Objective To correlate vWF expression in the endothelium of transitional pulmonary arterioles from lung biopsy in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) secondary to left-to-right shunt congenital heart defects (CHD). The results will be compared to vWF expression in peripheral venous plasma pre-operatively and the early post-operative outcome. Methods Consecutive 70 cases of left-to-right shunt congenital heart defects were involved in the study, the age ranged from 4 months to 63 years. Pulmonary systolic pressure/systemic systolic pressure (Pp/Ps) was calculated from Swan-Ganz floating catheter monitoring before corrective operation. PH was found in 62 cases, with slight PH in 16, moderated PH in 24 and severe PH in 22. Non-PH in 8 cases. Twenty-six cases of non-heart and lung disease were involved in as control. Lung biopsy tissue was stained for routine pathologic classification and quantitative vWF expression, with testing vWF in the peripheral venous blood. Post-operative complication was noted. Results There was a statistically difference of vWF expression in the endothelium of pulmonary transitional arterioles between PH group and non-PH group, with reducing intensity in order of non-PH, slight Ph, moderate PH and severe PH. A negative relationship was statistically noted between Pp/Ps and vWF expression in the arteriole endothelium (=61.88-33.30x, r=-0.701, P

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a diffuse pulmonary fibrosis disease.At present,there are still no effective treatments for this disease,so the prognosis is poor and 5 years of survival rates was only 20%.Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells(BMSCs),derived from bone marrow,is a kind of multipotent stem cells,which have potential to differentiate into many lineages of cells.So,they are considered to have great latent values in clinic.In recent years,related studies had found that BMSCs might participate in the repair of the lung injury,even they can reverse the pathological progress in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.But the mechanism is still unclear and needs more research to elucidate.

Wip1 is a nuclear protein and a member of serine/threonine specific protein phosphatase type 2C(PP2C)family.It was initially identified as a gene whose expression was induced in response to ? or UV radiation in a p53-dependent manner and a negative feedback regulation of p38MAPK-p53 signaling.Then,Wip1 gene was confirmed a proto-oncogene and amplified or overexpressed in several human tumor types.This review will introduce the structures and functions of Wip1 and details on the signaling process of cancer progression.

0.05).In control group,Cx43 expression was 11.92?1.26,significantly lower than that of the preoperative value(P

AIM: To investigate the effect of ischemic preconditioning (IP) on myocardial Bcl-2 expression and mitochondrial structure during heart valve replacement surgery under cardiopulmonary bypass. METHODS: Fifty-four patients were prospectively randomized to receive or not ischemic preconditioning (IP) before cold cardioplegic arrest. Ischemic preconditioning in the IP patients (n=22) was induced by a single 2-min ischemia followed by 3-min reperfusion just before aortic clamping and cold crystalloid cardioplegia for myocardial protection. The control group (n=32) received no ischemic preconditioning before cold cardioplegic arrest. The levels of ejection fraction (EF), fractional shortening(FS) and stroke volume (SV) in both groups were measured and compared. troponin T (c-TnT) level, Bcl-2 protein expression and microscopic changes of myocardial mitochondrial structure were recorded for each group before and after surgery. RESULTS: The level of EF, FS and SV in IP group was higher than those in control group (P<0.05). No significant difference in preoperative c-TnT levels between two groups was observed. The level of c-TnT in IP group was lower than that in control group and with a declining trend over time of 6 h, 24 h, 48 h, 72 h and 5 d after surgery, respectively. The preoperative positive unit of Bcl-2 expression between two groups showed no statistical difference (P> 0.05). Postoperatively, the positive unit of Bcl-2 expression in IP group was 19.85±5.88, significantly increased as compared to the preoperative value (P<0.05). In control group, the positive unit of Bcl-2 expression was 14.17±3.39, showed no statistically significant difference to the preoperative value (P>0.05). Postoperative Bcl-2 expression between two groups showed a significant difference (P<0.05). In the control group, microscopic observation revealed swollen mitochondrion, with a hardly visible or disrupted membrane for some mitochondrion;mitochondrial crista were obviously dissolved and loose with a large number of vacuoles formation. However in IP group, myocardial mitochondrion appeared with intact membrane, concentrated mitochondrial cristae with high electron density and no vacuoles formation was observed. CONCLUSION: IP may up-regulate the expression of myocardial anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 to protect the mitochondrion, thus protecting cardiocytes and cardiac functions.

[Objective] The aim of this study was to establish a quantitative SYBR Green Ⅰ real-time PCR method for detection of wide-type p53-induced phosphatase 1 (Wip1 or PPM1D) gene expression level in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC),and to investigate the relationship between Wip1 mRNA expression level and the clinicopathological characters.[Method] Real-time PCR was employed to determine the expression level of Wip1 mRNA in 44 specimens of NSCLC tissues and their adjacent normal tissues.[Results] In the 44 specimens,the expression of Wip1 mRNA in both cancer tissues and adjacent normal lung tissues were positive.Wip1 gene was overexpressed in 17 specimens among 44 NSCLC specimens.The rate was 38.6%.The relative level of Wip1 mRNA in NSCLC tissues was significantly higher than the adjacent normal lung tissues (Ratio ＝ 2.1644 ± 1.394,P ＜ 0.01).The expression of Wip1 mRNA was also correlated with pathological staging (F ＝ 5.08,P ＝ 0.013).[Conclusion] The established SYBR Green Ⅰ quantitative real-time PCR method can successfully detect the expression level of Wip1 mRNA.The results suggested that Wip1 may be involved in the development of NSCLC.

AIM: To investigate the possible mechanism of PRL-2 in invasive metastasis of tumors.METHODS: The PRL-2 vector was transfected into CL1 cell with lipofectamine reagent,the transfectants were selected by growth in the medium supplemented with G418.Zymographic analysis of metalloproteinases(MMPs) activity was performed,RT-PCR was used to determine the mRNA levels of(MMP-2),MMP-9,TIMP-1 and TIMP-2,the protein levels of(MMP-2),MMP-9,TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 were analyzed by Western blotting.The effects of the special inhibitor of PRL-2 on transfected cells were also observed.RESULTS: The stable cell line selected by G418 was identified by RT-PCR and Western blotting.More abundance of MMP-2,MMP-9 and its activated type were secreted by the CL-1-PRL-2 cells than untransfected cells and transfected vector cells(P

AIM: To investigate the expression and significance of MAPK-interacting kinase-2 ( Mnk2 ) and eukaryotic initiation factor 4E ( eIF4E) in the patients with resected esophageal squamous cell carcinoma ( ESCC ). METHODS:The protein expression of Mnk2 and eIF4E in ESCC tissues (98 cases) and normal esophageal tissues (20 cases) were assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC), and their correlations with clinicopathological features were statisti-cally analyzed.RESULTS:The over-expression rate of Mnk2 and eIF4E was 68.4%(67/98) and 61.2%(60/98), re-spectively.The expression of Mnk2 had a positive correlation with eIF4E (P<0.05).Clinicopathologic analysis showed that Mnk2 expression was significantly correlated with T classification ( P<0.05 ) and clinical stage ( P<0.05 ) .CON-CLUSION:The over-expression of Mnk2 was significantly related to the tumor invasive depth , TNM stages and expression of eIF4E in ESCC.Expression of Mnk2 and eIF4E may have a cooperative formation mechanism in the development of ESCC.

BACKGROUNDAn zidovudine (AZT)-substitution regimen containing 24-week stavudine (d4T) followed by long-term AZT for HIV therapy is potential to trade off short-term AZT-related anemia and long-term risks associated with d4T in resource-limited settings. However, evidence is scarce. This study aims to assess the efficacy and safety of AZT-substitution regimen, aiming to find a regimen with better efficacy, less adverse events, and more affordability in resource-limited settings.

METHODSThis prospective, multicenter study enrolled 499 (190 on d4T regimen, 172 on AZT regimen, and 137 on AZT-substitution regimen) HIV-1-infected subjects who initiated combined antiretroviral therapy and attended follow-up visits over 96 weeks from 2009 to 2011. Lamivudine (3TC) and either nevirapine (NVP) or efavirenz (EFV) were the other two drugs in the antiretroviral regimens. Virologic and immunologic responses and adverse events were monitored at baseline and at weeks 4, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, and 96.

RESULTSIn terms of hematological adverse effects, AZT-substitution group had similar safety profiles to d4T group and was superior to AZT group. In comparison with AZT-substitution group, AZT group was associated with higher risk of developing anemia (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) for anemia ≥ grade II, 8.44, 95% CI 1.81-39.46) and neutropenia (aHR for neutropenia ≥ grade II, 1.86, 95% CI 1.19-2.93). The prevalence of lipodystrophy in d4T group was 19.5%, while that in AZT-substitution group was zero. As to antiretroviral efficacy, these three groups showed no differences.

CONCLUSIONAZT-substitution regimen provides a relatively safe and effective first-line antiretroviral strategy in resource-limited settings.

Adult ; Anti-HIV Agents ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Female ; HIV Infections ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Stavudine ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Zidovudine ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use