OBJECTIVETo explore the mechanism of occupational medicamentosa-like dermatitis (OMDT) induced by trichloroethylene (TCE) and some immunity indexes in workers occupationally exposed to TCE.

METHODSThe blood samples from 8 cases with medicamentosa-like dermatitis in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th weeks after admitting to hospital were examined for liver function, immunoglobulin and some complement indexes. Thirty nine workers occupationally exposed to TCE were investigated for urinary TCE and some immuno-complement indexes. The TCE concentrations of air in workplaces were monitored.

RESULTSC3d-CIC and C3 of patients before admission were (92.86 ± 44.80) mg/L and 0.91 ± 0.19 mg/L, respectively. C3d-CIC and C3 of patients before discharge were (52.41 ± 17.75) mg/L and (1.14 ± 0.22) mg/L, respectively. There were significant differences between admission and discharge (P < 0.05). The average TCE concentration in 4 workplaces was (351.96 ± 36.72) mg/m(3), which was higher than the occupational exposure limits (OELs). The number of workers exposed to the TCE concentration-time weighted and TCA in urine over OELs were 28.21% and 56.41% of total subjects, respectively. The serum IgG and CIC levels of patients before discharge were (10.03 ± 1.21) mg/L and 103.50 ± 29.17 mU/L, which were significantly lower than those (17.21 ± 1.85) mg/L and (227.46 ± 111.67) mU/L of patients before admission (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe type II and III hypersensitivity may be associated with OMDT and the organ injure induced by TCE.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Complement System Proteins ; immunology ; Dermatitis, Occupational ; immunology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Occupational Exposure ; Trichloroethylene ; toxicity ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo study the relationship between ambient air pollution and daily mortality of SARS in Beijing.

METHODSThe approach of time-series Poisson regression was used to assess the relationship between daily SARS mortality, ambient air pollution, and other factors from April 25 to May 31, 2003 in Beijing.

RESULTSAn increase of each 10 microg/m3 over a 5-day moving average of PM10, SO2 and NO2 corresponded to 1.06 (1.00-1.12), 0.74 (0.48-1.13) and 1.22 (1.01-1.48) relative risks (RRs) of daily SARS mortality, respectively. The relative risks (RRs) values depended largely on the selection of lag days.

CONCLUSIONThe daily mortality of SARS might be associated with certain air pollutants in Beijing.

Air Pollutants ; adverse effects ; analysis ; toxicity ; Air Pollution ; adverse effects ; analysis ; China ; epidemiology ; Cities ; Dust ; analysis ; Environmental Monitoring ; Epidemiological Monitoring ; Humans ; Nitrogen Dioxide ; analysis ; Particle Size ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; epidemiology ; mortality ; Sulfur Dioxide ; analysis

OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanism of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells(BMSCs) in alleviating silica-induced lung injury in mice. METHODS: Ten specific pathogen free healthy male C57 BL/6 mice were selected for isolating BMSCs and bone marrow macrophages(BMDMs). Transwell chamber was used, BMDMs were inoculated onto the upper chamber and BMSCs in the lower chamber. We divided them into sequencing control group and silica(SiO_2) exposure group. All cells were pre-stimulated with 50 μg/L mass concentration lipopolysaccharide for 4 hours. In the SiO_(2 ) group, 250 mg/L mass concentration SiO_2 was added to the upper chamber of transwell and cultured for 16 hours. Total RNA was extracted from the BMSCs collected from the lower chamber. HiSeq/MiSeq high-throughput sequencing technology was used to detect the BMSCs RNA paired-end sequencing. Transcriptome sequencing data was obtained and bioinformatics analysis was performed. Another 12 specific pathogen free healthy male C57 BL/6 mice were randomly divided into control group and experimental group. All mice received one intra-tracheal injection of 20.0 μL(250 g/L mass concentration) of silica dust suspension. After 6 hours, the mice in the control group was given 500.0 μL of 0.9% sodium chloride solution and mice in the experimental group was given 500.0 μL of BMSCs suspension(cell density 1×10~9/L) by tail vein infusion.Mice were sacrificed 12 hours later. The relative mRNA expression of interleukin(IL)-1 Ra, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor stimulating gene 6(TSG-6) and prostaglandin E2(PGE2) in lung tissues of mice were measured by quantitative real-time PCR(q-PCR). Meanwhile, BMDMs and BMSCs transwell co-culture models were established. The cells were divided into 5 groups: BMSCs group, BMSCs+BMDMs group, BMSCs+BMDMs+ lipopolysaccharide(LPS) group, 50 mg/L SiO_2 group, and 100 mg/L SiO_2 group. After 16 hours of corresponding SiO_2 stimulation, BMSCs of each group were collected and the relative mRNA expression levels of IL-1 Ra, IL-10, TSG-6, and PGE2 in the cells were detected by q-PCR. RESULTS: Compared with sequencing control group, BMSCs co-cultured with SiO_2 had 19 genes up-regulated and 21 genes down-regulated, including 10 genes up-regulated for more than 2.0-fold. The relative mRNA expression of IL-1 Ra, IL-10, PGE2 and TSG-6 in the lung tissue of mice increased in the experimental group than that of the control group(all P<0.05). The relative mRNA expression of TSG-6 increased by 37.5 times higher than that of the control group. Compared with the BMSCs+BMDM+LPS group, the level of TSG-6 mRNA relative expression increased in both the 50 mg/L SiO_2 group and the 100 mg/L SiO_2 group(all P<0.05). CONCLUSION: TSG-6 could be the key factor of BMSCs that can attenuate silica-induced lung injury.

Objective To investigate the effect of different pipe flush methods on the life of the filter used in CRRT without heparin.Methods 108 patients of CRRT without heparin were randomly divided into observation group (56 cases) and control group (52 cases).The control group used conventional 100 ml 0.9％sodium chloride solution to flush the filter and pipe once for an hour,while the observation group stopped the treatment every 6 hours,first used heparin saline (50 mg/L),second 0.9％ sodium chloride solution to flush,and then continued the treatment.The number of filter and its average service time were compared during the process.Results The number of filter used to treat patients with secondary renal failure,MODS,severe pancreatitis,poisoning,epidemic hemorrhagic fever and cerebrovascular accident complicated by pneumonia in the observation group was respectively 68,26,39,28,21 and 26,all of which were higher than that of the control group (71,35,55,36,24,30,respectively),and the differences were not statistically significant (x2 =28.34,15.61,18.08,19.31,18.50,respectively; P ＜ 0.05 ).The service time of the filter in the observation group was (11.60 ± 1.51 )h,higher than that of the control group which was (9.48 ± 1.29 )h,and the difference was statistically significant ( t =2.79,P ＜ 0.05 ).Conclusions In the CRRT without heparin treatment,the method of intermittent saline with heparin and 0.9％ sodium chloride solution can reduce the clotting of the filter,extend its life and cut patients' treatment cost.

Objective To study the mechanism of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (BMSC)-mediated alleviation of pulmonary alveolitis in mice exposed to silica dust. Methods Thirty mice were randomly divided into 3 groups:control group, and two silica groups with or without BMSCs transplantation.Through the tracheal tube clearance, mice in control group received a single injection 20.0 μL of 0.90% sodium chloride solution by one time.Mice from in silica group and silica/BMSCs transplantation group first received a single injection of 20.0 μL silica dust suspension (mass concentration 250 g/L); followed by either 500.0 μL of 0.90% sodium chloride solution or by 500.0 μL of BMSCs suspension (cell density 1×10⁹/L) through tail vein infusion 6 hours later.Mice were euthanized on the 3th day of the experiments.The levels of NALP3 inflammasome in lungs was determined by Western blot.Transwell system was used for co-culture of BMDM (in upper-chamber) and BMSC (in lower-chamber) co-culture.The level of cytokines IL-1β in BMDM cultural supernatant was detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay after stimulated by SiO₂ stimulation.The levels of NALP3 inflammasome of in BMDM was determined by Western blot. Results The levels of pro-IL-1β, IL-1β, pro-caspase-1, caspase-1 in lungs of silica/BMSCs transplantation group were lower than that in silica group (P < 0.01).In the experiment in vitro, the concentrations of IL-1β in SiO₂ exposed BMSC/BMDM co-culture group were lower than the SiO₂ exposure only groups (P < 0.05).Meanwhile, the levels of pro-IL-1β, IL-1β, pro-caspase-1, caspase-1 in BMDM was lower than that in silica group (P < 0.01).The level of these proteins didn′t change while when the cell-free supernatant of BMSC culture was directly added. Conclusion The BMSC could inhibit NALP3 inflammasome of macrophages stimulated by SiO₂.

OBJECTIVE: To establish the cell model of human neuroblastoma cell( SH-SY5Y cell) exposed to1,2-dichloroethane( 1,2-DCE) in vitro and to explore the mechanism of 1,2-DCE-induced toxicity in SH-SY5Y cells.METHODS: SH-SY5Y cells were collected in their logarithmic growth phase and cultured in complete medium that had final concentrations of 1,2-DCE in 0,10,20,30,40,50,60,70 and 80 mmol / L for 24 hours. Cell morphology was observed and cell survival rate was examined by CCK-8 assay. Using chemical colorimetric method, the activity of lactic dehydrogenase( LDH) in the cell culture supernatant,and the intracellular level of malondialdehyde( MDA),the intracellular activities of superoxide dismutase( SOD) and adenosine triphosphate( ATP) enzymes were detected. RESULTS: With the increasing exposure concentrations of 1,2-DCE,the cell density of SH-SY5Y cells gradually decreased,the synapse became shorter,the membrane ruptured,cytoplasm condensed and cytoplasmic contents overflowed increased.With the increasing concentration of 1,2-DCE,the cell survival rate decreased( P < 0. 01),the activity of LDH in the cell culture supernatant increased( P < 0. 01). These changes had a dose-effect correlation. Intracellular MDA level,and activities of SOD,Na~+-K~+-ATP enzyme,Ca~(2+)-Mg~(2+)-ATP enzyme and total ATP enzyme increased at first and then decreased. The activity of LDH in the cell culture supernatant and cell survival rate was negatively correlated( the correlation coefficient is- 0. 907,P < 0. 01). CONCLUSION: 1,2-DCE could inhibit the proliferation of SH-SY5Y cells.The mechanism may be related to the permeability change of cell membrane,cellular damage from excessive free radicals,the decrease of free radical scavenging capacity,ATP enzyme activity and calcium overloading. SH-SY5Y cells can be used as a common cell line for 1,2-DCE cytotoxicity analysis.

Objective To determine the incidence and risk factors of HIV infection among heroin addicts receiving methadone maintenance treatment(MMT)in Dehong prefecture,Yunnan province.Methods All heroin addicts who were HIV negative at the initiation of MMT in June 2005 and through June 2011,in Dehong prefecture were included in the cohort analysis.HIV incidence was calculated and related risk factors determined by using Cox proportional hazard regression model.Results A total of 3154 MMT clinic attendants were qualified for this cohort study.By June 2011,1023(32.4％)of them had never received any follow-up HIV testing so were thus referred as loss to follow-up.The other 2131(67.6％)members had received at least one follow-up HIV testing and were observed for a total of 4615.86 person-years.During the period,22 new HIV infections or seroconverters were identified,making the overall HIV incidence as 0.48/100 person-years.The HIV incidence was higher among those who were unemployed,never married,self-reported being injecting drug users(IDUs)and HCV positive at entry into the MMT program.None of those who were always negative on follow-up-urine-testing of morphine was discovered as HIV newly infected during the follow-up period.Data from multiple regression analysis under Cox proportional hazard model indicated that after controlling for confounding variables,non-IDUs at the entry point for the MMT program,were less likely to be HIV newly-infected or seroconverted than IDUs(HR=0.29,95％CI:0.11-0.76).Conclusion MMT prograqm in Dehong prefecture was demonstrated to be fairly effective in reducing HIV transmission through drug use.Those HIV negative attendants at the MMT clinic who were IDUs or keep using drugs during the treatment,were at higher risk of HIV seroconvertion.More efforts were needed to improve the follow-up and HIV testing programs for the MMT clinic attendants.

Usnic acid and its derivatives, a group of organic molecules with great importance, are characteristic to lichens, possessing pharmacological activities such as anti-virus, anti-bacteria, anti-humor, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and anaesthetic effects. Many of them have been widely used as medicine, but also bring side effects such as dermatitis and liver damages. In the past decades, great efforts by isolation, organic synthesis, and structure modification methods were put on discovery of UA derivatives with higher biological activities or less side effects. This paper describes herein the most progress on natural sources, isolation and structure elucidation, structural characteristics, synthesis and modification results, pharmacological activities and toxicities of UA and its derivatives, hopefully to provide valuable reference for further research.
Benzofurans ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Biological Products ; Lichens ; chemistry

OBJECTIVE: To explore the immune cytotoxic effect and the maximum non-effect dose of trichloroethylene( TCE) on Jurkat T cells in vitro. METHODS: i) Naive and activated Jurkat T cells were treated with different concentrations of TCE( 0. 10, 0. 50, 1. 00, 2. 00, 5. 00, 10. 00 mmol / L). Phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate and ionomycin were used as agonist. No TCE was used in the control group and dimethyl sulfoxide( DMSO) was used as the solvent group. The morphology of Jurkat T cells was observed using a light microscope and the survival rate of Jurkat T cells was investigated using CCK-8 essay after cells were cultured for 24,48 and 72 hours. ii) Nave and activated Jurkat T cells were treated with different concentrations of TCE( 0. 00,0. 02,0. 20,2. 00 mmol / L). The apoptosis of cells was detected using flow cytometry and the level of interleukin-2( IL-2) in supernatant was detected using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay after cells were cultured for 24,48 and 72 hours. RESULTS: i) Cytotoxic effect was observed after cells were exposed to 10. 00 mmol / L TCE for 24 hours. Cells dispersed,cell volume diminished,cell membrane ruptured,cytoplasm condensed and increased outflow of intercellular organelles. The effect of interaction between exposure dose and exposure time was statistically significant on cell survival rate( P < 0. 01). Compared with the control and DMSO groups at the same time points,there were no significant differences in the 0. 10,0. 50,1. 00 and 2. 00 mmol / L TCE treatment groups in cell survival rates in three different time points( P > 0. 05),while the cell survival rates of 5. 00 and 10. 00 mmol / L TCE treatment groups were significantly decreased( P < 0. 01). ii) When TCE concentration was 0. 00-2. 00 mmol / L,there were no significant differences in the main effect of exposure dose and interactions of between exposure dose and cell type or exposure time on cell apoptosis rate( P > 0. 05). Compared with the same time points and groups of naive Jurkat T cells,the levels of IL-2 of activated Jurkat T cells were significantly increased( P < 0. 01). In the three different time points,the level of IL-2 of activated Jurkat T cells increased in accordance with the TCE exposure dose,showing a dose-effect relationship( P < 0. 01). The level of IL-2 of activated Jurkat T cells increased in accordance with TCE exposure time,showing a time-effect relationship( P < 0. 01). CONCLUSION:s TCE at the level of 2. 00 mmol / L had no observed effect in Jurkat T cells. High doses of TCE( ≥5. 00 mmol / L) showed cytotoxic damages to naive and activated Jurkat T cells and low doses of TCE( ≤2. 00 mmol / L) could stimulate activated Jurkat T cells secrete IL-2 in a dosedependent and time-dependent manner.

To ensure the safety of medications, it is vital to accurately authenticate species of the Apocynaceae family, which is rich in poisonous medicinal plants. We identified Apocynaceae species by using nuclear internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) and psbA-trnH based on experimental data. The identification ability of ITS2 and psbA-trnH was assessed using specific genetic divergence, BLAST1, and neighbor-joining trees. For DNA barcoding, ITS2 and psbA-trnH regions of 122 plant samples of 31 species from 19 genera in the Apocynaceae family were amplified. The PCR amplification for ITS2 and psbA-trnH sequences was 100%. The sequencing success rates for ITS2 and psbA-trnH sequences were 81% and 61%, respectively. Additional data involved 53 sequences of the ITS2 region and 38 sequences of the psbA-trnH region were downloaded from GenBank. Moreover, the analysis showed that the inter-specific divergence of Apocynaceae species was greater than its intra-specific variations. The results indicated that, using the BLAST1 method, ITS2 showed a high identification efficiency of 97% and 100% of the samples at the species and genus levels, respectively, via BLAST1, and psbA-trnH successfully identified 95% and 100% of the samples at the species and genus levels, respectively. The barcode combination of ITS2/psbA-trnH successfully identified 98% and 100% of samples at the species and genus levels, respectively. Subsequently, the neighbor joining tree method also showed that barcode ITS2 and psbA-trnH could distinguish among the species within the Apocynaceae family. ITS2 is a core barcode and psbA-trnH is a supplementary barcode for identifying species in the Apocynaceae family. These results will help to improve DNA barcoding reference databases for herbal drugs and other herbal raw materials.