Epigenetics, which is called second genetic code precisely and controls the total metabolic processes of eukaryotic cells,has an inseparable correlation with human health and diseases. Among all the gene silencing mechanisms of epigenetic modifications,CpG islands of DNA promoter hypermethylation/histone mod-ifications are two major causes. Promoter methylation of specific genes,such as Ras protein activator analogue 1 may lead to aberrant activation of downstream signaling pathways,following by fibroblasts proliferation and kid-ney fibrosis. In recent years,epigenetic modifications have been proved to play a major role in preventing fibro-blasts to return to their quiescent stage,ultimately contributing to fibrosis in the kidney. This paper provides a glimpse of recent studies on epigenetic mechanisms of chronic kidney diseases,especially renal fibrosis,with an aim to provide new insights into pathogenesis research and clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Objective To compare the effectiveness,safety and related clinical indicators between simple drainage treatment and drainage treatment combined with intrathoracic urokinase for children with parapneumonic pleural effusion(PPE).Methods Twenty-nine in patients with PPE given pleural effusion drainage in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2013 to December 2015 were selected as research subjects,who were divided into a simple group and an urokinase group based on whether intrathoracic urokinase was injected or not.The total number of hospital stay,the total drainage volume,the total number of catheter days,the total cost,the days with fever,efficient rate,operation rate and security of the patients were retrospectively analyzed between two groups.Results The intrathoracic days of hospital stay [M(P25,P75)] of urokinase group[19(11,30) days]were less than those of simple group[30(21,38) days],and the difference was significant (Z =-2.545,P =0.011);the total drainage volume[M(P25,P75)] of the urokinase group [430 (175,1 308) mL] was more than that of the simple group [110 (10,325)mL],and the difference was significant (Z =-2.811,P =0.005);the total number of catheter days [M (P25,P75)] of urokinase group [9 (7,19) days] was less than that of the simple group [20 (10,30) days],and the difference was significant (Z =-2.020,P =0.043);the total cost [M(P25,P75)] of the urokinase group [20 000(10 000,30 000)RMB] was less than that of the simple group [40 000 (30 000,50 000) RMB],and the difference was significant (Z =-2.631,P =0.009);the days with fever between urokinase group and the simple group was not significant (Z =-0.820,P =0.412).The urokinase group had a higher cure rate[76.9％ (10/13 cases)] and a lower surgical rate [23.1％ (3/13 cases)] compared with those of the simple group[18.7％ (3/16 cases),81.3％ (3/16 cases)],and the difference was significant (x2 =9.814,P =0.003).Conclusions Intrapleural urokinase therapy as an adjuvant treatment of PPE is simple and convenient,economic,higher efficiency,lower risk,which can be used as an effective clinical solution such disease.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of intrapleural fibrinolytic agents in the treatment of childhood empyema.Methods The data from China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI),Chinese BioMedical (CBM),PubMed,VIP Database and Cochrane library were reviewed.Randomized control trials by using intrapleural fibrinolytic agents to treat childhood empyema were included.Two reviewers independently extracted the data from the eligible studies and evaluated the quality of the included studies.Meta-analysis was performed for the results of homogeneous studies using RevMan 5.2 software,while others analyzed descriptively.Results Five randomized control trials involving 248 children with empyema were included.Meta-analysis was not made in all of the indexes because of apparent heterogeneity and limited data.Two trials were compared which involved 98 patients receiving fibrinolytic agents or 9 g/L saline.The results suggested that fibrinolytic agents shortened the length of hospital stay and reduced complication(all P ＜ 0.05),but no significant differences were found between the 2 groups in the effective rate,duration of fever and pleural effusion amount(OR =3.61,95％ CI 0.84-15.49,P ＞ 0.05).Three trials involving 150 patients compared fibrinolytic agents and video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS).The data suggested that no significant differences were found between 2 groups in the effective rate (OR =0.70,95 ％ CI 0.30-0.61,P ＞ 0.05),but fibrinolytic agents cost less (P ＜ 0.05).The adverse drug reactions to intrapleural fibrinolytic agents were mild to moderate,and well tolerated.Conclusions The findings suggest that intrapleural fibrinolytic agents in the treatment of childhood empyema is safe and effective,especially in encapsulated effusion.Compared to 9 g/L saline,it can shorten the length of hospital stay and reduce complication.Compared with VATS,the curative effect is similar,while intrapleural fibrinolytic agents are economic.

[ ABSTRACT] AIM:To study the effect of idazoxan ( IDA) on the permeability of blood-brain barrier ( BBB) and the expression of matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP-1) in mouse ex-perimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE).METHODS: Female C57BL/6 mice (n=36) were randomly divided into control group, EAE group and IDA group, with 12 mice in each group.EAE was induced by myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein 35-55 ( MOG35-55 ) .IDA (2 mg/kg, ip, bid) was administered for 15 d after immunization.The neurological defects of the mice were observed daily and scored.The pathological changes were observed under microscope with HE stai-ning and LFB myelin staining.The BBB permeability was detected by Evans blue extravasation.The expression of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 in the brain of EAE mice was determined by Western blotting.RESULTS: Compared with EAE group, the score of neurological defects in IDA group was decreased, the inflammation was relieved, the BBB permeability was re-duced, and the expression MMP-9 and the ratio of MMP-9/TIMP-1 were decreased ( P<0.05 ) .CONCLUSION: The neuroprotective effect of IDA on mouse EAE might be related to the down-regulation of MMP-9 and the ratio of MMP-9/TIMP-1, thus reducing the degradation of BBB and the permeability of BBB, and ameliorating the pathologic process of EAE.

Objective To discuss the clinical characteristics and prognosis of lipoprotein glomerulopathy (LPG) in chil-dren. Method Clinical data of one pediatric LPG patient were retrospectively analyzed. The clinical features and prognosis of childhood LPG were summarized based on literature review. Results A nine years old girl presented with frequent urination. The ifrst urine test revealed hematuria and proteinuria. After one week anti-infection treatment, the hematuria and proteinuria were continued. The serum albumin was slightly reduced. The hyperlipidemia and mild anemia were emerged. Kidney biopsy showed that enlarged glomeruli, with dilated capillary loops and weak eosinophilic lipoprotein thrombi in the capillary lumina under the light microscope;layered or tuftedemboluscontaining particulated lipid vacuoles under electron microscope. Gene sequencing identified APOE Tokyo (Leu141-Lys143→0). The diagnosis of LPG was confirmed. The lipid-lowering therapy was administrated and the disease was alleviated. Conclusion LPG is a rare disease in children. The level of blood lipid was signiifcantly increased, and the hormone therapy was ineffective. Kidney biopsy is the main basis for diagnosis. The genetic testing can prompt the genetic background. Lipid lowering therapy can relieve the progress of the disease.

We induced embryogenic calli (EC) and non-embryogenic calli (NEC) from flower filaments of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Chardonnay about 10 days before full bloom. The callus were sub-cultured, observed and verified by somatic embryo induction. PCR primers for VvSUC12 and VvSCU27 were designed according to the corresponding sequences in GenBank. After RNA extraction with RNAplant for EC and NEC cell lines, we synthesized the 1st strand DNA for semi quantitative RT-PCR, and normalized the density of the bands against house-keeping gene Actin. The results of 31 cycles semi-quantitative RT-PCR showed that VvSUC12 was highly expressed in both EC and NEC, with higher expression intensity in NEC than in EC, but not reached the significant level; while the expression of VvSUC27 was only detected in EC, and the expression level was significantly lower than that of VvSUC12. We increased the semi-quantitative RT-PCR cycle number to 35 and found that VvSUC27 gene was weakly expressed in NEC, in EC the intensity of the band was increased comparing with 31 cycles, and the expression level was higher than that of NEC. The paper discussed the differential expression of the two sucrose transporters and their relationship with the sucrose in the tissue culture medium.
Culture Techniques ; methods ; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Genes, Plant ; Membrane Transport Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Plant Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Vitis ; embryology ; genetics ; growth & development ; metabolism

We constructed a His-tagged prokaryotic expression vector of WUSCHEL gene of Arabidopsis thaliana, pET-31b(+)-WUS-His(6). The induction condition of the fusion protein expression in Escherichia coli was optimized. After purified by affinity chromatography, the recombinant WUS protein was resolved by renaturation of gradient urea dialysis, then used as antigen to immune rabbit to prepare polyclonal antibody. The rabbit anti-WUS antibody titer and specificity were analyzed and confirmed by agarose immunodiffusion testing; the antiserum sensitivity was assayed by dot blot and Western blotting. The results showed that the A. thaliana WUS prokaryotic expression vector was successfully constructed, and the optimized protein expression induction condition in E. coli was 0.5 mmol/L IPTG (isopropy-beta-D-thiogalactoside) at 28 degrees C for 10 hours. The purity of the affinity purified protein was higher than 96%, and the prepared polyclonal antibody was with high specificity and sensitivity, it was able to detect protein antigen at ng level.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Antibodies ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; Arabidopsis ; genetics ; Arabidopsis Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Chromatography, Affinity ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; metabolism ; Genetic Vectors ; genetics ; Homeodomain Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Plant Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Rabbits ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; immunology

Objective To investigate the risk factors for occult pneumonia(OP) in children with primary nephrotic syndrome(PNS).Methods The clinical data of 115 children with PNS and findings of chest CT from July 2010 to June 2016 at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University were retrospectively analyzed.Based on the findings of chest CT,the subjects were divided into 2 groups:OP group and unoccult pneumonia (UOP) group.The comparisons were made between 2 groups,including gender,age,season,course of disease before admitting to hospital,formation of ascites,white blood cells,C-reactive protein,erythrocyte sedimentation rate,total protein (TP),albumin (ALB),total cholesterol,immunoglobulin G (IgG),immunoglobulin E,urine N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) and 24 h urinary protein quantity/body weight.The single factor analysis was performed to analyze above indicators between 2 groups,and the indicators which had statistical significance were analyzed by single factor analysis were analyzed by the multifactor Logistic regression.The receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to evaluate the predicting ability of the indicators for PNS combined with OP.Results Among 1 15 cases,68 (59.1％) PNS patients were complicated with OP.The result of single factor analysis indicated that the risk factors were the formation of ascites,TP,ALB,IgG and NAG (all P ＜0.05).The multifactor Logistic regression showed that ascites,TP and ALB were the risk factors for OP in children with PNS(P =0.003,0.004,0.003).The area under curve (AUC) of ALB was 0.709,and the critical value was 18.55 g/L(P =0.000);the AUC of TP was 0.658,and the critical value was 39.15 g/L(P =0.004).Conclusion The incidence rate of PNS combined with OP was high.With the presence of formation of ascites,TP ＜39.15 g/L and ALB ＜ 18.55 g/L,it may indicate OP for the PNS children which require special consideration clinically and earlier chest CT examination.

Laryngopharyngeal reflux is an independent disease that affects the quality of life in children,but its pathogenesis is not clear and its diagnostic criteria is not unified.With the reports of laryngopharyngeal reflux continuing to emerge in recent years,this study aims to review the progress in pathogenesis,diagnosis and treatment of laryngopharyngeal reflux in children.