OBJECTIVETo analyze the relationship between the pulse pressure (PP) and atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis (ARAS) in middle-age and eldery paients with hyperensio, so as to provide the basis for the diagnosis and treatment of ARAS.

METHODSWe tetro spectively analyzed the data of 257 patients with hypertension undergoing renal arteriography at General Hospital of PLA between 2009 and 2014. Their mean age was (64.09 +/- 7.81) years. According the results of arteriography, they were divided into two groups: ARAS group (n = 145), and non-ARAS group (n = 112). Their PP and multinomial clinical indexes with ARAS were statistically analyzed.

RESULTSSingle factor correlation and Logisitic analysis showed that age, PP, serum creatinine (SCr) levels, and new onset of hypertension after 50 years of age were strongly positively related to ARAS. The age and PP and SCr was a team of continuous variable.

CONCLUSIONPP was the first new risk factor of ARAS in middile-aged and elderly patients with hypertension. It is suggested that PP may be a early predictive indicator and a new therapeutic target for ARAS.

Angiography ; Arteriosclerosis ; physiopathology ; Blood Pressure ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Middle Aged ; Renal Artery ; physiopathology ; Renal Artery Obstruction ; Risk Factors

Objective To evaluate the effect of distal splenorenal shunts (DSRS) in treatment of portal hypertension.Methods A retrospective analysis was made on 16 patients undergoing DSRS between 2009 and 2015 in a single institution.Perioperative free portal pressure (FPP),blood routine,liver function were collected and analyzed.Postoperative complications,long-term anastomotic status and the rate of re-bleeding were observed.Results Before and after DSRS,FPP were (43 ± 9) cmH2O and (31 ± 6) cmH2 O,a decrease of 29.1％ (t =7.326,P ＜ 0.01).Postoperative serum total bilirubin and peripheral blood leukocyte increased significantly (t =-3.462,t =-2.822,P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference in the changes of platelet and albumin before and after surgery.7 patients (7/16,43.8％) had one or more complications including 5 cases (31.3％) of portal vein thrombosis,massive ascites in 4 cases (25.0％),1 case (6.3％) of pulmonary infection and 1 case (6.3％) of wound infection.There was no inhospital mortality and all the 16 cases were followed up with no shunt anastomotic stenosis as showed by enhanced CT scan,meanwhile postoperative re-bleeding occurred in 1 case (6.3％) and 1 case (6.3％) died from liver failure.Conclusions Distal splenorenal shunts provides an effective method for the treatment of portal hypertension.

This study was aimed to investigate the impact of specific siRNA on survivin gene in transfected lymphoma cell line and provide experimental evidences for future treatment of mantle cell lymphoma. The small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeted survivin mRNA was synthesized in vitro and was transfected into Jeko-1 that showed high survivin expression in mRNA level. The levels of survivin mRNA and protein expression were detected by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot respectively. The apoptosis effect was examined by calculating the ratio of Annexin V-FITC/PI positive cells using flow cytometry. The inhibition of cell proliferation was assayed with CCK-8 reagent after transfection. The results showed that expression of survivin mRNA was markedly suppressed by the siRNA. The relative expression levels were 0.49 ± 0.03, 0.38 ± 0.02 and 0.17 ± 0.02 at time points of 24, 48 and 72 h respectively, compared with the control group; the inhibitive rates of cell proliferation were (31.2 ± 2.1)%, (43.3 ± 3.4)% and (52.6 ± 2.5)%; the apoptotic rates of cells were (6.3 ± 0.5)%, (13.5 ± 1.1)% and (23.6 ± 1.6)% respectively; survivin protein expression levels were gradually reduced. It is concluded that the siRNA targeting survivin down-regulates the expressions of survivin mRNA and protein evidently. The siRNA of survivin displays the potent ability to inhibit the proliferation of lymphoma cell line Jeko-1; survivin may become a potential molecular target for the therapy of lymphoma in the future.
Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Gene Silencing ; Humans ; Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins ; genetics ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; RNA, Small Interfering ; genetics ; Transfection

OBJECTIVETo investigate the apoptosis effect of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma cell line (DLBCL) SUDHL-4 induced by IL-21 and its related mechanism.

METHODSSUDHL-4 cells were treated with IL-21 at different concentration (1000 ng/ml, 100 ng/ml, 10 ng/ml, 1 ng/ml) for 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, respectively. The inhibitory rate of cell proliferation was detected by CCK-8 assay. The cell growth curves were drawn and half inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) values were calculated. The cell apoptosis were detected by flow cytometry (FCM), the expression of the caspase-9, caspase-3, cleaved caspase-3, Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, Bid, Bax and c-myc protein in SUDHL-4 cells treated with IL-21 by western blot, the mRNA expression of Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, Bid, Bax, c-myc by Survivin gene with RT-PCR.

RESULTSIL-21 markedly inhibited SUDHL-4 cell growth in a time- and dose-dependent manner. The 48 hIC(50) was 140.9ng/ml; The FCM showed that the apoptosis proportion of SUDHL-4 cells treated with 100 ng/ml of IL-21 apoptosis (AnnexinV-FITC(+) positive cells) gradually increased (48 h: 19.7 ± 2.3%). The protein expression of caspase-9, caspase-3, Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL decreased in a time-dependent manner. The Bax and c-myc protein markedly increased, but the Bid protein level did not change. IL-21 up regulated c-myc and Bax gene expression, however down regulated Bcl-2 and BCL-XL gene expression, but the gene expression of Bid and Survivin hadn't been changed significantly.

CONCLUSIONSIL-21 can inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis of SUDHL-4 cell. The mechanism may involve in endogenous mitochondrial pathway mediated by the c-myc and the Bcl-2 genes.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Caspase 9 ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Humans ; Interleukins ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism ; bcl-X Protein ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of lentivirus-mediated RNA interference targeting vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR1) gene on the proliferation, migration and apoptosis of leukemic cell line U937.

METHODSShort hairpin RNAs (shRNA) targeting VEGFR-1 was synthesized and cloned into pRNAT-U6.2 lentiviral vector. The expression vectors were transfected into 293T cell line to produce packaged lentivirus. After infected with the packaged lentivirus, the expression of VEGFR-1 gene of U937 cells at mRNA and protein level was detected by real-time PCR and Western blot. VEGF production by the cells was determined by ELISA. Cell proliferation and survival under regular culture and in the presence of cytarabine (Ara-C) was determined by CCK-8 assay. Migration assays were performed by 5 µm pore transwell inserts.

RESULTSThe lentiviral shRNA vector targeting VEGFR-1 was successfully constructed and transfected into U937 cells. The shRNA vector effectively inhibited the expression of VEGFR-1 gene in U937 cell line at mRNA and protein levels. As compared to that of the control, the proliferation rate of U937-shVEGFR-1 cells reduced; The VEGF production and migrated cell number of U937-shVEGFR-1 cells decreased dramatically. After treated with Ara-C, the inhibition rate and apoptotic rate of U937-shVEGFR-1 cells increased significantly. The number of migrated cells in the KD group under regular culture and in the presence of VEGF was markedly lower than that in the NC group and CON group. Bevacizumab could decrease the number of migrated cells in the NC group and CON group, but could not in the KD group.

CONCLUSIONSLentivirus-mediated RNA interference targeting VEGFR1 gene reduces the proliferation, migration of U937 cell line and enhances its sensitivity to Ara-C.

Apoptosis ; genetics ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Gene Silencing ; Humans ; RNA Interference ; RNA, Small Interfering ; genetics ; U937 Cells ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of hypoxia on sumoylation of HIF-1α, as well as transcriptional activity and protein stability of HIF-1α in Jurkat cells, and explore its effect and significance on modulating the transcriptional activity of down stream target gene.

METHODSCoCl(2) was used as a chemical inducer to simulate the hypoxia environment. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR and western blot were used to evaluate transcriptional activity and protein stability of HIF-1α, levels of SUMO-1 and SENP1 protein, and gene transcripts of VEGF, mdr1, mdr3, Mcl-1 and survivin respectively.

RESULTSAfter 4 h, 8 h, 16 h, 24 h and 72 h after hypoxia induction, the gene transcripts of HIF-1α were 0.79 ± 0.19, 2.65 ± 2.05, 4.19 ± 4.72, 2.77 ± 3.37, 0.09 ± 0.05 and 0.69 ± 0.55-fold (P > 0.01) of that of 0h in Jurkat cells, respectively, while the protein stability increased first, then decreased (P < 0.01). SENP-1 protein up-regulated first, then down-regulated, and the SUMO-1 protein changed in an opposite trend. Excepting for survivin gene, transcriptional activities of VEGF, mdr1, mdr3, and Mcl-1 were affected by the stability of HIF-1α protein.

CONCLUSIONHypoxia induces changes in SENP-1 expression, which increases the stability of HIF-1α by decreasing the sumoylation of HIF-1α and affects biological process by regulating the transcriptional activities of VEGF, mdr1, mdr3 and Mcl-1 gene.

Cell Hypoxia ; Humans ; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit ; genetics ; Jurkat Cells ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Sumoylation ; Transcriptional Activation ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo determine whether autoantibodies against the cardiac G-protein-coupled beta 2- and alpha 1-adrenergic and AT1 receptors are related to patients with primary hypertension.

METHODSSynthetic peptides corresponding to amino acid sequences of the second extracellular loops of the beta 2- and alpha 1-adrenergic and AT1 receptors were respectively used as antigens to screen sera from patients with hypertensive heart diseases (n = 50) as well as simple hypertension (n = 40) and healthy blood donors (n = 40) using ELISA test.

RESULTSThe positive ratio of autoantibodies against beta 2 and alpha 1 and AT1 receptors in patients with hypertensive heart diseases were significantly higher than patients with simple hypertension and healthy donors. The geometric mean titers of autoantibodies against beta 2- and alpha 1-adrenergic and AT1 receptors had no difference between the patients with hypertensive heart diseases and the patients with simple hypertension, but the geometric mean titers of two groups were higher than healthy donors. In the patients with hypertensive heart diseases, 81.0% of the patients with autoantibodies against beta 2-adrenergic receptor had autoantibodies against alpha 1-adrenergic receptor and 76.2% had autoantibodies against AT1 receptors. The percent of the autoantibodies against three receptors in patients with hypertensive heart diseases were 52.4%.

CONCLUSIONSAutoantibodies against beta 2- and alpha 1-adrenergic and AT1 receptors play an important role in the pathophysiological changes of primary hypertension, and may participate myocardial and vessel remodeling.

Adult ; Aged ; Autoantibodies ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; immunology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Receptor, Angiotensin, Type 1 ; immunology ; Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha-1 ; immunology ; Receptors, Adrenergic, beta-2 ; immunology

OBJECTIVEGas-containing encephalo-meningitis is very rare. There have only been a few cases reported in the literature. The majority of neonatal cases reported in literature died. We report a case of a 5-day-old neonate who developed diffuse pneumocephalus from Enterobacter cloacae septicemia and intracranial infection.

METHODThis neonate was initially treated with penicillin and mezlocillin. He also received phototherapy, intravenous infusion, correction of acidosis and other supportive therapy. Complete blood count, C-Reactive protein, cranial CT scan, blood culture, cerebrospinal fluid culture and biochemistry were tested repeatedly.

RESULTSThis neonate's condition deteriorated after admission. He developed respiratory distress, increased muscle tone and decreased level of consciousness. His WBC and C-reactive protein were elevated, while blood gas, electrolytes, liver enzymes and renal function were within normal range initially. Cranial CT scan was done which demonstrated diffuse pneumocephalus. He was transferred to a higher level hospital for further management at the request of the family. Blood culture done in our hospital subsequently showed growth of Enterobacter cloacae. The infant developed seizures and further deterioration in level of consciousness after transfer. Antibiotics were switched to penicillin and ceftizoxime. Cranial CT scan repeated 2 days after transfer showed hydrocephalus and some resolution of pneumocephalus. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was aspirated from the lateral ventricles two weeks after admission. CSF culture also showed growth of Enterobacter cloacae. Antibiotic was switched to imipenem according to antibiotic sensitivity. His general condition was improved. Blood and CSF cultures were negative 1 month after admission. His head circumference at discharge was 34.6 cm. Repeat cranial CT scan at 4 month of age demonstrated severe hydrocephalus, diffuse leukomalacia and calcification. This infant suffered significant neurodevelopmental deficit. Muscle tone was diffusely increased. Head circumference at 9 month of age was 48.4 cm.

CONCLUSIONThis case suggests the importance of Enterobacter cloacae infection in the newborns. Our analysis of 34 cases of Enterobacter cloacae infection showed that 93.75% - 100% were sensitive to quinolones, 94.12% were sensitive to imipenem, 73.33% were sensitive to gentamicin, 50% were sensitive to piperacillin-tazobactam. Enterobacter cloacae is generally not sensitive to penicillin, first and second generation cephalosporins (0 - 21.4%). Enterobacter cloacae septicemia and intracranial infection in neonates have a high mortality rate and can result in severe neurodevelopmental deficit in survivors.

Enterobacter cloacae ; Enterobacteriaceae Infections ; pathology ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Meningitis ; microbiology ; Pneumocephalus ; microbiology

Action Potentials ; Animals ; Electromyography ; Environmental Exposure ; Hypothermia ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Seawater ; Thigh ; physiology ; physiopathology

Objective To explore the expression level and influencing factors of CD4 +CD25 + regulatory cells(Treg)among male drug -abusers with syphilis.Methods 144 male drug -abusers with syphilis,41 male drug -abusers without syphilis,35 male non -drug abuser with syphilis and 35 male healthy volunteers were enrolled in this study.Expression levels of CD4 +CD25 +Treg of them were detected.A questionnaire interview was conducted among these participants, including drug abuse duration,drug types and abuse ways.Results The levels of Treg expression of drug -abusers with syphilis were significantly higher than that of drug -abusers without syphilis and non -drug abuser with syphilis (P <0.01 ).Despite of the stage of syphilis,types of drugs and abuse way,Treg expression levels with drug abuse duration of"above 1 -year"were significantly higher than those of "1 -year or below"(P <0.01 ).Treg expression levels were positively correlated to drug abuse duration (R2 =0.672,P <0.01)among patients.Among the participants,people both with traditional and new drugs were significantly higher than that with only traditional or new drug (P <0.01).In addition, people both with injecting and non -injecting abuse were significantly higher than that with one way of drug -abuse (P <0.01).Among those with drug abuse duration of "above 1 -year",Treg levels of drug -abusers with traditional drugs and injecting abuse way were remarkably higher than that with new drug and non -injecting abuse respectively (P <0.01). Conclusion Among male drug -abusers with syphilis,suppression of cellular immune function resulting from increased CD4 +CD25 +regulatory T cells is related to drug abuse duration,and is also influenced by drug types and abuse ways.