OBJECTIVETo investigate the prevalence of mutations and sequence variations in X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP) gene among Chinese pediatric patients with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH).

METHODSSixty-five children who were diagnosed with HLH between January 2009 and December 2012 (case group), as well as 70 healthy children (control group), were enrolled in the study. The exons of XIAP gene (1-1, 1-2, 2-6) were amplified by PCR and directly sequenced. The genotypic and allelic frequencies of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) were analyzed.

RESULTSNone of the HLH patients showed mutations in these exons of XIAP gene. Only one nonsynonymous SNP, rs5956583 located in exon 5, was observed, but there were no significant differences in the genotypic and allelic frequencies of this SNP between the case and control groups (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONSHLH caused by XIAP mutations may be rare in children. SNP rs5956583 of XIAP gene may have little contribution to the development of childhood HLH.

Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Lymphohistiocytosis, Hemophagocytic ; genetics ; Male ; Mutation ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; X-Linked Inhibitor of Apoptosis Protein ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo investigate the transcription of cytoskeleton protein genes in differentiation of neurons from mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells induced by all-trans retinoic acid (RA), and to explore the possibility of setting up a method to screen small molecules with promoting or inhibiting effect.

METHODSThe hanging drop method was employed for embryonic body formation to mimic embryo development in vivo. Reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) was performed to investigate mRNA expression of the neuron-specific cytoskeleton proteins including Mtap2, Nefm and beta-tubulin III which were regarded as the inducing effect indexes of RA. Morphological evaluation and immunocytochemistry staining were conducted to identify the neural derivatives. Moreover, the inducing effects of six synthetic molecules were further evaluated.

RESULTRA up-regulated the mRNA expression of Mtap2 and Nefm, especially Mtap2 increased by 1.27 times, which was consistent with the morphological alteration. However, there was no significant changes of beta-tubulin III expression. With addition of the six synthetic molecules, the transcription of Mtap2 was inhibited, while the Nefm mRNA expression was up-regulated in some degree, especially for molecule 1 and 3 that was increased by 1.4 and 1.2 times, which, however, was not parallel to the morphological changes.

CONCLUSIONThe transcriptional levels of Mtap2 and Nefm are both up-regulated in the RA-induced differentiation of ES cells towards neurons. The up-regulation of Mtap2 is consistent with the morphological alteration, which might be the key landmark in the RA-induced differentiation of ES cells into neurons.

Animals ; Cell Differentiation ; drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Cytoskeletal Proteins ; genetics ; Embryonic Stem Cells ; cytology ; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ; Mice ; Microtubule-Associated Proteins ; pharmacology ; Neurofilament Proteins ; pharmacology ; Neurons ; cytology ; Transcription, Genetic ; Tretinoin ; pharmacology ; Tubulin ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the association between rs1799864 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the C-C chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2) gene and susceptibility of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) in children.

METHODSThe clinical and laboratory data of 86 children diagnosed with HLH between January 2007 and December 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. The CCR2 gene rs1799864 was genotyped by SNaPshot technique in 86 HLH children and 128 healthy controls. The genotypic and allelic frequencies in the two groups were comparatively analyzed.

RESULTSNo significant difference either in genotypic or allelic frequencies of rs1799864 polymorphism of the CCR2 gene was observed between HLH patients and controls (P>0.05), but there were significant differences in the age of onset and the periods of temperature and platelet returning to normal after treatment (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThere is no association between CCR2 gene rs1799864 polymorphism and the risk for HLH in children. However, the genotypic differences of this polymorphism might be associated with clinical characteristics and prognosis of HLH.

Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Genotype ; Humans ; Lymphohistiocytosis, Hemophagocytic ; genetics ; Male ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Receptors, CCR2 ; genetics

AIM:To investigate the effect of 27nt-microRNA (27nt-miRNA) on the expression of smooth muscle 22α protein (SM22α) and the cell viability, migration and phenotypic changes of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs).METHODS:The highly expression plasmids of 27nt-miRNA, and anti-27nt-miRNA and negative control plasmids were constructed, packaged with lentivirus and transfected into the rat primary VSMCs.Platelet-derived growth factor BB (PDGF-BB) was added to induce VSMCs phenotype conversion.The cell viability was measured by MTT assay.The migration ability was detected by scratch assay.The mRNA and protein expression of SM22αwas determined by RT-PCR, immunocytochemical staining and Western blot.RESULTS:Compared with normal group, the cell viability in PDGF-BB group was increased (P<0.05) , the migration ability was increased (P<0.05) and the expression of SM22αat mRNA and protein level was decreased (P<0.05).Compared with negative control lentiviral group, the cell viability in 27ntmiRNA over-expression group was decreased (P<0.05) , the migration ability was decreased (P<0.05) , and the mRNA and protein expression of SM22αwas increased (P<0.05).While in anti-27nt-miRNA group, the cell viability was increased (P<0.05) , the migration ability was increased (P<0.05) , and the mRNA and protein expression of SM22αwas decreased (P<0.05).CONCLUSION:27nt-miRNA significantly increases the expression of SM22α, while inhibits the viability and migration ability of VSMCs, and inhibits its phenotypic shift from contractile to synthetic.

Objective To explore whether TNF-α involves in the modulation of Cysteinyl leukotriene receptor 1 (CysLT1) expression in bronchial epithelial cells.Methods The bronchial epithelial cell lines 16HBE cells were stimulated with different concentration (0.00,0.05,0.50,5.00,20.00 μg/L) of TNF-α for 48 hours,and CysLT1 mRNA in 16HBE cells was measured by reverse transcription(RT)-PCR.CysLT1 expression was detected by immunohistochemistry.Results 16HBE cells did not express CysLT1,after the cells were treated with TNF-α,obvious expression of CysLT1 were detected by immunohistochemistry.The weak CysLT1 mRNA expression was observed by RT-PCR in 16HBE cells,and after the cells were treated with TNF-α for 48 hours,CysLT1 mRNA expression were upregulated.When the concentrations of TNF-α were 0.00,0.05,0.50,5.00,and 20.00 μg/L respectively,the relative intensities of CysLT1 mRNA/β-actin were 0.048,0.105,0.177,0.182,0.495,respectively.Conclusions TNF-α can upregulate CysLT1 mRNA expression in 16HBE ceils in a dose-dependent manner.When infected by virus,respiratory tract produces abundant TNF-α.The TNF-α can upregulate the expression of CysLT1 in epithelial cells,enhance inflammation reaction in respiratory tract.This may explain partially the mechanism of exacerbation of asthma induced by respiratory tract infection.

OBJECTIVETo establish the methods of calculating and analyzing the multi-coefficient of variation significance test for the toxicology study.

METHODSThe paper aimed to confirm the significance level with the method of Bonferroni and then compared the methods of calculating and analyzing of the experiment groups with the control group respectively.

RESULTSThe significance level of multi-coefficient of variation significance test was confirmed as alpha1=0.0167. Compared with the control groups, the activity of ALT in serum both in 30 mg/kg and 60 mg/kg groups did not change in the average significance test, which was not statistically significant (P>0.05), while it changed in the variation significance test, which was of statistical significance (P<0.0167). The activity of AST in serum in 60 mg/kg group did not change in the average significance test (P>0.05), while it changed in the variation significance test (P<0.0167).

CONCLUSIONThe complete changes of the indexes can only be shown by use of both the average significance test and the variation significance test together.

Alanine Transaminase ; blood ; Animals ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; blood ; Disease Models, Animal ; Female ; Lead Poisoning ; enzymology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Statistical Distributions

Objective To establish the population pharmacokinetic (PPK) model of vancomycin in intensive care unit (ICU) patients,for guiding the adjustment of dosage regimen.Methods A total of 112 routine blood vancomycin concentration monitoring data were collected from 54 cases of ICU patients.A nonlinear mixed effect modeling pro gram was used to establish one-compartment model with NONMEM soft ware.Internal model validation by goodness-of-fit and bootstrap were performed to evaluate the robustness and prediction of the final model.Ninety-five routine blood vancomycin concentration monitoring data was collected from 35 cases of ICU patients,and the external validation of the model was performed by goodness-of-fit parameter method.Results The results of internal and external validation of the model showed that the model was stable and could predict the dynamic variation of vancomycin concentration well.Conclusion The in vivo process of vancomycin after intravenous administration in ICU patients was consistent with the single-compartment PPK model.The clearance of vancomycin was significantly influenced by meropenem.

Objective To develop the assessment scale of proactive health behavior ability for the disabled elderly in nursing homes and to test its reliability and validity.Methods The first draft of the scale was formed by literature review,qualitative interviews and Delphi method.From December 2023 to March 2024,525 disabled elderly people from 9 nursing homes in Sichuan Province and Chongqing City were selected as the survey subjects,and item analysis and reliability and validity test were carried out on the scale.30 disabled elderly people were re-investigated after 2 weeks to calculate the retest reliability of the scale.Results The scale consisted of 4 dimensions and 27 items.Exploratory factor analysis extracted 4 common factors,with the cumulative vanance contribution rate of 65.992％,and confirmatory factor analysis showed that the modified model fitting index was within acceptable range.The content validity index at item level was 0.917-1.000,and that at scale level was 0.997.The Cronbach's α coefficient,test-retest reliability and split-half reliability of the total scale were 0.944,0.997 and 0.882,respectively.Conclusion The scale has good reliability and validity,and it can be used to evaluate the proactive health behavior ability of the disabled elderly in nursing homes.

To investigate the effect of 27nt-miRNA on the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells into vascular smooth muscle cells. The highly expression plasmids of 27nt-miRNA and anti-27nt-miRNA, and negative control plasmids were constructed, packaged with lentivirus and transfected into human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs). Collagen IV was added to induce hUCMSCs differentiation into blood vessel smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). The cell viability was measured by MTT assay. The expression of SMA, SM22α at mRNA and protein levels was determined by RT-PCR, immunocytochemical staining and Western blotting. Compared with the negative control group, the viability of the 27nt-miRNA overexpression group was decreased by 20.48% (P<0.05), and the expression of SMA mRNA and SM22α mRNA and protein was significantly increased (P<0.05); the viability of Anti-27nt-miRNA group was increased 18.07% (P<0.05), and the expression of SMA mRNA and SM22α mRNA and protein was decreased (P<0.05). In summary, 27nt-miRNA promotes mesenchymal stem cells differentiation into vascular smooth muscle cells and inhibits cells viability.
Cell Differentiation ; Cells, Cultured ; Humans ; Mesenchymal Stem Cells ; MicroRNAs ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the incidence rate and risk factors for metabolic bone disease of prematurity (MBDP) in very low birth weight/extremely low birth weight (VLBW/ELBW) infants. METHODS: The medical data of 61 786 neonates from multiple centers of China between September 1, 2013 and August 31, 2016 were retrospectively investigated, including 504 VLBW/ELBW preterm infants who met the inclusion criteria. Among the 504 infants, 108 infants diagnosed with MBDP were enrolled as the MBDP group and the remaining 396 infants were enrolled as the non-MBDP group. The two groups were compared in terms of general information of mothers and preterm infants, major diseases during hospitalization, nutritional support strategies, and other treatment conditions. The multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the risk factors for MBDP. RESULTS: The incidence rate of MBDP was 19.4% (88/452) in VLBW preterm infants and 38.5% (20/52) in ELBW preterm infants. The incidence rate of MBDP was 21.7% in preterm infants with a gestational age of < 32 weeks and 45.5% in those with a gestational age of < 28 weeks. The univariate analysis showed that compared with the non-MBDP group, the MBDP group had significantly lower gestational age and birth weight, a significantly longer length of hospital stay, and a significantly higher incidence rate of extrauterine growth retardation ( CONCLUSIONS A lower gestational age, hypocalcemia, extrauterine growth retardation at discharge, and neonatal sepsis may be associated an increased risk of MBDP in VLBW/ELBW preterm infants. It is necessary to strengthen perinatal healthcare, avoid premature delivery, improve the awareness of the prevention and treatment of MBDP among neonatal pediatricians, and adopt positive and reasonable nutrition strategies and comprehensive management measures for preterm infants.
Birth Weight ; Bone Diseases, Metabolic/etiology* ; China/epidemiology* ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Extremely Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Infant, Very Low Birth Weight ; Pregnancy ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors