Gut microbial 'TNFα-sphingolipids-steroid hormones' axis in children with autism spectrum disorder: an insight from meta-omics analysis.

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a persistent neurodevelopmental disorder affecting brains of children. Mounting evidences support the associations between gut microbial dysbiosis and ASD, whereas detailed mechanisms are still obscure.

Methods: Here we probed the potential roles of gut microbiome in ASD using fecal metagenomics and metabolomics.

Direct signaling of TL1A-DR3 on fibroblasts induces intestinal fibrosis in vivo.

Tumor necrosis factor-like cytokine 1A (TL1A, TNFSF15) is implicated in inflammatory bowel disease, modulating the location and severity of inflammation and fibrosis. TL1A expression is increased in inflamed mucosa and associated with fibrostenosing Crohn's disease. Tl1a-overexpression in mice causes spontaneous ileitis, and exacerbates induced proximal colitis and fibrosis.

The role of ursodeoxycholic acid in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis: a systematic review.

Background: Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a condition that occurs during the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Effective therapy for NASH is still lacking. In this study, we investigated the effects of Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in the treatment of NASH.

Uncoupling protein and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Objective: To review the current advances on the role of uncoupling protein (UCP) in the pathogenesis and progress of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Data Sources: A comprehensive search of the PubMed literature without restriction on the publication date was carried out using keywords such as UCP and NAFLD.

Study Selection: Articles containing information related to NAFLD and UCP were selected and carefully analyzed.

Helicobacter pylori and Crohn's disease: a retrospective single-center study from China.

Aim: To investigate the association between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and the prevalence of Crohn's disease (CD).

Methods: Subjects were selected from patients admitted the gastrointestinal (GI) department at The First Affiliated Hospital School of Medicine (Zhejiang University) for abdominal pain, hematochezia, diarrhea and other GI symptoms between January 2008 and September 2012.

Changes of CD8⁺ T cells in dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis mice pretreated with oral immune regulation.

Background: It has been reported that CD8(+) regulatory cells could be induced upon oral tolerance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes of CD8α(+) T cells in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis mice pretreated by oral immune regulation.

Methods: The effects of five low oral doses of colitis-extracted proteins (CEP) on colitis were evaluated by clinical manifestation and histological lesions.

The effect of oral tolerance on the roles of small intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes in murine colitis induced by dextran sodium sulfate.

Backgrounds And Aims: There is increasing evidence that gut-derived intraepithelial lymphocytes have potent cytolytic and immunoregulatory functions, which they use to sustain epithelial integrity. The aims of this study were to investigate the roles of small intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (SI-IELs) in oral tolerance and dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis.

Methods: SI-IELs or sorted γδ T cells from untreated, colitis, and colitis-extracted protein (CEP)-fed colitis mice were adoptively transferred to BALB/c mice; colitis was then induced with DSS.

Effects of appendectomy and oral tolerance on dextran sulfate sodium colitis.

Aim: To evaluate the concomitant effects of appendectomy and oral tolerance on colitis.

Methods: Delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) was investigated at a 7-d interval after ovalbumin (OVA) administration and immunization under normal and colitis conditions in appendectomized or sham-operated mice. Pathological scores for the colon were graded after ingestion of colon-extracted protein (CEP) and induction of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) colitis in appendectomized or sham-operated mice.

Isolation of murine small intestinal intraepithelial γδt cells.

The study of intestinal intraepithelial γδ lymphocytes has been hindered by the difficulty of isolating a population of pure cells representative of their in vivo phenotype and function. Here, we describe a procedure for the purification of small intestinal intraepithelial γδ T lymphocytes in BALB/c mice, including extraction and purification of intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) followed by separation of γδ T cells from IELs by magnetic activated cell sorting (MACS). The small intestinal IEL isolation protocol reported here is a less time-consuming with high purity and high yields.

The protective effect of oral colitis-derived proteins in a murine model of inflammatory bowel disease is associated with an increase in gammadelta T cells in large intestinal mucosa.

Backgrounds And Aims: Oral tolerance has previously been shown effective in preventing several immune-mediated disorders in animal models. The aims of this study were to investigate the effect of oral colitis-extracted proteins (CEP) on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in BALB/c mice and to explore the relative role of the intestinal mucosal gammadelta T cells.

Methods: The effect of five low oral doses of CEP on colitis was evaluated by clinical manifestation and histological lesions.

[Haplotypes of four single nucleotide polymorphisms in caspase-8, -10 genes in Han nationality of Zhejiang province in China].

Objective: To investigate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the distribution of their haplotypes in caspase-8, -10 genes in Zhejiang Han nationality in China.

Methods: PCR, denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) and DNA sequencing were used to detect the SNPs in the 2nd-5th exons of caspase-10 gene, the 8th-10th exons of caspase-8 and their flanking sequences. Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm was used for haplotype frequencies analysis and pairwise linkage disequilibrium (LD) test.

A novel microsatellite within intron 8 in caspase10 gene in Chinese of Han nationality.

Objective: To investigate polymorphisms in the coding exons and their splicing areas of caspase10 gene (CASP10) in Chinese of Han nationality.

Methods: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC), direct sequencing and clonal sequencing were used to analyze the exon 9 and its flanking sequences.

Results: In 70 blood samples of Chinese subjects researched the known single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the exon 9 of CASP10 gene published in dbSNP of NCBI were not identified.

[BCL-2/IgH translocation in peripheral blood cells of healthy Chinese individuals of Han nationality located in Zhejiang area].

Objective: To investigate the relationship between the frequency of BCL-2/IgH rearrangement in peripheral blood cells of healthy Chinese individuals of Han nationality located in Zhejiang area and the low incidence of follicular lymphoma (FL).

Methods: Nested-PCR and direct DNA sequencing were used to detect the Bcl-2/IgH rearrangement in peripheral blood cells of 196 healthy individuals. DNA sequences involved were then searched and aligned in NCBI database to confine the broken points in major breakpoint region and the IgH segments involved.

[The haplotypes of three single nucleotide polymorphisms in caspase-3 gene in Han nationality of Zhejiang province in China].

Objective: To investigate the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the distribution of their haplotypes in caspase-3 gene in Zhejiang Han nationality in China.

Methods: Denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) and DNA sequencing were used to detect the SNPs in the regulatory region and the exons 2-7 and their flanking sequences in caspase-3 gene. Expectation maximization (EM) algorithm was used for haplotype frequencies analysis and pairwise linkage disequilibrium test.