OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of paraquat (PQ) on reactive oxygen species (ROS) and neutrophil apoptosis and its possible signal transduction pathways.

METHODSCultured neutrophils were treated with different concentrations of PQ for 6-24 h. The apoptosis rate of neutrophils and ROS content were determined by flow cytometry. The exoressions of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and Caspase 3 were detected by Western blot. These parameters were checked again after NF-κB and Caspase 3 antagonist were applied.

RESULTSPQ could boost ROS generation and depress neutrophil apoptosis significantly. At the same time PQ could enhance the expression of NF-κB and inhibit the expression of Caspase 3. These effects could be reversed by ROS inhibitor diphenyleneiodonium (DPI) and NF-κB inhibitor pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (PDTC).

CONCLUSIONPQ is a potent inducer of ROS and can inhibit neutrophil apoptosis by activating NF-κB and surpressing Caspase 3 activity.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Cells, Cultured ; NF-kappa B ; antagonists & inhibitors ; metabolism ; Neutrophils ; cytology ; drug effects ; Paraquat ; toxicity ; Pyrrolidines ; pharmacology ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction ; Thiocarbamates ; pharmacology

Objective To investigate the association of first permanent molars caries prevalence with primary molar caries experience.Methods Cluster,stratified and random sampling method,was used and 3680 children 6-to 10-year-old were randomizly selected from primary schools of Jinan city.Caries status of first permanent molars,decayed-missed-filled surfaces (DMFS,dmfs),decayed-missed-filled teeth (DMFT,dmft),were examined.Chi-square test was used to analyze the relationship among the caries incidence and the age,sex and to analyze the relationship between the first permanent molars DMFT,DMFS and the primary molars dmft,dmfs.Results Twenty point seven percent(763/3680) of children had first permanent molars caries,significantly higher(P ＜ 0.01) in girls [28.9％ (509/1762)] than in boys [13.2％ (254/1918)],a positive correlation (r =0.31,P ＜ 0.01) was found between caries experiences of primary molars (dmft) and caries of first permanent molars (DMFT).Higher permanent molar caries was found in subjects with dmft higher than 3 or dmfs higher than 19.Conclusions Sex,age and the caries experience of primary molars were factors closely related with the caries rate of the first permanent molars.Enhanced prevention is suggested on the first permanent molars of children who has higher prevalence of caries in primary molars.

OBJECTIVEAs our previous comparative proteomics study on high and low metastasis human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell strains revealed that cytokeratin 19 (CK19) was related to higher metastasis potential, we further investigated the relationship between serum CK19 level in HCC patients and their clinico-pathologic characteristics.

METHODSSerum CK19 levels of 101 normal controls and 108 pathology-proven HCC patients were determined using radioimmunoassay, and the their correlation with clinico-pathologic parameters were studied.

RESULTSThe upper limit of one-side 98% confidence interval of normal serum CK19 level was 2.3 microg/L. Among 108 HCC patients, 24 (22.2%) had increased serum CK19 level, ranging from 2.4 to 45.5 microg/L. There were 12 patients (11.1%) with increased CK19 level but normal AFP level. The percentage of poor differentiated tumor was higher in CK19 increased cases (37.5%, 9/24) than in CK19 normal cases (20.2%, 17/84). Moreover, the presence of portal vein tumor emboli was significantly higher in CK19 increased cases (25.0%, 6/24) than in CK19 normal cases (6.0%, 5/84). (Chi-square = 7.403, P < 0.01) In addition, the percentage of TNM stage III/IV tumor was significantly higher in CK19 increased patients (54.2%, 13/24) than in CK19 normal cases. (chi-square = 13.300, P < 0.005)

CONCLUSIONSome HCC patients do have increased serum CK19 level, which could be related to portal vein tumor emboli, poor tumor differentiation and advanced tumor stages.

Adult ; Aged ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; blood ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; blood ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Keratins ; blood ; Liver Neoplasms ; blood ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Proteins ; blood ; Peptide Fragments ; blood ; genetics ; Proteome ; analysis

OBJECTIVETo analyze the clinical risk factors for deep vein thrombosis (DVT) after total hip and knee arthroplasty in Chinese patients who received prophylactic treatment for DVT.

METHODSWe evaluated 128 total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in 95 patients performed at our center from April 2004 to August 2004, which included 48 THAs in 43 patients and 80 TKAs in 52 patients. There were 27 men and 68 women with a mean age of 59.77 years (range, 23-78 years). All patients had been given low-molecular-weight heparin before operation and for 7-10 days post-operation to prevent DVT. Color Doppler ultrasonography was used to detect DVT of bilateral lower extremities in all patients before operation and at 7-10 days after operation. Nineteen clinical factors were examined preoperation and 7-10 days post-operation in order to analyze their influences on DVT formation after surgery.

RESULTSThere were 45 patients who developed DVT after operation. The incidence of DVT in all patients was 47.4% (45/95) and the incidence of proximal DVT was 3.2%. There were more asymptomatic DVT (57.8%, 26/45) than symptomatic ones, and some patients without DVT (14%, 7/50) presented some of the DVT symptoms. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated a definite association of female, obesity (representative by BMI), cement usage and diagnosed RA with DVT with odds ratio of 10.008, 3.094, 8.887, and 0.194 respectively. Other clinical factors had no statistically significant association with DVT.

CONCLUSIONSFemale, obesity, and cement usage were the risk factors for DVT after THA and TKA, and diagnosed RA was the protecting factors for DVT after THA and TKA. Other clinical factors such as age, OA, type of implant, monolateral or bilateral operation, duration of anesthesia, surgery and bandage usage for blood control, time for immobilization et al were not the risk factors for DVT.

Adult ; Aged ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip ; adverse effects ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee ; adverse effects ; Bone Cements ; adverse effects ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Obesity ; Postoperative Complications ; prevention & control ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Sex Factors ; Thrombophlebitis ; etiology ; prevention & control

OBJECTIVETo investigate the association between the exons 2 to 4 of the MICA gene and ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

METHODSBy PCR-SSOP, DNA samples from 56 AS patients and 112 random healthy individuals, as normal control were genotyped to analyse the polymorphism in exons 2, 3, 4 of the MICA alleles.

RESULTSMICA*008 was dominant in MICA allele,accounted for 32.14% and 30.36% in AS patients and normal controls respectively. The frequency of MICA*007 was significantly increased in AS patients, when compared with normal controls (chi-square=10.18, P<0.05, RR=2.50). No difference was found in the other MICA alleles. The haplotype analysis revealed that there were the strong linkage disequilibrium between MICA and HLA-B of AS patients, and normal controls. There was a difference in MICA*007-B27 between two groups (chi-square=18.46, P<0.05, RR=7.47). Both HLA-B27 and MICA*007 were strongly associated with AS. Stratified analysis showed that HLA-B27 was significantly relative to AS,while it was not found between MICA*007 and AS.

CONCLUSIONThe increased frequency of MICA alleles may be due to its strong linkage disequilibrium with HLA-B27.

Alleles ; Exons ; genetics ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; HLA-B Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-B27 Antigen ; genetics ; Histocompatibility Antigens Class I ; genetics ; Humans ; Linkage Disequilibrium ; genetics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; genetics ; Spondylitis, Ankylosing ; genetics

Objective To improve the quality of personal dose equivalent measurement by exploring optimal annealing temperature conditions.Methods Totally 60 pieces of thermoluminescent detectors were randomly and equally divided into 6 groups.The 6 groups underwent 10-min annealing under 200,220,230,240,250 or 260 ℃ respectively,and then were cooled with the same conditions and went through measurement after irradiation by the calibrated radiation source.The above operation of annealing,cooling and measurement were repeated for 10 times,and the 6 groups were compared on dispersity,sensitivity and glow curve.Results Single test proved that under 240 ℃ the dispersity,sensitivity and glow curve gained optimal results comprehensively,while repeated tests showed that the dispersity had the optimal value under 250 ℃ and the sensitivity decreased significantly as the times of annealing rose.Conclusion Annealing conditions have to be selected according to the requirements of the thermoluminescent detector.

Background/Aims: Functional dyspepsia (FD) overlapping with other gastrointestinal disorders are quite common. The characteristics of FD overlap in Chinese population with latest Rome IV criteria were unclear. This large-scale outpatient-based study assessed the characteristics of FD overlap in South China. Methods: Consecutive FD patients visited the Gastroenterology Clinic at 2 tertiary medical centers in Hangzhou, China who fulfilled the Rome IV criteria were enrolled. Complete questionnaires related to the gastrointestinal symptoms (Rome IV criteria), Reflux Disease Questionnaire, anxiety and depression, quality of sleep and life, and demographic information were collected. Results: Among the total of 3281 FD patients, 50.69% overlapped with gastroesophageal reflux disease, 21.46% overlapped with irritable bowel syndrome, 6.03% overlapped with functional constipation. FD overlap had higher proportion of single/divorced/widowed rate, high education level, being employed, drinking, night shift, unhealthy dietary habit than FD only (P < 0.05). They had higher frequency of consultation and economic burden, as well as lower scores in quality of life (P < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression showed that increasing age, female, low body mass index, history of gastroenteritis, anxiety, depression, and poor sleep quality were independent risk factors for FD overlap. Conclusions FD overlap was quite common in China with high economic burden and poor quality of life, FD patients with history of gastroenteritis, anxiety, depression, and poor sleep quality were more likely to have overlap disorders. Awareness of the physical and psychosocial stressors in overlapping condition would help optimize the management of FD overlap in clinical practice.

OBJECTIVEVariable Number of Tandem Repeats (VNTRs) analysis was a recently developed method which could serve as a 'real-time' genotyping tool for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. One hundred and thirteen M. tuberculosis isolates from the patients with tuberculosis in Beijing were analysed using the reference method to study the characters of genetic diversity and genotype.

METHODSThirteen tandem repeat loci (ETR-A, ETR-C, ETR-D, MIRU10, MIRU16, MIRU27, MIRU31, MIRU40, Mtub21, Mtub30, Mtub38, Qublla, Qubllb) in the total genome of MTB were analyzed by PCR and agarose gel electrophoresis method. The characters of the polymorphism of DNA fingerprinting of one hundred and thirteen MTB strains were analyzed with Gel-Pro analyzer 3.1 software and BioNumerics 3.0 software. Results One hundred and thirteen MTB strains were characterized and classified in to four genotype families(type I , type II , type NV, type V ) based on thirteen tandem repeat loci. One hundred and four isolates(92.0%) belonged to type I , the other three genotypes scattered, five strains(4.4%) remaining with type II , while type IV and type V having the same quantity 1.8% (2/113). M. tuberculosis H37Rv belonged to a unattached genotype(type ll ). Conclusion There was obvious length polymorphism in the M. tuberculosis isolates which implied that type I was the epidemic strain clusters in M. tuberculosis in Beijing. VNTRs analysis seemed to be a simple, rapid, sensitive and valuable tool for epidemiological studies of M. tuberculosis complex organisms.

China ; epidemiology ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Genes, Bacterial ; Genetic Variation ; Genotype ; Humans ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Tandem Repeat Sequences ; Tuberculosis ; epidemiology

BACKGROUNDEvaluation of fetal central nervous system (CNS) agenesis by ultrasonography (US) is frequently limited, but magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has its own advantages and is gaining popularity in displaying suspected fetal anomalies. The purpose of this study was to explore the value of MRI in detecting fetal CNS agenesis.

METHODSThirty-four women (aged from 22 to 35 years, average 27 years) with complicated pregnancies (16 - 39 weeks of gestation, average 30 weeks) were examined with a 1.5 T superconductive MR unit within 24 hours after ultrasonography. Half-Fourier acquisition single-shot turbo spin-echo (HASTE) T(2)-weighted imaging (T(2)WI) sequence were performed in all patients, and fast low angle shot (FLASH) T(1)-weighted imaging (T(1)WI) sequence were applied sequentially in seven of them. Comparison of the results was made between the MRI and US findings as well as autopsy or postnatal follow-up MRI findings.

RESULTSThe gyrus, sulcus, corpus callosum, thalamus, cerebellum, brainstem, and spinal cord of fetus were shown more clearly on T(2)-weighted MR images than on T(1)-weighted MR images. MRI corrected the diagnosis of US in 10 cases (10/34, 29.41%) and the diagnosis was missed only in 1 case (1/34, 2.94%).

CONCLUSIONMRI has advantages to US in detecting fetal CNS anomalies and is a supplement to US in complicated pregnancies.

Adult ; Central Nervous System ; abnormalities ; diagnostic imaging ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Pregnancy ; Ultrasonography, Prenatal

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Cerebrovascular Disorders ; epidemiology ; Diabetes Mellitus ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; epidemiology ; Hypertension ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Male ; Military Personnel ; Prevalence ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic ; epidemiology ; Retirement ; Systole