Asia ; Congresses as Topic ; Humans ; Pediatrics

Insulin receptor substrate(IRS)-1 and IRS-2 expression levels of liver tissues and skeletal muscle in intrauterine growth retarded(IUGR)rats were investigated by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry.An IUGR animal model was established by maternal nutrition restriction during pregnancy.IRS-2 expression level of liver tissue and IRS-1 expression level of skeletal muscle in IUGR rats at 0 and 3 weeks old were significantly lower than those in normal rats at the same age respectively,and insulin resistance was induced in IUGR,and these findings might be the molecular mechanisms susceptible to metabolic syndrome in IUGR rats.

To investigate the therapeutic effect of artesunate on mouse cytomegalovirus pneumonia, the BALB/c-nu mice were infected with murine cytomegalovirus-green fluorescent protein (MCMV-GFP) by nose dropping method. The experimental protocol was approved by the Medical Laboratory Animal Ethics Committee of Guangzhou Medical University. The BALB/c-nu mice were randomly divided into five groups: control group, MCMV pneumonia group, and artesunate (60, 120, and 240 mg·kg^-1) groups. The survival rate, weights, and virus loads in lungs among the groups were observed. The degree of histopathologic changes in lungs was assessed directly by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) assay. MCMV-GFP expression was assessed by immunofluorescence. In addition, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis was performed to investigate the content of major immediate early 1 (Mie1) mRNA, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the changes of inflammatory factors, interleukin 10 (IL-10), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Western blot analysis was used to detect the expression of the changes of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathways in total proteins. Compared with MCMV group, artesunate (120 mg·kg^-1) significantly increased body weights of MCMV-infected nude mice over 30 days, and decreased the viral titer in lung homogenate, lung inflammation, and histological severity. Moreover, the administration of artesunate (120 mg·kg^-1) could downregulate the expression of phospho-NF-κB (p-NF-κB) p65 in the lungs of mice. The present study suggested that artesunate can protect the immunocompromised mice from MCMV-induced interstitial pneumonia via downregulating NF-κB signaling pathway, thus attenuating inflammation in the lungs.

Berberine Alkaloids ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Phytotherapy ; Tachycardia ; drug therapy

Child ; Humans ; Puberty, Precocious ; diagnosis ; therapy

Antimony ; adverse effects ; Dust ; Humans ; Lung ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Occupational Exposure ; adverse effects ; Pneumoconiosis ; diagnosis ; pathology

Objective To understand the acute effect of ambient air CO pollution on daily mortality of cerebrocardiovascular diseases among highly and long-term exposed residents of 65 years and over in Taiyuan,Shanxi,China.Methods The relationship of CO concentration and daily mortality of cerebrocardiovascular diseases among residents over 65 years old in Taiyuan(2003-2004) was analyzed by case-crossover design and conditional Logistic regression in SAS 9.0 Results The 48 h accumulated CO concentration had the most significant effect.As increment of CO average was 100 ?g/m~3,the corresponding OR of the effect on the total deaths of the cerebrocardiovascular diseases,the cardiac disease,the ischemic heart disease,myocardial infarction,cardiac failure,arrhythmia and stroke was 1.006,1.010,1.007,1.005,1.005,1.006 and 1.012 respectively.Under different air pollution conditions,the pollutant presented different effects on deaths of eerebrocardiovascular diseases.Conclusion The current CO pollution has caused a certain adverse effect on the cerebrocardiovascular mortality among residents of 65 years and over in Taiyuan city.More stringent measures should be taken to control the air pollution and decrease CO level,thus reduce the mortality of cerebrocardiovascular diseases.

Objective To analyze the ABCD1 gene mutations in 5 cases of X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy(X-ALD) patients and 2 cases of their mothers.Methods Of 5 patients with X-ALD,10 exons and flanking intronic sequences of ABCD1 gene were amplified by polyme-rase chain reaction,and then sequenced directly.The outcomes were compared with normal ABCD1 sequencings to identify the mutation type and site.Thirty normal men were examined in the mean time as control for the confirmation of mutations and gene polymorphisms.Results Three patients showed ABCD1 gene mutations,1 had a point mutation in exon 6,Arg518Gly(CGG→GGG);2 patients showed the same novel mutation in exon 1 with 8 bases deletion(134del8).Four gene polymorphisms were identified in exon 7.They were Gly551X(GGC→GGT),Arg554His(CGT→CAT),Gln567Arg(CAA→CGA) and Val582Ile(GTC→ATC).ABCD1 gene mutation was not found in 2 mothers from 2 unrelated fa-milies with X-ALD.Conclusions Three cases of 5 were detected for ABCD1 gene mutations.Between them,the 134del8 mutation is a novel one.Four new gene polymorphisms were detected in exon 7 in normal Chinese people,which were Gly551X,Arg554His,Gln567Arg and Val582Ile.

Objective To explore the influencing factors for the purity and viability of primary cultured cortical neurons of rat,and optimize the separating and cultivating conditions of the cortical neurons.Methods The primary cotical neurons were cultured in a serum-free culture system of B27-supplemented neurobasal medium.The differences in purity and viability of primary cultured neurons between embr-yonic rat group and newborn rat [postnatal 24 h and 5 d] group were evaluated by morphology,immunocytochemistry of neuron-specific enolase(NSE) and trypan blue staining.The changes of neurons purity and viability in different trypsin digestion time(0 min,5 min and 15 min) at different environment temperatures(20 ℃ and 30 ℃) were assessed by immunocytochemistry and trypan blue staining.Results The primary cultured neurons from fetal and newborn rats grew well.There was no significant difference in embryonic rat and postnatal 1 d newborn rat group[(91.30?1.03)%,(89.50?1.78)% respectively in purity;and(98.20?0.58)%,(97.10?0.98)% respectively in viability].The neurons from 5-days newborn rat were inferior to that from fetal and 1-day newborn rat in purity and viability[(82.00?1.25)% and(92.87?1.56)% respectively].Shortening operation time and adjusting digestion time according to the environment temperatures could improve neuronal viability:A digestion for 15min at the environment temperature of 20 ℃ or for 5 min at 30 ℃ could acquired cells with higher viability [(98.20?0.58)% and(96.70?0.64)% respectively].Conclusions It is an easy,practical choice to culture priamry cortical neurons from postnatal 1 d newborn rats.Optimizing the separating and cultivating condition(environment temperatures,digest time,et al.) will improve the neurons purity and viability.

Objectives To investigate dynamic pathological features and virus distribution in the liver with a murine severe acute respiratory syndrome(SARS)model injected with murine hepati- tis virus 3(MHV-3)through trachea.As a representative of host genes,mouse fgl2(mfgl2)pro- thrombinase gene expression and its clinical significance were discussed in SARS associated liver dam- ages.Methods The Balb/cJ mice were infected with 100 PFU of MHV-3 through trachea and Balb/ cJ mice injected with saline were served as control.Survival rate,pathological features in organs and liver function were observed.Virus titers in different organs were determined on monolayer of L2 cells by a standard plaque assay.Virus distribution and cellular localization were studied by in situ hy- bridization.Both mfgl2 and fibrin expressions were examined in the liver by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry to investigate the role of mfgl2 in the liver impairment.Results Mice infected with MHV-3 through trachea developed multiple organs damages and died within 5 days,while all mice in control group survived with no histopathological changes.Infected liver tissues showed wide- spread cloudy swelling,prominent ballooning degeneration with mild lymphocytic infiltration in the portal area.Dot and zonal hepatocellular necrosis could be found occasionally.The lungs showed typi- cal interstitial pneumonia and hyaline membranes formation.Other histological changes also could be found in other organs examined.MHV-3 virus replication was identified in all organs observed.The liver function was injured,mfgl2 expression were evidenced mainly in the necrosis areas with fibrin deposition around the necrosis areas.Conclusions Pathological changes of the liver in this murine SARS model can mimic the liver impairment characteristics of SARS in human.In addition to the physical damage induced by the virus,the up-regulation of novel gene mfgl2 in the liver in association with fibrin deposition may play a vital role in the development of SARS associated liver damages.