Objective: Schizophrenia is a complex and devastating psychiatric disorder with a strong genetic background. However, much uncertainty still exists about the role of genetic susceptibility in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. TEA domain transcription factor 1 (TEAD1) is a transcription factor associated with neurodevelopment and has modulating effects on various nervous system diseases. In the current study, we performed a case–control association study in a Northeast Chinese Han population to explore the characteristics of pathogenic TEAD1 polymorphisms and potential association with schizophrenia. Methods: We recruited a total of 721 schizophrenia patients and 1,195 healthy controls in this study. The 9 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the gene region of TEAD1 were selected and genotyped. Results: The genetic association analyses showed that five SNPs (rs12289262, rs6485989, rs4415740, rs7113256, and rs1866709) were significantly different between schizophrenia patients and healthy controls in allele or/and genotype frequencies. After Bonferroni correction, the association of three SNPs (rs4415740, rs7113256, and rs1866709) with schizophrenia were still evident. Haplotype analysis revealed that two strong linkage disequilibrium blocks (rs6485989-rs4415740-rs7113256 and rs16911710-rs12364619-rs1866709) were globally associated with schizophrenia. Four haplotypes (C-C-C and T-T-T, rs6485989-rs4415740-rs7113256; G-T-A and G-T-G, rs16911710-rs12364619-rs1866709) were significantly different between schizophrenia patients and healthy controls. Conclusion The current findings indicated that the human TEAD1 gene has a genetic association with schizophrenia in the Chinese Han population and may act as a susceptibility gene for schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of premature rupture of the membrane (PROM) on neonatal complications in premature infants.

METHODSThe registration information of 7684 preterm infants with gestational age <37 weeks were collected from the cooperative units in the task group between January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014. Specially trained personnel from each cooperative units filled in the unified form in a standardized format to record the gender, gestational age, birth weight, PROM, placental abruption, antenatal corticosteroid, Apgar score, amniotic fluid pollution, and complications of the infants. The data were analyzed comparatively between the cases with PROM and those without (control).

RESULTSThe preterm mortality rate was significantly lower but the incidences of ICH, NEC, ROP and BPD were significantly higher in PROM group than in the control group (P<0.05). The 95% confidence interval of the OR value was <1 for mortality, and was >1 for ICH, NEC, ROP and BPD. After adjustment for gestational age, birth weight, gender, mode of delivery, placental abruption, placenta previa, prenatal hormones, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), gestational period hypertension and 5-min Apgar score <7, the incidences of NEC, ROP and BPD were significantly different between the two groups (P<0.05) with 95% confidence interval of OR value >1, but the mortality rate and incidence of ICH were not significantly different between the two groups (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONPROM is a risk factor for NEC, ROP and BPD in preterm infants, and adequate intervention of PROM can reduce the incidences of such complications as NEC, ROP and BPD in the infants.

Apgar Score ; Birth Weight ; Female ; Fetal Membranes, Premature Rupture ; pathology ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Newborn, Diseases ; etiology ; Infant, Premature ; Pregnancy ; Risk Factors

Authors raised that staging based strategies and practice of integrative medicine (IM) by combining syndrome typing and disease identification, and choosing suitable measures in accordance with different persons and seasonal conditions after more than ten years' clinical practice and researches. Radical operation as prior (as evil eliminating) and strengthening vital qi in perioerative period are best strategy for promoting rapid rehabilitation of early stage prostate cancer patients. Strengthening body resistance to eliminate evil was used in treating advanced prostate cancer patients. For example, a comprehensive treatment program for hormone-dependent patients was combined with endocrinotherapy and Chinese herbs for synergisic efficacy-enhancing actions. In this way, these patients' quality of life (QOL) were improved and time to castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) was delayed, even some patients were clinically cured. There are lack of effective medicines and methods for CRPC patients. Greatly tonifying original qi is mainly used for improving their clinical symptoms and prolonging survivals. Practice has proved staging based strategies and practice of IM has favorable advantages in treating prostate cancer, especially showing prospect in prolonging survival and postponing progression of advanced prostate cancer patients. Besides, it also could provide beneficial considerations and inspiration for combination of syndrome typing and disease identification.
Disease Progression ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prostatic Neoplasms, Castration-Resistant ; diagnosis ; Quality of Life

OBJECTIVETo study the diagnostic value of (18)F-FDG-PET/CT in multiple myeloma (MM).

METHODSA total of 66 patients, who were highly suspected of MM in our hospital from July 2012 to December 2014, were chosen as study objects. All patients were diagnosed or excluded by pathological examination. All patients were detected by (18)F-FDG-PET/CT, and its diagnostic value was analyzed. The number of focuses were counted.

RESULTSOut of 66 patients 59 patients (89.39%) were diagnosed with multiple myeloma. The sensitivity of PET was 98.31%, the specificity of PET was 85.71%, the Youden index was 0.8402; the sensitivity of CT was 96.61%, the specificity of CT was 85.71%, the Youden index was 0.8232; the sensitivity of PET/CT was 100.00%, the specificity of PET/CT was 83.33%, the Youden index was 0.8333. In 59 MM patients, 635 focuses were detected, out of them 572 focuses (90.08%) were detected by CT, 593 focuses (93.39%) were detected by PET, 530 focuses (83.46%) were coincided on PET/CT.

CONCLUSION(18)F-FDG-PET/CT has diagnostic value for multiple myeloma, and it can be used in locating and counting focuses, as well as in evaluating the treatment efficacy and guiding the clinical work.

Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Humans ; Multimodal Imaging ; Multiple Myeloma ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics and significance of diagnosis and treat -ment associated with persistent real low-level elevation of human chorionic gonadotropin ( hCG) .Methods Six patients diagnosed with persistent real low-level hCG elevation at Peking Union Medical College Hospital in the period from August 2011 to March 2015 were collected .Clinical records of the 6 patients were reviewed to retro-spectively analyze clinical features , diagnosis and treatment approaches , and follow-up results.Results Among the 6 patients , 3 were secondary to uterine curettage for hydatidiform moles , and the other 3 had received chemo-therapy for invasive moles , in whom the median chemotherapy cycle number was 8 and all experienced failure of at least one chemotherapy regimen .The median follow-up time was 24 months.The median period between the termination of treatment and the initial low-level hCG elevation was 5.5 months.The median duration of low-level hCG elevation was 16.5 months.Four patients had no evidence of progression , 1 patient progressed to choriocar-cinoma, and 1 presented with the hCG level decreasing to the normal range after spontaneous delivery .Conclu-sion Persistent real low-level hCG elevation may persist for a long time and not respond to chemotherapy .Long-term close monitoring is necessary , but treatment is not recommended .

Objective To investigate the lowering blood pressure effect of aquatic extraction of Fructus Corni Officinalis Core ( AEFCOC ) , and to study the underlying mechanisms.Methods Renal hypertension was induced by two kidney two clip method (2K2C), and blood pressure was dynamic recording.Isolated rat thoracic aorta rings were performed in or-gan bath , and the tention was record.Results Compared with sham -operated group , the blood pressure was markedly elevated in model groups , while AEFCOC treatment for 4 weeks could relieve hypertention.AEFCOC (0.03,0.1,0.3,1,2 mg· mL-1 ) concentration dependently caused endothelium -dependent relaxation in vessels precontracted with phenylephrine (PE), which was abolished by either 1 ×10 -4 mol· L-1 NG-nitro -L -arginine methyl ester ( L -NAME ) or 1 ×10 -5 mol· L-1 COX inhibitor indomethacin ( Indo) ( P<0.05 ).On de-en-dothelialized vessels precontracted with PE , AEFCOC 2 mg · mL-1 caused it relaxation.Conclusion AEFCOC could significantly decrease the blood pressure in dose -dependent manner , which is possibly associ-ated with vasodilator action.AEFCOC could relax the rat thoracic aorta rings mainly with endothelium -dependent manner , involving the NO -GC pathway and COX pathway in vascular endothelium cells.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of sub-micro emulsion composition on cellular uptake and disposition of incorporated lipophilic drug.

METHODSSub-micro emulsions containing 10 % oil, 1.2 % lecithin and 2.25 % glycerol were prepared, and the fluorescent agent coumarin 6 was used as a model drug. The effects of oil types, co-surfactants and cationic lipid on uptake and elimination kinetics of 6-coumarin in HeLa cells were studied. The uptake mechanism of sub-micro emulsions was further investigated.

RESULTSOil type and Tweens had no influence on the cellular uptake. Modifications of surfactants with Span series increased the cellular influx, among which Span 20 with hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) value of 8.6 was the best enhancer. The intracellular drug level reached up to (46.09 ± 1.98)ng/μg protein which had significant difference with control group [(38.54 ± 0.34)ng/μg protein]. The positively charged emulsions significantly increased the uptake rate constant and elimination rate constant which were 4 times and 1.5 times of those in anionic groups, respectively. The uptake enhancement was also observed in cationic emulsions, cellular concentrations at plateau were (42.73 ± 0.84)ng/μg protein, which was about 3 times of that in anionic emulsions [(15.71 ± 0.74)ng/μg protein], when extracellular drug concentration kept at 100 ng/ml. Cationic emulsions delivered the payload mainly by direct drug transfer to contacted cells, while the negative ones depended on both drug passive diffusion and clathrin-mediated endocytosis of drug containing oil droplets which accounted for 20% of the intracellular drug.

CONCLUSIONInterfacial characteristic of sub-micro emulsions such as co-surfactants HLB as well as zeta potentials can influence lipophilic drug both in cellular uptake and elimination.

Anions ; Cations ; Coumarins ; pharmacokinetics ; Emulsions ; Endocytosis ; HeLa Cells ; Humans ; Surface-Active Agents ; pharmacokinetics ; Thiazoles ; pharmacokinetics

Objective To investigate the resistant mechanism of quinolones on multi-drug resistant Klebsiella caused pneumonia(MDR-KPN).Methods From August 2008 to May 2010,47 strains of MDR-KPN were collected from 6 hospitals in Hangzhou and Huzhou in Zhejiang province in China.Drug target genes to quinolones (gyrA,parC) and quinolone-resistance genes mediated by mobile genetic elements [qnrA,qnrB,qnrS,aac (6')-Ⅰ b-cr,qepA] were analyzed by PCR and verified by DNA sequencing.Results Positive results were found in 47 strains of MDR-KPN,43 strains (91.5％) of gyrA mutation,40 strains(85.1％) ofparC mutation,3 strains (6.4％) of qnrB2,1 strain (2.1％) ofqnrB 4,8 strains (17.0％) ofqnrS 1,5 strains (10.6％) of qnrS 4,2 strains (4.3％)of aac (6')-Ⅰ b-cr respectively.Moreover,5 novel variants of gyrA (GenBank accession number:JN811952,JN811953,JN811954,JN811955,JN811956),5 novel variants of parC (GenBank accession number:JN817432,JN817433,JN817434,JN817435,JN817436)were also identified.In addition,qnrS4 (GenBank accession number:JN836269) appeared to be the novel variants of qnrS.Conclusion Quinolone-resistance-determining region played a key role on the resistance to quinolones in this group of MDR-KPN,and quinolone-resistance genes mediated by mobile genetic elements [qnrB2,qnrB4,qnrS1,qnrS4,aac (6')-Ⅰ b-cr] showed positive in some parts of the strains.This was the first report on emergence of qnrS4 in the world.

The antibody against AT1-EC2 plays a role in some kinds of inflammatory vascular diseases including malignant hypertension, preeclampsia, and renal-allograft rejection, but the detailed mechanisms remain unclear. In order to investigate the changes of NADPH oxidase and reactive oxygen species in the aorta in a mouse model which can produce AT1-EC2 antibody by active immunization with AT1-EC2 peptide, 15 mice were divided into three groups: control group, AT1-EC2-immunized group, and AT1-EC2-immunized and valsartan-treated group. In AT1-EC2-immunized group and AT1-EC2-immunized and valsartan-treated group, the mice were immunized by 50 μg peptide subcutaneously at multiple points for 4 times: 0, 5, 10, and 15 days after the experiment. In AT1-EC2-immunized and valsartan-treated group, valsartan was given at a dose of 100 mg/kg every day for 20 days. After the experiment, the mice were sacrificed under anesthesia and the aortas were obtained and frozen in liquid nitrogen for the preparation of frozen section slides and other experiments. The titer of AT1-EC2 was assayed by using ELISA. The level of NOX1 mRNA in the aorta was determined by using RT-PCR. The expression of NOX1 was detected by using Western blotting. Confocal scanning microscopy was used to assay the α-actin and NOX1 expression in the aortic tissue. The O(2)∸ production was detected in situ after DHE staining. The mice produced high level antibody against AT1-EC2 in AT1-EC2-immunized group and AT1-EC2-immunized and valsartan-treated group, and the level of NOX1 mRNA in the aortic tissues was 1.6±0.4 times higher and the NOX1 protein expression was higher in AT1-EC2-immunized group than in control group. There were no significant differences in the level of NOX1 mRNA and protein expression between control group and AT1-EC2-immunized and valsartan-treated group. The expression and co-localization of α-actin and NOX1 in AT1-EC2-immunized group increased significantly as compared with those in control group, and the O(2)∸ production increased about 2.7 times as compared with control group. There were no significant differences between control group and AT1-EC2-immunized and valsartan-treated group. It is concluded that active immunization with AT1-EC2 can activate NOX1-ROS, and increase vascular inflammation, which can be inhibited by AT1 receptor blocker valsartan. This may partially explain the mechanism of the pathogenesis of inflammatory vascular diseases related to antibody against AT1-EC2.
Animals ; Aorta ; metabolism ; Disease Models, Animal ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; NADPH Oxidases ; genetics ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism ; Vaccination ; methods

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of short-term forest bathing on human health.

METHODSTwenty healthy male university students participated as subjects and were randomly divided into two groups of 10. One group was sent on a two-night trip to a broad-leaved evergreen forest, and the other was sent to a city area. Serum cytokine levels reflecting inflammatory and stress response, indicators reflecting oxidative stress, the distribution of leukocyte subsets, and plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1) concentrations were measured before and after the experiment to evaluate the positive health effects of forest environments. A profile of mood states (POMS) evaluation was used to assess changes in mood states.

RESULTSNo significant differences in the baseline values of the indicators were observed between the two groups before the experiment. Subjects exposed to the forest environment showed reduced oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory level, as evidenced by decreased malondialdehyde, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor a levels compared with the urban group. Serum cortisol levels were also lower than in the urban group. Notably, the concentration of plasma ET-1 was much lower in subjects exposed to the forest environment. The POMS evaluation showed that after exposure to the forest environment, subjects had lower scores in the negative subscales, and the score for vigor was increased.

CONCLUSIONForest bathing is beneficial to human health, perhaps through preventive effects related to several pathological factors.

Baths ; China ; Cytokines ; metabolism ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; blood ; Life Style ; Lymphocyte Subsets ; Male ; Nature ; Recreation ; Stress, Physiological ; Testosterone ; blood ; Trees ; Young Adult