Objective:To investigate the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule -1(sICAM-1)in blood serum and gingival tissue in rat periodontitis model in normoxia and chronic intermittent hypoxia environment. Methods:32 male SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups(n =8):normoxia control group(group A),normoxia periodontitis group(group B),hypoxic control group(group C)and hypoxia periodontitis group(group D).The periodontitis models were estab-lished by ligating the bilateral maxillary second molar and raised by periodontitis diet.The rats in hypoxia groups were raised under chronic intermittent hypoxia environment,while those in normoxia groups were raised under normoxia environment.After 8 weeks, plaque index(PLI),bleeding index(BI)and attachment lost(AL)were measured,TNF-αand sICAM-1 concentrations in blood serum and gingival tissue were measured by ELISA.Results:TNF-αand sICAM-1 concentrations in blood serum and gingival tissue in group A were higher than those in group B,C(P ＜0.05);in group D were lower than in group B and C(P ＜0.05).TNF-αand sICAM-1 levels in blood serum and gingival tissue were positively correlated with AL(P ＜0.05).Conclusion:In chronic intermittent hypoxic environment TNF-αand sICAM-1 may aggravate periodontitis,and promote the inflammatory response to peripheral vascular system.

Objective To review the epidemiologic features of norovirus infection outbreaks in Zhejiang province during 2004-2014.Methods Epidemiological data of norovirus infection outbreaks in Zhejiang province from January 2004 to February 2014 were collected from the Emergency Public Reporting System in Zhejiang Provincial CDC.The distribution of time,area,population,route of transmission and genotype of norovirus were analyzed.Results There were 16 outbreaks of norovirus infections with 2 037 cases during 2004-2014 in Zhejiang province.Eleven outbreaks occurred during February and April,and 13 outbreaks occurred in schools.The outbreaks in schools mainly involved students aged 15-20 years,while other outbreaks took place mainly in the young and middle-aged population.The sex ratio of male to female was 1.05 ∶ 1.Among 16 outbreaks,10 were induced by norovirus G Ⅱ infections,3 were induced by norovirus G Ⅰ infections and 3 were induced by norovirus G Ⅰ and G Ⅱ infections.Fourteen outbreaks were caused by water pollution.Conclusion Outbreak of norovirus infection usually occurs in schools during winter and spring in Zhejiang province,and the epidemic of disease is mainly associated with polluted water.

Molecular imprinting technique (MIT) involves the synthesis of polymer in the presence of a template to produce complementary binding sites in terms of its size, shape and functional group orientation. Such kind of polymer possesses specific recognition ability towards its template molecule. Despite the rapid development of MIT over the years, the majority of the template molecules that have been studied are small molecules, while molecular imprinting of proteins remains a significant yet challenging task due to their large size, structural flexibility and complex conformation. This review, we summarized the research findings over the past years, and discussed the nano-reinforcing materials used to prepare molecular imprinting of proteins and the perspective of these nano-reinforcing materials.
Binding Sites ; Molecular Conformation ; Molecular Imprinting ; Nanostructures ; chemistry ; Polymers ; chemistry ; Proteins ; chemistry

Objective Previous studies have shown that genetic variants in the interferons regulatory factor 5 (IRF5) gene are associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in European and Japanese, but not found in Han Chinese. We conducted this study to investigate whether genetic variants in the IRF5 gene are associated with RA in ShaanXi Han Chinese population. Methods This study was collected 576 RA patients and 768 normal controls. Six IRF5 gene polymorphisms (rs729302, rs2004640, rs752637, rs3807306, rs10954213 and rs2280714) were genotyped by the SNaPshot method. T-test and χ2 test were used for statistic analysis. The genotype and allele frequencies were evaluated using the chi square tests. Genotyping data were adjusted by Logistic regression method by age and gender. The linkage disequilibrium (LD) block structure was examined using Hapview 4.2 software. Results Six SNPs inspected complied with Hardy-weinberg equilibrium (P>0.05). Two SNPs were significantly associated with RA: rs729302 A risk allele [OR=1.29, 95%CI (1.10, 1.50), P=5.57×10-3];dominant model [OR=1.58, 95%CI (1.10, 2.27), P=0.024], recessive model [OR=1.31, 95%CI (1.17, 1.64), P=0.028]. rs2004640 T risk allele [OR=1.28, 95%CI (1.08, 1.54), P=0.039]; dominant model [OR=1.27, 95%CI (1.03, 1.58), P=0.036]. In addition, there was no significant difference in rs752637, rs3807306, rs10954213 and rs2280714 SNPs between RA group and control and genotyped polymorphisms were significantly associated with RA susceptibility. Conclusion The present study confirm that rs729302 and rs2004640 in the IRF5 gene is significantly associated with increased risk of RA in ShaanXi Han Chinese population.

Objective To investigate and compare the clinical values of serum procalcitonin (PCT)and high sensitivity C-reac-tive protein (hs-CRP)levels for predicting the blood culture positivity in the patients with sepsis.Methods 132 adult patients with sepsis were enrolled in this study.Blood cultures were performed before the antibacterial therapy.The white blood cell (WBC) count,absolute neutrophil count(ANC),levels of PCT and hs-CRP were determined.The application value of PCT and hs-CRP for predicting the positive blood culture results were evaluated.Results The median serum PCT levels in the blood culture positive group and the blood culture negative group were 7.92 ng/mL and 0.95 ng/mL respectively,the difference had statistical signifi-cance(P <0.01).The receiver operating characteristic (ROC)curves showed that PCT had a higher predictive accuracy for blood culture positivity compared with hs-CRP,the area under the curve (AUC)was 0.810(P =0.001)and 0.690(P =0.274),respec-tively.The combined detection of PCT and hs-CRP for predicting the blood culture positive results was similar to the performance of PCT alone,AUC as 0.885 (P =0.001 ).The median cut point of PCT was 0.91 ng/mL,the sensitivity of PCT for predicting blood culture positivity was 90%.This sensitivity remained unchanged when PCT cut point was1.14ng/mL.Using the PCT cut points of 0.91 and 1.14 enabled reducing the submitted blood cultures by 51% and 56% respectively.Conclusion Compared with hs-CRP,serum PCT level could better predict the blood culture positivity in the patients with sepsis.

Objective To measure the expression of protein kinase D1 (PKD1),tyr463-phosphorylaed PKD1 (pPKD1-tyr463) and ser916-phos-phorylaed PKD1 (pPKD1-ser916) in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC),Bowen's disease (BD) and actinic keratosis (AK),and to explore their significance.Methods Fresh tissue samples were resected from lesions of patients with SCC (SCC group),BD (BD group) and AK (AK group),as well as from normal skin of healthy human controls (control group),and each group had a sample size of 10.Real-time RT-PCR was performed to measure the mRNA expression of protein kinase D1 gene (PRKD1),and Western blot analysis to determine the protein expression of PKD1,pPKD1-tyr463 and pPKD1-ser916.In addition,immunohistochemical study was conducted to determine the expression of PKD1,pPKD1-tyr463 and pPKD1-ser916 in another 50 paraffin-embedded skin samples of SCC,20 samples of BD,20 samples of AK and 10 normal skin samples.Results PRKD1 mRNA expression significantly differed among the control group (0.64 ± 0.09),SCC group (5.37 ± 1.06),BD group (2.69 ± 0.72) and AK group (2.43 ± 0.46) (F =21.37,P ＜ 0.05),and was significantly higher in the SCC,BD and AK groups than that in the control group (P ＜ 0.05),as well as in the SCC group than that in the AK and BD groups (both P ＜ 0.05).However,no significant difference in the PRKD1 mRNA expression was observed between the BD group and AK group (P ＞ 0.05).Immunohistochemical study showed that the total PKD1 protein and pPKD1-tyr463 in the SCC and BD groups were mainly expressed in the cytoplasm and cell membrane of spinous layer cells and atypical cells,and their expression rates were significantly higher than those in the AK group and control group (all P ＜ 0.01).The pPKD1-ser916 was only slightly expressed in some cancer nests of well-differentiated SCC tissues,but not in poorly-differentiated SCC,AK,BD tissues and normal skin tissues.In the SCC group,the expression rate of PKD1 increased with the increase of the pathological grade of SCC,and the PKD1 expression was positively correlated with pPKD1-tyr463 expression (rcc =0.479,P ＜ 0.05).Western blot results were consistent with immunohistochemical findings.Conclusion PKD1 and pPKD1-tyr463 may be involved in the development and differentiation of skin tumors derived from stratified squamous epithelium,and PKD1 may exert promotive effects on the formation of cutaneous SCC by activating the Tyr463 phosphorylation site.

Objective:To examine the effects of chronic intermittent hypoxia(CIH)on the NF-κB,IL-6 and PGE2 level in rats with periodontitis.Methods:32 male SD rats(6 weeks old)were randomly divided into 4 groups(n =8),group A(normoxic control),B (normoxic periodontitis),C(CIH)and D(periodontitis +CIH).Periodontitis model was established in the upper second molars by liga-tion technique and high-glucose diet in the rats of group B and D.The rats in the group C and D were subjected to CIH in a cycle of al-ternative nitrogen and oxygen in a closed chamber.The chamber was filled with nadir and zenith ambient oxygen every 1 20 seconds per cycle for 8 hours per day.The rats were sacrificed and the gingival tissues were examined for the detection of IL-6 and PGE2 expression by ELISA,and NF-κB expression by immunohistochemistry.Results:Histology revealed apical migration of junctional epithetlium and crestal alveolar bone resorption in group B and D,and in the above phenomena of group D was the severest.The content of NF-κB,IL-6 and PGE2 in group B,C,D was higher than that in group A(P <0.05),and in group D was the highest(P <0.05).Conclusion:Chro-nic intermittent hypoxia can aggravate the inflammation of periodontitis.

Objective To assess the value of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (PNEN) and to analyze the factors influencing thepreoperative imaging diagnosis of PNEN.Methods From January 2016 to November 2016, patients with PNEN diagnosed by surgery and biopsy were collected. CT and MRI data of them were analyzed. The CT values or signal intensity of the lesions and the pancreatic parenchyma were measured and the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of the lesion was calculated. Detecting sensitivity and diagnosis accuracy of CT and MRI were compared. Detecting sensitivity of different MRI sequences was also analyzed. Diagnosis accuracy of non-functional PNEN and functional PNEN was compared and analyzed. Lesion CNR was compared between arterial phase and portal venous phase of the contrast enhanced CT. The sensitivity, accuracy and constituent ratio were compared by nonparametric analysis. Independent sample t test and one-way analysis of variancewere performed for the quantitative parameters comparison. Results A total of 54 patients with 56 lesions of PNEN were included for two of whom had two lesions each. CT and MRI were both performed in 44 patients (46 lesions).Detecting sensitivity and diagnosis accuracy of CT were 97.8% (45/46) and87.0% (40/46), respectively. Detecting sensitivity of MRI were 97.8% (45/46) and89.1% (41/46), respectively. There was no significant difference in detecting sensitivity and diagnosis accuracy between CT and MRI (both P>0.05). The CNR of lesion in arterial phase was higher than that of portal venous phase(4.7±3.8 vs 3.4±2.5), and the difference was statistically significant (t=2.949, P<0.05). Detecting rates of T1 weighted imaging with fat suppression (T1WI-FS) image, T2 weighted imaging with fat suppression (T2WI-FS) image, diffusion weighted imagingand dynamic contrast enhanced T1WI-FS image were 90.0% (45/50), 88.0%(44/50), 86.0%(43/50), and 91.7% (44/48), respectively. There was no significant difference in detecting rate among these images sequences (Q=2.526, P=0.510). Tumor diameter in non-functional PNEN was significantly larger than that in functional PNEN ((2.9±1.6) cm vs (1.7±0.7) cm)(t=3.479,P<0.05). The overall diagnosis rate of non-functional PNEN with CT and MRI before operation was 70.8% (17/24), which was significantly lower than that of functional PNEN (100.0%, 31/31) (χ2=10.360，P=0.002).Conclusions CT and MRI are both sensitive in detectingPNEN, and they were two complementary modalities. CT image in arterial phase delineated the lesion better than that in portal venous phase. MRI images with different sequences can becomplementary and there is no significant difference in detecting sensitivity for PNEN among different sequences. CT and MRI play an equal rolein the diagnosis of PNEN before operation. Because of atypical CT and MRI findings, the diagnosis of non-functional PNEN is more difficult thanfunctional PNEN.

OBJECTIVETo assess the association of AIRE gene polymorphisms with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) among ethnic Han Chinese from Shaan'xi Province.

METHODSGenomic DNA was prepared from 384 individuals with RA and 576 healthy controls. Four tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the AIRE gene (rs2075876, rs760426, rs1800520, and rs878081) were genotyped with a SNaPshot method. The genotypic and allelic frequencies were evaluated using a Chi square test. Genotyping data was corrected by Logistic regression for age and gender. The linkage disequilibrium (LD) block structure was examined using Hapview 4.2 software.

RESULTSAll 4 SNPs have conformed to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P > 0.05). Two SNPs were significantly associated with RA, which included G allele of rs2075876 (OR=1.41, 95% CI: 1.17-1.71, P=3.7 × 10(-4)); Dominant model (OR=1.79, 95% CI: 1.21-2.63, P=0.002), Recessive model (OR=1.48, 95% CI: 1.14-1.93, P=0.003). rs760426 A risk allele (OR=1.26, 95% CI: 1.04-1.52, P=0.01); Recessive model (OR=1.33, 95% CI: 1.02-1.73, P=0.03). In addition, rs878081 and rs1800520 SNPs were not allele and genotyped polymorphisms were significantly associated with RA susceptibility.

CONCLUSIONThe rs2075876 and rs760426 loci of the AIRE gene are associated with increased risk for rheumatoid arthritis among ethnic Han Chinese from ShaanXi.

Adult ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; etiology ; genetics ; China ; ethnology ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Transcription Factors ; genetics

AIM To establish an HPLC method for the simultaneous content determination of four constituents in Liujing Toutong Tablets (Angelicae dahuricae Radix,Magnoliae Flos,Ligustici Rhizoma et Radix,etc.).METHODS The analysis of 30％ ethanol extract of this drug was performed on a 35 ℃ thermostatic Waters C18 column (4.6 mm × 250 mm,5 μm),with the mobile phase comprising of methanol-4％ acetic acid flowing at 1.0 mL/min in a gradient elution manner,and the detection wavelength was set at 320 nm.RESULTS Puerarin,ferulic acid,imperatorin and isoimperatorin showed good linear relationships within the ranges of 60.6-303 μg/mL (r=0.999 9),1.59-7.95 μg/mL (r =0.999 9),1.57-7.85 μg/mL (r =0.999 9) and 0.752 5-3.762 5 μg/mL (r =0.999 7),whose average recoveries (RSDs) were 97.75％ (1.7％),97.68％ (2.3％),97.94％ (1.0％) and 98.29％ (1.6％),respectively.CONCLUSION This stable and reliable method can be used for the quality control of Liujing Toutong Tablets.