Objective Hypercellularity in proliferan've glomerulonephritis can result from either increased proliferation or the failure of cells to undergo apoptosis in response to stimuli. Increasing evidence supports that alterations in the control of cell survival are important in the pathogenesis of proliferative glomerulonephritis. Methods Apoptotic cells in the glomeruli have been analyzed by the in situ end labeling (ISEL) of TdT from patients diagnosed with membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN, n = 12), type IV lupus nephritis (LN, n = 15) and acute postinfectious glomerulonephritis (APGN, n = 13) in the present study. In addition, the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)-positive proliferating glomerular cells were observed by immunochemical 4 layer PAP method in these patients. Results The ratio of proliferating and apoptotic cells was the highest one in patients with MPGN (3.91) as compared to APGN (1.28) and LN(1 .02). The extends of increasing apoptotic cells in the glomeruli were different among patients with MPGN,, APGN and LN, although all of them showed extremely glomerular hypercellularity. The number of apoptotic glomemlar cells was significantly higher in patients with APGN (1.16?0.35) than those with MPGN (0.12?0.16) as well as LN patients (0.35 ? 0.20). Conclusion Apoptosis is essential in the resolution of glomerular cellularity together with the remodeling processes. Intense proliferations without increment in apoptosis are the characterisitics of MPGN and LN associated with their renal histological changes and prognosis.

OBJECTIVETo explore genetic relationships of the 39 materials in six species of Curcuma.

METHODThe peroxidase isozyme (POD) and esterase isozyme (EST) were studied using vertical slab polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) technique, and the zymograms were analyzed using the software of NTSYSpc2. 1.

RESULTThe interspecific zymogramatic differences were obvious. Each species possessed its own specific zymogram distinguishing form the others. In the analysis of EST isozyme, C. phaeocaulis, C. wenyujin, C. kwangsiensis and C. chuanhuangjiang had their own specific zymogram. In the analysis of POD isozyme, just C. phaeocaulis and C. kwangsiensis had their specific zymogram.

CONCLUSIONThe genetic relationships are not associated with the geographical distributions and the genetic relationship between C. longa and C. sichuanensis are very close.

Cluster Analysis ; Curcuma ; classification ; enzymology ; genetics ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Esterases ; analysis ; genetics ; Isoenzymes ; analysis ; genetics ; Peroxidase ; analysis ; genetics ; Phylogeny ; Species Specificity

Objective To analyze the clinical and laboratory characteristics of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in children. Methods Fifty-three inpatients, 5 boys and 48 girls with SLE, who aged from 7 to 14 years with a median age at 12 years, were enrolled into this study. A retrospective study was carried out to assess the clinical and laboratory features of these pediatric patients. Results The ratio of male to female patients was 1:9.6. Skin eruption was the most common initial manifestation (41.51%), followed by fever (20.75%) and arthralgia (20.75%). Systemic involvement was common, and 84.90% of these patients had hematological abnormalities, 60.38% renal involvement, 18.87% nervous involvement. The most common manifestation of hematological, renal and nervous involvement was anemia, proteinuria and seizures, respectively. Among the immunologic parameters tested, anti-nuclear antibody showed the highest positivity rate of 90.57%, followed by anti-dsDNA with a positivity rate of 67.92%. There was no significant difference between the male and female patients in the age of onset, SLEDAI score at admission and discharge, duration of hospitalization or the dose of corticosteroid used initially and at the discharge. Conclusion The manifestations of pediatric SLE are various, and multisystem involvement is common in these patients. Early diagnosis and active treatment might benefit the prognosis of pediatric SLE.