Objective:To investigate the effects of GnRH agonist on the expressions of FSHR proteins in pituitary and ovaries in ewes,also to analyse the bioinformatics characteristics of ovine pituitary FSHR.Methods: Forty-two prepubertal ewes (Ovis aries) were randomly assigned to six groups (n=7).The ewes in experimental group EG-Ⅰ,EG-Ⅱand EG-Ⅲwere subcutaneously injected with 200μg,300μg and 400 μg alarelin antigens twice (at day 0 and 14),respectively.Ewes in EG-Ⅳand EG-Ⅴwere injected sub-cutaneously with 200μg and 300μg alarelin antigen four times (at day 0,7,14 and 21),respectively.Ewes in the control group (CG) were subcutaneously injected with 2.0 ml solvent twice (at day 0 and 14).Fluorescence quantitative RT-PCR was used to detect gene expression of FSHR in pituitary glands.The expression of FSHR protein in the ovaries was detected using Western blot.Results:The 2-ΔΔCt values of GnRHR,FSHR and LHR mRNAs in the pituitary gland of EG were lower than that in control group (CG).The 2-ΔΔCt values in EG-Ⅳ( P<0.05 ) and EG-Ⅴ( P<0.05 ) were lower than those in EG-Ⅰand EG-Ⅱ.Expressions of FSHR proteins in EG ovaries increased.Levels of FSHR proteins in EG-Ⅳand EG-Ⅴ( P<0.05 ) were higher than CG.The length of sheep FSHR sequence of nucleotides were 1 091 bp,the homology of FSHR sequences was 100% with that reported in NCBI.The theory isoelectric point , half-life,unstable index,fat index,hydrophobic average were respectively 1.2 h,5.05,47.75,0.836 and 30.61.Conclusion:Alarelin active immunization can inhibit the expression of FSHR mRNA in the pituitary gland ,but increase FSHR expression in ovarian of ewes.FSHR is an unstable hydrophobic protein.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the efficacy and safty of photoselective vaporization of prostate (PVP) in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia with obstruction within 5 years.

METHODSFrom December 2004 to December 2009, there were 782 cases have been except for neurogenic bladder dysfunction and prostate cancer, who received PVP surgical treatment of BPH. The surgical conditions and postoperative follow-up data were recorded and the follow-up cut-off time for surgery after 5 years.

RESULTSA total of 782 patients with BPH who underwent PVP were included in this retrospective study. The operation in 740 cases was successfully completed at one time. But in other 42 cases, the twice operation was performed. The mean operation time was (85 ± 38) minutes, and the mean energy delivery was (355 ± 124) kJ. The mean catheterization and postoperative hospitalization time was (2.3 ± 1.7) days and (5.2 ± 2.6) days, respectively. No severe intraoperative complications were observed. The mean follow-up was (44.1 ± 19.3) months. The shortest follow-up was 6 months. The longest follow-up was 5 years. Complete follow-up data were available for 398 of the 782 patients. Of the 398 patients followed up for 5 years, the mean international prostate symptom score after 5 years was 12.8 ± 6.9, quality of life score was 2.2 ± 1.6, maximal flow rate was (14.5 ± 2.4) ml/s, and residual urine volume was 58 ml (M50). The retreatment rate because of BPH was 2.3% (9/398). Urethral stricture and bladder neck contracture were observed in 1.5% and 0.5% of the patients, respectively.

CONCLUSIONSPVP has demonstrated remarkably consistent results for objective and subjective voiding parameters. Its late complication is rare and retreatment rate is low.

Aged ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lasers, Solid-State ; Male ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; surgery ; Retrospective Studies ; Transurethral Resection of Prostate ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUND:The use of normal hyaline cartilage to repair large areas of full-thickness knee cartilage defect has been a hot topic recently; however, a follow-up study with a relative large number of patients is required. OBJECTIVE:To make a preliminary study concerning the methods and therapeutic effects of tissue-engineered cartilage (TEC) implantation for treating large-area full-thickness knee cartilage defects. METHODS:Twenty-one patients (23 knees) diagnosed with cartilage defect of the knee joint (Outbridge III-IV) were enrolled. The area of the cartilage defect was 3.5-11.2 cm2. All of the patients were given TEC treatment. Postoperative functional exercise of the knee joint was carried out in these patients as planned. We regularly reviewed the knee MRI and calculated visual analog scale score, International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) score, and Lysholm score. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:All the patients were followed up for 3 to 12 months. Postoperatively knee pain relieved obviously, and the visual analog scale score was significantly declined compared with the preoperation (P<0.05). All the patients manifested painless 1 year after surgery. The 1-year postoperative MRI showed that the injured cartilage grew well. The thickness and MRI signal of the graft was the same as the normal cartilage, and the bone healed completely. The IKDC and Lysholm scores were significantly improved at 3, 6, 12 months after the surgery, and the difference was statistically significant before and after the surgery (P<0.05). Overall, TEC is an improved technique of chondrocyte implantation, which is an effective and safe method for cartilage defect repair.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the efficacy of immunotherapy on septic patients with Ulinastatin plus Thymosin-alpha(1).

METHODSSeventy postoperative septic patients were divided into two groups at random: the immunotherapy group (n equal to 36) and the conventional therapy group (n=34). Patients in the immunotherapy group received intravenous Ulinastatin of 200 000 U, 3 times per day for 3 days, Ulinastatin of 100 000 U, 3 times per day for 4 days, and subcutaneous injection of Thymosin-alpha(1) of 1.6 mg, twice per day for 3 days, then once per day for 4 days. While conventional therapies such as antibiotics and fluid resuscitation were undertaken in both groups. The expression levels of serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-10 (IL-10), IgG, C3, T lymphocyte subsets, CD14+ monocyte human leukocyte antigen (locus) DR (HLA-DR) and patients'28-day survival rate of the two groups were observed and evaluated.

RESULTSThe survival rate was significantly higher in the immunotherapy group (63.9%; 23/36) compared with the conventional therapy group (41.2%; 14/34). The serum TNF-alpha levels [(1.38+/-0.50) ng/ml in the immunotherapy group vs (1.88+/-0.53) ng/ml in the conventional group, P less than 0.05] and the serum IL-10 levels [(217.52+/-15.71) ng/ml vs (101.53+/-16.57) ng/ml, P less than 0.05] were significantly different between the two groups. The serum IgG levels in the immunotherapy group [(17.65+/-6.81) g/L] were significantly higher than in the conventional group [(11.94+/-5.32) g/L]. There were also significant differences in the expression levels of CD4+ T lymphocyte (35%+/-13% in the immunotherapy group vs 21%+/-7% in the conventional group, P less than 0.05) and CD14+ monocyte HLA-DR (50%+/-5% in the former vs 35%+/-4% in the latter, P less than 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSImmunotherapy with Ulinastatin plus Thymosin-alpha(1) can enhance the inflammatory response, improve the immune homeostasis, and increase the survival rate of septic patients.

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Glycoproteins ; administration & dosage ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sepsis ; drug therapy ; immunology ; mortality ; Survival Rate ; Thymosin ; administration & dosage ; analogs & derivatives

OBJECTIVETo investigate the drug resistance of pathogenic bacteria of nosocomial infections in the surgical intensive care unit.

METHODSThe drug resistance of pathogenic bacteria of nosocomial infections in the SICU in our hospital from January 2001 to December 2004 were analyzed.

RESULTSThe average nosocomial infections rate was 11.3%. The major sites of nosocomial infections were respiratory tract (30.9%), abdominal cavity (29.0%), bloodstream (9.7%) and biliary ducts (7.2%). The most common pathogens were pseudomonas aeruginosa (11.6%), methicillin-resistant coagulase negative staphylococci (11.1%) and candida albicans (9.7%). ESBLs-producing strains accounted for 66.2% and 58.5% of escherichia coli and klebsiella spp. respectively. Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus accounted for 94.7% and methicillin-resistant coagulase negative staphylococci accounted for 88.2% in staphylococcus aureus and coagulase negative staphylococci. Carbapenems were the most powerful antibiotics against enterobacteriaceae. The non-fermenters were high resistant to antimicrobial agents. Vancomycin was the most potent antimicrobial against gram positive cocci. Amphotericin B was the most active antibiotic against fungi.

CONCLUSIONSMost strains of pathogens were antibiotic resistant in SICU. The main pathogenic bacteria of each infection site were different. So it is essential to establish nosocomial infections surveillance system in order to prevent, control and treat nosocomial infections effectively.

Bacterial Infections ; microbiology ; prevention & control ; Cross Infection ; microbiology ; prevention & control ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests

The quantitative identification and enrichment of viable regulatory T cells (Treg) requires reliable surface markers that are selectively expressed on Treg. Foxp3 is the accepted marker of natural Treg, but it cannot be used to isolate cells for functional studies. CD127 is a new surface marker expressed in Treg cells. In this study, two populations of Treg, including CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(low/-) and CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+)T cells, and profiles of the Foxp3 expression in CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(low/-) cells were compared to evaluate which population is better. The peripheral blood cells were collected and spleen suspension of BALB/C mice were prepared, and using triple staining CD4, CD25, CD127 and CD4, CD25, Foxp3. The profiles of Treg, including CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(low/-) and CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) were detected by flow cytometry. The quadruple staining CD4, CD25, Foxp3 and CD127 were used to determine the CD127 expression in CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) cells. The results showed that on T cell subset the median expression levels of CD4(+), CD4(+)CD25(+) were 39.02%, 5.35% in peripheral blood and 23.49%, 3.86% in spleen. On CD4(+) T cell subset, the median expression level of CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(low/-) and CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+)T cells were 7.13%, 3.97% in peripheral blood and 12.8%, 8.23% in spleen. The ratio of CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(low/-) T cells was higher than that of CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) cells in both peripheral blood and spleen cells (P < 0.01). The CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(low/-) cells highly expressed Foxp3, while the CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+)T cells lowly expressed CD127. It is concluded that compared with the CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) populations, CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(low/-) T cells better fit the definition of naturally occurring regulatory T cells in peripheral blood cells and spleen of BALB/C mice. CD127(low/-) is a characteristic marker on surface of CD4(+)CD25(+) Treg cells, and has been confirmed to be more specific marker for quantitatively sorting Treg cells.
Animals ; Biomarkers ; blood ; Female ; Interleukin-7 Receptor alpha Subunit ; analysis ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Spleen ; cytology ; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory ; metabolism

In order to explore the factors that affect CD62p expression in platelet during the whole course of cryopreservated platelets preparation, CD62p expression of platelet was evaluated by flow cytometry assay. The whole course of cryopreservated platelets preparation in order included whole blood collection, centrifugation for fresh platelet-rich plasma preparation, addition of dimethyl sulfoxide, and freeze in -80 degrees C refrigerator and thaw in 38 degrees C water bath. Result showed that the CD62p expressed slowly from whole blood collection to addition of dimethyl sulfoxide, but expressed abruptly after freeze and thaw and it occupied 82 per cent of the whole expression. It was concluded that the whole blood collection, centrifugation for fresh platelet enriched plasma preparation and addition of dimethyl sulfoxide were optimized in the whole course, but the damage to platelets in the whole course of cryopreservation could not be avoided. It suggests that improved techniques are needed to reduce the damage to cryopreservated platelets.
Blood Platelets ; metabolism ; Blood Preservation ; methods ; standards ; Cryopreservation ; methods ; standards ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; P-Selectin ; biosynthesis

Objective To evaluate the clinical application of continuous two-layer suture of gallbladder incision with a single absorbable suture on laparoscopic minimally invasive gallbladder-preserving cholecystolithotomy. Methods The clinical data of 74 cases underwent laparoscopic minimally invasive gallbladder-preserving cholecystolithotomy were retrospectively analyzed. Main surgical procedures included the longitudinal incision of gallbladder wall, choledochoscopy and the removal of all stones and the closure of the gallbladder incision. The mucous incision was first closed using a 4-0 absorbable suture with continuous everting suture. Using the same suture, the seromuscular incision was then closed with continuous invering suture. The operation time, suturing time, complications and postoperative hospitalization time were also documented. Results Laparoscopic gallbladder-preserving cholecystolithotomy was successfully performed in all cases using the suturing technique introduced in Methods. The operation time was 33~78 min (average 45.11 ± 14.96 min). Suturing time for gallbladder incision was 9 ~ 22 min (average 14.86 ± 3.88 min). No severe complications occurred, such as bile leakage, peritonitis, residual gallstone, hemorrhage or infection. The postoperative hospitalization time was 2~4 d (average 3.21 ± 0.69 d). A postoperative follow-up of 3 ~ 62 months (average 35.50 ± 18.94 months) indicated gallbladder stone recurrence of 2 cases, with a recurrence rate of 2.7%. Continuous two-layer suture of gallbladder incision with a single absorbable suture is a safe, practical and reliable technique for the closure of the gallbladder incision in laparoscopic gallbladder-preserving cholecystolithotomy.

During the epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the infection of the elderly population will bring great challenges to clinical diagnosis and treatment, outcome and management.Combined with the characteristics of anesthesia and the pathophysiological characteristics of COVID-19 on lung function impairment in elderly patients, Chinese Society of Anesthesiology formulated the " Recommendations for anesthesia management and infection control in elderly patients with COVID-19″. This recommendation expounds preoperative visit and infection control, anesthesia management protocol, anesthesia monitoring, anesthesia induction/endotracheal intubation, anesthesia maintenance and infection control, intraoperative lung protection strategy, anti-stress and anti-inflammatory management, hemodynamic optimization, infection control during emergence from anesthesia, and postoperative analgesia in elderly patients with COVID-19, and provides the reference for the safe and effective implementation of anesthesia management in elderly patients during the prevention and control of COVID-19 epidemic.

BACKGROUNDThe rapid transmission and high mortality rate made severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) a global threat for which no efficacious therapy is available now. Without sufficient knowledge about the SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV), it is impossible to define the candidate for the anti-SARS targets. The putative non-structural protein 2 (nsp2) (3CL(pro), following the nomenclature by Gao et al, also known as nsp5 in Snidjer et al) of SARS-CoV plays an important role in viral transcription and replication, and is an attractive target for anti-SARS drug development, so we carried on this study to have an insight into putative polymerase nsp2 of SARS-CoV Guangdong (GD) strain.

METHODSThe SARS-CoV strain was isolated from a SARS patient in Guangdong, China, and cultured in Vero E6 cells. The nsp2 gene was amplified by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and cloned into eukaryotic expression vector pCI-neo (pCI-neo/nsp2). Then the recombinant eukaryotic expression vector pCI-neo/nsp2 was transfected into COS-7 cells using lipofectin reagent to express the nsp2 protein. The expressive protein of SARS-CoV nsp2 was analyzed by 7% sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The nucleotide sequence and protein sequence of GD nsp2 were compared with that of other SARS-CoV strains by nucleotide-nucleotide basic local alignment search tool (BLASTN) and protein-protein basic local alignment search tool (BLASTP) to investigate its variance trend during the transmission. The secondary structure of GD strain and that of other strains were predicted by Garnier-Osguthorpe-Robson (GOR) Secondary Structure Prediction. Three-dimensional-PSSM Protein Fold Recognition (Threading) Server was employed to construct the three-dimensional model of the nsp2 protein.

RESULTSThe putative polymerase nsp2 gene of GD strain was amplified by RT-PCR. The eukaryotic expression vector (pCI-neo/nsp2) was constructed and expressed the protein in COS-7 cells successfully. The result of sequencing and sequence comparison with other SARS-CoV strains showed that nsp2 gene was relatively conservative during the transmission and total five base sites mutated in about 100 strains investigated, three of which in the early and middle phases caused synonymous mutation, and another two base sites variation in the late phase resulted in the amino acid substitutions and secondary structure changes. The three-dimensional structure of the nsp2 protein was successfully constructed.

CONCLUSIONSThe results suggest that polymerase nsp2 is relatively stable during the phase of epidemic. The amino acid and secondary structure change may be important for viral infection. The fact that majority of single nucleotide variations (SNVs) are predicted to cause synonymous, as well as the result of low mutation rate of nsp2 gene in the epidemic variations, indicates that the nsp2 is conservative and could be a target for anti-SARS drugs. The three-dimensional structure result indicates that the nsp2 protein of GD strain is high homologous with 3CL(pro) of SARS-CoV urbani strain, 3CL(pro) of transmissible gastroenteritis virus and 3CL(pro) of human coronavirus 229E strain, which further suggests that nsp2 protein of GD strain possesses the activity of 3CL(pro).

Animals ; COS Cells ; Cysteine Endopeptidases ; biosynthesis ; chemistry ; genetics ; Genetic Variation ; Humans ; Models, Molecular ; Recombinant Proteins ; biosynthesis ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; SARS Virus ; chemistry ; genetics ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; drug therapy ; X-Ray Diffraction