Objective To explore the relationship between the clinical features,serological markers and European League Against Rheumatism SS Disease Activity Index (ESSDAI) scores of primary Sj(o)gren's syndrome (SS).Methods We enrolled 106 patients,who fulfilled the 2002 classification criteria for primary SS from December 2008 to January 2015,to evaluate the relationship among the clinical characteristics,laboratory features,serological variables and ESSDAI scores.According to serological variables,the prognosis was subdivided into three distinct groups:favourable (no serological markers),intermediate (one serological marker) and poor (two or more serological markers).These data were analyzed by Chi-square test and variance analysis.Results The mean ESSDAI score of 106 pSS patients was (11±7).ESSDAI score was categorized according to the EULAR-SS recommendations as low activity,moderate activity and high activity (scores of 0-4,5-13 and ≥14,respectively),and the positive rate of antinuclear antibody (ANA) 1:100 (6 cases,37.5％;37 cases,66.1％;32 cases,94.1％) in three different ESSDAI levels was statistically different (x2＝18.110,P＜0.01).Those with positive ANA 1:100[positive (13±7) and negative (7±4)],anti-SSA antibody postive (12±7) and negative (9±7),anti-RNP antibody (positive 16±9 and negative 10±6) had higher ESSDAI scores than those with negative ones (F=8.812,P=0.0001;F=3.862,P=0.024;F=5.786,P=0.004).No statistical difference in ESSDAI means were found between patients with positive anti-SSB antibody,rheumatoid factor (RF),FS level,dry mouth,Raynoud's phenomenon and psychosomatic diseases.The ESSDAI scores of favourable group,intermediate group and poor group were significantly different (8±5,10±7,14±7,F=8.715,P=0.000 1).In comparison with the other two groups,the poor pSS patients had a higher frequency of positive ANA 1:100 (15 cases,55.6％;20 cases,57.1％;40 cases,90.9％),anti-SSA antibody(11 cases,0.7％;23 cases,41.1％;36 cases,81.8％),anti-SSB antibody (6 cases,2 2.2％;13 cases,37.1％;23 cases,52.3％),anti-RNP antibody (0 case,0;2 cases,5.7％;9 cases,20.5％) (x2=17.408,P=0.002;x2=14.306,P=0.006;x2=12.330,P=0.015;x2=1 1.482,P=0.022).Conclusion Patients with two or more serological markers may have higher ESSDAI score,and which in turn may associate with poor prognosis.

Objective To study the effect of supermicro needle-knife plus rehabilitation on the strephenopodia angle and lower-limb motor function in cerebral stroke patients.Method Sixty cerebral stroke patients were randomized into a treatment group and a control group by using random number method, 30 cases each. The control group was intervened by rehabilitation training, while the treatment group was additionally given supermicro needle-knife therapy, for successive 4 weeks. The strephenopodia angle and Fugl-Meyer Assessment of lower-limb motor function (FMA-L) were observed before and after the treatment.Result The strephenopodia angles and FMA-L scores were changed significantly in both groups after the treatment (P<0.05); after the treatment, the strephonopodia angle and FMA-L score in the treatment group were superior to those in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05).Conclusion Supermicro needle-knife plus rehabilitation can mitigate strephenopodia and improve lower-limb motor function in cerebral stroke patients.

Orphan nuclear receptor NR4A1 from the NR4A subfamily is one of the transcriptional factors that have not identified specific ligands .Previous studies have found that NR4A1 could regulate cell proliferation ,apoptosis ,differentiation and stress responses by changing gene expression ,post-translational modification and interactions between coregulatory pro-teins .Recently ,it has shown that NR4A1 has an abnormal expression in human atherosclerotic lesions and has been identified as a key regulator gene in vascular cells dysfunction .Regulating NR4A1 expression can have an important impact on the prolif-eration of smooth muscle cell and endothelial cell activation ,meanwhile it could reduce inflammation ,foam cell formation and lipid deposition ,inhibit vascular remodeling ,and prevent the development of atherosclerosis .These studies suggest that NR4A1 might be a novel target for drug development in prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis .

OBJECTIVETo study intra-operative radionuclide lymphatic mapping in sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy of breast cancer.

METHODSForty-two breast cancer (diameter 98%, size of colloid granule 100 approximately 200 nm) was injected into the mammary tissue around the tumor or biopsy site at four points. SLN in breast cancer was detected and dissected with the help of lymphoscintigraphy and intra-operative gamma probe. Routine lymph node dissection was performed for all patients.

RESULTSThe detection rate was 88.1% in lymphoscintigraphy and 97.6% in intra-operative gamma probe detection for SLN in breast cancer. The sensitivity, accuracy, false negative and specificity of SLN biopsy were 93.3% (14 in 15), 97.6% (40 in 41), 6.7% (1 in 15) and 100% (26 in 26).

CONCLUSIONSentinel lymph node in breast cancer, detected by preoperative lymphoscintigraphy combined with intra-operative gamma probe, is able to predict regional lymph node metastasis. The successful rate of SLN biopsy can be raised by improvement in the quality of nuclear imaging agent, technic of injection and method of measurement.

Adult ; Aged ; Breast Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; diagnostic imaging ; Middle Aged ; Radionuclide Imaging ; Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy ; Technetium Tc 99m Sulfur Colloid

OBJECTIVETo study the effects of Panax notoginseng saponins (PNS) on acute doxorubicin-induced myocardial injury in mice and the anti-tumor efficiency of doxorubicin.

METHODMice were given a dose of 15 mg x kg(-1) doxorubicin ip alone or in combination with 25, 50, 100 mg x kg(-1) PNS ig, 5 days before doxorubicin administration and following 3 days. Cardiotoxic effects were measured by serum levels of dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK) and creatine kinase isoenzyme (CK-MB) and activities of antioxidant enzymes in heart tissue. In vitro experiments were performed using embryonic rat heart cell H9C2 to assess the protective effect of PNS (6.25-100 mg x L(-1)) against doxorubicin on cell viability. Anti-tumor efficiency of doxorubicin was evaluated by cytotoxic experiments using three cancer cell lines.

RESULTPretreatment with PNS significantly lowered the levels of serum LDH, CK and CK-MB, and normalized myocardial superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and catalase activities. PNS also attenuated the inhibitory effect of doxorubicin on the viability of H9C2 cells, but did not compromise its inhibitory effect on proliferation of cancer cells.

CONCLUSIONPNS was demonstrated to attenuate doxorubicin-induced myocardial damage without compromising its anti-tumor activity.

Animals ; Cardiotonic Agents ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Creatine Kinase ; blood ; Creatine Kinase, MB Form ; blood ; Doxorubicin ; adverse effects ; pharmacology ; Ginsenosides ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Herb-Drug Interactions ; Humans ; Lactate Dehydrogenases ; blood ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; cytology ; drug effects ; Panax notoginseng ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Random Allocation ; Rats

OBJECTIVETo study histological changes of the livers in patients with chronic viral hepatitis B treated with bicyclol tablets.

METHODSThirty one patients with chronic viral hepatitis B were divided into two groups and were treated with bicyclol orally at doses of 150 mg daily or 75 mg daily for 36 weeds. The histological changes of the livers were observed before and after the treatment.

RESULTSCompared with pre-treatment findings, there were significant differences in histological activity index in each group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05), there were also significant differences between the two groups (P < 0.05). Decreased inflammatory reaction was also seen (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONDaily use of 150 mg and 75 mg bicyclol tablets are effective in improving liver histological changes in chronic hepatitis B patients. Bicyclol 150 mg daily was better.

Adult ; Antiviral Agents ; therapeutic use ; Biphenyl Compounds ; therapeutic use ; DNA, Viral ; blood ; genetics ; Female ; Hepatitis B Antibodies ; blood ; immunology ; Hepatitis B e Antigens ; immunology ; Hepatitis B virus ; drug effects ; genetics ; immunology ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; blood ; drug therapy ; virology ; Humans ; Liver ; drug effects ; pathology ; virology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tablets ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

The structure genes spike (S), nucleocapsid (N), membrane (M), small membrane (sM) of a porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) strain DX isolated in Gansu province, North-west of China, were cloned, sequenced and compared with published sequences of PEDV strains. The nucleotide sequences encoding the entire S, sM, M and N genes open reading frame (ORF) of DX were 4 152, 231, 681 and 1 326 bases long respectively. There were transcription regulatory sequences (TRSs) upstream of the initiator ATG of the S, N and M genes. The amino acids sequences of S, M and N contained 30, 3 and 7 potential asparagine (N)-linked glycosylation sites. Homologous analysis and phylogenetic trees showed that DX had the closest relationship with strains LJB/06, JS-2004-2Z and CH/HLJH/06 that were also isolated from China and indicated the prevalence of some PEDV isolates in China were widespread since the JS-2004-2Z strain originated from the south of the China, and LJB/06 and CH/HLJH/06 were isolated from northeast China. The N gene was cloned using two primers which contained Nco I and BamH I restriction enzyme sites and subcloned into expression vector pET30a. The recombinant plasmid was then transformed into E.coli Rossta. SDS-PAGE showed there was a protein of about 55kDa as expected and Western blot indicated the N protein had biological activity.

Objective To understand the prevalence and epidemiological characteristics of hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-infection among newly reported HIV-infected patients from 2016 to 2017 in Dehong Prefecture of Yunnan Province. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted to detect HCV antibodies in 2 196 newly reported HIV-infected persons in Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province, from 2016 to 2017. Results A total of 694 cases(31.6%) were detected antibodies against HCV during HIV-infected persents. The prevalence of HCV co-infection among newly reported HIV-infected patients in Chinese and Burmese was 14.4% (112/780) and 41.1% (582/1 416), respectively. Moreover, the prevalence of HCV co-infection was higher in male, ethnic minorities such as Dai and Jingpo minority, primary school and below and farmers in both Chinese and Burmese. Multivariate Logistic regression model showed that HCV infection was associated with male, Dai minority, HIV infection by injecting drug and famers among Chinese and Burmese reported HIV-infected patients. Conclusions The prevalence of HCV co-infection was high among newly reported in Dehong Prefecture of Yunnan Province. Meanwhile, the epidemiological characteristics of HIV/HCV co-infections in Chinese and Burmese are different, thus different prevention and control measures are needed for patients of different nationalities.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of adenosine on endothelin-1 (ET-1) after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and reperfusion and explore the possible mechanism of no-reflow.

METHODSTwenty-four mini-swine were randomized into three study groups: control group (n=8), adenosine treated group (n=8), and sham-operated group (n=8). The mini-swine in the groups were subjected to 3 hours of coronary occlusion, followed by 60 minutes of reperfusion except those in the sham-operated group. The levels of ET-1 in blood sample, normal, infracted reflow and no-reflow myocardium were evaluated by radioimmuno-assay (RIA). The gene expressions of ET-1 in normal, infracted reflow and no-reflow myocardium were quantified by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTSIn both control group and adenosine group, compared with that at the baseline, ET-1 in blood sample significantly increased at 5 minutes and 180 minutes of left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion, as well as 5 and 60 minutes of reperfusion (all P < 0.01). In adenosine group, the levels of ET-1 were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). In both control group and adenosine group, compared with that in normal myocardium, ET-1 levels in both infarcted reflow and no-reflow myocardium significantly increased (both P < 0.01), with the level of ET-1 in no-reflow myocardium significantly higher than that in infarcted reflow myocardium (P < 0.01). In adenosine group, the level of ET-1 in infarcted reflow myocardium was significantly lower than that in the control group (P < 0.01). In both control and adenosine groups, compared with that in normal myocardium, the gene expression of ET-1 in infarcted reflow myocardium was significantly up-regulated (P < 0.01), while that of ET-1 in. no-reflow myocardium significantly down-regulated (P < 0.01). In adenosine group, the level of ET-1 in infarcted reflow myocardium was significantly lower than that in the control group (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe endothelium injury may be one of the important mechanisms for no-reflow phenomenon. Adenosine cay prevent endothelium from injury to reduce no-reflow.

Adenosine ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Endothelin-1 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Female ; Male ; Myocardial Infarction ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; Myocardial Reperfusion ; Swine ; Swine, Miniature

OBJECTIVESTo screen and clone the genes encoding hepatocellular carcinoma associated tumor antigens.

METHODSA hepatocellular carcinoma cDNA express library was constructed with ZAP vector and analyzed by serological analysis of recombinant cDNA expression library (SEREX) with sera from autologous and allogenous patients. Monoclonalized positive phage clones were converted into pBK-CMV phagemid forms by in vivo excision. The cDNA inserts were determined by restriction endonuclease digestion with EcoR I and Xho I. The cDNA inserts were sequenced and analyzed with bioinformatics. LIMS1 insert was cut from the clone HCL5-70 and constructed into pQE 31 express vector. The recombinant LIMS1 was expressed in M15 and analyzed with SDS-PAGE and Western blot.

RESULTSFourteen genes were cloned from autologous screening and eleven genes were obtained with allogeneous analysis. One gene, kinectin, was identified in both autologous and allogeneous screening. Eight of the total twenty-four genes were unknown for their functions; the other sixteen genes can be classified into eight groups according to their established or putative function. Recombinant LIMS1 was expressed in M15.

CONCLUSIONThe identification of hepatocellular carcinoma associated tumor antigens provides potential targets for immunotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma patients and will help in the understanding of the carcinogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Antigens, Neoplasm ; genetics ; immunology ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; genetics ; immunology ; DNA, Complementary ; genetics ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Genetic Therapy ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; genetics ; immunology