OBJECTIVE: To evaluate influences of regular-dose of adriamycin (ADR) on heart function and sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ -ATPase in cardiomyocyte of rabbits. METHODS: Nine rabbits received intraveneous injection of ADR (2mg/kg) once a week for 8 weeks, the rabbits injected with saline were used as control group. Cardiac output (CO), blood pressure (BP), mean artery pressure (MAP), left ventricular systolic pressure( LVSP), left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP), calcium in cardiomyocyte (MyoCa2+) of rabbits and SR Ca2+ -ATPase activity were examinated 3 weeks after the final injection. RESULTS: CO, LVSP and SR Ca2+ -ATPase activity were significantly decreased in ADR treated group compared with the control group. Conversely, LVEDP and MyoCa2+ were significantly increased in ADR treated rabbits. CONCLUSION: Heart function can be decreased by regular-dose of ADR in injection. Calcium overload in cardiomyocyte and decrease of SR Ca2+ -ATPase activity is important physiopathologic mechanism in ADR-induced impairment of heart.

OBJEVTIVETo construct a eukaryotic expression vector of short-hairpin RNA (shRNA) targeting human Akt gene and assess the effect of Akt gene silencing on the growth of colon cancer Lovo cells.

METHODSTwo shRNAs targeting human Akt gene were cloned into pENTRTM/U6 plasmid to obtain the entry clones, and the positive clones were verified by sequencing. After recombination of the pENTRTM/U6 entry constructs and Plenti6/Block-iT DEST vector, the positive clones were confirmed by sequencing. Lovo cells were transfected by the entry vector and DEST Vector, and RT-PCR and Western blotting were performed to detect the interference of Akt gene expressions.

RESULTSThe pENTRTM/U6 entry clones carrying Akt shRNA and pLenti6/DEST-pENTRTM/U6-Akt shRNA were successfully constructed. Both of the vectors were transfected into Lovo cells and resulted in obvious knockdown of the mRNA and protein expressions of Akt.

CONCLUSIONThe Akt siRNA expression vector constructed can significantly inhibit Akt gene expression in Lovo cells, which facilitates further studies of Akt function and tumor gene therapy.

Cell Line, Tumor ; Colonic Neoplasms ; pathology ; Genetic Vectors ; genetics ; Humans ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; RNA Interference ; RNA, Small Interfering ; genetics ; Transfection

OBJECTIVEThe study was designed to investigate the changes in CD(69), CD(25) and HLA-DR expressions in peripheral blood T cell in Kawasaki disease (KD).

METHODSThe authors detected CD(69), CD(25) and HLA-DR expressions in peripheral blood T cell by using flow cytometry. The patients who met the diagnostic criteria for KD comprised sixteen boys and fifteen girls (4 - 60 months of age; mean, 26 +/- 18 months). All received intravenous gammaglobulin at a dose of 1 g/(kg.d), for 2 days and oral aspirin at a dose of 30 - 50 mg/(kg.d). In case of persistent fever, a repeated dose of intravenous gammaglobulin or I.V. methylprednisolone at a dose of 20 mg/(kg.d) for three daily doses was attempted. The authors tested blood samples from 17 healthy controls consisting of nine boys and eight girls (3 - 84 months of age; mean, 25 +/- 18 months) and the samples from 31 patients.

RESULTSThe percentage of peripheral blood CD(3)(+) T lymphocyte was (54.4 +/- 9.0)% in acute stage of KD and (65.0 +/- 7.0)% in healthy controls. There was a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.001). The values of CD(69)(+) [(11.2 +/- 12.6)%, vs. (0.6 +/- 0.4)%], CD(25)(+) [(9.2 +/- 3.5)% vs. (3.9 +/- 1.8)%] and HLA-DR(+) [(8.3 +/- 5.0)% vs. (4.3 +/- 2.3)%] in KD patients were markedly increased compared to those of the healthy controls. After intravenous gammaglobulin treatment, the percentage of CD(3)(+)CD(69)(+) and CD(3)(+)CD(25)(+) significantly decreased [CD(3)(+)CD(69)(+): (14.0 +/- 13.0)% vs. (1.6 +/- 1.2)%, P < 0.05; CD(3)(+)CD(25)(+): (7.8 +/- 4.1)% vs. (2.0 +/- 0.6)%, P < 0.01]. However, the CD(3)(+) T lymphocytes increased [(50.8 +/- 5.0)% vs. (64.9 +/- 5.5)%, P < 0.01]. There was no significant difference in expression of CD(3)(+) T lymphocyte cell activating markers between coronary artery disease group and normal coronary artery group in KD cases (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONCD(3)(+) T cell activation in the early and middle stages is involved in the mechanism responsible for cardiovascular injury.

Antigens, CD ; blood ; Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte ; blood ; Aspirin ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Biomarkers ; blood ; Child, Preschool ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Flow Cytometry ; Glucocorticoids ; therapeutic use ; HLA-DR Antigens ; blood ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins, Intravenous ; therapeutic use ; Immunologic Factors ; therapeutic use ; Infant ; Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit ; blood ; Lectins, C-Type ; blood ; Male ; Methylprednisolone ; therapeutic use ; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome ; blood ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors ; therapeutic use ; Prognosis ; T-Lymphocytes ; drug effects ; immunology ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To investigate the relationship between hemoglobin and blood pressure of pregnant women in Zhoushan islands, so as to provide scientific evidence for the etiological study of gestational hypertension. Methods A retrospective study was conducted among 1 383 pregnant women who received perinatal care in Zhoushan Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Zhejiang Province from January 2017 to June 2018. Pregnant women were monitored for hemoglobin content and blood pressure in the early, middle and late pregnancy. The multivariate linear regression was used to analyze the relationship between hemoglobin content and blood pressure in different pregnancy. Results The incidence of anemia in early, middle and late pregnancy was 7.74%, 25.45% and 15.76% respectively. The multivariate linear regression showed that hemoglobin levels during pregnancy had effects on systolic blood pressure in early, middle and late pregnancy, and the earlier hemoglobin levels were monitored, the more obvious the effect on systolic blood pressure was.With the increase of hemoglobin level, systolic blood pressure increased, such as the effect of hemoglobin on systolic blood pressure in early pregnancy, mid-pregnancy and late pregnancy. Hemoglobin of first trimster had the greatest effect (β=0.10, P<0.001), Hemoglobin of second trimester had no obvious effect, and that of third trimester had the second effect (β=0.04, P=0.027).Hemoglobin levels and diastolic blood pressure levels were similar to their relationship with systolic blood pressure. Conclusions Hemoglobin levels during pregnancy have significant effects on systolic and diastolic blood pressure in first, second and third trimsters of pregnancy. Regular measurement of hemoglobin levels during pregnancy can improve the health of pregnant women.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the methods of interventional catheterization for combined congenital heart disease and to evaluate its efficacy in children.

METHODSFrom March 1994 to December 2003, 15 cases (6 boys, 9 girls) underwent transcatheter intervention for combined congenital heart diseases. The procedure of transcatheter intervention was as follows: for pulmonary stenosis (PS) and atrial septal defect (ASD) or patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), PBPV first, occlusion of ASD or PDA later; for coarctation of aorta (COA) and PDA, dilation of COA first, occlusion of PDA 4-15 months later; for aortic stenosis (AS) and PDA, PBAV first, occlusion of PDA later; for ventricular septal defect (VSD) and PDA, all occlusions with detachable coils.

RESULTTranscatheter intervention for combined congenital heart diseases was successful in all patients. There was no residual shunt after occlusion immediately apart from 2 cases of PDA which were little residual after occlusion immediately. Follow-up for (3.57 +/-2.61) years, the systolic pressure gradients across pulmonary valve and coarctation were normal by ultrasonic or transcatheter, except AS. There was 3 cases presented postoperative complications: 1 with mechanical haemolysis, 1 with fall off of coil and 1 with arterial embolism, respectively.

CONCLUSIONTranscatheter intervention for combined congenital heart diseases could obtain satisfactory results with appropriate indications and procedure manipulations.

Abnormalities, Multiple ; surgery ; Cardiac Catheterization ; Catheterization ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Ductus Arteriosus, Patent ; surgery ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; surgery ; Heart Septal Defects, Atrial ; surgery ; Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular ; surgery ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Pulmonary Valve Stenosis ; surgery

Castleman disease is a rare and complicated disease. A case of Castleman disease (CD) in a 40-year-old woman on the neck was reported and literature review was made to understand the occurrence, clinical characteristics, diagnosis and differential diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of Castleman disease. Because of the rarity of CD, its occurrence in the general population and the typical clinical manifestations are still lacked. There are two types of CD, namely localized CD and multicentric CD, both of them are not easy to be diagnosised. CT scans in preoperative is helpful for the clinical diagnosis, while histopathological examination and lymph node biopsy are beneficial for the early diagnosis. The treatment result is based on the histopathological examination and lymph node biopsy. The prognosis is different with the type of CD. For the localized CD, the prognosis is usually good, while for the multicentric CD is bad. Both of localized CD and multicentric CD have a certain reoccurrence rate.

More and more studies have found that red blood cell distribution width (RDW) can be used for acute pancreatitis (AP) classification, dynamic monitoring and evaluation of disease severity, mortality, prognosis and complication. Some inflammatory markers, such as procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and pancreatitis scoring system are also associated with severity of AP, and can further improve the evaluation of AP severity when combined with RDW. This article reviewed the RDW and classification of AP, the dynamic changes of RDW and AP, RDW combined with inflammatory indices for prediction of severity of AP, and RDW combined with pancreatitis scoring system for prediction of severity of AP, so as to improve the understanding of predictive value of RDW in assessing the severity of AP.

Studies have investigated the effects of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) use on the incidence and clinical outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); however, the results have been inconsistent. We searched the PubMed, Medline, Cochrane, Scopus, and Web of Science databases from inception to March 2022; 13 studies covering 84 003 prostate cancer (PCa) patients with or without ADT met the eligibility criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. We calculated the pooled risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to explore the association between ADT use and the infection risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and severity of COVID-19. After synthesizing the evidence, the pooled RR in the SARS-CoV-2 positive group was equal to 1.17, and the SARS-CoV-2 positive risk in PCa patients using ADT was not significantly different from that in those not using ADT (P = 0.544). Moreover, no significant results concerning the beneficial effect of ADT on the rate of intensive care unit admission (RR = 1.04, P = 0.872) or death risk (RR = 1.23, P = 0.53) were found. However, PCa patients with a history of ADT use had a markedly higher COVID-19 hospitalization rate (RR = 1.31, P = 0.015) than those with no history of ADT use. These findings indicate that ADT use by PCa patients is associated with a high risk of hospitalization during infection with SARS-CoV-2. A large number of high quality studies are needed to confirm these results.
Male ; Humans ; Prostatic Neoplasms/chemically induced* ; Androgen Antagonists/adverse effects* ; COVID-19 ; Androgens/therapeutic use* ; SARS-CoV-2

The distribution, yield and sample information data of Pinus massoniana was obtained by document literature and sample investigation. Based on sample data from 12 provinces including 414 sample plots and environment factors in China,the distribution regionalization of P. massoniana was predicted by using Maxent and spatial analysis function of ArcGIS. The results showed that the northernmost distribution of P. massoniana was 33.5 degrees north latitude, and it mainly distributed in the southeast in China. Based on plant age, plant height, yield per plant and other growth index from 414 sample plots, combined vegetation form and other data, the growth regionalization of P. massoniana was carried out by using SPSS and related functions of ArcGIS. The results showed that Fujian, Guizhou and Guangxi had a lager distribution area of P. massoniana, meanwhile, it had a relatively higher yield of fresh pine needles. The relational model between environmental factors and shikimic acid,and procyanidin, and the total lignans was constructed by using SPSS regression analysis method. Then the spatial calculation function of ArcGIS was used tocarry out the quality regionalization of P. massoniana based on the relational model. The results showed that east of Sichuan, Guizhou, Chongqing had a good pine needles quality. Based on the distribution, growth and quality regionalization, the production suitability regionalization of P. massoniana was carried out. The results showed that the optimal planting base region mainly distributed in east of Sichuan, middle and east of Guizhou, and east of Guangxi.