Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive lung disease with unclear etiology and limited treatment options. The median survival time for IPF patients is approximately 2-3 years and there is no effective intervention to treat IPF other than lung transplantation. As important components of lung tissue, endothelial cells (ECs) are associated with pulmonary diseases. However, the role of endothelial dysfunction in pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is incompletely understood. Sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 1 (S1PR1) is a G protein-coupled receptor highly expressed in lung ECs. Its expression is markedly reduced in patients with IPF. Herein, we generated an endothelial-conditional S1pr1 knockout mouse model which exhibited inflammation and fibrosis with or without bleomycin (BLM) challenge. Selective activation of S1PR1 with an S1PR1 agonist, IMMH002, exerted a potent therapeutic effect in mice with bleomycin-induced fibrosis by protecting the integrity of the endothelial barrier. These results suggest that S1PR1 might be a promising drug target for IPF therapy.

The current study explored the hepatotoxicity among closed-ring genipin, open-ring tautomer of genipin and gardenia blue that generated from genipin and amino acid reaction using HepaRG cells to identify the material basis of genipin-induced hepatotoxicity in vitro. The effects of temperature, pH value and different kinds of amino acids on the chemical structure tautomerism between closed-ring and open-ring tautomer of genipin and the production of gardenia blue were investigated firstly, which aimed to explicit the conditions that could distinguish the closed-ring genipin and its open-ring tautomer, and the conditions generating gardenia blue, which were applied to prepare different kinds of gardenia blue; the CCK-8 kit was employed to analyze the hepatotoxicity of closed-ring genipin, open-ring tautomer of genipin and gardenia blue. From the results, it was found that, the structure transformation from close-ring to open-ring of genipin could be inhibited under the condition with acid environment; being essential groups to generate gardenia blue, the primary amino group and the open-ring tautomer of genipin reacting to generate the dihydropyridine ring was probably the key structure of gardenia blue; the structure characteristics existed apparent distinction at the reactive temperature of 37 ℃ and 80 ℃; compared to the culture condition with pH = 7.4, the concentration of genipin with close-ring in culture medium was significantly increased at pH = 5, but the cell viability did not decreased; the cell toxicity of gardenia blue was apparently lower than open-ring tautomer of genipin, and even some kinds of gardenia blue showed growth promoting effect on HepaRG cells. Here, it was suggested potentially that open-ring tautomer of genipin be the important material basis to induce hepatotoxicity, which could provide a cue and lay a foundation for the elucidation of the underlying mechanism of genipin-induced hepatotoxicity.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between drug treatment and outcomes in patients with late-onset severe pneumonia (LOSP) after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the effects of the initiation time of treatment drugs, especially antiviral drugs and glucocorticoids on the clinical outcomes in 82 patients between January 2016 and August 2021 who developed LOSP after allo-SCT in Peking University People's Hospital. Univariate analysis was performed by Mann-Whitney U test and χ² test, and multivariate analysis was performed by Logistic regression. When multiple groups (n>2) were involved in the χ² test, Bonferroni correction was used for the level of significance test. RESULTS: Of all 82 patients in this study, the median onset time of LOSP was 220 d (93-813 d) after transplantation, and the 60-day survival rate was 58.5% (48/82). The median improvement time of the survival patients was 18 d (7-44 d), while the median death time of the died patients was 22 d (2-53 d). Multivariate analysis showed that the initiation time of antiviral drugs from the onset of LOSP (< 10 d vs. ≥10 d, P=0.012), and the initiation time of glucocorticoids from antiviral drugs (< 10 d vs. ≥10 d, P=0.027) were the factors affecting the final outcome of the patients with LOSP at the end of 60 d. According to the above results, LOSP patients were divided into four subgroups: group A (antiviral drugs < 10 d, glucocorticoids ≥10 d), group B (antiviral drugs < 10 d, glucocorticoids < 10 d), group C (antiviral drugs ≥10 d, glucocorticoids ≥10 d) and group D (antiviral drugs ≥10 d, glucocorticoids < 10 d), the 60-day survival rates were 91.7%, 56.8%, 50.0% and 21.4%, respectively. CONCLUSION Our study demonstrated that in patients who developed LOSP after allo-SCT, the initiation time of antiviral drugs and glucocorticoids were associated with the prognosis of LOSP, and the survival rate was highest in patients who received antiviral drugs early and glucocorticoids later. It suggested that for patients with LOSP of unknown etiology should be highly suspicious of the possibility of a secondary hyperimmune response to viral infection.
Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use* ; Glucocorticoids/therapeutic use* ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation/methods* ; Humans ; Pneumonia/etiology* ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Transplantation, Homologous/adverse effects*

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the most common arrhythmias, associated with high morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs, and it places a significant burden on both individuals and society. Anti-arrhythmic drugs are the most commonly used strategy for treating AF. However, drug therapy faces challenges because of its limited efficacy and potential side effects. Catheter ablation is widely used as an alternative treatment for AF. Nevertheless, because the mechanism of AF is not fully understood, the recurrence rate after ablation remains high. In addition, the outcomes of ablation can vary significantly between medical institutions and patients, especially for persistent AF. Therefore, the issue of which ablation strategy is optimal is still far from settled. Computational modeling has the advantages of repeatable operation, low cost, freedom from risk, and complete control, and is a useful tool for not only predicting the results of different ablation strategies on the same model but also finding optimal personalized ablation targets for clinical reference and even guidance. This review summarizes three-dimensional computational modeling simulations of catheter ablation for AF, from the early-stage attempts such as Maze III or circumferential pulmonary vein isolation to the latest advances based on personalized substrate-guided ablation. Finally, we summarize current developments and challenges and provide our perspectives and suggestions for future directions.

The purification of parasite-infected erythrocytes from whole blood containing leucocytes is crucial for many downstream genetic and molecular assays in parasitology. Current methodologies to achieve this are often costly and time consuming. Here, we demonstrate the successful application of a cheap and simple Non-Woven Fabric (NWF) filter for the purification of parasitized red blood cells from whole blood. NWF filtration was applied to the malaria-parasitized blood of three strains of mice, and one strain of rat, and to Babesia gibsoni parasitized dog blood. Before and after filtration, the white blood cell (WBC) removal rates and red blood cell (RBC) recovery rates were measured. After NWF filter treatment of rodent malaria-infected blood, the WBC removal rates and RBC recovery rates were, for Kunming mice: 99.51%±0.30% and 86.12%±8.37%; for BALB/C mice: 99.61%±0.15% and 80.74%±7.11%; for C57 mice: 99.71%±0.12% and 84.87%±3.83%; for Sprague-Dawley rats: 99.93%±0.03% and 83.30%±2.96%. Microscopy showed WBCs were efficiently removed from infected dog blood samples, and there was no obvious morphological change of B. gibsoni parasites. NWF filters efficiently remove leukocytes from malaria parasite-infected mouse and rat blood, and are also suitable for filtration of B. gibsoni-infected dog blood.

Microemulsions are promising drug delivery systems for the oral administration of poorly water-soluble drugs. However, the evolution of microemulsions in the gastrointestinal tract is still poorly characterized, especially the structural change of microemulsions under the effect of lipase and mucus. To better understand the fate of microemulsions in the gastrointestinal tract, we applied small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) to monitor the structural change of microemulsions under the effect of lipolysis and mucus. First, the effect of lipolysis on microemulsions was studied by SAXS, which found the generation of liquid crystalline phases. Meanwhile, FRET spectra indicated micelles with smaller particle sizes were generated during lipolysis, which could be affected by CaCl, bile salts and lecithin. Then, the effect of mucus on the structural change of lipolysed microemulsions was studied. The results of SAXS and FRET indicated that the liquid crystalline phases disappeared, and more micelles were generated. In summary, we studied the structural change of microemulsions in simulated gastrointestinal conditions by SAXS and FRET, and successfully monitored the appearance and disappearance of the liquid crystalline phases and micelles.

Infection is an important cause of higher mortality in patients with hematological diseases than healthy people, and fever is often the only indication of the disease.Clostridium perfringens(C.perfringens)is a grampositive anaerobic bacillus of the Clostridiumgenus, it belongs to the normal flora of the intestinal tract and is not pathogenic in normal condition.However, when intestinal flora is imbalanced due to low hypoimmunity of human body or influenced by such factors as diet, medicine, environment and other factors, it can enter the blood and cause bacteremia.At present, it has never been reported that bacteremia was caused by C.perfringens in patients with malignant hematological diseases accompanied by neutropenia, this article reported the diagnosis and treatment of C. perfringens bloodstream in one patient with malignant hematopathy, so as to provide basis for diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

Klinefelter syndrome (KS) is the set of symptoms that result from the presence of an extra X chromosome in males. Postnatal population-based KS screening will enable timely diagnosis of this common chromosomal disease, providing the opportunity for early intervention and therapy at the time point when they are most effective and may prevent later symptoms or complications. Therefore, through this study, we introduced a simple high-resolution melting (HRM) assay for KS screening and evaluated its clinical sensitivity and specificity in three medical centers using 1373 clinical blood samples. The HRM assay utilized a single primer pair to simultaneously amplify specific regions in zinc finger protein, X-linked (ZFX) and zinc finger protein, Y-linked (ZFY). In cases of KS, the ratios of ZFX/ZFY are altered compared to those in normal males. As a result, the specific melting profiles differ and can be differentiated during data analysis. This HRM assay displayed high analytical specificity over a wide range of template DNA amounts (5 ng-50 ng) and reproducibility, high resolution for detecting KS mosaicism, and high clinical sensitivity (100%) and specificity (98.1%). Moreover, the HRM assay was rapid (2 h per run), inexpensive (0.2 USD per sample), easy to perform and automatic, and compatible with both whole blood samples and dried blood spots. Therefore, this HRM assay is an ideal postnatal population-based KS screening tool that can be used for different age groups.
DNA/genetics* ; Dried Blood Spot Testing ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Karyotyping ; Klinefelter Syndrome/diagnosis* ; Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors/genetics* ; Male ; Mass Screening/methods* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sensitivity and Specificity