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Abstract Background aims The chronic inflammation of autoimmune diseases develops repetitive localized destruction or systemic disorders, represented by Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) and Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) respectively. Currently, there are no efficient ways to treat these autoimmune diseases. Therefore, it is critically important to explore new therapeutic strategies. The aim of this study was to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of human amniotic epithelial cells (hAECs) in murine models of HT and SLE. Methods Experimental autoimmune thyroiditis (EAT) was induced in female CBA/J mice by immunization with porcine thyroglobulin (pTg). hAECs were intravenously administered at different time points during the disease course. MRL-Fas lpr mice, a strain with spontaneously occurring SLE, were intravenously administered hAECs when their sera were positive for both anti-nuclear antibodies (ANAs) and anti-double-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) antibodies. Two weeks after the last cell transplantation, blood and tissue samples were collected for histological examination and immune system analysis. Results hAECs prevented lymphocytes infiltration into the thyroid and improved the damage of thyroid follicular in EAT mice. Correspondingly, hAECs administration reduced anti-thyroglobulin antibodies (TGAb), anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. SLE mice injected with hAECs appeared negative for ANAs and anti-dsDNA antibodies and showed reduced immunoglobulin profiles. Mechanically, hAECs modulated the immune cells balance in EAT and SLE mice, by downregulating the ratios of Th17/Treg cells in both EAT and SLE mice and upregulating the proportion of B10 cells in EAT mice. This was confirmed by in vitro assay, in which hAECs inhibited the activation of EAT mice-derived splenocytes. Moreover, hAECs improved the cytokine environment in both EAT and SLE mice, by suppressing the levels of IL-17A and IFN-γ and enhancing TGF-β. Conclusion These results demonstrated the immunoregulatory effect of hAECs for inflammation inhibition and injury recovery in HT and SLE murine models. The current study may provide a novel therapeutic strategy for these autoimmune diseases in clinic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Desulfurization adsorbents were prepared from the mixtures of sewage sludge and metal sludge of various compositions and individual sludges by pyrolyses at 650, 800 and 950°C. The resulting materials were used as adsorbents of hydrogen sulfide from simulated digester gas mixture. The adsorbents before and after H2S removal were characterized using adsorption of nitrogen, elemental analysis, pH measurements, and thermal analysis. The behavior of materials as desulfurization media does not depend strongly on the humidification pretreatment. The pyrolysis temperature and composition of the mixture play a role in the development of final properties of adsorbents. When the content of sewage sludge is high the strong synergetic effect is noticed after high temperature of pyrolysis. Such factors as development of mesoporosity and new catalytic phases formed as a result of solid-state reactions contribute to this behavior. The removal of hydrogen sulfide on the materials obtained is complex due to the competition between H2S and CO2 for adsorption centers and deactivation of those centers by CO2/H2CO3. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a prevalent adverse cardiovascular event at high-altitude environments. Prolonged exposure to high altitudes may result in myocardial injury, which is associated with poor clinical outcomes. This study aims to investigate the clinical characteristics of myocardial injury in patients with PH at high altitude. Methods: Consecutive patients admitted to a general tertiary hospital at the altitude of 3,650 m were selected into this retrospective study. Clinical and biochemical data were collected, as well as based on cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and echocardiography, patients were divided into myocardial injury group and non-myocardial injury group. Results: A total of 231 patients were enrolled, among whom 29 (12.6%) had myocardial injury. We found that body mass index, left ventricular end-diastolic dimension, and serum level of creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) in myocardial injury group were significantly higher than non-myocardial injury group. Spearman correlation analysis revealed that cTnI has a significant positive correlation with CK-MB and lactic dehydrogenase instead of aspartate aminotransferase. A receiver operating characteristic curve was drawn to demonstrate that CK-MB could significantly predict the occurrence of myocardial injury with an area under the curve of 0.749, and a level of 3.035 (sensitivity = 59.3%, specificity = 90.5%) was optimal cutoff value. Conclusion: The incidence of myocardial injury in highlanders with PH is significant. CK-MB, as a convenient and efficient marker, has been found to be closely associated with cTnI and plays a predictive role in the occurrence of myocardial injury with PH in individuals exposed to high altitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stem cells play critical roles in cell therapies and tissue engineering for nerve repair. However, achieving effective delivery of high cell density remains a challenge. Here, a novel cell delivery platform termed the hyper expansion scaffold (HES) is developed to enable high cell loading. HES facilitated self‐promoted and efficient cell absorption via a dual driving force model. In vitro tests revealed that the HES rapidly expanded 80‐fold in size upon absorbing 2.6 million human amniotic epithelial stem cells (hAESCs) within 2 min, representing over a 400% increase in loading capacity versus controls. This enhanced uptake benefited from macroscopic swelling forces as well as microscale capillary action. In spinal cord injury (SCI) rats, HES–hAESCs promoted functional recovery and axonal projection by reducing neuroinflammation and improving the neurotrophic microenvironment surrounding the lesions. In summary, the dual driving forces model provides a new rationale for engineering hydrogel scaffolds to facilitate self‐promoted cell absorption. The HES platform demonstrates great potential as a powerful and efficient vehicle for delivering high densities of hAESCs to promote clinical treatment and repair of SCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to high-dose benzene leads to the inhibition of erythroid differentiation. However, whether lower doses of benzene exposure resemble high-dose effects in erythroid differentiation, as well as the underlying mechanisms, remains largely unknown. To identify the microRNAs (miRNAs) specifically responsible for benzene exposure and their regulatory role in erythroid differentiation, we performed miRNA microarray in CD34 hematopoietic progenitor cells isolated from human umbilical cord blood after treatment with hydroquinone (HQ), a metabolite of benzene at concentrations of 0, 1.0, 2.5, and 5.0 μM. As a result, HQ treatment inhibited erythroid differentiation in a dose-response manner. miRNA microarray analysis revealed that miRNA-451a, miRNA-486-5p and miRNA-126-3p expression were significantly lower in HQ-treated CD34 hematopoietic progenitor cells. In vitro studies showed that miRNA-451a and miRNA-486-5p were up-regulated during erythroid differentiation both in CD34 hematopoietic progenitor cells and K562 cells. The increase in the percentage of benzidine-positive cells and the expression of γ-globin in K562 cells transfected with either miRNA-451a or miRNA-486-5p mimic indicated that both miRNAs played a role in the promotion of erythroid cell differentiation. Overexpression of either miRNA-451a or miRNA-486-5p attenuated the inhibitory effects on erythroid differentiation in HQ-treated K562 cells. In vivo study showed a decreasing count of peripheral red blood cell (RBC) in C57BL/6J male mice treated with aerosol benzene at concentrations of 0, 1, 5, 25 ppm (time weight average, TWA). In addition, the expression of miRNA-451a or miRNA-486-5p was negatively correlated with the concentration of benzene inhalation on erythroid toxicity of C57BL/6J mice. Particularly, the decline in miRNA-451a and miRNA-486-5p expression appeared in male chronic benzene poisoning patients, and was correlated with a constant decrease in their RBC counts over the first 3 months after being diagnosed. These findings indicate that the suppression of miRNA-451a or miRNA-486-5p might be associated with the benzene-induced perturbation of erythroid cell differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The loss of photoreceptors is a major event of retinal degeneration that accounts for most cases of untreatable blindness globally. To date, there are no efficient therapeutic approaches to treat this condition. In the present study, we aimed to investigate whether human amniotic epithelial stem cells (hAESCs) could serve as a novel seed cell source of photoreceptors for therapy. Here, a two–step treatment with combined Wnt, Nodal, and BMP inhibitors, followed by another cocktail of retinoic acid, taurine, and noggin induced photoreceptor–like cell differentiation of hAESCs. The differentiated cells demonstrated the morphology and signature marker expression of native photoreceptor cells and, intriguingly, bore very low levels of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules and a high level of non–classical MHC class I molecule HLA–G. Importantly, subretinal transplantation of the hAESCs–derived PR–like cells leads to partial restoration of visual function and retinal structure in Royal College of Surgeon (RCS) rats, the classic preclinical model of retinal degeneration. Together, our results reveal hAESCs as a potential source of functional photoreceptor cells; the hAESCs–derived photoreceptor–like cells could be a promising cell–replacement candidate for therapy of retinal degeneration diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]