Objective To observe the protective effect of erythropoietin (EPO) on anoxia of motoneurons after spinal cord injury in rats.Methods The motoneuron was dissociated from neonate Wistar rats and cultivated in vitro with deprivation of oxygen in the medium. The changes of morphology were observed by phase-contrast microscopy, and the expression of EPO receptor (EPOR) was detected with Western blotting. The survival rate of motoneuron was measured with methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay, and the level of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was observed. Results Compared with the control group, the expression of EPOR and the level of LDH increased (P<0.01),and the survival rate of motoneuron decreased (P<0.01) in the anoxia group. Compared with the anoxia group, the expression of EPOR and the level of LDH decreased (P<0.05), and the survival rate of motoneuron increased (P<0.01) in the EPO group, which was related with the level of EPO. Conclusion EPO could relieve the damage of motoneuron caused by anoxia, especially by upregulating EPOR.

Objective To detect the levels of CD4+CD25HiCD127Low regulatory T cells (Treg) in the peripheral blood and its clinical significance in patients with esophageal cancer. Methods The levels of Treg in the peripheral blood were detected by three-color flow cytometry (FCM) in 80 patients with esophageal cancer and 20 healthy controls. Among the 80 patients, 30 patients were also further studied for preoperative and postoperative comparison after operation. The clinical and pathological data of each patient were collected and analyzed for the correlation with the Treg levels. Results The level of Treg in the peripheral blood of the control group was lower than that of the esophageal cancer patients [(3.36±1.14) % and (5.70±1.96) %, respectively], with significant difference (P <0.01). The levels of Treg in the peripheral blood was higher in the patients with metastasis of lymph node (n=40) than that in the patients without metastasis of lymph node (5.96±1.36) % and (4.23±1.18) %, respectively] (n=30), with significant difference (P <0.01). The levels of Treg in the peripheral blood of the patients were negatively correlated with their TNM classification. As the TNM classification advanced, the level of the Treg in the peripheral blood increased. Conclusion The levels of Treg in the peripheral blood of the patients with esophageal cancer are significantly higher than that of the healthy subjects, which is correlated with the clinical and pathological conditions. The development of esophageal cancer may relate with suppression of immune function.

Objective To study metabolism of polyunsantured fatty acid (PUFA) and to investigate the relationship between different PUFA compositions and △6 desaturase (D6D) activity in colorectal carcinoma (CRC).Methods Fresh frozen malignant CRC tissues were obtained from 61 patients and blood samples were detected in 38 patients.The PUFA composition in these samples was determined by gas-liquid chromatography on a capillary column.The fatty acid product-to-precursor ratios in blood and tissue as estimates of desaturase activity (D6D activity index),and its relationship with the ratios between different PUFA compositions were investigated.Results Metabolism of ω-6 PUFA dominated in PUFA metabolism path.The ratio of ω-6/ω-3 PUFA was 4.89 in blood samples and 10.15 in tissues.The ratio of LA/ALA was 101.92 in blood samples and 86.16 in tissues.The ratio of ω-6/ω-3 LC-PUFA was 2.86 in blood samples and 4.51 in tissues.The D6D activity index in ω-6 PUFA metabolic processes both in tissues (t =1 1.609,P =0.00) and blood samples (t =-9.151,P =0.00) were higher than that in ω-3 PUFA.Conclusion In colorectal carcinoma,the ω-6 PUFA metabolic not only plays an important role in the metabolism of PUFA,but also is more active than the ω-3 PUFA metabolic,and in some way links to the development of tumorigenesis in CRC.

Objective To investigate the value of copy number variation analysis based on next-generation sequencing (NGS-CNVA) in the genetic analysis of missed abortion chorionic villi. Methods From August 2012 to May 2014, chorionic villi from 74 cases of missed abortion at 6-13 gestational weeks in Haidian Maternal and Child Health Hospital were collected and analyzed by karyotype analysis and NGS-CNVA. The results of the two methods were compared. Results (1) Karyotype analysis was carried out for the villi from the 74 missed abortion patients. Thirty cases were euploid, 26 cases were aneuploid, while 18 cases had structural abnormalities. The resolution of the karyotyping was 320 bands and the average report time was 22 days. (2) All of the 74 samples obtained NGS-CNVA results and the report time was 7-10 days. (3) The NGS-CNVA results of 56 cases were consistent with karyotype. Among them, 28 cases (28/56, 50%) had no copy number variants (CNV), and 19 cases (19/56, 34%)had CNV between 1 Mb and 10 Mb. 9 cases (9/56,16%) had CNV≥10 Mb found by NGS-CNVA, but not found by karyotyping. (4) According to the results of NGS-CNVA, karyotype were reviewed. The reviewed results found 7 cases with CNV<10 Mb and 3 cases with CNV≥10 Mb in 30 cases which got normal karyotype results at the first analysis. (5) Among the 18 cases of structural abnormalities, 6 cases were Robertsonian translocation. Sequencing technology could confirm the specific area of chromosome deletion/duplication in 8 cases, but could not locate them. Conclusions NGS-CNVA has lower failure rate, higher resolution, lower specimen requirement and shorter report time than karyotype analysis when used for the genetic analysis of missed chorionic villi . NGS-CNVA could be a useful genetic analysis method for the missed abortion villi.

Objective To carry out a molecular screening of Chinese common deafness gene mutations in Chinese pregnant women group,so as to expatiate on the content,provide molecular epidemiological data,reduce the birth rate and provide a theoretical basis to the deaf children. Methods The molecular detection was done to the pregnant women underwent normal antenatal care in our hospital,using gene chips to screen the four com?mon deaf genes(GJB2,GJB3,SLC26A4 and mitochondrial 12S rRNA)in China;then,the newborn infants carrying mutations were treated with the hearing screening,using the methods of Otoacoustic Emissions(OAE)and Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potentials(BAEP),and the husbands of mutation carrying pregnant women were adopted molecular testing of the deaf susceptibility genes in order to investigate the correlation of the rate of pregnant women carrying the mutant genes and newborn infants deafness. Results Totally 2 067 cases of pregnant women were accepted to do the molecular screening,there were 110 cases of deafness mutations detected(5.320%),in which GJB2 gene(67 cases),GJB3 gene(6 cases), SLC26A4gene(33 cases),mitochondrial 12SrRNAgene(4 cases)mutation detection rates were 3.240%,0.290%,1.600%and 0.190%,respec?tively;especially:GJB2gene 235 del C,GJB2gene 299 del AT double mutant 1 case;GJB2gene 299 del AT,GJB3gene 538 C>T double mutant 1 case;GJB2 gene 235 del C,SLC26A4 gene IVS7?2 A>G double mutant 1 case. About 108 cases children newborn accepted to do the hearing screening,in which 3 cases had problems with the left ear,3 cases with the right ear,and 4 cases with the double ears. Conclusion The use of ge?netic deafness gene chip to do the molecular diagnostics in pregnant women can be convenient,fast and efficient for prenatal diagnosis of deafness, which provides a theoretical basis and good method for reducing the birth rate of deaf children and should be popularized more widely.

The fragmentation pathways of two taxanes drugs have been studied in positive ion mode by Q-TOF with the advantages of high mass accuracy and high resolution analysis. The [M+H] + ions were observed by ESI-MS, from which the molecular weights were obtained. Using the protonated pseudo-molecular ions [M+H]+ as internal reference compounds, the accurate mass and element composition of the fragment ions were determined. The collision induced dissociation (CID) data of the [M+H] ions provided fragmentation pathways of related compounds. Results showed that the major cleavage pathways of paclitaxel and docetaxel were the same that the cleavage of C-O bond between the side chain and taxol skeleton easily occurred, then stripping of the functional groups on the parent ring. Some common fragments were formed, such as m/z 105.033 7, 291.137 3, 309.148 5, 327.159 7, 387.181 2 and 509.217 4, which would provide a basis for future qualitative and quantitative analysis of taxanes in vitro and in vivo.
Paclitaxel ; chemistry ; Peptide Fragments ; chemistry ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization ; methods ; Taxoids ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo investigate the short-term clinical outcome of unicompartmental knee arthroplasty for the treatment of spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee.

METHODSFrom September 2013 to April 2014,5 patients with spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee underwent unicompartmental knee arthroplasty, included 3 males and 2 females, aged from 65 to 80 years old with an average of 74 years. The courses of disease was from 1 to 6 years with the mean of 3 years. According to the radiographic staging criteria of Koshino, 1 case was stage II, 2 cases were stage III, 2 cases were stage IV. Clinical effects were assessed by VAS score, HSS score, and knee range of motion, tibiofemoral angle before and after operation.

RESULTSAll the patients were followed up from 6 to 7 months with an average of 6.4 months. All incisions obtained primary healing, and there were no complications such as infection, thrombosis, fracture of lower limbs. All 5 patients' pain relieved and their knee function improved significantly after operation, but knee range of motion had no obviously improved. Postoperative HSS scores, VAS scores, tibiofemoral angle were significantly improved than that of preoperative.

CONCLUSIONThe short-term effect of unicompartmental knee arthroplasty in treating spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee is satisfactory.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Joint Diseases ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Knee Joint ; Male ; Osteonecrosis ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Range of Motion, Articular

OBJECTIVETo apply single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) microarray for delineation of small supernumerary marker chromosome (sSMC) in two newborns.

METHODChromosome karyotyping was performed on newborns who were born in Jan. 2013 and Jan. 2014 in Haidian Maternal and Child Health Hospital because of the abnormalities found in pregnancy checkups. SNP microarray analysis was carried out on 2 newborns with de novo sSMCs (one was mos 47,XY, + mar[45]/46,XY[5] and the other was mos 47, XY, + mar [30]/46, XY [20]), which could not be determined by conventional banding techniques. Genomic DNA was extracted from cord blood samples, amplified, tagged and hybridized following the manufacturer' s protocol. Data were collected and analyzed.

RESULTThere was a 78. 6 Mb duplication in chromosome 8 for Newborn A, which was associated with 8p22 duplication syndrome; and a 32. 7 Mb duplication in chromosome 13 for Newborn B, which was not yet reported definitely as pathogenic. The newborn A was identified with agenesis of the corpus callosum, obvious right eyelid drooping, the onset of low muscle tone and mental developmental lag behind their peers, while the newborn B had normal findings on physical and mental evaluation.

CONCLUSIONSNP-array can identify sSMCs of newborns at the DNA level, and can be used as an important supplement to the conventional karyotype analysis, but the pathogenicity of positive outputs need further verification.

Chromosome Duplication ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 8 ; Genetic Markers ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Infant, Newborn ; Karyotyping ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide

Objective To analyse the dysfunction of immunity and clinical significance in patients with cardiac cancer.Methods The level of CD4+ CD25hi CD127low Treg cells were detected by flow cytometry (FCM),and serum IL-10 and TGF-β1 levels were determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit in 56 patients with cardiac cancer.15 healthy volunteers were tested as normal controls.The clinical data of each patient were collected and analyzed. Results There was a significantly higher percentage of CD4+ CD25hi CD127low Treg cells in patients with cardiac cancer (5.73±1.56)% than that (4.45±1.06)% of healthy volunteers (P<0.01).The IL-10 and TGF-β1 levels in the serum of patients with cardiac cancer were also significantly higher than that of healthy volunteers (P<0.05).There was a positive correlation between levels of IL-10.TGF-β1 and the levels of CD4+ CD25hi CD127low Treg cells.The number of CD4+ CD25hi CD127low regulatory T cells in the peripheral blood of cardiac cancer patients were significantly correlated with clinical stages and metastasis lymph node.Conclusion The CD4+ CD25hi CD127low Treg cells in the peripheral blood of cardiac cancer patients is significantly increased in comparison with that in healthy volunteers,and was also correlated with different stages.The abnormal levels of CD4+ CD25hi CD127low Treg cells may be related to tumor progression in patients with cardiac cancer.

Objective To evaluate the olfactory functions in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) with a smell identification test developed for the Chinese population and to examine possible factors contributing to PD patients' olfactory performance.Methods Fifty-five patients with idiopathic and nondementia PD and 55 demographically matched healthy controls (HC) were recruited and their olfactory identification tested using the Chinese Smell Identification Test developed by the Institute of Psychology at Chinese Academy of Sciences.Results Olfactory identification score was significantly lower (t =-6.827,P＜0.01) in the PD group (19.3 ±5.4) as compared with the HC group (26.5 ±5.7).Of all PD patients,63.6％ scored over 1 SD below the age norm.In particular,of those with Hoehn-Yahr ratings between 2 to 3,77.8％ scored over 1 SD below the age norm.Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis indicated that a cut-off score of 22.5 on the Chinese Smell Identification Test distinguished between PD patients and HC with a sensitivity of 74.6％ and specificity of 70.9％.Within the PD group,age,education,Hoehn-Yahr rating and Mini-Mental State Examination score were not found to correlate with olfactory performance (all P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion PD patients in China show significant impairment of olfactory identification,which is effectively captured by the Chinese Smell Identification Test.