Objective To investigate the phenotyping of COPD by cluster analysis and evaluate the value of this method.Methods 168 COPD patients were enrolled from Beijing Tongren Hospital. Demographic and clinical data, such as, sex, age, body mass index ( BMI) , smoking index, course of disease,exacerbation rate, and comorbidities were collected. Pulmonary function test, emphysema scoring by HRCT,dyspnea by MMRC score, COPD assessment test ( CAT) score, six-minute walk test were performed for each patient during the stable stage. Cluster analysis was conducted using SPSS 13. 0. Results According to the GOLD criteria,5, 75, 75, and 13 patients were classified into GOLD stage 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. There was no difference among different stages in sex distribution, BMI, smoking index, hypertension, and cerebral infarction incidence( P gt; 0. 05) , but the differences in age, disease course, dyspnea score, six-minute walk distance, BODE score, CAT score, coronary heart disease, exacerbation rate, and HRCT emphysema visual score were significant( P lt;0. 05) . By cluster analysis,168 patients were finally classified into three groups:younger/mild, older/ severe, and older/moderate. The patients with the same GOLD stage appeared indifferent clusters and the patients belonging to different GOLD stages could be in the same cluster. There were significant differences among three groups in age, BMI, exacerbation rate, dyspnea score, CAT score, and comorbidities. The result showed that HRCT emphysema visual score was also an important index todifferentiate clusters, suggesting that emphysema was an important phenotype of COPD. Conclusions Cluster analysis can classify homogeneous subjects into the same cluster, and heterogeneous subjects into different clusters. The results suggest that COPD phenotyping by cluster analysis is clinically useful and significant.
ObjectiveTo explore the composition of intestinal microbiota between patients with fixed airflow obstruction asthma, reversible airflow obstruction asthma, and healthy control, and analyze the correlation between key differential bacterial distribution and clinical characteristics. MethodsFifteen patients with fixed airflow obstruction asthma (FAO) and 13 patients with reversible airflow obstruction asthma (RAO) were included, along with 11 matched healthy control subjects. Clinical data were collected, and lung function tests and induced sputum examination were performed. Blood and stool samples were tested to compare the gut microbiota status among the groups, and analyze the relationship between gut microbiota abundance and patients' blood routine, IgE levels, lung function, and induced sputum. Results The dominant bacterial compositions were similar in the three groups, but there were differences in the abundance of some species. Compared to the RAO group, the FAO group showed a significant increase in the genera of Bacteroides and Escherichia coli, while Pseudomonas was significantly decreased. The phylum Firmicutes was negatively correlated with the course of asthma, while the phylum Bacteroidetes and genus Bacteroides were positively correlated with the asthma course. Bacteroidetes was negatively correlated with Pre-BD FEV1/FVC, Pseudomonas was positively correlated with Pre-BD FEV1, Escherichia coli was negatively correlated with Post-BD FEV1/FVC, and Bacteroides was negatively correlated with Post-BD MMEF. The class Actinobacteria and the order Actinomycetales were negatively correlated with peripheral blood EOS%, while the order Enterobacteriales and the family Enterobacteriaceae were positively correlated with peripheral blood IgE levels. Furthermore, Actinobacteria and Actinomycetales were negatively correlated with induced sputum EOS%. Conclusions There are differences in the gut microbiota among patients with fixed airflow obstruction asthma, reversible airflow obstruction asthma, and healthy individuals. Bacteroides and Escherichia coli are enriched in the fixed airflow obstruction asthma group, while the Firmicutes are increased in the reversible airflow obstruction asthma group. These three microbiota may act together on Th2 cell-mediated inflammatory responses, influencing the process of airway remodeling, and thereby interfering with the occurrence of fixed airflow obstruction in asthma.
OBJECTIVE: To study the gap junction and phenotype of cultured chondrocyte of rabbit, and the gap junction between the chondrocytes in the same cartilage cavities in human femoral head articular cartilage. METHODS: CFDA-AM was added into the medium of the fifth passage of chondrocyte of rabbit in the 96-well plate. The fluorescent in spherical and fibroblast-like chondrocytes was detected separately. The recurrence of the fluorescent in accordant with time in 16 minutes was recorded after blanching the fluorescent with laser. And the fluorescent after blanching of chondrocyte in the cartilage cavities in the proliferative zone of articular cartilage of adult human femoral head was recorded, too. RESULTS: The average fluorescent of the single layer of the fibroblast-like chondrocyte was 83(ranged from 1 to 274), the highest was found in the spherical shaped cell (averaged 2,057, ranged from 340 to 3,538). The recurrence of the fluorescent after the blanching appeared only in the spherical chondrocyte, the gap junctions reappeared only in the spherical chondrocytes, as well as in the cells in the cartilage cavities in the articular cartilage of the human femoral head. CONCLUSION: The appearance of the gap junction is corresponded with the spherical shape, secretion of the cartilage matrix of the chondrocyte. There are gap junctions in the cells in the same cartilage cavities in the articular cartilage of the human femoral head, while no gap junctions in the isolated chondrocytes in the cartilage.
Objective To investigate the value of a 4-color and 10-antibody flow cytometry immunophenotyping panel using 10 antibodies including CD45, CD38, CD19, CD56, CD20, CD5, CD10, human leukocyte antigen-DR (HLA-DR), κ antibody and λ antibody marked by four kinds of fluorescein including R-phycoerythrin (PE), fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC), peridinin chlorophy Ⅱ protein (PerCP) and allophycocyanin (APC) in the diagnosis of multiple myeloma (MM). Methods A 4-color and 10-antibody flow cytometry immunophenotyping panel which used CD45dim/-/CD38high as gating strategy supplemented by CD19, CD56, CD20, CD10, CD5, HLA-DR, κ antibody and λ antibody was used to test the bone marrow (BM) specimens of 45 MM patients treated between December 2013 and March 2015. Then by morphological examination, we analyzed the quantitative results and characteristics of myeloma cells. Results In all the 45 MM patients, the myeloma cell detection rate was 100% by flow cytometry. The proportion range of myeloma cells in BM was between 1.17% and 72.31%, which showed a good consistency with the results of 7.5%-90.0% detected by morphological examination. The positive expression rates of antigen on myeloma cells were: 100.00% for CD38, 11.11% for CD45, 2.22% for CD19, 73.33% for CD56, 17.78% for CD20, 42.22% for HLA-DR, and 0% for CD10 and CD5. About 64.44% of the MM patients were restricted cytoplasmic λ light chain typing, and 35.56% were restricted cytoplasmic κ light chain typing. There was no obvious phenotype difference among the 3 Durie-Salmon stages of MM (P>0.05). The expression of CD56 was different among different immunoglobulin types of MM, and the types of immunoglobulin with an expression from high to low were non-secretory, IgA, IgG, and light chain (P<0.05). Conclusion The 4-color and 10-antibody flow cytometry immunophenotyping panel using 10 antibodies including CD45, CD38, CD19, CD56, CD20, CD5, CD10, HLA-DR, κ antibody and λ antibody marked by four kinds of fluorescein including PE, FITC, PerCP and APC has a good diagnostic value for MM.
Objective To investigate the potential causal associations between 731 immune cell traits and atherosclerosis by Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. Methods Using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as instrumental variables, genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics (GCST90001391 to GCST90002121) for 731 immune cell traits were obtained from the GWAS Catalog database, and the atherosclerosis dataset (finn-b-I9_CORATHER) was retrieved from the IEU database for MR analysis. The inverse variance weighted method, MR-Egger regression, weighted median, simple mode, and weighted mode approaches were employed to estimate the causal effects between the 731 immune cell traits and atherosclerosis, using odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) as the effect size. Cochran Q test was used to assess heterogeneity. Horizontal pleiotropy was evaluated using the MR-Egger intercept test and the MR-PRESSO method. Leave-one-out analysis was conducted to examine the sensitivity of the causal estimates to individual SNPs. Results MR analysis revealed potential causal associations between 24 immune cell traits and atherosclerosis (P<0.05). Among them, human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-DR on plasmacytoid dendritic cells (DC) [OR=1.035, 95%CI (1.016, 1.054), P<0.001] and hematopoietic stem cell absolute count (HSCAC) [OR=1.049, 95%CI (1.021, 1.077), P<0.001] showed significant positive causal associations with atherosclerosis (P≤0.001), whereas CD86 on CD62L+ myeloid DC [OR=0.953, 95%CI (0.926, 0.981), P=0.001] exhibited a significant negative causal association with atherosclerosis (P≤0.001). The results of Cochran Q test, MR-Egger regression, and MR-PRESSO indicated P-values>0.05, suggesting no evidence of heterogeneity or horizontal pleiotropy in the causal estimates for these three immune cell traits. Reverse MR analysis, using the 24 immune cell traits as outcome variables, showed no evidence of causal association (P>0.05), supporting a unidirectional causal relationship from immune cells to atherosclerosis. Conclusion HLA-DR on plasmacytoid DC and HSCAC may serve as risk factors for atherosclerosis, while CD86 on CD62L+ myeloid DC may play a protective role against atherosclerosis.
ObjectiveThe clinical phenotypes and pathogenicity of isolated cone-rod dystrophy (CORD) caused by two novel complex heterozygous variants of the CEP290 gene were analyzed using high-resolution multi-mode imaging and gene detection techniques. MethodsA retrospective study. Two patients and two family members from a CORD family who were diagnosed by genetic testing at Henan Provincial People's Hospital in December 2021 were included in the study. All subjects underwent best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), color fundus photography, autofluorescence, swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT), adaptive optics fundus imaging, static threshold field, full field and multiple electroretinogram (ERG) examination, as well as other systemic examinations throughout the body. The peripheral venous blood of the subjects was collected, and the whole genome DNA was extracted. DNA sequencing was performed using the Inherited Retinal Disease Kit PS400, and Sanger verification and pedigree co-segregation analysis were performed on the suspected pathogenic mutation sites. Validation was performed by Sanger sequencing, pathogenicity analysis was performed in accordance with the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) guidelines. Conservation of variation among different species was analyzed by GERP++, Clustal Omega and Weblogo. ResultsBoth patients were male, and their ages were 21 and 29 years old, respectively. The right eye and left eye about BCVAs were 0.7, 0.4 and 0.3, 0.4, respectively. The full field and multiple electroretinogram ERG showed a decreased function of cones and rods, especially cones. SS-OCT showed thinning of the outer nuclear layer of macular, and attenuation of ellipsoid zone reflectivity in B-scan. Adaptive optics fundus imaging examination showed that the arrangement of cone cells in the fovea of the fovea was disordered and the density decreased, and the retinal pigment epithelial cells were seen through the atrophy of cone cells in some areas at 10°visual angle. No obvious abnormality was found in other systemic examinations of the whole body. Genetic testing showed that 2 novel compound heterozygous variants c.950T >A (p.Leu317*) (M1) and c.4144_4149del (p.Tyr1382_Glu1383del) (M2) in CEP290 were found in two patients. The first variant was predicted to be harmful in MutationTaster and CADD. GERP++ showed highly conserved among different species. The pathogenicity of the variant was suspected to be likely pathogenic according to ACMG guidelines. The pathogenicity of the second variant was uncertain significance. The parents of the proband had no similar ocular abnormalities. Verified by Sanger sequencing, it was consistent with co-separation in the family. ConclusionsPatients with pure CORD caused by CEP290 gene mutation still retain better vision when the cone structure is abnormal, the density is decreased, and the function of cone and rod cells is decreased. CEP290 M1 and M2 are newly discovered nonsense mutations and newly discovered deletion mutations, which expanded the causative gene spectrum of pure CORD.
ObjectiveTo observe and analyze the clinical phenotype and genetic characteristics of COL2A1 and COL11A1 de novo mutation (DNM) related Stickler syndrome type Ⅰ and Ⅱ patients. MethodsA family-based cohort study. From December 2023 to November 2024, 4 patients (all probands) with Stickler syndrome diagnosed by clinical and genetic testing in Department of Ophthalmology of People's Hospital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and their parents (8 cases) were included in the study. The patients came from 4 unrelated families. A detailed medical history was taken, and the patients underwent best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), refraction, and fundus color photography examinations. Systemic examinations included the oral and facial regions, skeletal, joints, and hearing. Peripheral venous blood samples were collected from the patients and their parents, and genomic DNA was extracted. Whole-exome sequencing was used to screen for pathogenic genes and their loci, which were then validated by Sanger sequencing and combined with segregation analysis in the families to identify candidate gene mutation sites. The candidate variants were assessed for pathogenicity according to the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) criteria and guidelines for the classification of genetic variants. Additionally, cross-species conservation analysis was performed to determine the evolutionary conservation of wild-type amino acids, and protein three-dimensional modeling techniques were used to characterize the spatial conformational changes of the variant proteins and the alterations in their local hydrogen bond networks. ResultsAmong the 4 patients, there were 2 males and 2 females; their ages ranged from 3 to 12 years. There were 2 cases of Stickler syndrome type Ⅰ (proband of families 1 and 2) and 2 cases of type Ⅱ (proband of families 3 and 4). The diopters ranged from −8.00 to−18.00 D. BCVA ranged from no light perception to 0.6-. There were 2 cases each of vitreous membrane-like and “bead-like” opacity. Three cases showed peripapillary atrophy arcs and leopard pattern changes in the retina; one case had bilateral retinal detachment with a large macular hole in the left eye, which had previously been treated with vitrectomy surgery. One case had bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. There were 3 cases of simple micrognathia; one case had a flat nasal bridge, short nose, midface depression, and micrognathia. Two cases had excessive elbow joint extension. The phenotypes of the parents of the 4 patients were normal. Genetic testing results revealed that the probands of families 1 and 2 carried COL2A1 gene c.85+1G>C (M1) splice site variant and c.3950_3951insA (p.M1317Ifs*48) (M2) frameshift variant, respectively; the probands of families 3 and 4 carried COL11A1 gene (NM_001854.4) c.2549 G>T (p.G850V) (M3) missense variant and c.3816+6T>C (M4) splice site variant, respectively. The parents did not carry the related gene variants. Among them, M2, M3, and M4 are newly reported DNM. According to the ACMG guidelines, they were all considered likely pathogenic. The cross-species conservation analysis results showed that the wild-type amino acid of the COL11A1 gene M3 missense variant was highly conserved across multiple different species. Protein local structure modeling analysis revealed that the COL2A1 gene M2 frameshift variant and the COL11A1 gene M3 missense variant significantly altered the tertiary structure conformation of the protein, leading to abnormal spatial arrangement and hydrogen bond network in the key functional domains ConclusionThe COL2A1 gene M1 splice site variant, M2 frameshift variant, and the COL11A1 gene M3 missense variant, M4 splice site variant are respectively the potential pathogenic genes for families 1, 2, and families 3, 4; leading to the onset of Stickler syndrome type Ⅰ in families 1 and 2, and type Ⅱ in families 3 and 4.
Neutrophils are the most abundant myeloid-derived eukaryotic cells in human blood with increasingly recognized as important regulators of cancer progression. However, the functional importance of tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs) is often overlooked due to their short-lived, terminally differentiated, non-proliferative properties. In recent years, a wealth of evidences obtained from experimental tumor models and cancer patients had indicated that TANs had obvious heterogeneity in morphology and function, and TANs had dual functions of pro- and anti-tumor in cancer patients. This review provides an adequate overview of the heterogeneity and distinct roles of neutrophils.