OBJECTIVETo observe the effects of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) on repairing extracellular matrix in rabbit knee osteoarthritis and analyze its mechanism.

METHODSSixty adult female rabbits with an average weight of (2.0 ± 0.2) kg, were divided randomly into two groups (experimental group and control group, 30 rabbits in each group). All rabbits were replicated in right knees by Hulth method for knee osteoarthritis model. Two weeks after operation, the rabbits in experimental group were treated with LIPUS, and the ultrasonic frequency was (800 ± 5%)KHz and the maximum intensities of spatially averaged and time averaged (SATA) was (50 ± 10%) mw/cm2, for 1 time a day and every time 20 min, while the rabbits in control group were treated with sham LIPUS,the same operation with experimental group but without energy output. At the 2, 4, 8 weeks after treatment, 10 rabbits in each group were randomly killed for each time. The general changes of cartilage and its histopathological changes by HE staining were observed; the expression of collagen type II, proteoglycan, MMP-3, 7, 13 in cartilage were analyzed by immunohistochemical and RT-PCR technique; and the expression of NO in cartilage was analyzed by nitrate reduction method.

RESULTSOn the same observed time point, the damage degree of cartilage in experimental group was slighter than that of control group (P < 0.01), the expression of MMP-3, 7, 13 and NO in cartilage in experimental group was lower than that of control group (P < 0.01) while collagen type II and proteoglycan was higher than that of control group (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONLow-intensity pulsed ultrasound can repair the damaged cartilage by reducing the expression of MMP-3, 7, 13, inhibiting the secretion of NO and promoting the synthesis of collagen type II and proteoglycan in cartilage.

Animals ; Cartilage, Articular ; pathology ; Collagen Type II ; biosynthesis ; Extracellular Matrix ; metabolism ; Female ; Matrix Metalloproteinases ; analysis ; Nitric Oxide ; biosynthesis ; Osteoarthritis, Knee ; metabolism ; therapy ; Rabbits ; Ultrasonic Therapy ; methods

OBJECTIVETo analyze the complete remission (CR) rate, disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) of de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients treated with HA based three drugs induction chemotherapy and to explore the impact of cytogenetic abnormalities on the prognosis.

METHODSTwo hundred and forty-three untreated de novo AML patients were treated with HA based three drugs induction therapy. CR rate, DFS and OS were calculated. One hundred and eighty-four patients who had karyotype results were divided into four or three groups according to SWOG or MRC criteria respectively. Differences in CR rate, DFS and OS among different groups were evaluated.

RESULTSThe CR rate of all the 243 cases was 77.4%. The median DFS of the 188 CR patients was 28.5 (ranged from 1.0 to 153.0) months, DFS rates at 3 and 5 years were 45.4% and 40.2% respectively. The median OS of the 243 patients was 18.4 (range from 0.5 to 154.0) months. OS rates at 3 and 5 years were 36.9% and 31.4% respectively. According to SWOG criteria, CR rate, median DFS and OS were 97.8%, 87.4 months and 89.0 months for the favorable group; 81.9%, 17.6 months and 22.3 months for the intermediate group; 61.5%, 9 months and 11.5 months for the adverse group; and 79.3%, 29.0 months, 19.9 months for the unknown group, respectively. The differences among the four groups were statistically significant (P < 0.001). According to MRC criteria, CR rate, median DFS and OS were 96.1%, 79.9 months, 72.2 months for the favorable group; 80%, 17.6 months, 19.7 months for the intermediate group; and 43.8%, 16.5 months, 12 months for the adverse group, respectively. The differences among the three groups were statistically significant excepting for DFS between intermediate and adverse groups.

CONCLUSIONSHA based triple-drug induction regimens are highly effective in obtaining higher CR rate and longer survival time. Cytogenetics is the important prognostic factor for AML patients and SWOG karyotype subtyping criteria is more appropriate than that of MRC, the differences among the three groups being statistically significant.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Child ; Cytarabine ; administration & dosage ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Harringtonines ; administration & dosage ; Humans ; Karyotyping ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; drug therapy ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Remission Induction ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVEThis study is to understand the difference of semen quality among the different areas and the related factors.

METHODSFive hundred and sixty-two people were under from seven provinces.

RESULTSResults showed that the quantity and density of semen, the rate of moving forward semen, livability, percent age of normal formed semen and the total number of semen were statistically different among the seven areas. The difference was ranged as 28.82%, with the highest 2.95 ml in Shanxi province and the lowest 2.29 ml in Henan province. Geometric mean of semen density was found the lowest 36.27 x 10(6)/ml in Guizhou province, next to it was 42.52 x 10(6)/ml in Shandong province and the highest was 74.77 x 10(6)/ml in Hebei province. The percent age with forward progression of semen was seen the lowest 44.40% in Henan province, followed by 51.88% in Hebei province and 52.88% in Zhejiang province and the highest were 76.50% in Shanghai, 75.24% in Shanxi province, with a range of 72.30%. The highest semen viability was 85.89% in Shanghai, while the lowest 72.35% in Henan, with a range of 18.71%. Normal sperm morphology was seen the lowest 68.45% in Hebei province, with the highest 88.06% in Guizhou province, and the range was 28.65%. The geometric mean of total sperm count was seen the highest 204.23 x 10(6)/ml in Hebei province and the lowest 77.69 x 10(6)/ml in Guizhou province. Results showed through analysis of variance that some indexes were different in some provinces.

CONCLUSIONThe results indicated that the semen quality was different in different regions in China and its influential factors may be region and geography environment.

Adult ; China ; Humans ; Male ; Residence Characteristics ; Semen ; cytology ; physiology ; Socioeconomic Factors ; Sperm Count ; Sperm Motility ; Spermatozoa ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo prospectively study the relationship between risk factors and stroke incidence and mortality in the Chinese elderly.

METHODSAn analytic study in a cohort population of 1,268 male retired cadres in a military setting. A health-screening program was carried out for all cadres aged 55 years or older in Xi'an in February 1987. Baseline data on smoking, cholesterol, triglyceride, blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), histories of hypertension, hyperlipidemia and coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, diabetes and family histories of cardiovascular disease were investigated. Main outcome measures were stroke incidence, stroke and all-cause mortality.

RESULTSThe cohort was followed up until June 30, 2001 and a total number of follow-up person-year was 15,546. During the follow-up period, there were 113 new stroke cases identified and the adjusted incidence was 727 per 100,000 person-year. Forty-five deaths were due to stroke and the adjusted mortality was 289 per 100,000 person-year. Using Cox model analysis, after adjustment on age, total cholesterol, triglyceride, smoking, drinking and physical exercise, we noticed that the systolic pressure, BMI, history of CHD and hyperlipidemia were independent risk factors for stroke incidence and morality.

CONCLUSIONThe incidence and mortality of stroke in this cohort were lower than those in the same age group of general population. Monitoring and controlling body mass index and blood pressure level seemed to be important factors for the prevention of stroke in the elderly.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Blood Pressure ; Body Mass Index ; Cohort Studies ; Coronary Disease ; complications ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; complications ; Hypertension ; complications ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Military Personnel ; Risk Factors ; Stroke ; epidemiology ; etiology ; mortality

OBJECTIVETo explore the epidemiological characteristics of Norwalk-like virus (NLVs) infection in children with diarrhea and to study the genotype and predominant cluster at a hospital in Guangzhou city.

METHODSFecal specimens from 358 children with acute gastroenteritis from October 2003 to January 2004 and information about the cases were collected. NLVs was detected from the specimens by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and the PCR products were purified and sequenced.

RESULTSForty-two positive specimens were detected from the 358 fecal specimen with a positive rate of 11.73% (42/358). Of these, 40 specimens were obtained from infants younger than 3 years of age. The youngest infant infected with NLVs in this study was only 25 days. The positive rate in November (17.27%) was the highest. Eleven positive PCR products were selected and sequenced. Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed that 11 strains all belong to genogroup II (G II), and of these, 5 strains belonged to G II-3 cluster, with another 5 strains belonged to G II-4 cluster. However, one strain with its cluster could not be determined.

CONCLUSIONNLVs served as one of the important pathogens causing sporadic acute gastroenteritis among children at a hospital in Guangzhou. The predominant strains were identified as G II-3 and G II-4 cluster.

Age Distribution ; Caliciviridae Infections ; complications ; epidemiology ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Diarrhea ; complications ; epidemiology ; Feces ; virology ; Female ; Hospitals ; statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Molecular Epidemiology ; Norovirus ; classification ; genetics ; physiology ; Phylogeny ; RNA, Viral ; genetics ; Seasons ; Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid ; Sex Distribution

OBJECTIVETo summarize the clinical changing characters of the clinical markers after interferon treatment in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and make out practical indexes to predict the effect.

METHODS150 CHB patients were randomly divided into two groups: therapeutic group (90) and control group (60) in the prospective controlled trial. The levels of endogenous interferon before treatment, interferon antibody at the end of the second month and fourth month after treatment, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and HBV DNA in the serum were detected. Then the data was analysed to find out indexes for predicting the effect.

RESULTS(1) The clearance rate of HBeAg had no significant difference in age except for 20 - 30 and 30 - 40 (t > 2.331 2, P < 0.01). (2) It was more effective if ALT level was higher than 400 U/L before treatment and it decreased more than 50% two months after treatment. (3) The patients whose HBV DNA was negative (dot hybridization) or less than 10(6) copies/ml before treatment had higher rate of HBeAg clearance. (4) There was no effect on patients whose interferon antibody turned positive at the end of the second month. (5)A predictive method of comprehensive factors was made out, whose sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 80%, 100% and 90%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe clinical characters of these Chinese patients are different from those of the westerners and the effects of interferon have close relation to the levels of ALT, HBV DNA and interferon antibody.

Adjuvants, Immunologic ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Alanine Transaminase ; blood ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; blood ; DNA, Viral ; blood ; Female ; Hepatitis B Antibodies ; blood ; Hepatitis B virus ; isolation & purification ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Prospective Studies

Objective To investigate whether 2 repeats of mycobacterial microbial hot shock protein 70 (HSP70) 407-426 (2mHSP70407-426,M2) could act as an effective molecular adjuvant to enhance the anti-tumor efficiency of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) fusion protein vaccine.Methods The gene encoding two tandem repeat sequences of HSP70407-426 was introduced to the terminus of the constructed hVEGF121 mutant 1 gene to prepare a recombined hVEGF121 mutant 2 protein vaccine by PCR technique.The anti-tumor efficacy of hVEGF121 mutant 2 protein vaccine was investigated using a H22 liver cancer subcutaneous tumor model.The 24 mice were randomly divided into three groups:model group,experiment 1 group (80 μg hVEGF121 mutant 1 protein) and experiment 2 group (80 μg hVEGF121 mutant 2 protein).The humoral and cellular immune responses were detected by ELISA and splenic lymphocyte proliferation assay.The anti-angiogenesis effect was evaluated by an intradermal tumor model.Results The tumor weight of the experimental 1 group and the experimental 2 group were (1.17± 0.25) g and (1.58 ± 0.28) g.Compared with the experimental 1 group,the tumor weight of tumor bearing mice in the experimental 2 group was lower significanfly(P ＜0.05).The anti-VEGF antibodies of the experimental 1 group and experimental 2 group was 0.54 ± 0.09,0.74 ± 0.1.Compared with experimental 1 group,higher titers of anti-VEGF antibody were detected in immune serum of the experimental 2 group with statistically significant(P ＜0.05).The proliferative activity of spleen lymphocytes in the experimental 1 group and the experimental 2 group was 0.26 ±0.03,0.36 ±0.04.Compared with the experimental 1 group,the vaccine immunization in experimental 2 group can stimulate the proliferation of spleen lymphocytes more effectively with statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion M2 could act as an effective adjuvant to help VEGF fusion protein vaccine to elicit a strong anti-tumor efficacy.

Objective:To observe the effects of low intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) on repairing extracellular matrix in rabbit knee osteoarthritis and analyze its mechanism. Methods:Sixty adult female rabbits with an average weight of (2.0± 0.2) kg,were divided randomly into two groups (experimental group and control group,30 rabbits in each group). All rabbits were replicated in right knees by Hulth method for knee osteoarthritis model. Two weeks after operation ,the rabbits in experi-mental group were treated with LIPUS,and the ultrasonic frequency was (800±5%)KHz and the maximum intensities of spa-tially averaged and time averaged(SATA) was (50±10%) mw/cm2,for 1 time a day and every time 20 min,while the rabbits in control group were treated with sham LIPUS ,the same operation with experimental group but without energy output. At the 2,4,8 weeks after treatment,10 rabbits in each group were randomly killed for each time. The general changes of cartilage and its histopathological changes by HE staining were observed;the expression of collagen typeⅡ,proteoglycan,MMP-3,7,13 in cartilage were analyzed by immunohistochemical and RT-PCR technique;and the expression of NO in cartilage was analyzed by nitrate reduction method. Results:On the same observed time point,the damage degree of cartilage in experimental group was slighter than that of control group(P<0.01),the expression of MMP-3,7,13 and NO in cartilage in experimental group was lower than that of control group (P<0.01) while collagen typeⅡand proteoglycan was higher than that of control group (P<0.01). Conclusion:Low intensity pulsed ultrasound can repair the damaged cartilage by reducing the expression of MMP-3,7,13,inhibiting the secretion of NO and promoting the synthesis of collagen typeⅡand proteoglycan in cartilage.

BACKGROUNDRosiglitazone is known as the most potent and specific peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-gamma) ligand. It has potentially far-reaching effects on pathophysiological processes, from cancer to atherosclerosis and diabetes. However, it is not clear whether rosiglitazone affects the protein expression of transforming growth factor beta3 (TGF-beta3) and the cell proliferation in human uterine leiomyoma cells in vitro.

METHODSHuman uterine leiomyoma tissues were dissected and cultured. Cells were divided into 5 groups: one control group and other four groups with different concentrations of rosiglitazone (10(-7), 10(-8), 10(-9) and 10(-10) mol/L). Cells were cultured for 72 hours in serum-free Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium. MTT reduction assay was used to detect the cell proliferation. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect the mRNA expression of PPAR-gamma and TGF-beta3. Immunofluorescence staining was used to detect the expressions of PPAR-gamma and TGF-beta3 proteins.

RESULTSMTT reduction assay indicated that the treatment with rosiglitazone (from 10(-7) to 10(-9) mol/L) resulted in an inhibition of the cell growths after 72 hours (P < 0.01). RT-PCR analysis revealed that 10(-7) mol/L rosiglitazone significantly affected the gene expression at 72-hour: PPAR-gamma mRNA expression was up-regulated and TGF-beta3 mRNA was down-regulated and rosiglitazone at the concentration of 10(-7) mol/L affected these most effectively (P < 0.01). Immunofluorescence staining demonstrated that treatment with 10(-7) mol/L rosiglitazone resulted in the significant changes of PPAR-gamma and TGF-beta3 protein expressions compared with the other treatment groups and the control group at 72-hour (P < 0.01). All the effects of rosiglitazone on uterine leiomyoma cells were dose- and time-dependent in vitro.

CONCLUSIONSThe present study demonstrates that the PPAR-gamma activator, rosiglitazone, inhibits the cell proliferation partly through the regulations of PPAR-gamma and TGF-beta3 expressions. The cross-talk between the signal pathways of PPAR-gamma and TGF-beta3 may be involved in the process.

Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; drug effects ; Humans ; Leiomyoma ; drug therapy ; pathology ; PPAR gamma ; agonists ; analysis ; genetics ; RNA, Messenger ; analysis ; Thiazolidinediones ; pharmacology ; Transforming Growth Factor beta3 ; analysis ; genetics ; Uterine Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; pathology

Objective:To investigate whether human umbilical vein endothelial cell(HUVEC) vaccine combined with low dose docetaxel (DOC) could play a synergistic role in anti-breast cancer.Methods:BALB/c mice were randomly divided into normal saline group,HUVEC vaccine group,DOC group,and HUVEC vaccine combined with DOC treatment group (HUVEC-DOC) group.An experimental metastasis model by tail vein injection of EMT-6 breast cancer cells was employed to evaluate the anti-metastatic efficiency of the HUVEC-DOC combination treatment regime.Lymphocyte proliferation assay,cytotoxic T lymphocytes and an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detecting IFN-γ were used to investigate cellular immune responses elicited by the combination treatment regime.Results:Compared with HUVEC and DOC single drug group,the number of lung metastasis in HUVEC-DOC combination treatment group was significantly decreased(P<0.05).In vitro analysis of splenocytes isolated from immunized mice revealed an induction of cytotoxic T lymphocytes(CTLs) with a lytic activity against activated endothelium.IFN-γ in the serum of im-munized mice of the HUVEC-DOC combination treatment group was significantly higher than that in the other three groups(P<0.05). Conclusion:HUVEC vaccine with low dose of DOC could display synergistic anti-breast cancer effect.