Objective To investigate whether p53 expression is involved in human telomerase reverse trans-criptase (hTERT) regulation. Methods HepG2 cells and pPUR/U6/hTERT HepG2 cells were treated with the p53 antisense oligonucleotide respectively and p53 expression plasmid were introduced to HepG2 cells. The decreased or increased p53 level and the hTERT expression levels were analyzed by Western blotting. Results Down-regulation of p53 expression had no obvious effect on hTERT expression, but over-expression of p53 could significantly repress hTERT level. Conclusion p53 interacts with hTERT and inhibits hTERT expression in HepG2 cells.

Objective To explore the clinical application value of combined detection of serum brain natriuretic peptide (BNP),homocysteine(HCY) and blood lipids in the patients with heart failure.Methods The levels of serum BNP,HCY,TC,TG,HDL-C,LDL-C,ApoA,ApoB and Lpa were detected in 100 patients with heart failure (observation group) and contemporaneous 100 persons (control group) undergoing healthy physical examination.Then the comparative analysis was performed.Results Compared with the control group,the BNP and HCY levels in the observation group were significantly increased(P＜0.05);among 7 indicators of the blood lipid,the Lpa level in the observation group was increased compared with the control group,while the TC,HDL-C and LDL-C levels were significantly decreased(P＜0.05),and the TG,ApoA and ApoB levels had no statistical differences between the two groups(P＞0.05).Conclusion Serum BNP,HCY,TC,HDL-C,LDL-C and Lpa levels have close correlation with heart failure,especially the combined detection of BNP,HCY and Lpa,which has predictive and diagnostic value in heart failure and is worthy of clinical popularization and application.

Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of bortezomib +doxorubicin + dexamethasone (PAD) regimen in the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) . Methods Thirty-eight patients with MM in our hospital were selected and randomly divided into observation group and control group with 19 cases in each. The observation group was treated with PAD regimen and the control group was treated with VAD regimen (vincristine+doxorubicin+dexamethasone) . Clinical efficacy and adverse reaction were compared between the two groups. Results The effective rate and total effective rate of the observation group were 52.63%and 78.95%respectively, which were significantly higher than those of the control group ( <0.05 and <0.05) . There was no statistical difference in the incidence of adverse events between the two groups ( >0.05) . Conclusion PAD regimen could improve the clinical effect of treating patients with MM, and the adverse reactions can be tolerated. It is safe and worthy of clinical application.

Objective To establish hybridization method by using the DNA-modified colloid gold nanopartieles probes for rapid and specified detection of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Methods DNA-modified nanoparticles probes were prepared by using two mereapto-modified mecA gene-specific oligonucleotide probes bounding with 6Ohm-diameter colloid gold nanoparticles through covalent binding. Genomic DNA of Staphylococcus aureus strains were extracted and then fragmented by ultrasonic waves. The fragmentized DNA was hybridized with the DNA-modified colloid gold nanoparticles probes. The reaction products were centrifuged and then detected by reversed-phase thinlayer chromatography plate to observe any colloid gold nanoparticles precipitation. The results of mecA gene detected by the colloid gold nanoparticles probes hybridization were compared with the results of PCR and the accuracy of the hybridization method was evaluated. Results Of total 95 tested strains, 71 strains were confirmed as MRSA and 24 swains were confirmed as methicillin susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) by PCR. Of 71 MRSA strains, 69 strains were positive by colloid gold nanoparticles probes hybridization, the sensitivity of this method was 97.2%. All of the 24 MSSA strains were negative by using this technique. The specificity of this method was 100%. Of total 95 test strains ,93 strains were detected correctly. The accuracy was 97.9%. Conclusions Colloid gold nanoparticles probes hybridization test is well consistent with the gold standard method of PCR in detection of MRSA. Detection of MRSA by using the technique of the DNA-modified colloid gold nanopartichs probes hybridization is rapid, simple and accurate. It is potent to be a new method for rapid diagnosis of MRSA infection.

AIM　To study the features of cell death induced by the anticancer antibiotic lidamycin (LDM) in human hepatoma BEL-7402 cells. METHODS　Chromatin condensation was observed by co-staining with fluorescent dyes, hoechst 33342 and propidium iodide. “G1 sub-peak” was detected by flow cytometry and DNA ladder was observed using agarose gel electrophoresis. The caspase-3, 6 activities were measured with kits specific for them. RESULTS　Typical apoptotic chromatin condensations appeared when the BEL-7402 cells were treated with the conventional antitumor agent mitomycin C 30 μmol.L-1 for 12 h. However, an abnormal type of chromatin condensation occurred when the cells were treated with LDM 1 μmol.L-1 for 6 h, which was characterized with keeping the completeness of nuclear membrane and not forming apoptotic bodies. The DNA ladder patterns were observed using agarose gel electrophoresis. The “G1 sub-peak” occurred only in the cells treated with LDM for 24 h, though chromatin condensation was earlier detected in treatment with LDM for 6 h. The caspase-3, 6 activities were increased about 5 and 4 folds, after the cells were treated with LDM 1 μmol.L-1 for 6 h, as did mitomycin C. The time of initiating chromatin condensation was earlier than that of the high peak activities of caspase-6. CONCLUSION　The characterization of cell death induced by lidamycin in the human hepatoma BEL-7402 cells differs from typical apoptosis. The results make it helpful to explain the molecular mechanism of the highly potent cytotoxicities of lidamycin toward tumor cells.

Objective To investigate the status and influencing factors of fear of falling (FOF) in patients with first ever cerebral infarction. Methods A sample of 105 inpatients with cerebral infarction were recruited from two tertiary hospitals in Tianjin (Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, the First Affiliated Hospital of Tianjin University of TCM) to complete this research. They were investigated with the simplified Chinese version of Falls Efficacy Scale International-short (FES-Is), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Barthel Index Rating Scale (BI) and Functional Ambulation Category Scale (FAC). Results The total score of FES-Is was 15.38±7.45. Multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that age, marital status, fall history, walking ability and anxiety were important factors of FOF. Conclusions Clinical staff should guide the patients with first cerebral infarction especially who had a history of falling to take active and effective measures to deal with their FOF, and pay more attention on patients who was elderly, without a spouse, assisted walking and anxiety, to release their FOF, prevent the falling and promote the functional recovery of patients.

To investigate the cognition and attitude towards ethical,legal,medical,social issues caused by associated reproductive technology (ART) among adults in Heilongjiang Province,and to provide scientific basis for evaluating ART and formulating related policies.A total of 220 residents from Harbin,Qiqihar,and Daqing in Heilongjiang Province were invited to the present study.The cognition and attitude towards ART was investigated using a self-designed questionnaire.Adults in Heilongjiang Province had generally high cognition level of informed consent,ethical review,legal protection and social cognition,etc.But there was still a large ambiguity of detailed issues such as the function of ethical review,treatment abandoning,the potential risks and so on.It should strengthen the function of Institutional Review Board,continuously improve the mechanism of risk assessment and supervision,carry out health education and health promotion,establish a multi-disciplinary cooperation team,and reach a consensus among professionals,government policy makers and public representatives,so as to facilitate the healthy development of ART.

Objective To detect the change of interleukin-18 (IL-18) level in the serum of patients with acute leukemia (AL) in children, and explore the clinical significance of IL-18. Methods The level of IL-18 was measured by sandwich enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA) in 45 patients with AL in children. Results The leverof IL-18 in pre-treatment AL group was 719.35±358.21pg/mL and significantly higher than that of normal-control group [(311.80±146.64)pg/mL P <0.01]. Mter treatment, the level of IL-18 was 401.14±180.78 pg/mL in post-treatment complete remission group, which was significantly lower than that of pre-treatment group(P <0.01). The level of IL-18 in non-remission group was higher than those of normal control and CR group (P<0.01);while pre-treatment group the difference was not significant (P >0.05). According to the clinical sub-group with risk factors in pre-treatment AL, the level of IL-18 in high risk(HR) and middle risk(MR) group was significantly higher than low risk(LR) group (P<0.05). The level of IL-18 in T-ALL group was significantly higher than that in B-ALL group (P<0.05). The levels of IL-18 in pre-treatment AL were markedly correlated to the count of blast cells in bone marrow (r=0.411, P=0.005). Conclusion The level of IL-18 in the patients of childhood AL was in a high expression, and related to the clinical treating effect and the count of blast cells in bone marrow, which would be taken as an index of treating effect. The level of IL-18 was closely related to the clinical risk factors in pre-treatment AL.

BACKGROUND: Studies have demonstrated that incidence rate of acute rejection in renal transplant recipients with pre-production of major histocompatibility complex class I chain-related gene A (MICA), including parts of autoantibody, before transplantation in body, is obviously greater than that of recipients with negative antibody. OBJECTIVE: To investigate effects of exogenous antigen on MICA expression in endothelial cells. METHODS: The endothelial cells were cultured with exogenous recombinant MICA protein (group M5, M10 and M25) and heat shock protein-70 (group H5, H10 and H25) with dosages of 5, 10 and 25 μg/L, respectively, for 48 hours. Same volume of phosphate buffer saline was added into the control groups. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: At 48 hours after induction, the expressions of MICA mRNA and protein were increased significantly in each experimental group (M5, M10 and M25) than that of the control group with significant (P < 0.05). The expression of MICA mRNA and MICA protein of group M5 and group M10 were remarkably higher than group M25 (P < 0.05); however, there was no significant difference between group M5 and M10 (P > 0.05). The expression of MICA membrane protein in the group M10 was obviously greater than that of the group M5 and M25 (P < 0.05). The level of soluble MICA (sMICA) in experimental groups (M5, M10 and M25) was decreased obviously comparing with that of the control group. These differences had statistical significances (P < 0.05). But there was no significant difference among the experimental groups (P > 0.05). However, the expression of MICA gene and sMICA level did not change after heat shock protein-70 stimulation. The exogenous MICA antigen up-regulates the expression of MICA mRNA and protein, especially increases the expression of membrane protein on the cell surface significantly, but sMICA in supernatant was dramatically decreased.

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a noninfectious inflammatory response in nasal mucosa caused by allergens, which is contacted by a specific individual. The immune imbalance of Th1/Th2 plays an important role in the pathogenesis of AR. In?terleukin (IL)-33, the novel cytokine of IL-1 family, is an important regulatory factor of allergic diseases, autoimmune diseas?es and various inflammatory diseases. IL-33 is a kind of alarm, which is mainly secreted and released by damaged tissues and cells, especially impaired epithelial cells and endothelial cells. IL-33 binding to its receptor ST2L can activate a variety of immune cells to produce Th2 cytokines, precipitating and maintaining Th2 polarization, increasing AR immune inflamma?tion, which is the new target of AR in research and treatment. In this article, we have done a brief overview for the biological functions of IL-33 and its receptor ST2L and the research progress in the AR.