Biocompatible Fe3O4-Pd Janus nanoparticles were designed to achieve significantly high magnetic-photo heating efficiency accompanied by enhanced ROS generation for efficient cancer therapy.

Cyclometalated platinum(II) complex has been successfully incorporated into the (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane-modified channels of ordered mesoporous silica SBA-15 that has large pore hexagonal channels. Studies on the (1)O(2) generation conclusively demonstrates that the olefins in the nano-channels of SBA-15 can be enriched 8 times higher than those in the homogeneous solution as the diffusion quantum yield of singlet oxygen ((1)O(2)) is assumed to be unit. The platinum(II) complex loaded in the channel of SBA-15 is stable, and the photosensitized oxidation occurs efficiently. No obvious degradation and leaching of photosensitizers is observed even after 10 runs. Only a simple filtration is needed for the recycled use of the expensive noble metal catalysts. This versatile system is a good example of photochemical reactions occurring in the mesoporous silica molecular sieve. SBA-15 not only provides a support for the photosensitizer, but also acts as a nano-reactor to facilitate the photooxidation.

Background and Aims The safety and antibody responses of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) vaccination in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) virus infection is still unclear, and exploration in safety and antibody responses of COVID‐19 vaccination in CHB patients is significant in clinical practice. Methods 362 adult CHB patients and 87 healthy controls at an interval of at least 21 days after a full‐course vaccination (21–105 days) were enrolled. Adverse events (AEs) were collected by questionnaire. The antibody profiles at 1, 2 and 3 months were elucidated by determination of anti‐spike IgG, anti‐receptor‐binding domain (RBD) IgG, and RBD‐angiotensin‐converting enzyme 2 blocking antibody. SARS‐CoV‐2 specific B cells were also analysed. Results All AEs were mild and self‐limiting, and the incidence was similar between CHB patients and controls. Seropositivity rates of three antibodies were similar between CHB patients and healthy controls at 1, 2 and 3 months, but CHB patients had lower titers of three antibodies at 1 month. Compared to healthy controls, HBeAg‐positive CHB patients had higher titers of three antibodies at 3 months (all P < .05) and a slower decline in antibody titers. Frequency of RBD‐specific B cells was positively correlated with titers of anti‐RBD IgG (OR = 1.067, P = .004), while liver cirrhosis, antiviral treatment, levels of HBV DNA, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and total bilirubin (TB) were not correlated with titers of anti‐RBD IgG. Conclusions Inactivated COVID‐19 vaccines were well tolerated, and induced effective antibody response against SARS‐CoV‐2 in CHB patients.

It is important to know the safety and efficacy of vaccination in immunocompromised people living with HIV (PLWH), but currently, there is limited data on the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines’ safety and immune responses in PLWH. In this prospective observational study, 139 PLWH and 120 healthy controls were enrolled and monitored for 21–105 days after a two-dose vaccination. The safety, anti-receptor binding domain IgG (anti-RBD-IgG) and anti-spike-IgG responses, and RBD-specific memory B cell (MBC) responses were evaluated. The overall adverse events within seven days were reported in 12.9% (18/139) of PLWH and 13.3% (16/120) of healthy controls. No serious adverse events occurred in both groups. Overall, the seroprevalence of anti-RBD-IgG in PLWH was significantly decreased (87.1% vs. 99.2%; p <0.001). The geometric mean end-point titer (GMT) of anti-RBD-IgG in PLWH was also reduced, especially in patients with CD4 counts <200 cells/µL, regardless of age, gender, or HIV viral load. GMTs of anti-RBD-IgG in both PLWH and healthy controls declined gradually over time. Similar results were also observed in the anti-spike-IgG response. The frequency of RBD-specific MBCs in PLWH decreased ( p <0.05), and then remained stable over time. Lastly, through multivariate analysis, we found the factors that predicted a less robust response to inactivated vaccines in PLWH were a low CD4 count and long time interval after vaccination. In conclusion, inactivated vaccines are well-tolerated in PLWH but with low immunogenicity. Therefore, SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and booster doses should be given priority in PLWH, especially in patients with low CD4 counts. Trial registration: .

Dextran-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (DSPIONs) have gained considerable interest, because of their biocompatibility and biosafety in clinics. Doxorubicin (Dox), a widely used chemotherapeutic drug, always has limited applications in clinical therapy due to its serious side effects of dose-limiting irreversible cardiotoxicity and myelo suppression. Herein, DSPIONs were synthesized and developed as magnetic carriers for doxorubicin. The Dox-DSPION conjugates were evaluated in the in vitro test of Dox release, which showed pH-dependence with the highest release percentage of 50.3% at pH 5.0 and the lowest release percentage of 11.8% in a physiological environment. The cytotoxicity of DSPIONs and Dox-DSPIONs evaluated by the MTT assay indicated that DSPIONs had no cytotoxicity and the conjugates had significantly reduced the toxicity (IC50 = 1.36 μg mL(-1)) compared to free Dox (IC50 = 0.533 μg mL(-1)). Furthermore, confocal microscopic data of cell uptake suggest that less cytotoxicity of Dox-DSPIONs may be attributed to the cellular internalization of the conjugates and sustainable release of Dox from the formulation in the cytoplasm. More importantly, the results from the rabbit VX2 liver tumor model test under an external magnetic field showed that the conjugates had approximately twice the anti-tumor activity and two and a half times the animal survival rate, respectively, compared to free Dox. Collectively, our data have demonstrated that Dox-DSPIONs have less toxicity with better antitumor effectiveness in in vitro and in vivo applications, suggesting that the conjugates have potential to be developed into chemo-therapeutic formulations.

PurposeTo estimate the diagnostic accuracy of Xpert MTB/RIF, a systematic review and meta-analysis were carried out.MethodsUp to June 20, 2015, multiple databases were screened for relevant studies.ResultsAccordingly, 106 studies included 52,410 samples were selected. Diagnostic accuracy of Xpert MTB/RIF for TB detection was validated against either culture or a composite reference standard (CRS). Additionally, selected studies were further subgrouped in four groups based on sample’s type, subject’s age, status of HIV co-infection and smear-positivity. The overall pooled sensitivity and specificity of Xpert MTB/RIF was 0.85 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.82–0.88) and 0.98 (95% CI 0.96–0.98), respectively, compared to culture; while it was 0.59 (95% CI 0.44–0.72) and 0.99 (95% CI 0.97–1.00) compared to CRS. The overall sensitivity was lower in countries with high TB prevalence than countries with middle/low prevalence (0.84, 95% CI: 0.80–0.88 versus 0.89, 95% CI: 0.84–0.93). Furthermore, Xpert MTB/RIF has higher sensitivity in patients with positive smears (0.99, 95% CI 0.97–0.99), in patients with pulmonary TB samples (0.87, 95% CI 0.83–0.90), in adults (0.82, 95% CI 0.76–0.86) and in HIV-positive patients (0.81, 95% CI 0.73–0.87).ConclusionsTaken together, Xpert MTB/RIF is a quick and accurate diagnostic assay for TB which will significantly help the physicians to make their clinical decisions.

The proportion of circulating V(delta)2 T cells was significantly decreased in patients with chronic HBV infection, and this was accompanied by a strong immune response in the liver. IFN-gamma secretion and TCRgammadelta T cell cytotoxicity was lower in patients than in HDs.

Sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectin-7 (Siglec-7) is an inhibitory receptor expressed on natural killer (NK) cells. In this study, we investigated the relationship between Siglec-7 expression and NK cell functions. Siglec-7 was highly expressed on NK cells and was preferentially expressed by mature NK cells from peripheral blood of healthy adults. Siglec-7 + NK cells displayed higher levels of activating receptors CD38, CD16, DNAM1, NKp30 and NKp46, but lower levels of inhibitory receptors such as NKG2A and CD158b, compared with Siglec-7 -NK cells. Functional tests showed that Siglec-7 + NK cells displayed more CD107a degranulation and IFN-c production than Siglec-7 -NK cells. Siglec-7 inhibited NK cell functions when interacting with specific antibodies. These data suggest that Siglec-7 defines a highly functional NK cell subset and suppresses NK cell-mediated functions when cross-linked with specific antibodies.