No causal association between pneumoconiosis and three inflammatory immune diseases: a Mendelian randomization study.

Objectives: To investigate the causal relationships between pneumoconiosis and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and gout.

Methods: The random-effects inverse variance weighted (IVW) approach was utilized to explore the causal effects of the instrumental variables (IVs). Sensitivity analyses using the MR-Egger and weighted median (WM) methods were did to investigate horizontal pleiotropy.

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals and autoimmune diseases.

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) widely exist in people's production and life which have great potential to damage human and animal health. Over the past few decades, growing attention has been paid to the impact of EDCs on human health, as well as immune system. So far, researchers have proved that EDCs (such as bisphenol A (BPA), phthalate, tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (TCDD), etc.

Altered gut fungi in systemic lupus erythematosus - A pilot study.

Objective: Gut fungi, as symbiosis with the human gastrointestinal tract, may regulate physiology multiple interactions with host cells. The plausible role of fungi in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is far from clear and need to be explored.

Methods: A total of 64 subjects were recruited, including SLE, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), undifferentiated connective tissue diseases (UCTDs) patients and healthy controls (HCs).

Intestinal fungi and systemic autoimmune diseases.

Nearly 20 years of studies have shown that fungi and the human immune system (non-specific immunity and specific immunity) and bacterial--fungal interactions maintain a balance that can't lead to diseases. Fungi--microorganism that lives in human intestine--may play an important role in human health and disease. Population studies and animal models in some diseases have found the changes in the diversity and composition of fungi.

Essential Trace Element Status in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: a Meta-analysis Based on Case-Control Studies.

The homeostasis of trace elements is essential to regulate different aspects of the immune system and might play important roles in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, epidemiological evidences that compared the level of essential trace elements in SLE patients and healthy controls (HCs) did not reach a consensus. This was the first meta-analysis to comprehensively assess the level of zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), and selenium (Se) in SLE and HCs.

Urgent retrograde two-stage hybrid repair of a complicated blunt traumatic aortic injury.

Blunt traumatic aortic injury (BTAI) is a rare but life-threatening emergency that is usually caused by sudden acceleration/deceleration injuries in vehicular accidents. We describe our initial experience of a retrograde two-stage hybrid treatment approach for the emergent management of a 63-year-old motorcyclist who presented with a complicated BTAI with malperfusion syndrome. To our best knowledge, this uncommon BTAI case with fatal distal malperfusion saved by an urgent retrograde two-stage hybrid procedure has been reported rarely.