Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of the instant gastrointestinal ultrasound contrast agent in the digestive diseases. Methods Five hundred and seventy-nine patients received the examination of the color Doppler after they drinked the ultrasonic contrast agent. Then the results were analyzed by consistency analysis. Results There was high consistency between the two examinations in the normal control, gastritis, peptic ulcer, gastric cancer and gastric leiomyoma. The Kappa value was 0.768, 0.913, 0.925, 0.939 and 1.000, respectively. But the consistency in the gastric polyp was low , the Kappa value was 0.368. Conclusion The color Doppler through the instant gastrointestinal ultrasound contrast agent has high diagnostic value in the common diseases of the digestive system.

Objective To investigate the expression and antibacterial function of Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients.Methods Thirty stable SLE patients and thirty normal controls (NC) were recruited to this study.The acitivity of SLE was assessed by SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI).Density gradient centrifugation was uesd to isolate neutrophilic granulocytes.Picogreen assay was used to quantify NETs formation.Colony counting method was used to compare the antibacterial rate of NETs between two groups.Variation of quantity and activities of neutrophil elastase (NE) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) on induced NETs was tested by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Results There was no significant difference in the number of NETs between SLE and NC.Compared to the control group,more NETs were induced from neutrophils in SLE,the antibacterial rate of induced NETs was significantly lower,with the activities of antibacterial protein MPO decreased.Conclusions Stable SLE patients are more easily to induce NETs,and the antibacterial function of induced NETs are truly defective,may be related to the decreased activity of the antibacterial protein MPO.

Objective To observe the effect of intermedin(IMD) on microvascular injury of renal fibrosis in unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) rat model.Methods Seventy-two male Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups:the sham-operation group (n=24) underwent the left ureteral dissection,the other 48 rats were made as unilateral ureteral obstruction models and subdivided into model group(UUO,n=24) and IMD group (n=24).At the 7,14,21,28 day after the operation,6 randomly-selected rats from each of the three groups respectively were blooded by abdominal arotic and their obstructive kidneys were taken out.The renal histopathological changes were observed through HE and Masson staining,the contents of BUN,Scr and cystatin C (CysC) of the obstructive kidneys were determined,the expressions of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1),α-SMA,bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7),E-cadherin,thrombospondin 1 (TSP-1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were detected by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry.Results Compared with the sham-operated group,the pathological changes of kidney in the model group showed that the degree of fibrosis was obvious,tubular interstitial damage aggravated,the levels of BUN,Scr,CysC in the model group increased (P ＜ 0.05),the mRNA expression and protein content of TGF-β1,oα-SMA,TSP-1 increased (P ＜ 0.05),while the levels of BMP-7,E-cadherin and VEGF decreased (P ＜0.05).Compared with the UUO group,renal tubular damage,interstitial fibrosis in the IMD group were lighter,the levels of BUN,Scr,CysC in the IMD group were lower (P ＜ 0.05),the mRNA expression and protein content of TGF-β1,α-SMA,TSP-1 were down-regulated (P ＜ 0.05),while the levels of BMP-7,E-cadherin and VEGF were up-regulated (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion IMD can ameliorate the renal interstitial fibrosis,and the mechanism may be related to the fact that VEGF mediated by IMD can reduce vascular injury.

Objective To evaluate the oxacillin disk screening test for screening Streptococcus pneumoniae by the penicillin Etest method.Methods 96 clinically isolated non-meningitis strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae were collected.The sensitivity and spe-cificity of the oxacillin disc screening test was evaluated by the penicillin Etest method as a standard method for detecting the peni-cillin susceptibility.Results Among 96 non-meningitis strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae,the penicillin-susceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae(PSSP)strains detected by the penicillin Etest method accounted for 96.9%(93/96),the penicillin intermediate Strep-tococcus pneumoniae(PISP)strains accounted for 3.1%(3/96)and no penicillin resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae(PRSP)strain was found.But 16 PSSP strains were detected by the oxacillin disc screening test with the sensitivity of 17.2% and the specificity of 100.0%,respectively.The difference between the oxacillin disc screening test and the penicillin Etest method was statistically sig-nificant(χ2 =77,P <0.01 ).Conclusion The oxacillin disc screening test has the low sensitivity for preliminarily screening non-meningitis strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae.Most of Streptococcus pneumoniae must be detected by the minimum inhibitory concentration(MIC)methods such as the penicillin Etest method.

Objective To evaluate the immuno-potentiating effects of CpG-ODN plus alum as a composite adjuvant on influenza split virion vaccine.Methods BALB/c mice were immunized with various amounts of 2009 H1N1 influenza split virion vaccine,alone or in combination with CpG-ODN,alum,or both (composite adjuvant).Antigen-specific humoral immune responses were evaluated by ELISA,hemagglutination inhibiting (HI) assay and neutralizing assay.Antigen-specific cellular immune responses were evaluated by ELISPOT assay,intracellular cytokine staining assay and in vivo CTL assay.Results Compared with the control group immunized with antigen alone,a single use of either adjuvant weakly enhanced the humoral immune responses,as indicated by the increase of antigen-specific IgG titers,HI titers and neutralizing titers by 3-6 folds,2-4 folds and 4-8 folds,respectively,after two immunizations.In contrast,the composite adjuvant induced more potent humoral immune responses; the antigen-specific IgG titers,HI titers and neutralizing titers were increased by 23-57 folds,9-20 folds and 16-64 folds,respectively.Consequently,the composite adjuvant achieved antigen-sparing by at least 16 folds.In addition,the composite adjuvant significantly enhanced the antigen-specific cellular immune responses,as revealed by the increase of IFN-γ-secreting CD4+ T cells and the enhancement of CTL activity in immunized mice.Conclusion CpG-ODN plus alum as a composite adjuvant can enhance the immunogenicity of influenza split virion vaccine and achieve the antigen-sparing effect.

Objective To investigate the glomerular microvascular injury and repair in patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN) as well as its relationship with intermedin (IMD).Methods Eighty cases of renal tissue taken from patients first diagnosed as IgAN in Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanxi Medical University and 15 cases of normal renal tissue were detected by the expression of glomerular IMD,CD31,and VE-cadherin through immunohistochemical method.ELISA method was used to detect VEGF and IMD of plasm from 31 normal subjects and 36 cases chosen from the IgAN patients.Their changes and internal relationship were analyzed according to Lee's and chronic kidney disease (CKD) classification.Results (1) Compared with the control group the expressions of CD31,IMD,and VE-cadherin in IgAN patients were statistically significant (P ＜0.01).Compared with the control group the levels of IMD and VEGF in plasma of IgAN patients in early stage of CKD group and late stage of CKD group were statistically significant (P ＜ 0.01).(2)Correlation analysis:the expression of glomerular CD31 and Lee's classification were negatively correlated (r=-0.232,P ＜ 0.05);glomerular IMD was negatively correlated with Lee's classification (r=-0.241,P＜0.05),while positively correlated with glomerular VE-cadherin (r=0.417,P＜ 0.01).VEGF in plasma of IgAN patients was positive correlated with CKD classification,BUN (r=0.458,0.409,P＜0.05),and negatively correlated with serum ALB (r=-0.532,P＜0.01).Conclusion Microvascular injury exists in patients with IgAN.The expression of VE-cadherin and IMD are positively correlated,suggesting that IMD may be involved in the progression of vascular protection and angiogenesis in IgAN.The contents of IMD and VEGF in plasma of IgAN patients increase,indicating that they may play a role in the progression of IgAN.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex autoimmune disease characterized by the production of autoantibodies to a broad range of self-antigens. Profiling the autoantibody repertoire using array-based technology has emerged as a powerful tool for the identification of biomarkers in SLE and other autoimmune diseases. Proteomic microarray has the capacity to hold large number of self-antigens on a solid surface and serve as a high-throughput screening method for the determination of autoantibody specificities. The autoantigen arrays carrying a wide variety of self-antigens, such as cell nuclear components (nucleic acids and associated proteins), cytoplas-mic proteins, phospholipid proteins, cell matrix proteins, mucosal/secreted proteins, glomeruli, and other tissue-specific proteins, have been used for screening of autoantibody specificities associated with different manifestations of SLE. Arrays containing synthetic peptides and molecular modified proteins are also being utilized for identification of autoantibodies targeting to special antigenic epi-topes. Different isotypes of autoantibodies, including IgG, IgM, IgA, and IgE, as well as other Ig subtypes, can be detected simultaneously with multi-color labeled secondary antibodies. Serum and plasma are the most common biologic materials for autoantibody detection, but other body fluids such as cerebrospinal fluid, synovial fluid, and saliva can also be a source of autoantibody detection.

miRNAs are important post-transcriptional regulators. The aberrant expression of miRNAs is strongly associated with the initiation and progression of pathophysiologic processes in a wide range of human diseases. Scleroderma (systemic sclerosis; SSc) is a highly heterogeneous autoimmune disease that includes the progressive fibrotic replacement of normal tissue architecture in multiple organs. Our previous studies have suggested that SSc skin tissues display a different miRNA expression signature than that found in normal controls. miRNAs with pro- or antifibrotic properties are found to be dysregulated in SSc skin fibrosis. Serum miRNA levels are associated with SSc activity and severity. miRNAs have the potential to be therapeutic targets and serve as biomarkers for SSc diagnosis and assessment of disease state and severity. This review summarizes the SSc miRNA expression signature and the roles of dysregulation of miRNAs in SSc tissues and serum and examines the future therapeutic potential of targeting miRNAs in the management of SSc patients.
Animals ; Biological Markers/metabolism ; Fibrosis/etiology/metabolism ; Humans ; MicroRNAs/*genetics/metabolism ; Scleroderma, Systemic/diagnosis/etiology/genetics/*metabolism

SAαt2,6 and SAα2,3 linked sialic acid molecules on epithelial cell membrane served as receptors for influenza virus, which axe specifically recognized by human and avian influenza viruses, respectively. The distribution of these two species of sialic acids in human respiratory tract from different anatomical sites and different age groups was investigated. The results showed that SAα2,3Gal species was prevalent in respiratory bronchiole and lung alveolar epithelium, but was infiequent in trachea, bronchus and bronchiole. On the contrary, the SAα2,6Gal species was more common in the trachea and bronchus and to a lesser degree in the alveolar epithelium. When compared the expression levels of SAα2,6Gal and α2,3Gal in the respiratory tract among different age groups, no significant difference was found. In the ex vivo H5N1 virus infection study, alveolus epithelium were found to be more susceptible to avian influenza than trachea and bronchus epithelial cells. These results suggest that the human respiratory tract, to some extent, is permissive for avian influenza viruses. The currently-observed limited human to human transmission of H5N1 virus may be associated with the different abundance of SAα2,3Gal linkages in human upper respiratory tract among individuals.

OBJECTIVETo determine the candidate sequences which can be used as DNA barcode to identify species in Caprifoliaceae family by screening out from four different DNA fragments sequences.

METHODPCR amplification, sequencing efficiency, differential intra- and interspecific divergences, the DNA barcoding gap and identification efficiency were used to evaluate these loci.

RESULTThe ITS2 was used as a candidate sequence of DNA barcode to identify the species in Caprifoliaceae family, whose rate of success in identification in genera level was 100% and in species 96.6%, and psbA-trnH as a complementary barcode to ITS2 for Caprifoliaceae.

Automatic Data Processing ; methods ; Base Sequence ; Caprifoliaceae ; genetics ; DNA ; analysis ; DNA, Plant ; analysis ; Identification (Psychology) ; Plants, Medicinal ; genetics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods ; Species Specificity