Objective To compare the diagnostic value of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (sICAM-1) with c-reactive protein (CRP) in serum of women with premature rupture of membranes (PROM) for detecting chorioamnionitis. Methods 55 pregnant women with term PROM including 18 pregnant women with preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) and 20 normal pregnant women at term were enrolled. Maternal serum sICAM-1, CRP were measured by Sandwish enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA). Chorioamnionitis was histologically confirmed after delivery. Results (1)Maternal serum levels of sICAM-1 and CRP were statistically significantly higher in women with PROM than that without it;(2)Maternal serum levels of sICAM-1 and CRP were statistically significantly higher in women with chorioamnionitis than those without it;(3)In the complicated chorioamnionitis group and in the uncomplicated with chorioamnionitis group, serum levels of sICAM-1 in PPROM women were similar with those in TPROM women, whereas serum levels of CRP in PPROM women were statistically significantly higher than those in TPROM women;(4)The sensitivity, specificity, postive predictive value, negtive predictive value, Kappa index and area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of maternal serum sICAM-1(cutoff 104.7 ?g/L) and CRP(cutoff 10.3 mg/L) for diagnosing chorioamnionitis were 100%, 91.2%, 87.5%, 100%, 0.20, 0.995 and 81.0%, 73.5%, 65.4%, 86.2%, 0.13, 0.811, respectively; (5) Maternal serum levels of sICAM-1 compared with one another among mild histologic chorioamnionitis group, severe histologic chorioamnionitis group and clinical chorioamnionitis group, the difference are statistically significantly (P

To compare the diagnostic value of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (sICAM-1) with that of c-reactive protein (CRP) for detecting chorioamnionitis (CAM) in serum of women with premature rupture of membranes (PROM), 55 pregnant women with PROM, including 18 pregnant women with preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) and 20 normal pregnant women at term (TPROM) were studied. Maternal serum were measured by Sandwish enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) for sICAM. CAM was histologically confirmed after delivery. The results revealed that (1) maternal serum levels of sICAM-1 and CRP were significantly higher in women with PROM than those without it; (2) maternal serum levels of sICAM-1 and CRP were significantly higher in women with CAM than those without it; (3) serum levels of sICAM-1 in PPROM women were similar to those in TPROM women, whereas serum levels of CRP in PPROM women were significantly higher than those in TPROM women; (4) the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, Kappa index and area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of maternal serum sICAM-1 (cutoff 104.7 ng/ml) and CRP (cutoff 1.03 mg/dl) for diagnosing CAM were 100%, 91.2%, 87.5%, 100%, 0.20, 0.995 and 81.0%, 73.5%, 65.4%, 86.2%, 0.13, 0.811, respectively; (5) among the mild histological CAM group, severe histological CAM group and clinical CAM group, the difference in maternal serum levels of sICAM-1 were significantly (P<0.001), with the order of concentration from high level to low level corresponding to the severity of CAM. It is concluded that maternal serum level of ICAM-1 is superior to that of CRP as biomarker for diagnosing intraamniotic infection in pregnant women with PROM.
Biological Markers/blood ; Chorioamnionitis/*blood ; Chorioamnionitis/diagnosis ; Chorioamnionitis/etiology ; Fetal Membranes, Premature Rupture/*blood ; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1/*blood

Trace impurities of Al, Ca, Co, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni in silicon nitride powder were determined by slurry introduction into a solution-cathode glow discharge-atomic emission spectrometer (SCGD-AES).The effect of particle size on the stability of suspension was investigated.A 6-port valve was selected to link sampling system and SCGD-AES, by which the suspension could be introduced into the SCGD-AES to get instantaneous spectrum signal.The calibration curves for quantitative analysis could be established using aqueous standards and the pH of suspension was not required to be adjusted accurately.The applied voltage, solution flow rate, and integral time of PMT were set to 1080 V, 1.2 mL/min and 800 ms, respectively.In this work, slurry sampling was combined with SCGD-AES by a 6 port 2-pos valve.Powder Si3N4 was tested by this way and the limits of detection for all nine elements were 0.2-53.0 mg/kg.The RSDs were 1.1%-5.0%.The detection result of trace impurities in standard reference material ERM-ED101 agreed with that obtained from inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry.This method was proved to be accurate, reliable and valuable.

Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry ( LA_ICP_MS ) was applied for the determination of doping element chromium( Cr) content and distribution in Cr∶ZnSe crystals. Several different Cr∶ZnSe crystals were prepared by diffusion method as reference material to solve the problem of accurate quantization. The homogeneity of Cr in these samples was characterized by LA_ICP_MS and the concentrations achieved by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry ( ICP_AES ) . With signal pot and line scan sampling, the present method provided effective position and content distribution information of Cr in ZnSe crystals, achieved the in situ analysis. The correlation coefficient of Cr in calibration curve was 0. 9992 and the detection limit was 0. 08 mg/kg. It could provide effective means for the distribution statistics of doping element in different growth condition crystals.

TheLutetium-YttriumOrthosilicate(LYSO)isakindofscintillatingcrystalmaterialwiththebest comprehensive properties. In this work, the trace elements Ca, Fe, K, Li, Mg and Na in LYSO were determined by solution-cathode glow discharge-atomic emission spectrometry ( SCGS-AES ) . The optimal conditions included 0. 1 mol/L HNO3 sample solutions and operation at a voltage at 1080 V with a flow rate of 2. 0 mL/min. The LYSO matrix concentration tolerance of the SCGD source was determined to be 10 g/L. Sample solutions dissolving from several LYSO samples with HF, HNO3 and HClO4 were examined by SCGD-AES. For LYSO samples, the values obtained by SCGD-AES agree well with those obtained by axial inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy ( ICP-AES ) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS). The emissions of Lu and Y were not observed, so that the determination of trace elements in LYSO matrices could be conducted with little interference. The detection limits of Ca, Fe, K, Li, Mg and Na in LYSO were 1. 0, 3. 0, 0. 02, 0. 01, 0. 02 and 1. 0 mg/kg, respectively.

AIM: To investigate whether glucosylceramide synthase (GCS) regulates apoptosis-related gene bcl-2 expression via MEK/ERK signaling pathway , thus enhancing drug resistance of K 562/A02 human leukemia multidrug resistant cell line.METHODS:siRNA targeting GCS was transfected into K562/A02 cells.Bcl-2, p-ERK and total ERK expression at mRNA and protein levels after GCS knockdown were detected by real-time PCR and Western blotting .After exposed to MEK-ERK pathway inhibitor U0126, the expression of Bcl-2 at mRNA and protein levels also was analyzed by real-time PCR and Western blotting , respectively.The viability of the cells was evaluated by CCK-8 assay.RESULTS:The expression of GCS and Bcl-2, as well as MEK/ERK signaling were significantly inhibited in K 562/A02 cells by GCS siRNA transfection compared with negative control group .Inactivation of MEK/ERK signaling due to U0126 treatment de-creased Bcl-2 mRNA and protein levels in a concentration-dependent manner , and sensitized K562/A02 cells to adriamy-cin.CONCLUSION:GCS may affect the expression of apoptosis-related gene bcl-2 by MEK/ERK signaling pathway , thus regulating multidrug resistance of human leukemia K 562/A02 cells.

OBJECTIVETo investigate whether transcription factor-kappaB (NF-κ B) is involved in the modulation of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) by glucosylceramide synthase (GCS) in a multidrug resistance leukemia cell line K562/A02 and to explore the relationship between NF-κ B and extracelluar signal-regulated kinase (ERK).

METHODSK562/A02 cells were treated with GCSsiRNA, pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC, a NF-κ B specific inhibitor) and U0126 (a MEK1/2 inhibitor), respectively. The expression of GCS and multidrug resistance protein 1 (MDR1) mRNA were analyzed with qRT-PCR. Various proteins of different groups were measured by Western blotting.

RESULTSAfter transfected with GCSsiRNA for 48 h, GCS mRNA were reduced by 62% (51%-73%) and MDR1 mRNA was reduced by 52% (43%-61%) in the K562/A02 cells. Compared with the negative control, relative expression of NF-κ B p65 in nuclear and P-ERK1/2 were both down-regulated, and P-gp was also inhibited significantly at 72 h after transfected with GCSsiRNA (P< 0.05). In addition, the expression of P-gp was decreased at 24 h with 80 μ mol/L PDTC and 48 h with 20 μ mol/L PDTC. P-ERK1/2 was inhibited significantly when the cells were treated with 20 μ mol/L U0126 for 48 h. The expression of NF-κ B p65 in nuclear and P-gp were also down-regulated.

CONCLUSIONNF-κ B can modulate the effect of GCS on P-gp in K562/A02 cells. P-ERK1/2 can activate NF-κ B in above signal transduction pathway.

ATP-Binding Cassette, Sub-Family B, Member 1 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Drug Resistance, Multiple ; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm ; Glucosyltransferases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; K562 Cells ; Leukemia ; genetics ; NF-kappa B ; genetics ; metabolism

To compare the diagnostic value of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (sICAM-1) with that of c-reactive protein (CRP) for detecting chorioamnionitis (CAM) in serum of women with premature rupture of membranes (PROM), 55 pregnant women with PROM, including 18 pregnant women with preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) and 20 normal pregnant women at term (TPROM) were studied. Maternal serum were measured by Sandwish enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) for sICAM. CAM was histologically confirmed after delivery. The results revealed that (1) maternal serum levels of sICAM-1 and CRP were significantly higher in women with PROM than those without it; (2) maternal serum levels of sICAM-1 and CRP were significantly higher in women with CAM than those without it; (3) serum levels of sICAM-1 in PPROM women were similar to those in TPROM women, whereas serum levels of CRP in PPROM women were significantly higher than those in TPROM women; (4) the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, Kappa index and area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of maternal serum sICAM-1 (cutoff 104.7 ng/ml) and CRP (cutoff 1.03 mg/dl) for diagnosing CAM were 100%, 91.2%, 87.5%, 100%, 0.20, 0.995 and 81.0%, 73.5%, 65.4%, 86.2%, 0.13, 0.811, respectively; (5) among the mild histological CAM group, severe histological CAM group and clinical CAM group, the difference in maternal serum levels of sICAM-1 were significantly (P<0.001), with the order of concentration from high level to low level corresponding to the severity of CAM. It is concluded that maternal serum level of ICAM-1 is superior to that of CRP as biomarker for diagnosing intraamniotic infection in pregnant women with PROM.
Biomarkers ; blood ; Chorioamnionitis ; blood ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Female ; Fetal Membranes, Premature Rupture ; blood ; Humans ; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 ; blood ; Pregnancy

Objective To explore the relationship between heart rate variability (HRV),heart rate turbulence (HRT) and blood pressure (BP) control in hypertensive patients.Methods Hypertensive patients with controlled BP group (n =50) and uncontrolled BP group (n =40) and control group non-hypertensive patients (n =52)were enrolled in this study in our hospital during June 2015 to June 2016.HRV and HRT as well as clinical characteristic of the three groups were analyzed.Results (1) Body mass index was significantly higher in the controlled BP group than in the control group.There was no statistical difference in proportions and categories of antihypertensive medication between the uncontrolled and controlled BP groups (P ＞ 0.05).(2) VLF,LF and TS were significantly lower in the uncontrolled BP group than the control group,and HF was significantly lower in the uncontrolled BP group than in the controlled BP group (P ＜ 0.05).(3) Results of muhiple logistic regression analysis showed that lower rMSSD,pNN50,VLF,LF,HF and TS were risk factors for BP control after adjusting for gender,age,EF value,creatinine,blood lipids,Beta-blockers and history of smoking,coronary heart disease and diabetes mellitus.(4) Spearman correlation analysis of the hypertensive patients showed that LF was negatively correlated with TO,and SDNN,SDANN,rMSSD,pNN50,VLF,LF,HF were positively correlated with TS.Conclusion The present results demonstrate that uncontrolled BP is associated with abnormal HRV and HRT,which suggested autonomous nervous imbalance was existed in uncontrolled hypertensive patients.

OBJECTIVETo estimate the significance of the adjustment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) risk group by monitoring minimal residual disease(MRD).

METHODTotally 285 children ALL patients who were diagnosed and systematically treated according to CCLG-2008 in Institute of Hematology and Blood Diseases Hospital, CAMS and PUMC, from April 2008 to August 2011 were prospectively selected. Among these cases, 62.8% (n = 179) were boys and 37.2% (n = 106) were girls and the median age was 5.3(0.5-14.0). The patients who were at high-risk group initially were excluded. The grouping of cases: the patients were divided into two groups according to the dates of initial diagnosis. Group I had 126 patients who were initially diagnosed between April 2008 and December 2009 in whom therapeutic regimen was not adjusted by reassignment of risk group by MRD. Group II had 159 patients who were initially diagnosed between January 2010 and August 2011 whose therapeutic regimen was adjusted by reassignment of risk group by MRD at specific time (33rd day of induction chemotherapy and 12 weeks after the beginning of chemotherapy). MP-FCM Coulter FC-500 was used in the detection of MRD.

RESULTAmong these 285 patients, 94.0% (n = 268) were diagnosed as B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia and 6.0% (n = 17) were T-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia. In group I, 61.9% (n = 78) patients belonged to low-risk group, 38.1% (n = 48) median-risk; in group II, before the adjustment, the rates of the low-risk group and median-risk group were 68.6% (n = 109) and 31.4% (n = 50) , respectively, while after the adjustment they were altered to 53.5% (n = 85) and 39.6% (n = 63) , furthermore 6.9% (n = 11) patients went into the high-risk group. Both groups were followed up for 2.5 years after their diagnoses, the disease of 7.4% (n = 21) patients relapsed, and the rates of two groups were 12.7% (n = 16) and 3.1% (n = 5) respectively, P = 0.009. The rate of serious infection (such as sepsis, pulmonary infection) of all these patients was 32.3% (92/285) , there was no significant difference between the two groups [28.6% (36/126) vs.35.2% (56/159) , P = 0.392]. The mortality of all these patients was 6.7% (19/285) , and that of group I was higher than that of group II [10.3% (13/126) vs. 3.8% (6/159) , P = 0.044]. The 2.5 years overall survival (OS), event-free survival (EFS) and disease-free survival (DFS) of group I were all lower than those of group II in Kaplan-Meier survivorship analysis (all P < 0.05). The two groups were followed up for 2.5 years after their diagnoses, after elimination of the confounding influence of sex, age, FAB subtype, WBC count, ratio of blast cells in bone marrow at diagnosed, chromosome karyotype and fusion gene, reassignment of risk group by MRD was used to calculate the OS, EFS and DFS of ALL patients (all P < 0.05). After the adjustment the risk group was more significant in the assessment of prognosis.

CONCLUSIONThe reassignment of risk group in low and median risk groups children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia by MRD did not increase the rate of serious infection but could reduce the relapse rate and mortality, and was beneficial to increase the patients' OS, EFS and DFS.

Adolescent ; Antineoplastic Agents ; administration & dosage ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Bone Marrow ; pathology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Neoplasm, Residual ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Prognosis ; Prospective Studies ; Recurrence ; Remission Induction ; Survival Rate ; Treatment Outcome