Regeneration after blood loss and acute inflammation proceeds without contribution of primitive HSCs.

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are the ultimate source of blood and immune cells, and transplantation reveals their unique potential to regenerate all blood lineages lifelong. HSCs are considered a quiescent reserve population under homeostatic conditions, which can be rapidly activated by perturbations to fuel blood regeneration. In accordance with this concept, inflammation and loss of blood cells were reported to stimulate the proliferation of HSCs, which is associated with a decline in their transplantation potential. To investigate the contribution of primitive HSCs to the hematopoietic stress response in the native environment, we use fate mapping and proliferation tracking mouse models. Although primitive HSCs were robustly activated by severe myeloablation, they did not contribute to the regeneration of mature blood cells in response to prototypic hematopoietic emergencies, such as acute inflammation or blood loss. Even chronic inflammatory stimulation, which triggered vigorous HSC proliferation, only resulted in a weak contribution of HSCs to mature blood cell production. Thus, our data demonstrate that primitive HSCs do not participate in the hematopoietic recovery from common perturbations and call for the reevaluation of the concept of HSC-driven stress responses.

Understanding the Effects of News-Finds-Me Perception on Health Knowledge and Information Seeking During Public Health Crises.

News-finds-me (NFM) perception is a belief that, in the era of social media, individuals can remain adequately well-informed about current events even if they do not actively seek news. While it has been examined in the context of general and political news, NFM perception has not been explored in the context of other genres of news. Through an online survey involving 1,001 Singaporeans, with the Planned Risk Information Seeking Model, this study examines how NFM perception is related to information seeking and COVID-19 knowledge. An issue-specific NFM perception was also proposed and tested in order to determine whether NFM perception and its associated effects differ when operationalized as general news exposure or issue-specific news relating to COVID-19. The negative relationship between general NFM perception and knowledge and the mediating role of information seeking on social media in this relationship are detected. It is also found that when the NFM perception is issue-specific (i.e. COVID-NFM perception), information insufficiency and intentions of information seeking on social media fully mediated the relationship between NFM perception and knowledge. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Danger control and fear control during public health emergencies: Considering the roles of fear and hope in the EPPM across different levels of trust.

Public health emergencies pose considerable threats to global health and safety. The control of these emergencies requires the efforts of healthcare professionals and calls for the public to take protective actions. The present study not only puts fear back in the extended parallel process model (EPPM) but also considers another similarly productive emotion: hope. We examined the mechanisms behind the effects of four cognitive perceptions on protective actions (i.e., danger control) and information avoidance (i.e., fear control). A national online survey was conducted with 1676 participants during the outbreak of COVID-19 in China from February 1 to 29, 2020. The results revealed that perceived severity and susceptibility could lead to fear, positively affecting protective actions. On the other hand, perceived response efficacy and self-efficacy induced hope, which was positively associated with protective actions but negatively associated with information avoidance. Furthermore, the mechanisms behind the relationships among cognitions, emotions, and behaviors varied across levels of trust in healthcare systems.

Eriocheir sinensis vesicle-associated membrane protein can enhance host cell phagocytosis to resist Spiroplasma eriocheiris infection.

Vesicle-associated membrane protein (VAMP) belongs to the receptor protein on the membrane of the secretory transport vesicle and involves in host immune function. The intracellular pathogen Spiroplasma eriocheiris could cause Eriocheir sinensis tremor disease. In a previous study, it was found E. sinensis VAMP (EsVAMP) was differently expressed in S. eriocheiris infection by proteomics analysis. This study mainly aims at the function of EsVAMP in the process of the S. eriocheiris infection. The length of EsVAMP gene was 1681 bp, which contained a 395 bp open reading frame, 90 bp 5'-non-coding region (UTR) and 1277 bp 3'-UTR. The results of qPCR showed that EsVAMP was expressed highly in hemocytes and nerves, followed by gills, intestines and hepatopancreas, and lowly expressed in heart and muscles. EsVAMP in hemocytes was up-regulated after S. eriocheiris infection. After EsVAMP over-expression and S. eriocheiris infection, the RAW264.7 cell morphology and cell viability of the experiment group were significantly better than the control group. Meanwhile, the copy number of S. eriocheiris in the experiment group was significantly lower than that in the control group. After EsVAMP and pCMV-Cre-mCherry were ligated and transfected into RAW264.7 cells, it was found that EsVAMP and lysosome co-localized. Meanwhile, the phagocytosed inactivated S. eriocheiris number and phagocytosed efficiency in RAW264.7 cells were increased significantly. The interference experiment was carried out by synthesizing EsVAMP dsRNA to verify that the EsVAMP transcriptions were successfully suppressed. The S. eriocheiris copy number and the mortality of crab increased significantly after EsVAMP RNAi and S. eriocheiris infection. Meanwhile, the phagocytosed inactivated S. eriocheiris number and phagocytosed efficiency in hemocytes decreased significantly after EsVAMP RNAi and S. eriocheiris infection. These results showed that VAMP was involved in the cell phagocytosis to resist pathogen infection.

Promoting Smoking Cessation in China: Using an Expansion of the EPPM with Other-oriented Threat.

This study explored strategies to increase Chinese smokers' cessation intentions, using the extended parallel processing model, or EPPM. A 2 × 2 × 2 factorial experiment was designed to examine the effects of self-oriented threat (present vs. absent), other-oriented threat (present vs. absent), and efficacy (present vs. absent) on smoking cessation intention. A total of 324 Chinese smokers aged 18-64 years participated in this study. The results revealed significant main effects of self-oriented threat, other-oriented threat, and efficacy on cessation intentions. Moreover, the presence of other-oriented threat was important, and the combination of presence of other-oriented threat and the presence of efficacy led to the greatest willingness to quit smoking, regardless of the presence of a self-oriented threat.

Genetic relationship analysis and molecular fingerprint identification of the tea germplasms from Guangxi Province, China.

The tea plant (Camellia sinensis) is an evergreen woody plant with a high economic value. Guangxi Province is adjacent to the origin center of the tea plant in southern China. It has abundant germplasm resources and is a historically important tea-producing province. However, there is little information about the genetic diversity, genetic introgression, and fingerprints of the tea germplasms from Guangxi Province. Here, we constructed a phylogenetic tree of 126 tea accessions from Guangxi Province using 20 SSR markers. This tree classified these tea accessions into three subgroups containing 19, 47, and 60 members, respectively. High genetic similarity was observed among the three subgroups, and the genetic diversity of the populations was ranked as follows: subgroup 3 > subgroup 2 > subgroup 1. Furthermore, we analyzed the genetic relationships among 168 tea accessions from Guangxi Province and neighboring provinces. The results of the population structure analysis were highly consistent with the clustering results, and genetic introgression was observed. We identified six SSRs as the core marker set, because they could sufficiently distinguish between all 126 tea accessions. The results provide a crucial theoretical basis for utilization and protection of tea germplasms from Guangxi Province, and will help improve the breeding and popularization of elite tea cultivars.

The atypical MAPK ERK3 potently suppresses melanoma cell growth and invasiveness.

Mitogen-activated protein kinase 6 (MAPK6) represents an atypical MAPK also known as extracellular signal-regulated kinase 3 (ERK3), which has been shown to play roles in cell motility and metastasis. ERK3 promotes migration and invasion of lung cancer cells and head and neck cancer cells by regulating the expression and/or activity of proteins involved in cancer progression. For instance, ERK3 upregulates matrix metallopeptidases and thereby promotes cancer cell invasiveness, and it phosphorylates tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase 2, thereby enhancing chemoresistance in lung cancer. Here we discovered that ERK3 plays a converse role in melanoma. We observed that BRAF, an oncogenic Ser/Thr kinase, upregulates ERK3 expression levels by increasing both ERK3 messenger RNA levels and protein stability. Interestingly, although BRAF's kinase activity was required for upregulating ERK3 gene transcription, BRAF stabilized ERK3 protein in a kinase-independent fashion. We further demonstrate that ERK3 inhibits the migration, proliferation and colony formation of melanoma cells. In line with this, high level of ERK3 predicted increased survival among patients with melanomas. Taken together, these results indicate that ERK3 acts as a potent suppressor of melanoma cell growth and invasiveness.

Offspring Caregivers of Chinese Women with Breast Cancer: Their Social Support Requests and Provision on Social Media.

Background:Although a number of studies have examined social support needs among women with breast cancer, little attention has been paid to the burden and needs for social support among their family caregivers, who often report mental and physical problems associated with caregiving.Objective:This study aims to examine the role of social media in providing social support for offspring caregivers of breast cancer patients.Methods:A peer support group, "Having a breast cancer patient in my family," was created on Douban (www.douban.com), one of China's most popular social media sites, to provide social support to family caregivers of women with breast cancer. We analyzed the content of 784 messages in the discussion threads where the latest update fell between January 2017 and July 2017.Results:The results revealed that the majority of messages (n = 690, 88.0%) provided or requested social support, and more than 64.5% of these messages (n = 445) were posted by caregivers who were offspring of the cancer patients. The results also suggested that these caregivers requested and provided informational support more frequently than they did emotional and instrumental support.Conclusions:This study suggests that social media could be a plausible platform for offspring caregivers of breast cancer patients to share caregiving experiences, access informational resources for their care recipients, gain knowledge about breast cancer prevention, and obtain emotional encouragement. Theoretical as well as practical implications are discussed.

Dynamics of bridge-loop transformation in a membrane with mixed monolayer/bilayer structures.

Instead of forming a typical bilayer or monolayer membrane, both the bridge (I-shape) and loop (U-shape) conformations coexist in the planar membranes formed by ABA triblock copolymers in a selective solvent. The non-equilibrium and equilibrium relaxation dynamics of polymer conformations are monitored. The non-equilibrium relaxation time depends on the initial composition and increases with an increase in the immiscibility between A and B blocks. The equilibrium composition of the loop-shape polymer is independent of the initial composition and A-B immiscibility. However, the extent of equilibrium composition fluctuations subsides as the A and B blocks become highly incompatible. The influences of the A-B immiscibility on the geometrical, mechanical, and transport properties of the membrane have also been investigated. As the immiscibility increases, the overall membrane thickness and the B block layer thickness (h) increase because of the increment in the molecular packing density. As a result, both the stretching (KA) and bending (KB) moduli grow significantly with the increasing A-B immiscibility. Consistent with the case of typical membranes, the ratio KB/KAh2 = 2 × 10-3 is a constant. Although the lateral diffusivity of polymers is insensitive to immiscibility, the membrane permeability decreases substantially as the A-B immiscibility is increased.

Unraveling implicit human behavioral effects on dynamic characteristics of Covid-19 daily infection rates in Taiwan.

We investigate the dynamic characteristics of Covid-19 daily infection rates in Taiwan during its initial surge period, focusing on 79 districts within the seven largest cities. By employing computational techniques, we extract 18 features from each district-specific curve, transforming unstructured data into structured data. Our analysis reveals distinct patterns of asymmetric growth and decline among the curves. Utilizing theoretical information measurements such as conditional entropy and mutual information, we identify major factors of order-1 and order-2 that influence the peak value and curvature at the peak of the curves, crucial features characterizing the infection rates. Additionally, we examine the impact of geographic and socioeconomic factors on the curves by encoding each of the 79 districts with two binary characteristics: North-vs-South and Urban-vs-Suburban. Furthermore, leveraging this data-driven understanding at the district level, we explore the fine-scale behavioral effects on disease spread by examining the similarity among 96 age-group-specific curves within urban districts of Taipei and suburban districts of New Taipei City, which collectively represent a substantial portion of the nation's population. Our findings highlight the implicit influence of human behaviors related to living, traveling, and working on the dynamics of Covid-19 transmission in Taiwan.

Evolution and Reassortment of H6 Subtype Avian Influenza Viruses.

The H6 subtype of avian influenza virus (H6 AIV) is the most detected AIV subtype in poultry and wild birds. It causes economic losses to the poultry industry, and the most important, H6 AIV may have the ability to infect mammals, which is a great threat to public health security. In addition, the H6 subtype can serve as a precursor to providing internal genes for other highly pathogenic AIVs, posing a potential threat. H6 AIV currently face to the high positive detection rate and harmless nature of H6 AIV and because not highly effective H6 subtype vaccine available on the market. In this study, we focused on the prevalence of H6 AIV in poultry and wild birds, phylogenetic analysis, genetic variation characteristics, selection analysis, and prevention and control to provide relevant references for the scientific prevention and control of H6 AIV in future.

Overexpression of stanniocalcin-1 inhibits reactive oxygen species and renal ischemia/reperfusion injury in mice.

Reactive oxygen species, endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, and mitogen-activated protein kinases have important roles in the pathogenesis of ischemia/reperfusion kidney injury. Stanniocalcin-1 (STC1) suppresses superoxide generation in many systems through the induction of mitochondrial uncoupling proteins and blocks the cytokine-induced rise in endothelial permeability. Here we tested whether transgenic overexpression of STC1 protects from bilateral ischemia/reperfusion kidney injury. This injury in wild-type mice caused a halving of the creatinine clearance; severe tubular vacuolization and cast formation; increased infiltration of macrophages and T cells; higher vascular permeability; greater production of superoxide and hydrogen peroxide; and higher ratio of activated extracellular regulated kinase/activated Jun-N-terminal kinase and p38, all compared to sham-treated controls. Mice transgenic for human STC1 expression, however, had resistance to equivalent ischemia/reperfusion injury indicated as no significant change from controls in any of these parameters. Tubular epithelial cells in transgenic mice expressed higher mitochondrial uncoupling protein 2 and lower superoxide generation. Pre-treatment of transgenic mice with paraquat, a generator of reactive oxygen species, before injury restored the susceptibility to ischemia/reperfusion kidney injury, suggesting that STC1 protects by an anti-oxidant mechanism. Thus, STC1 may be a therapeutic target for ischemia/reperfusion kidney injury.

Application of Nanomicelles in Enhancing Bioavailability and Biological Efficacy of Bioactive Nutrients.

Nutraceuticals provide many biological benefits besides their basic nutritional value. However, their biological efficacies are often limited by poor absorption and low bioavailability. Nanomaterials have received much attention as potential delivery systems of nutrients and phytonutrients for multiple applications. Nanomicelles are nanosized colloidal structures with a hydrophobic core and hydrophilic shell. Due to their unique characteristics, they have shown great perspectives in food and nutraceutical science. In this review, we discussed the unique properties of nanomicelles. We also emphasized the latest advances on the design of different nanomicelles for efficient delivery and improved bioavailability of various nutrients. The role of nanomicelles in the efficacy improvement of bioactive components from nutraceutical and health foods has been included. Importantly, the safety concerns on nano-processed food products were highlighted.

Epimedin C Alleviates Glucocorticoid-Induced Suppression of Osteogenic Differentiation by Modulating PI3K/AKT/RUNX2 Signaling Pathway.

Secondary osteoporosis is triggered mostly by glucocorticoid (GC) therapy. Dexamethasone (DEX) was reported to inhibit osteogenic differentiation in zebrafish larvae and MC3T3-E1 cells in prior research. In this research, we primarily examined the protective impacts of epimedin C on the osteogenic inhibition impact of MC3T3-E1 cells and zebrafish larvae mediated by DEX. The findings illustrated no apparent toxicity for MC3T3-E1 cells after administering epimedin C at increasing dosages from 1 to 60 µM and no remarkable proliferation in MC3T3-E1 cells treated using DEX. In MC3T3-E1 cells that had been treated using DEX, we discovered that epimedin C enhanced alkaline phosphatase activities and mineralization. Epimedin C could substantially enhance the protein expression of osterix (OSX), Runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), and alkaline phosphatase (ALPL) in MC3T3-E1 cells subjected to DEX treatment. Additionally, epimedin C stimulated PI3K and AKT signaling pathways in MC3T3-E1 cells that had been treated using DEX. Furthermore, in a zebrafish larvae model, epimedin C was shown to enhance bone mineralization in DEX-mediated bone impairment. We also found that epimedin C enhanced ALPL activity and mineralization in MC3T3-E1 cells treated using DEX, which may be reversed by PI3K inhibitor (LY294002). LY294002 can also reverse the protective impact of epimedin C on DEX-mediated bone impairment in zebrafish larval. These findings suggested that epimedin C alleviated the suppressive impact of DEX on the osteogenesis of zebrafish larval and MC3T3-E1 cells via triggering the PI3K and AKT signaling pathways. Epimedin C has significant potential in the development of innovative drugs for the treatment of glucocorticoid-mediated osteoporosis.

The Impact of Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 Receptor Agonists on Bone Metabolism and Its Possible Mechanisms in Osteoporosis Treatment.

Diabetes mellitus and osteoporosis are closely related and have complex influencing factors. The impact of anti-diabetic drugs on bone metabolism has received more and more attention. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) would lead to bone fragility, high risk of fracture, poor bone repair and other bone-related diseases. Furthermore, hypoglycemic drugs used to treat T2DM may have notable detrimental effects on bones. Thus, the clinically therapeutic strategy for T2DM should not only effectively control the patient's glucose levels, but also minimize the complications of bone metabolism diseases. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) are novel and promising drug for the treatment of T2DM. Some studies have found that GLP-1RAs may play an anti-osteoporotic effect by controlling blood sugar levels, promoting bone formation and inhibiting bone resorption. However, in clinical practice, the specific effects of GLP-1RA on fracture risk and osteoporosis have not been clearly defined and evidenced. This review summarizes the current research findings by which GLP-1RAs treatment of diabetic osteoporosis, postmenopausal osteoporosis and glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis and describes possible mechanisms, such as GLP-1R/MAPK signaling pathway, GLP-1R/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and Wnt/ß-catenin pathway, that are associated with GLP-1RAs and osteoporosis. The specific role and related mechanisms of GLP-1RAs in the bone metabolism of patients with different types of osteoporosis need to be further explored and clarified.

Integrated metabolic phenotypes and gene expression profiles revealed the effect of spreading on aroma volatiles formation in postharvest leaves of green tea.

Spreading is an indispensable process in the aroma formation of premium green tea. In this study, volatile metabolomics and transcriptomics were performed for three tea plant cultivars to investigate the mechanism of changes occurring in volatile compounds during green tea spreading. The content of primary aroma compounds significantly increased after spreading, the Wickremasinghe-Yamanishi ratio decreased and the Owuor's flavor index increased with the extension of spreading time, and the degree of aroma production was genotype-dependent. Volatile terpenes and fatty acid-derived volatiles were the principal aroma volatiles that accumulated during the spreading of green tea, and the trends of their changes were consistent with the expression pattern of related synthesis pathway genes, indicating that they were primarily derived from de novo synthesis rather than glycoside hydrolysis. Two co-expression networks that were highly correlated with variations in the volatile component contents during the spreading process were identified via WGCNA. Our results provide insights into spreading that can be considered to improve the quality of green tea.

Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy for Degenerative Disc Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Degenerative disc disease (DDD) can cause severe low back pain, which will have a serious negative impact on the ability to perform daily tasks or activities. For the past few years, mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation has emerged as a promising strategy for the treatment of DDD. However, the clinical efficacy of MSC in the treatment of DDD still lacks clinical evidence and is controversial. We conducted a meta-analysis with randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of MSC transplantation in patients with DDD. We searched major databases using terms from the database's inception through March 2021. The Cochrane bias risk assessment tool was used to assess quality. The analysis showed that MSC therapy could decrease visual analog scale (VAS) scores (SMD = -0.50, 95%CI = -0.68 ~ -0.33, P < 0.00001) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores (SMD = -0.27, 95%CI = -0.44 ~ -0.09, P = 0.003). The outcomes with subgroup analysis showed that MSC therapy could decrease VAS scores in 3 months (P = 0.001), 6 months (P = 0.01), 12 months (P = 0.02), and ≥24 months (P = 0.002) and ODI scores in ≥24 months (P = 0.006). Pooled analysis showed that MSC therapy has a higher ratio of patients at most thresholds but particularly at the MIC (minimally important change) (P = 0.0002) and CSC (clinically significant change) (P = 0.0002) in VAS and MIC (P = 0.0005) and CSC (P = 0.001) pain responders in ODI. Adverse events (AE) of treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAE), back pain, arthralgia, and muscle spasms were not statistically significant between the two groups. However, our further statistical analysis showed that MSC therapy may induce AE of TEAE related to study treatment (OR = 3.05, 95%CI = 1.11 ~ 8.40, P = 0.03). In conclusion, this study pooled the main outcomes and showed that MSC therapy could significantly decrease VAS and ODI scores in patients with DDD. Distinctly, the findings of this meta-analysis suggest a novel therapeutic strategy for patients with chronic low back pain (LBP) and lumbar dysfunction by DDD.

Spatiotemporal Analysis of B Cell- and Antibody Secreting Cell-Subsets in Human Melanoma Reveals Metastasis-, Tumor Stage-, and Age-Associated Dynamics.

Background: The role of tumor-associated B cells in human cancer is only starting to emerge. B cells typically undergo a series of developmental changes in phenotype and function, however, data on the composition of the B cell population in human melanoma are largely absent including changes during tumor progression and their potential clinical significance. Methods: In this study, we compared the number and distribution of six major B cell and antibody secreting cell subpopulations outside tertiary lymphoid structures in whole tumor sections of 154 human cutaneous melanoma samples (53 primary tumors without subsequent metastasis, 44 primary tumors with metastasis, 57 metastatic samples) obtained by seven color multiplex immunohistochemistry and automated tissue imaging and analysis. Results: In primary melanomas, we observed the highest numbers for plasmablast-like, memory-like, and activated B cell subtypes. These cells showed a patchy, predominant paratumoral distribution at the invasive tumor-stroma margin. Plasma cell-like cells were hardly detected, germinal center- and transitional/regulatory-like B cells not at all. Of the major clinicopathologic prognostic factors for primary melanomas, metastasis was associated with decreased memory-like B cell numbers and a higher age associated with higher plasmablast-like cell numbers. When we compared the composition of B cell subpopulations in primary melanomas and metastatic samples, we found a significantly higher proportion of plasma cell-like cells at distant metastatic sites and a higher proportion of memory-like B cells at locoregional than distant metastatic sites. Both cell types were detected mainly in the para- and intratumoral stroma. Conclusion: These data provide a first comprehensive and comparative spatiotemporal analysis of major B cell and antibody secreting cell subpopulations in human melanoma and describe metastasis-, tumor stage-, and age-associated dynamics, an important premise for B cell-related biomarker and therapy studies.

Degradation of the internal elastic laminae in vein grafts of rats with aortocaval fistulae: potential impact on graft vasculopathy.

The internal elastic lamina (IEL) of vein grafts may be modified when exposed to arterialized hemodynamics. We investigated changes of the IEL in the inferior vena cava (IVC) of rats with aortocaval fistulae (ACF). In the IVC of ACF rats, both a markedly increased flow velocity and a mildly increased pressure were demonstrated. In the lower segment where hemodynamic changes were prominent, neointimal hyperplasia was prominently found. The IEL of the IVC in sham-operated rats, observed by confocal microscopy, was composed of parallel elastic fibers. In ACF rats, the IEL degenerated progressively after surgery. The elastic fibers were stretched and gradually became sparse, a change that was more prominent in the lower segment. Eight weeks after surgery, the IEL hardly existed in some areas of the lower segment. Electron microscopy revealed decreased densities and diameters of elastic fibers. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed an up-regulation of potent elastases, cathepsins K and S, and matrix metalloproteinase-2 in the IVC of ACF rats. Results of immunohistochemical studies localized cathepsin expression predominantly to the luminal endothelium lining the IEL, suggesting involvement of elastinolysis in the degradation of the IEL. We demonstrated the degradation of the IEL in the vein graft of ACF rats, especially in the segment exposed to prominent hemodynamic changes. IEL degradation may contribute to the development of neointimal hyperplasia in vein grafts.

[Expression of TGF-beta and hepatocyte growth factor in kidney tissues of children with primary focal segmental glomerular sclerosis].

OBJECTIVE: To study the expression of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in kidney tissues of children with primary focal segmental glomerular sclerosis (FSGS) and the possible role of the two growth factors in the development of FSGS. METHODS: Kidney specimens were obtained from 33 children with primary FSGS and 7 children with isolated haematuria but without FSGS (control group). Of the 33 children with primary FSGS, 6 children had no renal tubule interstitial pathological damage (Experimental I group) and 27 children had renal tubule interstitial pathological damage (Experimental II group). Expression of TGF-beta and HGF in kidney tissues was ascertained by the immunohistochemical method. RESULTS: TGF-beta and HGF were expressed in the three groups, but there were significant differences among the three groups. The expression of TGF-beta and HGF in the two experiment groups increased significantly compared with that in the control group. The Experimental II group had increased TGF-beta expression but a significantly decreased HGF expression compared with the Experimental I group. The index of tubule interstitial pathological changes was positively correlated with the TGF-beta expression (r=0.763, P<0.01), but negatively correlated with the HGF expression (r=-0.461, P<0.05) in the Experimental II group. There was a negative correlation between TGF-beta and HGF expression in children with primary FSGS (r=-0.425, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The expression of TGF-beta and HGF in kidney tissues is increased in children with primary FSGS. TGF-beta might be a fibrogenic factor and HGF might be an anti-fibrotic factor in the kidney in primary FSGS.