Child ; Humans ; Multiple Organ Failure

OBJECTIVEGlutamine (Gln) is now considered as conditionally essential amino acid with many biological activities. This study aimed to investigate whether it has protective effects on the intestinal mucosal barrier in young rabbits under hemorrhagic shock.

METHODSEighteen young rabbits aged 26 +/- 3 days were randomly assigned into 3 groups: Control (no treatment), Low-dose Gln (L-Gln, 0.5 g/kg daily) and High-dose Gln (H-Gln, 1.0 g/kg daily) treatment groups. Gln was administered by gastric tube daily for 7 days and then hemorrhagic shock was induced by blood withdrawing from femoral artery. Plasma levels of diamine oxidase (DAO) and serum levels of interleukin-8 (IL-8) were measured before shock, and at 2, 6 and 24 hrs after resuscitation. Ileum tissues located approximately 5 cm away from the ileocecal valve was removed for histological examination, lymphocyte distribution, polymorphonuclear (PMN) count and assessing the height, width and surface area of the villi.

RESULTSPlasma levels of DAO and serum levels of IL-8 at 6 and 24 hrs after resuscitation in the L-Gln and the H-Gln groups decreased significantly compared with those of the Control group. L-Gln and H-Gln also resulted in a decrease in the PMN counts and the lymphocyte percentage in the ileum compared with the Control group. Exfoliation and atrophy of villous epithelial cells occurred and the height and surface area of villous were reduced in the Control group. The ileum morphology of the two Gln treatment groups was found to be nearly normal. There were no differences between the L-Gln and the H-Gln groups.

CONCLUSIONSGln within a therapeutic dose has protective effects on intestinal mucosal barrier in young rabbits under hemorrhagic shock.

Amine Oxidase (Copper-Containing) ; blood ; Animals ; Bacterial Translocation ; drug effects ; Female ; Glutamine ; therapeutic use ; Interleukin-8 ; blood ; Intestinal Mucosa ; drug effects ; immunology ; pathology ; Male ; Rabbits ; Shock, Hemorrhagic ; complications ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome ; prevention & control

Objective To investigate the status of job pressure source and job burnout of pension caregivers,and analyze their relationship.Methods A total of 160 pension caregivers from 6 pension institutions in Hangzhou were investigated by care job stress source scale of pension caregivers and simple screening scale for burnout syndrome. Relationship between job stress source and job burnout was analyzed. Results Three job stressors of pension caregivers ranking ahead were:too much work,errors happened when worrying about the work and low social position. The average burnout syndrome score was (7.83±3.61), there were 56 people (35%) that their score was more than 10 points. There were statistically differences among pension caregivers in job burnout (P<0.01). Job burnout and job stress source were positively correlated (r=0.424).Conclusions The job burnout degree of pension caregivers is higher, and job stressors can be used to predict the job burnout.

To investigate the difference between the functions of oxygen uptake in skeletal muscle and living habits of plateau zokor (Myospalax rufescens baileyi) and plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniac), the microvessel densities (MVD) of skeletal muscle of plateau zokor, plateau pika and Sprague-Dawley (SD) rat were measured by immunohistochemical staining; the numerical density on area (N(A)) of mitochondria, and surface density (S(V), external surface area density of mitochondria per unit volume of skeletal muscle fiber) were obtained by stereo microscope technique; mRNA levels of myoglobin (Mb) in skeletal muscle were determined by real-time PCR, and the contents of Mb protein in skeletal muscle were determined by spectro-photometer. The results showed that MVD, N(A) and S(V) of mitochondria in skeletal muscle of plateau pika were significantly lower than those of plateau zokor and SD rat (P<0.05). The mRNA levels of Mb gene in skeletal muscle of plateau zokor and plateau pika were notably higher than that of SD rat (P<0.05). There were significant differences in the contents of Mb among these three species, and plateau zokor and SD rat presented the highest and the lowest value, respectively (P<0.05). The results suggest that even though plateau zokor inhabits in the hypoxia environment, most of its skeletal muscle fiber are red muscle fiber. While most of skeletal muscle fibers of plateau pika are white muscle fibers. This kind of white muscle has low MVD, N(A) and S(V) of mitochondria and less content of Mb compared with the red one, suggesting it obtains most energy from aerobic oxidation. The above-mentioned differences in skeletal muscles may be related to not only the different species, but also the different living habits of these two high altitude species.
Animals ; Hypoxia ; Lagomorpha ; physiology ; Microvessels ; physiology ; Mitochondria, Muscle ; physiology ; Muscle Fibers, Skeletal ; physiology ; Muscle, Skeletal ; blood supply ; physiology ; Myoglobin ; metabolism ; Oxygen ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Rodentia ; physiology

The study established a UPLC-MS/MS method that is used for simultaneous determination nine major bioactive compounds of Dachengqi Tang in rat plasma. Using Aglient C18 column (2.1 mm x 50 mm,1.7 microm) was chromatographed, using methanol-5 mmol x L(-1) ammonium formate mobile phase gradient, elution 0.3 mL x min(-1). In the plasma pre-treatment process, not only the method of methanol and acetonitrile protein precipitation was investigated, and different factors extraction solvent, the type of the scroll time, the number and the type of extraction solvent, the extraction volume of the extraction solution of liquid-liquid extraction is investigated. Finally, with ibuprofen as an internal standard, using ethyl acetate liquid-liquid extraction method pretreatment blood, N2 dry reconstituted supernatant after centrifugation UPLC-MS/MS analysis, in electrospray ionization (ESI) negative mode, using multiple reaction monitoring mode for testing. The linear range of emodin, rhein, aloe-emodin, chrysophanol, magnolol, honokiol, hesperidin and hesperitin is 0.33-660, 0.40-792, 0.41-827, 0.34-680, 0.45-907, 0.46-927, 0.43-867, 0.34-683, 0.39-787 microg x L(-1) respectively, good linear relationship; and extraction recovery were greater than 69.39%, days after the day of the RSD is less than 15%. This method can be used to study the rat gastric large bearing gas after Dachengqi Tang, the simultaneous determination of nine components in plasma for its pharmacokinetics and efficacy material base to provide a theoretical basis.
Animals ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; Female ; Male ; Plasma ; chemistry ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry ; methods

To explore the adaptive mechanisms of plateau zokor (Myospalax baileyi) to the enduring digging activity in the hypoxic environment and of plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) to the sprint running activity, the functional differences of malate-aspartate shuttle system (MA) in liver of plateau zokor and plateau pika were studied. The ratio of liver weight to body weight, the parameters of mitochondria in hepatocyte and the contents of lactic acid in serum were measured; the open reading frame of cytoplasmic malate dehydrogenase (MDH1), mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase (MDH2), and the partial sequence of aspartate glutamate carrier (AGC) and oxoglutarate malate carrier (OMC) genes were cloned and sequenced; MDH1, MDH2, AGC and OMC mRNA levels were determined by real-time PCR; the specific activities of MDH1 and MDH2 in liver of plateau zokor and plateau pika were measured using enzymatic methods. The results showed that, (1) the ratio of liver weight to body weight, the number and the specific surface of mitochondria in hepatocyte of plateau zokor were markedly higher than those of plateau pika (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05), but the content of lactic acid in serum of plateau pika was significantly higher than that of plateau zokor (P < 0.01); (2) MDH1 and MDH2 mRNA levels as well as their enzymatic activities in liver of plateau zokor were significantly higher than those of plateau pika (P < 0.01 or 0.05), AGC mRNA level of the zokor was significantly higher than that of the pika (P < 0.01), while no difference was found at OMC mRNA level between them (P > 0.05); (3) mRNA level and enzymatic activity of MDH1 was significantly lower than those of MDH2 in the pika liver (P < 0.01), MDH1 mRNA level of plateau zokor was markedly higher than that of MDH2 (P < 0.01), but the activities had no difference between MDH1 and MDH2 in liver of the zokor (P > 0.05). These results indicate that the plateau zokor obtains ATP in the enduring digging activity by enhancing the function of MA, while plateau pika gets glycogen for their sprint running activity by increasing the process of gluconeogenesis. As a result, plateau pika converts the lactic acid quickly produced in their skeletal muscle by anaerobic glycolysis and reduces dependence on the oxygen.
Adaptation, Physiological ; physiology ; Adenosine Triphosphate ; metabolism ; Altitude ; Animals ; Aspartic Acid ; metabolism ; Cloning, Molecular ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; analysis ; metabolism ; Lactic Acid ; blood ; Lagomorpha ; classification ; physiology ; Liver ; anatomy & histology ; physiology ; Malate Dehydrogenase ; genetics ; metabolism ; Malates ; metabolism ; Membrane Transport Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism

Plateau zokor (Myospalax baileyi) and plateau pika (Ochotona curzniae) are native to the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. To study their adaptive mechanisms, the ratios of heart weight to body weight (HW/BW) and right to left ventricular plus septum weights [RV/(LV+S)] were determined; the microvessel density (MVD) of cardiac muscle were measured by immunohistochemical staining; the numerical density on area (N(A)), volume density (V(V)), specific surface (δ), and surface density (S(V)) of mitochondria were obtained by microscopy and stereology; the contents of myoglobin (Mb) and lactic acid (LD), and the activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in cardiac muscle were analyzed by spectrophotometer. The results showed that the HW/BW of plateau zokor [(4.55±0.26)%] and plateau pika [(4.41±0.38)%] was significantly greater than that of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rat [(3.44±0.41)%] (P<0.05), but the RV/(LV+S) [(22.04±1.98)%, (25.53±3.41)%] was smaller than that of SD rats [(44.23±3.87)%] (P<0.05). The MVD and N(A) of cardiac muscle were 1688.631±250.253 and 0.768±0.123 in SD rat, 2002.888±367.466 and 0.868±0.159 in plateau pika and 2 990.643±389.888 and 1.012±0.133 in plateau zokor. The V(V) of mitochondria in plateau zokor (0.272±0.045) was significantly lower than that in plateau pika (0.343±0.039) and SD rat (0.321±0.048) (P<0.05), while the δ of mitochondria in plateau zokor (9.409±1.238) was higher than that in plateau pika (6.772±0.892) and SD rat (7.287±1.373) (P<0.05). The S(V) of mitochondria in plateau pika (2.322±0.347) was not obviously different from that in plateau zokor (2.468±0.380) and SD rat (2.227±0.377), but that in plateau zokor was significantly higher than that in SD rat (P<0.05). The contents of Mb in cardiac muscle of plateau zokor [(763.33±88.73) nmol/g] and plateau pika [(765.96±28.47) nmol/g] were significantly higher than that of SD rat [(492.38±72.14) nmol/g] (P<0.05), the content of LD in plateau zokor [(0.57±0.06) mmol/L] was obviously higher than that in plateau pika [(0.45±0.06) mmol/L] and SD rat [(0.48±0.02) mmol/L] (P<0.05), and the activity of LDH in plateau zokor [(16.90±2.00) U/mL] and plateau pika [(20.55±2.46) U/mL] were significantly lower than that in SD rat [(38.26±6.78) U/mL] (P<0.05). The percentage of LDH-H in cardiac muscle decreased in order in plateau zokor, plateau pika and SD rat. In conclusion, plateau zokor and plateau pika adapt better to hypoxia than SD rat by increasing the SV of mitochondria, MVD and content of Mb in the cardiac muscle. However, the parameters of mitochondria in the two high-altitude animals are different possibly because of the differences of habitats and habits.
Adaptation, Physiological ; Animals ; Heart ; physiology ; Hypoxia ; metabolism ; Isoenzymes ; metabolism ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; metabolism ; Lagomorpha ; physiology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Tibet

BACKGROUND: There has been an increasing trend of nut allergies in Singapore. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to review the clinical characteristics of children with cashew nut allergy. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted in a tertiary paediatric referral centre in Singapore from 2008 to 2015. A total of 99 subjects with positive specific IgE (≥0.35 IU/L) to cashew nut were identified. Clinical features including demographics, clinical reaction to cashew nut, associations with other nuts and test specific measurements were recorded. RESULTS: The results showed that cutaneous symptoms (71.2%) were the most common allergic manifestations. Anaphylaxis occurred in 3.8% of children. In addition, all cashew nut allergic subjects were cross-reactive (either sensitized or allergic) to pistachio. Cross-reactivity rate with peanuts was 53.8%. There was a strong prevalence of atopy among cashew nut allergic subjects. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, cashew nut allergy is a significant tree nut allergy in Singapore.
Anacardium ; Anaphylaxis ; Arachis ; Child ; Demography ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; Nut Hypersensitivity ; Nuts ; Pistacia ; Prevalence ; Referral and Consultation ; Retrospective Studies ; Singapore

To compare the sampling errors from cluster or unequal probability sampling designs and to adopt the unequal probability sampling method to be used for death surveillance.Taking 107 areas from the county level in Shaanxi province as the sampling frame,a set of samples are drawn by equal probability cluster sampling and unequal probability designs methodologies.Sampling error and effect of each design are estimated according to their complex sample plans.Both the sampling errors depend on the sampling plan and the errors of equal probability in stratified cluster sampling appeares to be less than simple cluster sampling.The design effects of unequal probability stratified cluster sampling,such as πPS design,are slightly lower than those of equal probability stratified cluster sampling,but the unequal probability stratified cluster sampling can cover a wider scope of monitoring population.Conclusions:Results from the analysis of sampling data can not be conducted without consideration of the sampling plan when the sampling frame is finite and a given sampling plan and parameters,such as sampling proportion and population weights,are assigned in advance.Unequal probability cluster sampling designs seems to be more appropriate in selecting the national death surveillance sites since more available monitoring data can be obtained and having more weight in estimating the mortality for the whole province or the municipality to be selected.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the change of c-fos protein(Fos) and nerve growth factor receptor (NGFR) staining in the brain of rat after experimental brain contusion. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry of c-fos and NGFR were applied to investigate the brain contusion. RESULTS: (1) The expression of Fos protein could be observed at 0.5 h after injury and then increased with the prolonging of time. By 3 h after injury, the positive staining cells could be detected massively not only in and round the wound site but also in other areas of the whole ipsilateral cortex. The stains decreased 6-12 h later and could hardly be detected 1 d after the brain contusion. The control-experiment is negative. (2) NGFR positive staining cells could be found round the wound area 1 d postlesion. At 3 d following injury, a peak of massive positively stained cells appeared both in number and in intensity, showing significant differences compare with that of 1 d after damage (P < 0.01). 5 d later the positive express declined slowly. The express in the control-rat is negative. CONCLUSION There is a rule that the expression of Fos and NGFR positive staining changes with time going after brain contusion, which will be of great value in estimation of brain injury time. Detection of Fos can be used for time deduction in earlier period after injury, while NGFR in later period. They are also very important for distinguishing between antemortem or postmortem injury.
Animals ; Brain Concussion/complications* ; Brain Injuries/pathology* ; Female ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Neuroglia/metabolism* ; Neurons/metabolism* ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos/metabolism* ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Receptor, Nerve Growth Factor/metabolism* ; Time Factors