Objective To investigate clinical significance and related factors of fluid-attenuated inversion recov?ery vascular hyperintensities (FVH) in transient ischemic attack (TIA) of carotid system. Method Data including general information and TIA risk factors was continuously collected from 142 patients with carotid system TIA from the depart?ment of neurology of Sheng jing Hospital affiliated China Medical University from January 2012 to February 2014.All pa?tients completed brain MRI including FLAIR and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI)and MRA examinations within 72 hours after TIA. All patients were followed up for one month. Risk factors and FVH situations were analyzed based on clinical manifestations and DWI results. Result There were 87 male cases (61.27%)and FVH positive 57 cases (40.14%) among 142 cases with carotid system TIA (mean age 63.2±11.5). Logistic regression analysis revealed that the large intra?cranial carotid artery stenosis≥50%(OR=2.44,95%CI:1.09~5.49, P=0.03) and prior history of ischemic stroke (OR=3.88,95%CI:1.04~14.5, P=0.04) were independently associated with positive FVH. At one month followed-up, 40 cas?es (28.17%) of 142 patients progressed to acute cerebral infarction. Vulnerable plaque number in the contralateral carot?id artery (P=0.018), contralateral intracranial large vessel stenosis in MRA≥50%(P=0.007) and contralateral FVH oc?currence rate (P=0.001) were significantly higher in cerebral infarction group than in non-cerebral infarction group. Con?clusion FVH is common in carotid TIA patients, which is associated with intracranial carotid artery stenosis ischemic and previous history of ischemic stroke. Vulnerable plaque number of contralateral carotid artery, contralateral intracranial large vessel stenosis≥50%and the rate of occurrence of contralateral FVH may be associated with short-term progress leading TIA to acute infarction.

Objective To investigate the effects of curcumine treatment on the expression of TNF-α in the peritoneum of acute peritonitis rats. Methods The rats were intrapertoneally injected Staphylococcus epidemidis (S.epidermidis) for the mixlelization of acute peritonitis. After a survival time of 3,6,12,24 and 48 hours,TNF-α expression in the peritoneum was detected by Western blot and RT-PCR in the rats of curcumin treatment group and non-curcumin treatment group. Results TNF-a expression showed time-dependent increase at 6,12,24 hours after the infection in the non-curcumin treatment group. In curcumin treatment group,TNF-α expression decreased at 6,12,24 hours after infection compared to non-curcumin treatment group. Conclusion Curcumin may be a protective agent in acute peri-tonitis induced by S.epidermidis.

Objective To characterize the changes in the dimensions during systolic and diastolic periods in the aorta with ECG-gated multi-detector CTA scans.Methods The CT angiograms of 115 patients (78 males,mean age 55.2 ± 9.4 years;37 females,mean age 60.1 ± 8.5 years) both in systolic and diastolic periods were obtained on a 64-slice ECG-gated multi-detector CT scanner.The diameters were measured at four anatomic levels of the aorta.(Level A:1 mm proximal to the innominate artery;Level B:1 mm distal to the left common carotid artery;Level C:1 mm distal to the left subclavian artery;Level D:10cm distal to the left subclavian artery).On each level,the maximal and the minimal diameters were measured both in systolic and diastolic periods.Results The paired sample t test results showed a significant difference between the systolic and diastolic diameters in all individual subjects on every level (P ＜0.001).The mean maximum diameter changes were 1.95％ (range-2.0％ to 7.0％),2.12％ (range-3.0％ to 6.0％),1.88％(range-1.0％ to 8.0％)and2.47％(range-3.0％ to 10.0％)at level A,B,C and D,respectively.The mean minimum diameter changes were 1.43％ (range-3.0％ to 5.0％),2.67％ (range-2.0％ to 11.0％),1.75％ (range-14.0％ to 9.0％)and 2.99％ (range -2.0％ to 11.0％) at level A,B,C and D,respectively.Conclusions The differences of the aortic diameters between systolic and diastolic periods are significant.The pulsatility of aorta in Chinese population may be different from published Western literature.

Objective To identify susceptible miRNAs for the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy (DN) and the molecular targets of losartan treatment. Methods The 8-week age KKAy mice were divided into losartan treatment group (10 mg· kg-1· d-1) and non-treatment group,C57BL/6 mice were used as the control group.At age of 20 weeks,body weight,random blood glucose,urinary albumin and urinary creatinine were tested,and kidney morphology was observed.Glomeroli were separated by magnetic beads perfusion,and total RNA were extracted.MiRNAs expression profiles were analyzed by the Affymetrix GeneChip miRNAs arrays. Results At age of 20 weeks,KKAy mice developed higher body weight,higher blood glucose and higher urinary microalbumin creatinine ratio than C57BL/6 mice,and the glomerular basement membrane thickened,mesangial matrix widened.Losartan treatment markedly improved the level of urinary albumin creatinine ratio [(539.71±100.23) mg/g vs (728±177.19) mg/g,P＜0.05)] and pathological lesion of KKAy mice.The miRNA array analysis showed that there were 22 miRNAs differentially expressed between KKAy non-treatment mice and C57BL/6 mice glomeruli at age of 20 weeks.Among them,10 miRNAs were up-regulated,and 12 miRNAs were down-regulated.The expression of 4 miRNAs was down-regulated in glumeruli of KKAy mice treated by losartan compared with that of non-treatment mice.The expressions of miRNA-503 and miRNA-181d were significantly up-regulated in the glumeruli of KKAy mice and inhibited by losartan treatment, Conclusion The expressions of miRNA-503 and miRNA-181d are significantly up-regulated in the glumeruli of KKAy mice and inhibited by losartan treatment,which may be new therapeutic targets of DN.

ObjectiveTo study the effect on humoral immunity with combination of CsA and IL-2 fusion protein. MethodsForty C57/B6 mice were evenly divided into four groups,after receiving skin graft from DBA mouse.Mice in the experimental group was given CsA(30 mg/kg,ip) plus IL-2/Fc (1μg,ip) while the control group was only given CsA,each group was given HBV vaccine after skin graft surgery (2 μg,im),while blank group was only given vaccine after skin transplantation.The fourth group were left intact.Fourteen days later,the level of HBSAb,IL-4,IL-10,IFN-γ,IL-2 were measured with ELISA and IL-21and FoxP3 expression level and Tfh percentage of mixed lymphocytes detected. ResultsThe HBSAb level in experimental group is significantly higher than that in the control group and the survival time of skin graft is longer than that in the control group ( F =29.886,P =0.010 ; F =29.772,P =0.011).IL-2,IFN-γ are significantly higher than that in the control group( F =18.156,P =0.0020;F =90.042,P =0.003 ),but the Th2 cytokines such as IL-4,IL-10 are lower ( F =42.102,P =0.009 ; F =23.734,P =0.015 ).The expression level of both IL-21and FoxP3 are significantly higher than control group( F =9.784,P =0.048 ;F =27.883,P =0.012). ConclusionsCombination of CsA and IL-2 fusion protein can significantly enhance the immunogenicity of HBV vaccine and prolong graft survival time.It may be related to the higher expression level of IL-21and FoxP3.

Objective To investigate the clinical manifestations and imaging features of isolated cortical vein thrombosis (ICoVT).Methods The data of patients with ICoVT admitted and treated in Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University from 2005 to 2015 were collected.Their clinical manifestations and imaging features were analyzed.Results A total of 104 patients with cerebral venous sinus thrombosis were enrolled.Seven (6.7％) of them with ICoVT were enrolled in the analysis.There were 6 women (85.7％).Their average age was 35 years (range 25-46 years).Headache (n =6;85.7％),seizures (n=5;71.4％),and limb paralysis and numbness (n =4;57.1％) were the most common clinical manifestations.All patients underwent head CT,MRI,and magnetic resonance venography (MRV).Focal cerebral tissue edema (n =5;71.4％) and hemorrhagic infarction (n =3;42.9％) were the most common imaging features.Susceptibility weighted imaging of 3 cases revealed cord-like hypointensity,indicating the formation of venous thrombosis.The clinical symptoms of all patients were relieved after anticoagulant therapy.They were followed up for 1.5 years and no recurrence was observed.Conclusion Headache and seizures are the most common clinical symptoms of IcoVT.Imaging is mostly manifested as focal cerebral edema or hemorrhagic infarction.

Objective To study the changes in the diameter of the ascending aorta at different levels.Methods A total of 287 patients were enrolled in this study from November 2016 to January 2017 at the Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital in Beijing.Each patient had undergone enhanced computerized tomography scanning,and the systolic and diastolic images were reconstructed for each patient.Ten times distance accounts for percentage was calculated per 10％ unit of ascending aorta.The maximal diameters of each level were measured by 3 mensio Vascular 8.1 software with curved planar reformation.Generalized additive mixed model with smoothing function and threshold saturation effect analysis with generalized estimating equations were used to analysis the changing regularity of ascending aortic diameters and its consistency using stratified analysis.Furthermore,stratified analyses were conducted aauording to sex,age,BMI,smoking status and history of chronic diseases.Results A nonlinear relationship between the maximal diameters and distance was observed.With the increase of distance,the maximal diameters of ascending aorta presented an inverted U shape.In the first half,the ascending aortic maximal diameter increased 1.16 mm while the distance increased ten percent of the ascending aortic length (P ＜ 0.001).In the second half,the ascending aortic maximal diameter reduced 0.47 mm while the distance increased ten percent of the ascending aortic length (P ＜ 0.001).The results showed that the changing regularity of ascending aortic diameter has no significant difference between systolic and diastolic periods.Conclusions With the increase of distance,the maximal diameters of ascending aorta increase and then decrease.The regularity of ascending aortic diameter between systole and diastole is consistent.In each subgroup,the regularity of ascending aortic diameter is not completely consistent,but the difference has not clinical significance.

Objectives: To explore the expression regulation of type 1 and type 2 (Th1 and Th2) cytokines from serum of coal miners and the evaluation in surveillance of coal workers' pneumoconiosis, 630 coal miners were studied. Methods: A total of 90 male patients diagnosed as coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) in a institute for occupational health and 19 male workers newly diagnosed as CWP patients was chosen as CWP group with simple random sampling method from a coal mine group from January 2013 to December in 2015. 180 male coal miners with abnormal but not diagnosed as CWP were selected as CWP suspected group with simple random sampling methods, meanwhile 180 male coal miners with normal chest X-ray photograph was as dust-exposed group by 1∶1 matched as age. And 161 healthy males accepted pre-employed examination were selected as control group, CWP suspected group, dust-exposed group and control group called as non-CWP group. According to screening test and diagnosis test, the basic information and occupational history of all subjects were collected, and cytokines including IL-1β, IL-8, IFN-γ, IL-6 and IL-10 of serum were detected. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine the optimal cutoff value of each cytokine. Area under curve (AUC), the validity and reliability were calculated and judged. Results: The average age of control group, dust-exposed group, CWP suspected group and CWP group were (27.4±5.0) , (43.4±10.7) , (48.2±6.2) , (64.7±7.0) years old, respectively. The median level of IL-1β, IL-8, IFN-γ and IL-6 in cases group (1 638.30, 2 099.49, 815.18,140.32 pg/ml) were higher than that of non-cases group (1 445.57, 1 402.26, 736.38, 95.73 pg/ml) (P<0.05) . The level of IL-8 (1 503.99 pg/ml) in CWP suspected group was higher than that of control group (1 295.67 pg/ml) and dust-exposed group (1 376.94 pg/ml) , but the level of IL-10 (654.08 pg/ml) was lower than that of control group (596.64 pg/ml) . The ratio of IFN-γ/IL-6 ranged from 5 to 8, and the ratio in CWP group (5.87) was lower than that of non-CWP group (7.61) . The IL-6 and IL-8 among the subjects of dust-exposed group in terms of the age distribution of among had reached statistical significance. According to ROC, the cutoff value of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and INF-γ reached 1 582.65, 116.53, 1 791.54, 581.08 and 792.69 pg/ml, respectively. The AUC was 0.668, 0.895, 0.859, 0.716 and 0.637, respectively. It was found that IL-6 and IL-8 could be used as biomarkers in detecting CWP, the sensitivity and specificity was 82.6% and 84.6%, 78.0% and 84.8%, respectively; Youden's index was 0.674 and 0.628 and the consistency rate was 84.3% and 83.7%, while Kappa value was 0.55 and 0.52. Conclusion There was Type 1 and type 2 cytokine dysregulation in CWP patients. IL-6 and IL-8 can be used as effective biomarkers to forecast lung injury before X-ray changes.

Beijing has been one of the epicenters attacked most severely by the SARS-CoV (severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus) since the first patient was diagnosed in one of the city's hospitals. We now report complete genome sequences of the BJ Group, including four isolates (Isolates BJ01, BJ02, BJ03, and BJ04) of the SARS-CoV. It is remarkable that all members of the BJ Group share a common haplotype, consisting of seven loci that differentiate the group from other isolates published to date. Among 42 substitutions uniquely identified from the BJ group, 32 are non-synonymous changes at the amino acid level. Rooted phylogenetic trees, proposed on the basis of haplotypes and other sequence variations of SARS-CoV isolates from Canada, USA, Singapore, and China, gave rise to different paradigms but positioned the BJ Group, together with the newly discovered GD01 (GD-Ins29) in the same clade, followed by the H-U Group (from Hong Kong to USA) and the H-T Group (from Hong Kong to Toronto), leaving the SP Group (Singapore) more distant. This result appears to suggest a possible transmission path from Guangdong to Beijing/Hong Kong, then to other countries and regions.
Genome, Viral ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Mutation ; Open Reading Frames ; Phylogeny ; SARS Virus ; genetics

We report a complete genomic sequence of rare isolates (minor genotype) of the SARS-CoV from SARS patients in Guangdong, China, where the first few cases emerged. The most striking discovery from the isolate is an extra 29-nucleotide sequence located at the nucleotide positions between 27,863 and 27,864 (referred to the complete sequence of BJ01) within an overlapped region composed of BGI-PUP5 (BGI-postulated uncharacterized protein 5) and BGI-PUP6 upstream of the N (nucleocapsid) protein. The discovery of this minor genotype, GD-Ins29, suggests a significant genetic event and differentiates it from the previously reported genotype, the dominant form among all sequenced SARS-CoV isolates. A 17-nt segment of this extra sequence is identical to a segment of the same size in two human mRNA sequences that may interfere with viral replication and transcription in the cytosol of the infected cells. It provides a new avenue for the exploration of the virus-host interaction in viral evolution, host pathogenesis, and vaccine development.
Base Sequence ; China ; Cluster Analysis ; Gene Components ; Genetic Variation ; Genome, Viral ; Genotype ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; SARS Virus ; genetics ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; genetics