Objective To understand the interaction between surfactant proteins and pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP),and the impact of corticosteriods on surfactant proteins.Methods We established rat models of PCP and bacterial pneumonia induced by subcutaneous injection of 25mg cortisone acetate.At 8- 12 wk,the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid(BALF)of rats was collected.Total nucleated cells of BALF were counted and differentiated,and the concentrations of surfactant protein A(SP-A)and surfactant protein D(SP-D)were measured by immunoblotting assay.The rats were divided into three immunosuppressive groups and a normal control group.Group I,normal control(n = 6),consisted of healthy SD rats;group Ⅱ,negative control(n = 6),consisted of rats with cortisone acetate injection for over 8 wk without lung infection;group Ⅲ,bacterial pneumonia(n = 11),rats were injected with cortisone acetate over 8 wk that resulted in bacterial pneumonia without other pathogens isolated;and group Ⅳ,PCP(n = 14),rats with injected cortisone acetate for 8 - 12 wk and developed PCP without other pathogens isolated.Results Our results indicated that the total cell count in BALF in the negative control group was lower than that in the normal control group(P ＜ 0.001).During PCP infection,the total cell count and the percentage of polymorphonuclearcytes(PMNs)in BALF were significantly increased(P ＜ 0.01),but were lower than those in the bacterial pneumonia group.The concentration of SP-A of BALF in PCP(45.1 ± 22.1 μg/ml)was significantly increased in comparison with that in the negative control(16.2 ± 9.9 μg/ml,P ＜ 0.05)and bacterial pneumonia groups(6.2 ± 5.6 μg/ml,P ＜ 0.001).We also found that the relative content of SP-D was significantly higher in PCP(24249 ±4780 grey values)than that in the negative control (13 384 ± 2887 grey values,P ＜ 0.001)and that in bacterial pneumonia(11 989 ± 2750 grey values,P＜0.001).SP-A and SP-D were also higher in the moderate to heavy group of PCP than those seen in the mild group(P ＜ 0.01,P ＜ 0.001).SP-A and SP-D were higher in the negative control group than those in the normal control group,but there was no significant difference between the 2 groups.Conclusion These results suggest that the concentrations of SP-A and SP-D in BALF are increased by pneumocystis carinii specific stimulation,but the alteration is not related to the corticosteriod usage.

Purpose: To assess the quality and readability of online health information on vasectomy using validated readability and quality assessment tools. Materials and Methods: The top 50 search results for "vasectomy" on Google, Bing, and Yahoo were selected. Duplicate links, advertisements, blog posts, paid webpages, and information intended for healthcare providers were excluded. Flesch Reading Ease score, Flesch–Kincaid Grade level, Gunning Fog Index, and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) index were used to assess readability, with optimal readability level for online health information established as being at sixth grade reading level. DISCERN Instrument and JAMA Benchmark were used to assess the quality of selected webpages. Inter-assessment score correlation and results by webpage type were analyzed. Results: We analyzed 44 webpages, including 16 academic, 5 hospital-affiliated, 6 commercial, 13 non-profit health advocacy, and 4 uncategorized sources. The average readability of the evaluated webpages was at a 10th grade reading level as measured by the Flesch Kincaid Assessment tool, and an undergraduate reading level per the SMOG and Gunning Fog indices. Non-profit health advocacy webpages had the best reading level but still was not at the recommended level of grade 6 to 7. The overall DISCERN quality of the webpages was “fair”, with non-profit health advocacy pages performing best. Conclusions The assessed webpages offer education on vasectomy in a language that is too complex for the general population to understand. Furthermore, several sources for online health information, such as non-profits, outperformed webpages by academic institutions. Increased healthcare collaboration and dedication to producing quality online patient resources is necessary to address these shortcomings and build trust among patients to increase utilization of vasectomy and decrease decisional regret.

There is evidence that a substantial part of genetic predisposition to prostate cancer (PCa) may be due to lower penetrance genes which are found by genome-wide association studies. We have recently conducted such a study and seven new regions of the genome linked to PCa risk have been identified. Three of these loci contain candidate susceptibility genes: MSMB, LMTK2 and KLK2/3. The MSMB and KLK2/3 genes may be useful for PCa screening, and the LMTK2 gene might provide a potential therapeutic target. Together with results from other groups, there are now 23 germline genetic variants which have been reported. These results have the potential to be developed into a genetic test. However, we consider that marketing of tests to the public is premature, as PCa risk can not be evaluated fully at this stage and the appropriate screening protocols need to be developed. Follow-up validation studies, as well as studies to explore the psychological implications of genetic profile testing, will be vital prior to roll out into healthcare.
Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; genetics ; Genetic Testing ; Humans ; Kallikreins ; genetics ; Male ; Membrane Proteins ; genetics ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Prostatic Secretory Proteins ; genetics ; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases ; genetics ; Risk Factors