Adaptive protection against damage of preconditioning human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells with hydrogen peroxide.

Adaptive protection against damage to human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) was investigated by preconditioning with low-concentration hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) for a short-time period. Separation, culture, amplification, purification, and identification of immunophenotype and growth curve measurements of hUC-MSCs were performed in vitro. At the logarithmic phase, hUC-MSCs were incubated with different (H2O2) concentrations for 1 and 12 h, and the effects were detected by a cell metabolism assay. Then, hUC-MSCs were preconditioned with 10, 20, 50, and 100 mM (H2O2) for 1 h, restored for 0, 12, and 24 h, and then damaged with 700, 800, and 900 mM (H2O2) for 12 h. Cell morphology, cell metabolism, and the number of cells were measured to determine the protective role of preconditioning. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that the cells expressed CD29 and CD44, but not CD34 and CD45. The growth curve showed that hUC-MSCs reached the logarithmic phase in 3-6 days. The cell metabolism assay showed that (H2O2) induced hUC-MSCs damage in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The cell morphology, cell metabolism, and number of cells all showed that preconditioning with 10, 20, 50, and 100 mM (H2O2) for 1 h and restoration for 12 h prevented subsequent damage with 700, 800, and 900 mM (H2O2) on hUC-MSCs. Preconditioning with low-concentration (H2O2) for a short time has a protective effect of preventing damage on hUC-MSCs exposed to high-concentration (H2O2) for a long time, which is dependent on H2O2 concentration and the time interval between preconditioning and damage.

Changes of Th1/Th2 cytokines in immunocompetent patients with pulmonary cryptococcosis.

The aim of this study was to investigate the changes of Th1/Th2 cytokines in immunocompetent patients with pulmonary cryptococcosis (PC). Twenty immunocompetent patients with PC were identified by histopathological examination and were enrolled in the study along with the age- and gender-matched healthy controls. The serum concentrations of interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin-4 (IL-4), and interleukin-12 (IL-12) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in both groups were isolated and incubated with or without recombinant human IL-12 (rhIL-12) for 48 h, and the concentrations of IFN-g and IL-4 in the supernatant were measured by ELISA. Serum IFN-γ levels were greatly decreased in the patients compared with control groups (P < 0.01), whereas no significant difference was observed in serum IL-4 and IL-12 levels. The concentrations of IFN-γ and IL-4 in the supernatant of PBMCs without the stimulation of rhIL-12 showed no differences between the two groups. Treatment with rhIL-12 stimulated the release of IFN-γ, but not IL-4, into the supernatant of PBMCs in both groups, with a lower increase observed in the patients (4.3-fold) compared to that of controls (7.9-fold) (P < 0.01). Serum IFN-γ levels may be dampened in immunocompetent patients with PC with no significant changes in serum IL-4 and IL-12 levels. The deficiency in the response to IL-12 stimulation of Th1 cells may be one of the underlying mechanisms for the decline in serum IFN-γ levels.

[The analysis of prognosis-associated factors in adults with acute promyelocytic leukemia].

Objective: To explore the prognostic value of CD34, CD2, CD56 expressions and FLT3-ITD mutation in adults with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) . Methods: The immuno-phenotypic and molecular characteristics of 137 adult patients with APL (from January 2010 to March 2016, in Henan Provincial People's Hospital) were investigated. And the relationships between CD34, CD2, CD56 expressions, FLT3-ITD mutation and the outcomes of high WBC counts at onset, complete remission (CR) rate, early mortality, relapse rate (RR) , overall survival (OS) , disease free survival (DFS) were explored. Results: ①Among the 137 patients, the positive ratios of CD34, CD2, CD56 expressions and mutation rate of FLT3-ITD were 26.3%, 25.5%, 10.2% and 17.5%, respectively. The morbidities of positive CD34, CD2, CD56 expressions and FLT3-ITD mutation in the high-risk group were 43.2%, 47.7%, 18.2% and 27.3% respectively, while those in the low-/intermediate-risk groups were 18.3%, 15.1%, 6.5% and 12.9%, respectively (P<0.05) . ②At a median follow-up of 41 months, the total CR rate of the 137 adults APL patients was 96.9%, early mortality 6.6% and relapse rate 7.3% respectively. And RR of positive CD34 or CD2 expression patients was higher than negative CD34/CD2 expression ones (18.8% vs 3.3%, χ(2)=8.462, P=0.004; 16.1% vs 4.3%, χ(2)=4.382, P=0.028, respectively) . In addition, the early mortality of patients with positive CD56 expression or FLT3-ITD mutation was extremely higher than in negative ones (21.4% vs 4.9%, χ(2)=5.610, P=0.018; 16.7% vs 4.4%, χ(2)=4.833, P=0.028, respectively) . ③The whole OS and DFS were 88.3% and 84.7%, respectively. Wherein, OS and DFS in patients with CD34(+), CD56(+) or FLT3-ITD mutation were worse (P<0.05) . Conclusions: Positive CD34, CD2, CD56 expression and FLT3-ITD mutation were latent poor prognostic factors in adults with APL.