Nontargeted and targeted metabolomics analysis provides novel insight into nonvolatile metabolites in Jianghua Kucha tea germplasm (Camellia sinensis var. Assamica cv. Jianghua)

Jianghua Kucha (JHKC) is a special tea germplasm with high bitterness growing in China; however, the chemical characteristics of JHKC are not completely understood. In this study, 61 differential metabolites were identified between 11 wild JHKC individuals and 3 control cultivars of Fudingdabai, Yunkang 10, and Zhuyeqi using comprehensive nontargeted and targeted metabolomics approach. The JHKC accessions mainly possessed significantly higher levels of purine alkaloids of theacrine (12.06 ± 5.23 mg/g) and 1,3,7-trimethyluric acid, non-epi-form flavanols (catechin, gallocatechin, catechin gallate, and gallocatechin gallate), and methylated flavanols of epigallocatechin-3-O-(3″-O-methyl)-gallate (4.79 ± 1.45 mg/g) and epicatechin-3-O-(3″-O-methyl)-gallate (1.02 ± 0.34 mg/g), as well as significantly lower levels of flavonol glycosides, which indicated that caffeine metabolism, flavonoid biosynthesis, and flavonol and flavone biosynthesis are mostly differential metabolic pathways. Our study demonstrated that JHKC germplasm is a promising resource for breeding novel tea cultivars with high contents of theacrine, non-epi-form flavanols, and methylated flavanols.

Cell-free DNA methylation markers for differential diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Aberrant DNA methylation may offer opportunities in revolutionizing cancer screening and diagnosis. We sought to identify a non-invasive DNA methylation-based screening approach using cell-free DNA (cfDNA) for early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

METHODS

Differentially, DNA methylation blocks were determined by comparing methylation profiles of biopsy-proven HCC, liver cirrhosis, and normal tissue samples with high throughput DNA bisulfite sequencing. A multi-layer HCC screening model was subsequently constructed based on tissue-derived differentially methylated blocks (DMBs). This model was tested in a cohort consisting of 120 HCC, 92 liver cirrhotic, and 290 healthy plasma samples including 65 hepatitis B surface antigen-seropositive (HBsAg+) samples, independently validated in a cohort consisting of 67 HCC, 111 liver cirrhotic, and 242 healthy plasma samples including 56 HBsAg+ samples.

RESULTS

Based on methylation profiling of tissue samples, 2321 DMBs were identified, which were subsequently used to construct a cfDNA-based HCC screening model, achieved a sensitivity of 86% and specificity of 98% in the training cohort and a sensitivity of 84% and specificity of 96% in the independent validation cohort. This model obtained a sensitivity of 76% in 37 early-stage HCC (Barcelona clinical liver cancer [BCLC] stage 0-A) patients. The screening model can effectively discriminate HCC patients from non-HCC controls, including liver cirrhotic patients, asymptomatic HBsAg+ and healthy individuals, achieving an AUC of 0.957(95% CI 0.939-0.975), whereas serum α-fetoprotein (AFP) only achieved an AUC of 0.803 (95% CI 0.758-0.847). Besides detecting patients with early-stage HCC from non-HCC controls, this model showed high capacity for distinguishing early-stage HCC from a high risk population (AUC=0.934; 95% CI 0.905-0.963), also significantly outperforming AFP. Furthermore, our model also showed superior performance in distinguishing HCC with normal AFP (< 20ng ml-1) from high risk population (AUC=0.93; 95% CI 0.892-0.969).

CONCLUSIONS

We have developed a sensitive blood-based non-invasive HCC screening model which can effectively distinguish early-stage HCC patients from high risk population and demonstrated its performance through an independent validation cohort.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The study was approved by the ethic committee of The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University (KYLL2018072) and Chongqing University Cancer Hospital (2019167). The study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov(# NCT04383353 ).

New insights into the influences of baking and storage on the nonvolatile compounds in oolong tea: A nontargeted and targeted metabolomics study

A nontargeted and targeted metabolomics method was applied to comprehensively investigate the influences of baking and storage on chemical constituents in fresh-, strong-, and aged-scent types of Foshou oolong teas. The contents of N-ethyl-2-pyrrolidone-substituted flavanols (EPSFs), flavone C-glycosides, gallic acid, and most lipids increased after baking and storage, while the contents of cis-flavanols, alkaloids, flavonol O-glycosides, and most amino acids decreased. Degradation, epimerization, and interaction with theanine were main pathways for the decrease in cis-flavanols. Approximately 20.7%, 12.8%, and 11.6% of epigallocatechin gallate were degraded, epimerized, and interacted with theanine after baking, respectively; 22.5% and 8.71% of epigallocatechin gallate were degraded and interacted with theanine after 10-year storage, respectively. Simulated reactions confirmed that the increases in EPSFs and apigenin C-glycosides were caused by interactions between theanine and flavanols and between apigenin aglycone and glucose, respectively. This study offers novel insights into chemical changes during baking and storage of oolong tea.

Metabolomics Analysis Reveals Four Novel N-Ethyl-2-pyrrolidinone-Substituted Theaflavins as Storage-Related Marker Compounds in Black Tea

Tea market is currently oversupplied, and unsold tea often needs to be properly stored for a period of time. However, the chemical changes occurring in black tea during storage are limitedly understood. In this study, a comprehensive nontargeted and targeted metabolomics approach was used to investigate the dynamic changes in compounds in time-series (0-19 months)-stored black teas. The contents of flavanols, theaflavins (TFs), theasinensins, procyanidins, most phenolic acids, amino acids, quercetin-O-glycosides, and myricetin-O-glycosides decreased during storage, while the contents of N-ethyl-2-pyrrolidinone-substituted flavanols, flavone-C-glycosides, and most kaempferol-O-glycosides increased. More importantly, four novel compounds strongly positively correlated with storage duration (r = 0.922-0.969) were structurally assigned as N-ethyl-2-pyrrolidinone-substituted TFs and validated with synthetic reactions of TFs and theanine standards. The content of N-ethyl-2-pyrrolidinone-substituted TFs was 51.54 μg/g in black tea stored for 19 months. To the best of our knowledge, N-ethyl-2-pyrrolidinone-substituted TFs were discovered in tea for the first time.

Uncertainty Learning for Noise Resistant Sketch-Based 3D Shape Retrieval

Recently, sketch-based 3D shape retrieval has received growing attention in the community of computer graphics and computer vision. Most previous works focus on the problem of how to reduce the large cross-modality difference between 2D sketch and 3D shape data and make significant progress. Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to another important problem of how to deal with noise in the sketch data. For the first time, this work investigates the problem of noisy sketch data. It firstly provides qualitative and insightful analysis on the impact of noise, revealing that the noisy data are a key factor for unsatisfactory retrieval performance, as they cause severe over fitting and impair feature learning. Thus, the issue is worthy of serious treatment. Then, we propose to estimate sketch noise as data uncertainty, motivated by existing ideas that model data uncertainty with a distributional representation. We present methods with simple network structure and loss functions. They achieve strong results and establish new state-of-the-art on two benchmarks. Comprehensive experiment results, ablation studies, and insightful analysis validate the effectiveness of our methods, revealing that sketch feature learning with uncertainty is crucial for noise resistant sketch based 3D shape retrieval.

Publication trends and hotspots in enhanced recovery after surgery: 20-year bibliometric analysis

We evaluated enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) research and used bibliometric analysis to quantitatively and qualitatively predict research hotspots through extracting relevant publications from the core collection of the Web of Science database.

[Hsa_circ_0006948 regulates the proliferation, migration and invasion in osteosarcoma by regulation of the expression of miR-490-3p target ATG7]

Objective: To investigate the effect of hsa_circ_0006948 (circ_0006948) on the proliferation, migration and invasion of osteosarcoma cells and the underlying mechanism. Methods: A total of 120 osteosarcoma tissues and 40 adjacent normal tissue samples were collected from patients admitted to the First People's Hospital of Shangqiu City from 2009 to 2015. Microarray analysis was performed to detect the differential expressions of circRNA in Saos-2 cell. The mRNA expressions of circ_0006948, microRNA (miR)-490-3p and autophagy-related protein 7 (ATG7) in osteosarcoma cells, NHOst cells, osteosarcoma tissues and adjacent tissues were detected by real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Cell clone formation assay was used to detect cell proliferation ability, Transwell assay was used to detect cell invasion ability, and cell scratch assay was used to detect cell migration ability. The interactions between circ_0006948 and miR-490-3p, miR-490-3p and ATG7 were detected by dual luciferase reporter gene assay. The correlation between miR-490-3p and ATG7 was analyzed by TargetScan database, and the expression levels of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins in cells were detected by western blot. Results: The mRNA expression levels of circ_0006948, miR-490-3p and ATG7 in SAOS-2 cells were significantly different from NHOst cells (P<0.01). The mRNA expression levels of circ_0006948, miR-490-3p and ATG7 in osteosarcoma tissues were significantly different from adjacent tissues (P<0.01). The numbers of cell clone, migration and mobility in circ_0006948-siRNA group were (32.78±1.76), (37.58±1.82) and (36.93±1.45)%, respectively, lower than (65.72±1.45), (78.63±1.93) and (65.32±1.74)% in the siRNA NC group (all P<0.01). The numbers of cell clone, migration and mobility in the miR-490-3p mimics group were (20.08±1.54), (30.24±1.78) and (21.15±1.68)%, respectively, lower than (60.36±1.83), (76.93±1.64) and (40.56±1.27)% in the mimics NC group (all P<0.01). The numbers of cell clone, migration and mobility in the miR-490-3p inhibitor+ siRNA NC group were (90.34±1.72), (120.89±2.34) and (70.83±1.93)%, respectively, higher than (61.27±1.73), (75.82±1.82) and (42.38±1.74)% in the inhibitor NC+ siRNA NC group (P<0.01). The numbers of cell clone, migration and mobility in the circ_0006948 siRNA+ miR-490-3p inhibitor group were (58.74±1.98), (73.46±1.04) and (40.35±1.72)%, respectively, lower than (90.34±1.72), (120.89±2.34) and (70.83±1.93)% in the miR-490-3p inhibitor+ siRNA NC group (P<0.01). The numbers of cell clone, migration and mobility in the ATG7 siRNA group were (20.56±1.87), (40.36±1.76) and (20.96±1.73)%, lower than (65.46±1.74), (90.87±2.32) and (40.87±2.03)% in the siRNA NC group (P<0.01). The absorbance of miR-490-3p mimics+ pcDNA-ATG7 group was 0.54±0.11, higher than (0.36±0.08) of miR-490-3p mimics group (P<0.05). The expression levels of Bax and Bcl-2 protein in Saos-2 cells of miR-490-3p mimics group were significantly different from mimics NC group (P<0.01). The protein expression levels of Bax and Bcl-2 in Saos-2 cells of miR-490-3p mimics + pcDNA-ATG7 group were significantly different from miR-490-3p mimics group (P<0.01). Conclusion: Circ_0006948 regulates ATG7 expression through miR-490-3p, therefore regulates the proliferation, migration and invasion of osteosarcoma cells.

N-Ethyl-2-Pyrrolidinone-Substituted Flavan-3-Ols with Anti-inflammatory Activity in Lipopolysaccharide-Stimulated Macrophages Are Storage-Related Marker Compounds for Green Tea

Fresh green tea (GT) is commonly considered to have better sensory flavor and higher commercial value than long-term-stored GT; however, the chemical variations during storage are unclear. In this study, the chemical profiles of stored GT were surveyed among time-series samples from 0 to 19 months using a nontargeted metabolomics method. Seven N-ethyl-2-pyrrolidinone-substituted flavan-3-ols (EPSFs) increased from 0.022 ± 0.019 to 3.212 ± 0.057 mg/g within 19 months (correlation coefficients with storage duration ranging from 0.936 to 0.965), and they were the most significantly increased compounds among the 127 identified compounds. Two representative EPSFs (R-EGCG-cThea and S-EGCG-cThea) possess potential anti-inflammatory properties by suppressing the expression, phosphorylation, and nuclear translocation of nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) p65 in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages based on western blotting and immunofluorescence results. In conclusion, EPSFs were found to be marker compounds for stored GT and showed potential anti-inflammatory activity by regulating the NF-κB signaling pathway.

Value of serum collagen triple helix repeat containing-1(CTHRC1) and 14-3-3η protein compared to anti-CCP antibodies and anti-MCV antibodies in the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis

INTRODUCTION

Serological markers are important in the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other connective tissues diseases This study explored the clinical value of collagen triple helix repeat containing-1 (CTHRC1) and 14-3-3η protein, compared to routine markers, in the diagnosis of RA.

METHODS

We recruited 103 RA patients, 105 non-RA patients (osteoarthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, systemic lupus erythematosus) and 59 healthy controls. CTHRC1, 14-3-3η, anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (anti-CCP), anti-mutated citrullinated vimentin antibody (anti-MCV), rheumatoid factor and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) levels were measured, and their diagnostic value for RA evaluated and compared.

RESULTS

All laboratory indices were elevated in RA (P < 0.05). Of these, anti-MCV had the highest sensitivity (86.4%) and anti-CCP the highest specificity (94.5%). The areas under the curve (AUC) of CTHRC1, 14-3-3η, anti-CCP, anti-MCV, rheumatoid factor and ESR were 0.84, 0.81, 0.89, 0.91, 0.85 and 0.77 respectively (all P < 0.01). Anti-CCP and anti-MCV were the most valuable in the diagnosis of RA. The combination of anti-CCP and anti-MCV had the maximum Youden index, followed by the combination of anti-CCP and 14-3-3η. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that 14-3-3η had the largest odds ratio value (95% CI) at 5.1 (2.1-12.5) for RA.

CONCLUSION

CTHRC1 and 14-3-3η are promising serological indicators of RA, and when combined with anti-CCP, anti-MCV and ESR, can improve the diagnosis of this disease.

Porphyromonas gingivalis Promotes Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Progression in an Immune Microenvironment

Increasing evidence has revealed a significant association between microorganisms and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Porphyromonas gingivalis, the keystone pathogen in chronic periodontitis, is considered an important potential etiologic agent of OSCC, but the underlying immune mechanisms through which P. gingivalis mediates tumor progression of the oral cancer remain poorly understood. Our cohort study showed that the localization of P. gingivalis in tumor tissues was related to poor survival of patients with OSCC. Moreover, P. gingivalis infection increased oral lesion multiplicity and size and promoted tumor progression in a 4-nitroquinoline-1 oxide (4NQO)–induced carcinogenesis mouse model by invading the oral lesions. In addition, CD11b+ myeloid cells and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) showed increased infiltration of oral lesions. Furthermore, in vitro observations showed that MDSCs accumulated when human-derived dysplastic oral keratinocytes (DOKs) were exposed to P. gingivalis, and CXCL2, CCL2, interleukin (IL)–6, and IL-8 may be potential candidate genes that facilitate the recruitment of MDSCs. Taken together, our findings suggest that P. gingivalis promotes tumor progression by generating a cancer-promoting microenvironment, indicating a close relationship among P. gingivalis, tumor progression of the oral cancer, and immune responses.

A review of the impact of hydropower reservoirs on global climate change

Three types of greenhouse gases (GHGs), namely carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emitted from reservoirs have an important but often ignored impact on the climate change. Based on the literature, this paper presents a comprehensive assessment of the long-term impact of GHGs generated by hydropower reservoirs, the systems for monitoring and assessing reservoir GHGs, the mechanism for their generation and key factors involved. Using limnology theory as a basis, the biogeochemical cycle of carbon in the environment is understood to be the main mechanism for generating reservoir based GHG emissions. A summary of relevant research in South American tropical rain forests and the Canada's temperate zone, also shows the extent of current systematic analysis of GHG emission research. Proposals are made for more comprehensive data collection from a wider variety of sources and the key problems identified that need to be solved to provide a theoretical basis for future development policies and practice.

Demonstration of Controlled-Phase Gates between Two Error-Correctable Photonic Qubits

To realize fault-tolerant quantum computing, it is necessary to store quantum information in logical qubits with error correction functions, realized by distributing a logical state among multiple physical qubits or by encoding it in the Hilbert space of a high-dimensional system. Quantum gate operations between these error-correctable logical qubits, which are essential for implementation of any practical quantum computational task, have not been experimentally demonstrated yet. Here we demonstrate a geometric method for realizing controlled-phase gates between two logical qubits encoded in photonic fields stored in cavities. The gates are realized by dispersively coupling an ancillary superconducting qubit to these cavities and driving it to make a cyclic evolution depending on the joint photonic state of the cavities, which produces a conditional geometric phase. We first realize phase gates for photonic qubits with the logical basis states encoded in two quasiorthogonal coherent states, which have important implications for continuous-variable-based quantum computation. Then we use this geometric method to implement a controlled-phase gate between two binomially encoded logical qubits, which have an error-correctable function.

Multifunctional nanocomposites MGO/FU-MI inhibit the proliferation of tumor cells and enhance the effect of chemoradiotherapy in vivo and in vitro

PURPOSE

The limitation of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy in the treatment of cancer and the rise of the application of nanomaterials in the field of biomedicine have promoted the application of various nanomaterials in the combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy in the treatment of cancer. To improve the efficiency of cancer treatment, the multifunctional nanocomposites MGO/FU-MI (MGO/FU-MI NCs) were used for combination chemotherapy and radiotherapy to verify its effectiveness in treating tumors.

METHODS

The proliferation activity of MGO/FU-MI NCs on MC-38 and B16 cells was detected by CCK-8, and the level of apoptosis and reactive oxygen species were detected by flow cytometry. To verify its efficacy in the combination of chemoradiotherapy, different treatment regimens were developed for several groups of tumor-bearing mice.

RESULTS

The MGO/FU-MI NCs can induce apoptosis, stimulate ROS production, and inhibit cell proliferation. In vivo experiments, when MGO/FU-MI NCs are used alone for chemotherapy, have a certain therapeutic effect on mouse tumors. When MGO/FU-MI NCs are combined with radiation, the tumor volume can be significantly reduced and the survival time of mice is significantly prolonged.

CONCLUSION

The MGO/FU-MI NCs are very effective in the treatment of tumors when combined with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and have the potential to be a combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

[Spatio-temporal distribution of Oncomelania hupensis snails along the Danyang section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Danyang-Jintan-Liyang Canal]

OBJECTIVE

To explore the spatio-temporal characteristics of Oncomelania hupensis snails along the Danyang section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Danyang-Jintan-Liyang Canal, so as to provide scientific evidence for the dynamic assessment of the risk of snail spread in this region.

METHODS

O. hupensis snail status was collected in the plain regions with waterway networks in the study area from 2012 to 2017. The spatio-temporal variations of snail distribution were investigated along the Danyang section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Danyang-Jintan-Liyang Canal using buffer zone analysis, spatial autocorrelation, hotspot analysis and standard deviational ellipse with the geographical information system (GIS) tools.

RESULTS

The number of snail habitats showed a tendency towards a rise in the study area from 2012 to 2017, and snail habitats were predominantly distributed in the 1 000 m long buffer zone of the Danyang-Jintan-Liyang Canal, notably along the Jiuqu River at the junction between the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Danyang-Jintan-Liyang Canal. The distribution of snail habitats appeared spatial autocorrelations in 2014, 2016 and 2017, and the hotspot areas were mainly identified at the junction between the Danyang-Jintan-Liyang Canal and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. In addition, the overall distribution of snail habitats was located in the northeastern-southwestern part of the study aera, and gradually shifted to the southern and northern parts with the time.

CONCLUSIONS

The spatial distribution of O. hupensis snails is complex along the Danyang section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Danyang-Jintan-Liyang Canal, and there is a risk of snail spread from the upper reaches to the lower reaches, where snail control needs to be intensified.

Genetic variants in the folate metabolic pathway genes predict cutaneous melanoma-specific survival

BACKGROUND

Folate metabolism plays an important role in DNA methylation and nucleic acid synthesis and thus may function as a regulatory factor in cancer development. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified some single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with cutaneous melanoma-specific survival (CMSS), but no SNPs were found in genes involved in the folate metabolic pathway.

OBJECTIVES

To examine associations between SNPs in folate metabolic pathway genes and CMSS.

METHODS

We comprehensively evaluated 2645 (422 genotyped and 2223 imputed) common SNPs in folate metabolic pathway genes from a published GWAS of 858 patients from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and performed the validation in another GWAS of 409 patients from the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study, in which 95/858 (11·1%) and 48/409 (11·7%) patients died of cutaneous melanoma, respectively.

RESULTS

We identified two independent SNPs (MTHFD1 rs1950902 G>A and ALPL rs10917006 C>T) to be associated with CMSS in both datasets, and their meta-analysis yielded an allelic hazards ratio of 1·75 (95% confidence interval 1·32-2·32, P = 9·96 × 10^-5 ) and 2·05 (1·39-3·01, P = 2·84 × 10^-4 ), respectively. The genotype-phenotype correlation analyses provided additional support for the biological plausibility of these two variants' roles in tumour progression, suggesting that variation in SNP-related mRNA expression levels is likely to be the mechanism underlying the observed associations with CMSS.

CONCLUSIONS

Two possibly functional genetic variants, MTHFD1 rs1950902 and ALPL rs10917006, were likely to be independently or jointly associated with CMSS, which may add to personalized treatment in the future, once further validated. What is already known about this topic? Existing data show that survival rates vary among patients with melanoma with similar clinical characteristics; therefore, it is necessary to identify additional complementary biomarkers for melanoma-specific prognosis. A hypothesis-driven approach, by pooling the effects of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a specific biological pathway as genetic risk scores, may provide a prognostic utility, and genetic variants of genes in folate metabolism have been reported to be associated with cancer risk. What does this study add? Two genetic variants in the folate metabolic pathway genes, MTHFD1 rs1950902 and ALPL rs10917006, are significantly associated with cutaneous melanoma-specific survival (CMSS). What is the translational message? The identification of genetic variants will make a risk-prediction model possible for CMSS. The SNPs in the folate metabolic pathway genes, once validated in larger studies, may be useful in the personalized management and treatment of patients with cutaneous melanoma.

[Expression of RAGE in asthmatic rats and the intervention of Roxithromycin]

Objective: To observe the expression of the Receptor of Advanced glycation end products (RAGE) in asthmatic rats, and explore the intervention of Roxithromycin. Methods: A total of 18 Specific Pathogen Free-class Brown Norway male rats were randomly divided into control group, asthma model group and Roxithromycin group, with 6 rats in each group. The asthmatic model was sensitized by intraperitoneal injection of Ovalbumin (OVA)+Al(OH)(3), and challenged with OVA. Rats in Roxithromycin group were given Roxithromycin 30 mg/kg 30 minutes before each challenge. Rats in control group and asthma model group were treated with equal volume of saline. The concentrations of RAGE and interleukin (IL)-4 in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent (ELISA); the pathological changes of lung tissues were observed by HE-staining; the thickness of airway wall and airway smooth muscle were measured by Image-Pro Plus; the relative expression of RAGE in lung tissues were detected by Western blot. Results: In asthma model group, the concentrations of RAGE and IL-4 in the serum and BALF were obviously higher than those in control group [(494±32) vs (327±45) ng/L; (32.4±5.8) vs (13.1±2.9) ng/L; (553±38) vs (399±56) ng/L; (37.8±3.4) vs (19.4±2.5) ng/L] (all P<0.01); in Roxithromycin group, the concentrations of RAGE and IL-4 in the serum and BALF were obviously lower than those in asthma model group [(438±18) vs (494±32) ng/L; (22.8±6.0) vs (32.4±5.8) ng/L; (444±42) vs (553±38) ng/L; (25.6±4.5) vs (37.8±3.4) ng/L] (all P<0.05). In asthma model group, the bronchial wall was thickened, the lumen was narrow, the mucosal wrinkles were significantly increased, edema appeared under the mucosa, and a large number of inflammatory cells infiltrated and aggregated in the bronchi, perivascular and alveolar spaces; the thickness of airway wall and airway smooth muscle were significantly increased than those in control group (P<0.01); in Roxithromycin group, airway inflammation and remodeling were alleviated compared with those in asthma model group (P<0.05). In asthma model group, the expression of RAGE in lung tissues were significantly increased than those in control group (P<0.01); in Roxithromycin group, the expression of RAGE were significantly decreased than those in asthma model group (P<0.01). There were positive correlations between the expression of RAGE and IL-4 in BALF and serum (r=0.782, 0.804, all P<0.01); there were positive correlations between RAGE and total white cell counts, eosinophil counts, smooth muscle thickness (r=0.897, 0.927, 0.860, all P<0.01). Conclusions: The increasing of RAGE in asthmatic rats are positively correlated with airway inflammation and airway remodeling. Roxithromycin may inhibit the development of asthma by reducing the expression of RAGE.