To investigate the effects of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) therapy for clearing heat and resolving phlegm on systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) in acute deterioration stage of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the serum procalcitonin (PCT) level.

Objective The aim is to observe the role and mechanism of estradiol ( E2 ) on the proliferation of rat hippocampal neural stem cells ( NSCs ) .Methods Twenty hippocampi from embryonic 17-day ( E17 ) SD rats were dissociated and plated into culture flasks with NSCs specific medium containing different concentrations of estradiol .The proliferation and the vitality of NSCs were detected by immunofluorescence against BrdU and MTT assay .The expression of estrogen receptors ( ERαand ERβ) was measured by immunofluorescence staining combined with Nestin double labeling . Results BrdU and MTT assay results showed that the cell number increased when the concentration of estradiol increased from 10 -10 to 10 -8 mol/L.The number of cell proliferation and the viability of cells were best at the concentration of 10 -8 mol/L compared to the other groups .However, when the estradiol concentration was increased from 10-8 to 10 -6 mol/L, the cell proliferative capacity declined gradually .Double immunofluorescence labeling showed that the two types of estrogen receptors ( ERαand ERβ) were expressed in the cultured hippocampal NSCs .Conclusion Estradiol promotes the proliferation of hippocampal NSCs in a certain concentration range , and ERαand ERβmay be involved in the estradiol-induced proliferation .

Objective To study the effect of lipopolysaccharide(LPS)on the endo-pulmonary natrium channel(ENaC)expression in the lung of rats with acute lung injured.Method Sixteen rats were randomly divided into normal control group and LPS-group.Rats of normal control group and LPS-group were killed at 6 hours after intravenous injection of normal saline(8 ml/kg)or LPS(8 mg/kg).The extent of lung injury was assessed by arterial blood gas analysis and histological examination.At the same time,?-ENaC protein and???- ENaC mRNA expression in the lung tissue were analyzed by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR.Results PaO_2 in LPS-group was noticeably lower than in normal control group(P

Objective Clinical data of 19 Chinese patients with 21 hydroxylase deficiency (21OHD) were analyzed to improve the diagnosis and treatment level. Methods Clinical features and laboratory data were collected from 19 patients with 21OHD before and after treatment. Results In male patients, the average age of early appearance of secondary sexual character was (9.3?2.8)yrs, and excess androgen resulted in phallic enlargement. Primary amenorrhea was the most common complaint in female(87.5%), and the signs included a varying degree of labioscrotal fusion and clitoral enlargement. The average level of 17-hydroxy progesterone(17OHP) was (63.42?35.07) ?g/L, and adrenocorticotrophic hormone(ACTH), dehydroepiandrosterone(sodium) sulfate(DHEAS) and testosterone(T) were obviously elevated. CT scan showed bilateral adrenal hyperplasia. The level of 17OHP was significantly decreased after treatment[(63.42?35.07) ?g/L vs (3.15?2.71) ?g/L](P

OBJECTIVEThis study compared the differences in clinical features between chronic aplastic anemia (CAA) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) in children in order to provide a basis for the differential diagnosis of the two diseases.

METHODSA retrospective study of 23 cases of CAA and 9 cases of MDS from September 2007 to September 2010 was performed. The clinical data including routine blood test results, reticulocyte counts, serum lactate dehydrogenase level, serum ferritin level, cytological examination of bone marrow, bone marrow CD34+ cell counts, bone marrow chromosome and FISH test results were compared between the CAA and MDS groups.

RESULTSNeutrophils, reticulocytes, and serum ferritin and lactate dehydrogenase levels increased in the MDS group compared with those in the CAA group. There were significant differences in bone marrow blast cell counts and dyshematopoiesis phenomena of three lines blood cells between the CAA and MDS groups. The bone marrow CD34+ cell counts and the rate of chromosomal abnormalities detected in bone marrow cytogenetic analysis in the MDS group were significantly higher than those in the CAA group.

CONCLUSIONSThere are differences in the results of laboratory examinations and morphological and cytogenetic examinations of bone marrow between the children with CAA and MDS. The differences are useful to the differential diagnosis of the two diseases.

Anemia, Aplastic ; genetics ; pathology ; Bone Marrow Examination ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Chromosome Aberrations ; Chronic Disease ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Myelodysplastic Syndromes ; genetics ; pathology

Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Hepatitis, Viral, Animal ; virology ; Humans ; Mice ; Murine hepatitis virus ; genetics ; pathogenicity ; physiology

Animals ; Bone Marrow Cells ; cytology ; Cell Separation ; methods ; Cells, Cultured ; Male ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; cytology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of curcumin (Cur) on radiosensitivity of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell CNE-2 and its mechanism.

METHODThe effect of curcumin on radiosensitivity was determined by the clone formation assay. The cell survival curve was fitted by Graph prism 6. 0. The changes in cell cycle were analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM). The differential expression of long non-coding RNA was detected by gene chip technology. Part of differentially expressed genes was verified by Real-time PCR.

RESULTAfter 10 micro mol L-1 Cur had worked for 24 h, its sensitization enhancement ratio was 1. 03, indicating that low concentration of curcumin could increase the radiosensitivity of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells; FCM displayed a significant increase of G2 phase cells and significant decrease of S phase cells in the Cur combined radiation group. In the Cur group, the GUCY2GP, H2BFXP, LINC00623 IncRNA were significantly up-regulated and ZRANB2-AS2 LOC100506835, FLJ36000 IncRNA were significantly down-regulated.

CONCLUSIONCur has radiosensitizing effect on human nasopharyngeal carcinoma CNE-2 cells. Its mechanism may be related to the changes in the cell cycle distribution and the expression of long non-coding IncRNA.

Cell Cycle ; drug effects ; radiation effects ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; radiation effects ; Curcumin ; pharmacology ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; drug effects ; radiation effects ; Humans ; RNA, Long Noncoding ; genetics ; Radiation Tolerance ; drug effects

Mounting evidence has demonstrated that CD4(+) T cells play an important role in anti-tumor immune responses. Thus, adoptive transfer of these cells may have great potential for anti-cancer therapy. However, due to the difficulty to generate sufficient tumor-specific CD4(+) T cells, the use of CD4(+) T cells in tumor therapy is limited. It has been found that IL-15 transfection enhances the proliferation and anti-tumor activity of tumor-specific CD8(+) T cells, but the effect of IL-15 transfection on CD4(+) T cells remains unknown. Here, the effects of retrovirus-mediated IL-15 expression in Ova-specific CD4(+) T cells from Do11.10 mice were evaluated and it was discovered that IL-15 transfected CD4(+) T cells expressed both soluble and membrane-bound IL-15. Retrovirus-mediated IL-15 expression led to a selective expansion of antigen-specific CD4(+) T cells by inhibiting their apoptosis. In vivo IL-15 transfected CD4(+) T cells were more effective in suppressing tumor growth than control retroviral vector transfected ones. To ensure the safety of the method, the employment of thymidine kinase gene made it possible to eliminate these transgenic CD4(+) T cells following ganciclovir treatment. Together, we show that IL-15 transfection induced a selective expansion of antigen-specific CD4(+) T cells ex vivo and enhanced their tumor-suppression effects in vivo. This has an important significance for improving the efficacy of adoptive T cell therapy.
Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes ; cytology ; drug effects ; immunology ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Genetic Vectors ; genetics ; Humans ; Interleukin-15 ; metabolism ; Mice ; Mice, Transgenic ; Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; genetics ; Retroviridae ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo study the rate of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seroconversion, HIV transmission and related risk factors among injecting drug users (IDUs) in an area of Sichuan province.

METHODSIn November 2002, a community-based baseline survey was conducted to recruit 333 HIV-seronegative IDUs for a prospective cohort study in Xichang county of Sichuan province, China. Follow-up visits were carried out every 6 months to study the situation of drug use, sexual behaviors of the IDUs and blood specimens were collected to test for antibodies against HIV and syphilis.

RESULTSDuring a 24-month follow-up period, cohort retention rate and HIV incidence were 75.7% and 2.53 per 100 person-years [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.10-3.97)], respectively. Multivariate Poisson regression model showed that risk factors which were significantly associated with HIV seroconversion would include: ethnicity (RR = 12.42; 95% CI: 2.72-56.74, P = 0.0012) and needle or syringe sharing in the past 3 months (RR = 4.06; 95% CI: 1.29-12.81, P = 0.0168). Syphilis seroconversion in this cohort was 4.71 per 100 person-years (95% CI: 2.59-6.82). In multivariate Poisson regression being female (RR = 4.42; 95% CI: 1.78-10.99, P = 0.0014) appeared to be the only factor which was significantly associated with syphilis seroconversion.

CONCLUSIONOur study results showed that there was a rapid transmission of HIV and syphilis among IDUs in Sichuan province, suggesting that effective intervention should be urgently taken.

Cohort Studies ; HIV Seropositivity ; immunology ; transmission ; Humans ; Prospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Sexual Behavior ; Substance Abuse, Intravenous ; Syphilis ; immunology ; transmission