Zinc deficiency or genetic mutations?-A case report of hair heterochromia in the context of MC1R genetic mutations.

Hair heterochromia may be caused by different mechanisms. At clinical work, we found a Chinese boy whose hair colour gradually turned to red. We record the diagnosis and treatment process and follow-up situation, finally find that altered hair colour phenotype is due to MC1R genetic mutations, rather than zinc deficiency. This rarely red hair colour phenotype improve our understanding of hair heterochromia caused by genetic mutations.

Obesity phenotype induced by high-fat diet promotes diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced precancerous lesions by M1 macrophage polarization in mice liver.

Liver precancerous lesions are the key to improving the efficacy of cancer treatment because of the extremely poor prognosis of HCC patients in moderate and late stages. Obesity-related HCC progression is closely related to the inflammatory microenvironment, in which macrophages are one of the major constituents. In the present study, we ask whether obesity promotes diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced precancerous lesions by M1 macrophage polarization. First, an association between obesity and liver precancerous lesions was determined by histopathological observations, immunochemistry and immunoblotting. The characteristics of early precancerous lesions (trabecular thickening) appeared earlier eight weeks in obese mice than in normal diet mice after DEN induction. The glutathione S-transferase placental-1 (Gstp 1) and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) expression in obese mice after DEN induction was higher than that in the same period after DEN injection in normal diet mice. Furthermore, there was a significant increase in the total macrophage number (F4/80+) of DEN and M1 macrophage number (CD86+F4/80+) in obese mice compared with that in normal diet mice. Besides, the expressions of four pro-inflammatory factors in DEN-induced obese mice were significantly higher compared with that in normal diet mice. Additionally, angiogenesis was revealed by immunostaining assay to be associated with the inflammatory response. All the results demonstrate that obesity promotes DEN-induced precancerous lesions by inducing M1 macrophage polarization and angiogenesis.

Onycholysis an early indicator of thyroid disease.

Onycholysis is also referred to plummer's nails is a dermatological nail disorder characterized by spontaneous distal separation of the nail plate from the free margin and progressively proximally. We discuss a case of the 38-year-old man with onycholysis associated with hyperthyroidism due to Graves' disease. In this case review, we will discuss an association of onycholysis with thyroid disease and its diagnostic prognosis. Any unexplained onycholysis should prompt the clinician to investigate the client for asymptomatic hyperthyroidism.

The Diagnostic Efficacy of Thrombelastography (TEG) in Patients with Preeclampsia and its Association with Blood Coagulation.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic efficacy of thrombelastography (TEG) in patients with preeclampsia. METHODS: One hundred and seventeen pregnant women were recruited from Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of 1st affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University. Of the 117 patients, 59 were normal late gestation (control group), 32 were mild preeclampsia and other 26 cases were severe preeclampsia. All the patients were received thrombelastography (including: K time, Reaction time, Clot angel, MA value, CI value) and blood coagulation examination (including: PT, APTT, Fib, TT, D-dimer and AT-III). RESULTS: The R time, K time, Coagulation Index value and Clot Angle in preeclampsia group were significant different between control and preeclampsia groups with statistical difference (p<0.05). Moreover, the R and K time value in severe preeclampsia group were significant higher than those of control groups (p<0.05); however, the Coagulation Index value and Clot Angle in severe preeclampsia group were significant higher than those of mild preeclampsia group with statistical difference (p<0.05). Coagulation Index had the highest diagnostic sensitivity [87.93 (76.70-95.01) %] and specificity [83.83 (79.17-96.18)%] compared to other parameters with the AUC of 0.94 (0.90-0.98). The K time and the Coagulation Index had the highest diagnostic sensitivity (96.15%) and specificity (0.75%) respectively with the AUC of 0.68 and 0.75 respectively in differential diagnosis of severe preeclampsia from mild preeclampsia. However, there were no statistical difference in the aspects of platelet count and parameters relevant to coagulation test for the control, mild and sever preeclampsia groups(p>0.05). CONCLUSION: TEG provides more accurate information in monitoring the blood coagulation of preeclampsia patients and can be used as a reliable marker for assessing the severity of preeclampsia.

Epidemiology, treatment and prevention of herpes zoster: A comprehensive review.

Herpes zoster is a major health burden that can affect individuals of any age. It is seen more commonly among individuals aged ≥50 years, those with immunocompromised status, and those on immunosuppressant drugs. It is caused by a reactivation of varicella zoster virus infection. Cell-mediated immunity plays a role in this reactivation. Fever, pain, and itch are common symptoms before the onset of rash. Post-herpetic neuralgia is the most common complication associated with herpes zoster. Risk factors and complications associated with herpes zoster depend on the age, immune status, and the time of initializing treatment. Routine vaccination for individuals over 60 years has shown considerable effect in terms of reducing the incidence of herpes zoster and post-herpetic neuralgia. Treatment with antiviral drugs and analgesics within 72 hours of rash onset has been shown to reduce severity and complications associated with herpes zoster and post-herpetic neuralgia. This study mainly focuses on herpes zoster using articles and reviews from PubMed, Embase, Cochrane library, and a manual search from Google Scholar. We cover the incidence of herpes zoster, gender distribution, seasonal and regional distribution of herpes zoster, incidence of herpes zoster among immunocompromised individuals, incidence of post-herpetic neuralgia following a zoster infection, complications, management, and prevention of herpes zoster and post-herpetic neuralgia.

Elevated frequencies of CD4⁺ CD25⁺ CD127lo regulatory T cells is associated to poor prognosis in patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

Regulatory T cells (Treg) mediate amelioration of disease and immune homeostasis by inhibiting immune activation and maintaining peripheral immune tolerance. The suppressive mechanisms and clinical significance of Treg have not been completely elucidated in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Here, we demonstrated that CD127 in combination with CD4 and CD25 can identify FoxP3(+) Treg in peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) using multicolor flow cytometry. We showed that the CD4(+) CD25(+) CD127(lo) Treg frequencies were significantly increased and their phenotypes were different in PB from newly diagnosed AML patients compared to those from healthy volunteers (HVs). Moreover, the Treg frequencies were significantly higher in BM than those from PB in the same patients. The Treg frequencies were reduced when patients achieved complete remission (CR) and were increased when patients relapsed. The Treg frequencies at diagnosis in PB and BM of patients who had achieved CR were lower than those of patients who had persistent leukemia or died, respectively. CD4(+) CD25(+) Treg were isolated by magnetic-activated cell sorting and tested for suppressive functions in coculture with allogeneic carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidylester-labeled CD4(+) CD25(-) responder cells. Suppression mediated by Treg was higher in AML patients compared to HVs. No significant differences were observed in the cytokines production of Treg, including interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), interleukin (IL)-4,IL-2 and IL-10, between patients with AML and HVs. Our study suggests that Treg may play a role in the pathogenesis of AML, and sequential measurements of Treg frequency may have clinical value in the evaluation of therapeutic effects and clinical outcome.

A new IL-1 receptor inhibitor 139A: fermentation, isolation, physico-chemical properties and structure.

Interleukin (IL)-1 is known to be a cytokine which plays a major role in pathological conditions like septic shock, inflammation and auto-immune disease, hence, methods that reduce the activity of IL-1 have an impact on clinical medicine. Inhibiting the binding of IL-1 to IL-1 receptors is one of the methods. A new inhibitor of IL-1 receptor, 139A, was isolated from the fermentation broth of Streptomyces sp.139. It was extracted from the broth filtrate, purified by Diaion HP-20, cation exchange resin and DEAE Sephadex A-25. 139A was identified as polysaccharide, its structure was elucidated on the basis of spectral analysis, the immobilized ligand IL-1 receptor binding assay (IL-ILRBA) proved 139A can competitively inhibits the binding of IL-1 to IL-1 receptors.