Silencing of SMAD family member 3 promotes M2 polarization of macrophages and the expression of SMAD7 in rheumatoid arthritis / 细胞与分子免疫学杂志

Objective To investigate the effect of SMAD family member 3(SMAD3) silenced by small interfering RNA (siRNA) on macrophage polarization and transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1)/ SMAD family signaling pathway in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods RA macrophages co-cultured with rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast-like synoviocytes (RA-FLS) were used as a cell model. TGF-β1 was used to stimulate macrophages, and SMAD3-specific siRNA (si-SMAD3) and negative control siRNA (si-NC) were transfected into human RA macrophages co-cultured in TranswellTM chamber. The expression of SMAD3 mRNA was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR, and the expression of TGF-β1, SMAD3 and SMAD7 protein was detected by Western blot analysis. The contents of TGF-β1 and IL-23 in cell culture supernatant were determined by ELISA. Cell proliferation was detected by CCK-8 assay. TranswellTM chamber was used to measure cell migration. Results Compared with the model group and the si-NC group, the expression of TGF-β1, SMAD3 mRNA and protein in RA macrophages decreased significantly after silencing SMAD3. In addition, the secretion of IL-23 decreased significantly, and the cell proliferation activity and cell migration were inhibited, with high expression of SMAD7. Conclusion Knockdown of SMAD3 can promote M2 polarization and SMAD7 expression in RA macrophages.

Analysis on reliability and validity of SF-36 scale in urban residents / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the reliability and validity of SF-36 scale in urban residents, and provide reference for the selection of suitable health measure tools for urban residents.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Multi-stage cluster stratified sampling was conducted to select the residents aged ≥18 years in three urbanized communities of Hangzhou. SF-36 scale was used for the measurement of the quality of life and Spearman-Brown and Cronbach' s α coefficients were used for the evaluation of split-half reliability and internal consistency reliability. The convergent and discriminative validity were evaluated by using the success rate of experiments and the criterion-related validity was evaluated with correlation analysis and non-parameter test. Structural equation modeling was used in the evaluation of contract validity.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>SF-36 scale had good split-half reliability (R=0.94) and internal-consistency reliability (except for bodily pain and vitality, Cronbach's α range: 0.70-0.91). The convergent validity (88.57%), discriminate validity (successful rates 90.61%) and the criterion-related validity (γs=0.56, the score was consistent with the self-reported health status) were good. Second-order confirmatory factor analysis model was not well-fitted (GFI= 0.721, AGFI= 0.682, CFI= 0.731, RMR= 0.084, RMSEA= 0.098), indicating that the construct validity was poor.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The reliability, consolidation validity, discrimination validity and criterion-related validity of SF-36 scale were good, while the construct validity was poor. Improvement is needed when the scale is used for urban residents.</p>