RBC, plasma and hair Mn levels have been measured in 38 children with Keshan disease from the Chuxiong district of Yunan province and were compared with that of 35 healthy children. After logarithmic, transformation, normal distribution of Mn levels of RBC, plasma and hair had been presented. The geometric means of the RBC, plasma and hair Mn content of the patients were 1.22?g/g(dry basis), 0.16?g/ml and 8.76?g/g respectively. In normal subjects, the means of RBC, plasma and hair Mn were found to be 0.59?g/g (dry basis), 0.13?g/ml and 2.57?g/g. The children with Keshan disease had higher Mn levels than controls. (P

Objective To investigate the relationship between dynamic changes of plasma D-dimer and survival rate of the esophageal carcinoma patients pre-and post-operation.Methods 30 cases of normal control group,160 cases of esophageal cancer group( including operation cases n =112),with the gold standard method for the determination of plasma D-dimer.Results There was a link between the level of D-dimer,TNM staging,lymph node metastasis and tumor size in esophageal carcinoma patients.Compared with the preoperation,the plasma D-dimer is significantly elevated 2 years later( t =7.35,P ＞ 0.05 ).Conclusion Before or after the operation,dynamic changes of plasma D-dimer had a relationship with short-term survival rate.

AIM: In order to explore the mechanism of the GC - like effect of Tsiao Shaihutang (TSS), the down - regulation of glucocorticoid receptor and mRNA by TSS were studied. METHODS: GR sites were determined by receptor radio ligand binding assay method. At the same time, GR mRNA level was determined by quantitative reverse- transcriptive polymerase chain reaction (RT- PCR) method. RESULTS: (1) GR sites and GR mRNA level were down - regulated significantly after GC, TSS (P < 0.01 ) treatment . (2) GR sites and GR mRNA level in GC plus TSS group were obviously higher than those in GC group (P < 0.01 ). CONCLUSIONS: These data suggested that TSS can significantly down- regulate GR and GR mRNA level.

In the present study, the effects of adriamycin on antioxidant enzymes, glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and superoxide dismutase(SOD), and cardiac lesions were studied, furthermore, the protective influence of supplementation of copper and/or zinc on cardiac toxicity induced by adriamycin were investigated. Fourty four wistar rats weighing 130-160g were randomly divided into I-IV groups. All animals were fed on basic ration. The group I was given zinc sulphate 0.60mg/kg weight intraperitoneally once every third day for 49 days. The group I was given zinc 0.60mg + copper carbonate 0.14mg/kg weight intraperitoneally once every third day for 49 days. Groups I and I were given adriamycin 12mg/kg weight intraperitoneally. Group I was given adriamycin 12mg/kg weight intraperitoneally. Group IV was given physiological saline. The results suggested that the activities of GSH-Px and SOD were significantly decreased and cardiac lesions were characterized by numerous intracellular vesicles formed by dilation of the sarco-plasmic reticulum and lysis of myofiber accompanied by focal necrosis in group III. The activities of GSH-Px and SOD were apparently higher and cardiac lesions were much milder in the groups I and II, compared with those in the group VI.It may be concluded that trace elements (zinc and copper) can exert protective effects on cardiac lesions induced by adriamycin. Comparatively, much better results were observed in group I than that in group I.

In this study, the effects of overvitamin D on cardiac lesions and the protective effects of zinc on them were studied. The results showed that cardiac MDA and calcium were significantly increased and cardiac lesions were characterized by nonspecial focal necrosis, accompaning with myofib-eral and interstitial calcification. Zinc could remarkably decrease cardiac MDA and calcium and the cardiac lesions were also much milder. It suggested that cardiac lesions induced by overvitamin D related to both cardiac lipid peroxide and calcium overload. It might be concluded that zinc could protect heart from overvitamin D intoxication.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of smoking on the microRNAs (miRNAs) expression in pneumoconiosis patients.

METHODSReal-time qPCR was used to measure the expression levels of miR-21, miR-200c, miR-16, miR-204, miR-206, miR-155, let-7g, miR-30b, and miR-192 in 36 non-smoking patients with pneumoconiosis and 38 smoking patients with pneumoconiosis, and the differences in expression levels between the two groups were evaluated by two-independent samples t-test.

RESULTSThe expression of miR-192 in serum showed a significant difference between non-smoking and smoking pneumoconiosis patients (P < 0.05), and it decreased gradually in smoking patients with stage I and II pneumoconiosis. In the serum of all pneumoconiosis patients, the expression level of miR-16 was the highest, while the expression level of miR-204 was the lowest.

CONCLUSIONPneumoconiosis patients have differential expression of miRNAs in serum, and smoking has an effect on the miRNAs expression in pneumoconiosis patients.

Humans ; MicroRNAs ; biosynthesis ; Pneumoconiosis ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Smoking ; adverse effects

Cross-Sectional Studies ; Urodynamics ; China