Objective To assess the diagnostic value of anti-mutated citrullinated vimentin antibodies (anti-MCV) for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and compare it with anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (anti-CCP), rheumatoid factors (RF). Methods Commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit was used to detect anti-MCV antibodies in a group of 177 RA patients, 46 patients with other rheumatic diseases, and 48 healthy blood donors. At the same time, anti-CCP, RF were detected. T test and χ2 test were selected. Results The average concentration of anti-MCV was (523±376) U/ml in RA, (96± 55) U/ml in patients with other rheumatic diseases, (34±18) U/ml in healthy controls. Different threshold levels (20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, 140 U/ml) for positive results were calculated bythe areas under the ROC curve (the areas were 0.521, 0.706, 0.769, 0.791, 0.816, 0.826, 0.822), then the best diagnosis efficacy for RA was determined as more than 120 U/ml. At this level, the sensitivity and the specificity for anti-MCV were 80.1% and 80.9% for RA diagnosis. The positive and negative predictive value were 92% and 67.8%. Comparing with anti-CCP, anti-MCV showed comparable specificity but higher sensitivity. And it's also better than RF apparently. If all 3 antibodies were detected at the same time, or anti-MCV combine with one of them, the sensitivity would increase to 95.7%. In addition, Anti-MCV showed positive in 32 of 67(55.2%) patients with RA whose anti-CCP was negative, meanwhile 31 of 59 (52.5%) patients with RA whose RF was negative. Conclusion RF and anti-CCP are complementary in diagnosing RA. The combination detection of RF and anti-CCP could significantly improve the specificity for the diagnosis of RA.

Objective To investigate the awareness rate of knowledge related with vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) in community residents in Shuangjing District,Beijing.Methods 5 communities were randomly selected from 12 communities in Shuangjing District.According to roster,512 residents were selected randomly.Among them,there were 197 males and 315 females with an average age of (64.71±8.22) years.87.9％ of subjects had junior high school culture and over.The awareness rate of knowledge related with VCI was investigated by questionnaires from January 2013 to March 2013.Results Although the awareness rate of knowledge related with vascular dementia was only 36.9％,the awareness rates of symptoms of impairment in memory,orientation,language,execution,calculation,visuospatial and judgement were 43.8％-89.3％.The awareness rates of four outpatient clinics among dementia patients were 21.5％-38.9％,however,the awareness rate of dementia which was not curable was 47.5％.The awareness rates of 5 risk factors for stroke were 54.5％-83.4％,but the awareness rate of cognition impairment caused by hypotension and hypoglycemia was 42.8％ and 43.2％,respectively.About VCI-related preventive knowledge,the awareness rates of VCI population with high risk factors,cognitive abilities screening,and primary prevention were 35.5％-95.5 ％.The main routes taking healthy knowledge were the television and newspapers with the awareness rate of 86.9％ and 60.2％,respectively.85.9％ of subjects agreed that healthy education was helpful to their life qualities.Multiple linear regression analysis showed a significant relationship of accumulated points of VCI-related knowledge with gender and education degree (P＜0.05).Conclusions The awareness rates of risk factors,diagnosis and therapy and primary prevention for VCI are lower in Shuangjing community,and the health education about VCI should be strengthened.

ObjectiveThis work is aimed to investigate the possible association of dendritic cell immunoreceptor (DCIR) with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) susceptibility in Chinese Han population.Methods A total of 523 patients with RA and 510 healthy controls were genotyped for single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs2377422 and rs10840759.Association analyses were performed on the whole data set and on RA subsets based on the status of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (CCP) in RA patients.Finally,we carried out the association analysis of rs2377422 with DCIR mRNA expression in RA patients.Statistical analysis used in this study included X2 test,Logistic regression,and Mann-Whitney U test.ResultsDCIR rs2377422 was found significantly associated with RA(allele analysis: OR 1.26; 95％CI 1.06～1.51,P=0.005; genotype analysis CC vs TT+TC: OR 1.34; 95％CI 1.18～2.06,P=0.004).Following stratification for anti-CCP antibody status,association of ra2377422 with anti-CCP-positive RA was observed(allele analysis: OR 1.22,95％CI 0.99～1.48,P=0.055).In contrast,the SNP rs2377422 was found specifically susceptible to anti-CCP-negative RA(allele analysis: OR 1.46; 95％CI 1.10～1.93,P=0.0091; genotype analysis CC vs TT+TC: OR 1.58;95％CI 1.01～2.47,P=0.043),despite loss of power in the analysis.DCIR gene transcription quantification analysis further proved the dominant effect of rs2480256 CC genotype on DCIR mRNA expression levels in RA patients (CC vs TT+TC: 0.429±0.069 vs 0.238±-0.023,U=1861,P=0.0015).ConclusionThe study provides evidence for the association between DCIR rs2377422 and RA,particularly with anti-CCP-negative RA in Chinese Han populations.

Objectives To evaluate the efficacy of rituximab combined with chemotherapy in the treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and the relationship of clinical prognosis with the International Prognostic Index (IPI) by the using rituximab in autologous peripheral stem cell transplantation (APBSCT) for the patients of DLBCL. Methods 21 patients with DLBCL, 11 patients of them were at IPI low risk, and 3 patients were IPI at low intermediate risk, 3 patients were at IPI high intermediate risk, 4patients IPI high risk. Rituximab combined with CHOP regimen (cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, vincfistine and prednisone) was given for 4～8 courses. 5 patients received APBSCT. The mobilizing regimen was rituximab combined with cyclophosphamide(CTX) and etoposide(VP16). The conditioning regimen were CBV(CTX combined with VP16 and carmustine). Results In 21 patients, the complete response rate was 61.9 %,with overall response rate 90.5 %. 2-year progression free survival was (69.74±10.43)%. 2-year overall survival was (84.44:1:8.35) %. The complete response rate was 92.9 % and overall response rate was 100 % in the patients IPI≤2. The overall response rate was 71.4 % in the patients with IPI≥3. The complete response rate was higher in the patients with IPI≤ 2 (P＜0.01). The amount of mononuclear cells (M NC) in harvest were 7.34 (4.6～8.53)×108/kg. The CD+34 cells in harvest were 8.82 (2.1～10.34)×1O6/kg. The mean time of neutrephil recovering to 0.5×109/L after APBSCT was +9 day. The mean time of platelet recovering to 20×109/L after APBSCT was +12 day. The major adverse reaction were infusion related response (14.3 %) and hematological toxieities. Conclusion The efficacy of rituximab combined with chemotherapy in the treatment of DLBCL is effective, The complete response rate was higher in the patients with IPI≤2 than in the patients with IPI≥3.Using rituximab in mobilizing regimen, all patients had harvested enough CD+34 cells. Rituximab given at +1day did not affect the hematopoiesis reconstruction.

OBJECTIVETo characterize the HA1 regions of hemagglutinin gene of influenza viruses (H3N2) isolated from children in Beijing from 1998 - 2004.

METHODSThe HA1 regions of hemagglutinin gene were amplified by RT-PCR from the viruses isolated and identified as A3 (H3N2) from clinical samples collected from infants and children during the peak seasons of influenza between 1998 and 2004. PCR products were sequenced or cloned into T-A vector and were analyzed after being sequenced.

RESULTSThe HA1 regions of hemagglutinin genes amplified from those isolates were 987 bp in length, encoding a protein of 329 amino acids in length. The identities of nucleotides and amino acids among these H3N2 isolates in Beijing and vaccines strains from 1998 - 2004 were 95.5% - 100.0% and 93.0% - 100.0%, respectively. The homology of the HA1 regions were related to the date of virus isolation, meaning the homology was higher among those strains isolated in nearer dates than others. Seven potential N-linked glycosylation sites in the HA1 regions located at amino acid positions 8, 22, 38, 63, 126, 165 and 285 were conserved in all the viruses analyzed. Two sites at 122 and 133 were inserted in those virus isolated after 1997, and another site at 144 appeared in those isolated after 1999. More amino acid substitutions located in the five putative antigenic sites or receptor binding sites were found more in the isolates than the isolates from previous year. Phylogenetic analysis showed new branches appeared continuously during 1998 - 2004. The strains isolated during winter in 2004 belonged to different branches, suggesting the appearance of new variants.

CONCLUSIONAmino acid substitutions continuously occurred in the HA1 regions of hemagglutinin genes in influenza virus (H3N2) isolated from children in Beijing from 1998 - 2004, which might have resulted in antigenic drift and led to the appearance of new variants.

Amino Acid Substitution ; China ; DNA, Viral ; analysis ; Gene Amplification ; Hemagglutinins ; genetics ; Humans ; Influenza A Virus, H3N2 Subtype ; genetics ; Influenza, Human ; virology ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

To characterize the genomic sequence and arrangement of WU polyomavirus (WU virus) identified in clinical specimens collected from children with acute respiratory infections in Beijing, China, the sequences of capsid proteins VP1, VP2, and the large tumor antigen (LTAg), as well as the 5'-terminal sequence of WU virus, were amplified from the clinical specimen with ID number of BJF5276 which was determined as WU virus positive by PCR amplification. The PCR amplicons were sequenced, and genomic sequence analysis was performed by using the software DNAStar. In addition, VP2 coding-region sequences were amplified from other 21 clinical specimens identified as WU virus positive to investigate the gene diversity of WU virus. The genomic sequence of WU virus BJF5276 with accession number of HQ218321 in GenBank was 5,229 base pairs in length with 3 major coding domain sequences (CDS) sited on one strand coding for capsid proteins VP2, VP3 and VP1, and two CDS sited on the complementary strand coding for small tumor antigen (STAg) and LTAg; These 22 VP2 CDS sequences including 5 sequences submitted to GenBank were compared with 64 corresponding sequences downloaded from GenBank by MegAlign of DNAStar software, indicated that these sequences coming from children in Beijing shared high homology (over 98.8%) with those from GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis of these VP2 CDS by using Neighbor-joining (NJ) analyses with 2,000 bootstraps (Mega 4.0) showed that 20 sequences out of 22 belonged to clade Ia, and other 2 of them belonged to clade III, including 1 clustered in IIIa and 1 in a novel cluster proposed as IIIc. In conclusion, the genomic sequence of WU polyomavirus detected from clinical specimens from children in Beijing is closely related to other WU polyomaviruses in the feature of genomic coding region arrangement. Overall variation of VP2 CDS was very low, and there were different clades circulating in Beijing with a dominant clade Ia, which is different from dominated Ib circulating in other parts of the world reported previously, and a novel clade IIIc was proposed.
Acute Disease ; Child, Preschool ; China ; Female ; Genome, Viral ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Polyomavirus ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Respiratory Tract Infections ; virology ; Viral Proteins ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo obtain isolated human metapneumovirus (HMPV) strains from clinical specimens collected from infants and children in Beijing and to promote the investigation on this important respiratory pathogen.

METHODClinical specimens including throat swabs from outpatients and nasopharyngeal aspirates from hospitalized children were collected from infants and children visited the affiliated children's hospital for acute respiratory infections during May 2008 to April 2009. HMPV positive specimens identified by RT-PCR and/or direct immunofluorescent assay with monoclonal antibody against HMPV were inoculated to LLC-MK(2) cells and incubated at 37°C and 33°C, respectively. The replication of the virus in the cells was detected by direct immunofluorescent assay followed by RT-PCR. The genotypes of the isolated virus strains were identified by RT-PCR.

RESULTOut of 1092 clinical specimens, 81 were HMPV positive by RT-PCR, the positive rate was 7.4% (81/1092). Among these positive specimens, 33 were inoculated to LLC-MK(2) cells and the replication of HMPV was revealed by antigen detection and RT-PCR from 5 out of these 33 inoculates. These isolated viruses could be passed in LLC-MK(2) cells and were not cross-reacted with other common respiratory viruses, such as ADV, RSV and Parainfluenza viruses 1/2/3 by monoclonal antibodies against these viruses in direct immunofluorescent assay. The HMPV was more likely to be isolated from fresh specimens within 24 hours after the collection of specimens which were not frozen. Four of the 5 isolated strains were identified as genotype A and 1 as genotype B. Unlike other respiratory viruses, these isolated HMPV did not show specific CPE in cell culture and the replication of the virus was identified by antigen detection and RT-PCR.

CONCLUSIONHMPV of both genotypes were isolated from infants and children with acute respiratory infections in Beijing which will accelerate the investigation of this important virus.

Acute Disease ; Child ; China ; Genes, Viral ; genetics ; Genotype ; Humans ; Infant ; Metapneumovirus ; isolation & purification ; Respiratory Tract Infections ; virology

4-(Cytidine-5-diphospho) -2-C-methyl-D-erythritol kinase is a key enzyme in the biosynthesis pathway of terpenoids. According to the transcriptome database, the specific primers were designed and used in PCR. The bioinformatic analysis of the sequenced TwCMK gene was performed in several bioinformatics software. The Real-time fluorescence quantification polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) were used to detect the expression levels of TwCMK from T. wilfordii after elicitor MeJA supplied. The results showed that the full length of TwCMK cDNA was 1 732 bp encoding 387 amino acids. The theoretical isoelectric point of the putative TwCMK protein was 5.79 and the molecular weight was about 42.85 kDa. MeJA stimulated the rising of TwCMK expression in suspension cell and signally impacted at 24 h. The research provides a basis for further study on the regulation of terpenoid secondary metabolism and biological synthesis.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Cloning, Molecular ; Computational Biology ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Models, Molecular ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phosphotransferases (Alcohol Group Acceptor) ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Phylogeny ; Plant Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Sequence Alignment ; Tripterygium ; chemistry ; enzymology ; genetics

Objective To determine the expression pattern of macrophage-inducible c-type lectin (MINCLE)on Macrophage(Mφ),myeloid dendritic cell (mDC)and plasmacytoid DC(pDC)in peripheral blood (PB)and synovial fluid(SF)in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods For mRNA expression of MINCLE,253 RA patients and 71 healthy control subjects were enrolled.The mRNA level of MINCLE was determined by real-time PCR.For protein expression of MINCLE,18 patients with RA,5 patients with osteoarthritis(OA)and 12 healthy control subjects were enrolled.The expression of MINCLE on Mφ,mDC and pDC were detected by flow cytometry.The differences of MINCLE expressions in PB between RA patients,OA patients and healthy controls,or differences between PB and SF in RA patients were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U test or paired-samples t test.Results ①Compared to the healthy controls,RA patients showed elevated mRNA expression level of MINCLE in PBMCs[(1.65±0.36)vs (0.37±0.06),U=6057,P=2.75×10-5].②At protein level,MINCLE was hardly detected in Mφ,mDC and pDC in PB of OA patients and healthy controls.In SF,MINCLE was highiy expressed on mDC in RA patients,compared with that in OA patients[(34.8±4.4)%,U=0,P=2.6×10-3].In RA patients,the expression level of MINCLE was remarkably elevated in Mφ,mDC and pDC in SF compared with that in PB[Mφ(2.01±0.53)%vs(0.273±0.51)%,t=4.879,P=2.23×10-6;mDC(34.8±4.4)%vs(22.7±5.5)%t=2.535.P=0.017].Conclusion MINCLE is selectively expressed on Mφ.mDC and pDC in SF in RA patients.MINCLE may serve as a potential important marker,or even target,for RA and possibly even for inflammation in general.

OBJECTIVETo find out the importance of human bocavirus (HBoV) as an infectious agent for population in Beijing, China, seroprevalence study was conducted by using expressed recombinant major capsid VP2 protein as an antigen.

METHODSSerum specimens collected from infants and children who visited the Children's Hospital Affiliated to the Capital Institute of Pediatrics for health check up and adults visited the Xuanwu Hospital, Beijing for diseases other than respiratory infections from April 1996 to March 1997 were used for investigation. The major capsid protein VP2 from HBoV was expressed in E. coli strain BL21 (DE3) with the transformed PET30b vector inserted with full-length VP2 gene of HBoV and the specific antigenicity of this expressed protein was validated by previous study. Western blot was used to detect specific IgG antibody against HBoV in collected serum specimens diluted to 1:200. Mock expressed protein was E. coli cells strain BL21 (DE3) with the transformed PET30b vector without insert. Anti-His monoclonal antibody and rabbit anti-HBoV VP2 polypeptides hyper-immune serum were used as positive control for antibody detection.

RESULTSOut of 677 serum specimens tested, 400 (59.1%) were positive by Western blot. About 45.3% (34/75) of the newborns under 1 month of age had anti-HBoV antibodies, and antibody positive rates were lower in the age groups of 1 and 2 months (41.4% and 31.3%, respectively) and were higher in the following ages from 6 months to 7 years (from 45.6% to 69.7%). The antibody positive rates were at a relatively constant level (about 70%) in the age groups from 7 years to 40 years and became lower (61.8% - 62.8%) in groups of age over 50 years.

CONCLUSIONThe high seroprevalence against recombinant HBoV VP2 protein and early age antibody acquisition indicate that HBoV has been circulating in Beijing, China as early as in 1996 and most of children had been exposed to HBoV by the age of 7 years. Infants under the age of 6 months were susceptible to infection with this virus.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Antibodies, Viral ; blood ; Blotting, Western ; Bocavirus ; immunology ; Capsid Proteins ; immunology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; blood ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Parvoviridae Infections ; epidemiology ; immunology ; Prevalence ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Young Adult