The plasma levels of atrial natriuretic factor (ANF), angiotension II (AII, vaso-pressin (VP) and endogenous digitalis-like factor (EDLF) were determined in 23 patients with mi-tral stenosis before and after percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty (PBMV). Before PBMV, the plasma levels of ANF and EDLF were elevated in all patients with lower level of All than nor-mal. After the procedure, with a concomitant decrease of left atrial pressure, the plasma ANF de-creased at 15 minutes (from 317. 4?96. 2 to 164. 9?56. 8ng/L , P

Objective· To study the clinical and genetic features of familial paroxysmal exercise-induced dyskinesia (PED) in a Chinese mainland family,and review the advances of clinical and genetic studies on PED.Methods· The clinical information of 7 family members in one Chinese pedigree,including 5 patients and 2 healthy people,was analyzed and the patients' response to treatment and prediction were followed up.The SLC2A1 gene in all 7 members of this family was sequenced.The clinical and genetic characteristics of 5 patients were analyzed.Advances of recent clinical and genetic studies related with PED were further reviewed.Results · Among the total 5 patients (male:female=1:4),four patients had pure form of PED,and one patient had PED plus epilepsy.Attacks of the proband and his daughter could not be well controlled by carbamazepine or sodium valproate.In addition,three patients showed a remission trend with age advancing.In this family,the SLC2A1 c.C284T (p.S95L) was identified in all 5 patients,but not in 2healthy members.According to the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) criteria and guideline,the variant SLC2A1 c.C284T (p.S95L) was classified as pathogenic variant.Conclusion · PED is a rare paroxysmal movement disorder with highly phenorypic heterogeneity as well as a remission trend with age advancing.This paper reviews advances in clinical and genetic studies on PED recently,in order to contribute to the clinical diagnosis and appropriate treatment of PED.

Iron is an essential nutrient that not only participates in cell oxidative phosphorylation, DNA synthesis and replication, but also regulates cancer associated genes through hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF).In the process of cancerization, cells change the way of iron metabolism resulting in a high consumption of iron.In this case, pathways of iron acquisition, efflux, storage and regulation are perturbed.Therefore, iron can significantly contribute to tumor growth, cell survival and metastasis.In this paper, we summarize the iron changes in cancer cells and the relationship between the changes and tumorigenesis.We also briefly state the potential problems of current clinical using iron chelating agents in oncotherapy.Targeting iron metabolic pathways may provide new tools for cancer prognosis and therapy.

DNA, as the material basis of all living cells, triggers innate immune responses through TLR9 and other cytosolic recognition receptors. In recent years, the research progress of TLR9 is mainly manifested by the following four aspects: (1) the determinants of TLR9 interacting with its ligands; (2) the mechanisms and the importance of TLR9 translocation from the endoplasmic reticulum to the endosome; (3) the roles of the endosomal acidification and maturation, and subsequent TLR9 cleavage in TLR9 signal transduction pathway; and (4) the possible mechanisms by which the organism distinguish self DNA from microbial DNA. Meanwhile, a series of experiments on TLR9 antagonists and TLR9 deficient mice confirmed the presence of TLR9-independent cytosolic DNA sensors. So far, three TLR9-independent DNA sensors have been found, and they are DAI, AIM2, and RNA polymerase Ⅲ.

Objective Identifying the factors of psychological pressure from medical disputes on clinical doctors and possible solutions. Methods Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and the Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI) were called into play, to study 52 clinical doctors in a tertiary hospital in a city, who had encountered medical disputes in recent two years. In parallel, 63 clinical doctors without such disputes and 50 non-clinical workers were randomly selected as the control group for questionnaires. Results Clinical doctors with such an experience were commonly found to be anxious, and their SAS score (58. 27±11.38)averaged higher than those in the control group. Doctor-patient relationship, legal liabilities and clinical positions were found to be positively correlated to psychological pressure of clinical doctors. Conclusions Medical disputes tend to add to psychological pressure of the doctors. Clinical doctors deserve psychological counseling and training and improvement of their working conditions.

Subcortical ischemic vascular dementia is a subtype of vascular cognitive impairment. Its major pathological features are lacunar infarcts and deep white matter changes, and its major clinical manifestation is executive function impairment. Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) provides an opportunity for the study of pure subcorticai ischemic vascular dementia in the absence of Alzheimer's disease. There is currently lack of the gold standard for diagnosing subcortical ischemic vascular dementia. Imaging examination plays an important role in its diagnosis, while the treatment must first consider the control of vascular risk factors, especially hypertension.

Objective To examine the expression levels of α1-adrenergie receptor(α1-AR)and angiotensinⅡ reeeptor(ATR)subtypes in left ventricle of rats from adolescent age, middle age,presenium to senium. Methods Semiquantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to quantitate the messenger RNA (mRNA) of α1-AR and ATR subtypes in left ventricle in Wistar rats aged 3-months (adolescent age), 12-months (middle age), 18-months (presenium) and 24-months (senium). Results The expression of α1A-AR mRNA was decreased gradually with aging, and the gene expression of α1 D-AR was repressed in middle age and presenium,while the expression of a,B-AR mRNA remained unchanged during senescence. Cardiac AT1R expression was not affected by aging from adolescent age to presenium, but exhibited a remarkable up-regulation in senium There was no significant discrepancies of cardiac AT2R expression among the four different age groups. Conclusions The results suggest that there are considerable changes in mRNA levels of cardiac α1-AR and ATR subtypes with aging. The change of cardiac α1-AR and ATR expression during aging is a protective response for senescence and has an important significance in maintaining normal physiological functions of heart.

Objective:To investigate the relationship of TNF-A-863 and CGRP979 gene polymorphisms with the susceptibility to severe chronic periodontitis in Chinese.Methods:Buccal swabs were collected from 100 adult patients with severe chronic periodontitis and 118 healthy adult controls.DNA was extracted from each subjects of the two groups.PCR-LDR technique was used to identify the genotypes of TNF-A-863 and CGRP979.The difference in the genotypes between the two groups was analyzed by statistics software.Results:The genotype of TNF-A-863 was mainly TNF-A-863 A/C in patients with severe chronic periodontitis and TNF-A-863 C/C in healthy controls.There were significant differences in TNF-A-863 distribution between the two groups(P

Objective To investigate the expressions of COX-2 and VEGF-C in breast carcinoma and their correlation with lymphangiogenesis and lymph node metastasis. Methods The expressions of COX-2 and VEGF-C and D2-40 were evaluated in 46 cases of breast carcinoma by immunohistochemical staining SP methods. The lymphatic vessels density (LVD) in tumor was counted through the special marker D2-40. Results The positive rate of COX-2 and of VEGF-C was 73.91% (34/46) and 71.74% (33/46) respectively in breast carcinoma tissues. The positive rate of COX-2 and VEGF-C was 86.48% (32/37) and 81.08% (30/37), and LVD was (13.350?3.097)/?200 in the lymph node metastasis group, while that in non-lymph-node metastasis group was 22.22% (2/9), 33.33% (3/9) and (9.560?2.031)/?200 respectively, with significant difference between the two groups (P

This review summarized the current progress in the pathogenesis of leptin-mediated liver disease including fatty liver, hepatitis,fibrosis or cirrhosis. Analysis of leptin effect on activation of hepatic Kupffer cells and hepatic stellate cells was made and molecular mechanism and signal pathways were also discussed.