Aim To study antiangiogenesis and antitumor of thalidomide.Methods In HUVECs, cell viability was determined by MTT assay;death type was observed by electron microscope; ratio of apoptosis was quantitated by flow cytometry.Angiogenesis was tested in chicken embryo chorioallantoic membrane.Effect of thalidomide on S_(180) was examined in homograft mice and microvascular counts were detected through immunochemical staining method.Results Thalidomide might inhibite the growth of HUVECs with a IC_(50) value of(22.91?1.74) ?mol?L~(-1),cells treated by thalidomide for 48 h displayed morphological characteristics of different stages associated with apoptosis,which were irregular nucleus, condensed chromatin, ballooning endoplasmic reticulum, apoptotic bodies,under electron microscope.Thalidomide might be able to cause apoptosis or necrosis of HUVECs in flow cytometry and raised positive of antiangiogenesis with increasing of dosage in chicken embryo chorioallantoic membrane. Thalidomide as a single agent might not significantly prevent tumor growth but decrease microvascular counts in tumors, however, in combination with cyclophosphamide, thalidomide could decrease dosage of cyclophosphamide and enhance antitumor of cyclophosphamide.Conclusion Thalidomide might hold back angiogenesis,as a single agent, could not significantly prevent S_(180) tumor from growing,but acted synergistically with cyclophosphamide.

Objective To compare the infectivity between laboratory adapted human inununodefi- ciency virus(HIV-1) and primary HIV-1 isolates for different mucosal epithelial cell lines. Methods Mu-cosal epithelial cells Caco-2, T-84, HeLa and lymphocyte MT-4 were infected with laboratory adapted HIV-1 SF33 and 2 primary HIV-1 isolates (02010561, 02010141). Culture supernatant and cells were collected respectively on 3-4 days interval after virus inoculation. The former was tested for HIV-1 antigen P24 level and viral load, and the latter was tested for total viral DNA and integrated viral DNA. Results All 3 virus strains could infect MT-4 cells and integrate into their genome. Only HIV-1 SF33 could infect Caco-2 cells but could not integrate into their genomic DNA. Both HIV-1 SF33 and 02010561 infected HeLa cells but only integration of HIV-1 SF33 was detected. All the 3 HIV-1 strains infected T-84 cells but only the integra-tion of HIV-1 SF33 and 02010141 was observed. Conclusion Although laboratory adapted and primary HIV-1 strains are able to infect human mucosal epithelial cell lines, transient or productive infection estab-lished in different mucosal epithelial cells is dependent on the character of cells and virus strains.

AIM: To investigate the relationships between I?1 hs1,2 VNTR polymorphism and IgA nephropathy. METHODS: Four hundred and ninteen patients with IgA nephropathy and their first-degree relatives were recruited. Two hundred and one sex and age-matched normal Chinese Han volunteers were also recruited as controls. After extracting genomic DNA, the VNTR genotypes of I?1 hs1,2 region were determined by PCR and electrophoresis, and the results were analyzed by transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) and haplotype relative risk (HRR) in the families, and Chi-Square test in the case-control analysis. RESULTS: ① TDT analyses showed that B allele of the I?1 hs1,2 VNTR region was significantly more transmitted from heterozygous parents to patients than expected (101 Trios, ?2=6.818, P

Objective:To describe a method based on analysis of the histogram of intensity values pro-duced from the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)for quantifying the degree of fatty infiltration. Methods:The study included 25 patients with dystrophinopathy.All the subjects underwent muscle MRI test at thigh level.The histogram Mvalues of 250 muscles adjusted for subcutaneous fat,representing the degree of fatty infiltration,were compared with the expert visual reading using the modified Mercuri scale.Results:There was a significant positive correlation between the histogram Mvalues and the scores of visual reading (r =0.854,P <0.001).The distinct pattern of muscle involvement detected in the pa-tients with dystrophinopathy in our study of histogram M values was similar to that of visual reading and results in literature.The histogram M values had stronger correlations with the clinical data than the scores of visual reading as follows:the correlations with age (r =0.730,P <0.001 )and (r =0.753, P <0.001);with strength of knee extensor (r =-0.468,P =0.024)and (r =-0.460,P =0.027) respectively.Meanwhile,the histogram Mvalues analysis had better repeatability than visual reading with the interclass correlation coefficient was 0.998 (95% CI:0.997 -0.998,P <0.001)and 0.958 (95%CI:0.946 -0.967,P <0.001)respectively.Conclusion:Histogram Mvalues analysis of MRI with the advantages of repeatability and objectivity can be used to evaluate the degree of muscle fatty infiltration.

Objective To explore the synergetic effect of HBX protein and M2 macrophages in inflammatory microenvironment on invasion and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells.Methods Hep3B cells were infected with recombinant lentivirus carrying HBx gene,following co-culture with THP-1 original M2 macrophages.The cells were divided into six groups:two infected groups (Hep3B +and Hep3B + + M2),four non-infected groups (Hep3B-,Hep3B-+ LV5,Hep3B-+ M2,Hep3B-+LV5 + M2).Western blot (WB) was used to assess the expression changes of E-cadherin and N-cadherin,markers of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT).The cellular location of EMT markers was observed by immunofluorescence confocal microscopy.Transwell assay was used to evaluate the invasion ability of Hep3B cells.Results HBX protein overexpressed in Hep3B cells by lentivirus infection.After 72 h co-culture with M2 macrophages,WB results showed that E-cadherin descreased significantly in Hep3B+ (0.42 ±0.11) when compared with Hep3B-(1.00 ±0.18) (t =4.762,P ＜0.05),while N-cadherin was significantly higher in Hep3B + (2.85 ± 0.44) than in Hep3B-(1.00 ± 0.17) (t =4.762,P ＜ 0.05).M2macrophages decreased E-cadherin expression in Hep3 B + + M2 (0.1 ± 0.13) compared with Hep3 B + (t =3.255,P ＜0.05),while N-cadherin expression increased in Hep3B+ + M2 (4.18 ± 0.52) (t=10.009,P ＜ 0.05).Non-Infected groups didn't change the markers of E-cadherin and N-cadherin.It was suggested that invasion ability of Hep3B increased by HBx overexpression.Conclusions HBX protein and M2 macrophages synergetically mediated the invasion and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells by EMT.

Objective To describe a case of female sexual abnormality with 46, XX caused by an androgen-producing adrenocortical tumor and to explore the mechanism of abnormal androgen secretion from the tumor. Methods The tumor tissues as the experimental group were compared with the normal adrenal tissue. The LH/human chorionic gonadotropin ( hCG) receptor was determined by immunohistochemisty, the activity of 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase ( 3β-HSD ) , 17α-hydroxylase ( CYP17 ) , and 17β-hydroxysteroid oxidoreductase ( 17β-HSD ) by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) and the expression of mRNA of 3β-HSD2, 17β-HSDB3, CYP17, and LH/hCG receptor by real-quantitative polymerase chain reaction ( RQ-PCR ) . Results The immunohistochemisty results showed that the LH/hCG receptor was negative in the experiment group, but positive in control. The activity of 3β-HSD and CYP17 of the experiment group was higher than that in the control (P<0. 01), while the activity of 17β-HSD was lower(2 638. 798±70. 551 vs 9 148. 174±382. 836, P<0. 01) according to ELISA results. The relative contentof3β-HSD2mRNAoftheexperimentgroupwashigherthanthatinthecontrol(P<0.05),andtherelative content CYP17 mRNA of the experiment group was much higher than that in the control (P<0. 01). However, the relative content of 17β-HSDB3 mRNA and LH/hCG receptor mRNA were much lower than those in the control ( P<0. 01) by RQ-PCR. Conclusion Sexual abnormality and virilization could be caused by the excessive androgen secreted by androgen-producing adrenocortical tumor, which is an extremely rare disease. The mechanism of the secretion of androgen from the tumor remains unknown so far. It may be related to the increased activity of 3β-HSD and CYP17, but has no relationship with the expression of LH/hCG receptor.

Gene therapy is one of several approaches that are being tested in the search for an effective anti-HIV treatment. In this strategy, a "resistant" gene would be introduced into target cells, rendering them resistance to the infection of HIV. The HIV-1 Tat protein transactivate HIV-1 gene expression at the transcriptional level by interacting with its response element(TAR) in the long terminal repeat(LTR). Previously, we have shown that antisense polyTAR-Core RNAs can inhibit the transactivation of HIV-1 Tat protein in transiently transfected Jurkat cells. To determine whether this antisense polyTAR-Core RNAs could inhibit HIV-1 replication in CD4+ T cells, we transfected the antisense polyTAR-Core gene to MT4 cells and challenged them with HIV-1 SF33 strain. Levels of HIV-1 p24gag antigen were reduced more than 4-fold in cultures of the transduced MT4/LR cells infected with HIV-1SF33 strain. In contrast, cultures of nontransduced MT4 cells and control LX vector transduced MT4/LX cells infected with the same viruses had high levels of HIV-1 p24gag. Our work showed that antisense polyTAR-Core RNAs were able to inhibit HIV-1 replication in CD4+ T cells, and could be used as resistance gene in further studying for gene therapy against HIV-1.

Objective To investigate the clinical features, diagnosis, differential diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of adrenal lymphangioma. Methods Three cases of adrenal lymphangioma were reported, and the clinical features, treatment and prognosis were analyzed. Results Three cases were incidentally discovered, laboratory tests and endocrine hormone examinations were normal, CT or MRI showed lesions with low density, no reinforced or mild enhancement. All 3 cases underwent laparoscopic adrenalectomy, postoperative pathology supported the diagnosis of adrenal lymphangioma. They were followed up for 8-months, 1-year, and 4-years respectively, with no recurrence. Conclusions Adrenal lymphangioma is a rare benign adrenal leison, with no typical clinical manifestations. Preoperative diagnosis depends on imaging examinations. Histopathological examination is essential in making final diagnosis. Surgery is the preferred treatment option. The prognosis is relatively good.

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic value of saline infusion test (SIT) in patients with primary aldosteronism (PHA). Methods: A total of 116 patients with PHA or essential hypertension (EH) treated in our hospital from 1994-06 to 2013-05 were retrospectively studied. The patients were divided into 2 groups: PHA group,n=72 and EH group, the patients with excluded PHA,n=44. post-SIT plasma levels of aldosterone and post-SIT ratio of aldosterone/renin activity were evaluated by ROC curve in order to analyze the diagnostic capability and the best diagnostic cut-off point. Results: The area under curve (AUC) by ROC for post-SIT aldosterone level was 0.759, the sensitivity and speciifcity were 74.6% and 63.6% respectively; AUC for post-SIT ratio of aldosterone/renin activity was 0.899, the sensitivity and speciifcity were 83.6% and 88.6% with the best diagnostic cut-off point at 111 [ng/dl:ng/(ml?h)]. Conclusion: Post-SIT plasma level of aldosterone and post-SIT ratio of aldosterone/renin activity had the diagnostic value of PHA; post-SIT ratio of aldosterone/renin activity had the higher diagnostic value of PHA.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical value of Captopril test for diagnosing primary aldosteronism (PA) and to calculate the best cut-off point for PA diagnosis. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 96 PA patients with conifrmed diagnosis by clinical situation, laboratory test and auxiliary examination in our hospital from 1994-06 to 2012-05, and meanwhile, studied 45 highly suspicious PA patients with final exclusion by confirmed diagnosis of primary hypertension (PH). All patients received the in-hospital Captopril test, the area under the curve of receiver operating characteristic (AUCROC) was applied to evaluate plasma aldosterone level and the ratio of aldosterone/renin after Captopril test and to obtain the best cut-off point with the corresponding sensitivity and speciifcity for PA diagnosis. Results: At 1h and 2h after Captopril test, AUCROC for plasma levels of aldosterone were 0.831 and 0.818, the ratios of aldosterone/rennin were 0.909 and 0.922 respectively. At 1h after Captopril test, the cut-off point of aldosterone level was 544.95 pmol/L and the diagnostic sensitivity was 70%, speciifcity was 90.7%; at 2h after Captopril test, the cut-off point of aldosterone level was 466.8 pmol/L and the diagnostic sensitivity was 69.8%, speciifcity was 70.5%. At 1h after Captopril test, the ratio of aldosterone/rennin was 34.6 [ng/dl: μg/(ml·h)] with the sensitivity at 78.3% and speciifcity at 88.4%. At 2h after Captopril test, the maximum AUCROC for the ratio of aldosterone/rennin was obtained, when cut-off point of aldosterone level was 42.2[ng/dl: μg/(ml·h)] , the diagnostic sensitivity was 76.7%, speciifcity was 95.3%. Conclusion: At 1h and 2h after Captopril test, plasma aldosterone level and the ratio of aldosterone/rennin had been valuable for PA diagnosis, the maximum diagnostic value could be obtained at 2h after Captopril test.