Indirubin alleviates bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice by suppressing fibroblast to myofibroblast differentiation.

Background And Objective: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic fibrosing interstitial lung disease with a poor prognosis. Indirubin, a compound obtained from indigo-bearing plants or mollusks of the family Muricidae, has various bioactivities, including anti-tumor activity and anti-inflammation effect. However, whether indirubin could mediate its therapeutic effects on bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis has not been addressed.

Management of haemophilia patients in the COVID-19 pandemic: Experience in Wuhan and Tianjin, two differently affected cities in China.

Objective: To identify lessons learned from haemophilia care experience in Wuhan (COVID-19 outbreak epicenter in China) and Tianjin (with relatively low COVID-19 incidence) in the pandemic.

Methods: We compared the challenges in haemophilia management attributed to local COVID-19 containment policies, healthcare resource availability, clotting factors supply, daily living restrictions and coping strategies employed.

Results: Wuhan was in lockdown with strict traffic controls, enforced quarantine and overwhelmed resources.

The role of hydrogen sulphide signalling in macrophage activation.

Hydrogen sulphide (H S) is the latest identified small gaseous mediator enabled by its lipophilic nature to freely permeate the biological membranes. Initially, H S was recognized by its roles in neuronal activity and vascular relaxation, which makes it an important molecule involved in paracrine signalling pathways. Recently, the immune regulatory function of gasotransmitters, H S in particular, is increasingly being appreciated.

Scutellarein inhibits BLM-mediated pulmonary fibrosis by affecting fibroblast differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis.

Introduction: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive and irreversible interstitial pulmonary disease that has a poor prognosis. Scutellarein, which is extracted from the traditional Chinese medicine , is used to treat a variety of diseases; however, the use of scutellarein for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis and the related mechanisms of action have not been fully explored.

Methods: This study was conducted using a well-established mouse model of pulmonary fibrosis induced by bleomycin (BLM).

Diagnostic utility of pleural fluid T-SPOT and interferon-gamma for tuberculous pleurisy: A two-center prospective cohort study in China.

Background: Early and accurate diagnosis of tuberculous pleurisy (TP) remains a challenge. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the performance of the pleural fluid (PF) T-SPOT and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) for TP diagnosis in high tuberculosis (TB) burden settings.

Methods: In total, 214 and 217 subjects suspected of TP were prospectively enrolled in the Wuhan (training) cohort and Changchun (validation) cohort, respectively.

Potential Influence of Menstrual Status and Sex Hormones on Female Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection: A Cross-sectional Multicenter Study in Wuhan, China.

Background: Recent studies have indicated that females with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have a lower morbidity, severe case rate, and mortality and better outcome than those of male individuals. However, the reasons remained to be addressed.

Methods: To find the factors that potentially protect females from COVID-19, we recruited all confirmed patients hospitalized at 3 branches of Tongji Hospital (N = 1902), and analyzed the correlation between menstrual status (n = 509, including 68 from Mobile Cabin Hospital), female hormones (n = 78), and cytokines related to immunity and inflammation (n = 263), and the severity/clinical outcomes in female patients <60 years of age.

Prealbumin as a Predictor of Prognosis in Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019.

The predictive value of prealbumin for the prognosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has not been extensively investigated. A total of 1,115 patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 were enrolled at Tongji hospital from February to April 2020 and classified into fatal ( = 129) and recovered ( = 986) groups according to the patient's outcome. Prealbumin and other routine laboratory indicators were measured simultaneously.

Prediction Model Based on the Combination of Cytokines and Lymphocyte Subsets for Prognosis of SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

Background: There are currently rare satisfactory markers for predicting the death of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The aim of this study is to establish a model based on the combination of serum cytokines and lymphocyte subsets for predicting the prognosis of the disease.

Methods: A total of 739 participants with COVID-19 were enrolled at Tongji Hospital from February to April 2020 and classified into fatal (n = 51) and survived (n = 688) groups according to the patient's outcome.

Analysis of 2019 novel coronavirus infection and clinical characteristics of outpatients: An epidemiological study from a fever clinic in Wuhan, China.

Background: Since the outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 [SARS-CoV-2]) pneumonia, thousands of patients with fever or cough were flocked into fever clinic of designated hospitals in Wuhan, China. To date, no data have ever been reported to reflect the prevalence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among these outpatients. Moreover, it is almost unknown to discriminate COVID-19 and nucleic acid negative patients based on clinical features in the fever clinics.

A crucial role of endoplasmic reticulum stress in cellular responses during pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a chronic and progressive disease of the lung vascular system, is characterized by vasculopathy in the pulmonary arterioles, especially in endothelial cells and pulmonary vascular smooth cells. Several mechanisms are involved in PAH occurrence and development, and all are characterized by excessive pulmonary vasoconstriction and abnormal vascular remodeling, which leads to a progressive resistance to blood flow and an increase in pulmonary artery pressure. Recent studies have shown that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is implicated in the pathophysiology of PAH.

Diagnostic value of pleural fluid T-SPOT for tuberculous pleurisy: An updated meta-analysis.

Background: Diagnosing tuberculous pleurisy (TP) remains a clinical challenge and the best method to diagnose it is controversial. Although several studies have investigated the performance of pleural fluid (PF) T-SPOT for pleural tuberculosis (plTB) diagnosis, the heterogeneity of its accuracy exists. Therefore, we performed an updated meta-analysis of the existing evidence on the utility of PF T-SPOT to diagnose TP.

A combination of iron metabolism indexes and tuberculosis-specific antigen/phytohemagglutinin ratio for distinguishing active tuberculosis from latent tuberculosis infection.

Background: Discriminating active tuberculosis (ATB) from latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) remains challenging. This study aimed to investigate a diagnostic model based on a combination of iron metabolism and the TB-specific antigen/phytohemagglutinin ratio (TBAg/PHA ratio) in T-SPOT.TB assay for differentiation between ATB and LTBI.

CD209 C-Type Lectins Promote Host Invasion, Dissemination, and Infection of .

, the causative agent of toxoplasmosis and a major opportunistic parasite associated with AIDS, is able to invade host cells of animals and humans. Studies suggested that the ability of host invasion by the tachyzoite, the infectious form of , is essential for the pathogenicity to promote its dissemination to other parts of animal hosts. However, the detailed molecular mechanisms for host invasion and dissemination of the parasites are not clear.

Using a diagnostic model based on routine laboratory tests to distinguish patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 from those infected with influenza virus.

Background: The differential diagnosis between novel coronavirus pneumonia patients (NCPP) and influenza patients (IP) remains a challenge in clinical practice.

Methods: Between January 2018 and March 2020, 1,027 NCPP and 1,140 IP were recruited from Tongji hospital. Routine blood examination, biochemical indicators and coagulation function analysis were simultaneously performed in all participants.

Clinical time course of COVID-19, its neurological manifestation and some thoughts on its management.

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has become a global pandemic. COVID-19 runs its course in two phases, the initial incubation phase and later clinical symptomatic phase. Patients in the initial incubation phase often have insidious clinical symptoms, but they are still highly contagious.

Cigarette smoke-initiated autoimmunity facilitates sensitisation to elastin-induced COPD-like pathologies in mice.

It is currently not understood whether cigarette smoke exposure facilitates sensitisation to self-antigens and whether ensuing auto-reactive T cells drive chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)-associated pathologies.To address this question, mice were exposed to cigarette smoke for 2 weeks. Following a 2-week period of rest, mice were challenged intratracheally with elastin for 3 days or 1 month.

Combination of mean spot sizes of ESAT-6 spot-forming cells and modified tuberculosis-specific antigen/phytohemagglutinin ratio of T-SPOT.TB assay in distinguishing between active tuberculosis and latent tuberculosis infection.

Objectives: Distinguishing between active tuberculosis (ATB) and latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) remains challenging.

Methods: The modified T-SPOT.TB assay was performed in 499 participants (243 ATB and 256 LTBI) and another 322 participants (162 ATB and 160 LTBI) who were diagnosed in Qiaokou (training) and Caidian (validation) cohort respectively.

Update on the role of endoplasmic reticulum stress in asthma.

Asthma has long attracted extensive attention because of its recurring symptoms of reversible airflow obstruction, airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and airway inflammation. Although accumulating evidence has enabled gradual increases in understanding of the pathogenesis of asthma, many questions regarding the mechanisms underlying asthma onset and progression remain unanswered. Recent advances delineating the potential functions of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in meeting the need for an airway hypersensitivity response have revealed critical roles of unfolded protein response (UPR) pathways in asthma.

N-methyladenosine mRNA methylation of regulates AKT signalling to promote PTEN-deficient pancreatic cancer progression.

Objective: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal cancers worldwide. Thus far, most drugs have failed to significantly improve patient survival. N-methyladenosine (mA) plays an important role in the progression of PDAC, but its aberrant regulation driven by germline variants in human diseases remains unclear.

Clinical characteristics of 54 medical staff with COVID-19: A retrospective study in a single center in Wuhan, China.

In December 2019, an outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2) infection occurred in Wuhan, and rapidly spread to worldwide, which has attracted many people's concerns about the patients. However, studies on the infection status of medical personnel is still lacking. A total of 54 cases of SARS-Cov-2 infected medical staff from Tongji Hospital between 7 January and 11 February 2020 were analyzed in this retrospective study.

Risk SNP-Mediated Enhancer-Promoter Interaction Drives Colorectal Cancer through Both and .

Although genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 100 colorectal cancer risk loci, most of the biological mechanisms associated with these loci remain unclear. Here we first performed a comprehensive expression quantitative trait loci analysis in colorectal cancer tissues adjusted for multiple confounders to test the determinants of germline variants in established GWAS susceptibility loci on mRNA and long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) expression. Combining integrative functional genomic/epigenomic analyses and a large-scale population study consisting of 6,024 cases and 10,022 controls, we then prioritized rs174575 with a C>G change as a potential causal candidate for colorectal cancer at 11q12.

Curdione ameliorates bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis by repressing TGF-β-induced fibroblast to myofibroblast differentiation.

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive and irreversible disease characterized by excessive fibroblast to myofibroblast differentiation with limited therapeutic options. Curdione, a sesquiterpene compound extracted from the essential oil of Curcuma aromatica Salisb, has anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor effects. However, the role of curdione in IPF is still unclear.