BACKGROUND: Promoting immunological function of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can control development of COPD.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of bufei yishen granule on pulmonary ventilation function and immunological function of COPD patients and compare with placebo.DESIGN: A randomized grouping comparison and placebo controlled study.SETTING: Respiration Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan Traditional Chinese Medical.PARTICIPANTS: A total of 62 COPD patients selected from Department of Respiration of the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan College of Traditional Chinese Medicine from January 1999 to October 2004,were randomly divided into two groups :Observation group and control group with 31 in each group.METHODS: Patients in observation group were treated with bufei yishen granule consisting of ginseng, mongolian milkvetch root, largehead atractylodes rhizome, divaricate saposhnikovia root, dwarf lilyturf tuber, Chinese magnoliavine fruit, malytea scurfpea fruit, medicinal evodia fruit, Chinese cster pillar fungus, Chinese eaglewood wood, scorpion, almond, thunberg fritillary bulb, szechwan lovge rhizome, etc., produced by Pharmaceutic Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan College of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Each granule of 1 g contained an equivalent of 5.78 g raw drugs. Three times a day with 10 g for each; and patients in control group were treated with placebo consisting of hawthorn fruit and malt. The dosage and medication were the same as those in observation group. Both therapies were respectively administered in a treatment course of two months. Before and after the therapy course,the followed indexes were measured.① Assay of immunological function: The levels of IgG, IgA and IgM from blood serum were detected with simple agar diffusion.② Assay of Ag level in nucleolus organizer region (Ag-NORs): The ratios non-histone staining acidity non-histone vs core area (IS%) was calculated by staining the activating lymphocytes of the blood by silver staining technique with microscope image analysis technique. ③ Assay of pulmonary function: The pulmonary function was measured by Sensor Medics Ros System in all of the people with the levels of forced expiratory volume in first second (FEV1.0), mean maximu expiratory flow (MMEF), peak expiratory flow (PEF), once after and before treatment. The examination was repeated three times in order to obtain the peak number. The difference of the three examinations was within ±5%.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Comparison of T lympholeukocyte subpopulation and pulmonary ventilation function in the patients before and after 1 course.RFSULTS: Data of totally 62 patients was entered the final analysis without any loss.① Comparison of pulmonary ventilation function of patients in the two groups before and after 1 course: FEV1.0, MMEF, PEF,and ratio of FEV1.0 and forced vital capacity (FEV1%) in observation group were significant higher than those before treatment (t=2.12-3.41,P ＜ 0.05-0.01), thoseindexes in observation group were higher than those in control group (t=2.54-3.17, P ＜ 0.05-0.01). ② Changes of T lymphocyte subgroups of patients in the two groups before and after 1 course:The levels of CD3+, CD4+, CD4+/CD8+ in observation group after 1 course were high.er than those before treatment (t=2.71-13.20, P ＜ 0.01), but the level of CD8+ was decreased as compared with that before treatment (t =8.63, P ＜ 0.01). The levels of CD3+, CD4+, CD4+/CD8+ in observation group were higher than those in control group (t=2.85-11.84, P ＜ 0.01), but the level of CD8+ was decreased as compared with that in control group (t =5.83, P ＜ 0.01).CONCLUSION: The bufei yishen granule can obviously improve the pulmonary ventilation function and immunological function of COPD patients,and its intervention is superior to that of placebo.

Ebola virus infection causes severe hemorrhagic fever in human and non-human primates with high mortality.Viral entry/infection is initiated by binding of glycoprotein GP protein on Ebola virion to host cells,followed by fusion of virus-cell membrane also mediated by GP.Using an human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-based pseudotyping system,the roles of 41 Ebola GP1 residues in the receptor-binding domain in viral entry were studied by alanine scanning substitutions.We identified that four residues appear to be involved in protein folding/structure and four residues are important for viral entry.An improved entry interference assay was developed and used to study the role of these residues that are important for viral entry.It was found that R64 and K95 are involved in receptor binding.In contrast,some residues such as I170 are important for viral entry,but do not play a major role in receptor binding as indicated by entry interference assay and/or protein binding data,suggesting that these residues are involved in post-binding steps of viral entry.Furthermore,our results also suggested that Ebola and Marburg viruses share a common cellular molecule for entry.

This study explored the role of apoptosis of alveolar wall cells of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with pulmonary emphysema in the pathogenesis of emphysema. The subjects were divided into three groups: COPD patients with pulmonary emphysema (COPD group), asymptomatic smokers and non-smokers. Lung tissues were harvested and histologically assessed. TUNEL assay was employed to determine the apoptotic cells. The expression of PCNA, Bax and SP-C in the lung alveolar wall cells were immunohistochemically determined. SP-C immunofluorescence staining was used to identify type II alveolar cells in the TUNEL-positive cells. The mean linear interval (MLI), mean alveoli number (MAN) and mean alveoli area (MAA) in COPD group were significantly different as compared with those in asymptomatic smokers and non-smokers, respectively (P<0.01). The proliferation index (PI), apoptosis index (AI) and the percentage of Bax-positive cells in COPD group were significantly greater than those of asymptomatic smokers and non-smokers (P<0.01). However, the percentage of SP-C-positive cells was significantly lower in COPD group than in asymptomatic smokers and non-smokers (P<0.01). Most of the TUNEL-positive cells expressed SP-C. In COPD group, the apoptosis of alveolar wall cells, especially apoptosis of type-II cells, may take part in the pathogenesis of emphysema. Up-regulation of Bax expression may be responsible for the apoptosis of alveolar wall cells in the COPD patients with pulmonary emphysema.

OBJECTIVE: To build information repository of the carrying rate of neonatal deafness gene in Shijiazhuang. METHOD: Blood samples were collected from the heel in 3-days neonates. Mutations of the deafness related genes were detected by the method of fluorescent PCR. Neonates received the detection of 6 mutation sites from 3 genes, including GJB2 (235delC, 299-300delAT), SLC26A4 (IVS7-2A> G, 2168A> G), mitochondrial DNA12S rRNA(1494C>T,1555A>G). RESULT: There were 384 neonates who carried mutations among 421 subjects and the carrying rate was 4.08%, 158 (1.68%) newborns carried heterozygous mutations and 1 (0.01%) case carried homogeneous mutation of GJB2 (235 delC), 55 (0.58%) neonates carried heterozygous mutations of GJB2 (299-300delAT); 133 (1.41%) neonates carried heterozygous mutations and 1 (0.01%) homogeneous of SLC26A4(IVS7-2A>G),19 (0.20%) newborns carried heterozygous mutations of SLC26A4 (2168A>G). The numbers of neonates who carried homogeneous and heterogeneous mutation of mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene were 14 and 3 with carring rates of 0.15% and 0.03%. Two newborns were found to carry more than one mutation. One carried 235delC, IVS7-2A>G and 1555A>G and another carried 235delC and IVS7-2A>G. CONCLUSION The main mutational patterns were 235delC from GJB2 gene and IVS7-2A>G from SLC26A4 gene in Shijiazhuang newborns. The carrying rate information repository of neonatal deafness gene has been built preliminarily.
Connexin 26 ; Connexins ; genetics ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; DNA, Mitochondrial ; genetics ; Deafness ; genetics ; Genetic Testing ; Heterozygote ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Mutation ; Neonatal Screening ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Ribosomal ; genetics

Objective To study the function of hyperbaric oxygen in the wound healing of skin dermabrasion.Methods A total of 32 cases of facial scar underwent skin dermabrasion,in which 20 cases were caused by acne and 12 cases by external injury.16 cases were given hyperbaric oxygen treatment after skin dermabrasion randomly and lasted for 6 days,while the other 16 cases were given only routine dressing change which was same to the hyperbaric oxygen group.We observed the wound healing time and dress changing time under the condition of hyperbaric oxygen and no hyperbaric oxygen after skin dermabrasion.Results Sixteen cases received hyperbaric oxygen recovered with short healing time,average 11 days,while other 16 cases received no hyperbaric oxygen recovered with longer healing time,average 16 days,without wound infection.Significant statistical difference (P＜0.05) was found by SPSS 11.5 analysis.However,the average time of dress changing in hyperbaric oxygen group was 5 days,which was a little more than that of the group without hyperbaric oxygen treatment (average time of 4 days) although there was no significant statistical difference between the two groups.Conclusions The wound healing of skin dermabrasion can be improved by hyperbaric oxygen.

The glycoprotein (GP) of Ebola is the sole structural protein that forms the spikes on the viral envelope. The GP contains two subunits, GP1 and GP2, linked by a disulfide bond, which are responsible for receptor binding and membrane fusion, respectively. In this study, the full length of GP gene of Ebola Zaire species, 2028 base pairs in length, was synthesized using 38 overlapping oligonucleotides by multiple rounds of polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The synthesized GP gene was shown to be efficiently expressed in mammalian cells. Furthermore, an efficient HIV-based pseudotyping system was developed using the synthetic GP gene, providing a safe approach to dissecting the entry mechanism of Ebola viruses. Using this pseudotyping system and mutational analysis, the role of the charged residues in the GP2 helical regions was examined. It was found that substitutions of the most charged residues in the regions did not adversely affect GP expression, processing, or viral incorporation, however, most of the mutations greatly impaired the ability of GP to mediate efficient viral infection. These results demonstrate that these charged residues of GP2 play an important role in GP-mediated Ebola entry into its host cells. We propose that these charged residues are involved in forming the intermediate conformation(s) of GP in membrane fusion and Ebola entry.

Objective To investigate the CT features of hepatic focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) in children.Methods Thirteen patients with FNH,which was confirmed by postoperative pathology,were enrolled retrospectively.Plain and contrast CT were performed on all patients before operation.The CT imaging features of FNH including size,shape,density,style of contrast were analyzed retrospectively and compared with pathology.Results There were 13 patients with 16 lesions,8 lesions were found in the right lobe,5 lesions in the left lobe and 3 lesions involving both lobes.The tumor size ranged from 5.5 cm to 11.5 cm (media size 7.5 cm) in diameter.Histologically,2 cases were typical type,11 cases were atypical type.The lesions were regular morphology in 12 cases and 1 case with capsule.On plain CT,the lesions were isodensity (n=1) or slightly low-density (n=12).In 2 typical type lesions,there were slit-like,stellate-shaped low density central scars.Arterial phase demonstrated that 12 cases were significantly enhanced and 1 case showed mild enhancement.The central scar was not enhanced.In 12 cases,thickened and torturous arteries were seen.The enhancement was reduced at the portal venous phase in all the lesions,with 10 cases showing slightly higher density,2cases isodensity and 1 case low-density.Two cases showed mild enhancement of the central scar.The enhancement of the solid portion in all lesions decreased at the delay phase,with 12 cases showing isodensity and 1 case slightly low density.Two cases with central scar showed delayed enhancement with slightly higher density.Conclusion The CT features of FNH in children are diversified but distinctive which are related with postoperative pathological findings.Combining with clinical symptoms and CT features can be helpful for the early diagnosis of FNH in children.

OBJECTIVETo assess the level of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) messenger RNA (mRNA) in peripheral blood of nude mice, and to study its relationship with tumor recurrence and metastasis after curative resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

METHODSThe metastatic model of human HCC in nude mice LCI-D20 was used in this study. Curative resection was performed at 10th day after tumor implantation in 28 nude mice. Interferon alpha-1b (IFN alpha-1b) was administered subcutaneously from the next day after resection, at doses of 3 10(7)U/kg/d (8 nude mice), 1.5 10(7) U/kg/d (8 nude mice) respectively in the treatment groups, and normal saline alone in the controlled group (12 nude mice). Thirty-five days after treatment, one milliliter of peripheral blood was taken and AFP mRNA was quantitatively analyzed using TaqMan real-time quantitative RT-PCR. The mice were sacrificed. The size of recurrent tumor was measured and the presence of lung metastases was observed.

RESULTSThe liver recurrent rate, lung metastatic rate and positivity of AFP mRNA in the controlled group were all 100% (12/12), whereas it was 62.5% (5/8), 0% (0/8), 87.5% (7/8) respectively in the IFN alpha-1b 1.5 10(7)U/kg/d treated group. The recurrent tumor in liver of the IFN alpha-1b 1.5 10(7)U/kg/d treated group was much smaller than that of the controlled group (25 mm(3) 2 mm(3) vs 1143 mm(3) 3 mm(3), t =9.27, P<0.01), and the level of AFP mRNA was also lower than that of the controlled group [(85 6)copies/mug vs (955 2) copies/mug, t =4.33, P<0.01]. In the IFN alpha-1b 3 10(7)U/kg/d treated group, there was only one recurrent tumor (0.5 mm(3)), no lung metastasis, and the positivity of AFP mRNA was 0% (?(2)=11.67, P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONSThese results suggest that the level of AFP mRNA in peripheral blood may indicate recurrence and/or metastasis after curative resection of HCC. TaqMan real time quantitative RT-PCR is a very sensitive and convenient method for detecting circulating cancer cells.

Animals ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; analysis ; genetics ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; secondary ; surgery ; Disease Models, Animal ; Liver Neoplasms ; pathology ; surgery ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; RNA, Messenger ; analysis ; Recurrence ; alpha-Fetoproteins ; analysis ; genetics

Objective To evaluate wall histological abnormalities 2 to 3 cm to the end in high or intermediate anal atresia in order to identify features that explain postoperative bowel dysfunctions.Methods Sixty anal atresia patients treated in the Capital Pediatric Institution between January 2008 and December 2012 were recruited in our study.36 patients were resected the terminal anal segment (3 cm).Compared with those 24 cases who were not.Resected samples were fixed for HE and immuno-histochemical stainings.Clinical data including sacral ratio (SR),age at operation,gender,bowel function were evaluated.Results There was no significant difference in patients' SR value,gender and age at operation between resected group and control group.The median follow-up period was 4.5 years.The rates of voluntary bowel movement,soiling (grade 1,2,3) were similar in both groups,however,the rates of severe constipation in resection group was significantly lower that in control group (3 ％ vs.21％,P ＜ 0.05) In the bowel wall of distal 2 cm anrectal canal,the connective tissue was found to be irregular and abnormally represented.Muscle coat was abnormal in all cases,showing the dysplasia circular and longitudinal layers.The number of enteric nervous system was significant fewer in distal 2cm anrectal canal than that in distal 3 cm(1.6 ±0.9 vs.5.6 ±1.8,t=11.715,P＜0.01).Conclusions Resection of terminal 3 cm at least of the atresia anal canal benefits postoperative bowel defecation function.

Objective To investigate the X-ray,CT and MRI features of chondroblastoma (CB)and to improve diagnostic skills of this disease.Methods The X-ray,CT and MRI imaging of 27 cases with CB which were verified by histopathological examination and the misdiagnosed cases were analyzed retrospectively.Results Accurate diagnosis of preoperative images was made in 10 cases and all 10 cases were located in the epiphysis of long bone.X-ray and CT showed eccentric round and oval osteolytic bone destruction,with sclerotic rim and internal spotted calcification;MRI showed hypointensity on T1 WI and heterogeneous hypo-and hyperintensity on T2 WI,with peripheral regions of marrow edema and adjacent joint effusion.Seventeen cases were misdiagnosed preoperatively,including 8 cases in long bone epiphysis or apophysis,8 cases in short,flat and irregular bones and 1 case in metaphysis of long bone.Twelve cases showed expansive changes and 10 cases with associated aneurysmal bone cyst(ABC)showed fluid-fluid levels.Conclusion The CB shows sandy or stippled calcification,rim sclerosis,extensive surrounding bone marrow edema.CB in unusual sites usually shows expansive bone destruction,peripheral bone marrow edema,secondary aneurysmal bone cyst.Combined utilization of clinic,pathology and imaging features is helpful for the diagnosis.