Objective To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography (US) and CT for thyroid masses. Methods Seventy-one patients with thyroid masses (13 with malignant and 58 with benign tumors) confirmed by operation and pathology were collected. The apprearances of CT and US before operation were analyzed. The apperanecs of CT and US, including the clean edge of masses, calcification and cystic degeneration necrosis were compared with those of pathologic findings. Results The numbers, cystic changes, configuration, verge, calcify and enlarge cervical lymph nodes of thyroid lesions had statistical difference in CT and US (P＜0.05). There was also difference in the internal echo, ring of halo on US and the sign of halo on plane CT (P＜0.05). The edge of thyroid mass could be displayed more clearly with US than CT (P＜0.05), however, it was similar with CT in the display of calcify and cystic changes (P＜0.05). Conclusion Both CT and US can display thyroid mass clearly. Combing of CT and US could improve the accuracy rate of diagnosis.

Objective To study the expression of leukemia-related protein 16 (LRP16) in human pituitary prolactin adenomas (PRL adenomas), and the relationship between LRP16 and estrogen receptorα (ERα).Methods From October 2009 to September 2014, thirty-one adult patients diagnosed and pathologically confirmed as pituitary prolactin (PRL) adenomas (observation group) and 22 pituitary non-PRL adenomas (control group) in the Chinese PLA General Hospital were verified by the pathological examination. Immunohistochemical method was used to detect the expression levels of LRP16, PRL and ERα.Results Of the patients in observation group, those aged under 30 were predominantly females, while male patients were more common in those aged over 30. LRP16 positively existed in 26 cases (83.9%, 26/31), and ERα was positive in 28 cases (90.3%, 28/31), the both ratios were significantly higher than those in control group. ERα and LRP16 increased synchronously both in expressive content and intensity, showing a certain positive correlation between them.Conclusions Higher body mass index may be a high-risk factor badly affected the occurrence, development and prognosis in male patients with pituitary PRL; LRP16 may take part in the proliferation and formation of pituitary PRL adenomas through ERα.

Objective To investigate the prevalence of mite sensitivity in patients with urticaria or other skin rashes, and to observe the clinical efficacy of a specific immunotherapy(SIT) by the Injectio dermatophagoidei farinae for the patients.Methods In 7-year period(1998-2005), skin prick test(SPT) with a dust mite(Df) allergen was carried out to detect the prevalence of mite sensitivity in OPD patients suffering from skin rashes.Among the patients sensitive to mite with SPT ≥++ response, 3 groups were established.In group A, routine SIT with Injectio dermatophagoidei farinae was conducted.In 9-week increasing dose phase, three stepwise increasing volumes(0.3ml, 0.6 ml and 1.0 ml) each case was injected subcutaneously with mite concentration of 1 ∶ 100 000(w/v) , 1 ∶ 10 000(w/v) or 1 ∶ 5 000(w/v) respectively once a week, followed by a maintenance dose phase for an injection with 1 ∶ 5 000(w/v) 1.0 ml/wk for 6 weeks.Group B received rush SIT with mite injections.A total of 15 injections in a course of therapy with same concentration and volume was given as those for the routine ones except shortened intervals, namely, 9 initial injections completed in 3 days by three injections of each concentration per day with two 30 min intervals, maintenancedoses were then provided in 6 days with 1 ∶ 5 000(w/v) 1.0 ml/d.Thereafter, both groups A and B were maintained for one year with a dose of 1 ∶ 5 000(w/v) 1.0 ml every 2 wk.Group C received antihistamine treatment as control, the patients received daily oral Ebastine 10 mg in the morning and Cetirizine dihydrochloride 10 mg in the evening for one week course and pro re nata later.Levels of serum tIgE and serum mite sIgE were detected by ELISA in 20 urticaria cases before and after one year mite SIT.Results Altogether, 2 685 cases with skin rashes were detected by Df allergen SPT.The prevalence of urticaria cases sensitive to mite was 70.3%(1 754/2 496), which was higher than that of eczema 63.5%(54/85) and anaphylactoid purpura 60.6%(63/104)(P

Objective To predict the CTL epitopes of Tat exon 1 region in HIV-1 CRF07_BC strains, which were prevailing in China. Methods Total of 236 plasma samples were from the 3rd National HIV Molecular Epidemic Survey (NMES3). All the subjects were infected with HIV-1 CRF07_BC viruses. The tat exon 1 region was amplified by reverse transcription reaction and nested polymerase chain reaction (nested-PCR), then the PCR products were sequenced. The distribution of CTL epitopes of this region were predicted by on-line software BIMAS HLA Peptide Binding Predictions and statistics software. Results To-tal of 236 CRF07_BC strains were from 16 provinces, mainly in intravenous drug asers(58.9%)and then sex(25.0%). It was showed that there were 12 CTL epitopes of 236 Tat exon 1 region of CRF07_BC strains mainly located in proline-rich region, cysteine-rich region and core-region. Those epitopes were banded by 5 HLA presenting molecules in genotype(A * 2501 ,A * 2902, B * 15,B * 5301 and Cw * 1203) and 6 HLA presenting molecules in serotype (B53, B58 ,B57 ,A3 ,A68 and Cw12). The frequency of single amino acid substitution was more than 50% in 7 CTL epitopes. Conclusion The CTL epitopes in Tat exon 1 of CRF07 _BC strains were located in different functional regions, and there were some amino acid variations in them.

Objective To explore the impact of broad antigen HLA-Bw4 on disease progression in HIV-1 infected subjects. Methods Three hundred and forty subjects chronically infected with HIV-1 and 69 HIV-1 negative subjects were recruited and HLA-B alleles were typed with sequence-based high resolution typing assay. HLA-Bw genotypes of these HIV-1 infected subjects were determined and their association with CD4+ T cell counts and viral loads were analyzed. Results Sixty-five HLA-B alleles were detected in HIV-1 positive subjects. Subjects with Bw4 (Bw4 homozygotes and Bw4Bw6 heterozygotes ) had higher CD4+ T cell counts ( P = 0. 004 ) and lower plasma viral load ( P = 0.003 ) than subjects without Bw4 ( Bw6 homozygotes). When compared with HIV-1 postive subjects with CD4+ T cell counts above 500 celis/μl, those with CD4+ T cell counts below 500 cells/μl were observed with decreased percentage of Bw4Bw6 heterozygote ( P =0.0002) and increased percentage of Bw6 homozygotes ( P < 0. 0001 ). There is no significant difference in CD4+ T cell counts between Bw4 homozygotes and Bw4Bw6 heterozygote, but lower viral loads were observed in Bw4Bw6 heterozygotes( P = 0. 037 ). Conclusion HLA-Bw4 can confer pretective effects on H1V-1 infected subjects by maintaining higher CD4+ T cell counts and lower viral load, the mechanism behind this effect need further exploration.

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.

SHIV-CN97001 played an important role in assessing the immune effect and strategy of the AIDS vaccine which included genes of the predominant prevalent HIV-1 strain in China. In this study, SHIV-CN97001 was in vivo passaged serially to construct pathogenic SHIV-CN97001/rhesus macaques model. To identify variation in the gp120 region of SHIV-CN97001 during passage, the fragments of gp120 gene were amplified by RT-PCR from the plasma of SHIV-CN97001 infected animals at the peak viral load time point and the gene distances (divergence, diversity) were calculated using DISTANCE. The analysis revealed that the genetic distances of SHIV-CN97001 in the third passage animals were the highest during in vivo passage. It had a relationship between viral divergence from the founder strain and viral replication ability. The nucleic acid sequence of the V3 region was highly conservative. All of the SHIV-CN97001 strains had V3 loop central motif (GPGQ) and were predicted to be using CCR5 co-receptor on the basis of the critical amino acids within V3 loop. These results show that there was no significant increase in the genetic distance during serial passage, and SHIV-CN97001 gp120 gene evolved toward ancestral states upon transmission to a new host. This could partly explain why there was no pathogenic viral strain obtained during in vivo passage.

Hormones and epigenetic characteristics in a patient with clinically diagnosed adrenal hypoplasia congenita (AHC) were analyzed. Results indicated that plasma ACTH increased, while cortisol, testosterone, LH and FSH decreased. LH, FSH and testosterone did not sufficiently respond to GnRH or hCG stimulation. Gene analysis indicated that C368F mutation was located in exon 1 of DAX-1 gene.

To study the sesquiterpenoid constituents in the whole plant of Sarcandra glabra, silical column chromatography, Sephadex LH-20, reverse phase ODS column chromatography and preparative HPLC were used to isolate 70% EtOH extract of Sarcandra glabra. The structures were elucidated based on spectroscopic data (HR-ESI-MS, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, HSQC, HMBC and NOESY). Four sesquiterpenoids were obtained and identified as 4alpha-hydroxy-5alphaH-lindan-8 (9)-en-8, 12-olide (1), chloranthalactone E (2), 8beta, 9alpha-dihydroxylindan-(5), 7 (1)-ieb-8alpha, 12-olide (3) and chloranoside A (4), respectively. Compound 1 is a new sesquiterpene lacone.

In order to study the excretion of genistein (GEN) capsule, an estrogen drugs, in human, 30 healthy volunteers were selected and orally administered 50, 100, and 300 mg genistein in an parallel study. Genistein were determined in urine by LC-MS/MS and glucuronidated genistein (GENG) were indirectly determined with enzymatic hydrolysis in urine by LC-MS/MS, and the pharmacokinetic parameters were analyzed by DAS software (ver 2.0). The result showed that the concentrations of genistein in human urine were less than 1% of the GENG, and the cumulative excretion of GEN in 48 h were 0.037, 0.134, and 0.142 mg, separately, and the urinary excretion percentage were only 0.07%, 0.13%, and 0.05%, separately. But the cumulative excretion of GENG in 48 h was 5.3, 13.8, and 15.4 mg, separately, and the urinary excretion percentage were 10.6%, 13.8%, and 5.1%, separately, and the max urinary excretive rate was 0.4, 1.0, and 1.4 mg x h(-1), separately (tmax were 6 h). Studies showed that part of drug excreted through kidney in a form of GENG in human, and the cumulative urinary excretion and the maximum excretion rate of GENG showed a proportional increase conditioned with the dose in the range of 50-100 mg, but showed non-linear increase feature in 300 mg.