Objective To analyze the correlation of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT)level with alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)level and to re-evaluate the diagnostic value of GGT for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Methods Four hundred and seventy-two patients with HCC or liver cirrhosis,who were hospitalized in China-Japan Friendship Hospital from January 2003 to June 2009,were included in the study.The correlation between GGT and AFP was analyzed by Spearman nonparametric test.The cut-off values for the two parameters were determined based on their receiver operating characteristics (ROC)curves,areas under the ROC curve (AUCs),sensitivity,and specifici-ty,and the diagnostic values were presented using their sensitivity,specificity,and correct index.Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 17.0.Normally distributed continuous data were analyzed by independent-samples t test,while non-normally distributed continuous data were analyzed by Mann -Whitney U test.Categorical data were analyzed by Pearson chi -square test,continuity-corrected chi -square test,or Fisher’s exact test.Results Among 472 patients,224 were diagnosed with HCC,and 248 with liver cirrhosis.Compared with cirrhotic patients,HCC patients had a significantly higher GGT level (113 (58-254)U/L vs 38 (22-72)U/L,Z=-11.037,P<0.001)and a significantly higher AFP level (429.5 (15.7-1210.0)ng/ml vs 5.7 (3.4-18.2)ng/ml,Z=-10.157,P<0.001).A significant correlation was found between GGT and AFP (r=0.449,P<0.001).The AUC was 0.784 for GGT and 0.788 for AFP.The cut-off value was 60 U/L for GGT and 20 ng/ml for AFP.The sensitivity was 74.1%for GGT,71.8%for AFP,and 90.7%for a combina-tion of the two parameters,the specificity was 70.2%,77.6%,and 58.7%,respectively,and the correct index was 0.443,0.494,and 0.494,respectively.Conclusion GGT may be regarded as one biomarker for HCC,and its level is significantly correlated with AFP level. The diagnostic value of AFP may not be improved when used in combination with GGT.

[ ABSTRACT] AIM: To study the autophagy of prostate cancer PC-3 cells induced by CD147 in vitro.ME-THODS:Themethod of amino acid starvation to induce autophagy was used.The expression of CD147 was detected by Western blotting.To study the functional effects of CD147 on autophagy in prostate cancer PC-3 cells, the down-regulation of CD147 expression was induced by the technique of RNAi.The conversion of autophagic marker protein LC3-I to LC3-II was determined by Western blotting.The cell death after starvation-induced autophagy was analyzed by trypan blue exclu-sion assay.RESULTS:The CD147 expression gradually increased in starvation-induced autophagy.The down-regulation of CD147 significantly increased the expression of autophagy-related protein LC3-II compared with control group.Mean-while, the cell death rates increased from (19.3 ±3.1)%and (22.3 ±3.5)%in control groups to (38.4 ±3.1)%in si-lencing the expression of CD147 in the PC-3 cells (P<0.05).CONCLUSION:CD147 inhibits starvation-induced auto-phgy and autophagy death in the prostate cancer PC-3 cells.

Objective To investigate the long-term prognosis an d recorery of children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis(JRA).Methods The cases diagnosed JRA in our hospital over the period of 1988～1992 we re followed up for the conditions of disease,the deteriorated joints,the treatme nt and the living conditions of patients.Results Ninty-six ca ses were followed up(involving male 66 cases,female 29 cases,the mean age of on set 8.21?3.17 years )except for a case who died of lymphoma.There were 44 cases with systemic JRA ,2 cases of them died after 7-years onset and 23 cases developed severe destructive arthritis.There were 38 oligoarthritis cases,27 cases of them stiu had active disease during 10-year following-up and 9 cases were diagnosed sacroiliitis.There were 13 polyarthritis and 3 cases of them were RF positive, who had developed severe destructive arthritis.Conclusions The prognosis of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is not desirable,especially in systemic JRA,whose prognostic factors are related to age of onset,the lasting of fever,the markers of phlegmasia activity and the condition of systemic involvement and treatment.Oligoarthritis about 30 % may develop into ankylosing spondylitis.The probability of destructive arthritis is hi gher in polyarthritis with more RF positive and poor prognosis.

SMART-RACE was performed after isolating the total RNA of Armillariella tabescens to amplify the full-length cDNA of arabinosidase (GenBank Accession No. AJ620046). Bioinformatics analysis was used to analyze the code frame of arabinosidase, to predict its structure and function. Recombinant plasmid pPIC9-AF was constructed and then electroporated into methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris GS115. The secreted 6 ? His fusion protein was purified to analyze its enzymology property. This arabinosidase had high activity at 30-35℃ under acid condition, and was stable within wide range of pH and temperature. It maintained about 80% activity at the range of pH4. 0-8.0 and 20-40℃,wider than many other cloned arabinosidase. So it was worthy to go step further to study this enzyme, and recombinant expression provided a chance of highly expressing arabinosidase.

Armillariella tabescens EJLY2098 was capable of secreting p-mannanase by konjac inducement. A 34 orthogonal design was applied to determine the optimum medium of inducing mannanase by Armillariella tabescens EJLY2098. The results suggested that Armillariella tabescens EJLY2098 secreted the high-activity enzyme in the optimum medium, which was composed of 2% konjac, 1% peptone, 25% potato juice,0.3% KH2PO4,15% MgSO4?7H2O, 0.01% VitB1. Purified by DEAE-anion exchange chromatography, two eluting peaks (P1 and P2) with the p-mannanase activity were obtained, and one of them (named?-mannanase P2) was a single band by the SDS-PAGE, and the molecular weight of?-mannanase P2 was 78. 9kDa. The isoelectric point of?-mannanase P2 was estimated to be 4.0-4. 1. The optimum activity for the enzyme was found at 60℃and pH4. 0 - 6. 0, and the enzyme was stable between pH4. 5 - 6. 0. The activity of?-mannanase P2 were enhanced by Na+ and Ba2+ . This?-mannanase can be used in feed industy. a new fungi secreting?-mannanase was obtained, providing an important base for cloning mannanase gene and constructing recombin microbe expressing?-mannanase .

In order to construct an integrated DNA barcoding database for identifying Chinese animal medicine, the authors and their cooperators have completed a lot of researches for identifying Chinese animal medicines using DNA barcoding technology. Sequences from GenBank have been analyzed simultaneously. Three different methods, BLAST, barcoding gap and Tree building, have been used to confirm the reliabilities of barcode records in the database. The integrated DNA barcoding database for identifying Chinese animal medicine has been constructed using three different parts: specimen, sequence and literature information. This database contained about 800 animal medicines and the adulterants and closely related species. Unknown specimens can be identified by pasting their sequence record into the window on the ID page of species identification system for traditional Chinese medicine (www. tcmbarcode. cn). The integrated DNA barcoding database for identifying Chinese animal medicine is significantly important for animal species identification, rare and endangered species conservation and sustainable utilization of animal resources.
Animals ; DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic ; methods ; Databases, Nucleic Acid ; Eukaryota ; classification ; genetics ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

OBJECTIVETo explore the chromosome karyotypes in children with mental retardation.

METHODSThe peripheral blood lymphocytes from 92 children with congenital mental retardation were cultured and analysed by the G-band technique.

RESULTSOf the 92 cases, 43 cases (47%) showed chromosome abnormalities. Autosomal abnormalities were found in 35 cases (38%) and sex chromosome abnormalities were found in 8 cases (9%). A novel abnormal karyotype 45, XX, psu dic (11;9) (p15;p24) was found in a child.

CONCLUSIONSChromosome abnormalities may be important cytogenetic factors for congenital mental retardation. Cytogenetic chromosome karyotypic analysis appears to be an important method for genetic screening of congenital mental retardation.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Chromosome Aberrations ; Female ; Genetic Testing ; Humans ; Infant ; Intellectual Disability ; genetics ; Karyotyping ; Male ; Sex Chromosome Aberrations

The expression cDNA library of A. tabescens was constructed by SMART technique, which useλTriplEx2 as a vector. The titer and the percentage of the constructed library were about 1.0 × 106pfu/mland 98.3% respectively, and the titer and the capacity of the amplified library were about 3.1 × 108pfu/mland 4.2 × 1010. The library was used to provide expressed sequence tags (ESTs). 147 Expressed SequenceTaqs (ESTs) were gained from 176 clones, which were selected randomly and sequenced at the 5'end. Thesequences were submitted to the EMBL database. Blasting the sequences in the GenBank, 43 of them werefound that they have significant similarity with data in GenBank. EST AJ620046 was has significantsimilarity with the arabinosidase of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. Using SMART-RACE a full-length cDNA ofAJ620046 was successfully obtained. In order to initially characterize the biochemical properties ofAJ620046, the ORF of AJ620046 named AF was cloned and expressed in Pichia Pastoris yeast.Recombinant pHIL-S1-AF constructed by inserting AF into pHIL-S1 was transformed into Pichia PastorisGS115. Preliminary experiments indicated that AJ620046 was expressed as a 32 kDa protein in recombinantyeast.

OBJECTIVETo explore the clinical and laboratory features and the prognosis of juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) complicated with interstitial lung disease (ILD).

METHODData of 39 cases of JDM complicated with ILD hospitalized in Beijing Children's Hospital from January 2005 to December 2011 were collected. The clinical features, laboratory data and prognosis of these children were analyzed.

RESULTOf the 39 cases studied, 16 were boys, and 23 girls. The average age of onset was 5.6 years, and 61.5% of the patients' age of onset (24 cases) was under 6 years. Rashes (17 cases, 43.6%), simultaneous eruption of rashes and muscle weakness (14 cases, 35.9%), fever (4 cases, 10.1%), or muscle weakness (3 cases, 7.7%) were common initial symptoms of the disease. Only 51.3% of the patients (20 cases) had the symptoms of respiratory system, but (24 cases) 61.5% were complicated with that of the gastrointestinal system; (27 cases) 69.2% had at the same time electrocardiographic and echocardiographic abnormalities. The chest high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) showed cord or band-like shadows in their lungs of more than half of the cases (25 cases, 64.1%), and other changes included ground glass-like shadow (10 cases, 25.6%), net and lineation-like shadow (9 cases, 23.1%), nodular change (5 cases, 12.8%). The patients complicated with lung essential infiltration accounted for as high as 71.8% (28 cases). These imaging changes were largely seen on both dorsal sides of their lungs. Severe patients also had mediastinal emphysema, pneumothorax, pneumorrhagia or aerodermectasia. Twenty-four patients underwent pulmonary function examination, and 62.5% of the patients' pulmonary function (15 cases) was abnormal. The fatality rate of the cases studied was 10.1%.

CONCLUSIONThe imaging changes of patients suffering from JDM with ILD were often more severe as compared to the clinical symptoms, and were often complicated with damages to other systems and organs. The prognosis of those patients was poorer than others. Patients with JDM especially at a younger age of onset and with various organ damages should be examined with chest HRCT examinations as early as possible.

Child ; Child, Preschool ; Dermatomyositis ; complications ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Female ; Glucocorticoids ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Lung ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Lung Diseases, Interstitial ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; etiology ; Male ; Methotrexate ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Muscle Weakness ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Prognosis ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Retrospective Studies ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Objective To screen the key genes of colon cancer and to explore the pathogenesis of colon cancer. Methods The expression data were searched from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and the differentially expressed genes were selected by GEO2R. The differentially expressed genes were analyzed by gene ontology (GO) , KEGG pathway and protein-protein interaction networks. Results A total of 324 differentially expressed genes including 61 upregulated genes and 263 downregulated genes were found in more than three GEO series. An analysis of differentially expressed gene pathways revealed that bile secretion, drug metabolism, cytochrome P450, and chemical carcinogenesis were involved in the pathogenesis of colon cancer. Thus 9 key genes were identified, including BMP2, CXCL1, CXCL12, CXCL2, GCG, IL8, MMP1, PHLPP2 and PYY. Conclusion The key genes could be screened by bioinformatics effectively, which might provide the basis for further experimental study.