Objective To study the influence of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-?) gene polymorphism on infections in old kidney allograft recipients. Methods The TNF-? genotype in -308 promoter position was determined in 87 old kidney transplant recipients from January 1998 to January 2001 by PCR using sequence -specific primer(PCR-SSP), and then the effects of genotypes on the frequency of rejection and infection, and the survival rate of the patient and graft were observed. Results 58 recipients were low TNF-? production genotype and 29 were high TNF-? production genotype. There were no significant differences in the frequency of rejection, median day of first infection and kinds of infections between the two genotypes. The frequency and times of infections were higher in low TNF-? genotype recipients than those in high TNF-? genotype recipients(67 2% vs 41 4%, P=0 021; 1 68 vs 0 86, P=0 017). The survival rates of the patients and grafts were equal in both the two groups. Conclusion The old recipients with low TNF-? production genotype may be susceptible to infections under routine immunosuppression. It is helpful for old recipients to perform more individual immunosuppression regimens according to TNF-? genotype.

Because of the aggressive threaten of heat stroke and a lack of understanding of the mechanism of action, mammal animal models for experimental heat stroke were well developed. During the past 5 decades, anesthetized mouse, rat, rabbit, dog, baboon and monkey were used as animal model for experimental heat stroke. However, anesthetized mammals models have some limitations, such as neuroprotective effect of anesthetic agents, possible disturbance on injury and recovery of stroke animals by anesthetic agents, difficulty of discussing animal behavior before and after heat stroke, it was also difficult for the models to evaluate cognitive function of animal under hot environment. Considering humanitarian, only awaked and unrestrained mouse heat stroke model was accepted so far. Therefore, we also developed an awaked and unrestrained rat heat stroke model, and found it was helpful to evaluate drug effectiveness for animal behavior and cognitive function under hot environment.
Animals ; Cognition ; Disease Models, Animal ; Heat Stroke ; physiopathology ; Mice ; Rats

Objective To investigate the early diagnosis and treatment of pneumocystosis after renal transplantation. Methods The clinical data of 6 cases of renal transplant recipients from 2000-2001 who developed pneumocystosis were discussed. Results Six patients were diagnosed as having pneumocystosis and subjected to the treatment of SMZ_ CO (SMZ 60-70 mg/kg daily, TMP 12-14 mg/kg daily) for 3 weeks. Immunosuppressive regimene was regulated. Except one case died due to abandonment of treatment, the remaining 5 cases were cured and had normal renal function. Conclusion The diagnosis of pneumocystosis was established by visualization of pathogen in bronchialveolar lavage (BAL) samples. SMZ_ CO is still the most commonly used drug for pneumocystosis at present and administration for individual is important because of its renal toxicity. The dosage of immunosuppressive agent for each patient with pneumocystosis must be adjusted.

Objective To investigate the effect and underlying mechanisms of ghrelin in a rat model of renal fibrosis. Methods Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups , including sham operation +saline or brain gut peptide treatment group , model + saline or brain gut peptide treatment group. Unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) was established by left ureteral ligation. 7 days and 14 days after operation, the rats were sacrificed , while the kidney tissue of obstruction side was harvested for pathlogical changes through Masson coloration. Expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-β1) and phosphorylated Smad3 (p-Smad3) in renal tissues were analyzed through immunohistochemistry. Expression of α-SMA and TGF-β1 mRNA was detected by real-time-PCR. Apoptosis kidneys cells were marked with TUNEL. Results Ghrelin inhibited renal fibrosis by reducing the production of collagen , restraining extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition and decreasing the expression of α-SMA. Meanwhile, ghrelin inhibited the accumulation of myofibroblasts by blocking the transforming growth factor-β1/Smad3 (TGF-β1/Smad3) signaling pathway. Moreover, ghrelin could attenuate renal tubular cell apoptosis induced by UUO injury. Conclusion Ghrelin can reduce renal fibrosis and renal cell apoptosis induced by UUO , demonstrating that ghrelin is a potent antifibrotic agent that may have therapeutic potential for patients with obstructive nephropathy.

Objective Motility is an important physiological characteristic of a mature sperm.Nerve growth factor(NGF) is a protein essential for the development,maintenance and survival of the peripheral and central nervous systems.NGF and its receptors TrkA and p75 are widely expressed in the testis,accessory reproductive organ,and the epididymal sperms.In the present study,we investigated the role of NGF on human sperm motility.Methods Use 0.1,1 and 10 μmol/L concentrations of NGF,on sperm motility study to investigate the optimal concentration.Use CASA to detect Sperm motility changes every 10 minutes in an hour after 10 μmol/L NGF was added to the semen.Results The parameters of sperm motility increased after NGF incubation had significant difference, in particular,VAP,VSL,VCL,BCF and LIN mean were significantly increased more than 32%.MAD,STR,ALH and WOB mean had no notable difference.Furthermore,NGF promotes the sperm motility in a time- and dose- dependent manner.In addition,the enhancement of NGF on sperm motility was more stronger than those of sperm culture medium.Conclusion Our findings suggest that NGF plays a promoted role in human sperm motility.

Aim To study the mechanism of synergistic antitumor of EBB and doxorubicin in doxorubicin-resistant MCF-7/ADR breast carcinoma cells.Methods The antitumor activity of doxorubiein alone and its combination with EBB were measured by MTT assay in MCF-7/ADR and MCF-7cells. The rate of doxorubicin-induced apoptosis and the protein and mRNA levels of P-glycoprotein(P-gp) were determined in MCF-7/ADR treated with EBB by flow cytometry (FACS), respectively.Laser scanning confocal microscopy was used to detect the intracellular accumulation of drug in EBB-treated MCF-7 and MCF-7/ADR cells.Results EBB had antitumor effects for MCF-7 and MCF-7/ADR.It could potentiate the antitumor effect of dororubicin with CDI of 0.73 and 0.49 for MCF-7 and MCF-7/ADR,respectively.EBB and doxorubicin acted synergistically in elevating apoptosis of MCF-7/ADR and downregulating the expression of P-gp in a dose-dependent manner in MCF-7/ADR.EBB restored the intracellular accumulation of doxorubicin in MCF-7/ADR cells in a dose-dependent manner.After pretreatment with EBB for 24 h and 48 h,the intracellular accumulation of doxorubicin and Rh123 was obviousely restored in MCF-7/ADR cells compared with control in a time-dependent manner.Conclusion EBB is a potential agent which has strong inhibitory effect on both multidrug resistant cells and their parental cells.EBB can significantly potentiate the antitumor effects of dororubicin in MCF-7/ADR cells by blocking the function of P-glycoprotein and inhibiting the expression of P-glycoprotein.

Objective To investigate the correlation of CAGs repeat size and age of onset in patients with Kennedy's Disease (KD).Methods We detected the number of CAG repeats in the androgen receptor genes in 30 patients with KD.The correlation of CAGs repeat size with age of onset was analyzed.At the same time,the Appel scale that could represent the degree of motor functional impairment was scored in every patient.The correlation of Appel scale with CAGs repeat size and the course of disease were analyzed.Results Significant correlation was found between the number of CAGs with age of onset (r= -0.671,P <0.01 ).There was also correlation between the Appel score and the course of disease (r=0.855,P<0.01 ),but no correlation between the Appel score and the number of CAGs (r =0.100,P =0.601 ).Conclusions It is found that in Kennedy' disease,as well as in other CAG repeat diseases,the length of polyglutamine tract determines the age of onset ,but has no correlation with the severity of the disease.

Objective To evaluate the toxic effects and efficacy of the intra-arterial chrono-chemotherapy on patients with liver metastasis arised from colorectal cancer. Methods Chemotherapy of 42 patients were randomly divided into group A (n = 20) with continuously constant arterial infusion, and group B (n = 22) with arterial chrono-modulated infusion. And the toxic effects and efficacy of two groups were compared. Results A significant difference was found in the toxic effects of digestive system between the two groups. The treatment response was similar in the two groups. Conclusions Intra-arterial chrono-chemotherapy may decrease the toxic effects and improve the life quality of these patients.

Objective To improve the level of diagnosis and treatment of the sharp injury in the back. Methods 47 cases which were treated from Jan 1991 to May 2000 were reviewed. ResultsAmong 37 cases who underwent the exploration, 5 cases died. Among 10 cases who underwent conservative treatment, 2 cases died. ConclusionThe condition of sharp injury in the back is very complicated,it is easy to be misdiagnosed, the mortality is high. Saving should be equalled with the diagnosis and treatment. The application of wound exploration, abdominal puncture, ultrasound examination and X-ray checking is valuable to the diagnosis. The patients with operation indications should be operated at once,while the others should be observed for some time to prevent the delayed clinical manifestation.

70 bpm during scan),the proportion of segments that could not be assessed because of motion artifact were 0.1%(1/759),1.1%(7/649),2.5% (10/407),42.6%(103/242),and 75.5%(108/143),respectively.With conventional selective coronary angiography as the golden standard,the sensitivity,specificity,positive and negative prediction values to detect≥50% stenotic lesions in the assessable segments were 79.2%,96.0%,83.8%,and 94.6%,respectively.There was a significant correlation between the number of segments per patient not assessable because of motion artifact and heart rate during the scan(r=0.655,P=0.000).Conclusion MSCT is capable of achieving high accuracy for detection of coronary artery stenosis,and is a reliable technique to diagnose coronary artery disease.