Objective To set a rapid,simple gene diagnosis method for Down syndrome.Methods Three short tandem repeats(D21S11,D21S1270,D21S1437)loci in or near Down syndrome critical region(DSCR) were analyzed and detected by polymerase chain reaction and DNA quantitative analysis in 11 core ancestry.Results There were four types by DNA quantitative analysis to different individuals at a short tandem repeats(STR) locus.In type one,a homozygote of one allelic gene was detected.In type two,a normal heterozygote of two allelic genes was found,the content or two DNA electrophoresis bands was approximately 1∶1.In type three,a Down syndrome patient of two allelic genes was discovered.The quantity of two electrophoresis bands was nearly 2∶1.In type four,the patient showed three DNA electrophoresis bands which the content was approximately 1∶1∶1.Conclusion A rapid gene diagnosis and prenatal diagnosis method for Down syndrome can be used for quantitative analysis of STR polymorphism loci.

OBJECTIVETo study 3 different strategies of urine drainage following hypospadias urethroplasty, the clinical nursing in their application, and their effects.

METHODSWe retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 595 cases of hypospadias treated by urethroplasty. After surgery, 133 of the patients underwent urine drainage by suprapubic cystostomy (group A), 202 by urethral stent- tube indwelling (group B), and 260 by early initiative micturition with the urethral stent-tube (group C). All the patients received routine postoperative nursing care required for hypospadias repair.

RESULTSOperations were successfully completed in all the cases. Group C showed a remarkably shorter hospital stay and lower incidence rates of urinary fistula and urethral stricture than groups A and B (P<0.05), but there were no significant differences in the three indexes between A and B (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONFor urine drainage following hypospadias repair, early initiative micturition with the urethral stent-tube can significantly reduce postoperative complications, decrease difficulties and workload of nursing care, and shorten the hospital stay of the patient.

Cystostomy ; Drainage ; methods ; Humans ; Hypospadias ; surgery ; Length of Stay ; Male ; Postoperative Complications ; prevention & control ; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures ; Retrospective Studies ; Stents ; Urethra ; surgery ; Urethral Stricture ; prevention & control ; Urinary Fistula ; prevention & control ; Urine ; Urologic Surgical Procedures, Male

There has been an increasing interest in recent years on mesenchymal stem cell (MSC). It is well known that MSCs are capable of self-renewal and differentiating into many cell lineages. MSC can be expended to a large quantity that is required for clinical transplantation. Recent studies show that MSC have potential application in immune diseases due to their unique immunologic characteristics, such as low immunogenicity and immunoregulatory function. But their immunoregulatory mechanism is not yet clear. This review discusses the advances in researches on the mechanism of MSCs' immunoregulatory function and potential clinical application in immune disease and organ transplantation.
Animals ; B-Lymphocytes ; immunology ; Graft vs Host Disease ; immunology ; Humans ; Immune Tolerance ; immunology ; Immunotherapy ; Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation ; methods ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; cytology ; immunology ; T-Lymphocytes ; immunology

0.05).However,the shorter the history of the disease,the better the efficacy of the treatment.The younger the patient was,the better the efficacy of the treatment.Conclusions Vulva dystrophy can be treated with focused ultrasound effectively and safely.This approach appears to be a new promising treatment method.

0.05). The factor score of "preoccupation"in patients with Ins/Del genotype was higher than that with Ins/Ins and Del/Del genotypes(P=0.052),as well as in male patients of experimental group(P=0.052). CONCLUSION: The results suggest that D?H gene-4784-4803del polymorphism may not be associated with qualitative and quantitative characters of schizophrenia. Male schizophrenia patients with Ins/Del encoding D?H gene-4784-4803del are significantly characterized with the character of "preoccupation".

BACKGROUNDDiagnosis and appropriate treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) remain major challenges. We sought to elucidate that persons who share a household with drug resistance tuberculosis patients are at high risk for primary drug resistance tuberculosis and how to prevent these outbreaks.

METHODSWe used 12-locus mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit and 7-locus variable-number tandem repeat to identify household transmission of extensively drug resistant and multiple drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in three families admitted in Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital affiliated with Tongji University. Drug susceptibility tests were done by the modified proportion method in the MGIT 960 system in the same time. Clinical data were also obtained from the subjects' medical records.

RESULTSAll of the six strains were defined as Beijing genotype by the deletion-targeted multiplex PCR (DTM-PCR) identification on the genomic deletion RD105. Strains from family-1 had the same minisatellite interspersed repetitive unit (MIRU) pattern (232225172531) and the same MIRU pattern (3677235). Strains from family-2 had the same MIRU pattern (2212261553323) and the same MIRU pattern (3685134). Strains from family-3 did not have the same MIRU pattern and they differed at only one locus (223326173533, 223325173533), and did not have the same VNTR pattern with two locus differed (3667233, 3677234).

CONCLUSIONSHousehold transmission exists in the three families. A clear chain of tuberculosis transmission within family exists. Tuberculosis susceptibility should be considered when there is more than one tuberculosis patients in a family. Household tuberculosis transmission could be prevented with adequate treatment of source patients.

Adult ; Female ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; classification ; genetics ; pathogenicity ; Radiography ; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant ; diagnostic imaging ; transmission ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo determine the efficacy of the plant-derived bioflavonoid, quercetin, for treating nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) by using a rat model, and to investigate the molecular mechanism underlying its therapeutic effects.

METHODSOne-hundred Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned into the normal control group (normal group), untreated NAFLD model control group (model group), 75 mg/kg/day quercetin treatment group (low-dose group), and 300 mg/kg/day quercetin treatment group (high-dose group). The NAFLD rat model was established by providing four weeks of a high-fat diet; the normal group received normal rat chow diet. The quercetin treatments were administered for eight weeks after model establishment and control groups received simultaneous gavages of isotonic saline, with continuation of the respective diets. At the end of the eight weeks (experimental week 12), the rats were sacrificed for liver and serum collection. Intergroup differences in liver index, fasting blood glucose (FBG), triglycerides (TG), interleukin (IL)-18, IL-10, malondialdehyde (MDA), and histopathological features were assessed by independent samples t-test (normal vs. model), one-way ANOVA (model vs. treatments), and least significant difference t-test (pairwise comparisons); correlations were assessed by Pearson's correlation coefficient.

RESULTSCompared with the normal group, the model group showed significantly higher liver index (t=-2.327), FBG (t=-3.482), TG (t=-0.302), and serum IL-18 (t=-2.704) (all P less than 0.05), but significantly lower IL-10 (t=2.622, P less than 0.05); the MDA level was also higher in the model group, but the difference was not significant (t=-1.083, P less than 0.05). Livers from the model group showed obvious histological features of inflammation (lymphocyte and neutrophil infiltration) and steatosis (cytoplasmic lipid droplets). Inflammation was positively correlated with IL-18 (P less than 0.05), but negatively correlated with IL-10 (P less than 0.05), while steatosis was negatively correlated with IL-10 (P less than 0.05). Compared to the model group, quercetin treatment (both low- and high-dose) led to significant decreases in the liver index, FBG and IL-18 (all, P less than 0.01), and significant increase in IL-10 (P less than 0.05); however, the changes in liver index, FBG and IL-10 were not significantly different between the low- and high-dose treatment groups, but the high-dose of quercetin did induce a significantly greater decrease in IL-18 than the low-dose (P less than 0.05).

CONCLUSIONNAFLD rats have higher serum levels of IL-18 but lower levels of IL-10 than their healthy counterparts, and these differential cytokine expressions may be related to liver inflammation and steatosis. Quercetin treatment may help to delay the progression of NAFLD, possibly by adjusting the balance of inflammatory cytokines.

Animals ; Fatty Liver ; blood ; drug therapy ; Interleukin-10 ; blood ; Interleukin-18 ; blood ; Male ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ; Quercetin ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of quercetin on serum levels of resistin and interleukin (IL)-18 and incidence of insulin resistance (IR) in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) using a rat model.

METHODSNAFLD was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats by administering a high-fat diet for four weeks. The model rats were then treated with quercetin (oral gavage administration; low dose group: 75 mg/kg/day, high dose group: 300 mg/kg/day) for eight weeks. Untreated model rats served as controls. Serum levels of resistin, triglyceride (TG), IL-18, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), fasting insulin (FINS), and malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured by standard biochemical assays before and after the quercetin administration. In addition, the insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) was calculated and pathological changes in liver were observed by histological analysis.

RESULTSCompared to the untreated model rats, the quercetin treated model rats showed significantly lower serum resistin (5.98 vs. 2.70), serum IL-18 (10.93 vs. 8.21), FPG (7.45 vs. 4.99), FINS (12.69 vs. 8.59), and HOMA-IR (4.22 vs. 1.87) (all P less than 0.01). Compared to the untreated model group, the high dose group showed significantly lower TG (t = 4.70) and MDA (t = 5.14) (both P less than 0.01). Serum levels of resistin and IL-18, and levels of TG, FPG and FINS were found to be positively correlated with HOMA-IR and the degree of liver disease (r more than 0, all P less than 0.05). The degree of degeneration was decreased in accordance with the dosages of quercetin, as compared to the untreated model group (U = 4.41 and 2.19, both P less than 0.05), and the pathological degree was less extensive in the high dose group than in the low dose group (U = 2.44, P less than 0.01).

CONCLUSIONQuercetin treatment reduces levels of inflammatory cytokines and improves lipid peroxidation and IR in NAFLD rats, and its beneficial effects appear to increase with higher dosage.

Animals ; Insulin Resistance ; Interleukin-18 ; blood ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ; Quercetin ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Resistin

OBJECTIVETo detect the mutations of rpoB gene in Mycobacterium tuberculosis by pyrosequencing and to evaluate the values on detection of rifampin resistance in clinical isolates.

METHODSUsing the new technology of pyrosequencing, the mutations in the rifampin resistance determining region (RRDR) of rpoB gene were analyzed. The results were compared with those obtained from methods of the absolute concentration and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC).

RESULTSAmong the 150 Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates, 84 were susceptible and 66 resistant to RIF. 54 of the 66 resistant isolates were multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains. Ser531Leu and His526Asp or Tyr, including twelve different genotypes and six codons, were the most common mutations. In the drug susceptibility testing, the accordance rates of the pyrosequencing and the absolute concentration method as well as MIC were 92.7% and 97.8% respectively.

CONCLUSIONNot only is the pyrosequencing technology a fast, sensitive and high throughput method in detecting rifampin resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, but also a useful tool in the research of rifampin resistance mechanism.

Bacterial Proteins ; genetics ; DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial ; genetics ; Humans ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Mutation ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; drug effects ; genetics ; Phosphoric Acids ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Rifampin ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the expression of peripheral blood gammadelta T cells/CD4 CD25+ regulatory T cells(Treg) and cytokines interleukin 17 (IL-17) and transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1) in patients with allergic rhinitis.

METHODSFrom March 2012 to July 2012, 32 patients with allergic rhinitis (AR group) and 20 healthy control subjects (control group) were collected. The expression of peripheral blood gammadelta T cells/Treg cells were measured by flow cytometry and the levels of IL-17 and TGF-beta1 were evaluated by ELISA. SPSS 16.0 software was used to analyze the data.

RESULTSThe percentages of gammadeltaT cells in AR group were (13.30 +/- 8.62)%, which was significantly higher (t = 5.18, P < 0.01) than those in control group (5.18 +/- 1.86)%. The percentages of Treg cells in AR group were (1.75 +/- 0.56)%, which were significantly lower (t = 7.46, P < 0. 01) than those in control group (4.76 +/- 1.74)%. The IL-17 levels in AR group were (668.55 +/- 45.15) pg/ml, which were also significantly higher (t = 8.97, P < 0.01) than those in control group (573.53 +/- 17.42) pg/ml. The TGF-beta1 levels in AR group were (0.34 +/- 0.04) pg/ml, which were also significantly lower (t = 9.51, P < 0.01) than those in control group (0.49 +/- 0.06) pg/ml. There was a negative correlation between the percentages of gammadelta T cells and Treg cells (r = -0.561, P < 0.01). There was a negative correlation between the percentages of gammadelta T cells and TGF-beta1 levels (r = -0.622, P < 0.01). A positive correlation was shown between the percentages of gammadelta T cells and IL-17 levels in AR (r = 0.469, P < 0.01). A positive correlation was shown between the percentages of Treg cells and TGF-beta1 levels in AR (r = 0.738, P < 0.01). There was no correlation between IL-17 levels and the percentages of Treg cells or TGF-beta1 levels (r value was -0.111, -0.196, all P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThere are imbalances of gammadelta T and Treg cells in peripheral blood of patients with allergic rhinitis. gammadelta T cells may be the main cell to produce IL-17, which may play an important role in allergic rhinitis.

Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Interleukin-17 ; metabolism ; Rhinitis, Allergic ; immunology ; metabolism ; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; metabolism