Objective To study genetic polymorphism of surface adhesion protein 33 (AP33) gene on the seven isolates of Trichomonas vaginalis. Methods PCR technique was performed to amplify AP33 gene from the seven isolates, DNA sequences were obtained from the AP33 gene of the isolates and phylogenetic tree was built. Minimal lethal concentrations(MLC) of metronidazole on the isolates were measured in vitro. Results Percentage of the similarity between 7 isolates and U87098 in GenBank was 98.2%-100%,which indicated a high homology and belonged to isotype isolates. There were four branches between Beijing 1 isolate and Tangshan isolate, Jiujiang 1 isolate and Jiujiang 2 isolate, Beijing 2 isolate and Jiujiang 3 isolate, Chengde isolate and U87098 isolate in phylogenetic tree, which showed a close genetic relationship respectively. No relativity was detected between geographical origin and genetic relationship. Conclusion There is a close genetic relationship among the seven T. vaginalis isolates. MLC showed a difference between isolates which have close relationship.

Objective To study the biological types on the seven isolates of Trichomonas vaginalis from Beijing, Hebei-Tangshan, Hebei-Chengde and Jiangxi-Jiujiang in the mainland of China. Methods The samples were analyzed by PAGE, isoenzyme stain and cluster analysis. Results The isoenzyme systems used in the study included MDH, LDH, G-6-PD, PGI and PGM. No difference in the isoenzyme patterns of G-6-PD and PGI was found among the seven isolates. The MDH and LDH patterns of Beijing 1, Beijing 2, Jiujiang 3 strains were identical, while they were distinguishable from those of Chengde, Tangshan, Jiujiang 1, Jiujiang 2 isolates. The PGM pattern of Beijing 1 and Beijing 2 isolates were same but was different from that of the remainders. Gene tree was constructed according to the isoenzyme profiles. The results showed that there are differences in the patterns of the five isoenzymes between the isolates of Beijing 1, Beijing 2, Jiujiang 3 and other four isolates, and Jiujiang 3 was different from Beijing 1, Beijing 2 slightly. Conclusion It seems reasonable to assume that there are at least three different biological types of Trichomanas vaginalis in China.

Objective To study genetic polymorphism of DNA on seven isolates of Trichomonas vaginalis. Methods The random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique was performed to amplify genomic DNA of the seven T. vaginalis isolates, including Beijing 1, Beijing 2, Chengde, Tangshan, Jiujiang 1, Jiujiang 2 and Jiujiang 3. The DNA bands detected were analyzed by clustering analysis with SPSS software. Results The percentage of genetic similarity among the seven isolates was from 77.4% to (94.7%,) showing a close genetic relationship among them. The percentages between the isolates of Beijing 1 and Tangshan, Jiujiang 1 and Jiujiang 2, Beijing 2 and Jiujiang 3 were 89.2%, 92.1% and 94.7% respectively, while that of Jiujiang1 and Chengde was 77.4%, indicating a lower homology. Conclusion There are a close genetic relationship and certain gene polymorphism among the seven T. vaginalis isolates; geographical origin plays little role to the genetic characteristics.

Objective To study the expression of TFIIB-related factor 2 (BRF2) in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) and to determine its clinical significance.Methods 80 HCC patients who received ‘curative' hepatectomy at the Qilu Hospital were studied.Immunohistochemistry analysis was performed to examine the expression of BRF2 and CD34 (microvessel density) in tumor tissues,matched paraneoplastic tissues,and normal liver tissues.Statistical methods were performed to analyse the relationships of expressions of BRF2 and CD34 with clinicopathologic factors.Results BRF2 protein was expressed at a high rate of 61.3％ in HCC tumor,which was significantly higher than that in normal liver tissues and matched paraneoplastic tissues (31.6％,28.8 ％,respectively,P ＜ 0.05).BRF2 was significantly associated with tumor differentiation,number of nodules,tumor encapsulation,TNM stage,and microvessel density.Prognosis of the high expression BRF2 group was poor.The recurrence and metastasis rates in the high expression group were significantly higher than the low expression group (P ＜ 0.05).The survival rate in the high expression group was significantly lower than the low expression group (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions The expression of BRF2 increased in HCC tissues,and its expression was closely associated with pathological features and prognosis of patients,indicating that it can be used as a predictor in assessing prognosis of patients with HCC.

OBJECTIVE:To establish a method for the determination of related substances in Pantoprazole sodium for injec-tions. METHODS:HPLC method was adopted. The determination was performed on Kromasil Hypersil ODS column with mobile phases consisting of 0.01 mol/L potassium dihydrogen phosphate buffer solution(pH adjusted to 7.0)-acetonitrile(gradient elution) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The detection wavelength was set at 290 nm,and the column temperature was 40 ℃,and injection volume was 20 μL. RESULTS:The linear ranges of impurity A,impurity B,impurity C+E,and impurity D were 0.4168-1.0420μg/mL(r=0.9998),0.1950-0.4875 μg/mL(r=0.9999),0.3890-0.9725 μg/mL(r=0.9998),0.1986-0.4965 μg/mL(r=0.9998), respectively. The limits of quantitation were 0.834,0.780,1.556,0.794 ng/mL;the limits of detection were 0.417,0.390,0.778, 0.397 ng/mL,respectively. RSD of precision test was lower than 1.0%;in repetitive test,RSD for total peak area of impurity was lower than 1.0% ;the recoveries were 98.81% -102.49%(RSD=1.18% ,n=9),95.31% -98.44%(RSD=0.91% ,n=9), 96.88%-98.44%(RSD=0.52%,n=9)and 97.87%-101.28%(RSD=1.05%,n=9). CONCLUSIONS:The method is convenient, accurate and suitable for the determination of related substance in Pantoprazole sodium for injection.

Objective To investigate the clinical epidemiology and clinical features of patients with rubella. Methods Data of clinical epidemiology, clinical manifestations, laboratory findings of patients with rubella hospitalized in Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University from 2002 to 2004 were retrospectively analyzed. Positive rates were analyzed using chi square test. Results Of the 408 patients with rubella,90.0% had histories of contacting with patients with rubella, and 75.5% were students. The common clinical manifestations were fever(71.1%),rash(100.0%),lymphadenectasis(90.0%).Laboratory findings were liver dysfunction(10.3%),myocardial enzyme abnormality(11.8%),WBC decrease(60.0%)and lymphocythemia(70.1%).The differences between adult group(n=125)and children group(n=283)were compared. The numbers of patients with eruption time within 1-2 days were 102 and 264,respectively(X~2=12.823.P＜0.01);those with deflorescence time within 1-3 days were 43 and 129,respectively(X~2=4.447,P=0.035);those with sporadic rash were 108 and 263,respectively(X~2=4.487,P=0.034);those with erythroic rash were 99 and 247,respectively(X~2=4.392,P=0.036);those with eruption order of head to trunk were 104 and 256,respectively(X~2=4.402,P=0.036);those with thrombocytopenia were 10.4% and 2.5%,respectively(X~2=11.686,P＜0.01);those with liver dysfunction were 17.6% and 7.1%,respectively(X~2=10.416,P＜0.01);those with myocardial enzyme abnormality were 20.0% and 8.1 %,respectively(X~2=11.774,P＜0.01),those complicated with broncho pneumonia were 0.8 and 6.7%,respectively(X~2=6.505,P=0.011);those complicated with hepatitis were 17.6 % and 7.1 %,respectively(X~2=7.117,P=0.008);those complicated with myocarditis were 18.4% and 7.1%,respectively(X~2=11.811,P＜0.01) and those complicated with arthritis were 12.0% and 2.8%,respectively(X~2=13.715,P＜0.01).Conclusions Compared with children patients with rubella, the constitutional symptoms of adult patients are more severe, and the proportion of liver and myocardial enzyme abnormality is higher, which should be paid more attention.

Objective To investigate the acute mountain sickness of servicemen during4.14Yushu earhquake relief work,and analyze the related factors of the sickness at the initial phase of acute plateau exposure.Methods 162 servicemen were sampled randomly and clusteringly from Yushu relief force during.the inidal phase of acute plateau exposure.According to theDiagnosis and treatment principles of the acute mountain sickness,the prevalence of the acute mountain sickness was judged among the servicemen.The scales of general status invested score(GSIS),the self-rating symptom scale(SCL-90)and the life event scale(LES)were used to investigate the related factors of the acute mountain sickness.Results 65.4% of servicemen in earthquake relief work had acute mountain sickness,including mild 17.3%,moderate 31.5%and severe 16.7%.The occurrences of pant,palpitation,dizziness,lips cyanosis and headache,were higher than other symptoms,accounting for 83.6%,79.1%,73.1%,61.2%and 58.2%.The positive significant correlation was found among the symptoms score of acute mountain sickness and age,marriage,trauma history,negative events,and the most genes(somatization,obsession,depression,anxiety,hostility,fear,paranoia,appetite,sleep)and total score of SCL-90(r=0.188～0.619,P<0.01 or 0.05).There was negative significant correlation among the symptoms score and the personality and social support(r=-0.254,P<0.01;r=-0.285,P<0.01).Regression analysis showed that the somatization,personality,marriage,social support and age were more important than other factors.Conclusion Attention should be paid to the acute mountmn sickness in the relief force during the initial phase of acute plateau exposure,and the morbidity rate of acute mountain sickness were correlated with the somatization,personality,marriage,social support and age.

Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular protozoan parasite that infects all warm?blooded animals. The surface anti?gens of T. gondii with the potential for application as antigens of diagnosis and vaccines have been studied extensively in recent years especially for P43 P35 P30 P23 and P22. The studies on the surface antigen in tachyzoites of T. gondii are reviewed in this paper.

BACKGROUND: Caspase-3 is well recognized as the key caspase carrying out apoptosis in animal and human brain. To date, a few studies revealed the expression of caspase-3 protein in brains of normal persons and Alzheimer patients but data obtained from rodents exhibited much discrepancy.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the different expression patterns of caspase-3in rodent and monkey brain, and the different expression of caspase-3 in different brain regions and during aging in monkeys.DESIGN: Parallel comparison between means of single variable.SETTING: Institute of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital and Department of Anatomy, the Chinese University of Hong Kong.MATERIALS: The experiment was carried out from August, 2003 to February, 2005 in Institute of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital and Department of Anatomy, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Sprague Dawley rats, ICR mice and senescence-accelerated mice (SAM) with ages ranging from postnatal 2, 12, 24 to 48 weeks(n=5 for each age group of different rodents) were included in the present study. All of these animals were supplied by Laboratory Animal Services Center, the hinese University of Hong Kong. Totally 8 rhesus monkeys aged 4 years (n=4) or 20 years (n=4) were selected from the Laboratory Animal Center in Chinese PLA General Hospital [SCXK-(Beijing)2003-002]. Both ro dents and monkeys were female and were raised under standard conditions without any experimental interventions. METHODS: ①Brain tissue samples were taken freshly from both rodents and monkeys and made into homogenate. The expression of caspase-3 pro tein in brains of both rodents and monkeys was investigated with im munoblot. ② The expression levels in monkey brains were exhibited quantitatively with the same method in three brain regions, such as the frontal cortex, hippocampus and cerebellar cortex, for the two age-groups. In vivo distribution patterns of caspase-3-immunoreactive cells were further presented in 3 brain regions of monkeys through immunohistochemistry. MAIN OUTCOME MEATURES: ①Detection of caspase-3 protein with immunoblot in the brain of rodents and monkeys; ② Distribution patterns of caspase-3-immunoreactive cells in 3 brain regions of monkeys. RESULTS: ① Result of detection with immunoblot: The same pattern of caspase-3 protein expression in brain of three kinds of 2-week-old rodents. But the expression was not seen in any other brains of older ages. Caspase 3 was expressed in a relatively high level inboth adult and aged monkey brains, and the amount did not attain to the level in 2-week-old rodents. Caspase-3 Was expressed in the pattern of zymogen (Mr 32 000). The ex pressions of caspase-3 in brains of monkey were not different in ages and brain regions. ②Result of Immunohistochemistry: It was showed that most neurons in the frontal cortex lack detectable caspase-3 immunoreactivity, whereas low to moderate caspase-3 immunostaining be found mainly in pyramidal cells in CA1, CA3 and CA4 subfields of hippocampus. And in the cerebellum, a small number of Purkinje cells were strongly stained in their cytosol and dendrites. Age-related expression pattern of caspase-3 were not found except that in the motor cortex of aged monkeys in which there were a limited number of large pyramidal cells in layer Ⅴ that were strongly stained with caspase-3 antibody.③ Immunoblot procedure revealed that the caspase-3 protein expressed in monkey brains is in the form of zymogen (Mr 32 000) and there is no significant difference in caspase-3 expression level as a function of either brain region or age of animals.CONCLUSION: Unlike rodents in which caspase-3 protein rapidly drops to an undetectable level since animals grow up, the primate expresses caspase-3 constitutively in brain until the late period of lifetime. But there are no significant brain region- or age-related differences in the protein levels in monkey brain.

Objective To discover the reciprocal regulation and its molecular mechanism of estro-gen, IL-6 and IL-8 in ovarian cancer cells. Methods Based on our previous studies, the effect of 17β-estradiol (E2) on the expression levels of IL-6, IL-8 and their respective receptors was investigated. Mean-while, the effect of IL-6/IL-8 on estrogen receptor (ER) expression and estrogen-dependent transcriptional activation was analyzed. Gene expression profile analysis revealed that CAOV-3 and OVCAR-3 cells, which express ER, IL-6 and IL-8 receptors, were suitable models for this study. Results We found that E2 not only enhanced IL-6/IL-8 secretion via NF-κB signaling pathway, but also modulated IL-6 and IL-8 receptors expression. Tamoxifen (Txf), an ER antagonist, completely abolished E2-stimulated IL-6/IL-8 expression. On the other hand, in the absence of estrogen, both cytokines increased ERα expression, decreased ERβ ex-pression, and activated estrogen-dependent transcriptional activation, which was completely blocked by Txf. Pretreatment of OVCAR-3 with p38 MAPK, MEK1/2 or ErbB2 MAPK inhihitors, respectively, IL-6-media-ted ER activation was blocked, while IL-8-indueed ER activation was blocked by Src inhibitor. Conclusion These data suggest that estrogen, IL-6 and IL-8 may form a mutual amplifying signaling which contributes to the growth and development of ovarian carcinoma.