OBJECTIVETo study immunomodulating activity of Lonicera Japonica flavone by investigating immune enzymatic activity of serum and antoxidized activity of lymphoid organs in mice.

METHODSFifty KM mice were randomly divided into control group, model group, low dose group, middle dose group and high dose group(n = 10), respectively. And low dose group, middle dose group and high dose group were given Lonicera Japonica flavone with 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg every day, respectively, while control group and model group were administered with NS. After continuously giving drug 7 weeks, other groups were injected with Dexamethasome (Dex: 25 mg /kg) for 3 days by subcutaneous injection, but the control group were treated with NS. And after giving Lonicera Japonica flavone 1 week simultaneously, organ indexes , the activity of acid phosphatase (ACP), alkaline phosphatase (AKP) and lysozyme (LSZ) in serum , and the content of monoamine oxidase (MAO), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), total superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in lymphoid organs in mice were tested, respectively.

RESULTSLonicera Japonica flavone could significantly improve the organ indexes, and significantly improve the activity of ACP, AKP and LSZ in serum, and significantly improve the contents of T-AOC and SOD, but reduce that of MAO and MDA in lymphoid organs in immunosuppressed mice.

CONCLUSIONIonicera Japonica flavone can significantly improve the activity of immune enzyme in serum and the antioxidized activity of lymphoid organs in mice. It suggests that Ionicera Japonica flavone has a good immunomodulatory effects.

Acid Phosphatase ; blood ; Alkaline Phosphatase ; blood ; Animals ; Antioxidants ; metabolism ; Flavones ; pharmacology ; Immunomodulation ; Lonicera ; chemistry ; Malondialdehyde ; metabolism ; Mice ; Monoamine Oxidase ; metabolism ; Muramidase ; blood ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism

OBJECTIVE To observe prenatal nicotine exposure (PNE) induced high sensitivity of hypo?thalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in offspring rats which were fed with a high-fat diet, and to explore the mechanism. METHODS Nicotine (2 mg·kg-1 per day) was injected subcutaneously to preg?nant Wistar rats from gestational day (GD) 9 to GD20,and then the young rats were naturally delivered. After weaning, half of the offspring was fed with a high-fat diet until postnatal weeks (PW) 20. The others were exposed to unpredictable chronic stress (UCS) from PW17 to PW20. The pathological changes in the hippocampus were analyzed by HE staining. The blood concentration of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone (CORT) was detected by RIA kits and ELISA kits, respectively. Meanwhile, real-time PCR was used to detect the mRNA expression of ACTH releasing hormone (CRH), arginine vasopressin (AVP), vesicular glutamate transporter 2 (VGluT2), glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (GAD65), mineralocorticoid receptor (MR),glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 (GAD67). RESULTS In the normal control group,UCS treatment increased the level of serum ACTH and CORT 1.96 and 3.24 times in female rats,but 1.63 and 3.54 times in male rats. In the PNE group, UCS treatment increased the level of serum ACTH and CORT 3.96 and 5.98 times in female rats, but 3.04 and 5.22 times male rats. PNE increased the mRNA expression of AVP in the female and male rats 2.04 and 1.13 times in UCS treatment control group, and the mRNA expression of hypothalamus CRH and the ratio of VGLuT2/ GAD65 were increased 2.49 and 1.14 times in female rats, respectively. Furthermore, the nicotine group exhibited histological changes to different degrees in the hippocampus and dentate gyrus area of the hippocampus. In the female and male nicotine groups, the mRNA ratio of hippocampal MR/GR decreased by 88.0% and 86.0% in comparison with the normal control group without UCS, and the mRNA expression of GAD67 was enhanced 1.38 and 1.97 times in female and male rats without UCS. In the female UCS treatment nicotine groups, the mRNA expression of GAD67 was increased 2.17 times compared with the UCS treatment control group. CONCLUSION PNE can induce a high sensibility of HPA axis in offspring rats fed with a high-fat diet. The imbalance of hippo?campus MR/GR and the enhanced expression of GAD67 mRNA may be involved.

Objectives To analysis the main characteristics and changes of the internal death in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in the past five years. Methods The clinical data of 330 death cases in PICU internal medicine were retrospectively analyzed from January 2008 to December 2012. Results The mortality rate in PICU dropped from 5.85%to 3.96% from 2008 to 2012. Among 330 death cases, 136 cases (41.2%) were infants, 73 cases (22.1%) were toddlers, 51 cases (15.45%) were preschoolers, and 70 cases (21.21%) were school-age and adolescence. In different years, the differences of distribution of death in different age groups were statistical significance (χ2=6.90, P=0.009). In all years, the infant had the highest death rate. As the time progresses, the death rate of the infant and young children decreases, while the death rate of the school-age and adolescence increases. Among the diseases caused death, the cardiovascular disease was the most common disease (33.94%), followed by hematologic malignancy (31.52%). The difference of distribution of the diseases caused death in different age group was statistically significant (P<0.01). The cardiovascular disease was main cause of death in infant, and the hematologic malignancy was the main cause of death in other three age groups. Within 24 h admission, the pediatric critical illness score (PCIS) had been assessed, 67.49% was critical and 15.48%was extremely critical. The hospitalization time was negatively correlated with PCIS (r=-0.313, P<0.001). Conclusions In the past five years, the mortality in PICU declined year by year. Cardiovascular disease in infancy and hematologic malignancy in non infancy are the leading cause of death in children. Admission in critical or extremely critical condition is the reason of early death in hospital.

Objective To evaluate the potential of three commercial CT iterative reconstruction methods (ASIR,MBIR and iDose4) for the image quality and accuracy of volumetric measurement of ground-glass opacity (GGO) nodules on low-dose chest computed tomography (CT) using a phantom study.Methods A phantom containing GGO nodules was examined in volumetric mode on 2 multi-detector CT scanners at low dose.CT images were reconstructed with adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (30％ ASIR),model-based iterative reconstruction (MBIR),iDose4 L3,L6 reconstruction algorithm.Then two radiologists measured CT value of the region of interests (ROI) on reconstruction images,and calculated average noise and contrast to noise ratio (CNR) of reconstruction images.And they applied the lung nodules evaluation software to measure the volume of GGO nodules on the reconstruction images,and calculated the absolute percentage error (APE) of nodule volume measurement.The difference of noise and CNR at different reconstructions was compared with ANOVA test,and Kruskal-Wallis H ranking test was used to the difference of GGO measurements at different reconstructions.Results The average noises of CT image reconstructed with the standard FBP algorithm,30％ ASIR algorithm,MBIR algorithm were 40.38 ± 4.49,30.06 ± 20.17,10.55 ± 1.56,and the CNRs were 5.00 ± 2.36,8.43 ± 3.89,20.27 ± 7.35,respectively.Compared to CT image reconstructed with the standard FBP algorithm and 30％ ASIR algorithm,CT image noise reconstructed with MBIR algorithm decreased by 73.9％ and 64.9％,while the CNR increased by 75.3％ and 58.4％ with effective dose of 0.36 mSv in HDCT,respectively(F =13.053,9.459,P ＜0.01).When effective dose was equal to 0.64 mSv in iCT,the image noise reconstructed with iDose L6 algorithms decreased by 36.5％ compared with the standard FBP algorithm,and CNR increased by 78.4％.The reconstruction algorithm,NI and tube current were no significant difference in lung nodule volume measurement of absolute percentage error(P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions Three kinds of iterative reconstruction algorithms are able to reduce the image noise in low-dose CT and improve the image quality.

Objective To determine the clinical characteristics and management of ovarian tumor in infertility women.Methods During the period from Jan.1 1999 to Dec.31 2004,110 infertility women with ovarian tumor were analysed retrospectively,in terms of clinical and pathological features.According to the histological findings,the tumors were divided into three groups:epithelial tumor,teratoma and others. Results Among 110 cases,49 cases were epithelial tumor,42 cases were teratoma,and 19 cases were others.A total of 97 cases were small ovarian tumor,and the maximal diameter was less than 5 cm.In epithelial tumor group only 29% were diagnosed before operation,significantly lower than the other two groups(P

To explore the relationship between serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) level and obesity and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in euthyroid subjects, 1322 subjects were subjected to a questionnaire survey and physical examination. Fasting blood samples were collected to test serum TSH, plasma glucose and lipids. Fatty liver was diagnosed by type B ultrasonography. The relationship between serum TSH level and body mass index (BMI), percentage of body fat and NAFLD was analyzed. The results showed that serum TSH level was significantly higher in females than in males at the same group, and it was significantly higher in overweight group than in control group. Levels of body weight, BMI, waist circumference and percentage of body fat were increased in TSH >2.5 group compared to TSH ≤2.5 group in women. However, plasma lipids showed no significant differences. In males all the parameters showed no significant differences between two groups. Serum TSH was significantly correlated with body weight, BMI, waist circumference and percentage of body fat after adjustment for age in females. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that percentage of body fat and BMI contributed significantly to the variance of TSH. Serum TSH level was significantly higher in nonalcoholic fatty liver group than in normal group in females. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that TSH level was not the independent risk factor of NAFLD. Taken together the data suggest that serum TSH in normal range is significantly correlated with BMI and percentage of body fat in females. And the change of TSH level would not influence the prevalence of NAFLD.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the association of IL-1beta+3953, TNFbeta+252 and IL-10-592 polymorphisms with serum lipoprotein levels in Chinese Han population in Guangdong Province.

METHODSA total of 428 individuals of Han nationality from Guangdong Province were enrolled in this study. The genotypes of IL-1beta+3953, TNFbeta+252 and IL-10-592 sites were detected using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The serum concentrations of total cholesterol (TC), TG, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) were determined using an automatic biochemistry analyzer.

RESULTSThe concentrations of TC and LDL in individuals of TNFbeta+252GA genotype was significantly higher than that in TNFbeta+252AA genotype (t=-2.406, P=0.017; t=-2.516, P=0.012). The concentration of LDL in IL-10+3953CT genotype was significantly higher than that in IL-10+3953CC genotype (2.743-/+0.723 vs 2.502-/+0.699 mmol/L, t=-2.639, P=0.009). No significant differences were found in TG, TC, HDL, LDL and VLDL between the 3 genotypes (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe polymorphisms of proinflammatory cytokines are related to the serum lipoprotein level in these subjects. The T allele in IL-1beta+3953 and the G allele in TNFbeta+252 are positively correlated to dyslipidemia.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; China ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Humans ; Interleukin-10 ; genetics ; Interleukin-1beta ; genetics ; Lipoproteins ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; genetics ; Young Adult

This study examined the effect of cholic acid (CA) on cultured cardiac myocytes (CMs) from neonatal rats with an attempt to explore the possible mechanism of sudden fetal death in intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP). Inverted microscopy was performed to detect the impact of CA on the beating rates of rat CMs. MTT method was used to study the effect of CA on the viability of CMs. CMs cultured in vitro were incubated with 10 μmol/L Ca(2+)-sensitive fluorescence indicator fluo-3/AM. The fluorescence signals of free calcium induced by CA were measured under a laser scanning confocal microscope. The results showed that CA decreased the beating rates of the CMs in a dose-dependent manner. CA could suppress the activities of CMs in a time- and dose-dependent manner. CA increased the concentration of intracellular free calcium in a dose-dependent manner. Our study suggested that CA could inhibit the activity of CMs by causing calcium overload, thereby leading to the sudden fetal death in ICP.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical manifestations, genotypes, and genetic characteristics of two pedigrees with Kennedy disease.

METHODSThe clinical data of the patients from two Kennedy disease families were collected. The numbers of trinucleotide CAG repeats in exon 1 of the androgen receptor gene were determined by DNA sequencing and repeat fragment analysis.

RESULTSFamily A was composed of 58 individuals in 4 generations. The proband had onset at 39 years old. There were two Kennedy disease patients in family B which included 61 individuals in 5 generations. The two patients had onset at 39 and 41 years old, respectively. All the three patients displayed limbs and bulbar muscular weakness because of the damage of lower motor neurons. They had androgen insensitivity syndrome in common, and showed mild or moderate increase in serum creatine kinase level. The electromyogram showed wild damage in anterior horn of spinal cord. Muscle biopsy displayed neurogenic muscular atrophy. The numbers of the CAG repeat expansion in the androgen receptor gene of the three patients were 49, 48, and 47, respectively. X-linked recessive mode of inheritance was demonstrated by pedigree analysis in the two families.

CONCLUSIONKennedy disease usually occurs in mid-adulthood man. The clinical features are the weakness and wasting of limbs and bulbar muscles. Genetic analysis contributes to diagnosis and identification of carriers, and is beneficial to genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Base Sequence ; Biopsy ; Bulbo-Spinal Atrophy, X-Linked ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; genetics ; pathology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Electromyography ; Exons ; genetics ; Female ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Muscles ; pathology ; Pedigree ; Receptors, Androgen ; genetics ; Ultrasonography ; Young Adult

Based on the outpatient interview and literature review,the initial framework of the outpatient experience of human caring scale was formed with 9 dimensions of outpatient process.The research aim was to improve the scale by Delphi method.Sixteen experts in medical management,human caring or medical education were invited to evaluate the importance of the dimensions and items of the scale and provided some expertise via filling out the Delphi consultation questionnaires twice in the consulting round.In the first round,the recovery rate showing the experts' positivity was 80％;the coefficient of reliability (Cr) ascertaining the authority of the evaluation was 0.92;the mean and full mark ratios responding the concentration of the evaluation were 2.88-4.94 and 6.25％-93.75％ respectively;the coefficients of variation (CV) and the Kendall's W determining the concordance of the evaluation were 5.06％-52.15％ and 0.21-0.24 respectively.In the second round,the recovery rate was 93.75％;the Cr was 0.93;the mean was 3.93-4.93;the full mark ratios were 26.67％-93.33％;the Kendall's W was 0.14-0.31,the CV was 5.25％-23.61％.Via the two-round Delphi study,the scale that included 10 dimensions and 61 items has been improved.Ten dimensions are pre-hospital medical service,guidance,registration,waiting,diagnosis & treatment,paying,inspection & assay,medicine receiving,therapy/injection/transfusion and global evaluation.It was concluded that Chinese scholars have paid high attention to human caring and outpatient experience.The experts have given high agreements about the dimensions which were established with Chinese outpatient process.The dimensions are different from the similar researches about outpatient experience study.In the future,it is necessary to survey the outpatients to test the construct validity,internal consistency reliability and others of the scale to improve the scale.