Cytokine Profiles and Virological Marker Monitoring during 48 Weeks Peginterferon Alfa Treatment for HBeAg-Positive Chronic Hepatitis B / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

Objective@#This study aimed to investigate whether cytokine profiles and virological markers might add value in monitoring the effects of peginterferon (PEG-IFN) therapy for hepatitis B e-antigen (HBeAg) positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB).@*Methods@#HBeAg positive patients with CHB were treated with PEG-IFN for 48 weeks. Clinical biochemical, and HBV serological indexes, as well as cytokines, were detected at baseline and every 12 weeks.@*Results@#A total of 116 patients with CHB were enrolled in this study; 100 patients completed the 48-week treatment and follow-up, of whom 38 achieved serum HBeAg disappearance, 25 achieved HBeAg seroconversion, 37 showed HBsAg decreases ≥ 1 log 10 IU/mL, 9 showed HBsAg disappearance, and 8 became HBsAb positive. The cytokine levels at baseline and during treatment were similar between the HBeAg disappearance group and non-disappearance group. The disappearance of HBeAg was independently associated with HBeAg levels at weeks 12 and 24, and with the HBeAg decline at week 24 ( P < 0.05). The HBsAg response was independently associated with HBsAg, the HBsAg decline, HBeAg, the HBeAg decline at week 12, and HBsAg at week 24 ( P< 0.05).@*Conclusion@#There was no significant correlation between the response to interferon (IFN) and cytokines during PEG-IFN treatment. The changes in virological markers predicted the response to IFN after 48 weeks.

A single copy of large tumor suppressor 1 or large tumor suppressor 2 is sufficient for normal hematopoiesis / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

BACKGROUND@#Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) have the ability to differentiate into all subsets of blood cells and self-renew. Large tumor suppressor 1 (LATS1) and large tumor suppressor 2 (LATS2) kinases are essential for cell cycle regulation, organism fitness, genome integrity, and cancer prevention. Here, we investigated whether Lats1 and Lats2 are critical for the maintenance of the self-renewal and quiescence capacities of HSCs in mice.@*METHODS@#Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was used to determine the expression levels of Lats1 and Lats2 in subsets of progenitor cells and mature bone marrow cells. A clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats system was used to generate Lats1 or Lats2 knockout mice. Complete blood cell counts were used to compare the absolute number of white blood cells, lymphocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, and platelets between Lats1 or Lats2 heterozygotes and littermates. Flow cytometry was used to assess the size of hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) and HSC pools in Lats1 or Lats2 heterozygotes and littermates. The comparison between the two groups was analyzed using Student's t test.@*RESULTS@#Lats1 and Lats2 were widely expressed in hematopoietic cells with higher expression levels in primitive hematopoietic cells than in mature cells. Lats1 or Lats2 knockout mice were generated, with the homozygotes showing embryonic lethality. The size of the HPC and HSC pools in Lats1 (HPC: wild-type [WT] vs. heterozygote, 220,426.77 ± 54,384.796 vs. 221,149.4 ± 42,688.29, P = 0.988; HSC: WT vs. heterozygote, 2498.932 ± 347.856 vs. 3249.763 ± 370.412, P = 0.105) or Lats2 (HPC: WT vs. heterozygote, 425,540.52 ± 99,721.86 vs. 467,127.8 ± 89,574.48, P = 0.527; HSC: WT vs. heterozygote, 4760.545 ± 1518.01 vs. 5327.437 ± 873.297, P = 0.502) heterozygotes were not impaired. Moreover, the depletion of Lats1 or Lats2 did not affect the overall survival of the heterozygotes (Lats1: P = 0.654; Lats2: P = 0.152).@*CONCLUSION@#These results indicate that a single allele of Lats1 or Lats2 may be sufficient for normal hematopoiesis.

Expression of IL-27 in multiple myeloma and its cell lines / 中华血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the expression and significance of IL-27 in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and in the supernatant of MM cell lines U266 and RPMI8226 cells culture medium.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 20 MM patients and 20 controls were enrolled in this study. The expressions of IL-27 and IL-6 in MM patient's blood plasma, and the expression of IL-27 in U266 and RPMI8226 culture supernatant were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The mRNA expression of IL-27 in mononuclear cells of MM patients' peripheral blood was measured by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The levels of IL-27 in plasma of MM patients and normal controls were (61.82 ± 8.01) ng/L and (8.29 ± 4.41) ng/L (P<0.05), and those of IL-6 were (45.62 ± 1.24) ng/L and (2.27 ± 0.18) ng/L (P<0.05), respectively. The levels of IL-27 in U266 and RPMI8226 culture supernatant were (50.06 ± 5.72) ng/L and (335.47 ± 41.88) ng/L. RT-PCR revealed that the levels of IL-27 mRNA were up-regulated in MM patients compared to controls.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>High expression of IL-27 is observed in MM patients and MM cell lines U266 and RPMI8226 cells. IL-27 may play a important role in pathogenesis of MM.</p>