Antiviral Agents ; therapeutic use ; Hepatitis C ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; drug therapy ; virology

Humans ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; classification ; pathology ; Neoplasm Staging ; World Health Organization

Wild birds (mainly Anseriformes and Charadriiformes) are recognized as the natural reservoir of avian influenza viruses (AIVs). The long-term surveillance of AIVs in wild birds has been conducted in North America and Europe since 1970s. More and more surveillance data revealed that all the HA and NA subtypes of AIVs were identified in the wild ducks, shorebirds, and gulls, and the AIVs circulating in wild birds were implicated in the outbreaks of AIVs in poultry and humans. Therefore, the AIVs in wild birds pose huge threat to poultry industry and human health. To gain a better understanding of the ecology and epidemiology of AIVs in wild birds, we summarize the transmission of AIVs between wild birds, poultry, and humans, the main results of surveillance of AIVs in wild birds worldwide and methods for surveillance, and the types of samples and detection methods for AIVs in wild birds, which would be vital for the effective control of avian influenza and response to possible influenza pandemic.
Animals ; Animals, Wild ; virology ; Birds ; virology ; Humans ; Influenza A virus ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; physiology ; Influenza in Birds ; epidemiology ; transmission ; virology ; Influenza, Human ; epidemiology ; transmission ; virology ; Sentinel Surveillance ; veterinary

This research uses six Agrobacterium rhizogenes R1601, R15384, R1000, A4, R1025 and R1 to infect silymarin explants to induce hairy roots and silibin. All of the six A. rhizogenes can induce Silybum marianum to generate hairy roots and the A. rhizogene A4 shows comparatively high infection on the plant. This research determines the condition to induce silymarin hairy roots by the factors of infection time, pre-culturing, co-culturing and pH value. The fact that MS liquid medium fits the proliferation of silymarin hairy roots is determined. Through PCR molecular identification, it can be seen that the DNA plasmids in the A. rhizogenes are successfully integrated into the genome of transformed roots. Using liquid chromatography, it is determined that the silibin content in silymarin hairy roots is 2.5 times that in the plant In this research, the silymarin hairy roots culturing system is established, which lays a foundation for the study of culturing silymarin hairy roots and producing silibin.
Agrobacterium ; genetics ; physiology ; Cell Culture Techniques ; methods ; Milk Thistle ; chemistry ; genetics ; growth & development ; microbiology ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; genetics ; growth & development ; microbiology ; Silymarin ; analysis ; Transformation, Genetic

Objective Using mouse autoimmune premature ovary failure (POF) model to seek theoretical evidence for a possible clinical therapy of autoimmune POF with glucocorticoid (GC) or an-drogen. Methods After autoimmune POF was induced in 60 mice by Pzp3, the mice were randomly as-signed into 3 groups (n=20) : Two groups were treated with GC or androgen and the control group was treated with distilled water. We observed the changes in the sexual cycles of the mice, the serum level of AzpAb, infiltration of cells positively expressing CD45 in the ovary, and pathological alterations of the ovary. Results The sexual cycle of each therapy group was significantly different from that of the control group. The mean serum level of AzpAb of each therapy group was significantly lower than that of the con-trol group, and the mean serum level of AzpAb in the GC group was significantly higher than that of the androgen group. The percentage of growing follicles in the ovary of each therapy group was significantly higher than that of the control group. Ovaries infiltrated by cells positively expressing CD45 of each thera-py group were significantly fewer than those of the control group. Conclusion GC or androgen in mice with autoimmune POF could obviously ameliorate the pathogenetic conditions of the disorder, and both treatments have similar therapeutic efficacy.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of early induced finger function training on motor function and activities of daily living (ADL) of stroke patients.Methods60 stroke patients with hemiplegia were randomly divided into the early induced finger function training group (treatment group) and control group with 30 cases in each group. The patients of the control group were treated with routine rehabilitation; while those of the treatment group were added with training of early induced flexion and extension of fingers. All patients of two groups were assessed with Brunnstorm Scale, Fugl-Meyer Assessment, scores of Neurological Functional Deficit, and Modified Barthel Index before and 8～12 weeks after treatment.ResultsAfter treatment, upper limb motor function, hand function and fingers' fine function in the sick side of the patients in the treatment group improved significantly better than that in the control group ( P<0.05～0.01).ConclusionThe early induced finger function training can obviously improve the upper limb motor function and ADL of stroke patients.

Objective To investigate the clinical features, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of muhisystemic invasive fungal diseases. Methods Twenty-one patients with multisystemic invasive fungal diseases who were hospitalized in department of infectious diseases from January 2001 to June 2008 were retrospectively reviewed. The pathogenic bacteria, involved organs, underlying diseases, clinical manifestations, treatments and prognoses of muhisystemic invasive fungal diseases were analyzed. Results Among 21 recruited cases, 17 had underlying diseases and 11 were treated with long-term immunosuppressive agents. The main pathogenic bacteria were Cryptococcus neoformans, Aspergillus and Candida parapsilosis. Lung and brain were involved in 16 cases (skin involve in 2 cases and lymph node involved in 1 case simultaneously), lung and lumbar involved in 2 cases, heart valves involved in 2 cases, and liver, spleen and bone marrow involved in 1 case. Eight cases were cured, 6 were improved and 7 died. Conclusions In this study, most of the 21 cases with multisystemic invasive fungal diseases are immunocompromised. The main pathogenic bacterium is Cryptococcus neoformans. The lung and brain are common organs involved. Prognosis is associated with early diagnosis and active anti-fungal treatment.

Objective To examine whether speckle tracking imaging(STI) could provide for the assessment of acute cardiac rejection. Methods Hearts from Brown Norway rats or Lewis rats were transplanted into other Brown Norway rats. Isografts and groups of allografts either untreated or treated with cyclosporin A (CsA) at a low dose (3 mg ·kg-1 ·d-1) or high dose (10mg · kg-1 ·d-1) from 1　day before transplantation were compared at posttransplantation day 7. Results Echocardiography-derived left ventricular post wall thickness was increased only in untreated allografts. The left ventricular eject fraction was significant lower in the allografts compared with isograft, but allografts treated without or with low-dose CsA showed similar results. The radial systolic radial strain rate showed a lower value in untreated allografts than other grafts,but there was no significant differences between allograft treated with high- or low-dose CsA and isografts. The circumferential strain and circumferential strain rate was comparable among the 4 groups. However the radial strain exhibited a clear gradient in these groups [(2. 8 ± 1.3)％ in untreated allografts, (5.2 ± 0.9)％ in allografts treated with low-dose CsA, (6.3 ± 1.8 )％ in allografts treated with high-dose CsA,and (12.7 ± 7.9) in isografts, P＜0.001]. The radial strain exhibited a clear correlation with the severity of rejection ( r =-0.812, P＜ 0.0000). Conclusions The radial strain decreased as the severity of rejection worsen. STI offers promise as a noninvasive method for detecting transplant allograft rejection.

Objective To establish an ultraviolet-irradiation damage model in cultured fibroblasts derived from human skin and to explore the potential protective effects and mechanisms of amyloid precursor protein 17-met peptide (APP17-mer peptide) on the oxidative damage and collagen metabolism in cultured fibroblasts after ultraviolet irradiation. Methods Human dermal fibroblast cultures were established by outgrowth from foreskin biopsies of a healthy donor and were irradiated by a single exposure to ultraviolet rays and cultured in a series of concentrations of APP17-mer peptide (0, 20, 40, 80 μmol/L).The activity of fibroblasts was detected by the assay of MTT. The intracellular ROS level was measured with a confocal microscope. The expression of MMP-1 mRNA was analyzed real-time quantitatively following RT-PCR. Results Primary cultures of human skin fibroblasts were established from human foreskin in DMEM supplemented with 10 % fetal bovine serum. UV irradiation depressed cellular activity and increased intracellular level of ROS (P<0.05). 40μmol/L and 80μmol/L APP17-mer peptide increased the cellular activity in both UV irradiated fibroblasts and unirradiated fibroblasts (P<0.05), however,20 μmol/L did not show such protective effects (P>0. 05). 40μmol/L APP17-mer peptide could depress the level of ROS in irradiated libroblasts. A single exposure of fibroblasts to UV irradiation resulted in 1.78 foldup-regulation of MMP-1 mRNA compared with unirradiated sample, 40μmol/L and 80μmol/L APP17-mer peptide decreased the expression of MMP-1 mRNA (P<0.05 and P<0.01, respectively).Conclusion APP17-mer peptide can enhance cellular activity under UV-induced oxidative stress and in-hibit collagen degradation in fibroblasts irradiated with ultraviolet rays. Inhibition of ROS production may be involved in the protective mechanism of APP17 peptide.

Objective To investigate the roles and significances of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in diffuse proliferative lupus nephritis by repeated renal biopsy.Methods Seventeen patients diagnosed by renal biopsy as WHO typeⅣlupus nephritis were analyzed by immunohistochemistry staining for MMP-2 and MMP-9. Double staining for MMP-2 and MT1-MMP,MMP-9 and CD68 were also performed.Patients had repeated renal biopsy after followed up for 2.5 years.The relationship between expressions of gelatinases and pathological activity index and clinical data were studied.Results MMP-2 immunoreactivity was detected in normal controls and was increased in diffuse proliferative lupus nephritis.MMP-9 staining,which was almost negative in normal giomeruli,was increased much more significantly in diffuse proliferative lupus nephritis. The immunoreactivity of MMP-2 and MMP-9 was positive in MT1-MMP staining and CD68-positive macrophages, respectively.The expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 was reduced by 70% and 62% in 10 patients whose clinical condition was partially alleviated,while the expressions in 7 patients whose clinical condition was not alleviated,were only reduced by 27% and 32%.The staining for MMP-2 and MMP-9 were correlated with activity index of lupus nephritis and proteinuria.Conclusion Up-regulation of gelatinases expression in diffuse proliferate lupus nephritis is correlated to activity index of the disease.