Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics of Takayasu's arteritis (TA) with pulmonary hypertension (PAH) in order to improve the diagnosis and treatment earlier. Methods Twelve out of 191 patients with TA registered in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from 1987 to 2007 were diagnosed as PAH, the clinical data of 12 patients were analyzed. Results Ten patients were females. The range of age were from 14 to 47 years old, the average age was (27±10) years old. Eleven patients had the clinical manifestations or/and signs of pulmonary artery involvement. Seven patients presented with short breath after exercise or hemoptysis as the first manifestation, four patients with fatigue, four patients with intermittent claudication or pain or numbness of extremities, three patients with dizziness. Seven patients belonged to type Ⅰ+Ⅳ, one patient to type Ⅱ+Ⅳ, three patients to type Ⅲ+Ⅳ, one patient to type Ⅴ. Elevated ESR/CRP was found in ten patients. All patients took the glucocorticoid and DMARDs, stent implantation in pulmonary artery was done in one patient, Bentall was operated in another patient.The symptoms of all patients improved except one patient died for low cardiac output after operation. Conclusion PAH is one of the severe complications in late stage of TA, and other arteries are usually involved too. Because it is difficult to observe PAH in TA patients in early stage, CTA or pulmonary angiography and UCG should be taken in early stage. The stent implantation or dilating the artery should be considered aa a treatment, but at on the same time, glucocorticoid and DMARDs should be taken to avoid the relapse.

ObjectiveTo explore the clinical efficacy and safety of autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation(APBSCT) in the treatment of pemphigus.MethodsTotally,3 patients with pemphigus vulgaris who responsed poorly to 6-month treatment with glucocorticoids or immunosuppressants or experienced aggrevation of disease and developed treatment-related complications,received APBSCT and were followed up for more than 5 years.There were 1 male and 2 females with an average age of 27.3(21-39) years.The mobilization program included cyclophosphamide (CTX) 4 g/m2,recombinant human granulocyte colonystimulating factors(G-CSF) and Rituximab 375 mg/m2,and the preconditioning regimen included intravenous CTX (50 mg/kg per day on days -6,-5,-4,-3),antithymocyte globulin at 2.5 mg/kg per day(on days -3,-2,-1 and 0) and Rituximab (600 mg/d on days 0 and 7).ResultsAll the 3.patients were successfully engrafted.The mean time for peripheral reconstruction:white blood cells 13.3 days (from day 11 to 16),platelet 16.3 days (from day 16 to 17).Monitoring of immunity indices and related antibodies showed no abnormality and the immune system was well reconstructed.No serious complications occurred during the follow up,and the patients' quality of life was obviously improved.ConclusionAPBSCT may be an effective and safe option for the treatment of pemphigus.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the chemical constituents from the aerial parts of Breynia fruticosa.

METHODVarious chromatographic techniques were employed for isolation and purification of the constituents. The structures were elucidated by chemical evidence and spectral methods.

RESULTSeven compounds were obtained and identified by spectroscopic methods and compared with authentic samples as aviculin [(+)-isolariciresinol-9'-rhamno-pyranoside], friedelan-3beta-ol, friedelin, arborinone, isoarborinol, 5-hydroxy-7,8,4'-trimethoxy flavone, 2,4-dihydroxy-6-methoxy-3-methyl-acetophenone.

CONCLUSIONAll compounds were firstly isolated from B. genus, furthermore, aviculin was isolated from Euphorbiaceae for the first time.

Euphorbiaceae ; chemistry ; Glycosides ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Plant Components, Aerial ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Triterpenes ; chemistry ; isolation & purification

Objective: To explore the relationship between serum levels of immunoglobulin E (IgE) and calciifc aortic valve disease (CAVD) in relevant patients.
Methods: A total of 394 patients were enrolled in our study. Based on echocardiography presentation, the patients were divided into 2 groups: CAVD group,n=169 and Non-CAVD group,n=225. Serum levels of IgE were examined by chemiluminescence method. The IgE levels were compared between 2 groups and the relationship between serum IgE level and CAVD was analyzed.
Results: Serum levels of IgE in CAVD group was significantly higher than Non-CAVD group 113.30 IU/ml vs 63.76 IU/ml (P<0.05); multivariate logistic regression analysis conifrmed above difference (P<0.05) and it also indicated that the alteration of surum IgE level is obviously related to CAVD occurrence.
Conclusion: Serum IgE level is obviously increased in CAVD patients. IgE is an independent biochemical indicator of CAVD, it may play the important role in CAVD pathogenesis.

Objective To study the toxicity and efficacy of induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent cisplatin chemotherapy and three dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) for inoperable locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC). Methods Totally 76 patients with LA-NSCLC received two cycles induction chemotherapy followed by 3DCRT with a median dose of 68 Gy (64 to 74 Gy).During the 3DCRT, cisplatin (25 mg/m2, weekly) was given intravenously for 6-7 times. Results The CR rate, PR rate and overall response rate of induction chemotherapy were 3% ,42% and 45%. After the concurrent chemoradiation, the corresponding figures were 10%, 62% and 72%. The median survival time (MST) and median progression-free survival (PFS) of all patients were 16.6 months and 10.3 months. The 1-, 2- and 3-year overall survival (OS) and PFS rates were 67% , 35% , 21% and 42% , 15%, 6%. Of patients with stage ⅢA and stage ⅢB disease,the MST were 19.7 months and 15.6 months, the PFS were 10.8 months and 9.4 months. The major treatment-related toxicities included radiation esophagitis, radiation pneumonitis, nausea ( or vomiting) and leukopenia. The major pattern of treatment failure was distant metastasis. Forty-five patients (59%) experienced the local recurrence or/and distant metastasis, including 4 (9%) with in-field failure, 38 (84%) distant metastasis and 3 (7%) malignant pleural effusion. Conclusions Induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent weekly cisplatin and 3DCRT for inoperable locally advanced NSCLC results in encouraging outcomes and acceptable tolerance.

Objective To compare the clinical characteristics,and outcomes of patients with heart failure with different left ventricular ejection fractions (LVEF).Methods A total of 1 182 hospitalized patients with heart failure (HF) were enrolled and retrospectively studied in the present study.The patients were stratified by LVEF as reduced (HFrEF,LVEF ＜ 40％,n =313),mid-range (HFmrEF,40％ ≤ LVEF ＜50％,n =287) and preserved (HFpEF,LVEF≥50％,n =582) ejection fraction groups.Among the 1 182 cases,941 of them (81.3％,84.9％,and 84.0％ inHFrEF,HFmrEF and HFpEF groups,respectively) were followed up for an median duration of 27.3 months.Results (1) Among the study patients,26.5％ were in HFrEF,24.3％ in HFmrEF,and 49.2％ in HFpEF groups.(2) Ischemic heart disease with HFmrEF was more frequent than that in patients with HFrEF.The average age,percentage of female subjects,systolic blood pressure,uric acid,N terminal B-type natriuretic peptide precursor (NT-proBNP),hemoglobin,and the incidence of hypertensive heart disease,anemia,atrial fibrillation in patients with HFmrEF were higher than those in patients with HFrEF,but lower than those in patients with HFpEF (all P ＜0.01).(3) The all-cause cumulative mortality was 10.8％ at 1 year,20.6％ at 2 years and 35.9％ at 5 years.No difference was observed in the all-cause cumulative mortality at 1 year,2 years,5 years among the three groups (all P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions The HFmrEF patients,as a new and distinct group,were with many intermediate characteristics compared with HFrEF and HFpEF subjects.However,the all-cause mortality was not significantly differeut among HF patients with different LVEF.

The aim was to study the morphological, histochemical and immunological characteristics of less-differentiated acute myeloid leukemic cells, and their diagnostic significance. Wright-Giemsa and histochemical staining were used to stain bone marrow smears from 2 case of AML-Mo. Immunological phenotypes were determined with flow cytometry. The results showed that myeloperoxidase stainings of both cases were negative, PAS was positive with fine particles, CD33/CD13 were positive, CD2/CD3/CD10/CD19/CD22 were negative. It is concluded that morphology, histochemistry and immunological phenotype on bone marrow smears are the main diagnostic basis for AML-Mo. The use of multiple monoclonal antibodies for staining may improve the accuracy.
Cell Differentiation ; Female ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; classification ; immunology ; pathology ; Middle Aged

OBJECTIVETo observe the effects of different cell lysis buffers on protein quantification with Bradford method and bicinchoninic acid (BCA) method.

METHODSBradford method and BCA method were used to determine the concentration of bovine serum albumin (BSA) in different solutions (distilled water, cell lysis buffer used in two-dimensional differential in-gel electrophoresis and three kinds of cell lysis buffers used in conventional two dimensional gel electrophoresis), as well as the protein concentrations of cell lysates using these different lysis buffers. Bradford method was also applied to determine the protein concentrations of samples with repeated freeze thaw cycle, in different colorimetric cylinders, or using different standard curves from different periods.

RESULTThe protein measurements increased for 1.2 to 2 fold when different cell lysis buffers were used in Bradford method, but the measurements increased with the increased concentration of BSA (r=0.989 approximately 0.996, P<0.05). For BCA, measurement reading increased about thousands times higher, even overflowed the limits of machine. Protein measurements didn't change significantly, only showed a declined trend after repeated freeze thaw cycle, while no significant changes were found using different colorimetric cylinders or standard curves from different periods.

CONCLUSIONBradford method may be the choice of the protein quantification in proteomics. However, optimization is required for specific experimental conditions.

Buffers ; Cells ; Chemistry Techniques, Analytical ; methods ; Proteins ; analysis ; Serum Albumin, Bovine ; analysis ; Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet

OBJECTIVETo analyze and evaluate the application of China Infectious Diseases Automated-alert and Response System(CIDARS)in Zhejiang province.

METHODSData through the monitoring program in 2012 was analyzed descriptively and compared with the incidence data in the same period as well information related to public health emergency events.

RESULTSA total of 14 292 signals were generated on 28 kinds of infectious diseases in the system, in Zhejiang province. 100% of the signals had been responded and the median time to response was 0.81 hours. 123 signals (0.86%)were preliminarily verified as suspected outbreaks and 33 outbreaks were finally confirmed by further field investigation, with a positive ratio of 0.23% . Information related to regional distribution showed significant differences which reflecting a positive correlation between the numbers of diseases and the time of early-warning(r = 0. 97, P < 0.01). Distribution of information related to different types of diseases was also significantly different, showing a positive correlation between the prevalent strength of the disease and the amount of information in a specific area(r = 0.80, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONCIDARS had a good performance which could be used to assist the local public health institutions on early detection of possible outbreaks at the early stage. However, the effectiveness was different for different regions and diseases.

China ; epidemiology ; Communicable Disease Control ; methods ; Communicable Diseases ; epidemiology ; Disease Outbreaks ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Incidence ; Population Surveillance ; methods ; Public Health

BACKGROUNDConsiderable evidence suggests that phosphatase of regenerating liver-3 (PRL-3) plays multiple roles in cancer metastasis; however, the molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. The aim of this study was to identify proteins associated with PRL-3-promoted colon cancer metastasis, by comparative proteomic analysis.

METHODSProteomes of human colon cancer LoVo cells transfected with PRL-3 gene (LoVo-PRL-3) or empty vector PAcGFP-C3 (LoVo-control) were compared using 2D gel electrophoresis. Proteins that varied significantly in concentration were selected and identified using mass spectrometry. Expression of translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) mRNA and protein in LoVo-PRL-3 and LoVo-control cells was detected by real-time PCR and Western blotting. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting TCTP was used for silencing TCTP expression in LoVo-PRL-3 cells. Functional significance of TCTP in PRL-3-promoted colon cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion was investigated by Cell Counting Kit-8 assay and transwell chamber.

RESULTSSeventeen proteins displaying significant and reproducible differences between LoVo-PRL-3 and LoVo-control cells were identified. Ten proteins were upregulated and seven were downregulated in LoVo-PRL-3 cells when compared with LoVo-control cells. Eight identified proteins are associated with distinct steps of tumor metastasis: ubiquitin-like protein ISG15, interleukin-18, TCTP, serpin B5, annexin A3, macrophage-capping protein, ATP-dependent RNA helicase DDX3X, and cathepsin D. Real-time PCR and Western blotting results showed that both TCTP mRNA and protein were significantly increased in LoVo-PRL-3 cells compared to LoVo-control cells. Transfection with TCTP siRNA significantly reduced the expression of both mRNA and protein levels of TCTP in LoVo-PRL-3 cells. Knockdown of TCTP by siRNA inhibited PRL-3-promoted proliferation, migration and invasion of LoVo-PRL-3 cells.

CONCLUSIONOur results imply that TCTP might be a mediator of PRL-3-promoted proliferation, migration and invasion of human colon cancer cells.

Biomarkers, Tumor ; genetics ; metabolism ; Blotting, Western ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Movement ; physiology ; Cell Proliferation ; Colonic Neoplasms ; metabolism ; Humans ; Neoplasm Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Proteomics ; methods ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction