Secretion,blood levels and cutaneous expression of TL1A in psoriasis patients

TL1A is a TNF‐like cytokine which has been shown to co‐stimulate TH1 and TH17 responses during chronic inflammation. The expression of this novel cytokine has been investigated in inflammatory disorders like rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, but little is known about expression and induction in psoriasis. Indeed, the pathogenesis in psoriasis is still not fully understood and it is speculated that cytokines other than TNF‐α are important in subsets of patients. Also, for patients with severe disease that are treated with systemic anti‐TNF‐α blockade, novel candidates to be used as disease and response biomarkers are of high interest. Here, we demonstrate TL1A expression in biopsies from psoriatic lesions. Also, we investigated spontaneous and induced TL1A secretion from PBMCs and blood levels from a cohort of psoriasis patients. Here, increased spontaneous secretion from PBMCs was observed as compared to healthy controls and a small subset of patients had highly elevated TL1A in the blood. Interestingly, activation of PBMCs with various cytokines showed a decreased sensitivity for TL1A activation in psoriasis patients compared to healthy controls.TL1A levels in blood and biopsies could not be correlated with disease activity with this patient cohort. Thus, additional large‐scale studies are warranted to investigate TL1A as a biomarker.     

TL1A:一个新的TNF家族成员

TL1A是肿瘤坏死因子超家族的一个新亚群。通过与受体DR3和DcR3/TR6的结合,既可诱导细胞凋亡,也能活化NF-ΚB。在淋巴细胞、单核细胞/巨噬细胞的活化和增殖,炎症反应的调节、机体的免疫应答以及动脉粥样硬化、炎症性肠病等疾病的发生、发展中起重要作用。     

TL1A blocking ameliorates intestinal fibrosis in the T cell transfer model of chronic colitis in mice

Tumor necrosis factor like cytokine 1A (TL1A) is a member of the TNF superfamily. Accumulating evidence demonstrated the importance of TL1A in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and suggested a potential role of TL1A blocking in IBD therapy. Here we aimed to explore whether the anti-TL1A antibody could ameliorate intestinal inflammation and fibrosis in IBD. A T cell transfer model of chronic colitis was induced by intraperitoneal injection of CD4⁺CD45RB^high naive T cells isolated from either C57BL/6 wild type (WT) mice or LCK-CD2-Tl1a-GFP transgenic (L-Tg) mice into recombinase activating gene-1-deficient (RAG^?/?) mice. The colitis model mice were treated prophylactically or therapeutically with anti-Tl1a antibody or IgG isotype control. Haematoxylin and eosin staining (H&E staining), Masson's trichrome staining (MT staining) and sirius red staining were used to detect histopathological changes in colonic tissue; immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expressions of collagen I, collagen III, TIMP1, vimentin, α-SMA and TGF-β1/Smad3. Results showed that anti-Tl1a antibody could reduce intestinal inflammation and fibrosis by inhibiting the activation of intestinal fibroblasts and reducing the collagen synthesis in the T cell transfer model of chronic colitis. The mechanism may be related to the inhibition of TGF-1/Smad3 signaling pathway.     

Dissected Aorta Repair Through Stent Implantation trial: Canadian results

Objectives

We describe the Canadian results of the Ascyrus Medical Dissection Stent (AMDS), a novel partially uncovered aortic arch hybrid graft implanted antegrade during hypothermic circulatory arrest to promote true lumen expansion and enhance aortic remodeling.

Kinetics of the TL phenomenon in LiF:Mg irradiated to different dose of gamma radiation of 60Co using two different programs of deconvolution

In this work, the results on determination of kinetic parameters using the method of deconvolution of glow curves obtained from the LiF doped with Mg²⁺ ions, after having been irradiated to 5, 10 and 25 Gy of ⁶⁰Co gamma radiation, corresponding to the range of TL-vs-dose response linearity, are presented. The deconvolution is performed using two functions obtained by the method of asymptotic series and by the method based on the approximation of continued fractions. The glow curve of the studied material shows a dosimetric glow peak at 518 K and three peaks of very low intensity at 383, 423 and 463 K, all of a general-order kinetics. Kinetic parameters obtained with both methods showed that the values of kinetics, b, the energy of the traps, E, and the factor of frequency, s, do not differ significantly. However, the figure of merit, FOM, and the second derivative criteria indicate that the accuracy of the calculations with the second method improves considerably.     

Echocardiographic evolution of pulmonary artery pressure after acute pulmonary embolism. Results from IPER registry

Aims

The aim of the study is to describe the course of the echocardiographically measured pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PAsP) in a series of patients included in the Italian Pulmonary Embolism Registry (IPER).

Methods

Patients with confirmed PE received an echo-Doppler evaluation within 24 hours from hospital admission and after one year. Pulmonary hypertension (PH) was considered “likely” , “possible” or “unlikely” with a right ventricular-right atrial (RV-RA) pressure gradient > 45 mm Hg, between 32 and 45 mm Hg and ≤ 31 mm Hg and no additional echocardiographic variables suggestive of PH, respectively.

Results

We studied 286 patients (169 females and 117 males, mean age 67 ± 15; mean follow-up 387 ± 45 days): 240 had a baseline tricuspid regurgitation (TR) and a RV-RA gradient of variable degree. PH was considered likely, unlikely and possible in 97, 93 and 50 patients respectively. At FU echocardiography, 6 patients (2.1%) had a likely PH and all of them were part of the group of 97 patients with a baseline likely PH; 24 patients (8.4%) had a possible PH, and 67% of them had an initial likely PH. No patients with a baseline unlikely PH or without TR developed a follow-up PH (both likely or possible). The probability to show a likely PH at FU echocardiography for patients with a baseline RV-RA gradient > 45 mm Hg was 6.2%, while the probability not to have a likely PH for patients with a baseline RV-RA gradient ≤ 45 mm Hg was 100%.

Conclusion

In our study population of patients with acute PE, we observed that those presenting with a baseline echocardiographic RV-RA pressure gradient ≤ 45 mm Hg were completely free from a likely PH after 1-year.     

风湿马钱片联合甲氨蝶呤治疗类风湿关节炎的临床研究

目的探讨风湿马钱片联合甲氨蝶呤治疗类风湿关节炎的临床疗效。方法选取2016年1月—2016年8月在南阳医学高等专科学校第一附属医院诊治的类风湿关节炎患者84例,根据治疗方案的不同分为对照组(42例)和治疗组(42例)。对照组患者口服甲氨蝶呤片,10 mg/次,1次/周。治疗组在对照组的基础上口服风湿马钱片,4片/次,1次/d,1周为1个疗程,两个疗程间隔3 d。两组患者均治疗12周。评价两组患者临床疗效,同时比较治疗前后两组患者临床症状评分和血清学指标改善情况。结果治疗后,对照组和治疗组总有效率分别为71.43%和90.48%,两组比较差异具有统计学意义(P0.05)。治疗后,两组患者关节疼痛、关节肿胀和晨僵等评分均显著下降,同组比较差异具有统计学意义(P0.05);且治疗组患者下降比对照组更明显,两组比较差异具有统计学意义(P0.05)。治疗后,两组患者血清C反应蛋白(CRP)、白细胞介素-17(IL-17)、肿瘤坏死因子-α(TNF-α)、环氧化酶-2(COX-2)、肿瘤坏死因子样配体1A(TL1A)和血沉(ESR)水平均明显降低,同组比较差异具有统计学意义(P0.05);且治疗组患者上述血清学指标显著低于对照组,两组比较差异具有统计学意义(P0.05)。结论风湿马钱片联合甲氨蝶呤治疗类风湿关节炎可有效改善患者临床症状及血清细胞因子水平,具有一定的临床推广应用价值。     

Uniformity of Thermoluminescence and Optically Stimulated Luminescence Signals Over the Length of Doped LiMgPO4 Crystal Rods Grown by Micro-Pulling-Down Method

The purpose of this work was to systematically assess the distribution of thermoluminescence (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) properties along the length of crystals grown by the micro-pulling-down method, in relation to the microstructure and distribution of activators. We analyzed lithium magnesium phosphate (LiMgPO₄; LMP) crystals doped with terbium (Tb; 0.8 mol%) or with a combination of thulium (Tm; 0.8 mol% or 1.2 mol%) and boron (B; 10 mol%). Crystals of several centimeters in length and 3 mm in diameter were cut into 20–40 slices, depending on length. For each sample, TL glow curves and OSL decay curves were examined. Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to assess the microstructure and elemental composition of several selected samples. Two-dimensional TL readouts were performed to identify the areas with higher and lower signal emission. Our study showed that there may be significant differences not only in LMP sensitivity along the crystal’s axis but also on the surface of the slice. The distribution of activators varies depending on the type of crystals and strongly affects luminescence properties.