Kerion Celsi caused by Microsporum gypseum in a Chinese child, a case report.

RATIONALE: Kerion Celsi, a severe form of tinea capitis, is generally caused by zoophilic and geophilic fungi. This is the first report of an unusual case of kerion Celsi caused by Microsporum gypseum in a 6-year-old boy. PATIENT CONCERNS: A 6-year-old boy presented to the dermatology clinic with the complaint of multiple pustules, edematous plaques over the scalp with hair loss for 1 month. DIAGNOSIS: Clinical and laboratory investigations, including reverse transcriptase-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, confirmed M gypseum causing kerion Celsi. INTERVENTIONS: Upon combination therapy using oral itraconazole and oral prednisolone along with the topical terbinafine, kerion Celsi remitted in the patient. OUTCOME: New hair growth was noted during the 4-month follow-up. LESSON: We presented the first case of kerion Celsi infection secondary to M gypseum that was probably transmitted from a guinea pig.

Exploration of the Immune-Related Signatures and Immune Infiltration Analysis in Melanoma.

In the present study, we aimed to investigate immune-related signatures and immune infiltration in melanoma. The transcriptome profiling and clinical data of melanoma were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas database, and their matched normal samples were obtained from the Genotype-Tissue Expression database. After merging the genome expression data using Perl, the limma package was used for data normalization. We screened the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and obtained immune signatures associated with melanoma by an immune-related signature list from the InnateDB database. Univariate Cox regression analysis was used to identify potential prognostic immune genes, and LASSO analysis was used to identify the hub genes. Next, based on the results of multivariate Cox regression analysis, we constructed a risk model for melanoma. We investigated the correlation between risk score and clinical characteristics and overall survival (OS) of patients. Based on the TIMER database, the association between selected immune signatures and immune cell distribution was evaluated. Next, the Wilcoxon rank-sum test was performed using CIBERSORT, which confirmed the differential distribution of immune-infiltrating cells between different risk groups. We obtained a list of 91 differentially expressed immune-related signatures. Functional enrichment analysis indicated that these immune-related DEGs participated in several areas of immune-related crosstalk, including cytokine-cytokine receptor interactions, JAK-STAT signaling pathway, chemokine signaling pathway, and Th17 cell differentiation pathway. A risk model was established based on multivariate Cox analysis results, and Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed. The Kruskal-Wallis test suggested that a high risk score indicated a poorer OS and correlated with higher American Joint Committee on Cancer-TNM (AJCC-TNM) stages and advanced pathological stages (P < 0.01). Furthermore, the association between hub immune signatures and immune cell distribution was evaluated in specific tumor samples. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to estimate immune infiltration density in the two groups, and results showed that the high-risk group exhibited a lower infiltration density, and the dominant immune cells included M0 macrophages (P = 0.023) and activated mast cells (P = 0.005).

Chain conformation of an acidic polysaccharide from green tea and related mechanism of α-amylase inhibitory activity.

An acidic tea polysaccharide (TPSA) isolated from green tea was fractionated using a precipitation-fractionation method into seven fractions with different molecular weights. TPSA was characterized as a hyperbranched polysaccharide with a globular homogeneous conformation by analysis of solution parameters of each fraction using static light scattering and viscosity analyses. Observation by transmission electron microscopy confirmed that TPSA occurred as globular homogeneous particles with size in the range of 20-40 nm. To simulate the branched chain segments of TPSA, four model molecules were designed based on chemical structure of TPSA. Molecular docking analysis indicated that the branched chain segments of TPSA similar to the TPSA-4 model molecule showed preferential binding to α-amylase to form the TPSA/α-amylase complex through hydrogen bonding interactions. Circular dichroism spectroscopy showed that the structure of α-amylase was not significantly affected by TPSA. The mechanism of α-amylase inhibitory activity of TPSA was simulated by molecular docking analysis. The branched chain segments of TPSA similar to the TPSA-4 model molecule likely act as a potential competitor to the starch substrate to inhibit the activity of α-amylase.

A neutral polysaccharide from green tea: Structure, effect on α-amylase activity and hydrolysis property.

A neutral tea polysaccharide (TPSN) was isolated from green tea. Gas chromatography analysis showed that TPSN was composed of d-glucose, l-arabinose and d-galactose residues at a molar ratio of 90.0: 9.1: 0.9. The weight-averaged molecular weight of TPSN was determined as about 2.0 × 105 g mol-1 using static light scattering analysis. The result of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy indicated that TPSN and water-soluble starch had similar structures. TPSN exhibited inhibitory activity towards α-amylase through the noncompetitive inhibition mechanism, but the tertiary structure of α-amylase related to enzymatic activity, analyzed using circular dichroism spectroscopy, was not affected by TPSN. Meanwhile, TPSN exhibited hydrolysis properties catalyzed by α-amylase. Molecular docking analysis revealed that the various behaviors of TPSN to α-amylase could be attributed to that the different chain segments of TPSN combined with different amino acid residues of α-amylase.

Henoch-Schönlein purpura with joint involvement: Analysis of 71 cases.

BACKGROUND: Although joint involvement is the second most common clinical manifestation after skin involvement in patients with Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP), it has not been well characterized. The aim of this study was to profile the clinical characteristics and identify the potential risk factors for kidney damage in HSP patients having joint involvement. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 71 cases of HSP patients with joint involvement who attended our hospital between January 2010 and March 2012 and analyzed their epidemiological profile, clinical characteristics, follow-up findings (up to three years) and overall prognosis. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors associated with renal symptoms in HSP patients with joint involvement. RESULTS: Average age of patients was 8.55 ± 2.13 years with male to female ratio at 1.29:1. The peak age of disease onset was six to 11 years. The most common triggers included upper respiratory infection, vigorous physical activity, and autumn and winter seasons. Forty cases (56.35 %) had gastrointestinal involvement and 37 (52.11 %) had kidney damage; gastrointestinal system, scrotal involvement, and increased D-dimer levels were significantly associated with kidney injury (P < 0.05) by multivariate analysis. Glucocorticoid therapy was effective in alleviating symptoms. CONCLUSION: Gastrointestinal symptoms, scrotal involvement, and increased D-dimer are the potential risk factors for kidney damage in HSP patients having joint involvement. Rational use of corticosteroids was probably responsible for the good clinical outcomes.

Adipose stem cells' antagonism in glycosylation of D-galactose-induced skin aging of nude mice and its skin recovery function.

This study aims to discuss adipose stem cells' (ASCs) antagonism in glycosylation of D-galactose-induced skin aging of nude mice and its skin recovery function; the study also aims to explore a new mechanism of anti-aging to provide clinical anti-aging therapy with new thoughts and methods. We selected 40 healthy specific pathogen-free (SPF) nude mice and divided them randomly into four groups which were: blank control group; D-galactose + phosphate buffer saline (PBS) group; D-galactose + ASCs treatment group; and D-galactose + aminoguanidine (AG) group. Results showed that the superoxide dismutase (SOD) level of mice in the D-galactose-induced model group (87.15 ± 4.95 U/g) decreased significantly compared with that of control group (146.21 ± 4.76 U/g), while malonaldehyde (MDA) level of mice in D-galactose induced model group (11.12 ± 2.08 nmol/mg) increased significantly compared with that of control group (5.46 ± 2.05 nmol/mg) (P <0.05); thus D-galactose induced sub-acutely aging mice models were duplicated successfully. Results also indicated that transplantation of ASCs could reverse expression of aging-related biomarkers such as MDA, SOD, and advanced glycosylation end products (AGEs); hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining showed that thickness of the dermis layer as well as the collagen content of mice in the D-galactose-induced model group increased significantly after ASC transplantation compared with that of control group. In addition, immunohistochemical assay showed that expression quantity of CD31 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) of mice in the D-galactose-induced model group increased significantly after ASC transplantation compared with that of control group. In conclusion, ASCs can trace cell distribution successfully through bioluminescence, and they survive for a short time in the skin after transplantation, which provides a basis for the application of ASC transplantation in clinical practices. Moreover, ASCs can control glycosylation level of D-galactose-induced skin aging of nude mice, reverse expression of aging-related biomarkers as well as restrain formation of advanced glycation end products, which are similar to the effects of AG inhibitors of advanced glycation end products. Thus, ASCs can prevent glycosylation-induced skin aging as well as recover functions of skin.