ABSTRACT
Persistent HBV infection alters the expression of receptors on the surface of innate and acquired immune cells, which may cause a variety of immune disorders and finally lead to immune escape and disease chronicity. Studies have shown that the upregulation of inhibitory receptors is the main cause of immune disorders in patients, and blocking inhibitory receptors can restore immune function to a certain extent. T-cell immunoglobulin and immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif domain (TIGIT) is a new type of inhibitory receptor attracting much attention at present, and it is highly expressed in NK cells and T cells. It has been found that TIGIT plays an important role in chronic viral infection, and this article briefly reviews the research advances in the association between TIGIT and immune disorders in chronic HBV infection.
ABSTRACT
Monkeypox (MPX) is a zoonotic disease caused by monkeypox virus (MPXV) and its re-emergence is a potential global threat. The number of human MPX-positive cases reported by some coutries was increasing since it was detected in the UK on May 7, 2022, which has become a public health emergency and attracted global attention. Understanding the virological characteristics, route of transmission, pathogenic mechanism, vaccines and antiviral drugs of MPX is of great significance for the prevention and control of monkeypox. This paper briefly described the etiological characteristics and the prevention and control measures for MPX.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) of "concurrent treatment of the brain and heart" on angiogenesis and cortical vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in rats with focal cerebral ischemia, and to explore the mechanism of EA in cerebral ischemia treatment. Methods: A total of 108 Sprague-Dawley rats, 27 rats were randomly selected as the sham-operation group, and the rest rats received the right middle cerebral artery occlusion operation for model preparation firstly, and then were divided into a model group, a traditional acupoint group, and a concurrent treatment of the brain and heart group, with 27 rats in each group. In the sham-operation group, only the carotid artery was isolated. EA at Shuigou (CV26), Quchi (LI11), Hegu (LI4), and Zusanli (ST36) in the traditional acupoint group, and EA at Fengfu (GV16), Baihui (GV20), Xinshu (BL15), and Neiguan (PC6) in the concurrent treatment of the brain and heart group were performed 4 h after the operation, once a day, for 14 consecutive days. Rats in the sham-operation group and the model group were identically fixed without any treatment. Before and after treatment, the modified neurological severity score (mNSS), regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF), and CD34 positive expression by immunohistochemistry were measured. The positive protein expression levels of VEGF and BDNF were detected by immunofluorescence, and the mRNA expression levels of VEGF and BDNF were detected by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Results: Compared with the sham-operation group, the mNSS, rCBF, and ischemic side cortical micro-vessel density (MVD) decreased, and the protein and mRNA expression levels of VEGF and BDNF increased in the model group (P<0.01). Compared with the model group, the mNSS of the two EA groups decreased, and the mNSS of the concurrent treatment of the brain and heart group was lower than that of the traditional acupoint group on the 14th day (P<0.05). Compared with the model group, the rCBF in the two EA groups increased, and the rCBF reached the highest on the 14th day (P<0.05 or P<0.01), and the rCBF in the concurrent treatment of the brain and heart group was higher than that in the traditional acupoint group (P<0.05); the MVD of the two EA groups was higher than that of the model group, and the MVD of the concurrent treatment of the brain and heart group was higher than that of the traditional acupoint group on the 7th and 14th days (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Compared with the model group, the protein and mRNA expression levels of VEGF and BDNF in the two EA groups increased (P<0.01). The VEGF expression level was the highest on the 7th day in the concurrent treatment of the brain and heart group (P<0.05), and the BDNF expression level was higher on the 7th and 14th days than on the 3rd day (P<0.05). The mRNA expression levels of VEGF and BDNF in both EA groups reached the highest on the 7th day (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Conclusion: EA therapy can up-regulate the VEGF and BDNF expression levels and increase the rCBF in the cortex of rats with focal cerebral ischemia, which may be one mechanism of EA in the cerebral ischemia treatment. The therapeutic effect is accumulated with the effective time, and the concurrent treatment of the brain and heart group is superior to the traditional acupoint group in promoting angiogenesis.