OBJECTIVE To explore the expression of long non-coding RNA (LncRNA) HOTAIR, enhancer of Zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and their relationship between HOTAIR and prognosis. METHODS We examined the expression of HOTAIR, EZH2 and VEGF in NPC tissues, and analyzed the clinical significance of HOTAIR expression in patients with NPC. RESULTS We found that the expression of HOTAIR, EZH2 and VEGF in the NPC tissues were significantly higher than those in the chronic nasopharyngitis tissues in the gene and protein levels (U=955,P<0.05). The HOTAIR was positively correlated with VEGF (r=0.599,P<0.001), VEGF was positively correlated with EZH2 (r=0.369, P=0.012), and HOTAIR had no significant correlation with EZH2 (r=0.139,P=0.357). Moreover, HOTAIR expression levels increased with clinical stage progression. CONCLUSION The expression of HOTAIR, EZH2 and VEGF were significantly increased in the NPC tissues, and the expression of HOTAIR was related with the TNM stage, the clinical stage and the short term therapeutic effect of the NPC patients, which indicated that the HOTAIR might be used as a biological indicator to determine the prognosis of the NPC.

康复医学广泛涉及各临床学科和边缘学科,具有实践性、操作性强的特点。我教研室在我校康复疗养专业五年制本科生教康复医学实习中引入PBL教学法理念,采用了PBL教学与传统教学相结合的教学方法,通过两年的实践和探索,取得了良好的教学相长的效果。

Objective:To study the efficacy of paroxetine and psychotherapy in patients with poststroke de- pression and anxiety.Methods:81 patients who met the CCMD-3 criteria of depression and anxiety after acute brain stroke were recruited and randomized into 3 groups.Group A was treated with routine antistroke medication and paroxetine;Group B was treated with routine antistroke medications,paroxetine plus psychotherapy;Group C(con- trol)was treated with routine antistroke medication.All patients were treated for 6 weeks and evaluated with SSS, HAMD,HAMA as measures of efficacy and side effects.Results:The comorbidity rate of poststroke depression and anxiety was 65.9%.According to the reduction of SSS,HAMD and HAMA scores,and increase of BI score,signifi- cant improvement has been showed in all patients.There was significant difference among group A,B and the control group(P

Objective:To validate the revised BMI-MNA-SF and CC-MNA-SF with regard to association and agreement with the full MNA(R),considered as gold standard,in geriatric internal medicine patients.Methods:105 cases of hospitalized elderly patients in internal medicine were recruited for the study.The nutritional status correlation and coherence were evaluated with the revised BMI-MNA-SF、CC-MNA-SF and the full MNA(R),respectively.Results:The BMI-MNA-SF and CC-MNA-SF all correlated strongly with the full MNA(R) (Pearson's correlation coefficient r=0.9080,0.8381 respectively;P ＜ 0.001).High values of sensitivity,specificity and predictive values were observed for the BMI-MNA-SF and CC-MNA-SF against the full MNA(R) as the dichotomized categorizations "malnourished-at risk of malnutrition" vs "well nourished" and "malnourished" vs "at risk of malnutrition-well nourished" were considered.Most of values of those for CC-MNA-SF are lower slightly than BMI-MNA-SF.Areas under the ROC curves also reached high values (BMI-MNA-SF:0.951 and CC-MNA-SF:0.938 for the first categorization;BMI-MNA-SF:1.000 and CC-MNA-SF:0.985 for the second one) showing both tests excellent accuracy with the full-MNA.The agreement between the MNA-SFs and the ful1-MNA was quantified as the percentage of correct classifications.The BMI-MNA-SF classified 83.81％,correctly and the CC-MNA-SF classified 68.57％ correctly.Malnutrition proportions of subjects were not underestimated by both MNA-SFs.Conclusion:The revised BMI-MNA-SF and CC-MNA-SF are rapid、easy and reliable tools are capable to identify malnourished individuals in internal medicine and those who are at risk of malnutrition.Due to the special characteristics of elderly patients,the CC-MNA-SF is a good option to replace the BMI-MNA-SF when BMI is not available.

OBJECTIVETo study the mechanism of brain development delay in rats with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) by examining the expression of nerve growth factor (NGF) and tyrosine kinase receptor A (Trk A) in the brain.

METHODSThirty-two pregnant rats were randomly fed with a normal diet (control group) or lower protein diet (IUGR group) during pregnancy (n=16 each). The pup rats were sacrificed at 0, 7, 14 or 21 days after birth. The protein levels of NGF and TrkA in the brain were determined by Western blot and immunohistochemistry staining.

RESULTSThe levels of NGF and TrkA in the brain in pup rats of the IUGR group were significantly lower than those in the control group 0, 7, 14 and 21 days after birth.

CONCLUSIONSThe decreased expression of protein levels of NGF and TrkA in the brain might be one of the causes of brain development delay in IUGR rats.

Animals ; Birth Weight ; Brain Chemistry ; Female ; Fetal Death ; epidemiology ; Fetal Growth Retardation ; epidemiology ; metabolism ; Immunohistochemistry ; Nerve Growth Factor ; analysis ; Pregnancy ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Receptor, trkA ; analysis

Cis-1,2-dihydroxycyclohexa-3,5-diene (DHCD) can be used as a valuable chiral intermediates for applications in pharmaceuticals, aerospace, electrical and fine chemical industries. By on-line detection of toluene dioxygenase (TDO) activity in whole recombinant Escherichia coli JM109 (pKST11) cells that harbored TDO gene under a tac promoter, effects of IPTG and various benzene addition strategies on bioransformation of benzene to DHCD were investigated. When IPTG was used at the beginning of fermentation, the growth of cells was inhibited and TDO activity only maintained for 4 hours while same experiments with addition of IPTG at 6h or 8h generated TDO activity for 18 hours. Suitable induction time for IPTG was in the cell logarithmic growth phase and 0.5 mmol/L IPTG was sufficient for inducing maximum TDO activities. Benzene strongly inhibited the activity of TDO which catalyses the conversion of benzene to DHCD. It was found that both cell growth and TDO activity was remarkably inhibited by feeding of benzene vapor, only 7.5 g/L DHCD was obtained. While the benzene inhibition effect was ameliorated by two-liquid phase culture fermentation in which liquid paraffin was used as second phase in the broth. Using different initial ratios of paraffin to benzene in fed-batch culture, DHCD contents were increased to 22.6 g/L, which was 3-fold more compared with that in benzene vapor culture. A further improvement of DHCD production was achieved when the mixture of liquid paraffin and benzene was added continuously by peristaltic pump, the DHCD contents were increased to a final concentration of 36.8 g/L. It was proven that the key to improving DHCD production by recombinants is to prolong TDO activity in cells, which can be achieved by using suitable addition benzene strategies.
Benzene ; metabolism ; Cyclohexanols ; metabolism ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; physiology ; Oxygenases ; genetics ; metabolism

AIM: To investigate the expression of NKG2A,NKG2D and their ligands in pregnancy uterine micro-environment and to probe the function of NKG2A and NKG2D imbalance expression during the immunotolerance at the fetal-maternal boundary.METHODS: Decidual lymphocytes and peripheral lymphocytes were obtained from 30 women during 6-9 weeks of pregnancy who were undergoing selective termination.FACS technology was used to detect NK cells number and NKG2A,NKG2D expression.RT-PCR was used to investigate HLA-E and MICA mRNA in trophoblast tissue.RESULTS: Natural killer cells predominate,accounting for 70% of pregnancy endometrial lymphocytes.FACS results indicated that NKG2A was significantly increased in decidual NK cells as compared with that in peripheral NK cells,accounting for 97.86%?1.75% and 33.35%?10.92%.The difference between them in NKG2A expression was significant(P

Design space approach is applied in this study to enhance the robustness of first ethanol precipitation process of Codonopsis Radix (Dangshen) by optimizing parameters. Total flavonoid recovery, dry matter removal, and pigment removal were defined as the process critical quality attributes (CQAs). Plackett-Burman designed experiments were carried out to find the critical process parameters (CPPs). Dry matter content of concentrated extract (DMCE), mass ratio of ethanol to concentrated extract (E/C ratio) and concentration of ethanol (CEA) were identified as the CPPs. Box-Behnken designed experiments were performed to establish the quantitative models between CPPs and CQAs. Probability based design space was obtained and verified using Monte-Carlo simulation method. According to the verification results, the robustness of first ethanol precipitation process of Dangshen can be guaranteed by operating within the design space parameters. Recommended normal operation space are as follows: dry matter content of concentrated extract of 45.0% - 48.0%, E/C ratio of 2.48-2.80 g x g(-1), and the concentration of ethanol of 92.0% - 92.7%.
Chemical Precipitation ; Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; methods ; Codonopsis ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification

OBJECTIVETo clarify the outcome of surgical reconstruction for renal artery in Takayasu arteritis-induced renal artery stenosis (TARAS).

METHODSA retrospective chart review was conducted on 33 consecutive patients with TARAS, who underwent aortorenal bypass (ARB) with autologous saphenous vein graft. There were 9 male and 24 female patients, with a mean age of (25 ± 11) years. The effects on blood pressure and renal function were analyzed. Primary, primary assisted, and secondary patency rates were determined. The effects of various factors on primary patency rate were analyzed. All patients showed hypertension. The mean blood pressure was (175 ± 26)/(100 ± 19) mmHg (1 mmHg = 0.133 kPa). The mean antihypertensive dosage was (2.1 ± 0.6) defined daily dose (DDD). Seventeen patients showed intractable hypertension. Mean estimated glomerular filtration rate was (78 ± 5) ml/min. One patient was dialysis-dependent, and 3 patients were combined with congestive heart failure.

RESULTSARB was performed for the 39 renal arteries, including 27 unilateral and 6 bilateral bypasses. Postoperative morbidity was 15.2%. All patients survived. During follow-up of mean (56 ± 18) months, two graft occlusions and four graft restenoses occurred. All graft restenoses were eliminated successfully with percutaneous angioplasty, but one patient experienced restenosis again six months later. At 1, 3, and 5 years of follow-up, primary patency was 92%, 89%, and 79%, respectively, primary assisted patency was 95%, 95%, and 91%, respectively, and secondary patency was 95%, 95%, and 91%, respectively. ARB resulted in a decrease in mean blood pressure to 139/85 mmHg (one month post-ARB, P = 0.000) and 136/80 mmHg (last follow-up, P = 0.000), and a reduction in mean antihypertensive dosage to 1.4 DDD (one month post-ARB, P = 0.084) and 0.6 DDD (last follow-up, P = 0.000). Mean estimated glomerular filtration rate increased to 82 ml/min (P = 0.458) one month post-ARB, and 91 ml/min (P = 0.044) at last follow-up, respectively. The dialysis-dependent patient no longer required hemodialysis, and left ventricular dysfunction resolved in all of the three patients.

CONCLUSIONARB using the autologous saphenous vein graft is safe, effective and durable for treating TARAS.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aorta ; surgery ; Child ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Renal Artery ; surgery ; Renal Artery Obstruction ; etiology ; surgery ; Retrospective Studies ; Saphenous Vein ; transplantation ; Takayasu Arteritis ; complications ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

It is commonly accepted that airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) is a chronic airway inflammation although the exact mechanism of its pathogenesis is still unclear. In the past ten years, an epithelial defect hypothesis has gradually gained supports from the main stream. Airway epithelium is no longer considered only as a simple mechanic barrier but an active interface between the inner and outer environment. Bronchial epithelial cells play a critical role in maintenance of homeostasis in the airway local microenvironment through a wide range of physiologic functions including anti-oxidation, exocrine/endocrine secretions, mucus production and antigen presentation under health and stressed/inflamed/injured conditions. It is reasonably hypothesized that disruption of these functional processes or defects in airway epithelium integrity may be the initial steps leading to airway hyperresponsiveness such as in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Animals ; Bronchi ; cytology ; Bronchial Hyperreactivity ; physiopathology ; Epithelial Cells ; pathology ; Humans