ABSTRACT
As a result of comparing the phenolic components of cinnamon medicines, the total phenolic component content of Cinnamomi Cortex in China was about 2.65 times higher than that of Cinnamomi Cortex in Vietnam. In addition, the total phenolic component content of Vietnamese Cinnamomi Cortex Spissus was about 1.80 times higher than that of Chinese Cinnamomi Cortex Spissus. Meanwhile, Vietnamese Cinnamomi Ramulus showed a content about 3.29 times higher than that of Chinese Cinnamomi Ramulus. Cinnamaldehyde, the main component of cinnamon medicines, showed the same tendency as the total phenolic component content. In terms of the average content of the total phenolic components, Cinnamomi Cortex showed the highest content at 23964 μg/g, followed by Cinnamomi Cortex Spissus at 17489 μg/g and Cinnamomi Ramulus at 5435.8 μg/g. These results showed that Cinnamomi Cortex and Cinnamomi Cortex Spissus with stem bark as usage sites had about 3.22 to 4.41 times higher content of phenolic components than Cinnamomi Ramulus with young branches as usage sites.
ABSTRACT
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) is a global infectious disease with rapid spread. Some patients have severe symptoms and clinical signs caused by an excessive inflammatory response, which increases the risk of mortality. In this study, we reanalyzed scRNA-seq data of cells from bronchoalveolar lavage fluids of patients with COVID-19 with mild and severe symptoms, focusing on Ab-producing cells. In patients with severe disease, B cells seemed to be more activated and expressed more immunoglobulin genes compared with cells from patients with mild disease, and macrophages expressed higher levels of the TNF superfamily member B-cell activating factor but not of APRIL (a proliferation-inducing ligand). In addition, macrophages from patients with severe disease had increased pro-inflammatory features and pathways associated with Fc receptor-mediated signaling, compared with patients with mild disease. CCR2-positive plasma cells accumulated in patients with severe disease, probably because of increased CCL2 expression on macrophages from patients with severe disease.Together, these results support the hypothesis that different characteristics of B cells might be associated with the severity of COVID-19 infection.
ABSTRACT
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of respiratory viral infection in infants and children. However, little is known about the contribution of monocytes to antiviral responses against RSV infection. We identified the IFN-β production of monocytes using IFN-β/YFP reporter mice. The kinetic analysis of IFN-β-producing cells in in vivo RSV-infected lung cells indicated that monocytes are recruited to the inflamed lung during the early phase of infection. These cells produced IFN-β via the myeloid differentiation factor 88-mediated pathway, rather than the TLR7- or mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein-mediated pathway. In addition, monocyte-ablated mice exhibited decreased numbers of IFN-γ-producing and RSV Ag-specific CD8 + T cells. Collectively, these data indicate that monocytes play pivotal roles in cytotoxic T-cell responses and act as type I IFN producers during RSV infection.