Significant elevated CXCL14 and decreased IL-39 levels in patients with tuberculosis.

To explore the serum levels of IL-39, CXCL14, and IL-19 in patients with tuberculosis (TB) along with their clinical significances and their concentration changes in macrophages after Bacille Calmette-Guérin vaccine (BCG) or Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) H37Rv stimulation in vitro. The serum levels of IL-39, CXCL14, and IL-19 of 38 TB patients, and 20 healthy staff members were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Moreover, the levels of IL-19, CXCL14, and IL-39 in cultured THP-1 macrophages were detected at 12, 24, and 48 h after stimulation with BCG or M. tb H37Rv strains. It was found the serum level of IL-39 was significantly reduced and CXCL14 was remarkably elevated in TB patients. In vitro, at 48 h after stimulation, IL-39 level of cultured THP-1 macrophages in the H37Rv group was significantly lower than that in the BCG and control groups, and the CXCL14 level of cultured THP-1 macrophages in the H37Rv stimulation group was remarkably higher than that in the control group. Therefore, IL-39 and CXCL14 may be involved the pathogenesis of TB, and serum IL-39 and CXCL14 could potentially serve as a new biomarker of TB.

An automatic drug injection device with spatial micro-force perception guided by an microscopic image for robot-assisted ophthalmic surgery.

Retinal vein injection guided by microscopic image is an innovative procedure for treating retinal vein occlusion. However, the retina organization is complex, fine, and weak, and the operation scale and force are small. Surgeons' limited operation and force-sensing accuracy make it difficult to perform precise and stable drug injection operations on the retina in a magnified field of image vision. In this paper, a 3-DOF automatic drug injection mechanism was designed for microscopic image guiding robot-assisted needle delivery and automatic drug injection. Additionally, the robot-assisted real-time three-dimensional micro-force-sensing method for retinal vein injection was proposed. Based on the layout of three FBG sensors on the hollow outer wall of the nested needle tube in a circular array of nickel-titanium alloys, the real-time sensing of the contact force between the intraoperative instrument and the blood vessel was realized. The experimental data of 15 groups of porcine eyeball retinal veins with diameters of 100-200 µm showed that the piercing force of surgical instruments and blood vessels is 5.95∼12.97 mN, with an average value of 9.98 mN. Furthermore, 20 groups of experimental measurements on chicken embryo blood vessels with diameters of 150-500 µm showed that the piercing force was 4.02∼23.4 mN, with an average value of 12.05 mN.

[Activation of Ca(2+)-activated K+ channels by oxyphenamone in rabbit mesenteric vascular smooth muscle cells].

AIM: To study the effects of oxyphenamone (Oxy) on activation of Ca(2+)-activated K+ channels in rabbit mesenteric vascular smooth muscle cells. METHODS: To measure the effect of Oxy on the Ca(2+)-activated K+ channel (BK (Ca) channel) activity in rabbit mesenteric vascular smooth muscle cells by using whole cell patch clamp techniques. RESULTS: Oxy reversibly increase BK (Ca) channel activity in rabbit mesenteric artery smooth muscle cells. Application of Oxy (0.1 mumol.L-1) to the perfusion solution caused significant increase in outward currents and its effect was completely abolished by washout; The outward currents K+ was inhibited by TEA (7.5 mmol.L-1); Oxy activated the BK (Ca) channel in a dose-dependent manner (0.01-10 mumol.L-1). CONCLUSION: Oxy directly increase the activity of BK (Ca) channel activity in rabbit mesenteric vascular smooth muscle cells in dose-dependent manner.

[Study on vasorelaxations of oxyphenamone and its mechanism].

AIM: To study the vasorelaxation action of oxyphenamone (Oxy) and its mechanism. METHODS: The contractile response of isolated rabbit renal, femoral and mesentery artery preparations was determined. RESULTS: Oxy was shown to inhibit the contractile force of renal, femoral and mesentery arteries induced by phenylephrine in a concentration dependent manner. The vasorelaxation produced by Oxy was not attenuated by removal of the endothelium. Oxy (10(-6)-10(-4) mol.L-1) relaxed the contractions induced by KCl 30 mmol.L-1 as well as KCl 80 mmol.L-1, but the contraction curve of KCl 80 mmol.L-1 was shifted significantly to the right. Oxy in lower concentration (10(-6) and 5 x 10(-6) mol.L-1) increased the contractions induced by Ang II, and in middle concentration (10(-5) mol.L-1) it did not affect the contractions induced by Ang II. Whereas in higher concentration (5 x 10(-5) mol.L-1) it obviously inhibited the contractions induced by Ang II. CONCLUSION: Oxy showed significant vasorelaxation to various vascular preparations, and its vasorelaxation action is endothelium independent. The mechanism of its vasorelaxations seems to be related with Ca2+ activated K+ channel (Kca channel) and Ca2+ channel in vascular smooth muscle cells but its true mechanism needs further study.