Streptomyces sp. A048 was cultured in a complete medium to the last stage of log phase,the hyphae were washed and collected by centrifugation. Then the hyphae were inoculated in liquid medium for chitinase production using two-step fermentation. Activity of chitinase produced by two-step fermentation was 1.1 times higher than that from one-step fermentation,and ferment cycle was for 54 hours,which was 66 hours shorter than that of one-step fermentation. The hyphae and the powder of chitin were co-immobilizated and cultured in liquid medium for 36 hours,activity of chitinase was 1.8 times higher than that from one-step fermentation,and ferment cycle was 54h shorter than that of one-step fermentation. By adding 0.4% cellulose to two-step fermentation,activity of chitinase was 18.52 U/mL that was 4 times higher than that from the control and 10 times higher than that from one-step fermentation. Two step fermentation with chitin and cellulose may be the optimal fermentation process to produce Chitinase from Streptomyces sp. A048.

The growth curve of single cell organisms in batch cultivation could divide into 6 phases, lag phase, acceleration phase, log phase, deceleration phase, stationary phase, and death phase, based on specific growth rate during cultivation process. There were significantly differences between deceleration phase and the other phases in cell growth, substrate consumption, product formation, and genes express profile. The deceleration phase was highly important to fermentation process. However, cognizing and teaching to the deceleration phase had been considerably weakened since a long period. So it should be strengthened.

OBJECTIVETo compare changes of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA) in different rat models of Gan stagnation (GS), Pi deficiency (PD), Gan stagnation Pi deficiency (GSPD) syndromes, and to observe interventional effect of Chaishu Sijun Decoction (CSD, capable of soothing Gan-qi invigorating Pi) on them.

METHODSSeventy Wistar rats were divided into the normal control group (group 1), the GS group (group 2), the PD group (group 3), the GSPD group (group 4), the GS intervention group (group 5), the PD intervention group (group 6), and the GSPD intervention group (group 7) according to random digit table, 10 in each group. Rats in group 1 received no treatment. Rats in group 2 and 5 were modeled by chronic restraint method. Rats in group 3 and 6 were modeled by excess fatigue plus alimentary abstinence method. Rats in group 4 and 7 were modeled by chronic restraint, excess fatigue, and alimentary abstinence method. At the 2nd weekend of modeling, CSD at 2.86 g/kg was fed to rats in group 5, 6, and 7 by gastrogavage for 2 successive weeks. Equal volume of distilled water was given to rats in the rest 4 groups. On the 29th day, rats were killed, adrenal weight weighed, and adrenal index calculated. Levels of plasma and hypothalamus corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), plasma and pituitary adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), and plasma corticosterone (CORT) were determined using radioimmunity.

RESULTSCompared with group 1, adrenal index significantly decreased in group 2, 3, and 4 (P < 0.05). Of them, plasma and hypothalamus CRH, plasma CORT increased significantly in group 2 and 4 (P < 0.05). Besides, plasma and pituitary ACTH increased in group 4 (P < 0.05). Plasma and pituitary ACTH, as well as plasma CORT decreased significantly in group 3 (P < 0.05). Compared with group 2, 3, and 4, adrenal index increased significantly in group 5, 6, and 7 (P < 0.05). Compared with group 2, plasma CORT, hypothalamus CRH, and pituitary ACTH decreased significantly in group 5 (P < 0.05). Compared with group 3, plasma ACTH and CORT increased significantly in group 6 (P < 0.05). Compared with group 4, plasma CRH, ACTH, CORT, hypothalamus CRH, and pituitary ACTH decreased in group 7 (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe function of HPA .axis was damaged to varying degrees in rats of the three models in this experiment. Hyperactivity of HPA axis existed in GS syndrome and GSPD syndrome. Impairment of feedback regulation in hypothalamus and pituitary was accompanied in GSPD syndrome. Hypofunction of HPA axis existed in PDS. CSD, capable of soothing Gan-qi invigorating'Pi, showed improvement on disarranged HPAA, but with optimal effect on GSPD syndrome. CSD had higher correlation with GSPD syndrome.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone ; metabolism ; Animals ; Corticosterone ; Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System ; metabolism ; Hypothalamus ; metabolism ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Models, Animal ; Pituitary Gland ; metabolism ; Pituitary-Adrenal System ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

This paper gives a comprehensive illustration on the key technologies involved in HIFU treatment machine development and thus it can be used for reference and be of benefit to the further development.
Breast Neoplasms ; therapy ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; instrumentation ; methods ; Liver Neoplasms ; therapy ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neoplasms ; therapy ; Transducers ; Ultrasonic Therapy ; instrumentation ; Ultrasonics

OBJECTIVETo investigate antagonism effects of total flavonoids from Chrysanthemum morifolium. (TFCM) against lead induced oxidative injury.

METHODNinety male mice were randomly divided into 9 groups. Mice except normal control group inject lead acetate every other day for 20 days. In the next 10 d, drugs were orally administrated to mice once a day. After the last aministration, mice were sacrificed and immediately subjected to necropsy. The concentration of lead, zinc and copper in blood, brain, liver and kidney were determined. The body weight, relative organ weight, antioxidant enzyme levels (GSH, GSH-Px, SOD and CAT) and lipid peroxidation products (MDA) were performed.

RESULTTFCM might antagonize the decrease of body weight and the increase of organ weight/body weight ratio. The combined treatment with TFCM and DMSA can significantly lower the lead levels in blood, brain, liver and kidney. In contrast, lead concentration in mice treated with TFCM alone did not show significant change in these organs. The other trace elements such as zinc and copper had no significant decrease after TFCM or DMSA treatment. Middle and high-dose TFCM was more effective than DMSA in increasing the activity of GSH, GSH-Px, SOD, CAT and decreasing the concentration of MDA in mice brain. In addition, high-dose TFCM was more effective than DMSA in increasing the activity of GSH-Px, CAT and decreasing the concentration of MDA in mice liver and kidney. The combined treatment with TFCM and DMSA also can reverse lipid peroxidation and increase antioxidant enzyme levels in lead poisoning mice dose-dependently, and it had more beneficial effects than treatment with DMSA alone.

CONCLUSIONTFCM might improve antioxidant defense system, reverse lipid peroxidation and protect brain, liver and kidney against lead induced oxidative damage in mice significantly.

Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Brain ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Chrysanthemum ; chemistry ; Copper ; blood ; metabolism ; Drug Antagonism ; Flavonoids ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; Kidney ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Lead ; blood ; metabolism ; Liver ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Oxidative Stress ; drug effects ; Random Allocation ; Succimer ; administration & dosage ; Zinc ; blood ; metabolism

Background Since the measurement method establishment of serum ferritin abroad in early period of theseventies, the iron deficiency had been divided into two types: the non-anemia and anemia types. In orderto go step further studies, we must ertablish the bemoglobin targets of the two types. Methods One hurdred and fifty-two children in experimontal group, from 6 to 7 years old, and allcome from Qinghai province. There are 29 children in Xining city, 24 in Guide, 26 in Gongbe, 40 in Gui-nan and 33 in Maduo countics. There are 36 health children aged from 6 to 7 years old in the controlgroup, and all comes from Beijing. The Hb, RBC, HCT, HCTW and FEP wcre determined. Results The three targets correlating with Hb (Hb, MCH and MCHC); correlating with RBC (RBC,HCT and MCV); the two targets correlating with RBC_weight (HCTW and CMCW) and correlating withFEP of RBC(FEP and MCEP) have very significant difference between experimental group and control group. Conclusion The determination values of the 10 targets are not same in children in different districts,and the values of all the target: are increased on different degree along with the increase in altitude of ele-vation. There is very important significance on the studies of iron deficiency and altitude hypoxia to establish the normal values of the 10 targets.

OBJECTIVETo analyse the clinical features, diagnostic methods and risk factors of cytomegalovirus (CMV) enteritis after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT).

METHODSAnalysis was made on 24 cases of CMV enteritis after allo-HSCT in Beijing Daopei Hospital from Aug. 2007 to Jul. 2009, including clinical data, endoscopic diagnosis, histopathological and virological results, and the association between CMV enteritis with viremia and graft-versus-host disease(GVHD).

RESULTS87.5% of the patients were over 18 years old. The median time to diagnosis of CMV enteritis was 63 days after HSCT. The mucosal lesions in enteroscopic examination had no significant differences between CMV enteritis and gastrointestinal GVHD complicated with the enteritis. The methods used in diagnosis included histopathology (32.1%) and virology (92.9%). The copies of CMVDNA in mucosal samples greater than 10(5)/10(6) PBNC was better diagnosis. A number of risk factors were compared between the survival and death groups: type of transplant, conditioning regimen, the time span of ganciclovir prophylaxis therapy, grade II-IV GVHD before enteritis, the time of diagnosis as GVHD, using MP > or = 1 mg/kg to treat GVHD, the time between GVHD and enteritis, CMV viremia before enteritis, the time of diagnosis as enteritis, CMVDNA quantitation, and there were no any statistic differences.

CONCLUSIONCytomegalovirus enteritis should be carefully diagnosed by histopathology and virology through endoscopic examination. It is better to undertake pan-colon endoscopy as well as terminal ileum examination for more accurate diagnosis. PCR can significantly improve the detection rate. CMVDNA detection in patients' stool may be helpful to diagnosis, especially for those patients who can not stand the endoscopy examination.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Cytomegalovirus ; Cytomegalovirus Infections ; etiology ; DNA, Viral ; isolation & purification ; Enteritis ; etiology ; virology ; Female ; Graft vs Host Disease ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Male ; Risk Factors ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo prepare ITP plasma IgG and its F(ab')2 fragments and investigate their immunoreactivity to platelet GPIIb/IIIa and/or GPIb/IX and their effects on platelet aggregation function.

METHODSThe ITP patients having inhibitory autoantibody to the platelet aggregation were selected by modified MAIPA and platelet aggregation test with turbidimetry. Plasma IgG and its F(ab')2 fragments were prepared by streptococcal protein A affinity column and pepsin digestion. The immunoreactivity and the effects on platelet aggregation function of the whole antibody and its fragments were detected by modified MAIPA and platelet aggregation test, respectively.

RESULTS(1) Anti-platelet GPIIb/IIIa and/or GPIb/IX autoantibodies were detected in 34 of 68 (53.6%) ITP patients' plasmas and that from 5 patients significantly inhibited the platelet aggregation induced by ADP or ristocetin. (2) By using protein A column combined with protease digestion, pure IgG and its F(ab')2 fragments were successfully obtained. (3) The purified IgG and its F(ab')2 fragments retained the ability to bind to their respective glycoproteins and inhibited the platelet aggregation function, whereas the IgG depleted plasma lost the ability of binding to the platelet GPs.

CONCLUSIONSF(ab')2 fragment of the IgG antibody is a functional fragment, which not only has the binding ability to the platelet GPs but also inhibits the platelet aggregation function in a dose-dependent manner.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments ; immunology ; Immunoglobulin G ; immunology ; Integrin beta3 ; immunology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Platelet Aggregation ; Platelet Membrane Glycoprotein IIb ; immunology ; Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic ; immunology ; physiopathology ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the efficacy of salvaged allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) for refractory/recurrent acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

METHODSA total of 45 patients with refractory/recurrent AML were enrolled from September 2006 to April 2010. The median blasts in bone marrow (BM) were 36% (20% to 92%) before conditioning. The donors were identical siblings (6) or unrelated ones (9) or haploidentical family members (30). Conditioning regiments were individualized according to patients' status, the regimen with high-dose cytarabine plus BuCy/CY was mostly used (20). The patients with impaired organ function received above regimen except using fludarabine instead of cyclophosphamide (16). FLAG followed by reduced-intensified BuCy was employed for the recipients with more than 40% blasts in BM (6) to reduce leukemia burden. TBI/CY or TBI/Fludarabine was used for the recipients with extramedullary infiltration of leukemia or multidrug resistant leukemia. G-CSF, MTX, NVT, Vm26, Acla or Thaltipa was added into conditioning regiments according to leukemia character.

RESULTSAll but 2 patients attained durable engraftment. The incidence of grade II to IV aGVHD and cGVHD were 34%, 59.1%, respectively. With median follow-up 30 (0.5 - 57) months, the relapse rate was 29.2%. Twenty-nine of 45 (60.2%) patients remained in complete remission since salvaged HSCT. Three-years disease-free survival and overall survival were 60.2% and 62.6%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONOur results indicated that the combination of salvaged HSCT with prophylactic immunotherapy might be a promising modality for treatment of refractory/recurrent AML, even with high leukemia burden.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; methods ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; mortality ; therapy ; Middle Aged ; Recurrence ; Survival Rate ; Transplantation Conditioning ; methods ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

BACKGROUNDAbdominal pain is a common symptom among patients with acute appendicitis, yet these patients have long been denied relief from suffering because of widespread misconceptions associated with the use of opioids. We determined whether morphine hydrochloride masked the physical signs in adults with acute appendicitis and assessed the efficacy of morphine in relieving abdominal pain.

METHODSA prospective, double-blind, placebo controlled, clinical trial was conducted with 106 adult patients between 16 and 70 years old with acute appendicitis. Patients were randomly divided into a morphine group (n=54) or a normal saline group (n=52). All patients presented with acute abdominal pain with onset within 3 days. The morphine group received hypodermic injection of morphine (0.15 mg/kg; maximum 20 mg) and the control group members were given an equivalent volume of normal saline solution. The clinical symptoms, physical signs, and patients' cooperation during physical examination were assessed before and after 30 minutes of morphine or normal saline administration.

RESULTSAbdominal pain was significantly relieved and the patients' cooperation was improved in the morphine group after 30 minutes treatment compared with the control group and before morphine administration (P<0.05). The physical signs were unaffected by either treatment (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONSMorphine relieved abdominal pain and improved the patients' cooperation for treatment and care. Furthermore, the morphine did not mask the physical signs of acute appendicitis.

Abdominal Pain ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Analgesics, Opioid ; therapeutic use ; Appendicitis ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Morphine ; therapeutic use ; Young Adult