OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the expression of phosphofructokinase 1 and it's enzyme activity in nasopharyngeal carcinoma biopsy samples. METHOD: Sixty-one biopsy samples were detected, including 41 tissues from patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma as experimental group and 20 tissues from patients with chronic nasopharyngitis as control group. Phosphofructokinase 1 protein was detected by Western blot and it's enzyme activity was detected. RESULT: It was observed that the expression levels of phosphofructokinase 1 protein and it's enzyme activities in the experimental group were higher than that in the control group (P < 0.01). In the experimental group, the expression levels of phosphofructokinase 1 protein and it's enzyme activities in patients with lymph node metastasis were higher than that in patients without lymph node metastasis (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION Phosphofructokinase 1 may be a marker in occurrence and metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Biomarkers, Tumor ; metabolism ; Biopsy ; Carcinoma ; Case-Control Studies ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; enzymology ; pathology ; Nasopharyngitis ; Phosphofructokinase-1 ; metabolism

Purpose To compare the characteristics of targeted ultrasound contrast agents of ovarian carcinoma xenograft tumor at different stages with SonoVue serving as the contract, and to explore the application value of targeted ultrasound contrast agents in diagnosis of ovarian carcinoma. Materials and Methods Fifty BALB/cNude nude mice were randomly divided into 5 groups with 10 in each group to establish subcutaneous xenograft tumor model of ovarian carcinoma. According to different inoculation time (14, 21, 28, 35, 42 d), 5 groups of nude mice underwent common contrast-enhanced ultrasound (MBc) and targeted ultrasound contrast (MBt) examination. The peak intensity (PI) and time to peak (TTP) of xenograft tumors were calculated by time-signal intensity curves, and their angiographic features were dynamically observed. Results PI in MBt group was higher than that in MBc group at different times, the difference of which was all statistically significant (P<0.05); TTP was shorter than that of MBc group, the difference between 14, 21 and 28 d was statistically significant (P<0.05); TIC curve was steeper at the early stage of inoculation. The difference between PI and TTP in MBt group was statistically significant (P<0.05). The difference of PI between 14 and 21 d, 21 and 28 d, 28 and 35 d were all statistically significant (P<0.01); differences of TTP between 14 and 21 d, 28 and 35 d were all statistically significant (P<0.01); the difference of PI and TTP compared within MBc group had no statistical significance (P>0.05). Conclusion In the early stage of inoculation, the contrast parameters PI and TTP carrying MMP-2 antibody-targeted ultrasound contrast agents are more advantageous than sonovue, which is helpful for the early diagnosis of ovarian carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: To study the pathogenesis of the patients with allergic rhinitis diagnosed by Skin Prick Test (SPT), especially about the epidemiologic data of the involved allergens. METHOD: The data was collected from 958 patients referred to the listed three allergy center and subsequently diagnosed as allergic rhinitis by SPT. RESULT: The intermittent mild type was more prevalent in male patients (40.5%); comparably the intermittent moderate type in female patients (70.0%); in the infant patients the moderate-severe type dominated (73.7%). The positive results of SPT comprised mainly of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Der. p, 98.3%), Dermatophagoides farinae(Der. f, 96.8%), and Blomia tropicalis (Blot, 73.8%). Only 1.7% of the patients was allergic to single allergen, in contrary ,the majority of patients were allergic to multiple allergens. The positive rate to Der. p and Der. f was reversely increasing with age of the patients; and contrarily the number of positive allergens was increasing along with the age of the patients. The allergy to outdoor allergen was less common, and the positive rate in skin prick test was lower than the previously reported rate in North China ,such as timothy (3.9%), birch (2.7%), ragweed (2.0%), and mugwort (1.2%). CONCLUSION Dust Mite is the predominant allergen for patients with allergic rhinitis in Guangdong province; and the positive rate to outdoor allergen is lower than that in North China.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Allergens ; analysis ; immunology ; Animals ; Antigens, Dermatophagoides ; analysis ; immunology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Cohort Studies ; Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus ; immunology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mites ; immunology ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; Skin Tests ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: MicroRNAs (miRs) were recently recognized to be important for immune cell differentiation and immune regulation. However, whether miRs were involved in allergen-specific immunotherapy (SIT) remains largely unknown. This study sought to examine changes in miR-146a and T regulatory cells in children with persistent allergic rhinitis (AR) after 3 months of subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) and sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT). METHODS: Twenty-four HDM-sensitized children with persistent AR were enrolled and treated with SCIT (n=13) or SLIT (n=11) for 3 months. Relative miR-146a and Foxp3 mRNA expression, the TRAF6 protein level, and the ratio of post-treatment to baseline IL-10+CD4+ T cells between the SCIT and SLIT groups were examined in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of AR patients using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), flow cytometry, and Western blot analysis, respectively. Serum levels of IL-5 and IL-10 were determined using ELISA. RESULTS: After 3 months of SIT, both the TNSS and INSS scores were significantly decreased compared to the baseline value (P<0.01). The relative expression of miR-146a and Foxp3 mRNA was significantly increased after both SCIT and SLIT (P<0.01). The ratio of post-treatment to baseline IL-10+CD4+ T cells and the serum IL-10 level were significantly increased in both the SCIT and SLIT groups (P<0.01), whereas the TRAF6 protein level and serum IL-5 level were significantly decreased (P<0.01). No significant differences in these biomarkers were observed between the SCIT and SLIT groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that miR-146a and its related biomarkers may be comparably modulated after both SCIT and SLIT, highlighting miR-146a as a potential therapeutic target for the improved management of AR.
Biomarkers ; Blotting, Western ; Cell Differentiation ; Child* ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Immunotherapy* ; Interleukin-10 ; Interleukin-5 ; MicroRNAs ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Reverse Transcription ; Rhinitis* ; RNA, Messenger ; Sublingual Immunotherapy ; T-Lymphocytes ; TNF Receptor-Associated Factor 6

Novel reassortant H3N2 swine influenza viruses (SwIV) with the matrix gene from the 2009 H1N1 pandemic virus have been isolated in many countries as well as during outbreaks in multiple states in the United States, indicating that H3N2 SwIV might be a potential threat to public health. Since southern China is the world's largest producer of pigs, efficient vaccines should be developed to prevent pigs from acquiring H3N2 subtype SwIV infections, and thus limit the possibility of SwIV infection at agricultural fairs. In this study, a high-growth reassortant virus (GD/PR8) was generated by plasmid-based reverse genetics and tested as a candidate inactivated vaccine. The protective efficacy of this vaccine was evaluated in mice by challenging them with another H3N2 SwIV isolate [A/Swine/Heilongjiang/1/05 (H3N2) (HLJ/05)]. Prime and booster inoculation with GD/PR8 vaccine yielded high-titer serum hemagglutination inhibiting antibodies and IgG antibodies. Complete protection of mice against H3N2 SwIV was observed, with significantly reduced lung lesion and viral loads in vaccine-inoculated mice relative to mock-vaccinated controls. These results suggest that the GD/PR8 vaccine may serve as a promising candidate for rapid intervention of H3N2 SwIV outbreaks in China.
Animals ; Female ; Influenza A Virus, H3N2 Subtype/*genetics/immunology ; Influenza Vaccines/genetics/immunology/*therapeutic use ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Orthomyxoviridae Infections/immunology/*prevention & control/virology ; Reassortant Viruses/genetics/immunology ; Reverse Genetics/methods/*veterinary ; Swine ; Swine Diseases/immunology/*prevention & control/virology ; Vaccines, Inactivated ; Virus Replication

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effet of nasal septum operation combined with nasal sinuses on postoperative nasal septum. METHOD: Sixty-five patients with deflection of nasal septum complicating chronic sinusitis were underwent nasal septum and nasal sinus operations under nasal endoscope. Postoperative nasal septum recover were observed and compared with patients underwent only simple nasal septum operation. RESULT: Patients underwent nasal septum operations combined with nasal sinus, postoperative symptoms were more serious at early than simple nasal septum operations. At 3 months after operation, satisfactory degree of the former group were higher than the latter, and the former group didn't have complications such as nasal septum infection. CONCLUSION Nasal septum operations combined with nasal sinus have no harmful effect on the prognosis of nasal septum, so it was safe and reliable.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Chronic Disease ; Endoscopy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nasal Septum ; surgery ; Paranasal Sinuses ; surgery ; Prognosis ; Sinusitis ; surgery ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

Objective: To study the value of olfactory cleft scores through computed tomography (CT) in predicting the oral glucocorticoids (GC) sensitivity in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps. Methods: Fourty-seven consecutive patients with CRSwNP from the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University between January and March of 2018 were recruited in this prospective, single-blinded study. There were 28 males and 19 females, with age ranging from 17 to 66 years old. After a course of oral prednisone (30 mg/d for 14 d), these patients were subsequently classified into objectively GC-sensitive and -insensitive subgroup according to the change in nasal polyp size score, or subjectively GC-sensitive and -insensitive subgroup according to the change in total nasal symptom score. The following parameters were compared between GC-sensitive and -insensitve subgroups: Lund-Mackay scores, olfactory cleft scores, and blood eosinophil counts and ratio. T test and χ² test were used. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used for factor prediction and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the predictive ability of those factors. Results: There were 53.2% (25/47) and 61.7% (29/47) of patients objectively and subjectively sensitive to GC therapy, respectively. All data conformed to normal distribution. The olfactory cleft score and the blood eosinophil counts and ratio in objectively GC-sensitive subgroup were significantly higher than those in objectively GC-insensitive subgroup (3.6±1.0 vs 2.2±1.4, (404.4±200.3)/μl vs (209.5±233.1)/μl, (5.25±2.59)% vs (3.17±3.46)%, t value was 3.98, 3.08, respectively, χ²=2.35, all P<0.05). The cleft score, the blood eosinophil counts and ratio also showed the same trend in subjectively GC-sensitive and -insensitive subgroup (3.6±1.0 vs 1.9±1.3, (401.4±213.6)/μl vs (171.1±200.2)/μl, (5.39±2.76)% vs (2.48±2.99)%, t value was 5.05, 3.68, respectively, χ²=3.40, all P<0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression revealed that olfactory cleft score was an independent risk factor for objective or subjective GC-sensitivity (OR=2.882, 95%CI: 1.301-6.384; OR=2.508, 95%CI: 1.248-5.039). The olfactory cleft score exhibited comparable accuracy with the blood eosinophil ratio as predictor of objective and subjective GC-sensitivity (Area under curve of olfactory cleft score was 0.775, 0.829, respectively). An olfactory cleft score of 3.5 could act as a reliable indicator for predicting the clinical response to GC therapy in CRSwNP. Conclusion Olfactory cleft score through CT scan has the potential value in predicting GC-sensitivity in CRSwNP patients.

Pancreatic cancer has poor prognosis and lymph node metastasis is a poor prognostic factor in patients with resectable pancreatic cancer. The metastatic prevalence of para-aortic lymph node (PALN) ranges from 9.1% to 26.5% and it is listed as the distant metastatic group in pancreatic cancer. Nevertheless, it is controversial whether PALN metastasis is the contraindication of surgery in resectable pancreatic cancer for the shortage of level Ⅰ evidence.This study concluded that PALN metastasis indicated poor prognosis in patients with pancreatic cancer, but some patients with PALN metastases could benefit from surgery and their survival could be much improved after the combination of surgery and adjuvant therapy. Therefore, it is not wise to refuse surgery for all pancreatic cancer patients with PALN metastasis and the clinicians can cautiously choose the patients to do surgery. Besides, there are mainly retrospective studies rather than prospective and multicenter studies to explore the prognosis of pancreatic cancer patients with PALN metastasis. Thus, more prospective and multicenter studies are needed to decide whether PALN metastasis is an independent prognostic factor in patients with resectable pancreatic cancer.

ObjectiveTo investigate the mechanism of Renshen Guben oral liquids（RGOL） in treatment of mice with renal fibrosis based on metabolomics and network pharmacology. MethodC57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into control group， model group and RGOL group， 12 mice in each group. Except for the control group， mice in the other groups were induced into unilateral ureteral obstruction（UUO） model by UUO. After preparation of the model， an aqueous solution of 4.2 g·kg^-1 extract powder was administered by gavage to RGOL group for 14 d， and an equal amount of distilled water was administered by gavage to the control and model groups. After the last administration on the 14^th day， urine was collected and detected by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry（UPLC-QQQ-MS/MS） with 0.1% formic acid aqueous solution as mobile phase A， and acetonitrile-isopropanol（70∶30） as mobile phase B for gradient elution（0-1 min， 5%B； 1-5 min， 5%-30%B； 5-9 min， 30%-50%B； 9-11 min， 50%-78%B； 11-13.5 min， 78%-95%B； 13.5-14 min， 95%-100%B； 14-16 min， 100%B； 16-16.1 min， 100%-5%B； 16.1-18 min， 5%B）， column temperature of 40 ℃， flow rate of 0.4 mL·min^-1， electrospray ionization（ESI）， collection range of m/z 50-900. Through network pharmacology， the targets of components in RGOL and the targets of renal fibrosis were analyzed interactively， and the key components and key targets were screened by network topology analysis， and DAVID platform was used to predict the signaling pathways of RGOL for the treatment of renal fibrosis. ResultA total of 7 differential metabolites involving 8 metabolic pathways were identified in RGOL for the treatment of renal fibrosis. The network pharmacology revealed that 36 key components in RGOL were related to 7 differential metabolites， mainly ginsenosides， notoginsenosides and nucleotides. Based on the herbs-components-targets-pathways network， a total of 23 key targets related to the treatment of renal fibrosis by RGOL were highlighted， which together with the differential metabolites were involved in linoleic acid metabolism， arginine biosynthesis， tricarboxylic acid cycle（TCA）， arginine and proline metabolism and other pathways. ConclusionBased on metabolomics and network pharmacology， this study preliminarily identified 7 differential metabolites， 36 potential pharmacodynamic components and 23 key targets and 4 key pathways in RGOL for the treatment of renal fibrosis， providing an experimental basis for the clinical application and mechanism study of this preparation.

Over the past decade, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has widely embraced systems biology and its various data integration approaches to promote its modernization. Thus, integrative pharmacology-based traditional Chinese medicine (TCMIP) was proposed as a paradigm shift in TCM. This review focuses on the presentation of this novel concept and the main research contents, methodologies and applications of TCMIP. First, TCMIP is an interdisciplinary science that can establish qualitative and quantitative pharmacokinetics-pharmacodynamics (PK-PD) correlations through the integration of knowledge from multiple disciplines and techniques and from different PK-PD processes