Objective To study the concentration alteration of serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in patients with primary and secondary glomerular diseases (GD), the effect of immune inhibitors on the concentration, and analyze the relationship between VEGF concentration and some clinical indexes. Methods Serum VEGF concentration of GD patients was determined by sandwich ABC-ELISA. Results All of the GD patients had higher level of serum VEGF than the control group. Of the 5 groups divided according to the clinical classification, patients of chronic glomerulonephritis(CGN) group, latent glomerulonephritis(LGN) group, Henoch-Schonlein purpura nephritis(HSPN) group and lupus nephritis(LN) group had higher serum VEGF level than the control group, respectively, with no difference among the above groups. The patients without taking immune inhibitors had higher serum VEGF level than the control group,while no difference was observed between the patients taking immune inhibitors and the control group.Patients with glomerulonephritis had a significantly lower serum VEGF level after receiving immunosuppression aggressive therapy than before. The serum VEGF level of nephrotic syndrome in nephrotic phase was higher than in remission stage. In membranous glomerulonephritis serum VEGF correlated positively with 24-hour proteinuria excretion. The serum VEGF level correlated positively with anti-dsDNA Ab titer and the concentration of ? globulins in LN. Conclusion Cytokine VEGF is involved in the pathogenesis of glomerulonephritis, and in the occurrence and progression of proteinuria. Immunosuppression therapy can inhibit the expression of VEGF. In LN patients, the serum VEGF level is related to LN activity.

This study investigated the role of glucose in the biogenesis of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Mouse primary peritoneal macrophages were harvested and maintained in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) containing glucose of various concentrations. The cells were divided into 3 groups in terms of different glucose concentrations in the cultures: Control group (5.6 mmol/L glucose), high glucose concentration groups (16.7 mmol/L and 30 mmol/L glucose). ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) mRNA expression in the macrophages was detected by semi-quantitative RT-PCR 24, 48 and 72 h after glucose treatment. The results showed that ABCA1 mRNA expression in the 16.7 mmol/L glucose group was not significantly different from that in the control group at all testing time points (P>0.05 for each). In the 30 mmol/L glucose group, macrophage ABCA1 mRNA expression was not changed significantly at 24 h (P=0.14), but was substantially decreased by 40.4% at 48 h (P=0.009) and by 48.1% at 72 h (P=0.015) as compared with that in the control group. It was concluded that ABCA1 is of vital importance for HDL-C biogenesis. High glucose may hamper HDL-C biogenesis by decreasing ABCA1 expression, which contributes to low HDL-C level in diabetes.

Acute Disease ; Adult ; Aged ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pesticides ; poisoning ; Young Adult

Animals ; Arginine ; pharmacology ; Blood Pressure ; drug effects ; Hypertension ; etiology ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Male ; Oxidative Stress ; drug effects ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Objective To determine the roles of thymic stromal lymphopoietin receptor (TSLPR) and its antibody in airway inflammatory response in asthmatic mice, and to promote maturation and activation of dendritic cells (DCs) in mouse airway. Methods BALB/c mice were randomly divided into group A, B and C. The mice in group B and C were intraperitoneally injected with OVA for allergization while the mice in group A were intraperitoneally injected with PBS as the normal control. The mice in group B and C were treated by inhalation of non-specific IgG and TSLPR IgG respectively, before provocation of asthma using OVA. The bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of the mice in different groups were collected for cell differential counts and quantitative detection of IL-4, IL-5, IFN-γand IL-10 levels by ELISA. Moreover, the pulmonary tissue specimens of the mice were collected for pathological examination, and the numbers and phenotypes of DCs from the local lymph nodes and pulmonary tissue were determined by flow cytometry. Results The levels of all the tested cytokines in the BALF from mice in group B and C were remarkably higher compared to those from mice in group A (P<0.01). However, both the IL-4 and IL-5 levels in the BALF from group C mice that pre-blocked with TSLPR IgG were lower than those from group B (P<0.05, P<0.01), whereas both the IFN-γ and IL-10 levels in the BALF from group C mice were higher than those from group B (P<0.05, P<0.01). Furthermore, the numbers of total cells, eosinophils and lymphocytes in the BALF from group C mice were also lower than those from group B (P<0.01). A large number of inflammatory cell infiltration around the bronchus, beaker cell proliferation and mucous secretion reinforcement could be found in the samples from group B mice, while slight inflammatory cell infiltration and beaker cell proliferation in the samples from group C mice. The numbers of DCs in mediastinal lymph node and the levels of I-Ad, CD40, CD80 and CD86 expression of pulmonary DCs from group B mice were higher than those from group C mice (P<0.05). Conclusion TSLP/TSLPR have an effect on promoting asthma, which is closely relative to its regulation of DCs activation. And the interference of TSLPR antibody can decrease the effect of TSLP/TSLPR which indicating a potential of the antibody as a novel anti-asthma drug.

Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Chondrocytes ; Interleukin-1beta ; NF-kappa B ; Osteoarthritis/drug therapy* ; Rats ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Carcinoma, Papillary ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Child ; DNA Methylation ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; PTEN Phosphohydrolase ; genetics ; metabolism ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Young Adult

Objective: To investigate the seroprevalence and influencing factors of serum neutralizing antibodies among SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals, so as to provide the evidence for developing the health management and COVID-19 vaccination strategy among SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals. Methods: Recovered SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals from January 1st, 2020 to February 10th, 2021 in Zhejiang Province were recruited in March 2021. Participants' demographics, underlying diseases, date of definitive diagnosis and severity of clinical symptoms were collected using questionnaire surveys, and serum neutralizing antibody against SARS-CoV-2 was detected using a fluorescent immunoassay. In addition, factors affecting the seropositivity of neutralizing antibody against SARS-CoV-2 were identified using a multivariable logistic regression model. Results: A total of 559 SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals were enrolled, including 480 confirmed cases and 79 asymptomatic carriers, with an median (interquartile range) age of 47.00 (22.00) years, and all participants had never received COVID-19 vaccination. The median (interquartile range) duration from diagnosis to serum sampling was 387.00 (11.00) days, and the seroprevalence of neutralizing antibody against SARS-CoV-2 was 83.90%. The serum neutralizing antibody against SARS-CoV-2 was all positive 9 months after diagnosis, and the seroprevalence of neutralizing antibody against SARS-CoV-2 appeared no tendency towards a decline with time within 14 months after diagnosis (P>0.05). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that women were 1.892 times (95%CI: 1.169-3.064) more likely to produce serum neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 than men, and mild, common and severe/critically ill SARS-CoV-2 infected cases were 2.438 (95%CI: 1.305-4.557), 4.481 (95%CI: 2.318-8.663), and 23.525 (95%CI: 2.990-185.068) times more likely to produce serum neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 than asymptomatic carrier, respectively. Conclusions The seroprevalence of neutralizing antibody was 100.00% among SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals within 9 months after diagnosis. Individuals' gender and severity of clinical symptoms correlate with the seroprevalence of neutralizing antibody against SARS-CoV-2.

OBJECTIVETo explore the feasibility to evaluate objectively auditory temporal resolution using the iso-modulation depth temporal modulation transfer function (TMTF) derived from the amplitude of evoked response to sinusoidally modulated signals.

METHODSChronic electrodes were implanted in inferior colliculus and auditory cortex of guinea pigs. We recorded the evoked response to sinusoidally modulated tones with modulation frequency being varied from 20 to 400 Hz and modulation depth fixed at 100%. The response amplitude in uV was converted into relative amplitude using the fast Fourier transform (FFT) function provided by Biosig software, and then the iso-modulation depth TMTF was plotted with the relative amplitude changed with modulation frequency. Then we recorded the evoked response to the sinusoidally modulated tones with modulation depth being varied from 100% to 10% and derived the iso-amplitude TMTF comparable to conventional modulation depth threshold TMTF. The derived iso-amplitude TMTF was compared to iso-modulation depth TMTF to determine the validity of iso-modulation depth TMTF.

RESULTSThe iso-modulation-depth TMTF and iso-amplitude TMTF in inferior colliculus and auditory cortex of guinea pigs represented respectively bandpass and lowpass characteristic. The cut-off frequency calculated from the two TMTF methods didn't differ significantly and the cut-off frequency derived from auditory cortex iso-modulation depth TMTF was consistent with behavioral results.

CONCLUSIONSThe TMTF plotted with the response amplitude to sinusoidally modulated tones with the modulation depth fixed at 100% and the modulation frequency was a valid method to evaluate objectively auditory temporal resolution.

Animals ; Auditory Cortex ; physiology ; Electrodes ; Evoked Potentials, Auditory ; physiology ; Fourier Analysis ; Guinea Pigs ; Inferior Colliculi ; physiology ; Reaction Time

A series of 2-(3-butynoicamidophenyl)benzothiazole derivatives were synthesized starting from 4-fluoro-3-nitrobenzoic acid. Structures of all the synthesized compounds were confirmed by 1H NMR and HR-MS. Their antitumor activities against human tumor cells lines (HCT116, Mia-PaCa2, U87-MG, A549, NCI-H1975) were evaluated by MTT assay. The results revealed that most of the synthesized compounds showed potent activities against HCT116, Mia-PaCa2, U87-MG tumor cells lines. Particularly, compounds 14c and 14h exhibited better activity with IC50 values of 1 x 10(-8) mol x L(-1) against U87-MG and HCT116 respectively. The structure-activity relationship of compounds was also discussed preliminarily.