Establishment of basic principles and methods of acupuncture standardization in traditional Chinese medicine / 数字中医药（英文）

@#Standardization is the universal language of the world, and standardization of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is essential for its communication in China and globally. However, the principles and methods of TCM acupuncture standardization have been unclear and inadequate in the early stages. Based on an investigative approach to understanding the current status, identifying problems, and finding solutions, our team has established basic principles of TCM acupuncture that embody Chinese wisdom, evaluated the international strategic environment systematically, proposed the principle of “importance of harmony and exercise of impartiality”, and established basic working principles. A series of methods for TCM acupuncture standard development and evaluation have been constructed, including general standards for the revision of TCM acupuncture standards, the first TCM acupuncture clinical research management specification, a shared full chain technology platform, a data center, and an evaluation research base for TCM acupuncture clinical research. Evaluation criteria for ancient literature and expert experience, a recommendation method for the “three main and three auxiliaries” TCM guideline for prevention were established, and quantifiable assessment methods of TCM standard applicability were proposed. These findings provide methodological guidance for TCM acupuncture standardization.

Mechanism of obesity affecting periodontal tissue regeneration and therapeutic strategies / 中华口腔医学杂志

Obesity is an important health problem in our society today, which can lead to the chronic low-grade inflammation state, to be an inducement for many chronic diseases such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. As a common oral chronic infectious disease, periodontitis is mainly characterized by gingival inflammation, periodontal pocket formation, alveolar bone resorption and tooth mobility. The ultimate goal of periodontitis treatment is to achieve periodontal tissue regeneration in the defect area. As a major risk factor for periodontitis, obesity can alter the periodontal inflammatory microenvironment in multiple ways, affecting the effects of periodontal tissue regeneration ultimately. Therefore, this paper will review the relationship between obesity and periodontal tissue regeneration, mechanism of obesity affecting periodontal tissue regeneration and the therapeutic strategies of periodontal tissue regeneration, providing new ideas for periodontal tissue regeneration treatment in obesity.

Effects of the kynurenine pathway on the osteogenic differentiation of periodontal ligament stem cells / 中华口腔医学杂志

Objective: To explore the effect of kynurenine pathway on the osteogenic differentiation of periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSC). Methods: Unstimulated saliva samples were collected from 19 patients with periodontitis (periodontitis group) and 19 periodontally healthy individuals (health group) in Nanjing Stomatological Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University from June to October of 2022. Contents of kynurenine and the metabolites in saliva samples were analyzed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The expressions of indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase (IDO) and aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) were further detected by immunohistochemistry in gingival tissues. The PDLSC used in this study were isolated from extracted teeth for orthodontic treatment in Nanjing Stomatological Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University from July to November of 2022. Experiments were then conducted using the cells by incubating with (kynurenine group) or without kynurenine (control group) in vitro. Seven days later, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining and assays of ALP activity were performed. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was utilized to detect the expressions of osteogenic related genes ALP, osteocalcin (OCN), runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), collagen type-Ⅰ (COL-Ⅰ) as well as the kynurenine pathway-associated genes AhR, cytochrome P450 family (CYP) 1A1, CYP1B1. Western blotting was used to detect the expression levels of RUNX2, osteopontin (OPN) and AhR proteins on day 10 and alizarin red staining was performed to observe the formation of mineral nodules on day 21 in control group and kynurenine group. Results: Salivary concentrations of kynurenine [8.26 (0, 19.60) nmol/L] and kynurenic acid [11.4 (3.34, 13.52) nmol/L] were significantly higher in the periodontitis group than in the health group [0.75(0, 4.25) nmol/L, 1.92(1.34, 3.88) nmol/L] (Z=-2.84, P=0.004; Z=-3.61, P<0.001). The expression levels of IDO (18.33±2.22) and AhR (44.14±13.63) in gingival tissues of periodontitis patients were significantly higher than that of the health group (12.21±2.87, 15.39±5.14) (t=3.38, P=0.015; t=3.42, P=0.027). In vitro, the ALP activity of PDLSC in the kynurenine group (291.90±2.35) decreased significantly compared with the control group (329.30±19.29) (t=3.34, P=0.029). The mRNA expression levels of ALP, OCN and RUNX2 in the kynurenine group (0.43±0.12, 0.78±0.09, 0.66±0.10) were decreased compared with the control group (1.02±0.22, 1.00±0.11, 1.00±0.01) (t=4.71, P=0.003; t=3.23, P=0.018; t=6.73, P<0.001), while the levels of AhR and CYP1A1 were increased in the kynurenine group (1.43±0.07, 1.65±0.10) compared with those in the control group (1.01±0.12, 1.01±0.14) (t=5.23, P=0.006; t=6.59, P<0.001). No significant difference was observed in COL-Ⅰ and CYP1B1 mRNA levels between groups. The protein levels of OPN, RUNX2 (0.82±0.05, 0.87±0.03) were reduced and that of AhR (1.24±0.14) was increased in the kynurenine group compared with those in the control group (1.00±0.00, 1.00±0.00, 1.00±0.00) (t=6.79, P=0.003; t=7.95, P=0.001; t=3.04, P=0.039). Conclusions: Over-activated kynurenine pathway in periodontitis patients can promote upregulation of AhR and suppress the osteogenic differentiation of PDLSC.

Application of acellular dermal matrix in periodontal soft tissue augmentation surgery / 中华口腔医学杂志

The substitute materials of autologous tissue graft for periodontal soft tissue augmentation surgery develop rapidly. The use of substitute material can avoid the second operation area, shorten the operation time, reduce the postoperative reaction and pain, and is not limited by the quantity, suitable for a wide range of cases. In this paper, the characteristics, histological study, clinical application and therapeutic effect of acellular dermal matrix as a substitute material for autologous tissue transplantation were introduced to provide reference for clinical work.

Outcomes in randomized controlled trials of acupuncture for vascular cognitive impairment during recent five years / 中国针灸

The existing problems in the outcomes of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of acupuncture for vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) during recent five years are analyzed and suggestions are proposed. The RCTs of acupuncture for VCI were selected in PubMed, EMbase, Cochrane Library, Clinical Trials, CNKI database, Wanfang database, VIP database, SinoMed database and Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR) from January 1, 2015 to September 14, 2020. The outcomes were extracted and analyzed. As a result, 21 RCTs were included and the outcomes used were divided into 9 categories: clinical symptom/sign indexes, quality of life indexes, neuroimaging indexes, neuroelectrophysiology indexes, blood biochemical indexes, hemorheology indexes, TCM syndrome score indexes, clinical efficacy indexes, and safety indexes. Among them, the top three of the most used outcomes were clinical symptoms/signs indexes (21, 100.0%), clinical efficacy indexes (14, 66.7%) and quality of life indexes (12, 57.1%). In the RCTs of acupuncture for VCI, attention should be paid to distinguish the primary outcomes and secondary outcomes, adopt objective and standardized efficacy evaluation, and give consideration to report the outcomes of safety, health economic and TCM characteristic indexes.

Overview of systematic reviews of acupuncture for vascular cognitive impairment / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To overview the methodological quality, report quality and evidence quality of the systematic review (SR) of acupuncture for vascular cognitive impairment ( VCI ).@*METHODS@#The SRs regarding acupuncture for VCI were searched in PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMbase, CNKI, SinoMed, Wanfang and VIP databases. The retrieval period was from the establishment of the database to September 24, 2020. The report quality, methodological quality and evidence quality of the included SRs were evaluated by PRISMA statement, the AMSTAR 2 tool and the GRADE system.@*RESULTS@#A total of 22 SRs were included, including 102 outcome indexes. The methodological quality was generally low, with low scores on items 2, 5, 7, 10, 14, 15 and 16. The report quality was good, with scores ranging from 19 points to 24.5 points. The problems of report quality were mainly reflected in the aspects of structural abstract, program and registration, other analysis and funding sources. The level of outcome indexes of SRs was mostly low or very low, and the main leading factor was limitation, followed by inconsistency and inaccuracy.@*CONCLUSION@#Acupuncture for VCI is supported by low quality evidence of evidence-based medicine, but the methodological quality and evidence body quality of relevant SRs are poor, and the standardization is needed to be improved.

Excessive Internet and game use among children with different household registration in Shanghai / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To explore the status and related factors of excessive Internet and game use among primary and junior high school students with different household registration in Shanghai, and to provide a reference for creating healthy digital media usage family environment among children.@*Methods@#A questionnaire survey was conducted among 2 324 students and their parents from 4 primary schools, 4 middle schools in Shanghai. The sociodemographic characteristics, Internet Addiction Test, Game addiction scale and Family APGAR Index were investigated.@*Results@#Excessive internet use rate and the excessive game use rate was 16.1% and 9.4%, respectively. Low family economic status( OR =2.07), motivation type of Internet use to maintain emotional arousal ( OR =5.44) or to satisfy social function( OR =8.72), peer all the time gaming use( OR =2.21), peer gaming invitation( OR =1.85, 2.56, 2.53), family dysfunction above moderate( OR =2.62, 2.68) were positively associated with excessive internet use( P <0.05). Lack of confidence in their studies( OR =2.11, 4.14), motivation type of Internet use to maintain emotional arousal( OR = 4.82 ) or to satisfy social function( OR =6.09), peer often( OR =2.84) or all the time gaming use( OR =3.92), family dysfunction above moderate( OR =2.57, 2.16) were associated with excessive game use( P <0.05).@*Conclusion@#There is no significant difference in the excessive Internet and game use among children with different household registration.It is suggested that should attach importance to peer influence and family function, advocate schools and families to create a good environment for children s digital media use, and promote children s healthy development.

Feasibility and safety of right ventricular endomyocardial biopsy via the right internal jugular vein approach / 中华心血管病杂志

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and safety of right ventricular endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) via the right internal jugular vein approach. Methods: It was a retrospective and descriptive study. A total of 272 patients, who underwent right ventricular EMB from December 2014 to June 2020 in Fuwai Hospital and Peking Union Medical College Hospital were enrolled. The preliminary diagnosis included suspected myocarditis, myocardiopathy, unexplained heart failure etc after exclusion of coronary heart disease. Clinical characteristics including age, sex, height, weight, NYHA functional class, NT-proBNP, chest radiography, echocardiography, and hemodynamics parameters were collected at baseline. EMB was performed via right internal jugular vein approach under the biplane fluoroscopic guidance. Success rate was calculated in this study. Complications related to operation were recorded according the following definitions. Major complications included death, urgent cardiac surgery, advanced cardiac life support, pericardiocentesis in cardiac tamponade, permanent complete atrioventricular block requiring permanent pacing etc. Minor complications included pericardial effusion without pericardiocentesis, temporary (lasting less than 24 hours) or permanent right bundle-branch block, temporary Mobitz type Ⅱ atrioventricular block (AV block) with AV conduction 2∶1 requiring medical treatment with atropine, or additive temporary pacing, non-sustained ventricular tachycardia with long runs of more than 10 ventricular complexes, and an episode of atrial fibrillation lasting less than 12 hours or cardioversion of atrial fibrillation. Other complications included tricuspid anterior chorda rupture and new onset tricuspid regurgitation after EMB. Results: In this study, right ventricular EMB were performed successfully in 270 patients, the total success rate was 99.3% (270/272), and EMB were failed in 2 (0.7%) patients. Age of the enrolled patients was (42.7±16.9) years, and there were 164 (60.3%) males. Major complication including cardiac tamponade requiring pericardiocentesis occurred in 2 (0.7%) patients. Minor complications such as small amount pericardial effusion occurred in 18 (6.6%) patients, tricuspid anterior chorda rupture occurred in 1 (0.4%) patient. No patient died, or requiring permanent pacing, or requiring emergency cardiac surgery. The complication rate was 9.3% (13/140), 7.8% (7/90), and 2.4% (1/42) in operators with 1, 2, and 3 years' experience. Conclusions: EMB via the right jugular vein approach under fluoroscopic guidance is a simple, safe and feasible procedure. The complication rates decrease significantly with increasing operator experience.

Comparison of 127° small and 135° large stem angle prostheses in total hip arthroplasty / 中国骨伤

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the effect of total hip arthroplasty(THA) with the prosthesis of 127° small neck stem angle and 135° large neck stem angle.@*METHODS@#From January 2014 to June 2016, 84 patients with THA were selected, including 44 males and 40 females, aged 45 to 72(53.4±8.1) years old, 68 patients with necrosis of the femoral head(32 on the left and 36 on the right), 16 patients with serious osteoarthritis of the hip caused by other reasons, and the course of disease was 9 to 36 (24.0±5.5) months. Forty-two patients in each group were evaluated by Harris score, visual analog score(VAS), length measurement of lower limbs, biomechanical evaluation of different angles of the neck stem. The complications and quality of life 24 months after operation were compared.@*RESULTS@#Two patients in each group were lost, the rest were followed up for 30 to 36 (33.0±1.6)months. The Harris score and the length of both lower limbs were measured before and 1, 6, 12, 24 months after operation. The difference of Harris score and the length of both lower limbs in the two groups was significantly improved compared with that before operation(@*CONCLUSION@#THA with large and small neck stem angle prosthesis can better recover the function of hip joint, but large neck stem angle can reduce the degree of postoperative pain and improve the quality of life of patients.

Transcriptome analysis of seed embryo in dormancy and dormancy release state of Thesium chinense / 中国中药杂志

We used exogenous GA_3 to break the seed dormancy of Thesium chinense. We used high-throughput sequencing technology was used to sequence the transcriptome of dormant seed embryos and dormancy breaking seed embryos of Th. chinense, and the data was analyzed bioinformatically and systematically. The results showed that exogenous GA_3 could effectively break the seed dormancy of Th. chinense; 73 794 up-regulated genes and 42 776 down regulated genes were obtained by transcriptome sequencing; 116 570 diffe-rential genes were annotated by GO function to GO items such as metabolism process, cell process, cell, cell component, binding and catalytic activity. A total of 133 metabolic pathways were found by Pathway analysis of 26 508 differentially expressed genes. In the process of dormancy release, DEGs were mainly enriched in translation, carbohydrate metabolism, folding, classification, degradation and amino acid metabolism. Based on the annotation results in KEGG database, 20 metabolic pathways related to dormancy release were found. Dormancy release of Th. chinense seeds is a complex biological process, including cell morphology construction, secondary metabolite synthesis, sugar metabolism and plant signal transduction, among which plant hormone signal transduction is one of the key factors to regulate dormancy release. The results of qRT-PCR showed that the sequencing results were consistent with the actual results.

Accuracy of paralleling technique in measuring the depth of approximal infrabony pocket / 华西口腔医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To assess the accuracy of paralleling technique in measuring the depth of approximal infrabony pocket after periodontal flap surgery by comparing the measured and actual depths.@*METHODS@#The study population included 26 patients with infrabony defects who had undergone periodontal flap surgery, bone graft surgery, and guided tissue regene-ration. The measured and actual depths of approximal infrabony pocket after periodontal flap surgery were compared. The 26 infrabony defects were categorized into the following groups according to tooth position: anterior teeth, premolar, and molar groups, and according to type of infrabony pocket: one-walled, two-walled, and three-walled infrabony pocket groups. Paired t-test was used to detect the difference between the two values.@*RESULTS@#Depth measurements of the approximal infrabony pocket depth of the anterior teeth and premolar were not significantly different (P>0.05), whereas those of the molar group were significantly different (P0.05), whereas those in the three-walled infrabony pocket group were significantly different (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Paral-leling technique can accurately measure the depth of approximal infrabony pockets of anterior teeth and premolar teeth that are one- or two-walled. However, this method cannot accurately measure the approximal infrabony pockets of molar teeth and three-walled infrabony pockets as indicated by significant differences in their depth measurements.

Time lapse between endodontic and periodontal treatments of combined periodontal-endodontic lesion: a systematic review / 华西口腔医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>This study aims to evaluate the time lapse between the endodontic and periodontal treatments of the combined periodontal-endodontic lesion to guide the clinical treatment.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A systemic literature search was performed in articles published from 1980 to March 2017 using the electronic databases, including PubMed, EMbase, Cochrane, Web of Science, CNKI, CBM, and Wanfang Databases.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After screening, two randomized controlled trials, two prospective case series studies, and eight case reports were ultimately included. All clinical studies and case reports were treated with root canal therapy and periodontal nonsurgical or periodontal surgical treatment, with root canal therapy as the initial treatment step. Changes in the periodontal probing depth and attachment loss were reported in all clinical studies and case reports.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>An observational period between the endodontic and periodontal nonsurgical treatments may not be required. However, given that the quality of several included studies was limited, and the number of randomized controlled trials was small, a large number of randomized controlled trials are needed to verify this result.</p>

Current advances on surgical treatment for knee articular cartilage injuries / 中国骨伤

Chondral injuries are short of self-healing ability and need to surgical repair after articular cartilage injury. Conventional treatment includes debridement and drainage under arthroscope, micro-fracture, osteochondral autograft transplantation (OATS), mosaiplasty and osteochondral allografts (OCA), autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI). Debridement and drainage could remove pain factor, and has advantages of simple operation, wide clinical application and early clinical effect. Micro-fracture and osteochondral autograft transplantation is suitable for small area of cartilage repair, while the further effect showed that fibrous cartilage permeated by drill could decrease postoperative clinical effect. Osteochondral autograft transplantation has better advantages for reconstruction complete of wear-bearing joint. Autologous chondrocyte implantation and allogeneic cartilage transplantation are suitable for large area of cartilage defect, postoperative survival of allogeneic cartilage transplantation is effected by local rejection reaction and decrease further clinical effect. Cartilage tissue engineering technology could improve repair quality of autologous chondrocyte implantation, and make repair tissue close to transparent cartilage, but has limit to combined subchondral bone plate, reactive bone edema, bone loss and bad axis of lower limb. New technology is applied to cartilage injury, and has advantages of less trauma, simple operation, rapid recover, good clinical effect and less cost;and could be main method for treat cartilage injury with surgical repair technology. How to improve repair quality with compression resistance and abrasive resistance are expected to be solved.

Expression and Significance of PD-L1, HSP90 and HSP90α in Serum of Patients with Acute Leukemia / 中国实验血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the expression and clinical significance of PD-L1, heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) and HSP90α in the serum of patients with acute leukemia (AL) of different types and disease stages.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 84 AL patients from January 2013 to October 2016 in our hospital and 20 healthy persons as controls were selected. All the samples of serum or bone marrow were separated. The protein expression levels of serum HSP90, HSP90α were detected by ELISA. The flow cytometry was used to detect PD-L1 expression. The relationship of the expression level of PD-L1, HSP 90, and HSP90α with clinical outcome was analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The expression levels of serum HSP90, HSP90α and PD-L1 positive rate in AL patients were significantly higher those that in control group (P<0.05), the expression levels of serum HSP90, HSP90α and PD-L1 positive rate of Al patients in remission were lower than those in newly diagnosed patients (P<0.05). The expression level of HSP90, HSP90α and PD-L1 positive rate in the relapsed AL patients were higher than those in newly diagnosed AL patients and patients in remission (P<0.05). There was no significant difference of HSP90 protein level and PD-L1 positive rate between newly diagnosed AML patients and ALL patients(P>0.05). HSP90α level of newly diagnosed AML patients was lower than that in newly diagnosed ALL (P<0.05). HSP90α and HSP90 levels and PD-L1 positive rate in no remission patients were significantly higher than those in complete remission patients (P<0.05). The HSP90α level in patients without recurrence decreased during chemotherapy. The HSP90α protein level was the lowest after the hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, but increased after relapse.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The PD-L1,HSP90 and HSP90α play an important role in the developmental process of acute leukemia, which can be used as reference indications to assess clinical efficacy and prognosis.</p>

Current knowledge in the treatment of anterolateral ligament injury of knees / 中国骨伤

Although the function of the anterolateral stabilizing structures of the knee in the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries has been recognized since many years, most of orthopedic surgeons do not take the anterolateral structure into consideration when performing an ACL reconstruction. Anatomic ACL reconstruction will improve knee stability, but a small subset of patients may experience some residual anteroposterior and rotational instability. For this reason, some researchers have paid attention to the anterolateral aspects of the knee, especially the anterolateral ligament. We don't know the best time to perform ACL and ALL reconstruction. And we lack the evidence to prove which technique is the best one. So we look forward to more random controlled trial.

Relationship between serum bilirubin levels and optic neuritis / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Bilirubin is the end product of heme catabolism and has strong antioxidant properties. Serum bilirubin levels are reported to be reduced in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica (NMO). The pathophysiology of optic neuritis (ON) resembles that of MS; however, the role of endogenous bilirubin in ON is unclear. The aim of this study is to measure serum bilirubin levels in patients with ON, and to investigate the correlation between ON and serum antioxidant status of bilirubin.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Serum levels of bilirubin were measured in 42 patients with ON, 50 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), 48 patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and 48 healthy control subjects.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Serum total bilirubin (Tbil), direct bilirubin (Dbil) and indirect bilirubin (Ibil) levels in patients with ON were significantly lower than those in the healthy controls. However, no statistical significance was found between levels in the ON and MS, ON and NMO, and MS and NMO groups. In patients with ON, serum Tbil, Dbil, and Ibil levels were lower in those with recurrence or those with ON for a longer duration (≥ 1 year). Moreover, Tbil, Dbil, and Ibil concentrations were lower in patients with papillitis than in those with retrobulbar type ON, but the differences were not statistically significant.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Low antioxidant status may exist in patients with ON. But serum levels of Tbil, Dbil, and Ibil did not correlate with clinical presentations, such as recurrence, duration of disease and subtypes of ON. Low antioxidant status already existed in MS or NMO patients before systemic symptoms appeared.</p>

Expression of triggering receptors expressed on myeloid-1 in innate response to Porphyromonas gingivalis in macrophages / 中华口腔医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the role of triggering receptors expressed on myeloid-1(TREM-1) in innate response to Porphyromonas gingivalis(Pg) in mice macrophages and its potential role in periodontitis development.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Peritoneal macrophages from mice were harvested, separated and cultured, then challenged with viable Pg. Transcription and protein expression in macrophages were assessed with real time PCR and flow cytometry respectively.LP-17 peptide (10, 100 and 1000 µg/L) was utilized to block TREM-1, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were detected by enzyme linked absorbent analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>At 2 h after Pg challenge, transcription of TREM-1 was significantly up-regulated after Pg challenge[(7.99 ± 1.11) fold vs blank]. At 24 h after bacteria infection, increased TREM-1 expression was demonstrated by flow cytometry, with mean fluorescent intensity increasing from (7.05 ± 1.85) in blank group to (13.17 ± 2.33) in experimental group. Proinflammatory cytokine (TNF-α and IL-6) production was significantly decreased after blocking TREM-1 by LP-17 peptide(100 and 1000 µg/L).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>TREM-1 enhanced innate immune response to Pg in macrophages, which may facilitate periodontitis development.</p>

Different expression of cytokines induced by Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans lipopolysaccharide in monocytes/macrophages from different organs of rabbits / 中华口腔医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expression of cytokines induced by Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans lipopolysaccharide (Aa-LPS) in monocytes/macrophages from different organs of rabbits.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The peripheral mononuclear cells (Mo), alveolar macrophages (AM), peritoneal macrophages (PM) and Kupffer cells (KC) from five New Zealand rabbits were isolated respectively. Then the cells from different organs were stimulated with Escherichia coli (Ec)-LPS or Aa-LPS at the dose of 1 mg/L. After culture for 24 hours, the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)6, IL-1β, IL-8 mRNA and protein were determined by real-time PCR and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay respectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The monocytes/macrophages challenged by Ec-LPS or Aa-LPS expressed more cytokines both in mRNA and protein levels compared with the controls (P < 0.05). Among them, AM displayed the highest respond when encount with Aa-LPS, with the TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β, IL-8 mRNA relative levels were (0.4719 ± 0.0171), (2.7895 ± 0.0669), (5.1527 ± 0.1190), (3.6785 ± 0.1836) and the proteins concentrations were (82.2 ± 5.4), (40.2 ± 2.0), (50 308.3 ± 445.0), (35 305.3 ± 1480.9) ng/L respectively. And the inducibility of Aa-LPS was stronger than that of Ec-LPS (P < 0.05). Meanwhile the cells from different organs showed discrepant response when exposed to Aa-LPS (P < 0.05). The results showed their abilities to secrete cytokines were in the sequence of AM > Mo > KC > PM.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Aa-LPS influenced the expression of cytokines in monocytes/macrophages from different organs of rabbits.</p>

Relationship between expression of COX-2, TNF-α, IL-6 and autoimmune-type recurrent miscarriage

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the roles of COX-2, TNF-α, IL-6 in the pathogenesis of autoimmune-type recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA).@*METHODS@#RT-PCR was used to detect the mRNA of COX-2, TNF-α, IL-6 in the trophoblast cells of murine RSA and normal pregnant models. The COX-2, TNF-α, IL-6 protein expressions were determined by using immunohistochemisry staining method. The COX-2, TNF-α, IL-6 protein expressions were determined by ELISA.@*RESULTS@#The embryo loss rates in experiment group was significantly higher than that in normal pregnancy control group, the expression of COX-2, TNF-α, IL-6 in the trophoblast cells of murine RSA and normal pregnant models. The expression of COX-2 in autoimmune-type recurrent spontaneous abortion was significantly lesser than in normal pregnant models. The expression of TNF-α, IL-6 in autoimmune-type recurrent spontaneous abortion was significantly higher than in normal pregnant models. There was a positively correlation between TNF-α and IL-6. There was no relationship between COX-2, TNF-α and IL-6.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The abnormal expression of COX-2, TNF-α and IL-6 may result in RSA.

Efficacy of immunoadsorption therapy in the treatment of myasthenia gravis and the mechanism / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the effect of immunoadsorption therapy in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) and explore the mechanism.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>This investigation involved 20 patients with MG treated with immunoadsorption combined with hormonal therapy and another 20 with only hormonal therapy, and 15 healthy subjects served as the control group. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure the changes in serum tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-18 (IL-18) after the treatments, and the therapeutic effect of the treatments was evaluated using clinical scores.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The clinical scores were significantly decreased after immunoadsorption therapy, showing a significant difference from that in the hormonal treatment group (P<0.05). The serum TNF-a and IL-18 levels were significantly higher in the two patient groups than in the control group (P<0.05), but in the former two groups, their levels were significantly lower in immunoadsorption therapy group (P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Immunoadsorption therapy eliminates the inflammatory cytokines and free radicals as well as the circulating autoantibodies to improve the clinical symptoms of MG.</p>