No abstract

Aim: Our previous study confirmed the defect of B7-H4 expression in peripheral blood and salivary glands of patients with primary Sj€ ogren's syndrome (pSS). The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of the deficit expression of B7-H4 on CD4 + T cells.Methods: CD4 + T cells were purified by magnetic-activated cell sorting MACS. The proliferation and cytokine production of CD4 + T cells co-cultured with purified salivary gland epithelial cells (SGECs) from pSS or non-SS sicca syndrome were detected.Results: By co-culturing the gland cells with CD4 + T cells, we found the proliferation of CD4 + T cells was significantly suppressed. The effect was weaker when SGECs from pSS patients were used compared to that from nonpSS sicca syndrome controls. Simultaneously, the productions of cytokines interleukin (IL)-5, IL-13, IL-17A, IL-6 in supernatant were reduced and also SGECs from pSS patients decreased them less than that from non-SS controls. Conclusions:The decrease of B7-H4 expression in salivary glands of SS patients contributes to the defect of negatively regulating the inflammation caused by CD4 + T cells, thereby providing new insights into the role of B7-H4 in the inflammatory process of salivary glands in SS.

In the traditional Chinese medicine, polysaccharide of Hippophae rhamnoides (also known as sea buckthorn) has been widely used for the treatment of liver injuries or cardiovascular problems. The effect of the polysaccharide of H. rhamnoides on kidney injury in rats with severe acute pancreatitis induced by biliopancreatic duct injection with sodium taurocholate was examined. The rats with severe acute pancreatitis showed series of degenerative changes in pancreas and kidney including inflammatory cell infiltration, edema, and necrosis that were diminished following treatment with the polysaccharide of Hippophae rhamnoides. Furthermore, sodium taurocholate injection also aggravated renal function with enhanced levels of proinflammatory cytokines, blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, and serum levels of amylase and lipase that were ameliorated by the polysaccharide. There was an upregulation of cleaved caspase-3 and Bax, as well as downregulation of Bcl-2, in the rats model with SAP that diminished following polysaccharide treatment. Lastly, there was an activation of MAPK/NF-κB pathway in the rats exhibiting severe acute pancreatitis that was repressed by the polysaccharide of Hippophae rhamnoides.

The progressive loss of renal function and accumulation of collagen leads to CKD. Human BM-MSCs are considered as an ideal therapeutic strategy for renal regeneration in the CKD. Polysaccharides extracted from Poria cocos, an edible medicinal mushroom, have been in use in the traditional Chinese herbal medicine as they exhibit antidiabetic, antioxidative, antitumor, and other pharmacological effects. Whether the polysaccharides of P. cocos could ameliorate the CKD via induction of BM-MSC differentiation remains to be explored. The data presented here show that the polysaccharides of P. cocos not only induced BM-MSC proliferation and differentiation, but also reduced the levels of proinflammatory cytokines and improved renal morphology.