Evidence for the Presence of Long-Lived Plasma Cells in Nasal Polyps

PURPOSE: Plasma cells and immunoglobulins (Igs) play a pivotal role in the induction and maintenance of chronic inflammation in nasal polyps. During secondary immune responses, plasma cell survival and Ig production are regulated by the local environment. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the presence of long-lived plasma cells (LLPCs) and specific survival niches for LLPCs in human nasal polyps.METHODS: Nasal mucosal samples were cultured with an air-liquid interface system and the Ig levels in culture supernatants were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The characteristics of LLPCs in nasal polyps were determined by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. The expression of neurotrophins as well as their receptors was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, and Western blotting.RESULTS: The numbers of CD138⁺ total plasma cells and BCL2⁺ plasma cells were increased in both eosinophilic and non-eosinophilic nasal polyps compared with those in normal tissues. The production of IgG, IgA, and IgE was detected in culture supernatants even after a 32-day culture of nasal polyps. Although the total numbers of plasma cells were decreased in nasal polyps after culture, the numbers of BCL2⁺ plasma cells remained stable. The expression of nerve growth factor (NGF) as well as tropomyosin receptor kinase (Trk) A, a high-affinity receptor for NGF, was upregulated in both eosinophilic and non-eosinophilic nasal polyps. In addition, BCL2⁺ plasma cell numbers were positively correlated with NGF and TrkA mRNA expression in nasal mucosal tissues. Polyp plasma cells had the expression of TrkA.CONCLUSIONS: Human nasal polyps harbor a population of LLPCs and NGF may be involved in their prolonged survival. LLPCs may be a novel therapeutic target for suppressing the local Ig production in nasal polyps.

An ethical evaluation index system for clinical approval of medical technology in China: A structural equation model study / 中国结合医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To construct a quantitative ethical evaluation index system for the clinical approval of medical technology in China.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and first-order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) based on a structure equation model (SEM), higher-order CFA and normalisation were used to establish an ethical evaluation index system for the clinical approval of medical technology. Data were processed in SPSS 13.0 and Lisre l5.3.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There were 52 third class indices, 15 second class indices, and 3 first class indices in this ethical evaluation index system. The weight of each index was calculated by normalisation.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>This study developed a three-level ethical evaluation index system, comprising 70 indices, for the clinical approval of medical technology.</p>

Effect of astragaloside Ⅳ combined with Panax notoginseng saponins on cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury and study of pharmacokinetics in rats / 中国中药杂志

The aim is to study the effect of astragaloside Ⅳ (AST Ⅳ) combined with Panax notoginseng saponins (PNS) on cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury, and to probe the synergistic mechanism through the pharmacokinetics of the four major components such as AST Ⅳ, ginsenoside Rg₁ (Rg₁), ginsenoside Rb₁ (Rb₁), notoginsenoside R₁ (R₁) in cerebral ischemia-reperfusion rats. Following the establishment of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion model in rats by modified suture method, neurological function score, cerebral infarction area and pathomorphology were used to evaluate the pharmacological effect that the combination of AST Ⅳ and PNS antagonized cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury; the contents of AST Ⅳ, Rg₁, Rb₁, R₁ in rat plasma of different time points were determined with ultra performance liquid chromatography tandem massspectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS), pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated and pharmacokinetics changes of the main effective components were analyzed. The results showed that AST Ⅳ, PNS alone and their combination could reduce the cerebral infarction area of rats, relieve the behavioral scores of neurologic deficit, improve the pathological changes after cerebral ischemia, the effects of the combination were better. Among AST Ⅳ, Rg₁, Rb₁, R₁, the area under the curve (AUC) was significantly increased, the mean residence time of (MRT0-t) was delayed, the peak concentration (Cmax) was significantly raised, the apparent volume of distribution (Vz/F) was reduced, and the clearance rate in vivo was significantly slowed. It suggested that AST Ⅳ combined with PNS has synergistic enhancement on anti-cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury, moreover, make the pharmacokinetic behavior of the main effective components change, the mechanism may be associated with prolonging the retention time of the effective components in cerebral ischemia condition, elevating the bioavailability.

Kinetics analysis on gait termination for children with backpacks / 医用生物力学

Objective To understand kinetics characteristics of gait termination for children with backpacks， and compare the difference between planned gait termination (PGT) and unplanned gait termination (UPGT) as well as effects of backpack carrying by children at the moment of gait termination. Methods Twelve boys (age (9.85±1.34) years old, height (140.89±11.57) cm, weight (34.96±9.62) kg) were recruited in this study. The gait termination scene in real life was simulated in the lab by the subjects who were required to carry different backpacks, while the parameters of ground reaction force and center of pressure (COP) during PGT and UPGT were recorded by two 3D force plates. Results There were significant differences in the peak ground reaction force curve between gait termination and normal walking. Meanwhile the peak ground reaction force and COP shifting during PGT and UPGT were both significantly larger than those during normal walking， and the values were increased with the increase of backpack load. The maximum ground reaction force and COP shifting were found during UPGT while the subject was carrying backpack equal to 15% of the body weight (15% BW). Conclusions The change of ground reaction force was useful for gait termination，but children will suffer much more impact force during both PGT and UPGT, and make the control on postural balance more difficult, which could be dangerous with the increase of backpack load. It is advised that children should lighten their backpack loads, which will be helpful to prevent accidental injuries during suddenly external disturbance.

Juvenile xanthogranuloma: 3 cases report and literature review / 中华血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To report the clinical characteristics and treatment of 3 patients with juvenile xanthogranuloma (JXG).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A retrospective review of the medical records of 3 patients with JXG.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>JXG was characterized by solitary or multiple yellowish cutaneous nodules, or eye involvement . It could also affect pituitary. JXG was easily misdiagnosed as Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH). Treatment for JXG was surgical excision of a solitary skin lesion and some cases might be, spontaneous regression. In cases with multisystem involvement, chemotherapy regimens used to treat LCH may be effective.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>JXG is one of the more common non-Langerhans histiocytic proliferations and is frequently seen in infants and children. LCH-like chemotherapy is effective for patients with symptomatic multisystem JXG.</p>

Localization of functional domains of HEV ORF1 in cells / 病毒学报

To investigate the expression and localization of various functional domains of ORF1 polyprotein and ORF3 protein of hepatitis E virus in host cells, the coding sequences of the various functional domains (RdRp, HEL, MET, PLP, X) of ORF1 were separately cloned into pcDNA3. 1-GFP vectors for constructing the recombinant plasmids which were verified by enzyme digestion and sequencing. The exact expression of the fusion proteins were detected by Western Blot, and the distribution and localization were observed by the laser scanning confocal microscope(LSCM). In huh7 cells, GFP-RdRp proteins were found mainly in the nuclei, GFP-HEL proteins were distributed vesicularly around the nucleus, GFP-MET proteins were distributed granularly both in the nuclei and the cytoplasm, GFP-PLP proteins had polar distribution around the nucleus, and unknown GFP-X proteins were distributed uniformly both in the nuclei and the cytoplasm. Different localization of these proteins verified the previous data obtained from in vitro studies, providing a support for further research on the biological functions of various proteins coded by HEV genome.