OBJECTIVETo review the current status of the determination of the bacterial endotoxin in traditional chinese medicine injections with the limulus lysate test, and to evaluate the feasibility of this test for the determination of the bacterial endotoxin in these injections.

METHODThe data related to the topic was collected, analyzed and summarized.

RESULTThe limulus lysate test was not available for most of traditional chinese medicine injections due to the interference. And the same injection may uield different test results because of different factories, batch numbers, different techniques and preparational conditions.

CONCLUSIONThere is still a long way to go to apply the limulus lysate test to the determination of the bacterial endotoxin in traditional chinese medicine injections.

Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Endotoxins ; analysis ; Limulus Test ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo adopt a criterion summarized in long-term practice to judge the immune status of recurrent aphthous ulceration (RAU) patients, and to analyze its rationality and feasibility.

METHODS60 cases were included, whose clinical information, such as age, sex, constitution status, history of system diseases and severity of ulceration were collected. The subjective judgement results of the immune status were obtained according to the criterion summarized in clinical practice. At the same time, peripheral blood parameters about immune function were examined in order to obtain the objective examination results of the immune status. With the examination result as the gold standard, the rationality of the criterion was estimated through its sensitivity and specificity.

RESULTSAccording to subjective judgment, there were 86.67% cases with abnormal immune status (28.33% cases with elevated immune status, and 58.33% cases with reduced immune status). According to objective examination, there were 93.33% cases with abnormal immune status (23.33% cases with elevated immune status, and 70.00% cases with reduced immune status. Sensitivity and specificity were 89.29% and 50.00% when the criterion was used to judge immune abnormality, 42.86% and 76.09% when the criterion was used to judge immune elevation, and 64.29% and 55.56% when the criterion was used to judge immune reduction.

CONCLUSIONIt is of some rationality and feasibility to judge the immune status according to the criterion based on clinical information, and the criterion can be used in small clinics.

Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Immune System ; physiology ; Male ; Stomatitis, Aphthous

OBJECTIVETo study the level of serum vascular endothelial growth factor, matrix metalloproteinases-9 in the proliferative hemangioma before and after propranolol treatment.

METHODSThe serum VEGF, MMP-9 was detected with ELISA assay before treatment and after 4 weeks and 8 weeks of propranolol treatment. The relationship between the serum VEGF, MMP-9 and the prognosis was analyzed.

RESULTSThe serum VEGF (295.4 +/- 158.1) pg/ml was high before treatment, then decreased after 4 weeks and 8 weeks of treatment (255.7 +/- 130.4) pg/ml, (224.2 +/- 120.6) pg/ml. The serum VEGF was significantly lower after 8 weeks of treatment (P < 0.05). The serum MMP-9 was also decreased after treatment, showing a positive relationship with VEGF.

CONCLUSIONSPropranolol can treat the proliferative hemangioma through decreasing the serum VEGF and MMP-9.

Female ; Hemangioma ; blood ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 ; blood ; Propranolol ; therapeutic use ; Serum ; metabolism ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; blood

Objective To understand the epidemiological features of Alzheimer's disease (AD)in the community-based elderly living in cities and counties in Hebei province.Methods Under the stratified random sampling method,Mini Mental State Examination(MMSE)was used to evaluate senile dementia and Activity of Daily Living Scale(ADL)and to evaluate the daily lives of the elderly.Related dementia standard on the diagnose of AD and its subtypes was used.Statistically,data was analyzed through SPSS 13.0 software.Results The overall prevalence was 64.84%(2355/3632) on chronic diseases in those elderly who were over 60 years of age while AD appeared to be high and increased with age.The prevalence rate of dementia was 7.24%(263/3632),in which AD accounted for 4.87%(177/3632).Rates for other chronic diseases were as follows:hypertension (32.35%),diabetes(11.37%),chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(9.25%),coronary heart disease(8.84%)and stroke(7.16%).The prevalence of AD increased with age and was related to the low degree of education having.Conclusion Elderly living in the communities of Hebei province showed high prevalent rates of chronic diseases including AD,which had become the major kind of diseases related to old age.

Objective: To analyze the molecular epidemiology, genetic variations and evolution of enterovirus 71 (EV71) strains isolated in Jiangsu Province from 2009 to 2018. Methods: Statistical methods were used to analyze the data about epidemiological characteristics and results of pathogen detection in cases with EV71 infection in Jiangsu Province from 2009 to 2018. The complete VP1 sequences of 80 EV71 strains were amplified and sequenced for analysis of diversity and phylogenesis. Results: A total of 41 858 enterovirus-positive hand, foot and mouth disease cases were reported in Jiangsu Province from 2009 to 2018. EV71 was the predominant pathogen, accounting for 36.52%, and responsible for most of the severe cases. However, the percentage of EV71 among all pathogens gradually decreased over time. EV71 infection reached the peak in April to June and mainly occurred in children aged six months to five years old with higher incidence in males than in females. In terms of regional distribution, EV71 infections were characterized by area clustering in Jiangsu Province, mainly detected in Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuxi and Lianyungang. The 80 EV71 isolates belonged to C4a genotype. Nucleotide differences between them and three vaccine strains (H07, FY23 and FY7VP5)were 0.6%-5.5%, 0.8%-5.7% and 1.9%-6.9% and amino acid difference were 0-1.4%, 0.3%-2.0% and 0.3%-2.0%, respectively. Amino acid mutations in the epitopes of the 80 EV71 strains did not marked by years or regions. Conclusions EV71 strains showed obvious epidemiological characteristics in time, population and regional distribution in Jiangsu Province from 2009 to 2018.All of the 80 EV71 isolates belonged to C4a subgenotype. The nucleotide sequences between them and the vaccine strains varied greatly, but the homology of amino acids was relatively high, indicating the existence of some synonymous mutations and no risk of antigenic drift. This study would provide reference for EV71 vaccination in Jiangsu Province.

BACKGROUNDAtopic dermatitis (AD) is characterized by defective skin barrier and imbalance in T helper 1/T helper 2 (Th1/Th2) cytokine expression. Filaggrin (FLG) is the key protein to maintaining skin barrier function. Recent studies indicated that Th1/Th2 cytokines influence FLG expression in keratinocytes. However, the role of Th1/Th2 cytokines on FLG processing is not substantially documented. Our aim was to investigate the impact of Th1/Th2 cytokines on FLG processing.

METHODSHaCaT cells and normal human keratinocytes were cultured in low and high calcium media and stimulated by either interleukin (IL)-4, 13 or interferon-γ (IFN-γ). FLG, its major processing proteases and key protease inhibitor lymphoepithelial Kazal-type-related inhibitor (LEKTI) were measured by both real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. Their expression was also evaluated in acute and chronic AD lesions by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSIL-4/13 significantly reduced, while IFN-γ significantly up-regulated FLG expression. IL-4/13 significantly increased, whereas IFN-γ significantly decreased the expression of kallikreins 5 and 7, matriptase and channel-activating serine protease 1. On the contrary, IL-4/13 significantly decreased, while IFN-γ increased the expression of LEKTI and caspase-14. Similar trends were observed in AD lesions.

CONCLUSIONSOur results suggested that Th1/Th2 cytokines differentially regulated the expression of major FLG processing enzymes. The imbalance between Th1 and Th2 polarized immune response seems to extend to FLG homeostasis, through the network of FLG processing enzymes.

Caspase 14 ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cells, Cultured ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; metabolism ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Interferon-gamma ; metabolism ; Interleukin-13 ; metabolism ; Interleukin-4 ; metabolism ; Intermediate Filament Proteins ; metabolism ; Keratinocytes ; enzymology ; metabolism ; Proteinase Inhibitory Proteins, Secretory ; metabolism ; Serine Peptidase Inhibitor Kazal-Type 5 ; Th1 Cells ; metabolism ; Th2 Cells ; metabolism

Objective To understand the status of HIV sexual transmission among HIV- sero-discordant spouses and HIV-sero-accordant spouses in Yunnan province,to discuss the related factors and to provide evidence for HIV prevention and control strategy.Methods Five places with serious epidemic and 3 moderate ones were voluntarily,randomly selected.According to time sequence,300 spouses (600 people) with stable marriage were interviewed with questionnaire.Results HIV-sero-accordant spouses occupied for 40.7％ of the total spouses under survey,with the others were HIV-sero-discordant ones.Among the ones that had already been diagnosed in the families,sexual transmission was their main mode of transmission,which was accounted for 68.3％,followd by IDU as 19.7％.After disclosed the HIV test outcomes to their spouses,63.4％ HIV-sero-discordant spouses and 47.0％ HIV-sero-accordant ones changed their sexual behaviors.The rates of consistent condom use among the HIV-sero-discordant spouses increased from 16.8％ to 95.0％,and in HIV-sero-accordant spouses increased from 8.2％ to 60.9％.Data were analyzed by multi-factor logistic regression.Factors on influencing the sexual transmission in spouses would include condom use,frequency of sexual contacts and sexual transmission disease (STD) status etc.Conclusion The main transmission mode for the first HIV infected spouse was sexual transmission.Factors influencing sexual transmission in spouses would include condom use,frequency of sexual contacts,STD situation and husband was the first one being infected in the families,etc.Disclosure of the HIV results to the spouses could make a significant changes in the frequencies of sexual contact as well as the rate of condom use.

This study was aimed to establish a method of PCR combination with PCR-RFLP for detecting the South-East Asian (SEA) deletion type alpha-thalassemia 1 and non-deletion mutation of Hb Constant Spring (CS), and to investigate the application value of this method. For the members of the families with alpha-thalassemia, SEA deletion mutation was detected by PCR, then the HbCS point mutation was screened by PCR-RFLP. The results indicated that 15 carriers with alpha-thalassemia (--(SEA)/) were found in 19 members from 7 families, and 2 families with genotype of --(SEA)/alpha(CS)alpha were screened out successfully. It is concluded that the PCR combination with PCR-RFLP is a simple, rapid, and reliable method for screening HbH disease with genotype of --(SEA)/alpha(CS)alpha.
Adult ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Genotype ; Hemoglobins, Abnormal ; genetics ; Humans ; Pedigree ; Point Mutation ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Sequence Deletion ; Young Adult ; alpha-Thalassemia ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo observe the efficacy and safety of oral propranolol in the treatment of periorbital proliferating phase infantile hemangioma.

METHODSA retrospective review of patient medical records was performed. 12 patients (9 female, 3 male; 1.5-8.5 months, average 3.3 months) with periorbital proliferating phase infantile hemangioma underwent oral propranolol therapy. The dosage was slowly increased to 2 mg/kg daily in divided doses for a mean duration of 16 weeks (range 4 weeks-41 weeks). Therapeutic outcomes and safety were established by evaluating colour, size of lesion, duration of treatment and side-effects of treatment before and after treatment.

RESULTSOf these, 9 had a signification reduction in colour and size of the lesions, 2 had no further growth. 1 is stopped therapy due to hypotension after drug administration. 11 other patients, although mild adverse effects were noted, no symptoms were severe enough to discontinue treatment.

CONCLUSIONSPropranolol appears to be a safe and effective treatment in the management of periorbital proliferating phase infantile hemangioma.

Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Hemangioma ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Orbital Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Propranolol ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperthermia, Induced ; methods ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sex Factors ; Warts ; therapy ; Young Adult