AIM: To investigate the role of Smad7 in the Smad2 expression induced by transforming growth factor-?_1(TGF-?_1) in rat peritoneal mesothelial cells(PMCs).METHODS: Rat PMCs were cultured at different doses of TGF-?_1 (0,1.25,2.5,10 ?g/L) for different time(0,5,15,30,60,120 min).PCDNA3-Smad7 was then transfected into cultured rat PMCs by lipofectamine,and the cells were stimulated like the above.Endogenous Smad2 and Smad7 expression was evaluated by RT-PCR and Western blotting.RESULTS: TGF-?_1 induced increase in Smad2 mRNA and protein expression at 5 min,peaked at 30 min,and declined to baseline levels at 120 min, which was in a time-dependent manner.TGF-?_1 also induced Smad7 mRNA expression at 5 min,and then declined,down to the lowest at 30 min,but at 60 min it increased again.Smad2,Smad7 mRNA and protein expression induced by TGF-?_1 were also dose-dependent.After transfection,overexpressions of Smad7 mRNA and protein in rat PMCs were observed,which did not decline with time.The expression of Smad2 mRNA significantly decreased by 33%,56%,67%,71%,63% and 57%(P

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the accuracy of positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) for detecting cervical nodule metastases of oral and maxillofacial cancer.

METHODSDiagnostic test accuracy studies assessing the accuracy of PET/CT in diagnosis of cervical metastases of oral and maxillofacial cancer were retrieved from the databases of CBM, Medline (OVID) and EMBASE (searched on Dec. 13th, 2010) and manual searching of 19 dental journals in Chinese. Two researchers were employed in the articles investigation independently and evaluated the quality with quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS). Meta-analysis was done using MetaDisc 1.4.

RESULTSNine studies met the inclusion criteria and demonstrated high methodological quality. The results of Meta-analysis showed that, when nodal level was used as unit, PET/CT had good diagnostic value in detecting the cervical nodule metastases of oral and maxillofacial cancer. Under such a condition, the pooled sensitivity was 0.84, pooled specificity 0.93, pooled diagnostic odds ratio 47.89 and area under the curve 0.973 8.

CONCLUSIONThe accuracy of PET/CT for detecting cervical nodule metastases of oral and maxillofacial cancer is relatively high and it could be used as a good diagnostic tool. And special attention should be payed to its diagnostic expense and safety when considering PET/CT.

Objective:To explore the relationship between metabolic acidosis and cardiac valve calcification in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients in the Pearl River Delta Region.Methods:Patients on MHD greater than 3 months who were treated in 10 blood purification centers in the Pearl River Delta Region from July 1 to September 30, 2019 were selected for this multicenter cross-sectional study. Based on a Doppler ultrasound, MHD patients were further divided into non-valve calcification group and valve calcification group. The demographics data, frequency of dialysis, blood pressure, single pool Kt/V(spKt/V), dialysis medications and laboratory data were collected and compared. Spearman correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between serum carbon dioxide combining power (CO 2CP) and cardiac valve calcification. Multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the influencing factors of cardiac valve calcification. Results:A total of 664 MHD patients were included in this study, with age of (57.0±14.2) years old and dialysis age of 43.0 (22.3, 71.7) months, including 395 males (59.5%) and 269 females (40.5%). Among them, there were 119 patients (17.9%) with diabetes and 186 patients (28.0%) with dialysis 2 times per week. There were 329 patients (49.5%) in the valve calcification group, and 335 patients (50.5%) in the non-valve calcification group. Compared to those in non-valve calcification group, valve calcification group had longer duration of dialysis, higher proportion of patients with dialysis 2 times per week, higher levels of diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, intact parathyroid hormone and ferritin, higher proportion of patients with blood CO 2CP<19 mmol/L (median CO 2CP), higher proportion of patients on usage of calcium channel blocker, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker, α-receptor blocker, β-receptor blocker, calcitriol and lanthanum carbonate (all P<0.05), while the levels of spKt/V, hemoglobin, serum CO 2CP, corrected calcium, blood phosphorus, blood alkaline phosphatase, albumin, total cholesterol, triacylglycerol, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, transferrin saturation, and the proportion of patients on usage of sevelamer and cinacalcet were lower (all P<0.05). Spearman analysis showed significant negative correlation between serum CO 2CP and valve calcification ( rs=-0.697, P<0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that dialysis performed twice a week ( OR=2.789, 95% CI 1.232-6.305, P=0.014), blood total cholesterol ( OR=1.449, 95% CI 1.014-2.071, P=0.042), CO 2CP<19 mmol/L ( OR=22.412, 95% CI 10.640-47.210, P<0.001) were the influencing factor of valve calcification in MHD patients. Conclusions:MHD patients with cardiac valve calcification have significant acid loading. Metabolic acidosis is an independent influencing factor for cardiac valve calcification in MHD patients.

AIM: To investigate the effects of advanced glycation end products on activation of Smad signaling pathway and collagenⅠ synthesis in proximal tubular epithelial cells.METHODS: Advanced glycation end products(AGE-BSA) were prepared by incubation of bovine serum albumin(BSA) with D-glucose.Normal rat proximal tubular epithelial(NRK52E) cells were cultured in RPMI-1640 medium with AGE-BSA.Phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of Smad2/3 were examined by immunocytochemistry.Levels of TGF-?_1 in supernatant of cell culture were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).Expression of TGF-?_1,Smad2,Smad3 and Smad7 mRNA were detected by RT-PCR.Expression of ?-SMA,E-cadherin and collagenⅠproteins were detected by Western blotting.RESULTS: AGE-BSA induced Smad2/3 phosphorylation and nuclear translocation,two peaks occured at 30 min(68% vs 16%,P

BACKGROUND:The adaptive reconstruction of maxil ofacial muscles would happen when functional orthopedic treatment is done to cure micromaxil ary deformity. The myoblast is the main responder in the process of adaptive reconstruction, and cyclic stretch can induce apoptosis of myoblasts. Caspase-9 is an important factor in the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway.
OBJECTIVE:To investigate the expression of Caspase-9 in different cyclic stretch.
METHODS:Based on myoblasts cultured in vitro-mechanical stimulation model, the rat L6 myoblasts were loaded stretch for 1, 6, 12 and 24 hours through multi-channel cellstress loading system, while the control group received no stretch. The morphological change and growth of myoblasts were observed under inverted phase contrast microscope;the expression of the mRNA and protein of Caspase-9 were detected by RT-PCR and western blot analysis, respectively.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Under inverted phase contrast microscope, the rat L6 myoblasts at cyclic stretch maintained a good growth state and biological characteristics;there was no celldegeneration;and the loss rate was extremely low, which could demonstrate that myoblast in vitro-mechanical stimulation model was established successful y. The results of RT-PCR and western blot analysis showed that, the expression of Caspase-9 mRNA and Cleaved Caspase-9 protein was significantly increased as the loading time prolonged, and the expression of Procaspase-9 protein was significantly decreased as the time. We can conclude that Caspase-9 is involved in the mechanical signal transduction of cyclic stretch.

OBJECTIVE: To report the clinical manifestation and genetic characteristics of a child with Thiamine metabolism dysfunction syndrome 5. METHODS: Clinical data and genetic results were collected and analyzed. Peripheral blood samples of the child and their parents were collected for whole exome sequencing, and the functional effect of the variants on the TPK1 enzyme activity was verified by an in vitro assay. RESULTS: A four-year-old boy presented with preschool onset of ataxia were characterized. High-throughput sequencing identified a novel homozygous variant of TPK1 gene c.382G>A (p.Leu128Phe). His father and mother were both found carrying the variant. The variant protein showed a 30.9% reduction in TPK1 enzyme activity compared with the wildtype. CONCLUSION A novel pathogenic variant has been identified in a boy with thiamine metabolic dysfunction syndrome type 5.
Child, Preschool ; Genetic Testing ; Homozygote ; Humans ; Male ; Mutation ; Thiamine ; Whole Exome Sequencing

AIM: To observe the effect of antibiotic treatment on the inflammatory mediator expression in peritoneum and the peritoneal transport function in rats with acute peritonitis, and explore its mechanisms. METHODS: Eighty-six SD rats were randomly divided into three groups. Control group (n=28) were treated with PBS (ip), peritonitis group (n=28) and treatment group (n=28) were challenged with the E.coli (ip), but at 3 h and 9 h gentamicin was given (ip) in treatment group. Seven rats of every group were randomly sacrificed at 24 h, 48 h, 72 h and 7 d. Peritoneal equilibration test (PET) was did before they were killed. Leukocyte count, pathological changes and the expression of CD45, NF-?B, IL-1?, TNF-? in peritoneum were examined. RESULTS: (1)The blood leukocytes in peritonitis group decreased strikingly, but did not change obviously in other two groups. The peritoneal fluid leukocytes in peritonitis group increased significantly from 24 h to 72 h, while in treatment group, it enhanced more strikingly than peritonitis group at 24 h, and recovered earlier. (2) Both in peritonitis group and treatment group, the expression of activated NF-?B, IL-1?, TNF-? and CD45 increased significantly, but the treatment group was lower than model group at 48 h and 72 h. The mRNA level of IL-1? and TNF-? had the same trend as their protein expression. (3) Compared with the control group, UF and D/D_0 Glu decreased significantly in model group and treatment group, and D/PTP increased dramatically. The D/P TP in treatment group lowered obviously compared with peritonitis group, while the net UF and D/D_0 Glu had not significant difference between treatment group and model group. CONCLUSION: Antibiotic treatment can partly decrease the expression of inflammatory mediators in peritoneum of rats with acute peritonitis and also can improve the protein transport ability to some extent, but can not improve the peritoneal ultrafiltration and the glucose transport function.

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common malignant cancers in the world.In China,the incidence of colorectal cancer is increasing year by year,with the characteristics of the insidious onset,long-time canceration and high cure rate of early-stage tumors.These will lead to the crucial significance of prevention and screening work for reducing the incidence of colorectal cancer,improving the cure rate and reducing the relevant medical costs.Screening and prevention of colorectal cancer has been carried out for nearly half a century in the world.However,systematic screening began at the beginning of this century in China.This article reviewed the results,methods,strategies and main problems of colorectal cancer screening in China and abroad.

OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical characteristics and operative effect of hippocampus lesions. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical characteristics and operative outcome of 44 patients with hippocampus lesions between August 2005 and April 2010. RESULTS: Seizure attack was the initial symptom among 40 of the 44 patients. Pathological examinations revealed 18 gliomas, 9 cavernous malformations, 12 hippocampus sclerosis, 2 focal cortical dysplasia, 1 atypical hyperplasia, 1 injury glial scar, and 1 encephalomalacia. Thirteen patients received anterior medial temporal lobectomy and the other 31 received lesionectomy or selective amygdalohippocampectomy via transsylvian approach. An average of 15.7 month follow-up was accomplished in 37 patients. Postoperative epileptic outcomes were evaluated according to Engel classification: Grade I 73.0%(27/37), Grade II 13.5%(5/37), Grade III 10.8%(4/37) and Grade IV 2.7%(1/37). No perioperative death occurred. One patient experienced hemiplegia but recovered 8 months after the operation. Noticeable postoperative visual field deficit was left in 2 patients. Two patients with glioma died of remote tumor recurrence during follow-up. CONCLUSION Seizure attack is a major complaint of hippocampus lesions. Satisfactory seizure and tumor control may be achieved through anterior medial temporal lobectomy or selective amygdalohippocampectomy with lesionectomy.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Brain Neoplasms ; surgery ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Epilepsy ; surgery ; Female ; Glioma ; surgery ; Hippocampus ; pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Sclerosis ; surgery ; Temporal Lobe ; surgery ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

Objective:To explore the functional connections of the whole brain and the two hemispheres in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).Methods:Twenty-six patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder(patients group) and thirty-seven healthy controls matched in gender, age and education(control group) were enrolled.All the participants accepted the resting-state functional magnetic resonance (rs-fMRI) scan.Based on DPABI and REST software, degree centrality (DC) and voxel - mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) approaches were used to explore the pattern of functional connection in OCD.Results:Compared with the control group, the DC values in the right posterior cerebellar lobe(MNI: x, y, z=45, -87, -12), left precentral gyrus(MNI: x, y, z=-54, 9, 39), left inferior parietal lobule(MNI: x, y, z=-48, -51, 42), right anterior cingulate cortex(MNI: x, y, z=3, 18, 48) were significantly higher( t values were 5.75, 5.26, 5.28 and 5.16, respectively), and the DC values in the left inferior frontal gyrus(MNI: x, y, z=-36, 9, 30) were significantly lower( t value was -6.65) in patients group.The VMHC values in bilateral posterior cerebellar lobe(MNI: x, y, z=±51, -69, -33), bilateral inferior parietal lobule(MNI: x, y, z=±48, -51, 54), bilateral anterior cingulate cortex(MNI: x, y, z=±3, 21, 45)in patients group were significantly higher that those in control group( t values were 5.19, 5.19, 5.02, 5.02, 5.15 and 5.15, respectively). The DC and VMHC values in patients group were not significantly correlated with clinical symptoms(-0.23< r<0.19, P>0.05). Conclusion:OCD patients have abnormal connections between key brain network nodes and relevant brain regions, and functional connections have increased among multiple cerebral hemispheres.