OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of point-moxibustion with Zhuang medicinal thread on differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG), tissue morphology, and the expression of Fc epsilon RI (FcεRI) pathway proteins spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) and membrane spanning 4-domain A2 (MS4A2) in rat model of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), and to explore the potential mechanism by which this therapy alleviates pain sensitization. METHODS: Thirty-nine male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into a control group, a model group, and a moxibustion group, with 13 rats in each group. The PHN model was established in the model and moxibustion groups by intraperitoneal injection of resiniferatoxin. In the moxibustion group, bilateral L₄-L₆ "Jiaji" (EX-B2) points were treated with point-moxibustion with Zhuang medicinal thread from day 7 post-modeling, with two cones per acupoint per session, every other day for a total of 10 sessions. Mechanical withdrawal threshold (MWT) and thermal withdrawal latency (TWL) were measured at 1 day before modeling and on days 1, 4, 7, 13, 19, and 25 after modeling. After intervention, HE staining was used to observe DRG morphology. RNA sequencing was performed to analyze DEGs in DRG and conduct bioinformatics analysis. The expression of Syk and MS4A2 mRNA and proteins in the FcεRI pathway in DRG was detected by quantitative PCR and Western blot. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the model group exhibited decreased MWT (P<0.05) and increased TWL (P<0.05); histopathological analysis revealed neuronal atrophy, nuclear displacement, and intracellular vacuoles, with a slightly loose arrangement; the RNA-Seq identified 3,207 DEGs (1,997 upregulated and 1,210 downregulated); the mRNA and protein expression levels of Syk and MS4A2 were significantly increased (P<0.01). Compared with the model group, the moxibustion group showed increased MWT (P<0.05) and decreased TWL (P<0.05), with relatively normal neuronal morphology; the RNA-Seq identified 426 DEGs (250 upregulated and 176 downregulated); the mRNA and protein expression levels of Syk and MS4A2 were significantly decreased (P<0.05). Venn diagram analysis identified 156 DEGs that showed a reversal in expression trends after treatment, including Syk and MS4A2, which are associated with pain sensitization. KEGG pathway analysis indicated that these DEGs were primarily enriched in the FcεRI pathway. CONCLUSION Point-moxibustion with Zhuang medicinal thread could alleviate pain sensitization in PHN rats, possibly by inhibiting the FcεRI signaling pathway and downregulating the expression of Syk and MS4A2.
Animals ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Male ; Rats ; Moxibustion ; Neuralgia, Postherpetic/physiopathology* ; Syk Kinase/metabolism* ; Acupuncture Points ; Humans ; Ganglia, Spinal/metabolism* ; Signal Transduction

Multiple sclerosis is a severe autoimmune inflammatory disease mainly involving the central nervous system. In recent years, the exploration of the mechanism of nerve injury in multiple sclerosis has made great progress. At the same time, disease-modifying therapeutic drugs with different targets are also emerging. Understanding of the mechanisms of nerve injury in multiple sclerosis can help clinicians comprehensively understand the evolution of disease-modifying therapeutic targets of this disorder. Here, the mechanisms of nerve injury in multiple sclerosis and the relationship with the evolution of disease-modifying therapeutic targets are reviewed.

This study aims to clarify host factors of IFN treatment in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients by screening the differentially expressed genes of IFN pathway CHB patients with different response to interferon (IFN) therapy. Three cases were randomly selected in IFN-responding CHB patients (Rs), non-responding CHB patients (NRs) and healthy participants, respectively. The human type I IFN response RT ² profiler PCR array was used to detect the expression levels of IFN-related genes in peripheral blood monocytes (PBMCs) from healthy participants and CHB patients before and after Peg-IFN-α 2a treatment. The results showed that more differentially expressed genes appeared in Rs group than NRs group after IFN treatment. Comparing with healthy participants, IFNG, IL7R, IRF1, and IRF8 were downregulated in both Rs and NRs group before IFN treatment; CXCL10, IFIT1, and IFITM1 were upregulated in the Rs; IL13RA1 and IFI35 were upregulated in the NRs, while IFRD2, IL11RA, IL4R, IRF3, IRF4, PYHIN1, and ADAR were downregulated. The expression of IL15, IFI35 and IFI44 was downregulated by 4.09 ( t = 10.58, P < 0.001), 5.59 ( t = 3.37, P = 0.028) and 10.83 ( t = 2.8, P = 0.049) fold in the Rs group compared with the NRs group, respectively. In conclusion, IFN-response-related gene array is able to evaluate IFN treatment response by detecting IFN-related genes levels in PBMC. High expression of CXCL10, IFIT1 and IFITM1 before treatment may suggest satisfied IFN efficacy, while high expression of IL13RA1, IL15, IFI35 and IFI44 molecules and low expression of IFRD2, IL11RA, IL4R, IRF3, IRF4, PYHIN1 and ADAR molecules may be associated with poor IFN efficacy.
Humans ; Healthy Volunteers ; Hepatitis B, Chronic/genetics* ; Immunotherapy ; Interleukin-15 ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear ; Nuclear Proteins ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis/methods* ; Interferons/therapeutic use* ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To study the clinical and immunologic features of 67 cases of patients with scrub typhus.Methods Epidemiological data,clinical manifestations,laboratory and image examination results and treatment of 67 cases of patients with scrub typhus hospitalized from January 2010 to December 2013 at the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University were retrospectively analyzed.Results Autumn-winter type scrub typhus was predominant in the 67 patents.The main clinical manifestations included hyperpyrexia (100％,67/ 67),eschar or ulcer (91.0％,61/67),rash (52.2％,35/67),lymphadenopathy (46.3％,31/67) and other non-specific symptoms.Laboratory test results:①80.6％ (54/67) of the patients had normal or decreased white blood cell count,62.7％ (42/67) of them with elevated lymphocytes (＞ 40％),thrombocytopenia was detected in 34.3％ (23/67) of the patients,the lowest platelets count was 14 × 109/L.②14 of 17 cases (82.4％) had normal percentage of CD3+ T lymphocytes,CD8+ T lymphocytes increased in 16 of 17 cases (94.1％),while the percentage of CD4+ T lymphocytes (14 of 17,82.4％) and B lymphocytes (15 of 17,88.2％) decreased in most of the patients.③C reactive protein (CRP),ferritin and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were elevated in 95.2％ (59/62),93.8％ (45/48) and 89.1％ (49/55) of the patients,respectively.④Elevated alanine aminotransferase (77.6％,52/67) and aspartate aminotransferase (80.6％,54/67) were frequent findings.⑤94.6％ (35/37) of the patients had increased adenosine deaminase.⑥ Antinuclear antibody was positive in 31.0％ (13/42) patients.⑦Epstein-barr virus DNA was detected in 15.6％ (7/ 45) cases,77.6％ (38/49) was accompanied with chest radiographic abnormalities.Two cases had tuberculosis.All the patients recovered after therapy with doxycycline,levofloxacin or moxifloxacin.Conclusion Autumn-winter scrub typhus has typical clinical manifestations in the 67 patients,and it can cause patients' immune disorders.