OBJECTIVE To investigate the neuroprotective effect and mechanism of eleutheroside B （ELB） on Parkinson’s disease （PD） model mice by regulating the IκB kinase β （IKKβ）/nuclear factor-κB （NF-κB） signaling pathway. METHODS Fifty mice were randomly divided into normal control group， model group， positive control group （selegiline hydrochloride， 10 mg/kg）， and ELB low-dose and high-dose groups （80， 160 mg/kg）， with 10 mice in each group. Each group was given relevant medicine or normal saline intragastrically for 14 consecutive days. Starting from the 10th day of administration， the model group and all administration groups were intraperitoneally injected with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1，2，3，6-tetrahydropyridine （MPTP） 30 mg/kg， for five consecutive days to establish the chronic PD model. After the last administration for 24 h， six mice were randomly selected from each group to test their behavioral abilities； detect the levels of interleukin-1β （IL-1β）， IL-10， tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α） in brain tissue and their mRNA expressions were measured， and positive expression of tyrosine hydroxylase （TH）， protein expressions of TH， α -synuclein （ α -syn）， ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1 （Iba-1）， as well as phosphorylation levels of IKKβ and NF-κB p65 proteins in the brain tissue were detected. The ultrastructure of neurons in substantia nigra was observed. RESULTS Compared with the model group， rotarod endurance time and climbing score of each administration group （except for the ELB low-dose group） were increased significantly （ P ＜0.05）， while the levels and mRNA expressions of IL-1β， TNF-α， α -syn， and Iba-1， as well as phosphorylation levels of IKKβ and NF-κB p65 proteins in brain tissue were decreased significantly （except for TNF-α in the ELB low-dose group）. Conversely， the level and mRNA expression of IL-10 （except for the ELB low-dose group）， TH positive expression and protein expressions were significantly increased （ P ＜0.05）. Typical neurodegenerative pathological changes， such as neuronal karyopyknosis， mitochondrial swelling and vacuolization， and endoplasmic reticulum dilation， all showed varying degrees of improvement. CONCLUSIONS ELB may exert neuroprotective effects by inhibiting the activation of the IKKβ/NF-κB signaling pathway， alleviating inflammatory responses， reducing abnormal α -syn aggregation and neuronal loss， and further improving motor dysfunction in PD mice.

Disruption of normal secretion or mucociliary clearance can impair airway defense mechanisms and lung function, and increase the risk of infection. Airway clearance techniques are recommended as part of a comprehensive treatment plan for patients. Among these, vibratory expectoration is an important method of airway clearance, which loosens and liquefies mucus and metabolites on the surface of the respiratory tract through chest wall oscillation, promoting ciliary movement to facilitate sputum expulsion. However, commonly used handheld vibrating head devices and vest-type vibration expectorators have several limitations in clinical practice, such as inconvenience of operation, limited treatment time, poor adaptability, and difficulty in disinfection. To address these issues, the research team from the department of critical care medicine at Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, has designed a novel belt-type vibration expectorator, which has been granted a national utility model patent (Patent No.: ZL 2023 2 1610983.1). The device is mainly composed of a chest strap assembly, a sputum clearance component, and a fixed shoulder strap component. Several pockets are placed on the outer surface of the chest strap, with corresponding inner-side openings that allow the percussion head of the percussive expectorator placed inside the pocket to make contact with the patient's chest wall. Each pocket has markings indicating the percussion position, enabling the placement of the percussive expectorator according to the location of infection, thereby achieving multi-point, precise percussive vibration expectoration in different body positions. On the inner side of the chest strap, there are diagrams illustrating postural drainage, providing guidance on the body positions patients should assume based on the location of infection. The hook-and-loop fasteners on both sides of the chest strap can be wrapped around and secured according to the patient's body shape, ensuring that the sputum clearance components adhere tightly to the chest wall, allowing the vibrations generated by percussion to be effectively transmitted to the patient's airways. Additionally, to prevent the chest strap from slipping due to changes in the patient's position, a Y-shaped fixing strap can be selectively attached to the chest strap for further stabilization. This innovation not only simplifies the operation process, improves convenience and flexibility of use, but also supports the principle of "disinfection after each use by one person," which helps to reduce the risk of nosocomial infections and improve the efficiency of patients' respiratory rehabilitation.
Humans ; Vibration ; Equipment Design ; Chest Wall Oscillation/instrumentation* ; Sputum ; Expectorants ; Mucociliary Clearance

OBJECTIVE To study the effects of the active component 17-hydroxy-jolkinolide B （HJB） of Euphorbia fischeriana on the proliferation and apoptosis of human triple-negative breast cancers （TNBC） MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 cells. METHODS MTT assay was adopted to detect the inhibitory rate of MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 cells proliferation after treated with 0 （blank control），5，10，20，40，80 μmol/L HJB for 24， 48 and 72 h. Laser confocal microscope and flow cytometry were adopted to detect the apoptosis， mitochondrial membrane potential（MMP） and reactive oxygen species （ROS） of above 2 kinds of cells after treated with 0 （blank control）， 10，20，40 μmol/L HJB for 24 h. Western blot assay was used to detect the expressions of B cell lymphoma-2（ Bcl-2）， Bcl-2-associated X protein （Bax）， cytochrome-C （Cyt-C）， caspase-3， cleaved caspase- 3， caspase-9 and cleaved caspase-9. RESULTS Compared with blank control group， 5，10，20，40，80 μmol/L HJB could significantly increase the inhibitory rate of MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 cells proliferation （P＜0.05）， in dose- and time- dependent trend. After 24 h treatment of HJB （10，20，40 μmol/L）， the apoptosis of above 2 kinds of cells increased， and the total apoptotic rate increased significantly （P＜0.05）； the mitochondrial membrane potential decreased significantly （P＜0.05）； the level of ROS increased significantly （P＜0.05）； the protein expressions of Bcl-2， caspase-3 and caspase-9 were decreased significantly （P＜ 0.05）， while the protein expressions of Cyt-C， Bax， cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved caspase-9 were increased significantly （P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS HJB can inhibit the proliferation of MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 cells， and induce their apoptosis.

Objective:To summarize the characteristics of genetic variation and prenatal diagnosis in pedigrees with X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD) and elucidate the value of prenatal diagnosis in preventing the birth of children with X-ALD.Methods:Twenty pedigrees, clinically diagnosed with X-ALD in Peking University First Hospital from November 2012 and March 2019, were included in this retrospective study. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood and amniotic fluid or chorionic villi samples of probands and their families for detecting variants in ATP-binding cassette subfamily D member 1 ( ABCD1) gene using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-Sanger sequencing. Linkage analysis was also performed on five microsatellite markers near ABCD1 gene to exclude maternal contamination. Characteristics of ABCD1 gene variants and prenatal diagnosis of X-ALD pedigrees were summarized by descriptive statistics. Results:Twenty ABCD1 gene variants were identified in the 20 pedigrees. The variants in three probands that were not detected by next-generation sequencing were identified by PCR-Sanger sequencing. Among the mothers of the 20 probands, 17 carried ABCD1 variants and three did not. We performed 24 prenatal diagnoses on 20 pregnancies (24 fetuses) and identified eight fetuses with variants who were finally terminated. The 16 cases without variants were born alive. The validation results obtained after termination or delivery were consistent with those performed prenatally. Conclusions:No hotspot variants in ABCD1 gene are detected in these X-ALD patients and most variants are maternally inherited. PCR-Sanger sequencing is an effective method for detecting ABCD1 variants. Prenatal diagnosis for mothers who had a body with X-ALD could prevent another one from birth.

Objective:To observe the effects of effective parts of Acanthopanax senticosus on the expression of LRRK 2 in injured PC12 cells induced by MPP+ to explore the mechanism of neuroprotection of the effective parts of Acanthopanax senticosus.Methods:The PC12 cell model of Parkinson's disease (PD) was constructed by MPP+,and intervened by the effective parts of Acanthopanax senticosus.The cell survival rate was detected by MTT,the mRNA expression level of LRRK 2 was studied by PCR,and the protein expression of LRRK 2 was determined by immunohistochemistry and Western Blot.Results:Compared with that of the model group,the survival rate of the drug group increased with significant difference (P<0.01).Compared with those in the model group,the LRRK 2 gene and protein expression all decreased with significant differences (P<0.01).Conclusion:The effective parts of Acanthopanax senticosus show protective effects on the PC12 cell model of PD,and one of the mechanisms may be related with the decreased expression level of LRRK2 caused by the effective parts of Acanthopanax senticosus.

Objective To explore the advantages and characteristics of pathology experimental teaching based on WeChat public platform. Method Through the establishment ofhomogeneous pathol-ogy experiment platform—WeChat public platform, the students of clinical medicine major of Class 1 and 2 of Grade 2014 who participated in the pathological experiment course were divided into two groups. The experimental group (65 people) used the auxiliary teaching based on the WeChat public platform, and the control group (65 people) used the traditional teaching method. The students in the experimental group used the WeChat public platform in combination with pathology experimental teaching, pushing the experimental teaching by WeChat public platform, including the change of specimen and eye diseases under the micro-scope of typical pictures and videos, and at the same time pushing the typical disease image and the related text introduction, and auxiliary pathology experimental teaching. The effect of teaching was evaluated by student experimental examination and electronic questionnaire. The data were collated after the entry of SPSS 19.0, and the data comparison was performed by t test. Result The average score of the experimental group (14.80±0.24) was significantly higher than that of the traditional teaching group (13.79±0.33), and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.031). The experimental group students' evaluation on the learning of WeChat based public platform was higher than the control group's evaluation on traditional teaching in the aspects of learning interest, reducing learning pressure and feedback. Conclusion The application of WeChat public platform for the teaching of pathological experiments is feasible compared with the traditional teaching model and can improve the teaching effect effectively, and solve the problems of the pathology experiment teaching sample being insufficient or the teaching sample being not typical, which creates conditions for students to study independently and use specimens and pictures.

OBJECTIVE To explore the expression of Maspin in invasive fungal rhinosinusitis (IFRS) and the value of Maspin in the diagnosis of IFRS. METHODS Forty two cases of fungal rhinosinusitis (FRS) were set as the experimental group, which included 12 cases of IFRS and 30 cases of noninvasive fungal rhino-sinusitis (NIFRS). At the same time, 30 cases of chronic rhino-sinusitis were set as control group. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to detect the expression of Maspin. RESULTS Compared with the control group, the expression of Maspin in FRS group decreased statistically (t=-3.367, P<0.05). The IFRS group, compared with other two groups, had the lowest expression of Maspin (t=-3.390, P<0.05; t=-4.143, P<0.05). By using Maspin score of 5.70 as the cut-off point, the sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of IFRS was 91.7% and 88.3% respectively. CONCLUSION The expression of Maspin is very low in IFRS group. Down-regulation of Maspin expression may be a potential indicator for diagnosis of IFRS.

Objective To explore the immune property and possible mechanism of the CD71+ CD235a+ nucleated erythroid cells from peripheral blood in elderly,as compared with those of healthy young.Methods Peripheral blood obtained by venipuncture from healthy young(n=59,mean age=28 years) and elderly(n=78,mean age=68 years)donors were measured by flow cytometry to evaluate the frequency of the CD71+ CD235a+ cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC).In vitro assays,CD71+ CD235a+ cells were sorted by flow cytometry and T cells were sorted using CD4+T cell isolation kit,then the T cell proliferation assays were conducted by following groups:T cell + CFSE group;T cell +CFSE co-cultured with CD71+ CD235a+ cells from the young donors;T cell + CFSE co-cultured with CD71+ CD235a+ cells from the older donors.Real-time PCR were used to identify the expression of the immune cytokine secreted by CD71+ CD235a+ cells.Results (1)the results showed a significant increase in the percentage of CD71+ CD235a+ cells in the elderly compared with the young [(9.93± 2.95)％ vs (1.96 ± 1.16)％,t =3.37,P ＜ 0.001];(2)the CD71+ CD235a+ cells from the older donors could suppress the proliferation of the T cells (t =2.91,P＜ 0.05)while from the young group we could not observe this phenomenon(t =0.387,P＞0.05).(3)The results of Real-time PCR revealed that,compared with CD71+ CD235a+ cells from the young,CD71+ CD235a+ cells from the elderly expressed higher levels of Arg-2 (t =9.04,P＜0.01),IL-1β,IL-6 and TGF-β(t =4.51,5.46,6.92,all P＜0.05).Conclusions There are higher frequencies of CD71+ CD235a+ cells in aged samples than the young.And the CD71+CD235a cells from the elderly could secrete more Arg-2,IL-1β,IL-6 and TGF-β to suppress the T cell proliferation.

Objective To investigate the level of subpopulations of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in elderly tumor-bearing mice versus elderly tumor-free mice,and to study the difference in immune suppressive functions between different subpopulations and their mechanisms.Methods A total of 20 healthy C57BL/6 elderly mice(aged 18-20 months) were randomly chosen to establish Lewis lung cancer models.The amount of monocytic-MDSCs (MO-MDSCs) and polymorphonuclear granulocytic-MDSCs(PMN-MDSCs) in tumor-free and tumor-bearing elderly mice was evaluated by using flow cytometry.MO-MDSCs and PMN-MDSCs were separated with Magnetic-Activated Cell Sorting (MACS) MicroBeads and their morphological characteristics were observed after May-Grunwald-Giemsa staining.The effects of MO-MDSCs and PMN-MDSCs on the proliferation of T cells were determined by Brdu-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).And the immune suppressive mediators secreted by the subpopulations were detected by Real-time polymerase chain reaction(PCR).Results Compared to the tumor-free group,the proportion of MO-MDSCs in the spleen of tumorbearing group were increased [(12.44± 1.20) ％ vs.(38.42±3.66) ％,t=5.67,P＜0.001],while PMN-MDSCs were not [(10.34±0.68) ％ vs.(12.18±1.27) ％,t=2.21,P=0.09].The result of Brdu-ELISA showed that MO-MDSCs could suppress the proliferation of T cells [(0.30 ± 0.18) vs.(3.38±0.96),t=8.33,P＜0.001],while PMN MDSCs could not [(2.69±0.45)vs.(3.38±0.96),t =1.72,P=0.11].The result of PCR showed that as compared with PMN-MDSCs,Mo-MDSCs had the increased expression levels of arginase-1 (ARG-1),inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS),interleukin-10 (IL-10),interferon-γ(IFN-γ) (t =4.31,8.89,1.70,3.13,respectively,P ＜ 0.01 or 0.05),while the expression levels of interleukin-13 (IL-13),transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β) had no differences (t=4.94 and 2.75,P =0.39 and0.47).Conclusions MO-MDSCs are significantly increased in elderly Lewis lung cancer mice models.MO-MDSCs could mediate lung tumor evasion by suppressing the proliferation of T cells through highly expressing ARG-1,iNOS,IL-10 and IFN-γ.

Objective To study characteristics and immune mechanisms of CD11b+ GR-1-myeloid-derived suppressor cells (CD11b+ GR 1+ MDSCs) in elderly mice,as compared with those of healthy young mice.Methods Totally 20 healthy C57BL/6 young mice (aged 1-2 months) and 20 elderly mice (aged over 18 months) were randomly chosen and splenetic CD11b+ GR-1+ MDSCs were sorted with the MDSCs Isolation Kit.In vitro assays,the effects of young and elderly CD1 1b+ GR 1+ MDSCs on the proliferation of T cells were determined by Brdu Elisa.Transwell co-culture and real-timePCR were used to identify the mechanisms of different immune suppressive functions of CD11b+GR 1+ MDSCs sorted from young mice and elderly mice.Results Compared with young MDSCs,elderly MDSCs could evidently suppress the proliferation of T cells (t=8.67,P＜0.001),and this function could be reversed by trans-well co-culture (t=6.93,P＜0.001).The results of realtime PCR revealed that,compared with young MDSCs,elderly MDSCs expressed higher levels of arginase-1 (ARG-1),inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS),reactive oxygen species (ROS),interleukin 10 (IL-10),IL13 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β (t=9.04,4.86,7.04,6.92,4.51,5.46,respectively,P＜0.05 or P＜0.01).Conclusions CD11b+GR-1+MDSCs sorted from healthy elderly mice can evidently suppress the proliferation of T cells through cell-cell contact and secretion of suppressive medium.