Safety and efficacy of belimumab in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosu: a single-center real-world study / 中华风湿病学杂志

Objective:To evaluate the safety and efficacy of belimumab(BLM) in patients with SLE.Methods:Clinical data were collected for SLE patients who were diagnosed and treated with BLM in the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology (inpatient and outpatient department) of Guilin Medical College Affiliated Hospital from 1 December, 2019 to 12 May, 2023. BLM + standard of care (SOC) for the BLM group and SOC only for the SOC group. The primary clinical endpoint was adverse events (AE) occurring in groups, and the secondary clinical endpoint was disease activity index including SLEDAI-2000, clinical indicators, glucocortoid dosage reduction, and disease flare in the two groups. Propensity score matching method, independent sample t-test, non-parametric rank-sum test, variance analysis were used for statistical analysis. Results:Among the 79 BLM patients included, 48 had hematological impairment (61%), 53 had renal impairment (67%), 11 had skin and mucosal impairment (14%), 20 had joint impairment (25%), and 2 had neurological impairment(3%). There were no serious adverse events during the treatment in both groups. In the BLM group, with 14 cases experienced respiratory system infection, 1 with urinary system infection, 3 with skin infection, 4 with herpes virus infection, and 16 with liver function impairment. In the SOC group, there were 26 cases experienced respiratory system infection, 1 with urinary system infection, 6 with digestive system symptoms, 6 with skin infection, 4 with herpes virus infection, 10 with liver function impairment, 2 with thrombosis, and 1 with sepsis. Patients tolerated BLM generally well, with fewer adverse events occurring [in patients with the long course treatment, the number of AE cases in the BLM group vs SOC group 11 [(33%) vs 22 (68%), ( χ2=3.74, P=0.053)]. From all study groups and high-dose glucocorticoid (≥20 mg) groups, it was observed that the BLM group had a more significant reduction in glucocortoid dose [baseline glocucorticoid reduction in the BLM group decreased from 20 (12, 40)mg/d to 6 (4, 10)mg/d ( Z=0.12, P=0.01). In the renal injury group, after treatment, serum creatinine level decreased in the BLM group glomerular filtration rate increased from 72.37 (41.97, 95.74) to 97.03 (71.18, 114.34) ( Z=-4.62, P<0.001). There was less flares in the BLM group [7 cases (28%) vs 18 cases (72%), χ2=5.58, P=0.018] when compared with the soc group. Conclusion:BLM is safe and effective for the treatment of SLE, which can reduce disease activity, improve clinical parameters, reduce glocucorticoid dosage, and have a low flare rate.

Diet related knowledge and behavior among students in Anhui Province / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To assess diet-related knowledge and behavior among primary and middle-school students in five cities of Anhui, and to provide evidence for nutrition education and intervention strategies.@*Methods@#A multi stage stratified cluster random sampling method was used to select 2 045 students in five cities(Huaibei,Bengbu,Ma anshan,Hefei and Wuhu) of Anhui for a questionnaire survey on nutrition knowledge, diet behavior, food preferences, and diet education.@*Results@#The overall rate of good nutritional awareness was 38.3%; students had the highest rate of awareness on plain water being the healthiest drink(91.6%). The overall rate of healthy food preferences was 51.5%, with milk and dairy products being the highest rated (66.4%). The overall rate of good diet behavior was 85.8%, with eating most meals on time and in appropriate quantities being the highest rated (87.7%). The overall rate of students with good diet education was 25.0%, while the rate of table cleaning was 73.0%. Middle school students had more knowledge of nutrition(χ 2=28.8), while primary school students had better healthy food preferences and diet behaviors(χ 2=31.3，77.6), and girls were more frequently involved in setting and clearing the table(χ 2=12.2)(P<0.05).@*Conclusion@#Insufficient nutrition knowledge, clear food preferences, unhealthy dietary behaviors, and a lack of diet education were observed in primary and middle school students in Anhui. Specific nutritional education in school settings should be developed, home school cooperation should be strengthened, and diet education activities should be increased to help primary and middle school students form a healthy lifestyle.

Human pathogenic fungus Trichophyton schoenleinii activates the NLRP3 inflammasome

The fungus Trichophyton schoenleinii (T. schoenleinii) is the causative agent of Trichophytosis and Tinea favosa of the scalp in certain regions of Eurasia and Africa. Human innate immune system plays an important role in combating with various pathogens including fungi. The inflammasome is one of the most critical arms of host innate immunity, which is a protein complex controlling maturation of IL-1β. To clarify whether T. schoenleinii is able to activate the inflammasome, we analyzed human monocytic cell line THP-1 for IL-1β production upon infection with T. schoenleinii strain isolated from Tinea favosa patients, and rapid IL-1β secretion from THP-1 cells was observed. Moreover, applying competitive inhibitors and gene specific silencing with shRNA, we found that T. schoenleinii induced IL-1β secretion, ASC pyroptosome formation as well as caspase-1 activation were all dependent on NLRP3. Cathepsin B activity, ROS production and K⁺ efflux were required for the inflammasome activation by T. schoenleinii. Our data thus reveal that the NLRP3 inflammasome plays an important role in host defense against T. schoenleinii, and suggest that manipulating NLRP3 signaling can be a novel approach for control of diseases caused by T. schoenleinii infection.

The activity of blood cholinesterase in rats exposed to dimethypo after drug intervention / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the activity of ChE in rats poisoned by dimehypo and then treated with pralidoxime methylchloride or unithiol.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Rats were divided into control group (dimehypo); intervention groups [dimehypo plus pralidoxime methylchloride or dimehypo plus unithiol (sodium dimercaptopropanesulphonate)]. Rats were dosed with 4 different doses of dimehypo: 1/16, 1/8, 1/4 and 1/2 of LD50 respectively(the LD50 of dimehypo is 342 mg/kg). After being poisoned with dimehypo orally, rats were immediately injected intramuscularly with pralidoxime methylchloride or unithiol. The activity of ChE in blood was detected before and 1/2, 1, 2, 4 and 24 h after poisoning in dimehypo and intervention groups.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The ChE activity of four dose subgroups at 1 h after poisoning were (1.04 +/- 0.21), (0.84 +/- 0.12), (0.71 +/- 0.12), (0.66 +/- 0.07) U/ml respectively; the ChE activity of pralidoxime methylchloride intervention groups were (1.01 +/- 0.18), (1.17 +/- 0.11), (1.01 +/- 0.04), (1.03 +/- 0.12) U/ml respectively; and the ChE activity of unithiol intervention groups were (1.15 +/- 0.15), (1.26 +/- 0.27), (1.08 +/- 0.08), (1.04 +/- 0.12) U/ml respectively. The inhibited ChE in blood was recovered by either treatment with pyraldoxime methylchloride or unithiol. These two drugs had similar effects of recovering the activity of ChE(P > 0.05), but at higher doses(1/4 and 1/2 of LD50) the effects of both were not so good.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Pralidoxime methylchloride and unithiol could partly recover the activity of ChE inhibited by dimehypo.</p>

The activity of blood cholinesterase in rats exposed to dimehypo / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To determine whether and to what degree the activity of cholinesterase(ChE) is inhibited by dimehypo at different doses of dimehypo [scientific name: 2-dimethylamine-1,3-bi(sodium hyposulfit)].</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Rats were dosed with dimehypo or methamidophos orally, and were randomly divided into four subgroups according to the pesticide doses, which were 1/16, 1/8, 1/4 and 1/2 of LD50 respectively(the LD50 of dimethypo and methamidophos is 342 mg/kg and 20 mg/kg respectively). The activity of ChE in blood was determined before and 30 min, 1, 2, 4 and 24 h after exposure. The modified Ellman Method was employed to measure the activity of ChE.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>1/16 LD50 dose of dimehypo did not affect the activity of ChE. When the dose increased, the activity of ChE decreased accordingly. 1/2 LD50 dose of dimehypo inhibited the activity of ChE by 35.9% compared with that of control group(P < 0.01). In rats dosed with methamidophos, even 1/16 LD50 dose inhibited the activity of ChE by 42.4% compared with that of control group. When the dose of methamidophos increased, the activity of ChE decreased accordingly. 1/2 LD50 dose of methamidophos inhibited the activity of ChE by 52.9%. The activity of ChE in the rats dosed with dimehypo at various doses was significantly lower than that in the rats dosed with corresponding doses of methamidophos(P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Higher doses of dimehypo may inhibit the activity of ChE. However, as compared with methamidophos, dimehypo is a weaker inhibitor of ChE.</p>