Objective To explore the expression of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2(TIMP-2) in peripheral blood lymphocytes in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases(COPD) and the association of smoking and TIMP-2 mRNA. Methods The expression of TIMP-2 mRNA in peripheral blood lymphocytes was measured by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) in 44 patients with COPD and 42 healthy smokers.The correlation analysis was then conducted between TIMP-2 mRNA expression and smoking index. Results The expression of TIMP-2 mRNA was 0.753?0.154 and 1.170?0.196,respectively,in patients with COPD and healthy smokers(P

Objective To investigate the roles of transforming growth factor(TGF)-β1 gene polymorphisms in severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus(SARS-CoV)infection and the interstitial lung fibrosis after recovered.Methods Sixty-five recovered SARS patients,37 health care workers and 66 healthy controls were enrolled in this case-case study.The association between genetic polymorphisms of TG F-β1 and suscept ibility to SARS or interstitial lung changes after SARS reco,vered was carried out.Polymerase chain reaction-sequencing based typing(PCR-SBT)method was used to determine the polymorphisms of TGF-β1 gene at locus+869 and+915.Data were analyzed using t test and chi square test.Results There was no significant association of TGF+β1 gene polymorphisms at locus+869 and+915 in recovered SARS patients,health care workers and heahhy controls.And gene linkage of this two loci was not related with SARS-CoV susceptibility.Furthermore,no association between interstitial lung changes in recovered SARS palients and TGF-β1 gene polymorphisms or genetic linkage of this two loci.Conclusions It may not be related between TGFβ1 gene polymorphisms at locus+869 and+915 and SARS-CoV susceptibility.And interstitial lung changes in recovered SARS patients may not be influenced by TGF-β1 gene polymorphisms.

Objective To study the biodistribution of anti-HER-2/neu monoclonal antibody Herceptin labeled by 131I(131I-Herceptin) in healthy KM mice and nude mice bearing human ovarian cancer xenografts and radioimmunoimaging (RII) of the nude xenografts-bearing mice.Methods 131I-Herceptin was prepared using Iodogen method.The labeling efficiency, radiochemical purity, stability and immunocompetence were measured.The percentage activity of injection dose per gram of tissue (%ID/g) and the radioactivity ratio of tumor to non-tumor tissue (T/NT) were calculated for each time point.The optimal time for imaging was investigated by comparing the 131I-Herceptin SPECT for the nude mouse models bearing ovarian cancer xenografts at different time points.Results The labeling efficiency and radiochemical purity of 131I-Herceptin were 89.8% and 98.4%, respectively.The labeling was stable and had good immunocompetence.131 I-Herceptin was cleared rapidly mainly through liver, spleen and kidneys, consistent with first order two-compartment model.The uptake of 131I-Herceptin in the tumors bearing human SKOV-3 xenografts was much higher than that in nontumor tissue.The% ID/g was 18.08 in the tumor at 24 h post injection.The T/NT ratio increased with time and was 27.27 at 72 h post injection.The tumors in nude mice bearing SKOV-3 xenografts could be visualized on 131I-Herceptin SPECT imaging 2 h post injection; definitely identiffed 48 h post injection and the radioactivity ratio of tumor to contralateral tissue was 11.44 at 120 h post injection.However, the tumor in nude mice bearing HO-8910 xenografts did not show abnormal uptake of 131 I-Herceptin at each time point.Conclusions 131 I-Herceptin is a good radiopharmaceutical targeting SK-OV-3 xeuografts and it may be useful in imaging carcinoma of ovary and target therapy of its metastases with high HER-2/neu expression.

BACKGROUND:At present, there are several limb-preserving methods,such as xenogenic bone joint replacement, artificial metal prothesis replacement and inactivation and replantation of tumor bone segment, etc.Each method has its advantages and disadvantages. In addition, mismatch of xenogenic and autogeneic joints and articular cartilage necrosis in the late stage, which affects joint function, are two important problems for large frozen bone-joint allograft at ultra-low temperature in repair of bone defect following bone tumor resections in extremities.OBJECTIVE:To evaluate a method to obtain outline information on the cartilage surface through spiral CT scanning data, so as to lay foundation for study on individualized artifical semi-knee joint based on rapid prototyping (RP) technique.DESIGN: Open experiment.SETTING: First Department of Trauma, Urumqi General Hospital of Lanzhou Military Area Command of Chinese PLA.MATERIALS: This experiment was carried out at Institute of Orthopaedics, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University of Chinese PLA, and Institute of Advanced Manufacturing, Xi'an Jiaotong University from September 2001 to May 2003. CT scanning subject was a 25-year-old healthy male volunteer.METHODS:Distal femur was performed 1 mm in thickness scanning with Picker 6 000 spiral CT. Three-dimensional volume reconstruction was conducted at the Voxel Q Image workstation on Picker 6000 CT, then, two-dimensional tomography image of reconstruction data were downloaded with spacing of 0.1 mm. Data format converter software was self-developed. The downloaded image was treated through smoothing, de-noise and so on.Vector data of two-dimensional borderline outline of tomography image was calculated and input into Surfacer 9.0 software (American Imageware company) for vectorial three-dimensional reconstruction. According to recognition of articular cartilage outline and request of prothesis design, the threedimensional images of interested articular cartilage surface outline were extracted and used in the computer-aided design for individualized artificial semi-knee joint.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Vector converting of CT image and vector image of three-dimensional reconstruction of femoral condyle.RESULTS:Vector converting of CT image dafa had been come true using self-developed medical image vector converter software. Three-dimensional solid model of individualized femoral condyle was constructed with Surfacer9.0 three-dimensional processing software and edited according to design request. Three-dimensional model of articular cartilage requested by artifical semi-knee joint prothesis was extracted for computer-aided design. The constructed articular surface outline could be treated further to complete computer-aided design of artificial semi-knee joint prothesis; The file format was .stl, which could be recognized by RP software and used in engineering.CONCLUSION:Vector reconstruction of articular cartilage outline is performed based on spiral CT data that can obtain precise three-dimensional solid model of articular cartilage outline. The three-dimensional model can be edited, which lays foundation for computer-aided design and RP manufacturing of artificial semi-knee joint prothesis compounded with large segment xenogenic bone; It is easy and practicable in vector converting of medical image information with this method, and it also has good application prospect in biomanufacturing field in orthopaedic and oral maxillofacial surgery.

Depression and insomnia are intimately related. Depressed patients usually manifest sleep discontinuity and early awakening, reduced or no slow wave sleep (SWS) and shortened latency of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. These sleep abnormalities are very similar to those caused by over activated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis with stress. Therefore, the animal models developed by post-traumatic stress disorder or chronic unpredictable mild stress could be used to evaluate drugs which have effects of both anti-depression and improvement of sleep quality, and to provide a more reliable platform for further studis on the mechanisms of depression and accompanied insomnia. This review mainly focuses on the typical features of sleep disturbance of depression, possible pathophysiological mechanisms, establishment of animal stress models and analysis of their abnormal sleep characteristics.
Animals ; Chronic Disease ; Depression ; physiopathology ; Depressive Disorder ; physiopathology ; Disease Models, Animal ; Humans ; Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System ; physiopathology ; Pituitary-Adrenal System ; physiopathology ; Sleep ; physiology ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders ; physiopathology ; Sleep, REM ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic ; physiopathology ; Stress, Psychological ; physiopathology

To explore the effect of sinomenine on the nitric oxide (NO)/neural nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) system in the cerebellum and spinal cord of morphine-dependent and morphine-withdrawal Kunming mice, mice were subjected to injection of morphine with an increasing dose for 5 d, and then were treated with sinomenine (40 mg/kg, i.p.) for another 5 d. Naloxone was used to develop acute withdrawal, and the withdrawal syndromes, including teeth chattering, twisting, straightening, sneezing and ptosis, were investigated. nNOS mRNA expressions in the cerebellum and spinal cord were determined by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. nNOS activity and NO level were determined by the chemistry-colorimetry and nitrate reductase-reduction, respectively. The results obtained were as follows: (1) Sinomenine restored the decrease in body weight and alleviated the signs of morphine-withdrawal in mice. (2) Sinomenine also reduced the increases in nNOS mRNA expression and nNOS activity resulting from morphine-dependence, and simultaneously attenuated the high level of NO in both tissues following morphine-withdrawal. (3) Administration of sinomenine alone did not develop physical dependence in mice. The results obtained indicate that sinomenine may attenuate morphine addiction and significantly alleviate morphine-withdrawal symptoms, and the mechanism may be associated with the effect of sinomenine on the NO/nNOS system in the cerebellum and spinal cord.
Animals ; Body Weight ; drug effects ; Cerebellum ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Morphinans ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Nitric Oxide ; analysis ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I ; genetics ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; analysis ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Spinal Cord ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome ; drug therapy ; metabolism

As a neuropeptide, neurotensin (NTS) is widely expressed in central and peripheral nervous system, which is mainly mediated byneurotensin receptor1 (NTSR1) to activate the related downstream signaling pathways. After summarized the function and mechanism of NTS/NTSR1 in various malignant tumors, we found that NTS/NTSR1 played essential roles during tumor initiation and development. NTS/NTSR1 regulates tumor initiation, proliferation, apoptosis, metastasis and differentiation mainly through three pathways, including IP3/Ca2+ /PKC/MAPKs pathway, MMPs/EGFR/MAPKs (PI3K/Akt) pathway, or Rho-GTPsaes and non-receptor tyrosine kinase pathway. Besides, NTS/NTSR1 is also regulated by some upstream pathways and some traditional Chinese medicine preparations and traditional Chinese medicine therapies. In this article, we summarized the function of NTS/NTSR1 and its mechanisms, and discussed the prospective in its application to clinical diagnosis and drugs targeting.
Animals ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Neoplasms ; etiology ; Neurotensin ; chemistry ; physiology ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; physiology ; Receptors, Neurotensin ; chemistry ; physiology ; Signal Transduction ; physiology ; rhoA GTP-Binding Protein ; physiology

Objective To study the diagnosis and treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection after liver transplantation. Methods The clinical data of 111 patients who received liver transplantation from November 2000 to December 2007 in our hospital were analyzed retrospectively. The recipients were diagnosed as having CMV infection by the predisposing factors, clinical symptoms and detection of CMV-PP65 and CMV-IgM in peripheral blood specimens in combination with chest X-ray. The treatment of CMV infection was administration of Ganciclovir. Results Five recipients were diagnosed as having CMV infection, with the incidence of 4.5%. Two were diagnosed as having CMV pneumonitis, with the incidence of 1.8% (40% of the recipients having CMV infection). Two were both improved. Three were diagnosed as having CMV active infection. Two of them were cured and one was improved. Conclusion The detection of CMV-PP65 is necessary for early diagnosis and guiding treatment of CMV infection. Ganciclovir can exert significant therapeutic effects on CMV infection.

Objective To detect the argyrophilic proteins in nucleolar organizer regions(Ag-NORs) that express rDNA and rRNA proliferation of T lymphocytes before chemotherapy and after complete remission(CR) in children with primary acute leukemia(AL).Methods The argyrophilic granules area of NOR/nuclear area(I.S%) of T lymphocytes was detected by image analysis system in peripheral blood of 42 patients before chemotherapy and after CR and 30 normal children.Results I.S% in the patients before chemotherapy(5.06%?1.36%) were significantly lower than those in the healthy donors(7.51%?1.06%)(t=8.238 P0.05).Conclusion These results suggest that decrease of Ag-NORs expresses the evidence for tumour induced suppression of immune function of T cells in children with AL prior to treatment.

Objective: To analyze the dynamic trend of caries prevalence of permanent teeth and DMFT in the 7-year-old primary school students of Han nationality from 1991 to 2014, and to provide a basis for the development of caries prevention measures for children and adolescents. Methods: A total of 100 652 students from the 7yearold age group of 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in 1991, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2014 from Physical Fitness And Health Surveillance Of Chinese School Students were selected. DMF% and DMFT were used as indicators to analyze the change trend of caries prevalence of permanent teeth and DMFT in different groups of 7-year-old primary school students of Han nationality in the past 25 years. Results: During the 25 years, the DMF% of primary school students in 7 years old group showed an overall U-shaped development trend. DMF% was 7.9% in 1991, lowest at 3.2% in 2005, and 5.2% in 2014. The DMFT basically showed a steady fluctuation trend. DMFT of rural girls were higher than the other three groups. Conclusion In view of the serious caries problem among primary school students aged 7 in China, it is necessary to continue to improve oral health strategies, strengthen the publicity of prevention and treatment of caries and oral health education, increase the input of oral health resources in rural areas, reduce the prevalence of caries and protect children’s oral health.