Efficacy of Artemisia annua polysaccharides as an adjuvant to hepatitis C vaccination

The traditional Chinese medicine Artemisia annua can prevent and treat hepatitis following an unclear mechanism. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of A. annua polysaccharides (AAP) on hepatitis C virus (HCV). A pcDNA3.1/NS3 expression vector was constructed. Ninety female BALB/c mice were randomly divided into six groups: high-dose AAP (1 mg/mL) + HCV/NS3 plasmid; middle-dose AAP (0.5 mg/mL) + HCV/NS3 plasmid; low-dose AAP (0.1 mg/mL) + HCV/NS3 plasmid; HCV/NS3 plasmid; high-dose AAP (1 mg/mL); normal saline control (N = 15). Except the control group and the high-dose AAP group, other groups were inoculated with 50 μg pcDNA3.1-HCV/NS3 plasmid. Serum antigenic-specific antibody was detected after the last immunization, and the levels of secreted IFN-γ and IL-4 were measured. pcDNA3.1/NS3 plasmid was successfully constructed, and the extracted product contained HCV/NS3 sequence. Compared with single inoculation with HCV/NS3 DNA vaccine, the specific antibody levels induced by middle-dose AAP plus HCV/NS3 DNA vaccine were significantly different in weeks 1, 3 and 5 (P < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences in the antibody levels induced by high-dose and low-dose AAP as adjuvant compared with those of single inoculation with DNA vaccine (P > 0.05). The level of serum IFN-γ secretion was significantly higher than that of IL-4 secretion. Compared with the single HCV/NS3 DNA vaccine group, AAP plus HCV/NS3 DNA vaccine groups had significant increased IFN-γ levels (P < 0.05), but the IL-4 levels were not significantly different among these groups (P > 0.05). AAP, as the adjuvant of HCV/NS3 DNA vaccine, can widely regulate the humoral immunity and cellular immune function of normal and cyclophosphamide-induced immunocompromised mice. AAP can promote IFN-γ secretion probably by inducing Th1-type cellular immune response.

Hyperthyroid monkeys: a nonhuman primate model of experimental Graves' disease

Graves' disease (GD) is a common organ-specific autoimmune disease with the prevalence between 0.5 and 2% in women. Several lines of evidence indicate that the shed A-subunit rather than the full-length thyrotropin receptor (TSHR) is the autoantigen that triggers autoimmunity and leads to hyperthyroidism. We have for the first time induced GD in female rhesus monkeys, which exhibit greater similarity to patients with GD than previous rodent models. After final immunization, the monkeys injected with adenovirus expressing the A-subunit of TSHR (A-sub-Ad) showed some characteristics of GD. When compared with controls, all the test monkeys had significantly higher TSHR antibody levels, half of them had increased total thyroxine (T₄) and free T₄, and 50% developed goiter. To better understand the underlying mechanisms, quantitative studies on subpopulations of CD4+T helper cells were carried out. The data indicated that this GD model involved a mixed Th1 and Th2 response. Declined Treg proportions and increased Th17:Treg ratio are also observed. Our rhesus monkey model successfully mimicked GD in humans in many aspects. It would be a useful tool for furthering our understanding of the pathogenesis of GD and would potentially shorten the distance toward the prevention and treatment of this disease in human.

HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-DRB1 allele and haplotype frequencies in 6384 umbilical cord blood units and transplantation matching and engraftment statistics in the Zhejiang cord blood bank of China

Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is a widely accepted source of progenitor cells, and now, many cord blood banks were established. Here, we analysed the HLA-A, HLA-B and HLA-DRB1 allele and haplotype frequencies, HLA matching possibilities for searching potential donors and outcome of UCB transplantations in Zhejiang cord blood bank of China. A total of 6384 UCB units were characterized for 17 HLA-A, 30 HLA-B and 13 HLA-DRB1 alleles at the first field resolution level. Additionally, B*14, B*15 and B*40 were typed to the second field level. A total of 1372 distinct A-B-DRB1 haplotypes were identified. The frequencies of 7 haplotypes were more than 1%, and 439 haplotypes were <0.01%. A*02-B*46-DRB1*09, A*33-B*58-DRB1*03 and A*30-B*13-DRB1*07 were the most common haplotypes, with frequencies of 4.4%, 3.3%, and 2.9%, respectively. Linkage disequilibrium(LD) analysis showed that there were 83 A-B, 106 B-DRB1, 54 A-DRB1 haplotypes with positive LD, in which 51 A-B, 60 B-DRB1, 32 A-DRB1 haplotypes exhibited a significant LD (P < 0.05). In 682 search requests, 12.9%, 40.0% and 42.7% of patients were found to have 6 of 6, 5 of 6 and 4 of 6 HLA-A, HLA-B and HLA-DRB1 matching donors, respectively. A total of 30 UCB units were transplanted to 24 patients (3 patients not evaluated due to early death); 14 of 21 patients (66.7%) engrafted. This study reveals the HLA distribution and its transplantation application in the cord blood bank of Zhejiang province. These data can help to select potential UCB donors for transplantation and used to assess the scale of new cord blood banking endeavours.