AIM: To investigate the influence of Streptococcus pneumoniae on the apoptosis of alveolar epithelial cell and the modulation of caspases-3 on apoptosis. METHODS: A study was undertaken to determine whether Streptococcus pneumoniae infection induced the apoptosis of A549 and facilitated the expression of pro-inflammative cytokine. After inhibited by siRNA, the expression of caspase-3 and apoptosis grade in A549 were determined. RESULTS: Streptococcus pneumoniae contributed to alveolar epithelial cell apoptosis in a time-dependent manner. Streptococcus pneumoniae facilitated the expression of caspase-3 and IL-6 in A549, while depressed IL-10 concentration in culture medium. SiRNA directly decreased the expression of caspase-3 to rescue A549 from apoptosis but not affected IL-6 and IL-10 concentration. CONCLUSION: caspase-3 gene silencing rescues epithelial cells from apoptosis initiated by Streptococcus pneumoniae infection.

Objective To learn the medical experience of inpatients at public hospitals in Henan and the influencing factors.Methods Inpatient experience questionnaire (IPEQ) was customized for a random sampling of 500 inpatients at five tertiary public hospitals in Henan.Results Overall satisfaction of inpatients experience scored 8.48,of which the satisfaction for technical competence was the highest (4.19)and that for emotional support the lowest(3.31).The correlation analysis revealed that the doctors' technical competence score the highest correlation with the experiences (0.652).Conclusion Overall satisfaction of inpatients experience at public hospitals in Henan was found high in general,but humanistic care and service flow at the hospitals require further improvement.