Objective: To investigate the sonographic features of appendicitis in preterm infants. Methods: A total of 28 cases of premature infants with acute appendicitis diagnosed by bedside abdominal ultrasound in the First Hospital of Jilin University from November 2012 to January 2019 were recruited. Basic clinical information, abdominal ultrasound images, surgical results, management and outcomes were collected and analyzed. Descriptive statistical methods were used for data analysis. Results: Among the 28 cases, 21 (75.0%) were males and seven (25.0%) were females. All of them were diagnosed as having acute appendicitis with perforation according to the bedside ultrasound. Five (17.8%) presented direct signs of appendicitis, i.e. partial structure of the appendix and perforation site. The other 23 (82.2%) showed indirect signs, including heterogeneous echotexture or hypoechoic patterns between the liver and right kidney in six cases, heterogeneously hypoechoic areas between the bowels in the right lower abdomen in seven cases, and dissociative effusion between the bowels in the right lower abdomen with poor sound transmission and disorder of surrounding intestinal structure in ten cases. Twenty-one out of the 28 cases (75.0%) exhibited bowel wall thickening at right lower abdomen, absence of intestinal peristalsis and effusion echoes between the intestines with poor sound transmission. Emergent surgeries were performed and diagnoses of appendicitis with perforation were confirmed. All the 21 cases were discharged after full recovery. Seven cases (25.0%) showed confined cystic images and received conservative treatment. One of them developed adhesive intestinal obstruction during follow-ups and underwent surgical treatment, during which local formations of wrapping after appendiceal perforation and obstruction due to surrounding intestinal adhesion were observed. The other six cases recovered after conservative management with gradually reduced peritoneal effusion, normal omental echo patterns and improved inflammatory indicators and abdominal symptoms, and no ileus occurred during follow-ups after discharge. Conclusions Symptoms of appendicitis in preterm infants are non-specific, and perforation is more likely to be seen. Bedside ultrasonography mainly shows indirect signs of appendicitis, and direct signs in some infants. Bedside ultrasound can be an essential tool for the diagnosis of these conditions with high accuracy.

Acute Disease ; Adult ; DNA, Viral ; blood ; Female ; Genotype ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; Humans ; Male

Adult ; Female ; Hepatitis B ; immunology ; Humans ; Interferon-gamma ; blood ; Interleukin-12 ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; analysis

Compression fractures are the most common vertebral fractures. They involve the anterior column of the spine, and are considered stable fractures due to the presence of intact posterior ligaments that aid in resisting further collapse and deformity. They are thus often managed conservatively. We describe a series of 3 cases that were initially diagnosed as compression fractures and managed conservatively. With the abundance of compression fractures and increase in preference for conservative management of compression fractures, it is of utmost importance to recognize the possibility of other spinal co-pathologies, especially that of hyperostosis of the spine, both by clinical judgment as well as radiological analysis before embarking on conservative management, should there be under-treatment and development of complications that could have otherwise been avoided, as in the cases presented in this series.
Congenital Abnormalities ; Fractures, Compression* ; Hyperostosis ; Hyperostosis, Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal* ; Judgment ; Ligaments ; Radiography ; Spine

Ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) is valuable for clinical application, however, traditional ex vivo culture negatively affects long-term hematopoietic reconstitution ability. In the hematopoietic system, the expression of Notch receptors and their ligands has been widely reported. Active Notch signal inhibits the differentiation of HSCs while promotes their expansion, suggesting that ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic progenitor cells could be enhanced by manipulating Notch signal pathways. In this article the Notch signal pathways, Notch signal and maintenance of hematopoietic progenitor cells, Notch signal and expansion of hematopoietic progenitor cells and molecular mechanism of Notch signal maintaining undifferentiation of hematopoietic progenitor cells were reviewed.
Animals ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; Humans ; Receptors, Notch ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction

The aim of this study was to investigate the support effects of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on umbilical cord blood (UCB) CD34+ cell (HSPC) expansion in vitro and its influence on cell characteristics including the surface marker of CD34+ cells, homing adhesion molecules and colony-forming ability. The mononucleated cells (MNCs) were isolated from UCB, then the CD34+ cells were isolated from freshly obtained MNCs by immunomagnetic beads, the MSC feeder cells exposed to gamma-ray of 137Cs were prepared by MSC feeder. The CD34+ cells were inoculated in different culture media. Experiment was divided into 3 groups: HSPC+CK group in which cytokines were added to medium (SCF, FL and TPO); HSPC+MSC group in which CD34+ cells were inoculated on MSC feeder; HSPC+MSC+CK group in which cytokines and MSC feeder cells were added to medium. After culture for 4, 7, 10, 14 days the MNC amount was counted and expansion ability of CD34+ cells was evaluated. The immunotypes of CD34+ cells and subsets, homing adhesion molecules and colony-forming ability in different groups detected by flow cytometry. The results showed that the amount of MNCs and CD34+ cells all obviously increased during culture for 14 days, the expansion levels of MNCs in 3 groups were HSPC+MSC+CK group>HSPC+CK group>HSPC+MSC group in proper order. Within 10 days of expansion in vitro amount of MNCs obtained significant expansion, meantime the expansion of CD34+ cells was higher also. The CD34+ count in 3 groups at day 4 of culture decreased significantly as compared with 0 day of culture (p<0.01). The CD34+ cells ratios in 3 groups after expansion were HSPC+MSC group>HSPC+MSC+CK group>HSPC+CK group in proper order (p<0.01), while CD34+ subset levels in 3 groups were different, the CD34+CD38- cells in HSPC+CK group at 4 days of culture increased transiently (62.71%), then quickly decreased, the CD34+CD38- cell ratio at day 7 was 0.05%, while the CD34+CD38- cell ratio in HSPC+MSC group at day 7 was 18.92%, difference was significant as compared with HSPC+CK group (p<0.05). The analysis of colony-forming units showed that the colony-forming ability at various time points after expansion all sustained in high level. It is concluded that in short-time (<7 day) culture of UCB CD34+ cells the combination of MSCs with cytokines can significantly expand the CD34+ cells and make the HSPCs to maintain original biologic characteristics.
Antigens, CD34 ; Cell Culture Techniques ; Cell Proliferation ; Cells, Cultured ; Culture Media, Serum-Free ; Fetal Blood ; cytology ; immunology ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Immunophenotyping ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; cytology ; immunology

OBJECTIVETo observe the expressions of nestin and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and their association with reactive astrocytes following spinal cord injury in adult rats.

METHODSAdult rats with compression injury of the spinal cord were divided into 7 groups (n=6) and examined at 1, 3, and 5 days and at 1, 2, 4 and 8 weeks after the injury. The recovery of the locomotor function after the injury was evaluated with Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan (BBB) scale, and the degree and scope of the spinal injury were assessed using toluidine blue staining. Immunohistochemistry, double immunofluorescent labeling and an image analysis system were employed to observe nestin and GFAP expression and cell proliferation in different regions of the spinal cord.

RESULTSThe bilateral hind limb locomotor function of the rats declined severely 24 h after the spinal cord injury and underwent substantial recovery in 1 or 2 weeks after the injury, but followed by rather slow recovery afterwards. Toluidine blue staining of the spinal cord 24 h after the injury showed significant pathological changes in the neurons. The extension of the tissue injury increased with time till 1 week after the spinal cord injury. The site of injury and the adjacent tissues presented with markedly increased nestin and GFAP expressions 24 h after the injury, and nestin+/GFAP(-) cells dominated in the ependymal region around the central canal, whereas nestin+/GFAP+ dominated in the in other regions, showing significant difference from the control group. Nestin and GFAP expression reached the peak level 3 to 7 days after the injury and declined gradually till reaching nearly the control level at 2 weeks.

CONCLUSIONCompression injury of the spinal cord induces up-regulated expressions of nestin and GFAP, and nestin expression is positively correlated to the reactive astrocytes, which, along with the neural stem cells, respond to spinal nerve injury and possibly play a role in repair of the central nervous system injury.

Animals ; Astrocytes ; pathology ; Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Intermediate Filament Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Male ; Nerve Tissue Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Nestin ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; metabolism ; pathology ; Stem Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; Up-Regulation

This study was aimed to investigate the effect of activated T cell on the ability of MSC to differentiate into osteoblasts. The activated T cells with MSCs were co-culture for 14 days, then the osteoblast formation was tested by alkaline phosphatase staining. Furthermore, the supernatant of activated T cell was added in culture system of MSCs, the expression of molecules related with immune regulation of activated T cells was detected by RT-PCR, so as to determine what kinds of cytokine displayed the important function in MSC differentiation. The result showed that activated T cell could promote differentiation of MSC into osteoblasts, and IL-1beta played an important role in the effect of activated T cells on MSCs, while TNF-alpha, TGF-beta1 were not. It is concluded that the activated T cells promote the differentiation of MSCs to osteoblasts. The interactive influence between MSCs and immune cells can be mediated through cytokines.
Cell Differentiation ; Cells, Cultured ; Coculture Techniques ; Culture Media, Conditioned ; Humans ; Interleukin-1beta ; biosynthesis ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; cytology ; Osteoblasts ; cytology ; T-Lymphocytes ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo study the distribution of ScrF1 restriction polymorphism in intron 2 of the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A(HMG-CoA) reductase gene in Chinese Han population and the association of the polymorphism with coronary heart disease(CHD).

METHODSHMG-CoA reductase genotyping was performed using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment polymorphism.

RESULTSHMG-CoA reductase allelic frequencies of A, a were 0.519, 0.481; 0.440, 0.560 in CHD group and control group respectively. There was no significant difference in frequencies of allele and genotype in ScrF1 polymorphism between CHD group and control group(P>0.05). However, the levels of plasma very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) and TG in CHD patients with AA genotype were higher than those in CHD patients with other genotypes(P<0.05). The frequencies of A, a alleles at ScrF1 polymorphic site were significantly different from those reported in European Caucasians (0.44 vs 0.55, 0.56 vs 0.45, P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONNo direct association was found between the ScrF1 polymorphism and CHD, but there is a significant correlation between the AA genotype of the HMG-CoA reductase gene and the levels of plasma VLDL and TG in CHD group.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Blood Chemical Analysis ; Cholesterol, VLDL ; blood ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Humans ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA Reductases ; genetics ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA-Reductases, NADP-dependent ; genetics ; Lipid Metabolism ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Triglycerides ; blood

A rice pse(t) (premature senescence, tentatively) mutant line, was isolated from 4,500 independent T-DNA inserted transgenic lines. The symptoms of premature senescence appeared more severely than those of the control plants (Zhonghua 11, japonica) at the last development stage. To characterize the mutant and provide basic information on the candidate genes by mapping to a physical region of 220-kb, experiments were carried out in two phytotrons under controlled temperature of 24 degrees C and 28 degrees C, respectively. The content of chlorophyll, soluble protein and MDA (malondialdehyde), net photosynthesis, the antioxidant enzyme activities of SOD (superoxide dismuase) (EC 1.15.1.1) and POD (peroxidase) (EC 1.11.1.7) and the peptidase activities of leaves were measured from top to bottom according to the leaf positions at the flowering stage. Compared with the control plant, the mutant showed the following characteristics: (1) Higher net photosynthesis rate (P(n)) appeared in the 1st and 2nd leaves, contents of chlorophyll and soluble protein were also higher in the 1st leaf; (2) The activities of SOD, POD and peptidase were higher according to the leaf position from top to bottom; (3) The symptom of premature senescence was accelerated in the mutant at 28 degrees C treatment. The MDA content and the SOD and POD activities between the 24 degrees C and 28 degrees C treatment mutants were not significantly different. Content of chlorophyll and soluble protein of leaves mutant decreased rapidly at 28 degrees C treatment. The results show that pse(t) is sensitive to high temperature. The probable function of PSE(T) is discussed.
Aging ; physiology ; Antioxidants ; metabolism ; Apoptosis ; physiology ; Mutation ; Oryza ; classification ; genetics ; growth & development ; Photosynthesis ; physiology ; Plant Leaves ; classification ; genetics ; growth & development ; Plant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism