Objective To study the effects of citrullinated vimentin (cVim) on the maturation and immunologic function of dendritic cells (DCs) from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) peripheral blood.Methods In the present study,mononuclear cells were isolated from the peripheral blood of patients with RA and cultivated in media containing GM-CSF and IL-4 to generate immature DCs (imDCs).The imDCs generated were stimulated with citrullinated vimentin and vimentin.LPS was used as the positive control and PBS was used as the negative control.The expression of surface molecules on the DCs,such as CD14,CD80,CD83,CD86,MHC Ⅰ and MHC Ⅱ were analyzed with FACS.The capability of the stimulatory activity of the DCs on allogeneic T cells in mixed reaction was tested by MTS.t-test was used for statistical analysis.Results Compared to untreated DCs,DCs treated with LPS increased the expression levels of MHC Ⅱ,CD80,CD83 and CD86 (1.07±0.14,1.25±0.13,1.90±1.08,2.44±0.65,P＜0.05),while cVim increased the expression levels of MHC Ⅱ ( 1.18±0.09,P＜0.05) and CD83 ( 1.97±0.99,P＜0.01 ),and Vim decreased the expression levels of CD80 (0.82±0.18,P＜0.01 ).It was demonstrated that the expression levels of MHC Ⅱ on DCs pulsed with cVim were significantly higher than that of the DCs with LPS,but the expression levels of CD80 and CD86 were not significantly different.The expression levels of MHC Ⅱ and CD83 on DCs pulsed with cVim were significantly higher than that of the DCs with Vim.The mixed lymphocyte reaction showed that the DCs induced by LPS and cVim trigerred the proli-feration of allogenic T cells obviously.Conclusion This result suggests that cVim could promote the phenotypic maturation of DCs and increase the expression of costimulatory molecules.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Facial Nerve ; anatomy & histology ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Microsurgery ; Middle Aged ; Parotid Neoplasms ; surgery ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the methylation status of zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) gene promoter and its clinical significance in children with stage IV non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and to provide a basis for further etiological study and early diagnosis of this disease.

METHODSFifty-five children with a confirmed diagnosis of stage IV NHL (40 cases of T-NHL and 15 cases of B-NHL) were selected as the case group, and 20 children with diseases other than hematologic malignancies were selected as the control group. Bone marrow samples were collected from these subjects. Methylation-specific PCR (MS-PCR) was applied to evaluate the methylation status of ZO-1 gene promoter, and the integrated optical density (IOD) was determined. RT-PCR was used to measure the mRNA expression of ZO-1.

RESULTSMS-PCR showed that the methylated bands of ZO-1 gene promoter were found in 39 (70.9%) of 55 patients in the case group before treatment, while no ZO-1 gene promoter methylation was detected in the control group. With close tracking of 47 cases in the study group, consisting of 32 cases of T-NHL and 15 cases of B-NHL, the rates of ZO-1 gene promoter methylation prior to treatment were 72% and 67%, respectively, (P>0.572). The cases of T-NHL and B-NHL showed no significant changes in methylation rate in the early and middle phases of chemotherapy (P>0.05), but they showed significant changes in methylation rate in the late phase of chemotherapy (P<0.05). RT-PCR showed that the NHL cases carrying methylated ZO-1 gene had no mRNA expression of ZO-1, while all children in the control group had mRNA expression of ZO-1. There was no linear relationship between the total number of peripheral blood leukocytes and ZO-1 gene IOD (r=0.093, P=0.575); a positive correlation was found between the number of malignant cells in bone marrow and ZO-1 gene IOD (r=0.669, P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONSZO-1 gene shows a hypermethylation status in children with NHL, and the methylation level is positively correlated with the number of malignant cells in bone marrow. ZO-1 may be used as a novel molecular marker in early diagnosis, outcome assessment, prognostic evaluation, and detection of minimal residual disease.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; DNA Methylation ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin ; genetics ; Male ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Zonula Occludens-1 Protein ; genetics

China ; Congresses as Topic ; Fatty Liver ; Humans

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of using comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) in estimating if standard dose treatment is fit for the elderly patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma.Methods.Comprehensive geriatric assessments including three assessments of activity of daily living,instrumental activity of daily living and comorbidity scoring according to Cumulative Illness Rating Score for Geriatrics were adopted to assess if standard dose treatment is fit for the elderly patients in our prospective study.Thirty seven patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma,aged ＞70 years were enrolled in the study,and grouped into fit,unfit and frail groups according to comprehensive geriatric assessment scoring and their age.The treatment protocolswere not determined by comprehensive geriatric assessment scores,but by clinical judgments made by clinicians based on their clinical experience and disease features.The clinically effective response and overall survival (OS) were analyzed in the three groups.Results According to CGA scores,patients were grouped into fit [21 cases (56.8％)],unfit [7 (18.9％)] and frail [9 (24.3％)].37 cases received 213 courses of treatment at average 5.76 courses per case.The overall response (complete / partial remission) rates were [85.7％(18/21) vs.28.6％ (2/7) vs.44.4％ (4/9),x2=9.69,P=0.008] and median survival times were (44 months vs.10 months vs.9 months;x2 =7.03,P=0.03) among fit,unfit and frail groups with statistically significant differences.Total effective rate (achieving all clinical targets) in fit group of 21 cases were 100 ％ (12/12)with receiving standard dose therapy,and 66.7％ of(6/9)with low dose therapy(P=0.06).Overall response rate(total/partial remission) [85.7％(18/21) vs.28.6％(2/7) vs.44.4％(4/9),x2=9.69,P=0.008] and median survival (44 months vs.10 months vs.9 months;x2 =7.03,P=0.03) amongfit,unfit and frail groups.In fit group,the two-year overall survival was higher in patients receiving standard dose treatment than receivingpalliativetreatment,with statistical significance [83.3 ％ (10/12) vs.33.3 ％ (3/9),P =0.032],without significant hematologic toxicity observed between the subgroups.Conclusions Comprehensive geriatric assessment can identify if elderly patients diffuse large B cell lymphoma can acquire a satisfactory curative effect from a standard dose treatment ofimmunochemotherapy.

Objective To compare the effect of levosimendan and milrinone on treatment of severe heart valve disease patients with postoperative low cardiac output syndrome. Methods Fifty-six severe heart valve disease patients with postoperative low cardiac output syndrome were selected, and the patients were divided into levosimendan group and milrinone group according to treatment method with 28 cases each. Both groups received symptom-relieved therapy, including cardiotonic, diuresis and other drugs. The patients in levosimendan group were combined with 24 h of continuous intravenous injection of levosimendan 0.05-0.20 μg/(kg·min) for 1 week, and the patients in milrinone group were combined with 24 h of continuous intravenous injection of milrinone 0.25-1.00 μg/(kg·min) for 1 week, in order to maintain mean arterial pressure ≥ 65 mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa). The cardiac output, cardiac index, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and the serum levels of lactic acid, creatinine, N-terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) were compared between 2 groups. Results There were no statistical differences in cardiac output, cardiac index, LVEF, and the serum levels of creatinine, lactic acid, NT-proBNP before treatment between 2 groups (P>0.05). The cardiac output, cardiac index, LVEF, and the serum levels of creatinine, lactic acid and NT-proBNP after treatment in 2 groups were significantly better than those before treatment, and there were statistical differences ( P<0.05). There were no statistical differences in cardiac output, cardiac index and LVEF after treatment between 2 groups (P>0.05). The serum levels of creatinine, lactic acid and NT-proBNP after treatment in levosimendan group were significantly lower than those in milrinone group: (102.82 ± 21.31) μmol/L vs. (115.64 ± 58.73) μmol/L, (1.7 ± 1.4) mmol/L vs. (2.2 ± 1.0) mmol/L and (1 149 ± 515) ng/L vs. (1 321 ± 472) ng/L, and there were statistical differences (P<0.05). Conclusions Both the two drugs can significantly improve cardiac function in severe heart valve diseases patients with postoperative low cardiac output syndrome, while the levosimendan has more advantages in lowering serum creatinine, lactic acid value and NT-proBNP.

To prove the influence of protein isoaspartyl-methyltransferase ( PIMT ) on the cell apoptosis of fibroblast-like synoviocytes of RA.Methods: The expression vector of PIMT was constructed and transfected in to the RA-FLS, the impact of PIMT on the cell apoptosis of RA-FLS was observed by overexpressing the vector of PIMT.Results:The mRNA and protein level of PIMT in RA-FLS was increased after transfected the vector of PIMT into RA-FLS;compared with the normal cultured RA-FLS and the RA-FLS transfected with the empty vectors ,the cell apoptosis level was also increased.Conclusion:The decreased expression level of PIMT in RA-FLS is an important reason for reduce apoptosis of RA-FLS,and PIMT can affect the imbalance of proliferation/ap-optosis in the RA-FLS.

70 bpm during scan),the proportion of segments that could not be assessed because of motion artifact were 0.1%(1/759),1.1%(7/649),2.5% (10/407),42.6%(103/242),and 75.5%(108/143),respectively.With conventional selective coronary angiography as the golden standard,the sensitivity,specificity,positive and negative prediction values to detect≥50% stenotic lesions in the assessable segments were 79.2%,96.0%,83.8%,and 94.6%,respectively.There was a significant correlation between the number of segments per patient not assessable because of motion artifact and heart rate during the scan(r=0.655,P=0.000).Conclusion MSCT is capable of achieving high accuracy for detection of coronary artery stenosis,and is a reliable technique to diagnose coronary artery disease.

Objective To explore the clinical effect of modified frontalis muscle suspension for severe blepharoptosis correction. Design Retrospective case series. Participants Fifty-six cases (101 eyes) with severe blepharoptosis. Methods Modified frontalis mus- cle suspension was adopted. The technique included single blepharoplasty-type incision, dissecting the posterior gaps of frontalis muscu- lar fasciae ahead,then euthyphoria isolating anterior gaps of rontalis muscular fasciae, using frontalis muscle transfer without vertical incision. Main Outcome Measure The positon chang of the upper eyelid in the primary position gaze. Results The follow-up period ranged from 8 to 20 months (mean, 13.6 months). All the patients were deemed to have a good surgical outcome. Complications such as ectropion and corneal exposure were avoided. But ten eyes required reoperation for undercorrection, six eyes for overcorrection and two eyes for entropion. Conclusion This surgical technique is a useful procedure that results in substantial cosmetic and functional im- provement with few complications.

Objective To investigate the immunoregulatory effect and compare the different regula- tions of bone marrow mescnchymal stem cells(MSCs)derived from both lupus(NZBWF1/J)and normal(BALB/ c)mice on T lymphocytes in vitro.Methods MSCs from NZBWF1/J and BALB/c mice bone marrow were iso- lated and expanded,and identified by the surface phenotypes.CD3~+ T lymphocytes isolated by nylon wool columns were stimulated by phorbol myristate acetate(PMA)and co-cultured with or without the two strains of MSCs for 24 h.Intracellular eytokines of T cell,such as interferon(IFN)-?,interleukin(IL)-4,IL-12,IL-6, were analyzed by flow cytometry and quantification of transcription factors T-box expressed in T cells(T-bet) and GATA-binding protein 3(GATA-3)were detected by reverse transcriptase PCR(RT-PCR).T cell apop- tosis was assessed by flow cytometry using rhodamine123.Results The results showed that a decrease of CD3~+ T cell apoptosis was seen when NZBWF1/J MSCs or BALB/c MSCs were added to T cells stimulated by PMA(P＜0.05),and an increase of TH2 cytokines by NZBWF1/J MSCs and TH1 eytokines by BALB/c MSCs were observed in the CD3~+ T cells eo-cuhured with MSCs(P＜0.05).Conclusion It is suggested that the al- teration of T subsets caused by MSCs may interfere with the systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE)development and normal MSCs may be effective in the improvement of SLE.NZBWF1/J MSCs have defective immunoregula- tory function when compared with MSCs from healthy mouse strains.