Visfatin as a therapeutic target for rheumatoid arthritis

Introduction: The rising prevalence of musculoskeletal pathologies in developed countries has caused a dramatic impact on social welfare. Amidst these musculoskeletal pathologies is Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a chronic systemic autoimmune disease that mostly affects the synovium. RA metabolic-associated alterations, including distorted adipokine production, enhance RA inflammatory environment. Among the altered adipokines, visfatin is particularly involved in RA inflammation and catabolism and stands out as an essential enzyme linked to critical cell features.

Areas covered: We discuss the potential mechanism supporting the contribution of visfatin to RA and the association between RA and obesity. We discuss the repurposing of cancer-tested drugs to inhibit visfatin in the context of RA. Additionally, we address the possibility of combining these drugs with current RA therapy. Finally, we explore the future of visfatin as an RA biomarker or therapeutic target.

Expert opinion: Inhibition of visfatin has become an interesting therapeutic approach for RA pathology. Such a feat has already been attained in oncology using small molecule inhibitors, which suggest that a similar course of action would be worth pursuing in the RA context. Visfatin will become an important biomarker and therapeutic target for RA.     

How current risk assessment and risk management methods for drinking water in The Netherlands cover the WHO water safety plan approach

In the Netherlands, safe and sufficient drinking water is provided to the general population by ten drinking water companies. To guarantee safe drinking water the World Health Organization (WHO) developed a Water Safety Plan (WSP), a Risk Assessment and a Risk Management (RA/RM) framework. The objective of the study was to identify legally required RA approaches, to document application of RA/RM activities at Dutch drinking water companies and to determine to what extent these RA/RM activities as a whole cover all the elements of the WHO WSP approach. This study could be of interest to both managers of large water utilities and decision makers.The assessment was performed by means of a policy review and interviews with two to four staff members involved in RA/RM from all ten Dutch drinking water companies combined with a joint workshop. The drinking water companies are well aware of the potential hazards and risks that can influence the drinking water quality. To guarantee the supply of safe and sufficient drinking water, the Dutch drinking water sector uses six different legally required RA/RM approaches. This study shows that by using the six legally required RA/RM approaches, all WSP steps are covered. WSP entails a generic risk assessment for identifying all hazards and hazardous events from source to tap, whereas the six legally required RA/RM each focus on specific risks at an advanced level. Each risk assessment provides information on specific hazards and hazardous events covering a part of the water supply chain. These legal requirements are complemented with additional RA/RM activities at sector and water company level such as codes of practices and standard operating procedures. The outcomes of all RA/RM approaches combined provide information from source to tap. When using multiple RA/RM approaches, it is crucial to share and combine information derived from the different activities.     

云克治疗类风湿关节炎临床疗效观察

目的:观察云克 (99Tc- MDP)治疗类风湿关节炎 (RA)的疗效。 方法:对 80例类风湿关节炎 (RA)患者应用云克进行静脉治疗 2 1d,并对治疗前后的相关指标进行对照分析。结果 :治疗前与治疗后相比 ,患者晨僵持续时间、握力、ESR、CRP、RF有统计学意义 (P <0 .0 5 ) ,患者关节压痛数及关节肿胀数差异无统计学意义 (P >0 .0 5 )。 结论:云克治疗类风湿关节炎能改善临床症状及实验室指标 ,远期疗效好 ,而且毒副作用小。     

Surface activation markers of T lymphocytes: role in the detection of infection in neonates

Diagnosis of perinatal infection in the newborn is difficult; there may be few clinical signs and current tests are slow or non-specific. Detection of organisms, antigen or specific antibody to common pathogens often requires repeat samples and does not give immediate results. Haematological parameters, although relied upon frequently to diagnose infection in the neonate prior to a positive bacterial isolation, are unreliable and insensitive. Indicators such as an increase in neutrophil band cell counts are highly variable between morphologists. Infection induces the expression of a number of T lymphocyte surface markers, including CD45RA/CD45RO and CD45RO. The use of changed expression of surface markers as a laboratory test for detection of infection in neonates was evaluated. We used multiparameter flow cytometry to detect expression of early (CD45RA/CD45RO) and late (CD45RO) activation markers. In the respective groups of 50 full term (including 25 normal vaginal deliveries and 25 caesarean deliveries) and 30 premature, i.e. < 36 weeks gestation (born by either normal vaginal delivery or caesarean delivery) the CD45RA isoform was brightly expressed on newborn ‘naive’ CD4⁺ T cells, whereas the CD45RO isoform (including both ‘bright’ and ‘dim’ populations) was present on < 19% of CD4⁺ T cells from these newborn infants. In a group of 37 infants, tested to evaluate possible effects of non-infective parameters such as respiratory distress and iso-immunization, no significant changes in surface marker expression were found and specificity of the test was confirmed. In 14 neonates with documented sepsis, up-regulation of dual staining CD45RA/CD45RO isoforms on CD4⁺ T cells was detected early in the infection. In addition, we found that CD45RO expression persisted for several weeks after bacterial infection, and up to several months in viral infection. In conclusion, detection of T cell activation by flow cytometry for the early diagnosis of neonatal infection is an easy test to carry out on small volumes of blood, is inexpensive, and may be a specific indicator of infection.     

维甲酸对涎腺腺样囊性癌实验性肺转移的抑制作用研究

本文利用已建立的涎腺腺样囊性癌肺转移动物模型，着重观察了Ａｃｃ－Ｍ细胞株经维甲酸体外处理后其在裸鼠肺部形成转移能力的情况。结果表明：１０μｍｏｌ／Ｌ、２０μｍｏｌ／Ｌ两种浓度有明显抑制转移作用，转移率及肺转移灶重量、数目和直径均较对照组有显著下降（Ｐ〈０．０５）；但抑制作用无浓度依赖性，揭示维甲酸对Ａｃｃ－Ｍ细胞株的作用位点是有限的。１０μｍｏｌ／Ｌ、２０μｍｏｌ／Ｌ可能是维甲酸抑制Ａｃｃ－Ｍ细胞株转移的最低饱和浓度。     

HL－60和抗分化HL－60细胞的基本生物学和细胞遗传学特征比较

对本实验室克隆的人急性早幼粒白血病细胞株ＨＬ－６０及其抗维甲酸分化亚系ＨＬ－６０／ＲＡ进行细胞增殖、细胞周期、分裂中期细胞染色体分布和Ｇ－显带核型分析。发现两者在倍增时间和细胞形态上基本一致。在细胞周期分布上，两者都具有肿瘤细胞的周期分布特征，但ＨＬ－６０／ＲＡ细胞的Ｓ期细胞群少于ＨＬ－６０细胞。两者染色体数量分布比较集中，染色体众数分别为４５±３（ＨＬ－６０）和４５±１（ＨＬ－６０／ＲＡ），呈近二倍体核型，Ｇ－显带核型分析表明两者都接近正常二倍体核型，都含较多的异常染色体。上述结果说明ＨＬ－６０和ＨＬ－６０／ＲＡ细胞的遗传学来源一致。     

Role of Der p 1–specific B cells in immune tolerance during 2 years of house dust mite–specific immunotherapy

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Human multiple myeloma cells express peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma and undergo apoptosis upon exposure to PPARgamma ligands

Multiple myeloma is essentially an incurable malignancy and it is therefore of great interest to develop new therapeutic approaches. We previously reported that human B cell-lymphomas express the nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) and are killed by PPARgamma ligands. Herein, we investigate the therapeutic potential of PPARgamma ligands for multiple myeloma. The human multiple myeloma cell lines ANBL6 and 8226 express PPARgamma mRNA and protein. The PPARgamma ligands, 15-deoxy-Delta12,14-prostaglandin J2 (15d-PGJ2) and ciglitazone, induced multiple myeloma cell apoptosis as determined by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, and caspase activation. Importantly, the ability of PPARgamma ligands to kill both multiple myeloma cell lines was not abrogated by Interleukin-6 (IL-6), a multiple myeloma growth survival factor. Finally, the RXR ligand 9-cis retinoic acid (9-cis RA) in combination with PPARgamma ligands greatly enhanced multiple myeloma cell killing. These new findings support that PPARgamma ligands may represent a novel therapy for multiple myeloma.