Effect of immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with gastric hepatoid adenocarcinoma: a case report and literature review

Gastric hepatoid adenocarcinoma (GHAC) is a highly aggressive histological subtype of gastric cancer (GC) with similar tissue morphology to hepatocellular carcinoma. GHAC frequently produces alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and has a poor prognosis; however, standardized treatment remains elusive. We report a male patient in his early 60s with GHAC who received immunotherapy, and the curative effect was evaluated. He was admitted because of progressive fatigue and dizziness for 2 months. He had experienced spontaneous epigastric pain with muscular defense of the epigastrium and accompanying tenderness 1 year earlier and underwent radical gastrectomy. Immunohistochemistry showed that hepatocyte-specific marker (Hep) was highly-expressed, indicating probable GHAC. Additionally, imaging suggested GC recurrence or gastric stump cancer. Radioimmunoassay indicated an AFP level of >1210.00 µg/L, and liver biopsy was performed following abdominal contrast-enhanced computed tomography. Pathology showed a few hepatocytes and proliferative fibrous connective tissue. The patient received three cycles of chemotherapy, with no obvious improvement. The possibility of surgical treatment was excluded, and immunotherapy or palliative treatment was selected. He received 11 cycles of a programed death-1 (PD-1) monoclonal antibody, and the effect of treatment was satisfactory. The mechanism of action of immunotherapy in GHAC warrants further investigation.     

复方补益中药抗白血病的实验研究

应用益气养阴方和补气养血方治疗淋巴白血病小鼠 L_(7212),发现两方均可显著提高其生存期(P<0.01及 P<0.05),但生命延长率较低(11.21%及7.5%)。从不同角度探讨中药作用机理,发现一方面可通过增强机体的免疫功能,提高机体的抗病能力,降低恶性变的淋巴细胞膜流动性,调整膜结构及功能,促其恢复正常状态以及有抑制或杀伤白血病细胞的作用。另对骨髓有一定抑制作用。临床上若有选择地与化疗药物同用,可产生协同作用。     

防风苍耳子水煎剂对小鼠免疫功能的影响

本文用ＥＬＩＳＡ法研究了防风、苍耳子水煎剂对ＩｇＥ、ＩｇＧ、ＩｇＭ的调节作用。结果表明：防风和苍耳子水煎剂均能显著抑制ＤＮＰ－ＢＳＡ致敏小鼠的ＩｇＥ产生（Ｐ＜００５），延迟和减轻卵蛋白致敏豚鼠的Ｉ型超敏反应。其中防风对ＩｇＧ和ＩｇＭ抗体的产生、以及细胞免疫功能都有显著的增强作用（Ｐ＜００５和＜００１），苍耳子对体液免疫作用不明显（Ｐ＞００５），但对细胞免疫却有抑制作用（Ｐ＜００１和＜００５）。     

2020年器官移植免疫学实验研究进展

器官移植技术发展迅速, 但移植器官的长期存活和功能维持依旧离不开免疫抑制剂的大量使用。当前, 器官移植术后发生的排斥反应、感染等仍是移植科医师和受者需要面对的主要问题。为了进一步探究排斥反应和免疫耐受的基本生物学原理, 解答诸多临床器官移植过程中的病理生理学相关问题, 为器官移植更广泛、有效地推广应用提供基础理论依据和临床干预的指导, 器官移植领域的基础研究仍在稳步向前推进。2020年, 研究者在器官移植免疫应答基本规律、克服移植排斥反应、诱导移植免疫耐受等方面的基础研究有诸多重要进展。本文主要从免疫细胞亚群和免疫分子两大方向对2020年研究者诱导移植免疫耐受的部分新尝试和进展进行总结, 并简要展望了未来器官移植免疫学的主要发展方向。     

个体化免疫诱导方案在肾移植中的应用进展

肾移植术后早期急性排斥反应发生的风险较高,严重影响受者的生存质量。2009年,改善全球肾脏病预后组织（KDIGO）建议将免疫诱导药物纳入肾移植术前免疫诱导方案中,其目的就是针对这一关键时期提供一定强度的免疫抑制,从而有效减少术后急性排斥反应的发生。目前全球各移植中心对于免疫诱导药物的选择及其有效性、安全性仍不确定。本文通过汲取国内外学者的研究成果,对比分析单克隆抗体包括白细胞介素-2受体拮抗剂、阿伦单抗、利妥昔单抗及多克隆抗体抗胸腺细胞球蛋白在肾移植术前免疫诱导中的应用效果,旨在为推动肾移植免疫诱导药物的个体化选择,提高受者的生存质量提供参考。     

Gene delivery to dendritic cells by orally administered recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae in mice

DNA vaccination has caught the attention of many for triggering humoral as well as cellular immune responses. And delivering DNA into the antigen presenting cells (APCs) in order to induce efficient immunoresponse has become the backbone of this field. It has been confirmed that Saccharomyces cerevisiae, though non-pathogenic, is being engulfed by the dendritic cells and macrophages and delivers not only proteins, but also DNA materials (already confirmed in vitro). In this research, S. cerevisiae is used to deliver green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter gene controlled under cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter in living organism (mice). The recombinant yeast, transfected with the plasmid containing the GFP gene, was heat killed and orally administered to mice. After 60 h of yeast administration, mice were sacrificed and intestine was separated, washed and frozen in liquid nitrogen. Tissues were cut at the size of 10 μm using Cryostat machine, and GFP expression was successfully detected under a fluorescence microscope. After 45 days Western blot was able to detect GFP antibody in the blood of mice. These results imply that S. cerevisiae, being non-pathogenic, cheap, and easy to culture could be a good candidate to deliver DNA materials to the immune cells for vaccination.     

Genetic characterization of Plasmodium falciparum allelic variants infecting mothers at delivery and their children during their first plasmodial infections

IntroductionInfants born to mothers with placental malaria at delivery develop Plasmodium falciparum parasitemia earlier than those born to mothers without placental infection. This phenomenon may be explained by the development of immune tolerance due to exposure to P. falciparum antigens in utero. The hypothesis of this study is that this increased susceptibility might be related to infections by parasites expressing the same blood stage allele’s antigens as those to which the infants were exposed in utero.MethodsThe comparison of P. falciparum msp2 (3D7 and FC27) and glurp gene polymorphisms of infected mothers at delivery to those of their offspring’s infections during infancy was realized and the possible associations of the different polymorphisms with clinical outcomes were assessed. A second approach consisted in the use of a Geographic Information System to determine whether the antigen alleles were homogeneously distributed in the area of study. This was necessary to analyze whether the biological observations were due to high exposure to a particular antigen allelic form in the environment or to high infant permissiveness to the same allelic antigen polymorphism as the placental one.ResultsInfants born to mothers with placental malaria at delivery were more susceptible to infections by parasites carrying the same glurp allele as encountered in utero compared to distinct alleles, independently of their geographic distribution.ConclusionThe increased permissiveness of infants to plasmodial infections with shared placental-infant glurp alleles sheds light on the role that P. falciparum blood stage antigen polymorphisms may play in the first plasmodial infections in infancy.     

Radioimmunoassay for rat galanin: immunochemical and chromatographic characterization of immunoreactivity in tissue extracts

Galanin is a regulatory peptide with wide distribution in the central and peripheral nervous system and with numerous biological effects. Several radioimmunoassays based on antisera raised against porcine galanin have been used to measure immunoreactivity in rat tissues. However, considerable lack of parallelism has been observed between the porcine standard and rat tissue extracts, which may decrease the reliability of the quantitative data. The purpose of the present study was therefore to raise antibodies against rat galanin and establish a competitive radioimmunoassay for rat galanin. Two antisera, RatGal4 and RatGal5, were characterized in detail. The homogeneity of the immunoreactive material from several tissues was also investigated with column chromatography. At reverse-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography more than 95% of the immunoreactive material from rat CNS eluted as a single peak in the position of synthetic rat galanin, whereas almost half of the immunoreactive material from the intestine eluted in positions different from the synthetic peptide. Extracts of rat brains as well as jejunum diluted in parallel with the standard curve for both antisera. We conclude that measurements of rat galanin based on these antisera are therefore more reliable than those based on antisera raised against porcine galanin.     

异体淋巴细胞免疫治疗在原因不明的复发性流产中的应用意义

目的：探讨异体淋巴细胞免疫治疗在原因不明的复发性流产中的应用意义。方法采用临床试验流行病学设计,纳入原因不明复发性流产患者96例,分为治疗组54例和对照组42例,治疗组进行异体淋巴细胞免疫治疗,怀孕后在常规保胎基础上进行一个疗程异体淋巴细胞免疫治疗。对照组在怀孕后仅作常规保胎治疗。比较两组治疗结局、封闭抗体、抗微淋巴细胞毒抗体、免疫球蛋白、淋巴细胞亚群水平,并检测治疗过程安全性。结果治疗组患者的妊娠成功率显著高于对照组患者的妊娠成功率,差异具有统计学意义（ P＜0．05）。治疗后治疗组封闭抗体、抗微淋巴细胞毒抗体检测（ APCA）、免疫球蛋白、淋巴细胞亚群的检测与治疗组治疗前,及对照组的检测结果相比,除了IgA水平外,均具有统计学差异（P＜0．05）。治疗过程中暂未发现及发生不良事件。结论异体淋巴细胞免疫治疗原因不明的复发性流产,能够显著提高妊娠成功率,安全性高,值得临床应用推广。