Objective To investigate the clinical significance of thyroglobulin antibody (ATG) and thyroid peroxidase antibody (ATPO) in patients with vitiligo. Methods Venous blood samples were obtained from 87 patients with vitiligo and 90 age- and sex-matched normal human controls. Chemiluminescence was applied to measure the serum levels of ATG, ATPO, free triiodothyronine, free tetraiodothyronine and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). Results There was a significant increase in the positivity rates of ATG (23.0% vs 6.7%, P < 0.01) and ATPO (24.1% vs 7.8%, P < 0.01) as well as the serum level of TSH (3.4 ± 2.4 vs 2.4 ± 1.2 pmol/L, P < 0.05) in the patients with vitiligo compared with the normal human controls. It is worth mentioning that all patients positive for ATG or ATPO were diagnosed with vitiligo vulgaris. The positivity rates of ATG and ATPO in patients with vitiligo aged from 11 to 20 years and 21 to 40 years were significantly higher than those in age-matched normal controls (all P < 0.05). Also, female patients had a higher positivity rate of ATG and ATPO than female controls did (34.1% vs 8.5%, χ2 = 8.90, P < 0.01; 34.1% vs 10.6%,χ2 = 7.29, P < 0.05). The highest positivity rates of both ATG and ATPO were 53.3%, which were observed in vitiligo patients aged from 11 to 20 years, followed by patients from 21 to 40 years (ATG 34.5%, ATPO 34.5%). In patients with vitiligo positive for both ATG and ATPO, the occurrence of autoimmune thyroid disease was 70% (14/20), significantly higher than that in ATG- and ATPO- positive healthy controls (16.7%, χ2 = 5.4, P < 0.05). Conclusions ATG and ATPO were observed in young female patients with vitiligo vulgaris, and they may be associated with the development of autoimmune thyroid diseases.

Purpose Brain complications severely threaten the treatment and survival of children with leukemia. This paper aims to investigate the MRI manifestations and differences of brain complications in leukemia before and after chemotherapy for a clinical guidance.Materials and Methods The clinical data and MRI findings of 37 children with leukemia and brain complications were retrospectively analyzed. Thirty-four of them underwent MRI scan twice or more, among whom 28 received contrast-enhanced MRI scan.Results Twenty-two patients were discovered with brain complications before chemotherapy, 2 of whom were with two kinds of complications. Meningopathy was found in 7 patients who showed widespread or localized meningeal thickening. Among them, 5 patients'' lesions reduced or disappeared after chemotherapy. Intracerebral multiple small and micro bleed was found in these 7 patients, 2 of them combined with hematoma. Three patients were found with intracranial tumor which all proved to be temporal bone tumor, 1 of whom combined with temporal lobe tumor and 1 had tumor disappeared after chemotherapy. The other complications before chemotherapy included leukoencephalopathy (n=2), subdural collection of fluid (n=2), meninges and parenchymal infiltration of leukemia (n=1), fungal infection (n=1) and cerebral infarction (n=1). On the contrary, 17 patients were discovered with brain complications after chemotherapy, 8 of whom were with two or more complications. Two patients had different kinds of complications before and after chemotherapy. Brain atrophy was observed in 13 patients. Leukoenphalopathy was found in 9 patients who presented high signal in white matter of double periventricular and/or semi-oval center on T2WI; the lesions of 4 patients were reduced or disappeared after withdrawal. Infectious diseases were diagnosed in 3 patients, including viral encephalitis in 2 cases, tuberculous meningitis combined with tuberculoma in 1 case. The other complications included intracranial tumor (n=2), sinus thrombosis (n=1), posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (n=1) after chemotherapy. Conclusion The MRI findings of brain complications in childhood leukemia are various and demonstrate significantly different features before and after chemotherapy. The major complications before treatment include meningopathy and intra-cerebral hemorrhage;while after chemotherapy the main complications are brain atrophy, leukoencephalopathy and infectious diseases. MRI proves to be a valuable method to detect, observe and follow up these complications.

AIDS Vaccines ; administration & dosage ; genetics ; immunology ; Animals ; HIV Infections ; immunology ; prevention & control ; virology ; HIV-1 ; genetics ; immunology ; Humans ; Immunity, Mucosal

Objective To investigate the in vitro effects of acitretin on the apoptosis and expressions of insulin-like growth factor binding protein 7 (IGFBP7) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in HaCaT cells.Methods Cultured HaCaT cells were treated with various concentrations (10-5,10-64,10-7,10-8 mol/L) of acitretin for various durations,with those cultured in acitretin-free medium serving as the control group.Then,CCK-8 assay was performed to evaluate the proliferation of cells after 24-,48-and 72-hour treatment,flow cytometry to detect the apoptosis of HaCaT cells,and Western blot and reverse transcription-PCR to quantify the protein and mRNA expressions of IGFBP7 and VEGF in HaCaT cells,respectively,after 48-hour treatment.Statistical analysis was carried out by one-way analysis of variance and Pearson correlation analysis.Results The proliferation of HaCaT cells was inhibited by the treatment with acitretin,and the inhibitory effect increased with the elevation of concentration and prolongation of treatment duration of acitretin.A significant decrease was observed in the proliferative activity of HaCaT cells treated with acitretin of 10-8 mol/L for 48 hours,and when the concentration of acitretin was 10-5 mol/L,the proliferation of HaCaT cells was inhibited by 39.94％ ± 2.27％ and 49.77％ ± 1.87％ at 48 and 72 hours respectively,compared with the control cells.The HaCaT cells treated with acitretin of 10-5 mol/L for 48 hours showed a significant elevation in apoptosis rate (7.617％ ± 0.767％ vs.1.803％ ± 0.313％,P ＜ 0.05),IGFBP7 protein and mRNA expressions (0.939 ± 0.040 vs.0.436 ± 0.013,0.872 ± 0.079 vs.0.190 ± 0.056,both P ＜ 0.05),but a significant reduction in VEGF protein and mRNA expressions (0.213 ± 0.032 vs.0.798 ± 0.036,0.274 ± 0.041 vs.0.933 ± 0.054,both P ＜ 0.05) in comparison to the control cells.Conclusions Acitretin can induce the apoptosis of HaCaT cells,and up-regulate IGFBP7 but down-regulate VEGF expressions in HaCaT cells at protein and mRNA levels.

A thiosulfate-oxidizing bacterium TX was isolated from polysulfide wastewater treatment system.It was preliminarily identified as Halothiobacillus sp.according to its morphological,physiological proper-ties and similarity analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequence(GenBank accession No.EU871645).This bacte-rium was an obligate chemolithoautotrophic sulfur-oxidizing bacterium since it could utilize thiosulfate,elemental sulfur,tetrathionate,sulfide or sulfite as sole energy source but did not show growth on the me-dium with glucose,sucrose,fructose,lactose,mannose or yeast extract as sole carbon source.The optimal growth condition for thiosulfate oxidation was 30?C~35?C and pH 3.0~5.0 respectively.Significant reduc-tion in medium pH from 4.0 to 1.2 was observed due to oxidation of thiosulfate to sulfate during the batch culture incubation period.During the course of thiosulfate oxidation accumulation of tetrathionate was ob-served either in synthetic medium or in the mixed liquor from aeration tank of the polysulfide wastewater treatment system.This indicates that the "S4 intermediate(S4I)" pathway was responsible for thiosulfate oxidation in this bacterium.

Low-level laser effects a special biology stimulation that has been widely used in clinic. In this article, the biological effect of low-level laser irradiation was summarized, and the application in different systems, such as immunity, circulation, metabolism and nerves were reviewed.

ObjectiveTo analyze the relationship between result of hemorheology and non-pathological factors such as sex, age and life habit.Methods3483 healthy adults who had health examination were divided into different groups according to sex and age, and results of hemorheological test of them were analyzed and compared with reference values.ResultsAll hemorheological indexes of men were higher than that of women. The whole blood viscosity of female had an increasing trend along with the age increasing. However, the result of hemorheology of male showed that the index of the age of 30～49 was higher than the age of more than 50, and had a decreasing trend along with the age increasing after the age of 50. The index of high shear viscosity, low shear viscosity and hematocrit of both male and female were all higher than the reference values offered by apparatus.ConclusionEffect of non-pathological factors such as age, sex and life habit on index of hemorheology should be considered.