OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical features of thyroid disease occurring in response to antiviral therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC).

METHODSEighty-two patients diagnosed with CHC were recruited for study from our hospital between 2009 and 2010. All patients were given a 48-week course of antiviral combination therapy with pegylated-interferon (Peg-IFN; 180 mug qw ih) and ribavirin (RBV; 15 mg/kg bw). Patient sera was collected prior to treatment (baseline), at treatment weeks 24 and 48, and post-treatment week 24, and used to detect changes in levels of thyroid function markers, thyroid-specific and other autoantibodies, complement factors, and immunoglobulins (Igs). Differential expression of biomarkers was assessed between patients who developed thyroid disorder and those who did not.

RESULTSAt treatment week 48, 13.4% (11/82) of cases developed hypothyroidism, 3.7% (3/82) developed hyperthyroidism, 20.7% (17/82) tested positive for thyroglobulin antibody, and 22.0% (18/82) tested positive for thyroid peroxidase antibody. The patients who did not develop thyroid disease had significantly higher post-treatment levels (vs. baseline) of IgG (14.84 +/- 2.61 vs. 12.95 +/- 3.32 g/L, F = 10.458, P = 0.002) and C4 (0.26 +/- 0.09 vs. 0.22 +/- 0.08 g/L, F = 6.835, P = 0.011) and significantly lower IgM (0.86 +/- 0.48 vs. 1.00 +/- 0.42 g/L, F = 9.106, P = 0.003). The patients who developed thyroid disease showed no significant differences in the baseline and post-treatment levels of IgG, C4, or IgM. When the two groups of patients who did or did not develop thyroid disease were compared, there was no difference in the amount of patients who achieved sustained virological response.

CONCLUSIONAntiviral-induced thyroid disease in patients with refractory hepatitis C manifests as clinically-detectable abnormalities in serum levels of thyroid autoantibody and markers of hypothyroidism. Levels of other autoantibodies and Igs do not correlate with the development of thyroid disease in these patients, and thyroid disease does not appear to affect the efficacy of Peg-IFN + RBV antiviral therapy.

Antiviral Agents ; therapeutic use ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha ; therapeutic use ; Polyethylene Glycols ; therapeutic use ; Ribavirin ; therapeutic use ; Thyroid Diseases ; chemically induced

OBJECTIVETo detect the differentially expressed genes in human polycystic kidney by cDNA microarray.

METHODSThe PCR products of 8398 genes were spotted onto a chip in array. Both mRNAs isolated from polycystic kidney tissue and normal kidney tissue were reversely transcribed to cDNAs with the incorporation of fluorescent dUTP (Cy5-dUTP and Cy3-dUTP) for preparing the hybridization probes. The mixed probes were hybridized to the cDNA microarray. Then the cDNA microarray was scanned for the fluorescent signals and the display of differences between the 2 tissues. IGF1 mRNA, one of the up regulated genes was detected by in situ hybridization technique in the two tissues to validate the result from cDNA microarray.

RESULTSThe result indicated that the expressions of 263 genes were up regulated while the expressions of 94 genes were down regulated in the polycystic kidney tissue among the 8398 target genes. Bioinformatical analysis of those genes had been performed. The up-regulated genes were mainly the ones of oncogene, cellular skeleton and movement, apoptosis related protein, cell signal transduction protein, and cytokine. The down regulated genes were mainly the ones of anti-oncogene, DNA binding and transcription factors, cell signal transduction protein, and metabolism protein. The IGF1 mRNA expression detected by in situ hybridization was consequently consistent with the cDNA microarray.

CONCLUSIONcDNA microarray is an effective and quick method for studying differential expressed genes. Three hundred and fifty-seven differentially expressed genes with different functions were revealed in the polycystic kidney tissue, which may play some roles in the progression of polycystic kidney.

Carbocyanines ; chemistry ; Computational Biology ; DNA, Complementary ; chemistry ; genetics ; Fluorescent Dyes ; chemistry ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I ; genetics ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; methods ; Polycystic Kidney, Autosomal Dominant ; genetics ; Reproducibility of Results ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods

OBJECTIVETo understand Ureaplasma urealyticum (Uu) infection, analyzed the influence of Uu infection on the seminal quality and the accessory genetical gland function in male infertility patients, and investigate its mechanism.

METHODSWe cultured 202 semen samples collected from male infertility patients and analyzed the influence of Uu infection on seminal parameters and the biochemical indexes of the seminal plasma.

RESULTSThe Uu infection rate was 33.7% in the infertile males, with no statistic differences between the Uu positive and negative groups either in the average age (28.9 +/- 4.7 yrs vs 29.6 +/- 4.0 yrs, P = 0.250) or in the seminal quantity (2.93 +/- 1.32 ml vs 2.86 +/- 1.52 ml, P = 0.774). The sperm density, motility and vitality were (84.37 +/- 52.92) x 10(6) ml, (44.62 +/-22.13) % and (38.40 +/- 15.61) % in the Uu positive group, significantly lower than (101.90 +/- 43.90) x 10(6) ml, (51.83 +/- 19.88) % and (44.45 +/- 15.47) % in the Uu negative group (P = 0.025, P = 0.036 and P = 0.020). The seminal pH value was normal in both of the groups, but significantly higher in the Uu positive than in the negative group (7.32 +/- 0.10 vs 7.19 +/- 0.29, P = 0.003). VCL, VSL, VAP and MAD were significantly lower, while BCF was significant higher in the former than in the latter [(33.97 +/- 8.96) microm/s vs (39.70 +/- 8.14) microm/s, t = 4.113, P < 0.001; (22.29 +/- 6.06) microm/s vs (25.20 +/- 6.67) microm/s, t = 2.684, P = 0.008; (25.96 +/- 6.83) microm/s vs (30.02 +/- 6.81) microm/s, t = 3.537, P < 0.001; 46.60 +/- 13.68 vs 54.23 +/- 15.14, t = 3.112, P = 0.002; (6.12 +/- 1.89) Hz vs (5.22 +/- 1.64) Hz, t = 3. 164, P = 0.002]. All the five indexes were influenced by Uu infection. Compared with the negative group, the seminal plasma alpha-glucosidase was significantly decreased in the positive group [(40.0 +/-18.7) U/ml vs (47.9 +/- 21.0) U/ml, t = 2.248, P = 0.026], and the risk of the decrease was 2.12 times higher. No statistic difference was observed in seminal plasma acid phosphatase and seminal plasma fructose between the two groups.

CONCLUSIONUu infection in the genital tract is an important factor of seminal quality reduction in infertile men and may cause a decreased secretion of alpha-glucosidase in the epididymis, but it hardly influences the prostate and seminal vesicle.

Adult ; Genital Diseases, Male ; microbiology ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Infertility, Male ; physiopathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Semen ; cytology ; metabolism ; microbiology ; Sperm Count ; Sperm Motility ; Ureaplasma Infections ; microbiology ; physiopathology ; Ureaplasma urealyticum ; isolation & purification ; alpha-Glucosidases ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo conduct an epidemiological and genotype analysis of sapovirus (SaV) associated with sporadic diarrhea in Shenzhen in the year 2009.

METHODSA total of 852 fecal samples were collected from sporadic cases of diarrhea in Shenzhen in 2009 and detected by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using the primers of SLV5317/5749. The PCR products were analyzed with 1.5% agarose gel electrophoresis and sequenced to construct the phylogenetic tree.

RESULTSSixteen samples were found positive for SaV, with a positivity rate of 1.88%. Sequence analysis identified 8 isolates as SaV GI genotype (including 3 SaV GI.1 and 5 SaV GI.2), 7 as SaV GIV genotype, and 1 as GII genotype.

CONCLUSIONSSaV infection is present in Shenzhen with GI as the predominant genotype. This is the first report of SaV GIV strains in China, which differs from the strains of Anhui-A141 and Beijing-CHN99/BJ360, suggesting the genotypic variety of SaV infection in China.

Adult ; China ; epidemiology ; Diarrhea ; epidemiology ; virology ; Female ; Genetic Variation ; Genotype ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phylogeny ; RNA, Viral ; genetics ; Sapovirus ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationship of angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) gene polymorphism to diabetic retinopathy and diabetes myocardial infarction.

METHODSACE insertion/deletion(I/D) polymorphism was determined by PCR.

RESULTSNo evidence showed that ACE gene was associated with diabetic retinopathy. By comparison of the type 2 diabetes patients with myocardial infarction versus those without-myocardial infarction, it was found that the frequencies of homozygote DD (41.2% versus 33.2%) and of allele D (64.7% versus 55.0%) increased remarkably; the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONAllele D(RR=1.50) and genotype DD(RR=1.33) seemed to be a genetic risk factor for type 2 diabetes myocardial infarction.

Adult ; Aged ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; complications ; Diabetic Retinopathy ; etiology ; genetics ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction ; etiology ; genetics ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Risk Factors

Objective: To investigate the effects of the active ingredients combined therapy on inflammatory factors interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) based on pharmacodynamics in rats. Methods: The animal model was built by transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). The method for evaluating the concentrations of the FA-Pr-Al components in rat plasma was established by using HPLC and the expression levels of IL-1β and NPY were determined by ELISA. A new mathematics method of the trend of percentage rate of change (PRC) was used to assess the correlation between pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD). Results: FA-Pr-Al in combination reduced neurological deficits, decreased infarct volume and inhibited the expression levels of IL-1β and NPY (all P<0.05) compared with the model group. FA, Pr and Al all displayed two compartment open models in rats. Clockwise hysteresis loops were obtained by time-concentration-effect curves. IL-1β and NPY level changes in the plasma followed an opposite trend to the plasma concentration tendency after Cmax was reached. Astragaloside's PRC value was significantly higher than those of FA and puerarin between 120 to 180 min. Conclusions: The pharmacokinetics of FA-Pr-Al in combination were closely related its pharmacodynamics in treating ischemia/reperfusion injury, and the components of FA-Pr-Al may have a synergistic pharmacological effect. Astragaloside may play a more pronounced role in regulating IL-1βand NPY levels compared with puerarin or FA.

Objective: To investigate the current status of antithrombotic strategy for elderly patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) after stent implantation in Beijing area and to study the safety and efficacy of different therapeutic strategy. Methods: A total of 467 relevant patients were enrolled by re-travelling electronic medical records from 12 hospitals in Beijing area. The patients' mean age was (78.70±3.32) years and they were divided into 2 groups by antithrombotic therapy condition: Triple therapy group, n=17 (3.64％), Double therapy group, n=450 (96.36％). The incidence of major adverse cardiac and cerebral events (MACCE) including all-caused death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, stent thrombosis, target vessel revascularization (TVR), stoke and bleeding was compared between Triple therapy group and Double therapy group.Results: The medication in Double therapy group included aspirin+ticagrelor, aspirin+clopidogrel, clopidogrel+warfarin and cilostazol+clopidogrel; in Triple therapy group was aspirin+clopidogrel+warfarin. Patient with HAS-BLED score&ge;3 was defined as high risk of bleeding and they were all treated by double therapy; HAS-BLED<3 was defined as low risk of bleeding, only 5.03％ patients were treated by triple therapy. 3 patients in Triple therapy group and 33 in Double therapy group suffered from gastrointestinal bleeding, P=0.338; 6 patients in Triple therapy group and 128 in Double therapy group had MACCE, P=0.589; 3 and 80 patients died in Triple therapy group and Double therapy group, P=0.766. Conclusion: Triple therapy was rarely used in elderly AF and ACS patients after stent implantation, double therapy was the main strategy; the incidence of MACCE and mortality were similar between triple and double therapies; patients with triple therapy had the higher incidence of gastrointestinal bleeding.