Objective: To observe the expression of interleukin-33 (IL-33) in macrophages of chronic periapical periodontitis and apical cyst tissue, and to provide a basis for the study of the pathogenesis of IL-33 in periapical diseases. Methods : The apical tissues of 20 normal control group, 15 chronic periapical periodontitis group and 15 apical cyst group were collected for HE staining and optical microscopy respectively. CD14 was used as the marker of macrophages and double immunofluorescence staining was used to observe the changes of periapical tissues under fluorescence microscopy. The expression of IL-33 in CD14-positive macrophages was observed. Results: The macrophage density (cell/mm 2) of IL-33 and CD14 positive expression in normal control group, chronic periapical periodontitis group and root cyst group were（23.81 ± 5.16,62.97 ± 8.54,119.83 ± 14.61) respectively, and there were significant differences among the three groups（F=87.17,P < 0.01）. The density of IL-33 and CD14 positive macrophages in root cyst group was significantly higher than that in chronic periapical periodontitis group and control group（P < 0.01）. Conclusion IL-33 and CD14 positive macrophages increased in normal apical tissue, chronic periapical periodontitis tissue and apical cyst tissue in turn.

Objective To investigate the clinical effect of systemic rehabilitation on stiffness of finger joints after hand injury. Methods A total of 213 stiff fingers were observed in patients with hand injury. All the patients were administered with therapeutic exercise, physical modalities and splinting. The improvement of the patients in terms of active range of motion (AROM) and passive range of motion (PROM) of their fingers was graded as excellent, good, adequate or poor according to the standard the authors set. Results With regard to their AROM and PROM, 82.2% and 94.8% of the patients got excellent improvement, 97.7% and 100% of the patients got excellent to adequate improvement, respectively. The finger function was increased from 17% to 56%. Conclusion Systemic rehabilitation can increase the AROM and PROM of stiff finger effectively and improve the patients' hand function.

Chemical investigation of the culture extract of an endophytic Penicillium citrinum from Dendrobium officinale, afforded nine citrinin derivatives (1-9) and one peptide-polyketide hybrid GKK1032B (10). The structures of these compounds were determined by spectroscopic methods. The absolute configurations of 1 and 2 were determined for the first time by calculation of electronic circular dichroism (ECD) data. Among them, GKK1032B (10) showed significant cytotoxicity against human osteosarcoma cell line MG63 with an IC₅₀ value of 3.49 μmol·L^-1, and a primary mechanistic study revealed that it induced the apoptosis of MG63 cellsvia caspase pathway activation.
Apoptosis ; Bone Neoplasms ; Caspases ; Humans ; Osteosarcoma/drug therapy* ; Penicillium

OBJECTIVETo review the recent studies about the role of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) in tumor induced tolerance.

DATA SOURCESPublished articles (1978 - 2009) on IDO and tumor induced tolerance were selected from Medline.

STUDY SELECTIONArticles selected were relevant to development of IDO in tumor induced tolerance. Of all originally identified articles, 50 specially addressed the stated purpose.

RESULTSRecent work has revealed IDO at high levels in tumors and in tumor-draining lymph nodes and a close relationship between IDO activity and the regulatory T cells.

CONCLUSIONUp-regulation of IDO is proven to be a mechanism of acquired tolerance in tumors, in which the closely coupled positive feedback system between IDO and regulatory T cells may be considered to play an important role.

Animals ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; physiology ; Humans ; Immune Tolerance ; physiology ; Indoleamine-Pyrrole 2,3,-Dioxygenase ; metabolism ; Neoplasms ; enzymology ; immunology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical efficacy of Shexiang Injection (SI) on inflammatory reaction in patients with acute cerebral infarction (ACI).

METHODSForty-two patients with ACI were randomly divided into two groups, 21 in each group. The control group treated with conventional therapy and the SI group treated with conventional therapy plus SI. Besides, 21 healthy people were arranged in the normal group for control. Expression of CD54 of mononuclear cell (MC-CD54) and serum level of soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) were determined and the clinical efficacy was observed dynamically before treatment and on the 7th, 14th day of the course.

RESULTSLevels of MC-CD54 expression and sVCAM-1 in the ACI patients increased obviously (P < 0.01), reached the peak on the 7th day, and declined obviously on the 14th day in both groups, however, the lowering in the SI group was more significant than that in the control group (P < 0.01); and positive correlation was shown between these two indexes (P < 0.01). After treatment, score of neural defect was improved more significantly (P < 0.01), and the markedly effective and curative rate was higher in the SI group than those in the control group (P < 0.05), respectively.

CONCLUSIONSI could inhibit the subsequent inflammatory reaction, and thus improve the clinical efficacy of conventional therapy in treating patients with ACI.

Aged ; Cerebral Infarction ; blood ; drug therapy ; Drug Administration Schedule ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Injections, Intravenous ; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 ; blood ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Treatment Outcome ; Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 ; blood

OBJECTIVETo detect the methylation status of TMS1 gene and its demethylation by arsenic trioxide (As₂O₃) in K562 cells.

METHODSK562 cells were treated with different concentrations of As₂O₃ for 48 hours. Methylation-specific PCR (MSP) was used to determine the methylation status of TMS1. RT-PCR and Western blot were used to detect the levels of TMS1 mRNA and protein. TMS1 associated apoptosis proteins Bcl-2/Bax were also analyzed by Western blot. Apoptosis were evaluated by flow cytometry using Annexin V/propium iodide (PI) double staining.

RESULTSTMS1 gene was completely methylated in K562 cells and the levels of TMS1 mRNA and protein were low (0.01±0.01, 0.09±0.02), which could be reversed (mRNA: 0.72±0.04; protein: 1.30±0.06; P<0.01) by 2 μmol/L As2O3 via overt demethylation of TMS1 gene. Apoptosis in experiment group (12.24±1.06) was significantly higher than that in control group (2.05±0.16, P<0.05). In experiment group, the down-expression of antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 and up-expression of pro-apoptotic protein Bax led to an obvious decline ratio of Bcl-2/Bax (0.56±0.12), as compared to the control group (1.94±0.14, P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONAs₂O₃ could up-regulate TMS1 gene expression by reversing its hypermethylation and induced apoptosis by down-regulation of Bcl-2/Bax ratio in K562 cells.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Arsenicals ; pharmacology ; CARD Signaling Adaptor Proteins ; Cytoskeletal Proteins ; metabolism ; DNA Methylation ; drug effects ; Down-Regulation ; Gene Expression Regulation, Leukemic ; Humans ; K562 Cells ; Oxides ; pharmacology ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; metabolism

Objective: To explore the effects of vascular risk factors on cognitive function among the elderly in community. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 1 269 elderly people (aged 65 and over) who were randomly selected from three communities.Through face-to-face interview, cognitive function was assessed by mini-mental state examination(MMSE), and blood samples were collected for laboratory examination.Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the vascular risk factors affecting cognitive function. Results: Age ((73.1±6.6), (71.3±4.9), t=4.603, P<0.05), education level (χ²=12.727, P<0.05), hypertension (χ²=9.106, P<0.05) and LDL-C (χ²=5.157, P<0.05) were significantly different in the elderly with or without mild cognitive impairment(MCI). After controlling age, gender and education, the logistic regression analysis showed that hypertension(β=0.378, P=0.006, OR(95%CI)=1.44(1.10-1.91)), systolic blood pressure ≥140 mmHg(β=0.350, P=0.011, OR(95%CI)=1.42(1.08-1.86), 1 mmHg=0.133 kPa), and high LDL-C(β=0.355, P=0.014, OR(95%CI)=1.43(1.08-1.89)) were the risk factors of MCI in the elderly in the community.Hypertension alone or high LDL-C (β=0.365, P=0.029, OR(95%CI)=1.44(1.04-2.00)) alone was risk factor for mild cognitive impairment in the elderly in the community.The risk of mild cognitive impairment in the elderly with hypertension and high LDL-C was 2.00 times higher than that in the healthy elderly (β=0.696, P<0.05, OR(95%CI)=2.00(1.36-2.97)). Conclusion Mild cognitive impairment in the elderly is closely related to hypertension and elevated LDL-C levels.Multiple vascular risk factors can further increase the risk of cognitive impairment.

BACKGROUNDThe ability to predict posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a critical issue in the management of patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), as early medical and rehabilitative interventions may reduce the risks of long-term cognitive changes. The aim of the present study was to investigate how diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics changed in the transition from acute to chronic phases in patients with mTBI and whether the alteration relates to the development of PTSD.

METHODSForty-three patients with mTBI and 22 healthy volunteers were investigated. The patients were divided into two groups: successful recovery (SR, n = 22) and poor recovery (PR, n = 21), based on neurocognitive evaluation at 1 or 6 months after injury. All patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging investigation at acute (within 3 days), subacute (10-20 days), and chronic (1-6 months) phases after injury. Group differences of fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) were analyzed using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). The accuracy of DTI metrics for classifying PTSD was estimated using Bayesian discrimination analysis.

RESULTSTBSS showed white matter (WM) abnormalities in various brain regions. In the acute phase, FA values were higher for PR and SR patients than controls (all P < 0.05). In subacute phase, PR patients have higher mean MD than SR and controls (all P < 0.05). In the chronic phase, lower FA and higher MD were observed in PR compared with both SR and control groups (all P < 0.05). PR and SR groups could be discriminated with a sensitivity of 73%, specificity of 78%, and accuracy of 75.56%, in terms of MD value in subacute phase.

CONCLUSIONSPatients with mTBI have multiple abnormalities in various WM regions. DTI metrics change over time and provide a potential indicator at subacute stage for PTSD following mTBI.

Adult ; Brain Injuries, Traumatic ; pathology ; Diffusion Tensor Imaging ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Prospective Studies ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic ; pathology ; White Matter ; pathology

To investigate the relationship between nm23-H1 gene and human chronic myeloblastic leukemia we designed siRNAs which target nm23-H1 gene. According to the principles of designing siRNA, we selected three siRNAs and transfected them into K562 cells by lipofectamine2000. The expression levels of nm23-H1 mRNA were detected by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction after transfection for 24 hours. The expression levels of nm23-H1 protein were assayed by immunocytochemical method after transfection for 48 hours. And after transfection for 24, 48 and 72 hours, cell proliferation was determined by MTT method. Among the three siRNAs, siNM526 can effectively inhibit the expression of nm23-H1 on mRNA and protein levels. The growth of K562 cells was suppressed after transfection of siNM526. These results suggest that low expression level of nm23-H1 in K562 cells inhibited cell proliferation, namely reduced malignant degree of them. Therefore nm23-H1 gene might be a potential target of leukemia treatment.
Cell Proliferation ; Humans ; K562 Cells ; Leukemia, Erythroblastic, Acute ; genetics ; pathology ; NM23 Nucleoside Diphosphate Kinases ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; RNA Interference ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; RNA, Small Interfering ; genetics ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Transfection

Objective: To analyze the clinical characteristics of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) caused by Streptococcus pyogenes (S. pyogenes) in the third trimester to improve clinical awareness of this disease. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of two patients with STSS caused by S. pyogenes in Jinan Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital and nine reported cases of healthy pregnant women infected with S. pyogenes at 28-42 gestational weeks with detailed data retrieved from Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure and PubMed database from January 1997 to December 2018. Results: The two cases admitted to our hospital were both multiparas, with onset in winter and no specific symptoms in early stage. Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) was developed in both cases on admission. In one case, the fetal heart rate was reduced and disappeared soon after admission. The other patient was diagnosed as stillbirth on admission. Both patients died and blood culture revealed infection of group A streptococcus. Nine previous cases were reported in one Chinese and five English articles. No high-risk pregnancy or premature rupture of membranes was reported in these 11 cases. Among the 11 cases, ten were positive for S. pyogenes indicated by blood or tissue culture and one was positive for streptococcal toxin. Ten cases had high fever and three presented with respiratory symptoms in early stage. Abdominal pain and watery diarrhea were common symptoms and all patients developed multiple organ dysfunction and DIC. Cases occurred in winter or spring were more common. Nine women died within 36 h after the onset of fulminant symptoms. Only two survived and hospitalized for 90 d and 25 d, respectively, after emergent cesarean section indicated by reduced fetal heart rate. Unfortunately, both neonates died after birth. For the babies, there were seven intrauterine fetal deaths, one stillbirth and three live births, but only one survived (whose mother developed respiratory cardiac arrest 90 min after delivery). Conclusions STSS caused by S. pyogenes in pregnant women exacerbates rapidly with a high mortality. Early identification of clinical manifestations and rapid progress of the disease are crucial for early diagnosis and treatment, which may help improve maternal and fetal outcomes.