Objective： The current study was designed to clarify whether hepatopoietin (HPO) stimulates autonomous growth of hepatoma cell by autocrine loop. Methods： The authors conducted experiments in vitro with hepatoma cell lines. RT-PCR, ELISA and Western blot were used to examine HPO expression in hepatoma cells. Blocking effect of HPO by HPO neutralizing antibody was utilized and the changes of cell proliferation was observed. Results： HPO was expressed by hepatoma cells and secreted into the medium. Moreover, the HPO antibody inhibited specifically the autonomous proliferation of hepatoma cell and antagonized the stimulatory effect of concentrated conditioned medium derived from hepatoma cell HepG2. Conclusion： The results strongly suggest that HPO acts as an autocrine factor to maintain the autonomous growth of hepatoma cells.

The total RNA was extracted from porcine ovary. Porcine Follistatin cDNA was cloned by RT-PCR. Complete porcine follistatin cDNA coding sequences are presented including 1038 bp of open reading frame. The purified porcine follistatin cDNA was inserted into pGEX-4T-3 vector to construct the prokaryotic fusion protein expression vector. The recombinant expression plasmid was transformed into BL21 (DE3) and expression was induced by IPTG. Protein products were detected by SDS-PAGE and confirmed by Western blotting analysis, which showed that the yield of the Follistatin cDNA was a 63kD protein expression vector. Follistatin protein was expressed in the form of glutathione-S-transferase (GST) fusion protein in E. coli.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Base Sequence ; Cloning, Molecular ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; Follistatin ; chemistry ; genetics ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; biosynthesis ; Swine

OBJECTIVETo conduct an epidemiological and genotype analysis of sapovirus (SaV) associated with sporadic diarrhea in Shenzhen in the year 2009.

METHODSA total of 852 fecal samples were collected from sporadic cases of diarrhea in Shenzhen in 2009 and detected by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using the primers of SLV5317/5749. The PCR products were analyzed with 1.5% agarose gel electrophoresis and sequenced to construct the phylogenetic tree.

RESULTSSixteen samples were found positive for SaV, with a positivity rate of 1.88%. Sequence analysis identified 8 isolates as SaV GI genotype (including 3 SaV GI.1 and 5 SaV GI.2), 7 as SaV GIV genotype, and 1 as GII genotype.

CONCLUSIONSSaV infection is present in Shenzhen with GI as the predominant genotype. This is the first report of SaV GIV strains in China, which differs from the strains of Anhui-A141 and Beijing-CHN99/BJ360, suggesting the genotypic variety of SaV infection in China.

Adult ; China ; epidemiology ; Diarrhea ; epidemiology ; virology ; Female ; Genetic Variation ; Genotype ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phylogeny ; RNA, Viral ; genetics ; Sapovirus ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of comprehensive control strategy of schistosomiasis with emphasis on infection source control in Anhui province.

METHODSForty endemic villages in Guichi district, Chizhou city, Anhui province were selected as national pilot villages in the years from 2006 to 2008, and another 10 provincial pilot villages were respectively selected from 10 highly endemic villages in 7 cities in 2007. The comprehensive infection source control measures, including "replace cattle with machines", "raise livestock in pens", "improve the sanitary toilets", "supply safe water " and so on were carried out among the above pilot villages. At the end of 2008, 13 national pilot villages and 6 provincial pilot villages were selected to investigate the popularity of schistosomiasis, and the effect of the comprehensive control strategy in those villages were compared.

RESULTSAfter implementing the comprehensive control strategy, the infectious rate of schistosomiasis in national pilot villages decreased from 4.57% (487/10 659) to 1.76% (147/8370), with the reduction rate at 61.49%, whose difference showed statistical significance (χ(2) = 115.16, P < 0.01); and the density of infected snails decreased from 0.0067/0.1 m(2) to 0.0008/0.1 m(2), the infectious rate of snails decreased from 0.28% to 0.04%, whose reduction rates were 88.06% and 85.71% respectively. While as to the provincial pilot villages, the infectious rate of schistosomiasis decreased from 1.27% (54/4254) to 0.21% (14/6592), with the reduction rate at 83.46%, whose difference showed statistical significance (χ(2) = 94.57, P < 0.01); and the density of infected snails decreased from 0.0025/0.1 m(2) to 0.0003/0.1 m(2), the infection rate of snails decreased from 0.13% to 0.05%, whose reduction rates were 88.00% and 61.54% respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe comprehensive control strategy with emphasis on infection source control implemented in marshland and lake regions can effectively control the transmission of schistosomiasis.

Animals ; China ; epidemiology ; Disease Reservoirs ; parasitology ; Humans ; Infection Control ; methods ; Livestock ; Pilot Projects ; Rural Health ; Schistosomiasis ; epidemiology ; parasitology ; prevention & control ; Snails ; parasitology

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the efficacy and safety of endoscopic mucous resection with transparent cap (EMR-Cap) and endoscopic multi-band mucosectomy (MBM) in the treatment of early esophageal cancer and precancerous lesion.

METHODSA retrospective study was performed to review 30 EMR-Cap cases from December 2008 to December 2009 and 32 MBM cases from January 2010 to January 2011 of early esophageal cancer and precancerous lesions. The differences between these two techniques in efficacy, safety, and cost were compared.

RESULTSIn EMR-Cap group, the median resection time was 26(10-56) min and median procedure time was 43(22-81) min, significantly longer than those in MBM group [10(7-18) min and 32(28-45) min, P=0.036 and 0.038, respectively]. There were no significant differences between the two groups in total thickness and depth of resected lesions (P>0.05). In EMR-Cap group, the median cost was significantly higher than that of MBM group [(5466±354) vs. (4014±368) RMB, P=0.008)].

CONCLUSIONSEMR-Cap and MBM are minimally invasive, safe and effective methods in the treatment of early esophageal cancer and precancerous lesions. Compared to the EMR-Cap, MBM is simple with shorter treatment time and lower cost.

Aged ; Endoscopy ; methods ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; surgery ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mucous Membrane ; surgery ; Precancerous Conditions ; surgery ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the value of transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) combined with transesophageal endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) in the diagnosis of mediastinal and pulmonary hilar lesions as well as in the lymph node staging (N staging) of lung cancer.

METHODS129 patients with mediastinal and pulmonary hilar lesions underwent either TBNA or EUS-FNA with cytological needle aspiration. The samples obtained from TBNA or EUS-FNA were examined by both cytologiy and histopathology.

RESULTSOf the 129 patients, 59 underwent TBNA and 70 EUS-FNA. The diagnostic rate were 84.7% (50/59) by TBNA and 94.3% (66/70) by EUS-FNA, resepectively. The diagnosis of 116 (89.9%) patients were confirmed by either TBNA or EUS-FNA. The pathological and cytological diagnostic rates were 92.2% (107/116) and 88.0% (102/116), resepectively. The diagnostic rate was elevated by 8.4% (9/107) through pathological examination. The histological classification rates by cytological and pathological examination were 73.8% (76/116) and 89.3% (92/103), respectively. The diagnostic rate of histological classification was elevated by 35.5% (27/76) through pathological examination.

CONCLUSIONThe combination of TBNA and EUS-FNA can improve the diagnostic rate for wider mediastinal and pulmlonary hilar lesions. Pathological examination of the samples obtained from the TBNA and EUS-FNA can elevate not only the rate of diagnosis but also the rate of histological classification.

Adenocarcinoma ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; methods ; Biopsy, Needle ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Endosonography ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Lymph Nodes ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Mediastinal Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; secondary ; Mediastinum ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Small Cell Lung Carcinoma ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo study the suppressive effect of LRRC4 gene on human glioma U251 cells and further investigate its biological functions.

METHODSH&E, DNA and AgNORs stainings were performed on LRRC4-transfected U251 cells, mock-transfected U251 cells and non-transfected U251 cells, respectively. Quantitative analysis including cell morphometry, DNA content, DNA ploidy, silver stained argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs) were investigated by image analysis. Flow cytometry was employed to determine the difference of cell cycle distribution and MTT staining was used to elucidate the activity of the LRRC4-transfected U251 cells.

RESULTSThe morphological cell parameters such as area, perimeter and diameter, DNA content, chromosomal aneupoloidy, mean area of AgNORs particles and mean nucleus area of the LRRC4-transfected U251 cells were remarkably decreased compared to those of the mock-transfected and non-transfected U251 cells (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Meanwhile, significant accumulation of cells in G(0)/G(1) phase but decrease of cells in S and G(2)/M phase, was observed in transfected U251 cells compared to those of the mock-transfected and non-transfected U251 cells (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). MTT staining showed that proliferation activity of both the mock- and non-trasfected U251 cells was significantly higher than that of the U251 cells transfected with LRRC4 gene (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONLRRC4 gene might be involved in tumor suppression by restraining DNA synthesis and the nucleoli organizer regions-associated proteins, keeping the cell cycles in phase G(0)/G(1) and reducing proliferation activity of the glioma cells. Morphometry combined with other techniques such as flow cytometry and MTT staining can well elucidate the biological function of novel genes.

Brain Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 7 ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; physiology ; Glioblastoma ; genetics ; pathology ; Humans ; Nerve Tissue Proteins ; genetics ; physiology ; Transfection ; Tumor Cells, Cultured

OBJECTIVETo explore the major risk factors for upper gastrointestinal cancer in high occurrence areas of esophageal and gastric cancer in China.

METHODSFour high occurrence areas of esophageal cancer, namely Cixian and Shexian from Hebei province, Linxian from Henan province, Feicheng from Shandong province, and Zhuanghe from Liaoning province, which is a high occurrence area of gastric cancer, were selected for the study. The newly-diagnosed cases whose date of onset were after January 1st, 2009 were selected from the Cancer Registration Database in each district, and 751 cases diagnosed as cancers in lower segment of esophagus, cardiac and other subsite of stomach were randomly recruited. 2253 matched controls were selected to pair the cases at the ratio of 3:1. The relative information of the study objects were collected from the face-to-face interviews with trained staff by designed questionnaires, and the data was input by EpiData software. Statistic software SPSS 13.0 was applied to conduct both univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis to evaluate odd ratios (OR) and 95% confident interval (CI).

RESULTSAs univariate analysis shown, 66 objects in case group had irregular diet habit; while 90 in control group had (OR = 3.177; 95%CI: 2.127 - 4.745). A higher percentage in case group (83 objects) preferred fried food in comparison with only 214 in control group did (OR = 3.190; 95%CI: 2.061 - 4.927). 369 objects in case group, but only 119 in control group had history of gastrointestinal diseases (OR = 14.660; 95%CI: 11.342 - 18.948). 282 objects in case group had history of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which was much higher than the percentage in control group (432 objects), with OR = 3.137 (95%CI: 2.546 - 3.864). All the above factors could increase the risk for upper gastrointestinal cancer. 387 objects in case group and 1278 in control group reported they preferred fresh vegetables in daily diet, which was found to be a protective factor (OR = 0.609; 95%CI: 0.473 - 0.785). As multivariate analysis shown, history of gastrointestinal tract diseases (OR = 21.420; 95%CI: 15.484 - 29.632), irregular food diet (OR = 3.097; 95%CI: 1.740 - 5.514), pickled food (OR = 3.005; 95%CI: 1.873 - 4.819), and GERD (OR = 2.261; 95%CI: 1.673 - 3.057) were found to be risk factors for upper gastrointestinal cancer; while frequent fresh-vegetable diet was a protective factor (OR = 0.562; 95%CI: 0.396 - 0.800).

CONCLUSIONIrregular lifestyle and unhealthy diet habit could be the major risk factors for upper gastrointestinal cancers among the residents from high occurrence areas of esophageal cancer and gastric cancer in China.

Case-Control Studies ; China ; epidemiology ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Feeding Behavior ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Humans ; Life Style ; Risk Factors ; Stomach Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Surveys and Questionnaires

UNLABELLEDMorbidity of chronic lung disease in young children is relatively high, and could increase in the future. Pulmonary function testing is used for clinical assessment of patients with suspected or obvious pulmonary disease to assess the severity of dysfunction and to evaluate therapeutic effectiveness. In the recent few years, forced expiratory parameters assessing lung function have been measured in older children. In order to assess abnormalities of lung function in preschool patients with respiratory disorders based on changes of forced expiratory parameters, adequate reference values are needed. However, such data in healthy preschool children remain scant in the literature.

OBJECTIVEThe aim of this study was to characterize the spirometry of preschool children and establish the normal lung function prediction equations for Chinese preschool children.

METHODSA survey in 343 healthy preschool children (184 boys and 159 girls) aged 3 to 6 years (73 children aged 3 years, 96 children aged 4 years, 91 children aged 5 years and 83 children aged 6 years) was carried out in Shenzhen in 2004. Eleven flow volume tests parameters, i.e., forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume at 0.5 second (FEV(0.5)), forced expiratory volume at 0.75 second (FEV(0.75)), forced expiratory volume at one second (FEV(1)), maximal mid expiratory flow rate (FEF(25%-75%)), peak expiratory flow (PEF), forced expiratory time (FET100%) were measured by using COSMED spirometry produced in Italy. Stepwise multiple regressions and non-linear regressions were carried out with the statistical software SPSS10.0 for Windows to identify the best predictors of lung function parameters using standing height, weight, age and gender as potential determinants.

RESULTSSpirometric tests could be successfully carried out by using imagery methods in the following percentages of children: 69.9% of 3 to 4 years old, 70.8% of 4 to 5 years old, 92.3% of 5 to 6 years old and 91.6% of 6 to 7 years old children, 77.7% of the selected population (217/279) of children performed at least two acceptable tests respectively. The average forced expiratory time (FET) was 1.61 +/- 0.52 sec (x +/- s), the 5th percentile value was 0.9 sec, 18 of 279 (6.5%) children produced a FET less than 1 second. Forced expiratory volume in 0.50 and 0.75 sec (FEV(0.5), FEV(0.75)) were thus measured necessary in preschool children. All lung volumes and flow rates increased with age, height as well as weight growth in both gender groups. The correlation among most lung function parameters was higher in height than in age and weight in boys. Whereas the correlation among most lung function parameters was higher in age than in height and weight in girls. The regression equations of lung function were established. By comparison with the equations derived from this study and from studies by Nystad, it was found that there was a difference between the predicted values.

CONCLUSIONSpirometric testing is feasible in preschool children by using imagery methods and may be useful for both clinical practice and research. The correlation among most lung function parameters was higher in height than in age and weight in boys. Whereas the correlation among most lung function parameters was higher in age than in height and weight in girls.

Age Factors ; Body Height ; Body Weight ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Feasibility Studies ; Female ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Humans ; Male ; Peak Expiratory Flow Rate ; Reference Values ; Regression Analysis ; Respiratory Function Tests ; methods ; Spirometry ; statistics & numerical data ; Vital Capacity

BACKGROUNDHuman umbilical cord blood contains an abundance of immature stem/progenitor cells, which may participate in the repair of hearts that have been damaged by myocardial infarction (MI). This study aimed to evaluate the effects of human umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells (hUCBC) transplantation on cardiac function and left ventricular remodeling in rat model of MI.

METHODSForty-five male Wistar rats were randomized into three groups: MI or control group (n = 15), MI plus cell transplantation (n = 15), and sham group (n = 15). Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was established by ligating the left anterior descending artery, thereafter, hUCBC were implanted into the marginal area of infarcted myocardium. In MI/control group, DMEM was injected instead of hUCBC following the same protocol. Left ventricular function assessment was carried out by echocardiography and invasive hemodynamic measurements one month post MI. All rats were sacrificed for histological and immunochemical examinations.

RESULTSThe transplanted hUCBC survived and engaged in the process of myocardial repair in the host heart. Echocardiography demonstrated that left ventricular function improved significantly in the rats that underwent cell transplantation. Hemodynamic studies found a significantly decreased left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) [(21.08 +/- 8.10) mmHg vs (30.82 +/- 9.59) mmHg, P < 0.05], increase in +dp/dt(max) [(4.29 +/- 1.27) mmHg/ms vs (3.24 +/- 0.75) mmHg/ms, P < 0.05), and increase in -dp/dt(max) [(3.71 +/- 0.79) mmHg/ms vs (3.00 +/- 0.49) mmHg/ms, P < 0.05] among MI group with hUCBC transplantation when compared with MI/control group. Masson's trichrome staining revealed that the collagen density in the left ventricle was significantly lower in rats of transplantation group than that in the MI control groups [(6.33 +/- 2.69)% vs (11.10 +/- 3.75)%, P < 0.01]. Based on immunostaining of alpha-actin, the numbers of microvessels were significantly (P < 0.01) increased at the boundary of infarction site. Similarly higher mRNA expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) 164 and VEGF188 were found at 7- and 28-day post cell transplantation in MI group with hUCBC transplantation when compared with MI/control group.

CONCLUSIONSTransplanted hUCBC can survive in host myocardium without immunorejection, significantly improve left ventricular remodeling after AMI and promote a higher level of angiogenesis in the infarct zones. All these factors beneficially affect cardiac repair in the setting of MI. Therefore human umbilical cord blood may be potential source for cell-based therapy for AMI.

Actins ; analysis ; Animals ; Antigens, CD34 ; analysis ; Collagen ; metabolism ; Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation ; Electrocardiography ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear ; chemistry ; cytology ; transplantation ; Male ; Myocardial Infarction ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Myocardium ; chemistry ; metabolism ; pathology ; Neovascularization, Physiologic ; physiology ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Transplantation, Heterologous ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; genetics ; Ventricular Function, Left ; physiology