High Prevalence and Disease Correlation of Autoantibodies Against p40 Encoded by Long Interspersed Nuclear Elements in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

OBJECTIVE: Long interspersed nuclear element 1 (LINE-1) encodes 2 proteins, the RNA binding protein p40 and endonuclease and reverse transcriptase (open-reading frame 2p [ORF2p]), which are both required for LINE-1 to retrotranspose. In cells expressing LINE-1, these proteins assemble with LINE-1 RNA and additional RNA binding proteins, some of which are well-known autoantigens in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This study was undertaken to investigate whether SLE patients also produce autoantibodies against LINE-1 p40. METHODS: Highly purified p40 protein was used to quantitate IgG autoantibodies in serum from 172 SLE patients and from disease controls and age-matched healthy subjects by immunoblotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Preparations of p40 that also contained associated proteins were analyzed by immunoblotting with patient sera. RESULTS: Antibodies reactive with p40 were detected in the majority of patients and many healthy controls. Their levels were higher in patients with SLE, but not those with systemic sclerosis, compared to healthy subjects (P = 0.01). Anti-p40 reactivity was higher in patients during a flare than in patients with disease in remission (P = 0.03); correlated with the SLE Disease Activity Index score (P = 0.0002), type I interferon score (P = 0.006), decrease in complement C3 level (P = 0.0001), the presence of anti-DNA antibodies (P < 0.0001) and anti-C1q antibodies (P = 0.004), and current or past history of nephritis (P = 0.02 and P = 0.003, respectively); and correlated inversely with age (r = -0.49, P < 0.0001). SLE patient sera also reacted with p40-associated proteins. CONCLUSION: Autoantibodies reacting with LINE-1 p40 characterize a population of SLE patients with severe and active disease. These autoantibodies may represent an early immune response against LINE-1 p40 that does not yet by itself imply clinically significant autoimmunity, but may represent an early, and still reversible, step toward SLE pathogenesis.

Autoantibodies against citrullinated serum albumin in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, potentially debilitating, inflammatory disease that primarily affects synovial joints. While the etiology of RA remains incompletely understood, it is clear that the disease is autoimmune in nature. A hallmark of RA is that the specific epitopes on self-antigens that are targeted by the immune system are often modified by arginine deimination, also referred to as citrullination. In fact, anti-citrullinated protein autoantibodies (ACPA) at high enough titers are diagnostic of RA and appear to have many different targets. Here, we report that RA patients have IgG autoantibodies that react with human serum albumin (HSA) when it had been citrullinated by protein arginine deiminase (PAD) 4, but not by PAD2. Unmodified albumin was not recognized by autoantibodies. In a cohort of 79 RA patients, 38% had anti-citrullinated HSA (anti-cit-HSA) reactivity above the cut-off of the average plus two standard deviations in a healthy subject cohort (n = 16). The titers of these autoantibodies correlated with ACPA status and seropositivity. There was also a trend toward correlation with the presence of radiographic joint erosions, but this did not reach statistical significance. Finally, patients with anti-cit-HSA were more frequently treated with biologics and combination regimens than patients without these autoantibodies. We conclude that ACPA directed against citrullinated albumin exist in a subset of RA patients. Because of the abundance of albumin, its modification by citrullination, as well as autoantibodies binding to it, may have deleterious consequences for the health of affected RA patients.

[Observation and Analysis of Ground Daylight Spectra of China's Different Light Climate Partitions].

The territory of China is vast, so the daylight climates of different regions are not the same. In order to expand theutilization scope and improve the utilization efficiency of solar energy and daylight resources, this article observed and analyzed the ground daylight spectra of China's different light climate partitions. Using a portable spectrum scanner, this article did a tracking observation of ground direct daylight spectra in the period of 380-780 nm visible spectrum of different solar elevation angles during one day in seven representative cities of china's different light climate partitions. The seven representative cities included Kunming, Xining, Beijing, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Nanchang and Chongqing. According to the observation results, this article analyzed the daylight spectrum changing law, compared the daylight spectrum curves of different light climate partitions cities, and summarized the influence factors of daylight spectral radiation intensity. The Analysis of the ground direct daylight spectra showed that the daylight spectral radiation intensity of different solar elevation angles during one day of china's different light climate partitions cities was different, but the distribution and trend of daylight power spectra were basically the same which generally was first increased and then decreased. The maximum peak of spectral power distribution curve appeared at about 475 nm, and there were a steep rise between 380-475 nm and a smooth decline between 475-700 nm while repeatedly big ups and downs appearing after 700 nm. The distribution and trend of daylight power spectra of china's different light climate partitions cities were basically the same, and there was no obvious difference between the daylight spectral power distribution curves and the different light climate partitions. The daylight spectral radiation intensity was closely related to the solar elevation angle and solar surface condition.

Impact evaluation of HIV/AIDS education in rural Henan province of China.

Nowadays, there is a trend of HIV prevalence transmitting from high-risk group to average-risk group in China. Rural China is the weak link of HIV prevention, and rural areas of Henan province which is one of the most high-risk regions in China have more than 60% of the AIDS patients in the province. Thus, improving the HIV awareness and implementing health education become the top-priority of HIV/AIDS control and prevention. A multistage sampling was designed to draw 1129 people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) and 1168 non-PLWHAs in 4 prevalence counties of Henan province. A health promoting and social-psychological support model was constructed to improve the health knowledge of participants. Chi-square tests and unconditional logistic regression were performed to determine the intervention effect and influencing factors. All groups had misunderstandings towards the basic medical knowledge and the AIDS transmission mode. Before the intervention, 59.3% of the HIV/AIDS patients and 74.6% of the healthy people had negative attitudes towards the disease. There was statistically significant difference in the improvement of knowledge, attitude and action with regards to HIV prevention before and after intervention (P<0.05). PLWHAs who were males (OR=1.731) and had higher education level (OR=1.910) were found to have better HIV/AIDS health knowledge, whereas older PLWHAs (OR=0.961) were less likely to have better HIV/AIDS health knowledge. However, the intervention effect was associated with the expertise of doctors and supervisors, the content and methods of education, and participants' education level. It was concluded that health education of HIV/AIDS which positively influences the awareness and attitude of HIV prevention is popular in rural areas, therefore, a systematic and long-term program of HIV control and prevention is urgently needed in rural areas.

[Study on the cost of preventing AIDS transmission from mothers to children: an effect analysis].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the costs of preventing AIDS transmission from mothers to children in a high-incidence area and to investigate relations between costs and effects, as well as to study the economical effects of this approach. METHODS: According to the number of patients and each strategy on prevention of AIDS transmission, following aspects were calculated as: the cost of preventing each patient with HIV infection, to avoid the cost of one disability adjusted life year (DALY), to evaluate the cost of each patient with either HIV infection or HIV-infected thereafter,and to calculate the HIV-positive rates in mothers at the same levels between costs and effects. RESULTS: The costs-effects for stopping pregnancy:it was 2264 Yuan for preventing one DALY, the costs of avoiding one case with HIV infection was 46 963 Yuan, but it was 211,000 Yuan from each patient after HIV infection, the ratio between effects and costs was 4.5:1. The costs-effects for comprehensive strategies showed that the cost was 60 853 Yuan for avoiding one case with HIV infection. It was 211,000 Yuan for each patient after HIV infection and the ratio between effects and costs was 3.5:1. CONCLUSION: The cost-effect of preventing HIV transmission from mothers to children was significant on the basis of economical level. It was more effective to evaluate the relation between costs and effects according to economical level in screening and preventing transmission from mothers to children under the situation that the HIV-positive rate in pregnant mothers was more than 0.03%.