SFTPC genetic polymorphisms are associated with tuberculosis susceptibility and clinical phenotype in a Western Chinese Han population.

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most common infectious diseases globally. The surfactant protein C (SFTPC), which is involved in innate immunity and surfactant function in the lung, may contribute toward the progression of TB. The aim of the present study was to preliminarily investigate the possible association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the SFTPC gene with TB susceptibility and clinical phenotypes in a Western Chinese Han population. The improved multiplex ligation detection reaction method was used to genotype 6 SNPs in SFTPC, in 900 patients with TB and 1,534 healthy control subjects. It was found that the A allele for rs1124 and the C allele for rs8192313 were associated with increased susceptibility to TB, P=0.024 and P=0.045, respectively. However, these two P-values were not significant following Bonferroni correction. In all samples, the haplotype [CGA], representing three SFTPC variants, was revealed to increase the risk of TB (P=0.001 and P=0.005, following Bonferroni correction). Furthermore, patients with the AA genotype for rs1124 and with the CC genotype for rs8192313 were associated with higher levels of C-reactive protein (P=0.001 and P=0.005, respectively). The results of the present study indicated that the SFTPC SNPs may increase the susceptibility to TB and the immune response of the host to Mycobacterium tuberculosis and may potentially be novel biomarkers for the pathogenesis of TB.

[Preparation and in vitro evaluation of borneol and folic acid co-modified doxorubicin loaded PAMAM drug delivery system].

A novel targeting drug carrier (FA-BO-PAMAM) based on the PAMAM G5 dendrimer modified with borneol (BO) and folic acid (FA) molecules on the periphery and doxorubicin (DOX) loaded in the interior was designed and prepared to achieve the purposes of enhancing the blood-brain barrier (BBB) transportation and improving the drug accumulation in the glioma cells. 1H NMR was used to confirm the synthesis of FA-BO-PAMAM; its morphology and mean size were analyzed by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). Based on the HBMEC and C6 cells, cytotoxicity assay, transport across the BBB, cellular uptake and anti-tumor activity in vitro were investigated to evaluate the properties of nanocarriers in vitro. The results showed that the nanocarrier of FA-BO-PAMAM was successfully synthesized, which was spherical in morphology with the average size of (22.28 ± 0.42) nm, and zeta potential of (7.6 ± 0.89) mV. Cytotoxicity and transport across the BBB assay showed that BO-modified conjugates decreased the cytotoxicity of PAMAM against both HBMEC and C6 cells and exhibited higher BBB transportation ability than BO-unmodified conjugates; moreover, modification with FA increased the total uptake of DOX by C6 cells and enhanced the cytotoxicity of DOX-polymer against C6 cells. Therefore, FA-BO-PAMAM is a promising nanodrug delivery system in employing PAMAM as a drug carrier and treatment for brain glioma.