Immunohistochemical analysis of pyroptosis-related protein expression in IgG4-related sialadenitis.

BACKGROUND: NLRP3 (NOD-, LRR- and pyrin domain-containing protein 3)-induced pyroptosis is involved in the development of a variety of autoimmune diseases, but its role in IgG4-related sialadenitis (IgG4-RS) is unclear. METHODS: Salivary gland tissues from 19 patients with IgG4-RS were designated the experimental group, and peritumoral tissues from 20 patients with benign salivary gland tumours were designated the control group. The cell morphology and fibrosis in the IgG4-RS samples were observed by haematoxylin-eosin (H&E) and Masson trichrome (MT) staining. Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining was used to determine pyroptosis-related proteins (NLRP3, ASC (apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD), Caspase-1, GSDMD (gasdermin family members, including digestive dermatin D), interleukin 1ß (IL-1ß), and interleukin 18 (IL-18)) expression levels. RESULTS: Increased lymphoid follicle proliferation, germinal centre plasma cell infiltration, and irregular fibrosis were observed in the experimental group compared with the control group. The NLRP3, ASC, Caspase-1, GSDMD, IL-1ß, and IL-18 levels were significantly higher in the experimental group than in the control group (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: This study suggested that pyroptosis-related proteins might be involved in IgG4-RS pathogenesis. However, the specific cellular pathway involved and whether multiple cell death pathways contribute to the occurrence of IgG4-RS still need to be further studied.

[Effect of lncRNA AWPPH on human periodontal ligament cell proliferation and osteogenic differentiation by regulating Notch signaling pathway].

PURPOSE: To explore the effect and molecular mechanism of long non-coding RNA(lncRNA) AWPPH on proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of human periodontal ligament cells by regulating the Notch signaling pathway. METHODS: Human periodontal ligament cells were cultured in vitro, and osteogenic differentiation was induced. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) experiment were used to detect the AWPPH expression level of cells at 0, 3, 7, and 14 days. Human periodontal ligament cells were divided into blank control group (NC), empty vector group (vector), AWPPH overexpression group (AWPPH), and overexpression AWPPH+ pathway inhibitor group (AWPPH+DAPT). qRT-PCR experiment was used to detect the expression level of AWPPH; thiazole blue (MTT), cloning experiment was used to detect cell proliferation. Western blot was performed to detect the protein expression of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), osteopontin (OPN), osteocalcin (OCN), Notch1 and Hes1. SPSS 21.0 software package was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The AWPPH expression level in periodontal ligament cells decreased after 0, 3, 7, and 14 days of osteogenic differentiation. Overexpression of AWPPH increased the A value of periodontal ligament cells, the number of cloned cells, and up-regulated the protein expression of ALP, OPN, OCN, Notch1, and Hes1. After adding the pathway inhibitor DAPT, the A value and the number of cloned cells decreased, and the protein expression of Notch1, Hes1, ALP, OPN, and OCN decreased. CONCLUSIONS: Overexpression of AWPPH may inhibit the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of periodontal ligament cells by reducing the expression of related proteins in the Notch signaling pathway.

Prevalence and associated factors of frailty among community dwelling older adults in Northwest China: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence of the comprehensive frailty and its associated factors among community dwelling older adults. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTING: Six community healthcare centres in Xi'an City, Northwest China. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 2647 community dwelling older adults completed the study between March and August 2021. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was the prevalence of frailty, measured with the Comprehensive Frailty Assessment Instrument. The secondary outcomes were potential factors associated with frailty, measured with a social-demographic and health-related information sheet, the Short-Form Mini-Nutritional Assessment and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. RESULTS: The participants averaged 27.77±10.13 in the total score of the Comprehensive Frailty Assessment Instrument. According to the cut-off points defining the classification of frailty, the majority of the participants were with mild (n=1478, 55.8%) or high (n=390, 14.8%) frailty. Multivariate stepwise linear regression analysis demonstrated that older age, lower educational level, empty nesters, higher level of self-perceived medical burden, abnormal body weight, physical inactivity, medication taking, increased number of clinic visit, undernutrition and poor sleep quality are associated with higher total score in the Comprehensive Frailty Assessment Instrument, indicating higher level of frailty. Multivariate multinomial logistic regression analysis exhibited similar findings but further captured female gender as a risk factor for the presence of mild and high frailty compared with no-low frailty. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of the comprehensive frailty and frailty in the physiological, psychological, social and environmental domains is high. A variety of social-demographic, health-related and behavioural factors were associated with the comprehensive frailty. Further investigations on frailty prevalence and its associated factors based on comprehensive assessments are desirable.