OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationship between serum/follicular fluid fetuin B levels and outcome offertilization (IVF).

METHODSInfertility women (28 with low fertilization rates, 44 with normal fertilization rates) receiving IVF in Women's Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine during June and December 2016 were enrolled in the study. Serum/follicular fluid fetuin B levels were measured with ELISA method. Correlations of serum and follicular fetuin B level with fertilization outcome of IVF were analyzed with Pearson correlation coefficient and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.

RESULTSA positive correlation between serum fetuin B and follicular fluid fetuin B levels was observed (=0.675,<0.01). Both serum and follicular fluid fetuin B levels in women with low fertilization rates of IVF were lower than those in women with normal fertilization rates[(6.09±1.31) μg/mL vs. (7.13±1.47) μg/mL,=3.050,<0.05; (5.13±0.96)μg/mL vs. (6.22±1.33) μg/mL,=3.755,<0.01]. ROC analysis showed that the area under curve (AUC) of serum fetuin B level in predicting fertilization rate was 0.832 (95%:0.729-0.934,<0.01), and 6.08 μg/mL could be used as cut-off value.

CONCLUSIONSSerum fetuin B level is correlated with follicular fluid fetuin B level, and it may be used for predicting the fertilization outcome of IVF.

Objective To understand the biological characteristicsand drug resistance of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated from neonatal clinic and the nose swabs of medical staff in the neonatal department.Methods Twenty-six strains of MRSA clinically isolated from the neonatal department and the nose swabs of medical staff in this department were collected and performed the multilocus sequence typing (MLST),spa typing, staphylococcus cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) typing and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) typing.The Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) gene was simultaneously detected.The antimicrobial susceptibility test of 14 antibacterial dugs was performed.Results Among 26 strains of MRSA,53.8% was isolated from sputum,2 strains were detected from the nase swab of medical staff.The MLST type had 5 types,ST59 accounted for 76.9%.The spa type had 8 types,t437 acoounted for 65.4%.the SCCmec type had only 2 types,20 strains were SCCmecⅣ(76.9%,20/26) and 4 strains(15.4%) were SCCmecV.In the PLV gene detection,the PVL positive rate was 15.4%.One strain of MRSA from the nose swabs of medical staff in the neonatal department was100% homologous with 1 strain from the patient by PFGE analysis.The drug susceptibility test results showed that all MRSA strains were 100% sensitive to antibacterial drugs of nitrofurantoin,quinupristin/dalfopristin,vancomycin and quinolone,while had higher resistance rates to tetracycline,erythromycin and clindamycin,which were above 50%.Conclusion In MRSA strains isolated from the neonatal department in this study,the most common clones were MRSA-ST59-SCCmecⅣ-t437.Erythromycin and clindamycin should not be preferred in the empiric treatment of newborn MRSA.

Objective To investigate the effects of AGEs-RAGE on the apoptosis of GLUTag cells and explore the possiblc mechanism.Methods GLUTag cells treated with 0、100、200、300μg/ml of AGEs for 24h were examined for gene and protein expression of RAGE using RT-PCR and western blotting,respectively.GLUTag cells were randomly divided into four groups:control,200μg/ml AGEs,AGEs+siRNA-RAGE and AGEs+apocynin.The protein expression of p22phox、p47phox 、Bcl-2、Bax in the cells were detected with western blotting.The reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were examined using 2'7'-dichlorodihydroflur-rescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) and the apoptosis of L cells were tested by AnnexinV-FITC/PI.Results AGEs increased thc cxpression of RAGE in a dose dependent manner.Treatment with AGEs induced a significant increase in the expression of p22phox,p47phoxand the activity of ROS,caused up-regulation of Bax and down-regulation of Bcl-2,which enhanced the apoptosis of GLUTag cells.Apocynin,the inhibitor of NADPH oxidase,prevented those responses and the effects caused by AGEs were abolished by inhibition of RAGE activity with siRNA.Conclusion AGEs positively regulate the exprcssion of NADPH oxidase-derived ROS and its down-steam signaling pathway p53/Bax by targeting RAGE,leading to the apoptosis of GLUTag cells.

Base on literature analysis, the paper summarized that the five core principles of the traditional Chinese medicine academic development included that the practice is the source of traditional Chinese medicine development, the culture is the foundation of traditional Chinese medicine development, the inheritance is the basic approach of traditional Chinese medicine development, the classics is the important carrier of traditional Chinese medicine development, and the innovation is the power of traditional Chinese medicine development.

Objective To observe the changes in levels of plasma leukocyte cell-derived chemnotaxin 2 (LECT2) in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes (T2DM) complicated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD),and to investigate the clinical significance.Methods A total of 137 subjects were enrolled in the study,including 50 patients with newly diagnosed T2DM complicated with NAFLD,47 patients with newly diagnosed T2DM with non-NAFLD and 40 healthy subjects.The level of plasma LECT2 was determined by ELISA.Anthropometric data and other biochemical indicators were measured in three groups.The body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) were calculated.Insulin resistance and pancreas β-cell function were determined by homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR,HOMA-％β).Results Plasma concentration of LECT2 in patients with newly diagnosed T2DM complicated with non-NAFLD was higher than that in type 2 diabetic patients with non-NAFLD [(32.95 ± 10.11 vs 29.08 ± 7.54) ng/mL,P ＜ 0.01].Plasma LECT2 levels in both groups were significantly higher than that in normal control group [(22.38 ± 4.40) ng/mL,P ＜ 0.01].Plasma LECT2 level was positively correlated with BMI,FPG,FINS,C peptide,HbA1c,GGT,TG and HOMA-IR,while negatively with HDL-C and HOMA-％ β (all P ＜ 0.01).Multivariate regression analysis showed that levels of BMI,FPG and HDL-C were important factors affecting plasma LECT2 level.Conclusions Plasma LECT2 concentration significantly elevates in patients with newly diagnosed T2DM complicated with non-NAFLD.Plasma level of LECT2 is closely correlated with insulin resistance and glycolipid metabolism.LECT2 may play an important role in the patho genesis of insulin resistance and T2DM.

Objective To compare T2* value in healthy and diseased achilles tendons (AT) using 3D-ultra-short echo time (UTE),and to analyze the correlation between T2* value and clinical scores.Methods Fifteen patients (patients group) and ten volunteers (control group) were included and underwent an MR scan with UTE sequence.The T2* value of four ROI in AT were calculated.Independent sample t-test was used to compare the differences of T2* value between two groups.The correlation of T2* values with the American Orthopaedic Foot and ankle society ankle hindfoot scale (AOFAS) and achilles tendon total rupture score (ATRS) were analyzed.Results The T2* value of four ROI were statistically significantly higher in patients group than those of control group.There were negative correlation between T2* and AOFAS or ATRS scores (r=-0.92,-0.90,both P＜0.01).Conclusion The T2* value of pathologic AT increases.The quantitative MRI UTE-T2* can evaluate AT from the biochemical structure and correlates with clinical outcomes,which is helpful to diagnose AT in the early stage.

Purpose To evaluate clinical value oftransesophageal echocardiography (TEE) on total correction of tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) through preoperative and postoperative monitoring of TEE in paediatrics total correction of TOF and comparison with preoperative and postoperative transthoracic echocardiography (TTE).Materials and Methods Thirty-two children patients receiving total correction of TOF were retrospectively analyzed.TEE was adopted to measure atrial and ventricular cavity size,diameter of right ventricular outflow tract,residual shunt surrounding ventricular septum,diameter of pulmonary artery trunk,orifices flow rate and differential pressure of pulmonary artery and differential pressure of right ventricular outflow tract for all patients preoperative and intraoperative.Meanwhile,all these were compared with value measured by TTE before and after the surgery.Results Among the 32 TOF patients,preoperative TEE figured out one revised diagnosis (3％) of TTE and one supplementary diagnosis (3％).Coincidence rate of disease diagnosis of preoperative TEE and surgical outcome of the 32 patients was 100％ (32/32).Intraoperative TEE examination found out 7 (21.9％) with residual surgical issues.Differential pressure of right ventricular outflow tract measured by preoperative and intraoperative TEE and value measured by preoperative and postoperative TTE was of statistical significance (P＜0.05).Right ventricular outflow tract measured by intraoperative TEE was obviously reduced by approximately 28％ compared with the value measured by postoperative TTE.Correlation of atrial and ventricular cavity size,diameter of right ventricular outflow tract and orifices flow rate of pulmonary artery measured by intraoperative TEE and value measured by postoperative TTE were well (r=0.75-0.87,P＜0.05).Differential pressure of right ventricular outflow rate measured by intraoperative TEE was positively correlated with value measured by postoperative TTE (r=0.518,P＜0.05).Difference of atrial and ventricular cavity size,diameter of right ventricular outflow tract orifices flow rate and differential pressure of pulmonary artery and differential pressure of right ventricular outflow rate measured by intraoperative TEE and consistency scattergram of value measured by postoperative TTE was of no statistical significance (P＞0.05).Conclusion Application of TEE for total correction of TOF monitoring is of important practical value in correction and supplement of preoperative diagnosis and immediate postoperative surgical efficacy assessment.

The aim of this study is to prepare and characterize cardiac troponin T (cTnT) monoclonal antibodies (mAb), and further develop a chemiluminescence quantitative detection assay for cTnT. BALB/c mice were immunized with recombinant cTnT antigen, and specific mAbs were prepared using conventional hybridoma technique and screened by indirect ELISA method. To identify the epitopes, several cTnT peptide fragments were synthesized or expressed by genetic engineering. A double antibody sandwich ELISA method was used to screen the mAb pairs for cTnT detection, and the automatic chemiluminescence detection assay for cTnT was developed. In total 220 clinical specimens were used for system comparison between our assay and Roche cTnT assay; further performance characteristics was evaluated by testing 238 clinical samples and 784 physical examination samples. We successfully screened 33 strains of hybridoms against cTnT, and the mAbs' epitopes were identified. Mab E16H8 and C8G11 with a detection limit of 10 pg/mL cTnT antigen were selected to develop the full automatic chemiluminescence quantitative assay. The correlation coefficient of our reagent with Roche's was 0.959 9, with a coincidence rate of 95%. The assay presented a sensitivity of 97.5%, and a specificity of 99.15% in detection of clinical samples. The cTnT concentration was less than 0.080 6 ng/mL in 99% of general population, which agrees with the definition of WHO on patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). In summary, we developed monoclonal antibodies against predominant epitopes for diagnostics of cTnT, and an automatic tubular chemiluminescence quantitative detection assay was further developed, which presents a high coincidence rate with Roche's.
Antibodies, Monoclonal ; immunology ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Epitopes ; immunology ; Humans ; Hybridomas ; Luminescent Measurements ; Myocardial Infarction ; Peptide Fragments ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Troponin T ; immunology

OBJECTIVETo understand the epidemiologic and etiologic characteristics of diarrheagenic Escherichia (E.) coli infections in Shenzhen.

METHODSStool samples were collected from acute diarrheal patients in four sentinel hospitals in Shenzhen and diarrheagenic E. coli strains were isolated and identified with multiplex real-time PCR. Serotyping and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) typing were conducted for the diarrheagenic E. coli isolates.

RESULTSA total of 74 diarrheagenic E. coli strains were isolated from 1 823 stool samples (4.06%). The patients were mainly young children aged <3 years and adults aged 20-39 years, and the infections mainly occurred during May-September of a year. Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) and enteropathognic E. coli (EPEC) were predominant (45.9% and 31.1%). Serogroups and PFGE patterns varied among the diarrheagenic E. coli isolates. However, serogroup O159 were predominant in ETEC and there were 5 clusters with ≥2 strains sharing same PFGE patterns.

CONCLUSIONSETEC and EPEC were predominant in diarrheagenic E. coli strains isolated from diarrheal patients in Shenzhen. Age and season specific characteristics of diarrheagenic E. coli infections were observed. The serotypes and PFGE patterns of diarrheagenic E. coli strains varied. Close attention should be paid to the possible ETEC outbreak.

Adult ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Diarrhea ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Disease Outbreaks ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field ; Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli ; classification ; isolation & purification ; Escherichia coli Infections ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Serotyping ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo identify a nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) responsive element within the Smad ubiquitination regulatory factor 1 (SMURF1) gene promoter, and to demonstrate its role in the regulation of SMURF1 expression.

METHODSA series of truncated luciferase reporter plasmids of the SMURF1 promoter were constructed and transfected into hepatic cancer Hep G2 cells. Luciferase assays were carried out to assess the activities of such promoters. DNA binding and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays were used to identify an NF-κB responsive element within the SMURF1 promoter. Lucifease plasmid with mutated NF-κB site was constructed and its activity was assessed. The expression of SMURF1 in Hep G2 cells was detected after transfection of NF-κB specific small interfering RNA (siRNA).

RESULTSThe SMURF1 promoter showed a high transcription activity, and the region of -519 to -378 was demonstrated to be a positive regulatory region. -411 to -420 of the SMURF1 promoter was an NF-κB responsive element, and NF-κB may specifically bind to this site. Mutation of this element may prominently decrease the activity of the promoter. Transfection of NF-κB siRNA evidently down-regulated SMURF1 expression.

CONCLUSIONNF-κB can specifically bind to the -411 to -420 region of the SMURF1 promoter and plays an essential role in the expression of SMURF1.

Gene Expression Regulation ; Hep G2 Cells ; Humans ; NF-kappa B ; genetics ; metabolism ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Protein Binding ; Transcription, Genetic ; Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases ; genetics ; metabolism