Plasma levels of Interleukin 18 but not amyloid-ß or Tau are elevated in female depressive patients.

BACKGROUND: Depression is associated with inflammation and Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, detailed molecular mechanisms linking mood, neuroinflammation and AD remain unclear. Although changes in peripheral inflammatory factors such as Interleukin 18 (IL18), and AD-associated amyloid-ß (Aß) peptides have been linked to depression, a solid relationship between these factors in depressive disorder has yet to be established. This study aims to further determine whether plasma IL18, Aß40, Aß42, and the AD-associated tangle component Tau, as well as IL18 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) may be biomarkers for depression. METHODS: We measured plasma IL18, Aß40, Aß42, and Tau in 64 depressive patients and 75 healthy controls, and characterized genotypes of three IL18 SNPs (rs187238, rs1946518 and rs1946519) in these subjects. Comparisons between depressive patients and controls were carried out in males, in females or in combination. Regression analyses were conducted to examine the correlation between these parameters. RESULTS: We found that none of the plasma levels of IL18, Aß40, Aß42, and Tau, the ratio of Aß42/Aß40, and the genotypes of IL18 SNPs were significantly different between combined depressive patients and combined healthy controls, or between male depressive patients and male controls. However, IL18 levels were less in females than in males in healthy people and were significantly increased in female depressive patients compared to female controls. Moreover, IL18 and standardized IL18 were correlated with standardized Aß42/Aß40 ratio and standardized Tau in depressive patients. CONCLUSIONS: Plasma IL18 may be a potential biomarker for depression in women.

Body fluid levels of neuroactive amino acids in autism spectrum disorders: a review of the literature.

A review of studies on the body fluid levels of neuroactive amino acids, including glutamate, glutamine, taurine, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glycine, tryptophan, D-serine, and others, in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is given. The results reported in the literature are generally inconclusive and contradictory, but there has been considerable variation among the previous studies in terms of factors such as age, gender, number of subjects, intelligence quotient, and psychoactive medication being taken. Future studies should include simultaneous analyses of a large number of amino acids [including D-serine and branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs)] and standardization of the factors mentioned above. It may also be appropriate to use saliva sampling to detect amino acids in ASD patients in the future-this is noninvasive testing that can be done easily more frequently than other sampling, thus providing more dynamic monitoring.

[CD20 Expression in Adult Patients with B-lineage Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Its Prognostic Significance].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between the expression of CD20 antigen and clinical characteristics in adult patients with B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia(B-ALL). METHODS: The CD20 expression of 126 acute lympho-blastic leukemia patients in our hospital from July 2009 to July 2012 were determined by flow cytometry. The characteristics, examination results and outcome were analyzed retrospectively. The complete remission rate (CR rate), relape rate, 2-year survival rate and 2-year event-free survival (EFS) of patients with CD20 positive and negative after the first cycle of chemstherapy were compared. RESULTS: Positive rate of CD20 antigen expression in 126 patients was 24.4% (31 cases), negative rate of CD20 antigen expression in 126 patients was 75.6% (95 cases). No significant relationship was found between CD20 antigen expression and sex, age, peripheral blood leucocytes count and chromosomal changes. The relapse rate, 2-year survival rate (OS) and 2-year event-free survival (EFS) of adult patients with B-ALL in CD20 positive and negative groups were 53.3% and 38.0%, 52.1% and 92.3%, 33.7% and 70.8% respectively. CONCLUSION: Expression of CD20 in adult patients with B-ALL did not related with clinical features, but related with poor prognosis.

[Single center comparative analysis of hematopoietic cell transplantation from alternated donor in patients with hematologic malignancies].

OBJECTIVE: One of the truly revolutionary advances in hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is the increasingly successful use of alternative donors, as only 1/4 of patients who require an allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant will have a HLA-matched sibling donor. Thereby, three alternative graft sources: umbilical cord blood (UCB), haploidentical (hi) related donor and mismatched unrelated donor hematopoietic cell transplantation (MMUDT) are available. This study was purposed to compare the characteristics of umbilical cord blood transplantation(UCBT), haplaidentical (hi) related donor hematopoieetic cell transplantation(hi-HSCT) and MMUDT. METHODS: The clinical date of 93 patients with hematologic malignancies who received UCBT (n = 22), hi-HSCT (n = 42) and MMUDT (n = 29), and the days of hematopoietic reconstration and engraftment, rate of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), relapse rate, and overall survival (OS) were analysed. RESULTS: The median days of hematopoietic reconstitution (WBC>1.0×10(9)) among UCBT recipients were significantly longer than those among hi-HSCT/MMUDT recipients, (19 in UCBT, 12 in hi-HSCT and 12 in MMUDT)(P < 0.001), whereas the median days of full engraftment (STR >95%) among hi-HSCT recipients were longer than those among UCBT/MMUDT recipients (26 in hi-HSCT, 15 in UCBT and 20 in MMUDT, P = 0.028), the implant failure rate of UCBT recipients was higher than others (26% in UCBT, 5% in hi-HSCT, 3% in MUUDT)(P < 0.05). Multivarite analysis demonstrated no apparent differences in the rate of aGVHD (50% in UCBT,57.1% in hi-HSCT and 72.4% in MMUDT) (P = 0.498), and the rate of III-VI aGVHD also was no significant defference (27.3% in UCBT, 28.6% in hi-HSCT and 17.2% in MMUDT)(P = 0.543), the rate of chronic GVHD of UCBT recipients was lowered (19.0% in UCBT, 45.5% in hi-HSCT, 58.3% in MMUDT, P = 0.026). Overall survival at 2 years was 79.9% in UCBT, 80.9% in hi-HSCT and 88.0% in MUUDT (P = 0.097), and the TRM in 100 days was 23.8% in UCBT, 20.0% in hi-HSCT and 11.1% in MMUDT (P = 0.245) respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The UCBT is characterised by lowest rate of cGVHD, but its hematopoietic recostruction is slow; the hi-HSCT has more alternative donors for using in clinic and can achieve post-transplant adoptive cellular immunotherapy, but its TRM has been found to be higher; the first important problem for MMUDT is to decrease the higher incidence of aGVHD and cGVHD.

[Effect of decitabine on immune regulation in patients with acute myeloid leukemia after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation].

Based on the representative articles in recent years, the different mechanisms of decitabine on immune regulation in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) are summarized. Decitabine improves the expression of WT1 gene to stimulate specific cytotoxic T cells which can enhance graft versus leukemia effect (GVL) and improve the expression of FOXP3 gene to stimulate regulatory T cells so as to inhibit the acute graft versus host disease (GVHD). Through the above-mentimed mechanisms, decitabine can improve both therapeutic effect and quality of life in the patients with AML after allogeneic HSCT.