Cell-Mediated Immunity Imbalance in Patients with Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy

Decidual lymphocytes may mediate fetal trophoblast recognition and regulate maternal immune reaction and play an essential role in the maintenance of normal pregnancy. The aim of this study was to compare the percentage of T cells, natural killer （NK） cells and natural killer T （NKT） cells within decidual parietalis of normal pregnant controls （NP） and patients with intraheptic cholestasis of pregnancy （ICP）, and to investigate the production of interleukin-4 （IL-4）, interferon-γ （IFN-γ） in the culture supernatant of decidual parietalis mononuclear cells （DPMCs）. Compared with controls, the decidua parietalis from ICP were characterized with significant increased percentages of CD3^＋CD56^＋ cells, CD3^＋CD56^＋ cells, CD56^＋CD16＋ cells, CD56^＋CD16^＋ cells, CD56^＋NKG2D＋ ceils, and the significant decreased percentages of CD3^＋ cells, CD3^＋CD4^＋ cells. There were no differences found for the percentage of CD3^＋CD8^＋ cells, CD56^＋NKG2A^＋ cells between control and study group. In addition, the enhanced concentration of IFN-γ was presented in culture supernatant of DPMCs from ICP. It was suggested that the increased NK cells, NKT cells and the decreased T cells in the decidual parietalis and over-secretion of IFN-γ could be correlated with the pathophysiology of ICP patients. Cellular ＆ Molecular Immunology. 2007;4（1）：71-75.

Arsenic and cadmium removal from water by a calcium-modified and starch-stabilized ferromanganese binary oxide

A new calcium-modified and starch-stabilized ferromanganese binary oxide (Ca-SFMBO)sorbent was fabricated with different Ca concentrations for the adsorption of arsenic (As)and cadmium (Cd) in water.The maximum As(Ⅲ) and Cd(Ⅱ) adsorption capacities of 1%CaSFMBO were 156.25 mg/g and 107.53 mg/g respectively in single-adsorption systems.The adsorption of As and Cd by the Ca-SFMBO sorbent was pH-dependent at values from 1 to 7,with an optimal adsorption pH of 6.In the dual-adsorbate system,the presence of Cd(Ⅱ) at low concentrations enhanced As(Ⅲ) adsorption by 33.3%,while the adsorption of As(Ⅲ) was inhibited with the increase of Cd(Ⅱ) concentration.Moreover,the addition of As(Ⅲ) increased the adsorption capacity for Cd(Ⅱ) up to two-fold.Through analysis by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR),it was inferred that the mechanism for the co-adsorption of Cd(Ⅱ) and As(Ⅲ) included both competitive and synergistic effects,which resulted from the formation of ternary complexes.The results indicate that the Ca-SFMBO material developed here could be used for the simultaneous removal of As(Ⅲ) and Cd(Ⅱ) from contaminated water.