The objective of this study was to elucidate the effect of human placenta adherent cells (hPDAC) on expansion of human umbilical cord blood CD34(+) cells in vitro. hPDAC was isolated and characterized in human placenta tissue by using enzyme-digesting method and flow cytometry. A co-culture system was established with hPDAC and cord blood CD34(+) cells. The CD34(+) cells were cultured in different culture systems with different combinations of hPDAC and SCF, IL-3, IL-6 and FL. The number of total nucleated cells, CFC and CD34(+) cells were repeatedly counted in culture for 4 weeks. The results showed that the hPDAC displayed fibroblast-like morphology, and were positive for CD29, CD44, CD166, HLA-ABC and UEA-1, and negative for CD34, CD45 and HLA-DR. Functionally, ex vivo expansion of CD34(+) cells on feeder layer of placental adherent cells was significantly higher than that no feeder layer group. SCF + IL-3 + IL-6 + FL + hPDAC manifested the most potent combination, with the number of total nucleated cells increasing by (126.0 +/- 6.7)-fold, progenitor cells (CFC) (49.8 +/- 1.7)-fold and CD34(+) cells (8.3 +/- 1.65)-fold. It is concluded that placental adherent cells could support hematopoiesis in vitro and work as a suitable feeder layer for cord blood stem/progenitor cell expansion.
Antigens, CD34 ; analysis ; Cell Adhesion ; Cell Separation ; Fetal Blood ; cytology ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; cytology ; Humans ; Placenta ; cytology

BACKGROUNDPulmonary fungal infection is one type of the common opportunistic infections in AIDS patients. The disease is hard to diagnose because of its complicated imaging features. The objective of this study was to investigate the imaging performance characteristics of pulmonary fungal infection in AIDS patients.

METHODSFifty-one patients with AIDS complicated with pulmonary fungal infection and 56 patients of non-AIDS with pulmonary fungal infection were examined by CT scans and high-resolution CT scans. The contrast enhanced scans were performed in patients with the mass or suspected enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes. Results were compared between the two groups.

RESULTSThe most common fungal infection in the two groups of patients was Candida albicans. The infection rates were 54.8% (28 cases) in the group (AIDS patients with pulmonary fungal infection) and 58.3% (32 cases) in another group (non-AIDS patients with pulmonary fungal infection). In the two groups, the difference in diffuse distribution and the difference in incidence of affected upper and lower lobes in the bilateral lung fields were statistically significant. The differences in patchy or large consolidation shadow, cavitas, enlarged lymph nodes in mediastinum and pleural effusion were also significant when comparing the two groups.

CONCLUSIONSThe lesion in most of AIDS patients with pulmonary fungal infection tends to exhibit diffuse distribution, patchy or large consolidation shadow covering a more extensive region. The differences between AIDS with pulmonary fungal infection and non-AIDS with pulmonary fungal infection are statistically significant in lesion location and complicated imaging features. The most common fungal infection in AIDS patients is Candida albicans.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections ; diagnostic imaging ; epidemiology ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Candidiasis ; diagnostic imaging ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lung Diseases, Fungal ; diagnostic imaging ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; methods

OBJECTIVETo assess the feasibility of the 10 microg recombination yeast hepatitis B vaccine in the expanded applicable population group aged 5 - 18.

METHODSPeople with both HBsAg and anti-HBs negative were selected to take two-stage clinical experiment and the safety and immunogenicity were observed. Safety observation was conducted in 925 subjects, while 568 for immunogenicity. The observation group (aged 5 - 18) included 493 subjects, and (age > 18) 75 enrolled in control group. For the observation group, there were three sub-groups including a child group (141, aged 5 - 6), early youth group (177, aged 12 - 13), and youth group (175, aged 16 - 18). Both groups were administered with 10 microg recombination yeast hepatitis B vaccines with 3 doses at 0 month, 1st month, 6th month. To assess the immunogenicity, the vaccination reactions were observed during the following 4 weeks in order to assess the vaccine safety. The blood samples were taken during 4 - 6 weeks after fully vaccinated, and then anti-HBs were tested with RIA and analyzed by comparing the positive rate of anti-HBs, the geometric mean titer (GMT) and the protective rate between the two groups.

RESULTSBoth observation and control group didn't show any general reactions, adverse events following immunization (AEFI) or coincidental cases when observed at 0.5 h, 6 h, 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 4 weeks after being vaccinated. The result of serum test showed, the positive rates of child group, early youth group, youth group and control group were respectively 100.00% (141/141), 97.18% (172/177), 98.29% (172/175) and 89.33% (67/75); the GMTs of anti-HBs were respectively 440.28, 875.38, 467.80, 131.06 U/L; the protective rates were respectively 100.00% (141/141), 97.18% (172/177), 97.14% (170/175) and 86.67% (65/75). The positive rate, GMT and protective rate of the experimental group were all higher than that of control group (chi(2)(positive rate) = 12.77, 5.12, 7.99; t(GMT) = 3.89, 4.13, 5.91; chi(2)(protective rate) = 16.81, 8.60, 8.44; P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThis vaccine could be expanded to 5 - 18 year-old population with safety and effectiveness, the positive rate and protective rate of anti-HBs were both higher than that of control group.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Hepatitis B Antibodies ; blood ; immunology ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; blood ; immunology ; Hepatitis B Vaccines ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; immunology ; Humans ; Male ; Vaccines, Synthetic ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; immunology

BACKGROUNDAlcohol dependence (AD) is a complex disorder characterized by impaired control over drinking. It is determined by both genetic and environmental factors. The recent approach of genome-wide association study (GWAS) is a powerful tool for identifying complex disease-associated susceptibility alleles, however, a few GWASs have been conducted for AD, and their results are largely inconsistent. The present study aimed to screen the loci associated with alcohol-related phenotypes using GWAS technology.

METHODSA genome-wide association study with the behavior of regular alcohol drinking and alcohol consumption was performed to identify susceptibility genes associated with AD, using the Affymetrix 500K SNP array in an initial sample consisting of 904 unrelated Caucasian subjects. Then, the initial results in GWAS were replicated in three independent samples: 1972 Caucasians in 593 nuclear families, 761 unrelated Caucasian subjects, and 2955 unrelated Chinese Hans.

RESULTSSeveral genes were associated with the alcohol-related phenotypes at the genome-wide significance level, with the ankyrin repeat domain 7 gene (ANKRD7) showing the strongest statistical evidence for regular alcohol drinking and suggestive statistical evidence for alcohol consumption. In addition, certain haplotypes within the ANKRD7 and cytokine-like1 (CYTL1) genes were significantly associated with regular drinking behavior, such as one ANKRD7 block composed of the SNPs rs6466686-rs4295599-rs12531086 (P = 6.51 × 10(-8)). The association of alcohol consumption was successfully replicated with rs4295599 in ANKRD7 gene in independent Caucasian nuclear families and independent unrelated Chinese Hans, and with rs16836497 in CYTL1 gene in independent unrelated Caucasians. Meta-analyses based on both the GWAS and replication samples further supported the observed significant associations between the ANKRD7 or CYTL1 gene and alcohol consumption.

CONCLUSIONThe evidence suggests that ANKRD7 and CYTL1 genes may play an important role in the variance in AD risk.

Adult ; Aged ; Alcohol Drinking ; genetics ; Blood Proteins ; Cytokines ; Female ; Genome-Wide Association Study ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Proteins ; genetics ; Receptors, Cytokine ; genetics

Erbin, a member of Leucine-rich repeat and PDZ-containing protein family, was found to inhibit TGF-β-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in our previous study. However, the mechanism of Erbin in regulating EMT is unclear. Semaphorin protein Sema4C, with PDZ binding site at C-terminal has been recognized as a positive regulator of EMT. Here, we aimed to examine the interaction between Erbin and Sema4C. HK2 cells were treated with TGF-β1, or transfected with Erbin and (or) Sema4C. Interaction of Erbin and Sema4C was identified by immunoprecipitation. RT-PCR was used to detect the expression of Erbin and Sema4C at mRNA level after transfection. The expression levels of Erbin, Sema4C, and markers of EMT were measured by using Western blotting or ELISA. After HK2 cells were stimulated with 10 ng/mL TGF-β1 for 72 h, the protein expression levels of Erbin and Sema4C were both up-regulated, and immunoprecipitation results showed Erbin interacted with Sema4C in HK2 cells both at endogenous and exogenous levels. Furthermore, overexpression of Sema4C suppressed E-cadherin, induced vimentin and promoted fibronectin secretion, indicating Sema4C promotes the process of EMT. However, HK2 cells overexpressing Erbin were resistant to Sema4C-induced EMT. In contrast, Erbin specific siRNA promoted EMT induced by Sema4C. Taken together, these results suggest that Erbin can interact with Sema4C, and co-expression of Erbin blocks the process of Sema4C-induced EMT.
Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing ; genetics ; metabolism ; Blotting, Western ; Cadherins ; metabolism ; Cell Line ; Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition ; Humans ; Immunoprecipitation ; Kidney Tubules, Proximal ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Protein Binding ; RNA Interference ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Semaphorins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Transfection ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; pharmacology ; Vimentin ; metabolism

Objective:To summarize the patient profiles and therapeutic efficacies of ABO-incompatible living-related kidney transplantations at 19 domestic transplant centers and provide rationales for clinical application of ABOi-KT.Methods:Clinical cases of ABO-incompatible/compatible kidney transplantation (ABOi-KT/ABOc-KT) from December 2006 to December 2009 were collected. Then, statistical analyses were conducted from the aspects of tissue matching, perioperative managements, complications and survival rates of renal allograft or recipients.Results:Clinical data of 342 ABOi-KT and 779 ABOc-KT indicated that (1) no inter-group differences existed in age, body mass index (BMI), donor-recipient relationship or waiting time of pre-operative dialysis; (2) ABO blood type: blood type O recipients had the longest waiting list and transplantations from blood type A to blood type O accounted for the largest proportion; (3) HLA matching: no statistical significance existed in mismatch rate or positive rate of PRA I/II between two types of surgery; (4) CD20 should be properly used on the basis of different phrases; (5) hemorrhage was a common complication during an early postoperative period and microthrombosis appeared later; (6) no difference existed in postoperative incidence of complications or survival rate of renal allograft and recipients at 1/3/5/10 years between ABOi-KT and ABOc-KT. The acute rejection rate and serum creatinine levels of ABOi-KT recipients were comparable to those of ABOc-KT recipients within 1 year.Conclusions:ABOi-KT is both safe and effective so that it may be applied at all transplant centers as needed.

The quality of Paeoniae Radix Alba and Paeoniae Radix Rubra is evaluated by root thickness, and paeoniflorin serves as a common quality indicator of them. However, the correlation between the content of bioactive compounds and the root size is still unclear. Therefore, this study characterized the distribution patterns and content of seven bioactive compounds including paeoniflorin in different tissues of Paeonia lactiflora roots, analyzed the correlation between the root size and the content of bioactive compounds based on the xylem-to-bark ratio, and further determined the index components for quality assessment. Nine samples of fresh P. lactiflora roots were collected from the genuine cultivation area. The distribution of bioactive compounds in different tissues on the cross-section of the root was firstly analyzed by desorption electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry imaging(DESI-MSI). Subsequently, the content of bioactive compounds was determined in the xylems and barks of the roots by UPLC. The compounds with the largest difference between the xylem and the bark were selected by orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA). The results indicated that paeoniflorin, benzoylpaeoniflorin, oxypaeoniflorin, gallic acid, and 1,2,3,4,6-pentagalloylglucose were significantly accumulated in the xylems, while albiflorin and catechin were mainly distributed in the barks. Paeoniflorin and albiflorin, with the largest differences in the xylem and the bark, had the highest content in the two tissues. The root diameter was positively correlated with paeoniflorin content and negatively correlated with albiflorin content. As isomers with different efficacies, paeoniflorin or albiflorin can be chosen as the quality marker corresponding to specific clinical application to launch quality classification evaluation of multi-functional Chinese medicines.
Bridged-Ring Compounds ; Catechin/analysis* ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods* ; Gallic Acid/analysis* ; Monoterpenes/analysis* ; Paeonia/chemistry* ; Plant Roots/chemistry* ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization

The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is involved in diverse brain functions via its extensive projections to multiple target regions. There is a growing understanding of the overall outputs of the OFC at the population level, but reports of the projection patterns of individual OFC neurons across different cortical layers remain rare. Here, by combining neuronal sparse and bright labeling with a whole-brain florescence imaging system (fMOST), we obtained an uninterrupted three-dimensional whole-brain dataset and achieved the full morphological reconstruction of 25 OFC pyramidal neurons. We compared the whole-brain projection targets of these individual OFC neurons in different cortical layers as well as in the same cortical layer. We found cortical layer-dependent projections characterized by divergent patterns for information delivery. Our study not only provides a structural basis for understanding the principles of laminar organizations in the OFC, but also provides clues for future functional and behavioral studies on OFC pyramidal neurons.

ObjectiveTo analyze the differential components in water extract of Chuanxiong Rhizoma before and after processing with wine， and to explore the molecular mechanism of Chuanxiong Rhizoma processed with wine in enhancing anti-cerebral ischemia injury. MethodUltra high performance liquid chromatography tandem quadrupole orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometry （UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS） was used to qualitatively analyze the main chemical components in water extract of Chuanxiong Rhizoma based on the spectral information of compound， comparison of reference substance and references. The chemical pattern recognition method was used to screen the differential components of Chuanxiong Rhizoma before and after processing. Based on these differential components， the potential targets of differential components were predicted by online databases， and the related targets of cerebral ischemia were searched. Cytoscape 3.6.0 was used to establish the network diagram of differential components-action targets-diseases of Chuanxiong Rhizoma processed with wine. The protein-protein interaction （PPI） network of intersection targets was constructed by STRING 11.5. The potential targets of differential components against cerebral ischemia were analyzed by Gene Ontology （GO） and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes （KEGG） enrichment analysis through DAVID 6.8. At the same time， the chemical compounds with high relative content and increased peak area after wine processing were docked with their corresponding targets to verify the mechanism of enhanced effect after wine processing. ResultA total of 71 chemical components were identified from Chuanxiong Rhizoma， 34 differential components and 603 potential targets were screened out. At the same time， a total of 769 disease targets and 60 intersection targets were obtained. Seven key targets were identified through PPI network analysis， including JUN， signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 （STAT3）， mitogen-activated protein kinase 3 （MAPK3）， interleukin-1β （IL-1β）， vascular endothelial growth factor A （VEGFA）， Caspase-3 （CASP3） and mtrix metalloproteinase 9 （MMP9）. Tumor necrosis factor （TNF） signaling pathway was the main differential signaling pathway. The results of molecular docking showed that differential components （senkyunolide K， senkyunolide F， 3-n-butylphthalide， Z，Z′-6，8′，7，3′-diligustilide， ferulic acid and Z-ligustilide） and corresponding targets had good binding activities. ConclusionThe synergistic mechanism of Chuanxiong Rhizoma processed with wine may be related to the enhanced inhibitory effect of inflammatory reaction.

Child ; Humans ; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/drug therapy* ; Retrospective Studies ; Anti-Retroviral Agents/therapeutic use* ; HIV Infections/epidemiology* ; China/epidemiology* ; Anti-HIV Agents/therapeutic use*