Glycogen metabolism reprogramming promotes inflammation in coal dust-exposed lung.

Long-term coal dust exposure triggers complex inflammatory processes in the coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) lungs. The progress of the inflammation is reported to be affected by disordered cell metabolism. However, the changes in the metabolic reprogramming associated with the pulmonary inflammation induced by the coal dust particles are unknown. Herein, we show that coal dust exposure causes glycogen accumulation and the reprogramming of glucose metabolism in the CWP lung. The glycogen accumulation caused by coal dust is mainly due to macrophages, which reprogram glycogen metabolism and trigger an inflammatory response. In addition, 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) reduced glycogen content in macrophages, which was accompanied by mitigated inflammation and restrained NF-κB activation. Accordingly, we have pinpointed a novel and crucial metabolic pathway that is an essential regulator of the inflammatory phenotype of coal dust-exposed macrophages. These results shed light on new ways to regulate CWP inflammation.

The expression of membrane-bound complement regulatory proteins CD46, CD55 and CD59 in oral lichen planus.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression levels of membrane-anchored complement regulatory proteins (mCRPs), CD46, CD55 and CD59 in oral lichen planus (OLP), and evaluate the activation status of complement. DESIGN: Thirty-seven cases of OLP patients (20 non-erosive OLP and 17 erosive OLP) and twenty healthy controls were recruited in this study. The proteins and mRNA expression levels of CD46, CD55 and CD59 in OLP tissues were detected by western blotting and RT-qPCR respectively, and the expression levels of complement C3 and sC5b-9 in OLP patients' saliva were detected by ELISA to evaluate the activation status of complement. In addition, mucosa tissues of another 3 non-erosive OLP patients and another 3 healthy controls were collected, and the epithelial layer of two groups were separated to culture primary keratinocytes in vitro. Immunofluorescence was used to further detect the expression of mCRPs at the cellular level. RESULTS: The levels of CD46, CD55 and CD59 in OLP tissues and cells were significantly decreased compared with those of the healthy control group, and the level of complement C3 in the patients' saliva was significantly decreased, while the level of sC5b-9 was increased. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the reduced expression of mCRPs keeps the complement system in a continuously active state, which may be the reason of the persistent local immune inflammatory state in OLP. This study aimed to provide new insights for the etiology and therapy of OLP.

Study on the Role of Salivary Flora and NF-κB Inflammatory Signal Pathway in Oral Lichen Planus.

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is an inflammatory disease. It is believed that infection and immune dysfunction play a key role in its pathogenesis, but the specific mechanism of action remains unclear. The 16s rRNA high-throughput sequencing technique was used to analyze the microbial flora structure in the saliva of OLP patients and healthy controls. The relative abundance of Derxia, Haemophilus, and Pseudomonas in the saliva of the OLP group was lower than that of the healthy control group, but there was no significant difference in the overall structure of the microbial population. In addition, we measured the protein expression levels of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and nuclear factor-kappab p65 (NF-κB p65) in the tissues of OLP patients, and found that there was a significant increase and positive correlation between them (r = 0.907, P = 0.034). The expression levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in the OLP group were consistent with those of NF-κB p65. Therefore, we believe that changes in the composition ratio of microbialflora break the original balance state of flora, promote the occurrence of immune inflammatory reaction, and then lead to the generation or aggravation of OLP disease. This discovery provides new ideas for further research on OLP initiation and immune regulation mechanism.

Effect of Kamistad gel on oral ulcer healing and TNF-α, IL-6 and EGF expression in ulcer tissue of rats / 口腔疾病防治

Objective@#To investigate the effect of Kamistad gel on oral ulcer healing and the expression of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin 6 (IL-6) and epidermal growth factor (EGF) after oral administration in ulcer tissue of rats and to provide animal experimental data for the clinical application of Kamistad gel.@*Methods@#The oral ulcer rat model was established by chemical cauterization. The rats were randomly divided into four groups: Kamistad group (Kamistad gel), befuxin group (befuxin gel), lidocaine group (lidocaine cream), blank control group (normal saline), with 12 rats in each group. The ulcer area of the rats in each group was measured before and 1, 3 and 5 days after treatment; at 1 day after treatment, the duration of swabbing behavior within 3 minutes of intraoral capsaicin infusion was recorded to evaluate the degree of pain; the ulcer tissue was collected at 5 days after treatment, and the histopathological changes were observed by HE staining, the expression of TNF-α, IL-6 and EGF in the ulcer tissue was detected by immunohistochemistry and ELISA.@*Results@#At 1 day after treatment, the duration of mouth wiping induced by capsaicin was significantly shorter in the Kamistad group than in the blank control and befuxin groups (P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference between the Kamistad and lidocaine groups (P >0.05). At 5 days after treatment, the ulcer area was significantly smaller in the Kamistad group than in the blank control and lidocaine groups (P < 0.05), and there was no significant difference between the Kamistad and befuxin groups (P >0.05). At 5 days after treatment, H&E staining of the oral ulcer tissue sections showed significantly reduced levels of inflammatory cells and significantly proliferated fibroblasts and better epithelial hyperplasia in the Kamistad group compared with those in the lidocaine and blank control groups, and there were no differences between the Kamistad and befuxin groups. At 5 days after treatment, the expression levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and EGF in the ulcer tissue of rats in each group were significantly different (P < 0.05). Compared with the blank control and lidocaine groups, the expression of TNF-α and IL-6 was significantly decreased and the expression of EGF was significantly increased in the Kamistad group (P < 0.05); there were no significant differences in the expression of the above three factors between the Kamistad and befuxin groups (P > 0.05).@*Conclusion@#Kamistad gel exhibited anti-inflammatory, analgesic and healing effects on experimental oral ulcers.

The effects of intramuscular injections of vitamin B1 and B12 on pain, salivary components and taste in patients with burning mouth syndrome / 口腔疾病防治

Objective@#To determine differences in pain, salivary components and taste between burning mouth syn⁃ drome (BMS) patients and the normal population and to study the effects of intramuscular injections of vitamin B1 (VitB1) and vitamin B12 (VitB12) on BMS. @*Methods@#Before treatment: We observed and compared differences in un⁃ stimulated salivary flow rate (USFR); stimulated salivary flow rate (SSFR); salivary amylase, cortisol, and secretory im⁃ munoglobulin A (SIgA) concentrations; and taste levels between BMS patients and normal controls. After treatment: The treatment group received an intramuscular injection of 100 mg VitB1 and 0.5 mg VitB12 in the buttocks once per day for 10 days. The above indexes were recorded before and after treatment and compared. A visual analog scale (VAS) score was used to assess the degree of pain relief in patients and as a clinical evaluation index. @*Results@#Before treat⁃ ment: SSFR, salivary amylase levels and bitter taste levels of the treatment group were significantly lower than those of the control group (P < 0.05). The concentration of SIgA was significantly higher than that of the control group (P < 0.05), and the USFR and the cortisol concentration were not significant different from the those of the control group (P > 0.05). After treatment: The total effective rate of VitB1 and VitB12 on BMS was up to 70%. USFR was increased signifi⁃ cantly after treatment (P < 0.05), and the concentration of SIgA decreased (P < 0.05). There were no significant differ⁃ ences in the SSFR or the cortisol and salivary amylase concentrations (P > 0.05). Taste levels improved by varying de⁃ grees. @*Conclusions @#The abnormal decreases in SSFR, salivary amylase levels, and taste sensitivity and the abnormal increase in SIgA levels seen in BMS patients may be sensitive salivary indicators for the diagnosis of BMS. A VitB1 and VitB12 intramuscular injection is an effective treatment for patients with BMS, who showed pain relief. Changes in SIgA levels may be used as an indicator during follow⁃up and for the prognosis of BMS patients.