0.05).No significant difference was seen between the 2 groups in IgE,ECP,but within-group,except for oreillons,coxsackie,and there were significant differences in IgE and ECP(Pa0.05).Conclusions Montelukast can ameliorate clinical symptom and BHR subsequent to bronchiolitis after non-RSV infection,and decrease the asthma formation rate,and there are no significant differences in montelukast′s clinical effect among different etiological agents.

Objective To explore the polysomnography(PSG) characteristice of obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome(OS-AHS) and primary snoring(PS) in children and clinical value of PSG in children with sleep disorders. Methods We analyzed 74 children with OSAHS and 62 with PS, every patient being monitored with PSG for 7 hours at night for 16 parameters, including apnea hypopnea index(AHI), periodic leg movement index(PLMI),and the lowest oxygen saturation(LSaQ2) etc. The parameters of the 2 groups were comparaed. Results Comparaed with PS group, there was statistically significant difference in parameters such as PLMI, AHI,LSaQ2,the moderate oxygen saturation(MSaO2).AHI in non- rapid eye movement (NREM)(P

Therapeutic approaches to brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer ( NSCLC ) include corticosteroids, anticonvulsants, surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. In recent years, molecular targeted therapy such as the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) has become a new option. This article discussed the roles of surgery, brain radiation, chemotherapy, targeted therapy , and other new directions in the treatment of patients with brain metastases from NSCLC.

OBJECTIVECurrently people regard polysomnography (PSG) monitoring as the golden standard for diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) in children. However, due to the high cost, time and manpower consuming, PSG is not applicable to epidemiological investigation and clinical screening, especially not suitable for child patients and remote hospitals in Xinjiang. Therefore, it is of important clinical significance to find out a simple method (e.g. a kind of serum index) to primarily screen out suspicious patients for early diagnosis and treatment. The present study was conducted to assess the clinical usefulness of the measurement of orexin-A concentration in serum as a diagnostic predictor to screen patients with OSAHS in children.

METHODSSerum orexin-A concentration was measured with enzyme immunoassay (EIA) kit in 60 patient with snoring before performing polysomnography (PSG). Subsequently all the subjects underwent PSG test. Forty subjects were diagnosed as having OSAHS, and twenty subjects had no OSAHS. These 20 non-OSAHS subjects served as controls. Compared with the PSG results the clinical usefulness of the measurement of orexin-A concentration in serum was assessed as a diagnostic predictor to screen patients with OSAHS. Correlation between orexin-A levels and apnea hypoventilation index (AHI), micro-arousal index (MAI) and lowest SaO2 (LSaO2) were analyzed.

RESULTSThe serum orexin-A levels in the OSAHS group [(0.49 +/- 0.10) microg/L] was significantly higher than that of the control group [(0.28 +/- 0.11) microg/L, P < 0.01]. If a patient's level of orexin-A was higher than 0.36 microg/L, the patient more likely to have OSAHS. The sensitivity rate was 85.0% and the specificity was 80.0%. Serum orexin-A levels in children with OSAHS correlated positively with the AHI (r = 0.427, P < 0.05) and MAI (r = 0.468, P < 0.05), but correlated negatively with the LSaO2 (r = -0.527, P < 0.01) and the mean oxygen saturation (MSaO2) (r = -0.541, P < 0.01), not correlated significantly with the BMI (r = -0.212, P > 0.05). The serum orexin-A levels in the OSAHS children after who under went tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy significantly decreased (P < 0.05) 3 months after surgery as compared with pre-operation level.

CONCLUSIONThese findings suggest that the serum level of orexin-A could be used as a predictor in screening for OSAHS children and a biological marker of the severity of OSAHS children.

Case-Control Studies ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; blood ; Male ; Neuropeptides ; blood ; Orexins ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive ; blood ; diagnosis

OBJECTIVETo investigate the levels of high-sensitivity CRP (hsCRP) and insulin sensitivity index (ISI) in children with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS).

METHODSTwenty-nine children with OSAHS and 22 children with primary snoring (PS) were enrolled. Polysomnography was performed. Body mass index (BMI), hsCRP, serum lipids, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and insulin (INS) were measured. ISI was calculated.

RESULTSThe apnea hypopnea index (AHI) in the OSAHS group was higher than that in the PS group (13.2 ± 9.2 vs 1.2 ± 1.1; P<0.05). The lowest oxygen saturation (LSaO2) in the OSAHS group was lower than that in the PS group [(78.5 ± 5.4)% vs (87.4 ± 3.7)%; P<0.05]. The values of hsCRP in the OSAHS group was higher than those in the PS group (2.8 ± 2.7 mg/L vs 0.6 ± 0.9 mg/L; P<0.05). There were no significant differences in the ISI and serum lipids between the two groups. The hsCRP level was negatively correlated with LSaO2 in the OSAHS group (r=-0.531, P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe hsCRP level increases in children with OSAHS. The increased hsCRP level might be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases.

C-Reactive Protein ; analysis ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Insulin Resistance ; Male ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive ; blood

BACKGROUNDHaptoglobin (Hp) is one of the acute-phase proteins. Recent studies have demonstrated that Hp exerts immunoregulatory and anti-inflammatory actions and may be one of the inhibitory factors of immune reactions in the skin. In this study we investigated the regulation of Hp expression in a human keratinocyte cell line HaCaT by various cytokines and glucocorticoid.

METHODSHaCaT cells were cultured with IL-6 (50 ng/ml), TNF-alpha (20 ng/ml), IFN-gamma (20 ng/ml) or IL-4 (20 ng/ml) with or without 1 micromol/L dexamethasone in 6-well plates for 12, 24 and 48 hours. Both the cells and the supernatants were collected to detect the changes of Hp expression by reverse-transcription PCR, ELISA and immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSThe results showed that Hp expression were elevated at both the mRNA and protein level by the combination of IL-6, TNF-alpha or IL-4 with dexamethasone, whereas the three cytokines alone did not upregulate the Hp expression. IFN-gamma showed no effect on the Hp expression in HaCaT cells.

CONCLUSIONSThese findings suggest that different inflammatory cytokines as well as glucocorticoid may be involved in the regulation of Hp expression in keratinocytes, and this may be one of the negative feedback mechanisms in inflammatory skin diseases.

Cell Line ; Dexamethasone ; pharmacology ; Glucocorticoids ; pharmacology ; Haptoglobins ; analysis ; Humans ; Interferon-gamma ; pharmacology ; Interleukin-4 ; pharmacology ; Interleukin-6 ; pharmacology ; Keratinocytes ; chemistry ; drug effects ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo study the prevalence rate of upper respiratory tract group A Streptococcus (GAS) carriage in school-age children from Xinjiang Province.

METHODSA total of 478 children at age of 9-12 years from Tulufan City and Buerjin County of Xinjiang Province were enrolled by random cluster sampling. Throat swab cultures were performed once each season for the determination of presence of GAS.

RESULTSIn the 1 827 samples, 196 GAS strains were isolated, with a GAS carrier rate of 10.7%. The prevalence rate of GAS carrier in Tulufan City ranged from 3.7%-16.5% compared with 4.7%-21.4% in Buerjin County (P < 0.05). The prevalence rate of GAS carrier in winter is the highest, followed by in autumn, spring and summer in both regions. There were significant differences in the GAS carriage rate in autumn between the two regions. There were no significant differences in the GAS carriage rate between boys and girls. Of the 196 GAS strains, 133 from Han, 22 from Uygur and 41 from Hazakh children. There were significant differences in the prevalence rate of GAS carriage among children with different ethic groups.

CONCLUSIONSThe prevalence rate of GAS carriage is high in school-age children from Tulufan and Buerjin of Xinjiang Province. The GAS carrier rate is associated with the season and ethic group. The children from Buerjin County present a higher GAS carrier rate than those from Tulufan City.

Carrier State ; microbiology ; Child ; China ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Prevalence ; Respiratory System ; microbiology ; Streptococcus pyogenes ; isolation & purification

OBJECTIVETo construct a phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase beta (PI4K-beta) mutant with the 325th to 373rd amino acid codons deleted, and try to develop a simple method for constructing middle fragment deletion mutant.

METHODSIn line with the mechanism of gene splicing by overlap extension(SOE), an additional PCR was used to get the PI4K-beta mutant in which the 325th to 373rd amino acid codons were deleted. Then the mutated gene was cloned into pCMV-Tag4A mammalian expression vector.

RESULTSA mutant with the 325th to 373rd amino acid codons deleted was constructed successfully.

CONCLUSIONThe improved SOE is a very effective and reliable method to construct middle fragment deletion mutant. It is worthy to be popularized.

1-Phosphatidylinositol 4-Kinase ; genetics ; Base Sequence ; Genetic Vectors ; genetics ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Mutagenesis, Site-Directed ; Mutation ; genetics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods ; Protein Engineering ; methods ; Recombinant Proteins ; genetics ; Sequence Deletion

OBJECTIVECigarette smoke extract (CSE) can induce injuries of pulmonary II epithelial cells, activate nuclear factor-kappaB and increase tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-alpha) secretion. This study aimed to investigate whether azithromycin can protect pulmonary II epithelial cells from injuries induced by CSE and relevant mechanisms.

METHODSPulmonary II epithelial cells (A549 cells) were cultured in vitro. After 48 hrs of culture the cells were randomly treated with serum-free DMEM only (blank control group), azithromycin + serum-free DMEM, CSE+ serum-free DMEM or CSE+azithromycin. Eight hours later the morphology of A549 cells, the activity of NF-kappaB and the levels of TNF-alpha were measured by inverted microscope, immunohistochemistry and ELISA.

RESULTSThe morphology and structure of A549 cells were changed, NF-kappaB activity increased (dark brown staining ) and TNF-alpha levels (0.307 +/- 0.036 pg/mL vs 0.234 +/- 0.028 pg/mL)increased in the CSE+ serum-free DMEM group compared with the blank control group (P < 0.01). CSE together with azithromycin treatment recovered partly the morphological injuries of A549 cells. It also attenuated NF-kappaB staining and decreased TNF-alpha levels from 0.307 +/- 0.036 pg/mL (CSE+serum-free DMEM group) to 0.269 +/- 0.009 pg/mL (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSAzithromycin may inhibit NF-kappaB activity, decrease TNF-alpha secretion and thus lessen cytotoxicity of CSE to A549 cells.

Anti-Bacterial Agents ; pharmacology ; Azithromycin ; pharmacology ; Cells, Cultured ; Epithelial Cells ; drug effects ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Lung ; drug effects ; metabolism ; pathology ; NF-kappa B ; analysis ; Smoke ; adverse effects ; Tobacco ; adverse effects ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; analysis

Objective To investigate the iodine nourishment in women of child-beating age in high risk region of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) in Qinghai Province. Methods According to The Notice to Launch a Reinforced Survey on IDD in High Risk Region issued by The Ministry of Public Health, 17 counties in 6 districts were selected as investigated area in Qinghai Province in 2007, using two stage cluster sampling and combining The National IDD Preliminary Surveillance Scheme, 30 women aged from 18 to 40 years were selected in each village, 1 or 2 villages in each town, 3 to 5 towns in each county, who were divided into newly wedding, pregnant, lactation and other women of child-bearing age. Iodine concentration in urine was detected by the method of As3+-Ce4+catalytic spectrophotometry. Results One thousand six hundreds and four urine iodine samples were analyzed. The median was 93.3 μg/L,52.1%(836/1604),31.8%(510/1604) and 12.4%(199/1604) was lower than 100,50 and 20 μg/L, respectively. It was 70.5%(527/747) and 43.0%(128/298) of women in Yushu and Haixi that had urinary iodine lower than 100 μg/L, respectively, while it was 50% of women in the 6 districts, to be specific, 88.3%(91/103) in Nangqian, 83.8% (62/74) in Zaduo and 70.7%(118/167) in Zhiduo Counties respectively. The median of urinary iodine in women who were not lactating and not pregnant was only 88.6 μg/L, of whom 53.9% (763/1415) lower than 100 μg/L. Conclusions The women of reproductive age in high risk region of IDD are deficient of iodine in Qinghai Province.