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Abstracts: Purpose: As COVID-19 spreads globally and affects people's health, there are concerns that the pandemic and control policies may have psychological effects on young people (age from 17 to 35 years). This psychological impact might vary in different countries, and thus we compared the prevalence of self-reported psychological distress, loneliness and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) among young people in the United Kingdom (UK) and China at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Data of this study came from two sources. One source was the first wave of COVID-19 study in Understanding Society, a special wave of the UK household longitudinal study, which provided the high-quality, national-wide representative panel data. The sample comprised 1054 young people. The other source was an online survey on the mental health of 1003 young people from Shanghai, a highly developed area in China. The questionnaire included questions on the prevalence of common mental disorders (cut-off score ≥ 4), loneliness and potential PTSS (cut-off ≥ 33). Univariable analyses were conducted to test the differences in the self-reported prevalence of psychological distress and loneliness between the two groups. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were run to explore the predictors of psychological distress and loneliness among all the young people from England and Shanghai. Results: Among the samples with self-reported psychological distress, the UK sample accounted for 34.4% (n=1054) and the Chinese sample accounted for 14.1% (n=1003). The difference between the two groups was statistically significant (p

Sepsis is a common and frequently a fatal syndrome. Though, there is steady progress in the management of sepsis, further reduction of its mortality is still hampered by the lack of specific remedies. Recent advances in the understanding of the pathophysiology of sepsis and innovations in drug design have enabled researchers to develop new strategies for the treatment of this complicated condition in a more efficient way. Among these, a variety of small synthetic compounds with the molecular weight lower than 1000Da are emerging rapidly. This review highlights the advances of these small molecules in the treatment of sepsis, which are categorized into the following seven groups according to their pharmaceutical targets: LPS sequestrants and TLR4 antagonists, C5a receptor antagonists, inhibitors of macrophage migration inhibitory factor, inhibitors of QseC signaling, A3 adenosine receptor agonists and A2A adenosine receptor antagonists, estrogen receptor β agonists and caspase inhibitors. Most of the compounds have shown effectiveness in preclinical studies and displayed little or no toxicity. These small molecular compounds are potential candidates for further therapeutic development of sepsis.

Objective: To construct a eukaryotic expression plasmid containing human triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1(TREM-1) gene., Methods: The entire gene coding region of human TREM-1 was amplified from total RNA of human peripheral blood by means of RT-PCR. The fragment of TREM-1 was cloned to vector pUCm-T. After digestion by restriction endonuclease BamH I and Pst I, the fragment was subcloned into the eukaryotic expressing vector pEGFP-C3. This recombinant vector was transfected into 293 cells using liposome. The expression level of TREM-1 was determined by fluorescence microscope and Western blot assay. The recombinant TREM-1 vector was transfected into THP-1 cells. After stimulation with 100 ng/ml LPS for 24 h, the mRNA levels of TNF-α and IL-1β were measured using RT-PCR., Result: The expression vector was constructed, and the result of the DNA sequencing showed that the constructed plasmid containing the TREM-1 gene. Fluorescence microscope and Western blot analysis showed that TREM-1 protein was expressed in 293 cells successfully. After transfection into THP-1 cells, recombinant TREM-1 could upregulate the mRNA levels of TNF-α and IL-1β., Conclusion: Eukaryotic expression plasmid pEGFP-TREM-1 is successfully constructed and showed biological activity.

Objective: To investigate the effect of IL-10 on the inducibility of human beta-defensin 2 (hBD-2) in human peripheral blood cells., Methods: Peripheral blood samples were collected from 22 healthy individuals and co-cultured with 0 ng/ml lipopolysaccharide (LPS), 100 ng/ml LPS, 10 ng/ml IL-10, or 100 ng/ml LPS plus 10 ng/ml IL-10 at 37 degree for 6 h. Total RNA was extracted from peripheral blood cells and the mRNA level of hBD-2 was detected by relative quantitative real-time PCR.., Result: No detectable level of hBD-2 mRNA was found in normal peripheral blood cells with stimulation of 0 ng/ml LPS or 10 ng/ml IL-10. The mRNA level of hBD-2 was increased to 166.9 +/- 35.14 after 100 ng/ml LPS challenge, while the mRNA level of hBD-2 was decreased to 30.40 +/- 9.18 after the co-stimulation of 100 ng/ml LPS plus 10 ng/ml IL-10; which was significantly lower than that with LPS alone (P<0.05)., Conclusion: The expression of hBD-2 gene can be induced by LPS.IL-10 inhibits the inducible expression of hBD-2.