Objective To investigate the proportion and function of CD_4~+ CD_(25)~+ regulatory T cells (CD_4~+ CD_(25)~+ Tr)in unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion(URSA).Methods(1)Proportion measurement:the proportion of CD_4~+ CD_(25)~+ Tr cells in peripheral blood was measured by double-label flow cytometric analysis.The samples were taken from 15 URSA women,15 normal non-pregnancy women and 13 normal pregnancy women.(2)Function measurement:CD_4~+ CD_(25)~+ Tr ceils and CD_4~+ CD_(25)~+ T ce]ls were extracted from peripheral blood lymphocytes by the microbeads separation.The purity of CD_4~+ CD_(25)~+ Tr cells and CD_4~+ CD_(25)~+ T cells was measured by flow cytometry.The growth inhibitory effect of CD_4~+ CD_(25)~+ Tr cells on CD_4~+ CD_(25)~+ T cells was assessed in vitro.Results The proportion of CD_4~+ CD_(25)~+ Tr cells was decreased significantly in URSA women(6.9?1.8)% than that in normal non-pregnancy women[(10.8?1.1)%] (P0.05).Conclusion The results suggest that decrease in proportion and function of CD_4~+ CD_(25)~+ Tr cells may be associated with URSA.

The epidemiological survey of prevalence of NIDDM (non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus) and IGT(impaired glucose tolerance)was conducted among 9450 residents aged 25～70 in some areas of Hubei Province, China. The results show that NIDDM and IGT prevalences are 2.62% and 4.48%, respectively. There is no significant difference between male and female (P>0.05). The NIDDM prevalence in cities is slightly higher than that in countryside, but the difference is not significant (P>0.05). However, the IGT prevalence in city is significantly higher than that in countryside (P<0.01). The prevalence of both NIDDM and IGT is increasing along with the age of the population. It is also significantly related to the family history of NIDDM, hypertension, and high body mass index (BMI). By using stepwise logistic regression to analyse the risk factors of NIDDM, age (OR=1.86),BMI(OR=2.69), family history (OR=2.84) and hypertension (OR=2.23) entered the model (significance level is α=0.05).

Transcription factor EB(TFEB)is a member of the MiTF/TFE family and plays an important role in cell stress,metabolism,cancer and so on.There are relatively few studies on the role of TFEB in renal diseases.TFEB was initially found to be highly expressed in TFEB-fusion renal cell carcinoma and plays a key role in the development of re-nal cell carcinoma.Blocking the downstream signaling pathway activated by TFEB would be a promising treatment for TFEB-fusion renal cell carcinoma.On the contrary,the expression of TFEB in renal intrinsic cells is decreased in diabetic kidney disease,leading to a blockage in the autophagy-lysosome pathway.TFEB enhances the ability of cell stress and self-repair,and then delays the progress of diabetic kidney disease.In cystine nephropathy,TFEB expression is reduced in re-nal tubular epithelial cells and compensatory activation is insufficient as well.TFEB over-expression effectively eliminates intracellular cystine and repairs damaged lysosome,which is expected to alleviate or cure the Fanconi syndrome.In summa-ry,TFEB plays a key role in different kidney diseases,and targeted regulation of TFEB provides new hope for the treatment of kidney diseases.

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of interferon-γ release assay of blood and pleural effusion for tuberculous pleurisy.Methods Fifty-six adult patients with suspected tuberculous pleurisy were enrolled in our study.The blood and pleural effusion interferon-γ release assay were measured by T-SPOT.TB test in 38 pleural tuberculosis patients and 18 nontuberculous pleurisy controls.The diagnostic sensitivity,specificity,predictive value of T-SPOT.TB in pleural effusion mononuclear cells (PE-MC) and peripheral mononuclear cells (PBMC) were analyzed.Results The sensitivities and specificities,positive predictive values and negative predictive values,respectively,of the PE-MC and PBMC for diagnosing were as follows:86.5％(95％ confidence interval[CI] 71.2％-95.5％) and 100％(95％CI 90.5％-100％);52.9％(95％CI 27.8％-77.0％) and 35.3％(95％CI 14.2％-61.7％);80.0％(95％CI 64.4％-90.9％) and 77.1％(95％CI 62.7％-88.0％);64.3％(95％CI 35.1％-87.2％) and 100％(95％CI 54.1％-100％).By ROC curve analysis,a cut-off value of 47SFC/2.5 × 105 cells in PE-MC showed a sensitivity of 89.2％ and a specificity of 88.2％.Conclusion T-SPOT.TB in PE-MC could be an accurate diagnostic method for tuberculous pleurisy in TB endemic settings.Moreover,47SFC/2.5 × 105 cells might be the optimal cut-off value for diagnosing tuberculous pleurisy.

Animals ; Chronic Disease ; Female ; Genetic Therapy ; Male ; Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation ; Myocardial Infarction ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Swine ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; genetics ; Ventricular Function, Left

As a major active component extracted from traditional Chinese herb Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F, triptolide exhibits multiple pharmacological effects. Autophagy is an evolutionary conserved intracellular catabolic process involved in cytoplasmic materials degradation. Autophagic dysfunction contributes to the pathologies of many human diseases, which makes it a promising therapeutic target. Recent studies have shown that triptolide exerts neuroprotection, anti-tumor activities, organ toxicity, and podocyte protection by modulating autophagy. This article highlights the current information on triptolide-modulated autophagy, analyzes the possible pathways involved, and describes the crosstalk between autophagy and apoptosis modulated by triptolide, in hope of providing implications for the roles of autophagy in pharmacological effects of triptolide and expanding its novel usage as an autophagy modulator.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Autophagy ; drug effects ; Diterpenes ; pharmacology ; Epoxy Compounds ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Neuroprotective Agents ; pharmacology ; Phenanthrenes ; pharmacology ; Podocytes ; drug effects

Farnesoid X receptor (FXR) has been identified as an inhibitor of platelet function and an inducer of fibrinogen protein complex. However, the regulatory mechanism of FXR in hemostatic system remains incompletely understood. In this study, we aimed to investigate the functions of FXR in regulating antithrombin III (AT III). C57BL/6 mice and FXR knockout (FXR KO) mice were treated with or without GW4064 (30 mg/kg per day). FXR activation significantly prolonged prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), lowered activity of activated factor X (FXa) and concentrations of thrombin-antithrombin complex (TAT) and activated factor II (FIIa), and increased level of AT III, whereas all of these effects were markedly reversed in FXR KO mice. In vivo, hepatic AT III mRNA and protein expression levels were up-regulated in wild-type mice after FXR activation, but down-regulated in FXR KO mice. In vitro study showed that FXR activation induced, while FXR knockdown inhibited, AT III expression in mouse primary hepatocytes. The luciferase assay and ChIP assay revealed that FXR can bind to the promoter region of AT III gene where FXR activation increased AT III transcription. These results suggest FXR activation inhibits coagulation process via inducing hepatic AT III expression in mice. The present study reveals a new role of FXR in hemostatic homeostasis and indicates that FXR might act as a potential therapeutic target for diseases related to hypercoagulation.
Animals ; Antithrombin III ; Blood Coagulation ; Hepatocytes ; Liver ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Mice, Knockout ; Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear/genetics*

BackgroundSeveral studies have investigated the association between smoking and anal abscess and anal fistula (AA/F) diseases. However, the relationship between cigarette smoking and AA/F remains unclear. This study sought to assess the role of smoking in anorectal male patients in a Chinese population.

MethodsIn this retrospective study, a questionnaire, including smoking history, was completed over a 3-month period by male inpatients in the Proctology Department of China-Japan Friendship Hospital. "Cases" were patients who had AA/F, and "controls" were patients with other anorectal complaints. Mann-Whitney U-test and Chi-square test were carried out to examine differences in baseline characteristics between groups. Subsequently, multivariate logistic regression was used to explore any related factors.

ResultsA total of 977 patients aged from 18 to 80 years were included, excluding those diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease or diabetes mellitus. Out of this total, 805 patients (82.4%) completed the entire questionnaire. Among the 805 patients, 334 (41.5%) were cases and 471 (58.5%) were controls. Results showed significant differences between cases and controls (χ = 205.2, P < 0.001), with smoking found to be associated with the development of AA/F diseases (odds ratio: 12.331, 95% confidence interval: 8.364-18.179, P < 0.001).

ConclusionsThis study suggested smoking to be a potential risk factor for the development of AA/F diseases in a Chinese population. Consequently, current smoking patients should be informed of this relationship, and further research should be conducted to explore and investigate this further.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Anus Diseases ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Odds Ratio ; Rectal Fistula ; epidemiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Smoking ; adverse effects ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: To explore the synergistic immunomodulatory mechanism of interferon alpha-1b, interleukin-2 and thalidomide (ITI) regimen on patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). METHODS: Sixty eight untreated de novo or relapsed or refractory or maintenance therapy patients with AML admitted in the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University and the other 11 medical units from March 2016 to May 2019 were treated with ITI regimen. Peripheral blood specimen per patient was collected into EDTA-K3 anticoagulation vacuum tube before the administration of ITI and 3 months after the treatment; peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets and perforin and Granzyme B expression were analyzed by using flow cytometry; the levels of VEGF, IFN-γ, TNF-α and IL-6 in the plasma were detected by using a cytometric bead array. Thirty-five healthy subjects from the hospital physical examination centre were selected as normal controls. RESULTS: The ratio of CD4 CONCLUSION The ITI regimen can raise the ratio of CD4
CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha ; Interleukin-2 ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/drug therapy* ; Perforin ; Thalidomide

Objective: A multicenter Chinese mainland survey was conducted to investigate the sensitization distribution characteristics of cat, dog and horse dander in patients with allergic diseases, so as to provide clinicians with epidemiological data of common animal allergens and useful information for the prevention and treatment of allergies in cats, dogs and horses. Methods: The epidemiological investigation and design was adopted. This study is based on the national epidemiological survey of allergic diseases led by the first affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University. From January to December in 2021, a total of 2 122 patients diagnosed with allergic diseases were included in the outpatient department of respiratory department/pediatrics/allergy department of 14 units such as the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, and 222 healthy subjects were included as controls from the physical examination center of the above units in the same period. All the subjects filled out the allergic disease questionnaire under the guidance of doctors, and the allergen-specific immunoglobulin E (sIgE) of cats, dogs and horses of all subjects were detected by magnetic particle chemiluminescence system. The epidemiological characteristics of three animal allergens in different diseases, ages and regions were analyzed. Chi square test was used to analyze the frequency difference between groups, t test or Mann Whitney U test was used to test the distribution difference between two groups, and one-way ANOVA or Kruskal Wallis H test was used to compare the distribution difference between multiple groups. Bar chart, Venn-plot and radar chart were drawn to show the sensitization distribution characteristics. A small number of missing values caused by subjects' omission have been excluded during the analysis. Results: The 2 122 patients with allergic diseases were 57.35% male (1 217/2 122) and 40.95% female (869/2 122), and 1.70% (36/2 122) patients had loss of gender information. The age of patients with allergic diseases was 9.0 (6.0, 28.0) years, while that of healthy controls was 29.0 (13.0, 39.0) years old, and there were 1.7% (36/2 122) and 0.9% (2/222) subjects with missing age information, respectively. The proportion of caesarean section in allergic patients was significantly higher than that in healthy controls (31.4% vs. 17.6%,χ²=16.582,P<0.001) [2.5% (54/2 122) of the patient group and 5.4% (12/222) of the control group had missing birth mode information], and the proportion of patients with allergic diseases who reported that both parents had allergic diseases was significantly higher than that of the control group (35.7% vs. 9.5%, χ²=65.171,P<0.001). Patients with allergic diseases are mainly school-age (6-12 years old) and adolescents (12-18 years old). 16.4% of patients with allergic diseases were sensitized to cat dander, 10% and 6% to dog and horse dander. The sensitization rate of cat dander in patients with rhinitis, asthma, conjunctivitis, food allergy and atopic dermatitis was the highest (16.4%-21.6%), followed by dog dander (10.2%-15.2%). The prevalence of allergic rhinitis was the highest among different animal sensitized populations. The proportion of cat, dog and horse allergens sensitized at the same time is between 10%-15%, and the proportion of any two or more animal dander sensitized at the same time is about 45%. Animal allergens are associated with respiratory allergic diseases, especially allergic rhinitis with allergic conjunctivitis. There were significant differences in the distribution of positive rates of three animal allergens in different regions, and the highest positive rate of cat dander was found in all provinces of the country. Conclusion: The sensitization rate of animal dander allergens increased significantly, and the highest was in children and adolescents. Cat dander is the most common animal allergen, followed by dog. Different animals show obvious cross or common sensitization due to their high homology.
Allergens ; Animals ; Cats ; Cesarean Section ; Dander ; Dogs ; Female ; Horses ; Immunoglobulin E ; Male ; Pregnancy ; Rhinitis, Allergic