This study was designed to analyze the effect of the mitochondrial respiratory pathways of Candida albicans (C.albicans) on the biofilm formation.The 2,3-bis (2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium-5-carboxanilide (XTT) reduction assay was used to measure the metabolic activities of biofilms formed by the C.albicans which were cultured in the presence of respiratory pathways inhibitors.The biofilms formed by the wide type (WT),GOA1-deleted (GOA31),GOA1-reconstituted (GOA32),AOX1a-deleted (AOX1) and AOX1b-deleted (AOX2) C.albicans strains were examined by the XTT reduction assay and fluorescence microscopy.The expression of adhesion-related genes BCR1,ALS1,ALS3,ECE1 and HWP1 in the biofilms formed by the above five C.albicans strains was detected by real time polymerase chain reaction.It was found that the metabolic activity of biofilms formed by C.albicans was decreased in the presence of alternative oxidase inhibitor whereas it was increased in the presence of classical mitochondrial respiratory pathway complex Ⅲ or complex Ⅳ inhibitor.AOX1 strain produced scarce biofilms interspersed with few hyphal filaments.Moreover,no significant changes in the expression of BCR1 and ALS3 were observed in the AOX1 strain,but the expression of ALS1 and ECE1 was down-regulated,and that of HWP1 was up-regulated.These results indicate that both AOX1 and AOX2 can promote the biofilm formation.However,AOX1a primarily plays a regulatory role in biofilm formation in the absence of inducers where the promoting effect is mainly achieved by promoting mycelial formation.

Objective To explore the Electrocardiography (ECG) changes of residents in Keshan disease area and the status of growth and decline of Keshan disease in Shaanxi Province. Methods Using stratified randomized sampling method,2 mild,2 moderate and 2 serious disease counties were selected respectively in 2005 and 2006. A total of 6 counties were sampled,2 villages,one with severe disease and one with mild,were selected from each sampled county. A total of 12 villages were selected. The clinical examination and ECG were conducted in 3-year old children of agricultural population of the selected villages. Results ECG of 5692 cases were performed in the selected 12 village in the 6 counties,in which 4917 cases showed normal electrocardiogram,up to 86.38% (4917/5692). Two hundred and fifty-two cases showed roughly normal electrocardiograms,up to 4.43%(252/5692). Five hundred and twenty-three cases had abnormal electrocardiogram,accounting for 9.19% (523/5692). Among them,the abnormal electrocardiogram rates in mild,moderate and serious disease areas were 7.07% (144/2036), 11.41%(167/1646) and 10.54%(212/2010),respectively. Atrioventricular block was the major abnormal electrocardiogram change,followed by arrhythmia,ST-T changes,and low voltage. One hundred and thirty-nine cases were confirmed as latent and chronic Keshan diseases. One hundred and thirty-one cases were latent Keshan, and detection rate was 2.30%(131/5692). Eight cases were chronic Keshan,and the detective rate was 0.14% (8/5692). Complete right bundle branch block [37.06% (63/170) ],ST-T changes [22.35% (38/170) ],multiple premature ventricular beats [12.94% (22/170)] were the major abnormal electrocardiogram change of Keshan patients. Conclusions Atrioventricular block and arrhythmia are the major abnormal electrocardiogram changes. Keshan disease incidences are controlled under a stable condition.

Objective To know the prevalence tendency of Keshan disease(KSD) under control after 10 years in Shaanxi Province, the factors that causes or relative to the disease, to provide scientific reference for disease's prevention and control. Methods Through stratified cluster sampling, based on the severity of KSD in endemic area of Shaanxi Province, 12 villages from 6 counties were randomly selected as investigation points in 2006. The people older than 3 year-old were chosen to do clinical check up and electrocardiogram tracing. Among them, suspicious or abnormal cases were asked to take chest X-ray and cardiac ultrasound. Maize and rice, hair and whole blood were randomly collected to test the selenium content, the activity of Glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px). Results The total detection rate of potential or chronic KSD was 2.44%(139/5694), the detection rate of abnormal ECG was 9.19% (523/5692), the detection rate of cardiac enlargement from chest X-ray and cardiac ultrasound were 45.6%(72/158) and 34.5%(59/171) respectively. The average content of selenium in staple foods(wheat and corn) were[(0.045±0.036), (0.035±0.025)mg/kg, respectively]. The level of hair selenium in patients and healthy people were [(0.376±0.091), (0.384±0.077)mg/kg, respectively], with non-significant different (u=0.77, P>0.05). There were significant differences in whole blood selenium of patients, healthy people in KSD areas and healthy people in non-KSD areas[(0.071±0.017), (0.077±0.017), (0.090±0.016)mg/L, respectively; F=4.55, P<0.05), the whole blood selenium in patients lower than in healthy people in KSD areas (P<0.05), in healthy people in KSD areas lower than in non-KSD areas (P<0.05). Conclusions After the KSD condition being controlled, the situation in Shaanxi Province has become stable and exhibited a decreasing tendency. The selenium level of both internal and external environment in the endemic area increased significantly, that is the main factors of controlling disease.

OBJECTIVETo explore a convenient and effective method for norovirus nucleic acid extraction from oysters suitable for long-term viral surveillance.

METHODSTwo methods, namely method A (glycine washing and polyethylene glycol precipitation of the virus followed by silica gel centrifugal column) and method B (protease K digestion followed by application of paramagnetic silicon) were compared for their performance in norovirus nucleic acid extraction from oysters. Real-time RT-PCR was used to detect norovirus in naturally infected oysters and in oysters with induced infection.

RESULTSThe two methods yielded comparable positive detection rates for the samples, but the recovery rate of the virus was higher with method B than with method A.

CONCLUSIONMethod B is a more convenient and rapid method for norovirus nucleic acid extraction from oysters and suitable for long-term surveillance of norovirus.

Animals ; Centrifugation ; methods ; Norovirus ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Ostreidae ; virology ; RNA, Viral ; isolation & purification

OBJECTIVETo prepare a DNA Microarray that can detect 8 common species of food borne bacterial pathogens in south China.

METHODSAll the 70mer oligo probes were designed on the characteristic genome loci of the 8 species of food borne bacterial pathogens. Eight subarrays corresponding to the 8 food borne bacterial pathogens were spotted onto the slide and integrated into a pan-array on the chip. A number of identified and known bacterial samples from the storage bank were selected for the validation test.

RESULTSBased on the PPR ranking, for LM sub-array, the PPR of the 3 Listeria bacteria LM, Lin and Liv was 68.8%, 51.8% and 59.6%, respectively, while that of the non-Listeria bacterial samples was all below 43%. For VC sub-array, the PPR of VC sample was 54.1% and that of the non-VC bacterial samples was lower than 17.2%. For VP sub-array, the PPR was 66.7% for VP sample and below 24.2% for non-VP bacterial samples. For Sal sub-array, the PPR was 55.9% for Sal sample and below 50.5% for non-Sal bacterial samples. For Shi sub-array, the PPR of Shi sample and the non-Shi bacterial samples was 53.8% and below 36.6%, respectively. For SA sub-array, the PPR of SA sample and non-SA bacterial samples was 65.2% and below 22.7%, respectively. For CJ sub-array, the PPR of the 2 Campylobacter bacteria CJ and CC were 88.2% and 58.8%, respectively, and that of the non-Campylobacter bacterial samples was lower than 35.3%. For EC sub-array, the PPR of EC sample was 47.9%, and that of the non-EC bacterial samples was lower than 41.6%. Evaluation of the Biosafood-8 chip developed in this study by 18 biological samples from different origins demonstrated its good specificity and accuracy in the identification of the pathogens.

CONCLUSIONThe chip we developed can clearly differentiate the target food borne pathogenic bacteria and non-target bacteria and allows specific and accurate identification of the species of the tested bacteria isolates.

Bacteria ; classification ; isolation & purification ; China ; Food Contamination ; analysis ; Food Microbiology ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; methods

OBJECTIVETo find out the status of human metapneumovirus (hMPV) infection in children under 14 years old with acute respiratory tract infections (ARI) in Guangzhou, analyze the epidemiology and clinical characteristics among the hMPV-infected children, and provide some basis for research of hMPV.

METHODSAll 521 throat and pharyngeal swabs were collected among the children with acute respiratory tract infections in outpatient departments and those admitted to the wards from September 2006 to August 2008. Then total nucleic acid was extracted from respiratory specimens. The 213 nucleosides of nucleoprotein gene were detected by RT-PCR and 16 strong positive samples were picked to compare with the sequence of hMPV in GenBank after the sequence of the amplification products were determined. Then applied statistical analysis to the data of the collected patients.

RESULTSAll 521 samples were detected by RT-PCR, and confirmed that N gene was positive in 39 samples with a detection rate of 7.49%, and the peak time was in October and April. The 16 amplification products were compared by using the analysis of gene sequence. The nucleocapsid protein (N) gene similarity to BJ1897 of Beijing was up to 99%, and to AY550156 of Thailand was up to 97%, genotype B was the most common genotype.

CONCLUSIONThere existed hMPV infection in children acute respiratory system diseases in Guangzhou areas, in which the children under the age of 6 years were accounted for the main group, however there was no difference in gender. The main symptoms of the patients with hMPV infection were high fever and cough symptom of catarrh. Co-infections other than respiratory virus with hMPV were detected as 41.03% of positive samples.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Metapneumovirus ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Nucleocapsid Proteins ; genetics ; RNA, Viral ; genetics ; Respiratory Tract Infections ; epidemiology ; virology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of androgen receptor (AR) on IgG protein expression and the proliferation and migration of prostate cancer cells.

METHODSWestern blotting was used to detect the expression of AR protein and IgG in androgen-dependent prostate cancer LNCap cells and castration-resistant prostate cancer PC-3 cells. In AR-overexpressing cells (PC-3-AR cells) established by transfecting PC-3 with AR gene (pCDNA3.1) and LNCap cells with small interfering RNA-mediated AR silencing (LNCap-siAR cells) were analyzed for expressions of AR protein and IgG with Western blotting; the expression of IgG mRNA was detected by Q-PCR, and the cell proliferation and migration were assessed with MTT assay and wound healing assay, respectively.

RESULTSCompared with PC-3 cells, LNCap cells expressed a higher level of AR protein and a lower level of IgG (P<0.05). PC-3-AR cells showed attenuated proliferation and migration with a lowered expression of IgG (P<0.01), while LNCap-siAR cells showed enhanced proliferation and migration with increased expression of IgG (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe expression of AR is inversely correlated with IgG and is associated with the proliferation and migration of prostate cancer cells in vitro.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the different permeation enhancers on the transdermal permeation of Xiao'er Niuhuang tuire cataplasms (XNTC).

METHODUsing improved franz-type diffusion cell with excised rat skin in vitro as the transdermal barrier, the content of permeated geniposide was determined by HPLC to study the kinetic parameters such as cumulative permeation quantity and permeation rate.

RESULTThe result showed that the process of penetrating of geniposide in XNTC through skin could be in accordance with zero-rade releasing equation and XNTC was stable during the course of experiment.

CONCLUSION5% Propylene glycol (PG)-azone (2:3) has the best permeation-enhancing effect, and the results provided a primary basis for the future research on Xiao'er Niuhuang tuire cataplasms.

Animals ; Azepines ; pharmacology ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; In Vitro Techniques ; Iridoids ; chemistry ; Pharmaceutical Vehicles ; pharmacology ; Propylene Glycol ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Skin ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Skin Absorption ; drug effects

BACKGROUNDEndogenous nitric oxide and adenosine increase simultaneously to keep the balance of energy demand and supply when the oxygen supply is insufficient, which suggests that nitric oxide and adenosine might exert a synergistic myoprotection during tissue hypoxia. In this study, we tested this hypothesis utilizing a canine model of prolonged global myocardial ischaemic reperfusion injury.

METHODSIn this double blind, controlled study, the hearts of 24 anaesthetized mongrel dogs were arrested for 2 hours with aortic cross clamping and blood cardioplegia. The treatment groups were those supplemented with 2 mmol/L L-arginine (ARG), supplemented with 1 mmol/L adenosine (ADO), ARG + ADO supplemented with both, and no supplementation (control) (n = 6 in each group). Haemodynamics, biochemical indices, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content and myeloperoxidase activities of myocardium were determined to evaluate myocardial injury. Statistical comparison was performed by two way ANOVA.

RESULTSAlthough the requirements for inotropic supports were higher, the cardiac outputs were lower in control group than in ARG, ADO and the combination groups. Plasma cardiac troponin I levels were higher and the areas of hydropic changes were larger in control group than in ARG and ADO groups. Combination of arginine and adenosine provided further myoprotection with respect to better cardiac performance, lower release of cardiac troponin I, and smaller areas of hydropic changes compared with ARG and ADO groups. ATP content was higher, but myeloperoxidase activities of myocardium were significantly lower in the combination group than in control, ARG and ADO groups (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSCombination of L-arginine and adenosine provides synergistic myoprotection in a canine model of global myocardial ischaemia. Thus, the combination is recommended when the heart is exposed to a prolonged ischaemia during cardiac surgery.

Adenosine ; therapeutic use ; Adenosine Triphosphate ; analysis ; Animals ; Arginine ; therapeutic use ; Cardiotonic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Disease Models, Animal ; Dogs ; Drug Synergism ; Energy Metabolism ; Female ; Heart Arrest, Induced ; Male ; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury ; prevention & control ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; pathology ; Peroxidase ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of early nutritional intervention on the serum insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF1), insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP3), intestinal development, and catch-up growth of intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) rats by giving the IUGR new born rats different protein level diet.

METHODSIUGR rat model was built by starvation of pregnant female rats. Twenty-four IUGR pups and 8 normal pups were divided randomly into 4 groups: normal control group (C group); IUGR control group (S group), IUGR low-protein diet group (SL group), and IUGR high-protein diet group (SH group). Detected the serum IGF1, IGFBP3, body weight, body length, intestinal weight length, intestinal villi height (VH), crypt depth (CD), villi absorbing area (VSA), mucous thickness (MT), and disaccharidase at the 4th week.

RESULTS(1) The SH group showed the fastest catch-up growth, serum IGF1, IGFBP3, VH, and VSA were significantly higher than those of normal control group and IUGR control group. The intestinal weight and length, and the activities of lactase and saccharase of the SH group also reached the normal control group level. (2) The SL group kept on small size, the serum IGF1, IGFBP3, and most of intestinal histological indexes were all significantly lower than other groups. (3) IGF1, IGFBP3 were positively correlated to intestinal VH, VSA, saccharase, body weight and length.

CONCLUSIONSThe serum IGF1 was a sensitive index to the catch-up growth. The early nutritional intervention of high-protein diet after birth is helpful for the catch-up growth of IUGR through promoting the intestinal development and the absorption of nutrition.

Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; growth & development ; Body Weight ; drug effects ; Dietary Proteins ; pharmacology ; Female ; Fetal Growth Retardation ; blood ; etiology ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3 ; blood ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I ; metabolism ; Intestines ; growth & development ; pathology ; Nutritional Physiological Phenomena ; Pregnancy ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley