The impact of different preceding crops on soil nitrogen structure and nitrogen cycling in tobacco-planting soil.

Soil nitrogen content, structure, and nitrogen cycling play a crucial role in tobacco growth quality, with different preceding crops having varying impacts on tobacco cultivation soil. This study conducted using field experiments, employed three treatments with different preceding crops, namely tobacco, barley, and rapeseed, to investigate the effects of different preceding crops on soil nitrogen structure and the expression levels of soil nitrogen cycling-related functional genes in tobacco cultivation soil. The results indicated that different preceding crops had varying effects on the content of different nitrogen forms in tobacco cultivation soil. Ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen were the two nitrogen forms which were most influenced by preceding crops, with the ammonium nitrogen content in soils following barley and rapeseed preceding crops increasing by 82.88% and 63.56%, respectively, compared to sole tobacco cultivation. The nitrate nitrogen content in tobacco cultivation soil was 26.97% higher following barley preceding crops and 24.39% higher following rapeseed preceding crops compared to sole tobacco cultivation. Simultaneously, different preceding crops also affected the expression levels of nitrogen cycling-related genes in tobacco cultivation soil. In the nitrification process, amoA was significantly impacted, with its expression reduced by 64.39% and 72.24% following barley and rapeseed preceding crops, respectively, compared to sole tobacco cultivation. In the denitrification process, except for the narG gene, all other genes were subjected to varying degrees of inhibition when preceded by barley and rapeseed crops. Correlation analysis between soil nitrogen structure and the expression levels of nitrogen cycling-related genes revealed that increased nitrogen levels suppressed the expression of Arch-amoA. Additionally, ammonium nitrogen strongly influenced the expression levels of most soil nitrogen cycling functional genes. In conclusion, preceding crops alter soil nitrogen structure, possibly due to changes in soil microorganisms, and different preceding crops modified the expression levels of nitrogen cycling-related genes in tobacco cultivation soil, consequently affecting the proportions of various nitrogen forms in the soil.

The clinical efficacy of treatment using the autologous non-cultured epidermal cell suspension technique for stable vitiligo in 41 patients.

Background: Vitiligo is an acquired depigmentation skin disorder mainly caused by the destruction of melanocytes. There are many therapeutic options available for vitiligo, but the options are not uniformly effective.Objectives: This study aimed to explore the clinical effect of the autologous non-cultured epidermal cell suspension (NCES) technique in the treatment of patients with stable vitiligo.Methods: A retrospective study of before-after comparisons was undertaken with 41 patients with stable vitiligo who received treatment with the NCES technique. The percentage of repigmentation area was evaluated using image analysis of the appearance before and 6-9 months after operation.Results: A total of 41 patients (18 males and 23 females) with a duration of clinical stability for ranging from 1 to 10 years (mean 1.6 ± 1.9) were included. The mean age was 20.2 years (range, 8-50) and 4 (9.8%) were children under the age of 14 years. After 6-9 months of follow-up, 80.5% (33/41) of the patients showed good response; among these patients, 17.1% (7/41) showed complete or almost complete repigmentation. Interestingly, all 4 children showed very good response (more than 76% repigmentation). There were no significant differences in the efficacy of treatment between the different transplantation areas of the facial neck, trunk, and distal limbs and there were no adverse effects such as infection or scar formation.Limitation: This study included only a single center with a small sample size.Conclusions: Our study shows that the NCES technique has a high therapeutic effect, is safe for patients with stable vitiligo, and may be a very promising potential option for treating children.

Successful clearance of extensive/recalcitrant cutaneous warts by acitretin monotherapy: A case series study.

Most available options for the treatment of warts are limited by the potential for scarring, pain, lack of response, or recurrences, and the patients are often unable to tolerate and accept those experiences. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of oral systemic acitretin monotherapy in patients with extensive/recalcitrant cutaneous warts. The patients were given a dose of acitretin of 0.8 mg kg-1 day-1 , and the clinical efficacy and safety of acitretin was assessed every 2 weeks for 2 months. A total of 14 patients (12 males and 2 females) were included, with an age of 14-60 years (mean 33 ± 14.7 years) and a course of 4-48 months (mean 21.6 ± 13.4 months). After 2 months of acitretin treatment, 42.9% (6/14) of patients (including warts of the feet, legs, and hands) exhibited complete response, 28.6% (4/14) excellent response, and 28.6% (4/14) good response. All patients demonstrated significant improvement, and the drug was well tolerated, with no patients discontinuing therapy due to side effects. Common mild side effects included dry skin and cheilitis. There were no recurrences during a follow-up period of 6 months. Acitretin monotherapy is an effective, safe, and well-tolerated treatment for patients with extensive/recalcitrant cutaneous warts who are unsuitable for or unwilling to accept traditional treatment methods.

Prognostic and clinicopathological value of PD-L1 in colorectal cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: The prognostic role of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) in colorectal cancer remains unclear. We employed a meta-analysis to explore the prognostic value of PD-L1 and to ascertain the relationship between PD-L1 expression and clinicopathological characteristics in CRC patients. Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Library until October 2018. Eligible studies about colorectal cancer that pay attention to PD-L1 expression and studies reporting survival information were included. In order to evaluate the prognostic role of PD-L1 for overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS)/disease-free survival (DFS), Hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used. Odds ratio (OR) with 95% CI was selected to appraise the correlation between PD-L1 with clinicopathological characteristics of colorectal cancer patients. Begg's funnel plot was used to assess publication bias. Results: Twelve studies involving 4344 patients published from 2013 to 2018 were included in this meta-analysis. Pooled results revealed that PD-L1 overexpression was relevant to shorter OS (HR 1.47, 95% CI =1.01-2.15, p=0.04) and shorter RFS/DFS (HR 1.47, 95% CI =1.01-2.15, p=0.04). Moreover, Patients with high expression of PD-L1 associated with inferior tumor stage (OR=0.57, 95% CI: 0.45, 0.74, p<0.0001) and Vascular invasion-negativity (OR=0.75, 95% CI: 0.6, 0.94, p=0.01). But the expression of PD-L1 is not related to age, sex, tumor location, tumor differentiation, pT stage, pN stage, MSI/MMR status. Conclusion: This meta-analysis revealed that PD-L1 can serve as a significant biomarker for negative prognosis and the adverse clinicopathological features of colorectal cancer and could facilitate the better management of individual patients.

Two de novo GJA1 mutation in two sporadic patients with erythrokeratodermia variabilis et progressiva.

BACKGROUND: Erythrokeratodermia variabilis et progressiva (EKVP, OMIM 133200) is a rare hereditary disorder characterized by varies from transient, fast moving erythema to persistent brown hyperkeratotic plaques. Recently, mutations in the genes gap junction alpha 1 gene (GJA1), GJB3, and GJB4 have been reported to cause EKVP. Here, we report the identification of two de novo missense mutations in the GJA1 gene in two unrelated individuals with EKVP. METHODS: The patients and his family members were subjected to mutation detection in the candidate gene GJA1, GJB3, and GJB4 by Sanger sequencing. The expression of connexin (Cx) 43 was detected by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence (IF) studies in the lesions. RESULTS: A 12-year-old boy presented with multiple hyperkeratotic plaques on the face, neck, elbows, wrists, limbs, knees, inguinal region, hands, and feet. A 7-year-old girl presented with symmetrical erythematous, plaques on the hands, feet, wrists, and ankles. A novel heterozygous missense mutation c.848C > T (p.P283L) in exon 2 of the GJA1 gene was identified in both patients. A novel heterozygous missense mutation c.869C > A (p.T290N) in exon 2 of the GJA1 gene was also identified in the boy. These mutations were not found in the unaffected family members and 100 normal controls. In the patients' lesions, Cx43 protein was located to the cytomembrane and cytoplasm in the stratum corneum, and granular layer. Compound heterozygous mutations in the boy showed a more severe clinical phenotype and cytoplasmic mislocalization. CONCLUSIONS: The novel mutations c.848C > T (p.P283L) and c.869C > A(p.T290N) arose de novo and were considered as the cause of two Chinese EKVP. GJA1 P283L and T290N mutations lead to Cx43 protein cytoplasmic mislocalization. Our finding expands the mutant spectrum of GJA1 gene and adds new understanding of the genotype-phenotype correlation.

IL-22 Down-Regulates Cx43 Expression and Decreases Gap Junctional Intercellular Communication by Activating the JNK Pathway in Psoriasis.

The roles of IL-22 in the pathomechanisms of psoriasis have been well demonstrated. Gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) is widely known for its involvement in multiple biological and pathological processes such as growth-related events, cell differentiation, and inflammation. Here, we show that IL-22 significantly decreased GJIC and down-regulated Cx43 expression in HaCaT cells. Cx43 overexpression markedly inhibited the proliferation of and increased GJIC in HaCaT cells, but the silencing of Cx43 exerted the opposite effects. Additionally, Cx43 overexpression effectively rescued the IL-22-induced decrease in GJIC in HaCaT cells. The IL-22-induced down-regulation of Cx43 expression and decrease in GJIC can be significantly blocked by the JNK inhibitor SP600125 and by the overexpression of IL-22RA2 (which specifically binds to IL-22 and inhibits its activity), but not by the NF-κB inhibitor BAY11-7082, in HaCaT cells. Furthermore, the IL-22-induced down-regulation of Cx43 expression mediated by the JNK signaling pathway was confirmed in a mouse model of IL-22-induced psoriasis-like dermatitis. Similarly, Cx43 expression was significantly lower in the lesional skin than in the nonlesional skin of patients with psoriasis. These results suggest that IL-22 decreases GJIC by activating the JNK signaling pathway, which down-regulates Cx43 expression; this process is a possible pathomechanism of keratinocyte hyperproliferation in psoriasis.

Efficacy and safety of acitretin monotherapy in children with pustular psoriasis: results from 15 cases and a literature review.

BACKGROUND: There is a few evidence-based information regarding the efficacy and safety of acitretin treatment in children with pustular psoriasis (PP). OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to provide an additional evidence for this field. METHODS: A retrospective study was undertaken for 15 children with PP who received acitretin in doses of 0.6-1.0 mg/kg/day for 4-6 weeks, the transition dose of 0.2-0.4 mg/kg/day for 4-6 weeks and maintenance dose of 0.2-0.3 mg/kg/day. Additionally, a literature review on this topic is conducted. RESULTS: Of 15 children with generalized PP (GPP, n = 10), palmoplantar psoriasis (PPP, n = 3), and acrodermatitis continua of Hallopeau (ACH, n = 2), 93.3% (14/15) showed good response, only one case with ACH exhibited moderate response. During the 10-32 months of follow-up, acitrerin monotherapy for children cases with PP overall showed good efficacy and safety. In the literature review, a total of 107 childhood PP cases treated with acitretin in 21 studies were included in the analysis. The clinical effectiveness was obtained in 88.8% (95/107) patients treated with acitretin as monotherapy or combination therapy, and most of cases (92.6%, 100/107) treated by acitretin did not report side effects during the treatment and follow-up of acitretin. LIMITATION: This study is just included a small sample sizes and no standardized studies were used in the literature. CONCLUSION: Acitretin therapy for children with PP (monotherapy or combination therapy), all showed a satisfactory therapeutic effect and safety, independent of the short or long-tern therapeutic procedures.

Interleukin 4 -590C/T (rs2243250) Polymorphism Is Associated With Increased Risk of Atopic Dermatitis: Meta-Analysis of Case-Control Studies.

BACKGROUND: Interleukin 4 (IL-4) -590C/T polymorphism has been reported to influence atopic dermatitis (AD) susceptibility, but the results are controversial. OBJECTIVE: This meta-analysis was performed to study the association between IL-4 -590C/T polymorphism and AD susceptibility. METHODS: The PubMed, Embase, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases were searched. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were performed to estimate the strength of the association. RESULTS: Ten studies comprising 923 cases and 1215 controls were included. The overall population revealed significant associations between IL-4 -590C/T polymorphism and AD susceptibility under the allele (OR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.03-1.38; I = 0.0%), recessive (OR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.002-1.61; I = 0.0%), and dominant (OR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.003-1.76; I = 0.0%) models; similar results were found under the allele (OR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.01-1.39; I = 0.0%) and recessive (OR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.001-1.62; I = 0.0%) models after excluding not-in-Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium studies. However, subgroup analyses by ethnicity showed no significant association in Asians or whites. Subgroup analyses by age indicated a significant association in children under the allele (OR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.06-1.60; I = 0.0%) and dominant (OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.02-1.97; I = 0.0%) models, children in articles with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium under the allele model (OR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.05-1.69; I = 0.0%), and Asian children under the allele model (OR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.02-1.95; I = 0.0%) but not in white children. CONCLUSIONS: The IL-4 -590C/T polymorphism may contribute to AD susceptibility in the overall population and children, especially for Asian children, but large well-designed studies are warranted to confirm this conclusion.