Single-cell profiling reveals a potent role of quercetin in promoting hair regeneration

Hair loss affects millions of people at some time in their life, and safe and efficient treatments for hair loss are a significant unmet medical need. We report that topical delivery of quercetin (Que) stimulates resting hair follicles to grow with rapid follicular keratinocyte proliferation and replenishes perifollicular microvasculature in mice. We construct dynamic single-cell transcriptome landscape over the course of hair regrowth and find that Que treatment stimulates the differentiation trajectory in the hair follicles and induces an angiogenic signature in dermal endothelial cells by activating HIF-1α in endothelial cells. Skin administration of a HIF-1α agonist partially recapitulates the pro-angiogenesis and hair-growing effects of Que. Together, these findings provide a molecular understanding for the efficacy of Que in hair regrowth, which underscores the translational potential of targeting the hair follicle niche as a strategy for regenerative medicine, and suggest a route of pharmacological intervention that may promote hair regrowth.

Clinical analysis of 53 children with connective tissue disease complicated with interstitial lung disease / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

Objective:To investigate the clinical manifestations, characteristics of chest high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT), and prognosis of connective tissue disease (CTD) complicated with interstitial lung disease (ILD) in children.Methods:The clinical data of 53 children with CTD-ILD who were admitted to the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Affiliated Xi′an Children′s Hospital of Xi′an Jiaotong University from October 2013 to October 2019 were retrospectively analyzed, including clinical manifestations, blood gas analysis, chest HRCT and prognosis.Results:As for these 53 children with CTD-ILD, the ratio of male to female was 1.0∶1.4, the average age was (7.50±3.34) years, and the course of disease was 2.00 (0.85, 7.50) months.Among them, there were 25 cases (47.2%) of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), 15 cases (28.3%) of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 11 cases of polymyositis / dermatomyositis (PM/DM) (20.7%), 1 case of overlap syndrome (OS) (1.9%), and 1 case of allergic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (AGPA) (1.9%). Although cough (39.6%) was the most common symptom of respiratory system in these children with CTD-ILD and fever(66.0%) was the most common symptom in the systemic features.Blood gas analysis appeared abnormal in 17 cases, including 10 cases of hypoxemia (18.9%) and 7 cases of type Ⅰ respiratory failure (13.2%). HRCT chest showed ground glass shadow, strip shadow, subpleural spot shadow, grid shadow, pleural thickening, consolidation shadow, nodular shadow and cystic low-density shadow, with the proportion of 52.8%, 26.4%, 22.6%, 18.9%, 11.3%, 7.5%, 1.9% and 1.9%, respectively; nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP)(39.6%) was the most common type of imaging classification.After the combined treatment with glucocorticoids, immunosuppressive agents and biological agents, HRCT chest showed remarkably improvement in 36 cases (67.9%), while no change in 8 cases (15.1%). A total of 75.0%(33 cases) of 44 cases were infected in the course of combined treatment.In addition, 9 cases (17.0%) died from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), among which 4 cases exacerbated to rapid progressive luge disease and 5 cases aggravated secondary ARDS due to infection.Conclusions:Only a small number of children with CTD-ILD have respiratory symptoms and signs.HRCT chest contributes to the early diagnosis of CTD-ILD, and its imaging manifestations are diverse.Blood gas analysis and HRCT chest play an important role in the disease evaluation and treatment planning.Moreover, it is the direction for further research to develop effective methods to prevent and control secondary infection so as to improve the survival rate and reduce the mortality rate during the active treatment of primary diseases.

Clinical characteristics of cranial imaging abnormalities in children with systemic lupus erythematosus in children at the initial diagnosis / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

Objective:To investigate the incidence and clinical characteristics of cranial imaging abnormalities in children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) at the initial diagnosis.Methods:The clinical data of 74 children with SLE admitted to the Department of Rheumatology in Children′s Hospital Affiliated to Xi′an Jiaotong University for the initial diagnosis from January 2012 to May 2019 were subject to retrospective analysis.They were divided into the cranial imaging abnormality group and the cranial imaging non-abnormality group according to the imaging.A description and statistical analysis were carried out for both groups with respect to the course before initial diagnosis, gender, rash, arthralgia, hair loss, pulmonary lesions, white blood cells (WBC), hemoglobin (Hb), platelets (PLT), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), serum ferritin (FER), serum complement values (C 3 and C 4), anticardiolipin antibody (ACA), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and total cholesterol (TC). Results:Seventy-four children with SLE underwent a cranial imaging exa-mination at the initial diagnosis, including 52 cases for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and 22 cases for CT.There were 36 abnormal cases (48.6%), including 27 cases (51.9%) in MRI and 9 cases (40.9%) in CT.Among 36 cases of abnormal cranial imaging in children with SLE, MRI abnormalities were mainly demyelinating lesions and sulcus widening (brain atrophy), while CT abnormalities were mainly sulcus widening (brain atrophy). There were 21 cases presenting with neurological symptoms, including 17 cases of headache, 11 cases of dizziness, 3 cases of convulsions, and 1 case of coma.There were no significant differences between both groups in the course before initial diagnosis, gender, rash, arthralgia and hair loss.Among the 36 cases of SLE with cranial imaging abnormalities, 20 cases presented with interstitial pulmonary lesions, of which 4 cases presented with pulmonary hemorrhage; Among 38 cases of SLE without cranial imaging abnormality, 8 cases presented with interstitial pulmonary lesions, which indicated that there were statistical differences between both groups; within terms of the laboratory test items, there were significant differences in PLT between both groups, and there was no significant difference in WBC, Hb, ESR, FER, C 3, C 4, ACA, ALT, AST, TG, HDL, LDL and TC. Conclusions:The cranial imaging abnormalities in children with SLE, especially the earlier occurrence in MRI, may occur before the manifestation of clinical symptoms of the nervous system.They were also associated with other important organ damages, such as abnormal blood system and lung lesions.Early detection may contribute to the short-term prognosis.

Clinical analysis of 30 cases with Stevens-Johnson syndrome / 中国基层医药

Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics and treatment of Stevens-Johnson syndrome.Methods:The clinical data of 30 children with Stevens-Johnson syndrome admitted to our hospital in recent 3 years(January 2016-June 2019) were retrospectively analyzed.Results:Among the 30 cases, 18 cases were male and 12 cases were female, the ratio of male to female was 3: 2.The average age of onset was (7.57±2.48)years, with the oldest age 13years and the youngest age was 2years.The 30 patients met the diagnostic criteria for Stevens-Johnson syndrome.Among the suspected allergen, there were 15 cases of antibiotics, accounting for 50%.There were 8 cases of antiepileptic drugs(4 cases of phenobarbital, 2 cases of carbamazepine and 2 cases of valproic acid), accounting for 26.7%.Five cases of NSAIDS (4 cases of ibuprofen and 2 cases of aspirin), accounted for 16.7%.Two cases had no specific sensitizing drugs, accounted for 6%.All 30 patients had oral mucosa and conjunctiva involvement, corneal ulcer complicated in 1 case.Vulva and genital were involved in 10 cases.All 30 cases received implosive therapy with methylprednisolone sodium succinate + intravenous gamma globulin, among which 3 cases were treated with plasma exchange due to obvious impairment of organ function.Four cases developed toxic epidermal necrolysis, three of which were treated with cyclosporine.One patient had neurological sequelae, manifested as consciousness disorder and limb movement disorder, and recovered after 2 months of rehabilitation treatment.Conclusion:For children with Stevens-Johnson syndrome, most of the children with abnormal liver function.The antiepileptic drugs and antibacterial drugs are the most susceptible drugs.After early identification, early use of high-dose glucocorticoid plus intravenous gamma globulin shock treatment, the prognosis of most patients is good.When the effect is not good, other immune inhibitors such as ciclosporin, biological agents and blood purification, etc.can also be used.

Chemical screen identifies a geroprotective role of quercetin in premature aging

Aging increases the risk of various diseases. The main goal of aging research is to find therapies that attenuate aging and alleviate aging-related diseases. In this study, we screened a natural product library for geroprotective compounds using Werner syndrome (WS) human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs), a premature aging model that we recently established. Ten candidate compounds were identified and quercetin was investigated in detail due to its leading effects. Mechanistic studies revealed that quercetin alleviated senescence via the enhancement of cell proliferation and restoration of heterochromatin architecture in WS hMSCs. RNA-sequencing analysis revealed the transcriptional commonalities and differences in the geroprotective effects by quercetin and Vitamin C. Besides WS hMSCs, quercetin also attenuated cellular senescence in Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) and physiological-aging hMSCs. Taken together, our study identifies quercetin as a geroprotective agent against accelerated and natural aging in hMSCs, providing a potential therapeutic intervention for treating age-associated disorders.

Effect of curcumin microemulsion on proliferation and apoptosis of human leukemia cell line K562 cells / 白血病·淋巴瘤

Objective To determine the effects of curcumin microemulsion on proliferation and apoptosis of the human leukemia cell line K562 cells.Methods The curcumin microemulsion was prepared with the routine procedure.MTT assay was used to determine cell proliferation in cultured K562 cells,flow cytometry analysis was applied to examine cell apoptosis,and WT1 mRNA was determined with RT-PCR.The results about curcumin microemulsion were compared with these on curcumin.Results The prepared curcumin microemulsion was a stable clear solution with diameter of 10-100 nm.Curcumin microemulsion inhibited K562 cell proliferation by 24％,46％,68％with a 24 h incubation at dose of 2.5 μg/ml,5.0 μg/ml,and 10.0 μg/ml respectively,whereas curcumin reduced the proliferation by 6％,14％,25％at equal concentrations.WT1 mRNA level of curcumin microemulsion group(0.190±0.036)was reduced stronger than that of curcusin group(0.456±0.047).Conclusions Microemulsion is a great carrier for curcumin.Curcumin microemulsion is more effective in inhibiting proliferation,pro-apoptosis,and reducing WT1 gene expression than curcumin.A strong basis of medical value for the use of curcumin microemulsion to treat tumors is provided.