Blastocytis sp. is the most common enteric protozoan in human, but its pathogenesis is still unclear. To study the infectious effects of Blastocytis sp. on tissue damage, we orally challenged the Sprague Dawley (SD) rats with different doses of Blastocytis subtype1 (ST1) and examined the histological changes. We found that there was no difference of disease incidence among the Blastocytis ST1-infected groups challenged with different doses of the protozoan. Histological results showed that the lamina propria was infected by Blastocytis ST1 in the vacuolar form, along with the mucus membrane slough and inflammatory cell infiltration into the lamina propria. Compared to the uninfected group, the histological scores were significantly higher in the infected groups. However, groups infected with various doses of Blastocystis ST1 showed no difference in terms of histological scores. In conclusion, this study indicates that the SD rats can be easily infected with Blastocytis ST1 even with low dose of cysts, and the histopathological effects of the infection in the intestine of the infected rats show individual differences.

No abstract

Background: This study explored the differences, correlation, and consistency between blood glucose levels measured using an arterial blood gas analyzer and a rapid blood glucose meter in critically ill patients.Methods: A total of 73 critically ill patients admitted to the Department of Critical Care Medicine, from October to December 2016 were enrolled in this study. The patient's arterial blood glucose was measured by arterial blood gas analyzer, while peripheral blood glucose was measured by a rapid blood glucose meter (via the non-infusion limb). The correlation between indicators was analyzed using the linear regression model. Bland-Altman was performed to evaluate the agreement of the two methods for measuring blood glucose. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results:The blood glucose values measured using the arterial blood gas analyzer was significantly different from the values obtained using the rapid blood glucose meter (P=0.000). Regression analysis showed that R2 was 0.857 and β was 0.324 (P=0.000). Bland-Altman plot analysis showed that arterial blood glucose values obtained using the arterial blood gas analyzer were higher than the peripheral blood glucose values obtained using the rapid blood glucose meter on the non-infused limb, with 2.74% of dots lying outside the 95% limit of agreement and the maximum absolute value (2.30 mmol/L) of blood glucose difference within the limit of agreement. The blood glucose levels measured using the two different methods showed good agreement. Conclusions:The difference in blood glucose values measured using the two different measurement methods was statistically significant, but the maximum absolute value (2.30 mmol/L) of blood glucose difference within the limit of agreement, which is acceptable in the clinical setting. In clinical care, it is not necessary to repeat a measure of the patient's capillary blood glucose (CBG) using the rapid blood glucose meter after the blood glucose levels have been measured with the arterial blood gas analyzer, thereby reducing the associated pain and inconvenience for the patients.

Objective: Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is widely used as an orthopedic implant material owing to its good biocompatibility and mechanical strength; however, PEEK implants are biologically inert, resulting in suboptimal cellular responses after implantation. The aim of this study was to enhance the biological activity of PEEK through sulfonation treatment. Methods: In this study, distal phalangeal implants of PEEK were customized by fused deposition modeling (FDM) printing technology and soaked in concentrated sulfuric acid at different times to obtain sulfonated PEEK (SPEEK). The groups were divided into five groups according to the sulfonation time as follows: 0 min (control group), 1 min (group SPEEK1), 2 min (group SPEEK2), 4 min (group SPEEK4), and 8 min (group SPEEK8). Then the physicochemical characteristics of implants were determined by SEM, XRD, EDS, etc. The implants were co-cultured with stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED), and then the cell proliferation, adhesion, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, and alizarin red staining were performed to detect the biological activity, biocompatibility, and osteogenic activity of the SPEEK implants. Results: The sulfonation time range of 1 to 8 min could promote the formation of micropores on the surface of PEEK implants, while slightly affecting the composition and compression performance of the implants. Compared with the control group, the hydrophilicity of PEEK materials was not improved after sulfonation treatment. Tests for adhesion and proliferation of SHED indicated that SPEEK2 showed superior biocompatibility. Furthermore, ALP activity and semi-quantitative analysis of Alizarin red staining showed that the osteogenic activity of SPEEK2 phalanges exhibited significantly stronger osteogenic activity than the other groups. Conclusion: The method presented here provides a promising approach to improve the surface bioactivity of PEEK implants prepared by FDM, providing a shred of primary evidence to support the application of SPEEK in orthopedics.

Background Liuwei Dihuang Pill (LP) was verified to alleviate postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMOP) development. Nevertheless, the major constituent of LP and the related network pharmacology study remain unexplored. Methods Protein–protein interaction was established to identify the downstream target of LP in PMOP, and the related signaling pathway was investigated by bioinformatics analysis. MC3T3-E1 cells were added to ferric ammonium citrate (FAC) to mimic osteoporosis in vitro. The osteoblasts were identified by Alizarin red staining. Western blot was applied to evaluate protein levels. In addition, Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8) assay was applied to assess cell viability, and cell apoptosis was assessed by flow cytometry. Results Quercetin was the major constituent of LP. In addition, quercetin significantly reversed FAC-induced inhibition of osteogenic differentiation in MC3T3-E1 cells. In addition, quercetin notably abolished the FAC-induced upregulation of Bax, Caspase-3, FOS, JUN, TGFB1 and PPARD. In contrast, Bcl-2, p-mTOR/mTOR, p-AKT/AKT and p-PI3K/PI3K levels in MC3T3-E1 cells were reduced by FAC, which was restored by quercetin. Meanwhile, FAC notably inhibited the viability of MC3T3-E1 cells via inducing apoptosis, but this impact was abolished by quercetin. Furthermore, quercetin could reverse pcDNA3.1-FOS-mediated growth of FAC-treated osteoblasts by mediating PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling. Conclusion Quercetin alleviated the progression of PMOP via activation of PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling. Hence, this study would shed novel insights into discovering new methods against PMOP.