OBJECTIVETo investigate the potentiality of herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase transduced endothelial progenitor cells (EPC-TK) as angiogenesis-targeting vector in the glioma treatment in vitro and in vivo.

METHODSEPC-TK were mixed with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), U87 or U251 cells at various ratios for ganciclovir (GCV) treatment. The bystander effect was observed by counting the survival cells using MTT assay, and the apoptotic cells were determined by annexin-V and propidium iodide (PI) staining. EPC-TK, EPCs, or phosphate buffered saline (PBS) were injected into the nude mice model of glioma xenograft by tail vein, for the EPC-TK group, EPC group, and PBS group, respectively. And then the changes of tumor volume and tumor vasculature were observed.

RESULTSGCV killed most EPC-TK and reduced the number of other viable cells in a cell:cell ratio-dependent and time-dependent manner. EPC-TK obviously inhibited tumor growth. The tumor volumes on day 21 were 1741.20+/- 576.10 mm(3), 3275.52 +/- 710.86 mm(3) and 3033.09+/-1134.86 mm(3) in the EPC-TK, EPC and PBS group, respectively. EPC-TK also displayed a significant effect on the inhibition of tumor angiogenesis.

CONCLUSIONEPC-TK can exert a potent antiglioma effect via inhibiting angiogenesis.

Angiogenesis Inhibitors ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Antiviral Agents ; pharmacology ; Bystander Effect ; Cell Transformation, Viral ; physiology ; Endothelial Cells ; virology ; Endothelium ; Genetic Vectors ; Glioma ; therapy ; Humans ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Simplexvirus ; enzymology ; genetics ; Thymidine Kinase ; genetics ; Transduction, Genetic ; Transfection ; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the long term effects of adjuvant radiotherapy for postoperative breast cancer.

METHODSFrom 1985 to 1986, 162 patients with operable breast cancer were randomly given adjuvant radiotherapy according to clinical stage and involving condition of axillary lymph nodes (LN). The radiotherapy group (RG) was irradiated in the supraclavicular area and/or internal mammary area to 50 Gy, while the control group (CG) was not.

RESULTSThe overall 5-, 10- and 15-year survival rates of the RG were 72.0%, 56.1% and 54.3%, while they were 66.3%, 51.3% and 49.4% in the CG (P > 0.05). Clinical stage I-IIIa and positive or negative LN showed no significant difference in the two groups. But in patients with LN(+) > or = 4, the 5-, 10- and 15-year survival rates of the RG were 55.6%, 38.9% and 37.1%, which were higher than the CG of 29.0%, 16.1% and 16.1% (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONAdjuvant radiotherapy can improve the prognosis for breast cancer patients with LN(+) > or = 4, but not for LN(-).

Breast Neoplasms ; mortality ; radiotherapy ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Radiotherapy, Adjuvant ; Survival Rate

Adult ; Aged ; Alcohol Drinking ; China ; ethnology ; Fatty Liver, Alcoholic ; etiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVETo investigate the correlation of the mRNA expression level of excision repair cross-complementing group 1 (ERCC1) gene with clinicopathological parameters and clinical outcome in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving platinum-based chemotherapy.

METHODSThe mRNA expression of ERCC1 in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded primary tumor specimens was measured by real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. The association between ERCC1 expression levels and clinicopathological parameters in NSCLC patients was analyzed.

RESULTSThe median value of ERCC1 mRNA expression level compared with beta-actin in tumor specimens of 61 NSCLC patients was 0.48. There was no correlation between ERCC1 expression and clinicopathological parameters. Patients with low expression of ERCC1 mRNA (less than 0.35, 0.28, respectively) had a significantly longer median time to progression (TTP) (14.3 vs. 8.0 months, P = 0.028) and overall survival (OS) (28.4 vs. 12.9 months, P = 0.0064) than those with high expression. Multivariate analysis showed that a low ERCC1 mRNA expression was an independent factor for OS.

CONCLUSIONOur findings suggest that intratumoral ERCC1 mRNA expression level, although is uncorrelated with clinicopathological parameters, is an independent predictive marker for survival of the patients with NSCLC receiving platinum-based chemotherapy, and may provide critical information for personalized chemotherapy.

Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Bone Neoplasms ; secondary ; Brain Neoplasms ; secondary ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; secondary ; Cisplatin ; administration & dosage ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Disease-Free Survival ; Endonucleases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Paraffin Embedding ; Platinum ; administration & dosage ; Proportional Hazards Models ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Survival Rate

Objective To investigate the changes of hepatitis C virus (HCV) gene subtypes and RNA loads in chronic hepatitis C, HCV－related liver cirrhosis and HCV－related hepatocellular carcinoma patients in Yunnan. Methods 241 patients were enrolled at the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Yunnan, China) from January 2016 to April 2017. Among them, 169 patients were with chronic hepatitis C, 56 patients with HCV－related liver cirrhosis and 16 patients with HCV－related hepatocellular carcinoma. HCV gene subtype and RNA loads were measured using the Polymerase Chain Reaction－fluorescence probe method. Results In the chronic hepatitis C group,there were 47 subtype 3b cases (27.81%) . 17 cases of HCV－related liver cirrhosis were subtype 1b (30.36%);5 patients with HCV－related hepatocellular carcinoma were subtype 3b (31.25%) . There was no statistical difference distribution of the genotype among the three groups (P＞0.05) .The HCV RNA loads of the chronic hepatitis C group, HCV － related liver cirrhosis group and HCV － related hepatocellular carcinoma group were (332±114) copies/mL, (189±73) copies/mL and (152±56) copies/mL respectively. The difference among three groups were significant (P＜0.01).The chronic hepatitis C group was significantly higher than the other two groups, and the differences were statistically significant (P＜0.01) . But no significant difference of HCV RNA loads was found between HCV － related liver cirrhosis and HCV － related hepatocellular carcinoma group (t=0. 65,P＜0.05) . Conclusion In Yunnan, 3b was main genotype in chronic hepatitis C patients and 1b was main genotype in HCV－related liver cirrhosis, 3b was main genotype in HCV－related hepatocellular carcinoma. HCV RNA loads tend to decrease in the progress that chronic hepatitis C develops into HCV－related liver cirrhosis and HCV－related hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective To compare the risk for HIV, syphilis and HCV infection between club drug users and traditional drug users in Taizhou City of Zhejiang Province, in order to provide evidence for further behavioral intervention. Methods Drug users in Taizhou were surveyed with the questionnaires for national HIV sentinel surveillance during 2016-2019.Blood samples were collected for detection of HIV, syphilis and HCV antibodies. Results A total of 1 612 drug users were surveyed, in which club drug users accounted for 78.7% and traditional drug users 21.3%.Significant differences were observed in gender, age, educational level, ethnic background, and household registration between these two groups (P < 0.05).Among club drug users, injecting drug users accounted for 7.1%, lower than traditional drug users (P < 0.001).Among the injecting drug users, those who shared needles with others accounted for 8.9%, similar to the traditional drug users (P>0.05).In the past year, the proportion of having sex after drug abuse among club drug users was 77.9%, higher than traditional drug users (P=0.002).The proportion of condom use during sex were nearly 30.0% for both club drug users and traditional drug users.Of the club drug users, 0.2% were infected with HIV, which was not significantly different from that in traditional drug users (P>0.05).The prevalence of syphilis among club drug users was 12.6%, higher than traditional drug users (P < 0.05);whereas the HCV prevalence (10.4%) was lower among club drug users (P < 0.001). Conclusion The threats of blood-borne transmission and sexual transmission of diseases are common among club drug users, suggesting the need of targeted intervention measures.

OBJECTIVELcrV is an important component for the development of a subunit vaccine against plague. To reduce immunosuppressive activity of LcrV, a recombinant LcrV variant lacking amino acids 271 to 326 (rV270) was prepared by different methods in this study.

METHODSA new strategy that produced non-tagged or authentic rV270 protein was designed by insertion of rV270-thrombin-hexahistidine fusion gene into the vector pET24a, or by insertion of hexahistidine-enterokinase-rV270 or hexahistitine-factor Xa-rV270 fusion gene into the vector pET32a. After Co(2+) affinity chromatography, a purification strategy was developed by cleavage of His tag on column, following Sephacryl S-200HR column filtration chromatography.

RESULTSRemoval of His tag by thrombin, enterokinase and factor Xa displayed a yield of 99.5%, 32.4% and 15.3%, respectively. Following Sephacryl S-200HR column filtration chromatography, above 97% purity of rV270 protein was obtained. Purified rV270 that was adsorbed to 25% (v/v) Al(OH)₃ adjuvant in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) induced very high titers of antibody to rV270 in BALB/c mice and protected them (100% survival) against subcutaneous challenge with 10⁶ CFU of Y. pestis virulent strain 141.

CONCLUSIONThe completely authentic rV270 protein can be prepared by using enterokinase or factor Xa, but they exhibited extremely low cleavage activity to the corresponding recognition site. Thrombin cleavage is an efficient strategy to prepare non-tagged rV270 protein and can be easily operated in a large scale due to its relatively low cost and high cleavage efficacy. The recombinant rV270 can be used as a key component to develop a subunit vaccine of plague.

Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Antibodies, Bacterial ; blood ; Antigens, Bacterial ; genetics ; immunology ; Blotting, Western ; Cloning, Molecular ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; Female ; Genetic Vectors ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Plague ; immunology ; prevention & control ; Plague Vaccine ; genetics ; immunology ; Plasmids ; Pore Forming Cytotoxic Proteins ; genetics ; immunology ; Protein Engineering ; methods ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; genetics ; immunology ; Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization ; Survival Analysis ; Vaccines, Subunit ; genetics ; immunology ; Yersinia pestis ; growth & development ; immunology

OBJECTIVETo determine the prevalence of urolithiasis in young children fed infant formula (IF) contaminated with melamine, and the association between IF consumption and urolithiasis.

DESIGNA total of 2 733 children < or = 3 years of age on September 1, 2008 in two townships of Gansu Province, China were studied. Cases of urolithiasis were diagnosed by ultrasonography. Milk product consumption was determined by their caregivers. Remaining IF samples were tested for melamine and cyanuric acid.

RESULTSOf 2 733 eligible children in the two townships, 2 186 (80%) were enrolled in our study. Overall, 16.6% (362) of 2 186 children had urolithiasis. The prevalence was 24.6% in children exclusively fed Sanlu brand IF, 9.7% in those fed other IF, and 8.5% in those fed exclusively on other milk products. For children exclusively breast-fed, no urolithiasis was found (P < 0.05). The prevalence of urolithiasis was 11.4% in children fed 400 g of Sanlu IF, rising to 37.5% in children fed over 25 600 g. Of 48 Sanlu IF samples, 91.7% contained melamine (median = 1 800 ppm; range = 45-4 700) and 66.7% contained cyanuric acid (median = 1.2 ppm; range = 0.4-6.3). Melamine was also detected in 22.2% of 36 other brand IF (median = 27.5 ppm, range = 4-50).

CONCLUSIONSUrolithiasis was associated with melamine-contaminated IF. Although one product caused most morbidity, other milk products may have also contributed to the outbreak.

Child, Preschool ; Data Collection ; Food Contamination ; Humans ; Infant Food ; analysis ; Triazines ; toxicity ; Urolithiasis ; chemically induced

OBJECTIVE: To study the differential metabolites in urine and the characteristics of metabolic pathway of middle school students with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) before and after exercise, and then explain the metabolic mechanism of CFS. METHODS: Eight male middle school students (age:17-19) with CFS were selectedas the CFS group according to CFS screening criteria of the U.S. centers.At the same time, 8 male health students of the same age from the same school were selected as the control group. They were administrated to do one-time exercise on the improved Harvard step (up and down steps 30 times/min for 3minutes). Their urinewascollected before and after exercise, and the differential metabolitesin urine were detected by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The multidimensional statistical methods were used to analyze the metabolites by principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal projections to latent structures-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). Finally, MetPA database was used to analyze the metabolites and to construct the correlativemetabolic pathways. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the creatine, indoleacetaldehyde, phytosphingosine and pyroglutamic acid were selected as differential metabolites and the contents of those were decreased significantly (<0.05 or <0.01) in CFS groupbefore the step movement. However, 11 differential metabolitesin CFS group were selected out after exercise, which were nonanedioic acid, methyladenosine, acetylcarnitine, capric acid, corticosterone, creatine, levonorgestrel, pantothenic acid, pyroglutamic acid, xanthosine and xanthurenic acid in sequence, the contents of methyladenosine and creatinewere significantly increased (<0.05) and the contents of the other 9 differentialmetabolites were significantly decreased (<0.05 or <0.01)compared with the control group.The 15 differential metabolites mentioned above were input MetPA database in order to analyze the metabolic pathways weighted score.The results showed that the arginine-proline metabolism pathway disordersweredetected in theCFS group before exercise, the marker metabolite wascreatine. And 3 metabolic pathwaysdisorder weredetectedin the CFS groupafter exercise, which were arginine-proline metabolism, biosynthesis of pantothenic acid and CoA, steroid hormone biosynthesis, and the marker metabolites, in turn, werecreatine, pantothenic acid and corticosterone. CONCLUSIONS The disorder of arginine-proline metabolic pathway is detected in CFS middle school students before exercise intervention. After exercise, it can be detected that the steroid hormone biosynthetic metabolic pathway, pantothenic acid and CoA metabolic pathways also have metabolic disorders.
Adolescent ; Biomarkers ; Exercise ; Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic ; Humans ; Male ; Metabolomics ; Students ; Young Adult

Objective] To explore disaster response capability and the vulnerability as well as the current level and training needs of disaster medicine knowledge in urban populations . [ Methods] Five communities in Yangpu District of Shanghai were randomly enrolled in this study .The study populations were then stratified by age groups .A total of 1700 residents were recruited , 1643 of which completed a structured questionnaire designed by the investigators . [ Results] Eight-nine percent of the residents be-lieved the importance of understanding disaster medicine -related knowledge .The correct answer rates of “pro-tective measures of nuclear leakage issues” and “self-rescue measures in a high building fire” reached over 80%;however , the overall correct answer rate of “cardiorespiratory resuscitation operation” was less than 40%.The main channels of community residents accessing disaster medicine knowledge were mainly news -papers, magazines, and internet (52.1%);whereas only 5.3%of them obtained the knowledge from school education .Community residents most liked to obtain “first aid skills”and“basic theory of disaster medicine”through formal lectures (72.4%). [Conclusion] School education lacks disaster-related knowledge , pos-sibly resulting in the fact that community residents have a limited ability to save both oneself and others in disaster .There are significant differences between residents with different education levels .Community resi-dents have limited knowledge of disaster occurrence and development , and lack capabilities of self-rescue and mutual aid .Colleges should increase the contents of disaster medicine education in their curriculum .Disaster education should be enforced in school education .Continued education and simulation of disaster-related knowledge should be regularly offered to community residents to greatly reduce their vulnerability to disasters .