OBJECTIVES: To investigate the clinical treatment outcomes and the changes of the outcomes over time in extremely preterm twins in Guangdong Province, China. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed for 269 pairs of extremely preterm twins with a gestational age of <28 weeks who were admitted to the department of neonatology in 26 grade A tertiary hospitals in Guangdong Province from January 2008 to December 2017. According to the admission time, they were divided into two groups: 2008-2012 and 2013-2017. Besides, each pair of twins was divided into the heavier infant and the lighter infant subgroups according to birth weight. The perinatal data of mothers and hospitalization data of neonates were collected. The survival rate of twins and the incidence rate of complications were compared between the 2008-2012 and 2013-2017 groups. RESULTS: Compared with the 2008-2012 group, the 2013-2017 group (both the heavier infant and lighter infant subgroups) had lower incidence rates of severe asphyxia and smaller head circumference at birth (P<0.05). The mortality rates of both of the twins, the heavier infant of the twins, and the lighter infant of the twins were lower in the 2013-2017 group compared with the 2008-2012 group (P<0.05). Compared with the 2008-2012 group, the 2013-2017 group (both the heavier infant and lighter infant subgroups) had lower incidence rates of pulmonary hemorrhage, patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), periventricular-intraventricular hemorrhage (P-IVH), and neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (NRDS) and a higher incidence rate of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS There is a significant increase in the survival rate over time in extremely preterm twins with a gestational age of <28 weeks in the 26 grade A tertiary hospitals in Guangdong Province. The incidences of severe asphyxia, pulmonary hemorrhage, PDA, P-IVH, and NRDS decrease in both the heavier and lighter infants of the twins, but the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia increases. With the improvement of diagnosis and treatment, the multidisciplinary collaboration between different fields of fetal medicine including prenatal diagnosis, obstetrics, and neonatology is needed in the future to jointly develop management strategies for twin pregnancy.
Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia/epidemiology* ; Female ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Extremely Premature ; Infant, Newborn ; Pregnancy ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn/epidemiology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

Anticoagulants/therapeutic use* ; Atrial Fibrillation/therapy* ; China/epidemiology* ; Humans ; Registries ; Risk Factors ; Stroke

Objective To analyze the clinicopathological features and prognosis of patients with occult breast cancer ( OBC) , as well as to explore the best treatment .Methods The clinical data of 72 patients with OBC confirmed by pathology were retrospectively analyzed , while 320 cases with other kind of breast cancer were the control group .Results Axillary mass was the first sign of the 72 patients with OBC.The diagnosis rate of MRI was higher than mammary graphy ( 71.4% vs 53.5%) .The difference had statistical significance (χ2 =11.876, P=0.001) .The characteristics of OBC with axillary lymph node metastasis was mainly moderately or low differenti -ated, usually with diffuse infiltrative cancer cells , flaky, like large Apocrine cells.Compared with the control group, the positive rate of CK7, CK20 and TTF-1 had no statistical differences (χ2 =0.058, P=0.810).The posi-tive rate of ER and PR was 46.7% and 36.7%, lower than the control group (χ2 =4.535, P=0.033).Clinical stage, operating method and the number of lymph node metastasis may be the independent factors influencing prog -nosis.Conclusions Axillary mass is the first symptom of OBC .To combine MRI with immunohistochemistry is helpful in diagnosis and differential diagnosis of the disease .The positive rate of ER and PR for OBC patients is low.Modified radical mastectomy combined with adjuvant therapy may be the better choice .

Objective To explore the feasibility and advantage of fluoroscope in identification of brain structures in nude mice with green fluorescent protein (GFP) expression. Methods We laid the whole brain separated from 8-week adult nude mice with GFP expression into SLY mouse brain blocker to produce slices of 1 or 0.9 mm thickness; and then,25 μm-thickness frozen sections were cut.Fluoroscope was employed to observe the morphological structure to define their anatomic structures with reference to The Mouse Brain in Stereotaxic Coordinates compiled by Paxinos. After the observation,these frozen sections were performed Nissi staining for contrast. Results Different structures can be identified by their distinct fluorescence intensity:the dense areas of nuclei,Nissl bodies and nerve tract showed low fluorescence intensity; while the structures around the areas of nuclei and nerve tract,such as,the plexiform layer of olfactory bulb and the molecular layer of cerebella,showed high fluorescence intensity.The fluorescence intensity was attenuated obviously after Nissl staining; the visualized structural information observed under stereomicroscope was in accordance with that viewed by fluoroscope.Conclusion The identification of brain structure in nude mice with GFP by fluoroscope can serve as an experimental platform being applied in the anatomic structure positioning in fluorescence tracer experiments.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the expression variation and significance of ERK1/2 MAPK signaling transduction pathway in the pathogenesis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in Kazakh patients.

METHODSThe expression level of p-ERK1/2 after serum starvation and treatment with U0126 inhibitor was detected in esophageal cancer cell line EC9706 by Western blot assay. The mRNA level of total ERK1/2 (t-ERK1/2) and expression level of t-ERK1/2 and p-ERK1/2 proteins of 25 pairs of ESCC and adjacent normal esophageal mucosal tissues of Kazakh patients were examined and identified by real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting, respectively. The expression of p-ERK1/2 protein was verified by immunohistochemistry in 126 paraffin-embeded specimens, including 19 normal esophageal mucosa, 55 esophageal carcinomas in situ and 52 invasive carcinomas.

RESULTSERK1/2 MAPK signaling transduction pathway was in an active status in the EC9706 cells. The expression level of p-ERK1/2 in Ec9706 cells reached a peak at 10 min after transient serum stimulation, and p-ERK1/2 expression was totally restrained after the treatment with 50 µmol/L U0126. In the 25 pairs of ESCC and adjacent normal mucosa, the t-ERK1 mRNA level was 1.92 ± 3.49 in the ESCC tissues and 3.67 ± 7.47 in the adjacent normal mucosa. The t-ERK1 mRNA level in ESCC tissues was significantly lower than that in adjacent normal mucosa (P < 0.05), whereas there was no significant difference of t-ERK2 mRNA level between them(P > 0.05). The expression levels of p-ERK1 and p-ERK2 proteins were 0.87 ± 0.14 and 0.79 ± 0.10 in the ESCC tissues, and 1.10 ± 0.13 and 1.32 ± 0.12 in the adjacent normal mucosae. p-ERK1/2 protein in the ESCC tissues was significantly lower than that in the adjacent normal tissue (P < 0.01). However, there was no significant difference between their t-ERK1/2 protein levels (P > 0.05). In the 126 cases of paraffin-embeded specimens, positive expressions of both p-ERK1 and p-ERK2 in esophageal cancer tissues were 7.7% (4/52), significantly lower than those in adjacent normal mucosa (31.6%, 6/19) and carcinoma in situ (85.5%, 47/55, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSERK1/2 MAPK signaling pathway is in an active status in esophageal cancer and adjacent normal mucosa. Our results imply that the activation of p-ERK1/2 MAPK signaling transduction pathway plays a role in the early pathogenesis of ESCC in Kazakh patients.

Butadienes ; pharmacology ; Carcinoma in Situ ; enzymology ; pathology ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; enzymology ; pathology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; China ; ethnology ; Enzyme Inhibitors ; pharmacology ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; enzymology ; pathology ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; MAP Kinase Signaling System ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Nitriles ; pharmacology ; Phosphorylation ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo screen and identify zebrafish mutants with erythropoiesis defects by N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) mutagenesis and large-scale forward genetic screening using beta e 1 as the marker.

METHODSThe chemical mutagen ENU was used to treat healthy wild-type male fish (AB strain, F0). The surviving ENU-treated fish were mated with wild-type female fish to generate F1, and further F2 family was generated by F1 family intercross. The adult F2 fish were intercrossed within each F2 family and the resulting F3 embryos from each crossing were subjected to whole mount in situ hybridization (WISH) with the beta e 1 probe. Mutagenesis was performed by treating the male zebrafish with ENU to induce mutations in pre-meiotic germ cells to generate the founders, which were outcrossed to obtained the F1 fish. The F1 fish from different founders were mated to generate the F2 families. F3 embryos from the sibling cross in the F2 family were examined by whole mount in situ hybridization using beta e 1-globin probe. The putative mutants were then characterized with different hematopoiesis markers.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONWe identified 4 beta e 1-deficient mutants with erythropoiesis defects, including two with specific erythiod lineage defects and two with concurrent lymphopoiesis defects.

Animals ; Erythropoiesis ; genetics ; Ethylnitrosourea ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ; Male ; Mutagenesis, Insertional ; Mutation ; Zebrafish ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the cellular and humoral immunity effect of 10 µg and 20 µg recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell hepatitis B vaccine in adults by randomized double-blind controlled trials.

METHODA total of 642 adults aged 18 - 45 years old, non-vaccinated against hepatitis B, and hepatitis B five blood indicators negative were selected as the study subjects. The study subjects were randomly divided into two groups and each group had 321 subjects. The subjects were given 10 µg and 20 µg recombinant CHO hepatitis B vaccination respectively by 0, 1st, 6th month schedule. Blood sample was collected from each study subject one month after the second dose vaccination. The anti-HBs level was detected by Abbott chemiluminescence detection method (I2000) to evaluate humoral immunity status. Of all the study objects, 153 cases were randomly selected by the Excel random function. Their blood samples were collected and Lymphocyte were separated to detect the IL-4 and IFN-γ levels in vitro by enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) method to evaluate the cellular immunity status.

RESULTSThe anti-HBs seroconversion rates in 10 µg and 20 µg dose group were 88.8% (285/321) and 95.3% (306/321) respectively, and 95%CI were 85.4% - 92.2% and 93.0% - 97.6% respectively. The spot forming cell (SFC) of IL-4 of the 20 µg-dose group (x(-) = 20.31) were significantly higher than the 10 µg-dose group (x(-) = 8.19, t = 3.27, P < 0.01). With the increasing of anti-HBs titer, the SFC of IL-4 also went up significantly. There was a positive correlation between SFC of IL-4 and anti-HBs (Spearman correlation coefficient = 0.538, P < 0.0001). No significant difference was found for IFN-γ SFC in two groups (10 µg group: x(-) = 1.49; 20 µg group: x(-) = 0.86; t = 1.83, P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe humoral and cellular immune effects of 20 µg recombinant CHO hepatitis B vaccine are better than that of the 10 µg recombinant CHO hepatitis B vaccine.20 µg recombinant CHO hepatitis B vaccine should be chosen as the adult's hepatitis B prevention vaccine.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Animals ; Antibody Formation ; CHO Cells ; Cricetinae ; Cricetulus ; Double-Blind Method ; Female ; Hepatitis B ; prevention & control ; Hepatitis B Antibodies ; blood ; immunology ; Hepatitis B Vaccines ; administration & dosage ; immunology ; Humans ; Immunity, Cellular ; immunology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo perform the genetic identification of cloche(172) mutant zebrafish.

METHODSThe chemical mutagen N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) was used to treat the AB stain male fish. Large-scale forward genetic screening was carried out to search for lyC-deficient zebrafish mutant by WISH. The morphology changes of the embryos at 3 days postfertilization (3dpf) stage were observed and the cloche(172) gene was identified by mapping and complementation test.

RESULTSWe selected 4 lyC-deficient zebrafish by WISH. cloche(172) mutant showed morphological changes similar to cloche mutant in 3dpf stage. One fourth of the embryos showed cloche phenotype as found in complementation test, and the cloche(172) gene was mapped on the telomere of zebrafish 13 chromosome where cloche gene was located. Numerous red blood cells were observed in the cloche(172) mutant, while only a few cells were found in the cloche mutant in the tail region by o-dianisdine staining.

CONCLUSIONcloche(172) gene which is responsible for the phenotype of cloche mutant may be a novel point mutation allele of the cloche mutant.

Alleles ; Animals ; Chromosome Mapping ; Cloning, Molecular ; Embryo, Nonmammalian ; embryology ; metabolism ; Ethylnitrosourea ; toxicity ; Genetic Complementation Test ; Male ; Muramidase ; genetics ; Mutation ; Zebrafish ; embryology ; genetics ; Zebrafish Proteins ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo identify zebrafish mutants with myelopoiesis defects by ENU mutagenesis and large-scale forward genetic screening.

METHODSMale zebrafish were mutagenized with N-ethyl N-nitrosourea to induce mutations in the spermatogonial cells to generate the founders, which were outcrossed with AB to raise F1 fish. The F1 fish from different founders were mated to generate the F2 families. The F3 embryos from F2 sibling crosses were screened by Sudan black B staining and neutral red staining.

RESULTSA total of 350 F2 families from F1 sibling crosses were screened, and 1424 F2 crosses were analyzed. Six mutations were identified resulting in abnormal Sudan black B staining and neutral red staining, indicating the involvement of neutrophil deficiency or macrophage abnormalities.

CONCLUSIONIt is simple and cheap to induce and screen myelopoiesis deficiency in zebrafish by ENU chemical mutagenesis and Sudan black B staining and neutral red staining. These mutants shed light on the identification of the genes important to myelopoiesis in zebrafish.

Animals ; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ; genetics ; Genetic Testing ; Male ; Mutagenesis ; Mutation ; Myeloid Progenitor Cells ; physiology ; Myelopoiesis ; genetics ; Zebrafish ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo study the advantage of fir bark splint for the treatmet of distal radius fracture.

METHODSFrom January 2006 to June 2008, 80 cases were randomly divided into two groups and treated by fir bark splint fixation or plaster fixation. There were 40 cases in the fir bark splint group, including 18 males and 22 females with an average age of 45.2 years ranging from 20 to 66 years. There were 40 cases in the plaster group, including 19 males and 21 females with an average age of 44.1 years ranging from 23 to 65 years. Four weeks after manipulative reduction and external fixation, the fixtion effect, function recovery, bone mineral density of secondly metacarpus were obsearved by X-ray film, and the clinical effect were evaluated according to healing time ahead of schedule.

RESULTSAs compared between the two groups, the fixation effect of the fir bark splint group was better than that of the plaster group (Z = -2.844, P = 0.004 < 0.05); the function recovery of the fir bark splint group was better than that of the plaster group (Z = -3.196, P = 0.001 < 0.05); the bone mineral density of secondly metacarpus of the fir bark splint group were better than that of plaster group (t = 4.56, P < 0.001); the curative effect of fir bark splint group was better than that of the plaster group (Z = -2.601, P = 0.009 < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONFir bark splint could effectively keep fixation stability and promote fracture healing as well as function recovery.

Adult ; Aged ; Bone Density ; Casts, Surgical ; External Fixators ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Radius Fractures ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Splints