Serum adropin level was significantly lower in type 2 diabetic patients than in non-diabetic patients and was inversely and independently associated with angiographic severity of coronary atherosclerosis, suggesting that serum adropin serves as a novel predictor of coronary atherosclerosis.

AimsTo investigate the effect of survivin (SVV)-engineered mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on post-infarction cardiac performance and remodelling in rats. Methods and resultsMesenchymal stem cells from male Sprague-Dawley rat bone marrow were infected with the self-inactive lentiviral vector GFP-wre-CMV/LTR and Flap-Ubiqutin promoter (GCFU) carrying green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene and SVV recombinant vector (GCFU-SVV). In vitro, modification with SVV increased the secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) by 1.28-fold under hypoxic conditions. In vivo, after permanent left anterior descending artery occlusion, rats were randomized (n ¼ 18 per group) to receive intra-myocardial injections of 100 mL of phosphatebuffered saline without cells (group vehicle) or containing 2 million MSC GFP (group MSC GFP ) or MSC SVV (group MSC SVV ) cells. Cellular survival assessed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction for GFP in the MSC SVV group was 2.5-fold higher at 7 days and 4.3-fold higher at 28 days after transplantation than in the MSC GFP group. When compared with transplantation with MSC GFP , transplantation with MSC SVV further upregulated VEGF expression at 7 and 28 days after myocardial infarction (MI), increased capillary density by 38%, reduced the infarct size by 12.7%, significantly inhibited collagen deposition, and further improved cardiac function at 28 days after MI. ConclusionTransplantation with SVV-engineered MSCs by lentiviral vector leads to better prognosis for MI by enhancing cellular survival.--

Secondary diabetes associated with 5-FU-based chemotherapy occurs in around 10% of CRC patients, with a significant negative impact on treatment and clinical outcome. 5-FU-related diabetes should be regarded as a common side effect of 5-FU treatment.

We designed a novel haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (haplo-HSCT) system using idarubicin (IDA) intensified conditioning regimens and combination of antithymocyte globulin and basiliximab for GvHD prophylaxis. The outcomes of 110 high-risk acute leukemia patients undergoing haplo-HSCT were compared with 69 contemporaneous high-risk patients receiving HLA-matched sibling transplantation using uniform IDA-intensified regimens. The relapse incidence of haplo-HSCT was 23.4%, and 3-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) achieved 62.9%, 59.1%, respectively. The cumulative incidences of II-IV and III-IV aGvHD were 28.6 and 14.3%, while limited and extensive cGvHD were 19.4, 13.8%. All these results were equivalent to those of concurrent identical sibling transplantation. Three-year OS and DFS for patients in advance stage reached 48.5, 47.3%. Furthermore, the relapse, 3-year OS of positive minimal residual disease (MRD) patients did not differ from negative MRD patients (18.9% vs 11.5%, 63.6% vs 69.6%), indicating our intensified haplo-HSCT technique could circumvent the dismal prognosis of MRD. These data provide reinforcing evidence that our haplo-HSCT system could dramatically improve the survival of high-risk acute leukemia with low relapse and acceptable transplantation-related mortality, and might be a promising therapeutic option for high-risk patients.

RSV pretreatment was associated with more Treg accumulation, less inflammatory response, and myocardial injury, suggesting that such cardioprotection against IRI was partially mediated by Treg-negative modulation of inflammation response, probably through the HMG-CoA reductase pathway.

No abstract

Endothelial microparticles (EMPs) upregulation has been observed in acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). However, the role of EMPs remains unclear. We found that EMPs derived from TNF-α-stimulated human umbilical vein endothelial cells (EA.hy926) concentrated more microRNA-155 (miR-155) compared with maternal cells. The miR-155 levels in MPs from peripheral blood of aGVHD patients and mice were remarkably elevated and significantly higher than the levels in plasma. Moreover, the rising peak of miR-155 in MPs occurred significantly prior to the peak in T lymphocytes. Additionally, we observed fluorescently-labeled miR-155 in EMPs actively transported into recipient T lymphocytes. Inhibition of miR-155 in EMPs by antagomir-155 did not influence the proliferation and apoptosis of T lymphocytes, but induced defective differentiation toward Th1, Th9 and Th17 cells and skewed differentiation toward Th2 and Treg cells. Furthermore, intravenous injection of miR-155-deficient-EMPs into aGVHD mice significantly attenuated the exacerbation of aGVHD manifestations and abnormal T lymphocytes differentiation induced by high concentration EMPs. Taken together, these data provide a mechanistic framework in which miR-155 delivered by EMPs is involved in aGVHD pathogenesis by activating specific T lymphocytes functions. The results may provide new therapeutic approaches for aGVHD while preserving graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effect.

High-mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) acts as a proinflammatory cytokine that triggers and amplifies the inflammation cascade following ischemia/reperfusion (I/R). Ethyl pyruvate (EP) has been reported to inhibit HMGB1 release in several I/R models. This study was designed to investigate the potential role of HMGB1 in a rat myocardial I/R model and to determine the effect of EP. Male Sprague Dawley rats were subjected to 30 min myocardial ischemia and 48 h reperfusion. In protocol 1, the rats were assigned to one of four groups (n=16 per group): Phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) or recombinant human HMGB1 (rhHMGB1) at three different doses (1, 10 or 100 μg/kg). In protocol 2, the rats were also assigned to one of four groups (n=16 per group): Sham, control, EP and EP + rhHMGB1. EP (40 mg/kg) or rhHMGB1 (100 μg/kg) was injected intravenously prior to reperfusion. Hemodynamic measurements were performed, and myocardial infarct size (IS) was calculated. Western blotting was conducted to evaluate HMGB1, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) expression levels. In the protocol 1 rats, the IS was markedly increased in the rhHMGB1 (100 μg/kg) group compared with that in the PBS group, and this increase was accompanied by elevated levels of TNF-α and IL-6. In the protocol 2 rats, I/R resulted a 4.8-fold increase in HMGB1 expression with an increased IS and impaired cardiac function compared with the sham group. EP significantly inhibited the elevated HMGB1 level, suppressed the activated TNF-α and IL-6 and reduced cardiac dysfunction. This cardioprotection was abolished by rhHMGB1. In conclusion, accumulation of HMGB1 is deleterious to the heart following myocardial I/R. EP can exert a strong protective effect against myocardial I/R injury, and these benefits are associated with a reduction in HMGB1.