Objective To study the effect of different concentration of tumor necrosis factor-? (TNF-?) on expression of the receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B ligand (RANKL) and osteoprotegerin (OPG) mRNA on human dental follicle cells in vitro, and investigate the role of TNF-? in osteoclast formation during tooth eruption. Methods The 5th passage of primary cultured human dental follicle cells were treated with 0 (control group), 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100ng/ml TNF-?, respectively, for 6 hours. Total RNA was then isolated from human dental follicle cells and subjected to RANKL and OPG mRNA assay by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique. The relative expression levels of RANKL and OPG mRNA were normalized to ?-actin gene expression. Results The mRNA expression of OPG in human dental follicle cells with 5ng/ml TNF-? treatment was down regulated significantly compared with that in control group (P

Objective To investigate the association between the obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome(OSAHS) in hypertension and insulin.Methods A total of 521 patients were divided into 4 groups according to apnea-hypopnea index and OSAHS degrees.The control group ( group Ⅰ ),mild OSAHS group ( group Ⅱ ),moderate OSAHS group ( group Ⅲ ) and severe OSAHS group ( group Ⅳ ) had 89 patients,194 patients,118 patients and 120 patients respectively.Results The BMI[( 30.4 ± 3.8 )kg/m2],apnea-hypopnea index ( AHI,3.8 ± 0.1 ),Fasting insulin (FIns)[(3.08 ± 0.26 ) mU/L]and insulin resistance ( 2.43 ± 0.27 ) of patients in severe OSAHS group were significantly higher than that of in the control,mild OSAHS group and moderate OSAHS group ( P ＜ 0.01 ).The levels of saturation of minimum oxygen from skin of patients in severe OSAHS group was significantly lower ( MSpO2 ) than in that of the control,mild OSAHS group and moderate OSAHS group.Multiple linear regression analysis showed that fasting plasma insulin and insulin resistance was positive correlation with apnea-hypopnea index,while they also negatively associated with saturation of minimum oxygen.Conclusions FIns and insulin resistance strongly associate with AHI and levels of saturation of minimum oxygen from skin.Hypertensive patients with OSAHS have more chances to suffer with insulin resistance.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI), as a nosological entity referring to elderly people with MCI but without dementia, was proposed as a warning signal of dementia occurrence and a novel therapeutic target. MCI clinical criteria and diagnostic procedure from the MCI Working Group of the European Alzheimer's Disease Consortium (EADC) may better reflect the heterogeneity of MCI syndrome. Beijing United Study Group on MCI funded by the Capital Foundation of Medical Developments (CFMD) proposed the guiding principles of clinical research on MCI. The diagnostic methods include clinical, neuropsychological, functional, neuroimaging and genetic measures. The diagnostic procedure includes three stages. Firstly, MCI syndrome must be defined, which should correspond to: (1) cognitive complaints coming from the patients or their families; (2) reporting of a relative decline in cognitive functioning during the past year by the patient or informant; (3) cognitive disorders evidenced by clinical evaluation; (4) activities of daily living preserved and complex instrumental functions either intact or minimally impaired; and (5) absence of dementia. Secondly, subtypes of MCI have to be recognized as amnestic MCI (aMCI), single non-memory MCI (snmMCI) and multiple-domains MCI (mdMCI). Finally, the subtype causes could be identified commonly as Alzheimer disease (AD), vascular dementia (VaD), and other degenerative diseases such as frontal-temporal dementia (FTD), Lewy body disease (LBD), semantic dementia (SM), as well as trauma, infection, toxicity and nutrition deficiency. The recommended special tests include serum vitamin B12 and folic acid, plasma insulin, insulin-degrading enzyme, Abeta40, Abeta42, inflammatory factors. Computed tomography (or preferentially magnetic resonance imaging, when available) is mandatory. As measurable therapeutic outcomes, the primary outcome should be the probability of progression to dementia, the secondary outcomes should be cognition and function, and the supplement outcome should be the syndrome defined by traditional Chinese medicine. And for APOE epsilon4 carrier, influence of the carrier status on progression rate to dementia and the effect of treatment should be evaluated.

In order to provide the "guiding principles of clinical research on mild cognitive impairment (MCI) (protocol)" edited by Beijing United Study Group on MCI of the Capital Foundation of Medical Developments (CFMD) with evidence support, clinical criteria, subtypes, inclusion and exclusion of MCI, and use of rating scales were reviewed. The authors suggested that MCI clinical criteria and new diagnosis procedure from the MCI Working Group of the European Alzheimer's disease Consortium (EADC) may better reflect the heterogeneity of MCI syndrome. Diagnostic rating scales including Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), Global Deterioration Scale (GDS), Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive subscale (ADAS-cog) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) are very useful in definition of MCI but can not replace its clinical criteria. Absence of major repercussions on daily life in patients with MCI was emphasized, but the patients may have minimal impairment in complex IADL. According to their previous research, the authors concluded that highly recommendable neuropsychological scales with cut-off scores in the screening of MCI cases should include Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), logistic memory test such as Delayed Story Recall (DSR), executive function test such as Clock Draw Test (CDT), language test such as Verbal Category Fluency Test (VCFT), etc. And finally, the detection of biological and neuroimaging changes, including atrophy in hippocampus or medial temporal lobe in patients with MCI, was introduced.

To investigate Streptococcus suis ( S.suis) isolated from patients in Shandong province using genomic epidemiology and pathogenologic analysis. To provide the foundation to establish reasonable and accurate prevention and control measures of human S. suis infection. Molecular typing, whole genome phylogenetic tree, virulence gene typing, antibiotic resistance profile and mobile genetic elements carrying antibiotic resistance genes of isolated S. suis strains were investigated. The pathogenicity of isolated strains was also evaluated by comparing their capacity to induce pro-inflammatory cytokine production in vitro. S. suis infections in Shandong province were predominantly due to serotype 2 and sequence type 1 strains. The major symptoms were meningitis. The studied strains could be divided into five lineages. All strains belong to highly pathogenic type in Shandong province,Strains from lineage 2 possessed higher capacity to stimulate pro-inflammatory cytokine production than other strains did, even though other strains belong to highly pathogenic strains. In addition, multiple antibiotic resistance genes and corresponding mobile genetic elements werewidespread in S. suis strains from Shandong province, except strains from lineage 3. High diversities in genome, evolutionary path and pathogenicity of S. suis strains from Shandong province were revealed. It was necessary to surveillant the S. suis strain in genomic level.

To investigate Streptococcus suis ( S.suis) isolated from patients in Shandong province using genomic epidemiology and pathogenologic analysis. To provide the foundation to establish reasonable and accurate prevention and control measures of human S. suis infection. Molecular typing, whole genome phylogenetic tree, virulence gene typing, antibiotic resistance profile and mobile genetic elements carrying antibiotic resistance genes of isolated S. suis strains were investigated. The pathogenicity of isolated strains was also evaluated by comparing their capacity to induce pro-inflammatory cytokine production in vitro. S. suis infections in Shandong province were predominantly due to serotype 2 and sequence type 1 strains. The major symptoms were meningitis. The studied strains could be divided into five lineages. All strains belong to highly pathogenic type in Shandong province,Strains from lineage 2 possessed higher capacity to stimulate pro-inflammatory cytokine production than other strains did, even though other strains belong to highly pathogenic strains. In addition, multiple antibiotic resistance genes and corresponding mobile genetic elements werewidespread in S. suis strains from Shandong province, except strains from lineage 3. High diversities in genome, evolutionary path and pathogenicity of S. suis strains from Shandong province were revealed. It was necessary to surveillant the S. suis strain in genomic level.