OBJECTIVETo investigate the association of A260G and A386G polymorphisms of the DAZL gene with male infertility caused by oligozoospermia or azoospermia.

METHODSWe searched the PubMed, Science Direct, Wiley Online Library, CNKI, VIP, and CDDB databases up to November 30, 2013 for case-control studies evaluating the relationship of SNP260 and SNP386 polymorphisms of the DAZL gene with male infertility, and meanwhile conducted manual sourcing of the references in the identified studies and relevant articles. Two reviewers independently screened the title, abstract and keywords of each article retrieved. The StataSE12. 0 software was used for meta-analysis and other statistical analyses.

RESULTSTotally, 13 case-control studies were included (10 about A260G and 11 about A386G), involving 2 715 infertile patients (2 500 with oligozoospermia or azoospermia) and 1 835 normozoospermic men. DAZL A260G showed no statistical significance in the allele, dominant, recessive, co-dominant, or super-dominant gene model (P >0. 05). DAZL A386G exhibited a strong correlation with oligozoospermia or azoospermia in Asians in the allele gene model (OR = 0. 15, 95% CI 0.07 -0.34, P <0.05), dominant gene model (OR =0. 16, 95% CI 0.07 - 0. 35, P <0.05), co-dominant gene model (AA/AG) (OR = 0. 15, 95% CI 0. 06 - 0. 33, P < 0. 05), and super-dominant gene model (OR = 0. 15 (95% CI 0.06 - 0.33, P <0.05) , and so did it in Chinese in the four gene models ( OR = 0. 11, 95% CI 0.04 - 0. 28, P <0.05; OR =0. 11, 95% CI 0.04 - 0.28, P<0.05; OR = 0.09, 95% CI 0.03 - 0.26, P<0.05; OR = 0.09, 95% CI 0.03 - 0.26, P< 0.05).

CONCLUSIONOur study manifested that the DAZL polymorphism A386G, but not A260G, was correlated with reduced sper- matogenesis or sperm count specifically in Chinese males. More high-quality trials are required for a deeper insight into the exact relationship of DAZL A260G and A386G polymorphisms with oligozoospermia- or azoospermia-induced male infertility.

Alleles ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Azoospermia ; genetics ; Case-Control Studies ; Humans ; Infertility, Male ; genetics ; Male ; Oligospermia ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; RNA-Binding Proteins ; genetics ; Spermatozoa

Brain ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Cerebral Palsy ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Cognition Disorders ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Early Diagnosis ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Infant, Premature, Diseases ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Language Disorders ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Leukomalacia, Periventricular ; complications ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Prognosis ; Radiography ; Severity of Illness Index

Baculovirus has many advantages as vectors for gene transfer. We demonstrated that recombinant baculovirus vectors expressing p35 (Ac-CMV-p35) and eGFP (Ac-CMV-GFP) could be transduced into human kidney 293 cells efficiently. The level of transgene expression was viral dose dependent and high-level expression of the target gene could be achieved under the heterogonous promoter. MTT assay suggested that both Ac-CMV-p35 and Ac-CMV-GFP did not have cytotoxic effect on human embryo kidney 293 cells. Cell growth curve showed the Ac-CMV-p35 and Ac- CMV-GFP transduced and non-transduced cells had similar proliferation rate, so baculovirus-mediated p35expression had no adverse effect on cell proliferation. In addition, baculovirus-mediated p35 gene expression protected human embryo kidney 293 cells against apoptosis induced by various apoptosis inducers such as Actinomycin D, UV or serum-free media. These results suggested that the baculovirus vector mediated p35 gene expression was functional and it could be widely used in molecular research and even gene therapy.

Objective To explore the initial clinical and imaging characteristics of basal ganglia germinoma in children.Methods Four patients with basal ganglia germinoma were reported.Their clinical features,laboratory findings,radiological manifestations,treatment and outcome were analyzed.They recieved radiation therapy and chemotherapy after diagnosis.All patients were clinically diagnosed,according to the results of low-dose cranial irradiation.The outcomes were followed up for 2 years.Results All patients were male and school-aged(9-13 years) children.The course of the disease ranged from 5 to 13 months.All patients were presented with slowly progressive hemiparesis,and 2 cases of them were presented with cognitive decline and psychosis.Seizure occurred in 2 patients.The serum ?-human chorionic gonadotropin(?-hcG) level was significantly increased in 2 patients(30.16 IU/L and 77.85 IU/L,respectively),and mildly elevated in 1 patient(4.29 IU/L),while serum ?-hcG level in another case was within normal control range.MRI demonstrated mildly high intensity in the left or right basal ganglia on T1-weighted and T2-weighted images without remarkable occupying lesion.Ipsilateral hemiatrophy of the hemisphere and midbrain was also noted.Inhomogeneous Gd-DTPA enhancement was observed.All patients had been treated with radiation therapy and chemotherapy.During 2 years follow up,significant improvement was observed in all patients after therapy,imaging lesions disappeared and the elevated ?-hcG level of those elevated before therapy returned to normal.Conclusions Early diagnosis and treatment for basal ganglia germinoma are critically important to improve the prognosis.In young male patients with progressive hamiparesis,basal ganglia germinoma should be considered for differentiation,if abnormal high intensity signals in basal ganglia on T1-weighted and T2-weighted image with ipsilateral hemiatrophy of the hemisphere are demonstrated on MRI,even without occupying effect.

BACKGROUND: Paraquat (PQ) is a world-wide used herbicide and also a type of common poison for suicide and accidental poisoning. Numerous studies have proved that the concentration of serum PQ plays an important role in prognosis. Spectrophotometry, including common spectrophotometry and second-derivative spectrophotometry, is commonly used for PQ detection in primary hospitals. So far, lack of systematic research on the reliability of the method and the correlation between clinical features of patients with PQ poisoning and the test results has restricted the clinical use of spectrophotometry. This study aimed to evaluate the reliability and value of spectrophotometry in detecting the concentration of serum PQ. METHODS: The wavelengths for detecting the concentration of serum PQ by common and second-derivative spectrophotometry were determined. Second-derivative spectrophotometry was applied to detect the concentration of serum PQ. The linear range and precision for detection of PQ concentration by this method were confirmed. The concentration of serum PQ shown by second-derivative spectrophotometry and HPLC were compared in 8 patients with PQ poisoning. Altogether 21 patients with acute poisoning 4 hours after PQ ingestion treated in the period of October 2008 to September 2010 were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were divided into higher and lower than 1.8 μg/mL groups based on their concentrations of serum PQ measured by second-derivative spectrophotometry on admission. The severity of clinical manifestations between the two groups were analyzed with Student's t test or Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: The absorption peak of 257 nm could not be found when common spectrophotometry was used to detect the PQ concentration in serum. The calibration curve in the 0.4–8.0 μg/mL range for PQ concentration shown by second-derivative spectrophotometry obeyed Beer's law with r=0.996. The average recovery rates of PQ were within a range of 95.0％ to 99.5％, relative standard deviation (RSD) was within 1.35％ to 5.41％ (n=6), and the lower detection limit was 0.05 μg/mL. The PQ concentrations in serum of 8 patients with PQ poisoning shown by second-derivative spectrophotometry were consistent with the quantitative determinations by HPLC (r=0.995, P<0.0001). The survival rate was 22.2％ in patients whose PQ concentration in serum was more than 1.8 μg/mL, and the incidences of acidosis, oliguria and pneumomediastinum in these patients were 55.6％, 55.6％and 77.8％, respectively. These clinical manifestations were different significantly from those of the patients whose PQ concentration in serum was less than 1.8 μg/mL (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: For common spectrophotometry, the wavelength at 257 nm was not suitable for detecting serum PQ as no absorbance was shown. Second-derivative spectrophotometry was reliable for detecting serum paraquat concentration. Serum PQ concentration detected by second-derivative spectrophotometry could be used to predict the severity of clinical manifestations of patients with PQ poisoning, and PQ content higher than 1.8 μg/mL 4 hours after ingestion could be an important predictive factor for poor prognosis.

Quality education and innovative ability cultivation of students are a new position in higher education.Exploring exper- iment was applied in teaching of microbiological experiment for enhancing integrative diathesis and cultivating innovative spirit and ability of students.The practice has been proved that learning fervor of students was increased adequately.Unaided operation abili- ty,integrative analysis ability and innovative idea were enhanced,too.Accordingly,teaching quality of microbiological experiment was improved.

The change of kirenol, darutigenol and darutoside in Siegesbeckia and its first to ninth processed products were studied, and the ten fingerprints were compared, which provided the experimental basis for the study of Siegesbeckia processing tech- nology. The samples were analysed by HPLC on a SunFire-C18 column (4.6 mm x 150 mm, 5 μm) with gradient elution of acetonitrile (0.1% formic acid)-water (0.1% formic acid) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL x min(-1). Column temperaturewas 30 °C and the detected wavelength was 215, 320 nm. The calibration curves of kirenol, darutigenol and darutoside were linear in the range of 2.180-26.16, 2.900-34.80, and 1.012-6.072 mg x L(-1), respectively, and the average recoveries were 96.4%, 97.2% and 96.3% wit RSD 2.2%, 1.7% and 2.4%. This method was simple, the result was stable and had good repeatability, recovery and precision. The re- sult was the basis of the chemical contents variation in the processing of Siegesbeckia Herbs and further clarifying the effect of the changing.
Asteraceae ; chemistry ; Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Temperature

No abstract available.
Gastrins*

Objective To evaluate the severity of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD) and progressive liver fibrosis(stage＞2)in hospitalized patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM) by using NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS).The risk factors associated with progressive fibrosis were also analyzed.Methods A total of 721 hospitalized patients with T2DM and uhrasound verified NAFLD were involved.The history information and laboratory examinations were collected,NFS was calculated.The low cutoff score (-1.455) of NFS was used to exclude,and high cutoff score (0.676) to further accurately diagnose progressive fibrosis.Results (1) A total of 721 subjects (male/female 371/350) were diagnosed as NAFLD by ultrasound.In those subjects,173 patients were with progressive fibrosis (24.0％),111 patients without progressive fibrosis (15.4％),and 437 patients (60.6％) with NFS ranged from-1.455 to 0.676.(2) Aging,raised body mass index,aspartate amino transferase/alanine aminotransferase (AST/ALT) ratio,lowered albumin,and platelet were risk factors for progressive fibrosis of NAFLD.In addition,NFS was positively correlated with duration of diabetes,waist circumference,SBP,glycated albumin (GA),and GA/HbA1c(all P＜0.01),and negatively with red blood cell count,hemoglobin,white blood cell count (WBC),total cholesterol (TC),triglyceride,apolipoprotein-B,ALT,γ-glutamyltranspeptidase (all P＜0.01),AST,low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (all P＜0.05).(3) Logistic stepwise regression analysis showed diabetes duration,waist circunference,and GA were positively correlated with progressive liver fibrosis(OR =1.182,1.076,1.074,all P＜0.01),and negatively with WBC and TC (OR =0.613,0.703,all P＜0.01).Conclusions The detection rate of progressive fibrosis in patients with NAFLD and T2DM was approximately 24.0％ by applying NFS.Only 15.4％ of those subjects could be excluded from progressive fibrosis.It suggests that we should be alert to the risk of liver fibrosis in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Objective To investigate the effects of diabetic duration on liver fat content (LFC) in patients with type 2 diabetes,and to explore its relationship with the outcome of liver disease.Methods A total of 435hospitalized patients with type 2 diabetes were recruited.The history data,results of laboratory tests,and hepatic 1 H-MRS were collected,and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) fibrosis score (NFS) was calculated.Results The prevalence of NAFLD in newly-diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (NT2DM) group was higher than that in predousb-diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (PT2DM) group (92.7％ vs 82.2％,P＜0.05),with higher LFC [(27.97 ± 16.88 vs 19.44± 15.54) ％,P＜0.01].The LFC was reduced with prolonged duration of diabetes.Partial correlation analysis showed that LFC was negatively correlated with duration of diabetes (rs =-0.233,P＜0.01) after adjustment for gender,age,body mass index (BMI),oral anti-diabetic drugs,lipid-lowering drugs,and insulin treatment.Multiple linear regression analysis showed that LFC was positively correlated with BMI,albumin,and alanine aminotransferase while negatively correlated with duration of diabetes.The proportion of patients without advanced fibrosis (NFS＜-1.455) was significantly higher in NT2DM group than that in PT2DM group (26.3％ vs 15.5％,P＜0.05),and the proportion of PT2DM in patients with advanced fibrosis (NFS＞0.676) was significantly higher than that of NT2DM (79.2％ vs 20.8％,P＜0.05).NFS was positively correlated with the duration of diabetes (rs =0.236,P＜0.01).The liver fat content in patients with advanced liver fibrosis decreased significantly,and the LFC was negatively correlated with NFS (rs =-0.164,P＜0.01).Conclusions The duration of diabetes is an independent influencing factor of LFC.With the extension of the duration of diabetes,the decreased LFC in type 2diabetic patients with NAFLD is related to the development of advanced fibrosis.The decrease in LFC in type 2diabetic patient is associated with poor outcome of NAFLD.