In vivo imaging of alkaline phosphatase in lipid metabolic diseases with a photoacoustic probe.

Lipid metabolic diseases have become an important challenge to global public health. Along with lifestyle changes, the incidence of obesity, diabetes and other metabolic syndromes is on the rise, and the number of patients with fatty liver disease is also increasing. Therefore, it is particularly important to develop effective lipid imaging strategies to monitor and manage fatty liver disease.

Natural killer cell-based cancer immunotherapy: from basics to clinical trials.

Cellular immunotherapy exploits the capacity of the human immune system in self-protection and surveillance to achieve the anti-tumor effects. Natural killer (NK) cells are lymphocytes of innate immune system and they display a unique inherent ability to identify and eliminate tumor cells. In this review, we first introduce the basic characteristics of NK cells in the physiological and pathological milieus, followed by a discussion of their effector function and immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment.

Focus on cuproptosis: Exploring new mechanisms and therapeutic application prospects of cuproptosis regulation.

Cuproptosis is a novel form of regulated cell death, which plays an important role in the physiological and pathological processes of the human body. Despite the increasing research on cuproptosis-related genes (CRGs) and their correlation with diseases, the pathogenesis of cuproptosis-related diseases remains unclear. Furthermore, there is a lack of reviews on the emerging technologies for regulating cuproptosis in disease treatment.

A case report of Erdheim-Chester disease-clinically characterized by recurrent fever, multiple bone destruction, and antinuclear antibodies.

Background: Erdheim-Chester disease is a form of histiocytosis. It is an extremely rare illness. Since its discovery, hundreds of cases of this disease have been identified across the globe.

hucMSC-Ex Alleviates IBD-Associated Intestinal Fibrosis by Inhibiting ERK Phosphorylation in Intestinal Fibroblasts.

Background: Intestinal fibrosis, one of the complications of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), is associated with fistula and intestinal stricture formation. There are currently no treatments for fibrosis. Mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes have been proven to exert inhibitory and reversal effects in IBD and other organ fibrosis.

Systemic lupus erythematosus complicated with reversible posterior encephalopathy syndrome: a case report.

A 28-year-old female patient was hospitalized primarily because of "intermittent fever for 28 days aggravated by systemic rashes, oral ulcer, and edema in both eyelids for 5 days." During treatment, convulsions and loss of consciousness occurred. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head revealed an abnormal signal with shadows in the bilateral frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes; cerebellar hemispheres; and basal nodes, with high signal intensity on T2 weighted imaging (T2WI), on fluid-attenuated inversion-recovery, and of the apparent diffusion coefficient and low signal intensity on T1WI and diffusion weighted imaging.

Icariin controlled release on a silk fibroin/mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticles scaffold for promoting stem cell osteogenic differentiation.

The treatment of bone defects caused by various reasons is still a major problem in orthopedic clinical work. Many studies on osteogenic implant materials have used various biologically active factors such as osteogenic inducers, but these biologically active factors have various side effects. Therefore, in this study, silk fibroin (SF) was used as a scaffold material, mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticles (MBGNs) as a sustained release carrier, and the traditional Chinese drug icariin (ICA) was loaded to promote bone formation.

Catalpol ameliorates Sjögren's Syndrome by modulating interplay of T and B cells.

Catalpol is an active ingredient of Rehmanniae Radix, a medical herb used frequently in treating primary Sjogren's Syndrome (pSS). However, no study has assessed the therapeutic effects of catalpol in treating Sjogren's Syndrome. This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effects of catalpol for pSS by evaluating the water consumption, stimulated salivary flow rates, sialadenitis, T cell subsets and related cytokine levels.

β-Sitosterol modulates macrophage polarization and attenuates rheumatoid inflammation in mice.

Context: β-Sitosterol (BS), the primary constituent of plants and vegetables, exhibits multiple biological effects.

Objective: This study explores its effect of immune-regulation on macrophages and its potential for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) therapy.

Materials And Methods: In vitro, bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) were treated with 5, 25 and 50 μM BS in the M1 or M2 polarization conditions.

High serum sICAM-1 is correlated with cerebral microbleeds and hemorrhagic transformation in ischemic stroke patients.

Intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) is an adhesive protein involved in inflammatory responses and endothelial dysfunction. ICAM-1 expression is upregulated in cerebrovascular tissue affected by stroke. We investigated whether serum soluble ICAM-1 (sICAM-1) levels are associated with cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) and risk of hemorrhagic transformation (HT).

Uric acid demonstrates neuroprotective effect on Parkinson's disease mice through Nrf2-ARE signaling pathway.

Uric acid has neuroprotective effect on Parkinson's disease (PD) by inhibiting oxidative damage and neuronal cell death. Our previous study has shown that uric acid protected dopaminergic cell line damage through inhibiting accumulation of NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2). This study aimed to investigate its in vivo neuroprotective effect.

Chemical Composition, Antioxidant, DNA Damage Protective, Cytotoxic and Antibacterial Activities of Cyperus rotundus Rhizomes Essential Oil against Foodborne Pathogens.

Cyperus rotundus L. (Cyperaceae) is a medicinal herb traditionally used to treat various clinical conditions at home. In this study, chemical composition of Cyperus rotundus rhizomes essential oil, and in vitro antioxidant, DNA damage protective and cytotoxic activities as well as antibacterial activity against foodborne pathogens were investigated.

Pregnancy outcome of 126 anti-SSA/Ro-positive patients during the past 24 years--a retrospective cohort study.

The aims of our study are to observe the pregnancy outcome of anti-Sjögren's syndrome-related antigen A (SSA)/Ro-positive women and to predict the risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcome and neonatal lupus erythematosus (NLE). Clinical data of 126 anti-SSA/Ro-positive patients with 140 pregnancies were evaluated retrospectively, and the newborns were followed up as a cohort in 3 months. χ (2) test or logistic regression was used to predict the risk factors of lupus flares during pregnancy, fetal loss, and NLE.

[Investigation of the risk of hepatitis B virus reactivation in arthritis patients undergoing anti-tumour necrosis factor alpha therapy].

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of HBV infection and the risk of hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation in patients with inflammatory arthritis receiving tumour hecrosis factor alpha (TNFα) inhibitors.

Methods: The liver function, serology of HBV and viral loads (HBV DNA) were tested before using TNFα inhibitors, at 3 months and 6 months. Patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection (HBV DNA > 1×10(3) copies/ml) were eliminated.

Neuroprotective effects of bisperoxovanadium on cerebral ischemia by inflammation inhibition.

PTEN is a dual specificity phosphatase and is implicated in inflammation and apoptosis of cerebral ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) injury. Bisperoxovanadium (Bpv), a specific inhibitor of PTEN's phosphatase activity, has demonstrated powerful neuroprotective properties. We investigated the neuroprotective roles of Bpv in the rat model of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) cerebral I/R injury, and explored the modulation of inflammatory mediators and PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β pathways by Bpv.

[Prospective study of efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine in pregnant patients with systemic lupus erythematosus].

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in pregnant patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Methods: A total of 48 pregnant patients with SLE were prospectively recruited from January 2010 to December 2012 at Peking Union Medical College Hospital. Diseases were stable, functions of important organs normal and immunosuppressants were discontinued for at least 6 months.

[The re-evaluation of 140 patients diagnosed as ankylosing spondylitis and nonradiographic axial spondyloarthritis].

Objective: To re-evaluate the diagnoses of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and nonradiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) and analyze the incidence and reason of misdiagnosis.

Methods: Patients who were previously diagnosed as AS and nr-axSpA before referrals to Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) were re-evaluated by three rheumatologists of PUMCH according to the modified New York criteria for AS and Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society (ASAS) axial SpA classification criteria for nr-axSpA.

Results: Totally 87 prior AS patients and 53 prior nr-axSpA patients were enrolled in this study.