[The research of liver failure in Banna miniature pigs caused by amanita exitialis]

Objective: To explore the characteristics of Banna miniature pig liver failure induced by amanita exitialis. Methods: From September to October 2020, a reverse high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method was used to determine the toxin content of amanita exitialis solution, and 2.0 mg/kg amanita exitialis solution (α-amanitins+β-amanitins) was administered orally to Banna miniature pigs. Toxic symptoms, blood biochemical indexes and histopathological changes of liver, heart and kidney were observed at each time point. Results: All Banna miniature pigs died within 76 h of exposure, and different degrees of digestive tract symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea appeared between 6 and 36 h. The biochemical indexes of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, total bilirubin, lactate dehydrogenase, myoglobin, creatine kinase isoenzyme, blood urea nitrogen and creatinine increased significantly at 52 h after exposure, and the differences were statistically significant compared with 0 h (P<0.05). The bleeding of liver and heart was obvious under macroscopic and microscopic observation, hepatocyte necrosis, renal tubule epithelial cell swelling. Conclusion: Large dose of amanita exitialis can cause acute liver failure of Banna miniature pigs, which is in line with the pathophysiological characteristics of acute liver failure, and lays a foundation for further research on the toxic mechanism and detoxification drugs of amanita exitialis induced liver failure.

[Investigation on a case of Amanita neoovoidea poisoning]

This paper reported a case of poisoning caused by ingestion of Amanita neoovoidea. The patient experienced nausea, vomiting, oliguria, acute renal function injury, and was discharged after symptomatic support treatment and blood purification treatment. Given the different toxicity of different mushrooms, species identification of poisonous mushrooms can help clinicians in diagnosis and treatment.

[Three cases of mushroom poisoning caused by lethal Amanita species]

Mushroom poisoning with amatoxins can cause liver dysfunction in patients, and death in severe cases. The amatoxins detection by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) can help early clinical diagnosis. Three patients were identified as α-amatoxin containing mushroom poisoning by ELISA. The first symptoms of patients was gastrointestinal symptoms, and liver function damage occured later. One patient gave up treatment and died. After received supportive treatments such as adsorption of toxins, catharsis, fluid supplementation to promote toxin metabolism and liver protection, 2 patients were recovered and discharged.

Plasma levels and expression of interleukin-37 in patients with immune thrombocytopenia

Interleukin (IL)-37 has an important role in autoimmune diseases by suppressing immunity and inflammation; however, the role of IL-37 in immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) has remained largely elusive. The present study aimed to investigate the expression of IL-37 and its potential role in the pathogenesis of ITP. The plasma levels and expression of IL-37 in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with active ITP, ITP patients in remission and healthy controls were measured by ELISA and reverse transcription-quantitative PCR, respectively. The levels of IL-37 in patients with ITP treated with and without glucocorticoids were also determined by ELISA. Specific anti-platelet glycoprotein (GP)IIb/IIIa and/or GPIb/IX autoantibodies were assayed by modified monoclonal antibody-specific immobilization of platelet antigens. The mean value of plasma IL-37 in ITP patients was slightly higher than that in healthy controls, but this was not statistically significant. There was no correlation between IL-37 and anti-platelet autoantibodies, and no significant difference in the IL-37 concentration was identified between patients treated with and without glucocorticoids. In addition, the correlation between IL-37 and the platelet count was analyzed, with no statistical significance observed. It was therefore concluded that IL-37 may not have a pivotal role in the development of ITP. However, the lack of significant differences may be due to the limited number of patients in different groups. A larger number of ITP patients should be enrolled in the future work and achieve more accurate results.

Expression of CD11a in lymphocyte subpopulation in immune thrombocytopenia

Recent research demonstrates that the underlying mechanism in immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is very complex. Lymphocyte function associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) plays important roles in autoimmune diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression of CD11a on lymphocytes and explore its possible role in ITP. The expression of CD11a on lymphocyte subpopulations (CD3(+) T cells, CD3(+)CD4(+) T cells, CD3(+)CD4(-) T cells, CD4(+)Foxp3(+) T regulatory cells and CD19(+) B cells) were analyzed by flow cytometry. Specific anti-platelet GPIIb/IIIa and/or GPIb/IX autoantibodies were assayed by modified monoclonal antibody specific immobilization of platelet antigens (MAIPA). The mean fluorescence intensity of CD11a on CD3(+) T, CD3(+)CD4(-) T and CD19(+) B lymphocytes were increased in ITP patients compared to healthy controls. No significant difference of CD11a expression on CD3(+)CD4(+) T cells or CD4(+)Foxp3(+) T regulatory cells was found between ITP patients and controls. Our data indicates the possible role of CD11a in the pathogenesis of ITP.

Methylprednisolone suppresses the Wnt signaling pathway in chronic lymphocytic leukemia cell line MEC-1 regulated by LEF-1 expression

High dose methylprednisolone (HDMP) has been an effective salvage therapy for patients with relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), while little is known about the exact mechanisms implicated in glucocorticoid-induced cell death. To explore the mechanism of glucocorticoid-induced cell death, we investigated the effect of HDMP on canonical Wnt signaling which emerged as a key pathway implicated in the pathogenesis of CLL. In this study, the human CLL cell line MEC-1 was incubated with various concentrations of methylprednisolone. Cell proliferation activity was detected by CCK8 assay, the apoptotic effect was evaluated by TUNEL assay. Western blot was used to detect active-caspase 3, and the key proteins in Wnt signaling pathway (LEF-1, β-catenin). RT-PCR was performed to assess the mRNA levels of β-catenin, LEF-1, c-myc and cyclin D1. We observed that high concentration of methylprednisolone could suppress the proliferation activity of MEC-1 cells, promote the relative expression of active-caspase 3, and induce apoptotic cell death. Furthermore, methylprednisolone could inhibit LEF-1 protein expression, consequently down-regulate mRNA levels of c-myc and cyclin D1, but could not affect the transcription level of β-catenin and LEF-1 mRNA. The results of this study indicate that methylprednisolone can suppress Wnt signaling pathway by down-regulating LEF-1 protein expression, indicating a novel mechanism for HDMP therapy in CLL.

Metadherin contribute to BCR signaling in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

We have reported Metadherin (MTDH) was proven to be overexpression and involved in malignance of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) via Wnt signaling pathway. In this study, we further investigate the role of MTDH in regulation of BCR signaling pathway in CLL. Six CLL samples whose cells were proliferation after BCR activation were chosen from patients with unmutated IgVH. CCK-8 method used to evaluate the proliferation rate. MTDH expression was measured by quantitative PCR and Western blot. After BCR activation, there exist upregulation of MTDH expression in mRNA and protein level in all six CLL patients (P<0.05). In cell line MEC-1, we observed the same pro-proliferation effect accompanying with elevated MTDH expression. The proliferation effects of BCR activation to MEC-1 can be inhibited by MTDH interference. The results of this study indicate that MTDH involved in the pro-proliferation effect of BCR activation in CLL. And the results imply that MTDH can be a potential therapy target of CLL.