Objective To investigate the efficacy and adverse effects of methotrexate(MTX) and Bacille Calmette Guerin-polysaccharide nucleic acid(BCG-PSN) in the treatment of steroid dependent asthma.Methods Sixty-eight patients with steroid dependent asthma were divided into therapy group and control group.The patients in therapy group were treated with MTX and BCG-PSN,while the control group was given only MTX.The dose of oral steroid daily,symptom scores,peak flow rates(PEF) and expiratory volume in one second(FEV1) were monitored.Results Compared with before treatment,daily steroid dosage and symptom scores of two groups significantly decreased(P0.05),while PEF and FEV1 significantly increased in therapy group(P0.05).Conclusion The combined use of MTX and BCG-PSN may be more beneficial than the single use of MTX for the treatment of steroid-dependent asthma.

Objective To evaluate the value of Video-EEG for the diagnosis of children's non-epileptic seizures (NES). Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted in 105 cases of children with NES, which were diagnosed by 1 to 4 hours' video-EEG surveillance. Risk factors that interfered with the diagnosis were discussed. Results There were 91 cases (87%) of physiological NES and 14 cases (13%) of psychological NES among the total 105 NES. Misdiagnoses were made in 11 of 43 cases who received common EEG examination before. Conclusion Video-EEG was a reliable method to confirm the clinical diagnosis of non-epileptic seizures and differentiate it from epilepsy. EEG abnormality during seizure-free periods was the main risk factor for the misdiagnosis of NES.

Objective To investigate the significance of lactate dehydrogenase(LDH) in the diagnosis and treatment of children with refractory Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia(RMPP).Methods This was a study of children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia(MPP) admitted to hospital from June 2013 to June 2016.All patients were treated with erythromycin.Based on the definition of RMPP,subjects were divided into usual MPP group and RMPP group.The children in RMPP group were treated with erythromycin combined with methylprednisolone.The indicators including LDH,WBC counts,C-reactive protein,erythrocyte sedimentation rate(ESR),alanine aminotransferase(ALT),aspartate amino ransferase(AST) and creatine kinase were analyzed between RMPP group and usual MPP group.The differences of the above indicators between the effective and ineffective group before and after methylprednisolone treatment were also compared.Results In total,253 subjects were enrolled,including 161 in the usual MPP group and 92 in the RMPP group.The average age in RMPP group was older than that in the usual MPP group.The indicators(including LDH,AST,ALT,and ESR) of RMPP group were higher than those in the usual MPP group.Logistic regression showed that LDH and ESR were the significant factors in predicting RMPP.The odds ratio(OR) of LDH was 1.029 with 95%CI 1.020-1.037,and the OR of ESR was 1.063 with 95%CI 1.009-1.120.Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the area under the curve of LDH(400.50U/L) was the largest(0.959,95%CI 0.936-0.983).The administration of methylprednisolone to patients in the RMPP group resulted in the rapid improvement of symptoms and decrease in serum LDH and ESR levels in effective group(P＜0.05).Conclusion Serum LDH may be used as a biomarker to predict RMPP at the early stage,also may be an important marker for the evaluation of therapeutic efficacy in RMPP.

Objective To explore the diagnostic value of ultrasound in thyroid nodular disease.Methods Eighty-seven patients with thyroid nodule in hospital from 2010-2011 were taken ultrasound examination,including 23 cases with benign nodules and 64 cases with malignant nodules.Univariate analysis and mutivariate Logistic regression analysis were taken to test the ultrasonic index (internal echo,boundary,size,shape,microcalcifications,and aspect ratio) for discovery of the best diagnostic ultrasonic index to identify benign and malignant nodules.Results The ultrasound in the patients with malignant thyroid nodules showed the hypoecho,unclear border,irregular shape,microcalcifications,low blood supply,the aspect ratio ＞ 1.The ultrasound in the patients with benign thyroid nodules showed high or equal echo,clear border,regular shape,high blood supply,and the aspect ratio≤ 1.The ultrasonic indices between two groups had statistically significant difference (P ＜ 0.05).The shape and microcalcifications were the best ultrasonic diagnostic index to indentify the benign and malignant nodules with an EXP(B) 20.12 and 19.14,respectively.Conclusions The ultrasound is helpful in the diagnosis of thyroid nodular disease and identification of benign and malignant thyroid nodules.The ultrasonic images are the basic data for the clinical diagnosis of thyroid nodules.

Objective To investigate changes of CD~+_4CD~+_ 25 regulatory T cells (CD~+_4CD~+_ 25 Treg) and forkhead/winged helix transcription factor(Foxp3) mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with asthma, so as to elucidate the possible roles of CD~+_4CD~+_ 25 Treg in the development of asthma. Methods The peripheral blood samples were collected from 29 healthy controls (normal control group) and 78 patients with asthma which included 30 patients in exacerbation group, 25 patients in persistent group, and 23 patients in remission group. By using flow cytometry and RT-PCR, the CD~+_4CD~+_ 25 Treg ratio and Foxp3 mRNA in PBMCs were detected. Results The CD~+_4CD~+_ 25 Treg ratio and Foxp3 mRNA in PBMCs of exacerbation and persistent group were lower than that of remission group and normal control group (P0.05). Compared with persistent group, exacerbation group had lower CD~+_4CD~+_ 25 Treg ratio and Foxp3 mRNA (P

The changes of CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells (CD4(+)CD25(+) Treg) and Foxp3 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with asthma were investigated in order to elucidate the possible roles of CD4(+)CD25(+) Treg in the development of asthma. The peripheral blood samples were collected from 29 healthy controls (normal control group) and 78 patients with asthma which included 30 patients in exacerbation group, 25 patients in persistent group, and 23 patients in remission group. By using flow cytometry and RT-PCR, the CD4(+)CD25(+) Treg ratio and Foxp3 mRNA in PBMCs were detected. The CD4(+)CD25(+) Treg ratio and Foxp3 mRNA in PBMCs of exacerbation and persistent groups were lower than that of remission and normal control group (P<0.05). Although the CD4(+)CD25(+) Treg ratio and Foxp3 mRNA of remission group also lower than that of normal control group, there was no significant difference between them (P>0.05). As compared with persistent group, exacerbation group had lower CD4(+)CD25(+) Treg ratio and Foxp3 mRNA (P<0.05). It was indicated that the decrease of CD4(+)CD25(+) Treg ratio and its function in PBMCs may be responsible for pathogenesis of asthma.

Aim To investigate the inhibitive effects of trichostatin A(TSA) on telomerase activity of HL-60 cells and expression of subunit hTERT during apoptosis in vitro and its mechanism.Methods The proliferative activity of HL-60 cells was assessed using morphology and MTT assay.Cell apoptosis was confirmed using Flow Cytometer.Telomerase activity was examined using TRAP-ELISA.The expression status of telomerase subunits was analyzed using RT-PCR.Results A time-and dose-dependent inhibition was detected in HL-60 cells treated with TSA.After 48 h TSA(300 nmol?L~(-1)) treatment,the apoptotic rate detected using cytometric assay(Annexin V/PI double staining)of HL-60 cells was 42.6%.Telomerase activity and expression level of hTERT and the key subunit of telomerase decreased at 24-hour after TSA treatment.No significant changes were observed in the expression of hTR,hTP and the other two subunits of telomerase.Conclusion TSA inhibits telomerase activity and induces apoptosis in HL-60 cells.The underlying mechanism might be related to the down regulation of hTERT transcription.

Objective:The purpose of this study is to investigate the expression of tumor stem cell marker aldehyde dehydrogE-nase 1 (ALDH1) in breast cancer and its clinical significance. Methods:The expression of ALDH1 protein was examined by immunohistochemical staining in 92 breast cancer tissues. The correlation analysis and diseasE-free survival analysis of patients was evaluated based on the clinical follow-up data. Results:Expression of ALDH1 protein had a significant correlation with progesterone receptor (PR) and cerb-B2 (P<0.05), but had no significant correlation with age, tumor size, clinical staging, and lymph node metastasis (P>0.05). The 2-year diseasE-free survival rate of AlDH1-positive patients was lower than that of ALDH1-negative patients (P<0.05). ALDH1-positive patients, who received CEF regimen chemotherapy and hormone therapy, had lower 2-year diseasE-free survival rate than that of ALDH1-negative patients (P<0.05). Conclusion:The decreased diseasE-free survival rate of ALDH1-positive patients is related with drug resistance. ALDH1 could be used as an independent factor for predicting the prognosis of breast cancer.

The expression of resistin protein in normal human abdominal, thigh, pregnant women abdominal, non-pregnant women abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue and placenta and the relationship between obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), pregnant physiological insulin resistance (IR) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) was investigated. The expression of resistin protein in normal human abdominal, thigh, pregnant women abdominal, non-pregnant women abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue and placenta was detected by using Western blotting method. Fasting serum glucose concentration was measured by glucose oxidase assay. Serum cholesterol (CHOL), serum triglycerides (TG), serum HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) and serum LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) were determined by full automatic biochemical instrument. Fasting insulin was measured by enzyme immunoassay to calculate insulin resistance index (IRI). Height, weight, systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were measured to calculate body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage (BF %). Resistin protein expression in pregnant women placental tissue (67 905 +/- 8441) (arbitrary A values) was much higher than that in subcutaneous adipose tissue in pregnant women abdomen (40 718 +/- 3818, P < 0.01), non-pregnant women abdomen (38 288 +/- 2084, P < 0.01), normal human abdomen (39 421 +/- 6087, P < 0.01) and thigh (14 942 +/- 6706, P < 0.001) respectively. The resistin expression in abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue showed no significant difference among pregnant, non-pregnant women and normal human, but much higher than that in thigh subcutaneous adipose tissue (P < 0.001). Pearson analysis revealed that resistin protein was correlated with BMI (r = 0.42), fasting insulin concentration (r = 0.38), IRI (r = 0.34), BF % (r = 0.43) and fasting glucose (r = 0.39), but not with blood pressure, CHOL, TG, HDL-C and LDL-C. It was suggested that resistin protein expression in human abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue was much higher than that in human thigh subcutaneous adipose tissue. Resistin was closely related with central obesity, leading to IR, subsequently obesity and T2DM. Resistin protein expression in placental tissue was much higher than that in subcutaneous adipose tissue in normal human abdomen, pregnant abdomen, non-pregnant women abdomen and thigh. It was indicated that resistin protein could be secreted from human placental tissue. Resistin might be one of the factors that lead to pregnant physiological IR and GDM.

The changes of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells (CD4+CD25+ Treg) and Foxp3 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with asthma were investigated in order to elucidate the possible roles of CD4+CD25+ Treg in the development of asthma. The peripheral blood samples were collected from 29 healthy controls (normal control group) and 78 patients with asthma which included 30 patients in exacerbation group, 25 patients in persistent group, and 23 patients in remission group. By using flow cytometry and RT-PCR, the CD4+CD25+ Treg ratio and Foxp3 mRNA in PBMCs were detected. The CD4+CD25+ Treg ratio and Foxp3 mRNA in PBMCs of exacerbation and persistent groups were lower than that of remission and normal control groups (P＜0.05). Although the CD4+CD25+ Treg ratio and Foxp3 mRNA of remission group were also lower than that of normal control group, there was no significant difference between them (P＞0.05). As compared with persistent group, exacerbation group had lower CD4+CD25+ Treg ratio and Foxp3 mRNA (P＜0.05). It was indicated that the decrease of CD4+CD25+Treg ratio and its function in PBMCs may be responsible for pathogenesis of asthma.