Objective: To elucidate the possible mechanism responsible for the improved protection of terminal warm blood cardioplegia (TWBC) after hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) through analysis of tubulin (TB) components changes in myocardial cells exposed to TWBC. Methods: Stable animal models of CPB were established in cats, which were then randomly divided into 2 groups. Group Ⅰ was subjected to intermittent cold blood cardioplegia (ICBC) whereas group Ⅱ to ICBC followed by TWBC before uncross-clamping. Left ventricular performance was then monitored and evaluated by LVSP, LVEDP, ±dp/dtmax and t-dp/dtmax in both groups and semi-quantitive analysis was conducted with Western blot method as to the content and constitution of TB in myocardial cells at 15 min, 120 min after aortic crossclamping (ACC) and 5 min,15 min, 60 min,120 min after reperfusion. Results: Within 120 min after reperfusion, systolic and diastolic functions decreased significantly in group Ⅰ as compared with group Ⅱ(P<0.05). At 115 min after ACC and 15 min after reperfusion, the content of free and polymerized TB in both groups had no difference (P>0.05). At 120 min after ACC and 5 minutes after reperfusion, there was a significant difference between groupⅠ andⅡ (P<0.01). Conclusion: TWBC accelerates the repolymerization of myocardial TB during hypothermic CPB, which may mediate the improved cardiac performance in the early stage of myocardial reperfusion.

OBJECTIVETo explore the characteristics of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) transmission in the population base on analyzing the first imported case and the chains of transmission.

METHODSFor the first imported SARS case and cases who were transmitted by the index case, epidemiological investigations were conducted using the guidelines for surveillance and case investigation issued by the Ministry of Health. Data as the date of onset of symptoms, date of hospitalization, contact history etc. for each of the cases and their close contacts were collected and analyzed.

RESULTSThe first imported SARS case introduced to Beijing had infected 9 people within the family and at the hospital, with two of whom died of the same disease. The incubation period for that index case was 4 days, and that for the cases considered to be the secondary and tertiary generations were 7 and 8 days, respectively. The shorter the incubation period, the longer the fever would last and clinically more severe.

CONCLUSIONOne of the epidemiological characteristics of SARS in Beijing was noticed that the disease clustered in families and hospitals. Infection through droplets and close contact has been viewed as the primary mode of transmission.

Adult ; China ; epidemiology ; Contact Tracing ; Cross Infection ; transmission ; Family Health ; Female ; Humans ; Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; epidemiology ; transmission

OBJECTIVETo explore the immune tolerance induction (ITI) in a severe hemophilia A patient with inhibitor, and to improve the therapeutic efficacy for patient.

METHODSThe FVIII:C was assayed by one-stage method and FVIII antibody by Bethesda method. Mutation screening of FVIII gene intron 22 inversion was performed using LD-PCR.

RESULTSFVIII gene intron 22 inversion was detected in this patient. Clinical tolerance to FVIII was successfully induced after administration of the ITI regimen combined with immunosuppression. A fall of inhibitor titer from 8 BU to 0 BU after treatment for 3 months, and in vivo FVIII recovery (> 66%) was normalized. The patient had no bleeding episode in the following 6 months.

CONCLUSIONThis is the first case report on successful immune tolerance induction therapy in Chinese hemophilia A patient. ITI is the most effective therapy for hemophilia A with inhibitor.

Autoantibodies ; immunology ; Factor VIII ; genetics ; Hemophilia A ; genetics ; Humans ; Immune Tolerance ; drug effects ; Immunosuppression

Objective: To provide scientific evidence for early lung cancer screening, to analyze the incidence of pulmonary nodules among petroleum company staffs in Sichuan-Chongqing Area. Methods: In January 2021 , 6002 petroleum company staffs in Sichuan-Chongqing Area which scanned by low-dose spiral computed tomography (LDCT) of chest in medical examination center in 2020 were retrospectively collected as objects. Their imaging and clinical data were collected. χ(2) test was used to analyze the differences in the detection rates of lung nodules and suspected lung cancer nodules among workers in petroleum company staffs of different genders, ages and types of work. Results: Among the 6002 objects, 3853 (64.2%) were male and 2149 (35.8%) were female, with an average age of (47.25±12.13) years old. A total of 431 cases (7.2%) of pulmonary nodules and 57 cases (0.9%) of suspected lung cancer nodules were detected. 45 cases were followed up with surgical treatment, and 41 cases (91.1%) of lung cancer were diagnosed by postoperative pathology. There were significant differences in the detection rates of pulmonary nodules and suspected lung cancer nodules between different age groups (χ(2)=51.23, 18.81 , P<0.001). The detection rates of pulmonary nodules in the age groups 51-60 years old and ≥61 years old were higher than those in the age groups≤40 years old and 41-50 years old (P<0.05). The detection rate of suspected lung cancer nodules in the age group≥ 61 years old was higher than those in the age groups≤40 years old, 41-50 years old and 51-60 years old (P< 0.05) . And the detection rate of suspected lung cancer pulmonary nodules in oil workers was higher than that of ordinary workers (P<0.05) . Among female objects, the detection rate of pulmonary nodules in oil workers was higher than that in ordinary workers (χ(2)=8.09, P=0.004) . The detection rate of pulmonary nodules in oil workers aged ≥61 years old was higher than ordinary workers (χ(2)=37.94, P<0.001) . Among male objects, the detection rate of suspected lung cancer pulmonary nodules in oil workers was higher than that in ordinary workers (χ(2)=8.42, P=0.004) . The detection rates of suspected lung cancer pulmonary nodules in oil workers aged 51-60 years old and ≥61 years old groups were higher than those of ordinary workers (χ(2)=4.70, 8.74; P=0.030, 0.003) . Conclusion: LDCT is suitable for early lung cancer screening for petroleum company staffs. During the clinical screening process, LDCT should be used as a routine physical examination item for petroleum workers older than 51 years old.
Adult ; Early Detection of Cancer/methods* ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms/diagnosis* ; Male ; Mass Screening/methods* ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Pulmonary Nodules/diagnostic imaging* ; Petroleum ; Retrospective Studies ; Tomography, Spiral Computed

OBJECTIVE: This paper applied a transcriptomic approach to investigate the mechanisms of adriamycin (ADR) in treating proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) using ARPE-19 cells. METHODS: The growth inhibitory effects of ADR on ARPE-19 cells were assessed by sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay and propidium iodide (PI) staining using flow cytometry. The differentially expressed genes between ADR-treated ARPE-19 cells and normal ARPE-19 cells and the signaling pathways involved were investigated by microarray analysis. Mitochondrial function was detected by JC-1 staining using flow cytometry and the Bcl-2/Bax protein family. The phosphorylated histone H2AX (γ-H2AX), phosphorylated checkpoint kinase 1 (p-CHK1), and phosphorylated checkpoint kinase 2 (p-CHK2) were assessed to detect DNA damage and repair. RESULTS: ADR could significantly inhibit ARPE-19 cell proliferation and induce caspase-dependent apoptosis in vitro. In total, 4479 differentially expressed genes were found, and gene ontology items and the p53 signaling pathway were enriched. A protein-protein interaction analysis indicated that the TP53 protein molecules regulated by ADR were related to DNA damage and oxidative stress. ADR reduced mitochondrial membrane potential and the Bcl-2/Bax ratio. p53-knockdown restored the activation of c-caspase-3 activity induced by ADR by regulating Bax expression, and it inhibited ADR-induced ARPE-19 cell apoptosis. Finally, the levels of the γ-H2AX, p-CHK1, and p-CHK2 proteins were up-regulated after ADR exposure. CONCLUSIONS The mechanism of ARPE-19 cell death induced by ADR may be caspase-dependent apoptosis, and it may be regulated by the p53-dependent mitochondrial dysfunction, activating the p53 signaling pathway through DNA damage.
Apoptosis ; Caspases/metabolism* ; Cell Proliferation ; Cell Survival/drug effects* ; Doxorubicin/pharmacology* ; Flow Cytometry ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Humans ; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Oxidative Stress/drug effects* ; Phosphorylation ; Propidium/chemistry* ; RNA, Small Interfering/metabolism* ; Retinal Pigment Epithelium/metabolism* ; Rhodamines/chemistry* ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Transcriptome ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53/metabolism* ; Vitreoretinopathy, Proliferative/drug therapy*

Objective To investigate the expression and the potential roles of long non-coding RNA(lncRNA)cancer susceptibility candidate 2(CASC2)and imprinted gene H19 in extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma(ECC). Methods Four samples from patients with ECC were collected for high-throughput sequencing which was conducted to reveal the transcriptomic profiles of lncRNA CASC2 and H19.Bioinformatics tools were employed to predict the potential roles of the two genes.Another 22 ECC tissue samples and the cholangiocarcinoma cell lines(RBE,QBC939,HuH-28,and HuCCT1)with different degrees of differentiation were selected for validation.The para-carcinoma tissue and normal human intrahepatic biliary epithelial cell(HIBEC)were used as the control groups.The expression levels of lncRNA CASC2 and H19 in carcinoma tissue,para-carcinoma tissue,and cell lines were determined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(qRT-PCR).The correlation analysis was carried out for the clinical indicators of patients with the expression levels of the target genes. Results The two target genes showed significantly different expression between carcinoma tissue and para-carcinoma tissue(all P<0.05).Specifically,CASC2 had higher expression level in the carcinoma tissue than in the para-carcinoma tissue(t=1.262,P=0.025),whereas the expression of H19 showed an opposite trend(t=1.285,P=0.005).The expression levels of CASC2 in QBC939(t=8.114,P=0.015)and HuH-28(t=9.202,P=0.012)cells were significantly higher than that in the control group.The expression levels of H19 were significantly lower in RBE(t=-10.244,P<0.001),QBC939(t=-10.476,P<0.001),HuH-28(t=-19.798,P<0.001),and HuCCT1(t=-16.193,P=0.004)cells than in the control group.Bioinformatics analysis showed that CASC2 was mainly involved in the metabolic process and H19 in the development of multicellular organisms.Both CASC2 and H19 were related to catalytic activity.The expression level of lncRNA CASC2 was correlated with pathological differentiation(χ ²=6.222,P=0.022)and lymph node metastasis(χ²=5.455,P=0.020),and that of lncRNA H19 with pathological differentiation(χ²=1.174,P=0.029)and tumor size(χ²=-0.507,P=0.037). Conclusions In the case of ECC,lncRNA CASC2 and H19 have transcription disorders.lncRNA CASC2 is generally up-regulated in the carcinoma tissue,while H19 is down-regulated.Both genes have the potential to become new molecular markers for ECC.
Bile Duct Neoplasms/genetics* ; Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic/metabolism* ; Cholangiocarcinoma/genetics* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; RNA, Long Noncoding/genetics* ; Tumor Suppressor Proteins/genetics*