A multi center real world observation to evaluate the efficacy of cryotherapy versus local hyperthermia for the treatment of plane warts.

Most plane warts are recalcitrant to treatment. Both cryotherapy and local hyperthermia have been applied to treat plane warts. However, no direct comparative study on their respective efficacy and safety has ever been performed. To assess the efficacy and safety of local hyperthermia at 43 ± 1°C versus liquid nitrogen cryotherapy for plane warts. Sequential patients with plane warts entered the study, either receiving cryotherapy or local hyperthermia therapy at the discretion of the patients and the recommendations of consultants. Cryotherapy with liquid nitrogen was delivered in two sessions 2 weeks apart, while local hyperthermia was delivered on three consecutive days, plus two similar treatments 10 ± 3 days later. The temperature over the treated skin surface was set at 43 ± 1°C for 30 min in each session. The primary outcome was the clearance rates of the lesions 6 months after treatment. Among the 194 participants enrolled, 183 were included in the analysis at 6 months. Local hyperthermia and cryotherapy achieved clearance rates of 35.56% (48/135) and 31.25% (15/48), respectively (p = 0.724); recurrence rates of 16.67% (8/48) and 53.33% (8/15) (p = 0.01); and adverse events rates of 20.74% (28/135) and 83.33% (40/48), respectively (p < 0.001). Cryotherapy had a higher pain score (p < 0.001) and a longer healing time (p < 0.001). Local hyperthermia at 43°C and cryotherapy had similar efficacy for plane warts. Local hyperthermia had a safer profile than cryotherapy but it required more treatment visits during a treatment course. More patients preferred local hyperthermia due to its treatment friendly nature.

Local Hyperthermia Versus Cryotherapy for Treatment of Plantar Warts: A Prospective Multi-centre Non-randomized Concurrent Controlled Clinical Trial.

Cryotherapy is one of the most common treatments for warts; however, pain during treatment and relatively high recurrence rates limit its use. Local hyperthermia has also been used successfully in the treatment of plantar warts. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical effectiveness of local hyperthermia vs cryotherapy for the treatment of plantar warts. This multi- centre, open, 2-arm, non-randomized concurrent controlled trial included 1,027 patients, who received either cryotherapy or local hyperthermia treatment. Three months after treatment, local hyperthermia and cryotherapy achieved complete clearance rates of 50.9% and 54.3%, respectively. Recurrence rates were 0.8% and 12%, respectively. Pain scores during local hyperthermia were significantly lower than for cryotherapy. Both local hyperthermia and cryotherapy demonstrated similar efficacy for clearance of plantar warts; while local hyperthermia had a lower recurrence rate and lower pain sensation during treatment.

Lnc-TCL6 is a potential biomarker for early diagnosis and grade in liver-cirrhosis patients.

BACKGROUND: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been applied as biomarkers in many diseases. However, scarce biomarkers are available in single lncRNA differential expression associated with different clinical stages of liver cirrhosis (LC). The aim of the study is to identify some lncRNAs that can serve as non-invasive sensitive biomarkers for early diagnosis and grade of LC. METHODS: Blood lncRNA expression was evaluated in three independent cohorts with 305 participants including healthy controls, hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers, and patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) or LC. First, candidate lncRNAs were screened by CapitalBiotech microarray to diagnose cirrhosis. Quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was then used to investigate the expression of selected lncRNAs in the whole group of cirrhosis and different Child-Pugh classes. Ultimately, the diagnostic accuracy of the promising biomarker was examined and validated via Mann-Whitney test and receiver-operating characteristics analysis. RESULTS: Lnc-TCL6 was identified as a sensitive biomarker for early diagnosis of LC (Child-Pugh A) compared with healthy controls (area under the ROC curve [AUC] = 0.636), HBV carriers (AUC = 0.671), and CHB patients (AUC = 0.672). Furthermore, lnc-TCL6 showed a favourable capacity in discriminating among different Child-Pugh classes (AUC: 0.711-0.837). Compared with healthy controls, HBV carriers, and CHB patients, the expression of lnc-TCL6 was obviously up-regulated in Child-Pugh A patients and, conversely, significantly down-regulated in Child-Pugh C patients. CONCLUSIONS: Lnc-TCL6 is a novel potential biomarker for early diagnosis of LC and is a possible predictor of disease progression.

Revisit gut microbiota and its impact on human health and disease.

Trillions of microbes have evolved with and continue to live on human beings. With the rapid advances in tools and technology in recent years, new knowledge and insight in cross-talk between the microbes and their hosts have gained. It is the aim of this work to critically review and summarize recent literature reports on the role of microbiota and mechanisms involved in the progress and development of major human diseases, which include obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), gout, depression and arthritis, as well as infant health and longevity.

Circulating Long Noncoding RNA LIPCAR Acts as a Novel Biomarker in Patients with ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction.

BACKGROUND Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) recently have been implicated in the pathological processes of cardiovascular diseases. In this study, LncRNADisease database and PubMed database were used to screen myocardial infraction (MI)-related lncRNAs and to investigate the diagnostic role of lncRNAs in ST-segment elevation myocardial infraction (STEMI). MATERIAL AND METHODS Forty-six patients with STEMI and 40 healthy controls were included in the study. Venous blood samples acquired at different time points and the expression levels of lncRNAs in plasma were measured by qRT-PCR. In addition, other blood samples were collected before and after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Correlation analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were used to assess the diagnosis value of the markers. All included patients were followed up for 12±1 months. RESULTS Nine MI-related lncRNAs were selected from the database. The qRT-PCR results showed that the expression of hypoxia inducible factor 1A antisense RNA 2 (aHIF), member 1 opposite strand/antisense transcript 1 (KCNQ1OT1), and mitochondrial long noncoding RNA uc022bqs.1 (LIPCAR) were significantly increased in patients with STEMI compared to the control patients. The ROC curve showed that LIPCAR (AUC=0.782, 95% CI: 0.707-0.0.894) had better diagnostic accuracy. Moreover, correlation analysis indicated that LIPCAR were positively correlated with myocardial enzymes and negatively correlated with left ventricular ejection fraction. The level of LIPCAR in STEMI patients after PCI was lower (P<0.05). Multivariate regression analysis indicated that higher levels of LIPCAR were independent predictors of major adverse cardiovascular events in patients with STEMI (HR=5.93; 95% CI, 1.46-9.77; P=0.001). CONCLUSIONS Highly expressed LIPCAR in plasma may serve as a warning sign for the diagnosis of STEMI.

Targeting HMGB1 ameliorates cardiac fibrosis through restoring TLR2-mediated autophagy suppression in myocardial fibroblasts.

BACKGROUND: Extracellular high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) has been identified as playing a critical role in the pathogenesis of tissue fibrosis. However, the underlying mechanism of its involvement in cardiac fibrosis is still not well-defined. Here, we aim to investigate whether toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) contributes to the extracellular HMGB1-mediated development and progression of cardiac fibrosis. METHODS: A mouse model of cardiac fibrosis was induced by subcutaneous injection of isoproterenol (ISO). Glycyrrhizic acid (GA), an inhibitor of HMGB1 derived from natural products, was simultaneously administered by intraperitoneal injection. Echocardiography, H&E and Sirius red staining were used to evaluate cardiac function and fibrosis. The myocardial expression of autophagy-associated proteins was examined using immunoblotting. Cardiac fibroblasts were treated with different concentrations of HMGB1 to examine the expression levels of α-SMA, collagen I and autophagy markers. Interactions of HMGB1/TLR2 and α-SMA/p62 were examined by immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence. RESULTS: ISO-treated mice showed characteristic cardiac fibrosis, increased expression and co-localization of HMGB1 and TLR2, as well as impaired autophagic signals in myocardial tissues, which could be prevented by silencing TLR2. Exogenous administration of HMGB1 blocked the autophagic flux in fibroblasts, which caused extensive accumulation of collagen I and α-SMA. In addition, cardiac fibrosis was alleviated by GA treatment through abrogating the interaction between HMGB1 and TLR2. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that the interaction between TLR2 and HMGB1 contributes to the pathogenesis of cardiac fibrosis via suppressing fibroblast autophagy, and that inhibiting HMGB1 with GA provides therapeutic benefits for the treatment of fibroproliferative heart diseases.

[A Study of Lasing Spectrum of Dye-Doped Chiral Nematic Liquid Crystal Cell under Electric Field].

The lasing spectrum of dye-doped chiral nematic liquid crystal under electric filed was investigated. Two kinds of electrodes were designed to apply transverse electric field to positive liquid crystal cell and longitudinal electric field to negative liquid crystal cell. A 532 nm Nd∶YAG pulsed solid-state laser was used to pump the cell. When transverse electric field is applied to positive liquid crystal device, multi-wavelength laser output is obtained in the range of 630~660 nm. When longitudinal electric field is applied to negative liquid crystal cell, 18.5 nm tunable output lasing is obtained. The output characteristic of cell was analyzed from the texture of device and the photonic band gap. In the positive liquid crystal cell, the competition of electric moment with twisting moment causes the flow of LC molecule, and the flow of LC molecule leads to a floating photonic band gap. For this reason, not only at the edge of photonic band gap but in the photonic band gap can produce lasing. For negative liquid crystal cell, the pitch shrinks with the increase of electric field. The photonic band gap shows blue-shift with the decrease of pitch. and Lasing wavelength is blue shifted from 681.0 to 662.5 nm and the lasing at the edge of photonic band gap. Negative liquid crystal cell has better stability under electric field effect.

[The effect of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation on the expression of ubiquitin-proteasome of skeletal muscle in patients with AECOPD].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation( NIPPy) on the gene and protein expression of biquitin-proteasome of skeletal muscle in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(AECOPD). METHODS: Seven patients with AECOPD by NIPPV were used as the study group, meanwhile, 6 patients with AECOPD who refused NIPPV was the control group. The blood gas analysis, heart rate (HR) and mean arterial pressure (MBp) were monitored before and 14 days after treatment. A skeletal muscle biopsy was performed after 14 days of therapy. The mRNA expression of ribosomal protein S21 (RPS21), Ubiquitin, Ubiquitin combined with enzyme E2 (E2), Ubiquitin ligase E3 (E3) in skeletal muscle cell were measured by RT-PCR. The protein expression of mitochondrial aconitase (AC02), protease C3 (C3), ribosomal protein SLC16 (SLC16) were detected by Western blot. RESULTS: Forteen days after treatment, the patients in NIPPV group got much better improvement in PaCO2, PaO2 and HR than that of the patients.in the control group (P < 0.05). The gene expression of RPS21,Ubiquitin, E2 and E3 in skeletal muscle cell on patients with NIPPV were obviously lower than that of the control group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Compared with that of the control group, the protein expression of C3 and AC2 increased significantly in the NIPPV group (P < 0.01). The protein expression of SLC16 was significantly lowered in the treated group (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: NIPPV can ameliorate the proteasome pathway and energy metabolic disorders in patients with AECOPD.

Association analyses identify three susceptibility Loci for vitiligo in the Chinese Han population.

To identify susceptibility loci for vitiligo, we extended our previous vitiligo genome-wide association study with a two-staged replication study that included 6,857 cases and 12,025 controls from the Chinese Han population. We identified three susceptibility loci, 12q13.2 (rs10876864, P(combined)=8.07 × 10(-12), odds ratio (OR)=1.18), 11q23.3 (rs638893, P(combined)=2.47 × 10(-9), OR=1.22), and 10q22.1 (rs1417210, P(combined)=1.83 × 10(-8), OR=0.88), and confirmed three previously reported loci for vitiligo, 3q28 (rs9851967, P(combined)=8.57 × 10(-8), OR=0.88), 10p15.1 (rs3134883, P(combined)=1.01 × 10(-5), OR=1.11), and 22q12.3 (rs2051582, P(combined)=2.12 × 10(-5), OR=1.14), in the Chinese Han population. The most significant single-nucleotide polymorphism in the 12q13.2 locus is located immediately upstream of the promoter region of PMEL, which encodes a major melanocyte antigen and has expression loss in the vitiligo lesional skin. In addition, both 12q13.2 and 11q23.3 loci identified in this study are also associated with other autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes and systemic lupus erythematosus. These findings provide indirect support that vitiligo pathogenesis involves a complex interplay between immune regulatory factors and melanocyte-specific factors. They also highlight similarities and differences in the genetic basis of vitiligo in Chinese and Caucasian populations.

[Polarization-sensitive characteristics of the transmission spectra in photonic crystal with nematic liquid crystal defects].

The polarization-sensitive characteristics in the transmission spectra of TiO2/SiO2 optical multilayer films of one-dimensional photonic crystal (1D PC) with nematic liquid crystal defects were investigated in the present paper. The transmission spectra measurements and simulated results show that the polarization-sensitive feature was obvious when natural light was normal incident onto the parallelly aligned nematic liquid crystal. There were peaks of the extraordinary light (TE mode) with center wavelengths 1831 and 1800 nm and the ordinary light (TM mode) with center wavelengths 1452 and 1418 nm in the photonic forbidden band, respectively. With applied voltage increasing, the peaks of the extraordinary light was blue-shifted, and coincided with the peaks of O light gradually. Their tunable ranges were about 31 and 34 nm, respectively. For the random nematic liquid crystal, polarization sensitivity was not observed. Meanwhile, an individual extraordinary light peak with center wavelength 1801 nm and an individual ordinary light peak with center wavelength 1391 nm were obtained in the photonic forbidden band, respectively. The peaks were also found blue-shifted with applied voltage increasing, and their tunable ranges were about 64 and 15 nm, respectively. The polarization insensitive photonic crystal with nematic liquid crystal defects can be achieved by random liquid crystal molecules, which make the effective refractive index of the extraordinary light equal to that of the ordinary light.

Association analyses identify six new psoriasis susceptibility loci in the Chinese population.

We extended our previous genome-wide association study for psoriasis with a multistage replication study including 8,312 individuals with psoriasis (cases) and 12,919 controls from China as well as 3,293 cases and 4,188 controls from Germany and the United States and 254 nuclear families from the United States. We identified six new susceptibility loci associated with psoriasis in the Chinese study containing the candidate genes ERAP1, PTTG1, CSMD1, GJB2, SERPINB8 and ZNF816A (combined P < 5 × 10⁻8) and replicated one locus, 5q33.1 (TNIP1-ANXA6), previously reported (combined P = 3.8 × 10⁻²¹) in the European studies. Two of these loci showed evidence for association in the German study at ZNF816A and GJB2 with P = 3.6 × 10⁻³ and P = 7.9 × 10⁻³, respectively. ERAP1 and ZNF816A were associated with type 1 (early onset) psoriasis in the Chinese Han population (test for heterogeneity P = 6.5 × 10⁻³ and P = 1.5 × 10⁻³, respectively). Comparisons with the results of previous GWAS of psoriasis highlight the heterogeneity of disease susceptibility between the Chinese and European populations. Our study identifies new genetic susceptibility factors and suggests new biological pathways in psoriasis.

Genome-wide association study for vitiligo identifies susceptibility loci at 6q27 and the MHC.

We conducted a genome-wide association study of generalized vitiligo in the Chinese Han population by genotyping 1,117 cases and 1,429 controls. The 34 most promising SNPs were carried forward for replication in samples from individuals of the Chinese Han (5,910 cases and 9,916 controls) and Chinese Uygur (713 cases and 824 controls) populations. We identified two independent association signals within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region (rs11966200, Pcombined=1.48x10(-48), OR=1.90; rs9468925, Pcombined=2.21x10(-33), OR=0.74). Further analyses suggested that the strong association at rs11966200 might reflect the reported association of the HLA-A*3001, HLA-B*1302, HLA-C*0602 and HLA-DRB1*0701 alleles and that the association at rs9468925 might represent a previously unknown HLA susceptibility allele. We also identified one previously undescribed risk locus at 6q27 (rs2236313, Pcombined=9.72x10(-17), OR=1.20), which contains three genes: RNASET2, FGFR1OP and CCR6. Our study provides new insights into the genetic basis of vitiligo.

[Measurement of zinc in Mongolia patent drug Zhuangxiyin Powder with pulse stripping voltammetry].

OBJECTIVE: To determine the content of zinc in Mongolia patent drug Zhuangxiyin Powder. METHODS: Differential pulse stripping voltammetry was employed for measurement of zinc. RESULTS: The zinc content in three samples of the drug was (493+/-11.95)microg/g, (526+/-13.74)microg/g and (554+/-9.84) microg/g respectively, and the relative standard deviation (RSD) was 2.42%, 2.61% and 1.78% respectively. CONCLUSION: The content of zinc in Zhuangxiyin Powder of daily dosage is higher than the needed daily intake of healthy people.