Tea Polyphenols Reducing Lipopolysaccharide-induced Inflammatory Responses in RAW264.7 Macrophages via NF-κB Pathway

The anti-inflammatory activity of tea polyphenols(TPs) in RAW264.7 macrophages stimulated by lipopolysaccharide(LPS) was investigated in this paper. RAW264.7 macrophages were treated with different concentrations of TP(0, 12.5, 25, 50, 100, and 200 μg/mL) and then stimulated by LPS. Another blank control group was set up. The expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines associated with the nuclear factor-kappa B(NF-κB) signaling pathway was investigated before and after TP treatment. Pretreatment of RAW264.7 cells with TP decreased the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), interleukin-6(IL-6) and interleukin 1 beta(IL-1β) pro-inflammatory cytokines. In addition, TP inhibited the phosphorylation of p65 and IκB by blocking the phosphorylation and the degradation of NF-κB inhibitor protein. In conclusion, TP exerts anti-inflammatory effects by regulating the release of inflammatory mediators via the NF-κB signaling pathway.     

Prevalence and Relative Risk of Dysphonia in Rheumatoid Arthritis

SUMMARY: Laryngeal involvement in rheumatoid arthritis is not uncommon and may include cricoarytenoid arthritis or vocal fold lesions such as vocal fold rheumatoid nodules or bamboo nodes. Dysphonia or voicing problems can be the result of such laryngeal involvement. This cohort study investigates the prevalence and the relative risk of dysphonia when suffering from rheumatoid arthritis compared to that of healthy subjects. One hundred and sixty-six subjects with rheumatic arthritis and 148 healthy control subjects completed two quality-of-life questionnaires: the Voice Handicap Index and a three-item outcome scale. Both instruments measure the quality of the voice itself and the extent of impairment resulting from dysphonia as experienced by the patient in social and occupational settings. Patients proved to have statistically significant higher prevalence and relative risk of dysphonia. Depending on the questionnaire being used, prevalence data of dysphonia in patients varied between 12% and 27%, whereas the healthy subjects showed prevalence data varying from about 3% to 8%. A patient's relative risk varied from about 3 to 4 when compared to healthy subjects. Patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis have a clearly higher risk of dysphonia compared to healthy subjects.     

Tocopheryl Phosphate Inhibits Rheumatoid Arthritis-Related Gene Expression In Vitro and Ameliorates Arthritic Symptoms in Mice

Anti-rheumatoid arthritis (RA) effects of α-tocopherol (α-T) have been shown in human patients in a double-blind trial. However, the effects of α-T and its derivatives on fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) during the pathogenesis of RA remain unclear. In the present study, we compared the expression levels of genes related to RA progression in FLS treated with α-T, succinic ester of α-T (TS), and phosphate ester of α-T (TP), as determined via RT-PCR. The mRNA levels of interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3, and MMP-13 were reduced by treatment with TP without cytotoxicity, while α-T and TS did not show such effects. Furthermore, intraperitoneal injection of TP ameliorated the edema of the foot and joint and improved the arthritis score in laminarin-induced RA model mice. Therefore, TP exerted anti-RA effects through by inhibiting RA-related gene expression.     

治疗风湿性关节炎蒙药中多种微量元素的ICP-AES测定

蒙药中有多种氨基酸和丰富的微量元素,特别是人体必需的微量元素量相对高,而对人体有害的重金属元素量相对低。采用微波消解ICP-AES法同时测定了治疗风湿性关节炎的组合蒙药(1#早服、2#午服、3#晚服)中Ca、Mg、Al、Fe、Mn、Sr、Cu、Zn、Pb等15种金属元素。加标回收率94.88%~106.21%,相对标准偏差RSD≤3.6%,检出限≤0.009μg/L。实验结果表明;1#、2#、3#为不同类型的蒙药,其微量元素量有所不同。     

类风湿性关节炎患者血浆置换前后铜铁锌的变化

测定了１５例类风湿性关节炎（ＲＡ）病人采用血浆置换（ＰＥ）治疗前后血浆中铜、铁、锌含量，ＰＥ治疗前与正常人对比，ＲＡ病人血铜含量升高，血锌含量下降，铜／锌比值升高。ＰＥ治疗后，血铜及铜／锌比值恢复正常，病情有所改善。     

超声指标对类风湿关节炎的疗效评估价值

目的探究超声指标在类风湿性关节炎(RA)治疗效果评估方面的临床价值。方法选取2014年5月到2016年5月期间于彭泽县人民医院治疗RA的50例患者(膝关节80个),观察其膝关节的肿胀体征和压痛症状,对其C反应蛋白(CRP)与血沉(ESR)进行检测,并使用超声对膝关节进行扫描,评估其骨侵蚀、灰阶滑膜炎以及能量多普勒(PD)信号。结果 1超声检查阳性率:PD为18.75%(15/80),滑膜炎为83.75%(67/80),骨侵蚀为31.25%(25/80)。2临床检查阳性率:压痛为42.5%(34/80),肿胀为33.75%(27/80)。超声的滑膜炎阳性和膝关节的压痛、肿胀阳性分别比较,前者高于后两者,且与后两者均存在统计学差异(P0.05)。行相关性分析,滑膜炎阳性、PD阳性与CRP和ESR均有相关性(P0.05),而骨侵蚀仅与CRP有相关性(P0.05),与ESR则无相关性(P0.05)。结论超声与炎性指标之间有相关性,其敏感性要优于临床检查,更适用于RA的疗效评估。     

Diverse Ring-seco Limonoids from Munronia unifoliolata and Their Biological Activities

Twenty-two new limonoids,mufolinoids A—V(1—22),including six rings A,B-seco limonoids(1—6),twelve ring A-seco limonoids(7—18),four ring-intact limonoids(19—22),together with thirteen known compounds(23—35)were isolated from Munronia unifoliolata.Their structures including absolute configurations were elucidated by combination of NMR,HR-MS,single-crystal X-ray diffraction and calculations of ECD and NMR technologies.Compounds 24,25,33,34 could be significantly reversed the multidrug resistance of MCF-7/doxorubicin(DOX)cells,and the reversal fold(RF)was much higher than that of positive drug Verapamil.Compounds 24,28,and 29 exhibited significant anti-inflammatory activity with the IC50 values in the range of 17.7—39.4μmol/L.Furthermore,compound 29 could markedly inhibit the release of IL-1βby inhibiting the initiation and assembly of NLRP3 inflammasome,which demonstrates the great potential of limonoids as an anti-inflammatory agent.     

分析痛风性关节炎诊断中双源CT和MRI的应用价值

选取2017年5月~2019年5月于我院就诊的痛风性关节炎患者100例,均行双源CT及MRI检查。通过比较双源CT及MRI对痛风性关节炎的阳性诊断率、诊断灵敏度,以及不同影像学表现的差异(包括痛风结节、关节骨质破坏、关节软骨侵蚀、关节积液、周围间隙水肿、滑膜破坏和尿酸盐结晶等),探讨双源CT和MRI在痛风性关节炎诊断中的应用价值。结果显示,双源CT检出患病关节的阳性率及诊断敏感度均高于MRI,且差异具有统计学意义;双源CT对于痛风结节以及骨质破坏的检出率高于MRI,且差异具有统计学意义;在检测尿酸盐结晶方面,双源CT具有特异性;MRI对于关节积液、关节周围间隙水肿、软骨侵蚀、滑膜侵蚀的检出率高于双源CT,且差异具有统计学意义。上述结果表明双源CT具有尿酸盐结晶诊断特异性,其在痛风性关节炎诊断中的应用价值高于MRI。     

Study of the human plasma proteome of rheumatoid arthritis

In this study, we report a combined proteomic and peptidomic analysis of human plasma from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and controls. We used molecular weight cut-off filters (MWCO: 10 kDa) to enrich low-molecular-weight (LMW) peptides from human plasma. The peptide fraction was analyzed without trypsin digestion by capillary reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to a linear ion trap–FT-MS system, which identified 771 unique peptides in the peptidome study (from 145 protein progenitors). An anti-albumin/anti-IgG column was used to remove albumin and immunoglobulin G (IgG) from the human plasma. After that, the albumin/IgG-depleted sample was fractionated into a bound fraction and an unbound fraction on a multi-lectin affinity column (M-LAC). LC–MS analysis of the corresponding tryptic digests identified 308 proteins using the M-LAC approach. Relative differences in the following protein classifications were observed in the RA human plasma samples compared with controls: structural proteins, immuno-related proteins, protease inhibitors, coagulation proteins, transport proteins and apolipoproteins. While some of these proteins/peptides have been previously reported to be associated with RA disease such as calgranulin A, B, C and C-reactive protein, several others were newly identified (such as thymosin β4, actin, tubulin, and vimentin), which may further the understanding of the disease pathogenesis. Moreover, we have found that the peptidomic and glycoproteomic approaches were complementary and allow a more complete picture of the human plasma proteome which can be valuable in studies of disease etiology.