Objective To study the HLA-DR gene frequency in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and its relationship with renal involvement and AN As profile. Mefliods HLA-DRB1 genotype frequency assigned by PCR amplification with sequences-specific primers (PCR-SSP) in 89 Chinese patients with SLE and 106 ethnically and geographically matched controls. Results HLA-DR2 and DR9 were significantly more frequent in SLE patient group (0.36/0.20, RR= 2.36, P

Objective To investigate the relationship between polymorphisms of interleukin-4 receptor (IL-4R) gene (E375A, C406R, Q576R) and childhood asthma in Harbin. Methods Ninety-one (91) children with asthma were included, and 42 healthy children were enrolled as control. The genotype polymorphisms of IL-4R were determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Results There was no significant difference in the distributions of the genotypes at both 1 124 A/C polymorphic sites (i.e. E375A polymorphism) and 1 902 A/G polymorphic site (i.e. Q576R polymorphism) in IL-4R between asthmatic group and control group (P > 0.05). There was significant difference in the distributions of the genotypes (CC, CR, RR) on 1 216 T/C polymorphic site (i.e. C406R polymorphism) in IL-4R between the two groups (P < 0.05). The R allele frequency was 22.94% in asthmatic group and 6.58% in control group, with significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05), but the allele frequencies at this site did not satisfy Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P < 0.05). Conclusions Our data suggest that the E375A and Q576R polymorphisms in IL-4R is not associated with the development of asthma in children in Harbin. Further study is needed on the relationship between C406R polymorphism and asthma.

Objective To investigate the correlation between depression, anxiety and sleep disturbance. Methods 93 patients with the main complaint of insomnia were selected and performed a retrospective study. Results Four factors including anxiety factors, manifest anxiety, subjective depression and dominant depression of the insomnia patients were significantly higher than normal people, while the Ego Strength scores are significantly lower than the normal people. Conclusion When confronting patients with sleep disturbance, doctors must pay attention to identifying any psychological disorders including depression and anxiety in the patients, and psychological support should also be strengthened to such patients.

Intracranial haemorrhage (ICH) in a patient with relapse of idiopathic thrombocytopaenic purpura (ITP) can be lethal. The site of haemorrhage, compounded by low platelets in this disease, makes its management extremely challenging, especially when a neurosurgical procedure is warranted. We report a case report of an unconventional way of increasing platelet counts in ITP rapidly in an emergency setting.