Objective To investigate the relationship between carotid plaque and serum C reactive protein(CRP) levels, leukocyte count in patients with acute cerebral infarction(ACI) Methods Carotid duplex examination was performed in 121 patients with ACI by an Advanced Technology Laboratories HDI (high definition imaging) 5000 triplex system Serum CRP was measured by nephelometry Results of carotid ultrasonography were divided into two groups: M1: normal (IMT 0 05) The number of patient with elevated CRP levels was increased in the M2 group( P

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Biomarkers ; blood ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Clinical Medicine ; DNA, Viral ; blood ; Female ; Hepatitis B ; blood ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; blood ; Hepatitis B e Antigens ; blood ; Hepatitis B virus ; chemistry ; genetics ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

Translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) is widely expressed in most animal and plant cells and is involved in various physiological activities. Studies have shown that liver cancer tissue has significantly higher expression of TCTP than normal tissue. This article introduces the main biological functions of TCTP, such as promoting cell growth and development, regulating cell cycle, inhibiting cell apoptosis, reducing cell stress response, and regulating inflammatory response. Besides changing cell cycle and inhibiting cell apoptosis, TCTP can also induce mitotic defects and chromosomal instability, mediate inflammatory response and hepatic fibrosis, and thus promote the development and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC). It is pointed out that TCTP might be used as a potential marker for the early diagnosis of HCC, and targeted reduction of TCTP expression might be a new method for the treatment of HCC.

OBJECTIVETo explore the molecular biological mechanism of Arnebia Root oil (AO) in promoting the recovery of surface of wound by observing basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) mRNA expression in the wound tissue and healing rate of the wound.

METHODSPatients in the observed group with their wound treated by AO and those in the control group treated by petrolatum gauze. The wound surface healing rate was estimated and bFGF mRNA expression was observed by RT-PCR.

RESULTSEndogenous bFGF mRNA expression existed in the wound surface of both groups, but its level in the observed group at any time point was obviously higher than that in the control group respectively, with significant difference in comparison of the gray density between the two groups (P < 0.05). The wound surface healing rate kept abreast with bFGF mRNA expression in wound tissues, so it was significantly higher in the observed group than that in the control group (P < 0.05). GAPDH gene, which was taken as a parameter for internal reference, expressed with a certain amount unchanged in different periods of healing (P > 0.05 ).

CONCLUSIONAO shows obviously promotive action on bFGF, an important regulatory factor on wound healing, it might complete the recovery process by stimulating the increase of bFGF.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Boraginaceae ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Female ; Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Plant Oils ; administration & dosage ; isolation & purification ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Wound Healing ; drug effects ; Wounds and Injuries ; drug therapy ; metabolism

Objective To investigate the effect of the number of sentinel lymph node (SLN) dissection on prediction of non-sentinel lymph node (nSLN) metastasis in SLN biopsy in patients with early-stage breast cancer. Methods A retrospective analysis of clinical and pathological data of 82 patients with early-stage breast cancer who underwent SLN biopsy and axillary lymph node dissection in the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from January 2015 to December 2016 was conducted, and the univariate analysis and logistic multivariate regression analysis were performed to analyze the influencing factors of nSLN metastasis. Results Univariate analysis showed that nSLN metastasis was associated with histological grade (χ2 = 10.114, P= 0.006), vascular invasion (χ2 = 12.381, P< 0.01), and the number of positive SLN ≥2 (χ2=13.734, P<0.01), however, it was not related to patient's age, tumor size, SLN metastasis rate, molecular subtype and pathological type (all P>0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that the number of positive SLN≥2 was an independent influencing factor of nSLN metastasis (OR= 4.145, P= 0.015). Conclusions Surgeons need to ensure that the number of SLN dissection is > 2 when the SLN biopsy is performed in patients with breast cancer. When the number of positive SLN is≥2, the risk of nSLN metastasis increases.

PURPOSE: MicroRNAs (miRs) were recently recognized to be important for immune cell differentiation and immune regulation. However, whether miRs were involved in allergen-specific immunotherapy (SIT) remains largely unknown. This study sought to examine changes in miR-146a and T regulatory cells in children with persistent allergic rhinitis (AR) after 3 months of subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) and sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT). METHODS: Twenty-four HDM-sensitized children with persistent AR were enrolled and treated with SCIT (n=13) or SLIT (n=11) for 3 months. Relative miR-146a and Foxp3 mRNA expression, the TRAF6 protein level, and the ratio of post-treatment to baseline IL-10+CD4+ T cells between the SCIT and SLIT groups were examined in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of AR patients using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), flow cytometry, and Western blot analysis, respectively. Serum levels of IL-5 and IL-10 were determined using ELISA. RESULTS: After 3 months of SIT, both the TNSS and INSS scores were significantly decreased compared to the baseline value (P<0.01). The relative expression of miR-146a and Foxp3 mRNA was significantly increased after both SCIT and SLIT (P<0.01). The ratio of post-treatment to baseline IL-10+CD4+ T cells and the serum IL-10 level were significantly increased in both the SCIT and SLIT groups (P<0.01), whereas the TRAF6 protein level and serum IL-5 level were significantly decreased (P<0.01). No significant differences in these biomarkers were observed between the SCIT and SLIT groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that miR-146a and its related biomarkers may be comparably modulated after both SCIT and SLIT, highlighting miR-146a as a potential therapeutic target for the improved management of AR.
Biomarkers ; Blotting, Western ; Cell Differentiation ; Child* ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Immunotherapy* ; Interleukin-10 ; Interleukin-5 ; MicroRNAs ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Reverse Transcription ; Rhinitis* ; RNA, Messenger ; Sublingual Immunotherapy ; T-Lymphocytes ; TNF Receptor-Associated Factor 6

Objective To investigate the prevalence of HIV infection/STD and related factors in Vietnamese female sex workers (FSWs).Methods Consecutive cross-sectional surveys were conducted in June 2014,December 2014,May 2015 and November 2015 in Hekou,a county bordering Vietnam in Yunnan province.Convenience sampling were adopted to select 1 058 Vietnamese FSWs aged ＞16 years.Questionnaire interview were used to collect the information about their demographics,sexual behaviors and drug use.Serum and urine samples were collected for HIV infection/STD detection and drug use test.Trend x2 test was applied for HIV infection/STD and drug use trend analysis.Multivariate logistic regression model was used to identify the related factors.Results The consecutive cross sectional surveys indicated that the prevalence of HIV infection in Vietnamese FSWs were 3.20％(7/219),2.04％(5/245),1.89％(5/265) and 1.82％(6/329) respectively;the HSV-2 positive rates were 57.08％(125/219),58.37％(143/245),38.11％(101/265) and 51.06％ (168/329) respectively.In addition,the prevalence of syphilis were 0.91％,1.51％,0.75％ and 1.22％ respectively.HSV-2 infection prevalence showed a downward trend (x2=4.823,P=0.028).By logistic regression analysis,the related factors for HIV infection in Vietnamese FSWs were being amphetamine type stimulants (ATS) positive (OR=10.18,95％ CI:4.33-23.92) and being HSV-2 positive (OR=2.89,95％CI:1.09-7.88);Age (OR=1.88,95％CI:1.32-2.61),no-paid sexual partner (OR=1.59,95％CI:1.26-2.01) and being ATS positive (OR=2.48,95％CI:1.10-5.57) were related factors for HSV-2 infection.Conclusions Compared with the results of previous studies,the HIV infection prevalence declined in Vietnamese FSWs,but the HSV-2 infection prevalence was still high.The association between ATS use and HIV infection/STD suggested the necessity of strengthening AIDS intervention in Vietnamese FSWs,including the control of new type drug and sexual transmission.

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OBJECTIVETo understand the prevalence of high risk sex behaviors and HIV infection status among the female sex workers (FSWs) from Vietnam in Yunnan province during a 5 year intervention project and provide evidence for the improvement of the behavior intervention among this population.

METHODSThe survey was conducted annually among Vietnamese FSWs sampled in a county near China-Vietnam border to collect the information about their demographic characteristics, high risk sex behaviors and HIV test results through questionnaire and in-depth interview by bilingual outreach team. The behavior intervention included peer advise, training, lectures, interactive games, free condom distribution. The database was set up with Excel 2003 and the results were analyzed with SPSS 16.0.

RESULTSThe condom use rates among the Vietnamese FSWs at commercial sex in last month were 1.5%, 36.0%, 67.7%, 86.5% and 90.3% (P<0.05) respectively; and the condom use rates at the latest sex were 89.5%,44.8%, 86.6%,92.5% and 99.0% respectively (P<0.05) . The HIV antibody positive rates were 7.5%, 3.6%, 5.9%, 4.0% and 3.1% respectively (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe condom use rate of Vietnamese FSWs at commercial sex increased by more than 90% after the 5 year intervention project. However, the HIV-infection rate was still high. It is necessary to promote condom use among FSWs from Vietnam and their regular sex partners and strengthen the health education among clients.

Currently, there is still no effective curative treatment for the development of late-stage liver fibrosis. Here, we have illustrated that TB001, a dual glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor/glucagon receptor (GLP-1R/GCGR) agonist with higher affinity towards GCGR, could retard the progression of liver fibrosis in various rodent models, with remarkable potency, selectivity, extended half-life and low toxicity. Four types of liver fibrosis animal models which were induced by CCl₄, α-naphthyl-isothiocyanate (ANIT), bile duct ligation (BDL) and Schistosoma japonicum were used in our study. We found that TB001 treatment dose-dependently significantly attenuated liver injury and collagen accumulation in these animal models. In addition to decreased levels of extracellular matrix (ECM) accumulation during hepatic injury, activation of hepatic stellate cells was also inhibited via suppression of TGF-β expression as well as downstream Smad signaling pathways particularly in CCl₄-and S. japonicum-induced liver fibrosis. Moreover, TB001 attenuated liver fibrosis through blocking downstream activation of pro-inflammatory nuclear factor kappa B/NF-kappa-B inhibitor alpha (NFκB/IKBα) pathways as well as c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)-dependent induction of hepatocyte apoptosis. Furthermore, GLP-1R and/or GCGR knock-down results represented GCGR played an important role in ameliorating CCl₄-induced hepatic fibrosis. Therefore, TB001 can be used as a promising therapeutic candidate for the treatment of multiple causes of hepatic fibrosis demonstrated by our extensive pre-clinical evaluation of TB001.