The therapeutic effect of continuous blood purification on sepsis in children: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Previous meta-analyses have systematically assessed the therapeutic effect of continuous blood purification (CBP) in adult patients with sepsis. Considering infection etiology and host response of sepsis is different in children, this systematic review and meta-analysis aims to evaluate the clinical efficacy of CBP in children with sepsis. METHODS: Studies were searched from the Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), WanFang, and VIP databases. Outcomes included vital signs, coagulation markers, organ function markers, immune markers, inflammatory markers, and prognostic markers. Heterogeneity was evaluated by the I-square statistic (I2), and sensitivity analysis was performed. RESULTS: 24 studies were included in this meta-analysis. Pooled results showed that CBP decreased levels of alanine transaminase (ALT) (weighted mean difference [WMD] = -44.867, 95%CI: 64.809 to -24.926), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (WMD = -55.373, 95%CI: 73.286 to -37.460), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) (WMD = -2.581, 95%CI: 4.539 to -0.622), and serum creatinine (Scr) (WMD = -11.567, 95%CI: 19.509 to -3.625). The percentage of CD3+ cells (WMD = 8.242, 95%CI: 3.339 to 13.144) and CD4+ cells (WMD = 4.278, 95%CI: 3.252 to 5.303, I2 = 3.1 %) were increased in the CBP group. C-reaction protein (CRP) (WMD = -20.699, 95%CI: 34.740 to -6.657) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) (WMD = -19.185, 95%CI: 34.133 to -4.237) were reduced after CBP treatment. Pediatric critical illness score (PCIS) was increased (WMD = 7.916, 95%CI: 4.317 to 11.516) and the risk of 28-day mortality (risk ratio [RR] = 0.781, 95%CI: 0.632 to 0.965) was lower in the CBP group. CONCLUSIONS: CBP reduced the level of inflammatory markers, increased the level of immune markers, and improved organ function and prognosis, which may provide evidence for the use of CBP in sepsis children patients.

Efficacy and safety of different inhaled corticosteroids for bronchopulmonary dysplasia prevention in preterm infants: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of inhaled corticosteroids (budesonide, beclomethasone, or fluticasone propionate) in preventing bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) for premature infants. METHOD: Electronic databases, including PubMed, EMBASE, Web of science, Scopus, and Cochrane library, were searched from databases inception to January 2022 for eligible randomized controlled trials. Clinical outcomes such as BPD, mortality, BPD or death, adverse events, and neurodevelopmental outcomes were assessed. RESULTS: Overall, budesonide was significantly associated with a reduction in BPD at 36 weeks' postmenstrual age (RR 0.48; 95 % CI [0.38, 0.62]) and patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) (RR 0.75; 95 % CI [0.63, 0.89]) compared with control treatments. Early longer duration inhalation of budesonide alone was associated with a lower risk of BPD at 36 weeks' postmenstrual age and PDA compared with controls. Early shorter duration intratracheal instillation of budesonide with surfactant as vehicle was associated with a lower risk of BPD at 36 weeks' postmenstrual age and all-cause mortality compared with surfactant. There was no statistically significant difference between budesonide and control groups regarding neurodevelopmental impairment. Beclomethasone and fluticasone propionate did not show any superior or inferior effect on clinical outcomes compared to control treatments. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that budesonide, especially intratracheal instillation of budesonide using surfactant as a vehicle, is a safe and effective option in preventing BPD for preterm infants. More well-design large-scale trials with long-term follow-ups are necessary to verify the present findings.

The clinical efficacy of single-hole punch excision combined with intralesional steroid injection for nodular keloid treatment: a self-controlled trial.

There are many methods to treat keloid, including various excision operations, laser, injection and radiotherapy. However, few studies have explored the effectiveness of single-hole punch excision in keloid treatment. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of lateral punch excision combined with intralesional steroid injection for keloid treatment through self-control trial. In this self-controlled trial, 50 patients meet the diagnosis of nodular keloid, and try to choose left-right symmetrical control, one skin lesion in the control group (50 skin lesionsin total) and the other in the observation group (50 skin lesions in total).The keloids in the treatment group were initially treated with punch excision combined with intralesional steroid injection, followed by injection treatment alone. Keloids in the control group received intralesional steroid injection alone. The Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) of the keloid before and after the punch excision was evaluated; the keloid scores at different time points and the number of injection treatments required in both groups were compared, and adverse reactions were observed. The effective rate of the observation group was 86.0%, which was significantly higher than that of the control group (66.0%), and the recurrence rate of 22% was lower than that of the control group (χ2 = 4.141,63417), all of which were statistically significant (all P < 0.05). At the end of treatment, the VSS and total injection times in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (t = 5.900,3.361), with statistical significance (P < 0.01). The combination of single-hole punch excision and intralesional steroid injection is an effective method to treat multiple nodular keloids, shortening the treatment course of tralesional steroid injection without obvious adverse reactions.

CSGALNACT2 restricts ovarian cancer migration and invasion by modulating MAPK/ERK pathway through DUSP1.

PURPOSE: Ovarian cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death among women. CSGALNACT2 is a vital Golgi transferase and is related to a variety of human diseases. However, its expression pattern and function in ovarian cancer remain uncertain. METHODS: The Cancer Genome Atlas and GEPIA databases were used to assess the expression of CSGALNACT2 in ovarian cancer patients. RNA-seq, qRT-PCR, and IHC were used to verify the expression of CSGALNACT2 in ovarian cancer tissues. Then, in vivo and in vitro experiments were conducted to evaluate the role of CSGALNACT2 in the progression of ovarian cancer. RNA-seq and GSEA were used to reveal the potential biological function and oncogenic pathways of CSGALNACT2. RESULTS: We demonstrated that the mRNA expression and protein level of CSGALNACT2 were significantly downregulated in ovarian cancer and ovarian cancer metastatic tissues. CSGALNACT2 can significantly inhibit the migration, invasion, and clonogenic growth of ovarian cancer in vitro and is progressively lost during ovarian cancer progression in vivo. CSGALNACT2 suppresses ovarian cancer migration and invasion via DUSP1 modulation of the MAPK/ERK pathway through RNA-seq, KEGG analysis, and Western blotting. Moreover, CSGALNACT2 expression was correlated with immune cell infiltration and had prognostic value in different immune cell-enriched or decreased ovarian cancer. In addition, patients with CSGALNACT2 downregulation are less likely to benefit from immunotherapy. CONCLUSION: As an ovarian cancer suppressor gene, CSGALNACT2 inhibits the development of ovarian cancer, and it might be used as a prognostic biomarker in patients with ovarian cancer.

Smoking and the risk of atopic dermatitis: A two-sample mendelian randomization study.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is considered to be one of the most common chronic diseases. It has been shown that smoking is associated with atopic dermatitis, but previous studies were mainly observational, which may be biased. The present study conducted a 2-sample mendelian randomization (MR) study to investigate the causal relationship. The present study obtained data on "ever smoked" and "atopic dermatitis" from published large-scale genome-wide association studies. The data were obtained from the UK Biobank and BioBank Japan. Three methods were used to perform a 2-sample MR analysis and also performed sensitivity analysis. The odds ratio and 95% confidence interval (CI) between smoking and AD calculated by MR-Egger regression, weighted median, and random-effects inverse variance weighting method were 1.096 (95% CI.756-1.587) and 1.159 (95% CI 1.040-1.292), respectively, 1.137 (95% CI .975-1.325). The inverse variance weighting method showed statistical significance between the 2 and a causal relationship between smoking and AD. In conclusion, the results of our MR analysis suggest that smoking is likely to affect the incidence of AD.

Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Related Ten-Biomarker Risk Classifier for Survival Evaluation in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer and TRPM2: A Potential Therapeutic Target of Ovarian Cancer.

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the most lethal gynecological malignant tumor. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress plays an important role in the malignant behaviors of several tumors. In this study, we established a risk classifier based on 10 differentially expressed genes related to ER stress to evaluate the prognosis of patients and help to develop novel medical decision-making for EOC cases. A total of 378 EOC cases with transcriptome data from the TCGA-OV public dataset were included. Cox regression analysis was used to establish a risk classifier based on 10 ER stress-related genes (ERGs). Then, through a variety of statistical methods, including survival analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) methods, the prediction ability of the proposed classifier was tested and verified. Similar results were confirmed in the GEO cohort. In the immunoassay, the different subgroups showed different penetration levels of immune cells. Finally, we conducted loss-of-function experiments to silence TRPM2 in the human EOC cell line. We created a 10-ERG risk classifier that displays a powerful capability of survival evaluation for EOC cases, and TRPM2 could be a potential therapeutic target of ovarian cancer cells.

Integrative analysis of the expression and prognosis for CENPs in ovarian cancer.

Centromere proteins (CENPs) are nuclear proteins that are involved in centromere formation and chromosome segregation during mitosis. Some members of CENPs have been extensively studied in the initiation and development of cancers. However, the expression patterns and exact roles of CENPs in ovarian cancer (OC) have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we comprehensively assessed the genetic variation, expression patterns and prognostic value of CENPs in OC by several databases. The mRNA expression levels of CENPA/F/H/L/N/U/W were found to be significantly upregulated in OC and related to worse prognosis. Additionally, function enrichment analysis showed that CENPs were involved in DNA repair and cell division. Meanwhile, immune infiltration analysis elucidated that CENPs were associated with myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and major histocompatibility complex (MHC). These results suggested that CENPs might serve as potential diagnostic and prognostic markers and provide new insights for the development of CENPs-targeted therapeutics for ovarian cancer.

Membrane engineering of cell membrane biomimetic nanoparticles for nanoscale therapeutics.

In recent years, cell membrane camouflaging technology has emerged as an important strategy of nanomedicine, and the modification on the membranes is also a promising approach to enhance the properties of the nanoparticles, such as cancer targeting, immune evasion, and phototherapy sensitivity. Indeed, diversified approaches have been exploited to re-engineer the membranes of nanoparticles in several studies. In this review, first we discuss direct modification strategy of cell membrane camouflaged nanoparticles (CM-NP) via noncovalent, covalent, and enzyme-involved methods. Second, we explore how the membranes of CM-NPs can be re-engineered at the cellular level using strategies such as genetic engineering and membranes fusion. Due to the innate biological properties and excellent biocompatibility, the functionalized cell membrane-camouflaged nanoparticles have been widely applied in the fields of drug delivery, imaging, detoxification, detection, and photoactivatable therapy.

Roles of CA125 in diagnosis, prediction, and oncogenesis of ovarian cancer.

After it was discovered approximately 40 years ago, carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) became the most widely used and concerning biomarker in ovarian cancer screening. However, there is still controversy about its role in clinical practice. CA125 is not sufficiently reliable in diagnosis to screen for early-stage ovarian cancer. On the other hand, CA125 has been a valuable indicator for evaluating chemotherapeutic efficacy and prognosis. We still do not know much about its biological role, and several studies have indicated that this marker participates in the occurrence and development of ovarian cancer. Currently, an increasing number of scholars have begun to pay attention to CA125-targeted treatment strategies. In the interest of better design and development of anticancer therapies, a renewed and systematic understanding of the roles of CA125 in diagnosis, prediction, and tumorigenesis is warranted.

[Comparison on feeding habits of Cervus wallichii and sympatric ungulates and domestic animals in green grass period]. / 西藏马鹿与同域野生有蹄类、家畜草青期食性比较.

Tibetan red deer (Cervus wallichii) is an endemic species to China, which was once considered extinct in the wild. As there are several other wild ungulates and domestic animals with similar feeding habits within its habitat range, it's thus essential to study interspecific competition and co-existence between Tibetan red deer and other cohabiting ungulates in the highly unique environment of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Using microscopic analysis on fresh fecal samples collected in Sangri Tibetan Red Deer Nature Reserve from August to September in 2013 and 2014, the trophic niche width and overlap index were calculated on the basis of diet composition of C. wallichii, Cervus albirostris, Procapra picticaudata, Bos mutus and Capra hircas in green grass period. We analyzed and compared the overlap and differentiation of feeding habits between Tibetan red deer and other wild ungulates and domestic animals. The results showed that C. wallichii fed on similar edible plants with other species, but differed in proportion of different dietary components, with the main edible plants of C. wallichii being mostly the secondary edible plants to other species. Leontopodium pusillum was the common main edible plant for C. wallichii (percentage in animal recipes was 11.2%) and B. mutus (10.2%), Salix xizangensis was the common main edible plant of C. wallichii (9.6%) and C. albirostris (11.4%). At plant family level, Leguminosae was the common main edible plant family for C. wallichii (21.4%) and P. picticaudata (42.5%). Cyperaceae was the common main edible plant family for C. albirostris (49.2%), B. mutus (33.4%) and C. hircas (50.3%). Compositae was main edible plant family for C. wallichii (29.6%), as well as the secondary edible plant family for C. albirostris (7.6%), P. picticaudata (11.6%), B. mutus (17.3%) and C. hircas (14.1%). As the secondary edible plant family for C. wallichii (7.1%), Gramineae took up a lower proportion than that of the other ungulates (C. albirostris (13.6%), P. picticaudata (12.3%), B. mutus (11.5%) and C. hircas (16.0%)). Food overlap indices between C. wallichii and the other ungulates were all higher than 0.5, and the highest with B. mutus (0.65). The food diversity index (1.32), evenness index (0.37) and niche width index (15.79) of C. wallichii were all at high values. Compared with the results from 2007 to 2008, dietary composition of Tibetan red deer changed greatly as the proportion of Leguminosae increased while that of Cyperaceae decreased, resulting in improvement of food quality. In addition, there was greater competition of food resources between C. wallichii and domestic animals, which would further affect the distribution range and living space of C. wallichii.

Calf Spleen Extractive Injection (CSEI), a small peptides enriched extraction, induces human hepatocellular carcinoma cell apoptosis via ROS/MAPKs dependent mitochondrial pathway.

Calf Spleen Extractive Injection (CSEI), a small peptides enriched extraction, performs immunomodulatory activity on cancer patients suffering from radiotherapy or chemotherapy. The present study aims to investigate the anti-hepatocellular carcinoma effects of CSEI in cells and tumor-xenografted mouse models. In HepG2 and SMMC-7721 cells, CSEI reduced cell viability, enhanced apoptosis rate, caused reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, inhibited migration ability, and induced caspases cascade and mitochondrial membrane potential dissipation. CSEI significantly inhibited HepG2-xenografted tumor growth in nude mice. In cell and animal experiments, CSEI increased the activations of pro-apoptotic proteins including caspase 8, caspase 9 and caspase 3; meanwhile, it suppressed the expressions of anti-apoptotic protein B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) and anti-oxidation proteins, such as nuclear factor-erythroid 2 related factor 2 (Nrf2) and catalase (CAT). The enhanced phosphorylation of P38 and c-JunN-terminalkinase (JNK), and decreased phosphorylation of extra cellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERKs) were observed in CSEI-treated cells and tumor tissues. CSEI-induced cell viability reduction was significantly attenuated by N-Acetyl-l-cysteine (a ROS inhibitor) pretreatment. All data demonstrated that the upregulated oxidative stress status and the altered mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) phosphorylation contributed to CSEI-driven mitochondrial dysfunction. Taken together, CSEI exactly induced apoptosis in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells via ROS/MAPKs dependent mitochondrial pathway.

Differentiation of chicken umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells into beta-like pancreatic islet cells.

In this study, we explored the possibility of using in vitro differentiation to create functional beta-like islet cells from chicken umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UCMSCs). Passaged UCMSCs were induced to differentiate into pancreatic beta-like islet cells. Differentiated cells were observed through dithizone staining, and Pdx1 and insulin expressed in differentiated cells were detected with immunofluorescence. Insulin and C-peptide production from differentiated cells were analyzed using ELISA and western blotting. Differentiated cells were found to not only express Pdx1, insulin, and C-peptide, but also to display a glucose-responsive secretion of these hormones.

Biological characterization of chicken mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells from umbilical cord Wharton's jelly.

Mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells derived from Wharton's jelly of the umbilical cord (UCMSCs/UCMPCs) are multipotent, and can be differentiated in vitro into many cell types. Much work has been done on UCMSCs/UCMPCs from humans, mice, rabbits, and other mammals, but the relatively little literature has been published about these cells in chickens. In our work, we isolated USMSCs/USMPCs from chicken embryos. We characterized the isolated cells using immunofluorescence and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction techniques. Primary UCMSCs/UCMPCs were subcultured to passage 30 and growth curves for each passage determined. The growth curves at different passages were all typically sigmoidal. Isolated UCMSCs/UCMPCs were induced to differentiate into adipocytes, osteoblasts, myocardial cells, and neural cells, and we were able to detect characteristic CD44, CD29, CD73, and CD71 cell surface markers. Our results suggest that UCMSCs/UCMPCs isolated from chickens possess similar biological characteristics to those from other species. Their multi-lineage differentiation capabilities herald a probable application for cellular transplant therapy in tissue engineering.

Isolation and characterization of mesenchymal stem cells from chicken bone marrow.

The bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) are multipotent stem cells, which can differentiate in vitro into many cell types. However, the vast majority of experimental materials were obtained from human, mouse, rabbit and other mammals, but rarely in poultry. So, in this study, Thirty- to sixty-day old chicken was chosen as experimental animal, to isolate and characterize BMSCs from them. To investigate the biological characteristics of chicken BMSCs, immunofluorescence and RT-PCR were used to detect the characteristic surface markers of BMSCs. Growth curves were drawn in accordance with cell numbers. To assess the differentiation capacity of the BMSCs, cells were induced to differentiate into osteoblasts, adipocytes, and endothelial cells. The surface markers of BMSCs, CD29, CD44, CD31, CD34, CD71 and CD73, were detected by immunofluorescence and RT-PCR assays. The growth curves of different passages were all typically sigmoidal. Karyotype analysis showed that these in vitro cultured cells were genetically stable. In addition, BMSCs were successfully induced to differentiate into osteoblasts, adipocytes, and endothelial cells. The results suggest that the BMSCs isolated from chicken possess similar biological characteristics with those separated from other species, and their multi-lineage differentiation potentiality herald a probable application for cellular transplant therapy in tissue engineering.

Characterization of vascular endothelial progenitor cells from chicken bone marrow.

BACKGROUND: Endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) are a type of stem cell used in the treatment of atherosclerosis, vascular injury and regeneration. At present, most of the EPCs studied are from human and mouse, whereas the study of poultry-derived EPCs has rarely been reported. In the present study, chicken bone marrow-derived EPCs were isolated and studied at the cellular level using immunofluorescence and RT-PCR. RESULTS: We found that the majority of chicken EPCs were spindle shaped. The growth-curves of chicken EPCs at passages (P) 1, -5 and -9 were typically "S"-shaped. The viability of chicken EPCs, before and after cryopreservation was 92.2% and 81.1%, respectively. Thus, cryopreservation had no obvious effects on the viability of chicken EPCs. Dil-ac-LDL and FITC-UAE-1 uptake assays and immunofluorescent detection of the cell surface markers CD34, CD133, VEGFR-2 confirmed that the cells obtained in vitro were EPCs. Observation of endothelial-specific Weibel-Palade bodies using transmission electron microscopy further confirmed that the cells were of endothelial lineage. In addition, chicken EPCs differentiated into endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells upon induction with VEGF and PDGF-BB, respectively, suggesting that the chicken EPCs retained multipotency in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that chicken EPCs not only have strong self-renewal capacity, but also the potential to differentiate into endothelial and smooth muscle cells. This research provides theoretical basis and experimental evidence for potential therapeutic application of endothelial progenitor cells in the treatment of atherosclerosis, vascular injury and diabetic complications.

Concordant genetic distinctness of the phylogroup of the Siberian chipmunk from the Korean peninsula (Tamias sibiricus barberi), reexamined with nuclear DNA c-myc gene exon 2 and mtDNA control region sequences.

We reexamined Tamias sibiricus barberi from Korea by sequencing c-myc exon 2 and the mtDNA control region. In the c-myc exon, the monogenic T. s. barberi differed from the monogenic T. s. orientalis (nucleotide distance 0.48%; 3 variable sites at 168, 306, and 552), whereas T. s. orientalis was identical to T. s. sibiricus. In the control region, T. s. barberi differed from T. s. orientalis (distance 6.84%) and T. s. sibiricus (9.35%). We considered the concordant, extensive gaps between the phylogroup of T. s. barberi and other subspecies of T. sibiricus in the c-myc gene, control region, and cytochrome b gene to be evidence of a lack of intergradation through North Korea from T. s. barberi to T. s. orientalis. Our results, showing the genetic and morphological distinctness of T. s. barberi, support that this phylogroup is a distinct species.

Mitochondrial BNIP3 upregulation precedes endonuclease G translocation in hippocampal neuronal death following oxygen-glucose deprivation.

BACKGROUND: Caspase-independent apoptotic pathways are suggested as a mechanism for the delayed neuronal death following ischemic insult. However, the underlying signalling mechanisms are largely unknown. Recent studies imply the involvement of several mitochondrial proteins, including endonuclease G (EndoG) and Bcl-2/adenovirus E1B 19 kDa-interacting protein (BNIP3), in the pathway of non-neuronal cells. RESULTS: In this report, using western blot analysis and immunocytochemistry, we found that EndoG upregulates and translocates from mitochondria to nucleus in a time-dependent manner in cultured hippocampal neurons following oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD). Moreover, the translocation of EndoG occurs hours before the observable nuclear pyknosis. Importantly, the mitochondrial upregulation of BNIP3 precedes the translocation of EndoG. Forced expression of BNIP3 increases the nuclear translocation of EndoG and neuronal death while knockdown of BNIP3 decreases the OGD-induced nuclear translocation of EndoG and neuronal death. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that BNIP3 and EndoG play important roles in hippocampal neuronal apoptosis following ischemia, and mitochondrial BNIP3 is a signal protein upstream of EndoG that can induce neuronal death.