The significant survival advantage of female sex in nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a propensity-matched analysis

BACKGROUND

Whether females have better survival than males in nasopharyngeal carcinoma is barely acknowledged and the exact explanations remain unknown.

METHODS

Overall, 5929 patients receiving treatment between January 2005 and December 2010 were separately stratified by stage into early and advanced stage groups, and by age into premenopausal (⩽45 years), menopausal (46-54 years) and postmenopausal (⩾55 years) groups. Matched males and females in each group were identified using the propensity score matching method. Differences in disease-free survival (DSS), overall survival (OS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) and locoregional relapse-free survival (LRFS) were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression model.

RESULTS

Overall, 398, 923, 744, 319 and 313 pairs of males and females were matched in early stage, advanced stage, premenopausal, menopausal and postmenopausal group, respectively. Females showed significant advantage over males across all end points in both early and advanced stage groups (P⩽0.042). However, this advantage persisted at premenopausal age (P⩽0.042), declined during menopause (DMFS, P=0.021; DSS, P=0.100; OS, P=0.693; LRFS, P=0.330) and totally disappeared at postmenopausal age (P⩾0.344).

CONCLUSIONS

Sex significantly affects NPC survival, with a definite female advantage regardless of tumour stage. Intrinsic biologic traits appear to be the exact explanation according to the declining magnitude of sex effect with age.

Natural antisense RNAs are involved in the regulation of CD45 expression in autoimmune diseases

CD45 is a transmembrane protein tyrosine phosphatase that is specifically expressed in hematopoietic cells and can initiate signal transduction via the dephosphorylation of tyrosine. Alternatively spliced transcript variants of this gene encode distinct isoforms, which indicate different functional states of CD45. Among these variants, CD45RO, which contains neither exon 4, 5, or 6, is over-expressed in lymphocytes in autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and type I diabetes. The CD45 RO serves as a marker of the immune response activity and lymphocyte development. Previous studies have indicated that exon splicing is generally correlated with local hypermethylated DNA and acetylated histone modification, while autoimmune diseases are commonly associated with global hypomethylation and histone deacetylation in lymphocytes. Thus, the question arises of how exons 4, 5, and 6 of CD45RO are excluded under the status of global DNA hypomethylation and histone deacetylation in these autoimmune diseases. On the basis of the analyses of the context sequence of CD45 and its natural antisense RNA in GenBank, we proposed that the long noncoding RNA encoded by the natural antisense gene of CD45 contributes to the expressional regulation of the CD45RO splicing variant via recruitment of DNA methyltransferase and histone modification modulators specific to the sense gene CD45; thus, it is associated with the over-expression of CD45RO and the functional regulation of lymphocytes in the pathogenic development of autoimmune diseases.

Baseline neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is associated with survival and response to treatment with second-line chemotherapy for advanced prostate cancer independent of baseline steroid use

BACKGROUND

The neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), proposed as an indicator of cancer-related inflammation, has known prognostic value in prostate cancer. We examine its association with survival (OS) and response in patients treated with second-line chemotherapy.

METHODS

We analysed patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) treated in the TROPIC trial, evaluating cabazitaxel versus mitoxantrone. Cox regression models were used to investigate the association of baseline NLR (BLNLR) with OS and the significance of a change in NLR count with treatment. Logistic regression models were used to determine the association of BLNLR counts with prostate specific antigen (PSA) and RECIST responses. The optimal NLR cut-off was established based on the concordance index of different values.

RESULTS

Data from 755, 654 and 405 patients was available for OS, PSA and RECIST response analysis respectively. Median OS was 14.0 months [95% confidence interval (CI) 13.2-14.8]. Median NLR was 2.9 (IQR: 1.9-5.1). BLNLR was associated with survival (HR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1-2.1, P = 0.011) in multivariable analysis (MVA) independently of variables included in the Halabi nomogram, treatment arm and corticosteroid use. The optimal cut-off for a dichotomous NLR was selected at 3.0 based on its higher c-index related to survival. BLNLR ≥3.0 was associated with lower PSA response (40.1% versus 59.9%; P < 0.001) and RECIST response (7.7% versus 15.6%, P = 0.022) in MVA. Conversion from high (≥3) to low (<3) NLR was associated with improved survival (HR 0.66; 95% CI 0.51-0.85; P = 0.001) and higher PSA response rates (66.4% versus 33.6%; P = 0.000). Use of corticosteroids at baseline did not modify the association between NLR and survival.

CONCLUSIONS

NLR is a valid prognostic biomarker in CRPC and is associated with survival, PSA and RECIST responses in patients treated with second-line chemotherapy. Changes in NLR counts with treatment may indicate benefit. NLR prognostic value is independent of prior use of corticosteroids.

CLINICALTRIALSGOV

NCT00417079.

Forming first impressions of others in schizophrenia: impairments in fast processing and in use of spatial frequency information

Individuals form first impressions of others all the time, which affects their social functioning. Typical adults form threat impressions in faces with neutral expressions quickly, requiring less than 40 ms. These impressions appear to be mediated by low spatial frequency (LSF) content in the images. Little is known, however, about mechanisms of first impression formation in schizophrenia. The current study investigated how quickly individuals with schizophrenia can form consistent impressions of threat compared with controls and explored the mechanisms involved. Patients and controls were presented intact, LSF- or high spatial frequency (HSF)-filtered faces with durations that varied from 39 to 1703 ms and were asked to rate how threatening each face was on a scale from 1 to 5. In order to assess the speed of impression formation for intact faces, correlations were calculated for ratings made at each duration compared to a reference duration of 1703 ms for each group. Controls demonstrated a significant relation for intact faces presented for 39 ms, whereas patients required 390 ms to demonstrate a significant relation with the reference duration. For controls, LSFs primarily contributed to the formation of consistent threat impressions at 39 ms, whereas patients showed a trend for utilizing both LSF and HSF information to form consistent threat impressions at 390 ms. Results indicate that individuals with schizophrenia require a greater integration time to form a stable "first impression" of threat, which may be related to the need to utilize compensatory mechanisms such as HSF, as well as LSF, information.

Quality control metrics improve repeatability and reproducibility of single-nucleotide variants derived from whole-genome sequencing

Although many quality control (QC) methods have been developed to improve the quality of single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) in SNV-calling, QC methods for use subsequent to single-nucleotide polymorphism-calling have not been reported. We developed five QC metrics to improve the quality of SNVs using the whole-genome-sequencing data of a monozygotic twin pair from the Korean Personal Genome Project. The QC metrics improved both repeatability between the monozygotic twin pair and reproducibility between SNV-calling pipelines. We demonstrated the QC metrics improve reproducibility of SNVs derived from not only whole-genome-sequencing data but also whole-exome-sequencing data. The QC metrics are calculated based on the reference genome used in the alignment without accessing the raw and intermediate data or knowing the SNV-calling details. Therefore, the QC metrics can be easily adopted in downstream association analysis.

Excessive activation of the alternative complement pathway in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease

OBJECTIVES

The complement system is involved in many immune complex-mediated kidney diseases, yet its role in the pathogenesis of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) has not been examined in detail.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Screening of the glycoproteome of urine samples from ADPKD patients revealed that levels of complement factor B (CFB), serpin peptidase inhibitor, complement component 1 inhibitor (SERPING1) and complement component 9 (C9) increased, whereas complement component 1, r subcomponent-like (C1RL), CD55 and CD59 levels decreased with disease progression. Immunostaining and Western blot analysis confirmed the enhanced expression of CFB and C9 in cystic kidneys from ADPKD patients. Immunostaining also showed that the expressions of CFB and C9 in renal biopsy tissues from patients with other types of chronic kidney disease were lower than in tissues from ADPKD patients. The effect of the complement inhibitor rosmarinic acid (RMA) was evaluated in Pkd1(-/-) mice and Han:SPRD Cy/+ rats. Compared with vehicle-treated Pkd1(-/-) animals, RMA-treated mice had significantly lower serum creatinine (-50%) and blood urea nitrogen (-78%) levels, two kidneys/body weight ratio (-60%) and renal cystic index (-60%). Similar results were found in Cy/+ rats. Lower numbers of Ki67-positive nuclei and inflammatory cells and reduced fibrosis were observed in both animal models upon treatment with RMA.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that excessive activation of the alternative complement pathway is associated with ADPKD progression, probably mediated by cyst-lining epithelial cell proliferation, tubulointerstitial inflammatory cell infiltration and fibrosis. Targeting the complement system might represent a new therapeutic strategy for ADPKD.

Reprogramming the fate of human glioma cells to impede brain tumor development

Malignant gliomas, the most common solid tumors in the central nervous system, are essentially incurable due to their rapid growth and very invasive nature. One potential approach to eradicating glioma cells is to force these cells to undergo terminal differentiation and, in the process, to irreversible postmitotic arrest. Here, we show that neurogenin 2 (NGN2, also known as NEUROG2) synergizes with sex-determining region Y-box 11 (SOX11) to very efficiently convert human glioma cells to terminally differentiated neuron-like cells in both cell culture and adult mouse brains. These cells exhibit neuronal morphology, marker expression, and electrophysiological properties. The conversion process is accompanied by cell cycle exit, which dramatically inhibits glioma cell proliferation and tumor development after orthotopic transplantation. Most importantly, intracranial injection of NGN2- and SOX11-expressing virus into the tumor mass also curtails glioma growth and significantly improves survival of tumor-bearing mice. Taken together, this study shows a simple and highly efficient strategy for reprogramming malignant glioma cells into postmitotic cells, which might be a promising therapeutic approach for brain tumors.

Impact of adherence to treatment with tiotropium and fluticasone propionate/salmeterol in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases patients

OBJECTIVE

Poor adherence to treatment may contribute to the treatment gap in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD). The aim of the current study was to describe the association between adherence to treatment and the risk of COPD moderate (ME) and severe (SE) exacerbations, and health care utilization.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Observational single cohort study utilizing the Quebec Provincial Health Insurance databases. All patients older than 40 years with a diagnosis of COPD between 2001 and 2010 were entered in the study cohort at the time of their first prescription for tiotropium (TIO) alone or co-administered with fluticasone propionate/salmeterol (TIO + FSC). Follow-up continued to the last known claim or death. Adherence was measured by the medication possession ratio (MPR) ≥80% and persistence defined as no treatment gap ≥30 days.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

ME was defined as use of an oral corticosteroid or antibiotic, SE as COPD related hospitalization or an emergency room (ER) visit. COPD related health care resource utilization ascertained was prescription of rescue medications, ER visits, hospitalizations, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, intubations, and general practitioner (GP) and respirologist visits.

RESULTS

There were 23,707 patients included in this study. Compliance and persistence with TIO for monotherapy patients were 61.1% and 47.6% respectively. For patients treated with TIO + FSC, compliance and persistence for TIO were 62.9% and 45.3% respectively, and for FSC they were 35.4% and 33.0%. Multivariate analyses showed a significant (P < 0.001) adjusted odds ratios for ME (OR(ME)) and SE (OR(SE)) for TIO compliant vs. non-compliant patients (TIO: OR(ME) = 0.543, OR(SE) = 0.712; TIO + FSC: OR(ME) = 0.436, OR(SE) = 0.570). Similarly for FSC compliance: OR(ME) = 0.546; OR(SE) = 0.749. Similar results were observed for persistence. Compliance and persistence with TIO and FSC were associated with significantly reduced rates of health care utilization.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the typical limitations of an administrative database study, the results of this large population-based study have shown that reduced adherence to treatment with TIO and FSC is associated with increased risk for exacerbations and higher health care utilization in COPD patients.

Impact of adherence to treatment with fluticasone propionate/salmeterol in asthma patients

OBJECTIVE

Low adherence with asthma treatment may be associated with suboptimal outcomes and hence create a treatment gap in the real-life setting. The objective of this study was to assess the long-term association between adherence to treatment with fixed-dose fluticasone propionate/salmeterol (FSC) and the risk of exacerbations and health care utilization in patients with asthma.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Observational single cohort study utilizing the Quebec Health Insurance databases. All patients (age >12 years) with a diagnosis of asthma (ICD9-CM 493.xx) between 2001 and 2010 were entered into the study cohort at the time of their first prescription for FSC at any dose. Follow-up continued to the last known claim or death. Adherence to treatment was ascertained as compliance (medication possession ratio ≥80%) and persistence (absence of treatment gap ≥30 days).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Outcomes assessed were exacerbations defined as one of the following: use of oral corticosteroid (OCS), emergency room (ER) visit for asthma or hospitalization for asthma. Asthma related health care resource utilizations ascertained were number of prescription claims for rescue medications, ER visits, hospitalizations, intensive care unit (ICU) stay, intubations, and general practitioner (GP) and respirologist visits.

RESULTS

A total of 19,126 patients were included in the study. The proportion of compliant and persistent patients were 42.7% and 29.3% respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed a significantly reduced adjusted odds of exacerbations for compliant (OR = 0.48; 95% CI: 0.44-0.54) and persistent patients (OR = 0.42; 95% CI: 0.38-0.48). Similarly, significantly lower rates of health care utilization were observed for compliant and persistent patients.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this large population-based study have shown that increased adherence to treatment with FSC is associated with lower risk for exacerbations, lower rescue medication use and lower health care utilization in asthma patients. Despite the typical limitations of an administrative database study including validity of the diagnosis, the fact that compliance and persistence are calculated based on filled claims which does not guarantee that the patients actually took their medications, and the absence of clinical and laboratory data, the findings have implications for physician and patient awareness of the importance of adherence in the management of asthma.

The association of glutathione S-transferase polymorphisms in patients with osteosarcoma: evidence from a meta-analysis

Osteosarcoma is a life-threatening malignancy that often occurs in teenagers. Numerous studies have reported glutathione S-transferase polymorphisms are associated with osteosarcoma, but the results are inconclusive, partially because the sample size in each of published studies is relatively small. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis of the published studies to estimate the association more accurately. To preciously examine the association between the glutathione S-transferase polymorphisms and osteosarcoma, we undertook a meta-analysis of six case-control studies. The association between the glutathione S-transferase polymorphisms and osteosarcoma risk was assessed by odds ratios together with their 95% confidence intervals using a fixed-effects model or random-effects model. In addition, hazard ratio was used to measure the relationship between glutathione S-transferase polymorphisms and prognosis in patients with osteosarcoma. We found that there was significant association between the polymorphisms in GSTT1 or GSTM3 (AA versus BB) and osteosarcoma risk. In addition, there is no evidence of association on GSTM1, GSTT1, GSTP1 (IIe/IIe versus IIe/Val) or GSTP1 (IIe/IIe versus Val/Val) polymorphisms with prognosis in osteosarcoma. In conclusion, the GSTT1 and GSTM3 polymorphisms might influence osteosarcoma risk.

Association of XRCC5 polymorphisms with COPD and COPD-related phenotypes in the Han Chinese population: a case-control cohort study

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and integrative genomic approaches have demonstrated significant associations between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and polymorphisms of the X-ray repair cross-complementing protein 5 gene (XRCC5) in non-Asian populations. We investigated whether XRCC5 polymorphisms might be associated with COPD susceptibility and COPD-related phenotypes in the Chinese Han population. Nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs3821104, rs12470053, rs207936, rs3770498, rs6704622, rs3770492, rs4674066, rs7573191, and rs207906) in the XRCC5 gene were genotyped in a case-control study including 680 COPD patients and 687 controls. To estimate the strength of association, odds ratios (ORs) were calculated and the effects of potentially confounding variables were tested by logistic regression analysis. The association between haplotypes and COPD outcome was also assessed. Our data identified that the SNP rs207936 was associated with COPD with an adjusted P value of 0.038, which was also found when analyzing only data of current smokers (P=0.046). No significant associations were found between any of the SNPs and pulmonary function. Eight SNPs (rs3821104, rs12470053, rs207936, rs3770498, rs6704622, rs3770492, rs4674066, and rs7573191) showed strong linkage disequilibrium (R2≥0.9). Two major haplotypes were observed and showed a significant difference between case and control groups (P=0.0054 and 0.0081, respectively). The present study showed that the XRCC5 locus might be a contributor to COPD susceptibility in the Chinese Han population.

Exploring the FDA adverse event reporting system to generate hypotheses for monitoring of disease characteristics

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) is a database for postmarketing drug safety monitoring and influences changes in FDA safety guidance documents such as drug labels. The number of cases in the FAERS has rapidly increased with the improvement of submission methods and data standards and thus has become an important resource for regulatory science. Although the FAERS has been predominantly used for safety signal detection, this study explored its utility for disease characteristics.

Propofol induces apoptosis of epithelial ovarian cancer cells by upregulation of microRNA let-7i expression

OBJECTIVE

Propofol is one of the extensively and commonly used intravenous anaesthetic agents. The aims of the current study were to evaluate effects of propofol on the behavior of human epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) cells and role of miR-let-7i in these effects.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The effects of propofol on cell proliferation and apoptosis were detected by MTT assays and flow cytometry. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to assess miR-let-7i expression in human EOC cells OVCAR-3 with or without propofol treatment. Finally, the authors evaluated the effect ofmiR-let-7i on propofol-induced anti-tumor activity using anti-miR-let-7i.

RESULTS

Propofol inhibited the proliferation of OVCAR-3 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. After exposure to propofol for 24 hours, OVCAR-3 cells showed increased apoptosis and increased expression of miR-let-7i. Finally, anti-miR-let-7i reversed the effect of propofol on cell proliferation and apoptosis.

CONCLUSIONS

Propofol can effectively inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis of EOC cells and modulation of miR-let-7i possibly contributes to the anti-tumor action of propofol.

CHD1L is a novel independent prognostic factor for gastric cancer

BACKGROUND

Chromodomain helicase/ATPase DNA binding protein 1-like gene (CHD1L) is involved in malignancies. However, the role of CHD1L in gastric cancer (GC) has not been elucidated. The aim of this study is to explore the clinical role of CHD1L in GC.

METHODS

The gene and protein expression levels of CHD1L were detected by quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot analysis in fresh samples of GC and paired adjacent noncancerous tissue (n = 34). We evaluated the CHD1L expression by immunohistochemistry in a large number of GC patients (n = 616) and paired adjacent noncancerous tissues from December 1, 2004 to December 1, 2008. The correlations of CHD1L expression with clinicopathological features and clinical outcome were analyzed.

RESULTS

The gene and protein expression levels of CHD1L were higher in fresh samples of GC than in paired adjacent noncancerous tissues as determined by quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot analysis. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that positive expression rates of CHD1L in GC and paired adjacent noncancerous tissues were 58.7 % (361/616) and 7.3 % (45/616), respectively. CHD1L positivity was significantly associated with clinical stage and distant metastasis. GC patients with positive CHD1L expression had shorter overall survival than those with negative CHD1L expression. Multivariate analysis showed that CHD1L was an independent prognostic marker for overall survival [Hazard Ratio (HR) = 5.952, 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 3.194-11.187, P = 0.0043].

CONCLUSION

These results indicated that CHD1L could serve as a prognostic marker for GC.

Comparison of TNM staging systems for nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and proposal of a new staging system

BACKGROUND

There are few systematic evaluations regarding the sixth and seventh editions of the UICC/AJCC TNM Staging System (TNM6th, TNM7th) and Chinese 2008 Staging System (TNMc2008) for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

METHODS

We classified 2333 patients into intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) cohort (n=941) and conventional radiotherapy (CRT) cohort (n=1392). Tumour staging defined by TNM6th, TNM7th and TNMc2008 was compared based on Akaike information criterion (AIC) and Harrell's concordance index (c-index).

RESULTS

For T-classification, TNM6th (AIC=2585.367; c-index=0.6390385) had superior prognostic value to TNM7th (AIC=2593.242; c-index=0.6226889) and TNMc2008 (AIC=2593.998; c-index=0.6237146) in the IMRT cohort, whereas TNMc2008 was superior (AIC=5999.054; c-index=0.623547) in the CRT cohort. For N-classification, TNMc2008 had the highest prognostic value in both cohorts (AIC=2577.726, c-index=0.6297874; AIC=5956.339, c-index=0.6533576). Similar results were obtained when patients were stratified by chemotherapy types, age and gender. Using staging models in the IMRT cohort, we failed to identify better stage migrations than TNM6th T-classification and TNMc2008 N-classification. We therefore proposed to combine these categories; resultantly, stage groups of the proposed staging system showed superior prognostic value over TNM6th, TNM7th and TNMc2008.

CONCLUSION

TNM6th T-classification and TNMc2008 N-classification have superior prognostic value in the IMRT era. By combining them with slight modifications, TNM criteria can be unified and its prognostic value be improved.

Prognostic impact of family history in southern Chinese patients with undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Background:

Family history of cancer is associated with developing nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC); however, the impact of it on survival among established NPC patients remains unknown.

Methods:

We retrospectively analysed 1773 southern Chinese patients. Associations between a first-degree family history of NPC and overall survival (OS), locoregional relapse-free survival (LRFS) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) were estimated by Cox regression.

Results:

Among 1773 patients, 207 (11.7%) reported a first-degree family history of NPC. Compared with patients without a family history, the adjusted hazard ratios among those with it were 0.60 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.37–0.98; P=0.040) for OS, 0.52 (95% CI, 0.24–1.12; P=0.096) for LRFS and 0.51 (95% CI, 0.27–0.97; P=0.040) for DMFS. There were trends for improving OS, LRFS and DMFS with increasing number of affected relatives (P_trend: 0.050, 0.114 and 0.044, respectively). But no significant benefits of family history in second- or third-degree relatives were observed. In subgroup analysis, we observed the effects of family history with restriction to male patients and those of advanced stage and treated with conventional radiotherapy and addition of chemotherapy.

Conclusion:

A first-degree family history of NPC is associated with improved survival of patients.

First Report of Curvularia Leaf Blight on Curcuma wenyujin Caused by Curvularia clavata in China

Curcuma wenyujin Y.H. Chen & C. Ling is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb in the Zingiberaceae family. Commonly known as Wen yujin, the root is widely used for alleviating pain and protecting the liver. A severe leaf blight disease was observed in three C. wenyujin farms in Hainan Province of China in October 2010. The obvious symptoms of leaf blight, yellow to brown irregular lesions (1 to 20 cm) on C. wenyujin, usually began at the tips of leaves and the main veins. This disease, especially severe from August to October, caused heavy damage and 100% of mature plants (10 months old) in farms were infected. The disease was most severe when continuous cropping was performed and showed slight improvement when rotation was adopted. Farmers usually sprayed carbendazim (50% WP) and thiophanate-methyl (70% WP) to control this disease, but these treatments were not effective. To isolate the causal pathogen, diseased plants were collected in October 2010 from a field of the Hainan Branch Institute of Medicinal Plant Development in Hainan Province. Lesion tissue was removed from the border between symptomatic and healthy tissue, surface sterilized in 75% ethanol for 1 min, washed in three changes of sterile distilled water, transferred to potato dextrose agar (PDA) plates, and incubated at 28°C for 7 days. Single spore cultures of five isolates were obtained and identified as Curvularia clavata based on morphological characteristics (1). Conidia measured 20 to 29 × 7.5 to 10.5 μm (n = 100), were curved, 3-septate, and the third cell from the base was larger and darker than the others. Mycelia of single spore cultures growing on PDA for 5 days were used for DNA extraction using a plant genomic DNA kit (TIANGEN, Beijing). The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rDNA was amplified using primers ITS1 and ITS4. The amplicons were 562 bp in length (GenBank Accession No. JQ730852) and had 99% nucleotide identity with the GenBank Accession No. JN021115 and AF071336 of C. clavata. Pathogenicity tests were conducted using fresh and healthy detached Curcuma wenyujin leaves. Mycelial discs (10 mm) removed from a 5-day-old colony on PDA were used for inoculation. Each isolate was inoculated on three distinct leaves (two distinct inoculations per leaf). Three additional leaves inoculated with sterile PDA discs were used as control. Inoculated leaves were covered with a polythene film to maintain high humidity. Leaves in trays were kept in a growth chamber at 28°C and observed for symptom appearance every day. Five days after inoculation, inoculated leaves developed blight symptoms similar to those observed on naturally infected leaves. No symptoms were observed on non-inoculated leaves. C. clavata was reisolated from the inoculated leaves, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. C. clavata has been previously reported to be economically important on a number of other hosts (2). To our knowledge, this is the first report of Curvularia leaf blight on Curcuma wenyujin caused by C. clavata in China. References: (1) A. M Mandokhot et al. Eur. J. Plant Pathol.78:65, 1972. (2) T. Y. Zhang et al. Flora fungorum sinicorum: Beijing, China, 2010.

HMGB1 promotes the differentiation of Th17 via up-regulating TLR2 and IL-23 of CD14+ monocytes from patients with rheumatoid arthritis

High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is a non-histone nuclear protein that is released extracellulary and has been implicated in autoimmune disease. Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) signalling is thought to be essential for the inflammatory response and for immune disorders. In recent studies, enhanced HMGB1 and TLR2 expressions have been found in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), respectively. The aim of this study is to explore whether HMGB1 stimulation can up-regulate the expression of TLR2 on CD14(+) monocytes from patients with RA and to clarify the subsequent events involving Th17 cells and Th17 cell-associated cytokine changes. Our results showed that the frequency of CD14(+) cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) was obviously increased, and enhanced expression of TLR2 on CD14(+) monocytes was also found in patients with RA, compared with healthy controls with statistical significance (P < 0.001). In addition, the levels of IL-17, IL-23 and IL-6 in supernatants from cultured monocytes from patients and in patient's plasma were increased, and NF-κB, the downstream target of TLR2, also showed a marked elevation after monocytes were stimulated by HMGB1. This implies that the enhanced TLR2 pathway and Th17 cell polarization may be due to HMGB1 stimulation in rheumatoid arthritis.