Taking Radix Phodiolae polysac-charides (RPPS) which was extrated from Radix Phodiolae native to Tibet, and using the immunosuppresive mice model, induced with Cy (cyclophosphamide), this paper investigated effects of RPPS on the WBC numbers and Hb content of perpheral blood, thymus weight and cell-mediated immunity of mice. It was found that RPPS had no obvious effects on WBCnumbers and thymus weight, and could decrease the content of Hb in normal mice while it increased the content of Hb in immunosuppresive mice. RPPS not only could enhance lymphocyte transformation and NK activity in normal mice but also could reverse the decrease of the above indexes in immunosuppresive mice. The results suggested that RPPS be a new biological response modifier.

Objective To observe the clinical effects of Xie's Feiai No.1 formula on patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its influence on body immune system, VEGF (blood vessel endothelia growth factor) and CYFRA21-1 (keratoprotein 21-1). Methods 650 cases of advanced NSCLC were randomized into a treatment group and chemotherapy group, with 350 cases and 300 cases in each group respectively. The treatment group was administrated with Xie's Feiai No.1 formula, while the chemotherapy group was treated with chemotherapy ofGP plan/TP plan. Both groups were treated for 2 months. Results The short-term effective rate was 56.57% in the treatment group, which was superior to 44.33% (P<0.01) in the chemotherapy group; Steady rate KPS score improvement was 85.14% in the treatment group, which was also higher than 27.00% (P<0.01) in the chemotherapy group; besides the levels of total T cell, adjuvant T cell and NK cell in the treatment group were higher than the chemotherapy group, while the levels of Ts cell, VEGF and CYFRA21-1 int the treatment group were lower than the chemotherapy group. Long-term efficacy observation showed that the survival rate of 117 cases with advanced NSCLC was 83.59% in one year and 46.27% in three years in the treatment group, both significantly higher than those in the chemotherapy group (P<0.01).Conclusion Xie's Feiai No.l formula can increase NSCLC patients' survival time, improve quality of life, strengthen immunological function and restrain tumor cells' activities.

Spinocerebellar ataxias are a high clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of neurodegenerative disorders, usually belongs to autosomal dominant hereditary cerebellar ataxia. Spinocerebellar ataxia type 5 (SCA5) is one of the extremely rare subtypes and caused by heterozygous mutation of SPTBN2 gene. A case of infant-onset SCA5 patient is reported, mainly manifested as global developmental delay, ataxia and dysarthria, carrying the heterozygous missense variant c.1438C>T (p. Arg480Trp) in the SPTBN2 gene. This mutation may have an important impact on functional regions of the β-Ⅲ spectrin, leading to the occurrence of disease.

OBJECTIVEObesity has been shown to be an indicator of poor prognosis for patients with primary breast cancer. The aim of this study was to clarify the effect of obesity on Chinese women with breast cancer.

METHODSThis is a retrospective analysis of 1699 breast cancer patients. We evaluated the effect of body mass index (BMI) on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in these patients. BMI was obtained before surgery. Obesity was defined as a BMI ≥ 24. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Log rank test were employed to perform survival analysis. The impact of different characteristics on survival was assessed by using Cox proportional-hazards regression model.

RESULTSIn total 635 (37.4%) patients were obese, while 1 064 (62.6%) were non-obese. Comparing the tumor characteristics in the two groups, the BMI ≥ 24 group showed a higher rate of older age (P < 0.001), postmenopausal status (P < 0.001), increased risk of lymph node metastasis (P = 0.001) and less chances of accepting breast conservation surgery (P = 0.012). The median follow-up time was 16 months, and the estimated 16-months DFS was 98.1% for non-obese and 95.0% for obese patients (P = 0.007), the estimated 16-months OS was 99.4% for non-obese and 98.4% for obese patients (P = 0.004). The multivariate analysis indicated that obesity is an independent prognostic factor for OS and DFS in breast cancer patients.

CONCLUSIONSOur findings suggest that obesity is associated with a poorer outcome in Chinese female patients with breast cancer.

Body Mass Index ; Breast Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; China ; epidemiology ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Obesity ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Analysis

Animal infectious diseases pose a serious and continuing threat to the animal health and cause huge economic losses throughout the world. Vaccination is one of the most effective solutions to prevent and control animal infectious diseases. With the development of biotechnologies and the need for disease prevention and control, the focus of vaccine research has been shifted to the development of safe, efficient, broad-spectrum, low-dose and marker vaccines. Novel vaccines capable of inducing high levels of both humoral and cellular immune responses are promising to provide more efficient protection against animal infectious diseases. This minireview summarizes the development, applications, advantages and disadvantages of new-concept animal vaccines emerging in recent years, including mucosal vaccines, long-acting and fast-acting vaccines, chimeric vaccines, nanoparticle vaccines, and so on. Furthermore, we discuss future directions of the vaccines, in order to provide new insights for animal vaccine development.
Animals ; Communicable Diseases ; Immunity, Cellular ; Nanoparticles ; Vaccination ; Vaccines

Objective: To evaluate the effects of ferroptosis in hippocampal neurons on cognitive dysfunction in rats with sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE) and its potential molecular mechanisms. Methods: ① Screening experiment of SAE modeling conditions: 42 healthy male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into normal saline (NS) control group (n = 6) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) 5, 15, 30 mg/kg groups (each n = 12) according to the random number table method. The SAE modeling conditions were determined by survival and the changes in mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) within 72 hours, the percentage of stiffness status, the levels of serum inflammatory factors including interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), neuron specific enolase (NSE, a marker of neuronal injury), serum iron and lactic acid (Lac) contents, and the morphological changes in CA1 of hippocampus after 72 hours. ② Deferoxamine (Def) intervention experiment: according to the results of screening experiments, 28 healthy male SD rats were divided into NS control group (n = 8), SAE group (n = 10) and Def+SAE group (n = 10) according to the random number table method. In the Def+SAE group, 100 mg/kg Def was injected intraperitoneally 12 hours before the modeling, once every 12 hours, with a total of 7 times; the rats in the NS control group and SAE group were injected with the same amount of NS. Then the cognitive function of rats was evaluated by fear conditioning test for the percentage of stiffness status; serum IL-6, TNF-α and NSE levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA); the levels of serum Lac, serum iron and hippocampal malondialdehyde (MDA) and iron contents were determined by chemical colorimetric; the protein expressions of nuclear factor E2 related factor 2 (Nrf 2), glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) and NAPDH oxidase 1 (NOX1) in hippocampus were determined by Western Blot; morphological changes in hippocampal CA1 were observed after hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining. Results: ① Compared with the NS control group, intraperitoneal injection of 15 mg/kg LPS could significantly reduce the MAP and HR as time prolonged, and the reduction was most significant at 72 hours. The 72-hour survival rate was significantly reduced and cognitive function was impaired. The levels of serum IL-6, TNF-α, Lac and NSE were increased while the serum iron content was decreased significantly. The morphology of vertebral cells in hippocampal CA1 was irregular and some of the cells were obviously vacuolated. In the LPS 5 mg/kg group, there were no significant changes in vital signs, inflammation, organ function or cognitive dysfunction, while the symptoms of septic shock were apparent in the LPS 30 mg/kg group. Therefore, SAE model was reproduced by intraperitoneal injection of 15 mg/kg LPS for 72 hours. ② Compared with the NS control group, the percentage of stiffness in the SAE group was significantly reduced. The levels of serum IL-6, NSE and hippocampal MDA, iron were significantly increased. The serum iron contents and hippocampal Nrf 2 and GPX4 protein expressions were significantly reduced, while the hippocampal NOX1 protein expression was significantly increased. The morphology of vertebral cells in hippocampal CA1 was irregular and the cytoplasm was deeply stained. The results indicated that the level of oxidative stress in the hippocampus of SAE rats was increased, the neuron degenerations were obvious, and the cognitive function of rats were impaired. Compared with the SAE group, the percentage of stiffness in the Def+SAE group was significantly increased [(63.4±6.4)% vs. (47.6±6.0)%, P < 0.05]. The levels of serum IL-6, NSE, iron and hippocampal MDA, iron were significantly reduced [serum IL-6 (ng/L): 73.14±8.31 vs. 99.86±12.37, serum NSE (μg/L): 3.67±0.51 vs. 5.92±0.79, serum iron (mg/L): 68.43±8.12 vs. 134.60±15.63, hippocampal MDA (mol/g): 4.62±0.90 vs. 6.62±0.84, hippocampal iron (μg/g): 155.32±17.86 vs. 221.54±27.54, all P < 0.05]. The hippocampal protein expressions of Nrf 2 and GPX4 were significantly increased [Nrf 2/β-actin: 0.41±0.07 vs. 0.18±0.03, GPX4/β-actin: 0.74±0.09 vs. 0.40±0.06, all P < 0.05] while the hippocampal NOX1 protein expression was significantly reduced (NOX1/β-actin: 0.62±0.08 vs. 1.11±0.16, P < 0.05). The vertebral cells was significantly improved as compared with the SAE group. These findings showed that the oxidative stress level in hippocampus of the Def+SAE group was reduced, neuron degeneration was significantly alleviated, and the cognitive function of the rats was significantly improved. Conclusions The cognitive function of rats with SAE was significantly impaired, the hippocampal neurons were obviously damaged and ferroptosis was increased. Def pretreatment could significantly reduce iron deposition and ferroptosis in hippocampal neurons of SAE rats and improve cognitive dysfunction, which may be related to activation of Nrf 2/GPX4 signaling pathway.