OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of aquaporin 5 (AQP5) on Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88)/nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway in Sjögren syndrome (SS) rats. METHODS: The SS gene expression data sets GSE406611 and GSE84844 were extracted from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), and the AQP5 mRNA expression was analyzed by R software. The rat SS model was constructed. The successfully modeled rats were divided into SS group, SS+NC group, and SS+pc group, 10 rats in each group; and 10 rats were set as Normal group. The rats in the SS+NC group were injected with 10 μg of rno-pcDNA3.1-AQP5-NC at the submandibular gland, subcutaneously every day for 28 days. The rats in the SS+pc group were injected with 10 μg of rno-pcDNA3.1-AQP5 at the submandibular gland, subcutaneously every day for 28 days. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit was used to detect the content of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in the serum. High-throughput sequencing was used to identify the target genes. Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and Western blot were used to detect the mRNA and protein expressions of AQP5, TLR4, MyD88, and NF-κB in the rat submandibular gland tissue. RESULTS: In the SS dataset GSE406611 and GSE84844, the mRNA expression of AQP5 in SS was significantly reduced. Compared with the Normal group, the content of TNF-α and IL-1β in the serum, the mRNA and protein expressions of TLR4, MyD88, and NF-κB in the SS group were significantly increased, the mRNA and protein expressions of AQP5 were significantly decreased. After overexpression of AQP5, the content of TNF-α and IL-1β in the serum, the mRNA and protein expressions of TLR4, MyD88, and NF-κB in the SS+pc group were significantly decreased, the mRNA and protein expressions of AQP5 were significantly increased. The differences were statistically significant (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSION The expression of AQP5 is involved in the progression of SS. Increasing the expression of AQP5 can significantly inhibit inflammatory stress and reduce the pathological damage of submandibular gland tissue. This may be related to the inhibition of TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB conduction.
Animals ; Toll-Like Receptor 4/genetics* ; Myeloid Differentiation Factor 88/genetics* ; Aquaporin 5/metabolism* ; Sjogren's Syndrome/genetics* ; Signal Transduction ; NF-kappa B/metabolism* ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Interleukin-1beta/metabolism* ; Female

In order to promote the development of grassroots hospitals through targeted assistance,ZhuJiang Hospital of Southern Medical University took the lead in responding in Guangdong Province and established a tight-ly-knit specialty alliance belonging to Zhujiang.It introduces the construction content,principles and measures of Zhujiang Tightly-Knit Specialty Alliance,and proposes a dual-promotion management model for the tightly-knit Spe-cialty Alliance.A comprehensive comparison of the changes in specialized technical capabilities and medical quality of Guangning County People's Hospital before and after aid shows that the close specialist alliance has achieved initial results in effectively promoting the sinking of resources and improving the medical technology capabilities and quality of member units.It is of great practical significance for further promoting the development of specialist alliances and filling the shortcomings of primary medical institutions.

In order to promote the development of grassroots hospitals through targeted assistance,ZhuJiang Hospital of Southern Medical University took the lead in responding in Guangdong Province and established a tight-ly-knit specialty alliance belonging to Zhujiang.It introduces the construction content,principles and measures of Zhujiang Tightly-Knit Specialty Alliance,and proposes a dual-promotion management model for the tightly-knit Spe-cialty Alliance.A comprehensive comparison of the changes in specialized technical capabilities and medical quality of Guangning County People's Hospital before and after aid shows that the close specialist alliance has achieved initial results in effectively promoting the sinking of resources and improving the medical technology capabilities and quality of member units.It is of great practical significance for further promoting the development of specialist alliances and filling the shortcomings of primary medical institutions.

In order to promote the development of grassroots hospitals through targeted assistance,ZhuJiang Hospital of Southern Medical University took the lead in responding in Guangdong Province and established a tight-ly-knit specialty alliance belonging to Zhujiang.It introduces the construction content,principles and measures of Zhujiang Tightly-Knit Specialty Alliance,and proposes a dual-promotion management model for the tightly-knit Spe-cialty Alliance.A comprehensive comparison of the changes in specialized technical capabilities and medical quality of Guangning County People's Hospital before and after aid shows that the close specialist alliance has achieved initial results in effectively promoting the sinking of resources and improving the medical technology capabilities and quality of member units.It is of great practical significance for further promoting the development of specialist alliances and filling the shortcomings of primary medical institutions.

In order to promote the development of grassroots hospitals through targeted assistance,ZhuJiang Hospital of Southern Medical University took the lead in responding in Guangdong Province and established a tight-ly-knit specialty alliance belonging to Zhujiang.It introduces the construction content,principles and measures of Zhujiang Tightly-Knit Specialty Alliance,and proposes a dual-promotion management model for the tightly-knit Spe-cialty Alliance.A comprehensive comparison of the changes in specialized technical capabilities and medical quality of Guangning County People's Hospital before and after aid shows that the close specialist alliance has achieved initial results in effectively promoting the sinking of resources and improving the medical technology capabilities and quality of member units.It is of great practical significance for further promoting the development of specialist alliances and filling the shortcomings of primary medical institutions.

In order to promote the development of grassroots hospitals through targeted assistance,ZhuJiang Hospital of Southern Medical University took the lead in responding in Guangdong Province and established a tight-ly-knit specialty alliance belonging to Zhujiang.It introduces the construction content,principles and measures of Zhujiang Tightly-Knit Specialty Alliance,and proposes a dual-promotion management model for the tightly-knit Spe-cialty Alliance.A comprehensive comparison of the changes in specialized technical capabilities and medical quality of Guangning County People's Hospital before and after aid shows that the close specialist alliance has achieved initial results in effectively promoting the sinking of resources and improving the medical technology capabilities and quality of member units.It is of great practical significance for further promoting the development of specialist alliances and filling the shortcomings of primary medical institutions.

In order to promote the development of grassroots hospitals through targeted assistance,ZhuJiang Hospital of Southern Medical University took the lead in responding in Guangdong Province and established a tight-ly-knit specialty alliance belonging to Zhujiang.It introduces the construction content,principles and measures of Zhujiang Tightly-Knit Specialty Alliance,and proposes a dual-promotion management model for the tightly-knit Spe-cialty Alliance.A comprehensive comparison of the changes in specialized technical capabilities and medical quality of Guangning County People's Hospital before and after aid shows that the close specialist alliance has achieved initial results in effectively promoting the sinking of resources and improving the medical technology capabilities and quality of member units.It is of great practical significance for further promoting the development of specialist alliances and filling the shortcomings of primary medical institutions.

In order to promote the development of grassroots hospitals through targeted assistance,ZhuJiang Hospital of Southern Medical University took the lead in responding in Guangdong Province and established a tight-ly-knit specialty alliance belonging to Zhujiang.It introduces the construction content,principles and measures of Zhujiang Tightly-Knit Specialty Alliance,and proposes a dual-promotion management model for the tightly-knit Spe-cialty Alliance.A comprehensive comparison of the changes in specialized technical capabilities and medical quality of Guangning County People's Hospital before and after aid shows that the close specialist alliance has achieved initial results in effectively promoting the sinking of resources and improving the medical technology capabilities and quality of member units.It is of great practical significance for further promoting the development of specialist alliances and filling the shortcomings of primary medical institutions.

In order to promote the development of grassroots hospitals through targeted assistance,ZhuJiang Hospital of Southern Medical University took the lead in responding in Guangdong Province and established a tight-ly-knit specialty alliance belonging to Zhujiang.It introduces the construction content,principles and measures of Zhujiang Tightly-Knit Specialty Alliance,and proposes a dual-promotion management model for the tightly-knit Spe-cialty Alliance.A comprehensive comparison of the changes in specialized technical capabilities and medical quality of Guangning County People's Hospital before and after aid shows that the close specialist alliance has achieved initial results in effectively promoting the sinking of resources and improving the medical technology capabilities and quality of member units.It is of great practical significance for further promoting the development of specialist alliances and filling the shortcomings of primary medical institutions.

Objective:To investigate the difference and characteristics of autoantibodies expression in patients infected by 2019-nCoV with various severity, and explore the associations between expression profile of autoantibodies and prognosis of COVID-19 patients.Methods:This retrospective study was conducted on patients with COVID-19 admitted to Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan University from January 30, 2020 to March 16, 2020. Data on medical records, expression of autoantibodies including antinuclear antibody profile (ANA), anticardiolipin antibody (ACA), inflammatory factor and other laboratory indexes were collected and analyzed. The age and sex matched disease controls (cases of pulmonary infection unrelated to 2019-nCoV infection and autoimmune disease) and healthy controls (healthy check-up individuals) were also included. Following groups were established, ANA test groups: 72 cases of COVID-19 group (including 17 critical and severe cases, and 55 mild cases), 37 disease controls and 44 healthy controls; ACA test groups: 111 cases of COVID-19 group (including 37 critical and severe cases, and 74 mild cases), 37 disease controls and 40 healthy controls. The difference of positive rate or expression level of autoantibodies among various groups was analyzed, and the difference of inflammatory biomarkers and other parameters were compared between patients with ANA positive results and negative results. The Spearman correlation test was applied to determine the relationship between ACA and other parameters. Kaplan-Meier estimation was used to plot survival curves, the log-rank analysis was utilized to explore the association between antibodies and outcome of COVID-19 patients.Results:The positive rate of antibodies was significantly higher in the COVID-19 group than disease and healthy control groups, the ANA fluorescence: 22.22% (16/72), 5.41% (2/37), 6.82% (3/44); ANA spectrum:26.39% (19/72), 8.11% (3/37), 9.09% (4/44); and ACA:37.84% (42/111), 8.11% (3/37), 5.00% (2/40); all P<0.05. The positive rate of ANA, ACA-IgM and the expression level of ACA-IgM were significantly higher in severe COVID-19 subgroups (critically and severe COVID-19 patients) than in the mild COVID-19 patients (the ANA fluorescence: 47.06% [8/17] vs. 14.55% [8/55], ANA spectrum:66.67% [9/17] vs. 18.18% [10/55], ACA-IgM:30.43% [10/37] vs. 9.46% [7/74]; all P<0.05). There were significant differences in the number of red blood cells, hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit, activated partial thromboplastin time, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6 and serum amyloid A between COVID-19 ANA-positive group and COVID-19 ANA-negative group (all P<0.05). The level of ACA-IgM was positively correlated with white blood cell count ( r=0.354, P<0.001), neutrophil count ( r=0.344, P<0.001), platelet count ( r=0.198, P=0.038), D-Dimer ( r=0.260, P=0.009), glutamic-pyruvic transaminase ( r=0.214, P=0.024), γ-glutamyl transpeptidase ( r=0.283, P=0.003), blood urea nitrogen ( r=0.223, P=0.019), and negatively correlated with superoxide dismutase ( r=-0.228, P=0.020). Survival analysis showed that cumulative survival rate of event-free survival (EFS) was lower in patients with positive ANA/ACA-IgM results than in patients with negative ANA/ACA-IgM results ( P<0.05). Conclusions:ANA and ACA autoantibodies can be detected in COVID-19 patients. The positive rate and the expression level of ANA and ACA increase in proportion with the severity of COVID-19 patients. ANA and ACA-IgM could be used as risk stratification determinants for predicting survival of COVID-19 patients.