<b><i>Background:</i></b> Previous studies on polymorphisms in interleukin-1 (<i>IL-1</i>) and the risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA)/systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) yielded inconsistent results. <b><i>Objectives:</i></b> The authors performed this meta-analysis to more robustly evaluate associations between polymorphisms in the <i>IL-1</i> gene and the risk of RA/SLE. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, Wanfang, VIP, and CNKI were systematically searched for eligible studies, and 34 relevant studies were finally selected to be eligible for inclusion. <b><i>Results:</i></b> We found that <i>IL-1A</i> +4845G/T polymorphism was significantly associated with the risk of RA in the overall population (dominant comparison: <i>p</i> = 0.02; overdominant comparison: <i>p</i> = 0.05; allele comparison: <i>p</i> = 0.04), whereas <i>IL-1B</i> +3954C/T polymorphism was significantly associated with the risk of RA in the overall population (overdominant comparison: <i>p</i> = 0.03; allele comparison: <i>p</i> = 0.01) and Asians (recessive comparison: <i>p</i> = 0.007; allele comparison: <i>p</i> = 0.002). In addition, we found that <i>IL-1A</i> –889C/T polymorphism was significantly associated with the risk of SLE in Caucasians (allele comparison: <i>p</i> = 0.04), <i>IL-1B</i> –31T/C polymorphism was significantly associated with the risk of SLE in the overall population (recessive comparison: <i>p</i> = 0.04), and <i>IL-1B</i> –511C/T polymorphism was significantly associated with the risk of SLE in Asians (recessive comparison: <i>p</i> = 0.01; allele comparison: <i>p</i> = 0.03). <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> This meta-analysis suggests that <i>IL-1A</i> +4845G/T and <i>IL-1B</i> +3954C/T polymorphisms may influence the risk of RA, whereas <i>IL-1A</i> –889C/T, <i>IL-1B</i> –31T/C, and <i>IL-1B</i> –511C/T polymorphisms may influence the risk of SLE.

Objective: To clarify if musculoskeletal ultrasound (US) would give additional information for the clinical examination to diagnose and evaluate the activity of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Methods: A literature search was performed in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, Sinomed, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CINK), and Wanfang databases from their inceptions to May 15, 2020. Studies that examined the musculoskeletal US, which detected sacroiliac joints in people with AS were included. The pooled analyses were performed using Meta Disc version 1.4 software. Results: A total of 9 studies encompassing 984 participants were included. Statistical analysis suggested an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.9259 (sensitivity 0.86, specificity 0.54) indicating that US had excellent diagnostic test accuracy for AS, an AUC of 0.6441 (sensitivity 0.87, specificity 0.51) indicating that the US did not have a good diagnostic test accuracy for AS activity. A subgroup analysis revealed that the AUC of power Doppler US (PDUS) and color Doppler US (CDUS) was 0.5000 and 0.9274, respectively, indicating that CDUS was superior to PDUS. Conclusion: US, especially CDUS, is a valid and reproducible technique for the diagnosis of AS. While the accuracy of AS activity evaluation of the US is not ideal. It may be considered for routine use as part of the standard diagnostic tools in AS.

We aimed to evaluate the effects of mecobalamin on the cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury of spontaneously hypertensive stroke prone rats. 72 male rats were randomly divided into control group, model group, nimodipine group, high-dose mecobalamin group, middle-dose mecobalamin group and low-dose mecobalamin group (n=12). All groups were administrated intragastrically every morning once a day for 7 continuous days. The model of 2 h of focal cerebral ischemia and 24 h of reperfusion was established by blocking middle cerebral artery. Neurological deficits were graded with reference to the Longa method. Cerebral edema was determined using the wet-dry weighing method. The volume of cerebral infarction was measured by triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining and the levels of tumour necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-1 beta and interleukin-8 were measured by radioimmunoassay. High and middle-dose mecobalamin significantly reduced the volume of cerebral infarction, alleviated cerebral edema and improved nerve function compared with those of the model group (p<0.05). Compared with the model group, high and middle-dose mecobalamin significantly reduced the levels of tumour necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-1 beta and interleukin-8 in cerebral tissue (p<0.05). Mecobalamin protected spontaneously hypertensive stroke prone rats from cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury, which may be related to the decreased levels of tumour necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-1 beta and interleukin-8 in cerebral tissue.