Correlation of miRNA-181c expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells with interferon-γ, chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 10, and Toll-like receptor 4 in children with autoimmune hepatitis / 临床肝胆病杂志

ObjectiveTo investigate the correlation of miR-181c expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with interferon-γ (IFN-γ), chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 10 (CXCL10), and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in children with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). MethodsA total of 27 children with AIH who were admitted to The Affiliated Hospital of Yanbian University from March 2015 to May 2019 were enrolled as AIH group, and 30 healthy children who underwent physical examination during the same period of were enrolled as control group. The expression of miR-181c in PBMCs and the expression of IFN-γ, CXCL10, and TLR4 were measured for the two groups. The t-test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups, and the Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two groups; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to investigate the correlation of miR-181c expression with each index, and a logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the influence of each factor on AIH. ResultsCompared with the control group, the AIH group had significantly higher levels of the liver function parameters aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), and total bilirubin (TBil) (t=14.445,20.064，11.728,13.822, all P＜0.001). The AIH group also had significantly higher levels of IgA, IgM, and IgG than the control group (t=7.772, 5147, and 6771, all P＜0.05). The AIH group had significantly lower relative expression of miR-181c in PBMCs than the control group (0.784±0173 vs 1.106±0.224, t=5.819, P＜0.05). Compared with the control group, the AIH group had significantly higher levels of IFN-γ and CXCL10 and mRNA expression of TLR4 (t=6.949, 12.303, and 13.835, all P＜0.05). The correlation analysis showed that in the children with AIH, the expression of miR-181c in PBMCs was negatively correlated with IFN-γ, CXCL10, TLR4, AST, ALT, GGT, TBil, and IgG (r=-0.316, -0.348, -0.322, -0.427, -0.442, -0.408, -0.396, and -0.321, all P＜0.05). The univariate logistic regression analysis showed that AST, ALT, GGT, TBil, IFN-γ, CXCL10, TLR4 mRNA, and miR-181c were all included in the regression model (all P＜0.05) and were the influencing factors for the onset of AIH. ConclusionChildren with AIH have downregulated expression of miR-181c in PBMCs, which is closely associated with IFN-γ, CXCL10, and TLR4, suggesting that miR-181c may affect the development of AIH in children by regulating the immune system.

In Vitro and in Vivo Effects of Nitrofurantoin on Experimental Toxoplasmosis

Toxoplasma gondii is an important opportunistic pathogen that causes toxoplasmosis, which has very few therapeutic treatment options. The most effective therapy is a combination of pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine; however, their utility is limited because of drug toxicity and serious side effects. For these reasons, new drugs with lower toxicity are urgently needed. In this study, the compound, (Z)-1-[(5-nitrofuran-2-yl)methyleneamino]-imidazolidine-2,4-dione (nitrofurantoin), showed anti-T. gondii effects in vitro and in vivo. In HeLa cells, the selectivity of nitrofurantoin was 2.3, which was greater than that of pyrimethamine (0.9). In T. gondii-infected female ICR mice, the inhibition rate of T. gondii growth in the peritoneal cavity was 44.7% compared to the negative control group after 4-day treatment with 100 mg/kg of nitrofurantoin. In addition, hematology indicators showed that T. gondii infection-induced serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels, biochemical parameters involved in liver injury, were reduced by nitrofurantoin significantly. Moreover, nitrofurantoin exerted significant effects on the index of antioxidant status, i.e., malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH). The nitrofurantoin-treated group inhibited the T. gondii-induced MDA levels while alleviating the decrease in GSH levels. Thus, nitrofurantoin is a potential anti-T. gondii candidate for clinical application.

Molecular characterization of St ap hy lococcus aureus in Yanbian / 中国感染与化疗杂志

Objective To investigate the molecular epidemiology of Staphylococcus aureus in Yanbian area .Methods From March 2011 to June 2012 ,a total of 101 consecutive and non-duplicate strains of Staphylococcus aureus were collected from Yanbian Hospital .Genotypes of SCCmec ,spa,and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) were determined by PCR combined with DNA sequencing analysis .The pvl gene was detected by PCR .Results The most prevalent SCCmec type was type II (65 .0% ,39/60) ,followed by SCCmec type III (26 .7% ,16/60) .A total of 11 Spa types were identified for the MRSA strains ,including t2460 (55 .0% ,33/60) ,t030 (18 .3% ,11/60) ,t002 ,t324 ,and t632 (5 .0% ,3/60 each) .A total of 29 Spa types were identified for MSSA strains ,including t796 (14 .6% ,6/41) ,t309 (9 .8% ,4/41) ,and t126 (7 .3% ,3/41) . The pvl gene was identified in 5 stains .MRSA strains were classified into three types based on multilocus sequence typing (MLST) ,namely ST5 ,ST239 and ST72 .MLST-based MSSA types were more diverse ,including ST5 ,ST 25 ,ST 15 ,ST 59 ,ST 1 ,ST 7 ,ST 45 ,ST 22 ,and ST 188 .Conclusions ST5-MRSA-SCCmecII-t2460 and ST239-MRSA-SCCmecIII-t030 are the most prevalent MRSA clones in Yanbian area .Multiple prevalent MSSA clones are identified.