Female ; Humans ; Methotrexate ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Ectopic

OBJECTIVETo investigate the prevalence of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations in patients with early-onset diabetes in Tianjin, and to explore the relationship between mtDNA mutations and diabetes.

METHODS348 non-related patients whose age at onset of diabetes was less than 45 years were randomly recruited, and 207 non-related and non-diabetic subjects were enrolled as controls. All their clinical and biochemical data were collected. Total genome was extracted conventionally from the participants' peripheral leucocytes, and polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and cloning techniques were applied to the screening of mtDNA mutations (including the 3316, 3394 and 3426 in ND1 region, 12026 in ND4 region, and tRNA [Leu(UUR)] 3243 A-->G mutation).

RESULTSThe authors found 17 diabetics harboring the 12026 A-->G mutation in ND4 region (4.9%), 10 diabetics with mutations in ND1 region (including 5 diabetics with the 3394 T-->C mutation, 4 diabetics with 3316 G-->A mutation, one with 3426 A-->G mutation), and only two with the known 3243 A-->G mutation (0.6%). On the contrary, one control subject with the 3316 G-->A mutation, two with 3394 T-->C mutation and four with 12026 A-->G mutation were found. The prevalence of mtDNA mutations in the patient group is significantly higher than that in the control group (3.3%) (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe above findings suggest that mtDNA mutation may be implicated in the pathogenesis of the examined diabetes.

Adult ; Age of Onset ; China ; epidemiology ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; DNA, Mitochondrial ; chemistry ; genetics ; Diabetes Mellitus ; epidemiology ; genetics ; pathology ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mutation ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length

Objective To evaluate the effect of health education in controlling the iodine deficiency diserders(IDD) in order to provide reference data for the further prevention and control. Methods Each village of 3 towns in Congjiang County was selected in 2007, where the health education lasting for 10 months had been implemented in the school students of 3-6 grade and the villagers. The school students of 3-6 grade and 30 housewives in the villagers were investigated for their IDD control knowledge, the salt consuming conditions as well as the sales of both rough and fine salt at a salt retail site in each village before and after the health education was implemented. Results The awareness rate of the knowledge of IDD control in the students and housewives was 91.4% (581/636) and 78.3% (282/360), respectively after intervention, which significantly increased (χ2= 532.044, 326.117, both P < 0.01) compared with the rate of 28.2% (184/652) and 11.4% (41/360) before intervention. The proportion of consuming fine salt was 91.8%(146/159) and 95.6%(86/90), significantly inereased(χ2= 236.623, 135.350, both P < 0.01) compared with 6.1%(10/163) and 7.8% (7/90) found before intervention. The selling proportion of fine salt at the salt retail site in the village was 60.0%(900/1500), significantly increased(χ2= 824.176, P < 0.01) compared with 10.0%(150/1500) before intervention. Conclusions Health education and promotion is solid foundation for effectively controlling IDD, through which the students and villagers are actively and voluntarily involved in the program and hence have formed good living and hygiene habits, thus expected effect has been obtained.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the biomechanical properties of tibial plateau depressed fracture fixed with a net-fixation of Kirschner wires.

METHODSTwenty homemade fracture models were fixed with eight 1.5 mm Kirschner wires in a net-fixation; 20 homemade fracture models were fixed with two 3.5 mm cortical screws. Plane-compressed and dot-compressed test were made on each 10 models of the two groups. The maximal force of anti-ompress and stiffness were measured and evaluated.

RESULTSIn plane-compressed test,mean maximal force of anti-compress and stiffness for screw fixation was (1,925.31 +/- 444.26) N and (2.28 +/- 0.53) N/mm2, respectively, for net-fixation was (1,609.62 +/- 277.72) N and (1.90 +/- 0.33) N/mm2, respectively. There was no statistical difference between the two fixation methods (P > 0.05). In dot-compressed test,mean maximal force of anti-compress and stiffness for screw fixation was (411.13 +/- 233.88) N and (2.66 +/- 1.52) N/mm2,respectively,for net-fixation was (1,105.58 +/- 290.66) N and (7.18 +/- 1.89) N/mm2,respectively,the net-fixation was better than that of the screw fixation (P< 0.01).

CONCLUSIONTreatment of tibial plateau depressed fracture with a net-fixation of Kirschner wires is a biological fixation and is a reliably method.

Biomechanical Phenomena ; Bone Screws ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; instrumentation ; Mechanical Phenomena ; Tibial Fractures ; surgery

Objective To study the feature of MRI in ureter transitional cell carcinoma,to evaluate the diagnostic value in transitional cell carcinoma of ureter with MRI.Methods Heavily T_2-weighted fast spin echo pulse sequence,fat suppression pulse and MR urography(MRU)were performed.The MRI finding of the ureter transitional cell carcinoma were anlysed in 32 cases and were discssed with the review of literature.Results Fifteen lesions were located at the upper portionof the ureter,7 at mid portion and 10 at lower portion.Each case presented urinary obstruction,distention and uretal hydrocele.21 retrograde urleropyelogrhpy of nodular shaperal irregular,11 irregular the ureteral wall,10 dilate the ureter in 21 cases,11 infitrative lesion to grow in location,9 lymphanode to enlarge in surrounding of major arterial of abdominal and renal out in 11 cases.17—72 mm length the lesion,39 mm average,6—50 mm width the leion,17 mm average.Hypointense on T_1 WI and hyperintense on T_2 WI image in 23 cases,hyperintense on both T_1 WI and T_2 WI image in 5 cases,hypointense on T_1 WI and isointense on T_2 WI image in 2 case, slightly hypointense on both T_1 WI and T_2 WI images in 2 case.Ninteen homogeneous and 13 non homogeneous of signal in lesion,22 reliable and 5 suspicious diagnosis and 5 misdiagnosis in MRI. Conclusion The location,the shape,the spectrum of the tumor and change of surrounding tiessue were clear cuted in MRI,but further research in confirmation of the diagnosis.

Objective To investigate the mechanism of fluoroquinolone resistance in clinical isolates of Enterococcus faecium. Methods The MICs of six fluoroquinolones(norfloxacin,ciprofloxacin,ofloxacin,levofloxacin,gatifloxacin and moxifloxacin) against 35 clinical isolates of E.faecium from eight hospitals in Tianjin were determined by agar dilution method in the absence or presence of multidrug resistance efflux pump inhibitor reserpine.The quinolone-resistance determining region(QRDR)of parC and gyrA were amplified and sequenced.Results No less than twofold decrease in MIC values of the six fluoroquinolones in the presence of reserpine was observed in 35,29,1,0,6 and 2 of the 35 strains of E.faecium respectively.One fluoro- quinolone-susceptible isolate and five fluoroquinolone-resistant isolates were selected randomly to analyze the QRDR of parC and gyrA.All five fluoroquinolone-resistant isolates had single amino acid alteration in both GyrA and ParC.Ser-80 in ParC was substituted by lie(4 isolates)or Arg(1 isolates).Glu-87 in GyrA was replaced by Lys(2 isolates)or Gly(2 isolates). The other one had an Ser-83-to-Ile substitution.The one fluoroquinolone-suseeptible isolate had no alteration in the QRDR of either ParC or GyrA.Conclusions Both target alteration and active efflux are responsible for the resistance to fluoroquinolone in clinical isolates of E.faecium.

Human sTNFR1 (soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor 1) gene was amplified by RT-PCR from Hela cells. A recombinant expression vector of sTNFR1-MBP was constructed in pMAL-c2x, and transformed into E. Coli JM109.It was sequenced and confirmed to be identifical to the sTNFR1 gene in data bank. Recombinant protein sTNFR1-MBP was induced by IPTG and purified by Amylose resin Affinity Chromatography. sTNFR1-MBP was binded to sTNFR1's antibody in Western-blotting. From MTT assays, the results showed that sTNFR1-MBP could effectively block the cytotoxicity mediated by TNF?on QSG7701 cells. Annexin V-FITC staining and flowcytometry were used to observe the recombinant protein's anti-apoptosis capacity and the recombinant protein has marked anti-apoptosis effect in vitro.sTNFR1-MBP had good biological activity and it will be employed in further study.

Objective To investigate the importance of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance in the development of quinolone resistance in clinical isolates of gram-negative bacteria.Methods A total of 541 consecutive clinical isolates of gram-negative ba- cilli resistant or intermediate to ciprofloxacin were screened for the qnrA gene by PCR.Conjugation experiments were carried out with azide-resistant E.coli J53 as a recipient.The aac(6')-Ib-cr gene was detected.The mutations in the quinolone-resist- ance-determining region (QRDR) of the gyrA and parC genes were identified in qnrA positive strains.Results qnrA was identi- fied in 7 of the 541 strains.Among the qnrA positive strains,5 were Enterobacter cloacae.No qnrA was detected in nonfer- menters.Quinolone resistance was transferred in 4 of 7 qnrA positive strains.Transconjugants had 12-to 125-fold increases in MIC of ciprofloxacin relative to that of the recipient.Seven strains contained qnrA with a nucleotide sequence identical to that originally reported.Two transconjugants with higher ciprofloxacin MICs contained aac(6')-Ib-cr gene.Mutations occurred in the QRDR of the gyrA and parC genes in 5 PCR-positive clinical strains.Conclusions Transferable plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance associated with qnrA is highly prevalent in clinical strains of Enterobacter spp.aac(6')-Ib-cr gene and mutations in the quinolone targets may co-exist with qnrA,which may contribute to the further increase of resistance to quinolones.

This study was purposed to investigate the angiogenesis-promoting activities of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) modified by hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and the underlying mechanisms. The hMSCs were transfected by recombinant adenoviral vector carrying human HGF gene and seeded onto the chicken chorioallantoic membrane. Three days later, the number of blood vessels was counted and their angiogenic response was compared with those of hMSCs of same generation, recombinant basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and alpha-MEM as control. The expression levels of bFGF, VEGF, angiopoietin-1 and angiopoietin-2 were evaluated by RT-PCR assay. The results showed that gene-modified hMSCs exhibited greatest activity to promote angiogenesis while the angiogenic response was nearly same between groups treated by hMSCs and bFGF, all of which were significantly higher than that observed in control (p < 0.01). RT-PCR analysis revealed that hMSCs constitutively expressed multiple angiogenesis-associated growth factors and their levels seemed up-regulated by HGF gene transfer. It is concluded that HGF gene-modified hMSCs show a potent angiogenesis-promoting function and may be useful in the treatment of ischemic disorders.
Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Chick Embryo ; Chickens ; Hepatocyte Growth Factor ; genetics ; Humans ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; Neovascularization, Physiologic ; genetics ; Transfection

Fibroblast growth factor-21 (FGF-21) is an important metabolism regulator, however, whether FGF-21 has effects on cardiovascular remains unclear. In this study, H2O2-induced injury in H9c2 cells was used as a cell model, the anti-apoptosis potential and mechanism of FGF-21 against oxidative injury were evaluated by MTT assay, flow cytometry assay and real-time PCR. The results showed that FGF-21 could increase the cell survival of H2O2-induced injury in H9c2 cells and prevent H9c2 cells from oxidative stress-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, FGF-21 can elevate SOD activity and regulate Bcl-2/Bax expression in H9c2 cells. The results suggest that FGF-21 have protective effect against the H2O2-induced apoptosis in H9c2 cells.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Fibroblast Growth Factors ; pharmacology ; Hydrogen Peroxide ; toxicity ; Malondialdehyde ; metabolism ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Oxidative Stress ; drug effects ; Protective Agents ; pharmacology ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; genetics ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Rats ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; genetics ; metabolism