Heparanase Contributes to Psoriatic Lesions Through Crosstalk with IL-17 Pathway.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease that is considered by a network of immunocytes and cytokines. Among all, Th17 cells-derived IL-17 is a critical driving factor in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Recently, disruption of the extracellular matrix was found to be related to psoriasis progression. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the role of heparanase (HPSE) in psoriasis and the crosstalk with the IL-17 signalling pathway. Skin tissues from non-affected areas and psoriatic lesion areas before and after 12 weeks of IL-17 monoclonal antibody treatment of 30 psoriasis patients were collected. HaCaT cells were treated with different concentrations of IL-17 antibody, and HPSE in cells and medium were measured with Western blotting assay as well as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In the imiquimod (IMQ)-induced psoriasis model, IL-17 protein and mRNA expression levels were measured, and changes in the proportion of Th17 cells were detected via flow cytometry. Our data showed that HPSE is upregulated in lesion tissues isolated from psoriasis patients, and was inhibited by anti-IL-17 treatment. In cutaneous cells and IMQ-induced psoriasis model, IL-17 promoted the synthesis of HPSE. Inversely, HPSE was also found to increase the percentage of Th17 cells derived from CD4+ T cells. Finally, we found that the combined treatments of HPSE inhibitor and IL-17 monoclonal antibody produced therapeutic effects on IMQ-induced psoriasis model. Our findings revealed the new role of HPSE in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and also provided a target for combined treatment of psoriasis.

Numerical and experimental study on monitoring coal cracks with PZT sensor.

The rupture of coal pillar can lead to spontaneous combustion or collapse of goaf, which endangers the safety of workers. To explore the relationship between the crack depth of the coal structure and the signal received by the piezoelectric ceramic sensor, the output data of coal samples were analyzed by using the piezoelectric effect, combined with the experiment and ABAQUS simulation. Based on the signal amplitude, the output signal characteristics of the coal model with different crack depths were analyzed, and the evaluation index of coal crack cracking degree (Dc) was defined. The results show that the piezoelectric fluctuation method can effectively identify the local cracks of coal. When the distance between the lead Piezoelectric Transducer (PZT) patch and crack position is constant, the amplitude of the PZT patch output signal will decay with the deepening of the crack depth, while the value of increases with the increase of crack depth. This study provides a theoretical basis for mine disaster prevention and control.

Recent Progress of Advanced Conductive Metal-Organic Frameworks: Precise Synthesis, Electrochemical Energy Storage Applications, and Future Challenges.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with diverse composition, tunable structure, and unique physicochemical properties have emerged as promising materials in various fields. The tunable pore structure, abundant active sites, and ultrahigh specific surface area can facilitate mass transport and provide outstanding capacity, making MOFs an ideal active material for electrochemical energy storage and conversion. However, the poor electrical conductivity of pristine MOFs severely limits their applications in electrochemistry. Developing conductive MOFs has proved to be an effective solution to this problem. This review focuses on the design and synthesis of conductive MOF composites with judiciously chosen conducting materials, pristine MOFs, and assembly methods, as well as the preparation of intrinsically conductive MOFs based on building 2D π-conjugated structures, introducing mixed-valence metal ions/redox-active ligands, designing π-π stacked pathways, and constructing infinite metal-sulfur chains (-M-S-)∞ . Furthermore, recent progress and challenges of conductive MOFs for energy storage and conversion (supercapacitors, Li-ion batteries, Li-S batteries, and electrochemical water splitting) are summarized.

Efficient Graphical Algorithm of Sensor Distribution and Air Volume Reconstruction for a Smart Mine Ventilation Network.

The accurate and reliable monitoring of ventilation parameters is key to intelligent ventilation systems. In order to realize the visualization of airflow, it is essential to solve the airflow reconstruction problem using few sensors. In this study, a new concept called independent cut set that depends on the structure of the underlying graph is presented to determine the minimum number and location of sensors. We evaluated its effectiveness in a coal mine owned by Jinmei Corporation Limited (Jinmei Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China). Our results indicated that fewer than 30% of tunnels needed to have wind speed sensors set up to reconstruct the well-posed airflow of all the tunnels (>200 in some mines). The results showed that the algorithm was feasible. The reconstructed air volume of the ventilation network using this algorithm was the same as the actual air volume. The algorithm provides theoretical support for flow reconstruction.

Different dosages of valaciclovir for the treatment of herpes zoster in adults: A randomized clinical study.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: The dosages of valaciclovir used for herpes zoster treatment recommended by Chinese pharmaceutical companies can differ considerably from those reported in the literature. This randomized clinical study compares the efficacy and safety of different oral valaciclovir doses for the treatment of herpes zoster in adults. METHODS: A total of 214 patients with herpes zoster were enrolled and randomized into two groups according to age: 98 patients in the 18-44-year group (younger patients) and 116 patients in the 45-74-year group (middle-aged and elderly patients). Patients in the two age groups were then prescribed different doses of valaciclovir. The high-dose group was administered 900 mg of valaciclovir, three times daily for 10 days, whereas the low-dose group was administered 300 mg of valaciclovir, two times daily for 10 days. The efficacy and side effects of these regimens were recorded on days 6, 11 and 30. RESULTS: In total, 207 (of 214 enrolled) patients completed the study. Of the seven patients who discontinued the study, five discontinued because their follow-up time was not fixed and two withdrew after moving to other cities. At the 11th day after treatment, the clinical effect of high-dose valaciclovir groups were significantly better than that of the low-dose valaciclovir groups in middle-aged and elderly patients (p < 0.05). The difference in visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores between the two dose groups was statistically significant in middle-aged and elderly patients at the 6th day(p < 0.05), whereas there was no difference in younger patients (p > 0.05). The VAS scores were significantly lower in high-dose group than in low-dose group at day 11 in both groups of patients(p < 0.05).There was no statistically significant difference in the time to skin scab improvement between the two different dose groups in younger patients (p > 0.05). Among middle-aged and elderly patients, the incidence of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) was significantly lower in the high-dose group than in the low-dose group (p < 0.05). The difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the high-dose and low-dose groups was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Overall, the main side effect was headache. WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: The present study indicates that early treatment with high-dose valaciclovir can significantly reduce pain in patients, especially in elderly patients, in whom it can also reduce the incidence of PHN. In terms of safety, no significant difference was noted in the incidence of adverse reactions between high- and low-dose groups.

Variants of CARD14 gene and psoriasis vulgaris in southern Chinese cohort.

BACKGROUND: Recent mutation analysis identified several missense mutations in CARD14 in psoriasis. OBJECTIVES: We performed the genomic sequence analysis on CARD14 in southern Chinese Han Cantonese with Psoriasis Vulgaris (PsV) to reveal more causative missense mutations. METHODS: A total of 131 patients with PsV and 207 matched controls were included. We conducted sequence analysis of all the exon and exon-intron boundaries of CARD14 in the group of PsV patients and subsequent case control analysis of potential sequence variants of significance. RESULTS: We found five rare mutations and four of them are annotated or reported. Only the variant (c.1291C>G) has not been reported and annotated, but the variant was also found in controls. No significant difference was detected among all rare variant allele frequencies of patients and controls. CONCLUSION: None of the new definite variants were pathogenic. The other pathogenic mutations for PsV are still elusive in our cohort.

Variants of CARD14 gene and psoriasis vulgaris in southern Chinese cohort

Abstract BACKGROUND: Recent mutation analysis identified several missense mutations in CARD14 in psoriasis. OBJECTIVES: We performed the genomic sequence analysis on CARD14 in southern Chinese Han Cantonese with Psoriasis Vulgaris (PsV) to reveal more causative missense mutations. METHODS: A total of 131 patients with PsV and 207 matched controls were included. We conducted sequence analysis of all the exon and exon-intron boundaries of CARD14 in the group of PsV patients and subsequent case control analysis of potential sequence variants of significance. RESULTS: We found five rare mutations and four of them are annotated or reported. Only the variant (c.1291C>G) has not been reported and annotated, but the variant was also found in controls. No significant difference was detected among all rare variant allele frequencies of patients and controls. CONCLUSION: None of the new definite variants were pathogenic. The other pathogenic mutations for PsV are still elusive in our cohort.

First case of congenital idiopathic hypohidrosis in China.

A 43-year-old Chinese man presented with generalized hypohidrosis, which he had had since birth, without obvious abnormalities of other skin appendages except a sparse beard and axillary hairs. The sweat test revealed localized sweating on the face, axillae and palms. Histopathologic examination showed that the sweat glands were absent in the forearm and thigh, but some eccrine and apocrine sweat glands were present in the right axilla. S-100 was expressed in the nerve terminals surrounding the acini and ducts of the eccrine sweat glands, while PGP9.5 was positive in the acini of apocrine glands and the nerve terminals surrounding the eccrine glands in the axilla. To our knowledge, this is the first case of congenital idiopathic hypohidrosis in China.

First case of congenital idiopathic hypohidrosis in China

AbstractA 43-year-old Chinese man presented with generalized hypohidrosis, which he had had since birth, without obvious abnormalities of other skin appendages except a sparse beard and axillary hairs. The sweat test revealed localized sweating on the face, axillae and palms. Histopathologic examination showed that the sweat glands were absent in the forearm and thigh, but some eccrine and apocrine sweat glands were present in the right axilla. S-100 was expressed in the nerve terminals surrounding the acini and ducts of the eccrine sweat glands, while PGP9.5 was positive in the acini of apocrine glands and the nerve terminals surrounding the eccrine glands in the axilla. To our knowledge, this is the first case of congenital idiopathic hypohidrosis in China.

Cutaneous Chromoblastomycosis Caused by Veronaea botryosa in a Patient with Pemphigus Vulgaris and Review of Published Reports.

Chromoblastomycosis and phaeohyphomycosis represent two poles of a disease spectrum caused by melanized fungi. Veronaea botryosa belongs to a small genus of saprobic fungi that occasionally cause human infections. To date, 11 cases of V. botryosa-induced cutaneous phaeohyphomycosis have been actually reported since 1990 after exclusion of 2 duplicated cases. We report the first case to our knowledge of cutaneous chromoblastomycosis caused by V. botryosa in a patient with pemphigus vulgaris. A 61-year-old man with 5-year history of pemphigus vulgaris and long-term treatment of corticosteroids and immunosuppressive agents developed multiple nodules on the dorsum of right wrist and hand after wrist trauma. Skin biopsy showed numerous brown muriform cells and a few septate hyphae in the tissue. Veronaea botryosa was isolated from the biopsy samples and then identified based on morphologic observation and DNA sequencing. The patient underwent immediate withdrawal of cyclophosphamide and gradual decrease in prednisone. Skin lesions healed after 5-month itraconazole therapy with an interval of 1-month terbinafine and one cycle of liquid nitrogen cryotherapy. Our results demonstrate that V. botryosa could induce both chromoblastomycosis and phaeohyphomycosis. Combined use of itraconazole and cryotherapy may be preferable to treat this infection.

An association study on the CHRNA5/A3/B4 gene cluster, smoking and psoriasis vulgaris.

Genome-wide association and large cohort studies have consistently linked several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located in the CHRNA5/A3/B4 gene cluster to smoking behaviors and nicotine dependence. Smoking is one of the well-established environmental risk factors for psoriasis and also associated with severity of the disease. Then we conduct the study to examine whether the genetic variations related to smoking behavior located in the CHRNA5/A3/B4 gene cluster also predict the risk of psoriasis vulgaris (PV). The investigations may help explain the mechanisms of the smoking-PV relationship. This is a hospital base case-control study including 634 subjects (329 PV patients and 305 controls), all Chinese Han population. 8 SNPs were selected based on findings from recent studies on smoking and nicotine dependence, all located in the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits CHRNA5/A3/B4 gene cluster. The variants were typed by SNaPshot Multiplex Kit (Applied Biosystems Co., USA). We confirmed that smoking, alcohol consumption and higher body mass index (BMI ≥25) were risk factors for PV. However, none of the selected SNPs was associated with PV risk in the overall analysis and stratification analysis. And we found no association between the selected SNPs in CHRNA5/A3/B4 gene cluster and the clinical features of PV in case-only analysis. This exploratory study does not provide a relationship between these smoking-related SNPs in the CHRNA5/A3/B4 gene cluster and PV in Chinese Han population.

Combined effects of the BDNF rs6265 (Val66Met) polymorphism and environment risk factors on psoriasis vulgaris.

Smoking, alcohol consumption and higher body mass index (BMI) are well established risk factors for psoriasis and also associated with the clinical traits of the disease. And the genetic influences on these three risk factors indeed exist. Previously studies have demonstrated these risk factors related genetic variants may also play a role in the development of risk factors-related diseases. Then we performed a hospital-based study in order to evaluate the combined effect of the risk factors and their related polymorphism rs6265 in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene on psoriasis vulgaris (PV) risk and clinic traits. The case-control study involved 660 subjects including 345 cases and 315 controls in Chinese Han population. The variant of rs6265 was typed by SNaPshot Multiplex Kit (Applied Biosystems Co., USA). We confirmed that higher BMI (≥25), smoking and alcohol consumption were risk factors for PV, and the estimated ORs were 1.63(95 % confidence interval (CI); 1.12-2.37), 2.09(95 % CI; 1.44-3.03) and 1.65(95 % CI; 1.15-2.37) respectively. Genotype and allele distributions did not differ significantly between case and control. However, we found combined effect of rs6265 genotype (GG) and higher BMI (≥25) increased risk of PV (OR = 2.09; 95 % CI, 1.02-4.28; P < 0.05; adjusted OR = 3.19; 95 % CI, 1.37-7.45; P < 0.05) and clinically severity of PV (OR = 2.71; 95 % CI, 1.09-6.72; P < 0.05; adjusted OR = 1.25; 95 % CI, 1.10-1.40; P < 0.05). But none such significant combined effect was observed between others genotype (AA and AG) and other risk factors. In conclusions, the combined effect of BDNF rs6265 genotype (GG) and higher BMI may increases the risk and clinical severity of PV in Chinese Han population.

Combined effect between CHRNB3-CHRNA6 region gene variant (rs6474412) and smoking in psoriasis vulgaris severity.

BACKGROUND: Many factors associated with causing psoriasis have been reported, such as the genetic and environmental factors. Smoking is one of the well-established environmental risk factors for psoriasis and also associated with the disease severity. In addition, several studies of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis have documented gene-environment interactions involving smoking behavior. Although gene polymorphisms on nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits CHRNB3-CHRNA6 region gene have been found to correlate with smoking behavior and lung cancer susceptibility in Chinese Han population, the combined effect between the smoking-related genetic variants and smoking behavior on psoriasis vulgaris (PV) has been unreported. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the combined effect of the smoking-related (rs6474412-C/T) polymorphism on CHRNB3-CHRNA6 region gene and smoking behavior on PV risk and clinic traits in Chinese Han population. METHODS: A hospital-based case-control study including 672 subjects (355 PV cases and 317 controls) was conducted. The variant of rs6474412 was typed by SNaPshot Multiplex Kit (Applied Biosystems Co., USA). RESULTS: The higher body mass index (BMI≥25), smoking behavior and alcohol consumption were risk factors for PV, and the estimated ORs were 1.55 (95% CI, 1.09-2.29), 1.74 (95% CI, 1.22-2.49) and 1.81 (95% CI, 1.25-2.62) respectively. The smoking patients had more severe conditions than non-smokers (OR=1.71, 95% CI, 1.08-2.70, P=0.020). The alleles and genotypes of rs6474412 were not associated with risk of PV, but the combined effect of rs6474412 genotype (TT) and smoking behavior increased severity of PV (OR=5.95; 95% CI, 1.39-25.31; P<0.05; adjusted OR=2.20; 95% CI, 1.55-3.14; P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that the combined effect of rs6474412-C/T polymorphism in smoking-related CHRNB3-CHRNA6 region gene and smoking behavior may not confer risk to PV, but may have impact on PV severity in Chinese Han population.

Resveratrol triggers protective autophagy through the ceramide/Akt/mTOR pathway in melanoma B16 cells.

Resveratrol (3,5,4'-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene, RSV), a natural polyphenolic compound, is known as a promising anti-cancer agent. In this study, we showed that RSV could inhibit the growth of B16 cells via induction of apoptosis. Moreover, our results showed for the first time that RSV induced autophagy in B16 cells, which might occur through ceramide accumulation and Akt/mTOR pathway inhibition. Inhibition of autophagy by an autophagic inhibitor 3-methyladenine (3-MA) or si-Beclin 1 enhanced RSV-induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis. Thus, autophagy inhibition represents a promising approach to improve the efficacy of RSV in the treatment of patients with melanoma.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa ecthyma gangrenosum in a woman with recurrent Graves' disease.

A 35-year-old woman with postoperative recurrent Graves' disease presented with a 5-day history of a red swelling on the right cheek associated with 4 days of remittent hyperpyrexia. Investigations revealed fever, a gangrenous ulcer on the right cheek, submandibular lymphadenopathy, and thyroid gland enlargement. Her white blood cell count, immunoglobulins, and lymphocyte subsets were unremarkable. Thyroid function tests showed low thyroid-stimulating hormone, high free thyroxine, and elevated radioactive iodine uptake. Repeated pus cultures grew Pseudomonas aeruginosa, but blood cultures were negative. An ill-demarcated erythematous plaque occurred on the right leg on hospital day 3. She was treated with intravenous antibiotics with topical gentamicin, recombinant bovine basic fibroblast growth factor, and radioiodine therapy with anti-thyroid drugs. The ulcer healed leaving a depressed scar at 35 days after discharge. This patient may represent the first case of P. aeruginosa ecthyma gangrenosum and cellulitis in postoperative recurrent Graves' disease.

Adiponectin levels in patients with psoriasis: a meta-analysis.

Conflicting results regarding adiponectin levels in patients with psoriasis have been reported. We carried out a meta-analysis on studies which compared adiponectin levels of psoriatic patients with controls. A published work search was performed through PubMed (MEDLINE), EMBASE and the Cochrane Library for articles published in English. Pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated by using random effects and fixed effect models. Heterogeneity between studies was assessed using the Cochran's Q and I(2) statistics. A total of nine studies were enrolled (389 cases and 360 controls) for adiponectin, and three studies were included (132 cases and 132 controls) for high-molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin. Adiponectin and HMW adiponectin levels were not significantly different in patients with psoriasis compared with controls (SMD, -0.151 [95% CI, -0.616 to 0.315]; P = 0.526 for adiponectin; SMD, 0.999 [95% CI, -2.626 to 4.624]; P = 0.589 for HMW adiponectin). The associations were borderline significantly different in the stratum of those with a mean age of less than 40 years (SMD, -0.516 [95% CI: -1.032 to 0]; P = 0.050). Sensitivity analyses were not substantially altered in the direction of effect when any one study was excluded. No publication bias was detected. The level of adiponectin and HMW adiponectin may not be associated with psoriasis. The relationship between psoriasis and adipokines needs more in-depth studies with larger sample sizes.