BACKGROUND:Airborne pollen is the most important factor to induce the seasonal allergic diseases.The production and dispersal of pollen are closely correlated with the meteorological factors.OBJECTIVE:To observe the correlation between the seven meteorological factors (air pressure,air temperature,humidity,precipitation,wind speed,evaporation capacity and sunshine) and the airborne pollen in Nanchang so as to provide theoretic evidences for preventing and treating anaphylactic disease in that region.DESIGN:Observational experiment. SETTING:Department of Allergic Reaction,Jiangxi Medical College.MATERIALS:An investigation on airbome pollen was performed for a year by Durham gravity method.Data of airborne pollen and the seven meteorological factors in urban area of Nanchang city were collected.METHODS:The top of the 4th experimental building in the southern yard of Jiangxi Medical College located in the center of Nanchang city was taken as exposed point.The pollen was surveyed by Durham gravity method from April 1st,2000 to March 31 st,2001.Meteorological data of the seven factors were collected every day and supplied by the Weather Bureau of Jiangxi Province.The correlation between meteorological factors and airborne pollen was analyzed by the multivariate Jinear stepwise regression analysis with SAS 6.12.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:The type,amount,seasonal distribution of airborne pollen and the correlation between the seven meteorological factors and the airborne pollen in urban area of Nanchang city. RESULTS:There were airborne pollens in Nanchang city all the year round,which included about 47 types.The main pollen season of Cupressaceae was in March,Pinaceae in March and April, and Cunninghamia R.Br in March,Chenopodium-Amaranthus and Ambrosia from August to November, Artemisia from September to November and Humulus in September.Gramineae had been scattering all seasons but mostly from June to October.In the correlation analysis between dispersal of airbome pollen and seven meteorological factors, multivariate linear stepwise regression analysis was conducted in some major polien counting in steady dispersal period and seven meteorological factors. The positive correlation was found in Pinaceae with air pressure,air temperature,wind speed and sunlight,and the negative correlation was found with precipitation and evaporation capacity.The positive correlation was found in Cupressaceae with air pressure,air temperature and sunlight,and negative correlation was found with humidity,precipitation,wind speed and evaporation capacity.The positive correlation was found in Ambrosia with air pressure,air temperature and wind speed,while negative correlation was found with humidity,precipitation,evaporation capacity and sunshine.The positive correlation was found in Artemisia with air pressure,air temperature and wind speed,while negative correlation was found with humidity,precipitation, evaporation capacity and sunshine.The positive correlation was found in Gramineae with air pressure and air temperature,while negative correlation was found with humidity,precipitation and evaporation capacity.However,if using count of total pollen in a year or half a year to analyze the relationship,the correlated factors were much fewer than that mentioned above.CONCLUSION:The dispersal of airborne pollen is related with the seven meteorological factors.It is better to use the grain amount of single pollen in its main pollen season to analyze the relationship with meteorological factors.

Objective To analyze the expression feature and function of microRNAs in exosomes secreted by leukemia cells (LCEX). Methods The mice leukemia cell line L1210 was taken as the example, and LCEXL1210 was obtained by isolating supernate of L1210 cells through density gradient centrifugation. MicroRNAs isolated from LCEXL1210 were analyzed by microarray analysis, compared with miRNA from L1210 cell line, and then some of miRNAs with different expression were verified by real-time PCR and were analyzed by Gene Ontology (GO) database. Results The number of miRNAs identified in LCEXL1210 was 1 044, and that in L1210 cell line was 872. The number of shared miRNAs between LCEXL1210 and L1210 cell line was 732, accounting for 70.1 % of LCEXL1210 and 83.9 % of L1210 cell line, respectively, which indicated that 70 % of LCEXL1210 was derived from the parental cells. Interestingly, 312 miRNAs in LCEXL1210 were found to be underrepresented in the parental cells, indicating their specificity in LCEXL1210. Some miRNAs were significantly highly expressed in LCEXL1210 compared with those in L1210 cell line, including miR-16-1, miR-210, miR-195 and so on, which showed that miRNAs isolated from LCEXL1210 were differentially expressed with those from the parental cells. Some differentially expressed miRNAs from LCEXL1210 were verified by real-time PCR, and then were analyzed by GO database, which demonstrated that these highly expressed miRNAs participated in the processes of various biological function and signal transduction. Conclusions MiRNAs isolated from LCEXL1210 show a high similarity to miRNAs isolated from L1210 cells, whereas of which one-third are specific. The highly expressed miRNAs participate in the processes of various biological function and signal transduction.

Objective To explore the relationship between vegetation and the distribution of Oncomelania snails inside and outside the embankments of Poyang Lake region. Methods The plantation and Oncomelania snails were surveyed at 4 villages and their related marshlands in Yugan, Nanchang and Jinxian counties by the stratified systematic sampling method. The investigation was targeted to the vegetation species,height,coverage and frequency of plantation and synchronously to the distribution of snails and infection of snails in marshland of high, middle and low altitudes,adjacent beaches as well in cultivated and waste land inside embankment. The relationship between vegetation dominant association and the distribution of snails in those area was analyzed. Results The vegetation inside and outside the embankment were remarkably diverse. Inside the embankment, the species of vegetation varied greatly and distributed randomly,and no snail was found. While outside the embankment,the distribution of vegetation characterized an unregulated annulus or patch. Plant's association types were distinct on marshlands. The snails mainly distributed in areas at 15-17 m altitude,closely related to the species of vegetation. The coverage of dominant plants,Carex cinerascen and Miscanthus sacchariflorus showed a quadratic curve correlation with the density of snails. Conclusions In the Poyang Lake region,plants and snails are impacted by common environmental factors,which then lead to their close association in distribution. It might be attributed to integrated impacts of changes in ecological factors that Oncomelania snails disappear gradually in areas inside embankment after construction of embankment.

ObjectiveTo explore the expression of N-cadherin and β-catenin mRNA in human brainstem and supratentorial gliomas. MethodsN-cadherin and β-catenin mRNA expression in 18 cases of brainstem gliomas and 18 cases of supratentorial gliomas tissues were detected with PT-PCR. Resultsβ-catenin mRNA expression was more in human brainstem gliomas than in supratentorial gliomas （t=2.255,P<0.05）, but was not significantly different of N-cadherin mRNA (P＞0.05). The expression of N-cadherin mRNA in human brainstem gliomas of grades Ⅰ～Ⅱ were less than those in human gliomas of grades Ⅲ～Ⅳ (t=2.711，P<0.05), but was not of β-catenin mRNA (P＞0.05). N-cadherin mRNA expression was positively correlated with the β-catenin mRNA expression in either brainstem gliomas or supratentorial gliomas （r=0.480，r=0.809 respectively, P<0.05）. ConclusionThe over expressions of N-cadherin and β-catenin may play an important role in the invasion and malignant progress of human brainstem gliomas.

Objective To explore the expression of miRNA-181a (miR-181a) in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and its effect on biological features of MM cells. Methods CD138+cells of bone marrow from 25 MM patients and 10 patients with hematological non-malignancies were purified by using immunomagnetic separation, and the expression of miR-181a in CD138+cells and MM cell lines including RPMI 8226, H929 and U266 were detected by real-time quantitative PCR. The effects of down-regulation and up-regulation of miR-181a expression on the biological characteristics of MM cells were studied with miR-181a antagomir and agomir. Results Compared with patients with hematological non-malignant diseases, the expression of miR-181a in CD138+ cells was upregulated in MM patients. Compared with CD138+ cells in hematological non-malignancies, high expressions of miR-181a were observed in RPMI 8226 and U266 myeloma cell line, while low expressions of miR-181a were observed in H929 cells. Down-regulation of miR-181a with 100 nmol/L miR-181a antagomir could inhibit the proliferation of U266 cells at 24,48 and 72 h [(67.1 ± 3.3) %vs. (50.5 ± 4.1) %, (71.5 ± 3.6) % vs. (52.3 ± 2.2) %, (78.1 ± 5.4) % vs. (69.5 ± 4.3) %, P < 0.05 respectively], whereas up-regulation of miR-181a with 100 nmol/L miR-181a agomir could significantly promote the proliferation of H929 cells at 24 h and 48 h [(21.2 ± 2.4) %vs. (38.5 ± 3.6) %, ( 61.3 ± 5.4) %vs. (82.2 ±6.9)%, P<0.01 respectively]. Cell cycle analysis showed that miR-181a antagomir made U266 cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase. Meanwhile, susceptibility test results indicated that the apoptosis of U266 cells induced by doxorubicin, paclitaxel and 5-fluorouracil was increased when the proliferation of miR-181a expression was down-regulated with miR-181a antagomir. In migration assay, the data showed that down-regulation of miR-181a with miR-181a antagomir could inhibit the migration of U266 cells, and the proportion of migrated cells in the experimental group (62 ± 10) %was lower than that in the control group (89 ± 12) %(P< 0.05), whereas up-regulation of miR-181a with miR-181a agomir could improve the migration of H929 cells, and the proportion of migrated cells in the experimental group (242 ± 9) % was higher than that in the control group (98 ± 8)%(P<0.01). Conclusions The high expression of miR-181a expressed highly by MM cells may promote the proliferation, migration and drug resistance of myeloma cells, indicating that miR-181a could be an important prognostic biomarker candidate, and the application of gene silencing may improve the prognosis of MM.

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of 200IU hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) injection at 1 month after birth to interrupt the mother-to-children transmission (MTCT) of hepatitis B virus (HBV). Methods: Infants born to mothers who were hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) positive, with HBV DNA load ≥1.0×10⁶ IU/ml and who did not receive antiviral drug treatment during pregnancy, were randomly divided into 2 groups. Infants in the control group were treated with standard immunoprophylaxis: 200 IU HBIG and 10 μg recombinant hepatitis B vaccine injection within 2 h after birth and a vaccine booster at 1 and 6 months after birth. For infants in the HBIG group the standard immunoprophylaxis and an additional 200 IU HBIG were administered at 1 month. HBsAg, the antibody to HBsAg (anti-HBs), and HBV DNA load were measured at birth and after 7 months. later.Immunoprophylaxis failure was defined as the presence of HBV DNA and HBsAg positivity or the presence of HBV DNA and HBsAg negativity at 7 months. Results: In this prospective cohort study, of the 280 infants enrolled, 14 infants (HBIG/control: 6/8) were lost to follow-up and 266 subjects (HBIG/control: 134/132) completed the 7-month study. The log₁₀HBV DNA load of mothers in the HBIG group and control group were (7.31±0.66) log₁₀IU/ml and (7.32±0.74) log₁₀IU/ml, respectively (P=0.92). The MTCT rate of the two groups was similar (5.97% vs. 7.58%, P=0.63). At 7 months, the HBsAg positive rate and the level of anti-HBs in the two groups were 94.03%(126/134)vs. 91.67% (121/132) and 623.60±412.93 mIU/mL vs. 620.38±399.10 mIU/ml, respectively with no significant difference (P=0.48 and P=0.95, respectively). The log₁₀ HBV DNA load of mothers in immunoprophylaxis failure group and success group was similar (P=0.09). The number of infants who were serum HBsAg positive and HBV DNA positive at birth in the immunoprophylaxis failure group were higher than those in the success group (100% and 100% vs. 35.89% and 31.85%, P<0.01, respectively). The serum HBsAg levels in infants at birth was the only independent relevant factor for HBV MTCT, with risk rates of 11.18 (95% Confidence interval (CI), 1.23-101.88), 352.00 (95%CI, 15.82-7833.20), and 968.00 (95%CI 81.35-11519.19) for HBsAg levels of 0.05-< 1, 1-< 10, and ≥ 10 IU/ml, respectively, compared to infants with HBsAg levels < 0.05 IU/ml. Conclusions Administering 200IU HBIG injection at 1 month did not reduce the risk of HBV MTCT.

Bone regeneration remains a great clinical challenge. Low intensity near-infrared (NIR) light showed strong potential to promote tissue regeneration, offering a promising strategy for bone defect regeneration. However, the effect and underlying mechanism of NIR on bone regeneration remain unclear. We demonstrated that bone regeneration in the rat skull defect model was significantly accelerated with low-intensity NIR stimulation. In vitro studies showed that NIR stimulation could promote the osteoblast differentiation in bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and MC3T3-E1 cells, which was associated with increased ubiquitination of the core circadian clock protein Cryptochrome 1 (CRY1) in the nucleus. We found that the reduction of CRY1 induced by NIR light activated the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling pathways, promoting SMAD1/5/9 phosphorylation and increasing the expression levels of Runx2 and Osterix. NIR light treatment may act through sodium voltage-gated channel Scn4a, which may be a potential responder of NIR light to accelerate bone regeneration. Together, these findings suggest that low-intensity NIR light may promote in situ bone regeneration in a CRY1-dependent manner, providing a novel, efficient and non-invasive strategy to promote bone regeneration for clinical bone defects.
Animals ; Rats ; Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2/metabolism* ; Bone Regeneration ; Cell Differentiation ; Circadian Clocks ; Cryptochromes/metabolism* ; Osteoblasts/metabolism* ; Osteogenesis ; Transcription Factors/metabolism*