Objective: To determine whether gut microbiota, fatty metabolism and cytokines were associated with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP).Methods: In total, 29 preliminarily diagnosed ITP patients and 33 healthy volunteers were enrolled. Fecal bacterial were analyzed based on 16S rRNA sequencing. Plasma cytokines and motabolites were analyzed using flow cytometry and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), respectively.Results: Bacteroides, Phascolarctobacterium, and Lactobacillus were enriched at the genus level in ITP patients, while Ruminococcaceae UCG-002, Eubacterium coprostanoligeues, Megamonas, and Lachnospiraceae NC2004 were depleted. At the phylum level, the relative abundance of Proteobacteria and Chloroflexi increased in ITP patients, while Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio decreased. Plasma levels of 5-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (5-HETE), 6-trans-12-epi-leukotriene B4 (6t,12e-LTB₄), and resolvin D2 (RvD₂) were upregulated, and stachydrine, dowicide A, dodecanoylcarnitine were downregulated in ITP patients. Furthermore, RvD₂ is positively correlated with order Bacteroidetes VC2.1 Bac22, 5-HETE is positively correlated with genus Azospirillum, and 6t,12e-LTB₄ is positively correlated with genus Cupriavidus. In addition, stachydrine is positively correlated with family Planococcaceae, dowicide A is positively correlated with class MVP-15, and dodecanoylcarnitine is positively correlated with order WCHB1-41. Plasma levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were upregulated in ITP patients.Conclusion: Our study revealed a relationship between microbiota and fatty metabolism in ITP. Gut microbiota may participate in the pathogenesis of ITP through affecting cytokine secretion, interfering with fatty metabolism.

Background: Microglia, neuron, and vascular cells constitute a dynamic functional neurovascular unit, which exerts the crucial role in functional recovery after ischemic stroke. Paeoniflorin, the principal active component of Paeoniae Radix, has been verified to exhibit neuroprotective roles in cerebralischemic injury. However, the mechanisms underlying the regulatory function of Paeoniflorin on neurovascular unit after cerebral ischemia are still unclear. Methods: In this study, adult male rats were treated with Paeoniflorin following transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO), and then the functional behavioral tests (Foot-fault test and modified improved neurological function score, mNSS), microglial activation, neurogenesis and vasculogenesis were assessed. Results: The current study showed that Paeoniflorin treatment exhibited a sensorimotor functional recovery as suggested via the Foot-fault test and the enhancement of spatial learning as suggested by the mNSS in rat stroke model. Paeoniflorin treatment repressed microglial cell proliferation and thus resulted in a significant decrease in proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α. Compared with control, Paeoniflorin administration facilitated von Willebrand factor (an endothelia cell marker) and doublecortin (a neuroblasts marker) expression, indicating that Paeoniflorin contributed to neurogenesis and vasculogenesis in rat stroke model. Mechanistically, we verified that Paeoniflorin repressed JNK and NF-κB signaling activation. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that Paeoniflorin represses neuroinflammation and facilitates neurogenesis in rat stroke model and might be a potential drug for the therapy of ischemic stroke.

Introduction: Peripheral monocytes have been reported to correlate with clinical outcomes in various types of malignancies. Previous reports have also shown that acute-phase thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) plasma could induce the activation of monocytes. However, the significance of peripheral blood absolute monocyte count (AMC) in idiopathic TTP remains an unanswered question. The primary aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the prognostic value of AMC at admission in idiopathic TTP patients in remission.Methods: A total of 37 patients with idiopathic TTP who survived their first episode of the disease and achieved remission following treatment were eligible for inclusion in the study. SPSS and Stata were used to analysis.Results: There were 1 patient (2.7%) with low AMC (< 0.12 × 10⁹/L), 27 patients (73.0%) with normal AMC (0.12–0.80 × 10⁹/L), and 9 patients (24.3%) with high AMC (> 0.80 × 10⁹/L) at admission. Ten (27.0%) of 37 patients in our cohort subsequently relapsed (1 in the low AMC group and 9 in the normal AMC group). Survival analysis showed that there was a trend of higher relapse-free survival (RFS) rate in patients having increased A MC (log-rank test, p = 0.026). Univariate analysis revealed that increased AMC at admission was significantly associated with higher RFS (hazard ratio = 0.12, 95% confidence interval: 0.02–0.62, p = 0.011).Discussion: Our results suggest that increased AMC at admission could represent a predictor of higher RFS in TTP patients having survived their first episode of the disease and achieved remission following treatment.