OBJECTIVETo explore the intervention of baicalin on signal transduction and activating transcription factor expression of ulcerative colitis (UC) patients.

METHODSRecruited were UC patients at Outpatient Department of Digestive Disease, Inpatient Department of Digestive Disease, Center for Digestive Endoscopy of College City Branch, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Southern Hospital affiliated to Southern Medical University from June 2010 to January 2011. They were assigned to the UC group (33 cases) and the diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D) group (30 cases). Another 30 healthy subjects were recruited as a healthy control group. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in vitro intervened by different concentrations baicalin were taken from UC patients. IL23R gene expressions in vitro intervened by different concentrations baicalin were detected using Q-PCR. Expressions of signal transducer and activator of transcription 4 (STAT4) , STAT6, phosphorylated-STAT4 (p-STAT4), and p-STAT6 were detected using Western blot. Serum levels of IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-6, and IL-10 were measured by ELISA. Effects of different concentrations baicalin on expressions of PBMCs, and levels of IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-10 of UC patients were also detected.

RESULTSCompared with the negative control group, 40 µmol baicalin obviously decreased IL23R gene expression of UC patients (P <0. 01). Compared with the healthy control group and the IBS-D group, p-STAT4/STAT4 ratios increased, p-STAT6/STAT6 ratios decreased, levels of IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-10 all increased in the US group (all P <0. 05). Compared with the negative control, 5 and 10 µmol baicalin groups, 20 and 40 moL baicalin obviously decreased p-STAT4/STAT4 ratios (all P <0. 05); 20 and 40 µmoL baicalin obviously increased p-STAT6/STAT6 ratios (all P <0. 05); 20 and 40 µmoL baicalin obviously lowered levels of IFN-γ and IL-4, and elevated IL-10 levels (all P <0. 05).

CONCLUSION40 µmoL baicalin could in vitro inhibit p-STAT4/STAT4 ratios, adjust p-STAT6/STAT6 ratios and related cytokines, thereby balancing the immunity and relieving inflammatory reactions of UC.

Activating Transcription Factors ; metabolism ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal ; therapeutic use ; Blotting, Western ; Colitis, Ulcerative ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Cytokines ; metabolism ; Flavonoids ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Interleukin-10 ; metabolism ; Interleukin-4 ; metabolism ; Interleukin-6 ; metabolism ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Phosphorylation ; STAT6 Transcription Factor ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction

Recombinant human BMP-2 was compounded with chitosan/gelatin/hydroxyapatite(HCG) scaffold and the complex was sterilized by 60Co radiating. Osteoblast isolated from cranial bones of newborn rat was primary cultured and seeded onto the complexes. 3 days after culturing, scanning electron microscope(SEM) was applied to detect the compatibility of the cell with the complex. SEM showed osteoblast attached closely with the complex and grew well in its pores. Then the complexes with osteoblast modification were implanted into athymic nude mice subcutaneously. 8 weeks after implantation, X-ray photograph and histological observation were applied to detect the bone formation of the complexes. Under X-ray a high-density areas consistent with the shape of the implanted complex could be seen. Histological observation also proved there was bone formation in the interspace of the complex. A conclusion was drawn that rhBMP-2 compounded HCG scaffold had good osteogenesis ability in vivo.

The cry gene family, produced during the late exponential phase of growth in Bacillus thuringiensis, is a large, still-growing family of homologous genes, in which each gene encodes a protein with strong specific activity against only one or a few insect species. Extensive studies are mostly focusing on the structural and functional relationships of Cry proteins, and have revealed several residues or domains that are important for the target recognition and receptor attachment. In this study,we have employed a maximum likelihood method to detect evidence of adaptive evolution in Cry proteins, and have identified 24 positively selected residues, which are all located in Domain Ⅱ or Ⅲ. Combined with known data from mutagenesis studies, the majority of these residues, at the molecular level, contribute much to the insect specificity determination. We postulate that the potential pressures driving the diversification of Cry proteins may be in an attempt to adapt for the "arm race" between δ-endotoxins and the targeted insects, or to enlarge their target spectra, hence result in the functional divergence. The sites identified to be under positive selection would provide targets for further structural and functional analyses on Cry proteins.

The study was aimed to investigate the effective therapeutic method for patients with multiple myeloma accompanied with amyloidosis. A 58-year-old patient diagnosed as multiple myeloma accompanied with amyloidosis in four limbs was enrolled in this study. The various clinical and laboratorial examinations were performed, including bone marrow smear, immunologic test, radiography and so on. Patient received chemotherapeutic drugs and then autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (auto-HSCT). The result showed that hematopoietic reconstitution was achieved at 23 days after auto-HSCT. Immunofixation electrophoresis was normal. There was only 0.6% plasma cells in the bone marrow. In conclusion, the auto-HSCT may be an effective treatment for multiple myeloma accompanied with amyloidosis in four limbs.
Amyloidosis ; complications ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Myeloma ; complications ; surgery ; Transplantation, Autologous

OBJECTIVETo explore the relevant factors of the causes of sexual orientations of gay.

METHODFrom March to June 2013, 350 gays were recruited from one music bar and three bath centers where gays frequently visited in Changsha city, by proportional stratified sampling method. Meanwhile, another 332 males who identify themselves as non-homosexuality were also recruited considering the composition of ages, gender and educational background. Questionnaire survey was conducted to all the subjects, with 300 effective ones reclaimed. The questionnaire included the general demographic information, traits of character, the condition of foster in childhood and information of family members. The differences between the gays and non-homosexuality groups were analyzed to explore the causes of the sexual orientations of gays.

RESULTSThere were statistical significant differences between gays and non- homosexuality group on following indexes (χ(2) was 59.63, 5.90, 16.01, 84.99, 161.57, 77.77, 112.32, 190.84, 30.10 respectively, all of P < 0.05) :had a tender father and an impervious mother, were physically weak, not agile, physically inactive, attentive to details, highly conservative, not adventurous, and radical in childhood, were raised as girls before the age of 18, liked to dress as girls before the age of 18, don't liked to play toy knives and toy guns before the age of 18, suffered from sexual abuse before the age of 18 (e.g. forced to expose private parts or forced to have sex) by adults, had read or watched books or films about homosexual and experienced sexual pleasure from that before the age of 18. The rate of gays on these indexes was separately 62.3% (187/300), 57.7% (173/300) , 62.3% (187/300) , 63.0% (189/300), 67.3% (202/300) , 62.7% (189/300), 68.0% (204/300), 65.0% (195/300) and the rate on these indexes of non-homosexuality group was separately 21.3% (64/300), 28.0% (84/300) , 25.0% (75/300) , 12.7% (38/300), 31.3% (94/300), 17.7% (53/300) , 12.7% (38/300), 42.7% (128/300) . The rate of gays on these factors:the youngest boy in family, had the father or twin brothers who were homosexual or self identified as gay was 62.7% (188/300), 56.0% (168/300) and 62.0% (18/29) respectively; and the rate was 40.7% (122/300), 4.0% (12/300) and 20.0% (2/10), respectively among non-homosexuality group. The difference showed statistical significance (χ(2) was 34.52, 193.14, 5.27 respectively, all of P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe correlative factor of sexual orientation of gays maybe was family relationship, tend and education since childhood, psychological characteristics, sexual experience during puberty.

Adult ; Homosexuality, Male ; psychology ; statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Male ; Sexual Behavior ; statistics & numerical data ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVETo study the HIV infection rate and relevant behavioural characteristics among drug users (DUs) in the 15 cities of China-Gates HIV/AIDS Program.

METHODSBy literature review from the public security sector and expert consultations, the size of drug using population was estimated, questionnaire was used to survey relevant behavioural characteristics of DUs, and blood specimens were collected for HIV, syphilis and HCV testing.

RESULTSIn 2007, the number of registered DUs in the 15 cities was 176 004, while the estimated number was 477 989. DUs mainly used heroin and crystal meth. Of the survey subjects, 41.0% (2685/6155) had correct knowledge about HIV/AIDS, and Hangzhou 97.6% (410/420), Qingdao 85.5% (342/400), Wuhan 69.7% (308/442), Kunming 63.8% (255/400), Shanghai 45.4% (237/522), Xi'an 44.5% (178/400), Nanjing 38.8% (155/400), Beijing 36.5% (237/650), Guangzhou 29.5% (122/413), Haerbin 25.4% (114/447), Haikou 23.8% (96/402), Chongqing 22.4% (90/401), Sanya 20.0% (80/400), Tianjin 16.2% (41/253), Shenyang 9.8% (20/205), and the difference among the cities has statistical significance (χ(2) = 1482.833, P < 0.05). The rate of needle sharing at the last injection was 10.8% (665/6155), and Hangzhou 10.8% (45/420), Chongqing 26.4% (106/401), Guangzhou 2.6% (11/413), Shenyang 31.3% (64/205), Shanghai 0.4% (2/522), Kunming 10.8% (43/400), Beijing 10.6% (69/650), Tianjin 5.4% (14/253), Xi'an 3.3% (13/400), Wuhan 17.9% (79/442), Sanya 20.0% (80/400), Haikou 2.2% (9/402), Haerbin 8.5% (38/447), Nanjing 21.4% (86/400), Qingdao 1.5% (6/400), and the difference among the cities has statistical significance (χ(2) = 483.044, P < 0.05). Only 5.0% (8737/176 004) of DUs and 1.2% of HIV positive DUs participated in needle exchange. The HIV, syphilis and HCV infection rates were respectively 2.76% (155/5620), 3.38% (190/5620) and 32.35% (1818/5620). The HIV infection rates of different city was:Hangzhou 0.4% (1/273), Chongqing 7.5% (30/401), Guangzhou 2.9% (12/413), Shenyang 0.5% (1/205), Shanghai 0.32% (1/316), Kunming 16.25% (65/400), Beijing 2.6% (16/624), Tianjin 2.0% (5/253), Xi'an 1.25% (5/400), Wuhan 0.24% (1/411), Sanya 1.75% (7/400), Haikou 0.2% (1/402), Haerbin 1.1% (5/447), Nanjing 1.1% (3/275), Qingdao 0.5% (2/400), and the difference among the cities has statistical significance (χ(2) = 354.203, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe HIV prevalence rate of IDUs in 15 cities slowly decreased although the HIV prevalence rate of IDUs in Chongqing and Kunming and other cities had surpassed the international warning level. The risk of sharing needles for HIV infection was dropped, and more attention should be paid to the potential risk of HIV transmission via unsafe sex due to the use of new drugs, such as amphetamine chloride.

China ; epidemiology ; Drug Users ; HIV ; HIV Infections ; epidemiology ; Hepacivirus ; Hepatitis C ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Prevalence ; Syphilis ; epidemiology ; Treponema pallidum ; Urban Population

Objective:To explore the prognosis and risk factors for conversion from off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCABG) to coronary bypass grafting (CABG) during surgery.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 2613 patients with elective OPCAB in our hospital from 2001 to 2012, there were 62 (2.37%) patients converted to CABG during the operation as Conversion group, the rest 2551 patients were set as Non-conversion group. The peril-operative baseline clinical data and prognosis condition were compared between 2 groups. The risk factors causing the in-operative conversion were studied with binary logistic regression analysis.
Results: The total conversion rate was 2.37%, including 42 patients of hemodynamic instability, 6 with dififculty of target vessel exposure, 9 with malignant arrhythmia, 3 with graft occlusion and 2 patients with other reasons. Compared with Non-conversion group, the Conversion group had increased post-operative drainage and ventilation time, higher rates of second thoracotomy for stop bleeding and higher peril-operative mortality. Binary logistic regression analysis indicated that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, previous history of CABG, NYHA class≥3, LVEF≤40%and left main disease were the independent risk factors for in-operative conversion.
Conclusion: Conversion from OPCAB to CABG during the operation would be result in signiifcantly higher morbidity and mortality in relevant patients.

Background Hyperuricemia is frequently present in patients with heart failure. Many pathological conditions, such as tissue ischemia, renal function impairment, cardiac function impairment, metabolic syndrome, and inflammatory status, may impact uric acid (UA) metabolism. This study was to assess their potential relations to UA metabolism in heart failure. Methods We retrospectively assessed clinical characteristics, echocardiological, renal, metabolic and inflammatory variables selected on the basis of previous evidence of their involvement in cardiovascular diseases and UA metabolism in a large cohort of randomly selected adults with congestive heart failure (n = 553). By clustering of indices, those variables were explored using factor analysis. Results In factor analysis, serum uric acid (SUA) formed part of a principal cluster of renal functional variables which included serum creatinine (SCr) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN). Univariate correlation coefficients between variables of patients with congestive heart failure showed that the strongest correlations for SUA were with BUN (r = 0.48, P < 0.001) and SCr (r = 0.47, P < 0.001). Conclusions There was an inverse relationship between SUA levels and measures of renal function in patients with congestive heart failure. The strong correlation between SUA and SCr and BUN levels suggests that elevated SUA concentrations reflect an impairment of renal function in heart failure.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the impact of preoperative biliary drainage on surgical morbidity in hilar cholangiocarcinoma patients underwent surgery.

METHODSOne hundred and eleven consecutive patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma whose serum total bilirubin (TBIL) level > 85 micromol/L and underwent surgery in the period from June 1998 to August 2007 were enrolled. There were 67 male and 44 female patients, aged from 26 to 82 years old with a mean of 56 years old.

RESULTSFifty-five patients underwent preoperative biliary drainage with a mean of 11.4 d of drainage period (drainage group), the other (n = 56) were the non-drainage group. The preoperative TBIL level of drainage group was (154 +/- 69) micromol/L, which was significantly lower than the value of pre-drainage (256 +/- 136) micromol/L (P = 0.000) and the value of non-drainage group (268 +/- 174) micromol/L (P = 0.005). ALT and GGT levels could be lowered by preoperative biliary drainage. The postoperative complications of these two groups were comparable (36.3% vs. 28.6%, P = 0.381). Four patients in drainage group and 5 patients in non-drainage group died of liver failure. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that hepatectomy (OR = 0.284, P = 0.003) was the independent risk factor associated with postoperative morbidity. Bismuth-Corlette classification (OR = 0.211, P = 0.028) was the independent risk factor linked to postoperative mortality.

CONCLUSIONSPreoperative biliary drainage could alleviate liver injury due to hyperbilirubin, but it could not decrease the surgical morbidity and postoperative mortality. Concomitant hepatectomy and Bismuth-Corlette classification were independent risk factors linked to surgical risks.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Bile Duct Neoplasms ; surgery ; Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic ; Cholangiocarcinoma ; surgery ; Drainage ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Complications ; Preoperative Care ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) on the proliferation of SW620 cells and the expression of PAK1 gene.

METHODSHuman colonic cancer cell line SW620 was treated with EGCG at 40, 60 and 80 micromol/L and cultured in RPMI 1640 medium for 0, 24, 48 and 72 h. The proliferation of SW620 cells was observed by MTT assay before and after EGCG treatment, and the expression of PAK1 protein was observed by Western blotting.

RESULTSSW620 cells treated with EGCG displayed a slowed growth in comparison with the control cells, and the growth rate decreased with the increase of EGCG concentration. PAK1 protein expression was lowered in SW620 cells after EGCG treatment for 48 h.

CONCLUSIONEGCG can inhibit the proliferation and partially reduce the expression of PAK1 protein in SW620 cells.

Blotting, Western ; Catechin ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Colonic Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; drug effects ; Humans ; p21-Activated Kinases ; metabolism