Objective To investigate antibiotic resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains isolated from female patients. Methods:Antimicrobial susceptibility of N.gonorrhoeae to 7 antibiotics was tested by disk diffusion method and penicillinase- producing N.gonorrhea(PPNG)was confirmed by nitrocefin disk.Results:Of the 95 strains collected,38(40%)were found to be PPNG.No resistance to spectinomycin was identified.The susceptibility rate of these isolates to penicillin,tetracycline, and ciprofloxacin were much lower,only from 0% to 2.6%.More than 90% of the isolates were susceptible to cefuroxime, ceftriaxone,and ceftizoxime.Conclusions:Our study suggests that spectinomycin,cefuroxime,ceftriaxone,ceftizoxime are the first choice for treatment of gonorrhea in female patients.

urpose To investigate apoptosis in vitrectomy specimens of proliferative vitreoretinopathy. Methods Vitrectomy specimens from 60 cases of different classes of proliferative vitreoretinopathy were studied by TdTmediated dUTP nick end labelling(TUNEL)method. Results The characteristic change of apoptosis was observed in all vitrectomy specimens.The amount of apoptotic nonpigmentary cell is gradually decreasing along with the development of proliferative vitreoretinopathy,and apoptotic pigmentary cells are observed. Conclusion There are different kinds of apoptosis cell in vitrectomy specimens of proliferative vitreoretinopathy.It is suggested that apoptosis might be one of the important mechanisms of regulating the degree in proliferative vitreoretinopathy.

There have been many methods to prepare fluoroquinolones-loaded sustained-release chitosan microspheres, including precipitation, emulsion crosslinking, spray-drying, and ionic gelation. Each of them has its own merits and disadvantages, but the mechanisms underlying drug delivery are basically similar. The prepared drug microspheres can enhance the capacity of anti-fluoroquinolones-resistant bacteria and are primarily used in the anti-inflammation and anti-infection. This paper introduces the preparation methods and sustained drug delivery mechanisms of fluoroquinolones-loaded sustained-release chitosan microspheres and investigates drug delivery characteristics and applications by analyzing, sorting, and summarizing related manuscripts published recently. Fluoroquinolones-loaded sustained-release chitosan microspheres show satisfactory sustained-release and anti-bacterial properties. Therefore, it is of important scientific research and clinical application significance to develop fluoroquinolones-loaded sustained-release nanometer-sized chitosan microspheres.

Chitosan microsphere containing fluoroquinolones is a kind of novel sustained-released antibacterial agent that possesses the antibacterial and bacteriostatic property of chitosan as well as bactericidal properties of fluoroquinolones. Loading fluoroquinolones in the chitosan microsphere can greatly enhance its antibacterial, bactericidal, anti-inflammation and anti-infection characteristics. This paper reviewes the recent study on different preparation methods of chitosan mierosphere containing fluoroqninolones and discusses its applications.

ObjectiveTo observe changes of calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) and aetylcholinesterase (AChE) in motor endplate (MEP) after complete spinal cord injury (SCI) in the rat.MethodsSCI model of Wistar rats were established by transecting T10 spinal cord completely. The venters of the tibial anterior muscle were taken at 1, 2, 4 and 8 weeks postoperatively to carry out the experiment.The changes of CGRP and AChE in the MEP were investigated with immunohistochemical test.ResultsAfter complete SCI, the quantity and distribution of CGRP decreased in MEP of 1-week sample, and the changes of AChE were observed until 4-week sample, and although the staining was light and sparse, CGRP and AChE existed in MEP during 2 months postoperatively.ConclusionThere is degeneration of MEP in skeletal muscle after upper motor neuron injury; CGRP and AChE are related to the degeneration of MEP; CGRP test can show the changes of MEP earlier.

Objective To observe the effect of tilting table exercise and shengmaiyin on alpha 1 adrenogenic receptor (α1AR) in the superior mesenteric artery after spinal cord injury (SCI) in rabbits.Methods 46 rabbits were randomly divided into the sham group (n=6), SCI group (n=10), shenmaiyin group (n=10), exercise group (n=10) and combined treatment (shenmaiyin plus exercise) group (n=10). The rabbit model of SCI was established by complete transection of spinal cord at the T5 spinal segment. Tilting table exercise and shengmaiyin were applied to different groups for 28 days from 4 days after operation. The expression of α1aAR,α1bAR,α1dAR mRNA in the superior mesenteric artery was detected by RT-PCR at 31d after SCI.Results The mRNA expressions of α1aAR, α1bAR, α1dAR subtypes increased to different extent in rabbits of the shengmaiyin group, exercise group and combined treatment group compared with those of SCI group.Conclusion The role of tilting table exercise and shengmaiyin improving orthostatic hypotension after SCI in rabbits may be related to up-regulation of α1aAR, α1bAR, α1dAR mRNA in the superior mesenteric artery.

ObjectiveTo develop an experimental model of orthostatic hypotension (OH) after spinal cord injury (SCI) in rabbits and investigate the effect of tilting table exercise and Shengmaiyin on it. MethodsRabbit model of OH after SCI were induced by complete transection of spinal cord at the T5 spinal segment and raised to 60° head up tilt (HUT) on a tilting table. Tilting table exercise and Shengmaiyin were applied to different groups for 28 d from 4 days after operation. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and pulse rate (PR) were observed with non-invasive sphygmobolometer of rabbit 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 d after the operation. Liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection(HPLC-ECD) was used to detect the concentrations of plasma norepinephrine (NE) and epinephrine(E) with horizontal position and HUT 60° on the 31st day. ResultsSBP with HUT 60° in rabbits of combined treatment group was significantly higher than that in rabbits of SCI group on the 24th day after operation,and the drop in SBP from horizontal position to HUT60° was significantly lower than that in rabbits of SCI group. SBP with HUT 60° in rabbits of exercise group and combined treatment group was significantly higher than that in rabbits of SCI group on the 31st day after operation. The drop in SBP from horizontal position to HUT 60° was significantly lower in rabbits of Shengmaiyin group, exercise group and combined treatment group than that in rabbits of SCI group on the 31st day after operation. The concentration of E and NE of SCI group, Shengmaiyin group, exercise group and combined treatment group was lower than that of sham group, but there was no significant difference among these groups. ConclusionThe treatment with tilting table exercise and Shengmaiyin can improve OH after SCI partially in rabbits without involving norepinephrine and epinephrine significantly. The period of treatment can be shorten when both therapies used together.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of Actinidia chinensis Planch polysaccharide (ACPS) on the growth and apoptosis of human gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells, and to explore the effect of SGC-7901 cells on p-p38 expression.

METHODSThe inhibition rates at different concentrations of ACPS on SGC-7901 cells at 24, 48, and 72 h were detected using CCK-8 method. Apoptosis ratios in SGC-7901 were determined by flow cytometry after 48-h treatment of different concentrations of ACPS. The expression of pro-caspase-9, PARP, and p-p38 in SGC-7901 cells after treated by different concentrations of ACPS was detected using Western blot. The expression of pro-caspase-9, PARP, and p-p38 was detected after SGC-7901 cells were pre-treated by p38 specific inhibitor.

RESULTSCompared with the control group, the optical density of SGC-7901 cells decreased after treated by 1, 2.5, 5, and 10 mg/mL ACPS (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the longer the acting time, the lower the optic density (P < 0.01). IC50 was 7.43 mg/mL at 24 h; 3.88 mg/mL at 48 h, and 1.32 mg/mL at 72 h respectively. ACPS suppressed the protein expression of pro-caspase-9 (P < 0.01) and up-regulated the expression of PARP (89KD) (both P < 0.01). Further study showed that the protein expression of p-p38 was up-regulated in SGC-7901 cells treated by ACPS of different concentrations at 24 h (P < 0.05). The expression of phosphorylation p38 and the ACPS induced apoptosis of SGC-7901 cells could be inhibited after treated by specific inhibitor for 2 h.

CONCLUSIONSACPS could inhibit the growth of SGC-7901 cells and induce apoptosis. The underlying mechanism of inducing apoptosis was partially due to activating the p38MAPK path and further activating Caspase9 and PARP, finally leading to cell death.

Actinidia ; chemistry ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Caspase 9 ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Humans ; Poly (ADP-Ribose) Polymerase-1 ; Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases ; metabolism ; Polysaccharides ; pharmacology ; Stomach Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; metabolism

Objective To evaluate the parametric features of image textures on 18F-FDG PET/CT for the differentiation between malignant and benign pulmonary nodules and compare the diagnostic performance of these parameters with SUVmax.Methods 18F-FDG PET/CT images of 170 patients (102 males,68 females,age range:29-81 (mean 59)years) with pulmonary nodules were retrospectively evaluated.Eightynine pulmonary nodules (230 slices) were malignant and 81 (193 slices) were benign.The pulmonary nodules were contoured on CT images and mapped to the co-registered PET images.Thirteen parameters of textural features were extracted and SUVmax was measured.Logistic regression analysis was used to identify the significant texture parameters and create a regression model.The efficacy of the textural features and SUVmax to distinguish between malignant and benign pulmonary nodules was evaluated by ROC curve analysis.The textural features of squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma were compared via the Mann-Whitney u test.The sensitivity and specificity of the textural features and SUVmax for the differential diagnosis were compared with x2 test.Results Logistic regression model identified 4 textural features (skewness (β =1.7058),kurtosis (β =-1.0989),angular second moment (ASM,3 =-4.4140) and strength (β =0.5626) ; all P ＜ 0.05) to have significant correlation with the malignancy of lung nodules.The AUC of ROC curve was 0.775 (95％ CI0.732-0.819; P＜0.001) with the sensitivity of 89.6％ (206/230) and specificity of 50.8％ (98/193).ASM and strength had statistically significant differences between squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma [ASM:0.0303 (95％ CI 0.0392-0.0724) vs 0.0594 (95％ CI 0.0721-0.0947) ; strength:2.4714 (95％ CI 2.4632-4.1050) vs 1.5945 (95％ CI 1.9003-2.4652) ; u =3082.0 and 3115.0,both P＜0.01].The AUC of SUVmax-based diagnosis was 0.757 (95％ CI 0.711-0.802 ; P ＜ 0.001) with the sensitivity of 80.9 ％ (186/230) and specificity of 50.3 ％ (97/193) at a cut-off value of 2.5.The sensitivity of the textural features was superior to SUVmax in differentiating malignant from benign pulmonary nodules (x2 =6.903,P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions Image textural parametric features extracted from 18 F-FDG PET/CT are more sensitive to differentiate between malignant and benign pulmonary nodules compared to SUVmax.They might also be useful to discriminate between different pathological types of lung cancers.

BACKGROUND: Transfection is the most important beginning component of research about gene function. It is a problem to find a transfection agent with high efficiency and safety. Nanosized materials have high surface activity, are easy to be modified and easier to pass the biomembrane. Researchers are studying how to use nanosized materials as a transfection agent.OBJECTIVE: To study the transfection efficiency of different basic polymers with different molecular mass and degree of substitute, and to find the optimized transfection agent.DESIGN: Controlled study.SETTING: Institute of Genetic Engineering, Southern Medical University.METHODS: This study was performed in the Institute of Genetic Engineering, Southern Medical University from March 2006 to June 2007. Using the lipofectamine reagent as the positive control, we transfected siRNA (0.2 nmol/L), FITC-labeling targeting bcl-2, by nine nanometers (polylactic acid-polyglycolic acid, chitosan-poly-caprolactone, polyethyleneimin-macrogol) into leukemic cell K562 cultured without serum. Six hours post-transfection, 20% FBS serum was added. The cell proliferation was measured at 24, 48 and 72 hours by using the MTT method. After transfecting for 48 hours, the cells were collected to detect transfection ratio by using fluorescent microscopy, apoptosis ratio and expression of K562 and bcl-2 protein by flow cytometer (FCM). RESULTS: ① Fluorescence microscope detection showed there were significant differences of transfection efficiency between different materials (P < 0.05). Moreover there were statistical differences between different degrees of substitute, although they were the same material (P < 0.05). ② MTT method indicated the cell proliferation ratio was positively related to transfection ratio. ③ Flow cytometry results showed the suppression of expression of targeting gene and apoptosis ratio were positive correlated with transfection ratio. CONCLUSION:The nanometer poly-ethylene glycol combined with poly-ethylene imine (PEG-PEI), whose molecular mass is 1 800/2 000 and degree of substitute is 29%, has a high efficiency and low toxicity.