Rejection of Acellular Porcine Corneal Stroma Transplantation During Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.

ABSTRACT: To report 2 successfully managed cases of graft rejection with acellular porcine corneal stroma (APCS) transplantation in patients with fungal corneal ulcer. Two patients were diagnosed with fungal corneal ulcer and received APCS transplantation. Graft rejection developed due to the lost follow-up during the period of coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak. Amniotic membranes transplantation and cauterization of neovascularization was performed, respectively. The graft failure resolved successfully after the procedure. To the best of our knowledge, amniotic membranes transplantation and cauterization of new vessels are the firstly reported in treating APCS graft failure. Amniotic membranes transplantation or cauterization of neovascularization appear to be a safe and costeffective method for treating graft failure.

Edge defect switched dual spin filter in zigzag hexagonal boron nitride nanoribbons.

Unlike graphene nanoribbons, zigzag monolayer hexagonal boron nitride nanoribbons (ZBNNRs) possess two distinct edges (B and N edges). Using first-principles calculations, we investigate the spin-dependent electronic transport of ZBNNRs with edge defects. It is found that the defects could make the system operate as a dual spin filter, where the direction of spin polarization is switched by the defect. Further analysis shows that the transmission eigenchannels for the opposite spins reside spatially separated on opposite edges. The defect on one edge could suppress the transmission for only one spin component, but preserve that for the other spin, resulting in a dual spin filter effect. This effect is found to be unaffected by the width of the ribbon and the length of the defect. Moreover, by constructing defects on both edges, the system exhibits two transmission peaks with opposite spins residing discretely on both sides of the Fermi level, suggesting that an electrically controlled dual spin filter based on ZBNNRs is also realizable. As controllable defects have been experimentally fabricated on monolayer boron nitride [T. Pham, A. L. Gibb, Z. Li, S. M. Gilbert, C. Song, S. G. Louie and A. Zettl, Nano Lett., 2016, 16, 7142-7147], our results may shed light on the development of B/N-based spintronic devices.

Blockade of mGluR5 in the nucleus accumbens shell but not core attenuates heroin seeking behavior in rats.

AIM: Glutamatergic neurotransmission in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) is crucial for the relapse to heroin seeking. The aim of this study was to determine whether mGluR5 in the NAc core or shell involved in heroin seeking behavior in rats. METHODS: Male SD rats were self-administered heroin under a fixed-ratio 1 (FR1) reinforcement schedule for 14 d, and subsequently withdrawn for 2 weeks. The selective mGluR5 antagonist 2-methyl-6-phenylethynyl-pyridine (MPEP, 5, 15 and 50 nmol per side) was then microinjected into the NAc core or shell 10 min before a heroin-seeking test induced by context, cues or heroin priming. RESULTS: Microinjection of MPEP into the NAc shell dose-dependently decreased the heroin seeking induced by context, cues or heroin priming. In contrast, microinjection of MPEP into the NAc core did not alter the heroin seeking induced by cues or heroin priming. In addition, microinjection with MPEP (15 nmol per side) in the NAc shell reversed both the percentage of open arms entries (OE%) and the percentage of time spent in open arms (OT%) after heroin withdrawal. Microinjection of MPEP (50 nmol per side) in the striatum as a control location did not affect the heroin seeking behavior. Microinjection of MPEP in the 3 locations did not change the locomotion activities. CONCLUSION: Blockade of mGluR5 in NAc shell in rats specifically suppresses the relapse to heroin-seeking and anxiety-like behavior, suggesting that mGluR5 antagonists may be a potential candidate for the therapy of heroin addiction.

Association of rs10954213 polymorphisms and haplotype diversity in interferon regulatory factor 5 with systemic lupus erythematosus: a meta-analysis.

The rs10954213 polymorphism and the haplotype diversity in interferon regulatory factor 5 (IRF5) play a special role in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) but with inconclusive results. We conducted a meta-analysis integrating case-control and haplotype variant studies in multiple ethnic populations to clearly discern the effect of these two variants on SLE. Eleven studies on the relation between rs10954213 polymorpisms in IRF5 and SLE were included and we selected a random effect model to calculate the pooled odds ratios (ORs) and the corresponding 95% confidence interval (95% CI). A total of 6982 cases and 8077 controls were involved in the meta-analysis. The pooled results indicated that A allele was significantly associated with increased risk of SLE as compared with the IRF5 rs10954213 G allele (A vs. G, P<0.00001) in all subjects. The same pattern of the results was also obtained in the European, African American, and Latin American. Asian population had a much lower prevalence of the A allele (49.1%) than any other population studied, and Europeans had the highest frequency of the IRF5 rs10954213 A allele (62.1%). The significant association of increased SLE risk and TCA haplotype was indicated in the contrast of TCA vs. TTA as the pooled OR was 2.14 (P=0.002). The same result was also found in the contrast of TCA vs. TTG as the pooled OR was 1.45 (P=0.004). This meta-analysis suggests that the A allele of rs10954213 and TCA haplotype (rs2004640-rs2070197-rs10954213) in IRF5 is associated with the increased risk of SLE in different ethnic groups, and its prevalence is ethnicity dependent.

Non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents with mood disorders and the roles of self-compassion and emotional regulation.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the characteristics and psychological mechanism of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in adolescents with mood disorders. We examined how self-compassion and emotional regulation affected NSSI and tested the mediating role of self-compassion in the link between emotional regulation and NSSI. Method: We recruited outpatient and inpatient adolescent patients with bipolar and related disorders or depressive disorders (DSM-5), with a focus on NSSI. We also recruited healthy controls from the community. We collected demographic and clinical data. The Adolescent Self-injury Questionnaire, Self-compassion Scale (SCS), and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) were used to assess the frequency and severity of NSSI, level of self-compassion, and emotional regulation. Results: In total, we recruited 248 adolescent patients with mood disorders (N = 196 with NSSI, and 52 without NSSI) and 212 healthy controls. NSSI was significantly associated with the female sex, lower levels of education and less use of cognitive reappraisal strategies, lower levels of self-warmth, and higher levels of self-coldness. Multivariate analysis of variance showed that there were significant differences in the scores of ERQ, cognitive reassessment score, and the scores of SCS among the three groups, but no statistical differences in expressive suppression score among the three groups. Self-warmth had a mediating effect between cognitive reappraisal and NSSI behavior. Conclusion: NSSI is prevalent among adolescent patients with mood disorders in clinical settings, especially among girls and those with lower levels of education and less cognitive reappraisal strategies. More clinical attention is needed. Self-compassion and its factors may mediate the association between emotional regulation and NSSI. Clinical implications and future research directions were discussed.

Synthesis and molecular docking study of novel coumarin derivatives containing 4,5-dihydropyrazole moiety as potential antitumor agents.

A series of novel coumarin derivatives containing 4,5-dihydropyrazole moiety as potential telomerase inhibitors were synthesized. The bioassay tests show that compound 3d exhibited potentially high activity against human gastric cancer cell SGC-7901 with IC(50) value of 2.69 ± 0.60 µg/mL. All title compounds were assayed for telomerase inhibition by a modified TRAP assay, the results show that compounds 3d and 3f can strongly inhibit telomerase with IC(50) values of 2.0 ± 0.07 and 1.8 ± 0.35 µM, respectively. Docking simulation was performed to position compound 3d into the telomerase (3DU6) active site to determine the probable binding model.

Synthesis and molecular docking studies of novel 2-chloro-pyridine derivatives containing flavone moieties as potential antitumor agents.

A series of novel 2-chloro-pyridine derivatives containing flavone, chrome or dihydropyrazole moieties as potential telomerase inhibitors were synthesized. The bioassay tests showed that compounds 6e and 6f exhibited some effect against gastric cancer cell SGC-7901 with IC(50) values of 22.28+/-6.26 and 18.45+/-2.79 microg/mL, respectively. All title compounds were assayed for telomerase inhibition by a modified TRAP assay, the results showed that compound 6e can strongly inhibit telomerase with IC(50) value of 0.8+/-0.07 microM. Docking simulation was performed to position compound 6e into the active site of telomerase (3DU6) to determine the probable binding model.

[Biodistribution and positron emission tomography imaging of 11C-acetate in murine model of lung carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the biodistribution and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of 11C-acetate (11C-AC) in a murine model of pulmonary carcinoma, and to evaluate the use of 11C-AC for diagnosis of malignant tumor. METHODS: A total of 30 T739 mice underwent subcutaneous injection of mouse pulmonary adenocarcinoma cells of the line LA-795 to establish adenocarcinoma models and then were randomly divided into five equal groups. Four groups underwent intravenous injection of 11C-acetate through the caudal vein, killed 5, 10, 20, and 30 minutes later respectively, underwent PET, and then their organs and tumors were isolated. The mice in the control group underwent injection of 11F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) and were killed 60 min later. The biodistribution of 11C-AC and that of 18F-FDG were measured with well-gamma detector. The ratios of the levels of percentage activity of injection dose per gram of tissue between the tumor and normal tissues (T/NT ratios), were calculated. RESULTS: In the biodistribution study of 11C-AC, considerable radioactive uptake of tumor was observed, and much radioactivity was showed in kidney, liver, and spleen. The ratios of tumor/blood, tumor/muscle, and tumor/lung were all above 2. 0. The tumor PET images with 11C-AC as tracer were as clear as that with 18F-FDGas tracer. The 11C-AC standard uptake value (SUV) of the tumors was 2.8 +/- 0.8, significantly lower than that of 18F-FDG (5.3 +/- 1.6, P <0.01). CONCLUSION: 11C-AC can be used in PET imaging of pulmonary malignancy. The optimized imaging acquisition time point is 20 min after injection. It may become a complementary tracer in the cases with unsatisfying 18F-FDG images.

Influence of CaNa2 EDTA on topical 5-aminolaevulinic acid photodynamic therapy.

BACKGROUND: We assessed whether the CaNa2 EDTA could improve the accumulation of protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) and photosensitisation in HEp-2 cells as well as the depth of treatment of skin cancers on the topical 5-Aminolaevulinic acid (5-ALA) PDT. METHODS: HEp-2 cells were incubated with 5-ALA (0-1 mmol/L) and CaNa2EDTA (0-1 mmol/L) for 4 hours, intracellular protoporphyrin IX content was quantified by extraction, and cell viability was assessed by use of the methyl-tetrazolium (MTT) assay four hours after exposure to light. In comparison with the pictures before and after treatment, depth of treatment could be determined using a Acuson Sequioa 512 phase-array system in paired experiments. RESULTS: PpIX accumulation increased with increasing extracellular concentrations of ALA (0-1 mmol/L). Adding 1 mmol/L of CaNa2EDTA increased 30% PpIX accumulation over the same period of incubation in the concentration of 1 mmol/L ALA. Significant difference was observed between the 5-ALA alone group and 5-ALA combined CaNa2 EDTA group in the PpIX accumulation (P < 0.01). Cell viability after exposure to light decreased with adding CaNa2 EDTA, a statistical difference in a same fluence above 1.2 J/cm2 between two groups was demonstrated (P < 0.05, P < 0.01 respectively). Depth of treatment of skin cancers were increased in CaNa2 EDTA-treated group. CONCLUSION: CaNa2 EDTA could improve the PpIX accumulation and photosensitisation in HEp-2 cells. Clinically, CaNa2 EDTA could increase the depth of treatment in the cutaneous cancers.

Selective beta-1 blockers deteriorate glucose metabolism. A meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To provide an up-to-date synthesis of available data, and to quantify the effect of highly selective beta-1 blockers on glucose metabolism in patients with essential hypertension and type diabetes mellitus (T2DM) by using pooled analysis techniques. METHODS: Cochrane Library, PubMed, MEDLINE, and EMBASE databases were searched from inception to July 2013 in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China. We collected randomized controlled trails reporting on the effect of highly selective beta-1 blockers on glucose metabolism in patients with hypertension and type 2 diabetes. Data was screened, evaluated, and extracted by 2 independent researchers according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan5.0 software. RESULTS: Seven trials were enrolled in the meta-analysis including a total of 1354 patients. Meta-analysis results revealed that when compared with the control group, selective beta-1 blockers were associated with a higher fasting blood glucose (weighed mean difference: 0.21, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.16-0.27; p<0.00001). But results revealed no significant difference in glycosylated hemoglobin (weighed mean difference: 0.13, 95% CI: -0.11 to 0.37; p=0.28), fasting insulin (weighed mean difference: -1.13, 95% CI: -4.27 to 2.01; p=0.48), and gain in body weight (weighed mean difference: 1, 95% CI: -1.08 to 3.08; p=0.35). CONCLUSION: Selective beta-1 blockers were associated with elevated fasting blood glucose. Thus, it should not be used for patients with essential hypertension and diabetes.