[Comparison of clinical and immunological characteristics between primary Sjögren's syndrome patients with positive and negative anti-SSB antibody].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the differences of clinical manifestations and laboratory features between primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) patients with positive and negative anti-Sjögren's syndrome type B (SSB) antibody. METHODS: The clinical data of pSS patients hospitalized in Department of Rheumato-logy and Immunology, Peking University Third Hospital were retrospectively analyzed to investigate the differences of clinical and laboratory features between anti-SSB positive and negative groups. The t test, Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-square test and Fisher's exact probability were used for analysis. RESULTS: A total of 142 pSS patients were enrolled in this study, including 137 females and 5 males with a mean age of (54.8±13.3) years. The anti-SSB positive group included 44 patients accounting for 31.0% of the pSS patients. The anti-SSB positive pSS patients were younger at disease onset and at visit [age at visit: (50.9±14.5) years vs. (56.5±12.4) years; age at onset: (42.2±14.8) years vs. (49.5±15.3) years, P < 0.05]. The patients with anti-SSB positive more frequently presented with rash (29.5% vs. 14.3%, P < 0.05), enlargement of parotid glands (27.3% vs. 8.2%, P < 0.05), renal tubular acidosis (15.9% vs. 4.2%, P < 0.05), immune thrombocytopenia (9.1% vs. 1.0%, P < 0.05), rheumatoid factor (RF) positive (85.0% vs. 49.4%, P < 0.05), higher RF and antinuclear antibody (ANA) titers (median: 89.8 IU/mL vs. 20.5 IU/mL; median: 320 vs. 160, P < 0.05), anti-Sjögren's syndrome type A (SSA) antibody positive (97.7% vs. 64.3%, P < 0.05), elevation of γ globulin (71.4% vs. 38.5%, P < 0.05), higher levels of IgG (median: 21.0 g/L vs. 15.6 g/L, P < 0.05), higher proportions of CD3-CD19+ cells [(21.0±11.9)% vs. (13.7±9.6)%, P < 0.05] and lower proportions of CD3+ cells [(67.2±14.4)% vs. (76.6%±13.1)%, P < 0.05] than those negative. However, the anti-SSB positive group was less likely to show anti-mitochondrial antibodies (AMA)-M2 positivity (10.5% vs. 35.6%, P < 0.05). Glucocorticoids (90.9% vs. 73.5%, P < 0.05) and immunosuppressants (54.5% vs. 36.7%, P < 0.05) were more frequently used in anti-SSB positive pSS patients than those negative. CONCLUSION: The anti-SSB positive pSS patients were younger at disease onset while more frequently presenting with various symptoms, higher levels of other antibodies and activation of B cells than those negative. Glucocorticoids and immunosuppressants were more frequently used, indicating that anti-SSB positive group presented with a more severe clinal phenotype.

Mutagenesis of Rhodobacter sphaeroides using atmospheric and room temperature plasma treatment for efficient production of coenzyme Q10.

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) plays an important role in the human respiratory chain and is widely used as medicine and dietary supplement. To improve the fermentation efficiency of CoQ10, a modified version of atmospheric and room temperature plasma (ARTP) treatment was used to mutate Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Meanwhile, Vitamin K3, a structural analog of CoQ10, was used as an inhibitor for mutant selection. In the first round of screening in 24-well plates, three mutants were obtained, with the production of CoQ10 at 311 mg/L, 307 mg/L, and 309 mg/L, which were increased from the parent's production at 265 mg/L. Furthermore, a second round of mutation and screening was performed based on the mutant strain with the highest production in the first round, leading to the identification of a mutant AR01 with the production of CoQ10 at ∼330 mg/L. Finally, 590 mg/L CoQ10 was obtained for AR01 after 100 h fermentation, which was ∼25.5% higher than that of the original parent strain. It is the first report of ARTP treatment usage for the selection of CoQ10 producing bacteria and the results show that plasma jet, driven by helium-based ARTP, can be a feasible strategy for mutation feeding.