OBJECTIVE To explore the profiles of Th1, Th2, Th17 and Regulatory T (Treg) cells in patients with chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). METHODS Samples of peripheral blood were collected from 35 chronic ITP patients (21 in an active stage group, 5 in a non-remission stage group, 9 in a remission stage group) and also from 18 healthy subjects. Flow cytometry was used to measure the intracellular cytokines interferon (IFN)gamma, interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-17 so as to identify the Th1, Th2 and IL-17 cells. Treg cells were identified with CD(4)(+) CD(25)(+) Foxp3(+) cells and uncultured peripheral blood was used to measure the CD(4)(+) CD(+)(25) Foxp3(+) cells with flow cytometry. The concentrations of IFNgamma, IL-4, IL-17 and IL-10 in plasma specimens were detected with ELISA method and its correlation with peripheral platelets counts and megakaryocytes number was analyzed, respectively. RESULTS There were no statistically significant differences between any two of the three groups for the percentage of Th1 cells, Th17 cells and Th1/Th17 ratio. The percentage of Th2 cells was (1.01 +/- 0.88)% in active stage and (1.22 +/- 1.04)% in non-remission stage, being significantly decreased than those in remission stage (1.93 +/- 1.04)% (P < 0.05) and the controls (1.86 +/- 0.59)% (P < 0.05). Th1/Th2 ratio was 15.04 +/- 9.67 in active stage, 11.65 +/- 9.32 in non-remission stage, which were significantly higher than those in remission stage (7.17 +/- 5.38, P < 0.05) and the controls (7.02 +/- 3.01, P < 0.05). The percentage of Treg cells was (0.89 +/- 0.58)% in active stage and (1.46 +/- 1.27)% in non-remission stage, being significantly decreased than those in remission stage (6.41 +/- 1.86)% (P < 0.01) and the control (5.73 +/- 0.71)% (P < 0.01). There was no statistic difference between any two of the three groups for plasma IFNgamma and IL-17 level. The plasma IL-4 level was (2.25 +/- 2.05) ng/L in active stage and (2.33 +/- 2.14) ng/L in non-remission stage, being significantly decreased than those in remission stage (6.00 +/- 4.57) ng/L (P < 0.05) and the controls (5.54 +/- 4.00) ng/L (P < 0.05). The plasma IL-10 level was (5.07 +/- 4.10) ng/L in active stage and (5.66 +/- 4.35) ng/L in non-remission stage, being significantly decreased than those in remission stage (10.92 +/- 6.17) ng/L (P < 0.01) and the controls (14.21 +/- 7.31) ng/L (P < 0.01). The plasma level of IL-10 in patients in active stage was positively related to the platelet counts (r = 0.16, P = 0.03). CONCLUSION Deficiency of Treg cells might be one of mechanisms that cause immune regulation dysfunction in chronic ITP. Th17 cells might not play a role in the development of chronic ITP.
Objectives . To investigate the value of cerebrospinal fluid chloride (CSF‐Cl), cerebrospinal fluid glucose (CSF‐GS), cerebrospinal fluid microalbumin (CSF‐MALB), and cerebrospinal fluid adenosine deaminase (CSF‐ADA) in the differential diagnosis of secondary hydrocephalus. Methods . 103 patients with secondary hydrocephalus treated in our hospital from January 2018 to April 2022 were selected. According to different types, it is divided into the hemorrhagic hydrocephalus group and tumor hydrocephalus group. By detecting the levels of inflammatory factors such as CSF‐Cl, CSF‐GS, CSF‐MALB, and CSF‐ADA in the two groups, we can analyze the value of these inflammatory factors in the differential diagnosis of secondary hydrocephalus. Results . The level of CSF‐MALB in the hemorrhagic hydrocephalus group was significantly higher than that in the tumor hydrocephalus group, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant ( P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the levels of CSF‐Cl, CSF‐GS, and CSF‐ADA between the two groups ( P > 0.05). The area under ROC curve (AUC) of CSF‐Cl, CSF‐GS, CSF‐MALB, and CSF‐ADA in the differential diagnosis of secondary hydrocephalus was 0.438, 0.553, 0.750, and 0.542, respectively, sensitivity was 15.1%, 45.3%, 79.2%, and 18.9%, respectively, and specificity was 96.0%, 80.0%, 80.0%, and 94.0%, respectively. Conclusions . The inflammatory reaction of hemorrhagic hydrocephalus was significantly greater than that of tumor hydrocephalus. Moreover, CSF‐MALB is closely related to the pathogenesis of hemorrhagic hydrocephalus. At the same time, CSF‐MALB can be used as a good index for rapid differential diagnosis of secondary hydrocephalus.
Abstract Objectives T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) defines a group of hematological malignancies with heterogeneous aggressiveness and highly variable outcome, making therapeutic decisions a challenging task. We tried to discover new predictive model for T-ALL before treatment. Methods A specific pipeline designed to discover aberrantly active genes was applied here on the RNA-sequencing data of 109 T-ALL patients from our multicenter clinical study. A prognostic classifying test, based on the detection of the combined expression of a subset of these genes was designed and further validated in an additional cohort of 32 adult T-ALL patients by using RT-qPCR. Results The expression of 18 genes was significantly associated with shorter survival, including ACTRT2, GOT1L1, SPATA45, TOPAZ1 and ZPBP (5-GEC), which were used as a basis to design a prognostic classifier for T-ALL patients. The molecular characterization of the 5-GEC positive T-ALL unveiled specific characteristics inherent to the most aggressive T leukemic cells, including a drastic shut-down of genes located on the mitochondrial genome and an upregulation of histone genes. These cases fail to respond to the induction treatment, since 5-GEC either predicted positive minimal residual disease (MRD) or a short-term relapse in MRD negative patients. Conclusion Overall, our investigations led to the discovery of a homogenous group of leukemic cells with profound alterations of their biology. It also resulted in an accurate predictive tool that could significantly improve the management of T-ALL patients.
Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is a model for synergistic target cancer therapy using all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and arsenic trioxide (ATO), which yields a very high 5-year overall survival (OS) rate of 85 to 90%. Nevertheless, about 15% of APL patients still get early death or relapse. We performed this study to address the possible impact of additional gene mutations on the outcome of APL.We included a consecutive series of 266 cases as training group, and then validated the results in a testing group of 269 patients to investigate the potential prognostic gene mutations, including FLT3-ITD or -TKD, N-RAS, C-KIT, NPM1, CEPBA, WT1, ASXL1, DNMT3A, MLL (fusions and PTD), IDH1, IDH2 and TET2.More high-risk patients (50.4%) carried additional mutations, as compared with intermediate- and low-risk ones. The mutations of epigenetic modifier genes were associated with poor prognosis in terms of disease-free survival in both training (HR = 6.761, 95% CI 2.179-20.984; P = 0.001) and validation (HR = 4.026, 95% CI 1.089-14.878; P = 0.037) groups. Sanz risk stratification was associated with CR induction and OS.In an era of ATRA/ATO treatment, both molecular markers and clinical parameter based stratification systems should be used as prognostic factors for APL.
Abstract GATA2, a key transcription factor in hematopoiesis, is frequently mutated in hematopoietic malignancies. How the GATA2 mutants contribute to hematopoiesis and malignant transformation remains largely unexplored. Here, we report that Gata2- L359V mutation impeded hematopoietic differentiation in murine embryonic and adult hematopoiesis and blocked murine chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cell differentiation. We established a Gata2- L359V knockin mouse model in which the homozygous Gata2- L359V mutation caused major defects in primitive erythropoiesis with an accumulation of erythroid precursors and severe anemia, leading to embryonic lethality around E11.5. During adult life, the Gata2- L359V heterozygous mice exhibited a notable decrease in bone marrow (BM) recovery under stress induction with cytotoxic drug 5-fluorouracil. Using RNA sequencing, it was revealed that homozygous Gata2- L359V suppressed genes related to embryonic hematopoiesis in yolk sac, while heterozygous Gata2- L359V dysregulated genes related to cell cycle and proliferation in BM Lin - Sca1 + c-kit + cells. Furthermore, through chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing and transactivation experiments, we found that this mutation enhanced the DNA-binding capacity and transcriptional activities of Gata2, which was likely associated with the altered expression of some essential genes during embryonic and adult hematopoiesis. In mice model harboring BCR/ABL , single-cell RNA-sequencing demonstrated that Gata2- L359V induced additional gene expression profile abnormalities and partially affected cell differentiation at the early stage of myelomonocytic lineage, evidenced by the increase of granulocyte–monocyte progenitors and monocytosis. Taken together, our study unveiled that Gata2- L359V mutation induces defective hematopoietic development and blocks the differentiation of CML cells.
<i>Background:</i> For those patients who are not candidates for allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) or who do not have an HLA-matched donor, it is unclear whether consolidation therapy with autologous SCT results in a survival benefit compared with further intensive post-remission non-myeloablative chemotherapy or no further therapy. <i>Methods:</i> A meta-analysis evaluating autologous SCT versus further chemotherapy or no treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first complete remission (CR1) was completed. The search used the following combined search terms in Medline, Embase, the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, the Cochrane Library, the Web of Science and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure. <i>Results:</i> Overall, 13 studies of 12 randomized controlled trials were identified. Four studies were in pediatric patients and 9 were in adults. For adults, AML in CR1 compared with non-SCT, lower relapse and higher transplantation-related mortality were associated with autologous SCT, a significant disease-free survival benefit of autologous SCT was documented, and there was no difference in overall survival when studies were pooled. For pediatric AML in CR1, there were no differences in relapse, transplantation-related mortality, disease-free survival and overall survival. Significantly less survival from relapse impairment was found for autologous SCT. <i>Conclusion:</i> Our results support the conclusion that autologous SCT should not be considered as the first-line post-remission therapy for AML patients in CR1.