Eco-friendly hydrophobic ZIF-8/sodium alginate monolithic adsorbent: An efficient trap for microplastics in the aqueous environment.

Microplastics (MPs), a newly emerging class of environmental contaminants, pose a severe threat to the entire ecosystem. The development of efficient and environmentally responsible adsorbents for removing the MPs is a particularly urgent research. Herein, a kind of monolithic ZIF-8 based adsorbents featuring stable hydrophobicity and micropore-mesopore-macropore hierarchical porous structure were fabricated by in situ growth of ZIF-8 nanoparticles on sodium alginate (SA) framework, and using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as a hydrophobic agent.

Effects of co-infection with on T cell exhaustion levels in patients with chronic hepatitis B.

To investigate the effects of co-infection with on T cell exhaustion levels in patients with chronic hepatitis B, we enrolled clinical cases in this study, including the patients with concomitant and HBV infection. In this study, we detected inhibitory receptors and cytokine expression in circulating CD4+ and CD8+ T cells by flow cytometry. PD-1 and TIM-3 expression levels were significantly higher on CD4+ T and CD8+ T cells from co-infected patients than on those from the HBV patients.

Cerebrospinal fluid uric acid levels associated with disease severity in patients with anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis.

Introduction: Uric acid (UA) is an important natural antioxidant and strong peroxynitrite scavenger, but little is known about central nervous system (CNS) levels of UA in patients with anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis (NMDARE).

Methods: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum levels of UA were determined in 72 patients with anti-NMDARE and 111 controls with non-inflammatory neurological diseases (NINDs). Serum UA levels were also evaluated in 132 healthy controls (HCs).

Effects of co-infection with Clonorchis sinensis on the sex hormones levels in male patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Objective: We evaluated the levels of sex hormones in male hepatitis B patients co-infected with Clonorchis sinensis (C. sinensis).

Methods: A total of 136 male individuals were enrolled in this study, including 27 healthy controls, 28 patients with C.

Cerebrospinal fluid cystatin C levels in patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis and other neurological diseases.

Background: Cystatin C has neuroprotective and immunomodulatory effects on the central nervous system. However, the role of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cystatin C in anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis (anti-NMDARE) remains unknown.

Methods: In this study, CSF levels of cystatin C were determined in 73 patients with anti-NMDARE; 496 patients with other neurological diseases, comprising 108 with neuromyelitis optica, 77 with multiple sclerosis, 71 with schizophrenia, 68 with cryptococcus meningitis or meningoencephalitis, 43 with tuberculous meningitis or meningoencephalitis, 43 with bacterial meningitis or meningoencephalitis (BM), 35 with Guillain-Barré syndrome, 23 with spinal cord injury (SCI), 14 with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and 14 with idiopathic epilepsy; and 136 control patients with non-inflammatory diseases.

Engineering of α-PD-1 antibody-expressing long-lived plasma cells by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated targeted gene integration.

Long-lived plasma cells (LLPCs) are robust specialized antibody-secreting cells that mainly stay in the bone marrow and can persist a lifetime. As they can be generated by inducing the differentiation of B-lymphocytes, we investigated the possibility that human LLPCs might be engineered to express α-PD-1 monoclonal antibody to substitute recombinant α-PD-1 antitumor immunotherapy. To this end, we inserted an α-PD-1 cassette into the GAPDH locus through Cas9/sgRNA-guided specific integration in B-lymphocytes, which was mediated by an integrase-defective lentiviral vector.

Serum liver fibrosis markers discriminate significant liver inflammation in chronic hepatitis B patients with normal or near-normal alanine aminotransferase.

Chronic liver inflammation caused by chronic hepatitis B virus (CHB) infection leads to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Recently, the role of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) as a predictor of liver inflammation has been questioned. The aim of this study was to investigate the utility of noninvasive fibrosis markers including hyaluronic acid (HA), collagen type IV (CIV), N-terminal propeptide of type III procollagen (PIIINP), and laminin (LN) in identifying significant liver inflammation in patients with CHB, especially in patients with normal or near-normal ALT.

The diagnostic efficacy of CYFRA21-1 on intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: A meta-analysis.

Objective: To evaluate the reliability and accuracy of Cytokeratin-19-fragment (CYFRA21-1) in the diagnosis of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) based on literature meta-analysis and the diagnostic efficacy and clinical application of CYFRA21-1 in ICC.

Methods: MEDLINE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure Library and other databases were used to base the inclusion and exclusion criteria. In addition, relevant data from studies on CYFRA21-1 were used to diagnose ICC individually or in combination was retrieved for meta-analysis.

Inhibition of smoothened decreases proliferation of synoviocytes in rheumatoid arthritis.

Fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) contribute to synovial hyperplasia in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Smoothened (Smo) is a key component of sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling and contributes to tumor cell proliferation. The objective of this study was to investigate the role of Smo in RA synoviocyte proliferation.

Sonic hedgehog signalling pathway regulates apoptosis through Smo protein in human umbilical vein endothelial cells.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of smoothened protein (Smo), a sonic hedgehog (Shh) signalling component, in synovium of RA and its role in the survival and apoptosis of endothelial cells.

Methods: The expression of Smo pxrotein in RA synovial tissue was examined by immunohistochemistry. Real-time PCR and western blotting techniques were employed to measure the expression of Shh signalling components in EA.

Marine compound catunaregin inhibits angiogenesis through the modulation of phosphorylation of akt and eNOS in vivo and in vitro.

Angiogenesis is the formation of blood vessels from pre-existing vasculature. Excessive or uncontrolled angiogenesis is a major contributor to many pathological conditions whereas inhibition of aberrant angiogenesis is beneficial to patients with pathological angiogenesis. Catunaregin is a core of novel marine compound isolated from mangrove associate.

Sonic hedgehog signaling drives proliferation of synoviocytes in rheumatoid arthritis: a possible novel therapeutic target.

Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling controls many aspects of human development, regulates cell growth and differentiation in adult tissues, and is activated in a number of malignancies. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by chronic synovitis and pannus formation associated with activation of fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS). We investigated whether Shh signaling plays a role in the proliferation of FLS in RA.

Novel rare alleles of ABCA1 are exclusively associated with extreme high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels among the Han Chinese.

Background: High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is a major plasma lipoprotein directly associated with cholesterol metabolism. The ATP binding cassette transporter 1 gene (ABCA1) is one of the major genes modulating plasma levels of HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C). Rare alleles of ABCA1 associated with extreme HDL-C concentrations have not been previously investigated in the Chinese.

Prevalence of drug-resistant HIV-1 in rural areas of Hubei province in the People's Republic of China.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of drug-resistant HIV-1 and the efficacy of first-line highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) regimens consisted of generic nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor and nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor among 339 study subjects in rural areas of Hubei province, China.

Methods: Two cross-sectional studies were conducted to investigate 150 HAART-naive (99 received subsequent therapy) between 2003 and 2005 and 288 HAART-experienced patients mainly between 2005 and 2006. Patients' CD4+ T-cell count and viral load were determined.

Sinomenine suppresses TNF-alpha-induced VCAM-1 expression in human umbilical vein endothelial cells.

Sinomenine (SN), an alkaloid prepared from the root of Sinomenium acutum Rehd. Et wils, is used to alleviate the symptoms of rheumatism in Chinese medicine. In the present study, the potential inhibition of TNF-alpha-induced VCAM-1 expression on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was evaluated in vitro.