Objective To investigate the effect of astilbin on expression of CTLA-4 in activated T cells of mouse heart transplantation model with acute rejection.Methods Cardiomyocytes of BALB/ c mouse and spleen cells of C57BL/6 mouse were separated.The cardiomyocytes(2?10~5/ml)as irri- tation cells and spleen cells(1?10~6/ml)as responsers were mixed and cultured.The model of mouse heart transplantation with acute rejection in vitro was established.Three groups were set up:control group,Astilbin(15/?g/ml) group,Astilbin+anti-CTLA-4 mAb 9H10 (30?g/ml)group.Apoptosis of T cells was observed by TUNEL.The expression of CTLA-4 in activated T cells was detected by RT-PCR and Western blot.Results Apoptosis indexes of activated T cells in Astilbin group were sig- nificantly higher than those in the control group(73.4%?12.5% vs 35.1%?9.2%,P＜0.01). The expression of CTLA-4 in Astilbin group was significantly higher than control group(P＜0.01), but there was no apparently difference between control group and Astilbin+CTLA-4 mAb group(P＞0.05).Conclusion Astilbin induces apoptosis of activated T cells in heart transplantation,which may be partially related to its enhanced expression of CTLA-4.

The TSR1(thermosensitive rescued)gene associated with the secretion of proteins of the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica was site-directed mutagenesis,restricted and spliced to obtain a series of deletion mutants.These mutants would be useful for studing the function of different domains of TSR1 gene in yeast Yarrowia lipolytica

A novel nucleic acid amplification method,termed loop-mediated isothermal amplification(LAMP),which amplifies DNA with high specificity,efficiency,and rapidity under isothermal conditions,may be a valuable tool for the rapid detection of infectious diseases.This method employs a DNA polymerase that have activity of strand displacement DNA synthesis and a set of four specially designed primers that recognize a total of six distinct sequences on the target DNA.LAMP can amplify a few copies of DNA to 109 in less than an hour.The final products are stem-loop DNA with several inverted repeats of the target and cauliflower-like structures with multiple loops.A positive reaction would be shown as a ladder-like pattern in a gel electrophoresis analysis.Because of the advantage,the LAMP method will be widely applied to research of nucleic acid,clinical diagnosis of infectious diseases and detection of genetically modified organisms etc.

Antimicrobial peptides are a class of small peptides with anti-extrogenous pathogen activities.They are derived from organism and possess antibacterial,antifungus,antiviruses and anticancer cell actions.In recent years,it’s found that some microbial pathogens are able to resist antimicrobial peptides.The constitutive and inducible mechanism of a pathogen resists a given peptide were reviewed in this paper.

OBJECTIVETo explore the association between C825T polymorphism of G protein beta3 subunit (GNB3) gene and different Hilit types of essential hypertension (EH) in the Uygur nationality of Xinjiang.

METHODSAccording to Uygur medical theories, EH patients (as the EH group) and non-EH patients (as the control group) were assigned to four Hilit groups. The C825T polymorphism of GNB3 was detected in 161 EH patients and 379 non-EH subjects of different Hilit types by using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) to explore the difference of the genotypes and allelic frequencies and hypertension.

RESULTS(1) In Xinjiang Uygur population, the distribution frequencies of GNB3 C825T polymorphism were in accordance with Hardy-Weinberg (chi2 = 0.871, P = 0.647). (2) There was no statistical difference in the distribution frequencies of three genotypes and two alleles of GNB3 between the EH group and the control group (P > 0.05). (3) There was statistical difference in distribution frequencies of three genotypes between the abnormal Sapra and non-abnormal Sapra group (the sum of abnormal Sewda, abnormal Kan, and abnormal Balhem) (chi2 = 6.905, P = 0.032), especially between the abnormal Sapra and abnormal Balhem groups (chi2 = 10.404, P = 0.006), but there was no statistical difference in distribution frequencies of alleles between the two groups (P > 0.05). (4) In 161 EH patients, there was statistical difference in the distribution frequencies of three genotypes and two alleles between the abnormal Sapra and non-abnormal Sapra group (chi2 = 9.034, P = 0.011; chi2 = 4.701, P = 0.03).

CONCLUSIONSBoth TT genotype and T allele of GNB3 C825T polymorphism might not be associated with EH patients in Xinjiang Uygur populations. However, they were correlated with hypertension patients of non-abnormal Sapra, indicating the pathogeneses of EH with different Hilit types might be different.

Adult ; Aged ; Alleles ; Case-Control Studies ; Essential Hypertension ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Heterotrimeric GTP-Binding Proteins ; genetics ; Humans ; Hypertension ; classification ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Minority Groups ; Polymorphism, Genetic

Studies of biological feedback (BF) for the treatment of chronic prostatitis (CP) are occasionally reported have exhibited some related problems. This article presents an evaluation of the published literature on the BF treatment of CP at home and abroad in the aspects of instrument, method, application, effect, function, and mechanism. UROSTYMTM and MyoTrac are often employed and their operating paths are basically the same. NIH prostate symptom scores, urinary function, pain, sexual function, immune function, prostate fluid, and other indicators are generally used for the analysis of the effects of BF alone or in combination with other therapies on CP and its related symptoms. Either BF alone or BF combined with other therapies can promote urination, reduce pain, improve the quality of life, attenuate inflammation, improve sexual function, adjust immunity, and lessen physical and chemical stimulation. However, the relevant literature is of low quantity and quality, the reported studies are not standardized, and exploration of the action mechanisms is neglected.
Biofeedback, Psychology ; Humans ; Male ; Prostatitis ; therapy ; Quality of Life

Objective To study the feasibility of novelty detection model in assessing the subject novelty of medical literature and comparatively analyze the advantages and disadvantages of words-overlap algorithm and co-words-based inverse file frequency quantitative algorithm. Methods Two novelty detection models were established for the 8 research subjects in PubMed-covered literature. The feasibility of two novelty detection models in assessing the subject novelty of medical literature was assessed according to the subject novelty of literature analyzed by experts, ROC curves and AUC values. Results Words-overlap algorithm showed that the fluctuating amplitude of subject novelty was rather high, which can thus reflect the difference between the contents in literature on the data. ROC curves and AUC values-based analysis revealed a high accuracy of words-overlap algorithm for judging the novelty of literature while co-words-based inverse file frequency quantitative algorithm displayed a low accuracy for judging the novelty of literature. Conclusion The novelty of literature detected with the two novelty detection methods is moderately related. The mean novelty value detected with the two novelty detection methods is of statistical signifi-cance. However, the novelty of literature detected with words-overlap algorithm is higher than that detected with co-words-based inverse file frequency quantitative algorithm.

Objective To study the expressions of keratin 10, 14 and 17 (KI0, K14, K17) in psoriatic lesions before and after the treatment with acitretin. Methods Thirty patients with moderate or severe plaque psoriasis were included in this study. The cohort consisted of 19 males and 11 females with an average age of 33.9 years, and disease course of 4 months to 30 years. Patients were treated with acitretin for 8 weeks which started with an initial dose of 20 mg per day for 1 week, then switched to 0.5-0.75 mg per kilogramme of body weight per day until symptom improvement, finally maintained at a dose of 10-30 mg per day. The expression of K10, K14 and K17 was detected by immunohistochemical technique before and after treatment with acitretin. The relationship between the disease severity and levels of keratins was evaluated. Results Prior to the treatment, increased expression of K14 and K17 was observed in lesions of patients along with the decreased expression of K10 compared with the normal controls. After treatment, the expression of K14 and KI7 significantly decreased (both P < 0.01), while that of K10 increased (P < 0.01), and there was still a statistical difference between the patients and normal controls (P < 0.01). A significant decrease was observed in the PASI score of patients (P < 0.01). The changes in the expression levels of K10, K14 and KI7 before and after treatment were somewhat correlated with the clinical course and severity of psoriasis. Conclusions Systemic aeitretin can affect the expression of K10, K14 and K17 in psoriatic lesions, but the extent of changes in their expression is not always consistent with the improvement of clinical manifestations.

Objective To compaire the physical characteristics of semen morphology before and after semen coagulation-liquefaction under microscope and understand the significance of these characteristics for the determination of semen liquefaction.Methods Semens were placed in sperm counting chamber immediately after collection.The morphological changes of the seminal gelatinous substance during liquefaction were observed under microscope and analyzed.Results Morphological changes during semen liquefaction can be clearly observed.Among 32 samples of semen,forward sperm progression and motility were (30.3?12.4)% and (45.0?14.9)%,(44.9?12.7)% and (59.0?15.3)%,before and after the liquefaction,respectively.The differences were statistically significant (t=-1.130,5.023,P0.05).Conclusions Microscopic observation of the seminal gelatinous substance is a simple and feasible method for objective measurement of sperm liquefaction.These findings suggest it may provide pathological significance on semen liquefaction abnormality in infertility clinic.

Objective To investigate the changes of plasma adrenomedullin(ADM),endothelin-1(ET-1) in infants with severe pneumonia complicated by acute congestive heart failure,and its relationship with heart function.Methods Forty-seven bronchopneumonia patients in their acute phase were divided into three groups:group A1,severe pneumonia complicated by acute congestive heart failure without congenitive heart disease(CHD)(n=15);group B1,severe pneumonia complicated by acute congestive heart failure with CHD(n=12);group C1,mild bronchopneumonia(n=20).A2,B2 and C2 groups were the convalescence groups of A1,B1 and groups C1 respertively.Group D,20 healthy infants were used as control group.Plasma ADM,ET-1 levels of patients in acute phase(pre-treatment)and convalescent phase and controls were measured by specific radioimmunoassary.Results 1.The plasma ADM levels significantly increased in the acute phase of A1,B1 and C1 compared with healthy controls(Pa0.05).3.The plasma ADM,ET-1 levels in A2 and B2 groups significantly decreased compared with those in group A1 and B1(Pa0.05).Conclusions The ADM,ET-1 play very important roles in the pathophysiological processes of pneumonia and congestive heart failure in infants.ET-1 may play an important role in the pathogenesis of severe pneumonia in infants complicated with congestive heart fai-lure.The level of plasma ET-1 is related with the degree of congestive heart failure.