Objective To explore the predictive value of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase(MTHFR)gene C677T polymorphism and serum homocysteine(Hcy)level for adverse pregnancy outcomes.Methods The clinical data of 698 pregnant women who received antenatal care and deliv-ered at Ji'an Central People's Hospital were retrospectively collected.According to the research pur-pose,the pregnant women were divided into internal study cohort(n=483)or external validation co-hort(n=215).Each cohort was further divided into adverse pregnancy group and normal pregnancy group based on whether adverse pregnancy outcomes occurred.The MTHFR gene C677T polymor-phism and serum Hcy level of all pregnant women were detected.Binary Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the relationships of MTHFR gene C677T polymorphism,Hcy level,and other indicators with adverse pregnancy outcomes.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves were plotted to analyze the predictive efficacy of different indicators when used alone and their combina-tion.Results In the internal study cohort,compared with the normal pregnancy group,the detection frequency of the CC genotype at the MTHFR gene C677T locus was lower,while the detection frequencies of the CT and TT genotypes were higher in the adverse pregnancy group(P＜0.001).The proportion of pregnant women with high Hcy levels was higher in the adverse pregnancy group than that in the normal pregnancy group(P＜0.001).Binary Logistic regression analysis showed that age,folic acid level during pregnancy,MTHFR gene C677T polymorphism,and Hcy level were all independ-ent influencing factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes(P＜0.05).The ROC curve indicated that the area under the curve(AUC)of the combined prediction model was 0.938,which was greater than that of each indicator.In the external validation cohort,the AUC of the combined prediction model was 0.917,validating the stability and clinical applicability of the model.Conclusion The TT and CT genotypes at the MTHFR gene C677T locus and high Hcy level are all independent risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes.The prediction model constructed by combining these factors with age and folic acid level during pregnancy has a high predictive efficacy for adverse pregnancy outcomes.

BACKGROUND:The plateau environment affects the immune function and metabolic status of patients with osteomyelitis,leading to acceleration or complication of the disease process.The construction of effective and stable animal models of chronic osteomyelitis is essential for experimental studies of chronic osteomyelitis.OBJECTIVE:To establish a sheep model of chronic osteomyelitis in plateau regions for toxicity assessment and therapeutic research.METHODS:Fifteen healthy sheep were selected in this study.Sodium morrhuate and Staphylococcus aureus suspension were injected into the medullary cavity of the middle segment of the tibia to establish the chronic osteomyelitis model.General observation,body mass and temperature monitoring,blood infection index detection,radiological scoring,and microbial culture were performed for evaluation and analysis.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Local tissue swelling and lameness of the affected leg were observed in all sheep in the early stage after modeling,accompanied by varying degrees of anorexia.A slight decrease in body mass was observed in sheep 1 week after modeling,while no significant changes in body temperature were observed.(2)The erythrocyte sedimentation rate significantly accelerated 4 days after modeling(P<0.05)and gradually returned to normal levels after 1 month.The white blood cell count showed a significant increase within 4 days after modeling and returned to normal after 1 week.The level of C-reactive protein increased significantly after modeling(P<0.05)and remained significantly higher than normal until the end of the experiment(P<0.05).(3)Fifteen sheep exhibited typical radiological manifestations of osteomyelitis,including unclear boundaries,irregular osteolytic lesions,and low-density bright absorption areas with interspersed necrotic bone fragments of increased and uneven density.Different degrees of periosteal reaction were observed in the cortex near the lesion.(4)Thirteen sheep were cultured for a single strain of Staphylococcus aureus,while two sheep were cultured for Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.These findings indicate that a reliable chronic osteomyelitis animal model of sheep tibia can be successfully established in plateau regions by injecting an appropriate amount of Staphylococcus aureus suspension into the medullary cavity of sheep,combined with local implantation of foreign cotton thread and sodium morrhuate.

BACKGROUND:The plateau environment affects the immune function and metabolic status of patients with osteomyelitis,leading to acceleration or complication of the disease process.The construction of effective and stable animal models of chronic osteomyelitis is essential for experimental studies of chronic osteomyelitis.OBJECTIVE:To establish a sheep model of chronic osteomyelitis in plateau regions for toxicity assessment and therapeutic research.METHODS:Fifteen healthy sheep were selected in this study.Sodium morrhuate and Staphylococcus aureus suspension were injected into the medullary cavity of the middle segment of the tibia to establish the chronic osteomyelitis model.General observation,body mass and temperature monitoring,blood infection index detection,radiological scoring,and microbial culture were performed for evaluation and analysis.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Local tissue swelling and lameness of the affected leg were observed in all sheep in the early stage after modeling,accompanied by varying degrees of anorexia.A slight decrease in body mass was observed in sheep 1 week after modeling,while no significant changes in body temperature were observed.(2)The erythrocyte sedimentation rate significantly accelerated 4 days after modeling(P<0.05)and gradually returned to normal levels after 1 month.The white blood cell count showed a significant increase within 4 days after modeling and returned to normal after 1 week.The level of C-reactive protein increased significantly after modeling(P<0.05)and remained significantly higher than normal until the end of the experiment(P<0.05).(3)Fifteen sheep exhibited typical radiological manifestations of osteomyelitis,including unclear boundaries,irregular osteolytic lesions,and low-density bright absorption areas with interspersed necrotic bone fragments of increased and uneven density.Different degrees of periosteal reaction were observed in the cortex near the lesion.(4)Thirteen sheep were cultured for a single strain of Staphylococcus aureus,while two sheep were cultured for Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.These findings indicate that a reliable chronic osteomyelitis animal model of sheep tibia can be successfully established in plateau regions by injecting an appropriate amount of Staphylococcus aureus suspension into the medullary cavity of sheep,combined with local implantation of foreign cotton thread and sodium morrhuate.

Objective To investigate the effect of LAG-3 deficiency (LAG3^-/-) on natural killer (NK) cell function and hepatic fibrosis in mice infected with Echinococcus multilocularis. Methods C57BL/6 mice, each weighing (20 ± 2) g, were divided into the LAG3^-/- and wild type (WT) groups, and each mouse in both groups was inoculated with 3 000 E. multilocularis protoscoleces via the hepatic portal vein. Mouse liver and spleen specimens were collected 12 weeks post-infection, sectioned and stained with sirius red, and the hepatic lesions and fibrosis were observed. Mouse hepatic and splenic lymphocytes were isolated, and flow cytometry was performed to detect the proportions of hepatic and splenic NK cells, the expression of CD44, CD25 and CD69 molecules on NK cell surface, and the secretion of interferon γ (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-4, IL-10 and IL-17A. Results Sirius red staining showed widening of inflammatory cell bands and hyperplasia of fibrotic connective tissues around mouse hepatic lesions, as well as increased deposition of collagen fibers in the LAG3-/-group relative to the WT group. Flow cytometry revealed lower proportions of mouse hepatic (6.29% ± 1.06% vs. 11.91% ± 1.85%, P < 0.000 1) and splenic NK cells (4.44% ± 1.22% vs. 5.85% ± 1.10%, P > 0.05) in the LAG3^-/- group than in the WT group, and the mean fluorescence intensity of CD44 was higher on the surface of mouse hepatic NK cells in the LAG3^-/- group than in the WT group (t = −3.234, P < 0.01), while no significant differences were found in the mean fluorescence intensity of CD25 or CD69 on the surface of mouse hepaticNK cells between the LAG3^-/- and WT groups (both P values > 0.05). There were significant differences between the LAG3^-/- and WT groups in terms of the percentages of IFN-γ (t = −0.723, P > 0.05), TNF-α (t = −0.659, P > 0.05), IL-4 (t = −0.263, P > 0.05), IL-10 (t = −0.455, P > 0.05) or IL-17A secreted by mouse hepatic NK cells (t = 0.091, P > 0.05), and the percentage of IFN-γ secreted by mouse splenic NK cells was higher in the LAG3^-/- group than in the WT group (58.40% ± 1.64% vs. 50.40% ± 4.13%; t = −4.042, P < 0.01); however, there were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of the proportions of TNF-α (t = −1.902, P > 0.05), IL-4 (t = −1.333, P > 0.05), IL-10 (t = −1.356, P > 0.05) or IL-17A secreted by mouse splenic NK cells (t = 0.529, P > 0.05). Conclusions During the course of E. multilocularis infections, LAG3^-/- promotes high-level secretion of IFN-γ by splenic NK cells, which may participate in the reversal the immune function of NK cells, resulting in aggravation of hepatic fibrosis.

Lysine acetylation is one of the major post-translational modifications and plays critical roles in regulating gene expression and protein function. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are responsible for the removal of acetyl groups from the lysines of both histone and non-histone proteins. The RPD3 family is the most widely studied HDACs. This article summarizes the regulatory mechanisms of Arabidopsis RPD3 family in several growth and development processes, which provide a reference for studying the mechanisms of RPD3 family members in regulating plant development. Moreover, this review may provide ideas and clues for exploring the functions of other members of HDACs family.
Arabidopsis/metabolism* ; Histone Deacetylases/metabolism* ; Histones ; Plant Development/genetics*

Objective The bispectral index (BIS) was introduced into the sedation strategy of critical patients in intensive care unit (ICU) and replaced the Richmond agitation sedation scale (RASS).The ventilation time,ICU length of stay,and 90-day mortality were compared between the two groups of patients who performed early goal-directed sedation (EGDS) or standard traditional directed sedation (STDS) strategies.Methods A prospective controlled study of severe patients with mechanical ventilation ≥48 h in ICU (20 cases from April 2016 to May 2017,46 cases from June 2017 to April 2018) were randomly divided into EGDS or STDS group.There were no significant differences in age,gender,and acute physiology and chronic health evaluation score Ⅱ (APACHE Ⅱ) score between the two groups in the two periods.The correlation between RASS and BIS was analyzed in the first period.The BIS of the patients in a RASS range of (-2-1) was 73.65 ± 7.87 in the EGDS group,and that of RASS range of (-3--1) was 64.14 ± 7.25 in the STDS group.The above BIS was applied to the two sedation strategies in the second period respectively.The ventilation time,ICU length of stay,and 90-day mortality were recorded.Results There was no significant difference in the ventilation time between the two groups [(164.12 ± 137.96) h and (155.33 ±64.86)h,P =0.08].ICU length of stay of the EGDS group was longer than that of the STDS group.The 90-day mortality of the EGDS group was higher than that of the STDS group.Conclusions Correlations between RASS and BIS were found in this study,and BIS can be used for sedation assessment in ICU patients.Large sample study is still needed to compare EGDS and STDS with BIS.

Objective To reduce the misdiagnosis of the inpatients admitted to digest department with abdominal pain through analyzing the consultation undertaken by surgeon.Method The causes and the constituent ratio according to the case records of those inpatients admitted to digest department because of abdominal pain were analyzed.Results The obstruction of hollow viscus was the first cauge(51.07%),and the tumor of digestive tract(17.78%)was the second cause for invitation for consultation to surgeon of the inpatients with abdominal pain in digest department wards.The ultrasound 32.78%,CT 26.67% and gastroenterological endoscope 13.89% were definite diagnosis,and should shorten the time of consultation.Conclusion Whether inpatient or outpatient with abdominal pain should be planned to be examined by ultrasound,CT or gastroenterological endoscope,obgerve the changes of the symptom and sign so that the misdiagnosis can be avoided.