OBJECTIVETo observe the specific cellular and humoral immune responses after immunization with recombinant adenovirus Ad5F35-LMP2 in rhesus monkeys.

METHODSSixteen rhesuses were immunized with Ad5F35-LMP2 through intra-muscular injection in three groups: high dosage group (1.5 x 10(10) TCID(50)/rhesus), medium dosage group (1.5 x 10(9)TCID(50)/rhesus), low dosage group (1.5 x 10(8)TCID50/rhesus) and the last group was control (PBS 4 ml/rhesus). They were totally immunized three times at intervals of one month. The EBV-LMP2 specific cellular immune responses were tested during the 0, 4, 8, 12 weeks by Elispot after immunization respectively. And the titers of anti-LMP2 antibody were tested by EIA at the same time.

RESULTSEBV-LMP2 specific cellular and humoral immune responses which were induced by recombinant adenovirus Ad5F35-LMP2 can be found in all the three dosage groups. The potency of immune responses was related with the dosage of immunization. Higher dosage elicited more potent immune response.

CONCLUSIONThe recombinant adenovirus Ad5F35-LMP2 could elicit LMP2 specific cellular and humoral immune responses in rhesus.

Adenoviruses, Human ; genetics ; Animals ; Cell Differentiation ; Herpesvirus 4, Human ; genetics ; Immunity, Cellular ; immunology ; Immunization ; methods ; Macaca mulatta ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; genetics ; immunology ; Viral Matrix Proteins ; genetics ; immunology

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effects of egg and milk supplementation on growth and development and body composition among children in poor rural area in Tianyang County of Guangxi province.

METHODSTotal four schools were randomly selected from four towns in Tianyang County of Guangxi province as intervention group in April, 2013. The intervention measures included that these students were given salty egg (net weight: 50 g) and ultra-high-temperature-sterilization school milk (net weight: 200 g) every school day and these schools were equipped with standard kitchens. Another four schools of familiar socio-economic level, teaching quality and size from the same town were randomly chosen as control group and none of the intervention measures were implemented. About 25 students were randomly selected and stratified by grades from grade one to grade five. The height, weight, and body composition of all students were measured in April, 2013 and one year after the intervention. A total of 978 students were measured at baseline from age 6 to 13, 552 students as intervention group and 426 as control group. t-test was used to compare the differences between groups and multivariate unconditional logistic regression was used to analyze the factors of malnutrition.

RESULTSAfter one year intervention, 892 students were measured randomly, with 515 students in intervention group and 377 in control one. The average weight of boys in intervention group increased (3.6 ± 1.7) kg compared with baseline. It was significantly higher than that of control group ((2.9 ± 1.5) kg) (t = 4.40, P < 0.001). The boy's lean body mass of intervention group increased (2.6 ± 1.4) kg, higher than the control group ((2.0 ± 1.2) kg) (t = 3.95, P < 0.001). The decrease of malnutrition rate of intervention schools (11.8%) was significantly higher than that of the control schools (4.7%, χ² = 16.90, P < 0.001), and the odds ratio was 0.37 (95% CI: 0.23-0.59). The risk difference of overweight and obesity was not statistically significant between the two groups (OR = 1.68, 95% CI: 0.57-4.94).

CONCLUSIONAfter supplementing milk and egg, the nutritional status of the poor rural pupils was improved.

Animals ; Body Composition ; Body Weight ; Child ; Child Development ; China ; Diet ; Eggs ; Humans ; Male ; Milk ; Nutritional Status ; Obesity ; Overweight ; Poverty Areas ; Rural Population ; Schools ; Students

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinicopathologic features, diagnosis and treatment of hepatic angiomyolipoma (HAML).

METHODSThe clinical, histopathological, treatment and prognosis data of 51 patients treated for HAML from October 1998 to October 2007 were retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTSHAML had a female predilection (female/male = 41/10) and the mean age was 44 years old. The main symptoms were abdominal mass (33 cases) and abdominal pain or discomfort (15 cases), the other 2 cases presented as fever. Histopathologically, HAML was composed of a heterogeneous mixture of blood vessels, smooth muscle, and adipose cells. Immunohistochemical staining showed relatively high positive rate of HMB-45 (50/51), SMA (47/49) and S-100 (39/42). All 51 patients underwent partial hepatectomy. The mean hospital stay was 13.8 days and mean intraoperative blood loss was 263 ml. There was no recurrence or metastasis after a mean follow-up of 55.4 months.

CONCLUSIONSHAML is a rare benign mesenchymal tumor of the liver. Definitive diagnosis of HAML depends on the pathohistological findings and HMB-45 positive myoid cell is an important diagnostic marker. Complete surgical resection is the optimal treatment for HAML with favorable prognosis.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Angiomyolipoma ; diagnosis ; pathology ; surgery ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; pathology ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo study the effects of combinative therapy of tumor necrosis factor related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) and PI3-K-Akt inhibitor on the growth and apoptosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells and underlying mechanisms.

METHODSWith cell growth assay, flow cytometric analysis and Western blotting, the effects of TRAIL and PI3-K-Akt special inhibitor (LY294002) on cell growth, apoptosis and related proteins expressions in CNE-2 cell lines were studied.

RESULTSWhen concentrate of TRAIL>1 ng/ml, viability rate of cells in combinative treatment group with TRAIL and LY294002 was higher than that in the single treatment group with TRAIL (all P<0.05). When concentrate of TRAIL were 10 ng/ml and 100 ng/ml, the combinative treatment induced CNE-2 apoptosis more obviously than single treatments (t were 7.167 and 7.206, all P<0.05). The combination group showed more cleavage of Caspase-8, Caspase-3, Caspase-9 than single treatment groups.

CONCLUSIONSCombinative application of TRAIL and PI3-K-Akt pathway inhibitor inhibits the growth of CNE-2 and induces apoptosis. The mitochondrial dependent pathway is implicated for the underlying mechanism.

Apoptosis ; Carcinoma ; Caspases ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; drug effects ; Chromones ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Morpholines ; pharmacology ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; pathology ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ; antagonists & inhibitors ; TNF-Related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVEThe NOD/SCID/IL2Rγ (NSG) mouse strain is the most widely used immunodeficient strain for xenograft transplantation. However, the existing SCID mutation is a spontaneous mutation of the Prkdc gene, which leads to leaky T cell developmental block and difficulty in genotyping. It is therefore important to develop a new strain of NSG mice with targeted disruption of Prkdc and IL2Rγ genes.

METHODSTargeted disruption of Prkdc and IL2Rγ genes was achieved using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. By intercrossing the knockout and NOD mice, we obtained a novel strain of NOD/SCID/IL2Rγ(NSG) mice, denoted as cNSG (Chinese NSG) mice.

RESULTSIn addition to the NOD mutation, cNSG mice exhibited a complete absence of T cells, B cells and NK cells. cNSG mice allowed more efficient engraftment of human cancer cells than the commonly used immunodeficient nude mice.

CONCLUSIONcNSG mice will provide an important xenotransplantation model for biomedical research.

Aim To study the apoptosis-inducing effect of rosmarinic acid derivative RAD-9 on gastric cancer MGC-803 cells and the underlying mechanisms.Methods MTT assay was taken to detect the survival of gastric cancer MGC-803 cells effected by RAD-9.Cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry.The apoptotic morphology of MGC-803 cells was observed by Hoechst 33258 staining.The protein expression levels of Bcl-2,Bax,caspase-3,Akt,p-Akt,p38 MAPK and p-p38 MAPK were measured by Western blot.Results The results of MTT assay showed that RAD-9 inhibited the viability of gastric cancer MGC-803 cells in a time and concentration-dependent manner.Flow cytometry showed that RAD-9 significantly promoted apoptotic cell percentage in gastric cancer MGC-803 cells (P ＜ 0.01).Hoechst 33258 staining showed that the nucleus of MGC-803 cells could be observed with typical apoptotic morphological changes after RAD-9 administration.Compared with the control group,the protein expression levels of Bcl-2,Akt,p-Akt were significantly down-regulated (P ＜ 0.01),while those of Bax,caspase-3,p38 MAPK,p-p38 MAPK were significantly up-regulated (P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion RAD-9 can inhibit the growth and further induce apoptosis in gastric cancer MGC-803 cells,which may involve inhibiting PI3K/Akt and activating p38 MAPK signaling pathway.

OBJECTIVETo explore the risk factors on relapsing tuberculosis related to smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis which had been cured for five years.

METHODSPatients with smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis registered in 1995 from ten countries in Hubei province were studied and logistic regression was used for data analysis.

RESULTSThe 5-year relapse rate of smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis was 3.85 percent. Risk factors related to relapse would include being non-modeled county, negative smear after treated for three months, the class of retreatment, management of non-DOTS, method of chemotherapy and patients that did not get treated by the tuberculosis institute, with odds ratios of 0.15, 4.62, 3.68, 5.88 and 6.47, respectively.

CONCLUSIONEffect standard, regulation DOTS and the centralized management measure might have had effects on decreasing the relapse rate.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Antitubercular Agents ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Child ; China ; epidemiology ; Contact Tracing ; Directly Observed Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; isolation & purification ; Odds Ratio ; Recurrence ; Risk Factors ; Sputum ; microbiology ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary ; drug therapy ; microbiology

OBJECTIVETo assess the role of Zhongji (CV 3) in treatment of benign hyperplasia of prostate.

METHODSMulti-central, randomized, controlled, single bland clinical method was adopted, and 276 cases were divided into an electroacupuncture (EA) group and a medication group, 138 cases in each group. The EA group were treated with EA at Zhongji (CV 3) and the medication group with oral administration of Qianliekang tablets. After treatment of 1 course, their therapeutic effects and changes of international prostate symptom (I-PSS) cumulative score, life quality index (L) cumulative score, nocturia times, urine stream state, lower abdominal symptom, maximal volume of urine flow, residual urine volume, prostatic volume, etc. Were assessed in the two groups.

RESULTSThe total effective rate was 96.4% in the EA group and 86.2% in the medication group, the former being better than the latter (P<0. 01); the two groups were effective in improvement of international prostate symptom (I-PSS) cumulative score, life quality index (L) cumulative score, nocturia times, urine stream state, hypogastrium symptom, maximal volume of urine flow, residual urine volume, prostatic volume, etc. with the former better than the latter.

CONCLUSIONAcupuncture at Zhongji (CV 3) has a significant therapeutic effect for treatment of benign hyperplasia of prostate.

Acupuncture Points ; Aged ; Electroacupuncture ; methods ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; therapy

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of acupuncture at "Baihui" (GV 20) and "Shenshu" (BL 23) on the ultrastructure of hippocampal dentate gyrus in rats with Alzheimer's disease. METHODS: Forty SPF Wistar male rats were randomly divided into a normal group, a sham operation group, a model group and an acupuncture group, 10 rats in each one. The rats in the model group and the acupuncture group were treated with injection of 5 μL Aβ at bilateral hippocampus, while the rats in the sham operation group were treated with injection of 5 μL 0.9% NaCl. Three days after modeling, the rats in the acupuncture group were treated with acupuncture at "Baihui" (GV 20) and "Shenshu" (BL 23) for 20 min, once a day, six treatments constituted a course, and totally two courses were given with an interval of 1 day between courses. The rats in the other groups received normal diet and no treatment was given. Before modeling, four days after modeling and after treatment, water maze test was performed to observe the escape latency and the number of crossing platforms. The hippocampal dentate gyrus was collected and transmission electron microscope was applied to observe the ultrastructure changes of neurons and astrocytes. RESULTS: ①Four days after modeling, compared with the normal group and the sham operation group, the escape latency was significantly prolonged and the number of crossing platforms was reduced in the model group (all <0.01); after treatment, compared with the model group, the escape latency was significantly reduced and the number of crossing platforms was increased in the acupuncture group (both <0.01). ②In the normal group and the sham operation group, the morphology of neurons and astrocytes was intact, the nuclear and membrane structure were clear, and the morphology of organelles such as mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum and lysosomes was normal. In the model group, the morphology of neurons was irregular, the nucleus was severely constricted with edema in the cytoplasm, the color of heterochromatin was deepened, the endoplasmic reticulum was expanded, the granulation was removed and the number of mitochondria was decreased, even with malformed-like change in mitochondrial cristae; there was severe edema around astrocytes, few organelles in the cytoplasm, severe swelling of mitochondria and mild expansion of the endoplasmic reticulum. In the acupuncture group, the edema of the neuron and astrocytes was still evident, and the mitochondrial was mildly swollen but relieved compared with that in the model group, and there were no obvious abnormalities in neuronal endoplasmic reticulum and ribosomes. CONCLUSION Acupuncture could improve the ultrastructure of neurons and astrocytes in the hippocampal dentate gyrus in rats with Alzheimer's disease induced by Aβ.
Acupuncture Therapy ; Alzheimer Disease ; Amyloid beta-Peptides ; Animals ; Astrocytes ; Dentate Gyrus ; Hippocampus ; Male ; Neurons ; Peptide Fragments ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Rats, Wistar

This study aimed to evaluate the predictive performance of a vancomycin population pharmacokinetic model in 0-10 year Chinese pediatric patients. This study was approved by the Ethics Research Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, data from hospitalized children ≤ 10 years of age who receiving vancomycin were collected retrospectively. Individual predictive values (IPRED) were estimated by Bayesian Analysis based on a previous published population pharmacokinetic model, and compared with the observed steady state trough concentration. As results, a total of 371 vancomycin serum concentrations from 191 patients were taken for the external validation. The mean error (ME), the mean relative prediction error (ME%), the mean absolute error (MAE) and the root mean square error (RMSE) in individual prediction method for the total patients were -0.50 mg·L^-1, 6.03%, 1.84 mg·L^-1, 2.86 mg·L^-1 respectively. The correlation coefficient between individual predictions and detection values was 0.95. The stability and the predictive performance of model were accepted by goodness-of-fit, visual predictive check (VPC) and Bland-Altman. The percentage of individual prediction error within ± 30% was 82.75%. The above results suggest that, this Chinese pediatric population pharmacokinetic model in 0-10 years old has a good prediction performance. It can be applied to the design of initial treatment plan and predicting the extent of drug exposure.