Glycyrrhizin protects against particulate matter-induced lung injury via regulation of endoplasmic reticulum stress and NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis through Nrf2/HO-1/NQO1 signaling pathway.

Particulate matter (PM) is a major environmental pollutant that contributes considerably to deaths worldwide. The pathogenesis of PM-induced lung injury (PILI) is far from elucidated and warrants effective intervention. An effective component of licorice, glycyrrhizin (GL), has been the subject of much research due to its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative capabilities. Although preventive properties of GL are well-known, the precise mechanism of GL in PILI has not yet been investigated. A mouse model of PILI was used to examine the protective effects of GL in vivo, and a human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs) model was used in vitro. In order to determine whether GL mitigates PILI, its effects on endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis and the oxidative response were examined. According to the findings, GL reduced PILI and activate anti-oxidative Nrf2/HO-1/NQO1 signaling in mice. Notably, the effect of GL on PM-induced ER stress and NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis was significantly attenuated by the Nrf2 inhibitor ML385. The data suggest that via the anti-oxidative Nrf2 signaling, GL may reduce oxidative stress-mediated ER stress and NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis. Therefore, GL may serve as a promising treatment for PILI.

Treatment of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia in non-human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients using a combination of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and caspofungin.

BACKGROUND: Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) is an infectious disease common in immunocompromised hosts. However, the currently, the clinical characteristics of non-HIV patients with PJP infection have not been fully elucidated. AIM: To explore efficacy of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) and caspofungin for treatment of non-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected PJP patients. METHODS: A retrospective study enrolled 22 patients with non-HIV-infected PJP treated with TMP-SMX and caspofungin from 2019 to 2021. Clinical manifestations, treatment and prognosis of the patients were analyzed. RESULTS: Five patients presented with comorbidity of autoimmune diseases, seven with lung cancer, four with lymphoma, two with organ transplantation and four with membranous nephropathy associated with use of immunosuppressive agents. The main clinical manifestations of patients were fever, dry cough, and progressive dyspnea. All patients presented with acute onset and respiratory failure. The most common imaging manifestation was ground glass opacity around the hilar, mainly in the upper lobe. All patients were diagnosed using next-generation sequencing, and were treated with a combination of TMP-SMX and caspofungin. Among them, 17 patients received short-term adjuvant glucocorticoid therapy. All patients recovered well and were discharged from hospital. CONCLUSION: Non-HIV-infected PJP have rapid disease progression, high risk of respiratory failure, and high mortality. Combination of TMP-SMX and caspofungin can effectively treat severe non-HIV-infected PJP patients with respiratory failure.

Application of metagenomic next-generation sequencing in the diagnosis of severe pneumonia caused by Chlamydia psittaci.

PURPOSE: Psittacosis is a zoonotic infectious disease caused by the transmission of the bacterium Chlamydia psittaci (C. psittaci) from birds to humans. Infections in humans mainly present as community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). However, most cases are treated without diagnostic testing, and the importance of Chlamydia psittaci infection as a cause of CAP is therefore unclear. Diagnostic tools, including culture, serologic test, and PCR-based methods, are available but prone to false negative results. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) has been increasingly used in the diagnosis of infectious diseases, particularly when conventional diagnostic approaches have limitation. Detection of nucleic acid sequence of C. psittaci in respiratory tract samples by metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) is effective for early diagnosis of severe C. psittaci pneumonia. Timely treatment based on tetracycline can reduce unnecessary use of antibiotics and improve prognosis of patients with severe C. psittaci pneumonia. METHODS: Clinical data of thirteen patients with severe C. psittaci pneumonia diagnosed by mNGS were collected. Clinical manifestations, treatment and prognosis of patients were summarized. RESULTS: The typical symptoms of pneumonia caused by C. psittaci include fever, headache, myalgia, cough, and dyspnea. In the current study, all patients met the criteria for severe C. psittaci pneumonia and received mechanical ventilation, including noninvasive mechanical ventilation (five/thirteen) and invasive mechanical ventilation (eight/thirteen). The findings showed that patients with C. psittaci pneumonia presented with normal or slightly increased leucocytes and procalcitonin, and high C-reactive protein levels. Computed tomography manifestations included consolidation of lung parenchyma, with air bronchogram and pleural effusion in some patients. mNGS analysis results were obtained within 48-72 h. Eleven patients fully recovered after targeted treatment, however, two patients died from secondary multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the current study show that mNGS is effective in diagnosis of C. psittaci pneumonia, and has significant diagnosis value in patients with severe infection. Patients responds well to the timely use of appropriate antibiotics.

Development and validation of a novel risk assessment model to estimate the probability of pulmonary embolism in postoperative patients.

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a leading cause of mortality in postoperative patients. Numerous PE prevention clinical practice guidelines are available but not consistently implemented. This study aimed to develop and validate a novel risk assessment model to assess the risk of PE in postoperative patients. Patients who underwent Grade IV surgery between September 2012 and January 2020 (n = 26,536) at the Affiliated Dongyang Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University were enrolled in our study. PE was confirmed by an identified filling defect in the pulmonary artery system in CT pulmonary angiography. The PE incidence was evaluated before discharge. All preoperative data containing clinical and laboratory variables were extracted for each participant. A novel risk assessment model (RAM) for PE was developed with multivariate regression analysis. The discrimination ability of the RAM was evaluated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, and model calibration was assessed by the Hosmer-Lemeshow statistic. We included 53 clinical and laboratory variables in this study. Among them, 296 postoperative patients developed PE before discharge, and the incidence rate was 1.04%. The distribution of variables between the training group and the validation group was balanced. After using multivariate stepwise regression, only variable age (OR 1.070 [1.054-1.087], P < 0.001), drinking (OR 0.477 [0.304-0.749], P = 0.001), malignant tumor (OR 2.552 [1.745-3.731], P < 0.001), anticoagulant (OR 3.719 [2.281-6.062], P < 0.001), lymphocyte percentage (OR 2.773 [2.342-3.285], P < 0.001), neutrophil percentage (OR 10.703 [8.337-13.739], P < 0.001), red blood cell (OR 1.872 [1.384-2.532], P < 0.001), total bilirubin (OR 1.038 [1.012-1.064], P < 0.001), direct bilirubin (OR 0.850 [0.779-0.928], P < 0.001), prothrombin time (OR 0.768 [0.636-0.926], P < 0.001) and fibrinogen (OR 0.772 [0.651-0.915], P < 0.001) were selected and significantly associated with PE. The final model included four variables: neutrophil percentage, age, malignant tumor and lymphocyte percentage. The AUC of the model was 0.949 (95% CI 0.932-0.966). The risk prediction model still showed good calibration, with reasonable agreement between the observed and predicted PE outcomes in the validation set (AUC 0.958). The information on sensitivity, specificity and predictive values according to cutoff points of the score in the training set suggested a threshold of 0.012 as the optimal cutoff value to define high-risk individuals. We developed a new approach to select hazard factors for PE in postoperative patients. This tool provided a consistent, accurate, and effective method for risk assessment. This finding may help decision-makers weigh the risk of PE and appropriately select PE prevention strategies.

Clinical symptoms and related risk factors in pulmonary embolism patients and cluster analysis based on these symptoms.

Pulmonary embolism (PE) remains largely underdiagnosed due to nonspecific symptoms. This study aims to evaluate typical symptoms of PE patients, their related predictors, and to differentiate typical clusters of patients and principal components of PE symptoms. Clinical data from a total of 551 PE patients between January 2012 and April 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. PE was diagnosed according to the European Society of Cardiology Guidelines. Logistic regression models, system clustering method, and principal component analysis were used to identify potential risk factors, different clusters of the patients, and principal components of PE symptoms. The most common symptoms of PE were dyspnea, cough, and tachypnea in more than 60% of patients. Some combined chronic conditions, laboratory and clinical indicators were found to be related to these clinical symptoms. Our study also suggested that PE is associated with a broad list of symptoms and some PE patients might share similar symptoms, and some PE symptoms were usually cooccurrence. Based on ten symptoms generated from our sample, we classified the patients into five clusters which represent five groups of PE patients during clinical practice, and identified four principal components of PE symptoms. These findings will improve our understanding of clinical symptoms and their potential combinations which are helpful for clinical diagnosis of PE.

Eosinophilic biomarkers for detection of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with or without pulmonary embolism.

Eosinophilia has been implicated in the pathophysiology of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). However, the role of eosinophil activation in the development of AECOPD remains unclear. In the present study, the reliability of plasma levels of eosinophil activation markers, including eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), major basic protein (MBP), eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN) and eosinophil peroxidase (EPX), were measured and used as diagnostic biomarkers of AECOPD with or without pulmonary embolism (PE). A total of 47 patients with AECOPD, 30 patients with AECOPD/PE and 35 healthy adults were enrolled in the present study. Plasma levels of ECP, EDN, EPX and MBP were measured using commercial ELISA kits. The mean concentrations of plasma ECP, EDN, EPX and MBP in the patients with AECOPD was significantly 2.87-, 3.06-, 1.60- and 1.92-fold higher, respectively, compared with the control group (P<0.05). Similar results were obtained in patients with AECOPD/PE, for whom plasma levels of ECP, EDN, EPX and MBP were significantly 2.06-, 2.21-, 1.42- and 2.42-fold higher, respectively, compared with the controls (P<0.05). No significant differences were observed in the levels of these proteins between patients with AECOPD or AECOPD/PE. Among the four potential markers, ECP was determined to be the optimal marker for distinguishing patients with AECOPD or AECOPD/PE from the controls. No significant correlation was observed between marker concentrations and gender, age or disease severity. The results of the present study may have clinical applications in the diagnosis of AECOPD using these novel biomarkers.

siRNA-mediated Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl gene silencing sensitizes human hepatoblastoma cells to chemotherapeutic drugs.

1. The aim of the present study was to investigate the changes in chemotherapeutic drug sensitivity of HepG2 cells transfected with Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl siRNA expression vectors. 2. Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl siRNA and negative siRNA expression vectors were constructed and stably transfected into HepG2 cells. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the target gene expression, and the Bcl-2, Bcl-xl, Bax and caspase-3 protein levels were measured using western blots and immunofluorescence. The sensitivity of the cells to the chemotherapeutic drugs 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and 10-hydroxycamptothecin (HCPT) was analysed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazoliumbromide (MTT) and flow cytometry. 3. The Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl gene expression and corresponding protein levels in Bcl-2 siRNA, Bcl-xl siRNA and Bcl-2/Bcl-xl siRNA transfected cells were reduced compared with negative siRNA transfected or untreated cells. The Bax protein level remained unaltered but the caspase-3 level was enhanced when Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl protein levels were reduced. The MTT results demonstrated that Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl transfected cells exhibited increased sensitivity to 5-FU or HCPT. Flow cytometry demonstrated that the sub G1 cell population increased in Bcl-2/Bcl-xl siRNA co-transfected and Bcl-xl siRNA and Bcl-2 siRNA transfected cells when compared with negative siRNA or untreated cells. The latter trend was strengthened further in the presence of 5-FU or HCPT. 4. Thus, Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl siRNA-mediated gene silencing, in combination with chemotherapy, may be a potential therapeutic strategy against human hepatoblastoma.

Bcl-XL small interfering RNA enhances sensitivity of Hepg2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells to 5-fluorouracil and hydroxycamptothecin.

Changes in drug sensitivity in Bcl-XL small interfering RNA (siRNA) transfected Hepg2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells were investigated in this study. Bcl-XL siRNA and negative siRNA expression vector were constructed and stably transfected into Hepg2 cells. Reverse transcription (RT)-PCR, western blot and immunofluorescence were used to detect the target gene expression at mRNA and protein levels. Drug sensitivity of the cells to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and hydroxycamptothecin (HCPT) were evaluated with MTT. The Bcl-XL mRNA and protein expression levels in Bcl-XL siRNA transfectants were reduced compared with negative siRNA transfectants or mock cells. MTT results showed that Bcl-XL siRNA transfected cells have a higher cell inhibition rate than negative vector transfected cells or untreated cells after treatment with 13, 130, 1300 and 13,000 mg/L of 5-FU. Bcl-XL siRNA transfected cells also showed increased drug-sensitivity compared with negative vector transfected cells or untreated cells after treatment with 0.18, 0.36, 0.72 and 1.44 mg/L HCPT. Flow cytometry (FCM) results demonstrated that the sub-G1 population increased in the Bcl-XL siRNA group, compared with the negative siRNA group and untreated control group, after the addition of 5-FU (1300 mg/L) and HCPT (0.72 mg/L). siRNA targeting Bcl-XL gene can specifically down-regulate Bcl-XL expression in Hepg2 cells, and can increase spontaneous cell apoptosis and sensitize cells to 5-FU or HCPT.

Bcl-2 siRNA induced apoptosis and increased sensitivity to 5-fluorouracil and HCPT in HepG2 cells.

To investigate the changes in drug sensitivity of Bcl-2 siRNA transfected HepG2 cells. Bcl-2 siRNA and negative siRNA expression vector were constructed and stably transfected into HepG2 cells. RT-PCR and Immunofluorescence were used to detect the target gene expression. Western Blotting was used to detect Bcl-2, Bax and caspase-3 protein expressiom. Drug sensitivity of the cells to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and 10-hydroxycamptothecin (HCPT) were analyzed with MTT and flow cytometry. Results were following: (1) the mRNA and protein expression level of Bcl-2 in Bcl-2 siRNA stable transfectants were reduced compared with negative siRNA transfected or untreated cells. Accordingly, Bax protein expression had no change and caspase-3 protein expression showed significantly be up regulated; (2) MTT results showed that Bcl-2 siRNA transfectants had higher cell inhibitory rates after treated with 5-FU or HCPT; (3) flow cytometry results demonstrated that sub G1 population increased in Bcl-2 siRNA transfected cells compared with negative siRNA or untreated cells. After addition 5-FU (1300 mg/l) and HCPT (0.72 mg/l), Bcl-2 siRNA cells showed higher sub G1 population than negative siRNA or untreated cells. siRNA targeting Bcl-2 gene can specifically down-regulate Bcl-2 expression, increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio expression and caspase-3 activity in HepG2 cells, which lead to increase cells spontaneous apoptosis and sensitize cells to 5-FU or HCPT. Bcl-2 siRNA may be a potential therapy agent against human hepatoblastoma.

Silencing of Bcl-XL expression in human MGC-803 gastric cancer cells by siRNA.

To investigate the inhibitory effect of the Bcl-XL small interfering RNA (siRNA) on Bcl-XL gene expression in the human gastric cancer cell line MGC-803, green fluorescent protein (GFP) siRNA was constructed and transfected into MGC-803 cells, together with GFP expression vector pTrace SV40. GFP expression levels were observed using fluorescence microscopy. Bcl-XL siRNA and negative siRNA were then constructed and stably transfected into MGC-803 cells. RT-PCR and immunofluorescence were used to detect the expression of Bcl-XL. Spontaneous apoptosis was detected by acridine orange (AO) and flow cytometry. Results were as follows: (1) 48 h after GFP expression vector and GFP siRNA co-transfection, the expression level of GFP in the GFP siRNA group was much lower than the negative siRNA group, according to fluorescence microscopy results. The mRNA and protein levels of Bcl-XL in Bcl-XL siRNA stable transfectants were reduced to almost background level compared with negative siRNA transfectants or untreated cells. (2) Changes in nucleus morphology was observed by AO staining nucleic and flow cytometry analysis, which showed that stable Bcl-XL siRNA transfectants have an increased spontaneous apoptosis (21.17%+/-1.26% vs. 1.19%+/-0.18% and 1.56%+/-0.15% respectively, P < 0.05 vs. negative siRNA or untreated control). siRNA targeting GFP or Bcl-XL genes can specifically suppress GFP or Bcl-XL expression in MGC-803 cells, and Bcl-XL siRNA can increase spontaneous apoptosis. Bcl-XL siRNA may be a beneficial agent against human gastric adenocarcinoma.