Expression of CC chemokine ligand 5 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and its correlation with disease activity and medication / 中国医学科学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To determine the levels of CC chemokine ligand 5 (CCL5) in serum and synovial fluid (SF) from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and their relations with disease activity and medication.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>CCL5 in serum and SF was quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 28 RA patients and 21 osteoarthritis (OA) patients. In RA patients, the correlations of CCL5 levels in serum and SF with disease activity were analyzed. Meanwhile, the serum CCL5 levels among RA patients treated with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), Tripterygium Glucosides, and other Chinese herbs without disease-modifying effects were also compared.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>CCL5 levels in both serum and SF of RA patients were significantly higher than those of OA patients (P < 0.05). Moreover, the level of CCL5 was higher in SF than that in serum of RA patients (P < 0.01). Serum CCL5 level was correlated significantly with the number of swollen joints (r = 0.3329, P < 0.05), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (r = 0.4001, P < 0.05), and C reactive protein (r = 0.3735, P < 0.01). In addition, the level of CCL5 had a trend of lower in patients treated with DMARDs or Tripterygium Glucosides than those treated with other Chinese herbs, although the difference was not significant among those patients due to the small number of patients in each group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>In RA patients, the expression of CCL5 increases and correlates with some clinical and laboratory parameters of RA, which indicate that CCL5 plays an important role in RA and may serve as a useful marker of disease activity. DMARDs and Tripterygium Glucosides might exert their clinical effects through reducing CCL5 production in RA.</p>

Preliminary investigation of relationship between sperm apoptosis and male infertility / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVES</b>To evaluate the relationship between sperm apoptosis and male infertility.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Percentage of apoptotic sperm (PAS) in spermatozoa of fertile and infertile men were tested by flow cytometry (FCM).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Sperm apoptosis had happened in all different people. PAS in fertile and infertile group was (4.28 +/- 1.66)% and (18.67 +/- 8.55)% respectively, and difference was significant between two groups (P < 0.01). There was negative correlation between PAS and semen volume, sperm density, percentage of forward motility, percentage of normal morphology (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>There was very close relationship between sperm apoptosis and male infertility. FCM used to test sperm apoptosis is rapid, accurate, objective and reliable to analyse sperm functions and male fertility.</p>