Objective To study the correlation of p53,ki-67 and bcl-2 expression in breast cancer with the clinical response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy,and search for biological markers to guide therapy and predict prognosis.Methods The expression of the p53,ki67 and bcl-2 was examined by immunohistochemical(assay) in samples of breast cancer tissue which taken from 118 cases of operable breast cancer patients.The relationship between p53,ki-67 and bcl-2 and the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy was analyzed by(chi-square) test.Results The overall response rate to neoadjuvant chemotherapy was 68.6%.Patients with expression of ki-67 were more likely to respond to treatment.The effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy had a significantly negative correlation with p53 expression.There was no significant difference between the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and bcl-2 expression.Expression of p53 protein was correlated with low(expression) of bet-2.Expression of p53 and ki-67 protein was significantly related.Conclusions The(results) indicated that p53 and Ki-67 expressions are strong prognostic molecular markers that can be a guide for neoadjuvant chemotherapy and prediction of prognosis for patients with breast cancer.

OBJECTIVETo observe the efficacy differences between acupoint catgut embedding at cervical Jiaji (EX-B 2) points combined with electroacupuncture (EA) at acupoints near ear and simple EA for the treatment of nervous tinnitus.

METHODSSixty-three patients were randomly divided into an observation group (31 cases) and a control group (32 cases). The observation group was treated with acupoint catgut embedding at C4-C7 Jiaji (EXB 2) points on the affected side combined with EA at acupoints near ears, including Ermen (TE 21). Tinggong (SI 19), Tinghui (GB 2), etc.; the control group was treated with EA at regular acupoints near ears alone. The EA treatment was given five times per week, and the acupoint catgut embedding was given once every two weeks. All the treatment was given for 6 weeks. The Tinnitus severity score (TSS)was applied to assess the severity of tinnitus before the treatment, 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 6 weeks into treatment and one month after treat ment. Also the efficacy of two groups was compared.

RESULTSAfter the treatment, the severity of tinnitus was both improved in two groups at each time point (all P<0.05). which was more significant in the observation group (P<0.05, P<0.01). The cured and markedly effective rate was 77.4% (24/31) in the observation group, which was superior to 50.0% (16/32) in the control group (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe short-term and long-term efficacy of acupoint catgut embedding at cervical Jiaji (EX-B 2) points combined with electroacupuncture are both superior to those of simple electroacupuncture for treatment of nervous tinnitus.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture, Ear ; Adult ; Catgut ; Electroacupuncture ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tinnitus ; therapy

The deep analysis has been done on the cases of adverse events and common injury of cupping therapy encountered in recent years in terms of manipulation and patient's constitution. The adverse events of cupping therapy are commonly caused by improper manipulation of medical practitioners, ignoring contraindication and patient's constitution. Clinical practitioners should use cupping therapy cautiously, follow strictly the rules of standard manipulation and medical core system, pay attention to the contraindication and take strict precautions against the occurrence of adverse events.
Hospitals ; statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; adverse effects ; instrumentation ; methods

Objective To explore the impact of broad antigen HLA-Bw4 on disease progression in HIV-1 infected subjects. Methods Three hundred and forty subjects chronically infected with HIV-1 and 69 HIV-1 negative subjects were recruited and HLA-B alleles were typed with sequence-based high resolution typing assay. HLA-Bw genotypes of these HIV-1 infected subjects were determined and their association with CD4+ T cell counts and viral loads were analyzed. Results Sixty-five HLA-B alleles were detected in HIV-1 positive subjects. Subjects with Bw4 (Bw4 homozygotes and Bw4Bw6 heterozygotes ) had higher CD4+ T cell counts ( P = 0. 004 ) and lower plasma viral load ( P = 0.003 ) than subjects without Bw4 ( Bw6 homozygotes). When compared with HIV-1 postive subjects with CD4+ T cell counts above 500 celis/μl, those with CD4+ T cell counts below 500 cells/μl were observed with decreased percentage of Bw4Bw6 heterozygote ( P =0.0002) and increased percentage of Bw6 homozygotes ( P < 0. 0001 ). There is no significant difference in CD4+ T cell counts between Bw4 homozygotes and Bw4Bw6 heterozygote, but lower viral loads were observed in Bw4Bw6 heterozygotes( P = 0. 037 ). Conclusion HLA-Bw4 can confer pretective effects on H1V-1 infected subjects by maintaining higher CD4+ T cell counts and lower viral load, the mechanism behind this effect need further exploration.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the semen quality and its influencing factors in preconception males in Nanjing area so as to provide some evidence for working out effective intervention measures.

METHODSTotally 687 men receiving preconceptional physical examination were enrolled in this study. A questionnaire survey was conducted among the subjects along with an analysis of their semen quality.

RESULTSThe median of sperm concentration was 63.3 x 10(6)/ml (95% CI [19.88-119] x 10(6)/ml). The median of grade a sperm was 33.03% (95% CI [19.38-55.05]%), that of grade a + b sperm was 52.08% (95% CI [39.53-69.37]%), and that of teratosperm was 91.75% (95% CI [69-100]%). The median concentration of seminal plasma PMN-elastase was 195.55 ng/ml (95% CI [76.16-3330.38] ng/ml) and that of seminal plasma zinc was 7.62 μmol/L (95% CI [1.5-23, 45] μmol/L). The positive rates of Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU), Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), and Gardnerella vaginalis (GV) were 42.4%, 0.3%, and 2.4%, respectively. The median of sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI) of those whose wives had a history of adverse pregnancy was 20.25% (95% CI [2.15-68.25]%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that mental stress (OR 1.567, 95% CI [1.081-2.27]) and sedentariness (OR 1.772, 95% CI [1.211-2.592]) were independent risk factors for asthenospermia.

CONCLUSIONThe sperm quality of preconception males in Nanjing area is not encouraging, and it can be improved by changing undesirable lifestyle and reducing mental stress.

Adult ; Asthenozoospermia ; etiology ; China ; Chlamydia trachomatis ; isolation & purification ; DNA Fragmentation ; Gardnerella vaginalis ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Leukocyte Elastase ; analysis ; Male ; Preconception Care ; Semen ; microbiology ; Semen Analysis ; statistics & numerical data ; Sperm Count ; statistics & numerical data ; Spermatozoa ; Ureaplasma urealyticum ; isolation & purification

Spider silk is a natural protein fibroin with excellent character as it is light and tenacious. It has a wild potential applications in the biomedical field due to its good biocompatibility and degradation. Arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) is a highly conserved amino acid sequence of many adhesion protein. Biological materials binding with RGD peptide in the surface can promote cells adhesion, migration and proliferation. Our lab had constructed the 16 muhimers with the introduced RGD peptide codons which involve cell adhesion for the first time. It was found that the mechanical capability of the 16 mulimer protein was very limited because of the big gap in molecular weight with nature spider proteins when it was used to made biomaterial scaffold.In this paper,based on the 16 multimers of the highly, repetitive sequence of spider dragline silk and with RGD peptide condons which has been constructed by our lab forestall, it was used to construct the 32 and 64 multimers sequence of spider dragline silk by the strategy of "head to tail". The 32 and 64 multimers were ligated into prokaryotic expression vector pET-30a, and then the B121 (DE3) pLysS. The fragments were in agreement with the desired through digestion, agarose gel electrophoresis respectively. By registration into the GenBank data-base, the serial numbers of DQ469929 and DQ837297 were gained respectively. The expression of recombinant protein was introduced by the addition of IPTG. SDS-PAGE analysis shows that the molecular weight of products expressed here are 102 kD and 196.6kD in agreement with the desired respectively. It was the first time for the high polymer spider dragline silk protein expressed in prokaryotic biology. Furthermore, a larger quantity of synthetical proteins with high density fermentation were searched after, and a suit of high efficient purification methods for 32 multimers protein were established.
Animals ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Fibroins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Oligopeptides ; biosynthesis ; chemistry ; genetics ; Polymers ; metabolism ; Protein Engineering ; Recombinant Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Transformation, Bacterial

Objective: To analyze the relationship between inflammatory factors and relevant risk factors in patients of essential hypertension (EH) combining acute coronary syndrome (ACS) with its clinical significance. Methods: Our research included 3 groups: EH group, n=79 patients with standard criteria, EH+ACS group, n=85 and Control group, n=48 normal subjects. Blood levels of lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2), tryptase (TPS) and relevant clinical, biochemical parameters were measured; risk factors for cardiovascular disease were examined and the relationship between above parameters, risk factors and ACS occurrence in EH patients was studied by Logistic regression analysis. Results: The OR values were all greater than 1 in fibrinogen (Fbg), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), TPS, atherosclerotic plaque, Lp-PLA2 and EH grading. Fbg was the most significant independent risk factor (OR=22.242, 95% CI 6.458-76.609, P<0.0001), the standardized partial regression coefficient b'as absolute value (b') was 1.079 which was the highestone in above 6 variables with the strongest impact for ACS occurrence in EH patients. Conclusion: Fbg, hs-CRP, TPS, atherosclerotic plaque and EH grading were the independent risk factors for ACS occurrence in EH patients; Fbg was the highest risk factor for ACS occurrence with the strongest impact, which provided a new direction for ACS prevention and treatment.

The partition behaviors of beta-1,3-1,4-glucanase, alpha-amylase and neutral proteases from clarified and whole fermentation broths of Bacillus subtilis ZJF-1A5 were investigated. An aqueous two-phase system (polyethylene glycol (PEG)/MgSO(4)) was examined with regard to the effects of PEG molecular weight (MW) and concentration, MgSO(4) concentration, pH and NaCl concentration on enzyme partition and extraction. The MW and concentration of PEG were found to have significant effects on enzyme partition and extraction with low MW PEG showing the greatest benefit in the partition and extraction of beta-glucanase with the PEG/MgSO(4) system. MgSO(4) concentration influenced the partition and extraction of beta-glucanase significantly. pH had little effect on beta-glucanase or proteases partition but affected alpha-amylase partition when pH was over 7.0. The addition of NaCl had little effect on the partition behavior of beta-glucanase but had very significant effects on the partitioning of alpha-amylase and on the neutral proteases. The partition behaviors of beta-glucanase, alpha-amylase and proteases in whole broth were also investigated and results were similar to those obtained with clarified fermentation broth. A two-step process for purifying beta-glucanase was developed, which achieved beta-glucanase recovery of 65.3% and specific activity of 14027 U/mg, 6.6 times improvement over the whole broth.
Bacillus subtilis ; enzymology ; Chemical Fractionation ; methods ; Endo-1,3(4)-beta-Glucanase ; biosynthesis ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Extracellular Fluid ; chemistry ; Phase Transition ; Water ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo study the therapeutic effects of azithromycin in treatment of congenital toxoplasmosis in children.

METHODSDefinite diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis was made on the basis of clinical manifestation combined with one or more positive results of the following laboratory tests and excluded other congenital infectious diseases: toxoplasma DNA (TOX-DNA), circulating toxoplasma antigen (TOX-CAG), and toxoplasma IgM antibody (TOX-IgM). All the patients were given oral azithromycin 10 mg/(kg.d) for 6 days followed by 8 days without medication (one course of treatment), and the regimen was persisted for 2 months and then another 2-month treatment was given at a 1-month interval. The authors continued to provide further treatment according to the state of the illness at one month interval. The patients received 2 to 8 (average 5) courses of treatment. The patients were followed-up for 2.5 to 5 (average 4) years.

RESULTSThe treatment was effective in all the patients and the patient's condition was improved. The authors repeated in 12 cases the four tests for toxoplasma (TOX-DNA, TOX-CAG, TOX-IgM, and TOX-IgG) 9 months to one and a half years after treatment. In 10 cases all these tests showed negative results, in 2 cases TOX-IgG was positive and in the other 4 cases symptoms disappeared.

CONCLUSIONThe results of the study showed that oral azithromycin had significant therapeutic effects with little side effect and was well tolerated. Azithromycin may become an alternative therapy in treatment of congenital Toxoplasma gondii infection in children.

Anti-Bacterial Agents ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Azithromycin ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Prognosis ; Toxoplasmosis, Congenital ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationship between vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene Fok I polymorphisms and BPH complicated by histological prostatitis (BPH + HP).

METHODSWe detected Fok I polymorphisms in the peripheral blood of 79 patients with BPH + HP and 81 controls with BPH only using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), and analyzed the frequency distribution of the genotypes and alleles of the two groups of patients.

RESULTSObvious differences were found in the distribution of genotypes and alleles between the BPH + HP patients (FF: 27% [21/79], Ff: 30% [24/79], ff: 43% [34/79]) and the controls (FF: 33% [27/81], Ff: 36% [29/81], ff: 31% [25/81]), with statistical significance in the distribution of the genotype ff (P < 0.05). The histological prostatitis group showed a significant difference from the controls in the frequency of the f allele (58% [196/338] vs 49% [153/312], P < 0.05), but not in that of the F allele (42% [142/338] vs 51% [159/312] , P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONVDR Fok I polymorphisms may be correlated with BPH complicated by histological prostatitis.

Aged ; Alleles ; Case-Control Studies ; Gene Frequency ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; complications ; genetics ; Prostatitis ; complications ; genetics ; Receptors, Calcitriol ; genetics