Objective To investigate the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at codons 16 and 27 of β2-AR gene in pancreatic carcinoma and non-neoplastic pancreatic tissues,and the correlations between these SNPs and the expression of β2-AR protein in pancreatic carcinoma.Methods A total of 64 cases of pancreatic carcinoma (PC) and 20 non-neoplastic pancreatic tissues (NPC) were genotyped at codons 16 and 27 by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and DNA sequencing.The correlations between the distribution of genotypes and clinicopathological characteristics of pancreatic carcinoma were analyzed.The expression of β2-AR protein was detected by immunohistochemistry in pancreatic carcinoma.Results The distributions of genotype frequency at codons 16 and 27 in PC and NPC were in accordance with the Hardy-Weinbery equeilibrium.The frequencies of their genotypes (AA,AG and GG) and frequencies of alleles A and G at codon 16 between PC and NPC showed no difference.The genotype frequencies were associated with TNM grade,lymph node metastasis,one-year survival rate (P=0.03,0.05,0.04),but they were not associated with patients' gender,age,histological differentiation and size of tumor.The allele G at codon 16 was frequently appeared in tumors with high TNM grade,lymph node metastasis,low one-year survival rate (P＝ 0.01,0.03,0.02),and high expressions of β2-AR protein (P =0.02).The frequencies of two genotypes (CC and CG) and frequencies of alleles C and G at codon 27 showed no difference between PC and NPC.The genotype frequencies and allele frequencies of codon 27 were not associated with patients' clinicopathological features,and expressions of β2-AR protein.Conclusions SNPs of β2-AR gene were associated with biological behaviors of pancreatic carcinoma.Allele G at codon 16 was associated with high risks of lymph node metastasis,high TNM grade,low one-year survival rate,and high expressions of β2-AR protein.Allele G at codon 16 might facilitate the progression and metastasis of pancreatic carcinoma through elevating the expression of β2-AR.SNPs at codon 16 of β2-AR are new useful biomarkers for predicting biological behaviors and survival of pancreatic carcinoma and might be used as a new gene therapeutic target.

Objective To explore the changes of etiology and mortality of upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) in the last 20 years in Guangdong region. Methods A total of 3140 UGIB cases diagnosed in Guangdong General Hospital from January 1990 to October 2009 were analyzed with retrospective analysis. Groups were divided according to admission chronological order and age to analyze the causes of UGIB to get the trend of changes and influencing factors. Results UGIB occurred more in men than in women, the gender ratio was 2. 5∶1. There was no significant change in gender composition between the first and later 10 years. Peptic ulcer bleeding (PUB) was the main cause of UGIB in young and middle-age patients (age<60 years), especially duodenal ulcer (DU)bleeding (45. 0%) , and secondary was acute gastric mucosal lesion ( AGML) (16. 6%). While in elder patients group (age≥60 years), the main cause of UGIB was AGML (40. 5%), the frequency was significantly higher compared with the young and middle-age group (40. 5% vs 16. 6%,P<0. 01).Compared the first 10 years with the later 10 years, the occurrence rate of PUB was overall in downward trend (57. 4% vs 42. 8%, P<0.01), of which DU and compound ulcer(CU) bleeding reduced significantly (DU: 43.8% vs 27.7%, P<0. 01 and CU: 7.7% to 5.5%, P<0. 05). While the incidence of gastric ulcer (GU) (7.4% vs 8. 1% ,P>0. 05) and esophagogastric variceal bleeding (EVB) (11. 7% vs 12. 9%, P>0.05) remained stable. The occurrence of AGML bleeding significantly increased than before (32. 4% vs 18. 8%,P<0. 01), and became one of the most important causes of UGIB. Conclusions PUB is still the most important cause of UGIB in Guangdong region. AGML becomes another important cause of UGIB in elder patients, which may relate to the increasing use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), anti-platelet and antineoplastic medicine.

Objective To investigate the association between gene polymorphism of sortilinrelated receptor 1 (SORL1) and Alzheimer' s disease by detecting a series of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).Methods The Snapshot method was used to genotypc 6 SNPs (SNP10,19,23,24,25,27) in SORL1 and the distributions of allele and genotype of the 6 SNPs were compared between AD patients and healthy control individuals.Results There were significant differences in the genotype distributions of SNP19,23,24 and 25 between AD patients and control group (all P＜0.01).Subjects with TT genotype in SNP19 had significantly lower risk for AD and was protective for AD (OR=0.089,95％CI:0.011-0.718,P＜0.01).The AT genotype in SNP23 (OR＝3.826,95％CI:1.388～10.544,P＜0.01),CT genotype in SNP24(OR=5.935,95％CI:1.774-19.853,P＜0.01)and CT genotype in SNP25(OR=5.754,95％CI:2.007-16.496,P＜0.01)had higher risks for AD.Conclusions SORL1 gene variants of SNP19,23,24 and 25 might be the important risk factors for late-onset AD.

To ensure the safety of the commercially available chenpi, a convenient and fast analytical method was developed for the determination of 133 pesticide residues in chenpi using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). In this study, different extraction solvents, redissolution solvents and adsorbents were tested according to the recovery and purification effect to obtain a modified QuEChERS method. The samples were extracted with acetonitrile. During the clean-up step, octadecyl-modified silica (C18) and graphitized carbon black (GCB) were selected, and aminopropyl (NH2) was used instead of primary secondary amine (PSA) because of its weaker ion exchange capacity which had little effect on the recovery of ditalimfos. Samples were quantified by matrix-matched calibration with internal stan-dards. All pesticides showed good linearity in the respective range, both with values of r2 >0.99. The average recoveries of the pesticides spiked samples ranged from 70.0％ to 112.2％ with the RSDs of 0.2％–14.4％. The modified QuEChERS method was validated and applied to twenty real samples. Five pesticides were found in eight batches, but no pesticide exceeded the maximum residue limits (MRL, MRL reference to European commission).

Objective To demonstrate the morphology,distribution and ultrastructure of intersti- tial cells of Cajal (ICC) in the mouse gallbladder.Methods CD1 mice gallbladder tissue was stained with methylene blue for immunohistochemical examination by confocal microscopy and transmission elec- tron microscopy.Results The results revealed a dark blue network of ICC in the gallbladder.ICC were spindle-shaped,with thin and long processes in two poles.They were distributed in the all layers of the gall bladder wall.The ICC that had typical ultrastructure were adjacent to the smooth muscle and nerve cells. Conclusions Spindle-shaped ICC are present as a network structure in the gallbladder,which may act as slow wave pacemaker cells and have a major role in the transmission of signals from neurons to smooth muscle cells.

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) can treat central nervous system diseases. BMSCs have the function of self-renewal and differentiation into a variety of neural cell types. BMSCs with self-renewal and multi-directional differentiation abilities can successfully differentiate into dopaminergic neurons after transplantation into an animal model. OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of transplanted BMSCs on behavior and dopaminergic neurons in rats with manganese poisoning. METHODS: Rat models of manganese poisoning were constructed by intraperitoneal injection of MnCl2?4H2O into Sprague-Dawley rats. The model rats were then randomly divided into two groups, BMSCs and phosphate buffered solution (PBS) control group, and 5 μL of passage 3 human BMSCs suspension or equivalent PBS was transplanted into the right striatum of the manganese poisoning rats. One month after transplantation, the rats were subjected to behavioral assessment. The differentiation of BMSCs was observed by immunofluorescence. The contents of dopamine, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor in the right striatum of rats were detected by ELISA. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The behavioral score of the BMSCs treated group was significantly lower than that of the PBS control group after transplantation (P < 0.05). Double-labeled positive cells for human-specific nuclear antigen/tyrosine hydroxylase (hNUC/TH) and human-specific nuclear antigen/glial cell-derived acidic protein (hNUC/GFAP) were observed in the BMSCs treated group after transplantation. Meanwhile, hNUC/TH and hNUC/GFAP double-labeled positive cells were undetected in the PBS control group after transplantation. The expression levels of dopamine, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor in the BMSCs treated group were higher than those in the PBS control group. This suggests that BMSCs can improve the behavior of manganese poisoning rats and can differentiate into dopaminergic neurons and astrocytes.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the correlation of venous return disturbance (VRD), bone marrow edema (BME) and the amount of joint fluid with clinical symptoms in osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH).

METHODSTwenty patients (25 hips) with ONFH proved by pathology were parallelly examined by 1.5 T MR and medullograph.

RESULTIn total 25 hips VRD was observed in 16 hips with medullograph and 13 hips with the clinical symptoms (P <0.05). BME was found in 17 with MRI (P <0.01), and the was found in 15 hips with MRI (Spearman=0.949). VRD were found in 16 hydrarthrus.

CONCLUSIONONFH patients with clinical symptoms have VRD, BME and the hydrarthrus. The medullograph is of value in monitoring the development of ONFH.

Adult ; Bone Marrow ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Edema ; pathology ; Female ; Femur Head ; blood supply ; Femur Head Necrosis ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Hip Joint ; pathology ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Regional Blood Flow ; physiology ; Veins ; physiopathology

Aim To observe the effect of interventional therapy of 5-fluorouracil(5-Fu), mitomycin C (MMC) and adriamycin (ADM) on solid malignant turmors in association with aterial infusion of NaHCO3.Methods Patients were randomly divided into two groups.With Seldinger technique,through the femoral atery to tumor atery.The patients in the control group were infused by anticarcinoma agents simply ,and patients in the treatment group were initially infused by NaHCO3,and then by NS 30 ml and anticarcinoma agents seperately. Results Partial remission (PR) in the group treated with NaHCO3 and anticarcinoma agents was significantly higher than in the group treated simply with anticarcinoma agents.Conclusion Aterial infusion of NaHCO3 into malignant tumors can increase the efficacy of ADM,MMC and 5-Fu.

OBJECTIVETo investigate whether progesterone receptor B (PRB) can be sumoylated by SUMO-2/3 and the effect of sumoylation on PRB transcriptional activity.

METHODSSUMO-2/3 cDNA was amplified from MCF-7 cDNA and cloned into the eukaryotic expression vector pcDNA3-FLAG. The plasmid pXJ40-myc-PRB was cotransfected with pcDNA3FLAG-SUMO2, pcDNA3FLAG-SUMO3 or the mock control into 293T cells, and PRB sumoylation was detected by immunoprecipitation and Western blotting. The effect of PRB sumoylation on its transcriptional activity was determined using reporter luciferase assay.

RESULTSpcDNA3FLAG-SUMO2 and pcDNA3FLAG-SUMO3 vectors were successfully constructed. SUMO-2/3 could bind covalently to PRB and increase its transcriptional dependent on the presence of progesterone.

CONCLUSIONPRB can be sumoylated by SUMO-2/3 and its function is regulated by this modification.

Animals ; Cell Line ; Humans ; Plasmids ; genetics ; Receptors, Progesterone ; genetics ; metabolism ; Small Ubiquitin-Related Modifier Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Transcription, Genetic ; Transfection ; Ubiquitination ; Ubiquitins ; genetics ; metabolism

The precise relationship between the degree of pain and the degree of inflammation in the individual remains debated. A quantitative analysis simultaneously applied to the immediate and prolonged painful consequences of inflammation has not yet been done. Thus, the correlations between edema, nociception and hypersensitivity following an inflammatory insult were assessed in rodents. To better understand the therapeutic value of modifying specific aspects of inflammation, the effects of an anti-inflammatory drug were compared to the results. Inbred strains of mice and outbred rats received an intraplantar injection of honeybee venom and the between-group and within-group correlations were calculated for spontaneous nociceptive measures, thermal and mechanical hypersensitivity, and edema and temperature. The effect of indomethacin on the pain and inflammation measures was examined. Edema correlated with spontaneous flinching, licking and lifting of the injected paw (P< or =0.003), and not with thermal or mechanical hypersensitivity. Indomethacin affected edema and spontaneous nociception dose-dependently, and affected hypersensitivity only at the highest dose tested (P< 0.05). These results suggest that edema may contribute only to immediate spontaneous nociceptive responses to an inflammatory insult, and not to the more clinically relevant prolonged hypersensitivity. This analysis represents a method for determining which inflammatory processes are the most promising therapeutic targets against the multiple painful consequences of inflammation.
Animals ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal ; pharmacology ; Bee Venoms ; Edema ; chemically induced ; complications ; Indomethacin ; pharmacology ; Inflammation ; chemically induced ; complications ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Nociceptors ; physiology ; Pain ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Pain Measurement ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley