Endothelial lesion is the most well known example for the interaction between platelets and endothelial cells, but the recent researches indicate that platelets and endothelial cells also participate in inflammation, tumor metastasis and lymphovascular development. Under these situations, the activated platelets express adhesive molecules and degranulate, and regulate the permeability, adhesion, survival, proliferation and metastasis of endothelial cells. All the achievements push the research on the interaction between platelets and endothelial cells to a new era, which would be more significant. In this review, the latest advances and prospect of the interaction between platelets and endothelial cells in inflammation, tumor and lymphovascular development are summarized.
Animals ; Blood Platelets ; Blood Vessels ; Endothelial Cells ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Lymphatic Vessels ; Neoplasms

OBJECTIVETo observe the differential effect of joint ultrasound on the syndrome differentiation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by observing the high frequency ultrasound performances among inactive stage and different syndromes in active stage.

METHODSTotally 83 RA patients in the active stage were assigned to the dampness heat syndrome group (DHS, 59 cases)and the cold dampness syndrome group (CDS, 24 cases) according to Chinese medicine (CM) syndrome typing. Besides, 20 RA patients in the remission stage were recruited as the control group (abbreviated as the remission group). By using high frequency ultrasound and power Doppler ultrasound technology, a comparative observation of synovitis, tenosynovitis, synovial blood flow, and bone erosion in the 2nd-5th metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints, proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints, wrist joints, knee joints, the second and the fifth metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joints (a total of 24 joints) was performed in all patients. Correlation analyses were performed between the ultrasound performance, laboratory indices, and the disease activity. Ultrasound data of each RA patient were analyzed by their total scores. Χ2 test was used for enumeration data. The measurement data was expressed as x ± s. One-way ANOVA was used for data of normal distribution, while non- parametric test was used for data of non-normal distribution. Correlation analysis of two variables was performed for clinical indicators and ultrasound indicators. Its significance was detected using Pearson correlation.

RESULTSCompared with the remission group, the severity degree of synovitis, tenosynovitis, synovial blood flow, and bone erosion significantly increased in the DHS group (P < 0.01). There was statistical difference in ESR, CRP, anti-CCP, DAS28 score, and the positive rate of RF (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). There was statistical difference in the severity degree of synovitis and synovial blood flow, and DAS28 score in the CDS group (P < 0.05). Compared with the CDS group, there was statistical difference in the four ultrasound indices (P < 0.05, P < 0.01), ESR, CRP, anti-CCP, DAS28 score, and the positive rate of RF in the DHS group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). There was no statistical difference in G, IgG, IgA, or IgM among the three groups (P > 0.05). There existed positive correlation between ESR and the synovitis degree, synovial blood flow, and bone erosion in the DHS group (r = 0.444, 0.397, 0.486, P < 0.05).There existed positive correlation between ESR and the synovitis degree, bone erosion, and synovial blood flow in the DHS group (r = 0.378, 0.270, P < 0.05). There existed positive correlation between the DAS28 score and the synovitis degree and synovial blood flow in the DHS group (r = 0.304, 0.351, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe inflammation degree was the most severe in RA patients of DHS. High frequency ultrasound could provide better evidence for Chinese medical syndrome differentiation of RA patients.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Metacarpophalangeal Joint ; ultrastructure ; Syndrome ; Synovitis ; diagnostic imaging ; Ultrasonography

Objective To prepare recombinant adenovirus pAd-gal-9 containing murine galectin-9 and explore galectin-9's pro-apoptotic effect on T lymphocytes. Methods The recombinant adenovirus plas-mid pAd/CMV/V5-DEST-gal-9 was prepared by conventional molecular cloning and LR reaction. The pAd/ CMV/V5-DEST-gal-9 linearlized by Pac I was transfected into 293A cells with Lipofectin 2000. Eight days after transfection, the 293A cells were subjected to freeze/thraw circle for three times and the supernatant was collected after centrifugation. Higer titer pAd-gal-9 was produced by large-scale infection of 293A cells with the supernatant containing pAd-gal-9. The supernatant was condensed to get purified pAd-gal-9 by CsCl density gradient centrifugation. After titer determination with gradient dilution of harvested pAd-gal-9 infec-tion in 293A-seeded 96-wells, pAd-gal-9 was used to infect the CHO cell line. Immunohistological assay, Western blot and flow cytometry were employed to ascertain the subcellular location expression of galectin-9. We added solid-phase transgenic CHO cells or freshly-cultured supernatant to medium containing activated T cells to detect the pro-apoptotic effect of galectin-9. Results The pAd-gal-9 was prepared successful. Im-munohistochemical staining of CHO infected with pAd-gal-9 confirmed that galectin-9 was expressed in the cytosol. Intercellular staining indicated that mean fluorescence intensity of galectin-9 was significantly higher in pAd-gal-9-infected CHO group than control group. Supernatant from pAd-gal-9-infected CHO promoted the apoptosis of T cells. The percent of apoptotic T cells was higher than the Tim-3 positive T cells. Conclu-sion CHO infected with pAd-gal-9 can secret galectin-9 to promote the apoptosis of activated T cells via Tim-3-independent mechanisms.

Objective:To investigate the inhibitory effect of in vivo non-targeting transfection of recombinant fibronectin polypeptide CH50 against tumors and to study the related mechanisms.Methods:After inoculated with tumor cells, BALB/c mice were injected with CH50 plasmids,control plasmids,and normal saline separately.The growth of the tumor was observed;the expression of genes (such as B7-1,B7-H1 etc.) in tumor tissues was detected by RT-PCR;and the count of T lymphocytes in local tumor tissues was analyzed by flow cytometry.Results:The tumor growth was obviously suppressed by in vivo CH50 expression.The expression of genes (B7-1 and B7-H1) was up-regulated along with the growth of tumor.CH50 increased the ratios of B7-1/B7-H1 and B7-1/B7-DC and suppressed the up-regulation of IL-10 and TGF-?genes.The direct action of CH50 on H22 cells resulted in the down-regulatoin of TGF-?gene.The count of T lymphoeytes in tumor tissues of CH50 treatment group was significantly higher than that in other groups.Conclusion:Ex- pression of CH50 by non-targeting transfection can effectively inhibit the growth of tumor;the regulation of the immuno- regulatory genes in tumor mieroenvironment is an important part of the treatment mechanism of CH50.

OBJECTIVETo study the validity of criteria currently used in China for the classification of symmetric small for gestational age infants (SGA) as compared with its definition.

METHODSThis study included 417 inpatients diagnosed as SGA in authors' hospital from January 1998 to June 2002. Symmetric SGA was diagnosed by the following three criteria: (1) the Ponderal Index (PI), (2) the crown-heel length-to-head circumference ratio (BL/HC) issued in Chin J Pediatr (1988;26:164 - 165), as well as (3) the SGA definition. The definition criterion was considered as the "gold standard". The sensitivity, specificity, false positive and negative values, positive and negative predictive values, exact agreement ratio, diagnosis index, and Cohen's Kappa value were used to evaluate the validity and agreement of the methods of PI and BL/HC. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to evaluate the validity of the diagnosis.

RESULTSOf 417 SGA infants, 376 (90.17%), 376 (90.17%) and 187 (44.84%) subjects were diagnosed as symmetric type with PI, BL/HC and the definition criteria, respectively. (2) The agreement rate and Kappa value between PI and BL/HC was 80.82% and -0.093 (SEM 0.026), respectively. And the agreement rates between PI or BL/HC and the definition criterion were 49.88% and 50.84%, respectively. As compared with the definition criterion, the PI and BL/HC methods had sensitivities of 91.8% - 96.4%, specificities of 9.3% - 25.9%, positive predictive values of 45.8% - 51.1%, negative predictive values of 72.7% - 82.8%, diagnosis indices of 4.9% - 17.7% and Kappa values of 0.070 - 0.167. (3) The areas under the ROC curves in full-term and preterm infants by PI method were 0.635 (95% CI, 0.573 - 0.697) and 0.698 (95% CI, 0.622 - 0.725), respectively. PI cutoffs at 2.47 in full-term SGA, at 2.43 in preterm SGA, and BL/HC cutoff at 1.43 produced the maximum diagnosis indices that were 24.7%, 39.6% and 33.7%, respectively. When the PI at 2.50 (full-term), PI at 2.31 (preterm) and BL/HC values at 1.46, the sensitivity closed mostly to the specificity. The sensitivities and specificities in full-term and preterm infants were 59.4% and 59.3%, 65.3% and 65.5%, and 66.3% and 65.5%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONIn the classification of SGA, the results showed a poor agreement between PI or BL/HC and the definition criterion. The results suggested that the current cutoffs of PI and BL/HC might not be appropriate for the diagnosis of symmetric SGA. Low AUC suggested that PI and BL/HC could not give a valid diagnosis at any cutoffs.

Anthropometry ; methods ; Birth Weight ; Body Height ; China ; Female ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Male ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sex Factors

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of ulinastatin on gut mucosal apoptosis and bacterium translocation in a rat model of sepsis.

METHODSFifty rats were randomly assigned into 4 groups, namely the control (n=5, no operation or drugs), ulinastatin pretreatment (n=15, treated with 25,000 U/kg ulinastatin 2 h before operation), ulinastatin treatment (n=15, treated with 25,000 U/kg ulinastatin 2 h after operation) and sepsis model (n=15, without drug treatment) groups. The rats in the later 3 groups were subjected to cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). At 3, 6 and 12 h after CLP, the rats were sacrificed and the ileum was removed to examine the pathology and apoptosis of the mucosa. The DNA of Bacillus coli in the whole blood was detected using PCR.

RESULTSSepsis caused of epithelial cell loss in the ileal villi, ulceration and blebbing of the lamina propria. Ulinastatin treatment administered before and after the operation both significantly alleviated these morphological anomalies. The sepsis rats showed significantly increased intestinal mucosal apoptotic index as compared with the other 3 groups (P<0.05). Ulinastatin pretreatment, in comparison ulinastatin treatment 12 h after CLP, significantly increased the intestinal mucosal apoptotic index (P<0.05). Bacillus coli DNA was positive in sepsis and postoperative ulinastatin treatment groups but negative in the control and pretreated groups.

CONCLUSIONIncreased intestinal musocal apoptosis and gut bacterial translocation occur in rats following sepsis, and ulinastatin can effectively decrease intestinal mucosal apoptosis and inhibit bacterial translocation.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Bacterial Translocation ; drug effects ; Female ; Glycoproteins ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Ileum ; drug effects ; microbiology ; pathology ; Intestinal Mucosa ; drug effects ; microbiology ; pathology ; Male ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sepsis ; drug therapy ; Trypsin Inhibitors ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Hepatitis B ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Indocyanine Green ; pharmacokinetics ; Liver ; metabolism ; Liver Function Tests ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo study the clinical effects of self-invented cartilage-perichondrium autografting for the repair of articular cartilage defects, so as to reconstruct the joint surface.

METHODSAmong total 11 patients with hand injuries from Oct. 2005 to Oct. 2009, 7 patients were male and 4 patients were female, ranging in age from 17 to 50 years, with an average of 29 years. All the patients had serious injuries of finger joint and were treated with cartilage-perichondrium autografting. After the operation, function exercises were performed, and composite scores of joints at hand were used to evaluate therapeutic effects.

RESULTSAll the patients were followed-up from 1 to 4 years with an average of 24 months. The operation of all the patients were successful, and there were no infection. The mean score was (41.0 +/- 0.63) in 2 years after operation. Eight patients got an excellent result (> 38 scores), 2 good (from 35 to 38 scores) and 1 bad (< 30 scores).

CONCLUSIONThe cartilage-perichondrium autografting method is effective to reconstruct the defects of articular cartilage, and decrease the disablement rate of hand injuries.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Arthroscopy ; methods ; Cartilage ; transplantation ; Cartilage Diseases ; genetics ; Cartilage, Articular ; abnormalities ; Chondrocytes ; transplantation ; Female ; Humans ; Knee ; abnormalities ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Transplantation, Autologous ; methods ; Treatment Outcome ; Wound Healing ; physiology ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: To explore the correlation between the interleukin-17 (IL-17) level of peripheral blood and aggression of bipolar mania. METHODS: Thirty-six patients of bipolar mania were selected as experimental group by DSM-IV-TR and received treatment with quetiapine and lithium. Thirty-six healthy volunteers with similar age and gender were selected as control group. The level of IL-17 at baseline in each group and the level of IL-17 in the experimental group after treatment for 2, 4 and 8 weeks were detected by ELISA. RESULTS: The level of IL-17 in experimental group at baseline, after treatment for 2 and 4 weeks were all significantly higher than that in control group. After 8 weeks treatment, there was no significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). After 2, 4 and 8 weeks treatment, the total score and aggression score of Young Mania Rating Score (YMRS) were significantly lower than the baseline level (P < 0.05). In experimental group, the level of IL-17 was positively correlated with the two scores of YMRS at baseline (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Bipolar mania may be related to the up-regulation of IL-17. The level of IL-17 is related to the severity of manic symptoms at baseline, especially aggression symptom.
Aggression/drug effects* ; Antipsychotic Agents/therapeutic use* ; Biomarkers/blood* ; Bipolar Disorder/drug therapy* ; Case-Control Studies ; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Double-Blind Method ; Humans ; Interleukin-17/metabolism* ; Lithium Compounds/therapeutic use* ; Quetiapine Fumarate/therapeutic use* ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of ketamine on adrenal pheochromocytoma (PC12) cell proliferation inhibition and induction of apoptosis and its mechanism. METHODS: PC12 cells of rats were models for dopaminergic neuron. PC12 cells were cultured with ketamine at concentrations of 0.9, 1.2, 1.5, 1.8 and 2.1 mmol/L, respectively. The cell viability was measured by MTT method after incubation at 12, 24, 48 and 72h. Hoechst stain was used to observe the morphological changes of apoptosis. PC12 cells cultured after 48 h with different concentrations of ketamine were selected to detect apoptotic rate using flow cytometry and detect the expression of bax and bcl-2 proteins using Western blotting. RESULTS: For different concentrations of ketamine, vitality of PC12 cells significantly decreased with increase of the incubation time. Apoptosis was obviously observed using Hoechst staining. Flow cytometry showed that apoptosis rates significantly increased with increasing ketamine concentrations. CONCLUSION Ketamine can inhibit the proliferation of PC12 cell by inducing apoptosis of the PC12 cell in a concentrations-dependent manner. The underlying mechanism may be related to promoting the expression of bax and inhibiting the expression of bcl-2 in the cells.
Anesthetics, Dissociative/pharmacology* ; Animals ; Apoptosis/drug effects* ; Blotting, Western ; Cell Proliferation/drug effects* ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Flow Cytometry ; Gene Expression Regulation/drug effects* ; Ketamine/pharmacology* ; PC12 Cells ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2/metabolism* ; Rats ; Time Factors ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein/metabolism*