OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical efficacy of initial periodontal therapy in periodontitis patients with or without type 2 diabetes mellitus and its correlation with white blood cell counts. METHODS: In this study, 32 chronic periodontitis patients without systemic disease (CP group) and 27 chronic periodontitis patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (CP+DM group) were enrolled. At admission, all the patients went through periodontal examination and fasting blood examination(baseline). Probing depth (PD), attachment loss (AL), bleeding index (BI), plaque index (PLI), white blood cells (WBC) counts and fasting blood glucose (FBG) were recorded respectively, while hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) was recorded only in CP+DM group. After that, initial periodontal therapy was performed. All the tests were repeated 3 and 6 months after treatment. The changes of periodontal clinical indexes and WBC levels were compared between the two groups before and after treatment, and the correlation between WBC and periodontal clinical indexes and glucose metabolism indexes were analyzed by generalized linear mixed model. RESULTS: At baseline, the periodontal inflammation and destruction were similar in CP and CP+DM group, but the WBC level was significantly higher in CP+DM groups [(6.01±1.26)×10⁹/L vs. (7.14±1.99)×10⁹/L, P=0.01]. After 3 and 6 months of initial periodontal therapy, the mean PD, AL, BI, and PLI in CP+DM and CP groups were significantly lower than the baseline, and the PD in CP+DM group was further decreased by 6 months compared with 3 months [(3.33±0.62) mm vs. (3.61±0.60) mm, P < 0.05]. However, none of these periodontal indexes showed significant difference between the two groups by 3 or 6 months. In CP+DM group, HbA1c at 3 months and 6 months were significantly lower than the baseline [(7.09±0.79)% vs. (7.64±1.16)%, P < 0.05; (7.06±0.78)% vs. (7.64±1.16)%, P < 0.05], and FBG was significantly lower than the baseline by 6 months [(7.35±1.14) mmol/L vs. (8.40±1.43) mmol/L, P < 0.05]. The WBC level in CP group was significantly lower than the baseline level by 3 months [(5.35±1.37)×10⁹/L vs. (6.01±1.26)×10⁹/L, P < 0.05], while that in CP+DM group was significantly lower than the baseline level by 6 months [(6.00±1.37)×10⁹/L vs. (7.14±1.99)×10⁹/L, P < 0.05]. The analysis of genera-lized linear mixed model showed that WBC level was significantly positively correlated with PD and FBG (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Initial periodontal therapy can effectively improve the periodontal clinical status of patients with or without type 2 diabetes mellitus, and have benefits on glycemic control in diabetic patients. However, the response of periodontal indexes and WBC level to initial therapy were relatively delayed in diabetic patients. WBC plays an important role in the correlation between diabetes mellitus and periodontitis.
Chronic Periodontitis/therapy* ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/complications* ; Glycated Hemoglobin A/analysis* ; Humans ; Leukocytes/chemistry* ; Periodontal Index

Growing clinical evidence shows that a partial rheumatoid arthritis( RA) patient treated with Tripterygium Glycosides Tablets( TGT) may fail to achieve clinical improvement. It is of great clinical significance to predict the therapeutic effect of TGT in RA. Therefore,the aim of the current study was to identify potential biomarkers for TGT treatment in RA. Affymetrix EG1.0 arrays were applied to detect gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells obtained from 6 RA patients( 3 responders and 3 non-responders) treated with TGT. By integrating differential expression data analysis and biomolecular network analysis,360 mRNAs( 185 up-regulated and 175 down-regulated) and 24 miRNAs( 7 up-regulated and 17 down-regulated) which were differentially expressed between TGT responder and non-responder groups were identified. A total of 206 candidate target genes for the differentially expressed miRNAs were obtained based on miRanada and Target Scan databases,and then the miRNA target gene coexpression network and miRNA-mediated gene signal transduction network were constructed. Following the network analyses,three candidate miRNAs biomarkers( hsa-miR-4720-5 p,hsa-miR-374 b-5 p,hsa-miR-185-3 p) were identified as candidate biomarkers predicting individual response to TGT. Partialleast-squares( PLS) was applied to construct a model for predicting response to TGT based on the expression levels of the candidate gene biomarkers in RA patients. The five-fold cross-validation showed that the prediction accuracy( ACC) of this PLS-based model efficacy was 100.00%,100.00%,100.00%,66.67% and 66.67% respectively,and all the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve( AUC) were 1.00,indicating the highly predictive efficiency of this PLS-based model. In conclusion,the integrating transcription data mining and biomolecular network investigation show that hsa-mir-4720-5 p,hsa-mir-374 b-5 p and hsa-mir-185-3 p may be candidate biomarkers predicting individual response to TGT. In addition,the PLS model based on the expression levels of these candidate biomarkers may be helpful for the clinical screen of RA patients,which potentially benefit individualized therapy of RA in a daily clinical setting.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; drug therapy ; Biomarkers ; Data Mining ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Glycosides ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear ; MicroRNAs ; genetics ; Tablets ; Tripterygium ; chemistry

Astragalus membranaceus may be a potential therapy for childhood asthma but its driving mechanism remains elusive. The main components of A. membranaceus were identified by HPLC. The children with asthma remission were divided into two combination group (control group, the combination of budesonide and terbutaline) and A. membranaceus group (treatment group, the combination of budesonide, terbutaline and A. membranaceus). The therapeutic results were compared between two groups after 3-month therapy. Porcine peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated from venous blood by using density gradient centrifugation on percoll. The levels of FoxP3, EGF-β, IL-17 and IL-23 from PBMCs and serum IgE were measured. The relative percentage of Treg/Th17 cells was determined using flow cytometry. The main components of A. membranaceus were calycosin-7-O-glucoside, isoquercitrin, ononin, calycosin, quercetin, genistein, kaempferol, isorhamnetin and formononetin, all of which may contribute to asthma therapy. Lung function was significantly improved in the treatment group when compared with a control group (P < 0.05). The efficacy in preventing the occurrence of childhood asthma was higher in the treatment group than the control group (P < 0.05). The levels of IgE, IL-17 and IL-23 were reduced significantly in the treatment group when compared with the control group, while the levels of FoxP3 and TGF-β were increased in the treatment group when compared with the control group (P < 0.05). A. membranaceus increased the percentage of Treg cells and reduced the percentage of Th17 cells. A. membranaceus is potential natural product for improving the therapeutic efficacy of combination therapy of budesonide and terbutaline for the children with asthma remission by modulating the balance of Treg/Th17 cells.
Animals ; Asthma ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Astragalus propinquus ; chemistry ; Budesonide ; administration & dosage ; Cells, Cultured ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cytokines ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Female ; Humans ; Immunologic Factors ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Lung ; drug effects ; physiology ; Male ; Swine ; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory ; cytology ; drug effects ; Terbutaline ; administration & dosage ; Th17 Cells ; cytology ; drug effects ; Treatment Outcome

In 2018, external quality assessment trials for urinalysis and fecal occult blood (FOB) were performed using 1,590 participants. Urine chemistry tests were performed thrice while urine sediment and FOB tests twice. Urine chemistry tests comprised of pH, protein, glucose, ketone body, bilirubin, blood, urobilinogen, nitrite, leukocyte, and specific gravity analyses. The results of urine chemistry and specific gravity tests showed accuracy rates >95%, except for the pH test. The accuracy rate of urine sediments was low, especially for atypical calcium oxalate crystal and red blood cell cast. In the FOB quality test, reagents showed accuracy rates >90%, except for SD and GC Genedia FOB reagents. In the FOB quantitative test, Alfresa NS-Plus C instrument showed falsely high values in the FOB negative specimens.
Bilirubin ; Calcium Oxalate ; Chemistry ; Erythrocytes ; Glucose ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Indicators and Reagents ; Leukocytes ; Occult Blood ; Quality Control ; Specific Gravity ; Urinalysis ; Urobilinogen

In 2017, external quality assessment trials for urinalysis and fecal occult blood (FOB) were performed with 1,544 participants. Urine chemistry tests were performed three times and urine sediment and FOB tests were evaluated 2 times. Urine chemistry tests consisted of pH, protein, glucose, ketone, bilirubin, blood, urobilinogen, nitrite, leukocyte, and specific gravity analyses. The results of the urine chemistry and specific gravity tests showed accuracy rates >95%. The accuracy rate of urine sediments was low, especially for fat droplets and atypical uric acid crystals. In the FOB quality test, all reagents showed accuracy rates >82%, which suggested the persistent improvement of false-positive reactions. In the FOB quantitative test, discrepant results depending on the instrument used were observed. To compensate for the result differences caused by the amounts of stool samples, the results should be reported using another unit (µg/g of stool).
Bilirubin ; Chemistry ; Glucose ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Indicators and Reagents ; Korea* ; Leukocytes ; Occult Blood* ; Quality Control ; Specific Gravity ; Uric Acid ; Urinalysis* ; Urobilinogen

Recent studies have shown that diet can affect the body's immunity. Roughage of dairy cows consists of a variety of plant materials which make different contributions to health. This study investigated the effect of different roughages on the immunity of dairy cows. Serum, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and milk samples were collected from 20 multiparous mid-lactation cows fed mixed forage (MF)- or corn straw (CS)-based diets. Expression profile analysis was used to detect the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from PBMCs. The results showed that milk protein in the MF group increased to 3.22 g/100 ml, while that of the CS group milk was 2.96 g/100 ml; by RNA sequencing, it was found that 1615 genes were differentially expressed between the CS group and the MF group among the 24 027 analyzed probes. Gene ontology (GO) and pathway analysis of DEGs suggested that these genes (especially genes coding cytokines, chemokine and its receptors) are involved in the immune response. Results were confirmed at the protein level via detecting the levels of interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, leptin (LEP), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in peripheral blood by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and radioimmunoassay analysis. Our data supported the conclusions that the protein content in milk of the MF group was higher than that of the CS group, the CS-based diets induced more release of cytokines than the MF-based diets in dairy cows' PBMCs, and milk protein content may be affected by cytokines.
Animals ; Cattle/immunology* ; Cytokines/physiology* ; Diet ; Female ; Gene Ontology ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear/immunology* ; Milk/chemistry* ; Transforming Growth Factor beta/physiology* ; Zea mays

BACKGROUND: Microscopic examinations are usually performed to confirm urine sediments in samples flagged in automated urinalysis. The aim of this study was to analyze the review rates and the difference in urinalysis results according to review rules. METHODS: A total of 1,408 urine samples submitted for health screening were collected. The urine chemistry test and urine sediment test were performed using EikenUS 3100 (Eiken Chemical Co. Ltd., Japan) and Sysmex UF-1000i (Sysmex Co., Japan), respectively. We assessed the rate of agreement between the 2 analyses and the kappa values for white blood cells (WBCs) and red blood cells (RBCs). Microscopic examinations were performed for all cases of discordant results between the urine strip and automated sediment analysis, some cases of concordant results, and cases of albuminuria. RESULTS: The review rate was 14.3%. Microscopic examinations were additionally performed on 77 samples (77/1,207, 6.4%) including 29 and 56 samples flagged for WBCs and RBCs, respectively. Based on the results of microscopic examination, the false-positive and the false-negative results of the urine chemistry test and automatic sediment analysis were corrected. Among concordant results between two methods, a clinically significant number of false-negatives were identified (6 results of WBC detection [6/125, 4.8%] and 4 of RBC detection [4/145, 2.8%]). Among the 22 unflagged cases of albuminuria, pathologic casts were detected in 21 cases (21/22, 95.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Microscopic examination based on the combined results of the two analyses improved the quality of the test.
Albuminuria ; Chemistry ; Erythrocytes ; Flow Cytometry ; Leukocytes ; Mass Screening ; Microscopy ; Quality Improvement* ; Reagent Strips ; Urinalysis*

BACKGROUND: To understand causes of abnormal reaction for the urinalysis, we analyze the interfering substances of clinical urine samples. We focused the effect of urinary vitamin C and fluorescein sodium to the urine chemistry especially glucose, hemoglobin, and leukocyte esterase. METHODS: Incidence of urinary vitamin C was determined for patients and people underwent a medical check–up. We decided dipstick results of glucose, hemoglobin, and leukocyte esterase as false negative based on urine sediment and serum glucose results. Dipstick urinalysis was tested by URiSCAN Pro III with URiSCAN 11 strip (YD Diagnostics, Korea). Urine sediments tests were performed by manual microscopic analysis or Sysmex UF–1000i (Sysmex Co., Japan). RESULTS: The incidence of vitamin C was 20.4% for all subjects. The positive rate of the medical check-up group (34.6%) was higher than others. When vitamin C was detected in clinical urine samples, 42.3%, 10.6%, and 8.2% were defined as false negative for glucose, hemoglobin, and leukocyte esterase dipstick tests, respectively. Fluorescein sodium also interfered on the results of hemoglobin and leukocyte esterase of the dipstick reagents. CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin C was frequently found in the clinical urine samples, and its incidence was higher in the people who underwent medical check-up. The urinary vitamin C and fluorescein sodium can cause interferences in urine dipstick results. Thus, it is expected that present study will give useful information to predict false negative rates of urine dipstick tests by vitamin C and fluorescein sodium.
Ascorbic Acid ; Blood Glucose ; Chemistry ; Fluorescein ; Glucose ; Humans ; Incidence ; Indicators and Reagents ; Leukocytes ; Urinalysis*

OBJECTIVETo study the expression profiles of PI3K, NF-κB, and STAT1 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in children with bronchial asthma, as well as their roles in the pathogenesis of asthma.

METHODSThirty children with acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma were enrolled as the asthma group, and 20 healthy children were enrolled as the control group. RT-PCR and Western blot were used to measure the mRNA and protein expression levels of PI3K, NF-κB, and STAT1 in PBMCs. A spirometer was used to compare the pulmonary function between the two groups. The correlations between the mRNA expression of PI3K, NF-κB, and STAT1 and pulmonary function in children with bronchial asthma were analyzed.

RESULTSThe asthma group had significantly higher mRNA and protein expression levels of PI3K, NF-κB, and STAT1 than the control group (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the asthma group showed significant reductions in pulmonary function indices such as FEV1%, FEV1/FVC, and PEF% (P<0.05). In children with bronchial asthma, the mRNA expression levels of PI3K, NF-κB, and STAT1 were negatively correlated with FEV1%, FEV1/FVC, and PEF% (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe expression levels of PI3K, NF-κB, and STAT1 increase in children with asthma, and are negatively correlated with pulmonary function indices, suggesting that PI3K, NF-κB and STAT1 are involved in the development and progression of bronchial asthma in children.

Asthma ; blood ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Humans ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear ; chemistry ; Male ; NF-kappa B ; blood ; genetics ; physiology ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ; blood ; genetics ; physiology ; RNA, Messenger ; analysis ; STAT1 Transcription Factor ; blood ; genetics ; physiology

OBJECTIVEThis study observed attenuating effect of hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA), an effective ingredient of aqueous extract of Carthamus tinctorius L, on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced endothelium inflammatory injury.

METHODSEahy926 human endothelium cell (EC) line was used; thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide (MTT) test was assayed to observe the viability of EC; Luciferase reporter gene assay was applied to measure nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) p65 subunit nuclear binding activity in EC; Western blot technology was used to monitor mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPKs) and NF-κB activation. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method was applied to observe intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and E-selectin mRNA level; EC surface ICAM-1 expression was measured with flow cytometry and leukocyte adhesion to EC was assayed with Rose Bengal spectrophotometry technology.

RESULTSHSYA protected EC viability against LPS-induced injury (P <0.05). LPS-induced NF-κB p65 subunit DNA binding (P <0.01) and nuclear factor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B-cells inhibitor α (IκBα) phosphorylation was inhibited by HSYA. HSYA attenuated LPS triggered ICAM-1 and E-selectin mRNA levels elevation and phosphorylation of p38 MAPK or c-Jun N-terminal kinase MAPK. HSYA also inhibited LPS-induced cell surface ICAM-1 protein expression P <0.01) and leukocyte adhesion to EC (P <0.05).

CONCLUSIONHSYA is effective to protect LPS-induced high expression of endothelium adhesive molecule and inflammatory signal transduction.

Cell Adhesion ; drug effects ; Cell Nucleus ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Chalcone ; analogs & derivatives ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; E-Selectin ; genetics ; metabolism ; Endothelium, Vascular ; drug effects ; pathology ; Gene Expression Regulation ; drug effects ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; pathology ; Humans ; I-kappa B Proteins ; metabolism ; Inflammation ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Leukocytes ; cytology ; drug effects ; Lipopolysaccharides ; MAP Kinase Signaling System ; drug effects ; NF-KappaB Inhibitor alpha ; Phosphorylation ; drug effects ; Protective Agents ; pharmacology ; Protein Binding ; drug effects ; Quinones ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism