AIMTo investigate the effect of interleukin-8 (IL-8) on the differentiation and clonal expansion of 3T3-L1 preadipocyte during the differentiation period.

METHODSThe morphological changes of 3T3-L1 cells during differentiation after the treatment of IL-8 was observed by Oil-Red O staining. Glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) activity was measured by a spectrophotometric method. MTT method and 3H-TdR incorporation were applied to examine the changes of cell proliferation and DNA synthesis in clonal expansion of 3T3-L1 cells. Cell cycle analysis was taken by flow cytometry.

RESULTSIL-8 could inhibit the differentiation and GDPH activity in a dose dependent manner. IL-8 decreased the cell proliferation and DNA synthesis in clonal expansion after induction. Also, the proportion of cells in G1 phase was increased and that of cells in S and G2 phase was declined after the treatment of IL-8.

CONCLUSIONIL-8 inhibits the differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes by decreasing the clonal expansion of the cells.

3T3-L1 Cells ; Adipocytes ; cytology ; metabolism ; Animals ; Cell Cycle ; Cell Differentiation ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Interleukin-8 ; pharmacology ; Mice

OBJECTIVETo observe the protective effect of metformin on the endothelial function and the mechanisms in rats with low-density lipoprotein (LDL) injection.

METHODSA single dose (4 mg/kg) of natural LDL was injected through the sublingual vein of rats to induce vascular endothelial dysfunction. Blood samples were then collected from the rats to detect the concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO), activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and serum lipid levels. The thoracic aorta of rats was obtained to assay acetylcholine (ACh)-induced endothelium-dependent relaxation (EDR) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP)-induced endothelium-independent relaxation. The effects of metformin pretreatment on the endothelial functions in the rats were investigated.

RESULTSA single-dose LDL significantly inhibited ACh-induced EDR without affecting SNP-induced endothelial-independent relaxation. The injection decreased serum NO and elevated serum MDA level, but had no effect on serum lipid level. Metformin markedly attenuated LDL-induced inhibition of EDR, serum MDA elevation, and serum NO reduction without affecting the serum lipid levels.

CONCLUSIONMetformin provides protection against vascular endothelial dysfunction induced by LDL in rats, the mechanism of which is probably associated with protection of endothelium-dependent relaxation factor and inhibition of the oxidative stress.

Animals ; Endothelium, Vascular ; drug effects ; physiopathology ; Endothelium-Dependent Relaxing Factors ; metabolism ; Lipoproteins, LDL ; administration & dosage ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; blood ; Metformin ; pharmacology ; Nitric Oxide ; blood ; Oxidative Stress ; drug effects ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism ; Vasodilation ; drug effects ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of ghrelin on duodenal migrating myoelectric complex (MMC) in rats with chronic renal failure (CRF).

METHODSThirty healthy male SD rats were randomly assigned into sham-operated group (n=6) and CRF group (n=24), and the latter group was divided into 4 subgroups according to ghrelin doses administered with or without pretreatment with the receptor antagonist D-Lys(3)-GHRP-6. After a 18-h fasting, the rats with or without pretreatment with D-Lys(3)-GHRP-6 were given subcutaneous injections of ghrelin at different doses to observe the changes in duodenal MMC recorded using a multi lead physiological recording system.

RESULTSGhrelin significantly increased the MMC cycle duration and dose-dependently enhanced the frequency, amplitude and percentage of phase III MMC cycle. This effect was inhibited by the pretreatment with ghrelin receptor antagonist D-Lys(3)-GHRP-6.

CONCLUSIONGhrelin can promote gastrointestinal motilities of rats with CRF, and the receptor of ghrelin can regulate the activity of MMC.

Animals ; Duodenum ; drug effects ; Gastrointestinal Motility ; drug effects ; Ghrelin ; pharmacology ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; physiopathology ; Male ; Myoelectric Complex, Migrating ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Objective To establish a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) model for the classification and diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) complicated with renal involvement,and to provide a new method for the timely detection and diagnosis of the disease.Methods Simulated annealing(SA) algorithm was used to optimize the penalty coefficient C and kernel function parameter g of the support vector machines(SVM) algorithm before an SA-SVM classifier model was established and was applied to the intelligent assistant diagnosis of SLE.Results Unlike the single SVM classifier,this method never fell into local optimum,and improved the classification accuracy of a classifier.The classification accuracy for SLE with renal involvement was as high as 98.72％.Conclusion The experimental results show that this classification model is well applicable to the intelligent diagnosis of SLE with renal involvement.

OBJECTIVETo review the outcome of repeated percutaneous sperm aspiration (PESA) and testicular sperm extraction (TESE) for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

METHODSForty-three cycles of 31 cases of azoospermic patients which underwent at least two PESA or TESE for ICSI from January 2001 to December 2002 were collected. The sperm retrieval, fertilization, implantation and clinical pregnancy were analyzed.

RESULTSTwenty-four cases underwent PESA and 7 cases underwent TESE. There were not any complications in these patients. Compared with the first cycle of 154 cases, the fertilization rate, implantation rate and clinical pregnancy rate were 78.39% vs 73.64%, 19.68% vs 18.38% and 34.88% vs 37.91%, respectively(P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSRepeated PESA or TESE is safe and well tolerated in azoospermic patients. Compared with the first cycle, the differences of repeated PESA or TESE cycles in fertilization rate, implantation rate and clinical pregnancy rate were not statistically significant.

Adult ; Azoospermia ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Outcome ; Pregnancy Rate ; Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic ; methods ; Tissue and Organ Harvesting ; methods

OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationship between microwave radiation and male reproductivity.

METHODSAfter filling out questionnaire and body check, we carried out molecular epidemiological studies, using single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) and sperm automatic analysis among people working on radar.

RESULTSQuality of semen and semi-clinical injury of sperm among the people working on radar had changed when radar electromagnetic wave frequency distance, intensity, lasting time and protection shield were changing. Dose-response relationship was noticed and the increase of sperm dysmorphia played a principal role. The results between exposed group and control group showed significant difference (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONPeople working on radar who suffered from non-ionization for long time and had bad radar shield protection would show semi-clinical injury on sperm and bad semen quality. However, it did not affect the male reproductive function. It was necessary to reinforce the protection of non-ionization and to improve male reproductive health care of people working on radar.

Adult ; Comet Assay ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation ; Fertility ; physiology ; radiation effects ; Humans ; Male ; Occupational Exposure ; analysis ; Radar ; Radiation, Nonionizing ; Spermatozoa ; cytology ; radiation effects ; Time Factors

OBJECTIVETo explore the therapeutic feasibility of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) from partially HLA-mismatched related donors for hematologic diseases.

METHODSThirty patients with hematologic diseases received allo-HSCT from 1 - 3 loci mismatched related donors conditioning regimen consisting of ATG (thymoglobulin, total dose of 10 mg/kg, intravenously on - 4 d to - 1 d), and only 5 (18%) of 28 recipients from HLA-identical sibling donors were treated with regimen containing ATG. Donors were given G-CSF prior to hematopoietic stem cell harvest and CsA, short-term MTX and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) were used for GVHD prophylaxis in both group.

RESULTSAll patients were successfully engrafted. There was no significant difference in the incidence of grade II to IV acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) and grade III to IV aGVHD between the mismatched and matched groups (34% vs 32%, and 13% vs 11%, respectively). 3-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in mismatched and matched groups were 57% vs 77% (P = 0.14) and 57% vs 69% (P = 0.28), respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that advanced disease pre-transplant (P = 0.006) and CMV infection (P = 0.04) were risk factors for OS. OS for patients with stable disease in mismatched and matched groups were 87% vs 81% (P = 0.65) respectively, and for those with advanced disease were 21% vs 71% (P = 0.02).

CONCLUSIONSIt is feasible to perform allo-HSCT from 1 -3 loci HLA-mismatched related donors for patients with stable disease who lack HLA-identical sibling donors. Nevertheless, for patients with advanced disease optimized conditioning regimen and intensive supporting therapy should be administered to obtain better clinical outcomes.

Graft vs Host Disease ; prevention & control ; HLA Antigens ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; methods ; Humans ; Siblings ; Tissue Donors ; Transplantation Conditioning

OBJECTIVETo investigate COX-2 expression in patients with gastric cancer and its relationship with angiogenesis and clinicopathologic features of gastric cancer.

METHODSCOX-2 expression and CD34-stained microvessel density (MVD) were detected by immunohistochemical methods in specimens from 96 patients with gastric cancer. The correlations among COX-2 expression, MVD and clinicopathologic features were analyzed.

RESULTSThe COX-2 positive rate and MVD in gastric cancer were significantly higher than those in the normal gastric mucosa (80.2% vs. 13.3%; 32.5+/- 8.3 vs. 13.1+/- 2.4, all P< 0.01). The COX-2 positive rate and MVD in the patients with stage III and IV were significantly higher (91.4% and 34.9+/- 8.7 respectively, P< 0.01), than that in the patients with stage I and II. The COX-2 positive rate and MVD in the cases with lymph node metastasis were 87.9% and (35.0+/- 8.5) respectively, higher than those in the cases without lymph node metastasis (P< 0.05). The Spearman rank correlation test showed a significant correlation between COX-2 expression and tumor MVD (r=0.311, P< 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSCOX-2 plays an important role in gastric cancer angiogenesis. COX-2 and angiogenesis induced by COX-2 contribute to tumor invasion and lymph node metastasis.

Adult ; Aged ; Cyclooxygenase 2 ; metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Neovascularization, Pathologic ; metabolism ; pathology ; Stomach Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects on male reproductive function working under cold area.

METHODSAfter on site investigation, advanced molecular lab analysis-single-cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) and sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) which are combined with semen routine analysis were used to evaluate semen quality and sperm sub-clinical injury.

RESULTSSemen routine analysis showed that the semen parameters of the males working in cold area were within normal range, but level I comet cell percentage in SCGE increased significantly, which was 4.4%, compared to the contrast group (1.9%) with significant difference. During sperm chromatin structure assay parameters, comp alpha t increased, with an average value of 22.26%. The two kinds of results both showed single and double strand breakages in sperm.

CONCLUSIONLong-term exposure to cold could induce sperm DNA injury, but not affect sperm quality. The results suggested that it was important to reinforce the reproductive care in males working in cold areas.

Adult ; Chromatin ; chemistry ; Cold Climate ; Comet Assay ; DNA Damage ; Fertility ; Humans ; Male ; Semen ; Sperm Count ; Spermatozoa ; cytology

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the sensitivity and usefulness of 99mTc-sestamibi scintigraphy (SS) and neck ultrasonography (US) as preoperative localization procedures in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT).

METHODS160 patients with proved pHPT in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from June 1983 to June 2002 were studied. There were 107 women(66.9%) and 53 men (33.1%), with a mean age of 38.9 years (10-73 years). 100 patients were underwent SS and 148 patients were underwent US prior to surgery, and the results were compared with operative and histological findings.

RESULTSThe sensitivity of SS and US in localization of the enlarged parathyroid glands was 94.0% and 85.1% respectively, and the positive predictive value of SS and US was 100% and 89.1% respectively, the overall sensitivity was 98.9% by combination of SS and US. In solitary parathyroid adenomas group (n = 145), the sensitivity of SS and US was 93.3% and 84.7% respectively; There was no significant difference (P = 0.428) in sensitivity of SS between the parathyroid glands correctly identified and undetected in classical neck location as compared with ectopic parathyroid glands, whereas significantly (P = 0.026) influenced by the US sensitivity.

CONCLUSIONSDifferent sensitivity exit between SS and VS in preoperative localization in patients with pHPT undergoing parathyroidectomy. The combined use of SS and US could increase the sensitivity of localization technique. Ectopic parathyroid had no influence on the sensitivity of 99mTc-MIBI scanning, but decreased the sensitivity of ultrasonography. The size of parathyroid tumors had effects on the sensitivity of ultrasonography. Otherwise, various conditions causing SS false negative were observed. Some interfere factors should be excluded when SS negative results were encountered in clinical practice.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperparathyroidism ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neck ; diagnostic imaging ; Parathyroid Glands ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Preoperative Care ; Radionuclide Imaging ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi ; therapeutic use ; Ultrasonography