Objective To explore the role of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1(PAI-1)in development of progressive fibrosis via the inhibition of extracellular matrix degradation,and to reveal the contributive role of PAI-1 in muscular dystrophy(MD).Methods Expression and cellular localization of PAI-1 protein were examined in frozen muscle specimens obtained via biopsy from 5 patients with duchenne muscular dystrophy(DMD),3 patients with becker muscular dystrophy(BMD),9 patients with congenital muscular dystrophy(CMD) and 4 cases with normal muscle by immunohistochemistry,double immunofluorescence and Western-blot analysis.Results PAI-1 was positive only in vascular endothelial cells of normal muscle.Both immunohistochemistry and Western-blot analysis showed that PAI-1 expression distinctly increased in most dystrophic muscles of MD than that in normal muscles.Double immunolabeling revealed that PAI-1 strongly expressed in cytoplasm and nuclei of regenerating muscle fibers,macrophages,macrophage infiltrating necrotic fibers.Some activated fibroblasts in endomysium and perimysium of DMD and CMD muscles were positive for PAI-1.Conclusions The functional consequence of overexpression of PAI-1 in dystrophic muscles is unknown but the elevated local expression of PAI-1 in diseased muscles of MD and their distinct distribution pattern provide evidence that PAI-1 participate in pathogenesis of MD.

Mutagenesis and screening of hydrogen-producing photosynthetic bacteria,Rhodobacter sp.R7 strain,was investigated by using the combination mutation of ultraviolet ray and LiCl and layer plating methods.A carotenoid mutant named R726 strain was obtained.The plate phenotype properties in carotenoid mutant were different from that of parent strains.Living cells spectra showed that absorption peak of 550 nm was appeared in carotenoid mutant,but not in parent strain.The absorption spectra of extraction of pigment further confirmed the difference of carotenoid composition between the mutant and parent strains.The result of TLC on silica gel plate showed that mutant has a lack of yellow carotenoid composition which occurs in parent strain.H_2 productivity and biomass in carotenoid mutant was higher than that of parent strain.These results revealed that mutant has a modified carotenoid biosynthesis pathway.

OBJECTIVETuberculosis remains a severe public health issue, and the Beijing family of mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) is widespread in East Asia, especially in some areas in China, like Beijing and Tianjin. This study aimed at determining the mutation patterns of drug-resistant Beijing strains of M. tuberculosis isolated from Tianjin, China.

METHODSA total of 822 M. tuberculosis isolates were screened for drug resistance by an absolute concentration method and the genotype was identified by PCR. 169 drug-resistant isolates of the Beijing family were analyzed for the potential mutations in the rpoB, katG, inhA promoter region and in rpsL, rrs and embB genes, which are associated with resistance to rifampin (RFP), isoniazid (INH), streptomycin (SM) and ethambutol (EMB) respectively by PCR and DNA sequencing.

RESULTSFifty-eight out of 63 RFP-resistant isolates were found to carry the mutations within the 81-bp RFP resistance determining region (RRDR) of the rpoB gene and the most frequent mutations occurred at codon 531 (44.4%), 526 (28.6%), and 516 (7.9%) respectively. 16 mutation patterns affecting 12 different codons around the RRDR of rpoB were found. Of 116 INH-resistant isolates, 56 (48.3%) had the mutation of katG 315 (AGC-->ACC) (Ser-->Thr), 3 (2.6%) carried S315N (AGC-->AAC) and 27 (16.0%) had the mutation of inhA-15A-->T. 84 out of 122 SM-resistant isolates (68.9%) displayed mutations at the codons 43 or 88 with AAG-->AGG (Lys-->Arg) of the rpsL gene and 22 (18.0%) with the mutations at positions 513A-->C, 516C-->T or 905 A-->G in the rrs gene. Of 34 EMB-resistant isolates, 6 had mutation with M306V (ATG-->GTG), 3 with M306I (ATG-->ATT), 1 with M306I (ATG-->ATA), 1 with D328Y (GAT-->TAT), 1 with V348L (GTC-->CTC), and 1 with G406S (GGC-->AGC) in the embB gene.

CONCLUSIONThese novel findings extended our understanding of resistance-related mutations in the Beijing strains of M. tuberculosis and may provide a scientific basis for development of new strategies for diagnosis and control of tuberculosis in China and other countries where Beijing strains are prevalent.

Objective To assess the safety and efficacy of fenofibrate-atorvastatin combination therapy on mixed hyperlipidemia.Methods The databases of Cochrane Library, PubMed, WanFang, CNKI, CBM and VIP were retrieved with computers.Results There were totally 15 randomized contolled trials enrolled, involving 1980 cases.The results showed that the influence of combination therapy on TC, TG and HDL-C was much more significant than monotherapy and incidence of liver -associated adverse events and muscle -associated adverse events and total adverse events induced by combination therapy had no statistical difference compared with monotherapy.Besides, subgroup analysis indi-cated that the safety of fenofibrate plus standard-dose atorvastatin regi-men was similar to that of fenofibrate plus low-dose atorvastatin regimen [standard -dose: SMD =1.13, 95%CI(0.57, 2.24),P >0.05];low-dose:SMD=1.50, 95%CI(0.94, 2.39),P>0.05];the effects of fenofibrate combined with atorvastatin therapy significantly on the levels of TC and TG, and HDL -C were much more significant than monotherapy [SMD =-11.10, 95%CI( -18.44,3.77), P <0.05;SMD=-1.20, 95%CI(-1.28,1.12), P<0.05;SMD=0.694, 95%CI ( 0.587, 0.801 ) , P <0.05 ].Conclusion Fenofibrate combined with standard/low-dose atorvastatin treatment on mixed hyperlipidemia is generally safe and effective.

Objective To establish a simple and specific method for the determination of rhaponticin in Rhei Radix et Rhizoma. Methods A comparison of the methods of polyamide, silica gel TLC and HPLC in the determination of rhaponticin was studied to investigate the optimum way to identify authentic Rhei Radix et Rhizoma. Results The durability of polyamide and silica gel TLC method for the determination of rhaponticin in Rhei Radix et Rhizoma was poor. HPLC method was more suitable for the detection of rhaponticin. Conclusion HPLC method is accurate and reliable, and can be used for the quality control of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and provide references for the authenticity of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma.

Objective To examine HIV prevalence and related risk factors among men who have sex with men(MSM) in Chongqing, and to explore the feasibility of using respondent-driven sampling (RDS) in the survey. Methods Based on results from formative research, a RDS survey was designed and conducted to collect demographic, behavioral and serologic data. RDSAT was used to calculate point estimation and confidence intervals. SPSS was used for bi-variate analysis using RDSAT exported weighed data. NETDRAW was used to draw network diagram. Results Among 617 subjects recruited, the adjusted HIV and syphilis prevalence rates were 16.8% and 10.9%, respectively. 73.0% of the subjects were 20 to 29 years old and 72.9% were officially registered residents of Chongqing. 83.4% were single, with the proportion of students the highest, accounting for 24.6%. During the last six months, 83.4% of them reported ever having anal sex, and 54.0% reported having unprotected anal sex. Conclusion This survey confirmed that Chongqing had a higher reported HIV prevalence among MSM than from other Chinese cities. Comprehensive intervention services were required to address this alarmingly high prevalence, with focus on intervention through internet and those having syphilis infection. RDS seemed one of the effective ways of recruiting hidden MSM populations in Chongqing which had a large population of active MSM who did not frequently visit MSM venues as compared with snowball method.

Genotoxicity research takes an important place in traditional Chinese medicine safety evaluation. Genotoxicity test on traditional Chinese medicine has been paid great attention since 1970s. Currently, the most developed genotoxicity test methods included: bacterial reverse mutation test and mouse lymphoma assay which are used to detect relevant genetic changes, micronucleus test and chromosomal analysis which are used to measure chromosomal aberration, and single cell electrophoresis assay which is used to test DNA damage. This article reviews research progress on genotoxicity of traditional Chinese medicine, evaluation methods of genotoxicity, the problems and solutions on genotoxicity evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine, and new technique used in genotoxicity test.
Animals ; Biomedical Research ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; adverse effects ; Mutagenicity Tests ; methods

Drug allergy and pseudoallergic reactions are main adverse drug reactions. Allergy is mainly induced by the immunogenicity of drug, drug metabolic products or drug additive. Pseudoallergic reactions may result from the irritation or activation of inflammatory material release. Pre-clinical evaluation of drug allergy and pseudoallergic reactions is included in immunotoxicity evaluation. Now there is no in vivo or in vitro method that could predict all kinds of allergy or pseudoallergic reactions due to the different mechanisms. In the past few years, FDA, SFDA OECD, ICH and WHO have published several guidelines on per-clinical immunotoxicity evaluation, however, no agreement has been reached on allergy and pseudoallergic reactions evaluation. This article reviews the requirements of allergy and pseudoallergic reactions in pre-clinical evaluation.
Drug Hypersensitivity ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Immune System ; drug effects ; Practice Guidelines as Topic

Objective To explore the effective management of inpatients' fall so as to reduce the incidence of inpatients fall.Methods To use the feedforward control of the theories and methods,set up management group to prevent inpatients' fall,conducted specialized training,developed standardized nursing processes,three quality control was carried out in the process of nursing.Results After training,the pass rate of nurses' knowledge about the prevention of inpatients' fall was 92.16％ which was significantly higher than 66.67 ％ before the training ( x2 =20.2681,P ＜ 0.01 ),and the pass rate of patients and families' knowledge of fall prevention was increased from 63.03％ to 85.73％ after training ( x2 =76.8791,P ＜ 0.01 ).After the control,1348 patients without one case of fall,patient satisfaction was significantly improved from original 96.2％ to now 99.6％.Conclusions The feedforward control is effective means to prevent the inpatients' fall and improve the quality of security care.

Objective To explore the distribution and characteristics on genotype of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the relationship between Beijing genotype and drug-resistant phenotypes in Tianjin city. Methods 656 clinical strains were collected from Tianjin Center for Tuberculosis Control and ten other Tuberculosis Institute in Tianjin from January 2008 to June 2009.Information regarding administration, clinical as well as laboratory findings of patients were collected.Proportion method was adopted to detect the susceptibility on four anti-tuberculosis drugs, namely streptomycin (SM), isoniazid (INH), rifampicin (RFP) and ehambutol (EMB). Both Beijing and non-Beijing genotypes were differentiated by multiplex PCR. The relationship between Beijing genotype and drug-resistant phenotypes was analyzed. Results In this study, the overall resistance rate of MTB was 26.98%, with multidrug-resistant rate was 6.25%. Among 656 MTB strains, 600isolates (91.46% ) belonged to Beijing genotype. There was significant difference between Beijing and non-Beijing genotype (x2=4.26, P=0.039) among the Tianjin household registered population.Concerning the drug resistance, there was no significant difference between the two groups.Conclusion Beijing genotype strains were the predominant one in Tianjin. The proportion of people infected with the Beijing genotype strains in Tianjin household registration of patients was significantly higher than the proportion of patients in the floating population in the same region.Results from the statistical analysis did not reveal any statistically significant association between Beijing genotype and drug resistance.