Immunosuppressive Agents for the Treatment of Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Currently, there are no effective therapeutic agents for patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficiency of immunosuppressive agents (IAs) for the treatment of PSC. METHODS: The literatures were searched using the following keywords singly or in combination: PSC, treatments, IAs. The primary outcome was defined as the need for liver transplantation or mortality. RESULTS: Two hundred sixty six patients from 7 eligible studies were analyzed. IAs had no remarkable effects on the rate of mortality or liver transplantation (relative risk, RR 1.02, 95% CI 0.58-1.62, p = 0.92). Subgroup analyses showed no significant effect of IAs co-administration therapy (IAs co-administered with ursodeoxycholic acid, IA co-administered with IA; RR 1.41, 95% CI 0.40-4.95, p = 0.60). IAs caused adverse events (AEs) such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, and pruritus (RR 1.81, 95% CI 1.07-3.07, p = 0.03). IAs therapy did not significantly improve markers of liver function except for aspartate transaminase (weighted mean difference -9.76, 95% CI -12.92 to -6.6, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: IAs administrated as either monotherapy or combination therapy do not reduce the risk of mortality or liver transplantation. IAs monotherapy is associated with AEs.

Adenoviral vector mediates high expression levels of human lactoferrin in the milk of rabbits.

limitations in current technology for generating transgenic animals, such as the time and the expense, hampered its extensive use in recombinant protein production for therapeutic purpose. In this report, we present a simple and less expensive alternative by directly infusing a recombinant adenovirus vector carrying human lactoferrin cDNA into rabbit mammary glands. The milk serum was collected from the infected mammary gland 48 h post-infection and subjected to a 10% SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. An 80-kDa protein was visualized after viral vector infection. With this method, we obtained a high level of expressed human lactoferrin of up to 2.3 mg/ml in the milk. Taken together, the method is useful for the transient high-level expression recombinant proteins, and the approach established here is probably one of the most economical and efficient ways for large-scale production of recombinant proteins of biopharmaceutical interest.

Simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in step feeding biological nitrogen removal process.

The simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in step-feeding biological nitrogen removal process were investigated under different influent substrate concentrations and aeration flow rates. Biological occurrence of simultaneous nitrification and denitrification was verified in the aspect of nitrogen mass balance and alkalinity. The experimental results also showed that there was a distinct linear relationship between simultaneous nitrification and denitrification and DO concentration under the conditions of low and high aeration flow rate. In each experimental run the floc sizes of activated sludge were also measured and the results showed that simultaneous nitrification and denitrification could occur with very small size of floc.

High-level expression of human lactoferrin in the milk of goats by using replication-defective adenoviral vectors.

The expression of human lactoferrin in the mammary gland is an attractive approach to diminish its current production cost. Previous attempts to produce lactorferrin in the milk of transgenic animals resulted in very high cost and uncertain results. In this paper, we have directly infused replication-defective adenovirus encoding human lactoferrin cDNA into the mammary gland of goats via the teat canal. In this way, we obtained a high level of expressed human lactoferrin up to 2g/L in the milk of goats. The milk serum was collected from the infected mammary gland 48 h post-infection and subjected to a 10% SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. A approximately 80-kDa protein was visualized after viral vector infection. Our results demonstrate that intraductal injection of recombinant replication-defective adenovirus vectors may provide a very useful tool for large-scale production of recombinant proteins of biopharmaceutical interest.

Effects of ovarian cortex cell co-culture during in vitro maturation on porcine oocytes maturation, fertilization and embryo development.

The objective of the experiments was to evaluate the effects of porcine ovarian cortex cells (pOCCs) during in vitro maturation (IVM) of porcine oocytes on IVM of porcine oocytes, in vitro fertilization (IVF) parameters and subsequent embryo development. The pOCCs was cultured in the 500 microl TCM199 without hormone until the confluence, and then cultured in 500 microl TCM199 supplemented with hormone for 12 h before the oocytes added. Porcine oocytes were co-cultured with the pOCCs monolayers in the co-culture system for 44 h, following fertilized in the mTBM for 6 h. Finally, the presumptive zygotes were cultured for 144 h in the NCSU-23 supplemented with 0.4% BSA. The results showed that matured M II oocytes in the co-culture group were higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). Although penetration did not differ between the co-culture and control groups (P=0.481), polyspermy declined in the co-culture group (P<0.05), whereas male pronucleus (MPN) formation was improved in the co-culture group compared with the control group (P<0.05). More blastocysts developed in the co-culture group than that in the control group (P<0.05); however, the cleavage rates and the mean number cells per blastocyst showed no significant difference between the treated group and the control group (P=0.560 and 0.873, respectively). In conclusion, the presence of the pOCCs monolayers during IVM enhanced the maturation quality of the porcine oocytes, reduced the polyspermy, increased the percentages of MPN formation and blastocyst, but the blastocyst quality was not improved.

Automatic control strategy for step feed anoxic/aerobic biological nitrogen removal process.

Control of sludge age and mixed liquid suspended solids concentration in the activated sludge process is critical for ensuring effective wastewater treatment. A nonlinear dynamic model for a step-feed activated sludge process was developed in this study. The system is based on the control of the sludge age and mixed liquor suspended solids in the aerator of last stage by adjusting the sludge recycle and wastage flow rates respectively. The simulation results showed that the sludge age remained nearly constant at a value of 16 d in the variation of the influent characteristics. The mixed liquor suspended solids in the aerator of last stage were also maintained to a desired value of 2500 g/m3 by adjusting wastage flow rates.