; Precancerous Conditions ; microbiology ; pathology ; Stomach Neoplasms ; microbiology ; pathology

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of microneedling radiofrequency in the treatment of facial acne scars.Methods A retrospective study was conducted.According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria,42 patients with acne scars receiving microneedling radiofrequency treatment (observation group) and 47 patients with acne scars treated with fractional CO2 laser (control group) in Guangzhou Institute of Dermatology were enrolled into this study from June 2016 to June 2017.Single-blind evaluation was conducted according to a four-grade scoring system and ECCA grading scale (échelle d'évaluation clinique des cicatrices d'acné) by two clinically experienced dermatologists to evaluate and compare the clinical efficacy between the 2 groups,based on the clinical photos before and after the treatment.Statistical analysis was done by using chi-square test,t test of two independent samples and paired Wilcoxon signed rank test.Results After treatment,no significant difference in the total response rate was observed between the observation group (92.9％,39 cases) and control group (89.4％,42 cases;x2 =0.042,P ＞ 0.05).Before the treatment,there was no significant difference in the ECCA score between the observation group (46.7 ± 16.3) and control group (45.7 ± 15.8,t =0.271,P ＞ 0.05).After the treatment,the ECCA score in the observation group and control group significantly decreased into 29.5 ± 15.1 and 31.3 ± 14.9 respectively (Z =-5.713,-6.086,respectively,both P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Microneedling radiofrequency is effective for the treatment of facial acne scars,with high safety and less injuries.

Objective To determine the expression of miRNA-148a-3p in CD4+ T lymphocytes in peripheral blood of patients with psoriasis vulgaris,and to explore its role in occurrence of psoriasis vulgaris.Methods Totally,20 patients with psoriasis vulgaris and 20 healthy controls were enrolled from Guangzhou Institute of Dermatology between July 2017 and April 2018.Peripheral venous blood samples were obtained from these subjects,and CD4+ T lymphocytes were isolated from these peripheral blood samples by magnetic cell sorting system.Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-PCR) was performed to determine the expression of miRNA-148a-3p in CD4+ T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood.Potential target genes of miRNA-148a were predicted by using bioinformatics software,and verified by using a dual-luciferase reporter system.Western blot analysis was conducted to determine the protein expression of Bcl-2 interacting mediator of cell death (Bim,the potential target gene of miRNA-148a-3p) in the CD4+ T lymphocytes of the subjects.Statistical analysis was carried out with SPSS 20 software by two sample-t test for comparing the means of normally distributed data,and by Pearson correlation analysis for analyzing the correlation of two variables.If the data were not normally distributed,Mann Whitney U test was used for comparing means between two groups,and Spearman correlation analysis for analyzing the correlation of two variables.Results The miRNA-148a-3p expression in the CD4+ T lymphocytesin the psoriasis vulgaris group (18 cases,5.61 ± 1.66) was significantly higher than that in the healthy control group (12 cases,1.00 ± 0.26;U =12,P ＜ 0.05),and was positively correlated with the psoriasis area severity index (PASI) score (r =0.93,P ＜ 0.001).Bim was predicted to be one of the potential target genes of miRNA-148a-3p by bioinformatics software,which was also verified by using a dual-luciferase reporter system.The protein expression of Bim in the CD4 + T lymphocytes was significantly lower in the psoriasis vulgaris group (11 cases,0.69 ± 0.07) than in the healthy control group (8 cases,0.93 ± 0.06;t =4.38,P ＜ 0.01),and the protein expression of Bim in the patients with psoriasis vulgaris was negatively correlated with PASI score (r =-0.774,P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion miRNA-148a-3p is overexpressed in CD4+ T cells in the peripheral blood of patients with psoriasis vulgaris,which may regulate the protein expression of Bim,leading to abnormal activation of CD4+ T cells,and then participate in the occurrence and development of psoriasis.