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Haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a rare and severe clinical syndrome that can be classified as either primary or secondary. Secondary HLH can be triggered by a variety of diseases. Pregnancy-related HLH has already been observed clinically. However, most of these cases occur during pregnancy. Considering that the periods before and after delivery have different clinical features, we presented the first case series of HLH that presented during the postpartum stage of pregnancy. From these cases, we concluded that postpartum HLH is a common form of pregnancy-related HLH. Patients with postpartum HLH may suffer more complicated pathogenesis. Cytopenia was not as common as in other types of HLH, but liver dysfunction was present in almost all cases. The standard therapy of HLH-94/04 was very effective, and the outcomes of postpartum HLH were better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the drug resistant related FOXO3/Bcl-6 signaling pathway in K562/G cell line and its related microRNA(miRNA) mechanisms., Methods: The drug resistance potency of imatinib on K562/G was detected by MTT assay. The expression of FOXO3 and Bcl-6 proteins in K562 and K562/G cells was detected by Western blot. Real-time PCR (RT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of FOXO3 and Bcl-6 mRNA. The miRNA expression profiling in K562 and K562/G cells was analyzed by microarray technique, and the miRNA targeted to FOXO/Bcl-6 signaling pathway was identified., Results: The expression of FOXO3 and Bcl-6 protein was significantly increased in K562/G cells as compared with that in K562 cells (P<0.01), the expression level of Bcl-6 mRNA showed no increase in K562/G cells. However, FOXO3 mRNA was up-regulated in K562/G cells (P<0.05). MiRNA microarray results showed that 109 miRNAs were expressed differentially in K562 and K562/G cells. The expression of 81 miRNAs were up-regulated while 28 miRNAs were down-regulated. Through reverse prediction by bioinformatics, miR-6718-5p, miR-5195-5p, miR-4711-3p, miR-4763-5p, miR-4664-5p and miR-3176 were related to FOXO/Bcl-6 signaling pathway., Conclusion: The FOXO3/Bcl-6 signaling pathway contributes to imatinib resistance in K562/G cell line, and the miRNA expression profiles showed significant differences between K562/G and K562 cells.

Objective: To establish a secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis(HLH) mouse model, and to investigate the effect of ruxolitinib on the disease manifestation of model mice., Methods: Wild type C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into 4 groups: two groups of mice were intraperitoneally injected with CpG oligodeoxynucleotide 1826 (CpG-ODN1826) every other day to induce HLH, and other two groups were control groups. One group of the CpG-ODN1826 groups and one of the control groups were given ruxolitinib, and other two groups were given the same amount of PBS. Blood samples, serum ferritin and hepatic/spleen weights of experimental mice were detected and serum cytokine levels were measured by ELISA., Results: Compared with the control groups, the levels of white blood cells, hemoglobin and platelets in the CpG-ODN1826 groups were significantly lower (P＜0.05); and liver/body weight, spleen/body weight, serum ferritin, sCD25, IL-10, IL-1β, IFN-Ƴ, IL-12p70, GM-CSF, TNF-α and IL-18 levels significantly increased (P＜0.05). There was no significant difference in the levels of IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-22, IL-13, IL-27 and IL-23 between the two groups (P＞0.05). The spleen in CpG group had disordered internal structure, expanding red pulp and hyperplastic nucleated cells. The liver had severe perivascular inflammations. The spleen/weight of the ruxolitinib-treated mice in the CpG-ODN1826 group was significantly smaller than that of the unapplied ruxolitinib (P＜0.05)., Conclusion: The CpG-ODN1826 can induce secondary HLH symptoms in wild type C57BL/6 mice. Ruxolitinib can alleviate the symptoms of splenomegaly in HLH model mice.

Objective: To detect the erythrocyte life by breath carbon monoxide assay and to analyze the effect of erythrocyte life on the anemia in patients with hemophagocytic syndrome., Methods: The breath carbon monoxide test and erythrocyte life assay were performed for 20 cases of hemophagocytic syndrome, at the same time the detection of 20 healthy persons was used as control. The difference of anemia-related indexes was compared between hemophagocytic syndrome patients and healthy persons., Results: The average erythrocyte life of patients with hemophagocytic syndrome was 45.3 days, which was 65% shorter than that of healthy persons. Hemoglobin levels positively correlated with erythrocyte life, while sCD25, breath carbon monoxide concentration and hemophagocytosis negatively correlated with erythrocyte life. Bilirubin level and reticulocyte count showed no correlation with erythrocyte life. Serum level of IL-1β, IL-2, sCD25, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17A, GM-CSF, TNF-α and IFN-γ in patients with newly diagnosed hemophagocytic syndrome were significantly higher than those of healthy persons (P＜0.05)., Conclusion: Breath carbon monoxide assay is a rapid and efficient method to assess erythrocyte life. Increased erythrocyte destruction may be an important pathogenic factor for anemia in hemophagocytic syndrome.

Objective: To investigate the clinical characteristics, therapeutic outcomes and prognostic factors of primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL)., Methods: Clinical records of 31 cases of PCNSL were collected, the clinical charactenstics were analyzed retrospectively. Survival curves were estimated using Kaplan-Meier survival methodology and statistical significance of continuous variables was assessed via the Cox proportional hazard model., Results: The median age was 52 years, with a ratio of male to female 1:1. Headache/dizzy/limb numbness were the most common presentation and the lesions of PCNSL were primarily located at the frontal, parietal, temporal lobes and corpus callosum. All the cases were pathologically diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), 6 cases were the type of germinal center (GC) and 25 cases of non-GC type, after craniotomy operation and biopsy. Among 31 cases, 17 patients accepted the combined treatment, 3 patients underwent simple chemotherapy, 8 patients received simple radiotherapy, the other patients accepted support therapy. The median follow-up for surviving patients was 24 months. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were 80.6%, 55.1%, and 36.4%, respectively. The median overall survival time in the combined treatment group was significantly longer than that in simply radiotherapy. There was no significant difference in OS between the groups with and without rituximab. ECOG PS≥2 and elevated serum LDH predicted inferior survival., Conclusion: The clinical manifectation of PCNSL is various and complicated, and for the time being there is no optimal treatment scheme. The overall survival time of the combined treatment is longer than that in simply radiotherapy. ECOG PS≥2 and elevated serum LDH often are poor prognostic factors.

Erdheim-Chester Disease (ECD) is a rare form of non Langerhans' cell histiocytosis. The etiology of ECD is unknown yet. The disease is characterized by the infiltration of lipid-laden histiocytes with foamy to bones and various organs. The heterogeneous manifestations of ECD vary among different individuals. This results in a presentation that may vary from an indolent focal disease to a life threatening organ failure. This review focuses on the etiology, clinical presentation, diagnostic criteria and treatment of Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD).

This study was aimed to investigate the anti-proliferative effect of genistein (Gen) on BCL-6 positive Raji cells and its related mechanism. Trypan blue staining and MTT method were used to analyze the anti-proliferative effect of Gen on Raji cells. Cell apoptosis, protein expression and the interaction of BCL-6 and NCoR were detected by PI/AV dual staining, Western blot and Co-IP method, respectively. The results showed that Gen had time- and dose-dependent inhibitory effect on Raji cell proliferation and induced apoptosis. Different dose of Gen had no significant effect on the expression of BCL-6 and NCoR, but could inhibit the binding of BCL-6 and NCoR. It is concluded that Gen shows inhibitory effect on BCL-6 positive lymphoma cells, which can be as a adjuvant therapy for combined rituximab with chemotherapy.

Pulmonary abnormalities, dysfunction or hyper-reactivity occurs in association with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) more frequently than previously recognized. Emerging evidence suggests that subtle inflammation exists in the airways among IBD patients even in the absence of any bronchopulmonary symptoms, and with normal pulmonary functions. The pulmonary impairment is more pronounced in IBD patients with active disease than in those in remission. A growing number of case reports show that the IBD patients develop rapidly progressive respiratory symptoms after colectomy, with failure to isolate bacterial pathogens on repeated sputum culture, and often request oral corticosteroid therapy. All the above evidence indicates that the inflammatory changes in both the intestine and lung during IBD. Clinical or subclinical pulmonary inflammation accompanies the main inflammation of the bowel. Although there are clinical and epidemiological reports of chronic inflammation of the pulmonary and intestinal mucosa in IBD, the detailed mechanisms of pulmonary-intestinal crosstalk remain unknown. The lung has no anatomical connection with the main inflammatory site of the bowel. Why does the inflammatory process shift from the gastrointestinal tract to the airways? The clinical and subclinical pulmonary abnormalities, dysfunction, or hyper-reactivity among IBD patients need further evaluation. Here, we give an overview of the concordance between chronic inflammatory reactions in the airways and the gastrointestinal tract. A better understanding of the possible mechanism of the crosstalk among the distant organs will be beneficial in identifying therapeutic strategies for mucosal inflammatory diseases such as IBD and allergy.

Objective: To explorer the clinical features, diagnosis and therapy of Langerhans cell sarcoma (LCS)., Methods: The clinical data of a case of LCS originated from cervical lymph nodes was analyzed. The pathological biopsy was studied by cell morphology, immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy, and the related literature was reviewed., Results: The giant tumor cells were characterized by markedly malignant proliferation, irregular nuclei and obviously chromatin abnormality, the positive S-100, CD1a and Langerin (CD207) tumor cells were revealed by immunohistochemistry, and Birbeck granules could be found by electron microscopy. All of them supported the diagnosis of LCS. The patient's condition progressed rapidly and died of multiple organ failure in a short time., Conclusion: LCS is an extremely rare neoplastic proliferation of Langerhans cells with overtly malignant cytologic features and spreads aggressively. The diagnosis of LCS mainly relies on pathological cell morphology, immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy if necessary. The treatment includes chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy, etc, but lack of generally accepted optimal treatment regimen currently. In short, LCS has intensive invasiveness and poor prognosis.

The study was aimed to investigate the etiology and the clinical characteristics of patients with hemophagocytic syndrome. The clinical data of 38 patients with hemophagocytic syndrome were retrospectively analyzed, and prf1 and stx11 were detected for the mutational analysis. The results showed that 38 cases were diagnosed as hemophagocytic syndrome, including 1 case of familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (FHL), 14 cases associated with infectious disease (36.84%), 10 cases with malignancies (26.32%), 7 cases with rheumatic disease (18.42%), other 6 cases of unknown etiology (15.79%). 9 out of 38 cases died with mortality of 23.68%, including 4 cases associated with infectious disease, 2 cases with malignancies, 1 case with rheumatic disease, and 2 cases of unknown etiology. One case was found to have prf1 mutation, and was diagnosed as FHL at last. It is concluded that the causes of HPS are diverse, different etiology results in different outcome. It is important to find etiology when HPS is diagnosed, and prf1 and stx11 genetic analysis plays a important role in the diagnosis of FHL.

The aim of study was to establish an accurate and stable technique for the detection of NK cell activity in the diagnosis of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). 21 suspected acquired HLH patients and 20 healthy subjects as controls were enrolled in the study, and the suspected HLH patients were divided into confirmedly diagnosed group and excluded group according to HLH-2004 diagnostic criteria. The plasmid pEGFP-N1 was transfected into K562 cells. After scanned with G4l8 and monoclone, the EGFP-K562 cell line stably expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein was obtained. PBMNC and EGFP-K562 were mixed at the effector to target ratio of 10:1. After incubation for of 2 hours, propidium iodine (PI) was added to stain dead cells, and then cytotoxic activity was analyzed by using flow cytometry. Meanwhile, the cytotoxic activity of NK cells in peripheral blood on K562 cells was detected by LDH release assay, and was compared with results detected by flow cytometry. The results showed that a K562 cell line stably expressing EGFP was constructed and were used to measure NK cytotoxicity against the target cells by flow cytometry without pre-staining or pre-labeling target cells. There was significant difference in killing rate of NK cells between the diagnostic group and the control group. This new technique correlated strongly with the results by LDH release assay. In conclusion, this study provides a novel, simple, rapid, repeatable and reproducible method to measure NK activity by flow cytometry using EGFP-K562 without pre-staining or pre-labeling target cells. It may be widely used in the diagnosis of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.

The study was aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics, diagnosis and therapy of patients with lymphoma associated hemophagocytic syndrome (LAHS) so as to provide the clinical basis for improving its recognition and giving effective therapy. The clinical data of 14 patients with LAHS in Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University during the period from June 2005 to May 2008 were collected, the informations including primary diseases, clinical manifestations, laboratory findings, therapy and outcome were analyzed retrospectively, the coincidence of each diagnostic index was compared before and after diagnosis. All 14 patients were given therapeutic regimens containing fludarabine, methylprednisolone and gammaglobulin (FDIg) after final diagnosis. The results indicated that 100% patients had abnormal changes on NK cell activity and sCD25 level in serum, but hemophagocytosis in less than 40% patients at early stage was found in bone marrow. Even after confirmed diagnosis of the disease, the percentage of patients with hemophagocytosis was not up to 50%. 9 out of the 14 patients had a good prognosis after treatment, and the other 5 patients died. It is concluded that the detection of NK cell activity and sCD25 level in serum may be valuable for the early diagnosis of LAHS, the hemophagocytosis is not necessary for the diagnosis of LAHS. Fludarabine combined with methylprednisolone and gamma globulin may provide a new strategy for LAHS therapy.

The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical features of acquired hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) complicated with hepatic dysfunction. 18 cases of acquired HLH were analyzed. The characteristics of hepatic dysfunction, the relationship between hepatic dysfunction and the cause, as well as prognosis of the acquired HLH were preliminarily analysed. The results indicated that characteristics of hepatic dysfunction in acquired HLH patients were hypoproteinemia, jaundice and increase of L-aspirate aminotransferase (AST) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels. The level of AST and direct bilirubin (DBil) in the non-malignancy associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis group were higher than that in malignancy-associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis group (p<0.05). And the increase of LDH and AST levels indicated poor prognosis (p<0.05). In conclusion, liver damage is a common organ functional disorder in patients with acquired HLH, which may be correlated to the cause and the prognosis of acquired HLH.

The study was aimed to explore the diagnostic significance of hemophagocytosis in the patients with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). 61 suspected HLH patients from June 2005 to October 2008 were enrolled in the study. The suspected HLH patients were divided into confirmed group (43 out of 61) and excluded group (18 out of 61) according to HLH-2004 diagnostic criteria. The incidences of hemophagocytosis in bone marrow, spleen or lymph nodes were compared in all groups. The results indicated that the hemophagocytosis in bone marrow, spleen or lymph nodes was found in 33 patients of confirmed group, while the hemophagocytosis was found in 4 patients of excluded group. The sensitivity of hemophagocytosis for the diagnosis of HLH was 76.7%, and its specificity was 77.8%. In conclusion, hemophagocytosis is a helpful marker for the diagnosis of most but not all HLH patients, however, the lack of hemophagocytosis does not mean to exclude the diagnosis of HLH.

This study was aimed to explore the level of glycosylated ferritin in the patients with secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) and its diagnostic significance. 29 suspected HLH patients from October 2007 to October 2008 were enrolled in the study, and 25 healthy subjects were selected as control. The 29 suspected HLH patients were divided into confirmed group (22 out of 29) and unconfirmed group (7 out of 29) according to HLH-2004 diagnostic criteria. The percentage of glycosylated ferritin in peripheral blood was determined by phytohemagglutinin adsorption assay. The results showed that the median level of total serum ferritin in patients of confirmed group (2897.6+/-1837.2 microg/L) was significantly higher than that in patients of unconfirmed group (653.1+/-249.1 microg/L) (p<0.01), and was also higher than that in controls (414.6+/-212.6 microg/L) (p<0.01). The median percentage of glycosylated ferritin in patients of confirmed group was significantly lower (17.0+/-4.2%) than that in patients of unconfirmed group (40.7+/-4.5%) (p<0.01) and was lower than that in controls (53.6+/-13.3%) (p<0.01). The sensitivity (86.4% vs 77.3%) and specificity (71.4% vs 42.9%) of glycosylated ferritin for the diagnosis of HLH were higher than that of total serum ferritin. In conclusions, glycosylated ferritin may be a helpful marker for the diagnosis of HLH.