Search

Takayasu arteritis (TAK) is a chronic large vessel disease characterized by aortic fibrotic thickening, which was mainly mediated by activation of aorta adventitial fibroblasts (AAFs). Our previous genetic study demonstrated that TAK-associated locus IL6 rs2069837 regulated glycoprotein non-metastatic melanoma protein B (GPNMB) expression. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the pathogenic role of GPNMB in TAK. Through pathological staining, we find that GPNMB was mainly expressed in vascular adventitia and positively correlated with adventitial extracellular matrix (ECM) expression in TAK vascular lesion. Specifically, GPNMB was increased in adventitial CD68

Benzbromarone and febuxostat use different mechanisms to reduce serum urate. However, the effectiveness of benzbromarone versus febuxostat in reducing serum urate in gouty patients classified with different types of hyperuricaemia remains unclear.In this retrospective study from January 1, 2018, to September 30, 2020, subjects were identified if they were newly treated with benzbromarone 25 mg daily or febuxostat 20 mg daily. The subjects were classified into four types according to their 24-h urinary uric acid and fractional excretion of uric acid. The baseline data and follow-up information after 28 ± 3 days of treatment were collected.Seventy-three subjects with gout were finally enrolled. Among them, 50 were treated with benzbromarone. The percent changes in serum urate from the baseline were - 33.71 ± 13.59% and - 29.45 ± 10.62% in the benzbromarone and febuxostat group, respectively, without a significant difference between the groups (P = 0.188). No differences were found between the groups in subjects classified as the renal underexcretion type, combined type, or "normal" type. In patients with eGFR ≥ 70 mL/min/1.73 mBenzbromarone 25 mg daily and febuxostat 20 mg daily may have comparable effectiveness in lowering the serum urate among different types of hyperuricaemia. Benzbromarone was more effective than febuxostat in lowering serum urate in subjects with eGFR ≥ 70 mL/min/1.73 m

Hierarchical β zeolite with enhanced transport and specific catalytic activity of acid sites in Friedel–Crafts alkylation was achieved by using amphiphilic organosilane surfactant as mesopores-directing agent and crystal growth inhibitor.

ObjectiveTo investigate the ability of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT to predict new lesions in Takayasu arteritis.MethodsEighty-two Chinese patients with newly diagnosed Takayasu arteritis were recruited. Their clinical characteristics, serum biomarkers and imaging results were recorded at baseline and every visit. They were followed up for at least 2 years. New angiographic lesions were evaluated by magnetic resonance angiography. Baseline PET vascular activity scores (PETVAS) for predicting new lesions were evaluated.ResultsAt baseline, a moderate correlation was observed between PETVAS and ESR (r = 0.74, P ConclusionPETVAS showed good performance in predicting new lesions in Takayasu arteritis.

Catalytic methane decomposition (CMD) receives increasing attention for co-production of COx-free hydrogen and valuable carbon by-product, and the catalyst plays a crucial role on methane conversion and the product features. Unsupported nickel catalysts derived from commercial nickel foam (NF) were prepared for CMD by mild pre-treatment. Effects of the pre-treatment method (acid treatment, thermal treatment, acid-thermal treatment and hydrogen reduction) and reaction temperature were explored on the NF morphology and CMD reactivity in a fixed-bed reactor. It is found that catalytic performance of the NF-based catalyst is highly dependent on the pre-treatment and reaction temperature. The thermal and acid-thermal treatments could greatly promote the catalytic activity (with methane conversion up to 74.6% and 91.8%, respectively) at 850 °C. To fully release potential abilities of the catalyst, the carbon deposited spent catalyst was recycled as a fresh catalyst in the CMD test by several strategies. High and stable methane conversion (up to around 90%–93%) can be achieved by simulating the operation model in a fluidized-bed reactor for a continuous CMD process. Besides, the carbon deposited spent catalyst could serve as a promising candidate of supercapacitor electrode material.

We aimed to construct and validate a risk assessment model to identify risk factors for heart failure (HF) in patients with Takayasu’s arteritis (TAK). Three hundred sixty-five patients with TAK were recruited in the East China Takayasu Arteritis Cohort from January 2012 to December 2019. Patients were assigned into training and validation sets following a 2:1 ratio according to the date of enrollment. Clinical characteristics were compared between heart failure (HF) and non-HF subgroups in the training set, and a risk assessment model for HF and its scoring algorithm was established based on logistic regression, which was tested in the validation set. Among total of 74 (20.27%) TAK patients exhibited HF, and 55 cases (74.32%) were in the training set. The risk factors for HF of TAK patients included onset age >38 years, serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α concentration >10 pg/ml, aortic valve involvement, coronary artery involvement, and pulmonary hypertension. We constructed the model without TNF-α (Model 1) and with TNF-α (Model 2). Patients in the training set with the score ≥ 3 appeared to be associated with an increased risk of HF with an area under curve (AUC) of 0.88 and 0.90 in Model 1 and Model 2 respectively. The AUC reached to 0.88 and 0.89 in the validation set that proved the accuracy of the model. We presented a risk assessment model of HF in TAK, which may help clinicians alert the complication of HF in the patients with specifically cardiac impairments.

The construction of hierarchical titanosilicate beta zeolites with desirably interconnected meso-/microporosity, controllable morphology and enhanced activity of catalytic oxidation is a pervasive challenge in the zeolite community. We report here in the synthesis of the hierarchical titanosilicate beta zeolite with a three-dimensionally ordered mesoporous-imprinted structure (3DOm-i Ti-beta) through the postsynthetic treatment of the parent 3DOm-i Al-beta by successive dealumination and titanation. The highly interconnected intracrystalline meso-/microporosity derived from the well-retained 3DOm-i structure led to both enhanced diffusion property and better accessibility of active sites to the bulky substrates, which was confirmed by the improved catalytic performances in the epoxidation of cyclic olefins (cyclohexene and cyclooctene) compared with the conventional solely microporous Ti-beta and TS-1. Moreover, the demonstrated that 3DOm-i Ti-beta catalyst exhibited not only a superior stability but also a facile recyclability by simple calcination in the epoxidation reaction.

Takayasu arteritis is a rare inflammatory disease of large arteries. We performed a genetic study in Takayasu arteritis comprising 6,670 individuals (1,226 affected individuals) from five different populations. We discovered HLA risk factors and four non-HLA susceptibility loci in VPS8, SVEP1, CFL2, and chr13q21 and reinforced IL12B, PTK2B, and chr21q22 as robust susceptibility loci shared across ancestries. Functional analysis proposed plausible underlying disease mechanisms and pinpointed ETS2 as a potential causal gene for chr21q22 association. We also identified >60 candidate loci with suggestive association (p < 5 x 10(-s)) and devised a genetic risk score for Takayasu arteritis. Takayasu arteritis was compared to hundreds of other traits, revealing the closest genetic relatedness to inflammatory bowel disease. Epigenetic patterns within risk loci suggest roles for monocytes and B cells in Takayasu arteritis. This work enhances understanding of the genetic basis and pathophysiology of Takayasu arteritis and provides clues for potential new therapeutic targets., National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases of the National Institutes of HealthUnited States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USANIH National Institute of Arthritis & Musculoskeletal & Skin Diseases (NIAMS) [R01 AR070148]; National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin DiseasesUnited States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USANIH National Institute of Arthritis & Musculoskeletal & Skin Diseases (NIAMS) [U54 AR057319, U01 AR51874 04]; National Center for Research ResourcesUnited States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USANIH National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) [U54 RR019497]; Office of Rare Diseases Research of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences; Imperial College, National Institute for Health Research, Biomedical Research Centre; Wellcome TrustWellcome TrustEuropean Commission [WT107881]; Medical Research CouncilUK Research & Innovation (UKRI)Medical Research Council UK (MRC)European Commission [MC_UU_00002/4], This work was supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases of the National Institutes of Health grant R01 AR070148 to A.H.S. The Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium has received support from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (U54 AR057319 and U01 AR51874 04), the National Center for Research Resources (U54 RR019497), and the Office of Rare Diseases Research of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. J.C.M., A.P.K., and R.M.M. acknowledge support from the Imperial College, National Institute for Health Research, Biomedical Research Centre. C.W. and G.R. acknowledge support from The Wellcome Trust (WT107881) and the Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00002/4). This work was supported by the use of study data downloaded from the dbGaP website, under dbGaP: phs000272.v1.p1, phs000431.v2.p1, phs000583.v1.p1, and phs000444.v1.p1.

p-Xylene is a commodity chemical of industrial importance for terephthalic acid production, for which renewable sourcing from naturally abundant lignocellulosic biomass is highly desired. Previous ...

Accumulating evidence indicates the role of dysregulated circRNAs in autoimmune diseases. In this study, we investigated their role in anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) by analysing the expression profiles of circRNA in plasma of AAV patients and exploring their potential as biomarkers of AAV.RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed to identify the plasma circRNA and mRNA expression profiles from five AAV patients and five healthy controls (HCs). Quantitative reverse-transcription (qRT)-PCR confirmed that hsa_circ_0028381 was confirmed to be significantly upregulated in a validation cohort of 51 AAV patients and 30 HCs and was further verified in other connective tissue diseases (CTDs). The diagnostic value of hsa_circ_0028381 was assessed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.RNA expression profiles revealed aberrant expression of 143 circRNAs (62 upregulated and 81 downregulated) and 304 mRNAs (151 upregulated and 153 downregulated) in AAV patients compared to HCs. qRT-PCR verification suggested that hsa_circ_0028381 levels were significantly increased in plasma from AAV patients compared to those in HCs and other CTDs. ROC curve analysis showed has_circ_0028381 had good diagnostic value for distinguishing AAV patients from controls (HCs and other CTDs) with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.81. In addition, hsa_circ_0028381 was associated with renal involvement. Most importantly, increased baseline levels of hsa_circ_0028381 had predictive value for progression to end-stage renal disease (ESRD).RNA-seq revealed that circRNAs are aberrantly expressed in the plasma of AAV patients. Hsa_circ_0028381 was implicated as a potential biomarker for AAV diagnosis and renal prognosis.

Xiaojuan Dai,1 Jinghua Wang,1 Xiao Zhang,1 Li Wang,1 Sifan Wu,1 Huiyong Chen,1 Ying Sun,1 Lili Ma,1 Lingying Ma,1 Xiufang Kong,1 Lindi Jiang1,2 1Department of Rheumatology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 2Center of Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine, Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Lindi Jiang; Xiufang Kong, Email zsh-rheum@hotmail.com; kongxiufang2007@163.comObjective: This study aimed to analyze biomarker changes in patients with TAK following treatment with glucocorticoids (GCs) and tofacitinib (TOF).Methods: Seventeen patients from a prospective TAK cohort treated with GCs and TOF and 12 healthy individuals were recruited. TAK associated cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, and MMPs were analyzed in these patients before and after GCs and TOF treatment, and healthy controls. Molecular signatures associated with clinical features were evaluated.Results: Patients’ cytokines (PTX3, IL-6, IFN-γ), chemokines (IL-16, CCL22, CCL2), growth factors (VEGF), and MMP9 levels were significantly higher at baseline (all p < 0.05), while patients’ FGF-2 levels were significantly lower (p = 0.02). After treatment, IL-10 was significantly increased at 6 months (p=0.007), and inflammatory cytokines such as PTX3, IL-6 demonstrated a downward trend. Patients without vascular occlusion had higher baseline CCL22 levels than patients with it (p = 0.05), which remained persistently higher after treatment. Radar plot analysis demonstrated that PTX3 was closely correlated with disease activity. In addition, patients without imaging improvement had relatively higher baseline levels of CCL22, FGF-2, and PDGF-AB (p = 0.056, p = 0.06 and p = 0.08 respectively) and lower baseline levels of TNFα, ESR, and CRP (p=0.04, p=0.056, p=0.07, respectively) compared with patients without it.Conclusion: GCs and TOF are effective in decreasing inflammatory molecules but have limited efficacy in regulating multiple other markers involved in TAK. PTX3 is a prominent marker for disease activity, and CCL22 may have a predictive value for vascular progression.Keywords: Takayasu arteritis, tofacitinib, molecular signature, biomarker changes

Antineutrophil cytoplasm antibody-associated vasculitis (AAV) is a group of necrotising vasculitis involving small vessels characterised by upper and lower respiratory tract, kidney, eye, ears–nose–throat, skin, gastrointestinal and neurological involvement. AAV includes granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), and eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA).1 To date, maintenance therapy to prevent disease relapse remains the main therapeutic challenge for patients with AAV. Previous studies indicate that T cells and associated cytokine production (eg, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, IL-12, IL-23 and type l interferons) play an important role in the pathogenesis of AAV2–4 via activation of the Janus kinase (JAK)/signal transducer and activator of transcription pathway.5 Tofacitinib is a JAK1/3 inhibitor that functions by suppressing the activity of the JAK family of non-receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) and has been used successfully for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, Behcet’s disease and systemic lupus erythematosus6–9; however, the use of tofacitinib for the treatment of AAV has not been reported. Of particular interest, imatinib mesylate, an RTK inhibitor, has been reported to be an effective treatment for patients with EGPA.10 Therefore, we hypothesised that tofacitinib-mediated inhibition of JAK signalling …

In this study, a series of H-BZSM-5 catalysts, rich in porous structures, were prepared by a template-free method followed by an alkali treatment, each of which was combined with a Zn-ZSM-5 catalys...

A highly efficient tandem catalyst comprising an iron–potassium bimetal-modified alkaline Al2O3 catalyst and a phosphorus-modified ZSM-5 zeolite (denoted as Fe–K/a-Al2O3&P/ZSM-5) for directly hydro...

We report an efficient procedure for the synthesis of pillared MWW zeolites (MCM-36) via integrating intercalation and hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) into one step. Specifically, two...

The hierarchical structure of zeolites plays a crucial role in determining their catalytic performance. Here, the effect of the hierarchical architecture and surface topology of pillared MWW zeolit...

To achieve high energy-efficiency and to tailor product distribution, pyrolysis followed by CO2 gasification (with the CO2 conversion up to 85%–98%) was proposed for preparation of pine sawdust der...

To evaluate the value of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in predicting long-term disease prognosis for Takayasu arteritis (TA).Sixty-seven TA patients, who had IL-6 levels detected at the first visit and had a regular follow-up of at least 2 years, were enrolled. Data recorded up to March 31, 2019, including clinical presentations, laboratory indices, treatments, and radiological images were collected and used for analysis. The value of IL-6 in predicting disease relapse and imaging progression was analyzed.IL-6 levels were positively related with disease activity index, including Kerr scores, C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. Patients were divided into three groups according to baseline serum IL-6 levels: low group ( 5.4 pg/mL, n = 29), medium group (5.4-11.5 pg/mL, n = 20), and high group ( 11.5 ng/mL, n = 18). Patients in the medium and high group had higher disease activity than those in the low group (p 0.01). Baseline IL-6 levels were correlated with luminal stenosis (p 0.05), although no significant correlations with long-term imaging progression were observed. Patients with more than 2 episodes of disease relapses were most commonly seen in the medium group (p 0.05). Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis indicated that medium and high IL-6 levels were positive predictors for disease relapse (HR 4.3, 95%CI 1.3-18.7 p = 0.07 for medium group; HR 2.1, 95% CI 0.7-48.9, p = 0.19 for high group) with disease status and treatment adjusted.IL-6 may be a valuable predictor of TA disease relapse during long-term follow-up. Treatments targeted at IL-6 pathways might reduce disease relapse and have better prognostic effects for TA. Key Points • Positive relationships between IL-6 levels and disease activity index, including Kerr scores, C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, etc. were indicated. • Medium and high baseline IL-6 levels were valuable for predicting disease relapse during the 2-year follow-up. • Baseline IL-6 levels were positively correlated with luminal stenosis on imaging.

A facile one-pot process for synergistic conversion of coal char and methane is conducted by employing K2CO3 as the catalyst. Besides syngas production, valuable carbon products are obtained and used to serve for supercapacitor electrodes. Effect of the operating parameters (including the catalyst dosage, gas feed flow rate, reaction temperature and time) is evaluated on electrochemical performance of the as-prepared carbon. The appropriate surface and structural properties enable the prepared carbon electrode to have a remarkable capacitive performance, along with a specific capacitance up to 125 F/g at a scan rate of 5 mV/s and 133 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g. According to the potential capacitive contribution of the carbon species, the high capacitive performance is mainly attributed to formation and growth of abundant carbon fibers in the one-pot process.

To improve the stability of mordenite (MOR) in the alkylation of benzene with long chain olefin, hierarchical MOR zeolites were synthesized by using organosilane surfactant [3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl]octadecyldimethyl-ammonium chloride (TPOAC) as the mesopore structure-directing agent. Our findings reveal that the crystal size, hierarchical structure, and acidic properties of the mesoporous MOR zeolites are significantly influenced by the TPOAC/SiO2 molar ratio in the synthesis gel. Moreover, the hierarchical MOR zeolite synthesized under the optimized synthesis conditions presented the pure phase of the MOR framework and uniform mesoporous distribution. More importantly, the catalytic performance evaluated by the alkylation of benzene with 1-dodecene indicates that the optimal mesoporous MOR zeolite shows improved stability and comparable selectivity of 2-phenyl alkane (2-LAB) around 80% compared to the conventional sole microporous MOR zeolite. The improved stability of the mesoporous MOR zeolite can be attributed to the enhanced diffusivity of long chain linear alkylbenzenes and oligomers due to interconnected meso-/microporosity in the MOR.

Hierarchical titanium silicalite-1 nanosheets (HTS-1) were hydrothermally synthesized by using a bolaform surfactant [C6H13–N+(CH3)2–C6H12–N+(CH3)2–(CH2)12–O–(p-C6H4)2–O–(CH2)12–N+(CH3)2–C6H12–N+(CH3)2–C6H13] [OH−]4 as the structure-directing agent. The resultant zeolite particles possessed not only a superior interlayer stability but also a unique house-of-cards-like structure by the 90° rotational boundary connectivity of TS-1 nanosheets directed by the π–π stacking interaction from the biphenyl group in the bolaform surfactant as well as content controllability of coordinated Ti species in the zeolite framework. The obtained HTS-1 samples were used as catalysts for the epoxidation of bulky cyclic olefins (cyclohexene and cyclooctene) and exhibited improved performance and superior recyclability in comparison with the conventional solely microporous TS-1 (CTS-1) catalyst as well as the mesoporous TS-1 (MTS-1) catalyst directed by the commercial organosilane surfactant TPOAC, due to their exoteric interlayered mesopores and enlarged external surface areas providing more accessible Ti active sites for the bulky molecule reactants. Moreover, the optimized Ti content for the HTS-1 catalysts was proposed by fully taking into account the conversion and turnover frequency (TOF) values. In addition, the recyclability and stability of the HTS-1 catalysts in the epoxidation reaction and the post fluoride treatment to enhance their hydrophobicity as well as epoxidation activity were further discussed.

An efficient and convenient iridium(III) catalyzed ortho-C–H bond amidation of weakly coordinating benzamides treated with readily available sulfonyl azides as the amino source has been described. In this transformation, ionic liquids represents an ideal reaction medium, giving rise to a broad range of amidation products under mild conditions in the open air. This protocol offers moderate to excellent chemical yields, exclusive regioselectivities, and good functional group tolerance.

Cervical adenocarcinoma belongs to an invasive subtype of cervical carcinoma, presenting poorly prognostic status. Chemotherapy treatment for recurrent cervical carcinoma are thought to be limited and supposed to be noncurative. Because of the poor prognosis of patients with recurrent cervical carcinoma, however, the benefits of second-line chemotherapy have not yet reached a consensus. Immunotherapy is a split-new tactic of overwhelming carcinomas that relies on the instinct of the immune system to recognize and directly kill neoplasm cells. Here, we reported a 55-year-old female patient with clinical stage IVB cervical adenocarcinoma. The patient received four cycles of systematic therapy, with the regimen of docetaxel plus carboplatin in combined with bevacizumab anti-vascular therapy. The progressive disease (PD) was assessed by imaging evaluation and PD was confirmed once more after four cycles of chemotherapy of albumin paclitaxel plus cisplatin. The patient exhibited a good response during the twelve-cycle of immunotherapy of Camrelizumab, whereas PD was observed upon termination of her immunotherapy. This case with the treatment of PD-1 inhibitor Camrelizumab exhibits a good curative effect and tolerable adverse reactions. In addition, some clinical markers and biomarkers expression levels can be served as the predictors of the effect of anti-PD-1 immunotherapy.

To investigate the efficacy and safety of leflunomide (LEF) versus tofacitinib (TOF) in Takayasu arteritis (TAK) patients. Sixty-seven active patients were recruited from an ongoing observational TAK cohort, including 35 patients treated with glucocorticoids (GCs) and LEF and 32 patients treated with GCs and TOF. The observation period was 12 months. The effectiveness rate (ER), remission rate, inflammatory parameters reduction, vascular imaging changes, GCs tapering, disease relapse and side-effects were evaluated between two groups. These aspects were also assessed separately among treatment-naïve or -refractory patients. The ER at 6 and 12 months was 88.57% (31/35) vs. 87.50% (28/32) (p = 1.00) and 71.43% (25/35) vs. 71.88% (23/32) (p = 1.00) in the LEF and TOF group. The percentage of patients with persistent remission from 6th to 12th months and GCs≤7.5 mg/day at 12 months was higher in TOF group (15 (46.88%) vs. 6 (17.14%) p = 0.02). The relapse prevalence was 6 (17.14%) and 7 (21.88%) (p = 0.76), respectively. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) was decreased significantly at 6 months in both groups (p0.05), whereas C-reactive protein (CRP) level was reduced significantly at 6 months only in the TOF group (p = 0.007). The proportion of patients with imaging improvement was higher in the TOF group (eight (25.00%) and two (5.71%), p = 0.04). Side-effect prevalence was higher in the LEF group (11 (31.43%) vs. 3 (9.38%), p = 0.04). In conclusion, LEF and TOF were comparable for TAK treatment. TOF might be a potential agent to maintain disease remission at a low dose of glucocorticoids in TAK.

Additional file 2: Supplementary Figure 1. A. Lymphocyte and plasma cell (△) infiltration (H&E, ×400); B. storiform fibrosis (H&E, ×100) ; C. IgG4+ plasma cell (immumohistochemical staining, ×100); D. eosinophilia infiltration (→, H&E, ×400); E & F. obliterating phlebitis (H&E and elastic tissue stain, respectively, ×100). Supplementary Figure 2. A-D. Retroperitoneum tissue (×100): A. (H&E) Marked lymphocyte and plasma cell (→) infiltration and fibrosis (△); B. (H&E) lymphoid follicle formation (→); C & D. serial sections of IgG+ cell and IgG4+ cell (immunohistochemical staining). E-H. Submandibular gland (×100): : E. atrophic glandular acini and glandular ducts (circle) with marked lymphocyte and plasmacyte infiltration and fibrosis (H&E); F. genetic centre formation (H&E); G & H. serial sections of IgG+ cell and IgG4+ cell (immunohistochemical staining). Glomerular sclerosis (circle) with lymphocyte and plasmacyte infiltration (renal tissue); J. lymphocyte and plasma cell scattered within fibrosis; K. typical storiform fibrosis. I-K (H&E, ×100).