A Diagnostic Formula for Discrimination of Tuberculous and Bacterial Meningitis Using Clinical and Laboratory Features.

The discrimination of tuberculous meningitis and bacterial meningitis remains difficult at present, even with the introduction of advanced diagnostic tools. This study aims to differentiate these two kinds of meningitis by using the rule of clinical and laboratory features. A prospective observational study was conducted to collect the clinical and laboratory parameters of patients with tuberculous meningitis or bacterial meningitis.

Relationship of atopic dermatitis with stroke and myocardial infarction: A meta-analysis.

Background: Lots of previous reports have suggested a potential association of atopic dermatitis (AD) with stroke and myocardial infarction (MI). However, the result is still controversial, Consequently, we conducted this meta-analysis to estimate the relationship of AD with Stroke and MI.

Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases were searched from inception to June 2018.

Effect of glycated hemoglobin index and mean arterial pressure on acute ischemic stroke prognosis after intravenous thrombolysis with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator.

To determine whether glycated hemoglobin and mean arterial pressure (MAP) during thrombolysis are prognostic factors of intravenous thrombolysis with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) for acute ischemic stroke (AIS).A total of 125 AIS patients, who received rt-PA intravenous thrombolysis in our hospital, were included into the present study, and divided into good prognosis group and poor prognosis group. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to determine the prognostic factors of AIS treated by rt-PA thrombolysis, Spearman correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation of the accumulated cigarette consumption in the smoking subgroup and glycated hemoglobin in the diabetic subgroup with the prognosis after intravenous thrombolysis and the symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH).

Atorvastatin ameliorates the contractile dysfunction of the aorta induced by organ culture.

Statins are widely used in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. Studies have demonstrated that statins could maintain vascular contractile function through inhibiting the transformation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) from the contractile phenotype to the synthetic phenotype. However, the underlying mechanisms have not been fully elucidated.

Evaluation of interferon-gamma release assays in extrasanguinous body fluids for diagnosing tuberculosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Aims: In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis to systematically compare the diagnostic accuracy of IGRAs performed for extrasanguinous body fluids with that performed for blood in the diagnosis of TB.

Main Methods: Multiple English and Chinese databases were searched up to November 2017. Studies that complied with the guidelines for the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies and used QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube and/or T-SPOT.

Comparisons of the therapeutic effects of three different routes of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation in cerebral ischemic rats.

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) are mainly administered via three routes: intra-arterial, intravenous and intracerebral. It has been reported that BMSC administration via each route ameliorates the functional deficits after cerebral ischemia. However, there have been no comparisons of the therapeutic benefits of BMSC administration through different delivery routes.

Anti-Interleukin-1 Beta/Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha IgY Antibodies Reduce Pathological Allergic Responses in Guinea Pigs with Allergic Rhinitis.

This study aims to determine whether the combined blockade of IL-1β and TNF-α can alleviate the pathological allergic inflammatory reaction in the nasal mucosa and lung tissues in allergic rhinitis (AR) guinea pigs. Healthy guinea pigs treated with saline were used as the healthy controls. The AR guinea pigs were randomly divided into (1) the AR model group treated with intranasal saline; (2) the 0.

Control of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Pneumonia Utilizing TLR2 Agonist Pam3CSK4.

The spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a critical health issue that has drawn greater attention to the potential use of immunotherapy. Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), a pattern recognition receptor, is an essential component in host innate defense system against S. aureus infection.

Effect of cold stress on immunity in rats.

An increase in the morbidity of upper respiratory tract infections and the attack and exacerbation of autoimmune diseases has been observed to occur in the few days following sudden environmental temperature decreases, but the mechanisms for these phenomena are not well understood. To determine the effect of a sudden ambient temperature drop on the levels of stress hormones and T-lymphocyte cytokines in the plasma, the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) expression of immunocompetent cells in rat spleens and the levels of regulatory T (Treg) cells in the peripheral blood, Sprague Dawley rats were divided into three groups of different ambient temperatures (20, 4 and -12°C). In each group, there were four observation time-points (1, 12, 24 and 48 h).

Neuroprotective effects of polysaccharides against neuronal apoptosis induced by hypoxia.

polysaccharides (RDPS) are the primary active ingredient of , which is a traditional Chinese medicine. RDPS have previously been shown to scavenge reactive oxygen species, and protect against D-galactose-induced mimetic aging. The present study aimed to investigate the neuroprotective effects of RDPS against hypoxia-induced neuronal cell apoptosis.

Increased expression of formin-like 3 contributes to metastasis and poor prognosis in colorectal carcinoma.

Formin-like 3 (FMNL3), a member of diaphanous-related formins subfamily, plays an important role in cytoskeleton reorganization, cell adhesion and cancer cell invasion in vitro. This study aimed to explore the expression of FMNL3 in colorectal carcinoma (CRC) cell-lines and tissues, and further evaluate its prognostic value and correlation with the clinicopathological parameters, and also investigate the effects of FMNL3 gene silencing on the growth and metastasis of CRC in vivo. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that FMNL3 protein was distributed in a punctuate aggregation pattern and located mainly in the cytoplasm of glandular cavity side, close to the nucleus of CRC cells.

Transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells promotes learning and memory functional recovery and reduces hippocampal damage in rats with alcohol-associated dementia.

Background: Chronic ethanol exposure leads to permanent damage to the central nervous system and produces cognitive deficits such as learning and memory impairment. The present study was designed to explore the therapeutic effect of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) on a rat model of alcohol-associated dementia (AAD).

Methods: Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were prelabeled with 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole and directly transplanted into the hippocampus of AAD rats, an important site of alcohol effects that lead to cognitive deficits.

Therapeutic potential of combined anti-IL-1β IgY and anti-TNF-α IgY in guinea pigs with allergic rhinitis induced by ovalbumin.

We have previously demonstrated that anti-IL-1β immunoglobulin yolk(IgY) inhibits pathological responses in allergic asthma guinea pigs induced by ovalbumin(OVA). This study aims to determine whether the combined blockade of IL-1β and TNF-α can more effectively inhibit allergic inflammation in allergic rhinitis(AR) guinea pigs induced by OVA. Healthy guinea pigs treated with saline were used as the healthy control.

Inhibition of xanthine oxidase activity by gnaphalium affine extract.

Objective: To evaluate the inhibitory effect of Gnaphalium affine extracts on xanthine oxidase (XO) activity in vitro and to analyze the mechanism of this effect.

Methods: In this in vitro study, Kinetic measurements were performed in 4 different inhibitor concentrations and 5 different xanthine concentrations (60, 100, 200, 300, 400 Μmol/L). Dixon and Lineweaver-Burk plot analysis were used to determine Ki values and the inhibition mode for the compounds isolated from Gnaphalium affine extract.

Neuroprotective effect of Atractylodes macrocephalaon polysaccharides in vitro on neuronal apoptosis induced by hypoxia.

Rhizoma Atractylodis macrocephalae have an important role in treating cerebrovascular diseases in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The purpose of the present study was to determine the neuroprotective effect of Atractylodis macrocephalaon polysaccharides (AMPS) on hypoxia-induced apoptosis of cerebral cortical neurons. Neuronal cells obtained from neonatal rats were divided into the following groups: Normal control (group C); apoptosis positive induced by hypoxia-reoxygenation culture of rat primary cerebral cortical neurons (group A); treated with 0.

Therapeutic potential of anti-IL-1β IgY in guinea pigs with allergic asthma induced by ovalbumin.

Background: Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) plays pivotal roles in the progression of allergic airway inflammation. This study aims to determine whether the blockade of IL-1β can inhibit airway inflammation in guinea pigs with allergic asthma induced by the inhalation of aerosolized ovalbumin (OVA).

Methods: Healthy guinea pigs treated with saline were used as normal controls (group C).

Immune-related GTPase Irgm1 exacerbates experimental auto-immune encephalomyelitis by promoting the disruption of blood-brain barrier and blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier.

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS), is a T cell-mediated autoimmune condition characterized by prominent inflammation in the CNS. In this model, autoreactive T cells are primed in peripheral lymph nodes and migrate into uninflamed CNS across blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB) and blood-brain barrier (BBB) to initiate inflammation. However, the molecular mechanism controlling T cell migration remains to be determined.

Extensive loss of connexins in Baló's disease: evidence for an auto-antibody-independent astrocytopathy via impaired astrocyte-oligodendrocyte/myelin interaction.

Extensive aquaporin-4 (AQP4) loss without perivascular deposition of either activated complement or immunoglobulins is a characteristic of Baló's disease. Our aim in this study was to investigate the relationship between astrocytopathy and demyelination in Baló's disease, focusing on connexins (Cx), which form gap junctions among glial cells and myelin. Autopsied specimens from four cases that provided seven actively demyelinating concentric lesions infiltrated with numerous CD68(+) macrophages were immunohistochemically examined for the astrocyte markers glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), AQP4, Cx43, Cx30 and megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy with subcortical cyst 1 (MLC1).

[Astrocytopathy in neuromyelitis optica, multiple sclerosis and Baló's disease].

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS) while neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an inflammatory disease of the CNS that selectively affects the optic nerves and spinal cord. An antibody for aquaporin-4 (AQP4), which is a water channel located in astrocyte foot process, is specifically positive for NMO and antibody and complement dependent astrocytic damage is thought to be a main cause of NMO. Baló's disease is characterized by alternating rings of demyelination and preserved myelin.

Association of susceptibility to multiple sclerosis in Southern Han Chinese with HLA-DRB1, -DPB1 alleles and DRB1-DPB1 haplotypes: distinct from other populations.

Association of HLA class II with multiple sclerosis (MS) has been widely studied in both Western and Oriental populations. However, such an association is not well documented in Chinese. The objective of this study was to examine the association between the susceptibility to conventional MS in Southern Chinese with HLA-DRB1,-DPB1 alleles and putative DRB1-DPB1 haplotypes.

Balo's disease showing benign clinical course and co-existence with multiple sclerosis-like lesions in Chinese.

Baló's concentric sclerosis (BCS) is a rare demyelinating disorder usually considered a variant of multiple sclerosis (MS). However, its pathogenesis and its correlation with MS remains unclear and controversial. This report presents seven Hans Chinese subjects diagnosed as BCS on the basis of the pathognomonic MR (magnetic resonance) findings.

[Association of HLA-DRB1 and -DPB1 allele polymorphism with multiple sclerosis in Chinese Han population from Southern areas].

Objective: To examine the correlation between multiple sclerosis (MS) in Chinese Southern Han population and the polymorphism of HLA-DRB1 and -DPB1 alleles, and compare it to the reports of Western, Japanese and Northern Chinese populations.

Methods: The HLA-DRB1 and -DPB1 alleles of 26 patients with conventional MS (C-MS), 13 patients with optic-spinal form of MS (OS-MS), and 50 normal controls were determined by sequence-based typing (SBT) method. The frequency of the HLA alleles was compared between the 2 MS subtypes and the MS subtypes and the controls by chi(2) or Fisher exact probability test.

Increased IL-13 but not IL-5 production by CD4-positive T cells and CD8-positive T cells in multiple sclerosis during relapse phase.

In the present study, we flow cytometrically analyzed the intracellular production of interleukin (IL)-5 and IL-13 in peripheral blood CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells from patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), human T-lymphotropic virus type I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) and healthy controls. IL-13-producing T cells were significantly increased in both T cell subsets in MS at relapse, markedly in the conventional form of MS and modestly in the optocospinal form of MS, and returned to normal at remission. However, IL-5-producing T cells did not vary regardless of clinical phase or type.