Bacteria translocation (BT) induced enterogenous infection in multiple organs dysfunction syndrome (MODS) is closely related with the stress pyemia and MODS. For prevention of BT, western medicine stresses to improve the blood and oxygen supply of intestinal tract, mucosa protection, and application of microorganism preparation, while traditional Chinese medicine could also win good effect by using such drugs as rhubarb, red sage root, and compound decoctions.
Animals ; Bacterial Translocation ; drug effects ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Intestinal Mucosa ; physiopathology ; Multiple Organ Failure ; microbiology ; Phytotherapy

OBJECTIVETo assess the association of haptoglobin (HP)1/2 polymorphism with coronary heart disease (CHD) in Chinese Hans.

METHODSOne hundred and eighty-nine CHD patients and 242 healthy controls confirmed with angiography were recruited. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method was utilized to genotype the HP1 and HP2 alleles and genotype frequencies in cases and controls were compared.

RESULTSThe frequency of HP2-2 genotype was significantly higher in CHDs than in controls (0.54 vs.0.35, P = 0.000). The HP2-2 genotype significantly increased the risk for CHD in univariable analysis (OR = 2.166, 95%CI: 1.467-3.196). Multifactor Logistic regression analysis indicated that HP2-2 genotype is an independent risk factor to CHD (P = 0.002; OR = 2.101, 95%CI: 1.311-3.367). Similarly, the HP2 allele frequency in the CHD group was significantly higher than that in the control subjects (0.74 vs.0.61, P = 0.000).

CONCLUSIONThe HP2-2 genotype is associated with CHD in Chinese. HP2-2 genotype may be an independent risk factor to CHD, and HP2 allele may be a genetic susceptibility factor to CHD in Chinese.

Adult ; Aged ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Coronary Disease ; genetics ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Haptoglobins ; genetics ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Genetic

OBJECTIVETo investigate the quantity and function of circulating dendritic cells (DC) in patients with chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP).

METHODSHigh dose dexamethasone (HD-DXM) at a dose of 40 mg orally per day for four consecutive days was the initial treatment for chronic ITP patients. Flow cytometry was used to analyze the number of myeloid DC (mDC), plasma cytoid DC (pDC) and CD4+FOXP3+ T cells in patients before and after the treatment, meanwhile the co-stimulatory molecules on circulating DCs were assayed as well. Monocyte-derived DCs and CD4+ T cells were co-cultured with autologous or allogeneic normal fresh platelets and after 6 days of incubation H-TdR was used to assay the proliferation of CD4+ T cells.

RESULTSThe absolute numbers of circulating mDC and pDC were not significantly different between pre-treatment patients and healthy controls (P > 0.05 and P >0.05). However, percentage of CD4+ FOXP3+ T cells was decreased (P < 0.01), and their percentage was inversely correlated with the number of pDC and mDC (r = -0.396, P =0.045 and r = -0.410, P =0.037). The initial response rate to HD-DXM was 92.3%. After 4-days treatment, CD4 FOXP3+ Treg cells increased (P <0.01) while pDCs decreased (P <0.01). Although mDCs increased after HD-DXM (P <0.05), their CD11c expression level was decreased (P < 0.01), the mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) decreased from 340 +/- 30 before treatment to 199 +/- 21 after treatment. The inverse correlation between pDCs and CD4+ FOXP3+ Treg cells remained (r= -0.524, P =0.006) while that between mDCs and Treg cells disappeared (r = - 0.360, P =0.071). The MFI of CD86 on DCs was higher in ITP patients than in healthy controls (P <0.05), while the proportions of CD86, CD40, CD80 and the MFI of CD40, CD80 in ITP patients were normal (P > 0.05). DCs from chronic ITP patients co-cultured with autologous or allogeneic platelets were highly efficient in stimulating autologous CD4+ T cells proliferaton as compared to those derived from healthy donors (P < 0.05 and P <0.05).

CONCLUSIONDCs may play a role in the pathogenesis of chronic ITP in relation with CD4+CD25+ Treg cells.

Adult ; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes ; immunology ; Dendritic Cells ; immunology ; metabolism ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic ; blood ; immunology

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Hepatitis, Chronic ; mortality ; therapy ; Humans ; Liver Failure ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Sorption Detoxification ; Survival Rate

There are four different types of N-terminal amino acid sequences (F-I-0, F-I, F-II, F-III) in the multicomponents of earthworm fibrinolytic enzymes (EFE). In GenBank 21 nucleic acid sequences of EFE have been reported. Among them, most of the N-terminal amino acid sequences belong to the F-III type,few belong to the F-II type. Only one is similar to the F-I type, but none to F-I-0. In this research we hoped to obtain the gene encoding component F-I-0 of EFE by the bioinformatics tools. Based on the N-terminal amino acid sequence VVGGSDTTIGQYPHQL of the F-I-0 type from Lumbricus rubellus, a nucleic acid sequence was obtained by in silico cloning from dbEST of Lumbricidae using the software DNAMAN. A new gene of EFE from Eisenia foetida was successfully obtained by RT-PCR using specific primers designed according to this sequence. The new gene named EfP-0 was cloned in pMAL-c2x and expressed as the fusion protein MBP-EfP-0 in the supernatant of lysate. The fusion protein MBP-EfP-0 purified by affinity chromatography had hydrolytic activity on casein plate. Sequencing result shows, EfP-0 has 678bp and encodes a protein of 225 amino acids. The protein is a serine protease belonging to trypsin family. It has similar amino acid composition to F-I-0. BLAST in GenBank shows that the similarity is lower than 40% between EJP-0 gene and other EFE genes. By this we conclude that EfP-0 gene of EFE is a novel gene and it is the first time to be reported, its accession number for Genbank is DQ836917.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Cloning, Molecular ; Computational Biology ; Databases, Genetic ; Endopeptidases ; biosynthesis ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; Expressed Sequence Tags ; metabolism ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Oligochaeta ; enzymology ; genetics ; Open Reading Frames ; genetics ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

BACKGROUNDTo investigate the significance of blood HCV RNA screening in the prevention of post-transfusion hepatitis C.

METHODSTotally 56,400 anti-HCV negative blood samples collected from Jan. 2000 to Dec. 2003 were tested for HCV RNA by RT-PCR, and the patients who received the HCV RNA negative blood were followed up.

RESULTSThe HCV RNA positive rate was 2.5 per thousand (146/56,000) and none of the patients followed up suffered from HCV infection.

CONCLUSIONHCV RNA screening for the anti-HCV negative blood samples is very effective and feasible for prevention of post-transfusion hepatitis C.

Feasibility Studies ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hepacivirus ; genetics ; Hepatitis C ; blood ; etiology ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; methods ; RNA, Viral ; blood ; genetics ; Reproducibility of Results ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Transfusion Reaction

OBJECTIVETo explore the polymorphism angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) in Han populations and its relevance to the severity of coronary atherosclerosis.

METHODSThe ACE genotype distribution was detected in 169 patients [aged (62.0 +/-9.9) years] with coronary artery disease (CAD) confirmed with angiography and in 168 normal controls [aged (61.0 +/-7.7) years]. The severity of coronary lesions in the patients was assessed by the number of major coronary arteries with more than 50% luminal obstructions and by the Gensini coronary score. Associations of the severity of coronary artery lesions with the ACE I/D polymorphism in the patients were analyzed.

RESULTThe frequencies of the ACE genotype in the CAD patients were 0.296 for DD, 0.391 for ID, and 0.314 for II genotypes, while in the normal controls the genotype distribution was in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (DD, 0.161; ID, 0.512; II, 0.327); a significantly excess of the DD genotype in CAD patients was found (P<0.01). No associations were observed between the ACE polymorphism and the number of significantly stenosed coronary arteries.

CONCLUSIONThe ACE gene polymorphism is a significant predictor for CAD in the Han population but is not a marker for the severity of coronary atherosclerosis.

China ; ethnology ; Coronary Artery Disease ; genetics ; Female ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Genetic

OBJECTIVETo study the epidemiological and clinical characteristics and risk factors of cirrhosis-related hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

METHODSEighty-nine compensated and decompensated HCV cirrhosis patients were analyzed and followed-up. The main clinical and laboratory variables were analyzed as incidence factors of HCC with univariate analysis and multivariate analysis regression models.

RESULTSThe patients were followed-up for 86 months. Thirty-five of the 89 patients had HCC during the 86 months follow-up. Their five and ten-year cumulative incidences were 16.9% and 40.4% respectively. Of the 35 HCC patients, 4 had a family history of hepatitis C, 12 had a familial history of HCC, and 7 had a history of alcohol ingestion. Five and ten-year cumulative incidences of HCC in patients with hepatic steatosis were 24.6% and 51.0% respectively. Five-year and ten-year cumulative incidences of HCC in patients with non-hepatic steatosis were 8.7% and 26.2% respectively, and the difference in the cumulative incidences between them was significant (P < 0.05). Hepatic steatosis severity was associated with the severity of the cirrhosis. ALT and TBil levels were higher in the HCC group than in the non-HCC group, ALB was lower in the HCC group than in the non-HCC group, and the differences between them were significant (P < 0.05). Child-Pugh score and the severity of the hepatic steatosis during follow-up were independently correlated with HCC.

CONCLUSIONHCC is the most important and frequent outcome of chronic hepatitis C cirrhosis. Child-Pugh score and the severity of the hepatic steatosis are related to the risk factors. History of alcohol ingestion and family history of hepatitis C are also related to liver cancer.

Aged ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; etiology ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; complications ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; complications ; Liver Neoplasms ; etiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Risk Factors

Objective To observe the effects of Langchuangqing granule on the secretion of IL-6 ,IFN-γin rats spleen lymphocytes and apopto-sis gene p53 , C -myc. Methods Rats were administered with Langchuangqing granule 22.8 g? kg -1 by gavage for 3 days.At the same time, spleen cells were separated in ICR mouse.The large dose group with 90%volume fraction, middle dose group with 50%volume fraction, small dose group with 20% volume fraction, positive drug group with spleen cell suspension plus dexamethasone, control group with of spleen cell suspension plus blank serum were included this study. Spleen lymphocytes in rats were cultured for 24 h in vitro.Levels of IL-6 and IFN-γwere measured by radioimmunoassay in rats spleen lymphocytes supernatant.The expression of apoptosis gene p53 and C -myc were detected by immunohistochemical method.Results Levels of IL-6 and IFN-γwere significantly decreased in serum containing Langchuangqing granule in large, middle dose group and dexamethasone compared with control group. The expression of apoptosis gene p53 was significantly decreased in all groups.The expression of apoptosis gene C-myc were sig-nificantly decreased in the large dose group (P<0.05).Conclusion The mechanism of Langchuangqing granule can inhibite levels of IL-6, IFN-γand the expression of apoptosis gene p53 and C-myc.

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Hepatitis, Autoimmune ; blood ; complications ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary ; blood ; complications ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies