OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of astragalus polysaccharides(APS) combining with total ginsenoside (TG) on the proliferation of T cells in peripheral blood of healthy adults and on the immune function of mice after treatment with cyclophosphamide (CY) . METHODS: The proliferation rate of T cells in peripheral blood was detected by methyl thia-zolyl tetrazolium(MTT) colorimetric analysis; the weight of immune organs such as spleen and thymus etc. in mice were detected. RESULTS: The proliferation of T cells in human peripheral blood could be enhanced if the concentration of APS remained within 25-100?g/ml and that of TG remained within 5-20?g/ml; the proliferation rates were 102.3%-141.1% and 113.9%-163.1% , respectively; the figure stood at 262.3%-383.0% when APS and TG used in combination. The spleen indexes of APS group and the APS plus TG group increased significantly vs. the CY group(P

OBJECTIVE: To identify a rare large off ladder (OL) allele at the Penta E locus. METHODS: Chelex-100 was used to extract DNAs from the blood samples. The PCR fragments were purified, extracted, and subjected to TA cloning and sequencing. RESULTS: An OL allele was identified by the PowerPlex™ 21 at the Penta E locus, which was postulated as allele 26 based on assigned size. The OL allele was verified as a novel fragment containing 26 full AAAGA repeats. CONCLUSION OL alleles and microvariants should be verified by direct sequencing. Typing of OL alleles has significance for both daily work and forensic genetics.
Alleles ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Rubiaceae

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the genetic polymorphisms of 21 non-combined DNA index system short tandem repeat (STR) loci in Hainan Li population. METHODS: DNA samples from 339 unrelated healthy individuals of Li population from Hainan Province were extracted and amplified with fluorescence labeled multiplex PCR system. PCR products were electrophoresed on an ABI3130 Genetic Analyzer following the manufacturer's instructions. Allele designation was performed with a GeneMapper ID-X by comparison with the allele ladder provided by the corresponding kit. RESULTS: A total of 173 alleles and 489 genotypes were observed for the 21 STR loci, respectively. The frequencies of alleles and genotypes were 0.0010-0.5434 and 0.0020-0.3274, respectively. The heterozygosity varied from 0.639 to 0.833. Discrimination power (DP) was 0.803-0.948, power of exclusion for trio-paternity was 0.416-0.584, power of exclusion for duo-paternity was 0.140-0.238, the polymorphism information content(PIC) was 0.57-0.81, respectively. The total discrimination power (TDP), cumulative probability of exclusion for trio-paternity testing(CPE-trio) and cumulative probability of exclusion for duo-paternity testing (CPE-duo) were 0.999 999 999 999 99, 0.999 999 883 211 752, and 0.987 266, respectively. CONCLUSION The 21 STR loci are highly polymorphic and informative in the studied population and can be employed as supplementary loci in duo-paternity testing or cases with variant circumstances.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group/genetics* ; China ; DNA ; Gene Frequency ; Genetics, Population ; Humans ; Microsatellite Repeats/genetics* ; Polymorphism, Genetic

DEAD-box family protein is a kind of ATP dependent RNA helicase,which plays a critical role in RNA metabolism.The DEAD-box family proteins can affect cell proliferation,differentiation,and apoptosis through regulating the expression of oncogenes,tumor suppressor genes and tumor related signaling pathways.It plays the role in promoting or suppressing cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To study genetic polymorphisms of 23 autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci among ethnic Han Chinese from southern China. METHODS: The 23 autosomal STR loci among 331 unrelated healthy Han Chinese from southern China were genotyped with fluorescent multiplex amplification and capillary electrophoresis. Genetic parameters were subjected to statistical analysis. RESULTS: In total 265 alleles and 890 genotypes were detected for the 23 STR loci. The numbers of alleles were 5-22, allelic frequency was 0.0015-0.5483, heterozygosity was 0.5891-0.9124, power of discrimination was 0.7818-0.9831, polymorphic information content was 0.5425-0.9031, probability of exclusion for trio-paternity testing was 0.2780-0.8208, and probability of exclusion for duo-paternity testing was 0.193-0.693. The combined power of discrimination was over 0.999 999 999 999 99, the combined probability of exclusion for trio-paternity identification was 0.999 999 999 729 813, and the combined probability of exclusion for duo-paternity identification was 0.999 999 207 508 474, respectively. The 23 STR loci showed no significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium after Bonferroni correction (P> 0.05). CONCLUSION The 23 autosomal STR loci were highly polymorphic among ethnic Han Chinese from southern China, which showed a high efficiency for paternity testing, personal identification and population genetics.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; China ; Gene Frequency ; Genetics, Population ; Genotype ; Humans ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Polymorphism, Genetic

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics and prognosis of idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM) patients with positive anti-melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5) antibody.Methods:A total of 194 hospitalized IIM patients who were tested for myositis-specific autoantibodies (MSAs) in the Departments of Rheumatology and Immunology of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital from January 2015 to September 2020 were collected, including 29 cases with positive anti-MDA5 antibody and 165 cases with negative anti-MDA5 antibody. Their clinical data were analyzed retrospectively. T test was used for measurement data with normal distribution. Measurement data with non-normal distribution were tested by Mann-Whitney U rank sum test. χ2 test was used for counting data. Risk factors were analyzed by binary Logistic regression, survival analysis by Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression analysis. Results:IIM patients with positive anti-MDA5 antibody had a high incidence of dermatomyositis specific skin rash, and the skin rash was the most common presenting symptom. In the positive anti-MDA5 antibody group, muscle symptoms were mild; and the patients were prone to have fever, arthritis, oral ulcer and weight loss. All patients were complicated with interstitial lung disease (ILD). In patients with negative anti-MDA5 antibody, white blood cell (WBC) count [7.59(5.61, 9.89)×10 9/L vs 4.07(3.17, 5.50×10 9/L, Z=-5.05, P<0.001], platelet (PLT) [249.00 (200.00, 302.00)×10 9/L vs 205.00 (178.00, 244.00)×10 9/L, Z=-2.59, P=0.010], lymphocyte (LY) [1.34(0.85, 1.94)×10 9/L vs 0.64(0.40, 0.83)×10 9/L, Z=-5.78, P<0.001), serum creatine kinase (CK) [558.00 (72.00, 2 959.00) U/L vs 64.00 (35.00, 149.50) U/L, Z=-3.97, P<0.001], creatine kinase isoenzymes (CK-MB) [38.00 (17.00, 127.00) U/L vs 16.00 (14.00, 25.00) U/L, Z=-3.84, P<0.001], myoglobin (MYO) [243.65 (60.50, 829.83) ng/ml vs 34.55(21.00, 104.23) ng/ml, Z=-3.98, P<0.001], troponin T (TnT) [0.09(0.03, 0.44) ng/ml vs 0.02(0.01, 0.04) ng/ml, Z=-4.17, P<0.001], albumin (ALB) [34.00(30.00, 38.00) g/L vs 31.00 (26.50, 36.00) g/L, Z=-2.68, P=0.007], cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4) + T cells [498.00(276.00, 752.00) cells/μl vs 259.50 (179.00, 498.25) cells/μl, Z=-2.79, P=0.005], partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO 2) [39.00(36.13, 42.00) mmHg vs 35.35 (31.30, 38.88) mmHg, Z=-3.75, P<0.001], partial pressure of oxygen (PaO 2) [82.00(71.90, 90.20) mmHg vs 73.25(64.30, 84.05) mmHg, Z=-2.08, P=0.037], arterial oxygen saturation (SaO 2) [96.50% (95.05%, 97.30)% vs 95.80%(93.70%, 96.55%), Z=-2.11, P=0.035], diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide of the Lung (DLco) [(63±21) % vs (52±14)%, t=0.96, P=0.006] were significantly reduced, while UTP [260.50 (172.25, 401.25) g vs 331.00 (252.75, 666.25) g, Z=-2.18, P=0.029], alanine aminotransferase (ALT) [40.00 (21.00, 83.00) U/L vs 56.00(40.00, 107.50), Z=-2.27, P=0.023], glutamyltranspeptidas (GGT) [22.50(15.00, 42.00) U/L vs 57.00 (38.00, 101.50) U/L, Z=-4.98, P<0.001], D-Dimer [850.00 (485.00, 1 799.50) ng/ml vs 1 346.00 (896.50, 2 527.00) ng/ml, Z=-2.55, P=0.011], immunoglobulin (Ig)E [60.00 (25.60, 147.50) U/ml vs 173.00(68.25, 471.50) U/ml, Z=-3.06, P=0.002], C4[20.25(16.68, 25.03) mg/L vs 23.60(20.20, 28.35) mg/L, Z=-2.38, P=0.017], Fer [228.01 (115.40, 513.36) ng/ml vs 1 636.39 (851.80, 3 888.82) ng/ml, Z=-6.01, P<0.001], krebsvondenlungen-6 (KL-6) [365.00 (180.25, 1 018.75) U/ml vs 788.00 (406.00, 1 364.00) U/ml, Z=-2.10, P=0.035] were higher when compared to patients with positive anti-MDA5 antibody. In the anti-MDA5 antibody positive group, patients had high mortality rate [8.5%(14/165) vs 34.5%(10/29), χ2=13.07, P<0.001], and the use of intravenous immunoglobulin [32.7%(54/165) vs 65.5%(19/29), χ2=11.30, P=0.001] and steroid pulse therapy [4.8%(86/165) vs 27.6%(8/29), χ2=13.98, P<0.001] were more frequent. Patients in the positive anti-MDA5 antibody group were classified into two sub groups based on lung features: the rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease (RP-ILD) group (48.28%, 14/29) and the chronic interstitial lung disease (C-ILD) group (51.72%, 15/29). RP-ILD patients had significantly elder disease onset age, higher C-reaction protein (CRP), Fer, IgE levels and the positive rate of anti-Ro52 antibody, while ALT was lower. The difference was statistically significant. Regression analysis suggested that older onset age [ HR (95% CI)=1.154 (1.069, 1.246), P<0.001], male [ HR(95% CI)=6.383(1.038, 39.242), P=0.045], positive anti-MDA5 antibody [ HR(95% CI)=17.180 (2.900, 101.766), P=0.002], LY decrease [ HR (95% CI)=0.083 (0.008, 0.817), P=0.033], high serum Fer level [ HR (95% CI)=1.001(1.000, 1.001), P=0.016], increased D-Dimer [ HR(95% CI)=1.000(1.000, 1.001), P=0.004] and compicated with carcinoma [ HR (95% CI)=11.849 (1.978, 70.970), P=0.007] were independent risk factors for death in IIM patients. Binary logistic regression analysis suggested that late onset age [ OR(95% CI)=1.090 (1.005, 1.183), P=0.038], high Fer level [ OR (95% CI)=1.001 (1.000, 1.001), P=0.022] and decreased ALB [ OR (95% CI)=0.818 (0.696, 0.963), P=0.016] might be risk factors for RP-ILD in patients with positive anti-MDA5 antibody. Conclusion:In patients with positive anti-MDA5 antibody group, typical skin damage, mild muscle symptoms, high proportion of ILD and poor prognosis are chardcteristic when compared to patients without this autoantibody. It is necessary to monitor the disease activity closely and explore the treatment strategy.