Economic Hardship, Ocular Complications, and Poor Self-reported Visual Function are Predictors of Mental Problems in Patients with Uveitis.

Purpose: To characterize the quality of life and mental health status of patients with uveitis and investigate predictors of psychological problems.Methods: A total of 245 patients and 105 controls were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Quality of life, psychological status, socio-demographic and clinical data were obtained from questionnaires and medical records. Multivariate regression analyses and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) were applied to obtain the model predicting psychological problems of patients.Results: Of 245 patients, 16.7% and 26.5% (P< .0001) screened positive for anxiety and depression, respectively. The model predicting anxiety was comprised of low annual household income and poor self-reported visual function (P= .029,P< .0001, respectively), with an AUC of ROC of 0.744. The model predicting depression was comprised of poor self-reported visual function and ocular complications (P< .0001, P= .012, respectively), with an AUC of 0.78.Conclusions: Economic hardship, ocular complications, and poor self-reported visual function are predictors of mental problems in patients with uveitis.

Successful application of anti-CD19 CAR-T therapy with IL-6 knocking down to patients with central nervous system B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia.

Few studies have described chimeric antigen receptor-modified T cell (CAR-T) therapy for central nervous system (CNS) B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia (B-ALL) patients due to life-threatening CAR-T-related encephalopathy (CRES) safety issues. In this study, CAR-Ts targeting CD19 with short hairpin RNA (shRNA)-IL-6 gene silencing technology (ssCART-19s) were prepared. We conducted a phase 1 clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03064269). Three patients with relapsed CNS B-ALL were enrolled, conditioned with the fludarabine and cyclophosphamide for lymphocyte depletion and infused with ssCART-19s for three consecutive days. Clinical symptoms and laboratory examinations were monitored. After ssCART-19 treatment, three patients' symptoms resolved almost entirely. Brain leukemic infiltration reduced significantly based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and there were no leukemic blasts in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which was confirmed by cytological and molecular examinations. Additionally, increases in the levels of cytokines and immune cells were observed in the CSF of all patients. Only grade 1 cytokine release syndrome (CRS) manifesting as fever was noted in patients. In conclusion, CAR-Ts with shRNA-IL-6 gene knockdown migrated into the CNS, eradicated leukemic cells and elevated cytokines in CSF with mild, acceptable side effects.

Genotype-Phenotype Association Study Reveals CFI-Rs13104777 to be a Protective Genetic Marker Against Acute Anterior Uveitis.

PURPOSE: To investigate the roles of CFI, genotype-phenotype associations were identified in AAU. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted in a total of 575 subjects consisting of 279 AAU patients and 296 healthy controls. Genotypic analyses were performed using Sequenom MassARRAY technology. Analyses were stratified to a series of clinical ophthalmic confounding factors. RESULTS: A lower frequency of the CFI-rs13104777 C allele was found in the AAU cohort compared with the controls, and, thus, was significantly associated with AAU pathogenesis (p = 0.041, OR = 0.712, 95% CI: 0.513-0.987). Stratified analysis also demonstrated the associations may differ depending on the HLA-B27 status and laterality status. CONCLUSIONS: This study has revealed a significant genetic role for CFI-rs13104777 in AAU. This influence may be dependent on human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27 and disease laterality. Overall, the results provide evidence for a pathogenic role for CFI in AAU and expand our knowledge on the genetic basis of AAU.

[Eukaryotic expression and biological activity of recombinant human IL-17B protein].

AIM: To construct pCEP4/hIL-17B recombinant expression vector and express it stably in eukaryotic cells and investigate the biological activity in vitro. METHODS: The CDS region of human IL-17B gene was cloned by RT-PCR. After identification by sequencing, the hIL-17B gene was inserted into expression vector of pCEP4 to construct the recombinant vector pCEP4/hIL-17B, then transfected into 293T cells. The transgenic 293T cell line stably expressing rhIL-17B protein was selected in the presence of Hygromycin B. After FCS-free cultivation and sub-cloning, The IL-17B/mFc gene and protein expression was confirmed by RT-PCR, ELISA and Western blot analysis. To investigate the ability of combination with IL-17B receptor on human leukemic monocytic cell line, THP-1, by Flow cytometrical analysis (FACS) and of stimulation to secret cytokines in vitro. RESULTS: The recombinant pCEP4/hIL-17B and its transgenic 293T cells stably expressing rhIL-17B protein were obtained successfully. FACS analysis showed its high affinity with its receptor and it can stimulated THP-1 cell line to excrete IL-1ß and TNF-α in vitro and consistently caused a dose-dependent influx of neutrophil into the peritoneal cavity by intraperitoneal injection in vivo. CONCLUSION: The obtainment of transgenic 293T cell line stably expressing rhIL-17B protein paved the way for further study on biological functions of hIL-17B.