Objective To investigate the expression levels and the roles of IL-17 and IL-23 in children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) pneumonia. Methods One hundred and three children with pneumonia admitted to pediatric department from February to May in 2012 were divided into MP pneumonia group and non-MP pneumonia group according to the results of MP antibody tests. Meanwhile, 42 healthy children were chosen as normal controls. Serum levels of IL-17, IL-23 and MP antibodies were measured in all children. Immunoglobulin, C reactive protein, total white blood cell count and granulocyte count were detected in children with pneumonia. Results The serum levels of IL-17 and IL-23 were signiifcantly different among three groups (P<0.05). The children in MP pneumonia group had higher levels of IL-17 and IL-23 than those in non-MP pneumonia group (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, levels of IL-17 and IL-23 were higher in two pneumonia groups (P<0.05). There was no signiifcant difference in levels of IL-17 and IL-23 between pneumonia patients with normal and with abnormal levels of immunoglobulin (P>0.05), while IL-17 and IL-23 levels were both positively correlated with granulocyte count (P<0.05).Conclusion IL-17 and IL-23 may be involved in the immune response of MP pneumonia and may contribute to the clearance of pathogens.

Based on the retrieval of literatures at home and abroad from 2000 to 2011, the evaluation indices of acupuncture clinical trials for primary dysmenorrhea (PD) were analyzed. The results indicated that in domestic area the reports were more concerned with the improvement of clinical symptoms and signs while paid less attention on the objective evaluation methodology, on the other hand, the studies abroad generally took many kinds of scales as their evaluation indices and focused on the patients' quality and activity of daily life. The authors suggeste that our clinical research, according to the designed intentions, should combine the general indicators with the specific indicators of diseases to have a more comprehensive evaluation on the effects of acupuncture for PD in clinical practice.
Acupuncture Therapy ; Clinical Trials as Topic ; Dysmenorrhea ; therapy ; Female ; Humans

Acupuncture prescription is the key and effectiveness guarantee to acupuncture treatment. Proper selection of acupoint is directly related to the therapeutic effect of acupuncture. Several issues were discussesed, which were acupoint indications, clinical syndrome differentiation and acupoints selection. Acupuncturists should grasp the acupoints characteristic and pay attention to syndrome differentiation. Also they should have flexible selection of acupoints and keep pace with research updates when facing clinical problems in order to maximize the curative effect of acupuncture.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; history ; China ; History, Ancient ; Humans ; Medicine in Literature ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; history

OBJECTIVETo study the phenotypes and genotypes of a protein C (PC) deficiency pedigree.

METHODSImmunoassay (ELISA) was used for PC antigen and activated PC (APC) detection, PCR for amplification of the fragment of protein C gene exon II to exon IX, single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) for difference of denatured cDNA and DNA sequencing for gene mutation.

RESULTSFour members in the pedigree were found to be PC antigen levels between 34.3% - 67.8% and PC activity between 22% - 49% which are lower in comparison with normal references (80% - 120% and 70% - 130%, respectively). A G-to-A mutation in exon VII of the protein C gene at 6 219 position was identified in 9 members. This mutation resulted in the substitution of Arg for Gln at 169 amino acid.

CONCLUSIONThe proband is of heterozygosity. The G6219 A mutation in exon VII of the protein C gene leads to the substitution of Arg 169 Gln. This mutation is reported for the first time in China.

Adult ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pedigree ; Point Mutation ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Protein C ; genetics ; metabolism ; Protein C Deficiency ; congenital ; genetics

Objective To investigate the effects of semaphorin 4D(Sema4D) on the proliferation,migration and angiogenic of human pancreatic carcinoma cells.Methods Sema4D-siRNA was designed and synthesized and transfected into human pancreatic carcinoma cells.After 48 hours of transient infection,the changes of expression of Sema4D mRNA before and after transfection were detected by reverse transcription-polymeruse chain reaction method.And after 72 hours of transient infection,the changes of expression of Sema4D protein before and after transfection were detected by Western blot method.The changes of growth of the transfected cells were observed by methyl thiazolyl terazolium assay.Using transwell migration test and scratch repair test to detect the changes of migration ability of human pancreatic carcinoma cells after transfection.Using tubule formation assay to observe the effect of supernatant of pancreatic carcinoma cell cultures on angiogenesis after transfection.Results Compared with the negative control group and blank control group,the expression of Sema4D mRNA and Sema4D protein and the growth rate of pancreatic carcinoma cells decreased significantly (P ＜ 0.05).In transwell migration test and scratch repair test,it was observed that Pancreatic cancer cells penetrating cell number and scratch repair rate were significantly lower than that in negative control group and blank control group (P ＜ 0.05).Tubule formation assay showed that there were significant differences in angiogenesis numbers among siRNA transfection group(0.5 ± 0.02),negative control group(1.45 ± 0.60) and blank control group (1.37 ± 0.52) (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Sema4D-siRNA can induce RNA interference in pancreatic carcinoma cells and down-regulate the expression of Sema4D gene,which can inhibit the proliferation of pancreatic carcinoma cells,significantly reduce the migration ability of pancreatic carcinoma ceils and inhibit angiogenesis.

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal(HPA)axis-related factors in patients with type 2 diabetes were studied according to different levels of HbA1C.It showed that HPA axis was normal in HbA1C≤ 7% group[ACTH (18.03±8.39)ng/L,blood cortisol(49.22±8.68)μg/L],hyperactive in 7%11% group with weak feedback regulation[ACTH(26.08±15.41)ng/L,blood cortisol(55.64±24.27)μg/L].These results suggest that HPA axis-related factors in type 2 diabetic patients are different with different grades of glucose metabolic turbulence.

Objective To observe the efficacy and safety of applying sirolimus-eluting stents in emergency percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for the patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).Methods In total,220 patients with AMI were enrolled in this study at Shanghai Tongji Hospital, divided into two groups,one with bare-metal stent and the other with sirolimus-eluting stent.Cardiovascular fatality,major adverse cardiac events (MACE) and target vessel revascularization (TVR) were observed one and six months after PCI in the two groups.Results There was no significant difference in overall fatality and MACE in the 1~(st) or 6~(th) months after PCI between the two groups.Three cardiogenic deaths occurred in bare-metal stent group with a fatality of 2.8 percent,and five deaths in sirolimus-eluting stent group with a fatality of 4.5 percent in six months after PCI.However,rate of restenosis in those with sirolimus-eluting stents was significantly lower than that of bare-metal stents (6.0 percent vs 16.1 percent,P

Breast cancer has the highest incidence rate among all women's malignant tumors worldwide.Surgery,radiotherapy and chemotherapy are three major treatments,while most patients showed adverse effects or complications during or after the treatment,including lymphedema,gastrointestinal reactions and leukopenia,which cause severe impact on patients' recovery and quality of life.Moxibustion has been used and certified to alleviate adverse effects of surgery or chemoradiotherapy for breast cancer.We have summarized literatures in recent years and suggest more systematic research in the future for the underlying mechanism.

OBJECTIVETo develop a colon-specific prodrug of Indomethacin microbially triggered, carry out in vitro/in vivo evaluation of drug release, and appraise its inhibitory effect on liver metastasis from colon cancer.

METHODSIndomethacin prodrugs were synthesized and characterized by FTIR and NMR, and dissolution test simulating gastrointestinal tract was employed to screen the colon-specific prodrug. Then, the pharmacokinetic profile of portal vein and peripheral blood in Sprague-Dawley rats was studied. Lastly, the inhibitory effect on liver metastasis from colon cancer in nude mice was observed.

RESULTSThe chemical structure characterized by FTIR and NMR demonstrated that six kinds of indomethacin-block-amylose with different drug loading (IDM-AM-1-6) were synthesized, among which IDM-AM-3 was degraded 1.3%, 9.3% and 95.3%, respectively, in simulated gastric fluid for 4 h, small intestine for 6 h, and colon for 36 h. The pharmacokinetic test of IDM-AM-3 showed that absorption was delayed significantly (P < 0.01), peak time [(11.35 + or - 2.45) h], elimination half-life [(16.74 + or - 4.04) h] and mean residence time [(22.27 + or - 0.52) h] were significantly prolonged (P < 0.01), as well as peak serum concentrations [(9.69 + or - 2.40) mg/L] and AUC(0-t) [(236.7 + or - 13.1) mg x L(-1) x h] were decreased markedly (P < 0.01) as compared with those of IDM regarding to portal vein. Additionally, its AUC(0-t) in peripheral blood was remarkably lower than that in Portal vein (P < 0.01). The tumor suppression observation showed that it could remarkably reduce the number of liver metastases in contrast to IDM (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONColon-specific IDM-AM-3 possesses advantage of sustained release in portal vein providing some experimental basis for colon-specific delivery system applied to sustained release in the portal vein.

Amylose ; administration & dosage ; chemical synthesis ; pharmacokinetics ; therapeutic use ; Animals ; Colon ; metabolism ; Colonic Neoplasms ; pathology ; Delayed-Action Preparations ; Drug Delivery Systems ; HT29 Cells ; Humans ; Indomethacin ; administration & dosage ; chemical synthesis ; pharmacokinetics ; therapeutic use ; Liver Neoplasms ; prevention & control ; secondary ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Nude ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Prodrugs ; administration & dosage ; chemical synthesis ; pharmacokinetics ; therapeutic use ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

BACKGROUNDA previous study has shown that rs548234 polymorphism at PRDM1-ATG5 region is associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Caucasian populations. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of rs548234 polymorphism at PRDM1-ATG5 region on susceptibility to RA in Chinese Han population.

METHODSWe genotyped 848 RA patients and 1431 matched healthy controls for rs548234 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) with a predesigned TaqMan SNP genotyping assay. Association analyses were performed on the whole data set and on rheumatoid factors (RF) and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides (anti-CCP) antibody. Finally, we carried out combined analysis of rs548234 association with RA based on the published data.

RESULTSNo significant difference in the genotype distribution between RA patients and healthy controls for rs548234 (C/T) polymorphism was found in Chinese Han population, neither in whole data set nor in stratified subsets, e.g. RF and anti-CCP status. Association analysis in different ethnic groups showed that rs548234 at PRDM1-ATG5 region was associated with RA in Caucasian ancestry but not in East Asian population.

CONCLUSIONSOur results showed no involvement of rs548234 at PRDM1-ATG5 region in the susceptibility or clinical relevance of RA in Chinese Han population.

Adult ; Aged ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; epidemiology ; genetics ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Autophagy-Related Protein 5 ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; genetics ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Microtubule-Associated Proteins ; genetics ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; genetics ; Positive Regulatory Domain I-Binding Factor 1 ; Repressor Proteins ; genetics