0.05).Conclusion PAF-AH-Ala379Val gene mutation is unrelated to bronchial asthma in children.

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of HMME-SDT therapy for the treatment of hypertrophic scar (HS) of rabbit ear.Methods 60 white rabbits were randomly divided into five groups.The model group and HMME-SDT treatment group were used to establish the models of hypertrophic scar in ears.Results The effect of HMME-SDT on the fibroblastic density in the hypertrophic scarring models was observed in rabbit ears.The HMME-SDT could lower the fibroblastic density,compared with the model group,with significant difference (P＜ 0.05).The effect of HMME-SDT on the collagen area density was noted in the hypertrophic scarring models in rabbit ears.The HMME-SDT could lower the collagen area density,compared with the model group,with significant difference from the fourth week of the epithelialization (P＜0.01).Conclusions HMME is an effective sonosensitizer.HMME-SDT can significantly inhibit hypertrophic scar of rabbit ear.

Background: Dampness-heat syndrome is a major syndrome type in patients with a sharp deterioration of chronic renal failure (CRF). Qingshen Decoction, a compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine, could relieve the clinical symptoms of CRF patients, and was considered to have a certain reversal effect on rapid deterioration of renal function. Objective: To observe the changes of serum interleukin-8 (IL-8) and IL-18 levels in CRF patients with a sharp deterioration and dampness-heat syndrome, and to explore the curative efficacy of Qingshen Granule. Design, setting, participants and interventions: Sixty CRF patients with a sharp deterioration and dampness-heat syndrome from Department of Nephrology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, were randomly divided into treatment group (30 cases) and control group (30 cases), with another 20 healthy individuals as normal control. The patients in the treatment and control groups were all treated with Jiedu Xiezhuo II, a compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine, given as retention enema. Qingshen Granule was additionally administered to the patients in the treatment group with 1 dosage each time and 3 times a day. The treatment course was one month. Main outcome measures: The levels of serum IL-8 and IL-18 in the normal individuals and before and after treatment in the treatment and control groups were detected. Results: The total response rates of treatment group in clinical efficacy assessment and assessment of syndrome of traditional Chinese medicine (86.67% and 86.67%) were higher than those of the control group (56.67% and 60%), and there were significant differences between the two groups (P<0.05). The levels of serum IL-8 and IL-18 in CRF patients before treatment were obviously higher than those in the healthy individuals (P<0.01), and there were no differences in the levels of IL-8 and IL-18 before treatment between the treatment group and control group (P>0.05). After one-month treatment, the levels of serum IL-8 and IL-18 were markedly decreased in the two groups (P<0.01), and the levels of serum IL-8 and IL-18 in the treatment group were markedly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). There were differences in decreased degrees of IL-8 and IL-18 levels between the two groups (P<0.05). Conclusion: CRF patients with a sharp deterioration and dampness-heat syndrome have high serum IL-8 and IL-18 levels. Qingshen Granule can reduce the levels of serum IL-8 and IL-18, and improve the renal function and ameliorate the clinical symptoms.

Objective　To ascertain the natural infection rate of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome virus (HFRSV) among its hosts and the type of the natural foci for providing some baseline data for the immigrant health and epidemic prevention of the Three-Gorge region. Methods　Epidemiological survey on the field was performed including epidemiological data collection, ecology of rodents and pathogen detection. HFRS virus antigen of hosts were detected by the direct immunofluorescent assay (DIFA) technique and determination of HFRSV-RNA by ISH were carried out from HFRSV-Ag-positive animals. Results　HFRSV-Ag-positive animals were found in 5 migration areas ie Baitao Town of Fuling Section, Wansheng Village of Fengjie County and Dachang Town of Wushan County. The positive hosts were as follows, Rattus Norvegicus, Apodemus agrarius, Anourusurex squamipes, Mus musculus and Rattus flavipectus. The positive rate of HFRSV in the mice of 5 migration areas were 19.4%, 17.0%, 14.0%, 13.7%, and 8.5% respectively. The results showed that the lung tissues of some hosts in all five migration areas were HFRSV-RNA-positive. Baitao Town and Peishi Town were attributed to mixture type epidemic areas while. Kangle Town, Wansheng Village and Dachang Town were domestic rats type epidemic areas. Conclusion　This study shows that the five migration areas are natural epidemic foci of HFRS. It is predicted that maximum risk of HFRS breakout or epidemic may take place after the completion of the San Xia Reservoir(the Three-Gorges Reservoir), which results from rodent moving toward higher land. Therefore, deratization and preventive measures for rat are important in migration areas.

OBJECTIVETo investigate whether quantifiable changes in serum levels of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) in response to 24 weeks of pegylated-interferon alfa-2a (Peg-IFN-a 2a) treatment are predictive of therapeutic efficacy at 48 weeks of treatment in HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients and to investigate the efficacy of using an individualized antiviral treatment strategy.

METHODSNinety-six HBeAg-positive CHB patients with detectable HBeAg at week 24 of Peg-IFN-a 2a treatment were categorized according to the quantitative change in HBeAg (vs. pre-treatment baseline): group A, HBeAg decline more than 2 log; group B, HBeAg decline between 1 - 2 log; group C, HBeAg decline less than 1 log, which was then randomly divided into two sub-groups: C1 and C2. Group A, B, and C1 patients continued the original therapy for an additional 24 weeks, while group C2 patients were supplemented with lamivudine (3TC + Peg-IFN-a 2a) for the additional 24 weeks of treatment. All patients underwent liver biopsy at the end of treatment (week 48), and HBV covalently-closed circular (ccc)DNA was quantified as a measure of therapeutic efficacy. A, B, and C1 between-group multiple comparisons were made by the Nemenyi test; C1 and C2 between-group comparison was made by the Mann-Whitney U test. The significance of between-group differences in decreased HBV cccDNA vs. HBeAg/anti-HBe seroconversion was made by the Chi-squared test.

RESULTSAt week 48, the mean decrease of serum HBV cccDNA in each group was: A, 5.8 log10 copy/ml; B, 3.8 log10 copy/ml; C1, 2.8 log10 copy/ml; C2, 5.7 log10 copy/ml. Statistically significant differences were observed for group A vs. B and C1 (P less than 0.01) and C1 vs. C2 (P less than 0.01); however, the difference between group B and C1 did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.19). The mean decrease of HBeAg in each group was: A, 2.7 log10 S/CO; B, 1.9 log10 S/CO; C1, 0.9 log10 S/CO; C2, 1.6 log10 S/CO. Statistically significant differences were observed for group A vs. B and C1 (P less than 0.01) and C1 vs. C2 (P less than 0.01). The rate of patients who achieved undetectable HBV DNA in each group was: A, 87.5%; B, 34.5%; C1, 17.4%; C2, 85.0%. Statistically significant differences were observed for group A vs. B and C1 (P less than 0.01) and C1 vs. C2 (P less than 0.01). The HBeAg seroconversion rates were: A, 75.0%; B, 24.1%; C1, 13.0%; C2, 25.0%. Statistically significant differences were observed only for group A vs. B and C1 (P less than 0.01). Finally, group A achieved greater reduction in levels of cccDNA in liver tissues than B or C1 (P less than 0.01); however, the differences between B and C1 and between C1 and C2 did not reach statistical significance.

CONCLUSIONCHB patients who showed an HBeAg decline of more than 2 log at week 24 of Peg-IFN-a 2a treatment had better treatment outcome at week 48 than those who showed HBeAg decline less than 2 log at week 24. Augmenting the Peg-IFN-a 2a treatment with 3TC can improve the clinical response. A change of quantifiable HBeAg at week 24 of Peg-IFN-a 2a treatment may be a useful predictor of therapeutic efficacy of a 48-week antiviral regimen.

Adult ; Antiviral Agents ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Hepatitis B e Antigens ; blood ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; blood ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha ; therapeutic use ; Lamivudine ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Polyethylene Glycols ; therapeutic use ; Recombinant Proteins ; therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

In the experiment, we designed and synthesized two siRNAs based on the sequence of nuclear receptor-related factor 1 (Nurr1) mRNA. They were separately subcloned into the plasmid of pSilenCircle (pSC) containing U6 promoter. The pSC-Nurr1 vectors (pSC-N1 and pSC-N2) specific to Nurr1 gene and the negative control vector of short-hairpin RNA (shRNA) eukaryotic expression vector were constructed. We cultured the dopaminergic cell line MN9D and the verified vectors were transfected with LipofectamineTM 2000 in vitro. The positive cell clones transfected with pSC were obtained after being screened with 500 mug/ml G418. After that, the silencing effects of Nurr1 and TH mRNA or protein were detected by real time RT-PCR and Western blot. The neurite extension of MN9D cells was observed and photographed by inverted microscope. The results showed that Nurr1 mRNA expression in MN9D cells was specifically down-regulated by the vectors of pSC-N1 and pSC-N2, and the silencing effects were 62.3% and 45.6%, respectively. The dopaminergic phenotype of TH mRNA was also suppressed significantly and the silencing effects were 76.3% and 62.6%, respectively. Meanwhile, the expressions of Nurr1 and TH proteins were also significantly suppressed, and the silencing effects of Nurr1 and TH protein were 57.4%, 72.0% and 79.1%, 70.1% respectively. The negative control and liposome groups had no effect on the two genes. In conclusion, Nurr1 shRNA expressing vectors can inhibit the expressions of Nurr1 and TH mRNA or protein in MN9D cells, and Nurr1 might play a role in neurite extension of MN9D cells. Nurr1 shRNA expressing vector may provide a novel applicable strategy for the study on the function of the genes associated with Parkinson disease and the development of dopaminergic neuron.
Cell Line ; Dopaminergic Neurons ; cytology ; metabolism ; Down-Regulation ; Fetus ; Humans ; Mesencephalon ; cytology ; Neurites ; physiology ; Nuclear Receptor Subfamily 4, Group A, Member 2 ; genetics ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; RNA, Small Interfering ; genetics ; Transfection ; Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase ; genetics ; metabolism

Objective Small airway hypofunction is an early manifestation of asthmatic airway injury and is found in patients with non-asthma allergic rhinitis.However, no report has been seen on the changes of small airway function in patients with non-aller-gic rhinitis ( NAR) .This study was to investigate the possibility of small airway lesion in NAR patients and its relationship with airway responsiveness by observing the changes of small airway function in NAR patients without asthma and/or lower airway symptoms. Methods We recruited 324 subjects for this study, including 262 NAR patients and 62 healthy controls, and assigned them to an air-way hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and a non-airway hyperresponsiveness (nAHR) group.All the subjects underwent medical history collection, nasal examination, allergen skin prick test, blood routine test, serum total immunoglobin E assay, pulmonary function test, and bronchial challenge test. Results Compared with the healthy con-trols, the NAR patients showed remarkably lower predicted percenta-ges of maximal mid-expiratory flow ([85.6 ±17.1] vs [81.3 ± 19.9]%), mid-expiratory flow (MEF) with 75% of forced vital ca-pacity (FVC) expired ([96.1 ±16.1] vs [88.8 ±23.1]%), MEF with 50%of FVC expired ([88.4 ±17.8] vs [84.8 ±20.8]%), and MEF with 25%of FVC expired ([92.7 ±25.9] vs [82.9 ± 28.7]%) (P<0.05), but had no statistically significant differences in the predicted percentages of FVC, forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), and the ratio of FEV1 to FVC (P>0.05).The positive rate of AHR was 6.1% (16/246) in the NAR group.All the indices of small airway function were significantly lower in the AHR than in the nAHR group (P <0.01). Conclusion NAR patients are apt to undergo obvious changes in small airway function, some with AHR, which is associated with lower airway function changes.

Objective To observe expression of the keratin 10 (K10), c-myc and cox2 in buccal mucous membrane exfoliated cells, and changes of liver function of coal-burning arsenism patients, in order to explorate coal-burning arsenic poison circumference biology symbol. Methods The buccal mucous membrane exfoliated cells were collected from both arsenism patients and normal controls. Real-time PCR was employed to detect the changes of K10, c-myc, cox2 genes expression in these cells. Simultaneously, circumference venous blood was extracted and examinated liver function. Results K10 was found obviously overexpressed in arsenism patients(3.60±0.94) compared to control(1.82±0.68), the difference had statistics significance(t=2.15, P<0.05), c-mye and cox2 did not found obviously changed(c-myc: 3.50±2.77,3.39±2.07; cox2:5.90±1.40,4.73±1.91; t=1.26,1.65, P> 0.05). The serum ALT of patients(25.83±2A5) obviously increased than control(36.86±1735, t=2.55, P<0.05). Conclusions Expression of K10 gene in buccal mucous membrane cells may be regarded as sensitive molecular markers for skin pathologic changes in arsenic patients. The liver is a sensitive target organ of inorganic arsenic.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate effects of antioxidant stress protein heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) of rat hepatocytes. METHODS: The BRL cells (rat hepatocyte cell line) were cultured. The hepatocytes were treated with LPS, LPS+HO-1 siRNA, HO-1 siRNA and PBS solution, respectively. The cell viability was measured by trypan blue exclusion test. The apoptosis cells were detected by the fluorescent dye Hoechst 33258. Expressions of GRP78, CHOP, caspase-12 and HO-1 were detected by Western blotting. RESULTS: LPS caused an increase of HO-1 protein expression of rat hepatocytes in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner, a up-regulation of GRP78, CHOP and caspase-12, a decrease in cell viability, and an increase in apoptosis rate of hepatocytes. Pretreatment of HO-1 siRNA inhibited the up-regulation of LPS-induced HO-1, however, aggravated ERS and cellular injury. CONCLUSION HO-1 inhibites ERS-mediated cellular injury of rat hepatocytes induced by LPS.
Animals ; Apoptosis/physiology* ; Endoplasmic Reticulum/metabolism* ; Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress/physiology* ; Heme Oxygenase-1/pharmacology* ; Hepatocytes/metabolism* ; Lipopolysaccharides/pharmacology* ; Rats

BACKGROUNDThe pelvis often needs to be reconstructed after bone tumor resection. A major challenge here for the orthopedic surgeons is to choose a method that gives the best performance which depends upon its biomechanical properties. In this study, a 3-dimensional finite element analysis (FEA) was used to analyze the biomechanical properties of reconstructed pelvis using fibula transplant fixed by four commonly used rod-screw systems.

METHODSA total pelvic finite-element model including the lumbar-sacral spine and proximal femur was constructed based on the geometry of CT image from a healthy volunteer. Three-dimensional finite element models of different implants including fibula, rod and screw were simulated using ways of solid modeling. Then various reconstructed finite element models were assembled with different finite element implant model and type I resected pelvic finite element model. The load of 500 N was imposed vertically onto the superior surface of L3 vertebral body, and the pelvis was fixed in bilateral leg standing positions. FEA was performed to account for the stress distribution on the bones and implants. The pelvis displacement of the different rod-screw fixation methods and the maximum equivalent stress (max EQV) on all nodes and element were figured out to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of different reconstructive methods.

RESULTSStress concentration in the fibula transplant was extremely high in the reconstructed pelvis, but could be substantially decreased by internal fixation, which partially transferred the stress from the fibula to the rod-screw systems. High stress concentration was also found in the implants, especially in the connection sites between screw and rod. Among the four methods of fixation, a double rod system with L5-S1 pedicle and ilium screws (L5-S1 HR) produced the best performance: least stress concentrations and least total displacement.

CONCLUSIONAccording to the stability and stress concentration, the method of L5-S1 HR fixation combined with fibula transplantation is better than other fixation methods in pelvic reconstruction after type I resection.

Adult ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Bone Neoplasms ; surgery ; Bone Screws ; Femur Neck ; surgery ; Fibula ; transplantation ; Finite Element Analysis ; Humans ; Male ; Pelvic Bones ; surgery ; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures ; methods