One hundred Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum-sensing-related genes were selected and their primers were synthesized. The fragments of specific sequences which are related QS genes were amplified by PCR. These verified sequences were inserted into the vector pMD-18T for sequencing. These DNA fragments were dotted onto glass slides to make cDNA microarray. Hybridization was performed with cy3/cy5-dCTP labeled probes. The scanning data of early stationary phase and mid-logarithmic phase indicated that 9 genes were up-regulated and 6 genes were down-regulated. Undergoing the different medicines,we took tobramycin as an example to compare the expression diversity. The results confirm that the QS cDNA chip is useful,and may contribute to better understand the mechanism of quorum-sensing,and can help us find the new targets for restraining the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Objective To investigate the clinical features,treatment response and prognosis in children with Takayasu′s arteritis(TA) in order to improve the understanding of TA.Methods A retrospective study of 10 children with TA was performed.All of them were admitted and diagnosed in Peking University First Hospital from Jan.1998 to Oct.2008.The clinical features,laboratory tests,imaging modalities,treatment response and prognosis were all collected and evaluated.Results There were 3 boys and 7 girls in the 10 patients with TA,and the ratio of male to female was 12.3.The onset was from 4 months to 9 years old,with average age at 5.5 years old.The average duration of diagnosis was 7.6 months.The incidences of hypertension,vascular bruits,albuminuria,convulsion were present in 100%,100%,70% and 40%,respectively.The clinical types included typeⅡ(60%),type Ⅲ(10%) and type Ⅳ(30%).The acute phase inflammatory indices of activity such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate(ESR),C-reactive protein(CRP) and white blood cell(WBC) were not evidently increased.Tuberculosis infection was found in 6 out of 10 patients and anti-tuberculosis treatment was performed.Six patients were treated with steroids and 3 cases of them were also given immunosuppressives cyclophosphamide or methotrexate.Three of the 10 patients received anti-hypertensive and vasodilator.Two patients received percutaneous translurminal angioplasty and 1 patient received nephrectomy.One patient died of renal failure,heart failure and shock.Conclusions The patients with TA had high prevalence of tuberculosis infection,diagnosis as often late because of lack of specific clinical features at the acute inflammatory period.When organic ischaemia occurred,treatment response was usually unsatisfactory.Patients with multi-systemic and multi-viscera lesions should have comprehensive examination,especially for those with hypertension,pulseless and vascular bruits,in order to rule out TA.Early ultrasonography,computed tomography and magnetic resonnance image methods are valued in eariler diagnosis and they are the key factors to improve prognosis.

Objective: To observe the clinical effects of Shu-acupuncture method in Nei Jing (Classic of Internal Medicine) in the treatment of shoulder and arm pain. Methods: A total of 90 patients with shoulder and arm pain were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 45 cases in each group. The treatment of Shu-acupuncture method in Nei Jing (Classic of Internal Medicine) was adopted in the observation group, routine acupuncture was used in the control group. The two groups were treated once every day, with 5 treatments as one course, and a 2-day rest between two courses. After 3 courses, pain was assessed by visual analog scale (VAS), and the clinical effects were compared between the two groups. Results: After the treatment, VAS scores were significantly changed in both groups (both P<0.01). The VAS score was lower in the observation group than that in the control group, with a statistical difference between the two groups (P<0.05). The total effective rate was 100% in the observation group, versus 91.1% in the control group, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion: The therapeutic effect of Shu-acupuncture method in Nei Jing (Classic of Internal Medicine) is better than that of routine acupuncture in treating shoulder and arm pain.

Collagen Type I ; analysis ; Collagen Type III ; analysis ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect ; Humans ; Liver ; chemistry ; Microscopy, Confocal

Quantitative models were established to analyze the content of chlorogenic acid and soluble solid content in the liquid-liquid extraction of Reduning injection by near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. Seven batches of extraction solution from the liquid-liquid extraction of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos and Artemisiae Annuae Herba were collected and NIR off-line spectra were acquired. The content of chlorogenic acid and soluble solid content were determined by the reference methods. The partial least square (PLS) and artificial neural networks (ANN) were used to build models to predict the content of chlorogenic acid and soluble solid content in the unknown samples. For PLS models, the R2 of calibration set were 0.9872, 0.9812, RMSEC were 0.1533, 0.7943, the R2 of prediction set were 0.9837, 0.9733, RMSEP were 0.2464, 1.2594, RSEP were 3.25%, 3.31%, for chlorogenic acid and soluble solid content, respectively. For ANN models, the R2 of calibration set were 0.9903, 0.9882, RMSEC were 0.0974, 0.4543, the R2 of prediction set were 0.9868, 0.9699, RMSEP were 0.1920, 0.9427, RSEP were 2.61%, 2.75%, for chlorogenic acid and soluble solid content, respectively. Both the RSEP values of chlorogenic acid and soluble solid content were lower than 6%, which can satisfy the quality control standard in the traditional Chinese medicine production process. The RSEP values of ANN models were lower than PLS models, which indicated the ANN models had better predictive performance for chlorogenic acid and soluble solid content. The established method can rapidly measure the content of chlorogenic acid and soluble solid content. The method is simple, accurate anc reliable, thus can be used for quality control of the liquid-liquid extraction of Reduning injection.
Chlorogenic Acid ; analysis ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; Injections ; Least-Squares Analysis ; Liquid-Liquid Extraction ; standards ; Neural Networks (Computer) ; Quality Control ; Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared ; methods

Objective To explore the significance of designing with monitoring-flap in massive com- pound bone grafts for repairing massive bone defects in extremities.Methods From January 2001 to De- cember 2004,large bone defects in 19 patients(11 men and 8 women,age:6 to 35 years,mean age:18.6 years)were repaired by vascularized free fibular transplant with a monitoring-flap combining with massive deep frozen bone allografts.Average length of the bone defects was 16.6 cm(range,12 to 25 cm).A 7 days' con- tinuously clinical examination including observing the color,turgor,temperature,capillary refill,and bleeding after a needle sticking of the monitoring-falps were used postoperatively,if any one of these were abnormal,the circulation of the compound bone grafts must be in danger and some measures such as re-operation should be taken immediately.Dynamic image analysis was used for evaluating the bone union.Results One monito- ring-flap was vascular artieulo,and the articulo was relieved after exploration and resection of vein thrombus; another one was marginal part necrosis;the remains were normal.All of monitoring-flaps healed normally after 23.2 months(range,6 to 54 months)follow-up.15 patients had the radiographic evidence of bone unions 3 months after surgery.11 patients had been removed intermal fixation,complete bone unios were found one year postoperatively.Conclusion Designing with monitoring-flap in massive compound bone grafts for repairing massive bone defects,and can clearly understand the circulatory statue of compound bone grafts and early pre- dict the final results of massive bone allografts.

BACKGROUND: Vibrio vulnificus inside the body could activate the NF-κB signaling pathway and initiate the inflammatory cascade. The lung is one of the earliest organs affected by sepsis associated with acute lung injury. High mobility group protein B1 (HMGB1) is an important late-acting pro-inflammatory cytokine involving in the pathophysiology of sepsis. It is also involved in the injury process in the lung, liver and intestine. There has been no report on the involvement of HMGB1 in Vibrio vulnificus sepsis-induced lung injury. METHODS: Sixty rats were randomly divided into a normal control group (group A,n=10) and a Vibrio vulnificus sepsis group (group B,n=50). Sepsis was induced in the rats by subcutaneous injection of Vibrio vulnificus (concentration 6×108 cfu/mL, volume 0.1 mL/100g)) into the left lower limbs. The rats in group B were sacrificed separately 1, 6, 12, 24, and 48 hours after the infection. Their lungs were stored as specimens, lung water content was measured, and lung pathology was observed under a light microscope. The expressions of the HMGB1 gene and protein in the lungs were detected by RT-PCR and Western blot. Data were analyzed with one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the LSD method for pair-wise comparison between the two groups.P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Compared to group A (0.652±0.177), HMGB1 mRNA expression in the lungs of group B was significantly higher at 0 hour (1.161±0.358,P=0.013), 24 hours (1.679±0.235,P=0.000), and 48 hours (1.258±0.274,P=0.004) (P<0.05), and peaked at 24 hours. Compared to group A (0.594±0.190), HMGB1 protein expression at 6 hours (1.408±0.567,P=0.026) after infection was significantly increased (P<0. 05), and peaked at 24 hours (2.415±1.064,P=0.000) after infection. Compared to group A (0.699±0.054), lung water content was significantly increased at 6 hours (0.759±0.030,P=0.001),12 hours (0.767±0.023,P=0.000), 24 hours (0.771±0.043,P=0.000) and 48 hours (0.789±0.137,P=0.000) after infection (P<0.05). Compared to group A, pathological changes at 12 hours in group B indicate marked pulmonary vascular congestion, interstitial edema and inflammatory infiltration. Alveolar cavity collapse and boundaries of the alveolar septum could not be clearly identified. CONCLUSION:Vibrio vulnificus sepsis can lead to injury in rat lungs, and increased HMGB1 expression in lung tissue may be one of the mechanisms for injury from Vibrio vulnificus sepsis.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to determine whether modified shock index (MSI) is associated with mortality that is superior to heart rate, blood pressure, or the shock index (SI) in emergency patients.METHODS: A retrospective database review was performed on 22161 patients who presented to Peking Union Medical College Hospital Emergency Department and received intravenous fluids from January 1 to December 31, 2009. We gathered data of the patients on age, gender, vital signs, levels of consciousness, presenting complaints, and SI and MSI were calculated for all patients.RESULTS: Multivariate regression analysis was performed to determine the correlation between risk factors and outcome. There is a significant correlation between emergency patient mortality rate and patient's vital signs obtained at the triage desk (HR>120 beats/min, systolic BP<90 mmHg, diastolic BP<60 mmHg). MSI is a stronger predictor of emergency patient mortality compared to heart rate and blood pressure alone, whereas SI does not have a significant correlation with emergency patient mortality rate.CONCLUSION: MSI is a clinically significant predictor of mortality in emergency patients. It may be better than using heart rate and blood pressure alone. SI is not significantly correlated with the mortality rate of the emergency patient.

OBJECTIVETo demonstrate the effect of bromoxynil on membrane potential and respiratory control rate (RCR) in isolate mitochondria from mice liver tissue in vitro and the intervention of NAC.

METHODSThe mitochondrial was randomized to control group, bromoxynil-poisoned group and NAC-protected group. S3, S4 and RCR of the mitochondria in each sample was detected by the method of oxygen electrode. Each sample was stained by JC-1 and the changes of membrane potential of mitochondria were observed under fluorescence microscope.

RESULTSThe S3 [(0.031 +/- 0.008) nano atoms oxygen x mg(-1) x min(-1)], RCR (1.820 +/- 0.181) of bromoxynil-poisoned group and RCR (4.253 +/- 0.210) of NAC-protected group were significantly lower than those of control group (P<0.01); the S4 [(0.017 +/- 0.004) nano atoms oxygen x mg(-1) x min(-1)] of NAC-protected group was significantly higher than control group (P<0.01). The S3 [(0.046 +/- 0.005) nano atoms oxygen x mg(-1) x min(-1)] and RCR of NAC-protected group were significantly higher than group B (P<0.01), S4 [(0.011 +/- 0.001) nano atoms oxygen x mg(-1) x min(-1)] of NAC-protected group was significantly lower than bromoxynil-poisoned group (P< 0.01). Observation under fluorescence microscope: the red fluorescence of mitochondria was dim or disappeared in bromoxynil-poisoned group while brightened in NAC-protected group but still dimmer than control group.

CONCLUSIONIn vitro, the mitochondrial RCR and the mitochondrial membrane potential are decreased after the mitochondria is incubated with bromoxynil, and NAC could improve it.

Acetylcysteine ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Electron Transport ; drug effects ; Male ; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial ; drug effects ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Mitochondria, Liver ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Nitriles ; toxicity

OBJECTIVETo study the level of serum vascular endothelial growth factor, matrix metalloproteinases-9 in the proliferative hemangioma before and after propranolol treatment.

METHODSThe serum VEGF, MMP-9 was detected with ELISA assay before treatment and after 4 weeks and 8 weeks of propranolol treatment. The relationship between the serum VEGF, MMP-9 and the prognosis was analyzed.

RESULTSThe serum VEGF (295.4 +/- 158.1) pg/ml was high before treatment, then decreased after 4 weeks and 8 weeks of treatment (255.7 +/- 130.4) pg/ml, (224.2 +/- 120.6) pg/ml. The serum VEGF was significantly lower after 8 weeks of treatment (P < 0.05). The serum MMP-9 was also decreased after treatment, showing a positive relationship with VEGF.

CONCLUSIONSPropranolol can treat the proliferative hemangioma through decreasing the serum VEGF and MMP-9.

Female ; Hemangioma ; blood ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 ; blood ; Propranolol ; therapeutic use ; Serum ; metabolism ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; blood