Objective To investigate the effect of Glutamine (Gln) on heat stress-induced dysfunction of intestinal epithelial barrier. Methods Human intestinal epithelial Caco-2 cells were pre-incubated with Gln for 24h and then exposed to heat 43℃ for 1h. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) was used to detect the cellular proliferation with various concentrations of Gln and choose an optimum concentration for subsequent experiments. The barrier integrity was measured by transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) permeability. Levels of tight junction protein occludin and ZO-1 were analyzed by Western blotting. Cytoskeleton using Coomassie blue staining was observed by microscopy. Results At 0.7mmol/L concentration, Gln showed the most effective cell proliferation compared with other concentration groups (P<0.05). Therefore, 0.7mmol/L Gln was used as effective concentration in following experiments. Gln attenuated the TEER decrease and impairment of intestinal permeability induced by heat exposure compared with 43℃ group (P<0.01). The expressions of occludin and ZO-1 were significantly elevated by pretreatment with Gln. The distortion of cytoskeleton was also effectively prevented. Conclusion 0.7mmol/L Gln is potentially beneficial for protecting against heat stress-induced permeability dysfunction and epithelial barrier damage.

Objective To study the imaging findings of disseminated pulmonary tuberculosis in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).Methods X-ray and multi-slice CT (MSCT)data from 33 AIDS patients with disseminated pulnonary tuberculosis confirmed by clinical manifestations and laboratory tests were analyzed retrospectively.Results Thirty patients underwent initial chest radiography examination,29 patients showed abnormal appearances,including bilateral disseminations in 21 patients and unilateral multiple disseminations in 8 patients.All patients underwent MSCT examination,26 patients showed bilateral disseminations and 7 patients showed unilateral multiple disseminations.The abnormal pulmonary appearances included nodule (n =25),miliary nodule (n =22),air-space consolidation (n =22),cavity (n =11),fibrosis (n =7),ground-glass opacity (n =7),pneumatocele (n =4),calcification (n =2).There were 20 patients with more than 3 abnormal appearances and 13 patients with one or two abnormal appearances.The extra-pulmonary tuberculosis included pleural effusion (n =33),lymphadenopathy (n =30),intestinal tuberculosis (n =3),splenic tuberculosis (n =1) and cerebral tuberculosis (n =1).Conclusion Disseminated pulmonary tuberculosis should be highly suspected in AIDS patients with diffused nodules,miliary nodules,air-space consolidations or multiple cavities,accompanied with pleural effusion and lymphadenopathy.