Follicular CD8+ T cells promote immunoglobulin production and demyelination in multiple sclerosis and a murine model.

Emerging evidence underscores the importance of CD8+ T cells in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS), but the precise mechanisms remain ambiguous. This study intends to elucidate the involvement of a novel subset of follicular CD8+ T cells (CD8+CXCR5+ T) in MS and an experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) murine model. The expansion of CD8+CXCR5+ T cells was observed in both MS patients and EAE mice during the acute phase. In relapsing MS patients, higher frequencies of circulating CD8+CXCR5+ T cells were positively correlated with new gadolinium-enhancement lesions in the central nervous system (CNS). In EAE mice, frequencies of CD8+CXCR5+ T cells were also positively correlated with clinical scores. These cells were found to infiltrate into ectopic lymphoid-like structures in the spinal cords during the peak of the disease. Furthermore, CD8+CXCR5+ T cells, exhibiting high expression levels of ICOS, CD40L, IL-21, and IL-6, were shown to facilitate B cell activation and differentiation through a synergistic interaction between CD40L and IL-21. Transferring CD8+CXCR5+ T cells into naïve mice confirmed their ability to enhance the production of anti-MOG35-55 antibodies and contribute to the disease progression. Consequently, CD8+CXCR5+ T cells may play a role in CNS demyelination through heightening humoral immune responses.

Improvement of Lung Function by Micronutrient Supplementation in Patients with COPD: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: A healthy, well-balanced diet plays an essential role in respiratory diseases. Since micronutrient deficiency is relatively common in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), micronutrient supplementation might have the beneficial health effects in those patients. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to demonstrate the impact of micronutrient supplementation on the lung function of patients with COPD. METHODS: The PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were searched from their corresponding creation until February 2024. Search terms included 'chronic obstructive pulmonary disease', 'COPD', 'micronutrients', 'dietary supplements', 'vitamins', 'minerals', and 'randomized controlled trials'. Meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the effects of micronutrient supplementation alone or complex on lung function in patients with COPD. RESULTS: A total of 43 RCTs fulfilled the inclusion criteria of this study. Meta-analysis revealed that vitamin D supplementation could significantly improve FEV1% (WMDdifferences between baseline and post-intervention (de): 6.39, 95% CI: 4.59, 8.18, p < 0.01; WMDpost-intervention indicators (af): 7.55, 95% CI: 5.86, 9.24, p < 0.01) and FEV1/FVC% (WMDde: 6.88, 95%CI: 2.11, 11.65, WMDaf: 7.64, 95% CI: 3.18, 12.10, p < 0.001), decrease the odds of acute exacerbations, and improve the level of T-cell subsets, including CD3+%, CD4+%, CD8+%, and CD4+/CD8+% (all p < 0.01). The effects of compound nutrients intervention were effective in improving FEV1% (WMDde: 8.38, 95%CI: 1.89, 14.87, WMDaf: 7.07, 95%CI: -0.34, 14.48) and FEV1/FVC% (WMDde: 7.58, 95% CI: 4.86, 10.29, WMDaf: 6.00, 95% CI: 3.19, 8.81). However, vitamin C and vitamin E supplementation alone had no significant effects on lung function (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Micronutrient supplementation, such as vitamin D alone and compound nutrients, has improved effect on the lung function of patients with COPD. Therefore, proper supplementation with micronutrients would be beneficial to stabilize the condition and restore ventilation function for COPD patients.

Atomic-Level Catalyst Coupled with Metal Oxide Heterostructure for Promoting Kinetics of Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

Despite the low competitive cost and high theoretical capacity of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries, their practical application is severely hindered by the lithium polysulfide (LiPS) shuttling and low conversion efficiency. Herein, the electronic structure of hollow Titanium dioxide nanospheres is tunned by single Iron atom dopants that can cooperatively enhance LiPS absorption and facilitate desired redox reaction in practical Li-S batteries, further suppressing the notorious shuttle effect, which is consistent with theoretical calculations and in situ UV/vis investigation. The obtained electrode with massive active sites and lower energy barrier for sulfur conversions exhibits exceptional cycling stability after 500 cycles and high capacity under the sulfur loading of 10.53 mg cm-2. In particular, an Ah-level Li-S pouch cell is fabricated, further demonstrating that the synthetic strategy based on atomic-level design offers a promising route toward practical high-energy-density Li-S batteries.

IGF2BP3 enhances lipid metabolism in cervical cancer by upregulating the expression of SCD.

Cervical cancer (CC) is the most common gynecologic malignancy, which seriously threatens the health of women. Lipid metabolism is necessary for tumor proliferation and metastasis. However, the molecular mechanism of the relationship between CC and lipid metabolism remains poorly defined. We revealed the expression of IGF2BP3 in CC exceeded adjacent tissues, and was positively associated with tumor stage using human CC tissue microarrays. The Cell Counting Kit-8, colony formation assay, 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine assay, transwell assays, wound-healing assays, and flow cytometry assessed the role of IGF2BP3 in proliferation and metastasis of CC cells. Besides, exploring the molecular mechanism participating in IGF2BP3-driven lipid metabolism used RNA-seq, which determined SCD as the target of IGF2BP3. Further, lipid droplets, cellular triglyceride (TG) contents, and fatty acids were accessed to discover that IGF2BP3 can enhance lipid metabolism in CC. Moreover, RIP assay and methylated RNA immunoprecipitation experiments seeked the aimed-gene-binding specificity. Lastly, the IGF2BP3 knockdown restrained CC growth and lipid metabolism, after which SCD overexpression rescued the influence in vitro and in vivo using nude mouse tumor-bearing model. Mechanistically, IGF2BP3 regulated SCD mRNA m6A modifications via IGF2BP3-METTL14 complex, thereby enhanced CC proliferation, metastasis, and lipid metabolism. Our study highlights IGF2BP3 plays a crucial role in CC progression and represents a therapeutic latent strategy. It is a potential tactic that blocks the metabolic pathway relevant to IGF2BP3 with the purpose of treating CC.

Potential categories of lifestyle behavior and its relation with traditional Chinese medicine constitutions among higher vocational medical students / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To understand potential categories of lifestyle behaviors and its association with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) constitution among higher vocational medical students, so as to provide reference for the physical health management of them.@*Methods@#From October to December 2022, 2 720 medical students from three higher vocational medical colleges in Anhui Province were selected by stratified cluster sampling method and were investigated with a questionnaire of lifestyle and TCM body constitution. Potential category analysis (LCA) and multiple linear regression were used to explore the relationship between potential categories of lifestyle behaviors and TCM constitutions.@*Results@#The lifestyle behavior of vocational medical students were classified into three potential categories:general health group (83.60%), smoking and drinking group (4.85%) and diet preference group (11.55%). There were significant differences in the distribution of TCM constitution types among the three groups ( χ 2=46.32, P < 0.01 ). The proportion of general health group was the higher in balanced constitution (46.39%), and the proportion of smoking and drinking type was higher in phlegm dampness (25.00%). The dietary preferences were higher in phlegm dampness (20.38%), Yin deficiency (15.92%) and damp heat (20.70%). Taking balanced constitution as a reference, the occurrence risk of phlegm and dampness in smoking and drinking type and diet preference type was 1.75 times higher (95% CI =1.09-2.77) and 1.78 times higher (95% CI = 1.26-2.49) than that in general health group ( P <0.05).@*Conclusion@#There are certain aggregation characteristics in lifestyle behaviors among higher vocational medical students, which show significant relations with TCM constitutions. Targeted intervention should be carried out according to the demographic characteristics of higher vocational medical students, potential categories of behavior and lifestyle characteristics and TCM constitutions.

Clinical observation of cement-retained and screw-retained implant-supported denture in edentulous patients / 口腔疾病防治

Objective@# To evaluate the clinical effects of full-arch cement-retained implant-supported combined crowns and screw-retained implant-supported bridge dentures in complete or half edentulous patients. @*Methods @#A total of 25 patients with complete or partial edentulous dentures followed up for 1, 3, and 5 years in our hospital from June 2013 to June 2018 and were treated with Straumann bone horizontal implantation, cobalt-chromium stenting and cobalt-chromium porcelain restoration with cement-retained and screw-retained implant-supported fixed dental prostheses to evaluate the accumulative implant survival rate, accumulative prosthesis survival rate, mechanical complications, and biological complications in both groups. @*Results @#There were 25 complete or half edentulous patients who received 165 Straumann implants and 28 implant-supported fixed dental prostheses in this study. There were 11 cases with 69 implants in the cement group and 17 cases with 96 implants in the screw group. The accumulative implant survival rate was 100% in the cement group and 96.9% in the screw group. The accumulative prosthesis survival rate was 100% in both groups. The cumulative peri-implant mucositis rate was 23.2% in the cement group and 29.2% in the screw group, and the peri-implantitis rate was 6.8% in the cement group and 7.3% in the screw group. There was 1 case of porcelain collapse (n=1/11) and no screw of abutment loosening in the cement group and 4 cases of porcelain collapse (n=4/17) and 1 case of screw loosening in the screw group. No fracture of abutment was observed in either group. There was no difference in bone loss between the two groups in the first year (P > 0.05), and a higher rate of bone loss was found in the screw group in the third and fifth years (P < 0.05). There was no difference in the sulcus bleeding index(mSBI) between the two groups in the first year and the third year (P > 0.05) and a higher modified mSBI value in the cement group in the fifth year (P < 0.05).@*Conclusion @#The survival rates of the implant and prosthesis for cement-retained or screw-retained implant-supported fixed dental prostheses were both high, but there were more mechanical and biological complications in the traditional cobalt-chromium alloy screw-retainer group. The removal of residual adhesives must be reasonably considered when choosing the cement retention method.