Low-dose IL-2 therapy limits the reduction in absolute numbers of peripheral lymphocytes in systemic lupus erythematosus patients with infection.

BACKGROUND: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a heterogeneous autoimmune disorder characterized by disturbed cellular and humoral immune responses. Dysregulations of immune system and immunosuppressive medications predispose SLE patients to infection. This study aims to investigate the alterations and absolute concentrations of lymphocyte subpopulations in SLE patients with different infection and their responses of low-dose IL-2 therapy. METHODS: A total of 333 patients with SLE without recent infection, 162 patients suffering infection, and age and sex-matched 132 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. Of them, 54 SLE patients (including 41 non-infected group and 13 infected group) received a 5-day course of low-dose IL-2 administration at a dose of 0.5 million IU per day. Lymphocyte subpopulations were analyzed by flow cytometry. RESULTS: Patients with SLE had lower levels of lymphocyte subpopulations in peripheral blood such as T, B, NK, CD4 + T, CD8+ T, Th1, Th2, Th17, and Treg cells, and the reduction in these cells was more obvious in patients with infection (p <.05 to p <.01). Low-dose IL-2 effectively expanded T (p <.001), B (p <.001), CD4 + T (p <.01), CD8 + T (p <.001), Th1 (p <.01), Th17 (p <.1), and Treg cells (p <.01) of SLE patients, these cells were comparable to that of HCs after the IL-2 treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with SLE had insufficiency of circulating lymphocyte subsets. This phenomenon was more obverse in those accompanying infection, suggesting the low concentration of lymphocytes may be used as indicators of high infection risk in SLE patients. Low-dose IL-2 induced expansion of Treg cells and NK cells, which may contribute to the restoration of immune homeostasis in SLE patients.

Anxiolytic effect of GABAergic neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex in a rat model of chronic inflammatory pain.

Chronic pain easily leads to concomitant mood disorders, and the excitability of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) pyramidal neurons (PNs) is involved in chronic pain-related anxiety. However, the mechanism by which PNs regulate pain-related anxiety is still unknown. The GABAergic system plays an important role in modulating neuronal activity. In this paper, we aimed to study how the GABAergic system participates in regulating the excitability of ACC PNs, consequently affecting chronic inflammatory pain-related anxiety. A rat model of CFA-induced chronic inflammatory pain displayed anxiety-like behaviors, increased the excitability of ACC PNs, and reduced inhibitory presynaptic transmission; however, the number of GAD65/67 was not altered. Interestingly, intra-ACC injection of the GABAAR agonist muscimol relieved anxiety-like behaviors but had no effect on chronic inflammatory pain. Intra-ACC injection of the GABAAR antagonist picrotoxin induced anxiety-like behaviors but had no effect on pain in normal rats. Notably, chemogenetic activation of GABAergic neurons in the ACC alleviated chronic inflammatory pain and pain-induced anxiety-like behaviors, enhanced inhibitory presynaptic transmission, and reduced the excitability of ACC PNs. Chemogenetic inhibition of GABAergic neurons in the ACC led to pain-induced anxiety-like behaviors, reduced inhibitory presynaptic transmission, and enhanced the excitability of ACC PNs but had no effect on pain in normal rats. We demonstrate that the GABAergic system mediates a reduction in inhibitory presynaptic transmission in the ACC, which leads to enhanced excitability of pyramidal neurons in the ACC and is associated with chronic inflammatory pain-related anxiety.

Identification of novel hub genes associated with gastric cancer using integrated bioinformatics analysis.

BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common solid malignant tumors worldwide with a high-recurrence-rate. Identifying the molecular signatures and specific biomarkers of GC might provide novel clues for GC prognosis and targeted therapy. METHODS: Gene expression profiles were obtained from the ArrayExpress and Gene Expression Omnibus database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were picked out by R software. The hub genes were screened by cytohubba plugin. Their prognostic values were assessed by Kaplan-Meier survival analyses and the gene expression profiling interactive analysis (GEPIA). Finally, qRT-PCR in GC tissue samples was established to validate these DEGs. RESULTS: Total of 295 DEGs were identified between GC and their corresponding normal adjacent tissue samples in E-MTAB-1440, GSE79973, GSE19826, GSE13911, GSE27342, GSE33335 and GSE56807 datasets, including 117 up-regulated and 178 down-regulated genes. Among them, 7 vital upregulated genes (HMMR, SPP1, FN1, CCNB1, CXCL8, MAD2L1 and CCNA2) were selected. Most of them had a significantly worse prognosis except SPP1. Using qRT-PCR, we validated that their transcriptions in our GC tumor tissue were upregulated except SPP1 and FN1, which correlated with tumor relapse and predicts poorer prognosis in GC patients. CONCLUSIONS: We have identified 5 upregulated DEGs (HMMR, CCNB1, CXCL8, MAD2L1, and CCNA2) in GC patients with poor prognosis using integrated bioinformatical methods, which could be potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for GC treatment.

The numbers of peripheral regulatory T cells are reduced in patients with psoriatic arthritis and are restored by low-dose interleukin-2.

BACKGROUND: Although regulatory T cells (Tregs) play crucial roles in the maintenance of immune hemostasis, the numbers of peripheral Tregs in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) remain unclear. We measured these numbers and the efficacy and safety of low-dose interleukin-2 (IL-2) therapy. METHODS: We recruited 95 PsA patients, of whom 22 received subcutaneous low-dose IL-2 [0.5 million international units (MIU) per day for 5 days] combined with conventional therapies. The absolute numbers of cells in peripheral CD4+ T cell subsets were measured via modified flow cytometry. Clinical and laboratory indicators were compared before and after treatment. RESULTS: PsA patients had lower peripheral Treg numbers than healthy controls (p < 0.01), correlating significantly and negatively with the levels of disease indicators (p < 0.05). Although low-dose IL-2 significantly increased the Th17 and Treg numbers in PsA patients compared with the baseline values, the Treg numbers rose much more rapidly than those of Th17 cells, re-balancing the Th17 and Treg proportions. Low-dose IL-2 combination therapy rapidly reduced PsA disease activities as indicated by the DAS28 instrument, thus the number of tender joints, visual analog scale pain, physician global assessment, the dermatology life quality index score, and the health assessment questionnaire score (all p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: PsA patients exhibited low Treg numbers. Low-dose IL-2 combination treatment increased these numbers and relieved disease activity without any apparent side effects. Additional studies are required to explore the long-term immunoregulatory utility of IL-2 treatment.

Reticulocalbin-1 knockdown increases the sensitivity of cells to Adriamycin in nasopharyngeal carcinoma and promotes endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced cell apoptosis.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) mainly appears in southeastern Asian countries, including China. Adriamycin (ADM), a type of antitumor drug, is widely applied in treatments against various cancers. Nevertheless, cancer cells will eventually develop drug resistance to ADM. The present study aims to explore the potential role of reticulocalbin-1 (RCN1) in NPC cells resistance to ADM. Microarray-based analysis was used to screen NPC-related genes, with RCN1 acquired for this current study. RCN1 expression in NPC tissues and cells was determined. The biological function of RCN1 on NPC cell apoptosis was evaluated via gain- and loss-of-function experiments in 5-8 F/ADM and 5-8 F cells by delivering si-RCN1 and RCN1-vector. The function of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress on cell apoptosis was measured with the involvement of the PERK-CHOP signaling pathway. Furthermore, tumor formation in nude mice was performed to evaluate the survival condition and RCN1 effects in vivo. RCN1 was highly expressed in NPC tissues and cell lines. The increased expression of ER-related proteins ATF4, CHOP, and the extents of IRE1 and PERK phosphorylation were observed. RCN1 knockdown was found to reduce resistance of NPC cells/tissues to ADM while activating ER stress through the activated PERK-CHOP signaling pathway, which further promoted NPC cell apoptosis. These in vitro findings were detected in vivo on tumor formation in nude mice. In conclusion, the present study provides evidence that RCN1 knockdown stimulates ADM sensitivity in NPC by promoting ER stress-induced cell apoptosis, highlighting a theoretical basis for NPC treatment.