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To detect cell frequency and surface markers of peripheral CD4Forty RA patients meeting the American College of Rheumatology classification criteria for RA and twenty healthy controls (HC) were included. The peripheral blood mononuclear cells and sera were collected. The expressions of CD4+CXCR5The cell surface marker of CXCR5Peripheral Tfh cells and their relevant cytokines are higher in RA patients than healthy controls, indicating Tfh cells may participate in the pathogenesis of RA, therefore, blocking the pathway of Tfh cells may be reasonable cellular targets for therapeutic intervention.

To observe the effectiveness of chlortetracycline (aureomycin) treatment on vulval white lesions and to explore its possible pathogenesis.From January 2001 to April 2011, 194 patients with vulvar non-neoplastic epithelial disorders were divided into three groups according to therapy regimens received, ie, chlortetracycline treatment group (72 cases), chlortetracycline + beclomethasone treatment group (66 cases), and beclomethasone treatment group (56 cases); their local changes of vulvar lesions were observed and efficacy of these treatment profiles was evaluated after one year.Effective rates of chlortetracycline group, chlortetracycline + clobetasol group and clobetasol groups were 86.1% (62/72), 87.9% (58/66), and 62.5% (35/56), respectively. There was a significant difference among these three groups (Hc = 10.7766,p = 0.0046), the curative rate of clobetasol group was markedly lower than that of the former two groups (p = 0.0072 and p = 0.0019), but was not statistical significant (p = 0.6077) when compared between the former groups.The occurrence of vulvar non-neoplastic epithelial disorders may be associated with chlamydia and mycoplasma infection, the chlortetracycline is an effective drug for this illness, the mechanism of which might be related to killing pathogens directly and inhibiting inflammatory mediators.

Traditional percutaneous laser disc decompression (PLDD) eliminates nucleus pulposus in the center of lumbar discs. Targeted PLDD is an alternative technique that involves elimination and decompression of the target area located 5-8 mm in the front of the herniated disc. We aimed to compare the efficacy of targeted PLDD with traditional PLDD in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation and evaluate the usefulness of guidance by puncture-radiating pain on clinical outcomes of PLDD.We treated 61 patients with lumbar disc herniation. Patients were stratified into control group, which included patients who underwent traditional PLDD, and study group in patients underwent targeted PLDD. Clinical outcomes and efficacies were evaluated at different time points using the visual analog scale (VAS) and modified MacNab criteria.Patients in the study group demonstrated significantly greater decreases in the VAS scores compared with those in control group. These differences were observed on Day 3, and 1 and 3 months after the treatment. Further, VAS scores were markedly lower in the patients whose treatment was guided by the puncture-radiating pain. Thus, at 1 month after the operation, 64.1% of those patients showed excellent or good outcomes based on MacNab criteria, which was almost twice the percentage seen in patients who did not experience the puncture-radiating pain (36.4%).Targeted PLDD is an effective, minimally invasive, and safe technique for lumbar disc herniation, and this technique achieves better short-term postsurgical outcomes than traditional PLDD. Puncture-radiating pain is an important prognostic indicator for better short-term responses to the treatment.

To determine the relationship between vulvar non-neoplastic epithelial disorder and thymus-dependent lymphyocyte levels and lipid peroxidation.the authors measured the levels of CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD16+ T cell, and the concentration of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in the blood of 62 patients with vulvar non-neoplastic epithelial disorder. A control group consisted of 30 normal women from the present hospitals.The level of CD4+/CD8+ T-lymphocytes and SOD in the blood of the patients with vulvar non-neoplastic epithelial disorder was significantly lower than that in control subjects, but the level of MDA was higher as compared with normal women.There is increased immune activation and lipid peroxidation in patients with vulvar non-neoplastic epithelial disorder, which could contribute to destruction of vulvar tissue.

Epidemiological studies report an association between exposure to biomass smoke and cardiopulmonary morbidity. The mechanisms for this association are unclear. The aim of the present study was to characterise the acute pulmonary and systemic inflammatory effects of exposure to forest fire smoke. Seasonal forest firefighters (n = 52) were recruited before and/or after a day of fire-fighting. Exposure was assessed by questionnaires and measurement of carbon monoxide levels (used to estimate respirable particulate matter exposure). The pulmonary response was assessed by questionnaires, spirometry and sputum induction. Peripheral blood cell counts and inflammatory cytokines were measured to define the systemic response. Estimated respirable particulate matter exposure was high (peak levels >2 mg x m(-3)) during fire-fighting activities. Respiratory symptoms were reported by 65% of the firefighters. The percentage sputum granulocytes increased significantly from 6.5 to 10.9% following fire-fighting shifts, with concurrent increases in circulating white blood cells (5.55x10(9) to 7.06x10(9) cells x L(-1)) and band cells (0.11x10(9) to 0.16x10(9) cells x L(-1)). Serum interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8 and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 levels significantly increased following fire-fighting. There were no changes in band cells, IL-6, and IL-8 following strenuous physical exertion without fire-fighting. There was a significant association between changes in sputum macrophages containing phagocytosed particles and circulating band cells. In conclusion, acute exposure to air pollution from forest fire smoke elicits inflammation within the lungs, as well as a systemic inflammatory response.

The suppressive activity of immunologic suppressor factors (ISF) in the sera of 34 patients with ovarian cancer was investigated by using the lymphocyte proliferation and inhibition test. It was found that the sera of the preoperative patients could significantly suppress PHA-induced lymphocyte response, and that the suppression was dose-dependent. When the sera were diluted to 1 : 4,000, the suppressive activity could still be demonstrated. We also observed the suppressive activities in the sera of patients with cervical cancer, endometrial cancer, gastric cancer and lung cancer, and compared them with ovarian cancer patients. The observation showed that the suppressive activity in the sera of preoperative ovarian cancer patients was higher than that in the sera of gastric cancer or lung cancer patients. These results suggested that ISF played an important role in the development of ovarian cancer.