ObjectiveTo construct lentiviral vectors that interferes with the expression of sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 1(S1 PR1) and stably transfect the lentiviral vectors into THP-1 cells, in order to study the effect of S1 PR1 on macrophage function and the mechanism of S1 PR1 in tumor development at the cellular level.MethodsAccording to the sequence of S1 PR1 gene(1901) registered in NCBI database, three pairs of primers were designed for the shRNA sequence of this gene. The target gene was amplified by PCR, inserted into vector pLKO.1-puro, and the corresponding lentiviral plasmids were constructed,which were identified by enzymatic digestion electrophoresis and sequencing. The correct lentiviral vector plasmids were named pLKO.1-S1 PR1-shRNA1, pLKO.1-S1 PR1-shRNA2, and pLKO.1-S1 PR1-shRNA3, and the vector pLKO.1-puro containing stuffer sequence was used as control(named pLKO.1-S1 PR1-shNC). The lentiviral vector plasmids and lentivirus packaging plasmids were co-transfected into 293T cells for virus packaging, and the titer of virus solution was determined after concentration. The screening concentration of puromycin(0, 0. 5, 1. 0, 1. 5, 2. 0, 2. 5 μg/mL), culture time(0, 24, 48, 72 h)and MOI(10, 20, 30, 40, 50) of THP-1 cells were determined. THP-1 cells were infected with the lentivirus under the optimum conditions and screened by puromycin. The relative mRNA and protein expression of S1 PR1 in THP-1 cells of each group were detected by RT-qPCR and Western blot respectively.ResultsEnzymatic digestion electrophoresis identification and sequencing indicated that pLKO.1-S1 PR1-shRNA1, pLKO.1-S1 PR1-shRNA2, and pLKO.1-S1 PR1-shRNA3 lentiviral vectors were correctly constructed. The lentivirus titers of shNC, shRNA1, shRNA2 and shRNA3 groups were 9. 5 × 10~9, 4. 25 × 10~9,2 × 10~9 and 4. 4 × 10~9 TU/mL, respectively. THP-1 cells were infected with the lentivirus at the optimum MOI of 50 for 72 h.After screening with 1. 5 μg/mL puromycin, the relative expression levels of S1 PR1 mRNA in shRNA1, shRNA2 and shRNA3 groups were significantly lower than that in shNC group(F = 44. 916, P < 0. 001); the relative expression level of S1 PR1 protein in shRNA1 group decreased with no significant difference(t = 1. 921, P > 0. 05), while the relative expression levels of S1 PR1 protein in shRNA2 and shRNA3 groups decreased significantly(t = 8. 730 and 6. 957, respectively, each P < 0. 05).ConclusionThe lentiviral vectors interfering with S1 PR1 expression and THP-1 cell lines stably expressing the vectors were successfully constructed, which can be used for further related research.

Objective:To construct the sphingosine kinase 1(SPHK1)overexpression lentiviral vector,and to establish the SKOV3 lentiviral stable transfection cell line.Methods:According to the SPHK1 data information provided by the National Center for Biotechnology Information(NCBI)database,the primers were designed and synthesized,the target gene was amplified,and connected to the GV492 plasmid treated with Bam HⅠ and AgeⅠ restriction enzymes to construct the SPHK1 overexpression lentiviral vector;the positive clones were selected for PCR and sequencing identification;the lentiviral plasmid and the lentiviral packaging auxiliary plasmid were co-transfected into the HEK-293T cells for packaging and titer determination;according to the measured optimal multiplicity of infection(MOI)of 10,the corresponding lentiviral amounts in various groups were transfected into the SKOV3 cells,and the SKOV3 cells were divided into blank group(without treatment),GV492 control group(GV492 control lentivirus infected SKOV3 cells),and GV492-SPHK1 overexpression group(GV492-SPHK1 overexpression lentivirus infected SKOV3 cells,ov-SPHK1 group);the optimal concentration of 2 mg·L-1 puromycin was used to screen the stably transfected SKOV3 cell line;after 48 h,the medium was changed and replaced with 1 mg·L-1 puromycin for screening for 14 d;the morphology and fluorescence expression of the cells were observed under fluorescence microscope;real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR(RT-qPCR)method was used to detect the expression levels of SPHK1 mRNA in the SKOV3 cells in various groups;Western blotting method was used to detect the expression level of SPHK1 protein in the SKOV3 cells in various groups.Results:The PCR sequencing results showed that the gene sequence of the SPHK1 overexpression lentiviral vector was completely consistent with the target sequence,and the SPHK1 overexpression lentiviral vector was successfully constructed;the titer determination results showed that the lentiviral titers in GV492 control group and ov-SPHK1 group were 5×1011 and 8×1011 TU·L?1,respectively;the SKOV3 cells in GV492 control group and ov-SPHK1 group were in good state and showed strong fluorescence expression,suggesting that the SKOV3 stable transfection cell line overexpressing SPHK1 was successfully established;the RT-qPCR results showed that compared with blank group and GV492 control group,the expression level of SPHK1 mRNA in the SKOV3 cells in ov-SPHK1 group was significantly increased(P<0.01);the Western blotting results showed that compared with blank group and GV492 control group,the expression level of SPHK1 protein in the SKOV3 cells in ov-SPHK1 group was significantly increased(P<0.01).Conclusion:The SPHK1 overexpression lentiviral vector is successfully constructed,and the SKOV3 stable transfection cell line is established.

Objective To construct and validate a prediction model for urosepsis in patients after upper urinary tract stone surgery using various machine learning algorithms.Methods A total of 7 464 upper urinary tract stone patients who underwent surgery at the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University from Jun.2018 to Jun.2023 were enrolled and randomly assigned to training(5 224 cases)or validation sets(2 240 cases)at a ratio of 7∶3.Among them,622(8.33%)cases developed urosepsis postoperatively.Six machine learning algorithms,including extreme gradient boosting(XGBoost),logistic regression,light gradient boosting machine(LightGBM),random forest(RF),adaptive boosting(AdaBoost),and gradient boosting decision tree(GBDT),were used to construct prediction models for postoperative urosepsis.The model's predictive ability and clinical benefits were evaluated using receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves,Shapley additive explanation(SHAP)analysis,calibration curves,and decision curve analysis(DCA).Results The clinical features included body mass index(BMI),number of surgeries,heart rate,Barthel index,venous thrombo embolism(VTE)risk assessment,gender,American Society of Anesthesiologists(ASA)grade,urinary nitrite,and urinary leukocyte in the models.In the training set,the XGBoost,LightGBM,and RF models performed excellently,with area under curve(AUC)values of ROC curves reaching 1.00.In the validation set,the logistic regression model performed the best,with an AUC value of ROC curve of 0.76,showing good predictive stability and calibration.The AdaBoost and GBDT models followed with AUC values of 0.74 and 0.75,respectively,while the AUC values of the LightGBM,XGBoost,and RF models were 0.71,0.70,and 0.68.In terms of model interpretability,SHAP analysis showed the contribution of variables in a descending order as:heart rate,urinary leukocytes,gender,BMI,Barthel index,VTE risk assessment,urinary nitrite,number of surgeries,and ASA grade.Conclusion A logistic regression model for early risk prediction of postoperative urosepsis in upper urinary tract stone patients has been successfully constructed.This model has good predictive performance and calibration,and can effectively assist clinical diagnosis.

Objective:To analyze the clinical features of MDA5 antibody positive dermatomyositis (MDA5-DM) and to provide evidence for early diagnosis and treatment.Methods:From March 2019 to June 2021, 272 patients with anti-MDA5-DM from the Nanjing Medical University myositis-associated interstitial lung disease cohort were enrolled, with 76 patients with anti-synthetase syndrome (ASS) as the control group. The clinical characteristics and the occurrence of interstitial lung disease were analyzed. T-test was used for normally distributed and variance-homogeneous independent samples, Mann-Whitney U test for non-normally distributed data, and chi-square test or Fisher′s exact test for dichotomous variables. Results:Among the 272 anti-MDA5-DM patients, 88.6% (241/272) developed interstitial lung disease (ILD), and 33.8% (92/272) developed rapidly progressive ILD (RP-ILD). The six-month all-cause mortality rate of anti-MDA5-DM patients was 16.9% (46/272), and it was as high as 47.8% (44/92) for those with RP-ILD. Compared with ASS patients, anti-MDA5-DM patients had a significantly higher proportion of males, arthritis, Gottron's sign, heliotrope rash, V-sign, periungual erythema, and skin ulcers ( P<0.05). The levels of ALT, AST, and ferritin were significantly increased ( P<0.05). Compared with non-RP-ILD patients, RP-ILD patients had a significantly higher proportion of males [35.9%(33/92) vs. 23.3%(42/180), χ2=4.79, P=0.029], higher levels of LDH [387 (276, 547) U/L vs. 310 (245, 400) U/L, Z=-3.67, P<0.001], ESR [45.5 (29.25, 63.25) mm/1 h vs. 31.2 (20, 51) mm/1 h, Z=-3.71, P<0.001], CRP [10.9 (4.1, 25.2) mg/L vs. 4.54 (2.58, 9.08) mg/L, Z=-4.97, P<0.001], ferritin [1 340 (650, 2 000) ng/ml vs. 556 (203, 1 186) ng/ml, Z=-4.40, P<0.001], and a higher proportion of anti-Ro52 antibody and anti-MDA5 antibody co-positivity [87.0%(80/92) vs. 52.2%(94/180), χ2=31.87, P<0.001]. Conclusion:Anti-MDA5-DM patients are prone to develop RP-ILD and have poor prognosis.

Objective To search for new biomarkers to predict prognosis in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients.Methods A prognostic model was developed for colorectal cancer with immune-related genes from the cancer ge-nome atlas (TCGA) database using one-way Cox regression analysis and least absolute shrinkage and selection op-erator (LASSO) regression analysis.Moreover, the immune infiltration characteristics of patients in high and low risk groups was compared by sstimation of stromal and immune cells in malignant tumor tissues using expression da-ta (ESTIMATE) and cell-type identification by estimating relative subsets of RNA transcripts (CIBERSORT) .In addition, the expression levels of immune checkpoints were analyzed in patients from different risk groups.The sen-sitivity of patients in the two risk groups to chemotherapeutic agents was also compared based on genomics of drug sensitivity in cancer (GDSC).Results It was found that the prognostic model constructed based on immune genes could better predict the overall survival (OS) of CRC patients,and the results showed area under curve (AUC) values of 0.764 (95％ CI:0.751-0.793), 0.773 (95％ CI:0.761 -0.779), and 0.760 (95％ CI:0.742 -0.774) for 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS, respectively.Patients in the low-risk group had higher expression levels of im-mune checkpoints and more abundant immune cells such as T cells (P<0.001) , dendritic cells (P<0.001) , macrophages (P<0.001) , neutrophils (P<0.001) .Patients in the high-risk group might be more sensitive to some chemotherapeutic agents such as axitinib, imatinib, methotrexate, pazopanib, rapamycin, sunitinib and tasig-arnib.Conclusion A prognostic model based on 19 immune genes was effective in predicting the prognosis of CRC patients.The number and activity of immune cells in the immune microenvironment in different patients may be an important factor influencing their response to immunocheck inhibitors and chemotherapeutic agents.

Objective:To investigate the role of dendritic cells (DC) in Chlamydia muridarum ( Cm) respiratory infection and their effect on adaptive immune response. Methods:C57BL/6 mice were exposed to 1×10 3 inclusion-forming units (IFU) of Cm through inhalation to establish the mouse model of Cm respiratory infection. The proportion of CD11c + MHCⅡ + DC and the expression of costimulatory molecules (CD40, CD80 and CD86) in spleen tissues were detected by flow cytometry on 0, 3 and 7 d after infection. The expression of IL-12p40, IL-10 and IL-6 at mRNA level in spleen tissues was detected by qPCR. Mouse splenic DC isolated on 7 d after Cm infection were sorted by magnetic beads and then transferred to recipient mice. Th1 response in the recipient mice was measured using intracellular cytokine staining 14 d after infection. Results:Cm respiratory infection induced massive infiltration of DC and promoted the expression of costimulatory molecules on splenic DC. The expression of IL-12 and IL-10 at mRNA level in splenic DC reached the peak on 3 d after infection. Transferring the splenic DC of Cm-infected mice into the recipient mice could alleviate the disease condition in the recipient mice after Cm infection with reduced Cm inclusion-forming units in lung tissues and significantly increased proportion of Th1 cells in lung and spleen tissues. Conclusions:Cm respiratory infection could induce the maturation and activation of DC, which promoted Th1 immune response. DC played an important role in Cm infection.

Objective:To investigate the role of IL-21/IL-21R-mediated CD4 + T cells in Chlamydia muridarum ( Cm) respiratory infection. Methods:C57BL/6 mice (WT mice) and IL-21R -/- mice were used to establish the models of Cm respiratory infection through intranasal inhalation of Cm. Flow cytometry was used to detect the proportion, number, activity and function of CD4 + T cells in lung and spleen tissues at 0, 3, 7 and 14 d after Cm respiratory tract infection. IFN-γ and IL-4 levels in spleen cell culture supernatants were detected by ELISA. Na?ve WT mice were transferred with CD4 + T cells in the spleen tissues of IL-21R -/- mice or WT mice on 7 d after infection and given Cm intranasally 2 h later. Then the mice were weighed daily and sacrificed on 14 d after infection. The bacterial load and pathological changes in lung were analyzed. Flow cytometry was performed to detect the proportions and numbers of neutrophils (CD45 + CD11b + Gr-1 high) and alveolar macrophages (CD45 + F4/80 + CD11c high)as well as the proportions of Th1 (IFN-γ + CD4 + ) and Th2 (IL-4 + CD4 + ) cells. ELISA was also performed to measure IFN-γ and IL-4 levels in spleen cell culture supernatants. Results:Compared with WT mice, IL-21R -/- mice showed elevated numbers and enhanced activation of CD4 + T cells, increased proportion of Th1 cells and decreased proportion of Th2 cells in spleen and lung tissues after Cm respiratory infection. Besides, IFN-γ levels increased, while IL-4 levels decreased in spleen cell culture supernatants of IL-21R -/- mice. After Cm infection, the na?ve WT transferred with CD4 + T cells from IL-21R -/- mice showed less body weight loss, reduced bacterial load and alleviated pathological changes in lung tissues, increased proportion of Th1 cells in lung tissue and higher IFN-γ level in spleen cell culture supernatants. Conclusions:IL-21/IL-21R-mediated CD4 + T cells could aggravate Cm respiratory infection by suppressing Th1 cell immune responses.

Objective:To investigate the effects of Chlamydia muridarum ( Cm) respiratory tract infection on the infiltration and polarization of alveolar macrophages (AMs) and pulmonary interstitial macrophages (IMs). Methods:A C57BL/6 mouse model of Cm respiratory tract infection was established through nasal inhalation. Flow cytometry was used to detect AMs (CD45 + F4/80 + CD11c + ) and IMs (CD45 + F4/80 + CD11c -) in lung tissues at 0, 3, 7 and 14 d after Cm respiratory tract infection. The proportions of M1 (CD80 + , CD86 + , MHCⅡ + , iNOS + ) and M2 (CD206 + , Arg1 + ) macrophages in AMs and IMs were also detected. Results:(1) Cm respiratory tract infection induced the infiltration of AMs and IMs. Compared with the uninfected group (0 d), the proportions and the numbers of AMs and IMs of were significantly increased 3 d after infection ( P<0.05, P<0.01). The numbers of AMs and IMs reached the peak 7 d after infection ( P<0.001). (2) Compared with the uninfected group, the proportions of CD80 + and CD86 + cells in AMs were significantly up-regulated 3 d after infection ( P<0.05, P<0.01); the proportion of MHCⅡ + cells in AMs increased after infection and reached the peak at 14 d ( P<0.05), while the proportion of CD206 + cells decreased after infection ( P<0.05). (3) Compared with the uninfected group, the proportions of CD80 + and CD86 + cells in IMs were increased 3 d after infection ( P<0.05, P<0.001) and the proportion of MHCⅡ + cells was significantly increased 14 d after infection ( P<0.01), while there was no significant change in the proportion of CD206 + cells. (4) In AMs, the proportion of iNOS + cells increased continuously after infection ( P<0.01), while the proportion of Arg1 + cells decreased continuously after infection, especially at 7 d and 14 d ( P<0.05). In IMs, the proportion of iNOS + cells reached the peak at 7 d ( P<0.001), but the proportion of Arg1 + cells showed no significant change after infection. Conclusions:Cm respiratory tract infection induced the infiltration of AMs and IMs, stimulated the polarization of AMs and IMs towards the M1 phenotype and weakened the polarization of AMs to M2 macrophages, but had no significant influence on the polarization of IMs towards the M2 phenotype.

Objective:To evaluate the clinical efficacy of modified Qiwei Baizhu Powder combined with conventional therapy in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with abnormal lipid metabolism.Methods:A total of 96 patients with T2DM and abnormal lipid metabolism from March 2018 to March 2021 in Anhui Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital who met the inclusion criteria were divided into 2 groups according to the random number table method, with 48 in each group. The control group was treated with conventional western medicine, while the observation group was treated with modified Qiwei Baizhu Powder and treatment of the control group. Both groups were treated for 3 months. TCM syndrome scores were performed before and after treatment. Fasting blood glucose (FPG) and 2 hPG were detected by glucose oxidase method, HbA1c was detected by HPLC, TC, TG, HDL-C and LDL-C were detected by cholesterol peroxidase method, glycerophosphate oxidase method, direct inhibition method and direct surfactant clearance method. Adverse events during treatment were recorded and clinical efficacy was evaluated.Results:The total effective rate was 93.8% (45/48) in the observation group and 79.2% (38/48) in the control group, with a statistically significant difference between the two groups ( χ2=4.36, P=0.037). After treatment, the scores of dry mouth, fatigue, anorexia, dizziness, tongue, pulse and total scores in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group ( t values were 3.58, 3.17, 3.24, 3.59, 3.58, 2.76 and 8.44, respectively, all Ps<0.05); the levels of FPG, 2 hPG and HbA1c in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group ( t values were 3.37, 2.05 and 3.73 respectively, all Ps<0.05). After treatment, the levels of TC [(4.30±0.85) mmol/L vs. (4.78±0.94) mmol/L, t=2.62], TG [(3.00±0.37) mmol/L vs. (3.19±0.54) mmol/L, t=2.01], LDL-C [(2.60±0.71) mmol/L vs. (2.95±0.44) mmol/L, t=2.90] were significantly lower than those in the control group ( P<0.05). After treatment, the HDL-C [(2.07±0.63) mmol/L vs. (1.82±0.55) mmol/L, t=2.01] level was significantly higher than that of the control group ( P<0.05). Conclusion:Modified Qiwei Baizhu Powder combined with conventional therapy can improve blood glucose and blood lipid levels in T2DM patients with abnormal lipid metabolism, relieve clinical symptoms and improve curative effect.

Objective:To investigate the role of HIS (hyperinflammatory syndrome) score in predicting the prognosis of anti-melanoma differentiation associated gene 5(MDA5) antibody-positive dermatomyositis (DM) patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD).Methods:A total of 43 patients with anti-MDA5 antibody-positive dermatomyositis and 228 connective tissue disease (CTD) patients with ILD hospitalized in the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from January 2018 to April 2021 were enrolled into this study. All patients were complicated with ILD and their HIS score were assessed. Non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-squared test, Fisher exact probability and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were used for data analysis. Results:The HIS score of 43 patients with anti-MDA5 antibody-positive dermat-omyositis were collected. Among 228 CTD-ILD patients in the control groups, the primary disease consisted of 33(14.5%) anti-synthetase antibody syndrome (ASS), 44(19.3%) rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 65(28.5%) Sj?gren's syndromes (SS), 43 (18.9%) systemic sclerosis (SSc) and 43 (18.9%) systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE). The HIS score of anti-MDA5-positive DM-ILD patients [2(1, 3)] was higher than those in ASS patients [1(0, 2), Z=-2.06, P<0.05] and significantly higher than those in RA-ILD [1(0, 2), Z=-2.87, P<0.01], SS-ILD [0(0,1), Z=-5.78, P<0.01], SSC-ILD [1(0, 1), Z=-3.84, P<0.01] and SLE-ILD [1(0, 2), Z=-3.81, P<0.01]. Comparing HIS score of anti-MDA5-positive DM-ILD patients, the 3-months mortality rate in the low, medium and high groups was 0(0/15), 38.1%(8/21) and 85.7%(6/7). The area under ROC curve (95% CI) was 0.857[(0.747, 0.967), P<0.001] for HIS score in predicting 3-months mortality probability of anti-MDA5-positive DM-ILD. Conclusion:HIS score of anti-MDA5-positive DM-ILD is higher than that in CTD-ILD patients and the baseline level is related to the 3-months mortality rate.