Objective: To investigate the clinical features of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients with aplastic anemia (AA) undergoing immunosuppressive therapy (IST) . Methods: In this prospective cohort study, we collected the demographic and clinical data of patients with AA and COVID-19 from December 1, 2022, to January 31, 2023. We described the clinical features of COVID-19 among patients with AA and evaluated the effects of IST on the signs and severity of COVID-19. Results: A total of 170 patients with AA and COVID-19 were included. The common early symptoms, including fever, dizziness or headache, muscle or body aches, and sore throat, disappeared within 1-2 weeks. Approximately 25% of the patients had persistent fatigue within 2 weeks. Many patients experienced cough after an initial 1-3 days of infection, which lasted for more than 2 weeks. There were no differences in the duration of total fever episodes and maximum body temperature when patients were stratified according to whether or not they underwent IST, by IST duration, or by use of anti-lymphocyte globulin (ALG) (P>0.05). No differences were observed in the occurrence of symptoms in either the early or recovery stages when patients with AA were stratified according to whether or not they underwent IST, or by IST duration (P>0.05). However, patients who received ALG had fewer fever episodes within 1 week after infection (P=0.035) and more sore throat episodes within 2 weeks after infection (P=0.015). There were no other significant differences in clinical symptoms between patients who did and patients who did not receive ALG (P>0.05) . Conclusion: The majority of patients with AA and COVID-19 recovered within 2 weeks of noticing symptoms when treated with IST.
Humans ; Anemia, Aplastic ; COVID-19 ; Prospective Studies ; Fever ; Immunosuppression Therapy ; Pharyngitis

This study aims to explore the influence of Polygonati Rhizoma on the pyroptosis in the rat model of diabetic macroangiopathy via the NOD-like receptor thermal protein domain associated protein 3(NLRP3)/cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase-1(caspase-1)/gasdermin D(GSDMD) pathway. The rat model of diabetes was established by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin(STZ) combined with a high-fat, high-sugar diet. The blood glucose meter, fully automated biochemical analyzer, hematoxylin-eosin(HE) staining, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry, and Western blot were employed to measure blood glucose levels, lipid levels, vascular thickness, inflammatory cytokine levels, and expression levels of pyroptosis-related proteins. The mechanism of pharmacological interventions against the injury in the context of diabetes was thus explored. The results demonstrated the successful establishment of the model of diabetes. Compared with the control group, the model group showed elevated levels of fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol(TC), triglycerides(TG) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-c), lowered level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-c), thickened vascular intima, and elevated serum and aorta levels of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), interleukin-1β(IL-1β) and interleukin-18(IL-18). Moreover, the model group showed increased NLRP3 inflammasomes and up-regulated levels of caspase-1 and GSDMD in aortic vascular cells. Polygonati Rhizoma intervention reduced blood glucose and lipid levels, inhibited vascular thickening, lowered the levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-18 in the serum and aorta, attenuated NLRP3 inflammasome expression, and down-regulated the expression levels of caspase-1 and GSDMD, compared with the model group. In summary, Polygonati Rhizoma can slow down the progression of diabetic macroangiopathy by inhibiting pyroptosis and alleviating local vascular inflammation.
Animals ; Rats ; Caspase 1/genetics* ; NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein/genetics* ; Interleukin-18 ; Blood Glucose ; Pyroptosis ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; Diabetes Complications ; Vascular Diseases ; Inflammasomes ; Cholesterol ; Lipids ; Diabetes Mellitus

Objective:To explore the diagnostic process and outcomes of patients with aplastic anemia (AA) who received outpatient treatment in a real-world setting.Methods:The diagnostic processes, treatment regimens, and outcomes of 176 patients with AA treated in outpatient centers from January 2018 to December 2019 were reviewed.Results:The median interval from the onset of symptoms to the first visit was 7 (5-120) months. Complaints during the first visit included bleeding (52.3% ) , anemia (51.7% ) , and infection (6.8% ) . For diagnosis, 168 patients (95.5% ) underwent bone marrow aspiration; however, only 22 of them (17.1% ) consented aspiration in multiple sites (sternum) . The completion rate of bone marrow biopsy was 85.1% (143/168) ; flow immunophenotype and karyotype analyses were performed on 59.5% (100/168) and 58.9% (99/168) of AA patients, respectively, and the culture of clonal forming units by bone marrow mononuclear cells was performed on 26.8% (45/168) of AA patients. The most preferred regimen was cyclosporine combined with androgen and levamisole (43.8% , 77 patients) , followed by cyclosporine combined with androgen (25.6% , 45 patients) . Cyclosporine alone was administered in 24 patients (13.6% ) and androgen alone in 16 patients (9.1% ) . Furthermore, 14 patients (7.9% ) did not consent to any drugs or only chose traditional Chinese medicine. The patients were divided according to the frequencies of follow-up: regular follow-up group (≥4 times/year, n=130) and irregular group (<4 times/year, n=46) . The former had a higher 6-month remission rate (52.5% vs 28.0% , P=0.005) , a greater high-quality remission rate in 12 months (40.7% vs 16.7% , P=0.027) , and a lower relapse rate in 24 months (4.4% vs 36.4% , P=0.001) . Conclusion:In real-world settings, bone marrow aspiration in multiple sites should be addressed in outpatient treatment for AA diagnostic work-up, including PNH clone screening, flow immunophenotype, chromosome karyotype analysis, and culture of clonal forming units. Patients with AA who follow regular visits were more likely to achieve high-quality remission and a lower relapse rate. Visits at least four times per year are recommended for AA patients undergoing outpatient treatment.

Objective:To investigate the clinical manifestations, auxiliary examination results, prognosis and treatment of children with typical hemolytic uremic syndrome (D + HUS). Methods:The clinical data of 36 patients diagnosed as D + HUS in the Department of Pediatrics of Nanjing Jinling Hospital from January 2001 to January 2019 were collected, and the laboratory results including blood routine, liver and kidney function, coagulation function, humoral immunity and urine were compared before and after treatment. Results:The white blood cell count[ (9.28±6.77)×10 9/L vs.(11.20±5.93) ×10 9/ L ], C-reactive protein [7.15(3.34, 29.33) mg/L vs.31.83(25.03, 39.75) mg/L], reticulocyte count [(112.49±76.25)×10 9/L vs. (206.49±147.99)×10 9/L], erythrocyte sedimentation[15.02(11.79, 22.83) mm/1 h vs.28.06(24.13, 40.52) mm/1 h] , aspartate aminotransferase[50.04(41.92, 60.11) U/L vs.62.61(54.58, 83.52) U/L], alanine aminotransferase [16.72(11.80, 24.74) U/L vs.24.54(20.30, 34.36) U/L], uric acid [(532.84±309.06) μmol/L vs.(606.64±327.23) μmol/L], serum creatinine[160.07(124.87, 221.18) μmol/L vs.200.56(160.62, 283.01)μmol/L ], blood urea nitrogen [20.74(15.77, 28.40) mmol/L vs.33.67(25.91, 45.84) mmol/L], lactate dehydrogenase [488.21(337.59, 692.82) U/L vs.1 520.68(734.24, 2 272.10) U/L ], prothrombin time [(12.14±5.89) s vs. (17.91±6.12) s ], activated partial thrombin time [(25.05±6.26) s vs.(32.38±5.49) s], fibrinogen [ (3.79±2.17) g/L vs.(5.17±3.88) g/L], D-dimer [0.92(0.30, 1.13) mg/L vs. 1.27(1.01, 1.90) mg/L ], 24-hour urinary proteinuria [ (84.05±44.19) mg/(kg·24 h) vs.(112.18±78.26) mg/(kg·24 h) ], urinary sediment [175.73(79.72, 258.66)×10 7/L vs. 160.38(118.68, 361.83)×10 7/L], N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase [25.10(18.84, 33.02) U/(g·cr) vs. 41.57(29.49, 58.61) U/(g·cr)], urinary retinol binding protein [0.35(0.18, 1.33) mg/L vs 1.05(0.66, 1.68) mg/L.] in patients after treatment were significantly lower than those before treatment, and the differences were all statistically significant(all P<0.05); patients had higher levels of red blood cell count [ (4.51±1.73)×10 9/L vs.(2.43±1.40) ×10 9/L], platelet[(126.82±78.35)×10 9/L vs. (85.21±69.38)×10 9/L], hemoglobin[(118.46±18.27) g/L vs. (62.36±16.11) g/L], and complement C 3levels [(0.74±0.39) g/L vs.(0.58±0.27) g/L ] after treatment, and the differences were all all statistically significant(all P<0.05). Children with D + HUS showed multiple system injuries.Among 36 cases, 17 cases (47.22%) had fever, 31 cases (86.11%) had abdominal pain and diarrhea, 29 cases (80.56%) had nausea and vomiting, 8 cases (22.22%) had headache and dizziness, 36 cases (100.00%) had proteinuria and hematuria, 34 cases (94.44%) had renal insufficiency, and 21 cases (58.33%) had yellow staining of skin and sclera.The auxiliary examination for abnormal results mainly included renal pathology (100.00%) (mesangial proliferation endothelial cell proliferation and swelling, and shedding of renal tubular brush borders), bone marrow pathology (100.00%) (active bone marrow hyperplasia), and renal B-ultrasound (86.67 %) (kidney injury-like sound image). Conclusions:D + HUS in children shows multiple system damage.Digestive system abnormalities are the main causative factor of D + HUS in children, and the disease is dangerous.Therefore, early diagnosis and active treatment can improve the prognosis.

This study aimed to explore the main active ingredients and potential targets of Solanum nigrum(SN), so as to reveal the potential molecular mechanism of SN in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) based on network pharmacology and molecular docking. First,the main active ingredients and predictive targets of SN were collected in the traditional Chinese medicine systems pharmacology database and analysis platform(TCMSP). Then,the targets relating to HCC were collected through retrieval of integrated bio-pharmacological network database for traditional Korean medicine(PharmDB-K), oncogenomic database of hepatocellular carcinoma(OncoDB.hcc). The common targets of disease-drug component were selected through intersection between predictive targets and disease targets. Next, based on the String platform, protein-protein interaction network(PPI) model of the potential anti-HCC targets was constructed using the software Cytoscape 3.7.1. ClueGO and CluePedia APP in Cytoscape were used to analyze the gene function of SN in the treatment of HCC, and construct the main active ingredients-potential targets-signal pathways topology network of SN. Finally,DISCOVERY STUDIO software was applied in verifying the molecular docking between the key active ingredient and potential protein target. The results showed that there were 4 main active ingredients of SN, involving 22 potential targets relating to HCC and 7 signal pathways relating to potential anti-HCC targets of SN. Network analysis showed that SN may play a therapeutic role in HCC by acting on key targets, such as EGFR, TP53, MYC, CCND1 and CTNNB1. Molecular docking results showed that quercetin and EGFR could bind stably and interact through amino acid residues LEU718, LYS745 and GLN791. This study revealed the potential active ingredients and the possible molecular mechanism of SN for treatment of HCC, providing scientific basis for follow-up exploration of the molecular mechanism of SN against HCC.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/drug therapy* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms/drug therapy* ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Solanum nigrum/chemistry*

OBJECTIVETo investigate the prognostic value of morphology and Hans classification in diffuse large B cell lymphoma（DLBCL）.

METHODSClinical data of 249 patients diagnosed with DLBCL in our hospital and Hangzhou Xixi hospital during Jan 2006 to Dec 2016 were analyzed retrospectively. These patients were classified into 3 groups: immunoblastic variant（IB） group, centroblastic variant（CB） group and others group according to the cell morphology. And DLBCL was also divided into GCB（germinal center B-cell-like）or non-GCB（non-germinal center B-cell-like） group by analyzing the expression of CD10, BCL6 and MUM1 (GCB: CD10 ,BCL6,MUM1/CD10,BCL6,MUM1；non-GCB：CD10,BCL6,MUM1/CD10,BCL6,MUM1).

RESULTSThe univariate analysis displayed that the age，LDH level，IPI，IB，non-GCB，B-symptoms and rituximab all could influence the OS and EFS, the CR rate of CB subtype patients was significantly higher than that of the patients with IB subtype （68.3% vs 38.9%)(P=0.02）. IB subtype was the in dependent prognostic factor for both EFS and OS in the whole study. In multivariate analysis, IPI and IB were the independent prognostic factors for OS and EFS. IB subtype was also an independent prognostic factor in EFS and OS with or without rituximab. The expression of BCL2 and BCL6 was related with prognosis in R-CHOP, but not in CHOP treated patients. Other markers (CD5, CD10, IRF4/MUM1, HLA-DR and Ki-67 proliferation index) were not of the significant prognostic value for DLBCL. When accepted rituximab, the GCB and non-GCB were not different significantly for prognosis. However, the non-GCB group showed a poor prognosis without using rituximab （EFS P=0.020；OS P=0.020）. Multivariate Cox models showed that OS and EFS were not significantly different between GCB and non-GCB group, however, the IB subtype had a very significantly poor prognosis in OS and EFS (P=0.001, P=0.002). When the analysis was restricted to DLBCL with CB morphology only, no prognostic value was observed in Hans classification.

CONCLUSIONThe subtype of immunoblast is a major risk factor in patients treated with CHOP or R-CHOP. There is a significant association between the Hans classification and the morphologic subclassification. Results of this study have supplemented the data for the prognostic factor of DLBCL and demonstrated that the cytomorphologic diagnosis can be reproducible.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; Cyclophosphamide ; Doxorubicin ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Retrospective Studies ; Rituximab

Understanding of codon usage bias of Fritillaria cirrhosa can provide theoretical basis for heterologous biosynthesis of F. cirrhosa alkaloids by genetic engineering technology. A total of 9 843 full length coding sequences (CDS) from the F. cirrhosa transcriptome data were used for the analysis of codon usage bias. The GC and GC3s contents, effective number of codons(ENC) and relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU) were calculated using the CodonW software. The results show that the codon usage bias value is low in the CDS of F. cirrhosa. A total of 15 codons, including UUG, CUU, AUU, GUU, UCA, CCU, CCA, ACU, ACA, GCA, UAU, CAU, AAU, AGA and GGA, were identified as optimal codons in F. cirrhosa. The optimal codons generally end with A/T at the third codon position. By the transcriptome annotation, we found 26 CDSs possibly involved in the biosynthesis of alkaloids in the F. cirrhosa. The proportion of rare codons of Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae are low in these CDSs. We also proposed a method for the codonoptimization in these target genes. Our work lays the foundation for further study on the biosynthesis of alkaloids of the F. cirrhosa in heterologous species.

Elucidation of the biosynthetic pathways of natural products is not only the major goal of herb genomics, but also the solid foundation of synthetic biology of natural products. Here, this paper reviewed recent advance in this field and put forward strategies to elucidate the biosynthetic pathway of natural products. Firstly, a proposed biosynthetic pathway should be set up based on well-known knowledge about chemical reactions and information on the identified compounds, as well as studies with isotope tracer. Secondly, candidate genes possibly involved in the biosynthetic pathway were screened out by co-expression analysis and/or gene cluster mining. Lastly, all the candidate genes were heterologously expressed in the host and then the enzyme involved in the biosynthetic pathway was characterized by activity assay. Sometimes, the function of the enzyme in the original plant could be further studied by RNAi or VIGS technology. Understanding the biosynthetic pathways of natural products will contribute to supply of new leading compounds by synthetic biology and provide "functional marker" for herbal molecular breeding, thus but boosting the development of traditional Chinese medicine agriculture.

Natural products with complex and diverse structures are the major sources of new drugs. The biosynthesis of natural products is considered to be one of the best ways to solve the problems of complex and scarce natural products. DNA assembly technology and genome editing technology are two key technologies in the emerging interdisciplinary field of synthetic biology. A number of novel DNA assembly methods developed in the last few years have paved the way for the engineering of high molecular weight DNA molecules, including whole genomes, hence, it can realize the reconstruction of the metabolic pathways and speed up optimization process. A wide variety of new tools for microbial genome editing will be applied widely to modify the chassis genome to increase its adaptation with the exogenetic pathways. This article summarized the latest advance with respect to DNA assembly and genome editing, which aims to provide help for reconstruction and optimization of the synthetic biological systems of natural products.