Objective To explore the changes and clinical significance of levels of serum vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)and endostatin in smokers. Methods In a case-control study,levels of serum VEGF and endostatin were determined in 82 smokers with lung cancer,82 pair-matched smokers without lung cancer and 20 healthy non-smokers by enzyme-linked immunoabsent assay(ELISA) or competitive enzyme immunoassay.Results The level of serum VEGF in smokers with lung anncer[(16.1±7.9)ng/ml]was markedly higher than that in the other two groups(both P＜0.01).The level of serum VEGF in smokers without lung cancer was significantly higher than that in healthy non-smokers(P＜0.05).The level of serum endostatin in smokers with lung cancer was significantly higher than that in healthy nonsmokers(P＜0.01),but was not significantly different from that in smokers without lung cancer(P＞0.05),and that in smokers without lung cancer was significantly higher than that in healthy non-smokers (P＜0.05).Notably,the ratio of endostatin to VEGF in smokers with lung cancer(1.3±0.5)was significantly lower than that in the other two groups(both P＜0.01).However.there was no significant difference in it between smokers without lung cancer and healthy non-smokers(P＞0.05).The level of serum VEGF correlated significantly to that of endostatin in smokers both with and without lung cancer(P＜0.01).Conclusions These findings suggest that smoking may result in imbalance of levels of serum endostatin and VEGF leading to tumorigenesis.The ratio of endostatin to VEGF can be used as an early diagnostic indicator for lung cancer in smokers.Periodic determination of levels of serum VEGF and endostatin as well as the ratio of endostatin to VEGF is of clinical importance.

OBJECTIVETo study the expression of NFkappaB p65 and its target genes in intestinal metaplasia (IM), dysplasia (Dys), gastric cancer (GC) infected with Helicobacter pylori (Hp) and explore the mechanism of infection by cytotoxin-associated antigen A expressing Hp (CagA(+)Hp) in the development of gastric cancer.

METHODSCagA antibody in blood sample of 289 patients was determined by ELISA. Hp was detected by rapid urease test and Warthin starry staining. Expression of NFkappaB p65 and its target genes in IM, Dys and GC was examined by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSIn IMI approximately II, IMIII, DysI, DysII approximately III and GC, the expression of NFkappaB p65 was significantly higher in patients with CagA(+)Hp infection than those without CagA Hp infection. In IMIII and DysII approximately III, the expression of NFkappaB p65, c-myc, CyclinD(1) and bcl-xl was significantly higher in patients with CagA Hp infection than those without CagA Hp infection. In gastric cancer infected with CagA(+)Hp, the expression of NFkappaB p65, c-myc, CyclinD(1) and bcl-xl was significantly higher in intestinal type than in diffuse type.

CONCLUSIONThere are different mechanisms in intestinal type and diffuse type in the development of gastric cancer. The occurrence of intestinal type gastric cancer is associated with CagA(+)Hp infection which by NFkappaB p65 upregulating the expression of c-myc, CyclinD(1),bcl-xl in patients with IMIII, DysII approximately III. It may be an effective method to prevent gastric cancer by inhibiting NFkappaB p65.

Adult ; Aged ; Antigens, Bacterial ; analysis ; Bacterial Proteins ; analysis ; Cyclin D1 ; metabolism ; Female ; Helicobacter Infections ; complications ; metabolism ; microbiology ; Helicobacter pylori ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Precancerous Conditions ; metabolism ; microbiology ; pathology ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc ; metabolism ; Stomach Neoplasms ; metabolism ; microbiology ; pathology ; Transcription Factor RelA ; genetics ; metabolism ; bcl-X Protein ; metabolism

Objective To assess the accuracy of puncture guided by intelligent positioning (IP) system using magnetic navigation.Methods Five prepared targeted models at three certain depth (<50 mm, samll depth;50-100 mm,medium depth;>100 mm,large depth) underwent puncture guided by intelligent positioning system using IP and conventional ultrasound (US),respectively.Puncture errors,the number of attempt and spent time were recorded and compared .Results For the targets at small,medium and large depth,the errors of IP was (1.88 ±1.18),(1.56 ±0.56) and (3.99 ±1.10) cm,and the errors of conventional US was (4.52 ±2.23),(4.49 ±1.73) and (3.93 ±2.19) cm respectively.The errors of IP were significantly less than those of conventional US at small(t=-2.345,P=0.047) and medium(t=-3.608,P=0.007) depth,but there was no statistically significant difference at large depth (t=0.058,P=0.955). In the IP group,there were statistically significant differences for puncture errors between the small and large depth,as well as between medium and large depth ( F =8.923,P =0.010).There was no statistically significant difference for the errors of IP between the small and medium depth (t=-1.927,P=0.501).For the targets at small,medium and large depth,each puncture was performed in single attempt when guided by IP and in 2,1 and 2 attempt when guided by conventional US .At small and large depth,the numbers of attempt of IP were significantly less than those of conventional US (U=-2.372,P=0.018;U=-2.39, P=0.032).Whereas at medium depth,there was no significant difference (U=-1.000,P=0.690).For the targets at small,medium and large depth,each puncture spent (21.20 ±2.39)s, (27.00 ±4.00)s and (31.80 ±3.83)s when guided by IP,and(45.20 ±9.68),(26.80 ±4.21) and (54.60 ±13.48)s when guided by conventional US.The spent time of IP was less than that with conventional US for small and large depth targets(t =-5.383, P =0.001;t =-3.637, P =0.007).Whereas no statistically significant difference was found for the medium depth target (t=0.077,P=0.916).Conclusion In comparison with conventional US,IP system guided puncture is more accurate and the number of attempt and spent time is less .

Objective To understand the effect of hyaluronic acid (HA) on the proliferation and apoptosis of chondrocytes cultured in vitro with Kashin-Beck disease(KBD) to provide the experimental evidences for treating KBD diseases with HA. Methods The articular cartilage samples collected from KBD patients were selected according to Diagnosis for Kaschin-Beck Disease(GB 16003-1995). And the normal cartilage samples were collected from victims of incidence (control). Chandrocytes were separated and cultured in vitro. Then varying dosages of HA were administered to chondrocytes and individed into 0,100,500 mg/L group, according to HA doages. The effect of HA on the proliferation and apoptosis of chondrocytes cultured/n vitro both KBD and the controls were investigated by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium(MTT), Annexin V/PI staining on 2~(nd), 4~(th), 6~(th) day. Results In the control group, 500 mg/L group(0.140 ± 0.049) promoted chondrocyte proliferation significantly than 0 mg/L group (0.116 ± 0.021 ) at the 4~(th) day(P < 0.05), similar phenomenon was observed in KBD group in the 6~(th) day between 500 and 0 mg/L group(0.179 ± 0.081,0.128 ± 0.017, P< 0.05). In the KBD group, compared with 0 mg/L (12.860 ± 2.159), both 100 and 500 mg/L( 10.458 ± 1.143,7.877 ± 1.346) inhibited chondrocyte apoptosis rate (P < 0.05). In control, apoptosis rate of 500 mg/L group(4.045 ± 1.204) descreased compared with 0 mg/L group (7.128 ± 1.244, P < 0.05). Conclusion HA can promote the proliferation and inhibit the apoptosis of KBD chondrocytes cultured in vitro, and 500 mg/L HA play more effective role than that of 100 mg/L in promoting proliferation and inhibiting poptosis.

OBJECTIVETo investigate if an adenovirus vector carrying antisense multidrug resistance gene 1 (MDR1) could reverse multidrug resistance (MDR) of HepG2/ adriamycin (ADM) cells in tumors transplanted in athymic mice.

METHODSAn adenovirus vector carrying AFP promoter and antisense MDR1 was constructed. HepG2 MDR cells (HepG2/ADM) were induced by graded resistance to ADM and were subcutaneously inoculated into athymic mice to construct the transplanted tumor. After adeno-asmdr1 was injected, the volume of the transplanted tumor and the apoptotic body in the xenograft tumor cells were observed and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was employed to investigate the expression of the mdr1-mRNA from the mouse transplanted tumor cells.

RESULTSFollowing injection with adeno-asmdr1, the tumor volumes in this mice group did not increase. However the tumor volume in the PBS plus ADM group did increase significantly (P less than 0.05). In the tumor xenograft cells, mdr1 mRNA in the xenografts was assessed by RT-PCR and found to be reduced at week 1, and at week 4 in the ADM+asmdr1 group, but it was stable in the ADM group. It was only 20% in the ADM+asmdr1 group compared to the ADM group at the 4th week. Evidence of apoptosis was observed in the tumor xenograft cells treated with adeno-asmdr1, but there was rarely any apoptosis in the group treated with ADM and PBS.

CONCLUSIONAdenovirus carrying antisense mdr1 RNA can partially reverse the MDR of HepG2/ADM cells and inhibit tumor growth by down-regulating mdr1 mRNA resulting in tumor cell apoptosis.

ATP-Binding Cassette, Sub-Family B, Member 1 ; genetics ; Adenoviridae ; genetics ; Animals ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; drug therapy ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Doxorubicin ; pharmacology ; Drug Resistance, Multiple ; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm ; drug effects ; genetics ; Genetic Vectors ; Hep G2 Cells ; Humans ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Nude ; RNA, Antisense ; genetics

The aim of this study was to establish an efficient method for expansion in vitro of natural killer (NK) cells highly purified from human peripheral blood. The CD3-CD56+CD16+ NK cells purified by the negative sorting method of MACS (magnetic microbeads activated cells sorting) were expanded with the different combinations of IL-2, SCF, IL-15 in SCGM (stem cell growth medium) supplemented with 10% human AB serum for 18 days. Cultures were fed with fresh medium and cytokines every 3 days. The sum of cells was counted for evaluating the efficiency of expansion. Then the purity of the CD3-CD56+CD16+ NK cells were determined by flow cytometry and the cytotoxicity to K562 targets was detected by CCK-8 assay in the end. Furthermore, the same way was used to explore the relationship between the efficiency of expansion, cytotoxicity to K562 targets of NK cells and the dose of IL-2. The results showed that after peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) were purified by the negative sorting method of MACS, the purity of CD3-CD56+CD16+ NK cells increased from (12.70±2.66)% to (93.03±1.72)%. The CD3-CD56+CD16+ NK cells purified by MACS were expanded with the different combinations of IL-2, SCF, IL-15 in SCGM supplemented with 10% human AB serum for 18 days. The expanding multiple of IL-2/IL-15/SCF group was significantly higher than other groups (p<0.05). The purity of NK cells in the groups with cytokines was not significantly lower than that before expansion (p>0.05). The cytotoxicity of the groups with cytokines was significantly higher than that before expansion. Especially, the cytotoxicity (%) of NK cells in IL-2/IL-15 group and IL-2/IL-15/SCF group was more than 90%. The expanding multiples of low-dose group, medium-dose group and high-dose group were significantly higher than that of zero-dose group (p<0.05), but no significant difference was found between themselves (p>0.05). The cytotoxicity of the groups with IL-2 was significantly higher than that before expansion. Cytotoxicity to K562 cells in high-dose group was significantly higher than that in others (p<0.05); there was no significant difference between low-dose group and medium-dose group (p>0.05). It is concluded that cytokines in the 4 groups were efficient for expansion and the cytotoxicity of highly purified NK cells in vitro. IL-2/SCF/IL-15 combination is the most efficient one among different combinations, and enhanced significantly the cytotoxicity of NK cells against K562 targets. The efficiency of expansion and the cytotoxicity in vitro of NK cells are not related with the dose of IL-2, when IL-2<1,000 U/ml. It is indicated that IL-2 of high-dose (≥1,000 U/ml) may enhance the cytotoxicity of NK cells in vitro more efficiently.
CD3 Complex ; immunology ; CD56 Antigen ; immunology ; Cell Culture Techniques ; methods ; Cell Separation ; methods ; Cells, Cultured ; Humans ; Immunophenotyping ; Interleukin-2 ; pharmacology ; K562 Cells ; Killer Cells, Natural ; cytology ; immunology ; Receptors, IgG ; immunology

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of Xianlong granules (XLG) on immunological function in the rat of adjuvant arthritis (AA).

METHODRats were randomly divided into normal group, AA model group, prednisone group and low, middle and high dose XLG groups, 10 rats in each group. All rats were treated by intragastric administration from the 18 days after arthritis was induced by the complete Freud's adjuvant and the effect of XLG on toes swelling was observed. On the 30th days after modeling, proliferation of the splenic and thymic lymphocytes, and IgG secreted by splenocytes were detected respectively by MTT assay and ELISA.

RESULTCompared with the model group, both the high and middle dose XLG groups had significant therapeutic effects on toes dwelling in the rat of AA (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01); The low, middle and high dose XLG groups strengthened the PHAM-inhibited proliferation of splenic lymphocytes (P < 0.05), and inhibited the PHAM-augmented proliferation of thymic lymphocytes (P < 0.05); XLG did not significantly effect on IgG level secreted by splenocytes in rats of AA.

CONCLUSIONXLG can cure toes swelling in rats of AA, which is related with regulation of the abnormal immunlological function.

Animals ; Arthritis, Experimental ; immunology ; pathology ; prevention & control ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Colubridae ; Drug Combinations ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Edema ; immunology ; pathology ; prevention & control ; Female ; Immunoglobulin G ; metabolism ; Lymphocytes ; drug effects ; pathology ; secretion ; Male ; Materia Medica ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Spleen ; pathology ; secretion ; Thymus Gland ; pathology ; Toes ; pathology

Objective To investigate the effects of dominant-negative truncation mutant?NTCF4, lacking the N-terminal form of TCF4 gene,on biological characteristics of renal cancer cell line GRC-I and explore the molecular mechanisms.Methods GRC-I cell was transfected with pCDNA3-?NTCF4 eukary- otie expression plasmid,pCDNA3 empty vector to construct the stable cell line GRC-I/?NTCF4 and GRC-I/ Mock respectively.The morphological changes of stable cells were observed and the cells growth curve was detected through light microscope.The cellular proliferation activities were determined using the MTT assay. The protein expression of Wnt pathway downstream target gene C-Myc and Cox-2 was evaluated by immuno- cytoehemieal method and Western Blot analysis.Results After the dominant-negative?NTCF4 gene was permanently expressed,the GRC-I/?NTCF4 stable cells morphologically showed that appearance changed from circular to long-spindle shape,growth rate decreased with less karyosehisis found,malignant pheno- types reversed to normal renal tubular cells.MTT assay revealed that the proliferation activities of GRC-1/?NTCF4 cells were inhibited by 11.2%-35.5% compared with GRC-I cells (P＜0.05),while the GRC- I/Mock cells have no difference with the control cells.Immunocytochemical analysis and Western Blot showed that the C-Myc and Cox-2 protein expression level of GRC-I/?ANTCF4 cells were significantly sup- pressed in comparison with that of GRC-I/Mock and GRC-I cells.Conclusions The dominant-negative truncation mutant?NTCF4 could partially inhibit the growth of renal cancer cells and down-regulate the pro- tein expression of Wnt pathway target gene C-Myc and Cox-2.These findings provide a experimental founda- tion for applying cell signal therapy to renal cell cancer by blocking the Wnt signaling pathway.

Objective to understand the current situation of the social adaptation ability of Kunming Medical University graduates and to explore the possible influence factors, so as to provide some references for the school to formulate effective countermeasures to improve college students'social adaptability.Methods The method of census was adopted in 1 228 graduates of Kunming Medical University with a self-administered questionnaire.Results The social adaptation ability of graduates is poor, accounting for 63.43%, while for students'financial situation, parents educational level, the number of joining college clubs, the quantity of the awards and qualification certificates, awareness of employment policy, the time to focusing on employment, and job prospects were statistically significant with social adaptation ability (P＜0.05) .Conclusion The social adaptability of the graduates in our school is poor, and the reasonable countermeasures should be formulated in view of the key factors.

Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is one of the most adverse obstetric outcomes.Our aim is to detect the risks of multilevel PPH in different cesarean section (CS) groups [including nulliparous CS with indications,nulliparous CS without indications,repeat cesarean (RC),vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC),cesarean after vaginal birth (CAVB)].We conducted a retrospective cohort study,and the data on 127 145 women collected from January 2014 to May 2016 and from 35 tertiary hospitals in Shanxi province,China,were reviewed.Based on the measuring results of PPH,an ordered logistic regression model was used to analyze the adjusted PPH risks for each of the CS groups,and comparisons were drawn between them.Finally,a total of 99 066 nulliparous (77.92％) and 28 079 multiparous (22.08％) women were observed.The number of CS cases was 61 117,and the rate for CS was 48.07％.A total of 10 029 women did not show indications for CS and accounted for 16.41％ of the CS parturient,whereas 9103 women underwent a repeated cesarean,with a CS frequency of 14.89％.The number of VBAC cases was 989,whose rate was 9.88％ in prior CS women.The number (proportions) of PPH was 3658 (2.88％) in LI (PPH volume:≥900 and ＜1500 mL),520 (0.41％) in L2 (PPH volume:≥1500 and＜2100 mL),and 201 (0.16％) in L3 (PPH volume:≥2100 mL).The Ln (n=1,2,3,etc.) represented the increasing order of PPH severity.In the adjusted results,compared with spontaneous vaginal delivery (SVD) as the reference group,in the adjusted result for nulliparous,there was a decreased PPH risk in CS with indications (OR:2.32;CI:2.04-2.62),which was lower than that of CS without indications (OR:2.50;CI:2.01-2.96).The highest PPH risk in all subgroups (i.e.nulliparous and multiparous groups) was observed in the RC (OR:3.61;CI:3.16-4.17),which was nearly twice higher than that of the VBAC (OR:1.82;CI:1.33-2.52).CAVB (OR:1.03;CI:0.65-1.62) showed no significant difference with the reference group.Thus,we deemed that CS should be avoided in nulliparous pregnancies unless indicated,to prevent or reduce the rates for the use of RC or VBAC which are high risks of severe PPH to the parturient women.