AIM: To explore the effect of melatonin (MLT) on the apoptosis of thymocytes and splenocytes in mice induced by ionizing radiation and its mechanism. METHODS: The percentages of apoptotic bodies and the DNA lytic rates of thymocytes and splenocytes in mice in vitro and in vivo were detected with flow cytometry and fluorospectrophotometry, respectively. RESULTS: The apoptosis of mouse thymocytes and splenocytes in vitro increased with significant dose-dependence in 0 5-6 0 Gy X-irradiation. When MLT of 2 mmol?L -1 was added into thymocytes or splenocytes in vitro before irradiation with 0 5-6 0 Gy X-rays, the percentages of apoptotic bodies and the DNA lytic rates all decreased significantly as compared with those in the irradiation group. The percentages of apoptotic bodies in these two kinds of cells were 86 25% and 89 22% of those in the irradiation group, respectively, and the DNA lytic rates were 87 23% and 89 16%, respectively. When MLT was injected into intraperitonium in mice 60 min before whole-body irradiation with 2 Gy X-rays, the percentages of apoptotic bodies and the DNA lytic rates were significantly lower than those in the irradiation group, and near or lower than those in the sham-irradiation group. MLT of 0 1-2 5 mg/kg decreased the lymphocyte apoptosis, but without significant dose-dependence. CONCLUSION: The protective effects of MLT on mouse lymphocytes damaged by irradiation in vivo are obvious than those in vitro. [

Objective To explore the clinical outcomes of locking plate fixation of intertrochanteric fractures in patients with deformed proximal femur.Methods A retrospective review was made of the 25 patients with intertrochanteric fracture and deformed proximal femur who had been treated from January 2009 to July 2015.They were 17 men and 8 women,from 22 to 76 years of age (mean,45.2 years).The proximal femoral deformities were postpoliomyelitis syndrome in 6 cases,fibrous dysplasia in 4,malunion in 13,and hip varus caused by implant breakage following intramedullary nailing in 2.By AO classification,there were 4 cases of type 31-A2.1,3 ones of type 31-A2.2,16 ones of type 31-A3.1,and 2 ones of type 31-A3.2.All the patients were treated by open reduction plus locking plate fixation.At the final follow-up,function of the affected hip was evaluated by the Hip Disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS),and quality of life of the patients was evaluated using the SF-36 health survey questionnaire.Results The 25 patients were effectively followed up for 12 to 24 months (mean,17.4 months).No infection,pneumonia,fat embolism,or deep venous thrombosis of lower limb was observed.The fractures healed without nonunion or refracture after a mean time of 5.9 months (range,from 3 to 6 months) in the 25 patients.By the HOOS evaluation at the final follow-ups,the 25 patients scored,on average,83.7± 15.6 in pain,55.6± 14.1 in symptoms,53.6 ± 9.5 in daily living function,52.7 ± 8.9 in sports and recreational activities and 62.4 ± 12.3 in quality of life;by SF-36 evaluation,they had a mean total score of 71.2 ± 13.8.Both the HOOS and SF-36 scores were not significantly different from the pre-injury values (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion Locking plate fixation is a simple and effective way for the intertrochanteric fractures complicated with deformed proximal femur because intramedullary nailing is difficult or infeasible.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the feasibility and safety of autologous peripheral blood hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (auto-PBHSCT) and its therapeutic effect on refractory rheumatism among preschool children.

METHODSThree boys with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus (JSLE) and juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) respectively, 3 to 6 years old with the mean age of 5 years with 3.5 to 22 months course of disease with 14 months on average, received auto-PBHSCT. Their conditions were so severe that conventional therapy failed to control the diseases. The changes of both clinical manifestations and immunologic indexes were observed before and after transplantation with long term following up at specialty clinic of rheumatism.

RESULTThe time when neutrophil count >or= 0.5 x 10(9)/L in the 3 children was days +9, +13 and +11 respectively, that of platelet count >or= 20 x 10(9)/L was days +14, +18 and +13 respectively. The cellular immune function remained abnormal with CD4 cells at a low level and CD4/CD8 being inverted. As to the JDM child, the skin rash had disappeared and his muscle tone was improved to grade 5 within one month after the transplantation. The EMG and serum creatase level returned to normal and muscle MRI findings were improved greatly within 2 months after the transplantation. As to the JSLE child, skin rash and proteinuria had disappeared, MRI of brain showed that the pathological changes had been absorbed and EEG returned to normal 3 months after the transplantation, all the autoantibodies turned to negative within 8 months after transplantation. As to the JRA child, the arthritis had been improved remarkably within 3 weeks after auto-PBHSCT. There was no swelling of joints nor movement limitation 3 months post transplantation. The steroids and immunosuppressive drugs were discontinued post transplantation. Cushing syndrome disappeared. Their body heights increased by 10 to 15 cm in the past 18 months, and they all returned to school. There was no relapse during follow-up periods of 25 - 27 months.

CONCLUSIONThe therapy with auto-PBHSCT for refractory rheumatism among preschool children was remarkably effective in a short-term, yet the safety and long-term effect still need to be further studied.

Child ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Humans ; Male ; Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation ; Rheumatic Diseases ; therapy ; Transplantation, Autologous ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUNDSuicide gene therapy is a widely used molecular treatment for head and neck cancer. In this study, we try to use the method of homogenous recombination in bacteria to clone thymidine kinase gene (tk)-a kind of suicide gene to adenovirus backbone vectors for the construction of replication-defective adenoviruses.

METHODSpAdTrack-CMV/tk was constructed through subclone of a restriction endonuclease fragment including thymidine kinase gene from plasmid pCMV-tk to another plasmid pAdTrack-CMV, and then co-transfected with supercoiled pAdEasy-1, which was an adenoviral backbone vector except for deletions of E1 and E3, to competent E. coli BJ5183 for homogenous recombination using electroporation procedure. With the same method, pAdTrack-CMV was also co-transformed with pAdEasy-1 for homogenous recombination in BJ5183. Identified with restriction endonuclease PacI and polymerase chain reaction (PCR), plasmids pAd-GFP/tk and pAd-GFP were successfully constructed. Each of them was digested with PacI and sequently transfected into human embryo kidney 293 cells (HEK293) using Lipofectamine 2000.

RESULTSComet-like adenovirus-producing foci of Ad-GFP/tk and Ad-GFP were observed after 5 to 7 days of cell culture. After twelve days of packaging, the replication-defective adenoviruses were collected. Identified with PCR, thymidine kinase gene was successfully constructed into Ad-GFP/tk.

CONCLUSIONThe replication-defective adenoviruses containing thymidine kinase can be constructed more easily by homogenous recombination in bacteria than conventional techniques.

Adenoviridae ; genetics ; Bacteria ; genetics ; Defective Viruses ; genetics ; Genetic Therapy ; methods ; Green Fluorescent Proteins ; genetics ; Recombination, Genetic ; Thymidine Kinase ; genetics ; Virus Replication

OBJECTIVETo investigate the molecular genetics basis for HLA novel allele HLA-DRB1*1212 in Chinese population.

METHODSGenomic DNA was extracted from whole blood by salting-out method. HLA-DRB1 gene exon 2 was amplified by PCR with group-specific primers from genomic DNA. PCR products were cut back from agarose gels and purified to sequence directly. The polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific oligonucleotide probes (PCR-SSO) was performed to confirm the mutations which were detected by sequencing in this study.

RESULTSThe sequencing results showed HLA-DRB1 alleles of the proband as DRB1*090102 and the novel allele. The sequences of the novel allele have been submitted to GenBank (AY899825). Through BLAST analysis, the novel allele was found to be different from DRB1*120101 at position 199A-->C in exon 2, that results in an amino acid change from Ile to Leu at codon 67.

CONCLUSIONThis allele is a novel and has been officially named as DRB1*1212 by the WHO Nomenclature Committee.

Alleles ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Base Sequence ; China ; ethnology ; DNA ; analysis ; Ethnic Groups ; Female ; HLA-DR Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-DRB1 Chains ; Humans ; Male ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sequence Analysis

Adipose-derived stem cells have self-renewal and multi-differentiation potentials, which can differentiate into smooth muscle cells, urinary epithelial-like cells, endothelial cells, neuron-like cells, etc. and secrete a variety of growth factors. As a result, the research on adipose-derived stem cells in lower urinary tract reconstruction using tissue engineering has been a highlight in recent years. This review focuses on the application of adipose-derived stem cells as seed cells to lower urinary tract reconstruction by tissue engineering in such diseases as bladder defect, stress urinary incontinence, and erectile dysfunction.
Adipocytes ; cytology ; Humans ; Stem Cells ; cytology ; Tissue Engineering ; Urinary Tract ; surgery

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the short-term and long-term effects of dense endoscopic variceal ligation (DEVL) for bleeding esophageal varices.

METHODSPatients with acute or with a history of esophageal variceal bleeding underwent regular DEVLs with a 2-3 week interval between 2 sessions until their varices disappeared at the lower 5-6 cm part of the esophagus. Follow-up study and gastroscopy were performed at 3, 6 and 12 months after the final DEVL in all patients. The results at 3 months were classified as short-term effects and those after 6 months as long-term ones.

RESULTS126 patients underwent DEVLs with 403 sessions and 3641 ligations; each patient was ligated with a mean of 3.2 sessions and at 28.9 points. The cure rate of acute variceal bleeding was 100.0%; short-term rate of variceal eradication was 94.4% and variceal rebleeding occurred in 3.9% patients. After a mean of 22.3 months follow-up period, the recurrence of esophageal varices was observed in 11.9% patients, but the variceal rebleeding rate was only 3.2% and no patients died from it.

CONCLUSIONDEVL was very useful and effective in both short-term and long-term variceal eradication and prevention of variceal rebleeding.

Adult ; Aged ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; etiology ; surgery ; Esophagoscopy ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage ; surgery ; Humans ; Ligation ; methods ; Liver Cirrhosis ; complications ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo do some comparative study on anti-inflammatory and antipyretic effects between the Dao-di herb and non Dao-di herb of Huangqin (the roots of Scutellaria baicalensis) and provide thinking and evidence for study on geoherbalism and clinical usage of Huangqin.

METHODThe anti-inflammatory action was assessed by auricular swelling induced by dimethylbenzene in mice and the antipyretic action was monitored by dried yeast-induced mice fever.

RESULTAll samples of both Dao-di and non Dao-di herbs of Huangqin showed antipyretic effect. The Dao-di Huangqin samples showed antipyretic effect between 61% to 53% , whereas the non Dao-di Huangqin samples between 53% to 43%. Six Dao-di Huangqin samples showed better antipyretic effect than four non Dao-di Huangqin samples. All samples of both Dao-di and non Dao-di Huangqin showed anti-inflammatory effect. Dao-di Huangqin showed anti-inflammatory effect between 73% to 54%, whereas non dao-di Huangqin between 53% to 34%. Six Dao-di Huangqin showed better anti-inflammatory effect than four non Dao-di Huangqin. In totality, results from analysis of geoherbalism showed that geoherbal production areas of Huangqin had better effect than that of the non geoherbal production areas in anti-inflammatory and antipyretic effects.

CONCLUSIONBoth the Dao-di and non Dao-di Huangqin have effects of anti-inflammatory and antipyretic to a certain extent, but the efficacy of the Dao-di Huangqin surpass the non Dao-di Huangqin.

Animals ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents ; administration & dosage ; Antipyretics ; administration & dosage ; China ; Drug Contamination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Fever ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Inflammation ; drug therapy ; Mice ; Scutellaria baicalensis ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo explore how to improve follow-up rate and follow-up quality in studies related to quality of life.

METHODSA retrospective cross-sectional study was performed in patients with rectal cancer who underwent primary surgery at the Gastrointestinal Surgery Department, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University from August 2002 to February 2011 using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30 and CR-38 questionnaires. The influence factors of follow-up rate and reasons for missing sex-related items were analyzed.

RESULTSA total of 438 questionnaires were issued. Two hundred and eighty-five responses were received and the follow-up rate was 65.1%. Two hundred and sixty-two patients returned the questionnaires by mail. Responders and non-responders did not differ by sociodemographic and clinical characteristics including sex, age, postoperative time, complication, clinical stage and stoma. Significant differences were found when comparing the missing sex-related items grouped by sex, age, education and working status.

CONCLUSIONSFollow-up mode of mail supplemented by interview is suitable for current reality in China in studies on quality of life. Targeted methods should be adopted when investigating the different patient groups to improve follow-up rate of studies on quality of life and sexual function survey.

Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Period ; Quality of Life ; Rectal Neoplasms ; psychology ; surgery ; Retrospective Studies ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of capsaicin on nude mice xenografted with colorectal carcinoma cells, and to explore its mechanism of action.

METHODSA nude mouse model of colorectal cancer was established by subcutaneous inoculation of human colorectal carcinoma HT-29 cells. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated nicked labeling assay (TUNEL) was undertaken to detect the cell proliferation and apoptosis in the xenograft tissue in nude mice. Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining and Western blot were used to detect the expression of HSP27, Cyt-C and active caspase-3.

RESULTSThe tumor growth of the groups C10 and C20 was significantly slower than that of the group NS. The integrated optical density (IOD) of both the group C5 (2532.14 ± 578.11) and group C10 (6364.03 ± 1137.98) was significantly higher than that of the group NS (760.12 ± 238.05), (P < 0.05). The integrated optical density (IOD) of the group C20 was (15743.96 ± 1855.95), significantly higher than that of the groups C10, C5 and NS (all were P < 0.01). Immunohistochemistry showed that the cytoplasmic expression of HSP27 was strongly positive in the group NS, and significantly reduced with the increasing dose of capsaicin in the treated groups. The expression of active caspase-3 and Cyt-C in the group NS was weakly positive, and was significantly increased with the increasing dose of capsaicin in the groups C5 and C10 (P < 0.05), and the expression of active caspase-3 and Cyt-C of the group C20 was significantly higher than that of the groups C5, C10 and NS (P < 0.01). Western blot analysis showed that both the expressions of HSP27 of the group C5 (0.73 ± 0.05) and the group C10 (0.41 ± 0.03) were significantly lower than that of the group NS (P < 0.05). The expression of HSP27 of the group C20 (0.22 ± 0.06) was significantly lower than that of the groups C5, C10 and NS (P < 0.01). The expressions of active-caspase-3 and Cyt-C in the group C5 were (2.57 ± 0.34) and (2.03 ± 0.38), significantly higher than those of the group NS (P < 0.05). The expressions of active-caspase-3 and Cyt-C in the group C10 were (4.23 ± 0.45) and (3.13 ± 0.44), also significantly higher than those of the group NS (P < 0.05). The expressions of active-caspase-3 and Cyt-C in the group C20 were (5.78 ± 0.48) and (4.92 ± 0.52), significantly higher than those of the group C5, C10 and NS (P < 0.01). TUNEL analysis showed that there was a significant difference of cell apoptosis in comparison of each two groups. The higher dose of capsaicin was used, the more apoptosis was observed.

CONCLUSIONSCapsaicin can significantly inhibit the tumor growth and induce cell apoptosis in the colorectal carcinoma xenograft in nude mice. Its mechanism of action is possibly related with the down-regulation of HSP27 expression and up-regulation of expression of active caspase-3 and Cyt-C in the colorectal carcinoma xenograft in nude mice.

Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Capsaicin ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Cytochrome c Group ; metabolism ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Female ; HSP27 Heat-Shock Proteins ; metabolism ; HT29 Cells ; Humans ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Nude ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Random Allocation ; Tumor Burden ; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays