前列通片促进免疫功能的实验研究

目的:探讨前列通片对小鼠免疫功能的影响。方法:1)脾淋巴细胞转化试验:将60只小鼠随机分为阴性对照组、阳性对照组、前列通片低、中、高剂量组,每组12只。灌胃给药,1次/d,连续给药30 d后各组动物无菌取脾,提取脾淋巴细胞进行脾淋巴细胞转化试验。2)NK细胞活性影响试验:将60只小鼠随机分为阴性对照组、模型对照组、阳性对照组、前列通片低、中、高剂量组。除阴性对照组外,其余各组腹腔注射环磷酰胺建立免疫功能低下的小鼠模型。造模同时给药,连续给药30 d后,各组动物无菌取脾,提取脾淋巴细胞进行NK细胞活性影响试验。结果:1)与阴性对照组比较,前列通片高剂量组淋巴细胞转化能力显著升高,差异具有统计学意义(P0.05)。2)与模型对照组比较,阳性对照组及前列通片高剂量组NK细胞活性显著升高,差异具有统计学意义(P0.05)。结论:在本实验条件下,前列通片能够提高机体淋巴细胞转化能力以及NK细胞的活性,具有一定的免疫促进作用。     

The Protective Role of Resilience in Attenuating Emotional Distress and Aggression Associated with Early-life Stress in Young Enlisted Military Service Candidates

Early life stress (ELS) may induce long-lasting psychological complications in adulthood. The protective role of resilience against the development of psychopathology is also important. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among ELS, resilience, depression, anxiety, and aggression in young adults. Four hundred sixty-one army inductees gave written informed consent and participated in this study. We assessed psychopathology using the Korea Military Personality Test, ELS using the Childhood Abuse Experience Scale, and resilience with the resilience scale. Analyses of variance, correlation analyses, and hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses were conducted for statistical analyses. The regression model explained 35.8%, 41.0%, and 23.3% of the total variance in the depression, anxiety, and aggression indices, respectively. We can find that even though ELS experience is positively associated with depression, anxiety, and aggression, resilience may have significant attenuating effect against the ELS effect on severity of these psychopathologies. Emotion regulation showed the most beneficial effect among resilience factors on reducing severity of psychopathologies. To improve mental health for young adults, ELS assessment and resilience enhancement program should be considered.     

Has the public lost confidence in vaccines because of a vaccine scandal in China

BackgroundA vaccine manufacturer in China and regulatory authorities have been the focus of widespread outrage due to a vaccine scandal. We conducted a rapid survey during a time of intense mainstream and social media attention to determine whether the public’s confidence in vaccines was affected.MethodsWe selected 7 cities that were not involved in the scandal as the setting for the survey, which was conducted in August 2018. We used a convenience sampling strategy to select subjects in urban streets and rural villages for a face-to-face questionnaire-based survey. Subjects were asked to describe their levels of confidence on a scale from 0 to 9, in which 0 means no confidence, and 9 means very confident. Respondents were asked to assess confidence for two points in time – recollection of their level of confidence before hearing about the scandal and their level of confidence at the time of the survey.ResultsIn total, 683 individuals were invited to participate and 591 questionnaires were completed, for a response rate of 86.5%. Among respondents, 86.80% had heard of the vaccine scandal. The most common channel for hearing about the scandal was social media (e.g., WeChat), 40.6% of respondents. Regardless of gender, age, education level, province, town or country, or having children under 15 years old, respondents reported a significant decrease in confidence in domestically-produced vaccines. The mean pre-scandal confidence level recalled by respondents was 6.7, and the mean confidence level at the time of the survey was 3.2. Confidence in vaccine manufacturers, institutes for drug control, and drug supervision authorities decreased from 5.6 to 6.0 before the vaccine scandal to 2.0–3.2 at the time of the survey. Confidence in vaccine manufacturers decreased the most, from 5.6 before the scandal to 2.0; confidence in institutes for drug control decreased from 5.8 before the scandal to 2.6 at the time of the survey.ConclusionThis study demonstrated that public confidence was significantly affected by the vaccine scandal, particularly for vaccine producers and drug regulators. The decline in confidence is a reminder to governments that in order to build public confidence for vaccination, regulators have to reform regulatory practices and manufacturers have to ensure vaccine quality.     

Swiss popular initiative for a single health insurer… once again!

The article describes a recent Swiss popular initiative, aiming to replace the current system of statutory health insurance run by 61 competing private insurers with a new system run by a single public insurer. Despite the rejection of the initiative by 62% of voters in late September 2014, the campaign and ballot results are interesting because they show the importance of (effective) public communication in shaping the outcome of a popular ballot. The relevance of the Swiss case goes beyond the peculiarities of its federalism and direct democracy and might be useful for other countries debating the pros and cons of national unitary health insurance systems versus models using multiple insurers.After this electoral ballot, the project to establish a public sickness fund in Switzerland seems definitely stopped, at least for the next decade. Insurers, who opposed the initiative, have effectively fed the “fear of change” of the population and have stressed the good outcomes of the Swiss healthcare system.However, the political pressure favoured by the popular initiative opened a “windows of opportunity” and led the federal Parliament to pass a stricter regulation of health insurers, improving in this way the current system.     

A regulatory role for CD72 expression on B cells in systemic lupus erythematosus

BackgroundB regulatory cells and their regulatory products/markers, such us semaphorin 3A (sema3A) and its receptor NP-1, FcγIIB, IL-10, and others, act at the very base of self-tolerance, maintenance, and prevention of autoimmune disease development.ObjectivesThe aim of the present study was to assess the involvement of CD72, a regulatory receptor on B cells, in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In addition, the potential of soluble sema3A in enhancing the expression of CD72 on B cells of SLE patients was investigated.ResultsCD72 expression on activated B cells of SLE patients was significantly lower than that of normal controls. This lower expression of CD72 in SLE patients correlated inversely with SLE disease activity and was associated with lupus nephritis, the presence of anti-dsDNA antibodies, and low levels of complement. Co-culture of purified B cells from healthy controls with condition-media containing recombinant sema3A resulted in significant enhancement of CD72. Similar enhancement of CD72 on activated B cells from SLE patients, though significant, was still lower than in normal individuals.ConclusionsThe lower expression of CD72 on activated B cells from SLE patients correlates with SLE disease activity, lupus nephritis, the presence of anti-dsDNA antibodies, and low levels of complement. The improvement of CD72 expression following the addition of soluble semaphorin 3A suggests that CD72 may be useful as a biomarker to be followed during the treatment of SLE.