Changes of Thrombopoietin Levels in Patients with Acute Inflammatory Disease and Its Significance / 中国实验血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the changes of TPO levels in patients with acute inflammatory response disease of different etiologies.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In the case -control study, 65 patients with acute inflammatory response disease were enrolled in the case group (15 patients with acute myocardial infarction, 15 patients with acute cerebral infarction, 25 patients with acute trauma and 10 patients with acute pneumonia), and 42 healthy subjects were selected as the control group. The levels of TPO in peripheral blood and blood cell counts between the case group and the control group were compared by Student's t test for examing whether the level of TPO in acute inflammation states was higher than that in healthy people. And, by using Kruskal-Wallis H test and Nemenyi test, subsequent subgroup compaison was performed to assess whether there was a difference in TPO levels under the condition of inflammation of different etiologies and at different levels.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the control group,serum TPO levels in case group were significantly higher (181.11±35.38 vs 96.13±9.7 pg/ml)(P<0.001), and the white blood cell count in case group (9.64±3.43)×10/L was higher than that in control group(7.35±1.49)×10/L(P<0.001), but the platelet count in the case group was not statistically different from that in the control group (P=0.313). In the further subgroup analysis, it was found that changes in TPO level were different in different levels of inflammation. The level of TPO in patients with inflammatory disease of high level(acute trauma, acute pneumonia) was greatly higher than that in patients with inflammatory disease of low level(acute myocardial infarction, acute cerebral infarction) (P<0.05), and there was no statistically significant difference in platelet count among subgroups.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>In acute inflammation states, the increase of serum TPO levels does not correlate with platelet counts, but correlates with inflammation levels, and TPO may act as an acute response protein to protect the body.</p>

Role of PDGF/PDGFR Pathway in Essential Thrombocythemia and Its Action Mechanism / 中国实验血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the role of PDGF/PDGFR in essential thrombocythemia (ET) by investigating the expression of PDGF-BB in bone marrow and the expression of PDGFR-β in bone marrow cells of patients with ET and explore the new target for treating ET patients through inhibiting the PDGFR of megakaryocytes.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The expression level of PDGF-BB in bone marrow of ET patients and normal controls were assayed by using ELISA, the expression level of PDGFR-β (CD140) in bone marrow of ET patients and normal controls were detected by using flow cytometry, the effect of PDGF-BB in JAK2/STAT3 and PI3K/AKT pathway was detected by using flow cytometry or Werstern blot, and the effect of imatinib on the megakaryopoiesis of PDGF was observed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The expression level of PDGF-BB in bone marrow of ET patients was significantly higher than that in normal controls; the expression level of PDGFR-β in bone marrow of ET patients was significantly higher than that in nornal controls; PDGF-BB could activate JAK2/STAT3 and PI3K/AKT pathway of megakaryocytes, while the imatinib could block the effect of PDGF-BB on megakaryocyte.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The elevated PDGF-BB and PDGFR-β may be involved in ET, and the physiopathologic mechanism is that the elevated PDGF-BB activates PDGFR with subsequent activation of the JAK2/STAT3 and PI3K/AKT pathways, stimulating megakaryopoiesis. Imatinib may have a therapeutical effect on ET via blocking of PDGFR.</p>

Research and Application of iPS Cells in Blood System / 中国实验血液学杂志

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) were first constructed by Takahshi and et al in 2006. They converted the mouse fibroblasts into ES-like cells via viral transduction with four transcription factors (Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and c-Myc). Since, the significant progress has been made and many researchers have succeeded in inducing iPS cells from other human somatic cells by some novel approaches, such as combining transcriptional factors and small chemicals. IPS cells have significant prospect in clinical application. IPS cells derived from patient somatic cells can be used as a model in studying the pathogenesis of genetic hematological disease and applied in therapeutic screenings. Recent studies suggested that iPS cells can differentiate into red blood cells and platelets in vitro, which may make up a big blood bank for transfusion in future. In this review, current understanding of both recombinant technology of iPS cells and the research progress in hematology are summarized.

Treatment of middle-aged and aged patients with knee osteoarthritis of yang-deficiency induced cold-damp syndrome by ozone combined Chinese materia medica: a clinical research / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the clinical efficacy of treating middle-aged and aged patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) of yang-deficiency induced cold-damp syndrome (YDICDS) by ozone combined Fugui Gutong Granule (FGG).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Using a prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial, 200 KOA patients of YDICDS were randomly assigned to four groups. i.e., the control group (Group A), the Chinese medicine treatment group (Group B), the ozone group (Group C), and the Chinese-r medicine treatment plus ozone group (Group D).Patients in Group A took Voltaren Tablet. Those in Group B took FGG. Those in Group C received ozone injection (10 -18 mL) from knee joint cavity at 25 mg/L, once weekly for 4 weeks in total. Those in Group D received injection from knee joint cavity and took FGG. The therapeutic course for all was one month. The efficacy was assessed using visual analogue scale (VAS) and Western Ontario MacMaster University Osteoarthritis index (WOMAC).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The VAS score was obviously lower in Group D than in Group B and Group A at 24 h and 1 week (P <0. 05). After one month of treatment, the VAS score was obviously lower in Group D than in Group A, B, and C (P < 0.05). After treatment the total integral of WOMAC was 25.34 +/- 2.12 in Group D, obviously lower than that in Group A (44.72 +/- 6.57), Group B (40.58 +/- 5.98), and Group C (38.53 +/- 5. 13), showing statistical difference (P <0.05). The pain score, the joint stiffness score, the score for daily activities were lower in Group D than in Group A (P <0.05). The cured and markedly effective rate was 76.0% in Group D, higher than that of Group A (25. 0%), Group B (25. 0%), and Group C (43.8%), respectively (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Ozone combined FGG had advantages in alleviating joint pain, and improving joint stiffness and daily activities of middle-aged and aged patients with KOA of YDICDS.</p>

The role of activation of nuclear factor-kappa B of rat brain in the pathogenesis of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis / 生理学报

To investigate the role of activated nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) in experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE), the activity and protein expression of NF-kappaB p65 in rat brain tissues, which were extracted from EAE rats at 1, 7, 14 and 21 d respectively after EAE was induced by CFA-GPSCH, were measured with electrophoretic mobility shift assay and immunohistochemistry. The relationship between activated NF-kappaB and symptoms of EAE was also investigated. The results showed that protein expression level and the activity of NF-kappaB were very low in the brain of the control group. After EAE was induced, the activity of NF-kappaB and the level of the protein expression in the brains increased gradually with the development of symptoms and brain pathology of EAE. On d 14, both the activity and the level of protein expression in the brains reached a peak, the positive cells of NF-kappaB were mainly located at the choroid plexuses and subfornical organ, as well as around the regions of sleeve-like lesion foci, which were coincident with the locations of lesions of EAE. The incidence, symptoms, reduction of the body weight and pathology of EAE rats brains at the above locations were most significant. On d 21 the activity of NF-kappaB and level of the protein expression reduced gradually, which was in parallel with a gradual alleviation of the symptoms of EAE rats. After a specific inhibitor of NF-kappaB, PDTC was applied, the symptoms and pathological lesions of EAE rat brain were mitigated markedly. The above results indicate that the dynamic changes in the activity and protein expression of NF-kappaB were in parallel with the changes in symptoms and pathological lesion of EAE rat brains. In conclusion, the activated NF-kappaB in the brain may play a critical role in the pathogenesis of EAE, and application of some inhibitors of NF-kappaB, such as PDTC, may be one of the effective therapeutic methods for prevention and treatment of EAE.