Post-translational modifications, such as methylation, acetylation and phosphorylation, of histone proteins play important roles in regulating dynamic chromatin structure. Histone demethylation has become one of the most active research areas of epigenetics in the past decade. To date, with the exception of histone H3 lysine 79 methylation, the demethylases for all major lysine methylation sites have been discovered. These enzymes have been shown to be involved in various biological processes, with embryonic development being an exciting emerging area. This review will primarily discuss the involvement of these demethylases in the regulation of mammalian embryonic development, including their roles in embryonic stem cell pluripotency, primordial germ cell (PGC) formation and maternal-to-zygotic transition.
Acetylation ; Biological Processes ; Chromatin ; Embryonic Development* ; Embryonic Stem Cells ; Epigenomics ; Female ; Germ Cells ; Histone Demethylases* ; Histones* ; Lysine ; Methylation ; Phosphorylation ; Pregnancy ; Protein Processing, Post-Translational

Objective To explore the diagnostic value of five infection markers in bloodstream infection.Methods Randomly selected 110 bloodstream infection patients with positive blood cultures and 30 bacterial infection patients with negative blood cultures.Blood was simultaneously drawn with blood cultures;the complete blood count and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were measured.The white blood cell count (WBC),neutrophil count (NEU),lymphocyte count (LMY),CRP level and neutrophil-lymphocyte count ratio (NLCR) were compared between the two groups.Results The levels of WBC,NEU,NLCR and CRP in bloodstream infection group were significantly higher than those in control group (P＜0.05),while LYM was significantly lower than that in control group (P＜ 0.05).Among these five infection markers,the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC-AUC) was the highest for NLCR (0.808) and LMY (0.756);when the cutoff value for NLCR was ＞9.33,sensitivity was 63.6％,specificity was 93.3％;and the cutoff value for LYM was ≤0.97,sensitivity was 58.2％,specificity was 86.7％.Furthermore,the NLCR of patients with gram-negative bloodstream infection was higher than those in patients with gram-positive bloodstream infection.NLCR showed important clinical significance in distinguishing strains of different bloodstream infections.Conclusions NLCR is the better predictors than routine parameters in diagnosing bloodstream infection.

The pediatric reference intervals in clinical laboratory play an important role in diagnosis of illness,therapeutic monitoring,prediction of prognosis and health evaluation.Compared with establishing reference interval for adults,there are more challenges to establish pediatric reference intervals.Therefore,the procedure and key technologies of direct method and indirect method are stated based on the characteristics of children population and pediatric,by which to define,transfer and validate pediatric reference intervals.This study will provide systematically methodological ideas for clinical laboratories to establish pediatric reference intervals.

α1-Antitrypsin (α1-AT) belongs to serine protease inhibitor (Serpin) superfamily and is the main protease inhibitor in human circulation. It can inhibit many proteases to protect tissues from digradation. The mutant Z (Glu342Lys) of α1-AT predisposes to the early onset of emphysema due to decreased functional α1-AT in the lung and to neonatal hepatitis due to accumulation of α1-AT polymers in the endoplasmic reticulum of hepatocytes, which disrupts the balance between protease and protease inhibitors. This paper reviews recent research progress on the pathogenic mechanism and the prognosis of α1-antitrypsin deficiency.

Objective To investigate the clinical application value of Quadrant system combined with percutaneous pedicle screw fixation for treatment of lumbar degenerative disease.Methods The clinical data of 40 patients who sufferred from lumbar degenerative disease,were randomly divided into two groups:Quadrant system combined with percutaneous pedicle screw fixation to do discectomy and intervertebral bone graft fusion as invasive group (n =20),traditional posterior lumbar interbody fusion as conventional group (n =20).The operation time,length of incision,blood loss,postoperative drainage,JOA score of preoperation and postoperation,and effect (reforming Macnab standard) between two groups were recorded and compared.Results Operations were all well done in two groups.The operation time in invasive group was longer than that in traditional group [(147.3 ± 8.9) min,(136.7 ± 10.2) min,t =3.5,P ＜ 0.05].The length of incision [(3.65 ± 0.68) cm,(1 1.11 ± 1.29) cm,t =22.88,P ＜ 0.05)],blood loss [(205.00 ± 63.04) mL,(270.50 ± 77.58) mL,t =2.93,P ＜ 0.05],postoperative drainage [(90.3 ± 10.8) mL,(180.6 ± 1 3.9) mL,t =22.96,P ＜ 0.05] and days in hospital [(16.9 ± 2.0) days,(18.9 ± 2.1)days,t =3.05,P ＜ 0.05] in invasive group were all less.than those in traditional group (P ＜ 0.05).All cases had been followed up for 6-18 months,average of 13 months.There were no significant differences in excellent and good rate (reforming Macnab standard) between two groups in the last following up (P ＞ 0.05).There were no significant differences of JOA scores in preoperation [(12.0 ± 1.7) points,(11.0 ± 1.5) points,P ＞ 0.05],postoperative half a year [(22.0 ± 2.3) points,(21.0 ± 2.5) points,P ＞ 0.05],and postoperative one year [(23.0 ± 1.9) points,(22.0 ± 2.0) points,P ＞ 0.05].Conclusion Quadrant system combined withpercutaneous pedicle screw fixation is a safe,effective and minimally invasive surgical technique in treating lumbar degenerative disease.Compared with conventional group,invasive group has advantages such as less injury,less blood loss,simple operation,and good curative effect,which should be popularized.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the efficacy and safety of rituximab together with etoposide, carboplatin, and ifosfamide (R-ICE) as a salvage therapy for relapsed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) after treatment with rituximab based first-line chemotherapy (R-Chemo).

METHODSDLBCL patients with complete remission (CR) or complete remission unconfirmed (CRu) after 6-8 cycles of R-Chemo treatment but relapsed for first time after stopping treatment were included in this study. Three cycles of R-ICE regimen were given to the patients [1st day: rituximab, 375 mg/m²; 2nd-4th day: ifosfamide, 1 600 mg/m²; 3rd day: carboplatin, area under the curve (AUC) =5 (maximum dosage: 800 mg), 2nd-4th day: etoposide, 100 mg/m²]. The primary endpoint was overall response rate (ORR). The secondary endpoints were the 2-year progression-free survival (PFS), 2-year overall survival (OS), and toxicity.

RESULTSThirty-two patients with median age at 55(range: 26-68) were recruited in this clinical study and the final analysis. After three cycles of R-ICE salvage treatment, 16 patients (50.0%) achieved CR or CRu and 9 patients (28.1 %) achieved partial remission (PR). The ORR was 78.1%. The 2-year PFS and OS were 40.8% and 60.7%, respectively. Nineteen patients (59.4%) had 3/4 grade adverse events. The ratios of leukopenia neutropenia, anemia and thrombocytopenia in patients with 3/4 grades were 37.5%, 15.6%, and 37.5%, respectively. No patient died.

CONCLUSIONR-ICE is an effective salvage therapy for R-Chemo relapsed DLBCL with manageable toxicities.

Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse ; pathology ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Salvage Therapy

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of matrix metalloproteinases inhibitor GM6001 in suppressing scar tissue formation in the filtering passage after glaucoma filtration surgery.

METHODSTwenty-four pigmented rabbits (48 eyes) underwent trabeculectomy followed by subconjunctival injection of GM6001 in the right eye (treated eyes) and injection of PBS in the left eye (control) once a day. The intraocular pressure was monitored postoperatively and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)- and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA)-positive cells in the filtering pathway were detected using immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSOn postoperative days 7, 14, 21, and 28, the intraocular pressure was significantly lower in the treated eyes (GM6001) than in the control eyes (P<0.01). The counts of PCNA- and α-SMA-positive cells were also significantly lowered in the treated than in the control eyes (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONGM6001 can inhibit excessive proliferation of the fibroblasts in the filtering pathway to suppress scar tissue formation and prolong the existence of the functional filtration bleb in rabbits.

Actins ; metabolism ; Animals ; Cicatrix ; pathology ; prevention & control ; Dipeptides ; pharmacology ; Filtering Surgery ; adverse effects ; Glaucoma ; surgery ; Intraocular Pressure ; Postoperative Complications ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen ; metabolism ; Rabbits

Objective To explore the methods of Y-V vascular pedicle lengthening technique for cover-age of the defect of great toe after wrap-around flap transfer, and decrease the morbidity of donor site in great toes. Methods Fifteen patients received three kinds of flap for immediate resurfacing of donor defect of the great toes during wrap-around flap transfer, all flaps were harvested with Y-V vascular pedicle lengthening technique. Among them, 9 cases received the free lateral tarsal flaps transplantation for coverage of defect in donor great toes, 5 cases was repaired by medial tarsal flaps, and only one was treated by the medial plantar flap. Results All the flaps survived postoperatively. The medial plantar flap encountered the venous crisis in postoperative 3 days, and regained the normal blood supply after continuous bleeding for 2 days. All patients were satisfied with cosmetic and functional outcome in average 10- month follow-up. The appearance and sensory function of donor toe repaired by medial tarsal flaps was best among three ones. Conclusion Depending on the Y-V vascular pedicle lengthening technique, the local pedical flaps of foots are enlarged scope for coverage of great toe after wrap-around flap harvest, which can decrease the complication of donor site at the most.

Objective To compare a potential role of dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages in inducing protective immunity against infection with Schistosoma japonicum. Methods DCs and macrophages were pulsed in vitro with soluble egg antigen (SEA) of S. japonicum. BALB/c mice were injected three times with DCs or macrophages, either antigen-pulsed or not,and challenged with 40 ± 2 cercariae of S. japonicum per mouse. Worms were collected 42 days later by portal perfusion of the mice and egg number of liver was calculated. To evaluate whether protective immunity had been induced by preparations of DCs or macrophages, the worm burden and fertility ( eggs per female per mouse liver) were compared between the groups of mice. The antibody level against SEA was detected by ELISA. Results With respect to mice injected with untreated cells, numbers of worms and eggs per female worms were significantly reduced in the groups of mice having received pulsed DCs (26. 3% and 37.9%, respectively), or pulsed macrophages (22. 0% and 30.7%). Untreated DCs and macrophages induced no significant effects. The antibody level against SEA rose in sera of all groups of mice up to 42 days after the challenge, but most pronounced in those immunized with pulsed DCs, although this was not significantly different from other groups. Conclusion The results suggest that the protective immunity against S. japonicum might be induced by DCs to a higher extent than by macrophages after in vitro pulsing with egg antigen.

In contemporary studies of pulse and of the relationship between sphygmo-diagram and syndrome types or diseases, pulse instrument is usually applied to trace the sphygmo-diagram. A comparatively systemic theory about pulse diagnosis has been formed, and it promotes the pulse researching process. But the mechanism of pulse is complicated and the expressive information of pulse is diversity. So it is difficult to record the complicated information of pulse by applying the instrument. In addition, the simplicity in methods of tracing and analyzing sphygmo-diagram and the lack of criterion for syndrome differentiation make it difficult to study the relationship between the sphygmo-diagram and the syndrome types. It's important to lay stress on clinical applying, to promote communication among researchers, to unify the standards of pulse instrument and syndrome differentiation, and to reinforce the research on the relationship between sphygmo-diagram and the syndrome types. The government's support is also needed to promote multi-science cooperation at the same time.