Introduction: The association between pet ownership in childhood and asthma and allergies is very controversial. Our objective was to determine the effects of exposure to cat or dog allergens or both cat and dog allergens on asthma, rhinitis and eczema in a large number of schoolchildren in Shijiazhuang City in Hebei Province in China, which is part of a major longitudinal Chinese study on childhood asthma and allergies.
Body: We studied 10824 schoolchildren, boys and girls, aged 6- 18 years. We used the ISAAC questionnaire and we added questions regarding pet ownership. The prevalence rates of asthma and rhinitis symptoms were higher in children exposed to cats and dogs compared with children not exposed to cats and dogs (wheeze ever 6.1% vs 5.6%; current wheeze 2.4% vs 1.7%; exercise-induced wheezing 4.7% vs 2.9%, P<0.001; cough 12.5% vs 10.9%, P=0.05; ever rhinitis 18.9% vs 12.5%, P<0.001; current rhinitis 13.1% vs 8.8%; rhinoconjunctivitis 3.3% vs 2.1%; hay fever 5.1% vs 4.1%, P=0.06, respectively). However, the prevalence of eczema was higher in children not exposed to cats and dogs compared with those exposed to cats and dogs (11.7% vs 10.5%, P=0.07). Children exposed to dogs had higher prevalence rates of most allergic disorders compared with children exposed to cats. The present study confirms the association between pets ownership and asthma and allergic symptoms in children and the protective effect of pet ownership on eczema.
There is a lack of information on the prevalence, severity and risk factors of asthma, rhinitis and eczema in Chinese children.To establish baseline data for a major longitudinal study of factors affecting asthma, rhinitis and eczema in a large group of children from the industrialized city of Shijiazhuang, China.We used the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire and studied 10 338 children, ages 6-18, from Shijiazhuang.The prevalence of childhood asthma, rhinitis and eczema is 1.2%, 13.5% and 11.8%, respectively. Boys had higher prevalence of these conditions than girls and younger children had higher prevalence of asthma and eczema but lower prevalence of rhinitis than older children. Breastfed children had lower prevalence of asthma and rhinitis, but not eczema, than non-breastfed children. Overweight children had higher prevalence of asthma and rhinitis than those who were not overweight. Children exposed to paternal smoking had higher prevalence of rhinitis and eczema than those not exposed; children exposed to pets had higher prevalence of asthma and rhinitis than those not exposed.The prevalence of asthma in this study group is low, but the prevalence of rhinitis is high, and could be considered a major public health problem. The prevalence of asthma, rhinitis and eczema is generally higher in boys and younger children generally have higher prevalence of asthma and eczema but lower prevalence of rhinitis. Exposure to pets is a risk factor for rhinitis, being overweight is a risk factor for asthma and rhinitis, and exposure to parental smoking is a risk factor for asthma, rhinitis and eczema in these children.
A detailed study on the scope of the efficient PtCl2-catalyzed synthesis of carbazoles from 1-(indol-2-yl)-2,3-allenols is described. Through isotopic labeling experiments, it is confirmed that the reaction proceeds through a unique metal carbene intermediate, which undergoes subsequent highly selective 1,2-hydrogen migration to afford carbazoles. The reaction shows wide scope and allows the introduction of a variety of different substituents at different positions on the carbazole due to the substituent-loading capability of both indole and the allene moiety.
NADPH oxidase-derived reactive oxygen species (ROS) regulates platelet function and thrombosis. It remains controversial regarding NOX2's role in platelet function. As a regulatory subunit for NOX2, whether p47phox regulates platelet function remains unclear. Our study intends to evaluate p47phox's role in platelet function. Platelets were isolated from wild-type or p47phox-/- mice followed by analysis of platelet aggregation, granule secretion, surface receptors expression, spreading, clot retraction and ROS generation. Additionally, in vivo hemostasis, arterial and venous thrombosis was assessed. Moreover, human platelets were treated with PR-39 to inhibit p47phox activity followed by analysis of platelet function. p47phox deficiency significantly prolonged tail-bleeding time, delayed arterial and venous thrombus formation in vivo as well as reduced platelet aggregation, ATP release and αIIbβ3 activation. In addition, p47phox-/- platelets presented impaired spreading on fibrinogen or collagen and defective clot retraction concomitant with decreased phosphorylation of Syk and PLCγ2. Moreover, CRP or thrombin-stimulated p47phox-/- platelets displayed reduced intracellular ROS generation which was further decreased after inhibition of NOX1. Meanwhile, p47phox deficiency increased VASP phosphorylation and decreased phosphorylation of ERK1/2, p38, ERK5 and JNK without affecting AKT and c-PLA2 phosphorylation. Furthermore, p47phox translocates to membrane to interact with both NOX1 and NOX2 after stimulation with CRP or thrombin. Finally, inhibition of p47phox activity by PR-39 reduced ROS generation, platelet aggregation and clot retraction in human platelets. In conclusion, p47phox regulates platelet function, arterial and venous thrombus formation and ROS generation, indicating that p47phox might be a novel therapeutic target for treating thrombotic or cardiovascular diseases.
Clodronate-liposomes (Clod-Lip) is an effective candidate drug for treating chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, autoimmune hemolytic anemia and immune thrombocytopenic purpura in mice experiments. But its role in hematopoietic recovery after acute myelosuppression is still unknown. We aim to explore the function and underlining mechanisms of Clod-Lip on hematopoietic reconstitution after sublethal dose irradiation in mice.Mice at 8-10 weeks received a total-body sublethal dose γ-irradiation (TBI) and injected with Clod-Lip or PBS-Liposomes (PBS-Lip) every 4 days after TBI. The survival rate of each group was recorded. Flow cytometry was used to analyze changes in hematopoietic stem cells and their progenies in bone marrow. ELISA and RT-qPCR were used for the analysis of hematopoietic regulatory factors. Regarding IL-1β inhibition, 25 mg/kg diacerein or an equal volume of DMSO was intraperitoneally injected into mice every day after TBI.In sublethal dose-irradiated mice, Clod-Lip reduced the survival rate, the total number of bone marrow and hematopoietic stem cells, delayed peripheral blood recovery of red blood cells and platelets. However, it could increase the number of CMP, MEP and myeloid cells, which suggested that Clod-Lip could induce HSC to myeloid differentiation in vivo. We further verified that Clod-Lip may induce myeloid differentiation by bone marrow microenvironmental factor IL-1β.In summary, this study suggested that Clod-Lip may aggravate inhibitor effect of hematopoietic function and promote myeloid differentiation in myelosuppression mice model.
In this paper, it was reported that double 1,2-addition reaction of 2,3-allenoates with allyl magnesium chloride at room temperature in the absence of any transition metal catalyst provides an efficient method for the synthesis of tertiary alpha-allenols. The optically active allenol could be prepared from the reaction of the optically active 2,3-allenoate without obvious racemization of the axial chirality. Under different reaction conditions, cyclization reactions of alpha-allenol 2i prepared have been studied for the synthesis of different 2,5-dihydrofuran derivatives.