[Research advances in human corneal endothelial cell regeneration].

Human corneal endothelial cells (HCECs) are the prerequisite for maintaining corneal transparency, but HCECs remain arrested at the G1 phase after embryonic development and can not proliferate and regenerate. Thus, the density of HCECs decreases spontaneously with corneal development. Systemic factors, primary corneal disease, refractive factors, glaucoma, inflammation, and trauma all can cause a massive loss of HCECs, lead to corneal edema and turbidity, and ultimately induce blindness. Currently, keratoplasty is the only effective treatment, but the scarcity of donor corneas and the limitation of corneal preservation technology restrict the availability of keratoplasty. Therefore, the most appealing way to tackle the tissue shortage problem is corneal endothelial cell regeneration. In recent years, not only the endogenous regeneration of HCECs mediated by surgery, drugs and gene therapy but also the exogenous regeneration of HCECs mediated by cell therapy have made fruitful progress. Although a number of regeneration strategies have entered the clinical trial stage, the wide clinical application of corneal endothelial regeneration is still far away. This review elaborates the basic research, clinical application and limitation of current strategies of corneal endothelial cell regeneration.

[The clinical characteristics and airway inflammatory phenotypes in 35 patients with severe asthma].

Objective: To analyze the clinical features and airway inflammatory phenotypes in patients with severe asthma. Methods: Patients with severe asthma were recruited in this cross-sectional study in our center. History of asthma, blood and sputum samples, and respiratory function were tested and recorded. The phenotypes of inflammation in airway were evaluated. Results: A total of 35 asthmatic patients with the mean age 41.4 years were involved in this study from January 2013 to December 2013. The disease duration were (14.3±13.6) years with mostly male in China-Japan Friendship Hospital. Thirteen patients reported the history of smoking. Twenty-one patients had the complications such as allergic rhinitis, followed by chronic rhinosinusitis of 11 cases, nasal polyp of 7 cases, gastroesophageal reflux disease of 5. The forced expiratory volume in one second/predicted value ratio (FEV(1)%pred) in 29 patients was lower than 80%.Twenty-one participants did not react in bronchial reversibility test. Sixteen patients were administrated with oral cortical steroids (OCS). The average annual cost per patient was 22 thousand RMB. Sixteenrefractory asthmatics were diagnosed as eosinophilic asthma. Conclusions: The clinical features associated with severe asthma include male gender, smoking, persistent airway limitation. Systemic use of corticosteroids is common and treatment costs are high. The eosinophilic asthma is the main inflammatory phenotype in patients with severe asthma.

[Distribution of airway inflammation phenotype in patients with bronchial asthma and its correlation with control level].

Objective: To investigate the distribution of airway inflammation phenotypes in patients with bronchial asthma and its correlation with asthma control level. Methods: Patients who met GINA 2017 asthma diagnostic criteria from October 2017 to April 2018 in respiratory outpatient department of China-Japan Friendship Hospital were included. The clinical data of non-acute asthma patients were prospectively collected, including general data, asthma control level, pulmonary function, induced sputum cell classification, serum total IgE, exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), blood cell classification. The correlation between phenotype distribution of airway inflammation and airway inflammation markers (eosinophils in sputum, FeNO, blood eosinophil, serum IgE) and asthma control was analyzed by correlation analysis. The correlation between sputum eosinophil level and FeNO, blood eosinophil count, serum total IgE, forced expiratory volume in one-second (FEV(1)) predicted (FEV(1)%pred) was analyzed by correlation analysis too. Results: A total of 97 asthmatic patients were enrolled. There were 38 males (39.2%) and 59 females (60.8%), aged (48±14) (range 22 to 80). Control level of asthma:13 cases (13.4%) were controlled, 39 cases(40.2%) were partially controlled and 45 cases (46.4%) were uncontrolled. The phenotypes of airway inflammation were eosinophilic 51 cases (52.6%), neutrophilic 9 cases (9.3%), mixed 35 cases (36.1%) and paucigranulocytic 2 cases (2.1%). There was no significant correlation between airway inflammation phenotype distribution, airway inflammation markers and asthma control level (P>0.05). Sputum eosinophil level was positively correlated with FeNO level in controlled and uncontrolled patients (r=0.420, P=0.008 and r=0.325, P=0.031); sputum eosinophil level was positively correlated with blood eosinophil level in uncontrolled asthma patients (r=0.328, P=0.037). There was no significant correlation between sputum eosinophil level and FEV(1)%pred (P>0.05). Conclusions: Eosinophil type is the dominant type of airway inflammation in asthmatic patients, and there is no significant correlation between airway inflammation and asthma control level. At present, airway inflammation cannot be used to assess asthma control level.