Guinea pigs were given orally with a daily dose of 0.5 mg ascorbic acid per 100 g body weight 20 days before and 4 days after a whole-body r-irradiation and then injected subcutaneously with 10 mg ascorbic acid at 24 hours intervals. During the injection period, the daily urinary output of total ascorbic acid in the animals irradiated with 500 or 1000 r was significantly higher than that in controls, but the difference of 24 hours excretions of total ascorbic acid between the group irradiated with 150 or 250 r and the control group was not statistically significant.As shown in the urinary output of dehydroascorbic acid and diketo- gulonic acid estimated by our modified Roe's method, r-irradiation has no effect on its excretion in guinea pigs and rats.The levels of ascorbic acid in plasma, spleen and adrenals were significantly lower in the irradiated group than in the control group, but might increase with the increase of the injected dose of ascorbic acid.

Objective To evaluate the effect of the intermittent deferomamine(DF) therapy on relieving iron overload caused by transfusion in children with ? thalassemia.Methods Sixteen children who were finally diagnosed as ? thalassemia major were treated with deferomamine for 124 times totally to low the iron overload. The serum iron(SI), serum ferritin(SF) and urine ferritin were detected each time with radio-immunity technique and difference was compared before and after treatment. Meanwhile, weather DF involved children′s liver and renal function was observed in whole procedure.Results Iron overload exists in 16 cases of ? thalassemia major children by a long- term hypertransfusion therapy, with average level SI 33.69?6.72 mmol/L,SF 441.19? 54.70 ?g/L,urine ferritin 8.64?6.79 ?g/L. The difference was significant (paired-samples t test,t =6.173 P 0.05).Conclusion The study suggest that intermittent low-dose DF therapy is effective for iron overload caused by transfusion in ? thalassemia children, without apparent side effects.

Objective To establish a method of quick three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of pubic symphysis based on magnetic resonance imaging. Methods The pelvis images of adult male were generated on a 3.0 T scanner using a T1 Gradient Echo FLASH-3D (T1- FL3D) sequence and imported the images into medical image control system. Segmentation of binaryzation threshold was conducted and pelvic soft tissue image was extracted by regional growth, 3D structure model of pubic symphysis was obtained by Boolean operation. The 3D structure model of pubic symphysis was established by the noise reduction of reverse engineering software. And compared with the 3D reconstruction model pubic bone CT scan. Results The morphological characters of the MRI pubic symphysis 3D model, such as the ridges and furrows on the symphysial surface, lower extremity, dorsal margin (beveling), margin (beveling) and pubic tubercle, were highly consistent with the morphological characters of the 3D model established by CT scan. Conclusion MRI scan can be used to reconstruct the 3D structure of pubic symphysis quickly and effectively, and it can provide a safe radiation-free 3D visualization imaging technique for forensic age estimation for the living.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of hepatic ultrasonography (US) for the diagnosis of hepatic steatosis in obese children, using ¹H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H MRS) as the reference standard.

METHODSA total of 162 obese children with age of 10.5 ± 2.2 years and BMI of 28 ± 4 were enrolled in this study. They accepted hepatic US and (1)H MRS examinations. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of US were calculated for the overall presence of hepatic steatosis by comparison with ¹H MRS results.

RESULTSUsing quantitative criteria of liver fat content (LFC) >5% determined by (1)H MRS, 95 children(58.6%)were diagnosed as having hepatic steatosis. The sensitivity and specificity of US in diagnosing steatosis were 91.6% (87/95) and 50.7% (34/67) respectively, with PPV of 72.5% (87/120), and NPV of 81.0% (34/42). Considerable overlap in LFC measured by ¹H MRS was observed between different grades from US findings: absent (LFC interquartile range: 1.3%-3.9%), mild (2.4%-10.7%), moderate (7.1%-20.2%) and severe (7.6%-28.8%) steatosis.

CONCLUSIONSThe US can yield a high sensitivity and low specificity in the diagnosis of hepatic steatosis in obese children, suggesting it can be used as a screening tool for hepatic steatosis. To improve diagnostics, ¹H MRS is needed to determine LFC.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Fatty Liver ; diagnostic imaging ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Male ; Obesity ; complications ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Ultrasonography

OBJECTIVETo study the genome sequence of hepatitis A virus L-A-1 strain which has been applied for live attenuated vaccine production in China, to compare with other HAV strains, to understand some characteristics of L-A-1 strain, and to find the mechanism of attenuation and cell adaptation.

METHODSGenome fragments were prepared by antigen-capture PCR from infected cell (2BS), PCR products were cloned into T vector, sequenced and analyzed by using bioinformatics program.

RESULTSAnalysis of the genomic sequences(nt 25-7,418) showed that the open reading frame contains 6,675 nucleotides in length encoding 2,225 amino acids. Sequence homology comparison showed 98.00% and 94.00% homology at nucleotide level, and 98.51% and 98.65% homology at amino acid level with international strains MBB and HM 175, respectively. Through comparison with other attenuated, cell adapted and cytopathic effect (CPE) strains, L-A-1 strain had mutation at nt 152, 591, 646, 687 and insertion at nt 180-181 in 5?NTR and had mutation at nt 3,889 (aa 1 052-Val) in 2B region, these mutations and insertion are molecular basis for cell adaptation; mutation at nt 4,185 (aa 1 152-Lys) in 2C region should be attenuated marker; deletion in 3A region (nt 5,020-5,025) that caused two amino acids deletion is virus fast growth basis.

CONCLUSIONThrough analyzing L-A-1 strain genomic sequence, certain sites related to cell adaptation and attenuation were found.

Adaptation, Biological ; genetics ; Amino Acid Sequence ; Base Sequence ; Gene Deletion ; Genome, Viral ; Hepatitis A Vaccines ; genetics ; Hepatitis A virus ; genetics ; growth & development ; Mutation ; Open Reading Frames ; genetics ; Sequence Homology ; Vaccines, Attenuated ; genetics

Objective Coralline hydroxyapatite (CHA),in comparison with Bio-Oss bone meal,is a material with extensive resources but no immunogenicity or risk of disease-transmission. The aim of this article was to study the clinical application of CHA in ridge preservation in the maxillary anterior zone. Methods Twenty-six patients underwent extraction of maxillary anterior teeth (n=26) for chronic periodontitis or periapical periodontitis. The patients were randomly assigned into a CHA and a control group of equal number to receive ridge preservation with CHA and Bio-Oss bone meal respectively. Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) was performed immediately and at 4 months after ridge preservation to compare the vertical and horizontal alterations of the alveolar ridge be-tween the two groups of patients. Results After ridge preservation,both the CHA and control groups showed a reduction in the width ([1.1±0.7] vs [1.3±1.9] mm) and height of the alveolar ridge ([1.3±1.6] vs [1.2±1.4] mm),but with no statistically significant differences between the two groups (P<0.05). Conclusion For ridge preservation in the maxillary anterior zone,CHA has a similar effect to that of Bio-Oss bone meal and therefore is an ideal material for bone graft.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the role of STK15 gene amplification and overexpression to genesis and development of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC).

METHODSSTK15 gene amplification in 40 cases carcinoma tissues and normal tissues as control was detected by differential PCR approach. STK15 mRNA and protein levels were evaluated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry method.

RESULTSIn 40 LSCC cases, STK15 gene amplification was found in 14 tumor tissues(35%), mRNA overexpression in 27 tumor tissues(67.5%), and protein upregulated in 29 tumor tissues(72.5%). Statistics analysis showed that STK15 gene amplification and mRNA overexpression were obviously associated to differentiation degree of LSCC, and protein overexpression was closely associated with both differentiation degree and pathological grades of LSCC.

CONCLUSIONThis research results suggest that STK15 gene amplification contributes to its mRNA and protein overexpression through affecting the exact replication of centrosome and separation of chromosomes. STK15 gene thus plays a role in LSCC oncogenesis and malignant progression.

Aurora Kinase A ; Aurora Kinases ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; genetics ; metabolism ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Laryngeal Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

OBJECTIVETo explore the relationship between p53 gene mutations and STK15 abnormal expression in the development of human laryngeal squamous-cell carcinoma (LSCC).

METHODSLSCC tissues and matched normal tissues were taken during operation from 55 patients without previous chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Following polymerase chain reaction amplification direct sequencing single strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) combined with silver staining were used to detect mutations of p53 gene in exons 7 and 8 (p53E7 and p53E8) using genomic DNA from 110 specimens including 55 LSCC tissues and 55 matched normal tissues. STK15 expression were evaluated by RT-PCR with beta-actin as internal control.

RESULTSThe mutation rate of p53E7 was 30.9% (compared to normal tissues, chi(2) = 8.66, P < 0.01). There was no mutation in p53E8. In 38 of the 55 cases (69.1%), the STK15 mRNA expression level was higher than that of the paired normal tissue. The STK15 to beta-actin ratio of average density value was 1.22 +/- 0.49 in the cancer tissue, and 0.99 +/- 0.54 in the normal tissues (t = 4.539, P < 0.01). In 14 of the 17 cases (82.4%) with p53E7 mutations, the STK15 expression was higher than that of normal tissue. In the 38 cases with STK15 over-expression, p53E7 mutation was found in 14 cases (36.8%). The rate of concurrence of p53E gene mutations and STK15 over-expression (25.5%) was higher than that of only p53E gene mutations (chi(2) = 26.025, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThere is significant association between p53 gene mutation and STK15 over-expression in laryngeal squamous-cell carcinoma.

Actins ; metabolism ; Aurora Kinase A ; Aurora Kinases ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; genetics ; metabolism ; Exons ; Frameshift Mutation ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Genes, p53 ; genetics ; Humans ; Laryngeal Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; Mutation, Missense ; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo investigate the changes in the activity of Escherichia coli asparaginase (L-asp) and the concentration of asparagines (ASN) in the plasma of the acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) children receiving L-asp containing chemotherapeutic protocol to explore more reasonable usage of L-asp in the treatment of childhood ALL.

METHODSL-asp containing hemotherapy regimen of VDLP was used, in which L-asp (10,000 U/m(2)) was administered intravenously every other day for 10 doses in 15 children with ALL. A total of 340 peripheral blood samples were collected at scheduled time points during the therapy and plasma L-asp activity (by spectrophotometric assay) and asparagines concentration (by RP-HPLC) were measured.

RESULTSDuring the administration of L-asp, the plasma L-asp activity was increasing gradually peaked after eight doses and then decreased gradually, while the plasma concentration of asparagines maintained in complete or nearly complete depletion status. After the therapy courses finished, a plasma L-asp activity above 100 U/L with asparagines almost complete depletion status was lasting for about seven days.

CONCLUSIONThe current L-asp containing chemotherapeutic protocols in which L-asp was administered in a dose of 10 000/m(2) intravenously every other day, are efficient enough for the depletion of plasma ASN.

Adolescent ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; blood ; pharmacokinetics ; therapeutic use ; Asparaginase ; administration & dosage ; blood ; pharmacokinetics ; Asparagine ; blood ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Drug Administration Schedule ; Female ; Humans ; Infusions, Intravenous ; Male ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; blood ; drug therapy ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo investigate STK15 gene abnormality and centrosomal amplification in laryngeal carcinoma.

METHODSSTK15 gene mRNA expressional level was tested in 62 cases of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma and laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma cell line Hep-2 by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR); the mutation of STK15 gene exon 6 and exon 7 in the same tissues and cells was detected by PCR-single strand conformation polymorphism. Immunofluorescent antibodies were used to test centrosomal amplification in Hep-2 cell line as an example.

RESULTSSTK15 gene overexpressed in 39 cases of laryngeal carcinoma (63%) and Hep-2 cell line. No mutation was found in exon 6 and exon 7 of STK15 gene in the above tissues and cells. Centrosomal amplification was apparent in Hep-2 cell line. The number of centrosome in a single cell changed from 1 to 7, and Hep-2 cells with amplified centrosomes (more than 2 in one cell) were 11%-23%.

CONCLUSIONSTK15 gene overexpression and centrosomal amplification were first found in human laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma, which indicated that STK15 gene overexpression leading to centrosomal amplification might occur in the early stage of human laryngeal carcinogenesis and be one of the key mechanisms for the occurrence of laryngeal carcinoma.

Aurora Kinase A ; Aurora Kinases ; Centrosome ; pathology ; Exons ; Humans ; Laryngeal Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Mutation ; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases ; genetics ; RNA, Messenger ; analysis