The roles of immune cells in Behçet's disease

Abstract Behçet's disease (BD) is a systemic vasculitis that can affect multiple systems, including the skin, mucous membranes, joints, eyes, gastrointestinal and nervous. However, the pathogenesis of BD remains unclear, and it is believed that immune-inflammatory reactions play a crucial role in its development. Immune cells are a critical component of this process and contribute to the onset and progression of BD. By regulating the function of these immune cells, effective control over the occurrence and development of BD can be achieved, particularly with regards to monocyte activation and aggregation, macrophage differentiation and polarization, as well as T cell subset differentiation. This review provides a brief overview of immune cells and their role in regulating BD progression, which may serve as a theoretical foundation for preventing and treating this disease.

Management of prediabetes in Malaysian population: An experts’ opinion

@#Introduction: Prediabetes, typically defined as blood glucose levels above normal but below diabetes thresholds, denotes a risk state that confers a high chance of developing diabetes. Asians, particularly the Southeast Asian population, may have a higher genetic predisposition to diabetes and increased exposure to environmental and social risk factors. Malaysia alone was home to 3.4 million people with diabetes in 2017; the figure is estimated to reach 6.1 million by 2045. Developing strategies for early interventions to treat prediabetes and preventing the development of overt diabetes and subsequent cardiovascular and microvascular complications are therefore important. Methods: An expert panel comprising regional experts was convened in Kuala Lumpur, for a one-day meeting, to develop a document on prediabetes management in Malaysia. The expert panel comprised renowned subject-matter experts and specialists in diabetes and endocrinology, primary-care physicians, as well as academicians with relevant expertise. Results: Fifteen key clinical statements were proposed. The expert panel reached agreements on several important issues related to the management of prediabetes providing recommendations on the screening, diagnosis, lifestyle and pharmacological management of prediabetes. The expert panel also proposed changes in forthcoming clinical practice guidelines and suggested that the government should advocate early screening, detection, and intensive management of prediabetes. Conclusion: This document provides a comprehensive approach to the management of prediabetes in Malaysia in their daily activities and offer help in improving government policies and the decision-making process.

Evaluation of factors for predicting risk of uveitis recurrence in Behcets disease patients

This study aimed to investigate the predictive factors for uveitis recurrence (UR) risk in Behcet's disease (BD) patients. BD patients (n=164) with a history of uveitis were recruited, and demographic data, clinical features, and laboratory tests were recorded. Uveitis was defined as anterior uveitis, intermediate uveitis, posterior uveitis, panuveitis referring to the "International Uveitis Study Group recommendations for the evaluation of intraocular inflammatory disease". In total, there were 70 UR patients and 94 non-UR patients. Compared to non-UR patients, UR patients appeared to be older and presented with increased uveitis occurrence rate and times within 3 months, oral ulcers occurrence rate, as well as higher concentrations of triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and serum amyloid A (SAA). Multivariate logistic model disclosed that uveitis occurrence times within 3 months, oral ulcers, TG, LDL, and SAA independently predicted higher risk of UR. Furthermore, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the combination of uveitis occurrence times within 3 months, oral ulcers, TG, LDL, and SAA exhibited a high predictive value for UR risk with an area under the curve of 0.983 (95%CI: 0.969−0.998). In conclusion, uveitis occurrence times within 3 months, oral ulcers, TG, LDL, and SAA might be potential predictive factors for UR risk in BD patients, which can help in prevention and management of the disease.

Apoptosis of human tongue squamous cell carcinoma cell (CAL-27) induced by Lactobacillus sp. A-2 metabolites

Objective: To study the effect of Lactobacillus sp. A-2 metabolites on viability of CAL-27 cells and apoptosis in CAL-27 cells. Methods: Lactobacillus sp. A-2 metabolites 1 and 2 (LM1 and LM2) were obtained by culturing Lactobacillus sp. A-2 in reconstituted whey medium and whey-inulin medium; the cultured CAL-27 cells were treated with different concentrations of LM1 and LM2 (0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48 mg/mL) and assayed by methyl thiazolyltetrazolium (MTT) method; morphological changes of apoptotic cell were observed under fluorescence microscopy by acridine orange (Ao) fluorescent staining; flow cytometry method (FCM) and agarose gel electrophoresis were used to detect the apoptosis of CAL-27 cells treated LM1 and LM2. Results: The different concentrations of LM1 and LM2 could restrain the growth of CAL-27 cells, and in a dose-dependent manner; the apoptosis of CAL-27 cells was obviously induced and was time-dependent. Conclusions: Viability of CAL-27 cells was inhibited by Lactobacillus sp. A-2 metabolites; Lactobacillus sp. A-2 metabolites could induce CAL-27 cells apoptosis; study on the bioactive compounds in the Lactobacillus sp. A-2 metabolites and their molecular mechanism is in progress. .

Surfactant Protein A Polymorphism Is Associated with Susceptibility to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Chinese Uighur Population / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

This study investigated the correlation between surfactant protein-A (SP-A) polymorphism and the susceptibility of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Xinjiang Uighurs.Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood of 194 COPD smokers and 201 healthy smokers of Uighur who were hospitalized in or paid a visit to one of the four Xinjiang-based hospitals involved in the study,from March 2009 to December 2010.Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were studied at aa62 (CCA/CCG rs 1136451) and aa219 (CGG/rGG,rs4253527) in SP-A.Genotypes were determined by using the TaqMan polymerase chain reaction (PCR).Our results showed that genotype frequencies were different between the COPD and normal smokers in aa62 (x2=6.852,P=0.033).There were also significant differences in allele genotype frequencies between the COPD and the control and allele G might decrease the risk COPD (x2=6.545,P=0.011; OR=0.663; 95％ CI:0.484-0.909).The result suggested that polymorphism of aa62 (CCA/CCG,rs1136451) of SP-A may be associated with the susceptibility to COPD in Xinjiang Uighurs.

Comparison among three standards of TW2 to skeletal age determination in children with central precocious puberty / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To discuss the diagnostic value of English, Chinese and Japanese standards of TW2 to skeletal age assessment of children with central precocious puberty (CPP), then to confirm the normal thresholds.@*METHODS@#Sixty one children as patient group were definitely assured CPP. The control group had 67 children. Among them, 61 were normal children, another 6 children as a special control group. Left hand-wrist X-ray radiographs were retrospectively analyzed by two doctors separately and their skeletal ages were assessed with the three standards of TW2 method. The differences between skeletal age and chronological age were analyzed with ROC in SPSS 13.0.@*RESULTS@#(1) The skeletal age results showed kappa value is 0.776 deduced by two clinical doctors(u = 16.128, P < 0.05). (2) There were no statistic differences for the areas under ROC curves among three methods. (3) d > or = 1.15 years in TW2, d > or = 1.25 years in TW2-CHN and d > or = 0.65 years in TW2-JP were more susceptive and specific points.@*CONCLUSION@#TW2, TW2-CHN and TW2-JP provided a higher value for the diagnosis of skeletal age in unhealthy children, and TW2-CHN is highest value for Chinese children.

TW systems in estimation of carpal bone age and their potential applications in diagnosis of idiopathic precocious puberty in Chinese girls / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To compare three assessment methods (TW2, TW2CH, and TW3) for carpal bone age and their potential applications in diagnosis of idiopathic precocious puberty (IPP) in Chinese girls.@*METHODS@#Fifty-five (55) girls with IPP and 83 normal girls as control group were selected in this study. The X-ray films of the left hand-wrist taken at their first visit were analyzed retrospectively. Three assessment methods were used to estimate the carpal bone age with single-blinded method and percentiles were set at 5 different decision thresholds (1)>97th percentile, (2)>90 th percentile, (3)>75th percentile, (4)>50 th percentile, and (5)< or =50th percentile.@*RESULTS@#All of the three methods showed similar high sensitivity and specificity at the threshold above 90th percentile.@*CONCLUSION@#Our data indicate that all of the three methods for estimation of the carpal bone age are useful in diagnosis of IPP. TW2CH and TW3 methods appear to be superior to TW2 method.

HER2 expression and its prognostic implication in lymph node negative breast carcinoma: a Meta-analysis / 中华病理学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the clinical value of HER2 overexpression in breast cancer and its prognostic implication in patients with lymph node negative breast carcinoma.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The following electronic database were extracted using appropriate inclusive and exclusive standards: Cochrane library, PUBMED, Embase (1984 - 2003), OVID, CMCC and CNKI. Excel and RevMan 4.2 were used for statistical analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Fifty-six articles were extracted to calculate the positive rate of HER2 overexpression. The pooled positive rate was 23.14% [19.54%, 26.73%], with positive immunohistochemistry (IHC) rate of 23.13% [19.49%, 26.77%] and positive FISH rate of 20.90% [15.54%, 26.25%]. Seven articles were used to evaluate prognostic predication of HER2 expression. It was concluded that in patients with lymph node negative breast carcinoma, HER2 overexpression (both IHC and FISH) independently predicted a poor prognosis based on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) with a P < 0.05. For DFS, the pooled RR was 1.38 [1.07, 1.80] with 1.16 [1.02, 1.31] for IHC and 1.98 [1.56, 2.52] for FISH. For OS, the pooled RR was 1.58 [1.16, 2.14] with 1.37 [1.14 to 1.64] for IHC and 2.33 [1.45 to 3.75] for FISH. HER2 overexpression effectively predicted DFS/OS of patients without adjuvant therapy and OS of patients with the therapy, but not for DFS, with the pooled RR of 1.46 [1.02, 2.09] and 1.11 [0.95, 1.31] for DFS, respectively and the pooled RR of 1.93 [1.44 to 2.58] and 1.25 [1.01, 1.56] for OS, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>In patients with lymph node negative breast carcinoma, the positive rate of HER2 overexpression is 23.14%. HER2 overexpression indicates a poor prognosis and adjuvant therapy after surgery should be recommended.</p>

Cost analysis of Shenqi Fuzheng injection on reducing adverse effects during chemotherapy / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>The goals of this work was to analyse the cost of Shenqi Fuzheng injection-an extraction of a Chinese traditional herbs on reducing adverse effects in lung cancer patients during chemotherapy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In a randomized cross-over trial, each patient completed two identical cisplatin-based chemotherapy cycles, one with Shenqi Fuzheng injection, another without Shenqi Fuzheng injection. Adverse effects and change scores of quality of life (QOL) during chemotherapy were compared in tow cycles. The direct cost dealing with adverse effect and cost-effectiveness analysis were taken.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>One hundred and thirty were enrolled with 123 of whom were evaluable. The patient characteristics were well balanced between the two groups. The chemotherapy cycles with Shenqi Fuzheng injection spent 220.5 more Chinese yuan, but the adverse effect of leukopenia, thrombocytopenia and vomiting were slight different and the change of score of several QOL domains showed significant better as compared to those in another cycle.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Shenqi Fuzheng injection could reduce the severity of toxicity related to chemotherapy and improve the QOL of patients and had some benefits in terms of cost-effectiveness.</p>