Clinical observation on the treatment of severe hand-foot-mouth disease with antelope horn powder combined with auricular point application

Objective:To explore the Clinical observation on the treatment of severe hand-foot-mouth disease with antelope horn powder combined with auricular point application.Methods:From July 2016 to June 2018,90 children were randomly divided into control group(n=30),treatment group(n=30)and control group(n=30).The control group was treated with routine western medicine,the treatment group 1 was treated with oral antelope horn powder on the basis of control group,the second group was treated with auricular point application on the basis of treatment group 1,and the time of symptom relief and clinical cure were observed in each group.Related immune function and related inflammatory factors,serum neuron-specific enolase(NSE),safety index.Results:In treatment group 1,the time of herpes regression,antipyretic,antispasmodic time and clinical cure time were shorter than those of control group,and the time of treatment 2 group was shorter than that of group 1(P<0.05).The levels of CD3,CD4 and CD8 were increased after treatment in the three groups,especially in the treatment group(P<0.05),and the levels of TNF-毩αand IL-2,IL-6,IL-10 were decreased after treatment in the three groups,especially in the treatment group(P<0.05).NSE decreased after treatment in three groups,especially in treatment group 2(P<0.05).Conclusion:The application of antelope horn powder combined with auricular point application can obviously improve the severe hand,foot and mouth disease,and the clinical curative effect is definite.It is worth popularizing and applying in clinical practice.

Recombinant human erythropoietin for repair of white matter damage

Erythropoietin has been shown to exhibit neuroprotective effects in animal models. A neonatal rat model of hypoxic-ischemic white matter damage was established via bilateral carotid artery ligation in 4-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats. The rats were subsequently treated with recombinant human erythropoietin to observe pathological changes in the brain and long-term neurobehavioral functions before and after intervention. Results showed that the number of myelin basic protein-positive cells, which reflected myelin/oligodendrocyte damage, significantly increased, although the number of amyloid precursor protein-positive cells, which reflected axonaf injury, significantly decreased in periventricular white matter at 72 hours and 7 days following erythropoietin intervention. The number of glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive cells, indicating astrocytic damage, significantly decreased in periventricular white matter of erythropoietin-treated rats at 48 hours, 72 hours, 7 days and 26 days. Following erythropoietin intervention in the 30-day-old rats, head-turning time in the slope test was shortened and open-field test scores increased. These results suggested that erythropoietJn promoted repair of white matter damage, as well as improved neurobehavioral functions in a rat model of hypoxic-ischemic injury.

TMEM16A contributes to endothelial dysfunction through accelerating Nox2 NADPH oxidase-derived ROS generation in hypertension

OBJECTIVE The Ca2+-activated Cl-channel(Ca CC)plays a crucial role in various physiological functions.Recent evidences suggest TMEM16A encodes CaC C in various cells,including endothelial cells.However,the role of TMEM16A in the vascular endothelial dysfunction in hypertension is unclear.METHODS In the study,RT-PCR,Western blotting,co-immunopricipitation,confocal imaging,patch-clamp,and endothelial-specific TMEM16A transgenic and knockout mice were employed.RESULTS We found that TMEM16A was expressed abundantly and functioned as Ca CC in endothelial cells.AngiotensinⅡ(AngⅡ)induced endothelial dysfunction with an increase in TMEM16A expression,which was alleviated by TMEM16A inhibitor.Further studies revealed that TMEM16A endothelial-specific knockout significantly lowered the blood pressure and ameliorated endothelial dysfunction in AngⅡ-induced hypertension,whereas,TMEM16A endothelial-specific overexpression showed the opposite effects.These results were related to the increased reactive oxygen species(ROS)generation,NADPH oxidase activation,and Nox2,p22phox expression facilitated by TMEM16A upon AngⅡ-induced hypertensive challenges.Moreover,TMEM16A directly interacted with Nox2 monomer and reduced the degradation of Nox2 through the proteasome-dependent endoplasmic recticulum-associated degradation pathway.TMEM16A also potentiated the translocation of p47phox and p67phox from cytosol to cell membrane and the subsequent interaction with Nox2.CONCLUSION Our results demonstrated that TMEM16A,as Ca CC,is a positive regulator of ROS generation via upregulating the activation of Nox2 NADPH oxidase in the vascular endothelium,and therefore facilitates endothelial dysfunction and hypertension.Modification of TMEM16A may be a novel therapeutic strategy for endothelial dysfunction-associated cardiovascular diseases.

Human cytomegalovirus infection dysregulates neural progenitor cell fate by disrupting Hes1 rhythm and down-regulating its expression

Human cytomegalovirus(HCMV) infection is a leading cause of birth defects, primarily affecting the central nervous system and causing its maldevelopment. As the essential downstream effector of Notch signaling pathway, Hes1, and its dynamic expression, plays an essential role on maintaining neural progenitor/stem cells(NPCs) cell fate and fetal brain development. In the present study, we reported the first observation of Hes1 oscillatory expression in human NPCs, with an approximately1.5 hour periodicity and a Hes1 protein half-life of about 17(17.6 ± 0.2) minutes. HCMV infection disrupts the Hes1 rhythm and down-regulates its expression. Furthermore, we discovered that depleting Hes1 protein disturbed NPCs cell fate by suppressing NPCs proliferation and neurosphere formation, and driving NPCs abnormal differentiation. These results suggested a novel mechanism linking disruption of Hes1 rhythm and down-regulation of Hes1 expression to neurodevelopmental disorders caused by congenital HCMV infection.

The data and characteristics of the human milk banks in China's Mainland

Background Human milk banks (HMB) have been established for over 100 years in North America and Europe.This study aimed to describe and summarize the operation and characteristics of the HMBs in China's Mainland since the first nonprofit HMB operated in 2013.Methods Operation of HMB in China's Mainland is based on the standards and guidelines of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America and some countries in Europe and was modified to meet the needs and circumstances in China such as donation only in the local HMB by medical staff.We reviewed the descriptive data of these 14 HMBs and the clinical characteristics of recipients,the eligible milk donors and the donor milk retrospectively.Results In China's Mainland,from March 2013 to December 2016,14 nonprofit HMBs were developed and operational in public hospitals except one and located in the south,east,north and northwest of China's Mainland.In total,2680 eligible donors donated 4608.2 L of breast milk.The mean age of these donors was 29.4 years with 60.6% receiving college education and 90.6% term delivery.A total of 4678 recipients including preterm infants (n =2990,63.9%),feeding intolerance (n =711,15.2%),maternal illness (n =345,7.4%),serious infection (n =314,6.7%),necrotising enterocolitis (n =244,5.2%),post-surgery (n =38,0.8%) and others (n =36,0.8%).The rate of discarded raw milk was only 4.4% because of hepatitis B and C or cytomegalovirus positivity.Conclusions HMB has been developing rapidly in China's Mainland.Donor human milk was used not only for preterm infants but also for other ill children.But the sustainability of milk banking needs proper management and more financial support by relative health authorities and the government.

A potent human monoclonal antibody with pan-neutralizing activities directly dislocates S trimer of SARS-CoV-2 through binding both up and down forms of RBD

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2)has caused a global pandemic of novel coronavirus disease(COVID-19).The neutralizing monoclonal antibodies(mAbs)targeting the receptor-binding domain(RBD)of SARS-CoV-2 are among the most promising strategies to prevent and treat COVID-19.However,SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern(VOCs)profoundly reduced the efficacies of most of mAbs and vaccines approved for clinical use.Herein,we demonstrated mAb 35B5 efficiently neutralizes both wild-type(WT)SARS-CoV-2 and VOCs.

COVID-19 induces new-onset insulin resistance and lipid metabolic dysregulation via regulation of secreted metabolic factors

Abnormal glucose and lipid metabolism in COVID-19 patients were recently reported with unclear mechanism.In this study,we retrospectively investigated a cohort of COVID-19 patients without pre-existing metabolic-related diseases,and found new-onset in suli n resista nee,hyperglycemia,and decreased HDL-C in these patie nts.Mecha nistically,SARS-CoV-2 infecti on in creased the expression of RE1-silencing transcription factor(REST),which modulated the expression of secreted metabolic factors including myeloperoxidase,apelin,and myostatin at the transcriptional level,resulting in the perturbation of glucose and lipid metabolism.Furthermore,several lipids,including(±)5-HETE,(±)12-HETE,propionic acid,and isobutyric acid were identified as the potential biomarkers of COVID-19-induced metabolic dysregulation,especially in insulin resistance.Taken together,our study revealed insulin resistance as the direct cause of hyperglycemia upon COVID-19,and further illustrated the underlying mechanisms,providing potential therapeutic targets for COVID-19-induced metabolic complications.

Regulation of JAK/STAT signal pathway by miR-21 in the pathogenesis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Background Overexpression of the components of the Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription(JAK/STAT)signalling pathway is the key factor of the pathogenic mechanisms underlying systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis(sJIA).The study aims to investigate the association between miR-21 and the JAK/STAT signal pathway in JIA.Methods Total RNA was extracted from peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs)in active JIA patients.The relative expressions of miR-21,STAT3 and suppressor of cytokine signalling 3 in PBMCs were measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction and their expressions were measured by western blotting and dual-luciferase reported assay.Rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast-like synovial cell(RASF)was stimulated to become to osteoclasts using macrophage colony-stimulating factor(M-CSF)and factors that can impact on their differentiation ability were identified through the transfection of LV3-miR-21.The expression of STAT3/p-STAT3 was measured by western blot,and the levels of interleukin(IL)-17A,p65,matrix metalloproteinases(MMP)-3,MMP-4 and receptor activator of nuclear factor-κd3 after the LV3-miR-21 transfection were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Finally,the miR-21 targeted STAT3 gene was detected by the dualluciferase reported assay.Results The expression of miR-21 was significantly lower in JIA patients than in healthy control(P<0.05).The level of STAT3 was increased in PBMCs of JIA group compared with control group(P<0.05).Furthermore,the expression levels of miR-21 in sJIA and polyarticular JIA groups were negatively correlated with STAT3(r=-0.5854/r=-0.6134,P<0.05).The expression of STAT3 changed little in PBMCS after the stimulation of IL-6 and not in RASFs with transfection of LV3-miR-21.The expression of p-STAT3 decreased after the stimulation of IL-6 in RASFs transfected by LV3-miR-21(P<0.05).RASFs were induced into osteoclasts using M-CSF.The number of osteoclasts as determined by tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase staining was significantly lower in group miR-21 mimics as compared with the negative control group(P<0.05).Conclusions We showed that expression of miR-21 was significantly lower in JIA patients compared with healthy control.MiR-21 might affect the JAK/STAT signal pathway by suppressing the expression of STAT3 and phosphorylation of STAT3.MiR-21 could inhibit the production of osteoclasts induced from RASFs by M-CSF.

Advising on Preferred Reporting Items for Patient-Reported Outcome Instrument Development:the PRIPROID

Objective： The reporting of patient-reported outcomes （PRO） instrument development is vital for both researchers and clinicians to determine its validity, thus, we propose the Preferred Reporting Items for PRO Instrument Development （PRIPROID） to improve the quality of reports. Methods： Abiding by the guidance published by the Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research （EQUATOR） Network, we had performed 6 steps for items development： identified the need for a guideline, performed a literature review, obtained funding for the guideline initiative, identified participants, conducted a Delphi exercise and generated a list of PRIPROID items for consideration at the face-to-face meeting. Results： Twenty three items subheadings under 7 topics were included： title and structured abstract, rationale, objectives, intention, eligibility criteria, conceptual framework, items generation, response options, scoring, times, administrative modes,burden assessment, properties assessment, statistical methods, participants, main results, and additional analysis, summary of evidence, limitations, clinical attentions, and conclusions, item pools or final form, and funding. Conclusions： The PRIPROID contains many elements of the PRO research, and this assists researchers to report their results more accurately and to a certain degree use this instrument to evaluate the quality of the research methods.

Lipid metabolism dysfunction induced by age-dependent DNA methylation accelerates aging

Epigenetic alterations and metabolic dysfunction are two hallmarks of aging.However,the mechanism of how their interaction regulates aging,particularly in mammals,remains largely unknown.Here we show ELOVL fatty acid elongase 2(Elovl2),a gene whose epigenetic alterations are most highly correlated with age prediction,contributes to aging by regulating lipid metabolism.We applied artificial intelligence to predict the protein structure of ELOVL2 and the interaction with its substrate.Impaired Elovl2 function disturbs lipid synthesis with increased endoplasmic reticulum stress and mitochondrial dysfunction,leading to key aging phenotypes at both cellular and physiological level.Furthermore,restoration of mitochondrial activity can rescue age-related macular degeneration(AMD)phenotypes induced by Elovl2 deficiency in human retinal pigmental epithelial(RPE)cells;this indicates a conservative mechanism in both human and mouse.Taken together,we revealed an epigenetic-metabolism axis contributing to aging and illustrate the power of an AI-based approach in structure-function studies.

Enhanced host immune responses in presence of HCV facilitate HBV clearance in coinfection

Hepatitis B virus(HBV)/Hepatitis C virus(HCV)coinfection is frequently observed because of the common infection routine.Despite the reciprocal inhibition exerted by HBV and HCV genomes,the coinfection of HBV and HCV is associated with more severe forms of liver diseases.However,the complexity of viral interference and underlying pathological mechanism is still unclarified.With the demonstration of absence of direct viral interplay,some in vitro studies suggest the indirect effects of viral-host interaction on viral dominance outcome.Here,we comprehensively investigated the viral replication and host immune responses which might mediate the interference between viruses in HBV/HCV coinfected Huh7-NTCP cells and immunocompetent HCV human receptors transgenic ICR mice.We found that presence of HCV significantly inhibited HBV replication in vitro and in vivo irrespective of the coinfection order,while HBV did not affect HCV replication.Pathological alteration was coincidently reproduced in coinfected mice.In addition to the participation of innate immune response,an involvement of HCV in up-regulating HBV-specific immune responses was described to facilitate HBV clearance.Our systems partially recapitulate HBV/HCV coinfection and unveil the uncharacterized adaptive anti-viral immune responses during coinfection,which renews the knowledge on the nature of indirect viral interaction during HBV/HCV coinfection.