Biomarkers ; metabolism ; Cholesterol ; metabolism ; Coronary Disease ; Humans

Antigens, CD20 ; metabolism ; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections ; virology ; Female ; Herpesvirus 4, Human ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse ; pathology ; virology ; Middle Aged ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; virology

Objective To investigate the changes and clinical significance of serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH),creatine kinase (CK),glutamate pyruvate transaminase (AST),and cerebrospinal fluid lactate dehydrogenase (CSF LDH) in adult patients with acute central nervous system infection.Methods The levels of myocardial enzymes (AST,LDH,and CK) in serum of 96 adult patients with acute intracranial infection in 7days and 39 healthy people were measured by Beckman automatic biochemical analyzer and enzyme rate assay,and CSF LDH level in 96 patients were measured simultaneously.Results (1) The serum myocardial enzymes (LDH,CK,and AST) of intracranial infection group (47 cases with viral encephalitis,30 cases with tuberculous meningitis,and 19 cases with purulent encephalitis) were significantly higher than those of normal control group (P ＜0.01).(2)The myocardial enzymes (LDH,and AST ) of patients with cerebral functional disorder were significantly higher than those of patients with normal cerebral function (P ＜0.05).(3)The levels of serum AST,LDH,and CK in the virus encephalitis group,serum AST and LDH in the purulent encephalitis group,and serum LDH in the tuberculous meningitis group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P ＜ 0.01).The CSF LDH level in the viral meningitis group was prominently lower than that in the tuberculous encephalitis group and purulent encephalitis group,respectively (P ＜0.01).(4) No correlations were found between CSF LDH and serum myocardial enzymes (P ＞0.05).Conclusions (1)There is significant change in the levels of serum LDH,CK,AST,and CSF LDH of adult patients with acute intracranial infection,especially in infected patients with cerebral functional disorder,and the change of LDH is the most obvious.(2)The levels of serum myocardial enzymes and CSF LDH are helpful to the differential diagnosis of intracranial infection in early stage,and judging the severity of the illness.

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of DZWJY-1 type electronic moxibustion apparatus and traditional moxibustion in treating knee osteoarthritis (KOA). Methods: A total of 76 eligible patients were randomized into an electronic moxibustion apparatus group and a traditional moxibustion group, with 38 cases in each group. The electronic moxibustion apparatus group was intervened by DZWJY-1 type electronic moxibustion apparatus, and the traditional moxibustion group received moxa stick moxibustion for treatment. Neixiyan (EX-LE 4), Dubi (ST 35), Xuehai (SP 10) and Liangqiu (ST 34) were selected for both groups and the treatment was conducted 3 times a week for a total of 12 times. The visual analog scale (VAS) and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities osteoarthritis index (WOMAC) scores were observed before treatment and after 6 and 12 sessions of treatment, respectively. Results: There were 4 dropout cases in the traditional moxibustion group. Therefore, this trial had 72 valid cases, including 38 cases in the electronic moxibustion apparatus group and 34 cases in the traditional moxibustion group, the differences in the baseline data between the two groups were statistically insignificant (P>0.05). After 6 and 12 sessions of treatment, the VAS scores decreased significantly with the increase of treatment sessions in both groups (all P<0.01), and the betweengroup differences were statistically insignificant at the same time points (both P>0.05). The pain intensity was evaluated using the weighted value of VAS score. The markedly effective rate was 47.4％ and the total effective rate was 89.5％ in the electronic moxibustion apparatus group, versus 50.0％ and 94.1％ in the traditional moxibustion group, and the betweengroup differences were statistically insignificant (both P>0.05). After 6 and 12 sessions of treatment, the total score and the component scores including pain, stiffness and difficulty moving in the WOMAC decreased significantly with the increase of treatment sessions in both groups (all P<0.01), and the between-group differences were statistically insignificant (all P>0.05). Conclusion: Electronic moxibustion apparatus and traditional moxibustion both are effective in reducing joint pain and improving joint function in KOA patients, and they are equivalent comparing the clinical efficacy.

Background It is well known that the diminution of visual acuity appears before notable complications in some high myopic eyes.However,whether the impaired vision is associated with the change of retinal thickness at macula area is still under investigation.Objective This study was to investigate the relationship of macular retinal thickness with the change of visual acuity in high myopic eyes.Methods A consecutive caseobservational study was performed.Two hundred and forty-five eyes of 132 patients with the diopter of-6.00～-20.00 D were enrolled in this study during the January 2011 to January 2012 in Beijing Tongren Eye Center.All of the patients received the measurement of retinal thickness with Fourier Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (FDOCT),and the scan mode was MM6.The eyes were divided into the corrected vision ≥0.9 group and the corrected vision ≤0.8 group.In addition,the eyes were assigned to the non-posterior staphyloma group,posterior staphyloma Ⅰ group (macular symmetry) and posterior staphyloma Ⅱ group (macular gradient).The retinal thicknesses in different quadrants at the macular zone were measured and calculated by OCT software.Results The demography was matched in different groups.Corrected visual acuity was significantly increased in the corrected vision ≥ 0.9 group than that in the corrected vision ≤0.8 group (1.02±0.16 vs.0.62±0.08) (t=3.233,P=0.001).Retinal thickness value at fovea was (256.28±13.19) μm in the corrected vision ≥0.9 group,and that in the corrected vision ≤0.8 group was (231.17 ± 10.96) μm,with a significant difference between the two groups (t =2.134,P =0.031).The corrected visual acuity was 1.00±0.27,0.78±0.21 and 0.90±0.13 in the non-posterior staphyloma group,posterior staphyloma Ⅰ group and posterior staphyloma Ⅱ group,respectively,showing significant difference among the three groups (F=15.760,P=0.015),and the corrected visual acuity of the non-posterior staphyloma group and posterior staphyloma Ⅱ group were significantly higher than that of posterior staphyloma Ⅰ group (q =16.131,P =0.006 ; q =-10.831,P=0.008).A significant difference also was seen in the mean retinal thickness among the three groups (F=2.316,P =0.025).The mean retinal thickness in the posterior staphyloma Ⅰ group was (234.21 ± 15.69) μm,which was significantly smaller than (252.25± 15.31) μm of the posterior staphyloma Ⅱ group (q =12.977,P =0.023).There were no significant difference in the retinal thickness at para-fovea area among the three groups (F=0.318,P =0.078).However,significant difference was found at peri-fovea area in different groups (F=1.925,P =0.013).The mean retinal thicknesses at peri-fovea area was (273.26 ± 16.37) μm in the posterior staphyloma Ⅱ group and was significantly smaller than (289.11 ± 19.30) μm of the posterior staphyloma Ⅰ group and (290.33 ± 17.12) μm of the non-posterior staphyloma group (q =-8.305,P =0.023 ; q =-7.011,P =0.012).Conclusions The retinal thickness at fovea is associated with the corrected visual acuity in high myopic eyes.The thinning of retinal thickness at the vertex of posterior staphyloma is one of causes of visual function impairment.

It has been shown that mitochondria not only control their own Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)]), but also exert an influence over Ca(2+) signaling of the entire cell, including the endoplasmic reticulum or the sarcoplasmic reticulum, the plasma membrane, and the nucleus. That is to say, mitochondria couple cellular metabolic state with Ca(2+) transport processes. This review focuses on the ways in which the mitochondrial Ca(2+) handling system provides integrity and modulation for the cell to cope with the complex actions throughout its life cycle, enumerates some indeterminate aspects about it, and finally, prospects directions of future research.
Biological Transport ; Calcium Signaling ; Cell Membrane ; physiology ; Endoplasmic Reticulum ; physiology ; Mitochondria ; physiology ; Sarcoplasmic Reticulum ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo study the characteristics of the strains of Salmonella enterica (S. enterica) serovar Senftenberg lacking Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 (SPI-1).

METHODSA total of 10 strains of S. enterica serovar Senftenberg were isolated from 10 cases of diarrhea patients. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), PCR, sequencing techniques and cell invasion test were adapted to study the molecular types and invasiveness of the genes and cells; and made a comparison between the 10 strains and the strains (C02013) isolated in Shenzhen in 2002.

RESULTSThe 10 Senftenberg isolated (S09007-S09012, S09014-S09017) in Shanghai showed three PFGE patterns, which were significantly different from the strains isolated in Shenzhen. PCR-amplified results indicated the invasion gene (invA), secreted effector protein gene (sipA) and gene fragments as fhlA-hilA, hilA-spaP and spaP-invH in the 10 strains of SPI-1 were all negative. The sequencing results revealed that the 10 strains isolated in Shanghai lacked most parts of SPI-1 genes, as fragments from orgA to invH and parts of orgA gene itself; however, compared with strains isolated in Shenzhen, the sprB-orgC gene existed. The missing parts of genes were replaced by a simple insertion sequence (IS) of 1000 bp in the strains isolated both in Shenzhen in 2002 and in Shanghai in 2006. The invasiveness rates of the 10 strains (S09007-S09012, S09014-S09017) towards Hela cells were (0.0053 ± 0.0024)%, (0.0046 ± 0.0006)%, (0.0047 ± 0.0003)%, (0.0064 ± 0.0012)%, (0.0065 ± 0.0011)%, (0.0070 ± 0.0020)%, (0.0115 ± 0.0030)%, (0.0099 ± 0.0039)%, (0.0180 ± 0.0135)% and (0.0031 ± 0.0012)%, respectively; which were all significantly lower than the rate of invA-positive control strain STM1344 ((5.0800 ± 0.6333)%); lower or close to the rate of invA-lacked artificial-mutated strain STMinvA-((0.0193 ± 0.0045)%).

CONCLUSIONSPI-1 genes are not essential for the diarrhea caused by S. enterica serovar Senftenberg.

Adult ; Aged ; Bacterial Typing Techniques ; Diarrhea ; microbiology ; Feces ; microbiology ; Female ; Genes, Bacterial ; Genomic Islands ; HeLa Cells ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Salmonella enterica ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; pathogenicity

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of ZGDHu-1 on proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis in SHI-1 human leukemia cell line and explore its possible mechanism. Methods SHI-1 cells were cultured with different concentration of ZGDHu-1 and for different time. The cell proliferation was analysed by cell counting, alive cell count, MTT assay and Brdu-ELISA. Cell apoptosis was analysed by morphology, DNA content, Annexin-V/PI and Hoechst 33258 labeling method. Cell differentiation were assayed by morphology,expression of CD11b,CD14 and CD64 and NBT reduction. The expressions of phosphorylated p38MAPK or STAT3 were analysed by flow cytometry.

RESULTSZGDHu-1 inhibited SHI-1 cell proliferation in a time and dose dependent manner, the IC50- 48 h and IC50- 72 h were 250 ng/ml and 85 ng/ml, respectively. The majority of SHI-1 cells were arrested in G2/M phase. 48h after treated with 200 ng/ml ZGDHu-1, and those in G2/M phase accounted for (48.4 +/- 2.1)%. The SHI-1 cells apoptosis was increased with a time- and does-dependent manner. The morphology of SHI-1 cells cultured with 2-50 ng/ml ZGDHu-1 for three days become more mature with higher NBT positivity and up-regulated expressions of CD11b,CD14 and CD64. The expression of phosphor-p38MAPK was increased and phosphor-STAT3 down-regulated by the treatment of ZGDHu-1.

CONCLUSIONZGDHu-1 can inhibit SHI-1 cell proliferation and induce the cell differentiation and apoptosis. The mechanism may associate with its up-regulation of phosphor-p38MAPK and down-regulation phosphor-STAT3.

Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Differentiation ; drug effects ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Formamides ; pharmacology ; Heterocyclic Compounds, 1-Ring ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Leukemia ; pathology ; Phosphorylation ; STAT3 Transcription Factor ; biosynthesis ; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; biosynthesis

OBJECTIVETo investigate morphological changes of capillary in aging brain and explore the role of vascular factor in brain aging.

METHODSTwenty-eight brains of individuals (mean age 65 years) who died without clinical or pathological involvement of nervous system and 6 brains of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients (mean age 83 years) were obtained at autopsy. Sections from frontal lobe, occipital lobe, striatum and hippocampus of normal subjects and sections from hippocampus of AD patients were used for hematoxylin eosin (HE), lox fast blue (LFB), toluidine blue stains and ulex europaeus agglutinin (UEA) immunostaining. After observations of morphological changes of neuron and capillary, computer-aid image analysis was performed to quantify numerical density and area density of neuron and capillary in frontal lobe, occipital lobe, putamen, CA3 sector of normal subjects and CA3 sector of AD patients. Numerical ratio and area ratio of neuron and capillary were then calculated. Correlations between neuron/capillary ratio and age were estimated using Pearson's correlation test. Difference of neuron/capillary ratio in CA3 sectors between AD patients and advanced aged normal subjects (> 75 years) was analyzed with Student's t-test.

RESULTSSeveral pathological microvascular changes, including increased tortuosity, looping, bundling, stringing, and effacement of endothelia were seen in aged subjects and more prevalent in AD patients. Numerical ratio and area ratio of neuron and capillary of frontal lobe, occipital lobe and putamen significantly increased with age in normal aging subjects.

CONCLUSIONSMorphological changes and relative decrease in number and capacity of capillary in aging brain may reduce cerebral blood flow and metabolism, and consequently result in functional impairment of aging brain. Vascular factors may play an important role in the development of brain aging.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Aging ; Alzheimer Disease ; etiology ; pathology ; Capillaries ; anatomy & histology ; pathology ; Cell Count ; Cerebral Cortex ; blood supply ; pathology ; Female ; Frontal Lobe ; blood supply ; pathology ; Hippocampus ; blood supply ; pathology ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neurons ; pathology ; Occipital Lobe ; blood supply ; pathology

Adenosine Triphosphate ; Atropine ; Child, Preschool ; Echocardiography, Stress ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome ; complications ; diagnostic imaging ; Myocardial Ischemia ; diagnostic imaging ; etiology