Objective To detect the plasma macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP) levels in patients with early Parkinson' s disease (PD) and to investigate whether plasma MIP was associated with motor and non-motor symptoms in early PD.Methods Fifty-nine patients with early idiopathic PD (Hoehn-Yahr Staging Scale from 1.0 to 2.5) treated in our hospital from January 28,2013 to September 30,2013 and 54 healthy controls were recruited.Plasma MIP-1α and MIP-1β levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Motor function was assessed by Unified Parkinson' s Disease Rating Scale Part Ⅲ and Hoehn-Yahr Staging Scale during “on” period.Total non-motor symptoms were assessed by Non-motor Symptoms Questionnaire.Cognitive dysfunction was assessed by Mini Mental State Examination.Autonotic dysfunction was assessed by Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson' s disease-Autonomic.Depression was assessed by Hamilton Depressive Scale (HAMD).Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder was assessed by REM sleep behavior disorder screening questionnaire (RBDSQ).Correlation between plasma MIP levels and scale scores was analyzed by Spearman rank correlation.Results Plasma MIP-1o and MIP-1β levels were not significantly different between early PD patients and healthy controls.However,plasma MIP-1 α level negatively correlated with depression (HAMD score,r =-0.520,P =0.027) and rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBDSQ score,r =-0.537,P =0.039).Conclusion MIP-1 α may be correlated with depression and RBD in early PD.

Objective To assess the clinical feature and diagnosis of diffuse hyperpigmentation with guttate depigmentation macules.Methods A retrospective study was carried out among 10 patients with diffuse hyperpigmentation with guttate depigmentation macules collected at the Institute of Dermatology,Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College from 2005 to 2012.The clinical manifestations,pathological findings and disease outcomes in these patients were analyzed.Results Of the 10 patients,6 were male,and 4 were female.The median age at onset was 7 years (range,4-25),and there were only 3 adult patients among these patients.None of the patients had a family history of pigmentary disturbance.Typical clinical manifestations included densely distributed,guttate hypopigmented macules arising on diffuse and uniform hyperpigmentation.Lesions could slowly spread over the body surface without the trend towards spontaneous regression.Pathologically,there was a slight increase in pigmentation of the epidermal basal layer,as well as melanins and melanophages scattered around blood vessels in the superficial dermis,with or without focal vacuolar degeneration of the basal cell layer.Conclusions Diffuse hyperpigmentation with guttate depigmentation macules,a rare pigmentary disturbance that clinically manifests as both hyperpigmentation and hypopigmentation and is pathologically characterized by postinflammatory hyperpigmentation,often affects children.Once the lesions occur,there is no trend towards regression.No effective treatment is available for this entity at present.

Objective To identify the gene locus and the mutation of DSRAD (double-stranded RNA adenosine deaminase) in a Chinese dyschromatosis symmetrica hereditaria(DSH) family. Methods After confirming the diagnosis of the DSH proband, the genomic DNA was extracted from the whole blood samples of every members of the pedigree. The DSRAD gene intervals were localized by linkage analysis and haplotype reconstruction. The mutation of DSRAD was detected by direct sequencing. Results The candidate gene was localized at the 1q region, consistent with the reported region. The direct sequencing results showed that there was a CAA→TAA transition at exon 2 of DSRAD in all affected family members, which consequently led to a nonsense mutation of Gln517Ter. Conclusion A nonsense mutation is found in the Chinese DSH family.

Objectives To synthesize human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT)- and human tolemerase RNA (hTR)- small interfering RNA (siRNA) and investigate their effects on telomerase activity in the cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) cell line Hut78. Methods Two types of hTERT- and hTR- siRNAs were synthesized with T7 RNA polymerase via in vitro transcription, then either mixed with Hut78 cell lysates directly or transfected into Hut78 cells by calcium phosphate co-precipitation. Telomerase activity was tested by telomeric repeat amplification and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Results With T7 RNA polymerase, hTERT- and hTR- siRNAs were synthesized efficiently with a concentration of 22.4?g siRNA per 40?L siRNA reaction mix. Telomerase activity was suppressed significantly by either of the siRNAs. The inhibition rate was 87% in the cell lysate group treated with siRNA directly, and 75% in the cell group Iransfected with siRNA. Conclusions The in vitro transcription of siRNA with T7 RNA polymerase is technically simple, costeffective, and can produce siRNA in an efficient way. hTERT- and hTR-siRNA can down-regulate telomerase activity significantly in Hut78 cells.

Objective To estimate the diagnostic value of interstitial infiltration pattern for early morphea.Methods Twenty-five cases of early morphea pathologically characterized by interstitial infiltration of inflammatory cells were collected from 2010 to 2012.The clinicopathological features of these cases were retrospectively analyzed.Results The average clinical course was 7.5 months.The primary manifestation was edematous dark erythematous plaques,and interstitial or mixed infiltrate of inflammatory cells was the characteristic histopathological presentation.After anti-inflammatory treatment,lesions markedly improved or disappeared in 70％ of these patients.Conclusions Interstitial infiltration of inflammatory cells is a rare histologic pattern in early morphea.To learn and recognize this pattern may be beneficial to the diagnosis and treatment of early morphea.

Objective To compare three methods for the extraction of mycobacterial DNA.Methods Two commercial DNA extraction kits and an ordinary freeze-thawing method were used to extract DNA from the pure suspensions of three species of Mycobacteria (M.tuberculosis,M.leprae and M.smegmatis) at different densities (1 × 10 to 1 × 105 cells/ml),simulated clinical specimens containing different concentrations of mycobacterial cells (1 × 10 to 1 × 104 cells/ml).The purity and concentration of the extracted DNA were evaluated.Then,PCR was performed to amplify the 16S rRNA region of Mycobacteria.The performance of the three methods was compared by the purity and concentration of extracted DNA as well as the results of PCR.Further more,76 clinical skin specimens suspected to be infected with Mycobacteria were used to further validate the performance of these methods.Results All the extracted DNA samples could be detected by PCR.The highest purity of DNA was obtained by the kit A,followed sequentially by the freeze-thawing method and the kit B.When pure suspensions were used,the detection limit was consistently 1 × 102 cells/ml for all the three methods.With simulated specimens,the detection rate was consistently 100％ for all the three methods at the concentration of 1 × 103 cells/ml,60％ (12/20),55％ (11/20) and 55％ (11/20) for the kit A,kit B and freeze-thawing method respectively at the concentration of 1 × 102 cells/ml.The analysis of clinical specimens showed that the kit B could be used to extract DNA from paraffin-embedded specimens,with the detection rate similar to that of kit A and freeze-thawing method.Conclusions The kit A could rapidly yield high-quality genomic DNA of Mycobacteria by repeated cleaning of columns,and may serve as the optimal method for scientific and clinical studies,and the kit B is suitable for extracting mycobacterial DNA from fresh tissue specimens besides paraffin-embedded specimens.

Objective To construct the short hairpin RNA (shRNA)-expressing plasmid vectors specific for BRAF gene, and to test their effects in BRAF knockdown in human melanoma cell lines. Methods Two pairs of specific BRAF shRNA oligoes and a pair of randomly synthesized non-specific shRNA oligo were synthesized and inserted into plasmid pGenesil-1. Their fidelity was confirmed by double endonuclease digestion and sequencing. The constructed plasmids were transfected into human melanoma cell lines A375 and M14. The expression of BRAF mRNA and BRAF protein were detected by RT-PCR and Western blotting, respectively. Results The designed shRNA oligoes were precisely cloned into the plasmid pGenesil-1. The expression of BRAF mRNA and protein were down-regulated by specific plasmid braf 1 and braf 2, except to non-specific plasmid neg. The plasmid braf 1 was more effective, reducing BRAF gene expression by 90 per cent. Conclusions Plasmid mediated shRNA could successfully knockdown BRAF expression in human melanoma cells, and the suppression of the gene expression could maintain for 1 month at least.

A 38-year-old man complained of multiple papules and nodules in the left retroauricular region for 38 years. On physical examination, there were tens of irregularly sized, skin-colored or pink papules and nodules in the left retroauricular region. Pathological examination showed a large irregularly shaped unilocular cystic space surrounded by a fibrous pseudocapsule in the dermis. The cystic space was lined by a double layer of epithelial cells, including an outer layer of flattened vacuolated myoepithelial cells and an inner layer of cuboidal or columnar secretory cells with eosinophilic cytoplasm. Apocrine secretion was present. Numerous hyperplastic apocrine glands were seen in the deep dermis. A final diagnosis of multiple apocrine hidrocystomas accompanied by apocrine hyperplasia was rendered based on the clinical and pathological presentations.

ObjectiveTo explore the effect of nursing management emergency project in the treatment of batches of wounded persons in sudden disasters.Method The overall emergency system was set up,the emergency project on nursing management was made including non-stop nosocomial transmission mode,standardization of nursing management in the wards,specialized nursing and individualized nursing for critically ill patients.Result All 139 injured were successfully rescued and discharged after a quick pre-hospital care and effective in-hospital care,with effective rescue time (33.5±19.6)min and the rescue success rate 100.0%. Conclusion The nursing management emergency project for sudden disasters is effective for rescuing batches of wounded persons and improving the success rate of rescue.

Objective To construct a eukaryotic expression plasmid carrying the PKCI-1/HINT1 gene,to investigate its expression in A375 melanoma cells after transfection,and to evaluate its effects on apoptosis and autophagy of A375 cells.Methods The PKCI-1/HINT1 gene sequence was amplified by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) with total RNA extracted from A375 cells as the template,then inserted into the eukaryotic expression plasmid PCDNA3.1 (+) to construct a recombinant plasmid,PCDNA3.1 (+)-PKCI-1/HINT1.Some A375 cells were classified into two groups to be transiently transfected with the recombinant plasmid (PCDNA3.1 (+)-PKCI-1/HINT1 group) or the empty plasmid PCDNA3.1 (+) (control group).After additional 48-hour culture,RT-PCR and Western blot analysis were performed to quantify the mRNA and protein expressions of PKCI-1/HINT1 respectively,Hoechst 33342 staining was conducted to detect apoptosis of A375 cells,Western blot analysis to detect the expressions of intracellular caspase-3 and autophagy-associated protein beclin1,and cell autophagy was observed by using the green fluorescent protein (GFP)-microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3) labelling method combined with confocal laser scanning microscopy.Methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay was performed to evaluate the proliferative activity of A375 cells at 24,48,72 and 96 hours after transfection.Results Enzyme digestion and sequencing analysis confirmed that the eukaryotic expression plasmid PCDNA3.1 (+)-PKCI-1/HINT1 was successfully constructed and effectively expressed in the transfected A375 cells.MTT assay showed that PKCI-1/HINT1 could obviously inhibit the proliferation of A375 cells,and the number of live cells was decreased by 17.0％,25.6％ and 29.4％ in the PCDNA3.1 (+)-PKCI-1/HINT1 group at 48,72 and 96 hours,respectively,compared with the control group (all P ＜ 0.05).Hoechest 33258 staining revealed that PKCI-1/HINT1 could promote the formation of apoptotic bodies in A375 cells.Confocal laser scanning microscopy demonstrated that the overexpression of PKCI-1/HINT1 increased GFP-LC3 puncta formation in A375 cells.In addition,Western blot analysis indicated that PKCI-1/HINT1 up-regulated the protein expressions of caspase-3 and beelin1 in A375 cells.Conclusions The eukaryotic expression plasmid PCDNA3.1 (+)-PKCI-1/HINT1 was successfully constructed,and PKCI-1/HINT1 could be effectively expressed in A375 cells.High-level expression of PKCI-1/HINT1 could suppress cellular proliferation,promote apoptosis,and induce autophagy,of A375 cells.