Objective To study the effects of small dosage insulin on intestinal inflammatory responses to endotoxin rats. Method Thirty two male SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups (n = 8): control group, endotoxin (LPS,6 mg/kg i.p.)group, regular insulin(RI,0.5 IU/kg hypodermic) group and LPS(6 mg/kg i.p) + RI (0.5 IU/kg hypodermic)group. Six hours after LPS or saline injection,all rats were laparotomized to observe the congestion in intestinal mucosa with naked-eyes and photography.Then a segment of intestine was stained with HE to observe the pathological changes. The expressions of IL-6 and TNF-α were detected by RT-PCR.The systemic inflammatory response,blood sugar and food taken in rats were observed simultaneously. Software SPSS 13.0 was used to perform ANOVA and Chi-square test for statistical analysis. Results Compared with LPS group, the differences in hyperemia and inflammatory cell infiltration in intestinal tissue were not noticeable in LPS + RI group. The expression of IL-6 and TNF-α were significantly attenuated in RI + LPS group (P < 0.01). All rats in LPS group manifested systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) four or five hours after LPS treatment, while there was none in LPS + RI group. Rats in LPS group took less food than rats of other groups while the blood sugar had litter difference in all groups (P > 0.05). Conclusions Small dosage of insulin could reduce intestinal inflammation caused by endotoxemia. Early administration of insulin ould prevent the presence of SIRS while it has no obvious influence on blood sugar.

Objective To explore the clinical, electrophysiological and molecular genetics features of Kennedy disease (KD) which might contribute to early diagnosis and avoid misdiagnosis of KD. Methods The clinical and electrophysiological data of 13 patients with KD, admitted to our hospital from December 2013 to March 2018, were retrospectively analyzed. The (CAG) repeats in the exon 1 of androgen receptor (AR) gene were conducted by capillary electrophoresis. Results All patients appeared chronic course. Progressive weakness of limbs and muscular atrophy, including lingual muscle and bulbar muscle, were the specific clinical characteristics. Ten patients presented with barymastia and 11 patients with hormonal imbalance. Electromyography (EMG) showed decline of sensory nerve action potential amplitude in most patients. A widespread neuronal damage, such as increased duration of motor unit action potential, fibrillation potential, fascicular potential and positive sharp wave, could be detected. AR gene mutations were detected in all 13 patients. The number of (CAG) repeats expansion in exon 1 of AR gene ranged from 40 to 54. Conclusions The impairment of lower motor neuron, bulbar palsy and hormonal imbalance are the main clinical features in patients with KD. EMG shows chronic widespread neuronal damage. AR gene mutation detection plays a vital role in the final diagnosis of KD.

Objective To explore the relationship between the levels of peroxidoredoxin(PRDX)1 and chromosome 10 deletion phosphatase-tensin homologous gene(PTEN)and liver function and disease activity in patients with autoimmune liver disease.Methods A total of 83 patients with autoimmune liver disease ad-mitted to the hospital from January 2021 to December 2022 were selected as the study objects.According to the disease activity at admission,they were divided into active group(37 cases)and remission group(46 ca-ses).Clinical data and serum PRDX1 and PTEN levels of the two groups were analyzed.At the same time,Child-Pugh classification of liver function was performed,and the patients were grouped.A total of 100 health-y volunteers who underwent physical examination during the same period were selected as the control group.Multivariate Logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of disease activity in patients with autoimmune liver disease,and the evaluation value of serum PRDX1 and PTEN levels on disease activity in pa-tients with autoimmune liver disease after treatment was analyzed by receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve and area under the curve(AUC).Results Compared with the grade A group,there were no significant differences in serum PRDX1 and PTEN levels in the grade B group(P＞0.05),while serum PRDX1 level was increased and PTEN level was decreased in the grade C group(P＜0.05).Compared with the grade B group,the serum PRDX1 level was increased and PTEN level was decreased in the grade C group(P＜0.05).Com-pared with the control group,there were no significant differences in serum PRDX1 and PTEN levels in the re-mission group(P＞0.05),while the serum PRDX1 level was increased and PTEN level was decreased in the active group(P＜0.05).Compared with the remission group,the level of serum PRDX1 was increased and the level of PTEN was decreased in the active group(P＜0.05).The AUC of serum PRDX1 and PTEN for evalu-ating the disease activity in autoimmune liver disease patients was 0.750 and 0.854,respectively,and the AUC of the combined detection of serum PRDX1 and PTEN was 0.916.The proportion of patients with hepatic dis-comfort and cirrhosis in the active stage group was higher than that in the remission stage group(P＜0.05).Multivariate Logistic stepwise regression analysis results showed that hepatic discomfort(OR=3.487,95％CI:1.534-7.927),cirrhosis(OR=4.289,95％CI:1.744-10.545),PRDX1 ≥5.22 ng/mL(OR=5.068,95％CI:1.951-13.164),PTEN≤0.31 pg/mL(OR=5.387,95％CI:2.099-13.829)were risk factors for disease activity of autoimmune liver disease(P＜0.05).Conclusion The increase of serum PRDX1 level and the decrease of serum PTEN level are closely related to liver function and disease activity in patients with au-toimmune liver disease,and they have certain clinical evaluation value in patients with autoimmune liver dis-ease.

Berberine (BBR) as one of the most effective natural products has been increasingly used to treat various chronic diseases due to its immunosuppressive/tolerogenic activities. However, it is unknown if BBR can be applied without abrogating the efforts of vaccination. Here we show that priming of CD8⁺ T cells in the presence of BBR lead to improved central memory formation (Tcm) with substantially reduced effector proliferation, primarily orchestrated through activation of AMPK and Stat5. Tcm derived from vaccinated mice fed with BBR were able to adoptively transfer protective immunity to naïve recipients. Vaccination of BBR-fed mice conferred better memory protection against infection without losing immediate effector efficacy, suggesting appreciable benefits from using BBR in vaccination. Thus, our study may help to lay the groundwork for mechanistic understanding of the immunomodulatory effects of natural products and their potential use as adjuvant that allows the design of novel vaccines with more desirable properties.