Abstract: Objective　To explore the antiviral effect of baricitinib in the SARS-CoV-2 infection and influence on cytokine levels. Methods　Calu-3 cells were infected with SARS-CoV-2 at MOI of 0.1, and the levels of inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α and IL-1β), interferon β (IFN-β) and interferon-stimulated gene, IFIT2 in the infected cells were analyzed by qRT-PCR methods. At the same time, Calu-3 cells were infected with SARS-CoV-2 (MOI=0.1) after being treated with baricitinib for 2 hours. Cells were collected at 0, 24, 36, and 48 hours, and analyzed for the mRNA of the above genes in the drug-treated and untreated groups. Results　The mRNA levels of IL-6, TNF-a, IL-1β, IFN-β and IFIT2 in Calu-3 infected by SARS-CoV-2 cells were increased significantly. These cytokines were increased by nearly 100-fold post-infection 48 h compared with the control (P<0.000 1), and continued to increase with the infection time (P<0.001 or P<0.000 1). The increase of IL-8 mRNA level was not as significant as IL-6, TNF-α, IL-8, IL-1β, but it also showed a 2-4 folds increase. Baricitinib does not affect the level of viral RNA in Calu-3 cells after SARS-CoV-2 infection (P>0.05). However, baricitinib can significantly inhibit the up-regulation of IL-6 and TNF-α levels induced by SARS-CoV-2 infection (5.25-fold and 3.90-fold down-regulation, respectively, P<0.01), and has little effect on the levels of IL-8 and IL-1β . In addition, the drug could also significantly down-regulate the increase in IFN-β and IFIT2 levels caused by viral infection (10.51-fold and 90.78-fold down-regulation, respectively, P<0.000 1). Conclusions　Baricitinib inhibits the release of inflammatory cytokines to some extent, but it drastically down-regulates the expression of interferons and interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs), and has limited antiviral effect on SARS-CoV-2. Considering that interferon signal pathways play important roles on viral infection, caution should be exercised when using baricitinib to treat COVID-19 patients.

Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is a rare invasive non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Although high dose methotrexate-based induced chemotherapy regimen has significantly improved prognosis of patients, 30 percent -40 percent of patients still relapse with poor prognosis. With the development of molecular biology, new targeted drugs like cell signaling pathway kinase inhibitors have become new treatment options for PCNSL.

OBJECTIVETo elucidate clinical and pathological features of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) in order to improve clinician's awareness of this rare disease.

METHODSWe retrospectively analyzed clinical data and follow-up information of 27 PSC patients who were admitted to Beijing Friendship Hospital from January 1990 to November 2009. The patients were classified into classic PSC and small-duct PSC according to biochemistry and imaging results. After 3 to 6 months of therapy, those patients with serum ALT < or = 1.5, TBil < or = 2 and ALP < or = 2.5 ULN were determined as good responders. The treatment results between the two groups were compared.

RESULTS9 out of 27 cases of PSC were small duct PSC and 18 cases were large bile duct or classic PSC. Male patients (7) were less than females (20) and the average age was 47.6 years. Main clinical symptoms included jaundice (85.2%), pruritis (48.1%),fatigue (68.4 %), abdominal pain (40.7%) and fever (14.8%), main physical sign included hepatomegaly (44.4%), splenomegaly (48.1 %) and ascites (14.8%). Laboratory features included elevated IgG (81.8%), positive ANA (69.6%) and pANCA (52.9%). 22% of these PSC patients had ulcerative colitis or Sjogren's syndrome. A small percentage of patients were responsive to standard therapy, of which small duct PSC had a better response than classic PSC (66.7 % vs 33.3%, P = 0.041).

CONCLUSIONSUlcerative colitis (22.2%) is not as common as reported by western countries. Small duct PSC has a better treatment response. Searching of effective treatment regimen for large bile duct PSC is warranted in future studies.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Cholangitis, Sclerosing ; pathology ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo compare the clinical efficacy in the treatment of allergic rhinitis (AR) of lung qi deficiency and cold syndrome between Jin's three-needle therapy and western medication.

METHODSSixty-six patients were randomized into an acupuncture group and a western medication group, 33 cases in each one. In the acupuncture group, acupuncture was applied at three-nose points [Yingxiang (LI 20), Shangyingxiang (EX-HN 8) and Yintang (GV 29); Cuanzhu (BL 2) was added for frontal headache] and three-back points [Dazhu (BL 11), Fengmen (BL 12) and Feishu (BL 13)], once every day. Ten treatments made one session. Two sessions of treatment were required. In the western medication group, desloratadine oral suspension was prescribed, 5 mg each time, once a day, for 20 days. The scores of the symptoms and physical signs in AR patients as well as the clinical efficacy were observed between the two groups.

RESULTSThe total effective rate was 93.9% (31/33) in the acupuncture group, which was better than 72.7% (24/33) in the western medication group (P < 0.05). After treatment, the scores of AR symptoms and physical signs as well as the total score were all reduced compared with those before treatment in the two groups (all P < 0.01). The score of every item in the acupuncture group was lower than that in the western medication group after treatment (score of symptoms: 4.70 +/- 2.07 vs 6.55 +/- 2. 69, score of physical signs: 0.85 +/- 0.67 vs 1.45 +/- +0.62, total score: 5.36 +/- 2.70 vs 8.00 +/- 2.91, all P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONJin's three-needle therapy achieves superior efficacy on AR of lung-qi deficiency and cold syndrome, which is better than desloratadine oral suspension.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; instrumentation ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Lung ; physiopathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Needles ; Qi ; Rhinitis, Allergic ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the efficacy and safety of balloon dilation (BD) with gastroscope in treatment of esophageal stricture in children.

METHODSBD was performed in 12 children aged 5 - 59 months, average age 26 months, course of disease was 2 - 26 months, with esophageal stricture, 7 cases with anastomotic strictures secondary to surgical repair of esophageal atresia, 3 with congenital esophageal stenosis, 2 with corrosive esophageal strictures. All procedures were performed under tracheal intubation and intravenous anesthesia using the 3rd grade controlled radial expansion (CRE) esophagus-balloon with gastroscope. Firstly the balloon was inserted into the esophagus through mouth, then put in the gastroscope. Under the direct guidance of gastroscope the balloon was positioned across the stricture, then the balloon was filled with saline to get needed pressure and maintained for 3 minutes. The procedure was repeated 3 times at an interval of 3 minutes. The abdominal pain, melena and vomiting were observed, as well as the diet taken thereafter, the size of the stricture and the nutrition status were observed for 3 to 12 months after the dilation.

RESULTSTwenty-two dilations were performed in 12 cases, 19 succeeded, 3 cases developed complication during the dilation, the total success rate was 86%. The procedure failed in 3 cases and succeeded in 9 cases, the effective rate was 75%. Follow-up and repeated gastroscopy were performed within 3 to 12 months after the dilation, the diameter of the stricture was 9-13 mm, compared with 2-8 mm before the dilation. Eight of the children could take solid food and nutritional status was improved.

CONCLUSIONSBD with the 3rd grade CRE esophagus-balloon under gastroscopy is a simple and effective method to treat esophagus stricture in children, especially for anastomotic strictures secondary to surgical repair of esophageal atresia.

Catheterization ; methods ; Child, Preschool ; Esophageal Stenosis ; therapy ; Gastroscopes ; Humans ; Infant ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To investigate the clinical significance of bone marrow immunopathogenesis in the diagnosis and staging of lymphoma. Methods Clinical data of 266 patients with newly diagnosed lymphoma admitted to Department of Hematology in the First Hospital of Jilin University from August 2015 to December 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. The results of lymphoma diagnosis and staging in different bone marrow detection methods were compared, SPSS 22.0 software was used to make statistical analysis and χ2 test was used to compare the positive rates of lymphoma bone marrow infiltration in different methods. Results In the 266 patients, 64 cases (24.1 %) were diagnosed with lymphoma by using bone marrow detection on the condition that no lymph node pathology was available and all the immunophenotypes of 64 cases were identified by bone marrow immunopathology. Bone marrow infiltration was identified in 121 patients (45.5 %), among which the rate of bone marrow infiltration was 0 (0/12) in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and 47.6 % (121/254) in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). The rate of bone marrow infiltration was 50.0 % (105/210) and 36.4 % (16/44) in B type and T type NHL respectively. The positive rate of bone marrow infiltration detected by bone marrow smear, bone marrow biopsy, bone marrow flow cytometry and bone marrow immunopathology were 78.5 % (95/121), 87.6 % (106/121), 89.3 % (108/121), 96.7 % (117/121) respectively. Bone marrow immunopathology was more advantageous than any other methods, and there was a statistical difference (χ2＝18.38, 9.09, 3.76; all P < 0.05). Among 121 patients who were identified with bone marrow infiltration by bone marrow detection, the staging of 42 patients (34.7 %) were amended, including the staging of 39 amended patients (32.2 %) through bone marrow immunopathologic detection. Conclusion Bone marrow immunopathology can be used for the diagnosis and classification of lymphoma, which has an obvious advantage in detecting bone marrow infiltration of lymphoma compared with bone marrow smear, bone marrow biopsy, bone marrow flow cytometry, and it can be used to amend the clinical staging.

OBJECTIVETo investigative vacA, cagA and iceA genes dominant genotypes of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) isolated from children suffering from gastric and duodenal diseases in Guangzhou area.

METHODSTotally 105 children who underwent gastroscopy in Guangzhou Children's Hospital were enrolled into this study. From each patient, 3 biopsy specimens from the gastric antrum were taken, one was used for rapid urease test, one for histological examination, and one for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detecting ureA, vacA, cagA, and iceA genes. DNA was prepared directly from the biopsy specimens from the gastric antrum using a QIAamp DNA mini kit (Qiagen, Germany) according to the manufacturer's instructions. Then 11 primers were used for detecting the genotypes including ureas, (s1, s1a, s1b, s1c, s2) and m (m1, m1T, m2) region of vacA, cagA and iceA (iceA1 and iceA2) genotypes in the 105 children. The distribution of the genotypes of Hp was analyzed.

RESULTAmong the 105 children, only 52 children were positive by the three methods, among these 52 children, 26 were boys and 26 girls. Hp vacA s1as1c/m2 was detected in 43 out of 52 children (82.7%), s1as1c/m1T in 9.6% (5/52), m region that could not betyped was 7.7% (4/52). No strains presented genotypes vacA s1b, s2, m1. The comparison of the positive ratio of vacA s1as1 c/m2 detected in the children infected with Hp and that of the other combination of signal region and middle region was statistically significantly different (P < 0.01). With regard to cagA gene, cagA(+) gene and cagA(-) gene were found in 90.4% (47/52) and 9.6% (5/52) of the children, respectively. The cagA(+) gene was more frequent in the children infected with Hp. Single iceA1 was detected in 78.8% (41/52) children, and single iceA2 was detected to be 1.9% (1/52), multiple strains infection of iceA1 and iceA2 were detected in 3.8% (2/52) children, iceA1 and iceA2 were not detected in 15.4% (8/52), the comparison of the positive ratio of iceA1 detected in the children infected with Hp and that of the other genotypes was statistically significantly different (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe s1as1c/m2, cagA and iceA1 were the dominant genotypes of Hp in the children in Guangzhou area and s1as1c/m2, cagA and iceA1 were the dominant genotypes combination of Hp in the children in this area.

Antigens, Bacterial ; genetics ; therapeutic use ; Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins ; genetics ; Bacterial Proteins ; genetics ; Child ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Genes, Bacterial ; drug effects ; genetics ; Genotype ; Helicobacter Infections ; drug therapy ; genetics ; Helicobacter pylori ; genetics ; Humans ; Male ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Pyloric Antrum ; microbiology

OBJECTIVETo explore the associated biomarkers influencing recurrence, metastasis and prognosis in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) after complete resection.

METHODSTumor tissue samples of 148 patients with GIST undergoing complete resection from January 1990 to December 2008 in Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center were collected. The expressions of Ki-67, E-cadherin, MMP7, CD44, nm23, P53, survivin, Cyclin D1, COX-2, and VEGF in tumor tissue samples were detected by tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry (IHC). The association of above factors expressions with recurrence, metastasis and prognosis was examined.

RESULTSLog-rank test showed that Ki-67, E-cadherin, MMP7, CD44, P53 and survivin were associated to disease-free duration after complete GIST resection (all P<0.05), and the Ki-67, E-cadherin, P53 and survivin were associated to overall survival (all P<0.05). Cox multivariate analysis revealed that disease-free survival was associated with Ki-67, CD44 and P53 (all P<0.05), and the overall survival was only associated with Ki-67 (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONKi-67, CD44 and P53 are closely associated with recurrence and metastasis after complete GIST resection, and Ki-67 can predict the prognosis of GIST.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; metabolism ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms ; metabolism ; surgery ; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors ; metabolism ; surgery ; Humans ; Hyaluronan Receptors ; metabolism ; Ki-67 Antigen ; metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Prognosis ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 ; metabolism

Objective:To explore the mechanism of balance control after stroke by plantar pressure analysis. Methods:From July to December, 2019, twelve stroke subjects (stroke group) and 30 normal subjects (control group) were recruited in the rehabilitation department of our hospital. Both groups were measured plantar pressure in eyes open and closed conditions. The kinematic parameters, dynamic parameters, plantar pressure center (CoP), symmetry index (SI), symmetry angle (SA) and Romberg quotient (RQ) were calculated. Results:Compared with eyes open condition, the average Y and maximum swing of the control group increased significantly in eyes closed condition (P < 0.01); moreover, the ball length, average speed and maximum swing increased significantly in the stroke group (P <0.05). Compared with the control group, the area of the ellipse (|t| > 3.509, P < 0.001) and the average X (|Z|> 2.311, P < 0.05) significantly increased both in eyes open and closed condition, whereas the maximum swing (Z = -3.118, P < 0.01) increased significantly in eyes closed condition in the stroke group. The RQ of ball length was significantly more in the stroke group than in the control group (t = -3.570, P < 0.01). There was no significant difference in SI and SA of all parameters between the eyes open and closed condition in two groups (P > 0.05). Compared with the control group, load SI, overall load SI, forefoot load SI, area SI and forefoot area SI increased in both the eyes open and closed conditions in the stroke group (t > 2.344, P < 0.05), whereas load SA, overall load SA, forefoot load SA, area SA, forefoot area SA increased (|t|> 2.297, P < 0.05), hindfoot load SA increased only in eyes open condition (t = -2.485, P < 0.05), and hindfoot area SA increased only in eyes closed condition (t = -2.132, P < 0.05). In the control group, CoP was mainly distributed in the negative direction of Y axis when the eyes were open and closed, while CoP in the stroke group was relatively discrete, and the distribution on X axis was more obvious than that of the control group. Conclusion:The balance control of stroke patients might depend on visual compensation, and the plantar pressure analysis system could be used to evaluate the balance function in stroke patients.