OBJECTIVETo observe the long-term therapeutic efficacy of standardized specific subcutaneous immunotherapy on persistent allergic rhinitis in children. METHODSFrom Jan. 2007 to Aug. 2009, 236 children with persistent allergic rhinitis were divided into two groups, which 120 cases underwent standardized house dust mite allergen subcutaneous specific immunotherapy (SCIT), another 116 cases accepted a serious of steroids nasal spray and oral antihistamine (control group). The efficacy of the patients was evaluated by using the visual analog scale (VAS) and Rhino conjunctivitis quality of life questionnaire (RQLQ).RESULTSAfter patients underwent 3-years SCIT, the VAS score was 2.3±0.7, 2.4±0.6, 1.6±0.4, 1.9±0.5, and the RQLQ score was 7.7±1.6, 7.4±1.1, 4.3±0.7, 4.1±0.9, respectively, at the follow-up period of 3 month, 1 year, 3 years and 5 years, and both scores were significantly lower than the score of pre-treatment (P<0.001). Compared the single dust mite allergen positive patients with multiple allergens positive patients, both VAS and RQLQ scores were not significantly changed at each follow-up period after SCIT (P>0.05). No serious adverse events occurred in all treatments.CONCLUSIONThe standardized specific immunotherapy has the long-term efficacy for dust mite positive children with persistent allergic rhinitis. It demonstrated a similar effect in both single dust mite positive patients and multiple allergens positive patients.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVEThe basic structure of salicylaldehyde-amino acid Schiff base compounds includes a C=N chemical bond. These compounds show significant antitumor activities in vitro when combined with a metal ion. This study investigated the effects and possible mechanisms of four salicylaldehyde-amino acid Schiff base copper ternary coordination compounds on the proliferation of human gastric cancer cell line BGC823.

METHODSThe BGC823 cells were treated with the four compounds (6B, 7B, 6P, and 7P). Cell proliferation was detected by MTT assay. Apoptosis and changes in the cell cycle were analyzed by flow cytometry. DNA damage was observed using a DNA ladder assay. The expression of p53 protein was determined by immunocytochemistry.

RESULTSThe proliferation of BGC823 cells was significantly inhibited by the four compounds and the effect was concentration-dependent. The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 6B, 7B, 6P, and 7P for BGC823 cells were 18.10, 27.50, 3.61, and 3.45 micromol/L, respectively. Flow cytometry showed the four drugs induced apoptosis in BGC823 cells, which was confirmed by DNA ladder experiments. Flow cytometry also detected changed phases in the cell cycle from treatment with the compounds. The percent of cells in the G(0)/G(1) phase decreased and that of cells in the G1/S and G(2)/M phases increased, indicating that S-and G2-phase blockages exist. As shown by immunocytochemistry, the expression of p53 decreased in BGC823 cells treated with the four drugs, indicating the involvement of the p53 pathway to BGC823 cell apoptosis.

CONCLUSIONSThe four compounds showed significant activities on restraining proliferation of BGC823 cells in vitro, induced apoptosis, and caused changes in the cell cycle. This may be related to the downregulation of p53.

Aldehydes ; chemistry ; Amino Acids ; chemistry ; Antineoplastic Agents ; chemical synthesis ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Cycle ; drug effects ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Coordination Complexes ; chemical synthesis ; pharmacology ; Copper ; chemistry ; Humans ; Inhibitory Concentration 50 ; Schiff Bases ; chemistry ; Stomach Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 ; metabolism

The rol genes on pRiA4 plasmid of Agrobacterium rhizogenes are potent genes that promote secondary metabolism. Molecular breeding of Atropa belladonna can be conducted by introducing rol genes to increase tropane alkaloids (TAs) content in A. belladonna. In this study, the rolB gene was overexpressed in A. belladonna plants to study the effect of rolB gene on the biosynthesis of TAs. The phenotype, TAs content and expression levels of key enzyme genes in the pathway of TAs biosynthesis of transgenic A. belladonna were analyzed. The results showed that transgenic A. belladonna had developed root system, enlarged leaves, increased leaf fresh weight, deepened leaf color, enlarged flowers, changed flower shape, reduced pistil height and decreased pollen vitality. The content of TAs in the stems of transgenic A. belladonna was significantly higher than that of the control, and the contents of scopolamine, anisodamine, hyoscyamine can reach 2.11-2.91, 1.23-2.37 and 4.88-5.20 times of the control, respectively. Compared with the control group, the expressions of key enzymes putrescine N-methyltransferase (PMT), type III polyketide synthase (PYKS), tropinone reductase I (TRI), aromatic amino acid aminotransferase 4 (ArAT4), UDP-glycosyltransferase 1 (UGT1) and hyoscyamine 6-β-hydroxylase (H6H) in the TAs biosynthesis pathway were up-regulated, and the expression of tropinone reductase II (TRII) as a metabolic shunting gene was down-regulated. The results indicated that rolB gene enhanced TAs synthesis ability in roots and accumulation in stems of A. belladonna by enhancing metabolic flow of TAs synthesis pathway and weakening the metabolic shunt of competing pathway. This study laid a foundation for molecular breeding of A. belladonna with high-yield TAs content using rolB gene.

Tropane alkaloids (TAs) are a class of anticholinergic drugs widely used in clinical practice and mainly extracted from plant, among which Atopa belladonna is the main commercial drug source. It is of great industrial value to obtain TAs in large quantities by plant metabolic engineering. In TAs pathway, cytochrome oxidase CYP82M3 catalyze the synthesis of tropinone and then tropinone reductase I (TRI) compete with TRII for tropinone to form tropine leading to the TAs synthesis (drainage). In this study, based on the "increasing flow and drainage" metabolic engineering strategy, two genes, namely HnCYP82M3 and DsTRI from Hyoscyamus niger and Datura stramonium, respectively, were overexpressed in the hair roots of A. belladonna, with a view to promote the TAs accumulation. The HnCYP82M3 gene was cloned from the root of H. niger, and it encoded amino acid with 91.7% sequence identity with AbCYP82M3 from A. belladonna. Overexpression of HnCYP82M3 alone did not affect the content of TAs in hair roots of A. belladonna, indicating that CYP82M3 was not a key enzyme in TAs biosynthesis. Simultaneous overexpression of HnCYP82M3 and DsTRI greatly promoted the accumulation of the three TAs, and the contents of hyoscyamine, anisodamine and scopolamine were 4.97 times, 2.83 times and 2.19 times that of the control, respectively, and the increase amplitude was greater than that of single overexpression of DsTRI. This study showed that the "increasing flow and drainage" strategy of enzyme genes co-expression at branch points was a promising metabolic engineering method to effectively improve the biosynthesis of TAs in A. belladonna, and laid a theoretical and technical foundation for the large-scale industrial acquisition of TAs.

To reveal the epidemiological and pathogenic characteristics of Hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) in Hainan province in 2010, epidemiology data of HFMD reporting cases were analyzed, clinical specimens from 1346 HFMD cases were collected for enterovirus (EV) detection. Viral isolation was performed for EV nucleic acid positive samples. Complete VP1 encoding region of EV71 were sequenced and analyzed with Sequencher (version 5.0) and MEGA software (version 5.0). The epidemiology data showed that all 18 prefectures in Hainan had reporting cases during 2010, with higher incidence in the northeast; and the children less than 4 years old accounted for the majority of the suffered; the epidemic reached peak during September to October, which was different from other Provinces in China. The laboratory results indicated that EV71 and CA16 were identified as the major causative pathogens in Hainan in 2010, however, EV71 infection was absolutely dominant among severe and fatal cases. In addition, some HFMD cases were identified associated with other serotypes of EV infections. Molecular epidemiological analysis showed that all the EV71 strains belonged to C4a evolutionary branch, which is the dominant evolutionary branch in China in recent years, and at least three transmission chains existed. This study has an important information in clarifying the characteristics of epidemics and transmission of HFMD in Hainan, and to provide the guidance for HFMD prevention and control in the future.
Capsid Proteins ; genetics ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Disease Outbreaks ; Enterovirus A, Human ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Female ; Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease ; epidemiology ; virology ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Phylogeny ; Seasons

To investigate the epidemiology of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) and the genetic characteristics of enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) in Linyi of Shandong Province, China during 2007-2012. The number of reported HFMD cases were obtained from the National Notifiable Disease Reporting System (NNDRS) were analyzed by descriptive epidemiology method; the VP1 region of EV-A71 isolated from HFMD patients in Linyi was amplified and sequenced. Finally, the genetic variability and phylogenecity of VP1 sequences of EV-A71 were analyzed by MEGA 5.0. The results showed that HFMD incidence was reported in each year from 2007 to 2012 in Linyi, and the highest incidence and mortality were reported in 2009, when there were total 14697 cases and 9 of death. The reported incidence was 140.28/100000, and the mortality was 0.086/100000. The peak incidence usually occurred between April and July, and the summit occurred in May. Scattered children accounted for 77.37%-92.00% of all cases. The peak age was 2.5 years during 2007-2009 and 1.5 years during 2010-2012. A total of 1365 laboratory-confirmed HFMD cases were reported in the 6 consecutive years, accounting for 2.98% of the gross number. Among these reports, the ratio of EV-A71 was 44.18%, and the ratio of coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16) was 46.59%. All EV-A71 strains isolated in Linyi during 2007-2012 belonged to the C4a evolutionary branch of C4 genotype. In conclusion, HFMD outbreaks occurred every year in Linyi during 2007-2012. Incidence varied significantly among different counties. The peak incidence in each year lasted from April to July. Most of the patients were children under 3 years of age, and scattered children took the highest proportion. Co-circulation of EV-A71 and CVA16 was the major cause of HFMD in each year. Since the first report of HFMD prevalence caused by EV-A71 (C4a) in 2007, the virus has been prevalent continuously in Linyi for 6 years.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Enterovirus ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Female ; Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease ; epidemiology ; virology ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the association between third trimester hemoglobin (Hb) concentrations and the risk of low birth weight and preterm delivery in a Chinese population.

METHODSSubjects were women who delivered in four cities/counties in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, China, during the period of 1995 - 2000. Incidence of low birth weight and preterm delivery was calculated and compared among groups of women with different levels of Hb during the third trimester. Multiple logistic regression was used to address relationships between Hb levels and the risk of preterm delivery and low birth weight while controlling for potential confounding factors.

RESULTSThe overall prevalence of anemia during third trimester of pregnancy was 48.2% , mainly consisting of mild and moderate anemia. Mild and moderate anemia did not increase the risk of preterm delivery and low birth weight statistically. The lowest incidence of preterm delivery and low birth weight was found among pregnant women with Hb levels at 90-99 g/L. The risk for preterm delivery and low birth weight increased with either increasing or decreasing hemoglobin concentrations. However,there was no remarkable elevation of the risk when Hb was in the range of 70-119 g/L. Women with severe anemia (Hb< 70 g/L) had 80% higher risk (95% CI:1.0-3.3) of preterm delivery and a 4.0-fold higher risk (95 % CI :2. 1-7.5) of low birth weight compared with women with an Hb value of 90-99 g/L. In addition, women with a high Hb concentration (Hb> 130 g/L) had 20% higher risk (95 % CI: 1..0-1.4) of preterm delivery and 50 % higher risk (95 % CI: 1.2-1.9) of low birth weight.

CONCLUSIONA U-shape relationship was found between Hb concentration and the risk of preterm delivery and low birth weight. Severe anemia and high hemoglobin concentration were both associated with increased risk of preterm deliveries and low birth weight.

Adult ; Delivery, Obstetric ; Female ; Hemoglobins ; metabolism ; Humans ; Infant, Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Trimester, Third ; Premature Birth ; blood ; epidemiology ; Risk Factors ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo retrospectively analyze the curative effects and prognostic factors of HLA-matched sibling donor allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) for chronic myelogenous leukemia patients (CML).

METHODSOf the 35 CML patients, 26 were males and 9 were females, with a median age of 32 (12 - 50) years. 30 patients were in chronic phase of CML, 5 patients were in accelerated phase. Allo-HSCT from HLA identical siblings was performed for 35 patients, of whom 11 received bone marrow transplantation (BMT) and 24 peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT). Conditioning regimens was TBI (total-body irradiation) + CY (CTX) protocol in 8 patients and BU/CY protocol in 27 patients. The average follow-up was 48 months (range 7 - 108 months).

RESULTS34 (97.1%) patients were successfully engrafted. Among them, 21 patients (60.0%) had three years disease-free (DFS) survival. The overall 5-year survival (OS) was 57.1%. Two patients (5.7%) relapsed. Transplant-related mortality occurred in 12 patients. Hemorrhagic cystitis (HC) occurred in 5 patients and HVOD was observed in 1 patient. Acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) occurred in 18 patients (51.4%), among them 7 patients (20.0%) were of grade III-IV. Chronic GVHD was in 17 patients (48.5%). There was no significant difference in 3-years DFS between BMT group and PBSCT group (54.5% vs. 62.5%, P > 0.05). The 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) was 42.9% in TBI/CY group and 55.6% in BU/CY group (P > 0.05). In univariate prognostic analysis model, the DFS at 3 years is 75% and 47.4% for < or =30 years patients and >30 years patients, respectively, P < 0.05. The 3-year DFS of patients with first chronic phase is higher than patients with advanced diseases (61.3% vs. 40%, P < 0. 05). The 3-year DFS in patients of grade I - II GVHD was higher than that in patients of grade III-IV GVHD (81.8% vs. 14.3%, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe patients who had transplantation done within 1 year after diagnosis during their first chronic phase of disease and who had low-grade GVHD have better prognosis. Those patients who had III-IV acute GVHD are prone to incorporate severe infection, which was a worse prognostic factor of allo-HSCT for chronic myelogenous leukemia.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Child ; Cystitis ; etiology ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Graft vs Host Disease ; etiology ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; adverse effects ; methods ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive ; mortality ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Siblings ; Survival Rate ; Transplantation Conditioning ; Transplantation, Homologous

BACKGROUNDHuman bocavirus (HBoV) is a parvovirus recently found to possibly cause respiratory tract disease in children and adults. This study investigated HBoV infection and its clinical characteristics in children younger than five years of age suffering from acute lower respiratory tract infection in Beijing Children's Hospital.

METHODSNasopharyngeal aspirates were collected from children suffering from acute lower respiratory tract infection during the winters of 2004 to 2006 (from November through the following February). HBoV was detected by polymerase chain reaction amplification and virus isolation and the amplification products were sequenced for identification.

RESULTSHBoV infection was detected in 16 of 333 study subjects. Coinfections with respiratory syncytial virus were detected in 3 of 16 HBoV positive patients with acute lower respiratory tract infection. The median age for HBoV positive children was 8 months (mean age, 17 months; range, 3 to 57 months). Among the HBoV positive children, 14 were younger than 3 years old, 9 were younger than 1 year old and 7 were younger than 6 months. These 16 positive HBoV children exhibited coughing and abnormal chest radiography findings and more than 60% of these children had wheezing and fever. Ten children were clinically diagnosed with pneumonia, 2 bronchiolitis, 2 acute bronchitis and 2 asthma. One child died.

CONCLUSIONSHBoV was detected in about 5% of children with acute lower respiratory infection seen in Beijing Children's Hospital. Further investigations regarding clinical and epidemiologic characteristics of HBoV infection are needed.

Bocavirus ; isolation & purification ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Parvoviridae Infections ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Respiratory Tract Infections ; diagnosis ; etiology

OBJECTIVETo understand the evolutionary relationship between the C4a evolutionary lineage of human enterovirus 71 (HEV71) strains circulating in mainland of China during 2008-2010 and 2008 Fuyang strains and study the prevalence and transmission patterns of 2008 Fuyang strains.

METHODSDownload all the complete VP1 ( > or = 891 bp) or approximate complete VP1 (> or = 876 bp) gene nucleotide sequences from GenBank of HEV71 strains circulating in Mainland of China during 2008-2010. And analyze the phylogenetic relationship between Fuyang strains and other provinces' strains using the MEGA software, version 5.0.

RESULTSAll of the HEV71 isolates circulating in Mainland of China during 2008-2010 were clustered into evolutionary lineage C4a except for eight strains grouped in the genotype A and one isolate belongs to evolutionary lineage C4b; the homology analysis showed there were 96.5%-100% identity between C4a viruses circulating in mainland China during 2008-2010 and 2008 Fuyang strains, and they were evolved from C4b viruses of 1998. The transmission chains of Fuyang strains were mainly transmitted in Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Hunan, Shandong provinces.

CONCLUSIONThe predominant viruses circulating in Mainland of China during 2008-2010 were evolutionary lineage C4a of human Enterovirus 71; Fuyang transmission chains mainly distributed in southern of China and the Central China around Anhui provinces.

China ; epidemiology ; Disease Outbreaks ; Enterovirus A, Human ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Enterovirus Infections ; epidemiology ; transmission ; virology ; Evolution, Molecular ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Viral Proteins ; genetics