ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND INTRODUCTION: In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of patients diagnosed with pediatric diseases who have severe Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) pneumonia, and there has also been an increased attention to serious extrapulmonary complications. However, cases with abdominal pain, acute abdomen, scrotal swelling and pain, and fever as the primary symptoms have been rarely reported. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 3-years-and-8-months-old male patient diagnosed with pediatric disease was reported with abdominal pain, scrotal swelling and pain, and fever as the primary symptoms in the present study. No respiratory symptoms were observed throughout the disease. Through computed tomography (CT) scanning, the patient was diagnosed with severe MP pneumonia based on the symptoms of abdominal pain and fever, as well as pulmonary infection, pleural effusion, and retroperitoneal exudation. Laboratory tests supported the diagnosis of MP infection, and the diagnosis was confirmed by severe MP pneumonia. The therapeutic effects of azithromycin were poor, and the symptoms were quickly alleviated with the addition of gamma globulin and methylprednisolone. After discharge, azithromycin sequential therapy was administered. The chest CT was normal at the follow-up 1-month later. CONCLUSION: Severe MP pneumonia in patients with pediatric diseases may include abdominal pain, scrotal swelling and pain, and fever as the primary symptoms. Care should be taken to avoid missed diagnoses and misdiagnoses in clinical practice.
Subject(s)
Abdomen, Acute , Pneumonia, Mycoplasma , Child , Humans , Male , Infant , Mycoplasma pneumoniae , Azithromycin/pharmacology , Azithromycin/therapeutic use , Abdomen, Acute/complications , Abdomen, Acute/drug therapy , Pneumonia, Mycoplasma/complications , Pneumonia, Mycoplasma/diagnosis , Pneumonia, Mycoplasma/drug therapy , Abdominal Pain/etiology , Abdominal Pain/complicationsABSTRACT
Metal complexes, as a type of potential non-virus gene carriers, have gained much attention due to their properties of high charge density and unique three-dimensional structure. This study investigated the potential of polyethyleneimine (PEI)-modified rice bran polysaccharide-Fe(III) complex (PEI-PI) as a safe gene delivery system and explored the effect of Fe(III) on the efficiency of gene transfection mediated by PEI modified rice bran polysaccharide (PEI-P) and PEI-PI. Gel retardation assay was used to study the DNA binding and protection capability, MTT assay was performed to evaluate the biocompatibility, and PEI-PI complex-mediated EGFP gene transfection was studied in vitro. Results showed the PEI-PI could induce DNA condensation and protect DNA from degradation by DNase I at a low weight ratio (vector/DNA) of 2. At the same weight ratio, PEI exhibited the strongest DNA binding capability but PEI-PI exhibited the highest gene transfection efficiency among all carrier systems. Compared with the PEI-Pâ¯+â¯Fe(III) system, PEI-PI not only had a more significant capability to condense DNA but also presented higher gene transfection efficiency. Moreover, PEI-PI exhibited no obvious cytotoxicity to cells. This work provides a strategy for the design and development of gene vectors based on PI complexes.
Subject(s)
Coordination Complexes/chemistry , DNA/chemistry , Drug Carriers/chemistry , Iron/chemistry , Oryza/chemistry , Polysaccharides/chemistry , Cell Line , DNA/genetics , Humans , Materials Testing , Polyethyleneimine/chemistry , TransfectionABSTRACT
Polysaccharides are considered to be promising candidates for non-viral gene delivery because of their molecular diversity, which can be modified to fine-tune their physicochemical properties. In this work, transcriptional activator protein (TAT) functionalized PEI grafted polysaccharide polymer (PRBP) was prepared by using rice bran polysaccharide as the starting material, and characterized by various methods. The potential of TAT functionalized PRBP (PRBP-TAT) as gene vector was studied in vitro, including DNA loading capacity, DNA protection ability and biocompatibility. The cell uptake and transfection efficiency of the PRBP-TAT/pDNA polyplexes were studied. The results showed that PRBP-TAT could completely condense DNA at N/P 2. The PRBP-TAT/pDNA polyplexes could protect DNA from degrading by DNase and were efficiently internalized by cells. Biocompatibility result showed that PRBP-TAT had no significant cytotoxicity and effect on cell proliferation. At low N/P ratios of 1-3.5, PRBP-TAT showed higher transfection efficiency than PEI30k and PEI30k-grafted rice bran polysaccharide. PRBP-TAT and PEI showed the highest transfection efficiency of 42.8% and 28.1% when pDNA is 2 µg and N/P ratio is 1.5, respectively, while PRBP showed the highest transfection efficiency of 37.3% at N/P 2.5. These results indicate that PTA is a promising candidate vector for safe and efficient gene delivery.
Subject(s)
Gene Transfer Techniques , Oryza/chemistry , Polyethyleneimine/chemistry , Polysaccharides/chemistry , tat Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus/chemistry , Animals , Cell Line , DNA/metabolism , Endocytosis , Green Fluorescent Proteins/metabolism , Humans , Particle Size , Plasmids/metabolism , Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy , Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet , Static ElectricityABSTRACT
Finding a safe and efficient gene delivery vector is a major international challenge facing the development of gene therapy. Tannic acid (TA) is a natural cross-linker owing to its hydroxyl and carboxyl groups that can interact with biopolymers for different biomaterial design. In this work, three polyethyleneimine-modified TA polymers were prepared, and the polymers were characterized by FTIR, UV-vis, elemental analysis and 1H NMR. The potential of PTAs as gene vector was studied in vitro, including DNA loading capacity, DNA protection ability and biocompatibility. In addition, the particle size, zeta potential, DNA encapsulation efficiency, cell uptake and transfection efficiency of the PTA-pDNA polyplexes were also studied. The results showed that PTA2k and PTA30k could completely condense DNA at N/P of 2, and PTA600 could only completely condense DNA at N/P of 50. The PTA/pDNA polyplexes could protect DNA from degrading by DNA enzymes and could be efficiently uptaked by cells. Biocompatibility assay showed that PTA had no significant cytotoxicity and effect on cell proliferation compared to PEI. At low N/P ratios of 1-4, PTA showed higher transfection efficiency than PEI, and the transfection efficiency increased with the increase of PEI molecular weight in PTA. At N/P of 3, PTA30k showed the highest transfection efficiency of 23.8%, while PEI30k showed only 6.7%. These results indicate that PTA is a promising candidate vector for safe and efficient gene delivery.
Subject(s)
Biocompatible Materials/chemistry , DNA/genetics , Gene Transfer Techniques , Green Fluorescent Proteins/genetics , Tannins/chemistry , Cell Proliferation , Cell Survival , DNA/chemistry , DNA/metabolism , Drug Compounding/methods , Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate/chemistry , Gene Expression , Genetic Therapy/methods , Green Fluorescent Proteins/chemistry , Green Fluorescent Proteins/metabolism , HeLa Cells , Hep G2 Cells , Humans , Hydrolysis , Particle Size , Plasmids/chemistry , Plasmids/metabolism , Polyethyleneimine/chemistry , Staining and Labeling/methodsABSTRACT
Polysaccharides are capable of being modified by polycations to adjust their physical and chemical properties, which accordingly are considered as potential candidate materials for safe and efficient gene delivery. Here, we extracted and purified polysaccharides from rice bran, and their physicochemical properties were determined by various methods. Polyethyleneimine (PEI) modified rice bran polysaccharide (PRBP) was prepared by grafting RBP with low molecular weight PEI and the preparation was determined by FTIR. The potential of PRBP as a gene vector was systematically evaluated in vitro. The results show that PRBP can compact DNA and form PRBP/DNA polylexes with a particle size of 50-100â¯nm. The PRBP/DNA polylexes can protect DNA degradation from DNase I efficiently. Compared with PEI, higher transfection efficiency was achieved by the PRBP. At weight ratio of 3, the highest efficiency of gene transfection mediated by PRBP-2000 was obtained, which was 37.5% and significantly higher than PEI and commercial reagents (calcium phosphate cell transfection kit) and was closed to lipo6000. Furthermore, according to MTT results, the cytotoxicity of PRBP is much lower than that of PEI, especially for PEI2000. We hope these results will provide new strategy for rice bran polysaccharides development and application as biomaterials.
Subject(s)
Drug Carriers/chemistry , Drug Carriers/toxicity , Oryza/chemistry , Polysaccharides/chemistry , Polysaccharides/toxicity , Safety , Transfection , Biological Transport , DNA/chemistry , DNA/genetics , DNA/metabolism , Drug Liberation , HEK293 Cells , HeLa Cells , Humans , Molecular Weight , Polyethyleneimine/chemistryABSTRACT
The effect on the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and the antioxidant and cytotoxicity properties of rice bran polysaccharides (RBP) and RBP-metal complexes RBP-Fe(III), RBP-Cu, RBP-Zn and RBP-Ca, were evaluated using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), scavenging activity assays, cell viability assay and fluorescence microscopy. The RBP-metal complexes were prepared using the hydrothermal method. The RBP-Fe(III) complexes were found to be potent scavengers for superoxide (O2-) free radicals. The RBP alone and RBP-Ca complex showed high scavenging activity for 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radicals. In addition, the RBP-Fe(III) complex also showed good biocompatibility and lowered the intracellular ROS levels, while RBP alone, RBP-Zn and RBP-Ca complexes were observed to increase the intracellular ROS level. Our findings suggest that among the tested RBP-metal complexes, RBP-Fe(III) complex is a strong candidate as an antioxidant therapeutic.
