Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a commonly seen disease of digestive system and with the characteristics of acute onset and high mortality. The existing scoring systems and biochemical indices for early prediction of AP severity are complicated and lagging in time. With the deepening of research, the emergence of new biomarkers, such as immature granulocyte percentage, red blood cell distribution width, can timely and effectively assess the severity of AP. This article reviewed the progress of research on biomarkers for predicting the severity of AP.

Objective To evaluate the effect of miRNA-29 (miR-29) family on the synthesis of collagen Ⅰ and Ⅲ in chronically photodamaged (photoaged) skin.Methods Some cultured human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) were divided into 2 groups:non-irradiated group receiving no treatment,and chronic photodamage group treated with repetitive ultraviolet A (UVA) radiation,which served as a chronically photodamaged cell model and was verified by flow cytometry and β-galactosidase staining.Western blot analysis was performed to determine the protein expression of collagen Ⅰ and Ⅲ,and real-time fluorescence-based quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) to measure expression of 3 members of the miR-29 family (miR-29a-3p,miR-29b-3p and miR-29c-3p) in the above 2 groups.The differentially expressed miR-29c-3p between the above 2 groups was chosen for further functional tests.Some HDFs were divided into 4 groups to be transfected with fluorescein-labelled miR-29c-3p mimics (overexpression group),inhibitors (inhibition group),and their control RNA oligonucleotides (negative control group and inhibitor control group) respectively.The transfection efficiency was evaluated by the proportion of fluorescent cells,and the relative expression of miR-29c-3p in the above 4 groups was measured by qRT-PCR for evaluating the RNA interference efficiency,qRT-PCR was conducted to determine the mRNA expression of collagen type Ⅰ α1 (COL1A1) and collagen type Ⅲ α1 (COL3A1) genes,and Western blot analysis to measure the protein expression of collagen Ⅰ and Ⅲ.Results Compared with the non-irradiated group,the chronic photodamage group showed significantly increased proportion of senescent cells (36.47％ ± 3.20％ vs.12.56％ ± 1.46％,P ＜ 0.01) and G1-phase cells (71.70％ ± 2.43％ vs.41.89％ ± 1.86％,P ＜ 0.01),but significantly decreased proportion of S-phase cells (10.63％ ± 0.36％ vs.36.48％ ± 1.31％,P ＜ 0.01),which indicated that the chronically photodamaged cell model was established successfully.The protein expression of collagen Ⅰ and Ⅲ was significantly lower in the chronic photodamage group (0.40 ± 0.19 and 0.52 ± 0.10) than in the non-irradiated group (1.00 ± 0.12 and 1.00 ± 0.10,respectively,both P ＜ 0.01).The expression of miR-29c-3p was significantly higher in the chronic photodamage group than in the non-irradiated group (4.42 ± 2.05 vs.0.89± 0.10,P ＜ 0.05),while there were no significant differences in the expression of miR-29a-3p or miR-29b-3p between the 2 groups (both P ＞ 0.05).Twenty-four hours after transfection,the overexpression group and inhibition group both showed more than 90％ transfection efficiency which met the interference requirements.The expression of miR-29c-3p was significantly higher in the overexpression group than in the negative control group (224.17 ± 2.00 vs.2.45 ± 0.34,P ＜ 0.01),but significantly lower in the inhibition group than in the inhibitor control group (0.20 ± 0.08 vs.2.24± 0.14,P ＜ 0.01),suggesting that a RNA interference model was successfully established.The mRNA expression of COL1A1 and COL3A1 and the protein expression of collagen Ⅰ and Ⅲ were significantly lower in the overexpression group than in the negative control group and inhibition group (all P ＜ 0.05),and significantly higher in the inhibition group than in the inhibitor control group (all P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion The expression of miR-29c-3p is up-regulated in chronically photodamaged HDFs,likely by regulating the mRNA expression of COL1A1 and COL3A1 and the protein expression of collagen Ⅰ and Ⅲ.

With the rapid development of perinatal medical technology, the survival rate of preterm infants has increased significantly, but the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia(BPD)is still at a high level.BPD is a common chronic respiratory disease in preterm infants, and the incidence of other complications and death rates of preterm infants with BPD are significantly higher.Currently, the "classic BPD" characterized by lung injury has been converted to "new BPD, " but the pathophysiological mechanism of BPD has not yet been elucidated.In recent years, some experimental studies in vitro and in vivo have demonstrated that alveolar type II epithelial cells can induce epithelial mesenchymal transition(EMT)through multiple signaling pathways, including TGF-β as a hub and Wnt, SPHK1/S1P, etc., which can promote the development of pulmonary fibrosis, and thus provide a new idea for the prevention and treatment of BPD.This article reviews the mechanisms of multiple signaling pathways in EMT in BPD, in order to give a reference for the clinical treatment of BPD.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the improvement effects of 3，5，6，7，8，3′，4′-heptamethoxyflavone （HMF） of Fructus Aurantii on rats with damp blockage of the middle energizer. METHODS The rats were randomly divided into normal group， model group， positive control group （Raceanisodamine tablet， 1 mg/kg）， HMF low-dose， medium-dose and high-dose groups （0.3， 0.6， 0.9 mg/kg）， with 7 rats in each group. Except for the normal group， the other groups were modeled by internal and external composite factors. After successful modeling， the rats in each group were given the corresponding drug or normal saline， once a day， for 14 days. The general behavioral states such as dietary intake， water intake and mental state of the rats were observed， and the fecal water content rate and saliva flow rate were measured. Hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining was used to observe the pathological and morphology in gastric and small intestinal tissues of rats. The plasma content of aldosterone was detected， and the expression of aquaporins （AQP3） in the gastric tissue of rats was determined. RESULTS Compared with the normal group， the dietary intake and water intake of the model group rats were significantly decreased （P＜0.01）， the fecal water content rate， salivary flow rate， plasma content of aldosterone and the expression of AQP3 in gastric tissue were increased significantly （P＜0.01）. Gastric tissue injury invaded the mucosal muscle layer， resulting in mucosal muscle layer rupture； pathological and morphological changes such as small intestinal villous erosion and glandular structure destruction were observed in the small intestine. Compared with the model group， the dietary intake and water intake of rats were increased in HMF groups； fecal water content rate， salivary flow rate， plasma content of aldosterone， the expression of AQP3 in gastric tissue were decreased， most of the above differences were statistically significant （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. The pathological and morphological changes in the gastric and small intestine tissues of rats had been improved to varying degrees. CONCLUSIONS HMF of Fructus Aurantii with dry property HMF could improve the symptoms of rats with damp blockage of middle energizer， the mechanism of which may be associated with reducing the content of plasma aldosterone and down-regulating the expression of gastric AQP3.