Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing ; genetics ; B-Cell CLL-Lymphoma 10 Protein ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 11 ; genetics ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 18 ; genetics ; Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; methods ; Lymphoma, B-Cell, Marginal Zone ; genetics ; Paraffin Embedding ; Translocation, Genetic

OBJECTIVETo determine the distribution and virologic characteristics of HBV genotypes, sub-type and possible association with the severity of liver disease.

METHODS884 patients infected with HBV were enrolled from 8 provinces in China. HBV genotype and sub-type was determined, using PCR-RFLP method.

RESULTSThe most common HBV genotypes were B (20.77% ) and C (78.22 % ) but only 1 patient showed genotypes D. We found sub-type Ba in patients with genotype B, C1 and C2 sub-type in patients with genotype C. Genotype C (83.62%) and sub-type C2 (90.32%) were predominant in northern China. Patients with genotype B were much younger than those with genotype C. There was no significant difference between patients with sub-type C1 and C2. There was no significant difference in liver function and serum HBV-DNA load between patients with genotype B and C,or between patients with sub type C1 and C2. However, hepatic inflammation and fibrosis score in patients with genotype B were significantly lower than those with genotype C.

CONCLUSIONThere were no significantly differences in liver function and HBV-DNA load between patients with genotype B and C, or between patients with sub-type C1 and C2. Hepatic inflammation and fibrosis score in patients with genotype B were significantly lower than those with genotype C. Genotype C/sub-type C2 were preponderance in northern China.

Adult ; Aged ; China ; Female ; Genotype ; Hepatitis B ; physiopathology ; virology ; Hepatitis B virus ; classification ; genetics ; immunology ; isolation & purification ; physiology ; Humans ; Liver ; immunology ; physiopathology ; virology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Viral Load ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the immediate effect of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) by Doppler tissue imaging (DTI), tissue synchronization imaging (TSI) and tissue tracking imaging (TTI) in patients with congestive heart failure.

METHODSTen patients with congestive heart failure who had cardiac resynchronization therapy were enrolled. The TSI and TTI imaging were performed by GE vivid 7 with M3s probe. The TTI image was obtained in diastole to determine delayed longitude contraction (DLC). The left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), the percentage of delayed longitude contraction segments (DLC), the standard deviation of the time to peak myocardial systolic contraction of 16 segments (Ts-SD), the standard deviation of the time to peak myocardial diastole of 16 segments (Td-SD), the systolic velocity of right ventricule (RV-Sm) and the average systolic velocity of mitral valve annulus (LV-Sm) were measured. The intraventricular dyssynchrony could be semi-quantified by TSI as 4 (red), 3 (orange), 2 (yellow), 1 (green), and the average value of 16 segments was defined as the TSI index. The immediate changes of these parameters were investigated when the pacemaker was turned on and off. The correlation of the Ts and TSI index was also analyzed.

RESULTSWhen the pacemaker was on, the LVEF improved significantly from (37 +/- 11.30)% to (46 +/- 10.10)% (P < 0.01), and LV-Sm increased significantly from (3.16 +/- 0.87) cm/s to (3.76 +/- 0.74) cm/s (P < 0.01), RV-Sm increased significantly from (6.79 +/- 1.78) cm/s to (7.75 +/- 1.92) cm/s (P < 0.01). DLCs decreased significantly from (35 +/- 6.04)% to (18.13 +/- 9.97)% (P < 0.01), Ts-SD decreased from (83.97 +/- 33.02) ms to (52.67 +/- 19.65) ms, P < 0.05, Td-SD decreased from (87.81 +/- 22.34) ms to (63.45 +/- 31.49) ms, P < 0.05 and TSI index reduced from 2.11 +/- 0.15 to 1.60 +/- 0.33 (P < 0.01) respectively. In addition, the reduction of TSI index correlated significantly with that of Ts-SD (r = 0.75, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSCRT could immediately improve the systolic and diastolic synchrony of the left ventricle and ventricular function. TSI and TTI may be as the new effective modalities to assess the mechanical dyssynchrony. TSI index was direct and reliable in this study.

Aged ; Cardiac Pacing, Artificial ; Echocardiography, Doppler, Color ; Female ; Heart Failure ; diagnostic imaging ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

OBJECTIVETo analyze the genetic polymorphism of 6 short tandem repeat (STR) loci on chromosome 7p14-15 and 8 STR loci on chromosome 12q13 in Chinese north Hans.

METHODSFluorescence-labeling polymerase chain reaction and capillary electrophoresis were used to analyze the genetic polymorphism of 100 randomly selected individuals from Chinese north Han nationality at 6 STR loci (D7S1808, D7S2250, D7S2251, D7S683, D7S656 and D7S528) on chromosome 7p14-15 and 8 STR loci(D12S1056, D12S1293, D12S83, D12S1655, D12S1662, D12S334, D12S137 and D12S102) on chromosome 12q13.

RESULTSIn the Chinese north Han population, 7 alleles and 24 genotypes, 8 alleles and 27 genotypes, 7 alleles and 22 genotypes, 4 alleles and 10 genotypes, 6 alleles and 17 genotypes, 5 alleles and 13 genotypes were observed at D7S1808, D7S2250, D7S2251, D7S683, D7S656 and D7S528. The heterozygosities at the above 6 STR loci were 86%, 88%, 83%, 79%, 85% and 80%, respectively. Five alleles and 15 genotypes, 5 alleles and 15 genotypes, 8 alleles and 29 genotypes, 6 alleles and 17 genotypes, 6 alleles and 17 genotypes, 6 alleles and 19 genotypes, 5 alleles and 13 genotypes, 7 alleles and 24 genotypes were observed at D12S1056, D12S1293, D12S83, D12S1655, D12S1662, D12S334, D12S137 and D12S102. The heterozygosities at the above 8 STR loci were 86%, 84%, 87%, 82%, 84%, 85%, 81% and 89%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe distributions of allele frequencies of 6 STR loci on chromosome 7p14-15 and of 8 STR loci on chromosome 12q13 were consistent with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The highly genetic polymorphism was observed in Chinese north Han population.

Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; China ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 12 ; genetics ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 7 ; genetics ; Humans ; Microsatellite Repeats ; genetics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the role of homozygosity mapping in the fine mapping of the genes responsible for the rare autosomal recessive diseases.

METHODSPolymerase chain reaction-single sequence length polymorphism was used to genotype the family members from 8 families with osteoporosis-pseudoglioma syndrome(OPS) for 14 polymorphic loci within candidate region. The OPS candidate region was narrowed by searching for homozygous region in affected.

RESULTSThe OPS candidate region was narrowed to a 1 cM interval between D11S1296 and D11S4136.

CONCLUSIONHomozygosity mapping is a powerful method for mapping and narrowing the candidate region of the genes responsible for the rare autosomal recessive diseases.

Abnormalities, Multiple ; genetics ; pathology ; Chromosome Mapping ; methods ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 11 ; genetics ; Eye Diseases ; pathology ; Family Health ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; genetics ; Homozygote ; Humans ; Male ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Osteogenesis Imperfecta ; pathology ; Pedigree ; Syndrome

Heishui county, located in northwest Sichuan province, southwestern China, is an endemic area of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and is the most intractable area. VL is never destroyed in it. Asymptomatic dogs (Leishmania parasites have been diagnosed but clinically healthy) are considered to be a potential reservoir host in zoonotic VL area, and most can lead to infection of individuals, that is a new challenge for controlling VL in humans. The present study aimed to assess the Leishmania infection rate of asymptomatic dogs in Heishui county. Total 105 asymptomatic domestic dogs were gathered from 4 districts in Heishui county to investigate the infection rate with serological and molecular methods based on ELISA and kinetoplast minicircle DNA(kDNA) PCR, respectively. Out of 105 dogs, 44 (41.9%) were positive by more than 1 method; 21 (20.0%) were positive by ELISA, and 30 (28.6%) were positive by kDNA-PCR. Our study showed that Leishmania infection of domestic dogs which is clinically healthy is prevalent in the studied district, and the asymptomatic dogs infected by Leishmania may be the primary reason for the prevalence of visceral leishmaniasis in the area.
Animals ; China* ; Dogs* ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Epidemiology ; Humans ; Leishmania* ; Leishmaniasis, Visceral* ; Methods ; Parasites ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence

OBJECTIVETo explore the causes of the formation of traumatic carotid-cavernous fistulas and the therapeutic effect of detachable balloon and/or coil embolization and the prevention of its complications.

METHODSFrom October, 1992 to March, 2002, 17 patients with traumatic carotid-cavernous fistulas were treated with detachable balloon and/or coil embolization in our hospital. The clinical data and imaging features of CT, MR and selective angiogram of these patients were analyzed.

RESULTSOne week after treatment with embolization, the clinical symptoms of the 17 patients were remitted, and optic cacophony, nystagmus, exophthalmos and dropsy of conjunctiva disappeared. Two patients manifested surgical complications, one patient died. Sixteen patients survived. They were all followed up for more than 2 years, which showed one patient had handicap in movement, and in one patient the signs and symptoms of traumatic carotid-cavernous fistulas reoccurred 2 months after treatment.

CONCLUSIONSThe detachable balloon and/or coil embolization is safe and reliable. It is a good method to treat traumatic carotid-cavernous fistulas.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Angiography, Digital Subtraction ; Balloon Occlusion ; adverse effects ; instrumentation ; methods ; Carotid-Cavernous Sinus Fistula ; diagnosis ; mortality ; therapy ; China ; Embolization, Therapeutic ; adverse effects ; instrumentation ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Injury Severity Score ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Prospective Studies ; Risk Assessment ; Sampling Studies ; Survival Rate ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Treatment Outcome ; Wounds, Penetrating ; complications

AIM:To explore the role of Sirt1/eNOS signalling pathway in the protective effect of hydrogen sul-phide(H2S)against endothelial cell senescence induced by high glucose.METHODS:High glucose(33 mmol/L)was applied to induce senescence in primary human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVECs).The cell viability,the propor-tion of senescence-associated β-galactosidase(SA-β-Gal)positive cells and the plasminogen activator inhibitor 1(PAI-1) expression were detected to assess the senescence model.Mean while,Sirt1 siRNA was used to examine the effect of Sirt 1 on eNOS expression and the senescence-related parameters.RESULTS: Treatment of HUVECs with high glucose de-creased the cell viability slowly with a larger proportion of the cells stained with SA-β-Gal, and the protein expression of PAI-1 was dramatically increased.The increased cell viability,reduced SA-β-Gal positive cells and decreased protein ex-pression of PAI-1 were detected after sodium hydrosulfide(NaHS,100 μmol/L)treatment.Furthermore,NaHS treatment upregulated the protein expression of Sirt 1 and eNOS,and eventually increased the production of nitric oxide(NO).CON-CLUSION:Exogenous H2S modulates Sirt1/eNOS/NO pathway to prevent HUVECs against high glucose-induced senes-cence.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the short-term efficacy and security of whole body hyperthermia (WBH) combined with chemotherapy for advanced cancer. METHODS: Different chemotherapy regimens were applied in 138 patients with advanced cancer. Among them, 68 patients (Group A) didn't receive any other therapies. The other 70 patients (Group B) received WBH together with chemotherapy. WBH was maintained at 40 degrees C approximately 42 degrees C for 50 approximately 60 min (once or twice every week and 4 times a cycle). RESULTS: In Group A, the rate of complete remission (CR) was 2.9%, partial remission (PR) was 36.8%, stable disease was 35.3%, progressive disease was 25.0%, the overall response rate (CR + PR) was 39.7%; while in Group B, the corresponding figures were 5.7%, 52.9%, 25.7%, 25.0%, and 58.6%, respectively. There was significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05). The rates of III + IV gastrointestinal tract andmyelosuppression toxicities were 26.5% and 16.2% in Group A, while 27.1% and 18.6% in Group B. No significant difference was found. CONCLUSION WBH combined with chemotherapy is efficient and safe for advanced cancer, and is worth generalizing extensively.
Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperthermia, Induced ; Lung Neoplasms ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; therapy ; Stomach Neoplasms ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome

Catheter Ablation ; methods ; Coronary Sinus ; surgery ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Tachycardia, Atrioventricular Nodal Reentry ; pathology ; surgery