Kupffer cell is a member of the liver nonparenchymal cells, it participates in a variety of physiological activities through phagocytosis, secreting cytokines, antigen-presenting pathways, and is closely related to a variety of diseases such as liver cancer, liver fibrosis, liver injury. This paper presents the progress of research on physiological functions of kupffer cells and its relations with liver.

Objective To explore the optimal time and sequence for getting the best magnetic resonance (MR) imaging when MR image of synovium macrophages was used for the diagnosis of collageninduced arthritis (CIA) in a rat model,and whether it can be used to monitor the efficacy of drug treatment.Methods CIA was induced by subcutaneous injection of chicken type Ⅱ collagen and complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA).Arthritis rats were randomly divided into the model group,the leflunomide group and the control group.Knees of the model group rats were imaged before and 24 h,48 h,72 h after USPIO intravenous administration (300 μmol Fe/kg) on day 28,29,30,31,respectively.From day 28,the leflunomide group was given a gauge of drug at a dose of 8 mg/kg.Then they were imaged before and 24 hours after USPIO administration on day 42,43 respectively.MR sequences included SE T1WI,SE T2WI,GRE T2 * WI.After the completion of MR imaging,rats were sacrificed to obtain histopathologic samples of synovial membrane.LSD-t test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used for statistical analysis.Results No distinct signal enhancements were observed on the 24 h,48 h,72 h post-contrast enhancement on T1WI.On T2WI,signal intensity ratio of synovium (SNR) pre-contrast and 24 h,48 h post-contrast were 24.13±1.96,17.09± 1.23,19.14±0.91,respectively.On T2 * WI,SNR pre-contrast and 24 h,48 h post-contrast were 22.28±0.92,11.40±0.53,17.18±0.63,respectively.Distinct signal changes were observed on 24 h,48 h post-contrast on T2WI and T2 * WI (P＜0.05).The changes between SNR at 24 h,48 h,72 h post-contrast and pre-contrast were-29.09±2.42,-20.83±2.90,-6.2±2.9 respectively on T2WI,which were-48.4±1.3,-22.9±0.8,-8.2±1.6 respectively on T2 * WI.Changes were more obvious at 24 h post-contrast than 48 h post-contrast on both T2WI and T2 * WI (P＜0.05).The quantitative analyses were coinci-dent with the visual differences in signal changes between pre-contrast and post-contrast images.Difference between △SNR of leflunomide group and the control group on T1WI was not significant,while that on T2WI and T2 * WI were significantly different (P＜ 0.01).Histological examination confirmed the uptake of iron in the macrophages of arthritic knees.Signal intensity changed more on GRE T2 * WI than SE T2WI in all arthritis rats.Conclusion GRE T2 * WI is more sensitive for the diagnose of rat CIA,and 24 h post-contrast is better than 48 h and 72h post-contrast to get better images.We successfully observed the effects of leflunomide through signal changes of synovium,and the technique maybe contribute to diagnosis and therapeutic monito-ring of rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics of idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome (IHES) with gastrointestinal manifestations,and to improve the level of diagnosis and treatment of IHES. Methods:The clinical materials, process of diagnosis and treatment and prognosis of 9 patients diagnosed as IHES with gastrointestinal manifestations were retrospectively analyzed. Results:The average age of 9 patients was (22.66± 12.86)years old,and the ratio of male and female was about 1.25∶ 1. The main clinical manifestations included abdominal pain,diarrhea and abdominal distension.The eosinophil percentages in peripheral blood and bone marrow of the patients were (42.66 ± 19.88 )% and (39.33 + 15.99 )%, respectively.The ascites exudate cytology examination showed eosinophil infiltrated.The results of gastroscope or colonoscope showed mucosal hyperemia and edema,scattered bleeding spots, and dark red granular hyperplasia; the colon was affected frecuently.The histological biopsy confirmed that the mucosal was infiltrated by eosinophils.The abdominal CT of 6 patients showed that the walls of stomach or bowel were thickened.The abdominal symptoms disappeared,and the ascites was absorpted in 9 patients after the treatment of glucocorticoid.After 2 years of follow up,2 patients had relapse, others had no recurrence.Conclusion:Performing the routine diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases, the clinicians should consider the possibility of IHES in order to avoid the misdiagnosis and delayed treatment. When IHES is diagnosed,steroid treatment should be performed in preference.

Objective:To investigate the value of CD4/CD8 ratio and total B lymphocytes before radiotherapy in predicting the occurrence of radiation pneumonitis (RP) in patients with esophageal cancer and lung cancer.Methods:The clinicopathological data of 28 patients with esophageal and 16 patients with lung cancer undergoing radiotherapy from April 2018 to March 2020 in Hefei Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Sciences were retrospectively analyzed, and the patients were divided into RP group ( n=16) and non-RP group ( n=28) according to whether RP occurred during and after treatment. The CD4/CD8 ratio and total B lymphocytes before radiotherapy between the two groups, and the CD4/CD8 ratio and total B lymphocytes before and after radiotherapy in the RP group were compared. Receiver operating characteristic curve was used to analyze the value of CD4/CD8 ratio and total B lymphocytes before radiotherapy in predicting RP. Results:The CD4/CD8 ratio before radiotherapy in the RP group was significantly lower than that in the non-RP group (0.993±0.179 vs. 1.708±0.170), with a statistically significant difference ( t=2.706, P=0.009); the total B lymphocytes in the RP group was significantly lower than that in non-RP group [(4.409±0.823)% vs. (8.153±1.017)%], with a statistically significant difference ( t=0.986, P=0.015). The CD4/CD8 ratio in the RP group was lower than that before radiotherapy when RP occurred (0.785±0.167 vs. 0.993±0.179), with no statistically significant difference ( t=1.376, P=0.189). The total B lymphocytes in the RP group was lower than that before radiotherapy when RP occurred [(3.487±1.018)% vs. (4.409±0.823)%], with no statistically significant difference ( t=0.804, P=0.433). The critical values of CD4/CD8 ratio and total B lymphocytes predicted RP were 0.580 and 0.357, respectively. The areas under the curve (AUC) of CD4/CD8 for predicting RP was 0.802 (95% CI: 0.653-0.932), the sensitivity was 89.29%, and the specificity was 68.75%. The AUC of total B lymphocytes for predicting RP was 0.694 (95% CI: 0.483-0.814), the sensitivity was 85.71%, and the specificity was 50.00%. The AUC of the two combined diagnostic method for RP was 0.834 (95% CI: 0.697-0.932), the sensitivity and specificity were 81.25% and 89.29%. AUC of the two combined tests was significantly higher than that of the single test, with statistically significant differences ( Z=1.115, P=0.046; Z=1.992, P=0.026). Conclusion:The CD4/CD8 ratio and total B lymphocytes in the RP group are lower than those in the non-RP group. The CD4/CD8 ratio and total B lymphocytes in the serum are of great significance in predicting the occurrence of RP in patients with malignant tumors receiving chest radiotherapy.

OBJECTIVES: This work aimed to construct N6-methyladenosine (m⁶A) regulator-based prognostic signature and evaluate the prognostic value and the intervention on tumor immune microenvironment of this m⁶A risk signature. METHODS: Using transcriptome and clinical data of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we profiled m⁶A regulators and constructed an m⁶A risk signature. The relationship between m⁶A modulation and immune function was studied by differential gene expression, cell type enrichment, and correlation analyses. RESULTS: Fifteen m⁶A regulators had aberrant expression in HNSCC. A three-gene m⁶A prognostic signature (i.e., YTHDC2, IGF2BP2, and HNRNPC) was constructed and identified as an independent prognostic indicator for HNSCC. The m⁶A regulator signature-based high-risk group revealed pro-tumoral immune microenvironment due to the dysregulation of immune-related gene expression, abnormal enrichment of multiple immunocytes, and production of immunoregulatory factors. CONCLUSIONS This comprehensive analysis of m⁶A regulators and tumor immune landscape in HNSCC revealed that the m⁶A signature of YTHDC2, IGF2BP2, and HNRNPC could serve as a promising biomarker for monitoring HNSCC development and may be a potential target for tumor therapy in the future.
Humans ; Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck/genetics* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Prognosis ; Head and Neck Neoplasms/genetics* ; Tumor Microenvironment/genetics* ; RNA-Binding Proteins/genetics* ; Heterogeneous-Nuclear Ribonucleoprotein Group C/genetics* ; RNA Helicases