Influence of LncRNA NKILA on Bloodstream Infection of Hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae and Its Ability to Induce Delayed Neutrophil Apoptosis

Objective. Pneumonia due to hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (hvKP) is a high-risk subtype of pneumonia with high mortality and disability rates. An in-depth understanding of hvKP’s pathogenic process and mechanism of action is the focus of achieving early disease diagnosis and early symptomatic treatment. This study conducted a preliminary analysis on the influence of lncRNA NKILA (NKILA) on hvKP, aiming at providing a new approach to the diagnosis and treatment of hvKP and laying a reliable foundation for subsequent NKILA-related studies. Methods. Selected from our hospital from October 2016 to February 2018, 67 patients who were examined for the pathogenic microorganisms of alveolar lavage fluid were selected as the research subjects. Among them, 29 were diagnosed as hvKP (research group), and the other 38 had no pathogenic bacteria (control group). Serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) NKILA and inflammatory factors were detected, and the clinical significance of NKILA was analyzed. In addition, neutrophils from research group were extracted and NKILA expression was increased to observe the alterations in cell apoptosis, respiratory burst intensity, and NF-kappa B inhibitor alpha (NF-κB) p65 protein. Results. Serum and BALF levels of NKILA and inflammatory factors were higher in research group than in control group, and NKILA decreased in both cohorts after treatment ( P < 0.05 ). NKILA had an excellent predictive effect on the occurrence of hvKP ( P < 0.001 ) and was positively correlated with inflammatory factors ( P < 0.05 ). Prognostic follow-up revealed that NKILA also had a good predictive value for death in hvKP patients ( P < 0.05 ), and increased posttreatment levels predicted an increased risk of death ( P < 0.05 ). In vitro, increased NKILA hindered the delayed apoptosis rate, decreased respiratory burst intensity of hvKP neutrophils, and activated NF-κB p65 protein ( P < 0.05 ). Conclusion. With an elevated expression profile in hvKP, NKILA can induce the delayed apoptosis of neutrophils, enhance the ability of releasing inflammatory mediators, and promote the progression of hvKP via activating NF-κB p65.

Trends and developments in oral health literacy: a scientometric research study (1991–2020)

Objective This study aimed to establish the current situation, intellectual base, hotspots, development trends, and frontiers of oral health literacy (OHL) from the literature. Methods We analyzed 1505 bibliographic records dated between January 1990 and December 2020 retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection and the Scopus database. We used CiteSpace for word frequency analysis, co-occurrence analysis, co-citation analysis, clustering analysis, and burst analysis. Results The total number of publications increased year-on-year, with the majority of publications coming from the USA. Most studies focused on the relationship between (oral) health literacy and oral health, and the development of OHL instruments. The top 10 keywords by frequency were “health literacy”, “oral health”, “attitude to health”, “dental caries”, “adult”, “children”, “dental care”, “knowledge”, “questionnaire”, and “adolescent”. The keyword with the highest burst intensity was “dental health education”. Conclusions OHL research is a thriving field. The field is focused on the development of an OHL instrument and health promotion practice. Strategic cooperation among countries, institutions, authors, hospitals, and communities will be important to encourage further OHL research and address oral health problems.

Respiratory Burst and TNF-α Receptor Expression of Neutrophils after Sepsis and Severe Injury-Induced Inflammation in Children

Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) is defined as the systemic host response to infection or a non-infectious factor. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the involvement of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in severe inflammation and to assess the discrimination strength of the neutrophil BURSTTEST assay regarding its etiology in three groups of patients (sepsis, burns, and bone fractures) who met the SIRS criteria. The neutrophil activation (respiratory burst of granulocytes as well as p55 and p75 tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) receptor expression) was evaluated twice using flow cytometry, and the results were compared with healthy controls and among SIRS subjects. A decreased oxygen metabolism in neutrophils after E.coli stimulation and increased TNF-α receptor expression were found in septic and burned patients on admission, while ROS production augmented and TNF-α receptor expression diminished with the applied therapy. The significant differences in neutrophil respiratory burst intensity among septic and burned patients and those with sepsis and bone fractures were found (however, there were not any such differences between patients with thermal and mechanical injuries). This study indicates that the neutrophil BURSTTEST evaluation might be a clinically reliable marker for differentiating the SIRS etiology.

Phagocytic activity of blood monocytes in response to methicillin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus

Current study performed to estimate the phagocytic activity of blood monocytes of varying phenotypes exposed to MRSA and MSSA strains. Objects: Blood monocytes were collected from 25 healthy adults (age: 25–45 years). Live suspensions of MRSA/MSSA strains were used at concentration of 106 colony-forming units (CFU)/mL. Metods. Phagocytic functions were estimated by using fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labelled MRSA and MSSA strains followed by running flow cytometry on FC 500 series flow cytometer (Beckman Coulter, USA). Whole peripheral blood cells were directly labelled with immunofluorescently tagged monoclonal CD14-PE/CD45-ECD/HLA-DR-PC5/CD16-PC7 antibodies (Beckman Coulter, USA). Respiratory burst intensity was evaluated in monocytes by measuring activity of lucigeninand luminol-dependent spontaneous and induced chemiluminescence. Monocytes were induced by using live suspension of MRSA/MSSA strains at a concentration of 106 CFU/mL. Results and discussion. While studying luminol-dependent monocyte activities after exposure to MRSA vs. MSSA, it was observed a 3.5-fold decreased curve square, whereas lucigenin-dependent chemiluminescence was increased by 6-fold. Compared to MSSA exposure, index of activation (IA) was decreased by 1.1-fold in response to MRSA exposure that was confirmed by lowered release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) from monocytes in response to MRSA exposure. Moreover, IRSS increased by 1.3-fold upon MRSA exposure. Examining monocyte oxygen-independent phagocytosis against MRSA vs. MSSA revealed significantly increased phagocytic number and concomitantly decreased phagocytic index. An evaluation of the activities of various monocyte subsets in response to MRSA vs. MSSA revealed increased phagocytic index by 1.5-fold for CD14lowCD16+ and CD14+CD16+ monocyte subsets as well as 3-fold for CD14+CD16– monocytes. Counts for all phagocytic subsets were decreased (1.4-, 1.5- and 4-fold for CD14lowCD16+, CD14+CD16+ and CD14+CD16– monocytes, respectively). To summarize, intensity of the respiratory burst was lowered upon MRSA exposure and percentage of monocyte subsets. Overall deficiency of superoxide anion production was observed in response to MRSA. In contrast, oxygen-independent event revealed phenotypic changes in frequency of peripheral blood monocytes upon MRSA exposure. We observed that CD14+CD16– classical monocytes were more rapidly activated. Conclusion. Thus, we concluded that CD14+CD16– monocytes became more rapidly activated but exhibited less effective phagocytosis, whereas CD14+CD16+ and CD14lowCD16+ monocytes were more slowly activated and demonstrated stronger phagocytic activity.

Multiresponsive Hybrid Microparticles for Stimuli-Responsive Delivery of Bioactive Compounds

Hybrid microparticles based on an iron core and an amphiphilic polymeric shell have been prepared to respond simultaneously to magnetic and ultrasonic fields and variation in the surrounding pH to trigger and modulate the delivery of doxorubicin. The microparticles have been developed in four steps: (i) synthesis of the iron core; (ii) surface modification of the core; (iii) conjugation with the amphiphilic poly(lactic acid)-grafted chitosan; and (iv) doxorubicin loading. The particles demonstrate spherical shape, a size in the range of 1–3 µm and surface charge that is tuneable by changing the pH of the environment. The microparticles demonstrate good stability in simulated physiological solutions and are able to hold up to 400 µg of doxorubicin per mg of dried particles. The response to ultrasound and the changes in the shell structure during exposure to different pH levels allows the control of the burst intensity and release rate of the payload. Additionally, the magnetic response of the iron core is preserved despite the polymer coat. In vitro cytotoxicity tests performed on fibroblast NIH/3T3 demonstrate a reduction in the cell viability after administration of doxorubicin-loaded microparticles compared to the administration of free doxorubicin. The application of ultrasound causes a burst in the release of the doxorubicin from the carrier, causing a decrease in cell viability. The microparticles demonstrate in vitro cytocompatibility and hemocompatibility at concentrations of up to 50 and 60 µg/mL, respectively.

Dynamics of Notch-dependent transcriptional bursting in its native context

Transcription is well known to be inherently stochastic and episodic, but the regulation of transcriptional dynamics is not well understood. Here we analyze how Notch signaling modulates transcriptional bursting during animal development. Our focus is Notch regulation of transcription in germline stem cells of the nematode C. elegans. Using the MS2 system to visualize nascent transcripts and live imaging to record dynamics, we analyze bursting as a function of position within the intact animal. We find that Notch-dependent transcriptional activation is indeed bursty; that wild-type Notch modulates burst duration (ON-time) rather than duration of pauses between bursts (OFF-time) or mean burst intensity; and that a mutant Notch receptor, which is compromised for assembly into the Notch transcription factor complex, primarily modifies burst size (duration x intensity). To our knowledge, this work is the first to visualize regulation of metazoan transcriptional bursting by a canonical signaling pathway in its native context.

Sputum characteristics and evaluation of airways inflammation peculiarities in patients with bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Background. The aim of the study was to investigate cellular phenotypes of the spontaneous sputum, estimate possibilities of cytological sputum analysis in evaluation of airways inflammation peculiarities in comparison with the expired nitric oxide level and respiratory function tests. Materials and methods. functional properties of neutrophils were evaluated by respiratory burst intensity. 72 patients were included, 23 - with moderate bronchial asthma course and chronic bronchitis, 18 - with moderate bronchial asthma and COPD, 31 patient had COPD only. All patients were examined in the exacerbation period, all of them had productive cough. Results. Cytological phenotypes were stated as well as the links between different sputum cells presence and between cytological peculiarities, inflammation and functional state of the respiratory system. Functional defects of neutrophils were found in COPD patients.

The role of leg touchdown for the control of locomotor activity in the walking stick insect

Much is known on how select sensory feedback contributes to the activation of different motoneuron pools in the locomotor control system of stick insects. However, even though activation of the stance phase muscles depressor trochanteris, retractor unguis, flexor tibiae and retractor coxae is correlated with the touchdown of the leg, the potential sensory basis of this correlation or its connection to burst intensity remains unknown. In our experiments, we are using a trap door setup to investigate how ground contact contributes to stance phase muscle activation and burst intensity in different stick insect species, and which afferent input is involved in the respective changes. While the magnitude of activation is changed in all of the above stance phase muscles, only the timing of the flexor tibiae muscle is changed if the animal unexpectedly steps into a hole. Individual and combined ablation of different force sensors on the leg demonstrated influence from femoral campaniform sensilla on flexor muscle timing, causing a significant increase in the latencies during control and air steps. Our results show that specific load feedback signals determine the timing of flexor tibiae activation at the swing-to-stance transition in stepping stick insects, but that additional feedback may also be involved in flexor muscle activation during stick insect locomotion. With respect to timing, all other investigated stance phase muscles appear to be under sensory control other than that elicited through touchdown.