Objective To evaluate the different methods,such as indirect immunefluorescence assay with HEp-2 cell substrate(HEp-2-IFA)or with liver substrate(Liver-IFA)and ELISA,for determining antinuclear antibody(ANA)as an indicator of SLE.Methods Medline,Embase and CBM were searched from 1990 to 2005.Thirteen articles that described ANA as an indicator of SLE were selected according to specified inclusion criteria.All data from these articles were evaluated systematically by RevMan software.Results The odds ratios(OR)of ANA detected by HEp-2-IFA or Liver-IFA or ELISA were 100.55(P

A variety of cytomorphological features, architectural patterns and stromal changes may be observed in malignant melanomas. Hence, melanomas may mimiccarcinomas, sarcomas, benign stromal tumours, lymphomas, plasmacytomas and germ cell tumours. Melanomas may be composed of large pleomorphic cells, small cells, spindle cells and may contain clear, signet-ring, pseudolipoblastic, rhabdoid, plasmacytoid or balloon cells. Various inclusions and phagocytosed material may be present in their cytoplasm. Nuclei may show bi- or multi-nucleation, lobation, inclusions, grooving and angulation. Architectural variations include fasciculation, whorling, nestion, trabeculation, pseudoglandular, pseudopapillary, pseudofollicular, pseudorosetting and angiocentric patterns. Mucoid or desmoplastic changes and very rarely pseudoangiosarcomatous change, granulomatous inflammation or osteoclastic giant cell response may be seen in the stroma. The stromal blood vessels may exhibit a haemangiopericytomatous pattern, proliferation of glomeruloid blood vessels and perivascular hyalinization. Occasionally, differentiation to nonmelanocytic structures (Schwannian, fibro/myofibroblastic, osteocartilaginous, smooth muscle, rhabdomyoblastic, ganglionic and ganglioneuroblastic) may be observed. Typically melanomas are S-100 protein, NKIC3, HMB45, Melan A and tyrosinase positive but some melanomas may exhibit an aberrant immunophenotype and may express cytokeratins, desmin, smooth muscle actin, CD68, CEA, EMA and VS38. Very rarely, neurofilament protein and GFAP positivity may be seen.

Objective To study the changes of serum protein spectrum in patients with systematic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in order to screen specific protein markers. Methods Serum samples from 72 patients with SLE and 85 age- and sex-matched controls were assessed using surface-enhanced laser desorp-tion/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS) with weak cation exchange (CM10) pro-rein chip. Forty samples from the patients and 50 control samples were randomly selected to serve as a pre-liminary training set; significantly different protein peaks were automatically chosen for the system training and development of a decision classification tree model. The validity of the model was then challenged with a blind test set (including another 32 samples from patients and 35 from human controls). Results A total of 73 effective protein peaks were detected within the mass/charge ratio (m/z) interval 2000 - 50000, among which, 15 protein peaks significantly differed between patients with SLE and controls (P < 0.01). Three pro-tein peaks with an m/z value of 4001, 6305 and 7356 were automatically chosen as a biomarker pattern in the training set that discriminated patients with SLE from controls with a sensitivity of 90.0% (36/40), speci-ficity of 92.0% (46/50) and accuracy rate of 91.1% (82/90). When the SELDI marker pattern was tested with the blinded test set, it yielded a sensitivity of 87.5% (28/32), specificity of 91.4% (32/35) and accuracy rate of 89.6% (60/67). Conclusions SELDI-TOF-MS protein chip could be used to screen serum protein for SLE, and the decision classification tree model with these biomarkers may favor the diagnosis of SLE.

Objective The tissue culture of the stem apex of Knoxia valerianoides was done to research the optimum culture medium for test-tube seedlings for large-scale planting.Methods The stem apex of wild K.valerianoides was used as the explants and cultivated in different culture media separately to induce fascicled-bud,root,and plantlet regeneration.Results The cultural medium MS+BA 2.0 mg/L+NAA 0.1 mg/L was suitable for the sub-multiplication of fascicled bud and the medium 1/2MS+NAA 1.0 mg/L for root inducement and the plantlet regeneration.The transplantation survival rate of the plantlet regeneration was 70%.Conclusion The tissue culture of K.valerianoides could be used to produce test-tube seedlings for large-scale planting.

Aim To investigate how Farnesoid X re-ceptor (FXR),a nuclear hormone receptor,acts on neurological behaviors such as emotion,social behav-ior,memory and so on.Methods FXR’s function in central nervous system was evaluated by conducting a battery of behavioral tests including elevated plus maze test (EPMT),forced-swimming test (FST),social in-teraction test (SIT ), and passive avoidance test (PAT),and the contents of neurotransmitters were de-termined by the LC-MS /MS method in FXR knockout (KO)female mice and their wild-type controls.Re-sults FXR KO mice showed significantly increased immobility time in FST (P <0.01 ),and it showed in-creased tendency to enter the open arms in EMPT (P<0.01 ).The number of probing the open arms by FXR KO mice was more than that of the controls.Mo-reover,in SIT,FXR KO mice had remarkably in-creased sniffing interactions with the stranger mouse in the same cage (P <0.01 ).But in PAT,the latency for FXR KO mice to enter the dark chamber on the test day and the number of FXR KO mice to enter the dark chamber didn’t differ from those wild-type mice.In hippocampus,the contents of GABA,Glu,and NE were decreased prominently in FXR KO mice (P <0.05,P <0.05 and P <0.01 ,respectively)as well as the ratio of GABA to Glu (P <0.05).But in pre-frontal cortex,none of the neurotransmitters examined showed any difference between FXR KO mice and their controls.Conclusion FXR may be involved in main-tenance of the homeostasis of neural transmission in the central nervous system,thereby influences the emotion-al and social behavior in animals.

BACKGROUNDTo determine the binding activity of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B) and the transcription of transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) induced by oxidized low density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL) in rat mesangial cells and to elucidate the mechanism of renal injury of Ox-LDL.

METHODSNF-kappa B binding activity was measured by gel shift assay in mesangial cells with or without inducement of Ox-LDL. Protein kinase inhibitors and activators were then used to determine the signal transduction pathways. In this course I kappa B protein expression was analyzed by Western blot assay. TGF-beta 1 mRNA was measured in mesangial cells exposed to Ox-LDL by RT-PCR assay. TGF-beta 1 promoter from -1551 to +57 were constructed into a pGL3-Basic vector with a luciferase reporting gene. A putative binding site of NF-kappa B was mutated. The wild and mutant promoters activity was analyzed by transfection into mesangial cells.

RESULTSNF-kappa B was activated by Ox-LDL persistently and rebounded in the early period. Ox-LDL induced NF-kappa B activation in a dose dependent way. It also induced I kappa B degradation in 2 hours and resumed to normal levels. NF-kappa B activation was not alleviated by inhibitors of protein kinase A (PKA), extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), and p38 MAP kinase (p38MAPK). Inhibitors of protein kinase C (PKC) and proteinsome inhibited the enhancement of NF-kappa B binding activity. Ox-LDL induced the transcription of TGF-beta1 in a time and dose dependent manner. Mutation of the putative binding site of NF-kappa B reduced the activity of TGF-beta1 promoter.

CONCLUSIONOx-LDL induced activation of NF-kappa B persistently. It was probably regulated by the degradation of I kappa B mediated by PKC pathway. NF-kappa B may be involved in the enhancement of TGF-beta 1 induced by Ox-LDL in rat mesangial cells.

Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Electrophoresis ; Glomerular Mesangium ; cytology ; Lipoproteins, LDL ; pharmacology ; physiology ; Mutation ; NF-kappa B ; metabolism ; physiology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Transcription, Genetic ; physiology ; Transfection ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; genetics ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1

Objective To investigate the effect and mechanism of pulmonary artery pressure on exercise capacity after acute high altitude exposure .Methods A total of 231 persons were recruited in this study , whose vital signs,SaO2 and physical working capacity ( PWC170 ) exercise capacity were collected .The difference between groups with normal and increased MPAP was observed .Results mean pulmonary artery pressure ( MPAP ) and right ventricle ( RV )-Tei index increased substantially after acute high altitude exposure ,while PWC170 was remarkably decreased .Furthermore,it was found that those whose MPAP increased(MPAP≥25 mmHg)had higher RV-Tei and lower PWC170(P<0.01) in acute high altitude exposure group .Correlation analysis suggested that there were different levels of correlation between MPAP, RV-Tei and PWC170(P<0.01).Conclusion After acute high altitude exposure , the increased pulmonary artery pressure is one of the main causes of lowered exercise capacity .The mechanism may be associated with the decrease of right heart functions .

Objective:To explore the relations among screen-based sedentary behaviors ( SSB) , family factors and body mass index ( BMI) of children, and to study how family factors have effect on BMI through influencing SSB. Methods:A total of 1 846 students aged 7-11 years from 12 primary schools in one district of Beijing were included. Their body weight and height were measured to calculate the BMI. The time of SSB and family factors were investigated by using questionnaires. The time of SSB was the total time of watching TV and videos, playing computer games and iPad each day during the past 7 days recalled by children. The family factors included the parents’ education, occupation, the parents’ time of SSB, whether the parents told their child the harm of SSB, the parents’ time limit for the children’ s SSB. The parents’ education and occupation were used for calculating the family socioeconomic score. Results:The median time of SSB for children was 1 hour/day, and the interquartile range was 1 hour/day. The BMI of the children with the parents’ time limit for the children’ s SSB less than 120 min/day were smaller than the children with the parents’ time limit not less than 120 min/day, in both the boys (1. 63 kg/m2,P<0. 001) and the girls (0. 85 kg/m2, P=0. 004). The family socioeconomic score, the parents’ SSB time, whether the parents told their children the harm of SSB were not related to the children’ s BMI . The mediation effects of SSB time for children on the association between the parents’ time limit for the children’s SSB and BMI were-0. 222 kg/m2(95%CI:-0. 432, -0. 095) for boys and-0. 187 kg/m2 (95%CI: -0. 507, -0. 049) for girls , which accounted for 13. 67% of the total effects for boys and 22. 11% for girls. Conclusion:The parents’ time limit for the children’ s SSB has effect on their BMI through influencing their SSB time. Parents’ supervision on the behaviors of children produces larger benefit for BMI than health education conveyed by parents. Therefore, parents’ participation in su-pervising the behaviors of children are indispensable for preventing and controlling childhood obesity.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have reported the effect of aldosterone receptor antagonist (ARA) on myocardial remodeling after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). This study was undertaken to investigate the preventive effect of ARA on myocardial remodeling after AMI.METHODS: A total of 616 patients who had been admitted into the CCU of the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University from January 2008 to January 2010 were studied prospectively. Only 528 patients were observed completely, including 266 of the control group and 262 of the treatment group. There was no statistical difference in age, gender, medical history, admission situation, and treatment between the two groups (P>0.05). The preventive effects of spironolactone on cardiac remodeling, left ventricular function, renal function and blood levels of potassium were evaluated by echocardiography, serum potassium and serum creatinine at one-month and one-year follow-up.RESULTS: The echocardiography indicators such as LVESD, LVEDD, LVEF, LAD-ML and LAD-SI were signifi cantly improved in the treatment group compared with the control group at one year (P<0.05). In the treatment group, LVESD, LVEDD, LVPWT, LVEF, LAD-ML and LAD-SI were more significantly improved at one year than one month (P<0.05,P=0.007 to LVEF), and in the control group LVEF was more signifi cantly improved at one year than one month (P=0.0277). There were no signifi cant differences in serum potassium and serum creatinine levels between the two groups.CONCLUSION: On the basis of conventional treatment, the early combination of low-dose spironolactone (20 mg/d) could inhibit cardiac remodeling at late stage and prevent heart failure.

Objective To evaluated the application value of mean corpuscular volume(MCV) and red blood cell volume distribu-tion width(RDW) in predicting early treatment responses of non-severe aplastic anemia(NSAA) .Methods 101 cases of patients who were newly diagnosed with non-severe aplastic anemia and were treated with Cyclosporine (CsA)combined androgen therapy . Treatment before baseline MCV ,RDW value were measured ,treatment for 3 months ,6 months test routine blood ,reticulocyte indi-cators and treatment results were statistically analyzed and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of MCV ,RDW in predicting early treatment results .Results The level of MCV and RDW in non-severe aplastic anemia were significantly higher than normal reference .the responded patients had significantly higher pretreatment base-line MCV value than those non-responded .especially at 6 month ,baseline MCV were 105 .10 fl and 98 .30 fl respectively (P=0 .025) .the responded patients had significantly lower pretreatment baseline RDW value than those non-responded .especially at 3 month .baseline RDW were 14 .60% and 16 .60% respectively(P=0 .001) .The cutoff level of MCV (100 fL) and RDW (15 .55% ) for the predicting 3 and 6 month treatment responses were established based on the ROC curve ,with degree of accurancy of MCV was 62 .4% ,61 .4% and RDW 70 .3% ,63 .4% respectively .compared the treatment efficacy acuity MCV ≥100 fL/RDW <15 .55%group was significantly better than MCV < 100 fL/RDW≥15 .55% group .Multivariate analysis showed that pretreatment RDW and absolute reticulocyte value was the early prognostic factor of NSAA treatment effect .84 patients with ARC ≥ 20 × 109/L , through RDW cutoff Layered compare treatment response :RDW<15 .55% group was significantly better than the RDW≥15 .55%group(P=0 .000) .Conclusion MCV can not serve as of a significant predictor of early treatment response in non-severe aplastic a-nemia .RDW can serve as of the bone marrow failure severity indicators and a significant predictor of early treatment response in non-severe aplastic anemia .The joint reticulocyte absolute value parameters ,which can more accurately predict treatment efficacy .