Objective To identify the immunogenicity and the potential of using Schistosoma japonicum mitochondria related protein(rSj338) as a candidate vaccine antigen for Schistosomiasis japonica . Methods The expressed recombinant fusion protein(rSj338/26GST) was purified and recognized by S.japonicum heavily infected rabbit sera and rSj338/26GST immunized rabbit sera by Western blotting. The inclusion bodies,the revivified protein and the purified protein from S 12 gel filtration were injected twice into rabbits to produce anti rSj338/26GST antibody which titer was then measured by dot ELISA. Balb/c mice were immunized with the inclusion bodies and the purified protein from S 12 gel filtration and challenged with S. japonicum cercariae to identify the protective immunity produced by rSj338/26GST. Results The inclusion bodies, the revivified protein and the purified protein from S 12 gel filtration could stimulate the rabbits to produce high level of anti rSj338/26GST antibodies and could be recognized by S. japonicum heavily infected rabbit sera and rSj338/26GST immunized rabbit sera. In Balb/c mice, the inclusion bodies could induce 27.8%( P

Objective The changes of cytokine expression on a genomic scale in CD4 + cell of mice c hronically infected with Schistosoma japonicum and their roles in the pathog enesis of schistosomiasis were studied. Methods CD4 + cells were isolated from sp le ens of mice 13 wk infected with Schistosoma japonicum. We used the cDNA micr oarr ay technique to explore the cytokine gene expression profile of CD4 + cells f ro m normal and chronic infected mice. Three-color flow cytometry was performed to study intracellular protein levels of IFN-?、IL-4 of CD4 + cell. Results In the CD4 + cell of chronically infected mice, IL-4 was remarkably increase d at both transcription and protein expression levels (P

Th17 lymphocytes have been recently identified as a novel subset of CD4+ cells. It has been defined that IL-17,the main product of Th17, plays an important role in immunity against parasitic infection. There is a two-way influence between Th17 and cytokine network: on one hand Th17 consummates cytokine network, on the other hand many cytokines regulate Th17's activity in parasitic infection. In the anti-parasitic infection process, Th17 cells protect host or promote inflammation, even cause immune pathogenesis in different cases, which comprise host's immune state, the burden of parasitic infection, as well as the treatment.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the clinical results of the medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) reconstruction combined with the lateral retinacular release for the treatment of recurrent patellar dislocation.

METHODSFrom March 2011 to June 2013, 15 patients with recurrent patellar dislocation underwent arthroscopic MPFL reconstruction combined with the lateral retinacular release. The graft was autogenous semitendinosus and semimembranosus tendon. There were 5 males and 10 females with an average age of 19.4 years old (ranged,14 to 32 years old). The patients suffered recurrent patellar dislocation at least twice preoperatively. Preoperative conventional X-ray, CT, and MR examination were used to analyze the causes of the patellofemoral joint and MPFL injury. Preoperative Lysholm score was 69.85 ± 11.52. During operation, the arthroscopic examination was performed to evaluate the patellofemoral alignment and patellar tracking.

RESULTSAll the patients were followed up for an average of 27.6 months (ranged,12 to 36 months) with no recurrent dislocation and sub-dislocation. All the patients showed negative apprehension test at straight and 30 ° flexions of knee. The range of motion of knee returned to normal level at 12 months after operation. There were no patients with subjective discomfort of knee. Postoperative Lysholm score was improved to 92.60 ± 5.75.

CONCLUSIONThe technique of arthroscopic MPFL reconstruction combined with the lateral retinacular release is an effective surgical procedure for the treatment of recurrent patellar dislocation, which can relieve the symptom of knee and improve the patella stability and knee function.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Arthroscopy ; Female ; Humans ; Knee Joint ; surgery ; Male ; Patellar Dislocation ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Patellar Ligament ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Patellofemoral Joint ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

Objective To investigate the serovar distribution of Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) isolated from male patients with urethritis in sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic.Methods Urine specimens were collected from male patients with urethritis in STD clinic at Hospital of Dermatology,Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences between January 2013 and December 2013.Fluorescence-based quantitative PCR was performed to detect Ct DNA in these specimens.DNA was extracted from Ct-positive urine specimens,and nested PCR was conducted to amplify the VS1-VS2 regions of the outer membrane protein A (ompA) gene,followed by gene sequencing.The resulting sequences were aligned to reference sequences by the DNAStar5.0 software to determine Ct serovars.Results A total of 432 urine specimens were collected,and 33.1％ (143/432) of them were positive for Ct.The VS1-VS2 regions of the ompA gene were amplified from 127 out of the 143 Ct-positive specimens,but not from the other 16 specimens.Nine serovars were identified by gene sequencing among the 127 specimens,including serovar E (29 strains,22.83％),F (28 strains,22.05％),D (19 strains,14.96％),G (16 strains,12.60％),J (16 strains,12.60％),K (8 strains,6.30％),H (5 strains,3.94％),I (3 strains,2.36％) and B (3 strains,2.36％),and Ct serovars E,F,D,J and G accounted for 85.02％ among all the strains.Synonymous mutations were identified in 14 out of the 127 strains when compared with reference strains.Conclusions E,F,D and G serovars were the main Ct serovars in male patients with urethritis in STD clinic.The proportion of Ct serovar E strain was decreased,but that of serovar J strain was increased compared with 20 years ago.

Near infrared spectroscopy ( NIRS) is capable of determining water contents in oils. However, too much moisture contents in the oils will scatter rather than absorb the NIRS. This may cause greater measurement error. For this reason, a nonionic surfactant (Span-80) was screened to make the water in the oils evenly dispersed into small droplets. The NIRS analysis was subsequently employed to build support vector regression ( SVR ) model of the water content. In this experiments, the upper limit of the water content determination was improved from the conventional 0. 1% to 1. 0% ( V/V) by the oil-water stabilization. Applying successive projection algorithm, 15 valid variables (2. 9% of the original ones) from 511 NIRS variables were selected. With the proposed SVR model, the measurement precision criteria for the validation dataset were root mean squares error percentage 2 . 93%, correlation coefficient 0 . 9944 , and relative percent derivation 9 . 4732%.

Objective To explore the role of Schistosoma japonicum egg antigens in host immune response. Methods Female BALB/c mice aged 6-8 weeks were divided into two groups. The mice in the experiment group were administrated with 10 000 eggs of S.japonicum orally and injected with 200 ?g SEA via tail vein,once for a week. The mice in the control group were infected with PBS. The number of CD4+CD25+T cells was detected in a murine model treated by S. japonicum egg antigens,and the regulatory properties of CD4+CD25+ T cells were assessed while CD4+CD25+ T cells were cocultured with CD4+CD25-T cells. For the detection of murine TGF-? and IL-10,a DuoSet ELISA development kit was used. IL-4,IL-10 and IFN-? were detected by using flow cytometry. Results The number of CD4+CD25+T cells and the level of IL-10 increased in mice treated with S. japonicum egg antigens. CD4+CD25+T cells dramatically enhanced IL-10 production and decreased IFN-? production compared with the CD4+CD25-population. CD4+CD25+T cells suppressed the proliferation of CD4+T cells. Conclusion S. japonicum egg antigens downregulate the host immune response by inducing the production of CD4+CD25+ T cells and IL-10.

Recent studies have found that peptide therapies tar-geting specific epitopes can avoid nonspecific immune suppres-sion induced by traditional medicines for the treatment of autoim-mune diseases, and have shown great therapeutic effect in ani-mal models of autoimmune diseases and clinical trials. The pa-per summaries the research progress and trends of peptide drugs for the treatment of autoimmune diseases from candidate peptide sources and their suppression mechanisms, which can provide a theoretical basis for the in-depth understanding of immune toler-ance and allow for discovery of new treatment for autoimmune diseases.

AIM To study the effect and mechanism of valdecoxib, a selective COX 2 inhibitor, on human gastric cancer BGC 823 cells. METHODS MTT assay and flow cytometry were used to observe the effect of valdecoxib on proliferation, apoptosis and the cell cycle distribution of BGC 823 cells. Laser confocal microscopy, transmission electron microscope and DNA fragmentation assay were further used to detect the apoptosis. The content of LDH was examined using LDH kit. RESULTS Valdecoxib in 25～400 ?mol?L -1 significantly inhibited the proliferation of BGC 823 cell in a time and dose dependent fashion, the inhibition rate of proliferation was 24 0%～92 0% after 72 h, and the rate of apoptosis was increased from (2 6?0 7)% to (7 6?1 5) %～(16 5?1 5)%. 100～400 ?mol?L -1 valdecoxib also decreased the proliferation index and the proportion of cells in the S phase, increased the proportion of cells in the G 0/G 1 phase, but had no effect on the proportion of cell in the G 2/M phase. CONCLUSION Valdecoxib inhibits human gastric cancer BGC 823 cells growth by inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. The growth inhibitory effect of 400 ?mol?L -1 valdecoxib is also associated with cell necrosis.

Using conventional imaging modalities, it is difficult to detect recurrent lesions in prostate cancer patients who have undergone biochemical relapse, especially in patients with low prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. We retrospectively reviewed the files of fifty patients with histopathologically confirmed prostate cancer who underwent 99mTc-labeled prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and bone scan within a 30-day period. PSMA-SPECT/CT indicated metastatic lesions in 39 patients and had a higher detection rate (78.0%) than bone scan (34.0%) or MRI (40.0%). The diagnostic efficiency of PSMA-SPECT/CT imaging for bone and lymph node metastases (50.0% and 42.0%) was better than bone scan (34.0% and 0.0%) or MRI (24.0% and 20.0%). PSMA-SPECT/CT provided a higher detection rate at serum PSA levels of ≤1 ng ml-1, 1-4 ng ml-1, 4-10 ng ml-1, and >10 ng ml-1. No correlation was found between Gleason score, PSA level, and the tracer tumor/background ratio of metastatic lesions. With the aid of PSMA-SPECT/CT imaging, the therapeutic strategy was changed for 31 patients, and this may have enhanced their clinical outcome. In conclusion, PSMA-SPECT/CT imaging could detect more metastatic lesions and achieve a higher detection rate than conventional imaging modalities at different serum PSA levels in prostate cancer patients who had undergone biochemical relapse.