Effects of Bushen Jiedu Recipe and Jianpi Jiedu Recipe containing plasma on dendritic cells of chronic hepatitis B virus infection patients under different immune states / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare the effects of Bushen Jiedu Recipe (BJR) and Jianpi Jiedu Recipe (JJR) containing plasma on dendritic cells (DCs) of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection patients under different immune states.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Recruited were 36 chronic HBV infection outpatients from First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from April 2010 to January 2011. They were assigned to the immune tolerance group (18 cases) and the immune clearance group (18 cases).Another 10 healthy subjects were recruited as the healthy control group. Their anticoagulated peripheral venous blood was respectively collected. The peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated and further extracted for incubating DCs. The DCs were intervened by BJR and JJR containing plasma. The morphology of DCs was identified. The expressions of CD1alpha, CD80, CD86, and HLA-DR were detected. The level of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) in the supernatant was observed by ELISA.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The CD80 expression level was lower in the immune clear group than in the healthy control group before intervention (P < 0.05). The expression levels of CD80, CD86, and HLA-DR were lower in the immune tolerance group than in the healthy control group before intervention (P < 0.05).The IFN-alpha expression level was lower in the immune tolerance group and the immune clearance group than in the healthy control group before intervention (P < 0.05). The expression levels of CD80, HLA-DR, and IFN-alpha were lower in the immune tolerance group than in the immune clearance group before intervention (P < 0.05). Compared with the same group before intervention, the CD80 expression significantly increased in each treatment group (P < 0.05). After intervention the expression levels of CD80 and HLA-DR were higher in the immune tolerance group than in the immune clearance group in the same time phase, and the CD86 expression level was higher in the BJR group than in the immune clearance group in the same time phase, showing statistical difference (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The middle dose BJR and the small dose JJR both could promote the recovery of DCs in chronic HBV infection patients. Besides, BJR showed more prominent effects on the function of DCs in chronic HBV infection patients in the immune tolerance stage.</p>

L-arginine-glycine amidinotransferase, betaine-homocysteine s-methyltransferase, and neuropolypeptide h3 are diminished in renal clear cell carcinoma of humans

To identify renal clear cell carcinoma-associated marker proteins. Twelve patients with renal cell carcinoma [RCC] were collected and processed in the Department of Urology, Renmin Hospital, Wuhan University, China, between January 2008 and September 2009. Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and matrix assisted laser desorption ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry [MALDI-TOF-MS] were employed to investigate differentially expressed protein spots between RCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues, then reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blot were employed to confirm the proteomic results. One protein spot was up regulated, 13 were downregulated, and 22 were absent in RCC tissues. Four of the absent proteins were L-arginine-glycine amidinotransferase [AGAT], Betaine-homocysteine S-methyltransferase [BHMT], Ketohexokinase [KHK], and Neuropolypeptide h3 [NPh3]. The reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis demonstrated mRNA expression of AGAT, BHMT, and Nph3 was significantly decreased in 12 RCC tissues. In addition, Western blot analysis showed AGAT protein was absent in 11/12, BHMT in 9/12, and Nph3 in 5/12 RCC tissues. Absence of AGAT, BHMT, and Nph3 is common events in clear cell RCC; hence, it may be involved in the development of RCC; therefore, they have the potential to be tumor markers for diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of RCC patients

Study on the functions of peripheral dendritic cells in chronic hepatitis B virus infection patients of Gan-depression Pi-deficiency syndrome and Gan-Dan damp-heat syndrome under different immune states / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the functions of peripheral dendritic cells (DCs) in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection patients of Gan-depression Pi-deficiency syndrome (GPS) and Gan-Dan damp-heat syndrome (GDS) under different immune states, thus to study the features of the immune expressions of the two syndromes in chronic HBV infection, providing objective evidence for Chinese medicine syndrome typing.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The 40 chronic HBV patients were randomly assigned to two groups according to the immune state. Of them, there were 20 chronic HBV patients (under the condition of immune clearance; consisting of 10 patients of GPS and 10 of GDS) and 20 chronic HBV carriers (under the condition of immune tolerance; consisting of 10 patients of GPS and 10 of GDS). Besides, 10 healthy graduate volunteers of Hunan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine were recruited as the healthy control group. Their peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were cultured in vitro. The exterior morphological features and ultrastructure were observed by inverted microscope and electron microscope. The expressions of HLA-DR, CD80, CD86, and CDIa of the DCs surface were detected. The secretory levels of IL-12 in the supernate of DCs were detected by ELISA reagent kit. The proliferation capacities of allogeneic mixed lymphocyte were detected using MTT. The function features of DCs in the chronic HBV patients of two syndrome types under different immune states were compared, thus analyzing the difference of each index between the two syndrome types.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the healthy control group, the expression rates of CD86, CD80, and HLA-DR decreased in the HBV carriers group (of the two syndrome types), showing statistical difference (P < 0.05). The expression rate of CD80 decreased in the HBV group (of the two syndrome types), showing statistical difference (P < 0.05). The expression rates of CD86 and HLA-DR were lower in the GPS group than in the GDS group. The expression rate of CD80 was lower in the GPS group than in the GDS group, showing statistical difference (P < 0.05). The proliferation capacities of IL-12 and T lymphocytes were lower in the HBV patients group than in the healthy control group (P < 0.05). The proliferation capacities of IL-12 and T lymphocytes were lower in the GPS group than in the GDS group, showing statistical difference (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The functions of peripheral DCs in chronic HBV infection of patients of the GPS and the GDS under different immune states were different. The phenotype and function tests of DCs provided objective evidence for Chinese syndrome typing of chronic hepatitis B, thus reflecting the features of immune expressions of the two syndrome types and the immunology connotation.</p>

Serum level of HMGB1 in patients with hepatitis B and its clinical significance / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate whether there is a possible role of pro-inflammatory cytokine high mobility group box protein 1 (HMGB1) causing liver failure in severe hepatitis B patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Serum HMGB1 levels of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with different clinical conditions were measured and the correlations between HMGB1 and TBil or PTA were analyzed. (1) 54 chronic hepatitis B patients in different clinical conditions were enrolled in our study. Their serum TBil and PTA levels were detected by routine methods. (2) Their serum HMGB1 levels were also detected. 100 KD super-filtration columns were used to get rid of large proteins in the serum and 10 KD columns were used to condense the protein. Western blot was used to determine HMGB1 levels, and correlations between HMGB1 and TBil or PTA were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The detection rates of serum HMGB1 were 100% (23/23), 90% (9/10), and 55% (6/11) in 23 patients with hepatic failure, 10 patients with chronic severe hepatitis B, and 11 patients with chronic moderate hepatitis B respectively. The concentration of serum HMGB1 levels in these three groups was (83.4+/-21.3), (78.1+/-19.5) and (60.3+/-14.3) microg/L respectively. Serum HMGB1 was not detected in normal healthy controls and hardly detected in convalescent and mild hepatitis patients. There were positive correlations between HMGB1 and TBil and negative correlations between HMGB1 and PTA.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>HMGB1 levels in serum were closely associated with disease severity in chronic hepatitis B patients. HMGB1 may play a key role in the pathogenesis of chronic severe hepatitis B and liver failure.</p>