OBJECTIVE: To observe the neurotoxicity and hematotoxicity of maternal exposure to 1-bromopropane(1-BP) on the offspring rats by the breast-feeding route. Method A total of eight specific pathogen free female rats and their 64 male newborn rats were divided into the control group and the exposure group, with four lactation female rats and their 32 male newborn rats in each group. The female rats in exposure group were intragastrically administered with 700.00 mg/kg body mass of 1-BP during lactation, and the control group was given equal volume of corn oil for 21 days, once a day. The body mass of female rats and their offspring rats were measured during the exposure period. After exposure, the Morris water maze and the open field tests were performed in male offspring. The blood samples of offspring were collected for blood routine and blood biochemical indexes detection. The histopathological examination was performed in the hippocampus in the male offspring. RESULTS: A litter of eight pups in the exposure group began to die one day after the mother rat was exposed to 1-BP, and all rats died on the ninth day after exposure. There was no significant difference in the body mass of female rats between the exposure group and the control group(P>0.05). The body mass of offspring rats in the exposure group was lower than that in the control group at the same time point from the first day to the 21 st day of the female rats exposed to 1-BP(all P<0.05). In the orientation navigation experiment, the escape latency time on the first, the second day and the total distance on the first day in the offspring of the exposure group were significantly prolonged than those in the control group at the same time points(all P<0.05). The number of times of crossing the platform of offspring rats in the exposure group was less than that in the control group in the spatial exploration test(P<0.01). In the open field test, there was not statistical significance of the activity, rest time ratio, total distance, the distance ratio and time ratio in the central region in the offspring between the two groups(all P>0.05). The counts of white blood cells, neutrophils, lymphocytes, and average red blood cell width, platelet ratio and average platelet volume of the offspring of the exposure group decreased(all P<0.05), the serum levels of globulin, total protein, triacylglycerol and total bilirubin decreased(all P<0.05), and the albumin/globulin ratio and serum glucose level increased(all P<0.05), when compared with that of the control group. Histopathological examination results showed that the nerve fibers were loose in the hippocampal dentate gyrus area, and there were necrotic neurons and loss of nerve fibers in the CA1 area of the offspring rats. CONCLUSION: Maternal exposure to 1-BP during lactation can induce neurotoxicity and hematotoxicity to offspring rats. The neurotoxicity mainly caused damage to the central nerve system, which affected the learning and memory function of the offspring rats. The reason may be related to the damage caused by 1-BP on the hippocampal function.

Objective To investigate the value of HPV E6/E7 mRNA test combining liquid-based cytology test in cervical cancer screening. Methods A total of 377 samples from Wenzhou People's Hospital from June 2014 to September 2015 were collected and screened by HPV E6/E7 mRNA test combining with liquid-based cytology test , and the results was compared with the findings from the gold criteria of histology and pathology. Results The combination of HPV E6/E7 mRNA test and liquid-based cytology test can enhance the testing sensitivity and specificity. The sensitivity of the combination of HPV E6/E7 mRNA test and liquid-based cytology test for the diagnosis of LSIL was 94.41%, and that for the diagnosis of HSIL was 96.36%. Based on the gold criteria of histology and pathology , the sensitivity , specificity , positive-predictive value and negative predictive value of HPV E6/E7 mRNA test for the diagnosis of HSIL was 90%, 60.67%, 48.53% and 92.49%respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive-predictive value and negative- predictive value of liquid-based cytology test for the diagnosis of HSIL was 72.73%, 75.28%, 54.79% and 87.01% respectively. Conclusions The sensitivity of HPV E6/E7 mRNA test is superior to that of liquid-based cytology test , while the specificity of HPV E6/E7 mRNA test is inferior to that of liquid-based cytology test. The negative predictive value of HPV E6/E7 mRNA test is more meaningful than that of liquid-based cytology test. The combination of HPV E6/E7 mRNA test and liquid-based cytology test can enhance the testing sensitivity , but it does not increase the specificity.

OBJECTIVE: Noninvasive prenatal detection of trisomy 21 (T21) has been achieved by measuring the ratio of two alleles of a single nucleotide polymorphism in circulating placenta specific 4 (PLAC4) mRNA in maternal plasma with a few assays in recent years. Our research is to explore the variations of PLAC4 mRNA expression level in maternal plasma with normal pregnancies in second trimester, which can provide pregnant women deeper insights with suitable detection period for the non-invasive prenatal detection of T21. METHODS: We measured a serial plasma PLAC4 mRNA concentrations weekly from the same 25 singleton normal pregnant women. We recruited maternal plasma samples from 45 singleton pregnant women, comprising of 25 euploid pregnancies (control group; range, 17 to 21 weeks) and 20 T21 pregnancies (T21 group; range, 19 to 24 weeks). With the application of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, we achieved an insight of PLAC4 mRNA expression levels in maternal plasma during second trimester with euploid pregnancies. RESULTS: Among the control group, the levels of PLAC4 mRNA expression in the gestation of 17 to 18 weeks were significantly less than those in the gestation of 18 to 21 weeks (P<0.05). The average PLAC4 mRNA concentration of the normal pregnant women was not higher than that of the T21 group (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: The PLAC4 mRNA showed a higher level of expression in the gestation of 18 to 21 weeks with an euploid pregnancy of pregnant women. We also found that there was no significant difference in plasma PLAC4 mRNA concentration between the normal and the T21 pregnancies in second trimester.
Alleles ; Down Syndrome* ; Female ; Humans ; Placenta ; Plasma* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Trimester, Second* ; Pregnant Women ; Reverse Transcription ; RNA, Messenger*

BACKGROUNDChronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is usually complicated with mucus overproduction in airway. Recently the increased expression of the human calcium-activated chloride channel 1 (CaCC(1)) was found to play an important role in mucus overproduction in the asthmatic airways. To investigate the relationship of CaCC(1) and mucus overproduction in the airway of Chinese patients with COPD, the expressions of CaCC(1), MUC5AC and mucus in bronchial tissues were examined.

METHODSBronchial tissues were obtained from fiberoptic bronchoscopy and bronchial biopsy in West China Hospital from April to July in 2004. Twenty-five patients were diagnosed as the patients with COPD overproduction, and other 20 were the control subjects. The expressions of CaCC(1), MUC5AC and mucin in bronchial tissues were detected by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), in situ hybridization with digoxigenin (DIG)-labeled RNA probe, immunohistochemical and alcian blue-periodic acid Schiff (AB-PAS) staining, respectively.

RESULTSCompared with the control group, the stronger expressions of CaCC(1) were further detected throughout the bronchial tissues from patients with COPD (P < 0.01). Furthermore, the stronger expressions of the CaCC(1) mRNA were related to the severity of airflow obstruction. Samples from COPD showed a stronger staining for MUC5AC than those in control subjects (P < 0.01) and AB-PAS staining revealed more mucins in COPD patients' submucosal gland comparing with that in control subjects (P < 0.01). Expression levels of the CaCC(1) mRNA were respectively negatively correlated with the patients' forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV(1))/forced vital capacity (FVC) data, FEV(1)% predicted data, V(50)% predicted data, V(25)% predicted data (r = -0.43, r = -0.43, r = -0.35, r = -0.36, P < 0.01, P < 0.01, P < 0.05, P < 0.05). While the expression levels of the CaCC(1) mRNA were well correlated with the expression levels of the MUC5AC mRNA of airway epithelium and the PAS-AB stained area of submucosal glands (r = 0.39, r = 0.46, P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Expression levels of the MUC5AC mRNA were negatively correlated with the patients' FEV(1)/FVC data (P = 0.01), FEV(1)% pred data (P = 0.01), V(50)% predicted data, V(25)% predicted data (r = -0.53, r = -0.53, r = -0.48, r = -0.43, P < 0.01, P < 0.01, P < 0.01, P < 0.01). While the expression levels of the MUC5AC mRNA were well correlated with the positively PAS-AB stained area of submucosal gland (P < 0.05), and the correlation coefficients were 0.43.

CONCLUSIONThese results suggest that the stronger gene expression of CaCC(1) exists, complicated with mucus overproduction in the airway of Chinese patients with COPD.

Adult ; Aged ; Bronchi ; metabolism ; Chloride Channels ; genetics ; Female ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mucin 5AC ; Mucins ; genetics ; Mucus ; physiology ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; RNA, Messenger ; analysis ; Vital Capacity