Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) is a major route of transmission of syphilis,and may occur at any time during pregnancy.MTCT of syphilis can lead to many adverse pregnancy outcomes,seriously affects maternal and infant health,and has been a severe public health and social problem.The risk of MTCT of syphilis is associated with stage of syphilis in pregnancy,stage of pregnancy,receiving or not receiving treatment,and is especially high in patients with early syphilis.With the growth of incidence of syphilis,the prevention for MTCT of syphilis has been becoming more and more important.Screening for and early treatment of syphilis in pregnancy can effectively block MTCT of syphilis.To learn the epidemiology,route,risk,and associated factors of MTCT of syphilis will undoubtedly facilitate the development of strategies for syphilis prevention and control.

Objective To explore the distribution of temperament types and its related influencing factors of school-age twins.Method Childhood temperament were evaluated by standardized Middle Childhood Temperament Questionnaire (MCTQ) in a total of 125 pairs of 8 to 12 years old twins,and temperament related factors were measured by FACES Ⅱ-CV.Results The majority of temperament types of school-age twins were easy and intermediate-low.Easy,intermediate-low,difficult,intermediate-high and start-to-warm up took a percent of 41.6％,38.0％,11.2％,6.4％ and 2.8％,respectively.The heritability of temperament types was 0.454.The distribution of temperament types were influenced by the family cohesion,parenting rearing style,zygotic,age,father's occupation,mother's educational level and the method of delivery.Conclusion The temperament types of school-age twins were both influenced by genetic and environmental factors.

To provide accurate information on geographic distribution of crude drug Sailonggu in the plateau, we identified zokor species (Eospalax spp.) in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau using molecular methods. Based on the mitochondrial cytochrome B (cytb) gene sequences, we then extracted haplotypes from these sequences and reconstructed phylogenetic trees for the haplotypes using both maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) methods. Based on the trees, the species of each sample were determined. Five hundred and three samples from 35 populations were sequenced and their whole cytb sequences (1140 bp) were obtained. From these sequences 150 haplotypes were detected, in which, 126 were Eospalax baileyi, 20 were E. cansus, and 4 were E. smithi of the 35 populations, 28 were E. baileyi type, 5 were E. cansus type, and the remaining 2 were mixed of E. baileyi + E. cansus (DT2) and E. baileyi + E. smithi (ZN3). The results showed that, the regions around the Qinghai lake and near the upper stream of Yellow River started at Guide could be viewed as the producing area of authentic Sailonggu, and also, the cytb gene is a powerful molecular marker to determine the species of zokors as well as for the authentication of geographic distribution of Sailonggu.
Animals ; Bone and Bones ; metabolism ; Haplotypes ; Medicine, Tibetan Traditional ; Phylogeny ; Rodentia ; classification ; genetics

The antitussive activity assay for the root extraction of Disporum cantoniense was carried out with coughing mice induced by ammonia liquor. The results showed that the ethanol and water extractions of D. cantoniense possess strong antitussive activity, and the high dose of the former was better than positive control, and then the constituents of the ethanol extraction were separated and purified by various modern chromatographic techniques. Their structures were identified by physico-chemical properties and spectroscopic data. As a result, eight compounds were isolated and identified as stigmast-4-en-3-one(1), (22E, 24R)-ergosta-5, 7, 22-trien-3beta-ol(2), obtucarbamate A(3), obtucarbamate B(4), neotigogenin(5), azo-2, 2'-bis[Z-(2,3-dihydroxy-4-methyl-5-methoxy) phenyl ethylene] (6),dimethyl {[carbonylbis (azanediyl)] bis( 2-methyl-5, 1-phenylene) j dicarbamate (7) , and quercetin-3-O-pB-D-glucopyranoside(8). All compounds were isolated from this plant for the first time, and the result of bioactivity-directed isolation showed that compounds 3, 4, and 6 had obvious effect on antitussive activity, and compound 6 had the same level as positive control.
Animals ; Antitussive Agents ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Ethanol ; chemistry ; Female ; Liliaceae ; chemistry ; Male ; Mice

Objective To investigate the superiority of direct multi-slice spiral CT venography in inferior vena cava. Methods Twenty-eight patients performed MSCT venography in inferior vena cava, including 2 cases with both indirect and direct venography, 10 cases with indirect venography, 20 cases with direct venography through unilateral or bilateral lower extremity venous injection. The image quality and enhancement degree of the inferior vena cava were compared in double-blind method. Results Of 10 cases with indirect venography of inferior vena cava, 1 case was failed due to mild enhancement in inferior vena cava. Image quality was good in 2 cases, poor in 7 cases, no excellent case. Of 20 cases with direct venography of inferior vena cava, the enhancement degree was scored 1, 2 degree in 16, 4 cases respectively and no case was scored 3 degree, the image quality was excellent, good in 16, 4 cases and no case was bad. The success rate was 100%. Conclusion The image quality of direct MSCT venography in inferior vena cava is better than that of indirect method.

Objective To observe the microstructural changes in lesions of alopecia areata (AA) with dermoscopy and to evaluate their correlation with clinicopathological manifestations. Methods The area of alopecia of 62 patients with AA and 44 patients with other types of hair loss were observed by using a noncontact polarized dermoscope (Dermlite, USA). Clinical data on and laboratory findings from these patients were collected. Pathological examination was carried out with scalp biopsy specimens from the alopecia area of 15 AA patients. Results Characteristic dermoscopic signs of AA included yellow dots, black dots, broken hairs, exclamation mark hairs, short vellus hair and newly-grown short hairs. Among these signs, yellow dots showed the highest prevalence (83.9%). Exclamation mark hairs, black dots and broken hairs were rather specific signs for AA, and the prevalence of the three signs was positively correlated with disease activity and positivity rate of hair-pull test. A positive correlation was also noted between the prevalence of elevated thyroid peroxidase antibody levels and positivity rate of hair-pull test (r = 0.269, P ＜ 0.05 ) as well as prevalence of broken hairs (r = 0.445, P ＜ 0.05), and between the prevalence of yellow dots and that of keratinous plug in follicular orifice. There was a negative correlation between the prevalence of newly-grown short hairs and perifollicular mast cell infiltration and between the prevalence of black dots and the anagen/catagen ratio. Conclusions Yellow dots can serve as a preliminary screening marker for AA. Exclamation mark hairs, black dots and broken hairs are highly sensitive for the confirmation of diagnosis of AA, and often predict progressive AA.Dermoscopic signs are well correlated to the histopathology features of AA, and may be useful for the evaluation of disease severity and guidance on the treatment of AA.

Objective To analyze the efficacy and safety of HAA induction regimen consisted of homoharringtonine (HHT),cytarabine (Ara-C) and aclacinomycin (ACM) in naive and refractory relapsed acute myeloid leukemia.Methods Data from 66 acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cases hospitalized and treated with HAA induction regimen was analyzed retrospectively.Results 45 of the 66 cases suffered from naive AML,and 21 were refractory relapsed.HAA efficacy in naive AML was evaluated in 41 cases with 36 in complete remission (CR) and 1 in partial remission (PR).The efficiency of HAA induction regimen was 90.2 ％ (37/41)in naive AML group and 42.9 ％ (9/21) in refractory relapsed group,respectively.There were no differences (P ＞ 0.05) when considering patient' s gender,age,disease subtype and white blood cell count at onset.14 patients in CR with naive AML were followed-up for a median time of 9 months (2-17 months),and 5 cases relapsed (35.7 ％) in a range of 2-8 months.The median myelosuppression period was 14 days (3-23 days).Nausea and vomiting [20 ％ (13/66)] were the major side effects of HAA regimen,and the other side effects were abdominal pain and diarrhea [9 ％ (6/66).After chemotherapy,53 ％ (35/66) of the cases experienced infection/fever due to neutropenia.Other severe non-hematological side effects did not occur.Conclusion HAA regimen may be an ideal choice for the induction chemotherapy of naive and relapsed refractory AML.

Objective To detect the expressions of apoptosis-related factors and inflammatory cytokines in superficial and deep layers of as well as anagen hair follicles in lesions of early alopecia areata (AA).Methods Scalp biopsy samples were collected from 25 patients with early AA and 15 healthy human controls.Fluorescence-based quantitative PCR was performed to detect mRNA expressions of apoptosis-related genes p53,caspase 3,Fas,survivin and bcl-2,as well as those of inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-4,IL-10,IL-12 and interferon (IFN)-γ.An immunohistochemical assay was conducted to measure the expression of p53 protein in anagen hair follicles.Results Compared with control skin samples,anagen hair follicles in AA lesions showed significantly increased mRNA expression levels (expressed as 2-△△Ct) of pro-apoptotic factors caspase 3,p53 and Fas (6.78,8.01,9.74,respectively,all P ＜ 0.05),but decreased mRNA expression levels of antiapoptotic factors bcl-2 and survivin (0.08 and 0.03 respectively,both P ＜ 0.01),and similar mRNA expression levels of inflammatory cytokines.There was a significant increase in mRNA expression levels of Th1 cytokines IFN-γ and IL-12 (2.75 vs.1.00,P ＜ 0.05; 85.67 vs.1.00,P ＜ 0.01),but a significant decrease in the expression level of the Th2 cytokine IL-10 (0.002 vs.1.000,P ＜ 0.01) in superficial layers of AA lesions compared with those of normal control skin.The degree of changes in mRNA expression levels of IL-10 and IL-12 was significantly higher in superficial layers than in deep layers of AA lesions (P＜0.01 and 0.05 respectively).The immunohistochemical assay showed that the number of p53-positive cells per 100 cells in anagen hair follicles of AA lesions was higher than that in those of control skin (t =23.79,P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions Anagen hair follicles in AA lesions exhibit high expressions of pro-apoptosis factors,but low expressions of antiapoptotic factors,suggesting that apoptotic factors play a role in the occurrence of AA.

OBJECTIVETo study the changes in circulating VEGF and endostatin (ES) levels during chemotherapy for patients with breast cancer, and their correlation with efficacy of chemotherapy.

METHODS40 breast cancer patients with metastases were included in this study. They received TAC/TEC, CAF/CEF, NP, CAP, CMF, TFP, TA or TC regime chemotherapy, respectively. Totally 120 serum samples were collected from the patients at three time points: before chemotherapy, the end of 1 and 5-6 chemotherapy cycles, and analyzed for VEGF and ES levels using ELISA. Tumor agiogenesis activity was evaluated by serum soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM - 1) measured by ELISA as a surrogate marker.

RESULTS(1) Before chemotherapy, the median level of VEGF in patients with breast cancer was 496.6 pg/ml, 4.7 times higher than that of healthy controls (P <0.001). The median level of ES was 95.5 ng/ml, 18.3% lower than that of healthy controls (P = 0.183). VCAM-1 was 1077.1 ng/ml and higher than that of controls (P <0.001). The serum VEGF levels correlated with VCAM-1 levels, tumor staging and metastatic sites (P <0.05). (2) At the end of 1 cycle of chemotherapy, the serum VEGF level (median 524.8 pg/ml) was higher than the pretreatment values (P = 0.047), whereas the levels of ES and VCAM-1 were not significantly altered (110.5 ng/ml, P = 0.055; and 975.6 ng/ml, P = 0.27). (3) At the end of 5-6 cycles, the changes in VEGF correlated with the response to chemotherapy. Serum VEGF levels in 27 patients with chemotherapy-responsive and stable disease showed a significant decrease (median 287.4 pg/ml) , but not observed in 13 patients with progressive disease. VCAM-1 also showed a treatment-related change like VEGF. However, chemotherapy might only have a minor effect on ES, because there was no significant difference in the ES levels among 5-6 cycle patients, 1 cycle patients and healthy controls, and neither between therapy-responsive patients.

CONCLUSIONIntensive chemotherapy for breast cancer results in a significant decrease of serum VEGF level, which might be an indicator of the controlled disease status, and following the treatment-induced response or stabilization, the tumor angiogenesis seems to change into an anti-angiogenesis direction.

Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Bone Neoplasms ; blood ; drug therapy ; secondary ; Breast Neoplasms ; blood ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast ; blood ; drug therapy ; secondary ; Endostatins ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; blood ; drug therapy ; secondary ; Lung Neoplasms ; blood ; drug therapy ; secondary ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Remission Induction ; Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 ; blood ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; blood

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are thought to contribute to the progression of cardiovascular disease (CVD). At present, it has been known that the NADH/NADPH oxidase system is the major source of superoxide in the vascular system. Cytochrome b-245 (P22phox), which is a critical component of NADH/NADPH oxidase, plays an important role in electron transport and producing the superoxide anion. It is considerable to take attention to whether the polymorphism of P22phox gene is associated with a risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). To distinguish the relationship between them will be beneficial to elucidate the genetic mechanisms of CHD, and develop a new genetic marker to provide theoretical base for the prevention and cure of CHD.
Coronary Disease ; genetics ; Genetic Markers ; Humans ; Membrane Transport Proteins ; genetics ; NADPH Dehydrogenase ; genetics ; NADPH Oxidases ; Phosphoproteins ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Risk Factors