OBJECTIVESTo elucidate the possible involvement of monoamine neurotransmitters in the development of neurobehavioral damage produced by acrylonitrile in drinking water in male rat brains.

METHODSTotally 30 male SD rats were randomly divided into three groups, the control group (n = 10), low dosage group (n = 10), and high dosage group (n = 10), which were respectively administered 0 mg/L, 50 mg/L, 200 mg/L acrylonitrile (AN) in drinking water. The treatment was lasted for 12 weeks. Seven animals were randomly selected from each group for determination of monoamine neurotransmitters in striatum and cerebellum by high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detector and activities of monoamine oxidase in cortex.

RESULTSThe contents of dopamine in the striatum of low and high dosage groups were decreased to (2.2 +/- 0.7) and (3.2 +/- 2.0) microg/g wet tissue, respectively, and compared with that of control group (9.0 +/- 4.2) microg/g wet tissue, the differences were statistically significant. There were no statistical differences among the contents of dopamine in the cerebellum of all rats, and the levels of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), the major metabolite of dopamine in the cerebellum were (186 +/- 41), (245 +/- 90) and (115 +/- 65) ng/g wet tissue in the control, low and high dosage groups, respectively and in low-dosage group they were significantly higher than those in other groups. There was dosage-dependently decreasing of the contents of serotonin of striatum in the control (249 +/- 34) ng/g wet tissue, low dosage (155 +/- 95) ng/g wet tissue and high dosage groups (128 +/- 101) ng/g wet tissue.

CONCLUSIONThis study underlines the importance of alterations in the monoamine neurotransmitters system as a possible causative mechanism behind the behavioural and functional changes produced by acrylonitrile.

Acrylonitrile ; administration & dosage ; toxicity ; Animals ; Biogenic Monoamines ; metabolism ; Brain ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Carcinogens ; administration & dosage ; toxicity ; Cerebellum ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Corpus Striatum ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Dopamine ; metabolism ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Drinking ; Male ; Neostriatum ; metabolism ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Serotonin ; metabolism

Base Sequence ; Conjugation, Genetic ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field ; Escherichia coli ; drug effects ; enzymology ; Humans ; Klebsiella pneumoniae ; drug effects ; enzymology ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Transformation, Bacterial ; beta-Lactamases ; genetics

BACKGROUND:Partial pressure of end-tidal carbon dioxide (PETCO2) has been used to monitor the effectiveness of precordial compression (PC) and regarded as a prognostic value of outcomes in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). This study was to investigate changes of PETCO2 during CPR in rats with ventricular fibrillation (VF) versus asphyxial cardiac arrest. METHODS:Sixty-two male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into an asphyxial group (n=32) and a VF group (n=30). PETCO2 was measured during CPR from a 6-minute period of VF or asphyxial cardiac arrest. RESULTS:The initial values of PETCO2 immediately after PC in the VF group were significantly lower than those in the asphyxial group (12.8±4.87 mmHg vs. 49.2±8.13 mmHg,P=0.000). In the VF group, the values of PETCO2 after 6 minutes of PC were significantly higher in rats with return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), compared with those in rats without ROSC (16.5±3.07 mmHg vs. 13.2±2.62 mmHg,P=0.004). In the asphyxial group, the values of PETCO2 after 2 minutes of PC in rats with ROSC were significantly higher than those in rats without ROSC (20.8±3.24 mmHg vs. 13.9±1.50 mmHg,P=0.000). Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves of PETCO2 showed significant sensitivity and specificity for predicting ROSC in VF versus asphyxial cardiac arrest. CONCLUSIONS:The initial values of PETCO2 immediately after CPR may be helpful in differentiating the causes of cardiac arrest. Changes of PETCO2 during CPR can predict outcomes of CPR.

Animals ; Female ; Guinea Pigs ; Kidney ; microbiology ; pathology ; Leptospira interrogans ; isolation & purification ; pathogenicity ; Leptospirosis ; microbiology ; pathology ; Liver ; microbiology ; pathology ; Lung ; microbiology ; pathology ; Male ; Time Factors

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect and the possible mechanism underlying the promotional effect of Astragalus membranaceus and Panax notoginseng on the transformation of bone narrow stem cells and proliferation of EPC.

METHODThe marrow blood was collected in the patients with ischemia of lower limbs and BM-MNCs were separated and proliferated under different conditions. A. morphologic observation was performed and the ratio of CD34+ cells was measured.

RESULTThe shuttle shaped cells lined up as bunches with several round cells scattered. The ratio of CD34+ cells was significantly increased in groups treated with medium (P < 0.01) and lower (P < 0.05) dosages of A. membranaceus and medium (P < 0.01) and high dosages (P < 0.01) of P. notoginseng respectively as compared with control group.

CONCLUSIONA. membranaceus and P. notoginseng can promote the transformation and proliferation of EPC.

Antigens, CD34 ; metabolism ; Astragalus membranaceus ; chemistry ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Endothelial Cells ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Ginsenosides ; administration & dosage ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Humans ; Panax notoginseng ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry

Brix weight per stool (BW) of sugarcane is a complex trait, which is the final product of a combination of many components. Diallel cross experiments were conducted during a period of two years for BW and its five component traits, including stalk diameter (SD), stalk length (SL), stalk number (SN), stalk weight (SW), and brix scale (BS) of sugarcane. Phenotypic data of all the six traits were analyzed by mixed linear model and their phenotype variances were portioned into additive (A), dominance (D), additive x environment interaction (AE) and dominance x environment interaction (DE) effects, and the correlations of A, D, AE and DE effects between BW and its components were estimated. Conditional analysis was employed to investigate the contribution of the components traits to the variances of A, D, AE and DE effects of BW. It was observed that the heritabilities of BW were significantly attributed to A, D and DE by 23.9%, 30.9% and 28.5%, respectively. The variance of A effect for BW was significantly affected by SL, SN and BS by 25.3%, 93.7% and 17.4%, respectively. The variances of D and DE effects for BW were also significantly influenced by all the five components by 5.1%(85.5%. These determinants might be helpful in sugarcane breeding and provide valuable information for multiple-trait improvement of BW.
Alleles ; Body Weight ; Inheritance Patterns ; genetics ; Phenotype ; Saccharum ; anatomy & histology ; genetics ; growth & development

Our previous work has demonstrated that (-)-stepholidine (SPD) has dual action, ie D1 agonistic-D2 antagonistic action on DA receptors in the nigra-striatal dopamine (DA) system. The present study attempted to ascertain its dual action on the mesolimbic DA system. The firing activities of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) neurons were extracellularly recorded with intravenous and iontophoretic administration of the drug in 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-lesioned and intact rats. The results showed that SPD produced a consistently biphasic firing of NAc neurons during the cumulative doses of 0.02～2 mg/kg, iv. When the rats were pretreated with D2 antagonist spiperone, SPD only exerted an increasing effect, which was subsequently reversed by the D1 antagonist SCH-23390. Moreover, SCH-23390 could prevent the rate of increase elicited by SPD at high doses, presumably due to the D1 agonistic action of SPD on the activity of NAc neuron. On the other hand, the inhibition of NAc firing elicited by either D2 agonist LY171555 or D1/D2 agonists apomorphine was completely reversed by SPD, suggesting an antagonistic action of SPD to D2 receptors. In 6-OHDA-lesioned rats, iontophoresis of SPD also had an inhibitory effect in the majority of NAc neurons (91%) as SKF-38393 did. This inhibition could be completely blocked by the ejection of SCH-23390, but not by spiperone. These results indicate that SPD also has a D1 agonistic-D2 antagonistic dual action on NAc neuron activity, which may be beneficial to the treatment of schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVETo study the molecular characteristics of CDR3 repertoires of T cell receptor beta chain variable region (TCRBV) of T lymphocytic clones in leukemia recipients after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation ( allo-HSCT).

METHODSRT-PCR was used to amplify 24 subfamily genes of TCRBV from peripheral blood (PB) lymphocytes in twenty-four leukemia patients underwent three kinds of allo-HSCT and in five normal donors as control. The PCR products were further analyzed by genescan to evaluate the clonality of BV subfamily and characteristics of CDR3 and calculate usage rate of BV subfamily. The monoclonal bands which associated with GVHD and CMV infection were obtained by denaturation polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and sequenced. Comparison of the sequences of TCRBV CDR3 with other CDR3 sequences which associated with GVHD or CMV infection was reported.

RESULTS2 approximately 19 months after transplantation, there were 6 approximately 14 BV subfamilies expressed and the polyclonal expression reached 33% in nine patients underwent haploidentical bone marrow transplantation(HI-BMT). In five patients underwent matched unrelated peripheral blood stem cell transplantation ( MU-PBSCT), there were 10 approximately 15 BV subfamilies expressed of which 45% were poly-clones. In 10 patients underwent matched sibling bone marrow transplantation(MS-BMT), 10 approximately 16 BV subfamilies were expressed and more than 48% of them were poly-clones. Monoclones and oligo-clones existed in 24 BV subfamilies but no common one monoclone BV subfamilies was found. Immune reconstitution in patients underwent HI-BMT was later than that in other two groups. In 2 patients TCRBV was detected in 2m and 3m after allo-HSCT and found that there was a tendency of increasing usage of BV subfamilies and increasing expression of CDR3 polymorphism. Twenty three TCRBV CDR3 molecules associated with GVHD and CMV infection were compared each other by bioinformatics and found that different cases of the same BV subfamilies may share similarity in amino acid motif, while in different BV subfamilies none appeared to share the same amino acid motif.

CONCLUSIONIn 1.5 years after allo-HSCT, the usage of TCRBV subfamilies still restricted. Immune reconstitution in patients underwent HI-BMT was later than that in other two groups. TCRBV CDR3 molecules associated with GVHD and CMV infection showed that different cases of the same BV subfamilies may share similarity in amino acid motif, while in different BV subfamilies none of clones appeared to share the same amino acid motif.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Base Sequence ; Child ; Complementarity Determining Regions ; genetics ; metabolism ; Cytomegalovirus Infections ; immunology ; Female ; Graft vs Host Disease ; immunology ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Humans ; Leukemia ; immunology ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Postoperative Period ; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta ; genetics ; metabolism ; T-Lymphocytes ; immunology ; metabolism ; Transplantation, Homologous

BACKGROUNDNuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) overactivation, requiring phosphorylation and degradation of its inhibitor IkappaBalpha, is the basis for chronicity of airway inflammation in asthma. Based on our previous plasmid pShuttle-IkappaBalpha, carrying an IkappaBalpha gene from human placenta, we optimized a novel IkappaBalpha mutant (IkappaBalphaM) gene, constructed and characterized its replication-deficient recombinant adenovirus (AdIkappaBalphaM), and tested whether AdIkappaBalphaM-mediated overexpression of IkappaBalphaM could inhibit the NF-kappaB activation in endothelial cells.

METHODSIkappaBalphaM gene (203 - 1003 bp) encoding 267 amino acids, acquired by site-directed deleting N-terminal phosphorylation sites of serine 32/36, was subcloned into the pShuttle and pGEM-T vectors for further polymerase chain reaction (PCR), restriction digestion, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequencing and homology analyses. Subsequent to inserting the expression unit of pShuttle-IkappaBalphaM, containing cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter, IkappaBalphaM complementary DNA (cDNA) and polyadenylic acid (PolyA) signals, into the type 5 adenovirus (Ad5) vector, the resultant AdIkappaBalphaM was packaged in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells by cotransfection with lipofectamine. Western blot analysis and electrophoretic mobility shift assay were utilized to detect the AdIkappaBalphaM-mediated overexpression of IkappaBalphaM in HEK293 cells and its suppressive effect on phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)-induced NF-kappaB activation in human umbilical vein endothelial (ECV304) cells, respectively.

RESULTSThe relevant nucleotides and deduced amino acids of 801 bp IkappaBalphaM gene were consistent with those of IkappaBalpha gene (GenBank accession number: M69043). The titer of the prepared AdIkappaBalphaM was 4.0 x 10 (12) plaque-forming units (pfu)/L. Moreover, the IkappaBalphaM gene was overexpressed in HEK293 cells, and potently inhibited the PMA-induced NF-kappaB activation in ECV304 cells dose-dependently.

CONCLUSIONSAdIkappaBalphaM is a novel vector for both efficient transfer and specific overexpression of IkappaBalphaM gene, as well as potent inhibition of NF-kappaB activity, providing a promising strategy for gene therapy of asthma.

Adenoviridae ; genetics ; Cell Line ; Endothelial Cells ; metabolism ; Genetic Therapy ; Humans ; I-kappa B Proteins ; genetics ; Mutation ; NF-KappaB Inhibitor alpha ; NF-kappa B ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo analyze the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in people who were in close contact with smear-positive TB patients.

METHODSA total of 19 159 subjects, including 17 334 family members and 1825 classmates of patients, in close contact with 6653 smear-positive TB patients in Shijiazhuang city from 2007 to 2008 were observed. All the classmates were tested by purified protein derivative (PPD) test and symptom screening, and all family members were screened by symptoms. All these subjects were trained with knowledge related to TB. The ones with positive PPD test and suspected TB symptoms were further examined by chest X-ray and sputum smear microscopy, and those without any symptom were followed up monthly throughout a two year period and were examined at any time if symptoms occurred.

RESULTSA total of 281 patients with pulmonary TB were diagnosed in 2 years, including 176 family members and 105 classmates in all close contacts. The smear-positive incidences were 1466.67/100 000. The incidences for 14 - 25 years old group and more than 75 years old group were 2907.18/100 000 (83/2855) and 2650.96/100 000 (18/679), which were higher than those for other groups. Two higher incidences were related to close contact time periods of 6 months (929.07/100 000, 178/19 159) and 13 - 18 months (369.12/100 000, 70/18 964). Three highest incidences were observed in the roommates (11 384.62/100 000, 37/325), classmates (4533.33/100 000, 68/1500) and couples (1624.17/100 000, 86/5295).

CONCLUSIONCloser contact with smear-positive patients with TB may result in the higher chance of TB. Close contact for 6 months or 13 to 18 months caused more patients, and the 14 - 25 years old group and more than 75 years old group had higher incidences of TB.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Cohort Studies ; Contact Tracing ; statistics & numerical data ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tuberculin Test ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary ; epidemiology ; Young Adult