Bleomycin ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Embolization, Therapeutic ; methods ; Female ; Hemangioma ; therapy ; Humans ; Infant ; Iodized Oil ; therapeutic use ; Syndrome ; Thrombocytopenia ; therapy

ObjectiveTo explore the value of combined echocardiography and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels in acute pulmonary embolism (APE) treated by thrombolysis.Methods Echocardiography,pulmonary ventilation-perfusion imaging and plasma BNP levels were performed before thrombolysis and 24 - 48 h after thrombolysis in 31 patients with diagnosis of APE and signs of right ventricular pressure overload.Results Twenty-six patients with thrombolysis effective,after thrombolysis,the pulmonary artery systolic pressure decreased from (57.3 ± 18.2)mm Hg to (40.4 ± 15.4)mm Hg (P= 0.003) ,the right ventricular diastolic diameter reduced from (40.6 ± 6.1)mm to (35.4 ± 6.0)mm (P ＜0.01) ,the pulmonary artery diameter reduced from (27.2 ± 4.9)mm to (22.5 ± 4.4)mm (P = 0.004) ,the left ventricular diastolic diameter increased from (42.4 ± 7.2)mm to (43.1 ± 6.9)mm (P = 0.42),septal contradiction were reduced from 20 cases to 10 cases (P = 0.02),plasma BNP levels decreased from (278.8 ± 43.3)ng/L to (119.1 ± 40.4)ng/L (P = 0.000 01).Five patients with thrombolysis ineffective,there were no significant changes before and after thrombolytic therapy in the parameters of echocardiography,however,plasma BNP levels increased from (431.8 ± 57.7) ng/L to (496.4 ± 70.3) ng/L(P = 0.03).Plasma BNP levels and pulmonary artery systolic pressure had a better relationship(r = 0.62,P ＜0.01).Conclusions The pulmonary perfusion and right ventricular function in patients with APE can be rapidly improved by thrombolytic therapy.Combined echocardiography and the BNP levels is a sensitive index in the hemodynamic changes of thrombolytic therapy,and can evaluate the treatment accurately.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of interventional therapy for various types of acute iliofemoraldeep venous thrombosis (IF-VT) through jugular vein. Method Thirty-eight patients with acute IF-VT from theAffiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical Collge underwent catheter-directed urokinase thrombolysis through jugularvein. Results Left IF-VT or with extension of thrombus into inferior vena cava was diagnosed in 16 patients,leftIF- VT with left common iliac vein occlusion in 17 ,left IF-VT with extersion of thrombus into inferior vena cava andleft common iliac vein stenosis or occlusion in 3,and both IF-VT with left common iliac vein stenosis or occlusion in2. Complete thrombolysis and partial thrombolysis was carried out in 33 (86.8%) and 5 (13.2%) patients, re-spectively. During a period of 2 - 18 months following-up in 20 patients, reoccurrence was found in 2 patients.Conclusions Interventional therapy for various types of acute lower extremity DVT through jugular vein is a safeand effective method.

Objective To investigate the value of three-dimensional digital subtraction angiography (3D-DSA)in the diagnosis and interventional treatment of Budd-Chiari syndrome caused by the obstruction of inferior vena cava(IVC).Methods Twenty-one patients with complex Budd-Chiari syndrome caused by the obstruction of IVC underwent 3D-DSA after two-dimensional-DSA(2D-DSA)was performed with posterior-anterior view.The images of 2D-DSA and 3D-DSA were independently reviewed by two senior interventional radiologists iu a double-blinded way.Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty or stent placement of IVC were performed according to the results of 2D-DSA and 3D-DSA.Results Different aspects of the IVC in all patients were demonstrated on the 3D-DSA images,including the mowhology and the location of obstructions,the origins of collateral vessels and their relationships to the IVC.Collateral vessels originated from the site of IVC occlusions in 9 patients were detected by the 3D-DSA.However.the 2D-DSA provided excellent visualization of the vascular structures of the IVC in 7 patients.and the collateral vessels origihated from the site of IVC occlusions were shown in 2 patients.The 3D-DSA was significantly superior to the 2D-DSA in detecting the IVC obstructions and the collateral vessels(P＜0.05).The virtual angioscopy of the 3D-DSA was able to visualize free IVC thrombosis in 3 paitents.and mural IVC thrombosis in 1 patient.The procedures were successful in all patients.There were no other complications except the rupture of IVC in 1 patient.Conclusion The 3D-DSA can offer valuable informations in diagnosis of IVC obstruction.and it may play an important role in interventional treatment of Budd-Chiari syndrome.

BACKGROUNDHepatic alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is a parasitic disease in humans and caused by the Echinococcus multilocularis (Em). Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) may be the only effective treatment for end-stage hepatic AE. However, in some AE patients, extrahepatic Em can not be completely eliminated after OLT. We aimed to study whether the immunological changes caused by Em evasion may influence the rejective response.

METHODSRat modles of AE were established by injecting the Em suspension into abdomen of Brown Norway (BN) rats. Three months later, in the experimental group, the liver was transplanted from Lewis (LEW) rats to Em-infected BN rats. In the control group, transplantation was from LEW rats to healthy BN rats. Liver tissue and peripheral blood (PB) samples were collected on days 1, 3, 5, and 7 after OLT. Liver tissue was analyzed after hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining; numbers of CD4, CD8, and CD28 on peripheral blood cells were detected by flow cytometry; and expression of the chemokine fractalkine (Fkn) was detected by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR). Interleukin-10 (IL-10) was measured in the serum by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In every group, eight BN rats were retained for observing survival time.

RESULTSThe survival times of recipients in the experimental group were prolonged compared with those in the control group. The rejective response occurred later and was milder in the experimental group. percentage of CD4, CD8, CD28 T-cells and Fkn mRNA expression were lower in the experimental group. While the serum IL-10 levels were higher in the experimental group than those in the control group.

CONCLUSIONSAcute rejective response after OLT was attenuated in the rats with Em infection, and the recipients` survival time was prolonged. Em may play a role in this process by elevating IL-10 secretion, decreasing the effector T cells, inhibiting the expression of Fkn, which lead to reduce the inflammatory cells infiltration into the liver.

Animals ; CD28 Antigens ; metabolism ; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes ; metabolism ; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes ; metabolism ; Echinococcosis, Hepatic ; mortality ; surgery ; therapy ; Echinococcus multilocularis ; pathogenicity ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Flow Cytometry ; Graft Rejection ; immunology ; Interleukin-10 ; blood ; Liver Transplantation ; adverse effects ; Rats ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

BACKGROUNDPyroptosis is the term for caspase-1-dependent cell death associated with pro-inflammatory cytokines. The role of alveolar macrophage (AM) pyroptosis in the pathogenesis of the acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS) remains unclear.

METHODSC57BL/6 wild-type mice were assigned to sham, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) + vehicle, LPS + acetyl-tyrosyl-valyl- alanyl-aspartyl-chloromethylketone (Ac-YVAD-CMK) and LPS + Z-Asp-Glu-Val-Asp-fluoromethylketone groups. Mice were given intraperitoneal (IP) injections of LPS. Drugs were IP injected 1 h before LPS administration. Mice were sacrificed 16 h after LPS administration, and AMs were isolated. Western blot analysis for active caspase-1 and cleaved caspase-3, evaluation of lung injury and a cytokine release analysis were performed. AMs were treated with LPS and adenosine triphosphate (ATP); caspase-1-dependent cell death was evaluated using flow cytometry; the apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain (ASC) pyroptosomes were examined by immunofluorescence.

RESULTSThe expression of activated caspase-1 in AMs was enhanced following LPS challenge compared with the sham group. In the ex vivo study, the caspase-1/propidium iodide-positive cells, caspase-1 specks and ASC pyroptosomes were up-regulated in AMs following LPS/ATP stimulation. The specific caspase-1 inhibitor Ac-YVAD-CMK inhibited the activation of caspase-1 and pyroptotic cell death. Ac-YVAD-CMK also reduced the lung injury, pulmonary edema and total protein in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). In addition, Ac-YVAD-CMK significantly inhibited interleukin-α2 (IL-1α2) release both in serum and BALF and reduced the levels of IL-18, tumor necrosis factor-α± (TNF-α±), High Mobility Group Box 1 (HMGB1) in BALF during LPS-induced ALI/ARDS.

CONCLUSIONSThis study reported AM pyroptosis during LPS-induced ALI/ARDS in mice and has demonstrated that Ac-YVAD-CMK can prevent AM-induced pyroptosis and lung injury. These preliminary findings may form the basis for further studies to evaluate this pathway as a target for prevention or reduction of ALI/ARDS.

Acute Lung Injury ; chemically induced ; prevention & control ; Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Lipopolysaccharides ; toxicity ; Macrophages, Alveolar ; drug effects ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Oligopeptides ; pharmacology ; Pyroptosis ; drug effects

OBJECTIVETo investigate whether the variants A(-6)G and A(-20)C of angiotensinogen (AGT) gene are involved in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension in Kazakans.

METHODST his case control study recruited 125 subjects with hypertension and 74 normotensive subjects from Kazakans of Xinjiang. Genomic DNA from leukocytes was analyzed for genetic variants A(-6)G and A(-20)C in 5' upstream core promoter of AGT gene by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP), restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and automatic sequencing.

RESULTS(1)There were only A(-6)G and A(-20)C variants in the -164 to +73 region of Kazakans' AGT gene. (2) The distributions of genotypes AA, AG, GG at locus -6 of AGT gene showed significant difference between the hypertensive group (0.39, 0.45, 0.16) and the normotensive group (0.49, 0.49, 0.02; Chi2=8.56, P=0.014). There were evident differences in the frequencies of the -6A and the -6G allele of the two groups (0.62, 0.38 and 0.73, 0.27; Chi2=5.35, P=0.021). (3) No significant difference was observed in the distribution of genotypes AA, AC, CC at locus -20 of AGT gene between the hypertensive group (0.69, 0.26, 0.05) and the normotensive group (0.65, 0.32, 0.03; Chi2=2.42, P=0.30). There was no distinct difference in the frequencies of the -20A allele and the -20C allele of the two groups (0.82, 0.18 and 0.82, 0.18; Chi2=0, P=0.99). (4) No significant difference was found at the levels of systolic and diastolic blood pressure between the groups corresponding to genotypes at the loci -6 and -20 of AGT gene.

CONCLUSIONThe results suggest that the polymorphism of A(-6)G in 5' upstream core promoter of the AGT gene may be involved in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension in Kazakans, while the A(-20)C variant may not play an important role in the etiology of essential hypertension in Kazakans.

5' Flanking Region ; genetics ; Adult ; Alleles ; Angiotensinogen ; genetics ; Base Sequence ; Blood Pressure ; physiology ; Case-Control Studies ; China ; DNA ; chemistry ; genetics ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Humans ; Hypertension ; genetics ; physiopathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; genetics

BACKGROUNDThe Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) pathway and the extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) pathway are the two major independent signal transduction pathways. However, it has recently been found that STAT3 may be negatively regulated by ERK1/2 in gp130-dependent signaling. Cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1), a potent novel hypertrophic cytokine, depends on gp130 to induce signaling and depends on STAT3 to exert hypertrophic effect. In this study, we examined whether STAT3 activity was negatively regulated by ERK1/2 during CT-1-induced signaling in rat cardiomyocytes and, if so, whether such crosstalk interfered with the hypertrophic effect of CT-1 and, furthermore, whether the mechanism underlying the crosstalk involved phosphorylation of serine 727 (S727) in STAT3.

METHODSThe activities of ERK1/2 and STAT3 were assessed by in-gel kinase assay and Western blot analysis, respectively. The role of S727 phosphorylation in the crosstalk between ERK1/2 and STAT3 was determined by a transient transfection study using a STAT3S727A mutant. Cardiomyocyte hypertrophy was evaluated by the cellular protein-to-DNA ratio and [(3)H]-leucine incorporation.

RESULTSCT-1 simultaneously activated both ERK1/2 and STAT3 in rat cardiomyocytes. Inhibition of ERK1/2 by U0126 resulted in an increase of CT-1-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT3 and, consequently, the protein-to-DNA ratio and [(3)H]-leucine incorporation. Transient transfection of the cells with STAT3S727A had no significant effect on CT-1-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT3.

CONCLUSIONSSTAT3 is activated by CT-1 in rat cardiomyocytes, but full activation is mitigated by the simultaneous activation of ERK1/2. The inhibition of ERK1/2 increases the activity of STAT3, which, in turn, enhances the hypertrophic effect of CT-1. The crosstalk between ERK1/2 and STAT3 is independent of the phosphorylation of the S727 in STAT3. Such crosstalk may contribute to the development of adequate cardiac hypertrophy.

Active Transport, Cell Nucleus ; Animals ; Antigens, CD ; metabolism ; Cardiomegaly ; chemically induced ; metabolism ; Cytokine Receptor gp130 ; Cytokines ; toxicity ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; physiology ; Membrane Glycoproteins ; metabolism ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 ; physiology ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 ; physiology ; Phosphorylation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; STAT3 Transcription Factor ; Trans-Activators ; physiology ; Tyrosine ; metabolism

In 2013, the first dengue fever (DF) outbreak in central China was reported in the central of Henan province, northern temperate regions, although they have been sequentially recorded in Southern China. 106 suspected DF cases were reported and 73 patients were confirmed dengue virus type 3 (DEN-3) infections. 62/392 (15.8%) local health persons showed DEN antibodies positive. To this day Henan is the northernmost province in China which has been reported about outbreak of DF and what is important is that it warns us the endemic range of DF has been expanded geographically in China.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Antibodies, Viral ; blood ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Dengue ; epidemiology ; virology ; Dengue Virus ; isolation & purification ; Disease Outbreaks ; statistics & numerical data ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; blood ; Immunoglobulin M ; blood ; Infant ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Serologic Tests ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo explore the correlation between MBL ExonI 54 and NFκB1-94ins/del ATTG polymorphism and fever during neutropenia in patients with acute leukaemia (AL) (except M3) after first chemotherapy in Chinese Han population.

METHODSBlood samples obtained from 76 fever patients with AL during neutropenia episodes were detected to analyse single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the MBL ExonI 54 and NFκB1-94ins/del ATTG gene, and analyse the correlation between above-mentioned 2 polymorphisms and fever during neutropenia of AL patients after chemotherapy.

RESULTSIn 76 patients, no correlation were found between MBL ExonI 54 and NFκB1-94ins/del ATTG polymorphism and fever during neutropenia in patients with acute leukaemia after chemotherapy (P > 0.05). No significant relation were found in sex, age, underlying disease, disease status or degrees of neutropenia in febrile neutropenia between MBL ExonI 54 and NFκB1-94ins/del ATTG polymorphism (P > 0.05). However, patients with MBL ExonI 54 mutation presented longer febrile duration with a median of 5 days compared to 3 days of patients with wildtype MBL ExonI 54 genotype (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThere is no clear correlation between MBL ExonI 54 and NFκB1-94ins/del ATTG polymorphism and fever during neutropenia in patients with acute leukaemia after chemotherapy. However, the patients with MBL ExonI 54 mutation have been observed to present a longer febrile duration.

Acute Disease ; Exons ; Fever ; Genotype ; Humans ; INDEL Mutation ; Leukemia ; drug therapy ; genetics ; Mannose-Binding Lectin ; genetics ; NF-kappa B p50 Subunit ; genetics ; Neutropenia ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide