Helicobacter Pylori and Autoimmune Diseases: Involving Multiple Systems.

The modern Gastroenterology have witnessed an essential stride since Helicobacter pylori was first found in the stomach and then its pathogenic effect was discovered. According to the researches conducted during the nearly 40 years, it has been found that this bacterium is associated with a natural history of many upper gastrointestinal diseases. Epidemiological data show an increased incidence of autoimmune disorders with or after infection with specific microorganisms. The researches have revealed that H. pylori is a potential trigger of gastric autoimmunity, and it may be associated with other autoimmune diseases, both innate and acquired. This paper reviews the current support or opposition about H. pylori as the role of potential triggers of autoimmune diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, autoimmune thyroiditis, type 1 diabetes mellitus, autoimmune liver diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, systemic lupus erythematosus, as well as Sjogren's syndrome, chronic urticaria and psoriasis, and tried to explain the possible mechanisms.

Gene characteristics and changing trend of neonatal thalassemia in Dongguan, China / 中国当代儿科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To study the gene distribution characteristics of neonatal thalassemia in Dongguan, China and the changing trend of the gene distribution characteristics of neonates with thalassemia in Dongguan in 2014-2018.@*METHODS@#A retrospective analysis was performed for the data on neonatal thalassemia screening from the Dongguan Neonatal Disease Screening System between January 2014 and December 2018. A total of 616 718 neonates were enrolled who were born in Dongguan.@*RESULTS@#Among the 616 718 neonates, 52 308 were positive for primary screening, 10 366 were recalled, 8 576 underwent genetic diagnosis, and 6 432 were confirmed with thalassemia by genetic diagnosis. The carrying rates of thalassemia genes in 2014-2018 were 5.81%, 5.47%, 5.96%, 6.91%, and 7.90% respectively, and showed an upward trend (P<0.001). The positive rates of neonatal thalassemia screening in 2014-2018 were 9.12%, 8.34%, 7.54%, 8.13%, and 9.32% respectively (P<0.001). The positive rates of genetic diagnosis of neonatal thalassemia in 2014-2018 were 0.89%, 1.11%, 1.24%, 0.90%, and 1.09% respectively (P<0.001). In 2014-2018, 5 098 cases of α-thalassemia were detected, accounting for 79.26% of all cases, and 1 230 cases of β-thalassemia were detected, accounting for 19.12% of all cases. The detection rate of α-thalassemia was significantly higher than that of β-thalassemia in each year (P<0.001). In 2014-2018, static α-thalassemia, mild α-thalassemia, and mild β-thalassemia were the main types observed in neonates.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Most of the neonates with thalassemia have α-thalassemia in Dongguan, with static α-thalassemia and mild α-thalassemia as the main types. The carrying rate of thalassemia genes keeps increasing in neonates in Dongguan, and the prevention and treatment of thalassemia is still challenging.

The Antitumor Effect of Xihuang Pill on Treg Cells Decreased in Tumor Microenvironment of 4T1 Breast Tumor-Bearing Mice by PI3K/AKT~AP-1 Signaling Pathway.

To study the antitumor effect of Xihuang pill (XHP) on the number of Treg cells in the tumor microenvironment of 4T1 breast tumor-bearing mice by PI3K/AKT/AP-1 pathway, a mouse model was established. Flow cytometry (FCM) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to detect the number of Treg cells in the tumor microenvironment; terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) was used to detect the apoptosis of Treg cells in tumor microenvironment. Quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to detect the mRNA expression of PI3K, AKT, and AP-1 in Treg cells in tumor microenvironment; immunofluorescence (IF) and Western Blot (WB) were used to detect the protein expression of PI3K, AKT, and AP-1 in Treg cells in tumor microenvironment. Compared with the naive control group, the tumor weight in XHP groups decreased significantly (P < 0.05); FCM and IHC results showed that the number of Treg cells in the tumor microenvironment decreased with the dose of XHP groups (P < 0.05); TUNEL staining showed that the number of Treg cells in tumor microenvironment increased with the dose of XHP groups (P < 0.05); RT-qPCR results showed that the mRNA expression of PI3K and AKT in Treg cells decreased with the dose of XHP groups, while RNA expression of AP-1 increased with the dose of XHP groups (P < 0.05); IF and WB results showed that the protein expression of PI3K and AKT in Treg cells decreased with the dose of XHP groups and the protein expression of AP-1 increased with the dose of XHP groups (P < 0.05). The results suggested that XHP decreased the number of Treg cells via inhibiting PI3K and AKT expression and upregulating AP-1 expression in Treg cells and then promoting the apoptosis of Treg cells. Thus, XHP could improve the immunosuppressive state of tumor microenvironment and reverse the immune escape to inhibit tumor growth.

Overexpression of CHD1L is associated with poor survival and aggressive tumor biology in esophageal carcinoma.

Esophageal carcinoma (EC) is a malignancy with high metastatic potential. Chromosomal helicase/ATPase DNA binding protein 1-like (CHD1L) gene is a newly identified oncogene located at Chr1q21, and it is amplified in many solid tumors. However, the status of CHD1L protein expression in EC and its clinical significance is uncertain. This study was designed to investigate the significance of CHD1L expression in human EC and its biological function in EC cells. The expression of CHD1L was examined by immunohistochemistry in 191 surgically resected ECs. The associations between CHD1L expression and clinical pathological parameters and the prognostic value of CHD1L were analyzed. Western blot analysis showed that CHD1L was overexpressed in EC cell lines. In addition, positive CHD1L expression was strongly related to advanced clinical stage (P<0.01), and lymph node metastasis (P<0.01) of EC. The Kaplan-Meier curve indicated that high expression of CHD1L may result in poor prognosis of EC patients (P<0.01), and multivariate analysis showed that CHD1L overexpression was an independent predictor of overall survival. Furthermore, suppression of CHD1L in EC cells increased apoptosis and decreased cell proliferation invasion ability. Our results suggest that CHD1L is a target oncogene with the potential to serve as a novel prognostic biomarker in EC pathogenesis.

Preliminary study on conventional passive transportation kit used vacuum insulated panel / 军事医学

Objective To study the thermal insulation properties of vacuum insulated panel(VIP)used as materials for blood transportation kits.Methods A VIP transportation kit was taken as test group,and a conventional transportation kit was taken as control.Phase change cool storage materials of the same amount and 4℃water bags were put into both kits.A recordable electronic thermometer was used to record the temperature within the two kits,and free hemoglobin(FHb)and potassium ion concentration were measured at 0, 4, and 7 days after blood storage.Results The temperature in the conventional transportation kit increased faster after 36 h, and was significantly higher than in the VIP transportation kit until 60 h.Besides,the VIP transportation kit kept the temperature under 10℃ for(60.7 ±0.6)h, compared to (54.2 ±3.0)h in the conventional transportation kit.FHb concentration was significantly lower in the VIP transportation kit[(605.26 ±74.63)mg/L]than in the conventional transportation kit[(1327.60 ±187.41)mg/L]at day 7(d 7),so was the potassium ion concentration in the VIP transportation kit[(22.7 ±0.4)mmol/L]compared to[(24.6 ±0.6) mmol/L]in the transportation kit at d 7.Conclusion The VIP transportation kit keeps the temperature under 10℃ for a longer time,and the blood quality of preservation is better than that of the conventional transportation kit.Novel heat preservation material can improve health support ability,and is of great value and significance.

Surface-scribed transparency-based microplates.

Transparency sheets, which are normally associated with use on overhead projectors, offer lowered costs and high amenability for optical diagnostics in microplate instrumentation. An alternative microplate design in which circles are scribed on the surface of the transparency to create the boundaries to hold the drop in place is investigated here. The 3D profile of the scribed regions obtained optically showed strong likelihood of affecting three-phase contact line interactions. During dispensation, the contact angle (≈95°) was larger than the drop advancing state (≈80°) due to a period of nonadhesion, where the contact angle later reduced to the drop advancing state followed by increase in the liquid area coverage on the substrate. It was established that 50 µL was needed to fill the well fully, and the maximum volume retainable before breaching was 190 µL. While the tilt angle needed for displacement reduced significantly from 50 to 95 µL, this was markedly better than nonscribed surfaces, where tilt angles always had to be kept to within 30°. It was found that there was greater ability to fill the well with smaller volumes with dispensation at the center. This was attributed to the growing contact line not meeting the scribed edge in parallel if liquid was dispensed closer to it, wherein pinning reduction in some directions permitted liquid travel along the scribed edge to undergo contact angle hysteresis. Fluorescence measurements conducted showed no performance compromise when using scribed transparency microplates over standard microplates.

Human leukocyte antigen-C and killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor gene polymorphisms among patients with syphilis in a Chinese Han population.

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum spirochete bacterium. The killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR), interacting with human leukocyte antigens (HLA), regulate the activations of natural killer (NK) cells and certain T-cell subsets in response to microbe infection. The objective of this study was to explore whether KIR and HLA-C gene polymorphisms were associated with syphilis in a Chinese Han population. Polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) method was used to genotype KIR and HLA-C genes in 231 syphilis patients and 247 healthy controls. Framework genes KIR2DL4, KIR3DL2, KIR3DL3 and KIR3DP1 were present in all individuals. The frequencies of KIR2DS3 and KIR3DS1 were higher in syphilis patients than in healthy controls (p = 0.030 and p = 0.038, respectively), while the frequency of KIR2DS5 was higher in healthy controls than in syphilis patients (p = 0.015; OR = 0.575). The homozygote for HLA-C1 allele (HLA-C1C1) was more common in controls compared with syphilis patients (p = 0.030; OR = 0.667). The frequency of individuals with HLA-C1C1 and KIR2DL3 genotype was higher in control group relative to syphilis patient group (p = 0.018; OR = 0.647). These data indicated that KIR2DS3 and KIR3DS1 were more prevalent in syphilis patients than in controls, and that KIR2DS5, HLA-C1C1 and HLA-C1C1-KIR2DL3 were more prevalent in controls than in syphilis patients, respectively. These will require further investigation using functional studies.

The observation of serum sexual hormone levels before and after treatment in male hyperthyroidisms / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the changes of serum sexual hormone levels in male hyperthyroidisms before and after treatment.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Compared with the control group, the serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone (T) and estradiol (E2) of 68 cases of male hyperthyroidisms before and after treatment were detected by chemiluminescence immunoassay technique, and then statistical analysis was performed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The serum T and E2 levels of male hyperthyroidisms were significantly higher than those of the control group before treatment (P < 0.005); while no significant difference in FSH and LH levels existed between the patients and the control group (P > 0.05). There was no difference in FSH, LH, T and E2 levels between patients and the control group after treatment (P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>There are sexual hormone metabolism disorder in hyperthyroidism men, and the increasing serum T and E2 levels are only to adapt the high metabolism environment, and the changes of hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axes. Along with the control of hyperthyroidism, the sexual hormone levels return to normal.</p>