Atherosclerosis ; pathology ; C-Reactive Protein ; metabolism ; Dendritic Cells ; metabolism ; Glycation End Products, Advanced ; metabolism ; Humans ; Inflammation

No abstract available.
Hemorrhage* ; Intracranial Hemorrhages*

To investigate the pathogenicity, genomic pattern, and o-like hemolysin of Staphylococcus lugdunensis (S. lugdunensis) in acute oral infection, S. lugdunensis was isolated from patients with an acute oral infection and from healthy persons. Antibiotic susceptibility, in vitro cellular toxicity, in vivo virulence, and hemolytic activity were tested, and plasmid DNA and restriction pattern of whole genomic DNA were analyzed to characterize the staphylococci. The dot blot and Southern blot hybridization analysis of staphylococcal DNA were performed with o-hemolysin gene probe. The isolation ratio of S. lugdunensis in the patients was higher than that in the healthy persons. S. lugdunensis from the patients with an acute oral infection showed resistance to penicillin, ampicillin, methicillin, cephalothin, and clindamycin. In the analysis of plasmid, there was a clear band about 6.5 kb in three strains of S. lugdunensis isolated from the patients with infection. S. lugdunensis in the patients had cellular toxicity in vitro and virulence in vivo. All strains of S. lugdunensis had o-like hemolysin activity against rabbit erythrocytes. Four of the six strains of S. lugdunensis gave synergistic hemolysis with Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) on sheep blood agar plates. In the analysis of genomic pattern, four strains of S. lugdunensis that gave synergistic hemolysis with S. aureus showed a similar genetic pattern with HindIII enzyme digests. In dot blot analysis, all strains of S. lugdunensis showed a positive reaction with the probe of 5-hemolysin gene in S. aureus. In Southern blot analysis, a 7.3 kb HindIII fragment was observed in DNA of S. lugdunensis that gave synergistic hemolysis with S. aureus, and a 2.5 kb band was observed in HindIII digests of S. aureus in the patients. These results suggest that S. lugdunensis may be an important pathogen in an acute oral infection and the 7.3 kb HindIII fragment from S. lugdunensis DNA may contain o-like hemolysin gene.
Agar ; Ampicillin ; Blotting, Southern ; Cephalothin ; Clindamycin ; DNA ; Erythrocytes ; Hemolysis ; Humans ; Methicillin ; Penicillins ; Plasmids ; Sheep ; Staphylococcus aureus ; Staphylococcus lugdunensis* ; Staphylococcus* ; Virulence

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Empyema* ; Typhoid Fever* ; Urinary Bladder*

Objective To investigate the correlation between 28-day prognosis and red cell distribution width (RDW) in sepsis patients.Methods This was a prospective observational study.Two hundred and thirteen sepsis patients were consecutively selected,and the patients were divided into 2 groups according to RDW:normal RDW group (RDW ＜ 0.15,160 cases) and high RDW group (RDW≥0.15,53 cases).The general conditions,acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) 1Ⅱ score,sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA),hypersensitive C reactive protein (hs-CRP),procalcitonin (PCT),arterial blood lactic acid,liver function injury,renal function injury and 28-day mortality were compared between 2 groups.The independent risk factors of 28-day prognosis were analyzed by multifactor Logistic regression analysis.Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to draw the 28-day survival curve,and the survival rate was compared between 2 groups by log-rank test.Results The 28-day mortality in high RDW group (35.8％,19/53) was significantly higher than that in normal RDW group (17.5％,28/160),and there was statistical difference (P =0.007).RDW ≥0.15 was the independent risk factor of 28-day death in sepsis patients (OR =2.634,95％ CI 1.316-5.273,P =0.006).After adjusted by gender,age and other relative factors,RDW≥0.15 was the independent risk factor of 28-day death in sepsis patients (OR =2.895,95％ CI 1.155-7.252,P =0.023).The 28-day accumulative survival rate in high RDW group was significantly lower than that in normal RDW group (50.5％ vs.63.0％),and there was statistical difference (P =0.014).Conclusion The high RDW in sepsis patients is the independent risk factor of 28-day death,and RDW ≥0.15 shows an important predictive value in the prognosis of sepsis patients.

Retinoic acid plays an important role in the regulation of cell growth and differentiation. In our present study, we evaluated the effects of all-trans retinoic acid (RA) on cell proliferation and on the cell cycle regulation of human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs). Cell proliferation was assessed using the MTT assay. Cell cycle analysis was performed by flow cytometry, and cell cycle regulatory proteins were determined by western blot. Cell proliferation was increased in the presence of a 0.1 nM to 1 microM RA dose range, and maximal growth stimulation was observed in cells exposed to 1 nM of RA. Exposure of HGFs to 1 nM of RA resulted in an augmented cell cycle progression. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying cell cycle regulation by RA, we measured the intracellular levels of major cell cycle regulatory proteins. The levels of cyclin E and cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 2 were found to be increased in HGFs following 1 nM of RA treatment. However, the levels of cyclin D, CDK 4, and CDK 6 were unchanged under these conditions. Also after exposure to 1 nM of RA, the protein levels of p21WAF1/CIP1 and p16INK4A were decreased in HGFs compared with the control group, but the levels of p53 and pRb were similar between treated and untreated cells. These results suggest that RA increases cell proliferation and cell cycle progression in HGFs via increased cellular levels of cyclin E and CDK 2, and decreased cellular levels of p21WAF1/CIP1 and p16INK4A.
Blotting, Western ; Cell Cycle ; Cell Cycle Proteins ; Cell Proliferation ; Cyclin D ; Cyclin E ; Cyclins ; Fibroblasts ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Phosphotransferases ; Tretinoin

Ampicillin ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Berberine ; Biological Products ; Child ; Fibroblasts ; Humans ; Mouth ; Staphylococcus aureus ; Staphylococcus

The purpose of this study was to investigate the comparative effects of subgingival irrigation using some oral mouth rinses on early healing process of periodontal inflammation. The study population consisted of 13 patients with periodontal inflammation and distributed into 4 groups. Oral hygiene instruction, delicate scaling and root planing were done and then irrigated per 3 days during 2 weeks in situ with 1 of 4 solutions ; normal saline, C31G, Benzotonium chloride and tetracycline. Examination regarding probing pocket depth, plaque index, sulcular bleeding index, gingival index, gingival recession and leukocytes differential count was performed. Evaluation was made at the baseline and 2 weeks after non-surgical periodontal therapy. The results were as follows: 1. Clinical indices including probing pocket depth, plaque index, sulcular bleeding index, gingival index and gingival recession were significantly improved from baseline to 2 weeks. But there was no significant differences among 4 groups. 2. PMNs percent on leukocytes differential count was significantly decreased from baseline to 2 weeks on all groups. Those of tetracycline and C31G were significantly decreased than those of normal saline group. These results suggest that clinical indices were not different, but the decrease of inflammation were significantly different among some mouth rinses.
Gingival Recession ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Inflammation* ; Leukocytes ; Mouth* ; Oral Hygiene ; Periodontal Index ; Root Planing ; Tetracycline

PURPOSE: To evaluate the parameters of tear function and ocular surface changes with time course after penetrating keratoplasty (PKP). METHODS: Corneal sensitivity test (CST), tear film break-up time (BUT), basal tear secretion test (BST), tear clearance test (Tcr), fluorescein staining and conjunctival impression cytology were evaluated in 21 eyes of 21 patients who underwent PKP at 1, 3 and 6 months postoperatively. RESULTS: CST (p=0.02), BST (p=0.04), fluorescein scoring (p=0.03), and goblet cell density (p=0.03) showed improving tendency during 6 month after surgery, but BUT (p=0.11), Tcr (p=0.65) and squamous metaplasia (p=0.20) did not change significantly. One month after surgery, CST (p<0.01), BUT (p=0.01), BST (p<0.01), and goblet cell density (p=0.01) were lower, while fluorescein staining score (p<0.01) and the grade of squamous metaplasia (p=0.03) were higher in PKP group. Six months after surgery, CST (p<0.01) and goblet cell density (p=0.04) were lower, and fluorescein staining score (p<0.01) was higher in PKP group. CONCLUSIONS: Tear film and ocular surface are compromised after PKP and improved gradually during postoperative 6 months. However, these parameters were not recovered completely to the normal level.
Fluorescein ; Goblet Cells ; Humans ; Keratoplasty, Penetrating* ; Metaplasia ; Tears*