OBJECTIVETo observe the temporal and spatial changes in the distribution of Ca2+ in the rat brain following focal cerebral ischemia injury and explore the protective effect of puerarin against calcium overload.

METHODSFocal cerebral ischemia was induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats. After cerebral ischemia, puerarin was administered in the rats at different time points. The volume of ischemic cerebral tissue was assessed by TTC staining, and the fluorescence intensity of Ca2+ in the cortex and corpora striata was determined under laser scanning confocal microscope.

RESULTSThe fluorescence intensity of Ca2+ in the infracted cortex and corpora striata begun to increase 2 h after the ischemia and was further enhanced with the prolongation of the ischemic time. No significance was found in the fluorescence intensity of Ca2+ between the cortex and corpora striata. The fluorescence intensity of Ca2+ in the infarcted corpora striata was obviously higher than that in the cortex after ischemia. Compared with that in the ischemic model group, the fluorescence intensity of Ca2+ in the infarcted cortex and corpora striata decreased significantly at 2 and 12 h following puerarin intervention (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONPuerarin treatment can relieve calcium overload, reduce cerebral ischemic volume and play a neuroprotective role against focal cerebral ischemia. Twelve hours following cerebral ischemic injury may be the time window for administering puerarin intervention.

Animals ; Brain ; metabolism ; Brain Ischemia ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Calcium ; metabolism ; Calcium-Transporting ATPases ; metabolism ; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Isoflavones ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Neuroprotective Agents ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Objective To examine the influence of systemic rehabilitation exercise on social functioning in chronic schizophrenic patients.Methods 60 qualified cases selected from chronic psychiatric inpatient department were randomly divided into two groups according to admission number (AD).30 cases in treatment group accepted hospitalized systemic rehabilitation exercise and 30 controls accepted ordinary treatment for 6 months.Social functio-ning evaluated with SSPI and PSP.Results The total score of SSPI(t=1.322,P=0.256) and PSP(t=1.563,P=0.362) were not significantly higher(P>0.05),The total score of SSPI [(37.44 ±4.33)points,t=2.719,P=0.001]and PSP[(72.14 ±6.86)points,t=3.985,P=0.000]total score in the treatment group were significantly higher than that in the control group(P<0.01).It were significantly higher in the treatment group than before the intervention.The total score of SSPI (t=0.385,P=0.763)and PSP(t=0.682,P=0.827) total score were not significantly higher in the control group(P>0.05).Conclusion Systemic rehabilitation training does influence on social functioning in chronic schizophrenic patients.

Objective The influenza A (H1N1) virus has the characteristic of strong infectiousness and variation. It can threaten the lives of patients. In this paper,we investigated the expression of programmed cell death molecule 5 (PDCD5) in peripheral blood of patients with influenza A (H1N1) and its correlation with the severity of disease. Methods The data of 104 patients with influenza A (H1N1) treated in Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University from January 2015 to December 2017 were analyzed retrospectively. The 104 patients were divided into the mild H1N1 group (n=78) and the severe H1N1 group (n=26). At the same time,104 healthy physical examination subjects were selected as control group. The blood routine,lymphocyte count and PDCD level were observed in three groups. Results The number of leukocytes,neutrophils and lymphocytes of the mild H1N1 group and severe H1N1 group were significantly lower than those of the control group (P<0.05). The number of leukocytes,neutrophils and lymphocytes of the severe H1N1 group were significantly lower than those of the mild H1N1 group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in mononuclear cells between three groups (P>0.05). The levels of PDCD5 and lymphocyte apoptosis rate of the mild H1N1 group and severe H1N1 group were significantly higher than those of the control group (P<0.05) ,the severe H1N1 group was significantly higher than the mild H1N1 group (P<0.05). The total T cells,CD4+T cells and CD8+T cells of the mild H1N1 group and severe H1N1 group were significantly lower than those of the control group (P<0.05). The total T cells,CD4+T cells and CD8+T cells of the severe H1N1 group were significantly lower than those of the mild H1N1 group and con-trol group (P<0.05). The level of PDCD5 was positively correlated with the severity of disease and the rate of lymphocyte apoptosis (r=0.872,0.904,P<0.05),and negatively correlated with total T cells,CD4+T cells and CD8+T cells (r=-0.842,-0.805,-0.877,P<0.05). The sensitivity,specificity and area under the curve of PDCD5 to prediction of severe type H1N1 were 92.31%,97.25% and 0.941,respectively. Conclusion The level of peripheral blood PDCD5 in patients with influenza A (H1N1) virus in-fection is associated with the severity of the disease,and it can be considered as an important biomarker to predict severe influenza A (H1N1).

Isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase (IDI) is a key enzyme in the regulation of triterpenes biosynthesis and plays an important role in ginsenoside biosynthesis. In this study, two IDI genes, PvfIDI1 (GenBank No. MZ736417) and PvfIDI2 (GenBank No. MZ736418) were cloned from Panax vietnamensis var. fuscidiscus. The open reading frame of both PvfIDI1 and PvfIDI2 was 924 bp encoding 307 amino acids. The molecular weights of PvfIDI1 and PvfIDI2 were 34.84 kDa and 34.66 kDa, respectively, with theoretical pIs of 6.01 and 5.66. Bioinformatic analysis indicated that PvfIDI1 and PvfIDI2 contained two conserved sequences: TNTCCSHPL and WGEHELDY. Phylogenetic analysis showed that PvfIDI1 and PvfIDI2 were closely related to Panax notoginseng IDI. Expression analysis showed that both PvfIDI1 and PvfIDI2 genes are expressed in root, rhizome, stem and leaf of P. vietnamensis var. fuscidiscus. However, PvfIDI1 is highly expressed in the rhizome and PvfIDI2 is highly expressed in the stem. PvfIDI1 and PvfIDI2 recombinant proteins were expressed in E. coli; a functional coloration experiment showed that PvfIDI1 and PvfIDI2 could promote the accumulation of lycopene, indicating that both PvfIDI1 and PvfIDI2 encode functional IDI enzymes. The cloning and functional studies on PvfIDI1 and PvfIDI2 provide a foundation for the further study of IDI and the regulation of ginsenoside biosynthesis in P. vietnamensis var. fuscidiscus.

OBJECTIVETo construct a database of human lung squamous carcinoma cell line NCI-H226 and to facilitate discovery of novel subtypes markers of lung cancer.

METHODProteomic technique was used to analyze human lung squamous carcinoma cell line NCI-H226. The proteins of the NCI-H226 cells were separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and identified by mass spectrometry.

RESULTSThe results showed that a good reproducibility of the 2-D gel pattern was attained. The position deviation of matched spots among three 2-D gels was 1.95 +/- 0.53 mm in the isoelectric focusing direction, and 1.73 +/- 0.45 mm in the sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis direction. One hundred and twenty-seven proteins, including enzymes, signal transduction proteins, structure proteins, transport proteins, etc. were characterized, of which, 29 identified proteins in NCI-H226 cells were reported for the first time to be involved in lung cancer carcinogenesis.

CONCLUSIONThe information obtained from this study could provide some valuable clues for further study on the carcinogenetic mechanism of different types of lung cancer, and may help us to discover some potential subtype-specific biomarkers of lung cancer.

Biomarkers, Tumor ; analysis ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; chemistry ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Databases, Factual ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; chemistry ; Neoplasm Proteins ; analysis ; Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

To explore whether the complete donor chimerism could be achieved and graft-versus-host disease could be alleviated by donor lymphocyte infusion which was sensitized by the skin of the recipient, female C57BL/6 mice (H-2(b), B6) as recipients received total body irradiation (TBI) of 5.5 Gy ((60)Co gamma-ray) on day 0 followed by allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). The allo-grafts consisted of 2 x 10(7) peripheral hematopoietic stem cells from mobilized male BALB/c (H-2(d)) donor mice with the granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). Day 2 after allo-HSCT, the recipient mice were given 200 mg/kg cyclophosphamide intraperitoneally. Afterwards these recipient mice were infused 2 x 10(6) sensitized or unsensitized-donor lymphocytes at the 28 days after transplantation. The results showed that the mice receiving sensitized-donor lymphocyte infusion did not suffer from GVHD and the phenotypic character of the recipient mice (black color) converted to that of the donor mice (white color), and to become full-donor chimerism. It was found that the ratio of CD4(+)/CD8(+) T lymphocytes of them decreased at the earlier period and increased after half month, but which were also lower than that of the normal value. While various grades of acute GVHD was observed in that of the control group and the mixed-chimeras were maintained, though it increased a little, and the ratio of CD4(+)/CD8(+) T lymphocytes increased at first, then decreased to the normal level half month later. It is concluded that sensitized DLI converted mixed to complete donor chimerism without GVHD, and the rate of CD4(+)/CD8(+) has close relation to the incidence of GVHD.
Animals ; CD4-CD8 Ratio ; Chimerism ; Female ; Graft vs Host Disease ; prevention & control ; Graft vs Leukemia Effect ; Lymphocyte Transfusion ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Stem Cell Transplantation ; adverse effects ; methods ; Transplantation Conditioning ; methods ; Whole-Body Irradiation

OBJECTIVESTo investigate the clinical and pathological subtypes of Castleman's disease (CD) and their relationship with complications.

METHODSThe clinical complications of 53 patients with CD and the relationship of these complications with clinical and pathological subtypes were analyzed retrospectively.

RESULTSAmong 53 CD patients, 32 (60.4%) were classified as uni-centric type and 21 (39.6%) multicentric type. Histopathological examination showed that 37 cases (69.8%) were hyaline vascular variants (HV), 9 (17.0%) plasmacytic variants (PC), and 7 (13.2%) mixed cellular variants (Mix). Complications were identified in 32 (60.4%) patients, including the involvements of skin, internal organs and hematopoietic system. Some complications were closely associated with the clinical subtype of CD: the majority of complications in the 32 uni-centric CDs were paraneoplastic pemphigus (PNP) and bronchiolitis obliterans (BO), and those in 21 multi-centric CDs were the involvements of kidney and hematopoietic system. The complications were different among the three kinds of histopathological subtypes: PNP and BO were the predominant complications of HV variants, while the internal organ and hematopoietic system involvements were those of PC and Mix variants. The clinical and histopathological classification of CD patients with PNP were different obviously from other subtypes of CDs. In Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, the survival rate of those with complications was significantly lower than those without complication (P = 0.028).

CONCLUSIONThe clinical complications of CDs are related to their clinical and histopathological subtypes. CD patients with PNP should be considered as a unique entity to tailor the therapy. The presence of clinical complications is an independent prognostic factor in CD patients.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Castleman Disease ; complications ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the significance of early screening of pediatric developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) and congenital muscular torticollis (CMT) using ultrasonography and establish a simultaneous screening model for pediatric DDH and CMT.

METHODSFrom January, 2013 to January, 2016, a total of 5060 pediatric patients with suspected DDH and CMT underwent ultrasonic examinations. The diagnostic results of the two diseases were classified into different clinical types, and Chi-square test was used to analyze the one-way relationship between different types of DDH and CMT; correspondence analysis was used for multivariate analysis of the variables. Chi-square test was used to analyze the difference between the detection rates in suspected CMT patients and the normal population.

RESULTSGrafIIa type DDH was associated with mass-type CMT in the children (χ=331.800, P<0.001). DDH of GrafIIb, GrafIIc, Graf III, and Graf IV types were related with non-tumor type of CMT. The children with a suspected diagnosis of CMT showed a significantly higher detection rate of DDH than the normal subjects (χ=321.889, P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONDDH is closely related with CMT. Early simultaneous screening of DDH and CMT can help to improve the early diagnosis rate of CMT in children.

Objective·To investigate the relationship between obesity and chronic kidney disease (CKD) in a community-based study among a middle-aged and elderly Chinese population. Methods·A survey of 10375 inhabitants aged 40 years or older in Jiading District of Shanghai was performed using cluster sampling. All the subjects were recruited to undergo questionnaire interview, anthropometric measurements, and biochemical measurements. Blood and urine samples were collected to measure biochemical features, including plasma glucose, lipid profiles, liver and renal function, as well as urinary albumin and creatinine. Obesity status was diagnosed according to the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. According to body mass index (BMI) levels, the subjects were divided into normal weight group (BMI<25 kg/m2), overweight group (25 kg/m2 ≤ BMI<30 kg/m2) and obesity group (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2). The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated based on American Chronic Kidney Disease-Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equation. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the risk of CKD among people with different BMI levels. Results·Increased BMI levels were associated with more unfavorable metabolic profiles. After a variety of factors were adjusted,each 1 kg/m2 increment of BMI was associated with a 9% higher risk of prevalent CKD, and the odds ratio (OR) was 1.09 (95% CI:1.07-1.12). Results from multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that in the total population, compared with individuals in the normal weight group, those in the overweight and obesity groups had 51% (OR=1.51, 95% CI: 1.27-1.78) and 181% (OR=2.81, 95% CI: 2.20-3.61) higher risk of prevalent CKD. Conclusion·In the middle-aged and elderly community population in China, overweight and obesity are associated with an increased risk of prevalent CKD.