The association of an elevated Th/Ts ratio and lupus anticoagulant with symptomatic osteonecrosis in systemic lupus erythematosus patients.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the risk factors for symptomatic osteonecrosis (ON) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and identify clinical characteristics and laboratory markers for predicting symptomatic ON occurrence in SLE patients. Methods: Seventy (6.0%) of 1175 SLE patients diagnosed with symptomatic ON were included in this study. An equal number of SLE patients without symptomatic ON, matched in terms of age and gender, were enrolled in the control group. Clinical symptoms, routine laboratory examinations, lymphocyte subsets, and treatments of these patients were retrospectively reviewed and compared between the two groups. Logistic regression analysis was employed to identify risk factors associated with symptomatic ON in SLE. Results: Among the 70 cases in the symptomatic ON group, 62 (88.6%) patients experienced femoral head necrosis, with bilateral involvement observed in 58 patients. Bone pain was reported in 32 cases (51.6%), and 19 cases (30.6%) presented with multiple symptoms. Univariate analysis revealed significant differences between the two groups in various factors, including disease duration (months), cumulative steroid exposure time, history of thrombosis, neurological involvement, the number of affected organs, myalgia/myasthenia, and the use of medications such as glucocorticoids, immunosuppressants, aspirin, and statins (P<0.05). Moreover, lupus anticoagulant (LA) levels were significantly higher in the symptomatic ON group than in the control group (P<0.05). Furthermore, notable distinctions were observed in peripheral blood immune cells, including an elevated white blood cell count (WBC), a decreased percentage of Ts cells (CD3+CD8+), and an elevated Th/Ts ratio. Logistic regression analysis revealed that a history of thrombosis, LA positivity, and an elevated Th/Ts ratio remained positive factors associated with symptomatic ON (P<0.05). Conclusion: Decreased Ts cells and changes in the T lymphocyte subset play an important regulatory role in the development of symptomatic ON. A history of thrombosis and LA are associated with an increased probability of symptomatic ON in SLE and may serve as potential predictors.

Bioaccumulation Characteristics of Typical Perfluoroalkyl Compounds in Alfalfa Under Salt Stress.

Medicago sativa, commonly known as alfalfa, is widely distributed worldwide, known for its strong stress resistance and well-developed root system, making it an important plant in ecological restoration research. To investigate the absorption and transport characteristics of alfalfa for typical perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under salt stress, a 30-day indoor greenhouse experiment was conducted. The results showed that alfalfa exhibited varying degrees of absorption and transport for the selected PFAS. The highest BCF (Bioconcentration Factor) for shoot tissue reached 725.4 (for PFBA), and the highest TF (Translocation Factor) reached 53.8 (for PFPeA). Different PFAS compounds exhibited distinct bioaccumulation behaviors, with short-chain PFAS more readily entering the plant's root system and being transported upwards, while long-chain PFAS tended to adsorb to the surface of the root system. Furthermore, salt stress did not significantly affect the uptake of PFAS by alfalfa. This suggests that alfalfa is salt-tolerant and holds great potential for ecological restoration in short-chain PFAS-contaminated sites.

First Report of Erysiphe astragali Causing Powdery Mildew on Astragalus mongholicus in China.

Astragalus mongholicus Bge. [A. membranaceus Bge. var. mongholicus (Bge.) Hsiao] is a highly valuable perennial medicinal plant mainly distributed in China, whose dry roots are known as Huangqi in traditional Chinese medicine for reinforcing vital energy, strengthening superficial resistance, and promoting tissue regeneration (Lin et al. 2000). A. mongholicus roots of high quality are produced in Northwest and North China. Since July 2021, powdery mildew outbreaks happened annually on the leaves of A. mongholicus in a plantation (123° 56' 40'' E, 47° 22' 20'' N) in Qiqihar city, Heilongjiang Province, China. Disease incidence reached 100% by October (Fig. 1A-C), causing severe impairment of growth. Powdery mildew spots of circular or irregular shapes emerged on upper surface of leaf, resulting in plentiful lesion specks. Dense white hyphae appeared chaotically intertwined. Hyphae were hyaline and highly flexuous, 5.3 - 10.7 µm in diameter (n = 20). Chasmothecia were globose or slightly ovoid-shaped and turned dark brown when matured. Chasmothecia (diameter: 135.2 - 222.9 µm, n = 20) existed abundantly on the diseased leaves in the fields. Conidiophores were 89.0 - 129.9 µm in length (n = 20) and composed of one cylindrical, straight foot cell, followed by two cells and one to three conidia. Conidia were slim ellipsoid-shaped, occasionally ovoid-shaped, measuring 14.6 - 24.7 µm by 6.4 to10.4 µm, length/width ratio was 1.8 - 3.0 (n = 30). Hyphal appressoria were nipple-shaped and appeared in singular, occasionally in pairs. Unbranched germ tube emerged reaching out of the germinating conidia while forming an acute angle with the long axis. Comprehensively, the pathogen exhibited micro-morphology of the genus Erysiphe. For molecular identification, pathogen was carefully scraped off diseased leaves for DNA extraction. We used the DNA samples of three biological replicates for the sequencing of the ITS rDNA fragment (primers by (White et al. 1990). All the samples resulted in an identical ITS sequence (deposited in GenBank as OQ390098.1). It displayed 99.83% identity with OP806835.1 of an E. astragali voucher collected in Iran (Fig. 1D-M, O). Hence, our pathogen was identified as an E. astragali stain. Additionally, we amplified the Mcm7 sequence (using primers by (Ellingham et al. 2019), deposited as OQ397582.1). We propagated 40-day-old A. mongholicus plants via germinating seeds in pot soil and performed pathogenicity tests. Firstly, we incubated detached healthy leaves of propagated plants with severely symptomatic leaves collected from the fields in petri dishes under saturated moisture content and room temperature. Powdery mildew symptoms emerged on each healthy leaf (n = 5) after two weeks. Further, we infected healthy plants (n = 5) by gently pressing and rubbing symptomatic leaves on each healthy leaf, and kept them in a greenhouse (24 ℃, 80% humidity, 16/8-hour light/dark cycle). After a month, symptoms emerged on a number of leaves of each infected plant. We performed micromorphology observation (Fig. 1N-P) and ITS sequencing to confirm that the results fulfilled Koch's postulates. Powdery mildew caused by E. astragali on A. strictus in Tibet (Wang and Jiang 2023) and on A. scaberrimus in Inner Mongolia (Sun et al. 2023) have been reported. Here we report powdery mildew caused by E. astragali on Astragalus mongholicus for the first time. These Astragalus spp. are all acknowledged to have medicinal values in China but their usages are quite different.

Immune podocytes in the immune microenvironment of lupus nephritis (Review).

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic autoimmune disorder caused by the loss of tolerance to endogenous nuclear antigens such as double­stranded DNA, leading to the proliferation of T cells and subsequent activation of B cells, which results in serious organ damage and life­threatening complications such as lupus nephritis. Lupus nephritis (LN) develops as a frequent complication of SLE, accounting for >60% of SLE cases, and is characterized by proteinuria and heterogeneous histopathological findings. Glomerular injury serves a role in proteinuria as podocyte damage is the leading contributor. Numerous studies have reported that podocytes are involved in the immune response that promotes LN progression. In LN, immune complex deposition stimulates dendritic cells to secrete inflammatory cytokines that activate T cells and B cells. B cells secrete autoantibodies that attack and damage the renal podocytes, leading to renal podocyte injury. The injured podocytes trigger inflammatory cells through the expression of toll­like receptors and trigger T cells through major histocompatibility complexes and CD86, thereby participating in the local immune response and the exacerbation of podocyte injury. Based on the existing literature, the present review summarizes the research progress of podocytes in LN under the local immune microenvironment of the kidney, explores the mechanism of podocyte injury under the immune microenvironment, and evaluates podocytes as a potential therapeutic target for LN.

The degradation pathways of carbamazepine in advanced oxidation process: A mini review coupled with DFT calculation.

Degradation pathway is important for the study of carbamazepine (CBZ) removal in advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). Generally, degradation pathways are speculated based on intermediate identification and basic chemical rules. However, this semiempirical strategy is sometimes time-consuming and baseless. To improve the situation, a mini meta-analysis was first conducted for the degradation pathways of CBZ in AOPs. Then, the rationality of the pathways was analyzed by Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculation. Results show that the degradation pathways of CBZ in various AOPs has high similarity, and the reactive sites predicted by Fukui function fitted well with the data retrieved from literatures. In addition, molecule configuration of degradation intermediates was found to play a very important roles on degradation pathway. The study reveals that computational chemistry is a useful tool for degradation pathway speculation in AOPs.

[Effects of elicitors on growth of adventitious roots and contents of secondary metabolites in Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. f].

To study the effects of the extract of fungal elicitor, AgNO3, MeJA and yeast on the growth and content of secondary metabolites of adventitious roots in Tripterygium wilfordii. The above elicitors were supplemented to the medium, the growth and the content of secondary metabolites were measured. When the medium was supplemented with the elicitor Glomerella cingulata or Collectotrichum gloeosporioides, the content of triptolide was increased by 2.24 and 1.93-fold, the alkaloids content was increased by 2.02 and 2.07-fold, respectively. The optimal concentration of G. cingulata was 50 µg/mL for accumulation of triptolide, alkaloids and for the growth of adventitious roots. AgNO3 inhibited the growth of adventitious roots and the accumulation of the alkaloids, whereas it (at 25 µmol/L) increased the accumulation of triptolide by 1.71-fold compared to the control. The growth of adventitious roots, the contents of triptolide and alkaloids were increased 1.04, 1.64 and 2.12-folds, respectively when MeJA was at 50 µmol/L. When the concentration of yeast reached 2 g/L, the content of triptolide increased 1.48-folds. This research demonstrated that supplementation of AgNO3 and yeast enhanced the biosynthesis of triptolide in adventitious roots and the synergism of G. cingulata and MeJA could promote the biosynthesis of both triptolide and alkaloids.

[Establishment of adventitious root culture system and scale-up fermentation of Tripterygium wilfordii].

Using MS as basic medium, supplemented with 1.0 mg · L(-1) IBA, the adventitious roots of Tripterygium wilfordii were induced, and the good adventitious root culture system was established by leaves or callus induced by leaves as explants. The adventitious roots were also induced with 2.0-4.0 mg · L(-1) NAA and the good adventitious root culture system established by using suspension cells from callus as materials to induce adventitious root. The content of triptolide of three adventitious roots culture system were exceeded in the natural root bark. The content of triptolide of AR3 adventitious roots was the highest about 5.3 times as that in the natural root bark. By using 5 L stirred fermentor during pilot enlarge cultivation, compared with 250 mL flask cultivation, the adventitious roots increment and secondary metabolites content per liter medium showed no significant difference. The accomplishment of this analysis laid a foundation by tissue culture production of the secondary metabolites of T. wilfordii.

[Effects of amino acid on growth and secondary metabolites contents of adventitious roots of Tripterygium wilfordii].

The adventitious root of Tripterygium wilfordii was used as experiment material to study effects of various concentration of aspartic acid, isoleucine, cysteine and arginine in MS medium on the growth and triptolide, wilforgine, wilforine contents of the adventitious roots. The results showed that compared with the control, supplemented with 0.25 mmol x L(-1) aspartic acid at 3rd week, the growth of the adventitious roots only accounted for 80%, but the content of triptolide of the adventitious roots and the medium was 1.36, 1.30 times, the content of wilforgine was 1.16, 1.37 times, the content of wilforine was 1.22, 1.63 times, respectively. At 3rd week 0.05 mmol x L(-1) isoleucine, the growth of adventitious roots was 97.3%, wilforgine of adventitious roots and medium 1.02, 1.27 times, wilforine 1.36 times and 1.15 times. At 1st week 0.25 mmol x L(-1) cysteine, the growth of the adventitious roots comprised 77.5% of the control, while content of triptolide of adventitious roots reached 1.87 times. At 2nd week 1.00 mmol x L(-1) cysteine, the growth of adventitious roots was 44.6% of the control, the content of wilforine in medium was 2.97 times. At 3rd week 0.50 mmol x L(-1) arginine, the growth of adventitious roots was 124.2%, the content of wilforgine and wilforine was 1.3, 1.4 times, respectively.