AIM: To investigate the expression of iNOS in the lung of HPS rats treated with tumor necrosis factor-? monoclonal antibody(TNF-?-McAb) and to investigate the therapeutic mechanism of TNF-?-McAb on hepatopulmonary syndrome.METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats,weighing(250?25)g,were randomized to sham operation group,common bile duct ligation(CBDL) group and CBDL+TNF-? McAb treatment group.Histopathological changes of the lung tissue were evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin staining.The mRNA expression of iNOS in the lungs of hepatopulmonary rats was examined by RT-PCR,while the changes of iNOS in the protein level were evaluated by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting.RESULTS: The inflammatory responses in the CBDL rats treated with TNF-?-McAb decreased than that in CBDL group.Compared to CBDL group,the distribution of iNOS protein and the mRNA expressions in the lung tissue in TNF-?-McAb group were inhibited.CONCLUSION: TNF-?-McAb inhibits the expression of iNOS and plays a role in the treatment of HPS.

Disinfectants ; analysis ; Disinfection ; Drinking Water ; analysis ; Environmental Monitoring ; methods

This article mainly summarise the results of the chemical compositions and their pharmacological activities of Arnebiae Radix since 1966. The chemistry components isolated from Arnebiae Radix are mainly naphthoquinone, monoterpene phenol and quinone, phenolic acids and their salts, alkaloids, aliphatic and esters. Pharmacological results showed that the chemical compositions and the extracts of Arnebiae Radix have antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, hepatoprotection, antioxidant, anti-tumor and immune function and other activities. This article hopefully to provide a reference for further research, development and utilization of Arnebiae Radix.
Animals ; Boraginaceae ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Molecular Structure ; Plant Roots ; chemistry

The CO I gene sequences of Qianghuoyu, Pachytriton labiatus and Gehyra mutilata were achieved by PCR amplification and bi-directional sequencing. Furthermore, a pair of specific primers SJYW1 and SJYW2 in the non-conservative district were designed through sequence alignment. The PCR reaction condition was established by changing the annealing temperature and cycle numbers. The results showed that 350 bp DNA fragment was amplified from Qianghuoyu in PCR with annealed temperature at 54 °C and the cycle number was 25 cycles, whereas not any DNA fragment was amplified from P. labiatus and G. mutilata under the same reaction condition. This method is well-performed in the identification of Qianghuoyu for its excellent specificity and repeatability.
Animals ; Drug Contamination ; Medicine, Tibetan Traditional ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods

Many tumors depend on glutamine for energy.Glutamine metabolism is recognized as a distinctive feature in addition to Warburg effect in tumors.Nuclear medicine molecular tracer techniques represented by positron emission tomography (PET) provide a good means for early diagnosis and prognosis of tumors.PET imaging can detect glutamine metabolism region in tumors noninvasively,which can provide new diagnosis and therapeutics for glutamine-addicted tumors.

Objective To explore the clinical features of invasive fungal infection in 27 children treated at nephrology department between 1999 and 2014.Methods Twenty-seven cases of invasive fungal infection at nephrology department were analyzed retrospectively.Results Candida urinary infection was found in 9 cases,pneumocystis carinii pneumonia were found in 8 cases,invasive pulmonary aspergillosis and urinary aspergillosis found in 4 cases and 1 case respectively,cryptococcus neoformans meningitis and pulmonary candidiasis found respectively in 2 cases,and pulmonary filamentous fungal disease was found in 1 case.These 27 cases showed different features of illness:10 primary nephrotic syndrome,7 secondary nephrotic syndrome,6 malformation of urinary development and 4 preterm birth ＜ 32 weeks gestational age with low birth weight.All of the cases had the history of taking antibiotics.Seventeen cases of them had used corticosteroid and cytotoxic drugs in a long-term.Sixteen cases had experienced invasive procedures.All children had fever in varying degrees,14 cases showed gasp,7 cases had progressive hypoxia and respiratory failure,and 5 cases developed into multiple organs failure.Chest computed tomographic (CT) imaging data showed diffuse ground-glass opacity with mosaic sign of pneumocystis carinii pneumonia(8 cases).The features of pulmonary aspergillosis included multiple nodules and cavity in bilateral lungs (4 cases).The radiologic findings showed patching lesions with indistinct edge and uncertained density of bilateral middle-lower lung fields with pulmonary candidiasis (2 cases).Full dose of antifungal drug was given to 23 cases of them,16 cases recovered completely,3 got better,4 cases died.Four cases gave up full dose antifungal therapy.Conclusions Long-term use of corticosteroid and cytotoxic drugs,use of broad-spectrum antibiotics,invasive therapies,such as indwelling centralvenous catheters,endotracheal intubation with mechanical ventilation,and preterm birth with low birth weight were risk factors in predicting invasive fungal infection.Chest CT findings were different among these cases.Even though not specific,the relatively differences were helpful to the differential diagnosis of these diseases.

Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics,prognosis and the risk factors in 48 children with lupus nephritis combined with renal insufficiency.Methods The clinical data from 48 pediatric lupus nephritis with renal insufficiency from January 2000 to January 2013 were retrospectively analyzed.Results Forty-eight cases showed renal insufficiency among 168 children with lupus nephritis,and the incidence rate was 28.6％.The age ranged from 5.8 to 16.2 years.The male to female ratio was 1.0 ∶ 2.2.Among 48 children,43 cases had hematuria,41 cases had heavy proteinuria,25 cases had anaemia and 23 cases had persistent hypertension.Totally 20 cases underwent renal biopsy,and among them,15 cases(75.0％) were diagnosed as diffuse proliferative lupus nephritis(class Ⅳ).The histological activity index was ≥7 in 13 cases and the histological chronicity index was ≥4 in 3 cases.Corticosteroid and/or cytotoxic drugs were used in all of 48 cases.Thirty-five cases had normal urine and renal function,5 cases had stable renal function with persistent proteinuria,4 cases developed into chronic renal failure and 4 cases died.Persistent hypertension (x2 =4.274,P =0.039),the time of starting therapy (x2 =28.830,P =0.000),and histologic chronicity index(P =0.008 8 by Fisher's exact probability test)were the prognostic factors.Conclusions Among pediatric lupus nephritis with renal insufficiency,class Ⅳ (diffuse proliferative lupus nephritis) is the most frequent finding.Persistent hypertension,the time of starting therapy,and histologic chronicity index are the prognostic factors.The outcomes of lupus nephritis with insufficiency can be improved by adequate and appropriate treatment.

Objective To explore the clinical feature of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) in children with nephrotic syndrome (NS).Methods Eleven cases of SBP in children with NS from Department of Nephrology,Beijing Children's Hospital Affiliated to Capital University of Medical Science between January 2010 and June 2014 were analyzed retrospectively.The clinical features,laboratory data and efficacy of therapy were reviewed.Results In this study,12 episodes of primary peritonitis were detected in 11 patients.One patient had 2 attacks.There were 11 cases including 9 boys and 2 girls.The age of the patients ranged from 2 years and 11months to 14 years and 11 months.Nine cases of them received steroid therapy and/or cytotoxic drugs.Peritonitis was characterized by abdominal pain,mild abdominal pain occurred in 7 cases with slow onset.Ten cases had fever of varying degrees,8 cases had abdominal distention,5 cases had diarrhea and 4 cases had nausea and vomiting.Shock signs were present suddenly in 2 cases before therapy of antibiotics.Apparent edema and severe ascites were present in all cases.Five of them were presented with increasingly rapid severe ascites and showed no response to diuretic drugs.Blood investigation showed leukocytosis and high C-reactive protein.Serum albumin levels and IgG and CD4 ratio were very low in all cases.Ascites were like cloudy pus with raised neutrophil cells.Streptococcus pneumonia was positive in both blood culture and ascites culture in 2 cases.Cephalosporin was used empirically to all cases for 7 to 10 days in 9 cases and 4 weeks in 2 cases with positive blood culture.Paracentesis to release ascites fluid was performed in 5 cases with constant ascites.Eleven cases recovered from peritonitis completely.The proteinuria was negative in 2 cases after they recovered from peritonitis.Conclusions SBP was atypical in children with NS and sometimes patients might have to abdominal pain and rebound tenderness,which may be ignored and may induce deterioration suddenly and clinicians should be aware of it clearly.SBP could lead to relapse of NS and the cure of SBP by treatment could help the children recover from NS.

Objective To investigate the treatment of atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) in their acute phase and relate the prognostic factors.Methods Twenty-eight patients with aHUS treated in Department of Nephrology,Beijing Children's Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University from January 2011 to March 2015 were collected,the outcomes of the treatment were summarized.Results All the patients were given plasma exchange (PE)treatment,21 patients with hemodialysis (HD) treatment;13 patients with H factor (FH) antibody were further treated with corticosteroid therapy,and 1 patient was treated with the combination of mycophenolate mofetil.Evaluation of patients' indices were conducted at month 3.Out of the 28 patients,there were 13 patients with complete remission;of the 14 patients showed improvement,6 patients were complicated with hypertension and 4 patients with renal dysfunction.One patient,with ongoing hemodialysis,did not show restoration of renal function.There was no death in children.Statistical analysis showed that the acute phase serum creatinine levels were (430.0 ± 124.7) μmol/L and (265.6 ± 90.8)μmol/L for the group with remaining kidney injury and the group with complete remission,respectively,the difference was statistically significant(P ＜0.01).The levels of FH for the 2 groups were (206.5 ± 134.9) mg/L and(415.4-±214.1) mg/L,and the difference was statistically significant (P ＜ 0.01) as well.Statistical analysis showed that differences were no statistically significant between the 2 groups of patients on their age,platelets,complement C3,complement C4,hemoglobin and lactate dehydrogenase (all P ＞ 0.05).For the group with positive antibody,its average serum creatinine was (346.4 ± 112.5) μmol/L.For the group with negative antibody,its average serum creatinine was (297.0 ± 89.3) μmol/L.The FH for group with positive antibody and group with negative antibody were (307.4 ±187.3) mg/L and (379.8 ± 203.5) mg/L,respectively.The differences were not statistically significant (all P ＞0.05).Conclusions PE is an effective treatment for aHUS at acute phase,and corticosteroid and immunosuppressive therapy are effective for patients with positive anti-FH antibody.For patients with severe kidney injury at acute phase,the possibility of long-term kidney damage is high.Low concentration of serum FH indicates a poor prognosis.

Objective To analyze the clinical features of pediatric sepsis with initial symptoms of autoimmune hemolytic anemia(AIHA) and acute renal failure.Methods Ten cases of pediatric sepsis with initial symptoms of AIHA and acute renal failure were selected from January 2000 to January 2014 in Department of Nephrology,Beijing Children's Hospital Affiliated to Capital University of Medical Science.The clinical data were retrospectively analyzed and long-time follow-up was taken.Results There were 8 boys and 2 girls of the 10 cases.The ages ranged from 8 months to 12.8 years.There were 8 children less than 6 years old having a prevalence of 80％.There were sudden dark urine and progressive anemia in all the cases,jaundice in 9 cases,abdominal pain and vomiting in 6 cases.Urine volume decreased in 7 cases and anuria in 3 cases.Four cases showed disorder of consciousness and 2 developed shock.Respiratory failure and disseminated intravascular coagulation happened in 1 case respectively.In terms of pathogens,2 cases were infected by mycoplasma and 1 case was infected by hemolytic streptococcus.The rest of the pathogen was unknown.The Coomb's test was 3 +-4 + positive.Serum urea nitrogen and creatinine gradually increased.High level total serum bilirubin and unconjugated bilirubin were shown in 8 cases and low level complement in 7 cases.Bone marrow films showed hyperplasia in all the cases.Renal biopsy was taken in 3 cases and no microthrombus was found.Corticosteroid was used in all 10 cases for 6 months.Blood purification was taken in 8 cases.Respiratory support was used in 4 cases.Nine recovered and 1 case gave up treatment.Further follow-up was taken for 2.2-8.1 years.Eight cases had normal urine and blood routine test and renal function.Relapse happened in 1 girl 1 year later.One case lost follow-up.Conclusions Once sudden hemoglobinuria,anemia and progressively decreased urine output occur in sepsis cases,the clinicians should consider AIHA and acute renal failure.Based on active infection control,the early use of steroids and blood purification treatment can improve the prognosis.