Circulating endothelial cells(CEC)are mature endothelial cells,which have been shed from the vascular cell lining and enter into blood circulation.Rare in healthy individuals,increased CEC in peripheral blood reflects significant vascular damage and dysfunction.Increased CEC have been documented in many human diseases characterized as vascular damage,including different types of tumors.Clinical data suggest that CEC count is a promising tool for monitoring disease activity with potential to assess tumor prognosis and response to treatment.

Objectives To explore the effects and mechanism of acupuncture treatment in emergent of acute hypertension by studying the acupuncture treatment on acute hypertension rats. Method The acute hypertension rat model was made by injecting adrenalin into the abdomen. After probing specific points, NO, ET-1, angiotensin and rennin levels were tested. Results Acupunctured for 30 minutes, the experimental group's diastolic pressure dropped and NO level rose, and these changes were statistically significant regarding those of the medicine control group. After the acupuncture treatment, the rennin level of the medicine control group and the experimental group were statistically different with the control group, but no significant difference was found between the medicine control group and the experimental group. Conclusion Probing Quechi, Taichong, Sanyinjiao and Neiguan may lead to the improved performance of the vessel endoderm, the rise of NO level and the decrease of angiotensin content, and consequently reduce the blood pressure of acute hypertension rats.

Objective To prospectively determine the dosimetric and clinical factors for predicting the risk of acute radiation oral mucositis ( ROM ) in patients receiving intensity?modulated radiotherapy ( IMRT) with concurrent chemotherapy for local advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Methods Ninety?two patients who were treated with IMRT with concurrent chemotherapy from 2015 to 2016 for local advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma were included in this study, and their acute ROM was scored according to the RTOG criteria. Grade≥3 ROM was used as a surrogate marker for severe mucositis, which was defined as a toxicity endpoint. The clinical data were reviewed, and the dose?volume histograms ( DVHs) of the patients were exported from the IMRT planning system. Optimal thresholds for predicting the incidence of severe ROM were evaluated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic ( ROC) curve ( AUC) . Results The incidence of severe ROM was 21%(19/92). Weight loss and V30 of the oral mucosa were determined as the independent predictors for severe ROM ( P=0017 and 0003, respectively) . The optimal cut?off point and AUC of V30 of the oral mucosa as a predictor for severe ROM were 7316%( 0842 sensitivity and 0671 specificity) and 0753( P=0001) , respectively. Conclusion Weight loss and V30 of the oral mucosa are predictors for severe ROM.

Objective To explore the significance of changes of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9),interleukin-6 (IL-6),and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-oα) protein level in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of children with viral encephalitis (VE).Methods The concentration of neuron-specific enolase (NSE),structural proteins 100B (S100B),and MMP-9,IL-6,TNF-α in the CSF of VE children were detected by an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay,and the correlations of them were analyzed.Results NSE,S100B,MMP-9,IL-6,TNF-α protein expression could be found significantly higher than those in the control group,and there were significant differences according to statistics expression trends(all P ＜0.05).The NSE protein expression was significantly positive related with S100B in the VE group (r =0.467,P =0.009),and the concentration was markedly negative related with the duration of viral encephalitis (r =-0.472,P =0.008).MMP-9,IL-6 protein expression were significantly positive related with NSE,S100B respectively (r =0.698,P =0.00 ; r =0.559,P =0.00 ; r =0.812,P =0.00 ; r =0.664,P =0.00).TNF-α protein expression was positive related with CSF S100B(r =0.363,P =0.049),but there was no correlation between TNF-α and NSE (r =0.245,P =0.193).Conclusions The neurons and the neuroglial cells are damaged in the viral encephalitis children.MMP-9,IL-6,TNF-α protein may participate in the pathological damage process of nerve cells in VE children in different degrees.

The effect of PubMed on the development of biomedical journals and the role of its Linkout function in extending the effect of journals were analyzed , followed by a description of the technologies and methods for the full-text seamless link of journal Websites and PubMed using its Linkout function with Biomedical and Environmental Sciences as an example .

Purpose:A phase I trial of radiotherapy concomitantly with weekly paclitaxel was carried out to define the maximal tolerant dose (MTD) by describing the dose limiting toxicity (DLT) of paclitaxel given as a 3 hour Ⅳ infusion in patients with locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods:Patients with locally advanced NPC were enrolled into a prospective, dose escalating phase I study. Toxicity was graded according to CTC 2.0. MTD was defined when two out of six patients developed DLT. The starting dose of paclitaxel was 20 mg/m 2 once weekly IV over 3 hours, with a subsequent dose escalation of 10 mg/m 2 in cohorts of three new patients. Radiation therapy was administered with conventional technique over 7 weeks in 2.0 Gy/daily fractions for 5 days/week up to total doses of 68～70 Gy.Results:From December 2000 to June 2001, sixteen patients completed chemoradiotherapy, and all of them were eligible for toxicity evaluation. On the first dose level (20 mg/m 2 ) no patient experienced DLT. On the next dose level with 30 mg/m 2 , one patient experienced DLT with grade Ⅲ mucositis for 5 weeks, and among the additional 3 patients no one developed DLT. On the third dose level with 40 mg/m 2 , one patient developed grade Ⅲ mucositis for 4 weeks and another suffered from grade Ⅲ dermatitis for 4 weeks. In order to make the trial more credible, another 4 patients were added to 30 mg/m 2 level, and no DLT occurred. Thus, the accumulation of patients stopped. After a median follow-up 12 months, one patient died of multiple bone metastases. One patient needed an operation to eradicate the residual right upper cervical lymph node 3 months after radical irradiation. Fourteen patients survived with disease free condition.Conclusions:When paclitaxel is given weekly as a 3 hour infusion concomitant to conventional radiotherapy for locally advanced NPC, MTD is 30 mg/m 2 with mucositis and dermatitis as DLT, and other toxicities are mild.

Objective The current study is aimed to investigate the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms and gene expression in peptidylarginine deiminase Ⅳ (PADI4) with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods The gene expression of PADI4 was examined using real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymcrase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in 70 patients with RA and 81 healthy controls. Four exonie SNPs of the PADI4 gene (PADI4_89, _90, _92, _104) were genotyped using DNA sequencing and TA cloning.Results The distribution of PADI4_89, _90, _104 SNPs in RA was different from that of healthy controls. The increased RA susceptibility was significantly associated with minor alleles. When haplotypes were construe -ted with 4 SNPs, two major haplotypes, ACCC and GTGT were found in all samples, and GTGT haplo-type (carrying only the minor alleles) was significandy associated with increased RA susceptibility (P<0.01)in comparison with the reference haplotype ACCC. There was over expression of PADI4 in RA than controls(P<0.05). C, enotypes carrying the minor alleles had higher expression level of PADI4 in RA and controls than those with the common alleles. Conclusion PADI4 SNPs and haplotypes are associated with RA susceptibility in Chinese. PADI4 is over-expressed in the blood of RA patients, and there is significant association between the haplotypes and expression level of the PADI4 gene.

Objective To observe local expressions of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in Fischer 344 rats with glioma in the sub-acute phase after photodynamic therapy (PDT).Methods Thirty-two fischer 344 rats were implanted 9L cells into brain and randomly subjected to no treatment and PDT treatment (40 J/cm2,80 J/cm2,120 J/cm2).All animals received PDT treatment mediated with 5-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA) on the seventh day after implantation,respectively,and were then sacrificed at 7 days after PDT treatment.The tumor volume was measured by H&E staining,and the expressions of VEGF and HIF-1α in either glioma tissue or Brain adjacent to tumor(BAT) were detected by Western blot.Results The tumor volumes of control and 40,80,and 120 J/cm2 groups were (103.27 ± 8.83),(73.93 ± 7.55),(57.89 ± 7.53),and (48.57 ± 6.86) mm3,respectively.Tumor volumes decreased significantly after ALA-PDT treatment(F =216.183,P =0.000),and the decrease in tumor volume was PDT optical dose dependent(P ＜ 0.001).Both VEGF and HIF-1 α expressions in glioma tissue were very high and no significant difference was found (VEGF:F =1.867,P =0.155 ; HIF-1 α:F =2.106,P =0.119) in all groups in the sub-acute phase after PDT,which were detected by Western blot.However,there were little VEGF and HIF-1α expressions in BAT and the expressions gradually increased with the increased dose of PDT(VEGF:F =37.065,P =0.000 ; HIF-1 α:F =39.775,P =0.000),among which PDT with 120 J/cm2 had the most obvious effect.Conclusion ALA-PDT effectively reduces glioma;however,it induces local expressions of HIF-1α and VEGF in BAT.

BACKGROUND:Bismth-doped iron nanoparticles modified by hyaluronic acid (HA-BiIOPs) not only act as an effective MRI contrast agent, but also as a radiotherapy sensitizer.OBJECTIVE:To fabricate the HA-BiIOPs and to observe its effect to enhance the radiosensitivity of glioblastoma cells U87MG under X-ray radiation.METHODS:HA-BiIOPs were synthesized using hydrothermal polyol method. (1) Cytotoxicity: A cytotoxicity test was carried out on U87MG cells and rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Cell proliferation rate of two kinds of cells cultured with different concentrations of HA-BiIOPs (0, 12.5, 25, 50, 100, 200, 400 mg/L) at 24 hours after culture were determined by cell counting kit-8 assay. (2) Histological analysis: ICR mice were sacrificed after intravenous injection of HA-BiIOPs, and pathological changes of mouse visceral organs were observed under an optical microscope. (3) Cellular uptake: The HA-BiIOPs after entered into the cytoplasm were observed by Prussian blue staining. (4) Radiosensitization test: U87MG cells at Logarithmic growth stage were cultured in culture medium as control group, subjected to X-ray irradiation (0, 3, 6, 9 Gy) as radiotherapy group, cultured in HA-BiIOPs (0, 12.5, 25, 50, 100, 200 and 400 mg/L) as HA-BiIOPs group or subjected to HA-BiIOPs culture plus X-ray irradiation as combined therapy group. Then, the cell proliferation rate and cloning efficiency were measured at 24 hours after treatment.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1) The HA-BiIOPs at different concentrations were non-cytotoxic for VSMC and U87MG cells. (2) After intravenous injection of HA-BiIOPs, there was no obvious toxicity to the mouse susceptible organs. (3) After 6 hours of culture, the HA-BiIOPs could be internalized by U87MG cells. (4) The proliferation rate of U87 cells was negatively correlated with the concentration of HA-BiIOPs (0-200 mg/L) and X-ray dose (0-9 Gy). Especialy, the combination of 6 Gy X-ray irradiation with 200 mg/L HA-BiIOPs dramatically decreased the cell viability that was decreased to (41±7)%. In the combined therapy group with 6 Gy X-ray and 100 mg/L HA-BiIOPs, the cells proliferation rate was significantly lower than that in the control and radiotherapy groups (P < 0.05). These results indicate that HA-BiIOPs have a radiosensitizative effect on glioblastoma cells U87MG.

Objective To establish a rapid and convenient method for determination of genomic DNA methylation in cells.Methods Five standard substances (dC, mdC, dA, dT and dG) were separated by high-performance capillary electrophoresis.Bare fused-silica capillary was used and eletrophoresis buffer was 48 mmol/L NaHCO3 with 60 mmol/L SDS, pH 9.6.The temperature of separation was controlled at 25 ℃ and a voltage of 20 kV was applied.The separation of the mixture was performed at a wavelength of 256 nm with UV-Vis detection and injection time was 5 seconds at 0.7 psi.Under optimal condition,genomic DNA methylation in methotrexate drug-resistant A549 cells was detected.Results The optimal condition was made by adjusting SDS concentration(40, 60, 80 mmol/L), pH value of running buffer(9.4,9.6, 9.8), voltage(15, 17, 19, 20, 22 kV), injection time(5, 10, 15, 20, 30 s) and capillary temperature(15, 20, 25, 30 ℃).The method for determination of genomic DNA methylation in cells was established.Five substances were completely separated by high-performance capillary electrophoresis in 10 mins.Intra-day coefficient of variation was less than 0.2% and inter-day coefficient of variation was less than 2%.The minimal detection limit was 2 μmol/L.Percentage of mdC in A549 parent cells was (4.80 ±0.52) %.Percentage of mdC in 15, 30, 40 μmol/L methotrexate drug-resistant A549 cells were (4.20±0.44) %, ( 3.70 ± 0.36 ) %, (3.10±0.35 ) %, respectively.Conclusions Genomic DNA methylation can be quantificated by high-performance capillary electrophoresis efficiently, rapidly, conveniently and sensitively.Genomic DNA methylation in methotrexate drug resistance cells decreases significantly.