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Objective To identify the role of fatty acid binding protein 3 (FABP3) in vascular fibrosis in Takayasu’s arteritis (TAK) and to explore the underlying molecular mechanism. Methods The expression of FABP3 and extracellular matrix proteins (ECMs) were detected in aorta tissues from TAK patients (n = 12) and healthy controls (n = 8) by immunohistochemistry. The concentration of serum proteins was determined by ELISA. CCK8 and Ki67 staining were used to measure aorta adventitial fibroblast (AAF) proliferation. Widely targeted lipidomic profiling was used to screen for associated metabolic pathways. Changes in ECMs and fatty acid oxidation (FAO)-related enzymes were determined by RT-qPCR and Western blot. The interactions between FABP3 and these enzymes were explored with a co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) assay. Results The expression of FABP3 was increased in the thickened adventitia of TAK patients and was positively correlated with the serum expression of ECMs. FABP3 knockdown inhibited AAF proliferation and ECM production, whereas FABP3 overexpression enhanced these processes. Further analysis revealed that FABP3 upregulation promoted carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A and carnitine/acylcarnitine carrier protein (CACT) expression, two key enzymes in FAO, as well as adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels. FABP3 and CACT were co-localized in the adventitia and bound to each other in AAFs. Etomoxir reversed the enhanced FAO, ATP production, AAF proliferation and ECM production mediated by FABP3 upregulation. Treatment with 60 g/day curcumin granules for 3 months reduced the level of serum FABP3. Curcumin also inhibited vascular fibrosis by reducing FABP3-enhanced FAO in AAFs. Conclusion Elevated FABP3 expression accelerated vascular fibrosis in TAK, which was likely mediated by promoting FAO in AAFs.

Objective To investigate the utility of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG-PET/CT) in assessing disease activity in Takayasu arteritis (TA). Methods Ninety-one patients with TA were recruited from a Chinese cohort. Clinical data, acute-phase reactants and 18F-FDG-PET/CT findings were simultaneously recorded. The value of using 18F-FDG-PET/CT to identify active disease was evaluated, using ESR as a reference. Disease activity assessment models were constructed and concordance index (C-index), net reclassification index (NRI), and integrated discrimination index (IDI) were evaluated to compare the benefits of the new modes with ESR and the Kerr score. Results In total, 64 (70.3%) cases showed active disease. Higher levels of ESR and CRP, and lower IL-2 receptor (IL-2R) levels were observed in active cases. 18F-FDG-PET/CT parameters measured by determining the standard uptake value (SUV), including SUVmean, SUVratio1, SUVratio2, sum of SUVmean and sum of SUVmax, were significantly higher in active disease groups. The C-index threshold of ESR to indicate active disease was 0.78 (95% CI: 0.69, 0.88). The new activity assessment model combining ESR, sum of SUVmean and IL-2R showed significant improvement in C-index over the ESR method (0.96 vs 0.78, P Conclusions A novel 18F-FDG-PET/CT-based method that involves combining the sum of SUVmean with ESR score and IL-2R levels demonstrated superiority in identifying active TA compared with conventional methods.

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.

Previous study shows that estrogen exerts both immunosuppressive and immunostimulative effects.In this study, estrogen was added to aThe results showed that following the addition of estrogen to the gonococcal infection model, the expression of circRNAs was up-regulated and the expression of circRNAs was down-regulated. In the metabolic group, it was found that after the addition of estrogen, the expression of nine metabolites was down-regulated and 61 metabolites were up-regulated. Furthermore, through network interaction analysis of differentially-expressed circRNAs and differentially-expressed metabolites, we found that the top 10 significantly related metabolites and circRNA wereIn this study, high-throughput sequencing and metabolomics mass spectrum were applied to screen the differentially-expressed circRNAs and metabolites regulated by estrogen, which will help to provide new research ideas and indicators for asymptomatic infections in women, and can be meaningful for the relevant study in the future.

Background Autophagy is a ubiquitous and evolutionarily conserved self-rescue process. Studies have shown that autophagy is involved in the pathogenesis of multiple diseases; however, whether autophagy is associated with the pathogenesis of Takayasu's arteritis (TA), a large vessel idiopathic inflammatory disease characterized by vascular fibrosis, remains unclear. Moreover, although IL-6 is believed to be a direct target for TA treatment, anti-IL-6 treatment could not block TA-associated fibrosis in some cases, which impairs the aortic function of patients and can result in death. Thus, identify the mechanisms associated with TA is extremely important. Based on the relationship between autophagy and IL-6, we investigated the role of autophagy in the vascular fibrosis of TA induced by IL-6. Methods Autophagy proteins (LC3 and Atg3), IL-6, and markers of fibrosis (collagen 1 and α-SMA) were detected in tissues with TA lesions via immunochemistry, immunofluorescence, and Western blot, respectively. Different stages of autophagy were analyzed by the specific inhibitors, 3-methyladenosine (early stage), hydroxychloroquine sulfate (late stage), and bafilomycin A1 (late stage). Autophagosomes were detected using electron microscopy and a viral-vector transfection assay. The fibrosis profiles induced by IL-6-dependent autophagy was assessed with an ELISA. Results The expression of autophagy, IL-6, and fibrosis markers were elevated and correlated with each other in the adventitia tissues of TA patients. Furthermore, exogenous IL-6/IL-6Rα could significantly increase autophagy and fibrosis in vitro. An autophagy inhibitor was found to significantly block both autophagy and fibrosis induced by IL-6. Finally, IL-6 was found to significantly promote autophagy-induced fibrosis through the activation of the Jak1 pathway. Conclusions IL-6-induced autophagy plays an important role in vascular fibrosis of TA. Targeting autophagy pathways might represent a novel therapeutic option for the treatment of TA.

Background. Takayasu arteritis is a rare disease characterized by inflammation in the aorta and its branches. Some patients were discovered to suffer the aggravated vascular damage (AVD), monitored by imaging techniques, even with the anti-inflammation treatment. But the overall characteristics and prognostic factors of AVD remained unclear yet. Methods. From the living East China Takayasu arteritis cohort, patients who underwent at least two magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) examinations at Zhongshan Hospital from April 2009 to April 2019 were enrolled as the derivation cohort to describe the characteristics of AVD and explore the prognostic factors of AVD in MRA. An independent group of patients from May 2019 to July 2020 comprising the validation cohort were used to validate the nomogram formed by these prognostic factors. Results. Among 235 enrolled patients, 69 patients (29.4%) suffered AVD with the median follow-up of 14 months. The limb arteries and vascular stenosis were the most common vascular location and manifestation of AVD respectively. Patients with AVD were younger, had higher complement 4 levels at baseline, and lower disease remission rate at 6 months. Cox regression analysis revealed that younger age (HR: 0.25-0.42, 95%CI: 0.09-0.91), higher CRP levels (HR = 2.57, 95%CI: 1.51–4.36) at baseline, and lower remission rate at 6 months (HR = 0.36, 95%CI: 0.21–0.64) were significant predictors. In the validation cohort of 65 patients, 19 cases had AVD. The predictive nomogram based on these factors achieved C-indices of 0.745 and 0.641 in the derivation and validation cohort respectively.Conclusions. Totally, 29.4% of patients suffered AVD, which manifested as vascular stenosis in limb arteries mainly. Younger age, higher CRP at baseline, and lower disease remission rate at 6 months were prognostic factors for AVD.

Background Hypertension occurred in 30–80% of Takayasu arteritis (TAK) patients around the world and the occurrence of hypertension might worsen the disease prognosis. This study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics and imaging phenotypes, as well as their associations with events free survival (EFS) in hypertensive TAK population. Methods This current research was based on a prospectively on-going observational cohort-the East China Takayasu Arteritis (ECTA) cohort, centered in Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University. Totally, 204 hypertensive TAK patients were enrolled between January 2013 and December 2019. Clinical characteristics and imaging phenotypes of each case were evaluated and their associations with the EFS by the end of August 30, 2020 were analyzed. Results Severe hypertension accounted for 46.1% of the entire population. Three specific imaging phenotypes were identified: Cluster 1: involvement of the abdominal aorta and/or renal artery (27.5%); Cluster 2: involvement of the ascending aorta, thoracic aorta, and the aortic arch and/or its branches (18.6%); and Cluster 3: combined involvement of Cluster 1 and 2 (53.9%). Clinical characteristics, especially hypertensive severity, differed greatly among three imaging clusters. In all, 187 patients were followed-up for a median of 46 (9-102) months; 127 (67.9%) cases did not experience any events, while 72 events were observed in 60 patients. The overall blood pressure control rate was 50.8%, and the EFS was 67.9% by the end of the follow-up. Multivariate Cox regression indicated that controlled blood pressure (HR = 2.13, 95% CI 1.32–3.74), Cluster 1 (HR = 0.69, 95% CI 0.48–0.92) and Cluster 3 (HR = 0.72, 95% CI 0.43–0.94) imaging phenotype was associated with the EFS. Kaplan–Meier curves showed that patients with controlled blood pressure showed better EFS (p = 0.043). Furthermore, patients had controlled blood pressure and Cluster 1 phenotype was set as reference, better EFS was observed in patients with controlled blood pressure and Cluster 2 phenotype (HR = 2.21, 95%CI 1.47–4.32), while those had uncontrolled blood pressure and Cluster 1 phenotype (HR = 0.64, 95%CI: 0.52–0.89) and those had uncontrolled blood pressure and Cluster 3 phenotype (HR = 0.83, 95%CI: 0.76–0.92) suffered worse EFS. Conclusion Blood pressure control status and imaging phenotypes showed significant effects on the EFS for hypertensive TAK.

Background Takayasu arteritis (TA) is a rare disease, lacking convenient and feasible biomarkers to identify disease activity. We aimed to evaluate the value of complements in distinguishing active TA. Methods Consecutive patients were enrolled from the prospective East China TA cohort from April 2008 to June 2019. Patients were divided into two groups according to their baseline Kerr score. The value of complements and other biomarkers in identifying disease activity were analysed with cluster analysis, ROC curves, and combined tests. An independent group of patients from July 2019 to December 2019 were employed to validate the results. Results Of the enrolled 519 patients, 406 (72.2%) cases were identified as active disease. Higher erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and complement 3 (C3) levels were observed in the active group. Elevated C3 (≥ 1.085 g/L) had a high value to identify active TA with a sensitivity of 69.9%, specificity of 66.7%, and AUC of 0.715. Combining the CRP (≥ 10.65 g/L; sensitivity, 50.7%; specificity, 82.4%) and C3, the sensitivity could be improved to 85.1% in parallel test and the specificity could be improved to 94.1% in serial test. Validation was further performed to confirm the value of C3 for disease activity assessment. The accuracy of the parallel test of CRP and C3 in external validation with independent 53 TA cases was 72.73% with the AUC of 0.721. Conclusion Elevated C3 could effectively evaluate the disease activity of TA, and C3 combining with CRP could further improve the disease activity evaluation.

Additional file 1: Supplementary Table S1. The logistic regression analysis of TA disease activity. Supplementary Table S2. The 10-fold cross-validation to evaluate the accuracy of the parallel test CRP and C3 with the original dataset in the internal validation. Supplementary Table S3. The characteristics of patients in the independent external validation dataset. Supplementary Table S4. The detailed diagnosis result of the external validation. Supplementary Figure S1. The flowchart of the study. Supplementary Figure S2. The distribution of C4 and CH50 in different level of Kerr score. Supplementary Figure S3. The correlation analysis of variables.

Additional file 2:. Supplementary Table 1. General characteristics in Takayasu arteritis patients with and without hypertension.

Takayasu's arteritis (TAK) is a chronic inflammatory disease with several challenges in treatment. Curcumin is known for its anti-inflammatory effects, whereas its effect in the treatment of TAK remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of curcumin in the treatment of TAK and its underlying mechanisms.16 TAK patients were treated with curcumin granules at a dose of 15 g/day for three months. Kerr score was explored to assess disease activity. Serum levels of inflammatory factors were measured by ELISA. Immunohistochemical and immunofluorescence staining were used to detect the expression of CCL2 (also known as MCP-1) in aortic adventitia. RT-qPCR, ELISA and western blot were used to determine the regulatory effect of curcumin on CCL2 expression in aortic adventitia fibroblasts (AAFs) and its mechanism.Curcumin treatment significantly lowered Kerr score and the levels of serum CCL2 in TAK patients. The expression of CCL2 in TAK aortic adventitia was increased and colocalised with CD68. Serum levels of CCL2 was increased in subjects with Kerr score ≥2. After curcumin treatment, the changes in CCL2 were positively associated with the changes in IL-6. In further analysis, it showed that CCL2 was co-localised with CD90 and α-SMA, markers of adventitia fibroblasts. In vitro, HSP65, an agonist of TLR4, could induce CCL2 expression in AAFs via phosphorylating and activating the JAK2/AKT/STAT3 pathway. Nevertheless, curcumin could reverse the HSP65-induced CCL2 upregulation through restraining JAK2/AKT/STAT3 pathway. The inhibitory effect of curcumin on the JAK2/AKT/STAT3 pathway was even more obvious than that of methotrexate and tofacitinib.Curcumin alleviated inflammation in TAK by downregulating CCL2 overexpression in AAFs through inhibiting the JAK2/AKT/STAT3 signalling pathway.

Background: Melanoma has dramatically increased during last 30 years with low five-year survival and prognosis rate.Methods: Melanoma cells (A375 and G361) were chosen as in vitro model. The interference and overexpression of PCDH9 were infected by lentivirus. The effects of PCDH9 on melanoma cells were assessed in terms of alteration of PCDH9 such as cell viability, apoptosis, cell cycle and wound-healing assay. Moreover, expressions of PCDH9 with other genes (MMP2, MMP9, Pyk2 Cyclin D1, RAC1 and FAK) were also assessed by PCR and western blotting, immunohistochemical analysis. The protein complex immunoprecipitation was operated for protein-protein interaction (PPI) of PCDH9. Originlab 2020 was used for statistical analysis.Results: Melanoma cells treated with PCDH9 showed influence melanoma as similar function as Hace1 that regulate RAC1/ROS-dependent NADPH oxidase complexes through targeting complex-bound RAC1 with the help of Pyk2, while RAC1 directly influence RAC1/ROS-NADPH-oxidase complex to induce metalloproteinases (MMPs), that are involved in cell migration and proliferation. Moreover, PCDH9 could influence the expressions of MMP2, MMP9, Pyk2, Cyclin D1 and RAC1, except FAK, decreased cell viability, cell migration and increased apoptosis, but did not exert significant effects on cell cycle. Besides, the immunohistochemical results exhibited lower PCDH9 expression in malignant melanoma samples than benign naevus tissue or/and normal skin, and PCDH9 was expressed in the cytoplasm rather than nuclei. The results of immunoprecipitation demonstrated that PCDH9 bind with RAC1 and Pyk2, suggesting the regulation of PCDH9 to melanoma progression. Conclusion: Our results suggest that PCDH9 and RAC1 could predict for potential biomarkers prognosis of malignant melanoma, interestingly, with Pyk2’s assistance like a bridge PCDH9 can modulate melanoma progression by interacting with RAC1.

Background. Takayasu arteritis (TA) is a rare disease, lacking convenient and feasible biomarkers to identify disease activity. We aimed to evaluate the value of complements in distinguishing active TA. Methods. Consecutive patients were enrolled from the prospective East China TA cohort from April 2008 to June 2019. Patients were divided into two groups according to their baseline Kerr score. The value of complements and other biomarkers in identifying disease activity were analysed. An independent group of patients from July 2019 to December 2019 were employed to validate the results.Results. Of the enrolled 519 patients, 406 (72.2%) cases were identified as active disease. Higher erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and complement 3 (C3) levels were observed in the active group. Elevated C3 (≥1.085 g/L) had a high value to identify active TA with a sensitivity of 69.9%, specificity of 66.7% and AUC of 0.715. Combining the CRP (≥10.65 g/L; sensitivity, 50.7%; specificity, 82.4%) and C3, the sensitivity could be improved to 85.1% in parallel test and the specificity could be improved to 94.1% in serial test. Validation was further performed to confirm the value of C3 for disease activity assessment. The accuracy of the parallel test of CRP and C3 in external validation with independent 53 TA cases was 72.73% with the AUC of 0.721. Conclusion. Elevated C3 could effectively monitor the disease activity of TA, and C3 combining with CRP could further improve the disease activity evaluation.

Background Takayasu’s arteritis (TAK) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by macrophage infiltration. During the active stage, aorta adventitial fibroblasts (AAFs) proliferate excessively and produce numerous pro-inflammatory factors in the adventitia, the primary target of TAK therapy. Although the monocyte chemokine, CCL2, may contribute to macrophage infiltration in TAK arteries, whether there is an associated relationship with HSP65 remains unknown. Moreover, there are no reports of the activation of AAFs to produce inflammatory factors involvement in TAK pathogenesis. TAK treatment is associated with several challenges and contradictions. Curcumin is a traditional Chinese medicine with anti-inflammatory effects; however, its effectiveness for TAK and the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Methods We first verified high HSP65 expression in the aortic adventitia of TAK patients by IHC. mRNA-seq was used to profile differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between AAFs stimulated by HSP65 with or without pretreatment with curcumin, and untreated AAFs. The key chemokine, CCL2, screened by mRNA-seq was detected in the adventitia of the TAK aorta, and its correlation with HSP65 expression was analyzed by double-labelled immunofluorescence. We subsequently explored how HSP65 affected the production of inflammatory factors by AAFs at a cellular level and the related signaling pathway. We explored whether curcumin could hinder this process and verified the effect of curcumin on the level of serum CCL2 in patients with TAK. Results HSP65 was highly expressed in the adventitia of TAK arteries. The DEG analysis showed a key role of CCL2. The expression of CCL2 in the adventitia of TAK arteries was significantly higher than that of healthy subjects, and was correlated with HSP65. HSP65 facilitated the production of CCL2, IL-6, and IL-1β by AAFs via activation of the TLR4-JAK2/AKT/STAT3 pathway, among which the change in CCL2 was the greatest. Curcumin treatment reversed HSP65-induced CCL2 upregulation in vitro, which was more obvious than that of MTX and tofacitinib. Finally, curcumin significantly downregulated the level of serum CCL2 in TAK patients. Conclusion HSP65 initiates and promotes TAK inflammation by upregulating CCL2 in AAFs through the JAK2/AKT/STAT3 pathway, whereas curcumin could reverse this process and slow the initiation and development of TAK.

Background Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) exhibit a premature aging phenotype of immune system, which is recently concerned as a significant factor for increased risk of various morbidities. Nevertheless, there are few dates explicating the relevancy of T cell senescence to mortality. In this study, we prospectively studied the predictive value of T cell senescence for mortality in hemodialysis patients. Methods Patients who had been on hemodialysis treatment for at least 6 months were enrolled. T cell senescence determined by differentiation status was evaluated by flow cytometry. Survival outcomes were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate the prognostic impact of T cell premature aging and other clinical factors on all-cause mortality. Results A total of 466 patients (277 man and 169 women) were enrolled in this study. Decreased number of naïve T cell, as the most prominent feature of T cell senescence, did not change in parallel with age in these patients. Decreased absolute count of T cell, naïve T cell, CD4+ naïve T cell were independently associated with all-cause mortality. Decreased percentage of T cell and increased percentage of CD8+central-memory T cell were also independently associated with all-cause mortality. After including all the T cell parameters in one regression model, only decreased count of naïve T cell was significantly associated with increased mortality in these patients. Conclusions Aging-associated T cell changes are aggravated in ESRD patients. For the first time, our study demonstrates that naïve T cell depletion is a strong predictor of all-cause mortality in HD patients.

Background: Takayasu arteritis (TA) is a large-vessel vasculitis that can involve pulmonary arteries (PAs). We studied multiple clinical characteristics related to pulmonary artery involvement (PAI) in TA patients.Methods: We enrolled 216 patients with TA from a large prospective cohort. PAI was assessed in each patient based on data from magnetic resonance angiography/computed tomography angiography. Pulmonary hypertension, cardiac function, and pulmonary parenchymal abnormalities were evaluated further in patients with PAI based on echocardiography, New York Heart Association Functional Classification and pulmonary computed tomography, respectively. These abnormalities related to PAI were followed up to evaluate treatment effects.Results: PAI was detected in 56/216 (25.93%) patients, which involved the pulmonary trunk, main PAs and small vessels in the lungs. Among patients with PAI, 28 (50%) patients were accompanied by pulmonary hypertension, which was graded as ‘severe’ in 9 (16.07%), ‘moderate’ in 10 (17.86%) and mild in 9 (16.07%). Forty (71.43%) patients had cardiac insufficiency (IV: 6, 10.71%; III: 20, 35.71%; II: 14, 25.00%). Furthermore, 21 (37.50%) patients presented with abnormal parenchymal features in the area corresponding to PAI (e.g., the mosaic sign, infarction, bronchiectasis). During follow-up, two patients died due to abrupt pulmonary thrombosis. In the remaining patients, the abnormalities mentioned above improved partially after routine treatment.Conclusions: PAI is very common in TA patients. PAI can cause pulmonary hypertension, cardiac insufficiency and pulmonary parenchymal lesions, which worsen the prognosis.

Background Takayasu arteritis (TA) is a large vessel vasculitis that can involve pulmonary arteries (PAs). We studied multiple clinical characteristics related to pulmonary artery involvement (PAI) in TA patients. Methods We enrolled 216 patients with TA from a large prospective cohort. PAI was assessed in each patient based on data from magnetic resonance angiography/computed tomography angiography. Pulmonary hypertension, cardiac function, and pulmonary parenchymal lesions were evaluated further in patients with PAI based on echocardiography, the New York Heart Association Functional Classification, and pulmonary computed tomography, respectively. These abnormalities related to PAI were followed up to evaluate treatment effects. Results PAI was detected in 56/216 (25.93%) patients, which involved the pulmonary trunk, main PAs, and small vessels in the lungs. Among patients with PAI, 28 (50%) patients were accompanied by pulmonary hypertension, which was graded as ‘severe’ in 9 (16.07%), ‘moderate’ in 10 (17.86%), and mild in 9 (16.07%). Twenty-six (46.43%) patients showed advanced NYHA function (III, 20, 35.71%; IV, 6, 10.71%). Furthermore, 21 (37.50%) patients presented with abnormal pulmonary parenchymal lesions in the area corresponding to PAI (e.g. the mosaic sign, infarction, bronchiectasis). During follow-up, two patients died due to heart failure and pulmonary thrombosis. In the remaining patients, the abnormalities mentioned above improved partially after routine treatment. Conclusions PAI is common in TA patients. PAI can cause pulmonary hypertension, cardiac insufficiency, and pulmonary parenchymal lesions, which worsen patients’ prognosis.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the clinical and serological features of patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) in eastern China using data from a hospital-based study. And looking for indicators that can predict disease activity. Methods: We retrospectively studied patients with newly diagnosed AAV evaluated from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2018 . In total, 219 patients diagnosed were classified according to the American College of Rheumatology classification criteria and/or revised Chapel Hill 2012 definitions, and their clinical and serological features were evaluated. The association of laboratory data with disease activity was assessed via regression models. Results: Of 219 incident cases of AAV, 37/219 (16.9%) had granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), 172/219 (78.5%) were microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), and 10/219 (4.6%) had eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA). The mean age at diagnosis of patients with GPA were 51.5 years (male/female, 18/19), MPA were 61. 7 years (male/female, 84/88), and EGPA were 49.8 years ( male/female, 7/3), respectively. Patients with MPA were significantly older than GPA and EGPA at diagnosis ( p 0.215 g/L) were proved to be independent risk factors for active disease. Further research showed that C4 had higher sensitivity (70.0%) and specificity (83.4%) than the other three indicators. Conclusion: MPO-ANCA-positive MPA is the most common form of AAV in Chinese patients. Serum C4 concentrations at diagnosis might be a useful biomarker of disease activity in AAV.

Additional file 1: Figure S1. The flow chart of this study. Table S1. mPAP detected by RHC. Figure S2. Improvement of perfusion defects upon lung VQ scan in a patient with TA. Figure S3. Low perfusion upon MRA in patients with TA.

Background/Aims: Even though delayed ischemic preconditioning (DIPC) has been reported to produce renal protection, the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. We reported that a 15-minute renal ischemic preconditioning (IPC) 4 days before subsequent ischemia-reperfusion attenuated renal injury Kidney dendritic cells (DCs) are abundant in the renal tubulointerstitium and, depending on their status, can induce immune activation or tolerance. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of DCs in IPC of the kidney. Methods: Mouse kidneys were challenged by transient brief episodes of sublethal ischemia followed by subsequent prolonged ischemia. DC abundance and maturation in the spleen and kidney were measured by flow cytometry and immunohistochemical staining. To confirm the function of mature DCs in the renoprotective effect of IPC on renal ischemia-reperfusion injury the A2 adenosine receptor (A2AR) antagonist SCH58261 was administered to stimulate DC maturation prior to assessment of renal functional and histological injury and the inflammatory reaction. Results: Compared with sham-operated animals, preconditioned mice had a reduced injury with less CD11c+ cells, lower levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-17 and reduced expression of the mature DC marker CCR7. Preconditioned mice also produced more of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. Both renal cells and splenocytes from these mice had more DCs (CD45+/CD11c+/F4/80-), but fewer of these DCs were mature (CD45+/CD11c+/ F4/80-/MHC-II+/CD80+) compared with those from sham-treated animals, suggesting that the immunomodulatory effect of renal ischemic preconditioning is both local and systemic. Additionally, injection of the A2AR antagonist SCH58261 reversed IPC-induced inhibition of DC maturation and mitigated the protective effect of preconditioning, suggesting that DC maturation contributes to immune cell-mediated ischemic preconditioning. Conclusion: Our results show that DIPC of the kidney provides local and systemic immunosuppression by inhibiting DC maturation and hence mediates a renal protective effect.