Objective The significance of serum cytokine profile in coronary heart disease patients have been evaluated by observing the variation cytokines Methods The serum IL-1 a,IL-1 ?,IL-2,IL-4, IL-6 ,IL-8,IL-10,VEGF,IFN-?,,TNF-?,MCP-1 and EGF in 76 patients and 26 matched healthy volunteers have been observed.Serum cytokines had been measured by protein chips methods in EVIDENCE 180 automatic biochips analyzer and cytokine profile were got by bioinformatics.Results The serum level of IL-1?,IL-6,IL-8,and TNF-? were (4.32?8.14) ng/L ,(13.16?16.81) rig/L,(375.53?292.14) ng/L,(15.46?15.38) ng/L respectively,which increased obviously in patients (P

Objective To establish a rapid assay for genotyping of IL-6-597G/A and-572G/C polymorphisms by duplex real-time PCR assay.Methods One pair of primers and two pairs of fluorescent hybridization probes had been used to genotype two mutation sites in the promoter region of IL-6 gene by fluorescent resonance energy transfer and melting curves.Results Duplex real-time PCR method for genotyping of two mutation sites simultaneously had been developed and 123 health people samples were analyzed by this new method.The results showed that three genotypes were found in IL-6 gene-572G/C polymorphisms.They were GG,GC and CC genotypes.IL-6 gene promoter-597G/A polymorphism analysis showed 4 cases displayed GA genotype and other possessed GG genotype.No AA genotype had been found.Conclusions Duplex real-time PCR method is simple and fast.It provided an accurate and economic method which is suitable for clinical gene genotyping.

Objective To explore the clinical efficacy of anatomic liver resection in treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with microvascular invasion (MVI).Methods The retrospective cohort and case-control study was conducted.The clinical data of 150 HCC patients with MVI who were admitted to the Anhui Medical University Affiliated Provincial Hospital from June 2007 to June 2012 were collected.Sixty patients undergoing anatomic liver resection were allocated into the AR group and 90 undergoing non-anatomic liver resection in the NR group.Patients in the AR group underwent anatomic liver resection according to results of preoperative ICG R15 test,and patients in the NR group underwent non-anatomic liver resection.Observation indicators:(1) operation situations:operation time,volume of intraoperative blood loss,number of patients with blood transfusion;(2) postoperative recovery situations:time of drainage-tube removal,duration of hospital stay,Clavein grade of complication within 30 days postoperatively,number of patients with hepatic failure within 30 days postoperatively and number of death within 30 days postoperatively;(3) follow-up:postoperative median survival time,5-year overall survival rate and 5-year tumor-free survival rate;(4) prognostic factors analysis of 150 HCC patients with MVI.Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as-x±s and comparison between groups was analyzed using the independent-sample t test.Count data were represented as the chi-square test or Fisher exact probability.The survival rate was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method and survival analysis was done using Log-rank test.The univariate analysis and multivariate analysis were done using the COX regression model.Results (1) Operation situations:all the 150 patients received successful radical resection of HCC.Operation time,numbers of patients with volume of intraoperative blood loss ≥ 500 mL and with volume of intraoperative blood loss ＜ 500 mL and number of patients with blood transfusion were (165±39) minutes,12,48,15 in the AR group and (136±30)minutes,34,56,38 in the NR group,respectively,with statistically significant differences between the 2 groups (t =29.172,x2=5.351,4.673,P＜0.05).(2) Postoperative recovery situations:time of drainage-tube removal and duration of hospital stay were (2.7± 1.1)days and (5.2± 1.3) days in the AR group,(3.8±1.6)days and (7.1±2.3)days in the NR group,respectively,with statistically significant differences between the 2 groups (t =4.641,5.812,P＜0.05).Numbers of patients with grade Ⅰ-Ⅱ of Clavein grade and with grade Ⅲ-Ⅳ and number of death within 30 days postoperatively were 45,15,1 in the AR group and 61,29,2 in the NR group,respectively,with no statistically significant difference between the 2 groups (x2 =0.906,P＞0.05).Number of patients with hepatic failure within 30 days postoperatively in the AR and NR group were respectively 4 and 17,with a statistically significant difference (x2=4.467,P＜0.05).(3) Follow-up:all the 150 patients were followed up for 1-106 months,with a median time of 26 months.The postoperative median survival time,5-year overall survival rate and 5-year tumor-free survival rate were 46 months,33.3％,21.7％ in the AR group and 18 months,15.6％,2.2％ in the NR group,respectively,with statistically significant differences in overall survival and tumor-free survival between the 2 groups (x2=23.718,63.932,P＜ 0.05).(4) Prognostic factors analysis of 150 HCC patients with MVI:result of univariate analysis showed that maximum diameter of tumor,tumor capsule,TNM stage,Edmondson grade and surgical procedures were relative factors affecting overall survival and tumor-free survival of HCC patients with MVI,with statistically significant differences (x2=5.519,2.790,13.639,8.321,42.470,31.057,15.963,19.594,23.718,63.932,P＜ 0.05).Result of multivariate analysis showed that missing tumor capsule,stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ of TNM stage,grade Ⅲ-Ⅳ of Edmondson grade and non-anatomic liver resection were independent factors affecting poor overall survival and tumor-free survival of HCC patients with MVI,and maximum diameter of tumor ＞5 cm was an independent factor affecting poor overall survival of HCC patients with MVI,with a statistically significant difference [HR =0.527,0.683,0.333,0.522,0.576,0.514,0.523,0.268,95％ confidence interval (CI):0.355-0.782,0.475-0.983,0.219-0.504,0.361-0.755,0.389-0.852,0.358-0.737,0.342-0.800,0.174-0.413;HR=0.559,95％CI:0.370-0.845,P＜0.05].Conclusions Anatomic liver resection in the treatment of HCC patients with MVI is safe and effective,with good short-term and long-term outcomes,and it can also improve prognosis of patients.Missing tumor capsule,stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ of TNM stage,grade Ⅲ-Ⅳ of Edmondson grade and non-anatomic liver resection are independent factors affecting poor overall survival and tumor-free survival of HCC patients with MVI,and maximum diameter of tumor ＞5 cm is an independent factor affecting poor overall survival of HCC patients with MVI.

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor that regulates gene expression in a range of cells, including immune and epithelial cells. AhR signaling plays important roles in the immune system in both health and disease states. Tapinarof is a first-in-class small-molecule topical therapeutic AhR modulating agent launched for the treatment of psoriasis. To improve the activity and chemical stability of Tapinarof, a series of 2-phenylchromen-4-one derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated as novel AhR agonists. Compounds 5a, 5c, 5e and 5f potently activated AhR with an EC₅₀ value of 7, 9, 6 and 6 nmol·L^-1, respectively, which are 10-14 fold more potent than Tapinarof. Compounds 5a and 5e exhibit comparable inhibitory effects on IFN-γ production as Tapinarof. Furthermore, compounds 5a-5f exhibited favorable photochemical stability compared to Tapinarof. The compounds may eventually serve as lead compounds for the development of new AhR agonists.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effects of prenatal stress on neurological functions after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in adult offspring rats.

METHODSPregnant rats were randomly assigned to prenatal stress treatment, which was exposed to restraint three times daily in the last week of pregnancy, and no prenatal stress treatment. Adult male offspring rats were subjected to transient focal cerebral ischemia by MCAO. They were randomly divided into four groups: sham group, prenatal stress + sham group, MCAO group and prenatal stress + MCAO group (n = 10). After 24 hours of reperfusion, the neurological deficits were evaluated. The infarct size, cell apoptosis and expression of Caspase 3, cleaved Caspase 3 and Bcl-2 were detected.

RESULTSCompared with MCAO group, the neurological deficits, infarct size and apoptotic cells in prenatal stress + MCAO group were increased significantly (all P < 0.05). The expressions of Caspase 3 and cleaved Caspase 3 were much greater in prenatal stress + MCAO group than those of MCAO group, while the expression of Bcl-2 was significantly decreased in prenatal stress + MCAO group compared with MCAO group (all P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONPrenatal stress might exacerbate neuroloeical deficits in the offspring rats after MCAO by increasing cell apoptosis.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Female ; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery ; physiopathology ; Ischemic Attack, Transient ; physiopathology ; Male ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects ; physiopathology ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Stress, Physiological

Objective To explore the association between ambient average temperature and hospital emergency room visits for cardiovascular diseases(International Classification of Diseases,Tenth Vision ICD-10:I00-I99) in Beijing,China.Methods Data was collected on daily hospital emergency room visits for cardiovascular diseases from Peking University Third Hospital,including meteorological data(daily average temperature,relative humidity,wind speed,and atmospheric pressure) from the China Meteorological Data Sharing Service System,and on air pollution from the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center.Time-stratified case-crossover design was used to analyze data on 4 seasolls.Results After adjusting data on air pollution,1 degree(℃) increase of ambient average temperature would associate with the emergency room visits of odds ratio(Ors)as 1.282(95%CI:1.250-1.315).1.027(95%CI:1.001-1.055),0.661(95%CI:0.637-0.687),and 0.960 (95%CI:0.937-0.984) in spring,summer,autumn,and winter respectively.After controlling the influence of relative humidity,wind speed,and atmospheric pressure,1℃ increase in the ambient average temperature would be associated with the emergency room visits on Ors value as 1.423 (95%CI:1.377-1.471).1.082(95%CI:1.041-1.124),0.633(95%CI:0.607-0.660)and 0.971(95%CI:0.944-1.000) in spring,summer,auttmm,and winter respectively.Conclusion These data on outcomes suggested that the elevated level of ambient temperature would increase the hospital emergeney room visits for cardiovascular diseases in spring and summer while the elevated level of ambient temperature would decrease the hospital emergency room visits for the cardiovascular diseases in autumn and winter,suggesting that patients with cardiovascular diseases should pay attention to the climate change.

OBJECTIVETo study and evaluate the curative effect and mechanism of Qiangxin Granule (QXG) in intervening chronic heart failure (CHF) rats with Xin-qi deficiency complicated blood stasis and edema syndrome (XQD-BS-ES).

METHODSTotally 72 SD rats of clean grade were randomly divided to the normal control group (n =10) and the model group (n = 62). The XQD-BS-ES rat model was established by adriamycin plus propylthiouracil method. Survived modeled rats were then randomly divided to 5 groups i.e., the model group (n = 11, administered with normal saline by gastrogavage), the Western medicine (WM) group (n =11 , administered with perindopril and hydrochlorothiazide by gastrogavage), the low dose QXG (QXG(L)) group (n = 11, administered with 9.26 g/kg QXG by gastrogavage), the middle dose QXG (QXG(M)) group (n = 11, administered with 18.52 g/kg QXG by gastrogavage), the high dose QXG (QXG(H)) group (n = 11, administered with 37.04 g/kg QXG by gastrogavage). After 4 weeks of treatment, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular fraction shortening (LVFS), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), urine output, ear temperature, exhaustive swimming test (EST), tri-iodothyronine (T3), tetra-iodothyronine (T4), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), as well as heart, lung, liver weight index and their pathological sections, and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (HS-CRP), angiotensin II (Ang II), carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) were detected and compared.

RESULTSCompared with the normal control group, LVEF, LVFS, BNP, HR, RR, urine output, ear temperature, EST, T3, T4, TSH, HS-CRP, Ang II, and CA125 changed significantly in the model group (P < 0.01). Compared with the model group after treatment, LVEF, LVFS, BNP, urine output, EST, T4, heart and liver weight index, HS-CRP, Ang II, CA125 were significantly improved in each QXG group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Moreover, TSH was improved in the QXGL and QXG(M) groups (P < 0.05); ear temperature and T3 in the QXG(M) were also improved (P < 0.05); the lung weight index decreased in the QXG(M) and QXG(H) groups (P < 0.01). Compared with the WM group, T4 and CA125 were obviously improved in all QXG groups (P < 0.01); BNP and ear temperature were obviously improved in QXG(L) and QXG(M) groups (P < 0.05, P < 0.01); LVEF, LVFS and TSH were obviously improved in the QXG(M) group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). And as far as each treatment group, LVEF, LVFS, urine output increased significantly after treatment (P < 0.01); EST obviously increased in QXG(M) and QXG(H) groups (P < 0.01); ear temperature increased in all QXG groups (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Moreover, compared with the model group, pathological changes of heart, lung, and liver were improved to some degree in each treatment group, especially in the QXG(M) group.

CONCLUSIONSGood curative effect was shown in each QXG group. QXG could improve LVEF, LVFS and BNP of CHF rats of XQD-BS-ES, as well as T3, T4, TSH, EST, urine output, and ear temperature. Moreover, QXG showed superiority than WM group in this respect.

Angiotensin II ; Animals ; C-Reactive Protein ; Chronic Disease ; drug therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Edema ; Heart ; Heart Failure ; drug therapy ; Heart Ventricles ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain ; Qi ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Syndrome ; Thyrotropin ; Ventricular Function, Left

OBJECTIVETo establish and evaluate chronic heart failure (CHF) rat model of Xin-qi deficiency complicated blood stasis and edema syndrome (XQD-BSES).

METHODSTotally 40 SD rats were randomly divided into the normal control group (Control), the propylthiouracil (PTU) group, the adriamycin (ADR), and the ADR + PTU group. Normal saline was used as equivalent solvent of each group. Rats in the Control group were intragastrically and intraperitoneally injected with normal saline. Rats in the PTU group were intragastrically injected with PTU suspension and intraperitoneally injected with normal saline. Rats in the ADR group were intragastrically injected with ADR solution and intraperitoneally injected with normal saline. And rats in the ADR + PTU group were intragastrically injected with PTU suspension and intraperitoneally injected with ADR solution. The dose of PTU was 0.2% of daily forage weight, once daily. The dose of ADR was 3.5 mg/kg, once per week. The modeling lasted for 6 weeks. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular fraction shortening (LVFS), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), urine output, ear temperature, exhaustive swimming test (EST), Tri-iodothyronine (T3), tetra-iodothyronine(T4), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) as well as heart, lung, liver weight indices and their pathological sections were integrated and compared.

RESULTSCompared with the Control group, LVEF, LVFS, BNP, HR, RR, heart, lung, liver weight indices, urine output, ear temperature, EST, and T3, T4, and TSH changed significantly in the ADR group, the PTU group, and the ADR + PTU group with statistical significance (P < 0.05), and pathological changes of heart failure occurred in pathological sections of heart, lung, and liver. Compared with the ADR group, LVEF, LVFS, BNP, and lung, liver weight indices, urine output, ear temperature, T3, T4, and TSH changed significantly in the ADR + PTU group with statistical significance (P < 0.05), and pathological changes of heart failure were more serious in pathological sections of heart, lung, and liver. Compared with the PTU group, LVEF, LVFS, BNP, HR, RR, urine output, EST, T4, heart and lung weight indices changed significantly in the ADR + PTU group with statistical significance (P < 0.05), and pathological changes of heart failure were quite serious in pathological sections of heart, lung, and liver.

CONCLUSIONADR + PTU was an appropriate method to establish CHF rat model of XQD-BSES.

Animals ; Edema ; Heart Failure ; diagnosis ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Judgment ; Models, Animal ; Qi ; Rats ; Ventricular Function, Left

Objective This study was undertaken to examine possible relationship between attempted suicide and underachievement,bullying,low life satisfaction and low self-concept at school.Methods An anonymous self-report survey assessing demographic characteristics and the major risk factors of teenage attempted suicide was completed by students from 16 middle schools in grades seven to twelve in 4 counties of Anhui province (age 10 to 21 years).An anonymous questionnaire was used to rate attempted suicide,bullying involvement and learning performance.Attempted suicide was defined as: experiencing specific suicide actions at least one time during the 12 months preceding the survey.Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale and Children' s Self-concept Scale were used to evaluate satisfaction and self-conscience on and at respectively.In total,10 894 respondents substantially completed the survey.Multiple logistic-regression analyses,controlling for socio-demographic variables,was used to analyze if underachievement,bullying,low school life satisfaction and low children' s self-conscience at school had been risk factors.Results 629 participants (5.8%) reported having made at least one attempted suicide within the last 12 months.Students being underachieved were significantly having more attempted suicide events than those excellent students (X2=11.39,P=0.023).Students being both bully-victims and practiced bully were significantly more than those being only practiced bully (28.7% vs.15.8%,P＜0.001),being victims (28.7% vs.10.6%,P＜0.001) or having neither of them (28.7% vs.4.8%,P＜0.001).Results from multiple logistic regression analyses showed that underachievement,bullying,lower school life satisfaction and low self-conscience were risk factors for attempted suicide.Conclusion Data from this study confirmed that school bullying and children' s self-conscience at school were significantly associated with attempted suicide among rural middle school students in Anhui province.It is of importance to improve the school' s environments to reduce the risk of attempted suicide among this group.

This study was aimed to explore the correlation between IL-6 gene promoter polymorphisms and coronary heart disease (CHD) by investigating the polymorphisms (-572G/C, -597G/A) in IL-6 gene promoter area, body mass index (BMI), inflammatory factors and other biochemical parameters in Han nationality of North China. The genotypes of IL-6 gene promoter-572G/C, -597G/A were detected by fluorescent probe hybridization with fluorescent resonance energy transfer and melting curve techniques in 194 CHD patients and 123 healthy people as control. The effects of genotype on plasma lipids, apoproteins, high sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and BMI were also studied. Logistic regression was performed to observe the risk factors of CHD. The results indicated that genotype of IL-6 gene promoter -597G/A polymorphism in 7 cases were GA and were GG in others, whereas no AA genotype had been found and no associations between polymorphism of IL-6 gene -597G/A, BMI and inflammatory factors were found. No differences had been found between the frequencies of IL-6 gene -572G/C genotypes and alleles in CHD and control group. However, significant difference was found between the G allele carrier (GG+GC) and non-G allele carrier (CC) of CHD and control group (p=0.0425). In the control group, median levels of systolic blood pressure of G allele carrier were significant higher than non-G allele carrier (p=0.02). Among all the subjects, median levels of BMI, hsCRP and systolic blood pressure in the group of G allele carrier were significantly higher than that in the group of non-G allele carrier, p values were 0.026, 0.022, 0.005 respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age, triglyceride, sex, high blood pressure, apoprotein C2, cholesterol and lipoprotein-a) were the risk factors for CHD, and apoprotein A1 was a protective factor. The G allele of IL-6 gene -572G/C has been not found to be a risk factor for CHD. It is concluded IL-6 gene -597G/A polymorphism is not correlated with the susceptibility to CHD; IL-6 gene -572G/C polymorphism may be correlated with the susceptibility to CHD in Han nationality of North China, the mechanisms may be related with the changes of BMI, hsCRP and blood pressure levels resulted from the polymorphism of IL-6 -572G/C.
Adult ; Aged ; Body Mass Index ; C-Reactive Protein ; metabolism ; Coronary Disease ; etiology ; genetics ; Disease Susceptibility ; Female ; Genotype ; Humans ; Interleukin-6 ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; genetics ; Risk Factors