On November 28^th, 2019, the National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) of China announced the results of drug pricing negotiations. Seventy first-negotiated drugs with 60.7% average price decrease and twenty-seven re-negotiated medicines with 26.4% average price fall, involving 11 disease categories, were successfully incorporated into National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL). Medicines that successfully get accessed to NRDL are mostly new listings with high clinical value, and more than half of them are manufactured by Chinese enterprises. Compared to the negotiated drug list of 2017, the biggest increase in western medicines is the digestive system medications (10 drugs added), and the traditional Chinese medicine is internal medicine (17 drugs added). The negotiation follows the process including preparation, examination, negotiation, and announcement. There are several innovations in the procedure, such as the parallel calculation of the floor price, the introduction to competitive negotiations, allowing companies to apply for price confidentiality, and increasing government-enterprise communication before negotiations. Incorporating patent drugs into NRDL by negotiation not only helps patients reduce the economic burden, but also encourages pharmaceutical companies to innovate.

Significant advances in our understanding of neutrophil biology were made in the past several years. A newly discovered mechanism was discovered, the formation of neutrophils extracellular traps (NETs). The structure of NETs is composed of the DNA strand and neutrophil granule proteins. NETs were found to have an association with tumor progression. This review highlights the latest knowledge about the controversial effect on tumors of NETs. Pro-tumor and anti-tumor effects are described respectively. The probable mechanisms of the anti-tumor effect are related to its direct killing of cancer cells or stimulation of the immune system to fight against the tumor. The pro-tumor effect has a correlation with matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9), cathepsin G, and neutrophil elastase (NE). Moreover, the structure of the NETs makes it able to catch the circulating tumor cells, which could lead to metastasis. This review summarizes our knowledge about the proven roles of NETs in the progression of cancer with particular focus on the components of the NETs, and considers NETs as a potential target for cancer therapy.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary malignant intracranial tumor. Due to its high morbidity, high mortality, high recurrence rate, and low cure rate, it has brought great difficulty for treatment. Although the current treatment is multimodal, including surgical resection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, it does not significantly improve survival time. The dismal prognosis and inevitable recurrence as well as resistance to chemoradiotherapy may be related to its highly cellular heterogeneity and multiple subclonal populations. Traditional Chinese medicine has its own unique advantages in the prevention and treatment of it. A comprehensive literature search of anti-glioblastoma active ingredients and derivatives from traditional Chinese medicine was carried out in literature published in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science Cochrane library, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP database. Hence, this article systematically reviews experimental research progress of some traditional Chinese medicine in treatment of glioblastoma from two aspects: strengthening vital qi and eliminating pathogenic qi. Among, strengthening vital qi medicine includes panax ginseng, licorice, lycium barbarum, angelica sinensis; eliminating pathogenic medicine includes salvia miltiorrhiza bunge, scutellaria baicalensis, coptis rhizoma, thunder god vine, and sophora flavescens. We found that the same active ingredient can act on different signaling pathways, such as ginsenoside Rg3 inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis via the AKT, MEK signal pathway. Hence, this multi-target, multi-level pathway may bring on a new dawn for the treatment of glioblastoma.

The development of Minimally invasive pancreaticoduodenectomy (MIPD) in Chinese mainland has been extremely quick. However, the safety and oncologic outcomes remain controversial. This review evaluates the current status of MIPD in Chinese mainland. A systematic literature search was performed using: Pubmed, Web of Sci, CNKI, Wanfang Data and Sinomed databases to filter all studies published up to and including June 2019 using key words "pancreaticoduodenectomy," or "Whipple operation" combined with "laparoscopy," or "laparoscopic," or "robotic," or "da Vinci," or "minimally invasive," or "hand-assisted". This systematic review included 39 articles that documented 2,653 MIPDs in Chinese mainland. The weighted average operative time was 370.6 min, and the weighted average blood loss was 278.0 mL. The overall morbidity was 31.9%, which Clavien-Dindo ≥ 3 complications accounted for 13.4%. Pancreatic fistula, delayed gastric emptying, bile leak and postoperative hemorrhage were reported in 20.9%, 5.5%, 3.5% and 6.0% of patients respectively. The average lengh of hospital stay was 16.1 days. The overall surgical mortality was 1.7%. The mean number of harvested lymph nodes was 13.5, and the rate of positive margin was 5.3%. Based on Chinese national condition, the operative volume of MIPD in Chinese mainland is the leading position in the world, and compared with some large international meta-analysis, no inferior perioperative and short-term oncological outcomes were observed in MIPD of Chinese mainland. However, research on survival analysis and phased learning curve outcomes is needed urgently before the innovative techniques are widely accepted.

Although cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection is asymptomatic in healthy individuals, the virus can remain latent for many years due to its ability to evade host immune surveillance. However, reactivation of HCMV can lead to life-threatening disease. Recent studies have shown that HCMV infection mediates immune escape by regulating macrophage activity, although the role of the HCMV-encoded IE2 protein is unclear. A ul122 transgenic mouse model was created to stably expresses the IE2 protein, and the proportion of M1 and M2 macrophage populations in their spleen and bone marrow was compared to that in wild-type controls. In addition, the phagocytic function of the macrophages was evaluated in terms of neutral red dye uptake. Spleen and bone marrow macrophages in IE2-expressing mice were mainly of the M2 phenotype and displayed enhanced phagocytic function compared to that in control mice. The relative levels of expression of macrophage-related GRB2 and of IL-4, IFN-γ, IL-13, and TNF-α were also analyzed in the spleen and bone marrow of the two groups. The IE2-expressing mice had increased expression of GRB2 and increased expression of the M2-related cytokines IL-4 and IL-13. Taken together, the current results suggest that HCMV IE2 polarizes the host macrophages to the M2 type via a GRB2/IL-4-related pathway, which enables long-term survival of the virus in the host.

Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) are major human food-borne pathogens that may produce a variety of toxins and cause diarrhea, food poisoning, and even death. In order to monitor and prevent the spread of these pathogens, a multiplex loop-mediated isothermal amplification (multi-LAMP) assay was developed to simultaneously and rapidly detect B. cereus and S. aureus. The sensitivity and specificity of the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) reactions were determined via electrophoresis. The multi-LAMP showed 100% inclusivity and exclusivity, the sensitivity was 10 fg/μL and was 10 times more sensitive than that of polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the results were consistent with those of conventional PCR assay, and the entire assay should be finished within 40 min. This multi-LAMP assay was confirmed as a rapid and reliable diagnostic technique upon application for clinical samples and food samples. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report the application of multi-LAMP to detect B. cereus and S. aureus.

Influenza A virus (IAV) is the major cause of seasonal epidemics and flu outbreaks worldwide. Given that interleukin 16 (IL16) can regulate T cell function and is one of the signature markers for virus infection including IAV infection, the impact of IL16 on IAV-induced T cell immune response hasn’t been elucidated yet. In this paper, we infected wild type and IL16 knockout (KO) mice with IAV and analyzed the immunity of mice by flow cytometry. We observed an increase in the percentage of T helper (Th) 1 cells in the spleens of IL16 KO mice and elevation of IFN-γ and TNF-ɑ secretion from CD8⁺ T cells in the lungs and spleens of IL16 KO mice in response to IAV infection. Moreover, the expression of major histocompatibility complex II which represents the maturation of dendritic cells (DCs) was upregulated in the lungs of IL16 KO mice. Taken together, our study suggests that IL16 deficiency enhanced Th1 and cytotoxic T lymphocyte response as well as DC maturation upon IAV infection, which provides new insight into the host regulation of T cell immune responses during IAV infection.

Interferon-induced transmembrane protein 3 (IFITM3) is associated with cancer development. Proto-oncogene c-myc can promote tumor proliferation. However, collections of IFITM3 and c-myc in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the potential role and mechanisms of IFITM3 in c-myc-mediated tumor proliferation remain unclear. In this study, we investigated a positive correlation between the expression of IFITM3 and c-myc in HCC. The down-regulation of IFITM3 significantly reduced c-myc expression and inhibited the proliferation of HCC in vitro and in vivo. In addition, upregulated c-myc expression restored the decrease in cell proliferation caused by the downregulation of IFITM3, while downregulation of c-myc reduced the proliferation of HCC enhanced by IFITM3. Mechanistically, IFITM3 regulates c-myc expression via the ERK1/2 signalling pathway. In conclusion, a novel path of IFITM3–ERK1/2–c-myc regulatory circuitry was identified, and its dysfunction may lead to HCC tumorigenesis.

Shufengjiedu capsules (SFJDCs), a traditional Chinese medicine, have been widely used as an antiviral, antibacterial, antitumor, and anti-inflammatory drug. However, the roles of SFJDCs in allergic rhinitis remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of SFJDCs in olfaction and lung injury in rats with allergic rhinitis. An animal model of allergic rhinitis was created by intraperitoneal injection and intranasal administration of ovalbumin to rats. All rats were divided into seven groups: a model group, a low-dose SFJDC group, a medium-dose SFJDC group, a high-dose SFJDC group, a cetirizine group, and a control group. Hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining was used to observe pathological changes in rat lung and olfactory epithelium (OE) tissue, and peripheral blood was collected and subjected to an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect IgE, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and IL-1ꞵ levels. Western blotting, immunohistochemistry staining, and immunofluorescence staining were performed to detect inflammatory cytokines and levels of the autophagy biomarker beclin1 and the apoptosis biomarker cleaeved-caspased3 in lung and OE tissue. ELISA indicated that SFJDCs significantly decreased IgE, TNF-α, and IL-1ꞵ levels in peripheral blood, the lungs, and OE tissue. In addition, Western blotting and staining indicated that SFJDCs repair lung injury, protect against neuronal apoptosis in OE, and rescue impaired autophagy in the lungs and OE tissue. In conclusion, results indicated that SFJDCs might protect against neuronal loss in the OE and lung injury by enhancing autophagy and decreasing apoptosis in rats with allergic rhinitis. Therefore, SFJDCs might serve as an alternative treatment for allergic rhinitis.

To explore the effect of apurinic-apyrimidinic endonuclease I (APE-1) on hepatocyte immune inflammatory factors and cell apoptosis. The gene expression profiles of peripheral blood of patients with or without immune tolerance after liver transplantation were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Differentially expressed genes were analyzed with a program in the R language, and the APE-1 gene was identified as a gene related to immune tolerance of liver transplantation. Four APE-1 shRNA vectors were constructed in parallel and verified as correct using plasmid sequencing, real-time PCR, and Western blotting. An APE-1 overexpression vector was similarly constructed and verified as correct. The STRING website predicted the protein-protein interaction network of APE-1. ELISA was used to detect the effects of APE-1 silencing and overexpression on inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-10, TNFα, and INF-γ in the control group, APE-1-silenced group, and APE-1 overexpression group. Flow cytometry was used to detect apoptosis in each group. Forty differentially expressed genes related to immune tolerance after liver transplantation were screened, and the highly expressed gene APE-1 was selected. The best APE-1 shRNA_1 vector and APE-1 overexpression vector were obtained. APE-1 is predicted to interact with ANP32A, FEN1, HMGB2, LIG1, MUTYH, NTHL1, OGG1, PCNA, POLB, SET, and other proteins. APE-1 silencing resulted in a significant increase in the expression of the inflammatory factors IL-1β, IL-10, TNFα, and INF-γin L-02 cells. In contrast, the expression of APE-1 led to a significant decrease in the expression of inflammatory factors. APE-1 silencing significantly increased the rate of apoptosis of L-02 cells, and APE-1 overexpression resulted in a significant decrease in the rate of apoptosis of L-02 cells. In conclusion APE-1 affects the expression of inflammatory factors and apoptosis in L-02 cells, so it may be a key gene in immune tolerance of liver transplantation.

Prolonged or intense exposure to environmental noise (EN) has been associated with a number of changes in auditory organs as well as other brain structures. Notably, males and females have shown different susceptibilities to acoustic damage as well as different responses to environmental stressors. Rodent models have evidence of sex-specific changes in brain structures involved in noise and sound processing. As a common effect, experimental models have demonstrated that dendrite arborizations reconfigure in response to aversive conditions in several brain regions. Here, we examined the effect of chronic noise on dendritic reorganization and c-Fos expression patterns of both sexes. During 21 days male and female rats were exposed to a rats' audiogram-fitted adaptation of a noisy environment. Golgi-Cox and c-Fos staining were performed at auditory cortices (AC) and hippocampal regions. Sholl analysis and c-Fos counts were conducted for evidence of intersex differences. In addition, pro-BDNF serum levels were also measured. We found different patterns of c-Fos expression in hippocampus and AC. While in AC expression levels showed rapid and intense increases starting at 2 h, hippocampal areas showed slower rises that reached the highest levels at 21 days. Sholl analysis also evidenced regional differences in response to noise. Dendritic trees were reduced after 21 days in hippocampus but not in AC. Meanwhile, pro-BDNF levels augmented after EN exposure. In all analyzed variables, exposed males were the most affected. These findings suggest that noise may exert differential effects on male and female brains and that males could be more vulnerable to the chronic effects of noise.

Genetic factors have been widely considered to have a substantial effect on the susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The purpose of this study was to determine whether the four newly discovered polymorphisms in a genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analysis confer susceptibility to RA in a Chinese Han population. We conducted a case-control study involving 359 RA cases and 873 age-and gender-matched controls and performed genotyping of four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs227163, rs726288, rs3783782 and rs2469434, using the dye terminator-based SNaPshot method. Consequently, we detected significant differences of genotype distribution of rs3783782 in PRKCH between RA and controls. The minor allele frequencies (MAFs) of rs3783782 were significantly higher in RA patients compared to control subjects. Moreover, the rs227163 in TNFRSF9 had higher MAFs in male RA compared with male controls. In addition, the polymorphism of rs3783782 in PRKCH was significantly associated with RA susceptibility (OR = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.32-2.11, p = 1.32 × 10^-5). After stratification by gender, the minor (A) allele was strongly associated with increased risk for RA in males (OR = 1.87, 95% CI = 1.34-2.60; p = 1.62 × 10^-4) and in females (OR = 1.51, 95% CI = 1.08-2.10; p = 0.014). For rs227163, the minor (C) allele was found to be associated with RA risk only in males (OR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.02-1.75; p = 0.036). These findings for the first time confirmed that rs3783782 in PRKCH was associated with RA susceptibility in a Chinese population, and rs227163 in TNFRSF9 was associated with RA risk in Chinese males; these SNPs may serve as genetic markers for RA.