This study was conducted to investigate the paclitaxel loaded by hydrazone bonds in poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(caprolactone) micelles (mPEG-PCL-PTX) on proliferation and apoptosis of human lung cancer A549 cells and its possible mechanisms of anti-tumor activity. The cell proliferation was measured with MTT assay. Flow cytometry were used to analyze the cell cycle. The cell apoptosis was analyzed using Hoechst/P staining. The expression levels of apoptotic genes expression in the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway were detected by RT-PCR and Western blotting, respectively. The mPEG-PCL-PTX could inhibit the proliferation of A549 cells and promote the apoptosis. The Bax, caspase-3 protein expression were increased while Bcl-2 protein expression was decreased in A549 cells. Results showed that the polymer containing hydrazone bond is non-toxic in vitro, the mPEG-PCL-PTX micelles can inhibit the proliferation and induce the apoptosis of A549 cells. Key words: paclitaxel; micelle; A549 cell; proliferation; cell cycle; apoptosis
Apoptosis ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Micelles ; Paclitaxel ; pharmacology ; Polyesters ; Polyethylene Glycols ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate potential mutation of PHOX2A (or ARIX) gene in a Chinese family affected with congenital fibrosis of extraocular muscles tyep 2 (CFEOM2).

METHODSGenomic DNA was obtained from affected and unaffected members of the family. With an ABI PRSIM Linkage Mapping Set-MD10 kit, selected markers flanking the PHOX2A locus were used for linkage analysis. Exons of PHOX2 gene were amplified and sequenced. A total of 100 normal subjects were recruited as controls.

RESULTSGenetic linkage was found at 11q13 between D11S4151 and D11S1320 and the PHOX2A gene. DNA sequencing has identified a heterozygous mutation in the exon 2 of the gene (227T to G, N76K). The same mutation was not found in the unaffected and 100 normal controls.

CONCLUSIONA mutation of the PHOX2A gene 227T to G is responsible for the onset of congenital fibrosis of extraocular muscles type 2 in this Chinese family.

Base Sequence ; Case-Control Studies ; China ; Female ; Fibrosis ; genetics ; Homeodomain Proteins ; genetics ; Humans ; Male ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Mutation ; Ocular Motility Disorders ; genetics ; Oculomotor Muscles ; abnormalities ; Pedigree

Objective To investigate the rehabilitation promoting factors in stroke patients and to provide references for the design and implementation of effective intervention for rehabilitation of stroke patients.Methods In-depth interviews were conducted among eight stroke patients,and interview data were collected and analyzed.Results Five themes were identified through analysis and classification of the interview data:practical rehabilitation goals,effective rehabilitation training behaviors,overcoming abandonment behaviors and negative emotions,suitable support system,and proper self-adjustment.Conclusion The rehabilitation promoting factors for stroke patients are performing effective rehabilitation training towards effective rehabilitation goals.In this process,patients need to rely on appropriate social support and patients' self-adjustment to overcome abandonment behaviors and negative emotions.These factors form a force to promote rehabilitation during the process of rehabilitation.

BACKGROUNDBacterial vaginosis (BV) is one of the most common infectious diseases among sexually active women and is associated with the increased acquisition of a variety of sexually transmitted diseases. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of a non-antibiotic sucrose gel against an antibiotic metronidazole gel for the treatment of BV.

METHODSA randomized, double-blinded, multi-center, parallel-group, placebo-controlled phase III clinical trial was conducted at eight hospitals in China. A total of 560 subjects with clinically diagnosed BV were randomly assigned into three groups for vaginally receiving sucrose, metronidazole, and placebo gels, respectively, twice daily for five consecutive days. The efficacy of therapeutic cure, defined as an achievement of both microbiologic cure (a Nugent score of 3 or less) and clinical cure (a resolution of the clinical findings from the baseline visit), was evaluated at the 1st and 2nd test-of-cure (TOC) visits at 7-10 and 21-35 days after the start of treatment, respectively.

RESULTSTherapeutic cure rates for sucrose, metronidazole, and placebo gel groups were 83.13%, 71.30% and 0.92%, at the 1st TOC, and 61.04%, 66.67% and 7.34%, at the 2nd TOC, respectively. While there was no significant difference between the sucrose and metronidazole gel groups at the 2nd TOC (P = 0.305), and sucrose gel was more effective than metronidazole gel at the 1st TOC (P = 0.009).

CONCLUSIONThese findings suggest that sucrose gel restores normal vaginal flora more rapidly than metronidazole gel and can be used as a novel treatment for BV.

Administration, Intravaginal ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Double-Blind Method ; Female ; Humans ; Metronidazole ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Middle Aged ; Sucrose ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome ; Vaginosis, Bacterial ; drug therapy ; Young Adult

Objective To investigate the association between the value of α-thalassemia minor and the outcomes in pregnant women.Methods A total of 445 pregnant women with α-thalassemia minor were selected as thalassemia group in the Pingguo County Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Guangxi from January 2011 to December 2015,with ratio of 1 ∶ 4 healthy pregnant women was randomly recruited as non-thalassemia group.Clinical characteristics and pregnancy outcomes of the two groups were retrospectively analyzed using methods including t test,x2 test,and logistic regression model and ROC curve.Results There were no significant differences noticed in factors as age,BMI,gestational age and educational level of the two groups.Hemoglobin of the thalassemia group was significantly lower than that of the non-thalassemia group (P＜0.001).Differences on parity,ethnicities or occupation were statistically significant.Results from univariate analysis showed that the proportions of low birth weight,small for date infant and 1 min Apgar score ＜7 were higher in the thalassemia group,but the ratio of adverse pregnancy outcomes was comparable on parameters as preterm birth,stillbirth,macrosomia.Findings from the unconditional logistic regression showed that pregnancy complicated with α-thalassemia minor appeared a risk for both newboms with low birth weight (aOR=2.29,95％CI:1.32-3.95) and small for date infant (aOR=2.11,95％ CI:1.16-3.84).The ROC curve showed that α-thalassemia minor combined with multiple indicators presented a certain predictive value on neonatal birth weight.Conclusion Pregnancy complicated with α-thalassemia minor was likely to increase the risk of birth weight loss in newborns,suggesting that prenatal care for pregnant women with thalassemia be strengthened,in order to reduce the incidence of adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Objective To investigate the infection status and changing trend of hepatitis C virus(HCV)infection in hospitalized patients in medical institutions,and provide reference for formulating HCV infection prevention and control strategies.Methods HCV infection surveillance results from cross-sectional survey data reported to China Healthcare-associated Infection(HAI)Surveillance System in 2020 were summarized and analyzed,HCV positive was serum anti-HCV positive or HCV RNA positive,survey result was compared with the survey results from 2003.Results In 2020,1 071 368 inpatients in 1 573 hospitals were surveyed,738 535 of whom underwent HCV test,4 014 patients were infected with HCV,with a detection rate of 68.93％and a HCV positive rate of 0.54％.The positive rate of HCV in male and female patients were 0.60％and 0.48％,respectively,with a statistically sig-nificant difference(x2=47.18,P＜0.001).The HCV positive rate in the 50-＜60 age group was the highest(0.76％),followed by the 40-＜50 age group(0.71％).Difference among all age groups was statistically signifi-cant(x2=696.74,P＜0.001).In 2003,91 113 inpatients were surveyed.35 145 of whom underwent HCV test,resulting in a detection rate of 38.57％;775 patients were infected with HCV,with a positive rate of 2.21％.In 2020,HCV positive rates in hospitals of different scales were 0.46％-0.63％,with the highest in hospital with bed numbers ranging 600-899.Patients'HCV positive rates in hospitals of different scales was statistically signifi-cant(X2=35.34,P＜0.001).In 2020,12 provinces/municipalities had over 10 000 patients underwent HCV-rela-ted test,and HCV positive rates ranged 0.19％-0.81％,with the highest rate from Hainan Province.HCV posi-tive rates in different departments were 0.06％-0.82％,with the lowest positive rate in the department of pedia-trics and the highest in the department of internal medicine.In 2003 and 2020,HCV positive rates in the depart-ment of infectious diseases were the highest,being 7.95％and 3.48％,respectively.Followed by departments of orthopedics(7.72％),gastroenterology(3.77％),nephrology(3.57％)and general intensive care unit(ICU,3.10％)in 2003,as well as departments of gastroenterology(1.35％),nephrology(1.18％),endocrinology(0.91％),and general intensive care unit(ICU,0.79％)in 2020.Conclusion Compared with 2003,HCV positive rate decreased significantly in 2020.HCV infected patients were mainly from the department of infectious diseases,followed by departments of gastroenterology,nephrology and general ICU.HCV infection positive rate varies with gender,age,and region.

The alphaherpesvirus envelope glycoprotein I,encoded by the non-essential gene US7,plays an important role in the pathogenic mechanism of the virus.Recent studies have shown that envelope glycoprotein gI is important in the assembly of alpha herpesvirus particles and the diffusion of viral particles,by participating in secondary envelope coating and promoting in-tercellular transmission.The protein also has essential roles in promoting the axonal transport of the virus along neurons and the anti-host immune response,thereby affecting virulence.This article discusses the molecular mechanism through which gI affects the virulence of alpha herpes virus,thus providing a theoretical basis for in-depth study of the function of this protein.

Objective: To explore the risk factors of predicting white matter hyperintensities progression based on radiomics of MRI of whole-brain white matter. Methods: The imaging and clinical data of 152 patients with white matter hyperintensities admitted to Zhejiang People′s Hospital from March 2014 to October 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. The whole brain white matter on baseline T₁WI images of each patient were segmented by SPM12 software package, and images of white matter were imported into AK software for texture feature extraction and dimensionality reduction. At last, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator(LASSO) was used to calculate the score of radiomics signature of each patient. According to the improved Fazekas scale, patients with WMH progression were divided into three groups: any white matter hyperintensities (AWMH), periventricular white matter hyperintensities (PWMH) and deep white matter hyperintensities (DWMH). Statistical differences of clinical factors and radiomics signature between WMH progression subgroups and non-progression subgroups were compared with independent sample t test or Mann-Whitney U test, and Univariate logistic regression was used to select independent clinical risk factors and multivariate logistic regression along with imaging omics tags were used to construct predictive models, which was evaluated by ROC curve. And the correlation between the clinical indicators of independent risk factors and the texture feature of radiomics signature was analyzed. Results: The efficacy of the model for the detection for AWMH progression, PWMH progression and DWMH progression was 0.818,0.778 and 0.824, respectively. Age is an independent risk factor for AWMH progression and DWMH progression[OR(95%CI), 4.776(2.152-10.601) vs. 3.851(1.101-8.245); P<0.05]. BMI is an independent risk factor for DWMH[OR(95%CI), 3.004(1.204-7.370); P<0.05], and hyperlipidemia is an independent risk factor for AWMH and PWMH[OR(95%CI), 4.062(1.834-8.998) vs. 3.549(1.666-7.563); P<0.05]. In AWMH subgroup, Surface Area was negatively correlated with age and low density lipoprotein(LDL) (r=-0.401, -0.312), and Inverse Difference Moment_ALLDirection_offset 1_SD was negatively correlated with age(r=-0.412). In PWMH subgroup, Compactness 1 was negatively correlated with LDL(r=-0.198), and Inverse Difference Moment_angle 0_offset 7 was positively correlated with LDL(r=0.252). In DWMH subgroup, LongRunEmphasis_ALLDirection_offset 7 was negatively correlated with age(r=-0.322), and GLCMEntropy_angle0_offset 4 was negatively correlated with age(r=-0.278). GLCMEntropy_AllDirection_offset4 was negatively correlated with body mass index(r=-0.514). Conclusion Radiomics based on whole-brain white matter MR imaging can predict WMH progression and identify the risk factors in high-risk populations, thus providing early additional information to conventional magnetic resonance imaging to predict WMH progression.

Objective: To investigate the diagnosis and treatment of Chiari malformation patients with hoarseness and other otorhinolaryngological symptoms. Methods: The clinical data of 18 patients of Chiari malformation with hoarseness were retrospectively collected, which was composed of 5 men and 13 women, aged 3-71 with median age of 52. All the patients were admitted to the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from January 1989 to January 2020. All patients underwent brain MRI and laryngoscopy. The patient's symptoms and first diagnosis department, diagnosis time, total course of disease, hoarseness course, diagnosis and treatment, and postoperative recovery time were summarized. Follow-up time was 3-16 years, with median follow-up time of 6.5 years. Descriptive methods were used for analysis. Results: The first visit departments of 18 patients included neurology (9 cases), otorhinolaryngology head and neck surgery (5 cases), pediatrics (2 cases), orthopedics (1 case) and respiratory department (1 case). Except for the 7 cases in neurology department, the other 11 patients were not diagnosed in time. The disease duration of 18 patients with Chiari malformation ranged from 2 months to 5 years, and hoarseness was present from 20 days to 5 years. After diagnosis, 9 patients underwent posterior fossa decompression surgery, and 1 of them underwent syrinx drainage at the same time. The symptoms of 8 cases improved significantly after operation, with the improvement time from 1 to 30 days. In addition, 9 patients chose conservative treatment, among whom 8 had no improvement in symptoms and 6 progressed. Conclusions: Posterior fossa decompression is an effective treatment for Chiari malformation, and the prognosis is good. Timely diagnosis and treatment can improve the prognosis of patients.
Male ; Humans ; Female ; Child ; Hoarseness/etiology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Conservative Treatment ; Drainage ; Laryngoscopy

We assessed the incidence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) with anti-TB medications and evaluated the risk factors for developing ADRs in previously treated tuberculosis patients in China. All patients received the first-line anti-TB regimen (2HREZS/6HRE) as recommended by the national guidelines. Clinical and laboratory evaluations were performed once a month. Out of the 354 participants, 262 (74.0%) experienced ADRs such as hyperuricemia (65.0%, 230/354), hepatotoxicity (6.2%, 22/354) and hearing disturbances (4.8%, 17/354). ADRs were significantly associated with diabetes mellitus [OR (95% CI): 15.5 (2.07-115.87)]; however, weight more than 50 kg [OR (95% CI): 0.41 (0.22-0.85)] was a protective factor for occurrence of ADRs. Hyperuricemia is the most common adverse event but, most patients with hyperuricemia showed increased tolerance for high uric acid levels. Low body weight and diabetes mellitus increased the risk of the occurrence of ADRs during anti-TB treatment.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Antitubercular Agents ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary ; drug therapy ; epidemiology ; Young Adult