Objective: To investigate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)and the significance of matrix metalloproteinases-9 (MMP-9), which is modulated by VEGF, in the invasion of gastric carcinoma. Methods: Expression of VEGF in gastric carcinoma and normal gastric tissues was detected by Western blot. MTT was used to measure the proliferation of AGS cells while real-time PCR and Western blot were used to measure the expression of MMP-9 at mRNA and protein level in AGS cells. Results: The expression of VEGF in gastric carcinoma was significantly higher than that of controls; the expression of MMP-9 in AGS cells with VEGF was significantly higher than that of controls at mRNA and protein level. Conclusion: Both VEGF and MMP-9 participate in the progression of gastric carcinoma, and VEGF may promote the invasion of gastric carcinoma by upregulating the expression of MMP-9.

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics,treatment and prognosis of single-system Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) in children.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed in single-system LCH patients registered between January 2006 and December 2012 in Beijing Children＇s Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University.The patients were divided into 2 groups:the bone involvement group and the other organ involvement group.The patients were assessed at 5 weeks,11 weeks,25 weeks,3 months,6 months,1 year and 3 years.The data were analyzed by using SPSS 17.0 software.Results A total of 112 patients (66 boys and 4,6 girls) with a median age of 5 years at diagnosis of LCH were analyzed.The most frequently affected organ was the bones(91 cases,81.3％),followed by skin(15 cases,13.4％).Few patients (27.6％) had acentral nervous system risk lesion,who were younger than those with other bone lesion(2.5 years vs 6.6 years).Patients with bone lesions were diagnosed at a significantly older age than other patients(5.6 years vs 1.5 years) (P ＜ 0.01).All patients received chemotherapy that included Prednisone and Vinblastine for 25 weeks.Twenty-five patients (22.3 ％) showed reactivation.Of these,4 patients exhibited reactivation in the pituitary.Three-year overall survival rate was expected to reach 100％,and no-event survival was expected at (73.22 ± 4.47) ％.Age of less than 2 years old was the factor of reactivation (P =0.033);sex,organ involvement and member of bone involved were not related with reactivation (P =0.679,0.142,0.639).Conclusions The bones were the frequent involvement organ in single-system LCH patients.These patients have a good prognosis.The rate of reactivation of single system-LCH can be decreased by chemotherapy.

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics,treatment,and prognostic factors for Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) in children.Methods A retrospective review of patients diagnosed as LCH was carried out between January 2007 and December 2012 in Beijing Children's Hospital,Capital Medical University.Target patients were divided into multi-organ high-risk groups (Group Ⅰ),multi-organ low-risk groups (Group Ⅱ),single-organ groups (GroupⅢ),and the corresponding intensity of chemotherapy was given.SPSS 17.0 statistical software was used to analyze the findings.The correlations among the affected organ,the early treatment response and the prognosis were analyzed.Results A total of 217 patients were analyzed including 127 boys and 90 girls with ratio of 1.4 ∶ 1.0 and a median age of 36 months (ranged from 2 months to 14 years) on the diagnosis of LCH,and there were 132 cases (60.8％) in group Ⅰ,33 cases (15.3％) in group Ⅱ and 52 cases (23.9％) in group Ⅲ.The median age on diagnosis was 20 months in group Ⅰ,42 months in group Ⅱ and 72 months in group Ⅲ.The most frequently affected organ was the bone (176 cases,81.2％).Among 217 patients,55 cases (25.3％) had recurrence and 12 cases died.The rate of 3-year overall survival was expected to be 90.78％.The rate of 3-year event free survival was expected to be 76.5％.Myelosuppression,liver function damage and infection were the most common side effects due to chemotherapy with the percentages of 48.4％ (105 cases),24.0％ (52 cases) and 12.4％ (27 cases).Risk organs involvement and no-response to initial therapy (after 6 weeks) indicated a worse prognosis (x2 =10.60,12.84,P =0.017,0.001).Conclusions Incidence of LCH in boys is slightly higher than girls in children.Peak age at onset of LCH in children is 1-3 years old.Bone is the most frequent involved organ.Involvement of risk organs and no-response to initial therapy are key factors in determining worse prognosis.A rescue therapy should be introduced earlier in these patients.

Objective:To understand the clinical characteristics and prognosis of Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) with skin-limited lesion.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on clinical characteristics and prognosis of 16 skin-limited LCH patients, out of 578 LCH patients who were hospitalized in Beijing Children′s Hospital during December 2013 to June 2018.Results:A total of 16 skin-limited LCH cases, accounted for 2.7% of all 578 cases, were included.Among which, sex ratio (male vs.female) was 1.28∶1.00.Median ages of skin eruption occurrence and of diagnosis of the disease were 3.5 months (3 days to 2 years and 5 months) and 6 months (2 months 14 days to 2 years and 8 months) in this group.Among the 16 cases, seborrheic dermatitis-like lesions(11 cases, 68.7%) was the most common, and the trunk was most frequently involved[75.0% (12 cases)]. Serine/threonine protein kinase gene V600E [ BRAF (p.V600E)] mutation was detected in pathological specimens from 10 skin-limi-ted cases, with 9 cases being positive.Plasma samples from 5 positive cases were further detected for BRAF (p.V600E) mutation, and 4 positive results were gained.Of all 16 patients, 11 cases (68.7%) were treated.Remission were achieved in 3-6 months from treatment start in patients treated whether according to the Histiocyte Society′s LCH-2009 protocol for 25 weeks(6 cases, 37.5%), or with topical mometasonefuroate for 3 months (3 cases, 18.8%). Two patients(12.5%) with solitary cutaneous lesions underwent excision biopsy (one face and one prepuce) and were considered to be in remission immediately after surgery.None of these patients suffered from the recurrence of the disease.The remaining 5 patients (31.3%) with skin-limited LCH were just evaluated regularly, and achieved remission in 3-6 months of commencing observation.Among these untreated patients, 1 with consistently positive BRAF (p.V600E) mutation in plasma had bone involvement in the 24 th month of assessment, and was then treated based on the Histiocyte Society′s LCH-2009 Protocol.No clinical or imageological evidence supporting disease progression was found on this patient.Median follow-up period was 32.8 months (2.9-63.9 months). Except one patient, none of the rest cases had active disease till follow-up ended.Two-year event free survival(EFS) of this research was (92.3± 7.4)%.There was no significant difference between EFS of treated group and that of observation group( χ2=1.250, P=0.264). Conclusions:Skin-limited LCH often occurs in infants and newborns, with strong heterogeneity in clinical manifestations, laboratory indicators, and pathogenesis.Seborrheic dermatitis-like lesions were the most common cutaneous type.The prognosis of the patients is excellent despite progressing into multisystem involvement can be seen in a few patients.

Objective:To evaluate the effect of paclitaxel on the mast cell-CCL2-macrophage axis in rats with pulmonary hypertension.Methods:Thirty SPF-grade healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats, aged 8-10 weeks, weighing 180-220 g, were divided into 3 groups ( n=10 each) using a random number table method: control group (group C), pulmonary hypertension group (group PH), and paclitaxel group (group PTX). The model of pulmonary hypertension was established by subcutaneous injection of monocrotaline 60 mg/kg in rats.At 25 days after establishing the models, paclitaxel 2 mg/kg was injected via the tail vein once every four days, for 4 times in total in group PTX.The equal volume of normal saline was injected in the remaining 2 groups.The mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) was performed at 40 days after establishing the model.The heart was removed and dried, the right ventricle (RV) and left ventricle plus ventricular septum (LV+ S) was weighed, and the Fulton index [RV/(LV+ S)] was calculated.The inferior lobe of left lung was taken, the ratio of media wall thickness of pulmonary vessels was calculated by HE staining, the number of Tryptase + , CD68 + , CD163 + , and Ki67 + cells was recorded by immunohistochemistry, the mean value was calculated, the percentage of Ki67-positive cells in blood vessels was recorded, and the proportion of muscularized blood vessels was calculated.The content of CCL2 was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and the expression of cleaved caspase-3 and Cyclin D1 was detected by Western blot. Results:Compared with group C, the mPAP, Fulton index, ratio of media wall thickness, proportion of muscularized blood vessels, the number of Tryptase + , CD68 + and CD163 + cells and percentage of Ki67 + cells were significantly increased, and the expression of cleaved caspase-3 was down-regulated in PH and PTX groups ( P<0.05), the expression of Cyclin D1 was significantly up-regulated in group PH ( P<0.05), and no significant change was found in group PTX ( P>0.05). Compared with group PH, the mPAP, Fulton index, ratio of media wall thickness, percentage of muscularized blood vessels, the number of Tryptase + , CD68 + and CD163 + cells and percentage of Ki67 + cells were significantly decreased, the expression of CCL2 and Cyclin D1 was down-regulated, and the expression of cleaved caspase-3 was up-regulated in group PTX ( P<0.05). Conclusion:The mechanism by which paclitaxel alleviates pulmonary hypertension is related to inhibiting the mast cell-CCL2-macrophage axis in rats.

OBJECTIVETo investigate whether the fetal immune tolerance induction could replace the HLA typing for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

METHODSImmune tolerance of SD rats was induced by injecting host Wistar rats peripheral blood mononuclear cells into yolk sac of the embryo, afterward the mature male offsprings were used as donor. The host female recipients received lethal dose irradiation and bone marrow transplantation(BMT). The Wistar rats transplanted with bone marrow from donor and unrelated SD rats as well as the rats which received radiation alone were used as control. The survival, histopathologically GVHD, the mental status, food and water intake, coat characteristics, activities were observed. Forty days after BMT, autologous and allogenous skin transplantation between donor and recipient rats was performed to observe the engraftment of solid organ.

RESULTSThe survival of the rats received bone marrow grafts from the immune tolerant donor was significantly longer than that of control groups (30 day survival rates were 86.7%, 6.7%, 0%, and 0% respectively), and there was no histopathologically GVHD observed, while in the sham group, the manifestations of GVHD was clearly visible. The skin engraftment rate between the host and the immune tolerant donor was significantly higher than that among non-related rats (84.6% and 0% respectively).

CONCLUSIONThe induction of immune tolerance in embryo can overcome the HLA barrier and provide a good donor for hematopoietic stem cell and solid organ transplantation.

Animals ; Embryo, Mammalian ; immunology ; Female ; Graft vs Host Disease ; immunology ; prevention & control ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Histocompatibility Testing ; Immunosuppression ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Rats, Wistar ; Transplantation Chimera

Objective To discuss the key points of endovascular therapy for complex subclavian artery occlusive diseases. Methods During the period from January 2012 to December 2013, a total of 92 patients with complex subclavian artery occlusive disease were admitted to Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, China. The clinical data were retrospectively analyzed. The features of the lesions, the success rate of endovascular therapy, the use of combined approaches, the relief of symptoms after treatment, etc. were evaluated. Results The complex subclavian artery occlusive diseases could be divided into three types. Type Ⅰ: long segment of the left subclavian artery was occluded; type Ⅱ: ostial stenosis or occlusion of the right subclavian artery; and type Ⅲ: subclavian artery stenosis or occlusion was associated with the ostial disorder of the vertebral artery, or the opening of vertebral artery was affected by the subclavian artery stenosis or occlusion. The technical success rate was 82.6%. Combination use of femoral artery and brachial artery approach was employed in 27.2% of patients, which had improved the technical success rate. After the treatment the symptom improvement rate was 81.6%. Conclusion Upper limb artery approach can improve the re-canalization rate of left subclavian artery with long segment occlusion, and can ensure the accurate positioning of stent at the site of right subclavian artery opening. During the procedure of endovascular intervention for subclavian artery occlusion disease, attention should be paid to the protection of the vertebral artery.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the perioperative risk factors of the cleft palate repair in Pierre Robin sequence patients at early age and to investigate how to control the risk factors.

METHODSSix consecutive patients with Pierre Robin sequence underwent primary repair of cleft palate in Department of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, Peking University School of Stomatology from June 2001 to February 2004. The patients underwent von Longenbeck operation by the same perioperative observation of serum oxygen saturation were obtained for these patients. patients included 4 males and 2 females with age of 9 months to 5 surgeon. Pre- and post-operative polysomnographic studies and years.

RESULTSAll the patients suffered various degree of hypoxaemia during the period of intubation. There was only one patient who had hypoxaemia within the first 2 hours during postanaesthetic recovery period. No obvious difference was found in apnea and hypopnea index (AHI) among the patients before and after operation.

CONCLUSIONSSevere hypoxaemia may happen in perioperative period when the patients with PRS underwent cleft palate repair. Most patients with PRS could undergo cleft palate repair safely performed by experienced surgeon at early age under comprehensive consideration and careful control of the risk factors.

Child, Preschool ; Cleft Palate ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Hypoxia ; etiology ; Infant ; Intraoperative Complications ; therapy ; Male ; Pierre Robin Syndrome ; surgery ; Postoperative Complications ; therapy ; Risk Factors

This study was aimed to investigate the prophylactic effect of Toll like receptor (TLR)5 agonist flagellin on acute graft versus host disease (aGVHD) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) and its possible mechanism. The animal model with allo-HSCT aGVHD was established by using purebred mice (male mouse C57BL/6 as donor, female mouse BALB/c as recipient) with complete-unidentical major histocompatibility antigen. The recipient mice were randomly divided into 3 groups: group 1 in which mice were injected with high purity (95%) flagellin before and after allo-HSCT respectively, group 2 in which mice received allo-HSCT without injection of flagellin, group 3 in which mice were radiated alone. The aGVHD features of mice in group 1 and 2 were observed and compared. The results showed that the typical symptoms of aGVHD appeared in transplanted mice. The death peak of mice in group 2 appeared at day 4-5 after transplantation. The aGVHD symptoms were obviously alleviated and the mean survival time was prolonged significantly in mice group 1 as compared with mice in group 2 (P < 0.05). The comparison of WBC count in peripheral blood of mice in 3 groups before transplantation showed no significant difference (P > 0.05), while WBC count of mice in group 1 and 2 showed the significant difference at days 14 and 21 after transplantation (P < 0.05). The pathological appearances of aGVHD in mice of group 1 were obviously reduced as compared with mice in group 2. The flow cytometric detection of Treg cell/CD4(+) T cell levels at different time before and after transplantation demonstrated that the Treg cell level in mice of group 1 at weeks 2-4 after transplantation significantly increased as compared with mice in group 2 (P < 0.05). It is concluded that flagellin can effectively prevent the aGVHD occurrence after allo-HSCT, reduce the symptoms and pathological changes of aGVHD, obviously prolong mean survival time of mice in group 1. The mechanism of flagellin effect may be associated to increase of Treg cell level in mice after allo-HSCT.
Animals ; Female ; Flagellin ; therapeutic use ; Graft vs Host Disease ; prevention & control ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; adverse effects ; methods ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory ; Toll-Like Receptor 6 ; agonists ; Transplantation, Homologous

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of Streptococcus mutans luxS mutarotation on the early biofilm formation.

METHODSBased on the immobilization of magnetic beads by adherent cells, an assay of biofilm quantitative analysis was developed for the kinetic quantification of biofilm formation in this study. Streptococcus mutans luxS mutant strain was constructed and subject to this biofilm luxS mutant strain were compared.

RESULTSThe delta luxS mutant started to form a biofilm from the 6th hour (delta BFI = 2.015), and the delta BFI of luxS mutant increased more quickly than that of the wild type strain, until reaching a complete immobilization of the beads after 10 hours (delta BFI = 7.025). The wild-type strain start to form a biofilm from the 10 th hour (delta BFI = 1.875) and the beads were completely immobilized between 12 and 14 hours.

CONCLUSIONSThe luxS mutation can accelerate biofilm on a polystyrene surface during the mid-exponential growth phase. And a luxS-dependent signal may play an important role in the early biofilm formation of Streptococcus mutans.

Bacterial Proteins ; genetics ; Biofilms ; growth & development ; Carbon-Sulfur Lyases ; genetics ; Gene Deletion ; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial ; Streptococcus mutans ; genetics ; growth & development