[Isolation of Mycoplasma penetrans and detection of the levels of serum IL-6 and TNF-alpha in the blood of patients with autoimmune disease].

AIM: To investigate the isolation of Mycoplasma penetrans from the blood of autoimmune disease patients and to evaluate the levels of serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in patients with autoimmune disease (AID). METHODS: M. penetrans was isolated and cultured from the blood specimens of 44 patients with AID. Among them 16 patients were control group I, who were the objects. 28 patients were in control group II as contrast. The serum ASO or RF level of the patients in control group I was higher than that in control group II. The positive specimens were confirmed by nPCR and the levels of IL-6 and TNF-alpha were measured by RIA in the blood samples. RESULTS: M. penetrans was detected in the blood of 17 patients and the positive detection rate was 38.6% (17/44) in AID group. There was significant difference between the detection rate from group I (12.5%, 2/16, P<0.01) and that in group II (0%, 0/28, P<0.01). The serum level of IL-6 in the AID with M. penetrans infection patients in group I (3.30+/-1.49) microg/L was significantly different from that in the AID without M. penetrans infection patients in group I (2.43+/-0.95) microg/L and that in group II(1.14+/-0.32) microg/L, P<0.01. The serum level of TNF-alpha in the AID with M. penetrans infection patients in group I (293.3+/-179.9) ng/L was significantly different from that in the AID without M. penetrans infection patients in group I (173.9+/-73.9) ng/L and that in group II(108.8+/-33.8) ng/L, P<0.01. CONCLUSION: M. penetrans occurs with high frequency in the blood of autoimmune disease patients. The evident increase of serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-alpha in AID with M. penetrans infection than the control groups.

Effects of gambogic acid on the regulation of nucleoporin Nup88 in HL-60 cells / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of gambogic acid (GA) on cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis in HL-60 cells in vitro, as well as the regulation of nucleoporin Nup88 to explore the relationship between them.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The effect of GA on the growth of HL-60 cells was determined by MTU assay. Apoptosis was detected with Hoechst 33258 staining and annexin-V FITC/PI double-labeled flow cytometry. The influence on cell cycle was studied by a propidium iodide method. Both flow cytometry (FCM) and RT-PCR techniques were applied to assess the expression of Nup88, whereas the localization of Nup88 was determined by confocal laser scanning microscopy.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>GA presented striking inhibitory effect on proliferation of HL-60 cells in vitro and induction of apoptosis in a time- and dose-dependent manner. However, no obvious influence was found on the cell cycle in HL-60 cells. The IC50 value for 12 h was 1.797 micromol/L. 15.1% of HL-60 cells went apoptosis when treated with 0.4 micromol/L GA for 12 h. When the dose of GA was increased to 1.6 micromol/L, more than half of cells were apoptotic. On the other hand, the expression level of Nup88 was down-regulated in HL-60 cells induced by GA in a dose-dependent manner. The distribution of Nup88 was also changed from widely dispersed in both nucleus and cytoplasm to that only localized at the cytoplasmic side of nuclear membrane, occasionally in the cytoplasm sporadically.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>GA exhibites remarkable inhibitory effect on cell proliferation in leukemic cells and inducing apoptosis in HL-60 cells in a cell cycle-independent manner, which might correspond to the regulation of the expression as well as the distribution of nucleoporin Nup88. It may become a new remedy for treatment for acute leukemia.</p>