Objective: To investigate the role of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) in supporting hematopoiesis and the expansion of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells in vitro. Methods: According to the fact that HUVEC supernatant has colony stimulating activity shown by methylcellulose colony-forming assay and HUVEC can maintain the survival of mononuclear cells for at least four weeks in vitro, CD34+ cells from umbilical cord blood were seeded with (HUVEC group) or without (control group) HUVEC monolayer. Every week cells were collected and counted, the frequency of CFU-GM was measured by using methylcellulose colony-forming assay, and the percentage of CD34+ and CD41a+ cells was measured by flow cytometry. Results: In control group，all the CD34+ cells died in two weeks. However, in HUVEC group,most nucleated cells and CD34+ cells were expanded by 68.1±14.8 fold and 6.6±1.4 fold，respectively at the third week while CFU-GM expansion reached its peak (5.7±2.1 fold) at the week 2. Moreover, the percentage of CD41a+ cells was enhanced significantly, reaching a maximum (15.6%) at the week 3. Conclusions:HUVEC can support hematopoiesis in vitro and expand the hematopoietic progenitor cells and CD41a+ cells in direct contact coculture.

Objective To compare the effect of continuous femoral nerve block (CFNB) with patient controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) on pain relief,rehabilitation efficacy,satisfaction degree following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in an attempt to find a safe and effective analgesia at the stage of rehabilitation.Methods The records of 116 patients undergone unilateral TKA for osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis of the knee were evaluated.The patients with preoperative American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) score of 1 to 3 were randomized into CFNB group (58 cases) and PCIA group (58 cases) according to the random number table.Both operations were performed under ultrasound guidance.Postoperative visual analogue score (VAS),knee function,incidence of adverse reaction,and satisfaction degree were compared between the two groups.Results Regardless of the score at postoperative 4 and 12 hours,VAS between CFNB and PCIA groups revealed significant differences at postoperative 24 [(3.2±1.1)pointsvs (4.1 ±1.5)points],48 [(3.4±1.2)pointsvs (4.1 ±1.0) points] and 72 hours [(3.3 ± 1.2) points vs (4.0 ± 1.1) points] (all P ＜ 0.05).Time to achieve knee rehabilitation training objectives like straight leg raise,walking with crutches,and passive bending to 90° were similar between the two groups.Both groups achieved comparable knee function status with respect to Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) score,Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) score,and maximal knee flexion angle at postoperative 3 months.Postoperative nausea and vomit were significantly more frequent in PCIA group (24％) than in CFNB group (14％) (all P ＜O.05),but patients in both groups were satisfactory.Conclusion Ultrasound guided CFNB is an effective analgesic method during the early stage of TKA,for it can control pain,accelerate rehabilitation training and function recovery,reduce adverse reaction as well as improve patients' satisfaction.

OBJECTIVETo investigate biallelic inactivation of the von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor gene (VHL) in patient of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patient.

METHODSWe extracted tumor and normal DNA from 41 RCC patients. Mutation of VHL gene from tumor tissue was detected from tumor tissue by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and direct sequencing. Two single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sites located in VHL gene were analyzed by PCR restriction fragment length polymorphism, and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) was analyzed for VHL gene by comparing between tumor with normal tissue.

RESULTSMutation and LOH of VHL gene was found in 51% (21/41) and 42% (8/19) of RCC patients respectively. LOH was highly associated with mutation positive tumors (r = 0.78) and VHL biallelic inactivation was detected in 37% of RCC patients.

CONCLUSIONBiallelic inactivation of VHL gene occurs in RCC due to VHL mutation and LOH, and its frequency rate is 37%.

Adult ; Aged ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; genetics ; pathology ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 3 ; genetics ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; Female ; Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Loss of Heterozygosity ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mutation ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Tumor Suppressor Proteins ; genetics ; Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases ; genetics ; Von Hippel-Lindau Tumor Suppressor Protein

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of triptolide tablet in the treatment of patients with psoriasis vulgaris.

METHODSBy an open clinical study of 103 patients with psoriasis vulgaris. Psoriasis area severity index (PASI) was measured and recorded before and after treatment for efficacy evaluation.

RESULTSOf the 103 patients, markedly effective was got in 41 (39.7%), improved in 37 (35.8%) and ineffective in 25 (24.5%), the total effective rate being 75.7%, and the adverse reaction was shown only in few patients with decreased WBC during the treatment period.

CONCLUSIONTriptolide tablet is effective for the treatment of psoriasis vulgaris during the one-year follow-up.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Diterpenes ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Epoxy Compounds ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phenanthrenes ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Psoriasis ; drug therapy ; Tablets ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To investigate the general information such as study motivation, study de-mand, and encountered difficulties of foreign medical postgraduates in China. Methods 45 medical post-graduates in Chongqing Medical University participated in this survey in February 2014. The questionnaire consisted of 19 questions, including study motivation, the reasons to learn in China, language proficiency, study expectation, satisfaction rate, and future career plan. In total, 45 questionnaires were handed out, and 42 (93%) were recovered. Results All respondents (42 persons) had already acquired medical license in their own countries. 45%of them (19 persons) had obtained bachelor’s degree in other university and were attracted by the reputation of Chongqing Medical University. 50% of respondents (21 persons) considered language barrier as the biggest problem in their learning process. 60%(25 persons) were generally satisfied with their postgraduate education in China. And lack of clinical practice opportunity was ranked as the No. 1 reason of dissatisfaction (54%, 23 persons). Conclusion Language barrier as well as lack of clinical practice opportunity is the biggest two problems encountered by foreign medical postgraduates in China. Although Chongqing Medical University has gained a lot of experience in foreign medical postgraduate education, improvements regarding training program and mentor selection should still be made.

OBJECTIVETo estimate the prevalence of subcretins in 8 minorities of Yunnan province and to provide scientific basis for public health policy-making, as well as for prevention and control of iodine deficiency disorders.

METHODSFour thousand two hundred and twenty-two minority school children aged 8-12 years selected from 29 schools in 8 minority counties were measured by Combined Raven's Test in China (CRT-C(2)) and Jinyi Psychomotor test Battery (JPB).

RESULTSAverage of intelligence quotient (IQ) on 4,222 children was 91 +/- 19. Among 277 pupils with IQ between 55 - 69, 119 of them showed abnormal on JPB test and 5.4% of the children was found to have Goiter under ultrasonography. Median level of urinary iodine was 466.9 microg/L, and the qualified rate of iodized salt was 94.9%.

CONCLUSIONThe estimated prevalence rate of subcretin was 2.8%.

Child ; Child Development ; China ; epidemiology ; Congenital Hypothyroidism ; epidemiology ; Ethnic Groups ; Female ; Humans ; Intelligence Tests ; Male ; Prevalence

Long-tem culture initiating cells(LTC-IC), and in vitro assay of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells, still represent a heterogeneous population in terms of proliferative capacity and sensitivity to different growth factors. Human umbilical cord (CB) is rich of hematopoietic progenitor cells measured by clonogenic assays and stem cells capable of reconstituting the marrow after transplantation. The influence of culture conditions on the in vitro behavior of LTC-IC from CB was evaluated. First, by using IRES sequence, FL and TPO cDNA were recombined with retroviral vector pLXSN by gene recombination technology. The recombinant plasmid pLFSN, pLTSN, pLFTSN were transfected into human stromal cell line HFCL. Then, LTC-IC were evaluated in long term cultures, comparing five types of stromal feeder layers: human bone marrow stromal cell, human stromal cell line HFCL, and stromal cell lines HDF tranfected with FL gene, HLT transfected with TPO gene or HFT co-transfected with FL and TPO genes. The results were demonstrated that after 8 weeks of coculture, three types of stromal cell lines that supported the maintenance of CFU-C for up to 3 weeks in vitro were identified. However, cocultivation of human bone marrow stromal cell and CB CD34(+) cells on HFT, CFU-C production continued up to 6 weeks or longer on these stroma. The absolute LTC-IC frequency in CD34(+) cells on human bone marrow stromal cell (2.65 +/- 0.76/1 000 cells) was no significant difference with on HFT (3.65 +/- 0.58/1 000 cells). Thus, HFT acts by direct contact to maintain the phenotype and function of the most primitive and quiescent human progenitors. Furthermore, HFT cell line was selected as the optimal one for supporting long-term culture feeder. It was concluded that LTC-IC progenitors from cord blood maintain growing upon the FL/TPO gene-modified stromal feeder layers in vitro.

The hematopoietic system of the mouse arises from extraembryonic mesoderm that migrate through primitive streak to the presumptive yolk sac at day 7.0 of gestation. However, the mechanisms regulating mesoderm commitment to hematopoietic lineages remain poorly understood. Previous studies demonstrated that the development kinetics and growth factor responsiveness of hematopoietic precursors derived from embryonic stem cells (ES cells) is similar to that found in the yolk sac, indicating that the onset of hematopoiesis within the embryoid bodies (EBs) parallels that found in the embryo. Furthermore, in vitro differentiation of ES cells to hematopoietic cells is valuable for establishment of therapeutic clone against a variety of hematological disorders. Despite the identification of multipotential hematopoietic progenitors in EBs, a subset of more primitive progenitors, identical to the high proliferative potential colony-forming cells (HPP-CFC) derived from human and murine hematopoietic tissues, have not been clearly identified regarding particular their replating potential in vitro. HPP-CFC is among the most primitive hematopoietic multipotent precursors cultured in vitro. In this study, our aim was to investigate the in vitro and in vivo hematopoietic capacity of HPP-CFC within the day 12 EBs, rather than the expansion of more committed progenitors. In this study the HPP-CFC could be detected within EBs differentiated for 5 to 14 days of murine ES cells, but the development dynamics of the HPP-CFC differed greatly among distinct serum lots. Qualitatively HPP-CFC is capable of forming secondary colonies. As to our expectation the ES cells-derived HPP-CFC demonstrated similar regeneration capacity to those from yolk sac, giving rise to secondary granulocyte, erythrocyte, macrophage and mast cells, however largely differed from the counterparts of adult bone marrow. In addition, by RT-PCR ES cells-derived HPP-CFC were found to express transcription factors associated closely with stem cell proliferation including SCL, GATA-2 and AML1 as well as various receptors of hematopoietic growth factors such as c-kit, GM-CSF receptor and interleukin 3 receptor et al. Finally, in order to understand the in vivo hematopoietic capacity of the ES cells-derived HPP-CFC, spleen colony-forming unit (CFU-S) assay was performed. Nevertheless, typical CFU-S was not observed after transplantation of the day 12 EB cells or HPP-CFC colonies into lethally irradiated adult murine. In conclusion the HPP-CFC differentiated from murine ES cells displayed robust hematopoietic activity in vitro, however their in vivo reconstitution ability was not detected. The difference between in vitro and in vivo hematopoietic activities of ES cells-derived primitive hematopoietic precursors deserves further investigation.
Animals ; Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors ; genetics ; Cell Differentiation ; genetics ; physiology ; Colony-Forming Units Assay ; Core Binding Factor Alpha 2 Subunit ; genetics ; Embryonic Stem Cells ; cytology ; GATA2 Transcription Factor ; genetics ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; Humans ; Mice ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins ; genetics ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit ; genetics ; Receptors, Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor ; genetics ; Receptors, Interleukin-3 ; genetics ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; T-Cell Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia Protein 1

OBJECTIVETo survey the prevalence and risk factors of HSV-2 among Chinese and Vietnamese female sex workers (FSW) in the border county of Hekou, Yunnan Province, China.

METHODSA cross-sectional survey was conducted on demographics, sexual behavior, medical history, and drug use among FSWs. Laboratory samples were obtained to test for HSV-2 and other STIs such as HIV, Syphilis, Trichomonas vaginalis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, Bacterial vaginosis, and Yeast infections. Cervicitis and genital warts were also diagnosed.

RESULTSOf the 345 FSWs who participated in this study, 112 (32.5%) were ethnic Chinese and 233 (67.5) were Vietnamese. Among FSWs in Hekou, the prevalence rates were 58.3% for HSV-2, 5.5% for HIV, and 4.1% for bacterial vaginosis (BV). Age<21 (OR: 0.5; 95% CI: 0.3, 0.8), duration of commercial sex work≤3 months (OR: 0.5; 95% CI: 0.3, 0.8), oral and vaginal sex with the last client (as opposed to only vaginal sex) (OR: 1.6; 95% CI: 1.0, 2.7), HIV (OR: 11.4; 95% CI: 1.5, 87.2), and bacterial vaginosis (BV) (OR: 5.6; 95% CI: 1.2, 26.9) were significantly correlated with HSV-2 infection.

CONCLUSIONMultivariate analysis showed that several factors were significantly correlated with the high prevalence of HSV-2 in FSWs in the border area between China and Vietnam. Further studies and interventions are needed for HSV-2 epidemiology in the border area.

Adolescent ; China ; epidemiology ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Herpes Genitalis ; epidemiology ; Herpesvirus 2, Human ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Risk Factors ; Sex Workers ; Vietnam ; epidemiology ; Young Adult

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; genetics ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Loss of Heterozygosity ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Tumor Suppressor Proteins ; genetics ; Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases ; genetics ; Von Hippel-Lindau Tumor Suppressor Protein