Objective To clarify the association of age and sun exposure with human epidermal thickness, and to probe deeply into the changes of skin histology and epidermal thickness with skin aging.Methods Two hundreds and eleven full thickness skin samples were collected from 3 different age groups of healthy volunteers and then stained with haematoxylin and eosin to study the changes of epidermal thickness using image analysis software ( Image pro plus 6.0). The obtained values were analyzed with factorial design ANOVA and correlation analysis to detect any significant effects of age and sun exposure on epidermal thickness.Results With increasing age, the junction between epidermis and dermis became flattened, and stratum comeum got looser. There was a notable attrition of the epidermal thickness that could be correlated with age. The at-trition of epidermal thickness attributed to age did not vary between female and male volunteers. Epidermal cell layers thickness increased with cumulated sun exposure, but epidermal total thickness was not associated with sun exposure. There was no difference for epidermal thickness of different sun exposure between female and male volunteers. Conclusion During chronological aging, epidermal cells decrease in thickness with lowered metabolism. With cumulated sun exposure, epidermal cell layer thickness becomes thicker. There is no interaction between the effect of age and sun exposure and the epidermal thickness.

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a slowly progressive autoimmune disease of the liver.Studies on the pathphysiology of this disease have demonstrated the immune-mediated destruction of the intrahepatic bile ducts and portal infammation seem to be the result of an intense autoimmune response directed against the autoantigens located in the biliary epithelium.Immunologically,PBC is characterized by the presense of antimitochodrial antibodies,elevated serum IgM and lymphoid infiltration in the portal tract.Indeed,the relationships between IgM and PBC have been a major focus of research on its pathphysiology,which lead to an increased understanding of the abnormal immune responses involved in PBC.This review summarizes data on the biological and clinical significance of Hyper-IgM in PBC,and highlights the potential role of IgM for the diagnosis and treatment of PBC.

Objective To find out and compare the risk factors of the severe birth defects and mild birth defects,and make it more effective to prevent the severe birth defects.Methods Fetus diagnosed with severe birth defects in Shunde district,Foshan during 2016 were selected as case group 1,those who diagnosed with moderate/mild birth defects were selected as case group 2,and those healthy infants whose mother's last menstrual period was at the same time with the case groups were selected as control group.Their mothers' relative information was collected.A case-control study was conducted to analyze the risk factors of the two case groups respectively.We applied Chi-square analysis and multivariate Logistic regressions to find out the independent risk factors.Results Chi-square analysis showed that maternal age above 35 years(χ2=19.69,P<0.01) and gravidity 3 times or more(χ2=10.06,P<0.01) were the risk factors of severe birth defects,and twins was the risk factor of mild birth defects(χ2=4.05,P<0.05).The multivariate Logistic regressions showed that maternal age above 35 years was the independent risk factor of severe birth defects(OR=2.75,P<0.001),and twins was the independent risk factor of mild birth defects(OR=2.22,P=0.05).Conclusion The women with age above 35 years have higher risk to pregnant a baby with severe birth defects and they are worthy of more attention during pre-pregnancy and antenatal examinations.

Objective To estimate the effect of bacille calmette-guerin polysaccharide nucleic acid(BCG-PSN)on skin prick test(SPT)reactions,and to assess the clinical efficacy and therapeutic mechanism of BCG-PSN combined with mizolastine,in patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria.Methods A non-randomized,openlabel clinical trial was carried out.Totally,168 patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria were divided into 2 groups to be treated with mizolastine 10 mg once a day combined with BCG-PSN injection at a dose of 2 ml every other day(experiment group,n =85)or mizolastine 10 mg once a day only(control group,n =83).All the patients underwent SPT,and were evaluated by symptom score at the baseline and after 12 weeks of treatment.Statistical analysis was performed by using the SPSS 10.0 software,t test and Chi-square test were used to analyze the intra-and inter-group differences in symptom score reducing index(SSRI)and SPT results.Results After 12-week treatment,SSRI was significandy higher in the experiment group than in the control group(0.92 ± 0.33 vs.0.74 ± 0.35,t =2.39,P ＜ 0.05).In the experiment group,50 patients were cured,28 patients received a marked response,with a total response rate of 92.0％;meanwhile,32 patients were cured and 30 patients received a marked response in the control group with a total response rate of 74.6％;there was a significant difference in the total response rate between the experiment group and control group(x2 =5.62,P ＜ 0.05).The percentage of positive SPT to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Dermatophagoides farinae was 24.7％ and 17.6％ respectively at the baseline,9.4％ and 5.9％ respectively after treatment,in the experiment group,24.1％ and 16.9％ respectively at the baseline,24.1％ and 15.7％ respectively after treatment,in the control group.Significant differences were observed in the percentage of positive SPT between the control group and experiment group after treatment(x2 =5.82,P ＜0.05),but not at the baseline.A statistical decrease in the percentage of positive SPT was induced by the combined therapy with BCG-PSN and mizolastine(x2 =4.56,P＜ 0.05),but not by mizolastine alone.Conclusions BCG-PSN combined with mizolastine appears superior to mizolastine alone in the treatment of chronic idiopathic urticaria,with a decrease in the percentage of positive SPT reactions and in the sensitivity to allergens.

Objective To evaluate the performance of an improved skin prick test in infantile eczema.Methods A self-controlled study was carried out in 248 infants with eczema.Improved and conventional skin prick tests were conducted with 8 allergens on the left and right flexural forearm of the subjects,respectively.Results Positive results of skin prick test were found in the left flexural forearm of 38.3％ of the infants,and in the right flexural forearm of 38.7％ of the infants,with no significant difference between the two methods in the detection rate of allergens (P ＞ 0.05).The most common sensitizing allergens were house dust mite and Dermatophagoides culinae as shown by both methods.Conclusions The improved skin prick test displays an acceptable performance with simple and safe procedure in the detection of allergens in infants with eczema,and can provide reliable evidence for clinical diagnosis.

Objective To investigate the significance of variation of concentrations of serum IL-1,IL-6, TNF-α and cyclooxygenase-2 in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Methods Thirty-two PTSD patients were chosen as the observation group and another 26 normal patients were taken as the control group. The concentrations of serum IL-1,IL-6,TNF-α and COX-2 in patients of both groups were detected by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot and were compared in these 2 groups. Results The concentrations of serum IL-1 , IL-6 and TNF-α were significantly higher in the observation group than those in the control group (P < 0.01);and the level of COX-2 in the observation group was significantly higher than that of the control group(P < 0.01). Conclusions Abnormal immune states are awared in PTSD patients and the IL-1,IL-6,TNF-α and COX-2 might play an important role in the pathogenesis of PTSD.

Objective To understand the content of discharge guidance for lung cancer patients ,and to provide evidence for improving the quality of lung cancer .Methods Using convenient sampling method ,a sample of 212 patients with lung cancer in the Department of Thoracic Oncology ,a third‐class hospital in Sichuan province was surveyed by general data questionnaire and dis‐charge guidance quality questionnaire .Results The total discharge guidance quality was (195 .93 ± 39 .98) points and was at a high level .The score of discharge guidance requirement(48 .69 ± 11 .51) was higher than that of discharge instruction (47 .35 ± 11 .34) , the difference was statistically significant(P<0 .05) .There was significant difference in the scores of different age ,educational lev‐el ,living style and the patients with central venous catheter (PICC/CVC) ,the difference was statistically significant (P<0 .05) . Conclusion Patients with lung cancer were discharged from the hospital with a higher level of guidance ,and the content of dis‐charge guidance from patients with lung cancer was far from meeting the requirements .It should be based on the age ,education and living style of patients with lung cancer ,especially for strengthening the guidance of discharged patients with PICC/CVC ,improving the quality of discharge guidance and promoting the rehabilitation of lung cancer patients .

AIM: To observe the direct effect of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on secretion of endothelin-1(ET-1) and nitric oxide by human umbilical vein endothelial cell and cell viability of the secretor. METHODS: The third passage of human umbilical vein endothelial cells were incubated with different concentrations of LPS(1 g/L, 100 mg/L, 10 mg/L, 1 mg/L, 100 ?g/L, 10 ?g/L, 1 ?g/L) for 6 hours, and the culture supernatants were collected. The concentrations of ET-1 were determined by radioimmunoassay, the concentrations of nitric oxide were determined using Greiss's method. The viabilities of cells were measured by MTT method. RESULTS: The concentration of ET-1 (pg/L) of normal control group was 251 64?10 90. The concentrations of ET-1(pg/L) of LPS treated groups were 220 85?19 14, 278 67?15 45, 306 40?11 60, 312 87?33 50, 324 38?17 02, 291 49?14 30, 282 11?13 38, respectively. (each group compared with normal control group, P

AIM: To observe the direct effect of LPS on expressions of ET-1, eNOS, and iNOS mRNA in human umbilical vein endothelial cells, and further research the molecular mechanism of effect of LPS on production of ET-1 and NO. METHODS: The third passage of cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells was incubated with low concentration (100 ?g/L) of LPS for 6 hours. Total RNA was extracted. The expressions of ET-1, eNOS, and iNOS mRNA were analyzed by semi-quantitative RT-PCR method. RESULTS: ET-1 mRNA experession increased significantly, while expression of eNOS mRNA decreased significantly, and there was no significant change in expression of iNOS mRNA. CONCLUSIONS: In human umbilical vein endothelial cells, low concentration of LPS enhanced the expression of ET-1 mRNA, inhibited the expression of eNOS mRNA, and had no significant effect on the expression of iNOS mRNA.

Pubmed (1990-2008) and China Journal Full-text Database (CJFD) (1998-2008) were searched for relevant articles on localization of skin stem cells. A total of 44 articles revealed that hair follicle bulge cells that are label-retaining cells regenerate themselves by division and can give rise to differentiated progeny. They did not express characteristic markers of differentiated cells, but stem cells markers. Therefore hair follicle bulge region was considered to be epidermal stem cells niche. Hair follicle dermal sheath housed multipotent and plastic stem cells, considered to be dermal stem cells niche. Hair follicle dermal papilla interacted with dermal sheath to induce the formation of hair follicle. It is believed that precursor cells in dermal papilla harvested from dermal sheath stem cells are the active daughter cells. Whether skin stem cells are present in hair follicle and hairless region is under debate. Some studies found that skin stem cells were detected in the basal layer of epidermis in hair follicle.