Objective　To investigate the effect of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) on vascular endothelial cell injury and plasma endothelin-1 and nitric oxide equilibrium in patients undergoing cardiovascular operation with CPB. Methods　A total of 20 patients with congenital heart disease (Group Ⅰ) and 20 with valvular problem (group Ⅱ) were operated on under CPB respectively. Blood samples were collected from central vein before skin incision, before CPB, 30 min after CPB, at the end of CPB, and end of operation, the first morning and third morning after operation. The levels of plasma thrombomodulin(TM), endothelin-1(ET-1) and nitric oxide(NO) were measured. Results　The plasma TM level was significantly elevated during CPB (P<0.01, P<0.05) and 1 d after operation, reached its peak as (4.88±1.12) ng/ml in Group Ⅰand (8.34±1.84) ng/ml in group Ⅱ at the end of surgery and came back to the level as before operation. The plasma level of ET-1 was also increased significantly after CPB and reached peak as (129.04±22.29) in Group Ⅰ and (156.62±29.66) in Group Ⅱ at the end of operation. And the level was still higher than before operation in 2 groups 3 d after operation. No change was found on the level of NO in 2 groups. Conclusion　CPB may cause extensive acute endothelial cells damage for about 24-48 h and recovered about 72 h and it may also cause an imbalance of ET-1 and NO.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the distribution of virulent genes of Yersinia enterocolitica (Y. enterocolitica) in Ningxia Hui autonomous region and the characteristics of the molecular patterns of Y. enterocolitica.

METHODS283 strains of Y. enterocolitica were isolated in Ningxia Hui autonomous region between year 1997 and 2010. The genes ail, ystA, ystB, yadA and virF were analyzed by PCR method; the chromosomal DNA of Y. enterocolitica was digested by restriction endonucleases NotI and processed by pulsed-field gel electrophoreses (PFGE); and then the cluster analysis were conducted by BioNumeric computer software towards the above results.

RESULTSOf all, 209 strains of serotypes O:3 and O:9 Y.enterocolitica showed positive virulence of genes ail, ystA, yadA and virF; 97.6% (204/209) of which, the ystB virulence were negative. The virulence of all genes in serotype O:8 and serum-unclassified strains were negative. 9 out of 11 strains of serotype O:5 Y. enterocolitica showed negative virulence of the above five genes. By PFGE, according to the NotI Macrorestriction Map on chromosomal DNA, the 29 strains of serotype O:3 Y. enterocolitica were divided into 12 PFGE patterns, 2 of which were dominant patterns which could be found in over 5 strains; and the 180 strains of serotype O:9 Y. enterocolitica were divided into 13 patterns, 4 of which were dominant patterns which existed in over 10 strains; which were isolated individually from pigs and house mouse, pigs and dogs as well as pigs and wild rabbits.

CONCLUSIONY.enterocolitica serotypes O:3 and O:9 were pathogenic in Ningxia, and serotype O:3 becomes predominant gradually. O:5, O:8 and serum-unclassified serotypes were non-pathogenic.

Animals ; Bacterial Toxins ; genetics ; DNA, Bacterial ; genetics ; Dogs ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field ; methods ; Genes, Bacterial ; Mice ; Rabbits ; Sus scrofa ; Virulence ; Yersinia Infections ; microbiology ; Yersinia enterocolitica ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; pathogenicity

OBJECTIVETerminal stage renal failure is the final common fate of chronic nephropathies independent of the type of initial insult. Abnormally filtered proteins have an intrinsic renal toxicity linked to their over-reabsorption by proximal tubular cells and activation of tubular-dependent pathways of interstitial inflammation and fibrosis. The functional importance of tubulointerstitial events in progressive renal disease is supported by evidence that the severity of tubular interstitial damage strongly correlates with the risk of renal failure. The present study aimed to investigate the expressive tendency of some pro-fibrosis genetic factors mRNA, including thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1), transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and the major component of extracellular matrix-fibronectin (FN) in renal tissues at different time points during early stage of renal lesions caused by proteinuria in bovine serum albumin (BSA) injection-induced proteinuria overload nephrotic young rats and the significance of these factors on tubulointerstitial fibrosis development.

METHODSFemale young Wistar rats aged 3-4 weeks with proteinuria overload nephrosis induced by BSA (1.0 g/d) injected intraperitoneally were used as experimental models. The 80 young rats were divided into control group (n = 40) and BSA injected group (n = 40). At different time points (weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4), the urinary protein was measured by Coomassie brilliant blue colorimetric assay; the renal tissues morphologic changes were evaluated after HE staining; the P(65)/Rel-A, TSP-1, TGF-beta1 and CTGF mRNA expression in renal tissues was determined by in situ hybridization method and the FN mRNA expression was detected by Northern blot. The experimental data were evaluated by statistics software SPSS10.0.

RESULTS(1) Three to four weeks after BSA injection, heavy proteinuria was observed in the rats of BSA group (week 3: 104.3 +/- 21.8 mg/24 h; week 4: 131.1 +/- 18.3 mg/24 h). The proteinuria deteriorated progressively afterwards. Histopathological examination revealed that inflammatory cells infiltrated into tubulointerstitial areas extensively, protein casts were seen in tubules and edema occurred in tubulointerstitial areas. (2) In situ hybridization showed that NF-kappaB (P(65)/Rel-A) mRNA expression was up-regulated progressively in nuclei of tubular epithelial cells, the semi-quantitative scores (at 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks) were 2.33 +/- 0.20, 2.76 +/- 0.12, 2.96 +/- 0.19, and 3.76 +/- 0.18, respectively (F = 37.34, P < 0.01). (3) At 1 week after BSA injection, the TSP-1 mRNA expression appeared in glomeruli and increased, but was light in tubulointerstitial areas, its expressive peak was observed at week 2, and declined to mild after weeks 3 and 4. The semi-quantitative scores at different time points suggested that TSP-1 mRNA was expressed mainly in early stage of lesion in this model, then, this tendency turned to a flat roof smoothly. (4) TGF-beta1 and CTGF mRNA was up-regulated simultaneously in tubular epithelial cells (F = 8.80, P < 0.01 F = 19.41, P < 0.01). (5) Northern blotting showed that FN mRNA was considerably up-regulated at second week in the kidneys of rats in BSA group, 2.7-fold higher at week 4 than that at week 1 in BSA group rats, and was 3.6-fold higher than that of control group.

CONCLUSIONThe present study suggested that NF-kappaB (P(65)/Rel-A) mRNA expression and its activity was enhanced significantly by proteinuria-loading and synchronized with high expression of TSP-1, TGF-beta1, and CTGF mRNA in the kidney, at the same time, FN mRNA was up-regulated in renal tissues and an aggravating tendency in tubulointerstitial lesions was observed in nephrotic young rats with heavy proteinuria.

Animals ; Connective Tissue Growth Factor ; metabolism ; Female ; Fibronectins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Kidney ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; NF-kappa B ; genetics ; metabolism ; Nephrosis ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Proteinuria ; genetics ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Thrombospondin 1 ; metabolism ; Transcription Factor RelA ; genetics ; metabolism ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo analyze the genetic evolution and bacterial type changes of Yersinia enterocolitica in the Ningxia area between year 1984 and 2011.

METHODSA total of 296 strains of Yersinia enterocolitica was collected from diarrhea patients, pig, rodents, sheep and dogs between year 1984 and 2011. The serotype, biotype, ail, ystA, ystB, yadA, virF and other toxic genes were detected. The PFGE subtypes of serotype O:3 and O:9 strains and the cluster features were analyzed.

RESULTSOut of 296 Yersinia enterocolitica strains, pig was the main host, accounting for 65.20% (193/296), followed by rodents, accounting for 32.43% (96/296). Serotype and biotype had their own respective dominant types in different periods. During 1984 and 1985, 2 strains of serotype O:3 and 3 strains of serotype O:9 were isolated, all belonged to biotype 3. Because of lack of strains, there were no obvious dominant types found. Between 1997 and 1999, 177 strains of serotype O:9 Yersinia enterocolitica were isolated as the dominant strain; and there were 178 strains of biotype 2 Yersinia enterocolitica were found. During 2007 and 2011, 54 strains of serotype O:3 Yersinia enterocolitica were isolated as dominant strain; followed by 26 strains of serotype O:5. There were separately 44 and 59 strains of biotype 1A and biotype 3. The PCR test divided the 248 strains into 4 types, including pathogenic strains as type I (ail(+), ystA(+), ystB(-), yadA(+), virF(+)). The PFGE divided the serotype O:3 into 12 types, in which K6GN11C30021 and K6GN11C30012 were the dominant types, accounting for 63.64% (42/66). The serotype O:9 were divided into 14 types, in which K6GN11C90010, K6GN11C90008, K6GN11C30018 and K6GN11C90003 were the dominant types, accounting for 89.01% (162/182).

CONCLUSIONThe different serotypes of isolated strains in Ningxia district showed different dominant bacteria in different periods; while the biotypes also changed with serotypes. The Yersinia enterocolitica isolated from different years showed great variation.

Animals ; DNA, Bacterial ; genetics ; Dogs ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field ; Genes, Bacterial ; Genetic Variation ; Humans ; Rodentia ; Sheep ; Swine ; Yersinia Infections ; microbiology ; Yersinia enterocolitica ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification

Objective To understand the distribution and changes in antimicrobial resistance of clinically isolated Pseudomonas aeruginosa(P.aeruginosa)in the member hospitals of Hunan Provincial Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System from 2012 to 2021.Methods Antimicrobial susceptibility testing by disk diffusion or automa-ted instrument was performed on clinical isolates.Testing results were determined according to the standards of 2022 edition from American Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute(CLSI).Statistical analysis was performed by WHONET 5.6 software.Data were analyzed by trend test(Cochran-armitage)and Chi-square test with SPSS.Results A total of 176 441 strains of P.aeruginosa were surveilled by Hunan Provincial Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System from 2012 to 2021.99.4％of the strains were isolated from hospitalized patients,and about 70％of the strains were isolated from respiratory specimens.8.4％of P.aeruginosa were from children(0-17 years old),91.6％were from adults.Antimicrobial susceptibility testing results showed that P.aeruginosa was most sensitive to polymyxin B over 10 years,with a resis-tance rate of less than 6％.Resistance rates to piperacil-lin,piperacillin/tazobactam,ceftazidime,cefepime,aztreonam,imipenem,amikacin,gentamicin,tobramycin,cip-rofloxacin,levofloxacin,and polymyxin B all showed downward trends.A total of 29 920 carbapenem-resistant P.aeruginosa(CRPA)strains were detected.The average isolation rate of CRPA in this province was 18.0％over 10 years.CRPA detection rate from adult was 18.5％,higher than that from children(12.3％),and both showing downward trends.Conclusion The resistance rate of clinically isolated P.aeruginosa in Hunan Province to most commonly used antimicrobial agents is decreasing.

OBJECTIVETo analyze the stem cell re-distribution after intra-coronary infusion (ICI) into arrested and beating hearts in a swine myocardial infarction (MI) model using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

METHODSBone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells were obtained from male swine and labeled with iron oxide during culture. One week after MI in female swine, the survivors were randomly divided into 4 groups. Cardiopulmonary bypass was set up to arrest the heart, and then SPIO labeled male stem cells (1 × 10(8)) were infused through coronary of beating heart (n = 6) and the arrested heart (n = 6). Saline was injected in either the beating or arresting heart as respective controls. Three days later, cell distribution was assessed by T2(*) change with magnetic resonance imaging and Y-chromosome (SRY) was detected with quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTSThe reduction of T2(*) values was significantly different in the hearts, spleens, livers and lung between the transplantation groups and the control groups. Only few transplanted cells were localized in the heart and T2(*) values were similar between beating and arrest heart groups [(-7.81 ± 2.03) ms vs. (-6.56 ± 1.72) ms, P > 0.05], while T2(*) value reduction was more significant in the spleen and liver in arrest heart group than in beating heart group [spleen: (-16.72 ± 2.83) ms vs. (-22.18 ± 3.98) ms, P < 0.01, liver: (-2.40 ± 0.44) ms vs. (-5.32 ± 3.40) ms, P < 0.05]. T2(*) value was similar in kidney among the four groups. qRT-PCR detected SRY gene was similar in the heart, less in the spleen and liver while more in the lung in beating heart group compared to arrested heart group. In vitro Prussian blue stained positively transplanted cells were found in the above organs in transplantation group.

CONCLUSIONSThe majority of stem cells transplanted by ICI would be entrapped by the extracardiac organs. Stem cell transplantation via ICI into the arrested heart does not favor more cells retention in the injured myocardium. Further investigation is needed to optimize the approach of stem cell delivery.

Animals ; Bone Marrow Transplantation ; Disease Models, Animal ; Female ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation ; Myocardial Infarction ; surgery ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; Stem Cells ; Swine

OBJECTIVETo characterize the clinical and cardiac MRI features of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and left ventricular noncompaction (LVNC).

METHODSCompared the clinical and MRI features between 25 patients with LVNC and 21 patients with DCM. The MRI derived diastolic left ventricular wall thickness and the number and degree of noncompaction (NC) were evaluated using the 17-segment model.

RESULTSChest distress, shortness of breath and abnormal ECG were presented in all DCM patients, abnormal ECG was evidenced in 22 LVNC patients and 21 out of 25 LVNC patients presented similar clinical symptoms as DCM patients while the rest 4 LVNC patients were asymptomatic. Left atrial and ventricular dimensions were significantly smaller in LVNC patients compared to DCM patients. The degree of left ventricular (LV) spherical remodeling was significantly greater in patients with DCM (sphericity index, SI = 0.81 +/- 0.06) than in patients with LVNC (SI = 0.74 +/- 0.11, P < 0.05). The LV ejection fraction (LVEF) was significantly higher in patients with LVNC (32.7% +/- 14.2%) than that in patients with DCM (15.0% +/- 5.1%). The number of NC segments in LVNC patients (9 +/- 1) was significantly higher than the number of hypertrabeculation segment in DCM patients (5 +/- 2). The left ventricular apex (the 17th segment) was unexceptionally involved in all LVNC patients, while hypertrabeculation was absent in the 17th segment of DCM patients. The NC was more common in the apical and mid segments (16th, 12th and 11th segments) than in basal and mid septal segments (2nd, 3rd, 8th and 9th segments) in both LVNC and DCM patients. The thickness of compacted myocardium of the segments associated with noncompaction appeared thin in two groups. The wall thickness of noncompaction myocardium segments was thicker in LVNC patients than in DCM patients. The end-diastolic NC/C ratio was, on average, higher in patients with LVNC (3.3 +/- 0.6) than in patients with DCM (1.9 +/- 0.3).

CONCLUSIONSThe clinical manifestation is similar while there are significant differences in the morphology and function of left atria and left ventricle between the LVNC and DCM patients. The different distribution and degree of NC were helpful to differentiate LVNC from DCM.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Cardiomyopathies ; pathology ; Cardiomyopathy, Dilated ; pathology ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Ventricular Dysfunction, Left ; pathology ; Young Adult

In spite of no homology in sequences‚ Vip3A and Cry1Ia toxins of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) share common characteristics‚ such as translocation across cell membranes after synthesis at the early stage of sporulation. The aim of the present study was to compare the regulation patterns and activities of the promoters of vip3A (P