OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of Chinese herbal therapy on T-lymphocyte subsets in patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN).

METHODSTotally 36 inpatients and outpatients at Department of Nephropathy, Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, from June 2011 to June 2013 were recruited in the treatment group, while 20 volunteers were recruited as the healthy control group. Patients in the IgAN group only took Chinese herbal decoctions by syndrome typing for 3 months (except those accompanied with hypertension additionally took antihypertensive agents such as angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and/or dihydropyridines calcium antagonist). No intervention was performed in the healthy control group. The values of Th1, Th2, and CD4+ CD25+ Treg, and red blood cell number in urine were detected using flow cytometry before and after treatment. 24 h urine protein was detected using inmmunoturbidimetry.

RESULTSCompared with the healthy control group, the CD4+ CD25+ Treg level obviously decreased in the IgAN group, showing statistical difference (P < 0.01). In the IgAN group, Th1, 24 h urine protein, and urine red blood cell counts were obviously lower after treatment, showing statistical difference when compared with before treatment (all P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONChinese herbal therapy could reduce urine erythrocyte number and 24 h urine protein of IgAN patients, and down-regulating Th1 expression might be its mechanism.

Adult ; Case-Control Studies ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Glomerulonephritis, IGA ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; T-Lymphocyte Subsets ; drug effects ; Young Adult

Medical imaging is an interdisciplinary subject closely related to clinical and pathological subject. Its clinical reading skills' training has become the focus of postgraduate teaching. In the process of clinical teaching, the interactive reading mode of problem-based learning (PBL) combined with multi-disci-plinary team (MDT) was introduced into clinical reading meeting. The tutors chose the reading cases proved by pathology; designed in-depth issues step by step for execution of PBL teaching; guided postgraduates to delineate imaging signs and propose the diagnostic results, evidences and differential diagnoses according to the step from localizing to qualitative and then to pathological diagnosis;then guided postgraduates to attend in-depth case analysis of MDT and analyze the correlation or inconsistency between the imaging diagnosis and clinical and pathological diagnosis; exercise document retrieval and verbalization, multimedia design, and writing level of the records of the reading cases and papers. The interactive reading mode of PBL com-bined with MDT has achieved significant effects, which is worthy of further exploration and promotion.

OBJECTIVETo explore the biomarkers of early diagnosis in patients with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)-related lung cancer for the application to detection of occupational lung cancer or related lung cancer.

METHODSWestern dot blotting was used to explore the expression of ras, p53 and heat stress protein 70 (HSP70) in 29 patients with PAHs-related lung cancer (LC), and 28 patients with non-cancerous pulmonary disease, and 30 healthy controls.

RESULTSThe positive detection rates of P21, P53, and HSP70 in LC group (58.62%, 34.48%, 41.38% respectively) were higher than those in non-cancerous pulmonary disease group (14.29%, 7.14%, 10.71% respectively, P < 0.01). The sensitivity of P21, P53 and HSP70 were 58.62%, 34.48% and 41.38% respectively, negative predictive value (NPV) were 68.42%, 78.05% and 63.04% respectively. The co-detection of the three proteins mentioned above produced a sensitivity of 82.76% with a NPV of 78.26% (P < 0.05). Of 18 cases of LC with negative cytology, 13 (72.22%) were found HSP21, P53 or HSP70 positive.

CONCLUSIONSCo-detection of the P21, P53, and HSP70 may be used as the screening marker for diagnosis of PAHs-related lung cancer, and may supplement the diagnostic value of conventional cytology.

Aged ; Biomarkers ; analysis ; Blotting, Western ; Case-Control Studies ; HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins ; analysis ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; chemically induced ; metabolism ; pathology ; Middle Aged ; Occupational Exposure ; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons ; poisoning ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras) ; analysis ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 ; analysis

Objective To investigate a more perfect method for a nice outward appearance of the thumb(finger) reconstructed.Methods An artery pedicle composite flap from fibular side of the great toe is inlaid in the tibial(ventral) side of the free second toe for thumb reconstruction and the same free second toe with a distal part of metatarsal bone with a double-wings flap for finger reconstruction before transplantation. Results The reconstructed thumb(finger) gets a nice looking and normal function while no blight to the great toe occurred.Conclusion It is an effective new procedure in ameliorating outward appearance of the recon- structed thumb(finger) by transferring the free moulded second toe.

A two-dimensional liquid chromatography method was developed for the analysis of rice leaves proteomics based on the coupling of hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography-reversed-phase liquid chromatography with online tandem mass spectrometry. The influence of pH value of chromatographic mobile phase on the orthogonality of the hydrophilic interaction-reversed-phase two-dimensional liquid chromatography was evaluated by the changes of standard peptide retention. The results indicated that the better orthogonality (R2=0.34113) was achieved from the system with hydrophilic interaction columns(pH 9.3) in the first and C18columns(pH 3.3) in the second LC dimension. Coupled with multiple fraction concatenation strategy,the orthogonality of two-dimensional liquid chromatography was further evaluated in the analysis of complex rice leaf proteins. The results showed that more than 50% of the total peptides were identified less than two times, and the peptides obtained from first-dimension were well distributed across the elution window,indicating that the method showed significant orthogonality in the identification of complex rice leaf proteins. Based on the proteome discoverer software,207345 peptides belonged to 2930 protein clusters were identified.

This study was aimed to establish ELISA for recombinant bovine IFN-gamma (BovIFN-gamma) detection and provide a new method for diagnosis of pathogenic infection. The total RNA was isolated from peripheral blood leucocytes cultured with PHA mitogen stimulation. Then bovine IFN-gamma (BovIFN-gamma) gene cDNA was amplified by RT-PCR and cloned into pET28a to obtain the expression plasmid designated as pETBovIFN-gamma. The pETBovlFN-gamma was further transformed into competent E. coli BL21 cells and a 18kD His-tagged protein as expected was expressed after IPTG induction. By using purified recombinant BovIFN-gamma as antigen and lymphocyte-hybridoma technique, four hybridoma cell lines which stably secreted monoclonal antibodies against rBovIFN-gamma were generated, designated as A7, A10, G6, and G10. The immunoglobin subset was identified as IgG1 . Western-blotting analysis and ELISA demonstrated that the monoclonal antibodies secreted by all the four hybridoma cell lines could react specifically to the recombinant BovIFN-gamma, but not irrelative proteins such as Ag85B, ESAT-6-CFP-10 and GM-CSF, suggesting that the four hybridoma cell lines were rBovIFN-gamma specific monoclonal antibodies. A sandwich ELISA was established by using A10 secreted monoclonal antibody and rabbit polyclonal antibodies against BovIFN-gamma, HRP labeled goat anti-rabbit IgG. The results indicated that the sensitivity was 2ng/mL. This sandwich ELISA to detect BovIFN-gamma paved the way to develop a sensitive method for specific infection detection such as bovine tuberculosis diagnosis.
Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; biosynthesis ; immunology ; Antibody Specificity ; immunology ; Blotting, Western ; Cattle ; Cells, Cultured ; DNA, Complementary ; genetics ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; methods ; Female ; Hybridomas ; Interferon-gamma ; genetics ; immunology ; metabolism ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Plasmids ; genetics ; Rabbits ; Recombinant Proteins ; immunology ; metabolism ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

BACKGROUNDTendon adhesion is one of the most common causes of disability following tendon surgery. Therefore, prevention of peritendinous adhesion after surgical repair of tendon is a major challenge. The aim of this study was to explore the possible application of a collagen membrane for the prevention or attenuation of peritendinous adhesions.

METHODSSprague-Dawley (SD) rat Achilles tendon was cut and sutured by a modified Kessler's technique with or without the collagen membrane wrapped. Macroscopic, morphological and biomechanical evaluations were applied to examine the recovery of the injured tendon at 4 and 8 weeks after surgery.

RESULTSThe surgery group wrapped by collagen membranes had a better outcome than the group with surgery repair only. In the collagen membrane-treated group, less adhesion appeared, stronger tensile strength was detected, and more tendon fibers and collagen I expression were observed morphologically.

CONCLUSIONWrapping the tendon with a collagen membrane may be an efficient approach for tendon repair and preventing tendon adhesion after its ruptures.

Achilles Tendon ; injuries ; Animals ; Collagen ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Tendon Injuries ; surgery ; Tissue Adhesions ; prevention & control ; Wound Healing

The dialysis method was employed to load adriamycin into the micelles formed by temperature and pH sensitive polyhistidine-co-DL-lactide-co-glycolide-polyethylene glycol poly DL-lactide-co-glycolide-co-histidine (OLH-b-PLGA-b-PEG-b-PLGA-b-OLH). The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the copolymer was measured with pyrene fluorescent probe method under different temperatures. The entrapment rate and drug-loading rate were determined with dialysis method. The diameter, morphology and surface potential of the copolymer micelles were investigated by corresponding instruments, respectively. The release behavior of adriamycin from copolymer micelles and the pH sensitivity were studied. The CMC of the copolymers ranged from 0.022 4 to 0.001 7 microg x mL(-1). The entrapment rate and drug-loading rate were 92.8% and 15.7%, respectively. The micelles have a mean diameter of (61.7 +/- 13.4) nm, and zeta potential was -9.88 mV. The in vitro adriamycin release rate increased with the pH dropping from 7.4 to 5.0. The results indicated that the CMC of the copolymers decreased as the raising of temperature, drug release behavior from the micelles possessed clearly pH sensitivity, and the copolymers may have a potential in targeted delivery system for anticancer drugs.
Doxorubicin ; administration & dosage ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; Drug Carriers ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Micelles ; Polyethylene Glycols ; chemistry ; Polyglactin 910 ; chemistry ; Technology, Pharmaceutical ; methods ; Temperature

BACKGROUNDSeprase plays an important role in malignant cell invasion and metastasis by degrading the extracellular matrix. However, its clinical significance remains largely unknown. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the expression of seprase in effusions from patients with epithelial ovarian carcinoma and its clinical values.

METHODSImmunohistochemistry was used to examine the expression of seprase protein in a series of 74 malignant peritoneal (n = 64) and pleural (n = 10) effusions from Norwegian patients with epithelial ovarian carcinoma. Additionally, 34 effusions were evaluated using the Western blotting. Nine reactive effusions, obtained from patients with benign lesions, served as a control group. Statistical analyses were carried out by Chi-square test and Kaplan-Meier method.

RESULTSIn the 74 malignant effusion specimens, 57 (77.02%) were positive for seprase, while only 2 (22.22%) of the control group were positively stained (P = 0.001). In the malignant effusions, 17 (22.97%), 22 (29.73%), 22 (29.73%), 13 (17.57%) had negative, weak, moderate and strong seprase protein expression, respectively. The expression of seprase protein was predominant in cytoplasm of carcinoma cells. Increased seprase protein was negatively associated with the overall survival rate of the patients (P = 0.03). However, there was no significant correlation between protein expression and FIGO stage, age, histology, and histological grade. By Western blotting, 27 of the 34 effusions showed the presence of both 170-kD dimeric form and 97-KD monomeric form of seprase while only 1 of the 34 had 170-KD dimeric form, which was consistent with the results of immunohistochemistry (P = 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSSeprase may be involved in the development of ovarian cancer, and is a potential predictive marker for the disease.

Ascitic Fluid ; enzymology ; pathology ; Blotting, Western ; Epithelial Cells ; pathology ; Female ; Gelatinases ; metabolism ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Membrane Proteins ; metabolism ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Norway ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; enzymology ; pathology ; Pleural Effusion, Malignant ; enzymology ; pathology ; Serine Endopeptidases ; metabolism

Objective To investigate serum vitamin D levels and influencing factors in elderly patients with stage 3 to 4 chronic kidney disease (CKD) and to analyze the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH).Methods This study involved 107 elderly outpatients (≥60 years) with stage 3 to 4 CKD who had visited Beijing Hospital between January 2014 and September 2016.We retrospectively analyzed their clinical and laboratory data including gender,age,height,weight,blood pressure,glycosylated hemoglobin,hemoglobin (Hb),albumin,creatinine,lipid,calcium,phosphorus,intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH),high sensitivity C-reactive protein,B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP),25-OH-D3,and ultrasonic cardiogram.Based on estimated glomerular filtration rate,patients were divided into three groups:the stage 3a CKD group,the stage 3b CKD group,and the stage 4 CKD group.Differences in the parameters between the groups were compared.In addition,25-OH-D3 levels were used to determine whether the patient had vitamin D deficiency and the left ventricular mass index was used to identify left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH),and the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and LVH was examined.Results Body mass index,body surface area and calcium levels declined while age,phosphorus and BNP levels increased with the development of stage 3a,stage 3b and stage 4 CKD.Mean 25 O)H-D3 levels were 22.6 (5.9-58.0) μg/L and 17.5 (10.1 46.3) μg/L for CKD stage 3 and 4 patients,respectively,and the difference between them was statistically significant (Z =-2.121,P 0.033).Compared with patients with no vitamin D deficiency,patients with vitamin D deficiency were more likely to be female (x2 7.460,P=0.006) and were associated with higher P (Z=-2.090,P=0.037),iPTH (Z=-2.855,P=0.004) and BNP (Z=-3.134,P 0.002),and lower Hb (t=-3.305,P=0.001).The rates of LVH in vitamin D deficient patients and non-vitamin D deficient patients were 8 cases(34.8 ％) and 12 cases(14.3 ％),respectively (P=0.035).Conclusions Vitamin D levels show progressive decline as chronic kidney disease advances into later stages.In addition,vitamin D deficiency is more common among female patients and is often accompanied by lower Hb levels,higher BNP levels and higher incidences of calcium-phosphate metabolism disorders and LVH.The results suggest that vitamin D may play an important role in renal anemia,calcium-phosphate metabolism and LVH.