Cytokines ; Hashimoto Disease ; diagnosis ; prevention & control ; Humans

Objective To investigate the relationship between vaginal and intestinal Candida in patients with vulvovaginal candidiasis by using microbiological and molecular methods. Methods The samples of vaginal discharge and anal swabs were collected from 148 cases with vulvovaginal candidiasis,followed by fungal culture, identification, purification and genome DNA extraction. The genome sequences from respective locations were aligned and typed according to their homology analyzed by internal transcribed spacer (ITS) PCR and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) PCR. Patients with vulvovaginal infection or those with infections in intestine and vulvovagina were pooled respectively, while the recurrent incidences after local anti-fungal treatments were analyzed. Results Candida albicans is the dominant pathogen in 148 cases with vulvovaginal candidiasis (91.9% , 136/148) ; 33. 1% (49/148) of patients with vulvovaginal candidiasis were infected in both intestine and vulvovagina. While 92% (22/24) of patients with intestinal and vaginal Candida infection showed high homology. The recurrent rate of patients with vulvovaginal candidiasis complicated with concurrent intestinal Candida infection (7/14) was significantly higher than that of solo vaginal infected patients [21% (6/29)] after vaginal treatment (P < 0. 05) . Conclusions The infection of vulvovaginal candidiasis is highly associated with the concurrent infection of intestinal Candida. The recurrent rate is high in patients with vulvovaginal candidiasis with concurrent infection of intestinal Candida after vaginal treatment. The general management to those patients infected by both vulvovaginal and intestinal Candida is necessary in reducing the recurrence of the disease.

Objective To establish a mathematical model for describing and predicting the effectiveness of physical therapy on lumbar disc hernation(LDH).Methods Daily comprehensive physical therapy interventions including lumbar traction,mobilization and physical agents were administered to 31 LDH patients for 10 sessions.A visual analogue scale was used to measure the pain intensity before each session.The logistic curve model was used in the regression analysis.The first 2 to 9 pain measurements were involved in different predictive models,and the predictive results were compared among different models.Results In regression analysis,the global R2 was 0.719.In predicting analysis,the more measurements involved in the predictive model,the more effective the prediction.The predictive power was low when the model included less than 4 measurements.the prediction power was high when more than 5 measurements were used in the model.Conclusion The logistic model can describe and predict the effectiveness of multiple physical therapy on LDH patients.

Objective To investigate the expression of activating receptors (NKG2D and NKp46), inhibitory receptors (NKG2A and KIR) as well as costimulatory molecules (OX40, 4-1BB and ICOS) on peripheral blood natural killer (NK) cells from patients with recurrent genital herpes (RGH). Methods Four-color immunofluorescence staining with flow cytometry was used to detect the expression of NKG2D, NKG2A, KIR and NKp46 in 44 patients with RGH and 40 normal human controls, and to detect the expression of OX40, 4-1BB and ICOS in 29 patients with RGH and 29 normal human controls. Results The proportions of NKG2D-positive and NKp46-positive NK cells significantly decreased in patients with RGH than those in the normal human controls [(93.3 ± 5.4)% vs (96.9 ± 2.5)%, (88.9 ± 8.7)% vs(93.4 ± 4.1)%, respectively, both P < 0.01]. Between the patients and controls, no significant difference was observed in the expression of NK cell inhibitory receptors, NKG2A [(41.8 ± 14.4)% vs (46.0 ± 14.7)%, P > 0.05] or KIR [(68.3 ± 19.1)% vs (69.1 ± 17.6)%, P > 0.05]. A lower expression of costimulatory molecule OX40 was noted in NK cells from patients with RGH compared with those in normal controls [(1.0 ± 1.1)% vs (1.8 ± 1.7)%, P < 0.05]. Conclusions Herpes simplex virus infection could down-regulate the expression of NK cell activating receptors and costimulatory molecules, subsequently suppress the activation of NK cells, and lead to the escape of virus-infected cells from the killing of NK cells.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the expression profile of inflammation related genes in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma by functional gene chip technique and to probe into the role of correlative genes in pathogenesis of the laryngeal squamous cell cancer and in tumor immunity. METHODS The total RNAs were respectively extracted from two pair samples of laryngeal tumor and the normal tissue around the tumor, and then were reversely transcribed to cDNAs, then synthesized to cRNAs. The cRNAs were labeled with the hybridization probes. The probes were then hybridized with four pieces of inflammation related genes chip. It was chemiluminescently detected and the acquired image was analyzed with special software. RESULTS Forty genes were differently expressed in inflammation related gene profile of laryngeal tumor, among which 22 genes were upregulated and 18 genes were down regulated. Thirteen genes were shown differential expression in both chips with 10 upregulated genes and 3 downregulated genes. CONCLUSION The differently expressed genes in inflammation related gene chips will provide clues and theoretical foundation for the investigation of the relationship between tumor and inflammation, and also the immune pathogenesis of laryngeal tumor. Furthermore CCL-7 may have an important role in the occurrence of laryngeal cancer, and the role of immunity of the pathogenesis of laryngeal tumor needs further studied.

Objective To investigate the expression of insulin-like growth factor-Ⅱ( IGF-II ) and its mRNA in human placenta and to evaluate its role in the pathogenesis pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH). Methods The cellular distribution of IGF-Ⅱin normal and PIH placenta was determined by immunohistochemistry. Trophoblasts were digested,separated,and purified from placenta. IGF-ⅡmRNA expression in trophoblasts was detected by RT-PCR. The mean density was determined by image analysis technique. Results (1) IGF-Ⅱwas mostly found in syncytiotrophoblast,cytotrophoblast and amnio-chorion. The strongest immunoreactivity was observed in the syncytiotrophoblast and cytotrophoblast. (2)The mean density of PIH placenta (0.324?0.042) was significantly lower than that of normotensives (0.360?0.072,P

Animals ; Drug Tolerance ; Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 ; metabolism ; Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 beta ; Morphine ; Phosphorylation ; Rats ; Signal Transduction

Environmental Exposure ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Incineration ; Industrial Waste ; Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; Population Surveillance ; Refuse Disposal ; methods ; Risk Factors

Glioma ; pathology ; Humans ; Neoplastic Stem Cells ; pathology

Animals ; Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide ; blood ; Cerebral Infarction ; blood ; Endothelins ; blood ; Humans ; Nitric Oxide ; blood ; Plasminogen Inactivators ; blood ; Thromboxane B2 ; blood