Objective To investigate the relationship between transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-β1 )gene-509C/T polymorphism and severe chronic periodontitis in Chinese Hans population.Methods TGF-β1-509C/T genotype polymorphism was analyzed in 102 patients with severe chronic periodontitis(periodontitis group) and 102 healthy controls( control group) by polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method.Results The distributions of TGF-β1-509C/T genotype and allele were significantly different between severe chronic periodontitis group and control group ( P ＜ 0. 05 ). TGF-β1-509CC, CT and TT genotype frequency were 44. 1% ( 45/102 ), 47. 1%(48/102) ,8. 8% ( 9/102 ) in periodontitis group and 29. 4% ( 30/102 ), 51.0% ( 52/102 ), 19. 6%(20/102) in control group, respectively. The relative risk analysis found that C allele carriers had higher risk of suffering from severe chronic periodontitis compared with T allele carriers( OR = 1. 718,95% CI:1. 148 ～ 2. 569 ).Conclusions TGF-β1-509C/T polymorphism is associated with severe chronic periodontitis in Chinese Hans population, and C allele may be an important genetic susceptibility gene for severe chronic periodontitis.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the benefits and side effects of moxibustion therapy for coronary artery disease. METHODS Relevant studies of moxibustion therapy for angina were collected from databases including Pubmed,Embase,Co-chrane library,CNKI,Wanfang Database and CBMDisk.The inclusion and exclusion criteria was applied when the literature was screened,data was extracted and the quality of the included studies were assessed independently.Then,meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5 .2 software.RESULTS 1 3 1 8 patients and 1 3 researches about moxibustion therapy for coronary artery disease were collected.The Meta analysis showed that compared with the control group,the western medicine group [RR=1.22,95%CI(1.11,1.33)and the acupuncture group[RR=1.5,95%CI(1.23,1.83),the moxibustion group showed great improvement in relieving angina pectorisis and good effects were shown in the ECG[RR=1.23,95%CI(1.14,1.33).In terms of blood liquids,the moxibustion group showed good effects in regulating triglyceride[SMD=-0.81,95%CI(-1.57,-0.06),low density lipoprotein cholesterin[SMD =-0.55,95%CI(-1.04,-0.06),and high density lipoprotein choles-terol[SMD=0.43,95%CI(0.2,0.65)and the changes were of statistical significance.Compared with the Chinese medicine group,the improvement in angina pectorisis of the moxibustion group showed no statistical significance[RR=1.15,95%CI(0. 9 9 ,1 .3 5).The difference between the changes of total cholesterol in the treatment group and the control group had no statis-tical significance[SMD=-0.74,95%CI(-1.75,0.27).CONCLUSION Moxibustion is a unique TCM therapy in treating angina pectorisis and can be applied in clinical practices.Meanwhile,the outcome of this system was not perfect.And more high quality of randomized controlled trials are needed to verify the effect of the therapy.

Objective To investigate the relationship between interleukin-6(IL-6) gene -572C/G polymorphism and the risk of chronic periodontitis disease. Methods IL-6-572C/G genotype polymorphism was examined in 93 patients with chronic periodontitis and 96 control subjects by PCR restriction fragment length polymorphism(PCR-RFLP) method. Results IL-6-572GG genotype and G allele were more frequent in chronic periodontitis patients than that in control subjects (P < 0. 05). -572CC, CG and GG genotype frequency were 52.7%, 40. 9 %, 6.4 % in chronic periodontitis patients and 67.7 %, 31.3%, 1.0 % in control subjects, respectively. -572CG + GG geuotype and G allele were more frequent in patients than that in control subjects (P < 0. 05). Compared with CC genotype, the odds ratio for chronic periodontitis was 1.88(95% CI: 1.04-3.40, P<0.05) for CG+GG genotype. Conclusions The frequency of-572CG+GG genotype was higher in patients with chronic periodontitis compared with the control subjects. IL-6-572C/G polymorphism may be a genetic susceptibility factor for chronic periodontitis in Chinese Hans population.

This study was purposed to investigate the changes of CD4(+) CD25(+) regulatory T cells and NK cells in peripheral blood of acute leukemia children at different stages, the function of immune system and the possible roles of the CD4(+) CD25(+) regulatory T cells as well as NK cells in leukemia immunity. The number and proportion of CD4(+) CD25(+) regulatory T cells and NK cells were detected by flow cytometry in the peripheral blood of 53 acute leukemia children, including 25 patients in new diagnosis and 28 patients in continuous complete remission (CCR), and were compared with that of 20 normal children. The results indicated that the mean proportion of CD4(+) CD25(+) CD127(+) in CD4(+) T cells of peripheral blood in newly diagnosed patients, patients with CCR and normal children were (9.55 +/- 2.41)%, (8.54 +/- 2.51)% and (6.25 +/- 0.85)% respectively, the mean proportions of CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(+) in newly diagnosed patients and patients with CCR were higher than that in normal children, the mean proportion of CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(+) in newly diagnosed patients were higher than that in patients with CCR (p < 0.05). At the same time, the NK cell count in patients with acute leukaemia decreased as compared with normal control, while after achieving CCR, the NK cell count in patients were also less than that in normal control (4.11 +/- 3.87% and 10.41 +/- 7.20% vs 14.06 +/- 5.95%, p < 0.05). It is concluded that the application of CD4(+), CD25(+) and CD127(+) to detect regulatory T cells is a simple, reproductive and accurate method, and the CD4(+) CD25(+) CD127(+) T cells can better reflect the proportion of CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells. The increase of regulatory T cells and decrease of NK cells in pediatric patients with acute leukemia indicate that the function of NK cells may be depressed. Treg T cells play a role in occurrence and development of leukemia, and are involved in down-regulating NK cell function.
Acute Disease ; Adolescent ; Case-Control Studies ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Killer Cells, Natural ; immunology ; Leukemia ; blood ; immunology ; Male ; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory ; immunology

OBJECTIVETo characterize the profile of chromosomal imbalances of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in Linzhou, the high prevalence area of Henan province.

METHODSComparative genomic hybridization (CGH) was used to examine 52 cases of primary SCC of esophagus.

RESULTSGains in part or in whole of chromosome 3q, 8q, 5p, 1q, 6q, 18p, 20q and losses of 3p, 1p, 9q, 19p, 4p, 8p were detected frequently in SCC (> 20%). Gain of 3q, 5p, 1q, 11q13-14 and loss of 4pq, 13q were all significantly correlated with pathologic staging (P < 0.05). Gains of 8q, loss of 4p were linked to nodal metastasis (P < 0.05). Gains of 2p and loss of 4pq, 11q14-qter were associated with distant organ metastasis (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThese observations suggest that 3q, 8q, 5p, 1q, 6q, 18p, and 20q may contain SCC-related oncogenes; 3p, 1p, 9q, 19p, 4p and 8p may contain SCC-related tumor suppressor genes. It is likely that gain of 3q, 5p, 1q, 11q13-14 and loss of 4pq, 13q are the genetic aberrations critical for the development of esophageal carcinoma, whereas gains of 8q, 2p and loss of 4pq, 11q14-qter are considered later events associated with tumor progression and are thought to confer metastatic potential to esophageal carcinoma. Furthermore, nodal and distant organ metastases involve different genes.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; genetics ; Chromosome Aberrations ; Chromosome Deletion ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 3 ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 4 ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 8 ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; genetics ; Gene Amplification ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; genetics ; Neoplasm Staging ; Nucleic Acid Hybridization

OBJECTIVETo characterize the profiles of chromosome imbalance in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and gastric cardia adenocarcinoma (GCA) from the high incidence area in Henan.

METHODSChromosomal aberrations of 37 samples of SCC and 30 GCA were analyzed by comparative genomic hybridization comparative genomic hybridization (CGH).

RESULTSIt was found that the most frequently detected gains were on chromosome arm 8q (78%), and followed by 3q, 5p, 6q and 7p. The most frequent loss was found on 3p (57%), and followed by 8p, 9q and 11q in SCC. For GCA, the most frequent gain was found on chromosome arm 20q (43%), and followed by 6q, 8q and 6p. The most frequent loss was on the chromosome 17p (57%), and followed by 19p, 1p and 4p.

CONCLUSIONThe present findings demonstrate that gains of 8q, 3q and 5p, and losses of 3p, 8p, and 9q are characteristic profile of chromosome imbalance in SCC, and the gains of 20q, 6q and losses of 17p, 19p and 1p are characteristic profile of chromosome imbalance in GCA, which provide important theoretic information for identifying and cloning novel SCC/GCA-related genes.

Adenocarcinoma ; genetics ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; epidemiology ; genetics ; Cardia ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 17 ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 20 ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 3 ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 8 ; DNA, Neoplasm ; genetics ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; genetics ; Gene Amplification ; Gene Deletion ; Humans ; Nucleic Acid Hybridization ; methods ; Stomach Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo summarize lessons learned from an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in China during the spring of 2004.

METHODSData of SARS cases were officially reported by Beijing Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention (BCDC) and Anhui Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention (APCDC) and results of epidemiological investigations were collected and analyzed.

RESULTSThree generations of 11 cases of SARS were identified during the outbreak. Initial two cases were most likely to be infected in Diarrhea Virus Laboratory of National Institute of Virology, China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and main mode of transmission was direct contact with SARS patients. Delay in detecting initial case resulted in spread of the illness at hospitals and communities with two generations of secondary cases.

CONCLUSIONSSARS outbreak in 2004 has yielded following lessons for public health globally. (1) Lab bio-safety programs should be made and should be strictly abided by. Studies in highly pathogenic viruses such as SARS coronavirus should be utmost cautious. (2) Management systems of occupational exposure to virus and disease surveillance need to be strengthened to take all risk factors into account so as to detect potential patients with infectious disease as early as possible.

China ; epidemiology ; Disease Outbreaks ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Occupational Exposure ; prevention & control ; Occupational Health ; Retrospective Studies ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; transmission

BACKGROUNDThree randomised trials have demonstrated that combining bevacizumab with first-line chemotherapy significantly improves progression-free survival versus chemotherapy alone in HER2-negative locally recurrent/metastatic breast cancer (LR/mBC). However, data from Chinese populations are limited and possible differences between ethnic and geographic populations are unknown. This study was conducted to determine whether there are differences in safety and efficacy in patients with HER2-negative LR/mRC between Chinese and Western populations after they receive first-line bevacizumab combined with taxane-based therapy.

METHODSIn the single-arm, open-label, Avastin Therapy for Advanced Breast Cancer (ATHENA) study (NCT00448591), patients with HER2-negative LR/mBC received first-line bevacizumab (investigator's choice of 10 mg/kg every 2 weeks or 15 mg/kg every 3 weeks) combined with taxane-based therapy. The primary endpoint was safety profile and the secondary is time to progression (TTP). A subpopulation analysis was conducted to assess safety and efficacy in Chinese patients.

RESULTSOf 2264 patients treated in ATHENA, 202 were enrolled in China. Bevacizumab was combined with docetaxel in 90% of Chinese patients and paclitaxel in 10%. The most common grade 3/4 adverse events were diarrhoea (in 5.0% of patients) and hypertension (in 2.5% of patients). Grade 3/4 proteinuria occurred in 0.5%. After median follow-up of 17.6 months and events in 56% of patients, median TTP was 9.0 months (95%CI, 8.4-11.1). Overall survival data were immature.

CONCLUSIONSWe found no evidence of increased bevacizumab-related toxicity or reduced efficacy in Chinese LR/mBC patients receiving first-line bevacizumab-taxane therapy compared with predominantly Western populations. The safety profile was generally similar to previously reported LR/mBC trials. Subtle differences may be attributable to different lifestyle and cardiovascular risk factors in Chinese patients compared with the overall population. It appears reasonable to extrapolate findings from bevacizumab-based randomised trials to Chinese populations.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Agents ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Bevacizumab ; Breast Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism ; Bridged-Ring Compounds ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Receptor, ErbB-2 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Taxoids ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Young Adult