Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) is a poorly understood disease. Accumulating evidence suggests that autoimmune dysfunction is involved in the development of CP/CPPS. ...Interleukin‐17 (IL‐17) is associated with the occurrence and development of several chronic autoimmune inflammatory diseases. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the role of IL‐17 in CP/CPPS are not clear. We confirmed that IL‐17 was increased in the prostate tissues of experimental autoimmune prostatitis (EAP) mice. Corresponding to the increase of IL‐17, neutrophil infiltration and the levels of CXCL1 and CXCL2 (CXC chemokine ligands 1 and 2) were also increased in the prostate of EAP. Treatment of EAP mice with an IL‐17‐neutralizing monoclonal antibody (mAb) decreased the number of infiltrated neutrophils and CXCL1 and CXCL2 levels. Depletion of neutrophils using anti‐Ly6G antibodies ameliorated the inflammatory changes and hyperalgesia caused by EAP. Fucoidan, a could potent inhibitor of neutrophil migration, also ameliorate the manifestations of EAP. Our findings suggested that IL‐17 promoted the production of CXCL1 and CXCL2, which triggered neutrophil chemotaxis to prostate tissues. Fucoidan might be a potential drug for the treatment of EAP via the effective inhibition of neutrophil infiltration.
Chronic prostatitis and chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) is a complicated syndrome characterized by genitourinary pain in the absence of bacterial infection. Th17 cell‐driven autoimmunity has ...been proposed as a cause of CP/CPPS. However, the factors that promote Th17‐driven autoimmunity in experimental autoimmune prostatitis (EAP) and the molecular mechanisms are still largely unknown. Here, we showed that Th17 cells were excessively activated, and blockade of IL‐17A could effectively ameliorate various symptoms in EAP. Furthermore, we revealed that calcium/calmodulin‐dependent kinase Ⅳ (CaMK4), especially Thr196 p‐CaMK4 was increased in the Th17 cells of the EAP group, which were activated by intracellular cytosolic Ca2+. Pharmacologic and genetic inhibition of CaMK4 decreased the proportion of Th17 cells, and the protein and mRNA level of IL‐17A, IL‐22, and RORγt. The phosphorylation of CaMK4 was dependent on the increase in intracellular cytosolic Ca2+ concentration in Th17 cells. A mechanistic study demonstrated that inhibition of CaMK4 reduced IL‐17A production by decreasing the phosphorylation of Akt‐mTOR, which was well accepted to positively regulate Th17 differentiation. Collectively, our results demonstrated that Ca2+‐CaMK4‐Akt/mTOR‐IL‐17A axis inhibition may serve as a promising therapeutic strategy for CP/CPPS.
A laboratory experiment was carried out to extract iron from oolitic iron ore by a deep reduction and magnetic separation technique. The raw coal with fixed carbon of 66.54% was used as the ...reductant. The iron was successfully extracted from the oolitic iron ore which otherwise is nearly impossible to be separated due to its extremely fine-grain and mosaic nature. The results showed that an iron recovery rate of 90.78% and an iron content of 92.53~ of iron concentrate could be obtained by such a technique. The optimized roast temperature is 1 200℃ and time is 60 min. The subsequent magnetic separation was performed by using a magnetic field intensity of 111 kA · m^-1 and a grinding fineness less than 45 μm of 96. 19% for the sintered product.
It has been previously reported that the deregulation of microRNAs in gastric cancer (GC) was correlated with the progression and prognosis. miR-429, a member of the miR-200 family, was previously ...shown to play an important role in human carcinomas. Our study shows that miR-429 is significantly downregulated in GC tissues compared with matched nontumor tissues. Overexpression of miR-429 in GC cells suppressed cell proliferation. Fascin-1 (FSCN1) was identified as one of the targets of miR-429 and knockdown of FSCN1 mimics the function of miR-429 overexpression. In conclusion, miR-429 acts as a tumor suppressor by targeting FSCN1, suggesting that miR-429 and FSCN1 can both be potential therapeutic targets of GC.
Rosa roxburghii
Tratt., a deciduous shrub of the family Rosaceae, is usually used as food and medicinal materials and also cultivated as an ornamental. Plant endophytic fungi are a large class of ...microbial resources not fully researched, with great potential applications. Two strains of
Ascodesmis
and
Talaromyces
were isolated during a survey of biodiversity on endophytic fungi of
R. roxburghii
in China. Multigene phylogenetic analyses showed that each of the two fungi formed a distinct lineage and separated from known congeneric species and they are proposed as two novel taxa.
Ascodesmis rosicola
sp. nov. usually has one or two conspicuous simple or branched ridges extending to the majority of the ascospore surface and remarkably small asci, distinguishing it from the previously-described species in the genus
Ascodesmis
.
Talaromyces rosarhiza
sp. nov., of the section Talaromyces, is closely related to
T. francoae
. It differs from the latter by having both monoverticillate and biverticillate conidiophores, while those of
T. francoae
are biverticillate. Both novel endophytes are illustrated and described.
The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic represents one of the most exigent threats of our lifetime to global public health and economy. As part of the pandemic, from January 10 to ...March 10, 2020, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) began to spread in Hefei (Anhui Province, China) with a total of 174 confirmed cases of COVID-19. During this period, we were able to gather critical information on the transmission and evolution of pathogens through genomic surveillance. Particularly, the objective of our study was to track putative variants of SARS-CoV-2 circulating in Hefei for the first time and contribute to the global effort toward elucidating the molecular epidemic profile of the virus. Patients who showed symptoms of COVID-19 were routinely tested for SARS-CoV-2 infections
RT-PCR at the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University. Whole-genome sequencing was performed on 97 clinical samples collected from 29 confirmed COVID-19 patients. As a result, we identified a local novel single-nucleotide polymorphism site (10,380) harboring a G → T mutation (Gly → Val) in Hefei. Further phylogenetic network analysis with all the sequences of SARS-CoV-2 deposited in GenBank collected in East and Southeast Asia revealed a local subtype of S-type SARS-CoV-2 (
) harboring a C → T synonymous mutation (Leu) at position 18,060 of
, likely representing a local SARS-CoV-2 mutation site that is obviously concentrated in Hefei and the Yangtze River Delta region. Moreover, clinical investigation on the inflammatory cytokine profile of the patients suggested that mutations at positions 18,060 (the shared variable site of subtype a1) and 28,253(harboring a C → T synonymous mutation, Phe) were associated with milder immune responses in the patients.
Background
Acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) patients have high mortality in a short period of time. This study aimed to compare the prognosis of transplanted ACLF patients to that of ...nontransplanted ACLF patients and decompensated cirrhosis recipients.
Methods
Clinical data of 29 transplanted ACLF patients, 312 nontransplanted ACLF patients, and 60 transplanted decompensated cirrhosis patients were retrospectively collected. Propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was used to match patients between different groups.
Results
After PSM, the 90-day and 1-year survival of transplanted ACLF patients was significantly longer than that of nontransplant controls. Although the 90-day survival and 1-year survival of ACLF recipients was similar to that of decompensated cirrhosis controls, ACLF recipients were found to have longer mechanical ventilation, longer intensive care unit (ICU) stay, longer hospital stay, higher incidence of tracheotomy, higher expense, and higher morbidity of complication than matched decompensated cirrhosis controls. The 90-day and 1-year survival of transplanted ACLF grade 2–3 patients was also significantly longer than that of nontransplanted controls.
Conclusions
Liver transplantation can strongly improve the prognosis of ACLF patients. Despite having more burdens (including longer mechanical ventilation, longer ICU stay, higher incidence of tracheotomy, longer hospital stay, higher hospitalization expense, and higher complication morbidity), ACLF recipients can obtain similar short-term and long-term survival to decompensated cirrhosis recipients. For severe ACLF patients, liver transplantation can also significantly improve their short-term and long-term survival.
•Significant differences in contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) modes are found among clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC), papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC), fand•and chromophobe renal cell ...carcinoma (CRCC) lesions.•CEUS is helpful for showing the hypovascular renal cell carcinoma (RCC) lesions with slightly enhancement.•Real-time CEUS is useful for differentiating subtypes of renal cell carcinoma.•The enhancement modes and uniformity of CEUS and contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) are similar in RCC lesions.•The combination of CEUS and CECT help us differentiate RCC subtypes more accurately.
This study aimed to evaluate the value of real-time contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) combined with contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) in the differential diagnosis of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC), papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC), and chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (CRCC).
In the present study, 82 patients with CCRCC, 24 patients with PRCC, and 19 patients with CRCC were confirmed by pathology of the resected tumor. All patients were evaluated by CEUS and CECT before the operation. In addition, the contrast enhancement mode of CEUS and CECT and the contrast parameters of the region of interest (ROI) time-intensity curve between the lesions and the surrounding normal renal parenchyma by CEUS were compared and analyzed.
Compared with the pathological results, the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound in the 3 groups was 87.8% (72/82), 83.3% (20/24) and 73.7% (14/19). There was no significant difference between CEUS and CECT in the diagnostic accuracy of all groups (P>0.05). Meanwhile, compared with the surrounding renal parenchyma by CEUS, 82.5% (66/80) of CCRCC lesions showed “fast-forward and fast/slow-retrograde,” while 83.3% (20/24) of PRCC, and 84.2% (16/19) showed “slow-forward and fast/slow-retrograde.” Significant differences in the enhancement modes of CEUS were found among the CCRCC, PRCC, and CRCC lesions (P < 0.05). And the enhancement modes could be quantitatively analyzed by the ROI time-intensity curve of the lesion. Moreover, lesions enhanced by CECT and 74.4% (61/82) of CCRCC lesions showed “fast-forward and fast/slow-retrograde,” while 66.7% (16/24) of PRCC and 84.2% (16/19) of CRCC showed “slow-forward and fast/slow-retrograde.” The contrast modes and enhancement uniformity of CEUS and CECT showed no significant differences among the CCRCC, PRCC, and CRCC lesions (P > 0.05).
CEUS and quantitative analysis of ROI time-intensity curve can be used for differential diagnosis of the 3 RCC subtypes. The combination of CEUS and CECT can help us differentiate RCC subtypes and is of great significance for clinical treatment strategies and prognostication.
Mathematical expression was established for evaluating anticancer efficacy of samples of Z. nitidum to human tumor cells based on their infrared fingerprints. Chloroform extracts of the root of Z. ...nitidum from different habitats in China were used as subject samples to do anticancer experiments on two strains of human tumor cells, 7901 and Hela cells. Meanwhile, their fingerprints of infrared spectra were obtained. Screening arguments of backward elimination method was adopted to establish the spectra-effect correlation between infrared fingerprint and pharmacology data. The results showed that deviations of the predictive values from the true values were within plus or minus 10% for the two kinds of tumor cells, suggested that there was close correlation between infrared fingerprint and biological activity of Z. nitidum. The model implied that alkaloids in Z. nitidum have main effect on tumor cells.
PDF
