[ ABSTRACT] AIM: To observe the effects of TNF-α/nuclear factor-κB( NF-κB) /matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) pathway on the expression of MMP-2 in the mice with viral myocarditis.METHODS: Six-week-old inbred male mice were randomly assigned to control and myocarditis group.The mice in myocarditis group and control group were intra-peritoneally inoculated with 0.1 mL 10-5.69 TCID50 /mL coxsackievirus B3 and vehicle (PBS), respectively.Ten mice were sacrificed at the 4th and 10th days after injection.The blood and heart specimens were harvested.The serum content of TNF-αwas measured by ELISA.The myocardial levels of MMP-2, NF-κB p65 and IκBαwere determined by Western blot.RESULTS: Compared with control group, the protein expression of MMP-2 and NF-κB p65 in the myocardium and the serum content of TNF-αwere significantly increased in myocarditis group (P <0.05).The protein expression of IκBαwas lower in myocarditis group than that in control group (P <0.05).CONCLUSION: TNF-α, NF-κB p65 and MMP-2 were higher in the mice with acute viral myocarditis.The increased expression of them might be involved in the pathogene-sis of viral myocarditis.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the genetic basis for a Chinese pedigree with 6q26q27 microduplication and 15q26.3 microdeletion. METHODS: A fetus with a 6q26q27 microduplication and a 15q26.3 microdeletion diagnosed at the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University in January 2021 and members of its pedigree were selected as the study subject. Clinical data of the fetus was collected. The fetus and its parents were analyzed by G-banding karyotyping and chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA), and its maternal grandparents were also subjected to G-banding karyotype analysis. RESULTS: Prenatal ultrasound had indicated intrauterine growth retardation of the fetus, though no karyotypic abnormality was found with the amniotic fluid sample and blood samples from its pedigree members. CMA revealed that the fetus has carried a 6.6 Mb microduplication in 6q26q27 and a 1.9 Mb microdeletion in 15q26.3, and his mother also carried a 6.49 duplication and a 1.867 deletion in the same region. No anomaly was found with its father. CONCLUSION The 6q26q27 microduplication and 15q26.3 microdeletion probably underlay the intrauterine growth retardation in this fetus.
Female ; Humans ; Pregnancy ; East Asian People ; Fetal Growth Retardation/genetics* ; Karyotype ; Pedigree ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; Sequence Deletion ; Chromosome Duplication