Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of herb-partitioned spreading moxibustion at Baliao points plus climen for diminished ovarian reserve (DOR). Methods: A total of 60 patients with DOR were randomized into a spreading moxibustion group and a Western medicine group by the random number table method, with 30 cases in each group. The Western medicine group was treated with climen, starting from the 5th day of the menstrual cycle for 21 d. The spreading moxibustion group was treated with herb-partitioned spreading moxibustion at Baliao points on the basis of the medication in the Western medicine group, 1 h per time, once a week. The treatment was performed for 1 month as one treatment course in both groups, for 3 courses in total. The serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH) and estradiol (E2) in the patients were measured before and after treatment. The peak systolic velocity (PSV) and resistance index (RI) were also detected. The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) symptom score was evaluated. The clinical efficacy was evaluated after treatment. Results: The total effective rate in the spreading moxibustion group was 93.3％, which was significantly higher than 80.0％ in the Western medicine group, and the difference between the groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). After treatment, the TCM symptom scores, the serum FSH levels, FSH/LH ratios and RI in both groups decreased, and the intra-group differences were all statistically significant (all P<0.05). The serum E2 level and PSV increased compared with those in the same group before treatment, and the intra-group differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). After treatment, the TCM symptom score, the serum FSH level, FSH/LH ratio and RI in the spreading moxibustion group were lower than those in the Western medicine group, while the serum E2 level and PSV were higher than those in the Western medicine group, and the differences between the groups were statistically significant (all P<0.05). Conclusion: Herb-partitioned spreading moxibustion at Baliao points plus climen can produce valid therapeutic efficacy for DOR. It can improve the clinical symptoms, regulate serum hormone levels and increase ovarian blood perfusion, thus improving ovarian reserve function, producing more significant efficacy than climen alone.

As one of the most serious types of psoriasis, pathogenesis of erythrodermic psoriasis (EP) is unclear so far. In this study, we aimed to detect the levels of Th1/Th2 cytokine-associated transcription factors and T-lymphocyte clone in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) derived from EP patients, and gene expression level of T-bet/GATA-3 in skin lesion. The potential role of Th1/Th2 reaction pattern played in the pathogenesis of EP was also discussed. Serum levels of IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-4 and IL-10 were quantified by ELISA among 16 EP patients, 20 psoriasis vulgaris (PV) patients and 15 healthy controls. The expression levels of T-bet/GATA-3 in the skin lesion and PBMCs were examined by real-time qPCR. The ratio of Th1/Th2 was measured by flow cytometry. The levels of IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-4 and IL-10 were higher in EP patients than in the healthy controls. The levels of IL-4 and IL-10 were 69.44±11.45 and 12.62±4.57 pg/mL, respectively, in EP patients, significantly higher than those in PV patients and healthy controls (P<0.05). Flow cytometry revealed the levels of both Th1 and Th2 in PBMCs from EP patients were higher than those in healthy controls, and the Th1/Th2 ratio was dramatically lower than in PV patients (P<0.01). The ratios of IFN-γ/IL-4 and T-bet/GATA-3 in EP patients were both less than 1.0, suggesting a reversal when compared with the other two groups. Our study indicated that the EP patients exerted a Th1/Th2 bidirectional response pattern, and the balance of Th cell subsets inclines to Th2, which might be one of the important mechanisms of EP pathogenesis.

Objective To investigate the expression and variation of MIP 1β,MIP-2,and IL-12p70 in mice with bloodstream infection caused by 4 kinds of bacteria.Methods CD-1 (ICR) mouse models of bloodstream infection with Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus),Enterococcus f aecalis (E.f aecalis),Escherichia coli (E.coli),and K lebsiella pneumoniae (K.pneumoniae) were established.After mice in each trial group and PBS control group were infected by bacteria for 0.5h,1h,3h,6h,12h,24h,and 48h,concentrations of MIP-1β,MIP-2,and IL-12p70 were detected by Luminex liquid suspension chip system.Results Concentrations of MIP-1β increased significantly 1h after bacteria was in blood,S.aureus,E.faecalis,E.coli,K.pneumoniae,and control groups were (134.5 ± 18.3),(61.5 ± 15.4),(3 354.0 ±809.0),(6 888.4 ± 1 100.2),and (28.9 ± 4.6) pg/mL respectively;the peak values of IL-12p70 were (389.3 ± 118.1),(127.6 ± 10.0),(42.2 ± 3.5),(62.8 ± 8.4),and (4.8 ± 0.3) pg/mL respectively.Concentrations of MIP-1β and MIP-2 in E.coli and K.pneumoniae groups were significantly higher than other trial groups and control group (all P＜0.01),while concentrations of IL-12p70 in S.aureus and E.faecalis groups were both significantly higher than E.coli,K.pneumoniae,and control groups (all P＜0.01).Conclusion Concentrations of MIP-1β and MIP-2 in E.coli and K.pneumoniae groups were both significantly higher than those in S.aureus and E.faecalis groups,while concentrations of IL-12p70 in S.aureus and E.faecalis groups were both significantly higher than those in E.coli and K.pneumoniae groups.The combination detection of multiple cytokines or chemokines are valuable in predicting gram-positive or gram-negative bacterial infection,and can provide basis for treatment of early infection.

The systematic treatment based on gemcitabine plus cisplatin is recommended as the current standard chemotherapy for unresectable or metastatic biliary tract cancers.However,the exact benefits from the recognized regime are still dismal.We thus elicit this study in an attempt to analyze whether targeted therapy coupled with various chemotherapy could produce improvement of survival benefits.The clinical trials were searched electronically from databases till July 2016 published in English and Chinese.Nine hundred and sixty-four patients from 7 trials were identified in our analysis.The overall analysis achieved a significantly higher overall response rate (ORR) among the patients treated with targeted drugs plus chemotherapy than chemotherapy alone (OR=1.87;95％ CI:1.37-2.57;P=0.000),but failed in the overall progression-free survival (PFS) [mean difference (MD)=0.63;95％ CI:-0.45-1.72;P=0.26] and overall survival (OS) (MD=-0.67;95％ CI:-2.54-1.20;P=0.49).In the sub analysis,better ORR was obtained with the addition of EGFR (OR=1.75;95％ CI:1.20-2.56;P=0.004) and VEGFR (OR=2.5;95％ CI:1.28-4.87;P=0.007) targeted therapy.Furthermore,the sub analysis of EGFR target showed an significant improvement on PFS (MD=l.36;95％ CI:0.29-2.43;P=0.01).No significant differences were observed in the incidences ofneutropenia (OR=1.37;95％ CI:0.89-2.12),thrombocytopenia (OR=l.40;95％ CI:0.83-2.39),anemia (OR=l.21;95％ CI:0.62-2.38),peripheral neuropathy (OR=1.52;95％ CI:0.81-2.88),increased AST/ALT (OR=l.40;95％ CI:0.82-2.39) as well as fatigue (OR=1.65;95％ CI:0.96-2.84) in either of the treatment groups.In conclusion,better ORR associated with chemotherapy combined with targeted therapy (both targeting EGFR and VEGF) is found in the present mcta-analysis without the cost of increased unacceptable toxicities,but regretfully not for the OS.The sub-analysis of targeting EGFR instead of VEGF obtains a superior PFS.Otherwise,there is no statistically significant difference in the overall PFS between the combination regime and chemotherapy alone.Given the paucity of favorable data,we need further studies to characterize optimal targeted agents to confirm the potential value to biliary tract cancer.

In recent years, the impact of meteorological factors on health and injury has been paid more and more attention. Severe weather events were considered to be an important risk factor for traffic accident injuries. Evidence from a large number of epidemiological studies suggests that meteorological factors, including high temperatures, rainfall, snowfall, wind and visibility, might be related to the occurrence of traffic accidents. This systematic review attempts to summarize the current research status of meteorological factors on traffic accident injury, systematically review the relationship between meteorological factors and traffic accident injury, and discuss how to further carry out related research.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the molecular epideiological and clinical feature of human metapneumovirus in children with acute respiratory tract infection in Nanjing city, China.

METHODNasopharyngeal aspirates and nasopharyngeal swab were taken from 642 outpatients or hospitalized pediatric patients with acute at the Children Hospital of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China, between August 2009 and July 2010. Respiratory speciments were tested for the M gene of hMPV by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). All RT-PCR positive products were sequenced and phlogenetic analysis was conducted.

RESULThMPV was detected in 35 (5.5%) of the 642 children. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that 51.4% of the hMPV were B1, 31.4% were A2b. The peak of the positive rate was in April. The majority of the hMPV-positive patients(71.4%) were 0-1 years old. Of the 35 hMPV-positive patients, 15 (42.8%) were co-infected with other respiratory viruses, and human rhinovirus (HRV) were the most common additional respiratory virus. The most common clinical diagnosis was pneumonia (48.6%).

CONCLUSIONHuman metapneumovirus is an important pathogen of acute respiratory tract infection in children in Nanjing city. The subtype B1 was the predominating lineage in 2009-2010 in Nanjing city. No significant differences were found for clinical characteristics between genotype A and genotype B human metapneumovirus infection in children in Nanjing.

Acute Disease ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Metapneumovirus ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Phylogeny ; Respiratory Tract Infections ; epidemiology ; virology ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

OBJECTIVETo study the clinical and molecular epidemiology characteristics of human Bocavirus 1-3 (HBoV1-3) in children for acute respiratory infection in Lanzhou area.

METHODSNasopharyngeal aspiration samples and throat swabs were collected from 524 children with ARTI at the First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Gansu Province, China, between December 2009 and November 2010. Nested PCR was employed to screening HBoV1-3, which amplified a 518-bp fragment of the partial NS1 gene. Furthermore, a standard reverse transcription-PCR was used to screen for other common respiratory viruses.

RESULTSThe overall frequency of HBoV was 8.2% (43/524), lining up behind human rhinovirus, RSV, parainfluenza virus 3. Thirty of the HBoV-postive children(69.8%) were co-infected with other respiratory viruses. The prevalence of HBoV1 in ALRTI was obviously higher than that in AURI. The 2 HBoV2 NS1 sequences shared 99% and 100% nucleotide sequence identity with HBoV2 strain CU47TH respectively. Two cases of HBoV2 postive children appears gastrointestinal symptoms. The one HBoV3 NS1 sequences shared 99% nucleotide sequence identity with HBoV3 isolate 46-BJ07.

CONCLUSIONThe HBoV3 was detected at the first time in lanzhou area. HBoV1-3 infection exists in children with acute respiratory tract infections in Lanzhou region, HBoV1 were dominant. The mixed infection rate was higher.

Acute Disease ; China ; Female ; Human bocavirus ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Phylogeny ; Respiratory Tract Infections ; virology

As one of the most serious types of psoriasis, pathogenesis of erythrodermic psoriasis (EP) is unclear so far. In this study, we aimed to detect the levels of Th1/Th2 cytokine-associated transcription factors and T-lymphocyte clone in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) derived from EP patients, and gene expression level of T-bet/GATA-3 in skin lesion. The potential role of Th1/Th2 reaction pattern played in the pathogenesis of EP was also discussed. Serum levels of IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-4 and IL-10 were quantified by ELISA among 16 EP patients, 20 psoriasis vulgaris (PV) patients and 15 healthy controls. The expression levels of T-bet/GATA-3 in the skin lesion and PBMCs were examined by real-time qPCR. The ratio of Th1/Th2 was measured by flow cytometry. The levels of IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-4 and IL-10 were higher in EP patients than in the healthy controls. The levels of IL-4 and IL-10 were 69.44±11.45 and 12.62±4.57 pg/mL, respectively, in EP patients, significantly higher than those in PV patients and healthy controls (P<0.05). Flow cytometry revealed the levels of both Th1 and Th2 in PBMCs from EP patients were higher than those in healthy controls, and the Th1/Th2 ratio was dramatically lower than in PV patients (P<0.01). The ratios of IFN-γ/IL-4 and T-bet/GATA-3 in EP patients were both less than 1.0, suggesting a reversal when compared with the other two groups. Our study indicated that the EP patients exerted a Th1/Th2 bidirectional response pattern, and the balance of Th cell subsets inclines to Th2, which might be one of the important mechanisms of EP pathogenesis.
Adult ; Cytokines ; immunology ; Dermatitis, Exfoliative ; immunology ; pathology ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation ; immunology ; Humans ; Male ; Psoriasis ; immunology ; pathology ; Skin ; immunology ; pathology ; Th1 Cells ; immunology ; pathology ; Th2 Cells ; immunology ; pathology

OBJECTIVETo develop a method for enriching methylated DNA in clinical samples using mesocellular silica foams (MCFs) immobilized with methyl-CpG binding domain (MBD).

METHODSMCFs with ultra-large pore size were synthesized, functionalized and immobilized with GST-MBD.

RESULTSThe large cage-like pore structures of MCF materials was retained after functionalization and immobilization, with pore diameter of 55 nm, window size of 30 nm, and a high pore volume of 1.0 cm(3)/g. The loading amount of MBD was as high as 53 wt%. Immobilized MBD showed high binding activity and stability. In a binding buffer with salt concentrations ranging 500-550 mmol/L, the MCF-MBD can selectively enrich methylated DNA from the mixed DNA solution.

CONCLUSIONThe MCF-MBD method may offer a better choice for high-throughout DNA methylation screening, and has laid a foundation for clinical application, prenatal diagnosis and research on DNA methylation-related genetic diseases.

Animals ; CpG Islands ; DNA ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; DNA Methylation ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; chemistry ; Immobilized Proteins ; chemistry ; Protein Structure, Tertiary ; Rats ; Silicon Dioxide ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of liver X receptor (LXR) agonist on adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSCs) implantation into infarcted hearts of mice.

METHODAD-MSC(Fluc+) which stably expressed firefly luciferase (Fluc) were isolated from β-actin-Fluc transgenic mice and characterized by flow cytometry. Male FVB mice were randomly allocated into the following four groups (n = 10 each): (1) sham group; (2) MI + PBS group; (3) MI + AD-MSC(Fluc+) group; (4) MI + AD-MSC(Fluc+) + LXR agonist (T0901317) group. AD-MSC(Fluc+) or PBS were injected intramyocardial into peri-infarcted region of mice heart after permanent left anterior descending (LAD) artery ligation. Bioluminescence imaging (BLI) was performed for quantification of injected cells retention and survival. Cardiac function was evaluated by echocardiography.

RESULTSThe AD-MSC(Fluc+) were positive for CD44 and CD90 by flow cytometry. BLI evidenced the firefly luciferase expression of AD-MSC(Fluc+) which was positively correlated with cell numbers (r(2) = 0.98). The results of BLI in vivo revealed that LXR agonist could improve the survival of AD-MSC(Fluc+) at day 7, 14 and 21 after transplantation compared with AD-MSC(Fluc+) alone group. Cardiac function was further improved in combination therapy group compared with AD-MSC(Fluc+) alone group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSLXR agonist T0901317 can improve the retention and survival of intramyocardial injected AD-MSC(Fluc+) post-MI, and the combination therapy of T0901317 and AD-MSC(Fluc+) has a synergetic effect on improving cardiac function in this model.

Animals ; Hydrocarbons, Fluorinated ; therapeutic use ; Liver X Receptors ; Male ; Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation ; methods ; Mice ; Mice, Transgenic ; Myocardial Infarction ; mortality ; surgery ; Orphan Nuclear Receptors ; agonists ; Sulfonamides ; therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome