Objective To explore the efficacy of lamivudine and interferon in sequential therapy for chronic hepatitis B.Methods 92 cases of chronic hepatitis B patients were randomly divided into treatment group(n=46) and control group(n=46).In the treatment group,the patients were treated with lamivudine 100mg/d for 5 months,then combined with recombinant ?-2b interferon(IFN) 5Mu/dose,muscle injection,once per two days.Then the lamivudine was discontinued at sixth month and the patients were continuously treated with only interferon for 5 months.In the control group,the patients were treated with only lamivudine 100mg/d for 18 months.Results At the end of treatment,the normalization rate of ALT,HBV-DNA negative conversion rate and HBeAg/anti-HBe seroconversion rate were 93.5%,89.1% and 54.3% in the treatment group,then they were 82.6%,71.7% and 19.6% in the control group.Six months later,the sustained response rate of HBV-DNA conversion between treatment group and control group were 84.8% and 32.6%.Conclusion Lamivudine and interferon has better short-term efficacy in sequential therapy for chronic hepatitis B and it is worth further studying.

OBJECTIVE: To reveal the characteristics of gene expression in adrenal gland of H22 tumor mice with typical syndromes and in different liver cancer stages. METHODS: By the quantitative four diagnosis and syndrome differentiation methods and GeneChip Mouse Exon 1.0 ST Array, we observed adrenal gland gene expression in H22 tumor mice with pathogenic factor-toxin predominance syndrome and qi deficiency syndrome in the earlier stage, yang-qi deficiency syndrome in the intermediate stage, and qi-yin-yang deficiency syndrome in the advanced stage. Genes highly expressed and remarkably different were analyzed in this study. RESULTS: A total of seventy-three up-regulated coincident genes and twenty-six down-regulated coincident genes in different stages were investigated in the study. Up-regulated coincident genes included Hp, C3, Anxa1, Procr, C2, Il4ra, Cd14, Ptprc, Cd52, C4b, Eno3, Xdh, Gpx3, and so on. Down-regulated coincident genes included nervous system function-related genes such as Plp1, Mbp, Aldh1a1, Cck, Atn1, genes associated with electrolyte metabolism such as Aldh1a1 and Slc22a17, genes related to signal transduction such as Cxcr4, Spag5 and Stmn3, etc, and genes related to transcriptional control and protein biosynthesis such as Hspa1a, Dnajb1, Thra, Hhex and so on. CONCLUSION: With the development of the tumorigenesis, the symptoms and signs and differentially expressed genes in adrenal gland of H22 tumor mice can be measured. Up-regulated and down-regulated coincident genes may be the features of H22 tumor mice different from those of normal mice.

Osteoarthritis(OA)mainly lies in the lesions of articular cartilage and surrounding tissues,pro-ducing osteophytes and bone sclerosis,resulting in damage to the articular cartilage.The main pathological mechanism of OA rests with a large number of inflammatory cytokines and inflammatory mediators produced by joint synovial lesions as well as pathological vascular growth at the junction of the synovium and cartilage,which may be one of the key reasons for promoting synovitis and cartilage damage.The OA mainly occurs in the knees,hips,hands and the spine.It is mainly manifested by chronic joint pain,swelling and stiffness,and limitation of motion seriously affects the functional activities of patients.The treatment of OA mainly relies on oral administration or intraarticular injection of drugs to relieve symp-toms.When OA develops to the middle and late stages,the action and life of patients will be seriously affected.There-fore,surgical replacement of joints is considered to ensure the basic life demands of patients.Studies show that traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)treatment has attracted widespread attention and application due to its unique advantages in pre-vention and treatment of OA.Janus kinase(JAK)/signaling transduction and transcriptional activator(STAT)signaling pathway may be one of the important signaling pathways that regulate the chondrocyte proliferation,differentiation and apoptosis.Moreover,it is closely associated with intra-articular inflammatory response.The JAK/STAT signaling pathway regulates the expression of inflammatory factors and related proteins through TCM so as to reduce the inflammatory re-sponse and decrease the chondrocyte damage.It has an important reference value for OA treatment.In this paper,the roles and mechanisms of the TCM monomers and active ingredients and the Chinese herbal compounds in OA by regulating JAK/STAT signaling pathway and affecting related cytokine and protein expression levels have been reviewed,providing a new method and direction for TCM treatment of OA.

Background Exposure to tobacco dust or noise is associated with the risk of cardiovascular disease in workers, but there are few studies on their effects on workers' serum bilirubin levels. Objective To analyze the effects of combined exposure to tobacco dust and noise on workers' serum bilirubin levels. Methods We selected 824 employees from a large cigarette factory in Wuhan. According to the status of occupational hazards on site, we divided the participants into a control group (n=149), a tobacco dust exposure group (n=198), a noise exposure group (n=299), and a tobacco dust and noise combined exposure group (n=178). We collected general information of the participants. We collected blood samples and measured serum bilirubin. We used chi-square test to compare between-group categorical indicators. We used analysis of variance to compare measurement data. Taking the control group as the reference category, we used generalized linear regression model to analyze serum bilirubin concentration across the three exposure groups and the control group. Results The abnormal rates of serum indirect bilirubin concentrations in the control group, the tobacco dust exposure group, the noise exposure group, and the tobacco dust and noise combined exposure group were 6.04% (9/149), 12.63% (25/198), 13.38% (40/299), and 17.42% (31/178), respectively, showing a clear increasing trend (P<0.05). The mean concentrations of indirect bilirubin in the tobacco dust and noise combined exposure group were significantly higher than that in the tobacco dust and the noise groups (P<0.05). The serum indirect bilirubin concentrations in the tobacco dust exposure group, the noise exposure group, and the tobacco dust and noise combined exposure group were 1.833, 1.774, and 1.634 times higher than those of the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion Occupational exposure to tobacco dust or noise may associate with elevated serum total bilirubin concentration in cigarette factory workers, mainly indirect bilirubin concentration. Serum indirect bilirubin anomaly is higher among workers simultaneously exposed to tobacco dust and noise.

Objective To investigate the effect of lead exposure on blood pressure of lead workers. Methods A total of 665 lead workers from some lead-acid battery enterprises in Wuhan were selected as the lead exposure group, and 708 ordinary workers without lead exposure were selected as the control group. The blood pressure in the workers of both groups was measured. The blood lead concentrations were measured in the lead-exposed group. The independent samples t-test was used to compare the blood pressure between the two groups. Linear regression model was used to analyze the relationship between the blood lead concentration and the blood pressure in the lead-exposed group. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between the risk of hypertension and blood lead concentration in lead-exposed group. Results The mean values of systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and pulse in the lead exposure group were significantly higher than those in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in pulse pressure difference between the two groups (P>0.05). Linear regression analysis revealed that blood lead concentrations were significantly correlated with both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in the lead exposure group. For each increase of 1μg/L of blood lead concentration in the lead exposure group, the systolic blood pressure of lead workers increased by 0.011 mmHg, and the diastolic blood pressure increased by 0.007 mmHg. Logistic regression analysis found that men in the lead-exposed group had a higher risk of hypertension than women. The older the age and the higher the blood lead concentration, the higher the risk of development of hypertension. Conclusion There is a positive correlation between the blood lead concentration and the systolic and diastolic blood pressure in lead workers. The older the lead worker, the higher the risk of developing high blood pressure. The higher the lead concentration in lead workers, the higher the risk of developing high blood pressure.

Objective To investigate the effect of low dose ionizing radiation on blood pressure of radiation workers. Methods A total of 219 medical staff from a hospital in Wuhan were enrolled in the present study. Of them, 115 radiation workers were included in the low-dose ionizing radiation exposure group, the remaining 104 non-radiation workers were used as the control group. The blood pressure of the two groups was measured. The individual annual doses of the exposed group were collected. The independent sample t test was used to compare the blood pressure of the two groups. The linear regression model was used to analyze the relationship between the annual dose and blood pressure of the exposed group, and the logistic regression analysis method was used to analyze the relationship between hypertension and the annual dose of the exposed group. Results It was found that the mean blood pressure of the exposed group was significantly higher than that of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Linear regression analysis found that there was no significant correlation between the annual dose of the exposed group and blood pressure. Logistic regression analysis revealed that in the exposed group, women had a higher risk of hypertension than men, while the individual annual dose was not significantly associated with hypertension. Conclusion Women in radiation work were at higher risk than men, and low-dose ionizing radiation was not significantly associated with changes in blood pressure in radiation workers.

Objective To investigate the correlation between smoking, white blood cell counts, and serum bilirubin levels in male radiation workers, and to explore the role of systemic inflammatory response in the changes of serum bilirubin level induced by smoking. Methods Occupational health examination data of 1 320 male radiation workers in a medical institution was collected. Linear regression analysis method was used to analyze the correlations between smoking and white blood cell counts, between smoking and serum bilirubin levels, and between white blood cell counts and serum bilirubin levels. Results There was a significant positive correlation between smoking and white blood cell counts (P< 0.05). Both smoking and white blood cell counts were significantly negatively correlated with serum bilirubin levels (P < 0.05). However, after adjusting the white blood cell counts, the correlation between smoking and serum bilirubin levels was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). By dividing white blood cell counts into two groups, an inverse correlation was found between smoking and serum bilirubin levels in the high white blood cell count group (P < 0.05). Conclusion Serum bilirubin may be an effective indicator of early health damage caused by smoking in male radiation workers. Smoking may induce inflammatory reaction, thus deplete serum bilirubin and cause its levels to drop.