[Effects of Enterococcus faecalis supernatants on inflammatory responses of human periodontal ligament cells under pressure].

Objective: To study the effect of various concentrations of Enterococcus faecalis (Ef) supernatants on human periodontal ligament cell (hPDLC) and the inflammatory response of hPDLC under static pressure. Methods: The method of methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) was used to detect the effect of various concentrations of Ef supernatants on the proliferation of hPDLCs and the flow cytometry was used to detect the expression of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR-2) on the surface of hPDLC after 24-hour-stimulation of Ef supernatant. Furthermore, the hPDLCs were divided into non inducing group without Ef supernatant and inducing group with 5% Ef supernatant, and hPDLCs in each group were loaded with 0, 49 and 196 Pa static pressures respectively. The expressions of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) mRNA and protein were detected by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) after 24 hours. Results: MTT results showed that the supernatant of Ef with concentration≥5% could significantly inhibit the proliferation activity of hPDLCs at 48 hours of cell culture (P<0.05). Flow cytometry showed that the positive cell rates of TLR-2 increased with increasing volume fractions of the Ef supernatants. The values were (2.12±0.07)%, (2.41±0.32)%, (2.65±0.27)%, (4.76±0.46)%, (9.91±0.92)% and (12.01±1.35)%, respectively. The differences were statistically significant when the concentrations≥5% (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in the expressions of IL-1ß and TNF-α mRNA between the non inducing group and the control group under the pressure of 49 Pa (P>0.05). However, there were significant differences in the expressions of IL-1ß and TNF-α mRNA between the non inducing group and the control group under the pressure of 196 Pa (P<0.05), while the expressions of IL-1ß and TNF-α in the inducing group were significantly lower than that in the control group under the pressures of 49 and 196 Pa (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the mRNA expression was significantly increased (P<0.05). The result of ELISA was consistent with that of PCR. Conclusions: High concentration of Ef supernatant could inhibit the proliferation of hPDLC. Ef supernatant might promote the expression of TLR-2 on the surface of hPDLC. Excessive mechanical pressure induced the inflammatory response of hPDLC. The presence of inflammatory mediators could lead to the intolerance of hPDLC to pressures and small pressure could aggravate the inflammatory response.

[Effect of imatinib on the height of children with chronic myeloid leukemia in the chronic phase].

Objective: To evaluate the effect of imatinib on growth impairment in children with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML-CP) in the chronic phase. Methods: From July 2018 to July 2019, questionnaires were distributed to CML children aged <18 years at the time of diagnosis who were receiving imatinib for at least 3 months or to their parents in China. The height-for-age standard deviation score (HtSDS) and the difference of standard deviation integral (△HtSDS) were used to explore the change in height with imatinib therapy. Results: The data of 238 respondents were included; 138 (58.0% ) respondents were men. The median age at the first diagnosis of CML was 11.0 years (range, 1.4-17.9 years) , and 93 (39.0% ) respondents were at the prepuberty stage. At the time of completing the questionnaires, the median age was 15.0 years (range, 2.0-34.0 years) . The median duration of imatinib therapy was 28 months (range, 3-213 months) . Among all the respondents, the mean HtSDS when completing the questionnaires (-0.063±1.361) was significantly lower than that at the time of starting imatinib treatment (0.391±1.244) (P<0.001) . Total 71.0% respondents showed growth impairment that was more common in those starting imatinib therapy at prepubertal age than in those starting at pubertal age. Multivariate analysis showed that younger at the start of imatinib therapy (P<0.001) and longer duration of imatinib therapy (P<0.001) were significantly associated with severe growth impairment on imatinib therapy. Conclusions: Imatinib induced growth impairment in children with CML-CP. Younger the age of initiation and longer the duration of imatinib therapy, more obvious the effect of imatinib on growth impairment.

[Changes of WT1 mRNA expression level in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes after hypomethylating agents and its prognostic significance].

Objective: To monitor the WT1 mRNA level and its dynamic changes in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) after hypomethylating agents (HMA) , as well as to assess the significance of WT1 mRNA levels and its dynamic changes in evaluating the efficacy of HMA and distinguishing the disease status of heterogeneous patients with stable disease (SD) . Methods: Bone marrow or peripheral blood samples of 56 patients with MDS who underwent hypomethylating agents (≥4 cycles) from November 2009 to March 2018 were tested by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect the expression of WT1 mRNA, and to observe the correlation between the dynamic changes of WT1 mRNA expression and clinical efficacy and prognosis of patients. Results: WT1 mRNA expression levels of MDS patients decreased significantly after 3 cycles of hypomethylating agent treatment. Besides, the WT1 mRNA expression levels of patients increased significantly after diseases progression. According to the dynamic changes of WT1 mRNA expression levels during SD, 45 cases could be further divided into increased group and non-increased group. In those SD patients with increased WT1 mRNA expression level, the ratio of suffering disease progression or transformation to AML was 95.65% (22/23) , whereas the ratio turned to be 9.09% (2/22) for the non-increased group (χ(2)=33.852, P<0.001) . Compared with those SD patients reporting no increase in WT1 mRNA expression level, the overall survival[17 (95%CI 11-23) months vs not reached, P<0.001] and progression-free survival [13 (95%CI 8-18) months vs not reached, P<0.001] of those SD patients reporting increase in WT1 mRNA expression level were significantly shorter. Conclusion: WT1 mRNA expression level is a useful indicator to assess the efficacy of hypomethylating agents in MDS patients. Especially in patients with SD, detection of the changes in WT1 mRNA expression level is able to predict disease progression and help to make clinical decision.

Quantum dot-based nanocomposites for biomedical applications.

Quantum dot (QD) has been extensively investigated as a nanoprobe to replace conventional organic dyes due to its unique optical properties. However, nanotoxicity of QD greatly hampers its biomedical applications, particularly in in vivo imaging. It is critical to functionalize QD and/or composite QD with other functional materials for biocompatibility, multifunction and expanded applications. In this review, advances of QD-based nanocomposites are addressed with emphasis of their synthesis, fundamental understanding and applications in biosensor, multimodal imaging, drug delivery, diagnostics and cancer therapy. Some specific QD-based bionanosystems and future development directions are also discussed.

Mesenchymal stem cell as salvage treatment for refractory chronic GVHD.

Refractory chronic GVHD (cGVHD) is an important complication after allogeneic hematopoietic SCT and is prognostic of poor outcome. MSCs are involved in tissue repair and modulating immune responses in vitro and in vivo. From April 2005 to October 2008, 19 patients with refractory cGVHD were treated with MSCs derived from the BM of volunteers. The median dose of MSCs was 0.6 × 10(6) cells per kg body weight. Fourteen of 19 patients (73.7%) responded well to MSCs, achieving a CR (n=4) or a PR (n=10). The immunosuppressive agent could be tapered to less than 50% of the starting dose in 5 of 14 surviving patients, and five patients could discontinue immunosuppressive agents. The median duration between MSC administration and immunosuppressive therapy discontinuation was 324 days (range, 200-550 days). No patients experienced adverse events during or immediately after MSC infusion. The 2-year survival rate was 77.7% in this study. Clinical improvement was accompanied by the increasing ratio of CD5+CD19+/CD5-CD19+ B cells and CD8+CD28-/CD8+CD28+ T cells. In conclusion, transfusion of MSCs expanded in vitro, irrespective of the donor, might be a safe and effective salvage therapy for patients with steroid-resistant, cGVHD.

[Preliminary screening of Chinese herbal medicine in inhibiting Helicobacter pylori].

At present Helicobacter pylori (HP) was taken to be closely related to chronic atrophic gastritis and peptic ulcer. 226 patients with symptoms of upper digestive tract by endoscope were examined and chronic atrophic gastritis and peptic ulcer were diagnosed. Mucous membrane from gastric antrum was taken and cultured, and found that 136 cases of 226 patients were HP positive and the rate of positiveness was 60.18%. 200 kinds of Chinese herbal medicine were selected to investigate its inhibitory action on HP. Results indicated that 38 among 200 kinds of Chinese herbal medicine had inhibitory effects on HP, which provided evidence for diagnosis and treatment of chronic atrophic gastritis and peptic ulcer, also for inhibition of HP growth.

[Changes in acetylcholine and acetylcholinesterase in blood during pulmonary hypertension].

Two models of pulmonary hypertension in rats have been made with either monocrotaline or passive smoking (with or without infection). The decrease of RBC acetylcholinesterase activity and the increase of acetylcholine content in blood were detected in both rat models, but did not in rats which were only once infected by E. Coli, and the pulmonary pressure of the latter did not raise either. Comparing 30 cases of acute attack period of chronic pulmonary heart disease with 30 cases of normal persons, RBC acetylcholinesterase decreased significantly, indicating that hyperfunction of cholinergic nerve existed in pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary heart disease.

Relation between the therapeutic effect of moxibustion in treating arthralgia and SP and enkephalin in nervous tissues.

Moxibustion can accelerate the relief of arthralgia of rats suffering from adjuvant arthritis. At the same time, it promotes the recovery of SP in the sciatic nerve, and maintains SP and leu-enkephalin at a higher level in the lumbar spinal cord. The results show that the therapeutic effect of moxibustion in treating arthralgia bears some relation to activating the spinal enkephalin system and modulating the function of primary afferent neurons.