Objective To investigate the relationship of plasma level of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in patients with essential hypertension. Methods The plasma level of BNP was measured with electrochemiluminescence immunoassay method in 32 hyper- tensive patients without left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) (NLVH group), 30 patients with essen- tial hypertension with LVH (LVH group), and 30 healthy adults (control group). Doppler echocar- diography was employed to determine left ventrieular mass index (LVMI) and observe the correlation of plasma BNP level with LVMI. Results The plasma BNP level was significantly elevated in LVH group than that of NLVH group and control group (P<0.01). The plasma BNP level was significant- ly higher in NLVH group than that of control group (P<0.01). BNP level was positively correlated with LVMI in hypertensive patients with LVH (r= 0.64, P<0. 01). Conclusion BNP level may reflex the degree of left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with essential hypertension.

AIM:To construct eukaryotic expression vector of Sirt2 and detect its expression in HEK293 cells. METHODS: Total RNA was isolated from brain tissue of a-dult SD rat. A 1 130 bp fragment containing the coding region of Sirt2 was amplified by RT-PCR and the resulting PCR product was subcloned into PMD20-T vector and se-quenced. Coding region of Sirt2 was generated with PCR by using the PMD20-T-Sirt2 as template, the amplified PCR fragment was inserted into the EcoR I and Hind Ⅲ sites of the pcDNA3. 1myc-his(-)A expression vector, and the sequence was confirmed by DNA sequencing. The expression of new construct pcDNA3.1 myc-his(-) A-Sirt2 in HEK293 cells was detected by immunofluorescence. RESULTS: The full length coding region of Sirt2 was obtained and confirmed by sequencing, the expression of Sirt2 was detected successfully in HEK293 cells. CONCLUSION: The eukaryotic expression vector of Sirt2 has been successfully constructed, which will provide a useful tool for designing an in-depth investigation of the role of Sirt2.

Objective To analyze the diagnostic and clinical characteristics of aortic dissection (AD) and to evaluate the imaging findings and their clinical significance. Methods The clinical characteristics and imaging findings in 32 AD patients were analyzed retrospectively. Results Hypertension was the primary pathogen for AD. The first and main symptoms included acute chest and back pain. Chest X ray examination was the screening method for AD. Computerized tomography (CT) and transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) had higher sensitivity, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) had the highest accuracy. Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) was performed mainly for preoperative diagnosis or endovascular graft exclusion. Conclusion The clinical characteristics of AD include sudden onset, high risk, and varied and complicated clinical manifestations. Option of one or all of the chest X ray examinations, including TTE, CT, MRI, and DSA, may be the most important method for the diagnosis of AD.

Cysts ; complications ; Exophthalmos ; complications ; Frontal Sinus ; pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Paranasal Sinus Diseases ; complications

Objective To develop a highly sensitive and accurate time-resolved immunofluorometric assay (TR-IFMA) for measurement of Dickkopf-1(DKK-1),as a novel serologic biomarker for lung cancer. Methods The study constructed a two-manoclonal-antibody "sandwich"-type assay and the sensitivity, within run CV and between run CV and accuracy were evaluated. Serum DKK-1 concentrations were measured by TR-IFMA in 120 healthy controls, in 72 benign lung disease patients, and in 212 lung cancer patients before surgery. The association between serum DKK-1 levels and clinicopathological features were evaluated. Results A standard curve for DKK-1 TR-IFMA had been developed with good sensitivity (0.08 μg/L). Both within run CV and between run CV were less than 6.5%. Accuracy studies, parallelism and precision data were determined and all found to be satisfactory. The validity of DKK-1 assay was confirmed by the good correlation between the results obtained by TR-IFMA and commercial ELISA (r=0.972, P=0.01). The serum levels of DKK-1 were higher in lung cancer patients 31.93(79.47-18.03) μg/L than in benign lung diseases 15.25(18.41-11.49) μg/L and in healthy controls 13. 90( 16. 91-11.02) μg/L DKK-1 levels were significant associated with the presence of distant metastases, as well as lymph node metastases and TNM stage, but not with patients' age, gender and tumor histology. At the cutoff of 22.63 μg/L, the diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of the TR-IFMA for lung carcinoma were 68.4%, 92.2%, 82.1% ,90.6% and 72.5%. Diagnostic sensitivity and accuracy were higher for small cell carcinoma than for non-small cell carcinoma (70.7% vs 69.5% and 85.6% vs 80.7%, respectively). Conclusions A highly sensitive and reliable TR-IFMA for DKK-1 has been developed. The determination of serum DKK-1 levels may be useful for diagnosis and tumor staging of lung cancer.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Low Back Pain ; etiology ; Male ; Spinal Puncture ; adverse effects

Objective:To investigate the role of SDF-1/CXCR4 in metastasis of renal cell carcinoma and to observe the intracellular location of different CXCR4 segments in renal carcinoma cells.Methods:The potential nuclear localization sequences of different CXCR4 were discovered by nuclear localization software and experiments.Full length and truncated forms of CXCR4 were fused with green fluorescent protein pEGFP-N1 and their influence on subcellular localization was examined by confocal microscopy after transfecting them into renal carcinoma cell line A498.Results:Analysis with PSORT Ⅱ Prediction revealed that the nuclear localization sequence region of CXCR4 was located between amino acids 146 and 149(RPRK).Expression products of the recombinant plasmids with SDF-1 stimulation,including EGFP-CXCR4(1-510 bp),EGFP-CXCR4(1-765 bp) and wild-type EGFP-CXCR4,were mainly located in the cell nuclei.However,expression product of EGFP-CXCR4(1-267 bp) with SDF-1 stimulation was mainly located in the renal cell cytoplasm.Expression product of wild-type EGFP-CXCR4 full length plasmid without SDF-1 stimulation was mainly located in the cell cytoplasm;these results accorded with the results of bioinformatics analysis.Conclusion:Nuclear localization sequence of CXCR4 is located in the amino acids 90 to 170,which provides a theoretical basis for further clarifying the nuclear localization sequences of CXCR4 in renal cell carcinoma cells and for finding new potential target for inhibiting the metastasis of renal cell carcinoma.

BackgroundChondroitin sulfate(CS) is a highly viscous and elastic acid mucopolysaccharide extracted from animal soft tissues,with a wide range of biological activity for use in clinical ophthalmology.Interim preservation solution containing CS has a significant protective effect on corneal endothelial cells (CECs).However,the protective effect played by CS in long-term glycerol cryopreservation of CECs remains to be studied.Objective This study is mainly attempted to investigate the protective effect of CS on graft CECs after cryopreservation by glycerin,and to compare the preserving outcome with that of sodium hyaluronate (SH).MethodsOne hundred and four eyes of fifty-two female Wistar rats were divided into four groups randomly.The cornea grafts were evenly anointed on the surface of the endothelium by 3％ CS and 1％ SH,respectively,and then cryopreserved in glycerol in the 3％ CS group and 1％ SH group,and the corneas cryopreserved only in glycerin were assigned to the glycerin only group.The fresh corneas of matched rats were used as the normal control group.Ninety-six female SD rats were appointed as recipients to receive allogeneic penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) 2 months after the graft cryopreservation.The viability of CECs on the corneas cryopreserved for 20 days and grafts of 14 days following surgery was assessed using trypan blue & alizarin red stain.The ultrastructure of cryopreserved corneas was examined under a transmission electron microscope.The rejection index (RI) and graft survival time were evaluated by inflammatory scoring under the slit lamp 1 day after operation,and regular pathological examination was performed after 7,14 or 30 days.The expression of transforming growth factor-β1 ( TGF-β1 ) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 ( ICAM-1 ) in corneas and grafts were detected by immunochemistry.ResultsCECs morphology was normal in fresh cornea in normal control group,presenting no blue stained cells after trypan blue staining.In the 3％ CS group,few blue-stained cells were seen:however,the number of blue-stained cells noticeably increased in the 1％ SH group and glycerin only group.The viability and density of CECs were significantly lower in the 1％ SH group and glycerin only group,compared with the 3％ CS group (P＜0.05).Edema of the endoplasmic reticulum,inflammatory infiltration and neovascularization were more severe in the 1％ SH group and glycerin only group than the 3％ CS group 14 days after PKP.Compared with the 1％ SH group and glycerin only group,the R1 of the 3％ CS group was significantly reduced and the CECs survival time was delayed after PKP ( P＜0.05 ).Immunochemistry revealed that the expression of TGF-β1 in grafts (A value)was up-regulated and that of ICAM-1 was down-regulated in the 3％ CS group,compared with the 1％ SH group and glycerin only group ( P＜0.05).ConclusionsThe combination of 3％ CS with glycerol to cryopreserve corneal donor can maintain the viability of CECs for a longer duration and improve the effectiveness of PKP.

Objective To explore the causes of congenital hypothyroidism by single photon emission computed tomography(SPECT) thyroid imaging.Methods Nineteen cases with congenital hypothyroidism were collected,and SPECT thyroid imaging was performed 15 minutes late after injected 99m TcO_ 4- 18.5-37.0 MBq.Results Five cases were found with normal glands,1 case with enlarged thyroid, 2 cases with enlarged thyroid and increased radiation,4 cases with ectopic thyroid,4 with a hypogenetic thyroid,and the last 3 cases showed no thyroid imaging.Conclusions The causes of congenital hypothyroidism can be found by SPECT thyroid imaging,which is important to the diagnosis of congenital hypothyroidism combined with detection of T_3,T_4,TSH.

OBJECTIVE: To explore a simple speedy specific and sensitive method to detect specific IgM (sIgM) and IgG (sIgG) antibodies of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS),and to study the therapeutic effects of integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine on HFRS. METHODS: The serum of 559 patients with HFRS were tested with colloidal gold immuno-dot assay (CGIDA) for sIgM and sIgG antibodies and compared with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT). One hundred and one patients with HFRS were randomized into treatment group (n=50),treated with Kuhuang Injection, Shenmai Injection and Huangqi Liquid) and control group (n=51),treated with Ribarvirin and Ganlixin Injection). RESULTS: The positive rate of sIgM detected with CGIDA was 70.8% and the positive rate of sIgG detected with CGIDA was 87.5%. The days for fever decline, symptoms alleviation and sign relief between the treatment group and control group were similar (P>0.05). The days for recovery of kidney function in the control group was less than that in the treatment group (P<0.01). The rate of crossing shock stage in the treatment group was higher than that of the control group (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: CGIDA was more simple, speedy, specific and sensitive than ELISA or IFAT in detecting the sIgM or sIgG antibodies in serum of patients with HFRS. Although the sensitivity of CGIDA was lower than that of ELISA the CGIDA had no false positive reaction the sensitivity of CGIDA was higher than that of IFAT on detecting IgG. The effect of the treatment group was similar to that of the control group. But the crossing shock stage rate in the treatment group was higher than that of the control group while the control group was better than the treatment group in recovering the kidney function.