Acute and chronic graft rejection are the major factors leading to graft non-function.There is an active expression of chemokines early after transplantation.They recruit T cells and antigen presenting cells selectively to the graft, leading to inflammatory reaction and finally to graft non-function.Accordingly,monitoring the expression status of chemokines and their receptors regularly may help to the diagnose rejection.To determine one or more chemokines or their receptors as the new targets for anti-rejection therapy will be of great clinical significance.This review focuses on the research progression in the above areas.

Health Facilities ; Humans ; Medical Waste Disposal ; methods ; standards ; Public Health Practice ; standards

Adult ; Child ; Diet ; Female ; Fetus ; immunology ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; embryology ; immunology ; Maternal Behavior ; Pregnancy ; immunology ; Risk Factors

Objective To assess the quality of life(QOL)in patients with stroke at the acute stage,and to determine whether all the dimensions of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey(SF-36)are applicable to the stroke patients.Methods Fifty stroke patients at the acute stage were studied.The SF-36 was employed to assess the quality of life of the patients,and a self-designed questionnaire was used to record the general information of them.The data obtained from the patients was compared with the Chinese norm reported in literature. We also calculated the percentage of subjects who achieved the lowest possible score(score of 0,floor effect)and the percentage of subjects who achieved the highest possible score(score of 100,ceiling effect).Results The QOL of the acute stroke patients,as reflected by scores with all the dimensions of the SF-36 scale,was significantly reduced when compared with the norm data(P

Objective To explore the relationship between tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-? promoter G238A,G308A and interferon(IFN)-?+874A/T polymorphism and susceptibility to cytomegalovirus(CMV) hepatitis.Methods A TaqMan fluorescence polymerase chain reaction(PCR) in the IFN-?+874A/T and TNF-? gene promoter region single nucleotide polymorphism was tested in the subjects,including 87 infants with CMV hepatitis and 89 children without CMV hepatitis.Results No evident difference of TNF-? +238G/A and+308G/A allele frequency was found between infants with CMV hepatitis and controls.The cases of IFN-?+874 AA,AT and TT genotype were 64,20,3 cases in the infant CMV hepatitis group,and 45,26 and 18 cases in the control group,respectively.There was significant difference in IFN-?+874 allele genotype and frequency between infants with CMV hepatitis and the control group(P=0.001,P

Objective: By taking the holism and differentiation concepts of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as the guidance, physical, mental and workplace factors were recruited in the observation of depression in employees, and were systematically classified to establish a workplace-related Liver Meridian-depression scale, for providing an evaluation index for depression in employees. Methods: NVIVO 11 software was adopted to assort ancient TCM classics. Based on the holism and differentiation concepts of TCM and well-developed scales, the item pool was determined via brain storm and screened by Delphi method after classified; a Wechat questionnaire was handed out 240 times via the online system 'Wen Juan Xing', and the results were statistically analyzed by the SPSS 17.0 version software. Results: Five dimensions consisting of 80 items were obtained after classification, and 60 items were selected by Delphi method; a total of 216 questionnaires were returned and the return rate was 90%. Of which, 215 questionnaires were valid ones, and the valid rate was 99%. By exploratory factor analysis (EFA), 44 items were obtained, and the aggregate split-half reliability coefficient was 0.922. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the five dimensions, i.e. Liver Meridian, relevant meridians, basic psychological activities, work cognition and emotional reactions, was respectively 0.841, 0.842, 0.914, 0.836 and 0.839, indicating a content internal consistency. The score of each item was highly correlated with the corresponding dimension, and the intercommunity was between 0.474 and 0.801. Nine factors were generated, 2 in the dimension of Liver Meridian, 3 in the dimension of relevant meridians, 2 in the dimension of basic psychological activities, 1 in the dimension of work cognition, and 1 in the dimension of emotional reactions, and the load of each factor was between 0.438 and 0.859. The reliability and validity of the scale were well examined. Conclusion: The scale can be applied to evaluate the qi activities of Liver Meridian and depression symptoms related to workplace.

In the reform of medical microbiology education on medical students of 8-year-education pro-gram, we compared the traditional teaching methods with Problem Based Learning (PBL) method. Through our practice, we have found that the combination of traditional lecture-based learning and PBL seems to better match the students’ way of learning. The lack of basic knowledge of the students hindered their learn-ing effect during the bilateral discussion in the PBL education. We also found that the application of PBL in medical microbiology education is an iterative process and should be promoted step by step. The theoretical level and the innovative ideas of the teachers play a crucial role in the dynamic process of education reform.

The intraspecies quorum sensing system of Streptococcus mutans is involved with com genes family.ComE is a kind of response regulator and act as a promoter to the quorum sensing genes.S.mutans comE mutant strain IFD140?comE was constructed using the inframe-deletion system via twice homologous recombination.In current genetic studies of S.mutans,insertion duplication and allelic exchange mutagenesis techniques routinely create polar effects to downstream genes.In-frame deletions are essentially free of these polar effects because the mutation does not introduce any genetic markers.By PCR,sequencing and RT-PCR,it was confirmed that IFD140?comE has only 717bp deleted within the comE gene and the transcription of the downstream gene comD was not interfered.The research of the morphological characteristics indicated that IFD140?comE formed clumps and cells accumulated at the bottom of the glass tubes and light-microscopic observations displayed that the mutant strain formed significantly longer chains compared to those formed by the wild strain.The successfully construction of IFD140?comE lay a foundation for further quorum sensing research.

BACKGROUND: It has been reported tbat there are rich expressions of serotonin transporter (5-HTT) in the cortical and limbic regions related to emotion and behavior in cerebrum. Regulation of the intensity and persistence of serotonergic nerve response can change the serotonergic neurotransmission, meanwhile, 5-HTT is also an important target for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).OBJECTIVE: To observe whether there is a correlation of 5-HTT gene polymorphism with plasma level of 5-HT and the clinical response of SSRIs in the population of Nanjing area.DESIGN: A case-control observation.SETTING: Department of Psychiatry, Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University.PARTICIPANTS: Totally 132 inpatients with depression in the Department of Psychiatry, Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University and 100 volunteer healthy blood donors were taken as the observational subjects between January 2001 and December 2003.METHODS: The genotype was analyzed with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) polymorphism analysis in the patients with depression and healthy subjects; plasma level of 5-HT was analyzed with high performance liquid chromatography-electrical chemistry detector (HPLC-ECD); and the clinical response to the antidepressants were assessed with Hamilton depression rating scale (HAMD).MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The analytical results of 5-HTT genotype frequency and allele frequency in both groups, and the relationship between 5-HTT genotype and plasma level of 5-HT before and after SSRIs treatment were observed.RESULTS: Blood samples were collected from all the 132 patients with depression and 100 normal healthy subjects, and they all finished the scale test and entered the analysis of results. ① There were no significant differences between the depression group and normal control group in the 5-HTT gene genotype frequencies (LL: 24.2%, LS: 44.7%, SS31.1%; LL:29.0%, LS: 47.0%, SS: 24.0%, x2=1.405 8, P ＞ 0.05) and allelefrequencies (L:46.59%, S: 53.41%; L: 52.5%, S: 47.5%, x2=0.696 2, P ＞ 0.05). ② The total score of HAMD had significant differences before treatment among the depressive patients of different genotypes (F=6.48, P=0.002 1). After 4-week treatment of SSRIs antidepressants, the total score of HAMD was significantly decreased, and there was significant difference in the decrease of score (F=3.38, P= 0.037). ③ The plasma level of 5-HT had significant differences before treatment among the depressive patients of different genotypes (F=5.38,P= 0.005 7). After 4-week treatment of SSRIs antidepressants, the plasma level of 5-HT was increased, and the increased level was significantly different among different genotypes (F=23.55, P ＜ 0.01).CONCLUSION: The 5-HTT polymorphism may be not associated with the attack of depression, but with the severity of depression and the clinical responses of SSRIs in the population of Nanjing area, and the genotype in this area may become a reference index for the realization of individualized treatment in patients with depression.

Objective To explore the mechanism of therapeutic action of needle knife “regulating sinews and treating bones” on knee osteoarthritis (KOA) by observing the effect of needle knife intervention on KOA rabbit behaviors, mechanical characteristics of patellar ligament (PL), and expressions of interleukin-4 (IL-4), matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) and aggrecan in knee cartilages.Methods Forty New Zealand rabbits were randomly allocated to blank, model, needle knife and electroacupuncture groups, 10 rabbits each. A rabbit model of KOA was made by the modified Videman method of immobilization in extension position. After model making, the needle knife and electroacupuncture groups received needle knife and electroacupuncture treatments, respectively. A behavioral assessment was made using the modified Lequesne MG knee grade evaluation method in every group after model making and treatment. The samples were taken after treatment. PL tension, stress relaxation and creep state were tested using a Bose Electro Force 3300 protracted test machine. Cartilage cell IL-4 expression was examined by ELISA. MMP-3 mRNA and aggrecan mRNA expressions were detected by real-time PCR.Results After model making, there was a statistically significant difference in the Lequesne MG score between the model and blank groups (P<0.01); there was no statistically significant difference in the Lequesne MG score between the needle knife or electroacupuncture group and the model group (P>0.05). There was a statistically significant post-treatment difference in the Lequesne MG score between the needle knife or electroacupuncture group and the model group (P<0.01,P<0.05) and between the needle knife and electroacupuncture groups (P<0.05). There were statistically significant post-treatment differences in PL maximum stress, maximum displacement, elastic modulus, stress relaxation rate and creep rate between the model and blank groups (P<0.01,P<0.05). There were statistically significant post-treatment post-treatment differences in PL maximum stress, maximum displacement, elastic modulus, stress relaxation rate and creep rate between the needle knife and model groups (P<0.01,P<0.05). There was a statistically significant post-treatment difference in elastic modulus between the electroacupuncture and model groups (P<0.01). The IL-4 content and aggrecan mRNA expression decreased significantly and MMP-3 mRNA expression increased significantly in the model group after model making and there were statistically significant differences compared with the blank group (P<0.01,P<0.05). After treatment, the IL-4 content increased significantly in the needle knife and electroacupuncture groups compared with the model group (P<0.01,P<0.05) and aggrecan mRNA expression tended to increase in the two groups. The regulation of aggrecan mRNA and MMP-3 mRNA expressions was better in the needle knife group than in the electroacupuncture groups, but there was no statistically significant difference compared with the model group (P>0.05).Conclusion The mechanism of action of needle knife treatment on KOA may be that it improves ligament mechanical characteristics, regulates intra-articular stress environment, and modulates aggrecan mRNA and MMP-3 mRNA expressions and inhibits cartilage degeneration through IL-4 mechanical signal pathway, to produce the therapeutic effect of “regulating sinews and treating bones”.