Cortical thickness correlated with peripheral inflammatory cytokines in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

IntroductionAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rare, devastating neurodegenerative disease that affects upper and lower motor neurons, resulting in muscle atrophy, spasticity, hyperreflexia, and paralysis. Inflammation plays an important role in the development of ALS, and associated with rapid disease progression. Current observational studies indicate the thinning of cortical thickness in patients with ALS is associated with rapid disease progression and cognitive changes. However, the effects of inflammatory cytokines on cortical thickness in patients with ALS are unclear. Here, we investigated the relationship between inflammatory cytokines and cortical thickness in patients with ALS.MethodsWe evaluated 51 patients with ALS for inflammatory cytokines including interleukin (IL)-4, interferon (IFN)-α, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-5, IL-12, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, IL-6, IL-10, IL-8, IL-17, and IFN-γ and analyzed the correlation between these indicators and the ALS functional rating scale-revised (ALSFRS-R) score or disease progression rate (ΔFS score). Twenty-six patients with ALS and 26 controls were studied using whole-cortex analysis, and post-hoc analyses were performed to examine the correlation between brain cortical thickness and ALSFRS-R or ΔFS scores.ResultsIL-4, IFN-α, IL-1β, and IL-2 levels were significantly correlated with ALSFRS-R scores, and the IL-2 level was significantly correlated with ΔFS scores. After controlling for age and sex, the ALS group had thinner cortexes in multiple clusters across the brain than the control group. Further analyses revealed that cortical thickness in the right superior temporal and lingual gyrus regions was inversely correlated with ΔFS scores. There was a significant positive correlation between the clusters in the right lingual cortex and IL-2 level.ConclusionThese results suggest cortical thickness was reduced in patients with ALS in motor and non-motor cortical areas. Inflammatory factors (especially IL-2) were correlated with cortical thickness, and both were related to the disease progression rate, suggesting IL-2 plays an important role in ALS

Twelve-month specific IgG response to SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain among COVID-19 convalescent plasma donors in Wuhan

To investigate the duration of humoral immune response in convalescent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, we conduct a 12-month longitudinal study through collecting a total of 1,782 plasma samples from 869 convalescent plasma donors in Wuhan, China and test specific antibody responses. The results show that positive rate of IgG antibody against receptor-binding domain of spike protein (RBD-IgG) to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in the COVID-19 convalescent plasma donors exceeded 70% for 12 months post diagnosis. The level of RBD-IgG decreases with time, with the titer stabilizing at 64.3% of the initial level by the 9th month. Moreover, male plasma donors produce more RBD-IgG than female, and age of the patients positively correlates with the RBD-IgG titer. A strong positive correlation between RBD-IgG and neutralizing antibody titers is also identified. These results facilitate our understanding of SARS-CoV-2-induced immune memory to promote vaccine and therapy development

Author Correction: Twelve-month specific IgG response to SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain among COVID-19 convalescent plasma donors in Wuhan (Nature Communications, (2021), 12, 1, (4144), 10.1038/s41467-021-24230-5)

The original version of this Article contained an error in the abstract, which incorrectly read ‘The level of RBD-IgG decreases with time, with the titer stabilizing at 64.3% of the initial level by 9 month’. The correct version replaces this sentence with ‘The level of RBD-IgG decreases with time, with the titer stabilizing at 35.7% of the initial level by the 9th month’. This has been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article

SNHG17 drives malignant behaviors in astrocytoma by targeting miR-876-5p/ERLIN2 axis

Abstract Background Astrocytoma is a common tumor type in primary central nervous system and has a high death rate around the world. Aberrant expression of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) has been introduced by emerging studies to result in the development of diverse cancers. Methods RT-qPCR examined the expression of SNHG17, miR-876-5p and ERLIN2, and western blot evaluated ERLIN2 protein level. RNA pull down and luciferase reporter assays illustrated the relationships between SNHG17 and its downstream molecules. Results SNHG17 was up-regulated in astrocytoma cells. Moreover, SNHG17 silence could repress the proliferation, migration and invasion of astrocytoma cells. Besides, miR-876-5p was selected out as a downstream molecule of SNHG17 in astrocytoma. ERLIN2 was determined to be targeted by miR-876-5p. ERLIN2 mRNA and protein levels were lessened by miR-876-5p overexpression and SNHG17 silence. Additionally, miR-876-5p overexpression decelerated the biological processes of astrocytoma cells, so did ERLIN2 knockdown. More importantly, the impacts of SNHG17 down-regulation on the malignant behaviors of astrocytoma cells were counteracted by overexpressed ERLIN2 or inhibited miR-876-5p. Conclusions SNHG17 could induce the progression of astrocytoma by sponging miR-876-5p to elevate the expression of ERLIN2. This study indicated that SNHG17 has a high potential to be a therapeutic target for astrocytoma. </jats:sec

Repeatability of ocular surface vessel density measurements with optical coherence tomography angiography

Abstract Background To determine the repeatability of measurements of ocular surface vessel density in normal and diseased eyes using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Methods Ten normal eyes, 10 pinguecula eyes, and 10 pterygium eyes of 30 volunteers were subjected to OCTA (AngioVue Imaging System, Optovue, Inc.). For scanning, we used the corneal adapter module. Each eye was scanned three times in the nasal and temporal directions, separately. AngioVue software was used to generate the ocular surface vessel density. Ocular surface vessel density was defined as the proportion of vessel area with blood flow to the total measurement area (3 × 3 mm2). Intersession repeatability of the measurement was summarized as the coefficient of variation (CV), and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated by variance component models. Results The CVs were less than 5% in all subjects, and the ICCs exceeded 0.9; thus, all measurements showed good repeatability. The nasal vessels densities differed significantly between healthy eyes and eyes with pterygium (P &lt; 0.05); however, there was no significant difference between healthy eyes and eyes with pinguecula (P = 0.466). Conclusions These results suggest that measurement of ocular surface vessel density by OCTA in normal eyes and eyes with pterygium and pinguecula is repeatable. This preliminary research describes a quantitative and visual method for assessing vessel density of the ocular surface with a high level of consistency. </jats:sec