Bronchial asthma(hereinafter referred to as asthma)is a common chronic respiratory disease with significant gender differences.Epidemiologic surveys show that both the incidence and severity of asthma are significantly higher in adult females than in males.It is now believed that gender differences in asthma may be related to sex hormones,and the airway effects of estrogen and progesterone on asthma pathophysiology have been extensively studied.However,the mechanism of androgens in asthma is not clear.In recent years,some new studies have found that androgens and androgen receptors can exert anti-inflammatory effects in asthma through immune cells;moreover,they can also decrease airway hyperresponsiveness,relax airway smooth muscle,and improve lung function.This article reviews the progress of androgens and androgen receptors in asthma to deepen our understanding of the relationship between sex hormones and asthma,providing more options for future asthma treatment.

Asthma is essentially a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways,and the proposed"gut-lung axis"provides a new idea for exploring its pathogenesis and therapeutic targets.A number of studies have confirmed that gut microbiota dysbiosis may affect the immune-inflammatory response through metabolites,which were involved in the disease process of asthma.Fecal microbiota transplantation(FMT)is a method that can efficiently reconstruct the gut microbiota of patients.It has been used to treat gastrointestinal diseases,central nervous system diseases,inflammatory diseases,and so on.Standardized operational protocols have been established.The use of probiotics or prebiotics in treating and preventing asthma and applying FMT in mice models of asthma have pointed the way for new prevention and treatment strategies.This article reviews the relationship between gut microbiota and asthma,and the feasibility of FMT in treating and preventing asthma.

Objective:To identify and observe disease-causing gene variants and clinical phenotypes in a Han Chinese family with Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA).Methods:A retrospective study. A patient with LCA10 and his parents who had presented at Department of Ophthalmology of Henan Provincial People's Hospital on May 2022 were selected as the study subject. Detailed medical and family histories were recorded, fundus photography and flash electroretinogram (F-ERG) were performed. Peripheral venous blood samples (3 ml) of the proband and his parents were collected to extract whole genomic DNA, then whole exome sequencing (WES) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequencing were carried out for the proband to determine the disease-causing gene and variants. All variants were annotated by bioinformatics analysis. According to the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) guidelines, the pathogenicity of all detected variants were evaluated. Candidate variants were verified by Sanger sequencing, and in vitro minigene assay were performed to evaluate the impact of the missense variant with insufficient evidence on mRNA splicing.Results:The proband, male, 7-month-old, presented with an inability to follow light or objects, eye poking, photophobia, nystagmus, partial loss of retinal pigment epithelium around the fovea of the macula. At the age of 2 years old, F-ERG revealed severe reduction, elongation, or even no waveform of a-wave and b-wave in both eyes. No obvious abnormality was found in the clinical phenotype of his parents. The result of WES revealed that the proband carried two variants in exon 40 and exon 2 of CEP290, a frameshift variant c.5515_5518del (p.Glu1839Lysfs*11) (V1) and a novel missense variant c.74C>T (p.Ala25Val) (V2), respectively. The result of mitochondrial DNA sequencing was negative. Sanger sequencing confirmed that the heterozygous frameshift variant was inherited from his father and the heterozygous novel missense variant was inherited from his mother, which constituted compound heterozygous variants. In vitro minigene splicing assay confirmed that V2 created a new splicing donor at exon 2, leading to the in-frame deletion of 30bp fragment during transcription and loss of 10 amino acid residues in the protein. The two variants were pathogenic (V1) and likely pathogenic (V2) based on ACMG guidelines, respectively. Conclusions:The c.5515_5518del and novel c.74C>T compound heterozygous variants of the CEP290 gene probably are the cause of LCA10 in this family, which lead to the production of a truncated protein and aberrant splicing of pre-mRNA, respectively. LCA is characterized by early onset, severe impairment of visual function, and a wide range of disease-causing variations.

BACKGROUND: The onset and clinical presentation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are sex-related. Few studies have investigated the distinctions in clinical characteristics and treatment preferences in male and female SLE patients in the initial cohort. This study aimed to improve the understanding of Chinese SLE patients by characterizing the different sexes of SLE patients in the inception cohort. METHODS: Based on the initial patient cohort established by the Chinese SLE Treatment and Research Group, a total of 8713 patients (795 men and 7918 women) with newly diagnosed SLE were enrolled between April 2009 and March 2021. Of these, 2900 patients (347 men and 2553 women) were eligible for lupus nephritis (LN). A cross-sectional analysis of the baseline demographic characteristics, clinical manifestations, laboratory parameters, organ damage, initial treatment regimens, and renal pathology classification was performed according to sex. RESULTS: In the SLE group, as compared to female patients, male patients had a later age of onset (male vs. female: 37.0 ± 15.8 years vs. 35.1 ± 13.7 years, P  = 0.006) and a higher SLE International Collaborative Clinic/American College of Rheumatology damage index score (male vs. female: 0.47 ± 1.13 vs. 0.34 ± 0.81, P  = 0.015), LN (male vs. female: 43.6% vs. 32.2%, P < 0.001), fever (male vs. female: 18.0% vs. 14.6%, P  = 0.010), thrombocytopenia (male vs. female: 21.4% vs. 18.5%, P  = 0.050), serositis (male vs. female: 14.7% vs. 11.7%, P  = 0.013), renal damage (male vs. female: 11.1% vs. 7.4%, P < 0.001), and treatment with cyclophosphamide (CYC) (P < 0.001). The frequency of leukopenia (male vs. female: 20.5% vs. 25.4%, P  = 0.002) and arthritis (male vs. female: 22.0% vs. 29.9%, P < 0.001) was less in male patients with SLE. In LN, no differences were observed in disease duration, SLE Disease Activity Index score, renal biopsy pathological typing, or 24-h urine protein quantification among the sexes. In comparisons with female patients with LN, male patients had later onset ages (P  = 0.026), high serum creatinine (P < 0.001), higher end-stage renal failure rates (P  = 0.002), musculoskeletal damage (P  = 0.023), cardiovascular impairment (P  = 0.009), and CYC use (P  = 0.001); while leukopenia (P  = 0.017), arthritis (P  = 0.014), and mycophenolate usage (P  = 0.013) rates were lower. CONCLUSIONS Male SLE patients had more severe organ damage and a higher LN incidence compared with female SLE patients; therefore, they may require more aggressive initial treatment compared to female patients.
Humans ; Female ; Male ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Sex Characteristics ; East Asian People ; Severity of Illness Index ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic/diagnosis* ; Lupus Nephritis/pathology* ; Registries ; Cyclophosphamide/therapeutic use* ; Thrombocytopenia ; Leukopenia/drug therapy* ; Arthritis

Objective:To investigate the effect of SCN1A gene polymorphism (SCN1A-rs3812718) on the alterations of spontaneous brain activity using amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) of MR in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE).Methods:A total of 37 TLE patients (TLE group) admitted to the Epilepsy Center of the 900th Hospital of Joint Logistic Team from March 2018 to August 2019 were retrospectively analyzed, and another 28 healthy volunteers matched for gender, age, and years of education with the TLE group were selected as the healthy control group (HC group). Sixty-five subjects were divided into four groups by genotype and diagnosis: 34 cases in AA/AG-TLE subgroup, 3 cases in GG-TLE subgroup, 20 cases in AA/AG-HC subgroup and 8 cases in GG-HC subgroup. All subjects underwent sagittal 3D-T 1WI and resting-state functional MRI using a Siemens 3.0 T Trio Tim MR scanner. Then ALFF values of the four groups were calculated using DPABI by the MATLAB 2010 platform. The ALFF values between two groups were compared by independent samples t-test. The ALFF values of different genotypes at rs3812718 locus in TLE and HC group were analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance to find out the corresponding brain regions with interaction, and then post hoc simple effect analysis was performed. Results:The ALFF values in TLE group significantly increased in left marginal lobe, left parahippocampal gyrus, left fusiform gyrus, left hippocampus, right insular lobe and right inferior temporal gyrus (Alphasim corrected P<0.001) and decreased in the left superior frontal gyrus, left middle frontal gyrus, left inferior frontal gyrus, right middle frontal gyrus, right precuneus, left precuneus, bilateral cingulate gyrus and right angular gyrus (Alphasim correction P<0.05) compared with HC group. Subjects carrying the non-risk G allele had higher ALFF values in the right inferior temporal gyrus, right fusiform gyrus, and right cerebellum than subjects carrying the risk A allele ( t=3.30, Alphasim corrected P=0.002). There was a significant interaction effect on posterior cerebellar lobe, left anterior cerebellar lobe, left inferior temporal gyrus, left superior parietal lobule and right precuneus of TLE patients with SCN1A-rs3812718 genotype. Post-hoc simple effect analysis showed that ALFF significantly increased in the left posterior cerebellar lobe, left anterior cerebellar lobe, left inferior temporal gyrus and left fusiform gyrus in GG-TLE subgroup ( t=5.97, P<0.001), but significantly decreased in the right superior parietal lobule, right precuneus, right posterior cerebellar lobe in AA/AG-TLE subgroup compared to the HC group. Compared with GG-TLE subgroup, ALFF in left posterior cerebellar lobe, left fusiform gyrus and left inferior temporal gyrus decreased in AA/AG-TLE subgroup. Conclusion:SCN1A gene polymorphism in the rs3812718 locus affects spontaneous neural activity in resting state, which may be one of the pathophysiological mechanisms of TLE.

Objective:To investigate the infection status of Kaeng Khoi virus (KKV) in bat flies in Yunnan province.Methods:Specimens of the ectoparasitic bat flies on bats in Baoshan city in 2014 and Ruili city in 2017 were collected and identified, virus isolation was performed by cell culture. The positive isolates were amplified and sequenced to obtain the complete genome sequences, and homology comparison and phylogenetic analysis were carried out.Results:Three positive isolates (WDBC1704, WDBC1710 and BSBC1406) were identified from bat flies in Ruili city and Baoshan city. The supernatant was inoculated into BHK-21 cells for virus isolation, all of which could cause cytopathic effects (CPE) included shrinking, rounding and falling off of BHK-21 cells. The complete genome sequences of the three positive isolates were produced by RT-PCR and high-throughput sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the S, M, and L genes of all three positive isolates were in the same evolutionary branch as the original KKV strain PSC-19 isolated in Thailand. In this study, three KKV strains isolated were most closely related to the previous isolate WDBC1403 from Yunnan province, of which the BSBC1406 strain formed a small independent branch. The sequence comparison showed that there were significant differences in the M gene among the three isolates. The similarity between BSBC1406 and the other two strains (WDBC1704 and WDBC1710) was only 78.0%-78.1%, the amino acid similarity of the Gc protein in the open reading frame region was 85.3%.Conclusions:Three KKV strains from bat flies were quite different from the prototype strain, especially the BSBC1406 strain was somewhat different from other isolates and may have undergone variation. Surveillance of KKV carried by vector insects in Yunnan province and its relationship with human diseases should be strengthened.

Objective: The occurrence of intramyocardial hemorrhage (IMH) and microvascular obstruction (MVO) in myocardial infarction (MI), known as severe ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI), has been associated with adverse remodeling. APT102, a soluble human recombinant ecto-nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-1, can hydrolyze extracellular nucleotides to attenuate their prothrombotic and proinflammatory effects. The purpose of this study was to temporally evaluate the therapeutic effect of APT102 on IRI in rats and to elucidate the evolution of IRI in the acute stage using cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI). Materials and Methods: Fifty-four rats with MI, induced by ligation of the origin of the left anterior descending coronary artery for 60 minutes, were randomly divided into the APT102 (n = 27) or control (n = 27) group. Intravenous infusion of APT102 (0.3 mg/kg) or placebo was administered 15 minutes before reperfusion, and then 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, and on day 4 after reperfusion. CMRI was performed at 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, and on day 5 post-reperfusion using a 7T system and the hearts were collected for histopathological examination. Cardiac function was quantified using cine imaging and IMH/edema using T2 mapping, and infarct/MVO using late gadolinium enhancement. Results: The extent of infarction (p < 0.001), edema (p < 0.001), IMH (p = 0.013), and MVO (p = 0.049) was less severe in the APT102 group than in the control group. IMH size at 48 hours was significantly greater than that at 24 hours, 72 hours, and 5 days after reperfusion (all p < 0.001). The left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was significantly greater in the APT102 group than in the control group (p = 0.006). There was a negative correlation between LVEF and IMH (r = -0.294, p = 0.010) and a positive correlation between IMH and MVO (r = 0.392, p < 0.001). Conclusion APT102 can significantly alleviate damage to the ischemic myocardium and microvasculature. IMH size peaked at 48 hours post reperfusion and IMH is a downstream consequence of MVO. IMH may be a potential therapeutic target to prevent adverse remodeling in MI.

Objective To study the needs, demands and utilization levels of health services for residents in Shenzhen, and to provide a basis for the rational allocation of health resources and formulation of relevant policies. Methods Using stratified random sampling, 6 072 residents from 2 365 households in 7 districts of Shenzhen were selected. The residents’ health status, health service demand and utilization were investigated by a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire survey response rate was 98.5%, and there was no significant difference between the sample and the population in age distribution (χ²=5.60，P=0.47). Results The average score of self-health assessment was 84.9. The prevalence rate of chronic diseases was 21.1%. The two-week disease prevalence rate was 21.5%, and the doctor visit rate of the two-week disease was 19.5%. The hospitalization rate was 7.2% in the past year. The average outpatient cost was 500 yuan, and the average cost of hospitalization was 10 567 yuan. The average length of hospital stay was 7.3 days. A total of 652 (55%) patients had their first outpatient visit at the community health service centers, and 82.2% of the families were within 1 kilometer from the nearest medical institutions. Conclusion Compared with that of the national population, the overall health service needs of Shenzhen residents were relatively low, but there is a problem that the hospitalization demand has not been effectively released. The prevention and treatment of chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension should not be ignored, and the construction of the public health system needs to be strengthened. The "health gatekeeper" system has initially taken shape, but the residents' sense of acquisition needs to be further improved.

OBJECTIVE: A failed electrocardiography (ECG)-trigger often leads to a long acquisition time (TA) and deterioration in image quality. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and optimize the technique of self-gated (SG) cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) for cardiac late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) imaging of rats with myocardial infarction/reperfusion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance images of 10 rats were obtained using SG-LGE or ECG with respiration double-gating (ECG-RESP-gating) method at 7T to compare differences in image interference and TA between the two methods. A variety of flip angles (FA: 10°–80°) and the number of repetitions (NR: 40, 80, 150, and 300) were investigated to determine optimal scan parameters of SG-LGE technique based on image quality score and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR). RESULTS: Self-gated late gadolinium enhancement allowed successful scan in 10 (100%) rats. However, only 4 (40%) rats were successfully scanned with the ECG-RESP-gating method. TAs with SG-LGE varied depending on NR used (TA: 41, 82, 154, and 307 seconds, corresponding to NR of 40, 80, 150, and 300, respectively). For the ECG-RESP-gating method, the average TA was 220 seconds. For SG-LGE images, CNR (42.5 ± 5.5, 43.5 ± 7.5, 54 ± 9, 59.5 ± 8.5, 56 ± 13, 54 ± 8, and 41 ± 9) and image quality score (1.85 ± 0.75, 2.20 ± 0.83, 2.85 ± 0.37, 3.85 ± 0.52, 2.8 ± 0.51, 2.45 ± 0.76, and 1.95 ± 0.60) were achieved with different FAs (10°, 15°, 20°, 25°, 30°, 35°, and 40°, respectively). Optimal FAs of 20°–30° and NR of 80 were recommended. CONCLUSION: Self-gated technique can improve image quality of LGE without irregular ECG or respiration gating. Therefore, SG-LGE can be used an alternative method of ECG-RESP-gating.
Animals ; Electrocardiography ; Gadolinium* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Methods ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Rats* ; Respiration

OBJECTIVE: Whether blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption induced by chronic spontaneous hypertension is associated with beta-amyloid (Aβ) accumulation in the brain remains poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between BBB disruption and Aβ influx and accumulation in the brain of aged rats with chronic spontaneous hypertension. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five aged spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) and five age-matched normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats were studied. The volume transfer constant (Ktrans) obtained from dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) was used to evaluate BBB permeability in the hippocampus and cortex in vivo. The BBB tight junctions, immunoglobulin G (IgG), Aβ, and amyloid precursor protein (APP) in the hippocampus and cortex were examined with immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: As compared with WKY rats, the Ktrans values in the hippocampus and cortex of the SHRs increased remarkably (0.316 ± 0.027 min−1 vs. 0.084 ± 0.017 min−1, p < 0.001 for hippocampus; 0.302 ± 0.072 min−1 vs. 0.052 ± 0.047 min−1, p < 0.001 for cortex). Dramatic occludin and zonula occludens-1 losses were detected in the hippocampus and cortex of SHRs, and obvious IgG exudation was found there. Dramatic Aβ accumulation was found and limited to the area surrounding the BBB, without extension to other parenchyma regions in the hippocampus and cortex of aged SHRs. Alternatively, differences in APP expression in the hippocampus and cortex were not significant. CONCLUSION: Blood-brain barrier disruption is associated with Aβ influx and accumulation in the brain of aged rats with chronic spontaneous hypertension. DCE-MRI can be used as an effective method to investigated BBB damage.
Alzheimer Disease ; Amyloid ; Animals ; Blood-Brain Barrier* ; Brain* ; Hippocampus ; Hypertension* ; Immunoglobulin G ; Immunohistochemistry ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Methods ; Occludin ; Permeability ; Rats* ; Rats, Inbred SHR ; Rats, Inbred WKY ; Tight Junctions