Objective To explore the effects of accumulated 60CD,γ-ray irradiation on small molecular metabolites in rats urine.Methods Ten healthy male SD rats were irradiated by 60Co γ-rays in 5 days and the accumulated doses were 0,0.2,0.4,0.6,0.8,1.0 Gy,respectively.The metabolites in urine of different groups were measured with 1 H-NMR combined with principal components analysis (PCA) and partial least square discriminate analysis (PLS-DA). Results The metabolites in rat urine were obviously changed after irradiation. Compared with control group,the amount of acetoacetate decreased after irradiation(t =29.7 -30.7,P ＜ 0.05 ),but its relative level was stable when the dose increased ( P ＞ 0.05 ).Meanwhile,the relative level of hippuric acid increased ( t =4.4 - 21.6,P ＜ 0.05 ) especially when the accumulated dose was higher than 1 Gy (t =21.6,P＜0.05). The relative level of proline,taurine and trimethylamine-N-oxide increased after irradiation with the same trend( t =3.5 - 13.4,4.7 - 11.5,2.9- 12.7,P＜0.05). Conclusions The acetoacetate,hippuric acid,proline,taurine,and trimethylamine-N-oxide may be applicable for biomarkers of accumulative irradiation on rat.

It is generally accepted that the inhibition of apoptosis is one of the mechanism of drug resistance to tumor. Members of the bcl-2 gene family are the most important regulators in apoptosis. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the value of expression of bcl-2 and bax gene in predicting the prognosis of acute leukemia patients, and to explore the relationship between bcl-2 and bax expression and drug resistance. Seventy patients with acute leukemia entered this study. Expressions of bcl-2, bax and mdr-1 gene were measured by RT-PCR method and FCM. The result showed that: bcl-2 had been widely detected in specimens of blood or bone marrow from acute leukemia patients, the expression levels were much higher than those in normal control (1.46 vs 0.71, P < 0.05), bax expression levels and bax/bcl-2 ratio in patients had no significant difference with the control. No relationships were found between the expression levels of bcl-2 and bax and AL patients' age, sex, platelet counts, hemoglobin levels, percentage of marrow blasts, FAB classification, and S + G(2)M%. Both Bcl-2 protein expression (34.6% vs 69.2%, P < 0.03) and bax/bcl-2 mRNA ratio (37.1% vs 82.9%, P < 0.01) were associated with response to therapy and CR rate, bax/bcl-2 ratio also influences the overall survival time. There was no relationship between bcl-2 and bax expression levels and mdr-1 expression levels.

OBJECTIVETo summarize our experiences in the treatment of type C3 (AO/OTA) distal radius fractures fixed with AO 2.4 mm locking plates combined with percutaneous pinning after manipulative reduction.

METHODSFrom May 2009 to March 2012, 19 patients (2 cases of both sides) with type C3 (AO/OTA) distal radius fractures were treated with volar locking plates combined with percutaneous pinning for distal radius after manipulative reduction. Among the patients, the average age was (45.3 ± 17.4) years old (ranged, 31 to 66 years old). The fracture were complicated with ulnar styloid fracture in 14 wrists and 6 wrists had distal radioulnar joint instability. All the patients had closed fracture and the mean duration was (6.7 ± 3.5) days (4.5 to 9 days). The Henry approach was applied to expose the fracture site. Joint capsule and ligaments were retained for indirect reduction. After indirect reduction, the poking reduction technique was used to correct the residual compression, and congruence of distal ulnar radial joint was verified under fluorscopic guidance. Styloid process was first pinned percutaneously and then AO 2.4 mm volar locking plate was used to support rigid fixation. The fractures complicated with distal radioulnar joint instability and ulnar styloid fracture were treated with forearm plaster support in supination for 6 weeks.

RESULTSNineteen patients (21 wrists) were followed up for an average duration of 10.5 months (ranged, 7 to 17 months). Radiographic bone union of distal radius was achieved in all cases, nonunion of the ulnar styloid occurred in 3 cases, and no distal radioulnar joint instability occurred. Tendon irritation was found in 2 cases and disappeared after the internal fixation was removed. The volar tilt, radial angle, radial length, incongruence of articular surface and distal radioulnar joint were observed at the follow-up. According to Batra and Gupta scoring system, 13 wrists were assessed to have a score of more than 80, 5 wrists 70 to 90, 3 wrists less than 70. Meanwhile, the subjective and objective evaluation was executed,range of motion of wrist, residual deformity and complications were observed. According to Sarmiento's modification of the system of Gartland and Werley, 17 wrists got an excellent result, 3 good and 1 fair.

CONCLUSIONType C3 (AO/OTA) distal radius fractures could be managed with manipulative reduction. Locking plate internal fixation combined with percutaneous pinning can offer enough support for early mobilization and rehabilitation, resulting in a better clinical outcome and satisfactory prognosis.

Adult ; Aged ; Bone Plates ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; methods ; Humans ; Manipulation, Orthopedic ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Radius Fractures ; complications ; surgery

OBJECTIVETo study the epilepsy patients and their family members on their knowledge of the disease.

METHODSA 34-point questionnaire with 34 questions related to epilepsy knowledge was used for the survey on 170 pairs of epilepsy patients and their family members in Huashan hospital. Characters of the disease on the subjects were recorded.

RESULTSThe mean scores of the epilepsy knowledge of the patients and their family members were 16.5 +/- 8.2 and 16.1 +/- 8.5, respectively. The scores were quite low with no statistical difference between patients and their family members. The rate of correct answer in the urban subjects was obviously higher than those subjects living in the rural areas. All the subjects lacked the knowledge on the "cause of disease" when comparing with items as "diagnosis" and "treatment". Multivariate analysis showed that rural residents (P = 0.0001, OR = 52.963) and low education level (P = 0.0294, OR = 2.266) related to low epilepsy knowledge score among epilepsy patients. However, for family members, the factor related to low score was only living in the rural area (P = 0.0001, OR = 37.229).

CONCLUSIONEducation on the epilepsy knowledge should be strengthened, especially in the rural areas.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Epilepsy ; psychology ; Family Health ; Female ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Rural Health ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Objective To evaluate the clinical application of stress/rest MPI in the patients with 50％-75％ coronary artery stenosis.Methods The criteria for patient selection were that the patients should have at least one main coronary artery with stenosis more than 50％,and the maximal stenosis should be less than 75％ according to CAG.The stress/rest MPI was performed in 2 weeks before or after CAG.A total of 244 patients (178 males,66 females) with mean age (57 ± 10) years were included in this study.Symptom restriction stress test was used and stress MPI was performed 1 - 1.5 h after 99Tcm-MIBI (925 MBq)injection at the exercise peak.Rest MPI was performed within 48 - 72 h after stress MPI.Myocardial ischemia was diagnosed when there was a reduced uptake or even a defect in 2 different tomographic sections or in the same part of a myocardium in the continuous 2 slices.When there was an irreversible reduced uptake or defect,myocardial infarction was given as the final diagnosis.No reduced uptake or defect in all slices was shown as normal.The impact of MPI images on the selection for optimal clinical therapy plans was also discussed.X2 test was used for statistical analysis.Results A total of 340 coronary arteries with stenosis 50％ - 75％ were found by CAG.According to stress/rest MPI results,207 patients (84.8％)presented normal,33 had myocardial ischemia,3 had myocardial infarction,and 1 had both myocardial infarction and ischemia.In abnormal MPI images,there were 61 ischemic segments and 9 infarct segments,which were associated with 43 stenotic arteries (23 LAD,10 LCX,and 10 RCA).Patients were divided into 2 groups according to the results of MPI:Group 1 with normal MPI (207/244,84.8％ ) and Group 2 with abnormal MPI (37/244,15.2％ ).In Group 1,9 patients underwent coronary artery revascularization (PTCA or CABG),and the others had medical treatment.Eight patients had PTCA and 29 patients had medical treatment in Group 2.There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups ( X 2 =11.9,P =0.001 ).Conclusion Stress-rest MPI may be an effective method to evaluate ischemia degree for patients with 50％ -75％ coronary artery stenosis and a useful indicator for the individual treatment.

AIM To establish an HPLC method for determining the contents of three constituents in Polygoni multiflori Radix Praeparata in plasma of atherosclerosis rats.METHODS After the rats were intragastrically administrated with Polygoni multiflori Radix Praeparata CMC-Na solution,the plasma was collected.The HPLC analysis was carried out on a 30 ℃ thermostatic Hypersil C1s column (250 mm ×4.6 mm,5 μm),with the mobile phase comprising of acetonitrile-0.03％ phosphoric acid flowing at 0.9 mL/min in a gradient elution manner,and the detection wavelength was set at 280 nm.DAS2.0 software was applied to drawing concentration-time curves and calculating pharmacokinetic parameters.RESULTS Stilbene glucoside,emodin and physcion showed good linear relationships within the ranges of 61.25-6 125 μg/L (r =0.999 8),12.6-3 150 μg/L (r =0.999 3) and 24.1-6 030 μg/L (r =0.999 5),respectively.The method recoveries were 99.5％-105.8％ with the RSDs of 1.3％-3.3％,while the extraction recoveries were 87.2％-96.3％ with the RSDs of 3.2％-5.9％.The pharmacokinetic behaviors of three constituents all accorded with two-compartment model,but their contents in plasma were much lower than those in medicinal material.CONCLUSION The bioavailabilities of stilbene glucoside,emodin and physcion are relatively low in plasma of atherosclerosis rats,which may be related to constituents' intestinal absorption after intragastric administration with Polygoni multiflori Radix Praeparata.

BACKGROUNDCytogenetic and molecular studies of azoospermic and oligozoospermic males have suggested the presence of azoospermia factors (AZF) in the Y chromosome. Deletion in AZF regions has been reported to disrupt spermatogenesis and cause infertility. Several candidate genes responsible for spermatogenesis have been identified in this region and some of them are thought to be functional in human spermatogenesis. And we reported clinical and molecular studies of Y chromosome microdeletions in Chinese. This study aimed at assessing the frequency of microdeletions in Chinese men with idiopathic and nonidiopathic infertility problems and dicussing the clinical significance of the AZF region.

METHODSIn this study, we screened 143 infertile men (62 with idiopathic infertilitas and 81 with nonidiopathic infertilitas), in whom karyotype, sperm count, hormonal parameters and fine needle aspiration cytology were evaluated. Genomic DNA was extracted from the peripheral leukocytes. Molecular analysis was performed by two multiplex polymerase chain reactions (PCR) using a set of a sequence tagged sites (STS) from 3 different regions of the Y chromosome: AZFa (sY84, sY86), AZFb (sY127, sY134), AZFc (sY254, sY255).

RESULTSNineteen point four percent of idiopathic males (12/62, 19.4%) had microdeletions of either the AZFa, AZFb, AZFc or AZFb + c region. Significantly, a high frequency of microdeletions (9/81, 11.1%) was found in nonidiopathic patients with varicocele and cryptorchidism. No deletions were found in healthy fertile men. There were no significant differences in the localization and extent of deletions between idiopathic and nonidiopathic patients.

CONCLUSIONSThe knowledge of the presence of these deletions in idiopathic and nonidiopathic cases is important to understand the prognosis, better management and counsel these patients accordingly. Furthermore, a more extended screening for Y chromosome microdeletions in idiopathic and nonidiopathic men, particularly candidates for intracytoplasmic sperm injection, is recommended.

Chromosome Deletion ; Chromosomes, Human, Y ; Cryptorchidism ; genetics ; pathology ; Humans ; Infertility, Male ; genetics ; pathology ; Male ; Testis ; pathology ; Varicocele ; genetics ; pathology

This study was aimed to investigate the anti-leukemia activity of Tel03 in vivo. The K562 xenografted leukemia model was established and mice were divided randomly into three groups. Mice of different group were treated with PBS (control), 5 mg/kg Tel03 or 15 mg/kg Tel03 (ip, twice a week) respectively. Tumor volume, body weight and other behavior were observed regularly. Cell apoptosis was detected with TUNEL assay and the expression levels of Bcl-2 and Bax were detected by Western blot. The results indicated that Tel03 exerted anti-leukemia activity in mouse model. Tel03 significantly reduced tumor volume in Tel03-treated group compared with control. In addition, 5 mg/kg Tel03 induced cell apoptosis without exerting apparent toxicity in mice. After Tel03 treatment, the expression of Bcl-2 was inhibited, however, the expression of Bax was up-regulated. It is concluded that G-quadruplex ligand Tel03 can induce cell apoptosis in leukemia mouse model, and this agent may be a potential anticancer drug.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Female ; G-Quadruplexes ; Humans ; K562 Cells ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Nude ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; metabolism

In order to investigate the relationship between the expression of breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) gene and drug resistance in patients with acute leukemia (AL), semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to examine the expression of BCRP mRNA in AL patients and 15 normal subjects. Beta(2)-microglobin (beta(2)-MG) was used as positive reference. BCRP/beta(2)-MG ratio >or= 0.5 was defined as BCRP mRNA positive. The results showed that the positive percentage of BCRP gene expression in newly diagnosed group was 37.6%. The first complete remission rate was 79.3% and 31.6% in BCRP mRNA negative and BCRP mRNA positive patients respectively. The difference was significant (P = 0.001). The expression levels of BCRP mRNA in drug resistance group and drug sensitive group were 0.962 +/- 0.426 and 0.315 +/- 0.296 respectively (P = 0.0001). The expression level of BCRP mRNA in relapsed/refractory group was significantly higher than that in newly diagnosed group (P = 0.0025). The expression level of BCRP gene in normal individuals and long-term survival group was very low and correlated with FAB subtypes. It is concluded that high expression of BCRP mRNA leads to clinical drug resistance and is an unfavorable factor for prognosis of AL patients except acute promyelocytic leukemia.
ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Sub-Family G, Member 2 ; ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters ; genetics ; Acute Disease ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm ; Female ; Humans ; Leukemia ; drug therapy ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Proteins ; genetics ; RNA, Messenger ; analysis

BACKGROUNDIt is very important for the clinical management to test for minor HIV-1 resistance mutations accurately and sensitively. The conventional genotypic assays of HIV drug resistance detection based on sequencing can only discriminate the mutations which present in more than 20% - 30%. The aim of this study was to evaluate allele-specific real-time PCR (ASPCR) to detect the resistance-related mutations located at positions 103, 184 and 215.

METHODSWe developed the allele-specific PCR assay, using the most common drug resistance mutations in Chinese AIDS patients, K103N, M184V/I, T215F/Y as a model system. The standards were constructed by cloning the wild-type and mutant DNA fragments into the T-vector. We designed specific primers to discriminate mutant templates in the real-time PCR using SYBR green as a fluorescence reporter. And then we evaluated the ASPCR assay and tested 140 clinical samples using this method.

RESULTSThe sensitivities of ASPCR assay were 0.04% for K103N, 0.30% for M184I, 0.40% for M184V, 0.03% for T215F and 0.02% for T215Y. The intra-assay and inter-assay coefficients of variation were less than 0.42. One hundred and forty plasma samples were tested by ASPCR and dynamic resistance curves of ten patients were obtained.

CONCLUSIONSDrug resistance emerged half a year after the start of antiretroviral therapy. The mutation of T215Y emerged 1 to 1.5 years after starting treatment and then increased rapidly. The ASPCR assay we developed was a sensitive, accurate and rapid method to detect the minor HIV-1 variants and it can provide earlier and more drug-resistance information for HIV research and AIDS antiretroviral therapy.

Alleles ; Drug Resistance, Viral ; HIV-1 ; drug effects ; genetics ; Humans ; Mutation ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sensitivity and Specificity