Objective To investigate the expression of T cell immunoglobulin domain and mucin domain (TIM)-3 and its ligand Galectin-9 in the peripheral blood of initial systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)patients,and explore their effects on SLE.Methods The percentages of CD4+TIM-3+,CD8+TIM-3+cells from 33 SLE patients and 26 normal controls were detected by flow cytometry,and the Galectin-9 gene expression of PBMCs was determined by real-time PCR The SLE Disease Activity Index(SLEDAI),C3 level and lymphocyte count were evaluated.Mann-Whitney U test was used for independent samples analysis and Spearmen's test was used for correlation analysis.Results The percentages of CD4+TIM-3+ and CD8+TIM-3+ cells were markedly increased in SLE group than those of the control group(P<0.01).In particular,the CD4+TIM-3+,CD8+TIM-3+ level Was positively correlated with SLEDAI (r=0.517,P＜0.01;r=0.400,P＜0.05);but negatively correlated with C3(r=0.487,P＜0.05;r=0.395,P＜0.05).The Galectin-9 mRNA in SLE PBMCs was higher than that of the controls(P<0.05).Conclusion TIM-3-Galectin-9 pathway may be involved in T cell immune regulation of SLE,and is related to disease activity.

Objective To determine health related quality of life (QOL) of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to identify the factors affecting QOL. Methods One hundred and fifty-one consecutive patients with SLE were separated into different groups according to the type or stage of disease. Health status were measured by 1 health transition (HT) and 8 composite scales of the medical outcomes study short form-36 (SF-36). The mean scores for each subscale of the SF-36 for patients with SLE in China were compared to those of a health population in China and of foreign SLE patients.The effect of patients′age,sex,education level,disease duration,disease activity (assessed by SLEDAI score),and organ damage(assessed by SLICC/ACR DI) and treatment were analyzed. ANOVA, rank sum test and correlation analysis were applied for statistical analysis. Results Patients with SLE had significantly lower HT and mean scores in each subscale of the SF-36 compared to those of a health population in China,while the scores in such subscales as physical functioning (PF), bodily pain (BP), vitality (VT), role-emotional (RE) and mental health (MH) were higher than those of foreign SLE patients. The mean scores of those patients with lupus nephritis and center neural lupus or in active state were lower than those not or those in steady-going. The SLEDAI score and SLICC/ACR DI were the most important elements that affected the QOL in SLE patients and showed obviously negative correlated with one′s scores in SF-36. The glucocorticoid dose of patients was closely negatively correlated with one′s scores. The latter were also associated with age, education level and disease duration. Conclusion The health status of patients with SLE is mainly associated with disease activity,damage and therapy. The SF-36 is a valid instrument for measuring the health related QOL in SLE.

Objective Thymoma is associated with autoimmune diseases. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical characteristics of thymoma complicated systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods Patients were from Qilu Hospital Shandong University between June 2004 and June 2014, and satisfied classification criteria of American College of Rheumatology (ACR) classification criteria 1997 for SLE. Thymoma was diagnosed by chest CT scan. Results Nine cases were of thymoma complicated with SLE, with the male:female ratio of 1∶8. The age of SLE onset was (48±19) years, age of thymoma discovery was (47±19) years. The follow-up period was 3 to 10 years. Three cases (33%) were benign thymoma and underwent thymectomy and verified by histopa-thology test. One case presented thymoma 9 years after SLE, 5 cases (56%) presented SLE and thymoma simultaneously, 3 cases (33%) presented SLE after thymectomy. Clinical manifestations of SLE included 4(44%) skin lesions, 8(89%) polyarthritis, 5(56%) nephritis, 3(33%) leukocytopenia, 3(33%) throm-bocytopenia, 2 (22%) of interstitial pneumonia, 4 (44%) pleural effusion, no neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus. Nine cases (100%) were ANA positive, 7 (78%) were anti-dsDNA positive. Conclusion SLE complicated thymoma usually occurs in relatively older age, tend to present with multi-systemic presentations, and high percentage of anti-dsDNA positivity.

OBJECTIVETo study the effects of Fe, Zn, B and Mn fertilizer with different ratio on the yield and quality of Aconitum carmichaeli.

METHODField experiment with the uniform design was applied, the yield and the contents of the total alkaloids and diester-alkaloids were measured.

RESULTFe, Zn, B and Mn fertilizer of appropriate ratio could promote the growth of vegetative organs, increase the biomass, the content of alkaloids and the yield of Aconite significantly. Fe, Zn fertilizer of highly concentrated ratio increased the proportion of first sub-roots, but inhibited the growth of other vegetative organs, the number of roots was less than that with other treatments, so it was not conducive to the formation of production. High concentration of Mn was not conducive to the growth of underground of Aconite, its number of sub-roots was fewer, but the number of third sub-roots was more than that with other treatments, the yield was low. The yield treated with low concentration of B was 10% higher than that with high concentration, and the high concentration of B was not conducive to increase the content of the alkaloids. Among these treatments, The fourth treatment was the optimal combination, of which the volume of sub-roots was the largest and the most homogeneous, the growth of the vegetative organs was better and the accumulation of dry matters was more, the yield of this treatment was 10,754.7 kg x hm(-2), which was increased by 14.9%, and the content of alkaloid was increased by 13.9%.

CONCLUSIONThe ratio of 4 is the best treatment for high yield and quality cultivation of Aconite.

Aconitum ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Alkaloids ; metabolism ; Biomass ; Fertilizers ; analysis ; Micronutrients ; metabolism ; Plant Roots ; growth & development

ObjectiveTo examine the clinical features of fractures and related risk factors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis(RA) in China.MethodsSix hundred and eighty-one RA patients were randomly selected from department of rheumatology of 18 hospitals of China.Data were obtained from the questionnaire,including age,sex,disease duration,the involvement of joints,treatment regimen,features of fractures etc.The possible risk factors of fracture in patients with RA were analyzed with a multi-variate Logistic regression analysis.Results① In 681 RA patients of the survey,48 patients had 54 fractures,and the incidence of fractures was about 8％.② Fractures occurred at various sites.Foot/ankle,femur,spine and wrist were the mostfrequent sites.③ The Logistic regression analysis showed that several factors increased the risk of fracture in RA patients,including long disease duration (OR:1.245,95％CI:0.987-1.570,P=0.065),male gender(OR:0.433,95％CI:0.199-0.942,P=0.035),more deformed joints(OR:1.042,95％CI:1.006-1.079,P=0.023),family history of RA (OR:2.201,95％CI:0.984-4.923,P=0.055),and high scores of SF-36(OR:1.017,95％CI:1.002-1.033,P=0.028).④ According to the degree of correlation from strong to weak,the risk factors of fracture were disease duration,SF-36,sex,number of deformed joints and family history of rheumatoid arthritis.ConclusionThe incidence of fracture is high in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.Several factors could increase the risk of fractures in RA patients,including long disease duration,male gender,more deformed joints,and family history of RA.In order to prevent the occurrence of fractures,cautions should be taken to prevent the development of fractures and treat the disease aggressively to suppress the disease activity of RA.

Single chain antibody fragment (scFv) is a small molecule composed of a variable region of heavy chain (VH) and a variable region of light chain (VL) of an antibody, and these two chains are connected by a flexible short peptide. scFv is the smallest functional fragment with complete antigen-binding activity, which contains both the antibody-recognizing site and the antigen-binding site. Compared with other antibodies, scFv has the advantages of small molecular weight, strong penetration, low immunogenicity, and easy expression. Currently, the most commonly used display systems for scFv mainly include the phage display system, ribosome display system, mRNA display system, yeast cell surface display system and mammalian cell display system. In recent years, with the development of scFv in the field of medicine, biology, and food safety, they have also attracted much attention in the sectors of biosynthesis and applied research. This review summarizes the advances of scFv display systems in recent years in order to facilitate scFv screening and application.
Animals ; Immunoglobulin Variable Region/genetics* ; Immunoglobulin Fragments/metabolism* ; Single-Chain Antibodies/metabolism* ; Peptide Library ; Mammals/genetics*