AIM:To investigate the expression and significance of thrombospondin-1(TSP-1)in left ventricular myocardium of type 2 diabetic cardiomyopathy(DCM).METHODS:The rat model of DCM was established by eating a high-fat diet together with injection of low dose streptozocin(30 mg/kg)intrapertoneally.After 12 weeks,the content of collagen was quantified by Masson staining.The mRNA level of TSP-1 was determined by quantification real-time RT-PCR,while the protein level of TSP-1 was analyzed by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry.RESULTS:Compared with the control group,the content of collagen in the DCM group was increased greatly(11.01?3.05 vs 16.92?3.18,P

Acinetobacter ; classification

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical significance of plasma homocysteine Hcy in patients with coronary atherosclerosis. METHODS Plasma Hcy levels of 85 patients with coronary atherosclerosis and 68 normal controls were determined by fluorescence polarization immunoassay. RESULTS The mean levels of plasma Hcy were (9.31+/-3.80)&mgr;mol/L in normal controls and (13.39+/-6.06)&mgr;mol/L in patients with coronary atherosclerosis. That was (11.36+/-3.86)&mgr;mol/L in the patients with micro-pathological changes of coronary artery, (13.32+/-6.09)&mgr;mol/L with single-vessel disease,(13.39+/-4.92)&mgr;mol/L with double-vessel disease, and (18.23+/-8.98)&mgr;mol/L with three-vessel disease by coronary angiography. Statistically, the mean plasma Hcy concentrations in male and female patients was higher than that in the corresponding control subjects(13.77+/-6.68 compared with 10.50+/-4.07, 11.50+/-3.58 compared with 7.80+/-2.85 &mgr;mol/L,P<0.001 respectively). CONCLUSION The patients with coronary atherosclerosis present hyperhomocysteinemia is very important to determine plasma homocysteine for diagnosis and therapy in the patients with coronary heart disease.

Objective To establish a network laboratory for blood cell analysis and better calibrate haematology analyzers in local lab.Methods According to GB/T 15481《General requirements for the competence testing and calibration laboratories》(idt ISO/IEC 17025),we established a network laboratory providing traceability for blood cell analysis.Complete blood count was traced to Calibration Laboratory in NCCL;The secondary standard haematology analyzer with the same model and calibrator with same lot number were used for verification for a long period.Fresh blood from healthy people was used to calibrate haematology analyzers.Results Gradually we have improved our laboratory quality management system, precision as well as accuracy,which was satisfactory.The unified blood sample was adopted to calibrate different equipments in our hospital and showed consistence when compared with calibration analyzer.The correlation coefficient of all tests is more than 0.99.The relative deviation of WBC,RBC,HCT,HGB and PLT are within?7%,?3.5%,?4%,?3% and?15%,respectively.Conclusions Secondary standard systems provides good comparable results with calibration laboratory.Its tracing mode and quality control scheme could ensure the traceability and accuracy of completed blood count.Furthermore,using elective fresh blood from healthy people,the comparable results from different analyzers were achievable.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the frequency of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) D-loop hypervariable region II (HVR II) and hypervariable region III (HVR III) mutations in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and their correlation to provide the new targets for the prevention and treatment of OSCC.

METHODSThe D-loop HVR II and HVR III regions of mtDNA in seven cases with OSCC tissues, matched with paracancerous tissues and normal mucosa tissues from the same case, were amplified by polymerase chain raction (PCR), then were detected by direct sequencing to find the mutantsites after the comparison of all sequencing results with the mtDNA Cambridge sequence in the GenBank database.

RESULTS82 (56 species) nucleotide changes, with 51(26 species) nucleotide polymorphism, were found after the comparison of all sequencing results with the mtDNA Cambridge sequence in the GenBank database. 31(30 species) mutations, with 21 located within the HVR II and HVR III regions, were found in 3 tumor tissue samples, their paracancerous and normal mucosa tissue were found more polymorphic changes but no mutation. The mtDNA D-loop HVR II and HVR III regions mutation rate was 42.9% (3/7) in OSCC.

CONCLUSIONThe mtDNA D-loop HVR II and HVR III regions were highly polymorphic and mutable regions in OSCC. It suggested that the D-loop HVR II and HVR III regions of mtDNA might play a significant role in the tumorigenesis of OSCC. It may become new targets for the gene therapy of OSCC by regulating the above indexes.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; DNA, Mitochondrial ; Female ; Humans ; Mouth Neoplasms ; Mutation ; Polymorphism, Genetic

OBJECTIVETo clarify the gene type of Orientia tsutsugamushi (Ot) from Shandong province.

METHODSNested-polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) was used to identify the gene type of 23 isolated Ot strains, 2 pools of homogenized leptotrombidium (L.) scutellare, 10 blood specimens of scrub typhus patients, and at the same time to compare with the international reference strains Gilliam, Karp, Kato. Sequencing analysis of the Sta56 gene was also used to further identify the precise gene types.

RESULTSOf the 35 samples, 33 had the same products in the amplification of template Ot-DNA. They all belonged to Kawasaki strains endemic in Japan while 2 (FXS4 and LHGM2 strain) belonged to Karp strains. The Sta56 gene sequence homologies to Japan Kawasaki strain of the 2 representative strains (B-16 and FXS2 strain) of the 33 samples were 94.22%, 95.21% respectively, but they were less than 75.87% to other prototype strains; The homologies to Karp strain of FXS4 and LHGM2 strain were 83.03%, 96.45% respectively. B-16 and FXS2 strain were designated as of types strain Japan Kawasaki, FXS4 and LHGM2 as Karp strain.

CONCLUSIONThe results indicated that the dominant Ot strains in Shandong Province were similar to Kawasaki strains, but Karp strains also existed.

Animals ; DNA, Bacterial ; genetics ; Genotype ; Humans ; Mice ; Orientia tsutsugamushi ; genetics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Scrub Typhus ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Sequence Homology ; Serotyping

Objective To establish the standard operating procedures on multiple locus variable number tandem repeat analysis and to evaluate the values in identification of Brucella(B.) melitensis and epidemiological trace-back.Methods Sixteen B.melitensis,22 B.abortus,21 B.suis and 10 B.cnais were investigated by Brucella MLVA-16 genotyping scheme.All data were analyzed using BioNumerics version 5.1 software (AppliedMaths,Belgium).Clustering analysis was based on the categorical coefficient and unweighted pair group method using arithmetic averages(UPGMA) method.Polymorphism at each locus was quantified using Nei's diversity index.Resultant genotypes were compared using the web-based Brucella 2010 MLVA database.Results MLVA methods were successfully established and some strains can be clustered.Bruce06,bruce08,bruce11,bruce12,bruce42,bruce43,bruce45 and bruce55 were useful for species identification of Brucella isolates.Bruce04,bruce07,bruce09,bruce16 and bruce 30 afforded a higher discriminatory power for investigation of strain relatedness in regions of endemicity.Conclusions TheMLVAmethod has proved to be highly discriminatory and epidemiological concordance and is easy for Brucellosis surveillance in province-level lab.

BACKGROUNDMediastinal lesions are often difficult to diagnose in clinical practice because of the unique anatomical position of the mediastinum, which makes performance of biopsy difficult. The value of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration in the diagnosis of lung cancer and mediastinal lymph node staging has been widely accepted. However, few studies have been conducted on the value of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of mediastinal lesions. The current study was conducted to investigate the value of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of isolated mediastinal lesions without lung abnormalities.

METHODSWe retrospectively analyzed the data of patients with isolated mediastinal lesions without lung abnormalities for whom endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration examination was performed at the Department of Thoracic Surgery of Peking University People's Hospital, between September 2009 and December 2010. For patients who could not be diagnosed with endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration, surgical biopsy or more than 6 months of clinical and imaging follow-up was carried out.

RESULTSEndobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration was performed for 60 patients with isolated mediastinal lesions. Correct diagnosis was made in 48 cases. Nineteen cases were malignant, and 29 were benign. The rate of correct diagnosis was 80%. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration in distinguishing benign from malignant mediastinal lesions were 95%, 100%, and 98%, respectively. The examination was tolerable for all patients. No associated complications were observed.

CONCLUSIONEndobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration is a safe and effective method of diagnosing mediastinal lesions.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mediastinal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; Mediastinum ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Ultrasonography ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVEThis research reported the experience of early surgical treatment for infants with large atrial septal defects (ASD) or ventricular septal defects (VSD) complicated by pneumonia.

METHODSBetween January 2003 and January 2008, 39 infants with large ASD or VSD complicated by pneumonia were admitted to the Second Xiangya Hospital. Thirty-six patients underwent surgical repair within 7-10 days after pneumonia had been controlled. Mean age was 5.4+/-3.4 months and mean weight was 4.7+/-1.6 kg in the 36 patients. Three patients received conservative treatment due to uncontrolled lung infections.

RESULTSOf the 36 patients, 33 had successful surgery and 3 (8.3%) died of serious low cardiac output (n=1) or respiratory failure due to congenital tracheostenosis (n=2). The 33 survivors showed normal growth and development in a 6 month-5 year follow-up. Of the 3 patients receiving conservative treatment, 1 died of cardiopulmonary failure and 2 were discharged after the symptoms had been improved.

CONCLUSIONSWith increasing medical experience and technique, early surgical operation may be performed with good outcomes in infants with large ASD or VSD complicated by pneumonia.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Heart Septal Defects, Atrial ; complications ; surgery ; Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular ; complications ; surgery ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Pneumonia ; etiology ; Postoperative Complications ; etiology

A strain of Flavobacterium lindanitolerans isolated from a sick child's ascites was described. The 16S rRNA gene of the strain was 100% identical to that of Flavobacterium lindanitolerans which was first identified in India in 2008. It was first described that the isolate required X factor (Hemin) for growth in the optimal conditions of 37 °C with 5% CO(2). The isolate produced indole and H(2)S. It did not present hemolytic feature on blood agar.
Ascitic Fluid ; microbiology ; Child, Preschool ; Enterovirus A, Human ; isolation & purification ; Enterovirus Infections ; complications ; microbiology ; virology ; Fatal Outcome ; Flavobacteriaceae Infections ; complications ; microbiology ; virology ; Flavobacterium ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S ; genetics ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction