Clinical characteristics of 38 cases of tsutsugamushi disease in Zaozhuang City, Shandong Province / 中华地方病学杂志

Objective:To understand the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of patients with tsutsugamushi disease in Zaozhuang City, Shandong Province, and to provide a basis for formulating effective diagnosis and treatment plan of tsutsugamushi disease. Methods:Retrospective analysis was carried out to collect clinical data of 38 patients with tsutsugamushi disease admitted to Zaozhuang Municipal Hospital of Shandong Province from 2018 to 2020. The epidemiological characteristics, clinical manifestations, laboratory examination results and drug treatment of patients with tsutsugamushi disease were analyzed. Results:Among the 38 patients with tsutsugamushi disease, 15 were males and 23 were females, aged (58.58 ± 14.47) years old; the occupation distribution was mainly farmers, accounting for 92.11% (35/38); the onset time was concentrated in October and November, accounting for 100.00% (38/38); the regional distribution was mainly in Yicheng District, accounting for 34.21% (13/38); 38 patients had a history of grassland/forest contact. All patients had fever, and other main symptoms were eschar (97.37%, 37/38), headache (68.42%, 26/38), fatigue (42.11%, 16/38), and whole body aches (36.84%, 14/38), etc. The results of laboratory examination mainly showed that C-reactive protein increased (89.47%, 34/38), procalcitonin increased (81.58%, 31/38), abnormal liver function (78.95%, 30/38), D-dimer increased (71.05%, 27/38), eosinophils decreased (60.53%, 23/38), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate increased (57.89%, 22/38). All 38 patients were cured after treated with doxycycline or azithromycin. Conclusions:The high incidence time of tsutsugamushi disease in Zaozhuang City is autumn. The clinical symptoms are mainly fever, eschar and headache. Doxycycline and azithromycin are the first choices for treatment of the disease.

Clinical features of 71 patients with acute brucellosis in Zaozhuang City of Shandong Province / 中华地方病学杂志

Objective:To analyze the epidemiological characteristics and clinical manifestations of patients with acute brucellosis in Zaozhuang City of Shandong Province, and to improve the understanding of brucellosis.Methods:The demographic characteristics, epidemiological characteristics, clinical manifestations and laboratory examination results of patients with acute brucellosis diagnosed in Zaozhuang Municipal Hospital from January 2019 to December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed.Results:Most of the 71 patients with acute brucellosis were male, with a male-to-female ratio of 2.2 ∶ 1.0 (49 ∶ 22) and an average age of (53.23 ± 14.12) years old, mainly in Yicheng District (32.39%, 23/71); 80.28% (57/71) of patients had a history of epidemiological contact; the disease occurred throughout the year, mainly from April to October (76.06%, 54/71); the main symptoms were fever (100.00%, 71/71), muscle and joint pain (80.28%, 57/71), fatigue (54.93%, 39/71), hyperhidrosis (39.44%, 28/71), hepatosplenomegaly (18.31%, 13/71) and orchitis (4.23%, 3/71), etc. Laboratory examination results showed that decreased white blood cells accounted for 12.68% (9/71), decreased red blood cells accounted for 21.13% (15/71), thrombocytopenia accounted for 8.45% (6/71), decreased lymphocyte percentage accounted for 12.68% (9/71), increased C-reactive protein accounted for 67.61% (48/71), and accelerated erythrocyte sedimentation rate accounted for 50.70% (36/71). Some patients were accompanied by elevated alanine aminotransferase (50.70%, 36/71) and aspartate aminotransferase (42.25%, 30/71), 57 patients (80.28%) with positive blood culture.Conclusions:The clinical manifestations of acute brucellosis are atypical in Zaozhuang City. Brucellosis screening should be carried out for patients with long-term unexplained fever and an epidemiological exposure history, especially those with muscle joint pain, hepatosplenomegaly and orchitis.

The role of miRNA-122 expression during the acute liver failure in mice induced by D-GalN/LPS / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expression of miR-122 and its relationship with progression and development of acute liver failure in mice induced by D-GalN/LPS, and to explore new biomarker(s) for early diagnosis of acute liver failure.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>BALB/C mice were randomly divided into four groups: the mice were given D-GalN (900 mg/kg body weight) and LPS (10 micog/kg body weight) intraperitoneally (i.p.) to construct the acute liver model; whereas the control groups were given D-GalN (900 mg/kg), LPS (10 microg/kg) and normal saline respectively. All biochemical and histological indexes were determined at 0, 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 h respectively after administration. Real-time RT-PCR were used to detect the expression of miR-122 and pro-inflammatory cytokines, furthermore, the expression of miR-122 was verified by LNA (lock nucleic acid)-Northern-blot. ALT and AST levels were tested by biochemistry analyzer. Serum pro-inflammatory cytokine levels were tested by ELISA.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The mortality rate was about 80% at 24h after D-GalN/LPS treatment, but no mortality was observed in the other three control groups. Liver special miRNA miR-122 was highly expressed in liver tissue of normal mice (ct is approximately equal to 14), it was up-regulated significantly (P = 0.013) at first hour after treatment then down-regulated according to the development of acute liver failure, the change was more obvious at 9 h (ct is approximately equal to 15, P = 0.002). ALT and AST levels increased obviously at 3h after treatment and reached peak at 7 hours then they were declined sharply. It was found that the expression of miR-122 was faster and more durable than ALT. Pro-inflammatory cytokines related to acute liver failure including TNFa and IL-6 were all up-regulated in serum as well as liver tissue (P less than 0.05). Correlation analysis showed that miR-122 had a negative correlation with ALT (correlation coefficients -0.505) and positive correlations with TNFa and IL-6 (correlation coefficients were 0.493 and 0.674 respectively).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Liver-specific miR-122 supposed be a new marker molecule for early diagnosis of liver cells injury in the acute liver failure.</p>

Real-time quantification of microRNAs in Huh7 cells by stem-loop reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish a convenient realtime PCR which can detect microRNAs in the human hepatoma cell line, Huh7 cells.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Total RNAs in Huh7 cells were extracted. MicroRNA 122, 24 and 146a were assayed by microRNA array, and then verified by Northern blot. Stem-loop RT-PCR and poly(A)-tailed RT-PCR were used to detect the above microRNAs. Data were analyzed with Quantity One software and 7500 system software.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Microarray signal intensity of microRNA 122, 24 and 146a in Huh7 cells was 2201.49, 410.20 and 4.70, whose relative expression was confirmed as 0.0383, 0.0249, 0.0001 through Northern blot. While the poly(A)-tailed RT-PCR might only measure microRNA 122, Stem-loop RT-PCR could detect microRNA 122, 24 and 146a, whose average dCt was 2.5, 5.8 and 12.1 in accordance with microRNA array and Northern blot.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Stem-loop RT-PCR can specifically and sensitively quantity microRNA levels, regardless of their abundance.</p>

The individuals with rs224175 T/T genotype of the TGF-Β1 gene have an increased risk for developing IIBV infecton-associated diseases / 肿瘤

Objective: To assess the association of three new single nucleotide polymorphism (SPN) sites of the transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) gene, which is prevalent in Asia, with the susceptibility to the chronic hepatitis B infection-related liver disease. Methods: The genomic DNA of 129 cases suffering from the chronic HBV peripheral blood infection (74 cases with chronic type B hepatitis, 41 cases with liver cirrhosis and 14 cases with liver cancer) as well as 41 healthy volunteers were prepared. The genotypes of the TGF-β1 gene at rs2241715, rs2241716 and rs4803455 sites were detected by an allotype-specific PCR method. Results: There was a significant difference in the genotypes for rs2241715 and allele frequencies between healthy volunteers and patients with chronic type B hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and liver cancer (P < 0.05). The individuals with rs2241715 T/T genotype had a 2.974-fold increased risk for developing chronic type B hepatitis (95% CI = 1.209-7.314, P =0.018) and 3.228-fold increased risk for developing liver cirrhosis (95% CI = 1.201-8.675, P = 0.020), while no significant correlation was observed in both genotypes and allele frequencies at rs2241716 and rs4803455 sites. Conclusion: The TGF-β1 rs2241715 T/T genotype: a predisposing factor for the chronic HBV infection-related diseases.

Clinical features and epidemiological survey of perianal warts in 72 males / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the clinical features and epidemiological data of 72 cases of male perianal warts.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Seventy-two cases of perianal warts in our clinic dated from June, 2004 to April, 2006 were enrolled in the study, whose clinical information and epidemiological data were collected and analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Perianal warts were most commonly seen in young and middle-aged men aged from 18 to 45, only 12.5% of whom had homosexual behaviors. Sauna was another predisposing factor of perianal warts in males in China (chi2 = 5.03, P < 0.05). Primary eruptions of the anus and rectum, like perianal pruritus, eczema, anus fissure, and haemorrhoids, often impaired the local integrity of skin/mucosa. Classical condyloma acuminate was found in 61 (84.72%) of patients, who were susceptive to the infections of HPV 6/11, and were flat condylomas related to HPV16/18. Cryotherapy was believed to be one of the most efficient therapeutic choices for flat perianal warts. Suppression of cellular immune response was identified in the patients by comparison between the subgroups of peripheral T cells and the normal control.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Sauna is an essential predisposing factor of perianal warts in males, while anus sexual intercourse is not the main route of HPV infection. Classical condylomata acuminate constitute the majority of the eruptions, and flat condylomata come next. The study also provides some useful data for understanding the clinical and epidemiological features of perianal warts in Chinese males for the sake of prevention and treatment of the disease.</p>

Inhibitory effects of antisense oligonucleotides on VEGF gene expression by human hepatocellular carcinoma cells / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the inhibitory effects of antisense oligonucleotides to different sequences on VEGF gene expression by human hepatoma cells.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>SMMC7721 cells were cultured under normoxic or hypoxic conditions for 24 h, followed by being transfected with different antisense oligonucleotides (A06513 to cap structure, A06514 to translation initiation, A06515 to Exon-3 and A06516 to translation terminal). The total RNAs from the cells were extracted and the VEGF expression were examined with RT-PCR. The relative concentrations of VEGF transcripts in SMMC772 cells from different groups were determined using GAPDH (glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase) cDNA as internal standard.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In response to the hypoxic challenge, SMMC7721 cells upregulated VEGF mRNA; Comparative to the control (no oligonucleotides), A06513, A06514, A06515, and A06516 had obvious sequence-specific inhibitory effect on VEGF gene expression, with the ratio of VEGF over GAPDH of 0.49+/-0.08, 0.71+/-0.12, 0.72+/-0.11 and 0.86+/-0.12, respectively (F=12.21, P< 0.05). A06513 showed the strongest inhibitory effect (P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The antisense oligonucleotides complementary to VEGF cap structure, may become a potential alternative for antisense gene therapy of HCC.</p>