[The principle and practice of vidian neurectomy]

The latest research findings on bidirectional regulation of neuro-immunity through traditional neural circuits shed new light on the theoretical basis of the role of vidian neurectomy (VN). This article aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of VN, including the history of VN, the principle of neuroimmuno-interaction, the applied anatomy of VN as well as the methods of transnasal endoscopic surgery. Additionally, we introduce the concept of the nose-brain axis, which was proposed based on the advancement in the area of neuro-immune interactions.

[Predictor of clinical response to subcutaneous immunotherapy with dust mites in polysensitized allergic rhinitis patients]

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of 1-year subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) with dust mites in polysensitized allergic rhinitis (AR) patients and to analyze the serological markers associated with clinical response. Methods: A retrospective analysis of data from 69 polysensitized AR patients who completed 1-year SCIT with dust mites from Oct 2020 to Mar 2022 in Shandong Provincial ENT Hospital was conducted. The median patient age was 21 years, including 41 males and 28 females. The changes in symptoms and serum IgE, IgG4 assessed before and after treatment were evaluated. The differences in serological markers between effective and ineffective groups were analyzed. Multivariate regression analysis was used to investigate the predictors of clinical response. SPSS 22.0 software was used for data processing. Results: After immunotherapy, there was a significant reduction in symptom scores and a substantial improvement in the quality of life of polysensitized AR patients (all P<0.001). Dust mite specific IgG4 (sIgG4) significantly increased and dust mite specific IgE (sIgE)/sIgG4 significantly decreased (all P<0.05). sIgE, total IgE (tIgE), sIgE/tIgE and sIgE/sIgG4 were significantly lower in ineffective group than those in effective group (all P<0.05). The clinical response of SCIT related only to dust mite sIgE (r=0.29, P=0.036), and sIgE≥53.86 kU/L had the best sensitivity (77.78%) and specificity (57.89%) to predict effective SCIT in polysensitized AR patients. Conclusions: One-year dust mite SCIT is effective for polysensitized AR patients. Pre-treatment serum dust mite sIgE≥53.86 kU/L may play a role in predicting clinical response of dust mite SCIT in polysensitized AR patients.

[Clinical analyses of the diagnosis and treatment of invasive fungal rhinosinusitis: report of 14 cases]

OBJECTIVE

Through the retrospective analysis of the clinical data in 14 cases of invasive fungal rhinosinusitis (IFRS), the clinical characteristics, diagnosis and treatment of this disease were evaluated.

METHODS

Fourteen clinically confirmed cases of IFRS since January 2008 to October 2015 were evaluated.collected, the clinical features, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis were analyzed to obtain a more comprehensive understanding for clinical reference. Fourteen patients were confirmed by pathological examination as IFRS, including 9 cases of aspergillus, 4 cases of mucor, and 1 case of rhinocerebral zygomycosis; including 5 cases of acute IFRS, 9 cases of chronic IFRS. All patients were treated with endoscopic surgery and intravenous antifungal therapy.

RESULTS

Nine cases of chronic IFRS (including 1 case of mucor, 7 cases of aspergillus and 1 case of rhinocerebral zygomycosis) were cured, but the vision loss, diplopia or blindness, hard palate perforation remained. Five cases of acute IFRS included 3 cases of mucor and 2 cases of aspergillus. Among the 3 cases of mucor, 2 cases were died and 1 case was cured. Among the 2 cases of aspergillus, 1 patient was cured and the other patient died of electrolyte disorder after discharge from hospital.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with IFRS usually have diabetes. After the active surgical cleaning of lesion tissue and the systematic antifungal treatment with adequate dosage, these patients would have a better result. IFRS caused by mucor is ofen dangerous.

Early growth of nano-sized calcium phosphate on phosphorylated bacterial cellulose nanofibers

It is believed that studies on the early hydroxyapatite (HAp) deposition on nano-sized substrates may possibly allow us to understand the formation mechanisms of biominerals at the molecular level. In this study, bacterial cellulose (BC) nanofibers were phosphorylated and used as nano-sized templates for early mineralization of calcium phosphate (Ca-P). To initiate mineralization the BC nanofibers were immersed in 1.5 times simulated body fluids (1.5 SBF) at 37 degreees C for varying periods of time. The deposited minerals on the nanofiber surfaces were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). SEM observations confirmed that early growth (at 4 h) of the Ca-P minerals was heterogeneous, which was followed by extensive spread of the minerals on the entire surfaces of the nanofibers. XRD and FTIR analyses indicated that octacalcium phosphate (OCP) was the precursor of HAp formed on BC nanofibers. Furthermore, HAp deposited on BC nanofibers elongated along the c axis. Nucleation and growth of the Ca-P minerals were analyzed in this paper.

Selection and expression of peptides which can change the conformation of p20 protein of rice stripe virus

Phages with high affinity to the P20 protein of rice stripe virus (RSV) were enriched from phage-displayed random 12-mer peptide library after three rounds of phage display screening. Nine different peptides from the enriched library were selected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The P20 protein from raw extracts of rice leaves infected with RSV could be detected by those 9 peptides displayed on the phage, which suggested that a peptide could be an effective tool for diagnosis of RSV in rice and planthopper. Circular dichroism (CD) spectra of P20 fusion proteins with the binding phages and non-binding phages showed that the conformation of P20 protein was changed after binding to each of the 9 selected 12-mer peptides, which suggested that these peptides might disrupt the function of the P20 protein. Thereafter, those peptides might be used to develop plant resistance and disrupt virus transmission. Three of the 12-mer peptide genes were fused with the glutathione-S-transferase (GST) gene in the vector pGEX 3X. The fusion proteins were obtained from an Escherichia coli expression system and purified. The fusion proteins might have a potential to develop a plant peptide-based resistance to its pathogens and virus diagnosis. It also provided a tool (i) to confirm the inhibition of the function of P20 protein by the fusion peptides in vivo, and (ii) to detect the function of P20 protein and the interaction between the virus and its vector.