Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Gene Silencing ; Genetic Therapy ; methods ; Humans ; MicroRNAs ; antagonists & inhibitors ; therapeutic use ; Neoplasms ; genetics ; therapy ; RNA Interference ; physiology ; RNA, Small Interfering ; antagonists & inhibitors ; therapeutic use ; RNA-Induced Silencing Complex ; metabolism

Objective To investigate the value of clinical characteristics in diagnosis of vocal fold paralysis (VFP) and arytenoid dislocation .Methods Eighty - eight patients of VFP and 27 patients of arytenoid dislocation were studied , by comparing the causes , laryngeal morphologic characteristics and laryngeal electromyography (LEMG) .Results The causes of 88 VFP patients included surgery (45 cases) ,neck trauma(2 cases) ,idiopathic causes(16 cases) ,infection(16 cases) ,and tumor invasion - related(9 cases) .Of the 27 arytenoid dislocation pa‐tients ,24 had a history of endotracheal intubation and the others had a history of gastric tube insertion .The vocal folds were mostly fixed at the paramedian position ,followed by the abducent position and the median position .No significant differences were found in laryngeal morphologic characteristics between the two groups ,including vocal fold shape , glottis vertical symmetry , mucosal waves , supraglottic compensation , glottis closure and arytenoid movement .The LEMG of VFP patients appeared as denervation patterns ,reinnervation potentials ,or electrical si‐lence ;the recruitment patterns appeared as mix or simple patterns ;the evoked potentials were absent .Of the VFP patients ,54 cases(61 .36% % )were found synkinesis of involved posterior cricoarytenoid and two of them also in ‐volved thyroatenoid .The patients with synkinesis had lower percentage of vocal fold bowing and higher percentage of glottic vertical asymmetry compared to the ones without synkinesis .Of the VFP patients whose cause was surgery or neck trauma ,the median - position fixed vocal folds were mostly observed in the patients with duration of less than 1 month or with synkinesis .Of the 27 arytenoid dislocation patients ,20(74 .07% )showed normal LEMG pat‐terns and 7(25 .93% )showed apparent LEMG abnormality on the affected side .Conclusion The causes of vocal fold paralysis and arytenoid dislocation are different .Laryngeal morphologic characteristics have limitations in distinguis‐hing vocal fold paralysis from arytenoid dislocation .The shape and position of involved vocal folds of the VFP pa‐tients are correlated with duration ,nerve regeneration and synkinesis .

Adult ; Drowning ; Humans ; Hydrogen Sulfide ; poisoning ; Male ; Radiography, Thoracic ; X-Ray Film ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo observe the changes in Aβ40, Aβ42 and ADDLs in brains of 3 month-old APPswe/PS1dE9 double transgenic mice after six-month intervention with curcumin, in order to discuss the neuroprotective effect of curcumin.

METHODAPPswe/PS1dE9dtg mice were randomly divided into the model group, the Rosiglitazone group (10 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)) and curcumin high (400 mg x kg9-1) x d(-1)), medium (200 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)) and low (100 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)) dosage groups, with C57/BL6J mice of the same age and the same background in the normal control group. After 6 months, the immunohistochemical staining (IHC) and the Western blot method were used to observe the changes in positive cell of Aβ40, Aβ42 and ADDLs in hippocampal CA1 area, their distribution and protein expressions.

RESULTBoth of the immunohistochemical staining and the Western blot method showed more positive cell of Aβ40, Aβ42 and ADDLs in hippocampal CA1 area and higher protein expressions in the model group than the normal group (P < 0.01). IHC showed a lower result in the Rosiglitazone group than the model group (P < 0.05), while Western blot showed a much lower result (P < 0.01). The number of Aβ40, Aβ42 and ADDLs positive cells and the protein expressions decreased in the curcumin high group, the medium group showed a significant decrease (P < 0.01), and the low dose group also showed reductions in the protein expressions of Aβ40 and Aβ42.

CONCLUSIONThe six-month intervention with curcumin can significantly reduce the expressions of hippocampal Aβ40, Aβ42 and ADDLs in brains of APPswe/PS1dE9 double transgenic mice. Whether curcumin can impact Aβ cascade reaction by down-regulating expressions of Aβ40, Aβ42 and ADDLs and show the neuroprotective effect needs further studies.

Alzheimer Disease ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism ; Amyloid beta-Peptides ; genetics ; metabolism ; Animals ; Brain ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Curcumin ; administration & dosage ; Disease Models, Animal ; Hippocampus ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Humans ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Mice, Transgenic ; Neuroprotective Agents ; administration & dosage ; Plant Extracts ; administration & dosage

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of salidroside on tic behavior and in vivo dopamine DA) and serotonin (5-HT) levels in Tourette syndrome (TS) model rats.

METHODSForty rats were randomly divided into the blank control group, the TS model group, the haloperidol-treated group (0.5 mg/kg x d(-1)), and the salidroside-treated group (50 mg/kg x d(-1)), 10 in each group. TS rat model was induced by imino-dipropio-nitrile (IDPN). Peritoneal injection of haloperidol and salidroside was started from the 4th day of modeling in the haloperidol-treated group and the salidroside-treated group respectively. Normal saline was peritoneally injected to rats in the blank control group and the TS model group respectively. Stereotyped behavior was scored, and changes of DA and 5-HT levels in blood and striatum were measured before modeling, after modeling, and after intervention.

RESULTSCompared with the blank control group, the score of the tic behavior was elevated (P < 0.01) , levels of DA and 5-HT in plasma and striatum were reduced in the model group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). Compared with the same group after modeling, the tic behavior score decreased and plasma DA levels increased in the two treated groups after intervention (P < 0.01). 5-HT content increased in the salidroside-treated group (P < 0.01). Compared with the model group after intervention, the tic behavior score was significantly reduced (P < 0.01), and DA levels in plasma and striatum were elevated (P < 0.01, P < 0.05) in the salidroside-treated group and the haloperidol-treated group. Compared with the haloperidol-treated group, the tic behavior score increased (P < 0.01), DA levels in plasma and striatum were lowered (P < 0.01, P < 0.05), the 5-HT level increased in plasma and striatum (P < 0.01, P < 0.05) in the salidroside-treated group.

CONCLUSIONSIn the salidroside-treated group, the tic behavior was significantly reduced, and DA levels in plasma and striatum were elevated. Its mechanism might be related to regulating activities of dopamine neurons in striatum.

Animals ; Corpus Striatum ; Dopamine ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Glucosides ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Haloperidol ; Phenols ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Rats ; Serotonin ; Stereotyped Behavior ; Tics ; drug therapy ; Tourette Syndrome ; drug therapy

Forty-three children with congenital hypothyroidism(CH)underwent 99mTc thyroid scintigraphy, after being followed up by receiving levothyroxine till 2 to 3 years of age. The results showed that thyroid agenesia happened in 37 cases( 86.05% ) while entopic gland in 6 cases (13.95% ). Thyroid scintigraphy with 99mTc is an informative procedure in determining etiology and treatment schedules for children with CH.

BACKGROUND: The quality of treatment for critically ill children varies widely at different hospitals. This study aimed to analyze the characteristics of mortality in a pediatric emergency department (PED) at a tertiary children's hospital in Guangzhou, China and to investigate the risk factors associated with the mortality. METHODS: The mortality of pediatric patients at the hospital from 2011 to 2013 was retrospectively analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Altogether 466919 patients visited the PED during the period and 43925 of them were admitted for further observation. In 230 deaths, the ratio of boys to girls was 1.4:1, and their age ranged from 2 hours to 16 years (median, 5 months). The time from admission to death ranged from 0 to 216 hours (median, 1.5 hours). There were 92 (40％) patients who died within 24 hours after admission and 104 (45.2％) patients who died on arrival. The prominent causes of the deaths were respiratory diseases, neuromuscular disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and sepsis, most of which were ascribed to severe infection. Sixty-five deaths were associated with more than one concomitant problem. The top concomitant problems were congenital malformation, low gestational age, and severe birth asphyxia. CONCLUSIONS: In our center, 40％ of the patients in the PED died of fatal acute diseases, and pneumonia was the first leading cause of the deaths. Almost half of the deaths occurred on arrival and the rest were due to end-stage malignant diseases. This study emphasized the importance of prevention of birth deficits by reducing deaths in infants and children.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of down-regulated miR-9 expression on ultraviolet rays (UV)-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) damage in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells.

METHODSThe NPC cells were transfected with inhibitors of miR-9 by lipofectamine to decrease the expression of miR-9, and the cells transfected with inhibitor control as the control. ROS levels following UV exposure were examined with DCF-DA method and the concentration of glutathione was analyzed via the benzoic acid method; DNA damage and apoptosis also were evaluated.

RESULTSThere was significant difference in ROS levels between miR-9 expression-inhibited cells and control cells (26 895 ± 218 vs 15 765 ± 927, t = 39.754, P < 0.001), and also there were significant differences in DNA damage rates (28.0% ± 10.0% vs 23.6% ± 9.2%) and in apoptosis rates (8.0% ± 0.9% vs 4.5% ± 0.8%) following UV exposure between two groups of cells. The miR-9 expression-inhibited cells showed lower level (1.87 ± 0.15) µmol/L of glutathione compared with the control cells (9.85 ± 0.15) µmol/L (t = -48.832, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONInhibition of miR-9 expression promoted UV-induced ROS damage in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells.

Apoptosis ; Carcinoma ; Cell Line, Tumor ; DNA Damage ; Humans ; MicroRNAs ; metabolism ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; metabolism ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism ; Transfection

OBJECTIVETo investigate the high expression of HPV16L2N120E7E6 fusion protein by prokaryotic expression system, and evaluate its immunogenicity and antitumor efficacy in vaccinated mice.

METHODSThe HPV16L2N120E7E6 fusion gene, its codons were optimized to increase the expression of the protein, was constructed by overlap extension PCR and inserted into prokaryotic expression vector pET9a. Then the fusion protein was expressed by inducing with IPTG in E. coli strain BL21 (DE3) harboring with plasmid pETL2N120E7E6, and further detected by SDS-PAGE and Western-blot. Finally, the humoral and cellular immune responses were measured by ELISA and ELISPOT, respectively, in vaccinated mice with the purified HPV16L2N120E7E6 fusion protein, and the antitumor efficacy was assessed in mice using the TC-1 tumor challenge model.

RESULTSThe codon-optimized HPV16L2N120E7E6 fusion gene was highly expressed in E. coli strain BL21 (DE3) harboring with plasmid pETL2N120E7E6, and the amount of fusion protein was nearly 48.6% of the total bacterial protein. The purified fusion protein could induce high titer of specific antibody against L2, E7 and E6 in vaccinated mice. When accompanied with the adjuvant CpG, the fusion protein was able to elicit strong and moderate cellular immune responses in vaccinated mice against peptide HPV16E7(49-57) and peptide pools of HPV16E6, respectively. Furthermore, the tumor therapeutic experiment showed that HPV16L2N120E7E6 + CpG could prevent the tumor formation in 80.0% (8/10) vaccinated mice.

CONCLUSIONSThe data of this study suggest that HPV16L2N120E7E6 fusion protein could be a promising candidate vaccine for treatment of chronic HPV16 infection and post-operative adjuvant therapy for cervical cancer.

Adjuvants, Immunologic ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Cancer Vaccines ; immunology ; therapeutic use ; Capsid Proteins ; genetics ; immunology ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Codon ; Escherichia coli ; immunology ; metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; Immunization ; methods ; Immunotherapy ; methods ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Oligodeoxyribonucleotides ; immunology ; Oncogene Proteins, Viral ; genetics ; immunology ; metabolism ; Papillomavirus E7 Proteins ; genetics ; immunology ; metabolism ; Papillomavirus Vaccines ; immunology ; therapeutic use ; Plasmids ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; genetics ; immunology ; metabolism ; Repressor Proteins ; genetics ; immunology ; metabolism

AIMTo investigate the expression of recombinant human phosphodiesterase 3A (HPDE3A) using baculovirus expression system in Tn cell line.

METHODSThe HPDE3A cDNA was recombined with baculovirus, and then the recombinant was transfected into Tn cell line. The expression of HPDE3A in Tn cell line was detected and identified by the RT-PCR, SDS-PAGE and Western blotting.

RESULTSThe recombinant HPDE3A protein was stably expressed in Tn cell line and detected by the distinct morphological changes of Tn cell, RT-PCR, SDS-PAGE and Western blotting using polyclonal antibody. The M(w) of the recombinant protein was about 120 kD.

CONCLUSIONRecombinant HPDE3A can be expressed in Tn cell line using the baculovirus expression system, and thus provided the basic material for studying its bioactivity and application in screening for HPDE3A inhibitor.

3',5'-Cyclic-AMP Phosphodiesterases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Animals ; Baculoviridae ; genetics ; Cell Line ; Cyclic Nucleotide Phosphodiesterases, Type 3 ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Moths ; cytology ; enzymology ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Recombinant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Transfection