Brain Concussion ; complications ; Hearing ; Hearing Disorders ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Thioctic Acid ; therapeutic use

ObjectiveTo investigate the differences of whole blood chemical elements and urinary fluorine between patients with endemic fluomsis and patients without endemic fluorosis,and to find out the elements associated with endemic fluorosis and further lay a theoretical basis for clarify the pathogenesis of the disease.MethodsUsing case-control study,100 children aged 8 - 12 with dental fluorosis in Wushan and Fengjie counties of Chongqing from December 2010 to February 2011,and 30 adults with skeletal fluorosis were enrolled as case group; 100 children aged 8 - 12 without dental fluorosis and 30 adults without skeletal fluorosis were enrolled as internal control group; and 50 children without dental fluorosis and 30 healthy adults were selected as external control group in non-epidemic areas in Yubei district.Whole blood copper,zinc,calcium,magnesium,iron and urinary fluorine of all subjects were determined,and differences of these indexes were compared between groups.ResultsThe levels of copper,zinc,calcium,magnesium,iron and urinary fluorine of children in the case group were (30.08 ± 2.83),(74.04 ± 9.75)μmol/L,(1.65 ± 0.29),(1.37 ± 0.17),(6.79 ± 1.27)mmol/L,and (0.73 ±0.37)mg/L,respectively; the levels of these elements of children in internal control group were (28.65 ± 3.96),(72.83 ± 11.35)μmol/L,(1.62 ± 0.27),(1.36 ± 0.18),(6.73 ± 1.22)mmol/L,and (0.48 ± 0.21)mg/L,respectively; in external control group were (32.03 ± 2.99),(77.78 ± 10.85)μmol/L,(1.41 ± 0.11),(1.43 ± 0.13),(7.66 ±0.55)mmol/L,and (0.49 ± 0.26)mg/L,respectively(all P＜ 0.05),the comparison between any two groups indicated the levels of copper,zinc,magnesium,iron of the case group were lower than that of external control group,urinary fluorine was higher than that of internal and external control groups(all P ＜ 0.05).The levels of copper,zinc,calcium,magnesium,iron and urinary fluorine of adult case were (26.93 ± 4.37),(95.89 ± 12.45)μmol/L,(1.50 ± 1.76),(1.56 ± 1.96),(8.15 ± 1.00)mmol/L,and (2.17 ± 0.99)mg/L; internal control group were (26.26 ±4.96),(94.86 ± 12.18)μmol/L,(1.57 ± 0.12),(1.46 ± 0.16),(7.64 ± 1.00)mmol/L,and (1.44 ± 1.22)mg/L;external control group were (26.20 ± 2.96),(96.52 ± 11.11)μmol/L,(1.48 ± 0.14),(1.45 ± 0.16),(7.81 ±0.91 )mmol/L,and (0.55 ± 0.21 )mg/L,respectively.The levels of magnesium,iron and urinary fluorine of case group were higher than that of internal control group,magnesium and urinary fluorine were higher than that of external control group(all P ＜ 0.05).ConclusionsIn vivo anti-fluorine elements are deficient in the areas with endemic fluorosis.Other chemical elements,the environment and genetic factors may be related to the pathogenesisof the disease,which needs a further comprehensive analysis.

Objective To develop and test a high precision medical device which allows measurement of bioimpedance in regions below skin surface,and to enable the assessment of strained muscle's situation and instruct patient's rehabilitation exercise.Methods The system was based on the four-electrode impedance measurement mode and designed by using impedance converter network analyzer AD5933 and monolithic operational amplifier AD844.The hardware consisted of an excitation current source,a response signal adjustment circuit,a digital demodulation circuit and a shield driving circuit.This hardware circuit was combined with a LCD screen and a keyboard,which turned it into a portable precision bioimpedance testing device.Results Using an model of three components as test target,a comparison between the device and the Agilent 4294A precision impedance analyzer was presented.In the range of 1 kHz to 100 kHz,the device showed the similar relative error of the complex impedance's modulus and 1 degree absolute error of the complex impedance's phase.The strained muscle's bioelectrical impedance changes in a clinical case during the convalescent were presented and discussed with the results proven to be clinical meaningful.Conclusions The device is accurate,simple and convenient,which is proved qualified on helping doctors to assess the injury states of the strained muscle and to instruct patient's rehabilitation exercise.

Objective To build the experimental basement for the clinical use of cytokines induced killer(CIK)cells from the cord blood mononuclear cells(CBMNC)in tumor adoptive cellular immunotherapy, an effective protocol for their proliferation in vitro and cytotoxicity of CIK cells was established.Methods The lymphocytes from umbilical cord blood were isolated by density gradient centrifugation and suspended in medium with CD_3 mAb,rIL-2,rIL-1 and IFN-? as inducing agents to prepare CIK cells.At the same time, the lymphokine activated killer(LAK)and CBMNC were set as controls,which were only added IL-2 and not any cytokines during the whole culture.The changes of CIK cells before and after induction were observed with microscope and the phenotypes of the cells were analyzed by using flow cytometry.The proliferation of CIK cells were determined by trypan blue exclusion assay and the cytotoxic activity to lung cancer cell were tested with MTF method.Results According to the experiment,combining use of four types of cytokines could generate a great deal of CIK cells possessing highly cytotoxicity.From day 5 CIK cells became to prolif- erate and reached the peak at day 14.During the whole period,the relative percentage of CD_3~+ CD_(56)~+ cells in- creased significantly.Compared with LAK cells,which reached the proliferation peak at day 7 and then showed no evident proliferation.The control cells(CBMNC)showed no evident change of phenotypes and proliferation.CIK cells showed a higher antitumor activity on the tumor cells than LAK cells and CBMNC in vitro.Conclusion Umbilical cord blood can generate a great deal of CIK cells combining used with cy- tokines.Compared with classic LAK cells,umbilical cord blood CIK cells have the advantages of rapid prolif- eration speed and powerful cytotoxicity.CIK cells will be promising as a new strategy for the adoptive cellular immunotherapy of tumor.

This study is to investigate the effect of baicalin (BL) against oxidative injury stress of SH-SY5Y cells induced by H2O2 and the possible mechanism. SH-SY5Y cells were pre-incubated with baicalin (25, 50, and 100 micromol x L(-1)) for 12 h prior to exposure to H2O2 (150 micromol x L(-1)) for 24 h. The viability of SH-SY5Y cells was measured by MTT assay. The contents of LDH and NO were determined. The percentage of apoptotic cells was assessed by flow cytometry (FCM). The content of Caspase-3 was tested by immunofluorescence histochemical method. BL at 50 and 100 micromol x L(-1) separately increased the cell viability and up-regulated SIRT1, reduced the contents of LDH, NO, Caspase-3 and the apoptotic percentage of SH-SY5Y cells. This study results suggest that baicalin could inhibit the H2O2-induced neuronal apoptosis. The further mechanism studies show that baicalin inhibit apoptosis via reducing Caspase-3 expression and up-regulating SIRT1.
Antioxidants ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Flavonoids ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Hydrogen Peroxide ; toxicity ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; metabolism ; Neuroblastoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; Nitric Oxide ; metabolism ; Oxidative Stress ; drug effects ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Scutellaria ; chemistry ; Sirtuin 1 ; metabolism ; Up-Regulation

Limitations of polyacrylamide gel or agarose gel electrophoretic methods in genotyping research affect the interpreting of detection results. In order to develop a simple and reliable method for appraising results of ABO genotyping detection, the microfluidic chip analysis system was established by using microfluidic chip to replace the gel electrophoresis and combining with multiplex-PCR-RFLP technique. 150 blood samples were tested by this microfluidic chip analysis system with multiplex-PCR-RFLP technique to evaluate its stability and accuracy. The results showed that all the testing results were consistent with serologic ABO genotyping results and 1 blood sample with decrease of B antigen caused by CML was identified. In conclusion, the established microfluidic chip analysis system is stable and reliable technique. Application of this technique enables the ABO genotyping results to be more objective and accurate.
ABO Blood-Group System ; genetics ; Blood Grouping and Crossmatching ; methods ; DNA Primers ; genetics ; Genotype ; Humans ; Microfluidic Analytical Techniques ; Microfluidics ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis

The aim of this study was to establish a diagnostic method for ABO genotyping and to investigate the distribution of ABO genotype in Beijing Han population so as to understand the distribution characteristics and regularity of ABO genotype. An ABO genotyping method was established by using multiplex-PCR-RFLP and PCR-SSP techniques, and the ABO allele frequency in Beijing Han population was investigated. The results showed that A102, O1 and B allele were more common genes in Beijing Han individuals. And A102 allele was predominant in the phenotype A group in this population. Three O2 alleles were found and no A201 allele was found while gene frequency investigation was performed. No A101A101, A101O2, A102O2, BO2 and O2O2 in this population were discovered. It is concluded that the primary regularity of ABO allele distribution in Beijing Han population is found through this study. It provides basic reference for further study of ABO types.
ABO Blood-Group System ; genetics ; Adult ; Alleles ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; China ; ethnology ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Young Adult

BACKGROUNDGlioblastoma is the most common and lethal cancer of the central nervous system. Global genomic hypomethylation and some CpG island hypermethylation are common hallmarks of these malignancies, but the effects of these methylation abnormalities on glioblastomas are still largely unclear. Methylation of the O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase promoter is currently an only confirmed molecular predictor of better outcome in temozolomide treatment. To better understand the relationship between CpG island methylation status and patient outcome, this study launched DNA methylation profiles for thirty-three primary glioblastomas (pGBMs) and nine secondary glioblastomas (sGBMs) with the expectation to identify valuable prognostic and therapeutic targets.

METHODSWe evaluated the methylation status of testis derived transcript (TES) gene promoter by microarray analysis of glioblastomas and the prognostic value for TES methylation in the clinical outcome of pGBM patients. Significance analysis of microarrays was used for genes significantly differently methylated between 33 pGBM and nine sGBM. Survival curves were calculated according to the Kaplan-Meier method, and differences between curves were assessed using the log-rank test. Then, we treated glioblastoma cell lines (U87 and U251) with 5-aza-2-deoxycytidines (5-aza-dC) and detected cell biological behaviors.

RESULTSMicroarray data analysis identified TES promoter was hypermethylated in pGBMs compared with sGBMs (P < 0.05). Survival curves from the Kaplan-Meier method analysis revealed that the patients with TES hypermethylation had a short overall survival (P < 0.05). This abnormality is also confirmed in glioblastoma cell lines (U87 and U251). Treating these cells with 5-aza-dC released TES protein expression resulted in significant inhibition of cell growth (P = 0.013).

CONCLUSIONSHypermethylation of TES gene promoter highly correlated with worse outcome in pGBM patients. TES might represent a valuable prognostic marker for glioblastoma.

Azacitidine ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology ; Brain Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; genetics ; pathology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Cytoskeletal Proteins ; genetics ; DNA Methylation ; Glioblastoma ; drug therapy ; genetics ; pathology ; Humans ; LIM Domain Proteins ; genetics ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo observe the anti-tumor effect of silencing the expression of HIF-1alpha on cervical cancer in nude mice and to explore its mechanism of action.

METHODSHuman cervical cancer cell line Siha cells were divided into 3 groups: mock control group, control group transfected with scrambled sequence plasmid, and experimental group transfected with pU-HIF-1alpha-shRNA eukaryotic expression plasmid. Cultured cells of the three groups were inoculated in nude mice to establish cervical cancer-bearing nude mice. HIF-1alpha RNAi assay was performed to evaluate the tumor-suppressive effect of HIF-1alpha silencing on cervical cancer-bearing nude mice. Immunohistochemistry and Western blot were used to observe the distribution and protein expression of HIF-1alpha and GLUT1, while RT-PCR was adopted to detect the gene expression of HIF-1alpha, GLUT1 and HKII. The product of glycolysis (lactic acid) and apoptosis in tumor cells were detected by colorimetry and semi-quantitative TUNEL staining, respectively.

RESULTSThe tumor growth in experimental group was significantly slower than that in the two control groups (P < 0.05). On the 50th day after transplantation, the tumor weight in the experimental group was (1.90 +/- 0.28) g, significantly lower than (2.95 +/- 0.77) g in the control group and (2.54 +/- 0.56) g in the mock group (P < 0.01). In the experimental group, the gene and protein levels of HIF-1alpha were 0.45 +/- 0.04 and 1.25 +/- 0.92, and the levels of GLUT1 were 0.32 +/- 0.02 and 1.25 +/- 0.48, respectively. Both indicators in HIF-1alpha and GLUT1 were lower than that in the two control groups (P < 0.05). The expression levels of HKII gene and lactic acid in the experimental group were lower than that in the two control groups (P < 0.05), but the apoptotic cells were much more numerous in the experimental group than that in matched control groups (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe gene therapy by siRNA targeted silencing of HIF-1alpha may down-regulate its downstream genes GLUT1 and HKII expression, therefore, to reduce the tumor glycolysis activity and promote tumor cell apoptosis, and exert a tumor-suppressing effect in vivo.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Female ; Gene Silencing ; Genetic Therapy ; Glucose Transporter Type 1 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Hexokinase ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit ; genetics ; metabolism ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Plasmids ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; RNA, Small Interfering ; genetics ; Random Allocation ; Transfection ; Tumor Burden ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; therapy

Purpose To investigate the effect of EPCR on the proliferation and migration, and to explore the molecular mechanism of EPCR affecting the tumor growth and metastasis in human breast cancer cell line MCF-7. Methods MCF-7 cell was transfected with EPCR siRNA and treated with anti-PAR-1 antibody. Then CCK-8 assay was performed to determine the proliferation of MCF-7 cell. Transwell migration assay was employed to determine the cell's migration. Cell-ELISA was used to detect the activation of PAR-1 on the membranes of MCF-7. Result After EPCR siRNA transfection, the proliferation and migration ability of the MCF-7 in the interference of EPCR gene group was significantly decreased compared with the negative control and untreated control group. After treated with anti-PAR-1 antibody, the proliferation and migration of ability of MCF-7 were decreased significantly compared with the negative control group and the untreated control group. Cell-ELISA assay indicated that the activation of PAR-1 in the cells surface of MCF-7 cell in the EPCR gene interference group was mitigated versus the negative control and untreated control group. Conclusion EPCR may promote the proliferation and migration of MCF-7 cell by activating PAR-1.