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Objective: To analyze the impact of sublingual immunotherapy(SLIT)on the quality of life in children with allergic rhinitis. Method: Fifty children with allergic rhinitis who have received sublingual immunotherapy were enrolled in this study.Quality of life was evaluated via measurement of VAS score and rhinoconjunctivitis quality of life questionnaire(RQLQ)before and after treatment. Result: Twenty patients after treatment had complete remission,13 cases were partly alleviated and 17 cases had no response.The total effective rate was 66%.The Multi-VAS scores and Uni-VAS scores in each observation time point(at half a year,one year,two years after treatment)had statistically significant difference compared with that of pre-treatment with SLIT( P <0.05).According to RQLQ scores,the quality of life,nasal symptoms,conjunctiva symptoms,non-nasal(ocular)symp-toms,behaviors and emotional responses were greatly improved in each time point compared with that of pretreatment( P <0.05).Symptomatic treatment scores in each time point after treatment were significantly different and had a positive correlation with the scores of RQLQ( P <0.05). Conclusion: SLIT can improve the nasal allergic symptoms,children's life quality and reduce the use of symptomatic treatment medicines.

Disruption of immune tolerance is associated in the pathogenesis of allergy. Thrombospondin-1 (TSP1) plays a role in the maintenance of immune tolerance, which is compromised in allergic disorders. Micro RNA (miR) is involved in the regulation of immune responses. This study tests a hypothesis that miR-17-92 cluster is involved in the regulation of TSP1 in the intestinal CD35 + B cells. In this study, a food allergy mouse model was developed. The intestinal B cells were isolated to be analyzed for the expression of a miR-17-92 cluster and TSP1. The role of miR-19a in the suppression of TSP1 in B cells was tested in a cell culture model. We observed that the levels of TSP1 were significantly decreased; the levels of miR-19a were significantly increased in intestinal CD35 + B cells of mice sensitized to ovalbumin (OVA) as compared with naïve controls. Exposure to interleukin (IL)-4 suppressed the expression of TSP1 in B cells, which was abolished by inhibition of miR-19a. miR-19a mediated the effects of IL-4 on repressing TSP1 expression in B cells. We conclude that IL-4 suppresses the expression of TSP1 in the intestinal CD35 + B cells via up regulating miR-19a. The miR-19a may be a target to regulate the immune tolerant status in the body.

Immune regulatory system dysfunction plays a role in the pathogenesis of asthma. The therapeutic effect of allergic asthma is to be improved. The immune regulatory function of probiotics has been recognized. This study tests a hypothesis that Clostridium butyricum (CB) enhances the effect of allergen specific immunotherapy (AIT) on asthma. In this study patients with allergic asthma were treated with AIT or/and CB for six months. The therapeutic effect and IgE production of the patients were observed. The results showed that administration with AIT alone alleviated the asthma symptoms; but the serum levels of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-13 and specific IgE were not altered, which was markedly improved by the administration with CB plus AIT. Such effects were maintained only for two months in the patients treated with AIT alone; but maintained more than 12 months in those patients treated with both AIT and CB. CB facilitated AIT to induce IL-10 + B cells (B10 cells) in asthma patients. AIT/CB therapy converted antigen specific B cells to antigen specific regulatory B cells. Butyrate modulated the gene transcription of IgE and IL-10 in the allergen specific B cells. In conclusion, administration of CB can enhance the therapeutic effect of AIT in the treatment of allergic asthma via facilitating generation of B10 cells.

The dysfunction of peripheral immune tolerance plays an important role in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases. Recent reports indicate that micro RNA (miR)-98 is associated with the process of aberrant immune responses. This study aims to test a hypothesis that miR-98 is associated with the pathogenesis of airway allergy via interfering with the development of regulatory B cells (Breg). In this study, patients with airway allergy were recruited into this study. The frequency of Bregs was assessed by flow cytometry. The levels of miR-98 in peripheral B cells were determined by RT-qPCR. A cell-culture model of B cells was developed to test the role of miR-98 in the repressing of interleukin (IL)-10 in B cells. The results showed that the levels of IL-10 in peripheral B cells were significantly lower in patients with airway allergy as compared with healthy subjects. High levels of miR-98 (one of the miR-98 members) were detected in peripheral B cells of patients with airway allergy, which was mimicked by stimulating B cells with IL-4. Histone acetyltransferase p300 was involved in the IL-4-induced miR-98 expression. miR-98 mediated the IL-4-inhibited IL-10 expression in B cells. In conclusion, miR-98 affects the expression of IL-10 in B cells and may be a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of allergic diseases.

Liver cancer is one of leading digestive malignancies with high morbidity and mortality. There is an urgent need for the development of novel therapies for this deadly disease. It has been proven that asparagus polysaccharide, one of the most active derivates from the traditional medicine asparagus, possesses notable antitumor properties. However, little is known about the efficacy of asparagus polysaccharide as an adjuvant for liver cancer chemotherapy. Herein, we reported that asparagus polysaccharide and its embolic agent form, asparagus gum, significantly inhibited liver tumor growth with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) therapy in an orthotopic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tumor model, while significantly inhibiting angiogenesis and promoting tumor cell apoptosis. Moreover, asparagine gelatinous possessed immunomodulatory functions and showed little toxicity to the host. These results highlight the chemotherapeutic potential of asparagus polysaccharide and warrant a future focus on development as novel chemotherapeutic agent for liver cancer TACE therapy.

Objective: To observe the effects of Nuanxin Capsule (NC) on the rat models of heart failure induced by abdominal aorta constriction and adriamycin., Methods: Rats were randomly divided into the following groups: model control group, low-dose and high-dose, and digoxin group. Meanwhile, the pseudo-operation and NC groups were seperately established. After treatment for 30 days, the heart rate, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP), left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP), maximal rate of increase and decrease in left ventricular pressure (+/- dp/dt), mean peripheral blood pressure (MBP) as well as levels of serum superoxide dismustase (SOD), malondialdeh-vde (MDA), cardiac index and heart size were measured., Results: SBP, LVSP, +/- dp/dt and SOD activity increased,while LVEDP,serum MDA levels decreased in high and low-dose NC groups of two models. The heart rates also decreased, but the difference was insignificant (P>0.05, compared with those of model group). Besides, the heart rate,heart size and cardiac index, as well as serum Ang II levels also decreased. The differences were significant as compared with the digoxin group (P>0.05). The high-dose NC also significatly improved MBP and SOD (P<0.05 and P<0.01)., Conclusion: Nuanxin Capsule has good therapeutic effects on the rats models of adriamycin and abdominal aorta constriction induced heart failure.