Heart Neoplasms ; Hemangioma ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn

Objective To study the inhibition of neutrophil apoptosis induced by interleukin-6 (IL-6) and evaluate the effect of propofol on IL-6 induced inhibition of neutrophils apoptosis. Methods Neutrophils were isolated from 20 healthy volunteers( 20-55 yr) and incubated in RPMI1640 cell culture medium . Neutrophils from each volunteer were divided into 6 parts and incubated with NS (group Ⅰ -control), IL-6(group Ⅱ), propofol( group Ⅲ), intralipid (the lipid vehicle of propofol-group Ⅳ ), IL-6 + propofol(group Ⅴ), IL-6 + intralipid(group Ⅵ ) respectively. After 24 h of incubation, neutrophils were stained with acridine orange and ethidium bromide and observed under fluorescence microscope. Apoptosis index was calculated.Results IL-6 inhibited neutrophil apoptosis (IL-6 35.80 ?8.59 vs control 52.00?10.60, P

Objective To explore the application of Chinese version of PedsQLTM Multidimensional Fatigue Scale(PedsQLTM MFS) in children with leukemia.Methods 141 children with leukemia and their main caretakers (one parent) were surveyed with the Chinese version of PedsQLTMMFS.Results The Cronbach α was 0.836-0.949 and 0.761-0.930 for parent-proxy scale and children's self-report scale respectively.The correlation coefficients between each item and its subscale were higher than those between each item and other subscales.The scores of parent-proxy scale and children's self-report scale were positively correlated with the correlation coefficient as 0.373-0.738,P＜0.01.Conclusions The Chinese version of PedsQLTMMFS has good reliability and validity.It is a reliable scale in measuring fatigue in children with leukemia.

Objective To describe fatigue among children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)receiving chemotherapy in hospital and explore its related factors.Methods A total of 100 hospitalized children with ALL receiving chemotherapy and their main caregivers were surveyed on demographic information,treatment data,Wong-Baker facial scale and the PedsQLTMMFS Multidimensional Fatigue Scale.Results The incidence of fatigue was 99％ (99/100).The total score of fatigue scale was (56.71±17.32) on average.Multiple linear regression modeling showed that the factors related with fatigue included the time of dexamethasone use,childen's sleep quality,hemoglobin content,pain score,the time for the present chemotherapy,age and main caregivers' self-rating health status (P＜ 0.05 or 0.01).Conclusions Fatigue is serious among children with ALL receiving chemotherapy and is related with demographic factors,diseases,treatment condition and health status of the caregivers.

Objective To observe the usage of antiasthmatic drugs and seek problems of following the guidelines of asthma and COPD prevention & treatment in community hospitals.Methods The prescribed quantity in 2013 of antiasthmatic drugs was recorded for 5 community hospitals in a district of Shanghai.Basing on the defined daily dose (DDD),the dosing frequency of drugs (DDDs) and the percentages of each category of drugs were calculated.Then comparisons were made with the data of a grade Ⅱ hospital and a grade Ⅲ hospital in the same district.Results Among three level hospitals,no significant difference existed in the percentages of oral antiasthmatic drugs.But the major category of oral drugs at grades Ⅱ-Ⅲ hospitals was leukotriene receptor antagonist whereas only oral theophylline and oral β2-receptor agonists were available at community hospitals.Among inhaled drugs,inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) dominated at grades Ⅱ-Ⅲ hospitals.But at community hospitals,inhaled short-acting beta-agonists (SABA) predominated.Among inhalants,dry powder inhaler (DPI) dominated at grades Ⅱ-Ⅲ hospitals and metered dose inhaler (MDI) at community hospitals.Conclusions The usage of antiasthmatics at community hospitals is not consistent with the guidelines.Optimizing drug purchasing at hospitals,strengthening continued medical education,modifying the medication concept of patients and boosting the production of domestic inhalants should be urgently undertaken.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the changes of CD4 + CD25 + Foxp3 + regulatory T cells in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and their association with insulin resistance in different stages of prostate cancer (PCa).

METHODSUsing flow cytometry, we counted the CD4+ CD25 + Foxp3 + regulatory T cells in the PBMCs of 62 PCa patients (5 cases of TNM stage I, 16 cases of stage II, 21 cases of stage III, and 20 cases of stage IV) and 42 normal healthy controls, and calculated their proportion in the CD4+ T-lymphocytes. We determined the levels of fast blood glucose (FBG) and fast insulin (FINS) for the insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR), obtained the serum IGF-1 level by ELISA, and analyzed the relationship of the count and proportion of CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ regulatory T cells with insulin resistance by comparison between the PCa patients and normal healthy controls.

RESULTSCompared with the control group, the PCa patients showed significantly increased HOMA-IR (3.68 ± 1.42 vs 6.68 ± 1.66), decreased level of serum IGF-1 ([164.56 ± 30.58] vs [96.39 ± 21.21] ng/ml), and elevated count ([1.99 ± 0.78 ] x 10(7) vs [3.55 ± 0.29] x 10(7)) and proportion ([5.33 ± 0.65] vs [13.88 ± 0.96]%) of CD4 + CD25 + Foxp3 regulatory T cells in the PBMCs. The TNM stage was correlated positively with the count and percentage of CD4 + CD25+ Foxp3 + regulatory T cells and HOMA-IR, but negatively with the level of serum IGF-1. Meanwhile, the count and percentage of CD4 + CD25 + Foxp3 + regulatory T cells were found to have a positive correlation with HOMA-IR (r = 0.722 and 0.689, P < 0.01) but a negative correlation with the level of serum IGF-1 (r = -0.747 and -0.896, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe count and proportion of CD4+ CD25 + Foxp3 + regulatory T cells in the peripheral blood and insulin resistance increase with the elevated stage of PCa. CD4 + CD25 + Foxp3 + regulatory T cells may be involved in the occurrence and progression of PCa by regulating insulin resistance.

Aged ; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes ; Case-Control Studies ; Disease Progression ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Hyperinsulinism ; Insulin ; blood ; Insulin Resistance ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I ; metabolism ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear ; Lymphocyte Count ; Male ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; blood ; immunology ; pathology ; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory

Objective To study the effect of intensive trunk muscle training on balance and walking in pa- tients with hemiplegia caused by stroke.Methods A total of 90 stroke patients were recruited and randomly divid- ed into a treatment group(45 cases)and a control group(45 cases).All the patients were given conventional reha- bilitation training.Meanwhile,intensive trunk muscle training was also administered for those in the treatment group as well.The trunk control function,balance ability and walking ability were assessed by using the trunk control test, Berg Balance Scale and the balance subscale of the Fugl-Meyer physical performance test,and Holden's functional ambulation classification,respectively,before and after 6 weeks of training.Results It was found that all the pa- tients scored better with the trunk control test,Berg's balance scale,the balance subscale of the Fugl-Meyer physical performance test and Holden's ambulation classification after treatment,and there were significant differences between the two groups after treatment(P

Objective To investigate the social support needs of medical staff in Guangzhou during the post-COVID-19 period,providing a basis for relevant departments to offer targeted social support for medical staff in Guangzhou and improve their of occupational quality of life.Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted,employing a combination of quota and conven-ience sampling to select subjects,eligible medical staff were invited to complete an online questionnaire.Results The social sup-port with a total score of 20 for medical staff in Guangzhou scored 9(7,11).Among the dimensions of social support,media sup-port scored the lowest.Social support as a whole scored with statistically significant differences across groups of different age,ed-ucational background,and job position(all P＜0.05).The median score was the lowest for those under 25 years,for those with a college degree or below,and highest among administrative staff,with other positions showing equal median score.The five di-mensions of social support ranked on the top concerning the total number of the respondents included patients'understanding and trust for medical staff(93.03％),increasing in salaries and benefits(86.06％),accurate policy promotion and public opinion guidance by media(83.41％),attention to the living conditions of medical staff by media(80.29％),and enhanced regulation of false reporting and inappropriate commentary by media(76.92％).Medical staff under the age of 25 had a high need for pa-tients'following doctor's advice,and medical staff with a collegiate degree or below had a high need for family members or friends to care about their physical and mental health.The five strongest needs for social support ranked on the top concerning the total number of respondents included understanding and trust from patients(75.72％),increased salaries and benefits(53.85％),assistance with household matters by family or friends(42.55％),correct policy promotion and public opinion guidance by media(34.62％),and attention to the living conditions of medical staff from media(33.41％).Conclusion Social support for medical staff in Guangzhou are at a relatively low level,indicating a need for social support from all levels of society.

BACKGROUNDTransforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) plays an essential role in the regulation of normal physiologic processes of cells. TGF-beta has been shown to regulate several mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) pathways in several epithelial cells. However, the effects of TGF-beta on soft tissue sarcoma are seldom reported. Our previous studies suggested that there should be some other signal transduction pathways besides Smads, which are important to regulate the growth of human embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) cells. In the present study, we examined the expression and functional relations of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2 (ERK2) and Smad4 in human RMS tissue and a RMS cell line, RD.

METHODSRD cells and normal human primary skeletal myoblasts (Mb) were treated with TGF-beta1 to establish the expression profile of ERK2 at the mRNA and protein levels detected by RT-PCR and immunofluorescence. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of ERK2 and Smad4 in 50 tissue specimens of human RMS and 23 specimens of normal skeletal muscles. Follow-up of specimens was performed 6 months to 70 months later.

RESULTSRD cells and human RMS tissues showed the higher expression of ERK2 and Smad4 than the normal control, either the protein level or the mRNA level. And, exogenous TGF-beta1 stimulation can lead to higher expression of ERK2 and its nuclear translocation, so TGF-beta1 can also activated MAPK (ERK2) pathway, resulting in a sustained activation of ERK2 for at least 2 hours. Immunohistochemistry analysis, however, showed that there was no correlation between ERK2 and Smad4 protein. The overexpression of ERK2 and Smad4 had no indicative effects on histological subtypes, histological grading, gender, age, and prognosis.

CONCLUSIONSIn RMS, signaling of TGF-beta1 from cell surface to nucleus can also be directed through the MAPK (ERK2) pathway besides the TGF-beta1/Smads pathway. The activation of ERK2 by TGF-beta1 may be Smad4 independent. Moreover, there may be some other tanglesome relationships between the TGF-beta1/Smads pathway and the MAPK pathway which takes part in the development, invasion and metastasis of tumor cells.

Cells, Cultured ; Humans ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 ; physiology ; Muscle, Skeletal ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; analysis ; Rhabdomyosarcoma ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction ; Smad4 Protein ; physiology ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; pharmacology

BACKGROUNDTransforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) can inhibit the growth of most epithelial and endothelial cells. The growth regulative role of TGF-beta on soft tissue sarcoma was seldom reported. Here we examined TGF-beta1 effects on the growth of human rhabdomyosarcoma cell RD and searched the relative molecular mechanism.

METHODSThe viability of RD was examined by [(3)H]-thymidine incorporation and [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-z-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide] (MTT) assay. RD cell cycle was analysed by flow cytometry. The protein and mRNA of cell cycle regulative factors in RD were detected by Western blot and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), respectively. The kinase activity of cdk2 or cdk4 was examined by immunoprecipitation and kinase assay. Immunofluorescent staining was used to detect the location of cell cycle regulative factors in RD by laser scanning confocal microscope.

RESULTSTGF-beta1 inhibits RD proliferation by G1-arrest in cell cycle progression. TGF-beta1 can prominently up-regulate P27 of RD, then augment P27 to bind cyclinE-cdk2 complexes, which effectively suppress cdk2 kinase activity. P21 increased and c-myc decreased in RD due to TGF-beta1. Both P15 and cdk4 have not been involved in the growth inhibitory event. TGF-beta1 treatment induced P27 to congregate around nucleus. P21 pervaded from nucleus to both nucleus and cytoplasm by TGF-beta1 treatment.

CONCLUSIONTGF-beta1 inhibits the proliferation of human rhabdomyosarcoma cell line RD and induces RD G1-arrest. This course is accomplished by TGF-beta1 up-regulating P27 to suppress cdk2 kinase activity. The induction of P21 and down-regulation of C-myc might participate in the growth-arrest event.

Cell Cycle Proteins ; analysis ; genetics ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p27 ; G1 Phase ; drug effects ; Genes, myc ; Humans ; RNA, Messenger ; analysis ; Rhabdomyosarcoma ; pathology ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; pharmacology ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; Tumor Suppressor Proteins ; analysis ; genetics