BACKGROUND:Insufficient oral soft tissues in the implant zone may have a negative effect on the wound healing and the aesthetic restoration in the late stage. Platelet-rich fibrin can promote the wound healing of soft tissue defects. But there is stil a lack of in-depth studies on the promotion of oral soft tissue defects in animal experiments.
OBJECTIVE: To compare the repairing effects of platelet-rich fibrin and colagen membrane on soft tissue defects of the hard palate in New Zealand rabbits.
METHODS:Fifty-four New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into three groups (n=14 per group): platelet-rich fibrin group, colagen membrane group and blank control group. A 5 mm-diameter circular ful-thickness soft tissue defect was made in the front of the hard palate, 2 mm distant to the rear maxilary incisors and mucosal edge of the bilateral hard palates. Autologous platelet-rich fibrin membrane or colagen membrane were implanted into the defect in the platelet-rich fibrin group and colagen membrane group, respectively. No treatment was given in the blank control group. General observation of the wound and wound healing analysis were performed at days 3, 7, 14, 21, 28, 56 post operation. Hematoxylin-eosin staining, CD31 immunohistochemical staining and Masson staining were used to observe inflammatory reaction, angiogenesis and colagen formation in the surgical site.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The wound healing rate was fastest in the platelet-rich fibrin group, and no obvious scar formed. At 3 days post operation, there was no difference in the wound healing rates among the three groups; at 7 days, the wound healing rate in the platelet-rich fibrin group was significantly higher than that in the colagen membrane group and blank control group (P < 0.05). At 3 and 7 days after operation, the inflammatory reaction in the platelet-rich fibrin group was less than that in the colagen membrane and blank control groups (P < 0.05); at 14, 21, 28 and 56 days, there was no significant difference between the three groups. At 7, 14, 21 days after operation, the average absorbance value of CD31 in the platelet-rich fibrin group was significantly higher than that in the colagen membrane and blank control groups (P < 0.05). The average absorbance value of colagen formation in the platelet-rich fibrin group was significantly higher than that in the colagen membrane and blank control groups at 7 days after operation (P < 0.05), significantly higher than that in the blank control group at 14 days (P < 0.05), but lower than that in the colagen membrane and blank control groups at 21, 28 and 56 days after operation (P < 0.05). These findings show that platelet-rich fibrin can reduce inflammatory reactions in the process of wound healing, accelerate the angiogenesis, regulate the metabolism of colagen, reduce the formation of scar and improve the quality of wound healing, thereby promoting the repair of oral soft tissue defects.

Objective The aim of this study is to investigate the role of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)gene susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE)by familial studies.Methods PCR-based re- striction fragment length polymorphism(RFLP)was applied to genotype single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP) G261T of the ACE gene.A total of 119 patients with SLE from 119 families were recruited.In addition,316 family members of these patients were also genotyped.A family-based association study was carried out to ex- plore the association between gene polymorphism and SLE.We studied the SNP encoding non-synonymous substitution in the ACE gene with respect to genetic susceptibility to SLE.Results Among 119 SLE patients. the frequency of ACEG261TG,T alleles was 44.8%.55.2% respectively,the frequency of ACEG261T GG,GT and TT genotypes was 13.9%,62.0%,24.1% respectively,Univariate(single-marker)family-based association test(FBAT)demonstrated that variant alleles at the SNP,rs4303,exon 5 of ACE gene were significantly asso- ciated with genetic susceptibility to SLE in Additive Model(Z=2.877,P=0.004),Dominant Model(Z=2.557, P=0.011).Recessive Model(Z=2.202,P=0.028).Transmission-disequilibrium test(TDT)and sib transmission -disequilibrium test(STDT)showed an excess of the allele of T from heterozygous parents to affected offspring or higher frequency of the allele of T in the patients than their normal siblings(X~2=11.66,P=0.001).Conclu- sion Our findings suggest that the ACE gene may he the susceptible gene to SLE in Chinese population,and the individuals carrying ACE-261T allele is significantly associated with susceptibility to SLE.

Relapse after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) remains a main question on treatment failure.Current strategies for management that usually include salvage chemotherapy,donor lymphocytic infusion and second transplantation.Our study assessed the efficacy of decitabine (DAC) for treating patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who relapsed after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT).We retrospectively analyzed the outcomes of 12 patients with relapsed ALL after allo-HSCT who received DAC therapy.Nine patients received DAC combined with chemotherapy and donor stem cell infusion,and 3 patients received single-agent DAC.Ten of the 12 patients achieved complete remission (CR),1 achieved a partial remission (PR),and 1 had no response (NR) after treatment at the latest follow-up (LFU),the median survival was 11.2 months (range,3.8-34,7 months).The 1-and 2-year overall survival (OS) rates were 50％ (6/12) and 25％ (3/12),respectively.Five patients were still alive;4 had maintained CR and 1 was alive with disease.Patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive ALL had higher survival rate than patients with Philadelphia chromosome-negative ALL (57.1％ vs.20％).No aggravated flares of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) were observed during DAC treatment.Therefore,DAC may be a promising therapeutic agent for ALL recurrence after allo-HSCT.

OBJECTIVETo screen effectual fungicides for field control because of the seriousness of opium poppy mildew and importance of chemical control on plant diseases.

METHODSeven fungicides were screened in Lab experiment and field test during 1996-1997.

RESULT AND CONCLUSIONAll of them and their different dosages were effective to control conidia of Peronospora arborescens. Among them, 72.2% propamocarb of 1203 and 902.5 ppm were the most effective both in Lab experiment and field test with efficacy 79.91% and 79.33% respectively in field test, and the efficacy of other fungicides was over 50%. Seven fungicides tested can be used to control nonsystematic symptom of opium poppy mildew.

Carbamates ; pharmacology ; Fungicides, Industrial ; pharmacology ; Oomycetes ; drug effects ; pathogenicity ; Papaver ; microbiology ; Plant Diseases ; microbiology ; Plants, Medicinal ; microbiology

OBJECTIVETo study the pathogen of opium poppy downy mildew and its biological characteristic for further research on the disease.

METHODDevelopment of the disease was observed systematically in the field. Germination rate of sporangium in different temperature, pH and nutrition was examined with suspending-drop method. Slide-germination method was used to observe its germination in different humidity maintained by different concentration of H2SO4.

RESULT AND CONCLUSIONThe disease manifests itself in two forms: severely infected plants (systematic infection) and leaf spots (nonsystematic infection). Sporangia of the pathogen are oval or globular, thin walled, smooth, hyaline, with 7.74-16.34 microns diameter in base 1 and 8.34-15.05 microns in base 2.0 ospores are light yellow with 33.87-70.54 microns x 19.34-62.64 microns in base 1 and 36.85-49.68 microns x 42.08-55.76 microns in base 2. Conidiophores are stout, erect, whose branching times and length are different between those in base 1 and those in base 2. Sporangia sprot directly in two hours. Film of water is necessary for sporangium to sprot. The optimum temperature range of sporangium sprot is 12-21 degrees C, the best being 16 degrees C, the pH range is 4.53-9.18 the best optimum at pH 7.38, and the extract of leaf of 1:5 is good for its germination.

Humidity ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Oomycetes ; growth & development ; ultrastructure ; Papaver ; microbiology ; Plant Diseases ; microbiology ; Spores, Fungal ; growth & development ; ultrastructure ; Temperature

BACKGROUNDVascular cognitive impairment (VCI) is considered to be the most common pattern of cognitive impairment. We aimed to devise a diagnostic algorithm for VCI, and evaluate the reliability and validity of our proposed criteria.

METHODSWe based our new algorithm on previous literature, a Delphi consensus method, and preliminary testing. First, successive 100 patients with cerebrovascular disease (CVD) in hospital underwent a structured medical examination. Twenty-five case vignettes fulfilled the proposed criteria of diagnosis for probable or possible VCI were divided into three subtype categories: vascular cognitive impairment, no dementia (VCIND), vascular dementia (VaD) or mixed VCI/Alzheimer's disease (AD). Inter-raters reliability was assessed using a Fleiss kappa analysis. Convergent validity was also evaluated by correlation coefficients (r) between the proposed key points for each subtype and the currently accepted criteria. Forty-five patients with probable VCI were examined to determine the accuracy of identification for each subtype.

RESULTSThe proposed criteria showed clinical diagnostic validity for VCI, and were able to define probable, possible and definite VCI, three VCI subtypes, and vascular causes. There was good consensus between experts (Cronbach's alpha = 0.96 for both rounds). Significant moderate to good items-total correlations were found for two questionnaires (50-r range, 0.40 - 0.97 and 0.41 - 0.99, respectively). Significant slight and moderate inter-raters reliability were obtained for VCI (k = 0.13) and three VCI subtypes (k = 0.45). Furthermore, good convergent validity was observed in a comparison of significant correlations between criteria: good (4-r range, 0.75 - 0.92) to perfect (3-r = 1.00) validity for the VCIND subtype, and moderate to good validity for the VaD subtype (1-r = 0.46; 5-r range, 0.76 - 0.92) and for the mixed VCI/AD subtype (r = 0.92 and 1.00; 4-r range, 0.47 - 0.70). Importantly, the area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for the subtypes of VCIND, VaD and mixed VCI/AD were 0.85, 0.67 and 0.93, respectively.

CONCLUSIONOur results suggest that the new VCI diagnostic algorithm might be a suitable clinical approach for assessing stroke patients.

Algorithms ; Cognition Disorders ; diagnosis ; Dementia, Vascular ; diagnosis ; Humans

OBJECTIVETo study the relationship between the expression of dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP IV) gene and malignant behavior of cells of ovarian carcinoma.

METHODSThe differences of the malignant behavior of A2780, SKOV-3, HO-8910 and HO-8910PM cell lines were examined by drawing cell proliferative curves, adhesive test, assay of incursion and chemotaxis. The expression of DPP IV among the cell lines and its relationship with the malignant behavior of ovarian carcinoma cell were detected by techniques of DPP IV activity assay, cytometry and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTSAmong all cell lines, the ability of proliferation, adhesion, incursion and chemotaxis of HO-8910PM were the highest, while those of A2780 were the lowest. The transcription of mRNA in A2780, SKOV-3, HO-8910 and HO-8910PM cell lines were 0.7512 +/- 0.0012, 0.5596 +/- 0.0015, 0.3369 +/- 0.0009, and 0.2777 +/- 0.0006, respectively. The activity of DPP IV were 0.79 +/- 0.02, 0.64 +/- 0.03, 0.21 +/- 0.02, and 0.18 +/- 0.01, respectively; and the protein expression of DPP IV gene were 657.83 +/- 1.14, 538.53 +/- 5.29, 130.50 +/- 1.46, and 33.14 +/- 0.47, respectively, as assayed by cytometry. The correlation coefficients of the transcription of DPP IV gene and the adhesive, incursive and migratory ability of ovarian carcinoma cells were -0.987, -0.983, and -0.991, respectively; the correlation coefficients of the expression of DPP IV and those ability of cells were -0.959, -0.988, and -0.968; the correlation coefficients of the activity of DPP IV and those ability of cells were -0.952, -0.868, and -0.983.

CONCLUSIONThere is a negative correlation between the expression of DPP IV gene and the adhesive and incursive capability of cells of ovarian carcinoma.

Cell Adhesion ; Cell Division ; drug effects ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cystadenocarcinoma ; genetics ; pathology ; Dipeptidyl Peptidase 4 ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Female ; Humans ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo determine the frequencies of 4 mutations of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) gene in Chinese population and to investigate the association of the mutations with lipid metabolism and the susceptibility to coronary atherosclerotic heart disease (CHD).

METHODSThe target fragments of CETP gene were amplified and analyzed by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism technique in 209 unrelated control individuals and 203 CHD patients. The test for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was performed using HWE program and statistical analysis was implemented in statistical package SPSS.

RESULTSIVS14A and 451Q mutant genes were not found in either control group or patient group. The frequencies of 405V mutant allele were 0.443 and 0.413 in controls and patients, respectively, while 442G mutant gene frequencies were 0.007 and 0.025, respectively. The observed allele frequencies of I405V and D442G mutation were in accord with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The frequency of 442G mutant gene in patients was significantly higher than that in controls (P=0.043). Compared with the CHD patients without D442G mutation, the 442G heterozygous CHD patients exhibited a significant increase in plasma TC and LDL-C concentration (P=0.017; P=0.041).

CONCLUSIONIVS14A and 451Q mutants of CETP gene were rare in Chinese population and 442G mutant gene was possibly one of the susceptibility factors to CHD in Chinese.

Aged ; Carrier Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; China ; Cholesterol Ester Transfer Proteins ; Coronary Artery Disease ; blood ; genetics ; DNA ; genetics ; metabolism ; DNA Restriction Enzymes ; metabolism ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; genetics ; Genotype ; Glycoproteins ; Humans ; Lipids ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mutation ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length

alphaB-crystallin is a member of the sHSP (Small heat shock protein) family, which plays an impor tant role in multiple neurodegeneration diseases. To give insight into the possible alternation and the role of aB-crystallin in prion disease, the alphaB-crystallin levels in the brain tissues of agent 263K-infected hamsters were evaluated. Western blots and IHC revealed that at the terminal stages of the diseases, the levels of alphaB-crystallin were increased up to 3-fold in the brain tissues of scrapie infected 263K hamsters compared with normal controls. Immunofluorescent assays revealed that the up-regulated alphaB-crystallin was mainly observed in astrocytes, but not in neurons. The co-localization between alphaB-crystallin and abnormal deposition of PrPsc in the brain tissues of the scrapie infected hamsters was not observed. The study may provide a foundation for further revealing the potential role of alphaB-crystallin in prion disease.
Animals ; Brain ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cricetinae ; Humans ; PrPSc Proteins ; metabolism ; Prion Diseases ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Up-Regulation ; alpha-Crystallin B Chain ; genetics ; metabolism

OBJECTIVENimotuzumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody targeted against epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Recent clinical studies show that patients with malignant gliomas could benefit from nimotuzumab treatment. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy and side effects of nimotuzumab in combination with chemotherapy for patients with malignant gliomas.

METHODSThe patients received 200 mg of nimotuzumab infusion intravenously over 60 minutes once weekly for the first eight weeks and then once every two weeks until unacceptable toxicity or tumor progression occurred. Individualized chemotherapy was administered based on O(6)-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) expression and previous chemotherapy responses in combined with nimotuzumab.

RESULTSFourteen patients received a total of 122 times of nimotuzumab ranging from 2 to 20 (median 7.5 times). Combined chemotherapy regimens included: continuous 21-day temozolomide (10 cases), standard 5-day temozolomide (2 cases), teniposide plus cisplatin (1 case), and teniposide plus nimustine (1 case). Partial response (PR) and stable disease (SD) were found in 3 patients (21.4%)and 6 patients (42.9%), respectively. Disease control rate (PR + SD) was 64.3%. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 4 months (95%CI: 0.7 - 7.3) and PFS at 6 months was 30.6%. The most common toxicities include grade I-II neutropenia (2 cases), thrombocytopenia (2 cases), lymphopenia (1 case), nausea and vomitting (3 case) and asymptomatic transaminase increase (1 case). One patient developed grade IV neutropenia and thrombocytopenia. One patient developed nimotuzumab-related acneiform rash.

CONCLUSIONSNimotuzumab in combination with chemotherapy has moderate activity in patients with malignant gliomas and the toxicities are well tolerable, therefore, worth further investigation.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Astrocytoma ; drug therapy ; Child ; Cisplatin ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Dacarbazine ; adverse effects ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Glioblastoma ; drug therapy ; Glioma ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Infusions, Intravenous ; Male ; Nausea ; chemically induced ; Neutropenia ; chemically induced ; Nimustine ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Teniposide ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Thrombocytopenia ; chemically induced ; Young Adult