Aspirin Enhances the Protective Effect of Progesterone on Trophoblast Cell from Oxidative Stress and Apoptosis

Objective::Clinically, low-dose aspirin and progesterone are frequently used to prevent pregnancy loss. We investigated the effect of these drugs on the biologi...     

Selection of a gene for apolipoprotein a1 using autoantibodies from a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus

Objective. To investigate immunoreactivity of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) sera with apolipoprotein A1, (Apo A1), the major lipid-binding protein of high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Methods. Since early attempts to identify Apo A1 autoantibodies using standard enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunoblotting techniques had been unsuccessful, a mouse complementary DNA lambda phage expression library was screened. Results. A selected clone (MA1) was found to have 82% DNA sequence homology to a segment of human Apo A1. Since there were nonconservative substitutions in the MA1 protein and lack of a complete sequence, it was possible that the SLE patient'S antibodies were binding MA1 epitopes that were shared by the complete human protein but had not been conformationally accessible using the earlier techniques. Thus, gamma-irradiated ELISA plates were used as an alternative antigen-binding surface for intact human Apo A1, and high-titer anti-human Apo A1 autoantibodies were then identified in the sera of 5 more SLE patients. Conclusion. These findings show that Apo A1 is immunogenic. Apo A1 antibodies may play a role in the decreased HDL levels and Apo A1:Apo B ratios previously reported to occur in subgroups of SLE patients.     

Patient and Clinical Factors at Admission Affect the Levels of Neutralizing Antibodies Six Months after Recovering from COVID-19

The rate of decline in the levels of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) greatly varies among patients who recover from Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, little is known about factors associated with this phenomenon. The objective of this study is to investigate early factors at admission that can influence long-term NAb levels in patients who recovered from COVID-19. A total of 306 individuals who recovered from COVID-19 at the Tongji Hospital, Wuhan, China, were included in this study. The patients were classified into two groups with high (NAb^high, n = 153) and low (NAb^low, n = 153) levels of NAb, respectively based on the median NAb levels six months after discharge. The majority (300/306, 98.0%) of the COVID-19 convalescents had detected NAbs. The median NAb concentration was 63.1 (34.7, 108.9) AU/mL. Compared with the NAb^low group, a larger proportion of the NAb^high group received corticosteroids (38.8% vs. 22.4%, p = 0.002) and IVIG therapy (26.5% vs. 16.3%, p = 0.033), and presented with diabetes comorbidity (25.2% vs. 12.2%, p = 0.004); high blood urea (median (IQR): 4.8 (3.7, 6.1) vs. 3.9 (3.5, 5.4) mmol/L; p = 0.017); CRP (31.6 (4.0, 93.7) vs. 16.3 (2.7, 51.4) mg/L; p = 0.027); PCT (0.08 (0.05, 0.17) vs. 0.05 (0.03, 0.09) ng/mL; p = 0.001); SF (838.5 (378.2, 1533.4) vs. 478.5 (222.0, 1133.4) μg/L; p = 0.035); and fibrinogen (5.1 (3.8, 6.4) vs. 4.5 (3.5, 5.7) g/L; p = 0.014) levels, but low SpO₂ levels (96.0 (92.0, 98.0) vs. 97.0 (94.0, 98.0)%; p = 0.009). The predictive model based on Gaussian mixture models, displayed an average accuracy of 0.7117 in one of the 8191 formulas, and ROC analysis showed an AUC value of 0.715 (0.657–0.772), and specificity and sensitivity were 72.5% and 67.3%, respectively. In conclusion, we found that several factors at admission can contribute to the high level of NAbs in patients after discharge, and constructed a predictive model for long-term NAb levels, which can provide guidance for clinical treatment and monitoring.     

利福平外用致原位肝移植术后患者过敏反应1例

肝炎后肝硬化患者,原发性肝癌行原位肝移植术,于术后7 d皮肤破溃处涂利福平胶囊粉后出现过敏反应．利福平为临床常用的广谱抗菌素,外用后快速导致过敏反应未见报道, 该病例既往无过敏史,特殊之处在于为原位肝移植术后患者,移植术后用药有很多特殊之处,可供参考的资料不多．抗过敏治疗上以尽快纠正低氧血症对移植肝功能的恢复至关重要．     

肺癌等不同疾病出现阴虚综合征时细胞因子基因表达谱的实验研究

目的研究肺癌、淋巴瘤、肺结核出现阴虚综合征时是否具有相同或相似的细胞因子基因表达变化规律,验证阴虚综合征的发病学机理是由于白细胞介素1（101）、肿瘤坏死因子（TNF）等炎性细胞因子的基因表达增强、生物学活性相对升高引起细胞因子网络紊乱的理论研究结论。方法以外周血单个核细胞为材料,使用细胞因子基因芯片检测阴虚综合征细胞因子基因表达谱的改变。结果肺癌阴虚综合征时白细胞介素1β（IL-1β）、白细胞介素4（IL-4）、白细胞介素8（IL-8）和肿瘤坏死因子a（TNFa）的基因表达水平上调;淋巴瘤阴虚综合征时IL-8的基因表达水平上调;肺结核阴虚综合征时IL-1β、白细胞介素18（IL-18）和TNFa的基因表达水平上调。结论肺癌、淋巴瘤和肺结核伴有阴虚综合征时炎性细胞因子的基因表达水平上调,从细胞因子网络的角度,初步验证了阴虚综合征的发病学机理的理论研究结论。     

How Can We Provide Additively Manufactured Parts with a Fingerprint? A Review of Tagging Strategies in Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing (AM) is rapidly evolving from “rapid prototyping” to “industrial production”. AM enables the fabrication of bespoke components with complicated geometries in the high-performance areas of aerospace, defence and biomedicine. Providing AM parts with a tagging feature that allows them to be identified like a fingerprint can be crucial for logistics, certification and anti-counterfeiting purposes. Whereas the implementation of an overarching strategy for the complete traceability of AM components downstream from designer to end user is, by nature, a cross-disciplinary task that involves legal, digital and technological issues, materials engineers are on the front line of research to understand what kind of tag is preferred for each kind of object and how existing materials and 3D printing hardware should be synergistically modified to create such tag. This review provides a critical analysis of the main requirements and properties of tagging features for authentication and identification of AM parts, of the strategies that have been put in place so far, and of the future challenges that are emerging to make these systems efficient and suitable for digitalisation. It is envisaged that this literature survey will help scientists and developers answer the challenging question: “How can we embed a tagging feature in an AM part?”.     

Paclitaxel‐based supramolecular hydrogel loaded with mifepristone for the inhibition of breast cancer metastasis

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women and almost all of the breast cancer‐caused mortality is related to metastasis. It has been reported that glucocorticoid facilitates the metastasis of breast cancer in mice, and mifepristone can antagonize the effect of glucocorticoid. Paclitaxel is one of the important drugs in the treatment of breast cancer. Mifepristone combined with paclitaxel could be an effective strategy for inhibiting breast cancer metastasis. However, their inherent defects, in terms of short blood circulation half‐life and lack of tumor targeting, not only limit their effectiveness but also cause adverse reactions. Therefore, our aim is to explore a novel protocol against breast cancer metastasis, further optimize its therapeutic efficacy by a nanodelivery system, and explore its mechanism. Herein, a paclitaxel‐conjugated and mifepristone‐loaded hydrogel (PM‐nano) was prepared by self‐assembly. Its characterizations were studied. The antimetastatic effect was evaluated in vitro and in vivo and its mechanism was also explored by western blot assay. The resultant PM‐nano was developed with favorable water solubility and good biocompatibility. Moreover, PM‐nano displayed increased cell uptake properties and stimulated drug release in the tumor micro‐acidic environment. The PM‐nano was more effective in inhibiting the proliferation and metastasis of breast cancer than other groups in vitro and in vivo. The PM‐nano might inhibit metastasis through glucocorticoid receptor/receptor tyrosine kinase‐like orphan receptor 1 and MMPs. Taken together, PM‐nano showed superior antimetastatic effects against breast cancer and excellent biocompatibility in vitro and in vivo, providing a new option for limiting metastasis.     

Chronic Active Hepatitis B with COVID-19 in Pregnancy: A Case Report

Currently, infection with coronavirus disease 2019 (COV-ID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome cor-onavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), during pregnancy is a p...