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Author(s): Zhou, Wang; Zhao, Min; Wang, Xia; Schilling, Robert F; Zhou, Sheng; Qiu, Hong-Yan; Xie, Nian-Hua; Liu, Man-Qing; Dong, Han-Sheng; Yao, Zhong-Zhao; Cai, Thomas | Abstract: BackgroundConducted in Wuhan China, this study examined follow-up and health markers in HIV patients receiving care in two treatment settings. Participants, all men who have sex with men, were followed for 18-24 months.MethodPatients in a "one-stop" service (ACC; N = 89) vs those in standard care clinics (CDC; N = 243) were compared on HIV treatment and retention in care outcomes.ResultsAmong patients with CD4 cell count ≦350 cells/µL, the proportion receiving cART did not differ across clinic groups. The ACC was favored across five other indicators: proportion receiving tests for CD4 cell count at the six-month interval (98.2% vs. 79.4%, 95% CI 13.3-24.3, p = 0.000), proportion with HIV suppression for patients receiving cART for 6 months (86.5% vs. 57.1%, 95% CI 14.1-44.7, p = 0.000), proportion with CD4 cell recovery for patients receiving cART for 12 months (55.8% vs. 22.2%, 95% CI 18.5-48.6, p = 0.000), median time from HIV confirmation to first test for CD4 cell count (7 days, 95% CI 4-8 vs. 10 days, 95% CI 9-12, log-rank p = 0.000) and median time from first CD4 cell count ≦350 cells/µL to cART initiation (26 days, 95% CI 16-37 vs. 41.5 days, 95% CI 35-46, log-rank p = 0.031). Clinic groups did not differ on any biomedical indicator at baseline, and no baseline biomedical or demographic variables remained significant in the multivariate analysis. Nonetheless, post-hoc analyses suggest the possibility of self-selection bias.ConclusionsStudy findings lend preliminary support to a one-stop patient-centered care model that may be useful across various HIV care settings.

Dendritic cells (DC) are critical regulators of both activation and tolerance in the adaptive immune response. The dual nature of DC immunoregulatory function depends on their differentiation and activation status. DC found within the tumor microenvironment (TME) and tumor-draining lymph node often exist in an inactive state, which is thought to limit the adaptive immune response elicited by the growing tumor. The major determinants of DC activation and the functional alterations in DC that result from integrating exogenous stimuli have been well investigated. Extensive efforts have been made to elucidate how the TME contributes to the inactivated/dysfunctional phenotype of tumor-associated DC (TADC). Although performed predominantly on in vitro DC cultures, recent evidence indicates that DC undergo required, coordinated alterations in their metabolism upon activation, and dysregulated metabolism in TADC is associated with their reduced immunostimulatory capacity. In this review, we will focus on the role of glycolysis and fatty acid metabolism in DC activation and function and discuss how these metabolic pathways may be regulated in TADC. Further, we consider the need for developing novel experimental approaches to assess metabolic choices in vivo, and the necessity for integrating metabolic regulation into the optimized development of DC for tumor vaccines and immunotherapy for cancer.

To study the effect of aqueous abstract from eucommia ulmoides oliv on the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and alpha-actin expression in the penile tissues of rats with diabetes mellitus (DM) in vitro.A diabetes model was established by administration of alloxun twice to Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. Ten diabetic and 10 normal rats were randomly selected and the penile strips of each rat were divided into four equal shares and cultured in two groups, a eucommia ulmoides oliv coculture group (Group A, further dicided into 1 microg/ml, 10 microg/ml and 100 microg/ml subgroups) and a control group (Group B). Seven days later, the activity of SOD in the culture medium was detected by spectrophotometry, and the levels of micro-actin expression in the penile tissues were examined with the immunohistochemical method.Compared with Group B, the activity of SOD in the culture medium in athe 10 and 100 microg/ml subgroups was notably elevated (P0.01), and the numbers of immunoreactive positive cells of alpha-actin in the penile tissues remarkably increased (P0.01).The activity of SOD and alpha-actin expression in the penile tissues of diabetic rats in vitro can be increased by eucommia ulmioides oliv.