Objective To study the characteristics of calcific valvular heart disease (CVHD) with the aid of echocardiography. Methods Nine thousand and seventeen patients over 50 year-old who had received transthoracic echocardiographic examination were enrolled in the study. Diagnosis of CVHD was made with 2 dimension, M-mode and color Doppler echocardiography. General state of health, clinical manifestation and history of CVHD patients were also analyzed. Results Five hundred and seventy-four cases of CVHD were diagnosed and the characteristics of CVHD were observed. The diagnostic rate increased as the age increased. There was no significant difference between male and female. The calcified regions were commoner in aortic valves than in mitral valves, more frequent in non-coronary valves than in right or left coronary valves, and more frequently seen at tips of aortic valves and annuli of mitral valves than in other parts. The size of calcific plaques was usually between 3 and 10mm. Hemodynamic changes could be found in some patients. History of hypertension, coronary artery disease, and arteriosclerosis of the aorta were often found in these patients. Conclusions Echocardiography can be used to evaluate the position of calcification, size of calcification area, and degree of valvular stenosis or insufficiency, thus offers useful information for early diagnosis and treatment, and prognosis of CVHD in clinic.

Objective To investigate the effects and mechanism of different doses of rosuvastatin on expression of tissue factor(TF) in cultured human monocyte-macrophage cells which were induced by oxidized low density lipoprotein (ox-LDL).Methods The human monocyte-macrophage cells were divided into seven groups:control group,ox-LDL group,poly-insine monophosphate group,different doses of rosuvastatin group(0.01 μmol/L,0.1 μmol/L,1 μmol/L,5 μmol/L).The expression of LOX-1 mRNA and TF mRNA was assayed by RT-PCR.The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was performed to determine the protein concentration of TF.Results Effects of different doses of rosuvastatin on expressions of LOX-1mRNA,TF mRNA and TF in cultured human monocyte-macrophage cells induced by ox-LDL:comparison among seven groups,the difference was statistically significant (F =91.334,58.833,103.552,P ＜0.05).Compared with control group,the expressions of LOX-1 mRNA,TF mRNA and TF were increased in the ox-LDL group[(3.25156 ± 0.15772) vs (1 ±0) ;(2.522451 ±0.138967) vs (1 ±0) ;(207.7233± 1.154701)ng/L vs (184.8467 ± 0.871799)ng/L],and they were in a concentration-dependent manner (P ＜ 0.05).Compared with the PolyⅠ group and the different doses of rosuvastatin group,the expressions of LOX-1 mRNA,TF mRNA and TF were in the ox-LDL group,and the different doses of rosuvastatin were decreased by dose-dependent manner.It was in a concentration dependent manner (P ＜ 0.05).Different doses of rosuvastatin were compared between groups (between each group P ＜ 0.05),the difference between each two groups was statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions LOX-1 may be responsible for the expression of TF in Human monocyte-macrophage cells induced by ox-LDL.Rosuvastatin by dose dependent manner and by means of ox-LDL reduced monocyte-macrophage LOX-1 mRNA and TF mRNA expressions,which reduced expression of TF.

Objective To investigate the inhibition mechanism of sodium selenite on HCT116 cells.Methods In the present study,we explored the cytotoxicity induced by sodium selenite and the underlying mechanism by MTS assay,WesternBlot,and small RNA interference technique.Results It was found that the sodium selenite at 5uM concentration could indeed reduce the viability of colon cancer cell line HCT116 by a large margin through increasing the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS),and that the increased levels of ROS could activate c-Jun Nh2-terninal kinase 1 (JNK1).Additionally,knockdown expression of JNK1 or p53 by using RNAi attenuated the cytotoxicity induced by sodium selenite,indicating that both of JNK1 and p53 are required in the process of cell death induced by sodium selenite.Conclusion The sodium selenite could induces cell death in HCT116 through oxidative stress by involvement of JNK1 and p53,both of which play a critical role in toxicity of sodium selenite.

Objective To explore the incidence and predisposing factors of coronary heart disease (CHD) among the patients with different types and extent of calcified valvular heart disease (CVHD). Methods 574 patients with CVHD diagnosed by echocardiography were divided into mild and severe groups based on the hemodynamic changes. The differences of incidence and predisposing factors of coronary heart disease between the two groups were compared. Results Ninety-seven cases of CVHD were categorized as having severe lesion, including aortic stenosis subgroup (AS group), aortic insufficiency subgroup (AI group) and mitral valve subgroup (MV group). All other patients were having mild lesions. There was no significant difference in blood pressure, blood lipid, fasting blood glucose, age and incidence of CAD, incidences in hypertension, hyperlipidemia and diabetes mellitus between two groups. Conclusions Mild CVHD showed similar prognostic value as that of severe CVHD, therefore it should not be ignored.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effects and mechanism of rosuvastatin on the expression of tissue factor in cultured human monocyte-macrophages cells which was induced by oxidized low density lipoprotein(ox-LDL).MethodsThe human monocyte-macrophages cells were divided into four groups:control group,ox-LDL group,Poly-inosine monophosphate (Poly Ⅰ) group,rosuvastatin group.The expression of LOX-1mRNA and TF mRNA was assayed by RT-PCR.The ELISA was performed to determine the protein concentration of TF.ResultsCompared with control group,the expression of LOX-1 mRNA and TF mRNA was increased in the ox-LDL group[ (3.25156±0.15772) vs (1±0) ; (2.522451±0.138967) vs (1±0) ],and it was in a concentration-dependent manner (P＜0.01).Compared with the expression of LOX-1 mRNA in the Poly-inosine monophosphate group and rosuvastatin group,TF mRNA were decreased in the ox-LDL group[ (2.95139±0.157253) vs(3.25156±0.15772) ; (2.877343±0.156558) vs(3.25156±0.15772) ; (1.811956±0.169699) vs (2.522451±0.138967) ; (1.687701±0.174647) vs (2.522451±0.138967)],and it was in a concentration-dependent manner(P＜0.05).Compared with control group,the expression of TF in the ox-LDL group was increased [(207.7233±1.154701) vs (184.8467±0.871799) ],and it was in a concentration-dependent manner (P＜0.01).Compared with the Poly-inosine monophosphate group and rosuvastatin group [(197.8733±1.505003) vs (207.7233±1.154701) ;(202.9567±2.722744)vs(207.7233±1.154701) ],the expression of TF in the ox-LDL group were decreased,and it was in a concentration-dependent manner (P＜0.05).ConclusionsLOX-1 may be responsible for the expression of TF in human monocyte-macrophages cells induced by ox-LDL.Rosuvastatin is able to down-regulate the expression of LOX-1mRNA in human monocyte-macrophages cells through oxLDL,and TF mRNA and TF expression can be reduced.

Salvia miltorrhiza Bge. is a perennial deciduous flowering plant. Its medicinal root and rhizomes part is widely used in the treatment of various diseases. In this study, bioinformatics analysis was performed to identify 4832 genome SSR loci with length longer than or equal to 40 bp from the draft genome assembly of S. miltorrhiza. The re-sults showed that the dinucleotide repeat motifs and trinucleotide repeat motifs constitute the main types of genome SSR loci, accounting for 37.3% and 61.3% respectively. SSR types enriched with A/T bases showed significantly higher abundance than other types, including AT/TA AAT/ATT, ATA/TAT, TAA/TTA, accounting for 30.5%, 21.6%, 17.1%, 20.4% of the total number of SSR loci, respectively. 1079 primer pairs were designed for these genome SSR loci. These primers can be used for genomic diversity analysis, genetic map construction, genetic marker screening. These data could lay the foundation for population genetics and genomics research of S. miltorrhiza.

Mutations P459H and R483W detected in CYP21A2 gene in two Chinese patients with simple virilizing 21-hydroxylase deficiency were studied.Plasmid vectors containing P459H and R483W were constructed and transfected into COS-7 cells.The converting rate of progesterone to 11-desoxycortisone was calculated.P459H reduce 21-hydroxylase activity to 6.8%,while the residual enzyme activity of R483W was only 2.9%.

Aged, 80 and over ; Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal ; surgery ; Arteriosclerosis Obliterans ; surgery ; Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation ; methods ; Humans ; Male

ObjectiveTo evaluate the predictive value of the sperm quality to fertilization outcomes after short-time insemination.MethodsA total of 558 cycles of short-time insemination in the Reproductive Medical Center of Henan Provincial People's Hospital during January 2009 to June 2010 excluding patients aged ＞ 38 years and M Ⅱ oocyte number ＜ 3 were analyzed retrospectively.According to whether undergo rescue intracytoplasmic sperm injection( Re-ICSI),all cycles were divided into in vitro fertilization (IVF)group (472 cycles) and rescue intracytoplasmic sperm injection (Re-ICSI) group (86 cycles).Both IVFgroup and Re-ICSI group were subdivided into primary infertility and secondary infertility according to previous history of pregnancy.269 primary infertility cycles and 203 secondary infertility cycles were characterized in IVF group; and 64 primary infertility cycles and 22 secondary infertility cycles were characterized in Re-ICSI group.x2 test was applied for comparison of embryo plant rate,clinical pregnancy rate,early miscarriage rate between IVF and Re-ICSI groups,while Fisher test was used for comparison of live birth rate.and Mann-Whitney U test was utilized for comparison of duration of infertility,forward moving sperm counts,abnormal sperm rate,sperm acrosin activity between IVF and Re-ICSI groups.ResultsThe embryo plant rate,clinical pregnancy rate,early miscarriage rate,live birth rate of IVF group were:29.4％,44.9％,13.4％,37.0％ respectively; the above indicators in Re-ICSI group were:25.7％,34.6％,10.7％,29.6％ respectively,the differences of the indicators between the two groups had no statisticalsigmficance (x2 =0.869,2.963,0.010,P =0.351,0.085,0.922,0.098).Median of duration of infertility,forward moving sperm counts,abnormal sperm rate,sperm acrosin activity of primary infertility cycles in IVF group were:4.00(3.00 -6.00) years,58.37(33.64 - 102.27) × 106,81.09％ (79.41％ -88.69％ ),76.30 (48.50 - 92.46 ) μIU/106 sperm respectively ; in Re-ICSI group were:5.00 ( 3.25 -8.00) years,36.33 (20.59 -64.43 ) × 106,85.5％ (81.28％ - 89.02％ ),47.14( 31.61 -90.24) μIU/106 sperm respectively,the differences of them between the two groups had statistical significance (Z =-2.617, -3.505, -3.553, -3.530,P =0.009,0.000,0.000,0.000).Median of duration of infertility,forward moving sperm counts,abnormal sperm rate,sperm acrosin activity of secondary infertility cycles in IVF group were:5.00 (3.00 -7.00) years,63.00 (34.20 - 107.73 ) × 106,81.29％ (79.90 -86.09) ％,78.34 ( 53.87 - 98.00) μIU/106 sperm respectively,in Re-ICSI group were:5.00 ( 3.75 -7.00) years,28.80 ( 18.57 - 48.56 ) × 106,88.79％ ( 84.04 - 95.64 ) ％,54.70 ( 39.73 - 76.77 ) μIU/106 sperm respectively,the differences of them between the two groups showed statistical significance except duration of infertility (Z =- 0.338,- 3.505,- 3.553,- 3.530,P =0.735,0.000,0.000,0.006).ConclusionThe duration of infertility,forward moving sperm counts,abnormal sperm rate,sperm acrosin activity have predictive value of fertilization outcomes after short-time insemination.

Salvia miltorrhiza Bge is a medicinal herb in traditional Chinese medicines. Until recently, dozens of compound ingredients with medicinal properties have been identified from S. miltorrhiza. Proteome analysis on medicinal ingredients synthesis mechanisms could provide a theoretical basis for S. miltorrhiza genetic improve-ment. In this study, a S. miltorrhiza specific protein/peptide sequence database was constructed using Illumina high-throughput transcriptome sequencing data of multiple types of S. miltorrhiza tissues. The database could act as a key component to carry out the proteome analysis in S. miltorrhiza.