OBJECTIVETo analyze the status of liver disease research in China.

METHODHepatology and gastroenterology journals in the Science Citation Index were searched and their impact factors were analyzed.

RESULTS19 periodicals in this field were published in 6 countries. Among them 11 (61%) were published in the USA. Eleven of the 19 were full text embodied in the ScienceDirect (Elsevier), Blackwell and Wiley. The impact factor of the journal Gastroenterology was 13.092, the highest or the 19, and Hepatology, with an impact factor of 10.416, was in the second position. Of the 19 periodicals, 12 had an impact factor over 2.822. Articles published in those journals from 1001 through 2005 were written by mainland Chinese authors.

CONCLUSIONThe 12 periodicals with an impact factor over 2 can be regarded as core periodicals in this field. The medical periodicals in China need to be further improved in order to reach top international standards.

Bibliometrics ; Databases, Bibliographic ; Gastroenterology ; Humans ; Liver Diseases ; Periodicals as Topic

OBJECTIVETo explore the mechanism of Shangke Jiegu Tablet (SJT)in repairing the mandibular defect.

METHODSTotally 72 healthy male New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into the normal control group (n = 24), the model group (n = 24), and the SJT group (n = 24). Then the mandibular defect model was established. Animals in the normal control group and the model group were fed with normal forage, while those in the SJT group were fed with SJT forage. On the day 7, 14, 28, and 56 after model establishment, 6 rabbits were killed in each group. The bone was collected from the mandibular defect. The gene expressions of osteoprotegerin (OPG) and osteoprotegerin ligand (OPGL) were detected by means of RT-PCR. The positive dyeing strength and area of the bone tissue were detected by means of immunohistochemical technique.

RESULTSCompared with the normal control group, the degree of OPGmRNA expression was remarkably up-regulated on day 7 after model establishment (P < 0.05) and the degree of OPGLmRNA expression was remarkably up-regulated on day 14 after model establishment (P < 0.05) in the model group. Compared with the model group, the degree of OPGmRNA expression was remarkably up-regulated (P < 0.05), and the positive dyeing strength and area of bone tissue were stronger and broader on day 14, 28, and 56 after model establishment in the SJT group. The degree of OPGLmRNA expression was remarkably down-regulated (P < 0.05), and the positive dyeing strength and area of bone tissue were weaker and smaller on day 14 after model establishment in the SJT group. The ratio of OPGmRNA/OPGLmRNA was remarkably up-regulated on day 14, 28, and 56 after model establishment (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe effect mechanism of promoting mandibular defect repairing by SJT may be correlated to regulating the expressions of OPGmRNA and OPGLmRNA.

Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Gene Expression ; drug effects ; Ligands ; Male ; Mandibular Injuries ; genetics ; metabolism ; Osteoprotegerin ; metabolism ; RANK Ligand ; metabolism ; Rabbits ; Wound Healing ; drug effects

3a and 7a are nonstructural proteins of SARSCoV, which are encoded separately by ORF 3a and ORF 7a in SARSCoV genome. The expression of 3a has been founded in cells infected by virus in vivo or in vitro. Firstly, the pGL3Control vector was reconstructed , the pGL3Enhancer vector deletious of SV40 promoter gene was obtained . Then the IFN? promoter gene was cloned into the pGL3Enhancer vector and pGLIP21, the Luciferase reporter plasmid with IFN? promoter was established. The availability of pGLIP21 was verified by NDV ,the inductor of IFN?, the Luciferase activity was assayed in cells transfected with pGLIP21 by Luminometer. In order to see the function of 3a and 7a protein of SARSCoV,CHO cells expressing 3a or 7a protein were transfected with pGLIP21, the intensity of luciferase activity was analyzed . By analysis, in vitro, 3a and 7a protein of SARSCoV had the similar ability in triggering the expression of Luceferase gene, i.e 3a and 7a protein of SARSCoV could effectively activate the promoter fragment of IFN? gene. This result will help studying the function of 3a and 7a protein and provide a method to study the nosogenesis mechanism of SARSCoV.

OBJECTIVEIdiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS) is a common glomerular disease. The pathogenesis of the disease remains unclear. Recent studies indicate that transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta) is the main cytokine involved in glomerular disease. It plays an important role in the development of INS and in occurrence of glomerulosclerosis. The present study aimed to study changes and significance of TGF beta in children with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS).

METHODSTotally 35 cases with INS (13 males, 22 females) were studied. The age of onset was between 2 years and 1 months and 14 years with an average of 8 years and 3 months. The active stage group had 35 cases and the remission stage groups had 25 cases. The cases in active stage group had first onset of the disease with obvious clinical symptoms and abnormal laboratory findings without use of corticosteroids. The cases in remission stage group were asymptomatic without abnormal laboratory findings. Protein in urine was negative over 4 weeks after oral administration of prednisone for 8 weeks. Twenty five cases were steroid responsive and 10 cases were steroid non-responsive among the 35 cases. Thirty healthy young children were enrolled as control. TGF beta was detected by ELISA in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) culture medium. The TGF beta mRNA gene expression was measured by in situ PCR in PBMC.

RESULTS(1) Concentration of TGF beta(247 +/- 26) ng/L and TGF beta mRNA expression (0.57 +/- 0.18) in active stage of simple type or nephritis type INS were higher than those of remission stage and control (P < 0.01). Concentration of TGF beta[(125 +/- 16) ng/L] and TGF beta mRNA expression (0.30 +/- 0.12) in remission stage were higher than that of control (P < 0.05). (2) The level of TGF beta protein in nephritis type [(275 +/- 26) ng/L] was significantly higher than that in simple type [(220 +/- 18) ng/L] in active stage INS (t = 6.45, P < 0.01). No significant difference in TGF beta mRNA expression was found between the nephritis type (0.58 +/- 0.15) and simple type (0.55 +/- 0.16) in active stage INS, either (P > 0.05). But these two types were different from the control (P < 0.01). (3) Concentration of TGF beta and TGF beta mRNA expression after therapy was clearly lower than that before therapy in steroid responsive group (P < 0.01). Whereas no significant change was seen in steroid non-responsive group. Both indicators were higher in steroid non-responsive group than in steroid responsive group whether before or after therapy.

CONCLUSIONTGF beta may play an important role in the mechanism of INS and its level in PBMC can be used as an immunological indicator for the illness state, therefore, determination of TGF beta level and mRNA may be of some clinical significance.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Humans ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Male ; Nephrotic Syndrome ; blood ; drug therapy ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; genetics ; metabolism

Illegally paid blood donation was a risk factor for HIV acquisition exclusively in Henan and Hubei Provinces of China, and not in Shanghai. Nucleotide sequences in the gag and env genes of HIV-1 were compared between isolates from Henan and Shanghai regions of China to test whether an expected higher degree of a common source of infections from this unique blood donation transmission risk would be evident as decreased variation among Henan isolates in an exploratory cross-sectional analysis. Among 38 isolates studied, 23 of 23 (100%) from Henan and 8 of 15 (54%) from Shanghai were subtype B. In addition, fewer sequence differences were found in gp41 of subtype B isolates from Henan than from Shanghai isolates. Further studies with additional controls are therefore warranted to confirm the role of the degree of a common source of infections in differences in HIV variation across populations.

Objective:To investigate the influence of metastasis suppressor gene KAI1 on the proliferation,invasion and metastasis of endometrial carcinoma cell line AN3CA and HEC-1-B.Methods:The KAI1 cDNA was transfected into human endometrial carcinoma cells AN3CA and HEC-1-B via Lipofectamine 2000.The expression of KAI1 protein was ex- amined by Western blotting and flow cytometry before and after transfection.The proliferation ability of AN3CA and HEC- 1-B cells was observed by MTT assay and anchorage-independent growth assay.The changes of cell invasive ability were studied by transwell assays.Results:Stable expression of KAI1 protein was observed in AN3CA and HEC-1-B cells and on their surface after transfection with pcDNA3-KAI1 plasmid.Cells transfected with blank plasmid formed more colonies and had a larger size,with the colony forming rates being(54.2?3.1)% for AN3CA cells and(52.7?4.3)% for HEC- 1- B cells;the doubling time of AN3CA and HEC-1-B cells were 21.3 h and 20.1 h,respectively.Cells transfected with pcDNA3-KAI1 formed less colonies and had a smaller size,with the colony forming rates being(37.4?5.1)% for AN3CA cells and(32.1?3.7)% for HEC-1-B cells;the doubling time of AN3CA and HEC-1-B cells were 43.7h and 45.2 h,respectively.The cell proliferation abilities and colony-forming ability were significantly different between the two groups(P

OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that DNA methylation of development-related genes may occur in endometrial cancer (EC)/ovarian cancer (OC) and may be detected in cervical scrapings. METHODS: We tested methylation status by quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction for 14 genes in DNA pools of endometrial and OC tissues. Tissues of EC/normal endometrium, OC/normal ovary, were verified in training set using cervical scrapings of 10 EC/10 OC patients and 10 controls, and further validated in the testing set using independent cervical scrapings in 30 EC/30 OC patients and 30 controls. We generated cutoff values of methylation index (M-index) from cervical scrapings to distinguish between cancer patients and control. Sensitivity/specificity of DNA methylation biomarkers in detecting EC and OC was calculated. RESULTS: Of 14 genes, 4 (PTGDR, HS3ST2, POU4F3, MAGI2) showed hypermethylation in EC and OC tissues, and were verified in training set. POU4F3 and MAGI2 exhibited hypermethylation in training set were validated in independent cases. The mean M-index of POU4F3 is 78.28 in EC and 20.36 in OC, which are higher than that in controls (6.59; p<0.001 and p=0.100, respectively), and that of MAGI2 is 246.0 in EC and 12.2 in OC, which is significantly higher that than in controls (2.85; p<0.001 and p=0.480, respectively). Sensitivity and specificity of POU4F3/MAGI2 were 83%–90% and 69%–75% for detection of EC, and 61% and 62%–69% for the detection of OC. CONCLUSION: The findings demonstrate the potential of EC/OC detection through testing for DNA methylation in cervical scrapings.
Biomarkers ; DNA Methylation ; DNA ; Endometrial Neoplasms ; Endometrium ; Female ; Humans ; Methylation ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; Ovary ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sensitivity and Specificity

OBJECTIVETo analyze the promoter methylation levels of p15, CDH1, DAPK and HICI genes of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and explore the relationship between the level of methylation and clinical features.

METHODSDNA methylation levels of p15, CDH1, DAPK and HICI in peripheral blood (PB) or bone marrow (BM) samples from 52 MDS patients were detected by real-time quantitative PCR. The correlation of the methylation level with clinical features and hematological findings was analyzed. 38 de novo AML patients and 46 normal individuals served as controls.

RESULTSThe methylation levels of p15, CDH1, DAPK and HICI were 16.23 ± 21.69, 6.59 ± 9.39, 0.14 ± 0.11 and 7.81 ± 9.70 in BM, and 14.96 ± 20.16, 6.00 ± 9.26, 0.12 ± 0.14 and 6.74 ± 9.72 in PB, respectively from 18 MDS patients, and the difference between BM and PB was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The methylation levels of p15 (14.70 ± 18.17) and CDH1 (6.61 ± 8.79) genes in high risk (RAEBI/II) MDS were significantly higher than in low risk (RCMD/RARS/5q-, p15: 1.99 ± 1.59, CDH1: 1.23 ± 1.14 and RCMD, p15: 3.02 ± 3.42, CDH1:1.53 ± 2.06) MDS or control (p15: 1.69 ± 1.82, CDH1: 1.01 ± 1.12) (P < 0.05). The methylation levels of DAPK gene had no difference among subtypes of MDS, and that of HIC1 gene only differed between RAEB I/II (9.16 ± 11.95) and control (2.49 ± 2.26) (P = 0.042). The difference of methylation levels of p15, CDH1, DAPK and HICI in BM was statistically significant among subtypes of MDS (P = 0.001, 0.003, 0.039, 0.023, respectively). And so did of p15 and DAPK in PB (P = 0.013, 0.006, respectively). The methylation level of p15 and CDH1 was significantly correlated with IPSS classification and blasts percentage in BM.

CONCLUSIONSp15 and CDH1 genes are special hypermethylation genes in MDS. Methylation level of HIC1 gene showed an upward tendency from low risk to high risk MDS.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Cadherins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Case-Control Studies ; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p15 ; genetics ; metabolism ; DNA Methylation ; Death-Associated Protein Kinases ; Female ; Humans ; Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors ; genetics ; metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myelodysplastic Syndromes ; genetics ; metabolism ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Young Adult

Purpose Analysis of correlation between FOXM1 gene expression levels and clinicopathological features and prognosis of patients with esophageal squamous cancer (ESC). The effect of down-regulation of FOXM1 expression on the proliferation of human ESC cell line KYSE-30 was also inves-tigated. Methods Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry ( IHC) methods were used to detect the expression of FOXM1 in ESC tissues and non-cancer tissues in mRNA and protein level. The expression of FOXM1 was down-regulated by RNA interference (RNAi) technique, and the pro-liferation activity of KYSE-30 cells was detected by CCK-8 as-say. Results Compared with the corresponding non-cancer tis-sues, the expression of FOXM1 was significant higher in ESC tis-sues(P＜0. 01). Meanwhile, the expression levels of FOXM1 in poorly differentiated esophageal carcinoma was higher than that in well-differentiated ESC group ( P ＜0. 01 ). The expression of FOXM1 was significantly correlated with poor tumor differentia-tion (P＜0. 001), lymphatic metastasis (P=0. 000), advanced stage (P=0. 004) of ESC patients after surgical resection. High FOXM1 expression was related to shorter overall survival ( OS) (P＜0. 001). After down-regulating FOXM1 expression in KYSE-30 cells, cell proliferation rate was inhibited (P＜0. 01). Conclusion FOXM1 expression is up-regulated in ESC and is closely related to the degree of differentiation, lymph node me-tastasis, clinical stage and prognosis of ESC. FOXM1 may be participated in regulating the proliferation of human esophageal carcinoma cell line KYSE-30.

OBJECTIVETo observe the serological and epidemiological efficacy of hemorrhagic fever renal syndrome (HFRS) vaccine in Zhejiang province.

METHODSImmunofluorescent antibody assay and Mcro-CPE method were used to test specific IgG antibody and the titer of neutralizing antibody.

RESULTSTwo weeks after the injection of the third dose, the sero-conversion rates by both immunofluorescent antibody test (IgG) and neutralization test were 100.0% (67/67) (95% CI: 96.3 - 100.0) and 44.4% (8/18)(95% CI: 22.0 - 69.0) with geometric mean titers (GMTs) 72.1 and 4.6 respectively. The rates of seroconversion of immunofluorescent antibody by immunofluorescence antibody assay (IFA) were 28.6%, 83.3%, 75.0%, 53.1%, 22.6%, 10.0% and 55.0% before reinforcement, two weeks, one year, one year and a half years, two years, three years and five years after reinforcement. The rates of neutralizing antibody seroconversion by the Mcro-CPE method were found as 14.8%, 55.6%, 35.0%, 31.3%, 26.0%, 10.0% and 50.0% respectively. We found some antibody dependent immunization enhancement phenomenon among the inoculated population, but further observation was needed.

CONCLUSIONHFRS vaccine was immunologically effective and the duration of serous antibody last long.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Antibodies, Viral ; blood ; China ; epidemiology ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique ; Hantaan virus ; immunology ; Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Immunization Schedule ; Immunoglobulin G ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neutralization Tests ; Vaccination ; Viral Vaccines ; immunology