[Value of autotaxin in predicting refractory Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia in children and its correlation with inflammatory cytokines]. / Autotaxinå¯¹å„¿ç«¥éš¾æ²»æ€§è‚ºç‚Žæ”¯åŽŸä½“è‚ºç‚Žçš„é¢„æµ‹ä»·å€¼åŠå ¶ä¸Žç‚Žæ€§ç»†èƒžå› å­çš„ç›¸å ³æ€§.

OBJECTIVES: To study the value of autotaxin (an autocrine motility factor) level in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in predicting refractory Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (RMPP) in children and its correlation with interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and C-reactive protein (CRP). METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on 238 children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia who were admitted from January 2019 to December 2021. According to disease severity, they were divided into two groups: RMPP (n=82) and general Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (GMPP; n=156). The two groups were compared in terms of the levels of autotaxin, IL-6, IL-8, and CRP in serum and BALF to study the value of autotaxin level in serum and BALF in predicting RMPP in children, as well as the correlation of autotaxin level with IL-6, IL-8, and CRP in children with RMPP. RESULTS: Compared with the GMPP group, the RMPP group had significantly higher levels of autotaxin, IL-6, IL-8, and CRP in serum and BALF (P<0.05). For the children with RMPP, the levels of autotaxin, IL-6, IL-8, and CRP in serum and BALF in the acute stage were significantly higher than those in the convalescent stage (P<0.05). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed that the level of autotaxin in serum and BALF had a good value in predicting RMPP in children, with an area under the curve of 0.874 (95%CI: 0.816-0.935) and 0.862 (95%CI: 0.802-0.924), respectively. The correlation analysis showed that the level of autotaxin in serum and BALF was positively correlated with IL-6, IL-8, and CRP levels (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The level of autotaxin in serum and BALF increases and is correlated with the degree of disease recovery and inflammatory cytokines in children with RMPP. Autotaxin can be used as a predictive indicator for RMPP in children.

Clinical efficacy and safety of the Jinfeng pill in the adjuvant treatment of infertility in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disease leading to infertility in women of childbearing age. Adjuvant therapy with Jinfeng pills (a traditional Chinese medicine) can increase ovarian blood flow, regulate female endocrine levels, and achieve good therapeutic effect. A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to examine the efficacy and safety of Jinfeng pills. METHODS: The PubMed (2000 to August 2021), Excerpta Medica Database (2000 to August 2021), Chinese Biomedical Literature (2000 to August 2021), and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (2000 to August 2021) databases were searched. All patients with PCOS were included in the randomized controlled study of Jinfeng pills combined with an adjuvant Western medicine treatment. After screening and a risk of bias assessment, Stata16.0 software was used for the analysis. RESULTS: A total 7 of articles (comprising 691 patients; 26-83 participants per group) were included in the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis showed that the effective rate the experimental group treated with Jinfeng pills combined with adjuvant Western medicine was higher than that of the control group treated with Western medicine only [relative risk (RR) =1.15, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.03 to 1.28; P=0.015]. After treatment, the follicle-stimulating hormone level of the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the control group [mean difference (MD) =-5.10, 95% CI: -7.95 to -2.24; P=0.0005], the estradiol level of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group (MD =10.74, 95% CI: 4.19 to 17.29; P=0.001), the testosterone level of the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the control group (MD =-1.17, 95% CI: -2.09 to -0.25; P=0.01), and the pregnancy rate of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group (RR =1.36, 95% CI: 1.13 to 1.64; Z=3.183; P=0.001). DISCUSSION: The therapeutic effect of Jinfeng pills combined with Western medicine in treating PCOS was better than that of Western medicine alone, and there was no increase in adverse reactions.

Cloning and characterization of DULP, a novel ubiquitin-like molecule from human dendritic cells.

We identified a novel ubiquitin-like molecule DULP from human dendritic cells. DULP contains a domain that shares 26% identity and 34% similarity with ubiquitin, and it possesses the corresponding Ile-44 hydrophobic patch used by mono- or poly-ubiquitin to interact with a ubiquitin-interaction motif (UIM) or ubiquitin-associated domain (UBA). Lysine residue corresponding to 6 of ubiquitin, which is involved in the formation of a multi-ubiquitin chain that can bind proteasomal subunit Rpn10/S5a, is also conserved in its ubiquitin-homology domain. However, DULP does not possess the highly conserved C-terminus Gly-Gly required for ubiquitin conjugation or the Lys-48 required for the formation of polyubiquitin chain to target substrates for degradation, suggesting it might be a novel ubiquitin-domain protein (UDP). DULP was found widely expressed in many cells and the ubiquitin-homology domain was not cleaved. We also confirmed that DULP expression was enriched in the nucleus and much weaker in the cytosol. Besides, we found that overexpression of DULP in 293T cells induced apoptosis, which might not be associated with the mitochondrial or proteasome pathway, with the specific mechanism remaining unclear. Further investigations are needed to identify the precise biological functions of DULP.