Objective To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of plain radiography in the diagnosis of vascular calcification in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients. Methods Multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) was used as the reference standard in the assessment of vascular calcification in MHD patients. A total of 54 MHD patients, 26 male and 28 female, mean age (60.4±13.3) years, underwent both MSCT and plain radiography of lateral abdomen and pelvis to evaluate abdominal aortic calcification, bilateral iliac and femoral artery calcification. Abdominal aorta was divided into upper and lower segment by L2-L3 intervertebral space. The severity of vascular calcification by MSCT was graded from score 0 to 5. Two independent radiologists analyzed the results of plain radiography and MSCT, and inter-observer agreements were calculated by using K statistics. Results According to the results of MSCT, the calcification rate of abdominal aorta was 86.1%, and the calcification rate of iliac and femoral artery was 74.5%. There was significant difference of the calcification rate between large artery and muscular arteries. Inter-observer agreement of calcification was excellent (K =0.864-0.893). Compared with MSCT, the specificity of plain radiography with regard to detection of abdominal aortic, iliac and femoral calcification were 100%. The sensitivity of plain radiography was different according to the different MSCT score, which was as follows: MSCT score ≥ grade 1: 60.2% and 24.8% for lateral abdomen radiography to detect abdominal aortic calcification and pelvic radiography to detect iliac, femoral calcification respectively; MSCT score ≥ grade 2: 76.9% and 43.5% respectively; MSCT score grade 3: 100% and 74.4% respectively. Conclusions The sensitivity of plain radiography in the assessment of vascular calcification increases with the severity of calcification. The sensitivity in the assessment of abdominal aortic calcification is higher than that of iliac and femoral artery calcification. Plain radiography can be used to detect moderate to severe vascular calcification in MHD patients.

AIM: To construct a recombinant adenovirus vector carrying AFP promoter to specifically express a targeting gene in hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells. METHODS: Based on the Adeno-X~TM Expression system, the CMV promoter was replaced by a 300 bp a-fetoprotein promoter. The EGFP(enhanced green fluorescent protein) gene as a report gene was inserted to the multiple-cloning site(MCS). The normal liver LO2 cells, hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells and HeLa cells were infected by the recombinant adenovirus, respectively. Northern blotting and fluorescence microscope were used to detect the transcription level of EGFP gene and its protein expression, respectively. RESULTS: Northern blotting showed that the target gene was markedly transcribed in HepG2 cells, but slightly in LO2 and HeLa cells. Under the fluorescence microscope, strong EGFP expression was seen in HepG2 cells but very weakly in HeLa and LO2 cells. CONCLUSION: Under the control of the 300 bp human AFP promoter, the target gene carried by the recombinant adenovirus was expressed in the AFP-producing HepG2 cells at a very high level, but not or very weakly in AFP negative cells. This adenovirus system can be used as a new, potent and specific approach for the gene-targeting therapy for the AFP producing primary hepatoma. [

Objective To study the possibility of the plasma level of heat shock protein 70(HSP70) being used as a bi-ological marker of military stress .Methods Soldiers who returned from a 6-month-navigation were chosen as subjects , the HSP70 level of plasma was measured with the ELISA assay and stress questionnaires and Self -rated Health Measurement Scale (SRHMS) were used to measure the stress level .Results The soldiers′plasma level of HSP70 was 31.40%higher than that of the control .The stress questionnaire indicatesd that the level of thinking and anxiety , negative mood and somat-ic symptoms were higher than normal .The SRHMS indicated that the level of physiological health ,mental health and social health was lower than normal .The plasma level of HSP70 was associated with the level of military stress .Conclusion The plasma level of HSP70 may be used as an important predictor of military stress .It can predict the level of military stress injury.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the protective effects of Huperzine A, a potent acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, against the hypoxic ischemic brain damage (HIBD) of the cognitive and morphology in the neonatal rats.

METHODSPostnatal 7 days old rats were given vehicle or Huperzine A (0.05 mg/kg or 0.1 mg/kg, i.p.) following HIBD (unilateral carotid artery ligation followed by hypoxia) or sham operation, and then tested the learning ability and memory in the Morris water maze (MWM) from 36 to 40 postnatal days. The performance in MWM (escape latency, probe time) were recorded to evaluate the learning and memory dysfunction. At the end of MWM trials, the rats were decapitated and their brains were histologically analyzed. The tissue loss in different brain regions including striatum, cortex, and hippocampus were analyzed by image analysis system. The CA(1) subfield neurons numbers were counted to evaluate the brain damage. The acetylcholinesterase histochemistry staining was used to determine the activity of acetylcholinesterase in different brain regions.

RESULTSCompared with sham-operated group, HIBD rats with the vehicle treatment displayed significant tissue losses in the hippocampus (including CA(1) neurons), cortex, and striatum, as well as severe spatial memory deficits (escape latency: 44 s vs 30 s, P < 0.05, probe time: 14 s vs 40 s, P < 0.01). Huperzine A treatment (0.1 mg/kg) resulted in significant protection against both HI-induced brain tissue losses and spatial memory impairments (mean escape latency: 34 s vs 44 s, P < 0.05, probe time: 35 s vs 14 s,P < 0.01). However, Huperzine A treatment (0.05 mg/kg) did not show any significant improvement of spatial memory impairments (mean escape latency: 45 s vs 44 s, P > 0.05, probe time: 17 s vs 14 s, P > 0.05), but moderate to severe brain tissue losses. There was a pronounced reduction of CA(1) neuron density in ipsilateral hemisphere of vehicle-treated group and 0.05 mg/kg Huperzine A group compared with contralateral hemisphere or ipsilateral hemisphere of sham-operated group and 0.1 mg/kg Huperzine A group (72 vs 232, P < 0.01, 72 vs 229, P < 0.01, respectively). There was a close linear correlation between the CA(1) neurons cell number and the mean escape latency for 5 d acquisition trials (r = 0.777, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe unilateral HI brain injury in a neonatal rat model was associated with cognitive deficits, and that Huperzine A treatment may be protective against both brain injury and spatial memory impairment. Huperzine A showed a therapeutic potential for the treatment of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) caused by the perinatal asphyxia.

Acetylcholinesterase ; metabolism ; Alkaloids ; Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Cerebral Cortex ; drug effects ; enzymology ; pathology ; Cognition Disorders ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; Corpus Striatum ; drug effects ; enzymology ; pathology ; Female ; Hippocampus ; drug effects ; enzymology ; pathology ; Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain ; drug therapy ; Male ; Maze Learning ; drug effects ; Neuroprotective Agents ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sesquiterpenes ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo investigate the expression of five kinds of cyclins in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and their association with degree of tumor differentiation, metastasis and infection of hepatitis B virus (HBV).

METHODSThe HCC tissue microarrays were composed of those from 273 cases of HCC tissues, 144 surrounding-tumor liver tissues and 10 normal liver tissues obtained from autopsy. The diameter of each specimens on tissue microarrays was 2.0 mm. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of cyclin A, cyclin B, cyclin D1, cyclin D3 and cyclin E on HCC tissue microarrays. The association of the expression of these cyclins with the infection rate of HBV was also analyzed.

RESULTSThree paraffin-embedded HCC tissue microarrays were successfully constructed, including 136, 143 and 148 tissue spots, respectively. The positive rates of cyclins in 273 cases of HCC were cyclin A 52.7%, cyclin B 45.4%, cyclin D1 35.9%, cyclin D3 44.3% and cyclin E 23.1%; while the figures in 144 surrounding-tumor tissues were 8.3%, 5.6%, 4.9%, 6.3% and 1.4%, respectively. In 10 normal liver tissues these cyclins exhibited negative staining, with the exception that cyclin D1 was positive in one case of normal liver tissue. The positive rate of cyclins in HCC were significant higher than those in surrounding-tumor liver tissues (P < 0.01), in HCC tissues with histological grade II and III, the cyclins expression were stronger than that in grade I (P < 0.05). The positive rates of cyclins, except cyclin A in HCC with portal vein invasion were higher than those without portal vein invasion (P < 0.01). Infection of HBV did not have significant relationship with the expression of cyclins (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONCyclins in different cell cycles overexpressed at varied levels in hepatocellular carcinoma, and the increased expression of cyclins may shorten the tumor cell cycle phase, accelerate cell proliferation, and have a close relationship with HCC aggressiveness.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; chemistry ; Cyclin A ; analysis ; Cyclin B ; analysis ; Cyclin D1 ; analysis ; Cyclin D3 ; Cyclin E ; analysis ; Cyclins ; analysis ; Hepatitis B ; metabolism ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Liver Neoplasms ; chemistry

The HLA system was discovered by virtue of the fact that it was polymorphic. The impetus for its discovery was the search for polymorphic antigens to match for transplantation, by analogy with the human red cell blood groups. The most usually DNA method of HLA typing is sequence specific oligonucleotides (SSO) and PCR sequence specific primers (SSP). SSO technique is perfectly suited for analyzing large number of samples, it is not suitable for individual or small numbers. The SSP method is ideal for typing individual samples, but it is costly and requires high capacity thermal cycles for larger numbers of samples. To set up a simple, quick, cheap and high resolution DNA method, were collected sixty-three cord blood samples from Guangzhou Cord Blood Bank, got DNA from blood by the traditional guanidine hydrochloride distillation method. Each sample was simultaneously typed by SSOP, PCR-SSP and reverse dot-blot hybridization (RDB) methods. All of typed is success. The results of three DNA methods are consistent each other. 60 HLA-DRB1 alleles could be accurately distinguished with the RDB method. Our results show that RDB method is a simple, quick, cheap and high resolution method for HLA-DRB types. It can be used in any HLA typing.
Fetal Blood ; immunology ; metabolism ; Genotype ; HLA-DR Antigens ; genetics ; Histocompatibility Testing ; methods ; Humans ; Nucleic Acid Hybridization ; methods

OBJECTIVETo explore the effects of hepatitis B virus X gene and p53 on hepatocellular growth.

METHODSTwo kinds of plasmids containing sense and antisense human wild p53 gene respectively were constructed. SMMU-7721 cells were transfected with HBx, sense-wtp53 antisense-wtp53 separately or cotransfected with either HBx and sense-wtp53 or HBx and antisense-wtp53. Flow cytometry was adopted to measure the apoptosis rates and the effects of HBx on cell cycle progression. The activity of p21(Waf1) promoter-luciferase construct was detected. Growth curves for SMMU-7721 stably transfected with pcDNA3 and pcDNA3HBx were analyzed.

RESULTSAfter doxorubicin administration, HBx was noticed able to initiate apoptosis of the liver cells. The apoptosis rate was 5.32% in the pcDNA3 transfected and 12.66% in the pcDNA3HBx transfected groups respectively. HBx could also abrogate p53-mediated apoptosis. The apoptosis rate in groups transfected with pcDNA3, pcDNA3wtp53 and pcDNA3HBx + pcDNA3wtp53 was 5.32%, 11.72% and 4.67% respectively. In compared with the normal group, the number of cells in transiently HBx-expressed group and HBx-transfected group decreased 4.79% and 10.25% respectively. HBx inhibited the activity of p21(Waf1) promoter-luciferase constructed (P < 0.05) and promoted cell growth. The growth rate of HBx expression cells was faster.

CONCLUSIONUnder DNA damage, HBx reduced expression of p21(Waf1) by repressing the activity of p53 protein, followed by disturbing the regulation of G(0)-G(1) cell cycle checkpoint, and promoted the growth rate of hepatoma cells.

Apoptosis ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; pathology ; virology ; Cell Division ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Genes, p53 ; Hepatitis B Antigens ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; pathology ; virology ; Trans-Activators ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Transfection ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 ; biosynthesis ; genetics

To compare two different methods for extracting genomic DNA from cord blood and to evaluate their applications for HLA genotyping, the genomic DNA from 72 samples was extracted by guanidine hydrochloride (Gu * HCl) and modified guanidine hydrochloride, the DNA yield and purity were evaluated by spectrophotometry and detected by PCR with sequence-specific primers. The result showed that the genomic DNA was successfully isolated from whole blood by both methods. The modified Gu * HCl method used was better than Gu * HCl method as the modified method produces better quality of DNA and less ambiguous bands in PCR. It is concluded that modified Gu * HCl method has the advantages of low-cost, simple operation, high quality output and clear positive bands in HLA-genotyping, the modified method is optimal for extracting DNA from multiple samples of cord blood bank.
DNA ; blood ; isolation & purification ; Fetal Blood ; chemistry ; Genotype ; Guanidine ; HLA Antigens ; genetics ; Humans ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods

OBJECTIVETo present a new mini-invasive surgery for compressive optic neuropathy (CON) in Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) by adequately decompressing the orbital apex and correcting proptosis, and to analyze its results.

METHODSA retrospective chart was reviewed in 29 patients receiving orbital decompression for the treatment of CON secondary to GO from October 2006 to May 2011. All patients diagnosed CON were in stable and inactive phase of GO at least for 6 months. All patients received endoscopic transethmoid medial orbital wall decompression to reduce the compression on the orbital apex. In the meanwhile, an endoscopic transethmoid intraconal fat-removal orbital decompression was performed to remove parts of intraconal fat with a special aspiration/cutting instrument to further reduce the proptosis. All patients were followed up periodically.

RESULTSof improvement of visual acuity (VA), color vision, and amount of proptosis reduction and incidence of induced diplopia 9 months after surgery was recorded for analysis its feasibility.

RESULTSForty-five orbits of 29 patients were included in the study. At the 9 months review, 44 of 45 eyes (97.8%) improved their VA from -0.65±0.30 (x±s) preoperatively to -0.24±0.22, with a mean improvement of 0.55±0.17 (t=-13.012, P<0.001), 23 of 29 eyes (79.3%) had improved color vision (P<0.001), and the mean reduction in proptosis was (7.07±1.59) mm (range 4-11 mm). Postoperative symmetry to within 2 mm were achieved in all patients. Except 1 patient complaining of deterioration in diplopia following surgery, no patients presented new on-set diplopia postoperatively.

CONCLUSIONThe endoscopic transethmoid medial orbital wall decompression combined with the endoscopic transethmoid intraconal fat-removal orbital decompression is an effective treatment with minimal morbidity for both visional recovery and improvement of proptosis for CON in GO.

Adipose Tissue ; surgery ; Adult ; Decompression, Surgical ; methods ; Endoscopy ; Ethmoid Bone ; surgery ; Female ; Graves Ophthalmopathy ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Orbit ; surgery ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVEThe purpose of this study was to observe the bacterial infections of respiratory tract in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD).

METHODS130 patients with AECOPD in outpatient department, emergency room or in wards were studied prospectively. Patients were divided into different groups according to both Anthonisen's classification and their lung function status. Sputum were cultured together with bacteria positive rate and types of AECOPD as well as the damage degree of lung function were analyzed.

RESULTSOf 130 sputum samples, 50 showed positive through culture (38.5%) and 60 strains of pathogens were isolated. Predominant pathogens isolated would include Haemophilus parainfluenzae (20/60), Streptococcus pneumoniae (5/60) and Haemophilus influenzae (10/60). Positive rate of bacterial culture in type 1 AECOPD was 55.0%, higher than those of type 2 (38.3%) and type 3 (18.5%)(P = 0.01) and was increasing with the decrease of lung function of patients with AECOPD (P < 0.02).

CONCLUSIONPositive rate of bacterial culture in patients of type 1 AECOPD was the highest one. Haemophilus parainfluenzae was one of the most important pathogens in AECOPD. There seemed a correlation between positive result of bacterial culture and the severity of COPD.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Bacterial Infections ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Female ; Haemophilus influenzae ; isolation & purification ; pathogenicity ; Haemophilus parainfluenzae ; isolation & purification ; pathogenicity ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Streptococcus pneumoniae ; isolation & purification ; pathogenicity