Objective To investigate the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR?)in lupus nephritis(LN)patients and the possible mechanisms of PPAR?in the pathogenesis of LN. Method PPAR?expression was examined in 21 LN patients and 5 normal kidney biopsy specimens by im- munohistochemical method.The relationship between PPAR?expression and renal pathologic changes was an- alyzed.Results Glomerular and tubular positive staining of PPAR?in LN patients was markedly up-regulated compared with that in normal kidney specimens.The distribution and expression of PPAR?in classⅣwas sig- nificantly increased compared with that in classⅤandⅡ.The relevance assay showed that there was positive relationship between active index and glomerular PPAR?immunohistochemistry staining cell numbers(r=0.94, P＜0.01 ).Conclusion This study demonstrates in vivo that PPAR?expression is increased in active LN pa- tients with pathological active inflammation.These data suggest that the increase of PPAR?expression in renal cells may play an important role in the pathogenesis of LN.

AIM AND METHODSTo further explore the functions of alveolar macrophage and their modulation mechanisms, the activity of lysozyme in rat alveolar macrophage assessed by electrophoresis was determined. The effects of androsterone and estradiol on lysozyme secretion and their mechanisms were also studied.

RESULTSThe results showed that androsterone and estradiol increased activity of lysozyme significantly (P < 0.01), indomethacin abolished those effects. This suggests that the insufficiency of sex hormones secretion as the retrogression of gonads is involved in the decrease of immunological functions, and the susceptibility to infectious diseases.

CONCLUSIONSex hormones increased activity of lysozyme, and those effects related to prostaglandin.

Androsterone ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Estradiol ; pharmacology ; Female ; Indomethacin ; pharmacology ; Macrophages, Alveolar ; drug effects ; enzymology ; secretion ; Male ; Muramidase ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

To explore the roles of regulatory peptides in the process of various anaphylactic inflammation of the airway, we observed the influence of four peptides, i.e., vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), epidermal growth factor (EGF), endothelin-1 (ET-1), and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), on the adhesion of eosinophil (EOS) to unstimulated and O(3)-stressed bronchial epithelial cells (BEC). From the experiments we observed that VIP and EGF decreased EOS adherence to O(3)-stressed BEC and downregulated airway inflammation; ET-1 and CGRP increased the adhesion of EOS to BEC in the inflammatory process; and CGRP aggravated O(3)-stressed reactions. The effects of ET-1 and CGRP were inhibited by W(7)and H(7). Anti-ICAM-1 antibody inhibited the adhesion of EOS to BEC, which brings to light that EOS adherence to BEC may be related to the expression of ICAM-1 of BEC.
Animals ; Antibodies ; pharmacology ; Bronchi ; cytology ; Cell Adhesion ; drug effects ; physiology ; Cells, Cultured ; Endothelin-1 ; pharmacology ; Eosinophils ; physiology ; Epidermal Growth Factor ; pharmacology ; Epithelial Cells ; physiology ; Female ; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 ; immunology ; physiology ; Male ; Rabbits ; Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVEThis paper aims to assess the interaction between common variations in catalase (CAT) polymorphic gene and environmental factors for antioxidant defense enzyme in modulating individual susceptibility to colorectal cancer (CRC).

METHODSA case-control study with 880 colorectal cancer cases and 848 controls was conducted to investigate whether variations in the catalase (CAT) gene, one of the genes involved in scavenging oxidative stress, influenced susceptibility to CRC.

RESULTSThe interaction between life style and genotypes as well as with their effects on colorectal cancer was deduced from the present study. Significant difference (P = 0.01) was identified in the distribution of CAT genotype between the colorectal cancer cases and the controls. The CRC cases had significantly lower mean activity than the controls (P < 0.01). Correlation analyses revealed statistically significant correlations between CAT activity and CAT genotype (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe risk of CRC was associated with smoking, low vegetable consumption, high pork and poultry consumptions, and low or high BMI. This is the first study reporting an association of polymorphism CAT-21A > T with colorectal cancer. Low CAT activity was associated with an increased risk of CRC; however, no evidence was found to support an association between CAT-21A > T polymorphism and CRC risk.

Adult ; Aged ; Case-Control Studies ; Catalase ; genetics ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; enzymology ; epidemiology ; metabolism ; Female ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Oxidative Stress ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

OBJECTIVETo investigate the risk factors for depressive disorders in manufacturing workers and to provide a basis for developing health promotion measures at workplace.

METHODSA questionnaire survey was performed in 8085 front-line production workers from 33 manufacturing enterprises in Nanhai District of Foshan, Guangdong Province, China. The questionnaire contained a survey of demographic characteristics, the Safety Climate Scale, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, etc. The multilevel logistic regression analysis was applied to investigate the risk factors for depressive disorders in workers.

RESULTSA total of 6260 workers completed the survey; their mean age was 31.1 ± 8.6 years, and 53.2% of them were males. The multilevel logistic regression analysis showed that after adjustment for sociodemographic factors such as age, sex, and martial status, more depressive disorders were reported in the enterprises with higher score of "production safety training" than in those with lower score (OR = 1.46, 95%CI = 1.07 ∼ 1.97); fewer depressive disorders were reported in the enterprises with higher score of "colleagues concerned about production safety" than in those with lower score (OR = 0.08, 95%CI = 0.03 ∼ 0.26); the relationships of "safety warnings and precautions" and "managers concerned about production safety" with workers' depressive disorders were not statistically significant (OR = 0.78, 95%CI = 0.48 ∼ 1.28; OR = 1.08, 95%CI = 0.68 ∼ 1.72).

CONCLUSIONDepressive disorders in manufacturing workers are related to the safety climate at workplace, which indicates that a good safety climate at workplace should be created to prevent and control depressive disorders in workers.

Adolescent ; Adult ; China ; Depression ; Female ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Occupational Health ; Safety ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Workplace ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the polymorphisms of 9 non-DNA combined index system (CODIS) short tandem repeats (STRs), i.e., D7S3048, D8S1132, D11S2368, D2S1772, D6S1043, D13S325, D12S391, GATA198B05, D18S1364 in Hebei Han population, and evaluate the usage of them in paternity testing.

METHODSOne hundred and forty-seven unrelated healthy individuals from the Han population of Hebei province were genotyped using STRtyper10G kit including 9 STR loci on ABI 3130 Genetic Analyzer. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and population genetic parameters were calculated. Fourteen cases of motherless paternity testing and 2 cases of standard trios with mutation in 1 locus were detected using STRtyper10G.

RESULTS(1) Ninety-nine alleles and 336 genotypes were observed in the 9 STR loci in the population. The cumulative discrimination power(DP) was higher than 0.999,999,999. The cumulative probability of exclusion (PE) for trios and duos were 0.999,974 and 0.998,759 respectively. Departure from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was not observed in any of the 9 loci. (2) The combined paternity index (PI) of the 14 cases of motherless paternity testing ranged from 10³-10⁶ for 15 STR loci in ID, whereas it reached 10⁵-10⁹ for 22 independent STR loci included in ID and STRtyper 10G. Possible mutation in FGA and vWA was observed in 2 cases of trios, and the combined PI was 5945 and 1840 respectively for 15 STR loci in ID. Adding STRtyper 10G to detect these 2 cases, the combined PI reached 2.76 × 10⁷ and 4.88 × 10⁷ respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe genetic polymorphism of the 9 non-CODIS STR loci included in STRtyper 10G was quite high in Chinese Hebei Han population, indicating the 9 STR loci are valuable as complement markers for ID and PP16 kit in motherless paternity testing, paternity testing with mutation and other kinds of complicated paternity testing.

China ; ethnology ; Gene Frequency ; Genetics, Population ; Humans ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Mutation ; Paternity ; Polymorphism, Genetic

AIMTo explore the effects of calcitonin-gene-related peptide (CGRP) on LPS-induced MMP-9 secretion by alveolar macrophages (AM) in vitro.

METHODSThe supernatant of LPS-induced Wistar rat AM from different intervention groups were collected to measure the activity by gelatin zymography.

RESULTS(Only secreting a small amount of MMP-9 with unstimulated AM, LPS stimulated MMP-9 production in a concentration-dependent manner (p < 0.01). (2) The activity of MMP-9 in CGRP intervention groups at different levels were significantly lower than those in non-intervention group (p < 0.01). (3) The inhibiting effects of CGRP were diminished by H-7 and W-7, an antagonist of protein kinase C (PKC) and calmodulin (CaM) (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThese data suggested that CGRP involved in the MMP-9 secretion by AM, partly, via PKC and CaM pathway.

Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Female ; Lipopolysaccharides ; adverse effects ; Macrophages, Alveolar ; secretion ; Male ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Receptors, Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo analyze the differentially expressed genes in the testicular tissues of men with unilateral cryptorchidism using cDNA gene chips.

METHODSProbes were prepared with the mRNA extracted from the testes of 6 patients with unilateral cryptorchidism and 3 normal fertile men. Then the differential gene expression profiles of the two groups were detected with cDNA gene chips containing 45 034 genes. The differentially expressed genes were analyzed with Pathway and GO in the MAS system.

RESULTSBased on the ratio of > 3.0 or < 0.33, 346 differentially expressed genes were detected in the testis tissues of the patients with unilateral cryptorchidism, among which 60 were up-regulated and 286 down-regulated. The up-regulated genes were distributed mainly on chromosomes 1, 15, 5 and 19, associated with cell cycles, sperm motility, flagellar movement, DNA replication, and chromatin modification, while the down-regulated genes, mainly on chromosomes 1, 19, 16 and 11, related with spermatogenesis and anti-apoptosis.

CONCLUSIONUnilateral cryptorchidism involves the variation of the expressions of multifunctional genes. The establishment of gene expression profiles of unilateral cryptorchidism in human testes may provide a new theoretical basis for analyzing the genetic factors of unilateral cryptorchidism and investigating the etiology of spermatogenic failure.

Adult ; Case-Control Studies ; Cryptorchidism ; genetics ; DNA, Complementary ; genetics ; Humans ; Male ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Testis ; chemistry ; Transcriptome ; Young Adult

BACKGROUNDThe rodentia and lagomorpha animals are the intermediate hosts of Echinococcus multilocularis, their distribution and infection of this parasite may facilitate the infection of definitive hosts such as dogs. The aim of this study was to determine the distribution of the intermediate hosts of Echinococcus multilocularis in Shiqu County, Sichuan, China.

METHODSA systematic sampling method was used to investigate the density of burrows of rodents and lagomorphs at 97 pasture sites in winter and summer pastureland and remote sensing (RS) technology was used to correlate their densities to the distribution of these animals in different landscape types.

RESULTSBased on the densities of Ochotona curzoniae, Microtus fuscus (dependent variable) and their burrow densities (independent variable) in survey points, regression equations were fitted respectively (Ochotona curzoniae, P < 0.0001, R(2) = 0.8705; Microtus fuscus, P < 0.0001, R(2) = 0.9736). Their burrow density in summer pastureland was higher than in winter pastureland (F = 36.65, P < 0.0001). The burrow densities of Ochotona curzoniae and Microtus fuscus in bareland and half-bareland are higher than in grassland (F = 7.73, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONSThe regression relationship between the densities of Ochotona curzoniae and Microtus fuscus and their burrow densities indicate that the burrow densities could reflect the animal densities and that the burrow density was greater in summer pastureland than in winter pastureland. The main distribution areas of the intermediate hosts were in bareland and half-bareland.

Animals ; Arvicolinae ; parasitology ; China ; Echinococcosis ; epidemiology ; transmission ; Echinococcus multilocularis ; pathogenicity ; Lagomorpha ; parasitology

OBJECTIVEThe prostate apoptosis response factor-4 (Par-4) gene was originally identified by differential screening for genes that are up-regulated when prostate cells are induced to undergo apoptosis. Par-4 was found to possess potent apoptotic activity in various cellular systems in response to numerous stimuli. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of small interfering RNA (siRNA) against Par-4 gene on the apoptosis of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) exposed to glutamate.

METHODSPrimary culture of hBMSCs was carried out and siRNAs targeted Par-4 gene (Par-4-SiRNA) were chemically synthesized. Eukaryocytic expression vector was built and were transfected into hBMSCs with liposome. After selecting with G418, the stable cell clones were treated with glutamate. The expression of Par-4 mRNA was determined by real-time PCR. The apoptosis of hBMSCs was quantified by flow cytometry. Western blotting was used to detect the protein levels of phosphorylated Akt1 (Thr308). Relative Caspase-3 activity was determined by colorimetric assay.

RESULTSThe Par-4-SiRNA-1 and Par-4-siRNA-2 could markedly down-regulate the mRNA levels of Par-4 gene in hBMSCs. With the transfections of Par-4-SiRNA-1 and Par-4-SiRNA-2, the levels of Par-4 mRNA were respectively decreased by 88% and 67%. Both Par-4-SiRNA-1 and Par-4-SiRNA-2 inhibited significantly the apoptosis of hBMSCs induced by glutamate, in which the percentages of apoptotic cells were respectively decreased to 38.80% +/- 3.97% (P < 0.01) and 45.49% +/- 4.32% (P < 0.01) from 60.30% +/- 6.82%. Western blot assays demonstrated that, glutamate down-regulated the expression of phosphorylated Akt1 proteins in hBMSCs (89.07 +/- 6.42 and 28.30 +/- 5.65, respectively, P < 0.01). However, Par-4-SiRNA-1 and Par-4-SiRNA-2 could markedly recover the down-regulation of Akt1 proteins induced by glutamate (63.56 +/- 6.75 and 45.59 +/- 4.88, respectively, P < 0.01). And the relative Caspase-3 activity which was enhanced by the treatment with glutamate (0.1428 +/- 0.0495 and 0.8616 +/- 0.1051, P < 0.01), was suppressed by Par-4-SiRNA-1 and Par-4-SiRNA-2 (0.8616 +/- 0.1051 and 0.6581 +/- 0.0555, respectively, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSiRNA against Par-4 gene could inhibit the apoptosis of hBMSCs induced by glutamate, and its inhibitory effects may be mediated by the up-regulation of phosphorylated Akt1 and the suppression of the relative Caspase-3 activity.

Apoptosis ; genetics ; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins ; genetics ; Bone Marrow Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Cells, Cultured ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Humans ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ; metabolism ; RNA, Small Interfering