Cell Line, Tumor ; Chromosome Aberrations ; Comparative Genomic Hybridization ; methods ; Gene Amplification ; Gene Dosage ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 1 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Rhabdomyosarcoma ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Rhabdomyosarcoma, Alveolar ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Rhabdomyosarcoma, Embryonal ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology

Child ; Critical Care ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units, Pediatric ; Medical Records ; Severity of Illness Index

Objective To observe and analyze the MRI manifestations of Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome(KTS).Methods Thirty-one cases with diagnosed KTS underwent MRI on a 1.5 T MR system. MRI,MR venography(MRV),MR angiography(MRA)and X-ray venography(XRV)were performed.The pathological changes of the limbs and their veins were observed.Results MRI found soft tissue hemangiomas in 12 cases,soft tissue swelling of the extremities in 27 cases,superficial varicosities in 21 cases,and malformation of the veins in 27 cases.In twenty patients who underwent both MRV and XRV, superficial varicosities in 17 cases and persistent sciatic veins in 11 cases were found with both techniques. The increase of tributary veins was found in 10 cases with XRV,while found in 15 cases with MRV.The erratic venous course was found in 4 cases with MRV.The abnormalities of deep veins were found in 8 cases with MRV,while found in 7 cases with XRV.Conclusion MRI is an efficient and reliable imaging method for diagnosis of KTS.

Objective To explore the diagnostic merits of the average apparent diffusion coefficient(ADCav) for leukoencephalopathy in neonates and children.Methods One hundred and fifty-six neonates and children with central nervous system signs or symptoms were classified into 6 groups according to their ages(1 d-0.05).Contrast to the normal,the ADCav of leukoencephalopathy in neonates and children decreased.With increasing age,there showed a linear downtrend in each group.Conclusions The ADCav rises in neonates and children with leukoencephalopathy.The ADCav variation precedes changes in routine MRI.

AIM To investigate the effect of fenofibrate and simvastatin on the serum free fatty acids of alcoholic fatty liver in rats. METHODS The rat model of alcoholic fatty liver was reproduced by chronic ethanol ingestion plus olive oil diet. The model rats were divided into three groups as follows: finofibrate treatment group(finofibrate 80 mg?kg -1 po, once a day),simvastatin treatment group (simvastatin 4 mg?kg -1 po, once a day)and control group without either above-mentioned treatment. Experimental rats were treated for four weeks and then sacrificed for blood sampling. Serum free fatty acids were analyzed by gas chromatography. RESULTS Fenofibrate significantly ameliorated the decrease in polyunsaturated fatty acids induced by ethanol [oleic acid:(38.212?7.788) ?g?L -1 vs (31.620?6.142) ?g?L -1,linoleic acid:(37.269?8.065) ?g?L -1 vs (30.254?9.063) ?g?L -1,arachidonic acid:(11.646?2.601) ?g?L -1 vs (9.012?1.236) ?g?L -1] accompanied by the improvement of the fat infiltration of the liver, but demonstrated no effect on the increase in serum saturated fatty acids by ethanol. In the contrast, simvastatin can aggravate the decrease in polyunsatrurated fatty acids and significantly increase the levels of satrurated fatty acids in serum induced by ethanol along with the pathological aggravation of alcoholic fatty liver. CONCLUSION The results of present study revealed that fenofibrate and simvastatin exerted different effect on the serum free fatty acids of alcoholic fatty liver. Polyunsatrurated fatty acids in the serum play an important role in the pathogenesis and treatment response of alcoholic fatty liver.

Blood Gas Analysis ; Continuous Positive Airway Pressure ; instrumentation ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Pneumonia ; blood ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Respiration

OBJECTIVETo elucidate the molecular mechanism of Wendan Tang in prevention of lipid metabolism disorder in adult rats.

METHODOn the basis of hyperlipidemia rat models, triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC) in serum, activities of lipase (LA), lipoprotein lipase (LPL), hepatic lipase (HL) in liver, parts of hemogram and hepatic LDLR mRNA levels were investigated 21 days after the feeding of atherogenic diet.

RESULTWendan Tang significantly reduced the serum TG, TC and increased the activity of LPL and LA, but caused no chang in HL. The result of RT-PCR test showed that high fat and high cholesterol feeding could significantly induce the reduction of LDLR mRNA levels, while Wendan Tang could increase hepatic LDLR density.

CONCLUSIONWendan Tang can prevent disorder of lipid metabolism by regulating TC, TG, LDL-c through upregaulation of LDLR transcription level and improving antioxidant ability.

Animals ; Drug Combinations ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Female ; Hyperlipidemias ; blood ; metabolism ; prevention & control ; Lipid Metabolism ; Liver ; metabolism ; Male ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Rats ; Receptors, LDL ; biosynthesis ; genetics

Hainantoxin-IV (HNTX-IV) purified from the venom of the spider Selenocosmia hainana is a potent antagonist that acts on tetrodotoxin-sensitive (TrX-S) sodium channels. It is a 35-residue polypeptide and includes three disulfide bridges. In order to investigate the structure-function relationship of HNTX-IV, two mutants (S12A-HNTX-IV and R29A-HNTX-IV) of HNTX-TV in which Ser12 and Arg29 were replaced by Ala respectively, were synthesized by solid-phase Fmoc chemistry, followed by oxidative refolding of purified peptides under the optimal conditions. The synthetic mutants were analyzed by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and electrophysiological experiments for molecular weight, conformation and physiological activity, respectively. The results show that the mutants and native HNTX-IV (nHNTX-IV) have almost identical three-dimensional structures. The bioactivity level of S12A-HNTX-IV is also about the same as that of nHNTX-IV, suggesting that Ser12 does not play any important role for the bioactivity of this toxin. The bioactivity of R29A-HNTX-IV is reduced by at last 155 times, indicating that Arg29 is a key residue relative to the bioactivity of HNTX-IV. It is presumed that the decrease in activity of R29A-HNTX-IV is due to the changes of the property in the binding site rather than the change in the basic conformation of the molecule.
Amino Acid Substitution ; Animals ; Mutation ; Sodium Channel Blockers ; Sodium Channels ; drug effects ; physiology ; Spider Venoms ; chemical synthesis ; genetics ; Structure-Activity Relationship ; Tetrodotoxin ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo explore the association between the genetic polymorphisms of mannose-binding protein (MBP) alleles and susceptibility to pulmonary tuberculosis.

METHODS125 pulmonary tuberculosis cases and 198 healthy controls were collected. A case-control study was conducted. Three structural gene mutations in exon 1 of MBP gene (codon 52, codon 54 and codon 57) were studied. Polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) was carried out in the polymorphism in MBP alleles. Information on related risk factors of tuberculosis was collected, using a pre-tested questionnaire. Univariate and multivariate logistic analyses were conducted with SPSS software package.

RESULTSThe frequencies of mutant heterozygote or homozygote of MBP-52, 54, 57 were 8.0%, 7.2% and 0.4% for cases and 5.3%, 4.3%, 0.5% for controls, respectively. The distribution of mutant genotypes of MBP did not show significant difference between tuberculosis patients and control by Mantel-Haenszel chi2 on sex. The univariate analysis demonstrated that body mass index, marital status, vaccinal vestige, bacillus of Calmette-Guerin vaccine immunization, contacted with pulmonary tuberculosis patients, familial traits were the risk factors of pulmonary tuberculosis. After adjusting those related environmental factors in the multivariate logistic analyses, the total MBP (MBP-52, MBP-54 and MBP-57) and MBP-52 heterozygote genotypes were significantly overrepresented in cases, with adjusted OR (95% CI) being 2.182 (1.058-4.499) and 2.574 (1.028-6.446).

CONCLUSIONTotal MBP and MBP-52 mutant genotypes might be associated with the susceptibility to pulmonary tuberculosis.

Case-Control Studies ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Humans ; Mannose-Binding Lectin ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo determine the contents of morusin in Sangbaipi (Cortex Mori) of different commercial grades and species and obtained from different regions.

METHODContents of morusin were determined by HPLC on an Alltima C18 column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm) with acetonitrile-water (58:42) as mobile phase. UV detection was conducted at 270 nm.

RESULTThe amounts of morusin were found to vary among samples of Cortex Mori bearing a yellow-brown outer layer and those without the yellow-brown cork layer. The morusin contents were also related to the thickness of Cortex Mori.

CONCLUSIONThe method was simple, reproducible and reliable. It can be applied to the quality assessment of Cortex Mori.

China ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; standards ; Ecosystem ; Flavonoids ; analysis ; Morus ; chemistry ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Quality Control ; Reproducibility of Results ; Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet