Immunocytochemistry, flowcytometry and nucleic acid in situ hybridization were used to observe the effect of sodium tanshinon Ⅱ-A silate (DS201) on proliferation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell (PASMC) induced by hypoxic endothelial cell condition medium (HECCM). The results showed that DS201 could obviously hinder PASMC to enter S phase from G0/G1 phase (P<0.05), and decrease the expression of PCNA and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-A and B chain mRNA in PASMC respectively, (P<0.01). It was suggested that DS201 could probably inhibit the prolifertion of PASMC mediated by HECCM, through down-regulating the expression of PDGF-A and B chain gene.

In order to investigate the expression change of survivin in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and its possible effects on NHL development, the expression of survivin, Ki-67, caspase3 and FVIIIRAg in reactive lymphoid hyperplasia (RH) and NHL was detected by immunohistochemical assay, and apoptosis index (AI) in RH and NHL by TUNEL analysis. The results showed that the expression of survivin is significantly higher in aggressive NHL than in indolent NHL (P<0.01), while there was no statistically significant difference between RH and indolent NHL (P>0.05). The expression of survivin had a significantly positive correlation with the expression of Ki-67 and FVIIIRAg (r=0.6495, 0.6635, respectively, both P<0.01), and a negative correlation with the expression of caspase3 and AI (r=-0.5820, -0.6013, respectively, P<0.01). It was suggested that survivin may contribute to the progression of NHL by playing an important role in promoting cell proliferation, inhibiting cell apoptosis and enlisting angiogenesis. Survivin expression is closely related to malignant grade and therefore may be considered an important prognostic factor of NHL.

In order to investigate the expression change of survivin in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and its possible effects on NHL development, the expression of survivin, Ki-67, caspase3 and FⅧRAg in reactive lymphoid hyperplasia (RH) and NHL was detected by immunohistochemical assay, and apoptosis index (AI) in RH and NHL by TUNEL analysis. The results showed that the expression of survivin is significantly higher in aggressive NHL than in indolent NHL (P＜0.01), while there was no statistically significant difference between RH and indolent NHL (P＞0.05). The expression of survivin had a significantly positive correlation with the expression of Ki-67 and FⅧRAg (r=0.6495, 0.6635, respectively, both P＜0.01), and a negative correlation with the expression of caspase3 and AI (r=-0.5820, -0.6013, respectively, P＜0.01). It was suggested that survivin may contribute to the progression of NHL by playing an important role in promoting cell proliferation, inhibiting cell apoptosis and enlisting angiogenesis. Survivin expression is closely related to malignant grade and therefore may be considered an important prognostic factor of NHL.

Objective To establish a simple scoring system for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B (CHB), and to observe its sensitivity and specificity. Methods Two hundred and thirty-three patients diagnosed as CHB by liver biopsy were divided into model group (N = 154) and validation group (N = 79). The general information, biochemical parameters and imaging data of all patients were observed. With hepatic fibrosis being obvious or not as the end point of primary study in the model group, we established a simple scoring system for the diagnosis. The cut-off, sensitivity and specificity of the system were tested in the model group by ROC curve, and its diagnostic efficacy was tested in the validation group. Results(1) A simple scoring system for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis called MDFS was established in the model group, and the dimensions of the system included sex, HBV-DNA, Fibroscan (FS) value and splenomegaly. In MDFS, male, HBV-DNA≥ 107 U/mL,FS value≥7.3 kPa, and splenomegaly were assigned 1 point, -2 points, 3 points, and 2 points respectively. (2) The best cut-off value in MDFS was 2 points.(3) ROC curve of the model group indicated that the specificity and sensitivity were 92.86% and 54.76% respectively, the area under curve(AUC) was 0.790, and the Youden index was 0.4762. In the validation group, the diagnostic cut-off value was over 2 points, and the sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, and negative likelihood ratio were 52.17%, 82.35%, 2.96, and 0.58 respectively. (4) The scoring results of MDFS for different traditional Chinese medical syndromes of CHB showed that the scores of blood stasis blocking collaterals > damp-heat accumulation > deficiency of spleen and kidney yang> liver depression and spleen deficiency = stagnation of liver Qi. Conclusion The MDFS diagnostic scoring system has medium efficiency. The specificity of MDFS is relatively high and MDFs has a relatively low misdiagnosis rate for the diagnosis of obvious hepatic fibrosis in CHB. The MDFS is expected to be a noninvasive and simple diagnosing way for hepatic fibrosis in CHB.

Objective:To investigate the postoperative prosthesis position and early clinical efficacy of 3D printing patient-specific instrumentation (PSI)-assisted unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA).Methods:The clinical data of 15 patients (17 knees, PSI group) with medial compartment knee osteoarthritis who underwent PSI-assisted UKA in the Second Affiliated Hospital, the Air Force Medical University from May to August 2023 were retrospectively analyzed, matched with fifteen patients (17 knees, non-PSI group) with medial compartment knee osteoarthritis undergoing conventional UKA. The differences in the prosthesis placement positions in the postoperative X-ray films between the two groups were compared, including the coronal varus-valgus angles of the tibial and femoral prostheses, the sagittal posterior inclination angle of the tibial prosthesis, the flexion-extension angle of the femoral prosthesis, and the height of the reconstructed joint line. The indicators related to the lower limb alignment (including the femoral valgus angle, the lateral femoral angle, the hip-knee-ankle angle, and the femur-tibia angle) and the range of motion of the knee joint before and after the operation were compared. The Oxford knee score (OKS), American Knee Society (AKS) knee score and function score, and the visual analogue scale (VAS) were used to evaluate the clinical effects of the two groups.Results:In the PSI group, the coronal varus-valgus angle of the tibial prosthesis was 1.6°±0.3° after the operation, and the sagittal posterior inclination angle was 5.7°±0.8°. The coronal varus-valgus angle of the femoral prosthesis was -0.5°±1.5°, and the sagittal flexion-extension angle was 4.0°±1.9°. In the non-PSI group, the corresponding angles were 2.3°±0.6°, 4.5°±1.0°, 1.4°±1.5°, and 7.3°±2.2° respectively with significant differences between the two groups ( P<0.05). The OKS of the PSI group before and after the operation were 26.5±1.8 and 38.6±4.1 points respectively. The AKS knee score were 56.9±8.6 and 89.2±7.2 points. The AKS function score were 70.1±4.2 and 77.5±9.4 points. The VAS were 4.5±3.7 and 2.3±0.3 points, and the range of motion of the knee joint were 115.2°±4.8° and 125.9°±4.6° with significant differences ( P<0.05). The OKS of the non-PSI group before and after the operation were 25.3±6.2 and 38.2±3.5 points respectively. The AKS knee score were 50.6±9.3 and 84.5±6.6 points. The AKS function score were 73.4±3.9 and 77.2±4.8 points. The VAS were 5.8±2.4 and 2.5±1.6 points, and the range of motion of the knee joint were 113.6°±6.7° and 122.3°±5.0° with significant differences ( P<0.05). There were inter-group differences in the AKS knee score and the range of motion of the knee joint after the operation between the two groups with significant differences ( P<0.05). Conclusion:PSI guides-assisted UKA can effectively correct the lower limb alignment of patients and improve knee joint function with good short-term efficacy. Compared with conventional UKA, PSI guides-assisted UKA is less time-consuming with higher precision in prosthesis installation position and fewer post-operative complications.

The E (envelope) protein is the smallest structural protein in all coronaviruses and is the only viral structural protein in which no variation has been detected. We conducted genome sequencing and phylogenetic analyses of SARS-CoV. Based on genome sequencing, we predicted the E protein is a transmembrane (TM) protein characterized by a TM region with strong hydrophobicity and alpha-helix conformation. We identified a segment (NH2-_L-Cys-A-Y-Cys-Cys-N_-COOH) in the carboxyl-terminal region of the E protein that appears to form three disulfide bonds with another segment of corresponding cysteines in the carboxyl-terminus of the S (spike) protein. These bonds point to a possible structural association between the E and S proteins. Our phylogenetic analyses of the E protein sequences in all published coronaviruses place SARS-CoV in an independent group in Coronaviridae and suggest a non-human animal origin.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Base Sequence ; Cluster Analysis ; Codon ; genetics ; Gene Components ; Genome, Viral ; Membrane Glycoproteins ; metabolism ; Membrane Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Protein Conformation ; SARS Virus ; genetics ; Sequence Alignment ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Sequence Homology ; Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus ; Viral Envelope Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system is the most polymorphic region known in the human genome. In the present study, we analyzed for the first time the HLA-A gene polymorphisms defined by the high-resolution typing methods--sequence-based typing (SBT) in 161 Northern Chinese Han people. A total of 74 different HLA-A gene types and 36 alleles were detected. The most frequent alleles were A*110101 (GF=0.2360), A*24020101 (GF=0.1646), and A*020101 (GF=0.1553); followed by A*3303 (GF=0.1180), A*3001 (GF=0.0590),and A*310102 (GF=0.0404). The frequencies of following alleles, A*0203, A*0205,A*0206, A*0207, A*030101, A*2423, A*2601, A*3201, and A*3301, are all higher than 0.0093. The homozygous alleles include A*020101, A*110101, A*24020101 and A*310102. Heterozygosity (H), polymorphism information content (PIC), discrimination power (DP) and probability of paternity exclusion (PPE) of HLA-A in the samples were calculated and their values were 0.8705, 0.8491, 0.6014, and 0.9475, respectively. These results by SBT analysis of HLA-A polymorphism in Northern Chinese Han population, especially the allele subtypes character, will be of great interest for clinical transplantation, disease-associated study and forensic identification. Implementation of high-resolution typing methods allows a significantly wider spectrum of HLA variation including rare alleles. This spectrum will further be extensively utilized in many fields.

The vagina contains at least a billion microbial cells,dominated by lactobacilli.Here we perform metagenomic shotgun sequencing on cervical and fecal samples from a cohort of 516 Chinese women of reproductive age,as well as cervical,fecal,and salivary samples from a second cohort of 632 women.Factors such as pregnancy history,delivery history,cesarean section,and breastfeeding were all more important than menstrual cycle in shaping the microbiome,and such information would be necessary before trying to interpret differences between vagino-cervical micro-biome data.Greater proportion of Bifidobacterium breve was seen with older age at sexual debut.The relative abundance of lactobacilli especially Lactobacillus crispatus was negatively associated with pregnancy history.Potential markers for lack of menstrual regularity,heavy flow,dysmenor-rhea,and contraceptives were also identified.Lactobacilli were rare during breastfeeding or post-menopause.Other features such as mood fluctuations and facial speckles could potentially be predicted from the vagino-cervical microbiome.Gut and salivary microbiomes,plasma vitamins,metals,amino acids,and hormones showed associations with the vagino-cervical microbiome.Our results offer an unprecedented glimpse into the microbiota of the female reproductive tract and call for international collaborations to better understand its long-term health impact other than in the settings of infection or pre-term birth.

Beijing has been one of the epicenters attacked most severely by the SARS-CoV (severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus) since the first patient was diagnosed in one of the city's hospitals. We now report complete genome sequences of the BJ Group, including four isolates (Isolates BJ01, BJ02, BJ03, and BJ04) of the SARS-CoV. It is remarkable that all members of the BJ Group share a common haplotype, consisting of seven loci that differentiate the group from other isolates published to date. Among 42 substitutions uniquely identified from the BJ group, 32 are non-synonymous changes at the amino acid level. Rooted phylogenetic trees, proposed on the basis of haplotypes and other sequence variations of SARS-CoV isolates from Canada, USA, Singapore, and China, gave rise to different paradigms but positioned the BJ Group, together with the newly discovered GD01 (GD-Ins29) in the same clade, followed by the H-U Group (from Hong Kong to USA) and the H-T Group (from Hong Kong to Toronto), leaving the SP Group (Singapore) more distant. This result appears to suggest a possible transmission path from Guangdong to Beijing/Hong Kong, then to other countries and regions.
Genome, Viral ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Mutation ; Open Reading Frames ; Phylogeny ; SARS Virus ; genetics

We report a complete genomic sequence of rare isolates (minor genotype) of the SARS-CoV from SARS patients in Guangdong, China, where the first few cases emerged. The most striking discovery from the isolate is an extra 29-nucleotide sequence located at the nucleotide positions between 27,863 and 27,864 (referred to the complete sequence of BJ01) within an overlapped region composed of BGI-PUP5 (BGI-postulated uncharacterized protein 5) and BGI-PUP6 upstream of the N (nucleocapsid) protein. The discovery of this minor genotype, GD-Ins29, suggests a significant genetic event and differentiates it from the previously reported genotype, the dominant form among all sequenced SARS-CoV isolates. A 17-nt segment of this extra sequence is identical to a segment of the same size in two human mRNA sequences that may interfere with viral replication and transcription in the cytosol of the infected cells. It provides a new avenue for the exploration of the virus-host interaction in viral evolution, host pathogenesis, and vaccine development.
Base Sequence ; China ; Cluster Analysis ; Gene Components ; Genetic Variation ; Genome, Viral ; Genotype ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; SARS Virus ; genetics ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; genetics