Objective:To investigate genetic variation profiles of δ-globin (HBD gene) and hematological phenotypes in Guangdong population.Methods:Retrospective case analysis was performed in this study. Blood samples of 11 616 couples who participated in free thalassemia screening in Guangzhou from July 2020 to December 2022 were collected which underwent blood routine tests and hemoglobin (Hb) capillary electrophoresis. According to the results, 154 samples were enrolled in this study: (1)group of 35 cases with HbA 2 <2.0% but no HbF band; (2)group of 64 cases with HbA 2 < 2.0% and HbF band; (3)group of 25 cases with HbA 2 <2.0% and suspected HbA 2 variants; (4) group of 25 cases with HbA 2 ≥2.0% and <3.5% and HbF band, as well as abnormal blood routine report [mean corpuscular volume (MCV) <82 fl and/or mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) <27 pg]; (5)group of 5 cases with HbA 2 ≥2.0% and <3.0% accompanied with β thalassemia gene carriers Sanger sequencing was used to detect single nucleotide variants of δ-globin. Results:(1) A total of 22 genetic variations were detected, including 6 de novo variations, and the top 3 genetic variations were respectively c.-127T>C (57.02%, 65/114), c.-80T>C (9.65%, 11/114), c.349C>T (7.89%, 9/114). (2) In group of patients with HbA 2 <2.0% but no HbF band, 22 cases (62.85%, 22/35) had HBD gene variation, including 7 cases with MCV and MCH lower than reference values, 4 cases with α thalassemia; 13 cases had no HBD gene variation, including 12 cases with lower MCV and MCH. Among 19 cases with abnormal blood routine test results, levels of HbA 2 in patients (7 cases) with HBD gene variation were lower compared with those without HBD gene variation (12 cases) ( P<0.01%). (3)In group of patients with HbA 2<2.0% with HbF band, 59 cases (92.18%, 59/64) had HBD gene variations whose mutations all occurred in promoter region, and the HbF were all lower than 5.0%; 5 cases with HbF >5.0% had no HBD gene variation. (4) In group of patients with HbA 2 <2.0% and suspected HbA 2 variants, the detection rate was 100% (25/25) and δ-globin variants <1.0%. (5) In group of patients with HbA 2 ≥2.0% and <3.5% and HbF band accompanied with abnormal blood routine results, no HBD gene variation was found. (6) In group of 5 patients with HbA 2 ≥2.0% and <3.0% with β thalassemia gene carriers, HBD gene variation were found in all cases, and the level of HbA 2 was (2.62±0.17)% and HbF was (3.62±2.22)%. Conclusions:There are various genotypes of HBD gene variation, among which HBD: c.-127T>C is the most common in Guangdong population in China. Mutations in the promoter region may cause decrease in HbA 2 and increase in HbF which is mostly less than 5% but exceeds 5.0% when combined with β thalassemia. Our study enriched the gene mutation profiles of HBD gene in Guangdong population.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate how the National Health Commission of China (NHCC)-recommended Chinese medicines (CMs) modulate the major maladjustments of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), particularly the clinically observed complications and comorbidities. METHODS: By focusing on the potent targets in common with the conventional medicines, we investigated the mechanisms of 11 NHCC-recommended CMs in the modulation of the major COVID-19 pathophysiology (hyperinflammations, viral replication), complications (pain, headache) and comorbidities (hypertension, obesity, diabetes). The constituent herbs of these CMs and their chemical ingredients were from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Information Database. The experimentally-determined targets and the activity values of the chemical ingredients of these CMs were from the Natural Product Activity and Species Source Database. The approved and clinical trial drugs against these targets were searched from the Therapeutic Target Database and DrugBank Database. Pathways of the targets was obtained from Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and additional literature search. RESULTS: Overall, 9 CMs modulated 6 targets discovered by the COVID-19 target discovery studies, 8 and 11 CMs modulated 8 and 6 targets of the approved or clinical trial drugs for the treatment of the major COVID-19 complications and comorbidities, respectively. CONCLUSION The coordinated actions of each NHCC-recommended CM against a few targets of the major COVID-19 pathophysiology, complications and comorbidities, partly have common mechanisms with the conventional medicines.
COVID-19/physiopathology* ; Comorbidity ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Humans ; Medicine ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; SARS-CoV-2

Objective:To investigate the mechanism of invariant natural killer T (iNKT)2 cell improving hepatic fat deposition in nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL).Methods:NAFL model was established by feeding C57BL/6J mice with high fat diet. The levels of serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in the peripheral blood of mice were analyzed using automatic biochemical analyzer. The pathological changes of liver were observed with HE staining. The cell frequencies of iNKT, iNKT1, and iNKT2 in liver were detected by flow cytometry. Western blotting was used to detect the expression of sterol regulatory element binding protein 1c (SREBP-1c), peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR)-α, and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) in liver tissues.Results:Compared with control group, the body weight of NAFL mice increased, the levels of total cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C, ALT, and liver fat deposition increased, the protein expression of SREBP-1c and PPAR-α in liver increased as well as the the protein phosphorylation level of NF-κB. After intraperitoneal injection of α-galactosylceramide (α-GalCer), the levels of total cholesterol, HDL-C, and LDL-C, liver fat deposition decreased, liver SREBP-1c was down-regulated, PPAR-α expression was up-regulated, and the proportion of liver iNKT2 subgroup increased in NAFL mice.Conclusion:iNKT2 cells improve NAFL liver fat deposition, which is related to the down-regulation of SREBP-1c and up-regulation of PPAR-α.

As a class of multifunctional biocatalysts, halohydrin dehalogenases are of great interest for the synthesis of chiral β-substituted alcohols and epoxides. There are less than 40 halohydrin dehalogenases with relatively clear catalytic functions, and most of them do not meet the requirements of scientific research and practical applications. Therefore, it is of great significance to excavate and identify more halohydrin dehalogenases. In the present study, a putative halohydrin dehalogenase (HHDH-Ra) from Rhodospirillaceae bacterium was expressed and its enzymatic properties were investigated. The HHDH-Ra gene was cloned into the expression host Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) and the target protein was shown to be soluble. Substrate specificity studies showed that HHDH-Ra possesses excellent specificity for 1,3-dichloro-2-propanol (1,3-DCP) and ethyl-4-chloro-3-hydroxybutyrate (CHBE). The optimum pH and temperature for HHDH-Ra with 1,3-DCP as the reaction substrate were 8.0 and 30 °C, respectively. HHDH-Ra was stable at pH 6.0-8.0 and maintained about 70% of its original activity after 100 h of treatment. The thermal stability results revealed that HHDH-Ra has a half-life of 60 h at 30 °C and 40 °C. When the temperature is increased to 50 °C, the enzyme still has a half-life of 20 h, which is much higher than that of the reported enzymes. To sum up, the novel halohydrin dehalogenase from Rhodospirillaceae bacterium possesses good temperature and pH stability as well as catalytic activity, and shows the potential to be used in the synthesis of chemical and pharmaceutical intermediates.
Escherichia coli/metabolism* ; Hydrolases/metabolism* ; Rhodospirillaceae ; Substrate Specificity

Objective:To observe the changes in percentages and subsets of invariant nature kiler T (iNKT) cells in adipose and related tissues at different stages of obesity, and analyze the role of iNKT cells during chronic inflammation in adipose tissues in a mouse model of obesity established with high-fat diet.Methods:Changes in mouse body weight, mental state, glucose tolerance and insulin tolerance were recorded. Hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining was used to observe pathological changes in adipose tissues. Flow cytometry was performed to detect the percentages and subsets of iNKT cells as well as the percentages and subtypes of macrophages. The levels of cytokines in serum samples and the culture supernatants of lymphocytes in adipose tissues were detected with CBA. The expression of related proteins in adipose tissues was detected by Western blot.Results:(1) The volume of adipose cells increased significantly after four weeks of high-fat feeding, but the infiltration of inflammatory cells was not obvious. Significantly increased infiltration of inflammatory cells was observed after 12 weeks of high-fat feeding. (2) High-fat feeding could reduce the percentage of iNKT cells, increase the proportion of iNKT1 subgroup and decrease the proportion of iNKT10 subgroup in adipose tissues. The proportion of iNKT1 subgroup in thymus increased, but that of iNKT2 subgroup decreased. The percentage of macrophages and the proportion of M1 subgroup in adipose tissues increased, while the proportion of M2 subgroup decreased, which were more obvious after 12 weeks of high-fat feeding. (3) High-fat feeding resulted in decreased expression of E4BP4 and arginase-1 (Arg-1) in adipose tissues and increased expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). (4) High-fat feeding significantly increased the pro-inflammatory cytokines and decreased the anti-inflammatory cytokines in mouse serum and culture supernatants of lymphocytes in adipose tissues with more significant changes observed after 12 weeks of high-fat feeding.Conclusions:Increased iNKT1 and decreased iNKT10 in obese adipose tissues might be closely related to the increased M1 polarization and the imbalance of iNKT subsets might be involved in the progression of chronic inflammation in obese adipose tissues.

Early-onset epilepsy is a neurological abnormality in childhood, and it is especially common in the first 2 years after birth. Seizures in early life mostly result from structural or metabolic disorders in the brain, and the genetic causes of idiopathic seizures have been extensively investigated. In this study, we identified four missense mutations in the SETD1A gene (SET domain-containing 1A, histone lysine methyltransferase): three de novo mutations in three individuals and one inherited mutation in a four-generation family. Whole-exome sequencing indicated that all four of these mutations were responsible for the seizures. Mutations of SETD1A have been implicated in schizophrenia and developmental disorders, so we examined the role of the four mutations (R913C, Q269R, G1369R, and R1392H) in neural development. We found that their expression in mouse primary cortical neurons affected excitatory synapse development. Moreover, expression of the R913C mutation also affected the migration of cortical neurons in the mouse brain. We further identified two common genes (Neurl4 and Usp39) affected by mutations of SETD1A. These results suggested that the mutations of SETD1A play a fundamental role in abnormal synaptic function and the development of neurons, so they may be pathogenic factors for neurodevelopmental disorders.

Objective To detect and analyze the percentages of CD4+T, CD8+T and invariant na-ture killer T ( iNKT) cells as well as iNKT subsets in different tissues and organs of non-obese diabetic (NOD)/LtJ mice before the onset and in the early and late stages of type 1 diabetes (T1D) for better under-standing the immune function in different disease stages. Methods Female NOD/LtJ mice were selected as experimental subjects. Their fasting blood glucose levels were measured by blood glucose meter. Glycosuria and blood glucose level ≥11. 1 mmol/L in two consecutive detections were used as the diagnostic criteria of T1D. These mice were divided into three groups as follows: non-onset, early stage and late stage groups. Changes in food and water intake, glucose level in the urine, body weight, mental state, fur color and urine volume were recorded. Percentages of CD4+T, CD8+T and iNKT cells and ratios of subsets in peripheral blood, thymus, spleen, liver and inguinal lymph nodes were detected by flow cytometry (FACS). Results (1) Compared with the non-onset and the early stage groups, mice in the late stage group were apathetic and had rough hair. Moreover, significantly increased water and food intake and urine output (P<0. 05) and de-creased body weight, thymus index, spleen index and the absolute lymphocyte counts of spleen, liver and thymus (P<0. 05) were observed in the late stage group. (2) Compared with the non-onset group, the early stage group showed significantly increased percentages of CD4+T cells in spleen, liver, thymus and inguinal lymph nodes (P<0. 05). Compared with the early stage group, the late stage group showed decreased per-centages of CD4+T cells in liver, thymus, inguinal lymph nodes and peripheral blood (P<0. 05). Compared with the non-onset group, the percentages of CD8+T cells in the early stage group were significantly increased in spleen and thymus, but reduced in inguinal lymph nodes (P<0. 05). Compared with the early stage group, the percentages of CD8+T cells in late stage group were significantly reduced in liver and thymus, but increased in inguinal lymph nodes (P<0. 05). (3) The percentages of iNKT cells in liver and inguinal lymph nodes of mice in the early stage group were significantly higher than those of the non-onset group (P<0. 05). The percentages of iNKT cells in peripheral blood and liver of mice in the late stage group were sig-nificantly lower than those of the early stage group (P<0. 05). No significant difference in the percentages of iNKT cells in spleen and thymus was found among the three groups (P>0. 05). (4) Compared with the non-onset group, the percentages of iNKT1 subset in thymus in the early and late stage groups were significantly increased, while the percentages of iNKT2 subset were significantly decreased (P<0. 05). No significant difference in the percentages of iNKT1 and iNKT2 subsets in spleen, liver and inguinal lymph nodes was found among the three groups (P>0. 05). (5) The percentages of iNKT2 subset in spleen, liver and ingui-nal lymph nodes were significantly lower than those of the iNKT1 subset in the three groups (P<0. 05). The percentage of iNKT2 subset in thymus was significantly higher than that of iNKT1 subset in the non-onset group (P<0. 05). (6) Compared with the non-onset and the late stage groups, the early stage group showed significantly increased levels of IFN-γ, IL-4 and IL-17A and up-regulated ratio of IFN-γ/IL-4 (P<0. 05). Compared with the non-onset and the early stage groups, the late stage group showed significantly increased IL-6 level (P<0. 05). Compared with the non-onset group, IL-10 level in the other two groups was in-creased, especially in the late stage group (P<0. 05). No significant difference in IL-2 level was found among the three groups (P>0. 05). Conclusion Increased percentages of iNKT cells and iNKT1 subset in NOD/LtJ mice with early stage of T1D might be involved in the development of T1D.

Objective:To evaluate the effects of individual extralevator abdominoperineal excision (ELAPE) of rectal neoplasms in the low posterior wall on the pelvic floor by finite element analysis. Methods:MIMICS 10.01, Geo Magic Studio 12, and ANSYS Workbench 14.0 were used to analyze the magnetic resonance data obtained from the pelvic region of 27 healthy nulliparous volunteers. Three types of finite element models (intact model, ELAPE model, and individual ELAPE model) were developed. The maximal stress on non levator ani tissues were analyzed using the three models, while the maximal stress on levator ani tissues were analyzed using the in-tact model and the individual ELAPE model. Their stress distributions under the same pressure were analyzed and compared. Results:The maximal stress on non levator ani tissues obtained using the intact model, ELAPE model, and individual ELAPE model were (1.963± 0.061), (5.127 ± 0.070), and (3.667 ± 0.126) MPa, respectively, with P<0.01. High-stress zones were obtained at the joints with pelvic walls on both sides using the three models, while the maximal stresses were obtained at the joints with pubis on both sides. The maxi-mal stress on levator ani tissues obtained using the intact model and individual ELAPE model were (0.812 ± 0.042) MPa and (1.437 ± 0.043) MPa, respectively. Thus, the individual ELAPE model yielded higher values of maximal stress compared to the intact model. Both models generated high-stress zones at the joints with tendinous arch of levator ani tissues on both sides, and maximum stresses at the joints with pubis on both sides. Conclusion:Individual ELAPE decreases the stress on non levator ani tissues. This suggests that the risk of postoperative pelvic floor hernia is relatively reduced.

Objective:To investigate effects of a novel synthetic immunostimulator CH1b containing thiazolidin-4-one on the immunoregulation funotion of iNKT ( invariant nature killer T ) cells in active RA patients in vitro.Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells( PBMCs) isolated from active RA patients were cultured with stimulation of α-Galcer and IL-2 in vitro and iNKT cells were then separated by using magnetic activated cell sorting( MACS) method with iNKT isolation kit.The cells were divided into three groups:control group (IL-2),α-Galcer group (IL-2+α-Galcer),CH1b group(IL-2 +CH1b).The effects of CH1b on the proliferation of iNKT cells in active RA patients were analyzed by using MTT assay.MILLIPLEX MAP Human Cytokine/Chemokine kit was used to evaluate the secretion of IFN-γand IL-4 in iNKT cells culture media.The expressions of IFN-γmRNA and IL-4 mRNA in iNKT cells were analyzed by RT-PCR.Results: Compared with control and α-Galcer group,the proliferation of iNKT cells of CH1b group were significantly higher( P<0.05).Compared with control,the ratio of IFN-γ/IL-4 in iNKT cells culture media in active RA patients of CH1b group were significantly lower (P<0.05).Compared with control,expressions of IFN-γmRNA and IL-4 mRNA were higher inα-Galcer group;compared with control,expressions of IL-4 mRNA were higher in CH1b group,while there were no obvious difference on expressions of IFN-γmRNA.Conclusion:CH1b was found to significantly stimulate the actived iNKT cells in active RA patients proliferation,promote the secretion of IL-4,and increase the ratio of IFN-γ/IL-4,promote the expression of IL-4 mRNA in iNKT cells in active patients.

Objective:To explore the effect of the synthetic immunomodulator CH 2b with a thiazolidin-4-one ring on the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) mice induced by glucose-6-phosphate isomerase(GPI) mixed peptides.Methods:hGPI325-339 ,hGPI469-483 peptide fragments were mixed with complete freund′s adjuvant fully ,DBA/1 mice were givien subcutaneous injection of the emulsifiers,pertussis toxin to strengthen immunity.And then RA mice were intervened with α-GalCer and CH2b,the changes of body weight ,ankle joint symptoms scores were observed .The joint tissues stained with hematoxylin and eosin ( HE) was used to evaluate the inflammatory cells.Fluorescence-activated cell sorting ( FACS) was used to detect the frequency changes of iNKT cells .Cytometric bead array(CBA) was used to analyze the levels of serum cytokines TNF-α,IL-6,IL-4,IFN-γ.Results: Compared with the model group,α-GalCer,CH2b could reduce the inflammation of the model mice ,significantly improve the body weight growth and the joint swelling(P<0.05).The inflammatory cells infiltration were decreased.More importantly,CH2b improved the frequency of iNKT cells in peak,the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).The levels of TNF-α,IL-6,IFN-γin serum were significantly decreased(P<0.05) by CH2b.α-GalCer,CH2b could decrease the levels of TNF-α,IL-6,IFN-γ,and the two groups had no statistically significant difference(P>0.05).Conclusion:Immunomodulator CH2b by activating iNKT cells affect the secretion of inflammatory cytokines ,and it relieved the GPI induced arthritis .