OBJECTIVETo examine the effect of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) deficiency in brain on spatial learning and memory in rats.

METHODSSprague Dawley rats were fed with an n-3 fatty acid deficient diet for two generations to induce DHA depletion in brain. DHA in seven brain regions was analyzed using the gas-liquid chromatography. Morris water maze (MWM) was employed as an assessing index of spatial learning and memory in the n-3 fatty acid deficient adult rats of second generation.

RESULTSFeeding an n-3 deficient diet for two generations depleted DHA differently by 39%-63% in the seven brain regions including cerebellum, medulla, hypothalamus, striatum, hippocampus, cortex and midbrain. The MWM test showed that the n-3 deficient rats took a longer time and swam a longer distance to find the escape platform than the n-3 Adq group.

CONCLUSIONThe spatial learning and memory in adult rats are partially impaired by brain DHA depletion.

Animals ; Brain ; metabolism ; Docosahexaenoic Acids ; metabolism ; Maze Learning ; physiology ; Memory ; physiology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVETo determine the associations of socio-economic and psychosocial factors with active and passive smoking in older adults.

METHODSUsing a standard interview method, we examined random samples of 6071 people aged⋝60 years in 5 provinces of China during 2007-2009.

RESULTSWorld age-standardised prevalence for current and former smoking in men was 45.6% and 20.5%, and in women 11.1% and 4.5%. Current smoking reduced with older age but increased with men, low socioeconomic status (SES), alcohol drinking, being never-married, pessimistic and depressive syndromes. Former smoking was associated with men, secondary school education, a middle-high income, being a businessman, being widowed, less frequencies of visiting children/relatives and friends, and worrying about children. Among 3774 never-smokers, the prevalence of passive smoking was 31.5%, and the risk increased with women, low SES, alcohol drinking, being married, having a religious believe, and daily visiting children/relatives. There were sex differences in the associations, and an interaction effect of education and income on smoking and passive smoking.

CONCLUSIONOlder Chinese had a higher level of smoking and passive smoking than those in high income countries, reflecting China's failures in controlling smoking. The associations with low SES and different psychosocial aspects and sex differences suggest preventative strategies for active and passive smoking.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Aging ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Smoking ; economics ; psychology ; Socioeconomic Factors ; Tobacco Smoke Pollution ; economics

The aim of this study was to investigate the circulating levels of IL-11 in the patients with chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (CITP), and its significance, and to evaluate the curative effect of rhIL-11 on CITP. The level of IL-11 in patients with CITP was determined by ELISA before and after treatment, respectively. 1.5 mg of rhIL-11 were injected subcutaneously, once a day, continuously for 14 days as one course, treatment time 1 - 2 courses as total. The results showed that the higher blood IL-11 level was found in CITP patients than that in controls (P < 0.01) and during the course of treatment the number of platelets in peripheral blood of patients with CITP parallelled to the level of IL-11. The platelet counts were obviously increased in all CITP patients after rhIL-11 treatment. It is concluded that the serum level of IL-11 in patients is correlated to the number of platelets in patients. rhIL-11 can be used as an effective treatment for CITP.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Chronic Disease ; Female ; Humans ; Interleukin-11 ; blood ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Platelet Count ; Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic ; drug therapy ; Recombinant Proteins ; therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome

AIMTo study the chemical constituents from Uvaria macrophylla Roxb. (Annonaceae).

METHODSVarious chromatography techniques were used to separate and purify the constituents. Their structures were elucidated by UV, IR, MS, 1HNMR, 13CNMR, 1H-1H COSY, HMQC and HMBC spectral analysis.

RESULTSSeven compounds have been isolated from the CHCl3 extract of the roots of the U. macrophylla. They were identified as macrophyllin (1), onysilin (2), taraxerol (3), 3,5-dimethoxy benzyl benzoic acid ester (4), benzoic acid (5), beta-sitosterol (6) and daucosterol (7).

CONCLUSIONCompound 1 is a new compound. Compounds 2-7 were obtained from this plant for the first time.

Flavonoids ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Molecular Structure ; Oleanolic Acid ; analogs & derivatives ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Sitosterols ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Uvaria ; chemistry

Objective To investigate the prevalence and determinants of depressive symptoms among ‘empty-nest' and ‘non-empty-nest' elderly in four cities/provinces.Methods 4265 elderly aged 60 and over,were recruited with cluster sampling method in Shanghai,Heilongjiang,Guangdong and Shanxi province and interviewed,using the Geriatric Mental State Schedule and self-developed related questionnaire.Results ( 1 ) The prevalence of depressive symptoms for ‘empty-nest' elderly was (8.18％),significantly higher than that for ‘non-empty-nest' eldcrly (P=0.019) ; (2) the ‘empty-nest' elderly had a significantly higher proportion of the following factors:being male,married,with higher income ( ≥ 15 000 Yuan/year),living in city,with high education background,under employment etc.than the ‘non-empty-nest' elderly (P＜0.0001) ; (3)the ‘empty-nest' elderly had significantly higher proportions on good self-rated health status and life (P=0.0001,P＜0.0001 ) as well as heavier health problems and economic difficulties (P=0.00 1,P=0.002 ) ; (4) there were significantly negative associations between depressive symptoms and the following 10 factors:being female,single,having bad self-rated health and life status,having somatic disease ≥3,with big health problems in the last two years and loss of dearest persons,community engagement and involvement of religious activities.Conclusion The ‘empty-nest' elderly showed higher prevalence of having depressive symptoms than the ‘non-empty-nest' elderly.The ‘empty-nest' elderly had characteristics as being single,female,having adverse event etc.and should be under greater attention for care.

Objective To learn the status and influencing factors of anxiety and depression among the people affected by leprosy.Methods A total of 60 leprosy patients was enrolled.An investigation including questionnaire and two mental scales namely Self -Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS)and Self -Rating Depression Scale (SDS)were conducted.Results The rate of anxiety and depression was 41.67% (25 /60)and 21.67% (13 /60)respectively.There was no statistical difference on the rate of anxiety and depression between genders.Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that treatment status (OR =23.78,95%CI =2.13 -265.26),disability (OR =7.68,95%CI =2.01 -29.40)and income (OR =4.54,95%CI =1.05 -19.68)were the risk factors of anxiety,and disability (OR =34.77,95%CI =2.84 -425.07) and treatment status (OR =19.28,95%CI =1.86 -199.62)were the risk factors of depression.Conclusion The people affected by leprosy has a high level of anxiety and depression.Disability and treatment status were the major risk factors of anxiety and depression among the people.

To analyze the influence of external social capital on organizational performance of civil society organ-izations in HIV/AIDS prevention and control fields. Methods:Multi-variate stratified sampling and cluster sampling methods were used to investigate 212 civil society organizations in the field of AIDS prevention and control in eight prov-inces of China. The data were analyzed with the help of the multivariate logistic regression. Results:The findings showed that the shared vision,network will affect organizational institution performance(OR=3.23,95% CI,1.77-5.88),(OR=2.21,95% CI:1.21-4.02); Shared vision factors will affect the organization's performance of the organization's external social capital (OR=4.17,95% CI:2.23-7.78);Shared vision is closely relative to Shared vision and the organization's financial performance (OR=2.97,95% CI:1.60-5.51);Shared vision, network and support has positive correlation with organizational culture performance(OR=2.04,95% CI:1.09-3.85),(OR=2.02 ,95% CI:1.09 -3.76), (OR =3.34, 95% CI: 1.79 -6.23); Shared vision and the network will affect the organization's comprehensive performance (OR=14.56,95% CI:6.83-31.06), (OR=2.23,95% CI:1.11-4. 48). Conclusions:The external social capital of civil society organizations in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention and con-trol can affect organizational performance,and different organizations and the governments should develop the external social capital vigorously to improve organizational performance.

OBJECTIVETo study the correlation between the expression of Fcgamma receptor II b (FcgammaRII b) on B cells and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients of Shen deficiency syndrome (SDS).

METHODSThere were 43 RA patients, including 26 of SDS and 17 of non-SDS. The expression levels of FcgammaRII b on naive B cells, memory B cells, and plasma blasts in the peripheral blood were detected by flow cytometry. The numbers of tender joints, numbers of swollen joints, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), rheumatoid factor (RF), and disease activity score (DAS28), the correlation between the distribution of B cells and the expression level of FcgammaRII b in RA patients were analyzed. Besides, another 21 healthy volunteers were recruited as the control group.

RESULTSThe expression level of FcgammaRII b was 49.65% +/- 15.86% on memory B cells and 43.69% +/- 22.57% on plasma blasts in RA patients of SDS, significantly down-regulated when compared with those of the control group (64.03% +/- 6.01%, 66.59% +/- 10.18%, P < 0.01). The expression level of FcgammaRII b on memory B cells of RA patients of non-SDS was down-regulated more obviously when compared with that of the control group (52.70% +/- 9.52% versus 64.03% +/- 6.01%, P < 0.01). The expression level of FcgammaRII b on plasma blasts was obviously lower in RA patients of SDS than in RA patients of non-SDS (56.10% +/- 17.05%, P < 0.05). The expression level of FcgammaRII b on memory B cells was not correlated with numbers of tender joints, numbers of swollen joints, ESR, RF, or DAS28.

CONCLUSIONSThe defective immunological tolerance of B cells in RA patients of SDS might be closely correlated with down-regulation of FcgammaRII b on memory B cells and plasma blasts. There might exist genetic abnormality of FcgammaRII b gene in RA patients of SDS, thus inducing loss of autoimmunity tolerance.

Adult ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; blood ; diagnosis ; immunology ; B-Lymphocytes ; immunology ; metabolism ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Receptors, IgG ; immunology ; metabolism

To study the liver histopathological features that are distinctive between chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection patients who have normal serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT)/asparatate aminotransferase (AST) and those with mildly elevated serum ALT/AST. One-hundred-and-thrity-four chronic HBV infection patients with normal serum ALT/AST and 165 chronic HBV infection patients with mildly elevated serum ALT/AST were included in the study. Liver biopsies were performed and used to assess the histological changes by hematoxylin-eosin and reticular fiber staining; mild to severe scoring for inflammation was made as grade G0-G4 and for fibrosis stage as S0-S4. HBV DNA levels were detected by fluorescent quantitative PCR. HBV serological markers were examined by chemiluminescence. The mildly elevated serum ALT/AST group had more male patients than the normal serum ALT/AST group. In the normal serum ALT/AST group, 50.0% (67/134) of the patients had moderate histological changes and only 3.0% (4/134) had severe changes (G3-4 and/or S3-4). In the mildly elevated ALT/AST group, 65.7% (174/265) of patients had moderate histological changes and 16.2% (43/265) had severe changes (G3-4 and/or S3-4). Hepatic inflammation and fibrosis were significantly more severe in the mildly elevated serum ALT/AST group than in the normal ALT/AST group (x2 = 26.386, P less than 0.01; x2 = 15.299, P less than 0.01). In the normal ALT/AST group, the severity of inflammation and fibrosis were positively correlated with age (rs = 0.620, P less than 0.01; rs = 0.347, P less than 0.01). In the mildly elevated ALT/AST group, the severity of inflammation and fibrosis were negatively correlated with age (rs = -0.807, P less than 0.01; rs = -0.557, P less than 0.01). In both groups, the severity of inflammation and fibrosis were negatively correlated with HBV DNA levels (rs = -0.215, P less than 0.01, rs = -0.527, P less than 0.01, rs = -0.951, P less than 0.01; rs = -0.715, P less than 0.01) and were not positively correlated with HBeAg. The majority of the chronic HBV infection patients with normal serum ALT/AST and those with mildly elevated serum ALT/AST had moderate liver pathological changes. All patients with low HBV DNA levels were closely followed-up, regardless of HBeAg-positive status.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Alanine Transaminase ; blood ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; blood ; Biopsy, Needle ; Child ; DNA, Viral ; blood ; Fatty Liver ; pathology ; virology ; Female ; Hepatitis B e Antigens ; blood ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; blood ; pathology ; virology ; Humans ; Liver ; pathology ; virology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Viral Load ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the variety of non-myeloperoxidase-mediated system activity of neutrophils in newborns during bacterial infection and the effect of cord plasma on the activation of non-myeloperoxidase-mediated system.

METHODSAn infection model with Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and a non-infection model with phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) were established to investigate the activation of non-myeloperoxidase-mediated system in neutrophils. According to the intensity of fluorescence, the activation of non-myeloperoxidase-mediated system of neutrophils was detected by flow cytometry (FCM). The blood cells and plasma were separated from cord blood and adult blood and cross-mixed in order to investigate the opsonic activity.

RESULTSIn the non-infection model, the activation of non-myeloperoxidase-mediated system with PMA stimulation in cord blood was lower compared with that in adult blood, the statistical difference was significant (t = 3.378, P < 0.01). In the infection model, the activations of non-myeloperoxidase-mediated system in cord blood were also lower compared with those in adult blood, while the statistical difference could only be found in the model with E. coli stimulation (t = 12.150, P < 0.001). Furthermore the experiments demonstrated that cord plasma could deeply depress the non-myeloperoxidase-mediated system activity with E. coli stimulation. On the contrary, adult plasma could successfully recruit the potential of non-myeloperoxidase-mediated system activity of neutrophils in newborns.

CONCLUSIONThe function of neonatal neutrophils might not developed very well. As a stimulant, E. coli failed to induce the non-myeloperoxidase-mediated system activity in neonates, which might be related to the lower level of immunoglobulins in cord blood. This result indicated that immunoglobulins played a more important modulating role in bacterial killing during gram-negative bacterial infections.

Escherichia coli ; immunology ; Fetal Blood ; immunology ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Neutrophils ; enzymology ; immunology ; Peroxidase ; metabolism ; Staphylococcus aureus ; immunology