[Spatial Distribution Characteristics, Source Apportionment, and Risk Assessment of Topsoil PAHs in the Core Area of the Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base].

In order to evaluate the pollution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the topsoil of the core area of the Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base, 146 representative topsoil samples were collected using the grid method and the contents of 16 priority PAHs were analyzed. The results showed that the content of ΣPAHs in topsoil ranged from ND to 123.12 mg·kg-1 with an average of 10.19 mg·kg-1. There were three high PAHs distribution areas in the northwest, southwest, and east of the core area. The source apportionment showed that the sources of PAHs in the Ningdong base were complex, and the main pollution sources were petroleum, coal combustion, traffic, and gasoline, which contributed 39.4%, 33.3%, 19.2%, and 8.1% to the total PAHs sources, respectively. The ecological risk assessment of the quality basis and quality standard method showed that the ecological impact of PAHs in the core area was slight and the possibility of negative ecological effects was low. The results of the health risk assessment showed that the order of exposure of the topsoil PAHs was skin contact > swallowing > respiratory inhalation, and the topsoil PAHs in the core area of the Ningdong base posed no potential carcinogenic risk to people of different ages.

miR-153-3p, a new bio-target, is involved in the pathogenesis of acute graft-versus-host disease via inhibition of indoleamine- 2,3-dioxygenase.

Acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Therefore, seeking reliable biomarkers and delineating the potential biological mechanism are important for optimizing treatment strategies and improving their curative effect. In this study, using a microRNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based chip assay, microRNA-153-3p (miR-153-3p) was screened and selected as a potential biomarker of aGVHD. The elevated plasma miR-153-3p levels at +7 d after transplant could be used to predict the upcoming aGVHD. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for aGVHD+/aGVHD- patients receiving haploidentical transplant was 0.808 (95% confidence interval, 0.686-0.930) in a training set and 0.809 (95% confidence interval, 0.694-0.923) in a validation set. Interestingly, bioinformatics analysis indicated that indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) is a potential target of miR-153-3p. In vitro study confirmed that IDO could be directly inhibited by miR-153-3p. In a GVHD model, recipient mice injected with a miR-153-3p antagomir exhibited higher IDO expression levels at the early stage after transplantation, as well as delayed aGVHD and longer survival, indicating that the miR-153-3p level at +7 d post-transplant is a good predictor of aGVHD. miR-153-3p participates in aGVHD development by inhibiting IDO expression and might be a novel bio-target for aGVHD intervention.