The Effect of Fractional Carbon Dioxide Laser on Melanogenesis in Human Melanocytes and Vitiligo Mouse Models.

Introduction: Vitiligo is an acquired skin pigmentation disorder, the cause of which is poorly understood. Researchers in this field are dedicated to exploring novel treatments for achieving re-pigmentation. Methods: Mice were randomly selected and divided into control, model, and model+laser groups. Evaluate the impact of different levels of carbon dioxide laser irradiation on tyrosinase activity, melanocyte viability, and melanin content. Results: In this study, it was found that the cell viability and melanin content were significantly enhanced in human melanocytes after treatment with different energy densities of fractional carbon dioxide laser. In addition, laser-treated vitiligo mouse models showed mild pathological changes. Discussion: Therefore, we believe that fractional carbon dioxide laser may be a potential adjunctive modality for treating vitiligo.

Conservation Strategies for Aquilaria sinensis: Insights from DNA Barcoding and ISSR Markers.

The evergreen tree species Aquilaria sinensis holds significant economic importance due to its specific medicinal values and increasing market demand. However, the unrestricted illegal exploitation of its wild population poses a threat to its survival. This study aims to contribute to the conservation efforts of A. sinensis by constructing a library database of DNA barcodes, including two chloroplast genes (psbA-trnH and matK) and two nuclear genes (ITS and ITS2). Additionally, the genetic diversity and structure were estimated using inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) markers. Four barcodes of 57 collections gained 194 sequences, and 1371 polymorphic bands (98.63%) were observed using DNA ISSR fingerprinting. The Nei's gene diversity (H) of A. sinensis at the species level is 0.2132, while the Shannon information index (I) is 0.3128. The analysis of molecular variance revealed a large significant proportion of total genetic variations and differentiation among populations (Gst = 0.4219), despite a relatively gene flow (Nm = 0.6853) among populations, which were divided into two groups by cluster analysis. There was a close genetic relationship among populations with distances of 0.0845 to 0.5555. This study provides evidence of the efficacy and dependability of establishing a DNA barcode database and using ISSR markers to assess the extent of genetic diversity A. sinensis. Preserving the genetic resources through the conservation of existing populations offers a valuable proposition. The effective utilization of these resources will be further deliberated in subsequent breeding endeavors, with the potential to breed agarwood commercial lines.

Identification of the role of autophagy-related TNFSF10/ hsa-let-7a-5p axis in vitiligo development and potential herbs exploring based on a bioinformatics analysis.

Background: Vitiligo is a common clinical disorder caused by the destruction of epidermal melanocytes, which is often associated with autoimmune mechanisms. Autophagy plays a crucial role in maintaining cellular homeostasis and exhibits close associations with various autoimmune disorders. While dysautophagy of melanocytes is associated with vitiligo pathogenesis, there is a lack of studies on autophagy-related genes (ARGs) in blood samples from individuals with vitiligo. Methods: Blood samples from individuals with vitiligo and healthy controls were compared to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs), which were subsequently subjected to further analysis. Then, miRNAs correlated with core genes were predicted by five distinct online tools, and those miRNAs that appeared in three or more tools at the same time were chosen for further enrichment analysis. Furthermore, in vitro experiments of targeting core genes were conducted. Results: The results showed that there were a total of 30 ARGs among DEGs, with 13 up-regulated genes and 17 down-regulated genes. Based on the functional enrichment analysis of DEGs and projected miRNAs, we hypothesized that autophagy and apoptosis may synergistically contribute to the progression of vitiligo, with the TNFSF10/hsa-let-7a-5p axis potentially playing an important role that should not be ignored. In addition, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) was found to be the common component in BAI GUO, CHA YE, and MEI ZHOU JIN LV MEI, which were discovered to be potential in vitiligo treatment by inducing cell autophagy and apoptosis targeting TNFSF10. Conclusion: It was the first time that TNFSF/hsa-let-7a-5p was discovered to be involved in the development of vitiligo through autophagy and apoptosis. Meanwhile, we observed that BAI GUO, CHA YE, and MEI ZHOU JIN LV MEI were promising to treat vitiligo by regulating autophagy and apoptosis via TNFSF10. These findings could lead to new directions for investigating the pathogenesis and therapy of vitiligo.

Role of mean platelet volume in differential diagnosis of adult-onset Still's disease and sepsis

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES: Mean platelet volume is a simple biomarker for inflammatory disease. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the role of mean platelet volume in distinguishing adult-onset Still's disease from sepsis. METHODS: We retrospectively selected 68 patients with adult-onset Still's disease and 55 patients with sepsis between January 2015 and December 2019. Related laboratory data were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in white blood cell counts, neutrophils, lymphocytes, and C-reactive protein between adult-onset Still's disease group and sepsis group. However, patients in adult-onset Still's disease group showed higher ferritin and platelets and lower mean platelet volume and platelet distribution width than those in sepsis group (p<0.01 for both). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to distinguish adult-onset Still's disease and sepsis. The area under the curve of mean platelet volume was 0.761 (95%CI 0.673-0.849), with a sensitivity of 79.1%, a specificity of 63.3%, and a cutoff value of 10.9 fL. In contrast, the area under the curve of combined ferritin and mean platelet volume was 0.90l (95%CI 0.837-0.965), with higher sensitivity (82.8%) and specificity (96.2%). Therefore, mean platelet volume could be used as a supplementary indicator to distinguish adult-onset Still's disease from sepsis. CONCLUSION: We suggest that mean platelet volume could be used as a supplementary biomarker for differential diagnosis of adult-onset Still's disease and sepsis in addition to ferritin.