OBJECTIVETo demonstrate the possibility of high-level expression of bioactive human beta-defensin-2 (hBD2) in E.coli, and to purify the recombinant hBD2.

METHODSDNA fragment containing mature hBD2 coding region (smhBD2-cDNA) was amplified by PCR, multiple copies of smhBD2-cDNA were linked using Bgl II and BamH I enzymes, pET32-nsmHBD2-cDNA with 1, 2, 4, or 8 copies of smhBD2-cDNA was constructed. The soluble and insoluble hBD2 proteins were separated and analyzed by SDS-PAGE analysis. The soluble protein underwent a separation process containing affinity chromatography, enterokinase digestion and ion exchange chromatography to get the recombinant hBD2 peptide. The bioactivity of recombinant hBD2 was examined by bacteria-inhibition tests in liquid culture.

RESULTThe plasmids pET32-nsmHBD2-cDNA with 1, 2, 4 copies of smhBD2-cDNA were constructed and the expressed soluble protein accounted for 52 %, 48 %, and 31 % respectively. The plasmids with 8 copies expressed mainly insoluble protein with few in soluble form. The growth of E.coli K12D31 was dramatically suppressed with a inhibition rate of 90 %, when the final concentration of recombinant hBD2 reached between 0.4 to 0.5 mug/ml.

CONCLUSIONFusion expression of human beta-defensin-2 with multiple joined genes in E.coli could increase the expression of hBD2.

Anti-Infective Agents ; pharmacology ; Chromatography, Affinity ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Escherichia coli ; drug effects ; genetics ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Recombinant Proteins ; biosynthesis ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; beta-Defensins ; biosynthesis ; genetics

Cells, Cultured ; Chemokine CCL4 ; Chemotaxis, Leukocyte ; drug effects ; Endothelial Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; Homocysteine ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Macrophage Inflammatory Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Monocytes ; physiology ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Umbilical Veins ; cytology

OBJECTIVE: To discuss the function and operative method of silicon T tube in laryngotracheal reconstruction. METHOD: Two hundred and ninety-seven patients of laryngotracheal stenosis were operated with laryngotracheal reconstruction in our department. All of patients were tracheostomy dependent before reconstruction and were placed a silicon T-tube stenting for 3 to 6 months after reconstruction. RESULT: Two hundred and eighty-nine patients (97.3%) were successfully decannulated with good airway patency and effective phonation. They were followed up from 1 to 10 years, and no recurrence was found. CONCLUSION Silicon T-tube is an effective and safe stent for laryngotracheal reconstruction. Paying attention to some application details may avoid the complication and obtain a satisfactory effect.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Laryngostenosis ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures ; instrumentation ; methods ; Silicon ; Tracheal Stenosis ; surgery ; Young Adult

Objective To investigate the clinical outcomes of patients undergoing microsurgery for cerebellar medulloblastoma. Methods This retrospective analysis of the clinical and follow-up data involves 57 patients who received microsurgery for pathologically confirmed cerebellar medulloblastorna, and the microsurgical techniques for medulloblastoma were discussed. Results Among the 57 patients, 42 had total tumor resection, 13 had subtotal and 2 had partial resection of the tumors. Patency of the midbrain aqueduct was achieved in all the cases after the surgery. Hydrocephalus was found in 43 patients before the operation and only in 16 patients after the operation. Tumor relapse occurred in 19 patients 2 years after the operation, including 8 with implantation metastasis compromising the central nervous system and 1 patient with frontal lobe metastasis who received reoperations. The earliest tumor relapse occurred 20 days after the surgery. The 2- and 5-year postoperative survival rates in these patients were 68.4% and 49.1%, respectively. Conclusion Good therapeutic effects can be achieved with total resection of the tumors and postoperative whole brain and spinal cord radiotherapy in patients with medulloblastomas.

OBJECTIVETo discuss the therapeutic effect and toxicity of second line Hycamtin for lung cancer patients.

METHODSTen of these 21 patients had been treated with operation. All these 21 patients received second line Hycamtin treatment; given at the dose of 1.2 mg/m(2) per day, four consecutive days as one cycle and 21 days as one course. A total of 1 - 4 courses were given according to the patient's tolerance. Four of these 21 patients also received combination of cisplatin.

RESULTSAmong the 13 un-operated patients, two patients showed CR, six showed PR, three SD and two PD, giving an effective rate of 62%. Among the 8 operated patients, seven showed SD but one developed distant metastasis. The 1-year survival rate was 88%.

TOXICITYleukopenia I-II degree 14 (66.7%), leukopenia III-IV degree 5 (23.8%), thrombocytopenia III-IV degree 1 (4.8%) and one patient died of high fever and neutocytopenia. Nausea 8 (38.1%), vomiting 3 (14.3%) and diarrhea 2 (9.5%) alopecia 4 (19.1%). Were the other side-effects.

CONCLUSIONHycamtin is indicated for second line therapy for lung cancer giving tolerable toxicity.

Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; mortality ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Topotecan ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use

OBJECTIVETo study the effects of post-discharge formula (PDF) for preterm infants, breast milk (BM) and term infant formula (TF) on increase rates of body weight, length and head circumference in preterm and low-birth-weight infants (PLBWIs) from discharge to 3 months after birth, and to provide a reference for the choice of feeding pattern for PLBWIs.

METHODSA total of 407 PLBWIs discharged from the newborn departments of ten hospitals in Guangzhou City and Foshan City in Guangdong Province, China were chosen for this study. According to feeding pattern, they were assigned to three groups: PDF-fed (n=258), BM-fed (n=58) and TF-fed (n=91). Their body weight, length and head circumference were measured at 3 months after birth, and the increase rates of growth indices relative to baseline values (at birth) were calculated and compared.

RESULTSAt 3 months after birth, the PDF-fed group had significantly greater body weight, length and head circumference than the BM-fed and TF-fed groups (P<0.05). The increase rates of body weight and length were significantly higher in the PDF-fed group than in the BM-fed and TF-fed groups (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSCompared with those fed with BM and TF after discharge, the PDF-fed PLBWIs have higher increase rates of body weight and length and show greater body weight and length at 3 months after birth. However, further study is needed to investigate the long-term effects.

Body Height ; Body Weight ; Breast Feeding ; Feeding Behavior ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant Formula ; Infant, Low Birth Weight ; growth & development ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; growth & development ; Male

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVELittle is known about the incidence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in Hodgkin's lymphoma patients. This study was to evaluate the impact of HBV infection on the survival of Hodgkin's lymphoma patient.

METHODSClinical data of 120 Hodgkin's lymphoma patients treated at the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center between January 2004 and October 2007 were collected. The impact of prognostic factors including HBV infection on survival was examined by univariate and multivariate analyses. A log-rank test was used for univariate analysis and the Cox proportional hazards regression model was used for multivariate analysis.

RESULTSOf the 120 patients, 18 (15.0%) were hepatitis B virus surface antigen HBsAg-positive. The HBsAg-positive patients had lower 5-year survival rate than did the HBsAg-negative ones (66.9% vs. 91.3%, P = 0.006). When the patients were divided into early-stage (I + II) and advanced-stage (III + IV) groups, the 5-year survival rate was significantly different between the HBsAg-positive and -negative patients in early-stage group (64.8% vs. 96.0%, P < 0.001), while not significantly different in advanced-stage group (75.0% vs. 84.8%, P = 0.667). Both univariate and multivariate analyses showed that radiotherapy and HBV infection were independent prognosis factors for the patients with early-stage Hodgkin's lymphoma (P = 0.006 and 0.014, respectively).

CONCLUSIONSThe incidence of HBV infection is similar between Hodgkin's lymphoma patients and normal population. HBV infection is an independent prognosis factor for survival in the patients with early-stage Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Adult ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Hepatitis B ; blood ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; blood ; Hodgkin Disease ; drug therapy ; radiotherapy ; virology ; Humans ; Male ; Neoplasm Staging ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Survival Rate

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical efficacy and safety among three different entry points of needle knife, including tenderness point, intervertebral foramen point and articular process node, for lumbar disc herniation (LDH). METHODS: A total of 105 patients with LDH were randomly divided into a tenderness point group (35 cases, 1 case dropped off ), an intervertebral foramen point group (35 cases) and an articular process node group (35 cases, 1 case dropped off ). In the three groups, the needle knife was given at positive tenderness points of lumbosacral and hip, the external point of intervertebral foramen and the node of vertebral joint process respectively, once a week for a total of 4 times. The scores of Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA), Oswestry disability index (ODI), visual analogue scale (VAS) were recorded before treatment, 2 weeks and 4 weeks into treatment, and 3 months follow-up after treatment, and the clinical efficacy and safety was observed. RESULTS: Compared before treatment, the JOA scores in each group were increased 2, 4 weeks into treatment and in the follow-up (P<0.05); 4 weeks into treatment and in the follow-up, the JOA scores in the tenderness point group and the articular process node group were higher than those in the intervertebral foramen point group (P<0.05). Compared before treatment, except for ODI score 2 weeks into treatment in the intervertebral foramen point group, the ODI and VAS scores in each group were decreased 2, 4 weeks into treatment and in the follow-up (P<0.05), and the ODI scores in the tenderness point group and the articular process node group were lower than those in the intervertebral foramen point group (P<0.05). In 2 weeks into treatment, the VAS scores in the tenderness point group and the articular process node group were lower than those in the intervertebral foramen point group (P<0.05); in 4 weeks into treatment and follow-up, the VAS scores in the tenderness point group were lower than the other two groups (P<0.05). After treatment, the clinical efficacy of each group was similar (P>0.05); during the follow-up, the total effective rate in the tenderness point group was higher than that in the intervertebral foramen point group (P<0.05). There were no serious adverse events in each group. CONCLUSION The three different entry points of needle knife all could improve the symptoms of patients with LDH. The comprehensive effect of improving the subjective symptoms, lumbar function, pain degree and long-term curative effect is better in the tenderness point group.
Humans ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement/therapy* ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; Lumbosacral Region ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVE: To establish a new digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) system for the detection of BCR-ABL fusion gene in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), and explore its analytical performance and clinical applicability in the detection of BCR-ABL^p190/210/230. METHODS: A new dPCR system for detecting BCR-ABL^p190/210/230 was successfully developed, and its sensitivity difference with qPCR and improvement of drug side effects in patients with CML during drug reduction or withdrawal were compared. RESULTS: Among 176 samples, qPCR and dPCR showed high consistency in the sensitivity of detecting BCR-ABL (82.39%), and the positive rate of dPCR was about 5 times higher that of qPCR (20.45% vs 3.98%). During follow-up, blood routine (25% vs 10%), kidney/liver/stomach (25% vs 20%) and cardiac function (10% vs 0) were significantly improved after drug reduction or withdrawal in patients with initial dPCR negative compared with before drug reduction or withdrawal. CONCLUSIONS This new dPCR detection system can be applied to the detection of BCR-ABL^p190/210/230. It has better consistency and higher positive detection rate than qPCR. Drug withdrawal or dose reduction guided by dPCR has a certain effect on improving drug side effects.
Humans ; Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl/genetics* ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive/diagnosis* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

The teaching effect of "process management and evaluation" was assessed in resident standardization training plan in acupuncture-moxibustion department of hospital for postgraduates of non-acupuncture-moxibustion speciality. A total of 120 postgraduates of non-acupuncture-moxibustion speciality participating in resident standardization training were randomized into an observation group (60 cases) and a control group (60 cases, 1 case dropped off). In the control group, the conventional training mode was used. In the observation group, the "process management and evaluation" was adopted, in which, the syllabus was refined, various teaching modes were cooperated and the summary was conducted once a week. The training results were evaluated at the end of 1-month shift test and questionnaire was issued in all of the postgraduates of the two groups. In the observation group, the score for theory and the score of each of the items for technical ability, named differentiation and treatment, technical manipulation and physician-patient communication, as well as the total score were all higher than the control group successively (
Acupuncture ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Hospitals ; Humans ; Moxibustion ; Reference Standards