Th17 i IL-17 osiągają wyższe stężenia w przebiegu martwicy głowy kości udowej i są dodatnio skorelowane z nasileniem bólu

Objective: Synovitis associated with osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) is responsible for several clinical symptoms. However, the mechanisms underlying synovitis and the inflammatory environment remain unclear. This study analyzed the proinflammatory mediation expression of IL-17 and Th17, which perform key functions in regulating inflammatory processes in the inflamed synovium and peripheral blood in ONFH. Methods: Synovial fluid from the hips of 23 patients and 5 controls was collected during surgery, and peripheral blood samples were obtained from 34 patients and 9 controls. The expression of IL-17 in the synovium was detected by immunohistochemistry, and the levels of Th17 and IL-17 in the blood were measured by flow cytometry and ELISA. Pain assessment was performed for all the patients and controls. Results: An inflamed synovium was characterized by increased leukocyte infiltration and IL-17 expression in comparison with the control. Preoperative levels of Th17 and IL-17 were significantly higher in the peripheral blood of the ONFH group than those in the controls. The symptoms were also positively correlated with the Th17 levels of the ONFH patients. Conclusion: Th17 cells were recruited to an inflamed synovium, and inflammatory cytokine IL-17 was expressed at an increased level in the hip synovium of ONFH patients, which possibly contributed to clinical syndrome development. Overall, this study will help in identifying new therapeutic strategies for ONFH, especially the targeting of IL-17 to decrease inflammation and pain. Wstęp: Zapalenie błony maziowej związane z martwicą głowy kości udowej (osteonecrosis of the femoral head; ONFH) odpowiada za kilka objawów klinicznych, jednak mechanizmy leżące u podstaw zapalenia błony maziowej oraz środowisko zapalne pozostają niejasne. W niniejszym badaniu poddano analizie ekspresję mediatora zapalenia IL-17 na limfocytach Th17, które pełnią kluczową rolę w regulowaniu procesów zapalnych w objętej stanem zapalnym błonie maziowej i krwi obwodowej w przebiegu ONFH. Materiał i metody: Podczas zabiegów operacyjnych pobrano maź stawową ze stawów biodrowych 23 pacjentów i 5 osób z grupy kon­trolnej, natomiast próbki krwi obwodowej uzyskano od 34 pacjentów i 9 osób z grupy kontrolnej. Ekspresję IL-17 w błonie maziowej wykrywano za pomocą metody immunohistochemicznej, a stężenie Th17 i IL-17 we krwi mierzono metodą cytometrii przepływowej i metodą ELISA. U wszystkich pacjentów i osób z grupy kontrolnej oceniono parametr bólu. Wyniki: Cechą charakterystyczną objętej stanem zapalnym błony maziowej był wzrost nacieczenia limfocytarnego i ekspresji IL-17 w porównaniu z grupą kontrolną. Stężenie Th17 i IL-17 przed wykonaniem zabiegów operacyjnych było znacząco wyższe we krwi obwodowej pacjentów z martwicą głowy kości udowej niż grupy kontrolnej. Również objawy były u tych pacjentów dodatnio skorelowane z poziomem Th17. Wnioski: Limfocyty Th17 były rekrutowane do objętej stanem zapalnym błony maziowej, a cytokina zapalna IL-17 ulegała ekspresji na zwiększonym poziomie w błonie maziowej stawu biodrowego pacjentów z martwicą głowy kości udowej, co prawdopodobnie przyczyniło się do rozwoju zespołu objawów klinicznych. Uogólniając, niniejsze badanie może pomóc zidentyfikować nowe strategie terapeutyczne w martwicy głowy kości udowej, w szczególności ukierunkowane na IL-17 w celu zmniejszenia stanu zapalnego i bólu

MiR-125a Rs12976445 Polymorphism is Associated with the Apoptosis Status of Nucleus Pulposus Cells and the Risk of Intervertebral Disc Degeneration

Background: Spinal degenerative diseases are a major health problem and social burden worldwide. Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is the pathological basis of spinal degenerative diseases and is characterized by loss of nucleus pulposus cells due to excessive apoptosis caused by various factors. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been reported to be functionally involved in the control of apoptosis. Methods: computational analysis and luciferase assay were used to identify the target of miR-125a, and cell culture, transfection were used to confirm such relationship. Sequencing was used to determine the genotype of each participant. Results: We confirmed the previous report that the presence of the minor allele (T) of rs12976445 polymorphism significantly downregulated the expression level of miR-125a in nucleus pulposus cells, leading to less efficient inhibition of its target gene. We also validated TP53INP1 as a target of miR-125a in nucleus pulposus cells using a dual luciferase reporter system, and the transfection of miR-125a significantly reduced the expression of TP53INP1. The expression level of TP53INP1 was significantly lower in nucleus pulposus cells genotyped as CT or TT than in those genotyped as CC, and the apoptosis rate was consistently lower in the CC group than in the nucleus pulposus cells collected from individuals carrying at least one minor allele of rs12976445 polymorphism. To study the association between rs12976445 polymorphism and the risk of IDD, we enrolled 242 patients diagnosed with IDD and 278 normal controls, and significant differences were noted regarding the genotype distribution of rs12976445 between the IDD and the control groups (OR = 2.69, 95% C.I. = 1.88-3.83, p Conclusion: The present study indicated that miR-125a is a promising potential target for patients with IDD in clinical practice

Clinicopathological characteristics and survival of malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the bone: A population-based study using the SEER database.

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the bone (MFH-B) is an extremely rare and aggressive malignancy. The clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients with MFH-B have not been defined. We conducted a retrospective study using the data of all MFH-B patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database between 1975 and 2016. Initially, the clinicopathological characteristics were described. The difference in prognosis between patients with MFH-B and those with osteosarcoma was compared using propensity score matching analysis. Then, the features affecting the prognosis of patients with MFH-B were further determined using Cox regression analysis. A total of 318 patients with MFH-B were identified. The median overall survival (mOS) of all 318 patients with MFH-B was 29.0 months. The 1-, 3-, 5-, and 10- year survival rates were 67.4%, 53.6%, 38.7%, and 28.7%, respectively. The multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that older age, distant metastases, and flat bone lesion were independent factors for worse prognosis, whereas surgery was an independent factor for favorable survival, and this intervention could decrease risk of death by 61% (HR = 0.39, 95% CI 0.28-0.54). Apart from this, the prognosis of patients with MFH-B was significantly worse than that of patients with osteosarcoma in both unmatched and matched cohorts. In conclusion, MFH-B is a rare malignant bone cancer, with relatively worse prognosis than osteosarcoma. Older age, distant metastases, flat bone lesion, and surgery were independently associated with prognosis. In order to understand this disease more thoroughly and accurately, more cases with adequate information are required in the future

Effect of Drought Stress on Proteome of Maize Grain during Grain Filling

Based on isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) technology, the proteome of grains of a maize cultivar Huangzao 4 under drought stress at grain filling stage was analyzed. The results show that under drought stress, 438 proteins were differentially expressed in the maize grains during grain filling. Among them, 200 were up-regulated and 238 were down-regulated. The gene ontology (GO) analysis shows that the biological processes in which differential proteins are more involved are cellular processes, metabolic processes and single biological processes; proteins in the cell component category are mainly distributed in cells, cell parts and organelles; and the proteins the molecular function category mainly possess catalytic activity and binding function. Differentially expressed proteins classified by COG are mainly involved in protein post-translational modification and transport, molecular chaperones, general functional genes, translation, ribosomal structure, biosynthesis, energy production and transformation, carbohydrate transport and metabolism, amino acid transport and metabolism, etc. The subcellular structure of the differentially expressed proteins is mainly located in the cell chloroplast and cytosol. The proportions are 35.01% and 30.21% respectively. KEGG metabolic pathway enrichment analysis shows that the differentially expressed proteins are mostly involved in antibiotic biosynthesis, microbial metabolism in different environments, and endoplasmic reticulum protein processing; the metabolic pathways with higher enrichment are the carbon fixation pathway and estrogen signaling pathway of prokaryotes; and the higher enrichment and greater significance are in the tricarboxylic acid cycle, carbon fixation of photosynthetic organisms and proteasome. The results of this study preliminarily reveal the adaptive mechanism of maize grains in response to drought stress during grain filling, providing a theoretical reference for maize drought-resistant molecular breeding

Drought Tolerance Identification and Eevluation of Maize during Flowering Stage in Guangxi

Total 20 maize varieties were subjected to drought stress at flowering stage, and then the relative water content, soluble sugar content, chlorophyll content, malondialdehyde (MDA) content and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in their leaves, as well as their yields were determined. The drought tolerance of the physiological and biochemical indexes was scored by five-level scoring method, and the drought tolerance index was calculated by the yield index to comprehensively evaluate the drought tolerance of maize during flowering stage. The results showed that the scores of drought tolerance of the maize varieties ranged from 1.929 3 to 5.659 5. Among them, the scores of Zhengda 619, Guidan 162 and Guidan 0810 were greater than 5.0, followed by Dika 008, Xianyu 30T60, Xianzhengda 901, Qingnong 68, South America No.1 and Wanchuan 1306 of which the scores were in the range of 4.0-5.0. The drought tolerance indexes were in the range of 0.410 4-1.096 3. Among the test maize varieties, the drought tolerance indexes of Guidan 0810, Pacific 99 and Zhengda 619 were greater than 1.0, and those of Xianyu 30T60, Dika 008 and South America No.1 were in the range of 0.9-1.0. The correlation between the two kinds of evaluation results was 0.588 7 and was extremely significant. The five-level scoring method and the drought tolerance index can be used simultaneously for the evaluation of drought tolerance of maize during flowering stage. The two aspects of evaluation results showed that Guidan 0810, Zhengda 619, Xianyu 30T60, Dika 008 and South America No.1 were drought-tolerant varieties, among which Guidan 0810 and Zhengda 619 were extremely highly drought-tolerant varieties

Effect of Foliar Application of Selenium Fertilizer on Yield, Selenium Content and Heavy Metal Contents of Waxy Maize

[Objectives] This study aimed to explore the effect of different concentrations of selenium fertilizer on the yield, selenium content and heavy metal contents of waxy maize, thereby providing reference for the scientific application of selenium fertilizer on waxy maize. [Methods] Different varieties of waxy maize (Guitiannuo 611, Guinuo 615 and Guiheinuo 609) were used as test materials. They were sprayed with different concentrations (0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 g/L) of water-soluble selenium fertilizer (Xinxibao) at the big flare stage, and the effect on the yield, selenium content and heavy metal contents of the waxy maize was analyzed. [Results] Foliar application of different concentrations of selenium fertilizer showed no significant effect on the yield and yield components of waxy maize. As the concentration of selenium fertilizer increased, the grain selenium content of different varieties of waxy maize increased. Among them, the increase of Guinuo 615 was the largest, of which the selenium content reached 0.265 mg/kg, 2.82 times that of the control (water). The cadmium and arsenic contents of different varieties of waxy maize decreased with the increase of the concentration of selenium fertilizer sprayed. Among the waxy maize varieties, the cadmium and arsenic contents of Guitiannuo 611 dropped the most significantly, up to 52.94% and 77.78%. In waxy maize, the correlation coefficients between selenium content and cadmium, arsenic contents were -0.550 9 (P<0.05) and -0.853 0 (P<0.01), respectively. [Conclusions] Spraying exogenous selenium fertilizer had no obvious effect on the yield of waxy maize. However, the increase of the concentration of exogenous selenium fertilizer could significantly increase the selenium content and reduce the cadmium and arsenic contents in grains of different varieties of waxy maize