Objective To study the effect of methadone maintenance treatment(MMT) on reducing HIV infection among injecting drug users(IDUs) in Yueyang city of Hunan province.Methods Local IDUs were provided with MMT along with peer education and behavior interventions,and they were tested for HIV antibody to evaluate the effect of MMT after one year treatment.Results Of the 113 IDUs who were negative at the entry,none turned to be positive after one year treatment and the negative partners of 22 IDUs with positive HIV antibody remained negative one year later,and the negative rate of urine test maintained at 76.10%.Conclusion MMT combined with peer education and behavior interventions will decrease the use of heroin,prevent HIV infection among IDUs and reduce their partners' susceptibility to HIV.

BACKGROUND: Pathological change of synovium in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has the characteristic of tumor-like growth, it appears thickening of the synovium tissue and the formatiom of pannus, which generate periarticular erosion and destruction. Multiplicate cell factors and growth factors participate in the development course of tumor-like lesion of synovium, and the tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)play important roles in the development of RA and the formation of pannus.OBJECTIVE: To observe the contents of plasma TNF-α of collagen-induced arthritis and the expression change of VEGF of synovium at different time point, and investigate the effect and correlation of TNF-α and VEGF in the pathogenesis of RA.DESIGN: Randomized grouping experiment taking animals as subjects.SETTING: Institute integrated traditional and western medicine of Xiangya Hospital of Central South University.MATERIALS: The experiment was finished from July to November 2003 in the laboratory of institute integrated traditional and western medicine.Forty SD rats aged 45-50 days were selected, the rats were randomly divided into the normal control group (n=10) and collagen-induced arthritis model group(n=30).METHODS: 10 mg Cattle collagen type Ⅱ and 5 ml full Freund adjuvant were grinded together, 100 μL of which were intradermally injected at the root of tails of rats, collagen-induced arthritis model of rats were re-immunized with the above-mentioned methòd and dosage after 21 days. The accumulated points of arthritis index was evaluated based on degree and extent of flare and the condition of tumefaction and deformation, the higher the accumulated points of arthritis index were, the more serious the arthritis symptom was. The blood was obtained by decapitation after 25 days in normal control group, and in the collagen-induced arthritis model group the blood was obtained by decapitation 25,30,35,40,45 days after immunization (model establishing), the contents of plasma TNF-α of collagen-induced arthritis rats at different time point was detected by radio-immune assay, the level of expression of VEGF in synovium tissue were detected with immunohistochemical method simultaneously, the correlation of invasion time and the neovascularization of synovium. The accumulated points of arthritis index . TNF-α and VEGF was observed. The correlation of TNF-α and VEGF was analyzed with the linear correlation analysis, the correlation of the accumulated points of arthritis index and TNF-α. VEGF was analyzed with the rank correlation analysis.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The correlation of invasion time of collagen-induced arthritis with the accumulated points of arthritis index, with the plasma content of TNF-α and the expression of VEGF, the correlation analysis of the plasma content of TNF-α of collagen- induced arthritis rats with the expression of VEGF in synovium.RESULTS: Forty rats attended the experiment, all of them entered the final analysis. the neovascularization of synovium was increased, synovium was thickening, the accumulated points of arthritis index was gradually increased, and the contents of TNF-α and level of VEGF were increased accordingly with the process of the invasion time of the collagen-induced arthritis rats; Its accumulated points of arthritis index had the positive correlation with the level of expression of VEGF (r=0.535 ,P ＜ 0.05)and had the correlated increasing tendency with the contents of TNF-α, but there was no significant difference(r=0.371 ,P ＞ 0.05 ). the plasma contents of TNF-α had the positive correlation with the level of expressions of VEGF (r=0.893,P ＜ 0.01 ).CONCLUSION: The TNF-α and VEGF have an important effect on the inflammatory reaction of RA and Cytokine network of neovascularization of synovium, they are possibly mutually influenced and promoted and have the effect of mediating the malignant network circulation; They are the key factors among multiplicate ones which mediate the generation and development of RA, bone erosion and Mutilation.

Objective To explore the related protein which lead to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to find different proteins associated with active RA by comparing the expression levels of proteins in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of healthy individuals to patients with rheumatoid arthritis using a proteomics approach. Methods Samples of peripheral blood were collected from 9 patients diagnosed as active RA and 9 healthy individuals. PBMCs were isolated from blood using lymphoeytes separation medium. The total protein was extracted from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The total protein from either RA patients or normal controls was prepared by means of immobilized pH gradient based on two-dimensional gel eleetrophoresis. After Coomassie brilliant blue G250 staining, gel-image analysis was performed by using PDQuest.The differentially expressed proteins were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALD I-TOF-MS). Then APOA-I was validated by RT-PCR. Results 2-DE patterns of PBMCs from controls and RA patients were presented. The results showed that the average number of protein spots was 556 and 579 respectively, and the corresponding average matching rate was 89.4％ and 88.5％ respectively. Gel-image analysis revealed that there were 23 differential protein spots. Fourteen of total 18 differential protein spots were successfully identified by MALD I-TOF-MS, of which 8 proteins were upregulated such as actin beta, fibrinogen beta chain, ApoA-I ; and 6 proteins such as peroxiredoxin-2, glu-tathione S-transferase omega 1 were down-regulated when compared with controls. The result of ApoA-I by RT-PCR was consistent with the proteomics results. Conclusion Some differentially expressed proteins are observed in the PBMCs of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, which may play a potential role in the pathogenesis of RA.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the infection of leptospirosa of host animals and the immune level of healthy population in flood areas. METHODS: Korth culture was used to culture leptospira for rodent kidney and oxen urine sample. The serogroups of leptospira and leptospira antibody were tested by microscopic agglutination test (MAT). RESULTS: In flood regions, draw-near-flood region, and new migration region, rodent density was 6.95%, 6.28%, and 8.67%, respectively. The positive rates of rodent with leptospira was 4.63%, 1.35%, and 3.13%, respectively. Leptospira positive rates of oxen urine were 5.88%, 5.98%, and 1.75%, respectively. The main serogroup of leptospira was Icterhamorrhagic and Canicola serogroup. The positive rates of leptospirosa antibody in healthy population was 45.91%, 62.30%, and 58.67%in these 3 regions respectively, which was significantly higher than the average level in China. The dominant serogroups of leptospira in health population were icterhamorrhagic, autumnalis, canicola, pomona and bataviae. The positive rate of antibody had no difference among different age groups. CONCLUSION The main host animals are rodents and oxen infected with leptospira and the positive rate of leptospira antibody is high in healthy population in the study area. The dominant serogroups in host animals are similar to that in healthy population, which is mostly icterhaemorrhagic.
Animals ; Antibodies, Bacterial ; blood ; urine ; Cattle ; China ; epidemiology ; Disasters ; Floods ; Humans ; Leptospira interrogans ; immunology ; isolation & purification ; Leptospirosis ; epidemiology ; Prevalence ; Rats ; Seroepidemiologic Studies