OBJECTIVETo investigate hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection among pigs in Henan province.

METHODSA total of 623 swine sera, collected from 5 districts, were divided into two groups, under 3-month of age and over 3-month of age. They were tested for HEV antigen and antibody by using ELISAs, respectively. The sera positive for HEV antigen were tested for HEV RNA with RT-PCR. The positive products of RT-PCR were cloned and sequenced.

RESULTSThe positive rates of anti-HEV antibody of the groups under 3-month and over 3-month of age were 90.27% and 92.55%, respectively, without statistical difference, while those of HEV antigen were 15.93% and 5.69%, respectively, with significant difference. The positive rates of anti-HEV antibody and HEV antigen were significantly different among different districts. HEV RNA was detectable in 5 of 47 HEV antigen positive samples. The sequence analysis showed that in 4 of 5 specimens the sequence belonged to genotype 4 while in the remaining one the sequence was genotype 1.

CONCLUSIONThe prevalence rate of HEV infection in pigs was high in Henan province and the rate differed in different districts.

Animals ; Antibodies, Viral ; analysis ; immunology ; Antigens, Viral ; analysis ; immunology ; China ; Genotype ; Hepatitis E ; epidemiology ; immunology ; veterinary ; virology ; Hepatitis E virus ; genetics ; immunology ; isolation & purification ; Phylogeny ; RNA, Viral ; analysis ; genetics ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Swine ; virology ; Swine Diseases ; epidemiology ; immunology ; virology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the therapeutic efficiency of antiviral treatment with pegylated-interferon (Peg-IFN) for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and to explore whether liver histopathological features or other factors influence the HBeAg seroconversion treatment response.

METHODSEighty HBeAg-positive CHB patients with diagnosis confirmed by liver puncture were treated with Peg-IFN(2a or 2b)body weight dose, once weekly). At treatment week 48, the rate of HBeAg seroconversion was determined and used to analyze the influence of liver histopathological features (liver biopsy assessment of: inflammation, graded G0 to G4; fibrosis stage, graded S0 to S4), sex, age, differential levels (pre-treatment baseline vs. week 48 post-treatment) of serum alanine transferase (ALT), and HBV DNA, by binary logistic analysis.

RESULTSAt week 48, the overall rate of HBeAg seroconversion was 30.0%. The rate of HBeAg seroconversion gradually advanced with increased liver inflammation (X2 = 8.435, P = 0.015): 9.09% of the 22 patients with G1; 31.58% of the 38 patients with G2; 47.30% of the 19 patients with G3; the one patient with G4. In contrast, the rate of HBeAg seroconversion showed a much weaker association with liver fibrosis (X2 = 5.917, P = 0.116). Only baseline HBeAg level, and no other baseline index, was significantly different between the patients who achieved HBeAg seroconversion and those who did not. Liver inflammation and baseline HBeAg level were identified as influencing factors of HbeAg seroconversion in response to Peg-IFN treatment.

CONCLUSIONPeg-IFN therapy induces a higher rate of HBeAg seroconversion in HBeAg-positive CHB patients with severe liver inflammation; histological analysis of pre-treatment liver biopsies may help to identify patients most likely to benefit from the antiviral regimen.

Adult ; Antiviral Agents ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Hepatitis B e Antigens ; blood ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; blood ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha ; therapeutic use ; Liver ; pathology ; Male ; Polyethylene Glycols ; therapeutic use ; Recombinant Proteins ; therapeutic use ; Serologic Tests

OBJECTIVEIt is important to use noninvasive methods to differentiate liver fibrosis and liver cirrhosis. A prospective study was conducted to evaluate the validity of ultrasonography (US) in evaluating the severity of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic viral hepatitis in reference to the pathologic diagnosis of their liver biopsy specimens.

METHODSThe liver fibrosis status of 324 chronic viral hepatitis patients was evaluated by both needle biopsy and US. Histologically their liver fibrosis was graded as S0-S4, and the inflammatory reaction in the liver was graded as G1-G4. The US examination included qualitative description of the liver surface and liver parenchyma, and the quantitative parameters were vascular diameters, blood flow volume and spleen size.

RESULTSUS qualitative description of the liver surface and liver parenchyma was correlated to the severity of fibrosis and the degree of the inflammation seen in the liver biopsies. An analysis of US quantitative parameters showed that a cut-off value of 12.1 cm for the length of spleen had a sensitivity of 60.0%, and specificity of 75.3% in detecting early liver fibrosis. For other quantitative parameters, the cut-off values were 8mm for the diameter of the splenic vein, 30.5 cm/sec for maximal blood flow velocity in the portal vein and 12 mm in diameter of the main portal vein. The diagnostic sensitivities for these parameters were 60.0%, 78.6% and 76.7%; the diagnostic specificities were 78.1%, 66.9% and 44.6% respectively.

CONCLUSIONEarly cirrhosis can be detected by US, and the sonographic results were well paralleled with their pathologic diagnoses made by liver biopsies. Individual US parameter has limited sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing early cirrhosis. In clinical practice a combination of 2-3 parameters could be used to detect or exclude severe liver fibrosis.

Adult ; Female ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; complications ; diagnostic imaging ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; complications ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; diagnostic imaging ; virology ; Male ; Prospective Studies ; Ultrasonography

OBJECTIVETo explore the role of the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/Akt) pathway in silica-induced α-SMA (α smooth muscle actin) expression in HEB (human bronchial epithelial) cell.

METHODSThe cultured HBE cells were divided into 5 groups: control, silica, PI3K inhibitor (Ly294002), both PI3K inhibitor (Ly294002) and silica at the same time and the inhibitor 24 h ahead of silica. The final concentrations of PI3K inhibitor and silica were 10 µmol/L and 100 µg/ml, respectively. Western blots were used to detect protein expressions of Akt, p-Akt, TGF-β and α-SMA. The location and expression of α-SMA were measured by immunofluorescence assay.

RESULTSHBE cell line exposed to silica can induce Akt phosphorylation, in which expressions of p-Akt were up regulated 1 times at 48 and the highest at 72 h. The expressions of TGFβ increased remarkably at 12 h and the peak at 48 h after silica exposure, while the expressions of α-SMA increased at 24 h and the highest at 72 h. However, the PI3K inhibitor (Ly294002) significantly down regulated α-SMA expression. When the cell line exposed to the PI3K inhibitor ahead of silica 24 h, the expressions of p-Akt and α-SMA were more remarkably down regulated which were decreased 1.5 times and 7.6 times respectively compare to silica exposure group. But no significant changes were found for TGFβ expressions. The immunofluorescence assay showed that silica can induce α-SMA expression, which located in cytoplasma, and PI3K inhibitor can decrease the expression.

CONCLUSIONSSilica induced α-SMA expression in HBE cell line is by targeting the PI3K/Akt pathway and PI3K inhibitor can repress α-SMA expression.

Actins ; metabolism ; Cell Line ; Chromones ; pharmacology ; Epithelial Cells ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Humans ; Morpholines ; pharmacology ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ; metabolism ; Phosphorylation ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction ; Silicon Dioxide ; toxicity ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; metabolism

Hepatic echinococcosis, also called echinococcosis, is a health-threatening disease commonly found in pasture, and belongs to parasitic zoonoses. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and the risk factors of echinococcosis in Qinghai province in order to provide fundamental data for prevention and control of echinococcosis in Qinghai province. A total of 23 445 people from 21 counties were enrolled in this study by multi-stage stratified random sampling. Echinococcosis was diagnosed by using B-mode ultrasonography and serological tests. The results showed that the prevalence of echinococcosis was 4.47% (95%CI: 4.21%-4.73%) and serum positive rate (seroprevalence) was 15.47% (95%CI: 14.92%-16.02%) in 2010. The distribution of echinococcosis differed in age, sex, ethnicity, occupation and regions in Qinghai (P<0.05). GLMM analysis revealed that gender (female vs. male), ethnicity (Tibetan vs. other ethnicities), profession (herders vs. other professions) and region (autonomous prefectures vs. cities) were significant risk factors for echinococcosis (P<0.05). It was concluded that the prevalence of echinococcosis in 2010 was about 4% in Qinghai province, and the distribution of echinococcosis in Qinghai was associated with age, sex, ethnicity and profession.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Animals ; Antibodies, Helminth ; blood ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Echinococcosis, Hepatic ; diagnostic imaging ; epidemiology ; parasitology ; Echinococcus ; immunology ; physiology ; Epidemics ; prevention & control ; Female ; Host-Parasite Interactions ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Occupations ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Sex Factors ; Ultrasonography ; Young Adult

To investigate the apoptosis-induction effect of brucine on human chronic myeloid leukemia cell line K562 cells, K562 cells were exposed to various dosages of brucine. MTT method was used to assayed the growth inhibition effect of brucine on K562 cells. The apoptosis of K562 cells was detected by acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) double staining, Annexin-V/PI double labeling method and DNA agarose gel electrophoresis. The results showed that brucine could remarkably inhibit the K562 cell growth in a concentration-dependent and time-dependent manners at the range of 50 to 400 µg/ml, and its most significant inhibition was observed at 400 µg/ml for 72 hours and the inhibition rate was 94.0%. Staining of cells with AO-EB revealed that brucine induced nuclear chromatin condensation. After the K562 cells were treated with the brucine of 400 µg/ml for 72 hours, the most of the nucleus were orange stained and condensation-like or bead-like showing apoptotic morphology. The K562 cells treated with brucine of different concentrations (50, 100, 200, 400, 800 µg/ml) for 72 hours, Annexin-V/PI detection showed brucine could induce apoptosis of K562 cells, and apoptosis rate increased gradually with increasing concentration of drugs. The K562 cells treated with brucine of 400 µg/ml for 72 hours displayed typical ladder strap in DNA gel electrophoresis. It is concluded that brucine can efficiently inhibit cell growth and induce apoptosis of K562 cells with dose-dependent manner in concentrations of 50 - 400 µg/ml.
Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Humans ; K562 Cells ; Strychnine ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology

Objective To comprehensively measure the burden of hepatitis B, liver cirrhosis and liver cancer in Shandong province, using disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) to estimate the disease burden attribute to hepatitis B virus (HBV)infection. Methods Based on the mortality data of hepatitis B, liver cirrhosis and liver cancer derived from the third National Sampling Retrospective Survey for Causes of Death during 2004 and 2005, the incidence data of hepatitis B and the prevalence and the disability weights of liver cancer gained from the Shandong Cancer Prevalence Sampling Survey in 2007, we calculated the years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs) and DALYs of three diseases following the procedures developed for the global burden of disease (GBD) study to ensure the comparability. Results The total burden for hepatitis B, liver cirrhosis and liver cancer were 211 616 (39 377 YLLs and 172 239 YLDs), 16 783 (13 497 YLLs and 3286 YLDs) and 247 795 (240 236 YLLs and 7559 YLDs) DALYs in 2005 respectively, and men were 2.19, 2.36 and 3.16 times as that for women, respectively in Shandong province. The burden for hepatitis B was mainly because of disability (81.39%). However, most burden on liver cirrhosis and liver cancer were due to premature death (80.42% and 96.95%). The burden of each patient related to hepatitis B, liver cirrhosis and liver cancer were 4.8, 13.73 and 11.11 respectively. Conclusion Hepatitis B, liver cirrhosis and liver cancer caused considerable burden to the people living in Shandong province, indicating that the control of hepatitis B virus infection would bring huge potential benefits.

Objective To analyze the evolution and genetic characterization of echovirus 11 (Echo11 ) from the acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases in Shandong province. Methods Isolation of Enterovirus was performed from stool samples of AFP cases from 1994 to 2009. All positive strains were sero-typed by neutralization test. Entire VP1 coding region from 27 strains typed as Echo 11 was amplified by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR), and subsequently phylogenetic analyse on VP1 sequences from these strains and others published in GenBank were conducted. Results From 1994 to 2009, altogether 915 non-polio enterovirus (NPEV) strains were isolated with 79(8.6% ) isolates serotyped as Echo11. There were 876 nucleotides (nt) in the complete VP1 genes, encoding 292 amino acids (aa). The nt identities were 76.4%-100.0% among those Echo11 Shandong strains with the aa identities as 91.4% -100.0%. The nt and aa identities were 77.7%-80.7% and 90.7%-94.8% between Shandong strains and prototype strains, respectively.Conclusion All Echo11 strains could be divided into four genotypes. Shandong strains that forming three (A1, A2 and C1) new sub-genotypes, with every sub-genotype had several brands.Sub-genotype A1 appeared to be the lately circulating one.

Objective To investigate the serum levels of endothelin-1 (ET-1), tumor necrosis factor- α (TNF-α) and their dynamic changes in patients with delayed encephalopathy after acute carbon monoxide poisoning (DEACMP) and their relation with the condition variation of the patients.Methods The serum ET-1 and TNF-α levels were determined with enzyme-linked immunno-sorbent assay (ELISA) in 31 patients with DEACMP, and the dynamic changes of patients' condition were monitored by use of the activity of daily living (ADL) scale, the information-memory-concentration test (IMCT) and the Hasegawa's dementia scale (HDS). The comparisons between patients with DEACMP and both 30 patients with acute carbon momoxide poisoning (ACMP) but without DEACMP and 30 normal controls were also conducted. Results At the acute stage of the DEACMP group, the serum levels of ET-1 and TNF-α were both significantly higher than those in the normal control group (P＜0.05); that of TNF-α was significantly lower than that in the ACMP group (P＜0.05), but that of ET-1 was not significantly different from that in the ACMP group (P＞0.05). The serum levels of ET-1 and TNF- α in the ACMP group were both significantly higher than those in the normal control group(P＜0.05). In the DEACMP group, the serum level of ET-1 at the convalescent stage was significantly lower than that at the acute stage (P＜0.05), but the serum level of TNF-α was not significantly different from that at the acute stage (P＞0.05). At the acute stage of the DEACMP group, ADL scores were significantly higher than those in norms, and IMCT scores and HDS scores were significantly lower than those in norms (P＜0.05). In the DEACMP group, the ADL scores at the convalescent stage were significantly lower than those at the acute stage (P＜0.05), IMCT scores and HDS scores were significantly higher than those at the acute stage (P＜0.05). Significant correlations between scores of any 2 of 3 scales in patients with DEACMP at both acute and convalescent stage were noted (P＜0.05). Conclusion The dynamic detection of serum ET-1 and TNF-α level variations could be used as an indicator for condition severity in patients with DEACMP.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the efficacy and toxicity of nedaplatin combined with tegafur in the treatment for patients with advanced esophageal cancer.

METHODSAmong the 65 patients with advanced esophageal cancer, 27 had no history of prior chemotherapy and the other 38 had ever received postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy before. The median age of those cases was 58.0 years. Nedaplatin was given daily by intravenous infusion at a dose of 20 mg/m(2) for 2 hours and tegafur at a dose of 500 mg/m(2) for 8 hours on D1 approximately D5, every 21 days as a cycle.

RESULTS193 cycles of chemotherapy were accomplished in the 65 patients, and 63 patients were evaluable for response evaluation. Of 27 patients with no prior history of chemotherapy, 6 achieved complete response and 16 partial response, with a response rate (CR + PR) of 81.5%. Among the 36 patients who had ever received postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy, 6 obtained complete response and 10 partial response with a response rate (CR + PR) of 44.4%. The overall median time to tumor progression in this series was 5.6 months. The overall median actuarial survival was 9.3 months, and the one-year survival rate was 24.9%. Nausea and vomiting were the major toxicities, but were mild and well tolerable. Grade 3 to 4 neutropenia was only observed in two patients (3.2%).

CONCLUSIONThe regimen of nedaplatin combined with tegafur is effective and tolerable for the treatment of advanced esophageal cancer.

Adenocarcinoma ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nausea ; chemically induced ; Neoplasm Staging ; Neutropenia ; chemically induced ; Organoplatinum Compounds ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Remission Induction ; Survival Rate ; Tegafur ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Vomiting ; chemically induced