BACKGROUND: Phenylketonuria is caused by gene mutation of phenylalanine hydroxylasel (PAH), which is mainly induced by permutation, short segments and insertion of base.OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the gene mutation of phenylalanine hydroxylasel in phenylketonuria in Hui nationality.DESIGN: Open study.SETTING: Urumqi General Hospital of Lanzhou Military Area Command of Chinese PLA; Capital Pediatrics Institute.PARTICIPANTS: A boy of Hui nationality in China and aged 3.1 years was selected in this study. The boy had intellect hysteresis in his one year and received medical treatment in his three years, while he was diagnosed as cerebral paralysis. After repeatedly inefficient treatment, he was hospitalized in our hospital on December 13, 2004. Iron sesquichloride in urine was strongly positive and concentration of serum phenylalanine was 1 680 μmol/L; therefore, he was diagnosed as the typical phenylketonuria.METHODS: 5 mL venous blood was selected from the boy and his parents, respectively, and anticoagulated with EDTA-Na2. DNA in gene group was extracted by using typical phenol/chloroform method. In addition, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primer sequence of extron 7, 6, 11, 3, 12 and 5 of PAH gene was designed based on references. And then, PCR products were detected with 2% agarose gel electrophoresis. 5 μL PCR products were mixed with the same volume of degenerated buffer solution, degenerated at 97 ℃ for 5 minutes, put in iced bath and performed with 80 g/Lnon-degenerated polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. After that, the products were dealt with sliver staining routinely, and single strand DNA banding patterns were analyzed and recorded. ABI377 automatic sequenator (PE Company) was used to detect PCR sequence and purify PCR product in Shanghai Boya Biotechnology Company.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Iron sesquichloride in urine, concentration of serum phenylalanine and mutant gene types of phenylalanine hydroxylase.RESULTS: Extron 7, 6, 11, 3, 12 and 5 of PAH gene were analyzed in the boy and his parents. The results demonstrated that SSCP electrophoresis in extron 6 was different from that in the normal control group. Site of electrophoresis strip of his father was coincident with that of his mother, but different from that of the boy. Sequencing results indicated that point mutation (cytosine replaced by thymine), which was a R176X mutant heterozygote, occurred at the 526th site of cDNA of phenylalanine hydroxylase gene in his parents; however, two chromosomes of the boy had mutation at the same site, which was R176X mutant homozygote.CONCLUSION: Mutation of R176X homozygote of phenylketonurea is firstly reported in Hui nationality in China.

Objective To study the potential efficacy of transplanted bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in treating and repairing the acute lung injury in animal models. Methods MSCs were isolated from mouse bone marrow, cultrued and amplified in vitro. The lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was inhaled through postnasal tract to cause acute lung injury in mice and the MSCs labeled by Brdu were administrated via vein into the mice. The migration and differention of the cells were identified by immunostaining and double immunostaining. The pathological changes, pulmonary edema index and the content of IL-1β in lung homogenate were used to accese the therapeutical effect of MSCs. Results The cultured MSCs dispalyed a positive CD44 and a negative CD34. The Brdu-labeled cells were detected in the lungs of the recipient 4 days after transplantation, indicating its origin of MSCs. Theses cells also exhibited characteristics of aveolar epithelials, expressing the cytokeratin-the marker of epithelium. Compared with the injuried ones, the mice treated with MSCs showed a decreased pulmonary edema in-dex and IL-1β content in the lung homogenate. Conclusion These data suggest a therapeutical effects of MSCs in treating and repairing the mouse acute lung injury.

OBJECTIVETo identify the mutation spectrum and the distribution of minihaplotypes (STR/VNTR) of phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) gene and explore the correlations between genotype and phenotype of patients with phenylketonuria (PKU) in Beijing area of China.

METHOD(1) Fifty cases with PKU were involved in this study. PKU was identified by the Neonatal Screening Center of Beijing. All 13 exons and their flanking intronic sequences of PAH gene of these patients were amplified and then subjected to SSCP analysis and direct sequencing. (2) The distribution of polymorphic locus of short tandem repeat (STR) and variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) was analyzed by PCR and denaturing gel electrophoresis. (3) The correlations between genotype and phenotype were studied by analysis of the matching rate between the expected and observed phenotypes. The predicted phenotype was determined on the basis of the sum of the assigned values of the two mutant alleles.

RESULTS(1) A total of 34 different mutations were detected with the relative frequency of 95% among 50 PKU patients. The prevalent mutations in this study were: R243Q (20%), EX6-96A > G (11%), Y356X (9%), and V399V (7%). The next common mutations were R111X (5%), R413P (5%), R252Q (3%) and A434D (3%). Thirty-four detected mutations were distributed throughout the whole PAH gene, except exon 1, 8 and 13. Exon 7 and 11, with the mutant rate 34% and 19% respectively, seemed to be the hot mutant areas/regions of PAH gene. (2) The minihaplotypes (STR/VNTR) of 34 mutations were identified in this research. The STR and VNTR showed 8 and 3 alleles, respectively. Among them, 244 bp (44%) and 240 bp (34%) were the prevalent STR alleles. Meanwhile, the VNTR3 (83%) was the most common VNTR allele in PKU patients. (3) A better consistency (81.5%) between expected and observed phenotypes was revealed by analysis of correlation between genotype and phenotype. Especially in classic PKU, the consistency rate was up to 87.5%.

CONCLUSION(1) The frequency distribution of common PAH gene mutations in Beijing region was close to that of Tianjin and Yunnan regions, while it was different from that of Southern regions of China, such as Guangzhou, especially Taiwan. The PAH mutation with a highly heterogeneous trait was also demonstrated in this study. (2) STR and VNTR minihaplotype will prove helpful to trace the origins of PAH mutations and to analyze the genetic drift. However, the most minihaplotypes of the STR/VNTR are similar, so it is necessary to associate some other polymorphic loci with the STR/VNTR minihaplotype to analyze the different mutations. (3) The fact that a better consistency existed between phenotypes and genotype with most PKU patients suggested that the study of the genotype of PKU patients would be helpful to the individualized treatment and to genetic counseling for their families.

Alleles ; China ; epidemiology ; Genetic Association Studies ; Genotype ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Introns ; Mutation ; Phenotype ; Phenylalanine Hydroxylase ; genetics ; Phenylketonurias ; epidemiology ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Genetic

Using universal primer Ty1-copia retrotransposon RT,43 Ty1-copia like retrotransposon RT with high heterogeneity, stop codon mutation and frameshift mutation were amplified by PCR from genomic DNA of Zhejiang Lin'an (C15) and Yunnan Guangnan (A39) of Dendrobium officinale. The length of these sequences varied from 260 to 266 bp, and was rich in AT and consistency ranged from 47.1% to 97.7%. Different c/s-acting regulatory elements induced by low temperature, heat, light, all kinds of plant growth regulating substances and the starting transcription signals, corresponding to CAAT box, TATA box conserved sequences and some other regulatory elements. When being translated into amino acids, ten sequences presented stop codon mutation, five sequences presented frameshift mutation, and thirty-seven sequences presented conserved sequence "SLYGKQ" mutation. Six categories were identified through phylogenic analysis after alignment analyses of their amino acid sequences, and with other plants (eg. Triticum aestivum, Eleocharis quinqueflora) having high homology, which indicated that horizontal transmission of retrotransposon occurred among the plants in the past.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Cloning, Molecular ; Conserved Sequence ; DNA, Plant ; genetics ; Dendrobium ; enzymology ; genetics ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase ; chemistry ; genetics ; Retroelements ; genetics ; TATA Box ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo observe the efficacy and safety of acupuncture therapy on moderate and severe allergic rhinitis via the comparison evaluation of western medicine.

METHODSSixty cases of moderate and severe allergic rhinitis were divided into an acupuncture group (30 cases) and a western medicine group (30 cases). In the acupuncture group, the main acupoints included Yingxiang (LI 20), Shangxing (GV 23), Fengchi (GB 20), Quchi (LI 11), Xuehai (SP 10), Feishu (BL 13), Geshu (BL 17), Pishu (BL 20), etc. The supplementary points were selected according to syndrome differentiation. In the western medicine group, budesonide nasal spray and cetirizine tablets were prescribed. All the cases were treated for 8 weeks in the two groups. Separately, before treatment, in 4 weeks and 8 weeks of treatment, the scores of clinical symptoms and physical signs were observed and the clinical efficacy and safety were compared between the two groups.

RESULTSIn 4 weeks and 8 weeks of treatment, the scores of symptoms such as sneezing, nasal discharge, nasal obstruction, nasal itching, eye itching and turbinate hypertrophy, the score of physical signs and total score were all reduced apparently as compared with those before treatment (all P<0. 05). The differences were not significant between the acupuncture group and the western medicine group (all P>0. 05). The total effective rates were 90. 0% (27/30) and 93. 4% (28/30) in the acupuncture group after 4 and 8 weeks of treatment, and were 76. 6% (23/30) and 80. 0% (24/30) in the western medicine group separately, without significant difference in comparison (all P>0. 05).

CONCLUSIONAcupuncture achieves the similar efficacy on moderate and severe allergic rhinitis as western medicine. It is the safe therapy and has no apparent adverse reactions.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Rhinitis, Allergic ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Sneezing ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

Using universal primer Tyl-copia retrotransposon RT, the conserved reverse transcriptase domain of about 260 bp was amplified by RT-PCR from the Dendrobium officinale which induced by 100 micromol x L(-1) abscisic acid (ABA), indicating these retrotransposons activated by 100 micromol x L(-1) ABA. The amplicons were recovered and cloned,then sequenced and analyzed by related bioinformatics software. Forty-two Ty1-copia like retrotransposon RT transcriptionally activated were obtained with high heterogeneity. The length of these sequences varied from 247 to 266 bp, and was rich in AT and homology ranged from 46.3% to 98.9%. The same to Ty1-copia like retrotransposon RT of genome, different c/s-acting regulatory elements induced by stress conditions and the starting transcription signals, corresponding to CAAT box, TATA box conserved sequences and some other regulatory elements. The c/s-acting regulatory elements induced by stress conditions of reverse transcriptase transcriptionally activated of Tyl-copia retrotransposons were significantly increased than that of Ty1-copia like retrotransposon RT of genome. When being translated into amino acids, fifteen sequences presented stop codon mutation, nineteen sequences presented frameshift mutation, and all sequences presented conserved sequence "SLYGKQ" mutation. Five categories were identified through phylogenic analysis after alignment analyses of their amino acid sequences, and with Ty1-copia like retrotransposon RT of genome having low homology, which indicated that reverse transcriptase transcriptionally activated of Ty1-copia retrotransposons which induced by ABA had Significantly differences with Ty1-copia like retrotransposon RT of genome.
Abscisic Acid ; pharmacology ; Amino Acid Sequence ; Dendrobium ; drug effects ; genetics ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Retroelements ; drug effects ; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid ; Transcription, Genetic ; drug effects

The study is aimed to make the most of available space of Dendrobium officinale cultivation facility, reveal the yield and functional components variation of stereoscopic cultivated D. officinale, and improve quality, yield and efficiency. The agronomic traits and yield variation of stereoscopic cultivated D. officinale were studied by operating field experiment. The content of polysaccharide and extractum were determined by using phenol-sulfuric acid method and 2010 edition of "Chinese Pharmacopoeia" Appendix X A. The results showed that the land utilization of stereoscopic cultivated D. officinale increased 2.74 times, the stems, leaves and their total fresh or dry weight in unit area of stereoscopic cultivated D. officinale were all heavier than those of the ground cultivated ones. There was no significant difference in polysaccharide content between stereoscopic cultivation and ground cultivation. But the extractum content and total content of polysaccharide and extractum were significantly higher than those of the ground cultivated ones. In additional, the polysaccharide content and total content of polysaccharide and extractum from the top two levels of stereoscopic culture matrix were significantly higher than that of the ones from the other levels and ground cultivation. Steroscopic cultivation can effectively improves the utilization of space and yield, while the total content of polysaccharides and extractum were significantly higher than that of the ground cultivated ones. The significant difference in Dendrobium polysaccharides among the plants from different height of stereo- scopic culture matrix may be associated with light factor.
Cell Culture Techniques ; methods ; Dendrobium ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Plant Leaves ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Plant Stems ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Polysaccharides ; analysis

To standardize the harvest ways of Dendrobium officinale and improve the quality and yield of D. officinale, a field experiment was carried out to study the effect of two kinds of harvest ways, which were keeping some of the axial shoot and harvesting all of the shoot by the end of the year. Then, the agronomic traits and yield were measured and the contents of polysaccharides and extractum were determined. The results showed that the harvest ways significantly affected the growth of D. officinale. Keeping some of the axial shoot could significantly improved the number of sprout, stem length, internode number and the internodal length, which also triggered increase the weight of fresh stems, leaves and the total of them and dry stems in per unit area, but it could not promote the stem diameter and the polysaccharide content in stems. Keeping some of the axial shoot moderately was conducive to the improvement of the production of medicinal materials in the process of harvesting by promoting the germination and growth of new buds, and to ensure the polysaccharide content by regulating the illumination and the density of cultivation.
Agriculture ; methods ; Dendrobium ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; Plant Leaves ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Plant Stems ; chemistry ; growth & development

Objectives To evaluate the effect of thyroid hormone therapy with low dose of thyroxin on cardiac function in elderly patients with heart failure and sick euthyroid syndrome. Methods Forty-seven patients (33 males and 14 females, mean age 85.9+4.6 years,ranging from 80 to 99 years) with chronic heart failure (NYHA Ⅱ-Ⅳ) and low triiodothyronine (T3) state were randomly allocated to the treatment group or control group. The treatment group patients received oral administration of levothyroxine sodium (Euthyrox) 25-50mg/d in addition to conventional therapy of heart failure, whereas patients in control group were given conventional therapy only. Serum level of total T3 (TT3), free T3 (FT3), total thyroxine (TT4), free thyroxine (FT4), and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) were determined. For both groups, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and stroke volume (SV) were assessed by two-dimensional echocardiography before and at 8 weeks after treatment. The changes of these parameters after the treatment were evaluated by adjusting heart rate in the two groups. Results The reduced serum T3 level in the treatment group was corrected after thyroid hormone therapy,and these patients had a significant improvement in cardiac function after treatment. By contrast, in the control group only changes of serum TT3 and TT4 levels and SV and LVEF after treatment were statistically significant. The heart rate-adjusted mean SV and LVEF in both groups were also increased, which was significantly greater in the treatment group than in the control group. Conclusion In the elderly patients with heart failure and sick euthyroid syndrome, addition of thyroxine at a low dosage to the conventional treatment could effectively improve the low T3 state and cardiac function independent of changes of heart rate.