Objective:To explore the clinical characteristics of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of children with bacterial meningitis (BM) and provide reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment of BM.Methods:The clinical data of BM children hospitalized in Women and Children′s Medical Center Affiliated to Guangzhou Medical University from December 2019 to March 2022 were collected and retrospectively analyzed in this case series study.Cytokines in CSF of these children were detected at least twice during the treatment. t test, Mann-Whitney test or analysis of variance were carried out for statistical analysis. Results:There were 40 patients included in this study.The age of onset was 2(1, 8) months, ranging from 2 days to 8 years, and the length of time from onset to hospitalization was (15±17) days, ranging from 1 day to 69 days.The main symptoms at the onset were fever (40 cases, 100%), poor mental state (16 cases, 35.0%), convulsion (9 cases, 22.5%), and vomiting (9 cases, 22.5%).According to pathogens, the patients were divided into the Streptococcus agalactia group (GBS group, 9 cases), Streptococcus pneumoniae group (SP group, 9 cases), other bacteria group (9 cases), and unknown bacteria group (13 cases).The levels of cytokines in the CSF of BM children were increased, along with significantly elevated levels of IL-6 and IL-8 within 1 st week of BM, followed by the peak at 2 nd-3 rd weeks, and then levels of IL-6 and IL-8 presented an overall decreasing trend with the progression of BM.The level of IL-6 in CSF of 10 cases significantly decreased in the 4 th week of BM [within 2 weeks: 773.5(164.1, 1 781.2) ng/L vs. 4 th week: 10.8(2.2, 21.1) ng/L, P=0.005].Such statistical differences didn′t occur to the level of IL-8 [within 2 weeks 182.9(33.6, 657.7) ng/L vs. 4 th week: 92.9(22.6, 226.6) ng/L, P=0.303].After effective antibiotic therapy, 6 patients had elevated white blood cell count in CSF during the 4 th-20 th weeks, with or without repeating intermittent fever.Among them, 4 cases of GBS and 1 case of SP were negative for pathogens in CSF during the retest after treatment, and the levels of IL-6 and IL-8 [(149.1-4 218.6) ng/L and (124.2-1 890.3) ng/L, respectively] in CSF were elevated.Low-dose glucocorticoid was administered for anti-inflammatory treatment, with additional gamma globulin for 1 case and Ibuprofen instead for 1 case.Subsequently, the fever completely subsided.The white blood cell count in CSF decreased significantly ( P=0.024). Conclusions:The levels of IL-6 and IL-8 in CSF increase significantly in the acute phase of BM and generally decrease with the progression of BM.If they are still significantly elevated in the later course of BM, it should be noted that an intracranial hyperinflammatory response may occur, especially when the pathogenic bacteria are GBS or SP.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are endogenous non-coding RNAs with covalently closed structures, which have important functions in plants. However, their biogenesis, degradation, and function upon treatment with gibberellins (GAs) and auxins (1-naphthaleneacetic acid, NAA) remain unknown. Here, we systematically identified and characterized the expression patterns, evolutionary conservation, genomic features, and internal structures of circRNAs using RNase R-treated libraries from moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) seedlings. Moreover, we investigated the biogenesis of circRNAs dependent on both cis- and trans-regulation. We explored the function of circRNAs, including their roles in regulating microRNA (miRNA)-related genes and modulating the alternative splicing of their linear counterparts. Importantly, we developed a customized degradome sequencing approach to detect miRNA-mediated cleavage of circRNAs. Finally, we presented a comprehensive view of the participation of circRNAs in the regulation of hormone metabolism upon treatment of bamboo seedlings with GA and NAA. Collectively, our study provides insights into the biogenesis, function, and miRNA-mediated degradation of circRNAs in moso bamboo.
RNA, Circular/metabolism* ; Multiomics ; Poaceae/metabolism* ; Seedlings/genetics* ; Hormones/metabolism* ; MicroRNAs/metabolism* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant

Objective: To evaluate the spatiotemporal relationship between the root apex of mandibular molars and the inferior alveolar nerve canal (IANC) in adults. Methods: Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images were collected in 236 patients, and the distances from the root apexes of mandibular molars to the IANC were measured in NNT 4.6 software. The relationship between distance and gender was evaluated. Results: In two-rooted mandibular first molars, the distances from the mesial root and distal root to the IANC were 7.34 ± 2.07 mm and 6.69 ± 2.08 mm, respectively, in males and 6.47 ± 2.22 mm and 5.94 ± 2.11 mm in females. In three-rooted mandibular first molars, the distances from the mesial root, distobuccal root, and distolingual to the IANC were 7.29 ± 1.30 mm, 7.40 ± 2.33 mm, and 9.97 ± 2.19 mm, respectively, in males and 6.08 ± 2.57 mm, 6.35 ± 2.40 mm, and 9.01 ± 2.90 mm, respectively, in females. In one-rooted mandibular second molars, the distance from the root to the IANC was 4.09 ± 1.64 mm in males and 3.89 ± 1.76 mm in females. In two-rooted mandibular second molars, the distances from the mesial root and distal root to the IANC were 5.14 ± 2.08 mm and 4.39 ± 1.85 mm, respectively, in males and 3.78 ± 1.69 mm and 3.24 ± 1.72 mm, respectively, in females. There were no significant with in-gender differences between the left and right side in the distances from the root apexes to the IANC (P>0.05). The distances from the mandibular first molar were greater in males than in females. The longest average distance was from the distolingual root apexes of three-rooted mandibular first molars to the IANC, and the distances were longer from the distobuccal root apexes of three-rooted mandibular first molars to the IANC than from the distal root apexes of two-rooted mandibular first molars to the IANC (P<0.05). There was no within-gender difference in the distances from the root apexes of single-rooted mandibular second molars to the IANC (P>0.05), but the distances in two-rooted mandibular second molars were larger in males than in females (P<0.05). The distances from the root apexes to the IANC were smaller in mandibular second molars than in mandibular first molars (P<0.05). Conclusion There are significant differences between adult males and females in the distance from the root apex to the IANC for mandibular first molars and two-rooted mandibular second molars. The distances from the root apexes to the IANC were smaller in mandibular second molars than in mandibular first molars.

Objective We analyzed the curative effect of ERCC1 and RRM1 expression on the Neo-adjuvant Chemotherapy of stage Ⅲ NSCLC to investigate the guiding function of ERCC1 and RRM1 expression in chemotherapy regimen containing platinum.Methods Branch DNA-liquid phase chip methods were used to detect ERCC1 and RRM1 expressions before chemotherapy in 80 cases of stage Ⅲ NSCLC confirmed by pathology.All patients received 2 periods Neo-adjuvant Chemotherapy with GP regimen.According to WHO efficacy appraisal standard,the Enhanced Scan of CT showing reaching complete remission or partial remission was effective or stable,otherwise the progression was considered ineffective.Results For the 80 cases of stage Ⅲ NSCLC,the treatment for 20 of the 25 patients with low expressions of both ERCC1 and RRM1 were effective with an effective rate of 80.0％;The treatment for 14 of the 23 patients with low expressed ERCC1 and high expressed RRM1 were effective with an effective rate of 60.9％;The treatment for 10 of the 20 patients with high expressed ERCC1 and low expressed RRM1 were effective with an effective rate of 50.0％;and the treatment for 4 of the 12 patients with both high expression were effective with an effective rate of 33.3％.The difference of effective rates among the four groups had statistical significance ( x2=7.81,P＜0.05 ) with group A having significantly higher rate than the other three groups and group B and group C having significantly higher rate than group D ( P＜0.05 ).Conclusion ERCC1 detection has guiding significance on the regimen selection of NSCLC Neo-adjuvant Chemotherapy.It was worthwhile to use ERCC1 detection widely in the individualized treatment of the stage Ⅲ NSCLC before surgery.

Objective To predict clinical chemotherapy sensitivity of primary ovarian cancer by jointing adenosine triphosphate(ATP) - tumor chemo-sensitivity assay(TCA) method in vitro and detection of drug resistance genes, provide reference for clinical treatment. Methods Forty-seven primary epithelial ovarian tumor samples were collected from the patients who received cytoreductive surgery. Viable ovarian cancer cells obtained from malignant tissue were tested for their sensitivity to carboplatin (CBP), cisplatin (DDP), paclitaxel(PTX) and CBP + PTX using ATP-TCA method in vitro; at same time, real-time quantitative PCR was used to analysis BRCA1 and ERCC1 mRNA relative expression in forty-six specimens (1 frozen tumor samples mRNA were not detected due to serious degradation). The relationship between ATP-TCA test results, clinical indicators, and the effectiveness of the joint prediction on clinical chemosensitivity by combining these two methods were statistically analyzed using chi-square test. Results (1)The results showns that three programs of DDP,CBP and PTX + CBP were significantly related with clinical results(P<0.05) in vitro, in which the compliance rate in PTX + CBP program was the highest 83%(39/47) ,and the predictive sensitivity, predictive specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and predictive accurate rate were 90%,71%,84% and 80% ,respectively.PTX + CBP combined in vitro test results was also related with residual tumor size and neoadjuvant chemotherapy, which was more prone to drug resistance with residual tumor larger than 2 cm (P = 0. 023) and with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (P = 0.011). (2) BRCA1 mRNA expression levels in the clinical-resistant group and the clinical-sensitive group was 0.673 ± 2.143 and - 1.436 ± 2.594 (P=0.008), ERCC1 mRNA expression levels in the clinical-resistant group and the clinical-sensitive group was -0.529 ± 1.982 and - 3.188 ±2.601 (P =0.001). There were also significant correlation among the expression levels of BRCA1 ,ERCC1 mRNA and clinical efficacy (P<0.01). (3)ATP-TCA and detection of drug resistance genes combined to predict the clinical application of PTX + CBP resistance may occur in 8/9 cases. Conclusions ATP-TCA may be an ideal method of in vitro drug sensitivity testing method, which could effectively predict clinical chemotherapy sensitivity. Combination of the drug-resistant associated genes detection method and the ATP-TCA method can increase the predictive effectiveness of ovarian cancer chemosensitivity and guide individual chemotherapy of ovarian cancer.

Objective To synthesize H.pylori bacterial ghosts (BG) and loaded with adriamycin.The cytotoxic effects in gastric cancer cell line were also observed.MethodsThe lysis plasmid was introduced into H.pylori by bacterial conjugation. H.pylori BG were produced by inducing H.pylori lysis at 42 ℃.After suspension and centrifuge, H.pylori BG were loaded with adriamycin.The adriamycin loading quantity was measured with spectrophotometry.The cytotoxic effects of H.pylori BG-adriamycin in gastric cancer cell line SGC7901 were evaluated with MTT assay.ResultsH.pylori BG were successfully synthesized and loaded with adriamycin.The loading quantity of adriamycin was 70.4 μg/mg.H.pylori BG were seen to be adsorbed and internalized by gastric cancer cells under confocal microscope, which distributed on the surface or cytoplasmic of SGC7901 cell line. Carried Adriamycin was delivered into gastric cancer cell line and mainly accumulated in the nucleus.IC50 of SGC7901 to H.pylori BG-adriamycin was 0.32 ± 0.15 by MTT assay, which was significantly lower than that to free adriamycin (0.44 ±0.15, P＜0.05).Conclusions The proliferation of gastric cancer cells were effectively inhibited by H.pylori BG-adriamycin.H.pylori BG are expected to be ideal carrier for anti-gastric cancer medicine.

Objective To retrospectively analyze the clinical manifestations of coronary artery ectasia and its angiographic characteristics. Methods Twenty-five patients who underwent coronary angiography were diagnosed as coronary artery ectasia from January 2005 to December 2007. 25 cases of coronary artery atheresclerosis were also included and 25 cases with normal coronary arteriography in the same period were taken as control. Results Most of the patients were male (72%). Only three patients had diabetes and thirteen patients had hypertension. All the patients with coronary artery ectasia were admitted for chest pain. Nine of them showed abnormal ST changes and four elevated ST in ECG. Coronary artery ectasia was associated with slow coronary flow in 9 patients and coronary stenosis in 4 patients. The frequency of arterial involvement, in descending order, was right coronary artery in 76%, left anterior descending artery in 60%, left circumflex artery in 48% and left main artery in 8%. Ectasia affected only one major vessel was found in 44%, and all three vessels in 36%. As compared with the patients with coronary artery atherosclerosis and patients with normal coronary artery, patients with CAE had a lower prevalence of diabetes (12%), and there were no other significant statistics in clinical demography and other risk factors such as hypertension and dyslipidemia. Conclusions Coronary artery ectasia was prevalent in males and diabetes was less frequent. The RCA was the most commonly affected vessel and most of the patients had single vessel involvement.

Ethylene regulates sex expression in cucumber plants (Cucumis sativus L.). ACC synthase is a key factor during the ethylene biosynthesis. Pairs of PCR primers were synthesized corresponding to the conserved sequences of ACC synthase gene family. The 1 188 bp DNA fragment of ACC synthase gene (CS-ACS2) was amplified from genomic DNA of 8 different sexual phenotypes of cucumber respectively (GenBank accession number is DQ115884～DQ115886 and DQ115875～DQ115879). 8 SNPs have been identified by sequences analysis between 3 monoecious lines and 5 subgynoecious lines and gynoecious lines, which including 4 A←→G and 4 T←→C transition. Of these 8 SNPs, one locus is in intron and 7 loci in exons. Of the 7 SNPs located in exons, 3 SNPs are non-coding SNPs and 4 SNPs are coding SNPs (cSNPs) of which 3 induced changes of encoding amino acid of ACC synthase. The results of SNPs from subgynoecious lines and gynoecious lines suggest that single nucleotide mutation events of CS-ACS2 might be correlated with the development of subgynoecious lines and gynoecious lines in cucumber. Furthermore, CAPS marker C-MT705 was developed for identifying elite subgynoecious cultivar MT-705, which could be valuable in cucumber breeding. Besides, the SNPs and CAPS markers obtained in the study enriched molecular markers of cucumber.

Objective To investigate the relationship between inflammatory factors, coronary artery dilation, and their clinical significance. Methods The cases undergone coronary angiography in our hospital last year were collected and divided into three groups: the first one included 11 patients whose angiography showed coronary artery dilation, the second group included 35 cases of atherosclerosis, and the third includes 24 cases with normal angiography. sES, MMP9 and TIMP1 were measured by ELISA method. Results Patients with coronary artery dilation were found to have significantly higher sES and MMP-9 level in comparison with atherosclerosis group and normal group[(153.7?152.7)ng/L,(90.1?54.2)ng/L,(76.5?37.2)ng/L, respectively](P

Objective To explore differentiation in vitro of rat adipose-derived stem cells into photoreceptor cells and RPE cells.Methods The ADSCs were cultured by adhering to the flask surface and purified by continual passaging.Surface antigens including CD45、CD90、CD49d、CD106 were indentified by flow cytometry.ADSCs were induced to differentiate by EGF,activin A,taurine,retinoic acid(RA) and extracted liquid of retina respectively.Meanwhile,ADSCs were induced by EGF+taurine,EGF+RA,taurine + RA,EGF+taurine+RA respectively.Immunofluorescence was used for detecting the expression of rhodopsin,CK and S-100,and flow cytometry was used for quantification.Results For primary culture,the phenotypes of ADSCs were: CD45,CD90,CD49d and CD106,with a positive percentage of 1.6%,71.3%,7.8% and 3.5%,respectively.From passage 1 to 5,these phenotypes were: CD45(0.8%～9.3%),CD90(84.7%～94.8%),CD49d(16.8%～31.0%)and CD106(8.3%～22.2%).There was a higher CD49d percentage than CD106 in all the passages.The induction efficacy of ADSCs was 17.5%～46.0% for rhodopsin,19.7%～79.3% for CK and 27.3%～50.7% for S-100.Conclusion It is suggested that ADSC has potential to differentiate into photoceptors and RPE cells as evidenced by thepresence of the specific markers of photoceptors(rhodopsin) and RPE markers(CK and S-100).