Complement system is an important constituent in immune system.Membrane attack complex (C5b-9)is the final ingredient in the complement activation.Recently,a few studies showed that C5b-9 deposition was found in the diabetics with chronic complications,indicating that complement activation might be involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications.Our aim is to summarize some newly published works and show a prelimimary work we did in this area.We hope that more attention should be paid to the role of autoimmune mechanism in diabetic complications.

Background Vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) has been shown to be associated with the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration (AMD),therefore VEGF is a target for the treatment of wet AMD.However,the mechanism of VEGF in the pathogenesis of AMD is not clearly understood.Studying the correlation between VEGF gene polymorphism and AMD is becoming a new research hotspot,but relevant studies on Han Chinese have not been performed.Objective This study was to investigate the association between the VEGF +936C/T gene polymorphism and AMD in the Chinese population.Methods A pilot prospective and nonrandomized controlled trial was designed.This protocol complied with Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Ethic Committee of Chinese PLA Second Artillery General Hospital.Written informed consent was obtained from each subject prior to entering the study.Two hundred AMD patients and 200 age-and gender-matched normal controls were enrolled in this study.The genomic DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood samples of the subjects,and analysis of the VEGF polymorphisms at the +936 position in the promoter and 3＇-untranslated regions was performed by the restriction fragment length polymorphism method.Frequencies of the VEGF+936C/T genotype were compared between the two groups,and the risk of the VEGF+936C/T gene polymorphism in pre-disposing AMD was evaluated.Results No significant differences were seen in the incidence rates of smoking(P ＝ 0.76),hypertension(P ＝ 0.84),hyperlipidemia (P=0.71),diabetes mellitus (P=0.86) and cardiovascular disease(P=0.89) between the AMD group and the normal control group,and BMI was matched between the two groups (P =0.18).The prevalence of the TT genotype was 9.0％ (18/200)in the AMD group,but that in the normal control was 3.5％ (7/200),showing a significant difference between the two groups (P =0.03).The odds ratio (OR) was 2.73 with a 95％ confidence interval(CI) of 1.11 to 6.68 for AMD in this genotype.The CC and CT genotypes were not significantly different between the two groups (P =0.52,P =0.57).The genotype frequency and allele frequency conformed to HardyWeinberg equilibrium law.There were no significant differences found in the CC,CT,TT genotype frequencies among the early AMD,geographic atrophy AMD and choroidal neovascular AMD (all at P＞0.05).Conclusions The VEGF+936TT genotype is associated with AMD in Han Chinese population.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Cholesteatoma, Middle Ear ; congenital ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Melanocytes ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

Capsid Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Simplexvirus ; genetics ; metabolism

Antiviral Agents ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; complications ; drug therapy ; psychology ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Mental Disorders ; complications ; Middle Aged

The depositions of immunoglobulins on the retina of diabetic rat were studied with immunohistochemistry,immunofluorecence and computer analysing system.In comparison with control group, depositions of IgG,IgA and IgM on the retina of diabetic rat induced by streptozotocin were significantly increased (all P＜0.05 ).So the immunoglobulin depositions may contribute to the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy.

Metabonomics is a new method to study on the metabolic network and the relationship between body and environment, which conforms to the way of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) research. In the study process of modernization of traditional Chinese medicine, effectively conjunction with metabonomics method will facilitate the integration of TCM with modern biological science and technology, and promote the modernization of TCM. This paper introduce the application of metabonomics in the research of toxicity mechanism of TCM, compatibility mechanism of TCM formula, pharmacology effect of TCM and processing mechanism of TCM. This paper summarize the problems in the TCM metabonomics research and prospect its bright future.
Animals ; Drug Therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; adverse effects ; analysis ; metabolism ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; trends ; Metabolomics ; methods ; trends

OBJECTIVETo study the protective effect of purariae isoflavone on apoptosis cells of atrophic nasal mucosas in ovariectomized rats.

METHOD60 rats were divided into four groups as control, ovariectomized, ovariectomized + nylestriol (O + N) and ovariectomized + purariae isoflavone (O + P), each with 15 rats. Earlier apotosis cells of mucosas taken from nasal septum were measured with flow cytometry.

RESULTCompared with control group, and the number of apoptosis cells of mucosas increased after being ovariectomized,and the number of apoptosis cells of mucosas in O + N and O + D group didn't change.

CONCLUSIONNylestriol and purariae isoflavone might have effects on protecting cells of mucosas from lacking of estrogen by decreasing apoptosis cells in ovariectomized rats.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Epithelial Cells ; pathology ; Estradiol Congeners ; pharmacology ; Female ; Isoflavones ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Nasal Mucosa ; pathology ; Ovariectomy ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Protective Agents ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Pueraria ; chemistry ; Quinestrol ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of thick-slab single-shot turbo spin-echo (SSTSE)T2 ?-weighted sequence in magnetic resonance fetography (MRF)for fetal abnormalities.Methods 328 of 1 990 pregnant women with the diagnosis of fetal congenital defects on prenatal ultrasound screening or chromosome examination were randomly selected,and 338 fetuses were ob-tained.These fetuses were scanned by conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)and MRF.The diagnostic results from the two MR methods were compared.Results Six hundred and twenty-four lesions were detected by MRF.The primary diagnosis based on conventional MRI was changed for 14 lesions (2.2%).New findings were identified for 48 fetal lesions (8.4%)and 66 ma-ternal lesions.However,78 fetal lesions could not to be identified by MRF.MRF could increase the diagnostic confidence for fetal lesions with high water content (56.1% of the lesions).Conclusion MRF can yield more precise information for fetal extremities, fluid-filled cavities,pathological hydrops and cystic lesions.As an additional aid to the conventional multi-slice T2-weighted se-quence.

OBJECTIVETo analyze the current situation and trend of Mycobacteria other than tuberculosis (MOTT) in the old city area of Guangzhou and to provide information for diagnosis, treatment and policy on tuberculosis (TB) control in the city.

METHODSRelevant data regarding Mycobacteria culture, species identification and drug-resistance from out-patients under suspicion of having pulmonary tuberculosis seen at our TB and Pulmonary Tumor Control Institute, was analyzed retrospectively during 1994-2003.

RESULTSA total number of 12,634 strains of Mycobacteria were isolated and 794 strains were identified as MOTT which accounted for 6.28% of the isolated strains during the ten years. The annual isolation rates of MOTT were between 3.51% and 10.06%. When compared with 1994, the rates of isolation on MOTT had increased 73.15% in 2003, i.e. from 5.81% in 1994 to 10.06% in 2003. 512 strains were not susceptible at least to rifampin and isoniazid out of 613 MOTT strains tested for drug susceptibility to isoniazid, rifampin, streptomycin sulfate and ethambutol. The average rate of multi-drugs resistance of these strains was 83.5%, and the annual rates were between 71.4% and 93.9%. Based on the results of species identification on 136 strains of MOTT in 2003, most of them belonged to pathogenic/opportunistic species of Mycobacteria. All together, 30 strains of M. abscessus, 26 of M. intracellulare, 17 of M. smegmatis, 14 of M. scrofulaceum, 11 of M. avium, 5 of M. kansasii and M. chelonae and M. fortuitum respectively, 4 of M. nonchromogenicum, 2 of M. triviale and 1 of M. aurum were identified. People at 45 years of age or older, with 55-65 the most, were more susceptible to MOTT than other age groups. Sex ratio was 3.36 to 1.

CONCLUSIONBased on information from the Third National Tuberculosis Epidemiology Survey in 1990 and the Fourth one in 2000, the current situation and trend of MOTT were nearly the same in the old city area of Guangzhou during 1994-2003. However, the rising tendency of rate of isolation, mainly consisted of opportunistic pathogens and the surprisingly high rate of multi-drugs resistance to MOTT all call for special attention. Studies regarding the epidemiology of MOTT should be posed and implemented in the National TB Control Program.

Adult ; Aged ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous ; epidemiology ; Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare Infection ; epidemiology