Objective To investigate the effects of methylprednisolone pulse therapy on the expression of phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STATI) and DNA-binding activity of STATI in T cells in patients with severe systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods Six patients were included. Patients were given 0.5～1 g of methylprednisolone on 3 consecutive days. Western Blotting was conducted to explore the phosphorylated STATI expression and electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA) were carried out to detect the DNA-biding activity of STATI. Results Methylprednisolone pulse therapy decreased phosphorylated STATI expression of T cells from patients with severe SLE. The expression of phosphorylated STATI decreased to about 30% 72 h after the methylprednisolone pulse therapy started (t=2.858, P<0.05). Methylprednisolone pulse therapy down-regulated DNA-biding activity of STATI of T cells in patients with severe SLE. The STATI DNA-biding activity was inhibited to about 40% 72 h after methy-Iprednisolone pulse, therapy started (t=3.058, P<0.05). Conclusion Phosphorylated STATI expression and DNA-binding activity of T cells is markedly decreased in patients after methylprednisolone pulse therapy, suggesting that inhibition of STATI signaling contributes to the clinical efficacy of this agent.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the epidemiological characteristics of allergic rhinitis (AR) in urban and rural areas of Ningbo and Yongzhou. METHOD: Fifteen fields in the two cities from October 2006 to June 2007 were randomly selected. Cases suspected with symptoms of AR by a self-administered and interview questionnaire were recommended to special examinations for confirmed diagnosis. RESULT: 1. A total of 9969 individuals from 3803 families were surveyed, of whom 303 suffered with AR. 2. The prevalence rate was 4.10% in Ningbo and 1.65% in Yongzhou (the sex-adjusted rate was 4.10% and 1.64% respectively, and the age-adjusted rate was 4.33% and 1.58%); the population of island inhabitants had the lowest prevalence rate of 0.73%. 3. The prevalence rate in patients with asthma and that with family genetic history was 8% and 12% respectively. CONCLUSION It demonstrates that the prevalence rate is higher in Ningbo than in Yongzhou, in urban than in rural and in adolescent than in other ages. Allergic rhinitis may be associated with asthma and related to genetic factors. Allergic rhinitis may be curable.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Asthma ; epidemiology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial ; epidemiology ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal ; epidemiology ; Rural Population ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Urban Population ; Young Adult

ObjectiveTo explore the quality differences between steamed products and raw products of Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium（CRP）. MethodThe color of steamed products and raw products of CRP was determined from the perspective of appearance by electronic eye technique， and the quality differences between them was objectively characterized by the luminous value（L^*）， yellow-blue value（b^*）， red-green value（a^*） and total chromatic value（E^*_ab）. Based on this， ultra-high performance liquid chromatography（UPLC） was used to establish a fingerprint evaluation method with the mobile phase of acetonitrile（A）-0.1% formic acid aqueous solution（B） for gradient elution（0-5 min， 5%A； 5-30 min， 5%-20%A； 30-60 min， 20%-52%A）， detection wavelength at 270 nm， flow rate of 0.3 mL·min^-1 and column temperature of 30 ℃. The quality differences between steamed products and raw products of CRP were compared from the perspective of chemical composition， and correlation analysis was used to reveal the correlation between the difference in appearance color and the difference in internal chemical composition. ResultAfter being steamed， L^*， b^* and E^*_ab of CRP showed an overall decreasing trend， indicating that the color of the steamed products darkened and deepened from yellow to blue but still tended to be yellow， while a^* showed an overall increasing trend， indicating that the color of the steamed products tended to red. A total of 24 peaks were identified in the fingerprint profiles of raw products and steamed products of CRP， and 13 of the main peaks were identified. The precision， stability and repeatability studies showed that compared with the reference peak （peak 14， hesperidin）， the relative standard deviations（RSDs） of the relative peak area and relative retention time of the remaining peaks were<3.0%.The results of chemometric statistical analysis showed that there were some differences between raw products and steamed products of CRP， and 7 main differential components were identified， among which 5-hydroxymaltol（peak 1） and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural（peak 2） were the characteristic components of steamed products. The correlation analysis results showed that， in addition to the above two characteristic components， four components of peak 4， peak 10 （vicenin-2）， peak 23 （tangeretin） and peak 24 （5-demethylnobiletin） also correlated significantly with the color change （E^*_ab） of the samples （P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionBefore and after steaming， not only the chemical composition changes， but also the color. Comparing the characteristic peaks of chemical composition difference and color difference before and after steaming of CRP， it is found that 5-hydroxymaltol， 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and peak 4 are common characteristic difference components， which can provide a reference for establishing the characteristic quality control method of steamed products， and quickly evaluating the quality difference between raw products and steamed products of CRP.