Objective To measure the expression of Caspase-3 and P-gp in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and adjacent tissues, and to examine these two proteins' relationships with HCC clinical and pathological characteristics and the associations between the two proteins. Methods The expression of Caspase-3 and P-gp were measured in 50 HCC tissues and adjacent tissues by EnvisionTM immunohistochemistry. HCC clinic and pathological characteristics and follow-up data were also collected and analyzed. Results The expression of Caspase-3 in HCC tissues was significantly lower than that in adjacent tissues(P <0.05). The expression of Caspase-3 in HCC tissues was significantly associated with HCC's Edmonson grade and the presence of hepatitis envelope(P <0.05). On the other hand, the expression of P-gp in HCC tissues was significantly higher than that in adjacent tissues( P <0.05 ). P-gp expression in HCC tissues was significantly correlated with HCC's Edmonson grade and the presence of cirrhosis(P < 0.05 ). The expression of Caspase-3 and P-gp was negatively correlated ( r = - 0. 600,P = 0.000). A better prognosis was observed among HCC patients with either positive Caspase-3 expression or negative P-gp expression(P < 0.05). Conclusion Caspase-3 may promote apoptosis and inhibit the development of HCC, while P-gp may have an anti-apoptosis function and play a role in HCC's drug resistance. P-gp can inhibit the function of Caspase-3 and an absence or low expression of Caspase-3 may be related to apoptosis resistance and multidrug resistance.

OBJECTIVETo explore the impact and mechanism of electro-acupuncture (EA) on olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) transplantation of spinal cord injury (SCI) axonal regeneration.

METHODSIn the experiment, 72 adult Sprague Dawley male rats weighted (220±20) g underwent contusion and transection method to cause the T9 model of spinal cord injury, were randomly divided into four groups involving model group, EA group,OECs group,and EA+OECs group. 5% fluorescein gold (FG) solution of 0.5 µl was injected into rats' spinal cord at 4 weeks and 8 weeks after SCI, a series of tests were performed including fluorescein gold(FG) retrograde tagging, BBB scores.

RESULTS(1)The BBB scores level among four groups had no differences from the 1st day to the 1st week after the SCI (P>0.05). From the 3rd week after the SCI, the BBB scores level in EA+ OECs group were obviously higher than that of other groups (P<0.05). (2)The result of the fluorescein gold (FG) retrograde tagging showed at 4 weeks and 8 weeks after treatment FG positive nerve fibers were observed in SCI region. In EA+OECs group the number of FG positive nerve fibers was more than other three groups, and the fibers were more regularly arranged than other three groups.

CONCLUSIONThe combination of electro-acupuncture and OECs transplantation can recover the pathway of nerve conduction and promote nerve fibers regeneration and hind limb function recovery for SCI rat, and can guide the trend of the axonal regeneration.

Animals ; Axons ; physiology ; Cell Transplantation ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Electroacupuncture ; Humans ; Male ; Nerve Regeneration ; Olfactory Nerve ; physiopathology ; transplantation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; physiopathology ; therapy

Based on ancient literature of acupuncture in Canon of Chinese Medicine (4th edition), the articles regarding acupuncture for urinary incontinence were retrieved and collected to establish a database. By Weka data mining software, the multi-level association rules analysis method was applied to analyze the acupoints selection characteristics and rules of ancient acupuncture for treatment of urinary incontinence. Totally 356 articles of acupuncture for urinary incontinence were collected, involving 41 acupoints with a total frequency of 364. As a result, (1) the acupoints in the yin-meridian of hand and foot were highly valued, as the frequency of acupoints in yin-meridians was 2.6 times than that in yang-meridians, and the frequency of acupoints selected was the most in the liver meridian of foot-jueyin; (2) the acupoints in bladder meridian of foot-taiyang were also highly valued, and among three yang-meridians of foot, the frequency of acupoints in the bladder meridian of foot-taiyang was 54, accounting for 65.85% (54/82); (3) more acupoints selected were located in the lower limbs and abdomen; (4) specific acupoints in above meridians were mostly selected, presenting 73.2% (30/41) to the ratio of number and 79.4% (289/364) to the frequency, respectively; (5) Zhongji (CV 3), the front-mu point of bladder meridian, was seldom selected in the ancient acupuncture literature, which was different from modern literature reports. The results show that urinary incontinence belongs to external genitalia diseases, which should be treated from yin, indicating more yin-meridians be used and special acupoints be focused on. It is essential to focus inheritance and innovation in TCM clinical treatment, and applying data mining technology to ancient literature of acupuncture could provide classic theory basis for TCM clinical treatment.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; history ; China ; Data Mining ; Databases, Bibliographic ; history ; History, 15th Century ; History, 16th Century ; History, 17th Century ; History, 18th Century ; History, 19th Century ; History, 20th Century ; History, 21st Century ; History, Ancient ; History, Medieval ; Humans ; Medicine in Literature ; Urinary Incontinence ; history ; therapy

BACKGROUND: Security of organ donor attracts more attention, because donor complication and transplantation failure always occur following renal transplantation. Therefore, living-related kidney transplantation should be paid much attention in order to make sure life and quality of life. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the safety of living-related kidney transplantation. METHODS: A total of 38 cases of living relative donor kidney transplantation were retrospectively analyzed. Before transplantation, identify of patients should be determined, and all patients provided the informed consent. The general data of patients were sufficiently dialyzed before transplantation to improve the body status. TacroUmus or mixture of cyclosporine A, mycophenolate, and adrenal cortex hormone were administrated following transplantation to observe renal function, complication incidence, and acute rejection reaction. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Due to short waiting time, low price, and long-term survival rate, living-relative donor kidney transplantation has low risk factor, s for donor. However, the safety still needs to be sufficiently evaluated for donors and recipients.

Objective To evaluate the value of transvaginal color Doppler sonography(TVCD)in the conservative treatment of early tubal pregnancy(TP).Methods Fifty cases of early TP were examined by TVCD before medical treatment,including the size of TP mass,blood flows graded according to Alder,hemodynamics parameters.All data were ananlized and compared with therapeutic results.Results Fortyfive cases were treated successfully(45/50),and 5 failed.According to TVCD,TP masses flow were graded from O to Ⅲ.In the successful group,4 cases were graded 0,21 Ⅰ,16 Ⅱ and 4Ⅲ,blood flow signals were measured in 41 cases,the mean velocity was(5.452±4.327)cm/s,PI(1.597±0.696),RI 0.680±0.107.In the failure group,all TP masses flow were graded Ⅲ,the mean velocity was(16.774±9.855)cm/s,PI 0.95 1±0.193,RI 0.567±0.034.Conclusions In the medical treatment of early TP,TVCD findings associated with the treatment outcome closely,it plays an important role in assessing conservative treatment of early TP.

Objective To investigate the anti-tumor activities of cell-penetrating peptide ( CPP) - mediated trichosanthin ( TCS) , which is a recombinant protein obtained from Radix Trichosanthis. Methods Cysteine residue was introduced to the C-terminus of TCS by protein recombinant technique, and then with the newly-formed terminal as the modification site, TCS was coupled with CPP. As a target protein, CPP-mediated TCS was isolated and purified by affinity chromatography. The expression of the target protein and its responsiveness to reducing substances were detected by using the sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The cellular uptake rate of CPP-mediated TCS was determined by using cell uptake test, and its anti-tumor activity was measured by using methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay. Results The TCS-CPP compound had been successfully developed in this study, and showed certain reducing responsiveness. After modified with CPP, TCS had higher cellular uptake rate and stronger anti-tumor effect on HeLa and MCF-7 cells. Conclusion TCS modified by CPP can enhance the anti-tumor activities of TCS.

Objective To investigate the curative effect between liver resection combined with microwave ablation during operation and simple liver resection in the treatment of primary liver cancer.Methods From January 2005 to December 2013,a total of 84 patients diagnosed as primary liver cancer in our hospital were collected and divided into combination group(42 cases) and simple group(42 cases) according to the surgical method.Combination group were treated by combining liver resection with microwave ablation during operation,simple group by simple liver resection.Results The intraoperative blood loss for combination group was (323.9 ± 93.1) ml and simple group was (524.5 ± 119.2) ml,P ＜ 0.05.postoperative tumor recurrence rate for combination group was 14.2％ and simple group was 33.3％,P =0.040.1-,3-,and 5-year survival rate for combination group was 96.5％,67％ and 51％,and simple group was 84％,49.5％ and 36.5％,P =0.036.The differences of the above parameters between the two groups were statistically significant.The operation time for combination group was (177.7 ± 30.7) min and simple group was (165.1 ± 29.5) min,P =0.058.The postoperative hospital stay for combination group was (15.5 ± 3.7) d and simple group was (14.0 ± 4.0) d,P =0.068.The changes of ALT,AST,ALB,TBIL on the first postoperative day and the incidence of postoperative complications (including bile leakage,fever,pleural effusion,blooding,abdominal infection and some others) between the two groups had no statistical significances (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion The curative effects of liver resection combined with microwave ablation during operation are superior to pure liver resection in the treatment of primary liver cancer.

OBJECTIVETo characterize the genetic background of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) from China, and the population structure of this pathogen.

METHODSA previously reported MLST scheme was applied to a collection of 33 multidrug-resistant strains of A. baumannii from China, and the data of all the strains in the A. baumannii MLST database were downloaded for the population structure analysis. The sequence types and clonal complexes were identified, the presence or absence of recombination was analyzed for each MLST locus, and the values of I(A)(S), and recombination/mutation ratio were calculated for the whole strain collection. A phylogenetic tree was constructed using all the allelic profiles in the database.

RESULTSA total of six sequence types were identified from the 33 Chinese strains tested, and 29 of these strains belonged to the CC92 clonal complex. Three (gdhB, gpi, and rpoD) of the seven MLST loci (gltA, gyrB, recA, cpn60, gdhB, gpi, rpoD) had undergone recombination with statistical evidence. For all allele profiles in the MLST database, the I(A)(S) value was 0.155 and the recombination/mutation ratio was 6.083. Sequence types from each clonal complex were grouped closely in the phylogenetic tree, which gave an overview of the microevolution of this pathogen.

CONCLUSIONThe spread of multidrug-resistant A. baumannii in China was closely related to the CC92 clonal complex. A. baumannii had an 'epidemic' population structure, i.e., a superficially clonal structure with high levels of recombination, in which successful epidemic clones arise especially including worldwide dissemination of the CC92 clonal complex to cause a widespread occurrence of multidrug-resistant infections.

Acinetobacter baumannii ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Bacterial Typing Techniques ; China ; Cluster Analysis ; DNA, Bacterial ; genetics ; Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial ; Genetic Variation ; Genetics, Population ; Molecular Epidemiology ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Multilocus Sequence Typing ; Phylogeny

OBJECTIVETo observe the harmful effects of oxygen free radicals and the protective roles of Tiopronin in severely scalded rats after delayed fluid resuscitation.

METHODSRats inflicted with 30% III degree scald on the back were employed as the model. They were divided into delayed resuscitation (D) and Tiopronin treatment (T) groups. The changes in superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malonyldialdehyde (MDA) in plasma and subeschar fluid were determined at 24 to 48 postburn hours (PBHs) by means of electron spin resonance (ESR) technique and other routine methods. And the pathomorphological changes in the heart, liver, kidneys and small intestine, and changes in the blood biochemical indices were simultaneously determined. Normal rats were taken as control group (N).

RESULTSThe plasma SOD level was was lower than that in N group, while the MDA content in plasma and subeschar fluid in D group was much higher than that in N group. Changes in all the blood biochemical and internal organ pathomorphology were more obvious in the D group. on the other hand, the rat plasma SOD level in T group increased obviously (P < 0.01) while the MDA contents was decreased in T group (P < 0.05) when compared with those rats of D group. In addition, the internal organ pathomorphology and blood biochemical indices were improved evidently in T group.

CONCLUSIONOxidative stress injury was evoked in severely scalded rats after delayed fluid resuscitation, and it could be protected to some extent by Tiopronin.

Animals ; Burns ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Female ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; blood ; Oxidative Stress ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism ; Superoxide Dismutase ; blood ; Tiopronin ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use

Objective To explore the correlation between serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) X antigen/antibody (HBxAg-wild/HBxAb-wild,and HBxAg-mutant/HBxAb-mutant) and the disease progression in patients with chronic HBV infection.Methods A direct enzyme immunosorbent asssay (ELISA) was performed to detect HBxAb using recombinant antigen,and a double antibody sandwich ELISA assay to detect HBxAg using monoclonal antibody and specific rabbit polyclonal antibody.HBxAg-wild/HBxAb-wild and HBxAg-mutant/HBxAb-mutant were tested in sera from cases at different stages of chronic HBV infection.A chi-square test was employed to examine statistical significance.Results The positive rates of HBxAg-wild and HBxAg-mutant in the chronic asymptomatic HBV carriers,chronic hepatitis,hepatitis B-related cirrhosis and liver cancer were 6.2％ (2/32),10.7％ (3/28),28.6％ (6/21),43.6％ (17/39) and 3.1％ (1/32),10.7％ (3/28),33.3％ (7/21),48.7％ (19/39),respectively.The positive rates of HBxAb-wild and HBxAb-mutant in the above mentioned groups were 6.2％ (2/32),21.4％ (6/28),38.1％ (8/21),53.8％ (21/39)and 6.2％ (2/32),25.0％ (7/28),42.9％ (9/21),61.5％ (24/39) respectively.The positive rates of HBxAg-wild and HBxAg-mutant were not significantly different among the above groups (x2 =0.871,0.780,0.565 and 0.317,respectively; all P＞0.05) ; The positive rates of HBxAb-wild and HBxAb-mutant were also similar among all the groups (x2 =0.780,0.709,0.580 and 0.210,respectively; all P＞0.05).The positive rates of HBxAg-wild,HBxAb-wild,HBxAg-mutant,HBxAb-mutant in patients with low viral loads (HBV DNA＜1 × 104 copy/mL) were 36.5％ (23/63),44.4％ (28/63),42.9％ (27/63) and 54.0％ (34/63),respectively,those in patients with high viral loads (HBVDNA≥1×104 copy/mL) were 8.8％ (5/57),15.8％ (9/57),5.3％ (3/57) and 14.0％ (8/57),respectively.The positive rates of HBxAg and HBxAb were significantly higher in cases with low viral loads than those with high viral loads (x2 =12.869,11.522,22.556 and 20.976,respectively; all P＜0.05).The positive rates of HBxAg-wild,HBxAb-wild,HBxAg-mutant,HBxAb-mutant in the HBeAg positive group were 21.7％ (18/83),30.1％ (25/83),22.9％ (19/83) and 32.5％ (27/83),respectively,while those in the HBeAg negative group were 27.0％ (10/37),32.4％ (12/37),29.7％ (11/37) and 40.5％ (15/37),respectively.No significant difference of HBxAg/HBxAb positive rates between HBeAg positive group and HBeAg negative group was noticed (x2 =0.408,0.064,0.638 and 0.722,respectively; all P＞0.05).Conclusions The antigenicity and specificity of HBV X protein remains similar after the occurrence of A1762T/G1764A double mutant in X gene.It is also found that the positive rates of HBxAg and HBxAb increase with disease progression.HBxAg/HBxAb might be promoting factors for tumorigenesis in chronic HBV infection.HBxAg and HBxAb might have negative influence on HBV replication.