Platelet extracellular vesicles: Darkness and light of autoimmune diseases.

Autoimmune diseases are characterized by a breakdown of immune tolerance, leading to inflammation and irreversible end-organ tissue damage. Platelet extracellular vesicles are cellular elements that are important in blood circulation and actively participate in inflammatory and immune responses through intercellular communication and interactions between inflammatory cells, immune cells, and their secreted factors. Therefore, platelet extracellular vesicles are the "accelerator" in the pathological process of autoimmune diseases; however, this robust set of functions of platelet extracellular vesicles has also prompted new advances in therapeutic strategies for autoimmune diseases. In this review, we update fundamental mechanisms based on platelet extracellular vesicles communication function in autoimmune diseases. We also focus on the potential role of platelet extracellular vesicles for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Some recent studies have found that antiplatelet aggregation drugs, specific biological agents can reduce the release of platelet extracellular vesicles. Platelet extracellular vesicles can also serve as vehicles to deliver drugs to targeted cells. It seems that we can try to silence or inhibit microRNA carried by platelet extracellular vesicles transcription and regulate the target cells to treat autoimmune diseases as platelet extracellular vesicles can transfer microRNA to other cells to regulate immune-inflammatory responses. Hopefully, the information presented here will provide hope for patients with autoimmune diseases.

Autoimmune diseases patients are characterized by autoimmune disorders, whose immune system cannot distinguish between auto- and foreign-antigens. Autoimmune diseases is the third significant disease threatening human health after cardiovascular disease and cancer. However, the exact etiology of autoimmune diseases has yet to be fully elucidated. Several studies have shown that platelet extracellular vesicle content is elevated in multiple autoimmune disorders and positively correlates with disease activity. However, our knowledge about the details of the mechanisms still remains limited and fragmentary. This article updates the communication function of platelet extracellular vesicles in accelerating autoimmune and inflammatory responses. The interesting thing is every coin has two sides. We put forward a new treatment idea for AD based on the particular volume and powerful intercellular communication function of platelet extracellular vesicles. Inhibition of the communication function of platelet extracellular vesicles seems to be considered in the future, or silence or block miRNA of platelet extracellular vesicles involved in the pathogenesis of AD. We can even use it as a drug carrier to deliver the drug to the relevant target cells, thereby enhancing the role of the medicine in regulating immune response and inhibiting inflammation. This paper not only provides a deeper understanding of the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases but also provides theoretical support for the use of platelet extracellular vesicles to achieve targeted therapy.

Music-based interventions to improve fibromyalgia syndrome: A meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the effects of music therapy on pain, depression and quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia. METHODS: Ten online databases were searched to identify randomized controlled trials that investigated the effects of music therapy on fibromyalgia patients, published up to 1st January 2019. The results were filtered and independently extracted. Statistical heterogeneity was assessed using the chi-square test. According to the outcome of the heterogeneity indices, either a fixed effect or a random effect model was used. RESULTS: In total, seven randomized controlled trials were included. The Pain Visual Analog Scale, the McGill Pain Scale, the Beck Depression Scale and the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire were used as outcome measures. Our evidence indicated that patient intervention with music therapy had lower scores on the Pain Visual Analog Scale (95% confidence interval [CI] -2.22 to -1.18, Z = 6.44, P < 0.00001, four studies) and Beck Depression Scale (95% CI -0.65 to -0.03, Z = 2.17, P = 0.03, two studies). No significant differences were observed on the McGill Pain Scale between the music intervention and control groups (95% CI -0.83 to -0.09, Z = 1.59, P = 0.11). A general qualitative description of the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire results was given due to high heterogeneity (I2 = 96%, P < 0.00001). CONCLUSIONS: The music therapy is superior to non-music therapy in the treatment of pain, depression, and improvement of quality of life in fibromyalgia patients. However, due to the low quantity and quality of the included studies, a larger number and high-quality of RCTs are needed to confirm the beneficial effects of music therapy.

Methodological quality of cohort study on rheumatic diseases in China: A systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate systematically the quality of the cohort studies on rheumatic diseases in China. METHODS: Relevant databases were searched to find cohort studies on rheumatic diseases in China, and the basic information included in the literature was extracted and analyzed. Chinese and English literature were then compared with regard to methodological quality, according to the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). RESULTS: In total, we included 46 cohort studies, with 19 studies published in English and 27 studies published in Chinese. With regard to the basic characteristics of the literature, 78.26% of the studies were published in the past four years; 16 studies were associated with hyperuricemia, followed by eight studies involving systemic lupus erythematosus. The sample size of the studies in Chinese was lower than that in English studies (P< 0.05). The English literature was superior to the Chinese literature in terms of informed consent, ethical review and selection of statistical analysis methods. The methodology quality of the 46 included studies showed that the English and Chinese NOS scores were 5.59 ± 1.25 and 6.06 ± 1.11, respectively, and the difference was significant (P< 0.01). The "representativeness of the exposed group", "demonstration that outcome of interest was not present at start of study", and the "adequacy of follow up of cohorts" scores were relatively low in Chinese and English studies. The score for "was follow-up long enough for outcomes to occur" item in English was higher than that in the Chinese studies; however, the "study controls for the most important factor" score for Chinese papers was better than that for the English papers. CONCLUSION: The Chinese rheumatic disease cohort studies started late, with a small sample size and fewer types of rheumatism. The quality of Chinese studies was better than English studies, and all reports were insufficient. In particular, "selecting exposed groups", "controlling the outcomes before study implementation" and "adequacy of follow-up" needed improvement.

Development of a monoclonal antibody-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the herbicide chlorimuron-ethyl.

Hybridomas secreting a monoclonal antibody (mAb) against the herbicide chlorimuron-ethyl (CE) were produced by fusing the mouse myeloma cell line (SP2/0) with splenocytes from a mouse immunized against the conjugate of the sulfonamide moiety of CE and bovine serum albumin (BSA). The mAb, designated 1F5C5A10, had very weak affinity with metsulfuron, ethametsulfuron, pyrazosulfuron, bensulfuron, and chlorsulfuron. Two mAb-based indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (icELISA) were developed. A conventional icELISA (icELISA-I) showed a concentration of half-maximum inhibition (IC(50)) of 11.6 ng/mL with a dynamic range of 1.6-84 ng/mL. A simplified icELISA (icELISA-II) had an IC(50) of 28.7 ng/mL and a dynamic range of 2.2-372 ng/mL. The two assays were tested on spiked water and soil samples. CE (1-500 ng/mL) fortified in water samples could be analyzed directly without any sample preparation by both immunoassays with an average recovery between 74 and 114%. icELISA-II, but not icELISA-I, was able to accurately analyze the herbicide residues in the crude soil extracts with recoveries between 99 and 129% without obvious matrix effects due to its lesser amount of sample used. In contrast to icELISA-I, icELISA-II is more convenient, whereas it consumes more reagents of coating antigen and goat anti-mouse IgG-peroxidase.

Comparison between conventional indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (icELISA) and simplified icELISA for small molecules.

A simplified indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (icELISA) for small molecules was established by modifying the procedure of conventional icELISA. The key change was that the analyte, antibody, and enzyme-labeled second antibody in the simplified icELISA were added in one step, whereas in conventional icELISA these reagents were added in two separate steps. Three small chemicals, namely zeatin riboside, glycyrrhetinic acid, and chlorimuron-ethyl, were used to verify the new assay format and compare the results obtained from conventional icELISA and simplified icELISA. The results indicated that, under optimized conditions, the new assay offered several advantages over the conventional icELISA, which are simpler, less time consuming and higher sensitive although it requires more amount of reagents. The assay sensitivity (IC50) was improved for 1.2-1.4-fold. Four licorice roots samples were analyzed by conventional icELISA and simplified icELISA, as well as liquid chromatography (LC). There was no significant difference among the content obtained from the three methods for each sample. The correlation between data obtained from conventional icELISA and simplified icELISA analyses was 0.9888. The results suggest that the simplified icELISA be useful for high throughput screening of small molecules.