Objective To evaluate the construction of expression vector for fusion protein of cell-penetrating pep-tide CCL (PEP-CCL).Methods CCL6-PEP-6XHis was inserted into plasmid pABP,pABP-CCL6-PEP plasmid was extracted and then transfected into HEK293 cells,CCL6-PEP-6XHis was expressed and purified by chromatog-raphy and detected with Western Blot.Results PEP-CCL express vector was successfully constructed and purified. PCR product of CCL6-PEP-6XHis Tag was ligated with T vector,recombinant was transferred into the host cells, then host cells were cultured,plasmid was extracted and sequenced,the sequence was identical to targeted gene. CCL6-PEP-6XHis was successfully inserted into the eukaryotic expression vector pABP,plasmid was extracted and digested,electrophoresis results revealed that a fragment with 430bp was digested by Hind Ⅲ+XbaⅠ,which was identical to the expected value.Western Blot revealed that CCL6-PEP fusion protein could be recognized by His monoclonal antibody.Conclusion PEP-CCL express vector can be constructed and expressed in eukaryotic cells.

Objective To investigate the effect of hemodialysis(HD) on the endothelial cells of the patients with end-stage renal disease(ESRD). Methods The study population consisted of 30 patients with undergoing first hemodialysis treatment and 20 healthy individuals from March to November of 2003.The number of circulating endothelial cells(CEC) and the concentration of von Willebrand factor(vWF) were measured in HD patients at predialysis,1h during HD,2h during HD,and the end of HD.CEC and vWF were observed in healthy subjects. Results CEC and vWF were increased in HD patients compared with healthy individuals,and elevated continuously during HD.Increased CEC and vWF were correlated significantly with duration of HD. Conclusion Endothelial cell dysfunction exists in the patients with ESRD.HD procedures may cause endothelial cell damage.

ObjectiveTo assess the impairment of liver function and investigate possible causes in local residents in Miaofeng Village, Mali Town, Wushan County, Gansu Province, China, and to provide a basis for the etiological study of idiopathic liver damage. MethodsThe residents in Miaofeng Village were screened for liver function and an epidemiological study was conducted. Serological testing was performed for those with abnormal screening results. Trace elements in drinking water and soil such as arsenic, chromium, and selenium were also tested. ResultsOf all residents, 23.8% and 10.7% showed abnormal levels of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase, respectively. Positivity of HBsAg was detected in 11 cases, fatty liver was identified in 3 cases, and absence of selenium in soil was also confirmed. ConclusionA proportion of local residents in Miaofeng Village have impaired liver function and the absence of selenium in soil may be a contributing factor to this phenomenon.

Background:Despite the recent development of new therapies, multiple myeloma (MM) remains an incurable disease. Thus, new, effective treatments are urgently needed, particularly for relapsed or refractory MM (RRMM). In an earlier phase I study, a novel form of recombinant human Apo2L/tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) that is currently in clinical development for the treatment of hematologic malignancies, i.e., circularly permuted TRAIL (CPT), was well tolerated at a dose of 2.5mg/kg per day and showed promising preliminary activity in patients with RRMM. This phase II, open-label, multicenter study further investigated the effcacy and safety of 2.5-mg/kg per day CPT as single-agent therapy for patients with RRMM. Methods:Patients with RRMM were treated once daily with CPT (2.5mg/kg, intravenously) for 14 consecutive days for each 21-day cycle. Clinical response and toxicity were assessed after each treatment cycle. Results:Twenty-seven patients received CPT. Using the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation criteria, we calculated the overall response rate of 33.3% with 1 near-complete response (nCR) and 8 partial responses (PRs). The clinical beneift rate (48.1%) included 1 nCR, 8 PRs, and 4 minimal responses. The most common treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) were fever, aspartate aminotransferase elevation, alanine aminotransferase elevation, leucopenia, rash, neutropenia, and thrombocytopenia. We graded toxicity using the Common Toxicity Criteria for Adverse Events, version 3.0, and determined that 37.0% of patients had at least 1 grade 3–4 TRAE. Conclusions:CPT as a single agent can elicit a response in patients with RRMM and is well tolerated. Further clinical investigation is warranted.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of lenalidomide in a real-world clinical practice in Chinese patients with multiple myeloma (MM).Methods It was a prospective,multi-center,observational study.A total of 165 consecutive patients with MM treated with lenalidomide-based regimens were enrolled in 12 hospitals from June 2013 to November 2015.Relevant information was recorded,such as baseline clinical data,cytogenetic abnormalities,treatment regimens,and duration of treatment,safety,and survival.Results (1)There were 126 relapsed and refractory MM (RRMM) patients,25 newly diagnosed patients and 19 maintenance patients.The evaluable RRMM patients accounted for 120 cases,among which 74 cases(61.7％) reached the partial response (PR) or above,and a very good partial response (VGPR) in 16 patients (13.3％),a complete response (CR) in 14 cases (11.7％),a strictly complete response (sCR) in 4 cases (3.3％).Thus,a VGPR or above in 34 patients accounted for 28.3％.(2)The median follow-up was 13 months,the median time to progression 12 months.The median survival after receiving lenalidomide was 19 months,and the median overall survival (OS) was 62 months.(3) The univariate analysis in 120 RRMM patients suggested that prognostic factors for significant improvement in PFS included normal karyotype,international staging system (ISS) Ⅰ-Ⅱ,t(4;14) negative (detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization),non-bortezomib resistance and response to previous regimens.As to OS,nonbortezomib resistance,response to previous regimens and non-primary refractoriness were positive factors.Multivariate analysis showed that the response to previous regimens (PR or better) was an independent good prognostic factor for progress-free survival (PFS),non-bortezomib resistance and non-primary refractoriness for OS.(4) Grade 3 or 4 adverse events that occurred in more than 10％ of all enrolled patients were neutropenia (12.7％),leukocytosis (11.5％) and thrombocytopenia (12.7％).Owing to intolerance of toxic side effects,7 cases withdrew lenalidomide.Conclusions No matter what combination,regimens containing lenalidomide are effective to RRMM patients with overall response rate 61.7％,a time to progression 12 months and an overall survival 62 months.The toxicity is quite tolerable and manageable.In addition,the response to previous treatment (reached PR or above) is the independent good prognostic factor for PFS,non-bortezomib resistance and non-primary refractoriness for OS.Clinical trail registration Clinicaltrials.gov,NCT01947309

OBJECTIVETo assess the association of BDNF gene Val66Met polymorphism with efficacy of antidepressant treatment and plasma BDNF level.

METHODSTwo hundred and forty-nine ethnic Han Chinese patients with depression(study group), who have met the diagnostic criteria of DSM-IV, were prescribed with venlafaxine or paroxetine. Two hundred and two healthy individuals were recruited as the control group. General demographic information such as gender, age, educational status, occupation, and marriage status were collected. HAMD-17 was adopted as the primary rating tool to evaluate the severity of depression on the baseline and at the end of 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th week of treatment. PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism was applied to determine the Val66Met polymorphism of the BDNF gene in the two groups. Plasma BDNF concentration was measured with ELISA before and after 6 weeks of treatment.

RESULTSNo significant differences have been found in HAMD scores and reduction of HAMD scores on the baseline and at the end of 1 st, 2nd, 4th, 6th weeks of treatment for each genotype. Nor were significant differences found in the Val66Met genotypes and allelic frequency between patients who achieved remission or not after 6 weeks' treatment as well as the healthy volunteers. The plasma BDNF level in depression patients was lower than that in healthy controls. The BDNF level has increased significantly after 6 weeks' treatment with both venlafaxine and paroxetine, but was still lower than the healthy controls. The BDNF level in the patients achieved remission who were treated with venlafaxine was similar to the normal controls, while those treated with paroxetine was still lower than normal controls. The BDNF level in patients who have not achieved remission was lower than normal controls. The BDNF level was not associated with the Val66Met polymorphism on the baseline and the end of 6th week.

CONCLUSIONNo association has been found between the efficacy of venlafaxine or paroxetine and the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism. The BDNF level of patients with depression is significantly lower than healthy controls on the baseline, and can be enhanced with the treatment. Particularly, the BDNF level in patients who achieved remission after the treatment of venlafaxine can rise to normal. The level of BDNF has certain value in the forecasting of efficacy in the anti-depression therapy. BDNF level is not associated with the Val66Met polymorphism of the BDNF gene.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Antidepressive Agents ; therapeutic use ; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; blood ; genetics ; Depression ; blood ; drug therapy ; genetics ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Genetic

BACKGROUND:Olfactory dysfunction is an early biological marker of various diseases.However,the neuroimaging mechanism by which olfactory dysfunction occurs following cerebral small vessel disease is unclear. OBJECTIVE:To explore the different neuroimaging mechanisms of olfactory function regulation in patients with cerebral small vessel disease and Parkinson's disease,and explore the potential application value of olfactory function assessment in patients with cerebral small vessel disease. METHODS:Neuropsychological and olfactory tests,high-resolution structural magnetic resonance and resting-state functional magnetic resonance data were collected in 80 patients with cerebral small vessel disease,44 healthy controls and 29 patients with Parkinson's disease.DPABI,SPM12 and SPSS were used to analyze and compare the amplitude of low frequency fluctuation,regional homogeneity and functional connectivity values between the cerebral small vessel disease,control and Parkinson's disease groups.Correlations between the significantly altered resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging measures and olfactory and cognitive scores were evaluated. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the control group,low-frequency fluctuation amplitude of the right dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus and the regional homogeneity of the left wedge leaf were significantly reduced in the cerebral small vessel disease and Parkinson's disease groups.The right dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus and the left cuneiform lobe are the seed points.Compared with the Parkinson's disease group,the functional connectivity values of the right anterior cunei,inferior temporal gyrus,anterior central gyrus and dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus,left posterior central gyrus and inferior temporal gyrus were significantly enhanced in the control and cerebral small vessel disease groups.The left cuneiform lobe was the seed point.Compared with the control group,the functional connectivity of the left lingual gyrus was significantly weakened in the cerebral small vessel disease and Parkinson's disease groups.The functional connectivity values of the left middle temporal gyrus and the right posterior central gyrus were enhanced in the control group compared with the cerebral small vessel disease and Parkinson's disease group,and that was enhanced in the cerebral small vessel disease group compared with the Parkinson's disease group.Correlation analysis showed that the olfactory score and cognitive score were positively correlated in the cerebral small vessel disease group,and the regional homogeneity of the left wedge lobe was negatively correlated with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale score,while the functional connectivity of left wedge lobe-left middle temporal gyrus in the Parkinson's disease group was positively correlated with the olfactory recognition score,and the functional connectivity values of the left wedge lobe-left posterior central gyrus and left wedge lobe-left lingual gyrus were positively correlated with the olfactory identification score and the total olfactory score,respectively.The regulation of olfactory function in patients with cerebral small vessel disease has a different neuroimaging mechanism from that of olfactory dysfunction in patients with Parkinson's disease.The olfactory function of patients with cerebral small vessel disease is related to cognitive function.It is speculated that the olfactory function following cerebral small vessel disease is a secondary change of brain dysfunction,while olfactory dysfunction following Parkinson's disease is directly caused by abnormal function of olfactory-related brain areas.Olfactory function assessment in patients with cerebral small vessel disease has potential application in predicting cognitive function.