The prevalence of invasive pulmonary fungal infections (IPFIs) has increased in children,which becomes a clinical concern in recent years.With the availabilities of new diagnostic tools for fungi and more antifungal agents,children with IPFIs may achieve a much earlier diagnosis and treatment.This article reviewed the development of laboratory tests,diagnostic criteria,treatment strategies and commonly used antifungal agents for IPFIs.

Adolescent ; Child ; Dyslipidemias ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Guidelines as Topic ; Humans

Atherosclerosis(AS)is a chronic inflammatory disease of arteries,induced by the injury of endothelial cells,accumulation of mononuclear macrophage and lipid,proliferation of smooth muscle cells and the adhesion of platelets.As a frequent disease and a common pathology in cardiovascular system.In fact,the inciting event of AS is likely an inflammatory insult that occurs decades before the disease becomes clinically apparent.More and more cases were also reported in the childhood recently.Therefore it is important both for clinic and research to investigate the cause and pathogenesis of AS.J Appl Clin Pediatr,2009,24(1):58-60

Prostate cancer is one of the common malignant tumors of the urinary system and mostly found in elderly men. Like most tumors, prostate cancer involves a variety of molecules in its occurrence and progression. More studies on the development of prostate cancer focus on the tumor markers, DNA damage repair related genes, and tumor invasion and metastasis related factors. This article presents an overview on the research progress in these three aspects.
Biomarkers, Tumor ; Biomedical Research ; DNA Repair ; Disease Progression ; Humans ; Male ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology

In this experiment six methods,calcium chloride(CaCl_(2)) precipitation,polyethylene glycol(PEG,pH7.0) precipitation,polyethylene glycol(PEG,pH11.5) precipitation,aluminum chloride(AlCl_(3)) precipitation,Amicon Utcra centrifugal filter devices and cellulose nitrate membrane were used to concentrate the vaccine poliovirus type 1(PV_(1)) added to water body;experimental conditions for concentration were selected and optimized.The results showed that two methods,CaCl_(2)and PEG(pH 7.0) precipitation were suitable for concentrating virus in large volumes of water while amicon utcra centrifugal filter devices for small ones.The virus recovery of the three methods reached a 100% rate.

Animals ; Electromagnetic Fields ; Embryo, Mammalian ; metabolism ; Female ; Mice ; Pregnancy ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

Objective To assess the efficacy of intedeukin (IL)-1Ra,a recombinant human IL-1receptor antagonist,plus methotrexate ( MTX ) in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis ( RA ) refractory to MTX therapy.Methods A total of 54 patients with active RA,who had been taking MTX at a stable dosage,were randomized to receive daily subcutaneous injections of IL-1Ra (80 mg) or placebo.The proportion of patients who had a response as assessed by ACR20,ACR50 and ACR70 was analyzed using Chi-square test measures.Baseline variables and DAS28 were analyzed using Student's t-test (parametric) or Wilcoxon's rank sum test (nonparametric) as appropriate.Results After 24 weeks,more patients achieved clinical benefits treated with IL-1Ra plus MTX compared with MTX alone (64％ vs 17％,P=-0.004) as determined by the ACR20 improvement.In the IL-1Ra group,an ACR50 response was observed in 38％ and an ACR70 response in 17％.None of the patients treated with MTX alone achieved ACR50 or ACR 70 improvement.However,9 of 42 (21％) patients in the IL-1Ra group,who showed therapeutic response initially,had secondary drug failure to IL-1Ra therapy thereafter.A significant increase in mean DAS28 from baseline was found in the nonresponders to IL-1Ra,compared with placebo.Conclusion IL-IRa is effective for the treatment of patients with active RA by blocking IL-1.However,the efficacy of IL-1Ra is lost soon in about one-fifth of patients in soite of initial good resoonse.

OBJECTIVETo observe the impact of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) on bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) osteogenesis in vitro and vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF) expression in bone osteoporotic to prevent and treat the osteoporosis.

METHODSTwenty 6-month-old female SD rats weighted (300±20) g underwent bilateral ovariectomized. At 3 months after operation, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to measure bone mineral density of rats,the values were compared with preoperative to ensure the model successfully, and the osteoporosis rats' BMSCs were cultured by bone marrow adherent cultured and the BMSCs morphology was observed under a phase contrast microscope upside down. The osteoporosis rats' BMSCs at the 2nd generation (p2) were randomly divided into experimental and control groups and were added complete medium (containing rhBMP-2) and osteogenic induced liquid, respectively. Two weeks later, the formation of cell calcium nodules were detected by Alizarin red staining method,alkaline phosphatase activity was measured by enzyme standard instrument and the expression of VEGF was detected by RT-PCT method.

RESULTS(1)Whole body bone mineral density of rats before and after operation were (0.179±0.007), (0.158±0.006) g/cm2,there was statistically significant (t=4.180,P< 0.05). (2)Alizarin red staining at 2 weeks after osteogenesis induced by BMSCs (P2) in the experimental group had more strong dyeing effect than the control group obviously. (3)Alkaline phosphatase activity at 2 weeks after osteogenesis induced by BMSCs (P2) of the experimental group (15.62±1.27) ug/gprot was significantly higher than that of the control group (8.62±0.93) ug/gprot,there was statistically significant (t=7.709, P<0.01). (4)The expression of VEGF at 2 weeks after osteogenesis induced by BMSCs (P2) of the experimental group 3.723±0.143 was significantly higher than that of the control group 0.950±0.072, there was statistically significant (t=29.462, P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONRhBMP-2 can improve the in-vitro osteogenesis ability of ovary osteoporosis rat BMSCs, promote the VEGF expression of osteogenesis factor. Regulating the VEGF expression may be one of the mechanisms of BMP-2 to participate in bone metabolism.

Animals ; Bone Density ; Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Cells, Cultured ; Female ; Humans ; In Vitro Techniques ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; Osteogenesis ; Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal ; genetics ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; genetics ; metabolism

Epitopes ; immunology ; Hepacivirus ; immunology ; Hepatitis C ; immunology ; Humans

BACKGROUND: Vascular endothelial growth factor play an important role in promoting healing of osteoporotic fractures, but whether it can affect the bone mineral density is not clear. OBJECTIVE: To observe the correlation between serum vascular endothelial growth factor, bone mineral density and the number of osteoblasts in the ovariectomized rats. METHODS: Forty female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into ovariectomized group and control group. After 3 months, the bone mineral density of the whole body, femur and lumbar spine was measured. Rat enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit was used to measure the level of serum vascular endothelial growth factor. Then, the rats in two groups received femoral metaphyseal fixation, decalcified, dehydrated, embeding in paraffin, slicing and hematoxylin-eosin staining. Each slice was free to take five fields of view (10×40) in order to count the osteoblasts of femur distal metaphysis under optical microscope. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: After ovariectomized for 3 months, the rats body mass was increased significantly (P < 0.05), and the bone mineral density of the whole body, femur and lumbar spine in the ovariectomized group was lower than that in the control group (P < 0.05), indicating the successful establishment of osteoporosis model. There was no significant difference in vascular endothelial growth factor level between the ovariectomized group and the control group (P > 0.05), and the difference of the osteoblast number between ovariectomized group and control group was not significant (P > 0.05). This indicated that there was no correlation between bone mineral density and the number of osteoblasts and vascular endothelial growth factor level in the ovariectomized group and the control group. These findings suggest that the bone mineral density is reduced and the body mass is increased in the ovariectomized rats, and the reduced bone mineral density of ovariectomized rats may be irrelevant with the change of serum vascular endothelial growth factor.