Objective To understand the status and existing problems of psychological health and social support of medical students ,analyze its influencing factors and provide basis for targeted education and management measures .Methods The social support scale(SSRS) ,symptom self-assessment scale (SCL-90) ,the quality of life questionnaire (SF -36)were used as question-naire survey for 120 college students .Results Positive rate of psychological problems in 91 undergraduates was 24 .18% ,obsessive compulsive disorder appeared the most ,phobia appeared the least .Positive rate of psychological problems in 29 English major un-dergraduates was 41 .38% ,the most frequent symptom was forcing symptoms ,followed by human and depressive symptoms .The interpersonal score of English major undergraduates was higher than that of clinical undergraduates ,with a statistically significant difference (P=0 .039) .Mental health between medical and English major students had a statistical difference (P=0 .010) .Objec-tive support scores between medical and English major students had a statistical significance (P=0 .014) .The highest score was the subjective support ,and the lowest scores was the use of social support .Conclusion The mental health of most of the medical un-dergraduates is not optimistic and there exist different psychological problems .At the same time ,the lower level of social support comes along with the higher level of health problems and vice versa .Therefore ,we suggest that society ,schools ,families and relat-ed management departments should further carry out mental health intervention for medical students .

Objective To detect the proliferation and the expression levels of downstream target genes of Notch pathway of T-ALL CCRF-CEM(CEM)cell line treated with exogenous DLK1 protein,in order to investigatethe effects of DLK1 protein on the Notch pathway in CEM cells.Methods CCK-8 assay was performed to examine the proliferation of CCRF-CEM cells,which were treated with various concentration(0.5,1.0,1.5 μg/ml)DLK1 for various time(24,48,72 h).RFQ-PCR was applied to assess the mRNA expression level of Notch1 receptor and downstream target genes of Notch pathway in CEM cells,which were treated for various time(24,48,72 h).Results DLK1 protein stimulated the proliferation of CCRF-CEM cells,and the proliferation rates with different concentrations of DLK1 were 0.14±0.03,0.17±0.04,0.55±0.01 in 72 hours,respectively,there were statistic differences between that in the experimental group and that in the control group(P＜0.05).DLK1 protein up-regulated the Notch1 receptor and its downstream target genes HES1,c-myc and NF-κB.The relative transcript levels of target genes HES1 in 72 hours,c-myc in 48 hours and NF-κB in 72 hours were 3.2551±0.3100,1.6086±0.0941,2.0515±0.3453 respectively,and there were statistic differences between that in the experimental group and that in the control group(P＜0.05).Conclusion DLK1 protein stimulates the proliferation of T-ALL CCRF-CEM cells by up-regulating Notch1 receptor and downstream target genes HES1,c-myc and NF-κB of Notch pathway.

AIM: Ischemic post-conditioning ( PC) plays an important role in cardioprotection from ischemia /reperfusion ( I/R) injury in the young heart but not in the aging hearts .The physiological and pathological roles of hydrogen sulfide ( H2 S) in the regulation of cardio-vascular functions have been recognized .Whether H2 S is involved in the recovery of PC-induced cardioprotection in the aging hearts is unclear.METHOD:The male Wistar young rats (3-month-old), the aging rats (24-month-old), primary cultured cardiomyocytes and the aging cardiomyocytes induced by D-galactose suffered from I/R (or H/R) and PC.RESULTS:I/R (or H/R) decreased H2S production rate and cystathionine γ-lyase (CSE) expression, aggravated cardiomyocyte damage , apoptosis, myocardial infarct size and oxidative stress, reduced cardiac function, increased the levels of Bcl-2, cleaved caspase-3 and caspase-9 mRNA and proteins, promo-ted the release of cytochrome c and mPTP opening, down-regulated the phosphorylation of ERK 1/2, PI3K, Akt and GSK-3βand mito-chondrial membrane potential , up-regulated the phosphorylation of IκBα, NF-κB, JNK2 and STAT3, and inhibited PKC-ε transloca-tion and mitochondrial ATP-sensitive K channels (mitoKATP) in isolated young and aging hearts as well as normal and aging cardiomyo-cytes.PC suppressed myocardial I/R injury in the young heart but not in the aging hearts .Supply of NaHS not only increased PC-in-duced cardioprotection in the young hearts and cardiomyocytes , but also attenuated I/R injury and significantly recovered the cardiopro-tective role of PC in the aging hearts and cardiomyocytes .CONCLUSION:The exogenous H 2 S restores PC-induced cardioprotection through inhibiting oxidative stress via the down-regulation of NF-κB and JAK2-STAT3 pathways and mPTP opening by the up-regulation of ERK1/2-GSK-3β, PI3K-Akt-GSK-3βand PKC-ε-mitoKATP pathways in the aging hearts and cardiomyocytes .These findings provide a novel potential target for the treatment of aging ischemic cardiomyopathy .

AIM:To investigate the relationship between polyamine metabolism and hypoxia /ischemia ( H/I)-induced cell apoptosis and to determine the mechanisms by which exogenous spermine protects cell apoptosis against AMI in rats .METHOD:The left anterior de-scending coronary artery ( LAD) of the Wistar rats were ligated , and neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were placed under hypoxic conditions for 24 h to establish the model of AMI (or H/I).Exogenous spermine was administered by intraperitoneal injection (2.5 mg/kg daily for 7 days) in vitro and subjected to the cell medium at 5μmol/L as a pre-treatment therapy.RESULTS:AMI (or H/I) induced an increase in polyamine catabolized enzyme SSAT and a decrease in polyamine biosynthesis enzyme ODC , which result in endogenous spermine and spermidine decrease and putrescine increase .At the same time, AMI ( or H/I) lowered cardiac function , increased cTnI and CK-MB concentrations , aggravated myocardial infarct size , cardiomyocyte damage and apoptosis , raised ROS generation , increased the expression of cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-9 and endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS)-related proteins, promoted the release of cytochrome C and mPTP opening , down-regulated Bcl-2 expression and the phosphorylation of ERK 1/2, PI3K, Akt and GSK-3β, and activated PERK and eIF 2αphosphorylation .Spermine pre-treatment reversed the above-motioned changes .CONCLUSION:AMI ( or H/I ) could induce cardiomyocyte apoptosis and polyamine metabolism disorder .Exogenous spermine attenuates cardiac injury through scavenging the ROS and inhibiting mPTP opening and ERS injury .These findings provide a novel target for the prevention of apoptosis in the setting of AMI .

This study was aimed to explore the change of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) and its correlation of 2 sites (505a/g, 1040c/t) in its gene-coding region with venous thromboembolism (VTE). The genotype distribution of TAFI in 80 patients with VTE and 80 normal controls was detected by allele-specific PCR. The results showed that the distribution of each genotype of 505a/g polymorphism was not significantly different between the VTE and control groups (P > 0.05). However, t allele frequency of 1040c/t in VTE group decreased significantly as compared with the control group (40% vs 53.75%, P < 0.05), mainly due to the decrease of the proportion of tt homozygous in VTE group. It is concluded that obvious relationship is found between the polymorphism of 1040c/t in TAFI gene and VTE patients. t allele genotype may paly a protective role in VTE. The polymorphism of TAFI 505a/g may be not associated with VTE.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carboxypeptidase B2 ; genetics ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Venous Thromboembolism ; genetics

An ultra performance convergence chromatographic ( UPC2 ) method was established for the attribution analysis of the main peaks as well as the quantitative determination of echinacoside andβ-ecdyserone in Bushen Jiannao Grains. The samples were extracted with ethanol and separated on Waters ACQUITY UPC2TM BEH column (100 mm × 3. 00 mm, 1. 7 μm), with a gradient supercritical CO2-0. 05%phosphoric acid-methanol solvent system at 40 ℃. The flow rate was 0. 8 mL/min, the detection wavelength was set at 248 nm and the injection volume was 1 μL. Results showed that all the main peaks in the fingerprint were clearly attributed. The peak named 12 wasβ-ecdyserone with the content of 380μg/g and the peak named 15 was echinacoside with the content of 9. 562 mg/g. The method was simple, eco-friendly, accurate and reliable compared with HPLC and UPLC.

Objective To investigate the expressions of CDX2 and β-catenin in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and their correlation. Methods Real-time PCR was used to determine the expressions of CDX2 and β-catenin mRNA in 43 de novo ALL and 30 non-malignant patients (used as control). Results The positivity rate of CDX2 mRNA expression in ALL group was 93%, but CDX2 mRNA expression couldn′t be detected in the control group (P<0.01). The mRNA expression of β-catenin could be detected in patients in both two groups, butβ-catenin mRNA expression in the ALL group was significantly higher than in the control group (P < 0.01). And mRNA expressions of CDX2 andβ-catenin were significantly correlated with WBC counts and LDH level (P<0.01). When the ALL patients acquired complete remission (CR), the mRNA expressions of CDX2 and β-catenin were significantly decreased compared with their newly diagnosed status , while disease-relapsed the mRNA expressions of CDX2 andβ-catenin were increased again. There was significantly positive correlation between CDX2 and β-catenin mRNA expressions (r = 0.835, P = 0.000). Conclusion Up-regulation of CDX2 and activation of Wnt/β-catenin pathway coexist in the ALL patients and the mRNA expressions of CDX2 and β-catenin are positively correlated.

Background and purpose: Since the detection of renal neoplasm is increasing, it's important to distinguish myomatous angiomyolipoma (mAML) from malignant tumors. This study aimed to investigate the imaging features of renal mAML on computer tomography (CT) and improve the accuracy of diagnosis and differential diagnosis. Methods: Ten patients were diagnosed with mAML. The cases were composed of 4 men and 6 women, with a mean age of 53.2 years (range 38-64). Among all of the cases, the percentage of spindle cell is more than 70%. Two radiologists reviewed all of the images to evaluate general characteristics, imaging features on unenhanced CT and enhanced CT. The mean attenuation on the unenhanced CT of mAML, normal renal parenchyma and skeletal muscle was compared by the paired-sample t test. Results: Among all of the tumors, nine lesions were solitary, and the other one was accompanied with typical AML. Six lesions were at the left kidney while four lesions were at the right side. Five lesions located intracapsularly. All the lesions were well-defined, nine of them were regular. The tumor sizes ranged from 15 to 80 mm with mean (43±19) cm. Intratumoral macroscopic fat, cystic degeneration and vessels were found in two lesions, two lesions and three lesions, respectively. Calcification or hemorrhage was not detected in any cases. On unenhanced CT, 70% cases were hyperattenuating. Eight cases were homogeneous or slightly heterogeneous. The mean attenuation of the tumor lesions on unenhanced CT was (48.60±5.50) HU, which was higher than that of normal renal parenchyma (39.70±6.67) HU (P<0.05), and similar to that of skeletal muscle (48.9±2.28) HU (P>0.05). After intravenous injection of contrast media, seven cases were categorized as the slightly heterogeneous or heterogeneous enhancement type. Four cases showed a weak enhancement whereas five cases were with a moderate enhancement. The gradual, prolonged and early washout enhancement patterns were observed in 40%, 40%, and 20% of the cases, respectively. Conclusion: The radiological appearance of mAML had a tendency to be hyperattenuating on unenhanced CT images without macroscopic fat; it could be homogeneous or slightly heterogeneous on unenhanced scans. After the injection of contrast agent, mAML tended to have a weak or moderate, lightly heterogeneous to heterogeneous enhancement, and it could demonstrate gradual and prolonged enhancement patterns.

Objective Insulin autoantibody (IAA) is known to exist in sera of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients and pre-T1DM individuals. The aim of this study was to establish a novel microtiter plate radioimmunoassay (RIA) for IAA and evaluate its clinical value. Methods Diluted 125Ⅰ-insulin was mixed with 5 ul serum samples in a 96-well microtiter plate and then incubated for 72 h on an orbital plate shaker (4℃). The immunocomplexes were transferred to another protein a coated Millipore plate, and then the plate was washed with Tri-Buffered Saline Tween-20 (TBT) buffer. Counts per minute (CPM) was measured with liquid scintillation and luminescence counter. The positive cut-off point of IAA index was defined as ≥0.06 based on the 99-percentile of the distribution in 317 healthy individuals. The specificity and sensitivity of the assay were calculated from the samples provided by the fourth Diabetes Autoantibodies Standardization Program (DASP 2005). The IAA levels were determined in 71 T1 DM and 551 newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes (T2DM) patients, and 317 healthy controls. The t test, non-parametric test, x2 test and linear correlation analysis were performed on the data using SPSS 11.5 software. The concordance rate was estimated with Kappa value. Results (1) The optimized testing condition was described as 2×104 CPM of 125Ⅰ-insulin, 5 ul serum sample and slowly horizontal shaking for 72 h. (2) The intra-assay CV was 4.8%-8.9% and inter-assay CV was 6.4%-10.5%. Based on DASP 2005 samples, the specificity and sensitivity of the assay were 97% (97/100) and 50% (25/50), respectively. Ninety-six serum samples with different IAA levels were selected and tested to compare between our new method and a domestic IAA RIA kit. The results showed that the IAA indices from the two methods were positively correlated (r= 0.678, P<0.001). The concordance rate was 72.9 %(Kappa value=0.402). There were 25 samples with discordant results, which were positive for IAA titer using the corresponding microtiter plate RIA but negative using the novel RIA kit. (3) In TIDM group the positive rate of IAA was 19.7% (16/71), higher than the healthy controls (0.9%, x2=54.36, P<0.001). The subgroup of T1DM children (with 0-9 years) showed the highest IAA positive rate (55.6% ,x2=4.85, P<0.05). In T2DM group the frequency of IAA was 1.5% (8/551), which had no significant difference comparing with that of healthy controls (x2= 0.95, P >0.05). Conclusions Our proposed microtiter plate RIA method for IAA is highly sensitive and specific, likely to be feasible for clinical application. The frequency of IAA is high in children with T1DM.

AIM: To examine the relationship between corneal lymphangiogenesis and hemangiogenesis after keratoplasty.METHODS: Nineteen human corneas were obtained from 19 patients undergoing a second corneal transplantation in Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center in 2005. Blood and lymphatic vessels in human transplanted corneas were identified by lymphatic vessel endothelial receptor(LYVE-1) and platelet endothelial cell adhesion modecule-1(PECAM-1) immunohistochemistry, and double enzyme-histochemistry; then the association of corneal blood vessel counting (BVC) with lymphatic vessel counting (LVC) was examined.RESULTS: Corneal hemangiogenesis was present in 12 cases (63%), and lymphangiogenesis occurred in 5 cases (26%) of human transplanted corneas. In addition, corneal lymphangiogenesis was only present in vascularized corneas. LVC was strongly and positively correlated with BVC(r=0.725;P<0.01).CONCLUSION: Corneal lymphangiogenesis develops after keratoplasty, and strongly associates with hemangiogenesis.