Adult ; Carcinoma, Endometrioid ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Cervix Uteri ; pathology ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Endometrial Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Endometrial Stromal Tumors ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged

OBJECTIVETo investigate the risk factors for fulminant myocarditis by analyzing clinical symptoms/signs or laboratory findings in children with viral myocarditis.

METHODSThe medical data of 71 children with acute viral myocarditis from March 2005 to September 2008 were retrospectively studied. They were classified into fulminant (n=16) and non-fulminant myocarditis groups (n=55). Chi-square and Student's t-test were used to analyze the clinical presentations, laboratory data, EEG and cardiac ultrasound findings on admission. The multiple regression analysis was used to identify the independent risk factors for fulminant myocarditis.

RESULTSEight children (50%) died in the fulminant myocarditis group, but none in the non-fulminant group. The following factors were closely related to the fulminant course of myocarditis: lower blood pressure, higher serum CK-MB level, positive cTnI, complete atrioventricular block and left bundle branch block, ST segment alterations, prolonged QRS complex, and decreased left ventricular ejection fraction and short axis fractional shortening. Multiple regression analysis revealed that prolonged QRS complex (OR=1.139; CI=1.014-1.279, P<0.05) and decreased left ventricular ejection fraction (OR=0.711; CI=0.533-0.949, P<0.05) were independent risk factors for fulminant myocarditis.

CONCLUSIONSThe mortality of fulminant myocarditis is high in children. Prolonged QRS complex and decreased left ventricular ejection fraction on admission are independent risk factors for fulminant myocarditis in children.

Acute Disease ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Myocarditis ; etiology ; Risk Factors ; Ventricular Function, Left

AIMTo study the anticancer effect of artesunate and its mechanism.

METHODSTo observe the effect of artesunate on the growth of solid tumor and the expression of PCNA, Bcl-2 and Bax genes in mice bearing H22 solid hepatic carcinoma.

RESULTSAfter administration of artesunate (ig, 300 mg.kg-1.d-1 x 7 d), growth of solid tumor was obviously inhibited, the tumor inhibitory rates were 49.1%, 48.7% and 46.6% and 46.6% in 3 experiments. The apoptosis of liver cancer cells were increased. Immunohistochemical staining showed that the number of Bcl-2 protein positive cells were decreased, but the number of Bax protein positive cells were increased. The PCNA positive cells were significantly lower than those in the control group.

CONCLUSIONArtesunate showed obvious anticancer activity on H22 hepatic carcinoma bearing mice and undergo apoptosis of liver cancer cells. The mechanism of anticancer effect of artesunate may be related to down-regulation of the expression of PCNA and Bcl-2 genes and up-regulation of the expression of Bax gene.

Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; therapeutic use ; Apoptosis ; Artemisinins ; therapeutic use ; Disease Models, Animal ; Female ; Gene Expression ; Hepatocytes ; metabolism ; pathology ; Liver Neoplasms, Experimental ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Mice ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen ; biosynthesis ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins ; biosynthesis ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; biosynthesis ; Random Allocation ; Sesquiterpenes ; therapeutic use ; Tumor Cells, Cultured ; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein

BACKGROUNDUse of neoadjuvant chemotherapy necessitates assessment of response to cytotoxic drugs. The aim of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for evaluating clinical responses to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients.

METHODSWe examined patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy for primary breast cancer between October 2007 and September 2008. Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI was used to examine breast tumors prior to and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The MRI examination assessed tumors using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST). The Miller-Payne grading system was used as a histopathological examination to assess the effect of the treatment. We examined the relationship between the results of RECIST and histopathological criteria. In addition, we used time-signal intensity curves (MRI T-SI) to further evaluate the effects of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on tumor response.

RESULTSMRI examination of patients completing four three-week anthracycline-taxanes chemotherapy treatment revealed that no patients had complete responses (CR), 58 patients had partial responses (PR), 29 patients had stable disease (SD), and four with progressive disease (PD). The effectiveness of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (CR + PR) was 63.7% (58/91). The postoperative histopathological evaluations revealed the following: seven G5 (pCR) cases (7.7%), 39 G4 cases (42.9%), 16 G3 cases (17.6%), 23 G2 cases (25.3%), and six G1 cases (6.6%). The effectiveness (G5 + G4 + G3) was 68.1% (62/91). MRI T-SI standards classified 53 responding cases, 29 stable cases, and nine progressing cases. These results indicated that the treatment was 58.2% effective (53/91) overall.

CONCLUSIONSDynamic contrast-enhanced MRI and histopathological standards were highly correlated. Importantly, MRI T-SI evaluation was found to be useful in assessing the clinical effectiveness of neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Adult ; Aged ; Anthracyclines ; therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Breast Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Contrast Media ; chemistry ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Taxoids ; therapeutic use

Silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1), an NAD(+)-dependent deacetylase, is involved in the regulation of gene transcription, energy metabolism and cell aging. Recent studies have showed that SIRT1 possesses neuroprotective effects, however, it is not very clear how SIRT1 exerts the neuroprotection in Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this review, we summarized the neuroprotective role of SIRT1 in AD and its possible molecular mechanisms, proposing a novel strategy for preventing and treating neurodegeneration.
Alzheimer Disease ; genetics ; physiopathology ; Animals ; Energy Metabolism ; physiology ; Humans ; Neuroprotective Agents ; Sirtuin 1 ; physiology ; Transcription, Genetic ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the value of application of cellular protein markers stained by immunocytochemistry in combination with ThinPrep bronchial brush cytology in classification of lung cancer subtypes.

METHODSRemaining bronchial brush cytology samples from 206 lung cancer patients with positive cytological diagnosis and 45 fine needle aspiration samples of resected lung carcinomas were collected. The expressions of CK10/13, CK7, CK18, CD56 and SYN in those samples were detected by immunocytochemistry (ICC) using corresponding antibodies.

RESULTSThe sensitivity and specificity of CK10/13 were 94.7% and 72.0%, respectively, in diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma. The sensitivity and specificity of CK7 were 98.6% and 61.5%, and those of CK18 were 98.6% and 37.5%, respectively, in diagnosis of adenocarcinoma. The sensitivity and specificity of CD56 were 86.3% and 82.9%, and those of SYN were 81.6% and 93.5%, respectively, in diagnosis of small cell lung cancer. No significant difference was found in the expressions of CK10/13, CK7 and CK18 protein markers among differently differentiated lung squamous cell carcinomas and adenocarcinomas (P > 0.05). The classification rate of cytology in combination with ICC in differential diagnosis for 44 cases of unclassified lung cancer reached 90.0% for squamous cell carcinoma, 96.3% for adenocarcinoma, and 100.0% for small cell lung carcinoma.

CONCLUSIONApplication of cellular protein markers in combination with ThinPrep bronchial brush cytology is helpful to improve the differential diagnosis of lung cancer subtypes, and may become a supplementary diagnostic method in subclassification of lung cancer.

Adenocarcinoma ; diagnosis ; metabolism ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; metabolism ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Bronchi ; pathology ; Bronchoscopy ; CD56 Antigen ; metabolism ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; diagnosis ; metabolism ; Cytodiagnosis ; methods ; Cytological Techniques ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Keratin-13 ; metabolism ; Keratin-18 ; metabolism ; Keratin-7 ; metabolism ; Lung Neoplasms ; classification ; diagnosis ; metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Small Cell Lung Carcinoma ; diagnosis ; metabolism ; Synaptophysin ; metabolism

OBJECTIVE: To explore the expression pattern and clinical significance of Integral membrane protein 2A（ITM2A） in drug resistant patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). METHODS: The expression of ITM2A in CML was evaluated by qRT-PCR, Western blot and immunocytochemistry. In order to understand the possible biological effects of ITM2A, apoptosis, cell cycle and myeloid differentiation antigen expression of CML cells were detected by flow cytometry after over-expression of ITM2A. The nuderlying molecular mechanism of its biological effect was explored. RESULTS: The expression of ITM2A in bone marrow of CML resistant patients was significantly lower than that of sensitive patients and healthy donors（P<0.05）. The CML resistant strain cell K562R was successfully constructed in vitro. The expression of ITM2A in the resistant strain was significantly lower than that in the sensitive strain(P<0.05). Overexpression of ITM2A in K562R cells increased the sensitivity of K562R cells to imatinib and blocked the cell cycle in G₂ phase(P<0.05), but did not affect myeloid differentiation. Mechanistically, up-regulation of ITM2A reduced phosphorylation in ERK signaling (P<0.05). CONCLUSION The expression of ITM2A was low in patients with drug resistance of CML, and the low expression of ITM2A may be the key factor of imatinib resistance in CML.
Humans ; Antineoplastic Agents/pharmacology* ; Apoptosis ; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm ; Imatinib Mesylate/therapeutic use* ; K562 Cells ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive/drug therapy* ; Signal Transduction

Objective To investigate the relationship between the levels of plasma adrenaline and norepinephrine and gene polymorphism of β1 adrenergic receptor G1165C in children with enterovirus 71 (EV71) infection in hand foot and mouth disease (HFMD). Methods The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect the expression of gene polymorphism of β1 adrenergic receptor G1165C in vitro. The levels of plasma adrenaline and norepinephrine were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results The plasma norepinephrine level of severe group was significantly higher than the mild group in children with EV71 infection in HFMD (P < 0.05); however, the levels of plasma adrenaline in two groups had no statistical differences (P > 0.05); There was no significant difference in the distribution of β1 adrenergic receptor G1165C genotype and allele between EV71 infection group and healthy control group (P > 0.05). Further analysis of EV71 infection group by dividing it into mild and severe groups showed that there was no significant difference in the distribution of genotype and allele between these two groups as well (P > 0.05). There was no significant difference in the levels of epinephrine and norepinephrine in different genotypes of EV71 infection group (P > 0.05), and in the levels of plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine in the mild and severe groups (P > 0.05). Conclusions As the disease gets worse, the plasma norepinephrine level has a rising trend in children with EV71 infection in HFMD, which is an important indicator to evaluate the progress of the disease. However, the gene polymorphism of β1 adrenergic receptor G1165C have no significant correlation, not only with the susceptibility and severity of EV71 infection in hand, foot and mouth disease, but also with the levels of catecholamine.